Wolves at bay
She fled. It was all she could do.
"This is insane, Ekaterina." The weak voice of her colleague was even more shaky now and she dreaded looking at him. He had been hit as they had fled their latest attempt to find out what had happened and while he had shrugged off her concern, she knew he was hurting or the strain never would have entered his voice. The weak perished and the strong prospered, she knew that. But Stárshiy Serzhánt Nikolai Zeitsev wasn't weak. One did not survive very long in their line of work if one was weak. "You know what you have to do."
"I am not leaving you, Nikolai." The woman snapped as she scanned the terrain again. Nothing had changed. "Those Raven Rock assholes played us all for fools and now? They have fled and left us holding the empty bag."
"I don't think they fled, Ekaterina." Nikolai said softly. "You heard the final transmissions from the last of the Bodark ground team the same as I did." Ekaterina snarled but had to nod.
It had been a sure thing. Raven's Rock had made plans that had been perfect. General Mikhail Bukharov had been totally sure that his forces could sweep aside any resistance and indeed, they had. The puppet Volodin had been captured without problem and sequestered, Sergey Makhmudov had taken his place and everything had been going right.
Then it had all gone wrong.
Stárshiy Leytenánt Ekaterina Kerasimov hadn't wanted to betray Russia or the Russian people. She was a patriot. Her father, mother and both grandfathers had served in the military in various capabilities. Her maternal grandfather had fought at Stalingrad against the Germans and as a child, she had loved his stories of heroism, duty and honor. From the moment she could remember, she had wanted to be one of the soldiers in the bright uniforms, defending Mother Russia from any enemies who dared to attack her. She had joined up as soon as she was able. Then she had discovered that reality was nothing like the fantasy, but instead of being put off or embittered by the discovery, she had embraced her path as a defender. She had passed her training with excellent marks and been put in for additional training, including specialized training that included a college education that few of her family would have ever dreamed of.
Add to that? The Army had taught her to fly!
She banked her MI-24VM around another hill, seeking to ward off any pursuit. As battered as her bird was, she couldn't fight any more after that blasted AA gun had blown a hole in her tough ship's side and torn a piece off her gunner in passing before Ekaterina had managed to find cover and flee into the gathering night. She hadn't returned fire. She wasn't that far gone, to kill fellow Russians who were likely just obeying orders. Yet. She wasn't a traitor! She was a patriot! Her unit had been left out in the cold by the government and when the Raven's Rock recruiters had approached the Bodark unit, they had been slowly starving to death, but had remained at their posts unlike so many others. In the end? It had been a simple choice. It was try to make things better or die, so her group had tried. Even with all of the incredibly sophisticated tech that the industrialists had provided, they had failed. The American Ghosts had proven to be better at what they did. Bodark apparently was gone except for the two of them.
"Ekaterina. My comrade." Nikolai's voice was quiet as he stared off into the night. "We cannot cross the Georgian border. Especially not here. They will blow us out of the sky. Especially now with all the Separatist activity. You need to put us down. You need to run."
"I am not leaving you, Nikolai." Ekaterina said with a snarl as she scanned her instruments again. Fuel as rapidly becoming a problem. The MI-24 was many things, fuel efficient was not generally one of them. "There has to be someone, somewhere we can take refuge with. Get you patched up."
"Kat." Nikolai said softly. "You heard the last call from the survivors of the security team. The American Ghosts tore the leadership apart. There were no survivors from the dacha beyond the patrol who found the bodies and they have bolted. Anyone else who is left is running for their lives from the Russians, the Americans, hell, even the British are angry with Raven's Rock after what happened in London. Anyone and everyone who is left cannot help us. Help you." He corrected himself grimly. "We are the last and I will not survive this."
"Nothing is going to happen to you!" Ekaterina snapped. She didn't really like Nikolai, but as he said, he was the last of her comrades. The last of the Bodark, the wolves that hunted in the night.
"Kat, I am bleeding all over the gunner chair." Nikolai said quietly. "This is not how I wanted to go, but as deaths go, it is not the worst we have seen, either. Nowhere near as bad as Chechnya." There really wasn't anything to say to that. It was true. The fates of some of Ekaterina's fellow helicopter pilots captured by Chechens would turn anyone's stomach.
