Chapter 8: The Lost Battalion
Somewhere in the jungle, near Ho Chi Minh Trail…
It was another night in the Vietnamese jungle. Various insects chirped in the humid air, brush swayed in the warm breeze, and the moon shone brightly through the treetop canopies. Amidst this jungle, there was a crackling noise, the sound of fire rapidly consuming fuel. The twisted wreck of a C-130 was half buried in the soft muddy ground, as its no.2 engine continued leaking oil and feeding the fire. Three girls sat around the makeshift campfire, sitting on salvaged ammo cans and rocks. The first was Sergeant Erica Halonen – a Finnish tank witch employed in the US Army, who made a living testing experimental armored units for the army R&D Department. Her tank unit was a modified T95 Gun Motor Carriage – a monstrous 90 ton unit with 305mm of frontal armor protection, a 105mm anti-tank gun, a .50 caliber M2 Browning machine gun and a prototype V-12 Maybach engine which was salvaged from an abandoned Jagdtiger unit. The second was Lt. Col. Elizabeth Rhodes – a British tank witch who operated a modified A39 Tortoise tank unit. She was equipped with 228mm of frontal armor protection, a 32-pounder anti tank gun, a 15mm BESA machine gun, and a more powerful Rolls Royce Griffon V-12 engine. Finally, the third was Corporal Riley Gibb – an American tank witch who operated the M12 Gun Motor Carriage. She was equipped with a mere 51mm of frontal armor, a 155mm M1 'Long Tom' howitzer, a Browning M1919 .30 caliber machine gun, and a Wright R975 C1 'Whirlwind' radial engine. Her unit was peculiar not only for having the least armor, but also for having a gargantuan stabilization spade at the back of the unit, to keep her steady while firing.
"When I said, 'I've got a bad feeling about this,' I didn't think it'd be this bad…" Riley muttered, poking at a can of beans with a P-38 can opener.
Erica glared at Riley, as she applied a clean bandage to Elizabeth's forehead. "At least you didn't get hurt in the crash." Erica replied.
"I'm fine Erica, really…" Elizabeth giggled reassuringly.
"How's your head? You hit the wall pretty hard when we came down." Riley looked over worriedly.
"I told you, I'm ok." Elizabeth smiled.
"On another note, we need to get moving soon. The Teki that shot down our transport can't be too far away. They'll be looking for survivors." Erica noted.
"Even if they aren't, we're not far from the Ho Chi Minh trail. This place is probably crawling with Teki." Riley shuddered.
"It's probably best if we sleep in turns, we'll need our energy." Elizabeth said in a caring, matronly tone.
"Right. Let's just pray that the next thing to fall out of the sky is an angel, and not a bomb…" Erica scoffed.
"I'll see what I can do with the radio. It isn't going to be of much use, besides short-range
communications…" Riley mumbled, fiddling with her radio set. "Almost… there!
I've put it on distress mode. Hopefully any allied units on this frequency will
hear the distress beacon and come for us."
"Or it'll attract a horde of Teki…" Erica raised an eyebrow.
"Let's just hope for the best and get some shuteye. We'll try to make for Hamburger Hill tomorrow, and if we're lucky we can find a field medic. Let's just hope the compass still
works…" Elizabeth said drowsily.
The next morning, at Yankee Station…
It was another day on the USS Midway, as the Combat Air Patrol sorties were launched, supply helicopters were received, and the usual business of carrier aviation continued. A C-2A Greyhound was landing on the flight deck just as more A-7 Corsairs were launched into the air. The girls of the 7th JSF were in the mess hall having breakfast, when suddenly the doors swung open. There, in all her triumphant stance, was 2nd Lt. Eilers. Though her arm was still bandaged, she seemed to have recovered considerably.
"Morning, ladies!" Denise called out.
"Denise!" Theresa yelled, jumping up and running over for a hug.
"Whoa whoa, careful Terry." Denise cautioned. "My arm still isn't 100%, I've still got at least a day before I can use it."
