Okay guys, sorry I haven't posted any chapters in a while. My PC's been down for a while, and it just got back from repair. BUT WE'VE GOT THE CHAPTER NOW! The continuation of the last chapter that is:
The Enemy of my Enemy…
Fires burned and bombs exploded in the distance. The crackle of gunfire was constant, and from their vantage point, the two active members of Ninjago Naval Special Operations Group, neither side was giving way. That was where they came in.
Luicha Khatosi adjusted the scope on his M28 Long-range rifle. He wasn't the designated sniper of the team, but that didn't mean he wasn't a good shot.
The man next to him had already made the final adjustments on his rifle. He, unlike his partner, was the designated sniper, a man named Henry "Hank" Jones. They came from two very different backgrounds, and yet they had become the closest of friends.
The two sat on their point overlooking the compound, both wearing ghillie suits. Luicha could see through his scope that the Cultist Pirates fought almost as well as the Elite Skulkin, who were tasked with defending the compound.
Henry tapped the radio on his ear. "HQ, this is Jones, permission to begin engagement, over?" He waited for a response for a few moments. Then, a sharp reply came through:
"Negative Jones, your orders are to wait for the 12th to show up. Then you're clear to engage, over."
Henry shook his head, grumbling quietly. "Solid copy HQ, we'll hold out."
The only problem was: they'd been holding out for three and a half days on top of the hill. The area around them smelled of urine and plant life, and Luicha was fairly sure that a bird had defecated onto him at some point.
The reason they had been holding out for so long was because Ninjago's High Command had been informed of the Darese Commander's plans two weeks before it happened. The Ninjagans were there to fight, but they were under no circumstances to harm Garmadon, the Skulkin, or any of the Darese Generals.
"Well, I gotta take a leak." Hank sighed, preparing to stand up from his belly-down position.
Luicha glanced over at him, his face painted a green-brown jungle camouflage. "Again? That's the third time today."
"Sorry I can't hold my bladder like you can, Khatosi. Do you Dark Islanders have a filter in your digestive systems or something?"
Luicha shrugged. "It's more like a valve." He replied, earning a chuckle from Henry.
Once more, the sniper prepared to stand, but was halted by the crackling of his radio. "HQ, this is Samurai 2-2, requesting fire mission on outskirts of compound, over."
HQ replied, "Negative 2-2, we have negative air dominance in the area, you'll have to go in on your own, over."
Hank was ushered back down by his partner as two HK-25 helicopters roared over the hill and towards the rising sun.
"There's the 12th Ranger Division…" Luicha muttered, before quickly looking down at his watch and adding, "And only 5 hours late! They'll be lucky if the Generals even give them Chen after this slip up."
Henry grimaced under his own face paint. "Yeah, the Darese don't like to play nice. No offense."
"None taken."
The designated sniper quickly bolted his rifle, chambering a round. He flipped safety off and allowed his finger to go to the trigger. He peered down his scope, thankful that there wasn't much wind today.
"How far out are we?" Luicha inquired, still trying to adjust the scope.
"About 2 kilos out."
Luicha twisted the knob on top of his scope and prepared to take aim, but by then Henry had fired off his first shot.
The sniper bolted again, putting his second round in the chamber. "Hit." He muttered, before aiming and quickly firing again. "Hit again."
"Show off…" Luicha muttered, before firing himself. He hit a Pirate in the left calf, blowing his lower leg off and taking him out of the fight. "He'll bleed out," he assured himself, taking aim at his next target.
Henry was taking out targets left and right just outside of the compound, where about 20 meters of heavy-duty fence had been blown down by some stray explosion. "Just target the ones near the broken fence," he told his partner. "That's where Samurai 2 will land."
Taking his advice, Luicha began only picking out targets in that vicinity. After another 20 seconds of shooting, every target was down in that area.
"Pound it, bro." Henry said, holding out his fist. Luicha gladly accepted the gesture, fist-bumping his comrade.
