Chapter Text
There’s a spider on the wall.
Unmoving in the corner, right above a cabinet that’s undoubtedly holding years worth of redacted mission information. It has to be about thumb sized, its sixth sense alerting it to potential danger. It’s the only thing she can look at.
Laswell’s voice should be the forefront of attention, detailing this new team, new mission. Important information that will be the backbone of her life for the unforeseeable future.
But she can’t tear her focus away from the spider.
“-format says that AQ is leading… Jaguar, are you listening?”
The codename is enough, barely, but enough to tear her eyes away from the damn spider on the wall, shivers lancing down her spine in a way that’s unbecoming for someone who has a ledger longer than some books. Locking eyes with Laswell is a mistake, the judgment clear in the tilt of Kate’s brows and the slant of her lips.
“Apologies, Laswell. Please continue” was the only thing Jaguar could think to say, couldn’t admit that the spider on the wall that hasn’t moved in 15 minutes was the reason she was completely zoned out. Kate sighed, by now well enough attuned with Jaguar’s propensity for zoning out to continue without too much fuss. Jaguar could only hope that this wouldn’t get back to her new team, their first impressions of an airhead in a mask.
“As I was saying, AQ is leading the chase, smuggling potentially deadly weapons. We need to know how, where, when… and stop them.” Laswell stopped then, looking down at the folders on her desk, brows pushing together in either frustration or a multitude of any other emotions Jaguar couldn’t decipher. She watched as Laswell took a steadying breath, bracing both hands flat against the free space left on the desk before continuing, “The team we currently have on hand is good, the best of the best… but we’ve run into too many issues where the prominent sniper we have has needed to be in the thick of it.” At this, Laswell looked back up, blue eyes meeting blue, both women taking a moment to let the truth of the matter settle in the air like fog. Kate continued, holding Jaguar’s eyes to instill the severity of the situation, “we need a dedicated sniper, someone who can and will watch their backs from afar, and I can think of no one else I’d trust this task to. We need those missiles found, and we need Hassan. Captured, killed, anything at this point.”
Jaguar took a moment, weighing each word and their impact on the mission she was being given.
Nothing is as simple as it seems.
“If, say, we eliminate Hassan, then what?” Jaguar countered, thinking of a Hydra with many heads. Nothing like a major terrorist organization would be defeated by just cutting off one head. Someone would rise up to fill the vacuum of power left behind by Hassan’s removal. To Jaguar, the missiles were a secondary problem, a pressing danger but something tangible, simple. Items could be tracked and destroyed, nothing stays lost forever. But with Hassan, that is a known variable. The enemy you know is better than the enemy you don’t.
Who would be the nameless, faceless person to rise up behind Hassan.
Kate’s face fell, nothing major, nothing telling, but enough for Jaguar to see up close. A minor shake of her head, and a longer pause that had the room feeling stifling followed. When she looked back up, made eye contact with Jaguar through the eye black and the balaclava, the entire set of her face and body was grim, and her tone was thin and reedy, tired. “We don’t know, not yet. But Hassan cannot be allowed to run rampant, especially with missiles within his grasp.”
The response, and the way the thought of the after weighed Kate Laswell down better than lead weights could, was enough for Jaguar to back off the topic. Accepting that it would be a problem, most likely for the higher ups, to tackle and think on when the time came. A short nod was all she had to offer her friend, before focusing back on the folders Kate had laid out upon the desk. Jaguar reached out a hand for the stack, taking a quick look at Laswell’s expression to ensure that she could, before grabbing them. Parsing between each file, which would provide basic information on the men that would be her teammates. She read the names upon each folder, took quick note of the faces pictured roughly, but delved no deeper.
Captain John Price, Lieutenant Simon Riley, Sergeant Kyle Garrick, Sergeant John MacTavish…
Laswell’s voice once again snapped Jaguar back to attention, pulling her eyes from the tops of each folder and back to the woman who would soon become her C.O. “General Shepherd helped hand pick this team, you will also be working with Colonel Phillip Graves and the Shadow Company. This is your kind of mission, and you’ll be answering to myself, Captain Price, or to Lieutenant Ghost.” She finished, holding Jaguar’s gaze for a moment before motioning to the folders with an open hand, quietly requesting them back.
