“Roger that, Zero-Six. Appreciate the escort; be advised I’m in the second vehicle; Jericho 08 is in the last vehicle operating as the rear JTAC.”
“Chaos, Jericho Zero-Three; not sure if you heard, we have a squadron of Hawgs with us; call sign Sun Devil. They are on station and have us in sight. Sun Devil Zero-Six will be working as our FAC(A).”
“Roger that, Zero-Three. Hawkeye just showed up so let’s get going.”
“Sun Devil Zero-Six, Jericho Zero-Three; we’re heading out. Let us know how the traffic looks along the way. Tehran is notorious for traffic — the last thing we need is to get stuck in a traffic jam. We are in the Supreme Leader’s motorcade so that will help clear the way to some extent but nothing was done to clear the way ahead of time. We are at the tail end of their rush hour so I’m expecting we could get some congestion somewhere — even without the IRGC giving chase.”
“Jericho Zero-Three, always wanted to be a traffic reporter once I leave the Air Force — we’ll give you an up to the minute report on any traffic accidents we happen to see.”
“Copy that, Zero-Six. And, if we happen to see any missile batteries or man-pads, we’ll be sure and let you know,” replied Zero-Three.
“You do that, Zero-Three. A simple man-pad could really ruin our day out here. You are aware that your route is taking us directly past the Doshan Tappeh Air Base, right? We’ve eliminated their Fighter threat but the AAA threat remains.”
“Wasn’t responsible for putting this route together Zero-Six, but if we see anything, we’ll be on it and let you know.”
“Sun Devil Zero-Six, Jericho Zero-Eight; we have several vehicles coming up behind us very fast. We’re going to need them taken out right away. They are way too close for missiles; I sure hope you guys have a full load of thirty mike-mike.”
“Roger that, Zero-Eight; we’re fully loaded. We’ll be coming from directly ahead of you; keep your heads down, guys.”
Not ten seconds later, a sound similar to a very loud zipper erupted over the small motorcade followed by four IRGC cars, which had been chasing the motor cade, being completely shredded by the impact of a couple hundred rounds of 30mm shells. The one unique feature of the A-10 Warthog — Hawg, for short — is its 30mm Gatling gun. The A-10 had been designed specifically for close air support: the pilot actually sits in what amounts to a bullet-proof titanium bathtub while the entire aircraft has been built around the Gatling gun. The aircraft also has a dozen fixed hard-points under its wings to carry all sorts of CAS munitions. Its original intent had been to take out Soviet tanks rumbling through the Fulda Gap in Germany, and its gun could literally rip a Soviet tank to shreds. The demise of the old Soviet Union did nothing to eliminate the effectiveness of the Warthog: it remains the preeminent fixed wing close air support aircraft — and Jackson and his Jericho team had a dozen of these planes escorting them through Tehran and out to the Bat Cave.
“Nice work on those IRGC guys, Zero-Six; they’re completely shredded.”
“Chaos, Jericho Zero-Eight; I think word has gotten out that we either don’t have their Supreme Leader with us or that we’ve taken him out. The intensity has really picked up. We’re starting to get direct fire of all types — the RPG’s are as thick as hail — and they don’t seem to be too worried about our passengers.”
“Zero-Eight, Chaos; yeah, I noticed that, too. The RPG fire hasn’t been too accurate but it’s only going to take one hit to ruin this parade. Keep that CAS coming; that’s about the only way we’re going to get out of here.”
“Roger that, Chaos.”
“Sun Devil Zero-Six, Jericho Zero-Three; we are approaching an overpass at Masil-e-Bakhtr and it looks as though the IRGC has a welcoming party there for us; going to need some help here.”
“Roger that, Zero-Three; we’re on it. Approaching from directly behind you; keep your heads down.”
Once again, a loud zipper-like noise erupted directly over the motorcade; this was followed by another Hawg flying perpendicular to the motorcade and directly on top of the overpass. Again, the pilot unleashed his 30mm gun on the blocking party on the overpass — absolutely nothing was left on the overpass.
“Nice work, Zero-Six! That was awesome!”
“Roger that, Zero-Three. It looks like we’re going to be busy the rest of the way. Each overpass looks as though they mean to stop you; and I suppose with good reason. We’re seeing more and more troops gathering to try and stop you guys at each overpass.”
“Roger that, just make sure you don’t actually knock any of these bridges down; the last thing we need is a complete roadblock from a dropped bridge!”
“We’ll try and keep them up for you, Zero-Three.”
For the next fifteen minutes, the two Special Forces communications sergeants, working as the JTACs for the motorcade, and Sun Devil Zero-Six, working as the FAC(A) operated in perfect harmony as any of the best philharmonic orchestras could perform. However, as they made the turn onto the Azadegan Expressway, Jericho Zero-Eight watched in horror as one of the Hawgs picked up a heat seeking missile from a man-pad after a strafing run. The shooter had been hiding under the overpass and had been completely missed as the motorcade had completely bypassed the bridge.
“Chaos, Jericho Zero-Eight; Hawg down! Repeat, we have a Warthog down!”
“Zero-Eight, was the pilot able to bailout?”
“Roger that; we can see the parachute. He’s drifting away just to the south of us.”
“Zero-Eight, take Hawkeye with you and get that pilot,” Jackson immediately ordered.
“Sun Devil Zero-Six, Chaos Actual; Jericho Zero-Eight and Hawkeye are en route to the crash site to rescue the pilot. They have priority. We can hold our own for a few minutes.”
“Roger that Chaos. We should be able to cover both of you. We have some fast movers on standby just in case. You’re not alone, Chaos.”
“08, how soon before you can get to the pilot?”
“Chaos, looks like he’s drifting down into some type of park or sports complex. We should be there in a couple minutes.”
“Jericho Zero-Eight, Sun Devil Zero-Six; our pilot is in that complex. There’s a small man-made lake and opposite that, about half a mile to the east, is a soccer field; our pilot is right about in the middle of the two.”
“Roger that, Zero-Six; we can see the parachute blowing in the wind. We’ll be there in a few.”
“Jericho Zero-Three, Chaos; I’m sure you heard — we have a Hawg down and I’ve split the team, sending Hawkeye and Jericho Zero-Eight to retrieve the pilot. We’ll be waiting for them to get back here and join up with us. In the meantime, we’re sitting ducks. Keep that CAS coming as that’s our only saving grace.”
“Roger that, Chaos. I just heard from Sun Devil Zero-Six, the Apaches just showed up and are on station, we have six of them and they’re loaded for bear!”
“Awesome! Send one of them with Zero-Eight for any support they might need.”
“Roger that, Chaos.”
“Archangel, Chaos; we have a Hawg down. I’ve split up my team — I’ve got a small unit going to rescue the pilot while we wait at an under pass for them to return with the pilot. The FAC(A) saw the pilot go down and is guiding my team to where he saw the pilot land.”
“Roger that, Chaos. Let us know if you need any further support.”
“Roger that. The Apaches just showed up so they should take care of any immediate threat we have.”
“Hey guys, grab your rifles,” Zivah said to Jonah and Luna. “Looks like our pilot already has a welcoming party; going to need to break that up.”