Disclaimer: See chapter one.

A/N: I have no idea if the C-5 actually can drop cargo by parachute. Probably not. Just assume some clever engineer found a way to reconstruct it somewhere between now and 2011.

As usual, all thanks goes to Infie.

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Chapter 2


Somewhere over the Adriatic Sea, 2340 hours.


494 woke as he felt a small shift in his surroundings. The plane was changing altitude once again, and that meant they had to be closing in on their target. The windowless passenger area didn't provide much of a view, but he quickly calculated the time difference from his watch and came to the conclusion that it was close to midnight, local time. It would be dark outside and the risk of being discovered minimal. Glancing around the cabin, he found the other soldiers still asleep. He stretched, his muscles a little stiff after sleeping in the uncomfortable chair for several hours.

Carefully he nudged Andrews in the side; the reaction he got from this action would tell him a great deal about the other soldier. The norm's eyes opened immediately, taking in the area around him. His hand came up to grab 494's arm, and the other raised in a fist, ready to strike. Just as quickly as he had reacted, he relaxed again when he realized there was no threat. 494 gave him an appreciative smile. He was well trained and alert. He would be able to trust the norm with guard duty and other important things.

"We're almost there," he said in a low voice, explaining why he had awoken the man. Andrews nodded, and a hint of a smile played on his lips.

A few minutes later the loadmaster came up the stairs. He found three of the kids still sleeping, but the one who sat with the soldier was awake. He made his way over to the three sleeping kids and was just going to wake them up when a harsh command stopped him.

494 saw the norm walk over to 909 and prepare to shake his shoulder. He shook his head slightly. While it would be fun to see the look on the norm's face when 909 reacted, they needed him alive and unharmed. "Stop!" he ordered, and watched with satisfaction as the norm froze.

"Watch," he told Andrews as he glided past him toward his fellow X5's.

Carefully, he touched 909's shoulder. The reaction was immediate. 909 was up like a shot. He whirled around, aiming a fist at 494's face. 494 blocked it effortlessly and took a step back before 909 could attack again. It gave the other X5 a second to take in his surroundings and override the instinctive reaction. "We're almost there, sir," 494 informed his commanding officer before he turned around and walked back to his seat. He gave the shocked loadmaster a small smile before he sat down again.

"We need him alive," he explained, seeing the question in Andrews's eyes.

"And he wouldn't have been if he had woken them up?" Andrews asked carefully.

494 shrugged. "Probably not." The norm probably didn't have any close combat training. After all, he was only here to take care of the cargo and not to fight. He might not have been killed but he would probably have been seriously injured.

The two other X5s were fully awake now. No matter how tired they were they wouldn't have slept through the small scuffle that had taken place. It hadn't been loud and it had certainly not been long, but they were well trained.

20 minutes later the loadmaster came back with a worried expression on his face. "The wind is too strong for us to blind-drop the 'chutes," he said. "We'll need someone to go down first and set up a signal for them to target."

909 didn't hesitate. "494, you'll go down first," he ordered.

"Yes, sir!" Well, that was expected. 909 wouldn't trust the norm and he wouldn't risk any of the soldiers he did trust if it could be avoided. That left him. Still, it was a small step forward. 909 apparently trusted him to set up the transmitter and a small light for them to target.

He mentally sighed. Now he knew what his next task would be, and it wasn't going to be pleasant.

Strapping on his parachute and checking all his equipment, he prepared for the jump. They had practiced parachuting many times, but going in strong winds was still a dangerous thing. The darkness didn't really matter to the X5's. He could see as well as in broad daylight. The colours weren't as sharp of course, but that didn't really matter right now.

*****

The pilot glanced nervously at the instruments in front of him. No matter how fun it was to do something different, he didn't feel completely comfortable with this. Too much was depending on him being at the right place at the right moment. Not to mention estimating the wind correctly. He was pretty sure that the consequences for dropping the soldiers and their stuff into the Adriatic Sea wouldn't be pleasant. He quickly double-checked his instruments and sent a quick glance over to his co-pilot for confirmation before he spoke in the radio. "Two minutes."

Silently he thanked the unnamed engineer who had fitted the C5 for these kinds of missions. Dropping supplies by parachute was way more fun than unloading it on the ground. And the fighter-jet style night vision system that had been built in into his plane was excellent. He could see the outlines of the small island in the distance in front of him. He swallowed as he adjusted the grip on his controls. It looked so damn much smaller now than it had on the map. "One minute," he said. He could feel the change in the plane as the cargo ramp was lowered. This was the worst part of the flying. The plane was almost unmanageable with the ramp down. If he missed the approach by the slightest degree the cargo would end up in the sea, instead of safely on the ground.