Jaguar wasn’t really planning on reading any of them anyways, knowing that with records and an operation such as this, nothing of importance would be written in. Better to learn these men first hand than have preconceived notions in her head from reading some military jargon. She handed them back to Laswell without a fuss, before taking a final peak at the corner.
The fucking spider was gone.
The full body shiver following that realization had Jaguar fighting the urge to jump out of the chair, instead focusing her attention back on Laswell before any internal discomfort reached what was visible on her own face.
“You’ll be taking a helo to Las Almas, and meeting Lieutenant Ghost and Sergeant Soap… sorry MacTavish, as well as Colonel Vargas and his second, Rodolfo Parra in two hours. Follow Ghost’s and Vargas’ orders, you’ll be sticking with both Ghost and Soap from here on out. You’re to smoke out Hassan if he’s there, and capture him alive for questioning at all costs.”
“Affirmative.”
Las Almas
No matter how many times Jaguar had been south of the U.S’ borders, she never has gotten used to the way that the heat smacks her directly in the face. Fifty plus pounds of gear, covered head to toe in black and in a balaclava made it even worse. Thankfully, the humidity seemed to be rather low, testament to how she didn’t immediately start sweating from every angle.
From her position, lowering from about 50 feet above the ground, she could see the entire compound that housed Los Vaqueros, as well as the group of men waiting by bolted cargo near the facility’s entrance. Four stood out, two men clearly darkened by work out in the sun, darker skin, hair and eyes. The other two sticking out like sore thumbs, but for severely different reasons. One paler, shorter, with a stocky build, tee-shirt, and a mohawk distinctive as John MacTavish, the other tall, similarly geared up as Jaguar, with… hopefully a real half skull attached to a dark gray balaclava.
I think I know which one’s Ghost… she thought with a half hearted audible chuckle.
The chopper hit the ground with just enough force to jolt Jaguar to the side by the open space that… could and probably should be a door, pulling her from her observations and serving as a reminder to get moving. The pilot’s voice in her ear barely audible over the engine and wings, announcing their landing. With a steadying breath, she hoisted her gun, a shining MCPR freshly cleaned and fully loaded, closer to her vest-covered chest, and hopped out of the helo. Landing solidly upon the ground, and forever grateful that the decision to go fully incognito prevented her hair from flying uncontrollably around any wind, she stood up straight and began walking towards the men waiting, taking in the way they each made their way to meet her in the middle.
Some say that the way a person walks can tell an entire story about them. In the time it took them to meet her in the middle, she had cataloged the long, loping strike of Ghost telling tales of someone comfortable in their size and prowess. The quick efficient strut of MacTavish, telling of someone quick on their feet. The other two slower, but no less telling for the differential way the shorter one fell into step behind the other, more of a military march than any kind of saunter. The final man, who must be Colonel Vargas, walked with purpose, but with a sway showing confidence and a vague sort of… dare she think it… swagger.
“You must be Jaguar, the final piece. Welcome to Las Almas, the city of Souls. My name is Alejandro Vargas, and this is Rodolfo Parra, my second in command” Alejandro introduced, motioning to the man to his left with the military style walk. Jaguar noted both had kind eyes, and Alejandro an open smile bordering on a smirk.
With a nod, and a smile unseen but for the slight closing of her eyes and crinkling at the corners, Jaguar responded in kind “Thank you, Colonel Vargas. Hopefully I’m not haunting your halls for too long, I’m afraid I burn easily in the sun.” A joke to break the ice easy, play her hand and see the kind of men she’d be working with. Would they chafe against her jokes and chatter? She wouldn’t be burning at all in full gear, quite literally completely covered up from head to toe outside of the skin around her eyes, covered in eye black.
The joke immediately got a chuckle from Alejandro, and Rodolfo smirked from behind, although from her peripheral vision she saw the confusion briefly flit across MacTavish’s face. Ghost, well… No reaction, but from what she’s heard and seen of him, it didn’t surprise her. A quick bark of laughter draws her attention to MacTavish, who seemed to have finally gotten the joke, and his smile is pleased, but incredulous and his eyes bright when she makes eye contact.
