Action Force 2: Escalation

[Sundance]

they've already hit one Hyena factory and will hit another later.

[The Kraken Wakes]

surely the workers in the roboskull factory would know about this and go on strike?

[mark]

Is there any job vacancies there? Whats the pay like? And whats the sick rosta?

[The Kraken Wakes]

There are quite a few vacancies in our Hyena plant at the moment due to a high sick rate, uniform provided and its a closed shop.

[The Baron]

You've managed to grow hyenas on a plant? That's quite a breakthrough! would be proud.

[The Kraken Wakes]

Its called a hyenadrangea!!!

[The Baron]

Nice!

That cracked me right up!

Bloomin' hyenas...

[The Kraken Wakes]

See, thats a joke...

[Chopper]

Its called a hyenadrangea!!!

Oh brother, well I laughed.....

[Sundance]

CONTINUED...

The Wraiths and the Triad took up position circling in a ‘racetrack’ pattern at 20,000 feet seven miles from the factory. The Bobcats and their escorting Hawks flew straight to the factory.

The six Bobcat helicopters hovered over the open area between the main factory building and the three smaller buildings. Six rows of parked Roboskulls dominated the open area, but there was a wide-open gap between the third and fourth rows.

As the Bobcats hovered, two ropes were thrown from their passenger doors and one by one the SAS and Z-Force infantry fire-teams fast-roped into the facility. The troops rapidly took up positions on one knee, rifle at the ready, around the helicopters.

On board each helicopter, one of the two Q-Force door gunners untied the ropes and with a warning of ‘ropes, ropes, ropes,’ over the radio, they were dropped away. Each helicopter pilot then reported, ‘Ropes clear,’ and moved away to take up an orbit over the perimeter.

Raider was leading Z-Force fire-team 2-1. He and Molot both carried G36 assault rifles. Diablo carried an M-16 with an under slung M-203 grenade launcher. Ronin carried an M-4 carbine with an ACOG sight, allowing him to act as a sharpshooter.

The four soldiers sprinted from their ready positions toward the middle of the three buildings. As they ran forward, the windows were smashed by people inside and gunfire blazed at them.

“Fall back!” Raider shouted. “Get to cover!”

Diablo fired a grenade in through one of the ground floor windows, before firing two bursts at the second before darting toward a nearby Roboskull. Raider and Molot covered him from behind a second Roboskull.

Fire-team 2-2 was also taking fire from the central building as they’d ran toward the one furthest north.

The two teams hunkered down and exchanged fire with the Red Shadows. The gunmen were dug in with Russian RPD machine guns and AK-47s.

Fire-team 2-3 was able to close in on the southernmost building. Nimbus planted a small demolition charge on the door and set it. The group retreated to the building’s corners. The charge detonated and the door fell clear.

The four soldiers dashed forward, threw in flash-bangs and dived in.

The building was largely filled with shelves of tools and parts. The four soldiers split into pairs and began moving through the maze of shelves, rifles at the ready.

With both team 2-1 and 2-2 pinned down, Raider decided he had no choice. He pulled out his radio.

“2-1 to Hawks, request fire support on building 2. Repeat, fire support on building 2.”

“Hawk 1 copies,” Blades replied. “Stand by.”

The single-seat attack helicopter broke away from its holding pattern and flew across to the building. Hovering above the Roboskulls that provided cover for the infantry troops below, Blades lined up his Hawk, locked on a Hellfire missile, and hit the launch button.

The anti-tank missile streaked off the launch rail, sailed in through a smashed window and hit the first floor planks. The missile detonated, sending a fireball through the building and blowing the roof off.

“Building two secure,” Blades reported over the radio, no hint of irony to his voice.

“Team one, form on me,” Raider shouted. “Team 2, we’ll back you up!”

The two squads advanced.

One the other side of the facility, the SAS fire-teams were getting ready to place charges to enter the factory by blowing holes in the wall.

As Bobcat 5 slowly flew overhead, there was a sudden ‘whoosh’.

Sabre looked up to see an RPG round fly across and hit the tail rotor of the gunship above.

“COVER!” he screamed at the top of his voice, running away from the helicopter.

The other eleven SAS troops sprinted away from the helicopter.

On board the Bobcat, Whirl was fighting the helicopter’s flat spin.

“Sit down and strap in!” he bellowed to his two gunners, Broadside and Seaspray. The pair unclipped their safety lines, threw themselves into the troop seats and hastily strapped in as the world rotated past the open doors once every ten seconds.

