Meanwhile in Cape Girardeau, APM, the Missouri National Guard, the local militias, and the CGPD were trying to stem the Blackwater advance toward the river as the sun rose behind them
"If you any of you try to retreat I'll (#$#ing shoot you myself!" A APM Officer shouted to the initiates he was in charge of that were forced into a early graduation from training camp.
Meanwhile Barnes, Samantha, and the 502nd were back in the rear as they helped Barnes command his men
"Our guys on North Benton Street are reporting that Blackwater has Russian T-100 Heavy Tanks in that sector!" Ramirez yelled as he listened to the cries of the people on the other side of the receiver
"God dammit, tell the general that we need air support assets in that sector!" Barnes replied "We are the god damned dragon riders?"
"They're busy trying to help our guys at South Hanover Street!" Samantha said to Barnes as she read a report that was coming in
"Why did Garter have to take the entire garrison out of Cape Girardeau?" Barnes said under his breath "Try to get the general to give us some of those god damn air support assets!"
"I've been trying that, but he says that all assets are unavailable." Samantha replied
"God dammit, he gave me men to control to help defend the city, but yet he won't even give me some god damn air support!" Barnes said "Tell them to hold their positions until we get them some heavy firepower to take those tanks out, how long do we have until the relief force arrives?"
"One hour and thirteen minutes." Carmen replied as he looked at his wrist watch
Meanwhile Stoick, Camicazi, and Gobber were in a destroyed American town with a squad of US Marines, pinned down by three Blackwater machine gun positions located in the top floor of a convenient store up ahead
"How in Thor's name are we going to get passed those guns?" Gobber asked as machine gun rounds passed over his head.
"We're working on that!" A US Marine Forward Air Controller said as another told coordinates to a US Marine Officer on the other side
Two USAF and Blackwater fighter jets shook the building as they flew overhead as the Blackwater fighter tried to shoot down the USAF fighter
"Dammit, we lost the signal! They have a signal jammer somewhere!" The US Marine FAC with the radio said
Terrible whistling noises were heard as Blackwater mortar rounds began to pound at the pinned down Vikings and Marines
"This is it man! We're screwed!" A young US Marine said as he ducked
As he ducked, Stoick heard a loud roaring noise of a large tank engine and the machine gun rounds stopped flying overhead, but the guns were still firing, Stoick lifted his head and saw a massive black-colored APM Megathon slowly turning it's turret to face the machine gun positions as APM soldiers clad in black armor and wearing electronic gasmasks with red lenses advanced using the protection of the Megathon's large size and armor. Stoick then saw on the back of the Megathon's turret that faced him as it turned its turret the abbreviation "APMSF" with a whitish-gray eagle that hat it's beak open while it carried a hammer in one set of talons and a lightening bolt in the other and a sword that looked it impaled the eagle through the head and came through the bottom
"Ah, hell! It's the $#*$ing 1st Stormtrooper Legion. Where the hell have those guys been during all this?" The US Marine Officer said as a small mortar popped out from a hatch on top of the APMSF Megathon's turret and fired a single small round charge that annihilated the machine gun positions along with most of the convenience store's second floor. The APMSF Stormtroopers then quickly took the chance to advance and storm the ruins as the Megathon scanned the other buildings on the block as it turned it's turret slowly as the US Marines slowly moved out from the cover of the ruined dinner they were in, another squad of APMSF Stormtroopers led by a officer appeared and greeted them
"What division are you from marine?" The APMSF Officer asked the US Marine Officer with a light German accent, an ID badge on his armor said "Karlson" and his rank was a Colonel, his face was hidden behind his electronic gasmask, The Commander of the Megathon opened up his hatch and poked his upper body out of the tank as he observed the surrounding area
"2nd Marine Division, we were separated from the rest of our division and we are trying to regroup." The Marine Officer replied
"Well we're heading to our assembly point, the general is getting ready to retake the Cape Girardeau Airport and Blackwater has turned the fortifications there against us." Karlson said to the Marine before he turned his attention to the Vikings "I guess you're the Vikings we've been hearing so much about from the communications we've been listening to since this #*$#ed mess began?"
