Project Reaper
Page 21
“Roger that,” replied Many Gall.
Many Gall crouched down and crept forward slowly the
hundred yards to warehouse two, he was at the back of the building and had to move stealthily around the side between warehouse three to come to the door.
Max spoke, “eagle seven; there has been no movement from the southwest quadrant over.”
Max was not expecting a reply to his transmission; Manny had heard it and was now at the open door.
Again, his keen eyesight detected the trip wire just below knee height across the door; he shuffled backwards and around the side of the warehouse.
He quickly made his way back to Max, “sir; warehouse two has a trip wire.”
Max spoke into his Comms, “all teams it looks like we are expected, team four sniper can you scope the area opposite you for hostiles?”
The sniper was in the prone position, with his L96A1 sniper rifle on its bipod at the road entrance; he had been monitoring the radio chatter and had already scoped the area with the rifles 10 times scope, offering outstanding performance in poor light conditions.
He was now looking at a group of armed hostiles three hundred yards away on the southwestern quadrant; he quickly counted them, thirty-one.
“Team four sniper to eagle three, I have thirty one
hostiles all in the southwestern quadrant over.”
Max replied, “copy that standby.”
His mind was quickly formulating a plan and he called Manny Gall over, “Take the jerry-can over to the back of building two and strap a grenade to it.”
“Roger that sir.”
Manny took two of his team over to recover the jerry-can and they positioned it behind building two, Manny used a plastic tie to affix the grenade to the jerry can and re-joined Max.
“Done sir.”
On the southwestern quadrant, Juan Manuel Alvarez had positioned his men awaiting the explosion from the trip wire in building two.
He had surmised that the British would have good intelligence and would target building two, as soon as the explosion occurred he would send in ten of his men directly to building two, ten would fan around the western side of building one and he would take the remaining ten to flank around the south eastern side towards building four.
The binoculars he was using were very poor for night conditions and they had heard nothing, he looked at his watch, twelve minutes after midnight.
His men were becoming restless and he passed an order
down the line to keep quiet and still or answer to him.
The men quickly settled down, knowing he was not a man to cross or upset.
Max was concerned about the situation, if he was running the other side; he would have removed the Professor from the impending firefight, and the obvious place to take him would be back to the Hacienda.
He quickly spoke into his Comms, “Eagle three to ICIS patch me through to Eagle four.”
GAIL replied “you are connected eagle Three go ahead.”
“Eagle three to four; give me a SITREP over?
Verdugo’s Hacienda
Bucaramanga Colombia
Lat = 7 degrees, 8.0 minutes North
Long = 73 degrees, 5.6 minutes West
Thursday 5th January 1989
Zero hundred hour and sixteen minutes local time
Five hours behind GMT
Roy Smith and his team had climbed over the perimeter wall on the southeastern side and were now fanned out, in the wooded area near to the two outer buildings on the eastern side of the Hacienda.
They had been scanning the Hacienda and could make out people in the large room down stairs; they had also detected three-armed guards patrolling the perimeter of the main building.
Roy’s Comms unit picked up Max’s request, “four to three, we have entered the grounds, there is activity in a large ground floor room, but unable at this distance to clarify targets, we also have three armed guards patrolling the external perimeter over.”
“Copy that four, it looks like we are expected up here the place has been wired with explosive booby traps, I
have a feeling the Professor is at the Hacienda, I need you to confirm this over?”
“Roger that three, give me ten minutes out.”
Roy spoke to the two snipers, “I am going in cover me.”
With that, Roy moved quickly but stealthily around the back of the two out buildings, he stopped and checked the area ahead, “eagle four to team one snipers where are the guards over?”
One of the snipers replied, “One hostile just rounding the southwestern side towards the back, one is standing at the main door and you should be able to see the third coming around the eastern side on your side over.”
Roy spotted the third guard walking along the eastern side of the Hacienda and watched him turn right passing the downstairs room that was lit.
Roy moved across the open lawn knowing this was placing him in a vulnerable position; however, he had faith in the sniper teams.
Both snipers were tracking the guards through their respective scopes; it would take less than two seconds to take all three guards.
Roy was now hunkered down at the window looking in; three men were sitting at a large table, Verdugo Toledo, Ramón Cubrero and Professor Hooke.
His Comms came to life, “eagle four the second guard has just come round the north eastern corner over.”
Roy was trapped with nowhere to go; he quickly looked around and located a number of bushes about three-foot high on the southeastern corner.
The sniper teams watched as Roy made his way to the bushes, just managing to lie down before the second guard arrived turning the corner.
Roy had drawn his advanced combat knife with a seven-inch blade and held his breath as the guard walked alongside the bushes and then stopped.
One of the team snipers had his sight on guard two’s head and was ready to squeeze the trigger, the second sniper had acquired his sight on the guard at the front door.
Roy was just about to move and take the guard out when the guard lit a cigarette and continued along the front of the house.
