Brandon
We finally made it to the Empire State Building and we met up with Percy before Chiron and the others ever got there. We met up with him by a statue. Brittany and Mathew waited with KATE behind a corner. The three of us on the Strike Team walked around the corner and approached Percy, fully geared up.
When Percy saw us he immediately drew down on us with his sword, Riptide. David and I were pretty much just following Big Luke's lead. He didn't do anything but keep walking towards him.
"Drop your weapons now and surrender or I'll drown you all," Percy threatened.
"Percy, please," Big Luke begged, unphased by Percy's threat. "If we wanted to kill you we could have done it a long time ago. We just came here to introduce ourselves."
Big Luke extended his hand but Percy didn't lower Riptide. He had this look on his face that didn't give anything off as to what he was thinking, but whatever he was thinking wasn't good for us.
Big Luke sighed and dropped his hand. "Dude, I don't care who you are or what prophecy you're a part of. I'm not afraid to take that sword away from you. My name's Jon Luke. This is Brandon and David. We are the Strike Team for Camp Half-Blood. Chiron set this up. We've been kicking ass and taking names ever since Luke Castellan, uh, 'left' we'll call it."
"He never said anything to me," Percy replied.
"Well, that's what that whole 'Top Secret' thing is all about," Big Luke retorted. "They don't tell you a lot of things. Shit, they don't tell us a lot of things and it's gotten us into a tight spot here and there."
"So, what are you here for?" Percy asked, the point of his sword was still pointed at Big Luke's throat. Oh, he's our biggest fan!
"Chiron told us to follow your orders. Whether we like each other or not, we're stuck in this shit situation together. So, lets make the most of it." That finally got Percy to drop his sword. I guess knowing that he was in charge put his nerves at ease.
"Well, they're coming for Olympus. They're going to attack the throne room. We need to protect it," Percy explained. "How good are you guys on Defense?"
"We can handle anything you throw our direction." Big Luke's cockiness was surfacing again.
"OK, I need you to watch our backs as we go up to Olympus. I see that you have rifles, that's good. I want you to set up in that building..." he started pointing to all sorts of buildings but Big Luke just shook his head.
"Listen, Dude," Big Luke interrupted him, taking one step forward and jabbing his finger into Percy's chest. "You told us to watch the front door as you take the rest of the campers to the six-hundredth floor. That's fine, we can do that. But you do not tell me or my guys how to do our jobs. Let us work out the kinks. We aren't a couple of brainless monkeys with trigger fingers. Got it?"
Big Luke kept a level tone of voice, but it was serious. He didn't like getting bossed around. Especially not by some kid. I also noticed that Big Luke hadn't used the word "Sir" when talking to his new "Commanding Officer".
"Yeah. OK, I got it," replied Percy as if Big Luke's finger disgusted him.
"Alright, good. Now. We'll get out of your hair. You got an army to command," Big Luke told him as we turned around and started walking back towards KATE.
"What do you mean? Chiron's leading this battle," Percy questioned behind us. We stopped and turned around but we didn't walk up to him again.
"He wouldn't have put you in charge of us if he was planning on leading." then we turned around and kept walking.
"When this is all over. You guys will not be mentioned in History!" Was that some kind of threat?
"That's just the way we like it. Go ahead, take all the credit. We're used to it," Big Luke replied.
"Yeah, we just want out of this thing alive," I added.
That was the last we heard from Percy for a while. It was pretty obvious that Percy didn't like us and we didn't really like him. He tried to tell us how to do our jobs and that rubbed Big Luke wrong.
We made our way to a couple buildings surrounding the Empire State building. None of which were the ones Percy told us to use. We set ourselves up in a large triangular shape. The whole this was probably a half-mile at it's widest point. We oriented ourselves so that we could watch each others backs in case anything went haywire. Brittany and Mathew went along with Percy and the rest of the campers up to Olympus. I don't think any of us on the Strike Team had ever been to Olympus. Was I jealous? Perhaps a little, but we had a job to do.