“That’s a good one, I’m John “Soap” MacTavish, but you can call me Soap. Hear you, me and LT are gonna get to know each other real well. I’m lookin forward to workin with ya” He introduces himself, and then gestures with a sweep of his arm behind and to the side, where Ghost is looming. “And this is Lieutenant Ghost, but I think he likes to go by-”
“That’ll Do. Again” Ghost cuts him off before he can get the last word out, and Jaguar can only blink, feeling like she’s missing a punchline or an inside joke. The feeling rolls off her shoulders quickly enough for her to jump back into the swing of everything and respond.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both, and I look forward to working with you.” She says in kind, hoping at this point to be done with the niceties and get to the mission nitty gritty. Small talk works better with men who don’t look like they will break you in half at the drop of a hat, and Ghost’s hulking mass next to Soap stills her tongue on any more jokes for the time being.
A nod from each man, at both each other and her, and then it’s straight to business.
Alejandro led, walking slowly back towards the base with his hands tucked neatly at the small of his back, Ghost’s long strides bringing him to speed with Alejandro’s retreating form easily, as Soap moved to match pace on Ghost’s right. Jaguar was quick to follow the men, staying a couple paces behind them, eyes hopping between until Ghost began to speak.
“Shepherd’s contractors are inbound to reinforce. They’re bringing hardware, they’ll need room.”
Alejandro was quick to agree and hold eye contact with Ghost as he said “My base is your base.”
“Good. Now where’s Hassan?” was the gruff response from Ghost, mind already fully locked into the mission. The anticipation of Alejandro’s next words had Jaguar hyper focusing on the back of his head as they neared a line of military SUV’s.
“Cartel safe-house, ten clicks from here. Get in” Alejandro finished, pulling open the front passenger door of the first car in the line. Soap and Rodolfo disappear to the other side, leaving Ghost and Jaguar at the door of the rear passenger side. It was quick work to pull the body strap attached to her MCPR over her head, keeping her eyes trained on Ghost. A sweep of his hand gestured her in, dooming her to the middle.
One hell of a meat sandwich was all Jaguar could think, moving to grab the side of the car to hop in, being 5’1” and not having the height or leg length to just slide in. Soap was already there, sitting in the far side of the back seat, Rodolfo in the driver's seat and Alejandro in the shotgun. Scooting into the middle it dawned on Jaguar how tight of a squeeze it would be, stuck between two men twice her size if not more. Ghost got in, settling himself pressed tightly to her right shoulder, bracketing her in between the two British specialists. She adjusted her grip on her sniper rifle, angling the barrel to the floor of the car and squeezing it between her thighs to offer as much space as possible for the men on either side of her.
Jaguar focused on the two men in the front of the car to take her mind away from being squished and overwarm in the back, listening as Rodolfo turned to Alejandro to speak in smooth Spanish, glad at once for her rudimentary spanish.
“Le tengo miedo de los fantasmas…” I’m afraid of ghosts .
Alejandro twisted his upper body around to look at Soap, the only one he could really see besides herself, and asked “You know Spanish?”
Soap’s hesitant and quiet “No” brought an unseen smirk to her face, while keeping her eyes on Alejandro as he faced the front once more with an almost resigned “You will…” signaling Rodolfo to start the car and pull away. The vibrations and movements lulling her body into a calmer state. Ghost was silent and still to her right, while Soap in her peripheral, had his eyes glued out the window as they left the compound and headed towards the city of Las Almas proper.
The city itself was alight with bright colors, storefronts well worn and awnings sunbleached. Cars, people and children everywhere. A truck passing on their left had Soap tensing, his thigh and shoulder pressed alongside Jaguar’s going solid within seconds, his arm moving down between his own legs to grip the AR between his thighs by the rear grip.
“White truck, four armed in the back.”
Alejandro was quick to turn and placate “Hey -tranquilo- Easy… That’s normal here.” with a gesture out towards the street. He continued after a pause, each word weighted with thought as he looked back out towards the people and cars around them. “Guns on the street is the jurisdiction of the police.”
