Max recommenced, “Tracy I want you and your father here at the southern road block on the junction with Old Osborne Turnpike and Bickerstaff road, which would also be a good place for the head of the Virginia Police to be. Once we have the warehouse secure we will call you in.”
Tracy replied, “I will advise him of this when I contact him to move his people in Max.”
Max looked at his watch and said, “Synchronise watches to twenty-one ten hours preciously on my mark,” he paused and the said, “Three, two, one mark, okay full weapons and equipment checks we roll at twenty-two thirty hours.”
57
OSC Raid on
Warehouse located at
Nicholson Street
Off
Williamsburg Avenue
Richmond, Virginia
USA
Lat = 37 degrees, 31.2 minutes North
Long = 77 degrees, 24.7 minutes West
Tuesday 19th September 1989 (same day)
Twenty three forty-five hours EDT
Chuck Morris, Tracy and Wayne Rochester were standing next to two Virginia state trooper vehicles at the roadblock on Old Osborne Turnpike and Bickerstaff road.
Wayne Rochester had received the call from Tracy on the radio at twenty-three fifteen hours and all the patrol vehicles had been in place at their respective locations for five minutes, Tracy had also been given an OSC Codetta by Max.
The patrol vehicles were all Fords liveried in traditional grey paint scheme with only the hood, ceiling and trunk painted blue.
A year earlier all the vehicles that had been displaying the single “bubble gum” blue light had, had them removed and replaced with the bar lights.
Each vehicle had a state trooper with it dressed in the standard Class Trooper uniform consisting of a light grey coloured button-up shirt, with short sleeves without a tie as it was still summer.
The uniform was complemented with grey pants with a Dark Blue stripe down the sides along with Black Clarino shoes and Sam Browne belt.
Each of the Troopers was wearing on their heads their traditional black semi-gloss straw Campaign hats that are worn year round and they were all armed with the Smith and Wesson S&W Model 64.38 calibre 4-inch barrel stainless steel revolver.
They also had in their vehicles pump action shotguns.
Max’s Comms system came to life when he heard GAIL’s unique voice speak to him, “ICIS to Eagle-3 we have satellite coverage on your location, I can confirm the roadblocks are in place, and thermal imaging indicates there are no changes to the rooftop and perimeter guards numbers and positions, over.”
Max replied, “copy that ICIS, eagle-3 out.”
The Codetta that Tracy was holding came to life, “eagle-3 to Tracy, we are moving in, out.”
Wayne Rochester had overheard the transmission and said, “That voice sounded British Chuck?”
Chuck was quick with his response to answer the question, “that’s correct Wayne, we are using a multi-jurisdictional task force with the British on this operation, as I said this afternoon Wayne, there is a lot at present I cannot divulge to you.”
Three quarters of a mile away Max was with Roy and his team, they had arrived at the southwestern corner of the perimeter fence; Max spoke into his integrated Comms system build into his combat helmet, “Eagle-3 to team-6 snipers you are authorised to engage, over.”
The four snipers from team-6 had inserted themselves at their respective positions twenty minutes earlier and had assumed a crouching position for the shot, three hundred yards away.
This stance is considerably less accurate than a prone position however, it was better than a standing one.
Each of the snipers were sitting on one foot laid sideways on the ground while putting their other foot in front of them as tight to their bodies as possible with the knee towards the face.
They had also found an object to support their backs against creating more stability.
Each man had their single fire bolt action suppressed L96A1 with a ten round 7.62 NATO round magazine along with the 10-x 42-hensoldt telescopic sights.
Their rifle position had the butt of the stock in the pocket of their shoulder just above their armpit, with the cheek lightly against the stock, looking down the scope in the most relaxed position possible.
Each of the men had created a good cheek weld or stock weld. Meaning their cheekbone was held fast against the butt stock to insure proper sight alignment and sight picture.
An important aspect is to reduce eye fatigue that can occur when the marksman stares through the scope for more than 15 seconds, which can develop parallax or lose focus on the target.
Each sniper had controlled their breathing slowing their heartbeats creating a longer time to make an accurate shot.
Vas spoke into his Comms, “snipers on my mark, 3, 2, 1 mark!”
Each sniper applied a constant, slow pressure to the two-stage trigger, so they did not know when it would fire, by doing this they were less likely to compensate for the recoil by tightening their shoulder.
They pulled the trigger straight back toward their shoulder. Keeping their firing hand and support hand loose and relaxed.
The four rounds found their targets on the warehouse roof within two tenths of a second, with fatal consequences to the four men on the roof.
Each of the rooftop guards took head shots and crumpled to the ground silently, just as if you had been watching a silent movie.
Vas had been observing the roof and watched as the guards disappeared out of site, he spoke into his Comms, “Eagle-6 to eagle-3, rooftop guards down, you are clear to engage, out.”
Max replied, “Copy that eagle-3 we are going in, out.”
