Chapter 9: A New Arrival
“Metal, this is Overlord. You are approaching the city now.”
“Copy that Overlord. What is the objective?”
“You and your squad are to rendezvous with Onyx and Granite teams at our FOB at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. There, you, Granite, and Onyx will be riding in with the 75th Ranger Regiment into the city itself. We already have troops in the city, but the Russians have a jamming device up in Wooldridge Park causing major disruptions to our forces. Much like the situation was in New York, the jammer is full spectrum, so once you enter the city there will be no radio contact, UAV support, or any form of air cover. Onyx and Granite have separate operations involving taking out some of the SAM sites in the city, but your task is to take down the jammer. Once it’s down, the 457th Fighter Squadron from JRB Fort Worth will strafe the city and destroy any remaining Russian ground based targets as well as any targets you can give them. Helix 8-1 and Helix 2-3 will come in and extract you from the park itself. If the area is still hot, you will be redirected to Republic Square Park to the South. How copy?”
“Copy that. Consider it done.”
“Good luck, Overlord out.”
"Just like New York… I wish it was just like New York.”
“We are three miles out. Everyone check radios. Granite team, report in.” A voice sounded through the radio.
“Stone, check.”
“Red, check.”
“Ace, check.”
“Wildfire, check.”
“Granite is up and running. Onyx team, report in.”
“Yankee, check.”
“Shadow, check.”
“Klepto, check.”
“Neon, check.”
“Onyx team is good. Metal team, report in.”
"Metal team… my team. It shouldn’t be my team. It should be Sandman’s team. I should have been with them… I should have died with them…”
“Langley, check.”
“Splinter, check.”
“Ghost, check.”
"My turn…”
He put his hand to his radio.
“Frost, check.”
“Metal team is up. All squad leaders, you good to go?”
“Ugh, stop thinking like this Derek! You got a mission to complete!”
“Wildfire here, Granite is good.”
“Neon here, Onyx is ready to roll.”
“Frost here, Metal is up.”
“Ok, all teams are good to go. Approaching FOB.”
The 3 helicopters landed out near one of the hangers. As the teams got out, they could see the fire rising from the city of Austin, Texas.
“Ya know… I was born here…” Splinter said to nobody in particular.
“All the more reason to fight to take it back, eh?” Ghost responded.
“Heh, I guess so.”
“Cut the chatter, get inside!” Frost called out.
As the three teams entered the hanger, they were greeted by a group of soldiers from the 1st Battalion.
“Sir!” The man in front of the group said as he saluted them while the others behind him followed suit.
“At ease sergeant.” Wildfire responded.
“Sir, my squad has been given orders to assist you in getting into the city at any and all costs.”
“Good, let’s get started then.” Neon stated.
“What are your names?” Frost asked.
“Sgt. Foley, squad leader of Hunter 2-1. That is Cpl. Dunn, and that is Pvt. Ramirez. The others will be joining us when we mount up.”
Behind them a voice called out to everyone.
“Alright! Mount up! We’re rolling!”
“That’s our cue.” Foley said. “Let’s go! Hunter 2-1 is rolling!”
Each team got into a different APC which would each split up once the entered the city to their different objectives. The teams sat in the back of the APC’s in almost complete silence. The sound of their radios going off a couple of minutes later broke the silence.
“Delta, this is Overlord. You are entering the jamming radius, communications will most…. go…. any…….”
“Radios are down, were on our own.” Frost called out to his team.
“RPG!” Someone in front called out.
A loud explosion was heard outside that shook the APC violently while it came to an abrupt halt.
“Shit, are we hit!?” Ghost called out.
“Front Humvee is down! The road is blocked!”
“Another RPG! Roof of the two story building!” Another voice called out.
Another explosion rocked the side of the APC Metal was in.
“Dammit! Everyone out! We go the rest of the way on foot!” Frost yelled out as the door opened up behind them.
As they exited the APC, the front two Humvees were engulfed in flames. The front APC, the one that housed Onyx team, opened fire on the 2 story building to their right. The back door opened up and Onyx poured out taking cover behind it. The same happened with Granite team behind Metal. Bullets were whizzing past them all over the place.
“Shit! TANK!” Foley, who was at the front of the convoy yelled out.
All of a sudden, a Russian T-90 rolled out from behind one of the buildings. It shot a round that tore right through the first APC; the APC Onyx was next to.
“Shit! Get down!” Neon called out, but it was too late. Shadow and Yankee were caught in the blast, but Neon and Klepto were both able to get up and haul ass to one of the buildings next to them.
“Metal! Get inside that apartment complex to the left!” Frost yelled out to his team. Granite team, who was behind them, soon followed suit.
“We need air support! Like, NOW!” Wildfire called out in frustration.
“Our radios are down, and that won’t change if we don’t destroy that jammer. The 457th will provide air support once the jammer goes down.” Frost pointed out.
“The convoy is down! Enemy forces closing in on this position!” Neon called out to them down the road.
“How far away is the jammer?” Frost asked.
“About four klicks north of here.” Splinter responded.
“Ok, we are hauling ass to it from here! Use the buildings for cover!”
