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Operation: Snake Pit
I woke up, still cranky, but at least, I had SOME rest. Frankly, I was getting tired of sitting in that dammed ejection seat.
“I will now brief the details of your mission orders. That's all I have to say to you right now, people. If you all
are really innocent, and I suggest you prove it out there on the battlefield.”
“We have discovered a position of a secret facility in Yuktobania, used to store ammunition. According to our
information, the base is located deep in the jungles north of Lake Dama. The facility is massive and contains enough ammunition
to supply a Yuktobanian ground division for a week of combat operations.
Destroy the stockpile and cut off their front line ammunition supply. Note that we've been getting a lot of attacks from soldiers
hiding in the dense jungles with shoulder-mounted SAMs. They are very hard to detect from the air, so stay heads up for sudden
attacks from these missiles when flying at low altitude.”
Once we where airborne again, I had a sudden pain in my lower spine. I disregarded it. A fighter pilot needs to put aside
anything not associated with the mission away somewhere.
After the mid-air refuelling, we went to the engagement zone.
“Geez, now they got us turning right back into another battle! And this scenery definitely clashes with my Rock 'n'
Roll.” Chopper said.
“I'm just glad they're not ordering us to attack a city in retaliation for their retaliation.” Grimm chimed in.
“You're a real optimist, you know that? Sheesh!”
“This is Thunderhead! Cut the chatter!”
“Oh, I just wish I could fly somewhere where I didn't have to listen to that voice.”
“You did 'til yesterday.”
“You'll be arriving at your target area shortly.”
“Well, I don't wanna listen to that interrogation committee at the capital, either!”
Once I saw what I was going up against, I saw that the only way to destroy this place was to hit from the inside.
“The actual armoury is located in an underground shelter. Fire missiles into the tunnel and destroy it from the inside.”
Thunderhead said, unnecessarily.
Oh, just SHUT UP! I thought. That AWACS was REALLY starting to grate my cheese.
As I was thinking this I heard: “Break right! Missiles!”
“They're shoulder-launched SAMs! Enemy soldiers in the jungle!”
“Hey aren't showing up on my radar!”
“This is Thunderhead. Our search radar is clean. We can't see the launchers!”
“MAN! You’re USELESS!”
I was forced to agree with Chopper’s assessment. Not only was Thunderhead REALLY annoying, but he was also useless!
Or, maybe that was just my anger talking. After all, he DID provide an entire radar picture which was A LOT better then our
own radar.
“It's an AA missile! Can you tell where it was fired from?” Chopper asked.
“That’s a negative, Chopper. Can you?”
“Neither can I. Be careful at low altitude.”
“I can’t move! The jet lag’s getting to me!”
“I just wanna get this harness off and jump into a hot tub. I'm tired of sitting on this ejection seat.”
I was, yet again, forced to agree with my wingmen’s assessments. I just decided to get this over with ASAP, and started
dropping bombs like crazy.
“Direct hit on the ammo dump!”
“Get out of here! The whole place is gonna blow!”
“The shells are all exploding! We can't get near them!”
“The fire's spread too far! It's out of control!”
“Get out of there! You're gonna get fried! ARRRGHHH!”
“Here comes a shockwave. The ammo dump's blown up!” Grimm yelled.
“Wow, I bet that left a crater as big as those ones on the moon.” Chopper replied.
“The armoires in this area have been shut down.” Thunderhead, naturally.
“Ha, see, nothing to it!” Chopper said. “Well, on to the next one.”
I dropped another bomb onto another tunnel, and sure enough, the armoury exploded.
“Enemy missile! Direct hit! Direct hit!”
“The fire crew's all been wiped out. Send out somebody else!”
“This whole place is gonna be blown away!”
“Wow, it's like a volcanic eruption!”
“Hey...I didn't think it would blow up like that. Must be pretty bad in there...You thinkin' the same thing?”
Chopper asked. There was silence on the radio in response. After a while though, he said: “Yep, I guess you could say...uh,
you know...Hmm. Sorry, I thought I had a joke coming.”
“Chopper, you're getting a little annoying. Concentrate on your mission.”
“Hey, I know you're stressed, lady, but don't be takin' it out on me!”
Another tunnel, another bomb dropped. GODDAMMIT! This was getting real old, real fast.
“I can't stand this. I want to go home already. How about you?” Chopper asked
”that’s a big time Roger, Chopper.”
“You too, huh, Kid? Let's hurry up and get this over with.”
“That's what you're really thinking, right, Captain?” Grimm said.
“Hey, Chopper,” I asked. “I thought you never complained about missions.”
“I never complain about my missions, okay? What I'm doing now is not complaining!”
“Well, now what?” Grimm asked. “The barrage is too heavy; I can’t get in close enough to attack!”
“In situations like this, a true idiot would propose to burn down the entire jungle.”
“Anyone bring Napalm bombs?” I asked.
“Sir?” Grimm asked.
“I said, ‘did anyone bring napalm bombs’?”
“You can’t be serious,” Nagase said, slightly shocked.
“Look, I just want to get this over with, okay? Now answer my question: did anyone bring Napalm bombs with them?”
Three clicks over the tactical channel answered my question. Terrific! Now even my wingmen weren’t talking to me.
After we blew everything up, I went over to the south-eastern side of the combat zone, and destroyed some kind of hanger.
“Mechanical parts discovered in destroyed enemy facility. We’ll have the ground forces retrieve them later.”
Thunderhead said.
“Hey everyone, sorry for the way I acted.”
“No worries Kid! I was feeling the same way.”
“Don’t worry about it Sir. We’re all a little stressed right now.”
“Its okay, Blaze. I forgive you.”
We got back to base, and all tried to get some sleep. We’d need it for the next mission.
Next Chapter
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