It was the middle of the night as Alpha Team silently headed in their dinghy towards a cargo ship to stop an illegal transportation of firearms by a terrorist group. Tensions were high.
"Five minutes to go," whispered Jake, the Team Leader, his voice calm and firm.
Luis, the impulsive one of the team, was smiling. "I can't wait to get into some action and blow something up," his voice full of excitement.
"Yeah, as long as you don't blow us up like it almost happened three years ago in Yemen," Rey, the second in command, said, laughing along with the rest of the team. Jake motioned for them to stay silent.
"Target at two o'clock, execute," Jake commanded.
They boarded the ship one by one, securing the area. A delicate but determined voice came over the radio.
"The target is located on the bow, inside a red container. Five armed men reported by the drone. Be careful," said the Commanding Officer of the team, Elena.
The team began to move towards the bow, Jake as the first man, followed by Luis and Rey, while Alex, the team's sniper, took up position to provide cover. They arrived in front of the red container and saw the five armed men.
"Alpha 3, here Alpha 1, clear view?"
"Alpha 1, here Alpha 3 affirmative," Jake said, looking through the viewfinder of his precision rifle.
"Well, Alpha 3, you aim for the one in the center, Alpha 2, the one on the right, and me and Alpha 4 will take the last ones on the left. Ready? Execute, execute."
With absolute precision, they eliminated all the enemies and headed towards the container. Luis opened the container, and they were all shocked. Inside, there were light rifles, sniper rifles, RPGs, drones, and a lot of grenades.
Luis gave a long whistle. "These weapons were needed for an entire fucking army."
"Now is not the time to discuss it, Alpha 4," Jake said. "Alpha 2, Alpha 4, place the charges and get ready to exfiltrate."
While Rey was placing the charges, a barrage of shots came towards them.
"Fuck, where did they come from?!" Alpha 4 shouted.
They all immediately took cover.
"Command, this is Alpha 1, the information was wrong! There are way more than five enemies on board!"
"Alpha 1, Command here, affirmative. Rapid reaction force is 10 minutes away from you. Copy?"
Elena's previously delicate voice was now full of tension.
The team started to return fire. Shots were flying in all directions. There were many more enemies, but the team was holding them at bay for the moment.
"Rey, you still managed to place the charges, right?" Jake shouted.
"Affirmative."
Suddenly, a heartbreaking scream came from behind Jake. He turned quickly, and there on the ground was Alex. He had been hit twice, once in the leg and once a little above the chest.
"Fuck!" Luis shouted.
Jake immediately ran towards him, dragging him with difficulty behind cover, while the rest of the team covered them. Alex was losing a lot of blood and couldn't make a sound other than a few silent cries of pain.
"Come on, brother, stay with me," Jake said as he began to disinfect and bandage Alex's wounds.
"Jake! We won't be able to hold them much longer!" Rey shouted.
"Thirty seconds!" Jake said, continuing to treat Alex.
Alex's eyes were becoming dull, and his breathing weaker.
"Come on, don't abandon me right now... fight, the fuck," Jake whispered.
As the rapid reaction force arrived on armed dinghies and started firing suppressive fire to get on the ship and eliminate the enemies, Alex weakly grabbed Jake's hand and, in a very weak and pained voice, said, "It was an honor to serve at your side." He smiled. "If I could go back, I would do it again and again... goodbye, Captain."
Alex's hand lost its grip and slid down Jake's arm until it hit the metal floor. Tears slipped down Jake's face as he held his friend's cold hand. Rey and Luis looked at each other with anger and regret as they helped Jake carry Alex's body and put him on the dinghy.
They started to leave. The atmosphere was silent and heavy, totally different from the one before. Once they reached a safe distance, Rey detonated the charges, blowing the ship up.