Luicha tapped his radio. "Samurai, this is Ice 3. You are cleared for landing on the west side of the compound, over."
A woman's voice came through. "Ice 3, this is Samurai 2-6, thanks for the assist, over."
Luicha flipped off his radio, as Henry twisted his rifle over to reload it.
While removing the magazine, Henry began to speak about an upcoming holiday. "Damn Khatosi, can you believe it's only five days 'till Christmas? Five days, and they've got us on a mission."
Luicha shrugged. "I just want to get back to the Aircraft Carrier and TimeFace my family back in Ninjago City. It's a shame that I won't be able to see them in person."
About 2 kilometers ahead of the duo, a team of 10 sat in an HK-25 helicopter slowly hovering over the compound.
Inside were such familiar faces like Skylar Chen, Lars Panrocka, and Colonel Rogers.
Rogers, armed with a P12S, was trying to do anything to motivate them. "… We're here to get one of Ninjago's greatest enemies! No, not Garmadon, but the Pirate Cultist who has assaulted both us and the Darese! We fight to- oh, forget it! Just get out there and kill!"
Skylar Chen, seated next to Lars Panrocka, took a cigarette out of her patch. She quickly lit it, before it was smacked out of her hand by her very good friend, Lars.
"Do you know how bad that is for you, Chen?" Lars questioned, stepping on the cigarette butt.
Skylar had to chuckle lightly. "We're about to go into combat with live bullets being fired at us, and you're concerned with my smoking habit?"
"That's not an excuse, Skylar."
"ALRIGHT!" Colonel Rogers shouted to no one in particular. "We're moving out!" He used his free hand to smooth out his black moustache, before raising his handgun and walking towards the back of the helicopter.
The doors opened, and the 10 Rangers and their Colonel rushed outside to join the fight.
Lars, armed with his standard Ranger gear and L-19, was immediately thrown into combat. The second HK-25, which had just finished dropping off its 15 Rangers, took off. It was immediately hit by a stray rocket from deep within the compound and began to spin.
Lars watched as the helicopter twitched and slammed into the ground, hard. He heard someone shout, "Was that a friendly rocket?! Was that a Code Blue?!"
Colonel Rogers was quick to reply. "Negative, negative! We've got 45 tangos inbound from the east! Open fire!"
Lars dropped to a knee and began firing towards the east. The dirt-covered ground began to spit up dust as bullets whipped by and feet stomped.
The Ranger took clear and quick aim, dropping Pirate after Pirate. Eventually, a Cultist got to Lars. The fighter kicked down the Ranger, making him fall on his back. The pirate prepared to finish him off, but a bullet smacked into his head.
Skylar Chen walked up and kicked over the still-standing Pirate's corpse. "You owe me one for that, Panrocka." She said before offering the Ranger a hand up. Lars gladly took it.
Skylar went into full-on kill mode. She dropped one pirate armed with a belt of grenades, then fired again into the chest of a half-naked pirate.
A third pirate with a machete got close and took a downward swing at her. She blocked it by turning her rifle sideways and holding it above her head. Then, with her opponent occupied, she swiftly kicked him back with her boot and took aim. Another squeeze of the trigger and the pirate went down.
Colonel Rogers wasn't doing to shabby himself. He took deadly aim with his handgun, popping any Darese pirate who got into range. He saw a pirate bearing a belt of grenades about 30 yards away.
The pirate pulled one of the pins, and prepared to throw it, but a large bullet caught his chest and caused his internal organs to strew out. The belt of grenades soon after went off, killing five other pirates.
The Colonel turned towards one of the large hills overlooking the compound and gave the two snipers a thumbs-up.
The last two pirates in the charge were killed, and once more the Rangers were alone in the west side of the compound.
A Ranger ran up to Rogers, breathing heavily. "Sir, sir! The HK-25 that went down, one of the pilots is still alive! There's small arms fire coming from the cockpit!"
