World War Three RPG

[GhostHammer]

An enormous whoosh sent the trio of JTF2 members ducking behind a low wall. The sound of tearing Velcro intensified as a half dozen Russian AS-15 missiles blasted overhead, heading into the city. Adrian paused and pointed forward where a pair of Russian's slowly walked towards them, AK-47 rifles up, intense beams of LED light illuminating the shadows that had now crept higher in the sunset. Cody tapped Adrian on the shoulder, directing him into a store, as he ducked behind a garbage bin. The beam of light passed over Mike's hiding spot, on his belly under a large truck, before moving up to the store, the broken glass glittering.
"Стоп. Что это такое?" one of the Russian's grunted as the beam stopped.
"Я не знаю. Будьте бдительны!" the other whispered as he tightened his grip on his AK. Cody knew Russian well enough to know they had seen something. He shifted his weight and holstered his sidearm, praying Adrian would move fast enough. Mike's status light on his monocle flashed green, signaling he had weapon sights on the hostiles. Cody held his breathe as the back of a Russian appeared, moving into the store where Adrian crouched waiting.

"Американцы! Вызовите команду!" the first Russian cried as Adrian dove forward, yanking the AK sideways and plunging his combat knife deep into the man's jugular, turning his screams into wet gurgles. The second Russian appeared in front of Cody, an AA-12 Shotgun raised, ready to blast both soldiers into ribbons. Cody shot his leg out, buckling the side of the soldier's knee, sending him sprawling into the wall. The Russian whipped out the shotgun, buttock passing over Cody's head as he ducked underneath the swing. An elbow to the jaw sent the Russian stumbling backwards. Cody continued his momentum and spun, hand grasping the handle sticking out of his back harness.
The Russian had just recovered and was raising his shotgun when the steel blade of the Tomahawk connected with the side of his head, embedding itself just below the ear, severing the major arteries along the outside of the neck. Cody withdrew the blade as the Russian clutched his neck, stumbling forward onto his knees before a muffled gunshot from Mike's M14 punctured his temple, putting the man down.
Adrian stepped out of the shop, wiping his knife on his pant leg. "We're clear sir." he whispered as he re-shouldered his rifle. Cody nodded and drew his sidearm once again before stepping back onto the road, waiting for Mike to join them before moving on, the horrible images of the Russian missiles still fresh in their minds.

"El-Tee!" Mike whispered, "Here!"
Cody ducked under a fallen street lamp and joined Mike at the corner of a dock house, Adrian watching their back. The smell hit Cody as he reached Mike. "Yea, let me check." He withdrew a black light from his vest pouch, snapping it on and illuminating the door. A glowing "X" stared them in the face before Cody snapped off the light and slipped it back into it's pouch. He called Adrian up. "Ok we're here. No doubt the Frogmen are going to be jumpy, so keep visible until they can ID us, boo-ya?"
"Boo-ya." the two replied as Cody opened the door and stepped inside.

He lowered his pistol, finger resting along the guard as the others stepped inside, closing the door behind them. Cody clicked on his helmet lamp, a red wash illuminating the dock house. A few outboards rested along the wall, dozens of nets and boat parts lined the shelves. Cody stepped around a corner and felt the barrel of a rifle pressed against his side. "Бог сохранить наши земли." said the man, his accent rough.
"Glorious and free." Cody replied lowering his pistol. The SEAL snapped on his own light, illuminating his face.
"Good to see you made it in once piece." He clicked his COM. "All clear gentlemen, come on out." his finished, offering Cody a hand. "Lieutenant Waters."
Cody shook it as a half dozen SEAL's emerged from the shadows. "Lieutenant Shaer. You guys look cozy." Cody grunted.
The SEAL shook his head. "Not after those AS-15's were launched. Time's running out."
Cody nodded when a splash of water sent the group of men spinning, weapons on and directed towards the hole cut into the floor close to the harbor. A masked face emerged, one hand in the air while the other pulled oh his re-breather. "Jesus Christ Yank! I told ya I wouldn't be long!"
Cody lowered his weapon and suppressed a smile. Walking over to the man, he offered a hand. "You're lucky I didn't put a hole in your ass Al."

The large British man accepted it and pulled himself out the water, a couple others surfacing to join him. "Good to see ya mate! Sorry it's under these circumstances though."
Cody nodded and spun to Waters who spoke briefly with another SEAL before taking out a small device and placing it on the ground. A map flickered to life and illuminated the far wall as the projector came to life. The SF Operators crowded around to get a look as Waters began to explain their mission, a few members carefully positioned to watch the doors as the group planned the crippling of the Russian Navy in New York.

[UNLUCKY NUM13ER]

08-16-2016
2200 Hours
559th Green Berets
New York City, U.S.A
Sergeant Major Jason Miller

It had gotten dark, and it was one hell of a long day. The other half of the Russian convoy had returned and ambushed Miller and his men. The fight ensued for over an hour as the Berets fought until they holed themselves inside a urban grocery store with a nearby detachment of Marines. They managed to flank around and start picking off the Russians from the side. The Russians didn't react well to the ambush from the side. They quickly fell apart and when only five remained they dropped their weapons and gave up. The Marines quickly secured the Russians to allow Miller to report to his superiors. Their next objective was to assist a FBI HRT team attempting to rescue a group of civilians taken hostage in the subway. Their secondary objective was to take the sub system to an enemy forward command center based at a further station.

Four black SUV's pulled up to the store and 3 men got out of the first one. Miller approached the leader and extended his hand. "Miller I suppose?" the man inquired. "yes sir, you the HRT?" replied Miller. "Correct, my name is Johnson. We have orders to escort you to the subway where you are to assist us in a hostage rescue." Miller nodded, "Alright get your men in the cars and we'll move out." The first two SUV's were a little banged up with cracked glass, Miller felt nervous about riding in a civilian vehicle in the middle of a war zone. But after entering the car he realized the glass was bullet resistant, and the cars also had a minor amount of armor. Still not enough for a combat zone but it was the best the FBI could provide. It would have to do.

