THE NORTHERN CRATER
1.
The snowstorm had further toned down as the fleet of WRO helicopters approached the Galea's Cliff, a rising crown of steep peaks that acted as the natural boundary of the Northern Crater. The area was affected just by a mild snowfall and the pilots sighed in relief as visibility was good enough to land without much effort and without the harassment of crosswinds, at last.
Nevertheless, it was far from being the best welcoming place on Gaia. Temperatures were far below the average that day, so the door servant on the chopper was quickly ordered to shut the side door of the craft, in order to spare the passengers from freezing to death even before landing. Engine overheating was not a problem anymore, after all.
Besides, an eerie sight greeted the oncoming visitors. A pillar of grey clouds rose from the basin where the crater stood, abruptly terminating where the surrounding cliff rose and skyrocketing up to the utmost layers of the atmosphere, in a replica of a greyish, dull mushroom cloud. The murk was slowly but evidently twisting on itself as the winds and currents were sucked into and dived into the crater only to be spun around and blown on the outside with much more power and violence. Thunder and lightning adorned the column, and the white streaks of electricity became longer, more powerful and more menacing as the fleet of helicopters slowly manoeuvred closer to the edge of the cliff, searching for the landing area.
"Damn, that is some thunderstorm…" the pilot dropped his jaw, eyes stuck at the menacing manifestation of nature before him "Thank the Maker we are not supposed to fly into that thing!"
"How could we?" the co-pilot told him "I bet the instruments would go fritz right at the moment we dare to poke our nose into that mess…"
"Hey, you two! When we will be told to fly into that thing I'll be sure to tell you in advance!" Cade shouted right behind them "Now please, think about not thrashing this bird on landing, won't you!"
"Sure thing, Sir!" the pilot replied, feeling reprimanded
"Did you just scared him off?" Yuffie asked, looking at him sideways
"At all" Cade raised his hands "I was just helping him setting his priorities straight"
"Oh, I see" Yuffie answered, turning his head to look outside the window.
"Basically, the extraction team is supposed to go down there…" she mused, trying to take a look past the tip of the mountains
"They are…" Cade confirmed
"There's a huge amount of live Mako down there" Yuffie noted "Won't it be dangerous?"
Cade puffed, trying to recall what he had learned about the feature of the crater "Apparently" he began "the Mako in the crater is so condensed that it doesn't emit much radiation. In that sense, it's less harmful than a microwave oven"
Yuffie whistled "Wow" she exclaimed "I never thought microwaves could be so dangerous!"
"Ever had one?"
"We are not that primitive in Wutai, Mister Captain Tuesti!" the ninja countered, pretending to be offended by the pun
Cade laughed.
The pilot applied a slight correction to the route, following the leader of the pack. The vessels now flew parallel to the cliff. All of a sudden it was heavily shaken by a fierce crosswind. Soon it became the most urging concern of the pilots, who now had to negotiate the gusts rocking their crafts
"It's going to be a rocky landing, Sir!" the pilot warned Cade through the headset "Better tell your man to strap into!"
"Roger that!" Cade replied, as he was trying himself not to get trashed on the passengers' compartment floor. He managed to fast his seatbelt. He gave a quick look at his right where Yuffie sat, already strapped to the seat and stiffly adherent to her place
"Doing fine?" he asked her
"Like a ride on a rollercoaster" she smiled
"Good…"
"Except I hate rollercoasters!" she added
"Maybe you'll get to like them after we will land safely" Cade told her
"Let's see…" she concluded
"I'm going to take you to the Golden Saucer, if you manage not to throw up. What do you say?" he offered
"I thought you had other plans for the future, dating-wise…" Yuffie made him notice
"Come on" Cade waived his hand "It's for the sake of our newly established friendship"
"Well, then maybe…" Yuffie conceded
"How about a foursome" he added "When you'll meet your own half…"
A powerful jolt nearly made him bite a chunk of his tongue away.
Cade turned to the men of his platoon, which had already secured themselves "Don't worry about a thing!" he shouted "If there's one thing that I've learned, is that hard landings make the pilots pull off their best. Just mind not to bang your heads while we land…"
He was interrupted by a sudden jolt when the helicopter was caught in a turbulence. Beside him, Yuffie visibly fought against a dry heave
"Hey" Cade remarked "Don't do that. Not while we're still onboard. Remember the ride…!"
"Jeez" Yuffie moaned "That's why I hate flying…"
"If that consoles you, I'm not doing that much good myself"
"I appreciate your humanity" Yuffie replied, as she let her head shake around while her body stood still. Thankfully soon the craft flew past the turbulence and the cruise resumed as smoothly as it could be.
