2313 hrs.Undisclosed Date
Capt. Lampright's Quarters, NERV Headquarters
There's a knock on the door. Lampright looks-up from his paperwork.
"Come in." Lampright said.
Captain Katsuragi walked into the room.
"Can I help you, captain?" Lampright said without looking up.
"Some of the officers were gonna have a little party, and they thought you might wanna-"
"They?" Lampright asked unbelieving.
"Alright, I. I thought-"
"I don't attend other people's parties. It always goes...badly. That's why my boys and me have our own parties. You could come to one of OUR parties, if you want though."
"Alright, sounds fun. You don't know what you're missing, though."
"Oh, yeah, I bet you stiff-collar guys can get REAL wild after a couple of near-beers."
"Hey! It's NERV policy not to serve alcohol at it's functions."
"That's why I'm glad I'm not part of NERV. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get up in just over five hours, so I'd like to get some sleep."
Lampright shows her to the door.
"Let's do this again sometime." Lampright said to her as he opened the door.
Katsuragi walked out and to her room next door. Lampright caught himself watching her hips and legs as she walked.
'Cut it out, man. That's a good way to get removed from duty!' Lampright thought as he shook his head, as if his brain were an etch-a-sketch and a mere shake could erase his thoughts from existence.
Lampright began getting ready for bed.
"She invited me to a party. Could she...? Nah. It'd be more obvious." Lampright thought aloud.
Capt. Katsuragi's Quarters, NERV Headquarters
All the lights are off as Katsuragi prepares for bed.
'God, I don't think he knows. How dense is this guy? I mean, I was pretty obvious.' she thought as she climbed into bed.
1809 hrs.Undisclosed Date +1
Range Office, NERV Headquarters
Lampright reaches under his helmet and pushes his earpiece closer to his ear.
"Captain Lampright, go ahead."
"They what! All three of'em!"
"Lampright assemble your team, get your gear, and report for briefing. You need to move on this one ASAP." Capt. Katsuragi replied.
"Roger that. Lampright out."
Lampright turns on the line clear sign and steps out of the office.
"Grab your guns and gear and report to the armoury for ammunition draw!"
"What's the OPORD?" Jackson asked.
"I'll tell y'all as soon as I know, believe me."
1823 hrs.Undisclosed Date +1
Briefing Room, NERV Headquarters
"So you're telling me that all THREE pilots, Ikari, Soryu and Ayanami, were abducted, in broad daylight, from a school, in the middle of the frickin' city, WHILE they were under guard!"
Katsuragi sighed.
"That's how it appears." she said.
"Who the hell is guarding these kids!"
"Up until now, the threat hasn't been a serious one. NERV didn't put a lot of resources into guarding the pilots."
"Hasn't been serious! There was an abduction of NERV personnel before the pilots even arrived, and you're telling me that the pilots being guarded was unjustified!"
"Captain, I feel as bad about this as you, but can we please concentrate on the matter at hand? We need to get these pilots back safely."
"Alright, we'll discuss this later. Where are they?"
"They've been traced to an airfield outside the city that's been abandoned since the second impact, here." she said pointing to a pin on the area map.
"So they're going to try to remove them from the area. That doesn't leave us much time to act." Lampright said.
"Now wait a minute, there's no proof of that."
"And there's no proof that they aren't. We'll assume they will. We can be ready to move inside of an hour. When can our helos be here?"
"Helos?"
"Yes ma'am the facility is within helo range, and the tree's shield the 'bird and block it's noise. Plus the pilots can be quickly evacuated that way. Planes are pretty much insertion only tools, vehicles won't be able to operate in the surrounding forest, and foot's too slow. That leaves helos. Now, can I get a map of this airfield?"
"Here." Katsuragi replied handing a rolled-up paper.
"Outstanding." Lampright said as unrolled it and laid it on the table.
Lampright talks into his mic. "Lampright to Denisovich. Move the men to the briefing room."
Within minutes all thirteen of the men were in the room. Lampright pointed to the map, then began his planning session.
