Merlin nodded, as the helicopter came in, looking out.
"Understood, JB." Merlin simply replied, as he looked out the helicopter, knowing there was a long run ahead of the team. Wraith looked across at Romek, nodding as he adjusted his Mk14. It was going to be a long run, the Kiwi could tell, and it wasn't going to be very interesting for a while.
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(I noticed it was like 19:01 in the timing to begin with- I take it it's gonna go dark on the op?)
Getting aboard one of the Zodiacs with Fireteam Bravo, the SBS Warrant Officer took the helm, the engine spluttering into life as his team got aboard.
"Hope your stomachs are good, Fireteam. Weapons readied, watch your angles. Remember our ROE." Merlin added, Wizard watching the last man get inside, the team made up of Viking, Blacktail and Joker. A small contingent, the smaller of the two, but it would have enough firepower to outmanuever and outflank when required, from the dark of the jungle. The light was fading, darkness was coming down. Sliding his NODs over his eyes, he kicked the boat off from the sandy break, the engine whirring into life as it took speed, Merlin darting ahead of the Captain.
"Eagle, this is Wizard, Fireteam Bravo and Sigma is moving en route. We're keeping radio silence from here on out, these channels might be tight, but we don't need to chatter without reason." Merlin suggested over the comms, looking at the team, scratching his beard as he looked across the green tinted vision he had, the spray kicking off the boat, the men aboard it ready. A Viking and a pair of Canucks, with Fireteam Sigma hitching on too. They had work to do.
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The jungle recon had been a relatively simple walk in the hills, Wraith in front, Mk14 raised, as they slowly paced up towards their OP. The night had taken hold, and they hadn't even encountered a single patrol. Finding a set of trees, Wraith stopped, looking back at the Polish sniper behind him. The trees weer almost engrained into the hillside a little, and didn't jut out, but provided an angle above the rest of the jungle canopy, direct to the encampment.
"I see a nice patch there to make into OP Charlie, should be our best angle if the topography plays ball. You're gonna need to perch yourself into that tree a little, set up the mount, and set up. I'll sit higher up with the device, and adjust your shots. I call it 750m to the central tower of the base from what our preliminary has." Edward said, the spotter raising his Mk14, as he swept around, looking at the ground, checking the undergrowth, looking around as he looked up. Clambering into the shrub, he found a spot, sitting neatly in a dirt-backed slope covered by shrubbery surrounding the cluster of trees, pulling out the tripod-mounted device. Setting it into the flat and level, he pitched the adjusters, levelling it's position, clamping it down, before flipping the covers off. He cooed over his throat mic, knowing what Romek would see too.
"Views are nice. You have a clear sight picture of the central and north of the base. You've got the silencer attached, but your ranging should still work, if you're worth your grain, mate." The Kiwi said, the accent coming out still, it was untenable.
"Yours to call in to the boss, mate." The Kiwi added, adjusting the thermal optic, now beginning to range up landmarks, the device effectively a highly-advanced levelling tool. Well, it had a little more sophisticated gadgetry behind it, and even Ed didn't understand it entirely, but safe to say, frickin' beams of light pinged back and gave a ranging, as well as the adjusted sighting ring that was within the device's picturing. Sliding his Mk14 onto the branch, he slid it onto it's bipod, keeping it low, magazine loaded, safety on.
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Fireteam Bravo had made it's way around into the jungle, and it had been a long walk. Not something ideal, but Merlin had been up to it, and lead by example. The LMG raised high, moving through the thick shrub was difficult, and avoiding any traps was key, in order to establish position. Moving up into their own position, he looked back to his team, waiting up.
"Alright. Joker, Viking, keep the right. Blacktail, you have my left, keep a wedge, 10m spread, watch around. Remember, arcs. We've encountered no resistance whatsoever, but the moment we do, you're gonna be thankful you watched your fucking arcs." Merlin added, the SBS operator moving through the thick undergrowth, looking around, a little bitter in his tone, knowing his team weren't going to be appreciative, not right now. But it would hammer the point home, remind at least.
