Book Marksman: Chapter 8: Homeland

Chapter 8: Homeland.


Soulless put the M4 rifle back together. He had grown tired of using an AR-15 as a DMR and decided a standard M4 could fit his purposes just as easily. He swung the upper section back down into place on the lower, and checked that the bolt was still functioning. It cycled cleanly.


Soulless had realized how useless he would have been in a situation like the night they were captured, where he did his basic sniper duties and then moved in with the rest of the team. He couldn't use one of the standard weapons, so he ordered parts for a Colt M4A4 and built the rifle himself. Firing pin, stock, barrel, pistol grip, hand guard, foregrip, acog laser scope, tactical flashlights, tactical laser, everything built from scratch.


Soulless lifted the rifle to his shoulder, testing the feel. Everything was adjusted to him perfectly. He slid a couple magazines of ammunition into his harness and grabbed his ear protection and safety glasses, and stepped onto the range.


---------------


Evil stepped into the den of the team's section of the barracks carrying his morning plate of eggs and bacon. Dark, Titanium, Platinum, and Rock were playing Call of Duty on the Xbox One hooked up to the 60 inch plasma TV. Evil watched Rock activate his grenade launcher and take down Titanium, who was hiding around a corner with a shotgun.


“Noob tuber!" Titanium yelled, shoving Rock. Rock laughed and pushed him back. Evil settled down on a seat and began eating, watching the match. It was the remastered version of the old Modern Warfare game.


Soulless came in wearing a black t-shirt and his fatigue pants with his Glock strapped around his right leg as usual. “Morning." He muttered, as he pressed a Keurig cup into the coffee machine, starting it brewing. The Call of Duty game ended and Dark and Rock jumped up, cheering, while Titanium and Platinum groaned.


Soulless grabbed his laptop and opened it, signing in. He began scrolling through news. He selected one and began playing the video. A news headline was flashing, “U.S SPECIAL FORCES UNIT RAIDS COMPOUND."


The news anchor was talking, “...have received reports of a successful operation launched by a Delta Force team in northern Afghanistan. A heavily guarded compound high up in the northern mountains was discovered and a team was sent to investigate. The base was operated by Independant Arms International, a privately owned military company. Upon making contact with the bases inhabitants, a gunfight occurred. Three Delta Force soldiers, callsign Zeta, pushed forward using sniper cover and entered the base. What they found was shocking. Stay tuned for more."


The topic of the news headline changed, and Soulless changed windows. He checked his private email, created specifically for Spectre Division.


He stopped when he saw an e-mail tagged important.


Soulless' mind was burning with questions now. E-mails were only tagged important if they were top priority and of immediate importance.


Soulless clicked on it. There was a short, brief message;


Soulless,


Bring the team to briefing room Alpha 4. I have vital intel and need to get boots on the ground immediately.

• Random.

Soulless looked up. Evil looked at him, and Soulless jerked his head, gesturing for him to come over to Soulless. Evil set his plate aside and came over. Soulless pointed at the e-mail, and Evil read it, nodding. He then stepped aside and said, “All right. Play time's over. Briefing, room Alpha 4 immediately."


Everyone looked at each other and nodded, standing up to leave.


---------------


Random looked up from the table as the team entered the room. Beside him were a couple of men in suits. They were concentrated on a satellite map. The team moved around it to look at the map. It was a layoutof the West Coast, with military assets plotted. Most of them were concentrated in San Diego, right on the coast.


“Welcome, gentleman." Random said. “These are just Secret Service men I have here in an advisory capacity. They came to inform me on our situation."


“What situation?" Evil asked.


“I'm sure you are aware of our current situation with North Korea." One of the suits, short but with a baritone voice.


"Of course."


“Well, things have escalated slightly. One of our agents positioned close to Kim Jong Un got intel that North Korea was planning an attack on the west coast. That agent gave his life to get us this information." The other, tall and thin said.


Soulless nodded, still investigating the map. There was an armored division posted at the military base in San Diego, along with two Delta Force teams, a SEAL Team 2 attachment, and a battalion of Marines. A pair of Cobra attack helicopters were stationed at one of the air bases too.


“Seeing as you have the whole nine yards set up in Cali, what are we doing here exactly?" Dark asked.


“Exactly one day ago, a car bombing occurred, killing two police officers. We have since then received enough information to label the car bomber a North Korean agent."


“So going off of that intel, and then some that I'm sure you aren't sharing with us, our best guess is that California is the first Korean target?"