Theresa slowed her approach, giving Denise a gentle hug and taking care not to hurt her arm. "I've missed you so much…" She cried, stroking Denise's hair.
"We all missed you." Meryl smiled.
"Denise, I'm sorry for being short with you." Glenda admitted. "It wasn't right of me to be so
self-centered that I would ignore you."
"Don't sweat it, Glenda." Denise smiled. "The important thing is I'm alive and well on the way
to recovery."
"What are we going to do about your unit?" Shannon inquired. "It's not exactly in flying condition…"
"Well, a certain someone kept bugging me-" Holly spoke up, glaring at Theresa. "So, we got a new unit from Osan AFB for you. The supply plane should've arrived this morning, and I
really think you'll like the new unit."
"Thank you, Major Holly." Denise blushed. "I don't know what I would do if I couldn't fly
anymore."
"In the meantime, you should eat. I'll grab you a tray." Theresa ran off to the breakfast line.
Denise sat down at the table, as the other girls continued to fill her in on the last few days.
A few hours later, the 7th JSF headed upstairs to the war room for briefing. Kurosawa was dismissing an intelligence officer, as she turned to greet them.
"Good morning, girls. I've got an urgent mission for you." She said crisply. "While on recon this morning, Hailey picked up a distress beacon emanating in the A Shau valley, a few klicks southwest of Hue. After cross referencing with Strategic Air Command's list of flights, we believe it to be a C-130 that went down en route to A Luoi airfield, a day or two ago. That transport was carrying three tank witches from the 1st Armored Division, Indigo Platoon. They were to be the spearhead for an assault on Hamburger Hill, further south west." "Hamburger Hill? Is it shaped like a nice juicy quarter pounder?" Meryl's eyes widened.
"…No." Aiko's head drooped in frustration. "It's just a nickname, the proper term is Hill 937."
"Hamburger Hill…" Meryl said dreamily.
"Meryl." Holly stared disapprovingly, as the tall B-36 witch straightened up.
"Your orders are to find Indigo Platoon and provide support as necessary while they link up with the main attack on Hill 937. Without infantry recon, they're vulnerable to surprise flanking attacks, therefore you need to be their eyes in the sky. This is a very important operation; the hill is very heavily defended and has already cost us many brave men in previous offensives. But if you can provide close air support, the Patton tanks and infantry just might be able to take the hilltop."
"If I may, what's the strategic value of this target?" Theresa ventured.
"What's the strategic value?" Aiko echoed, drawing them over to the map table and pointing to the hill. "This hill is a major obstacle on the road to Hanoi. Any allies traveling up Ho Chi Minh Trail to Hanoi will get shelled by the fortified artillery on Hamburger Hill. The sooner we take it out, the sooner we can get to Hanoi and end this war. Moreover, the enemy is well dug in: the artillery guns are mounted in casemate fashion, protected by some sort of extra-terrestrial armor. I guess that's the Teki equivalent of a bunker."
"Any weapons restrictions?" Holly inquired.
"Remember that you'll be engaging in close air support. Use good judgement, and don't drop any bombs on our boys." Aiko demanded.
"Yes ma'am." Holly responded dutifully.
"But why don't we just use the battleships? They could just shell the A Shau valley from the sea." Shannon noted.
"1st Lt. Fairchild, perhaps I didn't make myself clear." Aiko thundered. "Ignoring the fact that the resupply ships haven't returned yet, of which we badly need more munitions… This mission requires precision bombing. Everything you drop had better land on a target or an empty patch of grass, otherwise you'll be explaining yourself to General Lemay. Understood?"
"Yes ma'am." Shannon squeaked.
"How come we didn't go ashore at Haiphong? Hanoi was just up the road…" Candice wondered, before she noticed Aiko's frustration and stopped short.
Aiko's eyebrows furrowed. "Because it was never designated as a landing operation. Unless you wanted to go ashore… Otherwise all our ground troops had previously landed at Da Nang, and were busy advancing up the coast from there. Now, any other questions?"
