Status: Worked on this a long time ago, and I think I'm done with it ... terrible piece of work
The Stories of Bravo Team
KR-51
"What happens if we don't make it?" "Don't talk like that, we'll make it." He said as he looked out of the open door and towards the landscape 160 feet below. "Besides, I didn't come all this way not to make it." Suddenly the entire helicopter lurched to the left, I was shifting at the time and fell out. "I got ya, just hold on I've got ya." He pulled me back in. Hanging out of a helicopter isn't exactly the way I wanted to start a combat run. I got back into my seat with the other six in the back. While he went into the cock-pit. "Hey, what happened? ... Buddy ... buddy you okay? Hey, I think your pilot is ... Damn. Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. Control this is KR-31-child one, we are hit and are going down, I repeat our bird is going down. Father is dead and mother is unconscious. I'll need a class ALS MedEvac for mother, he's bleeding badly. In addition to that we have secondary engine fail and are not going to make it to the planned LZ, look for orange smoke, over." ... Crap, we're going to crash ... "Negative control, we do not have the altitude needed to make it to the LZ, I'm just going to CLZ the thing here." ... "Damn it control! Stop asking, that wasn't a request, it was the situation, over. Everybody hold on back there, this isn't gonna' be pretty!" I had my harness on now and looking out the door I had been hanging out earlier, I saw that the ground was now only about 40 feet away, and coming closer at about 3 feet per second. In addition to that, the entire landscape was spinning. So, I closed my eyes and held on to the harness that I was strapped into. Whup, whup, whup, whup, whup, ching, ching, ching, chang, chu, chu, chu ... chu ... chu ... chuuu.
I felt a thump, we had landed. I opened my eyes, everyone else had already started to unhook themselves from their harnesses. I looked to the left, the entire door was blocked by grass, dirt, and rocks. We had either landed side-ways, on a hill, or both. I braced myself so I wouldn't fall, pressed the release button, slung my rifle over my shoulder, and climbed up and out over the right side of the helicopter, and landed on the ground 8 feet below. Taking hold of my rifle again I looked over at Nick, my team leader. "Alright, let's get some smoke up so that control can find us and get wounded back to base. Everybody else okay?" There were murmurs of okay's and yeah's from the other five soldiers standing there. One soldier from my team was leaning over the co-pilot who's codename was mother. I was still standing near the chopper; and Nick was looking at the other seven choppers that you could still see flying away, some dodging the occasional rpg rocket. The PLA were obviously near us, they saw us crash, and they'd be coming to make sure none of us made it back to our headquarters. We waited for about 5 minutes, Mother was still unconscious, but then we saw a helicopter coming with a M1117 attached to it. It dropped the huge APC and landed next to it.
Suddenly on the radio: "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. This is KR-51, we're hit, main engine fail, we need he-" then static filled the radio before it clicked off. Nick grabbed the radio, no one but the medics (one from my team and two from the newly landed helicopter) paying any more attention to our wounded co-pilot. "KR-51-Papa one, this is Bravo-one, come in over." Static "KR-51, this is Bravo, come in over." Static "Tai, Tai it's Nick, can you hear me?" Static. "Damn, mount up guys, we're going over to that chopper." By now they had gotten the co-pilot into the helicopter and they had taken off. Although they were still only about 60 feet up. We all got into the APC and Nick stepped on it. "Control, this is Bravo-one. Do you have a status on KR-51. Copy that, what is the Grid Position of their CLZ? Got it, solid copy, Bravo out." "Okay marines, we're moving to X-ray, Seven, Yankee, Six. That was the reported CLZ of KR-51; Intel says there will be PLA resistance in the area, so keep your eyes open, and your head down."
It was a bumpy ride to the crash site, we stopped about 300 meters away from it, at the top of a hill over looking the chopper. We all got out and I could already see two PLA vans parked next to it. Suddenly I heard a noise. Tic. Tic tic tic. Tic tic. Tic tic tic. Gunshots, "Get down, get to cover, go go go!" I wasn't even sure who said it, or what was happening but I was already behind the wall of a small shack not more than 20 meters away from the APC and looking through the scope on my M-16 at the chopper. "Two targets, riflemen, three-twenty-five." "One target, grenadier, double-oh-five." Came two shouts, I adjusted my rifle found a target and pulled the trigger. "One target, riflemen, three-twenty-five, eliminated." I wanted to be glad that I had said that, but the adrenaline in me would grant me no relive. Besides after that came the shout: "Multiple targets, riflemen, oh-thirty-flat." I looked through my scope, there were about five of them hiding in some brush. I aimed at one and squeezed once, nothing, twice, he flinched, again, he dropped. "One target, riflemen, oh-thirty-flat, eliminated." I was about to shoot at that group again when two shouts came, the first was good news: "Two targets, three-twenty-five riflemen, and double-oh-five grenadier, eliminated." the second however ... "Ahh, shit, ... I'm hit. Medic." Someone to my left got up and ran towards whoever had been hit. As soon as he had left someone to my right shouted "Shit, grenade!" He got up, grabbed something and through it at a bush just outside the shack, then fell to the ground inside covering his head. I pulled my helmet hard down on my head and waited. It felt at first like nothing would happen, I waited a little longer, then I felt some shattered glass on my hands.
