Critical Mission

Ready room, USS Essex CVN-88, North Sea
7:20 

Today is a day of war, of fire and sacrifice. The corridors of the ship are filled with warriors running everywhere, sharpening their knives, preparing their weapons, reviewing plans, fine-tuning machines, making peace with a possible early death. The sounds of engines roaring at full power to take to the skies, fighter planes patrolling the skies looking for a fight, the first wave of soldiers has already been sent and the vanguard will follow. But this is not a glorious assault on an enemy fortress, this is a desperate rescue mission, to defend the city as long as possible, to evacuate as many people as possible to anywhere but here.

The transport helicopter pilots were called over the ship's loudspeakers, and it was my duty to respond. We were taken to a room called the Ready Room; it was like a classroom, except the students were soldiers, the teacher was the ship's commander, and the risk was death instead of a failing grade. The room was located just below the flight deck, and it was in this place that the pilots were briefed on the details of their upcoming mission, where they would most likely lose their lives, before going into battle.

Today, the room was more crowded than usual. This time, not only were the pilots in the room, but there were also several captains from various ground squads. The last to enter was none other than Vice Admiral Mark Halsey, the head of the entire United States Sixth Fleet, outranking even the captain of the aircraft carrier we were on. His appearance signaled serious business, as the people in this room would literally live or die based on his decisions about combat.

He is a great leader and a highly competent strategist, which, combined with his bravery and shrewdness in reading enemy plans, as well as a bit of luck, has earned him one of the most successful military careers in the entire Continental War. That doesn't mean he hasn't suffered defeats of his own. It is said that he will soon be promoted to four-star admiral again, and that he will be recognized as a war hero at the end of the war, along with the Medal of Honor, if he succeeds in this very mission. It seems that Mark Halsey himself was aware of this, which is why he came personally to give us the details and make sure that we did our best.

"All right guys, we got work to do and not much time, so I'll make this quick."
"48 hours ago, the Empire launched a new offensive in the northern part of the European theater, in the Baltic Sea."
"Their target is Norway, and they are currently about to invade Oslo, their capital."
"That's why we're heading there now."
"The I.S.C. has a research complex in the city that contains vital information and projects for the Alliance's war effort."
"It's one of the most advanced research complexes we have, which could significantly reduce the technological gap between our forces and the Empire."
"It's clear that the Empire wants to eliminate this facility as soon as possible, which is the main reason for their attack on Oslo."
"Our mission is to rescue the city's residents and evacuate them from the combat zone, but more importantly, we must extract key I.S.C. personnel and vital research materials."
"The Expeditionary Marines team is currently landing at the Oslo Opera House, which they will turn into a fortress. "
"They will move south and partially east to engage the Imperial forces and buy as much time as possible to evacuate the city."
"On the other side of the city, to the west, are the civilian evacuation points prepared by the Norwegian Guard and troops."
"But even with them, we need more troops, so the Fenrir mercenary group has also been hired to help with the evacuation efforts."
"We'll do the usual in terms of defense; the area is expendable since we're evacuating it anyway, so it doesn't matter if we lose it to the enemy in exchange for saving more lives."
"Outside of the I.S.C. complex itself, there's nothing of value in this city for the Alliance's war plans."
"The evacuation of the VIP personnel will be handled by our two best teams."
"The Phoenix Squadron is in charge of securing the perimeter of the facility, while the actual evacuation of the personnel will be carried out by the elite Arkadia Squadron, due to their ties as I.S.C. personnel.
"They are the best to ensure that the project's information does not fall into the wrong hands."
"The personnel will be taken to the west, to the extraction point of the city."
"We'll try to maintain air superiority, but there are reports that the Super Airborne Fortress Dandelion is likely nearby, so don't take it for granted."
"Any questions?"

The people in the room looked at each other, their expressions of discontent clear, but at no time did anyone speak up, not wanting to show their displeasure with any part of the plan and face the consequences. The problem was clear; the Arkadia team was not liked by many, or almost no one. They didn't belong to the Alliance per se, but to the security branch of the I.S.C., so they were more like mercenaries than soldiers defending a people. Unlike Fenrir, who had already been tested in battle and their true loyalties seen, Arkadia had a key role in the mission, rather than just helping to evacuate the city. However, they were also members of the same company that the Alliance depended on to increase its chances of defeating the Empire. So everyone just kept their doubts to themselves and didn't say anything unnecessary.

One of the girls from the Arkadia Squadron began to walk beside the Vice Admiral to provide some more details.

"Hello and good morning."
"I am Lieutenant Akane, Captain of the Arkadia Squadron."
"As Mr. Mark Halsey mentioned, our priority is to extract the ISC researchers from the city."
"But even among them, we have priorities. The two key men in this complex are the researchers Brandon and Dylan, I'll show you their photos."
"Mr. Brandon specializes in bioengineering and DNA studies, his work was related to the investigation of a highly dangerous virus."
"His research was not related to military weapons, but due to the nature of his work, it's still dangerous in the wrong hands, so we need to transport the virus samples intact from the site."
"Mr. Dylan is the creator of the new Alliance weapons, such as the arksuits and their cores.
"If the Empire kidnaps him, they'll have an easy way to steal our only technological advantage over the Empire."
"To make matters worse, he's said to be on the verge of a new discovery to create a serum for super-soldiers."
"His research is highly classified, but it's the most important priority of this entire mission."
"The data from his work and his team must be brought out of the city at any cost."

