Operation: Archangel
Chapter 11
Camp Wellington
Z-day + 2971
D-Day+35
15:40
"So, how'd it go boss?"
Tigger said nothing as he walked over to their fridge. He removed a wifebeater before slamming the fridge door shut and collapsing into a nearby chair, popping the seal on his drink.
Shit, was the answer.
Even with the warning from HMS Ambush, the damage was considerable. Despite their best efforts, a lot of the missiles got through. They'd been lucky, most of the fleet was dispersed on patrol and not in harbor at the time, but HMS Iron duke and Kirishima had been sunk and the Hyuga was still burning, it was doubtful that they'd be able to save her. The ground strike had done considerable damage as well. 15 fixed wing aircraft as well as 7 helicopters destroyed, including 12 harriers. Another two-dozen damaged to varying degrees on top of 72 dead and over a nearly a hundred wounded.
Following the attack, they'd received a transmission from Hokkaido. It was a radio transmission from one Admiral Vitomir Nikolayevich, former commander of the Russian Pacific fleet, on behalf of the 'Pan-Asian naval alliance', which claimed sovereignty over the Isle of Japan as well as most of the pacific rim, and demanded that the British task force withdraw.
The powers that be had met and a decision made. All of the commanding officers had been summoned to a briefing on what was to happen. A briefing which Tigger had just returned from.
Tigger drank his beer in one prolonged gulp, before crushing the can in his hand.
"Shit." He said simply.
The rest of the troop could tell he was furious. He had that look in his eye, the look of a man who was ready to attack, maim, mutilate and murder just about anything that crossed him. They waited patiently as he removed a box of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one up and took a deep drag before offering an explanation.
"The powers that be, have decided to negotiate," Tigger said with spite. "That we, quote 'need to establish a dialogue with them and make them understand that it is in their best interest to return to the fold'."
"You're shitting us!" Coppers exclaimed, disbelievingly.
"I shit you not mate," Tigger replied before taking another drag of his smoke.
"So where does that leave us?" Oz asked. Oz had been promoted to troop Sergeant following Snorlax's death. He had more experience in special forces than Coppers and Rika was technically on secondment from the SAT so not eligible for the position.
"As we were," Tigger said with a sigh. "Temporary stand down pending re-deployment."
"Boss! These bastards sank 2 ships and killed seventy people!" Coppers exclaimed. "Are we just gonna sit here and let it go?" Tigger smiled slightly.
"I share the sentiment, Mike." He said. "But what are you going to do? Go all fucking Rambo, shoot anything that moves and blow up anything that doesn't? That'll either you get killed or thrown in the clink for the rest of your life." Tigger lay back into his seat.
"Now you can either do that or wait for orders like the rest of us. Because trust me, when this shit hits the fan and hit it it will, we're the ones who are gonna be sent in to clean it up."
…
Hills around Companions rest
Z-day + 2971
D-Day+35
17:00
"Ok, so who would win in a fight? 2014 Godzilla, or Pre-refit Gipsy Danger?"
Chris pondered the question for a moment before answering.
"Pre-refit? Godzilla, no question." He said, glancing over at Kohta. "Post refit, probably Gipsy."
"No way!" Kohta protested. "Godzilla would just use his radiation breath on him!"
"Nah. Gipsy took re-entry heat friction and a nuclear blast and survived, plus her conn-pod is radiation shielded so the crew are safe. Besides, Gipsy could just run Godzilla through with her chain swords."
Saeko shook her head and smiled. "This is what I get for sharing patrol with Otaku."
The three of them were out scouting some of the hills farther from Companions rest. Chris had rapidly found flying a desk irksome and because of a number of delays and the recent attack, Kohta's armorer course had been postponed, leaving him in a slight funk. Seeing that her two friends were both in dire need of a distraction, Saeko had invited them to go with her instead of Takashi and Rei.
They'd spent the last few hours hiking through the woods, having decided not to bother with a car so as to save on fuel and maintain stealth as best they could. Saeko was on point, Kohta following with an M16 and Chris bringing up the rear with only his swords and a Sig, having traded weight and firepower for stealth and agility.
"Ok, I got another one," Kohta said. "Which would win in a fight. An imperial star destroyer? Or the…"
"Quiet." Saeko suddenly interrupted. Everyone froze.
Her hand fell to her sword hilt and she pulled it loose in its saya with a sclick before she stepped forward silently. Chris did the same with his katana and Kohta flicked the safety off his rifle.
The tree line thinned and the trio came to a road. In the past, this road would have been a quiet country lane that would have been driven by farmers and tourists visiting the mountain's hot springs. Today, however, it was empty and silent and Chris almost stepped out into the road without realizing. The trio stopped just inside the wood line. Just beyond the trees, the hard shoulder rose slightly to meet the tarmac.
