Echo Six: Black Ops 8 - ISIS Killing Fields by Eric Meyer

for them to rendezvous with us within the hour. It is time to restart the offensive.”
    "Sir, I thought we were ordered to sterilize this region of unbelievers before we embark on any other raids."
    "I've changed my mind. Hasan Jafaar made it clear he wants this man dead, so that will be our priority. Tell them to stop on the road two kilometers to the west, and be ready to attack the moment they arrive. We'll meet them there and go in together. Their leader will be the first. This Talley will regret the day he ever set foot in our Caliphate."
    "Yes, Sir."
    Jawad took the phone and scrambled back down the other side of the hill. Khalil continued watching the foreigners, his anger growing by the minute.
     
    * * *
     
    "You shouldn't have done that."
    He looked at Guy and grinned. "I know, but I'll tell you this much, my friend, it felt good. Real good."
    "The brass will go ape when they find out."
    "They won't find out. There's no one around, just the Iraqis and us. I doubt they give a shit. These people live and breathe violence and death."
    “I was just saying, Boss. I wouldn't make a habit of it."
    He knew he was in the wrong, but the charnel house they'd encountered in this place had been one brutalized body too far. He forced himself to relax. "Maybe you're right. It'll be dawn in a couple of hours. We'll stop here and take a break, get to know our Iraqi counterparts before we cross back over the border and do what we came here to do."
    "Patrolling the border?" Guy raised an eyebrow, "We should be out hunting down the men who did this. I don't give a shit if it's ISIS or the local Sand Sculpture Club. We should locate them and kill them."
    "Guy, at least we got one on the scoreboard."
    "True, but maybe next time it would be better to take them down in combat. It kinda looks better in the media."
    Talley knew his number two was correct. Next time, he'd make sure he did it right, out of sight and preferably in darkness. He decided to call in the unexpected appearance of insurgents, and he looked at Geena Blake. She was still staring at him, her face screwed into an appalled expression.
    "Is your box of tricks working? I need to talk to the brass."
    She gave him a curt nod. "I'll set it up."
    He left her to it. He could have asked Drew Jackson, the commo specialist, but Drew had wandered out of sight into a nearby stone house. Unable to believe the reports of the carnage, he wanted to confirm it for himself. Guy was helping himself to coffee that Lieutenant Rovere had produced from a Thermos flask, as if by magic.
    Trust an Italian to be prepared with his own Java.
    Domenico handed him a steaming brew, together with the inevitable quote. "Good wine is a good familiar creature, if it be well used."
    He took a sip. "It's not wine, it's coffee."
    The Italian shrugged. "You should be a lawyer, Boss, arguing over the fine print. Besides, it's Italian coffee. The best."
    "Yeah."
    He drank it quickly. The coffee was good, and he glanced over at Geena. She was holding up a comms handset, and he strode over to her. Her gaze hadn't softened. "It's Admiral Brooks. He's back in Baghdad, but they patched me through to him."
    He took the mike. "This is Talley, Sir."
    There was no unnecessary greeting. "You're in Syria."
    "Yessir."
    "That's not good, Commander. I wanted you on the Iraq side of the border, not running interference with ISIS on their own patch. What's this massacre Ms Blake talked about?"
    He explained. Brooks was unimpressed.
    "Did I hear you right, Mister? You executed one of their men for war crimes?"
    "I did, Admiral. What they did was horrific. Beyond anything I've ever seen before."
    There was a frosty silence. "You were out of order, Talley. I'll call you back in one hour. Hold your position. You may have new orders, Brooks out."
    He stood around, inspecting the houses, each with its pile of butchered, mutilated, and headless bodies. Then he went to check out the sentries, but Guy had already made it secure. He