Chapter Nine

After some hesitation at the very real possibility that Wolfe could be lying Ripcord finally started his painful low-crawl towards the explosives room. He and Zap made their way carefully forward, staying as low against the concrete floor as they could. It felt like it was taking forever to reach the large metal door but it was better than the alternative. Ripcord knew if he stood up he was done for. The crossfire was too intense. It was bad enough that more often than he preferred he heard the high pitch crack of near misses of saw bits of concrete fly up. Finally after the longest 15 meters he'd ever crawled came to a stop he heard Zap shout out.
"Blow the lock! I'll cover you!" Zap yelled over the near deafening sound of gunfire in the enclosed space. Ripcord nodded and carefully rose to knee and began to take another small clump of C-4 out of his remaining block. He shot a quick glance over Zap who shifted his hands forward to the M-203 40mm grenade launcher under slung from the barrel of his M-16. Ripcord immediately dropped the C-4 and shot his hands up to his ears and let his mouth hang open. There was a high pitched popping sound followed almost immediately by a thunderous explosion. Further down the hall the Cobras disappeared in a could of smoke, fire, and shrapnel. Ripcord immediately scooped up the clump of C-4 off of the floor and pressed it against the heavy door's lock. He tried to focus on the task despite the ringing in his ears. As he pressed a small blasting cap into the demolition composition he heard gunfire erupting again. "Madre del dio! Do they never stop?" Zap hissed as his shifted his hands back to the M-16's trigger and began to fire on the next set of Cobras that were pouring into the corridor. Trying his best to ignore the sounds of the firefight, Ripcord leaned away from the door and hit the button on the detonator. The small bang of the C-4 was completely lost over the roar of gunfire. Without wasting any time, Ripcord immediately flung the door back and shot his hand towards Zap. Ripcord forcefully jerked Zap into the room and darted in behind the soldier. With himself and his friend finally out of the crossfire, he took a quick moment to let his eyes take in the room. There was enough material in the room to level half a city. Ripcord shook away his awe and quickly shrugged off his LC-2 ruck and begin to stuff it with as many blocks of C-4 and count-down detonators as he could fit. While waiting for Zap to finish packing his deadly cargo, Ripcord took another glance around the room. He let a grin creep onto his face as his eyes fell on a shelf that held their ticket to safely reach Repeater and Wolfe again. SATCHEL CHARGE INCENDIARY, read the small sign hanging down above the shelf. Ripcord immediately slung his G-41 and scooped up two of the bulky olive drab bags. He quickly ran to edge of the doorway and pulled a cord out from each of the satchel charges and hurled the potent explosives down the hallway. As soon as the second charge left his grip he immediately dropped prone.
"Fire in the hole!" Ripcord yelled out to Zap.
"Oh shit!" Zap yelled as he dove to the floor and covered his ears. If the explosion of the relatively small 40mm grenade sounded thunderous in the tight confines, then the massive back to back explosions of the satchel charges sounded almost catastrophic. After the building stopped shaking, Ripcord slowly got to his feet and tried in vain to shake his head clear of its cobwebs. He saw the flickering light of fire in the main corridor and stumbled out of the explosives room, still not fully aware of his surroundings. The instant he stepped into the hallway he felt searing heat. He slowly panned his head to right. He was impressed. The fire literally went from the floor to ceiling and from one wall to the other. Secondary fires were burning everywhere. He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination or the heat waves playing tricks on him but the concrete at the edges of the fire actually appeared to be bubbling. He shook away what little of the haze he could and stumbled back towards Repeater and Wolfe. He saw both of the two slowly stand then quickly sprint over towards him. He saw Wolfe remove the Crimson Guardsman helmet then move his mouth up and down but Ripcord couldn't hear anything. The ringing in his ears was too loud. Repeater put one of his big hands on Ripcord's shoulder and began to shake him. Finally the fog surrounding Ripcord's thoughts cleared a little. He could make out what Wolfe was saying.
"Are you two alright?!" Wolfe shouted. Two? Oh. Zap. Ripcord had completely forgotten about his friend during all the commotion. A quick glance over his shoulder told him what he needed to know. Much like himself, his friend was a little shaken but physically seemed fine.
"Yeah, we're alright." Ripcord returned.
