Ch. 1 Young Legend
Denim asked, “Hey Zeus, want to go for a run?”
His tail wagged at full pace and off they went.
Leaving the Naval base, Denim made a right turn to go around the perimeter of the base, about six miles. The sun was strong with Denim breaking a sweat by the 2nd mile.
The route went up a fairly steep hill on a dirt road, with a great view of the base. Denim noticed two pickup trucks entering the base with guns mounted on their flatbeds. As they weren’t military issue, it raised the question who were these guys?
He continued his run, while noticing Zeus, who was a highly trained SEAL, stopped multiple times tracking these pick-up trucks, with his tail pointing at them showing his concern. Denim knew from being downrange with Zeus to trust his instincts, and they stopped at a vantage point above the base.
Denim saw the gates were still up at the Naval base entrance and no guards on duty. When he saw they were parked outside the mess hall where his SEAL Team brothers were, he decided to take action.
They cut down to the dock at the base and ran up to the deck of a Navy ship. Seeing a sailor he stopped and said, “I’m Lieutenant Commander Daytona, Navy SEAL. I need immediate help…you up for that?”
“Yes sir, what can I do?”
“I want two grenade-like smoke bombs, a side arm, sniper rifle and duct tape… can you get these for me right away? There’s an issue on base and we need to take action, now.”
“We sir?”
“Yes sailor, you’re coming with. You can’t release these items to me, but if you can acquire what I’ve requested, I need you to maintain custody of them and help me neutralize the Tangos.”
“I can access those items Lieutenant Commander…I need five minutes and for you to go with me to my CO.”
“Perfect…name and rank sailor?”
“Ensign Ping, sir.”
“Well Ensign Ping, time is crucial so let’s get on with it.”
Denim took the lead when meeting with the CO. “I’m Lieutenant Commander Daytona, sir. I’m temporarily stationed at the base, and while taking a perimeter run, I noticed the front gates were unmanned with the gates up, and two non-military pick-up trucks with mounted machine guns are now parked by the mess hall.”
Upon a brief meeting with the CO who checked Denim’s dog tags verifying his identity, rank and that he was also Navy, he asked him who his commanding officer was.“Rear Admiral James Suthers, sir, has been my CO while I was recently promoted to Lieutenant Commander, sir.”
“What’s his call sign and who gave it to him?”
“Hendrix, sir, and actually I gave it to him… he plays a mean guitar.”
“I know Hendrix and he’s mentioned you to me, Denim, and yes, I know your call sign too. How can we assist?”
Denim shared the benefit of him vs. a group going in, avoiding mass casualties.As the CO agreed, he did so with the stipulation of 20 Navy and MPs being right behind Denim.
“Thank you, sir. Can I also borrow a bottle of scotch or whatever is handy? I have a plan for young Ensign and me to go into the mess hall under the radar, looking a little toasted.”Denim, Ping, Zeus, weapons and a bottle of cheap scotch were underway, heading to the mess hall.
“I’m going to take the four guys out standing guard outside the entrance. You go in, acting somewhat sloppy and drunk, looking like you’re gulping down scotch as you stumble in. I’ll be right behind you and will take over. When I give Zeus the attack command, I want you to toss a smoke bomb slightly away from us, got it?” asked Denim.
“Sir, yes sir.”
Denim prepared a smoke bomb he planned to use once inside the mess hall, applying the duct tape to it making it double-sided.
Four swift shots to the head, quietly and with precision from 100 feet away, Denim took out the guards.
Ping slowly bounced into the mess hall, partially singing, gulping and getting everyone’s attention. Zeus followed, going right up to what appeared to be the lead hostile in control, who was holding a gun aimed towards a small group.
Then Denim came in, still in running shorts and sweaty tee, not looking like a soldier, saying loudly, “Zeus, where are you boy, come here.”
“Get your dog or I’ll shoot him, now,” said the gruffy-looking hostile.“Alright,” said Denim. “He means no harm.”
As Denim went over to collect Zeus, he said, “Good boy, come with me and I’ll give you a bone.”
“Bone” being Zeus’s attack command, immediately growling ferociously with large teeth, Zeus grabbed the hostile’s ankle. Denim then pulled the smoke bomb pin, slapping it onto the hostile’s leg, with it sticking due to the duct tape.
Caught by complete surprise with smoke bellowing up the hostile’s body towards his face, Denim knocked him to the ground, rolled over twice to create distance from him, and with his side arm tucked in the back of his running shorts, shot him in the head, followed by shooting the three other hostiles dead-on in their foreheads as well.
“We all good here?” Denim asked the group.
They all nodded, while ‘Cowboy,’ call sign for his SEAL brother said, “Loved the smoke bomb touch, Lieutenant Commander!”
The others held hostage in the mess hall were CIA, Rangers, NCIS and others in the Navy. Never meeting Denim before, they were in awe of what just went down.
“This was fun guys! Who’s up for taking out more bad guys together?” Denim asked.They caught their breaths, smiled and all began to laugh!
They had only heard stories about Lieutenant Commander Daytona, call sign Chuck Denim, but now they understood what made him a young legend.
What they didn’t see coming, including Ensign Ping who later earned his call sign “Wrench,” was the role Denim would play in their lives, or that they would become part of Denim’s team, known as Shadow Team.