As the cars rolled out Miller's tac pad rang. It had info on the dead GSG-9 they had discovered earlier that day. They were in fact mercenaries, but had once worked together on the same team some years ago. There was no info on who had hired them or what they were hired for, but they had been contacted by an American. It still wasn't much but at least it was something, the dead soldiers had been on Miller's mind all day.

[SuRroundeD By 1]

The sky had finally become dark, the sun had set, and the smoke that had risen from Times Square became cloaked by the black sky. The armored convoy had found a place to stop and rest, somewhere out of sight at least. They had found an underground garage that had belonged to the employees' who worked at the office building that had once stood tall next to the garage, but that building was one of the first to fall in battle. There was now only one entrence to the garage, or at least from the road, so it would be hell for enemy armor to try and get inside, making this a safe area to rest. The rumble of the tanks engine had stopped, no one was inside. The same was true for every Humvee in the garage, empty, the Marines who once rode them sat around multiple fires created from field kits and started in a few scattered trash cans, there were no cars so the soldiers couldn't use them for their heaters. With night came the cold, and the American troops wanted to stay warm, it was the only thing they had that could be considered comfort.

Jenkins sat back against a rectangular pillar holding up the floor above him, he had changed out his old blood soaked bandage for a newer, clean one. He watched as the Marines in front of him laid down in silence, awake, but saying nothing amongst the flicker of the garbage cans flame. Ever since Times Square had been bombed the Russians hadn't launched any other missiles, indicating that they either didn't want to waste ammo, or that they were waiting for surrender. Whatever was left of the U.S. Navy after the explosions retreated south along the coast, where they would regroup and turn around for a counter attack. Futile, Jesse thought, the Russians had them outnumbered greatly, no matter how powerful the U.S. Navy thought it was, they didn't have a chance against the Russian fleet which was now docked at New York harbors. If the fires weren't currently burning the men inside the garage would be able to hear the faint sounds of gun fire occasionally sounding throughout the city, indeed there was still fighting, but most of it had ended for the night. Both armies troops and armor were scattered throughout the city, something common to happen inside a large maze like New York, most likely the Russians had stopped hunting American and Canadian survivors in order to regroup, most likely at the harbor to celebrate their great victory against the Americans.

When Jesse thought that he punched the ground with a fist, his hand throbbed. He couldn't believe the Russians had decimated their opposition, it seemed impossible to him, he asked himself the same questions over and over again, never coming up with a clear answer. Then he thought about home, his family, his friends . . . Jenna. As he began thinking about his homeplace he caught himself drifting away, he grabbed his weapon and shook his head, he didn't want to fall asleep, he needed to be ready for anything. But then he heard the faint breath of his fellow Americans as they fell asleep one by one and began dreaming of home. Still, he continued to fight the urge, he held his weapon closely. Another few minutes passed and his thoughts continued to drift from one to another, like a stream just carrying him through his mind. Once again his thoughts returned to home, to Jenna, he had never felt so homesick before. That is when he lost his battle to fatigue, and he slowly began slipping into the dream world.

[GhostHammer]

"Uh sir? Can you go over this one more time? I could've swore that Frog said we were boarding the Russian Command Ship?"
Cody patted Adrian on the back as zipped open the black canvas back they had lugged with them from the hangar hours ago. The night sky hung crisp and cold, stars blinking above through smoke that spiraled from fires throughout the city. "You heard right brother, get your gear on." he finished pulling out his breathing equipment, running over the plan in his head one more time. He and Adrian would scale the main tower to the bridge while Mike took position at the observation station with the help of the SAS sniper. They would provide cover for the SEAL team on deck responsible for securing C4 packs along the ships essential deck side equipment. Below decks, the SAS team would do the same in engineering. That was the easy part. Once accomplished, the entire joint unit of American, British, and Canadian SF Operators would rally along the helm of the ship and extract. Of course, this would be after Cody and Adrian secured the Captain while the snipers watched their back. "All in a nights work" was how the SEAL described it. "Suicidal cowboy bullshit" was more akin to how Cody would put it, but with New York in such dire straights, options were limited. He tugged on his re-breather and gave Adrian a thumbs up before stepping off the blackened dock and into the frigid waters of the harbor.

"Hold." Cody whispered into his COM as he ducked down behind a crate on deck of the Russian Command Ship, Adrian treading water off the side of the motionless ship as a Russian sailor paused for a smoke feet away from where the JTF2 Lieutenant crouched. Careful not to make any noise, Cody withdrew his sidearm and moved in, the heavy .45 caliber rounds muffled pops that sent the Russian jerking. Cody caught the man before he hit the deck, tossing him overboard and waving Adrian to ascend the ladder. Once both Operators were on deck, Cody flashed a green light to Mike who was moving up the observation tower, a green "All Clear" light responded him. He signaled Adrian, there would be no more talking, radio silence. He leveled his sidearm and moved forwards, hoping his American and British counterparts could accomplish their jobs, and that he could accomplish his. The fact it was late would keep most of the crew in the gallery and their bunks, although Cody doubted there wouldn't be a Russian or two in his way.