He never noticed when the first soldier left the plane. In fact, he wouldn't notice when any of the cargo was dropped this time. The combined weight of the soldiers and the equipment wasn't enough to have an influence on the plane at all. The ramp was raised again and he drew a deep breath of relief. One drop done, one to go. They would have to keep going for a distance before he turned back to drop the second load. He had to give the first soldier some time to get to the ground and set up the signal for the others and their equipment.

*****

The wind was tearing in his clothes and throwing him around in the air. Singing in the lines of his parachute, it drowned out the sounds from the rapidly retiring plane. The drift was incredible. At first he thought the pilot had missed the approach. He was only a few hundred meters above the ground but the island was far to his left and a little in front of him. A quick glance at the waves below him was enough to assure him that he would never survive if he landed in the sea. The military parachute he used wasn't designed to be manoeuvrable, but he struggled to utilize the limited control he had over his flight. The pilot had been good at reading the wind though, and he was rapidly closing in on the island. 494 scanned the ground below him meticulously, trying to find a spot without any rocks or other obstacles. Bending his knees slightly, he absorbed the impact and started to pull fanatically at the lines of the parachute, bringing it down to the ground before the wind could catch it and tear him up and away again.

494 quickly stuffed the parachute under a large stone and took out his tactical radio, used to communicate with his squad members.

Quickly he made his way to the highest spot of the island so he could get a good look at their landing spot. The eastern parts of the island were a little higher and not as flat as the western section. But the wind and the waves had a lot of uninterrupted ocean to gather strength before they crashed into that part of the shore with full force. They would have to come down at roughly the same spot as he had; it seemed to be the best place on the island to land.

He placed the earpiece in his left ear and strapped on the throat microphone. "494 to 909, radio check, over," he said, not bothering to keep his voice low. The island was uninhabited, so no one was even remotely close enough to hear him.

909's voice responded immediately. The digital radio was encrypted and just about the safest piece of communication you could buy for money - if you had the right connections.

"Landing area confirmed," 494 reported. "The wind is strong and you'll have to watch out for two rather large rocks a little northwest of my position. Be quick with the parachutes once you've landed. I'm setting up the signal now. 494 out."

Working quickly, he set up a little transmitter for the equipment packages to target. He also took out a small pen-like flashlight from one of his pockets and turned it on. The tiny beam would make it easier for the soldiers to find his location.

It didn't take long before he could see the C5 in the distance again. It came up against the wind this time, passing the island a short distance west of it. It was a little weird, seeing a huge airplane fly by and not hearing a sound from it until it had already passed. Straining his eyesight, he could see the black parachutes against the dark grey clouds. Briefly he wondered how the military ever could have done drops like this before they could fit the cargo packages with the simple guidance modules that now allowed them to home in on his signal. Leaving the little flashlight on the ground, he quickly got out of the way, clearing the landing area.

Their equipment came first, two loud thuds announcing their landing. 494 sprinted forward and gathered the parachutes, making sure the boxes stayed on the ground. Within a minute the other X5s and Andrews had landed safely.

*****

Andrews followed closely behind the three kids as they made the jump. His night vision goggles made the island below appear as a green, fuzzy landmass. The equipment worked really well at close ranges but at a distance the image wasn't very sharp. He could see the bright light from the little flashlight 494 was guiding them in with. The three kids landed gracefully despite the strong wind, and a few seconds later he braced himself for his own landing. 494 had picked a good place, he thought. From what he'd seen during the short fall the selected landing zone was by far the best spot on the island. Quickly he gathered his parachute and hid it.

Ducking low on one knee he took a quick look at his surroundings. The island was supposed to be uninhabited and no one would be stupid enough to make a trip to this place for fun. If anyone had been here 494 would probably have warned him by now. Andrews had been trained well though, and had learned even more from experience. You could never be too careful.

Everything seemed to be clear. There was no one except the kids in sight. Two of them were occupied with the equipment boxes and the boat. 494 had taken up watch duty, his MP10 loaded and ready and his eyes constantly sweeping over the landscape. Something nagged at him, though. He felt like there was something he had missed, and he never liked that feeling. He studied 494 a little closer and suddenly he realized what it was. It was pitch dark outside, barely enough light for his night vision goggles to work properly, and yet the kid wasn't wearing any. How on earth could he see anything?

