A Fight Against Time 2

A black SUV dashes across one of the highways of Los Angeles. It maneuvers its way through the evening traffic at a fast speed annoying other road users. "Whoa! Slow down, Rachel or we'll end up becoming roadkill" warned Peter, a member of the Inter Continental Paramilitary Unit. He braced himself while holding the safety handle of the SUV hoping that he would make it in one piece to his mission. He rather died getting shot than getting killed in a car crash. "We're out of time, boss. If we don't hurry, there won't be a Senator to rescue anymore. Those lunatics are not wasting a single time either looking for the Senator. If they find her before we do, she's history" reminded Rachel, another member of the elite ICPU. Rachel's leg was on the SUV's accelerator most of the time, she knew that even a second late would jeopardize her mission. Instead of worrying about road safety, she was practically worrying about the Senator's one. "Guys, we've got incoming transmission from the Commander. Listen up" said James who was getting ready for a video transmission from his officer in command.

The image of Commander Moaz appeared on the computerized goggles of the commandos. "Judging by the speed of your SUV, I assume you all saw the 6 o'clock" said the Commander. " I guess I don't need to go through your primary objectives" said Commander Moaz. "The evening news had our objective written all over it--rescue Senator Hee and liberate the hospital from those lunatics" answered Rachel. "LAPD and the Feds need Jack Terrel, the leader of this invasion to be apprehended. They need him alive for questioning" reminded the Commander. "Just out of curiosity Commander, how did Jack Terrel and Real America obtained such firepower and combat equipments? Who would fund a renegade political organization like Real America?" questioned Peter. "Based on FBI's investigation, members from The Patriots are assisting Real America. That partially explains how they got the firepower and combat equipments. The Patriots are well known for their hatred against the American administration all this while, so it wouldn't be surprise if they wanted to get rid of the Senator " explained Commander Moaz. "Besides, they're a bunch of happy-trigger mercenaries who wouldn't miss the opportunity for some gun blasting action. I wouldn't be surprise at all if they rendered their service free of charge to Real America" added Rachel. " Haha, kinda reminds me of Shenji" chuckled James. Everyone in the SUV could not help but to laugh along, the moment James spilled that joke out seeing it was so true. "Sir, who's our information officer for this operation?" asked James. "Jacqui will be your information officer for the day. She'll be keeping in touch with you guys from a LAPD chopper. Jacqui will be reporting any additional Intel and updating you guys with your mission objectives. I'll patch you to her now" replied the Commander. Another image then appeared on the computerized goggles of the ICPUs, it was their information officer, Jacqui.

"Hey guys, great to see you all again. Listen, I've just received Intel from LAPD stating that Senator Hee is under the protection of Officer Sean Jackson and his SWAT team. It is imperative that you rendezvous with him in order to extract the Senator. Interpol has also dispatched another ICPU strike team to the operational theater for additional aid, be sure to stay in touch with them during the mission." reminded Jacqui. "Jacqui, what's the ETA of the other strike team?" questioned Rachel . "They just left the Los Angeles Interpol branch a couple of minutes ago. They're currently on the way to the operational theater" said the information officer. "With traffic at this hour, they're probably going to be very late" worried Peter. "I don't think so. They're on route via a Black Hawk chopper, so traffic wouldn't be an issue for them." interrupted Jacqui. "I've send a blueprint together with street camera videos of the Los Angeles Medical Center. Be sure to study them" added Jacqui. The team received another incoming transmission, it was from the sniper team. "Go ahead, guys" replied Peter as he activated the incoming transmission. " Boss, what's your ETA?" asked Soo Tian, an ICPU sniper attached to Peter's team. "20 minutes, guys" interrupted Rachel who was struggling to get her way through the massive traffic. "The gunmen are lighting us up like a firestorm over here. They've got not only men with assault rifles but also men with RPGs, snipers and heavy machine guns." warned Melissa, another sniper. "It's a slaughterhouse down here, we need you guys ASAP" requested the desperate Soo Tian. " RPG! RPG! Get down! Ahhhhhhhhh..." screamed Melissa. The transmission then ended all of a sudden. "Oh God, are they..."shrieked James in fear. "Melissa...Soo Tian...Come in...Come in" stuttered Peter. "Those fuckers killed them all!" screamed Rachel who was about to shed a tear. "Fuck...those bastards are gonna pay...I swear" said James who was angrily clenching his fists. "Soo Tian, Melissa, come in...come in goddammit!"screamed Peter. "Save your strength, Peter. Their signals are gone...We can only hope for their best" said Jacqui tearfully. The team was overwhelmed with sorrowed silence for a while knowing that they lost their comrades. "Boss, how do we take down these fuckers?" questioned James who was furious and impatient for redemption.

"Okay here's the plan. According to the videos send by Jacqui, we've got hostiles on the roof and at the entrance of the hospital. The gunmen have barricaded the front, back and side entrance of the medical center, therefore gaining entry via these points would be impossible." briefed Peter. " So how do we gain entry, if those fuckers have sealed almost everything?" questioned James. "We enter the hospital via the sewers. The hospital's maintenance access which is located next to the hospital has a manhole for our entry. From there, we will go underground and work our way up to this manhole which will connect us to the hospital's parking basement." briefed Peter. "We will start sweeping the entire hospital from the parking basement. Expect the firefight to be fierce" warned Peter. "Roger that, boss" replied the team. "Rachel, what's our ETA to our insertion point?" questioned Peter. "10 minutes, boss" answered Rachel. "Okay, team let's gear up" ordered the team leader. The team strapped on magazine belts and cocked their guns getting ready for their mission. Peter and James were praying for their safety and the success of the mission while Rachel was eager and excited to engage into combat as she was impatient for redemption. Few minutes later, the team entered a place where one could describe hell on earth. Bodies of police officers and unarmed civilians were scattered everywhere. The firefight was still on and stray bullets were flying here and there hitting whatever in their path without any discrimination.

A couple of 7.62mm bullets struck the wind shield of the SUV. As it shatters, Rachel immediately turned and skid the vehicle before bringing it to a halt. "Fuck!" screamed Rachel as the glass of the wind shield shattered right in front of her face. Fortunately, the shattered glasses did not injured her. She immediately grabbed her Light Machine Gun on the front seat next to her before exiting the car. The gunmen in front of the hospital's were firing their weapons on the SUV violently. Like Rachel, Peter jumped out from the vehicle before he crawled his way to the side of the SUV. Rachel returned fire with her Light Machine Gun while Peter removed his Mk 23 from his thigh holster before joining the firefight. James who was still in the vehicle decided to take the battle from the shelter of the SUV. He smashed the SUV's window with his HKG36K assault rifle before joining the fire fight. Several police officers together with SWAT operatives tried to push the gunmen back into the hospital but they were obliterated by the enemy's grenades and machine guns. "Tango down!" screamed Peter before he continued firing his pistol. The repeated machine gun rounds fired by Rachel struck the gas tank of a police car forcing it to explode which resulted in several enemy kills. "Mag change!" screamed Peter as his first pistol clip ran dry. "Covering fire!" warned James as he sprayed his rifle at the gunmen killing some in progress. After Peter slid in a fresh magazine into his Mk23, he crawled back into the SUV to grab whole of his M4 assault rifle. As he got whole onto his rifle, he went back out to rejoin the firefight. "Cover me, I'm going in" ordered Peter before he advanced to the nearest car for cover. "Covering fire!" screamed Rachel who was suppressing the enemies with her machine gun fire. James then saw a gunman lifting a rocket launcher, James immediately screamed, "RPG! RPG!". The 3 of them immediately threw themselves as far as possible away from the SUV the moment the gunman fired the rocket. Kaboom! The team were thrown further by the explosion that obliterated their SUV. Fortunately for them, they were not seriously wounded from the explosion. As Peter picked himself up and rushed for cover behind an ambulance, he tried to reach his scattered teammates via radio communication. "Team, any wounded?" asked Peter in a worried manner. "James here, I'm fine...Getting back into action" replied James before he returned more fire. "Rachel here, I'm okay...Just a small scratch. I'll make sure these bastards pay twice the price" replied Rachel as she was furiously returning fire. Peter peeked out from the side of the ambulance and looked into the scope of his M4A1. He switched his firing mode into semi automatic and shifted the cross air to the RPG wielding enemy. The moment he pulled the trigger, he reported "Tango down!". Feeling relief that he removed a big threat from the equation, Peter lowered his rifle. A sense of arrogant clouded his mind as he took out the RPG wielding enemy from a far with only one shot. All of a sudden a sniper struck him somewhere between his left shoulder and his neck. " Ahhhhh..." Peter screamed in pain as he flew back and hit the ground. "Boss!" shouted James in fear as he witnessed his team leader getting shot. James and Rachel started running for their team leader. "No goddammit...Hold your position...There's a sniper...Stay back." mumbled Peter in pain. Rachel then threw a smoke grenade at Peter to cloud his position. As the area was smoked, Peter crawled his way under a ceiling of the opposite building to cover himself from further threat. He was holding the side of his neck trying to keep the blood from flowing when he heard more sniper shots.

