Escape 1. 2

Just thirty yards away, nine green colored laser beams crisscrossed the area as the heavily armed men fanned out, searching for their target. Each one was frustrated to the brim because of how their targets behaved. They could not help but to complain.

"What the fu*k do these guys think they're doing? Are they playing hide and seek with us? They're really getting on my nerves," one mercenary growled, his frustration clear in his voice. 

"Yeah, do they think this is a joke? Shooting at us randomly like we're some kind of circus clowns, and that idiot dumb enough to get shot," another chimed in, recalling the close encounter they had just half an hour ago.

"Fuck you, it barely scratched me. I'm gonna rip these bastards to pieces when I find them," the first mercenary snarled, his grip tightening on his weapon as he scanned the area for any sign of the targets.

Black Eagle was a very successful private army in Ohio. Today, when they were returning from a mission, their handler contacted them with an emergency mission worth 1.2 million. It was to catch 1 guy and kill anyone with him. 

"Alright, girls, keep your cool. We've been chasing these guys for more than one and half hour in this shithole and we will not let them slip away now," 

The leader said, his voice calm and steady with some irritation, showing his leadership. His black eagle medal in collar confirmed that. 

"These guys are dangerous. Ask three other teams before us, right… they all can't talk."

Even though the hawk said that as the leader, he could feel his frustration boiling over because they too had a pride at being an elite force, and he did not want to come here at all. He just wanted to return to his family after their last job, but his men insisted on doing this because it was easy money.

And the situation here, he didn't like it. First, they were on foot with no heavy equipment because they were returning from their mission. The vehicle didn't have enough fuel to do this mission, so they had to return to refuel in the middle of the transport. If they had their vehicles, this would be easy. 

Second, their handler was so forceful today and the hawk didn't like it. He understood why, after they entered the forest, they were using human wave tactics. It means their team is used for ware down the enemy, simply they are cannon fodder. Others knew this too, but 100,000 dollars for each, it looked too appetizing. They wanted that money. That's why they were called mercenaries. A word that a hawk refuses to call himself.

Suddenly, he heard rustling in the bushes ahead. He signaled to the rest of the team and they slowly crept forward, weapons at the ready. But just as they were about to make contact, their target broke through the trees and tried to make a run for it.

Da da da da

  The elite force lived up to their reputation as the crème de la crème of their profession. Their lightning-fast reactions at the right time, as they sprang into action in a matter of seconds. Each member of the team was a master of their weapon,they always targeted the body, not the head, their fingers dancing across the trigger as they released a barrage of bullets towards the target.

"A sudden 'Click' sound echoed, even Hawk barely heard it. It took him a split second to identify what it was. He called out, 'Flash!' alerting everyone to its presence."

As he yelled, shielding his eyes with his hand. The flash bang exploded, a brilliant white light and deafening sound, leaving the team momentarily stunned.

  Hawk was the first to recover,  only sound affected him. When his eyes flicked open only to reveal a look of horror on his face in a few milliseconds.

"GRENADE!!!!!!"

  He cried out again, warning others, trying to jump back just as the grenade detonated, sending him flying back several meters. He struggled to get up, his world still spinning as he saw his teammates scattered, blood and gore everywhere.

  He spotted the enemy trying to get away on a dirt bike which was hidden in the bushes. Fueled by adrenaline, Hawk lunged forward, pulling the trigger of his gun with all his might while emptying the magazine.

"Raaaar"

The gun shots echoed in the air with his scream, but it was too late. The enemy was getting away. He pulled the trigger even after the bullets ran out, a futile gesture of anger. 

He let out a deep breath of frustration. His eyes scanned the area for any signs of life. To his relief, he saw four other team members standing, guns blazing, and they also failed to take down the enemy.

"I think I got a hit "

hawk said.

"We need to talk"

–--------------------

Following his adrenaline-fueled escape, Alex expertly handled the bike, convinced of his status as a professional dirt bike rider. Atleast, in his own opinion. Others, however, might argue that he rode it with one foot on his grave. The truth was, his lightning-fast reflexes and adept handling were the only factors preventing them from plummeting six feet under with the bike.

15 minutes later where black eagles were ambushed,

If someone sees this sight right now, their blood will run cold. In the middle of nowhere in the forest, over 15 modern IFVs were parked in a ring position and their headlights lit up the whole area. Over 100 heavily armored soldiers who were looking relaxed, some of them sitting on the IFV's roof, some patrolled the parameter some were sitting down, some standing up but they had one thing common they all were looking at the center with amusing sneers on their face because a huge drama was unfolding there.

"What do you mean you guys don't want to go back? I have 3 in body bags and 2 wounded and I have to answer to their families, not you and I don't want to make that list any longer."

