Chapter Five

At first Hotseat had thought it was Ripcord, until he realized there was more than one figure traveling in their direction. Hotseat immediately turned towards Repeater and pointed to his eyes with two fingers then the direction of the figures. While his eyes were still focused on where Hotseat had pointed, Repeater and made a half circle motion with his hand. Hotseat nodded and the two veteran soldiers melted back into the jungle. As the duo made their flanking maneuver more details of the figures came out. Ten Range Vipers with the same odd alligator skin pattern dyed into the normal Range Viper uniform and again armed with Bizon-2s. They couldn't have made it here on foot or even by ground vehicle on such short notice. They must have dropped in from another helicopter shortly after the first. There had been plenty of noise between the firefight and the downing of the first helicopter to mask the noise of another. Hotseat pushed away his theories. It didn't matter where they'd come from. Right now all that mattered was stopping them. Finally the two reached a suitable point where the advancing wedge of Range Vipers would pass them. Both went prone and drew a bead on the enemy point man. Hotseat's pulse raced as the Range Vipers approached, if they were seen before they could spring their ambush it was all over. As the enemy point man came directly in line with the duo, Repeater opened fire. The big 7.62mm round connected with the side of the point man's knee, literally blowing the man's leg in two. As the point man and his lower leg fell towards the ground one of the others rushed forward to help. Hotseat fired. The smaller 5.56mm round impacted on the cheek of the Cobra's full-head helmet. The ballistic material slowed the bullet but didn't stop it completely. The Range Viper fell to his knees, clawing at the latches on his head gear. By now the others had dove prone, save one who must have been dazed by the suddenness of the attack. It would be his last hesitation. Repeater swung the M-60 in-line with the man and fired off a burst. The man fell backwards in a spray of crimson. As the man's limp body hit the ground, an explosion was heard followed by debris and smoke flying up from where the corpse had hit. It startled Hotseat for the briefest fraction of a second. He'd almost forgotten that they were fighting in a minefield. The Cobras started to organize and return fire. It was time to go. "Displace!" Hotseat yelled to Repeater as the two moved into crouches and moved as fast as they could back into the depths of the jungle. Hotseat was so busy focusing on the ground and it's deadly contents that he didn't even see it coming. An arm flashed out in front of him from behind a tree, clothes-lining the NCO and knocking him on his back, sending his M-16 flying away from him. Shaking his head to fight the blackness creeping into the edge of his sight he saw Repeater still running away, unaware Hotseat had been hit. Hotseat started to yell out to his teammate when he was cut off by the sound of the Bizon-2 held by the Range Viper that had hit him. He saw the big Ranger stumble forward, crimson fluid flying from where the bullets impacted on his LC-2 just before he'd hit the ground. Hotseat screamed in his mind. Why?! Why weren't you wearing your vest?! As the Range Viper darted forwards, leveling his Bizon-2 down at Hotseat, the NCO tried to get a final transmission out.


