So, I'm back with another edited for you all, I won't keep you waiting so let's get on with it.
And as always, all right's go to their owners, as I own nothing!
"Out of all units stationed on the Spirit of Fire: Sunray 1-1 of Boomerang Companies made quite the name for themselves. As they are by no means green, no one in the Helljumper core is. Still, with their reputation, I can't help but wonder as to why they were the first to be called up." Anonymous UNSC service members stationed on the UNSC Spirit of Fire: speculating as to the reason Sunray was signaled out for this mission.
"Major, I can confirm that there's something located within the middle of the park." The call came over Major Vaughan COM.
As the leader of Sunray weighed his options; as he and his team had been dirt side for over an hour now and all they had to show for their efforts was some maps and books that their drone operator: Corporal Turpin had come across while using Hank to scout ahead of them.
But now Vaughan was hoping that this would change, as they were located just outside of the city center and in one of the parks, they had located something of interest. But so far only Sunrays local sharpshooter: Lance Corporal Sparks had been trying to get an idea as to what was located within the large park plaza.
Still Vaughan knew that Spark would get annoyed at him if he kept him waiting for too long. As such the Major opened his COM and contacted Sunrays resident sharpshooter.
"Understood Sparks; any idea what it is that you're looking at?" Vaughan then asked.
As Vaughan knew that any information at this point would be better than going into this situation fully blind.
"No clue boss, as whatever it is messing with my scope. But from what I can tell; whatever it was, they certainly paid a price to defend it." Sparks relayed the grim news to his superior's office.
Still, this was not what worried Vaughan, as he had expected this. As this part of the city had all the signs of a large battle taking place here, most of the buildings he could see were fully gutted, and the only safe way you could access this area was on foot. For most of the roads leading into this area were either blocked by rubble from most of the down buildings, or if accessible to ground transport where nothing more than death traps.
But this was not what had bothered the Major.
No, it was the way in which Sparks had delivered his report to him. As it had been in a cool business tone and Spark only spoke this way when he was being serious about something, which was a bad sign.
As Vaughan knew that Sparks was a man loved to run his mouth whenever he was able; but the fact he was not so meant that he had seen something to merit this kind of response from him. And knowing that Vaughan was going to play this as carefully as he could; which meant that there was only one option available to him.
"Understood Sparks; disengage and fall back to us, we'll be sending in Hank to investigate once you've regrouped with us." Vaughan said, informing him about their new plan.
As the Major knew that now was not the time for them to be taking unnecessary risks, as he himself was getting an uneasy feeling about this whole situation.
So, in Vaughan mind he felt that sending in the drone was the right choice, as in at the end of the day it would be less problematic loosing Hank then losing one of his squad mates. As they could always recover and rebuild Hank later; unlike their squads' medic who could not rebuild one of their troopers if they got their head blown off by a sniper round.
"Turpin, prep Hank for deployment." Vaughan said as he continued to scan the area around them.
"I still don't understand as to why we were assigned to this sector. It's not like those freaks can't do this job." Turpin muttered under her breath as she prepared to send Hank to investigate whatever Spark had spotted in their mission area.
"Well, unlike them we have him," Vaughan then pointed to the drone, "And working him is one of the best drone operators in the whole UNSC navy." Vaughan then stated with a hint of pride.
As Turpin had so far proven herself worthy of being called one of the top drone operators during the war, and she had the record to back up this claim; for she had managed to only lose one drone other than Hank before them. This was no mean feat, especially considering how common it was for other operators to go through four to five drones in the same number of missions they had undertaken.
Especially given the current rate of attraction within the Marine Core; this made people with Turpin's skill set all the more valuable. More so now than back in UEG space, as the Spirit of Fire was not going to be getting replacement personal anytime soon, as such it made people like Turpin with her skill set more invaluable to the ship and its crew considering their current circumstances. And being more then aware of this fact, Vaughan knew that sending in Hank to scout the situation was the right call.
As the Major was confident that Hank would be able to shrug off any attack sent his way and be able to escape; unlike any of his squad mates if he had been sent instead.
