Operation: Archangel
Chapter 9
Companions Rest
Z-day + 2968
D-Day+32
09:00
After spending a few days of briefings and training at Camp Wellington, the newly minted Lieutenant Young was signed off as Companion rest's new liaison officer and dispatched with his combat gear, some purchases he'd made from the NAFFI and 'Gucci' store and a Land Rover WMIK.
After a few hours of driving, he arrived at the gate of Companions Rest. They opened the gate and he drove right in and parked next to a line of 3 dark green Humvees, a mechanic going from Jeep to Jeep checking each truck. He shut the land rover down and got out, grabbing his L85 and swords off the passenger seat before retrieving his day sack, Bergan and black grip bag off the back seat. He barely made it 3 steps before someone called;
"Chris Young?"
Chris looked around for a moment, trying to find who called him. He expected it to be Saeko calling him but instead found a beautiful woman in her mid-20's with long ginger hair and orange eyes, dressed in a white shirt, jeans and walking boots walking towards him.
'Well… damn…' He thought. Before quickly dispelling the less than Christian thought from his head. "Um, yes ma'am. That's me."
"Welcome," she said, stopping just short of him and bowing. "I'm Rei Miyamoto. Takashi sent me to come meet you and show you to your room."
"Oh, thank you, ma'am," Young said, wriggling his Bergan up so it sat more firmly on his shoulder.
"Can I carry something for you?" She asked, indicating to one of his numerous bags.
"Oh, no thank you, ma'am, I've got it," Chris replied. Rei giggled slightly as she turned and headed towards the house.
"Don't call me ma'am, you make me feel like my mother. Call me Rei."
Chris just cocked a smile and started following. She led him through to the back of the house to a room on the ground floor just off from the main living area. She opened the door and led him into a medium sized bedroom with a futon in the corner, a foot locker and a shoji sliding door to the back garden. By way of a workspace, there was a shelving unit with a few files on it, a desk and a wheelie chair. Chris stepped in and set his bags down, rolling his shoulders slightly.
"I hope this is to your liking," Rei said. Chris nodded.
"This'll do great, thank you," he said. Rei seemed like she was about to ask something when Saeko stepped in the doorway.
"Ohayo Chris-San, Rei-san," she said.
Chris clocked that suddenly Rei's behaviour suddenly changed. She almost jumped when Saeko spoke and suddenly wasn't the same incredibly hot, smiling young woman she was a second ago. Now there seemed to be something almost resembling a mild resentment in the air.
"Ohayo, Saeko-san," said Chris, greeting his old friend with a smile.
"Please excuse me," said Rei, bowing to Chris before leaving the room slightly quicker than would be considered normal.
"Well… she was nice," said Chris.
"Yes, she is," Saeko replied, smirked at him with a knowing smile.
"Don't bother trying to play matchmaker with me Saeko," Chris smirked at her. "Remember what happened last time?"
"Ah yes," laughed Saeko, "your date with Hinata-san. Remind me, how did it go again?"
"She beat the crap out of me with her Shinai," sighed Chris. "Did you come here to remind me of my past romantic failings? Or can I do something for you?"
"Actually, I came to tell you," she said, her hand falling to the hilt of her sword. "We and your SAS friends are planning a supply raid to the East Fuji Manoeuvre Area, it was a big SDF and American military camp just to the south of here. If you want to come along, the briefing is at 10."
"Sure, I'm up for that," said Chris. "Anything, in particular, we're focusing on?"
"Guns and ammunition, I believe," said Saeko. "Maybe parts for the Humvees as well. I believe Saya has a full list. Oh, that reminds me, she and the other heads of certain areas want to come over and talk to you about things. Training, getting things they need etcetera."
"Sure anytime," said Chris. "Now I better get unpacked and ready for a fight."
"Of course, please excuse me," said Saeko, bowing to him before leaving him alone to unpack.
…
About half an hour later, Chris emerged from his room/office and headed to the briefing point. He'd changed his combat gear slightly since leaving the 42 commando, (technically he was still a member of 42 commando, just on detached duty.) He still had his Virtus issue body armour, but he'd exchanged the standard issue flip up magazine pouches for CQB mag pouches; MOLLE fronted and opened topped with bungee fastenings, he could draw his now Magpul fitted magazines faster to reload his rifle quicker while also having his grenades and pistol magazine pouches closer to hand. He had also invested in a dump pouch which hung over his back side next to his swords. Also, for this mission, he'd forgone his helmet in place of a lighter jungle hat and had a camouflage scrim scarf tied around his neck.
