Side Quest 13: Mission Log 01A

ATF La Fayette-class Stealth Frigate 'Gladius', Gulf of Aden, 2340hrs
Cpt. Jack Haddock

With a click, the portable communications jammer locks securely into place on the harness. Something I developed myself, it is able to completely jam all major forms of communication within a 2-kilometre radius, without compromising our own comm-lines. On the other side, I sling on my silenced Colt M4 Carbine SOPMOD, letting it hang snugly there. Heaving a deep sigh, I pat Toothless on the head, checking if he's ready for what's to come.

Judging by the excited growls he's giving me, it's great one of us isn't getting butterflies in his stomach about this.

Months of training has boiled down to this. Odin Squadron's first mission. No more pink simunitions, no more getting whacked around by an angry Lt. Hofferson, no more war games; this is the real deal now.

A relatively simple mission: rescue a small container ship carrying high-value cargo from Somali pirates within the Gulf of Aden. Negotiations had failed terribly – the pirates were hell-bent on either 30 billion USD in cash or blowing up the entire ship, and sinking the containers with it. This is where we come in. We were hired through underground contacts to seize the ships back by any means necessary via a major shareholder. After all, no one was going to care what happened to the pirates, and even if anyone did, no corporation or government is able to claim or finger responsibility – in essence, deniable black operations. Plus the fact that we were using dragons made this mission even more deniable – not a single military out there is willing to admit to such connections or abilities.

The task force comprised three sections from my unit – the insertion squad led by Ilena, aerial support commanded by Astrid, and finally my main boarding team.

Loading the last of the spare magazines into my vest, I check the calibrations on my visor once more before heading over to the on-board helicopter hangar where the rest of my team is, along with their dragons.

The atmosphere in the hangar is a mix of tension and excitement. Clearing my throat to get their attention, I begin my final mission briefing.

"Alright guys, this is it. Let's go over the plan again, shall we? At this point in time, Camicazi is taking her squad into the mission zone on their dragons; they should have ID on the targets by 2405hrs. We move out at 2400hrs sharp along with Valkyrie One's squad, now on the stealth frigate Flamberge. Using the data from Camicazi's recon, we blast the deck and throw the pirates into chaos. Immediately after the bombing run, we board the ship. Lethal force is authorised. The containers are made of reinforced material, so they're bulletproof, but do still take caution. There are explicit instructions not to damage the cargo. Any questions?"

A nervous hand raises in the back, "Um… What if the recon team is compromised?"

"We don't think that will happen; Camicazi is highly specialized in covert stealth operations, and has trained her team to be as well. Plus we're using dragons instead of normal sea-based craft, vastly reducing our radar and thermal signatures. And if that isn't enough, she's approaching the target vessels underwater."

Surprised murmurs run through the hangar; yeah, this was one aspect of the mission we had kept secret up till now. An ace up the sleeve, if you will. Ilena had specially requested that her team comprise of only a specific few species of dragons that could breathe underwater and those under her be trained in naval diving warfare; a strange request at first, but not difficult for our resources to achieve, so we had it done anyway. Turns out her mood-dragon Stormfly could dive as well – Ilena was planning to turn the flight under her command into an all-terrain, battle-ready commando squad with dragons, able to carry out swift, powerful strikes from the air, on the land and under the sea.

Clearing my throat to get their attention again, I continue, "But if still that isn't enough comfort for you, we will move in upon receiving the distress signal and go loud, understand?"

"Yes, sir!"

Smiling, I give the final instructions before returning to Toothless, "Alright guys, synchronise watches to 2345hrs on my mark; 3, 2, 1, mark. Check your gear, get your dragons ready; we move out as planned."

Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, Gulf of Aden , 2350hrs
2nd Lt. Vladilena Ivanova

Under the surface of the calm waters, there is silence, except for the soft hisses that escape from our fully-closed circuit rebreathers. Holding on to Stormfly, I allow her to guide me along towards the target. Stealthy, quiet and swift; just like the way I was trained in the Spetsnaz. Behind me, the squad follows closely, all dressed in their frogman suits; I have trained them to the best of my ability, today shall be their graduating test.

