Through the Visor

Chapter Four: Rue Tronchet

Jenny kept moving, down the street, her armor keeping her out of most of harm's way. Raising her L86, she opened fire on another cluster of enemies, the two bullets that one of the Russian soldiers managed to fire at her completely futile. The Reaper had knocked out the other tank now- to Jenny that was good news at least, knowing full well that her armor would stand no chance against a tank round, or 50 cal fire.

"Baseplate, can you patch me through? I'm moving down the street, I should be there in five minutes. Looks like there's some seriously heavy enemy support, I still need some fire from the sky." Jenny said, still moving, as she reloaded the L86. Putting a new drum in, she cocked it, as she checked the Holographic to it's night setting. The fires around the street kept this place pretty lit up, and as she kept walking, she could already hear the wailing noise of rockets. The Reaper hit a few more targets up the road, as Jenny scanned the area, more glad than ever that she wore this armour. The suit itself, she reminded herself, wasn't exactly for female users. She had to do a bit of work to it- her breasts for example, meant that the chestplate of the suit had a bit more foam in it, making it bulge a little more. It was subtle enough, but if you compared her suit to a normal one, you would quickly notice the slight bulge at the chest. In fact, many soldiers back at Hereford had quickly noticed that about her, before she left. Still, it was no time to laugh- and Jenny knew that they ultimately respected her for what she did, and what she was doing here. It made her laugh in some ways- and she knew that at least doing this, she proved a point.

"Will do. You should be connected, Lieutenant." Baseplate replied, as Jenny kept moving, the area practically clear of enemies. She guessed that she had cleared out what had been the reinforcements just outside the church- perhaps things weren't as bad as she expected, she thought to herself.

"Lieutenant Henderson? This is Faucon, GIGN. We're under heavy fire, the Reaper's helping us but they're coming from further down the street."
"Roger that. I'll be on your position in five minutes. Expect me to come from the Madeline, I have a Juggernaut suit on, caution fire."

"Sacre Bleu, Henderson. We'll really take the fight to them with you. Out." Faucon replied, as Jenny smiled to herself. Of course, she knew that it was a force multiplier- but to hear that she was about to become one for another squad made her feel better.

A few minutes later, a fire along the buildings on the right had engulfed most of their top floors, and it was a thick red and orange color, the fire caused by a stray Reaper missile. It illuminated the area a little better at least, along with the moonlight over Paris. She saw a Vodnik go past- a Russian jeep, out of an alleyway on her left, and Jenny knew that it only meant bad things. Raising her L86, she opened fire on it, and knew quickly it wasn't the best idea she had. It was an armoured jeep, after all- a troop transport, with a KORD LMG on top of it. Still, she put in some pot shots, willing to scare the driver and passengers off, from going her way. Somehow, it turned down the street, the occupants clear that they themselves were definitely better off the other way. Smiling to herself, Jenny kept up the pace, as she moved down the street, further and further.

Taking cover by a burnt-out van, she peeked around the corner, finding it hard to keep herself up in cover. In a suit like this, going prone or crouching wasn't easy, and Jenny knew that it would be a better idea to assess what was next. Looking past some of the Russians, who were setting up a machine gun, she saw the restaurant itself. It seemed to fit into the side of the terraced buildings that were along the side of this street- yet somehow, it didn't now. Two floors, with shattered glass windows and tables inside were probably where the GIGN were waiting on their saviour. She wasn't Joan of Arc, but she was surely going to have to be their way out. She was just one soldier, after all- but she had the arms and armor to punch through to them, and at least give them some support. Peeking out from her cover, she radioed over to the GIGN, just to get another sit-rep. Rue Tronchet looked like it was burning- behind her, most of it was rubble and scorched earth, as the fires had just burnt through the ancient buildings. Still, they would eventually stop, Jenny thought to herself- they wouldn't spread too easily, and would probably be restricted to this street.

"Faucon, I'm in position, I'll clear out the outside, and meet you inside the restaurant. Watch the smoke, it'll be me." Jenny said, checking herself over for the last time, along with her L86, as she knew that this was it. She kept a warface on, as she stood up, and moved from her cover, first of all tossing a smoke grenade. She watched it burst, pouring out smoke, and knew that this was it. She moved quickly from her cover behind the van, aware that what she was doing now was not standard procedure. You did not go guns blazing in situations like these- but Jenny knew she was the exception- she had protection, and most of these soldiers didn't. It was how you worked- trust in the armor, and your skill, and she realized that you could survive.

Emerging from the smoke, and taking out two soldiers as she did with a spray of fire, she saw the rest of the street, and what it looked like. A few Vodniks were parked at the end of the street, but a sudden barrage of Reaper missiles quickly blew them up, in a large explosion, which destroyed them with huge force. She herself shot on the machine gun post that had been set up, taking hits herself. They had noticed her- the fire that had been previously sent on the restaurant was now being directed at her, as she knew that this was crunch time. Still firing, and walking ominously, she took out Russian after Russian, still moving while getting shot. Her armor took it well- even though most of the soldiers had NVGs, and she didn't, she still saw well enough, and simply took out what she could. She shot the entire group on the LMG post with around half of her mag, and then finished off the drum by taking out a pair of soldiers behind a sandbagged cover. Moving while reloading, she took the hits, and heard her breathing become harder. Putting in a new drum, she cocked it, and kept moving, the hits starting to take their toll now, as Jenny felt the force through the armour. She stopped for a moment, and stood tall, simply firing and taking hits, shooting everything that moved. The Reaper sent shots closer and closer and Jenny inside of her armor felt good so far. The thick ballistic protection did the job, and she felt unstoppable. Taking out another two enemies, by a car, she moved up, along the street, and kept her wits about her.