"Alright, our mission is to insert, probably by helo, into an abandoned airfield, rescue three hostages, and extract. I want none of the enemy to survive this, Commander Ikari's orders. Now, let's get input on the plan. Part of our plan is to deploy ASAP, but to wait if possible. Now, the metabolic low-point for the human body is around 0400-0500. If we can, we'll wait until about 0430 and strike. Due to how the objectives are spread out, everyone will have a different view. If you see anything you think requires an immediate execution, give the order. I'm relying on you guys since I can't see everything from my position. Just make sure you know the situation. Now, here's what I have worked out for the plan, but if y'all have any ideas, by all means share. So far, the plan calls for us to fast-rope in here..."
2004 hrs. Undisclosed Date +1
Aboard Helo inbound to Point Tango-Niner-One
"Everyone remember their part?" Lampright asked over the noise inside the helo.
Everyone flashes a thumbs-up.
"Carey?" Lampright asked.
"Sir, we clear and hold the hangars and then check the helipad for booby-traps and obstructions." Carey said.
"Hu-ah. Sonoda?" Lampright said.
"We take Jaeger, move up to the 'tower, clear it, and establish an over watch position in it." Sonoda replied.
"Roger. And my team will take point, clear the building, and grab the targets. Everyone clear on their mission and everyone else's mission?" Lampright checks the thumbs-up.
"Good." Lampright said.
"Hey Lampright, how come you get to assault?" Montgomery asked.
"Look Monty, we all agreed that the results of any rock-paper-scissors would be final. If you don't like it, tough." Lampright responded.
Suddenly the co-pilot turns around in his seat.
"Five mikes out." he said and turned back to his instrument panel.
2009 hrs. Undisclosed Date +1
Point Tango-Niner-One
"Ropes, ropes, ropes." Lampright's voice came over the headset.
Carey's team, having the farthest to go to their objective, roped out first and began circling around about thirty meters inside of the treeline. The assault element was next, moving to just behind the building, inside of the treeline. Sonoda's element was last, having the shortest distance to travel. They moved to an observation point just inside of the treeline. Lampright's and Sonoda's element waited at their points until Carey squelched over the radio, signaling he was in position. The radio static clicked on, then off, twice. Lampright's element took positions in concealment and prepared for a wait of more than six hours.
0430 hrs. Undisclosed Date +2
"It's time. Let's move." Lampright whispered into his mic.
The assault elements moved from cover and made their way to their first waypoint. Lampright slung his rifle, pulled out his pistol and screwed on the silencer.
"Assault element, moving out." Lampright whispered into the mic.
The team moved out across the darkened airfield with Lampright at point. The team approached from behind the airfield office building. As they lined up behind the corner, Lampright motioned for them to wait for a signal before coming around the corner. Lampright handed his rifle to Denisovich and quietly stuck around the corner. The soft clinking of four empty cartridges hitting the ground was followed by a pair of heavy, dull thuds.
"All clear." Lampright whispered.
Denisovich, Howard and Smith came around the corner, Smith staring at the two corpses and gently kicking the nearest one in the head. As they lined up for takedown, Lampright used hand motions to show them where the helipad was. Lampright took his rifle from Denisovich. He opened the breach on his underslung shotgun part-way, pulled a white-cased shotgun shell from his vest and inserted it into the chamber. Lampright flashed a thumb-up and waited for everyone else to return the gesture. Howard and Smith took positions on opposite sides of the door and each pulled out a flash-bang grenade and pulled the pin.
"Three." Lampright whispered.
Lampright readjusted his aim at the door.
"Two."
A pair of pinging noises sounded as Smith and Howard released the spoons on their grenades.
"One." Smith and Howard shifted slightly.
"GO!" Lampright shouted as he fired the door-buster round into the cheap metal door, blowing it against the wall opposite it. Howard and Smith threw in their bangers, as Lampright ducked out of the doorway and chambered the next shell in his shotgun. A second later, dual bangs sounded, and Lampright ran into the first room, firing a 3-round burst into the chest of a man holding an AK-74. As previously planned, Denisovich and Howard began clearing the ground floor, as Smith and Lampright moved to the second floor. Automatic weapons fire and explosions filled the night air as the three teams simultaneously engaged and neutralized their targets in separate parts of the facility. Lampright and Smith ran to the stairs as Howard and Denisovich moved room to room. Lampright threw a flash-bang onto the landing and charged up the staircase as soon as it detonated. Most of the gunmen where stunned and had dropped their guns to cover their ears. One was firing randomly as Lampright entered the second floor. He felt a tug on his left shoulder but ignored it.
