After finishing the massacre, Arrow looked over to his left and shouted, "Clear!"
Sandman turned to the team, "Arrow with me, let's move!" Arrow nodded as the pair rushed down the stairs and outside onto the street where the Stock Exchange sat across from the store. Sandman turned his head as three more Delta members approached their location, "Hold fire! Anvil team is approaching!" Their leader, Grizzly, slid over as the other two began firing on the exposed Russian positions. "Anybody hit?"
Grizzly shook his head, "We're good!"
"What's the sit-rep on mid-town?"
"The Russians have it locked down. They're kicking our ass and we can't get through!" Grizzly panted as Arrow joined the team in firing on the Russian forces who attempted to entrench themselves throughout the area, downing a few.
"Any word on air support?" Sandman asked as he continued to observe what was occurring in front of the groups.
"Still nothing, guidance systems are scrambled! We need to get that jammer down!"
"Then let's move, team!" Sandman rose from cover and began to cross the open ground as Arrow followed closely behind covering Sandman as he crossed the open ground. Truck immediately laid down suppressing fire as Grinch and Frost ran close behind Arrow. Arrow raised his rifle, spotting a Russian soldier and squeezed the trigger as the man stumbled into the doors behind him, leaving the lobby wide open. "Good shot Arrow, get inside the Stock Exchange!"
The two Delta teams rushed inside the building as Anvil team turned their backs to the door with Grizzly turning his head to Sandman, "We got the lobby secured, hit the trading floor and the jammer!"
"Roger that! Metal, let's roll!" Sandman pushed forward up the stairs with his team as Arrow moved to the rear in case Anvil's team was overrun. Truck took point and as he reached the top of the stairs, the trading floor was crawling with Russians as Truck raised his M4 and began squeezing off rounds.
"Contacts!" Arrow snapped around as he stood next to Truck behind one of the many office cubicles and began to fire upon any Russian that pushed forward, pinning many down allowing the other three to push forward and move around.
"Charge to contact, keep moving forward!" Frost shouted as she motioned for the two in the rear to move up. Arrow and Truck both nodded to each other and rushed forward as Arrow tapped Frost's shoulder and she nodded. The two pushed up as Grinch took up the position behind the group.
"Providing covering fire!" Truck and Sandman nodded and pushed right of Arrow and Frost, clearing out majority of the room as Arrow blinked, keeping his focus as best as he could while he had flashbacks of the Favela where Meat was killed. He shook his head slightly, telling himself he wouldn't lose Frost in the same manner.
Sandman continued to direct the battle as he turned to Grinch, "Keep up and stay together! Get up those stairs!"
Arrow nodded, taking point immediately and climbed up the ladder as the room was effectively empty. He slid his pistol out of his holster as he reached the top and spotted a Russian soldier immediately who turned to Arrow as Arrow squeezed the trigger rapidly, striking the soldier as he fell down groaning in pain. Arrow climbed off the ladder, reaching the top of the roof and unslung his SCAR-H as he held position for the rest of the team to reach his spot.
"Keep moving, the jamming system is on the roof!" He heard Sandman order as Frost climbed up, taking position next to him. She turned her gaze to him and nodded as Arrow nodded in response. He moved positions over to the wounded Russian and stared at the soldier in the eyes, he was a teenager at least. Probably early nineteen. He didn't feel any emotion as he raised the rifle and pulled the trigger as the round hit the teen in the neck, causing the soldier to fade away without a gurgle.
"Damn man, cold." Grinch shot a look at Truck as the two looked back at Arrow. Arrow turned to the squad who watched everything. He pointed to the jammer on the other side of the roof.
"We gotta take it down, let's move!" He immediately pushed forward as the rest of the squad resumed their mission, moving to support Arrow as he advanced to the jammer. He knelt down, providing over watch.
Sandman turned to Frost, "Frost, put thermite on the jammer's power supply! We'll cover!" Frost nodded as she rushed to the jammer and placed the device on the power supply and pulled the detonator out of her vest.
"Thermite's in place, clear the blast radius!" She shouted as the squad immediately pulled back.