Ghost shifted, following Alejandro’s explanation with a question of his own. “Where are the police?”
Alejandro’s answering sigh was nearly drowned out by the purring of the engine before he responded.
“Well Las Almas has a very serious problem. There are few here to uphold the law. And many of those who resist corruption…Disappear.” Jaguar could see his eyes looking to her left, presumably holding Ghost’s gaze in the rear view mirror as he explained.
“What about the military?” Soap questioned.
“Well because we are well trained,” Alejandro began, slowly as if testing the impact of his words, “soldiers are recruited by the narcos…”
“Why not you?” Ghost was quick to insert once Alejandro finished speaking, and Jaguar could already feel an opinion forming in her mind about Ghost and Alejandro’s characters, just from the distrust the questions showed and Alejandro’s slow, thoughtful way of explaining the world he lived in.
From the view in the middle, she could see both Rodolfo and Alejandro look towards each other as Alejandro answered “We grew up here.” A bob of his head once more before he turned to look out the window on his right, following up with “They call us Los Vaqueros. We love this place.” At this, Alejandro turned back towards the back seat, taking a moment to look both Soap and Jaguar in the eyes as he said “And we will die fighting for it.”
The sentiment took Jaguar back, mentally. She knew that some people loved their homes, were proud of their roots and where they lived, and it seemed as if Alejandro was one of those. She had a feeling that he meant every word, and his halted explanations were more of a way to soften the blow of how corrupt his home was. He loved this area, the people. He was more open to talk, honest in the way he didn’t shy away from eye contact, and Jaguar could feel herself looking forward to working with him.
The quiet following Alejandro’s speech was not quite stifling, but with nothing to add, and preferring to observe for a while longer the men and city around her, Jaguar didn’t find it too uncomfortable. It had been some time since she had been forced to be so physically close to others, and the heat of both Ghost and Soap, pressed tightly on either side of her body, was both nice and uncomfortable at the same time.
As they rounded a corner, a small stand along their left came into view, three men standing with weapons in hand, a mother, child, and a cart holding down party balloons. What the fuck….
Soap was equally taken aback by the sight, turning to Jaguar and Ghost with a sarcastic “Kids guns and balloons… That’s a new one.” Ghost had no reaction, but Jaguar couldn’t help the small shrug, brows pulled to the bridge of her nose because really… He wasn’t wrong.
There was an explanation from Alejandro, but Jaguar was pulled in by the sights surrounding the car, really only listening with half an ear as Soap, Alejandro and Rodolfo exchanged a few words. Even as they pulled up next to a macabre sight, bodies hidden under clothes with thick spanish lettering sprayed over the white, Jaguar couldn’t focus on the words being spoken. Catching only Alejandro’s quiet “Our streets are laced with death.”
Ghost shifted on her right, and the low boom of his voice jarred Jaguar just enough to remind her that the information gleaned during this car ride would probably be beneficial at some point. Dragging herself away from the state of head empty, observe, to tune back into the conversation fully.
“Who’s Sin Nombre?”
“El Sin Nombre… The nameless… The leader of the Las Almas Cartel.” Alejandro answered.
“Where can we find him?” Soap was quick to ask, eager for a chance, it seemed, to do something.
Jaguar wrinkled her nose under the fabric of her balaclava, turning her head away from the windshield to shoot a look up at Soap. “Or her.” because really, The nameless, the faceless? Could be anyone, and Jaguar was nothing if not an advocate for equal rights.
Her response got her twin stares from the men next to her, but Alejandro picked up easily, responding “You can’t, no one knows who they are. But they are everywhere…And this is a challenge, but Los Vaqueros like challenges.” He finished with a chuckle, and a pointed look to Rodolfo.
Rodolfo chimed in, and she could see his eyes looking towards Ghost through the rear view mirror as he said “With your mask, you will fit in well here, Ghost.”
