First Contact - Kansas City

by Shadow Walker

Chapter 9

Planet - Earth
Location - Washington D.C.
Time - 1500

“Tom, I’m standing outside the military blockade where we have been told this is the closest we can get the Barrier.” The female reporter said as the cameraman panned the shot revealing military vehicles. “If you look in the background you can see the glow of the Barrier contrasting against the sky, it is surely a alien sight during the night, as it gives off a purple glow that can be seen all the way in Saint Louis.” The reporter exaggerated as the camera zoomed in on the violet Barrier.

“Now Sarah I’m looking and I think I can see specks moving in the distance can you tell us what those are.” The other anchor asked using his pen to point out the tiny moving dots in the sky.

“Yes, Tom those are Military surveillance drones making passes around the edge of the interference zone so the Government can try to figure out what is actually happening to their electronics.” She replied as a tiny explosion of one of the drones appeared on screen.

“Alright we will be taking a brake from the alien barrier but will be back some time later this evening. Thank you Sarah.”

“Of course, Tom.”

“Coming up we take a look at the World’s reaction to the incursion on U.S. soil, and its implications to U.S. foreign policy.”

Sitting inside the Situation room the President and her Chiefs of Staff watched the multiple screens showing multiple News channels in the U.S. and the world all at once; many of them asking the same thing, “what would America do now?”

“Ma’am,” the Secretary of Defense said hoping to catch the President’s attention, his only sign of a response being a subtle “hm,” that was his sign to tread lightly. “Ma’am, as hard as it is for me to say this, we can’t keep obsessing over this ‘problem’ that’s landed in our backyard. Russia is massing troops along its Western border and Crimea, and North Korea is doing the same along the Demilitarized Zone. WE CAN NOT, let this one attack cost us so much in the world.”

“I know Hardaway, I know… Besides the countries that hate us, what is the rest of the world thinking?” The President asked leaning back into her chair.

The Secretary of Defense pulled out a stack of paper and started reading off the notes. “So far NATO has been put on high alert, watching their own borders and looking for any sign of a dome appearing in their territory. Our Asian allies have their militaries preparing to attack at a moments notice if either China or North Korea attempt something, and the Middle East has been sent in to a frenzy of terrorist activities and so forth, nothing strange there. Basically, the world is going down hill, fast.”

The President sat quietly listening to her advisors hoping to finally hear some good news for once in this constant sea of excrement she found herself in. Pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes, she asked a question she already knew the answer to. “Right, so where do we stand on getting inside that annoying purple zit.”

“Ma’am, the Air force has been running sorties around the barrier all to varying degrees of success; for now our options stand at dropping enough ordinance that would leave a crater in its wake, or tunneling underneath it.” The Chairman said handing over two files for her to read. “For the drop, we would have to fly high enough for our bombers to not be effected by the electronic interference while remaining low enough so they hit their target, also any electronics in a bomb or missiles would malfunction and cause the ordinance to fall off target so they would have to be low, very low. Tunneling under the barrier would allow us to move troops in more quickly though we have no idea what kind of environment is inside there or how deep the interference goes. There could be some kind of hostile organism growing inside there that we don’t know about.”

Holding her position through the list of options, adding to the ever growing wrinkles and grey hair she had, the President wanted nothing more than for this little problem to go away, to just leave her be and go bother someone else; that being said, she couldn’t just up and leave, and the world needed an answer before the literal thread it was hanging by snapped.

“Hardaway, get me a line to our NATO and Asian allies and another line to Russia, China and Iran. After that, grab me a bottle of something for this headache, and a cup of coffee, black, and sugar, lots of sugar. This is going to be another long week.”

Location - Kansas City, MO,
Time - 1500

The Council was never good at thinking actions through; especially on matters that involved invading an Alien planet. Aderladus had perched himself on a building’s roof overlooking the landscape of the Alien world, the foreign wind blowing through his feathers while his talons gripped the edge of the cold stone that towered above the land. His first impressions of this world were surprise, surprise that such weak bodied creatures could ever create these magnificent structures that rivaled any Equestrian city. His next impression would be of beautiful horror as he would watch the remains of so many Alliance members be wrapped in red sheets. Never had he seen such destruction from so small a group before, even the Equestrians could not conceive such power.

