Chapter Five

Ripcord saw Covergirl's gesture. She must've been under the impression that the Command Center was still important. As the Wolverine rolled to a stop Ripcord jogged over to it. He leapt up on the deck of the missile carrier and took a knee near Covergirl's opened hatch. He felt like at least saying that he was glad to see she was still safe, but it could wait. They needed to move out now. Despite his speech focusing on staying alive his green eyes seemed a shade brighter as leaned in close to her. "Did you hear Steeler? We need to make it to Way Point Zulu." He said. Before Covergirl could say anything another transmission came across everyone's radio.
"All units, all units this is command three at Way Point Zulu, the Cobras have surrounded our positions at way point. The tights spaces are giving us the advantage. We are holding. I say again we are holding. But the line of enemy units makes it difficult for friendlies outside the line to reach Zulu. I say again if you are headed for Zulu you will encounter heavy resistance." As Steeler's transmission finished the squad channels opened up.
"Well where in the hell are we supposed to go now?" Came the comment for Hotseat within the MOBAT.
"Maybe we could just hold here." Zap offered.
"I dunno. We've got no resupply, the heavies can't hold out forever." Fastdraw retorted.
"Let's bug out into the woods man, we can't make it." Heavy Metal within the Mauler said. The radio continued with a slew of negative comments and shot-down plans. Until a very different mind set hit the airwaves.
"We can make it." Ripcord transmitted. Before anyone could get a comment out he continued. "Zap, Heavy Metal, Hotseat come the Wolverine, I've got a plan." With that said Zap started jogging towards the missile platform as hatches popped on the MOBAT and Mauler. Heavy Metal looked a lot more humbled than on the flight over, and seemed to be alert almost the point of paranoia. Hotseat was an older tanker, a head of gray hair was seen as he pulled off his helmet, but the fire in his eyes belied his age. As the two tankers reached the Wolverine Ripcord began to speak. "Okay first, Hotseat, Heavy Metal what shape are your crews in?"
"We're intact, I've been operating the turret while McMillian's been driving." Heavy Metal said as he jerked a thumb back towards his tank.
"I've lost Lima, my loader. I've been running gunner duties while I switched my gunner, Adams over to loader. Padowski, my driver is fine too." Hotseat said with a nod.
"Good," Ripcord said as he turned away from the tankers and towards the two infantry men.
"Next thing, how's your ammo?"
"I got 35 rounds left in this belt," Repeater said as he looked down at his M-60, "and two more boxes with 100 rounds each."
"Not good, I'm down to my last two clips on the 16, but I've still got a LAW on me." Fastdraw said with a sigh and a shake of his head.
"Alright here's the deal," Ripcord said as it started to fall into place. "Fastdraw give me your remaining magazines, then give your LAW to Zap." Fastdraw started to protest but was cut off as Ripcord continued. "Then I want you to go with Hotseat and operate the .50 cal on the MOBAT's roof." Fastdraw finally nodded, seeing the logic of surrendering his weapons. Ripcord's gaze then shifted to Repeater. "Repeater you and your 60 go with Heavy Metal, climb on top of the turret of the Mauler and give it some anti-infantry support." Repeater grunted a response and nodded his head. Ripcord then looked to his friend, Zap. "All right buddy, me and you are on the Wolverine, you'll have the LAW and the HK-69 I found on the Frag Viper." Zap nodded as Ripcord pulled out a map of the facility and spread it out on the deck of the Wolverine. After looking at the map for a long moment he finally spoke, tracing his finger along a path. "Okay, if we hit an enemy force out in the open it'll get ugly, but if we use these secondary buildings here, the tight spaces should provide cover as we advance towards Zulu. We'll move through here to hook around to the weakest flank of the blockade around Steeler and the others. Then we make a hole and punch through it." Ripcord looked around, everyone seemed to agree. "We'll send the Mauler out on point, followed by the MOBAT, with the Wolverine bringing up the rear. Stay alert and slow as we move through the alleys. Fastdraw, Repeater stay on constant watch for infantry. Make sure if we hit an open area that you speed up. If you see an enemy vehicle, take it out as soon as possible, the fewer armor units we have to deal with on this little joy-ride, the better." Ripcord looked up as aircraft engines screamed by, seeing two Ghoststrikers flying side by side at low attitude. "Don't worry too much about aircraft, it looks like we've won air superiority. And Zap try and save the LAW and 40-mils if it's possible. If we're forced to dismount, those'll be the only heavy weapons we'll have left." With the impromptu briefing finished, Ripcord looked down at the deck of the Wolverine and let out a deep exhale. He looked up and spoke in a slightly raised voice. "Let's do this people." With that said the group began exchanging weapons and heading for the vehicles they'd been assigned to. A part of Ripcord felt strange, ordering around people that were his senior. But they didn't seem to care. Neither did he. And if the brass had a problem with it they could dock his ass for insubordination later. Ripcord's thoughts of that issue faded as he started laughing. The exhaustion and hunger must be started to get to him, he assumed. Zap looked over at Ripcord with a puzzled look. Ripcord shook his head and motioned at all the weapons and ammo Zap was carrying. "Reminds me of Poncho Villa." Shaking his head clear he focused on the Mauler rolling out. Ripcord watched as the two tanks started to slowly roll away from the command center and towards the alleyways which they would travel. While waiting for her to start up the Wolverine he looked over at Covergirl and placed his hand on top of hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. As she looked up their eyes met and he spoke in a soft voice. "I'm glad to know you're safe."


