Iron Empire

Thirty-Nine: Warhead

Report: Quinn
The Annamite Mountain Range.
Vietnam.

I could feel the rumble of the dropship's engines as I pressed my face against the triple-layered glass, gazing down at the lush rainforest below. The glistening trees whipped by in a shimmering blur of green as we roared through the air.

We flew above the jungles of Vietnam.

A hand swatted the back of my head, knocking my nose off the glass. I whipped around, glaring at Lucas, who stood, innocently fumbling with the ship's controls. Behind me, Dan shook his head and sighed incredulously.

Both Stonewood brothers were nervous about the mission to come, but each displayed it differently.

Dan paced the small cabin, checking and rechecking latitude and longitude calculations on a small handheld tablet. Lucas had placed the dropship on autopilot and was running some systems checks to keep himself occupied. His practical jokes were an attempt to diffuse the tension, a trick he'd picked up from Taewi.

Lucas missed Taewi more than anyone, even if he tried to hide it. The two had been friends long before I'd considered Taewi anything more than an annoyance.

Dan was the odd one out, the addition to the group. He'd input the coordinates into the dropship's computer, but landing at our destination was going to be tough. He would also be the necessary tech support for the insane idea we'd cooked up.

The Vietnamese jungle stretched for miles in every direction. Every mountain looked the same. However, somewhere among them was The Crater.

A base once controlled by my father.

My comms earpiece crackled, making me wince. I gave it a tap and the sound evened out. The implant felt so natural in my ear that only the occasional static burst reminded me it was there.

Kedrick approached me, stepping up to the window beside me. We watched the jungle fly by in silence for a moment.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," I replied.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" he inquired.

I glanced back at Kedrick, and I could see dark circles lining his eyes. If he looked exhausted, I wondered how I appeared.

"Ask me again once we launch that nuke," I replied.

Kedrick chuckled.

The dropship's cockpit door hissed open and Martin marched in, clad in a fresh blue jumpsuit. He had been tinkering with his right arm since the start of the voyage and now flexed it experimentally, testing the modified IRON chip that was once again embedded in the left side of his head. The false skin that had once covered his prosthetic was completely gone now, and the cold metal of his arm gleamed in the cold light of the dropship.

"Any chance we're close, Dan?" he asked. "This jungle is beautiful and all, but I'm getting restless."

"Close," Dan responded. "Look for an opening in the canopy. We'll find it."

He tapped his foot, checking and rechecking coordinates.

"A hole in the canopy?" Lucas frowned. "I thought this base was aboveground!"

"It is," Alyx responded. She sat near the back of the dropship, fiddling with a comm headset. "You wouldn't expect a base called The Crater to be built on a mountain, would you?"

Lucas was quiet for a moment, lips twisted in amusement. I heard Martin bark a laugh and the tension was broken. We relaxed, if only slightly, laughing together for a rare moment. It wasn't even a funny joke, but everyone needed something to laugh at after the events of the past few days.