Finally finished Airsoft Merc. Its offical title is now 'Operation Lionheart: Airsoft Mercs'. It'll be a two part story with the second part called 'Operation Lionheart: Eagle Troop' But more on that later. Instead enjoy the full story below.
I watched as the kid crabbed his neck, the 0.3g BB struck him right just above where I had intended. I was trying the get a body shot but the wind had caught the round and lifted it higher, no matter as it still counted. Plus I could claim it was intended as a neck shot if anyone asked I laughed to myself. I watched the lad lift his hand and shout his hit. I could see the poor sods face as he sulked off back to his base. The fact he didn’t wait around meant that there was none of his team mates near by to Medic him back in. But I still kept an eye out. I had been on watch now for an hour at that point and in that time I’d managed to get four confirmed kills and one cheating sod that pulled back but didn’t shout his hit. Behind me the ground crunched as Garza moved in keeping himself low and hiding behind the bush I was lying in.
‘Was that another one Frenchie mate’?
Frenchie was the name given to me by the rest of the lads on the account that when I first played airsoft, my military beret was so misshaped I looked like a 1960’s Frenchman. It never mattered that was years ago and I had sorted the issue. In airsoft once you get the nickname it sticks.
‘Aye pal, fifth one in the last forty minutes’
Garza checked his watch and gave me a pat on the back.
‘Okay. Give it five more minutes and I’ll send Smudge up to take your place. Get some chow down your neck and have a bit kip. I can’t image the enemy moving on us once it goes dark’. Garza said before slipping off back towards our own base.
I agreed with his assessment. If anything the five I had seen were most probably scouts sent to locate our FOB. Since I was so well hidden and I doubt they would pass Intel of where in the body they were hit they wouldn’t be able to work out which direction they had been struck and in turn the FOB’s probable location.
After five minutes I could hear Smudge ninja up behind me and lay down next to my position. He had his glorious full wood and metal Tanaka GBB Kar98k Sniper rifle on his back and was gripping his Tokyo Marui MP5 PDW by his side. The Kar as we all called it was a truly lovely bit of kit compared to my trusty AGM Springer L96. Even though we could hit the same distance his did it with a heavier weight and a quieter sound even for a Gas System.
“Alreet cock” he joked. “Are you heading back now?”
“Aye... How many kills did you get by the way?” I replied.
“Not a sausage mate. You had clipped em all before I could get in range. But I did see the track they all came down on so I’ve a fair idea of the enemy FOB location”
We both left our positions and within no time I was back onto the main dirt track and heading towards our digs. I tipped Jensen, another of our local team a nod on gate duty as I passed into the FOB. With darkness coming the brass has decided to pull back the sniper outer defence and put more bodies on the immediate defensive walls. Jensen was picked for the main gate duty due to his bloody massive A&K M60. My Radio clicked into life.
“Jensen here… Smudge and Frenchie are back in the base, over.”
“Copy, Garza out” was the response. The radios we’re just between our small unit. Garza liked us to have Radios when we played airsoft even though the whole team didn’t have them and the ones that did all worked on their own channels. He was a good enough egg Garza and we were always happy for him to be out 1iC but he did have a tendency to take it a little too seriously, which nine times out of ten used to rub Jensen the wrong way. Our overall Bravo team was made up of about six main teams from all over the UK and one team from Germany, about 50 guys in total. The event was held every six months and teams we’re invited to play in a full 48 hour none stop competition. So as soon as the Klaxon went we played for the full weekend, you ate when you could and slept when you could. It was total war but without the horrible thought someone was planning to rip your guts out with 7.62 AK round.
Bravo’s FOB was what they called The Fortress. It reminded me of one of the desert forts you’d see in old movies about the French Foreign Legion. Very fitting for my nickname I guess. In the middle was a giant old MASH tent which was being used as Bravo’s tactical tent that the Marshal’s had put up for the IC’s to spank themselves silly in with the host of intel maps and plans. Around it were all our own personal tents, of which I had my sights fixed firmly on. I was desperate for a few hours’ kip. We were coming to an end of day two of the competition and this was our home. The Bravo General, a guy called Reynolds had picked the fort as our home due to not only the obvious defensive walls but also the actually landscape meant the enemy would be bottle necked. As I walked to my tent a voice broke my concentration.
‘Evening Frenchie’
I turned to see Pricey shooting me a smile. He was sat with the rest of his team, all of them dressed in WW2 American gear. His lot were an airsoft team not far from where we played and had come across them many times.