Sandman nodded, "Burn it, Frost." Frost nodded and squeezed the detonator as an explosion rocked the roof as the jammer began to tip over as the explosion damaged all the supports holding the device in place.
Truck stood from his position, "It's coming down!"
Grinch cheered, "Adios tower!"
Arrow exhaled a sigh of relief as Sandman pushed against his comtacs, "Overlord, this is Metal Zero-One! Target neutralized! Do you read me?"
Everyone's radio crackled as communications suddenly started to roll through. "This is- We've got a man down! We've got a man-"
"We hear you infantry, we hear you."
"If you don't mind us, help! We need help! Now!"
"This is Juliet Two-Four, requesting a bombing run on TRP Four, Nine, One, One. Got you, affirmative. We've got you loud and clear."
Overlord's radio transmission suddenly came through next, "Roger, Zero-One. All systems are operational. We're sending a Black Hawk to your location for exfil, ETA three minutes."
"Roger, we're standing by!" Sandman smiled as he looked at the entire team. "Good work, all of you. Especially you Arrow."
Arrow turned his head at Sandman and nodded, "Than-" A bullet whizzed past him, hitting the ground behind him. "Contact!" He raised his weapon at the infantry gathering on the rooftop across from the team and began to open fire, suppressing as many as he could. The team immediately pushed forward and began firing upon the Russians as another group opened fire from a building to the left of where they were currently taking fire.
Overlord radioed through again, "ISR is back online. We are detecting multiple hostiles on the rooftops in your area. You now have OPCON of a fully armed Predator."
Overlord radioed through again, "ISR is back online. We are detecting multiple hostiles on the rooftops in your area. You now have OPCON of a fully armed Predator."
"Roger that, Frost, establish an uplink with the Predator and buy us some time!" Frost nodded as she opened her uplink laptop and controlled the Predator, firing missiles on the strong points that were heavily engaging the team.
"Good hits, good hits!" Arrow confirmed to Frost as the gunfire began to dwindle down until a Hind flew into view, twisting around to view the team.
"Holy shit, get down!" Truck shouted as Grinch and Truck dove behind cover. Arrow leaned into some cover, but Frost was in the open as Sandman turned to her.
"Hit that Hind!" Sandman shouted as Frost was way ahead of him. The missile came streaking down, crashing into the tail of the Hind, creating a massive fireball. The wounded helicopter began to spin out of control as the bird rapidly lost altitude, spiraling into the surface below.
Arrow raised his eyebrows and turned back to the ensuing firefight as a helicopter immediately flew past the group. 'God damnit, not another Hind!' However the bird spun around, hovering directly in front of the group.
Sandman ran and tapped Arrow on the shoulder, "Here's our exfil! Load up! Load up!" He turned his head back to the rest of the team and waved them onto the helicopter as everyone scrambled onboard. The pilot turned over his shoulder.
"Confirmed, five eagles aboard, exfil complete." The pilot immediately pulled up on the collective as the bird began to raise.
"Hold on! We're going vertical! Multiple contacts, lower rooftop! Frost, get on it!" Frost grinned as she grabbed the minigun and began to open fire on the Russian soldiers in the open as Arrow gripped onto one of the hand supports as did the others.
Overlord immediately contacted the group, "Metal Zero-One, standby for new mission directive, over."
"Roger, Overlord. Send it."
"We have multiple Russian war ships near our ports. We sent the SEALs to assault the command vessel. Proceed to New York Harbor to assist."
"Copy your last."
"God damnit, we have to get wet now!" Grinch exclaimed as the radio crackled again.
"Metal Zero-One, be advised. We're seeing multiple enemy rotor-wings in your airspace." Almost immediately Truck spotted a Hind appear above a rooftop as a second one appeared above another rooftop.
"Enemy birds incoming!" He tucked himself back into the helicopter as alarms went off in the helicopter as the first Hind fires its missiles at the Blackhawk, but scream passed the helicopter as Frost responded with her minigun, attempting to keep the helicopters at bay.
"Keep on them, down that bird!" Arrow shouted in encouragement as the helicopter flew in between neighborhoods as a Hind was lying in wait. The Hind fired its missiles but missed again.
"Tally target! Right side, high!" The pilot shouted as another helicopter was lying in wait.
