She was sound asleep when footsteps came in and McCord looked up and saw a young Warrant Officer set his things down in the far corner. The Warrant Officer made eye contact and broke off after a few seconds. "You know how to observe. I'll give ya credit it for that. What's your name?"
"Warrant Officer Grade 3 Perry." The Warrant Officer said without any type of charm.
"Ah, so another pilot I assume." McCord straightened out a little.
"UH-60 pilot sir." Perry spoke neutrally.
"What unit are you reporting to?" McCord replied while placing the book he was reading down.
"What I've been told sir is either Dagger Squadron, or Hawk Squadron." Perry spoke while lowering his head a little to dig through his bag looking for something.
"Dagger Squadron eh? Gonna be our fourth helicopter?" McCord smirked. He always liked the idea of a full squadron.
"That's what I'm hoping to get into sir. Not many have seen operations like I have." As he finished that sentence, he pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to McCord showing his mission and operations he served on.
"Real impressive. You've done at least forty combat missions." McCord paused and looked up at the new officer. "Hell, you'll fit into Dagger."
"Thank you sir. My helicopter was flown in, is there a certain area where we land?" Perry asked. McCord nodded and began to sit up slowly hoping to not disturb Vanessa. Eventually he managed to get off his bed and suit up for another flight.
"If I'm gonna show you, we'll fly your helicopter today." McCord smiled while gearing up. Perry nodded while he began to get his flying gear on. The two walked out to his helicopter and McCord stood in front of the UH-60. "Battle marks?" McCord asked as he was pointed to the black stains on the tail.
"We were hit while deploying Wolverine Five-Six to the town they held the line at. Every other UH-60 under my command went down and I remained up." Perry spoke while patting his helicopter.
"You were there too. We were the flights after yours. We also didn't escape without any hits. My gunner was killed unfortunately while my co-pilot was wounded. Waiting on replacements." McCord spoke while getting ready to get into the co-pilot seat.
"I heard. Hell of a mess." Perry grunted while pulling himself into the cockpit. He sat down with a short breath and started to turn on the engines going through a short checklist. He lowered his mic until McCord shook his head.
"Let me do it son. You have other things you need to do." McCord spoke as he lowered his mic, "Tower this is Dagger Two-Four. Requesting permission to take off"
"Dagger Two-Four. You're cleared for take off. You'll receive new directives once airborne."
McCord looked at Perry, "Let's keep going. We have a mission to do." Perry nodded as the rest of Perry's crew got on not noticing McCord. The helicopter lifted off into the heavens before the Russians invaded, which now turned the skies hell as American neighborhoods burned to the ground as the marauding Russians kept advancing.
"Dagger Two-Four, this is Overlord, how copy over?"
Perry responded quickly as he began to bank to the left entering the contested airspace, "Dagger Two-Four copies."
"You are to assist in the evacuation of civilians and support the defensive lines at map grid Charlie Alpha 315985. Dagger Two-One though Two-Three will not be able to support. Overlord out."
Perry looked at McCord who gave a quick nod to confirm that statement. McCord looked over his right shoulder looking at the neighborhoods below as civilians ran away desperately trying to run from the Russians. As the helicopter flew East, Perry noticed that they fell into a formation of helicopters. UH-60s, CH-47s, and MH-53s were flying to the battle ground as many Rangers were labeling this as Exodus for civilians and injured personel who've fought holding the line. As McCord looked around, he noticed there wasn't any certain lead flight, that was to change. He lowered his mic and spoke over the radio, "Overlord this is Dagger Two-Four, pilot of Two-One. We are two miles west of Arcadia and LZ X-Ray. Are there any flight leaders?"
"Negitave Dagger Two-Four, you are now the flight leader. Switch to TAC Freq. 44. You are now the flight leader of this outfit, or now known as Reaper Five. Good luck Five-Actual."
McCord adjusted in his seat as many of the helicopters began to tighten formation as the UH-60 moved to the front of the pack. Soon, every helicopter in his group was on the same channel as communications began to start.
"Five-Actual, this is Skull Two-Two. We are currently in the rear of the pack carrying troops for the LZ security."
"Roger that Two-Two. Try making it into the safety of the pack. We should be arriving in ten mikes. Get the troops ready."
"Confirmed. Moving to the middle of the pack."
"All flights. All flights, this is Reaper Five-Actual. We need the MH-53s protected in the middle along with the CH-47s. If this wasn't an exodus for civilians, the flight pattern wouldn't matter with me, however the Chinooks and Pavelows can carry more civilians than the Blackhawks can. Civilians are our number one priority, then comes wounded. Call contact to copy."
"Skull Two-Two, contact."
"Hawk Five-Four, contact."
"Coyote One-Three, contact."
"Helix Two-Three, contact."
"Gunslinger One-Two, contact."
"November Six-Six, contact."
"Viper Four-Two, contact."
"Fox Two-Five, contact."
"Follow us in and we'll get you all out. If you are hit and damaged, land when we get back to base. I do not want to initate a SAR in this type of situation. Let's go get our civis." McCord moved the mic away as he motioned that he was taking control.
Reaper Five's tactic worked as the Russians couldn't hit anything. As McCord landed, thirty two helicopters landed next to him cramping LZ X-Ray up. As the Rangers dismounted, others began helping civilians onto the MH-53s and CH-47s filling the valuable ones up while the UH-60s began to unload some supplies and help others onto other helicopters. As the CH-47s and MH-53s were cramped full, the remaining civilians began to pile upon the UH-60s. Ten minutes later, all the helicopters were packed full as two hundred and seventy two civilians were evacuated away from the LZ that was soon to be under attack.
"Overlord, this is Reaper Five-Actual. We are evacuating two hundred and seventy two civilians. Returning to the nearest FOB. ETA, thirty mikes at the most."
"Roger that Five-Actual. Exodus has so far been a success."