"Good, we need to get the hell outta here." Wolfe said before pointing to the raging inferno further down the hall, "That fire may hold out for a while," he said then jerked his thumb back to the barricaded door, "But that makeshift blockade there won't." Wolfe finished before putting the Crimson Guardsman helmet back on.
"So how do we get out?" Zap asked as he physically shook himself in an attempt to clear his head.
"There." Wolfe said, pointing to a grate on the floor a few feet away, "You think you can blow it?" Ripcord shook away some more of the fog in his head. He had to focus. He bent down and examined the grating. The grating was arranged in a tight grid of metal rods. It wouldn't be a problem at all. Ripcord painfully stood, the fire in his ribs breaking through his daze, and ran back to the explosives room. After some searching he found was he was looking for. Shaped cutting charges. He quickly scooped up the explosives, blasting caps, and detonators and ran back out the hallway. As he and Zap set to work on rigging the grating Ripcord heard a banging noise over the roar of the fire and shot a glance to the barricaded door. It was buckling. They wanted back in. Ripcord focused his attention on the cutting charge again. Running out of time seemed to becoming a common occurrence.
"Fire in the hole!" Ripcord yelled as he backed away from the grating. Everyone scattered as he pressed the button on the detonator. The grate disappeared in cloud smoke as the explosive went off, followed a moment later by a clatter of reverberating metal and the splash of water. Ripcord shot forward and shined a flashlight through the open hole, seeing a circular metal tunnel with a small stream of water running along in it. "What's down here Wolfe?" Ripcord asked as he panned the light around.
"It's a drainage system. Controls rain run off." Wolfe returned.
"Okay, let's g-" Ripcord started, but stopped himself as he looked up and realized he was one short. "Where's Zap?" Ripcord asked in a concerned voice.
"Right here!" Came the answer as the soldier ran out of the explosives room with a half-full duffle bag in one hand. "Just had an idea." Zap stated as he ran past the team and towards the door that the Cobras were trying to breach. Ripcord started to ask the soldier what he was doing when Zap removed two items from the duffle bag. A spool of wire and a big, flat olive drab plastic rectangle. Ripcord had to smile at his friend's idea. It was a M-18 Claymore directional anti-personal mine.
"Move it Zap!" Ripcord yelled as he watched the soldier set up the mine. His gaze shot over to Wolfe and motioned him forward. While helping Wolfe down into the tunnels, Ripcord's gaze shifted between Zap running the wire and the quickly buckling door. "Zap! We are leaving!" Ripcord said as Wolfe eased him into the tunnel and Zap and Repeater disappeared from his view. Ripcord quickly twisted left and right, shining his light down both ends of the tunnel. The water was only ankle deep, the tunnel was about 8 foot diameter cylinder, it had various upwards off shoots, and most importantly, it looked devoid of life. Good. The trip shouldn't be too much of a problem. With the tunnel's security confirmed Ripcord's gaze immediately shot upwards. After what felt like an eternity Zap's legs finally appeared dangling into the hole. Ripcord and Wolfe both reached up and helped the Hispanic explosives expert down. As soon as Zap was clear Repeater's massive body squeezed through the hole and he was helped down by the others. "Which way?" Ripcord turned and asked Wolfe once everyone had been accounted for.
"This way." The CIA agent responded by pointing down the tunnel with the barrel of his FN-FAL. Ripcord started to say something but a slightly muffled explosion was heard and Ripcord shot his gaze upwards. The Cobras had hit the Claymore. Ripcord ignored the explosion and looked back to Zap.
"Zap, light." Ripcord said as he watched his friend unhook the bent-neck flashlight from his ALICE gear and handed it to Ripcord. "You know this system, so you're on point." Ripcord said as he handed Wolfe the flashlight. Ripcord additionally didn't trust Wolfe but he felt he didn't need to voice that opinion. The CIA agent nodded and started to jog off with the light in one hand and his rifle in the other. The Joes fell in behind Wolfe in single column, with Ripcord and Repeater snapping their ALICE mounted flashlights on. As they jogged along they heard sounds of muffled explosions, alarms, and shouting filtering in from various grates, that judging from the night sky and rain that came through them, had to be outside. Ripcord hoped the others and especially Covergirl were all right. His thoughts were interrupted as Zap called out.
"Hold up." He said as he produced the wire spool and another Claymore from the duffle bag. He swiftly went about the task of setting up another trap. "Done." He called out. The column began to jog through the tunnels again. The tunnels started to get very twisted in short order which several intersections. At the various intersections Zap would again hold up the team to set another mine. Shortly after which, a muffled explosion would be heard. After a while Wolfe finally held the team up.