"Enemy sniper down" informed a familiar voice that was transmitted into the commando's ear piece. "Guys, go for the Boss. We'll cover you" said another familiar voice . "That's Melissa and Soo Tian...It's Melissa and Soo Tian. They're alive!"screamed James in joy. "Let's save our happy reunion later, we gotta save the Boss" added Rachel. " Wait for our go, guys." informed Melissa. "Roger that, we're in position" informed James. "Go, go, go" said Melissa. James and Rachel sprinted their way to Peter's position while the sniper fired on the remaining enemies outside. "They're in" informed Soo Tian who was observing through a binocular. "Hang in there, boss" comforted Rachel as she examined Peter's wound. After observing his wounds for a couple of seconds, Rachel bursted into laughters. " Hahaha, its just a scratch,boss. You'll live!" laughed Rachel who was trying to tease her leader and cover up her sense of relief. "Oh that's good...Ugh... I thought I was going to miss all the action" joked Peter who then tried to pick himself up. "Melissa, Soo Tian. Come in!" informed James. "I thought you guys were..."muffled James as he shed a tear of relief. "Haha, we were almost...Thank God He was on our side" replied Soo Tian. "I'm real glad everyone's okay. Listen guys, we've got no time to waste. The Senator needs our help, let's go" reminded Peter. As the team regrouped they headed for the hospital's maintenance access under Melissa and Soo Tian's watch. As the team entered the sewers via a manhole, a Black Hawk chopper was seen flying towards the hospital from a distance. The sniper team which was observing the hospital from the opposite building then shifted their attention on the incoming helicopter

"Boss, we've got an unidentified chopper heading our way" informed Melissa as she pointed her sniper rifle at the incoming chopper. "Could it be enemy reinforcement? Should we take it down?" added Melissa. "Negative sniper team, continue your observation" ordered Peter. "Roger that, strike team...Continuing observation" replied Melissa who was aiming at the helicopter's rotor getting ready to take the chopper down with one shot if it appears to be hostile. "Sniper team to strike team leader" said Soo Tian."Go ahead sniper team". "The unidentified chopper appears to be approaching the roof of the hospital. It's entering the sights of the RPG gunmen. Should we take the RPG gunmen down?" questioned Soo Tian. "Negative, sniper team. Cease any form of combat engagement and continue to observe only" ordered the team leader. "Roger that, strike team" replied Soo Tian. One of the RPG gunmen than fired a rocket towards the Black Hawk helicpoter, Melissa and Soo Tian shrieked in horror as they were about to witness the devastation of the chopper. Fortunately, the helicopter managed to evade the incoming missile. "Fuck this man! I'm taking those rocket wielding motherfuckers down" said Melissa as she aimed her PSG sniper rifle at the RPG gunmen. "No! Stand the fuck down, Melissa!" warned Soo Tian. "The reason why Peter didn't want us to engage in combat was because we are easy targets for those RPG gunmen. If we shoot and reveal our position, it's not going to be hell for us but also hell for the strike team cos they won't have a sniper team to help them out anymore. Get it?" warned the angry observer. "Yeah..." replied Melissa quietly as she was terrified by Soo Tian's anger. The both of them then saw something spectacular---the Black Hawk made a 90 degress turned to its left before unleashing its minigun rounds on the RPG weilding gunmen. Soo Tian peeked into his binocular and zoom towards the Black Hawk chopper to observe further. Melissa who paid close attention to the chopper through her sniper rifle then witnessed another amazing incident---additional ICPU commandos rappel out from the Black Hawk helicopter before clearing the remaining gunmen on the roof. Melissa then paid close attention to the last operative who rappel down from the chopper. She noticed that the last operative was the leader of the squad as he was giving out team commands in the form of hand signals. She managed to identify the gender of the team by paying greater attention; the leader was a male where else his teammates were females. As they proceed down to into the hospital, the Black Hawk flew off and the 3 men ICPU team were gone from her sniper scope. Melissa then noticed Soo Tian struggling to achieve communication with the strike team. "What's wrong?" asked Melissa. "There's static all over the strike team's radio. I can't reach them. Apparently, there's something interfering with our radios" replied Soo Tian. "We ought to inform Jacqui about this interference" advised Melissa. "Right" replied Soo Tian. "Jacqui come in" added Soo Tian. "Sniper team, is that you!?" asked Jacqui. "Affirmative, Jacqui. This is the sniper team"replied Soo Tian. " But I thought you're...?". "Hahaha, we almost...but we survived". "I knew you guys were still alive...You guys are hard to kill" replied Jacqui with a sense of relief and joy. "Anyway, what can I do for you?" continued Jacqui. "We lost contact with the strike team. There seems to be static all over the radio" informed the sniper. "Yeah, I experienced the same thing when I tried to contact the strike team. According to Commander Moaz, there's a signal jammer located in the hospital which is interfering with foreign radio waves." explained the information officer. "Not to worry though, another strike team has been dispatched to locate and destroy the source of interference, sniper team" comforted Jacqui. "Roger that, sniper team out" replied Soo Tian. Both Soo Tian and Melissa then stayed put and continued to observe the situation in the hospital.

Meanwhile, at the parking basement of the hospital, the team secured the parameters keeping an eye for hostiles. "James, can you reach Jacqui?" asked the team leader who was having a difficult time trying to contact his information officer. James who was staring blankly at his computerized goggles which had a "No signal" sign on his lenses replied that communication was impossible at the moment. The team knew that they were on their own. As the team regroup, 5 gunmen armed with body armor and AK-47 entered the parking basement. "Oh fuck, it's SWAT!" alerted one of the gunmen. " Waste them all!" ordered another one before they opened fire on the commandos. "Team, take cover!" ordered Peter. The three man commando squad then separated from one another and took cover behind the parked cars. Peter fired his M4A1 assault rifle to hold the gunmen back. "Advance!" ordered Peter. "Roger that!" replied James and Rachel. "Eat this motherfuckers!" taunted one of the gunmen who was about to toss a hand grenade. "Grenade!" warned James who was ready to take cover. Rachel immediately drew her Glock 18 from her thigh holster and send a bullet right into the grenade which was still held by the gunmen. A loud boom occurred followed by pieces of bodies and pool of blood staining the walls and door of the parking basement. The gunmen were not to be seen anymore, at least in one piece. "Area cleared" reported James. "Whoa, nice shot!" complimented the team leader. The ICPU commandos reloaded their weapons before proceeding to the ground floor of the hospital.

The team reached the fire escape door of the ground floor. Before entering the area, James slid in a snake cam to conduct a quick reconnaissance. The screen of the PDA which is attached to the snake cam showed 3 gunmen--two were still targets, while the last one was patrolling the lobby. "Suppressors on. Go silent." ordered the team as Peter attached a suppressor to his M4. "Heh, they won't know what hit them" chuckled Rachel sinisterly while she attached a silencer to her Glock sidearm. "Open and clear. Go when ready" ordered the team leader. "Stacking up" informed James who was in a position for a silent assault. " Go, go, go" said Rachel before the 3 of them moved in. A single bullet that traveled from the suppressor of James's rifle gave out a muffled sound before it struck the head of the patrolling gunmen. The other 2 gunmen hit the ground and remained motionless the second Peter and Rachel send a bullet to their skulls. " Tango down" reported James and Rachel. "Proceed sweeping" ordered Peter. The team continued clearing the lobby of the hospital in a quiet manner to avoid detection. One of the commandos then heard a verbal conversation coming from the childcare room, the team then proceeds quietly to the doors of the room. James sneaked in a snake camera to conduct a quick reconnaissance behind the doors of the child care room. "Boss, we've got 2 tangos and 6 unarmed civilians. 5 of the unarmed civilians are children" reported James as he was observing a PDA attached to the snake camera. "Hey baby, how about a little love for us?"asked one of the gunmen who was trying to get his hands on a female reporter. "Please!" pleaded the terrified news reported. "You're Rebbecca Carter right? The hot pussy reporter from the 6 o'clock news" chuckled another gunmen. "Hey Bill, how bout we give this bitch a little gang bang action? Then we'll have something to brag about to the boys?" laughed mischievously one of the gunmen. "Please no! There are kids around here" pleaded the reporter for mercy. "C'mon bitch, we'll be giving this kids their sex education. They'll thank us for it" laughed the gunman. "Well, they'll be having it at an inappropriate young age but...What the hell, sooner or later in life,they're gonna have it" chuckled another gunman. Behind those doors, the ICPU commandos were looking at the PDA's screen while planning their rescue mission carefully. "Target him, his priority 1" ordered Peter as he pointed to one of the gunmen. "Affirmative" replied Rachel. "Target him, his priority 2"ordered Peter while pointing to another gunman on the screen. "Roger that" replied James. As the team stack up on the door, Peter attached a C2 explosive to the door of the childcare room. After fixing the explosive, he took out a flashbang from one of his vest's pockets. Peter immediately threw the flashbang into the room the second the door exploded. As the a bright flash blinded the inhabitants of the room, the ICPU commandos rushed in and took down the gunmen. "Area clear" reported one of the commandos. The terrified children whom were screaming and running were controlled by the reporter and the commandos. "It's okay kids, it's okay. These men are police officers and they're here to help" said the reporter who was trying to calm the young kids. "Ma'am, are you alright?" asked the team leader. "Oh thank God you're here officer. These bastards were about to harm me" replied the grateful reporter. "Ma'am did you happened to see the Senator?" asked James. "Unfortunately no, officer. I think one of the SWAT team were escorting her, you should ask those SWAT guys up there"replied Rebbecca. "Okay ma'am. Just sit tight and wait for SWAT" comforted Rachel. "Wait, I thought you guys were SWAT. I thought you guys were here to get us out." asked the confused reporter. "Who are you? FBI?"Rebbecca continued. "Not exactly, ma'am. Don't worry, we're the good guys and we're here to help. Trust us" said Peter. "Okay, officer" said the reporter. The team left the childcare center and headed for one floor above getting ready for what's about to come.