“Correct. Another reason why we called you guys in is that we had managed to put a tap on Kim Jong Un's private phone. He was recently in contact with Independent Arms International negotiating a contract. Since you have all had interactions with IAI, we need you on the ground wherever you're needed, defending and counter attacking."


“Sounds good. When do we roll out?" Evil asked.


“ASAP." The main suit replied. “You need to get to San Diego and set up soon. Running patrols, gathering intel, and overall monitoring the situation. You will have to be seen patrolling on the street, but other than that do whatever you can to prevent the Koreans and IAI from achieving their goals."


“Yes sir." Soulless said. “Everyone gear up." He said, turning and exiting the room.


---------------


Snail sat with his hands resting under his chin, holding his head up. He as deep in thought about their last operation.


Recently, a man in a suit had appeared to brief the team specifically about the Afghan mountain, and why U.S soldiers had been held captive there. Snail was now aware that Bacca, his old friend, with the new code name Soulless, and Evil, were not dead, but rather part of a black ops program.


Snail's team, plus another team, had been transferred to San Diego since the car bombing. They were on alert for any more attempted acts of terrorism.


Trogs sat cleaning his MG4. Paq had his M40A5 stripped down, and Crazy was checking out his breaching charges.


On the other side of the room, a SEAL team was doing similar preparations.


Pyrotheum, Pyro for short, was doing dry fire exercises with his Sig Sauer P226 handgun, standard to a Navy SEAL. He had an M4A4 rifle leaning against his bunk.


Theo was cleaning his M4 magazines. He rarely looked up, and kept systematically running rags, cleaning brushes, and oil through the magazines.



Skully was checking out his gear. He was usually the sniper for these missions, but there was only certain situations in an urban environment requiring a sniper. He had since then gotten a standard M4.


The Delta Force operators and SEALs had very different views on combat. But nonetheless, they learned to work together. The second Delta Force team had been moved to Anaheim to make room for another special forces team. The marines that had also been stationed at the compound had very little contact with the SEALs and Delta Force teams.


The door opened and Omega team stepped through.


Evil was first, with his M4 rifle in his right hand, his helmet in his left. There was a bag across his back. Rock followed him, Rifle secured on his pack.


Dark was next through carrying a pack and rifle, Titanium and Platinum following him. Last was Soulless. Soulless had his duffel bag across his back and was carrying a rifle case in his right hand.


Snail nodded at him. “You guys are down at the far end there. We can talk patrols and assignments in a few."


“Awesome." Soulless said. Theo, the SEALs squad leader, came over. He was in his camouflage gear. The Omegas and SEALs were introducing themselves to each other.


“I assume everyone has been briefed?" Soulless asked, setting his rifle case on the floor and unlocking the latches.


Snail and Theo looked at each other. “As far as we know." Theo said. He had a quiet and serious voice.


“Great. Now I don't have to go through the whole secrecy crap." Soulless said. “Any intel?" He asked, as he moved his hands, unclipping straps inside the case.


“Nothing. No signs of North Korean or IAI activity. We've been running foot and aerial patrols. Searches of suspects and their possessions have turned up nothing. With the current firearms laws here, you couldn't sneak a pellet gun past a mall cop, much less a handgun or a knife."


Soulless stood up and raised the Remington MSR rifle to his shoulder, looking down the scope with his eye. He adjusted the scope slightly and made sure the bipod and laser were functioning. He set the rifle down on the case and turned his attention to the two leaders.


“Well, what do we do next?" He prompted.


“We were planning on continuing foot patrols around the city. The marines have been helping too. Now that you're here, we can start a rotational sniper overwatch roster." Snail said.


“Sounds great." Soulless said.


“Let's get to work." Theo said.


---------------


2 days later. . .


Soulless moved his eyes up and down the length of the street. Civilians were gawking at him and Dark as they walked calmly up the sidewalk, M4A4's relaxed across their chests. Soulless was breathing through a face guard that went up to the bridge of his nose. It was cloth and padded, with a plastic guard on the outside. It covered his mouth and cheeks snugly, and he could still talk freely through it. It was part of his helmet.


Dark and Soulless looked almost identical in the dark black gear. It was hot under the California sun, but the pair could ignore it. A tourist stopped Soulless. “Why is there so much military presence here? Are we going to be attacked?"


Soulless swallowed. He would have loved to tell the tourist to go back to his hotel, pack up his belongings and family, and get out of here as soon as he can. The North Korean army didn't play around, and they would kill civilians who got in the way.


But he couldn't tell them that.


“No, sir. We're just here to keep watch." Soulless said, and started to walk again.


The tourist pulled him back, relentless. “Is their anything you can tell us about the car bombings? What branch of the military are you?"