The girls remained silent, looking at one another worriedly.
"Dismissed." Aiko declared, as the girls saluted her and headed to the hangar bay.
The girls descended to the hangar bay, as the maintenance crews were busy tuning and repairing aircraft. Denise followed them down to the bomber unit racks, as Amara and Lauren were driving a forklift towards them. The yellow utility truck was carrying a large crate, as Amara manipulated the controls and set it down.
"Sorry we're late to the party." Lauren apologized, hopping off the forklift.
"We hitched a ride on the C-2 Greyhound. That was quite a ride, landing on a carrier and all that." Amara beamed.
"No problem, it's good to see you girls." Holly returned the smile. "What's this crate for?"
"Oh, this is the new equipment." Lauren answered, grabbing a crowbar. "Help me with this, Amara."
The two mechanic girls took a crowbar to the front panel, as they pried the nails out from the wooden box. The panels fell with a 'thunk' noise, revealing a black, beige, and tan colored gunship unit with twin boom tails.
"This," Lauren began. "Is the Fairchild AC-119K 'Stinger' gunship unit. She's based off the C-119 Flying Boxcar transport, in similar fashion to the AC-47 you used previously. However, the Stinger addressed and resolved many grievances associated with its predecessor. For example, she has more stability in flight thanks to the twin boom structure, she carries an LAU-74/A flare launcher with 60 Mk.24 flares, two Wright R-3350-85 Duplex Cyclone radial engines, two General Electric J85 turbojet pods to allow short field takeoffs-"
"-and a 20mm M61 'Vulcan' gatling gun." Amara smiled proudly, lugging the mighty rotary cannon out of the box.
Denise was astonished, as was everyone else. "I don't believe it… and this is mine to use?" She asked wondrously.
"Yep. She's all yours, gunslinger. Theresa made sure of that." Holly said, firmly gripping Theresa's shoulder.
"Ehehe~" Theresa laughed nervously.
"I can't wait to take her out tomorrow. You've no idea what it means to me, to be able to fly. I was so worried that when I hit the deck, I'd never see the sky again." Denise said, as tears rolled down her cheeks. "Thank you so much!" She cried, pulling Holly and Theresa into a hug.
"Easy there Eilers." Holly gasped.
"Can't… breathe…" Theresa managed, as her face began turning blue.
"Oh, sorry." Denise let go of them and scratched her head nervously.
The other girls mounted up on their bomber units, while Denise stayed to admire her new bomber unit. She waved to them, as they waited for the elevator. As the elevator came down from the flight deck, they were met with a very drowsy looking Hailey.
"Oh, hey girls." Hailey mumbled, yawning loudly.
"Hailey, you alright?" Candice asked.
"Just tired… I was up all night making sure you had a clear flight path to the coordinates." Hailey muttered, yawning again. "Oh, that's right… I'd exercise extreme caution. Not only are there severe hostile forces in the region, but I noticed several massive craters just a klick east of where the transport crashed. It was almost like one of those 'daisy cutter' bombs we use to clear landing sites."
"You mean the BLU-82? I know we have a few of those in reserve, but I can't think of any that were deployed recently…" Candice wondered.
"You heard her, girls. I want to hear about it immediately if you spot anything unusual." Holly ordered.
"Hey Hailey," Meryl raised her hand. "Does the hill really look like a hamburger?"
Holly's head drooped as she sighed.
"I mean… Its big and rounded. Definitely more 'hamburger-esque' than the other landscape." Hailey replied hazily. "I'm going to sleep. Night girls."
Hailey docked her RB-58 unit and wandered off to the crew quarters, as the other girls took off from Midway's catapult.
A few hours later, the girls were nearing the A Shau Valley, as they flew over the jungle canopy. As Hailey had mentioned, there were several peculiarly large craters in the middle of their flight path, almost like the main vent of the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. Continuing westward, they saw a line that had been cut through the trees, ending with a C-130 that had buried itself partially in the earth.
