"It's been almost a week since they left you know." Angel said to Jamal. "Yeah it is kinda odd how they would just split the Unit up like that." Logan added. The entire Bravo Team relaxed in the military rec room as other squads played cards, watched TV, had arm wrestling contests, and other activities. However Bravo Team's mind was directed towards the sudden transfer of Alpha Team to New York. A few days after their last mission, Bravo Team received word that Alpha Team was being transferred to BC New York. For what reason they still didn't know. "It's just not like Major Elliot to split up the unit like this." Ricky said. "Well for all we know," Jamal said, "the unit is still together, and if not, at least Bravo is." They all raised their beer glasses in unison and all said, "Here here." It had gotten near 3 o' clock and the bustling rec room had gotten empty fast. Most of the squads had headed back to their quarters or training drills. The room was going to be closed until dinner time at 6. However two figures remained.

Ariel looked out the window past the golden barriers into the old city. Behind her, Jamal had his arms wrapped around her. The two relaxed in each other's arms and stared out at the old city. "It's amazing isn't it skipper. This war has been going on for nearly 5 20 years now. So many people have died, but yet we're still pulling our lives back together; even with the Phantom threat getting worse." Ariel said. "I know, it hasn't even been a week yet and they've almost reached the halfway point in construction." He was making a reference to the construction crews in the old city. The reason Bravo Team had marked the nest for destruction was for the construction. The city had to be clear so that the workers could begin construction on the BC extensions. They had been working for less then a week and we're nearly 42 complete. "Jamal?" He looked down at her. "Do you ever think this war will end?" "I don't know? Time can only tell." "Are you afraid of dying?" Jamal paused before answering. "…Yes." Then he lowered his head and kissed the top of her head. "But it won't be in this war." He said with a smile. She smiled back at him and the two kissed each other. Little did they know that they along with the rest of Unit 113 would be back out in the city again.

Jack Macmallan, a construction worker grew bored with the work. Sure that the BCs were the only things keeping him and his friends alive but couldn't they have made the work a bit more fun. He led one of the fuel trucks into the construction site and unloaded it. It drove off and he awaited the next one. Most of the first shift had left already. The 2nd shift construction chief decided to begin his crew's shift early so not all of them had arrived. He looked over and saw some of the Marine guards taking off their helmets, setting their submachine rifles down, and smoking cigarettes. Even though they weren't on break yet, Jack lit a cigarette and awaited the next fuel truck. He saw it in the distance and he saw the driver. Then the roof of the truck cab glowed a bright blue. "What the hell? The fuel trucks don't have blue lights." The driver then slumped on the wheel and kept his foot on the gas, not slowing down." "What the hell is he doing…?" Then he saw the faint orange outline crouched on the roof of the truck. It was humanoid and it had dead eyes. Jack's cigarette fell from his lip as he stood frozen in fear as the truck sped towards him. "A-a-a Ph-ph-ph-PHANTOM!" but before he could finish his sentence the truck slammed into him crushing him and plowing into a nearby group of parked trucks. The explosion rattled the entire construction site.

Major Elliot appeared at the command tower after hearing word of an explosion at the site. "All right what's happening!?" Elliot asked. "Explosion at the site. We're trying to hail one of our guys to find out what happened." A radioman answered. One operator brought up a video commlink but static appeared on the screen. "CS-27 Blackhawks Capt. do you hear me, over." Then a faint video came through. Gunshots could be heard in the background. Then he saw a scared soldier come to the video. "C-tower this is Lt. Bates, tower, we've got…FIRE YOUR WEAPON SOLDIER!" Then the video showed Bates stepping back and firing his weapon. A loud scream of pain came later. By then the entire tower knew what had happened. "TOWER WE HAVE PHANTOMS ATTACKING THE WORKERS! NO WORD ON KILLED YET! SEND HELP IMMEDIATELY!" Bates stepped back and fired his weapon again. The video returned to static but the sound remained. "SOMEONE GET THAT WORKER OUT OF THE CROSSFIRE! JOHNSON THERE'S ONE BEHI…" A groan of pain and struggle came later. "DAMNIT! FALL BACK TO THE TRUCKS! CAPTAIN WATCH OUT!" The sound link disconnected after that. "WELL WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE WAITING FOR; SCRAMBLE THE SQUADRONS!" Elliot yelled. "GET THE DROPSHIPS PREPPED!" "I need a commlink to the pilots' quarters." "Give me an exact location on the fight." "Major! You're on live with the link!" Elliot picked up a microphone. "ALL UNITS SCRAMBLE! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! I REPEAT ALL UNITS SCRAMBLE! THIS IS NO SHIT! PHANTOMS ARE ATTACKING THE CONSTRUCTION SITE! MOVE YOUR ASSES!"

