Chapter 1

"Cover fire!" I yelled as gunfire slammed into the ground all around us. I dove behind cover, slamming my shoulder into the ground, as Nick and Corbin laid down covering fire before diving under cover themselves. I grimaced but propped my rifle over the rock and laid down more fire as Caroline and Emily sprinted to the next set of boulders.

Nick and Corbin jumped up next, launching grenades toward the building as they ran toward Caroline and Emily, sliding into cover gracefully. I waited a few seconds before I heard the 'pfft 'pffte of silenced gunfire from ahead of us and with a nod to Katie we took off.

Two steps before making it to cover, I felt a tugging on my leg as a round hit the holster clipped on my thigh. Ignoring it, I slid into cover behind Katie and everyone else. I popped back up and fired a grenade from my launcher towards the compound, hitting a window as someone popped up with an AK.

I laughed and said, "Guess we aren't going in quietly. Time for plan B. Hit the house hard!"

Corbin took that meaning literally and popped off a LAW from behind a rock, blowing a large hole in the outside wall. I laughed and radioed, "Try to keep the houses intact somewhat please. We would like to get some intel from them."

Nick just laughed and replied, "Yeah yeah we know. We'll try our best. Now, let's do this."

As gunfire slacked off, Nick and I tossed flash bangs over the rocks and everyone jumped up running toward the house as soon as they went off. As I slammed into the wall next to the door, Corbin kicked in the door and I slipped through the doorway, Corbin right on my six. My rifle tracked across the room almost automatically, dropping two gunmen on my side of the room as Corbin landed a headshot on a third gunman. Quickly pushing through the room, Corbin took lead, heading deeper into the house as we heard more gunfire erupt outside.

Cursing at our luck, I followed Corbin. Quickly searching the rest of the first floor we headed towards the stairs as a grenade dropped from the second floor. Grabbing Corbin's vest, I dove into the bathroom as it went off blowing a sizeable hole in the wall. Jumping back to our feet, Corbin poured fire up the stairs from his cover at the doorframe. As he reloaded I tapped him on the shoulder signaling I was ready. He slapped the bolt release on his rifle and headed up the stairs sliding along the wall.

Reaching the second floor landing, a single gunman was slouched on the floor, a nice hole in the back of his head. Kicking him out the way, Corbin pressed on and into the first room. With the first room empty, we listened as automatic gunfire came from the next room. I took lead and headed down the hall tossing a grenade into the room and shielding myself back from the door. As the grenade went off, Corbin pushed the door open again and shot two gunmen on the floor, still shocked from the grenade.

I nodded to him as I radioed, "Objective one taken. House clear. Moving on."

Caroline radioed back, "We're pinned down at objective two. Seems to be at least twenty gunmen in the house."

I clicked my acknowledgment and Corbin picked up two RPGs from the corner, his head cocked at me as if to ask if he could blow them up. I just smiled and nodded, heading to the room on the other side of the hall overlooking the inside of the compound. I aimed out the window, as Corbin quickly took aim at the upper floor of the second house. Dropping the grenade right through an open window, he smiled as the room exploded. Quickly dropping the RPG and grabbing the other one, he shot the second round at the door, blowing it off the hinges. I laid down fire on the upper windows as my team rushed forward to the wall.

Corbin dropped the launcher and headed for the stairs. After emptying my mag into the second floor, I followed him down the stairs. Scanning the courtyard as we watched Nick enter the building last, I followed Corbin out the door and ran toward the second house. As gunfire slammed into the ground all around us, I cursed and fired randomly into the second floor windows. The sound of gunfire kept itself steady as the insurgents started fighting inside. Corbin and I entered the house where several gunmen were lying in the hallway dead, their guns kicked away. Corbin headed toward the stairs as gunfire continued to erupt from the second floor. Seeing Nick at the top of the of the stairs, Corbin jogged up the stairs.

Nick continued pouring fire down the hallway as Caroline peaked out from the first bedroom. Gunfire slammed into the doorway and she ducked back in cursing loudly I fired several rounds down the hallway to cover her and managed to hit one of the insurgents. With fire still coming down the hallway, Nick cursed and dropped his empty mag and reloaded. I kept my fire up as Caroline reached out the door and managed to drop another insurgent.

