My lateness in publishing this chapter is completely justified. Don't ask why... I would recommend using a different font instead of verdana for this chapter.
Weird phrases coming up
L1 - Land 1 - To which Kowalski and Rico are assigned to
J1 - Jet 1 - In which Skipper and Private were riding in.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Penguins of Madagascar & any characters or canon plots and settings.
"Task force L1, can you read me? Jet one directly above your coordinates in T-10 seconds."
Kowalski and his team, which included Rico, had already set out in search of Skipper into the big forest area.
"We read you, loud and clear." Kowalski responded and signalled Rico to hack up a pair of binoculars. Rico used it to locate the small shiny silver plane flying smoothly in the sky.
Kowalski reported in as soon as Rico saw the other two jets chasing after J1.
"Sir, we have visual on J1, J2 and J3."
"Stand by L1. J2 and J3 are negotiating with Skipper to stand down. Hold onto radio contact as we will update you on the details soon."
"Yes sir!"
After moments of waiting and reactivating their tasers and other weapons…
"Attention all squads: this is J2 speaking. Negotiation failed. I repeat: negotiation failed. Permission to proceed with non-lethal force."
"All clear." The superior officer stationed at the base granted permission.
"This is J3 speaking. We are ready to proceed with selected course of action. L1, L2, L3, L4 requested to stand-by and lock onto target J1."
Kowalski looked at his team of four who were tuned into the shared radio link as well. They were tensed and their weapons were positioned. He could tell all of them were preparing themselves to face the 'target', even Rico.
A high ranking officer from the station called in, "All land units, report."
"L2 positioned at designated area, sir!"
"L3 on standby sir!"
"L4 ready for action, sir!"
"L1 locked on target, sir! We're getting a visual on air units. Further instructions, sir?"
"Keep an eye on the hostage and any other visible life form outside aircraft."
Kowalski looked at Rico and they both paled, "H-hostage sir?" Kowalski inquired shakily.
"Private." The superior officer said emotionlessly, silencing Kowalski.
"L3 reporting sir!" Another person cut through, "Visual on J1 lost. Visual on real smoke clouds sir."
Now Kowalski knew that L3 had a 'lookout' spot - their position was located among the high trees in the forest. This was because all four of them in that unit were skilled climbers. They knew how to use their weapons well and get to places very efficiently. Thus they were assigned the position among the treetops so that they could get a clear close-up visual and report back to other troops quickly. If they couldn't see the plane anymore, it only meant one thing.
Skipper went down. His plane got shot at. Then Private would have gone down too. Two of his teammates, one plane, probably hurt in the same way.
Rico nudged Kowalski once he saw the unfocused look in his eyes. Kowalski snapped back into attention and started listening to the tensed exchange of orders and request for permissions between the superior and the commanding officer of the squads.
Private was starting to gain consciousness. He opened his eyes and took in his surroundings for the first time.
Private's POV
'Grey, wide, big spaces, inhabited, lack of penguins, lack of commotion, life jackets, sounds of engines? Wait - did I just say lack of penguins and commotion? I'm alone here… why am I tied up?'
I tried moving my flippers but found them bound with rope. I tried locating the knot and began untying the knot, just like how Skipper had taught me that technique… Skipper.
I looked around, Skipper wasn't there. I wasn't in the room where Rico and I were knocked out in. Rico wasn't with me.
'I am all alone, maybe Rico is safe in some other person's company… maybe he is back with Kowalski or else, he could even be trapped inside in the next room. Where am I anyway…?' I pondered aloud in order to try and calm myself down while listening to my own voice.
I looked up and saw a small glass surface. I reckoned it was a window and got up; my flippers still in the process of untying the knot and peeped through the window. I really loved plane rides, flying was one thing that I loved dearly, but the last thing I expected to discover in this situation was that I was a few hundred feet above ground level. I finally managed to get the rope off me and I ran towards in the direction I presumed the cockpit was.
Kicking the door open, I saw Skipper struggling with the controls. He started swerving the plane to the right. That's when I noticed the reason for that move. I glanced at the windshield and saw a few bullet like things flying past. Some looked like missiles but I wasn't entirely sure - why would a penguin base install missiles in their private jets?! Skipper was frantically dodging the weapons being activated and directed toward our jet. He just flipped the whole jet over effortlessly while managing to turn around and notice my presence too.
