Chapter 8: Heavy Metal

[Read Chapter 7: The 4th of July Offensive]


I asked for another mission ... and for my sins ... they gave me one. OPOY's sister unit "Heavy Metal" is in short supply of transportation, we have only 4 deuces. 2 more deuces have been requisitioned and are currently located at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS). The Deuces must be located, prepped for the arduous journey, and brought to "Camp Cosmic" (Heavy Metal HQ). The retrieval crew has been selected. Face Man, Bigg, El Fab, and I have passed the necessary background check for entry onto the base. As with many urgent missions, this one is hastily planned, we expect a difficult excursion. Adapt, overcome, and improvise are basic tenets of our philosophy, so we are confident that we will succeed, but we wonder what problems we will face on this trek.
CCAFS is located on the other coast, an approximately 3 hour trip by over land routes. Unfortunately our air support element, commanded by ***(for opsec reasons will only be identified by code name)*** "J.L.", will be unavailable as they are on another mission. We will have to make the drive in the stealth F-250.
Zero dark thirty... Face man, Bigg and I are ready to embark, we will be joined enroute by El Fab . The breakfast prepared by the indomitable Mrs. America will sustain us for the early morning ride.
We proceed on our planned route which takes us through dangerous territory... downtown Tampa. If we are not careful we could be trapped in the snarl of local commuters, or worse, our vehicle could be destroyed by one of the many citizens of this county who have not yet mastered the art of merging.
Contact with El Fab has been made. The rendezvous must be abandoned, as he is trapped behind the lines and is pinned down by enemy fire from Building inspectors. Our first setback. The situation is assessed and it is determined that we can still pull off the mission with only 3 team members, but this leaves us without backup. We continue the mission.

[Read Chapter 9: Badges... We Don't Need No Stinking Badges.]