Far Cry 5: The Collapse
Chapter 39: Ballistic Coefficient
The ride back to Fall's End was deadly quiet as Roger drove them to Spread Eagle. Jacob coming out right and challenging Roger was worrying as it could all too easily be a trap to take advantage of Roger's sense of responsibility and in a small way his own pride.
'Pride. Not exactly his main deadly sin but still a valid concern.' She thought as they came to the bar.
As they entered the door the tail end of the dinner rush crowd cheered loudly but Roger only smiled and waved quietly, going through well practiced motions to quickly deflect peoples attention.
"Roger I'll get us dinner, could you find a table?" She asked as he again wordlessly nodded and wondered deeper into the dining room.
Grace sat at the bar and gave her a polite nod as Mary May too greeted her warmly as she brought out two large plates of steak, loaded potatoes, and broccoli. "Glad to see you guys back but did something happen to Roger?" The blond hair bartender asked.
She couldn't help but let her shoulders slump slightly. "Jacob practically point blank challenged Roger to a sniper duel..."
"And so the great mental gears of Roger Rook are turning on the problem. Well that explains why he is hunched over the map table right now." Mary May said as she pointed to where Roger was indeed hunched over the table furiously writing on a notepad only stopping briefly to make a measurement on the map itself before returning to the notepad.
She grabbed their plates of food and calmly walked over toward him only to be beaten by his father as he walked into the bar with the Delta squad and Grey's hot on his heels.
"Roger! We heard what Jacob and you talked about..." The elder Rook started saying as he realized that he might as well be talking to a brick wall at the moment as he watched his son workout massive looking formula's on the rapidly filling notepad page.
"You already have a plan." He finally said as she and Mary May joined in the group that was closing around Roger.
Finally the giant set down the pen and took a deep breath. "I am going to shoot Jacob Seed."
The group was dead silent a full second or two before Ramirez sarcastically broke it. "So stunning, so brave. Wow."
She piped up as she handed him his plate of food. "Roger that is what you generally do anyway but just shooting Jacob doesn't send you into a hyper focused trance like you were in just now."
His evil grin could have lit up the entire bar it was so wide. "I am going to shoot him from outside his possible detection range. Look here..." he pointed at the map at a lake in the northeastern corner.
"Lake Red Chief. It sits if this map and scale are accurate at exactly 5.6174 miles from the front porch of St. Francis. From there I can hike south to this cliff edge, which sits at 4.5129 miles from the front porch. Once there I can setup and get a clear line of sight to where Jacob is currently sitting." He said simply as if it was just another attack.
Marcus's face grew hard for a brief moment when he heard the lake's name but it passed quickly in the face of just what his son was now planning. "A 50 cal can't hope..."
"To hit a man size target at that range but a 30mm firing custom ammo could." Roger continued when Grace joined.
"The drop on that round would be insane at that range to say nothing of the drift... the crosswinds, the rotation of the fucking planet! Roger you're insane!"
Joey watched him only continue to smile as his friend tore into his idea. When she was done he spoke like a school teacher giving a profound lesson. "Grace what is the easiest way to simplify a ballistic equation?" He paused for a moment waiting for an answer but instead giving it. "Velocity. Sheer fucking velocity." He grinned widely as he finished.
He marched away from the group to where a dart board was mounted to the wall and pulled out a dart before marching back to the table holding it up for all to see. "Just like the APFSDS of the 120mm round of a Abrams tank I can do the same thing with my 30 mil and greatly increase the velocity thus reducing the usual ballistic effects... somewhat. Because of that, this shot is possible if my math is correct."
Marcus loomed over the map and eyed the page full of neatly written equations and numbers which likely were at best only a quarter of the total math his son had done with the rest being to him just 'simple' mental math. "Roger..." He said slowly and carefully. "You are greatest marksman I have ever known professionally and otherwise but this... are you well and truly sure that you could even hit a man size target at four and a half miles?"
"I do and before you think that I have completely lost my mind I will be doing some test shots to see if my math is backed up but, yes Dad I think I can do it." Roger said as the two Rooks stared each other down as if sharing something more unsaid between them.
"You can do it Roger. I know you can." She finally added.
She smiled and reached out for the dinner plate she still held. "Thanks Joey, now lets eat and then get to bed. We have a long day tomorrow."
.
Dawn broke over Hope County as Pratt finally retreated to the bedroom that had been cleared up for him. In the living room Brother Preacher Winstead struggled to find sleep even though he had been through not just the ringer of the attack but the journey here and then an all night one on one session with the Saint.
'His mind is still a bit single tracked but there is hope for him. The role of a Saint was always to be strong in body so that they could better focus on the spirit. Oh thank The Father that I have this honor. Tonight perhaps we can journey to Jacob's base and perhaps restore his own faith.' He thought as his mind turned from his discovery to his foes both internal and external.
'Jacob... is he even fit to be a Herald anymore? His faith if not restored could further condemn us in our stand against the sinner. In that case could the Saint stand in his place? Could I? This matter requires more reflection on after I get some sleep. Of course there is also the matter of sinner's 'Champion'. How can we defeat him and break the sinner's backs at the same time?'
Sleep claimed him before he could much more thought into the matter.
.
Jacob breathed in deeply as the smell of his fresh coffee washed over him. This morning so far had gone well for a change. His challenge to Rook had 'polled' well with both the faithful and his own men thus for a change no one questioned his order to dig in at the Landsdowe airfield, the silo, and here at the center.
'It's easier to follow orders when your commander is putting his neck on the line and you are not going to get shelled in the middle of the night.' He mused as his focus turned back to the banks of cobbled together computer monitors that showed him a rotating view of the dozens upon dozens of wireless solar powered cameras he had spread out around the area.
That had been his first 'personal' project that he hadn't mentioned to Joseph but it was one that he justified to himself then that it was simply something he didn't need to ask for permission for but now he could recognize that it was one of the first small breakaways from the absolute obedience that the Project demanded of even the Heralds.
None of it mattered now. With so many failures on so many levels he couldn't justify breaking away further to gain nothing of worth, so now he sat here waiting to see if the other marksman would take his challenge and face him. He would get the fight that he wanted and obey his little brother's last order all to salvage... something from all this.
.
"How did I get roped into this again?" Grace muttered as she Joey and Mary May sat at one of the massive work benches in the depths of the Rook gun shop. The three of them were pulling apart 30mm cartridges and separating their contents.