Somebody grabbed my arm and started to say something. I couldn't hear what he was saying, slowly it started to come to me. "cuuuuuuuuuuoooooooooohhhhhhhhhaa Hey, are you okay? Can you hear me? Buddy, you okay?" "Yeah, yeah I'm fine, just a little shaken up I guess." "Good, the medics a little busy as it is. Here, pour a little of this over your hands." At first I looked at the medic, he was treating two wounds on two different soldiers; the one two his right had a gunshot wound in the shoulder. The guy on the left had a gunshot wound in his leg. They were behind the APC, with Nick standing with them, peeking out once in a while to give cover-fire. Then I remembered what he had said, I looked at my hands, there was blood on them, my blood, but no pain. I looked at whoever had helped me up, he was handing me a bottle of something, I took it and poured it on my hands. There was the pain, I didn't recognize it before, but it was there, the liquid seemed to ease it. "What is that?" "Water with a small amount of painkiller dissolved into it." He caped the bottle and then before I could say thanks, he picked up his rifle (which we had both dropped) and started firing again. I decided to do the same. By now there were only tw- make that one of them left. He ran for the van, and I got him in the back, he fell. "Last target down, area clear!" Nick and I got into the truck, while three other guys stood guard by the medic and the two he was patching up. Nick drove down to the chopper and we both got out. We looked around the chopper, I found nothing but bodies, lots of bodies. Some were PLA, some were USMC. We only found two alive, they were both in the chopper, both lying on the ground, one had a pistol, the other his M-16. "You PLA?" "No, we're USMC, friendlies." "Nick, long time no see." They both put their rifles down. I went over to help the one with the pistol, he'd been shot in the arm. I grabbed the medkit from the bulkhead on the chopper ceiling, and started patching him up. "Tai you are one lucky SOB." "You got that right Nick, you're not a minute too late either, they killed the other eight of us, that is anyone who wasn't killed in the crash." "Sounds like you came down harder than us." "Hell yeah, you got lucky it didn't hit the main engine, you guys must have had a soft landing." "Well I wouldn't call it soft, but it wasn't this landing." "Yeah, yeah." I helped the other get back on his feet and we stumbled outside with Nick and Tai. Suddenly I heard "Sniper, get down!"
And everything went black.
I felt a thump, we had landed. I opened my eyes, everyone else had already started to unhook themselves from their harnesses. I looked to the left, the entire door was blocked by grass, dirt, and rocks. We had either landed side-ways, on a hill, or both. I braced myself so I wouldn't fall, pressed the release button, slung my rifle over my shoulder, and climbed up and out over the right side of the helicopter, and landed on the ground 8 feet below. Taking hold of my rifle again I looked over at Nick, my team leader. "Alright, let's get some smoke up so that control can find us and get wounded back to base. Everybody else okay?" There were murmurs of okay's and yeah's from the other five soldiers standing there. One soldier from my team was leaning over the co-pilot who's codename was mother. I was still standing near the chopper; and Nick was looking at the other seven choppers that you could still see flying away, some dodging the occasional rpg rocket. The PLA were obviously near us, they saw us crash, and they'd be coming to make sure none of us made it back to our headquarters. We waited for about 5 minutes, Mother was still unconscious, but then we saw a helicopter coming with a M1117 attached to it. It dropped the huge APC and landed next to it.
