Chapter 11: Battleship Cheaters
1600 hours
Off the coast of Georgia
Near the United States of America
We all got our gear on. We were aboard a submarine, about to take an SDV to a Russian aircraft carrier. I guess we owe it to Pillsbury and Keebler, since they got us all this support. We got in the SDV, and we went away. I heard Syco, as I had by then learned to call Corey by his nickname, say, "Gee, too bad we take an underwater tour in the middle of a war." Fudge replied, "This is your guide speaking. If you look to your right, you will see a Russian battleship raining hell on the East Coast." I spoke up. "Very funny, Fudge." Peter then said, "Quiet! We are nearing the aircraft carrier. Stay frosty, we are Oscar Mike!" Marston replied, "Yeah, Oscar Mike."
The SDV stopped, and the team began to fire grappling hooks toward the deck. They only had to climb until they reached a porthole. They found one about halfway up from the surface. Hellraiser then said, "Get ready to cheat at real-life Battleship." as he pulled the charging handle on his M4A1 SOPMOD he was given, due to the fact that sniper rifles are next to useless in close quarters. All of the snipers were given an M4A1 SOPMOD, except for Pillsbury, who had his own M16.
We started moving towards the ammo room on the aircraft carrier, silently taking out guards. Everyone had a silencer on their gun, so the mission was easier to pull off. We got to the ammo room, and planted C4. "Damn, that was fast." said Wildcard. "Now, when do i get to blow it up?" he asked excitedly. "Eager McBeaver" said Hudson. We then huddled, with Wildcard and Cooper standing guard, since they had shotguns. Peter ordered, "I am splitting you guys up int two teams; Red and Gold. Red team will have: Me, Alex, Marston, Tailfin, Knotdead, Hudson, Glass, Moby, Keebler, and Pillsbury. Gold team will have: Mike, Hudson, Fudge, Cooper, Syco, Hellraiser, Rookie, Leo, Wildcard, and Smith. Red team will take the repair deck, while gold team will work their way through the control tower. We meet up on the main deck, where Riley will pick us up. Got that?" The rest of us replied, "Yes sir!" We moved out.
I went ahead with Red team. Peter told Knotdead and I to take point. "Here we go." Knotdead said. We went around the corner, and found a steel door. We decided to breach the next room. I planted a breaching charge on the door. I watched as the timer went down to zero. I saw it hit, "00:01.00". I was ready. The charge exploded. I went in, and as fast as i could, took hold of my surroundings and killed everyone in the room. I felt lucky that i wasn't on the floor, bleeding really hard and in pain.
Knotdead shouted, "All clear!" Tailfin asked, "What the hell did you guys do?" I answered, "We had to breach the room." We went and cleared the rest of the room out. Things went smoothly. We then went to the top deck, when we heard Mike on the radio say, "Shit! Someone grabbed Wildcard and locked the door on us! I hear him fighting some Russian dude, I think it is hand to hand!" Then we saw the glass break at the window, and something falling out. Marcus' detonator to the C4 he planted. 'Fuck, shit, damn it.' were the words that came to mind. "Riley, get us out now! We heard a gunshot up from the bridge, then a loud clank sound. An explosion rocked our feet. "This is Glass speaking, Wildcard is OK, but obviously not the ship! Get to the higher end of the ship and hang on, we are on our way! Where the fuck is Riley?" He shouted frantically into the radio. Soon enough, Gold team came out, and rushed at us. "We are here!" shouted Cooper. The ship started to buck, and tilt. We heard helicopter engines, and the Pave Low came, and picked everyone up via ladder. I was last on.
I was about to grab the ladder, but the ship turned fast. I lost my grip in my left hand. If I lost the grip in my other hand, i would have been a goner. I lost my grip, but when i started to fall, I felt something grab my arm. "Gotcha!" said Pillsbury, and I looked up at him. "Thanks, man." I said. "No problemo, amigos." he replied, as he helped me up the ladder and into the chopper. I then felt a sudden heat behind me for a second. The Aircraft carrier we destroyed gave off one final, huge explosion, and I swear, the others were damaged a lot, since we got reports at base that the carriers had been sunk by US F/A-18 Hornets. We all yelled in excitement.
Chapter Twelve: Flashback
1200 hours
Quantico MCB
U.S.A.
