Blind Eyes, Black Hearts - A GWOT Story (On Hold)

Chapter 7, Part 2 - Captain MacPherson

A team of 105 Operatives, placed within a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, flew above the desert plain of the Zeki Valley. They had been here for just two weeks, straight after being relocated from their previous posts all around Afghanistan, and had not faced any reasonable resistance from the insurgents since their arrival. Radio chatter was null. The pilot was playing ACDC’s Rock n Roll Dream, a rock classic, on the helicopter speaker from his iPod. The team flew with their heads banging and mouths singing and humming; it was a happy day. A hot, happy day, though with a risk of being shot by an RPG anytime and anywhere, while receiving small arms fire from the ground was pretty much something to expect; it was dangerous as fuck in this valley, especially with the entire notion about hidden Taliban border-crossings. But Alpha 06 was happy, because they were doing their job: Kill Bad Guys.

Alpha 06 was the one on the stick, the one on patrol today.  But with Alpha 06’s expertise, a suspicious Toyota Hilux pickup seemed like another day in a park. The black hawk would just slow down a bit, and British SAS Sergeant Gaz Hemmingway would simply put two holes into the car’s engine with his rifle. The Black Hawk would then land and question the driver – or whoever was inside.

An operative – bearded, black haired, long-nosed – had his back on one of the seats, with his bottom on the steel floor of the black-painted helicopter. He was looking through his Aimpoint-fitted heavily modified M4A1.

Captain Sean Razak MacPherson was the new Team Leader of Alpha 6, which had been previously led by now-Major Wolfe. The men of Alpha 6 – Gaz, Ark, Velcro, and Doc Chuc, were all veterans in their own right, having gone through multiple hardships together. They were brothers – Brothers in Arms. MacPherson, assigned to replace Major Wolfe, felt he was not part of the team.

But Gaz, acting Second in Command, made sure that he wasn’t outside of the team. He was the team leader, and a proven one. MacPherson had undergone many missions with the Green Berets, the US Special Forces. Going undercover, taking down vital targets, supporting ground troops, spotting and picking out hostiles in the dark – He was an experienced combat infantryman. Not just an infantryman, of course, as he was a Special Forces soldier; trained to kill, to sabotage – trained to perfection.

MacPherson, usually called Tex (due to his place of origin, Texas) by his friends, ultimately becoming his callsign, was among the best Special Forces Officer the United States Army could get, and now he was given a new task – to lead and command Alpha 06 of Task Force 105. Not many in the Army, let alone the whole armed forces, knew about Alpha 06, or even Task Force 105, and when MacPherson got the job offer, he quickly said yes.

After going on several patrols – both on a Special Forces Toyota Hilux and Black Hawk – the team seemed to be OK with each other. Rodent was a vital member, but everybody knew Tex could be better than him. He had amazing potential.

But on August 13th, 2007, while on a usual patrol, they encountered an anomaly. Not more than fifteen minutes after going past a flying convoy of troop-carrying Chinooks, Headquarters called in. They were flying past the small Afghan village of Gandhiya.

“Alpha Six, Alpha Six, this is Crossroad. How copy? Over.” His headset suddenly went aloud with SEAL Lieutenant Hancock’s voice.

“Crossroad, this is Alpha 6. Solid copy, over.” Tex said.

“Alpha 6, we have a pretty major problem here. A Chinook has been shot down north of Highway Sportster. We need a QRF ASAP. Over.”

Tex received the news calmly. He looked at his men, who were hearing the conversation via their own headsets.

“Crossroad, What’s the ETA of the MEDEVAC?”

“Depends. Possibly 10-15 minutes. Try to provide cover fire from your chopper; we don’t want to risk any more men on the ground. How copy?”