April 12, 2050 - 07:49
Nam Dong, Vietnam - Pass Nong Truong
Pvt. My Phan
"Um… Hi?"
My said awkwardly as she stared down the barrel of a UZI. Behind the gun was the scarred face of the biker, grinning as he stared at her.
She was dangling against the side of the SUV, with half of her body on the side of the car, and her lower half being held back by Chisato, who was grabbing onto My's legs for her dear life.
As if that wasn't enough, she was in the middle of the longest three-second staring contest against a bandit riding parallel to the car. The guy was just meters away, somehow keeping up on his bike.
My had no idea why she was still alive and why that bandit didn't kill her yet; she guessed that he wanted to see her scared before he executed her to get his high or some shit. Too bad for the guy; My didn't have a fuck to give.
"So… you been here often?" She asked in Vietnamese.
That seemingly caught the bandit off guard. Guess he didn't expect the one he was about to kill to be so nonchalant about it; that, or her ridiculous joke actually baffled him.
The bandit's grin turned into a dumbfounded expression.
"What?"
My could see the man waver and relax his trigger finger. She had the momentum, and she'd keep taking her chance.
My glanced to her side and acted surprised.
"TREEEEEEEE!" She yelled as loud as she could.
Hearing her scream and comprehending what she said, the bandit panicked and looked away from My as he desperately tried to control his bike so he wouldn't hit a nonexistent tree. My used the precious few seconds to get herself back into the gun hatch and ducked back down inside.
By the time the bandit realized that he was bamboozled, My was already tucked safely inside the armored car. She was in the backseat along with Chisato, who had climbed to the back when she was holding onto My's legs.
My had a clear view through the tinted window of the man fuming, his face twisted into a psychotic rage. He decided to empty his gun into the car's window, but other than the window cracking and absorbing the 9mm rounds, he did nothing of substantial damage.
"My, you almos-" Chisato was cut off as My tumbled into her as the car moved.
Long steered the car directly into the bandit, hitting him with the full weight of the car and throwing the man off his bike at 80 kmh.
"That's what you get for trying to kill my friend!" Long yelled to no one in particular.
My untangled myself from Chisato's embrace. Now was not the time to mess around. She tried to get up and grab her gun, but Chisato held her back and checked for injuries.
"I'm ok, Chisato, I'm ok, didn't get shot at yet." My reassured Chisato.
Despite that, Chisato still made sure to check all of My for injuries. Once Chisato confirmed that there was no injury to be treated, she gave me a quick but tight hug before letting me go.
"My, you had me worried there!" Chisato said.
"I know, but I'm still here, aren't I?" My smiled.
"I know… Don't you dare worry me next time!"
Chisato then suddenly pinched both of My's cheeks, causing the girl to let out a yelp. Chisato only let My go once her cheeks were flushed red.
"Alright, go do your job… just be careful this time."
"Yes, ma'am." My answered with a reddened face.
She grabbed her Honey Badger, a couple of magazines, and climbed back outside of the gun hatch.
Unlike just minutes ago, the car is no longer swarmed by a horde of motorbikes surrounding it. They've either all fallen back or dashed forward toward the armored trucks.
My made sure her surroundings were clear before she checked the minigun for ammo. She had used it quite extensively during the initial contact, so she wouldn't be surprised if it was nearly empty or completely out. Some ammo remained in the connecting belt, but a quick check of the ammo container was a major letdown.
"The minigun only has enough for maybe one or two bursts before it's completely out." My reported.
"Already? All 4000 rounds?" Long asked incredulously.
"Well, there's like… less than a hundred rounds left. I might as well use my gun."
"Just use the rest of it before you use your gun. Let me ask what the situation is."
Long changed the channel to the convoy and was greeted with an onslaught of chatter.
"My gunner's critically wounded!"
"...Engine's busted and they damaged the gun, so we're sitting ducks if the engine gives."
"The machinegun's out of ammo! We're down to our primary if there's another wave."
"My vic's all out of ADS. It can't take another hit."
All the reports coming in painted a grim picture for the three mercenaries. On one hand, their situation wasn't as bad as all the other reports. Their car was still relatively OK, with no major damage to the engine or wheels, and the armored frame and windows still held up. On the other hand, if the convoy was already hit this hard, they might not last another assault wave.
"Long, ask the sergeant what our situation is and what we do next," Chisato asked.
Long nodded at Chisato before asking their leader.
"Sarge, How's our sitch? Are you guys ok?"
There was a moment of silence, long enough to make all three of them nervous and worried, but the radio came back alive before they assumed the worst.
"I just finished talking to the convoy lead. It seems that all of the bandits either pulled off or were killed by us, but we did take some serious damage and some casualties. Vics are damaged, out of ammo and ADS, busted wheels, all sorts, but still in motion. The VinaSec guys had one dead and four injuries, one critical."
