Fallen Angels

Chapter Five

The ride to Peru was long. It was long, stupid and frankly boring. The places we went past were pretty, but I wasn't seeing any action. Baker thought it was unusual, seeing someone already wanting to see combat after his fingers were chopped off. I don't blame him, but I felt like I could have done better. Francis was dead, and now McKenzie. Only Baker and I were left of the Fallen Angels. At least when we got into the helicopter it would be more exciting. It was bumpy, yes, but I liked looking out the window and seeing the land turn from a brown to green to blue.

And there is was, the USS Typhoon. There were smoking craters upon it, but she still stood. The flight deck wasn't hit, which was good enough for me. We got closer and noticed the carrier was still under attack by artillery. The artillery was missing terribly, and barely had any chance to hit.

"Dagger Two One to the Typhoon. We have the pilots, what are your instruction to land?" The pilot started speaking. I looked over at him, but he remained motionless until a response.

"Dagger Two One this is Garrison. Land on helipad number one. Be advised, we are under fire by enemy artillery. I will be there to escort the men to their quarters." Garrison was the Admiral of the ship. He was in overall command of the naval forces here at South America. He was in charge of the attack on Chile and Bolivia, but only the naval and air units.

"Copy that, Admiral. Proceeding." The pilot answered and put the radio beside him. The copilot looked at him and started talking politics, which I didn't give a fuck about. We landed at the pad. There was a thick rainstorm over us, and barely any men were on the decks. The hatch for the helicopter door opened and there stood the admiral, looking at us like he was inspecting. There was a man holding an umbrella beside him, making it so only Garrison and himself could be under it.

"Captain Porter and Lieutenant Baker, welcome back." He said. I wonder why the Admiral was taking us to our quarters specifically.

"Wouldn't this be a job for an enlisted man?" Baker said, shivering in the rain.

"Yes, but I figured it would be better for me to greet you in person. You are the first two people to be interrogated by an enemy officer under my command." Baker looked at me and shrugged. He motioned for us to start walking with him and we followed. We went into the ship, continuing to follow him. 

After a minute of so, he lead us into his quarters. The man holding the umbrella put it aside and went to stand behind Garrison. He then quickly remembered something and ran out of the room. He came back just seconds later holding towels, leaving me wondering how he did that so fast. He threw them at us, and we caught them and started drying off.  Garrison sat down at his desk, motioning for us to sit. We sat down despite how wet we still were, continuing to dry ourselves.

"I'm going straight to the point, we need you back in the air." Garrison said. I smiled Andy looked at Baker to see his expression. He was continuing to dry himself, still shivering whenever the towel hit him. I looked back at Garrison. "I would be pleasured, sir." I said.

Garrison looked at me, a little puzzled. "That quick?" He said. "Even though you have induced torture and lived to talk about it? For gods sake, you lost two fingers!" He raised his hands and motioned at my left hand. I forgot about the whole injury, even though those fingers may determine my life or my death. Press one thing at a bad time no it would be all over.

I shrugged. "Yes sir." Baker looked at me and stopped drying himself. "Wow." He said. "I guess I'm with him." He pointed at me.

"Alright then. Captain, same duty. Go to Bolivia and provide air support for the ground units. I'm sorry about all this but it must be done. The air units in Chile and Bolivia are being torn to shreds."

I shook my head. "Don't worry about it. We are up to the task. This time, Thor, we won't be so lousy, right Lieutenant?" I looked at Baker. He looked at me, smiling. 

"Yes, sir." He said.

"Okay then. Go to your quarters and get your new uniforms. Then-"

We were cut short by the ship rumbling and the lights flickering. "Hold on." 

Garrison rolled his chair to a phone and dialed something. He then started talking. 

"Damaged? Alright, send the teams to put out the fire. Continue fueling the FA-18s." 

He hung up and rolled his chair back over. "Get your uniforms, rest for about ten minutes and then report to hanger three. You will take off along with some other craft that have docked for refueling. Any questions?"

No questions.

"Alright then, its time for my Fallen Angels to get back into the sky."