The Empire State Building was old even when Traveler's grandparents were young. Its architecture and rough stone contrasted heavily with the gleaming steel and glass of the newer, taller skyscrapers built during the boom of the mid 2010's. However, unlike the skyscrapers that surrounded her, the Empire State Building was surprisingly untouched. Almost hidden in the forest of larger buildings, the Russians had yet to harm this symbolic heart of the city. Because of this, the Empire State Building had been quickly converted into Heli-port. Large platforms had been build that stretched from skyscraper to skyscraper, like a giant tree house, all centered around the State Building which served as an air-traffic control center. V-25 Goshawks, V-120 Valkyries, AH-80 Blackfoots, and even some older AH-64 Apaches were scattered around the platforms, most with the red and black color scheme of the 9th Airborne, but some bore the green and brown of the 23rd Mechanized.
Traveler took this all in from the Fowler Corporation Building, one of the taller skyscrapers next to the Empire State Building which served as an anchoring point for the platforms. The Fowler Building was also the Readying Center for all soldiers put onto airborne operations. The Platforms were already overloaded to begin with and no one wanted to test them further by holding platoon of soldiers on them. Only one platoon was ever allowed to load at a time and Traveler's was due to load in ten minutes. His men were all lined up behind him, quiet, watching as the Goshawks that were to carry them into the battlefield were readied. Traveler and his men had been right on time, 0400, but the Goshawks still needed more time to warm-up. Traveler prayed they would be off and on the way before the sun came up.
To Traveler's surprise, his hands were steady. Considering what he had just been told and had been forced to retell to his men, Traveler was surprising calm.
When they had reached the Empire State Building, they were met by a Captain Lombard. The Captain was to brief the Lieutenant on his platoon's mission. Traveler had the rest of the platoon head up to the Readying Center while Captain Lombard took him into a small office on the first floor of the Fowler Building.
"Lieutenant, how much did the Major tell you about your mission?" The Captain said as he closed the office door behind him.
"Not much sir, Russian Rain cut our meeting short."
"Shame. You should have had more time to get your men prepared for this."
Traveler stood a little straighter. "Sir, my men are some of the best Pioneers in the Regiment. You need something defended, we'll hold it."
"I have no doubt of that Lieutenant," The Captain said as he took a seat behind a large desk that seemed to fill up the room. "But that's just it; we're asking for something much different."
"Sir?" Traveler asked, confused by the Captain's statement.
"Lieutenant, what the Regimental command is asking of you and your men is something that, frankly, I find insane."
'Damn it' Traveler thought, 'thanks for the confidence Captain.' But he stayed silent and waited for the Captain to continue.
"If it was up to me, I'd have the entirety of the 9th and 23rd on this mission. But, since Washington has been on the brass' collective asses that they are not to let the Russians take one more step into American territory, they've decided that one platoon ought to be enough." Under his breath the Captain grumbled "And fucking engineers at that…"
"Sir," Traveler said stiffly, "The Pioneers are just as fit as the Ghosts. Whatever you ask of them, you can ask twice of much of us."
The Captain sighed and let the matter go. Pulling out a military computer tablet, he brought up a real-time map of New York City. "Alright Lieutenant, here's the deal. About 10 days ago, we received reports that a Russian V.I.P. would be visiting the battlefield to inspire the men to widen their beachhead."
"Who's the V.I.P.?" Traveler asked.
"Need-to-Know, Lieutenant," The Captain replied, "For the purposes of this mission, you shall know the Russian as Codename Commissar. Anyway, when we heard about the Commissar's visit, we decided to send the bastard a welcoming gift in the form of AP-30 Anti-Air Missiles. Blew the Commissar's bird right out of the sky. Or, at least, so we thought. As it turned out, we only forced it to make a crash landing, which apparently the Commissar survived."
The Captain zoomed the map into a small section of the city, the same part that the Major had shown Traveler. "And, to our luck, it seems that our forces got to the Commissar first, taking the Russian hostage. Right now we have three squads of Ghosts under the command of Lieutenant Callaway hiding out somewhere in this area with the Commissar in tow."
The Lieutenant studied the map. Compared to the city, the section of map the Captain had zoomed in on was tiny, but it was still block after block of claustrophobic houses and alleyways. If they ran into any sizeable force while out there, it would quickly turn into a bloody grinder of urban fighting.
"I'm guessing our mission is to grab the Commissar and Callaway's men and get them back to friendly lines?" The Lieutenant asked.
"The Commissar is your primary objective. If you have to leave behind Callaway to get the Commissar back safely, then do so."
The Lieutenant was taken aback. "Sir, you want me to leave behind-"
"Lieutenant, I want you to do whatever it takes to get the Commissar back to us alive." The Captain snapped. "If that means sacrificing some grunts, then so be it."
The Lieutenant was silent for a bit, considering pushing the point, but decided against it. Orders or not, there was no way he would leave Americans behind enemy lines. "Sir," the Lieutenant said, "Where will the infil and exfil points be?"
The Captain pointed back to his map. "We're going be dropping you right into the middle of that storm Lieutenant. That's your infiltration point. As for the exit plan, you need only to radio us on the regiment's secure channel, and we'll send some birds out. But, be aware, that our birds can only land at a few places in the city. Find a park or parking lot, something wide open."
'Yeah, and wide open to enemy fire,' the Lieutenant thought. Saluting, he said, "You can count on us sir."
The Captain looked at the Lieutenant with dull eyes. Saluting back lazily, he said "Sure Lieutenant, sure." The Captain didn't even stand up as the Lieutenant left the room.