*****

494 let his eyes sweep over the rocky island, carefully watching for any kind of movement or anything that looked out of place. 909 and the two others would take care of the equipment and ready the boat. Refocusing his sight he took in the view of the sea. They would have to wait here for the wind to settle down a little. While it wouldn't be impossible to make it to the shore in this wind, it was too dangerous, and they had plenty of time. The norm was well trained, he noted. He kept an eye on him with his peripheral vision, studying his actions and reactions.

He saw the norm come toward him, slowly and silently climbing the rocks. Well, silent for a norm at least. 494 had no problems hearing the footsteps even over the roaring sounds of the wind and the waves crashing against the shore. Automatically he tracked the movement, even as he focused on other parts of the island, continuing to keep watch. Andrews stopped and crouched low a few meters in front of him and a little below, making sure he didn't obscure 494's line of sight. 494 made another mental note about the norm. He would be easy to work with.

"How can you see anything without night vision goggles?" Andrews asked.

494 turned his head slightly to look directly at the norm. He was wearing night vision equipment and looked more like a robot than a human being. "Vitamins," he grinned. Sooner or later the norm would find out what they were. But it would be more fun if it was later. With a small smile on his lips he resumed his watch.

*****

909 was irritated. He knew he couldn't control the weather but it still pissed him off. This was his first mission as CO and it hadn't started out very well. The wind was too strong for them to launch the boat now and he hated waiting.

"Get comms up," he ordered 962.

The soldier responded immediately and started to assemble their satellite radio.

A minute later he was trying to contact Colonel Lydecker back at Manticore.

"Cyclone to base, Cyclone to base."

[Base here. Status report?]

"Cyclone has landed secure. The weather is bad and we won't be able to proceed until the wind slackens. Please advise."

[Acknowledged, Cyclone. Stand by for orders.]

909 let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Someone would tell him what to do and all he would have to do was follow orders. That was always easier than issuing the orders yourself.

[Base to Cyclone. Meteorology reports say the weather should clear up in a few hours. A cold front has just passed your location and the weather should be good for the next few days. Proceed with the mission as soon as possible. Base out.]

909 quickly relayed the information to 241. "Inform 494 and Lt. Andrews," he ordered.

"Yes, sir!" She sprinted off.

909 glanced at the shadowed figure that was 494. 494 and the human seemed to be getting along well. That was something he couldn't understand. It didn't really matter though. In fact it was probably better this way. No one would complain when he placed them together and he wouldn't have to worry about 494 stabbing him in the back.

*****


Small island outside Split, 0330 hours.


At 0330 hours the weather was significantly better, the wind had calmed enough for them to launch the boat and make it to the shore without too much danger. The small team quickly prepared to leave the island. The boat came with two tubes of compressed air, enough to quickly fill the boat twice.

"494, lookout," 909 ordered.

"Yes, sir!"

494 hid his amusement. This was damn funny actually. They didn't trust him and did nothing to hide it. He got all the shitty assignments and he knew it would continue this way. The fun thing was that while it wasn't exactly a pleasure to sit at the bow as a lookout, it was the most important position at the moment. And they would let him have it just because it was unpleasant. And unpleasant it would be; he would be soaking wet when they got ashore.

The boat ride was mostly uneventful. The small, light boat was thrown around by the waves, sending water splashing all over them. 494 blocked the most of it thanks to his position. He could see the shore now and searched for a good spot to land on. The shore seemed to be mostly made up of fine sand, like a nice beach, he observed. They would need to find a spot with harder ground to make sure they didn't leave any footprints. The weather was cold, it was winter after all, but it wasn't freezing so the sand would still be soft. There, a few hundred meters to their right. He gestured to 962 who sat at the rudder to turn the boat slightly. They would have to be careful when they approached the stony part of the shore he'd selected. While their landing would pass unnoticed, they risked destroying the boat against the stones if they were too slow. 494 quickly gestured to 909 to join him. This was the dangerous part of the boat ride and two lookouts would be better than one. The shore seemed to be completely abandoned. Except for the rolling waves against the beach, he couldn't see any movement at all.

962 shut off the engine and let the waves carry them the last short distance to the shore. 494 and 909 jumped out as soon as they got close enough and lifted the boat, letting it slide over the rocks instead of crashing straight into them.

Andrews gasped as the boat was lifted off the ground with three people still in it and dragged lightly over the rocks. It wasn't time for questions now, but as soon as they were settled down he and 494 were going to have a little chat.

