Soldier Part 8 – Plan Alpha
The fight raged on; the disbanded Titans where on the ropes struggling against a far fitter force. Whilst the Titans had taken the past few years at a more sedate pace Red Troop had kept themselves fit and ever ready for a fight just like this. They trained everyday; went for runs around the valley, carried out target practice and flight exercises as well as hand to hand combat. The Titans a year or two ago may have held their own; but they were feeling the strain of being out if the game for a while.
Robin had managed to disarm Cassandra of her rifle and side arm but not of her KA BAR knife. She had managed to snap his Bo- Staff in return; Robin had resorted to using batarangs to deflect the knife blows. Sparks flew each time the blades clashed. Robin was fighting hard; he was putting up a good fight as he was still active under the persona of Nightwing but Cassandra was just as tough and had speed, agility and strength that was beyond any normal soldier.
She lunged at him making a swipe at his face, she missed and Robin made a swipe of his own. A thin trickle of blood ran down her cheek. Cassandra turned and let out an unearthly snarl and bared her teeth. Her eyes stared into his and looked into his very soul and chilled it instantly; he then realised that she wasn't human. Two elongated canine teeth protruded from her mouth confirmed it; a vampire? He thought that explains a lot, no wonder she can move so fast. Cassandra charged at him, eyes full of bloody rage.
Ember had nearly set half the valley on fire her aim was a little off, not that she'd admit it just that Beast Boy was quicker than he looked that's all. Smithy was going toe to toe with Cyborg despite the fact Cyborg towered in at over 6ft 5in and kicking on 350lbs (most of it metal), Smithy measured in 5ft 7in and a little over 182lbs, Cyborg could tell that Smithy was right handed and had a decent punch to match but his left hooks and jabs where something else. He could punch with the power of a freight train rolling at nearly 70mph. Cyborg deflected another blow but his holo-ring took a nasty wallop and turned off. Cyborg wasted no time in letting loose with a sonic cannon blast. It did catch Smithy off guard and the blast hit his left arm, tearing off all the clothing that covered it. Smithy glanced at what was left of his sleeve; he groaned pulled off what remained and his tattered glove too, fully revealing his cybernetic arm. From shoulder down over was a dull matt grey, he flexed his arm to make sure it worked. Cyborg looked on in astonishment, 'It isn't just my arm sunshine. Like Del I have the same Nano-tech running through me, I just last an arm some point along the way.'
Cyborg stood speechless at this. He started scanning the arm and found something he didn't like. 'Now it's time to show you what tricks are up my sleeve' Smithy growled, he pointed his arm forward as a small high pitched shrill rang out before a sonic pulse shot from his arm making Cyborg duck, giving Smithy a chance to be right back up in his face again.
'Azarath Metrion Zinthos!' Raven cried as she tried to tackle the tricky Teagan and she wasn't happy one little bit. She was giving it everything she had not shying away from hurting her; Raven already had several massive gashes in her clothes from Teagan's claws.
Quietly in the farmhouse unnoticed by the others the warning system came to life again. The map screen didn't just fill with one or 2 red blobs, but dozens and out of them spilled even smaller red dots. It wasn't until the big red dots moved directly over everyone's heads did they notice that something was up.
5 of them. Huge great lumbering aircraft roared over head and towards the horizon; down the valley the sky was full of parachutes. They all stopped; staring in awe at the huge airplanes. Del recognised them instantly, as did Smithy and Cassandra. C-130 transport aircraft...but there were no markings on the side or underbelly; that made all 5 members of Red Troop's blood run cold. 'Illuminatus,' Del muttered under his breath, 'Red Troop stand to! We're getting the fuck out of here! Plan Alpha.' They dashed into action. 'Ellie fire up the jet, we'll cover you until that happens and then you get into the Comanche and cover our extraction to the jet, have you got that?'
'It's going to take 20minutes maybe more to prep the jet for takeoff. It was in the middle of diagnostic when left it before.' She shouted back.
'We don't have 20 minutes you have 5 maybe 10 at the most,' Del shouted back, Ellie just ran as hard as she could into the covert hangers. 'You five. The route to your craft is cut off. You have a choice; fight with us and live or you can be awkward and die with the rest of them.'
'We can get to our jet just fine we don't need you... Del' Beast Boy sneered. A second later a thunderous boom came from down t valley. The Titan's jet had been destroyed.
'You were saying?' Del said. 'Before they target your 4x4 tip it on its side and drain the petrol out of it.'
'It doesn't run on fuel... it is a cold fusion engine... what do you need petrol for?' Cyborg said weakly.
'Oh for the love of Christ. Can you not do anything normal? We roll car; blocking the road. We drain the fuel so it won't explode and then pour it on the road to slow that lot down.' He shouted pointing at the paratroopers now landing no more than a kilometre away.
'Del?' Smithy asked over his radio.
'Aye.'