Still, it was a long couple of minutes once Sparks returned and Turpin prepped Hank. But once Turpin started guiding him towards the area of interest things started getting interesting. The first thing that Vaughan notices is the lack of bodies in the area. There were signs that they had been there; with dried blood on the ground that Hank camera could see, but also there were more signs of plasma damage in this area as well.
As this only reinforced the idea that the attackers had taken this position for some major purpose, as to what that purpose might be, Vaughan could only guess. Still, it came as something of a surprise when Hank hand managed to reach the edge of plaza unmolested, still Turpin and Vaughan knew that this situation could easily change, as Turpin started to edge Hank further into the plaza.
For it was clear that whatever Sparks had spotted was currently located within the center of the plaza, as they could see only a small part of the jet-black object on the top half of the feed.
"Turpin, move Hank as to get a better look at the object." Vaughan said as he pointed at a black object at the top of the screen.
Turpin obeyed her CO orders, as she started to move Hank in towards a set of stairs to get a better vantage point. But just they were approaching the top and the vantage point that would have given them a clear view of the object, did the screen suddenly full of static after which a low signal massage came onto the screen before the video-feed went dead, flashing a no signal massage.
"Shit, Hanks dead." Turpin muttered as she then started working on her controls.
As she attempted to see if she could reestablish the signal to Hank, Turpin knew that if she were unable to do so then they would be forced to send in a team to recover him. And after trying for a couple of minutes they would be forced to do just that, as none of Turpin usual tricks did anything to bring the drone back to online.
Then sighing to himself; Vaughan then resigned himself to the fact that he was going to have to send in a team in to retrieve Hank, as investigate whatever was in that plaza had become a secondary priority. Still Vaughan could not help but feel that trying to recover the downed drone would be the least of his worries once they were in the plaza.
Even so there was no other option that was available to them; even so that did not mean that he was not going to take the necessary precautions. As Vaughan then orders Sparks and the team medic: Guess into two sniper positions located within two nearby buildings so they could cover their approach.
Because if this did turn into a snipe storm, his team's lives would very much be in their hands.
"Is everyone in position?" Vaughan called out to his teammates over the COM.
"We're in position Mustang, there's no sign of any movement, so you're clear to move up." Sparks said; confirming Vaughan worst fears as he did so.
But they had no choice, as they needed to recover Hank. And this meant walking straight through no man land inviting any snipers a clean shot on them to try their luck.
"Understood Sparks, we're moving now, Mustang out." Vaughan said as he, Quinn, and Turpin started making their way forward into no man's land.
Most of the early trip through it was made in complete silence. As all three Helljumpers slowly made their way towards the plaza, dashing from one limited piece of cover to the next; all the while they were fully expected to be picked off by a concealed sniper nesting in one of the many ruined buildings around them. But much to their surprise, the three-member squad had managed to make it to the edge of the plaza without as much as a shot fired at them.
Still this fact only put the team more on edge as they finally reached the edge of the plaza, but when Vaughan then tried to COM their over-watch team did it finally hit them!
But not in the way that Vaughan was expecting, as the moment he turned on his COM units it then let out a loud and harsh screeching sound that could only mean one thing. Then he immediately turned it off, cursing all the way, and letting the other two members know what had happened from his string of curses he uttered about his COM.
"Guess that confirms a jamming field." Quinn stated the obvious.
"Thanks for the news update." Vaughan replied sarcastically, as he then took stock of their situation.
As the leader of Sunray had been expecting to run into something like this given how they had lost contact with Hank, but still Vaughan could not help but notice that this jamming was further out from where they had originally lost contact with Hank. A fact that put him on edge because of the lack of any real resistance alongside the expanded jamming field; Vaughan could feel in his bones that something major was about to take place.
Knowing this and the fact that he knew that he had little time to work with, Vaughan then turned to his second in command.
"Quinn, I want you to fall back so that you can stay in contact with Sparks and Doc. As for me and Turpin, we will go to grab Hank. After which we'll pull back for extraction." Vaughan explained his plan to his two teammates.
"We're leaving?" Turpin almost sounded surprised as she said this.
"At least until we can actually secure this area." Vaughan explained as he then scanned his surroundings, that earlier feeling of foreboding had grown even stronger.