"Get the hell outta here! Repeater's down! I'm n-" The group's eyes widened as the transmission came in and was cut off as quickly as it was spoken. Covergirl immediately shouted out and started in the direction that the gunfire had come from.
"Our guys are in trouble! Repeater's hit, we gotta get them out of there!" She called frantically as she waved everyone forward.
"No." Ripcord said. Covergirl stared daggers towards him. He continued in an even voice. "He said 'down' not 'hit', you know what that means. There's nothing more we can do for them and there's no telling how many hostiles there are between us and them. Plus we still got a mission to complete. If we do a wide hook around this area then we should be able to avoid the enemy force."
"So we just leave them?" Covergirl retorted becoming more agitated with each passing moment.
"We don't have a choice." Ripcord said solemnly with a slow shake of his head.
"Yeah, why should we have to die too?" Heavy Metal said in a shaky voice as his eyes nervously scanned the jungle.
"Maybe they got taken prisoner?" Zap offered.
"Cobra don't take prisoners." Heavy Metal retorted. As the Zap and Heavy Metal argued Fastdraw approached Covergirl and whispered in her ear.
"You got lucky with Skyboy babe, luck don't last that long." That earned him a stare from Covergirl that could freeze the sun. Her icy glare then shifted to Ripcord.
"Fine. Then we just abandon them. Your call." She said, scorn dripping from her voice.
"Everyone stay behind me and Zap, make every move we make. We don't have much time so we're gonna have to run through this thing." He said, getting a nod from everyone but Covergirl. He didn't blame her. He hated himself for what he had just ordered too. 'It couldn't be avoided.' He told himself. 'Bullshit, you could have saved them.' Another part of himself shouted out. Trying in vain to shake the thoughts from his head, he looked around at his people. "Okay, let's move. Zap sidearm." Ripcord caught the M-1911 Zap had tossed to him and charged it. Ripcord then took a long look in front of them. He fought to clear his head. They were about run though a minefield, he couldn't be distracted. But despite how hard he tried his mind kept slipping back to image of the faces of the NCO and the big machine gunner. That and the sickening feeling of betraying someone dominated his thoughts. Then his mind fell on something Hotseat had told him on the long VAMP ride yesterday that seemed like years ago. 'Kid, if something happens to me out there, you've got command. I don't want you doin' stupid shit like leave-no-man-behind. This is a covert op, on this mission the most important thing is the mission. I don't want you to turn from that. Don't risk everyone's life someone is cut off. They'll hate you for it but they'll also be counting on you to bring them out alive. Losses are horrible but unavoidable, that's the nature of warfare. Promise me you'll act like a leader if the time comes.' "I promise." Ripcord repeated, not realizing he'd spoken the words out loud. That was sufficient enough to clear his thoughts. He took off across the mines.


"Don't!" Hopkins yelled out to Fultz as his fellow Range Viper leveled his weapon at the soldier on the ground.
"Why not? This sonuvabitch wasted our buddies. Why should he get to live when they didn't." Fultz said through gritted teeth.
"Look man, I wanna waste this asshole just as much as you but do you really think two soldiers did all this?" Hopkins asked as he motioned to the jungle around them. "There must have been at least a platoon here." He jerked his thumb towards the soldier he'd seen Fultz gun down. "With that one dead, this one's the only guy left that can give info on this group."
"But these guys might've kill Cr-" Fultz started but was cut off.
"We take him prisoner. End of discussion. Strip his equipment. That's an order." Hopkins barked back at Fultz. After the slightest moment of hesitation Fultz bent down and began to violently tear equipment off of Hotseat, punching him in the face whenever the slightest motion of resistance was given. As Fultz stripped Hotseat down to his brown t-shirt, BDU pants, and boots another Range Viper, Schmidt, approached Hopkins.
"I've found a blood trail along with large size Cobra issue boot prints. Could be the boss." Schmidt reported.
"Alright." Hopkins replied with a nod. "Okay Listen up people, here's the deal. Radick and Ellis need to be taken back to base along with the prisoner; Dane, Ostapovich, and Vickers will act as escort. Fultz, Schmidt, Quincy, and myself are going to see if we can track down the boss."
"What about policing the area or trying to find the other soldiers?" Dane asked.
"No time. Radick and Ellis need medical attention and we've got no clue what kind of shape the boss is in, so we need to hurry. Move out." With the end of Hopkins' orders the group of Range Vipers split up to carry out their tasks.


After what seemed like an eternity of their dangerous run, the mines and tripwires started to completely disappear. Ripcord thought that the Cobras must have thought no one would've been able to make it this far. They had to be getting closer to the MARS factory. In addition to the almost nonexistent amount of traps, the number of animal noises had dropped dramatically, a sure sign that man controlled the area. Finally Ripcord stopped. Everyone else stopped immediately where they stood. "Alright, we've put some distance between us and them, let's take a few to catch our breath. But don't let your guard down. The lack of traps can only mean we're getting closer." The group nodded and Ripcord eased himself over to a tree and carefully sat down, his torso screaming out in protest every inch of the way. As he finally eased down on the floor of the jungle he saw Covergirl stand up and walk over. He closed his eyes for moment, expecting to hear her complaints about leaving the others behind. He opened them to see her on a knee in front of him.
"It's okay, you know. You can admit it hurts." She said in a soft voice.
"I can't afford to slow the team down. If they're worried about me, they lose focus." Ripcord said quietly with a shake of his head, almost not wanting to admit it.
"I know, I'm just saying you don't always have to be Superman." She responded with a shrug.
"Can you at least help me tape these up while you lecture me?" Ripcord said as another jolt of pain hit while he tried to lean forward a bit.
"I'm not trying to lecture you..." She said as she start to gently open his ALICE gear and ballistic vest, "But you aren't going to do the team any good if you're dead. Besides... it's too late. I... I mean we are worried about you." She said as she tried to focus on getting his equipment off. She was forced to look up as Ripcord took hold of her hand. He looked into her eyes for a moment before he spoke.
"I...I worry about you too Courtney."