“Bobcat 5, mayday, mayday, we’re going in,” Whirl reported over the radio as he managed to steer the madly spinning helicopter away from the buildings. The Bobcat dropped ground-ward. It hit the hard concrete, tearing off its landing gear, bounced, flew forward a few feet and slammed into a parked Roboskull. Whirl managed to throw his arms up to protect his face as the windscreen shattered, showering him with glass.

In the rear, the helicopter’s belly crumpled upward, whilst the left side collapsed inward. Seaspray was trapped between the two colliding pieces of metal and crushed. Broadside was luckier as his seat tore free and was thrown out the side door.

At the command post, Skip, the Commander and Jammer watched in horror as the helicopter crashed on the screen of the laptop relaying pictures from the Triad’s Talon drone.

“Bobcat down,” Skip snapped, turning toward Short Wave. “Bobcat down in the factory, get the back-up in there NOW!”

The radioman wasted no words, simply nodding and raising his radio to shout instructions to the back-up vehicles.

As the SAS fire-teams watched the helicopter crash, Chopper broke out his orbit and hosed the roof of the factory with his Hawk’s 20mm nose gun. The Red Shadow on the roof was shredded by the gunfire, before the bullets ripped apart an air conditioning unit, a set of aerials and a satellite dish.

Seconds later, two explosions ripped holes in the wall of the factory, dragging the SAS teams’ attention back. Red Shadows, gunmen and pilots alike, began pouring out of the factory. The gunmen wildly spraying bullets at the troops.

“Return fire! Return fire!” Sabre shouted, spraying three Red Shadow pilots with rapid bursts. “Don’t let the Roboskulls get airborne!”

A wild gun battle erupted among the rows of Roboskulls as the defenders tried to launch their aircraft and the SAS attackers attempted to stop them.

The north gate exploded as a Panther jeep crashed through it at high speed. The jeep, under Redline’s control, broke right and sped toward the Roboskulls as Double-Tap and Stakeout opened fire with their .30 calibre machine guns. Three Roboskulls were shredded by the sustained gunfire, even as a pair of Red Shadows was cut down.

The other four Panthers sped in, guns blazing.

At the south end of the factory, Scout led the way as the Z-Force squad crashed in through the gates, swiftly moving to surround the crashed Bobcat.

The rattle of automatic gunfire, with the odd crump of an exploding grenade couldn’t drown out the sound of turbine engines whining into life as some of the Roboskull pilots made it to their aircraft.

Lock’n’load leapt from the jeep he’d been riding in, swung his M-249 SAW machine gun off his shoulder and opened fire, sending dozens of rounds skyward as a Roboskull lifted off. The tilt-wing’s front left engine exploded, shredding the rear left engine and the cockpit and dropping the burning craft back to the ground.

Triage sprinted from her jeep. She reached Broadside, still strapped into his seat. She quickly checked him over. He was unconscious and had bruises and cuts, but no life-threatening injuries. The doctor turned to Blast Wave, who’d driven the jeep they’d been in.

“Cut him free and get him over to the jeep,” she instructed. “Get him back to the CP. Tell one of the jeeps on the blockade to get up here in case we need to Medevac anyone else.”

The bomb disposal specialist nodded, “Got it.” He pulled out a combat knife and swiftly cut through the restraints as Triage ran toward the wrecked helicopter. As she looked inside the crumpled troop bay, she knew there was no hope of finding anyone alive in there. She tried to remember the deployment orders. Who’d been in Bobcat 5 with Broadside? She hurried around to the smashed-in nose and managed to scramble on to the front of the helicopter. Inside, she could see Whirl slumped forward. Fearing the worse, she climbed toward him, trying not to cut herself as she did.

The pilot groaned and slowly leaned back. “Shit,” he muttered. “That damn well hurt.”

“Well, at least you’re alive,” Triage said. Whirl cracked one eye and looked at her blearily.

“Hey, hot stuff.” He groaned again. “How you doin’?”

“Better than you. Broadside’s going to make it,” she said, finally sliding into the cockpit. Whirl’s legs were trapped under the caved in flight console. She quickly checked how badly he was bleeding. Mostly cuts. She ran a hand lightly over his chest. Bruises, possible cracked or broken ribs.

“Your name’s Triage,” Whirl informed her. “It’s a Tuesday. The year’s 2010. Barack Obama’s the US President. Gordon Brown’s Prime Minister.”

“What are you babbling about?” Triage asked as she looked at his legs once more.

“I’m trying to prove I don’t have a concussion or memory loss,” Whirl replied.

“Well done.”

“Hey!” Triage and Whirl looked around to see Viper from team 2-3 looking in the smashed side window.

