Sky Storm

[antiaircraft]

I'm currently writing a short story called Sky Storm. Feel free to comment and suggest improvements. I'll post more parts when I finish writing them.

 

Note: Feel free to copy this story and put it wherever you want, but please make sure you credit it to "Theodore Lee". Thankyou.

Note: It may take a few months to get a chapter done on account of me being very busy, so could the mods please not close this topic unless the story has already ended?

 

The revised versions of the prologue and chapter one are below.

Prologue

 

A pair of near invisible figures crept stealthily along a dark aisle. Both were clad from head to toe in black, with mirage equipped body armour and helmets that gave them their transparent appearance. One was carrying a heavy grey briefcase, which was the reason they were here. The figures were intelligence agents, belonging to a division of Interpol dubbed Interpol Intelligence, or 2I. The briefcase contained a complete copy of the data stored in the encrypted sector of the mainframe computer in the facility they had infiltrated. The data was still encrypted, but that could be remedied when it arrived at a secure Interpol base. In the meantime, they had to pass through a heavily guarded storage building undetected to reach their exit - a sewer pipe.

 

The storage area was 30m high, and had almost 2 square kilometres of space. Neatly stacked and categorized crates of everything from food to high explosive ammunition were laid out on massive shelves creating a grid network of aisles which were patrolled by both highly trained human guards and Sweeper Guard Robots. Sweepers were a highly successful model of guard robot that made up for their absurd dimwittedness with inhuman speed and agility as well as the ability to fire their 9 millimetre cannons with mechanical accuracy. Their various sensory systems gave the robots excellent target tracking abilities, and also relayed information to the ever vigilant gunners manning the four precision machine gun turrets attached to the ceiling. When penetrating security this tight, mirage technology was very useful.

 

The two agents slipped cautiously along the gaps between shelves, slipping easily past the robots, and more cautiously avoiding the human security. After 15 minutes of tense locomotion, they arrived at a small room behind the storage area. While one agent watched the door, the other lifted the grate off the sewage drain at the back of the room. Both agents slipped quietly into the pungent water, pulling the grate back behind them, and vanished into the pipe.

 

Chapter 1: Landing Preparations

 

A single engine jet rocketed through the sky, powering through thin air at mach 26. The jet had four elegantly swept back wings positioned in an X shape, and its rounded cockpit was set well back on its nose. Translucent covers on its wings and the tip of its nose housed its primary weapons system. This lethal array of infra-red lasers was capable of heating most solids to melting point, although they were most well known for their ability to ignite the fuel and ammunition of enemy aircraft. On its underbelly, a dark blue rubber seal traced the outline of a retractable secondary weapons platform. One of the most feared combat jets in existence, the I-6 Dragonfly was named for its wings, speed, and manoeuvrability, and aptly so.

 

The fighter jet’s pilot was seated back to back with his gunner in its cockpit. A well built man in his thirties, with 15 years of fighter piloting experience, Snap was arguably the best pilot in Interpol Combat (IC), and he was rumoured to have started his piloting career with microlights at the age of seven. He also happened to have a liking for pancakes. His gunner, QuickFlash, was much younger than Snap at the age of 26, and lacked his experience, but was nonetheless a valued squadron member, and rarely missed a target.

 

Snap and QuickFlash were flying their I-6, codenamed SD1, at the head of a formation with 4 other identical sky blue craft, SD2 through SD5. The unique colour of their jets immediately identified them as members of the elite Sky Dragons combat pilot squadron, frequently referred to as “the best of the best”. The five fighters that made up the squadron were flying to an aircraft carrier based in the Arctic Circle to take part in a strike mission based on intelligence collected a month ago by a pair of 2I agents.

 

“Say, QuickFlash, have you tasted my latest recipe yet? I call it the-”

 

“Actually Buzz, I don’t want to know what you call it, and I’ve already smelled it something like a hundred times, and I don’t want to taste it, so if you don’t shut up, I’m going to ask Tech to turn off your comlink.”

 

An enthusiastic, “Hear, hear!” came from Buzz’s pilot, Spectre. Despite his incorrigible and often irritating attempts to promote his horrid cooking abilities, Buzz was an experienced, well trained, witty, and uncannily accurate gunner. His pilot, Spectre, was cocky, suave, and had a demeanour remarkably similar to that of James Bond.