Dark butted in. “Couldn't tell you about the bombings. Move along sir."


Soulless tugged his arm out of the mans grasp and started moving again.


“Jeez." Dark muttered. “People are on edge."


“Yeah. They're curious, and I don't blame them. They're also scared." Soulless kept walking for a moment. “I understand that, too."


They stopped at a crosswalk. Traffic kept going. Dark hit the button to cross the road and they waited for the light to change.


“I was thinking we could set up a sniper at the airport. Not San Diego International. Too many civilians. I was thinking Coronado air base or Camp Pendleton." Dark said.


The light changed and they proceeded to cross the road. Heads of drivers turned and watched as the two crossed the road. The two paid the drivers no mind.


The radio clicked on their shoulders. “Omega 1-1 and 1-3 I have you on visual."


“Copy overwatch. Nice day for target practice."


Paq laughed. “If only there were mercs to practice on."


Soulless looked up and spotted the glint of a scope. “Keep safe overwatch. Omega out."


The pair turned down a road. They were walking along the beach now, the pavement of the walking path turning into sand. They veered clear.


Then, Soulless heard the whine of a police siren. Turning, he caught a pair of cruisers racing by.


“C'mon. Let's see what the commotion is about." He said to Dark.


“Boring day anyway. Could use a little excitement." Dark snorted. They began to jog down the alley to the roadway.


-------------


Skully set up his SR-338 rifle, settling the scope on the yacht in the harbor. The skipper of the small ship was definitely Korean, and had a set of military grade binoculars.


Skully was in an apartment complex using one of the unowned rooms. The walls were bare and the carpet had a few stains. It could be a future FOB for any anti terrorist units (ATUs) or even a CIA safehouse.


Skully checked that the safety was locked on his rifle. He moved the scope further along the boat and spotted more men. They wore sunglasses and expensive jackets.


“Base this is Skully. I have Koreans piloting a yacht in the harbor. They're observing, unclear if they're armed or not."


The radio hissed with static for a moment. “Overlord to Skully, are they military?"


“Unclear at this time. Requesting either a foot patrol or an ATU on my location." Skully replied.


“There's one of the Spectre patrols in your AO, redirecting them now."


“Copy. Thanks Overlord."


Skully kept watching.


---------------


Evil and Rock heard their radios crackle. “Spectre 1-2 this is Overlord. We have suspected Korean agents in the harbor on a yacht. One of the SEALs is watching them at the moment, but we need someone to do some ID checking."


“Copy. We're on our way." Rock responded. They turn and began to jog to the harbor."


---------------


Soulless and Dark rounded another street corner and found the police cruisers set up in a roadblock. A SWAT van was also just pulling in. The back doors to the van kicked open and four black-clad SWAT operators jumped down, MP5 submachine guns ready.


The pair jogged up to the police cordon, and an officer stopped them. The officer was wearing a Kevlar vest and had an AR-15 in one hand. “Stop where you are."


“We're special forces." Soulless said, turning his shoulder to reveal a sergeant's insignia. “What's going on?"


“Housekeeping called up to one of the rooms and entered when they got no reply. Targets inside took the pair of staff hostage. Hotel dialed 911, and here we are."


“Any way we can help?" Dark asked.


The policeman turned and pointed out the SWAT leader. “Talk to that guy. They're calling in an ATU for standby just in case these guys are involved in the bombings."


“Sounds good. Thanks." Soulless said, nodding at the policeman, and turning to jog over to the SWAT team.


The sergeant turned and looked them up and down. “And who the hell might you be?" He asked.


“Special forces. Any way we can help?" Soulless asked.


“Grab a rappel line and get up onto the third floor windows. Get ready to breach and clear. I hope you can use that M4 of yours." The sergeant said.


“Oh, you bet we can use em." Dark muttered. Soulless gave him a look. “We'll do it."


“Good luck." The sergeant said.


Soulless and Dark grabbed rappel lines from the SWAT van and hooked into them on the building. They began to climb up the side to the third set of windows. When they reached them, Soulless said, “Stay to the side. Move up above the window and get ready to swing in."


Dark nodded and moved over to the side, walking up further. “Window's boarded up." He said over his microphone.


“We can deal with it." Soulless said.


There was a click. “You two in position up there?" The SWAT sergeant asked.


“Ready." Dark said.


“Breaching in 3, 2, 1, execute."


There was a thump as a breaching charge went off. A few gunshots followed by a yell. “Go!" The sergeant yelled, and Dark swung backward, then forward, kicking his feet forward. He went in through the glass and wood of the window, M4 ready. Soulless entered behind him.