"Here," The CIA agent said, pointing upwards, "This grate is right outside the Command and Control Center, it's as close as we can get. The building itself doesn't have any drainage grates."
"All right," Ripcord said with a nod before he turned to Repeater, "Lift me up there so I can set the charges." Repeater's response came in the form of swiftly lifting Ripcord up onto his shoulders. Ripcord carefully shifted his feet onto Repeater's shoulders and pulled the cutting charges out of his ruck and began to carefully place them on the bottom of the grate. Roughly halfway through the process Ripcord heard gunfire coming from below.
"Hurry up Ripcord!" Came a shouted response from Zap. Ripcord shot his hands up to the grating and put a white knuckled grip on the bars.
"Repeater! Get down!" Ripcord shouted, kicking his feet up to press against the wall of the small drainage duct, as Repeater dropped prone below him. He locked out his joints, pressing his feet and back against the duct's walls for support. Then let go and worked as quickly as possible to finish putting the charges in place, trying to ignore the raging firefight below. He finally finished and pressed a blasting cap into the charges before gripping the grating again. He let his legs drop, and bend his knees. "Incoming!" Ripcord shouted as he let go of the grating. If you knew how to land, a 12 foot fall was nothing. One of the first things you learned in jump school was how to land. Unfortunately, Ripcord never jumped with damaged ribs. He landed perfectly on the balls of his feet, letting his joints bend to absorb the impact. Everything was fine till the impact hit his ribs. White hot pain shot through Ripcord's body and he immediately lost his balance and fell into the shallow water. Ripcord tried in vain to ignore the pain in his chest and let out a low moan after a failed attempted to crawl himself forward. He felt himself being dragged backwards and looked up to see Repeater, still firing his M-60 with one hand, dragging him away from under the grating with the other. The paratrooper managed to cough out "F...Fire..." that was all he got out before Repeater's deep voice filled in for him.
"Fire in the hole!" The big machine gunner shouted as he inched back little more and slid Ripcord along with him. Ripcord slowly panned his head around. Everyone was clear. He hit the button on the detonator. A sharp explosion sounded followed by the grating clattering into the tunnel a moment later. Ripcord carefully shifted his weight and pulled himself up onto his hands and knees. A glance down the tunnel finally showed him what the others were firing at. A few Range Vipers kept darting in and out from around a bend in the tunnel. Carefully again, coughing all the way, he pushed himself back onto his knees. Drawing in a big breath and fighting the urge to cough more, his shaky hands fumbled a grenade free of his ALICE gear. In any equally uncertain motion he pulled the pin free and let the spoon fly off. One. Two. Summoning his strength back he threw the grenade in a sideways arc down the tunnel, letting a war cry escape his lungs in the process. The grenade impacted against the bend in the tunnel, a scant ten meters from his team's position. It then bounced back off of the metallic wall with a dull sound, at an angle that caused it to disappear around the corner. Almost immediately after it had left his sight a deafening explosion reverberated through the drainage system. As the effects of blast started to wear off Ripcord nodded in grim satisfaction. Ripcord turned to Repeater as the pain in his torso started to wear off somewhat.
"Help Wolfe get up there," Ripcord started shaky but let his voice grow in firmness as he continued. "We've got to get to the Command and Control Center right now. We're running out of time." Repeater nodded and immediately stepped under the drainage duct. Wolfe stepped forward and Repeater lifted him up onto his shoulders and through the hole where the grating just was. Ripcord then stepped forward and followed suit. As he emerged his eyes took in the complex again. The Control Center was just 20 meters away, but his eyes focused on several columns of smoke rising from the outdoor storage area. That and the strobe effect lighting up the night sky in that area confirmed his thoughts that the explosions they'd heard while in the tunnels were the other team. Once again Ripcord's thoughts wandered to Covergirl before he snapped himself back to reality. He and Wolfe moved to the sides of the hole to help pull Zap up when the darkness around then was suddenly lifted. Ripcord's eyes shot upwards. He mentally kicked himself for not noticing the helicopter noises earlier. Three FANGs hovered above, all pointing search lights at the two. They were dead. Correction. He was dead. Ripcord glanced over at Wolfe who had stood and was pointing the FN-FAL at him.