"Nikolai..." Ekaterina swallowed and then stiffened in her seat as she saw tracer fire in the distance. It wasn't aimed at her however. She did take the helicopter lower, just in case. She heard branches snap as the rotors clipped the very tops of trees, but she ignored that as she watched the tracers fly back and forth. Two sides to that fight, whoever they were. "Nikolai?"
"I see them." The gunner replied, his tone absent. She couldn't see him where he was ensconced, but she knew that he was scanning with instruments and what the Amerikansky called the 'Mark 1 Eyeball'. He coughed wetly and she frozen, but then he spoke again. "We are receiving a weak radio transmission on a Spetsnaz frequency." Nikolai said quickly, focused past his weakness by the rush of adrenaline. "I will try to boost it." Ekaterina eased the helicopter slowly forward, careful to watch everything for signs of whoever was fighting. If there were more or heavier weapons? She wouldn't get much warning if any. "There is not supposed to be anyone in this area."
"No." Ekaterina agreed, checking her weapon systems as a matter of course. "Only a fool dares the Georgian border here. That is why I ran this way." She shook her head. "None of General Douka's forces are supposed to be this way. They know better. Georgia is just on the other side of that ridge." She nodded to a high piece of wooded land half a dozen miles away. "And not just any Georgia."
General Alexei Douka had been the major force that crushed the coup that Raven's Rock had nearly succeeded with. Ekaterina wasn't sure how he had managed to break break out of the trap he had been in, and frankly? She didn't really care. He was a soldier, a true Russian patriot. Uninterested in wealth or power, he had dedicated his life to protecting Russia, just like Ekaterina had. She couldn't hate him for that even if they were on opposite sides. He was also damn good at what he did, as General Bukharov had found out to his cost.
"It sounds like a long range patrol ran into an ambush." Nikolai said softly. "Their officer is down and they… Damn." He cursed softly. "They hear us. They are calling for help."
"Who the hell is attacking them?" Ekaterina demanded. "There are no Chechens anywhere near here. It is worth any of their souls to come this way again." The closest Chechen activity that she knew of had been two hundred miles away. Then her heart froze as she saw a familiar plume of fire in the near distance.
"SAM launch! Two o'clock!" Nikolai shouted as he spun the nose cannon of the gunship towards where a fiery trail was arcing up from the trees. This was hardly the first time they had been shot at with such.
"I see it! Evading left! Countermeasures away!" Ekaterina snapped, her fingers already flipping buttons on her control stick in trained reflex even as she slid the ponderous gunship into a slide to the left. A modern Manpad SAM might be able to track even through that and the countermeasure, so she didn't look away from it. She relaxed a little as the fiery plume fell away, tracing after the decoys she had dropped. Only a little. It exploded far from them, denuding an inoffensive bit of forest and doing little more. Problem was, few people only carried one surface to air missile. If they dared fire one at a military helicopter, they likely had more and Ekaterina's supply of countermeasures was limited after her desperate flight from the air base she had tried to land at. "Tell me you have that scum!"
She was sweeping with her own eyes, not daring to engage the night vision with bright things all around. If she knew her partner though, he was glued to his scope and the gunner station boasted far better gear than her own night vision systems.
"I do. Die, you pricks!" Nikolai said with a growl worthy of a bear as his fingers stroked his own controls. Kay squinted, knowing what was coming and not wanting to loose her night vision. The GSh-23 twin barreled 23 millimeter cannon mounted underneath the nose of the helicopter barked and the night came alive as the area all around where the SAM had come from erupted in a hail of high explosive vengeance. Nikolai never had believed in half measures when people shot at him. Such things tended to piss him off.
Ekaterina banked the helicopter away as the gun fell silent. She smirked under her helmet as she saw that all of the fire below had ceased. Likely everyone was hugging the dirt and praying that Nikolai couldn't see them. She had a full load of 80mm rockets, but those weapons were not so great when friendlies were in the area. They did not discriminate. Anything close to where she aimed would be blown to pieces. Of course, if anyone else shot at her, she would likely just hose the area and to hell with it and them. She liked getting shot at about as much as Nikolai did. Add to that? She detested SAMs. They seemed far to much like cheating to her. Any fool with money could buy something that could knock a multi-million ruble warplane out of the air if he was lucky. Skill and training didn't matter.
