Action Force 2: Escalation

[mark]

More more! Explosions machine gun fire, detonations!

[Sundance]

Escalation's going on a short hiatus. instead, I am writing a short entitled 'Infiltration' that will star and dealing with a hostage crisis on an oil rig.

[Sundance]

Later that day, Action Force’s frontline troops were once again assembled for a briefing.

“I know we’ve only just returned from a mission,” The Commander began. “But we’ve got important intel. Documents recovered in China have revealed the location of Ironblood’s second Hyena factory. It’s a factory outside Samarqand in Uzbekistan. We’ve got overhead imagery indicating a large number of the tanks outside, ready to be shipped out. Given the losses we took in China, this will be an armoured assault op. The Wolverines will launch a missile strike on the parked Hyenas, followed by a strafing run from the Hawks. Steeler’s tanks will then form the vanguard of the attack, with Z-Force jeeps and the SAS following up. Wheels up is in two hours, get moving.”

Two hours later, after a rapid rearming and refuelling of the aircraft and vehicles, the assault force was airborne and heading east.

Samarqand, Uzbekistan
The following day

When the Action Force transports arrived, they were met by a General from the Uzbek Army and a company of troops. The transports were quickly moved to a secure area, where the Action Force vehicles were off-loaded and the helicopters prepped for use.

The column quickly moved out and headed south on a main road through the city.

Sitting in the second Panther jeep back, Eagle looked out at the city as it sped past the roll-cage.

“Place looks nicer than I expected,” Eagle commented to Double-Tap, who was driving.

“Anything looks nice after Afghanistan, sir,” Double-Tap answered.

“I guess,” Eagle replied.

The column halted a mile from the factory. The Wolverines raised their turrets as one of the Talon drones sped overhead, the Triad jet circling at altitude.

Ton-Up looked across as Gaucho as they opened the hatches on their turrets and lowered their targeting monocles into place.

The Swede scratched his stubbly chin as he regarded the Argentine, who, as usual, had a black bandana concealing his face. Although he knew about Gaucho’s past, Ton-Up couldn’t shake the feeling that the Argentine was trouble.

His helmet bleeped at him. It was receiving the laser targeting data from the Talon drone.

Gaucho looked across and gave a thumbs up. Ton-Up returned the gesture. The two drivers pulled out the safety clip on their firing controls and then ducked back inside their tanks.

Seconds later, the first missile fired from Gaucho’s tank. The turret shifted and then fired again.

In the space of two minutes, both tanks launched all of their missiles. The barrage streaked across to the factory.

As the rockets dropped toward the ground, their warheads split open and showered twelve cricket ball-size bomblets over the Hyenas.

Each bomblet contained three pounds of high explosives. When they hit the tanks, the charge detonated punching through the weaker top armour.

The two Wolverines fired eight missiles each, each containing eight bomblets. 128 bomblets destroyed 233 tanks as several of the exploding tanks sent shrapnel flying into a neighbouring vehicle.

Blades led the seven Hawk helicopters across the parking area, firing Hellfire anti-tank missiles into more of the Hyenas, before spraying more with the gunships’ 20mm guns.

Trojan gunned the engine on his battle tank and led the charge as the four Z-Force tanks raced toward the fence, crashed through and opened fire with their main guns, destroying more Hyenas.

Inside the factory, Red Wolf had been conversing with the leader of the Red Shadows assigned to the factory when the building shook from the explosions outside.

Red Wolf dashed along the catwalk over the factory floor to the windows in time to see the Hawks speed overhead, firing Hellfire missiles into several of the Hyenas.

“It’s Action Force,” Red Wolf snarled as the Red Shadow leader ran up. “Sound the alarm!”

The Red Shadow wasted no time turning and running back to his office to hit the alarm.

As a klaxon sounded across the factory, the assembly line halted.

“Action Force are attacking,” Red Wolf shouted. “Get your weapons! We must repel the attack!”

The troops hurried to a row of lockers along one wall and began collecting Kalashnikov assault rifles, RPD machine guns and RPG launchers. Red Wolf spared a glance out the window before hurrying to the office. Most of the Hyenas were now burning or wrecked.

Red Wolf collected his AKSM carbine and his helmet before hurrying down to the factory floor.

“RPG squad, I want you at the doors. Machine gunners behind them,” Red Wolf ordered.