"Because you wanted to see for yourself how exactly Roger was going to pull off this insane idea of his?" Mary May chirped as she finished filling a large tray of disassembled 30mm casings only for it to be promptly whisked away to the next 'station' in the shop. "Or maybe because you wanted to a chance to spend more time with a certain Captain?"
Joey held back her giggle but not the wide smile at her friends expense. "Former rather than the latter." Came Grace's reply. "Besides little miss match maker he is a active duty high speed low drag operator and a officer to boot while I am angry old grunt with a rifle. Not exactly a plausible combination no matter how much it may look like we get along."
"Careful Mary May you are starting to project. I mean Cassey wants you to take a day for yourself away from the bar and so you follow your newly found barman here and start doing manual labor." Joey advised.
It was then their subject matter approached the table. "Hey ladies the Major just said that he just needs a 100 more cases and then you are done. If you want there are still a few free bore gauges if you want to help sort the cases afterwards."
"Sure, no problem Martin." The blond said cheerfully as the solider turned back to his station.
"Projecting." Joey teased softly.
Mary May turned slightly red. "Hey he is a nice guy and its nice of him to help at the bar when he is there. Thus I look forward to being in his company."
.
The women continued to chat as toward the end of the production line Roger and Marcus sat at yet another workbench balancing, polishing, and weighing six inch long half inch thick Inconel darts before carefully placing each one into individual cloth lined trays. The material cost of this project was something that Roger had specifically avoided broaching with his father as it was no doubt eye watering in expense and the materials likely had already been earmarked for a outstanding government backed contract for something that again he knew better than to ask about.
The manual sorting and testing of not just the darts but the casings, the 3D printed sabot assembly, and the brand new match grade barrel for Longinus were being scrutinized with a level of precision that is normally only expected in aerospace related projects. Every dimension and weight of every part sorted and grouped to insure that every ballistic factor that could be controlled was done so ruthlessly.
But that was what was needed to minimize the number of erroneous factors in each round of ammunition produced for the ultra long range shooting he was attempting.
"So tell me Roger why are we doing this?" His father asked as he set another finished dart on to the appropriate tray and looked back at him with steepled fingers.
He could count on one hand the number of times Dad had actually sat him down for truly serious conversations and he always did so with his hands in that position. He personally had dubbed it the 'Gendo Pose' after watching a anime character of the same name do the same thing as part of his intimidating aura towards other characters.
"Well Dad its a solution to our current problem with the lowest human cost to the Resistance and also again it should do maximum psychological damage to Jacob's remaining forces be they Jacob loyalists or mainline faithful." He answered smoothly as he continued to work.
A cocked eyebrow was all he got back at first. "Oh well and here I thought it was a uncommon showing of your ego. Roger... son we have 15 GPS guided artillery shells that could land within 15 feet of Jacob's position and we have the Oracle to help with any adjustments before, during, and after the fire mission. No need to risk the lives of the locals, no need to spend a day building probably the single most expensive match grade ammunition known only to God himself, and no need to fly out to a lake that no more than two living people have ever seen at ground level in the last 30 years or so."
"Dad... I know this is... insane sounding but this feels like the right solution to this problem. I keep telling myself that I could be wrong..." Dad cut him off momentarily. "Something that to your credit isn't something you have experienced much of."
He nodded back. "True but I try to recognize that I am just mortal, that for all of my skills and abilities that I can still fail. Pride is dangerous thing after all." He said as he set down the dart he was working with. "Part of the reason besides what I already said for all this is because I have personally killed every Herald thus far. I have made sure that they will not come back to haunt us in any way, shape, or form, and for that Dad I want to make sure that Jacob stays down because if he does survive being shelled and takes to the woods then we could face trying to track him while he stalks us in turn. While I am no doubt his main target he could easily justify going after you, Mom, Joey, The Sheriff, and the list goes on."
"More like how you would operate you mean?" Dad questioned.
"Yeah... partly at least. Individually speaking he is the single most dangerous Seed due to his skill set and mindset. Joseph and John talk, Rachel drugged and served as a uniting face while her experts did the heavy lifting, but Jacob can stand and fight in ways that we haven't really seen from the cult." He paused while considering his next words carefully.
"All that said Dad, I can't say with a straight face that I don't find the challenge of making a shot like this unappealing. It's the type of thing right up there with Carlos Hathcock using a M2 Browning for sniping Vietcong, it's something that will live on in the annuals of military history. It's hard to say no to a opportunity like that."
His father's grim face finally broke into a smile as he picked up the next dart to work on. "I can't fault you on that. Besides you are forgetting one other thing if you pull this off."
"What?" He shot back.
"How many people let alone army's around the world will want to own a rifle that could in theory reach out and share their opinion with someone or something else at that kind of range? Even if the US Army doesn't adopt your gun I think you will find a fair few people or even foreign militaries who will pay good money to own their own Longinus." Dad said as he struggled to hold back a laugh.
He had to laugh in turn as the thought stuck him. "And Eisenhower said 'Beware the Military-Industrial Complex.' Oh boy was he ever wrong about that."
.
By dinner time they had everything setup for a morning test fire with Roger and his father at the Taft Lookout Tower firing at a man size target placed in the center of the Dire Wolf Basin as it was the closest approximation to the shot to be made against Jacob.
Besides testing his skills, the rifle, and his new ammunition his father had surprised him by offering up probably the fattest and longest rifle scope he had ever seen. It was a 'dinner napkin' design that his father had eventually made in between his usual work just to see if he could build a 150x power scope for spotting purposes mostly. With a good bit of reinforcement Dad had reconfigured the scope from being a spotter's scope to a ultra heavy duty rifle scope.
'Designed but never live fire tested and here we are testing at ranges that it was never designed for from the very start.' Roger thought with a touch of grimness.
"Roger stop thinking so much and eat please. The test fire will happen no matter what so no sense going hungry over it." Joey said as she tapped his plate of steak and potatoes.
He looked at his girlfriend and could suppress the deep chuckle that came up. He was getting moody and she was right, nothing would change what was to come so might as well not go hungry.
"Sorry Joey. It's just my usual sanity check rearing up its head, I know that sometimes my ideas are outrageous..." She cut him off mid-sentence. "Sometimes? Seriously Roger?"
"Ok ok ok... often times my ideas are outrageous but I do at least try to hold myself back from the worst ones... usually." He corrected himself laughing all the while.