The small team gathered their equipment and let the air out of the boat. Andrews studied the terrain around him. The small cape they had landed on was actually a rather large park; he knew that from the maps. It was a good spot to land on. No real activity and no buildings the enemy could use as lookout towers to spot the boat from. The war had raged for so long that most of the advanced equipment on both sides had either been completely destroyed, or at least damaged beyond their capability to repair. For example, none of the sides had any working radar stations and the air force was a thing of the past. In 2008 when he'd last been here on a reconnaissance mission while the situation still was under control, the only air assets he'd seen (except for the peace keeping forces NATO still had on location at that time) was one badly damaged helicopter sitting on the ground in a hangar. The old Russian MI24 Hind had been operational, but barely so. He knew he would never have agreed to fly on it.

Still, the place was definitely hostile territory and they would have to be on their guard. They hid the boat under some large bushes near the shore, but not close enough to be spotted if the enemy patrolled the beach.

"We split up," 909 ordered. "494 takes the lead with Lt. Andrews, 241 takes the middle and I'll cover the rear with 962."

*****

494 moved soundlessly through the wood, his feet automatically finding the hard spots that left no trace and made no sound. He could hear Andrews following five steps behind, using his night vision equipment to move as silently as any norm he'd ever met. They needed to set up a base of operations before dawn, preferably in some abandoned building close to the park. His eyes moved restlessly over the terrain, constantly searching for any kind of danger. He lifted his foot to take another slow step when something caught his eye. A few yards in front of him was a small bare area without any vegetation. He held up his fist as a signal to Andrews behind him. {Stop.} He knew Andrews would relay the signal to those who came after them.

Carefully he studied the bare ground. Something didn't feel right. He scanned the ground to his right and moved a short distance in that direction to get a slightly different angle to the area of his concern. There, something metallic. 494 drew a sharp breath. No wonder they didn't bother to guard the shore, he thought. Turning around slowly he saw Andrews a few steps away. The norm hadn't moved since he got the signal to stop, which was good.

494 clicked on his radio. "Three to Six, over," he said.

[Six, over.] 909's voice was low and controlled. They were in their native environment now.

"We have a minefield ahead."

The radio went silent for a few seconds.

[Copy that, Three. Pull back.]

"Affirmative, Three and Four are pulling back. Out."

He signalled to Andrews to move and they retraced their steps back to the others.

*****

Andrews was getting frustrated. They had tried to go around the minefield at the south and found that it stretched all the way down to the shore. Now they had slowly made their way through the wood again up to the northern part of the cape and were trying that way. The darkness wouldn't last much longer and they still had to find cover before the locals got up.

How 494 had spotted the first mine he had no idea. He'd studied the same spot as the kid had but hadn't seen anything unusual. It bothered him. Not that the kid had spotted it before him, but that he hadn't seen it at all. Not even when he knew it was there. He mentally slapped himself. He was getting soft and careless, and that could get him killed.

Thankfully 494 was able to find a passage through the minefield at the northern side and it wasn't long before he could see the silhouettes of buildings against the brightening sky. Many of them were merely ruins but a few seemed to be habitable. They would have to stay away from those, though. The possibility that others used them would be too high and they couldn't afford being detected.

494 turned his head slightly with a questioning look. Andrews quickly studied the buildings in sight and pointed to one a short distance away. 494 nodded and continued in the direction he'd been heading. Apparently they both had had the same building in mind. It was a small two-storey house that was in a fairly good condition, except for a roof that had caved in. It was enough to prevent anyone from living there permanently, but good enough for a temporary base of operations.

*****

They quickly settled in and reported back to base. Dawn had arrived and they would have to lay low. 494 stretched and peeked out through one of the windows. The glass had been smashed to pieces long ago and the window was nothing but a hole in the wall now. Andrews came up and took position at the other side of the window. The norm yawned silently and 494 rolled his eyes. "Sleep if you're tired," he said. "You need to be fully rested tonight."

Andrews gave him a grateful look. "Aren't you going to sleep?" he asked.

494 shook his head. "We don't need much sleep."

Andrews nodded slowly and turned to leave. He got a step before his curiosity got the better of him and he turned around again. "How did you lift the boat with us in it?" he blurted curtly.

494 could see that the norm wasn't really angry, more irritated. He wanted to know how they could do the things they did. It wasn't time to tell him yet, though. A memory of something he'd read in a book several years earlier came back to him and his lips twisted into a grin.

"Spinach," he said. "Sleep now."

Tonight the real work would begin.

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