343 Operation Stygian Crossing (part 2)

Master Sergeant Jason Cordova and the rest of Reaper Team Three were on the side of a mountain atop a sheer cliff. They were overlooking a mountain villa maintained by the Medellin Cartel and had been assigned a mission to either eliminate or coopt the inhabitants and establish a hidden forward operating base in the Andes Mountain Range.

It was 8pm, six hours before they would begin their assault.

“So these guys are bad guys, right, sarge?” Corporal Justin McCullough asked.

“Yep. They peddle poison, enslave locals, and violently murder anyone who dares to interfere with their operations. Only reason they haven’t been brought down yet is because they’re so vicious that everyone’s afraid of pissing them off,” Jason replied. His toes were still twitching, so he appreciated the distraction provided by conversation.

“So why ain’t we just, y’know, ‘removing’ ‘em?” the corporal said, using air quotes around “removing” to indicate that he was talking about calling in an airstrike.