Her own smile could have lit up the room by itself it was so wide. "Roger having grown up with your outrageous ideas the fact is that what is outrageous or even impossible for us 'mere mortals' has never quite applied to you. If there is one person in this valley let alone the world who has a hope of pulling off this shot it's you." Joey said as she got up and started walking over to him to whisper in his ear. "If that doesn't help I can think of something else to take your mind off tomorrow, but only after dinner."
"I love you." He whispered back automatically.
"I know and I love you too, outrageous ideas and nerves included." She said before walking away.
.
It wasn't officially a secret meeting but it now sure as hell felt like one. Fifty men... fifty soldiers now crammed themselves into his decent sized though still spartan quarters to hear what he had to say. They took seats where possible with most sitting on the floor or leaning against the walls.
"Gentlemen I'm not going to keep us long so let's get straight to the point. We have lost. The Resistance now controls virtually the entire county, and while Joseph's Air Wardens may be keeping the air space clear from most outside influence one of the last messages from Nest Command was that a special forces team had indeed penetrated our air space."
"They tend to do that." Someone muttered to the nods of several other men.
Jacob nodded as well. "If that team is here it means that we could be soon facing the full weight of the US military. Even the Wardens don't have enough ammo stashed to shoot down everything and if their presence is known then they are likely to have a air strike coming down on their heads in short order."
He paused a moment to let the facts sink in. "We are outnumbered and out gunned, then you factor in the fact that we have 200 or so remaining cult loyalists in the bunker that still think we can win this war... somehow. When you men joined me I offered a chance to see a new world, one built on strength and merit. Where the strong would be hailed once more as heroes and the weak sacrificed for the good of the species."
"The world isn't as weak as we thought." Another man spoke up and he whipped around and pointed at him.
"No, it's still as weak as ever. No. No... we just so happen to run into someone strong, so strong in fact that he was able to take the weak and give them the strength of purpose to not only oppose us but to push us back. To take advantage of our weaknesses including my own, including those of cult and exploit it. With all of that in mind I am releasing you all from all obligations to me."
The moment the words left his mouth he felt the weight of the world fall off his shoulders. He knew that these men would fight to the last for him but unlike Joseph he wasn't going to ask that of them. They could try to surrender to the Resistance and likely survive albeit surely looking at jail time once law and order in the county was restored.
He couldn't surrender. He had his own loyalty to his brother as extremely flawed as it was and he also felt the need to face off with Rook. One soldier to another, this would be his own personal last stand.
Once the initial murmuring as subsided he held up a hand for silence. "I have my own personal reasons to keep fighting especially against Deputy Rook. However I want give you all a chance to decide your own fate, either fighting the Resistance, the cult loyalists, or trying your luck at surrendering."
The group was quiet once more until one man, a disillusioned former French Foreign Legionnaire stood up before coming to a parade worthy attention and snapping off a sharp salute. "Commandant it has been an honor serve alongside you." He said as other men joined him.
'Good men, strong men, right up to the end.' He thought as he looked back his men before returning the salute. "Good luck to you all, in whatever course of action you choose."
.
"Tomorrow morning Saint we will journey to the veteran's hospital and meet with Herald Jacob. Perhaps seeing a miracle of God in person will rekindle his spirit and faith." Preacher Winstead briefed their new champion.
The massive man wore his uniform once more in all of its hastily patched and expanded glory as he finished the final bites of buffalo flank. "Herald Jacob is not strong. I am strong." Pratt spoke through a mouthful of meat.
Winstead didn't react one way or another, on one hand the Saint was not wrong but it was quickly becoming clear that his mind was not particularly sharp beyond assessing ones strength. Still his desire to read the Word of Joseph and listen to the lessons put him head and shoulders over Jacob in that regard.
"We must respect the order in which God has made his house. Jacob is our herald and short of only the most gross breeching of faith can otherwise only be reprimanded by 'The Father' himself. It is my job to offer him spiritual guidance just as I offer it to you."
Pratt growled in thought. "Then what is my place in the house of God?"
The old preacher smiled. "You are our champion. While you may be mistaken in thinking that your sole purpose is to fight against the sinners that dare stand against us, you serve a even greater purpose..."
"Greater... purpose?" The former deputy said slowly trying to wrap his mind around the meaning of the words.
"Yes, a greater purpose. You are a beacon of hope and of light. Just by being in this building alone you have help heal the faith of those stationed here in less time than I or anyone else short of 'The Father' himself could hope to manage. You by just sitting here have made them stronger." He continued.
"Yes... yes I will go and make Jacob stronger. I will serve my greater purpose for God and 'The Father'." Pratt responded as he pounded his chest firmly twice in rapid secession in a peculiar gesture that no one could explain where or why he did it. He knew that a few of the brothers and sisters had proposed that perhaps it was a more base instinctive thing like what Gorillas did but again for what purpose no one could determine.
"Rest now then my Saint, we leave before dawn."
.
"Why the fuck did I sign up for this again?" Grace muttered as she hunkered down behind the biggest and more importantly thickest boulder she could find. She was maybe 50 feet behind and right of the man sized target she and Nick had set up on the far shore of the main hot spring that made up the Dire Wolf Basin.
Another sabot landed past her cover some 20 feet away which had Nick calling the hit on the radio. "Roger you are still way long and a little right."
"Ok then but can one of you tell me if it hit the ground dead on or was the dart tumbling? I can see the impact but I don't have the detail I need to make that call." Came Roger's reply.
"I got it Nick!" She called out before rushing out of her cover constantly eying the distant watch tower where Roger, Joey, and Marcus were camped.
Joey chimed in. "Don't worry Grace we see you and we are holding fire."
The comment made her roll her eyes in response as she approached the impact site and sure enough only the hint of the darts tail fins was visible as the rest of the dart had dug its way deep into the sandy ground. She cleared away the dirt before using her entire body weight to rip the dart out of the earth. Looking at the dart the only real damage was a notable bend in the tips ogive making the dart worthless for being reloaded but still provided a testament of its terminal moments.
"Roger, the sabot hit dead on." She provided as she jogged back to her cover.
"Excellent! Looks like the 50/50 balanced sabots are grouping better, now I just have to adjust for the lack of drop and barrel heating."
Another minute passed before she heard another thud of the next sabot that was still too far right to make her happy but it was at least much closer to the target in a fore and aft sense.
"Hey Roger just wondering how fast are those damn things going?" Nick radioed.
Sounding a little proud Roger replied. "We are averaging north of 6000 feet per second, last few have been a little past 6500 fps. The spread is a bit much for my tastes but its within the tolerance calculations I did. To put that in something you would be familiar with that is about Mach 5.33 to Mach 5.77."