Above us, the hulking silhouette of the container ship casts a shadow into the murky depths, illuminated by the moon. Stormfly slows down to a stop, floating in the dark depths as I await for my comrades to do so as well. I give them instructions over the radio under my breath.

"Target zone reached. Ascend but do not break the surface. Latch onto the hull, and slowly scale upwards with your dragon. From this point on, maintain radio silence. Camicazi out."

Upon receiving the thumbs-up sign from them, I signal for them to commence the operation.

Minute bubbles escape from our breathing apparatuses as we continue our ascent, assisted by our dragons. Using her claws, Stormfly grasps onto the underside of the ship, as are all the other dragons. Looking her in the eye, I nod to affirm my satisfaction. A low but soft growl escapes her as I pat her snout, indicating that I was ready to continue.

Stealthily, she slithers upwards and along the hull, her limbs a blur. Forming a streamlined shape as she presses herself up against the steel, we break the surface without a noise. Behind me, my comrades are doing the same. Shielded by the shadows cast by the moon, we slowly approach the level of the deck.

Approximately 5 metres from the edge, I hold Stormfly back, commanding her to stop. Lowering my voice to a whisper, I instruct her to wait for my signal, "Zhdat' "

I find a convenient foothold nearby, a maintenance ladder, and climb the final few metres onto the deck. At the final rung, I pause for a moment; there is movement above, footsteps and harsh voices talking – Arabic, with a Somali accent to it. Listening carefully, I notice the voices becoming louder. Looking down, I motion for the rest of the ascending squad to hold up.

Two tangoes above, wait for my signal.

Taking out my PP2000 personal defence weapon(1), I ensure that the green dot sight is working fine, and flick the safety off. The footsteps stop for a moment; they continue their conversation for a couple more seconds before more movement is heard. Only one set of footsteps; they're splitting up for the moment. I look up, body curled up, waiting for the right moment to strike.

A head sticks out over the side of the deck. Seizing the opportunity, I launch myself upwards, grabbing the figure by the collar. His eyes register shock, but in less than a second, he's overboard, with a bullet through his brain to shut him up permanently. I let the body fall towards the water; using the momentum from before, I swing myself over.

His friend might have heard the splash, or my feet landing on the deck, but there isn't enough time to react anyway as I let loose a precise, short burst of fire into the small of his back. The silencer muffles the shots into the night. Wasting no time, I drag the lifeless body and hide it in the shadows – we can't risk them discovering any trace of our presence. Leaning back over the deck, I give the thumbs-up to my comrades.

All clear, move up.

Taking a short break, I remove my rebreather, mask and goggles. Letting my wet hair fall back to its original shoulder length, I adjust the radio headset. Unslinging the silenced Avtomat Dual-Medium amphibious bullpup assault rifle (2), I load a 40mm Dragon's Breath grenade (3) into the integrated launcher, pull the charging handle and switch off the safety. Strapping on my pair of night vision goggles, the darkness is illuminated in a shade of bright green.

By now, the rest of the squad has done the same, all of them awaiting my command, silenced weapons at the ready.

"Break radio silence. Viper, Cougar and Tiger; the three of you search for hostages, save them if you can and get them to a safe area, but no heroics. Scorpion, Cobra and Panther; you're with me – We'll ID the targets." I still maintain my voice under a whisper, keeping stealth.

"Roger." The squad splits up, and we move out swiftly.

Somali airspace, Gulf of Aden, 2400hrs
Lt. Astrid Hofferson

Soaring just beneath the cloudline in the starlit sky with the wind whipping through my ponytail, it's strangely reminiscent of my first flights on a dragon; but this time round, it's no romantic joyride. Odin Squadron's first mission is underway, with Ilena's squad already inside the target zone. Jack is awaiting the all-clear to board the container ship with his men, while I am to provide air cover from above.

The moon casts a reflection in the water, broken by the waves, adding to the tranquillity of the scene.

Slung across my back is a prototype M82A2 bullpup .50-calibre sniper and anti-materiel rifle (4) equipped with a thermal infra-red scope and an extended magazine of 10 rounds. Extra magazines and bullets were in pouches slung on Lightning's harness. The blue dragon is thoroughly enjoying this short flight.

