Forced Landing

Oslo, Norway
10:30 AM

The ride in the helicopter is a bit boring, but as we get closer to the area of operations, I become increasingly nervous. Soon the view of the city with its columns of smoke and sounds of gunfire changed the atmosphere to one of danger and death; the battle for Oslo had already begun. On the ground, the group of marines and their reinforcements could be seen disembarking at the Opera House and quickly reinforcing themselves with sandbags and barricades. My passengers are nervous about the impending battle, while I am much more focused on flying the helicopter as best I can with the warning Stella gave me this morning about the possibility of my helicopter suffering a catastrophic failure.

One of the soldiers shouted that he had visual confirmation of Imperial soldiers between the mountains and the road near the coast heading for Oslo; they were only a few kilometers away. Immediately after he spoke, a deafening beep filled the cabin; the on-board computer was warning of an enemy infrared marker, an enemy anti-aircraft weapon had locked on to us and was preparing to attack. Immediately, I yelled to everyone else to hang on and pulled the flare button to try to disorientate it from its fixation on our helicopter, but that seemed not to be enough as I saw the missile emerge from the ground and begin to gain altitude to our horror. So, in a desperate attempt to survive, I pulled the lever with all my strength to spin the transport violently. We barely saw the rocket fly by, but there was no time to celebrate as several shots rang out on the helicopter's armor; the enemy soldiers were now firing in another attempt to bring us down. It was during one of these shots that I heard something hit the helicopter's main rotor and it began to lose power rapidly. Instinctively, I tried to maintain as much control as possible while looking for a place to make an emergency landing. We crashed in a park a few blocks south of our intended destination, but fortunately the impact was so mild that most of us were able to get out without too much trouble.

The members of the Phoenix Squadron wasted no time and immediately set out to scout the area for nearby enemies, but they found none. It seemed too early for them to have ventured out this far. Cedric went out with them, and when he confirmed that there was no danger, he came to help me open the door to escape.

"Cesar, are you okay? Any injuries?"

"I'm alive, just a lot of pain in my butt, but alive."
"I'm sorry, I screwed up already being so close."

"It's okay, these things happen."
"Yeah, if we all made it out alive, it's because of your piloting skills.
"We should be the ones thanking you instead," Cedric said, shaking my hand to help me out.

"The helicopter is completely destroyed. "
"It won't fly again without the propellers."
"Now we have to find another way out of here."

"No problem, we'll head east and rendezvous with Fenrir for the extraction."
"On the way, we can help protect the stranded civilians."

"The problem is, you'll have to come with us, because we don't have enough time," Cedric said, handing me a rifle and a bag of magazines.

"Don't worry, I've been in ground combat before. I'm good at fighting."

"Perfect."

"The Arkadia transport managed to land without any issues. "
"We'll meet them further north where we were originally supposed to land."

"All right, guys, we have work to do. Let's move out."

I couldn't believe how much trouble I was going through just to get a damn blue crystal, but I also knew the story behind this object and why it was really important to retrieve it as soon as possible or it would become a much bigger problem. But what exactly does it do, many might ask. Well, there are two different reasons. The first is that you could say that this blue crystal, the Codex, is an object that can actually grant a wish, but in exchange for a really high price before it can be used, a price so high that it will cause many problems not only for the one who uses it, but also for all the other innocents who will be swept away by the price of greed. The other reason is much more personal. I'm doing all this to save my sister Maria. She's a young girl who has suffered from a disease since childhood. For a few years it was more bearable, but lately that has changed and her condition has worsened immensely. So, in exchange for helping the angels retrieve the Codex, they promised to cure my sister of her illness completely and leave her as a healthy young girl.

A few minutes later, on our way to the I.S.C. complex, we ran into the Arkadia squad, which was already visible nearby. Akane and her team checked the perimeter while the Phoenix Squad took up positions around. In my case, I had to stay in a building on the west side of the complex and try to secure the escape route. But while I was looking out the windows, another Alliance soldier unexpectedly appeared beside me. Judging by his uniform, he appeared to be a Marine from the first wave sent to defend the city.

"Excuse me, you must be Cesar, right?"
"It's a pleasure to meet you, I can't believe I'm working with a legend within the C.S.S."

"Excuse me? Have we met before?"

"Oh, sorry, you're right, the job."
"I work for the C.S.S., counter-intelligence, agent Malaikal."
"Mrs. Stella has asked me to brief you on the details of the Codex extraction from the I.S.C. complex."

"You work for Stella? You should have started with that."
"So what's the plan?"

"Stella has instructed me to take you to the prepared shelter on the second floor of this building so you can hide until it's time to execute the Codex recovery operation."
"In about 15 minutes, the Empire will start an artillery attack on this place."
"After that happens, the rescue of the VIP personnel will be delayed for a while, that will be your moment to act."
"This map shows Dylan's laboratory where the Codex is located, it's a bit old so it may not be completely accurate."
"We have left a bulletproof vehicle in the second garage for your escape."
"Once outside the building, you'll need to head north to the city of Bergen, where you'll be expected to retrieve the Codex without the humans suspecting our operation."
"Unfortunately, the vehicle doesn't have enough gas to get there, so you'll have to refuel at some point or find another way to get there."
"It will take the Empire about 4 days to reach the city, you have until then to get there before them."

" Jesus, that's a tall order."
"I know you guys are used to everyone being a movie superhero and doing impossible things being normal."
"But in the real world, doing those things is a lot harder."
"It's almost like Stella's next request is to win the continental war single-handedly and find an easy way to do it."

"Are you really able to do that, sir? This is unbelievable!"
"I wouldn't expect anything less from someone in the elite forces of the C.S.S."
"I'll tell Stella as soon as I see her again to see what we can do about what you just suggested."

"No! Stop!"
"That was sarcasm, idiot!"

"I'm sorry, sir, but I have to get back to my unit if I don't want to arouse more suspicion than there already is."
"I wish you luck with your mission, sir. The C.S.S. will always be indebted to your great service."

After talking to the Marine, he left the same way he came. Meanwhile, I went to the second floor as he had instructed me and watched the surroundings, waiting for the Empire's artillery attack. Meanwhile, the Arkadia squadron was the only one allowed into the complex to prepare for the evacuation. It seems they really don't want anyone to know what's inside.