Grace couldn't help but bulge her eyes at the numbers. Years ago at the family range they had a some rich big game hunter drop by and rent a chronograph to 'Work up a new load real quick.'. His first shot was so loud that she remembered she and Pops rushed out to the firing line where several other shooters where also looking around bewildered by the loud almost explosive noise.
What they found was the man had commissioned a custom double barreled African Big Game style rifle chambered for '.22 Eargesplitten Loudenboomer'. The cartridge was a odd one off from the 60's when a P.O. Ackley, a avid wildcat reloader tried to break 5000 feet per second in a rifle cartridge. He hadn't succeeded then but then again to reach such speeds who in their right mind would think to use a autocannon cartridge as a basis for a hypersonic rifle load?
"Firing another round." He called and a few seconds later the man sized target exploded into little more than matchsticks.
"My God... this might just work." She muttered as she felt bits of wood still bouncing off the top of her hat.
.
The reaction to the Saint's presence was nothing short of breathtaking. Without even uttering a single word... thank goodness, Pratt had brought light and fire into the eyes of the faithful at the bunker. His own presence was not to be discounted as he regaled his story of faith and endurance in surviving the failed march on the sinner's mountain top outpost then his painful journey to the Hotel and finally his meeting with the Saint.
Now walking through the front entrance of the Veteran's Hospital the reaction was a bit more mixed, The Chosen here were fellow veterans of Jacob and they treated the sight of the massive superman with cautious politeness. Him they treated the same as always what with the barely contained hate for him and his station.
Here the faithful were still a bit more subdued in their reaction but after hearing his words and being asked by Pratt 'Are you strong?' they had clung on to their renewed faith like desperate shipwreck survivors would a bit of driftwood.
Now he and Pratt marched up the stairs to Jacob's quarters. The Herald had apparently been truthful in his challenge against the great sinner as they found him sitting on his private porch behind a wall of computer screens drinking his coffee.
The redheaded herald looked towards the two men as they approached his expression not shifting at all even at the sight of the massive man in a deputies uniform."Winstead... why am I not even the least surprised that you are not dead?"
Before he could answer Pratt stepped up. "He is strong and I am here to make you strong too."
Jacob smiled throwing him off a bit. "So given how big this guy is I have to assume that this is the end result of our attempts to find a 'Saint'." He glanced back at his screens for a moment before continuing. "So not only have we all but confirmed that no one within the cult could survive the transformation before this moment, but we also have been dealt to be content with apparently a virtually brain dead 'Saint'."
Winstead finally had had enough. "Herald Jacob you will show the proper respect due to our champion. He is the tool that God has given us to push back the darkness even at this late hour!" He barked loud enough that even those patrolling the perimeter turned to look at the balcony.
Jacob however wasn't phased in the least as he simply leaned back in his chair and took another sip of his coffee. "Respect is earned through work and labor. Just because you slapped a title before his name and talk up his size and apparent strength doesn't mean anything."
"I am strong. I could kill you easily." The deputy countered as he made a single step forward trying to use his new found size and height for everything it was worth.
"Sure... but that doesn't prove anything. So you can kill me? So what? Winstead here could come in and blow my head off just easily or really anyone here could get a shot off. Now if you and I where to fight as men on the other hand, then perhaps would start to earn something assuming that you don't just paint a larger target on your back for killing me. You may every well be physically strong but you are hardly a champion for anyone besides Winstead and his ilk." Jacob's reply came sounding tired and unamused by the Saint's attempt at intimidation.
The deputy ground his teeth and clinch his fists as he battled within his mind what to do. The Herald didn't see him as truly strong that much he understood among all the other words that he couldn't quite put together.
"Calm yourself brother." Winstead patted the deputy's shoulder lightly. "So tell me my Herald..." he continued sarcastically. "What are you doing to bring the fight to the sinner?"
"Stalking... hunting... waiting." The redhead said simply as he gestured to the bank of monitors. "Something along those lines. As you know I challenged Rook directly. One sniper to another. He won't throw his people blindly in the meat grinder and frankly considering he has personally killed John and Rachel, I feel safe in saying that he would want to kill me personally... just to be sure."
Jacob took another sip of his coffee before continuing as if the other two men could actually understand him. "I have cameras watching every viable approach for a trained marksman. When Rook comes I will see him enter the area and then I will go to him. Besides trying to just blindly wonder around and hope to find him is just a waste of time, effort, and not to mention makes his job harder."
"That's your excuse? Drawing the sinners to us instead of taking the fight to them! You have tried this nonsense before have you not? Truly you have lost faith." He seethed.
"No Preacher... this is a good idea. Challenge their best, kill them, and prove to all how strong we are." Pratt said holding a hand up to cut off the rest of the accusations he was going to unload on the Herald.
He wanted to argue the point more but at this time he simply said "Very well, my Herald." and took Pratt with him to meet the rest of the faithful in the hospital. Jacob was now fully a lost cause and the last thing he wanted to see was Jacob's mentality start to rub off on Pratt.
He would need to gather and reinforce the backbone of the faithful if they were to ever go back to taking the fight to the sinner, that also meant that he would need to take a more hands on command role. With such a burden he would need to find out what arms, ammo, food, and medical supplies among other things they had on hand, then came knowing how many faithful fighters he had, how many of Jacob's loyalists remained, what skills did his people have? Then to do this without word of it reaching Jacob.
For the barest moment a dark thought tried to enter his mind that perhaps he wouldn't have the resources needed but before it could take root he banished such things. 'God and The Father will provide for us in our darkest hour. We only need faith.' He thought.
.
"Sir can you run that by me again please? You need what?" Foley asked respectfully that night at the Spread Eagle. The dinner rush had run its course and now the Deltas and Resistance leaders lounged around the bar as Mary May and Martin finished cleaning up.
"I need you to get the ball rolling with Black Cardinal to get me real time weather info along five individual points and altitudes. I'm hoping that the National Weather Service won't complain and just cooperate but I am planning on flying out tomorrow morning to the lake before dawn." He said looking to Nick.
"Nick I want you to fly me and Joey out there. We have to go in as quietly and quickly as possible and you're the only one I trust besides myself to pull that off." He continued.
The pilot shook his head. "You got it buddy I'll get you there come hell or high water but I doubt we can do the quiet part flying so close to the mountain side. The sound of the rotors will be reflected for some distance but I will do my best and I hope that maybe the wind will be on our side."
