Maj. Eric "Timber Wolf" Miller was the head of a Army Delta Force commando platoon. The 28-man platoon was often assigned the most dangerous covert ops missions. If a couple of Iranian subs needed to kiss the ocean floor, Miller's platoon was the tool to use. If a chemical weapons plant in Kazakhstan had a disastrous "accident", Miller's platoon could be seen emerging from the rubble, making their way towards a pick-up point.
The platoon's records were unmatched. But why was this platoon so good? Well, the secret to their success lay in their flak jackets. Hidden snugly under each suit of Kevlar body armor were two small red-and-white balls: Pokeballs. Each platoon member carried two pokeballs in their flak jackets and two more in their All-purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment (ALICE) backpacks. The second-in-command, Capt. Victor "Gator" Ashraf, made sure that no one, not even their direct superiors, knew about the pokemon.
Brigadier General Jon Madirosian, the battalion commander himself, attended the platoon's next mission's briefing. Of course, the battalion intelligence officer (S-2) did most of the briefing. But if the boss was here, than this must be a really important mission.
The S-2 cleared his throat, then started, "Gentlemen, I know that you're busy people, so I will dispense of the crap. In a nutshell, we want two munitions plants eliminated. They're in Sudan, and we believe they are manufacturing the weapons that some of the local terrorist factions have been using in their attacks. Destroying them would really take a bite out of the terrorists' effectiveness.
'You'll enter the country via a pair of MV-22 Sea Hammer tilt-rotor aircraft launched from the USS Wasp in the Red Sea. They'll ingress at low altitude. Drop Zone is 12 minutes from crossing the coastline. It'll be 5 klicks from Munitions Plant Alpha and 4 klicks from Munitions Plant Bravo. Your platoon will split into two teams: Team Cougar and Team Hammer. Cougar's assigned to Alpha, Hammer's assigned to Bravo. Sea Hammers will extract you twenty minutes later. I suggest you go to the ops room and study the maps. You've got 5 days to get ready."
Madirosian rose and shook Miller's hand. "Good luck son, give 'em hell."
"Thank you sir," Miller saluted and left.
In the ops room, they worked out teams first. Miller commanded Alpha, with 1st Lt. Mike O'Brien as his XO; Ashraf commanded Bravo, with 1st Lt. Pat Johnson as his XO. Each team had 14 people. They spent the whole day going over the attack plan, each person remembering their own roles so well that they could repeat them backwards in their sleep. That was good, because they would be required to practice the mission in non-stop drills tomorrow.
Finally, after an exhausting 3-day practice and a much needed break, the team was on their way to Sudan. It was 1 am local, and the sleepy areas around the targets never had the least idea that two Marine MV-22 aircraft were violating Sudanese airspace at 30 feet above the ground. The lead aircraft took out roaming BRDM scout cars with presicion using the steerable pod on the nose, which mounted a 20mm cannon.
At the IP, the two planes split up to drop the two teams. The teams landed stealthily and secured the perimeter expertly, taking out the sentries with short, accurate bursts of their M4 carbines. As soon as the planes left, the commandos took out their real weapons: the two pokeballs that each one always had ready.
Miller's team, Cougar, easily entered Target A, shooting out the cameras on their way into the building. Ashraf's team, Hammer, had more of a challenge. The door was locked by a digital pad requiring a number sequence. Any other sequence set off an alarm.
A new platoon member, PFC Alex "Ostrich" Morris, suddenly got an idea.
"Alakazam, go!" he yelled, throwing out Alakazam's pokeball. Alakazam popped out. He emitted psywaves at the pad, extracting the correct code and then entering it. The door unlocked.
"Good work Ostrich," Ashraf congratulated him. Morris grinned as he withdrew Alakazam.
*****
Meanwhile, Miller's team entered the building. They would now locate the building's 4 weak points and set their explosives on them. Luckily, they had an accurate blueprint. As they came to a long corridor, Mike O'Brien's trained eyes noticed little red beams: trip-laser mines. He held up his left hand and balled it into a fist, signaling that everyone should stop.
Miller crept next to O'Brien. "Now what?" he asked. "It'll take too long to disarm all of the mines."
O'Brien didn't hesitate. "Use your Raichu, sir. A Thunder Wave's EMP is silent and will fry the mines' circuits."
Miller nodded and grinned. "Exactly what I was thinking. Raichu, go!"
Raichu popped out. "Rai," it said.
"Raichu, use your Thunder Wave to disable this corridor's mines," Miller ordered.
With an obeying "Chu", Raichu Thunder Waved the corridor, disabling the mines easily.
A 2nd lieutenant's eyes suddenly popped wide.
"Sirs, six Tangos directly ahead!"
Everyone turned their heads, spotting six AK-74-armed terrorists walking down the corridor, weapons in the ready position. The terrorists saw Miller's team a split second after they themselves were spotted. Everybody raced to raise and fire their weapons. Miller's team won.
O'Brien opened up his M4 carbine, spraying bullets over the terrorists. Miller was right behind him, and others joined in.
Even as the dying moans of the terrorists faded away, more bad guys appeared. 30 of them. Each carried a heavy caliber machine gun. Miller's team was pinned down, the heavy rattle of automatic weapons getting closer as two additional crack infantry squads arrived and charged towards the team.
*****
Ashraf's team was in its own mess. They had encountered their own resistance, and were ducking inside a small room while hundreds of bullets went whizzing by.
"Sir!" 2nd lt. Alex Vargas suddenly yelled. "Tangos have RPGs!"
A rocket-propelled grenade slammed into the doorframe, pelting Johnson with bits of steel. A piece of shrapnel dug into his left arm, ripping the tendon and rendering it useless.
"Ugh!" Johnson groaned, falling back.
Ashraf was there in a second, "You okay?"
"Sir, we got bigger problems right now!" Morris yelled.
Ashraf looked up just in time to see four grenades slam into the roof's foundations, causing it to come falling down on top of the 14 troopers.
TO BE CONTINUNED...