The Cost

"Team 2, this is Daniel do you read me, over?" Daniel asked again, for the 4th time. And the respond he got was the same, static. "Damnit" He whispered. Anxiety then slowly filling into his mind as he started to imagine Team 2 were taken out as the building they took cover in filled with hostiles.

"Still no response?" That question pulled him back to reality. He looked to Lena who watched the corner, ensuring there were nothing.

"No," He answered and sighed frustratingly. He then gestured to go, "C'mon, let's move."

Soon, they were nearing the building Team 2 were in, and saw multiple hostiles in the area. He quickly gestured Lena at the nearby debris and swiftly made their way to it and hide behind it.

"How many are there?" Daniel asked as he took a deep breath, fatigue slowly setting.

"Around..... 10" He heard her answer. 10, should be easy for them and the snipers to dealt with. He got up and peeked. 3 of them were trying to get into the building while the rest were behind cover on the right side of the area.

As he quietly looked at the scene, forming a plan, he heard his comms producing sounds. And then a voice. "This is [static] from Team 2, can [static] me?"

"Team 2, this is Daniel, you are breaking up, who is this?" He quickly responded, not wanting to let the chance of communication with Team 2 to go away.

"[static] Nomad"

"Nomad, what happened? What's your situation?"

Daniel can only hear more static before the radio was clear. "-were overwhelmed, called in smoke to cover our escape to this building." A long pause, and then he heard a loud sigh, "We lost Aminah during the move. I'm....sorry boss"

Aminah's gone. Daniel blinked once as he process that information. He then shook his head, trying to maintain his composure, it's never easy even though this was a regular thing in this kind of job. "Fuck, alright, what about the injured?" He asked as he stared at Lena, who eyed at the insurgents, probably trying to distract herself from the loss of her good friend.

"Nathan, he lost an arm, shotgun blast. Speed stabilized him" Nomad answered.

Daniel subconsciously nodded at that information, and then tapped the debris in front of him as he think of a plan. "Alright. What about the weapons? And do you spot the HVT?" He quickly asked

"We have put down some explosives on the guns. And boss, we found the HVT, he surrendered." Finally, some good news. "But uh, he had a bullet in his leg. It was an accident, hope you don't mind that boss." Nomad added, which made Daniel shook his head.

"Alright, just make sure he's alive. Me and Lena will clear the area. So get ready to move once the coast is clear." He said as he readied his rifle.

"Got it boss, we will sit in here quietly"

He looked to his partner, "Are you alright?" A thumbs up, better than no response. "Ok, you flank right. Once you tell me you are ready, I will get their attention, maybe take them one out too. Then you start firing at them, sounds good?"

"Can I add a grenade in that?" Lena asked as he saw her took out her last grenade. He only shrugged while smiling.

"Sure"

He saw a grin from her and then a nod before quietly making her way to her assigned spot. He then placed his rifle on debris as a support and held it still. "Team 3, on my signal, start suppressing the hostiles. Over" He ordered.

"Roger, signal?"

"Checkmate, over"

"Roger that"

Daniel slowly put his sights on one of the hostiles, the rifle's optics notifying him the range between him and the target. He adjusted his rifle, and then put his finger by the trigger.

"Daniel, I'm in position." Lena announced to him.

He slightly nodded, "Checkmate"

The sniper team then surpressed the insurgents that were hiding while also temporarily got the attention of the others. Taking the opportunity, Daniel fired a round. Bullseye, his target dropped dead immediately. He quickly pointed his rifle to the other two insurgents, and saw them shouting and pointing at him.

Before he can react, several bullets landed in front of him. "Holy fuck!" He swore and quickly got down. Taking a deep breath, he crawled to another part of the debris. He switched the magazine in his rifle for a fresh one, and waited for a bit. An explosion went off, must be the grenade that Lena threw, he thought to himself and looked at his HUD. Noticing there was only two left. Immediately got up, he target the first hostile he found and fired at the man. He heard the insurgent screamed in pain before gurgling as the man drowning in his blood as Daniel shot him in the neck.

Daniel noticed the last one tried to run. "Oh no you don't" He shot the insurgent's leg, causing the man to stumble. As the insurgent tried to get up, a burst of bullets hit the insurgent and died on the spot. Daniel looked at Lena and saw that her gun was pointing at the dead man. She gave him a thumbs up and he nodded back. He quickly scanned the surroundings, making sure there were no hidden enemies.

"Looks like we are clear" Daniel announced via comms. "Team 3, get over here. Lena, call the Russians to pick us up. James, get the doc here." He ordered.

Hearing the affirmative answers, he walked down to the Weapon's Building. The door opened, revealing Team 2 and the HVT coming out from the building. Daniel winced at the sight of Nathan being armless on the right. 'Damn, that gotta hurt a lot.' He thought as he gave a sympathy stare. He led the team and regroup with the rest.

Once regrouped, he let Doc checking up on Nathan. He let them be and approached his partner, "You alright there Lena?"

"Yeah, I just need a few minutes alone."

He nodded understandably, "Alright, can you let me know when the EVAC is arriving?"

"30 minutes" He nodded again and leave her alone.

Approaching his friends, he gave a wave. "Hey James, Makarov. How are you holding up?"

"Fine, just didn't get some more action." James answered as he crossed his arms, feeling disappointed. "Ruskie boy over here probably got more."

Makarov chuckled slightly, "Not much too." And then looked at Daniel, "ETA on the chopper?"

"30 minutes" He answered.

They waited. And after 30 minutes had passed, they heard the all too familiar sound of a Helo flying close by. Soon, the Helo was already above them and slowly landing. Once landed, the Ghosts slowly got in. With the HVT and Nathan getting in first for obvious reasons, the rest followed.

Finally, everyone got in. Daniel gave the thumbs up to one of the Russian soldiers as a signal to go.

As he felt the Helo gaining altitude, he looked outside to give a one last look at the compound via the window. He activated the explosive once the Helo was far enough before looking away and focused on his team. Even though they lost one of theirs, they were fine. Nathan probably won't be fighting anytime soon but at least he was alive. He looked to his partner. She was still grieving over her dead friend. He put his hands on her shoulder as a way to comfort her.

'A mission success....ish.' He thought to himself.