They looked around, down both directions of the road and into the woods on the other side of the road. All three of them noticed it, the trees seemed to be moving.
"Must be over a hundred of them," Chris whispered. "They're surprisingly quiet too."
"Maybe their vocal cords have degraded so they can't growl or moan," suggested Kohta. It was possible, none of them had any expertise in corpse biology.
"Regardless, we should head back with our friends none the wiser," Saeko said. Chris and Kohta agreed. They might be able to take them, but the best way to survive fighting zombies, was not to fight them unless you had to.
"Alright, let's get outta here," Chris said, he turned to Kohta. "Kohta, you've got point."
Kohta nodded. He stood, turned and took a single step before there was a metallic snap underfoot.
"AARRGGHHH!" Kohta screamed in agony. Chris and Saeko spun and watched in horror as he collapsed, a metal jaw with sharp teeth digging into his right leg just above his boot, gushing blood and tearing muscle from bone.
"Hirano!" Saeko shouted as she and Chris rushed to his aid.
"Aww shit, he's stood on a fucking bear trap!" Chris announced as he examined the wound. It was bad. He doubted Kohta would lose the foot, but it was gonna need a tourniquet and a hospital when they got him out.
And then the groaning starting.
"Oh shit," Kohta said. He could see the undead horde turning to cross the road towards them through his teared-up eyes.
"Saeko, hold them off," Chris said as he threw his day sack off and started retrieving tools from it. "I'll deal with Kohta, just buy me some time."
"Guy's, just go!" Kohta pleaded as Saeko stood and turned to face the threat. "Just leave me and save yourselves."
"As courageous as that it Hirano - kun," Saeko said with a slight smirk as she unsheathed Murata-tou. "I do not wish to have to explain to your family why we left you behind."
"Yeah, sod that mate," Chris said, looking up at his friend. "I Ain't pissin' off your pink demon of a wife!"
Despite the agonizing pain, Kohta smiled at that.
As Chris began to work, Saeko stepped forward, carefully surveying the scene as she cleared the tree line and felt firm tarmac underfoot. Despite facing down maybe a hundred undead, she remained calm and stoic as she carefully chose her target, before she lunged and began her bloody harvest.
"You know," Kohta said watching as undead bodies, heads, and blood started to fly. "She still scares me when she does that."
"You should've seen her when she was 13 and angry," Chris said as he dug through the medkit and withdrew a hit of morpheein and pulled the cap off. "This will take the pain away." He said before jabbing it into Kohta's leg, yelping slightly.
"Baby," Chris muttered. The morphine would take the pain away, now he just needed to get his leg free. The trap was a simple one, with a single bent piece of steel as a spring either side of the jaws and a flat pan in the middle, currently with Kohta's boot on it. It was basic physics, the 'springs' were forcing the jaws shut, press down on the springs, relieve the pressure on the jaws, get Kohta's leg out. Simple.
"Chris! On your right!"
Chris looked up at Kohta's warning. A few undead were getting around Saeko's slaughter fest, and she was too preoccupied to deal with stragglers. Chris grunted and drew his Sig, flicking off the safety and opened up firing one handed and expending the entire magazine in dropping them. He pressed the mag release and slotted in a fresh mag from his webbing. He wasn't going to get Kohta out if he had to stop and fight.
"Kohta," He said, releasing the action on the pistol and offering him the sig. "Cover me."
"What?" He asked, taking the pistol. "What about the morphine?"
"Just don't shoot me or Saeko," Chris said shortly, not wanting to stop and question whether it was really a good idea to give a man about to be as high as a kite on morphine a loaded weapon. He simply needed the undead off his back so he could get Kohta's leg free, plus the drugs hadn't taken full effect yet, so hopefully, Kohta could still shoot straight.
Kohta simply nodded and started steadily with both hands. He could still shoot. Chris tentatively put his hands on the springs and pressed down. Hard. Kohta cried in pain again as the rusted metal teeth started to relieve their pressure and retract from his leg. Chris was struggling though; this spring was really really stiff. The jaws were nearly wide enough.
"Kohta…" Chris strained to say, "Move. Your. Damn. Leg!"
Kohta winced as he kicked his leg up and clear of the trap, just as Chris's strength gave out and the jaws snapped shut again. Both men breathed heavily for a second before Chris went for a tourniquet and Kohta shot another zombie that slipped past Saeko.
