Five golden eagles

Paul and i finally get to the US Navy base and bust through the door, still in PT gear with the dress whites still in my car. We saw sailors and current commanders in clean and dry NSUs and SDBs, while we were there in sweatshirts and shorts. constant talking and chatter could be heard echoing throughout the hallways with the sounds of the violent rain drops smacking against the roof and windows.

We heard someone call for us, well, more like yelling. “Where the f**k is locksmith??”

i knew that voice better than anyone. the deep voice of a good leader and the muscle tone of an extreme body builder makes this one a force to be feared. his arms looked as though they were going to rip the sleeves of the NSU shirt.

“LOCKSMITH!” he called, as he quickly walked with a few documents in hand. he looked pissed off, but thats every leader. Commander Benson, currently the SEALs second-in-command directly under Captain Flint and the XO of one of the ASEAN units of the 7th fleet, that time, under Rear Admiral Meyers. His solid facial features and striking look made you think twice about starting s**t with him, not to mention the muscle tone on his biceps and forearms, and the size of his fist, or what we call the “Gods hand”, pretty much self-explanatory.

Paul and I instantly came to attention and saluted. “Commander Benson, sir.” i open up with.

“NO TIME. You and Tick have to be present in debriefing room #07, NOW! Captain Flint is waiting for you.” he said with a bellowing voice of a strongman.

unless you have a suicide note, never keep the Captain waiting. we quickly followed Commander Benson as he led us to the debriefing room. 3 other SEALs were there as well, again, in clean, dry NSUs...something i wish i was in at the moment. the second the door closed, Commander Benson stood in front of the door and assumed the stance of a night club bouncer and Captain Flint slammed three documents onto the table, directing everybody's attention to the Captain.

“Gentlemen, we have a big problem.” he starts with. everybody seemed content to listen, Paul more than anything. “just last night, Baas led an attack directed to American Forces disguised as Army guys. they walked right in through the security gate and opened fire, killing 30 personnel before getting themselves killed. as you can probably tell, we just cant sit this one out. And because of this event…” he slips open one of the documents, revealing pictures of the deceased Soldiers and the perpetrators in their uniform. “...Admiral Harrison has ordered US Navy assets to be deployed to the scene ASAP, which means that we SEALs get to have some fun.”

one of the SEALs, Lieutenant JG O'Hara, spoke up in complaint of getting the SEALs involved. “sir, with all due respect, i dont think its necessary to involve the SEALs until we know what we’re dealing with.”

Captain Flint gives him a mean look. “Objection noted, Lieutenant. This order comes in from High Command, so its happening whether you like it or not.”

“so they did hear about it. what does it have to do with us?” Paul softly whispers

“i dont know...but i’d like to find out.” i reply.

“NOW…” Captain Flint yells. “If we have no more complaints, then we’ll get this started. High Command has set up an op for us SEALs, called Operation Watermark. This Op will include the presence of SEAL teams one and three under the direction of Lieutenant Commander Parker, the highest SEAL officer operating in the field as of right now.”

he pauses, revealing a tactical map of the area we’re operating in. the map is nearly covered in red marker, indicating where some strike teams will follow in from, helicopter insertion points, backup and reinforcement locations and whatnot.