The gunmen began taking up positions.

“You and you, open the doors!” Red Wolf barked. The German may have been a tank commander, but he’d watched the Black Major at work often enough to have picked up some tactics.

As the factory doors began to grind open, Red Wolf saw the four Z-Force jeeps outside.

“RPGs, FIRE!” he shouted.

He was too late.

Warhead, Lock’n’load, Rain-Bringer and Blast Wave opened fire with the .30 calibre guns on their jeeps, cutting down several of the Red Shadows before they could even fire.

Roadhog keyed his radio, “Remember, you’re firing armour-piercing rounds. Shoot through the doors.”

Inside, Red Wolf shouted for his troops to fall back as several were cut down by the hail of gunfire.

“Grab those RPGs and get to the catwalk,” he snapped. “Fire from the windows!”

Several of the Red Shadows snatched up the rocket launchers and raced for the nearest stairs leading to the catwalk. Several more carrying RPDs followed.

Skip was watching the attack from the gun turret of the APC he’d been riding in with Breaker, Jammer and The Doc. He looked up as he heard a window smash and saw the Red Shadows.

“Pull back!” he shouted into his radio as he snatched up the trigger to the gun turret and opened fire.

The sustained gunfire from the APC cut down several Red Shadows as the jeep drivers slammed their vehicles into reverse and raced back from the factory.

As Skip continued to hose the windows with bullets, one of the Triad fighter’s UCAVs screamed across the front of the factory at an angle. Its twin 20mm guns blazed, shredding the front of the building.

Skip grabbed his radio. “Roadhog, I want a Hellfire barrage on that doorway now!”

Seconds later, the four Z-Force jeeps fired off their anti-tank missiles. Once the flames and smoke cleared, a gaping hole had replaced the entrance to the factory.

“SAS, GO!” shouted Skip.

Seconds later, the twelve SAS troops who formed the three fire-teams sped by on their Battle bikes.

Shade rode her Battle bike through the stuttering flames into the factory. A Red Shadow was raising an AK-74 toward her. She triggered her bike’s 9mm guns. The twin guns barked a short burst and the gunman fell to the floor. Several Red Shadows were sprinting toward the rear of the factory. Gunning her throttle, she raced after them; Snow Wolf and Lobo close behind her.

All three soldiers fired, cutting down some of the fleeing troops. One turned, firing an RPD machine gun. Lobo slammed on his brakes to her right and the bike’s rear wheel slid around, tipping the bike onto its side.

Shade accelerated toward the gunner, then leapt clear of her bike and body-tackled him to the ground. She gave him a judo-chop to the throat, putting him down. She unslung her MP-5K sub-machine gun and fired a burst at a fleeing Shadow troop as he reached the rear door.

Lobo shot a Red Shadow aiming an AK-103 at Snow Wolf as he kicked another in the chest.

Two Panther jeeps pulled up behind them. “Everybody freeze!” snapped Sandstorm from one of the jeeps’ rear gun positions.

With the two Panthers covering them, Shade, Snow Wolf and Lobo began disarming the Red Shadow, cuffing them with flex-ties and removing their helmets.

Eagle quickly arrived and began looking at the prisoners and flicking through a set of photos. As Shade smacked one recalcitrant prisoner around the head, Eagle grinned and spoke to her.

“Watch it, Shade. That’s Red Wolf you’ve got there. Ironblood’s Hyena commander,” the major said.

Eagle stepped over to Red Wolf. “I don’t suppose you’d care to talk?” Eagle asked.

Red Wolf spat in his face. Eagle nodded thoughtfully, and then punched him in the nose, which broke with an audible crack. Red Wolf yelped in pain.

“Don’t do that again, or I’ll break more than your nose,” he calmly informed the terrorist.

Eagle stood and turned to Lobo and Snow Wolf as more of the SAS fire-teams arrived. “Make sure he goes to the Dungeon,” Eagle said, referring to the Action Force detention centre in the Alps. “Everyone else gets shipped out to the Uzbek authorities.”

The two troopers nodded and grabbed Red Wolf and dragged him off.

As the SAS troops secured the prisoners and prepared them for transport, Loki and Vixen were going through the office looking for anything useful, whilst Wireless was pulling apart the PC to get at the hard-drive.