"Hard to imagine anyone could survive that." Shannon said, flying lower. "There's no activity here. Although there are tank tracks that seem to be heading further west."
"I can't imagine them leaving the site… unless they ran into enemy forces." Theresa scratched her head.
"Fan out in groups of two. Find them." Holly ordered. "Jane, you're with me. Shannon and Theresa, you two head north west. Candice and Meryl, you head south. Danielle and Glenda, head for Hamburger Hill and contact the ground forces. Addison, since Denise is out you'll follow me and Jane. Let's find our girls."
The witches split up and searched the thick foliage for any sign of Indigo Platoon. Jane was evidently listening to some sort of acoustic guitar song on her Walkman, as she began using her 20mm autocannon as an air guitar.
"Memphis Belle II to Calamity Jane. Helloooo?" Holly called out.
"Sorry ma'am! I just got a little carried away…" Jane pouted, taking off her headphones.
"Honestly… I never thought I'd be this far out, searching for lost sheep." Holly muttered.
"With all due respect ma'am." Jane began. "I cherish the moments when we're not getting shot at. I know it's our job to drop bombs and gun down enemies, but… I yearn for a world that isn't at war."
"Do you regret signing up for this?" Holly raised an eyebrow.
"No no no, it's not like that. I just look forward to ending this conflict and getting to live in peace. Besides, 'the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing,' as Churchill would say." Jane stammered.
"That's one way to look at it. How's the family, by the way?" Holly continued, changing the subject.
"They're doing alright, I write them in my spare time. I wish I could see them again, but I know that we have a job to do first. And every Teki we shoot down is one step closer to seeing my family." Jane said wistfully.
"I can't sympathize." Holly sighed. "I never knew my father, and I only have faint memories of my mother. I was separated from her at a young age and grew up in a foster home in Memphis. For some reason, nobody wanted to adopt me. I think it had something to do with my unusual personality…" Holly chuckled nervously. "By the time I turned 16, I knew my chances of getting adopted were very slim, if any. So, I started working at a diner to make some money, and I eventually left town to join the air force. When the recruiter saw my flying capabilities, he recommended me to the Bomber Witches program, and I've been here ever since. I wish I could see my mother again… I don't hate her for leaving me, I just want to hug her and tell her how much I love her - even if she wasn't there for me. Because I still learned how to fend for myself, and I guess it was one of her traits." Holly laughed softly. She looked over to see Jane crying and red in the face.
"I'm sure you'll find her one day Major Jones! That's so horrible!" Jane managed between sobs.
"Jane? Jane calm down! God…" Holly muttered, as Jane wiped her eyes.
Suddenly Addison spotted movement on the ground. "Tally Ho, that might be Indigo Platoon."
The trio swooped out of the sky for a closer look, scanning allied radio frequencies just as a very
angry voice came over the short-range radio. "Attention to aircraft operating near Hill 937, identify yourselves immediately or we will shoot you down!"
"This is Major Holly Jones of the 7th Joint Strike Force, callsign Memphis Belle II." Holly said
cautiously.
"Senior Airman Jane Nerger of the 7th Joint Strike Force, callsign Calamity Jane." Jane followed.
"Airman First Class Addison Murphy of the 7th Joint Strike Force, callsign Yellow Rose."
"We're Air Force, don't shoot." Holly warned.
"Oh. S'bout time we got some bloody air support." A new, distinctly British voice said.
"So, are you gonna tell us who you are?" Jane asked.
"Sergeant Erica Halonen, 1st Armored Division, Indigo Platoon. Callsign War Machine."
"Lt. Col. Elizabeth Rhodes, 1st Armored Division, Indigo Platoon. Callsign Harbinger."
Then a third voice spoke up. "Corporal Riley Gibb, 1st Armored Division, Indigo Platoon. Callsign Acropolis."
"Is this everyone in your group?" Holly asked.
"Yeah… everyone else either died in the crash or bailed out somewhere in the valley. Pilot's
confirmed dead, squad leader is dead… We're it." Erica stated. "And here I thought this was just another milk run."
