Spectre: Here is the next one, the NUKE! Anyways, if you're a Gundam Seed fan, take a look of the new fic I've been working on. Also, this is the second part of the trilogy, unless if you want me to do until One Shot One Kill, but the choice is yours.
Chapter 19: A Shocking Experience
The emblem of Atlesian Marines spun as the name of Sgt. Russel Thrush was displayed onto the screen.
Ironwoon was watching eagerly as the Atlas would play a role at this operation while Winter kept a keen eye on the screen.
"So, I'm guessing it's Team CRDL's turn for the spotlight?", Ruby asked as the other students of Beacon were unsure wether to cheer for them or not, given to their track record.
It showed them the previous location on Southern Menagerie as the camera zoomed itself down, now showing them green outlines of numerous buildings and the Sea Knight that boarded the Atlesian Marines.
As it took off into the air, Command's voice suddenly spoke up, "Marines, we have a possible fix on Arthur Watts in the Capital City. 1st Battalion is en route. Intel gathered by Beacon indicates that Watts may have a Menagerie warhead...Speed is critical. NEST teams have been deployed to the area. Force Recon and Wild Weasel units have taken out most of the air defenses but Watts' ground forces still pose a serious threat."
The camera showed them off a place which was told them to be Watts' palace as the footage of him broadcasting in a square on the left side of the screen, before it was joined by her bio, as it popped out down it. Then it zipped to show them some moving aircraft, speeding along the city.
"Looks like we're rollin' in with everything we got." Cardin Winchester's voice ran in their ears, "We get Watts, we end this war, right here, right now. Lock and load, Marines!"
"Can't believe I'm saying this, but go CRDL!", Nora cheered on to their rival team, as the rest of JNPR also hoped that they would be able to capture the man.
"So this is the operation when they would and hunt down Watts." Winter stated.
"So, that's what Qrow said about the Atlesians 'having plans for him'." Taiyang added.
"But Raven did say that they'll never take him alive", Summer worriedly said.
"I was likely sarcastic of that, Summer. Perhaps they would succeed.", Raven told her.
"Could be. But it is important to note that the Ultranationalists at Mistral are said to be aiding Watts and his regime, so we can't be sure." Oobleck interjected.
"I just hope nothing goes wrong for Cardin and Russel." Jaune said in support of the bullies.
The camera zoomed itself onto the Sea Knight helicopter in which Russel and the rest of his team had boarded. And it showed Russel, stationed in front of grenade launcher turret as he was overlooking other helicopters and tanks moving towards the Capital City.
["Shock and Awe"]
[Day 3 - 18:00:04]
[Sgt. Russel Thrush]
[1st Force Recon Co., AMC]
''In formation. Approaching objective. 30 seconds." one of the Cobra Pilots, Outlaw Two-Five said.
''Outlaw, this is Deadly. We'll take out the big targets, mop up any troublemakers with the Mark 19.", a pilot by the name of Locke said.
As they were saying those words, Russel assesed his Grenade Launcher, loading the chain onto the launcher itself until voice sounded to all troops. "All callsigns, this is Overlord. We're seeing enemy armor on the bottom grove west of the river."
"Wait, is that you, Jimmy?", Qrow asked, with the audience's ears perked at the familiar voice as Winter brightened her eyes for a moment.
"So it seems." Ironwood confirmed, though still surprised at the fact that he's leading their men for the capture of Watts, the one in this universe who seized power through despicable means.
A moment after they started flying along the bridge that lead into the city, the Atlesian Aircraft spread around the city, some of them firing at the bridge, taking out some of the enemy's forces on the ground. Russel followed their example and started shooting at everything on the ground. Beginning with Watts' troops that were retreating into the town, going to the BMPs, destroying them one by one after a couple of shots.
When Russel had dealt with the BMP's next to the bridge, the helicopter headed into the town, Russel instantly spotting a ZPU on the roof of one of the buildings. It didn't took long until there was nothing left of it along with the man operating it. There were some people on the roofs of the buildings next to it, some of them firing RPGs at Russel's Sea Knight, or the ones who didn't had the launcher had to fire at them with their MGs which of course didn't do any significant damage.
"Light armor, take it out, Thrush!" Outlaw Two-Five informed the gunner.