 

Buzz suddenly felt a brilliant retort rise to the top of his mind, and quickly uttered the sentence into his helmet microphone. Surprisingly there was no response. He tapped his comlink, then realised what had happened when Tech’s comm-distorted voice sounded through his helmet speakers. “Happy to oblige QuickFlash. Microphone disabled. Please note that you will rendezvous with your carrier in 15 minutes.”

 

Tech was the Sky Dragon’s communications operator. He also happened to be one of the smartest people in the world, and a senior Interpol Combat engineer. There were rumours going around that there wasn’t a single piece of equipment in Interpol Combat that he didn’t help to design or build. However, since Tech defected from Trident four years ago, enough trust had been built up to allay any suspicions about his motives.

 

“This is SD1 to Atlantis control, we are approaching rendezvous point, requesting landing clearance for the Sky Dragons.”

 

“SD1, this is Atlantis control, standby while your request is processed.”

 

After a few seconds of static, the Sky Dragons’ comlinks crackled to life, “This is Atlantis control to Sky Dragons, you have landing clearance, standby while landing preparations are made.”

 

“Acknowledged Atlantis control.”

 

The Atlantis controller’s previous message prompted a confused response from Talon, one of the more junior pilots in the squadron, “Landing preparations? What landing preparations?”

 

The amused voice that responded was Tech’s, “Wait and see, and prepare to be amazed.”

 

Moments later, the water beneath the jets heaved and split, as it was penetrated by a massive flat surface. The flight deck of the submersible aircraft carrier Atlantis rose above the waves, with seawater streaming off it through specially designed gutters. Unlike in most aircraft carriers, the RADAR and communications array were internal, making the Atlantis more streamlined and allowing it to pass through the water without coming apart. The aircraft carrier was semicircular in shape, with the 400 metre long flight deck on top, and the massive sonar array antennae projecting out from its underside. Its nuclear powered propulsion unit, consisting of four propeller pods, was attached to its rear. The majority of its bulk was underwater, leaving the flight deck only 10 metres above the waterline. As Talon watched with an expression reflecting Tech’s statement, flight crews were climbing out onto the deck through watertight hatches, and huge cargo elevators were being deployed to take the aircraft to the hangar bays below.

 

“Atlantis control to Sky Dragons, land in pairs when ready. Our flight crews are ready to run spot checks and guide you in.”

 

“Understood Atlantis. Talon, drop your landing gear and bring SD2 into tight formation.”

 

“Alright,” Talon’s voice was brimming with excitement, “Let’s hit the tarmac.”

 

The Sky Dragons landed in pairs, with each pair taking 15 seconds to move off the runway so that the next pair could land. Spectre landed SD5 last, taxiing the fighter onto one of the cargo elevators, which began descending quickly to the hangar bay. The flight crews climbed down the hatches and sealed them. The cargo elevator doors inched shut, and the Atlantis filled its ballast tanks, dropping back beneath the ocean surface.

[Samuel]

Okay, here's my ratings =]

 

Prologue

It's a good prologue, and gives a bout of information. Perhaps a little too much to follow all at once at some points, and the sharp sentances seem a little annoying; try and use conjunctions, or extra grammar, to link sentances together, for a nicer effect. The use of vocab is good, and well thought out :)

 

Chapter One

This is a fantastic peice of writing, with virtually no flaws. You write in a smooth, consistant manner, and it reminds me ever so much of writings similar to that of Eoin Colfer and Dan Brown. I'm not too "in" with the codenames for the pilots, though; 'QuickFlash' is something that bugs me, and I critisise it in my mind everytime the word pops up. Other than that, it's a great piece of writing. Maybe a little more description of the Atlantis, but otherwise it all looks good. Good description of some protagonists, but other's could be a little more developed - but it's early days ;)

 

Very nice. I won't give a rating, but it's definately something to continue writing.

[antiaircraft]

Thanks for the suggestions Samuel. I'm currently running through and editing the copy on my computer (I never was very good with names). I'll probably have chapter 2 done in 1 or 2 months.