She turned her head just to see the very edge of Ghost’s eyes as he turned to make eye contact with Rodolfo through the mirror as well, blinking once slowly. His body stayed loose along her side, but Jaguar had never once wanted to jump out of a moving vehicle more, tense with the nerves of being stuck next to someone who’s moves she couldn’t predict. In her heart of hearts, though, the slow blink as he made eye contact with Rodolfo may have made her laugh in any situation…. Except that one.
Her internal struggle on whether or not she’d get an elbow in the face if he lunged forward caused her to miss a few words, but suddenly Rodolfo was turning the car off the main road, snapping her attention back on Alejandro as he explained the military’s involvement with El Sin Nombre, and where the Cartel was hiding Hassan.
The rest of the drive was quiet but for the humming of the engine and the grind of tires along pavement and gravel.
—
The line of cars broke as they pulled up to a small clearing surrounded by trees, just a few miles from the main city of Las Almas. The sound of doors opening, boots hitting the ground and Alejandro’s voice in her ear over the comms clicking in Jaguar mind. It was go time.
“Team leaders, circle up on me…”
Jaguar slid out of the SUV behind Soap, who moved quicker than Ghost to leave the vehicle. Men moved around to get into positions, and she followed Soap into a small huddle with Alejandro and Rodoflo as Alejandro explained where Hassan was held.
“White two story building, back of town.” Alejandro said, knocking knuckles with Rodolfo before everyone moved. Ghost walked quietly ahead, holding point with Alejandro as Soap, Rodolfo and a Los Vaqueros soldier followed behind. Jaguar took the rear, throwing the strap of her MCPR back over her head and shoulder, sliding her hand over the barrel and grabbing the rear grip, pointer and middle fingers hovering near the trigger.
Alejandro spoke quickfire into the comms in Spanish, before pushing through the gate of the small town, Ghost and Soap spilling through behind him. Jaguar made eye contact with the Los Vaqueros solider, gesturing with the barrel of her gun pointed down and out for him to go first.
“I’m going to take high ground, I’ll keep my eyes out” She said into the comms as she followed slowly behind the soldier, keeping her eyes trained on Alejandro to catch his nod. It was quick work to scramble up onto a ledge of stone by the metal roof of a dilapidated home near the gate, crouching just behind a tree and taking aim.
The men moved as one, snaking down the streets, killing any cartel as they went, efficiently. Every building seemed to have at least one Cartel member in it, if not more. Jaguar kept her eyes away from the scope, the close quarters making it not efficient to be tunnel visioned. Movement to her right had her twisting along her knees, snapping her scope to the side for iron sights. A deep breath, a pull of the trigger and one of two men moving from a building a “street” over was down. The other panicked, looking around wildly, only to meet a similar end. The kickback from the rifle had her shoulder hot, throbbing from the force of the stock slamming into the meat of her shoulder and pectoral muscle. She swiveled back to track Los Vaqueros and her team through the small town.
As they rounded a corner to the left, she moved, getting back to her feet and quickly scanning from behind the tree to ensure that it would be safe to rotate positions to a rooftop. With no movement found outside of Los Vaqueros men moving further in, she jumped, landing unsteadily on the thin metal roof of the home closest.
A pause, motionless to ensure she wouldn’t fall through, and then she continued, popping from roof to roof to keep her team in her sights.
Over the comms she heard their plan to clear the house, and watched as Soap made his way in quietly, the slow sweep from side to side as he inched inside before being obscured from her view. She took the chance to do a sweep, from the treeline she could barely see on her left, horizontally across what of the town she could see from her vantage point along the low rooftop directly behind the building the men were in.
The sound of gunfire in her ears kept her heart rate up, adrenaline flowing steadily. No one was on the balconies, she was the only sniper.
Alejandro’s voice over the comms, asking for concealment before moving to the target location had her making a final leap, landing on the roof of the home the team was in. She tucked herself close to the metal roof, next to an exhaust pipe, behind the ridge of the roof’s hip.The scope was kept useless to the side, and she used only the iron sights to keep an eye out for any movement in the white house until her view of the downstairs was obstructed by the smoke concealment.
Balancing the barrel of her rifle on the roof, she used one hand to activate her com, speaking quickly “I have no sights as you move interior, be careful. No movement on the second floor.”