As he continued his survey of the land, wasting time until his next mission, a gentle gust of wind gave away a visitor. “Hail Aderladus,” Zephyr called, limping his way forward

“Hail Zephyr,” Aderladus replied, cheer escaping his static expression.

Watching his friend slowly limp towards him, Aderladus could only imagine the luck that Zephyr possessed to have survived the attack on the station. The Third Echelon had been completely destroyed while the Forth had barely survived, Zephyr only managing to survive because the creatures had passed over him, most likely thinking he was dead. Not to say he didn’t retain some injuries, both of his wings were broken and had to be fixed with magical surgery, and his right talon had been shattered; even the surgery couldn’t fully fix something that broken. But what truly surprised him was how the creatures, possessing the sheer destructive power they had at their call, passed right over Zephyr; still shocked and amazed him too no end.

“I see your flight has returned,” Aderladus stated looking over at the now fully red feathers that Zephyr had, his orange tips wiped clean. “Tell me how fares your talon?”

“My Talon, though fixed with the best medical marvels our great Council provided us, has seen better days. I doubt that I will properly walk on it again. Fortune smiled on me though, as I was born left taloned.” Zephyr’s bleak humor did not go unnoticed as did the remark about the less-than adequate equipment they were provided.

“I will admit, the supplies we were given could have been better. Does the Council truly think that we could have taken this city and the surrounding area without casualties? If the Council knew that these creatures were in league with the ponies should we not have better weapons and war machines?” Aderladus questioned looking to his Southern friend with worry.

Zephyr thought on the string of questions looking for some kind of answer. “Perhaps they believed that these creatures were as weak as the Ponies; we received little to no fatalities during the initial assault on Equestria and the following months, perhaps the Council believes that this world would share a similar fate. Though, I will concede that you have a point, we need better equipment.”

Aderladus thought on his friend’s answer while observing the landscape, his thoughts drifting to home and the events happening there. Since coming through, the Zenocoras that arrived with them worked tirelessly trying to create a similar doorway like the one they came through back on Terra. The materials arriving one piece at a time, slowing the progress down considerably; adding to the fact that day and night seemed to operate on a different schedule on this planet, the pieces would arrive in the early hours of the day, causing the workers loss of sleep and with that, safety. Already there had been four deaths just trying to retrieve the pieces and fit them properly.

Returning to his consciousness, Aderladus closed his mind to the ever growing possibility that he may be called to help with the building. Noticing the time, he found that his liberty hours’ were almost over and decided to return to the barracks to prepare for his next assignment, a group of meddlers were making themselves known through the Northern and Western portions of their new territory. Someone needed to remind them who they belonged too. Bidding a final farewell to Zephyr, Aderladus leaped from the building and flew to the South. Gaining altitude he flew past the building where the portal was being constructed and where the shield was being produced, sparing a parting glance at the portal frame he smiled inwardly, grateful when the day would come when he could return home to his family. Resuming his normal speed, Aderladus flew away from the city center and a partially completed portal frame.

Location - Near Smithville, Missouri
Time - 1600

Sitting in an open top HWMMV would not be Isaac’s ideal choice of vehicle, especially against an enemy whose weapons could shoot through unarmored doors; or lack of doors in this case. Fortunately, he had been given an Up Armored truck sporting a Fifty, a few boxes of ammunition, and an AT4 rocket launcher, so not a total disappointment. The only downside would be the Missouri heat, which appeared to be out in full swing today. If you have ever been to Missouri, you would know that the heat is not a dry heat like in California, but a humid kind of heat, the kind where your skin stays sticky no matter what you do and you can’t seem to dry yourself off, the kind where you think that Hell moved to Earth because they needed more room. That kind of humidity.

Leaning back into his seat, Isaac remembered why him and his team were out driving through the sweaty Missouri country side. They had received word that a shipment of Myth supplies were being convoyed out of the Kansas City area, and into an outpost near the border of the barrier. Isaac and his team were to retrieve them for the good of the base and its current occupants; after all what’s yours is mine.

