Echo Six: Black Ops 6 - Battle for Beirut by Eric Meyer Page B

trick is to stop them following us after we get through.”
    “We need a tail gunner. I’m on it.”
    He climbed through the minibus until he was stationed at the rear. Then he reversed his assault rifle and smashed out the rear screen.
    "Hit it."
    There was a narrow gap between a parked Land Rover, a tough old Brit SUV, and a heap of garbage cans. Goldstein aimed straight for the metal cans. Two of the fighters who manned the checkpoint were standing in front of the VW, with their hands raised for it to stop. They were unable to believe the driver of the minibus would disobey. Shimon caught them with his front fender and swept both men off their feet. The bodies disappeared under the chassis, leaving only their screams hanging in the wind. The engine roared as Goldstein floored the accelerator, and the VW scattered bins and garbage across the street as it smashed through the makeshift barrier.
    The other fighters at the checkpoint recovered fast. Three were armed with AK-47s, and they began firing long bursts after the fleeing VW. Talley ignored them. It was the fourth man he had to kill first, the one who was the danger. The Arab who clutched an RPG7, the Russian built shoulder-launched missile, simple and cheap, beloved of insurgents across the whole of the Islamic world. The West had missiles, fighter and bomber aircraft, and UAVs. The Islamic world made do with Soviet hand-me-downs. He watched the man kneel down behind the shelter of the Land Rover front wheel, propping the missile on the steel fender as he took aim.
    Normally, the shooter would have been safe. The heavy SUV would deflect most bullets, and the steel of the chassis and engine block would flatten most of them. But his HK MP7 didn't fire most bullets. The deadly 4.6mm rounds were designed to penetrate thin to medium armor. And for all its sturdy construction, the Land Rover wasn’t armored. The shooter sheltering behind it may as well have been behind cardboard.
    At least two of the bullets struck the missileer, and he jerked as he was thrown backward. The missile fired and soared uselessly in the air, and Talley switched his aim to the other three Hezbollah, who were now the main threat. The VW had already taken heavy fire, and it was only a matter of time before either he or Goldstein was hit; or worse, before they hit a vital part of the vehicle. He knocked down the first man, and the other two, not realizing the mistake made by the missile shooter, leapt for cover behind the Land Rover. He aimed with care, pulled the trigger, and only one round left the barrel. The clip was empty.
    A renewed hail of gunfire smashed into the VW, and he slammed in the last clip and sighted on the Land Rover. He could just make out the fighters crouched behind it, and he said a silent prayer to Heckler and Koch that their ammunition design parameters were every bit as good as their marketing. Then he pulled the trigger, and kept it pulled in a long continuous burst. Twenty rounds left the barrel, and they perforated the target until sunlight showed through. One of the fighters must have seen his comrade die, for he stood up to fire a last defiant burst at the fleeing VW. More of Talley's rounds smashed into him, and he joined his brethren in death.
    It was another half-hour before they turned off the highway and bumped along a track. Goldstein steered through an entrance that was wide open, due to the absence of the gates that had long been removed, or maybe destroyed in the endless battles that bedeviled the city. They reached the derelict buildings of the old quarry and almost rammed the soccer team bus. His men had camouflaged it with sheets of rusting corrugated iron and branches ripped from nearby trees, to hide it from a casual glance. Goldstein brought the VW to a stop and they climbed out. Talley made sure he kept his hands well away from his weapons. They were inside hostile territory, and he knew his men would be jumpy.
    After a few seconds, Guy came out into