We were having a coffee break at Quantico. I sat down to talk to Cooper. "Hey, Cooper, you seem out of it, what is wrong?" I asked. He said, "Dude, It's my father. My dad's squad mate had told me that my dad had been killed while on a special ops mission. The war has kept my mind busy, but that last mission reminded me of him." I asked another question, "What mission was it?" "Some mission to get old soviet Intel, but an important dude who was running the place got my dad killed. You know he invented Oscar Mike?" I thought for a second. There was a guy who was guarding soviet Intel before the USSR collapsed. The Intel was around the same area that TF141 retrieved the Intel that had invasion info. "Oh, shit." I said. "Remember when you got picked up, and we met for the first time?" I asked. "Yeah" "Well, we were on a sabotage mission when we got picked up by that chopper. But before that mission, we were retrieving some old soviet Intel about a hundred-something miles away from Chernobyl. Was that where your dad's guys were?" He delivered the news. "Yes." Cooper started something else. "I think a high-ranking dude killed him" I thought of something "Maybe the leader killed him." Cooper got all aggressive when he heard that. "Then if he is still alive, he needs to pay for that!" He slammed his hand on the table. This drew Mike's attention. "Hey, everything alright here?" I answered for Cooper. "We're fine."
32 years ago
Victor watched as the forest zoomed past, making sure not to drop his MP5. The Huey helicopter was heading to a suspected area of highly valuable intel. Charlie Baker, who was Cooper's dad and the squad's machine gunner, asked the sergeant, "What is the Intel we are looking for?" Max, the sergeant, replied, "I don't know. That is why we need to get this shit, so we will know." Soon after, the team landed. "We're on the move." Max said.
The squad moved on for a little longer. Kevin then spotted the target building. "Dude, I see the building!" he said. He went prone, pulled the hood to his Ghillie over him, and laid down. He then aimed through an open window with his R700. "Hey, I think I see the file we need! Who the fuck is that dumb to leave the top secret files on a table by an open window?" Charlie replied, "Soviet Soldiers." The team moved to breach. Max pulled out his Remington 870, since an M14 is not very useful in CQC, and said, "I like to keep this for close encounters." He was met with a 'Hooah' from Charlie. Max fired his shotgun at the door hinges, then kicked the door down, and they were met by Russians with AKMs. The Soviets were gunned down quickly. they went upstairs. They proceeded towards the room with the Intel, and Charlie was told to take point. He walked into the room. POP! A Soviet Soldier shot him in the back He turned around and gunned him down.
The squad made it to the roof, when they started taking MG fire from nearby houses. Luckily, Kevin made his way to the building, and started to snipe from inside the building. But the building started taking RPG fire, and the thing was collapsing. The squad started making their way to the bottom story, then going outside. They barely made it. They started to make their way to the LZ, but then got surrounded. A Russian Captain called out to them, "This is Captain Vikharevski! Drop your weapons, and hand over the file, and we will not harm you!" Charlie, having better hearing than anyone else, heard the Huey before anyone else. He picked up his LMG, and shot at few Soviets before a gunshot was heard, and the fatal bullet pierced his leg. From the captain's handgun. The Captain saw the Huey chopper, and ran away as the chopper opened fire on the Soviet forces. The Russian Captain was not among the dead when the casualty report was done. But Charlie was.
Present Day
"Hey, do you think the guy has anything to do with the war?" asked Cooper. I answered, "Maybe, but that is a longshot theory." Cooper pressed on. "Not really, think about it! They guy killed a dude, and wanted to finish his work. So he writes a new plan, and says, 'Hey Russia, I found a plan to invade the USA!'" I asked, "Why the hell would Russia follow him? We did nothing wrong." "Or did we?" said Cooper. They may have turned something we did against us, like... " Cooper stopped. "What? Like What?" I said, raising my voice. "He may have convinced Russia to be mad that we stole something from them, not to mention how we stopped their Nova 6 program and Soyuz 3 in the 1960s." Only then did i notice everyone was listening and watching us. Peter said, "I think our final mission is clear." I took this as a good thing. I think Cooper took it that way as well. Marcus called out something. "Hey, I found information that a Vikharevski that served in the Russian army or whatever has a hideout!" I asked, "Where?" He answered, "Pack your bags, people, we are going to Brazil..."