Guess old Conway came through on this one. Supplies had been rough, especially after the barrier dropped, every store they came across was ransacked and empty. MRE’s could only go so far after three weeks, and real food was starting to sound good right about now. Conway could have given them more of a warning though, as they were barely able to grab their gear before they had to go LARPing. How he managed to find out this little piece of information Isaac would probably never know, but it was good to still be in the game. Isaac’s team was to have eyes on the convoy, and report their numbers and weapons back to the Underground as people had started calling the fallout shelter.

What Isaac couldn’t live with was the complete breakdown of leadership back at the Underground. Every Major had an idea on what to do with the convoy and how to handle the supplies but no one wanted to follow the others’ idea. The Majors all acted like old married couples that couldn’t agree on what to eat much less to do. They all wanted to be the big Hero you see in one of those old WWII movies, though that task itself seemed impossible as each one of them wanted to be the leader instead of the follower. What they needed was a outside source of leadership, someone that wasn’t in command at the time the Barrier fell. But finding someone like that would that an amazing amount of luck, or bad luck depending on the situation.

Arriving near the observation site, Isaac had to appreciate the setting; Smithville, Missouri, had one driven around long enough they would find themselves in nothing but farmland, strange as it seems but that was probably one of the few redeeming qualities this far Northwest in the barrier, fewer people to worry about in a gunfight. Thinking on that Isaac only just noticed the distinct lack of said people, despite the town being fairly proportionate in size.

Looking around at the empty stores and houses Isaac couldn’t help the feeling that something bad happened here. “Well. This can’t be a good sign.”

Hoping they would find the inhabitants later, Isaac’s team arrived at the ambush site fully prepared to deal with what ever the furry monsters threw at them, but you’d be surprise how often the Universe throws a curveball.

Location - Atchison, Kansas the Underground
Time - 1800

Patience is a virtue. Whoever said that obviously hadn’t met Layla, and would be glad they never did. Patience was not Layla’s strongest trait; nor was it her favorite. She would rather be flying high, where wind whipped through her hair, the sun kissed her cheek, and the speed made her heart beat out through her chest. She lived for the thrill of flight and the danger of pulling off a high stakes mission. That was probably why she joined the 160th Airborne, the danger of the mission, the thrill of striking a target, it was euphoric heaven for her.

Layla had flown Helicopters for the Army years before joining the Night Stalkers, almost shot down in Syria a couple of times, many of those times she was extracting troops under heavy fire, finally got unlucky and took a round in the leg ending that deployment. After her leg was healed Layla was approached by a recruiter for the 160th looking for new meat, she had accepted, and never looked back.

After the training Layla had been anticipating a mission the 160th was known for, something that could really test her skills, something that would put her new knowledge to use; sadly, nothing would show up for her and all of that time was spent running drills and preparing for the next big thing. After a routine training mission in Fort Riley, Layla and her wingman had stopped in Kansas City to refuel when Griffons, Minotaurs, Zebras and Dragons started raining from the sky. Losing her wingman in the following escape from the city Layla had landed in Leavenworth when she was advised to head to Atchison to standby for her next assignment.

Closing her eyes and tipping her cover she expected another long, boring, hot, day of nothing. Half asleep she was kicked from her position when a runner had rounded a corner and tripped over her outstretched legs. “Sorry,” the teenager shouted before jumping to her feet and resuming her hurried run.

“Freakin kid needs to watch where she’s going.” It was at this point she noticed that several people were running around carrying ammunition, gas, and other equipment to trucks to get them ready for something. “What the Hell?”

“Layla,” a voice shouted for her attention. It was her Copilot Carl Peterson, running at her like the Devil himself was chasing after him. “Layla, did you hear? Somethings happened in Simthville.”

“I don’t know where Smithville is and I sure as hell don’t know what’s going on.” She replied angry that something happened and she didn’t know about it.

“Well Smithville is a town located about 47 minutes from where we are right now by car but if you-.” The excited Copilot explained before having Layla’s hand around his mouth.

Taking a breath so as to not smack Carl upside the head… Again, Layla calmly asked what was going on. “Carl, stop. Tell me what happened and why is everyone so panicked.”