"I guess?" Camicazi replied
"Well we can't keep the general waiting." Karlson said "Feel free to join us."
Meanwhile as Blackwater turned it's attention away from the city and went to fight off the incoming relief force, the Dragon Riders returned to the Command Bunker and found Barnes, Samantha, and his command staff gone and the Command Bunker was quiet
"Something's not right here." Hiccup said as the dragon riders dismounted their dragons and entered the Command Bunker.. As the entered the hallway, The Dragon Riders then heard the sounds if a firefight
"Oh gods, I think Blackwater's here." Astrid said as the dragon riders and their dragons began to run down the hallway, they found Ramirez and Wensky who were dragging Barnes, who was unconscious with a syringe in his neck as Samantha, Katie, and the rest of the 502nd along with other APM Personnel exchanged fire with Blackwater soldiers.
"How did those guys get into the bunker?" Hiccup asked Ramirez as he took cover behind the wall
"They used the escape hatch that went into the sewers! Ramirez replied, Terry poked his head out from behind the flipped over file cabinet he was using and shot out a single fire ball at a Blackwater soldier, who dodged it "They're after Barnes, because they #($#ing injected something into him when they ambushed us!
Wensky took out the Syringe that was in Barnes' neck and put it on the ground
An APM Security guard fired the grenade launcher attached under the barrel of his assault rifle at the Blackwater soldiers that exploded when it hit the wall, the explosion killed three of the soldiers and injured two more. But the five that were left continued to fight.
"Use your grenade launchers!" Wensky yelled to the security guards who began to use their grenade launchers against the Blackwater soldiers
"I'll get Barnes a doctor!" Astrid said before running towards the motor pool
"CHARGE!" Wensky yelled as a barrage of grenades pounded the Blackwater soldiers.
The Security Guards led by Wensky ran down the hallway toward the surviving Blackwater soldiers, Wensky punched one in the face and knocked him to somebody's living quarters and followed him to finish the job, the Blackwater soldier pulled a syringe out a metal case he had filled with a blue liquid before charging Wensky and tackling him
"This was meant if we captured somebody else of the 502nd, but I guess you'll have to do!" The Blackwater soldier hissed before he injected Wensky with the syringe, Wensky kicked the Blackwater soldier off of him and pulled out his sidearm and fire two Kletonium-tipped rounds that pierced the body armor of the Blackwater soldier and killed him. Wensky then pulled the syringe out of his arm and looked at it, it was empty
"What the hell was in this thing?" Wensky said as he felt the part of his arm in which he was injected at. Wensky then unconscious and fell to the ground
An hour later, Stoick, Gobber, and Camicazi arrived at the APMSF Assembly point with the US Marines and APMSF Stormtroopers and the Megathon as the APMSF Forces there prepared to attack the airport. An APM General wearing a black mask with a white skull painted on it approached Karlson
"We need to put off the attack of the airfield; Blackwater is redirecting everything they have at us." The General said to Karlson, his voice muffled by his gasmask, his eyes hidden by the lens, he had a Doubled Barreled Shotgun slung around his shoulder, dismantled machine gun on his back, and a GK-45 Assault Rifle in his hands, under his heavy trench coat was Kletonium Vest above a regular Kevlar vest and then a regular uniform underneath. "We have also reestablished contact with the command bunker inside Cape Girardeau; Blackwater Special Forces were engaged in a firefight with the security forces after attacking my son with some kind of syringe and before they were wiped out, but my son and some lieutenant were injured. So I am sending you and your Viking friends into Cape Girardeau to investigate this report, I'm giving you two more Megathons and several Enforcers from the 4th Armored Regiment and a APC to assist you in breaking through Blackwater's lines."