Dark fired a burst into a guy with a handgun, and an enemy popped up over a couch with a shotgun. Dark dove to the side and the shotgun went off, the birdshot plinking off a riot shield held by a SWAT operator. An MP5 coughed rounds and the guy behind the couch went down.


“Clear!" One of the SWAT guys yelled. Soulless prodded the guy Dark had taken down, checking he was dead.


“Four baddies KIA, hostages are in this room." One of the SWAT guys said. “Job well done, eh?"


“Yeah." Dark said.


“You military guys aren't too bad at breach and clear." The operator commented.


“It's usually a last resort." Soulless murmured. “Usually without breaching charges."


“Ah, that's the hard way. You special forces operators like doing things the hard way. You're fine by me though."


“Yeah. We gotta get back to patrol, glad we could help."


“Yeah." The SWAT guy started digging through something in a box. “Looks like these guys are Korean."


Soulless and Dark looked at each other.


“Oh my." The SWAT guy came up and pulled the bolt back on an AK-47 out of the box. “These guys meant business."


---------------


Evil swept the harbor with his eyes. “What are we looking at?" He asked Skully over the comm.


“Four confirmed guys glassing the nearby base. They're Korean and look like they mean business."


Evil swore. “Where at?"


“West end of the dock" Skully said. “He's got his gangplank down."


“Roj. If things get hot, be ready to open fire." Evil said.


“Copy. Move in."


Evil and Rock walked down the boardwalk. Evil bumped a big guy on accident, who whirled around clenching a fist, then stopped when he noted the M4A4. Evil paid him no heed and kept walking.


He spotted the boat. The skipper was certainly Korean, and had a pair of binoculars trained somewhere on the beach. Evil spotted another on the port side of the ship with another set of binoculars, glassing.


The skipper of the yacht looked away from his binos, right towards Evil and Rock. Rock waved. The skipper didn't return the gesture.


“Mind if we come aboard? We have some questions for you." Evil called.


“No." The skipper said, who carried on looking through his binoculars.


“Whatcha lookin' at?" Rock asked jovially."


The Korean skipper lowered his binoculars. “The ships in the harbor." The irritation was now visible on his face.


“Ships are that way in case you didn't notice buddy. I know you're glassing the base."


“Listen soldier." The skipper said, rage bubbling to the surface. “I haven't done anything illegal. I'm just here for the tourism, so leave me alone."


The skipper pointed towards land. As he did, Evil noticed a holster visible in his waistband, holding a full sized handgun. In an instant, his M4 rifle was up on his shoulder. “Hands where I can see them." He said clearly. Rock had also noticed the handgun, and had trained his rifle on the other Korean.


The skipper raised his hands slowly. “You won't find anything here. We're just tourists."


Evil drew his M&P pistol and stepped towards the skipper, reaching forward and yanking the pistol out of the holster. His M&P in his right and the Glock 19 in the right, Evil dropped the magazine on the Glock. “You aware of California gun laws buddy?"


The Korean shook his head.


“Can't have a magazine for a weapon that holds more than ten rounds. I count 17 for that mag. Also, tourists don't carry full-sized Glocks." Evil tossed the Glock 19 onto the deck of the yacht. “Now get on the ground. You're under arrest."


At that moment the skipper's buddy thought it would be good to go for his handgun. He was wrong.


Rock dropped the guy with a burst, and people around the harbor began to scream and run at the sound of gunfire. The Korean skipper dove towards the controls for the boat, and Evil put a round through him.


Another Korean came around a wall of the ship with a shotgun, and when he raised the shotgun, a round that neither Rock or Evil had fired punched through his chest. The guy fell forward dead, the shotgun falling to the deck.


“Deck clear." Skully said over the comm. “Move in to clear ship."


---------------


Titanium and Platinum exited the subway and went for the stairs. They had heard the report of shots fired at the harbor and were on the way.


They reached the top of the stairs and headed towards a street. They were in luck as the light changed and they were able to cross.


Within a few minutes of jogging they could see the harbor. At the industrial side of things, a Chinese container ship was unloading.


Titanium and Platinum jogged down the boardwalk. Soon, they spotted a pair of police cars with officers taking cover behind the vehicles with AR-15s. They approached slowly, and a pair of officers swiveled to face them.


“Relax. Special forces." Titanium said, displaying his corporal's insignia on his shoulders. One of the officers nodded and started facing the yacht again.


A couple gunshots followed by a stream of gunfire came from the boat. Titanium stepped behind one of the police cruisers, setting his M4A4 on the hood and aiming at the yacht. Platinum jogged over to the other vehicle and took cover.