A rather serious woman with a personality that made her seem angry with everyone, she wore a different suit than the other soldiers, the Arksuit, the main feature of her entire elite squadron. It was a state of the art armor, the most powerful weapon the Alliance had to offer. It looked a bit like medieval armor, but to the eye it was quite light and flexible. The real secret was its Ark Core, the main battery capable of generating an excess of brutal energy unlike anything else in the world today. With the energy of the battery, the armor could be used as an exoskeleton, capable of multiplying the strength of its operator to a great extent, so that the extra weight would not be felt by the operator, allowing him to carry high-caliber weapons without any problems. As a result, their primary armament was almost always large and powerful, comparable to that of a tank.

For mobility, they had thrusters at various points, as well as a backpack with powerful rockets capable of lifting the operator into the air and flying freely. Finally, for defense, in addition to their armor, they had the ability to create an energy shield around them capable of withstanding powerful weapon impacts and explosions. They were undoubtedly a dangerous and efficient force, even beyond their operators, who were obviously only the best qualified to use such equipment.

Their only apparent disadvantage seemed to be the ridiculous price of each piece of armor and the extreme rarity of the materials used to make their batteries, making their use in the Alliance Army highly sporadic and selective. The I.S.C. is currently the only manufacturer of such armor, so it was clear that they would also have their own private operators for security, as is the case with the Arkadia Squadron.

After the meeting, the pilots went to get our helicopters and prepare them for the flight to Oslo. In my case, I am the Phoenix Special Operations Squadron's personal transport pilot. In theory, I'm part of the team, although I'm nothing more than the taxi driver who takes them wherever they need to go. Our leader was Captain Cedric, who was a character in his own right. He was a man younger than me and looked as if he had just graduated from recruit training, but in reality he was perhaps one of the bravest and fiercest men you could find in the entire Continental War. That's why he was the leader of the Phoenix Squadron, someone who was not afraid to lead by example from the front, and that's why his men accompanied him on his adventures regardless of the risk. Someone whose actions had already changed much of the war and a hero; he was the right man for this mission.

Speaking of him, Captain Cedric came up to me before takeoff to talk.

"Very well, Cesar, how is the helicopter for the trip? Is everything in order?"

"Oh yes, all the pre-flight checks have been completed, no problems with the helicopter."
"Our departure time will be in about 30 minutes."

"What about the crates over there? Are you taking those too?" he asked.

"Supplies, ammunition, first aid kits."
"Things we might need if things get complicated." I replied.

"Hey, isn't that your assault rifle, it's got your markings on it."
"Isn't it a bad omen for a pilot to have his gun ready before takeoff? Like an invitation to get shot down?"

"It's called precaution, this mission is more unusual and urgent than usual, I have a feeling this is going to be a tough ride."

"..."
"Are you afraid of getting shot down again?"

"Sir?"

"I recently saw the report of what happened in Italy, what happened to Erina."
"The burns."
"I know what happened there was horrible, no doubt it would leave scars on anyone."
"You may not be able to fly a fighter again, but your flying skills are still undeniable."
"I need the pilot from the stories if I want the others to come home alive."
"I need Cesar, the survivor."
"You're an important part of the team, don't let what happened in the past affect you, you're a really good pilot."

"......."
"If this is your best attempt to motivate me, you better stop, it's really terrible."
"I'm not allowed to fly a plane again because Mark wanted me to be the driver of your team, not because of my injuries."
"Basically, I was demoted because the Vice Admiral wanted a good pilot for his favorite team and star player."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I screwed up."
"I apologize for my previous comment, my lack of knowledge caused..."

"Never mind, it doesn't matter."
"It's fine."
"I still have to check some things on the helicopter before starting it."
"You go get the rest of the guys and tell them the helicopter will be on the runway in 15 minutes, they have until then to get ready."
"Make sure they're ready too, this mission depends more on them than on me."

"Yeah sure."
"...."
"Hey, I heard Kevin managed to hide a bag of beers."
"When we get back, don't you want to celebrate with the others?"

"Cedric, I don't even drink alcohol."
"But if you could get me a soda, I could stop by and pick it up."

"Yeah, sure, I'll steal one from the kitchen if I have to, but I won't let you skip the party."

"Haha, we'll see about that."

So it's time to go out
Ok, it's time to end this all at once.

So I prepare the helicopter for take off:
Check the propellers.
Making sure the configuration of the helicopter is correct.
Waiting for my brothers in arms to arrive.
Waiting for the command to take off.
And off we go.

A 2-hour flight to our destination awaits us.