Deployment
I awoke at 0430 and joined the rest of the Team on the PT field for morning PT. It was nice to be running with the Team rather than the solo runs I had been making during my recovery. We ran ten miles, followed by a five-mile swim along with pushups sit-ups, pullups, and dips, then finished up with a run through the obstacle course. After PT, it was off for a quick shower, breakfast, and morning muster at 0700. By 0715, everyone had their morning assignments and were off to work.
All the senior staff was in the main conference room by 0745 waiting for the mission briefing, and at 0755 the Skipper entered the room, and I called everyone to attention.
"At ease, take your seats," He said before everyone had come entirely to their feet. "First of all let's all congratulate Go-go on his recent promotion to Master Chief and his new assignment as our Command Master Chief," a round of applause when up across the room "It seems our favorite gate jumpers have opened a gate somewhere in the Florida Everglades and the SECNAV wants us to go down there and shut it down. Due to their recent attack on our base and the attempt to take out the Master Chief, the intelligence guys seem to think that they are planning a large-scale assault. Our entire operations are being moved to the Spec Warfare Jungle Survival Training Base located south of Everglades City, Fl. The training operations will be moved to Meridian, Mississippi. The SECNAV has given us two weeks from yesterday to get everything moved. We have replacement troops arriving in over the next week and should up to full strength by Friday. Saturday we will run them all through small arms and hand to hand quals with the Gunny and Chief Ramos. There shouldn't be any issues as all of them have completed Advanced Training with in the last six months and are on the waiting list to join Team 11. We will start moving personal on Monday of next week and should have our entire operation moved by that Friday. When we are moving, move as if we are not coming back here. Families should be informed that this is a six-month deployment to a top-secret location with limited to no coms. Until we find and take out where the enemy base is located there will be limited contact with anyone outside of our chain of command, supplies will be brought into us via a Carrier that will be in operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The Carrier will also be able to provide air support if needed. The SECNAV said he would have a boomer within range if needed. To quoting Admiral Bates "If your Team fails, we will sink everything south of interstate four." Said the Skipper.
With that, the room went silent. The Skipper Continued, "Even though we are scheduled for monthly replenishments I want us to have ninety-days' worth of supplies on hand when we arrive on station." The Skipper then opened the briefing for questions, after about an hour of questions and answers the Skipper then dismissed everyone to go about their business for the day. As everyone got up to leave the Skipper told Holly and me to stay behind. "I've got three SB-1 Defiant helicopters coming in at 1300 to pick up the two of you and Alpha Platoon. I want you to go down to Florida and start scouting out the area and secure the base for the arrival of the rest of the Team." He said.
"Aye, Skipper," we replied in unison.
At 1245 after receiving updated shots to protect against the diseases and bacteria that the mosquitos carry, all Alpha Platoon was gathered at the helicopter pad and were loading their gear onto the three SB-1 Defiant helicopters while two SB-97 Raiders circled above in a defensive pattern. The helicopters made a quick stop at NAS Jacksonville for refueling before continuing to the Jungle Training Base, nicknamed "Mosquito Base One (MBO)." I was once told that the Mosquitos were so big that the Helicopters had to share landing pads with them, ever since a Blackhawk had a mid-air collision with one and it killed the entire crew. I grew up in Southwest Florida, and after the mosquitos had taken out several of the Mosquito Control planes the county had to switch to the AC-130 Gunships, and even then, they would only send them out in pairs.
Weather reports had the temperature at 98° and 97% humidity, so the heat index had felt like the temperature at 114° in late September. God, I was not looking forward to getting back to Florida. Drop me in six foot of snow with temperatures below -20°, and I am one happy camper but put me in Florida between the months of May and September, and I start thinking it might be a good time to consider early retirement. Don't get me wrong it not the heat, I've been deployed to the middle east at some God-forsaken bases in the middle of the desert where the average temperatures were above 110° by 0800 but there you didn't have the oppressive humidity you get in Florida, so even at 0700 when the temperature is only 79° the humidity is so high that you break out in a sweat and you want to go back inside until October when rainy season is over, and the humidity drops to a tolerable level. Why anyone human or alien would ever want to build a base here is beyond me.
