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part V: Black Night Squadron
Posted By: AlphaBravo343<e.moeller3@verizon.com>
Date: 24 April 2003, 2:17 AM
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2300 Hours, January 12, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
UNSC Fort Ticonderoga, Grid seventy-six by eighty-four (Denver, Colorado)
"All Apache pilots, report to your gunships on the double, repeat, all pilots report to your gunships immediately! This is not a drill!," came the Commander over the intercom system throughout the base. Fort Ticonderoga was embedded deep within Mt. Liberty deep within the Rocky mountains. The tunnels weaved deep into the granite layers beneath the mountain. The airfield was positioned in a man-made crevice carved in th top of the mountain. The mist covering the air above the airfield was dense with fog and mist, which would have been a bad thing....except there were sensory outposts all along the Rockies. That and a grid of infra red lasers that criss-crossed over the opening of the small canyon around the airfield, making an intricate 'honeycomb' pattern that detected interruptions in the lasers. Fort Ticonderoga was pivotal and important to the superiority of the UNSC in-atmosphere air combat.
Lieutenant William Evans zipped up the front of his flight suit and shifted his helmet to under his other arm. The word "Preach" was written in worn and scratched white block letters across the sides and front of his flat-black helmet. He pushed his aviator glasses farther up onto his nose and ran his hand through his dark hair. Technically, he was too tall to be an Apache pilot, but with the best track record of any apache pilot in the UNSC Air CORPS., no one was complaining. He quickened his stride, anxious to get behind the controls of his AH-75 B Longbow Apache Gunship. They looked exactly like the 21 century AH-64 Apache Attack Choppers, except these weren't helicopters, they used jet propulsion systems. The UNSC hadn't quite lost use of helicopters, but they were generally used to transport supplies when the UNSC wasn't at war.....until the Covenant had made war on humanity. He wasn't afraid of dying, but he sure as hell wasn't afraid of the Covenant.
"Hello beautiful," said Evans as he ran his palm along the side of his Gunship. He traced his fingers along his name just below the canopy line. He released the latch and the canopy made a slight hissing sound as it tilted back away from the cockpit seats. He hopped in and began to don his helmet, when his co-pilot and navigator hopped into the rear seat.
"Morning Preach, sleep well?" he asked, and Evans didn't need to look at him to know he was grinning from ear to ear.
"I'm wonderful, and how is this glorious morning going for you Striker?" he retorted, wearing a grin of his own.
"Wonderful, ready to kill some Covenant bastards?"
"Haha, do I need to answer that question?" he replied flicking the switch to warm up the engines. Striker's agreeing grunt was lost beneath the growing whine of the turbines. He looked to his right and the airstrip crewman gave him the thumbs up to lift off. He pressed another button and the rigid canopy closed around them. The whine of the engines turned into a deep rumbling and was muffled as the canopy sealed shut. His hands fluidly danced across the controls on the panels in front of him and he rested his hands on the flight and guns sticks. A targeting and airspeed/height meter flicked to life on his hud as he flipped down the clear visor on his helmet. The turbines turned downward and the Apache lifted off of the airstrip. They turned back and the Apache slowly built up speed as it ascended into the mist covering the canyon. His hud went infra red and he could see the rigid line rock jutting into the sky and the missile and machine gun turrets that provided over-lapping fields of defensive fire.
"All Apache gunships, take up position at these coordinates," he said as he relayed the coordinates to his squadron. As he brought his Apache about, he could see the other thirty gunships falling into line around him. He took the small cross on the chain around his neck from beneath his shirt and kissed it. Having it had earned him ridicule from several soldiers who were a little less religious than himself. But the UNSC had encouraged them to find something to hold on to and to focus on.
"We are moving to California, the 122 airborn division has requested air support for the attack that will begin in about an hour. Knight group Bravo will move to San Diego, Alpha will move to San Fransico. Provide air cover and take down as many Covenant dropships as you can before they get troops on the ground, You know your jobs people, let's bring everyone home again, Preach out," He said as he cut the COMM link. He eased forward on the throttle and the Gunship accelerated out of the cloud cover, he glanced to his left and saw Bravo squadron moving away. As he broke free of a patch of clouds, he tilted the Gunship to the right and peered down at the ground, charred and burning. A battle had taken place here several hours ago. The ground was swarming with UNSC personnel and vehicles. Several of the soldiers waved as the Gunships passed, he gave them a small wave and brought the Apache back up to the rest of Alpha squadron. He had heard that there was a SPARTAN II squad newly trained and deployed in Washington D.C. a few hours ago. That was a definite plus, the SPARTANS were the only real way the UNSC could ensure a desicive victory on the ground. The Apache Gunships were a relativley new addition to the UNSC fleet, and an essential one at that.
The sky was heavy with acrid and black smoke, thankfully, it had risen in plumes instead of clouds, this allowed him to see the ground and the bunkers along the shoreline. The Marines had secured the city, and saved fourteen-thousand civilians. He averted his attention ahead again and was startled by what lay before him. A swarm of Covenant dropships and fighters were moving on the beach head. The missile pods along the shore opened up on the fighters, swatting half their numbers out of the sky, then the auto cannons opened up on the Covenant banshees. They were gutted by the 30mm shells that decimated their hulls. The air was thick with machine gun fire. The Knight squadron swooped out of the sky, and moved on the banshees.
"Knight three, fox-two!"
"Knight one, fox-two!," Evans called over the COMM channel. And thirteen other Gunships launched multiple HE Anvil II missiles at the dropships. The groundside missile pods followed suite and launched hundreds of missiles at the incoming dropships. Nearly all of them were shot down in the hail of missiles.
The Apaches tore into the group of banshees. Evan's 30mm machine guns strobed on the sides of the cockpit, casting an eerie light on his controls. He rolled and dodged incoming plasma fire from the slower, less manuverable banshees. One banshee tore through the smoke several hundred yards ahead of him. He squeezed the firing triggers on his control sticks. The tracer rounds lanced forward from the barrels and the banshee nimbly dodged them. Still, he held the triggers down, and one of the bullets caught the anti-grav pod on its wing tip. It spun wildly out of control, spitting plumes of smoke from the pod. Evans pulled the flight stick back hard and the Gunship curved back so it was upside down, then he spun it upright again. he surveyed the battle field, the Covenant had gotten a few squads on the ground and they were charging up the beach toward the bunkers. Evans brought his Gunship about and beared down on the Covenant troops. He launched two missiles at the dropships that were still idling on the beach. They exploded in two giant plumes and the Covenant troops turned toward the incoming Gunship.
"That's right you bastards, look at me when I'm talking to you," and he grinned as he unleashed a hail of tracer rounds into their ranks. Pieces and limbs from Covenant troops flew in every direction, and he grinned as he flew by the bunkers along the beach, several feet off the ground. The troops roared in victory and waved at him as he passed.
The Apache alighted on the airstrip back in Denver and Evans clambered out of the open cockpit. He unzipped his flight suit and strode back to the barracks entrance. He thought faintly to himself about the war, and that he was so underused in the fight to save Earth. He thought about the intense fighting going on on the opposite side of the country, about the intense fighting everywhere.....except here. He didn't really care, and he took out the small cross and examined it. It had a small replica of a man who he had heard was called "Jesus". He didnt quite know the story and he decided it could wait until later to think about. The large metal door opened in front of him and he stepped inside, it hissed shut again as he walked inside.
To be continued...
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