"It's over Joe," Wolfe said, his Southwestern drawl replaced with a thick Germanic accent, "Drop your weapon and put your hands on your head."
"You bastard..." Ripcord trailed off.
"You shouldn't have been so naive. Now drop it." Wolfe stated matter of factly. Ripcord didn't have much of a choice. He let the G-41 clatter to the ground and slowly moved his hands on top of his kevlar. Hopefully Zap and Repeater were getting away at this moment. With Ripcord 'subdued' The FANGs flew off in the direction of the outdoor storage area.
"I hope you burn for this moth-" Ripcord started to hiss out, but stopped as Wolfe lowered the FN-FAL.
"What?" Wolfe said, using his Southwestern drawl again, "Did you really think the two of us could have stopped three FANGs with only two assault rifles? Now let's get the others up and get to the generators." Keeping a cautious eye on Wolfe, Ripcord knelt down and the two pulled Zap up onto the concrete. As Ripcord started to pull a length of rope free from his ruck he looked over at Zap.
"Zap call the others, tell them that we're at the Command and Control Center." Ripcord said as he lowed the rope down to Repeater. As he and Wolfe braced themselves and began to haul the big machine gunner up, he over heard Zap's transmission.
"This is Zap, if you guys can hear me we're entering the Command and Control Center."


"Copy Zap. We'll give you some help as soon as…." The sound of a nearby explosion made Fast Draw stop short. "As soon as we can." He finally continued. She was in between vehicles at the time, freezing beside a STUN when Zap's call came in. She would've felt better if she heard his voice, Ripcord's, would've known then that he was okay. He had to be okay, she told herself, hopping into the nearby STUN. Stinger's were becoming few and far between, she didn't trust herself to remember which were tagged, which weren't. Few STUNs had been hit with C-4's, the only problem was that she'd barely ever seen one before, let alone driven one. It was nothing like the vehicles she was used to. Three wheeled, quad heavy machine guns, cannon control monitors, it took her a minute to orient herself to the controls. A minute they didn't have. Three FANG choppers were bearing down towards the HiSS occupied by Fast Draw and Heavy Metal. It was almost as if they didn't see them, the HiSS was busy playing a deadly game of hide and seek with two very menacing looking Rage light tanks which had joined the fight. She tried the strange controls one final time, moving the smaller craft into position. Three FANGs. Three shots were all she needed… She slid to the seat on her right, grabbing the controls for the starboard twin 12.7mm heavy machines, and swung its modular pod towards the helicopters. SHIT! Too late, one of the FANGs fired. From the corner of her eye, she saw Heavy Metal pull hard left, the small LAW-like missile near hitting them before slamming into a tagged Stinger. The rapid fire from her STUN took out two of the small helicopters, the third managing evasive maneuvers before succumbing to a few rounds from Fast Draw. She quickly climbed back into the driver's seat and continued in her circling pattern, growing more confident of the STUN's controls, increasing speed to avoid the advancing troops, drawing fire, then returning it when ever she could risk sliding down into one of the gunner pods. A another person to operate the guns would have been good, but with just three people, it just wasn't possible. The sudden downpour did nothing to slow the all terrain vehicle, which still cornered well on the wet pavement. The Stinger that clipped her back wheel on the other hand, stopped it all together. It seemed to shoot out of nowhere, the driver of the vehicle looking just as stunned as Covergirl, who fought a losing battle to keep the STUN upright. Kicking over on its right side, she was thrown from the vehicle, landing hard on the left side of her body. The same rain she had cursed now became a saving grace. The rain settling on top of the thin slick of oil on the pavement caused her to hydroplane a few meters, before rolling to a stop. The slight road rash she felt stinging her left shoulder, elbow and thigh would have practically torn her apart on dry tarmac. All was quiet for a brief second as she lay on the ground assessing the damage. Warily, she stood leaning on a vehicle for support, starting to unholster her M-1911. She knew she was sore, but that she would be all right. The same Motor Viper tried to prove her wrong. She looked up to see she was only a few feet from him, the same one who had rammed her. His G-41 raised, time seemed to stand still for a second as he squeezed the trigger. Her thoughts raced to Ripcord, sleeping peacefully. She had just meant to sit beside him for a moment after her shift was up, hadn't meant to fall asleep so close. The scene played out in her head as she waited for the hail of bullets that never came. JAM! His weapon jammed! She reached frantically for her sidearm as the Motor Viper tackled, leaping