As the team were on their way to the first floor, they received a system message from their computerized goggles. "Boss, we've reestablished communication signal" reported James. "Great, it's about damn time!" added Rachel. Knowing that the signal was back, Peter took the opportunity to contact his information officer. However, he received an incoming transmission just as he was about to reach Jacqui. The image of a rugged looking soldier who had the same combat gear and equipment as Peter and his team then appeared on Peter's computerized goggles, it was Shenji, another member of the Inter Continental Paramilitary Unit. "Peter, what's your situation on your side?" asked Shenji. "We've neutralized a couple of enemies and secured some hostages. There's still no sign of Jack Terrel or the Senator" answered Peter. "Copy that. Continue your search for the Senator and be careful. These bastards are cold hearted killers, it seems they're not taking any hostages" said Shenji. "You too buddy, Peter out" ended Peter. Another transmission then struck the team again, this time it was from Jacqui, their information officer. "Report in, team" said Jacqui. "So far every thing's clear, there's still no sign of the Senator or the mastermind behind the invasion. Oh yeah, do you have any idea what happened to our communication signal earlier on" questioned Peter. "The gunmen had a signal jammer located on one of the floors which prevented foreign radio waves. That explained why we lost contact with one another minutes ago."explained Jacqui. "So, I guess somebody shut down the signal jammer?" guessed Peter. "Affirmative, according to Commander Moaz, the additional ICPU strike team led by Shenji destroyed the signal jammer not long ago. If it wasn't for him and his team, this mission would be chaotic" said the information officer. The moment the team entered the first floor of the medical center, Jacqui had a bad news for the team as she observed the virtual schematics of the first floor, "Fuck, heat signature indicates multiple tangos heading your way, team". "How is that possible? We were using stealth the moment we entered the hospital" said Peter in confusion. "Electronic magnetic signatures revealed that there are motion sensor alarms on your current floor. Sorry, it's my fault, I should have scan the floor before giving you the green light to enter" apologized Jacqui. "Anyway, we've already tripped on the alarm. There's no turning back. Jacqui, what's the exact time before the enemy reaches our position?" asked Peter. "Let me see...The enemies are traveling from the 5th floor to your current position. They're moving slightly slow...I guess all the action have worn them out. I'll say 8 minutes the most" replied Jacqui. "Be informed that the enemies are approaching your position in 2 teams. They'll be entering the 1st floor from both sides of the floor via the fire exit doors" added the information officer. "Okay team, you heard her. We've got approaching tangos and they'll be here real soon, let's give them a surprise welcome. James, attach the plastic explosives on both fire escape doors, that'll hold them down for a while. Rachel, disrupt the lightings on this floor now" ordered Peter. James immediately set the C2 explosives on both fire escape doors while Rachel shot every ceiling lights with her Glock pistol. "Sniper team, come in" requested the team leader. "Sniper team here, go ahead" replied Soo Tian. "We've got incoming tangos approaching my current position at the first floor via the stairways of the fire escape, do you see them?" asked Peter. "Affirmative, a group of tangos have been spotted" informed Soo Tian after spotting the gunmen with his binocular. "Take them down now" ordered the team leader. "Roger that, boss" replied Soo Tian. Melissa fired a few shots from the opposite building killing two gunmen in the process. "Fuck, there's a fucking sniper somewhere" shrieked one of the terrified gunmen. " Where the fuck is that sniper? Hey Ted, go check it out" ordered another gunman. "How do I check it out?" asked another terrified gunman. "By sticking your goddamn head out and look, you dumb ass" ordered the gunman. "Oh fuck you, asshole! I ain't looking out there. Some sniper will use my ass for target practice. Why don't you do it?" replied the terrified gunman. "Do it now!" ordered another gunman who was pointing his sidearm at his terrified teammate. "Okay...okay...Chill the fuck down,man" replied the terrified gunman who was choice less. He slightly peeked his head out to look around and the moment he saw a sniper team on the opposite building, he brought his whole head to the window to be sure. " Ha! I spotted the sniper. They're on the opposite building 3 o'clock from our position. Argh!" grunted the gunman as he was shot in the head by Melissa. "Oh fuck! They're just over there. Let's light them up" informed another gunman. They cocked their weapons before firing at the sniper team taking watch at the opposite building. The sniper team which was showered by incoming rifle rounds quickly took cover. "Sniper team to strike team, we're taking heavy fire" informed Melissa. "Fall back sniper team, you guys did a great job holding them back for us. We'll take the rest from here." replied Peter. The sniper team immediately retreated to a new observation point. "Hehehe, that got'em good...Fucking pussy ass snipers" chuckled one of the gunmen who successfully forced the sniper team into hiding. The gunmen reloaded and cocked their weapons before stacking up at the doors of the fire escape getting ready to ambush the ICPU commandos.

"Team, they're stacking up. Get ready" warned Jacqui who was carefully monitoring the virtual schematics of the hospital's first floor. "We're born ready, Jacqui." chuckled Peter with confidence. The gunmen smashed the fire escape doors from both ends of the floor and started rushing in. "James, hit it!" ordered Peter. James immediately hit the detonation button of the explosives and a loud bang was heard from both ends of the 1st floor. Although the explosion didn't killed the ambushing gunmen, it disoriented them pretty good. "Team, pop the smoke" ordered the team leader. The ICPU commandos then drew their smoke grenades and tossed them around the room. The once dark room then started became smoky causing the gunmen to loose their vision, they were not only confused but also blind. "Jesus Christ! I can't see! Where the fuck are they?" screamed one of the gunman in panic. The ICPU commandos then switch their goggles to heat sensing mode to detect the position of the gunman. They immediately dispersed to surround the trapped and confused gunmen while keeping themselves low to remain undetected. As James and Rachel reported that they had clear target on the gunmen, Peter ordered them to take them out. The ICPU commandos then blazed their rifles killing the gunmen. Some of the gunmen fired desperately in return but their shots missed as they couldn't see in the smoky dark room. The commandos continued slaughtering the gunman taking no prisoners . As the last gunman dropped to the ground and remained motionless, the commandos ceased their fire and reported that the floor was cleared. On their way to the second floor, the team received another transmission from the other ICPU strike team. "Peter, come in" said Shenji. "Go ahead" replied Peter. "We're pinned down by heavy enemy fire on the 3rd floor. Do you have any snipers that can aid us?" asked Shenji desperately. "I've got Soo Tian and Melissa on the opposite building, I'll patch you through them" replied Peter. "Thanks, I owe you one" said Shenji. The team advanced to the 2nd floor the minute the transmission ended.

As they were sweeping the second floor, the team heard a small chatter in one of the office rooms. They immediately stacked up on the door and sneaked in a snake cam to identify the party. To their surprise, it was Jack Terrel and a couple of gunmen. One of the gunmen was configuring a computer program on a laptop while the others were securing the room. "Boss, that's Jack Terrel. Let's nail that fucker." said Rachel. "Shhh...Listen" said James, who was paying close attention on Jack and the gunmen's conversation. "Are the bombs activated?" asked Terrel. "Yeah boss, they're prepped up and ready to blow" replied the gunman who was using the laptop. "Great, what's the countdown time?" asked Terrel. " 30 minutes boss" replied the gunman with the laptop. "Good, with these bombs activated, the death of that Senator bitch will be assured. Soon, America will realize the capabilities of Real America and acknowledge us as a force to reckon with the news of the Senator's death everywhere. America will be governed by real white Americans instead of some inferior colored skin race." preached Terrel. The door of this office room was smashed open and a flash grenade was tossed in. The occupants of the room were stunned and the team closed into them forcing them to drop their weapons. "Drop your weapon! Drop it!"screamed Peter. "I said drop your fucking gun, asshole" ordered Rachel who pointed her sidearm at Terrel. The gunman submitted as they knew it was suicidal to resist at a close gunpoint range. "You win this time, government pigs" taunted Terrel as he dropped his Desert Eagle sidearm. "Cuff those, clowns" ordered Peter, the commandos then hand cuffed the gunmen and Terrel with a plastic belt. "Wait a minute...You're all Asians" said Terrel who carefully observed their captors. "You got a fucking problem with that, red neck?" asked James furiously. "So when did China started sticking their noses in other's affairs? Heh, those fucking commies are now trying to show that they're heroes eh?Being an economic icon wasn't enough for them huh? You yellow skinned bastards just have to show how great you are in foreign politics too huh? Well, fuck off you commie fucks!" taunted Terrel. "James, shut him up!' ordered Peter who was securing the perimeters. "My pleasure, boss!" said James. He immediately landed a hard blow on Terrel's face using the butt of his assault rifle. Terrel fell hard on the ground and started to bleed. "We're were never from China, asshole! However, since you got the nerves to run your mouth on us Chinese, this is something the Chinese people world wide would like you to have" added Rachel before she crashed her boot into Terrel's stomach. Terrel grunted in pain and began to regret his earlier verbal abuse on the commandos. Peter received another incoming transmission from Shenji. "Peter, come in". "Go ahead, Shenji". "What's your status on the mission?" asked Shenji. "We managed to apprehend Jack Terrel, the leader of Real America. However, there is still no sign of the Senator" said Peter. "Nice work, I've got the location of the Senator but I'm hold back by the bombs located around the hospital. The Senator is running out of time and she needs my help. Can your team locate and disarm the bombs for me?" asked Shenji. "Yeah sure, leave the bombs to me" said Peter. "Thanks again" said Shenji. As the transmission ended, Peter picked the gunman's laptop from the table and started to study the computer program.