'Probably a splinter.' he thought as he opened fire first on the shooter.
Smith was closely following him and opened-up, between the two of them they gunned down every terrorist in the room. Lampright and Smith cleared down the hallway, Lampright on the right, and Smith on the left. Most on them were empty, but some held equipment or bedding. They finally came to a door at the end of the hall. Lampright nodded to Smith, who readied a flash-bang as Lampright loaded another door-buster round into the breach of his shotgun. Smith released the spoon, and Lampright counted to two, then blew the door off it's hinges. The grenade went in and detonated, and Smith and Lampright charged into the room, weapons at their shoulders. They identified and neutralized targets as they appeared. Lampright saw movement out of the corner of his eye and looked. One of the terrorists was holding Asuka by the neck and had a gun to her head as the other remaining one moved next to him, stunned and weaponless.
"Drop the fuckin' weapon, or I'm gonna fill you so fulla lead you'll jingle when you hit the fuckin' ground!"
"Put your gun down, or the girl gets it!" he yelled.
"Drop the gun. You won't make it out of here. I've got eleven other guys, plus a sniper." Lampright said, not moving his weapon an inch from where it was held against his shoulder.
'Only got one chance. Gotta keep him distracted while I draw a bead.' Lampright thought.
"Come on, think about it. How you gonna get out of here? We've already killed all your friends, and we've got a helicopter. How far do you think you'll get before we-"
BANG. A single shot rang out in the room, it's volume in sharp contrast to the dulled and muffled shots coming from all around the complex outside the window. The terrorist's head exploded, red and pink and grey flying in all directions. The sound of the shot echoed in the small room as Asuka broke out of her shock and let loose a piercing screech.
"AAAHHHHHHHH!"
The last terrorist threw up his hands and began screaming.
"Shut-up! Lampright yelled and kicked his feet out from under him.
Smith ran up and put a pair of riot cuffs on his wrists before he moved to check the door way leading off from the room.
"Lampright, the other two pilots are in here!" he yelled.
"Lampright to all units. Marks are secure. Repeat, marks are secure." Lampright said into the mic.
"Roger that, control tower secure. When you're done, you'll want a look at it, though. And bring Carey." Sonoda said.
"Carey, you?"
"Area cleared and secured. IR strobes in place and activated. Ready to direct helo as soon as you give the signal."
"Denisovich?"
"Da, floor clear. Moving to your position."
"Outstanding! You and Howard hold the ground." Lampright replied.
"Asuka! Asuka! Calm down!" Lampright said.
"GET AWAY! GET AWAY!" she yelled at the phantom Lampright appeared to be, dirty, bloody, and not an inch of flesh visible behind his gloves, BDUs, baclava and goggles.
Lampright suddenly realized the problem. He grabbed Asuka by the shoulder with his left hand, and pulling down his baclava with his right hand.
"Asuka, it's me, Captain Lampright. You're alright."
Asuka paused for a second then composed herself.
"La-Lampright?"
"Yes. Calm down. We've here to take you home." Lampright said.
"Lampright? Why ya 'spose Asuka was separated from the rest of 'em?" Smith asked.
"Dunno, maybe they were quest-"
Lampright suddenly noticed that her skirt and blouse was torn.
"Did they do that?" he asked in the 'quiet angry voice'.
She nodded and looked at their prisoner.
"Him?"
She froze.
"Did he..."
"N-n-no."
"Right then." Lampright said as he got up.
"Smith, get the pilots out of that room."
"Alright." Smith asked, unsure of what was going to happen.
"Get-up." Lampright said to the prisoner who was lying on his stomach.
"Get-up!" he yelled and kicked him hard in the chest.