“Affirmative.” Alejandro’s voice responded in her ear, and she kept an eye out as she saw vague shapes moving to a door on the right side, coming just enough into view for her to make out Soap’s Mohawk and the distinctive camo of Los Vaqueros gear.
They moved interior quickly, and she angled her gun back up to keep sights on the windows to the second floor. Movement in one of the windows had her freezing, eyes trained to ensure she actually saw something. She quickly snapped the scope back into its place, closing one eye and focusing on the window. She heard Alejandro over the comms direct the team up to the second floor, and she moved to respond.
“Movement on the second floor… looks like at least one in the bedroom, fully armed.” She warned, keeping her voice low and body pressed tight against the roof. Waiting for the go ahead to shoot, or to hold back.
“Affirmative, we’re moving up and in.” Was Ghost’s gruff response.
She moved her sight away from the window briefly, catching Alejandro’s form as he moved onto the second floor through a smaller window by the left side of the house. Gunshots sounded, and what felt like hours passed as Soap and Alejandro cleared the final room.
“Negative on Hassan.” Soap’s distinctive Scottish lilt came over the comms, followed by Alejandro’s update in quickfire Spanish.
She pulled back from her position slightly, moving her face away from the barrel and scope of her gun just as the distinctive sound of a vehicle moving nearby caught her attention. She turned around to face the way they came, watching as more military vehicles came down the winding roads towards the town. Briefly she could hear Rodolfo warning Alejandro of the Army moving in. Jaguar quickly moved to the other side of the roof, using the angle to conceal her body just enough that she wouldn’t be seen immediately, if they hadn’t seen her already.
The adrenaline she felt earlier was little compared to the flood of it running through her system. She was a sitting duck against those vehicles.
Ghost’s voice came clear over the comms “Jaguar, get in here.” sending her quickly into motion. Pawing at her own comm as she slid towards the edge of the roof towards the white house.
“Affirmative, moving now.”
She barely looked as she slid from the roof, landing on her feet and rolling once to absorb the impact, her rifle tucked against her tactical vest. The force of the land had shocks shooting from her ankles to her knees, but within seconds she was upright and hauling ass towards the door they breached, partially hanging off its hinges. She paid little attention to the inside of the house, taking a quick sweep to find the stairs before jogging across and taking them two steps at a time.
Within moments she was with them, breathing a little heavier than before, and her gloves creaking against the barrel and grip of her rifle with the strength she was holding it. She took a moment to take stock of the men, noting no injuries, before moving in further and breaking the tense silence.
“What’s the word?”
Alejandro shot a quick look over his shoulder at her from where he was standing, just to the side of the window. “We cover my men, and retreat once they’re clear.”
With a nod, Jaguar moved to the window across from the stairs, tucking herself against the wall to the left of the window with her rifle trained towards the now parked vehicles. Men swarmed out of them, some holding riot shields, all of them armed.
From his position at one of the other windows, Alejandro cautioned “Hold fire, let them get close.”
A deep breath, in….
And out….
“Weapons Free!”
One man was in her sights, following tightly behind a soldier crouched with a riot shield, his head peaking over the top of the shield so he could return fire. She moved her gun, angling to get the perfect headshot.
Bang!
One down, onto the next.
And so it went, for what felt like hours, or minutes, or seconds. All she was, was an extension of her rifle. Aim, pull the trigger, confirm the drop, move onto the next.
The explosions of grenades rocked the house they were in, as Soap and Alejandro began throwing them down into the forming crowd of soldiers.The sound of her own gun, her team’s guns, the bullets flying past her, and the grenades going off below nearly drowned out Rodolfo’s words “Estamos claros, Comandante” Commander, we’re clear.
Alejandro’s response was drowned out as she fired again, another soldier aiming what looked like a rapid fire machine gun straight at the window she was in. . He dropped quickly, falling to an over-pressured bullet through his head.
“Then we need to move!” from Soap cut through her focus like a hot blade, and she dropped down into a crouch as cover to look at the rest of the team. Alejandro had already moved to a covered window at the back of the room.