"Don't touch anything." He growled, sending chills up my spine. I raise my hands in surrender and stood frozen at my position next to the doorway. I see Skipper's flippers moving and he seemed to open a drawer filled with shiny metallic stuff. I gulped but I remembered Skipper's training and lessons, so I tried pushing my fear aside and looked around the cockpit for any useful devices that I could use as defence. Before Skipper could harm me and vice versa, the whole jet shook uncontrollably. I knew it wasn't Skipper because he wasn't really controlling the plane controls. Alarms and sirens started ringing within the plane, hurting both of our eardrums.
Then big red letters appeared on a screen placed on the control panel, slightly to Skipper's right. Even thought I wasn't standing that close to Skipper I could see the words clearly.
J1 HIT! ENGINE FAILURE! ABORT NOW!
Skipper was pulling something underneath his seat. It was a backpack, so it was probably a parachute. Now I panicked, there weren't any other parachutes and I don't know how I could jump off the plane. I had no idea where we were in the air and I didn't know how high the airdrop was from.
Skipper pulled an emergency door open and a strong gush of wind flowed in. Before he jumped off, he saw me trying to dislodge a similar backpack from underneath another seat. After much hesitation, he did the unexpected. He dragged me by the flipper and jumped off the plane.
I had never been so scared of my own commanding officer in my life.
(Back to narrator's point of view & Kowalski's location)
"L1 move into the perimeter! Your squad is the nearest to the estimated landing point of Skipper and Private!" A superior ordered after consulting the math department for quick calculations. He gave a series of directions to Kowalski too.
"Yes sir!" Kowalski responded back sharply and led his team into the forest toward the estimated position.
As L1 moved and secured the perimeter within the forest, the superior started giving orders to other squads.
"L2, move into the forest southward. You are currently at the opposite direction from L1. L4, you move in south-east ward. You will see L1 soon. L3 remain on look out. Alert us about any and every human interference."
"Yes sir!"
"Comprende."
"Roger that."
The squads did what they were told, L2 and L4 following Kowalski's team's lead and venturing stealthily into the forest.
Kowalski paid attention to whatever the other teams had to do so that he could fall back on them when he needed back-up. As he reached the said co-ordinate, he and his team, L1, surveyed the place and saw that the greenery was intact and there wasn't any sight of J1.
"Sir, we arrived at said co-ordinates. No sign of plane nor passengers." Kowalski appeared to be calm, but he was wearing a mask and example for his teammates to follow. Inside, he was worrying for his missing teammates. He couldn't help but feel protective of his only teammate left with him, Rico.
"L2 reporting, sir! We can hear movement and there is a thick trail of smoke to our east. Permission to move off course sir?"
"Granted. Make sure you know what you're doing and guide L1 and L4 along too. L3 maintain your altitude, but adjust your position so that you can see J1 passengers from above.." The officer commanded skilfully.
Kowalski, L3's commanding officer [CO] and L4's CO followed the directions that L2 painstakingly provided them with. Eventually, they reached a barren piece of land within the green forest. They deduced that J1 could have crashed there, judging from the smoke around them.
All three teams coincidentally reached the area at the same time. The members spread out a little, forming a circular perimeter around the big smoke zone. Even though there were only a total of 12 of them on the ground, they were well-trained and prepared to face whatever was hidden within the smoke clouds.
It seemed like a training arena, where people gathered in all directions to see two people fight on a raised platform. Now, the difference was the audience were armed, the raised platform was a barren, non-grassy piece of land and the two people fight were…
The smoke cleared.
Skipper and Private.
The former with a switchblade, the latter with a gun.
Then the weapons among the audience started being activated, one by one.
Muscles tensed, weapons positioned, eyes sharp, heart pounding.
They could do this… it was simple… yeah… take down Skipper… one of the living legends in penguin history, alongside Buck Rockgut and another rising legend, Kowalski.
Oh who were they kidding, they were doomed. This was going to end badly.
Hope all the italics and normal font styles weren't too confusing for you guys :) Feedback is appreciated, just not too harsh please. I hope I maintained the thrill in this chapter ;)