 

Edit: I've revised parts of chapter one and the prologue and posted them above. If anyone wants to suggest some of the call signs for the pilots, please post them here.

[Midtime]

Rating: :) :) :) :) :(

A nice start. The prologue makes me wonder who the antagonists are, and whether the two 2I people make it back safely. I find the first chapter amazingly high-tech, and am eagerly waiting for the next chapter. (I have read the first chapter before, but only partway through the making)

[antiaircraft]

I was bored, so here's the second chapter.

 

Chapter 2: Mission Planning

 

The Atlantis’ hangar bustled with activity. As the flight computers of the five Dragonflies taxied them into their assigned berths, flight crews raced around the hangar, intent on completing their various tasks in the least time possible. As soon as the jets came to a halt, a pair of engineers unscrewed the nose caps of each of the Sky Dragon’s fighters and attached the interface underneath to a heavy grey hose. The weight of the hoses was mainly composed of the fuel and electronic interface systems embedded into it, allowing the Atlantis’ hangar computers to automatically refuel the jet, inform flight crews of any internal problems, calibrate the jet’s sensors, and upload any software updates to its flight computer. Leaving their fighter aircraft to be tended to by the swarm of engineers in the hangar, the ten pilots that made up the Sky Dragons headed for the prep room.

 

When the pilots emerged from the prep room, their bulky flight suits had been removed, and they were now wearing comfortable uniforms that allowed them to stretch their stiff muscles. As they followed a colour coded line of lights through the aircraft carrier’s maze of corridors, their identification badges attracted several curious glances from the motley of pilots, soldiers, engineers and other people that they passed. This continued until the door of briefing room nine slid open to admit them.

 

The briefing room was shaped like a small amphitheatre, with rows of seats around a central podium, upon which was a large screen displaying a tactical map of a small, icy cove. The seats were filled with about forty uniformed figures, fifty including the Sky Dragons.

 

After a few minutes a smaller screen above the tactical map flickered to life, showing four images. The foremost was the lean, hardened face of Interpol Combat Special Forces Commander Stareck Josh. The second image was blurred and displayed the unidentifiable image of the chief of Interpol Intelligence. Third was a woman, considerably younger than the others, but of equal stature as the commander of the Interpol Combat Airforce. The final picture showed only static.

 

An officer in dress uniform stepped onto the podium. “Commander Stareck, Mr. I, and Commander Grace. Good afternoon.” The officer said this in a thoroughly unwelcoming voice.

 

“Good afternoon major,” responded Stareck in kind, “And welcome to all of you here. As you already know, you have been called here to participate in an extraction strike later tonight. This strike is based on information gathered a month ago by a team of agents belonging to our intelligence division.”

 

The mysterious figure known as Mr. I continued Stareck’s speech in a heavily accented voice, “A month ago, two of our agents infiltrated a Trident facility in the United States of America. They extracted encrypted data from the facility’s central computer. That data points to a hidden Trident base located here.” A labelled cross appeared on the tactical map. “That intelligence was later confirmed by spy satellite imaging. The stolen data indicates that this base has a computer system that contains sensitive data of some sort. This system is heavily encrypted, completely stand-alone and heavily guarded by several of Trident’s best squads, including several Sweeper-2s.” A hushed whisper spread across the audience at the mention of the Sweeper’s smarter airborne variant. “We have already dispatched three separate intelligence teams to attempt to retrieve this information. They were, ah, unsuccessful in extracting the data. We have decided to try a more direct approach.”

 

Commander Grace began the dictation of the attack plan. “At approximately 2345 tonight, the Atlantis will launch three light troop carriers. The troop carriers will drop three armoured-infantry Special Forces squads at these locations.” As she spoke, three blinking dots materialised on the map’s representation of the Atlantis, and moved to position themselves around the cross.

 

“Excuse me ma’am, but how will our troop carriers get to their targets without getting shot down?” asked a worried looking officer.

 

A new voice, barely distinguishable with static, answered the question, “The troop carriers that we will be using are the GTG-S model. They should be stealthy enough to carry out the incursion undetected. As an additional precaution, a team of slicers will be monitoring the target’s sensor systems closely.”