forward, knocking her backwards into the Stinger. The two fell to the ground, the stronger Cobra quickly rolling on top of her, placing both hands around her throat. She instinctively grabbed his wrists, as he squeezed tighter, cutting off her oxygen. She tried twice to kick him off, to raise a knee to catch his groin, but he had both legs pinned well. Self defense kicked in to take over where self preservation was failing. She spun her head quickly to the right, making it impossible for the Viper to continue choking her. Grabbing a much needed breath, she dropped her one hand to her side, reaching for her weapon. The Viper was smart, He released her throat with his left hand, grabbing her right hand and pinning it to the ground, preventing her from grabbing the sidearm. Not smart enough. Shifting his weight enabled her to kick a leg free, slamming her knee upwards into his groin. She knew from experience how much it hurt, could only figure it would be worse for a male. His left hand clenched harder on her throat, but the second his right released her was all she needed. Her hand went immediately to the weapon, drawing it out and pressing it into his side in one swift motion. She wasn't sure how many times she'd pulled the trigger, staring into the Motorvipers reflective faceplate. It took her a second to make that realization, that the eyes she was seeing were actually her own. It was much easier to just shut them, which is what she did until the Viper's clenched hand finally released her throat, letting her know it was over. She opened her eyes and kicked out from under him. Once again, she shakily stood up, sidearm drawn and ready this time. She looked around to find Fast Draw and Heavy Metal. No sign of the HiSS, but there was a lone Stinger running circles around the twin Rages, trying to get a missile off. The sudden explosions behind her let her know Fast Draw was out, setting more charges, this time attacking vehicles regardless of whether or not they were occupied. More troops were coming from the west. Fuck. She'd kill for a Ghoststriker flyby about now. Little air support would just do the trick. Of course they wouldn't get it, SOP and all. She shook her head. They could do this. They had to do this. She hopped into another STUN, now having the feel for how they operate. She spotted Fast Draw who stuck out a thumb in a mock hitch-hiking gesture.
"Obnoxious fuck" she said to herself as she slowed down to let him climb in. He immediately took the heavy machine gun to her left, firing towards both the troops and the vehicles themselves, try to cause as much damage as possible. Once in a while, he'd toss out a grenade, slamming into missile platforms causing explosion after explosion. She'd always liked it loud, this was getting out of hand. A few louder explosions went off in the distance behind them… the Command Center… Shit! Some of the same Cobra troops which were advancing started falling back, heading towards the Command Center. Ripcord hadn't given the all clear command, she knew they needed more time. Wishing once again she were more like Zap, she created a make-shift prayer as she headed towards the withdrawing troops. She slid as far down as she could in the open cockpit, pulling on Fast Draw to do the same.
"What the Fuck do you think you're doing?" He called out as small arms fire hit the front of the vehicle. She didn't have time to answer, instead pushing the vehicle at top speed forward, intending to cut as many of them off as possible. Not being able to see, the sickening thumps beneath the vehicles wheels let her know they had reached the troops, and she continued to press forward. "HEY!" He called again.
"They're heading towards the Command Center! We haven't got the all clear yet…"
"I Fucking knew it Krieger! I told you once before…." She turned the vehicle sharply in front of the Command Center building.
"Radar and ADA, remember? Our guys can't do that if they're dead! If there are any vehicles left, we can fend them off….You're calling the shots, I get that. Call the right ones. Get Heavy Metal here for cover!" She could see him hesitate… "If you don't call him then you're doing the same damn thing! Don't fuck this up because you're pissed at me, or 'cause you're pissed at Ripcord!" She fired a warning line towards some of the troops brave enough to begin once again advancing.
"Motherfucker!" He called above the noise, slamming a fist into the side of the STUN before picking up the radio and making the call. Heavy Metal was told to advance, sparing as many missiles as possible. Covergirl and Fast Draw would lay down a blanket of bullets to keep the troops down. Without another word, Fast Draw hopped in the back to operate the 5.56mm machine gun attached to the STUN, taking out any advancing troops until Heavy Metal and his Stinger arrived.
"Outside and in position." She said into the radio. "Repeat, outside and in position. We got your back boys, over."

<PREVIOUS_____________________________THE ARCHIVES____________________________ NEXT >