The helicopters landed, the doors opened, and the oppressive humidity hit me in the face like a twenty-pound sludge hammer. I began to wonder if this was Skipper's way at getting back at me for beating him out for honor man back at BUDS. Sending me ahead of the rest of the Team so I could sweat off a few pounds while he sat back in his nice air-conditioned office. Sure, all the building here had A/C but that not where we would be, we would be out trudging through the swamp looking for an alien base. Growing up here, I knew that the instant we jumped on an airboat and headed into the swamp we were in hostile territory. Everything out here, plants, bugs, wildlife, the earth (quicksand) and the water (known to be contaminated by flesh-eating bacteria) is trying to kill us. There are areas of the swamp where the blue-green algae are so harmful you must wear a gas mask to protect yourself from the neurotoxins it releases, or you could end up on a ventilator for a month. Just last year they captured the first living Skunk Ape, a seven-foot-tall relative of Bigfoot that had been known to rip the heads from full-grown ten-foot alligators.
Holly and I had decided for the first few days we would send out patrols on airboats to secure a ten-mile perimeter of the base. Once we have the perimeter secured we would start sending out the squads on grid by grid search patterns in hopes of finding signs of the alien forces, but before we started any of that we had some upgrades to make to the bases six airboats, and we would need the local troops to acquire ten more before the rest of the Team arrived.
6.
Mosquito Base One
We got our people moved into the barracks then got them off to the mess hall for dinner. Holly and I went to the base commander's office to see where things stood on his side of the base turnover. When I walked in and saw a Navy Admiral with a gold trident on his chest, I knew that this turnover was going to be an easy task going forward. He introduced himself as Admiral Kayne and said that he was the base commander and the commander of Naval Special Warfare Group 13. "The SECNAV has given me orders to assist you in any way and to ensure that if you needed anything, we got it for you." He said to us. Then he explained that this base was a shared training facility between the Army and the Navy. As part of the deal, the two branches had, every five years they would exchange responsibility of the base. So, all the procedures were already in place for a complete base turnover. He also told us that he was down to two hundred people on base in crucial support roles for our team until our own support staff arrived. He let us know too that there was more than enough berthing space for all our personal and his support team to operate throughout the transfer, although until his staff left his people had turned hanger three into a makeshift command center for us.
"We came here prepared to pitch tents if needed, so we are grateful for the barracks and the hanger. We will need all the airboats you have on base and will need to acquire at least ten more." I said.
After our short conversation Admiral Kayne invited the two of us to his own mess, he said he didn't usually use it, but when he heard that we would be here for dinner, he had his cook throw something together. "It's the least I could do for you Master Chief, my granddaughter was one of the children you saved when you killed those terrorists in the mall. I will have your extra airboats in two days even if I have to take a few troo
ps into town and take them from some of these damn rednecks that live around here." He said.
"You won't have to go through all that, just go over to the Jenkin Airboat Rides and tell Terry, the owner, that I need ten of his fastest boats in flat black. Tell him I said to make sure he pulls my person boat out of storage and sends her with the rest." I replied. I saw the shocked look on Admiral Kayne's face as I said, "I use to be one of those damn rednecks." and Holly began to laugh. The Admiral and I joined in laughter with Holly. "I grew up here and went to school with Terry, I try to make at least one trip a year down here during hunting season to get a deer," I said as we walked to the Admiral's mess.
"Speaking of deer, we have fresh local venison steaks for dinner tonight," the Admiral said.
"So, the word in the teams is that between the two of you, you have been awarded the Medal of Honor five times?" He asked.
"Yea the Senior Chief just got her second one for the same encounter that cost me my eye. I took flak to the head and was unconscious when she hulled me and the rest of our platoon to the retrieval point after killing forty-six enemy troops with just her hands all while rescuing the president and the leaders of seventeen other world leaders from a terrorist attack on a Global peace conference." I replied.