“now, heres where the SEALs come in. youll be operating in this area in 3 days, so get your s**t ready tonight. SEAL team one will be entering the Northern corner of Sierra Leone at 2330, giving you guys more than enough time to set up and prepare with the moon still out. youll have to hump your packs some 14 miles to the eastern corner of the AO and await SEAL team three’s insertion, by which point you’ll know for certain that there are no enemy forces within a mile of threes DZ. now…” He points to a small section of the map, showing something of a small fortress in the center. Although not drawn to scale, the fortress could have easily been a little under a half a mile with another quarter mile of roads and security positions and towers. “this enemy base right here is what we’re gonna capture. the CIA knows for a fact that Baas holds something of a large weapons cache in the center, but they aren't sure what it is. it could be anything from small pistols to WMD’s so be prepared for the worst. SEAL team one, callsign Eagle 1-5, will enter in through the top of the base, pointmen in first. SEAL team three, callsign Eagle 1-6, will enter in through the front gate after enemy personnel open it for their weekly delivery of toys. they’ll let you know when theyre in. afterward, when both teams are in, youre to secure all floors of the base, quietly eliminating any enemy personnel who pose a threat. unless the weapon is confirmed to be a possible WMD, youre to destroy the weapons and anything in or around it. when you destroy the weapons, both teams will book it out the front gate, where your extraction will be waiting. tag the base with smoke as enemy forces nearby move to secure the remaining weapons hidden beneath, and strike eagles will bring it down with JDAMs and bunker busters, ETA 30 seconds from smoke. youll have a platoon of Rangers within the surrounding 50 yards from the base, Marine sniper support 25 yards further, and CASEVAC on station if s**t hits the fan. Any questions?” he finishes.

the other SEALs look over the tactical map, in search of anything to question. but found nothing, the plan was too good. way too good.

the captain smiles. “good. a digital copy will be available online in case any of your dumb asses forget. now get the f**k out of my room.” he orders.

every SEAL at that instant quickly walks out of the room, with Commander Benson towering over us, to “set the mood” as he would call it. Paul looks over at me with a slight looks of fear in his eyes.

“the f**k are you lookin at?’ i ask.

“this op, man. what the f**k. none of us are ready. when are we getting on the plane?” Paul asks, concerned nonetheless.

“tomorrow i would assume.”

“i don't know, man. this s**t doesn't sit well with me.”

“well, we might as well go with it. lets get back to the stateroom and pack up.”

“good idea.” Paul agrees.

we walk down the seemingly endless and crowded halls of the base to the stateroom Paul and I were assigned. we pass the mess hall, which was the biggest son of a b***h i've ever seen, and it was damn near empty, which made no sense to me. passing through the halls of the base we finally make it to our stateroom. we walk in and start packing early for the plane ride to Africa. In the middle of our packing, we heard a knock on the door, loud and hard. sounded urgent.

“youre good!” i confirm.

A lower Petty Officer in BDUs walks in, “which one of you is...Petty Officer David Locke?”

I c**k my eyebrow in interest. “that would be me”

“Captain Flint would like to speak to you...in private. He requests you come now, sir.” the young sailor replies.

“thanks, man. ill be out in a minute.” i assure.

the young sailor nods and walks out of the stateroom, closing the door behind him. I didnt know what Captain Flint wanted with me in private, but whatever it was, it had to be important.

“ill get your s**t packed for ya. you go on ahead, bro.” Paul advises.

“thanks, bro. i owe ya” I reply as i bolt out the door and to the Captains office.

it felt like forever getting there, and i worried that Flint would kill me because i was late, but i looked at my watch to find out its only been two minutes since the call. these hectic halls full of young sailors and old officers really did confuse the s**t out of me...no matter how many times i came back to this base, or any base for that matter. theyre all the same.

I try to keep my cool as i open the door to the Captains office. “you called for me, sir?”

“I did.” he replies as he takes his eyes off of his computer and scans me for a minute. he stands up to collect a file from an overhead cabinet behind him. he slaps the file on the desk. “Sit.” he commands.

wasting no time i rush to take my seat. sitting perfectly still. not moving a single muscle. I keep my eyes directly forward as the mountain of a man looms over me. he picks up the file from the desk and opens it, one hand placed behind his back. he wanders around the room a little bit, reading off of what he sees on the file.

“Petty Officer 1st Class...David, Locke...the newest addition to the SEALs since...two days ago. Impressive. Enlisted in the Navy on August, 16...2006.” He speaks. I swear to god hes trying to intimidate me...and it was working.