"Might as well grab Drubman's Huey, Nick. I'm coming and so is at least two of the Delta guys we will need the room." The elder Rook added as he glanced at his sons reaction. "I want to bare witness to this personally not to mention given how close you are to the edge of the county if you run into a Air Warden team which by the way we don't know how big of a team the cult runs, you could find you and Joey outnumbered."
"Ramirez, head up back to the school and tell Black Cardinal what we need. Martin you and I will escort the Major and Colonel so top off on ammo. If we do run into the trouble we will need some of that old school 'volume of fire' you seem to have a new knack for." Foley pointed around before turning back to Nick. "Mr. Rye if you could get me in touch with one of the other helo pilots I want to with the Major's approval have the rest of my team on stand by for a quick reaction force should this go sideways."
"I have no arguments with that. Mack?" He pointed. " Since Foley's boys will be airborne can you and the Cougars give me two heavy teams. I know you guys have been getting that tank we found up and running so I suggest building one team around that and the other on the Shilka. Post one at the F.A.N.G center's north entrance and the other near the railroad crossing leading to Linero building supplies. Ranger Clark if you would secure the north park entrance and work with the radar site guards to make sure that the cult garrison doesn't try to move south. We had the tank posted to watch the radar site entrance so they will need help making up for its loss. I suggest grabbing a pair of Mini-Revelators for each post." Getting nods all around he moved back to the map table.
There at the veteran's hospital was a miniature figurine of Angron representing Jacob. Another moment passed as he looked over the roads and known remaining cult positions. The current assignments had everything pretty well plugged saved for a few unlikely crossings either down the river leading to Whitetail lake or if the cult dared to venture into the woods and over the rocky terrain that made up the park. If the animals didn't kill them the hard trek would limit their ability to carry much firepower by foot and the outposts to the immediate south of the front line weren't standing down anytime soon because of the risk of a overland attack.
"When I kill Jacob tomorrow I have no idea what exactly will happen afterwards. We could see a last ditch banzai charge, a mass surrender..."
"Fat chance of that happening dude." Jose commented to the nods of most everyone else including Roger.
"Yeah I am not putting much stock into that myself but this late into the game with the balance of power now being in our favor we have to at least be aware of the possibility. The only other action we could see from the remaining cultists is more of the same digging in which will make them a pain to remove. Still taking down Jacob will break their backs and then we can turn to Joseph's island with minimal fears of being flanked." He continued.
Mary May spoke up. "Roger what about the Air Wardens? If they are still in the mountains aren't we still cut off? Why don't we start trying to hunt them down so we can bring in more help?"
It was a valid point and one he was going to bring up with Yeller next time they spoke. Hunting for God knows how many Air Wardens even if they held the rest of the county was a daunting task that was made more dangerous by the fact that it would be almost completely done on foot in the roughest parts of the county. What he needed was at best MQ-9 Reaper drone support so they could have loitering air support and recon to spot and destroy any Wardens. Even just using them as spotting would make it safer to then launch a ground attack against the remaining die hards.
'Damn I am falling into a "All quiet on the Western Front" mindset.' He thought. With the war so close to the end it was getting hard to justify sending his people into the mountains to find the remaining cultists. Taking back outposts and gaining territory was one thing but a hunt that most of the time would yield nothing and at worst might get some more people killed would destroy morale and trust.
'Once I take out Jacob I have to start playing hardball with DC. I will ask... demand... a word with the entire Godhead if I have to and get us the help we need to end this completely.' His mind spun before he heard Mary Mary again. "Roger you ok? You got kinda quiet."
"Sorry just thinking. The Air Wardens are a problem that frankly we really need to get outside help to deal with. Too much land to cover and too many factors in the cults favor mean it can easily turn into a meat grinder task and I refuse to give that order to any member of the Resistance. We have made massive gains and once Jacob is dead and his holdings ours I will start pushing for Washington to get off their asses and help us sooner rather than later. I haven't pressed too hard because frankly asking for their help now usually comes with strings attached as we all know. But once the only active hostile forces we have to deal with is Joseph's island and the Wardens then we stand to gain more than loose by asking for help even with those strings attached."
A baby giggling broke the following silence when Kim Rye stood with Carmina in her arms. "That's why we trust you to lead us Roger."
.
"Preacher Winstead." Pratt growled as he walked into the quarters that had been prepared for the holy man. Pratt had spent the bulk of the evening walking around the hospital grounds in con- contemporary? Contempt? Thinking, about Jacob and the war that the strong and faithful now fought in.
He was sure that he had a solution to at least some of their problems but he knew he must seek the input of the holy man.
"Champion? What brings you here so late?" Winstead said as he shut his copy of Joseph's Word.
"I know how to make us strong again. I have been thinking." He said with a wide toothy smile.
He couldn't make sense of the look that Winstead was giving him but the other man hadn't made a move to stop him so he continued. "Jacob has no faith. You have faith and are strong. I have faith and I am strong. That means Jacob is weak."
"Jacob has doubts, in fact if not for his brother 'The Father' I don't think he would have any faith at all. What of it Champion?"
"Jacob is weak, the weak are meat, the weak fall before the strong. We must kill Jacob then we will not be weak anymore." He said as his enthusiasm peaked.
Winstead thought on this. To kill a Herald was a troubling thing so grave it was, but it was getting harder to steer away from that scenario. Like so many other things in his long life the harder away it seemed to be to move away from something the more clear it became that this was God's will at work to place him where he needed to be, in this case it would seem to restore order once more to the house of God.
"My Champion it saddens me greatly to say that you are right. We must kill Jacob Seed, you must lead us and I will serve as your advisor so that you don't loose faith as he has." He said softly.
"Yes! I will stay strong and I will then fight Rook! I will show him that I am stronger and others will join us so they can be strong too, if not then they are weak and we will crush them!" The overgrown deputy said his body quaking with excitement.
"It is the will of God. Just remember Champion even you are not stronger than God or his chosen. For its thoughts such as that which have led Jacob down this very path. Listen to me and I will keep you strong."
Pratt knelt where he stood. "Yes Preacher I understand."
.
"Fuck me sideways it's early." Joey complained as they got out of the truck and started making their way to the Rye's hanger that served as the single largest source of light in the area.
It was 3am so her complaint was valid but it couldn't be helped. At this time of night any guards or lookouts would be most tired and anyone else would be fast asleep. He wondered if Jacob would have someone he trusted to watch for signs of him trying to approach so he could get some sleep.
