Reaper's First Drop: Chapter 3
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Previous Chapter: Reaper's First Drop: Chapter 2
"Gently! Gently!" I stressed from the copilot's seat. Matt deftly, if a little shakily, maneuvered the three-legged NF aircraft onto the landing pad. We touched down with a hard bump, but nothing looked damaged.
"Well," Matt said brightly. "Who's up for dinner?"
After a standard debrief with the man in charge of Japan, General Harrison, we were told we had a week's rest before we went out on the next mission.
Me and the crew were relaxing in the 'Reaper's Lounge.'I figured the after-action report had gone well. Now we had 72 hours left of de-stressing before we dove right back in.
This entire part of the base was built specifically for the Reapers. We had our own Officer's quarters, lounge, armory, hangar, motor pool, triage, the works.
Forrest, our head equipment techie, strode down to the lounge, our battle-damaged equipment in tow. He'd nearly had a fit when he'd seen what we'd done to our armor. He also wasn't happy that we hadn't been able to pull Trigger's holotags when we left. His body was still MIA and we were nervous about what Russians would do with it.
"So, any suggestions on the armoring?" Forrest asked, looking like he'd just sucked on a lemon.
Matt winced in sympathy, grinning at the same time.
"The joint plating seems to give first under high stress," I said from my chair. It was hard to look official when you're wrapped in a towel and have ice-cold drinks on hand. "I recommend higher density and larger shoulder, elbow, knee, and waist guards. And a neck plate." Our Scythe armor was a new thing, and there was always room for improvement. "And while you're at it, what kind of new and juicy weapons have you cooked up for us?"
We had two days left of our rest before we had to head out again. I was still contemplating how we were going to blow up two battle ships, cripple and aircraft carrier, and all while capturing the North Korean Captain in charge of heading up the fleet. I looked out at the ocean and then our ship. It was then that I had a stroke of genius.
I walked out to the pad and looked at Forrest under the belly of our assault transport, called a 'Fury' after the mythological creatures in Greek mythology. He and his techies had painted it red and black, and put the Reapers insignia on the doors and the front. It was a skull and cross bones but instead of bones it had scythes. I grabbed his leg and pulled him out.
"Can you make this thing 'water friendly?'" I asked. "I have a few modifications for our bird." I said, handing him a quick schematics sheet that Matt had whipped up.
Forrest glanced at the sheets of paper for a while. "It could be done. We'd have to reinforce virtually all the armor, joints, wings, cockpit... we'd have to remove the missiles. Or you'd have to fire them all before you went under. I'd have to waterproof everything, too. Hmm. Yeah, I could do it."
"No idea what that means, but I take that as a yes." I said as Matt walked up beside me.
"Why do I not like the way this sounds?" He asked.
"Because nothing I do is safe." I replied
"Oh no, those two are at it again." I heard Holly, Jess's temporary replacement, yell across the yard.
"We are all dead." Daniel, Triggers replacement called calmly.
"Yeah, Yeah, Now listen up. This is how its going to go." I said
We sat in the newly christened 'Apocalypse.' Holly had dropped out with Siren to hit the other two ships while we took the carrier and the target.
"Hold on." Daniel said as he sealed the ship and nose dived into the water. We went through with barely a splash, thanks to Matt and Forest's engineering, but the G's thrust me back and into Matt. He grabbed me by the collar and dragged me upright, where I grabbed a handle. "Smooth." He whispered.
The very latest in counter electronic warfare systems, designed by, you guessed it, Forest and his techies, prevented the enemy systems from pinging us with radar or sonar by absorbing the radio signals instead of letting them bounce back to the source. Underwater, thermal and infrared were virtual no-goes, but thermal insulating in the wall panels cut that stuff out anyways. We glided serenely right under the ship. The view out the reinforced front windshield was clouded and obscure, but a dark blue. We could just barely make out the hull of the ship.
"Hit it," I ordered.
Daniel dropped the shield and pulled up just off the bow. The siren started screaming and men began to run towards cover. Rouge and I dropped out into the water. It was ice cold and just like hitting concrete. I shrugged off the discomfort and swam to the side of the ship with Rouge right behind me. I pulled out a rather large package and strapped it to the hull and swam a safe distance away.
"You sure this is far enough away." Rouge asked nervously
"Yeah, trust me."
"With you and explosives, there is no safe distance." he shot back
"True, but I cooked this bomb up myself." He still looked sceptical
"Thats what scares me" He was cut off as the side of the ship blosomed into a cloud of dust, fire, and smoke. We were swept out and slammed back up against the ship.
"See" He said
"Let's just go." I growled. We climbed in through the gaping hole in the side, and clicked our comms. Daniel took off and began to blow up important pieces on the outside of the ship
I slammed a nearby door open catching a young Korean man no older than 19 in the face knocking him unconcious. I levele my S-B3 8 gauge shot gun, which made quick work of the other two men in the small hallway. Matt peeled off towards the engine room while I ran towards the hangar. I peeked around the corner I was behind. I could see the hangar and 3 guards.