"The team seems to think we have some type of contest to see who can receive the most medals when we both know I have the most because I got medals from a total of eight countries that time," Holly said.
"We both know that were we to ever to turn this into a contest I would win because only US Medals would count," I answered laughingly.
"My CMC has already gone ahead with the rest of our unit, so his quarters are free for you. It's not a house like on other bases it's just a two-bedroom two-bath with an office, private apartment on the top floor of the enlisted barracks there is a house, but I hear you like to be close to your men. Your Doctor arrived yesterday and moved into the second room. She assured me you would be ok with the arrangements and that she needed to be close to run regular tests and maintenance on the prototype cyber eye you have." The Admiral said.
"Yea, to tell you the truth I have kind of gotten attached to having her around. When the government puts a piece of billion-dollar hardware in your head, they want to keep a close eye on it," I replied.
After dinner, I headed up to my new quarters and found that Melissa was sitting on the couch sipping coffee and reading a book. "The coffee is fresh, and it's your favorite brew," she said as I entered. My favorite mug was sitting next to the coffee maker next to a box of Splenda.
"You keep spoiling me like this I may have to marry you," I said to her as I walked over and kissed her. I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat down in the chair next to the couch.
"Petty Officer Anderson put all your gear in your room and told me to tell you your rifle and other pistol was in the gun safe in your closet, and the lock is set to your biometrics," she said.
She pulled out her tablet, and I received a wireless signal from her requesting access to the computer in my head that controlled my eye. I sat back relaxed and enjoyed my coffee while she downloaded the data from my head so she could review it. "Being out here in the swamp should really give your system a thorough workout. We should be able to collect a lot of excellent data." She said.
"So, you're just here to play with the computer in my head?" I said jokingly.
"Not at all," she said, "I also came for your coffee." Then we both laughed.
Just then there was a knock on the door, "Enter," I said. Holly walked in, and Melissa jumped up from the couch and ran over and embraced Holly in a hug.
"Holly it is so good to see you," Melissa said.
"When the Admiral told us, you were here I had to stop by and see you before I was off to bed," Holly replied.
During the first month of my recovery, while I was still in the hospital, Holly and Melissa had quickly become close friends, and their friendship has continued to grow over the months. It was the love and support of the two of them that pushed me to recover so quickly. Holly will always be my little sister, and best friend and, Melissa is my soulmate. The three of us sat up talking and drinking coffee together until midnight before calling it a night. Before Holly left, I told her to give the team the day off tomorrow to get moved in and adjusted to the heat and humidity here before we would start scouting ops, this would also give the base personal time to get the airboats armed and armored for us. We could use this time to do an inventory of the base resources and let our own supply team know what we needed to be shipped in.
7.
Homestead AFB
It was 0200, and I was just exiting the shower when my phone rang. I answered the phone “yea,”
“Morning Master Chief, sorry to wake you but we have a Code Red, I have the Skipper on the line for you.” Petty Officer Anderson said.
“I was already up, put him through,” I said.
“Go-go, scramble your platoon, helicopters on deck in 10 there is a current attach on Homestead Air Force Base, and they need reinforcements,” the Skipper said.
“We’re on it, Skipper,” I replied.
“Full intel will be provided to you and your team when you are fifteen minutes out from Homestead.” The Skipper said then he disconnected.
I sent a full alert to the entire team telling them all to be on the flight deck in 5 minutes in full combat loadout, and within ten minutes of the call from the Skipper, the entire team was loaded up and, in the air, to Homestead AFB.
We were briefed in flight. There were between one hundred and one hundred and fifty attackers that were actively assaulting the base. They hit the main gate with plasma launchers. There were firefights taking place all over the base and the Air Force security force at the base was not doing well and had taken heavy losses. If it were not for the few drones, they had managed to launch before the runway was destroyed, the base would already be a complete loss.