"But hawk, we still have 7 of us that can fight. With other teams sharing the pressure, we could take care of those guys easily. They can stay on IFV, right? "

"Look around motherfuckers, those are your teammates. Half of the team cannot fight. How can we function as a team? Every tactic that we practiced had us 12 of us and logistics, weapon, drone experts are dead. It's a different story if someone got killed in the middle of a mission but starting a mission with half of us, that would be a suicide, forget the money, lets go back regroup. we can earn more if we are alive. I promise we will hunt down these bastards if they got away just like what we did last time in this same situation."

"Yoo hawk handler is on the line" Hawk looked back to see another team's leader handing him an encrypted military phone.

"Hello"

"Hello, Mr Hawk. What seems to be the problem?"

Hawk answered, barely controlling his anger. "We were ambushed. I have 3 KIA and 2 WIA in my hands. I don't want to continue the mission like this."

He really wanted to blame the handler. If he didn't rush them, they would still be alive, but he needed future jobs from him.

"Can I have it?" the vice captain of the black eagle asked Hawk. Howk looked at him dead in the eyes and he slowly handed the phone to him.

"Sir, this is the vice captain of black eagles speaking. It seems the leader wants to go back, but the rest of the team wants to continue the mission and they are in good condition to fight, too."

After a few moments of silence,

"Put the phone in loud mode,"  handler asked.

"I just spoke with the sponsor. There are some changes."

As soon as those words came out of his mouth, soldiers paid very close attention to the phone.

"Alright, black eagles did a fantastic job keeping them engaged until the main force assembled and I ask for forgiveness that we took a few hours for our assets to come to the area. I will compensate for those people who died with 100k and for the wounded 50k and if Hawk wants to leave, I will pay 1 million for you.

If not, you will get 3 million at the end of the day. Those numbers are the same for those 3 teams who died earlier too. For everyone who wants to continue, this mission will get 150k each 1 mil for vice captains and 3 mil for captains."

Every soldier broke in to cheer after hearing their paycheck nearly doubled, including black eagles team. Only people who had sad faces were those two wounded black eagles and the hawk had a very stern face after that statement.

Even for him that kind of money was tempting.

"What is it gonna be Mr.Hawk?" he asked

"I'm going back," Hawk said with a determined voice.

"Alright, It's been nice to work with you hawk. I will transfer the money right now. Everyone else there will be a briefing in 5 minutes with the sponsor."

Hawk walked towards the vice captain and everyone's attention was on them. Everyone was expecting a good fight. But the hawk stopped two feet from the vice and looked at him with disappointed eyes.

What happened today was a violation of the captain's command and if something like this were to happen on the battlefield, consequences are gonna be severe. So, something needs to change.

Hawk took his black eagle medallion from his collar and threw at him, which he caught. He was very disappointed and felt his heart broken, but it had to be done.

"I need one IFV, " he said and without waiting for an answer, he walked away.

Hawk went to the IFV, which had body bags, and transferred the weapons to black Eagle's second IFV. After taking the other two wounded, he drove away. But didn't forget to leave some words for other ex team members.

"MONEY CAN'T BUY LIFES, FUCKING IDIOTS "

After 5 minutes hawk went away,

Few soldiers came with a few small projectors, microphones, cameras and speakers in hand and they started to set it up, right in the center of the ring IFV formation.

As soon as they finished, an AR avatar appeared in it.

He was wearing a tuxedo, and hand were hidden behind him. His face was blurred and black and white avatar didn't give any info either.

"Good morning gentlemen, I am your sponsor for this mission and without further ado, team leader that engaged with the escapees, please come forward and explain and send me the body cam footage of the encounter."

Captain of black eagles came forward and gave a chip to the technician who took it. But that footage belonged to hawk.

After that, the captain explained their encounter with them. The sponsor was listening while checking body cam footage.

"You guys did a good job pushing them to their limits. Did they have any time to recuperate before this gunfight?" Mysterious guy asked.

"No," the captain replied.

He lied. Other members of the black eagle noticed, but they didn't dare to voice it. Who wants to see their pay check get canceled.

"Excellent, which means they didn't have time to come up with anything and didn't have a chance to think. They only reacted," he said, without taking his eyes from the footage.

"All right, we need to track them down fast, but unfortunately we can't use satellites or helicopters due to low visibility due to the forest, but we could use small drones."

"He got the hit in the ribs means he needs fast medical attention, but the closest pharmacy is two hours from here on the main road. And they would not go back because of wave attacks, so I have a hunch they should have some kind of a safe house inside of the forest," he said after analyzing the video,

  "his blood scent can make things easier for us and we could use some drones that have night vision too," he said out loud

"So how many drone operators and K9 handlers are there right now with you?" the mysterious guy asked.

After, leaders of all the teams discussed among themself they gave an answer.

"Good. 5 drone operators and 3 K9 handlers are good enough. We will be having live body cam feed of all of you. And remember, these guys are not simple people, so be ready. Now let's get back to work, shall we, gentlemen?"