Chapter Thirteen: Behind Enemy Lines
1500 hours
30 miles south of Rio De Janerio
Brazil
We landed a couple miles east of some ghost town in Brazil. I marvelled at how hot it was. We moved up, and found a gas station. There were enemy guards there. Due to us having silenced weapons, only the men from the 54th fired, except for Smith, who had a specialized MP5. But what guns we had wouldn't matter. We were going to change into enemy uniform. And take their guns. We killed everyone there. I found an AKS-74u to use. Tailfin got one as well. Smith found a PP2000. A few snipers were there, so Fudge got an SV-98 Sniaperskaya. Pillsbury and Keebler didn't take anything, since they wouldn't be going in, but providing overwatch if we were compromised. Knotdead took an SKS, Hellraiser got an SVD Dragunov. I saw a few RPDs, Moby and Leo took them. Cooper took an RPK, most likely because he used one when we rescued him, and he knows how to use it. He refused to leave his Nambu behind. He also dropped his AT4 for an RPG. A lot of the riflemen got an AK-47, which i did not find surprising. Marcus took one with a GP-25, a Russian grenade launcher. He picked up a Saiga shotgun as well. Cooper also took a Saiga. Glass got an AN-94. We found a bunch of Makarov PMs. Though everyone kept their pistols on them, we all grabbed a PM, in case we needed to show our side-arms to anyone. We all dressed quickly and hid our old clothes and the bodies, and cleaned up everything. 5 minutes later, it looks like nothing ever happened.
We made our way into the town. It seemed empty at first, but we started noticing snipers on top of buildings. Then a Technical drove by. "That looks like the one we hijacked." said Cooper. We made our way through the town, looking for a HQ looking place, where Vikharevski would be at. We heard silenced gunfire behind us. Pillsbury was doing us a favor, eliminating snipers so they wouldn't be a pain in the ass for us if we got caught. Considering the fact that Cooper was a POW at one point, Vikharevski might recognize him, and then we would be fucked. Or, he might recognize the looks from Cooper's dad. Either way, we would be screwed if we were busted. Maybe an incident like when I was on my first mission with Hellraiser, or when we were at the LZ, held at gunpoint by the BMDs. And who knows what other situations the marines ad been in? As I thought about all of this, Mike said this, "Hey, I think i found the place where Vikharevski is hiding." We knocked on the door, and Vikharevski opened it. Luckily, I had learned a bit of Russian, and he said this in Russian: "Hello, what are you doing here?"
Chapter Fourteen: Force Multiplier
We started talking in Russian. "Come in, come in" said Vikharevski. "So, what can I do for you?" I answered, "We wanted to talk to you about how secret the base really is." "Well, I am confident in our secrecy, we will hide whenever an aircraft is overhead, and we kill anyone who happens to wander onto our soil." 'Kill everyone, my ass. Why are we still alive?' Is what I thought. "Well, what if a satellite got a picture?" "You ask too many questions." Then he spoke English. "Also, since I know the names of every soldier here," as he turned to Cooper, "Let me guess your name. Cooper Baker." Meanwhile, Vikharevski had drawn a PM and cocked it, keeping it out of sight from everyone, except for me. "NO!" I shouted in English, and raised my gun. It was too late. I flew back as a bullet tore through my clothes and my body. He then quickly shot Peter, then ran away. Mike, who was second in command, gave orders. "Go after him! Cooper, Moby, Marston, stay back, help out the wounded!" he screamed, then ran away. He stopped when Knotdead did not come with them. "What the hell are you doing, KD? We have to go, now!" Knotdead said, "Alex is hurt! I can't just leave my friend!" Mike thought for a moment. "Fine, you stay. Everyone else, Go! Go! GOOOOO!" I heard the distinct sound of Pillsbury's M40 echoing through the valley. Other than that, i could not tell who was firing at a certain time, save for Cooper and Moby's RPK and PKM, as i saw the flashes. Marston was taking care of Peter. I tried to hang on to my life.
Meanwhile...
The team was taking fire. Despite the fact that they were crippling strucures and people with 40mm grenades, they were pinned down. "Marston, come in!" screamed Jake. "What is it?" replied Cooper over radio. "How is Marston doing on Peter and Alex?" "He is just starting to work on Alex, Peter is fixed up." Then, an RPG team took aim at the group. "Shit, I have to go, Echo 2-7 out!" The RPGs fired, taking out a building. The squad ran, and barely escaped the falling rubble as the building collapsed. Through all the smoke, the squad saw something in the sky. "Awwwww, shit! Enemy hind, 2 o'clock, high!" The Hind, however, was starting to land. Glass shouted, "Pillsbury, make us proud! We have a Hind, probably here to pick up Vikharevski, kill it!" Pillsbury shouted, "How the fuck can I take down a chopper?" Hudson grabbed the radio. "THINK OF SOMETHING!" Pillsbury then steadied his aim. The chopper was about to land, and Vikharevski was nearing the LZ. Pillsbury fired. The bullet broke the glass and impacted the pilot in the eye, killing him. The pilot's body fell against the controls, sending the chopper out of control. The chopper exploded. "Fuck yeah." said Pillsbury.