The Colonel sighed. He originally didn't want to divert men, but part of the Ranger Creed was to leave no man behind, and Rogers was a good Ranger. He pointed to Lars and nine other Rangers. "You guys are with me! We're recovering the downed pilot! Chen!"
Skylar turned to her name being called. "Yes sir?"
"You take the rest of the Rangers and move into the compound through the loading dock. Our contact is a General under Garmadon, his call sign is Ghost. Understood?"
"Hooah!" Skylar replied, before rallying her troops and running towards the loading dock.
Rogers tapped his radio on. "Ice 2, this is Samurai Actual. We're moving to recover a downed pilot from the crashed HK-25. At this rate, we won't be able to load everyone onto the remaining HK-25. Can you call in another one, over?"
The reply was quick and short. "I'll see what I can do. No promises, over."
Colonel Rogers shook his head. It would have to do for now. He raised his P126 and began heading towards the location of the downed helicopter with his 10 Rangers in tow.
While Rogers took a stroll towards the helicopter, Skylar's team had begun conducting hall-to-hall combat. One Ranger quickly expressed concerns. "Where are all the Skulkin? Ain't there supposed to be, like, 600 at the compound?'
Skylar shook her head. "I dunno. Maybe there on lunch break. Good for them. We don't take lunch breaks, now let's find this guy!" She continued running through the halls, engaging in close-quarters.
Outside, Lars Panrocka and Colonel Rogers had just reached the crash site. About 12 Skulkin soldiers were holding their own against a little under a hundred Pirate Cultists. What's more, the Skulkin were the only thing between the Cultists and the Ninjagan Pilot.
Colonel Rogers quickly ordered Lars and the others to flank the Cultists and to kill as many as possible. He then tapped his radio, and made this desperate plea:
"HQ, this is Samurai Actual! I NEED an air support fire mission! I don't care if you have to fly a damn passenger plane into the ground! I just need some friendly support, over!"
He listened closely to the reply, before sighing in relief. "FN-34 Fighter Squadron inbound!"
A Ranger, who had just fired into the crowd of pirates, called back. "Which one!?"
"Squadron D, 47th Ninjago Interceptor Wing! ETA 40 seconds!"
"Forty?" Lars called, sending a bullet into a Pirate's head. "I don't think we're going to last that long!"
Another Ranger joined in. "Yeah, I think that-"
The Ranger was cut off as a DR-21 round ripped through his neck, spilling massive amounts of blood from his jugular. The poor man was forced to suffocate slowly while losing tremendous amounts of blood.
Lars grimaced at the sight, before standing up and flipping his L-19 onto automatic fire. He held down the trigger, spraying enemy forces with rounds. He could hear the sound of a jet engine in the distance.
He reloaded his L-19, flipping back onto semi-automatic. Just as he did so, three FN-34 fighters zoomed overhead. Lars could hear some of the radio chatter from Colonel Rogers' headset:
"Karnage, this is Thief. Targets are marked and we're ready to commit strafing run."
"Solid copy Thief, sit tight while we turn around. Piano, you ready?"
"Roger sir, missiles in downward position. Let's light these fools."
The three fighters once more zoomed overhead, dropping loads of bombs and lead onto the enemy. In one bombing run, the Cultist lines were torn apart as they ran and scattered in an attempt to get out.
Lars raised his weapon to kill the stragglers, but the barrel of his rifle was pushed back down by another Ranger, who shook his head. "No need, Panrocka."
The remaining Rangers trotted over to the 9 standing Skulkin in front of their helicopter. Colonel Rogers, who spoke fluent Darese, began to speak with them. "Tu arete? Wey as Morta?"
As the soldiers began to chatter in their native language amongst themselves, one stepped forward. He was a taller man, with a strong jaw line. He was, however, somewhat bony, and donned an interesting Mohawk as his hair style. Still, this was not a man one would want to pick a fight with.