The laptop had a computer program that configures the settings of the bombs, however it was protected by a password. "What's the password, Terrel?" ordered Peter. "Fuck you!" taunted Peter. James immediately landed another blow on Terrel using the butt of his rifle. "What is the fucking password, asshole?" screamed Rachel. "Okay...Okay...It's, "Suck my balls, Bitch". Hahahahaha"laughed Terrel mischievously. Rachel then forced her boot between Terrel's legs trying to crush what was between them. "Ahhhhhhhh.....Oh fuck...Oh fuck...Ahhhhhhh" screamed Terrel in pain. "Spill it, Terrel! What's the fucking password?" ordered Rachel while applying more pressure to her foot. "Hey asshole, you better spill it out before there's nothing left for her to step" suggested Peter. "Ahhh...Okay...Okay...It's, "America For Real Americans". Now tell the bitch to get her foot of my balls. Ahhhhhh" mumbled Terrel. "Rachel, let him go!" ordered Peter as he successfully entered the password. As she lifted her foot away from Terrel's groin, she smiled sinisterly at him. "Whoa, talk about grabbing the bull by its balls"chuckled James. "More like stepping its balls, James" replied Rachel as she continued staring at her victim of her sadism. "Fuck yeah! All bombs are finally defused" announced Peter in joy. As the team secured Jack Terrel and neutralized all threats, they received another incoming transmission from Shenji. "Peter, come in" said Peter. "Go ahead, Shenji"."I've secured the Senator, how are the bombs coming along?" asked Shenji. "We've managed to defuse everyone of them. I guess its over" answered Peter with a sense of relief. "Good job, buddy. Lets wrap it up and head home. We're done here" said Shenji. A few minutes later, the room was stormed by additional SWAT units and FBI agents. Jack Terrel and the apprehended gunmen were handed over to the Feds and the ICPU commandos were very relief knowing that their day of stressful armed conflicts are done...for the moment.

A day later.

"Good evening, I'm David Farrel and this is the 6 o'clock news. The Los Angeles Medical Center massacre came to an end yesterday night when additional LAPD SWAT teams stormed the building. 40 gunmen, 25 civilians and 15 police officers were killed in yesterday's gunfight. The invasion on the medical center was the responsibility of a renegade political organization called Real America when Jack Terrel, the founder of the organization was arrested by members of LAPD SWAT. Thorough investigations from the FBI concluded that Jack Terrel led the invasion on the hospital with the help of several members from "The Patriots".The Republicans were especially shocked as they did not expect their former colleague, Jack Terrel to resort to such violent tactics. What made the Republicans and even the Democrats perplexed about the invasion was how Real America obtained such firepower and equipments to aid them in their ruthless and violent acts. The Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms department (ATF) are currently investigating the source of Real America's weapons. Meanwhile, the Senator praised and saluted members of LAPD SWAT who were involved in yesterday's massacre for their courage. Senator Hee states that she will be attending the funeral of the police officers who were killed during the massacre despite her medical conditions to pay her deepest respect and sympathy. Officer Sean Jackson, one of many members of the elite LAPD SWAT who was in charge of the Senator's protection will be awarded the Medal of Valor for his courage and service beyond his call of duty. The 35 years old officer was seriously injured during the massacre as he took more than a bullet trying to protect the Senator."

As the first headline of the 6 o'clock news ended, the airport's P.A's announcement distracted Shenji and other ICPU operatives who were watching the news attentively at the waiting lounge. "That's our flight, time to go" said Peter who was getting ready to head for the plane. The ICPU operatives got up and grabbed onto their bags getting ready to board the plane. Everyone was so excited to leave for Malaysia except for Shenji and his squad. They took one last good look of Los Angeles before leaving the lounge. "Aren't they following us?" asked Rachel who was wondering what were Shenji and his team doing. "Of course they are" replied Peter who was smiling at Shenji and his team. As Peter and his squad were walking to the flight gate, his PDA beeped. There was a video call from Commander Moaz. "There's a small change in your flight plan. You and your team will be flying to South Korea. ICPU has been called in to arrest an illegal arms dealer wanted by Interpol. The target was spotted in Seoul couple of hours ago, so get your team ready" informed the Commander. "Well, I guess we'll be awake studying the mission profile instead of sleeping huh?" said James. "That's ICPU for us" added Rachel. The team laughed together as they entered the plane knowing that their next flight would take them to the battlefields instead of their dearly missed homes.

A Fight Against Time

"Good evening, I'm David Farrel and this is the 6 o'clock news. Our first headline for today: Earlier this afternoon, an assassination attempt on Senator Sarah Hee caused public chaos at Los Angeles City Hall. Fortunately, the assassination attempt was foiled by law enforcers and the Senator's security agents. The Senator who was giving her speech earlier on at City Hall around 2 in the afternoon was shot by an unknown sniper. Despite this lethal assassination attempt, the Senator survived but sustained critical injury. The Senator was rushed immediately to the Los Angeles Medical Center for emergency treatment. Senator Hee, an American born Korean Republican who presented her brilliant ideas about America's health care, social security networks, education and national security during the recent Republican Debate had won the hearts of majority of Americans judging by the latest Presidency poll. With Senator Hee as the next President of the United States, history will have the first Asian American leader in America's administration. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) together with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are still in the process of investigating the assassination. We now go live to the Los Angeles Medical Center where reporter Rebbecca Carter will update us on the Senator's condition."

"Thank you David, as you can see, we're right outside the medical center where the Senator has been admitted immediately after the assassination attempt. I've just got an update from the chief surgeon, Dr Michael Silverman who led the surgery on the Senator. According to the doctor, the Senator was fortunate as the bullet struck her right shoulder instead of her neck or her head. He is relief to announce that the Senator is in a stable condition. Despite the Senator is in a stable condition and under security protection of law enforcements, the Chief Police of the LAPD announced earlier on during a press conference, that the Senator's security protection will be further enforced under the reason of potential future attacks. The enforcement in security can be illustrated by the huge numbers of SWAT officers patrolling every level of the hospital. If you look closely at the opposite buildings, you can see SWAT marksmen keeping a watchful eye on nearby streets and junctions. As you can see around the hospital, there are thousand supporters of the Senator waiting outside praying for the Senator's recovery. We hope that the Senator will recover in no time and...Oh my God...Oh God! Get back! Get back! A group of armed gunman just stormed the hospital. Could they be the same ones who were responsible for the earlier assassination? Oh God! They're everywhere...No! Jim! Jim! Get up! Get up! Whoa whoa whoa...Don't shoot! My hands are up! I'm just a reporter! No! Get your hands off me!Ahhh..."

As the news ended, the recorded video disappeared from the computerized goggles of the commandos on board a Black Hawk chopper. "Damn...Did you see that? That was nuts, man!" said Eugenia, a commando of the Inter Continental Paramilitary Unit (ICPU). "How did we not see that? Those bastards were shooting all over the news" replied Shenji, another commando. "Guys, we've got incoming transmission from the Commander. Listen up" interrupted Chin Yen, the information officer. The computerized goggles of the commandos presented the image of Commander Rohwena. "Go ahead, Commander," said Michelle. "Ladies and gentleman, I hope that recorded news I've send earlier on presented a brief idea on what's the situation. This is not an ordinary hostage rescue mission seeing that the gunmen that assaulted the hospital want the Senator dead. Basically, it's another assassination attempt on Senator Hee," said the Commander. "Commander, are these the same culprits that tried to assassinate the Senator earlier this afternoon?" asked Michelle. "Positive, Michelle. The Feds have concluded their investigation stating that these groups of armed men are members of Real America" replied Commander Rohwena. "Real America? Who are they?" Shenji curiously asked. "They are a group of political renegades whom strongly believe that America should be led by a white American President. Real America was founded by Jack Terell, a former politician from the Republican party who was suspended from further political involvement due to his rascist and discriminating values a couple of years ago. Mr. Terell's party is mostly anticipated by members of the Klu Klux Klan and Neo Nazi. Just recently, he managed to convince The Patriots to fight alongside with him" continued the Commander. "The Patriots?" interrupted Eugenia. "Their bunch of gung ho army dropouts whom strongly believe that a nation should be ruled by Generals instead of corrupted politicians" added Shenji. "Ha, that sounds like the kinda people you want for your companion, Shenji" replied Michelle sarcastically. "Yeah...yeah. Shut up" answered Shenji in an annoyed manner. "Commander, how do we know whether Real America is behind this organized attack?" asked Eugenia. "The Feds went through a couple of videos recorded by the security cameras around the streets and junctions. The cameras ID one of the gunmen to be Jack Terell. I'm uploading the video". A few seconds later, the computerized goggles of the commandos illustrated a short video of the assault recorded by the security cameras. "Shenji, there's not much time. You've got to find the senator before those gunmen do. Your main objectives is to rescue Senator Hee and liberate the hospital staff and patients from the gunmen. Bringing in Jack Terrel dead or alive will be your secondary objective. ICPU has dispatch Commander Moaz's team to the scene for additional aid. Be sure to keep in touch with them later during the mission." added the Commander. "Roger that, Commander. One last question though, Commander" said Shenji. "What is it, Shenji?" asked Commander Rohwena. "How's ICPU involved in this situation? Why can't LAPD handle it? Isn't this a domestic crisis?" questioned Shenji. "Senator Hee is also an advocate of free trade with 3rd world countries, global environment preservation and human rights worldwide. She's a big influence in most of the United Nations assembly. That's why Interpol is sending in their global SWAT team which is us, the ICPU to handle the situation." replied the Commander. "I see" replied the doubtful commando. "Okay, ladies and gentleman gear up and get ready. The fate of the Senator rest deeply in your hands. Good luck." concluded the Commander.

