Wind surged around me. The beating sound of a propeller rang through my head. My eyes fell to the landscape below me, admiring nature's beauty. Sprawling mountains, a rushing river, and the calm clear sky made for a wonderful sight. This would be such an amazing place to live. No worries, no war. Nothing to interfere with a content soul in wonderland. A loud and rapid beep emanated from the cockpit beside me. I glanced inside and when the pilot pressed a red, glowing button the sound stopped. Popping sounds came from just below me. I leaned forward carefully and looked down to see bright flares falling from the bottom of the hull. Without warning the hunk of metal I was riding dove down quickly. Two blaring rips one right after the other tore through the air. Just a few feet to my right, red hot streams of metal rained down towards the earth in a vain attempt to save us. The beeping returned and, after a few seconds sped up tenfold. A loud and frantic voice screamed through the headset, "Bail, bail, bail!" and without hesitation, I jumped.
Careening towards the earth at near terminal velocity is easily my favorite adrenaline rush. Fifty meters above the ground, I ripped the cord on my right shoulder and immediately my chest lurched back. At least the parachute works, I never liked them, they scare me. Not because they could drag you down in the event that you land in water, but because that you count on that thin piece of cloth to stop you from hurling into the ground. I looked back just in time to witness a missile slam into the helicopter I occupied just seconds ago. The resulting explosion was magnificent but proved too bright to look at. The shockwave hit me like a truck and shook me to my core, awakening a deep primal fear. I pushed the fear aside mentally. There was plenty of time for fear in the minutes to come. I noticed a person on the ground running. He was headed towards one of a set of three buildings which lie in a triangle formation. The objective that my team was assigned to neutralize just so happened to be in the courtyard in the middle of the triangle. The secondary objective sat over a hundred yards away on a dock for a river that paralleled the buildings. Another squad was assigned to that one. The loss of a helicopter was sad but an opportunity was bestowed upon me; I could take out the objective myself, I was behind enemy lines.
The ground came up fast and I braced for the impact. After I touched down and got situated I unclipped my chute. The three clips struggled against me but I got the better of them. When I was free from the parachute my right hand picked my sidearm from its holster and raised it to eye level, it was time to inspect the surrounding area. To my immediate right there were huge boulders that led up a very steep hill. Twenty five yards to my left lay the beach to the river. Before me were the buildings. I began to run the same pattern the enemy ran. I weaved through some generators; the heat from them was intense. I then came to the rear wall of one of the buildings. I checked around me to see if the coast was clear and proceeded around a corner and found a doorway the enemy must have used. A deep rumble was heard in the distance behind me, I turned to see that down the road, came a t-90 tank. Before I started to panic I ran through the doorway into the building and dropped to my knee. My eyes scanned the room for any and all movement. The rectangular room seemed to be clear of hostiles, so I holstered my pistol and unslung my rife from my chest. I turned on the holographic sight and laser pointer at the end of the barrel. Making sure the gadgets were turned on and adjusted, I charged the weapon.
Rising from my knee, I stared to the staircase before me, taking notice of the white couches and chairs as I passed them. I raised the sights to my eye and searched the top of the one story staircase as it came into view. Clear. Not taking my eyes off of the sights I slowly made my way up the stairs. Another doorway came into my vision on the right wall at the top. I pressed my body to the wall beside the doorway and peeked into the room. It just looked like a normal conference room complete with a big table and chairs. Half of the room was cut from my vision still. The shattering of glass split through the air and I could tell it definitely originated in that room. Quickly but quietly my body swung through the doorway, my arms raised my weapon. There he was. He sat in the corner diagonally from me next to a few couches. He had a sniper rifle in his hands and luckily we were alone and he didn't hear me enter. I lowered my rifle to my chest and hung it by its slung, and pulled out my sidearm complete with suppressor. I had to take him out without letting my existence known to the world. Making my way lightly across the room, I ended up fifteen feet behind him. Closing the gap even further I could begin to hear his breathing. I lifted the small weapon to eye level and aimed at the back of his head. With a cough from the muzzle, he slumped to the floor.
With that deed completed I approached the broken window cautiously and peered out to the courtyard. I could see the objective. A crate containing the specifications of United States nuclear warheads. The Chinese had multiple copies strewn about to ensure the survival of one in case of an attack. It's our job to eliminate them. I had been so focused on my target that I had not noticed what had been going on outside. Between the enemy base, which is where I am, and my base was a peaceful field that had become a complete warzone. Burning hulls of destroyed tanks and bodies of fallen soldiers were scattered everywhere. This fight was an even match. The sound of rustling clothes and the charging of a weapon came from behind me, and I turned to greet my squad mate who finally decided to spawn in. I saw his tag and happily read his call sign, Redneckpro. "Finally! I thought I was gonna have to win this battle myself." I said.
He looked at me and I could already tell what he was going to say, "I got some new attachments for my gun, alright? Besides, you got here just fine on your own, I'm sure you don't need my help. I'll just sit back and watch." He retorted with a grin.
"Not on your life Trevor, I wouldn't want to hog all the fun. Who knows, eating a tank shell could be therapeutic!" I lightly punched his shoulder and began walking towards the door I entered. "Now come on and lets blow some stuff up." He followed me without another word. We made our way to the bottom floor main entrance that leads to the courtyard. Again I heard the deep rumble of a tank engine and we stopped in our tracks. It passed the building but stopped next the courtyard and opened fire. The two of us nearly fell from the sound that beast produced. A deep, ear shattering crack that shook the ground for hundreds of yards. After we recovered I motioned for him to go towards the objective. He nodded in acknowledgement and I made my way back to the original door I used to enter the building. When I came out I had a perfect view of the tanks ass. That was its weak spot due to little armor and the exhaust ports. Holstering my sidearm, I reached behind me and unclipped the RPG that was strapped to my back and aimed it towards the tank. "When that tank blows, arm it" I whispered into my radio headset. Taking careful aim, I pulled the trigger and with a wizz, the rocket was away. My eyes fixed themselves to the rocket, and I watched as it decimated the tank in a fireball.