 

“Good afternoon Tech.” Stareck said with a note of surprise, “We didn’t think you would be able to transmit over this range. Now, as Commander Grace was saying, our Special Forces squads will be dropped at these locations. They will perform an incursion of the base at the northeast, northwest, and south entrances.” The entrances were highlighted on the screen. “Hopefully, they will be able to penetrate the facility’s security and obtain a complete copy of the encrypted information. Commander Grace, please continue.”

 

“If and when the incursion teams manage to access the data, two heavy troopships will land a few kilometres south of the base. They will deploy several squads of heavy units. These units should be enough to successfully evacuate our incursion teams. They will be backed up by the Silver Lining and Sky Dragons -” she was interrupted by the chorus of murmurs that erupted across her audience. She waited for them to quiet down, and then continued. “Thank you. The Silver Lining and Sky Dragons squadrons will provide air cover for our heavy squads in LAC-101s. Once the squads are successfully evacuated, the troopships will return to the Atlantis and its task group. The task group will set out immediately for our C2 facility.”

 

Stareck finished the speech, “The attack commences in approximately 5 hours. Details of your assignments will be uploaded to your PDAs. Good luck.” With that, the screens went blank, and the soldiers stood and filed out of the room.

 

As they ate in the mess hall, Talon spoke up, “So, we’ll be flying attack blimps eh?”

 

Snap replied worriedly, “Am I correct in saying that you’ve never flown one before?”

 

Talon nodded.

 

“Well then you have an hour and a half to get yourself and your gunner acquainted with one.”

 

“Oh goody,” said Talon’s gunner, Thrush, “I love the simulators.”

[Midtime]

My Rating: :) :) :) :( :(

A good description of everything, though "Mr I" isn't very catchy. I've heard of Tech several times before, but I would have expected him to have a better transmission. The plan is well thought out, and I'm wondering whether they succeed. It would be funny if Talon crashed the blimp. Who is Mr I? A lot of questions are raised in this chapter, more than are answered. Please post the next chapter as soon as possible!

[antiaircraft]

Chapter 3: Under the Radar

 

Talon sat in the Atlantis’ hangar, examining a schematic of the LAC-101. Commonly known as the attack blimp, the highly advanced LAC-101 was perfectly adapted for low altitude combat, integrating mirage technology, muffled turboprop engines, rapid-fire 16 millimetre cannons, and Hellfire Advanced missiles in one silent, ten metre long package. The blimp possessed the classic elongated airship shape, but did not have a gondola; instead the lower half of the blimp’s body was occupied by the cockpit, while the upper half was filled with a complex gaseous compound that provided the more than enough lift to keep the blimp in the air. The rotatable bases of the engines and weapons systems were mounted on the blimp’s rigid skin, and the whole airship was coated with a thick layer of mirage crystals. The LAC-101’s superior stealth, manoeuvrability, and firepower made it the aircraft of choice for the upcoming mission. At first, Talon had found the blimp’s alien controls frustrating, spending the first 15 minutes frantically trying to avoid running into trees. His frustration was short-lived as he mastered the aircraft, and, demonstrating the innovative prowess that had earned him world record marks at combat flying school, passed every simulation that had been thrown at him. Now he was tensely waiting for the dropped strike teams to call for backup, and familiarising himself with the LAC-101’s design.

 

As the seconds ticked by, the atmosphere in the hangar grew increasingly tense. The operator who was making announcements on the progress of the mission had last reported that one of the teams had been pinned down on the outskirts of the base, while another team had made a diversionary attack on the building housing their target. At last, after 5 minutes of silence, the operator’s excited voice broke the silence:

 

“Team three is in! Repeat, team three is in! They are downloading the data now!”

 

“All units, this is Commander Grace Chang. Heavy troopships delta and gamma will launch now, followed by their air support.”

 

With a roar, the two massive ships fired up their thrusters. As the Atlantis surfaced, the cargo elevators lifted the aircraft onto the flight deck, and their titanic hydrogen powered thrusters lifted 1200 tons of troops, ammunition and combat equipment into the air.

