The second chapter in Operation Syndicate by EternalBlaze.
The Aftershock's Minor HQ, Somewhere in Iraq
The military base looked large and complex, covering the sun from showing on its southern face.
A sand-covered Humvee roamed the hills until it eventually came to the base, which was guarded by numerous armed men and two turrets. When it reached the heavily guarded entrance, the guards talked to the driver and let the Humvee in.
Inside of the base's courtyard, it stopped and a figure stepped out from the passenger's side, with two elite soldiers standing on both sides of him.
"I'm here to see your leader." The shadowy figure said in English.
"What your business here?" One of the soldiers asked him.
Appearing from the base's shadows was another men with guards standing on either sides of him. It was assumed that he was the leader.
"Leave him; he is here for business!" The man said in Iraqi.
The soldier asking questions to the shadowy figure backed down and nodded to the assumed leader.
"Greetings. I'm Shao Lo, the leader of The Aftershock. You contacted us and said you had some private information for us." The leader said, appearing from the shadows and into the light." He said in perfect English.
The leader was tall and lean, wearing one or two layers of clothing under some protective body armor. He had some sidearm of unknown origin holstered at his side.
"So, you're the leader? I'm Major Elren of the United States Army; they don't know I'm here, so you better keep this a secret." The shadowy figure said, revealing himself as well.
At that moment, the soldiers aimed their weapons at the aged Major, but Shao Lo ordered them to put down their weapons, saying that he was only there to help them.
"What help is he to us, general? He's an American; he's the one responsible for this!" Shao Lo's second-in-command said in Iraqi.
The Aftershock leader simply ignored the remark and had Major Elren walk with him inside the base so they could have their meeting...
Somewhere in Iraq...
It was pretty much as hot as on oven out here, beating heavily on Vauxite Squad, who was forced to walk the barren desert.
"Shit, man... If they wanna uncover a secret base or something, wouldn't they send a chopper?" Spartan complained as they trudged through the sand.
"Isn't it obvious? The helicopter would have been shot down, which would be a waste of supplies, resources, and not to mention, a couple of guys." Pipsqueak replied.
"So they send us? They could have given us a vehicle or something..."
"We're not supposed to rush in and make noise on a stealth mission, man. You obviously haven't done one before..." Goliath remarked with sarcasm.
It went quiet for a few minutes, as they tried to look for some clue in finding the base, which was nowhere to be found at all whatsoever. Was this a suicide mission or some sick joke?
"Hey, man, at least you're actually wearing lighter gear than I am. I practically have to wear a freaking ghillie suit, which means I'm always like 100 degrees." Headhunter said to Spartan as they all walked up a hill.
"You guys could at least shut the hell up and focus..." Aeon muttered loud enough to be heard.
When the squad had came to the top of the hill, they saw a bit of a few buildings from their eyes, or so they thought. Aeon reached for his binoculars and looked at the buildings. So this was a base, maybe even the base that they were sent to find.
"Pipsqueak, message Headquarters. I believe we found our target..." Aeon ordered.
After a few minutes of waiting and Pipsqueak talking to Leeson back at HQ, Aeon received his answer.
"He says that he sent Phoenix Squad to find the base as well. Apparently, they were compromised." Pipsqueak answered.
"So...."
"We're gonna have to go in ourselves and assassinate whichever leader is there and rescue Phoenix Squad."
Aeon pondered this thought for a few moments;
"Alright, let's do it."