“Alreet big lad, how’s it hanging?” I smiled.
“Good, Good. I see you Mercs are almost done with Guard duty yes?” He responded.
“Where’s Pricey and that”? I asked
“Kip mate” he replied
After shooting the shit with Hans for five more minutes I made my way through the maze of tents to the canteen tent. The smell of the BBQ had been driving me wild for an hour now and I was bloody starving. After collecting what I could only assume was a hotdog nuked from orbit I sat down in front of my tent. Not even a mouthful in and I was already being harassed by Cyprus.
“Evening fool”
“Hi Mate, what’s up?” I mumbled back with a mouth full of food.
“Garza is what’s up pal, he’s asked for us to meet in the IC Tent when Jensen comes off guard duty, seems Reynolds has a job for us”. And with that Cyprus crawled into the tent behind me and fell straight asleep.
I woke a good number of hours later with Garza kicking my feet. Smudge and Jensen were behind him pretending to have a knife fight with their plastic blades.
”Penis out of Cyprus please and follow us” he laughed.
“You’re a terrible leader Garza” said Cyprus from within his sleeping bag.
“This is true but at least I get you all killed in style” screamed Garza as he dived on my tent mate and preceded to fake dry hump him. A few minutes later we were all stood in the IC Tent with a map of the whole site laid out in front of us. The site was a huge ex M.O.D base up in the north of Scotland. Even in July the place was freezing but at least we hadn’t been rained on… yet. The base consisted of the biggest airsoft site in Western Europe. The old airbase section was now converted into a shanty town of sorts and renamed ‘Iron Bru City’. It also had two massive forest sections and fields and trenches to fight around. It was easily the best site I had played at.
“Isn’t Reynolds not briefing us” I asked.
“No Pal, he’s off briefing the rest of the team about their attack on Iron Bru” answered Garza looking at our now puzzled faces.
Jensen was the first to quickly raise the obvious question “Shouldn’t we be in that then mate”?
Garza pulled his now familiar well, funny story face which normally meant he had volunteered us for something.
“The marshals pulled us in last night and advised of a change of the rules.” Began Garza “Because of enemy scouts they managed to successfully pinpoint our base meaning that they are allowed to attack and capture it”.
There was no way the ones I had shot could have worked out the location. There had to have been a sixth guy who snuck past.
“The points for taking our base are worth 15% of the overall score and with today’s results in it looks like we can’t afford to lose the base”. He passed us a piece of paper on which the marshals had written the score. As it stood we were just behind but that could all change if we took Iron Bru City in the morning. Garza continued with his briefing.
“If we take the city it puts us two hundred points ahead and we win but if we manage that and lose the base then the enemy win the weekend. Now Reynolds is playing to win and he’s a solid plan for the attack. He needed a team to stay back and we’re it”.
“No offence like” spoke Smudge “but I paid to fight not house sit”
“I know, I know. Reynolds assures me we will be in the fight. He plans on securing the south quarter of the city and once that’s done he’ll radio us in to join on the final push. The bottom line lads, is that if we lose this base we lose the weekend. It’s all on us”.
We all looked at each other and finally agreed. Bravo was counting on us and we were not to let them down.
It was around five in the morning when I was awoken by the scuffling of feet and the low grumble of a truck engine. Cyprus was sat upright in his sleeping back with one ear cocked.
“Think that’s us getting ready mate” he said
“…At this time in the morning”? I replied.
Cyprus’ response was to shrug his shoulders and stick his head out of the tent door.
As we suspected Reynolds had bravo on the move. The site had brought up their ex-service Leyland Daf 45/150 flat bed truck. We had fifteen minutes to pack up the tents and put them on the truck to take back to the safe zone and then get our kit sorted for the mission. Within no time we watched as Reynolds marched Bravo out of the camp and on to their forty five minute trip by foot to the staging area for the attack.
We all turned to ach other and signed.
“Well best make the best of it I guess” muttered Smudge.
“Me and Jensen will take the front gate” Cyprus said, trying to put enthusiasm into his voice. “Garza, you and Frenchie take the flank walls and Smudge can get up on the sniper tower “
“Agreed” nodded Garza.
The Sniper Tower was a fifteen foot structure located at the rear of the fort. Its position commanded a great view of the surrounding area and was big enough for two people. Once up there Smudge would give us cover with his Kar98. One of the younger marshals was actually left with us. She must have been around thirty years old and the wife of one of the other guys. She wasn’t bad craic as it happened as she shared jokes and airsoft stories with Jensen and Cyprus by the front gate. I was watching them as Jensen caught my eye and nodded me over.
