Lay Legal Episode 3 (A series)

Captain Dagogo

This crack team tagged “Delta Force” is constituted for the
rescue of Justice Dakata. The mission is “Operation Delta
Force”. Intelligence tells us that he’s being held in an
abandoned modular refinery off the coast of Jamani across
the Idogo Lake to the north. An eyewitness to his kidnap
tells us we are expecting a resistance of not less than 5 well
armed men, but we should expect more. The code name for
the hostage is ‘Phoenix’; code name for enemy territory is
“Hades”; code name for kidnappers is ‘Orcs’. Our term of
reference is: invade Hades, apprehend or neutralize Orcs
whichever is practicable, extract Phoenix, and bring him
home. You are paired in twos, the code names and
members of your pairs are as represented on the short
memo handed you earlier. We depart at 20:00 hours, any
questions? (None came). Fine, we are to report here combat
ready at 19:55 hours; report to the armory for your combat
gears. You are dismissed.

Justice Dakata’s younger brother, a Major-General in the Nilerian army; a

decorated military officer who rose through the ranks having led series of dare-
devil combat missions, with a reputation for very minimal casualty to his

teams; a master war strategist, an officer held in high regards. The man was
never known to back down from a fight or emit a single ray of weakness. He
had given Justice Dakata’s wife the opportunity to explore negotiation with the
kidnappers. The judge’s wife was previously too terrified to agree to a rescue
mission, but after a week of spirited bargaining, it became clear that her
husband’s captors would never shift grounds on their outrageous demands; she
had no choice but to allow the military officer do his thing. She could only
hope for the best. Captain Dagogo had worked with the Major-General on
countless missions; he was the most trusted officer to lead the mission.
20:55 hours, men of Operation Delta Force alighted from their BearCat G3-
Lenco armored vehicle and made a 40 minute journey on foot through the
Jamani forest until they reached the Idogo Lake and boarded a navy MK VI
patrol gun boat which took the 7 man squad across. After 10 minutes of

ferrying, the squad docked. At this point, they were about 550 metres from the
refinery; they still had to go through a palm plantation spanning approximately
150 metres which gave them the perfect cover.
Captain Dagogo: Alpha Z survey Hades perimeter and give feedback over.
Alpha Z: 3 armed Orcs on the central entrance, north sector is clear, over.
Captain Dagogo: Alpha X approach Hades perimeter from the north and take
out the Orcs. Report back immediately the Orcs are down,
Alpha Z pair with me, we move in with Alpha X immediately
the Orcs are down. Alpha C, immediately we move in,
secure perimeter. Keep your eyes open for Phoenix, over.

Alpha Z: Copy
Alpha X: Copy
Alpha C: Copy
The maneuver worked perfectly. The 3 Orcs guarding the perimeter were
effortlessly snipped. Alpha X made up of Lieutenant Adebisi and Second
Lieutenant Chukwu agreed to snipe the 2 Orcs at the rear at once and
immediately snipe the one in the middle. This plan tactically reduced the Orcs
to 2 and drastically decreased the chances of any of the 3 having the
opportunity to sound an alarm by returning fire. In 2 seconds, the 3 were down
and five men including Captain Dagogo moved inside the refinery and
combing the inner units for 3 minutes, Captain Dagogo and Alpha Z having
split from Alpha X, emerged at the base of an enclosed distill unit. They came
across 4 Orcs and quickly neutralized them. The men had very little time to
respond as they were overwhelmed by the element of surprise. 3 of them died
on the spot, 1 with bullet wounds to his right thigh surrendered and was
apprehended. Phoenix was spotted in a corner tied to a steel beam, sitting on
the floor. Having secured Phoenix, Captain Dagogo informed Alpha X and C
and ordered them to scan the area for other Orcs. None was found, so they
moved out with Phoenix.
The Mission was now 50% complete. The team still had the task of bringing the
Judge home. They journeyed back to the lake and were 190 about metres away