"It's armed!" Trevor's voice screamed through the headset. I ran back into the building to the main entrance and came out into an all-out gunfight between half a dozen enemies and him. I had to help or he was gone. Someone ran outside right in front of my building. Shouldering my weapon, it coughed four times and the enemy fell. On the building across from mine, two people unloaded their weapons from the roof. I dropped to my knee to improve my accuracy, four bursts of three rounds each cycled through my gun, more than was necessary but the fire from the roof stopped. My presence was now known and bullets began whizzing past me. Without thought I ran towards the crate that Trevor was using for cover. The very same crate that had the specifications and a bomb strapped to it.
"What's the plan?" I yelled to him over the constant gunfire as I crouched next to him.
"We could try shooting our way out, you know, mix things up a bit? Why the hell did you come over here anyways?" he looked at me questioningly, all I could do was shrug. "Well I commend you for having the balls to use a bomb as cover." His sarcasm was only reinforced by the ticking of the timer.
"Do you want some help?" the generous question was followed up by a hysterical laugh.
"Yes! Yes!" I yelled back, "Please tell me you have a tank or something."
The only vocal response I got was, "Even better." The physical response was a small jeep like truck, engine screaming, sliding into the courtyard and begin doing doughnuts around us. The fifty caliber machine gun mounted on the back roared to life. Hundreds of rounds poured out of it into the surrounding buildings at the enemies. We stopped getting return fire and the driver halted the truck next to us, the gunner continued shooting. Trevor and I sprinted towards our other squad mates and hopped into the two open seats. As soon as we were in the driver hit it and the engine once again screamed. As we exited the courtyard, an enemy tank drove down the road towards us. An explosion of asphalt and dirt followed a crack from the tank. They narrowly missed us by 3 yards. The gunner stopped shooting and started yelling in fear.
"Poet you gotta drive faster or we're boned!"
"Just because we call you Master doesn't mean you get to tell me what to do!" the driver, Poet, screamed back. We heard another explosion but this time it wasn't near us. I looked at Trevor and he shrugged.
"Objective destroyed" a voice on the radio called out, and the four of us yelled out in triumph. Fist bumps and pats on the back were shared but suddenly stopped at the next words. "Two more objectives, move up."
Poet slammed on the braked and hit the steering wheel, "Damnit! There's more? How can there be more?" the three of us looked at him wordlessly. We all felt the same way. After a few minutes he turned the wheel and began driving again. "Whatever, let's just blow it up. Spineless! Still got some rockets?"
"That was forever ago!" I yelled back, "you can stop calling me that now."
He glanced at me sternly "Did I stutter? I'll stop calling you that when you stop being a bitch and get out those rockets!" Realizing that it was hopeless, I got the RPG tube and reloaded it with another warhead. As we followed the winding road further up the river we could see the tracks of two tanks, one belonged to one of our own. We came around a bend and the warehouse our new objective was visible. Two tanks were duking it out in the road. "If we eat a shell, I'm not sorry." The truck lurched forward and we quickly approached our tank from behind. Passing it barely, we found ourselves in the direct line of fire of the enemy tank. Crack.
The ringing in my ears was the loudest thing I've ever heard. I was thankful I could still hear though, that means I'm at least alive. I put my hand out to the seat in front of me and felt Trevor's shoulder, it flinched away from the sudden contact. Alive. Judging by the movement of the truck, poet was fine too. I looked back to check out Masters injuries. I stopped in fear. What I saw was an empty turret seat and splotches of blood. "Rocket!" I can't believe he's gone. We served so long together. "Rocket!" all taken in an instant. "You dense piece of sh*t! Shoot that wall right now!" when I finally turned my attention to what Poet wanted, I saw a wall approaching us at sixty mph. reflexively my hands tighten around the rockets handle, raise it and fire. All I see is darkness.
When my eyes start to open, I feel a tugging on my clothes, someone is pulling me. When my vision gets clearer I see that it's Trevor. He noticed that I'm awake and picks my gun off the ground and presses it to my chest. I grab on to it and he starts walking away. "Come on!" I heard him say. Poet is waiting for the two of us and keeps us covered with his bulky light machine gun.
"We have to arm that objective, we made a show and now these Chinese knit-wits are coming to give us a review." Trevor rushed to say, the three of us aren't handling this well. "It's right up those stairs, we have to hurry!" we begin to make a break for the staircase at the other side of the warehouse but we're quickly cut off by gunfire and Chinese men screaming. Poet is the first to return fire and he unleashes hell upon them. Firing two-hundred rounds of pain in their direction. Trevor keeps running. I turn and start firing. Five enemies drop before I hear a click from my gun, it was then a race to reload. I drop the new magazine, when I go to pick it up I hear Poet scream.
"Get soommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm-" as he yelled the challenge his body begins to twitch rapidly, it doesn't stop him from moving forward. By the time he walks 6 feet his body slumps to the ground, the gun slams down with him with a loud ting. The thing was burning red from the constant fire.
I could only look in horror as one of my best friends is ripped from me. "Robert!" my lungs roar. In a rage I pull out my sidearm and shoot it rampantly, only aiming it in the general direction of my Chinese adversaries. I lurch back, but feel no pain so I keep shooting. My legs collapse beneath me and I fall to my knees, my body feels wet. Pain began to set in, I can't breathe. Unable to support me any longer, my muscles give out and my chest hits the floor. A ring surged through my head, but I could hear my radio scratch to life.
"Objective destroyed."