The next enemies that appeared in her view were another BMP's, two armored vehicles stationed at thesquare, as most of the ground forces seemed to be heading towards some for story building with a flag over it's entrance.
''We got RPGs on rooftops." Outlaw Two-Five informed as Russel shifted his attention towards the roofs, noticing another ZPU. It didn't took long before it the also blown up as the one he destroyed not that long ago. He moved the grenade launcher towards an oil truck as it was approached by another BMP. He fired a few grenades at the oil truck, and when it exploded, the BMP did so shorty after. There was also another ZPU on the roof next to it, but Russel took it out without any problem.
As the helicopter began moving back to thesquare it flied by just a second, Russel had a chance to see the other side and see if there are any enemies there. He was proven to be correct. Two BMP's coming his way and open fired at them. Quickly, they were destroyed before shifting his attention towards the countless enemies on the buildings, some of them wielding rocket launchers, some of them don't.
''Command this is Outlaw Two-Five. Infantry is making a run for it. We are clear to land." Outlaw Two-Five declared, as Russel was able to see several of Watts' men retreating along the road, until they were taken out the helicopter that flied above their heads.
"Uh...Roger that. Ok. Bachelor Two-Seven, let's get those Abrams to the front..." Command stated as the helicopter started to turn. Russel's eyes went to the BMP that was firing at him next to the others he destroyed earlier. Two shoots were enough for it to join the other two.
"So far so good, Jimmy. Your strategy is working.", Qrown complimented as he took a chug of his flask. The general is keenly watching this operation in complete silence, but inside, he suspected that something was wrong because this looked a bit too easy.
Watts on the other hand, was sweating to the fact that his men were being dealt with so easily but hoped that he had a sort of wildcard on his sleeve.
As Russel's Sea Knight was landing on the ground, Command continued, "...Outlaw, this is command, unload half your chalk and take the rest 2 klicks to the west. We need you to evac an advance team pinned down in the city.."
Two more helicopters landed on the ground, and marines got out of them. Russel watched how they began fighting with Watts' soldiers in a flagged building as at tank rode through the car, completely crushing it. As another tank rode by, Russel's Sea Knight had taken off into the air.
"Marines! Listen up! One of our forward recon teams has gotten pinned down and needs out help!" Cardin declared to his team.
"Still kinda strange for Cardin to behave like an actual leader, unlike the one we have", Yang complimented as she observed his behaviour.
"You, me and both", Weiss agreed with her.
Russel watched how the Marines fought with Watts' men in a flagged building, as his transporr began taking off towards the place Cardin just mentioned, the Cobra Pilot called out, flying past them, "Outlaw, this is Deadly. Returning to base to refit and refuel. You're on your own for now, 2-5.."
As the helicopter flew above the hill, Russel saw some aicraft speed through the sky, as Command informed them, "Advance team is pinned down in a hot area. They are popping green smoke to indicate their position."
Russel glanced down to see a single man with an RPG on the building. A single shot was enough to take care of him, as the gunship's pilot said, " Roger we have a visual.Two-Five out."
After those words, it wasn't too long before the helicopter landed on the ground. Russel dismounted from the grenade launcher as he along with other Marines began to leave airship, with Cardin telling them as she was the first one to get out, followed by the others, "Watch for friendlies near the colored smoke. Let's get our boys evac'ed and get the hell out of here!", Cardin ordered as he led his squad out.
As Russel ran out of the helicopter, she ran past one man who was waving his hand as the marines were moving out of the aircraft. "Go! Go! Go! Marines!", Lark Sky called out to the troopers.
Russel, Cardin and the rest rushed into streets with their destination being a building from which green smoke was coming from, taking care of the three enemies that hadn't been in a cover the moment they saw them. Russel took a cover behind a a bit of a small, as some part it was destroyed. He carefully leaned out and took out a man hiding behind a stony fence with simple shot to the head, before moving forward with the Marines, taking out anyone in their path.
"Watch for friendlies near the green smoke on the second floor! Let's get our boys outta there! Move!" Cardin shouted as Russel saw two hostiles that were left outside rush into the building.
