Azimuth

I couldnt believe what i was seeing, Punisher rarely came to save the day, better yet, anyone else besides their own. I snapped my head towards Paul, who was sitting there behind the sandbag barricade grieving in pain. His good arm was wrapped around his wounded arm, with blood seaming out from between his fingers. I hear more helicopter rotors as i look towards the sound where it came from. I see two V-22 Ospreys land right in front of us with the smoothest rotation and landing procedure i've ever seen. Then I see the ramp open and guys are pouring out of it like ants on a disturbed anthill. these guys were dressed in Woodland digital camouflage uniforms with tan flak jackets and M16 rifles.

"Hey, the jarheads are here!" O'Hara yelled.

The term "Jarheads" is used to describe the Marines, it came from the shape of their helmets how they looked like jars. the Marines ran directly inside the building that Punisher went through, some went around them. there were about 30 Marines that came, more to come later, i'm sure. Where you saw one Marine, there were like, 500 more behind him, that's just how it goes.

"Hey, you guys got a nonstop flight to the Azimuth! get on before we leave without you!" one of the Marine Officers yelled while standing next to the fully dropped ramp of one of the Ospreys.

I saw SEALs left and right run and get on the Ospreys, while I went to get Paul on his feet, with the help of O'Hara, I heard the Osprey rotors getting louder and higher pitched, meaning they were about to take off. O'Hara and I waddled as fast as we could with Paul between us, as we climbed on the ramp and into the belly of the beast. SEALs crawled all over him as soon as he sat down in an attempt to patch him up, with some shouts of pain here and there.

Commander Benson came in over the troop net, he must have been on a different Osprey because i didnt see him on this one. "SEALs, your mission directive has been changed by order of Admiral Dawson. What you are about to board is one of the top classified military vehicles and you are not to speak of it to anyone outside of us. we will arrive on the USS Azimuth in 10 minutes. Im betting $5 that you guys have never seen anything like this before, and i will be expecting a $5 bill from each of you!"

I look at Paul on one of the Osprey seats, with SEAL corpsmen still all over him trying to fix up his wounds. He was still aching in pain, with some whimpers and grunts here and there. I felt bad for him.

O’Hara came in and talked with me, “yo, are you doing the Chief test next week?”

“Chief test?” I reply.

“Yeah man, theres some guys who signed up for a Chief test to try and make CPO, its supposed to be happening next week on board either the Azimuth or the Independence. Youre First Class, so you should be able to sign up for the Chief test.”

Its true what he said. only First Class Petty Officers could go for the Chief test, which was a long period of PT and academics for the poor souls that sign up. if the PO1s pass, they become CPOs, or Chief Petty Officers, E-7 in the US Navy or the US Coast Guard. Its a huge leap in leadership to make Chief. For instance, a Chief will salute an Officer, but an Officer will do anything a Chief says. why? because Chiefs have probably the most leadership out of most sailors in the Navy next to Senior Chiefs and Master Chiefs, and anything above Lieutenant.

“Im not sure, yet. I might. Whats the new mission directive supposed to be?” i ask.

“well, they told the top brass that we SEALs are breaking up in teams of 2 to do some recon for a few days. They plan on pairing up one enlisted with one Officer to expand the field of expertise, or some s**t like that.” O’Hara replied. “How exactly we’re getting to IP is beyond me.”

I guess I can work with that. Details hidden from us enlisted guys isnt anything new. I felt the Osprey climb a little as we make out way further into the sky, with the engines going as next to full blast...although it was pretty quiet in the belly of the bird. I heard Commander Benson say some time later that we were close to the Azimuth. I began taking out $5 from my wallet. I look out the window to see this f*****g MASSIVE airship that looked a lot like an aircraft carrier...but there were no underwater engines or turbines that I could see. Four tremendous nuclear jet engines on either side of the ship were keeping this thing in the air, and there were two smaller engines on the back of it to allow it to move forward. I didnt see the belly of the ship, probably because of the mirror glass emplacements on the belly to keep people from seeing it from the ground. we must have been 25,000 AGL. The ship was escorted by a squadron of 6 escort fighters, F-35s in VTOL mode, 3 on each side. This airship made a carrier look small. I felt the Osprey rotate a little as we beign to land in the docking port. Once we landed after we felt the signature ‘thud’, the ramp was thrown open and we walked right out. Personnel from all branches of service, more Marine Corps than anyone it looked like, were scurrying around the place. I saw military scientists in a few computer and experimentation labs.

an Air Force officer confronted us, in full Dress Blues, and this dude was STACKED with ribbons. “Welcome to the USS Azimuth. You guys must be the SEALs we were expecting. Lieutenant Commander Harrison is on board, he will brief you on the mission beginning at 2300 hours.”

