Mission 1: Operation Songbird
Disclaimer: Same as before...I don't own the Mummy films either.
Summary: Rusty made contact with Wayne, JD, and Darren, a trio of performers at Sea World who are working for the Resistance. They agree to aid him in his mission in return for helping them liberate arms from their weapons cache that was taken recently by Maleficent's forces.
~ ~ ~ ~
I sift through Vic Fontaine's suite, wondering where a lounge singer slash informant would hide his encryption equipment or code books. The most obvious places have already been searched thoroughly. Bed sheets, clothes, pictures, and books have all ended up on the floor. I see a lot of the paintings and framed objects on Vic's wall have been thrown to the ground. There is a plaque though that remains standing for some strange reason.
I attempt to move the plaque, but it is stuck fast to the wall. I'm certain Maleficent's forces know what they seek is behind this frame. I find a screwdriver in the mess and insert it behind the painting. Prying with all my strength I've pulled it loose, finding only a section of wall.
"Damn it." I curse under my breath, but there's something unusual about the wooden paneling, like it's newer than the rest of the wall. I tap the wood, it's hollow. I smile as I pry it open and find the encryption device and codebooks. I stuff them into my travel bag and run out.
Wayne, Darren and JD are waiting outside, "Did you get it."
"Seemed easy enough." Darren says, "It seems like you do this for a living."
"Not really, but we do a lot of behind the lines work." I reply.
"The SAS?" Wayne asks. At my questioning glance he adds, "We hear stories about you guys from our security guys. They say you're absolutely fearless, tough as nails bad asses."
"Yes." I reply. We pile into Wayne's van, inwardly I'm getting the feeling that this part was too easy that the other shoe's gonna drop. I felt this part of the op was too easy if anything.
"So what about those security men, how loyal are they to Maleficent? How many are there?" I ask.
"Oh you mean the Espos." Wayne replies, "They were our original security force before the Heartless came. To try to earn our good will, Cruella reinstated them, but made them swear loyalty to Maleficent."
"The guys who refused were either executed or became Resistance fighters." JD replies.
"How are we getting inside?" I ask.
"We thought about that." Darren began, "JD forgets stuff in the park all the time and it usually winds up in the lost and found area. It's also right in the same building as the assay office."
The guard lets us through without much hassle, as I've been passed off as a new member of Diamonds in the Rough. It's at the office itself where the trouble begins. Wayne's attacking the lock with a screw driver when a Shadow Heartless spots us.
I've no choice but to draw my weapon. It's about now where I wish I'd brought along a silenced pistol as I squeezed the trigger, firing two rounds into the Heartless' chest. It stands shakily so I fire two more into its head for good measure.
"I got it!" Wayne says, inside the office is a wide assortment of weapons ranging from American M1 Garands and Thompson sub machineguns to British Sten guns, and an assortment of hand grenades. I pick up a Sten gun and some combat webbing to hold spare magazines. I've just rigged up my kit and helped Wayne and JD to do the same when a Soldier Heartless runs into the building.
Darren takes him out with his M1 Garand. We've just compromised our operation, so we carry all the weapons and ammo out of there, and run outside where we are illuminated by spotlights.
"Damn it!" I shout and dive out of the way, firing the Sten in bursts as I run. The weapon may look like a section of old pipe with a magazine sticking out, but it's an effective weapon. Wayne, JD, and Darren have run one way, and I've run the other. I hear the sounds of more gunfire and a van driving off.
I'd best go deeper into the park before I'm pinpointed and destroyed. I reload magazines as I run, jamming a fresh clip in as a hail of gunfire follows my movements. The Espos with the Heartless evidently aren't friendly. As I take cover in a copse of trees I see a hole in the front gate where a van drove through and where I presume JD, Wayne, and Darren escaped. I'm sure they've just gone in for the weapons, leaving me in the lurch. So now I've got to rescue Vic Fontaine, somehow.
~ ~ ~ ~
London: Diane Schonke picked up her purse as she walked out of the mansion, towards a young man waiting in the foyer. He wore the uniform of a US Navy lieutenant as well. "Chris!" Diane said, excitedly and hugged him.
"It was worth the wait." Chris replied, smiling, as he held his girlfriend in his arms. It was a running joke of his about how Diane was such a perfectionist, always wanting to look neat and attractive at all times.
Diane signed out on the liberty log, about to start her three day pass, spending that time with Chris at a seaside town in Blackpool, Britannica's major seaside resort community. Taking Diane at his side, Chris walked out of the foyer with her. Both of them saluted the duty officer before leaving.