“Fall back, this way!” He shouted to be heard over the gunfire, and Soap was quick to follow. They pushed the window open, and Jaguar moved to make her way out as well, climbing through after Soap, landing on an awning and sliding off to the ground below. Ghost followed last, stopping at the side of a fence opening to cover as everyone made a mad scramble away from the house and down into the trails.
Alejandro moved quickly, covering distance with Soap hot on his heels, calling out a quick “Fan out and stay close.” As he moved further down the large hill.
Jaguar followed behind, pumping her legs to keep up. Jumping over rocks and trying to use ledges and trees as cover, her rifle held tightly to her chest. Bullets began to whiz past, kicking up dirt, dust, chunks of rock in front and around her and the others as they fled. She was helpless as a Los Vaqueros soldier in front of Soap fell in a spray of dust. There was a desperation and panic in Alejandro’s voice as he cried out the soldier's name, but he moved all the same for cover, grabbing the soldier roughly by the vest and dragging him down behind a large rock.
Jaquar slid around the base of a wider tree a few feet away from where Alejandro, the soldier now known as Rodriquez, and Soap hid. She pulled her rifle up, taking aim as Ghost’s voice barked in her ear over the comms “Get to cover and return fire!” sending a frisson of frustration through her, as if this was everyone’s first operation gone bad.
Regardless, she still took aim and began to return fire. Not all of her shots hit, she was a damn good sniper, but the quarters were closing in, and the bullets flying past her were too close for her hands to be completely steady. One shot grazed her shoulder from where it was visible, peaking behind the tree so she could aim, and despite the adrenaline going, the burn was something she knew but would never get used to.
She dropped as many as she could before her magazine was empty, listening for the orders to continue moving, trying not to get hit again as she pulled back fully behind the tree. She took the moment to reload her gun as quickly as she could, watching in her peripheral as Rodriquez, thankfully alive and still kicking it, returned fire with Alejandro at his side. With the last bullet loaded, she scanned the area, trying to locate any other friendlies.
“Are we clear?” Soap called out, the words making her realize the sudden quietness behind the ringing in her ears.
“For now. We gotta move! Go!” Was Alejandro’s response, and with that everyone began to trek further down the side of the mountain.
She focused on moving, keeping one foot in front of the other and not tripping or falling. With one ear trained on the conversation and sounds around her as her ears stopped ringing, the footfalls of the soldiers around her.
“You know these trails?” She can hear Soap ask, just a few feet in front of her, looking whole but dusty.
“Very well, but so does the army…” Alejandro responds, quiet due to the distance as he leads the group of them further down.
Ghost’s voice comes over the comms, rumbling out and distinctive, edged in static “We can’t hold off an army. We need extraction.”
Alejandro turns his head to Rodriquez next to him, ordering for… hopefully extraction, although by then Jaguar was too far behind to hear clearly, and her Spanish wasn’t perfect.
A hush fell over the team, as everyone focused instead on moving and getting down the mountain. What followed was more of a blur to Jaguar, trying mainly at that point to keep herself alive. A sniper on the ground, pinched between rocks and military weapons was not ideal. Their mad dash down the mountain was paused to return fire against the encroaching Mexican Army, and her mind was narrowed down again to return fire, move, reload, return fire, get to cover, move. The adrenaline, while still pumping, was beginning to ebb enough for the burn in her arm to make itself known once more, but there was no time to stop and patch herself up, and a quick glance confirmed that it wasn’t deep enough that leaving it untreated for a little while would be too dangerous.
It was a losing game against time, slipping through her fingers. It felt like she blinked, and suddenly they were coming on the edge of a drop, with lowering platforms of rock down along the right. Alejandro’s voice saying they’ll have to jump kicking Soap into gear. She watched as he jumped from the ledge, landing and immediately sliding down the following platform. She glanced behind, making eye contact with Rodriquez and Ghost, who both stood nearby, waiting. With a steadying breath, she turned back to the ledge, took as much of a running start as she could with the space available and jumped.
The impact with the sloped platform on her legs was jarring, sending the breath in her lungs out with a quiet “oof” but she had made it, sliding down to land in more of a heap at the next platform. Soap was there, waiting with a hand to help her up, which she accepted gratefully, surprised. Rodriquez landed behind her as she got up, moving quickly to avoid being taken down with him.
