Weekend Special; Short Tales; California Series 2.1 Chapter 1 & 2

 For info, I like the song "Hotel California'; and had done some short tales based on the song before. Here is my second round at it. I did the write as a distraction from my other write which was the ongoing saga of ROBYN of LOCKSLEY. 

You may ask me why the song, and I will tell you I don't have a real answer. It just comes to mind the scenes I wanted to write about. I am no singer though; I croak at my choir audition, done two lines, and was told to stop by the Choir Master. It was a relief or I will be given makeup and wore those white shirts and dark pants singing on stage. 

Maybe to give you an insight into the song; this was extracted from ABC news which discovered while researching the song lyrics;

“It’s basically a song about the dark underbelly of the American dream and about excess in America, which is something we knew a lot about,” Henley said in a 2002 interview with "60 Minutes."

In 2005, Henley further explained the meaning of the song to Rolling Stone magazine, which placed "Hotel California" at no. 49 on its list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

“We were all middle class kids from the Midwest," Henley said. "'Hotel California' was our interpretation of the high life in L.A.”

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/things-eagles-hotel-california/story?id=36375155#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIt's%20basically%20a%20song%20about,%22Hotel%20California%22%20at%20no.

And it got me writing. I hope I stayed to that theme with my own twists.

Cheers

Here's to the Eagles.. Soar high, man.

On a dark desert highway
Cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas
Rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance
I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night

Songwriters: Glenn Lewis Frey / Don Felder / Donald Hugh Henley

Hotel California lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Universal Music Publishing Group

 

 

1.

The senior sniper had to close his eyes from the long glare at the telescopic lens on the rifle. He had done it for many hours on the range and at the black ops. It was not an easy task as the sniper where the works require patience and above it, tolerance for the location of his camouflage may not be the most ideal spot.

“Find the spot where you are concealed and above all, unseen even by the other sniper.” Stark heard them all. He had done the same when he was to conduct the training on the new snipers. He had them hideout at the hill and then he took his position to sniff them out with the telescopic lens.

“The first rule of sniping is to be with your camouflage.” Master Gunner Stark has five would-be snipers out there. He spotted two of them without battling his vision.

“You won’t feel being shot when it hits you for you will be dead.” Stark leveled the rifle; the M14, DMR Caliber 7.62mm was modified with the M118LR 175-grain long Range Ammunition. The twenty-two-inch barrel was bored to his specification. It held an effective firing range between six and eight hundred yards with the ten-round box magazine.

Master Gunner pulled the trigger at the first sighted target

The bullet impacted six inches from the sniper’s left shoulder at seven hundred yards. Master Gunner then hissed into the communication unit.

“You are dead, Barret. I did not adjust for the wind which was why you are still alive.”

Master Gunner moved his aim to scout the hill. He had ignored the second sniper that he had spotted. He wanted the others. He found his third one hidden beneath the clump of leaves attached to the camouflage netting. The second shot was in front of the sniper close to within one foot of the location.

“Your camouflage was good but you ought to know the nearest tree is too far for the leaves to drop in such volume.” Master Gunner Stark told the spotted sniper. It was then the shot came within a foot of the Master Gunner position and he yanked up the rifle to hide behind the mounds of sandbags in the shooting gallery.

“Who shot that?” The other Master Gunner at the range called out.

Master Gunner Stark had leveled his rifle and aimed at where he had seen the rifle muzzle flash. He looked hard and spotted the sniper retreating with slow movements above tree roots. That was a good camouflage with the shade of the tree to hide the silhouette of the shooter. The Master Gunner return fire and the projectile impacted the root below the rifle of the shooter.

“Good move, Ian but you should have moved earlier. Your flash muzzle handed you to me like the pudding for dessert.” The act by Ian had motivated the remaining two snipers to take initiative into their aims.  Two more shots hit the sandbags where Master Gunner had taken cover.

“Stand down, boys. This is training and not the killing fields.” The other trainer called out. “You will return here now.”

“Rescind that order, Gareth. The boys needed the simulation of the real thing.” Stark called out. He was distracted when the two sniper shots came in. He leveled his frame behind the sandbag and moved to locate the other sniper he had spotted earlier. The sniper had moved on and needed to ferret out. Stark needed the bait to lure them out from their hideout. He pushed the sandbag the right of him out and the shots impacted.

“I got you,” Stark muttered and then leveled the rifle to take out one of the snipers. He shot the low branch on the tree hovering above the sniper. The branch broke off and landed on the sniper. Then it was the last sniper; the one he thought spotted earlier but was hidden then.

“Sean, you are the last. Make it my day or I will make you run the fields with the rifle over your head.” Stark was playing on Sean’s ego to reply or shoot but the other had remained hidden with silence on his hideout. It was a game of patience than with both the trainer and trainee not taking the action to reveal them out to the other.

In the fields of sniping, it was all about patience.