Roy let out a deep breath, and waited a few moments before speaking into his Comms, “how’s my exit over?”
One of the team snipers replied, “You’re clear to return.”
Roy picked himself up and legged it back across the lawn to the outer buildings and rendezvoused with the
team.
“Eagle four to three over.”
Max replied, “go ahead four.”
“Your right sir, the Professor is here, with Toledo and Ramón Cubrero over.”
Max replied, “Copy that four, GAIL can you check for heat signatures in the outer buildings at the Hacienda?”
GAIL’s voice replied, “give me thirty seconds.”
Her systems churned away communicating with the satellite and thirty seconds later, she replied, “The outer buildings on the western side show multiple heat sources, I would estimate around thirty, they appear to be asleep.”
Max spoke, “Major are you listening in over?”
“Strayker replied, “yes Max; looks like our plan got out of the hat, the culprit will be identified and dealt with later, what’s your plan now Max?”
“Launch the Harrier’s sir, send one to my location and the other to Roy’s, tell them to await my orders over.”
“I am on it now Max,” replied Strayker.
HMS Ark Royal
Lago de Maracaibo
Venezuela
Lat = 9 degrees, 48.1 minutes North
Long = 71 degrees, 31.5 minutes West
Thursday 5th January 1989
Zero hundred hours and forty-two minutes
Five hours behind
GMT
The two FRS-1 Sea Harriers call signs Razor’s 3 and 4 had been on standby on the Ark Royals main deck, since the Sea kings had left.
Both pilots had been waiting patiently for their orders; for the last thirty-minutes, their sliding cockpit canopies still open allowing the cool breeze in from the lake.
For the mission they were armed with two Sea Eagle air to surface missiles, four Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and there standard Two 30mm Aden cannon.
The radio hissed for a second followed by the order they had been awaiting from the ships control tower.
“Razor’s 3 and 4 you are a go; I repeat you are a go for
lift off over.
Razor 3’s pilot Daniel Sharpe (Danny boy) the lead aircraft replied, “Roger that tower.”
Razor 4’s pilot Thomas White (Chalky) also responded, “roger that tower.”
Both pilots Signalled to the flight deckhand crew
signalman to start up the engine, by rotating their index and middle finger, the signalman checked it was all clear and returned the same signal using illuminated wands.
Both pilots powered up the single Rolls Royce Pegasus Mk 104 vectored-thrust turbofan engines, and then signalled for the chocks to be removed by a sweeping motion of the fists outwards with thumbs extended.
A deck crew operative moved in and removed the chocks from both aircraft, and the signalman confirmed to the pilots that this had been done.
Both pilots had earlier completed pre-flight checks on all the flaps, ailerons, rudder, jet nozzle rotations and exterior lights, both pilots signalled for a final check for clearance underneath with their left hand open palm out, using a sweeping motion across cockpit from right to left.
The signalman gave the final ready signal waving a single wand upwards in a circular motion.
The pilots slid their canopies to the closed position,
the engines powered up wing flaps positioned down and the brakes were released, with the jet nozzles, pointing down
at a ninety degrees angle, the power was directed to the flight deck and in a few seconds both Sea harriers were
lifting off to clear the deck.
The pilots then rotated the jet nozzles to Zero degrees aft directing the thrust to the rear and both Sea Harriers accelerated forward and began lifting up into the night sky with the landing gear being retracted.
They both quickly achieved their cruising speed of five hundred and twenty-eight miles per hour, initial heading of two hundred and ten degrees southwest ascending to an altitude of fifteen thousand feet; flight time to targets, twenty one minutes and sixteen seconds.
Verdugo’s Warehouse
Rio Negro Twenty miles North of Bucaramanga
Lat = 7 degrees, 16.1 minutes North
Long = 73 degrees, 8.5 minutes West
And
Toledo Verdugo’s Hacienda
Bucaramanga Colombia
Lat = 7 degrees, 8.0 minutes North
Long = 73 degrees, 5.6 minutes West
Thursday 5th January 1989
Zero-one hundred hours and one minute
Five hours behind GMT
The teams at both locations had held their positions in total silence; GAIL had opened up communications on talk through, between both situates.
GAIL’s voice broke the silence, “Eagle’s three and four your strike package Razor’s three and four respectively; will be with you in ninety seconds, please advise how you want them to deploy over?”
Max replied, “have them hold thirty seconds out over.”
“That’s affirmative Eagle three, strike package Razor’s three and four to hold at thirty seconds out, I will
link their Comms into yours, so you can have direct talk through with them, over.”
“Copy that GAIL, advise them of the respective teams deployment coordinates on site over,” replied Max.
“Coordinates have now been sent, I have coordinates of hostiles at your location Eagle three, and how do you want to proceed at the Hacienda over?”
“Eagle four status update over?”