After releasing his lips Carl, explained to Layla that a recon team had come under heavy fire in Smithville from enemy air and ground forces. There was also talk of hostile heavy armor in the area as well, but that was an unconfirmed rumor for now. Taking in the situation in silence for a minute or two, Layla ran for the Underground with Carl following behind her shouting questions.

Taking the elevator down, Layla and Carl tried to make themselves as presentable as they could in their flight uniforms, not everyday you meet the people in-charge of a resistance. Reaching their desired level the pair of pilots stepped off and made their way through the narrow hallway towards the Operations Center. If the ground pounders are the blood of the military than Operations was the brain; everything needed to control the resistance was being coordinated through this one room, troop locations, enemy location, near real time data everything screamed control. After passing security, the duo stepped inside the large cavernous room, the walls had been lined with monitors and fluorescent lights while computer stations circled the room. A large table had been placed in the center of the room with a layout of the Area of Operations, or basically the entire Kansas City Area and its surroundings.

One of the monitors on the wall showed what appeared to be seven blue triangles moving away in a tactical position from what looked like a sea of red, Layla could barely make out the individual hostile units’. It appeared to be a viewing of a civilian Drone but of what Layla could only guess. Moving to speak with the Commanding Officers she offered every military custom she had when speaking to the Majors, bring her request to take her Bird, her baby, out to rescue the trapped Recon team.

“Absolutely not,” barked the Army Major almost sending Layla reeling back. “Your aircraft is to valuable to lose on a lost cause. There is hostile air in the area that would burn your little carrier to slag. We can not risk the only mode of ariel transportation.”

Layla had to resist the increasing urge to smack this guy for even suggesting that they even leave them behind. Sure she might lose her Bird in the process, but what rescue mission isn’t complete without a little danger and a crashed helicopter. Understanding that trying to persuade the higher up’s would never work or even agree to this mission she took her leave and headed back towards the surface.

“Are we really going to leave them out there?” Carl asked as he had been quite as a church mouse through the whole ordeal.

“No,” Layla said stopping the elevator at the armory. “Pull out a 240 and as much ammunition as you can while I begin preflight checks.” Practically shoving Carl out the door Layla continued the ascent to the surface. Her preflight checks had been rushed and she was running low on fuel, both bad ways to start a mission, but time was of the essence. Helping Carl secure the 240B she had him run and fetch as much ammunition his tiny body could carry.

Practically engrossed in her preflight high she didn’t notice a group of armed men approaching from behind her.

Location - Smithville, Missouri
Time - 1740

As the Sun began its slow decent over the horizon Isaac looked up to the sky again, hoping to find some trace of blueish hue among the clouds; the only colors he was greeted with were white and purple, the colors he had grown accustomed to. The calm scenery of the town only broken by the occasional animal scurrying across the street into an abandoned alley or a piece of trash floating along the wind.

Isaac and his team had taken up positions along the main road that lead into and out of town. Isaac, Lee, and Rodriguez had taken residence in the second floor an abandoned coffee shop while Fernando, Sergei, and Hernandez had taken positions in a post office at an intersection in the road. Waiting, constantly hoping to leave the sweat inducing buildings before all that would be left of them was a puddle of salty water and gear.

Sounds of gunfire in the distance reminded them just where they where and the situation they were in. Completely surrounded, all access to the outside world cut off, and the constant fear that their base would be discovered and sieged refused to leave them. It was Rodriguez that decided to finally brake the silence that hovered over them like a foul stench, which was exactly what they all smell like right about now.

“Sir, shouldn’t the convoy have come through by now?” She asked making Isaac look up from his RCO sight, but not taking his eyes off of the street.

“Yes, but remember these guys probably don’t operate on the same time schedule we do. Who’s to say they don’t have a completely different time table from wherever they came from; I don’t know.” Isaac responded still scanning the area.

“Maybe they don’t even have a concept of time where they come from.” Lee offered from his position his iconic shotgun slung across his back and a pair of binoculars pressed against his face.

“Maybe, but I doubt it. They seem to advanced to NOT have a concept of time.” Rodriguez replied holding her position at the door incase anything tried to sneak up on them.

“Than maybe they are just lazy… or don’t care how long we wait out in this God forsaken heat.” Lee joked, a smile crossing his face.