"Hawk Leader to all Hawk helicopters" a broadcast came in. Cade recognized that voice. It was Brad
"All right" Cade exulted "Enters the Monster!"
"We have spotted the landing zone!" Brad continued, via radio "Proceed to perform the landing sequence. Hawk 1 will be first, touching ground on the northern corner of the plateau. Hawk 2, 3 and 4 will land at the eastern, southern and western corner respectively…"
"Hawk 3, roger!" the pilot chimed. Cade could hear him both on the headset and right behind his own back
"So we are number three, then…" Yuffie murmured, as the vessel gently turned toward a wide opening right on the edge of the cliff
"Is it important?" Cade enquired
"No, not at all" Yuffie denied "Even better than being number four…"
"So you are superstitious!" Cade poked her
"Me? Just a bit" she conceded "Just to enjoy the funniest part of it. Not an inch more than what is necessary"
"I admit I find it amusing at times" Cade laughed "You know, once a sergeant confided me that he had never washed his jockstrap because he thought ticks brought good luck"
Yuffie made a disgusted grimace "That's not superstition" she complained "that's plain gross!"
A yellow, rotating light went off in the compartment
"All right everyone" Cade stood up, unfastening himself "That's the signal. Once we disembark create a tight perimeter around the helicopter!"
A chorus of 'Yessir!' erupted from the troop. Meanwhile the helicopter was levelling and slowing down
"Look!" Yuffie noted, observing the landscape from the porthole "There's high ground around the landing zone. We'd better send someone on the lookout…"
Cade brushed her hair "There is my second in command!" he proudly declared
"Idiot!" Yuffie smiled as she put away her headset and readied her equipment
"As my second in command brought up to my attention" Cade added "the presence of high ground around the landing zone will bring a slight modification to the plan Who's the chief of the machine gun crew?"
"It's me, Sir!" a soldier raised his hand. He was adjusting a bulky ammo pack to his tactical vest. Two chevrons on his vest denoted him as a corporal
"Good!" Cade exclaimed "Corporal, I need you to take point and find a suitable place to set an observation point over the higher ground behind our landing zone. Can you do that?"
"Of course, Sir!" the corporal enthusiastically replied
"Terrific!" Cade gave a thumb up "Get three men with you. I'll be on the radio!"
"Everyone else" he continued "Stay at a convenient distance from the helicopter. Don't loose sight of your comrades. Visibility is good but better be cautious!"
"What about me?" Yuffie asked, pulling his vest
"You stick to me!" he said "As I told you!"
"Good" Yuffie replied
"Hawk 1, we are on the ground!" a broadcast spoke
"Infantry units" Brad came in "You are cleared to disembark and switch to defensive formation once on the ground. Wait for our crew to mark the landing points!"
Cade turned to the cockpit. Through the windshield he could se the other two helicopters still afloat and the other one on the ground., barely noticeable against the white backdrop. There was snow everywhere, save for the spots where rocks protruded from the ground. His tactical mind was already laying out a convenient array of defensive position.
Suddenly an orange flare went off on the ground, emitting a plume of the same colour over the sky.
"That's our in" the pilot commented "The flare down there!"
"I'll get the crew ready" Cade said
"We're descending now. Should be easy" the co-pilot told him "No more damned cross-winds at last. They piped down!"
"That's a good news!" Cade concluded
The door servant unlocked the hatch. As the helicopter began his descent the soldiers stood up, in full battle dress. A freezing stream of air and snow particles again flooded the compartment. Yuffie thanked her uniform for providing even the slightest amount of heath to prevent her from drowning in that invisible yet tangible sea of ice and cold air.
"Logistic crews, unload the materiel and gather them at the centre of the landing zone. Proceed as instructed, letter by letter!" Brad ordered via radio
"Listen to that" Cade gaily commented "Sounds like someone who actually knows what is he doing!"
The helicopter touched ground, snow cracking under the landing gears and swept away by the vortex created by the rotating blades. The yellow light turned read and steady. An alarm rang and, as the door servant firmly pulled it by the handles, the hatch was fully disclosed
"I'll take point. Follow instructions and this will be over sooner that you think" Cade shouted "Now… GO!"
As the platoon made a perimeter around the helicopter, Cade noted that a further chopper was descending right in the middle of the opening
"That is our catering service" he explained to Yuffie, who was running beside him towards a point in the centre of the yet makeshift defensive perimeter. Temperature was still below average and descending again, now that the day had gone past its warmest part.
Soon all the other platoons followed suit around their respective crafts.