Sniping at long distance at night was something that even he had trouble pulling off in many cases as night vision scopes in general just didn't have the range or resolution he needed for even 'short range' sniping. That would force him to stalk and infiltrate far closer than what he normally would prefer, the only upside was his enemies either at best had no night vision gear or at worse had gear on par with his thus played by the same rules.
Tonight or rather this morning would be just getting to the lake and hiking to the shooting position. He expected to make a shot before 10am otherwise he would need to calculate for updrafts caused by the morning sun on top of everything else.
Foley and Martin were already by the Huey where Nick could be seen going over the pre-flight checks likely for the third or fourth time. Oddly though Grace was there as well talking with Dad.
"Don't worry Joey this should be a short trip to the lake, a few hours of hiking and waiting, and then Nick will scoop us up in the in suing chaos after Jacob is dead." He said as they neared the hanger.
"What about taking on the silo or the hospital or the hotel for that matter? You haven't even mentioned that yet." She asked next.
He grumbled slightly in response. "I was hoping that maybe the remaining forces would surrender but barring that we need to take Landsdowe and the hospital first, they should be fairly easy to take since according to Oracle they aren't hardened positions. The hotel is a X factor, there has been traffic to and from the building and they even pulled up all of their mines but there is still activity there so its not abandoned by any measure."
"Still if they miss a few mines that would make approaching dangerous. I guess that leaves either artillery, air strike, or siege warfare." She continued.
"Compared to the other positions it is the smallest outpost so I am more willing to wait them out but I will have my finger on the trigger to drop artillery on them if something looks off. The bunker is going to be hell and we are going to need to figure out a way to clear every level and every room with minimal risk to our people, of course the peggies will have nothing to loose so they might try every dirty trick in the book to bleed us." His thoughts wondered back to Police Chief Jacobs last ditch gas attack, thoughts that Joey gave voice to.
"I should ask Kim and your mother to get us and anyone else planning to go down some gas masks just in case they try that stunt again." She shuddered ever so slightly from the memories.
Reaching the hanger everyone gathered around the two deputies. "Grace since you are here I assume that you are coming as well?"
The black woman nodded firmly. "Damn straight I am. Besides watching you pull this stunt off it will be handy to have another long gun watch your back in case the Wardens show up."
He nodded his head in acceptance. In the area where they would be rugged as it was the ranges were long enough between the peaks that Grace could lay down fire on any peggies that might be there quicker than the others might manage. It also left him to focus on making the shot against Jacob.
.
The flight from the Rye airfield was looking to be uneventful. From the air he could spot the various checkpoints setup by the Resistance dotting the landscape hammering home at just how much they had reclaimed from the cult.
"No matter what happens Roger you can be proud of this." His father said as he sat opposite of him also looking out the open side door.
He nodded in reply. "I had a hand in this but its the people that did the heavy lifting. My role was just to break and distract the cult."
On the other side of the chopper Martin had whipped out his phone and quietly took a picture of the two Rooks as they talked.
"What's that for Sargent?" Grace asked.
"History. Not often you get to see two legendary level operators working together. This probably won't be ever made public in any of our lifetimes but stuff like this is important for the unit archives, besides there is that chance that maybe I will be allowed to tell this story to my own grandkids."
Grace smiled when Foley cut everyone's conversations short. He had on a whim pulled down his NVG's and was watching the landscape below.
"Colonel, Major, I have eyes on probable tangos on the mountain slope. I count..." He paused. "Six... seven tangos total and it looks like they are setting something up."
"I bet they can hear the chopper and know at least that something is here. Hey Nick we are dark right?" Martin asked.
"Yeah everything is off and dark. I've checked it a few times just to be sure." Nick shot back as he focused on watching their right side for incoming missiles.
"Nick hammer the throttle. They can hear us but we are too hard to see to know where to shoot and they are too far away for us to engage with." Roger ordered before turning back to Foley. "How the hell did you see them at this range?"
"DARPA has a few new honest to God fourth gen nods running around for field testing. These things are dual mode: light amp and thermal. I happen to be looking for stuff in light amp when I saw a odd flash and switched to thermal. If those peggies weren't holding missile tubes and rifles I might not have been able to give you a count, but otherwise the spotting range is better than the old stuff." The man answered.
"Give it a another year or two and I would probably have a few at the shop for me to ruggedize. I don't mess with the electronic bits directly I just make them fit better with what is needed in the field." Marcus added as Roger's awe grew.
"I'll have to add that to my Christmas list from Black Cardinal. Grace you and Foley are now on security if he sees it you shoot it." Roger added.
"So I guess Hudson and I are on medium range security?" He asked.
"Yes, at least until I need Joey for radio support otherwise that way Dad and I can focus on pulling this stunt off." The answer came as he thought that their morning would be getting more interesting from here on out.
.
For the level of increased awareness they now assumed there was no pay off, it didn't mean that the Wardens weren't out there but they were choosing the hide over fighting. Joey's theory was that if they looked like they were going to try and fly out of the county only then would they shot down otherwise they likely would have been taking fire sooner.
It made sense that if you have limited ammunition that you would get picky about your targets and these men were loyal enough to Joseph that if he specified only to shoot outgoing or inbound aircraft then by 'The Father' they would adhere to that order.
The moment that they touched down at the shore of Lake Red Chief his father was the first out and scanned the area before marching to a stone fire pit near the shore. The fire pit was clean and showed no signs of use.
"Well no signs of the peggies being here." Marcus said as he approached.
"Were you expecting company Dad?" He asked even as his Dad cocked an eye brow.
"You and Joey have Snowshoe Lake. This is Jessica and I's lake." He said simply as he walked back to the rest of the group.
'Well that's surprising... wait? Dad knew about the lake?' He thought as he wondered just how much of his teenage antics were as hidden and unknown as he thought.
Revelations aside their mile and change long march was only hampered by a brief fight against a pack of wolves lead by a lone and wild looking Judge that was taken down with a wave of rifle fire from Marcus and Joey.
"Amazing what facing these things in more open terrain does. Makes life so much easier." Martin commented as they kept moving south towards the firing position.
"Remember Martin that applies to us as well so watch the cliffs." He reminded the younger man as the first glowing signs of dawn could be seen in the eastern sky. "We need to keep moving, I want to be setup before we loose all the cover of darkness."
.
Above and behind their position over a mile away three men watched the group move on. They hid under a grey plastic tarp that had been covered with glued on rocks and grass that covered a small dug out. One of the men hand signed to the others to go back and bring something back.
