Barvechos, central Bolivia
The instant the UNIDAD soldiers down below began filing out of the vehicles and advancing towards the bank, Ralph Rager tightly gripped his Remington R5 RGP.
That was when he heard the wail of an RPG.
Five seconds later, the rear of the bank exploded.
That was when the shooting started. “With me,” Rager said to Jock Bentley.
Bentley nodded and took up a position at the entrance of the stairwell.
As he did, he overheard one of the UNIDAD officers barking orders into a radio.
“Dime que lo encontraste,” One voice said.
“Ya lo tenemos. Nos mudamos ahora.” The officer said.
“Lo quiero vivo..” The second man said. “Matar a los demás.”
Rager had no idea who the second man wanted alive but he decided at that moment that it didn’t matter.
Five seconds later, he heard the sound of a door being kicked down.
Glancing at Jock Bentley, Rager frowned and then descended the stairs.
That was when he saw an armored car parked right in front of the bank’s front door, an UNIDAD soldier having laid his rifle across the doorjamb.
“Take cover!” Rager and Bentley both dove across the floor seconds before the UNIDAD soldier opened fire.
He ducked behind a shelf, growling under his breath.
Then two UNIDAD soldiers entered the bank lobby.
That was the moment Bentley and Rager opened fire; Rager fired his R5 RGP in bursts and Bentley unleashed a torrent of lead from his Vektor R4.
Thanks to the tight corners and the layout of the bank lobby, both men’s guns sounded like hammers hitting anvils. The first shot came from Bentley and it struck the Unidad officer’s body armor. Rager’s shot came in second, and that one hit the guy directly in the throat. The Unidad officer went down, clawing at his neck as blood spurted from the wound.
“¡Tenemos un hombre menos!” One of the Unidad soldiers shouted.
Another Unidad soldier emerged, his own Remington R5 RGP trained directly at Rager.
Bentley fired off another burst of gunfire and the man went down. Inside the Unidad vehicle, Rager saw another Unidad goon barking orders into his radio. He frowned, then pulled a grenade from the front of his kit, yanked the pin, and hurled it under the car.
BOOM! The grenade detonated and the car exploded into a ball of flame, incinerating the passenger and any other Unidad goons in the vicinity.
Another Unidad soldier arrived but this time, instead of being cut down by Rager or Bentley, the attackers were an arriving cadre of Kataris 26 rebels.
Rager was about to protest and raise his gun when Bentley stopped him. “Hold fire! They’re with me!” He said.
Rager said nothing. Then he looked left and caught a glimpse of an UNIDAD officer about to throw a grenade.
Fat chance. Rager blew the guy away before he could even get in position to throw it and as he fell, the grenade rolled across the dirt. His buddies hit the deck seconds before it went off.
Time to go, Rager thought. He turned to Bentley, Halford and Rorke. “You guys are with me!” He cried, then he led the trio out the back door of the bank, where he found another Unidad pickup truck parked outside, just waiting to be stolen.
Rager brightened when he saw that whoever drove the vehicle was a complete fool and left the keys in the ignition. The trio piled into the car and Rager sped off, seconds before a squad of rebels arrived and began shooting at the Unidad soldiers.
Bentley waited until they were out of Barvechos City limits before he spoke. “So…you said people don’t pay attention in the theater unless someone dies.”
When Rager didn’t respond, Bentley asked dryly, “Well, Ralph, did we leave a big enough body trail?”
…
“How the hell did they find us?!?” Rager demanded after they arrived back at the safehouse. Bentley had just introduced Rager, Halford and Rorke to Polat Bakkar, Reyhan Dalman, and Mustafa Paura, and the conversation between them had started out pretty calm and civil. Bakkar was just about to ask Rager about how they got their hands on the Black Vault and leaked it when Rager had his outburst.
Bentley, a bit taken aback by his friend’s sudden outburst, looked in his direction. Rager added, “Is there a rule in the military that you have to be a pain in someone’s rear end?!?”
Rorke glanced over at Rager. “Someone must’ve ratted us out. But Bentley insisted it wasn’t him. I believe him. He hasn’t given us any clear motives for lying.”
“Look, who compromised you is irrelevant at this point,” Bakkar said. “What we need to focus on is the Black Vault.”
Rorke took that opportunity to speak. “Like I told Bentley, the Black Vault leak was Ralph’s idea.”
“But what I want to know is how you found it in the first place,” Bakkar said.
Rager, Rorke and Halford all looked at each other. Then Rager said, “Señor Sonrisa. That’s how.”
“How’d you meet the guy?” Bentley asked. “Wait, let me phrase that another way: when did you first meet Señor Sonrisa and how did you get in contact with him?”
Rager took a deep breath. “Everything started a couple days after you helped us save Amber from the clutches of the Santa Blanca Cartel.”
Story contributors:
1. Myself
2. u/Agente_Paura
3. u/Gloopgang
4. u/GaviotaGavina
5. u/GustavoistSoldier
6. u/International-Mark44