The plane's turbulence occasionally jolts the crew, but to Nosia, serves as a gentle rock like a mother cradling her baby. Her head drops, her chin resting on her thick vest. As her head sways gently from side to side, it eventually falls on a shoulder, where she rests comfortably for the next passing minutes.
Fast asleep, she's suddenly woken with a jolt, her eyes shooting open as she looks ahead, bringing her sniper to her chest as she focuses her disoriented mind. She looks to her left side where Ghost stares down at her through his mask, his eyelids heavy from sleep depravity. She flashes a sleepy smile before sitting up straight, checking her watch. They should be arriving soon.
And just on time, the jumpmaster exits the cockpit and stands before the ramp door. "One minute." He calls out, the four standing from their seats, backends stiff. After a 30 second countdown, the four stand at the ready, the ramp opening as a harsh gusts of wind and blinding rays of the sun beam their way in.
Price stands before them, his back to the sky as everyone focuses their attention on him. "Pull altitude is 2000 AGL!" He shouts over the winds.
"Cutting it close!" Nosia responds, glancing out the exit to the structures and ground level visibly close beneath.
"That's how we do!" Gaz responds, an assured look on his face.
"Roger up at rally point!" Ghost commands, reaching his fist to Nosia.s as they bump together before facing the exit once more.
Price and Gaz jump first, rallying to secure the perimeter, Ghost and Nosia following behind, separated by the fall. The cool November winds slap against Nosia's skin, leaking through the fabric of her uniform and sending a chill down her spine as she falls through the sky, falling into a diving position. Gaining closer to the ground and cutting through the clouds, the small structures of the powerplant become fully visible as she was now nearing to ground level.
Tugging the release, the parachute pops open, yanking her back and nearly taking her breath as it slows her descent. She holds the wires of the parachute, guiding her way down between two trailers on the ground, sticking her landing as boots meet dirt, pulling her knife and separating herself from the parachute.
Quickly pulling her M16 to firing position, she doesn't hesitate to move forward.
"Scope, you see those helo's from the sky?" Ghost calls to her through the radio.
"Affirmative." She responds.
"Use your C4 to take 'em out. Don't want whatever Konni's planning takin' flight."
"Yes, sir." She responds obediently, the hint of a cheeky grin on her lip as she continues ahead.
Keeping close to the walls, she cuts through the rubble of construction and unfinished buildings. "Ghost, are you picking up radiation spikes?" She calls out softly, keeping her voice low to avoid alerting her position.
"Negative. Already checked, the helo's scan clear."
"Time to go boom."
"The bigger, the better." He responds, spotting a helicopter himself to sabotage. "Eyes on helo. Work quietly until I engage."
"No promises, LT."
Ghost shakes his head at her cheeky response, sneaking around the building to crates stacked near the helicopter where he silently takes out the two Konni scouting the area. Not too far away, Nosia does the same, nearly getting caught as she performs a takedown on one, having to act quickly and fire her silenced pistol at another making approach.
"I'm clear. You ready Scope?"
Letting out an exhale as her heart calmed, she calls back, confirming. The pair stick two sets of C4 onto the helicopters to assure destruction where Nosia waits, listening for the explosion as her go. With a few seconds of silence passing, she hears the distant boom of Ghost's work, detonating her target as well from behind cover.
"Target destroyed." Nosia calls out.
"Good work, one to go. Let's rendezvous there." Ghost responds.
"Be advised, Konni has been alerted and reinforcement is on the way. Stay sharp." Laswell alerts the pair.
"We'll take care of the perimeter, just take out that helo." Price reminds them.
"Let's make this quick." Ghost adds.
Rushing to find the next helicopter, trying to pinpoint it through the flash of memory from when she was above ground, a group of Konni soldiers close in on her location, cutting her off as they shout to one another in Russian. She aims and fires, taking out two before hurrying out of their sights into a nearby unfinished building, turning the corner and aiming where she came from, picking the last three off before running ahead.
"Captain, you picking up any radiation?" Nosia calls out, her breaths disheveled as she spoke through her sprinting.
"Negative, Konni hasn't picked up anything either."
Gaz perks in, confusion in his voice. "If there's no radioactive material, what's Konni after?"
"Let's stay on it and find out." Price commands. "More Konni breaking off, watch your back Scope."
"I'm getting too old for this." Nosia calls back as she stops to hide for a moment, hearing nearby shouting.
"Say that to me again when you're my age." Price jokes back.
Giggling, the moment of shared humor is cut short as bullets whiz past her. She rolls from cover, firing her M16 and picking the soldiers off one by one until the path is clear, fighting her way through more as she hurries ahead.
"Gaz, any change in radiation?" Laswell questions over comms.
"Negative, Watcher." He responds, a hint of suspicion in his voice.
Nosia's brows twitch in thought. "Doesn't make any sense. They should be in the reactor by now."