“Look, I don’t like being out in this heat anymore than the next guy,” Isaac said wiping his face with the sleeve of his desert blouse. “But lets hope that whoever is in charge of their military rots in hell for making us wait this long.” He added before putting his RCO to his eye checking the street again.

They were almost ready to call it a day when Lee caught something out of the corner of his eye. There was a boy running out of an alleyway with nothing but tattered shorts covering himself. The boy looked like he was in his late teens, possibly early twenties, his olive tanned skin and bald head slightly burned.

Just as Isaac’s group was about to go and see what was wrong three Zebras stormed out of the same alleyway trying to catch the boy. He had a fair lead on his pursuers and looked like he would escape by ducking into another alley. Fate, and her cruel sense of humor, had other plans. A Griffon, from out of nowhere, slammed into the boy causing them to slid across the pavement, leaving a small trail of blood from where the Griffon tackled the boy.

Aharon, was not having the best of days at the moment. You could say it had been like that for the past few weeks. After being captured and sent off to God knows where, he had managed to escape; even after weeks of physical testing, chemical testing, and another kinds of testing he couldn't even begin to describe and frankly, didn’t want to.

The important thing was that he escaped, after what felt like months, but was probably only weeks. He had escaped that hospital of the damned and that was all that mattered. Actually, partially escaped sounded better, as he had yet to evade his tormenters. Two days. That’s how long he had been running and hiding; somethings never change.

This was it though. He was going to be taken back to that place, or be shot here in the street. Both bad options, but if given the choice, he would take the street. Two Griffons held him in place while three Zebras moved to restrain him further by placing medieval style cuffs on his hands and feet. Hospital it is then. He didn’t make it easy for them, two days with little to no food or water took its toll, but that didn’t stop him from trying.

It was no use though as the cuffs went around his hands and talons dug into his back. In a desperate final act he did the one thing any idiot in a bad situation would do… He screamed for help. “Please, someone, anyone, help.” Even as the words left his mouth what happened next still took him by surprise. A single gunshot sounded off in the distance and both Griffons dropped dead partially covering Aharon as three more gunshots sounded off and the shocked still Zebras fell to the pavement dead thanks to the new opening in their skulls.

It was a good five minutes before the first humans figures Aharon had seen in days appeared. “Good shooting Rodriguez,” “thank you Sir.” “Hey, kid, are you alright? Hey, Kid.” Those were the last words Aharon heard before fatigue, malnutrition, dehydration, and the lack adrenaline finally caused him to fall asleep.

“Looks like he blacked out, Sir.” Lee stated looking the boy over for any wounds, the only ones being the nasty abrasion from his impact with the Griffon and some minor cuts and bruises. The real problem was the obvious malnourishment he had. It looked like he hadn’t had proper food in weeks. The important thing was he was breathing and not being taken off to God knows where.

Isaac radioed Fernando about what had happened and decided to call off everything and take the boy back to the Underground. If the convoy was in the area they were now on alerted to their presence and if they weren’t in the area Isaac now had an apparent torture victim on his hands. Major Arthur wouldn’t like it, but that man had it out for Isaac since day one and was possibly looking for any reason to relieve him of his command. “To Hell with him,” Isaac thought having Lee pick up the boy to take him back to the Underground.

Making their way back to the vics a sound could be heard coming down the road, one that Isaac hadn’t heard in a long time. It started out as a low rumbling that could have been mistake for marching but as time went on that marching turned into an Earth shaking and windows rattling rumble. Taking cover in an alleyway Isaac carefully peered out into the street to see something he never would have thought he would see. A small voice in the back of his head saying one phrase. “Oh shit.”

After receiving the Lieutenant’s orders to pack up, Fernando had his group move to the trucks to start them up. Hernandez had been less of a pain in the ass today so Fernando was in a fairly good mood. That wasn’t to say he didn’t like the kid, he just had a lot to learn about keeping his mouth shut. The Lieutenant thought that so long as he could shoot, he didn’t care what he said. This was one of the lieutenant’s quirks that Fernando didn’t really like, not to say he was a bad leader, he just still had a lot to learn. And being thrown right into the shit not even before he could be sent off to The Basic School, he had done alright. Fernando had taken it upon himself to educate Hernandez in the basics of being a Marine, that old Drill Instructor vibe never really leaves you. A low rumbling sounded off in the distance but he didn’t really pay any mind to it. He was just about to call the Lieutenant on the radio when an explosion kicked up dirt and trash from the direction the Lieutenant had been.

