Read Online Bishop's War (Bishop Series Book 1) by Rafael Hines - Free Book Online
Authors: Rafael Hines
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where high value intel could be gathered. In addition to the recorder inside, there was also a camera with a live satellite uplink positioned on the front door. The audio from the recorder would have to be retrieved manually at a later date, but the camera shots were available immediately.
Still photos of all five terrorists were downloaded from the satellite and sent to the NSA, CIA, Homeland Security, FBI, and Special Operations Command (SOCOM). The pictures were then entered into databases with facial recognition software. Members of the Most Wanted List of international terrorists produced a red flashing light when one was identified by the system and it was a senior analyst at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia who was the first to see the “hit” on his computer screen.
“Bingo,” he said when he saw Aziz Khan’s name flashing. The “bingo” was soon followed by “holy shit” when Tariq Hassan and Salman Hamidi’s names also blinked bright red. He quickly sent an urgent e-mail to all the department heads and the Director of Middle East Operations just as two more names from the world’s top one hundred bad guy’s list popped up. He ran down the hall shouting, “High Value Targets! High Value Targets!”
The news quickly moved up the chain of command and finally reached Colonel Paul Edwards, the local U.S. commander with “boots on the ground.” All five names were already on his High Priority Kill or Capture List and as soon as he determined that they were together in a fixed location within his AO he immediately sent three Black Hawk helicopter gunships and twin A-10 Thunderbolt ground-attack jet fighters streaking towards the target. Surveying the map he saw that Team Razor was only three miles away.
“Get Major Burke on the horn, pronto,” he ordered.
The meeting with the tribal leaders, the local elders, and the Imams had just ended when Major Burke was given his orders. After he ended the transmission with Colonel Edwards, Burke gathered the team to fill them in.
“Okay Razor, we have five HVT’s less than two clicks from us. These guys are all senior management. Birds and fast movers are on the way, but we’re going in first to see if we can grab some of these guys alive. Let’s assume they’ve got a security force so if we’re outgunned we’ll fall back and wait for the flyboys to take them out. Questions?”
“Can we get an eye in the sky, sir?” Bear asked, referring to the UAV’s (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) known as Predators that had infrared sensors and air-to-ground attack capabilities.
“SOCOM sent one our way, but it was on over watch way down south so we’ll get there first.”
“Understood, sir,” said Bear, knowing that the jets would wipe these guys out before the Predator arrived.
“Okay Razor, mount up and move out,” said Burke.
They climbed into the three armored Humvees and took off, bouncing down the rocky road at fifty miles per hour.
As he was now mandated to communicate with his Pakistani counterparts when operating in the border areas, Colonel Edwards called General Ghulam Mohammed to give him a mission update. He made the call reluctantly. It was common knowledge that a large portion of the Pakistani Army and Intelligence units in this frontier region held strong tribal allegiances to the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Even at the highest levels, security was a key concern.
One minute after Edwards made the call to update General Mohammed an encrypted phone in Aziz Khan’s tunic started vibrating. His eyes narrowed as he read the text message in his native language of Pashto, “Run!”
Aziz jumped up. “A warning from Ghulam. The Americans are coming. Move out quickly. We will take the passage through the mountain. Tariq, your men will cover us.”
“Gladly,” Tariq Hassan hissed through gritted teeth. They all bolted out of the shack. Each of them paused for a second to look at the American armored vehicles in the distance before they turned and
Still photos of all five terrorists were downloaded from the satellite and sent to the NSA, CIA, Homeland Security, FBI, and Special Operations Command (SOCOM). The pictures were then entered into databases with facial recognition software. Members of the Most Wanted List of international terrorists produced a red flashing light when one was identified by the system and it was a senior analyst at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia who was the first to see the “hit” on his computer screen.
“Bingo,” he said when he saw Aziz Khan’s name flashing. The “bingo” was soon followed by “holy shit” when Tariq Hassan and Salman Hamidi’s names also blinked bright red. He quickly sent an urgent e-mail to all the department heads and the Director of Middle East Operations just as two more names from the world’s top one hundred bad guy’s list popped up. He ran down the hall shouting, “High Value Targets! High Value Targets!”
The news quickly moved up the chain of command and finally reached Colonel Paul Edwards, the local U.S. commander with “boots on the ground.” All five names were already on his High Priority Kill or Capture List and as soon as he determined that they were together in a fixed location within his AO he immediately sent three Black Hawk helicopter gunships and twin A-10 Thunderbolt ground-attack jet fighters streaking towards the target. Surveying the map he saw that Team Razor was only three miles away.
“Get Major Burke on the horn, pronto,” he ordered.
The meeting with the tribal leaders, the local elders, and the Imams had just ended when Major Burke was given his orders. After he ended the transmission with Colonel Edwards, Burke gathered the team to fill them in.
“Okay Razor, we have five HVT’s less than two clicks from us. These guys are all senior management. Birds and fast movers are on the way, but we’re going in first to see if we can grab some of these guys alive. Let’s assume they’ve got a security force so if we’re outgunned we’ll fall back and wait for the flyboys to take them out. Questions?”
“Can we get an eye in the sky, sir?” Bear asked, referring to the UAV’s (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) known as Predators that had infrared sensors and air-to-ground attack capabilities.
“SOCOM sent one our way, but it was on over watch way down south so we’ll get there first.”
“Understood, sir,” said Bear, knowing that the jets would wipe these guys out before the Predator arrived.
“Okay Razor, mount up and move out,” said Burke.
They climbed into the three armored Humvees and took off, bouncing down the rocky road at fifty miles per hour.
As he was now mandated to communicate with his Pakistani counterparts when operating in the border areas, Colonel Edwards called General Ghulam Mohammed to give him a mission update. He made the call reluctantly. It was common knowledge that a large portion of the Pakistani Army and Intelligence units in this frontier region held strong tribal allegiances to the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Even at the highest levels, security was a key concern.
One minute after Edwards made the call to update General Mohammed an encrypted phone in Aziz Khan’s tunic started vibrating. His eyes narrowed as he read the text message in his native language of Pashto, “Run!”
Aziz jumped up. “A warning from Ghulam. The Americans are coming. Move out quickly. We will take the passage through the mountain. Tariq, your men will cover us.”
“Gladly,” Tariq Hassan hissed through gritted teeth. They all bolted out of the shack. Each of them paused for a second to look at the American armored vehicles in the distance before they turned and
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