"I am 2nd Commander Nuckal of Garmadon's Personal Army. You're looking for Ghost, I presume?" The man said. Lars almost laughed at how high-pitched and confused he sounded.
Colonel Rogers responded swiftly. "I'm Colonel Rogers, 3rd Battalion of the 12th Ranger Division."
Nuckal looked confused. "I thought they kept Colonels back at your bases, away from the fight."
Rogers just grinned. "Well, I ain't that kind of Colonel. Now, I am looking for Ghost. He's got a business proposal that the Ninjagan Government can't miss."
The Skulkin looked around at each other. "Alright," Nuckal said. "2nd Platoon, or what's left of you… let's get a move on!"
The Skulkin and the Rangers ran side by side, covering each other rather than shooting each other. They made it to the compound, where one detachment of Rangers was already doing work.
Sergeant Skylar Chen led said detachment of 15, moving swiftly and quietly. "I feel like we're going in circles here." A Ranger just behind Skylar said.
"I know how you feel, but we've gotta keep moving. If we don't we'll miss our opportunity." Skylar replied. "And how do you think High Command would feel if-"
A Cultist wielding a DR-21 popped out from around a corner and was immediately shot dead by three different Rangers.
The group reached a stairwell. "Alright. We'll split up. I'll head downstairs with six of you. The other eight will go upstairs. Take no prisoners. Hooah?"
"Hooah!" The group called back.
They split. Skylar made her way down the elegant stairwell until she reached about halfway. "I hear breathing," she whispered.
The man behind her nodded. "Just say the Countersign."
Skylar's breathing began to speed up. "Star!" she called down. "Star!"
There was a few moments of silence, before they got their response: "Jamanakai!"
Skylar and about 4 other Rangers behind her exhaled. They still moved with caution as they reached the bottom step. The only lights were rickety light bulbs that kept the room dimmed.
She stepped forward to get a better look at the group. "Is Ghost here? We ne-"
She stopped, frozen in her tracks, as her father slowly looked up at her.
"Skylar?" He asked, a large bruise on his head. "Is that you?"
She stood still, eyes wide, not saying a word. When a man put a cold hand on her shoulder, she yelped and almost raised her rifle.
A man wearing a black uniform and wicked grin looked down at her. "Morro- er, Ghost, if you prefer, is out in the courtyard. Lots of gunfire coming from up there. I would go find out what his situation is." He had a foreign accent that Skylar couldn't exactly place.
She just nodded quickly, before pointing to the stairwell, ordering her Rangers to head upstairs. She prepared to follow, when another cold hand grabbed her ankle. She turned to see her father, bellowing on the floor.
"Skylar," he pleaded, "Skylar, please don't go! I'm sorry for what I did, honest!"
Skylar shook off his hand and kicked him square in the face, adding another bruise to him. "You don't deserve forgiveness. 3rd Battalion, move out!"
The Rangers ran up the stairs and were immediately met by the other Rangers who were tasked with going upstairs. They were all covered in dust and/or hacking and coughing, and Skylar noticed that they were a man short.
"What the hell happened up there, Tokawi!?" Skylar asked, referring to a private that was missing his helmet and was bleeding out of his left ear.
"We… there was a man, a man with nothing but some baggy pants and a pair of dirty shoes on. I think he was a pirate, because he tossed an IED at us and killed Corporal Nuyat."
Skylar sighed. "You guys need to stay out of the fight from now on. You look like you're all about to fall apart. Stay here and shoot anyone who isn't wearing a Skulkin or Ninjagan uniform. Tokawi, you're in charge."
That said, Skylar took her six Rangers and headed towards the main courtyard. She had studied maps of the compound before the raid had commenced, so she knew where to go.
Unbeknownst to her, Rangers were already fighting in the courtyard. "HQ, this is Samurai 2-2, requesting another fire mission, over!" Lars shouted into his radio as he hid behind a blown-up cargo truck.