The group of Marines stopped by the entrance to the building, suspecting that some enemies were inside and their worries were proven to be correct as one of them popped out his head and his weapon from his cover behind a wall. Luckilly he didn't take out anyone from Russel and Cardin's squad. Russel pulled out a flash-bang grenade and threw it inside. At the sound of it exploading, he and the others rushed in the building, at first taking out enemies who weren't blinded by the explosion, then taking care of the enemies that were blinded.
''Hold your fire! Hold your fire! Friendlies up on the second floor! I repeat, we're up on the second floor!" They heard one marine shout from the second floor.
As Russel and Cardin rushed up the stairs, with the others following hom, he heard one of the Marines and asked him, "So you're our ride out of here?"
''We're it, Captain! Let's move out before they regroup!" Cardin said as Russel moved towards the hole in the wall, which was allowing him and the other to see very clearly what was going on outside. The first thing they saw were two enemy helicopters in the air, dropping off some Watts' soldiers.
Unfortunely for them, but fortunely for the Marines, an allied gunship came by, shooting both of them down, before any hostiles could even reach the ground, "Outlaw this is Deadly. Refueled and fully loaded. You guys miss me?"
"Hell yeah!" a Marine could be heard yelling out in the background.
"This is like straight from a blockbuster action movie!", Jaune complimented on the universe displayed to them.
"I know, but it is their reality unfortunately", Ren agreed with him.
''Move out! Let's go! Let's go!" Cardin shouted as Russel rushed through the hole and immediately took a cover behind a container with a fellow Marines, while Cardin and the rest were either on the ground with them, hiding behind a wall, or a pile of junk, or in the building, their attention focused on the hostiles on the ground.
Russel and Cardib decided to focus their attention on the building from which the hostiles were firing at. Russel looked over at him and Cardin gave him a quick nod before they moved out towards the building as more and more Marines were joining them on the ground. He and Cardin rushed into the building, the first one stabbing the approaching enemy with a knife before going up the stairs. He used another flash-bang grenade, and upon hearing it exploading, she and Cardin rushed in, taking out the blinded hostiles.
When the building was cleared out of any enemy troops, they rushed down the stairs to see other Marines moving through the building, probably towards the LZ. They followed them and went through the alley that lead them to the LZ, all of them watching how the helicopter landed on the ground to take them and the Marines they came here to rescue.
"Go! Go!" Cardin said, as he, followed by the rest went inside of the Outlaw Two-Five.
"When are they going to get Watts, sir?" Winter asked.
"Perharps they're going to go after him now." Ironwood answered, seeing how most of his men had been dealt with.
"Thrush! Get back on the Mark 19!" Lark shouted to Russel as complied and mounted the grenade launcher once again.
As the aircraft began taking off, they heard Command say, "Outlaw, be advised, we have a situation here, over."
''Go ahead Command, over." Outlaw Two-Five said.
"Team Six has located a possible nuclear device as Watts' palace to the west. NEST teams are on the way. Until the device is verified safe, all forces are to fall back to the east, over." Command informed.
Both Flit and Aeralyn bit their lips, knowing what this meant until Velvet spoke, "All of them should retreat, just because someone saw a device?"
"I wonder what that is." Coco wondered.
Summer rubbed her chin, "It may have been that package we saw back on the mission when me and Qrow attacked that cargo ship.", she said in realization.
As all Atlesian Aircraft were making their way to the east, just as they were ordered to by their Command, an enemy rocket came out of nowhere, and it shot down a friendly.
"Something just had to happen during their retreat." Ruby groaned.
The tail rotor of the gunship was burning, as he engine was struggling to to keep working despise the damage it just got as it's pilot called out, "We're hit we're hit! I've lost the tail rotor!''
After the gunship hit one of the trees, it spun out of control as it's pilot cried out, "Mayday mayday, this is Deadly, going in hard! We're going down!"
Just a second after the Cobra helicopter crashed on the ground, Outlaw Two-Five spoke up about the situation, "We have a Cobra down. I repeat, we have a Cobra down. Deadly this is Outlaw Two-Five, come in, over! Command, I have a visual on the crash site. I see small arms fire coming from the cockpit. Request permission to initiate search and rescue, over.''
''Copy 2-5, be advised, you will NOT be at a safe distance in the event that nuke goes off. Do you understand?" Command asked him.
"So, tis nuke is like an explosion, or something similiar to that?" Glynda asked.
