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The Company
Time: Wednesday, March 16, 2011 (20:00).
Place: Mazatlán, Mexico.
Last Event: Kitting up for the raid on the cartel warehouse.
Before leaving their rallying point at the abandoned pump house, the Agents consider their options for gaining entry to the fenced-in compound where the gangsters are holed up. Consensus is that the best approach would be to go in over the warehouse roof from the next block over, which ought to mask the crew's activities. In fact, because the warehouses in adjacent lots are in one long row, Zhang believes that it should be possible to do the climbing a few doors down and then advance along the rooftops. The discussion ends with a final gear check to verify that the team has everything needed to execute such an operation.
The group equips for a climb, a rooftop breach, and the almost inevitable firefight with notoriously heavily armed cartel foot soldiers. Everybody straps on an armor vest, load-bearing gear, and a rappelling harness over dark clothing. All 10 Agents pack a hands-free tactical headset, a holstered Vector pistol, an infrared strobe for signaling any air extraction that V might send, and (given the nature of the evening's hunt) both a small electronic Geiger counter and a radiation badge. Further arrangements vary according to individual role:
• Anabel: Entries aren't her forte, so her sole task is to add volume of fire. She slings a Veresk submachine gun and sheathes an NRS-2 knife on her vest.
• Jili: As the squad's wire rat, her mission-critical equipment consists of extensive tools for foiling electronic security systems, wire cutters, an electronic stethoscope for eavesdropping, and a fiberscope for peeking (along with a small cordless drill to bore holes for it). She also slings a Veresk submachine gun.
• Klas: One of the team's two snipers, he slings a Vintorez suppressed sniper rifle and adds binoculars to his loadout in case he has to spot for Wen. Since he has a good arm, he also loads his vest with fragmentation and stun grenades.
• Lev: The squad's entry man, he slings a Veresk submachine gun and brings along a whole lot of spare ammo. He also hangs a bunch of stun grenades and an NRS-2 knife on his vest. Finally, he lugs the group's go-bar on a makeshift sling.
• Paul: Another Agent whose only specific job is to shoot lots, he packs quite a few spare magazines for his Vector so as to best exploit his remarkable skills as a pistolero. He also slings a Veresk submachine gun.
• Qoqa: As the team medic, she has first-aid gear in her waist pack. She also slings a Veresk submachine gun and, being a fan of blades, sheathes an NRS-2 knife on her vest.
• Vinnie: The designated burglar and safecracker, he travels heavy with a crowbar, lockpicks, basic bridges and bypasses for security systems, a small cutting torch stowed in his waist pack, and some SEMTEX for stubborn doors. For weapons, he slings a Veresk submachine gun and sheathes an NRS-2 knife on his vest.
• Wen: The team's other sniper, she slings a Vintorez suppressed sniper rifle and packs binoculars in case she has to observe for Klas. Being the group's explosives expert, she also loads her vest with fragmentation, stun, and thermite grenades, and stuffs her waist pack with SEMTEX blocks.
• Zhang: Given that he'll lead the climb, he brings a padded grappling hook and a coil of rope, plus burglar's gear such as bolt cutters, a crowbar, and lockpicks. He also slings a Veresk submachine gun.
The guns are fitted with tactical lights, and everybody packs lots of spare magazines. Jili, Klas, Lev, Paul, and Wen make room for additional first-aid supplies. The Agents carrying "shooting scout knives" (NRS-2) fire a few silent shots to get a feel for the things. Hamid is chosen to remain with the cube van full of gear, so he doesn't need a full loadout, but he sets kit similar to Jili's on the passenger seat next to him, just in case.
Just before leaving the pump house, Jili and Anabel call in to V one last time. They inform her of the group's plans for the raid. V wishes them luck, and asks them to keep the radio ready to facilitate a coordinated extraction. After signing off, Hamid and Jili unpack the second radio, and change the batteries in and run system checks on both sets.
For the trip across town to the warehouse, Vinnie takes the wheel of the lead car, with Anabel and Wen as passengers; Wen packs an RPG-7 in the trunk, just in case. Paul drives the second car, ferrying Jili, Klas, and one of the radio sets. Zhang's car brings up the rear, with Lev and Qoqa aboard. Hamid hangs back a couple of blocks with the truck full of gear, the second satellite radio sitting next to him in case he needs it.
It's about 23:00 when the Agents reach the poorly lit street that runs behind the row of warehouses. There's no road or foot traffic in the area at all. As the convoy cruises past the building of interest, Wen notices a small camera watching the back of the place. Vinnie stops a few doors down from the warehouse the gangsters are using, behind another, almost-identical structure, and the others pull in behind him. Once the coast is clear, everybody gets out and moves quickly.
Wen tosses the padded grappling hook up to the roof, where it catches on the first try. She signals Zhang, who climbs up the attached line, secures it, and gestures for the others to join him. They scramble up quickly: Wen, Anabel, Qoqa, Klas, Lev, Jili, Paul, and finally Vinnie. This isn't as quiet as it might be – but that's why Zhang's wanted to do the climb some distance down the street! Somewhere, guard dogs start barking; Klas tells people to sit still and be quiet for a few minutes until they stop.