Most of the Red Shadows were loaded into trucks supplied by the Uzbek Army and would be taken to a military jail outside the city. The Commander had decided that none of the rank-and-file Red Shadows knew enough to be worth bothering to take prisoner. Instead, they would simply be charged with criminal offences under local law. A few Shadows were identified as being officer equivalents and, along with Red Wolf, would be shipped out to the Dungeon. Red Wolf had been identified as a High Value Target through interrogation of Red Shadow prisoners captured in Algeria and information derived from the British agent inside the group.

Once Action Force’s prisoners were loaded aboard an Uzbek truck, the convey headed back to the Samarqand airport to head back home to the Bunker.

The Bunker
The next day

Quarrel stood in front of the pin-board on the wall of the intelligence room, looking at the pictures and names.

A CCTV still from the German bank robbery showed Baron Ironblood’s helmeted head. He was at the top of the ‘tree’ of the high value targets.

Underneath him was a slightly blurred mobile-phone photo of the Black Major, a balaclava and a helmet hiding his face. The image had been taken during his attack on London the previous year.

Arranged in a line were the next four HVTs. A Soviet Air Force academy graduation photo of Anton Nobokov was the left most image. The traitorous Latvian’s alias was unknown. Next to his photo was the blurry security camera image of Bombshell recovered from the secret American jail. The third image showed a clear security camera photo of Shrapnel recovered from Brussels. The fourth image was a photo of Claude Rains in the 1920s classic ‘The Invisible Man’, his face hidden by bandages. Pinned to the bottom of the photo was a piece of paper with ‘Red Condor’ written on it. No image of the known pilot had been found.

The next line of four images showed a photo taken by Tracker during the Algerian mission; ‘Red Jackal’. Next to that was a CCTV still from the German bank raid showing Landline. The third showed a picture of a comics' character, the Invisible Woman. Her caption read ‘Red Fox’. The Baron’s intelligence operative’s true appearance wasn’t known. The final image showed a blurred photo taken from the diving support vessel that had aided Q-Force. The image was of the Baron’s naval commander, Kraken, in his head-covering stylised helmet.

The lowest row showed the last four images. Kill Shot and Red Wolf had red marker-pen X’s across their faces. Next to them was a photo of someone in a gas mask. The label read ‘Airburst’. Action Force knew nothing about him except what the British agent had reported; a Russian WMD expert. The final image showed a photo of an Asian man in his earlier twenties, taken from a university ID card. The British agent had supplied his photo, name and code-name: Takeso Nakamura, codename ‘Red Laser’.

“Hey,” Loki said. “Quarrel.”

The Swiss woman snapped out of her reverie and turned, “Yes?”

“The Commander wants to see you. He just got back from London.”

Quarrel nodded and hurried out, Loki staring after her.

In the Ops room, Quarrel met the Commander as he was speaking to Eagle, Major Flagg and Skip.

“British Intelligence has received a priority flash-message from their agent inside the Red Shadows. An attack is imminent on an American research facility in Alaska. We’ve got about thirteen hours before the attack’s due to kick off,” the Commander informed them. “I want a team assembled and background intel.”

“Sir,” all four snapped.

“North Star can lead the squad,” Eagle said next. “I suggest he takes Beaver, Undertow, Stakeout, Fenris and Manta. They’re all Arctic warfare trained.”

“I think Boffin has finally got those snowmobiles sorted,” Skip interjected. “They’ll help.”

“Good, get on it. Get Undertow and Manta here fast,” The Commander ordered. The two Q-Force divers were at the separate Q-Force base on the coast.

The two officers left. “I’ll get the intel together,” Quarrel said and hurried off.

Two hours later, the ad-hoc arctic warfare team was assembled on level one of the Bunker. Each of the six men was dressed in a three-tone Arctic camouflage uniform that was a mix of light blue, grey and white patches. They wore a white Kevlar vest over the tunic. The tunics had wool-lined hoods, though these were down, to keep their heads warm. Each was carrying a G-36 assault rifle and had a communications headset on. Boffin was running them through the features of the four skimobiles.

“They started out as commercial skimobiles, but we’ve given them substantial upgrades. The chassis is a Kevlar composite. Twin 20mm guns as you can see, which have a thousand rounds each. Triggers on the control yoke. Engines are upgraded to give better fuel efficiency and make less noise. We also fitted soundproofing to the cowl over the engine. Halogen spot-light on the front.”

