The Lions of Babylon: A GuP fanfic (Slow Updates)

Night Flight

It is eighteen hundred hours. The tanks and armored vehicles have just arrived at Erbil International Airport where the club's transport planes are stationed. Since there's no other airport in the region of Mesopotamia, this is the only one suitable for the club's aircraft to land at, and considering the amount of space this airport has, it's more than enough for the enitre fleet. Problem is, because the club's fleet is very big for such an airport, they have to use the old section which has been closed for almost fifteen years, and while the facilities have enough room for the fleet, the terrain is not at its best state. The runway is a death trap for the aircraft. Bomb craters everywhere, sandbags tossed around, unexploded mines and mortar shells, you name it. One wrong move and it could prove fatal, not just for an aircraft, but for its crew as well. For that reason, they make sure to move as slow as possible, wasting time and fuel. But that's how the procedure is. Until the airport is cleared of any ammunition, they can't take any risks.

As soon as they approach the aircraft, Bachir get off his M-113 ambulance and picks up his walkie talkie radio. Because the M-113 ambulance is not equipped with its own radio, communication is done with portable radios, just like the infantry and special forces units. They never thought on installing radios in the vehicles as the vehicles were at an extremely close distance from each other, thus it was never needed and the portable radios could do the job just fine. Maybe this time, they'll need to install the newly acquired radios for longer distances since the battlefield will be bigger than the club's training grounds, but for the time being, they'll wait and see.

-'Commander Bachir to all units, begin loading procedure', he says after adjusting the radio to the right frequency. 'Make sure all systems are shut down and all ammunition is secured. I don't fancy another accident'.

He then hangs up his radio and walks over to a man wearing blue trousers, a white shirt and a black cap. That's captain Mohammed, the commanding officer of the club's air transport division who has been in the club ever since its creation. He probably thought that by joining he could fulfill his dream of flying. Considering his father was a very popular ace at the Egyptian air force, it's no wonder he wished to carry on his father's legacy. What nobody told him, is that this isn't the private air force he thought it would be. You see, his father and grandfather used to be pilots at the Mig-21 and the F-16 and have a very long combat record, but their most notable missions are the shooting down of five Israeli Mirage IIIs in a row and the destruction of the Al Jaghbub drone and helicopter base at the Libyan border. No wonder his family used to be that popular at the Egyptian and Jordanian military. After all, they were both on solo flights when all that happened. But he was quick to accept the situation and went on to become a successful transport pilot. After all, there are other things you can do with a transport aircraft that you can't do with a fighter interceptor, such as dropping cargo from a high altitude.

-'Everything is ready commander Bachir', says Mohammed as he walks beside the aircraft with Bachir. 'We're fueled up and ready to go. Once the vehicles will all be on board, we'll be ready for our night flight'.

-'What about the ammunition?', asks Bachir in a little louder voice tone so that he can be heard throughout the sound of the aircraft's engines.

-'It'll be at the airport. The sensha do committee will be providing you and your troops dummy shells for the matches'.

-'Good to know. Carry on the maintenance', says Bachir as he straightens his cap. 'We're leaving at twenty one hundred'.

-'Yes sir', replies Mohammed and walks to the front of the aircraft.

After checking his M-113, he proceeds to inspect the other two armored rescue vehicles. You see, the armored ambulances are not the only rescue vehicles the club possesses. While they are important assets to save lives in case of accidents like the one today, firefighting is another issue. They might not have may facilities or dangerous flammable equipment in their property, but the risk of fires is always existent there. For that reason, they are using another M-113 firefighting vehicle and an EFS-85, which is a Yugoslavian M-84 tank converted into a firefighting vehicle with its turret removed and replaced with a water container. For the tournament, ambulance 213 and the EFS-85 with their crews will also be joining them while the other ambulance and two of the club's medics will remain behind to provide the medical assistance to the driver. They could have sent him to a clinic or a hospital in Kurdistan, but the M-113 is much more affordable as a mobile hospital and has much better facilities. As the hospitals are still being repaired and rebuilt, they can't send him anywhere else. Even if there weren't any injuries, two of the medics would still need to remain behind as the rules state. They can't leave the club deserted, so someone needs to stay behind and keep watch.