As the hairs on the back of his neck were now standing on end; something that Vaughan knew meant that there was something big was coming their way. For this feeling was usually never wrong, as it had been honed during the time where he and his team had spent fighting the Insurrection. So, knowing this, Vaughan did not want to be here once whatever was causing his hair to stand on end finally arrived.
But Vaughan and his team still had a glaring problem they had to deal with first. As they needed to recover Hank before they could pull back, as unfortunately they simply could not leave the drone behind to be recovered by non-UEG personnel.
"So, what are you plans regarding Hank?" Turpin then inquired, "As we won't be able to lift him, not without Quinn at any rate." She then pointed out this obvious fact to Vaughan.
"Don't worry Turpin; we'll figure something out." Vaughan reassured Turpin as an idea came to mind.
Vaughan knew that this might be a long shot, but if it worked then they could recover Hank without Quinn. Still this plan heavily depended on whether Turpin could do what he asked her to do.
"Turpin, could you get Hank airborne without a signal?" Vaughan inquired, as he was not familiar with the inner workings of the team's drone.
"I can-! Oh, I see where you are going with this Vaughan. Just get me to Hank and I can do the rest." Turpin said as she now understood Vaughan's plan, as well as the risks.
But considering their options, it was the best plan they had available to them given their current situation. Still, it was not the most ideal plan. But it was the best one Vaughan could produce given the current circumstances.
"Okay, so the plan is that Quinn will hang back and stay connected with Doc and Spark. While she is doing that, me and Turpin will go in and recover Hank; any questions?" Vaughan asked, in case anyone had any problems with this plan.
But upon getting no complaints from either of his teammates: Vaughan with Turpin in tow quickly started to make their way into the plaza. All the while the two Helljumpers fully expected to be picked off by a sniper. So, the fact that they were not and were able to reach Hank unmolested only added to the sense of unease and dread that the two of them now felt.
"Do you have an ETA until Hank's mobile?" Vaughan inquired, trying not to let what he was feeling enter his voice.
"Don't know, I'm thinking about four, five minute's tops." Turpin replied, as she looked over her shoulder.
As she had heard something in her CO's voice that told her something was up. Which was then confirmed when she saw him, as Vaughan was on full alert; scanning the skies around them all the while he had taken that 'stance'. A dead giveaway to anyone that knew the Mustang well enough to know that something was up. As Vaughan only entered it when he thought that they were in some sort of imminent danger. And usually more than enough; Vaughan's feelings were more than often on the mark.
Knowing this, Turpin did not even hear Vaughan's reply as she then turned all her attention to getting Hank airborne as quickly as humanly possible. Because Turpin did not want to be here if Vaughan's gut feeling once again turned out to be right; but just as she managed to restore power to Hanks' main systems did their time run out.
Thou it was not obvious to anyone at first, but to Vaughan it was clear as day. As he knew it now, he had started to hear a low rumbling sound; as if a tank was trying to cross over something far off in the distance. Thus, leading Vaughan to scan the surrounding area; trying to locate the staidly rising sounds of what he knew to be engines growing ever closer to their position.
'What am I missing?' Vaughan asked himself before it dawned on him as to what he had overlooked.
But just as he turned his head to start scanning the sky, Vaughan's heart fell to his stomach. Because now diving on them, even though completely out of date, an old but still deadly Mitsubishi Zero from the Second World War was screaming down towards their position. The only thing that saved Vaughan and Turpin from becoming nothing more the meat paste was Vaughan's old muscle memory. As it kicked in the moment he saw the plane diving towards them, as he found himself hurdling himself towards where Turpin was currently located.
"TURPIN!" The world was moving in slow motion as Vaughan called out to her, "DOWN!" But before the word had left his mouth, the world drowned him out.
As the familiar sounds of bombs could be heard all around them as all hell then broke loose around them, as the sky seemed to spew forth with the sounds of multiple planes and jets; all of which were now making their attack runs on positions where the members of Sunray 1-1 where located. Still, this was not the only thing that could be heard, as sounds of small arms fire could be heard also, as the members of Sunray started defending themselves against their unexpected attackers.