“What’s up, she sick of your patter already”? I joked.
“Shut up man what woman would get sick of this” he laughed back “no man, go tell Smudge to go to channel three-seven, I can see it’s the Marshal feed on her radio display. Up there at that height he should be able to get intel of what’s happening”.
In no time I was up in the sniper nest with smudge passing on what Jensen told me.
Over the next ten minutes we both listened to the Marshals on both sides talking about who was fighting where. The stand out one was one Marshal saying he was no were near Iron-Bru with a group of about fifteen enemy. His location according to his update was by ‘The Gorge’. I checked on my map quickly, no… no it couldn’t be. I quickly changed to the radio channel I knew Reynolds was on.
“Reynolds come in this is the fort, I repeat Reynolds come in urgently over”.
No reply.
I flung myself down the ladder leaving a confused looking Smudge behind me.
“Garza mate” I yelled on my way down. He met me in the middle of the fort.
“They’re flanking Reynolds” I gasped “A Marshall just reported he was with an enemy unit of fifteen guys moving on a place located on Reynolds back left flank. If I don’t warn them they’ll get hit hard”.
“Okay no problems, Run out of here and head south. When you get to the forest clearing you’ll be able to get him on Radio range. Then make sure you get your arse back here quick” Garza ordered.
Within seconds I had dumped my L96 and had swapped out to the Jing Gong Thunder Maul on my back. Running past Jensen and Cyprus I headed out the main gate and into the long grass of the forest. It was only a five minute run to the clearing and as I ran I sporadically called into my radio trying to raise Bravo’s main group. I could finally see the clearing as I went down on one knee to get my breath. I was about to try the radio again. A shout broke the silence and I looked up to see the fifteen enemy players moving from the open field between the two forests and heading towards me. I went straight to my belly and tried Reynolds again. Still nothing so I switched to the Merc channel we were using and tried to raise the lads, still nothing. The enemy was getting closer now and I had to make a choice. Reaching into a pouch I retrieved a smoke grenade and threw it in the direction of the enemy.
“Enemy 10 O’clock”! I yelled. And with that I got up and started to fire at will as I ran back towards the Fort. My plan had worked, between the smoke, wild firing and shouting the enemy assumed there was more than just me. I glanced over my shoulder to see them all fall to their bellies and raise their weapons. My heart pounded as I pushed myself full speed back to the lads, my breathing now so heavy I couldn’t even speak to the radio. With each step I fully expected to feel a brace of BBs strike me as I run but it never came. Cyprus was the first to see me and I could see him shouting back to the team to warn me. Seconds away from the main door and I felt the BB strike me, a single hard shot that was clearly from a sniper rifle.
“Smudge man what you doing?!?” Cried Jensen.
“Cyprus had shouted incoming man” Smudge replied.
I stood there catching my breath unable to tell them what was coming. After all dead men can’t speak in airsoft. It was Garza that ran out and grabbed me. He dragged me behind the fort wall to medic me back in and twenty seconds later I was able to speak.
Before I had a chance to speak Cyprus shouted out an enemy position.
“Fifteen of them for sure” I yelled as I ran back to my sector.
“Radios to VOX guys” ordered Garza as he ran back to his spot. The radios we used had a push button to speak but when we got into a good old fire fight we’d switch them to ‘Vox’ meaning the mic was live all the time. It saved us having to take our hands off our guns to use the transmit button and we could still communicate enemy movement during the fire fight.
Jensen was the first to engage the targets. He let rip with his M60 a long burst into the bush cover. The way the land lay meant that the enemy were bottle necked coming towards the Fort but after a while they could take cover in the trees, long grass and bushes that circles right around the Fort.
“I’ve two enemy moving clockwise, no shot” reported Smudge.
Garza and I ran to the rear of the fort to cover the back entrance. The Forts’ layout was a simple large rectangle. The Tactical Tent was located in the middle, with the Sniper Tower at the rear/right hand side. Jensen and Cyprus were currently engaging the enemy at the front entrance. Trying hard to keep the enemy bottle necked and by the sound of “HIT” being yelled every few seconds they seemed to be doing well.
“Smudge you got eyes on those flanking enemy”? Garza asked.
“Lost one of them mate as he ran in the bush but the other two will be on you in a few seconds” came the radio reply.