The stairs leading up to the bridge were dark, red lamps illuminating the passage as Cody waved Adrian forward. The entrance to the ship had been relatively uneventful. A pair of Russians had fallen victim to their sidearms in one of the bulkheads under repair from fighting in the harbor. Other than the three they had put down, the only other event that had warranted any notice was an amber "Caution" light for the SAS team below decks. Cody dismissed this as a minor snag, as anything major would have warranted a red "Abort" light, but none the less it unsettled him. Adrian signaled the stairs clear and Cody moved up to join him, the pair climbing the stairs, pistols outstretched as they came upon the half open door to the bridge, a soft light pouring from inside. Laughing voices and the chinking of glasses drifted from beyond the bulkhead. Private Party Cody thought as he holstered his sidearm. Adjusting the sling on his M4, he withdrew the borrowed MP7 of his thigh and clicked the safety to off. He was thankful the SEAL's brought some extra toys. He flashed a blue "Ready" light and slipped a 9-Banger out of his vest, awaiting the "Go" light from the SAS below decks.

Minutes passed before the SAS flashed an amber light twice, checking in with the SEAL's on deck. After a green reply, the SAS and SEAL's both lit their lights a steady green awaiting Cody's reply. He look to Adrian whose eyes were wide with anticipation. After a slight nod, Cody clicked the green light, pulled the pin on the 9-Banger, and rolled it onto the bridge. He paused, the drunken voices of those inside swearing as the grenade ignited, each "mini flashbang" hammering the eyes and ears of the command crew before the flashing stopped. Wasting no time, Cody kicked in the half open door and charged in, his MP7 coughing bullets as he dropped a stunned pair of junior officers struggling to draw their sidearms, the hollow point 9mm rounds neatly perforating their light naval uniforms. Adrian spun to his right and sent a trio of rounds from his sidearm at a Russian Lieutenant emerging from the head as Cody finished off the last of the Command Crew, both Operators training their weapons on the Captain. "Cuffs." Cody whispered as Adrian moved forward, securing the man's hands and gagging him with a piece of cloth. Cody holstered the spent MP7 and withdrew a handheld SATLINK Camera. He flashed a picture of the man's face and beamed it to the SEAL's on deck, who in turn transmitted the image to Washington for confirmation of the target.

"Eskimo, we have a problem." Came Lieutenant Waters' voice over the COM. "Be advised you have a Tier One target in your possession. ID confirmed as Admiral Volstag of the Russian 2nd Fleet over."
Cody swore. Radio silence was broken, but that hardly mattered. They hadn't picked up any old Naval Commander, they had just bagged one of the biggest Russian Navy commanders in the entire war. And now, with C4 explosions rocking the deck and in the engine room, they would have to fight their way out with precious cargo. Cody clicked his COM. "Rodger that. Plan B?"
Al's voice broke through the static as he fought his way below decks. "Plan B is already in motion!"
Adrian cocked his head. "Plan B?"
Cody spat and shouldered his rifle. "Yea. You're going to love this..." he finished as he clicked on his COM and began to broadcast live to all the allied forces in New York, hoping Hatchet or anyone would hear them, praying they had some way of helping them get their cargo off the ship alive, and hopefully them with it.

For now, the allies held a serious bargaining chip to force the Russians off the East Coast, and the Russian forces in the harbor, and the incoming paratroopers at dawn, were going to fight tooth and nail to get their Admiral back.

[SuRroundeD By 1]

His tie was choking his neck, his thin American Eagle dress polo collecting sweat on the summers day, both of these made it hard for Jesse to breathe as his mom told him how much she loved him, tears in her eyes. His dad and girlfriend were waiting patiently behind her for their turn to say good-bye, but with only a few minutes left until the bus left Jesse's mom was taking up all of the time. Finally his mom broke down, and his father took her by the shoulders, giving Jesse his hand for a firm handshack before taking Jesse's mother back to the car. With only a minute left until departure, Jenna who was waiting patiently, rushed and threw herself at Jesse, her arms fitting snuggly around his chest as he held her shoulders.

"You better come back damnit'" She cried, tears streaming down her face, Jesse tightened his grasp on her and she wiped her tears on his shirt, the stains growing larger and larger.

"Don't worry about me babe, you know better than anyone that I can handle myself." He comforted her, but was pushed away when a short, clean looking man shouted across the lot that the bus would be taking off in one minutes. Although Jenna pushed him, she kept her grip at arms reach.

"Promise me Jesse . . . promise me that you'll come back safe!" She struggled to choke out these words. Jesse reached a hand and wiped her tears off her cheek, they were warm.

"How many times do I have to say it until you believe me?" He began, but when she didn't say anything he reassured her again, "I wont die, I promise." With that he kissed her softly on the lips and went off for the bus, waving a final good-bye as he ran after it. Jesse hastily entered the bus, his tie getting caught on the mini-fan placed on the gigantically large dashboard, and it made a nasty hiss and ripping sound as Jesse pulled his tie out. After extraction the damn thing looked like it had been eaten by his dog, but there was no time to worry about it now, Jesse sat his ass down and looked out the window where his lover still stood watching. Seeing this he almost couldn't stomach leaving her, a rock formed at the pit of his gut and he began to feel an all too familiar feeling in his heart, a pain, one which he hadn't felt since beginning to date Jenna. The bus roared to life, the doors closing, and they took off, that was the last time he had seen Jenna.

Jenkins, already feeling homesick laid his head back against the hard metal seat of the Army bus and put his ipods ear buds in. He slipped the device under his shirt and pulled it back through the bottom, something he often did when listening to it. He flicked through the songs with his thumb and finally reached a artist: The Scorpions, and pressed his thumb against the screen. Two songs showed up when the artist screen disappeared and Jesse picked his favorite of the two: "Rock you like a Hurricane". However that isn't what played, what played sounded like a radio broadcast, from a familiar voice. It was faint, but audiable, and it was coming from one of the humvee's radios that hadn't been turned off.