The entire city had fallen asleep. All traffic had ceased to move. Some civilians had pulled over to the curb, leaving the streets more or less open. Others just stuck their cars in Park in the middle of the road.
I was laying on top of some desk in an office building. The guy working at the desk was asleep in his chair right next to me. Up against my shoulder was Big Luke's M40. Could I make a half-mile shot with this thing? Probably not. But that's why I was watching Big Luke's back who could pretty much handle himself.
He was posted up in a parking garage with KATE. He was laying on the roof with a M240 machine gun with a compact scope on the upper rail. His feet were supporting him on the deck lid and the machine gun's bi-pod was resting by KATE's windshield. He was facing towards my left.
I bounced the scope around at random spots, searching for anything that could make its way up to Olympus. Every ten seconds or so I would pull my eye from the scope and look over the city with my own eyes.
I was bored senseless. At least when we were in the Alps, I had David to talk to. We'd sit there bouncing impromptu raps off each other, no matter how stupid or good. Here all I had for entertainment was whenever the snoring guy next to me changed his note slightly. I didn't know what his name was but I started calling him Bob. Yeah, he had a name tag but I was too lazy to check it. He looked like a Bob, I guess.
"Red 5 to MacGyver and Hawkeye: Get to ground level. They're moving out of the Empire State Building and gathering with Argus on 5th," instructed Big Luke through his radio.
"Roger that," I replied and climbed off the table. I started to make my way down the stairs with my rifle close to my shoulder.
I kept a pretty good pace. I occasionally had to step over someone who had fallen asleep while on the stairs but it was mostly easy going. When I made it to the ground floor and walked out into the street, I was reminded of how much I missed my R1. I started jogging in all my gear towards 5th Avenue.
Out of everything that should have been going through my head, the one thing that I was thinking of was going to University of Oregon this coming fall. I was about to go to COLLEGE! That seemed so fucked up! I wasn't ready for that.
"Brandon! Where the fuck are you? We need to get moving. Percy's told us that we need to help out the Demeter cabin in the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. We need to give them an escort," Big Luke yelled through my earpiece.
"Huh? Uh, yeah. I'm on my way," I replied and picked up my pace. I finally rounded onto 5th and caught up with David, Big Luke and KATE. KATE had her doors already popped as if she was expecting for someone to get in.
"Load up. We need to catch up," Big Luke informed me and we got in.
Big Luke started driving. We kept our eyes out for anything that looked like a bunch of hippie kids in battle armor. We eventually found them though a cross street one block over and Big Luke pulled the car to the curb.
"We'll hump it from here. No sense in giving all our secrets away just yet. KATE, you go find the Aphrodite cabin and help out wherever you can. Provide cover, pull wounded campers out of the fray. Brittany and Mathew should recognize you," Big Luke instructed. "You guys got plenty of ammo?"
David and I both checked ourselves for ammunition and ordnance. "Yeah. We should be good for a little bit."
We got out and Big Luke tapped the roof twice. Then KATE took off back towards the Aphrodite campers. We didn't stay put for long either. We started jogging down the street to catch up with the rest of the Demeter soldiers. We came up behind them as they walked. We followed Big Luke as he jogged up next to Katie, Demeter head counselor.
"Hey. Percy told us to escort you to the tunnel and help out wherever possible," Big Luke told her, slowing down from the run to a walk.
"Hey, you're Big Luke right? I've seen you around," replied Katie. "Yeah, that's fine. We could use the artillery."
"Whatever you need is fine with us," Big Luke replied. Then he turned towards us. "You guys fan out, I'll take the right side, Brandon, you take the left and David, you watch the six."
"Copy that," David replied.
"And keep your eyes off the tail," I whispered to David who I had caught checking out some of the Demeter chicks. He just punched me in the shoulder and stopped to drop back.
I fanned out to my left. I could see now why Big Luke took the right side. This way I could still use my right hand to shoot if I had to. Big Luke was willing to his less-dominant hand.
