I wonder if the pilot is waving at me, to signal a form of gratitude. Probably not. All he probably sees is an ant-sized soldier in a wicked suit walking on the street instead of taking advantage of the natural cover that this island provides.
As I found cover and began to walk in the direction of the second AA gun, I thought about some of the key air strike missions that I've been involved with as a Delta Team member. Operation Goat's Milk was a mission that I will always remember, because the amount of time spent executing the mission was the quickest that I have ever experienced in my entire military career.
Operation Goat's Milk was a covert mission that focused on what appeared to be a goat farm in a section of the planet I am not allowed to discuss openly. From satellite and spy plane photos, the land appeared to be nothing more than a goat farm. However, very reliable sources indicated that the farm was being used to experiment with chemical weapons - white in original form, but dissipated into clear form when dumped from 10,000 feet and mixed with the Earth's atmosphere. We called the chemical goat's milk, because of the farm house.
Since we did not have anywhere near the confirmation we needed to take action on the situation, I was air dropped with Prophet to look into the situation. Like this mission, we were dropped in the middle of the night. Unlike this mission, I wasn't clobbered by some machine-like thing shortly after free falling from the plane.
We remained hidden in the vegetation for only an hour before making any move toward the farm house. We planned to sneak into the farm house in order to determine if our sources were correct, since the house appeared to be inactive. As I began to head toward the house, Prophet radio'd me at the last second and told me to wait.
A second later, we saw lights approach from the long driveway leading to the house. Had I ran toward the house when I did, I would have been in plain view by the vehicle and our mission would have been compromised. Remember, back then, there wasn't a way cool Nanosuit. So, Prophet was certainly deserving of his name.
We watched three men and one lady exit the vehicle. The men began to unload huge canisters and move them into the home. It took four trips by the men to get everything unloaded. The lady then left with the vehicle a few minutes later. About twenty minutes later, we saw a stream of white smoke emit from the chimney. It appeared they had started cooking the chemicals down.
Our engineers told us what to expect from a scent perspective. The powder would have a very strong sulfur-like odor when being cooked. When that happened, we knew that the chemical was at it's most volatile state. Jumping into action, Prophet and I painted the top of the chimney as a target with our bomb guiding lasers. With two points of reference, the bomber would have a 98.5% chance for a direct hit.
The stealth bomber was heading toward the target less than two minutes after we painted the target. We watched on our portable radar as the plane approached, but was still too quiet to be heard. In fact, we only heard the plane a split second before we heard the bombs hit the home.
When the initial smoke cleared, the farm house had been destroyed. As expected, the white powder had crystallized and had a gray tint as it laid around the burning grass. Operation Goat's Milk was a success. Prophet and I reached our way point and were out of the area before any one realized what had occurred. The mission was a great coordination between two different forces of the US military.
I realized that Prophet was gone, again. That hurts. I plan to take out my aggression and pain on that machine. In order to do that, I've got to destroy that second AA gun and anything in my way.
Speaking of which, I came up to a gas station, which appears to be manned by a few KPA soldiers. I was hoping to get a clean shot at the gas pumps, but the angle wasn't as good as when I lit up the sky back near the school house.
So, instead, I used my cloak abilities to clear out the gas station without alerting any troops further inland. Moving rock to rock or tree to tree, I was able to clear a path that lead me to the second AA gun. My route was rather unique, in that I climbed the rocks behind the AA gun, then slide down the hill into some water and climbed back up resting behind the unit itself.
There were several soldiers on the other side of the guns looking for me. I was in the least place they expected. I even recharged my suit without being noticed.
I planted the explosives, then moved around to the other side of the AA guns in cloak mode. One by one, I eliminated all the troops in sight. I still don't think they expected me to be hiding so close to the guns. However, it was the best place, since the guns could not aim toward my location.
Once the troops were cleared out, I detonated the explosives and destroyed second AA gun unit.
I was able to take a photo of this explosion. I was certain this gun was destroyed.
I expected to hear confirmation that the guns were indeed destroyed, but instead Headquarters informed me that a helicopter was en route with KPA troops. The chopper hovered above me, as it planned to deploy KPA troops. I pulled out my rocket launcher and placed two rockets into the bottom of the helicopter, which led to a serious explosion.
There should be no doubts by the KPA, that I am here and I am taking this battle seriously. After all, if you are responsible for taking down 60% of my team, there will be a price that needs to be paid.
I just received word that a third Anti-Aircraft gun exists. They flashed the marker on my radar.
The route to the third gun is going to head into the direction close to where the first gun was stationed. Looks like I will need to cross that bridge after all. Looks like I will need to take care of the remaining Zodiac boats in the harbor too.
I am going to take some time to plan my route. I will be in touch soon.
Nomad ... singing out.