"Okay guys, listen up," said Shenji as he begins to brief his team. "I've just received Intel that Commander Moaz's strike team will be entering the hospital via the connecting sewers . The main entrance of the hospital is fully barricaded by the gunmen, so is the side and the back entrances. Therefore, entering via those points will be impossible. We'll be entering the hospital from the roof. SWAT marksman should have cleared any RPG hostiles on the roof, so there should be no resistance at that area." briefed the team leader. "Shenji, LAPD just informed us that the Senator is under the protection of Officer Sean Jackson from one of the SWAT teams. You'll need to rendezvous with him immediately upon entering the mission area." interrupted the information officer. "Roger that!" replied Shenji. The team then received another incoming transmission. This time it was from Commander Moaz. "Shenji, what's your ETA on your insertion point?" asked the Commander. " 10 minutes, sir!". "My team just entered the mission area but according to my information officer, she's having difficulties contacting the strike team. There's static all over the radio which convinced me that the gunmen are using a signal jammer to halt any foreign radio wave. " the Commander continues. "In order to reestablish communication back with the HQ, we need to destroy this signal jammer" concluded Commander Moaz. "Got it, sir! We'll locate and destroy the signal jammer upon entering the hospital" said Shenji. The moment the transmission ended, Shenji's team began to gear up.

The group of commandos strapped on belts containing magazines and cocked their weapons. They then did a couple of light stretching and breathing exercise to bring in a sense of relaxation. "ETA 2 minutes to insertion point, guys" reminded the pilot of the chopper. As the chopper flew pass the buildings around the hospital, the commandos were shock to see fire and smoke on the roofs of the buildings. On the rubbled grounds of the building's roof were bodies of SWAT marksmen killed in some kind of explosion. The pilot of the chopper then shrieked, "RPG! RPG! Evading incoming missiles! Hang on tight guys!" The Black Hawk was lucky enough to evade the incoming rocket or the passengers of the chopper will share the similar fate of those SWAT marksman should the pilot fail. "Goddamit!" screamed Shenji in fear. "Jesus Christ! Fucking RPGs!" shouted Chin Yen. "Pilot, give me a 90 degrees turn to the left." ordered the team leader. "Roger that!" replied the pilot. "Eugenia! Michelle! Get your ass on the ropes now. Get ready to rappel" added Shenji. The team leader immediately went for the minigun attached to the side of the Black Hawk helicopter. As he laid his finger on the fire buttons of the 3 feet killing machine, he ordered Eugenia and Michelle to rappel down from the chopper. The raging minigun ripped the area of the roof killing a couple of RPG hostiles. Some of them managed to take cover behind the walls. Eugenia and Michelle swept the roof killing the remaining hostiles and informed their team leader that the roof was cleared. "Shenji, from here onwards, there will be no further communication between me and the team until you destroy the signal jammer. So it is important that you do it quick in order to reestablish communication with me ASAP." reminded Chin Yen. "Roger that." replied Shenji before he rappel down from the chopper to regroup with his teammates. Upon descending from the chopper, Shenji regroups with his team. After the 3 men squad signaled a good to go status to the information officer, the Black Hawk pulls out from the building. The squad of ICPU commandos then knew it was time to go against the clock in order to rescue the Senator before she becomes the ruthless gunmen's hunting trophy.

As the commandos began their mission, they headed for the entrance of the emergency stairways on the roof. After making sure that there was no one behind the doors of the entrance, the team entered and started making their way to the lower levels of the hospital via the emergency stairways. The team approached the doors leading to the 5th level of the hospital. Eugenia peeked through the little glass windows of the emergency door and to her horror, there were bodies of hospital patients and staff everywhere. The once white clean looking hospital turned into a bloody slaughter house for these ruthless gunmen. Two skin heads in body armor equipped with AK-47 were later seen patrolling the hallways of the 5th floor. Eugenia immediately dropped down to avoid detection. "We've got two tangos" reported Eugenia. " Any hostages?" asked Michelle. "Negative...all dead" replied Eugenia. "Okay team, stack up" ordered the team leader. "Open and clear. Go when ready" continued Shenji. The 3 men commando held onto their primary weapon and waited for their leader's green light. "Go, go, go". They kicked the door opened before pinning down the enemies with fire. The two skin heads had no time to react and they became kill victims of the commandos. "Enemy down" reported Michelle. Immediately, 3 more gunmen appeared and they were shock to see their allies killed. "Oh fuck, it's SWAT" shouted one of the gunmen. "Take this you mother fuckers!" screamed another gunmen before he fired his M-16 on the unwelcome big guns. "Damn it, take cover" ordered Shenji. The squad members separated from one another as each of them took cover behind the walls and furniture. The gunmen continued firing frantically on the commandos hoping to kill them, but unfortunate for them, they were blinded by a bright blast from a tossed flashbang. As the gunmen were stunned, the commandos saw a window of opportunity and opened fire on them. After killing them, the team continued sweeping the area. Room by room on the 5th floor was raided to ensure that the current floor is secured. As the last room was cleared, Michelle and Eugenia reported that the 5th floor is cleared and secured. The team then proceeds to one floor below.

The hallways of the fourth floor were inhabited not only by gunmen but also unarmed civilians. At one office room of the fourth floor, a nurse was being interrogated by one of the gunmen. Having her face held against the table and a gun pointed at her head, the gunmen continued interrogating her asking for the whereabouts of the Senator. "Where the fuck is the Senator, bitch!?" screamed the angry interrogator. "I dunno...I dunno...Please, I have no idea" shrieked the terrified nurse. "Stop lying you bitch! Where is she!?" repeated the interrogator. "Hehe, maybe my dick up your ass would refresh your memory" continued the impatient interrogator. "No, please no!" pleaded the terrified nurse in distress. As the gunmen began lifting the nurse's skirt up, a rappelling commando broke into the room from the office window and crashed on the interrogator, it was Shenji. The neck of the interrogator met the sole of Shenji's boot. "Ugh..ugh...fucking pig! I was about to screw the bitch...You should just watch instead of crashing in, you fuck" mumbled the interrogator who was choked by the foot of the commando. With anger clouding Shenji's head, the commando pulled his SOCOM sidearm and forced a bullet into the kneecap of the interrogator. " Ahhhhhhhh....You son of a...Ahhh"cried the interrogator in pain. "I'll fucking kill you...Ahhhh". Shenji then sends another bullet to the skull of the helpless interrogator. The interrogator's head burst opened and blood splatter stained the boot of the commando. As Shenji was about to remove his leg from the corpse, a group of gunmen stormed the room and aimed their guns at the lone commando. Immediately, Shenji raised his pistol back at the ambush party. "Freeze motherfucker!" warned one of the ambusher. "Oh God! He whacked Billy!" cried another gunman. "Move a muscle and we'll smoke your punk ass, bitch!" warned the other gunman. With 6 against one, the lone commando realized that he was outnumbered and pulling the trigger would be suicidal. Instead of fighting back, the outnumbered commando raised his hand. As one of the gunmen approached Shenji to retrieve his sidearm, Shenji conducted a Close Quarter Combat technique on him in a split second. Having his K-Bar around the neck of the gunmen, Shenji turned the approaching gunmen into his human shield. With his sidearm raised pointing at the other gunmen, Shenji warned them to back off. " Damn...you got nerves, asshole" cried one of the gunmen who was trying to aim for the commando. The gunmen were then showered with bullets by the assaulting commandos who were sweeping from the other end of the 4th floor. Shenji immediately pulled the trigger on the remaining gunmen aiming at him to finish the rest.

