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"So we're practically at the needle!" Igneous shouted as he loaded the next round. I turned the turret, and fired, destroying a car that had been surrounded by russians. I switched to the coaxial and fired mowing down any who survived the main cannon fire.
"They must know we're after the jammer, we've got half the Kremlin converging on us!" Ridge, who had manned the minigun on the main turret, shouted down into the hull.
"I can't just park next to the Space Needle, and let y'all out!" I shouted as I blew apart another group of soldiers, then slammed into reverse to avoid a rocket-propelled grenade that flew past us. I continued backwards, and mowed over a few cars that had been parked on the roadside. The Space Needle was surrounded by small grassy hills, and entrenched in these small glassy hills were Russians armed to the teeth. I fired a round that sailed past them, and then had to shift my attention down the road, because another tank had joined the fray. It's main cannon fired, and I heard the shot sail past us into the buildings beyond.
"Igneous, H.E.!"
"Already loaded, hit the bastard!" Igneous replied. I slammed the trigger down and the HE (High explosive) round blew off the other tanks turret.
"We need to get past those trenches if we want to get to the needle!" Ridge was flooring the minigun in the direction of the building behind us, and I cranked the tank into it's highest gear.
"Ridge, get ready to sweep." I pressed my hand on the throttle, and we slammed forward. I rolled past one trench, and I gunned towards the one nearest the Needle's base. The tank treads demolished the trench, and Ridge turned the minigun down it's length, killing the machine gunners who hadn't even had time to run.
"Igneous, with me. Gneiss, keep the tank on sweep. Faria, load rounds for Gneiss." Ridge barked the orders as he opened the hatch, and he and Igneous stepped out of the tank. Igneous land lightly on his feet, and made his way to the nearby machinegun nest. He pulled the pin back, and opened fire on the approaching forces. I turned to the coaxial and did the same.
Ridge, meanwhile, was making his way to the Needle's base. He approached the elevator without issue, and clapped his hand to the button. He waited quietly, and looked up, only to see the elevators weren't moving. He tried again, and again nothing. Then he moved to the stairwell only to see a large hole blasted through the stairs.
At the same time, Igneous was being engaged from heavy opposition, and I was barely managing to fend of the large groups of vehicles and men who were flooding the area, and then Ridge came back.
"There's no way up, they must have shut off the elevators when they saw us coming!" He took position next to Igneous, and helped take the heat off of him.
"We can't just give up!" Igneous said, and started reloading his MG, but then was pinned into the nest by a swarm of bullets. I checked the monitor and saw where they were coming from. The HAVOC from earlier was sweeping its way across, and it lit up our square with turret fire, then proceeded to strafe the area with rockets, luckily missing our center of mass. I watched as one rocket hit the landmarks strut, and the tower shook. I quickly swept the turret around, and as the helicopter started to spin towards me, I was pressing my trigger.
The chopper manage to hit the tank with a rocket, but my shot hit home, and the rotor was practically blown straight off. I watched it spiral down, and vanish over the treeline behind the Needle.
"Gneiss! You okay in there?" Igneous asked me, and flipped open a view port to look into the tank, and hear me speak
"Yea, the rockets hit the treads. I'm not moving, but this baby can still shoot." At that moment I had an idea, "Ridge, we're cleared to do whatever necessary to blow the jammer, right?"
"That's a positive, Gneiss."
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked Faria, and she pull out a red tipped round.
"I think you want a big bang… am I right?"
"That's the plan."
"What's the plan?" Ridge interrupted our back and forth.
"I've got one H.E. round left, and that support is already damaged!" I was already turning the tank cannon towards the needle, and Ridge looked towards the tank in shock.
"Are you serious?!"
"We need air support, now!" Igneous announced, and I heard Faria load the round. The strut was centered in my HUD, and I adjusted my angle. Then I put a flicker of pressure on the trigger, and watched the round fly. It hit home, and I saw the support get blown off the Needle. The sound of stressing metal, and cracking steel ringed out across the square, and suddenly the center of the needle tilted. I saw the other strut bearing the weight, and building slowed to a stop. But as it ridge the end of its tilt, it hit the stop hard, and out of the dish up top came hundreds of tables and chairs, the items that were held in the restaurant i assumed. Then finally a large metal tower came creaking off the very top of the Needle, and I heard my radio crackle to life, as the jammer fell down into the grassy area nearby. Igneous was already on the radio
"Overlord, this is STORM-03, the jammer is burnt! We're pinned down in the city center, our armor is down requesting air support!"
"This is Overlord, we read your last, and you have a load of JDAMs ready as needed."
"We need strikes on the street west of the Needle, Overlord, do you copy?"
"Roger, JDAMs inbound, danger close." The F-22's shot past us, and we saw their payloads gliding to the ground. Then the explosives hit the street, and our opposition was either in retreat, or were no longer in one piece.
"Strikes confirmed Overlord, thanks for the assist." Ridge, walked over to the tank, and opened the hatch, "Gneiss, get out here!"
"Sounds like you're in trouble." Faria said, and I laced an arm under her, pulling her with me, as I climbed my way out of the tank.
"Yes, sir?" I looked at him, and saw him fuming.
"You just shot an explosive round into one of the northwest's most recognizable landmarks… I'm torn between yelling at you and giving you medal, you son of a bitch." He grinned and I laughed.
"We should probably get out of here before we're forced to call in another airstrike." Igneous said as he approached the tank, "I'm not saying I wouldn't like the explosions, I'm just saying it'd be easier."
"Overlord, this is STORM, requesting an airlift." Ridge muttered to his radio, and overlord crackled back into our ears.
"You already have a Helicopter on route from the USS Gerald R. Ford, how copy?"
"Clear on your last, and have eyes on the airlift, STORM out." Ridge shut off the radio, and an CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter came swooping down over the buildings, and turned it's ramp towards us. The ramp lowered, and about two dozen marines stormed out, and formed a perimeter.
"So you're STORM, huh?" a tall dark skinned woman said, and nodded to us, "Chief Petty Officer. Nancy Bauman. Nice job on the jammer. Now, you're going to load up with a few of my men, and head to the Ford while we secure these blocks."
"What's the plan from there, captain?" I asked, and she smirked at me.
"We're headed for San Fran, boys." She turned to Faria, "And girl. we've got a medic on board the Knight, but it doesn't look like that wound's to bad, some pills, and you'll be on your feet in no time soldier. Now, Marines, let's secure these buildings."
"Ever seen the Golden Gate, Gneiss." Igneous asked as I walked Faria up the ramp.
"No, I haven't, but I guess there's a first time for everything… considering I drove a tank for the first time today."
"That was your first time? If I'd known that I wouldn't have let you drive!"
"Well, it's a good thing I didn't tell you then isn't it."
"You two are crazy." Faria muttered, and I laughed as I set her on the bench of the Sea Knight, then we lifted off. I stood, and marched to the edge of the ramp, and watched as we flew away from the Marines who stormed into the buildings. I felt the air whip my face, and for the first time in days, I let myself relax. I watched as we flew over more heated battles out of the city.
"Shouldn't we stay and help more?" Igneous shouted over the winds.
"No," Ridge approached as the ramp closed, "We did our jobs, and the forces in the city can handle it now that they have air support. Our skillset is needed elsewhere."
Ridge was right, this battle was won, but the war was far from over.