His eyes had fluttered open to the sound of several people talking nearby. His back hurt like hell. Fighting the urge to stand and take stock of himself he remained motionless. Why hadn't they checked him? They seemed to be good enough to check people that went down. Maybe there were in a hurry, unless he was hit worse than he thought. He pushed the thoughts from his mind. Now wasn't the time to panic. After what felt like forever he heard the group start to walk away. He remained still a few more minutes after the sounds of movement had gone into the distance. Finally he slowly turned his head side to side, looking for signs of people. The area was clear. Repeater picked himself up off the ground. He looked around the jungle one more time, making sure the area was clear. With a groan as his sore back muscles worked he shrugged the LC-2 ruck off. He immediately noticed red stains covering the LC-2. His pulse started to race as he jerked open his ballistic vest and ALICE gear. He had been hit. Shock must have set in, he didn't feel anything but soreness. He slipped out of the ALICE gear and ballistic vest, looking inside. It hadn't been breached. What the hell? He flipped it over, the red stains and stopped 9mm rounds were clearly seen on the back of the vest. He bent down and opened up the LC-2, seeing red stains coating the inside of the ruck. He inspected the destroyed equipment, his eyes falling on the epicenter of the stains. He pulled the bullet-ridden MRE package out of the ruck, noticing the writing on it 'MEAL READY TO EAT # 23 TOMATO SOUP'. He let out a sigh of relief. Saved by the same government food soldiers had bad mouthed for decades. Sudden reality snapped back to him. His team. He needed to get to his team. He keyed the radio. Nothing. He looked down at his ALICE gear that he held in his hand. He saw the power unit for his radio. A bullet hole was dead center of the black plastic and metal rectangle. He was alone in the jungle again. No! This was different, his squad was still alive. He had to link up with them. He had to protect them. If Ripcord was smart, which Repeater didn't doubt, he'd remain on mission and head for the MARS factory. That's where Repeater would go to find them. He picked the spent 9mm rounds out of his ballistic vest before putting it and the ALICE gear back on. He then reached into his LC-2, linking the remaining 7.62mm rounds into two belts which he draped over his torso. He left his LC-2 and his destroyed radio gear. He couldn't be slowed down. He had to reach his squad. "Hang on guys, I'm coming."


Hopkins ran forward when he saw Croc Master's prone form. He threw off his full face helmet as he knelt down beside his leader. Carefully he rolled Croc Master over. Hopkins had to look away to keep from vomiting. One side of Croc Master's face seemed fine but the other was maimed beyond belief. Hopkins could see little through all the blood that covered his face and had ran down the front of his shirt, but what he did see what horrifying. Croc Master's eye had been ruptured and there was a gash leading from the eye socket to his mouth, splitting his upper lip completely in two in the process. The four front teeth of the top row were missing altogether and from what Hopkins could see it looked like his tongue had been split right down the middle. Hopkins was amazed when he saw the remaining eye flutter open. "It's okay sir, we're gonna get you outta here." Hopkins reassured his fallen leader as he turned to Fultz. "Fultz get a chopper here right now, if he's evaced soon he can make it." Fultz nodded and started to try to raise the base. "We got a bird on the way sir. Just hang on, you're gonna make it." One of Croc Master's arms shakily raised up and grabbed Hopkins' shoulder, bringing the Range Viper closer to his destroyed face.
"Hopkinsss, find out who did thisss. Find out who took my fassse. I want hissss head."