When Jesse opened his eyes again he was back at New York, every Marine he had came with was still asleep and the night was still young. The radio was still broadcasting, the voice still familiar. Jesse scrambled to his feet and went dead sprint to the Humvee, ignoring his stomach wound which still pained him. He got to the Humvee and threw the door open, the door slammed against the front of the Humvee with a loud bang, that woke up a few Marines nearby. The message was relayed again through the radio, but now Jenkins recognized the voice.

"This is a member of a joint task force team aboard the Russian command vessel docked just outside the harbor due south of the remains of the Statue of Liberty. We have a high priority target in our custody and no way out, this is a message to all U.S. or Canadian forces still inside the city, does any body copy?" The message ended again, Jesse picked up the Humvee's walkie talkie hanging from the vehicles radio.

"This is Private First Class Jenkins, do you read me?" He asked, but there wasn't an answer, and the man on the other side repeated his emergency again. Hatchet, who had just awoke, walked up to Jenkins and leaned against the side of the vehicle, scratching his close cropped black hair.

"Our signal can't travel that far dog, they can't hear us, but do you know who this is?" He asked Jesse who turned to face him and explained.

"That's El Tee, I'd recognize that voice anywhere, he was the leader of that Canadian force that dropped me off in you care, remember?" Jesse returned with another question, Hatchet looked down for a second and his facial expression changed when he remembered El Tee, but he didn't say anything.

"We have to go help, you heard him, they have some sort a H.V.I in their care, he could be important to the war effort." Jesse tried to get the importance of helping the Task force into the thick skulls of the Marines, but none of them said anything, they were all awake now, and crowded around the one Humvee but most of them carried the faces of defeat. It appeared that the loss of Times Square really took it out of them. The only Marine who didn't look like he was going to bend over to the Russians was a medium sized, thin Marine with the rank of Staff Sergeant on his uniform, he was pondering. Jesse looked directly at him, and the Ssgt caught his stare but didn't say anything. When the radio came to life again it was not a Canadian voice, it was indeed American.

"Pfc. Jenkins? Can you read me?" The voice called, Jesse picked up the radio's talkie.

"Roger that, who's this?" He waited for a response, his fingers in a death grip on the small communications device.

"This is Colonel Smith, assistant Commander of all New York operations, I have lost communications with General Wolfe and have taken full command of the situation, what the hell is going on out there?" Colonel Smith was just as clueless as he was, but Jesse still tried to explain.

"The emergency broadcast came from a friend of mine, you know the contents of his message so you know how important getting to him is, I'm stuck on the ground though, copy?" The Pfc awaited an answer. It came about a minute later, the reason for delay was explained.

"I have about half a dozen choppers still servicable, but the Russians have heavy anti-air located on their battle ships; however, I think I have a way around that. How important do you think your friends H.V.I. is?" He asked, he was obviously trying to determine whether or not losing half a dozen choppers was worth the Task Force's life.

"Sir, I know for a fact that this Task Force, its soldiers and its prisoner are worth three dozen choppers." Another long pause.

"Alright, I'm sending you a chopper, you'll be filled in on the details when it gets there. This is the last of our support son, don't waste it, pop flares outside of your location and the heli should be there any second. Good luck Private Jenkins, and god speed." That was the last words of wisdom that came from the radio, Staff Sergeant Banks shut the thing off afterwards in order to preserve the Humvee's battery life.

"Alright you heard the man Jenkins, here," He took a flare from his kevlar vest and handed it to Jenkins, who graciously accepted it, "I'm not sending you on this mission alone, Hatchet, you're with him, make sure his wounds don't catch up with him, good luck gentleman." Banks began to round up the rest of the Marines, Hatchet lightly hit Jesse in the arm to get his attention and the pair of American soldiers left the garage. Jesse took the flare handed to him by Ssgt. Banks and lit it, the fuse light up the night sky as green smoke lifted into atmosphere. About a minute later the chopper arrived, it was a Bell UH-1Y Venom, Jesse and Hatchet mounted the chain guns on each side of the rotary air vehicle and it took off almost instantly. In the air Jesse could make out the shape of five other helicopters, all awaiting the Venom to arrive. The pilot came in through the helicopters PA system.

"Alright boys," it was a woman, a scary one, "We're going to be quick about this, five Vipers are going to assault the carrier and distract the anti-air abilities of the Russians, then we're going to swoop in and grab your friends, they have about 15 seconds to get on board before I save my own ass and leave them there, got it? Good." Neither Hatchet or Jenkins said anything in return, Hatchet reached in between his legs to make sure he didn't piss himself, that was the effect this womans voice had on you, seriously, it was crazy. The AH-1Z (not sure if correct) Vipers began their assault, Jesse could already see the Russian super carrier even in the darkness. The deck was being lit up by constant explosions, along with the deck lights, it made it easily visible to see the fight insue below. The Venom approached the carrier quickly, Jesse checked the chain gun by firing a few rounds into the ocean below him, the gun worked, but it freaked the shit after him. After the first three rounds rattled his rib cage he jumped backwards, and almost shat himself.

The Viper's that had gone ahead were being wiped out one by one by Russian anti-air, only two of the five still remained above the Command Ship, and they were still taking fire. The Venom flew closer and closer to the Russian super carrier, the mere size of the ship was enough to make Jesse gasp, it was huge. Huge wasn't enough to describe it, Jesse couldn't find the words to describe what he saw before him, but that was when his attention switched from the carrier to its deck. On the deck were three men on the edge of the ship, one was taking cover behind the other, who had another man in a choke hold, pistol to his fore head. Jesse instantly recognized the man, he was Cody. But his situation wasn't good, he was cornered by about a dozen Russian soldiers, the only ones not fixated on shooting back at the Vipers.

"Right there! Those three by the edge of the ship, those are our H.V.I's!" Jesse shouted at the pilot, he wasn't sure she heard him until the aircraft began to decrease in altitude. Jesse readied the choppers chain guns and braced himself, he looked back and watched Hatchet do the same.