"Area clear" reported Eugenia. "Sorry for being late, boss" chuckled Michelle. "Where is the Senator?" ordered Shenji who was threatening to slit the gunmen's throat. "If I knew where she was, she wouldn't be alive and we wouldn't be here any longer." answered the restrained gunmen. "He's got a point, boss. This shows that the Senator is somewhere in the hospital still alive" said Eugenia. "Tell us where the signal jammer is!" ordered Michelle pointing her M4 at the restrained gunmen. "Up your ass, bitch! Hahaha!" replied the gunmen. Blam! Michelle shot the gunmen in the skull and his blood splattered all over Shenji's face. Immediately, Shenji let go his dead human shield before wiping his face covered with blood. "Nice going, Michelle! Now we're never going to find that signal jammer" scolded the team leader who was wiping his face. "He was never going to tell us anyway, boss. Besides you look good in red" chuckled Michelle sarcastically. "I saw those maniacs setting up a machine in the surgery room. Could it be that?" interrupted the nurse. The 3 of them look at each other and were sure that it was the signal jammer. "Okay ma'am, just sit tight and wait for SWAT. Everything is going to be alright." said Eugenia as she tried to comfort the terrified nurse. The team then rushed to the surgery room and to their relief, it was the signal jammer they were looking for all the while. Shenji fired his light machine gun on the machine that halted foreign communication thus destroying it. "Chin Yen, can you read me?" asked the team leader as he tried to contact the information officer who was in the chopper. "Loud and clear. I see that you've destroyed the signal jammer. Good job. What's your status?" questioned Chin Yen. "We've neutralized several enemies and secured a hostage but there's no sign of Officer Jackson yet" said Shenji. "Roger that. Hang on, there's incoming transmission from Commander Moaz." informed the information officer. Shenji's computerized goggles displayed an image of the Commander who was trying to reach them. "Shenji, good job on reestablishing communication. My team owes you one" complimented the Commander. "Just doing my job sir" replied Shenji. "Sir, can you patch me through the leader of your strike team?" continued Shenji. Another image was then displayed on Shenji's goggles, this time it was the image of Mr Moaz' strike team leader. "Peter, what's the situation on your side?" asked Shenji. "We've neutralized couple of enemies and secured some hostages. There's still no sign of Jack Terell or the Senator" answered Peter. "Copy that. Continue your search for the Senator and be careful. These bastards are cold hearted killers, it seems they're taking no hostages" said Shenji. "You too, buddy. Peter out." his image disappears from Shenji's goggles. "LAPD has just informed me that one of their SWAT team is taking heavy fire. That team is located on the 3rd floor, aid them out immediately. They might know the whereabouts of Officer Jackson" interrupted Chin Yen. "Copy that. Okay, team you heard her. Lets head for the 3rd floor, we've got a SWAT team to rescue from heavy enemy fire. Expect the fight to be fierce." said the team leader. The team then rushed to the 3rd floor getting ready for a rescue mission and a massive fire fight.

A lone SWAT officer fends off the multiple attacking gunmen with a MP5. The enemy fire was so intense that, he could barely return fire. Around him were the corpses of his teammates whom became the victims of the ruthless gunmen. The gunmen began to advance hoping to flank the SWAT officer who's taking cover behind a turned over desk. As they approach the helpless SWAT officer, they chuckled at him getting ready to finish him off. Fortunately, the ICPU commandos were just in time to save the last SWAT officer when they ambushed the approaching gunmen killing them instantly. Eugenia and Michelle continued firing their assault rifles trying to keep the gunmen back. "Don't shoot! We're the good guys" told Shenji. "Are you okay?" Shenji continued. "Yeah...for now. Who are you? FBI?" asked the relieved SWAT officer. "Not exactly...but we're here to help. Just sit tight and let us take over" said Shenji. "After what they did to my team...No fucking way!" replied the officer. "...Okay. Are you low on ammo?" asked Shenji. "Yeah, I just finished my last mag" replied the officer. Shenji then hands over his assault rifle to the SWAT officer. "Use this then". The officer took his rifle and thanked Shenji before returning to the fight. "Boss, its impossible to take them down. Those heavy machine gunners do not seem to be reloading. Even with our smoke grenades, they're still firing like a bunch of mad man" warned Michelle. "Peter, come in" said Shenji. Peter's image then appeared on Shenji's goggles again, "Go ahead". "We're pinned down by heavy enemy fire on the 3rd floor. Do you have any snipers that can aid us?" asked Shenji desperately. "I've got Soo Tian and Melissa on the opposite building, I'll patch you through them" replied Peter. " Thanks. I owe you one" said Shenji. The image of Melissa and Soo Tian appeared on Shenji's goggles."Hey Shen, what can we do for you?" asked Soo Tian. "I've got a couple of heavy machine gunners tearing me a new hole on the 3rd floor west side of the hospital. Think you guys can rub them out?" asked the troubled team leader. Melissa browse through the hospital's schematics via her goggles, "Confirming the location of the hostiles...Got it! We'll take them down in no time, Shenji". Melissa and Soo Tian changed their Observation Point to a car park building opposite the hospital. The moment they reached their new Observation Point, Soo Tian tried to spot the machine gunners with a binocular. After being told about the enemy's position, Melissa peeked into the scope of her PSG rifle and shift her cross air to the skull of the machine gunner. "Target killed" Melissa reported the moment she pulled the trigger. The second machine gunner who was terrified about his friend's instant death then started looking around. By the time he saw Melissa on the opposite building, it was too late for him to react as he was shot right between the eyes by the professional sniper. "The machine gunners are down, clear the rest" screamed Shenji. The team together with the SWAT officer repeatedly fired their weapon at the remaining gunmen killing all of them. As the area is cleared of hostile, the team was relief seeing that the massive fire fight was over. They reloaded their weapons and secured the parameters of the floor.

"Officer, we're looking for Officer Jackson, another SWAT officer. Do you have any idea where he is?" asked Shenji. "If I'm not mistaken, he's at the parking basement of the hospital. There was where he last reported himself. Officer Jackson is in charge of the Senator's protection, you need to rendezvous with him ASAP" replied the SWAT officer. "Okay, thanks" said Shenji. "Oh God..." shrieked Michelle. "Those bastards just wired the entire building" stuttered Eugenia as she discover a briefcase of bombs beeping on the floor. "Jesus Christ, there must be more than one" said the SWAT officer. "Goddammit! Chin Yen, listen up!" said Shenji. "Go ahead" replied Chin Yen. "We've just discovered a briefcase of C4. The gunmen are planning to blow the hospital sky high...I guess its their insurance to achieve their main objective." said Shenji. "What's the time before detonation?" questioned Chin Yen. "We've got less than 30 minutes" replied Shenji. "Okay, I'm informing LAPD's bomb squad." said the information officer. "We've got no time for that. We just have to do it ourselves. Besides the bomb schematics doesn't look complicated. Its just a matter of locating all the bombs." said Shenji. "Peter, come in!" . "Go ahead, Shenji" replied Peter. "What's your status on the mission?" asked Shenji. "We managed to apprehend Jack Terrel, the leader of Real America. However, there is still no sign of the Senator." said Peter. "Nice work, I've got the location of the Senator but I'm hold back by the bombs located around the hospital. The Senator is running out of time and she needs my help. Can your team locate and disarm the bombs for me?" asked Shenji. "Yeah sure, leave the bombs to me" said Peter. "Thanks again" said Shenji. Without wasting any time, Shenji's team rushed for the hospital's parking basement hoping the best for the Senator.

At the parking basement of the hospital, 6 gunmen surrounded an injured SWAT officer and a hospital patient. The team was stacking up at a door leading to the basement. With blood stains covering the small windows of the doors, the team had poor vision of what's going on behind the door. Michelle then sneaked a snake cam under the door to get a better view of what's going on. "Boss, we've found the Senator and Officer Jackson. They're being held at gun point" said Michelle. Shenji and Eugenia stared at the screen of the PDA that was attached to the snake cam. The team started planning out their assault strategy. All of a sudden, one of the gunmen shot the other two gunmen who were apparently Neo Nazi skin heads. The team was shocked for a moment. "Whoa...what the hell?" shrieked one of the gunmen who was identified as a member of The Patriot. "Didn't you just hear? Jack Terrel is already busted. The mission is over" replied another member of the patriot. "Yeah...Damn...I know that, but shooting them was totally unnecessary. " answered another member of The Patriot. "We don't have to kill her. We can hold the bitch for ransom and fund our group. Don't you see that?" said the gunmen who executed his ally. The members of The Patriots then stared at one another chuckling feeling joyful over their brilliant plan. However, when a tossed flashbang exploded right into their face, the members of The Patriot were blinded. The ICPU commandos rushed in and ordered the gunmen to drop their guns after surrounding the gunmen at all corners. "Drop your fucking guns! Drop it" screamed Shenji. "Fuck, they're going for it" Michelle screamed. Eugenia then pulled the trigger killing all of them as she knew that the gunmen refused to surrender. As the basement was clear, Eugenia tried to comfort the petrified Senator while Michelle secured the parameters. The team was relief that Senator was still in one piece. "Don't worry, Senator. We're the good guys and we're here to get you out. Are you all right?" comforted Eugenia. "I'm alright, but this officer requires medical assistance" said the Senator as she pointed to Officer Jackson who was lying on the ground wounded. "Chin Yen, come in" said Shenji as he tried to reach the information officer. "Go ahead" replied Chin Yen who was waiting for good news. "We've secured the Senator and neutralize all gunmen. We've got lots of DOA (Dead On Arrival) and injured civilians." said the team leader. "Copy that, I'll inform the medical facility. Good job, Shenji" complimented Chin Yen. "Peter, come in". "Go ahead, Shenji" replied Peter. "I've secured the Senator, how are the bombs coming along?" asked Shenji. "We've managed to defuse everyone of them. I guess its over" answered Peter with a sense of relief. "Good job, buddy. Lets wrap it up and head home. We're done here" said Shenji. A few minutes later, the parking basement was then stormed by additional SWAT units and FBI agents. The Senator was handed over to the Feds and the ICPU commandos were very relief knowing that their day of stressful armed conflicts are done...for the moment.