The men were haggard looking and crusted with so much dirt that it was like a flaky second skin. Despite what could be seen on the outside the faith and dedication of the Air Wardens made their souls shine bright, powering through all manner of physical hardship and mental barriers as these men had for weeks kept vigil over Hope County.
Now though for the first time for this group they had come in direct contact with the sinner and such a meeting only had one response.
.
It took a moment for him to find the exact position he had to be at but thankfully it landed on a grass covered mound instead of some place among the gravel dominated sections of the cliff top. Looking due west he couldn't have asked for a better firing lane as the hundreds of trees below between him and the hospital were short enough to provide a clear shot.
"Ok guys this is the spot. Dad setup on my left, Joey you'll handle the radio between us and Eagle's Nest. Everyone else you guys are on overwatch." He said as he started to feel the weight of the task settle fully upon his shoulders.
"Ready to make history lad?" Dad jested as he laid out a heavy Nylon shooting mat followed by the massive spotters scope that had served as the base for his own rifle scope.
"Well we came all the way out here so I better make this shot count. If not I got 20 more rounds of custom ammo ready to go." He shot back as he drug out his own mats from his pack.
It was two hours before the sun broke over the mountains looming behind them and they watched the valley below fill with sunlight burning away what little morning fog there was in this area. He started scanning the hospital below as he quietly marveled at what Dad had managed to jury rig as far as the scope went as he could see a surprising amount of detail even at this distance.
It still wasn't what he was quite used to at more normal ranges but being able to see the cult cross on one of the perimeter guards coffee cup at over four miles was not bad at all.
"No sign of target. Perimeter guards are moving a bit sluggish, might be either just coming on or about to change. No sign of Jacob." He rattled off as his father settled in.
"Copy no sign of primary target but if all of those monitors on the balcony are any indication I'd bet the shop that is where he'll settle down to watch for us coming."
"Eagle's Nest this is Demoness do you copy?" Heard Joey ask as she got done setting up.
A moment later Ramirez replied sounding thankfully well rested and on the ball given the early hour. "We copy Demoness. I have Black Pope and Black Cardinal on the outside line providing live weather data at the way points Black Reaper provided."
Dad chuckled a little. "Wow you even got the big wigs watching now."
"Copy thank you Eagle's Nest. Please send me the first wave of weather data for the plot." He pressed as he focused now on roughing in his shot.
.
Jacob glanced at his bedside clock. The old clock showed that it was 9 am and thus time for him to start once more his vigil. This morning however he figured he would start poking the bear to see where the other marksman was, if only to make sure that the other man hadn't gotten cold feet. Their forces had shifted around equipment yesterday but had made no advances yet so their command structure was still doing some form of work.
'The errant little twitches of any nervous system even when trying to remain mostly stationary.' He mused as he sat down, sipped his coffee, and reached for the radio switching it over to the open channel function.
"Morning Deputy." He called out calmly as his gaze drfited over the monitors looking for signs of movement.
The silence was broken without any visible movement on his screens. "Jacob so nice to hear you this morning. Have you changed your mind on surrendering yourself and your forces or are we going to be shooting at each other today?"
"No, this is happening... that said I expected you to move a little faster. You aren't one to just give up operational momentum for nothing."
The laugh he heard on the other end was like a bucket of ice water down his spine. "Jacob please... do you really think I am so green that I would sprint into something like this dick first?"
"One could hope but I guess a man with your qualifications would know better. On the other hand I knew more than a few people that should have known better do some incredibly stupid shit, you know the type of stuff that tends to happen to men who have spent too much time behind a desk or watching training videos."
Once again Rook's laugh was cutting. "If there is one thing I don't miss from the Army are the endless safety and sexual assault awareness videos, most of them dated back from the first Gulf War and were so pointless not to mention corny that I know more than a few guys that would have retired early if they hadn't gotten transferred to different stations that required more field time."
It was his turn to laugh as he watched the monitors again. "Just another sign of weakness of the world Rook. Rome changing how its legions should operate and then wondering why everything is slowly falling apart. America is no different, an army of so called 'liberators not conquerers.' who spend more time with their noses in books learning things that couldn't be farther from their craft."
.
Upon the cliff Roger half listened to Jacob's rant as Joey fed him the meteorological data he had requested from Black Reaper. He had split the total distance into three points with three different altitudes relative to his position and the position of Jacob on his porch. At each point Joey was rattling off as fast as she could the wind speed, wind direction, temperature of the air at that point, density, and moisture content.
Every point updated every thirty seconds as he quietly took in the numbers and clicked the adjustment turrets on his scope a 32nd turn here and a 32nd turn there as his mental plot was updated in between trading banter with the man in his cross hairs.
Marcus was watching the greater area around Jacob in case the local guards decided to pull something or it looked like something however unlikely would interfere with the shooter's pending shot.
Around them Foley and Grace watched the surrounding rocks carefully. Foley was especially wary as the sight of the Warden team they had seen on the flight in had gotten him more than a bit amped up to the point that could almost feel eyes on them right then and there.
Grace hadn't spotted anything but she quietly and carefully scanned with her scope anything that he pointed out without argument. Martin was left as a in between watchman, not focused on the towering rocks behind them nor the target below. His job was to float and listen for anything that might get missed by the others who where hyper focused on their sectors and if need be call out then flood any threats with a pound or two of 7.62 caliber lead.
.
"The Army has changed that's for sure. I read my great grandfather's journals from the First World War then the journals of my grandfather from the Second World War, the Army had changed in those 20 odd years but nothing like the changes from them to my father's generation during the peak of the Cold War. It made the changes that I experienced just in my years of service all the more depressing. I remember shortly before I retired I was talking with a raw as can be 2nd lieutenant. The kid had officially had his butter bars for all of 24 hours before arriving in country he was so raw..."
"Winds changing at all mid points, gusts dropping to three miles an hour from East-Northeast, East, East respectively." Joey chimed in.
Noting the changes he kept speaking. "He had been watching me practice on some short range targets, only a 1000 or 1200 yards while he had been struggling do more than the bare minimum 23 out of 40 at barely 100 yards. This man who could barely shoot was going to be in a few days leading patrols so for his sake and the those under him I decided to work with him for the next few hours."
"Sounds like you were merciful." Jacob growled.