"Ready man?" Hatchet turned and asked Jesse, who smiled as he replied, "I was born ready." The chopper was only about 50 feet from the deck now.

"Eat lead mother fuckers!" Was what Jenkins shouted before he opened fire.

[GhostHammer]

"Adrian keep up the fire!" Cody yelled as hey pushed the Russian Admiral down the bulkhead, one hand grasping the man's collar while the other pressed his pistol into the base of his skull. Adrian fired a sustained burst, his C8 dancing in his hands as he walked bullets up a Russian sailor who had charged through an open hatch. Cody slammed the Admiral head first into a partially open hatch, sending the heavy metal door flying open revealing a brightly lit deck, fires ablaze. Cody charged out and broadcast a distress call one last time before abandoning his COM. The pair of JTF2 Operators ran towards the bow of the carrier, a dozen SF Operators ducked behind crates and a burning life raft as the battled Russian aquatic forces, cut off from Cody and Adrian. The Russian Admiral smirked. "You vill never escape!"
Cody spat in the mans face and smashed his nose with the but of his pistol, breaking his nose and sending blood gushing onto the deck plates. Swinging the man around, he wrapped his arm around the Russians neck and pulled tight, placing the HIV in a headlock, pushing his pistol deep into the soft tissue below his ear. Adrian stepped in front of him, rifle raised. A half dozen Russian Spetnaz moved forward, AK-47's gleaming in the firelight as the two parties stood at a standoff, the battle between the allied SF and Russian's raging behind them. Cody caught a glimpse of Mike and Al fighting amongst the group when one of the Russians stepped forward. "Release zee Admiral and ve vill take you prisoner!"
Adrian laughed. "Kiss my ass fucker. We hand him over you'll execute us on the spot!"


Cody was about to add to the insults when the roar of a chopper smashed the harmony of the battle on deck, followed by the overlapping bangs of high caliber gunshots. The mini-gun alongside the choppers side tore into the Russian's directly in front of Cody and Adrian, sending the pair diving to the deck with the Russian HIV. Red hot tracers walked up and down the deck as a second chopper joined in, clearing a path for the SF Team to run towards the bow, heads low amidst the steel rain. Al came sliding over to Cody, "You got him?!"
Cody yelled over the roar as the chopper descended next to them, the door gun waving them onwards. "Fuck yea, let's go!"
The JTF2 team and a handful of SEALs and SAS ran to one chopper while the rest jumped onto the other chopper landing opposite. Cody passed the HIV off to a Marine inside the chopper and took a knee, covering the oncoming Operators until all had boarded before jumping on himself. A hand grasped him from the gunner's chair. "We're even now El-Tee!" yelled Jenkins over the roar of the chopper tearing off the ship.
Cody smiled. "Deal, thanks for the save Ranger."
Mike clapped Jenkins on the shoulder, "Good timing brother."
A chorus of cheers in agreement rose inside the chopper as the two birds tore back towards the city. The crew chief tapped Cody on the shoulder. "Lieutenant?! I have CANSOFCOM on the horn for you!"
Cody took the headset warily, if Command was calling from Canada, it couldn't be good. He clicked the COM switch alongside the earmuff. "This is Eskimo actual, go ahead Command."
A gruff voice grunted over the static washed channel. "Shaer we have a situation. General Wolfe has gone dark."
Cody looked over to Adrian and waved, making a walking gesture with his first two fingers. Adrian started to transmit into his COM unit as Cody turned his attention back to CANSOFCOM. "What do you need sir?"
The voice from Ottawa continued, "The pilot has orders to drop you and your team off at his last known location. From there, you're on your own solider, we have no clue where he went or why he went dark. Confirm orders?"
Cody nodded inwardly, "Rodger that sir. We're on it." he finished passing the headset back to the crew chief. He snapped on his COM unit. back to team channel flashing a green light. The chatter quickly quietened down before Adrian cleared the air. "What's good Lieutenant?"

Cody cleared his throat and checked his monocle that had just finished downloading his new mission details. He made sure that all channels were open before starting, careful to make sure the marines and pilots were not on the line. "Alright listen up! As of approximately thirty minutes ago, General Wolfe of New York operational command has gone dark from his control location. CANSOFCOM has received a request from American Eagle to locate him ASAP. This is a priority one mission. Wolfe is a Tier-One friendly asset that must be recovered."
Al broke across the channel. "My men are without orders, with permission from Waters I'd like to assist."
Cody looked over at the chopper flying alongside them, Waters waving from the open door. "We can split the task force, my SEALs will escort the Russian HIV back to Command with the SAS, Al you can take whoever you need and join the Canucks oo-rah?"
A chorus of agreement from both Al and Cody echoed back before Cody continued. "Alright! SEAL's you now have control of the Russian HIV. Once we get to the drop zone, we'll fast rope with whatever SAS are coming with and proceed on mission. You keep that Russian locked tight, we'll get your man back."

[SuRroundeD By 1]

Jenkins was still manning the choppers mini-gun, although they were out of reach of the Russian anti-air, there was no clear locations of U.S. or Russian footholds in the city, they could be flying over a U.S. cleared area and run into a nest of Russians the next. Jesse looked back at what he could see of the Russian super carrier, shortly after leaving the U.S. SEAL's detonated the C4 they had planted underneath the ship. When the two choppers had reached the shore line the explosion ripped through the deck of the Command vessel and it tore itself into three parts, each individual hunk of steel sinking at its own pace. Soon enough the ship was out of sight and Jesse focused his attention back to the city, but there was nothing, just explosions off into the distance where all the heavy fighting was occurring.