The duty officer, manning the foyer, was Flight Sergeant Dora May, Women's Auxiliary Air Corps. Her partner on the watch was their bald master forger, Flight Lieutenant Colin Blythe, Royal Air Force.
"Looks like Diane's going to enjoy that three day pass she got." Dora commented.
"She's been excited about the USS Sea Hawk docking in Liverpool for weeks." Blythe replied, "Now I know why."
"Poor Rusty." Dora replied.
"Excuse me." Blythe began, straightening the tie of his RAF service blue uniform.
"Lieutenant Puckett's in love with Lieutenant Schonke." Dora replied.
"You're such a romantic, Sergeant May." Blythe remarked, "He's just a good friend of hers."
"A woman can tell. Just look into his eyes when he talks to her, it's like the gleam with unshed tears." Dora replied.
"I do recall he seemed a bit upset about Lieutenant Schonke's weekend plans at dinner a few nights ago." Blythe replied, smiling, his watery blue eyes lighting up in that enigmatic way of his.
~ ~ ~ ~
I've decided I'm going to cut through the perimeter fence at the edge of the compound and make my way out. The Heartless are prowling over this park in large numbers. It's a good thing I've stocked up on ammunition.
"Halt!" I hear the shout from one of Maleficent's Secret Police. I turn and give him a five round burst of 9mm rounds and run like hell towards the Penguin Encounter, a band of Heartless in hot pursuit. I turn and fire more short bursts of fire to conserve ammo, killing two of them in the process. They are intent on catching me as I run through the attraction, gunfire spooking several penguins as I kill several charging Heartless. I hide in a crevice as the Heartless run past, thinking I'm heading for the exit. I kick down an emergency exit door and race back out into the night.
~ ~ ~ ~
JD, Wayne, and Darren hadn't abandoned Rusty, though the SAS officer didn't know it. Instead they had gone to a nearby Resistance stronghold. With the entire cache of arms, consisting of two 1903 Springfield rifles, two M1 Garands, a box of hand grenades, two Sten and two Thompson guns packed safely away in Wayne's van, the trio went to go find as many Resistance fighters they could find and rallied them to go launch guerilla strikes on the Heartless forces now swarming through Sea World.
"Well boys." Coach said, he was an older fellow, his body still built like he was in his twenties, his face forty, and his eyes fifty. His short, salt and pepper hair was cut in the manner of a US Marine, "Let's not let the Allies down, they may be coming back here someday. Let's go get our guy..."
About forty Resistance fighters armed with an assortment of weapons, burst from their hideout and dispersed in varying routes toward Sea World, on their way to help a lone SAS operative stranded behind enemy lines.
~ ~ ~ ~
Lying low in a small planter, the best cover I can find. I make sure both my Browning and Sten are loaded with full magazines. I've resolved I'm gonna survive, lie low for a while, and then break Fontaine out of prison before they execute him.
The sarcastic part of my brain asks, 'Well, shit, just how are you gonna do it Puckett? Go in with guns blazing? You're a one man SAS hit squad.' Well no kidding, I am an SAS officer with plenty of behind the lines experience. Giving up is simply not something I even think of.
If I have to I will. I'll figure something out, I've got a mission, I've got an enemy, execute them both. As they say in the Regiment, Who Dares Wins. That is our motto, our creed, through daring and audacity as well as speed and aggression we were responsible for preventing the Heartless from aiding Imhotep's conquest of Egypt and the maintenance of a British presence there.
It's interesting. Over the past hour I've been hearing gunfire and the unmistakable sound of firefights going on throughout various parts of the park. I see a group of Heartless dragging a female prisoner towards the Assay office near the park gate, which has become a command post of sorts for efforts of search through the park.
I burst from hiding, gunning down the trio of Soldier Heartless leading the patrol, I try to fire on the two holding the girl but my Sten jammed. Quickly I draw my Browning and fire two shots, killing each Shadow Heartless holding the prisoner.
"Are you alright?" I ask the girl. She can't be more than nineteen or twenty.
"I'm fine..." she says, shaken, but physically alright, "You're the Allied soldier that was sent to help us?"
"Yes." I reply.
She leads me back to where her partner was killed by the Heartless and picks up her pistol which she left near the Key West area and his Schmeisser MP 40 sub machinegun and magazines. This girl knows her trade, she knows to shed tears over dead buddies later, and that she's got a job to do.
