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During my time with Odin, I always hated jumping out of airplanes. I had never even been skydiving before meeting Kruger and his team, but it seemed like every mission involved some form of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, so they taught me how to do it safely.
Luckily, we weren’t doing a HALO jump or anything complex for this mission. It was just a simple jump from ten thousand feet, parachuting right to the rooftop underneath the rotating VIP lounge and observation deck on the top floor.
Tanner had been given a crash course in how to use the surveillance equipment of the aircraft and would be on comms with Coolio to help give us threat awareness until we were safely on the rooftop. She had also coordinated with the FAA to give the aircraft priority access as a law enforcement mission through the Temporary Flight Restriction that had been placed over the city.
Tuna checked my gear one last time as I waited behind the other three near the modified jump door. They had fitted me with spare gear they brought with them on missions. It was mostly the same gear I had used with Odin. It just wasn’t custom fit and was either tight in some places or a little loose in others.
The latest addition to the gear actually seemed like a huge improvement. The traditional panoramic four-tube night vision goggles had been replaced by a headset that almost looked like a virtual reality system. Tuna explained that it was a head-up display called the Integrated Visual Augmentation system – a mixed reality headset that combined simulated imagery from sensors on the suit with the real world. It provided color night vision, infrared, and thermal imagery. I had never felt so much like the Predator in my life.
The best part about it was that it was lighter than the old quad-tube system. I didn’t feel like I had to keep adjusting my lightweight ballistic helmet to keep it in place. I had no idea who Tuna was working for now or if he had just gone his own way and started his own team, but they were definitely on the cutting edge of technology.
“If the display in the helmet fails, switch to the one on your wrist immediately. Don’t fuck around trying to get it working. Got it?” Tuna warned as Paco jumped and was followed immediately by Casper.
“Got it,” I said.
“Good,” Tuna said and then pointed to the door. “You’re up.”
I tucked in close behind Butch as he moved up to the door. The aircraft had a modified baggage door that was certified for jump operations. We were technically in the baggage compartment as we duck-walked to the door.
I checked Butch’s chute, tapped him on the shoulder and gave him a thumbs up. He nodded and then exited the aircraft. I followed, pausing at the door to reconsider my life choices before jumping out into the darkness.
It took me a second to get my bearings as I stabilized into a freefall position. The city was mostly dark, with glowing fires on the streets throughout. My HUD displayed a green X over the Hyatt, which was one of few buildings with lights on it. Even the Superdome was completely dark. If the insurgents were going to take it over, they would have to figure out how to get the backup generator online or convince the city to restore power.
The altimeter in my display worked flawlessly. We had jumped from just over 12,000 feet and it gave me a countdown as I approached opening altitude. When the timer reached zero at three thousand feet, I pulled the ripcord and the chute opened without incident.
I switched on the color night vision feature of the visor. It took a second for my eyes to adjust, but it was almost like turning night into day. I was amazed at how clear the overlay was. Whoever had developed it had done an amazing job.
I looked up and verified my chute was in working order and then focused on gliding toward the landing zone. The HUD made it easy, giving me steering commands to account for wind drift as I approached the x-shaped roof. I could see the others already on the roof and rolling up their chutes.
“Drone is airborne,” I heard Paco say as I started my flare over the roof. He had brought a backpack drone which would help us more precisely maintain situational awareness once inside the building since its thermal imaging would be much closer than the jet orbiting overhead.
I landed successfully despite how long it had been since I had last jumped and went to work securing my chute. Tuna landed right after me and did the same. We were met by Butch and headed toward the stairwell while Paco and Casper went to the northwest corner of the roof to take down the generator.
I readied my suppressed HK 416 and followed Tuna to the northeast corner of the roof. There was a ten-foot drop from where we landed near the observation deck to the roof of the northeast wing of the building. As I waited for Tuna to descend the ladder, I stopped and looked out onto the city.
It was worse than I had seen while at the hospital. It didn’t just look like a war zone – it was a war zone. It looked more like what I had seen in Syria than a city in the United States. Burning cars lined the streets. I saw people in masks roaming the streets carrying rifles on the street directly below us. And off in the distance, I could see blue lights indicating the border of the newly acquired sovereign territory. The city I had grown up loving had fallen.
I followed Tuna down the ladder, and we headed for the stairwell. I tried to shake off my awe at the carnage down below. I needed to focus on the mission at hand to ensure Jenny and Hyatt made it out of the war zone safely. What happened to the city wasn’t my problem.