"If that is true then I don't understand why they're so worried about it. I doubt that there is an explosive that is able to destroy the entire city." Ozpin stated, to which Glynda nodded her head in agreement.
"Roger that. We know what we're getting into." Outlaw Two-Five replied.
''All right 2-5, it's your call. Retrieve that pilot if you can. Out." Command said.
''Deadly, do you copy? What's your status, over?" Outlaw Two-Five asked.
"I don't understand. The first part of this mission was about saving an entire group of them, and now they are leaving them a chance if they should save a single man who is heavily outnumbered." Ruby pondered.
"This must be something about that nuclear device they mentioned earlier. They are really that afraid of it?" Jaune wondered as well.
The Cobra pilot coughed, the noises of him firing back at Watts' soldiers could be heard firing in the background, as Outlaw Two-Five was landing on the ground, "I'm here!...Keating is KIA! Hostiles moving in fast! I sure could use some help down here!"
"Hold on, we're coming to ya." Outlaw Two-Five said as Russel dismounted the grenade launcher and readied his M4A1.
Russel, Cardin and all other Marines rushed out of the helicopter and headed towards the wounded Cobra Pilot, as Command told them, "Be advised, 2-5, hostiles advancing parallel southwest of your position towards the crash site."
''We got 90 seconds, Thrush! Get the pilot! NO ONE gets left behind!" Cardin shouted.
"That's right! No one should be left behind!" Ruby shouted, pointing at the screen.
"An old saying in the army", Ironwood remarked with a smile, glad that they still keep those values to their comrades.
Upon reaching the Cobra Pilot, Cardin shouted, as he began to shoor back at Watts' men who were firing at it, his squad doing the same, and there was actually no one going for the Cobra Pilot at this moment, "Thrush! Pull her out of there and get back to the LZ! We'll cover you go!"
Russel quickly moved towards the Cobra Pilot, who opened fire at hostiles from her Mp5. He reached his hands out for her as he moved towards her, allowing hom to grab and put her on his back. He began to move towards the Outlaw Two-Five as Cardin and the rest followed shortly after, not forgetting to cover him.
"Lt. Winchester, this is Outlaw Two-Five, now would be a good time to get the hell outta here over." Outlaw Two-Five informed.
''Roger that we're on our way!" Cardin assurred him.
Russel brings the Cobra Pilot to the helicopter while Cardin and the team provided him cover from incoming enemy forces. He then set her down on a seat. The Cobra Pilot offered him a quick nod of her head as she drew out his MP5 to fend off more insurgents. Russel turned around to hold off hostiles as the Marines were quickly joining him along with Lark and the Cobra Pilot.
''Outlaw this is command. We have a probable nuclear threat at the capital. Proceed to the minimum safe distance until the all clear has been given by the NEST team." Command said.
"I'm getting bad vibes from this nuke." Fox stated as he looked with dread towards the screen
"Why is that, man?" Yatsuhashi asked his teammate.
"They sound so fearful about it. They must have a good reason to be afraid of it." the teen said.
Cardin and the other Marines were the last ones left outside. All of them kneeling down and firing at the enemies, before Cardin went into the aircraft, which was followed by Roycewicz. A Marine stood up, and gave his comrade a quick pat on the shoulder, as the two of them made their way into the Sea Knight.
"Go! Go!" Cardin shouted as Outlaw began taking off into the air with Russel and Lark still firing at the enemies that had gathered around, trying to take them out until they disappeared from their view as the Sea Knight took off on full speed.
''Ladies and gentlemen this is your Captain speaking. We're in for some chop! Hang on! Jake gimme max power." Outlaw Two-Five said.
As Outlaw Two-Five was leaving this area, Russel and Lark who were in the front of the transport were able to see many other helicopters that hadn't left, yet, flying behind them.
''All Atlesian Marines, be advised, we have a confirmed nuclear threat in the city. NEST teams are on site and attempting to disarm." Command repeated himself about the threat again.
"We know that already, dude!" Neptune pointed out in annoyance.
"They just can't stop repeating themselves, do they?" Coco humorously asked.
Flit and Aeralyn sighed, knowing what is going to happen in the next few seconds, thinking to himself, "And here we go."
''I repeat, we have a confirmed nu..."
