Skulls in the Sand

Action Force Headquarters,

Birmingham, England

August, 1995

Eagle entered the briefing room to see the team he’d ordered to assemble was waiting for him. Quickfire, his number two man for several years, would lead the team. With him, as usual these last few years, were Kukri and Boonie, two of Quickfire’s SAS Force commando squad. Also present were Desert Rat, SAS Force’s desert warfare specialist; Sparrowhawk, the Belgian paratrooper and Bombardier from Special Weapons Force.

“Good morning, gentlemen. I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is we’re winning the war against Cobra. Cobra Europe was hurt badly by Operation: Cheetah and has yet to fully recover, even after four years. Infighting between Anna Conda and Hades has hurt them as well. The North American arm is hurting as well. The Joes kicked ass until they were disbanded, last year. We kicked Cobra’s backsides in Eastern Europe, hurting them further. They’re hiding on Cobra Island, licking their wounds. The South American arm has been hurt considerably, both by Task Force 282 and by the Red Shadows’ attacks earlier this year. More good news there; no sign of the Red Shadows since we kicked their backsides out in Georgia. If Black Major did survive, he’s going to be licking his wounds and trying to recruit more Shadows.”

Eagle looked around the group, smiling.

“So, what’s the bad news, Colonel?” asked Boonie.

Eagle’s smiled disappeared. “We’ve been tracking the rise of a new threat. The Coil. A splinter organisation of Cobra troops.”

Eagle turned on the computer at the desk where he was standing and then the wall-mounted monitor that was linked to the computer. He cued up a photo.

“The Coil is led by this man, known only as ‘Overlord’. He’s a former Crimson Guard.”

The image was obviously a surveillance photo taken at a distance, showing a man in a goofy looking gold helmet, a gold bandana across his mouth and nose and wearing a monocle and a green uniform.

“According to intel from the Joes, Overlord split with Cobra shortly after Cobra Commander’s return to the organisation, stealing a prototype assault vehicle in the process. Overlord then spent several months recruiting Cobra members who agreed with his views and mercenaries willing to join his cause,” Eagle went on. He put up a new photo showing three men in green and black uniforms with black masks.

“Many of these Coil troops are well-trained and well armed. The Joes found out about them thanks to the FBI discovering a safehouse in the Appalachians,” Eagle explained. He cued up another photo, showing a large house set among trees with mountains in the distance.

“When the Joes raided the place, they uncovered information on several Coil plots and safe-houses. One of these was a bomb factory in Pakistan. A Joe team took the place out a month after the mission in Georgia.”

Eagle cued up another picture, showing a three storey building in a village.

“About a month after that, The Joes were disbanded. Hawk passed information to the FBI and ATF and those agencies were responsible for raiding the Coil bases in America; bases in various cities including Dallas, LA, New York, Chicago and Miami. The Coil is not done. They’re changing tactics and changing targets.”

Eagle put another photo on the monitor. This one showed a man with close-cropped black hair, an eye-patch and a thin moustache.

“This is Major Sebastian Bludd, former member of the Australian SAS Regiment and late of the French Foreign Legion. Currently operating as a mercenary. Bludd has operated under contract for Cobra, but split with them shortly before their defeat in Europe,” Eagle explained. “Major Bludd is now known to have formed his own mercenary unit, known as Skull Squad. Intelligence gathered by the DGSE and SIS has identified a total of six SF trained mercs working with Bludd.”

Eagle cued up photos of all six men together.

“Sergei Kamarov,” Eagle said indicating a blonde, blue-eyed man in the top left image. “Ex Alpha Group Spetsnaz. His dossier says this guy is a brick outhouse and not someone to be messed with. Hand-to-hand combat is his speciality. He’s a mean bastard.”

Eagle pointed to the next picture, top middle. “Mark Johnson, ex-SAS. One of the best in the regiment who never applied for AF. Sniper specialist.” Johnson had close-cropped brown hair and green eyes. Stubble decorated his chin.

“John Lyle. Ex-Green Beret. Demolitions expert. You can bet the Joes will want to bring him in now they’ve been reactivated. He’s another hand-to-hand expert.” Lyle had intense blue eyes and black hair.