"Can you tell us what happened?" Holly continued.
"I don't really remember much, and it's not like there are windows in a C-130…" Erica admitted.
"Amidst the confusion in the cockpit, the pilot said there was a blinding flash of light, then our plane felt like it was rammed out of the sky…" Elizabeth replied.
"You don't suppose…" Theresa began.
"Could be. I'll contact Midway and see if they can get Hailey back in the air." Holly said worriedly.
"Do you know anything we don't?" Riley asked.
"No, not yet at least. For now, let's get you to the battle." Holly urged.
After a few minutes, the girls managed to navigate Indigo Platoon within a few kilometers of Hill 937. It wasn't easy, since the T95 and Tortoise units didn't fare well in soft mud. Indigo Platoon advanced through the jungle, with its damp ecosystem and chirping insects, as the bomber Witches formed up in the sky. Suddenly, the rumbling tank tracks and aircraft engine noises were interrupted by a new one - a thumping noise followed by pronounced whistling.
"Artillery." Erica groaned, as her heart sank. "INCOMING! Spread out!"
The tank Witches scrambled for cover, as high explosive rounds crashed through the jungle
canopy, with a blinding flash of light as they kicked up dirt clouds three meters tall.
"Status report! Where is that coming from?" Erica radioed, crouching behind a dirt embankment.
"Standby." Holly paused, scanning the horizon. "It's the Teki bunkers on Hamburger Hill, 2 more klicks ahead of you."
"Intel said their range was much shorter than that!" Erica growled.
"We don't have time to name and blame. 7th JSF will commence close air support bombing to clear your entry point." Holly said, motioning to the girls, as they flew toward the
bunkers.
"Roger. Indigo Platoon, move out!" Erica rallied.
"Erica, you know I outrank you, right?" Elizabeth retorted.
"Maybe, but I've got all the armor. We can discuss this later, but I need you to stay close behind me. Riley! Standby for artillery support." Erica called out.
"Ro-Ger that." Riley enunciated, burying her stabilization spade into the earth, as she set up the
howitzer gun.
As the 7th JSF flew toward the hill, a new contact appeared on radar behind them, rapidly closing the distance.
"Contact behind us! It's…!" Candice began.
"This is 'Boiling Point.' You'd better have a good reason for waking me up." Hailey muttered
groggily.
"Perfect timing Hailey! We need you to be our eyes and ears, please analyze the mission area and designate targets accordingly." Holly instructed.
"Well, since you said 'please'… aye aye Major." Hailey confirmed, continuing to gain altitude at
astronomical rates.
As Hailey ascended to an altitude of 8 kilometers and deployed her recon equipment, she was absolutely shocked by the imaging. "Jeez. No wonder they were ready to pounce." Hailey groaned.
"Hailey, what do you see?" Holly worried.
"Looks like the unit assaulting the hill was practically wiped out. I'm picking up a lot of infrared
signatures from burning M48 Patton hulls, possibly a few soldiers taking cover in the brush. But without anti-armor support, they won't last much longer."
"Roger. Please be our eyes, we can't risk losing any more troops, tell us where we need to go. I'm counting on you, Hailey." Holly added.
"I copy, Major." Hailey sighed a little, watching the battle from top down. "Theresa, you'll be opening the attack. There are several lightly armored AA emplacements on the roof of the bunker, I need a strafing run. Glenda, you'll be following Theresa in. Addison, you'll be following Theresa and Glenda. Use your Maverick's to destroy the heavy AA artillery."
"Got it." Theresa confirmed.
"No problem." Glenda smirked.
"On it, hun." Addison grinned.
"Shannon, I need you in an orbit around the infantry's position. Get me a sit rep from the ground
forces and continue to cover them. Candice, follow Shannon. I need you to use your abilities and deploy a smoke screen if necessary." Hailey ordered.
"Roger." Shannon gave a thumbs up.