One of Roy’s team began cutting the fence with the bolt cutters and within thirty-seconds Max, Roy and team-2 were entering the grounds as Max spoke into his Comms, “Eagle-4 take the guard on the south side I will take the one on the western side?”
Roy replied, “Copy that eagle-3, out.”
Both Max and Roy made their way towards their respective targets each followed by three members of team-2.
Max was first to engage his target.
He moved the fire selector on the left of his HK MP-5 to the position marked ‘E’ for semi-auto position and knelt down looking down the closed iron sights at his target.
Max squeezed the trigger and four rounds left the weapon with no more than the sound of a phutt, the four 7.62×51mm NATO rounds left the barrel at 1,312 ft/s and at the close range instantly found their target.
The guard was knocked of his feet and propelled backwards before hitting the ground dead, a few seconds later Roy executed the same process and his target was flung to the ground instantly dying.
Max spoke into his Comms, “eagle-4 move to target on eastern side, I will take the one on the northern side, less than a minute later the remaining perimeter guards had joined their two other colleagues, lying dead on the ground.
Vas and four of his team had joined Max as they moved towards the now unguarded door, Roy and his three men appeared from the northern side, Max said, “eagle-3 to snipers any movement over?”
The two snipers both replied, “Negative eagle-3 the perimeter is clear, out.”
Max moved close to the door and listened for a few moments, he could just make out the sound from a television of a football match and cheering of men, he spoke into his Comms and said, “I am about to try the door, standby to go on my command!”
Max opened a small box and quickly identified the button to open the door he took a deep breath and pushed it; there was a moment’s pause before the door began its ascent.
Inside all the men were gathered around the television and did not immediately hear the roller shutter door opening.
As the door attained
shoulder height the OSC teams flooded into the warehouse, several of the men watching the television had now turned towards the door and watched in horror at the armed tactical team moving in on them, one of them shouted in Russian, “Intruders!
The men around the television scrambled for their weapons.
The OSC teams were already training their suppressed weapons on the men and began firing short controlled bursts in amongst them resulting in several of the guards taking fatal hits, some of the Russians managed to engage their weapons onto their attackers, but having been taken completely by surprise their shots were wild and only a few found a target.
The fire fight lasted twenty seconds with the Russian guards taking fatal hits to their unprotected bodies, the rounds from the OSC’s HK MP5’s tearing them apart.
Max spoke into his Comms, “Seize fire!”
A deathly silence engulfed the warehouse following the seize firing order had been given, the smell of cordite was strong mixed in with the smoke hanging in the air from the engagement.
By this time the OSC were checking the bodies on the floor for any survivors, but none had survived.
Max looked around and noticed two of the team sitting up on the floor receiving treatment and he walked over to them and was informed the two men had taken hits to their body armour and had suffered only bruising.
Max spoke into his Comms and said, “Eagle-3 to all teams sweep the area for any of our casings and retrieve them and bag them up, out.”
Sergeant Cray had moved over to the glass area and was looking in at a container as Max approached him and said, “It’s all yours sergeant?”
Sergeant Cray walked into the area carrying a large holdall and began putting on his bio-suit, five minutes later he had entered the large area with the container and began examining the contents, what he noticed immediately alarmed him, he used his Geiger counter and scanned the empty area alongside the Red Mercury device.
He turned and exited the room, utilised the spray system and several minutes later came out and walked over to Max.
“Sir, we have a serious problem!”
“What is it sergeant?”
“The container has placement for two devices, but there is only one in the container, it looks like one is missing!”
“Are you sure sergeant?”
“It makes no sense to have two identical compartments for one device sir.”
Max thought for a moment and spoke into his Comms, “eagle-3 to ICIS we have a serious issue here, over!”
58
‘ICIS’ Saltbox Hill
Biggin Hill, Kent
Lat = 51 degrees, 19.7 minutes North
Long = 0 degrees, 1.2 minutes East
And
10 Downing Street
City of Westminster
London SW1
Lat = 51 degrees, 30.2 minutes North
Long = 0 degrees, 7.7 minutes West
Wednesday 20th September 1989 (next morning)
Zero Five sixteen hours BST
Back at ICIS and Number 10, the Everest group along with the PM at Number 10 and Strayker at ICIS had been listening in on the raid along with real time satellite coverage.
Strayker replied to Max’s incoming transmission, “go ahead Max, you are also transmitting to the Everest group and the PM, over.”
“Copy that sir, sergeant Cray has just advised me that he has found a device in the container, but also it appears that there were originally two devices contained within it and the other is missing.”
The Prime Minister was first to respond, “Colonel Storm, this is the Prime Minister, are you absolutely sure of this?”
Max replied, “Ma’am, I will put sergeant Cray on the Comms, one moment.”
Sergeant Cray had been listening in on the open Comms and said, “sergeant Cray here Prime Minister, I can confirm that two devices were originally in the container, my Geiger counter readings support this, over.”
