Echo Six: Black Ops 7 - Tibetan Fury (14 page)

Talley fired twice, and Guy did the same. The sound-suppressed Sigs spat out four 9mm bullets, and the two men were dead before they hit the rocky floor.

"Bring up the rest of the men," he told Guy, "I'll go forward and check out the rest of the place."

"Roger that."

He went ahead, all the way to the entrance underneath the kitchen, but there were no more soldiers in evidence; just the pitiful abandoned detritus of the Tibetans who'd been dragged from their refuge. Clothes, children's toys, cooking pots, and the inevitable religious paraphernalia Buddhists always seemed to carry with them. He poked his head up through the floor of the closet, but still there was no sign of the enemy. He ducked back down into the cave where the men were waiting.

"It looks clear. I'll go up first. We'll check and clear the building room by room before we take out those troops in the open. Don't use the assault rifles. They make too much noise even with suppressors, pistols and knives only until the place is cleared. Then we'll see what we have to deal with outside."

They slipped out through the hatch into the kitchen, and still no sign of the enemy. Then they heard voices coming from the hallway. Grace listened for a few moments and turned to him with a look of horror.

"They're taking the nuns to a camp in Northern China. In the open trucks parked outside."

"They'll freeze to death!" he murmured, shocked, "Even the Chinese can't be that cruel."

"Yes, they can. They want them to freeze to death. Murder is the traditional Chinese solution to most problems."

"Shit."

"Indeed. Apart from the nuns, many of those people outside in the corral will die if they don't get into shelter."

He looked at his troopers, all hard, tough men, who'd seen their share of brutality. Tibet was something else. Something different. They all bore expressions of grim determination. He gave them a faint smile.

"Time to put a stop to this. Let's take these bastards down."

"What about the prisoners?" Guy asked, "What can we do with them after we release them?"

He sighed. "Yeah, we'll have to find a way to help them out. Okay, we'll worry about that later. Remember, when we fan out through the building, we have to make it a clean sweep without the men outside knowing what's going down. If they get wind we're here, they'll call for reinforcements and overrun us." He took a last look around, "Let's do it."

He poked his head through a gap in the door. Half a dozen Chinese soldiers were in the hallway, chatting, smoking, and laughing to each other as if it was a great joke. He could hear two more voices in a room at the side, and one of them was giving orders to another man. The rest of the building was silent.

He pulled back and eased the door closed, quickly explaining the situation.

"The guys in the room off the hallway will hear the soldiers going down. There's no way to avoid it. Guy, you and Jesse to rush forward the moment the first six men go down. Remember, those two can't make any noise."

His number two nodded. "Copy that. You ready, Jesse?"

"Ready."

Talley nodded. "Kaz, on my word, open the door wide. We'll take down those troops in the hallway. Then stand aside to let Guy and Jesse go through."

They nodded. He made a final check and looked at the Pole. "Go."

Kaz flung the door wide open, and Talley raced into the hallway, swerving left and firing on the run. Two soldiers went down at once, and then a hail of spits announced the rest of the men gunning down the last four. Guy and Jesse were already running. They leapt over the fallen bodies, and Welland kicked the side door open.

Talley heard the sound of a surprised cry from inside the room, which was choked off as Guy's pistol spat its message of death. Jesse targeted the second man and squeezed the trigger of his Sig. Nothing happened, the sniper had a jam. Guy was already swinging round his pistol, but the man catapulted past them toward the open door of the room. He made for the front door, and Talley snapshot a pair of rounds toward him, but the Chinese swerved to jump over the bodies of his fallen comrades, and the shots missed.

He put his hand on the door handle and then stopped. Jesse snatched out a huge combat knife, flipped it over in his hand, and took aim. The huge blade flew through the air and impaled itself in the back of the soldier’s neck. The throw was so hard, the knife so heavy, that it went completely through the man's neck, and the bloody tip emerged the other side. His attempt to shout a warning was choked off, and he slid to the floor with his lifeblood spilling around him from the huge wound in his neck.

Whitefeather strode toward him and ripped out the knife. The blood gushed even faster, and then the small movements the soldier had been making abruptly stopped. Jesse wiped the blade on his victim's coat and stowed it under his camos. He glanced down at the bodies; one of the men was still moving. A Chinese hand edged toward a pistol holster. Guy was way ahead of him. He stepped forward, knelt, and chopped down with his right hand. The movement stopped. He looked at Talley.

"They're all down."

"Roger that. Let's see what we have to contend with outside."

They went to a window, to see around twenty soldiers milling about in the snow. A few men were guarding the civilians in the corral, and another four were standing next to each of the trucks loaded with the nuns destined for the prison camp.

"We need the snipers," Guy murmured.

"Yeah, it's the only way. Jesse, Vince, we need you to get to work. The guards around the trucks are the priority. They could start killing the nuns when the action starts."

Vince glanced out the window and looked back at Jesse. "We'll take four men apiece. You start from the left. I'll take the right."

"There's a window in that side room," the Indian replied, "We'd target them best from there."

"Let's do it." He looked at Talley, "Give us a minute, Boss, and then we'll be ready. Just give the word."

"Roger that. Guy, I'll notify Brooks' team. They should be able to create a diversion then while we hit them from behind."

Welland glanced through the window again. "Crossfire could be a problem. I'd suggest Buchmann works his way closer. A few grenades in the middle of that bunch should occupy their minds. When they're running around like crazy, we'll go out and finish them. That just leaves the men guarding the corral."

Guy studied the soldiers outside again, measured the angles, and then drew back.