The bottom right picture was next. “Daniel Macomb. French 2e Regiment Etranger Parachutistes. This one’s a nasty one. Kicked out of the Foreign Legion for his treatment of prisoners in Rwanda. The DGSE say he may have met Bludd there. Specialises in commando operations. As well as torture.” Macomb had brown hair, brown eyes and a scar down his right cheek. A sneer curled his lips.

Eagle moved to the middle bottom picture. “Robert Shaw. Former member of 3 Para. Kicked out for repeated insubordination. The file on him says he’s a narcissistic loudmouth who thinks he knows it all. If you slot him, no one will miss him; his parents died in 1983. Widely despised in his platoon. Believe it or not, he’s a field medic.” Shaw had a smug expression on his face, short ginger hair, green eyes and a lot of freckles.

“Finally, we come to Neils Lukaas. South African. Former member of their 44 Pathfinders. Racist doesn’t even begin to cover it. He was kicked out after it emerged he’d raped female prisoners in Angola, tortured men and children and got into fights with two Black members of his own unit, nearly crippling one. His speciality, aside from being a grade-A snot, is recon and infiltration. Feel free to do the world a favour and put rounds in him, too.” Lukaas was brown haired with pale white skin like milk. He looked angry in the photo.

Eagle cued up another photo. “The rest of Skull Squad is made up of gunmen from various mercenary and militia groups from Africa, Central America and South America. How long Lukaas will last with them remains to be seen, given his attitude. Regardless, Bludd and this sinister six are training them up for operations. This camp in Somalia is their current base.”

The photo, clearly taken from a high altitude recon plane, showed a series of buildings inside a perimeter fence with guard towers at the corners and at a gate.

“The camp incorporates IR decoys, radar lures and laser reflectors to discourage a precision missile or bomb strike,” Eagle explained. “Not that it couldn’t just be carpet-bombed with freefall bombs.”

“So why don’t we just bomb the place?” asked Desert Rat. “Send over a few Skystrikers and take the place out?”

“Because DGSE have a mole in Skull Squad who has informed them that the mercs have taken delivery of chemical weapons smuggled out of Iraq, destined for The Coil in Europe,” Eagle replied. “Hence our interest and hence the briefing on both groups.”

Desert Rat looked at Bombardier. “So, that’s why the science nerd’s here, then.”

“Exactly. Bombardier’s the closest we have to an expert on chemical weapons,” Eagle told the others. “He may have served as a Patriot battery commander, but we recruited him from the US Nuclear Emergency Search Team. He’s also worked for the DOD in the disposal of chemical weapons.”

“Which was why I was sent out to deal with that cancer-riddled idiot who hijacked the train of nuclear waste in 1988,” Bombardier said. “I was recruited when Ironblood had tried to steal nuclear materials. I stayed on, helping Boffin deal with his experimental weapons and occasionally dealing with nuclear terror threats.”

He turned his attention to Eagle, “So what are we dealing with? Mustard gas? Sarin? Tabun?”

“Sarin,” Eagle replied. “The mole says that Skull Squad took delivery of approximately thirty canisters which he was informed contained binary precursors for Sarin.”

“Are we going to have to wear the Noddy Suits?” Boonie asked, referring to NBC protective gear.

“Gas masks should definitely be worn,” Bombardier said. “Full suits might be an idea, too.”

Boonie, Desert Rat and Kukri groaned. No one liked wearing the Nuclear, Biological, Chemical protection gear.

“How do we deal with the Sarin?” Quickfire asked.

“Easily,” Bombardier replied, “Since it’s a binary agent, we only need to open the canisters and release one of the binary elements.”

“When do we deploy?” Quickfire asked Eagle next.

“Day after tomorrow. According to the mole, they move the canisters at the end of the week. We need them dealt with before that.” Eagle looked around the group. “Any more questions?”

“Are we doing this without Bodycount?” Boonie asked. “It seems odd after these last few years not to be working with him. I’ve actually warmed up to the guy.”

“Bodycount’s still on leave and won’t be back until the weekend. You should be back home by then,” Eagle replied.

“Is that why I’m here?” Sparrowhawk asked. “Filling in for him, since he’s the fourth member of Quickfire’s squad.”

“Yes, I know you’re putting your squad together, but we could do with another guy in the mix.”