"Sorry, but this is going to hurt," Chris said as he looped the tourniquet over Kohta's boot and past the still bleeding wound. Kohta bit back a scream as Chris tightened the tourniquet above the wound. It would hurt like hell, but it would stop the bleeding.
"Right then," Chris said. Kohta's wound was dealt with for now. How was Saeko doing?
Chris looked over. Simply put, she looked like she was having the time of her life, despite being covered in undead blood. Dozens of zombie corpses lay dismembered and dead at her feet. Her blade was still swinging in clattering graceful arks of death and she had that shit ass grin on her face.
"That stupid woman! She's gonna get herself killed!" Chris growled. She was in so much battle lust she couldn't see that she was about to be surrounded! Chris pulled his last Sig magazine from his webbing and tossed it to Kohta before moving his M16 within his grabbing reach. "I'm going in! Try not to shoot us!"
Before Kohta could answer, Chris was charging towards Saeko, Swords out of their saya's and roaring a thunderous kiai. The first undead turned to face him. Chris forced his wakizashi downwards through its eye socket before decapitating it a moment later with his katana. With a flick of his sword short the head went flying as the blade opened another walking corpse from ear to shoulder. Saeko looked up at him and their eyes met. Her eyes were wild, unhinged… like a wild animal.
A grin spread Chris' face.
As he watched them kiai and go back to slaying the undead, Kohta, despite the pain in his leg, was grateful that the morphine didn't seem to be having an effect. Otherwise, the drugs would've clouded his vision and he wouldn't have seen them for what they were. They were samurai. Trained, deadly, samurai armed of old reborn to fight a new threat… heh, maybe the drugs were having an effect after all.
Moments later, there were only three of them left.
Chris was about to finish one when disaster struck. Saeko's sword, having been weakened by the years of fighting and the extended period of combat, shattered as she slashed across the ribcage of one of the two she was engaged with.
All her rage. All her battle lust, vanished as she watched the shattered shards of her sword glint in the air. She stumbled over a corpse and fell. The two undead followed her down. Terrified, she thrust Murata-tou's handle and the remaining inch or so of blade into the eye socket of the first. But the second landed over her legs. She made a blood-curdling scream as it bit into her.
Chris's heart split at her scream. He'd just finished his zombie as she did. He turned to face her, a split second passed as he registered the situation in his brain, and a shot of adrenaline into his muscles in response to the threat to the woman he loved.
Chris took three strides and grabbed the feasting zombie by the shoulders, his muscles flexing as he pulled the monstrosity off Saeko and flung it away with casual ease before he spun on his heels and advanced, twirling his katana high overhead with the tip pointed down, roaring in anger as he thrust it down. Once. Twice. Three times.
Chris drew three heavy breaths. His face seething with controlled aggression mixed with animalistic rage. Satisfied that the threat was dead, he looked at Saeko lying on the ground, her face pale and unnaturally quiet. He rushed to her side and took a knee over her.
"Saeko!" He said as he looked over the wound. No doubt, a full bite. She was infected. Saeko's breath started to become erratic and she looked up at Chris.
"T… Takashi?"
"KOHTA! MED KIT!" Chris shouted. There was only one way to save her. He whipped his sword clean of undead blood or anything else. He looked at her, fragile and dying. He had to do it, she could hate him for it later. If she survived.
He raised his katana. Hesitated. Then brought it down on her.
Kohta hobbled up, flinging Chris's daysack to him and collapsed as he completed the amputation.
"Saeko! Stay with me Saeko!" Chris said with panic as he worked as fast as he could, slapping a double shot of morphine into her and getting a tourniquet over her amputated leg.
"Chris…" Kohta said as he looked at Saeko's bitten amputated leg. "Is she?"
"No!" Chris said with a death glare that could sink a battleship as he pulled his radio out of its pouch and pressed the transmit button, holding Saeko's hand as she slipped into unconsciousness.
"Hello Zero acknowledge, this is Romeo Seven-five-Zero. Request immediate medivac on grid 735,284. Two times casualties. One Cat C. One cat A field amputation. Zero alpha acknowledge!"
No answer, just static.
"Fuck!" Chris swore. They were too high in the mountains for a radio signal to get through. Their best bet was to get back to companion's rest and use the transmitter there. Chris sheathed his swords, threw his daysack on his back and carefully put Saeko over his shoulder.
"Kohta," He said as he stood carefully. "I need you to be able to walk buddy. I can't carry you and Saeko."
"Leave me, save Saeko," Kohta said shaking his head as he struggled and failed to get up. "I'll just slow you down." Chris grabbed Kohta by his collar and practically snarled at his friend.
"Look mate! We've been over this! I am not going back to camp to explain to your wife and son why I abandoned you wounded in the field waiting to die. And the sooner you get the hell up the sooner we can get Saeko the help she needs. NOW ON YOUR FEET SOLDER!"