Jesse glanced back at El Tee who was sitting at the far back of the heli, out of ear sight from everyone else. Since he had to make sure no one else heard him, Jesse figured what Cody was being told was above his rank, and decided not to try and eavsdrop. Mike walked up and sat to Jesse, his legs hanging off the side of the chopper he just stared out into the night sky.

"You alright man?" Jenkins couldn't help but ask, Mike took a glance over, and then looked back out of the chopper.

"Yeah, I'm fine, by the way there is a change in plan, were changing course for a different part of the city." He stopped without further explaination, with an irritable sense of curiosity, Jesse had to push just a little further.

"What for?" He asked, trying to pick apart what was going on. Mike was quiet for a second, obvioiusly trying to determine what to tell Jesse, then he turned to address him.

"That, I cannot tell you, but once you hear the news you'll probably find out what and where we're going." That was the brick wall, Jesse didn't try to press any further. For the next half a minute there was an awkward silence, oddly enough the one to break it wasn't Jesse but Mike.

"Do you have anyone waiting for you at home?" A simple question, there was no harm in answering it. Jesse tried to find a way to begin explaining about home without losing his concentration.

"Well . . . my family-" He was cut mid sentence.

"I meant like a girl friend," he clarified.

"Oh man . . ." Jesse began, and tried to figure out a way to answer, "Yeah . . . her name is Jenna . . . one of the most beautiful girls you've ever seen man . . . small rack but that doesn't bother me, tightest ass I've ever seen." He joked and elbowed the Canadian in the arm. Mike displayed a grin, and hit back.

"Seriously though, you miss her?" Mike asked another question, although this one slightly bothered Jesse he still answered.

"Yeah, her the most out of anyone man, I would give anything just to see her again . . ." Jesse stopped, a familiar pain hit his chest and a rock formed in his gut, the feeling of home sickness hit him hard. A tear fell down his right cheek, it was warm, almost as if it were her fingers tracing his cheek right now. His memories began to drift to his time spent with her, the feeling in his stomach intensified. He was right, there was nothing he wouldn't give to see her after all that had happened today, her face drifting in his mind. Mike caught his silence.

"You don't have to finish that, I know how you feel." Mike stated, "I have someone back home myself." The helicopter came to a stop, and hovered above a large intersection, Cody stepped up from the back of the helicopter and clasped Mike on the shoulder.

"Time to go."

[UNLUCKY NUM13ER]

08-16-2016
2345 Hours
559th Green Berets
New York City, U.S.A
Sergeant Major Jason Miller

The Green Berets & HRT slowly made their way through the service tunnels. They were en route to a nearby station about half a block away where Russians had a civilian POW camp set up. It had been set up hastily and security had not been prepared correctly. The American special forces had made contact with a Russian sentry team. Miller and Seth took one man out while 2 others dealt with the second Russian. Miller grabbed the man's rifle and swung it around behind him quickly disarming the startled man, then dropped him to his knees. Seth already had his combat knife at the ready, he covered the man's mouth and rammed it into the Russians chest and left it there until he was nothing more than a limp corpse. The other 2 had eliminated the other Russian only 10 feet away. The HRT team was instantly on the move taking point headed towards the camp.

There were over 50 prisoners at the camp. The biggest priority was a French ambassador & 2 U.S. congressmen. Of course the other civilians were of some importance but the death of a French ambassador wouldn't sit well politically. The HRT team would focus on retrieving the priority prisoners while Miller and his men would eliminate as many Russian threats as possible.

With 6 men on each side of the tracks behind the camp they opened fire. Within 5 seconds 13 Russian guards dropped. The HRT team made their move while the Russians tried to figure out what was happening to them. Within another 10 seconds 5 more Russians lay dead. In the back some prisoners began to scream. Guards were in disorder, but soon began to focus fire on the Green Berets. The HRT had breached the first gate to prisoners. More Russians dropped dead, the lights went out. 2 Berets got hit, as they switched to their night vision. The fighting began to turn into a stalemate as more Russians from the front of the camp came to assist their fallen comrades. Johnson and his HRT sucessfully got the Priority prisoners out and began to escort the other prisoners through the dark and out of the camp. The tunnels was a mass of gunfire and yelling. Eventually the Russians realized they no longer stood much of a chance and that they had already lost their prisoners. Those who remained alive retreated to the surface or made a run down the subway tracks.

Miller and Johnson regrouped to recollect and discuss the next plan of action. Miller had 3 wounded, Johnson had none. The Priority prisoners were fine, but some of the other civilians had been killed or wounded in the combat. A few had been interrogated and were pretty beat up. Johnson took the POW's and Millers injured men to the evac. After securing the camp and disposing of the weapons Miller took the Green Berets down the tracks and began their next objective...to neutralize the Russian forward command base.

[GhostHammer]

The pilot waved his hand and gave Cody a thumbs up as the chopper settled above the dark street, a small fire inside a car casting dancing shadows across the road onto the walls of the battle torn buildings. Cody checked his rifle was secured before calling a thanks to the pilot, he turned to Jenkins. "Stay frosty out there Ranger. Last one home buys the beer."
The solider nodded. "Hoo-ah sir. Stay safe."
Cody nodded and grabbed the fast rope. He took a breath, and jumped, the thick rope sliding through his gloves as he dropped forty feet to the pavement, followed by Adrian and Mike seconds after. A trio of SAS members landed on the opposite side of the chopper and the six SF Operators began their advance into the darkness, silencers fixed, all praying they could reach their target's last known location with minimal resistance.

