A/N: Wow! I can't believe I let this story sit this long without updating! My sincerest apologies, people. Army life's been bringing me down. Ever since I came back from leave, I've been hit with detail after detail... now, I'm at my wit's end. Anyways, this ain't the place the drabble about my personal life, so I'll let y'all read on!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.
Brasilia, Brazil. U.S. Embassy. December 25, 2003. 2245 hours.
A mission of this type was not entirely unusual for U.S. Navy SEALs. In fact, the entire fire team merely shrugged at the fact of missing Christmas with their families. However, something about the atmosphere of the Brazilian capital was uncharacteristically calm, given the country's situation. No military aircraft in site, no MPs patrolling the streets, no air raid sirens. In fact, the capital remained absolutely untouched by Robotnik's forces, and that's what had Lieutenant Junior Grade Hector Vasquez Garcia, and his SEAL Team 3 fire team unnerved. Five thousand enemy troops so far inside the country, and a Ravana-class egg carrier holding position a hundred miles off the southeastern coast. Vasquez knew first hand from Operation Blackbeard that the smaller Rakshasa-class carriers could project that much power, so why send the larger fleet carrier? And why was the doctor holding back?
A call on his radio interrupted his thoughts, and he casually flipped a switch to open the channel. "Go ahead."
"Sir, all embassy personnel have been accounted for, and all classified documents destroyed. We're ready to pop smoke." Petty Officer First Class James Barnes, SEAL Team 3's only other survivor of Operation Blackbeard reported.
"Good. The choppers are already on their way. ETA: ten minutes. Get everyone to the roof."
"Yes, sir. Warhammer, out." A few minutes passed before the rest of SEAL Team 3 filed onto the roof with the embassy personnel in tow, and Barnes made a beeline for Vasquez. "Hey, LT! We got Petrarch on the line!"
"Dammit, this can't be good..." Vasquez moaned and picked up the receiver from the radio set on Barnes' back. "Yes, sir. This is Talon 1." The next thing Admiral Petrarch said confirmed the SEAL's foreboding, and he swore viciously under his breath. "Yes sir. Talon 1, out,." He sighed and replaced the receiver.
"Well, what'd he say?" Barnes asked.
Vasquez glared at his NCOIC for a second before replying bitterly. "What the hell do you think he said!"
Barnes sighed. "Shit... when are we getting in the shit?" He asked casually.
"ASAP."
Somewhere over Central Brazil. December 26, 2003. 0552 hours.
"Tails, this is Stork 1. We are ten minutes out. What's our jump status, over?" The C-17's pilot asked the young fox, who had been orbiting over one of two drop zones for the past twenty minutes.
Tails checked the Hurricane's radar again, which had been turned up to full power, which was powerful enough to pinpoint moving cars in New York rush hour traffic. Nothing notable on the ground, no enemy dropship activity in the past twenty minutes within ten miles, but interesting enough, he did detect a couple of flights of ancient MiG-21 Fishbed fighter-bombers, possibly going on search and destroy missions. According to the CIA's report, Brazil had no MiGs in their air force, which meant they must belong to the PoTCW. Man, was the defecation going to hit the ventilation. "Stork 1, this is Tails. DZ Alpha's clear. I am RTB (Return(ing) To Base). Out."
Five minutes later...
"Five minutes to drop off!" The senior jump master at the rear hatch of the C-17 announced, and Rouge and Knuckles made their way toward the rear.
"Man, you two are lucky you don't need 'chutes." Sonic complained when Rouge and Knuckles passed by him. The entire group was geared up for a HALO (High Altitude, Low Opening) jump, complete with ballistic helmets with attached oxygen masks. "The main and reserve both weigh a ton!"
Knuckles smirked smugly. "Unless you need a tampon, quit your bitching! This HALO jump was your idea, after all!"
Sonic scoffed playfully "Oh, you're one to talk, one who complains every time we get on a bird! I should give you a whole box of'em! Speaking of which, I just don't get this: you bitch about flying in a bird, but you're more than willing to jump outta one. Care to explain?"
Knuckles just shrugged his shoulders and laughed. "When I figure that one out, I'll let you know."
"Right. Just remember to hit the ground running. Have a safe landing, and good hunting." With that, the two roommates shook hands, and hugged briefly before checking their gear one last time.
"Hey! We're already about to jump?" Amy had finally emerged from the C-17's bathroom after ten minutes, getting out her last 'anxiety shits' before the drop off Somehow, she had convinced Sonic to let her take her hammer along, but it was painted olive drab instead of its fluorescent ensemble of yellow and red, and was slung behind her back uncomfortably beneath her parachute along with the M4 Sonic issued her..