"Do you see anything?" Ekaterina asked as she scanned the night.
"No." Nikolai snarled. "I got the launcher and the team with it. I count four bodies. He paused. "Odd bodies."
"Odd how?" Ekaterina sighed as a flare went up in the distance. The Spetsnaz were calling for pickup.
"They don't look like Chechens. Those are generally distinctive even from range at night with our gear." Nikolai said slowly. "I mean, we both know that the Chechens avoid this place like the plague after the massacre in the Panski Gorge all those years ago."
"Wouldn't you?" Ekaterina smiled in memory. She had been a young Mládshiy Leytenánt, fresh to her first posting after officer training. It had been her first flight that had brought her into this area, actually. Not that she could or would ever talk about it. "There are some people, you just do not anger. They lost almost four thousand fighters there. They learned that lesson and say what you will about the fanatics, few of them are that stupid and live very long. I mean, he took out Sadim's brigade, for hell's sake!"
"The Spetsnaz are setting out an LZ." Nikolai said softly. "Kat..." She knew what he was questioning and every fiber of her being refused.
"No. Weapons tight." Ekaterina said sharply. "I will not shoot fellow Russians, Nikolai. Whoever those others were, they shot at us. We returned fire. No one will blame us for that. These? No. Our souls are stained enough, Nikolai. We will find someplace to drop them off."
"We are wolves, Stárshiy Leytenánt." Nikolai said formally. "We are Bodark. We exist to hunt. That is what we do."
"Is it all we do, Stárshiy Serzhánt?" The pilot asked softly and then sighed. "I have lost my direction. I know not which way to go. But I do know right from wrong still. Killing these would be wrong."
Nikolai sighed as well. "You are right. As complicated or short as it may make our lives, massacring these would be wrong." He focused on the job. "LZ looks clear. The wind is from the east. Watch out for blow back."
There was no warning. Ekaterina was slowly approaching the tiny LZ and the flashing lights that had been set out to show wind direction when something hit the back of their helicopter. She fought for control even as her screens went nuts with warning signs and Nikolai shouted.
"THEY GOT THE TAIL ROTOR! GET US DOWN!"
"TRYING!" Kat didn't need the notice. Her helicopter was bucking and heaving as she fought the torque of the massive engines that held it aloft. It was useless. Human muscles simply didn't have the power to resist such force, hence why the MI-24 had a tail rotor, to allow for control. Ordinarily, it was a very small and mobile target, but Kat had been landing. Vulnerable. She was still fighting the controls when a thunderous impact threw her against her straps. Then another. There hadn't been any clear area underneath them. All forest. A series of clangs sounded as the rotors, already strained by the various maneuvers of this crazy night, snapped off against trees that likely predated the USSR like broken twigs and went flying off into the night. For a moment, all she could do was gasp in relief. Then she focused. "Nikolai?"
"Here." The gunner sounded mad rather than hurt. "They suckered us in nice and sweet."
"That wasn't from the people we were supposed to pick up." Kat swiped her controls, shutting down the engines and stepping the flow of fuel in case of fire. "They were in front of us. That came from behind."
"We are still screwed." Nikolai snarled. "Ah, Kat?" He said slowly as a piece of the night came alive and something approached the side of the helicopter, illuminated by cockpit emergency lights.
The form was human, but the attire was nothing Kat had ever seen. The armor looked high tech. As high tech as Raven's Rock had provided Bodark with, this was far more so. The black armor paled beside the skull mask that adorned the face underneath the helmet that had what had to be night vision equipment lowered over it. She didn't know the weapon he carried either. It too looked far more advanced than anything Kat had seen before. Kat scrabbled for her pistol even as the man shaped thing took aim at the front cockpit.
She needn't have bothered. If her gunner was one thing, he was prepared. Even for crashing in enemy territory. The shotgun blast tore the night asunder. The man shaped thing was tossed backwards to land against a tree, but then, to Kat's horror it rose, shaking itself. Apparently unhurt.
"Damn." Nikolai hissed in disbelief. "That was two 12 gauge slugs. That is some armor."