"We've got you covered, move into the restaurant. We're holding a position in the kitchen, the front of the restaurant is just where we've stationed a few machine gun nests on the ground and top floors. We're barely holding out- we came here with 8, but there's only 5 of us left now." Faucon said, as Jenny kept up the fire. Taking out another cluster of about 5 Russians, who had been near a shop entrance, she mowed them down with enough bullets between them to last their lifetimes. The Reaper had practically finished off most of the reinforcements on the street, and that at least m

"Moving. Glad to see someone to help. I think I washed away most of them, so this place should be secure for a few more minutes I guess." Jenny said, with uncertaininty in the last part of her sentence, as she headed toward where the entrance was itself. Its glass exterior made it very easy to look inside, and probably a terrible position to hold up in. Still, Jenny knew that it would do for the moment, and they'd probably have to move out of here sooner or later anyway.

She walked up the steps, into the lobby, and then saw two soldiers, with weapons raised. A FAMAS, and a MP5SD in their respective hands, Jenny thought to herself. This was definitely them- the GIGN that she had been looking for.

"Lieutenant Henderson. Good to see you- we weren't expecting you in this armor, but everything helps now." One of them said through their gas mask putting out his hand for Jenny. They wore their standard BDU- a tactical riot helmet with a visor, body armour and MOLLE pouches along with a gas mask, something needed in this kind of environment. Here, the gas had mostly passed- but she knew herself it was better to be safe than sorry. Shaking his hand, with a firm handshake, she smiled, as they both looked straight at her visor.

"You are Faucon, I presume?" Jenny asked, as the soldier nodded.

"Oui. Sabre is back in the kitchen, we've held out here for the last 6 hours. Russians only just found us, and we tried organizing some resistance. It didn't work out well enough- if it wasn't for you, and that drone, we'd have been overrun." Faucon replied, as he led the way in, Jenny following behind. The restaurant looked like it was in bits- most of the tables were overturned, to be used for cover, and it looked completely wrecked. All the glass that would have made it look so appealing was smashed in, and it was clearly a defensive position. A few sandbags, with M249 LMGs were mounted up on them, both downstairs and upstairs, along with other bodies that were in here. Jenny had no idea what they were doing here, but she followed Faucon, the other soldier heading to one of the LMGs, along with three others that were already holding the defence. Jenny knew that this had clearly been a decent idea gone bad- she just hoped it wouldn't get any worse. Still, she knew her mission- and knew that the GIGN would help out, if they knew exactly how to.

"Jesus. This place must have been five star, before this happened. One day, it makes me glad that they'll rebuild it, when peace comes." Jenny said, following behind, her heavy armor and her breathing hard as the adrenaline began to wear off, and she had to simply catch her breath back after that firefight. Jenny kept looking around, at the entire structure of the place. No doubt it wouldn't have lasted beyond what support Jenny and the reaper had brought, and they'd have had to flee, with potentially more casualties.

"Perhaps. But it's us six against thousands of Russian forces, Lieutenant. What's your first name, by the way?" Faucon asked, as they turned a corner, past a bar and toward some double doors- the kitchen.

"Jennifer. You can call me Jenny, by the way. Callsign Knight-One-One." Jenny replied, as Faucon pushed the two doors, and Jenny got her first look of the GIGN team leader. Sabre. He wore a gas mask, as well, but seemed relatively expectant of what he saw. To say the least, from the moment they saw each other, it was almost like they already understood each other. They were both fighting- but for different reasons. As she walked in, she looked back, and put her hand out.

"First Lieutenant Jennifer Henderson. Callsign Knight-One-One. And yes, this is a Juggernaut suit." Jenny replied, as Sabre shook his head, and laughed, as he shook her hand.

"Yes, you have found me, Jennifer. Sacrebleu, I can't believe I'm seeing this. A female, in one of these things." Sabre said, as Jenny felt almost inclined to slap him round the face. That wasn't worth it- not now, after what she had just gone through, she didn't feel like it, not with someone who could help.

"Let's not get that involved. I heard you have an armory, and at least a better sit-rep of what's going on here than me and Baseplate do." Jenny said, as she slung the L86 over he shoulder. She looked like she meant business- and Sabre could tell that quickly. She wasn't fucking around now- she wanted to get straight to the point.
"Follow me- I'll brief you on the situation downstairs. There's no gas in the basement, so you can take that helmet of yours off, and we can talk. You just saved us a hell of a lot of trouble- my men haven't got much anti-armor, and it's good to know that the Reaper took them out. That, along with the amount of Russian infantry in our city…well, it needs no explanation. Faucon, head back to the mounted positions, and check inventory. Set up any defences- barricade the entrance, and whatever we have of our front windows too- make it harder for them to come in. I have a feeling that this isn't the last of them." Sabre said, moving on, as Faucon nodded, and moved back to the restaurant itself. He kept his MP5SD on him, and seemed confident, as Sabre's second in command. Jenny meanwhile looked around at the kitchen, and the relatively nice look of it. Obviously, ammunition crates, weapons and other equipment lay around it, as well as a few other pieces of kit. A rear door sat with a metal bar across it- probably going out to an alleyway, Jenny guessed. Clicking her neck, and following behind Sabre, her armor still weighing her down and slowing her pace, she followed him toward another door, and down some stairs.

Afterword: Right, I haven't written for a while in this, but I noticed the attention I was getting, and thought to myself that I can't let you down on this. I made this as a sort of gap between the GIGN and Jenny, so I hope you enjoyed that reading, and expect more. I guess that I'll do what I can to write, but it is hard, as I cannot find the time to do it lately. I'm really glad about all the people following and faving- it really inspired me to write more, so I did I guess. Thanks