"Alright, we've put some distance between us and them, let's take a few to catch our breath. But don't let your guard down. The lack of traps can only mean we're getting closer." Ripcord told everyone. Zap and Heavy Metal dropped where the were. Fast Draw patted the ground beside him with a sly smirk that made her despise him all the more. Disgusted, she moved off to be by herself. Every ounce of her knew they were doing the wrong thing. Just like back in England, when Big Ben made her leave Ripcord behind in the collapsing building. It just felt wrong. And this felt wrong. Hotseat and Repeater…. Repeater who had thrown her and Heavy Metal to the ground, protecting them from the mines. He was willing to give up his life for theirs, and…. And Ripcord was right. Hotseat said he was down, not hit. Down implies that you aren't going to get back up. She swallowed hard at the reality. The big guy was gone. He may not have said much, but he was still a presence, and somehow, she always felt just a little safer when he was on watch. She wished she were more religious, like Zap, maybe there was some 'make-it-better' prayer. She still held hope for Hotseat, hoped Heavy Metal was wrong about Cobra taking prisoners. Unless… She shuddered at the image, thinking back to old war movies and scenes of torture. She saw Ripcord ease himself over to a tree and carefully sit down, obviously in pain. She shook her head. She saw the extent of the damage to his ribs, she knew he had to be hurting, why couldn't he just admit it? Her mind drifted back to the frantic minutes of searching for him, thinking the worst… that she'd never see him again, and softened. He was hurt. Letting out a deep breath, she walked over to where he was sitting, taking a knee in front of him, trying to figure out something to say.
"It's okay, you know. You can admit it hurts." Was the best she could come up with.
"I can't afford to slow the team down. If they're worried about me, they lose focus." Ripcord said quietly with a shake of his head.
"I know, I'm just saying you don't always have to be Superman." Superman always had his kryptonite, a weakness. His seemed to be not admitting he was hurt, that he needed help.
"Can you at least help me tape these up while you lecture me?" Ripcord said. She smiled slightly, thinking the kryptonite rock just became a little smaller.
"I'm not trying to lecture you..." She said as she started to gently open his ALICE gear and ballistic vest,
"But you aren't going to do the team any good if you're dead. Besides... it's too late. I... I mean we are worried about you." She tried to catch herself from saying what was on her mind. She didn't want him thinking like Fast Draw, that she was too emotional to handle being on the team. She focused instead on getting his equipment off. She was forced to look up as Ripcord took hold of her hand. He looked into her eyes for a moment before he spoke.
"I...I worry about you too Courtney." Courtney. He didn't use it often, but hearing him say her name gave her a feeling of security, warmth, like being wrapped in an oversized quilt on a cold night.
"I know." She wanted to be as comforting to him as he was to her, a feat made more difficult as she wrapped a few layers of duct tape around his sore swollen ribs. It was the only tape she'd had on her wide enough to handle the job, and although she knew it would sting like a bitch when it was taken off, for now it would serve it's purpose. "Should help a little." She told him, tearing off the tape and patting it firmly on his back. Her hand rested on his warm skin for a second, wishing he hadn't looked so battered. Mechanics were so much easier. Whatever was damaged could simply be replaced. Mechanically she knew she could fix near anything, she only wished she could fix this for him. She couldn't help but stare at his strong shoulders. From day one, she'd noticed he looked good in his BDU's, and her eyes quickly traced the muscles on his back and arms. He had a tattoo on his right arm, looked like a bat coming out of some flames… she shook her head. Now wasn't the time. "How's the arm? She asked, as she helped him put his gear back on. He shrugged.
"All right. It's starting to scab up but the humidity and everything that's been happening isn't making it any easier to heal." He rubbed at the bandages for a second, and she visually scanned them for blood.
"Need a rewrap?" He shook his head quickly.
"Not a chance." She nodded, it still had a covering, it still looked clean, she figured that's all she could ask for. He looked into her eyes for a long moment.
"Thanks…. For everything." He said, softly. She nodded in response. He stood a little easier, she wasn't sure if it was from the tape-up, or just him putting on a braver face for her benefit. "Gear up." He told the team, heading over by Zap. "Zap you're on point. Heavy Metal, Cover. Fast Draw, You've got the back, get set to move out."
"Hey Florence Nightingale, if I were wounded, would you look into my pain-filled eyes and help me rally my strength, too?" Fast Draw commented softly, as he walked by.
"Go to hell."
"A little mouth to mouth maybe?" For a split second, she wished it had been him, rather than Repeater. She almost said so, but caught herself before the words could escape from her mouth.