Staring out in the direction of the explosion Fernando could barely comprehend what just happened. That was not a rocket and it sure as hell wasn’t a grenade. It was something much worse.

Having Sergei grab the AT4 the and Hernandez man the fifty, Fernando was hoping his hunch was wrong for once, but everything about the situation was screaming the worst possible scenario.

Isaac was trying to keep calm in this situation, but having a literal HEAT round explode just a few feet away from him was making that hard. He could barely believe what was happening; okay, he could believe that ancient Greek Myths were attacking, while riding dragons and shooting high energy based weapons, but he was having trouble believing that a Tank had come out of seemingly nowhere and started shooting at them. That was when another shell landed in the building next to Isaac’s team taking out the ground floor and washing them in a heat that was worse than the Missouri weather, if that was possible. Chancing a glance Isaac looked inside the recently demolished building noticing that almost everything had been melted to a slag form and burned the walls threatening to start a fire.

Looking at the tank now Isaac noticed that it lacked a rotating turret and was smaller than an ABRAMs tank, it reminded him of an old German WWII Stug, but covered in scales and had a much bigger gun. It also looked bigger than what he remembered but was probably wrong. The black scales, possibly Dragon in origin, which most likely served as Composite Armor for the chassis of the actual tank covered every visible portion of the metal monster. Isaac was out of options the alleyway was a dead end and they didn’t have anything that could puncture the armor on that thing.

Suddenly two trucks tore the around the corner one dropping off their resident Russian bear while the other, with Hernandez and Fernando inside, opened up with the fifty Hernandez sporting the most terrified look on his face Isaac had ever seen. His grouping was awful but it served its purpose and grabbed the tanks attention just enough for Isaac’s group to make a run for the next piece of available cover which was right next to Sergei. the tank opened fire on the truck barely missing and causing Isaac to go deaf for a minute. Hernandez wasn’t even looking any more and firing off at random missing the tank horribly.

“Sir,” Sergei called out to Isaac. “Clear da back blast.” He shouted taking aim with the AT4.

Dragging Lee and Rodriguez to the ground Sergei fired their only shoot at the treads of the tank trying to immobilize the metal monster. True to his aim the 84mm rocket destroyed a section of the treads causing the tank to list to the right bringing its main gun out of action and away from the team.

Deciding now would be a good time to “beat feet” Isaac rounded up the squad loading the injured Middle Eastern boy in the truck and made for the other vic. Before he turned the corner, however; the unarmored vic exploded in a bright blue ball of fire as a Dragon flew over head banking so it could make another pass. Once again that little voice in the back of Isaac’s head could be heard uttering that same phrase but just a little bit louder, “oh shit.”

Isaac could officially say that they were in trouble. After that Dragon had up and destroyed the unarmored truck it made a second pass at the armored truck. Isaac could say with confidence that Hernandez tried to stop the oversized flying lizard, key word tried, but the scales on it were so thick the rounds just bounced off harmlessly serving only to antagonize the creature. Diving closer and closer the Dragon unleashed fresh hot energy over the truck sending it flying into the air while throwing Hernandez off into a ditch ten feet away. Isaac now had three unconscious people as well as an approaching hoard of Zebras and Griffons to deal with.

“Lee grab the boy, Sergei grab Fernando, I’ll grab Hernandez.” Isaac ordered reaching to pull the unconscious marksman from the ditch he had been thrown into. Picking up Hernandez into a fireman’s carry Isaac’s team made for the nearest hill while Audrey called in for support.

Energy blasts rained down on Isaac’s team as they ran for the nearest hill trying to gain the upper hand on their pursuers. But trying to get up a hill with a one hundred and fifty pound person on your back plus gear, all while being shot at is not the easiest thing the world plus the Missouri heat was still in effect so they could also curse the weather man when they had the chance. The only cover allowed to the humans were abandoned cars left by some unfortunate souls. They would have tried commandeering a truck but any vic would have taken to long to wire and make them a bigger target; besides, everything was either dead or too worn out for use. They would have to climb the hill hard way.