"The other group has two Minimis, and the corral guards are split on each side. As I see it, they should be able to take them all with machine gun fire, as long as they keep it away from the prisoners. And from us," he ended with a smile.

"That's the way we'll do it. I'll give Brooks a call."

The Admiral was waiting for them. "I was getting worried, Commander."

"No problems, Sir. We have a job for you. Heinrich, do you copy?"

"Ja."

He smiled to himself. "I want you to crawl down the hill and get within range of those soldiers outside the nunnery, about twenty men. On my word, hit them with four grenades. As soon as the fourth grenade detonates, we'll go in to finish them off, so make sure you count those missiles. Four, got it?"

"Four, Ja."

He explained to Brooks and Virgil Kane about taking out the men guarding the corral, using their Minimis.

"Watch for crossfire. Jan, we don't know if any more soldiers are on their way in, so stay sharp and cover the machine gunners."

Jan Lubbers, a Dutch recruit to Echo Six, and the fourth man in Brooks' team. Fortunately, he spoke good English.

"Understood."

"Buchmann, call in as soon as you're in position."

"Jawohl."

He smiled to himself again. The German was not given to many words.

What does it matter,
a
s long as he does the job?

Heinrich called in a few minutes later. "Buchmann, I'm in position."

"Roger that. Snipers?"

"In position."

"Minimis?"

"In position." Brooks sounded energized.

He looked around at the men gathered around him.

"Remember, after the fourth grenade, we go."

They were poised, keyed up, ready to go. Rovere even smiled. He knew what was coming and waited for the inevitable quote.

"I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, straining upon the start."

"Whatever, Buchmann, go. Snipers, go."

He waited for the first grenade to detonate. The explosion sounded like a clap of thunder. It was the first indication to the Chinese that the operation to round up and murder innocent Tibetan nuns wasn't going to be quite so easy as they'd thought.

"Minimis, opened fire."

The steady clatter of the machine guns was in sharp contrast to the hard, deep detonations of the grenades. The snipers were doing their deadly business, and it was almost time to leave. A third explosion crashed into the milling Chinese, and then the fourth. Time to go. He flung open the front door.

"Let's finish these bastards."

The scene outside was astonishing, a mess of shrieking, weeping, and shouting men. Bodies, dead and wounded, sprawled over the blood red snow. NCOs were trying to regroup their men and fight back, in vain. This time he used the MP7, the snub, lightweight assault rifle that could rip through light armor and ballistic vests. The Chinese had neither, and his first burst took down the unwitting NCO, who was still shouting orders, oblivious to the men who'd burst out of the nunnery. He glanced around just before Talley's burst ripped into his body, and his face registered shock.

What did he expect? Nuns?

Two of his men turned as they saw their Sergeant fall, and they readied their assault rifles to return fire. A burst of shots from Rovere took them both in the stomach. All around his men were mopping up the last of the enemy soldiers. It was almost over.

"Two hostiles trying to escape round the back of the building. I'm going after them," Guy shouted.

He took off at a sprint, skirting into the darkness at the side of the building, and Talley saw him switch on his NV goggles as he ran. He turned his attention back to the surviving soldiers. Maybe half-dozen men were left, and they'd taken refuge behind one of the trucks loaded with nuns. Then the shooting died down, and one of the hostiles was shouting at him in Chinese.

Grace emerged from the door of the nunnery. "They say if you attack them, they will kill the nuns. They want to take one of the trucks."

"Yeah, I'll bet they do." He keyed his mic, "Vince, Jesse, out here on the double. We have a situation."

The two snipers joined him within seconds. He pointed to the soldiers using the captive nuns for cover.

"Take them out."

"Copy that."

He heard a burst of firing from the rear, and he glanced at Guy as he ran back.

"Okay back there?"

"I sent them to join Chairman Mao."

He grinned. "Nice one. We're almost done here, just a few hostiles hiding behind the nuns in the truck."

He explained about the snipers moving into position to take them, but Guy glanced over and shook his head.

"No need. Switch on your NV goggles and take a look."

A huge shadow loomed behind the Chinese. Buchmann. He'd seen the danger from his position further out and had worked his way in behind the six men. Talley keyed his mic.

"Snipers, Buchmann is handling it. Hold your fire. All men, heads up; Buchmann is taking care of the men behind the truck."

It was as if someone had thrown the switch. The Chinese stopped firing and peeked out from behind cover, unable to fathom why the shooting had come to a stop. Buchmann moved like a wraith, a monster from a supernatural nightmare. He'd discarded his grenade launcher and assault rifle, and his pistol was holstered. He came on with a huge combat knife in one hand and a short iron bar, a tire lever, in the other. They were very unaware of the danger. And then he fell on them. It was as if a huge bear had attacked the soldiers, a bear in a white, Arctic camouflage suit.

He took them two at a time. Not only was he huge and colossally strong, he moved like lightning. Two blows, and two men went down, one with his skull bludgeoned, and the other with his throat slashed open. He moved to the next two, and while his weapons were descending, his boots lashed out to strike the remaining two soldiers. Then it was their turn. They desperately tried to fight off the almost supernatural force that had descended on them. They may as well have tried to defeat a tidal wave. Buchmann hit them, and not satisfied with the damage to flesh and bone, turned back to inflict even more hurt, if that were possible, with the big knife. Talley waited a few moments, and then keyed his mic.

"Heinrich, that'll do. Come on in, we're getting out of here. Admiral, bring the rest of your people down. We'll use the trucks to get away in and ditch them once we get clear."

"Roger that."

"Boss, better listen to this," Rovere shouted, "It's one of their radios. Someone's calling, speaking Chinese. Maybe Grace can translate."