"Coach is looking for you." She replies, "Says a British soldier was marooned in hostile territory. That he is SAS."
I nod, "And you are?"
"Layla Marin."
"Rusty Puckett."
Layla leads me through the park; she knows where the rendezvous points and the like are better than I do. I grab her shoulder and stop us behind the walls of the Wild Arctic area. I hear a patrol of Heartless moving around the area and want to try and avoid a fight even if there are two of us now.
As we move away, silently, I can feel my heart hammering into my ears. Every sound I make, however small seems magnified ten fold. I see Layla looks rather frightened, but determined, to carry out her mission. As we move her foot brushes against a loose cobblestone and the resulting noise alerts the Heartless. I turn and fire bursts of fire from my Sten at them, practically tearing one of the Heartless into ribbons with my first burst of gunfire.
Layla pops up from cover, firing bursts of fire from her MP40, killing two more Heartless. She's further behind me, having the good sense to grab cover before opening fire. She's covering for me and staying low, I run as fast as I can, switching magazines before I make it to the planter she's hiding behind. Layla goes running towards the Happy Harbor area, reloading magazines as I cover for her, shooting towards the Heartless in short, controlled bursts of gunfire. As soon as I hear Layla open up I run towards her position.
As we make it inside Happy Harbor, we see more Resistance fighters. "Coach Norm, I've got him." Layla begins.
"Good job." The man she calls, 'Coach' obviously the cell leader, replies, "Rusty Puckett, 1 SAS, I presume?
"Yes." I reply.
"We can't stay long here." Coach says, "There's too many Heartless. But I've got some sweet news for you, Vic Fontaine's here in the park."
"Where is he?" I reply.
"The Shark Encounter." Wayne answers, "Cruella likes coming up with creative ways to get rid of people she doesn't like. If an execution is scheduled, she won't feed the sharks for a week or so, and the sharks haven't been fed since last Tuesday."
"We've gotta get to him then. McNugent, Nefessier, Silverman, Marin, I'm gonna need you for this one, the rest of you, get out of here, but stay nearby with your weapons, things could be getting rough." Coach says.
The fighters other than the four he chose, break up into groups but Coach stops one man, carrying a Springfield '03 sniper rifle. "Rakes, switch of with Marin."
The two switch weapons and he signals Silverman over to us. "Silverman, Marin, I want you two taking sniper posts. Marin you take the roof of Odyssea, Silverman, take the Pirate Island crow's nest. Start picking off any Heartless you guys see near Shark Encounter."
Darren's carrying a telescope sighted Enfield No. 4T rifle now, the standard issue British sniper rifle now. Despite popular beliefs, women can make good sharpshooters. They have an inherently lower heart rate then men, meaning they can hold rifles steadier then men. They are cold hearted, when they want to be. They don't show remorse when they do kill. And men have a tendency to underestimate them.
Coach manages to get the two snipers in place while JD, I, and Wayne hide in a small stand of trees near the entrance. Regardless of whether the snipers are ready we're going in but not through the service entrance where the feeders go through to feed the sharks. That's the first place Cruella will expect infiltration. No, we're going with the frontal assault. Directly through the front entrance and through an air vent I saw going in before the main shark tank.
I hear two single rifle shots, one a half second after the other. Our snipers have just picked off a Heartless a piece. Right about now the four of us run forward, armed with sub machineguns and pistols for good close in battle. Both Coach and I pick off a Soldier Heartless a piece with three round bursts of 9mm bullets. JD and Wayne go through next, armed with Thompson guns. We go through the corridors, killing occasional Heartless we encounter. JD boosts first Coach then me into the vent. He and Wayne are guarding our rear because we're lifting Vic Fontaine out of here after killing his captors in a hail of bullets.
We're just above the shark tank and I can see three men, all large, bulky fellows wearing black executioner's masks. Cruella, Jasper and Horace don't seem to be among them. This is a sign that execution wasn't really planned for today. Because Cruella and the others aren't in presence that's a clear indication that this is a hasty execution, obviously Cruella and her two gang members are aware that we were planning to lift Vic Fontaine from their clutches.
They're wrapping chains around Vic Fontaine's torso and wrists. His legs have chains and about another two hundred pounds of weight around his ankles. They're about to cast him into the tank and a third bloke is putting what can only be a raw, bloody chunk of meat into Vic's arms.
"Have a nice swim, Fontaine..." one of the men says.
"Ready..." Coach says, "Aim...Fire."