Karlson nodded and saluted the general
"If it wasn't for the occasion, I wouldn't take this order lightly, but this is special since I helped raise him." Karlson replied
"Good luck out there Karl." The General said to Karlson
"Wait a second; did you say the armor was coming from 4th armored? Isn't that Tes-?" Karlson asked the General
"It is, but her unit is the only one available and she volunteered, don't let you're personal problems get in the way of your mission!" The General replied
"We won't Reap." Karlson said to the General "But I don't appreciate this."
"Well too bad, Karl." The General replied "Just get this mission done with."
"Yes Sir." Karlson said to the General before he left
"Who was that?" Stoick asked Karlson
"Oh that would be Reaper, I believe you've already met his son back on the island campaign." Karlson replied "Well come on lets moving."
The group moved towards the nearest interstate exit where they found the armor from the 4th waiting for them, half way outside the Commander hatch of a APMSF Command Variant Enforcer, a women with near-white blonde hair and green eyes was looking through a set of binoculars up the interstate, she was wearing a modified variant of the A-1 Armor designed for the crew of Tank commanders
"HEY COLONEL!" Karlson shouted at the commander a bit angry
The Commander of the tank lowered his binoculars and turned to face Karlson
"Hey Karl, I guess you're the ones the general told us to escort." The Commander replied
"I don't like this as much as you do Tesla." Karlson said to the Tank Commander "But we have a mission to do for the general."
""Well then what are we waiting for?" Tesla replied "Let's get this train wreck on the move?"
Tesla receded back into her Enforcer tank, the engine came on with a roar as it's fusion reactor kicked on and the rail gun began to charge
"Did you use to have some kind of relationship with her?" Camicazi asked Karlson
"Yes, we used to date." Karlson replied as he headed for the nearest Megathon that did not have a commander and its hatch was wide open "Get in the APC with my squad; it's going to be a long and dangerous trip to the Command bunker."
Karlson climbed onto the Enforcer and into the crew compartment as the Vikings and the APMSF Stormtroopers went towards the APC, as they entered the APC; the Vikings had to take off their helmets just to fit inside, the door closed behind them and the APC began to move with the rest of the tanks
Meanwhile in Tesla's Command Tank, Tesla was looking through her commander sights as the tank went onto the interstate
"Why did you and Karl break up again?" Robin, Tesla's driver asked Tesla
"I don't want to talk about that, Robin." Tesla replied
"Well I thought you two were a cute couple, you were perfect for each other." Robin said to Tesla
"I SAID I DON"T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT! NOW STOP WORRYING ABOUT MY PERSONAL LIFE AND DRIVE!" Tesla replied, Robin turned her attention back to her position.
"Foxtrot 5, this overlord please respond." Reaper said over the radio before Tesla picked up the transmitter
"This Foxtrot 5 to Overlord, what is it?" Tesla replied
"Tesla, I know that that the Colonel is one of the last people you want to see these days, but you two have the unfortunate problem to be in the same division, so I don't want any $(#$ fuck ups because of your personal problems, just get to the Command bunker and see what the hell Blackwater did to my son!" Reaper said to Tesla
"We'll try not to rip each other's throats out, Reaper. I promise." Tesla replied before putting the transmitter away
Meanwhile in the Command Bunker's Infirmary, Barnes was rushed into the infirmary and put onto the nearest available cot by the 502nd and Samantha, doctors, both civilian ran over to Barnes. One hooked him up onto medical equipment as the other opened up his one of his eyes and shined a light into it, he then closed the eye and wrote something down as Wensky was rushed into the room and put onto another cot, then the other doctor pulled out his Stethoscope and lifted Barnes' shirt and listened to his heartbeat and then felt his pulse and then wrote something down in his clipboard, then the other one put a needle attached to a clear tube and extracted blood from his veins and into a container, once it was halfway full, the doctor remove the needle and quickly walked away
"What's wrong with him doc?" Samantha asked the doctor eagerly
"We're going to do a blood test to see what we can find." The Doctor replied "The only things we have noticed out of the normal are a slower heartbeat and his eyes are dilated.