"Wow! I thought you weren't gonna make it out, girl!" Rouge teased. "You alright?"
Amy sighed, never having experienced freefall for more than thirty feet before. "I guess..."
Sonic smiled, rubbing her shoulders. "Don't worry, kid. You're in good hands."
Rouge nodded. "Right. You two just remember we need to hit the ground running. Oh, and we need to contact Boss when we finally hit Terra firma. He'll probably just remind us of our mission and establish the rule of engagement."
"One minute to drop off! All jumpers put on your oxygen masks!" The jump master ordered. "All jumpers lock, load, and move to the rear!"
With that, the group put on their masks, locked and loaded their weapons, and headed towards the rear hatch. With thirty seconds left, the compartment's amber light turned on and rear hatch opened, revealing the first rays of sunlight shooting over the eastern horizon and bathing the cabin in a bright orange light..
"Sunrise..." Amy murmured.
"Any insurgent camps in the jungle will be at their most alert for the next hour." Sonic warned. "Everyone be heads up for any gunfire on the way down."
"Green light in ten..." The jump master began his countdown. "Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, green light!" Without any hesitation, Rouge and Knuckles jumped, fully trusting their natural gliding abilities to see them safely to the ground.
Amy took one look at the 20,000 foot drop awaiting her, breathed a deep calming breath, closed her eyes, and let herself fall forward out of the aircraft.
Sonic smiled. "Whew! I thought I actually had to push her out." With that, he joined his comrades in their freefall down.
PoTCW Command Post Arrowhead, same time...
"Colonel? Are you up?" A voice seeped through the otherwise silent quarters/office. "This is Corporal Stipanovich."
Shadow stirred for a moment, then began to fully awaken, very miffed that someone would have the audacity to wake him up after only three hours sleep. He had spent mos of the past eighteen hours either going over intelligence reports from the field and from radio intercepts, or reporting back to PoTCW command and requesting reinforcements. Any sort of personal time was a scarce commodity since Robotnik's forces arrived in country. He checked his watch. Only 0600 hours. "I thought I gave specific orders not to wake me until 0800!" The ebon colored hedgehog growled under the camouflaged poncho liner that served as a blanket.
"Yes, I know sir." The corporal replied. "However, Captain Mackenzie from Alpha team is on the radio, and is asking specifically for you. Claims it's something you definitely want to know."
Shadow sighed. So much for at least five hours sleep. Rarely did Wolf misjudge on these things. "Very well. I'm on my way. Carry on." Reluctantly, he threw the poncho liner off of him, donned his concealing helmet, and ran to the signal room. After requesting a cup of extra strong coffee from a random technician in the signal room, he picked up the receiver. "Alpha Male, what do you got, over?"
In the jungle...
"Sorry to wake you sir, but I have a visual on a U.S. military aircraft about three or four clicks from my position." Wolf answered, radio in one hand, and spotter binoculars in the other hand. "Hold on. Stand by. We have jumpers. I say again, we have jumpers. I count... four of'em."
A beat. "Copy that, Alpha Male. My guess is they're special forces. Just give them a wide berth."
Wolf focused the binoculars further. "That's a negative, sir. They are not U.S. Special Forces... at least not any regular special forces. Check this out: two of the jumpers don't even have 'chutes... and one of them looks like he or she has a big mallet slung on their back."
Back at Arrowhead...
Shadow sighed. Why was he not surprised that Sonic would be all over this? Finally, that coffee came, and he lifted his helmet a little and drank it straight. "Okay, Wolf. Here are your orders. I want you to monitor their movements. Until I say otherwise, they are not to be touched."
"Yes,sir--" AK fire suddenly cut through the channel, cutting Wolf off as he sought cover. "Dammit! Colonel, I'll get back to you later! Out!" With that, the channel went dead.
Somewhere else in the jungle. 0804 hours...
"Good, no gunfire on the way down." Sonic was the last to deploy his parachute/start gliding, assuring he would be the first to hit the ground. As soon as his feet grazed the jungle's canopy he cut his parachute, opting not to risk getting hung up in the tree branches, braced himself for the jarring impact of the thirty foot freefall, landed, and rolled forward a bit on the mud-saturated floor.
By the time Amy, Rouge, and Knuckles reached the canopy, Sonic was already crouched with his weapon at the ready, scanning all sectors. One by one, Rouge first and Amy last, landed in Sonic's general vicinity. The four quickly sought each other out, scanning all sectors of fire as they crouched close to each other and peeled off their HALO gear.
"I can't believe you cut your 'chute!" Rouge murmured quietly to Sonic. "That must've been one helluva landing."