“You need any help?” the Croat asked.

“We need cutting tools and a spreader to get his legs free,” Triage called back. Viper nodded and disappeared back around the front of the helicopter.

Eight Roboskulls managed to get airborne, causing the surviving Bobcats and the two Hawks to back off.

The Wraiths broke out of their racetrack and sped toward them.

The tilt-wings fired off flares and broke apart, going solo to maximise the damage they could inflict.

Spitfire watched from the X-55’s cockpit as the Roboskulls danced around the Wraiths, spraying gunfire at them.

“Are we staying here?” Lightning asked from the plane’s rear cockpit.

“We’re supposed to be providing the CP with air recon, remember?” he replied.

“Call the Commander. Ask if we can break off.”

“Why?” Spitfire asked, even though he wanted to.

“Because we can do more good attacking those Roboskulls.”

Spitfire keyed the radio, even as he saw the Chinese pilot Cloudburst’s Wraith getting hit by gunfire.

“CP, this is Triad, request permission to disengage from over-watch and assist Space Force. They’ve just lost Cloudburst.”

The pilot had ejected, whilst his stealth jet plummeted from the sky, trailing smoke.

“Request approved, Triad.”

Spitfire immediately slammed the throttles to the stops, wrenched the X-55 around in a tight turn and called back to Lightning, “Hang on to your lunch!”

In the fighter’s rear cockpit, Lightning ignored Spitfire as he took hold of his own control sticks and brought both Q-12 Talon UCAVs back under his control.

Efficiently splitting his attention between the two halves of his screen that showed the view from the Talons’ nose-cams, Lightning steered the two Q-12s out of their own orbits over the factory. He took them into rear-quarter attack positions on a pair of Roboskulls, closed into gun range and opened fire, even as Spitfire was locking on to a third Roboskull and launching an AIM-7 Sparrow missile.

The Roboskulls were down by three in seconds. Lightning put the UCAVs through a series of manoeuvres that would’ve floored any flesh and blood pilot on board them and lured a fourth Roboskull into a pincer movement before spraying it with gunfire.

As the Roboskull’s wing was shredded by 20mm cannon fire, the pilot attempted to juke clear, only to fly straight into the path of the second Talon. When it’s gun fired, it struck a missile. The Roboskull was blown apart.

More Roboskulls were lifting off.

“Looks like we’re getting plenty of performance data, eh?” Spitfire commented.

“No kidding,” Lightning replied.

At the Command Post, Skip and The Commander were watching the aerial battle through binoculars.

“Sir,” Skip said.

“Yes, Colonel?”

“I recommend we get some Stingers and make sure we pack them on every mission from now on,” Skip said.

“Good idea, Colonel,” The Commander said. “I’d also suggest recruiting two or more specialists to use them.”

“Indeed.”

Inside the factory compound, the battle continued to rage. Broadside had been loaded into one of the Z-Force jeeps, which was now barrelling its way down the road. Z-Force’s fire-team 2-3 was trying to help Triage to free Whirl from the wreckage of his cockpit. They’d brought tools out from the empty building they’d secured and were working on the wreckage.

The SAS jeeps were blockading the open space between the two sets of Roboskulls, gunning down any Red Shadows who tried to approach them. Z-Force fire-teams 2-1 and 2-2 were now providing support to the SAS fire-teams.

Raider led 2-1 across the open ground at the north of the facility, circumnavigating the wreckage of several parked Roboskulls.

Crouching next to the burning wrecks, they were now in position behind a large force of Red Shadow troops. The gunmen were using tangled hunks of metal from the Roboskulls as cover.

Raider looked at Ronin, Diablo and Molot. “Ready?”

Each nodded.

“Diablo, give us a grenade into the centre of the group. Ronin, Molot, get a hand grenade ready, go for the flanks,” the Greek lieutenant ordered.

The three non-coms nodded once more.

Raider pulled out his own grenade and nodded to Diablo. The Spanish sergeant fired his M-203.

The grenade detonated, ripping through several Red Shadows. At either side of the group, surviving gunmen turned. Molot and Ronin threw their own grenades. Raider threw his as a Shadow carrying an RPD machine gun raised it and opened fire.

The bullets slammed into Raider’s chest, neck and face. The grenade landed short of the Red Shadow gunner. The burst Ronin fired didn’t. The three 5.56mm bullets shattered the terrorist’s facemask and then his face.

Molot was already bent over Raider as Ronin and Diablo continued to fire.

The Russian pulled out his radio, “Man down, man down. Raider is down. Need Medevac immediately. Fire-team 2-1 is at the north end of the west end of the Roboskulls. Need Medevac stat.”