“You’ve only got four though?” Stakeout asked.

“At the moment. We’re waiting for another six to be delivered. I’m also working on some designs for a larger vehicle. Possibly, a half-track…” Boffin trailed off for a moment. “But these should do for now.”

“Undertow and Stakeout, you guys can ride behind Fenris and Manta,” North Star said.

“Gee, thanks,” Undertow commented.

A group of cargo-handlers fitted the skimobiles on to wheeled trolleys and took them to the aircraft lift, with the commandos trailing behind. Once on the surface, the skimobiles were loaded aboard an American C-17 Globemaster III transport, with the troopers following behind.

Once the skimobiles were secured, and the team was strapped in, the transport took off and raced north across Europe, heading for the Arctic Circle, to make a rapid journey toward Alaska.

[Sundance]

Later that day, Action Force’s frontline troops were once again assembled for a briefing.

“I know we’ve only just returned from a mission,” The Commander began. “But we’ve got important intel. Documents recovered in China have revealed the location of Ironblood’s second Hyena factory. It’s a factory outside Samarqand in Uzbekistan. We’ve got overhead imagery indicating a large number of the tanks outside, ready to be shipped out. Given the losses we took in China, this will be an armoured assault op. The Wolverines will launch a missile strike on the parked Hyenas, followed by a strafing run from the Hawks. Steeler’s tanks will then form the vanguard of the attack, with Z-Force jeeps and the SAS following up. Wheels up is in two hours, get moving.”

Two hours later, after a rapid rearming and refuelling of the aircraft and vehicles, the assault force was airborne and heading east.

Samarqand, Uzbekistan
The following day

When the Action Force transports arrived, they were met by a General from the Uzbek Army and a company of troops. The transports were quickly moved to a secure area, where the Action Force vehicles were off-loaded and the helicopters prepped for use.

The column quickly moved out and headed south on a main road through the city.

Sitting in the second Panther jeep back, Eagle looked out at the city as it sped past the roll-cage.

“Place looks nicer than I expected,” Eagle commented to Double-Tap, who was driving.

“Anything looks nice after Afghanistan, sir,” Double-Tap answered.

“I guess,” Eagle replied.

The column halted a mile from the factory. The Wolverines raised their turrets as one of the Talon drones sped overhead, the Triad jet circling at altitude.

Ton-Up looked across as Gaucho as they opened the hatches on their turrets and lowered their targeting monocles into place.

The Swede scratched his stubbly chin as he regarded the Argentine, who, as usual, had a black bandana concealing his face. Although he knew about Gaucho’s past, Ton-Up couldn’t shake the feeling that the Argentine was trouble.

His helmet bleeped at him. It was receiving the laser targeting data from the Talon drone.

Gaucho looked across and gave a thumbs up. Ton-Up returned the gesture. The two drivers pulled out the safety clip on their firing controls and then ducked back inside their tanks.

Seconds later, the first missile fired from Gaucho’s tank. The turret shifted and then fired again.

In the space of two minutes, both tanks launched all of their missiles. The barrage streaked across to the factory.

As the rockets dropped toward the ground, their warheads split open and showered twelve cricket ball-size bomblets over the Hyenas.

Each bomblet contained three pounds of high explosives. When they hit the tanks, the charge detonated punching through the weaker top armour.

The two Wolverines fired eight missiles each, each containing eight bomblets. 128 bomblets destroyed 233 tanks as several of the exploding tanks sent shrapnel flying into a neighbouring vehicle.

Blades led the seven Hawk helicopters across the parking area, firing Hellfire anti-tank missiles into more of the Hyenas, before spraying more with the gunships’ 20mm guns.

Trojan gunned the engine on his battle tank and led the charge as the four Z-Force tanks raced toward the fence, crashed through and opened fire with their main guns, destroying more Hyenas.

Inside the factory, Red Wolf had been conversing with the leader of the Red Shadows assigned to the factory when the building shook from the explosions outside.

Red Wolf dashed along the catwalk over the factory floor to the windows in time to see the Hawks speed overhead, firing Hellfire missiles into several of the Hyenas.

“It’s Action Force,” Red Wolf snarled as the Red Shadow leader ran up. “Sound the alarm!”

The Red Shadow wasted no time turning and running back to his office to hit the alarm.

As a klaxon sounded across the factory, the assembly line halted.