Sonic shrugged. "I've had worse. Everyone alright?" After everyone gave a collection of nods and thumbs-ups, he continued. "Alright. Rouge, get on the horn with Dowell. Let'em know we're good."
"Yeah, I'd bet he's got something for us, too." Rouge answered as she dialed in her boss's frequency, and hit the 'page' button on her radio.
It wasn't long before Dowell responded. "Alright, good. It seems you four made it down in one piece. A thermal imaging satellite is due to pass in range of the region momentarily. Our objective here is to recover whatever was on that transport plane. Remember, indigenous rebel forces are mixed in with Robotnik's and PoTCW assets. Assume the rebs hostile, and until further notice, give the PoTCW a wide berth. It's four of you against an entire division or so of enemy forces, so you'd be smart to keep engagements to a minimum."
"So I guess our rules of engagement are passive then." Rouge conjectured.
A beat. "That's what I'm recommending, but use your discretion." Dowell answered.
"Hey, ask about air support." Sonic advised.
Rouge nodded. "Yeah, what about air support, boss?"
A beat. "Well," Dowell began. "The Lincoln's battlegroup will not be in range for another ten hours, and I planned on sending Tails out later to get a closer look at the Leviathan. Nonetheless, I don't think it smart to napalm the hell out of the jungle unless we want environmentalists crawling up our asses. So, negative on the airstrikes... Hold on. The satellite is now in range. Downloading feed... alright, we got it. Sonic, check your tactical PDA."
"Right." Sonic fished the handheld device out of his cargo pocket, and turned it on. The satellite feed took a brief second to load, then displayed on the small screen. "Alright, I got it..." Sonic grabbed Rouge's radio and spoke through it. "Looks like there's a helluva lot of activity west of here... and what looks like a rebel command post is about three or four miles north of here."
"My thoughts exactly." Dowell agreed. "Okay, here comes our first move. We need to know what radio frequency the rebs are using so that Mr. Carter can eavesdrop on their net. The more we know, the better off we are. And I'm willing to bet that command post has a radio station, so head there."
"Roger that. Oh, by the way, do we have a codename for this little jungle safari?" Sonic asked jokingly.
Dowell laughed. "Actually, that is a good question. The name of this mission will be Operation: ... Anaconda. Anything else?"
The group looked around at each other for a second before Sonic responded. "Negative. Commencing Operation: Anaconda. Out." With that, Sonic cut the transmission, and gave Rouge back her radio. "Well, if anyone was complaining about why these missions send us somewhere cold, this is your lucky day." Sonic remarked and donned his boonie cap from out of his pocket. Following suit, the rest of the gang donned either a patrol cap or boonie cap. "Instead of frostbite, we get to deal with jungle rot! Hope everyone zip locked their spare socks and underwear." He added sarcastically.
Amy sighed. "Though I'm still mad about how this ruined our Christmas."
Sonic laughed. "Oh don't worry, Ames. You'll get to see me in those new bikini briefs soon..." Amy blushed and hit him playfully on the shoulder. Sonic snickered. "Still can't believe you bought those. What's wrong with my boxers?"
Amy smirked. "Oh, like you have room to talk. Remember the two-piece swimsuit you bought me?"
Sonic blinked, trying to suppress a blush but failing, and everyone snickered. "Ames, you've been wearing the same swimsuit since you were 15. It's time to retire it."
The girl hedgehog gave him a saucy smile. "And this one just happens to look a ways skimpier than the old one."
Sonic was beet red by now. "Oh, shut up and let's move out." The snickering turned to silent full-blown laughter before Sonic's stern face made everyone remember themselves. "Everyone wants to be a comedian."
"You started it." Knuckles pointed.
"...Whatever. Rouge, since you have the sniper rifle, take point. Knux, I want that shotgun of yours covering the rear. Ames, cover our right flank and stick close behind me. I hate to say this, but we need to take it slow."
"Ranger file?" Rouge asked.
Sonic nodded. "Yeah. Keep a three pace interval, keep a wide field of view, and watch your step." He breathed a heavy sigh before the group started moving and added. "I hope this goes nice and smooth, otherwise we could be out here for a while."
"Yeesh! Can we at least show a little bit of optimism here?" Amy implored.
Sonic laughed a little, albeit humorlessly. "Ames, optimism is one thing. Being realistic is something completely different." Especially, he didn't add, when he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was going to go sour...
I'll leave it at there for now. Any attempts to go further this chapter ran into a wall. Well, if you'd like, feel free to leave a comment or two. If I'mnot still beefing with my NCOs, I should be able topublish another chapter soon.Roger, out!