"This is Wizard, Eagle, we've got nothing on our position. We are one mike to our expected OP, standby." Merlin added over the comms quickly, knowing it was going to be the first that Alpha had heard in a while, as they kept going. The darkness was thick, the moon not even coming through the trees, so NVGs were proving their weight in gold. Not that the use of flashlights wouldn't work, they'd have to, because Merlin assumed that whatever the fuck they faced could have the same tech as they did, and for that reason alone, IR strobes were out. Pushing over a ridge, Merlin stopped, going prone, as he took it in. There was a path, more well trodden than the jungle they'd just pushed through, a sandy one.
"Halt. Get the fuck on the floor." The men were close, ridiculously so. Maybe a meter or two away from the point they'd gone over the ridge, and due to the bushes, they'd been out of sight. Merlin had been clear, and the command would have frozen weaker men in their boots. Sitting there, Merlin had his Sig already pushed forwards, and his dive knife behind it, watching the two militiamen slowly walk, talking in Indonesian, or something of that dialect. This was Valverde, or at least, their local grunts. Patrollers, and this path looked fresh-cut, something that Merlin wouldn't have seen.
"Let, them, go." Merlin simply said, as they quietly walked past, the noise of footsteps audible by Merlin's head, close, close as hell. They had flashlights, but they weren't pointing them directly at the hedge, they were facing out. Watching, Merlin did not act. This was not ROE, they didn't need to wipe these fuckers out, if Merlin wanted to, he could have tapped both in the very second he laid his eyes on them and made the shots count. Or his knife through one of their eyeballs. Equally so, they were letting them go by, get on with their business. The men were out of earshot, Merlin quiet into his throat mic, and hearing Merlin quiet was not something that was the usual.
"Change of plan, lads. We are compromised if we are going to go to our planned OP, because we'll be right on the path. Viking, Joker, I want you to tail those two, see if they have an outpost outside of the encampment, and give me details before you engage and sweep. This doesn't seem right. Blacktail, you're with me. Now, bear with me when I say this. But we're going to need to move closer in. Way closer. If it goes to fuck, I hope you brought your smoke grenades and are willing to run like hell. Or else we are dead weight out here for the other team." Merlin said, as he looked back at his team, nodding, waiting for their affirmation of the plan.
"Alpha, we've got a path through the jungle here on our eastern side, looks new and well trodden in. We need to get a picture of what the rest of the base looks like before we bust the doors in and find something we didn't see." Merlin added, as he shifted upwards, motioning to the team, sweeping out with his P226 through the path, darting across to the other side, covering for Blacktail. Waiting till they were across, he moved down, sweeping through the shrubs, trying to minimize his sound, as he slid a little down the muddy hill, picking a position by a tree. They must have been almost 20m above the base, and only a thin layer of trees and canopy were between them and the metal gates.
"Alright, lad. I'm not a fucking infiltrator, I have a gun that shits out rounds, and so do you, and my knife and my Sig won't last enough for enough of these goatfucking scum. We'll hold here. No bloody need for binos." Merlin added, as he shifted along, crawling to another tree, looking over. The place was teeming, some truck in position with lights and weapons visible. At least 15 in his sight picture, as he looked back at the Canadian, before looking back and speaking into his throat mic.
"Eagle, we've got picture of what we want. Base is a little more hostile on our side, barracks, armoury, no guard towers, and mostly Valverde activity. Trucks are here, and they look like they are shifting gear. You're going to need to engage first, or we're going to, quite frankly, get merked at our site. Your call boss, the rest of Bravo is chasing our lead on the trail cut. Out." Merlin added, as he leaned in, observing, looking back at Tyler.
"You could take a piss and hit these people. Like I said, shit hits the fan, our plan is to fucking run and don't think about it. Not the best. But it works." Merlin said, chuckling, as he shifted his head around, watching onwards, looking at the unloading of some shiny-looking military crates, nodding.
"Looks serious, whatever that is. Viking, Joker, how's your chase going?"
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