"Two more, two more! We're taking heavy fire!" Truck shouted as he immediately strapped himself in.
"Four birds? Are you fucking kidding me?!" Grinch groaned in annoyance as he gripped the supports as Arrow was.
"Taking evasion action!" The pilot banked at the last second as the helicopter flew as fast as possible, but this action also gave Frost the perfect angle and she squeezed off a burst shredding the cockpit of one of the Hinds, causing the helicopter to crash into a nearby building.
"Enemy bird down!" Frost shouted as she locked eyes on her next target. She swung the gun around, downing another in the same fashion as the helicopter spiraled into the streets below.
"A god damn natural!" Arrow laughed as the moods immediately lightened, two down, two to go. The pilot kept his eyes open as the helicopter circled a skyscraper still under construction as Frost locked onto the third helicopter which was already firing on the Blackhawk. The pilot dove to the left as the helicopter reacted as Arrow rose from his sitting position and held his weapon by his hip. He squeezed the trigger on his grenade launcher in an attempt to scare off the helicopter, however the round impacted the rotor blades, causing the Hind to fall straight to the Earth.
"Lucky ass shot!" Truck screamed.
Sandman slapped Arrow's shoulder. "Good shot!"
Frost glanced up at Arrow and gave a heartwarming smile that struck his core as he had to look away. Grinch immediately was scanning around, "Where the hell is the last helicopter... keep scanning your sectors!"
Truck turned to Grinch, "I think we lost him!"
Suddenly a Hind pulled up right next to the helicopter facing the Blackhawk as Arrow shouted at the top of his lungs. "Shit, enemy Hind!"
The Blackhawk pilot immediately banked left, tossing everyone in their seats as Frost gripped onto the minigun tightly. The pilot attempted to fly around the building to lose the enemy bird, but the enemy was persistent.
"He's behind the building! Behind the building!" Grinch shouted as he shrunk into his seat.
"Frost, can you get a bead on him? Fire!" Sandman pointed in the perfect spot
Frost opened up with the minigun between the frame of the construction building at the Hind, but no damage was caused. The two helicopters then hover upward, as Frost finally gets her shot and opened fire on the tail, causing significant damage to the Hind enough to cause the helicopter to lose control. The helicopter began to spiral upwards and immediately began spinning in the direction of the Blackhawk, the pilot's last attempts to take out the helicopter.
"Look out!"
The Hind smacked into the Blackhawk's tail, causing the bird to lose control as the Hind crashed into the construction site, erupting in a massive fireball. Frost tumbled out of the helicopter, gripping onto the minigun with all her might, panicking as she glanced down. Terrified, she further tightened her grip as the pilot fought for control. Arrow instinctively leapt from his seat and dove to her, grabbing her arms with all his strength. "I got you!"
Grinch and Sandman both realized what was happening and grabbed Arrow as Arrow used his strength to pull her up, he grunted as she slowly was pulled back into the helicopter as Truck turned and shouted, "Shit we're going down!"
The pilot grunted too, "I've still got pressure in the pedals! Come on, you son of a bitch!" The helicopter's blades began to skim the side of the nearby building as Arrow held Frost in his arms as she still gripped onto him in shock. Arrow closed his eyes, expecting the end but at the last moment, the pilot regained control.
The pilot pulled away as Grinch shouted to hang on as the helicopter stabilized. The pilot panted, "Torque feels okay! Tail rotor effective, hydraulics holding. Collective and pitch sat. Fuel 70 percent, en-route to the Harbor."
"Overlord... this is Metal Zero-One, we're en-route to the harbor, over."
Overlord replied, "Roger Zero-One, skies are clear. Good luck, out."
Arrow opened his eyes and caught his breath as the team around him began to laugh and celebrate. They had survived a tough mission. Frost regained her composure and glanced up at Arrow and buried her head into his vest. She was saved by him and he did it without hesitation. Her heart began to flutter as she was deeply touched, but she realized the mission had to continue so she put the thoughts into the back of her mind. She gently pushed herself away from Arrow as the two went back to their spots, but she kept glancing at him occasionally as he stared off into the city, finally able to catch his breath on the more than usual bumpy ride to the rally point at the harbor.