The Head of Security came into the bunker
"We searched every inch of this facility for any more infiltrators, but it appears that the team we wiped out was the only one. As we suspected they came through the sewers and no important files were missing and no important systems were damaged, so they were after the Colonel." The Head of Security said to the APM General "The Lieutenant over there was just unlucky and we're placing guards in and around the facility to make sure there aren't any more breaches in our security."
"Good, we're also getting word from our scouts behind Blackwater lines that a detachment from the 1st Legion is in route." The General replied "So that is probably a sign that is mess is about over."
"The 1st Legion?" Ramirez asked the General "Aren't those Reaper's men?"
"Yes, Reaper has his men surrounding the airfield and they're the reason that Blackwater is pulling their forces back." The General replied "They also have three Vikings with them, including Stoick. I've already sent the dragon riders out to find them and escort them to our lines."
A few minutes later, Karlson is in the commander seat of his Megathon as it goes down a street cramped with rubble, burnt out wrecks of vehicles, and other debris
"This is why I wish they would install bulldozer blades on these things!" Karlson's Tank Driver, Gordon said as the tank crushed an abandoned police car
"Shut up Gor." Karlson replied as he turned the sights of his remote operated chain gun with the X-Ray Imaging activated allowing him to see through the walls of the nearby buildings and debris
"Where the hell did Blackwater go?" Clayton, the tank's gunner asked Karlson
"They all must be heading for the others at the airfield." Karlson replied "Basically, they're all heading to their deaths, because we all know that most of the known munitions Blackwater uses can't penetrate our armor and not to mention nearly the fact they only have probably two days of experience while we have two-hundred something years under our belts."
There is a loud thump on the top of the Megathon's turret; Gordon stopped the tank as Karlson pulled out his AA-12 Assault Shotgun
"What the hell was that?" Gordon asked Karlson "I don't know, let me check."
Karlson turned the remote machine gun to face whatever landed on the turret and saw the yellow green eyes of a dragon looking directly at him, Karlson jumped and bumped his head against the hatch before he opened it and poked his head out
"Are you the one in charge?" The young Viking riding the dragon asked Karlson
"Yes." Karlson replied "I guess you're one of those Viking dragon riders we've been hearing so much about?"
"Name's Hiccup, is a Viking named Stoick here?" Hiccup asked Karlson
"Yes, he's in the APC with two others, Gobber and another named Camicazi." Karlson replied
"Well the general sent us to lead you to the Command Bunker." Hiccup said to Karlson "Because we know which roads haven't been booby trapped by the defenders."
"Then lead the way." Karlson replied
Meanwhile near the Cape Girardeau Airport
A loud and spine-chilling shrieking noise filled the air as APMSF Hover MLRS Batteries bombarded the Blackwater forces trying to break the APMSF encirclement of the airfield as Reaper watched the battle through the commander sights of his Megathon tank
"These Blackwater $#holes may look tough, but they collapse like a house of cards when they come under sustained fire." Reaper said in his mind as he watched a squad of Blackwater soldiers retreat as another barrage of rockets pounded their positions, Reaper leaned back in his chair, he had his gasmask off and it was lying down in his lap. Reaper looked like he was in his late thirties or early forties and he had dark brown hair and emerald eyes
"This is command to Overlord, please come in over." General Smict said to Reaper over the radio, Earl Smict was Reaper's father in law and close friend, a former Republican Army General that defected over to the APM after the marriage between Reaper and his daughter, Catherine Smict, Barnes' mother. Reaper picked up the transmitter
"What is it Smict?" Reaper replied
"This battle is finally about over, UAVs are detecting friendly forces come up from Sikeston and State Highway M and from ." Smict said to Reaper over the radio "Most of Blackwater's remaining forces in the area are beginning to disintegrate and an Alfa squad has apprehended the Blackwater Commander in charge."