After the barking stops, the Agents sneak up the street along the rooftops, with Wen and Klas on point. At target warehouse, Wen signals a stop and gestures at something ahead. The others gather around and see that there's some sort of wire barrier connected to cables leading down into the building – probably some sort of security system. Jili moves in; after only a few minutes' work with her tools, she indicates that she has bypassed the sensors and that it's safe to pass. Moving in a slow, stealthy crouch, the entire team makes its way onto the roof of the gangsters' warehouse.
Wen immediately crawls to the edge of the roof that overlooks the fenced-in yard, where she surveys the lay of the land through her rifle scope. The vehicles she can see consist of the eight SUVs that Vinnie shadowed earlier, parked along the fences, as well as two 18-wheel rigs, backed up to the warehouse. As for guards, Wen spots four men with AK-type rifles: a pair guarding one of the doors to the low office structure at the far side of the property, plus two individuals patrolling the yard and making no effort to cover one other. She also notices cameras watching the office doors and the area just inside the main gates. Speaking quietly into her tactical headset, she shares these details with her associates.
Meanwhile, the other Agents examine the warehouse roof. It consists of fairly solid corrugated metal sheeting supported by steel beams, punctuated by swaths of lightweight corrugated fiberglass to admit daylight. Qoqa lights up a cigarette and uses it to burn a small hole through one of the fiberglass panels. Then Jili threads the fiberscope in, whispers that there are lots of armed men below, and asks Klas to take a look through the eyepiece and fill in the others on the situation below.
Peering through the scope, Klas surveys the warehouse interior, using his tactical headset to pass along his observations. He says that he sees four Latin-looking men with recent-model AKMs slung over their shoulders and at least a couple of FN Five-seveN pistols among them. He also spots eight men whom he supposes are of Afghan origin, with AKS-74U carbines and loaded RPG-7s close at hand. The men in each group are conversing, smoking, and playing cards with their colleagues, but largely avoiding the other group. Set up on the warehouse floor nearby is some sort of plastic tent – perhaps a makeshift clean room?
After a brief scrum, the Agents go into action. Vinnie brings out his torch and starts cutting away one of the fiberglass skylights, taking special care to be sneaky and use a low flame. Klas crawls over to the edge of the roof, where he and Wen sort out who is responsible for what targets in the yard below. Lev and Qoqa secure their rappelling lines and get ready to drop down into the yard behind the vehicles, hopefully out of sight of the cameras. Everybody else secures loose gear, prepares weapons, and gets ready to move.
With Klas and Wen calling out the moves of the men below and warning about the arcs covered by cameras, Lev and Qoqa make their way down off the roof to ground level without being spotted. Then they sneak across the yard, keeping parked SUVs and trucks between them and anyone who could see them. After a long, tense stretch of stalking, they're in position to intercept the two guards patrolling the area.
After that, things move quickly! Qoqa grabs a guard from behind, covers his mouth with her hand, and pulls him back onto her knife, which she slips up under his skull. Lev does the same with his victim. At the same time, Klas and Wen execute the men at the office door with a couple of perfect headshots. The only noise is that of the suppressed rifles – although the snipers are well aware that two people collapsing in front of a security camera will attract attention, and Wen warns the others of this as she and Klas shift their aim to the office doors to engage anyone who emerges.
On receiving Wen's warning, Lev and Qoqa create a distraction. They pull out their thoroughly noisy submachine guns and let rip with a full magazine apiece, Lev chewing up the small door at one end of the warehouse while Qoqa peppers the larger garage-style door behind the big rigs. As soon as the shooting starts out front, Vinnie removes the fiberglass panel to give Anabel, Jili, Paul, and Zhang a shot from above. From their vantage, it's clear that most of the men below have frozen up, while the few who have their wits about them are lunging for guns and moving to deal with a threat coming from Qoqa and Lev's direction.
As Lev and Qoqa move to reload, the Agents on the roof start spraying submachine gun fire down into the warehouse. It's a gory ambush, and few of the victims even manage to reach their weapons. Only two of the men appear to realize that the real danger is above, not out front: One of the Afghan fellows discharges an RPG-7, but the grenade either has insufficient distance to arm or is a dud, because on hitting the ceiling, it doesn't detonate but simply breaks. And a Mexican gangster manages to squeeze off a magazine from his AKM, but as he's running and firing blind, his only hit is a round that pierces the ceiling and stops in Paul's vest with barely enough energy to cause a bruise.
Outdoors, meanwhile, bright floodlights come on, and then several heavily armed gangsters burst out of the two office doors and run across the yard toward the warehouse. Klas and Wen immediately take out the lead man in each group. The surviving gunmen look around in confusion but seem to think that the threat is at ground level. This lets Wen and Klas acquire new targets and kill two more victims. If there are others, they're staying inside.
By now, the turkey shoot in the warehouse is largely over. The Agents on the roof have transitioned to pistols and are plugging anyone who still has any fight left. The floor below is littered with bleeding, defeated Mexican gangsters and Afghan militants, none of them in any shape to shoot back.
Vinnie risks a good look inside the warehouse. From his elevated position, he's able to confirm that the place is clear. He radios this to the others, and Klas and Wen reply that they can see the entire yard from their perch, and that it's clear as well. Lev reports that he sees no trouble at ground level, either, but wants to sweep the office building – the only area that isn't clear. He asks Klas and Wen to cover him from above, and for Qoqa to back him up indoors. Everybody reloads and gets ready for the next step.
To be continued . . .