"Yeah... yeah you could say that. Turns out his marksmanship training had been rushed because his training cadre's course work had been added to as part of some 'experiment' some eggheads among the brass had come up with. Basically they had traded range time for a concentrated Afghani political science course since that was where they were expected to be shipped out to. The Army hadn't just screwed this kid over but everyman to be placed under him, and you know what was the worst thing Jacob?" He trailed off as he shifted his position a bit and replaced the cross hairs on Jacob's left shoulder.
"Don't know Rook, sounds pretty bad all around. A soldier being made toothless by taking away his weapon practically." Came the reply.
"The kid knew he was in trouble. He knew that he had only barely squeaked through qualification by sheer luck, since then afterwards he had been trying to learn how to shoot better on his own with Youtube videos and books, because those he could ask for help were too busy with their own classroom related work. So yeah I was merciful and after 10 hours and two skipped meals he was hitting 35 and sometimes 37 targets at all ranges consistently. We even started doing some real shooting at 500 yards with a old No. 4 Lee-Enfield we had pulled from a Taliban cache."
"Nice gun, though I prefer a cock on open action like a Mauser based action." The redhead added.
"Agreed..." He continued.
.
Pratt quietly walked down the hallway towards Jacob's room. He had to go painfully slowly because his bulk made all of his actions naturally loud it seemed, but still he was making progress. He couldn't help but wonder gleefully at how shocked Jacob would be when he finally saw him, being able to see just how powerful he was before Jacob died. Then he would be free along with the Preacher to fight the sinners and show them how weak they were compared to him, most importantly he would show Rook how weak was compared to him.
'They are all weak. They are all meat. I am strong! I eat meat!' He thought as a creak of the wood floor boards underfoot reminded him to slow down. It was pushing his patience to the breaking point but if Jacob heard him coming then he might call for his help something that the Preacher had said was something to be avoided because it might weaken their cause... somehow. If the Preacher said it would make them weak then he would avoid it.
.
"So this kid and I were heading back to the mess hall for evening chow and I asked him 'How many things can change when shooting at long range after you pull the trigger?'. He gave the usual answers I would have expected: the wind can shift, the target can move, etc..."
Jacob scoffed. "Well the kid at least picked up something for all of that effort..."
"Yes but there is one lesson that the Army doesn't teach at all, not even in Sniper School. At a certain range the flight time hits that point that you can pull the trigger and the entire mission can change. At one mile it can take a 750 grain .50 cal round a little over a full two seconds or more depending on local factors to hit a target. You can pull the trigger then get a call from the brass saying that they need the target alive because intelligence dropped the ball then tell them that you already shot the guy. Maybe you will have pulled the shot off target, your load for that round was off, maybe you twitched from a lack of coffee... whatever and you miss but you can also still hit the guy they just said not to kill."
Jacob was quiet as he contemplated the end point. How much can change during the flight time of a bullet? Can people be saved or condemned? Empires toppled or built? Legends made or broken? It was for the first time in his life something that he had never actually considered yet it applied so apply to him he realized.
'Once somethings are in motion no matter how much may change around you they can't be stopped. How much does that describe where I am at right now?No matter what the other men say or do or Winstead or his puppet deputy cooked up nothing can change what I am doing right here right now. Now the question is what's the end result going to look like.' He thought.
.
"Air temp has climbed by two degrees at all points and at shooter, air density has dropped by .02, humidity has dropped by 3%." Joey called off.
He adjusted his drop one last time, steadied himself, and called out "Sending." before freezing in place save for his trigger finger.
If anyone would ask him he could swear at moments like this that he could hear and feel the faint movement of the trigger mechanism moving, from the sear grinding minutely as it released the striker, the twang of the striker spring as it sent the firing pin into the cartridge. After that came the more normal sounds of firing off a hotly loaded 30mm cannon along with the massive muzzle flash that he hoped was hidden by the rising sun behind them and the sheer range to target. The feet of the bipod and the monopod on the stock strained against the forces as the gun pressed against his shoulder.
If everything panned out as he had calculated it would take 4.78 seconds for the sabot to make the multi-mile journey to where Jacob sat.
Jacob sipped his coffee. "You know Rook I am now a little sad that we couldn't have met under different circumstances. That said I also can't say I don't look forward to our match up after all in the movies at least everyone loves to watch two snipers duel each other."
"Yeah I enjoyed 'Enemy at the Gates' as a kid and of course I studied the usual suspects: Hathcock, Hiya, Billy Sing to name a few. When they make a movie or a video game about this war I can only hope they capture this moment right... about how one sided the whole thing has been from the start of the mission." He said as his mental countdown ended and he watched in his scope the carnage unfold.
.
Pratt had slipped into the Heralds room undetected as the man in question was too busy watching his screens and bantering with someone on the radio.
"...About how one sided the whole thing has been from the start of the mission." He heard when he watched the tall redheaded Herald get ejected out of his chair and fall on to his right side. Something metallic was ricocheting around the patio sounding oddly loud compared to the pained gasping of Jacob.
The former Deputy froze just inside the room still unseen by Jacob and by whoever just shot him.
For Jacob the pain was immense beyond imagination as he could feel his body go into shock almost immediately but not before he saw just how much of his lower left torso was simply gone. He could hear something that sounded like a finned rod come to rest just inside his darking field of view on the ground and suddenly Rooks last words made sense.
'Here I was thinking I was waiting to hunt him and instead he played and hunted me the whole time. Damn good shot.' He thought as he brought a violently shaking radio up with the last of his strength.
"How far and with what?" He asked.
"7942.7 yards with a 30mm launched .50 cal fin stabilized sabot. You said 4 miles Jacob and I beat you by an extra half mile." The rifleman replied back with justified pride in his voice.
"Well played but a little too low and left for a quick kill. Good luck with Joseph..." He managed before his body started shutting down from the sheer trauma.
.
Back up on the cliff edge Jacob's final send off is what actually broke the tension and the team celebrated for a moment.
Marcus latched on him immediately. "My God son you did it, you bloody did it!"
As soon as he was released Joey practically tackled him as they rolled on to their sides kissing him deeply. "Three Seeds down Roger! You beat them all!"
He couldn't hope to contain his grin."We Joey, we beat them. Now we just have to take the bunker and then Joseph will have nothing but his Wardens and whatever scared remnants are left on his island."
"Goddamn Major, even if the Army tells you you can't be an operator they will make a teaching position for you in any Army school you name." Foley said as he offered an especially rare smile of his own.
The laughing stopped when an explosion above them drew their attention and Martin called out what they all where seeing. "LANDSLIDE!"