I pulled the pin on a grenade, and counted to 3 to let it cook off in my hand. Leaning out and I tossed the grenade at the Koreans. It got to them a few seconds later and exploded in their faces blowing one's head open like a melon and throwing the other two into the wall. I walked up and checked the other two. One was missing most of his face but the other had escaped with only scratches and a mild concussion.
I went in and put a bar in the opening mechanism to keep out visitors. I slung my shotgun over my shoulder and pulled out my side arm and a pack of C4. I began to sysematically strapped emposives to planes and supports. On the way to strap up the elevator the ship rocked throwing me into a young engineer. He put his side arm to my faceplate. No matter how well made if that was Russian made I was screwed. He pulled the trigger, but it wouldn't shoot. Yep Korean made. I slammed him up against a plane, cracking several of his ribs. I put my gun to the back of his head and splattered his brain all over the deck. I chucked the crappy pistol aside and finished up. I opened a team comm with my squadmates
"Report." "Snow and I have taken down one ship and are boarding the other." Siren said "I have blown the shit out of everything vitally important. Its getting hot. Pulling out until extraction." Big Dog reported "I met some nice guards but I have a charge on some of the engines." Rouge said
"Rouge meet me at point 3 and we can move on the target." I said before closing the comm.
We met at the appointed room and continued on. I looked at the map Forrest had hacked from a Korean computer. "If we go this way we sould come to a stairway." I muttered "No the stairway was that way I think we are on level 3." Rouge said over my shoulder
"No cause see the mess hall is that way." I said pointing to the sign "Then this is level 6" He said "No we just came from level 2, how can this be level 6" I said looking at the map. "is that the hangar?" Matt asked pointing to a room on the map "No that's the armory." I looked at the confusing map. I turned it, I turned it again, I flipped it over. I crumpled it up in a ball and threw it over my shoulder "You know what, we are going to wing it"
Rouge opened the door and I walked through. Shots started pinging off the wall and my armor. Matt slid around behind the door frame we had just come through but my only choice was to throw myself to the floor. My armor brushed off most of the shots but three lodged in my left shoulder and upper arm rendering it almost useless. I fired until my ammo ran out and rolled towards the wall. Matt continued the cover fire with his SMG and I used the break to get back into the room we had just come through. I noticed the door to my right open up and had no time to reload.
I sprinted to the 3 suprised men. I slammed my foot into ones knee breaking it and spun slaming my elbow into anothers chest knocking his breath out. He bent over and I kneed him in the face breaking his nose. I deflected the last ones wrist as he tried to stick me. I grabbed his head and slammed it into the wall breaking his skull. The one with the broken knee brought his M20 up but I grabbed the barrel I slammed the stock into his stomach. I flicked out the new knife that Forrest had put in my guantlet and buried it in his sternum. He fell to the ground and I closed the door and broke the opening mechanism.
Matt had finished up his fight and threw me a Stim needle. "Next time you go first" I said as I injected it through the port in my chest and got back most of the control in my arm. We took the back stairs to the room where the target was being held and dispatched the guards. He took up position on one side of the door and I the other. On the count of three we tossed pulse grenades in the open door. I counted to five and heard a snap and a flash.
The grenades sent out a electronic field in the form of a pulse. It took out all electronics for a short time and the only thing protecting us was the bulkhead. We ran in and fired a few shots in the dark room killing all the extra people in the room. The target was no where to be seen and I swiveled around crazily to find her. I heard a crash and looked to my right as the lights came back on. Matt now lay on the ground with the target straddling his stomache and aiming her side arm at his chest. "Found her" He said. She was about to shoot when I flew across the room and pinned her to the wall.
We tied her hands behind her back and escorted her to the deck. The trip was uneventful and we were extracted without a problem. I looked back and pushed the button on the detonater. Fire blossomed from the side of the ship and the deck imploded into the hangar as the planes blew up. "Woa those are some fireworks." Matt said
"Lets pick up the girls and get outta here." I told Daniel as he flew towards two crippled battle ships. We found the two swimming not far from the hole in the side of the one that hadn't completley sunk. I pulled Holly up and we strapped ourselves in. "Good work squad." I said
"How did you end up tripping on the target?" I said
"She was hiding behind a piece of pipeing, I came around, and she rolled out taking out my legs." He replied sheepishly
I just grunted and turned to look at the sinking ships. It had gone off without a hitch. I just hope all our missions go like this. I looked at my squad as they ragged on Matt. Oh well danger and fighting were just part of the Angel family.
"Wolf you might want to come look at this." Rouge said stiffly.
I walked up to the cockpit to find out what had scared them. I gasped at what I saw. Before us lay an army of unreal proportions. The infantry alone could take japan and when added with the armored divisions, all of the free world would fall. How they could get this past our satalite, I had no idea.
"We are so screwed." Siren said.
"We have to tell Harrison." Rouge said.
"We will. Even with the Angels we won't be able to hold this off." Daniel said.
"Even so, the Death Angels will take as many Commie bastards as we can to give the rest of the world a chance to retaliate." I said turning to strap in.
Next Chapter: Reaper's First Drop: Chapter 4