We looked so weird compared to all the bronze armor around us. Even wearing camouflage, we still stuck out like soar thumbs. The whole cabin gave us funny looks at our fancy-dancy night vision goggles and bulletproof plate carriers. Assault rifles hanging off our shoulders. Big Luke was wearing his normal tinted shooting glasses. All of our eye protection was smoked because it was daylight outside. We looked like real operators and not a bunch of kids playing dress-up.
Eventually, we made it tot he tunnel where the Demeter kids went to work growing thorn bushes and ivy plants right through the cement. We used the cars as cover. The Strike Team made its way up to the front. I opened the passenger side door on a rich guy's Corvette to take cover behind. The fiberglass was nowhere near bulletproof but it was better than nothing.
The window was rolled up so I took the stock of my 416 and shattered the glass. I brushed some of the leftover shards with the stock and my hand. Then I rested the rifle on top of the door. Then I looked around. David had placed himself in the bed of a pickup with his M110 resting on the roof. Big Luke had put the M240 with KATE so he had his M16 up against his shoulder. He took cover behind a work van.
"You guys got your suppressors on?" I heard Big Luke ask through my head set.
I knew I had my suppressor on but I checked the ammunition in my magazine to see what kind of bullets I was using. I had Celestial Bronze cased loaded up. That was good, for the most part we were going to be fighting monsters.
"Yeah," I heard David reply.
"Me too. Plus, I got monster rounds loaded up," I answered as well.
"That's good. If and when it's time for us to open up, I don't want to spook these campers too much," Big Luke instructed.
"It's only going to get louder being in the tunnel," I put in.
"He's right. It's going to get loud either way," seconded David.
"I'll warn Katie." I looked over and saw Big Luke breaking from cover to where Katie was hiding behind a Honda Civic.
He accidentally pressed the button for his radio before talking. That happened every now and then. "Hey, so if they get too close and we have to open fire, it's going to get really loud. Tell your troops not to hold firm and not run from it. You get that?"
"Yeah, I got that. Demeter, hold tough!" she gave the order to her cabin mates. Then she turned back to Big Luke. "Aim with the hand, shoot with the mind. I heard that somewhere."
"And kill with a heart like arctic ice. That's the other part of that that doesn't get said too much." Katie nodded at that and Big Luke tapped his helmet twice before going back to the work van for cover.
We heard the enemy before we ever saw them. Their shoes stomped on the pavement like continuous thunder. I turned over my 416 so I could see the chamber. I pulled my charging handle back slightly only to see the back half of the chambered round.
I quit my fucking around and re-chambered the round. Then I put the rifle up to my shoulder and gazed down my sights. I kept my magnifier flipped over so it rested out of my way. This way I had larger peripheral vision around the sight. My orders were not to fire until the last possible second. But I was going to be ready when that second finally came.
The only thing keeping the army of dracaenae, Telekhine, and Laistrygonian giants marching our way, was thick poison ivy, thorn bushes, and tree roots. The whole barrier was probably ten yards long and grew over the traffic that was parked in the tunnel from wall to wall. The overgrowth was probably close to five feet tall. I was impressed with the Demeter cabin. They could make one Hell of a defense line.
The enemy approached but we didn't flinch. We had never seen this many monsters all together at once but... they were still bringing swords to a gun fight. I gripped my rifle tighter and pushed the stock deeper into my shoulder, my trigger finger actually resting on the mag release. I wasn't looking at Big Luke or David but I imagined Big Luke being really relaxed. Calm, cool, and collected. This was his element, his realm. David was probably a little fidgety as was I. Him and I were both used to small scale encounters. Not all-out wars like Big Luke spent four years in.
"They're breaking the line!" someone from the Demeter cabin called out.
It was true, the enemy was making its way through the barrier. Slashing and cutting at the foliage with their blades, but the barrier was fighting back. The tree roots and bushes grabbed hold of the monsters like giant pythons and crushed them. As mighty as the barrier was, it wasn't permanent. The enemy was still making progress in making their way through it.