 

Meanwhile, the ten pilot-gunner pairs that would provide air support for the ground units were climbing into their attack blimps.

 

“Good luck.” Talon said, donning his helmet.

 

“Same to you, and don’t bump into too many trees, at least until I get there.” Buzz’s reply prompted a groan from Snap.

 

“Attack blimps are built for stealth Buzz,” he scolded, “And that means minimal radio traffic. Am I clear?”

 

“Actually Snap, humans are opaque, but I’m surprised you didn’t-” Buzz’s transmission cut off as the blimps’ autopilots kicked their propeller engines into action. “Whoa. This thing has a lot of acceleration for a blimp.”

 

“The LAC-101 has a top speed of 860 kilometres an hour with an average acceleration force of 3Gs.” Talon said in a matter-of-fact voice.

 

Buzz whistled, “I wouldn’t want to hit a tree going that fast.”

 

“Well, with your reaction time, you’ll probably be doing that non-stop for the whole of this mission, so you’d better get used to it.” Talon retorted.

 

The bickering continued for a few minutes, until they reached what was commonly known as the “red zone”, and Snap ordered the two pilots to maintain radio silence. Silver Lining squadron was lined up on a different approach vector. The two squadrons would arrive before the troopships and eliminate anything that might interfere with their landing and unit deployment.

 

“Combat ready.” Snap said. A short range tight-beam radio transmitted this directly to the other craft, eliminating any chance of the communication being intercepted. The Sky Dragons responded instantly to the order: the pilots throttled their blimps down to optimal engagement speed, and the gunners activated their targeting computers, instantly arming their weapons systems and bringing up detailed overlays of their surroundings.

 

QuickFlash’s trained eye immediately noticed something unusual. He frowned, and magnified it by 300%. His targeting computer was too far away to identify the oddly shaped outline on the snow covered shoreline, but he recognised it instantly. However, he did so five seconds after Talon did.

 

“Those are AA Spotters!” he hissed. All five pilots immediately checked that their mirage was dialled up to maximum. The Spotter Tank had been specifically designed by Trident to detect and shoot down the large and ungainly troopships that were used by IC to deploy heavy troops. Equipped with top grade sensors, computer targeted 3 millimetre rapid-fire cannons, and homing Python SpeedSeeker missiles, they did their job with ruthless speed and precision, and had even managed to shoot down a Dragonfly. However, the mirage capabilities and slim profile of the LAC-101s made them invisible even to the AA Spotters sensor array.

 

Running his targeting sensors over the area, QuickFlash identified two more of the vehicles. “Three of them on vectors 234, 338 and 016.”

 

“I copy.” said Ra. Formerly a reconnaissance expert, Ra specialised in identifying and destroying targets over long distances. She armed three of her Hellfire missiles and locked one on each of the tanks.

 

“Wait!” QuickFlash said when he realised what she was doing. “We can’t use Hellfire missiles on AA spotters over this range. They’ll just blow them out of the sky.”

 

“Well, what do you propose we do? They’ll detect us if we move any closer.” queried Ocelot, Ra’s pilot.

 

Thrush already had the answer. “Watch and learn my overly simplistic friend.” he said, smirking. Showing off his skill with computerised targeting systems, he armed six of his Hellfire missiles and programmed them on custom courses. He hit the trigger. Six missiles shot out from their launchers in quick succession. Angling their engines sideways, the Sky Dragons quickly moved away from the missile’s point of origin, which could easily be identified by sensors. As Ra and the other gunners watched interestedly, three of the missiles curved up in graceful arcs and approached the three tanks from different angles, while the other three continued towards the tanks in a straight line. The Spotter Tanks quickly identified all six missiles, eliminating the angled ones first and then moving on to the others. However, before they could be obliterated by the cannon shells, the three remaining missiles suddenly embarked on a completely unpredictable series of evasive manoeuvres, foiling the tanks’ initial attempts to target lock them. Eventually however, the computerised targeting could not be denied, and the missiles exploded in midair. Before the tank operators had a chance to breathe their sighs of relief, Thrush fired another three Hellfire missiles from a range of no more than 50 metres. The three tanks were instantly transformed into three large piles of scrap metal.