Suddenly on the radio: "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. This is KR-51, we're hit, main engine fail, we need he-" then static filled the radio before it clicked off. Nick grabbed the radio, no one but the medics (one from my team and two from the newly landed helicopter) paying any more attention to our wounded co-pilot. "KR-51-Papa one, this is Bravo-one, come in over." Static "KR-51, this is Bravo, come in over." Static "Tai, Tai it's Nick, can you hear me?" Static. "Damn, mount up guys, we're going over to that chopper." By now they had gotten the co-pilot into the helicopter and they had taken off. Although they were still only about 60 feet up. We all got into the APC and Nick stepped on it. "Control, this is Bravo-one. Do you have a status on KR-51. Copy that, what is the Grid Position of their CLZ? Got it, solid copy, Bravo out." "Okay marines, we're moving to X-ray, Seven, Yankee, Six. That was the reported CLZ of KR-51; Intel says there will be PLA resistance in the area, so keep your eyes open, and your head down."
It was a bumpy ride to the crash site, we stopped about 300 meters away from it, at the top of a hill over looking the chopper. We all got out and I could already see two PLA vans parked next to it. Suddenly I heard a noise. Tic. Tic tic tic. Tic tic. Tic tic tic. Gunshots, "Get down, get to cover, go go go!" I wasn't even sure who said it, or what was happening but I was already behind the wall of a small shack not more than 20 meters away from the APC and looking through the scope on my M-16 at the chopper. "Two targets, riflemen, three-twenty-five." "One target, grenadier, double-oh-five." Came two shouts, I adjusted my rifle found a target and pulled the trigger. "One target, riflemen, three-twenty-five, eliminated." I wanted to be glad that I had said that, but the adrenaline in me would grant me no relive. Besides after that came the shout: "Multiple targets, riflemen, oh-thirty-flat." I looked through my scope, there were about five of them hiding in some brush. I aimed at one and squeezed once, nothing, twice, he flinched, again, he dropped. "One target, riflemen, oh-thirty-flat, eliminated." I was about to shoot at that group again when two shouts came, the first was good news: "Two targets, three-twenty-five riflemen, and double-oh-five grenadier, eliminated." the second however ... "Ahh, shit, ... I'm hit. Medic." Someone to my left got up and ran towards whoever had been hit. As soon as he had left someone to my right shouted "Shit, grenade!" He got up, grabbed something and through it at a bush just outside the shack, then fell to the ground inside covering his head. I pulled my helmet hard down on my head and waited. It felt at first like nothing would happen, I waited a little longer, then I felt some shattered glass on my hands.
Somebody grabbed my arm and started to say something. I couldn't hear what he was saying, slowly it started to come to me. "cuuuuuuuuuuoooooooooohhhhhhhhhaa Hey, are you okay? Can you hear me? Buddy, you okay?" "Yeah, yeah I'm fine, just a little shaken up I guess." "Good, the medics a little busy as it is. Here, pour a little of this over your hands." At first I looked at the medic, he was treating two wounds on two different soldiers; the one two his right had a gunshot wound in the shoulder. The guy on the left had a gunshot wound in his leg. They were behind the APC, with Nick standing with them, peeking out once in a while to give cover-fire. Then I remembered what he had said, I looked at my hands, there was blood on them, my blood, but no pain. I looked at whoever had helped me up, he was handing me a bottle of something, I took it and poured it on my hands. There was the pain, I didn't recognize it before, but it was there, the liquid seemed to ease it. "What is that?" "Water with a small amount of painkiller dissolved into it." He caped the bottle and then before I could say thanks, he picked up his rifle (which we had both dropped) and started firing again. I decided to do the same. By now there were only tw- make that one of them left. He ran for the van, and I got him in the back, he fell. "Last target down, area clear!" Nick and I got into the truck, while three other guys stood guard by the medic and the two he was patching up. Nick drove down to the chopper and we both got out. We looked around the chopper, I found nothing but bodies, lots of bodies. Some were PLA, some were USMC. We only found two alive, they were both in the chopper, both lying on the ground, one had a pistol, the other his M-16. "You PLA?" "No, we're USMC, friendlies." "Nick, long time no see." They both put their rifles down. I went over to help the one with the pistol, he'd been shot in the arm. I grabbed the medkit from the bulkhead on the chopper ceiling, and started patching him up. "Tai you are one lucky SOB." "You got that right Nick, you're not a minute too late either, they killed the other eight of us, that is anyone who wasn't killed in the crash." "Sounds like you came down harder than us." "Hell yeah, you got lucky it didn't hit the main engine, you guys must have had a soft landing." "Well I wouldn't call it soft, but it wasn't this landing." "Yeah, yeah." I helped the other get back on his feet and we stumbled outside with Nick and Tai. Suddenly I heard "Sniper, get down!"
And everything went black.
♠ ♠ ♠
Again, still working on this ... it's not nearly done.