Adventures of a Drunkard Pilot

Chapter 12: I Got A Damn Plan!

"WHAT!" Vox exclaimed, swinging for me. i ducked under her raised arm and stood.

"Hold on one second," I said, raising my hands. "Let me explain."

"Explain what!" she shouted and turned to face me.

"How we can play the New Monarchy!" i shouted back. Vox froze, her face turning from absolutely pissed off to a somewhat calmer pissed off. "Look, we know they want us dead. That's a given. But they don't know we survived the satellite drop. I say we call them and pretend to surrender, telling them we want to switch sides, and that you have the bodies of Jester as a peace offering. We then tell them that we will bring the proof, as well as you," I pointed to Vox, " and Roberts to their flagship."

"That is the worse plane i have ever heard," Mackenzie said from the door. We all turned and saw that Mac, Tex, and Smith were all in the doorway. They were all dressed in desert MARPAT cami trousers and brown shirts. Smith and Mac both had pistols strapped to their hips, while Tex had a large hunting knife attached to his right thigh.

"Got a better one?" Arthur shot back.

"No, just sayin," Mac replied.

"What do we do once we're on the carrier?" Tex asked. "Its gonna kinda be hard to convince them that we're on their side when we have you guys with us. You know, the people that we supposedly killed for them."

"What kind of gear do we have?" I asked no one in particular.

"We have assorted rifles, shotguns, and pistols," Delta reported, "as well as an ample supply of grenade and demolition charges."

"Hell yeah," I said. I turned to the rest of the team. "So do you have your own Frames at all?"

There was a slight pause. "Yes," Smith replied, "but they're configured to work only for us."

"That's fine, I'm not trying to steal your Frame," i told her. "Get them loaded up onto a bird and get prepped to launch. We step in 30 minutes." i turned to Vox. "Put out the call to the New Monarchy, get the ball rolling."

"What about you guys?" Vox asked as we started walking towards the door.

"Prep the bird, and wait for us. We're gonna go get geared up for this." I told her. "Any other questions?" The room was silent. "Alright then, hit it."

Twenty Five minutes later, the three of us stood in the hangar, watching the jet black Osprey turn around and settle on the landing pad. The hatch on the back opened as the engines lowered to a low idle. As it hit the ground, i picked up my pack and walked into the cargo bay. It was an open area witha  row of seats on either sides. i picked a seat on the left side, closest to the front, and set my pack down.

"All set?" I heard Vox ask. I turned around and saw her in full combat gear. She had on the same stuff we did; a black plate carrier with assorted pouches attached to the front, all black combat pants and shirt, and a ballistic helmet.

"Yeah, ready to go," I told her. i strapped my pack to the side of the bird and secured it with a strap hanging from the bulkhead. Next, i took the rifle slung on my shoulders off and snapped it into a spot on the ceiling, right above my seat. It was a M4A1 assault rifle with a suppressor on the barrel, a 4x zoom RCO, and a vertical grip on the hand guard.

"Lets rock," Mitchell chirped in as he snapped his suppressed KRISS Vector to the ceiling.

"Jester 2, this is Jester 1, radio check, over," I said into my radio.

"Jester 1, Jester 2, reading you loud and clear," Tex came back, "Jester 2 is loaded and the bird is ready to go."

"Roger Jester 2," I replied, "go cloaked once you leave and hold altitude in low orbit above the target until we call."

"Jester 2 rogers all," Mac came on the radio, "Good hunting boys."

I turned to Vox, who had stashed her gear a few seats from mine. "Where's Roberts?" I asked.

"Up here!" i heard a familiar voice call out from the cockpit.

"Roberts, you know how to fly?" Vox asked loudly. By the look of shock on her face, this was news to her too.

"Meh," Roberts shouted back.

"Oh fuck," Arthur groaned as he double checked that his H&K 16 was secured. "Last time someone said that was Maxwell the day of his Pilot Eval."

"What happened then?" Vox asked.

"Nothing," I said quickly. I sat in the hard plastic seat and grabbed the 5-point harness straps. i connected them all quickly before something hit me. "Shit!" I exclaimed as i hit the harness release and jumped out of my seat.

"Maxwell, what the fuck are you doing?" Mitchell shouted at me as I ran out the back of the bird and over to a stack of ammo crates we had pillages. Sitting on top, its green and black metal top glistening in the harsh artificial light, was my can of Copenhagen. I grabbed it, turned on my heels, and sprinted back to the bird. I flashed a grin at everyone as i ran back to me seat, but was only met with a glare of disapproval from Vox and one of humored disbelief from the guys.

"Almost forgot it," i breathed out as i redid my harness.

"Unbelievable," I heard someone outside the bird say. I let out a quick laugh. They seriously though Jester was a squared-away, by the books military unit. It as just funny to me that everyone had no idea just how disturbed, heinous, and all-around fucked up Jester was.

"Ready to go now?" Vox shot at me.

"Good to go!" i shouted back over-enthusiastically, giving her a thumbs up. I popped the can open, took a pinch, and put it in my lower lip.

"Hey," Mitchell shouted to me. I looked in time to see him throw an empty water bottle at me. "Dont need you spitting on the deck in here."

"Fair enough," i replied as i pinched the empty bottle between my thighs. I capped the chew can, stashed it in a designated dip pouch on my chest rig, and fished a silver flask out of another pouch.

"Seriously," Vox glared, now more annoyed than pissed, "you're drinking before an op?"

"Its tradition," It was Arthur who chimed in. Vox looked at him, then back at me, before shrugging and closing her eyes.

I raised the flask in a toast, then took a hearty swig of what tasted like watered down Walmart vodka. Dammit, I'm running out of the good stuff. I capped it and tossed it to Mitchell, who was directly across from me. He raised the toast, then took a swig and handed it to Arthur, who was a few seats down from him and across from Vox. He repeated the process and capped the flask, and was about to toss it to me when he saw that Vox had opened her eyes and was watching our pre-op tradition. He made eye contact with her for a second, then threw the flask to her.

"What are we toasting," Vox asked as she caught the flask and opened it.

"'If I am to die tonight," Arthur spoke up, "then i would see that the night doesn't not go quietly.' It's an old quote our 1st Sergeant taught us in BPT."

"BPT?" she asked at the ramp at the back of the bird closed and the engines started getting louder. I could faintly hear Roberts talking to someone on the radio, but that sound was quickly drowned out by the engines.

"Basic Pilot Training," I offered.

"Hmm," Vox thought for a second, "i guess i can drink to that." She took a swig, and immediately started choking and sputtering. Shit, she's never drank before. We all stared for a second, then started laughing. "Assholes," she laughed out before capping the flask and tossing it to me. I caught it, stashed it away, and leaned my head back as i felt the Osprey lift off the ground, spin 180 degrees, and fly out of the hangar.