Chapter 118: Chapter 118: Fire in the Hole!
Back in the adjacent room, Jack laid out the plan. Hannah's excitement was palpable. This redneck girl, who had killed two beasts before reaching adulthood, clearly had a bit of a violent streak.
Jack was glad to see her enthusiasm. He had left the LAPD a month early to visit Magrath Town with Hannah before heading to Quantico for training.
Jack was anxious that while he was away at training, Hannah might get into trouble. Rather than wait for the "Justified" storyline to unfold, he decided they should strike first and finish it. With the Wolf brothers joining them, they even had backup if needed.
After all, what kind of crime syndicate could stand against the combined force of "Batman" and the "Punisher"? This would serve as a rehearsal and also their first team-up since Jack and Hannah were separated for several months.
At 2 AM, outside an isolated villa in the Chicago suburbs, Jack, armed with an MP5A2 submachine gun and wearing a black ski cap, leaned against a sturdy pine tree. He was scouting the area, waiting for the right moment.
Chicago's spring nights were chilly and often windy, but tonight they were lucky. The temperature was below 10°C (50°F) with almost no wind—a rarity in the Windy City, perfect for sniper operations.
The villa faced a small lake to the south and was backed by a vast pine forest. Jack and the others planned to infiltrate from the northeast and northwest corners in pairs.
Interestingly, the Wolf brothers seemed to have a fondness for Barrett sniper rifles. Chris's Barrett M82A1M was vetoed by Jack, but Braxton provided the latest Barrett MRAD, which Hannah eagerly took. This left Chris with his AWM, looking a bit disgruntled since his M82A1M couldn't match the MRAD's quick-change barrel feature.
"Position 1 ready," Hannah's voice crackled in their earpieces.
Then came Chris's voice, "Position 2 ready."
Braxton and Jack gave their confirmations.
The plan was straightforward: Chris and Hannah would first eliminate the two snipers on the roof. Hannah would continue providing cover with her Barrett MRAD while Chris ditched his AWM and joined Braxton. The brothers would then draw attention and engage the enemies inside, while Jack would attempt to reach the roof, and together, they'd clear out the remaining hostiles.
As for the surveillance cameras, they planned to ignore them. Their objective was to eliminate all targets and retrieve the surveillance hard drives afterward. With Ray King's official support, they had ample time.
"Three, two, one."
At Hannah's countdown, both snipers concealed under camouflage cloaks on the roof exploded in a burst of blood and lay still.
At less than a kilometer away, the bullets from both sniper rifles were supersonic. Given that Braxton had provided their positions, the fate of the rooftop sentinels was sealed.
As the distant gunshots rang out, two mercenaries acting as roving sentries outside barely had time to react. Hannah's Barrett MRAD took down one, his body split in half by the waist, trailing a long streak of blood and guts behind him.
The other mercenary quickly ducked behind a decorative tree, but a second later, a .416 bullet punched through the slender trunk and into his head.
Using a high-powered sniper rifle felt like overkill. Within a minute, a third of the 12 mercenaries were down. Hannah, who hadn't claimed a single kill in her two years as a patrol officer, had now taken three lives.
Hannah continued firing, though now for suppressive purposes. Every window within her view received at least one shot. Finally, the remaining mercenaries inside the villa responded by turning off lights that could expose their positions.
Due to design considerations, some corridor and wall lights had switches outside. After losing another man to these lights, no one dared to risk their lives to turn them off anymore.
Jack received the go-ahead signal. Chris had joined Braxton, and the three moved from their hiding spots, with Chris and Braxton alternating fire to draw the enemies' attention.
Jack sprinted through the camera blind spots Braxton had mapped out. With gunfire everywhere, no one would notice the sensors' alarms.
Realizing that staying inside wasn't a viable strategy, the mercenaries threw several smoke grenades from the villa's side. A four-man team rushed out, using parked cars as cover and engaging the Wolf brothers.
Hannah, losing her angle, ceased fire after her third magazine change. Jack sensed she was nearing her limit. Despite the Barrett MRAD's reduced recoil, after firing almost 30 rounds non-stop, her shoulder must have been hurting.
While the mercenaries' attention was focused on the Wolf brothers attacking from the northwest, Jack stealthily approached the villa's northeast side.
He paused, catching his breath. The heavy interceptor body armor with groin and neck guards he wore weighed nearly 22 pounds, excluding other equipment. Sprinting almost 300 meters in near-sprint speed was exhausting.
After surveying his surroundings, Jack nimbly vaulted over a decorative low wall and climbed up the villa's side, reaching the rooftop.
Careful to remain silent, he approached the northwest corner where the Wolf brothers were battling four mercenaries—now down to two, Jack noted.
The three remaining mercenaries inside the villa attempted to reinforce their comrades, tossing more smoke grenades. Jack grinned and pulled out two MK3A2 offensive grenades. Although these were better suited for indoor use due to their reduced shrapnel, he had no choice. He pulled the pins and dropped them into the smoke below.
Before the grenades exploded, Jack opened fire with his MP5A2, catching the mercenaries off guard as they were focused on the Wolf brothers.
As the mercenaries fell, the grenades went off, sending two more flying.
Chris and Braxton moved in, finishing off the downed men. Now only one mercenary and Blake Boone himself remained.
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