Logan found his field combat helmet and strapped it on. He looked over and saw the rest of Archangel getting their gear on. Jamal strapped his shoulder pads on and located his rifle. He packed two extra oval packs into his field backpack and popped a fresh oval pack into his rifle. He slapped on his helmet and slammed his hand on the wall. "COME ON ARCHANGELS LET'S MOVE LIKE WE HAVE A PURPOSE! THOSE WORKERS WON'T LAST LONG!" Logan popped a fresh pack into his rifle and joined up with the rest of the unit on their way out the locker room. "Lt. Marshall," Jamal asked, "How are the dropships coming along?" Marshall, Delta Team's commander, looked over and replied. "I've got chaos on my link." "Fuck." Jamal uttered as the unit made their way to the dropship hangers. As they ran across a catwalk, Logan looked down and saw the ships. Most had their engines dismantled; others hadn't even been fueled yet. All of a sudden Angel stopped and looked backwards at another hangar. "Angel what's the problem?!" Jamal asked. "Just follow me sir I have an idea." She ran in the opposite direction. Delta Team followed but Jamal, puzzled, ran to her and asked, "What the hell are you doing? Dropships are that way!" "Sir the dropships haven't even been fueled yet. Most of them are on maintenance detail and aren't flyable. Plus it'd take nearly ten minutes to get the squads airborne. I remembered the Bandits in another hangar. They're all fueled and ready to roll. They should be able to get us there in at least four and a half minutes, five tops." The bandits: four wheeled light reconnaissance jeeps made for fast transport. Each carried a single 30mm cannon in its rear and each could seat a full team fully loaded and could hit speeds of almost 60 mph. Jamal pondered this but realized that the Bandits would get them there faster then a dropship would. "Good thinking Angel," Jamal said, "Marshall?!" "Sir!" "Get on the comm. and tell the other squads to forget the dropships and get a Bandit. Tell them their in Hangar D-4." "Yes sir."

Angel jumped in the driver's seat while Ricky rode shotgun. Logan was the strongest so he manned the cannon while Ariel and Jamal sat in the rear. Angel started the jeep and pumped its engines. The V-8 engine growled to life as its forward lights came on. Jamal looked back and saw Delta Team loading into another Bandit. Marshall was in the driver's seat and he waved a "good to go" sign to Jamal. "All right Angel let's go!" Angel stepped on the gas and the Bandit took off with Delta's right behind. As she turned onto the parkway to the main gate, Jamal looked back to see other squads loading up other Bandits. Then a call came on the Bandit's commlink. It was Elliot. "Archangel Bravo Team just what the hell are you doing?" "Sir these things will get us to the site faster then the dropships. Requesting permission to open the main gate." "Granted, now get out to that site. We've lost contact with the site, no telling if the Phantoms wiped them all out or not." "Roger that sir." "And Hunter!" "Sir?" "Good luck out there. All of you." and Elliot switched off. Jamal looked ahead and saw the main gate beginning to open. The two Bandits exited the parkway and zoomed out of the main gate. Jamal looked behind Delta's Bandit and saw 3 more Bandits not too far behind. "All right Angel, punch it! We gotta go!" "You got it sir!" She floored the gas and the jeep shot off with four more behind it. They found the main road into the city and were off like flies to rescue their comrades.

To Be Continued…