'These guys landing... they are CIEF troopers, (Commander-in-Chief's In Extremis Force the President of the United States' own personal regiment, pronounced Ceef) maybe going on 100 of them. It's defiantly an Illuminati backed raid. They've found us and they seem rather pissed.'
Del swore under his breath. A 10man unit was enough to ruin your day. 100 of them? Well it was just going to destroy your week. 'Dig in. Make sure you have plenty of ammo. I'm turning on the pumps and grabbing Alpha and gonna lay with Lucy in the barn. Get that 4x4 on its side.'
Cyborg flipped the 4x4 on its side with some help from Smithy who sprinted back to the farmhouse and grabbed some ammo crates. Lots of them and dived back into his fox hole and opened them all up revealing many long links of machine gun ammunition. Cassandra in her fox hole had her own crates of ammunition, grenades and spare magazines. Teagan dove in beside her and started filling up magazines with her as fast as she could before arming the flame blocks.
Del jogged to the barn and turned on the pumps which emptied the large underground petrol tanks and sent the petrol into small reservoirs underneath the roadway ready to be fired and ignited by either of the occupants of the fox holes. Blocking the road with almost impenetrable walls of fire. He then climbed the ladders up into the hay loft and opened the door. He grabbed a small black remote and put it in his pocket and from a metal flight case he grabbed a rifle.
'Long time no see my friend.' Del propped the legs out on the chunky LRR L115 (aka Accuracy International AWM) sniper rifle and placed it on the floor where he lay beside it and took it into his shoulder and looked through the scope. He looked over the open valley floor and saw the mass amount of troopers. He looked for the team that maybe the lead unit, he was looking for any sign of one group in control of the others. He soon found them; standing next to destroyed ship that belonged to the Titans. 'Bollocks,' Del moaned looking through the scope. He keyed the radio; 'Guys I have eyes on the lead unit and guess who I can see?'
'Del really is this the time for games, sweetheart?' Teagan asked stuffing rounds into a magazine.
'Well its Marshal Judah.' Del answered; unheard by him the rest of Red Troop muttered along the lines of; 'oh fuck off.'
'What do you want us to do?' Robin asked Cassandra.
'Dig in. We're going to have a fight on our hands soon enough.' Cassandra barked.
Everyone ducked when the ground in front of them erupted into the air; 'mortars!' Smithy screamed, pulling Starfire into the fox hole below the lip. The mortars fell, creating craters all around them. The mortar team was good, very good. Their fire was almost perfectly ranged almost from the off, 81mm rounds fell like rain and boomed like thunder. Drowned out by the booms of the mortars no one heard six shots being fired from the barn; they did notice the rain of destruction was starting to ease until it stopped completely.
'X-rays down. Prepare for frontal assault.' Del spoke into his radio headset. Down in the fox holes weapons where cocked and firing positions where taken.
Lt Colonel Judah's team call sign; Python 1.
'Why the hell have I lost my fucking mortar team?' he asked calmly but you could feel the anger in his voice.
'Sniper sir.' Came his answer.
Judah let out a low irritated growl, 'move in. Suppressing fire from the extreme right and left flanks and push up the middle. Set the SAMs up; they are going to try and make they're retreat by air if possible. I want fast air on standby to shoot them down.' As soon as the order was issued two light weight attack hover crafts moved out as far to the right and left as they could go and a trooper in each swung the turret towards the farm house and opened fire.
Farmhouse/Fox holes
The sound of incoming fire was bordering on unbearable. The turret mounted Vulcan Miniguns spat streams of hot lead across the once peaceful farmland; their spinning barrels tossing out spent cases making a small pile on the roofs of the hovercrafts. The farmhouse was turned into a colander; bullet holes appearing all over the place. Del would have tried to take the gunners down with some more sniper fire, but the intensity that they were firing at him was just too much.
'Smithy I need one of those guns taken out, if it's not too much bother.' Del crackled in Smithy's ear.
'Well I would but I don't fancy catching a bullet in my face.' He answered.
'What would it matter? Your an ugly sod anyway a bullet in your face would be an improvement'
'Oh fuck you numb nuts!' Smithy groaned and so the fire continued raining down on them. He needed a plan and fast, Ellie was still busy getting the jet ready so CAS was out of the question. Then suddenly the rounds stopped impacting around him, but he could hear the miniguns blazing away. He looked up and saw a black barrier around them.
'Smithy now!' Raven shouted, 'Take a shot!'
He reacted instantly, hoisting the Javelin (an anti tank weapon) onto his shoulder and acquiring a target lock on the red hot engine of the hovercraft to his right. He pressed fire and the rocket leapt out of the launcher system about 25ft and then its main rocket motor ignited and streaked high into the air before it nose dived and slammed through the roof of the hovercraft. The rocket's warhead detonated, the fierce explosion ripped it apart from the inside. Smoke billowed from the burning wreak, flames reaching 20ft into the air.
