OUTCAST Ops: African Firestorm

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

"Crap!" Stephen listened to the Arabic radio transmission. "Someone's figure out there's a problem here. We're going to have company and plenty of it in thirty seconds!"

“All right, change of plans," Tanner said.

"Dante, Stephen: Go out and bloody their noses. Slow them down. Liam, you and Dani down here. Naomi and I will take the second floor. Same as before, only faster. Move!"

Dante turned to Liam. “We need one smoker each from you and Dani." The transfer was made and Dante and Liam headed outside.

Tanner and Naomi took the stairs at a fast walk, their MP5s up and ready. When they reached the second landing they heard gunfire from one of the rooms on the first floor, quickly followed by a stun grenade going off. They halted.

"What do you have, Two?" Tanner asked.

"Prime!" Liam growled. "We have the prize!"

"Any problems?"

"Nope, just a simple open the door, toss in a stun grenade and pick up the pieces, or in this case, the prize."

There were a couple of explosions from outside, followed by gunfire. Tanner hesitated, not sure if they should continue the sweep.

"Two, are there any computers where the prize is?"

"A desktop, a tablet, and a few disks," Liam returned. "Six said there's a network router down here, too, so there might be more devices around the house.”

"Okay, cuff the prize and stay there!" Tanner and Naomi started up the stairs again. They turned left and found a couple of small bedrooms — servants' quarters judging from the uniforms in the closets — and a lounge.

They returned to the stairs and transited along the balcony until they reached the master bedroom. A quick sweep of the main space along with the walk-in closet and bathroom revealed a laptop, a few thumb drives, and several baggies of crystal meth. The computer gear went into a satchel, while the meth was left where it was.

Gunfire erupted from outside. Tanner and Naomi raced out of the room along the balcony back to the stairs. Thick white smoke drifted in from outside, limiting visibility. They took the stairs two at a time.

"Two!" Tanner coughed. "Take the prize out through the pool! Sky Team, fall back in through the house! We'll cover!"

Outside, Dante and Stephen took turns firing three-round bursts into the smoke, then fell back toward the house. Around them, the smoke cut their vision down to about a dozen feet, but they could hear the shouts and the movements of the guards as they advanced.

The first thing they did once they were outside was to throw all four smoke canisters, blanketing the house's northern side with irritating fog. Then they hid inside the smoke. They heard the shouts of the guards in the smoke and tossed two of their frag grenades in the direction of the voices, then fired several short bursts before retreating back to the corner of the house. Gunfire came from all along the front, forcing both men to stay low.

Dante fired off bursts from his MP5 into the smoke, which was beginning to dissipate. He transmitted to Tanner, "We've coming through the front door now!"

Stephen switched his machine gun to full auto and fired off the rest of the magazine as Dante raced toward the door. Once they were through, Tanner and Naomi stepped up and opened fire into the acrid fog.

Stephen reloaded his MP5. "Forces incoming.”

"We'll be right behind you," Tanner said.

Stephen and Dante moved past them and raced for the pool.

"How do we slow them down?" Naomi asked.

"Cover me," Tanner said, then turned and raced down to the kitchen. He pulled the stove away from the wall and grabbed the gas pipe going into the stove. He quickly unscrewed the coupler letting it drop to the floor. The hiss of gas was barely audible with the noise outside, but a sulfur-like smell drove him back to the kitchen doorway. He waited until the gas was making his head swim, then ran out of the room to rejoin Naomi, changing magazines on his MP5 as he did so.

She shot him a glance. "What did you do?"

"Left a little going away present.” He turned and spotted a pair of gunmen at the patio doors. He fired two quick volleys that shattered the glass, taking one guard in the chest, but missing the second fighter, who threw himself into cover.

"Time to leave."

Naomi spit off a few controlled bursts in the direction of the front door, then turned and ran toward Tanner. "Visual on at least a dozen of them."

Bullets ate away at the balcony's supports. The shouting intensified.

"Stun grenade.” Tanner held out an open hand. She tossed him one.

"Head for the beach as fast as you can, I'm right behind you."

Naomi ran while Tanner sprayed a barrage of lead at the front door, eliciting a scream of pain from that direction. He unleashed two more fusillades at the patio doors, then ran after Naomi. By the time he reached the pool she was already outside, running across the lawn. He could see the rest of the team in the near distance by a couple of trees.

Movement to his left made Tanner turn and fire a concentrated series of rounds on the run that struck a guard in the chest and stomach.

Near the end of the pool closest to the exit, Tanner stopped and pulled the pin on a stun grenade. He line-drived it into the kitchen, turned back and sprinted, ignoring the shouts and gunfire behind him. He was five yards outside the pool enclosure when the stun grenade went off, lighting up the kitchen with intense light —

— and igniting the gas.

The natural gas hadn't been on long enough to create a massive explosion, but it was sufficient to destroy the kitchen and send a fireball out into the hallway and pool area, igniting everything in its path, including six of Hassan's men. The fireball also blew out the glass in the pool enclosure, but all Tanner felt was a strong, hot wind on his back.

Naomi turned to look at the house, which had several fires burning and thick, dark smoke billowing from it. "What did you do?"

Tanner’s voice was ragged. "Keep running!"