Captain Flint slowly walked to his desk and sat down in his chair, hands held together on the table. looking at me. “your father was also in the Navy. did you know that?”

“yes sir” i reply.

“yep, he was a good sailor. you know, i knew your father. He and I were Corpsmen out in the field back then. boy, did he fight hard.”

“yes sir, he fought with his life.”

“indeed he did. you remind me a lot about your father. let me tell you something. this op in three days is a huge one, and completing this mission in due time is paramount, do you understand?” he questions.

“yes sir, i understand.” i reply, still facing forward like a hawk fixed on his prey.

“At ease, Locke. its just you and me.” he advises.

i didnt know what to do, follow his orders or look professional in front of him. i must have been frozen in trying to make the decision.

“heheheh...you really are your fathers son. look, i know your father put you through hell before becoming a SEAL, and because of that im giving you the ability to radio in reinforcements and CASEVAC at your command, so i expect a lot from you in completing this mission.  it may cost a piece of you to do it, but the number of lives youll save is priceless. remember that the mission is never complete unless you do it as a team. just passing is failing, second place is still the loser. you’ll need to give it your all for all of your missions. we clear?”

I still assumed the thousand yard stare as i looked directly into Captain Flints eyes. “Yes sir.” i reply.

“good. now get the f**k out of my office.” he advises.

I waste no time in doing so. i shot up from the chair and saluted the Captain. he did so as well and i ran out of the office. I ran back through the populated hallways of the Naval base and down the corridor leading to the stateroom, where i threw open the door to see Paul sitting on the bed, playing some kind of pac-man game on his phone.

“pac-man?” i question.

“mrs. pac-man. the real s**t, yo.” he answers.

“well at least youre honest.”

“yeah. so what did the captain want? did you get promoted?” Paul questions.

“no.”

“DEmoted??”

“no.”

“discharged?”

“NO.”

“pulled off the team?”

“NO!”

“suspended?”

“youre a f*****g idiot. the captain just wanted to talk about the mission is all. nothing too serious or anything to cause concern.” i finish with. i look around to see that Paul actually did what he told me and packed all my s**t in the dufflebag.

“but what did you guys talk about?” further questioned Paul.

“He gave me the ability to call in the extra assets for the mission, because my dad was also a Navy SEAL and he basically trained me before I enlisted.” I reply.

“WOW! thats really awesome! so i can trust that you wont call in Marine sniper support to kill me?” he sarcastically questions.

“keep talking like that and i just might” i jokingly threaten.

"well s**t, better not piss you off. does that mean youre leading One?" Paul asks.

"I dont really know, im only E-6...theres higher ranking guys in our squad than just that. Come on, lets get changed and head out to the airfield." i reply

Me and Paul change into our Navy BDUs, took about 5 minutes. I take a look at my watch and it read 1630, time for us to go. I sling the duffle bag over my shoulder and Paul and i leave for the airfield. we take one last look at the base, with Paul over there with a slight look of fear on his face. we get in our jeeps, while he raids mine for a minute to collect his dress whites, and i punch the gas pedal on the way to the airfield.

Author's Note

anything you want to say about this chapter? if so, take a minute or two to slap an honest review! many thanks and much appreciated!
cheers :)

Reviews

[dashway]

The story line is interesting and well described. Some of it could be cut such as: "his solid facial features and striking look made you think twice about starting s**t with him, not to mention the muscle tone on his biceps and forearms, and the size of his fist, or what we call the “Gods hand” because he knocked out a drunken Lieutenant, immediately sending him to the hospital for a concussion after trying to start s**t with the Commander." This is a long sentence and the image is already illustrated in previous paragraph. If this is describing two different characters, then it's a bit unclear. The entire piece seems slightly detail heavy, but that may be necessary to get the image across. I tend to get lost in too many details. Overall, nice work.

[Austin Jolly]

thanks for the honest review, well appreciated. Ill be sure to fix up the paragraph a little bit.