At the instant the executioner shoves Vic into the tank he is hit by a dozen .45 caliber rounds from Coach's Tommy gun. I open up with my Sten and kill the second executioner and the third attempts to run. He doesn't get more than three steps before he dances as though electrocuted as a volley of 9mm and .45 caliber bullets from the Thompson and the Sten rip through his body. I put down my Browning and Sten, remove my web gear and outer jacket and dive into the shark tank after Vic Fontaine. Coach casts in a line with a hook on the end after me and I grab a hold of it as I go into the depths.
I swim downward towards the cloud of blood hoping I'm not too late. I see bubbles come up as Vic Fontaine struggles with futile effort against his chains. I attach the hook to the chains around his torso and tug on the line. I feel Coach pulling the hand cranked winch the line is attached too just as a torpedo-like shape glides towards us.
The shark is a creature whose basic shape has been unchanged for millions of years. It has survived on the planet since the Age of the Dinosaurs. I hope to survive the fifteen seconds until Coach can get us to the surface. I strike the first shark in the nose, a sensitive spot, and it swims off deterred momentarily. I feel the burn in my lungs, as the need for oxygen is making itself known. The shark has no such burn; it's a native to the water unlike Vic and myself. I see Vic's jaws opening and closing rapidly; he's got water in his lungs, its urgent to get him to the surface immediately. I get underneath Vic and start kicking for the surface urgently as I feel the sharks swimming beneath me.
I feel strong hands pulling Vic's weight to the surface and with the last of my strength haul myself out of the water. I'm coughing salt water out of my lungs onto the catwalk on my hands and knees. I see Coach doing CPR on Vic Fontaine until the latter coughs and sputter and gets up shakily. We remove the chains on his body with a pair of bolt cutters and disappear through the vent.
As we make it outside of the gate I know we can't wait for the Lysander to fly in and rescue us. We have to get out on our own steam. But that's why I was selected for this mission. In the Regiment they teach us to be resourceful, and I remember from a couple weeks of flight training the basics on how to pilot an aircraft.
"Coach, where's the nearest airfield?" I ask.
"About three miles away. Why?" Coach asks.
"I'm gonna lift a plane and get Vic out of here, we can't hole up for a day." I reply.
"Count me in soldier. Good luck." Coach replies.
~ ~ ~ ~
The airfield is silent, save for a couple of sentries. There's a two seat trainer that I, in theory, know how to fly. Layla and Darren have the place under cover from their rifles. Wayne and JD are planting explosives near a secondary fuel dump to engineer a distraction. As soon as Coach gives the go ahead Wayne and JD will detonate the explosives and Layla and Darren will kill the sentries nearest the plane.
Coach flashes a signal with a tiny flashlight and suddenly an ear splitting bang echoes through the night sky. In quick succession two Shadow Heartless fall dead from Darren and Layla's shooting. The bang of the explosion effectively muffles the shots as I cut through the wire.
"Good luck boys!" Coach shouts as I start the plane's engine and taxi down the runway.
"You guys are really something else." Vic says as we take off, "Who are you?"
"Rusty Puckett, 1 SAS." I reply.
"Vic Fontaine. Pleased to meet you pallie. You know how to fly this thing?"
"Yes." I reply.
Within half an hour we are within sight of the white cliffs of Dover. As we fly by a stream of red tracer bullets streak by the cockpit. Wanker! It's the RAF. The fact that this plane has a big Heartless insignia on it is cause enough for their reaction. Sure enough, behind me is a pair of Spitfires that the radar controller on the Sussex coast, where we are flying must've vectored towards the intruder.
"Does this thing have a radio?" I shout as tracers tear into the starboard wing.
"You're asking me? I'm a lounge singer, not a pilot." Vic replies.
The Spitfires, seeing we aren't taking any evasive action wag their wings at us. I return the gesture. As I do, one of them takes a position behind us, ready to blast us from the air should this 'hostile' do anything other than land at the airfield they designate. Twenty minutes later we're approaching to land.
"Uh oh." I say.
"What do you mean, 'uh oh'?" Vic asks, "I thought you said you could fly this thing."
"Fly yes. Land no." I reply, "Hang on!"
We pull off a rather nasty crash landing at Biggin Hill fighter station and climb shakily out of the plane which carved a rather nasty furrow into the dirt runway. "Any landing you walk away from is a good landing." I say.
"Remind me never to fly with you again." Vic says as we are bundled off into a truck.