Garza went on his belly outside the rear gate, his MP5 raised and ready to unleash its fire onto the attackers. I decided to tuck myself into the gate on one knee. I raised my gun to help draw fire and hope they didn’t see my team mate on the floor until it was too late.
“Contact!” The yell came from Garza as he opened fire on the two attackers exiting from the tall bushes. They were young kids, maybe sixteen, with hire guns and showing no tactical awareness. Its was a pure slaughter as they came running at the gate, never mind them not seeing Garza they didn’t even see me. We replayed their silliness with a long burst to their upper bodies and it stopped them in their tracks. For a moment they stopped and I wondered if they were going to call their hits. I adjusted my aim in case as this next batch would be for the face. If you’re going to cheat you’re going to lose teeth, simple as that. Fortunately they took their hits and yelled for a Medic.
“Good Kill Frenchie. Keep an eye out, HIT!”
Garza’s sentence was cut short buy a single shot to his forehead.
“MEDIC!” he cried.
I immediately started scanning the area to see where the shot came from but I couldn’t see anyone. I had a choice to make. Get Garza back in or hunt for the third lad. As it was we were out numbered and every gun counted so I choose Garza. As I stepped out to grab him I saw the shooter, I couldn’t have seen him from my original location but as soon as I moved he had his sights locked on me. It was like it was all in slow motion, the first thing I noticed was his SOCOM M14 and his fully Gucci kit. He was clearly a seasoned player and I knew I was banged to rights. The BB impacted my left shoulder and I called my Hit. The player stepped forward to make his move to the rear gate, undefended and unable to warn the guys they were about to have this guy sat on their heads and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Out of no where the player bent over double and fell to the ground swearing under his breath.
“Sorry Mate” yelled Smudge from up in the nest “Cyprus mate…”
“Already on it” Cyprus replied over the radio.
Luckily Smudge had clocked this guy after he shot me and took him out at the stomach. Or at least that was the plan had it not been for the fact the poor bloke had been hit right in his balls. I was dragged back into cover and the twenty second count began.
“You plan on dying any more today?” Cyprus smiled.
“Sorry Boss” I smiled.
With me back in the game I grabbed Garza as Cyprus returned quickly back to his old location. He returned to find Jensen behind the wall unable to return fire. A heavy wall of enemy BB’s were flying in through the front gate.
“Seems the enemy has learned how to suppress mate” smiled Cyprus as he reached into his pouch then said in his best Jayne Cobb impression,
“You could do with some Grenades about now Mal”!
And with that he blindly flung a lit grenade over the wall towards the enemy. Without warning Jensen took off running back to the sniper tower. A shocked Cyprus watched him run off wondering why the hell he had left him alone at the gate. Within moments the wall of fire began again.
Back at the sniper tower Smudge continued to shout out enemy movements. He was interrupted by Jensen’s massive M60 slamming down next to him.
“Alreet cock” started Jensen as he lay on his belly by the team sniper. Without waiting for a reply the support gunner started to lay down fire from his elevated position.
“This is more like it” he continued.
The new location was working a treat, without having to nip around the wall he was able to shoot straight over it. Between them Smudge and Jensen had managed to rake up lots of kills and stop the enemy from flanking. The down side was that as soon as they were dead they were being medic’d back in. It had now become a race between the enemy giving up or the Merc’s running out of BB’s.
The radio kicked back into life as Garza’s voice came through.
“Well done lads you’ve got them pinned. I’m taking Frenchie out round the back…”
“Giggidy” Interrupted Smudge.
“… Round the back of the base to see if we can flank them and push them back” continued Garza. With that he nodded at me to take point as he followed. We exited through the rear gate and followed the same route the first lot of enemy had taken. Without anyone to medic them, the three of them were still stood looking bored. That’s the trouble with lone wolfing in a medic game. You don’t have your team to have your back in case you take a BB to the knee. With bended knee I moved as quietly as I could through the bush and trees. As long as Jensen could pin them back it should be an easy kill. With all fifteen enemy killed the Marshal would have no choice but to send them all the way back to get spawned in. It was at that moment the M60 fire died.
“Fuck, I’m dry” Come Jensen’s call through the headset.
The only noise now was the fire from Cyprus’s SCAR but even that was being over run by the return fire. This was it. The enemy had chosen their moment to push on the base. With Jensen frantically trying to reload the three thousand BB drum the sods to their chance and managed to charge straight at the main gate.
“Hit”
Damn that was Cyprus. With him out only Jensen and Smudge were in the base.