What few people knew was that since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, the United States has kept an active bomber squadron equipped with the deadliest weapons in existence (in the 19th century it was the nuclear bomb but recently replaced with high yield plasma bombs). It was in the hanger where that squadron is located that the Air Force was making, their last stand. They were under orders to blow the hanger before allowing it to be captured. If that were to happen, there would be a burning creator about fifty miles wide where the base once stood. If the enemy were to obtain those weapons, they would have enough firepower to make the island of Cuba the next Atlantis.
We did a flyover, and with my cyber eye, I was able to mark the location of the visible enemy troops, there were a total of ninety-seven of them. I sent the data directly to the HUDS of all my troops’ helmets along with target assignments for each six-man assault squad. It was just then that the alarms in our helicopter began sounding and round from and anti-vehicle rail gun flew past the front of the helicopter fracturing the front windscreen, forcing us to land sooner than we had wanted to, but not before our pilot fired a pair of Hellfire missiles back at the launch position. My internal targeting system made the five red dots that represented enemy troops operating the rail gun disappear from the battlenet. As I got a closer view of the enemy, the ones I saw turned from red, hostile forces, to black denoting them as alien life forms, with updates going to everyone HUDS. We landed, and everyone scrambled to their assigned targets. I sent a message to the local Air Force personnel letting them know we were on site and I linked them into our battlenet. This updated them on locations my team and the enemy troops. This also gave me command control of the drones they had in the air.
A voice came across our command channel “US Navy strike team this is General Taylor, I am the base commander. I have been instructed to give you full tactical command of this operation upon your arrival. Over.”
“This is Master Chief Getter I Have command of your drones. Pull all your people inside the hanger, and we will take care of things out here.” I said as I noticed
red dots already disappearing from my display as members of my team began engaging the enemy.
I turned the corner just in time to see an enemy hover tank pull out of a hanger, not two feet in front of me I rolled a plasma grenade under the tank as Holly’s grenade attached to the turret. We both quickly took cover back behind the building as the tank exploded. We had a total of six teams each team had an area that they were preforming search and destroy mission on all enemies in their assigned area.
My assault squad was responsible for clearing the north side of the hanger and for meeting up with the base personal in the hanger. We were going to babysit the AF personal while the rest of the platoon finished clearing out the enemy. I would command the drones and provide fire support as needed. As a squad cleared their area, they would join up with the next closes squad and assist them. This would continue until such time as all the squads had cleared their areas or until the enemy retreated. If the enemy retreated into the urban areas, we would try to track them down to find and destroy any gates that had setup. If they entered the swamp, we would track them with drones and satellites, but our priority is to secure the base and hold it unto reinforcements arrived.
The Army had a battalion of Rangers on their way from Fort Benning, GA but they were 45 minutes out. It took about seven minutes for my squad to clear our area and join up with the AF personal and the rest of the platoon another twenty to clear and secure the rest of the base. A small group of about eight enemy troops escaped into the swamp and entered what we found out later was a portable gate generator.
We spent several hours gathering intel on the group that had attacked the base. There was a total of four hover tanks that had assaulted the base, and of the four, one of them was still fully functional. The crew had been killed by sniper fire followed by a squad assaulting the tank with small arms. The hover tanks were entirely new for us, they had never been used on an assault. Every encounter we had ever had with the aliens before and always only been foot soldiers. Before tonight we had no idea that they could bring tanks through the gates, and we were not sure if they were coming through a portal of if they had built a facility to start building armored vehicles. It didn’t take long for the tank to be loaded into a cargo plane and get flown out. The General had it and the remains of the other three in the air even before the Rangers had arrived. We were responsible for gathering the gear off all the dead enemy troops, and then we stacked the bodies in the middle of the bombing range and tossed a plasma grenade on them, turning the remains into dust and taking the gear back to our base with us. The General insisted on feeding us before we loaded up on our Helicopters and headed back to MBO.
Strike Force 11 Page 3