Covergirl listened as Ripcord barked out orders. Sending the Mauler out point was a good call, topping out at 85 mph, it was the fastest of the three. The MOBAT was second at about 65 mph, and the Wolverine was the slowest, but with rapid fire capability. She had to admire how the others listened to him, respected him. As she started readying the engines, he placed his hand on top of hers, giving it a light squeeze. "I'm glad to know you're safe." He said in a soft voice. She started to give the 'You too' sign, used to using more sign language from the hatch than verbal, but managed a smile, catching herself. She wanted to apologize for what went on in England, mostly for having left him behind, to tell him she wouldn't let it happen again, but the lump in her throat would only let her choke out a quick
"You too." She dropped her eyes from his when she heard the MOBAT take its position, noticing the fresh blood around the torn bandages of his arm. She grabbed his hand as he pulled it away, and pointed to his arm. "You're hurt!" She tried to visually access the wound. "There's an `Aid Kit in the back." She told him, gesturing towards the left turret. "You gotta re-wrap that." He started shaking his head no, indicating it was all right, so she grabbed his hand tighter, gingerly touching his forearm with her other hand. He winced sharply, and she shook her head, then jerked her thumb back in the direction of the first aid kit, and made a 'wrap it up' gesture. She thought she saw him mock salute as he slid off the deck towards the back, but he may have been trying to steady himself. By that point, she had began starting the large engines.
"Holla, Chic Bonito." The soldier with Ripcord said, tipping his helmet, and offering a hand. "Name's Zap."
"Krieger." She told him, shaking his hand without looking up, then shook her head, remembering the call signs. "Covergirl." She looked up from the hatch and caught sight of his eyes. Brown. Deep Brown. Like the Cobra. 'What do you say we take the tank driver out for a little test drive ourselves?' She froze for a second, then quickly dropped his hand and her gaze, busying herself with the pre-checks "Engine one, Engine one, check, check, Left cat check, Right, Right..." She checked behind her. "Watch your head, guy" She told Zap, checking the turrets rotations. He moved to let her finish the checks, opting to help his buddy apply the wound dressing to his arm. "Okay," She said to the craft as the two men climbed aboard, patting the control panel. "We got some company again, but don't get jealous now..." She saw Ripcord stare at her, eyebrows raised and a small smile over the idiosyncrasy. She forgot about the battle for a second, blocking out the images of the dead soldiers, and the memory of the Cobras in the woods and smiled back, locking eyes with him. Releasing the clutch, she eased the Wolverine into forward, spacing herself roughly twenty meters behind the MOBAT.

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