Chapter 2

Millevia. . .

"Thanks for coming with us, Tris. I know it was hard to leave Edie behind," Hunter told Tristan as the Special Forces battalion walked off the plane and onto Millevia's military base. Well, Hunter's team was labeled as Special Forces, but they were really a small mixed group of men. Some from the Army, some from the Air Force, and a couple of Marines. Special Forces had many strengths, but sometimes things needed to be done quickly and with precision. No time to embed and learn the culture and cultivate contacts. This test team was somewhere between Special Forces and Delta Force/DEVGRU and it seemed to work well so far. Each military branch had its own strengths and weaknesses, so they made a team composed of multiple branches, and suddenly, you have an expert in every situation you might come across.

When Hunter had told his commander he needed to get to Charleston, his commander had told him about a joint operations group that was starting up under the Army's control, and Hunter had been tapped for it. His team went all over the world, but usually for no more than a week at a time. They were a mix of special operators and worked well together doing the secret in-and-out missions. While Hunter was the overall team leader, each mission had its own leader based on what the mission entailed and who had the expertise to run it.

"It's hard leaving her. I never want her to worry about a husband again," Tristan said about his wife. "But when I learned my best friend, David, was a possible hostage along with the American Marine Raider team, I couldn't sit back. I know these mountains. I know these people. I want to help."

The whole team was in full dark mode the second they were off the plane. Phones were turned off and left on the plane. They had a rescue mission to execute and everyone was focused on their objective.

"Tristan!" The commander thumped Tristan on the back. "Thank you for coming and bringing your friends. Sergeant First Class Townsend, Captain Francis Bonetti." Hunter shook his hand.

"Captain. My team is ready to assist in any way you need us." It was time to get to work.

Captain Bonetti took them to a command station where they met the Millevian team that would be working with them. Between Hunter's Spanish, Italian, and French, he was able to follow along in their native language, but they made sure to switch to English when it was time for Hunter to fill his crew in.

"An American Marine Raider team based out of North Carolina was called in to assist the Millevian military group that had gotten word of a potential terror group. Information on this new group is sparse. A concerned farmer called in that all of his fertilizer had been stolen. That by itself wouldn't be a big deal, but five other farms across Millevia also had all their fertilizer stolen and several construction sites across the country had some cast boosters stolen," Hunter told them.

"They're building bombs," Tristan said flatly.

"Seems like it," Captain Bonetti confirmed. "We don't know the target or who this group is. Nothing is on our radar. That's why we called the Americans."

"The only thing Naval intelligence found tied to stolen fertilizer was a commercial ship filled with fertilizer had been hijacked, pilfered, and then let go, but that was three years ago," Hunter told the teams. "If it's the same group, then they are now well-supplied. However, military intelligence couldn't find any chatter about an attack. All the usual suspects came back clean. Surveillance has shown no increased activity, which we should see if they were preparing for an attack." Hunter"s team nodded. That was unusual. "That leads us to believe it's a new terror group. Captain Bonetti worked with local farmers in the regions that were being hit. He stationed soldiers as farmhands. One witnessed the stealing of fertilizer and followed them into the mountains near the Italian border with Millevia. With that information, the Navy sent a Marine Raider team. They went into the Maritime Alps together but they didn't come back down."

Captain Bonetti frowned. "Drones were sent, but they used lasers to blind them. Satellite images came through and there are bodies. However, it appears this group's camp is hidden inside the mountains. These mountains have been mined for almost two thousand years. The mining really picked up during the fifteen hundreds and peaked in the sixteen and seventeen hundreds, and then again after WWII. However, now most of the mines are closed, leaving behind many miles of abandoned tunnels. We believe this new group is using the tunnels as their base of operations."

"Which means you can be looking at where they went into the mountains and miss when and where they come out," Tristan pointed out.

"Exactly," Captain Bonetti said. "We asked Tristan to join us because he's familiar with these tunnels."

"Show us the tunnels," Hunter ordered.

Two hours later, the team was fully briefed and plans laid out. The team ate, mentally prepared, and then at one in the morning they loaded onto two helicopters and headed into the night.