~ ~ ~ ~
TBC
Disclaimer: Same as before...I don't own the Mummy films either.
Summary: Rusty made contact with Wayne, JD, and Darren, a trio of performers at Sea World who are working for the Resistance. They agree to aid him in his mission in return for helping them liberate arms from their weapons cache that was taken recently by Maleficent's forces.
~ ~ ~ ~
I sift through Vic Fontaine's suite, wondering where a lounge singer slash informant would hide his encryption equipment or code books. The most obvious places have already been searched thoroughly. Bed sheets, clothes, pictures, and books have all ended up on the floor. I see a lot of the paintings and framed objects on Vic's wall have been thrown to the ground. There is a plaque though that remains standing for some strange reason.
I attempt to move the plaque, but it is stuck fast to the wall. I'm certain Maleficent's forces know what they seek is behind this frame. I find a screwdriver in the mess and insert it behind the painting. Prying with all my strength I've pulled it loose, finding only a section of wall.
"Damn it." I curse under my breath, but there's something unusual about the wooden paneling, like it's newer than the rest of the wall. I tap the wood, it's hollow. I smile as I pry it open and find the encryption device and codebooks. I stuff them into my travel bag and run out.
Wayne, Darren and JD are waiting outside, "Did you get it."
"Seemed easy enough." Darren says, "It seems like you do this for a living."
"Not really, but we do a lot of behind the lines work." I reply.
"The SAS?" Wayne asks. At my questioning glance he adds, "We hear stories about you guys from our security guys. They say you're absolutely fearless, tough as nails bad asses."
"Yes." I reply. We pile into Wayne's van, inwardly I'm getting the feeling that this part was too easy that the other shoe's gonna drop. I felt this part of the op was too easy if anything.
"So what about those security men, how loyal are they to Maleficent? How many are there?" I ask.
"Oh you mean the Espos." Wayne replies, "They were our original security force before the Heartless came. To try to earn our good will, Cruella reinstated them, but made them swear loyalty to Maleficent."
"The guys who refused were either executed or became Resistance fighters." JD replies.
"How are we getting inside?" I ask.
"We thought about that." Darren began, "JD forgets stuff in the park all the time and it usually winds up in the lost and found area. It's also right in the same building as the assay office."
The guard lets us through without much hassle, as I've been passed off as a new member of Diamonds in the Rough. It's at the office itself where the trouble begins. Wayne's attacking the lock with a screw driver when a Shadow Heartless spots us.
I've no choice but to draw my weapon. It's about now where I wish I'd brought along a silenced pistol as I squeezed the trigger, firing two rounds into the Heartless' chest. It stands shakily so I fire two more into its head for good measure.
"I got it!" Wayne says, inside the office is a wide assortment of weapons ranging from American M1 Garands and Thompson sub machineguns to British Sten guns, and an assortment of hand grenades. I pick up a Sten gun and some combat webbing to hold spare magazines. I've just rigged up my kit and helped Wayne and JD to do the same when a Soldier Heartless runs into the building.
Darren takes him out with his M1 Garand. We've just compromised our operation, so we carry all the weapons and ammo out of there, and run outside where we are illuminated by spotlights.
"Damn it!" I shout and dive out of the way, firing the Sten in bursts as I run. The weapon may look like a section of old pipe with a magazine sticking out, but it's an effective weapon. Wayne, JD, and Darren have run one way, and I've run the other. I hear the sounds of more gunfire and a van driving off.
I'd best go deeper into the park before I'm pinpointed and destroyed. I reload magazines as I run, jamming a fresh clip in as a hail of gunfire follows my movements. The Espos with the Heartless evidently aren't friendly. As I take cover in a copse of trees I see a hole in the front gate where a van drove through and where I presume JD, Wayne, and Darren escaped. I'm sure they've just gone in for the weapons, leaving me in the lurch. So now I've got to rescue Vic Fontaine, somehow.
~ ~ ~ ~
London: Diane Schonke picked up her purse as she walked out of the mansion, towards a young man waiting in the foyer. He wore the uniform of a US Navy lieutenant as well. "Chris!" Diane said, excitedly and hugged him.
"It was worth the wait." Chris replied, smiling, as he held his girlfriend in his arms. It was a running joke of his about how Diane was such a perfectionist, always wanting to look neat and attractive at all times.
Diane signed out on the liberty log, about to start her three day pass, spending that time with Chris at a seaside town in Blackpool, Britannica's major seaside resort community. Taking Diane at his side, Chris walked out of the foyer with her. Both of them saluted the duty officer before leaving.