“Action Force are attacking,” Red Wolf shouted. “Get your weapons! We must repel the attack!”

The troops hurried to a row of lockers along one wall and began collecting Kalashnikov assault rifles, RPD machine guns and RPG launchers. Red Wolf spared a glance out the window before hurrying to the office. Most of the Hyenas were now burning or wrecked.

Red Wolf collected his AKSM carbine and his helmet before hurrying down to the factory floor.

“RPG squad, I want you at the doors. Machine gunners behind them,” Red Wolf ordered.

The gunmen began taking up positions.

“You and you, open the doors!” Red Wolf barked. The German may have been a tank commander, but he’d watched the Black Major at work often enough to have picked up some tactics.

As the factory doors began to grind open, Red Wolf saw the four Z-Force jeeps outside.

“RPGs, FIRE!” he shouted.

He was too late.

Warhead, Lock’n’load, Rain-Bringer and Blast Wave opened fire with the .30 calibre guns on their jeeps, cutting down several of the Red Shadows before they could even fire.

Roadhog keyed his radio, “Remember, you’re firing armour-piercing rounds. Shoot through the doors.”

Inside, Red Wolf shouted for his troops to fall back as several were cut down by the hail of gunfire.

“Grab those RPGs and get to the catwalk,” he snapped. “Fire from the windows!”

Several of the Red Shadows snatched up the rocket launchers and raced for the nearest stairs leading to the catwalk. Several more carrying RPDs followed.

Skip was watching the attack from the gun turret of the APC he’d been riding in with Breaker, Jammer and The Doc. He looked up as he heard a window smash and saw the Red Shadows.

“Pull back!” he shouted into his radio as he snatched up the trigger to the gun turret and opened fire.

The sustained gunfire from the APC cut down several Red Shadows as the jeep drivers slammed their vehicles into reverse and raced back from the factory.

As Skip continued to hose the windows with bullets, one of the Triad fighter’s UCAVs screamed across the front of the factory at an angle. Its twin 20mm guns blazed, shredding the front of the building.

Skip grabbed his radio. “Roadhog, I want a Hellfire barrage on that doorway now!”

Seconds later, the four Z-Force jeeps fired off their anti-tank missiles. Once the flames and smoke cleared, a gaping hole had replaced the entrance to the factory.

“SAS, GO!” shouted Skip.

Seconds later, the twelve SAS troops who formed the three fire-teams sped by on their Battle bikes.

Shade rode her Battle bike through the stuttering flames into the factory. A Red Shadow was raising an AK-74 toward her. She triggered her bike’s 9mm guns. The twin guns barked a short burst and the gunman fell to the floor. Several Red Shadows were sprinting toward the rear of the factory. Gunning her throttle, she raced after them; Snow Wolf and Lobo close behind her.

All three soldiers fired, cutting down some of the fleeing troops. One turned, firing an RPD machine gun. Lobo slammed on his brakes to her right and the bike’s rear wheel slid around, tipping the bike onto its side.

Shade accelerated toward the gunner, then leapt clear of her bike and body-tackled him to the ground. She gave him a judo-chop to the throat, putting him down. She unslung her MP-5K sub-machine gun and fired a burst at a fleeing Shadow troop as he reached the rear door.

Lobo shot a Red Shadow aiming an AK-103 at Snow Wolf as he kicked another in the chest.

Two Panther jeeps pulled up behind them. “Everybody freeze!” snapped Sandstorm from one of the jeeps’ rear gun positions.

With the two Panthers covering them, Shade, Snow Wolf and Lobo began disarming the Red Shadow, cuffing them with flex-ties and removing their helmets.

Eagle quickly arrived and began looking at the prisoners and flicking through a set of photos. As Shade smacked one recalcitrant prisoner around the head, Eagle grinned and spoke to her.

“Watch it, Shade. That’s Red Wolf you’ve got there. Ironblood’s Hyena commander,” the major said.

Eagle stepped over to Red Wolf. “I don’t suppose you’d care to talk?” Eagle asked.

Red Wolf spat in his face. Eagle nodded thoughtfully, and then punched him in the nose, which broke with an audible crack. Red Wolf yelped in pain.

“Don’t do that again, or I’ll break more than your nose,” he calmly informed the terrorist.