I looked at his rank. Major General. He wasnt as muscular as the one Air Force Colonel or Captain Flint. He looked a little built, but not sleeve-ripping built. the other Osprey came in and the ramp also opened. the other SEALs were practically pushed out by Commander Benson. I looked over toward Paul, no longer being tackled by SEAL corpsmen, but with a tight wrap around his injured arm, blood stains all over the one side of his uniform. Everyone was in their Crye Precision combat uniforms as coming from Ramstein. The floor was slick, clean as a whistle, and practically a mirror. no single germ could enter this ship without being filtered like 80 times. We heard constant clacking of Military dress shoes and boots through every inch of this place. the highest grade in classified technology, everywhere. Comm systems, computers, radar networks, WiFi, weapons, defense systems, everything that could be made out of a Sci-Fi war movie was sitting right in front of me, it was the most beautiful thing ive ever seen.

the Air Force General directed us to one of the briefing rooms. there were name tapes stuck on each sign of the room, we must have separate briefing rooms. My room read “PO1 Locke, LTJG O’Hara”. I wonder how i knew we were being paired up for the mission. O’Hara and i walked in the room, with Captain Flint there, waiting for us to start paying attention.

“Good afternoon, Gentlemen. As you can see, it is no longer raining cats and dogs like it was is Germany.” Captain Flint began.

O’Hara tried to tell him what happened. “Sir, there were compli-”

“SHUT UP.” Captain Flint yelled in response. I saw O’Hara flinch out of the corner of my eye.

“NOW...I know that you boys know why you’re here. It is now 2100 hours. we have two hours to get ready and drop. I know we’ve been pounding you guys with missions without training recently, but its not just you guys, its everybody. This is just recon, so its not that hard. now listen.” Captain Flint finishes.

He turns on a digital mapping device of the area we’re operating in. this has a holographic design of the terrain and landmarks, everything we need to do and where we need to go marked in red. The device was about 4 feet tall, and had a flat surface on the top. there is one holographic projector for each of the smaller squares on the top surface. because the whole thing itself was too big for one projector, there were multiple projectors responsible for projecting the images for their respective square. they were encased in a layer of glass...I wonder why. All of the projectors were activated except one. Captain flint tapped it twice, soflty, to try and get it to work, but to no avail. Then he takes his God Hand and creates a fist the size of a boulder and slams it on the glass where the projector didnt work. The image then presented itself immediately after. now I know why the glass was there, im surprised it didnt crack.

“O’Hara, you and Locksmith are to set up in this area…” he circles a small area on the lowest part of the terrain in red, indicating where we will be sent in. “...where you’ll hump your packs some distance to do some recon on the enemy base we were SUPPOSED to attack...but because of some massive troop numbers in and out of the building, command decided to do recon instead. you two are the only ones doing recon on the base, the others are doing other things. Bring long range weapons, binoculars, nods, and everything else youll need for recon. Everything you see you report back to Linebacker Actual, which will be Commander Harrison in the command post on this ship. you guys need to set up now, because youre leaving in two hours. Because theres no cargo bay for us to jump out of, youll use the landing dock where you guys came in. an Air Force jumpmaster will be there with you two, the other teams will be jumping out at later times after you. understood?

"Yes sir. Now get the f**k out of my room, understood sir." O'Hara predicted, as he turned to the door and began walking out of the room. He wasnt gonna make it very far.

"NOT, so fast, Lieutenant." Captain Flint commanded. O'Hara rushed back to his spot.

"I want you two to know that you guys are the lifeline of this recon operation. without anything from you two we cant do anything in defense of Baas's men. Each recon team will have QRF standing by 10 minutes away, ready to go and get you guys out if you need it. each of you will take two packs with you, your main pack and your reserve pack. your reserve pack will contain a s**t ton of MREs, survival equipment, and some extra mags in case you really need them. other than that you two will be on your own. is THAT clear?" Captain Flint briefed.

"Yes sir." we both replied.

"good. NOW you may direct yourselves the f**k out of my room." Captain Flint commanded.

good lord, this guy is awesome.

"Yes sir" we both replied...again. we saluted and made our way out to the armory, where we picked up our weapons and loaded up for the mission ahead of us.

I always liked recon. I totally over-prepare every time I do it. I take like 3 more mags than i normally do, an extra pack of batteries for my nods and optics, everything that a SEAL brought with him during an op in iraq or something i brought double of for recon. I know i don't use everything i bought with me, but its better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it. I just hope s**t doesnt hit the fan on this one...we have nobody else to help for miles...even the QRF might be too late for us...we'll just have to play it out and wait.