“Everything still the same here Eagle three, GAIL give the strike package the coordinates for the outer buildings on the western side, that’s the target I will want taken out; over!
GAIL replied, Eagle’s three and four you now have full control of the operations, I will monitor both locations and send live feed to you Eagle three, out.”
Both Sea Harrier pilots had been listening in on their Comms and updating their target systems.
Both aircraft had arrived at their respective holding positions; the pilots had reduced their speed to fifty knots bringing the aircraft to a stop, pulling the lever alongside the throttle to hover stop, at an of altitude two hundred feet.
They were now hovering keeping the aircraft flat, using the reaction control they used the tapped air from the bottom of the engine, which was guided along pipes to
both wing tips, one to the nose and one to the tail.
Hot air was then available at each end of the wing and at the nose and tail, released from a valve over the wing surfaces and below the nose and tail combined with the aileron and rudder controls, the pilots were able to keep the aircraft flat in a hover.
Max spoke over the Comms, “Eagle four, we are about to engage, wait until I call you before engaging at your end over.”
“Roger that three; out,” replied Roy Smith.
Max continued, “Razor three, have you identified the hostiles, over?”
“Eagle three; I have them still on your southwestern quadrant over.”
“Remain at your holding point Razor 3; I’ll call you in if I need you out.”
Max was lying down next to the team’s two sniper; he whispered, “do you think you can explode the grenade on the jerry-can?”
The sniper turned his grin on his face visible to Max.
Max grinned back and said, “She’s all yours.”
The sniper turned back to look through is scope.
Max spoke into the Comm’s, “all warehouse teams standby
for the explosion, hold your ground and let’s see what
happens, out.”
The sniper quickly acquired the target, took a few deep breath holding the last one, at the same time squeezing the trigger, a small phutt sound was all that emitted from the weapon
A millisecond later the bullet struck its target, the rear of building two was lit up by the light from the explosion, coupled with the rear wall collapsing.
Juan Manuel Alvarez was suddenly jolted to an even higher state of readiness, “Christ these buggers are good,” he exclaimed.
However the explosion did not appear to have come from the front of the building, something was not right, he waved the ten men in to the front of building two, but kept the remaining twenty back.
Corporal Hardwick was lying next to Max with the PCDL, he motioned to Max to look at it, and the screen was showing the heat signatures of a small group moving towards building two.
Max spoke into his Comms, “we have a small group of hostiles moving onto the front of building two, team four engage them.”
Team four sniper let out a sigh, and muttered “at last.”
He quickly acquired his first target and fired; the
hostile was dead before he hit the ground, the rest of team four fanned out towards building four, their targets easily seen lit up from the fire raging at the rear of building two.
The teams silenced Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns fired with deadly accuracy, inflicting fatal wounds to enemy.
Juan Manuel Alvarez watched as his men were slaughtered, he had taken a gamble at the risk of ten of his men, and smirked; now was the time to produce his ace.
Alvarez spoke into
a two-way radio, “Carlito, you ready?”
Carlito replied, “Si senior Alvarez.”
“Get here now ASAP.”
“We will be there in ninety seconds.”
Carlito was the pilot of a UH-1H (Huey) helicopter that had been used by the military, that he had bought a couple of years ago, when it was auctioned off.
Alvarez had contacted him three hours ago requesting his helicopter to wait on standby a several miles to the south of the warehouses, Carlito had arrived thirty minutes ago and had kept the engine idling, with the rotor blades whirling above in flat pitch.
Carlito operated the collective control stick
increasing the collective pitch. The rotor blades bit
into the air, each to the same degree, lifting the helicopter vertically.
On board were two of Carlito’s men, operating the two point 30 calibre machine guns.
The Huey’s doors and hinged panels had been removed, allowing the Huey to be flown in a “doors off” configuration.
The Huey quickly ascended; Carlito adjust the cyclic pitch propelling the helicopter forward.
As the helicopter, ascended two things simultaneously occurred, Razor-3’s pilot was alerted from his radar picking up the aerial signature, and GAIL also registered it.
GAIL was the first to respond, “All warehouse units; I have an unidentified helicopter, just appeared on satellite five miles to the south of your location.”
Razor-3’s pilot replied, “Razor 3 here; I have it on my radar, speed 125 mph altitude four hundred feet, ETA forty-two seconds over.”
Max spoke, “can anyone tell if it’s armed over?”
GAIL replied, “I have two heat signatures showing on the port and starboard sides, looking at its profile, my data tells me it’s a Huey over.”
Max paused for a second and could now hear the
familiar characteristic Huey thump, from the rotor
blades that is particularly evident during descent and in turning flight, “Razor-3 it’s a gunship take it out now.”
“Roger that Eagle three.”
Carlito descended to one hundred feet, the two gunners could now see the warehouses by the light from the raging fire behind one of the buildings, but most importantly, they identified the Special Forces team on the eastern side, they swivelled the point 30-calibre machine guns aiming down.