Alex's point of view
Marston finished up bandaging me. I got up, and pulled out my USP, and with all my strength, broke the silencer off. I started to run, but stopped when my stomach started hurting like shit. I walked, on the lookout for Vikharevski or my squad. "Wait!" called out KD from behind me. He gave me my AK74u, and helped me carry it. I left it at first due to me being weak, since I was still recovering from a bullet in my abdomen. He pulled out his SKS and said, "Let's go!" We fought our way through the city, and we practically ran into Vikharevski. We all pulled out our side-arms at the same time, and Vikharevski had a PM a my face, while KD and I had a M1911 and USP at his face.
Chapter Fifteen: Vengeance
"Drop the gun." I said to Vikharevski. "And don't try anything, or you will get a face full of bullets." added KD. "Alright," said Vikharevski, dropping his gun and raising his hands, "Fine." We never saw it coming. He banged our heads together and took our guns, and pointed them at us. KD and I nodded to each other, then we kicked our guns out of his hands. We proceeded to fight him, hand to hand. We were winning at first, striking every blow on him.
Until he caught my kick. He turned around and flipped me onto the ground. He punched KD in the face, then kicked me so hard, I think he broke a few of my ribs. I laid on the ground in pain, watching as KD fought Vikharevski by himself. They were equal opponents, dodging eachother's blows, and taking a few as well. But Vikharevski was getting stronger. He hit KD harder and harder, and KD was losing. But he kept on fighting Vikharevski. I could now see why they called him Knotdead. He was very wounded, yet he kept on fighting. I saw a guy coming up behind KD, ready to stab him, but the surprise was cut short when Marcus, running ahead of the squad, threw his gun away and knocked the Russian's knife away, then drew his own knife, and grabbed the Russian and stabbed him in the eye. He then went and helped me out, and called in a "special present", as he called it, for Vikharevski. The sender was Pillsbury. I heard a sniper shot echo through the valley, and Vikharevski fell. He was still alive, but wounded heavily, since there was a 7.62mm in his shoulder. He could not move his legs or his left arm.
The rest of my squad arrived. Cooper said, "How do you feel now, Vikharevski?" Vikharevski replied, "Don't you dare." Cooper then said, as he pulled out his Nambu and cocked it, "Yes. You need to pay, for killing my dad. And this is how you are going to do it." said Cooper, as he aimed his Nambu. The whole squad circled around. Keebler was raising his binoculars, as I looked up at him. Pillsbury was also looking. But Vikharevski had one last trick up his sleeve. He grabbed KD's M1911, laying next to him, and fired at Cooper, three times. The Nambu landed near me. "NO!" I screamed, as I grabbed the pistol and fired on Vikharevski, killing him. Riley's chopper arrived, with Pillsbury and Keebler already on board. Pillsbury helped me walk to the chopper. KD was helped by Corey, and Cooper was carried by Marston and Keebler. We left the valley, and went to base. I started to black out from my injuries. The last I saw was KD looking at me. I looked back and showed a faint smile. Then my eyelids shut.
Epilogue
Aftermath
I woke up in a hospital bed. I was wrapped in bandages all around my chest, where my broken ribs were. The doctor said I could get up and walk around, but slowly. I went to see KD, who was also up and walking around. "Glad you're on your feet again, eh?" he said. "Yeah, thanks KD. You did good out there." I replied. "Aww, shut up." he said, jokingly. He then told me, "Cooper wants to see you." I asked, "For what?" He spilled the sad news. "He isn't going to make it." I almost cussed out loud. "WHAT? He is going to die?" "I'm afraid so. He wanted to see everyone one last time. He wants to see you next." We got closer to Cooper's room. "He has seen about everyone. You're last, since you were hurt bad, and you were unconscious. Pillsbury is in there now." Pillsbury walked out. "He is going to die soon, you may want to hurry up." He said. "Okay."
I walked in. Cooper was laying down on the bed. "Cooper, are you okay?" "Not really" Cooper said in a weak voice. "I want you to have this with you." I said, giving him back his Nambu. "No, I want- I want you to- to keep it. Vikharev-shit killed my dad, and i am going to die soon from what he did. You killed him with this, so I want you to have it." I replied. "I will remember you by this." He said, "Please, I want you to promise me something. If you ever get sent back into a fight, I want you to waste them." I replied, "I promise, Cooper, I promise." He spoke his last words. "Thank you, and also, tell my family, I love them." I wanted to ask Cooper one last thing, if he felt that his father's death was avenged. "Cooper?" He did not respond. I knew it had happened. Cooper had passed away. I walked out. "He died." I said. "Come on, Alex, let's go get something to eat." said KD. "Sure." I walked down toward the mess hall, trying to clear my mind of what had just happened.