As he walked towards the meeting point, it dawned on him that he was a walking definition of the phrase 'armed to the teeth.' After all, he was carrying his L85 with 300 rounds ready hand for it plus another 180 in an emergency bandoleer in the day sack slung on his back, his Sig 226 with 3 mags for that, 2 frag grenades, 2 smokes and his Fairbairn-Sykes before you got to his Katana and Wakizashi.
As he approached, the SAS captain and others looked up and smiled at him.
"You think you've got enough weapons there Lieutenant?" asked Tigger with an amused smile.
"You think I should go get some more sir?" replied Chris. Everyone chuckled slightly before Griffin continued to explain the plan with a map splayed across the bonnet of one of the Humvees.
"Alright," said Tigger. "Rika, Kohta, Saya, Sachi and I will role in Humvee 1, call sign hotel one. Oz, Snorlax, Raiden, Takashi and Saeko in Hotel 2. Coppers, Young, Mariko, Kenji, Kazuto in Hotel 3. We'll rock up, secure the area, Overwatch, i.e. Rika, Archer and Kohta, will establish in these buildings here and cover us while Oz and Snorlax open up the armoury. Once we've got our guns and ammo, we'll raid the motor pool and supplies for whatever we can cram into the Humvees."
"And how are you going to get the armoury open?" asked Raiden sceptically. "We tried with crowbars all day and it wouldn't budge."
"Oz?" asked Tigger, turning to their Australian explosives expert. Oz smirked and held up a large rod that looked like welding equipment.
"Thermic lance," he said. "That'll burn through the door's hinges and then we'll hit it with the breaching charge." The SAS and Young smirked at the Japanese adult's faces.
"You mean…" Kohta said wide-eyed and excited. "Bang, bang boom?"
"More like fizz, bang boom," said Oz with a smirk. "But basically, yes."
"That's going to get the attention of the people who live there," cautioned Saya, she turned to Takashi. "What happens when they turn up wanting all the weapons?" Takashi thought for a moment.
"We try to reason with them." He said sternly, "but if that fails…" They all knew what he meant, but Tigger put it into words.
"We drop 'em. Dead them is better than dead us," he said. He looked at his watch. "Alright, I make it 10:05. Grab what you need and roll in 10:15. Boss?"
"Sound's good," said Takashi. "Let's go."
…
Sea of Japan
Z-day + 2968
D-Day+32
10:00
"Captain on the bridge!"
"Where's our target?" asked Meres as he walked over to the Mai's chair
"I hold our target 26 degrees of the starboard bow. Heading 050, depth 100 meters, speed 20 knots. Looks like she's going for the Tsugaru Straits sir," reported Mai. Meres patted Mai on the shoulder for his diligent work and sat in his trusty, leather padded command chair.
Something was off. That was what Meres, and probably the rest of the bridge crew, was thinking. A Russian submarine, that had fired on and shot down a British fighter jet was running. Nothing odd in that, but why were they running north to Hokkaido? Why not make a break for Vladivostok? Or China, maybe even North Korea? It might not have been as remote as Sado Island but it would be out of immediate strike range of any aircraft the task force brought with them, and it would be a hell of a lot harder for Meres to get permission to pursue a Russian submarine across the Sea of Japan, back into Russian waters.
"Sir… I've got something," said Mai, his hands were pressing on his headphones, concentrating hard on the feedback he was getting from Ambush's microphones.
"The Akula?" asked Meres. Mai shook his head.
"No... This is different contact," Mai replied. Meres and every other member of the bridge crew sat up a little straighter as Mai continued to speak. "It's a sub alright, I can hear its prop kicking off the bottom. It's coming down from the north. I don't recognise the prop signature. I'll run it through the database, standby."
'Another Russian sub?' Thought Meres, 'ones bad, two… that's a problem.'
"I've got an ID… What the hell?" Mai spun in his seat to face the captain. "It's Jap."
"What?" said Meres disbelievingly, standing up from his chair and walking over to Mai's station as Mai fervently reran the search.
