Satan and his squad were all elite soldiers.
With them clearing the way, the people from Big Dog's team could focus on advancing.
The entire unit marched silently in combat formation. Though there were fewer than thirty of them, the team exuded a chilling aura of violence as they crept toward Ishak.
At the top of the hill, Martin held a night vision scope, silently observing.
Just as Ram had said.
The town's entrance was practically undefended. Four sentries were posted—two on the upper levels of the small buildings on either side, and two below. But the two upstairs were just squatting and smoking, not even bothering to glance down.
As for the two on the ground, they were standing apart, chatting across the gap.
Anyone who understood Kurdish would know they were arguing about which brothel had the hotter girls.
Satan halted, raised a hand, and gestured forward.
Two soldiers slipped past him, crouching low as they crept toward the sentries.
After a silent count to three, they lunged forward simultaneously, attacking their targets.
The sentries did spot the soldiers rushing toward them, but it was too late to call out.
Thud! Thud!
Two soft, almost imperceptible bursts like water bags popping echoed in the night, and the sentries fell.
The two soldiers regrouped and moved quietly upstairs.
Moments later, the upper sentries were also neutralized.
Seeing Satan's hand signal through his scope, Ram closed the dust cover on his sniper rifle's sight, slung the rifle over his shoulder, and said to his team, "Let's move."
Before long, Satan, Big Dog, and Ram's groups had all converged beneath the building.
Without wasting words, Ram began directing his men to spread out and find sniper positions.
Satan and Big Dog crawled up onto the rooftop of the building to the left. Pointing toward the town, Satan said, "Too many people. It's hard to sneak in. We'll have to go in hard. Big Dog, see that machine gun nest? I didn't expect a gang to have this kind of firepower. Get your men to take it out with rockets."
Big Dog checked the distance and grinned. "Piece of cake!"
Moments later, at his command, several RPGs whooshed through the air, slamming into the enemy's machine gun position.
All but one struck true, obliterating the nest.
"Fuck!"
Big Dog cursed under his breath, shooting a glare at the soldier who missed.
Explosions rocked the night. When the dust settled, the machine gun nest was in ruins.
There weren't many casualties, though. Most of the Komala gang members manning it had already wandered off into town to entertain themselves. Only two unlucky bastards on shift got killed in the blast.
But the sudden explosions plunged the town into chaos.
"Attack!"
Satan bellowed, leading his troops in a skirmish line, crouched low, sprinting toward the now-destroyed machine gun nest—which offered solid cover.
Just then, some Komala gang members inside the town spotted Satan's group.
A few who were carrying guns pulled them out, ready to fire.
Bang bang bang!
Shots rang out—but not from the gang. It was Ram's precision shooters who had opened fire.
The gang members trying to aim at Satan's squad were dropped one by one.
Suddenly, Satan, who was leading the charge, shouted, "Down!"
His men didn't know why, but they instinctively dropped to the ground.
Almost simultaneously, a group of around twenty armed men burst out of a flat-roofed building near the machine gun nest. They were wielding AK-74s (yes, not a typo) and began spraying fire toward Satan's squad.
Had Satan's men not dropped when they did, the casualties would've been brutal.
"Ram!" Satan roared.
A voice crackled back in his earpiece, "On it!"
Sharper, more focused gunfire rang out as Ram and his snipers began shooting.
It was like roll call—every shot meant a dead enemy.
With Satan's team returning coordinated fire, the twenty-man squad was quickly wiped out.
Suddenly, two vehicles burst from a corner thirty meters to Satan's right.
Without hesitation, they opened fire on the building where Ram's team was stationed, tracer rounds streaking through the darkness like fiery chains.
The machine gunners on the pickups adjusted their aim using the tracers, shredding the building with a hail of bullets.
"Armed pickups, heavy machine guns! Two of them! Big Dog, take them out!"
Even as Satan shouted, his men had already started firing back at the trucks.
"Copy!" came Big Dog's reply.
Two RPG-7 rockets whooshed out.
The leading pickup exploded into a fireball.
Two more rockets followed.
The second truck was blasted into the air, flipping before crashing down in flames.
"Beautiful work!"
Satan praised, then led his men forward again, heading for the machine gun nest.
Big Dog and his team followed close behind.
Once there, they discarded their spent launchers and set up light machine guns, opening fire on the incoming gang members.
The nest was located in front of two L-shaped rows of flat-roofed houses, requiring defense in only two directions.
Satan and Big Dog each took a side with their squads. Satan then sent two men to check the buildings for any hiding enemies.
But it turned out the gang members inside had already stormed out earlier.
The two soldiers quickly returned and reported, "All clear!"
Big Dog's heavy firepower laid down crisscrossing streams of bullets, mowing down enemies like harvesting wheat.
But these Kurdish fighters were fearless. Even under fire, they crawled forward across the ground.
Rat-a-tat-tat... rat-a-tat-tat...
A machine gunner screamed and went down.
"Xiaoyu's hit! Medic, over here!" Big Dog shouted.
But the injury didn't rattle the team.
For these mercenaries who lived in danger year-round, wounds—and even death—were routine.
"Ram, take out the streetlights near us. Everyone else, get your night vision on."
"Copy!"
Pop pop pop...
Gunshots echoed. One by one, the streetlights in the town went dark, plunging the area into darkness.
Satan gave a silent hand signal.
Soldiers equipped with night vision goggles vaulted over the barricade and crept toward the disoriented, blind enemies lying on the ground.
Bang bang bang... bang bang... bang bang bang...
Gunfire and screams filled the night.