“Rodriguez, what’s the word on reinforcements?” Isaac called out hoping there would be some answer.

“Not good Sir,” Audrey replied firing her rifle into the crowd of fur and armor. “Any help we could receive would take forty minutes to reach us, and I don’t think we can last that long.”

She was right and Isaac knew it, they had to make it to the top of the hill and hold out for as long as they could. Not much of a plan but it was all they had at the moment. Plus, Sergei wasn’t showing it but his 240 was barely holding on at this point; the sling might as well have broken off.

Reaching the top of the hill the only buildings that marked the area were a bank some fast food buildings and a farming equipment store. Deciding that the fast food buildings were to cliché he ordered his squad to take up residence in the bank hoping it could provide cover. To his surprise the vault was open, not to his surprise the contents were gone; it seems some people thought it would be a good idea to stock up on their accounts instead of their fridge. placing the unknown boy and his unconscious team members in the vault, Isaac and the rest of the team took up positions covering the front of the bank. Tired though they were, Isaac and his fireteam resolved to hold the position until help arrived.

The first shots of energy destroyed the windows of the car Isaac had been taking cover behind, glass and slag covered him while the smell of burning hair filled his nose. “Time to nut up or shut up.” He thought moving from cover to fire at whoever thought it would be a good idea to shoot at a Marine. Isaac’s only result was a flicker of light as the shields of a Griffon came to life. Forced to return to cover Isaac cursed whatever nameless deity gave these invaders their shield tech.

Shifting his fire to the unarmored Zebras, black and white striped bodies started to fill the road as the Griffons continued to press their luck. Lee continued to fire his shotgun trying to dispel the enemies shields so others could make the killing blow. Sergei was shouting something in Russian and firing bursts from the shoulder at anything that moved scoring a killing blow on Griffons multiple Griffons thanks to their depleted shields.

Isaac heard a groan beside him as Fernando fell to his side, still clearly feeling the aftereffects of being flipped through the air like a football. Closely behind him Hernandez was trying to his hardest to not fall to the ground and evict the contents of his stomach.

“Sir,” Fernando said finally having his senses come back to him. “It seems we work up the neighborhood.” He barely managed through his dizziness. “Any word on when backup will hake it?”

“Not for another twenty-two minutes,” Isaac said looking at his watch ignoring the blue energy fly over his head. “How’s the boy doing?”

“Still unconscious, Sir. What do you want to do?” Fernando asked as Hernandez opened fire behind them clearly not happy about being thrown through the air.

Checking his ammo Isaac was running dangerously low and would have to resort to his sidearm which would effectively render him useless. Assuming the others were close to their limit as well he had to make the call.

“Rodriguez, radio,” Isaac called out firing the last of his current magazine as his radio operator sprinted over to them. Handing him the radio Isaac called in asking when assistance would make it to their position. He received the same answer saying that help would arrive in the next twenty minutes. Stressing the situation to the operator on the other end of the line Isaac received the same answer again.

Close to losing his mind and breathing hard Isaac swore he would shoot whoever he had to just to make sure his people got out alive. Calming down Isaac looked around the area again noticing just how much closer the Zebras and Griffons had advanced in the relatively shot time he had been talking.

“Command,” Isaac said putting the radio to his ear. “We will hold for the next five minutes, but if help isn’t hear by then bon’t bother sending anyone at all. Out.” Handing the Radio back to Rodriguez Isaac gave the order to fall back if reinforcements didn’t arrive in the next five minutes. Uneasy calls of affirmation were his only response. Reduced to two magazines for his rifle Isaac pushed the release for his current magazine clearing the weapon before slamming his second to last into the mag well.

“Someone better get here soon or we’ll be leaving on our backs and not our boots. Wait? Is that a guitar? IS THAT SINGING?”

“I’m gonna take you down - yeah, down, down, down
So don’t you fool around”

“No way, there’s no way.” Needless to say Hernandez was in shock.