“Switching to MP5k” radioed Smudge. A clear indication this fire fight was going to get close quarters for those lads. I reached for the one and only grenade I had and threw it. It landed in between the final six guys and took them all out in one bunch. Luckily for us the rest of their group was more concerned with killing our guys in the Sniper Tower.
“Get back around the back Frenchie. Cut the bastards off” yelled Garza as he moved off to chase the rest of the group through the main gate. I sprinted to the flank of the fort back to rear. The plan was clear, hopefully they should be so taking with the Tower, me and Garza could pincer them at either end. As I reached the already dead enemy I noticed that the guy with the M14 was in the middle of being counted back in by a medic. Without thinking I let me Thunder Maul drop on its sling as I reached for my KWA M9. I clicked the safety off and then laid three rounds into the guy doing the re-spawning on the M14 guy.
“Hit” he said disappointedly
With the pistol still raised I stalked around the corner to find the tower wasn’t returning fire. It was clear they were pinned down. I could see the remaining enemy were taking cover behind the large single MASH tent in the middle of the fort. Two were on my side of the tent putting fire into the tower with three of them returning fire towards Garza. The sizable collection of grenade dead and Cyprus had now moved off to one side waiting to see who would be revived first.
I raised my pistol and aimed higher than normal to get the extra distance on the three on my side of the tent. None of them had turned or noticed me as they were too concerned with the Tower. I was about to burst off the rest of my clip when one of the dead behind me shouted out “Medic”.
Bastard had done that on purpose to attract his team mates. It was a tactic that worked, as before I had a chance to fire I was hit with a burst from all three guys.
I yelled my hit and never in my life have I wanted to hit someone as much as that prick who shouted, but the plus side was that with them blatting me it allowed Smudge to rail both of them from above. This left just the three on the other side of the tent.
Smudge had taking the opportunity to return fire. His aim was true and he burst hit both of them, but as that happened, another Hit Call came over the Radio. Garza was down leaving just Smudge and Jensen against the remaining three enemy who were now moving around the tent to Medic in their team on my side of the tent.
We were so close to winning this battle but now it looked like all was lost. That was until I saw the blur of Jensen and Smudge come flying down the Ladder. Jensen now without his M60 was just wielding his USP Pistol. Smudge with weapon raised was making his way quickly to Garza and Cyprus and Jensen ran full pelt towards me. It was clear they were making a run to medic us back in, in the hope to turn the favour to the Mercs. I steadied myself knowing Jensen who had a good two foot and 2 stone over me would simply grab me and drag me around the back of the wall for the twenty count. My body jerked as he grabbed my arm and dragged me back on myself. Around the corner I turned to look at him to begin his count. It never came, he just looked at me face blank. At first all he could mutter was “Hit” but then he repeated it louder for the enemy to hear. They had managed to clip him as he ran and grabbed me. It was all down to Smudge now. The remaining enemy would either pick Smudge off and then respawn their team in at leisure or just ignore him and ruse to medic their guys in.
Where we were located we couldn’t see what was happening it was only the give away of Garza and Cyprus laughing over the radio waves then the sound of;
“One, two, three, four…”
It was Cyprus counting. Jensen and I looked at each other in a confused gaze. Surely at any moment we’d hear Smudge crying his hit but it never came. Instead it was the shout of Cyprus saying he was back in and the sound of him running. He rounded the corner with a smile and said cheerily.
“Sup Ladies?”
Twenty seconds later I was tagged back in and making my way into the courtyard and Jensen was being counted in still. Sure enough there was Garza and Smudge reloading as the female Marshal shouted for the enemy to head back to their spawn points right back at the far side of Iron Bru City.
“Garza, what happened?” I laughed
“Mate it was awesome. Smudge ran round the back of them and knife killed the last of them, they had no fucking idea man” he answered in amazement.
Some how we had pulled it off, we had repelled the attack from a greater enemy number and saved the base.
“What now”? I asked.
Garza looked at his watch before saying. “Right we give it half an hour and if they don’t come back we’ll move onto the city and have a scrape down there. Agreed”?
As it happened they never did return. We had smashed them so well they couldn’t be arsed to come all the way back, especially as they knew surprise wasn’t on their side anymore.
On the night before we left we met up with the guys from Eagle Troop. It was Pricey who I saw first.
“Hey mate, we didn’t see you in the city. How was it?” I asked packing away my kit.
“Dude” he began “wait till I tell you what happened to us”.
The End
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