Inbound

by Smexy and Boss Inc

Chapter 1: Arrival

Inbound
Chapter 1: Arrival
Written by: Smexy Sombra & Alex Mason
Edited by: Alex Mason & Smexy Sombra

The wind whipped across the deck of the USS Grant, heavy clouds hung in the sky above the massive aircraft carrier. The ship rocked about in the waves, but that did not halt the activity upon its flight deck. Dozens of soldiers were piling into three large dropships, preparing to initiate one of the most important missions of the war.

It had been nearly fifteen years since the United Democratic Nations came under attack by the Federal Dictatorial Council. Since then, the world had been tearing itself apart. The eastern hemisphere versus the west. The mission that was to take place today would not only land a decisive blow against the FDC, but also destroy whatever morale their soldiers had left. These thoughts never left the minds of the crew as they readied themselves for the impending attack.

~#~

A pilot named Julian Schafer was preparing his suit for the flight. He had to make sure every single system was at optimal condition. The flight suit was a tad bulky, due to the integrated safety and nano fiber weave. The suit held a holster for a side arm and several pouches for extra magazines, a built in parachute, and sheath for a combat knife. The final feature was a recycling system that kept somewhat fresh air in the pilots lungs for a good 12 hours.

After he finished his system’s check, his HUD in his helmet showing everything was in working order, he took off his helmet and breathed in some fresh air. Julian took a look at himself in his locker’s mirror, his reflection showing his tired expression. His amber eyes scanned over his face, looking at the short coal black hair that rested on his head and the five o’clock shadow. Breathing out a sigh, he picked up his helmet and looked it over, giving a small smirk. He grazed his fingers over the light etching of a smile that stretched over the lower half of the helmet, a joke one of the other pilots thought was funny.

He slipped his helmet back on, letting the suit link up once more before heading out to the armory to gather the rest of his equipment.

~#~

Julian calmly walked to his dropship, watching as the soldiers piled in, one after another. He took in a deep breath before hopping into the cockpit of his ship. As he sat down in his seat, several screens lit up across the dashboard and the glass in front of him. Hearing several of the other pilots sign in, Julian turned on his coms and signed in as well.

“This is Razor Hawk-2, reporting for duty.” Julian stated over the intercoms, the rest of the pilots down the line sounding off. As soon as everyone called in, the commander’s voice came over the comms and PA systems of every ship in the fleet.

“One hundred and seventy years ago today, one hundred and sixty thousand allied soldiers landed on the beaches of Normandy. Nine thousand died or were wounded. The D-Day landing gave the allies a foothold and eventually lead to the death of the third reich.” The commander paused for a moment. “Today, we will honor those sacrifices and deliver the killing blow to the evils of the FDC. With resolve unbreakable, and the will to win, we will destroy the pacific wall.”

“We all know that some will not be coming home alive, but as our men and women march into Beijing and plant our flag on tallest building in the forbidden city they will be remembered. We cannot and will not accept anything but full and total victory.” The commander paused again, the mission launch countdown popped up onto the HUD of every soldier about to go into the fight. When it hit zero the Commander spoke again. “Begin the operation, and godspeed.”

A loud battle cry sounded out through all of the dropships and across the soldiers on the ship. Soon every ship began to take to the sky, blotting out the sun with the immense force that was being sent towards the enemies on the land. Through Julian’s ship, soldiers were murmuring to each other of their mission, giving consents to their friends and making pacts should one of them fall in battle. Julian gripped the control stick a bit tighter as he saw the land approaching.

A shockwave filled the air as one of the dropships exploded next to Julian’s ship, the smoldering wreckage barely missing his own ship in it’s flaming descent. The air was soon filled with the sounds of AA fire and missiles soaring past the engines and cockpit. The guns of Julian’s ship began to rev up, spraying the infantry and AA emplacements with thousands of rounds.

After an hour of dodging AA guns, cutting down infantry units for the ground troops and several Detours to avoid being shot down, they were finally nearing their drop off zone. Julian hit the intercom and flipped on the green light. “Get ready, we are approaching the drop zone!”

Soon they began to arrive at the destination before he saw a rather demoralizing sight. A Ion Cannon mounted onto a massive tank, pointing directly at Julian’s dropship. “Oh shit, fucking jump! Go go go!”

He heard the boots of the soldiers hopping off of the dropship as the cargo door opened, as he heard the last set of boots drop off, he began to pull up the dropship to avoid the cannon. Unfortunately, the tank launched the cannon, grazing the hull of the ship before one of the engines got tore apart. “Shit, shit, shit, shit!!”

As his ship began to spin out of control, a blinding light caught his ship and before the tank could fire another blast, the ship disappeared in a large and powerful explosion, making buildings crumble by the shockwave and ripping the earth from the ground.