In formation behind me are the rest of my team; the best marksmen and women in the unit, all holding on to various sniper rifles. They've proven themselves at the range, now they're going to have to prove themselves again on the battlefield. I myself am a mix of nervous excitement – while I was elated at finally getting a real mission to operate in, questions filled my mind that dampened it with uncertainty. What if we failed this? Will we get casualties? Will I lose any friends – or worse still, will I lose Jack?

Get it together, Astrid! Shaking these thoughts out of my mind, I focus myself on the mission at hand. I take a deep breath and steel myself. There's no turning back now, I can only push forward and do my best.

"Lieutenant, object spotted at 12 o'clock, approximately 1 kilometre away," the voice crackles through the radio, breaking the silence of the night. Looking up ahead, I can just make out the container ship in the distance through my ballistic goggles, a dark shape floating in the water, dotted with lights shining from potholes and windows.

"Roger that; squad, stay in formation and get ready," I give my orders into the headset clearly, "Check your ammo and prepare your night vision devices, we're going to be needed rather soon, if all goes according to plan."

Resting the butt of my rifle on my shoulder, my gloved hand adjusts to the pistol grip of my rifle as I get used to its weight.

Soon, we reach the airspace directly above the ship. "Initiate flight Formation Gamma and circle the ship. Check your altitude; stay between 400 to 500 metres. Hold your weapons ready, but don't cock them yet. I repeat, no shots until the order is given."

Switching on the infrared scope, I command Lightning to hover in the air while I examine the target zone, my other hand releasing the harness and grabbing hold of the integral foregrip of my rifle. In white-hot mode, I could easily make out human shapes on the deck; 1, 2, 3… easily at least 15 of them on board.

"Valkyrie One to Camicazi; do you read me, over?"

"Da, Lyeitenant. Camicazi reads you loud and clear, over." The response comes quickly, and I heave a sigh of relief.

"Eyes are in the sky; I repeat, eyes are in the sky. What's your status, over?"

"We've ID'd targets in the main parts of the ship; In addition, we've got two hostages with us, no injuries. Can't say the same for their captors, though. We're on the deck now; can you see us, over?"

Sweeping across the deck, I try to make them out from the rest of the white figures. No dice.

"Hold on… look for the flashing IR strobes, Valkyrie One, over."

"Hmm… Roger, I've acquired you, Camicazi, over."

"Good. Here's the lowdown; there's a total of about 45 pirates, all are armed, mostly concentrated on the deck, in the main control and in the engine rooms. Additional hostages in the living quarters, approximately 30 crew members, over."

"Roger that, hold your position, maintain stealth until Valkyrie Leader is in the area, over and out."

Heaving another sigh, I rest my eyes for a while as I await contact from Jack.

Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, Gulf of Aden , 2405hrs
Cpt. Jack Haddock

The seaspray forms a thin mist on my visor, the salty taste of the air hanging on my lips. The only sounds are those of the waves softly crashing upon each other, and the occasional low growls from a dragon, as we glide silently over the black waters.

"Valkyrie Leader, intel has arrived, over," Snotlout's voice crackles through my headset, breaking the silence. Right on time.

"Roger, patching through," Acknowledging, I commence the data uplink. Figures and diagrams flash onto my visor, feeding live from the recon squad's data spikes. Amazed yet again at Ilena's deadly efficiency, I smile inwardly as the full picture forms in my head, boarding plans and calculations flashing through my mind.

A low growl from Toothless brings my attention back to real life. "What is it, buddy?"

Looking up, I make out the large shape on the waters a distance away. "Valkyrie Leader to Beta Squad, accelerate to attack speed. Precision bombing; aim for the deck. Hit 'em fast, hit 'em hard."

Digging my heels into the harness, Toothless receives my command and speeds forward, wings shifting into a streamlined position. Letting adrenaline take over, I switch gears instinctively, my bionic foot moving quickly to alter Toothless' artificial tail fin. The wind by my ears builds up into a roar, mixed with that high-pitched scream so characteristic of the Night Fury's bombing run.

"Valkyrie Leader to Valkyrie One and Camicazi; Boarding team is in the zone, I repeat, boarding team is in the zone! Estimated time of impact, 45 seconds. On my mark, initiate the operation; watch for the fireball."

