Goose slams the rudder pedals, spinning the Blackhawk into a quick 180-turn and heads for the next mission objective. Jack comes over the comm channel.
Papa Bear to Alpha One, is your cargo safely aboard. Over?
Artis acknowledges Carla's pick up and gives Jack a sit-rep of current events.
Fantastic. Those infantry you're blowing the hell out of are part of North Korea's Special Corps. I take it that Bravo 1 was unable to fulfill their goal. No matter, this has precipitated into something much larger than a rescue mission. Your objective remains the same. The boss has green lighted your operation and is sending a recovery vehicle in case you need to ditch. Do you copy...over?
The Blackhawk speeds towards the objective point with the onboard GPS indicating that the target is about five miles away. As they approach the area in question, Artis picks out a large silhouette on the flat ocean horizon.
Goose points it out to team and Kyun zooms in with his camera for a better look. He immediately uploads the faint image into his laptop and begins scanning the highly encrypted military database for probables. Seconds later, the faint image is cleaned up and run through the system
You gotta be friggin kidding me! Our experts here confirm Alpha-3's report. What the hell is a Typhoon-Class submarine doing surfaced in the middle of the Sea of Japan??? Change of plans. Top Brass wants you to surveil that puppy then haul ass back to Seawolf Connecticut. This situation has really gone down the shitter. That is all...dammit.
Well, I'm glad to hear one fucking thing has gone right tonight. Good work. There should be a USB port on the camera....patch it in with Alpha-3's computer and send it. I want confirmation before this whole thing erupts into a Wake Island-style shitstorm.
As Goose flies precariously close to the Typhoon submarine, Jack elaborates on the images taken by the SEAL camera.
A prelimenary analysis shows a submarine base near completion. There are photos of a subterranean (i.e. carved into a cliffside) port where two (possibly three) submarines can be moored at any given time. Two Victor III Class HK submarines were moored during the recon, which would then stand to reason that the third is the Typhoon in fron....
Jack's signal breaks up as the Blackhawk's inbound warning lights sparkle like a Christmas tree. It appears the sub has both a radar and IR lock on the chopper. Amidst the sound of alarms, Goose can see several members of the Typhoons crew coming topside and heading for what looks like a deckgun.
Brian squeezes off a dozen rounds at the conning tower, raining death upon everything in its path. An ocean breeze party the smoke and sparks revealing a pile of dead bodies now rag-dolled and slumped about the tower.
Kyun snaps off more hi-res pictures as Artis pulls the Blackhawk hard about and heads toward the Seawolf. The chopper's missle warning light switches from [color=orange:fd323b9f48]Alert![/color] to [color=Red:fd323b9f48]Warning![/color] as a small plume of smoke is seen from the Typhoon's foredeck.
Before anyone can react, the missle streaks up towards the Blackhawk, striking one of its turbine exhaust ports. Artis is able to maintain stable flight but knows damn well the chopper can't take another hit like that.
Goose hauls ass towards towards the rendevous waypoint.
By now the radar nets of every country with 400 miles of the area have now picked up the battle. Artis picks up multiple bogeys coming in from just about every approach vector.
Folks...looks like we're fucked. I'm going to try for the sub, but I don't think we'll make it.
Artis goes in low, hoping the water will at least mask some of his radar/heat signiature. The everpresent missle warning lights switch again from orange to red as another missle launch is detected from the Typhoon. This time Artis pops a decoy flare and manages to evade a target lock.
Overhead and all about the team sees squadrons of interceptor fighters. Brian picks out a few from their silhouettes.
Looks like the North Korean government has sent the pride of their ancient airforce to greet us. I see there's also F-15s...though I'm not sure whether they're ours or the South Korea's.
An mid-air explosion is seen illuminating the pitch-black sky.
Err...scratch one MiG. Crap! Goose, check your six!
From behind the Blackhawk appears one of the aforementioned MiG 23s. A line of cannon and tracer fire streaks towards the Blackhawk tracing a path parallel to the chopper's flight.