"Negative 2-2, Squadron D is unavailable at this time. We're sending another HK-25 Transport your way, ETA fifteen minutes, over."
Lars cursed and strapped his radio back onto his belt. He grabbed his L-19 and stood up, aiming into the courtyard.
From his vantage point he could see all sorts of chaos. A few men in black uniforms lead around 120 Skulkin against just under 200 Pirates.
Nuckal was standing next to him, sending rounds downrange from his DR-25. When he ran out of ammunition in his magazine, he ducked down and turned to Lars. "This is the last batch of them! If we get through this, the whole Compound is liberated!" he shouted, slamming another magazine into his rifle.
Lars nodded, before hearing a Clink! and turning to see a small hand-thrown fragmentation grenade roll by. He turned to Nuckal, who was oblivious to the situation, and dived into him. "GET DOWN!" he yelled, holding the Skulkin down.
The grenade went off, causing a large explosion that sent shrapnel flying. The front of the truck was blown to pieces. Lars felt a pain in his foot as the explosion past and the ringing set in. He flipped onto his back and off of Nuckal.
The Darese man leaned over and checked Lars for shrapnel. He found nothing on his chest, nor his legs or arms. He checked the feet last, and grimaced at what he saw.
A sharp of glass had pierced the bottom of Lars' right foot. It hadn't gone all the way through, but Nuckal could tell that he was out of this fight.
The ringing in Lars' ears left, and was almost immediately replaced by an immense pain in his foot. He heard Nuckal yelling in Darese, then the pain became too bad to bear and he passed out.
Colonel Rogers realized he and his men were fighting a losing battle. He fired into the head of a pirate, then ducked as another swung a baseball bat at him. Rogers hit the ground, then fired twice more, hitting the Cultist square in the chest.
The Colonel stood up and immediately felt something hit him hard in the chest. His only armor was a Kevlar vest, which stopped the bullet almost entirely.
He fell on his back as three Pirates began running towards him. He grabbed his P12S and tried to fire, but realized he was out of ammo. He threw his empty handgun at the Cultists and reached down to grab his combat knife. 'If I'm goin' out,' he thought, 'I'm going out swinging.'
The first Pirate reached him and aimed down as though to kill him. Rogers reached forward and stabbed the man in the calf, causing him to scream. He then grabbed the Pirates DR-21 and fired at the two remaining pirates, taking them down.
From her vantage point inside, Skylar Chen could see the fight going on. "Jesus Christ," she muttered. "Didn't know Mad Dog Rogers was such a badass."
She turned back to her Rangers and took a head count. Six soldiers, ready to die for Ninjago. "Alright! We've got some brave guys out there on both sides of the spectrum. I know you guys may not like it, but we've got to help those Skulkin fighters. Now let's go kick some ass!"
The Rangers cheered and readied their rifles. Back on the hill, the two Snipers were doing everything in their power to keep the Pirates at bay, both in the courtyard and against themselves. Many of the retreating Pirates that had left the compound were now regrouping and charging against the snipers on the hill.
Luicha Khatosi had ditched his M28 in favor of his standard CL-19 and P12S. He had also dropped his ghillie suit, now clad in a short-sleeved red polo and Kevlar vest, with cargo pants. He now looked like a true operator.
He fired down the hill at the opposing forces who came in endless waves. Henry was still in sniper gear, trying to cover the men in the compound. He gunned down a pirate wielding a DR-21, then hit another who was preparing to throw a grenade.
Luicha heard a Click! as the last round left his CL-19. He reached for another magazine and realized that he was clear out.
He threw down his rifle and reached for his side holster, grabbing his P12S. He then continued firing at the Pirates, who kept charging. The Darese-turned-Ninjagan man turned to his partner. "Hank!"
The sniper halted his fire for a moment to watch his friend.
"If we go out, we go out protecting out brothers on the ground! Hooyah?" Luicha said, using the Navy's variation of the Army's Hooah.
"Hooyah." Henry responded, and went back to firing.