Corbin grimaced next to me as a round hit his chest plate, making him take a step back. Our radio barked as Katie said, "Deploying C4. Going to blow through the wall."

Nick clicked the radio to acknowledge and leaned back behind cover. We all let our fire falter out as an explosion echoed through the top floor. Gunfire erupted again and we heard a flash bang go off. Nick started firing down the corridor as he moved to the room Caroline was in.

Corbin followed him a few seconds later while I stayed put on the landing as gunfire continued between the rooms. It finally started to taper off as Corbin tossed a grenade into the last room. The grenade went off and the gunfire ended. After a few seconds, Corbin peered out the door and unloaded a full mag into the room before pulling his pistol and entering. Two more pops and it was all done.

Caroline came out the room and towards me. She smiled and said, "They're gathering the few books and hard drives left intact in there. Katie practically blew up the whole fucking wall."

I laughed as we headed back down the stairs. We looked around the first floor for anything useful, but it was pretty devoid of anything besides dead bodies and sleeping bags. There was even a guy with a sleeping bag wrapped around his legs with several rounds through his head and chest. I grimaced a little as Caroline walked around him and scanned out the window, keeping an eye out for anyone we had missed.

Emily radioed down, "We've got everything wrapped up. Heading down."

I pushed the transmit button on my radio, "Hippogriff One, this is Hit Squad One. Come in."

My earpiece squawked, "This is Hippogriff One. Ready for extract?"

I answered, "That's an affirmative. See ya at LZ alpha in 10 minutes."

Caroline leaned back from the window and headed toward the door as everyone came trudging down the stairs, Corbin and Nick carrying two duffel bags on their back. I nudged my head toward the door and followed them out the door, stopping only to toss a white phosphorous grenade into the building. No sense in leaving behind any evidence. Katie did the same as we passed the first house.

Passing the compound wall and crossing back into the desert, we picked up the pace and start humping our way toward the extract a mile out. As Caroline set a quick pace, we arrived in just under five minutes and spread out to cover the LZ, watching for anything odd.

I radioed in, "Hit Squad 1 at LZ."

Two squawks came from the radio in acknowledgment as our Osprey appeared on the horizon. Coming in low and fast it blew up a dust storm behind it. I yelled, "Osprey incoming."

Everyone ducked their heads as the plane kicked up dust around us and settled down onto the ground. I waved everyone toward the dropping ramp and scampered in behind them. I radioed, "We're in. Take us out of here!"

Before the ramp could even shut, we were up and moving away from the clearing. Nick set down the duffle bag and unclipped his rifle as the plane shot upward. He dropped onto one of the seats and sighed.

I dropped into my seat next to Caroline and felt the tension leaving my muscles. Emily finally broke the silence, "Well that was fun."

I smiled, "Yep, it's always nice when they go as planned. Did y'all find anything interesting in the stuff Katie didn't blow up?"

Katie just flicked me off but at least I got a smile out of her. She said, "Nothing popped out at us as vital. As for the room, I just didn't realize the walls weren't concrete inside! The stupid intel report said the house was concrete! Next time, I'll leave blowing us all up to Corbin."

Corbin huffed, "Use too much C4 one time and you never hear the end of it!"

I laughed, "Dude, you blew up the entire house. And it's not like it was small house. It was a freaking villa."

He just smiled and leaned back, putting his hands behind his head. Emily just snorted and leaned up against him, laying her rifle on the floor. The radio squawked again, "We're forty minutes out from Hogsmeade. Hold on tight and we'll have you home soon."

I laughed at our pilot Tim. His kids had gotten him the Harry Potter books for Christmas and ever since then we had been using code names from them. I really wonder what the brass would think of us if they tapped into our comms.

Caroline just laughed and yelled, "Well I want some butterbeer when we get there!"

We all laughed and the silence took over again as we all decompressed from the firefight. Most of our trip passed with us just chatting quietly between ourselves and relaxing. Suddenly the Osprey banked hard and our radios squawked, "Suit back up. Hogsmeade is under attack. We're going in hot."

Several groans echoed around the cabin as we all jumped up and started pulling spare ammo and gear from cases strapped against the walls. I shoved new grenades into the pouches on my vest, tossing several to Corbin and Nick before taking new mags from Caroline.