The duty officer, manning the foyer, was Flight Sergeant Dora May, Women's Auxiliary Air Corps. Her partner on the watch was their bald master forger, Flight Lieutenant Colin Blythe, Royal Air Force.
"Looks like Diane's going to enjoy that three day pass she got." Dora commented.
"She's been excited about the USS Sea Hawk docking in Liverpool for weeks." Blythe replied, "Now I know why."
"Poor Rusty." Dora replied.
"Excuse me." Blythe began, straightening the tie of his RAF service blue uniform.
"Lieutenant Puckett's in love with Lieutenant Schonke." Dora replied.
"You're such a romantic, Sergeant May." Blythe remarked, "He's just a good friend of hers."
"A woman can tell. Just look into his eyes when he talks to her, it's like the gleam with unshed tears." Dora replied.
"I do recall he seemed a bit upset about Lieutenant Schonke's weekend plans at dinner a few nights ago." Blythe replied, smiling, his watery blue eyes lighting up in that enigmatic way of his.
~ ~ ~ ~
I've decided I'm going to cut through the perimeter fence at the edge of the compound and make my way out. The Heartless are prowling over this park in large numbers. It's a good thing I've stocked up on ammunition.
"Halt!" I hear the shout from one of Maleficent's Secret Police. I turn and give him a five round burst of 9mm rounds and run like hell towards the Penguin Encounter, a band of Heartless in hot pursuit. I turn and fire more short bursts of fire to conserve ammo, killing two of them in the process. They are intent on catching me as I run through the attraction, gunfire spooking several penguins as I kill several charging Heartless. I hide in a crevice as the Heartless run past, thinking I'm heading for the exit. I kick down an emergency exit door and race back out into the night.
~ ~ ~ ~
JD, Wayne, and Darren hadn't abandoned Rusty, though the SAS officer didn't know it. Instead they had gone to a nearby Resistance stronghold. With the entire cache of arms, consisting of two 1903 Springfield rifles, two M1 Garands, a box of hand grenades, two Sten and two Thompson guns packed safely away in Wayne's van, the trio went to go find as many Resistance fighters they could find and rallied them to go launch guerilla strikes on the Heartless forces now swarming through Sea World.
"Well boys." Coach said, he was an older fellow, his body still built like he was in his twenties, his face forty, and his eyes fifty. His short, salt and pepper hair was cut in the manner of a US Marine, "Let's not let the Allies down, they may be coming back here someday. Let's go get our guy..."
About forty Resistance fighters armed with an assortment of weapons, burst from their hideout and dispersed in varying routes toward Sea World, on their way to help a lone SAS operative stranded behind enemy lines.
~ ~ ~ ~
Lying low in a small planter, the best cover I can find. I make sure both my Browning and Sten are loaded with full magazines. I've resolved I'm gonna survive, lie low for a while, and then break Fontaine out of prison before they execute him.
The sarcastic part of my brain asks, 'Well, shit, just how are you gonna do it Puckett? Go in with guns blazing? You're a one man SAS hit squad.' Well no kidding, I am an SAS officer with plenty of behind the lines experience. Giving up is simply not something I even think of.
If I have to I will. I'll figure something out, I've got a mission, I've got an enemy, execute them both. As they say in the Regiment, Who Dares Wins. That is our motto, our creed, through daring and audacity as well as speed and aggression we were responsible for preventing the Heartless from aiding Imhotep's conquest of Egypt and the maintenance of a British presence there.
It's interesting. Over the past hour I've been hearing gunfire and the unmistakable sound of firefights going on throughout various parts of the park. I see a group of Heartless dragging a female prisoner towards the Assay office near the park gate, which has become a command post of sorts for efforts of search through the park.
I burst from hiding, gunning down the trio of Soldier Heartless leading the patrol, I try to fire on the two holding the girl but my Sten jammed. Quickly I draw my Browning and fire two shots, killing each Shadow Heartless holding the prisoner.
"Are you alright?" I ask the girl. She can't be more than nineteen or twenty.
"I'm fine..." she says, shaken, but physically alright, "You're the Allied soldier that was sent to help us?"
"Yes." I reply.
She leads me back to where her partner was killed by the Heartless and picks up her pistol which she left near the Key West area and his Schmeisser MP 40 sub machinegun and magazines. This girl knows her trade, she knows to shed tears over dead buddies later, and that she's got a job to do.