The Demeter kids around us were armed with swords. Without us and without the barrier they would all be paved into one giant skid mark.
The first couple monsters made their way through the barrier the Demeter cabin formed a phalanx to my right. I still didn't fire my rifle even though I really wanted to at this point. The Demeter cabin was engaged in combat with the enemy. They were holding their own since many of the monsters were winded from hacking through the barrier.
"Weapons free," I heard Big Luke say through his radio and I opened up.
I had my rifle switched to full-auto but I didn't just lay on the trigger. We had friendlies down range and we couldn't afford any friendly fire. I bounced around from target to target, squeezing off a few rounds at each one of them. Many of the Demeter cabin had dropped back to avoid getting their asses shot off. I could hear Big Luke's M16 going as well. David wasn't shooting nearly as fast as the Marine and I. He took more time with each shot to make sure that it would land in just the right location.
My rifle clicked as I needed to reload. I didn't swing my rifle in all the chaotic motions to do so. I never broke my cheek weld or my sight picture as I dropped the magazine into my left hand, reaching back and dropping it into my dump pouch, then pulling a new mag from my plate carrier on the return. The mag went into the lower receiver before I closed the bolt and kept shooting. It didn't take me more than five seconds at the most.
It wasn't long before the army in front us realized that they were outgunned. They quickly turned back and ran for the- well, not hills. Not in downtown New York City anyway. The Demeter cabin cheered while we got a transmission from KATE.
"KATE to Bad Company: The Apollo cabin requires assistance on the Williamsburg Bridge," she requested.
I looked over at Big Luke who had broken from cover and placed his finger to his headset. "Did Brittany and Mathew make it out?"
"They are safe for now," KATE replied. "Along with the rest of the Aphrodite cabin."
"Good. Go ahead and come get us and we'll link up at the bridge. Brandon, go let Katie know that we are moving out. From what I've seen, they can handle themselves relatively well," said Big Luke.
"Copy that," I replied and walked back towards Katie. I reached the head counselor for the Demeter cabin. "Hey, Katie. We just got a call for help at the Williamsburg Bridge. We're going to head out."
"Alright. Thanks for the help here. Good luck out there," she replied.
"Likewise." then I turned around and met up with David and Big Luke.
We started our walk, going the way we came in. I stuck my hand back in my dump pouch to count how many mags I had used. I counted three, plus the partial that was still stuck in my magwell. I switched it out for a fresh one as we walked.
KATE drove more like a real racecar driver, keeping traction through corners and using a non-aggressive throttle style. Big Luke liked to slide around. KATE came around a corner and she was coming towards us. She stopped about six feet in front of us. She popped her doors and we could see some blood on her passenger side door. There was quite a bit but it looked as if it was smeared on when someone pulled open the door. When I stepped around the door, I saw a trail of more blood leading up to the side of the seat. There was someone bleeding in this seat.
"I installed some medical equipment behind some of the interior panels in case we had any other injuries like last summer. Also blood and waterproof seats keep the interior clean," Big Luke explained. "Look like someone needed it. Lets hope nobody else does."
"Rodger that," I replied, letting KATE flip the seat forward so David could climb in the back.
We loaded up and started heading for the Williamsburg Bridge where we would help out the Apollo cabin. KATE explained to us on the drive that she had intercepted a call from Micheal Yew to Annabeth about their situation and that her and Percy were on their way to the same location. I looked over from the passenger seat at Big Luke who was thinking as he was driving. I could judge by the expression on his face that the gears were turning.
"You want a suggestion?" I asked him.
"Any time. I love suggestions," Big Luke replied as he yanked on the parking brake and slid the Charger around a corner.
"I think we should have KATE drop you and I off at the bridge and then she drives David a ways off to some building. He can cover us from a long ways off," I told him, thinking about the Barrett M107 that David insisted that we load in the trunk.