'Nice shooting!' Cyborg shouted, as he and Star let loose with some of their own fire on the other hovercraft. Bolts of green and blue slammed into the second hovercraft flipping it over. Now free to stick their heads above the lip of the fox holes the Red Troop and Titans coalition returned fire and ignited the fuel hidden under the road. Del flicked a switch near him and activated the auto-turrets spewing out torrents of fire back at the advancing forces.
'Ellie how's it going with the jet?' Del asked.
'Slow. I've had to recalibrate the radar and the electronic countermeasures. I'm not going to get to the Comanche anytime soon.' She explained.
'Just get than thing ready to fly and into a position to take off. Don't bother coming to cover us, we'll do without.'
'Have that. It'll take me 10mins to get into position at the end of the runway.'
'Ok, just get it done.'
On they fought. They had managed to thin out the CIEF troopers coming their way. Smithy had almost ran out of barrels for his M60, (barrels on machine guns are designed to be swapped over as they overheat due the prolonged bursts of fire for long periods of time) and had to resort to a pistol whilst one cooled enough to use it again. Cassandra was having the same problem with her SCAR-H, having to leave it for a few minutes to cool. It wasn't such a problem when the auto turrets had been working but some had been destroyed and the enemy was advancing.
'Del we're getting close to being in the shit for my liking.' Smithy spoke panicking.
'I agree, begin to exfill to the jet. I'll cover you; plan Alpha with a mag pick up.' He instructed.
'This is Sky Mistress; I'm all set. Get down here now!' Ellie shouted from her position in the cock pit of the jet' choosing to go back to her old callsign. Cassandra fired off 2 smoke grenades to cover the escape. They got up out of the fox holes and ran around the back of the farm house; Smithy led them to an underground tunnel. Not far from where the Comanche was hidden. They all piled in and sprinting down the tunnel, footfalls echoing around them as they ran. Robin broke out from the narrow tunnel into a much larger space; an even bigger tunnel that housed a plane that was just as big.
The Halicarnassus was a huge, black Boeing 747; but his was no ordinary 747. Del had got the idea from a book. A big 747 jet kitted out with the latest in offensive and defensive technology. The tyres on the landing gear where made with Kevlar and had titanium shields covering them, mounted on the wings were twin gun turrets, it packed enough countermeasures to blind a mole and confuse the most complex computer systems, radar that could pick up a sparrow and 200miles, it had the ability to perform Vertical Take Off & Landing (VTOL), a rear door and cargo area big enough to take a few 4x4s in it, armour plating on the fuselage that protected the living area that had a few seats and bunks and the black paint job wasn't just for show; it was radar absorbent making it harder to pick up on radar screens.
'Don't stand there gawping, move your fucking arse!' Cassandra shouted grabbing him by the collar. They boarded plane from the rear. Cassandra stormed into the cock pit and leapt into a chair, 'plan Alpha with a mag pick up.' She repeated to Ellie, who nodded in reply and sent a signal to open the doors at the end of the runway.
Outside
Del stood alone in front of his house. The CIEF troops had stopped firing. '90 seconds and we'll be out of the runway tunnel and airborne.' Sky Mistress said in his ear.
'Have that.' Del answered and set the little black box to countdown from 75seconds and pressed the red button on it.
'Lay down your weapons and put your hands on your head!' a CIEF sergeant ordered the remaining 15 troopers surrounding him.
'Go fuck yourself.' He answered and unleashed holy hell upon those around him. The result; total carnage within 60seconds, he was getting slow. At least 6 severed arms and 2 heads, all of them had suffered from electrocution and gunshot wounds. On he charged towards an ever increasing hole in the ground; the hidden end of the runway. An omnipotent boom made the ground shake; plan Alpha had been activated.
Concrete shattered. Water spewed forth down the valley, churning up everything in its path like a giant tidal wave. Del sprinted harder trying to beat the water, he pulled a gun from off his back, but this was not designed to kill. It had a different purpose; to get you to places out of reach from normal ladders. He had a Maghook, standard issue to USMC Recon Units; it fired a grappling hook that could grip surfaces with its claws or with its powerful magnet on the end of 150ft high strength rope. As he came level with the exit of the runway the Halicarnassus screamed out, the force from its engines nearly knocked him off his feet.
Del looked behind him, shit I am getting slow! He thought seeing the wall of water only 100m behind him. The rear door was open, Del fired the Maghook into the open door and it instantly found purchase. Del was just about to press the retract button to reel himself in but he felt something punch into his chest and out of his back. His eyes went wide as pain coursed through his body, he lost grip on the Maghook and tumbled to the ground, blood staining his clothes.
'Python1 this is Cobra 3, target neutralised.' A sniper spoke into his radio. Marshal Judah smiled; he had finally done his job and got rid of Del.
'Excellent. Now capture that plane and bring me the occupants alive.' He ordered.
'NO!' Teagan screamed as she saw Del fall to the ground and a second later the water released by the dam being destroyed swallowed his body up into its mass. She collapsed to her knees, unable to comprehend what was happening.