Military Operation

I am standing on board what appears to be an Aircraft Carrier. I can't be sure because I am on the inside. I think I am a visitor or something. Sort of like a spend a day in the life of the military or something. Anyway, the Admiral has assigned me to a mission. The mission involves flying a light aircraft over Russian area and deploying two unmanned aircraft (one is a little prop plane and the other is a helicopter). The deployment will take place through a trapdoor in the airplane and I am the one in charge of this. We are gearing up for the operation and among my gear is a machine gun, a pistol, and water flippers. I question the last item because I have no intention of doing any swimming during this mission. The Admiral assures me it is merely a precaution since the deployment will be taking place over a river. So the mission is simple: fly into Russian airspace, deploy two unmanned aircraft, and fly back to base.

When I get aboard the airplane, I feel a bit uneasy. Only the cockpit is enclosed and the remainder of the plane is outside (with railings). The trapdoor part is outside. When they said light aircraft they weren't kidding. There are two others with me on the mission: the pilot and what I can only assume is a navigator. The navigator explains to me how I deploy the unmanned aircrafts. The prop plane has a handle that is depressed and pulled which starts the aircraft. Once it has started I simply drop the plane through the trapdoor. The helicopter is a bit more complex. It requires me self-starting the blades by spinning them at a specific rate (three revolutions per second if I recall correctly). Now that I am fully briefed on the operation we begin the takeoff sequence.

The flight is very windy as one would expect. I try to spend most of the time in the enclosed cockpit. Soon we arrive over the target zone. I am busy prepping the unmanned aircraft when trouble come from the cockpit. Aparently one of the engines is having trouble and there is no way we'll be able to make it back without crashing. The pilot and navigator decide we need to ditch the plane in the water and abandon the aircraft. I'm hardly prepared to deal with this situation, but there is no other option. The pilot lands the plane in the water and we swim to the shore. So there we are in enemy territory. It doesn't take long for the Russians to locate us. A Russian helicopter emerges from behind some mountains and starts surveying the area. The navigator and I duck close to some rocks and hope we will go undetected. While we're down there we discuss the plan of action. His suggestion is that we split up and head north about 80 miles to the border of Peru (we apparently are in South America, not Russia). Once we hit the neutral nation of Peru we will be safe. I'm not very happy to be going it alone, but I agree.

The helicopter has turned our way and we make a dash for it. I turn towards the river and head back over to where our plane went down. Next to the downed plane is a small sailboat meant for a single occuant. I climb in the boat and start sailing down the river. My recollection of the geography during the briefing is that this river moves north and should take me where I need to go. There is a blanket on the boat and I use it to cover up, fearing that peole will see my machine gun and the American flag logo on my fatigues. I sail pretty quickly down the river and things seem to be going well. After awhile I see a Russian attack boat ahead. I'm very nervous about passing by them and with good reason. They detect that I don't belong there and uncover my machine gun. I try to fire at them but my machine gun doesn't respond. Of course...I had neglected to take off the safety. I am taken to a secret prison where I get put in a rather small cell. The leader of the Russian prison informs me that I will tell him about my mission. I do not divulge anything and he closes me up into a smaller section of the cell. Then he opens a skylight and asks how well I do in intense heat. I'm feeling rather claustrophobic in the cell, but I don't lead on about it. The last thing I need is him exploiting my fear further. As I lay there I remember that I have my cell phone with me. I suspect there will be no signal because they couldn't be that stupid to leave me with a means of communication. What luck though! A signal! I send a text message to Lo Li telling her of my plight and to let the military know what has happened. The text message goes through. Somehow I am able to escape the cell...through the skylight perhaps? I retrieve my machine gun and pistol and exit the prison. To my dismay the prison is very close to my original crash site. I decide this time I will stick to the land. According to some source, I'm not sure what, I find out that there are only 23 Russian police guarding the terrain between my current location and the border. I figure my odds are decent to avoid them.

Meanwhile, my message to Lo Li was received and my family arrives at the Aircraft Carrier to find out what's become of me. The other two members of the crew had managed to make it to the safe zone and were being debriefed on the carrier. The last message received by Lo Li had indicated that I was being held prisoner. Both the pilot and navigator were interested in going in to retrieve me. Of course, such an operation would be difficult.

I found a northern facing road and began to travel down it. I was careful to avoid actually walking on the road for fear of running into a roadblock, so I travelled off to the right of the road. After awhile I encountered some people. I took cover and looked to see who they were. One of them was a Russian police officer. I switched off the safety on my machine gun and attempted to carefully sneak by. Unfortunately I was spotted. I took aim and fired my machine gun at the officer. He was still a decent distance away so it took quite a few shots to adequately compensate for the wind and gravity. Unfortunately that meant the expentiture of my entire clip. I threw down my machine gun and pulled out my handgun, removing the safety as I did so. The fact that I was fairly low on ammo made me push forward with greater speed and urgency. I needed to make it to the border quickly. Two more Russian police officers began pursuit. I hoped to outrun them and avoid a confrontation, but that soon seemed unlikely. As I went up some stairs I decided this vantage would be a prime spot for an ambush. I aimed my gun and began to fire rounds into the pursuing officers. I hit my marks and was once again free to push forward. I believe in the end I was successful in making it to the Peruvian border. I recall messaging Lo Li with an update as to my progress.