Lampright grabbed him by the riot cuffs holding his hands behind him, pulling his arms almost up to his neck, and dragged him into the other room and closed the door. There was a lot of muffled, incomprehensible yelling, in both Lampright's and the prisoner's voice. Then a soft clink. Then silence. Lampright walked out of the room.
"Let's go."
'Let's see what Ikari's made of.' he thought.
"Howard, help Ayanami. I'll take Soryu. Ikari, just follow us. You alright with that?"
"Ye-yeah."
"Good just follow us and you'll be fine."
They moved down the stairs and moved to the hangar right next to the helipad while Denisovich and Howard covered them. After they reached the building, Lampright called Denisovich and Howard over to their position.
"Howard, call in the bird. I'm going to the 'tower. Carey, with me."
"Roger that." Howard said as he grabbed the handset.
Lampright sprinted to the tower and climbed the stairs with Carey in tow.
"What's the problem?" Lampright yelled as he climbed the last flight of stairs.
"Check this shit out." Sonoda said.
"Holy shit. Carey whaddaya make of all this?" Lampright asked, making a sweeping gesture across the tables full of top-of-the-line equipment in the tower.
"Advanced radar, weather systems, control units, wow. This is nice gear." Carey said.
"Yeah, well, not any more." Lampright said, firing his shotgun into the nearest machine.
The others took Lampright's cue and within fifteen seconds all the equipment had been reduced to scrap.
"Let's go. That helo should be here any minute." Lampright said.
0501 hrs.Undisclosed Date +2
The thirteen soldiers and three pilots are sitting in the airborne helo. Lampright turns to the three pilots before talking.
"Are you all alright?"
Ikari and Ayanami both nodded.
"Asuka, you alright?"
"I'm fine! But who's going to pay for my new clothes! YOU got blood and brains all over them!"
Asuka, obviously better, continued to rant.
"Why did you ask her that?" Cooper said through his mic.
"Shut-up." Lampright responded.
'This is what I get for being a nice guy.' Lampright thought as he leaned back against the skin of the aircraft.
"Hey! Look at the sunrise!" Ikari said.
The thirteen troops, their attention now grabbed, all peer out the window.
"Wow. I've forgotten how nice that thing looks." Lampright said quietly.
0559 hrs.Undisclosed Date +2
Captain Katsuragi was waiting on the helipad when they landed. The pilots left the helo first, then the troops, and Lampright last.
"Ma'am, all pilots are accounted for, ma'am." Lampright said.
"Great." she said and smiled.
"Oh my God! What happened to your shoulder!" she yelled.
"Huh?" Lampright said looking at his shoulder and noticing the wound for the first time.
"Shit. That looks bad." Lampright said gently poking it with his right index and middle finger.
"What looks bad?" Smith said from the gaggle moving into the building.
"Hey Smith, whaddaya make of this?" Lampright asked showing him his shoulder.
"Shit. That looks bad." Smith said.
"What the hell happened to you!" Katsuragi yelled.
"I got shot, apparently." Lampright said.
"Come on Lampright, we're goin' to the infirmary." Smith said.
"Yeah, after I finish turn-in."
"No now. Come on."
"I don't like you, Smith. Denisovich, take over."
"Da." Denisovich replied.
Lampright and Smith handed-off their weapons and headed to the aid station.
0933 hrs.Undisclosed Date +2
Lampright is sitting in his office, typing his AAR on a laptop. Captain Katsuragi suddenly opened the door to the N-FOG office and stuck her head in.
"Lampright?" she called.
"Yes?" he replied in an exasperated voice.
"How's your arm?"
"Fine. The bullet actually missed everything important. Instead of passing through, it lodged in the flesh in my shoulder. Apparently they don't make 5.45 like they used to."
"You must be pretty down."
"I've been better. Although I do have a cool souvenir now." Lampright said as he pointed to the inside of the empty NERV coffee mug on his desk.
Katsuragi looked inside, and saw a slightly deformed bullet.
"I've got something that'll cheer you up!" she said with a smile.
