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Fly Chapter 19

Chapter 19  I took the drone and pulled off the batteries. We started to hear a rumbling sound outside that quickly grew louder. The burly MRAP pulled up outside, there was a loud hiss of air as the brakes came on. The doors opened and the stairs lowered down. Hernandez and another soldier came down carrying the injured soldier in a stretcher. The second injured soldier came limping down the stairs and someone ran to help him. These guys were the only survivors of the mortar team. Hans started walking towards the lobby and I stopped him. If they need extra hands they’ll ask. Raines had a concerned look and observed, that’s not a good sign if they’re staging wounded here. We must be cut off from the FOB. Outside the powerful engine roared and the MRAP sped away, off to some other important mission. Hernadez stayed behind with the injured men and another one of the MRAP crew. Hans watched her pull off her helmet and tear open a package of gauze with her teeth as she worked side by si...
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Fly Chapter 18

Hans sat in a cushioned office chair and opened a water bottle. He took a sip and pulled out his phone. Nope, uh uh, I said, it’s not break time, put your phone away, there’s a lot of work to do and you can help. Hans had his phone in his hand as he said, I wasn’t on my phone. What can I do to help?  I said, grab that box of grenades. Hans bent his knees and lifted the heavy crate up by the handles. He set it on a small table and opened the top. Green grenades sat nestled inside like eggs in a carton. Cardboard dividers ran between the rows of explosives. I picked up a box that contained cylinders slightly larger than a double A battery. Each cylinder had two short strands of wires coming out of one end.  I pulled a grenade out of the crate and showed the bottom to Hans. It had a cylindrical hole in the center like an apple with the core cut out. I explained, the timed detonators have been removed from all these. You’re going to replace them with these electric ignition detona...
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Fly Chapter 17

I stood up from the chair and looked at my watch. Ok, that was a fun history lesson, but we’ve got work to do. Kurg and I are going out to retrieve that spotter drone that went down. Hans you can fly the recon sweep while we’re gone. I looked directly at him and made eye contact. You remember how to do that, right? He nodded.. I continued, here’s the coordinate list. I set the sheet of paper in front of him. You just fly over each location at a hundred meters, if you see something you can make a pin drop, but keep going. This is footage for command to analyze, not us, we just fly over, record what's down there and move on. A fresh battery should be plenty to get you down this list and home. This is easy, you can do it, we won’t be long. Do you have any questions? Hans said, no I think I can fly over a dozen locations and bring the drone back.  Ok, good. Kurg and I started gearing up, we put on our full armor and helmets. He put a fresh magazine into his M-7 and I checked that the s...
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Fly Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16 Hans launched the spotter drone while Kurgan watched and I flew it out to the minefield.  While I was en route a second motion sensor went off. The drone was flying along at top speed and closing on the objective when the signal started getting jammed. Horizontal lines appeared across the controller screen and the picture quickly got worse. I threw the drone into reverse and tried to pull away from the source of the interference, but it came on too quick. The signal flickered in and out then I lost all control and the visual feed cut out. Fucking assholes, I said in disbelief, that drone was brand new. I pinned the location on the map. Kurgan and I shared a brief moment of confusion. There’s no way they got a vehicle that close. The drone had been jammed less than a mile away from our location. Kurgan said, let’s try another, just keep your distance. He went to the back and pulled out another spotter drone and brought it outside to launch, once it was in the air, he and ...
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Fly Chapters 14 & 15

I hope you guys are enjoying the story, thanks for tuning in. I just finished the medical section of class and now we are starting to learn about trauma. EMT class is definitely a challenge, lots of studying and homework. It will be nice to finish in December, but until then here's more WWIII action. CHAPTER 14 Two hours later we had both drones in the air over a squad of enemy soldiers moving through a treeline. The wind had picked up and the drones were getting blown around with each gust. Hans was hunting for a way to attack through the trees while I watched from above. Kurgan sat next to me watching on the tablet trying to monitor the movements of each soldier as they appeared and disappeared under the heavy foliage. Each of us was focused on a task.  My hands were sore from running the controller non-stop, my back hurt from sitting on a wooden crate all day. I closed my eyes and then snapped them open trying to rally my energy. I swear to god,I said, I could actually save the ...
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Fly Chapters 12 & 13

Chapter 12 I selected our most powerful anti-tank drone, a custom heavy lift drone fitted with an anti-tank mine. Kurgan started to carry it outside then came rushing back into the bunker. Drone coming in! He yelled, Hans is that you? Hans looked up from the screen he was watching, yeah Kurgan, that’s me, I’ll land the spotter right outside. Kurgan turned back out the door again. I lifted my FPV goggles off the charger and sat at the station.  Flying the spotter drone was similar to driving a remote controlled toy. I was sitting at the station making the drone go places. I could use the camera on the drone to look at the scene below, but it always felt like a tool that I was using at a distance. Flying the FPV was an entirely different sensation. With FPV I truly felt like I was there, flying like a bird, or hovering inches away from an enemy soldier. If I tipped the drone to the side my view was as if I had tipped my head to the side. FPV’s could fly up to one hundred miles an hou...
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