A day later.

" Good evening, I'm David Farrel and this is the 6 o'clock news. The Los Angeles Medical Center massacre came to an end yesterday night when additional LAPD SWAT teams stormed the building. 40 gunmen, 25 civilians and 15 police officers were killed in yesterday's gunfight. The invasion on the medical center was the responsibility of a renegade political organization called Real America when Jack Terrel, the founder of the organization was arrested by members of LAPD SWAT. Thorough investigations from the FBI concluded that Jack Terrel led the invasion on the hospital with the help of several members from "The Patriots".The Republicans were especially shocked as they did not expect their former colleague, Jack Terrel to resort to such violent tactics. What made the Republicans and even the Democrats perplexed about the invasion was how Real America obtained such firepower and equipments to aid them in their ruthless and violent acts. The Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms department (ATF) are currently investigating the source of Real America's weapons. Meanwhile, the Senator praised and saluted members of LAPD SWAT who were involved in yesterday's massacre for their courage. Senator Hee states that she will be attending the funeral of the police officers who were killed during the massacre despite her medical conditions to pay her deepest respect and sympathy. Officer Sean Jackson, one of many members of the elite LAPD SWAT who was in charge of the Senator's protection will be awarded the Medal of Valor for his courage and service beyond his call of duty. The 35 years old officer was seriously injured during the massacre as he took more than a bullet trying to protect the Senator."

As the first headline of the 6 o'clock news ended, the airport's P.A's announcement distracted Shenji and other ICPU operatives who were watching the news attentively at the waiting lounge. "That's our flight, time to go" said Peter who was getting ready to head for the plane. The ICPU operatives got up and grabbed onto their bags getting ready to board the plane. Everyone was so excited to leave for Malaysia except for Shenji and his squad. Before they left the lounge, they stared outside the windows to take one last glance of Los Angeles. " We're done here, team. Let's go home" said Shenji. As the team was walking to the flight gate, Shenji's PDA beeped. He immediately activated it and answered a video call from Commander Rohwena. "Shenji,there's a slight change in your flight plan, you guys will be flying to Germany. ICPU has been called in to protect foreign delegates at a UN General Assembly in Berlin, so get your team ready" informed the Commander. "I guess we're gonna have to work overtime huh?" smiled Eugenia. "Well, that's ICPU for us" said Michelle. The 3 of them took a deep breath releasing a big sigh before they boarded their plane.

Reunited Paintfully 2: Raining Pellets

"Despite all the killing which took place that day, we got closer as we traded stories after the game about what exactly happened during our battles in the field."


My previous victory in the one on one paintball match with my old friend spawned more hunger for the game. I started making phone calls trying to persuade people to play. Persuading people was not that difficult, managing the correct time for everyone to play was the hardest. Nevertheless, with patience, dedication and wisdom, I finally got people to play. There were 11 of us including me and most of them whom turned up were my secondary schoolmates. Basically it was like a school reunion in a violent form since in the next few minutes, we would be shooting each other.

A few minutes before the first round began, I took the last glance at my teammates to see how they were doing. There were 5 of us including me and I wondered whether were they ready to kill. None of them had combat experience which clearly points out that I would be leading a bunch of fresh pups into the battlefield. It's not like as if it was my first time leading such a group after I recalled the previous tournament last year where I led 5 girls ( whom never touched a gun) to battle against 6 guys. Lucky for me, we won. That day I hoped that my luck would strike again.

The team I led for that day was a 5 men squad. On my left flank were both Amanda's. I couldn't remember their surnames so I had to address them by their names followed by the color of their clothes. One was wearing green while the other one was wearing black. The Amanda in the green blouse seemed terrified which reminded me of WW2 American soldiers getting ready to storm the shores of Omaha Beach. As for the Amanda in the black t-shirt, she was impatient for the game to start. The fact that she was staring fiercely at our opponents located on the opposite side of the field gave me the impression that this girl is out for a massive homicide. That's the spirit I wanted from my teammates, unfortunately she was the only one with it. Amanda in the black t-shirt was not only intimidating to her opponents but also to me as well. I remembered a couple of minutes ago before we geared up, when she was assigned to my squad, she expected me to lead my squad to victory seeing that she thinks I'm trained in Special Operations and small group combat. Well I can't really blame her for such misunderstanding, after all those who know me would think the same seeing that I practically talk about Special Forces 24/7. Both of these Amandas were from my secondary school. On my right flank were Han Ming and Ser Yoong. Both of these boys studied in the same secondary school as me. I've known them for more than half a decade and I guess its okay for me to consider them as "old timers". Ser Yoong was my opponent in the previous one on one paintball game. Ever since he lost to me, he insisted that he would fight along side with me. The only person who had experience in paintball was me. Initially, I thought we were going to lose since my teammates were first timers and to make matters worst, we had to go against a group with more members.

On the opposite side of the field were my opponents for the day. There were six of them and they outnumbered my squad by an extra person. The leader (or that's what I think since he's always ordering people around) of that group was a fat boy named Joseph. Like Han Ming and Ser Yoong, he's also from my secondary school. Despite we're schoolmates, I don't know much about this guy and we're just acquaintance. On his left flank was his girlfriend and his girlfriend's elder sister. I didn't know anything about them as it was my first time seeing them. Joseph's right flank comprise Karl Vic. Karl and I knew each other since primary school, we're kinda close but not as close as last time seeing that both of us are studying far away from one another and we hardly contact each other online. He's a nice guy with great sense of humor. Joseph's right flank also consisted of Jacqui and James. Both of them and I served in the same elite regiment, the W.I. 106th Regiment. We've been fighting along side all the while which makes these guys as experienced as me in paintball. The fact that they were my opponent for the day got me worried.

After removing our barrel socks and pushing the fire button of our gun, the field marshal gave a 5 second countdown. Within that 5 seconds, everyone's adrenaline was pumping...including mine. As the marshal shouted game on I rushed for the wooden bunker on the far right where else my right flank boys headed for the center bunkers. Han Ming and Ser Yoong did a quick but accurate recon of what's ahead of us before giving me the green light to advance. The moment I advanced, the enemy started firing on their closest target, which was me. Fortunate for me, I managed to get behind cover before I got my butt filled with pellets. I returned fire to hold the enemy back and at the same time, I ordered Han Ming and Ser Yoong to advance. After I slide to the tire bunkers next to me, I saw both Amanda's still at the same small bunkers sharing them. Bad move I thought, I told the Amanda in the black shirt to regroup at my position. Although we were sharing bunkers, this bunker was big enough for both of us. I told her to move forward while I provided covering fire for her. The moment I gave her the green light to advance, she rushed herself to her designated position with the speed of light. The enemy who concentrated their fire on her didn't noticed my presence, so I saw a window of opportunity for some kills. I popped out from the tire bunkers and released a few shot on my unaware opponents. Yeah! Enemy down. It was Karl who became the victim of my kill. No time to celebrate as there were 5 more enemies whom were pinning my squad down. I moved up to another wooden bunker that looked like a wall. That bunker had a couple of holes big enough to shoot from. I stuck my gun out and released a couple more shots. Bam! There goes another one. My next victim was James, the experienced soldier. With James gone, the enemy became weaker. Somebody then shouted "Man down". I quickly looked around and I saw the Amanda in the green blouse leaving the field. It wasn't long enough when the other Amanda went out of the field the moment she fired her last pellet. There were 3 of us left while the enemy had more. Han Ming and Ser Yoong who were constantly firing got the attention of our enemies. Seeing that I was always hardly noticed, I thought of sneaking up to my opponents. I crawled my way to get closer to the nearest opponent and the moment I heard footsteps, I knew I was closed enough for a kill. Immediately, I popped up and fired a shot to the nearest enemy. Head shot! Yeah! That unlucky guy was Joseph. Seeing I was in a vulnerable position, I immediately rushed to cover but unfortunately, it was time for me to leave the game when Jacqui send a pellet right into my shoulder. I wasn't surprised to get shot by Jacqui...after all she's a soldier from an elite regiment such as the W.I. 106th. After exiting the field, I became an observer like the rest of those who got shot. There were only 2 members left from my squad: Han Ming and Ser Yoong. The enemy had 3 members left and Jacqui was leading them. The 3 opponents were pinning Ser Yoong down forcing him to hide behind cover. Ser Yoong didn't have the chance to return fire as the enemies were fiercely pinning him down. I thought that would be the end of the game but when I noticed Han Ming wasn't with Ser Yoong, instead he was hiding behind a bunker located near the enemies, I knew we could still win. Han Ming came out from his cover and flanked the enemies killing 3 of them at one go and my squad eventually won the round. What a good start!