One of the SAS members signaled a "freeze" from the front of the formation. He fired a series of signals to his comrade and the pair slowly moved towards the doors of the library General Wolfe has been using as a command post, one of the doors hanging by a hinge, blown inwards. Al moved next to Cody to translate the SAS signals which differed from those of JTF2. "William thinks it's a trap." he whispered as Adrian moved to cover the pair.
Cody shook his head. "No Russian's here, not enough cover." he said pointing the the serious damage to the old building.
Al opened his mouth to respond when William at the front cried out. A split second later, the massive crack-boom of a Claymore ripped through the air, hundreds of tiny BB's blasting into the leading SAS members, sending them sprawling to the pavement. Cody swept his rifle along the windows awaiting a barrage of rifle fire, but silence soon returned. Al moved to his men while Cody double clicked a red light to Mike who moved along the rooftops above them. A green acknowledgment replied to him. Cody moved to Al. "Status?"
Al shook his head. "Both gone. Not a chance in hell mate."
Adrian placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."
Al nodded. "Let's get on with it then."
The trio quickly pulled the bodies into the shadows and removed any ammunition and gear they would need. In minutes, they had finished, and with Adrian volunteering to run point, slowly moved past the now destroyed front doors into the vast library. A large double staircase loomed opposite them in the lobby, one leading up, the other down. Cody quickly clicked his COM. "Mike, move down from the roof, Al will meet you from the lobby. Adrian and I will take the lower levels. Whoever finds the control room first, radio in, we rally there, clear?"
Green lights flashed back at him along his monocle.

The heavy door creaked as Cody pushed it in with his rifle barrel. He quickly stepped inside, followed by Adrian, their Surefire Weapon lights illuminating the dark office. Books and paper lay strewn about, and a small desk lamp lay on the floor still on, casting long light upon the far wall where an entrance of sandbags and machine guns gleamed from the end of the hall. Cody waved Adrian forward and grabbed his COM. "Bravo team be advised, we've located the control room. Marking the location on your TACMAP over."
"Rodger that El-Tee we're on the way." Mike replied from somewhere upstairs as Cody placed a yellow triangle on the map. Returning to the situation at hand, he nodded to Adrian and the two moved down the hall towards the heavy steel door which lay slightly open. Cody quickly pulled out a mirror he called the "dentist tool" and checked inside the door carefully. After locating no traps on the door, he grasped the heavy handle and yanked it open with a loud groan. The pair stepped inside just as Mike and Al turned the corner and started down the hall towards them.

Nothing could have prepared them for the scene inside the decimated control room.

[SuRroundeD By 1]

The sound of an explosion ripped through the air soon after dropping of Cody and his men. Jesse spun his head to see what happened but nothing could be seen in the night sky. Shit, their already in the fray huh? he thought. He looked back at Hatchet who was also trying to get a good view of what happened. That's when Jesse decided to dismiss the subject, those operatives had seen worse. He then focused his attention to the multiple flashing lights coming from the other side of the city. Multiple explosions lit up the battlefield just a mile away, it made Jenkins wonder how the battle was going over there.

"Hey you two," The pilot began speaking over the helicopters COM, "We'll be arriving at the back-up U.S. Command Center in a few minutes, we're in U.S. cleared zones and my thermal isn't picking up anything, so take a break before you have to get down to business again." With that news both Hatchet and Jesse released grip from the chainguns on the side of the chopper. Jesse rested his left leg inside of the chopper and put his back against the wall, he closed his eyes for a moment, and in the blackness he found peace, even if just for a second. All the worries he carried seemed to disappear, pictures of home began floating around his mind. Memories of him and his family, games in the backyard while their dad cooked steaks. Baseball when he was in high school, the game he hit his homerun, all these memories coming and going. However before he knew it the chopper had come to a hover, and when Jenkins reopened his eyes he found himself coming to a decent. Below him was a cruedly constructed fort consisting of a few dozen tents and a few lazily made defenses like wooden barriers and such. Around the fort were dozens of M1A1's and few Armored Personnel carriers, it was definitely a back-up. When the chopper landed it was greeted by a few soldiers coming to see what the fus was about, however among them was a man, the rank of Colonel imprinted on his shoulder. Jesse got out of the chopper and gave a quick salute, the Colonel returning the greeting.

"Are you Jenkins?" He asked, Jesse nodded and waited for the Colonel to speak again, this is when he found his name tag, Smith.

"Good," He smiled, "Come with me please." The officer grabbed Jesse by the shoulder and began to escort him to the largest tent in the fort. The Colonel was about the same height as Jesse, somewhere around 6'1, but he wasn't as filled, his arms were slim indicating to Jesse that he himself wasn't a very strong man, he had probably come out of ROTC without buffing up. He was also bald, the moon light shining off of his smooth top, Jenkins held in a laugh, he could never understand why someone would go completely bald, even in the service you weren't required to shave it all off. The Colonel entered the tent and held the flap open for Jenkins to walk through, and after a polite thank you from Jesse, the Colonel let go of the flap and walked over to a large table in the middle of the "room", a large map of New York displayed with dozens of little chess parts scattered on it. The rest of the tent was also full, there was barely any walking space among the many desks and machines, many which were computers or had moniters on them, and half a dozen small generators buzzing next to them. The Colonel stopped at the table and rested his hands on the map, giving Jesse a look that signified it was ok to approach him.

"You see this," Colonel Smith pointed at the map.

"Yes sir." Jenkins gave a short reply.

"This," Started Col. Smith, "Is a map of New York as we know it now, all the chess pieces signify something of importance, the castles represent Forward Command Bases, the nights are armored divisions, the bishop is our arial brigade, which has been shortened to two of the six choppers we had left." He paused and looked at Jesse, who looked down, not wanting to meet his gaze after that comment. "The pawns are infintry divisions, and the king and queen are the Commander and Vice Commander on the battlefield, I want you to notice something Jenkins." He paused again, Jesse quickly scanned the map but didn't find anything out of place.

"I don't see anything wrong with this sir." Jenkins told Col. Smith.

"Look harder." Was his reply. Jesse sighed in his head and took another look at the map; however, this time he noticed something.