Kohta grunted as he tried to rise and Chris hauled him to his feet, putting his left arm over his shoulder to support him as they hobbled away as fast as they could.
…
Companions rest
Z-day + 2971
D-Day+35
20:37
Saya Takagi was a genius. She could solve problems that others just couldn't, predict certain events before they became a problem, and was a mother and teacher to her child. But none of that was helping her to stay calm right now.
Her husband, Saeko and Lieutenant Young were hours overdue with no contact! Takashi, Rei and some of the others had gone out looking for them, but they weren't back yet and she's been left in charge… and where the hell was her husband!
"Saya-Chan!" A voice shouted from across the courtyard. Saya smiled slightly, there was only one person who dared call her that.
"Yes Munchkin?" Saya replied, turning to face Alice as she ran up to her. She knew Alice disliked the nickname as much as she disliked being called Saya-Chan, but as long as she called her Saya-Chan, she'd call her munchkin.
"Young-Sensei is on the radio," Alice said, not reacting to the nickname. She had a sense of determination and purpose in her eyes that told Saya something was wrong. She thrust a military radio to her. "He needs to talk to you urgently."
Saya took the radio. "Takagi here."
"Takagi. Thank god. Listen carefully." Young said. Saya could hear he was moving and breathing heavily, his voice was strained with excursion. "I need you to go to my office, get on the sat phone and call for a medivac on speed dial 5. Tell them I need an immediate medivac at Companions rest. Two casualties. One Cat C, one Cat A field amputation."
"What?!" Saya screamed. Alice recoiled slightly. "What happened?!"
"Saya, I'll tell you when we get to camp but right now I need you to call that medivac or Saeko's gonna die and your husband's probably going to join her!" Young retorted. "Do you understand?"
A myriad or emotions ran through Saya simultaneously; shock, fear, terror. What had happened out there? Were her best friend and husband going to die?
"Saya! Do you understand?!" Young shouted, snapping her back to reality.
"Yes…" She said hesitantly. "I understand."
"Good," Young said, he was sucking in air. "We're two minutes from the gate."
"I'll have Shizuka meet you there," Saya said. She threw the radio to Alice and ran towards the house as fast as she could.
Saya found the sat phone and frantically made the call, relaying the information Young had given her perfectly. The operator calmly relayed the information and assured her that a helicopter was being dispatched and would be there in under five minutes and that everything would be ok.
She just hung up as the gates opened.
Young was ready to drop. As soon as he was through the gates people rushed towards him. "Take them," he wheezed, refereeing to Saeko and Hirano. He couldn't support them any longer. Shizuka seized Saeko and Raiden took Kohta as Young's strength finally gave out and he collapsed to the ground, sucking in air as hard as he could and trying not to vomit.
"What happened?" He heard Takagi shout as she rushed towards them. Young could see everyone was shocked, looking between Kohta's bloody leg and the unconscious, limbless Saeko.
"We came across a herd and Kohta stood on a bear trap," Young said, just managing to get his water bottle open and sip some of the luke-warm water to get the taste of bile out of his mouth.
"Saeko held them off while I freed Kohta. There were about a hundred…" He paused to take another sip and breath. "…of them. I'd just freed Kohta and dealt with his wound when I noticed Saeko was surrounded. I went in to help her, but her sword broke and she got bit. I had to take her leg before she turned… Radio wasn't working… had to carry them… twisted my ankle… sorry I… took so long."
"You did ok, LT," Kohta said. Raiden was supporting him with an arm over his shoulder. He turned to Saya. "He wouldn't leave me even though I told him too. I'd be dead if it weren't for him."
Any further comments or conversation were cut short by the hurricane-like arrival of a British chinook helicopter. It set down just beyond the walls and medics rushed to take the wounded. Young told them what he'd done to them in terms of medication, the amount and time of morphine he'd administered were written on their faces, before being assisted into the chopper by two medics.
"I'm coming too!" Saya shouted as Kohta was helped into the helicopter. She made it two steps before a medic shouted "No!" telling her she'd just get in the way and that transport would be arranged to bring her to the hospital ship as soon as possible before the chinook's engines whined and the flying ambulance lifted off and accelerated towards the hospital ship.
As worried as she was about Kohta, she dreaded having to tell Takashi about Saeko.
*Wifebeater: Nickname for Stella Artois beer
* Clink: Jail
Here you are guys. Do I have your attention now? Good
So yeah, you know the drill by now. Follow/favourite/review if you feel so kind And I will see you next time. Don't know when that will be
Jango