"Coach is looking for you." She replies, "Says a British soldier was marooned in hostile territory. That he is SAS."
I nod, "And you are?"
"Layla Marin."
"Rusty Puckett."
Layla leads me through the park; she knows where the rendezvous points and the like are better than I do. I grab her shoulder and stop us behind the walls of the Wild Arctic area. I hear a patrol of Heartless moving around the area and want to try and avoid a fight even if there are two of us now.
As we move away, silently, I can feel my heart hammering into my ears. Every sound I make, however small seems magnified ten fold. I see Layla looks rather frightened, but determined, to carry out her mission. As we move her foot brushes against a loose cobblestone and the resulting noise alerts the Heartless. I turn and fire bursts of fire from my Sten at them, practically tearing one of the Heartless into ribbons with my first burst of gunfire.
Layla pops up from cover, firing bursts of fire from her MP40, killing two more Heartless. She's further behind me, having the good sense to grab cover before opening fire. She's covering for me and staying low, I run as fast as I can, switching magazines before I make it to the planter she's hiding behind. Layla goes running towards the Happy Harbor area, reloading magazines as I cover for her, shooting towards the Heartless in short, controlled bursts of gunfire. As soon as I hear Layla open up I run towards her position.
As we make it inside Happy Harbor, we see more Resistance fighters. "Coach Norm, I've got him." Layla begins.
"Good job." The man she calls, 'Coach' obviously the cell leader, replies, "Rusty Puckett, 1 SAS, I presume?
"Yes." I reply.
"We can't stay long here." Coach says, "There's too many Heartless. But I've got some sweet news for you, Vic Fontaine's here in the park."
"Where is he?" I reply.
"The Shark Encounter." Wayne answers, "Cruella likes coming up with creative ways to get rid of people she doesn't like. If an execution is scheduled, she won't feed the sharks for a week or so, and the sharks haven't been fed since last Tuesday."
"We've gotta get to him then. McNugent, Nefessier, Silverman, Marin, I'm gonna need you for this one, the rest of you, get out of here, but stay nearby with your weapons, things could be getting rough." Coach says.
The fighters other than the four he chose, break up into groups but Coach stops one man, carrying a Springfield '03 sniper rifle. "Rakes, switch of with Marin."
The two switch weapons and he signals Silverman over to us. "Silverman, Marin, I want you two taking sniper posts. Marin you take the roof of Odyssea, Silverman, take the Pirate Island crow's nest. Start picking off any Heartless you guys see near Shark Encounter."
Darren's carrying a telescope sighted Enfield No. 4T rifle now, the standard issue British sniper rifle now. Despite popular beliefs, women can make good sharpshooters. They have an inherently lower heart rate then men, meaning they can hold rifles steadier then men. They are cold hearted, when they want to be. They don't show remorse when they do kill. And men have a tendency to underestimate them.
Coach manages to get the two snipers in place while JD, I, and Wayne hide in a small stand of trees near the entrance. Regardless of whether the snipers are ready we're going in but not through the service entrance where the feeders go through to feed the sharks. That's the first place Cruella will expect infiltration. No, we're going with the frontal assault. Directly through the front entrance and through an air vent I saw going in before the main shark tank.
I hear two single rifle shots, one a half second after the other. Our snipers have just picked off a Heartless a piece. Right about now the four of us run forward, armed with sub machineguns and pistols for good close in battle. Both Coach and I pick off a Soldier Heartless a piece with three round bursts of 9mm bullets. JD and Wayne go through next, armed with Thompson guns. We go through the corridors, killing occasional Heartless we encounter. JD boosts first Coach then me into the vent. He and Wayne are guarding our rear because we're lifting Vic Fontaine out of here after killing his captors in a hail of bullets.
We're just above the shark tank and I can see three men, all large, bulky fellows wearing black executioner's masks. Cruella, Jasper and Horace don't seem to be among them. This is a sign that execution wasn't really planned for today. Because Cruella and the others aren't in presence that's a clear indication that this is a hasty execution, obviously Cruella and her two gang members are aware that we were planning to lift Vic Fontaine from their clutches.
They're wrapping chains around Vic Fontaine's torso and wrists. His legs have chains and about another two hundred pounds of weight around his ankles. They're about to cast him into the tank and a third bloke is putting what can only be a raw, bloody chunk of meat into Vic's arms.
"Have a nice swim, Fontaine..." one of the men says.
"Ready..." Coach says, "Aim...Fire."