"This one's for you, baby!" Candice chimed.
"All other units, standby outside of AA firing range, and be ready to commence bombing run on my signal." Hailey commanded.
"Calamity Jane, Roger." Jane reported.
"Magnesium Cloud, Roger." Meryl acknowledged.
"Spirit of Great Britain, Roger." Danielle confirmed.
"Memphis Belle II, Roger." Holly responded.
Theresa, Glenda, and Addison dove out of the heavens, guns blazing, as they tore up the lightly armored gun pits with their autocannons and machine guns. Addison's bomb bay doors opened, as four Maverick missiles dropped out and flew towards the large caliber AAA guns. One of the Maverick's flew down the barrel of an AA gun, destroying the entire gun breech and sending metal fragments everywhere. The girls turned around for a second run, cleaning up the remaining AA guns on the roof as Glenda dropped a few 500lb bombs on the surviving AA artillery.
As Shannon and Candice arrived over the infantry position, Candice spotted a few of the soldiers and landed near them. She approached one of the motionless soldiers as he lay in
the brush, and calmly asked, "Which way to the front, soldier?"
The soldier jumped a little, then rolled over to look at her.
"They sent a bunch of girls to save us…?" He inquired, looking up and down at her close-fitted flight suit.
"Save you? We're here to finish what you started." Candice grinned playfully.
"I see. Squad leader is just across the road, the one with the queen of hearts stuck in his helmet."
Candice casually walked over, ignoring the battle raging around her, as she took a knee next to the squad leader. He was trying to crank up a damaged radio, to no avail.
"Hi there." She waved nonchalantly. The burly man turned around and was very surprised to see her.
"So, you're the Bomber Witches?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Yep. I was hoping you could give me a sitrep so we can help you out." She gently fluttered her eyelashes.
"Welp. We started this operation with 8 M48 Patton tanks and 50 men. We're now down to half the manpower, and only one tank which is barely operational. They caught us in a crossfire of portable anti-tank rockets, and artillery fire from the bunkers." He responded gruffly.
"And I assume your communications are down too." Candice noted the damaged radio.
"That would be correct. We were supposed to get support from Indigo Platoon from 1st
Armored Division, but… I'll be damned if anyone survived that attack." He tipped his head down regretfully.
"Well… hate to burst your bubble, but…" Candice motioned towards the tank witches, who appeared in a clearing just to the east of Hamburger Hill.
"Finally, some good news." He sighed, pulling out a cigarette.
As the tank witches rolled out of the clearing, Erica could clearly see all the burning tanks and bodies lying on the ground.
"What a mess…" Riley frowned.
"They're… they're dead. They're all dead…!" Erica said, as tears began to roll down her cheeks.
"Erica. There was nothing we could've done." Elizabeth replied.
"But… we were supposed to protect these men… The whole purpose of our mission was to spearhead the attack and get these tanks and infantry over the hill… and we've failed! What
are we doing here…?!" Erica cried in panic.
Elizabeth grabbed Erica by the shoulders and shook her once or twice. "Erica, listen to me. They signed up for this mission being fully aware of the risks involved. This. Is. War, soldier. We're not gods, and we can't save everyone. All we can do is the best we can, with everything we've got." Elizabeth commanded firmly.
Erica nodded, and wiped her eyes as they advanced toward the remaining infantry.
"Boiling Point to Blue Diamond, what's your status Candice?" Hailey asked.
"Ground communication is down, only one partially operational M48 left, and 25 soldiers on the field." Candice replied promptly.
"…Great." Hailey sighed. "I'm arranging for heliborne reinforcements on the coordinates, in the meantime we're going to blow up the bunker. Get the soldiers and Indigo Platoon to pull back into safe distance." Hailey informed.
"Wilco!" Candice replied, as she relayed to the ground troops and the tank witches.
"Calamity Jane, Magnesium Cloud, Spirit of Great Britain, and Memphis Belle II, weapons free,
commence bombing run on the enemy bunker. Repeat, weapons free." Hailey ordered.
