341 Griffin Down (1/2)
”Convoy, Six four, you are to take the next left turn!” The co pilot spoke into the mike. ”Turn left now!!”
”Shit!” The co pilot smacked the side of the cockpit. ”They missed the turn again! The damn comms keep getting messed up by the storm!”
”-ix Fo-, Conv-, -y aga-? -urn n-?”
”Damn!” Peter cried out as something bounced off his side. ”They are shooting at us with bows and arrows!”
The gunners swiveled the door guns and engaged at a small group of crazed armed with crossbows on a nearby roof, painting it red. ”SPELL! ON THE LEFT ROOFTOP!” The left gunner suddenly cried out as he saw the telltale signs of a magic spell being charged up.
”FUCK!” Peter jerked his controls, tilting the sluggish helo away from the threat just as a bolt of lightning energy cracked underneath the CH - 1 Griffin just barely a few centimeters away. ”Lit up that roof!”
The Marine manning the door gun compensated for the movement of the helo and fired, using the tracers to guide and adjusted his aim. The tracers glowed brightly under the gloomy skies and the Marine ensured the rooftop where the mage was had a good dose of lead.
”Damn crazies!” Peter cursed again as he dodged another barrage of arrows. ”Six Two, this is Six Four. Taking a mix of ground fire. Watch your tail!”
”-ix -o, -ger.”
”This problem with the comms is giving me a really bad feel,” Peter commented as he kept his eyes alert for any movement on the nearby rooftops. ”There! Two o'clock! Movement on the roof!”
That set off another heavy burst of fire from the door gunners and Peter saw the roof disintegrate into pieces. ”SPELL SPELL SPELL! Five O'clock low!”
Peter instinctively jinked the helo to the side but he was a bit too slow, the magic missile hammers hard against the rear rotor housing, denting the armor. Almost immediately, blinking lights and alarms went off in the cockpit and Peter skillfully brought his helo under control and breathe out a relieved sigh as his co pilot checked their systems.
”No major damages,” His co pilot said. ”Think we are good still!”
”-ix Fou-, -is is Six Tw-, are you alrig-?”
”Six Four, just some red lights on my panel, controls are still good,” Peter replied.
”Si- -wo, - see so- smoke on yo- tail. -ou sure -rything is ok-?”
”Six Four, roger. Think I better return to base to have it checked out,” Peter said. ”Alright, let's get out of here.”
As he turned the helo's heading back towards the base, Greg suddenly yelled, ”SPELL CASTAS ON OUR BUM BUMSSS!”
Streaks of arcane energy blazed past the Griffin as Peter tried to weave the fat and ungainly helo to dodge the spells but the Griffin was a huge target and flying low. Pongs and pings of spells and arrows shook the hull of the Griffin as Peter pushed the throttle to the max to exit the hostile area.
Earlier, the magic missile strike on the housing of the rear rotors had actually damaged the swash plate assembly of the rotor. A couple of the ball bearings of the rotor were broken up by the arcane attack which was easily grounded into metal dust by the rest of the ball bearings. It shouldn't affect the rotor much as the rotor shafts were built to be tough, but it was a different story when dozens of arcane spells were randomly hitting the Griffin's hull and casting the armor plating to crack and splinter off.
The stressed rotor assembly suddenly failed as a piece of debris from the hull plating slammed into it. The rotor shaft overheating from the damage simply shook loose, the whole spinning rotor folded in and ripped the rear of the Griffin off, making Greg sitting at the rear hatch yelp out in fear as the hull above him disappeared.
Instantly, the Griffin started to spin in the air as it lost its rear rotors that counter rotated. Peter quickly powered down the forward rotors and tried to feather the falling helo. ”Shit shit shit shit shit...”
”HANG ON TIGHT!” Peter yelled. ”We are going down!”
”May day, may day!” His co pilot spoke in a surprisingly calm voice into the comms. ”Shepherd Six Four going down. Repeat, we are going down!”
The helo came to a slow spin as the forward rotors lost power. Peter pulled the helo nose up, to use the remaining thrust from the forward rotors to reduce his falling speed and control his landing. Luckily they were not too high up in the air, and the Griffin slammed at an angle against the side of a building, toppling it down.
”Command, Six Two, we have a Griffin down. I repeat. Shepherd Six Four is down.”
-----
Mills patted the shoulder of the driver to stop the vehicle when he heard the report. ”Raider Actual, Six Two, Say again?”
”Si- Two, Shephe- Six Four is dow-”
”What the hell?” Mills tried to peek out from the window of the jeep. ”Raider Actual, Six Two, any survivors?”
”Six Tw-, stand-”
”This is such a fuck up!”
-----
Shepherd Six Two came over to the crash site of the Shepherd Six Four, and the pilot did a slow circle around. ”See any movement?” He asked the crew.
”I see some movement!” One of the Marines yelled. ”There's someone still alive there!”
”Roger!” The pilot replied. ”All Stations, Six Two, we have confirmed survivors at the crash site, over.”
”Put us down,” Corporal Drake said. ”We hold the crash site till rescue comes!”
”Command, Six Two,” The pilot radioed back. ”Marines requesting permission to secure crash site till rescue arrives, over.”
”Comma-, -egative, area is too h-, -rovide aerial support. Rerout- Convoy to crash -ite.”