Eagle stood and turned to Lobo and Snow Wolf as more of the SAS fire-teams arrived. “Make sure he goes to the Dungeon,” Eagle said, referring to the Action Force detention centre in the Alps. “Everyone else gets shipped out to the Uzbek authorities.”

The two troopers nodded and grabbed Red Wolf and dragged him off.

As the SAS troops secured the prisoners and prepared them for transport, Loki and Vixen were going through the office looking for anything useful, whilst Wireless was pulling apart the PC to get at the hard-drive.

Most of the Red Shadows were loaded into trucks supplied by the Uzbek Army and would be taken to a military jail outside the city. The Commander had decided that none of the rank-and-file Red Shadows knew enough to be worth bothering to take prisoner. Instead, they would simply be charged with criminal offences under local law. A few Shadows were identified as being officer equivalents and, along with Red Wolf, would be shipped out to the Dungeon. Red Wolf had been identified as a High Value Target through interrogation of Red Shadow prisoners captured in Algeria and information derived from the British agent inside the group.

Once Action Force’s prisoners were loaded aboard an Uzbek truck, the convey headed back to the Samarqand airport to head back home to the Bunker.

The Bunker
The next day

Quarrel stood in front of the pin-board on the wall of the intelligence room, looking at the pictures and names.

A CCTV still from the German bank robbery showed Baron Ironblood’s helmeted head. He was at the top of the ‘tree’ of the high value targets.

Underneath him was a slightly blurred mobile-phone photo of the Black Major, a balaclava and a helmet hiding his face. The image had been taken during his attack on London the previous year.

Arranged in a line were the next four HVTs. A Soviet Air Force academy graduation photo of Anton Nobokov was the left most image. The traitorous Latvian’s alias was unknown. Next to his photo was the blurry security camera image of Bombshell recovered from the secret American jail. The third image showed a clear security camera photo of Shrapnel recovered from Brussels. The fourth image was a photo of Claude Rains in the 1920s classic ‘The Invisible Man’, his face hidden by bandages. Pinned to the bottom of the photo was a piece of paper with ‘Red Condor’ written on it. No image of the known pilot had been found.

The next line of four images showed a photo taken by Tracker during the Algerian mission; ‘Red Jackal’. Next to that was a CCTV still from the German bank raid showing Landline. The third showed a picture of a comics' character, the Invisible Woman. Her caption read ‘Red Fox’. The Baron’s intelligence operative’s true appearance wasn’t known. The final image showed a blurred photo taken from the diving support vessel that had aided Q-Force. The image was of the Baron’s naval commander, Kraken, in his head-covering stylised helmet.

The lowest row showed the last four images. Kill Shot and Red Wolf had red marker-pen X’s across their faces. Next to them was a photo of someone in a gas mask. The label read ‘Airburst’. Action Force knew nothing about him except what the British agent had reported; a Russian WMD expert. The final image showed a photo of an Asian man in his earlier twenties, taken from a university ID card. The British agent had supplied his photo, name and code-name: Takeso Nakamura, codename ‘Red Laser’.

“Hey,” Loki said. “Quarrel.”

The Swiss woman snapped out of her reverie and turned, “Yes?”

“The Commander wants to see you. He just got back from London.”

Quarrel nodded and hurried out, Loki staring after her.

In the Ops room, Quarrel met the Commander as he was speaking to Eagle, Major Flagg and Skip.

“British Intelligence has received a priority flash-message from their agent inside the Red Shadows. An attack is imminent on an American research facility in Alaska. We’ve got about thirteen hours before the attack’s due to kick off,” the Commander informed them. “I want a team assembled and background intel.”

“Sir,” all four snapped.

“North Star can lead the squad,” Eagle said next. “I suggest he takes Beaver, Undertow, Stakeout, Fenris and Manta. They’re all Arctic warfare trained.”

“I think Boffin has finally got those snowmobiles sorted,” Skip interjected. “They’ll help.”

“Good, get on it. Get Undertow and Manta here fast,” The Commander ordered. The two Q-Force divers were at the separate Q-Force base on the coast.

The two officers left. “I’ll get the intel together,” Quarrel said and hurried off.

Two hours later, the ad-hoc arctic warfare team was assembled on level one of the Bunker. Each of the six men was dressed in a three-tone Arctic camouflage uniform that was a mix of light blue, grey and white patches. They wore a white Kevlar vest over the tunic. The tunics had wool-lined hoods, though these were down, to keep their heads warm. Each was carrying a G-36 assault rifle and had a communications headset on. Boffin was running them through the features of the four skimobiles.