"Confirmed sir," said Mai. "It's a Sōryū-class Diesel electric attack sub." Mai spun his chair around to face his captain.
"Sir, I thought the Japs said they didn't have any subs left?"
"They don't."
Meres initial instinct was to hail them, but to do so would tip off the Akula that they were there. For now, it was best to wait and see. "Put the boat on quiet one. Continue tracking both targets."
"Aye, sir," came the reply from the crew. Throughout the sub, the crew started shutting down none essential equipment to make the silent Ambush even quieter. But as he sat back down in his command chair, Meres could feel a sinking feeling in his stomach. The same feeling as he'd had while on patrol off Cyprus…
…
East Fuji Manoeuvre Area
D-Day+32
11:23
"Hey, Oz. Do me a favour?" Coppers asked.
"What?" asked Oz over the comms.
"Put some 60's and .50cals on the shopping list."
"Why?" Tigger cut in on the comms, knowing full well why. "Feeling the need for superior firepower?"
"No boss," replied Coppers. "I feel the need for something to grab on to while on top cover with Mrs Takagi driving!"
"You're welcome to walk back Baka!" Saya shouted back at him as everyone on the channel laughed at Saya berating an SAS operator. Coppers shook his head and resettled his head to his rifle sight and switched his comms to the sniper team's channel, although he didn't move the switch quite far enough and didn't see it snap back to the team channel.
"That's some wife you've got there Kohta," He said.
"I know," Kohta replied. "And I wouldn't trade her for all the supermodels of the pre-fall world."
"You sure about that?" Rika cut in. Even though she was in another building, they could tell she was smiling by her tone. "There were some pretty hot supermodels back then…"
"Oh, I know there were," Kohta said in a matter-of-fact voice. "My mother was a fashion designer before the fall, and she used to take me to loads of fashion shows when I was little. She stopped taking me after she realised how much 'attention' I was paying to the models."
"And how did the pink demonette take it when you told her?" asked Coppers with a sly smile.
"She laughed," Kohta said. "And besides, those supermodels may be hot, but most were just shallow people. Saya's… different. The young man paused for a moment before continuing.
"The first day of school, when she walked into the room it was like a goddess had arrived. All the guys were staring at her, but she just walked past them like they were not there. I couldn't take my eyes off her. Finally, she looked at me and said, "What!? Don't stare it's rude!"
Coppers laughed as he envisioned the encounter in his mind. "So, what did you do?" he asked.
"Well, I bowed down low and introduced myself!" Kohta said with a laugh. "Stuttering a lot I might add! She glared at me for a second, then nodded and said, Takagi Saya. Then she noticed Takashi coming in the door and went over to chastise him for something."
"Shot down?" Coppers said with a smirk as he heard Rika laugh.
"In flames," Kohta confirmed amusedly. "I never though then she would one day be my wife. I'm so lucky."
"Of course, you are!" Saya cut in. "And don't you ever forget it!"
"Yes dear," Kohta replied with a snicker. Coppers just shook his head despairingly. Young love… it was both beautiful and sickening to behold. Coppers put his eye back to his scope and continued to scan the road he was covering for trouble. He didn't have to wait long.
Within a few minutes, a group of nine locals armed with an assortment of military assault rifles appeared out of the woods at the end of the road, accompanied by a military Humvee with a .50 cal on top and another local manning it. Coppers ranged his scope on the greatest threat; the .50 cal gunner and pressed his radio.
"Bravo four to all callsigns. I have visual on some 9 armed local occupants. Six Assualt rifles various, two light gunners, one SMG, and Humvee with fitted large calibre. Heading towards objective from the South."
Down on the ground, Tigger's heart stopped a moment. "Copy Bravo four. All callsigns stand too," he responded. Everyone around him started moving. Work on the armoury door ceased as Oz and Snorlax shut off the blow torches and grabbed their C8 carbines. Saya, Takashi and Raiden readied their weapons and took cover behind the Humvees while Saeko loosened her katana in its scabbard and Young flicked the safety off his L85 and rested it on the bonnet of a Humvee.
Tigger ran through his options in his head.
First order of business was stopping the Humvee; give his sniper an easy chance to pick off the threat at long range. But that would more than likely kick everything off, and give them time to fan out and scatter and make the group a far more difficult problem to deal with. He needed to buy time.