"Powers off, doors are sealed." Gaz confirms.
"Let's keep it that way." Ghost says with strain in his voice as he fights ahead as well, the pair approaching the helicopter from opposite ends as they engage in immediate fire upon being spotted. They close in on one another into a trailer just next to the helo, both firing until the door shuts.
"I'll cover you, you lay charge on that helo." Ghost commands, giving her his last C4. Nosia nods, sneaking out the opposite exit as she hurries to the helo, Ghost raining hell on the Konni soldiers as they close in, aiming all focus to him.
Quickly sticking her last charge and the one Ghost gave her, she calls over the comm before rushing back towards the trailer. "Charges set!" She says, bursting in through the door and immediately activating them, the explosion distracting the last few Konni just long enough for the pair to finish them off.
"All targets destroyed." Ghost says with a tinge of relief, lowering his weapon and patting Nosia's shoulder as they exit the building.
"Good job, Bravo. Be advised, Konni have entered the reactor. You need to get down there." Laswell responds, tensions rising once more.
With a shared look of distress, Nosia and Ghost both enter a parked LV nearby, Nosia taking shotgun as Ghost kicks the engine on, sending the vehicle hurtling forward as they rush towards the reactor.
"Ghost, We're seeing heavy Konni activity. They're forming up somewhere." Price warns them.
Nosia and Ghost share a worried glance before she responds. "Could be they found what they're looking for. Can you find where they are?"
"Got eyes. Looks like they're converging on the reactor dome. Bravo, weapons hot, push to the reactor!" Price commands with determination.
With a warning alarm blaring in the distance, Konni activity grows heavy as they close in on the reactor. Nosia sticks her upper body through the window, aiming ahead and downing anyone in their way as Ghost plows through the rest of them. But she couldn't help to notice how heavy activity was, growing worried with each passing minute.
"We're inbound to the reactor--whatever they want, it's inside. Heavy fire surrounding the entrance." Nosia calls over comms as she sits back down, taking cover from fire. Ghost crashes the LV into the stairs, the two hurrying out and clipping a few Konni before finally reaching the door, leading to a small room with another blast door on the other end accompanied by a large red button. Once inside, Nosia doesn't hesitate to punch the button, triggering the entrance door to close as the sounds of ricocheting bullets echo from within the metal room.
A hissing of air shoots out as they're decontaminated, the two taking the time to reload their weapons before the second entrance door finally opens. "We're in." Ghost calls. Before they head onward, Gaz breaks in through the choppy radio signal in distress. "Lieutenant, you've got an enemy helo overhead. It's at the reactor, deploying ropes!"
"Konni found something!" Price adds, the radio staticky as they slowly lose signal. "They're bringing in secondary extraction, we have to stop them now!"
As they doors fully open, the innards of the reactor are revealed with multiple Konni within, the ropes Gaz mentioned just in sight as one soldier motions for the helicopter to ascend.
Their presence shielded by the loud chopping of the helicopters blades, Ghost calls over comms. "All stations, Konni's extracting canisters from the reactor." He says, watching Nosia knife the soldier just as he began to notice them.
Center of the reactor, a platform connected to the extraction ropes slowly rises from below, strange cylinders stacked atop it as one soldier stands amongst the materials, Ghost quick to aim and fire him off the platform. "They're extracting unknown contents!" Nosia calls out.
"All Bravo," Captain calls for attention. "Fire on that helo--bring it down!"
"Affirmative, engaging!" Gaz responds, but as the helo shakes from taking fire, one of the cylinder cannisters falls from the extraction platform, beginning a mysterious countdown beep as it makes contact with the floor. But as soon as the beeping ceases, a his screams out as a green gas begins to fill the floor level of the reactor, Ghost and Nosia looking down over the railing as it slowly fills the room.
"Bloody hell--all stations, Konni's extracting chemical weapons!" Ghost calls, grabbing Nosia's wrist and pulling her along as he runs to the stairs leading to the highest level within the cylinder shaped reactor. Once at the top, Ghost starts firing to the few Konni trapped inside with them as Nosia watches the helicopter disappear from her sight, pure fear stricken in her face.
"Konni's leaving with the gas on that helo! We're gonna lose them!" She screams out for everyone to hear as a bullet whizzing by draws her attention back to the fight at hand, standing close to Ghost as she aims down her sights.
"Watcher, can you track 'em?" Price questions in the heat of the moment.
"On it. Stand by." She responds, keeping cool despite the pressure.
Nosia turns to face the door behind them, punching the button with no response, her heart sinking as she looks back to Ghost, looking back at her before facing the rising gas once more. "The reactor's sealed, we're locked in." He says calmly, Nosia now standing close as they watch together, Konni soldier corpses lining the room as silence falls deafeningly heavy, the alarm blaring from outside now faded as their minds focus on the chemicals.