Immaculate Spirit 201 :

Climbing the wall using only the crack between the rocks, Nathaniel move with practice and slow movement, taking the precaution to not make any noise while making his climb. The place was originally an old monastery, modified to make a fort to guard the frontier with China during WW2 and then abandoned at least forty years ago. Since they had took over the place, they had rehabilitated the exterior wall and add two wooden towers on the road side, equipped with machine gun and a spotlight.

That was one of the reason that Nathaniel and his team choose to made their approach by the opposing side of the stronghold where there was less security. Hearing footstep above him, Nathaniel freeze, sticking to the wall to avoid being noticed. Waiting without moving an inch, suspended twelve feet above the ground, he start climbing back once the man start moving back to his original position, lighting himself a cigarette. Hoisting himself quietly on the wall, he approach silently behind the man, putting his hands on each side of his head before twisting with force, killing him before he could yell. Dropping the body slowly to avoid making any noise, his eyes looking around him to make sure that n.o.body notice anything. Once he was sure that everything was good, he took a rope from his bag, tying it to the wall and sending it down.

"Wall clear, rope secured." He said in his earpiece.

"Roger."

Putting a knee to the ground, Nathaniel took in hands his HK416 equipped with a suppressor and a thermal lens, covering his team while they were busy ascending using the rope that he just send. Once they were all on the wall, Nathaniel nodded in Scott direction.

"We go according to plan. Move out!" Scott said in the com.

Scott took NYung, Lucie and Jon with him and start walking to the west of the compound where the captives were being held while Nathaniel and Camilla start going north where the sleeping quarters of the slavers were located. Using the shadow and the poor lighting inside the camp, Nathaniel and Camilla moved unnoticed to the first building. Taking her bag off of her back, Camilla took an explosive charge from it and stuck it to the wall.

They kept moving stealthily, going building to building, continuing posing explosives until Nathaniel raise a fist in the air. Understanding the signal, Camilla stop moving and stick to the wall near her, looking around with her rifle raised.

"What is going on?" Camilla whisper in her com.

"I'm hearing someone getting beat up and crying from the building just ahead." Nathaniel answers back.

"I have a good earing, want to check it out?"

"We have strict orders, sir." She said with a dry tone.

"You are right. Scott, come in." Nathaniel said, going to the team channel.

"Go ahead." He answers a few seconds later.

"I have a civilian getting beat up here, third building north of your position. Request permission to go in and save the hostage before it's too late."

"Did you accomplish your a.s.signed task already?"

"The explosives are set." Nathaniel answers, not liking where this was going.

"Did you secure the towers?"

"Not yet."

"Permission denied, secure those towers first. Scott out."

"Scott! I can get the girl out of her before they even know that I was there!" Nathaniel exclaim.

"Do I need to remind you what we discuss about? If anything happen and those towers are not secured, we will be sitting ducks! So do what I told you to do and shut the h.e.l.l up!" Scott shout angrily before cutting down the communication.

Clenching his jaw in anger, Nathaniel closed his eyes to calm himself. He knew that Scott was right and it was for this reason that Nathaniel named him as team leader. Nathaniel always was kind of a lone wolf and Marc was the same after he leave the Seals. Scott was the perfect candidate to be in charge in the field, he was extremely skilled and experienced. Still, he was angry because he was confident he could get the hostage out without triggering any alarm. Sighing, he turn to Camilla who was uncharateristicly silent.

"Let's go Camilla, we have orders."

Walking in the direction of the towers, Nathaniel and Camilla were surprised to find one of the two mans manning the towers descending the ladder, saying something to the other one. Nodding to each other, they rapidly took position on each side of the tower, hiding in the shadow. Once descending the ladder, the man died when Camilla knife slice his throat before lowering him to the ground silently. Checking that everything was alright, Nathaniel put his HK on his back, taking his knife between his teeth and start climbing the ladder of the other tower.

Unlucky from the person guarding the tower, he never knew how he died. One second he was hearing something behind him and the next a knife was stab in his brain. Wiping his knife on the dead guy, Nathaniel call Scott.

"Towers secure, how is it going on your side?"

"We breach the wall and are currently evacuating the hostages, we need you to speed up the process, this is taking too much time."

"Scott, I need to go back to…"

Nathaniel started to say when a gunshot echo in the fort, shutting him up instantly.

"Lucie is down!" The voice of Jon said in the com.

"Jon go get her! NYung cover him and find me who is the b.a.s.t.a.r.d that just shot her!" Scott order quickly.

"On it!" NYung answers.

"I… I'm good, I took it in the vest, it hurt like h.e.l.l but I think I'm good. I got the one who shot me." Lucie said weakly.

Relieved that Lucie was only injured, Nathaniel kney that the problems were only getting started. That gunshot had been extremely loud and he could hear noise coming from the building where the ex soldiers were no longer sleeping.

"Scott, we have movements here, the whole fort is waking up."

"You need to hold them! We need two minutes to extract the rest of the prisoners and then we will be with you."

Scott knew exactly what he was asking. Two minutes in this kind of situation would be exactly the same at two hours, that was going to be really difficult to do but he had orders and he was going to obey them. There was no other choice.

"Camilla, you heard our orders. I'm going to take the high and stay here, take the low ground and secure my descent. Take your suppressor off, we are going to make a lot of noise to make sure that everyone go to us and not where the prisoners are being held. Armed the charge that we placed and get ready to blow everything up at my signal."

"Got it!" Camilla answers quickly, taking position to have a good view to the pa.s.sage leading to the tower.

"I'm making sure you are going to have the time that you need. Camilla, move 8 yard to your left, there is a slight depression in the ground, you will have a better view and a better cover on the pa.s.sage."

"Moving now."

"Requesting radio silence now."

Closing his eyes, Nathaniel start expanding his consciousness outward. Overwhelmed by the huge number of persons and informations he was getting, he withdraw it quickly. Taking another breath, he limit himself in a thirty yard radius around him where he could feel twenty four people moving. Having an idea, he try to visualise the position of his weapon which was surprisingly easy to do. Keeping his eyes closed, he press the trigger three times in a row, hitting a wall and two doors.

Seeing where the shots landed, Camilla look in surprised to where Nathaniel was. She was well aware at how good a shot he was and wasting three shots like that did not look like him at all.

"What the h.e.l.l!?" She exclaimed loudly when one of the two doors that he just shot, open itself, a men half dressed toppling over, a bullet wound in his head.

Keeping himself from smiling at his success, he shot five more times when the hair on his neck start standing up. Not wasting time, he jump from the top to the tower and used the ladder as a sliding pole to descend. He had just jumped when bullets starts ripping where he was just standing a few moments ago. When he was three feet above the ground, he jump from the ladder, doing a roll on the ground to absorb the kinetic energy of the descent. Even if he did it right, he still feel the impact on his joints.

"Camilla, I'm going to cover your right flank." Nathaniel said on the radio, taking cover on the side of the building.

The position he was in was not that great, he was cover by the building but there was two path coming in his direction and at least ten windows who had a direct line of sight to his position. Moreover, based on his location and the barracks in the fort, he was going to take the brunt of the attack. In contrary, Camilla was in a way better position to defend herself and block her side of the tower as he had only one path and a few window. That arrangement was not due to hasard, Nathaniel had decided to take the more dangerous path.

Hearing footstep coming, he quickly check his HK416 after changing the magazine. Even if he had shot only eight round of the thirty round in it, he prefer to have a full loaded one, he will need all of them to hold what was coming. Hearing Camilla starting to shoot, he did not have the time to look in her direction because someone appear on his side and he also start firing.