"Zero Alpha to Bravo four. Silent shot. Pop one of the Humvee's tyres. Copy?"
"Roger, WILCO. Out," Copper said, settling the sights of his L115A3 on the front left tyre, leading slightly.
He flicked the safety off before slowly applying his finger to the trigger, letting it settle before taking a long-measured breath. He held it and then applied balanced pressure to the trigger. A sonic crack as the Lapua .338 round exited the suppressor; rattled what was left of the broken window's around Coppers as the audible shockwave. The round streaked downwards on a perfectly flat trajectory, covering the 650 meters to the target almost instantly, before hitting the tyre and deflating it. The Humvee rose up slightly before dropping down onto it's exposed metal wheels, creating sparks on the road as its driver struggled to halt the vehicle.
"Bravo four to Zero Alpha. Confirmed hit. Humvee disabled. Over," Coppers calmly reported as he cycled his rifle's bolt to de-chamber the spent round and load the next one.
"Rog' bravo four. All snipers keep eyes on targets and hold fire."
"Roger that. Out," Coppers replied.
The snipers watched as the group gathered around the Humvee, kicking the flattened tyre in frustration. Judging by the fact that none of them was panicking, running for cover or shooting at his general direction; Coppers knew the sound of the engine must have covered the crack from his rifle. A few of them argued for a moment before the apparent leader, a man in a red puffer Jacket and carrying an M4, ordered the group forward again and they continued on their way while the driver and gunner got out and started to remove tools and a spare wheel from the boot.
"Bravo four to Zero Alpha. Hostiles have abandoned the technical and continuing towards your position. Gunner and driver are changing the wheel, over," Coppers reported.
"Copy Bravo four. Good work," Tigger replied, before quickly resuming his own preparations for what might very rapidly turn into a very hairy firefight against 20 militia-esk hostiles with 3 SAS troopers on the ground and a load of experienced but untrained militia of his own.
"Copy Bravo four. All callsigns prepare for contact. Wait for my order to fire. We don't want to kick this off too early."
None of the seasoned SAS operators wouldn't admit it, but they were gaging for a proper fight. It had been a little too much sneaking through woods and back allies, stealth killing undead in the dead of night and 'contactless recce'. And despite being professionals, every once in a while, all they wanted was a proper 'suns out guns out, bare balls full auto Christ-knowns-how-many-rounds-a-minute' gunfight.
But not today, they had the civvies to take care of… even though they could probably more than handle themselves. Tigger skirted down the line of Humvees towards Takashi. It was his op for his people after all.
"How'd you want to play it?" Tigger asked, dropping to a knee next to him.
Takashi thought for a moment before replying, "We'll try and talk it out. But if it goes bad. Kill them."
Tigger nodded, it was probably the best call; diplomacy face to face. Not what he would have gone with personally, but if they'd had his way the hostiles would be dead already.
Takashi and Tigger stood up and walked out from behind the Humvees. Standing in the open waiting for them to appear.
Tigger took the moment to give Takashi a last-minute pep talk. "Listen. Be calm. You're in charge, we're just the hired muscle. If you want us to kick it off, just turn around and start back towards the Humvees. But if things go sidewise, hit the deck and get back to the Humvees. Make sure you get out and we'll do our thing. Then we can all go home to tea and medals. Clear?"
"Clear," Takashi said. Tigger nodded. Somehow, it seemed Takashi had done this before…
Then they arrived. The group stopped opposite Takashi and Tigger. They looked surprised; clearly not expecting to come face to face with a fully camouflaged, armoured and armed special forces operator. The leader, however, glared at Takashi and everyone else behind the Humvees.
"You again?" He spat incredulously at Takashi. "We told you last time! Hands off our guns!"
"You don't have them so they aren't yours," Takashi replied, not even faltering at the older man. "But we're willing to negotiate."
Tigger mentally knew that wasn't going to happen, but was more than secure in the fact that if this joker even looked at either of them funny, Snorlax, Coppers, Oz or anyone of the people behind them would either turn them to red mist or slice them into finely chopped parts.
"And who is he?" The leader asked, pointing at Tigger. Tigger stared at him with the sort of unswerving assertiveness that one would expect from an SAS trained killing machine.