Luicha fired into the chest of a Pirate, dropping him. Another who was a mere 10 yards ahead took a bullet to the groin, and a third was hit in the lung. Luicha switched magazines, firing once more.
Henry began changing the magazine in his M28, until he saw it. Out of the corner of his eye, a pirate threw a grenade up the hill. It rolled behind them, and he only had time to scream, "FRAG! WATCH IT!"
Luicha heard his partner scream the phrase, and then he was blown forward. His ears began to ring and he watched as Pirates ran up to him and began kicking at his body. He coughed blood onto the rocky ground below, and began cursing at the Pirates in Darese.
He saw a Pirate pick up Luicha's P12S and aim it at Henry's head.
The sniper closed his eyes, and heard firing from a CL-19 come from above. The Pirates began shouting as a helicopter roared overhead. Four men fast-roped from the HK-25 and began firing on the pirates, taking them out en masse. eHe
When the last Cultist fell, a man with operator's gear and a baseball cap ran over to Henry. "Hey, hey! You alright?!" he shouted, grabbed the sniper's arm.
Henry nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Check on Luicha."
The man looked confused, before he saw the other operator lying on the ground, motionless. He ran over, tapping Luicha's shoulder. It took a moment, but Luicha finally got onto his elbows.
"Sergeant Khatosi? I'm Sergeant Liam Hudson, from NNSOG's Team Beehive. We heard you boys in Team Ice needed a hand, so here we are." He offered Luicha a hand, which he gladly accepted.
Henry stood up and was immediately met by another Operator wielding a M28. "Sergeant Henry Jones, I presume?"
The sniper nodded under his ghillie suit. "Y'all can call me Hank. Who might you be?"
The operator grinned. "Don't worry 'bout it. You'll find out in debriefing. All you have to know is that you and I are going to be staying up here and providing sniper support while the others head down the hill and to the compound."
Hank nodded and grabbed his M28. Luicha picked up his CL-19, before realizing it was out of ammunition.
Hudson noticed this, and tossed a magazine. Luicha caught it and shoved it into his CL-19. "Let's get a move on. Those Rangers aren't going to save themselves." He said, before taking off down the hill.
Lars Panrocka slowly opened his eyes. There were no sounds except for chattering in Darese and Ninjagan, as well as the sound of fires roaring in the distance.
He tried to get to his feet, but was immediately held back by his friend Skylar Chen. "Easy there, Panrocka. You ain't moving around on your own with THAT thing still in your foot."
He took in his surroundings and realized he was in the back of an HK-25. There were quite a few Rangers inside, as well as six beefy-looking operator guys.
"Are… are those NNSOG?" He whispered. "And did we win?" He finally noticed another figure in a stained purple cloak with a bag over his head. "And who is that?"
Skylar turned to the man and chuckled. "First off, those operators are NNSOG. They damn well saved our asses out there. Second off, we won with flying colors. Only four casualties including one of the pilots in the downed HK-25. Thirdly, that is my Old Man, Snake Eyes."
The man with the sack over his head turned. "I heard that! Why don't you love me anymore?"
The Ranger next to him wacked him with the butt of his rifle. "Shut it, Crazy! Your Pirates are dead, and your Cult is no more! JUST QUIT IT!"
The cloaked man was silent after that.
"One more thing," Skylar added. "One of the High-ranking Skulkin wanted me to give this to you." She handed him a sort of makeshift card.
Lars flipped onto his back and opened it. Inside was a poorly drawn picture of a grenade, along with the words: "Thanks for saving my life! See you on the battle field, Ninjagan! –Love, Nuckal."
Lars laid his head back, chuckled, and prepared for the long ride back to the Aircraft Carrier.
Well, that was a long one. But it was the last chapter before Warriors of Christmas, so it was worth it! Once again, sorry I couldn't get this out on time. Warriors of Christmas will most likely be out by Christmas Morning. Consider it my gift to you for the Holidays. Adios!