Once they arrived at the base, other soldiers took Alex's lifeless body. The weight of the moment hung in the air, thick with sorrow. The team remained silent, the usual banter now replaced by a heavy quiet. As Alex was carried away, Jake stood still for a long moment, staring at the lifeless body of his friend, his partner in countless missions. The man who had always had his back was now gone.
As they entered the headquarters, Elena rushed to them, her face filled with sadness, her eyes red from crying. She embraced each of them tightly. 'I'm so sorry,' she whispered, her voice broken.
Rey put a hand on her shoulder, offering her a reassuring squeeze. 'It wasn't your fault,' he said softly.
Luis nodded in agreement, though his expression betrayed the anger and sorrow he felt inside.
Jake remained silent. His eyes were distant, lost in thought. No words could fill the emptiness he felt. No one could understand the weight of his responsibility, not even Elena.
'We lost him... and I couldn't save him,' Jake thought to himself, the words echoing in his mind. The silent guilt of a leader who had failed his team, his friend."
The tension was palpable at the command center. The generals and other senior officials stood before the entire team, and the air seemed to change, becoming oppressive. The silence in the room only heightened the unease; the only sound that could be heard was the rustling of papers as the general and others reviewed the mission report. Jake was barely breathing, his mind elsewhere, his green eyes distant and vacant.
After a few minutes, the general spoke. "The mission was a success, but it cost the life of an excellent soldier."
Jake's face tightened at those words, and it almost seemed like he was about to shout at the general, but Rey stopped him with a sharp look.
"Captain First Class Jake, please share with us what happened on that ship," the general said.
The team exchanged brief glances before Jake spoke, his voice strained but steady. "Sir, the mission went according to plan. We boarded the ship, eliminated the five enemies in front of the container, but…" Jake paused, his thoughts racing. The images of what had happened replayed in his mind, and his blood ran cold. He snapped out of it, focusing on the gaze of his superiors.
"But there were additional unidentified enemies on board. They caught us off guard, and after an intense firefight…" He stopped again, taking a long breath. "Alex was hit."
Jake fell silent, his breathing growing heavier as the memory of Alex's pale, lifeless face flooded his mind. The images of his fallen comrade tormented him, each thought like a blade to his chest. He struggled to speak, his words feeling like an unbearable weight.
Sensing Jake's difficulty, Rey stepped forward, his voice calm yet firm. "Alex fought honorably, but we couldn't save him," he said, locking eyes with the generals. "We did everything we could, but the situation was beyond our control."
The room fell silent, the weight of Rey's words hanging in the air. The general, who had been silently observing, finally looked up from his papers.
"I understand," he said. "But what does that tell us about how the mission went wrong? Where did it fail?"
Jake looked down at the table, gathering his thoughts. "Simply put… our intel was wrong. We thought we were dealing with five men, but there were many more. We were caught off guard, forced to improvise. Alex… Alex was hit before we could exfiltrate."
A cold shiver ran down Jake's spine as the memory of Alex's blood, his weakening breath, and that hand slipping away came flooding back. It was as if those images were still alive, haunting him with every moment of clarity.
Rey spoke again, his voice heavy, each word seeming like a burden. "We finished the mission as quickly as possible. We didn't have time for anything else. But we succeeded. We destroyed the ship as ordered."
The general nodded, his expression grim. "We are aware of the mission's difficulty. But the price you paid—the sacrifice of a team member—is never something to be taken lightly."
Jake's heart pounded in his chest. Anger and frustration surged within him, but he fought to remain composed. He didn't want his superiors to see that weakness. He didn't want anyone to think that he had lost control or that he wasn't capable of leading his team forward.
The general stood up and took a step closer. "This is not the end. The mission is complete, but I want to ensure that each of you understands what it means to be part of a team like this. Alex's sacrifice must not be forgotten."
Jake stared into the general's eyes. "I will never forget it. And I will never forget what we went through together. But I don't know how to live with this pain."
Rey placed a hand on Jake's shoulder, offering both comfort and support. "You're not alone, Captain. None of us are ever truly alone."