Stark had thought he had it but the other was better. It lasted an hour and the shot came. It impacted a few inches from the Master Gunner’s face.

“You win, Sean.” Stark stood up. “I had to stop for the night.”

It was five years since then when Master Gunner declared himself the loser.

 

 

2.

The ‘Heuy’ or Bell UH-1 Iroquois is a utility helicopter powered by a single turboshaft engine with two-bladed main and tail rotors. It was the designated military helicopter still in use in service for over five decades. It was used in various conflict areas by several countries, and the one spotted over the river was for the local regime of the Southern American military. The helicopter or chopper for short was skimming the rive surface was heading upriver. The unit held its two pilots with the gunner manning the fifty caliber machine gun at the port side.  The unit held two sets of rocket launchers on the sides.

“Manuel One to River Base. Requesting permission to land.” The pilot called in on the communications. “I am five clicks out.”

“River Base to Manuel One. You are cleared. Your platform is marked by Charlie Two.”

“Manuel One to River Base, affirmative.” The pilot confirmed the clearance. The pilot took to starboard turn and then leveled the flying contraption. The view of River Base was then seen. The Base was the outpost by the river bend, with a temporary corrugated zinc sheets structure to house the forty-five personnel there. There six structures spread across the cleared area with the barbed wire perimeters and the dugouts reinforced by the sandbags and manned machine guns. There was two helicopter platform constructed at the river bend, and there were two river patrol boats berthed there.

The helicopter soon landed on the raised platform assigned and it solitary passenger disembarked. The passenger in the army fatigue hand-carried the long duffle bag stepped off the platform. He was met by the commanding officer there.

“Major Stephens. Ranger Division. Welcome to Hotel California.” The lanky officer took the passenger to the Commanding Structure. There were two others and one of them was in casual dressing.

“Master Gunner Stark, they are Major Diaz, and this is ...” The Major was interrupted.

“I am not surprised the DEA will be involved. Are we are in black ops here?” Master Gunner looked at the one who was not introduced.

“Agent Xavier…: The Major was again interrupted but then by the person, he was introducing.

“Hello, Stark. I called for you.” Xavier was part Cuban and Texan displayed his darker complexion beneath the green body fitting shirt and darker pants with the laced boots.

“I need your expertise. I know you retired but we have lost three of our men…”

“Who is he?” Stark asked. He knew he was not called out from retirement unless the odds were against the ones he had trained.

“It’s Sean Cannes. He is fighting for the other side.” Master Gunner was told.

Sean Cannes was trained by Master Gunner and spent three years in the assignment in the Middle East and the land below the States. He notched up twenty kills with his rifle and then did the disappearance act for over a year. He had packed up and left the Army two years ago. A year later, the name Billy the Kid rippled in the sniper’s world.

“Billy was no shooter. He was a killer. He killed only eight men. The ones in Mexico’s Lincoln County war of three were never verified.” That was the argument then of Billy the Kid. “Wyatt Earp had killed more. He did George Coy, Frank Mc Laury, Billy Clanton, and many others. Nobody knew who Billy shot.”

That was not true with Sean. He published his tally on the dark web under the name Billy the Kid.

“As of two months ago, Sean showed up here. He has taken down three senior officers with two others of the diplomatic section during that time. That was the starter to set his name.” Xavier gave the numbers.

“I heard there were more. Six or more confirmed kills of officers and who’s who.”

“We believed it was Sean but the tally to his name stayed at the earlier number. We may have another shooter out there but for Sean, we need your assistance. Take him down for good. Then we can talk of the other shooter.”

“I am here now. Sean is my boy. I will take him on. Where is Sean?”

“Sean is believed to hole up at the hacienda. He is with Cartel, doing their execution but for now, he is resting as we believed.” Xavier voiced to Master Gunner. “They called the place Hotel California.”

“That is sick,” Stark muttered. “California is up north and …”

“Wait till you see the place. It’s a replica of a hotel in the middle of the jungle. And it had the neon lights too with the safari night shows.” Xavier smiled. “They have their rock band too.”

“Tell me more of Sean.”

“He went off the grid and then came back with the boom ….boom… and his reputation was made.” Xavier smiled. “It’s like a movie star with a string of hits and then he is ranked marketable.”

“And I put him there,” Stark replied. “I trained dozens of them. They went on to do their task. Some may have retired dead or alive, and some are still at it. I am the fucking producer.”

“No, Stark. You did not. You taught them a skill to make the world safer. It’s what they do with it that was the outcome. Now, this one you have to put it down like the enemy counterpart. He had defected to the dark side.”

“Xavier, sometimes I feel as if I am also on the dark side.” Stark grabbed his bag. “Where can I get some grub? Do they have music there?”

“The chef is an Eagle fan. So space out, Master Gunner. You have four hours of rest before we leave for the jungle.” Xavier replied.

On a dark desert highway
Cool wind in my hair
The warm smell of colitas

Stark hummed to himself. He may need that.