“What’s the situation?” General Manpugna asked.
“There is a squad of soldiers guarding the crash site. They are heavily armed and wearing advanced battle armor – like ours.”
“Reinforcements?” Manpugna questioned.
“None that I can tell. I don’t think they have a means of escape either.”
“So, we have them outnumbered and out gunned. We just walk in and take them out,” Manpugna asserted.
“Not quite, General. They are heavily armed, have comparable armor, and have the advantage of a defensive position. We should let the Russian paratroopers go in first and soften them up.”
“They will destroy the paratroopers. You’re sending them to their death,” Manpugna objected.
“Maybe, but the paratroopers may deplete their ammunition supply, giving us another advantage when we attack,” Nox responded.
“Very well. When do the paratroopers attack?”
“In about seven minutes,” Nox said.
“How many paratroopers are you sending in?”
“Three hundred. I diverted helos from other sites. They took out the last group of paratroopers in under 15 minutes. They took out the last company of Russian paratroopers as they descended into the trench. It looks like they hit the Mi-26 with an EMP burst so it could not radio for help. I say we give these paratroopers 30 minutes to fight the Americans, and then, we go in.”
“Smart plan, give the Americans no time to regroup,” Manpugna added.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
The NATT had disappeared behind the mountain range, along with the nearly invisible attacker. The squad stood beside the containers, wondering what to do next.
“Lightning Squad, get these containers back into the ship’s hull. We are going to dig in and prepare for a fight,” Snap ordered.
“How long till backup arrives, Major?” Davis asked.
“Unknown.”
“Bob scared it off with the mini gun,” Davis yelled.
“I don’t think Bob scared it off. It took off to chase the NATT,” West said. “It will be back.”
The team could hear an explosion and a plume of smoke rose from behind a snow-covered hill, just beyond their line of sight.
“I bet that was our plane, being grounded,” West said, in a somber tone.
“Get these containers back to the ship, they need to be hidden and protected. Unless I miss my guess, that was just the first wave,” Snap said. The squad grabbed the heavy containers and hurried them back to the Impegi wreckage.
“Bob and Taylor, get off that ridge. When that craft returns with his friends, you won’t have any cover,” Snap ordered.
“Roger that, Major,” Taylor said, as he began to use one of the dead paratrooper’s repelling lines to descend.
The attack craft that took out the NATT did not return as expected. The men gathered on Level 7, the first level of the disgraced Impegi that was not obliterated upon impact. The crew had not spent much time on Level 7, as their instructions were to locate the Element 115 on Deck 12. Level 7 had sustained tremendous damage; the floors had buckled, bulkheads collapsed, and some areas were completely unpassable.
Lightning Squad and Bob gathered in a circle inside the hull; the large containers stacked up behind them. Across all their HUD units, a voice boomed, “This is General Stone Byrd. It appears we have had a little set back. The NATT that was sent to recover you and the containers was shot down. It’s going to be awhile before we can get you an alternate extraction route.”
“How long?” Snap asked.
“Several hours. We have seven C-17s en route to your position.”
“No way is that going to work. The Russians have a stealth fighter with an energy weapon over our position. As good, or better, than our TR-3B. It will wipe out those C-17s in 10 seconds flat,” Snap said into his COM.
“We have been monitoring the action on the ground. I know they are operating an Antigravity Fighter in the area. I’m not saying it won’t be a challenge, but these are not ordinary C-17s. They too have optical stealth.”
“Damn. You put optical stealth on a C-17?” Williams muttered.
“Not just one, seven,” Byrd replied.
“Okay. You have seven stealth cargo planes heading this way. I’m pretty sure the Russians aren’t going to lend you an airport to land them; and we can’t load them up in the sky,” Snap said.
“We are working on a plan, Major. In the meantime, you need to dig in and survive until the C-17s arrive.”
“How long do we have to hold off the Russians?”
“Best case scenario – four hours. Looks like you got three Mi-26 helicopters heading your way. Three hundred and six Russians onboard. Stone out.”
Snap looked at his men, “We need to set up defensive positions.”
West said, “We could take the top of the ship, high ground.”
“Negative. They have air superiority. That AG fighter could come back and chew us up. They could have several of them, we just don’t know,” Snap said.
“Agreed,” Williams said. “The rooftop and ridgeline are too exposed. We could get trapped with our backs to that ridge and along comes that AG fighter with his laser cannon, and we are done,” Neal said.
Then it’s settled. We make our stand here, inside the ship, where we have some cover between us and that fighter,” Snap said.
“Anyone see any good spots to set up a defensive perimeter. This level, or should we go up to a higher level?” West asked.
“I think we make our stand right here on Level 7. It’s the first level that is not destroyed; ground troops will have to come through here. We place two snipers on Level 8 for back up,” Snap said.
“What about the rooftop? The helos may drop some of those Russians on the top and then they could move down the stairwells and get in behind us,” Johnson said.
“Not going to happen. You and Williams are going to booby trap those stairs with explosives, all the way down,” Snap said. “How many laser tripwires do we have?”
“Thirty,” Taylor said.
“Alright. Johnson, Taylor, go set directional explosives in both stairwells. Make them pay dearly for each flight they come down.”
“Roger that.”
“Also, set up several video cameras. Position them on three of the upper levels, just so we can see their progress as they are coming down those stairs.”
“You got it, Major.”
“And this time, don’t set the fucking cameras so close to the explosives. Like you did in Kabul.”
“Roger that, Major. Learned my lesson that time. Video cameras and high explosives don’t mix.”
“Robins and Taylor, start moving some of this heavy steel debris toward the middle of the deck, set up some good cover for when the Russians breach,” Snap ordered.
“Moore and Jackson, go up one level and dig in. I want you both picking the Russians off from a distance. Remember, you must have both sides of the ship covered. Coordinate with Taylor and Johnson. Make sure they don’t booby the level you are on.”
“The rest of you, fortify this level. West and I are going to work our way through wreckage on this level and see if there is anything we can use to our advantage,” Snap said.
Snap and West turned away from the gaping hole in the hull and walked toward the crumpled floor and crushed bulkheads. Unlike Deck 12 that was in fairly good shape, the cargo on this level had been mostly demolished. The two men could only see about 200 feet into this section of the ship due to collapsed bulkheads and piled debris.
“Snap, what are we looking to find?” West asked.