The Winter War

Chapter Fifteen

Author's Note:Everyone, it has been quite some time since I last wrote and I must admit that there is a very good possibility that I have become... rusty. Along with this is the fact that some details have been forgotten by me so if I get something wrong please bear with me and I will try to get back into the groove as soon as I can.That said...

Enjoy!

Launch Site – Alpha

Pennsylvania

D-Day Minus 2 Hours

Freshly fallen snow coated the field, knee high grass bent over from the weight of the winter bounty and the bottom of his black fatigue pants and dusting with the white powder as he and the rest of the task force moved about the field. It was a little hard to see with just a bunch of large red glow sticks scattered about the field but what they were doing didn't really require a whole lot of light. It did, however, require secrecy. If he thought about it, which he really didn't want to, thousands, or possibly hundreds of thousands, relied on how well they kept everything under wraps.

Two Druidth avionic technicians worked a portable fuel pump and wrangled the hoses that led to the shuttle craft. They adamantly tried to explain how they weren't shuttle craft techs but someone on the Andromeda thought that they would be good enough. Kramer watched as they pumped tetrahydro-bioxide into the stolen shuttle. They explained to him on the long, stress filled drive up from where they hid the shuttle that it didn't need oxygen as the shuttle had such powerful oxygen scrubbers that it could make the air almost antiseptic. Of course any Human passengers would need to carry extra oxygen as the scrubbers were set for Druidth standards and they would quickly die of hypoxia.

Disco stopped halfway up the ramp, carrying a green plastic equipment crate, "Last one, Boss."

"Good," Kramer replied. "Get it stowed away, then get the rest of the team onboard. Make sure Ripley knows he's supposed to be upfront with Col-Ku Nast."

Grunting acknowledgement, Disco continued loading the crate. Kramer waited for the two techs to detach the fueling hose before he waved them off and boarded the craft as well. On his way in, he slapped the button on the rear and the door began to silently close. How he wished he could contact command and check in, but he was a SEAL and thus trained to operate on his own; especially on a mission that was so planned out he could run the whole thing in his head while drunk. The men of Team 3 had plotted Operation Icarus for weeks, aided by the spotty information provided by Babcock, and while Kramer wished they could have built a shoot house to do a dry run there were size and material restraints so they basically had to wing it.

As he took his seat in the center of the bay Kramer shrugged. SEALs improvise.

Shortly after he sat down Nast and Ripley touched off the engines, a ghostly blue could be seen out the window from the thrusters. Smoothly they lifted off and began rocketing through the atmosphere.

Jackal stretched before leaning forward and opened the lid on the first of the three crates filling the center of the cargo bay. Inside it was filled with V10 Vector .45 caliber submachine guns, silencers, and plenty of ammunition. He lifted one out and screwed on the silencer before checking it out. Kramer opened the second while Disco opened the third. Gas masks, tear gas grenades, and flashbangs were in the second while the third held six chrome plated Smith and Wesson Model 629 revolvers and segmented Druidth plate armor modified so the SEALs could easily get it on.

"Looks like the armory guys came through," Jackal said as he picked up one the .44 magnum rounds and inspected it. He tossed it to Kramer who plucked it out of midair and checked it out as well.