"Roger that. After we're relieved I want the legions to concentrate on removing any remaining cells of Blackwater resistance in the area and hunting down any stranglers." Reaper replied "I'll regroup with Karlson's men at the command bunker and see what Blackwater did to Barnes and also get our best interrogator to work on that commander, he may provide us some information on MacTavish's beloved "Project Titan.""
"Ten-Four." Smict said to Reaper before cutting off
Reaper put the transmitter away
"Driver takes us to the command bunker as quickly as you can." Reaper said to the tank driver who turned the tank's reactor on and began to move
A few minutes later, at the Cape Girardeau Command Bunker Infirmary, a Doctor was giving Samantha, the 502nd, the dragon riders, Stoick, and Karlson
"We've never seen anything like this before." The Doctor said to them "We have detected a unknown substance in his bloodstream along with nanobots matches nothing in our data bases and they're starting to make some physical changes to the Colonel's body."
"What kind of physical changes?" Karlson asked the doctor, Karlson had his powered gas mask off.
Karlson was a German-American and former special forces who immigrated to America after being discharged from the military for disobeying orders during a tour of duty in Afghanistan and settled down in Missouri shortly before the outbreak of the second civil war. He is considered to be one of the many founding fathers of the modern APM. He had light brownish-blonde hair with light blue eyes.
"Take a look for yourself, colonel." The Doctor said as he handed his PDA to Karlson who looked at the contents of the screen before he handed back to the doctor
"We need to move him to a secure location where…more qualified officials can look at him." Karlson replied "Can we move him without problems?"
"I think so." The Doctor said to Karlson
A APMSF Officer approached Karlson whispered in his ear, Karlson nodded and whispered back
"Well the general is on his way here to see this for himself." Karlson said as the APMSF soldier left "I don't know how he's going to react to this."
A hour later, Reaper's Megathon tank arrived at the command bunker, Reaper opened up his hatched and quickly climbed out of the tank with the help of Hiccup who had guided Reaper to the command bunker safely
"Thanks kid." Reaper said to Hiccup as he climbed down from the Megathon and ran into the command bunker as the rest of his tank crew climbed out
"For a man of his experience I thought he would be an elder like General Conrad." Stoick said to Hiccup
"I did too." Hiccup replied "He looks like he's the same age as Barnes, but that's probably due to their life extension treatments.
"Their what?" Stoick asked Hiccup
"We overhead doctors talking about some life extending treatments that the Americans and a few other nations give their soldiers to maintain a large pool of experience soldiers, I don't know the mechanics behind it." Hiccup replied "You'll have to ask Reaper or one of the doctors."
A minute later in the Command bunker infirmary, Reaper arrived and saw his son on the cot
"What's wrong with him?" Reaper asked the nearest doctor who gulped
"Well, we don't know yet general." The Doctor replied "We've done as many tests as we could on him here, but nothing. So far we have detected an unknown substance in his bloodstream and nanobot and their starting to cause some kind of physical change in the body."
"Nanobots, and of what kind are we talking about, and about these physical change?" Reaper asked the doctor
"We don't know, they match nothing in our medical and scientific databases and the changes are like nothing we have never seen." The Doctor replied "We have sent a request to the medical director to send him to a more advanced facility."
"Screw the $$%#ing medical director! I want him and the lieutenant that was also injected moved to research facility in Nevada!" Reaper said to the doctor as he picked up his radio "KARLSON! Get the Mallards here immediately; we're transporting Barnes and the lieutenant to A51 with or without permission."
"Ten-Four, Reaper you may want to get down to the main officer's lounge, Samantha's down here." Karlson replied
"I'm on my way down." Reaper said to Karlson "Prepare him for transport doctor."
"Yes Reaper sir." The Doctor replied as he ordered the nearby nurses to prepare Barnes and Wensky for transport as Reaper left the infirmary and headed towards the Officer's Lounge on the way there he passed by the bodies of the Blackwater infiltrator squad that were being put into body bags by APMSF Stormtroopers "Did you find any intel on them?"
