- "There was a serious firefight here. A well-armed team showed up and got their asses kicked."
"Yeah, well, I guess that's what happens when you go after a Special Forces soldier on his own turf." - ―Dinah Madani and Sam Stein[src]
The Attack on Gunner Henderson was an assassination mission, sanctioned by William Rawlins to silence Gunner Henderson and prevent the Homeland Security from progressing their investigation into Operation Cerberus. However, the Anvil team that was sent to kill Henderson was met with a resistance from Henderson and Frank Castle, which led to Rawlins finding out that Castle is alive and is targeting him.
Background[]
William Rawlins and Ray Schoonover launched Operation Cerberus and recruited the Cerberus Squad to take down terrorist cells in Afghanistan, however, they had no authorization from the CIA or the United States Congress. Seeking funds for the operation, Rawlins and Schoonover organized a heroin smuggling business from Afghanistan to the United States in the bodies of dead soldiers to fund, with Morty Bennett in charge. Gunner Henderson found out about it and decided to put a stop to Rawlins' crimes, so he wore a camera during the interrogation of Ahmad Zubair, who was abducted on Rawlins' orders.[1] Henderson recorded Rawlins torturing Zubair and ordering Frank Castle to execute him, before burying him in an unmarked grave.
When Operation Cerberus came to a close, Henderson secretly leaked the footage to Micro, who in turn sent it over directly to Dinah Madani instead of his NSA superiors. Rawlins managed to intercept the footage from Madani and ordered to deal with any leaks regarding the operation, having Carson Wolf to find and kill Micro. While looking for the whistleblower who leaked the footage of Zubair's execution, Rawlins assumed that it was Castle instead of Henderson and orchestrated a shootout at Central Park in an attempt to get rid of him, which resulted in Castle losing his family and becoming the Punisher.[2] Henderson, on the other hand, went completely off the grid and took shelter at the homestead in rural Kentucky, expecting being targeted as well.
William Rawlins spies on Dinah Madani
During their hunt for Rawlins and everyone involved with Operation Cerberus, Castle and Micro realized that Henderson was the one who recorded the footage. Micro managed to track down his location, so the two of them could get any leads on Rawlins from him. Meanwhile, Madani and Sam Stein had their own investigation into Zubair's death and pulled up a list of soldiers who served with Castle, with Henderson's name being on it. Rawlins, who had Madani's office bugged, heard them mentioning Henderson and became concerned that they might be onto him and decided to silence Henderson before the Homeland Security gets to him.[1] He contacted Billy Russo and ordered him to dispatch a group of Anvil agents to take Henderson down, personally supervising the mission from his office.[3]
Attack[]
Frank Castle talks to Gunner Henderson
Frank Castle and Micro arrived to Gunner Henderson's homestead in Kentucky, and while Micro stayed behind, Castle went ahead to talk to his old comrade. However, Henderson assumed that it was an enemy and while Castle was checking the cabin, Henderson shot him in the arm with an arrow. Wounded, Castle took cover and talked to Henderson, convincing him that he was on his side and not with Rawlins and Schoonover. Henderson hesitated but believed Castle, laying down his hunting bow and helped Castle, telling him about the heroin trafficking William Rawlins was running back in Kandahar and that Morty Bennett was the one in charge of it.
Gunner Henderson fights the Anvil agents
At that time, the Anvil helicopter landed in the area close to them, deploying the agents that were sent to take Henderson out, with Rawlins watching through their body cameras. Castle and Henderson prepared to engage and took their positions, with Henderson taking Echo out by shooting him in the chest with an arrow. With one of their agents down, the others moved in on their targets and opened fire, forcing Castle and Henderson to move out and take cover. Micro then deployed his drone to watch the area from above and monitor enemy movements to assist Castle and Henderson. Hotel accidentally tripped a wire, causing a trap to impale him, with Castle pulling him further into its spikes. His face was caught on Hotel's camera, so Rawlins could watch in horror that Castle was still alive despite what he had heard.
Castle used Hotel's body as a cover and shot Golf down and relocated, exchanging gunfire with remaining Anvil agents. Henderson got shot in the arm and stomach by Alpha, which caused him to drop the bow and retreat, while Castle was covering for him. Castle got shot as well, so both of them were wounded and pinned down under the enemy fire, being forced to move out and retreat. Micro surveyed the area from above and provided Castle with intel on Delta I and Bravo who were closing in from both sides. Castle and Henderson were able to kill both agents by stabbing them with their knives and steal their weapons that Castle used to take out Foxtrot and Charlie with Micro's help.
With only two enemies left to deal with, Castle sneaked on Delta II with a knife and stabbed him in the neck. He then looked into his camera and addressed Rawlins directly, telling him that he is coming, before snapping Delta II's neck. On his end, Henderson managed to ambush Alpha and finish him off before going to regroup with Castle. With all enemies down, wounded Castle and Henderson attempted to get to safety, but slowly started to succumb to blood loss. Henderson was the first to bleed out and die, while Castle was still able to limp around and went over to get help. But soon enough, Castle found himself in a critical state as well and lost consciousness, bleeding in the woods.[1]
Aftermath[]
Curtis Hoyle and Micro treat Frank Castle
- "Okay, so, you got Castle and Gunner up there on that mountain, versus who?"
"Whoever doesn't want Kandahar to come out. They're cleaning house. CIA, the military. Someone sent a death squad up that mountain." - ―Sam Stein and Dinah Madani[src]
While Gunner Henderson succumed to his wounds, Micro found a bleeding and unconscious Frank Castle and dragged him to the van to drive him back to New York City,[1] after sending an anonymous tip to the local police. Knowing that the hospitals were out of the question, Micro approached Curtis Hoyle who came with Micro to his hideout to treat Castle's wounds. Later, Dinah Madani and Sam Stein received news about Henderson's body being found by the police and arrived at the crime scene in Kentucky, witnessing the aftermath of the shootout.
Dinah Madani and Sam Stein examine the shootout scene
Madani examined the area and suggested that Henderson was not alone during the whole ordeal and Castle was with him, asking Stein to run the DNA analysis on blood samples found on the scene. Stein did so and the analysis confirmed that the blood sample matches Castle's DNA, so now they had a confirmation that Castle is alive and someone is trying to cover up what happened in Kandahar. Madani spoke with Billy Russo about Castle and his survival, unaware that he was working with Rawlins and already knew about it from him. Russo got in touch with Castle via their old communication line and the two met, with Russo offering to get him out of the United States, which was actually a trap. He and Russo waited for his arrival, intending to assassinate him there without witnesses, but Castle did not show up.[4]
Using Henderson's tip, Castle and Micro targeted Morty Bennett, whose close connection to Rawlins could be their chance to end him once and for all. Rawlins and Russo on the other hand, expected Castle to go after Bennett but decided to keep him in the dark, while Russo was ordered to set up an ambush. Castle infiltrated Fort Bryon, where he confronted Bennett and the Anvil agents who were dispatched to take him out, while Micro got an access to his phone to track his movements. While Russo murdered Bennett to make sure he will not become a liability in the future, Castle tracked Rawlins down at the CIA Safe House, where he attempted to take him out, but he was unsuccessful.[5]