Then, the radio's crackled. “Rock, you good?"


The radio hissed its reply. “I'm good Evil. Bridge clear."


Titanium relaxed. “Stand down!" He called. The officers relaxed. On the deck, Evil and Rock appeared, and started to come down the gangplank.


---------------


2 hours later. . .


Theo and Pyro waited at the stoplight. People were pointing at them. Pyro and Theo simply returned the looks they received.


The pair were headed for the harbor to check that everything was clear. After having checked in with the black ops team at base, the SEAL team had been notified of an alert from the Chinese government. North Koreans had attacked one of their ports and gained access to outgoing shipments to the U.S. The pair of SEALs were going to make a check in with the port officials that everything was fine.


The light turned and Pyro started across the road. “What do you think of these black ops guys?" He asked Theo.


“They're special forces, not navy, so I really don't know." Theo said carefully. “They seem good at what they do, so they've earned my respect, but if it comes down to a shootout between us and the enemy, I don't know if I'd be able to rely on them."


Pyro nodded. They rounded a bend, a cyclist almost crashing into them. “Exactly my thoughts."


There was a click on the radio. “SEALs this is overwatch. I have you on visual."


Theo looked up to one of the apartment blocks. There was a window open slightly, and he swore he could see a figure with a rifle there. “Who's on overwatch?" He asked Pyro.


“Soulless, the Omega sniper." Pyro muttered before activating his comm. “Copy overwatch, watch out backs for us."


“Wilco." Soulless responded.


The pair of SEALs continued down the sidewalk. After a while, they reached the harbor again. A CIS team had set up yellow tape around the yacht that had been hit earlier. Pyro spotted a Chinese cargo ship. “That must be the recent shipment."


“Let's check in with the harbor guys." Theo said. “Soulless, you still got eyes on us?"


“Affirmative, watching the cargo ship currently."


“Watch the containers on top for us." Theo said.


---------------


Soulless adjusted his scope and began scanning the surface of the container ship. The ship would be bringing in large shipments of electronics and Chinese goods to the U.S for sale.


Looking away from the scope, Soulless noted the SEALs had started talking to one of the harbor officials. The harbor official was shaking his head and saying something to the SEALs, who nodded and responded.


“Overwatch, no sign of any tampered cargo onboard, but we want to do a manual check. Can you provide assistance?"


“Affirmative." Soulless responded.


“Copy. Moving to the ship now."


Soulless looked back to his scope and started inspecting the containers. The SEALs got on the deck and started looking at containers.


Soulless stopped on one of the doors and clicked his comm. “Theo, I have a container with some sort of wire sticking out of the bottom of the door. Possible IED."


“Copy. Which container?"


“Bravo 134, port side."


“I see it." The other SEAL, Pyro said. Pyro held a small plastic device up to it, and inspected the device. “Negative on explosive trace. Moving on."


Soulless kept scanning. For a few minutes the SEALs kept inspecting the containers and talking to each other. Soulless was about to say they should wrap it up when someone opened a door near one of the areas on the ship and stepped out onto the deck.


“Didn't we tell the crew to clear the ship and wait until we gave the all clear?" Soulless asked over the radio.


“Yeah, why?" Theo asked.


“One crew member headed your way. He's making way for the containers on the starboard side."


“Are you sure it's one of the crew?" Pyro asked. The SEALs began to move toward the starboard side of the deck.


“He's dressed like it but he looks Korean." Soulless responded. He adjusted his scope. “He's messing with one of the containers now."


Soulless zoomed the scope on the crewman's hands, and he saw the crewman messing with the lock. What confused Soulless was why the lock looked different from all the other ones on the containers.


The lock clicked open. The crewman removed it and started opening the doors.


“He's opening the doors on the container." Soulless said. He checked on the SEALs and noted that they were near. “He's on the other side of the row on your left."


The crewman opened the door, and what came out made Soulless' stomach dropped.


North Koreans in military gear carrying Soviet-era AK assault rifles emerged from the container. There were ten in all, and they set about opening op containers around them. More North Koreans came out. Soon, Soulless could count thirty.


The invasion of San Diego had begun.


---------------


SEAL Team:


@Pyrotheum

@Theo

@SkullcrusherLD


Delta Force operatives:


@Snail_5_

@TheTrogs

@crazybombguy

@tupaq18


Omega Team


@MR_EVIL_OVERLORD

@TheTitaniumTitan

@ThePlatinumTitan

@DarkTitan_

@rocktomb34 (grats on JMod)


Other operatives/characters


@randomcitizen1


Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! Marksman will be ending on Chapter 10.