Chapter 14: The manhunt part 1
As the plane flies steadily at the height of 51.000 feet the team start to gear up in their multi-cam uniforms and gather afterwards back in the plane's main area.
"The uniform look good on you, Selina," Bruce commented soon Selina came outside the women restroom.
Selina looks down to her uniform and replies; "Yeah, but it looks also a little tacky." Then the girl lifts one of her feet up and says as she points at the item of her next topic; "And whoever came up with the idea of camouflaged boots, be sure to tell them that Selina Kyle of Gotham sends her regards."
Agent Hayes smiles; "Tracking that person down may take some doing since they work for Department of Defense, but I'll make sure your message gets delivered after the operation."
"Thanks," Selina says and then reclaims her spot on the sofa beside Hayes and George. She took enough room so Bruce couldn't sit and had to choose another spot to sit.
Hayes and George share a pitiful look before they look back at Bruce and wait for him to sit. The nearest spot would be the coffee table. Bruce sits down reluctant.
"Our latest UAV overflights show that Thomas is still hidden in the cabin in the Allen State Forest near Concord," Agent Hayes says as she starts with the in-flight briefing. "He's been there since late afternoon and hasn't emerged from it since."
George says; "He's either brooding over the errors of his ways or contemplating another escape."
"Well, escaping won't be an option this time, since we are pursuing a kid with possible ties to domestic terrorist, the Governor of New Hampshire has deployed four-hundred National Guard troops to help the Concord PD and State Police block off all entry and exit points to the forest;" Agent Hayes explained and then turns her laptop to her team so they could see their positions. Police positions were marked as blue dots and the National Guard positions as golden ones.
Bruce notice there are more gold dots than blue ones, but before he could point it out Selina was quicker to point out something else.
"So you got everything tightened up on the ground, but what if his secret council buddies try to come in with a helicopter to pick him up?"
Agent Hayes replies; Fear not, Selina. The Green Mountain Boys have the perfect answer for that."
Selina frowns; "Green Mountain Boys?"
"They're the 158th Fighter Wing of the Vermont Air National Guard, they've sent over four F-16s from their 134th Fighter Squadron to enforce a no fly zone over the forest and some of Concord. A ten miles radius to be exact. Anyone trying to breach the zone will either be turned away or shot down."
Bruce looks to all the dots on the laptop screen before saying; "I really wish this mission of ours doesn't turn into an all-out war."
"The Governor feels the same way, Bruce," Hayes says, looking at the boy. "But we are ready for all possibilities."
"I understand, Agent Hayes."
George asks; "So why isn't the New Hampshire ANG not being the aerial police for this mission?"
"Because the only planes they fly are KC-135 Strato-tankers, but they will have one airborne to serve as a gas station for the fighters."
Selina scoffs; "How can you be a guard unit when the only thing you have are flying gas stations?"
"At least they're contributing something to the effort."
Selina then rolls her eyes; "Whatever, Bruce. Let's get back to the matter of your brat brother."
"So what time will we be landing, Agent Hayes?" George asked.
"We will touch down at Pease Air National Guard Base at 7:30 and where we'll board another Blackhawk, this time an Army Guard one that will take us to the staging area near the forest where we will gear up."
Selina wriggles her hands ecstatically before exclaiming; "Great!" Then she clears some space beside her on the couch and says; "Alright, kiddo, it's time to take your rightful place on the sofa…"
Bruce stands up from the coffee table and sits down onto the sofa, but his butt barely touched the seat or Selina already had lied her head on his lap and finishes her sentence by saying; "as my pillow. This cat needs her beauty sleep before the battle."
Selina closes her eyes and Hayes giggles at Bruce's predicament and George says; "Man, I can only imagine what their wedding day is gonna be like."
Hayes chuckles; "Yeah and if we're invited, I will be there with a beanbag gun to make sure Bruce doesn't get cold feet."
"Oh you two are already on the guest list," Selina mutters in her sleep and Bruce just sits there, speechless.