~#~

A young woman gasped awake, aching pain rippled through her body as she hung upside down in her seat. The harness had jammed and she had been unable to get out with her comrades. Warm blood dripped down her head and smeared itself into her long red hair. Her helmet lay beneath her, acting as a sort of bucket that caught the dripping fluid. Slowly she felt more pain, her ribs felt as if someone had hit her in the chest with a sledgehammer, her right leg felt as if it had been stabbed with a flaming hot knife, and her wrist was all but shattered.

“H-Help.” She grunted out before hacking and coughing. “HELP!” She could smell the fuel in the air, if it ignited she would cook in her seat before she had a chance to scream. Slowly she worked her unbroken hand to her thigh and fumbled with the sheath that held her knife. “HELP ME!” She shouted again, grabbing the knife in her weak grip and moving it towards the straps of her harness.

She cut the first strap and lurched forwards a bit, she went to cut the second strap but lost her grip on the knife. It fell to the ceiling turned floor with a clatter before sliding away into some unlit part of the dropship. The second strap snapped before she could curse and she plummeted to the ground, landing on her already wounded hand. The women shrieked in pain, she could hear the cracking and crunching bones. The ship was at an angle, she started to slide towards the nose. Thinking quickly she grabbed a cargo hook and hung on for dear life.

“HELP ME!” She shouted towards the cargo door, through it she could see the starry night sky. “PLEASE! ANYONE! HELP ME!” Her head started to swim as a concussion made itself clear.

There was a mild pounding for a moment before the door to the cockpit started to open, ever so slowly. A loud grunting filled the air as the pilot began to pry the doors open, pushing it open before crawling through the space and stumbling as he got through. He clutched his arm for a brief moment before spotting the woman.

“Oh christ...” The pilot muttered as he slowly began to climb his way up. “Ugh, thank god for morphine.” The pilot pulled himself up to her level and looked over her for a moment before glancing about the wrecked ship. He slowly wrapped an arm around her waist, as to avoid causing more pain, and slowly began to pull them up to the cargo door. “Fucking hell, You’d think they’d make a suit lighter, but nooooo... They didn’t account on crash landings...” The woman coughed loudly again, blood spewing from her lips as she did. The pilot looked to her before resuming climbing.

“Hey, stay with me now. What’s your name, Sergeant?” The Pilot grunted as he pulled them up. The woman tried to think, but everything was hazy.

“I… I can’t remember…” She said through gritted teeth before coughing again. “Where are we?”

The Pilot looked back down at her as he grabbed the base of the Cargo door. He looked up and pulled them both up higher before saying. “Well, I’ll let you see for yourself in just... A... Second.” He grunted before he gave a hard tug and pulled them both over the edge. Unfortunately, due to the ship being in the ground, he pulled them both over and fell to the ground. The Pilot landed on his back with the woman landing on his chest and knocking the wind out of him as well as sending a flare of pain up his damaged arm.

“Fuck... My... Job...” He muttered as he lifted his head up. The woman used all of her strength to keep from crying out as she felt her ribs shatter. Her chest felt like it was on fire, and slowly she could feel the blood beginning to fill her lungs. The Pilot gently rolled her off and stood up, taking a look around. “Okay... Garden. That’s a start.”

He bent down and opened one of the kits on his hip, pulling out a small morphine shot. He swiftly stuck the needle into her thigh and squeezed the needle. As it emptied, he disposed of the needle and looped his arms under her legs and back. “Come on, Sergeant, stay awake now.” He muttered as he began to walk along the path of destruction his ship left when he landed.

“So… Tired…” She said between gasps. “Gotta stay awake…” She swallowed hard. “Y-You gotta hit me, it’ll wake me up…” The Pilot looked at her and shook his head.

“Ah shit... Sorry, about this ma’am.” The Pilot said,taking his arm from under her legs and gave her a swift punch into her damaged arm before picking her up again. The woman let out a loud scream of pain, but the impact did the trick.

“Fuck…” She muttered, looking around. “Where… Where are we? I don’t hear any gunfire…”

The Pilot gave a shrug before slinging her good arm over his shoulder. With his arm free, he raised a hand and turned on his radio to signal for evac. “This is Razor Hawk-2, my ship is down and I have a wounded soldier, requesting extraction.” He spoke into the comm. The only response he got was a loud collection of static. “Repeat, this is Razor Hawk-2, my Ship is down, does anyone copy?... Fuck.”

As he ended his distress call, the sound of footsteps filled the air. The Pilot’s head snapped in the direction of the sound and he pulled out his pistol, the laser sight powering up. “I hope to god that is the sound of our guys.” The Pilot muttered as he began to backtrack to the ship.

“If it’s not…” The woman weakly grabbed her side arm. “Then what?”

“We give them one hell of a hello.” The Pilot half joked as he watched the area the sound came from.

Author's Note:

Feed back, please!

Comments

[The Boss]

Wow... We need to pre-read more...

[Rainbow Dash 55]

WOW!!!

[spudicous]

3725360 If the HUD is projected in the helmet, it is usually called an HMD (Helmet Mounted Display) great story so far though!