"Go!" Hunter ordered as he tapped the night helmet of every operator on the way down the fast ropes and onto the mountainside beneath them. Tristan was doing the same with the team from Millevia in the helicopter a mile away from him. Hunter grabbed the rope and slid down with his night-vision goggles on and his rifle over his shoulder. He landed in the small clearing of the forest to find his team had already secured the area.

The helicopters flew off as the teams trekked through the thick forest trees toward the top of the mountain where the satellite images showed bodies. Hunter's team moved silently, approaching their target from seven o'clock while Tristan and his team approached from five o'clock.

"Satellite imagery shows no movement up ahead," Captain Bonetti told the teams from where he was monitoring the mission at base.

They were a mile from the target, and even though they were moving uphill through the forest, they moved steadily, thanks to years of training. The problem was the trees were starting to thin, and soon they'd be at a high enough altitude that the trees would end, leaving them exposed.

"Team Alpha at tree line," Hunter reported.

"Team Beta at tree line," Tristan called in thirty seconds later.

"You have about four hundred meters to reach the target. All imagery is clear," Captain Bonetti informed them.

"At the ready, two by two, fanned out," Hunter instructed. "Let's move."

Hunter raised his rifle and moved up the steep incline. It was the perfect location for an ambush. He'd made it almost two hundred yards when they came across the first body. The team medic moved forward and examined the Millevian soldier. "He's dead. Shot in the back as he ran away."

Hunter called in the news, which was then followed by similar news from Tristan's team, now in view of each other. By the time they reached the entrance to the old mine, they had recovered the bodies of two Americans and six Millevian soldiers. Not a single body had a comms device on it. Weapons had also been taken.

Hunter used hand signals as they surrounded the entrance. Hunter took one side, Tristan the other. Their team dropped into high and low positions and two stayed behind to guard the entrance.

With a move of Hunter's hands, they entered the old mine.

Night vision made the mine even eerier. Then there were the bodies. Each had to be checked to make sure there were none alive. Most were terrorists. Some were soldiers.

Hunter held up his hand, halting them. Up ahead, he could see the mine opened up, but he also saw old mining carts mixed with new tables and chairs. Tables that had been turned over to connect with the mining carts to provide a barrier.

They were still missing soldiers. This wasn't an offensive setup. It was defensive. Hunter had a decision to make. They could attempt a surprise attack or they could announce their presence. The point wasn't a kill mission, but a rescue and intelligence gathering one.

"US and Millevian Military. Put down your weapons and stand up slowly," Hunter called out.

Tristan immediately repeated the order in both French and Italian.

"What's your command?" a clearly American voice called out.

"12th Special Forces Group."

"There is no 12th group," the voice called back quickly.

"We're nicknamed The Deadly Dozen and I assure you it's real. It's just not well known. I'm Sergeant First Class Hunter Townsend from Charleston. We were sent to aid Millevia to rescue a group of Marine Raiders out of North Carolina. Don't worry, son, the better Carolina is here now."

"Well shit, you're probably a Gamecocks fan," the voice grumbled and Hunter smiled in the dark. "Come on back. We need help. Hope you have some medics."

Hunter and Tristan were the first to broach the barricade. Help was right. Hunter did a quick count. Ten Americans, but only four of them seemed capable of holding a weapon. The rest were in various degrees of medical crisis. Five Millevians were also there, but only two were holding weapons although severely injured, one of which was Tristan's friend, David. The others were unconscious. There were only two guns between them. One knife, and the rest were holding rocks, pens, or chair legs. All of them looked ready to pass out.

"Call it in," Hunter ordered Tristan. The Millevian medic rushed to help along with the American medic. "What's your name, Tarheel?"

"Petty Officer Brayden Lewis, sir. But you need to help our Master Sergeant. He saved us all."

"Helos are five minutes out," Tristan called as the medic raced to Hunter's side and began to work on the Marine.

"What happened here?" Hunter asked.

"We didn't see anything or anyone but followed the soldier who had seen the men coming in here. We watched it for hours, with no movement. We thought it was empty. We approached in tandem, breached the entrance, and made it here. They were lined against the walls waiting for us. It was an ambush. Some men were able to escape. Did they tell you where we were?" Petty Officer Lewis asked. The man was probably only twenty-five but looked as if he'd seen as much as Hunter had, which was most likely true. Special operations had a way of aging a person.