“How are we deploying?” Quickfire asked, cutting back to business.

“You fly out to Kenya and stage from there to the camp via Tomahawk. A forward operating base will be established at the same time, twenty miles from the camp to refuel the Tomahawk, which will remain there until you call for extraction. You’ll also be covered by a recon drone, which Lightning will operate.” Eagle looked around again. “You’ve got today and tomorrow to plan and rehearse your assault plan.”

Two days later

Shortly before dawn

Somalia

The Z Force Tomahawk flared out and went into a hover, dropping to three feet above the barren scrubland of Somalia’s border region. The six Action Force troopers jumped from the helicopter and dropped to one knee, weapons at the ready. The Tomahawk lifted up and turned to had back west.

Boonie immediately took point, carrying the M16 assault rifle all the team except Desert Rat carried. The desert warfare specialist was carrying an FN MAG light-machine gun.

Desert Rat and Kukri were on the flank positions of the team, Quickfire and Bombardier in the middle, whilst Sparrowhawk brought up the rear.

They set out at a steady jog, heading northeast toward the camp. Dawn was fringing the horizon.

Twenty minutes later, the commandos were nearing the camp as first light broke the horizon. They quickly halted, pulled off their packs and took out their NBC suits and gas masks. The six men worked quickly to don the suits and respirators before putting their packs back on and grabbing up their weapons. Special Weapons Force had modified the suits to have a small radio headset in the hood, allowing the team to communicate clearly.

The small drone orbited over the camp, having flown into the area earlier. It was one of Special Weapons Force’s creations, a compact drone the size of a normal bed. It had delta wings, a small pusher propeller and a short rudder. Mounted under the nose was a ball turret, carrying a forward-looking infrared camera, a visual light camera and a laser range finder. A retractable millimetre-wave radar unit hung from the belly.

“''Team, this is Lightning. I’ve got you on visual from the drone. I see two sentries in two towers on the east side. FLIR shows no sentries in the western guard towers''.”

“Copy that,” Quickfire replied.

Boonie brought up his M16 as the team approached the nearest guard tower. He fired two rounds, dropping the sentry. The team leaped over the two-foot high razor wire fence. Boonie fired at the northeast guard tower, dropping the sentry there.

“That got their attention,” Lightning reported. “Multiple hostiles exiting building to your 3 o’clock.”

Quickfire, Desert Rat and Sparrowhawk turned to see the gunmen come running before they engaged them with a near unison cry of “Contact!” over their radios.

“Move out!” Quickfire ordered. “We’re too exposed here, we need cover and we have to find those chemicals!”

The team moved in bounding cover to the nearest building, which Kukri kicked in the door of. Inside was an empty briefing room. The team moved through it toward the opposite door. Desert Rat went out the door first, laying down a sustained burst of fire to put off the Skull Squad troopers.

The team moved quickly to another shack like building. Inside the shack was the mercenaries’ dirty laundry. The team abandoned the building, moving to the next. The next building was a mess hall. They moved swiftly to the rear door and exited.

Three buildings later, they found the chemical canisters. Bombardier went to work, opening and examining the canisters, using kit from his backpack to test the contents.

“Jackpot,” he reported. “These are the binary components of Sarin alright.”

Directing Boonie to help him, Bombardier worked quickly to open the canisters, pouring out the isopropyl alcohol into a large bucket. Once the alcohol was emptied from the thirty-two canisters, Bombardier next pulled out a thermite grenade. He ordered everyone out of the shack before pulling the pin and throwing it into the bucket.

The squad ran from the building as the grenade detonated, igniting the alcohol and blew the shack up.

“''Multiple hostiles moving to intercept you on your northern flank. Watch yourselves!”'' Lightning reported over the radio.

The Skull Squad mercenaries intercepted the team near the perimeter fence. Ten of the gunmen were cut down in seconds.

Lukaas was among the group.

He shoved aside several of his men, aiming at Quickfire. The German commando simply snapped off a three round burst, dropping Lukaas to the floor.

“Hostiles on your six!” Lightning shouted.

Behind them were several yells. The Action Force team split their attention. Desert Rat, Quickfire and Boonie continued to fire forwards; Bombardier, Kukri and Sparrowhawk turned to the rear. They engaged the Skull Squad mercenaries with several bursts of fire.