"You finally found a way to shut-up Asuka?" Lampright asked hopefully
No. Do you want to tell the pilot's guards what you thought of them?"
"Can I?" Lampright asked with a tone of evil glee.
"Yeah. I'm not good at chewing out other people. I figure you are though!"
"Outstanding. Gimme fifteen minutes."
"Meet me outside their office at 0955. I'll be waiting for you."
Lampright gives a thumbs-up.
1000 hrs.Undisclosed Date +2
Security Office, NERV Headquarters
Lampright walks into the security office wearing a starched set of BDUs with corners sharp enough to cut paper and his face set in a frightening scowl. He avoids looking at them, but points in their direction as he looks at Katsuragi.
"Are these the fuck-ups?"
Katsuragi nodded once. Lampright's scowl intensified as he moved next to the first of the two guards. He set his face an inch from the side of the guard's cheek and, while maintaining the same distance, moved himself around until he was staring the guard straight in the face. His rage was almost palpable in the room. A bead of sweat dripped from the first guard's temple.
"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR MALFUNCTION BOY!"
"Si-sir?" the guard stammered.
"DON'T FUCKIN' PLAY DUMB WITH ME BOY! Then again, maybe you ARE THAT DUMB! YOU WERE THE RANKING GUARD ON THE DETAIL PROTECTING THE PILOTS YESTERDAY, AM I CORRECT!"
"Y-yes sir."
"I CAN"T HERE YOU! YOU ARE APPARENTLY INCAPABLE OF DOING EVEN THE SIMPLIEST JOB PROPERLY, DOES THAT INCLUDE SOUNDING OFF TOO, MAGGOT!"
"Sir, no sir!"
Lampright switches to the next guard.
"AND YOU! WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR EXCUSE!"
"Sir, no excuse sir!"
"YOU"RE DAMN RIGHT NO EXCUSE!" Lampright yelled in his face.
Lampright backed off and stood in front of the two troops.
"NOW, would one of you like to EXPLAIN to me how they managed to kidnap THREE pilots from under your guard, in BROAD DAYLIGHT, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING CITY!"
"Sir! I accept full responsibility for the failure, sir!" the first guard said.
Lampright suddenly turned to him.
"OH! WE GOT A GOD-DAMN HERO! WELL FUCK-UP, FIRST THING YOU LEARN AS AN OFFICER, BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR SUBORDINANTS AND THEIR ACTIONS IS NOT ENOUGH! YOU MUST BE WILLING TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE RESULTS OF THEIR ACTIONS!"
Lampright unbuttoned his BDU top and pulls aside his undershirt revealing the large wound on Lampright's left shoulder.
"THIS IS WHAT INCOMPETANCE CAUSES! YOU GOT LUCKY! IF ANYONE ELSE HAD LAUNCHED THAT RESCUE, THOSE PILOTS WOULD BE DEAD!"
Lampright closes the gap between himself and the first trooper.
"IT'S GOOD YOU TOOK RESPONSIBILITY."
Lampright backs off about an inch.
"I'M DOCKING YOUR PAY TO COVER THE AMMUNITION EXPENDITURE!" Lampright yelled as he put back on his BDU top.
"Now, explain to me how you managed to loose the three pilots."
"Sir! We lost the pilots when we were following them on their way home! They turned down an alley our chase vehicle couldn't fit through! We speed around to where the alley should have let out, but they weren't there sir!"
"YOU LOST LINE OF SIGHT ON THE TARGET BECAUSE YOUR VEHICLE COULD NOT FIT DOWN A GOD-DAMN ALLEY! WHAT IN THE NINE CIRCLES OF HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU! GOD FORBID YOU TAKE YOUR THUMB OUT OF YOUR ASS, AND DO YOUR JOB!"
Lampright again put his face an inch from the guard's face.
"Why the hell wasn't the order to dismount and follow given?"
"Sir! I was afraid that picking-up the other guard would cause us a delay that could slow us down, sir!"
"OH! And you were afraid to cause a delay, because you were afraid you'd lose the mark?"
"Sir, yes sir!"
"Oh, and that worked REAL well for ya, didn't it ass gremlin?"
