C & C Generals
Man down!
Chapter 1: Insertion
"Roger that Alpha 1. Received, can you confirm target has been destroyed?"
"Copy that control, making another pass." The Aurora turns back and flies over the remains of the GLA Tunnel Network. "Confirmed control. Target is destroyed."
"Affirmative, make your way home pilot."
"Yes sir!"
Faces around the Command Centre smile. The radio crackles again.
"Stinger site! Mayday! Mayday! Location East of Kulsary!" The radio transmits a huge crash. The Pilot speaks again. "Control, don't leave me out here." The radio goes dead.
The General in the Command Centre stands up and shouts "God damn it! Colonel! Get some men out there now! Get our man back!" The Colonel nods and leaves the Command Centre.
"Alright lads!" The sergeant major shouts over the whirring Chinook rotor blades. "We've got to go get one of our Pilot's out of enemy territory! Our boy needs to come home! Let's go get him!" The sergeant major, a US army Ranger, runs up the boarding ramp of the Chinook, followed by his seven Rangers and two Pathfinders.
The Chinook flies the men into the mouth of the Emba river. It hovers just over the south bank and the soldiers parasail out.
The soldiers fan out and secure the clearing as the Chinook returns home.
"Ok." the sergeant majors voice says over the intercom. "Wolfe, Jones. Get up ahead and find us some transport. The rest of you, on me, and watch out for GLA!"
The Rangers move up slowly in a fan formation, the two pathfinders disappear off into the trees, their gimpy camouflage, making them harder to spot, even for their own men.
The Ranger's proceed slowly, in silence, for fifteen minutes before their headsets crackle.
"Sir! Technical's spotted! Two! Six rebels!" Wolfe whispers.
"Ok Wolfe, hold fire, we're moving up. Rangers, swift and silent. Move out!"
The eight Rangers move quickly and quietly towards the Pathfinders' position. When they reach the edge of a large crater the sergeant major signals his men down. The Rangers duck low and hold positions. The sergeant major commando crawls up to sergeant Wolfe.
In the crater there are indeed two Technical's and six Rebels.
"Jones! Location?" the sergeant major requests.
"Opposite your position sir!" the private replies.
"Ok! Rangers, we'll proceed south and get into the crater. Wolfe, Jones. If they try to move out take them down!" the sergeant major orders.
"Yes sir!" Both Pathfinders reply and the Rangers move out.
When the Rangers are in the crater the sergeant major's voice crackles onto the intercom.
"Alright. Garstone, Hawkins. Prepare flash bangs. Wolfe, Jones. When the bangs go off take out the two gunners on our attack. I want at least one of these guys alive lads! Let's give em hell!"
Wolfe and Jones move their scopes onto the two gunners onboard the Technical's. Garstone and Hawkins flash bang the six rebels. As the grenades explode the Pathfinders take their shots and the gunners go down. The Rangers move in and one of the Rebels is taken alive.
The sergeant major interrogates the prisoner about the missing Pilot. The prisoner tells him he is being held in a two story farm house not far south from here. After the Rebel has proved his use the sergeant major shoots him in the forehead.
"Sir!" private Rogers bursts out.
"Black ops private, no prisoners." the sergeant major replies sharply. "Wolfe, Jones. Get to that farm house. See if he was telling the truth."
The Pathfinders move out. The Rangers hide the dead Rebels in the rock outcrops then conceal themselves around the crater. After thirty minutes the radio crackles.
"House located sir!" Wolfe whispers.
"The target?" the sergeant major asks bluntly.
"Confirmed sir! Target is in the building." Wolfe whispers again.
Chapter 2: Rescue
The Rangers move out to the farm house and on the sergeant majors order, surround the building.
"Wolfe, hostiles?" The sergeant major asks.
"One Technical, gunner on board, front of building. One Rebel, front door. Three Rebels, downstairs, living room. Two Rebels, Upstairs, Bedroom, Target, same room." the sergeant reels off.