 

“Creative.” said Snap, “Using double decoys. Proceed to the drop zone before some Trident sensor operator figures out what’s going on.”

 

The five attack blimps moved silently, hugging the icy ground and blending almost perfectly with their surroundings. No more Trident units had been stationed in between the shoreline and the drop site, an indication that Trident was trying very hard to stop the armoured infantry units from getting out alive.

 

The two squadrons of airships formed an invisible perimeter around the drop site, and with a roar the two troopships soared into view. As they landed, they opened their cargo doors. The first heavily armoured infantry units were on the ground before the troopships touched down. After a few seconds, the air was filled with the loud whining of tank engines and turret motors. The cavalry had arrived.

[Midtime]

I can't put a rating on this one really. It shows only part of the attack. The blimps are well described, but what are mirage crystals? Trident antiaircraft spotter tanks are excellent, so now the two sides seem more equally matched.

[antiaircraft]

what are mirage crystals?

Mirage crystals are top secret devices that make mirage technology possible... I thought it was obvious.

 

Edit: Sorry to keep you waiting, but I am really busy with schoolwork.

[Midtime]

Ah. I see. Now I will wait for chapter four. When it is released, I will put one rating for chapters three and four.

[antiaircraft]

Actually, I think the battle might carry on into chapter 5. I don't know yet, as I'm only about halfway through writing chapter 4.

[Midtime]

If the battle carries on, I might not give a rating on chapters four and three. What if it carries on into chapter six?

[antiaircraft]

I don't know. Writing is like an art, even the artist doesn't quite know what they're going to get. I will probably finish chapter 4 this week since I have a holiday.

[buzz]

Your stories are good.

*waiting for ch. 4*

[antiaircraft]

Thanks for the compliment Buzz, and here is chapter 4:

Chapter 4: The Cavalry

 

The air was filled with music of battle. Tanks from both sides and an assortment of automated defensive guns launched various projectiles at each other. Shells whined as they shot through the air and crackled as they discharged their deadly payloads of static electricity into anything unlucky enough to be near their impact sites, rockets indiscriminately blasted troopers, vehicles and buildings into oblivion with thunderous explosions, and automatic weapons hummed as they fired thousands of rounds that found their way through the toughest body armour.

 

The Interpol Combat tank operators were among the best in the world, not so much driving as riding their vehicles, they fluidly executed precisely calculated manoeuvres, and coordinated seamlessly with their teammates to orchestrate one unpredictably complex tactical dance.

 

Darting across exposed areas, ducking behind rubble, buildings and tanks, and making bold advances through hailstorms of deadly missiles, the infantry combat troopers displayed more finesse than the tanks, placing bullets and grenades in the most damaging locations within range, and storming strategically placed buildings from which they pounded enemy positions with a variety of weapons.

 

The ground squads were backed up by the Silver Lining squadron in their undetectable attack blimps, providing supporting fire for advances and surprising enemy units with fierce hit and run assaults.

 

Deeper in the facility, the Sky Dragons worked behind the Trident defensive perimeter, flying circles around any Trident units that attempted to engage them and reducing them to smoking ruins shortly afterwards.

 

A few minutes into the battle, Talon and Thrush were wreaking havoc at the core of the Trident base. Well placed cannon shells and Hellfire Advanced missiles found blind spots in the heaviest defensive screens, and the shaky targeting data the Trident sensors returned was unable to pinpoint the mirage cloaked LAC-101 causing the chaos.

 

“Point me at that generator.” Thrush instructed, selecting a Hellfire missile and keying in the launch codes.

 

“How about the regulator?” Talon asked, “Taking that out should overload all the generators.”

 

“Good point,” answered Thrush, “The regulator then.”

 

15 seconds later, all seven major generators in the base died in explosions of sparks.

 

Thrush grinned, “Anything else to hit? Something that makes a real boom this time?”

 

“You are addicted to big explosions.” said Talon, sighing as he eased the throttle forward. The blimp flew smoothly through the darkness, headed for what its sensors identified as a High Explosive ammunition depot. As they came within 150 metres of the building, Thrush’s targeting computer chimed a warning.