“They started out as commercial skimobiles, but we’ve given them substantial upgrades. The chassis is a Kevlar composite. Twin 20mm guns as you can see, which have a thousand rounds each. Triggers on the control yoke. Engines are upgraded to give better fuel efficiency and make less noise. We also fitted soundproofing to the cowl over the engine. Halogen spot-light on the front.”

“You’ve only got four though?” Stakeout asked.

“At the moment. We’re waiting for another six to be delivered. I’m also working on some designs for a larger vehicle. Possibly, a half-track…” Boffin trailed off for a moment. “But these should do for now.”

“Undertow and Stakeout, you guys can ride behind Fenris and Manta,” North Star said.

“Gee, thanks,” Undertow commented.

A group of cargo-handlers fitted the skimobiles on to wheeled trolleys and took them to the aircraft lift, with the commandos trailing behind. Once on the surface, the skimobiles were loaded aboard an American C-17 Globemaster III transport, with the troopers following behind.

Once the skimobiles were secured, and the team was strapped in, the transport took off and raced north across Europe, heading for the Arctic Circle, to make a rapid journey toward Alaska.

[Sundance]

THE CONCLUSION!!!

Somewhere near the Alaska/Canada border
Ten hours later

The C-17 had raced across Europe to an in-flight refuelling off the Scottish coast before heading into the Arctic Circle and dashing south into Canada for a second refuelling.

Now it was passing over the Saint Elias Mountains in Canada’s Yukon Territory toward the border.

The research facility was located in a valley in the Wrangell range. Since there was no airfield where the skimobiles could be off-loaded, the pilot was planning on dropping to low-level and allowing the team to simply drive off the rear ramp.

The transport crossed into Alaska and continued its descent. As it closed to within a few miles of the base, the C-17 dropped lower and the rear ramp dropped.

The six commandos climbed aboard the skimobiles as the green light came on, meaning they were clear to go.

The loadmaster hit a switch and the steel slats that held the skimobiles in place dropped and as the transport took a slightly nose-up attitude, the skimobiles easily slid backwards out the rear opening.

One by one, the skimobiles fell from the transport and thudded on to the packed snow. The four soldiers driving the skimobiles gunned the engines and the group raced toward the base. The C-17 climbed rapidly into the sky, soon disappearing from view.

When the skimobiles neared the research base an hour later, a group of ten vehicles were already outside the base, firing at its guard towers.

North Star recognised them first, “Some kind of Shadowtraks,” he said over the radio. “With tank tracks instead of wheels.”

“Who cares?” Undertow answered. “Just shoot ‘em!”

Scant seconds later, the four skimobiles opened fire. The first barrage destroyed one of the Shadowtraks even as two others began to turn about.

Undertow and Stakeout unslung their G-36 assault rifles and opened fire at more of the Red Shadow forces, as the skimobiles continued to fire.

One of the Shadowtraks returned fire as a Red Shadow gunman, wearing white winter gear, switched from the forward gun to the rear gun.

As the .30 calibre bullets whipped overhead, Stakeout fired back and hit the gunner in the chest.

At the front of the group of Shadowtraks, two had crashed through the gates and were nearing the main doors.

“Punch it!” Undertow yelled to Fenris. “We need to stop them getting inside!”

“I know!” the Dane shouted back. “Keep shooting!”

Fenris accelerated as Undertow switched his G-36 to full automatic and fired several long bursts at the Shadowtraks as the skimobile raced toward them.

North Star and Beaver raced around one Shadowtrak, crashed through the smashed fence and then veered away as one of the Shadowtraks fired at them.

Manta and Stakeout barrelled toward the Shadowtrak nearest the door, with Manta blazing away at the vehicle before the pair leaped from the skimobile that crashed into the tracked vehicle. Both commandos rolled over in the hard-packed snow before scrambling up and firing their rifles.

Crouched near the door, Landline was trying to use his PDA to crack the access codes on the electronic locks as a Red Shadow and Red Jackal provided cover fire.