The guard swallowed hard.
"Sir, no sir!"
"Well, MAYBE IF YOU WERE IN BETTER PHYSICAL SHAPE, AN ALLEY RUN WOULD NOT BE A PROBLEM, NOW WOULD IT, COCK JOCKY! STARTING NEXT WEEK, IF YOU WISH TO KEEP YOUR JOB, YOU WILL REPORT EVERY DAY FOR THE NEXT WEEK TO THE OUTSIDE OF MY OFFICE IN PT GEAR AT 0500! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!"
"Sir, yes sir!"
"YOU ARE BOTH LUCKY THAT I HAVE NO MORE POWER OVER YOU! IF YOU WERE MY TROOPS I WOULD HAVE HAD YOU COURT MARSHALLED! I CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU ASSHOLES HAVEN'T BEEN! YOU ARE DISMISSED!"
The two troops almost scramble to get out of Lampright's way and leave the room. As soon as the door closed Lampright let loose a smirk.
"That was fun."
"Fun! You completely terrified them!" Captain Katsuragi yelled.
"I know." Lampright said in a satisfied voice as his smile grew.
"And docking his pay! Do you even HAVE that ability?"
"NO, but I thought it would scare'im."
"You are such an ass sometimes." Katsuragi said as she shook her head.
"I know." Lampright said as he went out the door.
1426 hrs. Undisclosed Date +2
N-FOG Offices, NERV Headquarters
Lampright activated his radio.
"Lampright to Katsuragi."
"Yes, captain?"
"You still wanna come to one of our parties?"
"Yes. When?"
"Tonight. 2200 hrs., our office. Dress in civvies, bring a set of rank pins."
"Why the rank?"
"It's a tradition. Just do it."
"Ok. ten p.m. it is." she said and turned off her radio.
'It's a date.' she said and giggled.
2201 hrs. Undisclosed Date +2
N-FOG Offices, NERV Headquarters
Loud music emanated from the office, while Lampright leaned against a wall outside.
"'Bout time." he said as Misato walked up.
His jaw dropped slightly as he saw her in a short skirt and tight shirt.
"Close your mouth. You'll catch flies." she said with a smile.
"Uh, yeah." Lampright said, regaining control of himself.
As they walked into the room, Lampright pointed to a small bin filled with various ranks set on a small table by the door. Lampright motioned towards it with a nod and flipped a set of U.S. captain's rank into it. Misato opened her hand and placed her rank in the bin. The room was filled with beer, loud rock music and other various party activities. Everyone was slightly buzzed. As they stood around observing the party, a man in a ski mask ran in the door with a water gun in each hand and started blasting at the party-goers.
"I got'im!" Lampright yelled and tackled him.
"Gotcha Smith." Lampright said as he pulled off the ski mask.
"Damn it. How'd you know it was me?"
"Dude, you were the only one missing."
"Oh yeah."
Several of the men had sat down and were watching the helmet cam footage.
Herford and Montgomery were ribbing each other over a game of darts. While Maloy told his same off color jokes. Lampright approached Carey.
"Hook me up with a beer, man. And one for the lady." Lampright said.
"Incoming." Carey replied and threw two beers at Lampright who handed to Misato.
Jackson suddenly appeared beside Lampright.
"What's up Jackson. And how many times to I have to ask you to STOP DOING THAT!"
"Sorry man. Hey, why was your helmet cam shut off from 0436-0439?"
"NTK basis, man." Lampright replied.
"Alright." Jackson said.
"NTK?" Misato asked.
"Need-to-know." Lampright replied.
Suddenly everyone's attention was drawn to Howard, who had jumped up on a table holding Lampright's rank.
"Hey! Look at me! I'm Lampright! I'm INVINCIBLE!" Howard yelled.
"Oh no, he did NOT just do that." Lampright said, crossing the room and grabbing Howard's staff sergeant rank.
Lampright ran to the table, pushed Howard off, and jumped up himself.
"Hey! Look at ME! I'm Howard! I'm a cock-bite!"
Misato giggled.
The party went downhill from there.