"Entry points?"
"Front, One door, two downstairs windows, two upstairs. Back, one door, two downstairs windows, one upstairs." Wolfe reels off again.
"Hostile eyes on rear of building?" the sergeant major asks.
"Negative sir." Wolfe replies.
"Ok. Wolfe, Jones. On the fire fight commencing, take out the hostiles upstairs. Hawkins, Garstone, Harris, Forster. Swift and silent to the rear. Break house perimeter silently, on fire fight commencing, take living room. Rogers, Torell, Peterson, On my signal we take out the outer Rebels. Everyone copy?"
The confirmation of the orders goes round the intercom.
"Ok. Garstone, Harris, Hawkins, Forster. Swift and silent, move."
The four Rangers move quietly to the rear house door. Harris quietly opens the door and they sneak into the kitchen. They hold at the rear entrance to the living room.
"In position sir." corporal Forster confirms.
"Ok. All teams……………..Go!"
The Pathfinders drop the Rebels in the upstairs rooms, the outer team pile the two Rebels with bullets until both have gone down. The inner team flash bang the living room, move in and terminate the Rebels. The outer team and Pathfinders kneel up and monitor the house. The inner team move upstairs and secure the pilot.
"Target secured!" Forster barks over the intercom.
The inner team move down the stairs and Forster leads the Pilot out first. Suddenly from the inside of the house Garstone shouts. "Bomber! Drop him!" shots are fired and then an explosion goes off inside. The dust flies out of the house door and Forster pushes the Pilot to the floor and covers him.
"Man down! Man down! Harris is down! Repeat! Harris is down!" Hawkins shouts over the intercom. The Rangers move in on the house. Garstone goes to check where the bomber came from. He finds a basement door in the kitchen.
"Basement located." He informs.
"Forster! Take Rogers, Torell and Garstone and clear that damn basement! Wolfe, Peterson, cover the front of the house! Jones, Hawkins, rear!" the sergeant major takes decisive action, he pulls the Pilot up by his jacket and hauls him into the house. "You better have been worth it!" he snaps. He kneels with his wounded man.
"I'm dead sir! I'm not gonna make it out!" Harris coughs and splutters. He is burned up his left side, shrapnel piercings all over the burns.
"You're not gonna live Harris, no. But you're gonna make it out. You're going home soldier!" the sergeant major vows.
"Thanks sir. It hurts so bad sir. Permission to be terminated sir?" Harris coughs. The sergeant major reluctantly stands up and aims his gun at his private's head.
"Permission granted private." he says, Harris smiles just before his brains end up on the stairs. Forster's voice crackles onto the intercom.
"Tunnel system located sir! Sealing now! Fire in the hole!" the explosion shakes the floor and the four men return back to their commander and fallen comrade. The sergeant major, still stood over his soldier looking at his smile, looks up at his men.
"Well? We've got to get him home! Wolfe, Jones, go fetch the other two Technical's. They're approximately 1500 metres north of the premises."
The two men move out. The Rangers load their deceased friend onto the Technical outside, in the back. "Forster, in back with him. Garstone, Peterson, front." the sergeant major says and the Rangers take up their positions.
The two Pathfinders return with the other Technical's and pull up.
"Rogers, in with Wolfe, take him with you." he points at the Pilot. "Torell, gunner on Wolfe. Hawkins, gunner on Jones. I'm in with you Jones." the men respond to their orders and mount up. "Peterson, first. Wolfe, second." the sergeant major says over the intercom, then adds to his driver. "We're last Jones."
The convoy pulls off and joins the dirt track back towards the Caspian sea, and the Emba's mouth.
Chapter 3: Extraction
The sergeant major reports the situation and requests pick up be dispatched.
"Crap! We got company! Two Technical's! Six o clock!" Hawkins shouts down his headset and turns his mount around and opens fire.