We stacked up on the door with Butch taking the role of breacher and me bringing up the rear. Switching to thermal, I scanned the rooftop to ensure there were no tangos we had missed in our surveillance.
“Drone feed is up. I’ve got eyes on Dorothy and Toto,” Paco announced over our radios.
I looked at the display on my left forearm and switched it to the drone feed. Thermal imagery showed four people in the room – two sitting and two standing. As Paco switched from thermal to electro-optical, I could clearly see Jenny sitting in the chair, but Hyatt’s back was turned away from the window.
“Midnight,” Tuna replied, instructing Paco and Casper to kill the generator.
“3...2...1,” Paco called over comms. “Light’s out. Go!”
Butch pulled open the door and Tuna entered with his rifle up and ready. I followed close behind him and continued down the stairs as he peeled off right to cover down the stairwell. We used bounding movements as we descended the two floors to the level where Hyatt and Jenny were being held.
I opened the door as we reached the floor and Tuna entered followed by Butch. We moved quickly and quietly in a single file, scanning for threats as we made our way to the suite. Stopping at the corner of the hallway, Tuna directed me to continue.
I sliced the pie, arcing out into the next corridor to our right as I quickly and methodically looked for threats. The idea behind the movement was to allow me to see them around the corner before they would see me.
The hotel was setup as an atrium, with glass elevators at the center and rooms wrapping around the hollow center. The restaurant below was empty since the hotel had been evacuated a few days earlier. I could hear laughter echoing in the distance.
Across the atrium, I saw a man carrying a rifle with a weapon light. He was shining it away from me as he walked toward the elevators. I aimed my rifle at his head. The heads up display calculated the impact using a sensor from the rifle. Just to be safe, I used the traditional ACOG to line up my sights, noting that they matched as I squeezed the trigger.
The suppressed round hit the target, causing the man to crumple to the ground as I continued forward followed by Tuna and Butch. A diamond on my HUD indicated that the target room was just a few doors down to my right.
“Approaching the objective,” Tuna announced over our radios.
“Delta Two in position,” Paco replied. “Two tangos inside. Still no sign of Boss Hog.”
I peeked at the display on my wrist as I took the far side of the door. Tuna and Butch lined up on the opposite side as we prepared to enter. The drone footage showed the two men walking around the suite, apparently confused by the loss of power. I could hear them talking to each other on the other side of the door, but couldn’t make out what they were saying.
Tuna looked at me, and I gave him a thumbs up. He placed a device against the RFID reader on the door and the lock clicked open.
“Execute,” he said over the radio.
I heard glass shattering as Tuna did a silent countdown with his hand to me. As he dropped his last finger, he opened the door and I bolted in the room, hooking left with my rifle up.
Paco and Casper had entered through the window, taking out the two armed guards on Tuna’s command. We cleared the room with Tuna while Butch stayed in the hallway watching for more hostiles to show up.
As soon as we finished clearing the suite, I ran straight to Jenny and Hyatt. They had taken cover on the floor when the windows shattered and were still face down with their hands zip-tied behind their backs.
“It’s me, sweetie,” I said as I helped her up and cut her restraints.
“Troy?” she said, struggling to recognize me with all of my gear on. I pulled off the helmet and visor so she could see my face. “Oh, thank God you’re okay!”
“Are you okay?” I asked, moving her hair from her face as I tried to get a good look at her in the dark room.
“I’m fine,” she said. “But, Troy...”
“Hyatt, what about you?” I asked as Tuna helped him up. “You okay, buddy?”
“I’m good. We’ve got a problem,” Hyatt said.
“Where’s Houston?” I asked.
“Troy!” Jenny snapped, trying to get my attention.
“What is it, babe?”
“They’re going to kill Aaliyah Jackson,” she said. “You have to stop them!”
“What? Who is that?” I asked.
“That’s the leader of the peaceful protestors in the French Quarter,” Tanner chimed in over comms.
“That must be the next phase of their plan,” Tuna said.
“That’s not our problem right now,” I said. “We need to get you two out of this city.”
“Do you know where Houston is?” Tuna asked.
“He said he’d be back soon. Didn’t say what his plans were,” Hyatt answered.
“Troy, you can’t let them kill that woman,” Jenny insisted. “They want to make New Orleans a war zone.”
“It already is,” I said. “The whole city is burning. I can’t save anyone but you right now.”
“Troy!” she protested.
“We can talk about it when we’re out of here,” I said as I put my helmet back on and looked to Tuna. “Ready when you are, boss.”