"Yeah." Kat had her pistol in hand now for all the good it would do her. She had always preferred the reliability and power of a revolver instead of the magazine capability of an automatic. Her MP412 REX was not light, but it packed a hell of a punch. She had gotten some snide remarks from her comrades about it, but those faded after seeing her skill with it on the range. She and Nikolai had won a lot of money off rookies with her skill. But, she didn't have armor piercing rounds loaded. Even her .357 likely wouldn't penetrate that armor without specialized ammo if Nikolai's 12 gauge slugs hadn't. "I want some."
"That can be arranged." Kat stiffened at a voice in oddly unaccented Russian that came from behind her. She hadn't even seen the other two black garbed forms approach from behind the wrecked chopper. She didn't move any but her head as she looked and saw two of the high tech weapons aimed at her. "Drop your weapons and it will be arranged."
"Yeah, right." Nikolai mirrored Kat's snarl. "Like we are going to trust you."
"Do you have a choice?" The other asked. She couldn't tell if the voice was male or female. Some kind of modulator? Why? "Live or die, pilot and gunner. That is your only choice now."
"Whoever you are, you attacked us." Kat said slowly. Then she shook her head. "No. You have not identified yourselves. That means you are black ops or something similar. Not military either. Not with that gear. Some kind of corporate probably. You cannot be trusted. Go ahead. Shoot. Here or you will shoot us in the back when we least expect it. It is what your kind do."
"My kind, Stárshiy Leytenánt Kerasimov?" The other inquired mildly. Kat didn't react even as Nikolai hissed. Bodark's night vision systems could have read her subdued rank and name badge from this range. She bet his was better. "Your helicopter matches the description of one that an alert had been put out for to all Russian forces. They say you are dangerous traitors. Bodark."
Kat did not react except to curl her fingers tighter around her pistol. She had her finger on the trigger. She was Bodark. She would die fighting. Then she went still as a totally unexpected sound came to her ears. Music. And not just any music!
"Kat." Nikolai groaned. "Now is not a good time for your tunes."
"That is not me, Nikolai." Kat said slowly. Indeed, it was distant, but coming closer. Then she smiled grimly as all three of the black clad forms recoiled. "You did it, didn't you? You actually dared to cross him? You idiots!" Her tone held fer and awe in equal measure.
She could hear the music becoming louder and yes! It was Dagonforce! 'Through the Fire and Flames'! SHE was coming and she was pissed! Kat started humming the music that had been her guide through all of the horrors of her life as a gunship pilot for Bodark. Even since her first mission and she had met her hero. American or no, like knew like.
"Ah, Kat?" Nikolai asked, confused even as the dark specters vanished back into the night. "What is going on?"
"Those we were to pick up were not Spetsnaz." Kat said softly. "Not if she is hunting the night. Those fools. Those poor deluded fools. Armor means nothing when she is on the prowl. She is always hungry." Her voice held nothing but awe now. One predator expressing admiration for another.
"What the hell are you talking about?" The gunner demanded and then grunted in pain as something clanked in front. "Damn. Hatch is stuck!"
"You didn't see it. You don't know. Do not move! We are safer here than anywhere else in this forest at the moment." Kat warned. "I know you have reloaded. Unload your weapon!" She broke her pistol open and ejected the shells, letting them drop.
"Kat! Have you lost your mind?" Nikolai demanded.
"No." Kat took a deep breath as the music got louder and louder. It covered the rotors sounds. Rotors just like Kat's had been. An MI-24. And not just any!
"But whoever those black clad morons were, they must have lost their minds to attack the Keldara!"
I am not a huge fan of Ubisoft after their shift from quality games and incredibly deep stories to mass marketed crap with evil customer support. That said, the Original Ghost Recon was one of the best computer games I ever played. Ghost Recon: Future Soldier failed not because it was a bad game, but because Ubisoft went away from what made the Ghost Recon games great to try and draw in the masses and that pleased few. Their Uplay crap didn't help, mind you. Wildlands was just another marketing ploy, barely a game at all. I won't spend another dime on Ubisoft. I learned my lesson.
This is a crossover between the 'Paladin of Shadows' series by John Ringo and the Ghost Recon series. We will see other guest stars. Kudos to anyone who can identify them all. I will keep it far cleaner than Ringo did.