Still, it took Vaughan a moment to recover from the shock of what had just happened, and as he was starting to pick himself up from wherever he had thrown himself to, he then watched as a signal flare then rise from Doc's position.
As Vaughan had left instructions that if they were to come under attack then she was to alert all the other ground team.
But it seemed for her troubles that Doc's position had gained the undivided attention of their attackers.
This was both good and bad at the same time: as on the one hand Doc had drawn most of the attacking aircraft to her position, which put her at significant risk. While on the other hand, this sudden change of target priory gave the Major the opening he needed to locate Turpin.
As he knew that it was more than likely that he would need to save her from herself. As Turpin's love for Hank bored on an obsession, she was more than willing to put herself harm's way to retrieve him. Something that Sunray had to deal with more than one occasion.
But still this was a situation where this would work to Vaughan's benefit, as all he had to do was locate Hank, and he found Hank we would find Turpin.
Still, it did not take long for him to locate the two of them, as Turpin as was as he expected working on getting Hank mobile. But as Vaughan quickly approached her position, he then heard something approaching.
Looking up he then saw that a Zero had broken formation and was now on a strafing run on their position. Realizing this Vaughan immediately dashed over to Turpin's position to inform her of the threat.
"Turpin, cover, now!" Vaughan said, as he started cursing her like a drunken sailor.
But for some god damn reason Vaughan could not comprehend. Turpin resisted his attempts to get her too safely. Knowing they only had seconds left before the Zero started strafing their position, Vaughan then tried one last time to drag her too safely, but before he could do so he then caught sight of one of the black jets now bearing down on their position. Its bomb bay doors open, as it was clear to Vaughan what was about to happen.
Not even bothering to warn her at this point; Vaughan simply grabbed and threw himself to the side, as the bombs detonated only feet from them. But moments after this danger had passed did Vaughan once again found that Turpin back working on the god damn drone!
As it was becoming obvious to him that situation around them was rapidly detracting, and despite that Vaughan knew that Turpin would not leave Hank no matter what he did or said. Knowing this, Vaughan knew that he had only one opinion available to him if he wanted to get all members of Sunray back to the Spirit in one piece.
"Turpin, we can't stay here any longer! Activate Hanks self-destruct!" Vaughan said, making the call to cut their loose and fall back.
But before Turpin could respond, another bomb landed close enough, that when it went off the two of them were showered with metal fragments.
But as he tried to get her to leave Hank, another bomb went off close enough that it showed them with metal as it did so.
"I'm almost done! I just need another minute!" The Corporal replied to him as she continued working.
As she nearly had Hank ready to go, as all she needed to do now was to run the program.
"We don't have another minute!" Vaughan replied just as the Zero flew passed them from its finished attack run, but behind it was a larger and a more dangerous two engine bomber that was started make its attack run on their position.
But it was at this point that Sparks showed why he was behind the scoop of an SRS099 and instead of the ship's brig. As in a show of exemplary marksmanship: Sparks through all the chaos that was happening around him, realized what was happening managed to place a shot into the planes right engine that ignited its fuel tanks, forcing the bomber off course saving both Vaughan and Turpin live.
Still there was a cost to this feat of marksmanship that Sparks had just performed, as his position was now being swarmed by a mob of unchecked fighters and bomber that he had barely been keeping at bay before he had taken his attention off them to help his team. Seeing this Vaughan knew that they were simply out of time and had to fall back.
But as he then turned to grab Turpin, he then saw screen that showed Hank's status; showing that he was currently powering up and would be ready to go in less than a minute.
'Damn it all…' Vaughan thought to himself as he gritted his teeth, but he knew what he had to do.
"Turpin you better have Hank up in less than thirty seconds. If not, I'll court martial you myself!" It was not an empty threat on Vaughan's part.
As Vaughan fully intended to punish Turpin for her insubordination, especially if it cost one of his team members their lives. Because if that was indeed the case, then Turpin was going to be facing a punishment worse than being given every task that Boomerang Company simply did not want to do.