The two soldier’s kept firing as Molot tossed his radio down and tried to stem the flow of blood from his friend’s neck and face.

An SAS jeep careered around the wreckage, two .30 calibre guns blazed, cutting down the last Red Shadows. Beaver and Sparrowhawk leapt from the jeep. Beaver joined Ronin and Diablo, an MP-5 clasped in his hands. Sparrowhawk went to Molot’s side.

The Belgian gave Raider a quick look. “Doesn’t look good, comrade,” the paratrooper said. Without waiting for a reply, he lifted Raider and carried him to the jeep. Molot followed.

The pair managed to secure the wounded soldier in the seat, before Sparrowhawk climbed up into the gunner’s position.

“Beaver?” Throttle called to the Canadian.

The swimmer-canoeist turned to the jeep driver.

“Keep your head down, we’ll be back soon.”

“Yeah, right,” Beaver answered even as Throttle slammed the jeep into a high-speed reverse and raced off.

Within minutes, Throttle was skidding the Panther to a halt next to Tourniquet, whilst The Doc continued to examine Broadside.

The younger British medic hurried to the jeep, medical kit in hand. He looked Raider over, briefly felt his pulse at the neck and then pronounced, “He’s dead.”

Throttle sighed. “Yeah, I thought he was.”

Back at the helicopter crash, Triage was directing fire-team 2-3 and Breaker as they carefully cut apart the helicopter’s smashed cockpit to free Whirl. They’d already made the decision that Seaspray had been crushed in the wreckage, his body trapped. Triage had made the decision, as heartless as it seemed, to leave him there until the site was secured and worry more about getting the still living Whirl evacuated.

Finally, they cut away enough of the cockpit to free Whirl’s legs. Triage immediately made them stop and allow her to examine his legs. She found he had several breaks in both legs. Berkut and Breaker lifted him clear as the sound of another Roboskull managing to take off filled the air.

The radioman and infantryman carried Whirl over to Blast Wave’s jeep, with Nimbus and Triage close behind. Viper, Tagger and Lock’n’load were firing at some Red Shadows that had broken through the wrecked Roboskulls.

Suddenly, the Roboskull that had taken off flew toward the group, its chin-mounted 20mm guns blazed.

Nimbus shoved Triage and Breaker aside, as he raised his G-36. Four bullets punched through him. The Kevlar body armour offering as much protection as wet tissue to the large-calibre armour piercing rounds. His finger clutched spasmodically at the trigger, firing a three round burst that did nothing.

Lock’n’load fired at the Roboskull, hitting its lower-right engine, sending it fleeing with smoke pouring from the engine.

Nimbus collapsed to the ground. Lock’n’load ran over as Viper and Tagger sprayed the Red Shadows with gunfire.

Triage collapsed next to Nimbus, reaching out to him. Berkut and Breaker loaded Whirl into the jeep as the woman cradled Nimbus in her lap. His chest was a mess. His whole body shook from the shock. She knew there was nothing she could do.

Coughing blood, Nimbus said, “Get Ironblood f-f-for muh-me…”

Tears streamed down Triage’s face as she held Nimbus. Blast Wave was already racing south.

Breaker keyed his radio as Berkut and Lock’n’load gently pulled Triage away and Viper ripped a dead Shadow’s uniform tunic off to cover Nimbus.

“CP, this is Breaker. Nimbus is down. Say again, Nimbus is down. Request evac for Triage.”

“Breaker, CP. Copy Nimbus is down. Is Triage injured?”

“Traumatised, she’s just had Nimbus die in her arms.”

There was a pause for several seconds. “Copy.”

At the command post, Skip and the Commander stared at each other. Then the Brigadier reached over to the radio.

“All points, all points, this is the Commander. The entire facility is a free-fire zone. Engage anything not AF at will. Blockade teams, move in.”

The roar of the tanks’ big engines filled the air.

Z-Force fire team 2-2 was fighting in close quarters among the Roboskulls. Outlaw was firing along a row at a Red Shadow armed with a LAW-80 anti-tank rocket launcher as Saint tried to pick off an officer further back.

Bullets pinged off the Roboskulls around them as Lone Star fired a grenade at a Red Shadow trying to flank them.

The grenade went off, killing the terrorist.

The Red Shadow carrying the rocket-launcher fell to Outlaw’s second burst of fire. He turned toward Lone Star and started to speak, when he was hit in the head by a bullet fired by a sniper at the opposite end of the row.