"They didn't make it. They were taken down in the tunnels or chased outside and taken down. I'm sorry," Hunter told the Marine. He nodded sadly but didn't break. He kept sitting there and looked down at his legs. It was then Hunter noticed the blood. "What happened?"

"One leg broken, another one shot in the knee. I can't walk. I tried, but since I was still able to use my upper body, I refused to leave my team behind. I can at least shoot." Petty Officer Lewis took a deep breath and then ran down the events. "Master Sergeant Langston killed I don't know how many of them and went after the leader. He was shot twice, yet he managed to fight hand to hand with the leader after Langston ran out of ammo. But the leader didn't die. He shot Langston and then ran. There's an exit that way," Lewis pointed. "We surrendered when it was clear we were so badly hurt that we couldn't fight back or leave. We thought it was our only choice. They took our coms, our personal effects, not that we had many, and our weapons. Then they began to shoot. It was like it was fun wounding us. They made a mistake though. They turned their back on the Master Sergeant. Even badly injured, Langston took down one of the men by snapping his neck, grabbed his gun, and shot the other. Then he organized this defense and passed out."

Hunter organized a joint team to guard the tunnels that most likely led to an exit so no one could sneak up on them before turning to the medic. "How is he?" Hunter asked.

"Heart is barely beating. He needs blood badly and he's most likely septic. It'll be a miracle if he lives."

"Can we move him?"

"Not right now. I'm surprised he's even breathing."

Dammit. "What do we need to do so we can move him?"

"He needs blood."

Hunter rolled up his sleeve. "I'm O neg. Do it."

The medic didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed the field transfusion kit and got to work.

"Helos are here," Tristan said as Hunter's blood began to flow into the man passed out on the floor.

"Evacuate them all, but we stay behind. They can come back and get us and it'll give us time to check out the tunnel they used to escape and gather any evidence we can."

The evacuation was complete except for the Master Sergeant. "See what you can find while I finish this transfusion and we wait for the helicopters. We'll watch your back from here."

The team headed down the tunnel and Hunter could finally look at the man he was giving blood to. He was probably in his mid to late thirties. The medic was working on the bullet wounds the best he could, but it was clear the man needed surgery. Morphine and a huge dose of antibiotics were administered and the medic sighed and stood up. "I'm going to call into the hospital. If he actually makes it to town, he needs the best surgeon Millevia has."

The medic stepped a couple of feet away and made the call right as Hunter heard movement from the escape tunnel. Hunter held up his weapon and saw the medic move to cover the injured and hold up his own gun.

"It's us," Tristan called out. Hunter didn't lower his weapon until the entire team was back and there was no sign of anyone following them.

"There's a larger room about four hundred yards deeper into the mountain. Another tunnel leads deeper and also a tunnel that looks newly built, leading up and out of the mountain about a half a mile from the cave's entrance on the north side," Tristan reported. "Found a good amount of spilled fertilizer and bomb materials. However, there are deep tire marks indicating they were able to load up a lot of the material and drive it out of here."

"Let's see what we can find out about the dead terrorist," Hunter said as the medic nodded into the phone and hung up.

"I've already taken photos and sent them off to both the Americans and Millevian military for identification," Tristan told him.

"Medical transport will be here in five minutes. Let's get him ready," the medic told them. "Is anyone else O negative?"

"I am," Tristan said.

"You two, on the medical helo with me. He needs more blood than Townsend can give."

"Come on, men, let's get him moved," Hunter said as he grasped the Master Sergeant's hand to keep the transfusion flowing as they maneuvered him onto the table they'd broken the legs off to form a gurney.

When they moved him, the man groaned. His eyelids fluttered. "I got you, Langston. We're getting you out of here."

"Team?" he managed to ask as the medic poured something into a water bottle and then shoved it at his mouth and ordered him to drink.

"You lost four, but the rest are already evacuated. Now it's time to get your ass home. You did a good job saving your men. I'm Hunter Townsend. What's your name, Langston?"

"Landry. Landry Langston. Get me home to my family, Townsend." Then the man closed his eyes again.