Strayker said, “Major Strayker here Sergeant, maybe the reading you took was reflected from the single device in the container?”
Sergeant Cray replied, “What you suggest would normally make sense, however the readings are too high for a single device sir.”
Strayker said, “Thank you sergeant, Max have you any thoughts?”
“Give me ten minutes sir; I need to check out something, I’ll call you back then.”
Strayker replied, “Okay Max, we will standby, out.”
Max walked over to Roy and said, “Roy we have a serious situation, it looks like there were originally two devices in the container and now there is only one. Were you able to see if anything was taken by the two CIA men or the Asian woman?”
Roy thought for a few moments before replying, “We had limited vision inside the warehouse, and when the car turned up the door was closed behind it.”
Max said, “what about when it left Roy?”
“We followed them to the hotel and the Asian woman exited the car, but had nothing with her. We then tailed the CIA car to their headquarters but could not follow them as they entered the site.”
“So! There is a possibility they could have removed it last night and placed it in the car,” relied Max.
“That’s a fair assumption Max,” replied Roy.
“Okay Roy, have sergeant Cray secure the device and have our teams set up a hard perimeter around the warehouse.”
“I am on it Max,” replied Roy.
Max spoke into his Comms, “Eagle-3 to ICIS over.”
Strayker was awaiting the call and replied, “Go ahead Max.”
“Sir, I have spoken to Roy and there is a possibility the other device was removed last night by the two CIA operatives and the Asian woman Sun-Yung when they came to the warehouse.”
Strayker said, “Do we have any concrete proof on this Max?”
“Negative on that sir,” replied Max.
The PM said, “Colonel this is the Prime Minister, I need to speak with the President before we take any further action on this.”
Max replied, “I understand Ma’am, Chuck Morris the CIA director is down the road would you like me to put him in the loop?”
“Yes Colonel.”
“Thank you Ma’am I’ll personally speak to him now, I will have the teams rap up here and hand over to the locals. I will have sergeant Cray make the device safe and secure before we take it back to the safe house and await further orders, eagle-3 out.”
Sergeant Cray had been standing nearby when Max said, “How long to make the device safe for transportation sergeant?”
“Twenty minutes tops sir,” he replied.
“See to it sergeant.”
Max pulled his Codetta from one of his pockets and spoke into it, “Max to Tracy over.”
Tracy replied, “Go ahead Max.”
“Meet us down at the warehouse and bring your father, over.”
“Received Max, five minutes, out.”
59
Warehouse located at
Nicholson Street
Off
Williamsburg Avenue
Richmond, Virginia
USA
Lat = 37 degrees, 31.2 minutes North
Long = 77 degrees, 24.7 minutes West
Wednesday 20th September 1989 (same day)
Zero thirty-four hours EDT
Tracy and her father Chuck Morris arrived at the warehouse and were allowed through the main gates by two of the OSC team.
Tracy parked the car up and they both walked into the warehouse, Chuck observed the containment area and a figure in a Hazmat style suit by a container.
Max had noticed them arriving and had taken his ballistic combat helmet, Tracy was first to speak, “Max, may I introduc
e you to my father Chuck.”
Max extended his hand and said, “Pleased to make your acquaintance Chuck.”
Chuck Morris extended his hand, shook Max’s hand, and looked around before saying, “I take it no prisoners were taken Colonel Storm?”
“Please call me Max and no Chuck; our mission parameters were to secure the device and kill all hostiles, it makes life easier when a prisoner is not required.”
“I agree Max,” Chuck Morris pointed to the man in the containment area and continued, “is that your man checking on the device?”
“Yes; sergeant Cray is on loan to us, he has a wealth of experience in these types of devices, however we have encountered a serious problem!”
Chuck Morris quickly turned looked at Max and said, “The device is there and it is safe Max, yes?”
“That’s not the problem Chuck, it appears the container originally had two devices and one is missing.”
“Are you sure Max?” Replied Chuck Morris.
“Sergeant Cray has confirmed it with a Geiger counter reading sir; we believe it may have been removed last night by the two CIA men Carter and McFaul when they visited the warehouse with the woman Sun-Young.”
Chuck Morris exclaimed “good God! Do you have any idea where they took it Max?”
Max replied, “Your daughter Tracy and one of my men tailed them when they left here to your HQ.”
Tracy quickly came into the conversation and said, “They drove down to the sub level parking area, we then returned to the safe house.”
Chuck Morris said, “Right I will have an arrest warrant for them and the woman within the hour!”
Max said, “Chuck I don’t want to tell you how to do your job; but my Prime Minister is contacting you President as we speak and if I were the people responsible for all this. I would ensure the device would be somewhere safe by now and going for a warrant may tip them we are on to them.”
Chuck Morris looked at Max he was aware of the man’s background his intelligence on him had confirmed colonel Storm was a remarkable man with a keen military mind. “What do you suggest Max?”
Red Mercury Page 19