Suddenly, before the warning could be repeated, it was cut off by static as a explosion went off in the distance. Lark looked away and shielded his eyes with his other arm not holding his M9 pistol to avoid witnessing the flash of the detonation. When he finally took a glance at what was happening, all he could do was stare and disbelief at what had just happened. As the mushroom cloud began to rise into the air, the shock wave knocked down many helicopters and destroyed everything in its path.
"Wait what?!" Ruby was the first one from the audience to speak up as the massive suprise at what just transpired overcame their bodies. She was quickly followed by other people in the audience, who just like her couldn't believe their eyes.
"Oh my gosh..." Phyrra said, covering her mouth in shock.
"Holy crap!" Jaune shouted as he put his hands on his head . Even the energetic Nora who was cheering everytime when something exploded on the screen was now in a state of complete shock.
"What the hell?!" Mercury shouted, his and Emerald's eyes widening in shock, even Cinder. Watts seemed to be shocked as well, he was hoping that his character in this had something under his sleeve because so far not everything was going just as he wanted it to go, but this was far away from what he was expecting.
"What in the world..." Raven spoke, she and his entire team staring in shock at the massive explosion on the screen.
"All those aircraft..." Ren pondered as his eyes were glued to rhe screen.
"It's taking them down as if they were nothing." Ironwood observed with wide eyes at how the helicopters were dropping from sky like flies. He was excepting Watts to have something under his sleeve, but something like that never crossed his mind.
"That was the nuke they mentioned earlier?!" Ruby asked, now knowing why the Marines afraid of this weapon.
"Everyone hang on!" Cardin's voice shouting those words was the last thing he would say in this universe as the shockwave reached Russel and Cardin's helicopter.
Russel and Lark were knocked off their feet, and the latter one began to slide out of the helicopters ramp. Russel reached out and grabbed him by the hand, doing the best he could to pull him back in, but the force was too strong and his hand slipped. Lark got pulled out of the chopper. Russel then fell on his back and hung onto the seats until Outlaw Two-Five crashed, knocking him unconscious upon impact.
Aeralyn and Flit, having a chance to witness this scene many times before, turned around to the audience to witness their reaction to the nuclear explosion. Yang and Blake stared at the screen, neither of them having idea what to say, and when it came to Yang, it was actually something new.
Team JNPR and Team CVFY stared at the screen, worried for Team CRDL, despite their attitude in their reality. Glynda removed her sunglasses from her eyes to make sure that it really happened. Qrow stared at the screen with wide eyes, as he dropped his flask in shock on the ground, spilling the liquor all over the floor as he was about to take a sip in just a second before the explosion went off.
Ironwood was just staring, unable to say anything, having no idea that an explosion like that was even possible. Watts had the same reaction as him, though he did not expect he had a wildcard like that. Penny's and Winter's went wide, neither of them having idea what happened to the Atlesian Marines.
The rest of the audience had pretty much the same reaction. They all just went silent, their eyes shot open, and some of them dropped their jaws in shock,
"This is called a nuke." Aeralyn told them, gesturing towards the screen, pressing the button of the remote, starting next mission.
The aftermath of the explosion started with A.M.C emblem spinning around.
"Wait, it's not over, yet?" Roman asked in surprise.
"Now what?" Jaune asked.
The camera began to lower itself down on Menagerie, until the audience were able to see how the nuclear explosion was looking from the view of a bird.
"That bastard...", Ghira silently cursed as the home that he and his brethren had built, was reduced to rubble by a certain Atlesian Scientist.
"Just how powerful is that weapon?", Ruby fearfully asked.
"More importantly, what does it do?", Yang added.
"A single bomb like that is enough to destroy a city with ease. If they're not caught in the explosion, they would be exposed to radioactive material that was contained from the bomb that could literally melt their DNA and slowly kill them from the inside depending on how exposed is the victim.", Flit explained as the audience gasped in horror of such a weapon being created.
"Something has happened." Lisa Lavender's voice was the first one to speak up.
She was followed by a few other voices, one of them saying, "What appears to be an explosion of an epic proportion..."
''Reports remain sketchy and unconfirmed at this time..."
''Damage appears to be total... to set off what appears to have been a nuclear explosion in her own country...''
''Maybe the start of something larger that on whether Arthur Watts was among the victims in what may have been a suicidal..."
