CH12: GEARING UP

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CH12: GEARING UP

As the teams left in the direction of the armoury, Korede Balogun pulled back Abdul-Lateef Abdul-Salam before they left the briefing hall.

"When you choose a weapon, make sure it's robust and powerful." Korede said to him.

Abdul-Lateef was surprised and couldn't help but ask, "What's up, team leader?"

Korede didn't respond at first. He folded his arms with his left index finger under his nose in thought. Finally, he said, "You know what? Come with me."

He led Abdul-Lateef to one of the comms personnel.

It took a little effort but Korede was able to get the officer to agree to his request. The officer showed Korede and Abdul-Lateef the map of the AO(1) and its surroundings.

"Can you memorise the way?" Korede asked Abdul-Lateef while pointing to a particular point on the map. The latter stared at the map for a while before nodding, though he still couldn't understand what Korede wanted to do.

"Good. Let's go. I'll explain on the way to the armoury."

The duo soon arrived at the armoury. The others had already started to gear up. It was unknown what Korede said to Abdul-Lateef but the latter had a serious look on his face when they entered the armoury.

'Looks like the Arms trade deal between Nigeria and the US is already in effect.' Korede thought as he assessed the Armoury.

There were a lot of guns on the gun rack, most of which were American-made. From the look of things, the standard-issue weapons are all American-made. Standard issue weapons are easy to identify in an Armoury, they are usually the most abundant. The standard-issue weapons as Korede could guess are as follows:

Pistol - Beretta M9

Weight: 1.16Kg

Length: 21.6cm

Rate of Fire: Semi-Auto

Muzzle Velocity: 354m per sec.

Calibre: 9mmx19mm rounds

Magazine: 15 rounds detachable magazine.

Assault Rifle - HK416

Weight: 3kg

Length: 78.5cm

Rate of Fire: Semi-Auto / Full-Auto (700-900 rounds per min.)

Effective Range: 366m / 400yards

Muzzle Velocity: 518m per sec.

Calibre: 5.56mmx45mm NATO rounds

Magazine: 20/30 rounds magazine

Sniper Rifle - M2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle

Weight: 8Kg (without suppressor) 8.5Kg (with suppressor)

Length: 113.5cm (without suppressor) 133cm (with suppressor)

Rate of Fire: Bolt action

Effective Range: 1,200m

Muzzle Velocity: 910m per sec

Calibre: .300 Winchester Magnum rounds

Magazine: 5 rounds detachable magazine (2)(3)

*

Of course, Operators don't have to choose the standard-issue weapons and could choose any other weapon as long as it's in the armoury. You could gear to your preference but basically, every Operator is expected to carry a sidearm (usually a pistol) and a primary weapon (usually a rifle). (4)

Korede noticed that almost everyone(both veteran and recruit) had opted for the standard-issue gear, ie Beretta M9 pistol and HK416 assault rifle, except for Master Sergeant Idowu Adewuyi who was the top marksman (Sniper) amongst the veterans. He chose a Colt M1911a1 pistol as his sidearm and an MK14 mod 0 Enhanced Battle Rifle(EBR) as his primary weapon. The MK14 EBR was originally an assault rife but when Korede looked over, he saw Master Sergeant Adewuyi mounting a Sniper's scope on it, which means this particular MK14 had been configured as a Sniper rifle

*

MK14 mod 0 Enhanced Battle Rifle

Weight: 5.1Kg

Length: 89cm

Rate of Fire: Semi-Auto

Muzzle Velocity: 975m per sec

Calibre: 7.62mmx51mm NATO rounds

Magazine: 20 rounds detachable box magazine.

Colt M1911a1

Weight: 1.1Kg

Length: 21cm

Rate of Fire: Semi-Auto

Effective Range: 75 yd / 68.8m

Muzzle Velocity: 245m per sec

Calibre: .45 ACP round

Magazine: 1 round internal / 7 rounds box magazine

*

Seeing everyone almost done gearing up, both Korede and Abdul-Lateef quickly joined them. Their choice, however, surprised and puzzled everyone. Abdul-Lateef chose a Colt M1911a1 as his sidearm and a Barrett Sniper Rifle while Korede chose an M9 as his sidearm, an M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle as his primary weapon, and an M2010 ESR as his secondary weapon. Both of them received weird glances from the other Operators. Even Second Lieutenant Kunle Balogun-Keshinro, who knew enough about Korede to mostly guess what he was thinking normally, was confused and raised an eyebrow at him. Korede merely smiled in response.

