Into the Abyss

[mtjsmith]

Major Xu whisked past all the recruits as they were all checking their guns and looking blankly at their ammo. Grabbing the collar of the young Thomas Cruz, he dragged him up the stairs of the SoCred and into the cockpit. He threw him into the Co-Pilots seat.

"Sit down, shut up, touch only what I tell you to."

He noticed the hole in the dashboard where the warning lights should be.

"Did you do this!?"

Cruz, still clutching his shotgun and chest, shaked his head rapidly. Xu merely grunted and flicked the Engine starter switches.

"Finish start prep."

He moved out back and signalled the recruits inside the ageing gunboat. He noted there were still scorch marks on the inside of the cargo bay from the last time the ship had descended towards JiangXi. It had very nearly been blown apart. He moved back into the cockpit and took over the controls.

"Pull that level down kid. Gorodok, we have all the ducks aboard and are heading for the barrel. Clear us."
"You're cleared Social Credit. Good hunting."
"Pray for these geese in hunting season, oh and I mean you as well muppet. Pull that level there to engage the Cloak once we're in the atmosphere and push that button there to turn off all the sensor arrays. We don't have any computers on this thing save for the little chip in the sensor array. If it's off - We're unhackable."

He pushed the Storm down into the atmosphere, something didn't feel quite right with the ship. The controls felt shaky and sluggish. Xu kept it in check and pointed at the Cloak lever. Cruz obliged, and the oddly vibrating Social Credit arrived at the drop point. No incoming rocket fire, and his experienced eyes couldn't see any movement. They were well clear of the facility however.

"Go out back, I have it from here. Pasha, start throwing the ducks into the water."

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