“Good shooting, team, looks like you’re clear.”

There was the roar of an engine behind the group. “What was that?” asked Sparrowhawk.

“FLIR just detected a vehicle starting up,” Lightning reported. “''Two hundred metres to your north. Looks like someone trying to escape''.”

The team turned in the direction indicated. A battered and rusty Land Rover sped out of the garage and raced toward them. The team scattered at its approach, firing at it. Bullets pinged off the sides, others shattering the windows.

In seconds the old vehicle was past them and racing off into the desert.

Quickfire keyed his radio. “Fennec, this is Quickfire, we have a Land Rover escaping from the camp. Need you to pick us up and then pursue.”

“Spinning up, stand by.”

The team took the opportunity to strip off their NBC suits and gas masks before the helicopter sped into sight. The large transport dropped to the ground and the commandos scrambled aboard.

Within moments, they were speeding after the Land Rover, which was barrelling along at fifty miles an hour over the rough terrain.

“I’ve got a visual on the jeep,” Fennec told Quickfire, as the commando leaned between the pilot and co-pilot seats.

“Can you put us down in front of it, to stop it?” Quickfire asked.

“I can do better than that,” Fennec replied. “My gun,” he added to the co-pilot.

“Your gun,” the co-pilot answered.

Fennec flicked a switch on the control stick, before quickly reaching up to swivel a monocle sight on his helmet down into place over his right eye.

On the helicopter’s chin, the 20mm multi-barrel machine gun rotated to point to the left, where Fennec was looking. The jeep slid into the edge of Fennec’s field of view through the monocle. He pulled the control stick’s trigger, firing a ten-round burst.

Six 20mm shells slammed into the jeep’s engine, smashing it apart. The remaining four missed the Land Rover, thudding into the dirt beyond the vehicle. The Land Rover skidded around, before flipping over on to its side, then rolled on to the roof and sliding several feet.

Fennec safed the gun, brought the Tomahawk into a hover and then dropped ground-ward. The helicopter halted a few feet above the ground and Quickfire, Boonie and Kukri jumped out and sprinted across to the wreck.

As they reached the Land Rover, Robert Shaw was crawling out of it. He looked up to see the SAS Force commandos aiming their M16s at him. He spat out blood, coughed, then spat out a bloody tooth.

“Where are Major Bludd and the rest of the scheisse six?” Quickfire asked.

Shaw frowned, “If you mean Johnson, the Frog, the Russkie and the Yank, they’re not here.” He coughed again, before spitting out more blood. “Lukaas and I were the ones running this op for him. He’s elsewhere.”

“Too bad,” Boonie said. “We already slotted Lukaas, we’ll just have to make do with you.”

“Who else is in the Land Rover?” Quickfire asked.

“Two locals. They’re dead,” Shaw replied. “Killed when we rolled.”

Boonie moved forward and hauled Shaw to his feet by his collar. “Oh well, the Brits will be happy we nabbed you at least, since you’re on the wanted list.”

Shaw grimaced as he stood up, “What wanted list?” he asked, wobbling.

“The list of wanted terrorists. Skull Squad got declared a terrorist organisation in about twenty-five countries two days ago. Britain, France, Germany, Russia, South Africa, America, Australia, Italy… Well, the entire EU and NATO and a few others,” Boonie guided Shaw toward the helicopter, the mercenary grimacing with every step.

“Damn, I think I broke my leg,” Shaw cursed.

“That’s the least of your worries,” Kukri said. “Any known member of Skull Squad has been branded a traitor by their home governments. You’re facing treason charges as well as terrorism offences.”

Shaw swore, spat more blood and then collapsed. Kukri and Boonie hauled him upright, making sure to keep their sidearms out of reach. Sparrowhawk and Bombardier hauled him into the Tomahawk before the commandos climbed aboard.

The heavy-lift helicopter climbed into the sky, turning to head west toward Kenya.

“Quickfire to Eagle. Mission accomplished and we have a surprise gift for you… Robert Shaw. Alive, but wounded.”

“And it’s not even my birthday, you shouldn’t have, Quickfire. Tell your team well done. Debrief back in Nairobi. Eagle, out.”

The Coil and Skull Squad will return…