 

“What the blazes? Anti-missile emplacements with independent backup generators? This doesn’t fit for an ammo depot.” he drew his finger along the touch screen, bringing up more specific data. “The sensors agree with me, there’s an explosive gas of some sort being stored at high pressure. It says it’s unknown but from the readings I think it’s got hydrogen in it.”

 

Talon brought the airship to a standstill in an alleyway, hovering two metres above the ground. “I’ll tight beam command. Intelligence might want a few samples.”

 

* * *

On the bridge of the Atlantis, Commander Vysir frowned as he read the recently decrypted transmission. “Yes, intelligence would want a sample. Instruct one of our armoured-infantry squads to take a sample from that building, and order any available attack blimps to give them cover.”

 

* * *

Clad completely in heavy black body armour, with access to a range of weapons greater than that available to the average army, and capable of using any one of them with greater skill than a professional who has worked with it for his entire life, the Interpol Combat Special Forces armoured-infantry commandos were among the deadliest, and certainly the most feared troopers in existence.

 

A squad of the aforementioned soldiers was gliding silently from rooftop to rooftop, invisibly avoiding the few defences that remained operational. Imperceptible behind its mirage cloak, Talon’s airship sliced smoothly through the air behind them.

 

“Sometimes, I wish I had trained as a commando,” said Thrush in a conversational tone, “You get so much more respect than the pilots.”

 

“And sometimes I wish I trained as a pilot,” grunted the team’s leader, codenamed Track, “You guys get so much more lax time than we do.”

 

Snap’s slightly annoyed voice interrupted, “Quit chatting, minimal radio traffic remember? Ocelot and I are going to investigate what looks like a group of AA spotters here.” The position was marked by a red circle on the Sky Dragons’ navigation units. “We’ll radio if we need help.”

 

“Got that Snap.” Talon said into his radio, adding under his breath, “As if you ever need help.” Unfortunately for him, the microphones were whisper sensitive.

 

“I’ll take that as a compliment Talon. Snap out.”

 

The exchange drew a few snorts of laughter from Thrush and the commandos, which were quickly drowned out by the following explosion. The shockwave from the explosion shunted Talon’s LAC-101 a few metres to the right before he compensated by swivelling the drive rotors left and throttling up. Thrush didn’t need the blimp’s optical sensors to see the column of flame that shot 10 metres into the air.

 

Buzz’s voice came over the radio, “Sorry ‘bout that, me and Spectre found a bunch of tanks equipped with rocket-launchers. We didn’t notice the nitrous. Honest.”

 

Another snort escaped one of the commandos. Then Track spoke up, “We’re coming up on our target.” After fingering his HUD controls he continued, “We rappel between those two tanks and insert through the conveyor belt over there.”

 

“I think a few Hellfire Advanced missiles should keep the defences dancing for long enough for you to, ah, sneak in.” Thrush said, tracing a pattern on his targeting computer’s touch screen, “Goodbye and good luck.”

 

The troopers rappelled noiselessly to a position between two worn-out tanks and readied their equipment. Exactly five seconds after their feet touched the ground, Thrush thumbed his trigger. His last two missiles lanced towards the building, leaving flaming trails in their wake. The building’s defences automatically responded, swivelling and opening up with sprays of quickly solidifying liquid pellets. In the same instant, he fired his cannons at an exposed ring of cables attached to one of the turrets. Thrush scored a one in a million hit, and the area’s lighting went out. The Special Forces troopers broke cover, running across a dark construction yard, and darting onto a conveyor belt leading into the building. Shortly afterwards the area was lit by two detonations as the anti-missile turrets, unhindered by the lack of light, neutralised the oncoming Hellfire Advanced missiles.

 

It took two minutes for the engineers to reroute the power supply for the spotlights, by that time Talon and Thrush had already moved on, leaving the enemy strategists unaware of the commando squad’s presence.

[Midtime]

I'm going to post a rating even though the battle hasn't ended.

 

My rating: :) :) :) :( :(

 

This chapter keeps us in suspense, the sides seem pretty much equal. I can't wait till the next one, but then it might continue to the next chapter, and the next...

Anyway, keep writing!

[antiaircraft]

I won't start writing chapter 5 just yet, I am still building up ideas.