Jack Terral - Battleline (2007)

"We're gonna storm through that door en masse. We'll have to go in shooting. Leibowitz and Assad, get behind me. As soon as the three of us get through there, the rest of you come in on our heels. And pump out those three-round auto bursts. If you aim just over the sandbags into the wall, your rounds should ricochet down into the ragheads."

The SEALs were astounded and stopped firing for an instant, then renewed their salvos. Everyone--including Mike and Dave--knew that they and Lieutenant Bill Brannigan had as much chance as that proverbial snowball in hell once they entered the other bunker.

"Everyone put in a fresh magazine," Brannigan ordered. "Get ready! On my--"

Frank Gomez's voice crackled over the LASH headsets. "Skipper, word just came over the Shadowfire. Cease fire! Cease fire and pull out!"

"Say again!" Brannigan angrily demanded.

"We have received orders to cease fire and withdraw."

"Goddamn it, Gomez!" Brannigan said.

"Did you authenticate that transmission?"

"Yes, sir."

Brannigan swallowed hard, almost stunned by the astounding news as he managed to utter, "Cease fire."

Now it was CPO Matt Gunnarson over the net. "Brigand Boss, this is Big Gun. The enemy attack has broken off. They've pulled back."

"Same out here," Jim Cruiser reported. "The enemy is no longer firing. There are no ragheads in the trench."

The quiet that had suddenly descended over the scene of the battle left their punished ears buzzing. Everyone looked at each other in puzzled confusion. Now they heard scuffling in the fourth bunker, and the sounds suddenly faded away. Ensign Orlando Taylor took a cautious look into the interior.

"Skipper, they've withdrawn," he reported. "The place is empty."

"What about that shit," Mike Assad commented. "The war's been called off."

For a long moment, Brannigan said nothing. Then he turned and gestured toward the exit. "Alright! Get the hell out of here."

The SEALs grabbed their dead and abandoned the position, the bodies slung over sturdy shoulders.

.

OVAL OFFICE WHITE HOUSE

3 SEPTEMBER (LABOR DAY) 0715 HOURS

THE President showed an apologetic half smile. "Hell of a thing to ask you to work on a holiday, gang."

Arlene Entienne, Carl Joplin, Colonel John Turnbull of the SOLS, and Secretary of State Benjamin Bellingham shrugged it off.

"Well!" the President continued. "The Iranians accepted a cease-fire on the Afghanistan border. The deal was negotiated by Carl with their charge des affaires here in Washington. Or should I say in Arlington, since it was hashed out at the Bonhomme Richard Club."

"Well done, Carl!" Arlene exclaimed. "How in the world did this come about?"

"Saviz Kahnani contacted me about wanting to make a deal," Joplin explained. "He had left a message that I received upon my return from Moscow. Tehran wanted to wrap up this whole brouhaha. I can only assume they sensed they were headed for a disaster and decided to negotiate an end to the affair."

"At any rate," the President said, "the deal was so secret that the Iranian Ambassador didn't know a damn thing about it."

Bellingham was slightly miffed. "And neither did the American Secretary of State. That is who I am, just in case anybody forgot."

"Now, Ben," the President said with a wink, "you and I are only temporarily in Washington until the next administration. Our dear Dr. Joplin is a permanent resident and a career diplomat."

"Our timing was pretty bad, though," Joplin said. "But it couldn't be helped. When the message was sent out, the SEAL team was already heavily engaged in the interior of the enemy mountain fortress."

"The order to cease fire must have surprised them," Arlene commented.

Colonel Turnbull nodded to Joplin. "What's the procedure from this point on, Carl?"

"The idea of the cease-fire was for Iran to make a withdrawal from the border under certain conditions," Joplin replied.

"What about us?"

"Our situation goes on as before," Joplin explained. "We and our partners in the coalition are deeply involved in complicated military operations in Afghanistan. Therefore we gave no quarter."

"Way to go, guy!" Turnbull exclaimed.

"And best yet," Joplin said, "the Iranians have also agreed to negotiate an end to the Persian Empire scheme as well as to begin discussions regarding their nuclear program. It appears they've realized they're going nowhere."

"The UN sanctions didn't hurt," Arlene added. "But what about their dealings on Hezbollah?"

"They're not bringing that to the table," Joplin said.

"Ha!" Turnbull remarked. "That's gonna really piss off the Israelis."

"Yes, it will," Joplin said. "My friend Kahnani gave some strong hints that Tehran may wish to discuss the Israeli situation with us."

"And there we are," the President said, pleased. He glanced at Benjamin Bellingham. "Well, Mr. Secretary of State, are you ready for a trip to Geneva for a tete-a-tete with your Iranian counterpart?"

"I'm happy to go," Bellingham said.

"There is one very sad aspect of this great accomplishment," the President observed. He had obviously quickly sunk into a somber mood. "Late last night I received a call from the Pentagon. They informed me that the SEAL detachment that took such an active part in this operation suffered almost twenty-five percent casualties."

Colonel Turnbull nodded. "It's called soldiering, Mr. President."

"It is also called a tragedy," the President quietly commented.

CHAPTER 19

USS DAN DALY

PERSIAN GULF

BRANNIGAN'S Brigands were back aboard the Daly, battered but proud. The detachment was battered by the intense combat and casualties they had endured in Operation Battleline, but proud they could honestly proclaim those words most respected in the world of military professionalism: Mission accomplished.

When they evacuated the Zaheya fortress after the astonishing order to cease fire and withdraw, they made their way to the LZ for the rendezvous with the USAFSOC helicopters. They even had time to secure the parachutes off the DZ, and this included a few from the first jump. True to SEAL tradition, the Brigands left no one behind. Their seven dead came out, borne among the twenty-seven living, and were respectfully and lovingly placed aboard the choppers to begin their somber journey back to hometowns and families, to be honored and mourned.

They weren't at Shelor Field long before another aircraft came in, to retrieve them for a surprise flight back to the Daly that same day. Twenty-four hours later, the detachment was assembled in their usual briefing room aboard the ship, where they learned from Commander Tom Carey that the reason for the cessation of hostilities in the OA was that the government of Iran had capitulated, willing to give up their goal of a Persian Empire as well as enter into serious negotiations with the West in regard to their nuclear ambitions. The mountain fortress in which the fiery battle had been fought in its interior was to be abandoned, and all Iranian troops and their Arab volunteers had been withdrawn from the Afghanistan border. The Zaheya fighters were back in garrison in northwestern Iran, their unit now deactivated.

There was no cheering among Brannigan's Brigands, only a quiet acceptance of the outcome of Operation Battleline. Now they needed some time and space to catch their breath, and work themselves back to their premission way of life. The grinding of a few administrative wheels brought about some transfers of the newer men, since there was no longer a lot for them to do aboard the Daly. James Duncan, Lamar Smith, Tom Greene, J. T. Snooker, Chuck Betnarik, Tiny Burke, and Hump Dobbs said their good-byes and were carried away via a U. S. Navy Seahawk chopper to the nearby CVBG for further transportation to other duty stations. That left twenty-four total members of the detachment; five more than they had before the onset of Operation Battleline. Some of the other new men--Ensign Taylor, Matsuno, Benson, Sturgis, and MacTavish--were now permanently assigned to the detachment.