from the same boat that brought them. Everything was working according to
plan till a signal was sent to the 2 naval personnel manning the boat but no
response came. Captain Dagogo knew at once that something had gone wrong.
He theorized various possibilities and came to the conclusion that the mission
had been compromised. He wasted no time and ordered the team to retreat to
the palm plantation they had just emerged from. At this, he sent a signal down
to the military base whence they set off, reporting the situation. While
awaiting further orders, they stayed put, maintaining very discreetly their
undercover position. Alpha Z once more had the task of surveying the
surrounding plantation and vegetation for possible Orcs. They looked but saw
nothing. 10 minutes after reporting to the base, they still awaited response, the
night was dead silent save for chirping crickets, croaking toads and at intervals
hooting owls. And suddenly there came very violent rustling from about 30
metres away from where the team was positioned. A riled being was charging
towards them at what could safely be estimated to be 35km/h. At this, the team
had no option but to open fire on the indignant creature. Receiving rapid fire
from 4 Beretta ARX 160 assault rifles, an adult male gorilla was quickly put to
the ground; but the team at that moment had no chance of knowing what they
had just killed because firing as rapidly as they did, their position was given
away and they came under heavy fire. Captain Dagogo’s theory was accurate,
the mission was compromised, a mole in the army had snitched; only that the
mole had limited information about the mission, lest the team would never
have gotten to the Judge in the first place. They came under fire from a group
of 15 Orcs; an extended formation of the kidnap syndicate. One can now
understand why they were unyielding on their demand for ₫150,000,000.00
ransom; there were many mouths to feed. They had arrived late through the
western region of the forest, due to the limited and late information they had
about in the mission. The group that guarded the Judge had been neutralized
before they could be warned about the rescue mission. The only specialized
phone with which “the-Judge-guarding” team and the extended team
communicated was destroyed when the 3 men of Delta Force opened fire on
them; this explains why men of Delta Force could not learn of the compromise
from a possible call to that phone till their signal to the gun boat got no
response.

When the new Orcs arrived, their first task was to eliminate the 2 naval
personnel manning the boat which they did smoothly and then took control of
the M240 machine gun mounted on the boat. It was with the said machine gun
and AK 47 rifles they fired at Delta Force. The new Orcs did not however deal
smartly; they only needed to have answered the signal from Delta Force so as
to unsuspectingly draw them closer.
Gun battle raged non-stop for 30 minutes. At this time, 2 of the new Orcs were
down and Captain Dagogo was badly wounded; he took 2 bullets to the upper
region of his left thigh while protecting Lieutenant Edem who while
attempting to change firing position to a more advantageous point tripped
over a tree root, fell and became vulnerable. Delta Force was running out of
ammo. The enemy noticed this, because shots from the rescue team became
limited and calculated rather than rapid and calculated. Acting on this
advantage, they advanced on the rescue team, abandoning the gunboat,
matching very courageously but stealthily towards them. The odds were now
gravely tilting in favour of the new Orcs and the fate of the rescue team was
sealing by the second. At this point, Alpha X managed to snipe another 2 of the
Orcs but quickly took cover due to heavy fire.
The Orcs were now about 70 metres away, Captain Dagogo while still bleeding
and not having received any response from the base even after repeated signals
had been sent, knew at that point that if he ordered his men to retreat to the
refinery, they would become vulnerable in the 200 metres open stretch
between the palm plantation and the refinery. He ordered the men to brace up
for a last stand.
Captain Dagogo: Men of Operation Delta Force, as you can see, we have been
compromised. We are outnumbered. Yes we are outnumbered
but we are not outwitted, we are not out-skilled. We can bring
down these Orcs. That is what we are trained for.
However if we fall today, we fall in glory. If we fall today, we
would have fallen side by side the bravest men to have graced
the military camo, so let not your spirits be broken. Prepare to
engage one last time at close range.

The new Orcs were now 40 metres away firing heavily. Men of the rescue team
said their last prayers and were ready to go all out in one final assault. The
Orcs were now 20 metres away...

Thanks For Reading. Next Scene Comes Up Next Week, Same Day.

Peace.

Author : MR LEONARD OKOJIE,ESQ

EDITORS
MARY INYANG
GLORIA EWA
IJENEBE

For comments and feedback, contact Mr Leonard Okojie on : leonardokojie177@gmail.com

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