Blood Lily Company - Afghanistan, year 1

XVIII

It all started with a radio call.

We have two radio operators, on rotation every four hours, Mike, a tall skinny girl with a great smile, and Phone, a withdrawn little guy, a true professional.

That evening it was Mike (short for microphone) who took the message, in English.
- From R&R-G1 to BLC. Mayday, Mayday. Aircraft in distress, low fuel level, no landing on base due to extreme weather conditions.
- From BLC, copy that. Standby R&R-G1.

Mike called out into thin air: "Lin for Ops room". And since Lin has very very sharp hearing, she arrived quickly. In addition, her office is not very far from the Ops room.

Mike repeated the message to her. Lin smiled and took the com.
- From BLC, copy, R&R-G1. Number and type of aircraft? Over.
- From R&R-G1, two E-assault helicopters. Over.
- From BLC, landing clearance. No signage on the ground. South southwest side wind, 10 knots. Look out for white smoke pots. Over.
- From R&R-G1, copy and thanks. We'll go for an instrument landing. Over and out.

Lin gave the com back to Mike and went after her Lieutenants.
- Erik... Where is your brother?
- He went back to sleep. Why?

The giant was on the defensive. She stared at him for a moment.
- Two Roses & Rifles helicopters will land east of the base, on the promontory. You're going with... who's available?
- Archer. Do you think Katja is on board?
- I don't think so. You sound disappointed? Yet you know she's off-limits!
- I know, Lin. I like her, that's all. I have no intention of poaching.
- Mmh... Well, take some smoke pots, white, and go and mark a landing zone there. Find a good flat space. And think about the wind: 10 knots SSW.
- Got it.

Erk being my Lieutenant, I tend to stick to him a little bit, especially when I have nothing better to do. So, as I was already there, we were able to get the smoke pots quickly, cover ourselves a bit because, when the sun was down it was cooler down there, and we were approaching winter. We stuck on earpieces and throat mics and went out with a little wave to Tito, posted at the barbican.

We barely had time to set up three pots and light them up when we heard the rotors. And since, if my memory serves me, E-assaults are very quiet, that meant we would be squished if we stayed there.

I grabbed Erk by his sleeve and we pulled out from under the blades. Then the Viking sent me to base, saying they would be less afraid of him since he was unarmed.

Unarmed my ass! Two knives down his boots and his right hand, and he says he's unarmed! Considering how he had carried his brother the day before, he was perfectly able of catching one of them off guard and using him as a shield before the others had time to react. But if he wanted them to believe he wasn't dangerous, it wasn't I, his corporal, who was going to make him change his mind.

So, I obeyed. But, since he was still one-armed and Lin would have my balls (and not in the way I like) if anything happened to him, I hid nearby in the shadows. I muted my mic, I didn't want to risk being caught disobeying my officer, though.

There was a gust of wind that snuffed our smoke pots. Shit! Hope the pilots were able to see where to put their skids!

The two birds landed, really close to each other, but it could be normal, after all, I'm not a copter specialist.

Four guys came out of the crafts, real pro, those guys, setting up a security perimeter, etc. I was a bit worried for the Viking, so I took my Behemoth out and armed it as quietly as possible. I wished I had taken my bow. The guys were almost in a rest position, but their index fingers, on the trigger guard, were still a little too close to the trigger for my peace of mind.