The four witches confirmed and formed up for a high-speed bombing run. They dove out of the
muggy Asian sky, engines roaring as the bunker came into view. Holly was in the lead and pulled out her bomb sight, centering the target and preparing her 750lb bombs. The crosshairs lined up, and Holly called 'bombs away', as the explosive munitions were released. The bunker withstood the first volley, then began cracking as Danielle's bombs struck home. By the time Jane and Meryl called 'bombs away,' their payloads penetrated the bunker and destroyed it from
the inside out. The concrete walls crumbled inwards, as the Teki armor coating also disintegrated to fine powder.
"Memphis Belle II to Boiling Point. Target de-stroyed." Holly stated.
"Excellent work girls, standby until the arrival of the friendly heliborne troops. That should be all of them… wait…" Hailey said, looking at her radar. "Christ. All witches turn north by northeast. The choppers are under attack!"
"They just don't quit…" Meryl muttered.
Holly, Candice, Glenda, Addison and Danielle rushed toward the choppers on full throttle, while Theresa, Meryl, Shannon and Jane tried to keep up with them. The Teki were swarming around an aerial convoy of UH-1D Huey 'Delta's' and CH-47 'Chinook's, who were trying to defend themselves with the 7.62mm twin M60 door gunners, and .50 caliber window gunners.
Holly flew right into the swarm, her M60D chattering as it spit out 7,62mm armor piercing bullets at 500 rounds per minute. The lead Teki was stunned by the attack, as Candice followed in with her 30mm ADEN autocannon. The fighter was shredded to pieces, as the other fighter broke off from the helicopters and engaged the bomber witches. Holly soon found a Teki fighter on her tail, as she pulled up vertical. The enemy fighter fired, missed, and then stalled out and fell back towards earth, as Holly also nosed over into a hammerhead turn. Now on the tail of the enemy, Holly fired a burst of 7.62, only to watch as the Teki angled, and the bullets sparkled as they grazed its raven wings. Glenda zoomed in with her .50 caliber, which perforated the enemy fighter and set it on fire with the armor piercing incendiary rounds.
"Need some help?" Glenda smirked.
"That's great kid, don't get cocky." Holly rolled her eyes. "I would've had him if it were a better angle."
Danielle roared past them in her Vulcan bomber unit, pulling out her Bren LMG and loading a 100-round pan magazine on top of the gun. The pan rotated curiously, as 7,62mm rounds spewed out of the long barrel. She managed to shoot down two of the fighters, just as Addison followed up with her 20mm Oerlikon and shot down another pair.
"Thanks, Addy." Danielle smiled.
"Anytime." Addison smiled back.
The remaining fighters saw Theresa, Meryl, Shannon, and Jane rapidly approaching, and rightfully decided to retreat under the circumstances. The foul creatures fled from whence they came, disappearing over the horizon.
"Yeah, you'd better run!" Shannon shook her fist menacingly.
"Qué montón de cobardes!" Theresa scowled, as she pulled up with the rest of the group.
The witches escorted the helicopters to Hamburger Hill, where they loaded up the last remaining soldiers. They offered the tank witches a ride back to base, when they refused.
"Just give us a route and some working equipment, we'll keep pushing 'til we reach Hanoi." Erica smiled.
The CH-47 pilot shrugged, as they unloaded some spare tools and rations, before heading to A Luoi airfield. The bomber witches returned to the Midway, where they saw Denise flying in pattern around the carrier.
"Denise? You're flying!" Theresa squealed.
"Yeah, I wanted to come and help you guys asap, but Kurosawa would've court martialed me on sight." Denise giggled nervously. "This unit is fantastic, I've never felt so much power…!"
"I'm sure we'll need all the help we can get in the days to come." Holly smiled. "Let's hit the chow hall and get a good night's rest."
"Can't argue there. I could really go for a hamburger…" Meryl groaned.
"…Yknow, so could I." Holly agreed.
Everyone laughed, as they landed on the USS Midway.