“I’m gonna pull it, pull it, pull the trigger”

The whole team was in shock, speechless even. Even the Griffons and Zebras couldn’t believe what they were seeing. A giant gray helicopter coming over the crest of a hill with speakers blaring music would shock anyone, as no sane person would even consider this.

Seriously who expects to be saved by someone playing AC/DC?

”Shoot to thrill, play to kill
Too many women with too many pills
Shoot to thrill, play to kill
I got my gun at the ready, gonna fire at will.”

That was when the Chinook decided now would be appropriate to open fire with its door gun. 7.62 ammo fell on the shocked creatures who were still trying to figure out what was happening, the surprise didn’t last long as energy started flying towards the heavy-lift helicopter providing the humans on the ground the opportunity they needed to return fire and kill the shielded targets. Caught between a flying adversary and ground targets, the Griffons and Zebras fell back to regroup at the crest of the lower hill before taking on the giant flying metal bird.

“Cause I shoot to thrill, and I’m ready to kill
I can’t get enough, I can’t get the thrill
I shoot to thrill, play to kill
Yeah, pull the trigger
Pull it.”

“Lee grab the boy, Rodriguez pop smoke on a clearing, everyone else get ready to move.” Isaac shouted over the sounds of gun fire and guitar solos. Finding a landing zone was easy, the road was separated in to four lanes and a sidewalk. More than enough room especially since there were fewer cars here than coming up the hill.

Landing on the road its blades kicking up dust and any loose pieces of trash left behind, the Chinook landed with a thud as a S.W.A.T. team formed a perimeter around the open hatch allowing Isaac and his team to enter uninhibited. Lee placed the still unconscious boy in a seat and buckled him in for the long flight back. Making sure he was the last of his team to board the helicopter, Isaac finally stepped inside as energy rounds started flying past them. After the S.W.A.T. team boarded the pilot increased the power to the thrust and lifted off as the door gunner opened fire on the shrinking targets.

Electing to stand rather than sit Isaac wandered up to the pilot’s chambers where he was greeted by a relatively small female pilot. He assumed she was female as her voice was the only indicator of her gender. She was flat as hell.

“If you don’t mind me asking Lieutenant, could you please return to your seat. We have to take the long way home to avoid any followers.”

“I just wanted to say thanks, me and my people wouldn’t have made it with out you.” Isaac said making sure to stay out of the pilots’ way. “I didn’t think command would lift the grounding order for this bird though. To be honest I didn't think they cared.”

“You’re welcome, and they didn’t and they don’t.” Isaac looked at her like she had a horn growing out of her head. From what he had been told this was the only real military aircraft the Underground had and the orders were to leave it grounded unless an emergency appeared, but it was that last part that truly caught him off guard.

“You alright Lieutenant? You’re looking at me like I have a dick growing out of my forehead?” Apparently, not only was she a skilled pilot, but also a mind reader… All be it a very bad one.

“Yeah I’m fine,” Isaac lied. “Just thinking of the ass chewing you all are going to go through later.” At this the S.W.A.T. leader stepped forward revealing himself to be Alton. “Saved by 1910 again huh? Add them to the list of people I owe.”

After pleasantries were exchanged and greetings were made Alton explained how 1910 and the 160th planned the rescue. “We heard over radio chatter that your team had been in heavy contact and sustained wounded. We didn’t know if it was life threatening or not so we decided to ‘borrow’ a vic and try and rescue you. Before we could though we noticed our mutual friends here” he said jabbing his thumb in the direction of the cockpit, “were planing something along the same line so we decided to join them and save your sorry asses.”

“He forgot to mention the fact that the pilots they nearly died of shock when we walked up to them.” Thomas added, a malicious aura flowing from the cockpit as he spoke. “I swear, the copilot nearly passed out on the spot.”

“People passing out aside,” Alton said before walking up to Isaac and pulling him in close so only he could hear him. “Somethings happening back at the Underground. People are talking about throwing out the Majors. While I would agree with that there are other people that would side with them and we can’t afford any internal struggles right now. Bellman’s figured something out but he needs to speak with you the moment you can.” Pushing Isaac had to appreciate the neutral face Alton could put up, but one could tell that the atmosphere in their little world had just thickened. All the while that little voice continued to say those two words that made up his new life. “Oh shit.”