Losing the darkness meant losing their cover, but it made traveling easier. Before long, the jungle air that had just begun to heat up was back to stifling. Another klick went by before Zap gave the hold up followed by the down sign. Simultaneously, the team dropped. Ripcord half low-crawled to where Zap lay on his stomach, before giving the forward signal, indicating for them to spread out. Only Fast Draw hung back. Ahead, in the distance lay a clearing. Surrounded by a razor wire topped fence was a large complex which actually looked a lot like a small army base. Central in the complex was a huge factory building, surrounded by smaller buildings which she assumed were for storage, possibly barracks. To the west was a helipad, aircraft hangars, and from the amount of strange vehicles, the motor pool. Guard towers looked to be every 200 ft apart or so, with patrol soldiers stationed in between. She'd never seen a more well-guarded institution. He spoke in hand signals from that point forward, indicating Zap was going to scout ahead. Fast Draw was to hang back. Stay alert. No weapons. Total silence. The sound of footsteps alerted them that a patrol was on it's way. Ripcord made a final silence sign, then dragged a thumb across his throat. The others nodded. Keep silent unless spotted, if spotted, then kill. She could hear them mumbling, still far enough away not to be clearly heard, but there were definitely at least… one… two.. three of them.
"Did he say how many there were?" She held her breath as they came closer, scouting through the tree line.
"I don't think he said much of anything, doubt he'll be saying anything in the future."
"I heard the jungle's supposed to be crawling with them, so stay alert." She kept her head down, but swung her eyes upward to see the intruders… Zap. They were close in line with Zap. She shifted her eyes right, towards where Ripcord lay motionless. She half feared that maybe he'd passed out, internal injuries or something, but his eyes were too focused, intense. She held her breath and watched, flipping her eyes back and forth between Ripcord and Zap. The troopers went wide, they were going to miss him. She almost breathed a sigh of relief, until she realized they were headed their way. Her eyes swung back to Ripcord, who still lay motionless, still drawing a tight bead on them with his eyes. She was sure they'd hear her heart pounding, it was the only sound filling her ears at that point, drowning out the normal din of the jungle. She could see the alligator pattern on the Range Viper uniforms, different from the snake sign she was now used to seeing. All reptiles. Alligators were reptiles, not amphibians, right? Funny where your mind wanders when you don't want to think about what you were doing. Steps became louder as they closed in. There was no way they'd miss them. The troopers were getting too close. Ripcord shot out at the one closest to him, causing her and Heavy Metal to do the same. The trooper she had intended on stabbing instead grabbed her knife arm in self defense, twisting it in a violent motion. Fast Draw was on him before her elbow could snap, before she could even react. He stabbed the trooper in the back of the neck with his own knife, drawing it out quickly. Stunned, the Viper dropped his grip on Covergirl, bringing both of his hands to his neck for protection, but it was too late.
"That's one." She heard from Fast Draw. Not even taking the time to watch the Viper fall, he ran to where Ripcord was choking 'his' trooper. From what she could see, Ripcord had managed to get behind the Viper, squeezing his neck under his elbow in a choke hold. The Viper was able to get two strong elbow shots directly to the ribs, and she could hear him curse through clenched teeth, still holding fast. Fast Draw was on that Cobra next, stabbing the same knife deep into the Vipers chest cavity, once again immediately withdrawing the knife. "And that's two. Direct shot to the heart.." He commented, as he let the trooper fell forward, Checking to his extreme left, he could see Heavy Metal with his dead trooper before him. "Well, looks like my work is done here." He said, blowing on the end of his knife like it was a six shooter from some old cowboy movie. He wiped the blood off on his BDU pants, then went to take his position again in the back. Winking at Covergirl, he added… "That's two you owe me babe."

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