The 2nd round was located at a much smaller field. Unlike the previous field that had wooden walls, steel barrels and tractor tires as bunkers, this field's bunkers were only air bags. A few minutes before the 2nd round began, both teams were planning out their strategies. The second the marshal shouted "Game on", we opened fire at our enemy before moving to our bunkers. This round, the enemy's fire were more intense as most of us had difficulty advancing. I stayed at my current bunker for more than 10 minutes seeing that advancing was just impossible. The Amanda in the green blouse was the first one to be killed, as she advanced recklessly. I ordered my teammates to provide covering fire so that I could advance. Ser Yoong was courageous enough to pop out from his cover and provide covering fire. I immediately advanced but I was forced to retreat back the moment Ser Yoong got shot. Han Ming and Amanda ( black shirt) were waiting for my orders, however I didn't know what to do as our plan were abolished by this unexpected fierce enemy fire. I ordered them to stay put and concealed themselves completely behind the air bunkers. I peeked out to mark my opponents but the charging pellets on my bunker forced me to get back in. Fortunately, I managed to spot the enemy's sneaky strategy---they were quietly sending in assassins to clear us out from our bunker. Karl Vic and Joseph's girlfriend were crawling their way trying to reach us. It was a matter of time before they do therefore, I immediately informed my remaining teammates to watch their sides for incoming assassins. The assassins thought they were quiet enough to keep us unaware but little did they know that we were expecting them. As Karl Vic was close enough, I popped out from my bunker and pulled the trigger. The shocked assassin flew back as he got hit in his chest at close range. "Enemy down!" I informed my team. They informed similarly, the moment they killed the other assassin. With both of their assassins gone, the enemy cease further fire and took cover. This was our chance to advance. While we were advancing, James tried to hold us back by blazing his gun on us. Han Ming became the victim of the W.I. 106th regiment soldier. Lucky for me, I manage to take him out before he wipe us all out. There were just me and Amanda while the enemy had 3 more. Realizing that the enemy was losing members fast, they became desperate and they gave everything they had. They also gave their vulnerable side during this point as one of the did not concealed himself properly behind cover. It was Joseph, he was just standing still not realizing that he was vulnerable to my shot. I aimed my gun at him, looked down the cross air and pulled the trigger. The bullet then ejected from my gun and crashed into his visor the moment he popped out from his bunker. Yeah! Another head shot. One down, two more to go. After taking Joseph out, I advanced to the nearest bunker. The remaining enemies changed bunkers which made my job killing them easier since the bunkers they were hiding at were closer to my position. I took a deep breath and held my gun tighter before I flanked the remaining enemies. The moment I flanked them, I shouted "Freeze!" instead of pulling the trigger since it was Joseph's girlfriend's sister and Jacqui. They were girls, I just couldn't pull the trigger. As both of them lowered their guns, my squad won. 4 kills made and 2 prisoners taken, not bad.

No matter how great the player is, he or she will lose a couple of rounds. I lost the 3rd and 4th round that day. I was disqualified during the 3rd round when some lucky shot hit the hopper of my gun. I was the first one to be disqualified and my squad became chaotic without their leader. The fourth one was plain absurd. This was because Joseph ran towards all of us and told us to drop our weapon. All of us could have just blasted him right on the spot since we outnumbered him and he was barely close to us but the marshal just had to disqualified us because he somehow thought Joseph was fast enough to kill us all if we didn't submit.

After losing 2 rounds in a row, I knew it was time for redemption. My teammates were high on spirit and rumors about Joseph cheating in the previous game by wiping the paint off angered them and boost their spirits more. As the final round began, all of us rushed fiercely to our opponents blazing them with heavy fire. Each of us got a kill. As for me, I managed to pull a head shot on Joseph. The moment I shouted " Joseph's down", everyone started filling Joseph repeatedly with paint to make sure he couldn't wipe anymore. It really sucked to be him for that moment. It was only a matter of time before my squad secured victory. I guess wars can be won with soldiers on high spirits.

The paintball game for the day was like a school reunion in a violent form since we basically shoot each other instead of sitting down together for a drink talking to one another. Despite all the killing which took place that day, we got closer as we traded stories after the game about what exactly happened during our battles in the field. As for me, I felt so good as I managed to play paintball again and improve my skills. I'll be looking forward to the next game.

Reunited paintfully: One on One

"One shot, one kill and that's the deal"

Throughout my stay in Canada, I've always wanted to try the local paintball service. Unfortunately, the cut-throat rental fees and the far distance of the paintball center prevented me from doing so. 8 months in Canada without paintball can be quite a challenge for a person like me. Every day, I crave for filling my friends up with paint ( and also pain) and leading my own "death squad" to victory. I usually suppress my lust for paintball with the help of related videos on YouTube. Fortunately for me, when I came back to Malaysia, I managed to hit a couple of rounds of paintball with my secondary schoolmates.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I returned to Malaysia for my summer holidays. Apart from seeing my old friends, I told myself that my return would spark the opportunity for me to play my favorite sport again. I went around recruiting friends to play paintball, unfortunately like always, rejection was always in the equation. As a result, I feared that my stay in Malaysia would not be as fun as I thought it would be. Just a couple of days ago, I met up with an old friend of mine from my primary and secondary school. Like me, he returned to Malaysia for his holidays. Our reunion unexpectedly resulted in my first paintball game since I was back.

After the usual short conversation regarding how's our studies abroad, I suggested that we paid a visit to the Subang paintball ranch. I was so tempted to play right there on the spot therefore, I suggested a short friendly match between me and my friend. My friend was reluctant initially seeing that he never played paintball before. At first he declined but after successfully persuading him that paintball is a safe game, he agreed to play. It was a one on one match.

Despite I had my first game against a rookie, I still felt nervous and scared the moment I took my starting position in the field. I guess it was due to my habit that often overestimate my opponents regardless of who they are. Few seconds before the field marshall started the game, I recalled the basics of paintball combat together with some SWAT and Special Forces CQB techniques.

The moment the marshall blew the whistle, I told myself this is it--- time to see whether I still got my touch. I ran to the nearest air bunker and took cover. At the same time, I peeked slightly and recon the area ahead of me to spot my opponent. Unlike the usual game that I often play which involved more people, this game was slightly difficult since it was harder to spot a single enemy hiding in a big field. After 10 seconds of recon, I failed to spot my enemy. I knew that it was a stupid idea to stay at the same place for too long, so I decided to advance to the bunker ahead of me. Seeing that stealth is an element for the game of the day, I crawled slowly and quietly instead of running to the bunker ahead of me. At the new bunker, I conducted another recon and to my luck, I successfully spotted my opponent. I aimed my gun at him, looked down the sights of my gun and took a deep breath before I pulled the trigger. As I laid my finger on the trigger, the gun projected a pellet traveling at 100 FPS towards my opponent. Unfortunately, the pellet missed its target. To make matter worst, I exposed my position and as for my lousy accuracy, I was punished with repeated incoming pellets from my opponent. No time to blame the barrel of the gun, I told myself instead I should be getting closer to my opponent, therefore I advance forward to the next bunker while keeping my gun pointing at my opponent. My opponent remained at the same bunker instead of moving, which was a common mistake for beginners. As I approached closer, I knew I could take the shot. My opponent this time was taking cover behind the bunker. As for me, I pointed my gun right at the spot where my opponent would pop out to return fire. The second he popped out, I pulled the trigger and my pellet found a new home in my enemy's forearm. Yeah! Got the bugger.

My opponent learned how to move a lot during the second round of our game. It was slightly difficult to get closer to him as he was constantly moving around. Like him, I had to move a lot too as he was constantly shooting me. Since I was low on ammo, I knew that conserving ammunition was the utmost importance to survive the battle. Instead of pinning my enemy down with repeated shot so that I can advance to the following bunker, I usually wait for him to take cover before advancing. Knowing that my enemy would evade and escape every time he hears me coming, I thought about using stealth. So this time I crawled around silently hoping to sneak up on him. As I got closer to him, my opponent ran to a new bunker. Initially I thought that he noticed me when he ran to a new bunker but the fact that he did not shoot at me while running convinced me that he didn't know where I was. Furthermore, with him looking around for me, I knew my stealth was not blown. As he moved again, I knew it was time to bring my enemy to a stand still. A pellet that was projected from my gun crashed into his left kidney and so it was the end of the second round. The second round clearly reminded me of an Animal Planet scene where the tiger ambushes the unnoticed deer.

The final round was the climax of our game. With more aggression, my opponent chased me around the field gun blazing on me. This time the hunter became hunted. For the first time during that game, I felt very scared. I knew I had to evade, escape and hide ( geez... talk about tasting your own medicine). I managed to get quite a distance from my opponent so I took the advantage to hide behind one of the bunker hoping that he will not find me. This round was a typical Metal Gear Solid scene where Solid Snake has to stay in the shadows and wait for the heat to disappear after being detected by enemy soldiers. I heard my opponent's foot steps--- he was getting closer. At that point, my adrenaline was pumping. This is it, I told myself---one shot, one kill and that's the deal. I popped out from my bunker and I pulled the trigger. The next thing I knew, my enemy's face mask was covered in paint. Head shot, I told myself and it was the end of the 3rd and final round.

I was fortunate enough to have a short game of paintball with my secondary schoolmates. With 3 victories in the row, I knew I still had my touch. I really felt proud for that moment and I told myself to do better in the next game. If only there was a next game...Wait a minute, with my ICPU friends and my other secondary schoolmates around, there will be.

To be continued