"United Nations. British Army," Tigger replied.
The man started at Tigger. Tigger stared back. He walked up to Tigger, a smirk of disbelief on his face.
"And what is the 'United Nations' doing helping a bunch of thief's, gaijin?" he asked sneeringly.
Tigger wasn't fazed. "Helping them recover JSDF arms on the orders of the JSDF," he replied. "But I'm not here to talk. Talk to the man in charge, and let's get this over with so you can go back to whatever abandoned piss stained hovel you came from," he said with menace in his voice.
Tigger took a step back, readjusting the weight of his C8 in his hand. He had to stop himself smirking in satisfaction at the man's face, especially when he saw his fully booted and suited C8 carbine with M203 'boom tube' attached. And he was damned if he, a member of the SAS, was going to be pushed around by a jumped-up office worker with a rifle.
The man sneered and turned back towards Takashi. "I want you off our land," he said. "They are our weapons." He glared sidewise at Tigger. "Now leave yours and go while I still allow it."
"That's not going to happen," Takashi said, tightening the grip on his shotgun. Tigger slipped the safety of his C8. This was all going to shit. Fast.
The man was furious. Clearly, he was used to getting his way. "I'll say it again one more time," He said through gritted teeth. "Leave your weapons and go."
Takashi sighed but didn't answer. He just turned and walked back towards the Humvees.
Game on.
The leader, furious, screamed; "Bastard!" but didn't get any further than raising his weapon. Tigger was far faster on the draw and in a flash, had his C8 up and in his shoulder, and dropped the man with a double tap to the chest. Before anyone could react, he turned, grabbed Takashi and screamed;
"GO LOUD!"
In the momentary confusion, the SAS opened fire. Spitting near silent death from their C8's as their leader threw Takashi behind a Humvee and rolled into cover himself. The other hostiles started yelling instructions at each other in Japanese, firing their weapons on full auto at the Humvees forcing the SAS into cover, but trio of supersonic cracks rang out as the sniper's opened fire from their building Copper's opening salvo had burst the head of one of the LMG gunner's like a water balloon, while Rika and Kohta dropped the other one with well-placed shots into their centre mass, leaving nothing but an uncontrollable death rattle of muscle to signal the previous owner's demise.
Tigger popped up and fired off his 203, sending a 40mm grenade towards where a group of them were shooting blindly from around the cover of a building.
"Bravo Two! Bravo Three! On me!" He shouted.
"Boss!" Snorlax and Oz shouted before emerging from cover and followed their leader to hunt down the runners.
Another burst of muzzle flash emanated from the corner of a building, and the SAS dove against the wall. Tigger nodded at Snorlax. He nodded and pulled a frag from his pouch, before pulling the pin and casually tossing it around the corner like a ball for a dog. The 'nade detonated and more screaming started, before being silenced by a burst of suppressed gunfire from the emerged troopers.
Tigger did a quick body count. 3 in front of him, the leader, the two gunners, and one more dropped on the opening salvo. That left the three still up…
A shotgun blast and a burst of unsuppressed rifle fire sounded out and more screaming came up from the Humvees. Tigger cursed himself for leaving the civvies unprotected. He, Oz and Snor sprinted back, running up expecting to find someone wounded… but only found 3 more dead hostiles. One was a victim of Takashi's shotgun, Lieutenant Young stood over the second with the muzzle of his L85 smoking. The third… was in pieces with Saeko standing by with her bloody Katana.
"Snipers! Drop the two by the Humvee!" Tigger ordered into the comm. Two more supersonic cracks rang out.
"Target's down."
"Clear?" Tigger called.
"Clear!" Shouted Snorlax, followed by Oz, Coppers, Rika and Lieutenant Young all confirming the same.
"No injuries?" called Tigger. There were none. "Right then, back to work everyone."
The Japanese were stunned for a moment as the British simply reloaded their weapons and went back to work. The silence was only broken by as Saya began to inspect the Humvees.
"Baka's! You got our Humvee's shot up!"
I'm back baby! Ok, it took 3 months longer than I originally expected... blame essays and exams! No idea when the next one will be out. Probably early summer knowing my workload. As ever please review, favourite & follow so as to keep yourselves aprised of new updates and I'll see you next time. Jango