Alejandro ordered Soap to scout ahead first, while Rodriquez continued working on the radio, which at some point had disconnected. Jaguar took the chance to scan over her rifle, and then the wide expanse to her left of open air and the ground below, keeping an eye out for the glint of a scope. She could hear presumably Ghost presumably shuffling behind her, but kept her eyes trained on the landscape across from them. Soaps' voice brought everyone’s head in his direction, his distinctive accent and proud “Found it!” enough to have everyone making their way up and around the ledges to where he stood at the start of the trail sloping up.
Their victory was cut short as the sound of a helicopter nearby became audible. A quick glance around had Jaguar’s eyes trained on Alejandro as he looked up, his throat bobbing around a swallow before he looked back, making eye contact with her for a split second before continuing their movements across the team.
“Escucha” Listen “You hear that?”
Ghost’s responding “Incoming heli” snaps her spine straight, realizing that he was directly behind her. She forcibly relaxed her stance before looking up and around, trying to catch sight of the helicopter between the tree limbs overhead unsuccessfully. Wordlessly, everyone began moving up, taking turns hopping over a nearby ledge to get closer to the helicopter and following Alejandro’s lead.
At this point, really, Jaguar had less of a clear idea of where exactly they were headed due to being unable to hear much of the conversations during their previous firefights due to tunnel visioning. The thought of following these men that she had just met, blindly into another fight wasn’t exactly comforting, and she took the chance before another firefight started to speak up.
“Where are we headed?” She asked, keeping her voice low and quiet due to being close to the team but not wanting any hostiles to hear.
Alejandro didn’t look back as he moved further up, answering her inquiry in a low town as well, thankfully not impatient or short, just factually “The bridge over the river, straight ahead past the helo… They’ll try to cut us off”
“We’re gonna have a fight on our hands, again.” She responded, ducking behind a rock for cover as the top of the ledge came into view, keeping an eye on the others as they also found their own cover. Her words were met with silence, and she didn’t expect much else.
From where she was tucked against the rock, she could see Alejandro peek around a tree he used as cover, a bullet barely visible flying past him. His voice boomed as he yelled out “Weapons Free!” and it was on.
She peaked the barrel of her MCPR around the corner of the rock, taking care to keep as much of her body hidden, and began one by one helping take down any form that passed the top of the hill they were below. Her right shoulder was threatening to bruise already, tender and worn from the repeated beating of the kickback from her rifle and the thin line of missing skin just between her shoulder and bicep. The pain was more of an annoyance, getting harder to ignore as she continuef shooting, trying to keep up with the fight and any words being spoken from her team so she stopped missing important information…. Like the bridge they were going to.
The next fifteen or so minutes were spent the same, until eventually the crowd began to thin, and the last body fell against Soap’s AR.
“Clear!”
“Clear!”
Ghost and Rodriquez both called out, one second after another, and Jaguar moved from behind her rock, hustling behind the group as Alejandro called out “Up the hill, the bridge isn’t far.”
She was last in the line of them, moving slower due to her smaller legs, following behind Ghost as quickly as she could. He called over his shoulder without looking “Top o’the hill, Jaguar. We’re moving!” gruffly.
With a nearly inaudible grumpy snort, Jaguar pushed up a bit further, trying not to actually fall behind as she crested the hill two seconds behind the tall brick of a British man. The lack of extraction was worrying, and to her eyes, there was no easy or good way to get to the bridge from their place on a ledge on the side of the mountain, a body of water between them and the bridge.
“This way.” Alejandro’s voice brought her head from the trees and rocks around her, back to him as the group began making their way along the ledge to the end. Alejandro crouched by the edge, looking over the expanse of land, while Soap stopped next to him directly on the edge, looking down. A quick look between the two, before Alejandro ordered “Jump down, Sergeant”
Soap wasted no time in jumping, disappearing from view. A thud could be heard as he hit the ground again, and then Alejandro followed, then Rodriquez. Jaguar moved to the edge, taking in the distance.
This was gonna hurt…