The Baron’s computer expert tried not to let his terror show as he worked, the crackle of weapons fire making him more scared than ever. Not that Red Jackal particularly helped either. The Russian had been badly burnt during the fracas in Algeria, which Landline had missed thanks to being in Nigeria overseeing the installation of computer gear. Since then, Red Jackal had refused plastic surgery and instead hid his scarred face behind a polished steel mask. It made him look like a comic-book villain, but no one had said that to him a second time. The luckless Shadow who said it the first time had paid with his life.

The expressionless mask, combined with Jackal’s angry tone served to make him a terrifying commander.

Finally, the doors began to open. Landline wasted no time hurrying inside. Red Jackal and a few Red Shadows following.

Stakeout and Manta shot the Red Shadows nearest the doors as the other commandos continued to battle the other gunmen. The pair raced inside the bunker-like building.

A pair of Red Shadows opened fire at them as they neared the first crossroads of four corridors. Both commandos dropped to one knee, fired and leapt back up as the terrorists fell.

“Which way?” Manta asked Stakeout as they reached the corner. Bullets pinged off the wall from the right-hand corridor.

“That way,” Stakeout replied wryly. He pulled a grenade from a pouch on his belt and threw it along the corridor.

The grenade detonated, providing the pair with cover as smoke and fire briefly filled the passage.

A Red Shadow was waiting for them in a doorway further along. He opened fire with an RPD machine gun. The two soldiers dived for cover.

Red Jackal leaned out of a doorway further down as Landline worked. The Shadow gunner had the two Action Force troops pinned down. That was good.

The room he and Landline stood in was the facility’s server room. The hacker had a laptop open and was typing at it before switching to type on a keyboard he’d pulled from one of the servers. Red Jackal paced back and forth as Landline worked.

“How much longer?” he demanded after a few minutes.

“Not long,” Landline answered.

Red Jackal went back to the door and peered out just as a grenade bounced down the floor to the machine-gunner’s position and detonated.

Snarling, the Shadowtrak driver leant out the door and opened fire with his Uzi, spraying the corridor with 9mm bullets.

Another grenade rolled along the passage and Red Jackal threw himself back inside and slammed the door shut.

The explosion tore the door off and sent both him and Landline flying. They crashed to the floor.

Landline looked across at Red Jackal as the masked terrorist rolled on to his chest and shoved himself up.

“I did it,” Landline informed him. “I’ve uploaded the plans.”

Red Jackal smiled. “Good, now we just need to get out of here.”

He pulled a pair of grenades from his own belt and threw them back down the corridor.

As the grenades went off, Landline packed his laptop and shoved it into his backpack before following Red Jackal out the door.

They hurried down the corridor as Red Jackal contacted one of the Shadowtraks outside and ordered the driver to meet them at the rear exit.

Ironblood’s HQ
Moments later

One of the Red Interceptor’s stood and strode over to where the Baron and Black Major were standing in the ops room.

“My lord,” the Red Interceptor said nervously.

Ironblood turned to stare at the technician. “Yes?”

“We have begun the download of the plans. Landline succeeded.”

“Good.”

“Uh…”

“Yes?” Ironblood snapped.

“There was a brief message with the file, sir.”

“And?”

“Landline reported Action Force had intercepted them as they were attacking the base. He reported he and Red Jackal would attempt to escape whilst the group was occupied fighting the other Red Shadows.”

Ironblood sighed. “Very well. Inform Red Laser we have the plans for the power source. I want the battle drones ready within eight months.”

“Yes, Baron,” the Red Interceptor bowed and scurried away.

Ironblood turned toward the Black Major.

“So, Major, where were we?”

“We’ve finalised the plans for the Skeletrons and Mutons to attack Moscow and Washington, Baron. We were about to discuss London, Paris and Berlin,” the Black Major reminded him.

“Yes…yes… Soon the world will tremble when I unleash my indestructible battle drones on the world!”

Ironblood’s maniacal laughter echoed through the room.

The Bunker

Skip turned toward The Commander. “Report in from Alaska. Several Red Shadows killed. Half a dozen captured. Three new vehicles captured intact. Red Jackal and Landline escaped with another Red Shadow driving. No casualties.”

“Do we know if they got what they were after?” The Commander asked.

“Yes,” Skip replied. “Apparently one of the technicians reported that the plans for a new type of clean power source were uploaded on to a private web space. It seems likely Ironblood’s got them.”

“One can only wonder what he wants them for.”

“We’ll probably find out the hard way,” Eagle interjected.