''What I can see from the hotel here is a mushroom cloud, about 45 by..."
''...Continue to burn across a massive wasteland, that was once a capital for this thriving nation..."
Four list of the marines appeared on the screen, it was scrolling so fast that no one from the audience was able to read it.
"So many lives..." Ironwood said in despair, as his own men, thousands presumably, died under his command. His grief turned to rage, pointed at Watts who remained silent at the transpiring events.
One of the names suddenly lightened itself up in blue, this name was no other than Russel Thrush, as the screen went black just for a second.
Russel regained consciousness, a few coughs leaving his mouth as he was able to look around him. He was still in the helicopter, but unfortunely none of them Marines he was with were there.
"Russel!" Ruby shouted, relieved that their fellow student was alive.
"He's alive." Jaune said in relief.
"But what about the rest of his squad?" Glynda asked, growing more worried her other students were nowhere to be seen.
Even though she was severely wounded by the crash, Russel found thes trength in himself and started crawling his way out of the helicopter, as he could hear someone say in the radio, "Flash. NBC-1 Nuclear. Bravo - NB-0 6-2, 6-3-4. Charlie - 90 degree grid. Hotel - surface. Juliet - 90 seconds."
As he was reaching the exit, he could hear some woman say, "Be advised, nuclear detonation detected, fallout predicted within a radius of 7.4 miles, epicenter located at N-G-0-5-8-6-8-0. Personnel within primary affected zone are ordered to commence immediate evacuation. Contamination centers are being established at this time, and they should be operational within 2 hours. Personnel are advised to be there, I am (static). Personnel with highly elevated levels are advised to seek medical attention at the first available opportunity. ''
The transmission ended, as Russel crawled out of the chopper, falling on the ground, letting out a grunt at the pain of the impact. It was when the audience was able to see what was going on outside. Buildings in front of him collapsed due to the explosion as the everything around looked like a tornado went through this place. A massive mushroom cloud was seen in distance.
"Oh my..." Summer said, putting her hands on her mouth, looking at the destruction caused by the nuke.
"So much destruction..." Salem observed, staring the destrucion on the screen in shock.
"And all of it caused by a single explosive?" Oobleck asked in fear. Even Port couldn't say anything about this.
Russel found the strenght in himself again as he began to crawl along the road, passing by a face that the audience knew. The pilot Russel and his fellow Marines saved just a moment ago was laying on the ground, gasping for a breath, a drops of blood leaving her mouth.
"They just saved her! Why is that?!" Ruby cried out at the view of the Cobra Pilot.
It was when another person appeared in the view. It was Cardin. He was on his feet, walking, or rather stumbling forward himself.
"There's Cardin!" Nora shouted, looking relieved that he was sti alive.
"But where's Lark?" Glynda asked, there wasn't any sight of their teammate around.
As if Cardin had prompted him, Russel slowly got himself back on his feet, even though he was stumbling, just like Cardin and it was just a matter of time before he'll fall again. He began walking towards the Winchester, walking past a Marine's lifeless body, not a breath leaving his lungs.
It was just a second before Cardin collapsed on the ground. He started to crawl forward, coughing every second as he did so, until he just stopped. He didn't move anymore.
"What's wrong with him? Why did he stop?" Yang asked as people began to fear for the worst.
Russel made hisway over to Cardin's now lifeless body, and stared at it, realizing one thing. Lieutenant Cardin Winchester was gone.
"Oh no...", Jaune muttered. Despite their turbulent history, Team CRDL didn't deserve this, and it was enough for him to feel sad for them at this point.
It didn't took long before Russel joined Cardin on the ground. He took a few steps forward, until he collapsed himself. He didn't stand up after that. Looking at the mushroom cloud was all he did.
It was the last thing that happened, before the mission ended, screen going to black.
"I hate to admit it, I don't like being right for once", Raven lamented, remembering her other self's words when Qrow, Summer and Winter rescued her.
"Just what kind of monstrosity they had committed?", Glynda commented.
"Nothing short of a genocide, Glynda", Ironwood told her before turning to Flit with hardened and angered eyes at seeing the Atlesian Marines' horrible deaths at the hands of Watts. "May I request a continuation of this?", he asked in a stern tone.
Flit and Aeralyn looked at one another before they nodded as the woman pressed a button of her remote.