Shortly after touching down at Pease Air National Guard Base, Agent Hayes, Bruce, George and Selina, quickly disembark from the plane and board the waiting Blackhawk. Selina catches a glimpse of a 747 taking off in the distance as she boards the chopper.
As the helicopter gets airborne, Selina asks; "Agent Hayes, why is a civilian plane taking off from a military base?"
"The area that the plane took off from is actually Portsmouth International Airport. The base and the airport are pretty much connected to each other. This place used to be and actual force base until 1990 when it was closed down and reorganized into what it is now."
Selina comments; "Hmm interesting."
A few hours later Agent Baldwin is standing next to another convoy of five Chevy Tahoes across the street from a local diner. The man passes the time by waiting for the arrival of Agent Hayes and her team by flipping a coin as he stares up at the night sky.
A short time later the Blackhawk flies over the convoy and touches down a feet away.
Agent Hayes, Bruce and George quickly head out, but Selina pokes first her head up to the cockpit and says; "Thanks for the lift, pilots."
"Anytime, Cat," Chief Warrant Officer Mullen said. "Agent Baldwin told us about your name preference on our way to the base."
"It's nice when people get my name right," the girl replied and then pats Mullen on the shoulder before leaving to catch up with the others.
As they approach the convoy, Baldwin says; "Hey guys. While we were waiting for your arrival, I picked up some burgers from the diner in case any of you were interested."
"I'll take one," Selina said with a grin and then Baldwin grabs one out of the bag and tosses it to her. She grabs it out of the air in an impressive display of athleticism. Bruce and George take the offer as well and they enter the 3rd vehicle.
Baldwin asks Hayes if she wants one, but she says; "I had a fruit cup on the plane, they did too but apparently they're still hungry."
"Well it wasn't a very big fruit cup, so can you blame us?" Selina grins.
Hayes throws a jokingly stink-eye at the girl which made Baldwin smile momentarily. It's nice to see Agent Hayes finally seemed to loosen up a little.
"Well you're missing out," Baldwin then said. "One of the customers in the diner told me these burgers are the bomb."
I'm sure they are," Hayes replied and then walked around the vehicle to take the driver seat. Baldwin took the seat next to her and unwrapped his burger.
With everyone buckled up and chowing down, the convoy got moving.
Not wanting to spend the ride in total silence, Bruce being Bruce strikes up a conversation halfway through his burger.
"Agent Hayes, on our flight over Gotham, you said Agent Cunningham is a very unpleasant person. But what else can you tell me about his background?"
"Prior to becoming a fed, he spent four years in the army," Hayes replied as she drove the vehicle down the road. "He graduated from the Ranger School at the top of his class and served in the 10th Mountain Division. He did a couple of tours overseas and beyond that, there's not much else to say."
"So he sees himself as a golden boy, I guess that explains where his ego comes from," Selina said before finishing off her burger.
Agent Baldwin then says; "You three don't need to worry about him giving you flak for being here. Director Grey called him up and said if he had nothing nice to say to you, focus on the mission and keep his mouth shut. Besides, he'll be preoccupied in the mobile command center, so you won't have to worry about seeing him too much."
Agent Hayes adds; "But since he is tasked with overseeing this operation, we will be hearing him over our headsets while we're hunting in the forest."
"At least he won't be all up in our faces," Selina replied.
The convoy comes to a stop at a checkpoint that is manned by cops state troopers and national guardsmen along with four squad cars and two Stryker armored vehicles.
As the agents in the vehicles in the front of them hand their IDs tags to the cops for inspection, one of the soldiers approaches Hayes's vehicle.
She rolls down her window and hands him the five ID tags she pulled from the glove compartment.
Everything turns out to be alright and the tags are returned and the convoy is cleared to move on to the staging area.
Bruce, Selina and George stare awe-stricken to all the action around them.
So what do you think? Thanks to swiftbolt99 for helping me out here. All these state names and knowledge about the military etc and their armoury examples you gave me makes this story only more amazing. I have absolutely no clue about weapons etc, so the credit for that goes to swiftbolt along with so many other things.
So far there are only three more chapters planned, and the story will get only more tenser chapter after chapter.