"Goddamn, what about ours?"
"Us Black Angels are still good. No casualties. They mostly targeted the armored trucks and the front of the convoy to force the rest to stop, but that failed. We don't know whether or not they'll try again, but we still have to keep moving, at least to a rally point our company has designated. At least we'll get some more backups, resupply, and medical care."
"And where's the RP?"
"About a 45-minute drive from here. We'll have to survive the drive, and since most of their Humvees are fucked and less operational than ours, we'll have to take point from now on."
"Ah, lovely, just what I wanted to hear." Long said condescendingly.
"Stuff it, Long. We all wanted to make it back and get our pay, but if the front goes out of commission, we're all out of commission. We're the ones who still have the protection and fighting capability amongst the convoy."
"I know, I just wanted to complain."
"It's not all bad news." A new voice chimed into the conversation. It was Luna. "We've just managed to reestablish contact with the convoy, and HQ has approved additional reinforcements. It's risky, but we'll be sending out a flight of three little birds and a DAP Blackhawk for heavy firepower. They'll be arriving at your location in 15 minutes."
"Sheesh, you should have started with that. Also good to hear from you, Falcon." Long chirped.
"Good to hear you Hounds are still alive and kicking. The last thing I want to do is write a bunch of paperwork because you hounds kick the buckets."
"Güey, we're a buncha tough hijos de puta! You won't get rid of us that easily." Luis joined the conversation.
"Just make it back alive and preferably in one piece!"
"Ok, chica, We'll make it back!" Luis signed off for the whole crew before Luna cut the conversation.
"Alright, everyone, let's move to the head of the convoy to swap out with the VinaSecs. We'll be leading, so keep your caution up. We don't want any more surprises. Katya, keep your drones ahead to scan for heat signatures." Peter commanded.
As soon as he finished his command, the entire group of SUVs switched to the left lane and drove ahead. As they drove past the armored trucks, My could see the battle scars that were left behind by the bandits. Bullet dents, charred blasts that barely dented the side, even a severed arm stuck dangling from the undercarriage of the truck, presumably from a bandit who tried to do something stupid.
The group drove ahead, past all the damaged Humvees, and settled back into a single line in front of the convoy. All the damaged Humvees then veered out and slowed down to settle at the back.
As fast as the whole convoy wanted to get to their destination, they could only drive so fast to keep the formation with the damaged Humvees.
April 12, 2050 - 08:07
It seemed like the bandits didn't want to waste any more of their manpower, as the convoy smoothly sailed ahead.
For the majority of the crew, it was the most nerve-racking 15 minutes of their lives. The wounded were stabilized with some first aid, and the healthy consolidated their ammo and stayed alert for more ambushes.
However, they all felt a sense of relief as soon as they heard the familiar screeching of the helicopters quickly approaching their locations.
My had the best view of the helicopters approaching the convoy, and something inside of her stirred.
For some reason, My has always been fond of helicopters, and she could never get tired of seeing them in action. She had seen helicopters operating before she officially joined the PMC, but that was because she was being trained by Harrison, and that offered her lots of opportunities to see the birds, but she never had the chance to see them truly in action before. Just seeing the helos, especially the Blackhawk, flying side by side to the convoy was enough to make My forget about all the bullshits that just happened.
My's head was about to drift off to La La Land, but a radio call immediately brought her back.
"Raptor, this is Heaven's Hound 1-5," Katya said.
"1-5, this is Raptor, heard you loud and clear!"
My assumed that one of the pilots' callsigns was Raptor.
"My drone detected a bandit's blockade about 2 klicks ahead of the convoy. Three vehicles blocking the road, and roughly 20 combatants with machine gun emplacements."
"Copy! 2 klicks ahead. We'll take care of the problem!"
My looked at the flight of helicopters to see which one was Raptor, and it was no surprise to her when she saw the Blackhawk separating from the flight formation to fly ahead.
A couple of minutes of relative silence passed by before My could hear the thundering explosions and the rapid minigun firing in the distance.
As the convoy got closer to the ambush location, My could see clearly the havoc that Raptor had brought upon the bandits. The three vehicles, two vans and a technical pickup, were blown to high heaven, and their wreckage was still burning, letting columns of smoke bloom sky high. All around the wreckage were corpses of the bandits, all shredded and gored by the minigun onslaught.
A normal person would have been disgusted by the scenery, but to My, this was a sight comparable to art, and the instrument that made this piece of artwork was flying ahead of the convoy.
My made up her mind right then and there.
"You know what? I'm going to have to learn to fly one day."
"Oh, you want to be a pilot? I believe in you!" her girlfriend cheered her on.
"Become a pilot? Girl, you can't even drive!" Her "friend" reminded her of her reality.
"I'm going to rip your nuts off!" she said calmly.
"My apologies for my previous action," he apologized profusely.