At the instant the executioner shoves Vic into the tank he is hit by a dozen .45 caliber rounds from Coach's Tommy gun. I open up with my Sten and kill the second executioner and the third attempts to run. He doesn't get more than three steps before he dances as though electrocuted as a volley of 9mm and .45 caliber bullets from the Thompson and the Sten rip through his body. I put down my Browning and Sten, remove my web gear and outer jacket and dive into the shark tank after Vic Fontaine. Coach casts in a line with a hook on the end after me and I grab a hold of it as I go into the depths.
I swim downward towards the cloud of blood hoping I'm not too late. I see bubbles come up as Vic Fontaine struggles with futile effort against his chains. I attach the hook to the chains around his torso and tug on the line. I feel Coach pulling the hand cranked winch the line is attached too just as a torpedo-like shape glides towards us.
The shark is a creature whose basic shape has been unchanged for millions of years. It has survived on the planet since the Age of the Dinosaurs. I hope to survive the fifteen seconds until Coach can get us to the surface. I strike the first shark in the nose, a sensitive spot, and it swims off deterred momentarily. I feel the burn in my lungs, as the need for oxygen is making itself known. The shark has no such burn; it's a native to the water unlike Vic and myself. I see Vic's jaws opening and closing rapidly; he's got water in his lungs, its urgent to get him to the surface immediately. I get underneath Vic and start kicking for the surface urgently as I feel the sharks swimming beneath me.
I feel strong hands pulling Vic's weight to the surface and with the last of my strength haul myself out of the water. I'm coughing salt water out of my lungs onto the catwalk on my hands and knees. I see Coach doing CPR on Vic Fontaine until the latter coughs and sputter and gets up shakily. We remove the chains on his body with a pair of bolt cutters and disappear through the vent.
As we make it outside of the gate I know we can't wait for the Lysander to fly in and rescue us. We have to get out on our own steam. But that's why I was selected for this mission. In the Regiment they teach us to be resourceful, and I remember from a couple weeks of flight training the basics on how to pilot an aircraft.
"Coach, where's the nearest airfield?" I ask.
"About three miles away. Why?" Coach asks.
"I'm gonna lift a plane and get Vic out of here, we can't hole up for a day." I reply.
"Count me in soldier. Good luck." Coach replies.
~ ~ ~ ~
The airfield is silent, save for a couple of sentries. There's a two seat trainer that I, in theory, know how to fly. Layla and Darren have the place under cover from their rifles. Wayne and JD are planting explosives near a secondary fuel dump to engineer a distraction. As soon as Coach gives the go ahead Wayne and JD will detonate the explosives and Layla and Darren will kill the sentries nearest the plane.
Coach flashes a signal with a tiny flashlight and suddenly an ear splitting bang echoes through the night sky. In quick succession two Shadow Heartless fall dead from Darren and Layla's shooting. The bang of the explosion effectively muffles the shots as I cut through the wire.
"Good luck boys!" Coach shouts as I start the plane's engine and taxi down the runway.
"You guys are really something else." Vic says as we take off, "Who are you?"
"Rusty Puckett, 1 SAS." I reply.
"Vic Fontaine. Pleased to meet you pallie. You know how to fly this thing?"
"Yes." I reply.
Within half an hour we are within sight of the white cliffs of Dover. As we fly by a stream of red tracer bullets streak by the cockpit. Wanker! It's the RAF. The fact that this plane has a big Heartless insignia on it is cause enough for their reaction. Sure enough, behind me is a pair of Spitfires that the radar controller on the Sussex coast, where we are flying must've vectored towards the intruder.
"Does this thing have a radio?" I shout as tracers tear into the starboard wing.
"You're asking me? I'm a lounge singer, not a pilot." Vic replies.
The Spitfires, seeing we aren't taking any evasive action wag their wings at us. I return the gesture. As I do, one of them takes a position behind us, ready to blast us from the air should this 'hostile' do anything other than land at the airfield they designate. Twenty minutes later we're approaching to land.
"Uh oh." I say.
"What do you mean, 'uh oh'?" Vic asks, "I thought you said you could fly this thing."
"Fly yes. Land no." I reply, "Hang on!"
We pull off a rather nasty crash landing at Biggin Hill fighter station and climb shakily out of the plane which carved a rather nasty furrow into the dirt runway. "Any landing you walk away from is a good landing." I say.
"Remind me never to fly with you again." Vic says as we are bundled off into a truck.
~ ~ ~ ~
TBC