"Control! LZ will be hot! Request Comanche support!" The sergeant major shouts over the heavy fire into his headset.
"Negative Penman! We can't send hostile troops into Kazakhstan!" the headset replies.
"What the hell are we then!?" Penman asks sarcastically.
"Sorry sergeant major. There's nothing we can do." the command centre replies.
Hawkins manages to pile enough bullets into one of the Technical's engines to force it to crash. The second has begun returning fire and Hawkins is forced to take cover and hope he isn't hit. Penman sits on his window ledge and opens fire at the gunner on the hostile vehicle, he hit's the gunner and he goes down.
"We got a hostile Technical at 12 o clock!" Peterson yells into his intercom. Forster opens fire at the hostile vehicle and kills the gunner. The technical pulls off and Peterson shouts into his com again. "Get off the road! Quad Cannon! Dead Ahead!" He veers his vehicle to the right and into the forest, the next two vehicles manoeuvre into the forest too. The Quad Cannon fires at the convoy but is too slow to hit any of them enough to stop them.
"Control! ETA on Evac!" Penman shouts to his commanders.
"ETA, Four minutes." the voice responds.
"Damn it! We're gonna have to hold at the LZ!" Penman shouts into the com set. "Slow down Jones, Hawkins! One gets on our tail, take 'em out! The rest of you get to the LZ and secure!"
Jones slows down the last Technical in the line, Hawkins opens fire on the new Technical attempting to pursue. He fires wildly at the windscreen and obviously kills the driver as he ploughs into a tree, sending his gunner soaring through the air and head first into a log.
"Sir! We just passed a Tunnel Network!" Wolfe informs his commander.
"Damn! This is gonna be one hot LZ boys!" Penman shouts.
Jones drives past the Tunnel Network and Hawkins guns down 7 Rebels rallying at the entrance. He proceeds to slaughter more Rebels making their way towards the LZ from the Tunnel.
"Christ! There's loads!" He shouts into the intercom.
"I know! Keep shooting!" Penman orders.
"Sir! Perimeter set! LZ secure!" Wolfe informs his commander.
"Good! Prepare for contact!" Penman warns.
"That guy had an RPG!" Jones shouts.
"Incoming!" Hawkins yells as the RPG trooper opens fire on the trailing Technical. Jones swerves left and takes off over a mound of dirt, dropping down in the LZ, he pulls the Technical off with the others. Wolfe opens the proceedings, dropping the RPG troopers as he follows for another shot.
Gunfire rings out across the clearing as the Rangers open fire on the GLA infantry. Another bomber charges across the clearing and Jones blows his head apart. The GLA Rebels taking cover in the foliage on the opposite side of the small clearing receive suppressive fire from the Rangers while the two Pathfinders pick them off, one by one.
A Technical steers into the clearing and drives across the line of fire, the gunner fires randomly at the forest, hoping to hit one of the camouflaged US troops. He misses and when his driver is wounded, is shot in the chest 9 times by Garstone.
"Sergeant major Penman, this is Charlie Zulu 3, we are inbound, over."
"Thanks! The LZ is hot! This will have to be a quick extraction!" Penman informs the Pilot.
"Roger that! ETA one minute."
The Rangers continue their suppression as the Chinook comes in. Penman, Hawkins, Peterson and Forster sprint forwards and hit the deck to cover the others as they board the Chinook. As the Chinook comes in the Pathfinders sprint to the rear ramp and resume fire upon the GLA. Torell and Peterson pick up Harris' body and run him onto the Chinook, Rogers escorts the Pilot on board and Penman and the other four Rangers fall back.
The last six men board the chopper and it takes off. Wolfe and Penman stand at the rear ramp as it closes, bullets ricocheting off the huge air transport.
"We got out just in time." Wolfe says, looking at the four Scorpion tanks closing in on the clearing and walks back into the holding bay. Penman looks back at Harris' body being placed on the ground by his comrades and says to himself.
"Not all of us."