Lone Star and Saint pivoted and fired off two bursts each, felling the sniper. Jade Tiger appeared around the Roboskull.

The Korean cursed in his native language. “I saw that guy two rows over and I’ve been trying to find him again,” he explained.

Saint was crouched next to Outlaw. “He’s dead,” the American announced. He grabbed Outlaw’s webbing gear and hauled the soldier up, then slung Outlaw over his shoulder.

“Jade Tiger, take point. Lone Star, cover our six. Let’s fall back to the crash-site.”

As the survivors of fire-team 2-2 made their way out of the rows of Roboskulls, they saw the south blockade’s tanks crashing through the fence. They were followed by the two Z-Force jeeps.

Roadhog pulled up next to the fire-team. “Put Outlaw in the back, I’ll get him to the Doc.”

“He’s passed needing the Doc’s help,” Lone Star answered.

“Well, put him in the back anyway. And hang on.” The Belgian turned the jeep around and raced back out of the factory.

The three SAS fire-teams had managed to hunker down and were exchanging fire with surviving Red Shadows. Because of their secure position at the factory’s corner, they’d survived unscathed.

The radios of the three squad leaders crackled.

“Fire-teams 1-1, 1-2 and 1-3, this is Lieutenant Steeler. Fall back to the centre of the facility and prepare for evac to CP.”

The SAS teams immediately fired off several grenades, tossed smoke grenades to cover their withdrawal and then bolted through the Roboskulls toward the still smoking wreck.

As soon as the SAS teams were clear, the two south tanks, along with the newly arrived north tanks, opened fire with their main guns. They blew apart several of the surviving Roboskulls before firing into the walls of the factory.

The Hawks reappeared over the facility, strafing the Roboskulls and the Red Shadows on the ground with their machine guns. Steeler had coordinated the attack as his tank had sped toward the factory.

It only took a few minutes for the last shreds of resistance to crumble.

The surviving Red Shadows were rounded up and placed under guard while Blast Wave and Scout made their way through the factory to be sure it wasn’t rigged before the SAS fire-teams moved in and secured the facility, allowing Quarrel to search through the factory’s offices for any intelligence information.

Once Quarrel removed useful documents and Jammer had secured computer hard drives and storage devices, the Commander contacted the Chinese Army who arrived and took custody of the Red Shadow prisoners.

Action Force mounted up and returned to the airfield to fly back to the Bunker.

Broadside was shaken up and had suffered some minor injuries. Whirl was going to be out of action for at least two months recovering from his broken legs. Cloudburst survived ejecting from his Wraith and was picked up by Snake-Eater’s Bobcat. He’d suffered a dislocated shoulder on landing and some minor bruises. Outlaw, Raider, Nimbus and Seaspray were all dead.

Lightning used the Triad’s Talon drones to bomb the factory and the surviving Roboskulls, although one intact one was secured and transferred to the airfield for shipment to the Bunker for Boffin to analyse.

The Chinese Defence Minister went on state television as Action Force left to announce the raid’s success.

“The People’s Republic of China is pleased to announce that the international military unit known as Action Force has successfully destroyed a Red Shadow factory in China. The factory, which was bought by a legitimate business, was being used to manufacture Roboskull aircraft. Investigations are already under way by state security forces to determine how the terrorist Baron Ironblood and his associates were able to make use of the factory. China condemns Ironblood and the Red Shadows. We fully support Action Force in their operations to bring down Ironblood.

“Chinese People’s Army forces provided logistical support to Action Force during this operation and has taken custody of forty-seven surviving Red Shadow prisoners, who will be tried under Chinese law and punished accordingly.

“We regret to announce that Action Force lost four members in the operation, whilst another three were injured. The Chinese people mourn these deaths and thank the families of the soldiers for their service.”

The Bunker
Two days later

When the Action Force transports arrived back at the Bunker, the coffins of the four deceased members were removed first. Already, the flags of the thirty contributing nations and the UN flag that flew around the granite memorial had been lowered to half-mast. The names of the four dead men would be added to the memorial, along side those of Quickfire, Wheels, Anzac and Toro who had died in Algeria.

The coffins were transferred to a Hercules transport for repatriation to the four men’s home countries.

Next off the planes were Whirl, Cloudburst and Broadside. Once they’d been taken to the medical bay, the small squad of vehicle maintainers began unloading the jeeps, tanks and bikes.

Quarrel walked over to the Commander as he and Eagle watched the Panthers being off-loaded.

Saluting, the Swiss woman announced, “Sir, I think we’ve got something.”

“What?” asked the Commander.

“The location of Ironblood’s second Hyena factory.”