Anticipating the strike, Toothless starts to build a small ball of blue-hot plasma in his snout. The ship grows larger and larger as we approach… 800 metres… 600 metres… 400… 200… 100…

"Now!"

A/N - Sorry for the long wait, guys. Med school hasn't been kind to me, and there isn't much time to do anything else. Thankfully it's term break now, so hopefully I can get a few more chapters up before and after Christmas. Again, sorry for making those who followed this story wait; Hope you like what's coming up :)

Warmest Regards,
DisneyAnime91

More gun notes:

(1) PP-2000 Personal Defence Weapon - The PP-2000 is the latest development of the famous Instrument Design Bureau from Tula, Russia. It has been first displayed in public in 2004, although the patent for its layout has been filed in 2001 and issued in 2003. Today it is already in use with some law enforcement units of the Russian Federation. The main niche for the PP-2000 is a personal defence weapon for non-infantry military personnel, as well as a close combat weapon for special forces and special law enforcement teams. As such, it is a compact weapon with as few parts as possible for enhanced reliability, simplified maintenance and low cost. Easily wielded with one hand, as Ilena is doing here, and can be modified with parts such as a silencer and optics.

(2) Avtomat Dual-Medium, Special (ADS) Amphibious Assault Rifle - The ADS is an Assault rifle of Russian origin specially made for Combat Divers. It is of a bullpup layout and is chambered in the 5.45x39mm M74 round. It can also use special ammunition developed for use underwater, and switching between the two is as simple as changing the magazine and flicking a switch. The integral 40mm grenade launcher is fitted with a removable barrel which can be removed when it is not needed by the mission profile. Muzzle of the barrel is threaded to accept muzzle brake / compensator, tactical silencer or blank-firing adapter. Rifle is fitted with adjustable iron sights, and an integral carrying handle is provided with Picatinny type rail on the top to accept various day and night optical sights. The ADS can fire any standard issue 5.45x39 ammunition when above the water, with accuracy and effectiveness similar, if not better than of AK-74 / AK-74M general issue assault rifle. When submerged and loaded with 5.45 PSP ammunition, ADS outperforms other underwater assault rifles in terms of accuracy and ease of handling. The ADS is said to be under extensive field trials by undisclosed units of Russian Naval special forces. If adopted, it will replace APS underwater weapons and, possibly, some AK-74M general issue assault rifles in service with Russian Navy special operation units and other Russian special forces, which might be engaged in underwater operations (security, counter-terrorism in the sea, etc).

(3) Dragon's Breath - A Dragon's Breath usually refers to a zirconium-based pyrotechnic shotgun round. When the round is fired, sparks shoot out to about 5m (20 feet). While it has few tactical uses, the visual effect it produces is impressive, similar to that of a short-ranged flamethrower. The pyrotechnic shell is expensive compared to other shells, costing around 5 US dollars per shell. Taking quite a bit of artistic liberty here, and converted it from a shotgun round into a 40mm grenade used to clear rooms quickly (like a flamethrower). Maybe something that Jack developed or modified from the original while tinkering around in the engineer's labs?

(4) M82A2 Anti-Material Sniper Rifle - The M82 is a short recoil semi-automatic firearm. When the gun is fired, the barrel initially recoils for a short distance (about 1 in/25 mm) being securely locked by the rotating bolt. After the short travel, a post on the bolt engaged in the curved cam track in the receiver turns the bolt to unlock it from the barrel. As soon as the bolt unlocks, the accelerator arm strikes it back, transferring part of the recoil energy of the barrel to the bolt to achieve reliable cycling. Then the barrel is stopped and the bolt continues back, to extract and eject a spent case. On its return stroke, the bolt strips the fresh cartridge from the box magazine and feeds it into the chamber and finally locks itself to the barrel. The striker also is cocked on the return stroke of the bolt. The gun is fed from a large detachable box magazine holding up to 10 rounds, although a rare 12 round magazine was developed for use during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. The M82A2 differed from M82A1 mostly in its configuration—that the pistol grip along with trigger had been placed ahead of the magazine, and the buttpad has been placed below the receiver, just after the magazine. An additional forward grip was added below the receiver, and the scope mount has been moved forward too. This was to adapt the usually very heavy weapon to be fired from the shoulder by a single marksman, intended for use against airborne targets such as helicopters.