Fragile (Slow Updates)

Chapter 15: Boiling Point

He flicked the cigarette to the ground, grinding it out beneath the heel of his boot with deliberate twist. "Honestly, If you want to secure our flanks or take a few jabs at the enemy, by all means - join the fun."

He stepped closer, placing a hand on Williams' shoulder. His smile was calm, almost angelic. "But it's your call, theatre commander. My hands are tied when it comes to directly involving Azur Lane. All I can do is pass along the message."

Williams' emerald eyes softened, though the worry in them didn't fade. "Promise me you'll come back in one piece," she whispered, her tone carrying both concern and authority.

"Aw, so you do care about me." He mused with a brighter than usual smile. Sous-lieutenant Vogel chuckled softly, brushing a gloved hand through her hair in a playful gesture. "That's bad luck, chéri. But... I'll try."

Before Williams could respond, he turned and boarded a waiting UH-1Y Venom. The helicopter's engines roared to life, kicking up dust as the rotors spun faster. He gave one final glance her way before the doors slammed shut.

And just like that, the Venom lifted off, carrying him into the storm that lay ahead.

"Godfather, Raider 1-1, LZ hot, over." Lieutenant MacDonald's voice crackled over the comms, his hand pressing down on the receiver. In the distance, the rapid thrum of an OTO 127/64 LW - VULCANO System echoed across the battlefield, spitting fire where a Bofors 57 mm Mark 3 once stood.

As the helicopters descended toward the landing zone, the door gunners opened fire, their FN MAGs and GAU-21s rattling under the fierce exchange of gunfire. 7.62 x 51 NATO mm and .50 BMG rounds tore through the humid air. Peacekeepers disembarked into the chaos, already donning their rigging and returning fire. Naval shells rained down and airstrikes lit up the LZ in bursts of fire and smoke. 

A modernised Iowa-class battleship hammered away at distant targets, locked in an brutal artillery duel Nearby, three naval personnel under Lieutenant Moore focused entirely on keeping the skies clear, coordinating air defence as Harrier IIs patrolled the skies alongside the Sous-lieutenant's Mirages and Rafales.

Despite the overwhelming number of aircraft, total air superiority remained elusive. Siren jets and Red Axis fighters swarmed the skies, marching UN air assets plane for plane. Even with dozens of jets scrambling in and out of the airspace, gaps existed - and those gaps were deadly. 

The Venom shuddered violently as it entered the AOE, its rotors thumping against turbulence. Suddenly, a BF-109T swooped into view, nose tilted upward toward the helicopter's belly. Whether the fighter belonged to Iron Blood or Siren forces no longer mattered. It was hunting them.

The BF-109T's cannon and machine guns barked to life. The Venom banked hard to evade, but rounds punched through the helicopter's soft skin, ripping apart the cramped passenger compartment.

Mincemeat. Blood splattered the walls as bullets shredded bodies inside. The air filled with the sickening sound of flesh tearing and metal groaning under the assault. Some peacekeepers lay slumped, their lifeless bodies still strapped into their seats, ribbons of blood trailing down their gear.

Sous-lieutenant Vogel grunted as a 7.92 mm round tore into his left shoulder. Warm blood seeped from the wound, dripping down his arm and pooling inside his glove, staining the fabric a dark, sticky crimson. His jacket, too, grew heavy with the torn fabric exposing a bullet hole in his shoulder.   

He shifted in pain, drawing ragged breaths through clenched teeth. His right boot had taken a bullet clean through the foot while another round ricocheted harmlessly off his left leg.

The same couldn't be said for his French Canadian RTO. She seated beside him, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the neck, her right leg riddle with shrapnel from the thigh down. Blood gushed through her fingers as she desperately tried to stop the bleeding in her neck. Two 7.92 mm rounds had punctured her abdomen just below her frag vest and another had knocked the air out of her, leaving her gasping and wheezing.