But despite the punishment he was going to give her, Vaughan could not be too hard on Turpin, as she was loyal to a fault and that loyalty extended to all member of their team, not to all its human element either. As most of the team considered Hank as the unofficial mascot of Sunray and would within reason attempt to salvage Hank if he were to go down.
But that was a thought for another time, as it did not escape Vaughan's attention that another round of aircraft was making their way towards their position.
'If only I had brought along my M41.' Vaughan thought silently to himself, as he had wished that he had brought the weapon along.
But he had not, as the orders had said, that this was a recon mission, with limited to no destruction, as necessary. And Vaughan knew that bringing his M41 along was just bagging for trouble, so he left it aboard ship. Alongside most of Sunrays heavy weapons, which Vaughan was really starting to regret now that the shit had hit the fan wholesale.
Still there was little that Vaughan could do about this fact now. As he just hoped that Turpin could get Hank running before the next wave of air attacks took place.
But just as the two jets and the Zero closed in for their attack run did a familiar shape race by Vaughan.
As now racing in a straight line to Doc and Sparks positions was the very welcomed sight of Hank. Not needing to be told why she had done this: Vaughan, with Turpin following close behind him, chased after the drone as they started to fall back to Quinn's last known position.
'These guys just don't give up.' Vaughan thought to himself as he approached what he knew to be the edge of the jamming field.
But as Vaughan passed the fresh hold and opened his COMs to call for help. Sunrays CO was met by the same screaming static screeching that had greeted him earlier when he had first entered the jamming field.
"SON OF A BITCH!" Vaughan cursed angrily as he then shut off his COM unit.
The fact that it was here meant that something, more like someone, had expanded the field to ensure that they could not report their current situation to their superiors. A fact that was not lost on the major as Turpin then commented.
"I take it that the jamming still up?" Turpin asked unhelpfully.
"What was your first clue?" Vaughan said sarcastically as he quickly scanned the area for Quinn.
He did not see her on his first pass, so turning on his helmet's external speakers: Vaughan called out for his second.
"QUINN! SOUND OFF!" Vaughan called out just as another bomb landed close by, nearly taking him off his feet.
But there was not any sign of his second in command anywhere.
"Vaughan, I'll go look for her! Get clear of the jamming and call in the cavalry!" Turpin said as she then broke off to Quinn's last known position.
"Turpin, wait!" Vaughan called out just as another set of bombs went off.
As the Major knew that she was doing this to atone for her earlier actions with Hank.
'Don't you dare, die on me.' Vaughan thought bitterly to himself, but moments later that thought was lost as he was forced to dive too safely.
Upon emerging from the bomb crater that he had thrown himself into: Vaughan the spotted the forms of both Turpin and Quinn with the former dragging that latter followed by a bloody trail.
Cursing and blaming himself for this, Vaughan ran over to Turpin to aid her in dragging their wounded comrade in arms to safety.
"How bad?" Vaughan had to raise his voice to be head over everything that was going on.
"Her armor saved her, still Quinn's going to be in the med bay for at least a couple of mouths." Turpin explained, as Vaughan grabbed a quick look at his second.
She was a mess, as it was obvious that one of the bombs had landed close enough to her for her armor to fail. Still despite that failure, Quinn was alive and that all mattered as they could easily patch her up later.
As the two of them continued their mad dash to safety, the small control panel on Turpin's left arm suddenly made a loud beep.
Vaughan knew that sound well, as he heard it every time before they set out on a mission. As that was the sound of Hank sinking up with Turpin's control systems and he knew what that meant and so did its operator.
"VAUGHAN, WE'RE CLEAR OF THE-!" The rest of what Turpin was saying was lost when another bomb landed close by.
Still Vaughan did not need Turpin to finish the rest of that sentence to know what this meant.
As he then opened a clear COM's channel, and from it he sent out a distress call. Hoping all the while the Spartans would make it in time.
She heard them crying out, the Overseer who up to that point had been distracted by other matters, immediately perked upon intercepting a message that her chosen victims had sent out.