“Copy!”
“Granite, the SAM site is two klicks west of here. Let’s go!”
“Onyx team is inoperable; we can’t get to the other SAM site. It’s around ten klicks east from here.” Neon yelled.
“Don’t worry, we got your backs!” Foley called out to them. “Cross the street now! We will provide suppressing fire! GO!”
Each team went their separate ways towards their objectives. After a couple of close calls with the tank, they were able to pass it by throwing some smoke grenades in front of it. After about ten minutes of maneuvering through narrow alley ways, they came to the area of where the jammer was supposed to be.
“We’re about half a klick away. We’re almost there.” Ghost said.
“I see it! Out there, in the middle of the park!”
They looked out to see about three SAM sites surrounding the jammer, along with around twenty foot mobiles.
“Ghost, Langley, flank to the left. Me and Splinter will draw their fire this way.”
“Copy.”
Frost and Splinter both opened fire on the foot mobiles. Since they had some element of surprise, they were able to drop five of them before they knew what was happening. Having all the fire drawn to them, Ghost and Langley easily picked the rest of them off.
“Quick! Plant the thermite charge on the jammer!” Frost ordered Splinter.
“Planting!” He called out. After a few seconds, he turned around and ran back. “Charge set!”
“Blow it!” Frost said.
A second later, the jammer was split in half and fell over to the ground in pieces with a loud bang. A few seconds past, and their radios were restored back to working condition.
“Overlord, this is Metal. Do you read? The jammer is destroyed!”
“Metal, this Overlord. Solid copy, we are back in business. The 457th are en route to your position to provide air support. Extraction will be there in about 3 minutes.”
“This is Granite! The SAM site is down on our end! Western entrance is open for air cover!”
“Onyx here! The SAM site is down over here as well! Eastern approach is secure for air support!”
“Solid copies Delta. Extraction is en route to you now.”
“Sir! We got tanks closing in!” Splinter called out over the radio. As he said that, three T-90’s rolled out down the road, followed by about fifty plus foot mobiles.
“This is the 457th Fighter Squadron. Requesting targets.”
“457th, this is Metal! We got three T-90’s down here! Request immediate bombardment! Danger close!”
“Solid copy Metal. Sit back and watch the fireworks.”
A few seconds later, a jet whizzed past them, dropping a bomb directly on top of the three tanks. The explosion rocked the whole area. When the smoke cleared, all three tanks were in pieces.”
“Tanks are down! Thanks for the assist!”
“Enemy fast-movers on radar! We got enemy aircraft incoming!” One of the pilots said on the radio. “I’m seeing around eight contacts!”
“Shit! Keep air superiority! Take them down!”
“Metal, this is Overlord. Extraction is twenty seconds out, recommend getting out of there now.”
“Copy Overlord.”
“Metal, this is Helix 2-3. Get the hell onboard!”
“Let’s go! Let’s GO!” Frost yelled out to his squad mates. Each of them pilled in one by one, but just as they were getting ready to take off, a message came across the radio.
“I count three enemy Hinds closing in on your location, Metal! Recommend getting out of there ASAP!”
“We won’t last against three Hinds. We will be shot down before we get two hundred yards.”
“457th, we need air support! We got three enemy Hinds inbound on our position!” Frost called out on his radio.
“No can do, Metal! We are currently occupied with the MiG’s! We can’t… oh SHIT! I got one on my tail!”
The radio went to static as they saw one of their planes in the air explode into a million pieces as it fell to the ground.
“Shit! Splinter, man the door gun!” Frost yelled out as he jumped from the helicopter and begun to run towards the destroyed jammer.
“Sir! What are you doing?!” Ghost called out to him.
“GO! Get out of here! I got a plan! Don't worry about me!” Frost called back to him. He reached the jammer to find an RPG lying next to it on the ground. He picked it up and turned towards the direction of the incoming Hinds. He noticed out of the corner of his eye the helicopter start to lift up off of the ground.
“NO! Get us back down there!” Langley called out to the pilot.
“We can’t! If we stay here any longer, we will be intercepted by the Hinds, and that will be it for all of us!”
“I don’t care! Get us back down, NOW!”
“I can’t! We go back, we all die!”
The three Hinds had just appeared over the tops of the buildings, flying low in a tight knit formation, and heading straight for Helix 2-3. Frost aimed it at the lead Hind and fired. The shot hit the cockpit directly, and the resulting explosion caught one of the other Hinds in it as well. The third Hind was forced to move off course temporarily to avoid crashing into one of the falling parts of the other two, giving Helix 2-3 enough time to gain speed.
“Sir! Do you read me?” Ghost called over the radio.
Frost picked up a second RPG shot and aimed it at the final Hind, but it was too late. It fired a missile directly at Frost, landing directly in front of him. The last thing he remembered seeing was a flash of blinding light, along with the sound of his squad mates frantically calling into the radio. Then, nothing…
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“Whoa! What was that?!”
“I don’t know… wait… is that…?”
“Holy shit! Move out of my way, NOW!"
“Boss, is that who I think it is?”
“Frost! Frost! Can you hear me? Frost!”
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