While it isn't common, it's not rare for Operators to carry two weapons as Korede had done. What's weird was that even though they do carry two weapons, they wouldn't choose two relatively heavy rifles like he was doing. Not to mention that the M27 IAR was mostly used to lay suppressive fire(6). Similarly, Abdul-Lateef also received weird glances because his choice of a Barrett rifle didn't match their mission. The rifle has a very long range and paired with a .50 round, it can be used as an anti-material rifle but it's heavy. Even heavier than the combined weight of the two guns Korede chose. Abdul-Lateef would have to find a sniping position in order to use it. Such a gun wasn't necessary for their mission. It can even be said to be overkill. (7)

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M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle

Weight: 4.1Kg

Length: 94cm

Barrel Action: Gas-operated short-stroke piston and a rotating bolt

Rate of Fire: 36 rounds per min (sustained) / 700 to 850 rounds per min (cyclic)

Effective Range: 550m (point target) 600m (Area target)

Muzzle Velocity: 777m per sec

Calibre: 5.56x45mm NATO rounds

Magazine: 30 rounds STANAG magazine

Barrett Sniper Rifle

Weight: 14Kg

Length: 145cm

Rate of Fire: Semi-Auto

Effective Range: 1,850m

Muzzle Velocity: 853m per sec

Calibre: .50 BMG rounds

Magazine: 10 rounds magazine.

*

Abdul-Lateef ignored the gazes directed at him and disassembled the rifle into its carrying case. When Master Sergeant Adewuyi saw the ease at which he did this, he instantly recognised that the recruit knew what he was doing. After all, Kindred spirits recognize each other. However, almost immediately, the recruit once again did something that surprised him and everyone else. While everyone was putting on their Protective Equipment (7), Abdul-Lateef opened his luggage bag and brought out a T-Shirt and a face cap. He removed his uniform jacket and put on the T-Shirt and the cap(9). Korede nodded at Second Lieutenant Kunle Balogun-Keshinro indicating to him that Abdul-Lateef was doing so on his orders.

Soon everyone was done gearing up, most of them used suppressors for their weapons and they left the armoury. When they got to the open field in front of the camp, they saw various teams leaving the camp, some on foot, others in different vehicles. They found Colonel Balogun waiting for them. He saw the weird loadout of Korede and Abdul-Lateef but he didn't say anything. He led them around the camp to the back where a transport helicopter was waiting for them.

He turned to face them, "The copter will take you to Port Harcourt. There, you will find another vehicle to get to the port. We are short on time, so get in quickly. Stay safe and good luck."

The Operators saluted him, which he returned, before quickly getting into the aircraft. The helicopter took off immediately everyone was on board.

"Be safe, little brats." Kola Balogun mumbled as he watched the copter fly away into the horizon. When it left his sights, he walked back into the camp. He had a lot of work to do over the next few days.

*

About an hour later, a helicopter landed in a deserted field in Port Harcourt and twelve soldiers got off. A man, with two cars behind him, was waiting to receive them. Thus, began Operation CatchingFire.

[A. N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion really matters to me.]

AUTHOR'S NOTE / RAMBLINGS

1 Area of Operation

2 Debated over whether I should write out the specifications of each gun used. Decided to do so in the end.

3 Suppressors: Don't know how many people realise this but suppressor or 'silencer', as they are called in some movies, don't actually silence a gunshot but merely change the sound to something lower and unrecognisable as a gunshot.

4 Elite Special Forces soldiers are referred to as 'Quiet Operators' or Operator for short. This is because their identities are kept secret and it is mandated for them not to draw any attention to themselves. Most don't have a social media presence.

5 While everyone else is carrying weapons on average weighing 4.4Kg in weight, Korede and Abdul-Lateef are carrying guns weighing 13.76Kg and 15.1Kg respectively. Almost 4x more weight. Talk about strong.

6 Suppressive Fire is a combat tactic used by soldiers to keep targets under cover. This is done by shooting rapidly in the area around the target. The target is forced to take cover and stay there unless he wants to get shot.

7 Anti-Material is an attribute assigned to weapons that not only do devastating damage to body armour (commonly called bulletproof vest), they also take out targets behind walls. Anti-material weapons can also penetrate through armoured vehicles.

8 Protective Equipments include Body armour, helmets, elbow and knee guards, combat boots and gloves, etc

9 Don't know if this is obvious but I added this as an afterthought. It was at this point I realised that I never explained what happened to the luggage the recruits brought with them. So, let's assume they've been carrying it around.

[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion really matters to me.]