The Blackhawk's engines groan under the enormous amount of strain being placed upon them as Goose manuever in and out of the streaming cannon fire.
One good thing going for the team is the speed differential between the MiG and the chopper. It overshoots the Blackhawk, immediately banking and coming around for another strafe attack. The rendevous point is getting closer, but it would be a rough swim through hazardous waters to get there.
As the team looks about the helo's cabin for anything looking remotely floatatious, the MiG dives at the Blackhawk for another attack run.
This time the team isn't so lucky. The chopper's engine housing is shredded by the 14.7mm cannon from the MiG. Fuel, oil, hydraulic (you get the point) gauges nosedive off the control panel as the Blackhawk's engines grind to halt in a orgy of flames, smoke, and assorted sparks.
Amidst a chorus of warning alarms and sirens, Artis switches off the engines and attempts an autorotated landing.
Mayday!...Mayday!...Mayday!...This is Alpha 1. We are going down...repeat...going down! Alpha 1 is feet wet...repeat...feet wet! Base, looks like we're going swimming.
The pitch-black ocean gets closer and closer as the Blackhawk descends toward the water. Goose manages to land as flat as he could, with the crash taking a minimal toll on both craft and crew. The impact still causes the occupants of the rear compartment to be tossed about as a nearby wave slams into the Blackhawk, pulling the back section of the chopper down into the water.
Everyone (excluding Artis) is sucked down into the murky depths. Brian and Ayumi immediately cut themselves out of their harnesses, valiantly trying to keep Jess and Kyun from being taken by the undertow.
From Artis' perspective, his field of view is now of the night sky as the cockpit now sits at a 45-degree angle.
The next 12 seconds turn out to be some of the longest for the team.
Jess panics, taking a lung full of water with her eyes rolling back and showing the first signs of drowning. Seeing her immediate need for rescue (and in true British fashion), Brian cuts loose the copious amounts of ammo weighing him down and speeds toward our fair-haired heroine.
Kyun comes to his senses and calms himself to the point of stability as Carla drifts downward and gets caught on part of the Blackhawk's tail rudder. The sudden stop freaks her out and she too gasps a breath of briney water. Fortunately, Ayumi is on the scene and is heading her way to help.
Topside and as the rest of the chopper slowly sinks into the ocean, Artis takes the survival essentials and bails out the cockpit door, deploying the liferaft as he exits.
Artis impatiently waits for his teammates as the rest of the Blackhawk sinks below the waterline. Seconds later, he sees them pop out of the water gasping for air.
Everyone is accounted for as they approach the raft, but it appears that Jess and Carla are unconscious and in tow by Ayumi and Brian.
Kyun performs mouth-to-mouth on Jess, trying to get her ticker started again. After about 10 seconds, Jess responds with a gurgled cough and a large gasp.
One down, one to go. Damn, two girls at once...if this were only in a different setting.
Carla seems to have taken in less water as her revival takes only a few deep breathes. She too coughs up a lung full of water and gasps for her first breath.
Overhead, a full-blown dogfight is ensuing. The aircraft seem to be preoccupied with eachother as Artis and Co. evaluate their current situation. The survival vest's GPS receiver puts them about 2 miles from the sub recovery point.
Kyun lets out a sigh of relief at Brian's message relay. "I don't know about you guys, but that's the last time I fly coach." Kyun manages a weak smile.
The signal light goes out as the sub's periscope descends out of sight.
Moments later, two divers emerge from below and nearby the raft with one of them pulling off their rebreather.
"How's it going? Lieutenant Hyland, US Navy...at your service. You folks 'bout ready to get the hell out here???...I thought so. Now here's the plan. Petty Officer Chan (looking over to his associate) is going to give you a secondary rebreather and a diving mask. You are to follow him and his orders as if they were given by the almighty himself. He'll ferry each of you to an external airlock on the sub where you'll stay until everyone is aboard. Understood? Good...I hate repeating myself. We'll take the wounded and injured first."
Dieter