Still, this was not the reason as to why their cries for help had caught her attention. For she had heard many reaching out for help before, but this time she was unable to read their massage. Something that she had not been unable to do before, as the Overseer had most of the codes for all sides of this conflict. So, for a moment it made her wonder as to who was sending this massage, but the woman knew that whoever it was would not matter in a couple of minutes as they were already doomed, they just did not know it yet.
But there was one benefit to their cry for help; as those fools would bring all the others who had come with them to a single location. At which point could she deal with trespassers in one swift strike.
"Would be a waste not to give them a chance to reunite them with an uncaring God," The Overseer of this operation muttered to herself.
As she then sent out another attack wave which she fully expected to deal the finishing blow to this, interlopers as she turned back to the task at hand. As the Overseer then watched from the south the long-awaited shapes of jet-black warships started coming into view from over the horizon, at which point she knew that they were in the final stages of this operation.
And nothing, not even these interlopers could stop her now!
Red Team had already been in route to assist Sunray the moment they had set off their flare. But now, from the massages they had gotten from the squad, Jerome had put caution aside as he put petal to the metal as he push the Warthog as hard as he could to try and reach Sunrays last known location.
All the while Jerome silence cursed, as he had known that this could have happened and still pushed on with the mission anyway.
But the Spartan could not afford to beat himself up over his decision now. As Jerome needed his full attention on getting their Warthog to Sunrays position to ensure that they did not return to the Spirit of Fire with one less squad than they had left with. But despite trying to keep force on driving, Jerome could not help but have his attention drawn to the clouds of dust rising in the distance. As he would occasionally catch sight of what he knew to be aircraft flying in and out of this dust cloud, undoubtedly making their attack runs on Sunray's position.
With all the air active around them, it did not come as a surprise when Jerome heard one of his teammates call out an inbound aircraft.
"Hostile! Coming in, eight o'clock high, look shape Alice!" Douglas made the call as Alice swung the turret to meet the threat.
Spotting the incoming threat, Alice immediately realized that it was not an aircraft that she was familiar with. As racing towards their position was a black jet of unknown make and model racing towards them, weapons primed for action.
Sadly, the fighter jet would not get a chance to use them, as Alice immediately opened it with the chain gun. Only to have the unpleasant surprise of finding out that the jet was shielded.
"They never want to make this easy. Do they?" Alice muttered this to herself as she hosed the jet with chain gun fire firing.
Moments later its shield then flared, cracked and finally the jet itself succumbed to the unrelenting hail of bullets Alice had sent its way.
Upon confirming this, Alice then swung her turret to the next set of targets that had taken an interest I them.
This pattern continued until they reached the edge of the area where Sunray was located. And Red Team knew that their situation had to be critical, as there were more than half a dozen aircraft overhead and they had just gotten another message from Sunray informing them that they were pinned down and needed immediate reinforcements.
Upon getting this message, Jerome quickly started hunting for a road that would allow them to reach the besieged squad. To which he quickly located one, but there was one problem with the route that he had found, and that was extremely narrow with no cover which left them completely exposed to air attack.
But knowing that he did not have the time to find another route to Sunrays position, Jerome then turned and started down the narrow street that the Hog could barely fit through. As he did so Jerome could only hope that they did not come under air attack; because if they did then they would be nothing more than a sitting duck for any aircraft that caught them in this position.
But more than halfway through a bottle neck in road, the thing which Jerome had been dreading finally occurred.
"ALICE, TARGET FOUR O'CLOCK HIGH!" Douglas made the call out as Alice quickly swung her turret to meet the new threat.
But by the time she had done so, it was already too late. As the Spartans then watched as the large cannon underneath the aircraft flash, as it then sent a newly created ball of plasma raced right towards them!
Jerome did what he could to avoid this attack, but in such a confined space any such action was useless as it would not do anything to change the outcome of their situation. As the bolt of pure plasma landed squarely on one of the Warthogs front tires; instantly causing it to become nothing more than a molten soup of matter. Moments later the members of Red Team found themselves and their vehicle was now airborne. All the while Alice was cursing herself for being too slow to neutralize the threat.
But that was the least of anyone worries, as the Hog then smashed violently into the ground and for a long moment everything for all members of Red Team when black.
That is all she wrote; I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
And until next time, have a good one.