"Possibly, one of my men found a PDA on the officer and we have our best technical specialist trying to splice into it right now." The APMSF Officer replied
"Good, I want to be notified as soon as the specialist cracks it." Reaper said to the officer
"Yes Sir." The Officer replied as Reaper continued on to the Officer's lounge where Tesla was trying to comfort Samantha while Karlson talked to the 502nd and Katie
"How is she?" Reaper asked Tesla as she approached
"I'm fine, Reaper." Samantha replied "Thank you for coming out of hiding as well."
"You're welcome; I wasn't going sit on my ass and let Blackwater attack Cape Girardeau." Reaper said to Samantha "We're going move Barnes and the Lieutenant to A51 so we can do a closer examination on their conditions."
"Area 51, is it really that bad?" Tesla replied
"The docs have been unable to find out what these nanobots and the unknown substances are, so we're going to take them to our top-notch guys in Nevada to see if they can find out what those infiltrators did to Barnes and the Lieutenant."" Reaper said to Tesla
"When are we leaving?" Karlson replied
"Whenever the Mallards arrive to pick us up." Reaper said to Karlson "Ramirez, I want you and the rest of the squadron to come as well."
"Yes Sir." Ramirez replied
"I'm going with you." Samantha said to Reaper
"I have no problem with that." Reaper replied
"General, the tech officer has successfully spliced into the PDA of the Blackwater Infiltrator Squad Leader, she's in the mess hall." An APMSF Officer said over the radio to Reaper
"Roger that, I'm on my way." Reaper replied as he got up and left the room followed by Samantha, Karlson, Katie, the 502nd, and Tesla, when they reached the mess hall, the PDA is connect to the Tech Officer's own PDA. The Tech Officer was looking at the contents of the Blackwater PDA as the dragon riders along with Stoick, Gobber, and Camicazi, when the Tech Officer noticed Reaper, she stood up and saluated him as he approached
"Reaper Sir! I have successfully spliced the enemy's PDA." The Tech officer said to Reaper as he approached
"Well done, does any have useful material?" Reaper replied as looked at the PDA
"Yes Sir, I have also sent copies of the contents to military intelligence, the president, and Area 51 for further analysis." The Tech Officer said to Reaper
"Good, what have you found so far?" Reaper replied
"Well I managed to get an ID on the substances injected into Lieutenant Wensky and Colonel Barnes, according to the orders given to the inflitrators, it was Night Fury and Deadly Nadder DNA." The Tech Officer said to Reaper, who gave the officer a mixed look of suprised and shock
"Are you certain of this?" Reaper replied, the officer nodded
"I'm sure, because it's in pure text right here." The Officer said as he picked up the PDA and pointed to the text on it that Reaper read
"*#$#, what the hell is MacTavish up to?" Reaper replied after he finished reading "Karlson tell those Mallards to double time it here, if this information is true, we only have several hours before the changes induced by the nanobots accelerates."
"Yes Sir." Karlson said to Reaper as he got on his radio
"Should I get back to my unit?" Tesla asked Reaper, who nodded and Tesla left, the 502nd, Katie, and Samantha was standing quietly, shocked by the news
"Sam, are you sure you still want to come with us to A51?" Reaper asked Samantha
"Yes...Sir." Samantha replied quietly
"The transports are coming here as fast as they can, ETA, three minutes." Karlson said as he put his radio away
"Okay, send an order to all units of the 1st Legion to regroup and prepare for redeployment in southern Nevada as well, if what I am hearing from the media is correct, Blackwater is trying to take Las Vegas and we can't afford to lose that city due to it's close proximity to Area 51, several missile bases with who knows how many nukes inside them, and the two interstates that run through the city." Reaper replied, who nodded "And are the Orbital Weapons back up?"
"Yes, they were brought back up two hours ago." Karlson said to Reaper
"Good, because we're going to need them." Reaper replied
"Do you mind if we join you on your journey to Area 51?" Stoick asked Reaper
"No, we could use all the help we can get these days." Reaper replied.
Note: I use "Reaper" to describe any character based off me in one way or another.