"One of the kings are missing . . ." As soon as Jesse said this the U.S. Vice Commander smiled.

"Very good Private, yes, a king is missing, to be correct our king is missing. Do you remember the rules of chess?" Colonel Smith asked another question irritating Jesse who didn't like riddles or useless questions, they both got on his nerves.

"Yes sir." Another short reply was all the Col. got.

"Good, that you must know that when one sides king is taken that side loses. The difference between our game and chess is that in our game we can still survive without the king, but the king is still a very important piece. One that is missing, and that is what we sent your friends to do." He stopped again and looked at Jenkins quizitively, pondering something in his head, maybe he was waiting for Jesse to speak up. Our Private couldn't take the riddles anymore, so he spoke his mind.

"Why are you telling me this sir, what is the point?" He wanted the answer, not more questions.

"Because that's only a quarter of our master plan, another part of the plan is to take their king, but we already have people doing that too. Can you guess what the last of our plans require?" He questioned, another fucking question, Jesse's blood boiled, the pain in his abdomen returning. Still; Jesse, reluctantly of course, answered the man.

"Take their castles and kill the rest of their pieces?" Smith gave another smile.

"You're half right Private, half right, we want to take their castles but taking all of their pieces isn't required. No, we want to end the game, but how do you end a game where the other side can continue to fight until all of their pieces are taken?" Another fucking question, Jesse took his helmet off and scratched his head, digging his fingers into his skull as he tried to keep his cool.

"You stop playing." That was the only answer Jesse could think of, and again, the Colonel displayed a grin as if Jesse had satisfied him with an amazing answer.

"CORRECT," Smith yelled, and how will we stop playing you ask? Well I'll answer," Finally thought Jenkins something he'll answer his fucking self, "We wipe the map." Smith's smile disappeared and he looked Jenkins directly in the eye, a piercing glare, and all the annoyance Jesse had accumulated had instantly disappeared.

"Wipe the map? You're going to destroy New York!?" Jesse raised his voice, the thought of destroying the city seemed like treason to him, all the homes and property that had survived so far was going to be destroyed, this was shocking to him.

"Why the hell would you do that!?" Jesse yelled again, this time Smith put a finger to his lips, a gesture telling Jesse to shut the fuck up. Col. Smith cleared his voice.

"We don't actually want to resort to that, but you see we have lost our King, and we are losing the game. Congress has already decided that the city has taken so much damage that it would be cheaper just to drown it than try to fix it again. This is why it is so important to turn this game around now and that, Jenkins, is why I have led you to this tent and told you all of this." It finally made a bit of sense to Jesse now, but that didn't explain everything, like why tell all of that to him, a normal soldier not even high enough in rank to lead a squad. That was something he had to ask.

"Why tell me all of this sir? A normal foot soldier?" Smith stood up and put a hand on Jesse's shoulder, making the moment awkward as the silence in the room continued for a few moments.

"Because you look like someone people can trust, and you have proved that already today by helping your friends out at sea. Besides that, I'm going to need to tell everyone else too, but I'm busy with setting up our final assault against the Russians, I needed someone who looked trustworthy to tell the rest of the soldiers." With that sentence Jesse felt played, instead of honored.

"So this is public information?" Jesse felt disappointed for a second, before remembering once again that he was only just a foot soldier.

"Not all of it. I want you to get the word out to everyone here but I don't want them to know what will happen to the city if we fail our next assault, I just want you to tell them how important it is that we succede." That was a little comforting, Jesse decided not to ask why he was still given that info.

"Then what about the assault?" This would be Jesse's last question, he was already deadly tired, and didn't feel like talking.

"Didn't you see all that armor around the base? That's our final ultimatum, we will take this armored division and plow straight through what is left of our Russian opposition, initial reports say that they have about the same amount of armor as us but it's scattered, so we have a chance. Then at sea we already have our own Navy coming back for a counter assault. After the Russians lost their Super Carrier they lost organization, their Admiral caught but none other than your friends which you saved. If we can secure the sea, and at least beat the Russians back to the beach, we can still win this battle, and New York stays." Colonel Smith rattled off the short explaination, and that was fine with Jesse, who only nodded when he recieved the information, his fatigue becoming extremely noticable.

"Go ahead and get some sleep Sergeant, the assault happens during day, the Navy wont be prepared to assault for another six hours. The assault will commence in seven, good night." Jesse nodded again, but then blinked and looked odd at Col. Smith, who was trying to conceal a grin.

"Sergeant sir?" Jesse asked, his spirits rising.

"Yes, Jenkins, your actions today have more than declared you able for that rank, and the leadership of your own personal squad. It will take a few days to get you officially promoted but I figure you can bask in glory now just in case you don't make it." That last line depressed Jesse a little, he didn't want to think about death, but he was still too tired to think about it, so he turned around and started towards the flap out. When he reached the exit his mind came up with another burning question, and cursing himself for it, Jesse asked anyway.

"Why has Congress already given up on us? We've only been fighting for a day, there have been hundreds of battles on battlefields smaller than this one where the fights took more than a day. Why so soon?" Sgt. Jenkins waited for an answer, but Col. Smith didn't reply instantly, instead he looked down and let out a sigh, probably debating whether or not he should release any more info. At about the moment Jesse had given up, Smith called after him.

"Because if we stay here there will be no chance for survival Sergeant, if we try and battle this one out, and we lose there is no running." His answer left Jesse confused, he cocked his head to the side a little, making the Colonel scratch his head.

"If we stay here any longer we can't retreat, because in a few days time the land behind us wont be ours any more. The Russians have attacked the entire east coast, not just New York, and that is the true battle, and it's one we're losing." Jesse's eyes got a little wider, "Jenkins, in a few days time, there won't even be an east coast."