High Value Target

The squad of special operations soldiers stacked up on the door of the complex. It was the dead of night, with heavy cloud cover blocking out even the dim light of the moon. All the men had night vision goggles over their eyes, giving them the appearance of bipedal, rifle carrying insects with compound eyes.

The point man placed a slipknot of detcord on the door handle, set the charge, and shielded his eyes. The charge blew, blasting the door off its hinges in a shower of sparks and wood splinters. The squad moved in a synchronized, heavily polished manner, sweeping the first floor. Cpt. Rourke, the leader of the group took over point, his suppressed MCX rifle coughing in single shots, dropping the dazed armed guards who were wandering about.

The first floor was cleared of combatants, and the men quickly moved up a flight of stairs. They entered the second floor and saw 5 women of various ethnicity huddling by a door. Rourke calmly raised and emptied his rifle into them, watching through the green tint of his NVGs as they twitched and jerked from the bullets slamming through their bodies. Slumping over each other, the women died groaning in pain.

His second in command, Lt. Farrad walked over to the body pile and knelt down, examining the deceased women. Many of them were foreigners, disenfranchised westerners radicalized by their target online. Most looked very young as well, which fit with the sexual appetite of the target individual. They moved on to the door, stacking up once again. Rourke placed another slipknot of detcord on the handle, looked away, and detonated the charge.

The team burst into the bedroom and saw the target surrounded by a group of children, all girls. They were in various states of undress, hugging the target tightly with expressions of terror. The man reached for a Glock, and Rourke placed a bullet in his head. The children screamed as the man crumpled backwards, falling off the bed and onto the floor. "What'll we do with the kids?", Farrad asked. "Ice them, we can't let this leak", Rourke replied coldly.

The two men opened up on the girls, automatic fire ripping through soft, budding chests and pudgy, childish bellies. Sixty rounds of 5.56x45mm made quick work of the kids, leaving them sprawled all over the bed and floor, wheezing and gurgling their last breaths.

"Get photos, HQ wants evidence of a successful elimination", Rourke barked. O'Malley, the team photographer reached inside a vest pocket and retrieved a DSLR. He snapped photos of the man, taking extra care to get images of the single entrance wound in his forehead. O'Malley also took photos of the dead girls. Contrasted among the dark brown corpses were pale Caucasians, blondes and redheads, their life blood soaking into the cheap faux fur carpet. "Daughters of the female fighters?", Farrad wondered out loud. "Most likely", Rourke answered bluntly.

Rourke, Farrad and the rest of the soldiers turned to leave. The sound of a handgun being charged made Farrad stop. Before he could turn around, one of the girls, a pale ginger with twin tails, a gaping hole in her stomach that bulged with intestines, and desperate green eyes squeezed off two rounds into his back. Farrad stumbled forward, caught off guard by the bullets slamming into his plate carrier.

O'Malley, pushed Farrad aside and drew his sidearm. With cool precision he placed two rounds into the little girl's forehead. She fell back, blood spraying from her skull and pooling around her naked body.

"You okay, mate?", O'Malley asked as Farrad picked himself off the floor. "Yeah, little cunt just nicked my armour", Farrad replied as he walked over to the deceased redhead. Her slender little fingers held the Glock in a death grip. The girl gazed up at Farrad with dull emerald eyes, her mouth partially open. Blood seeped from the exit wounds punched out the back of her skull. "Gave me a right fuckin' scare, eh?", he whispered, kicking the girl in the side. Her exposed guts jiggled from the impact. Farrad sighed and turned back, joining the rest of his team as they exited the house.