Marvel Saiyans - Chapter 23
Outside of Mexico City, C-17 Globemaster III transport planes continuously landed under the guidance of the control tower at the military airfield. These massive aircraft, weighing over seventy tons, roared with their gas turbine engines as they disembarked at the airport.
The 1st Red Division, an elite unit of the U.S. Army, was equipped with the latest upgrade of the M1A2 tanks, the M1A2SEPV3, which featured new ammunition (M829A4 and programmable airburst rounds) produced by Stark Industries. These were updated ammo data links, new thermal imagers, and new remote weapon stations, each priced at twenty million dollars. Also present were M2A3 Bradley fighting vehicles, clad in reactive armor and manned by well-trained, fully armed infantry.
The assembled military might at the airfield alone was enough to sweep across all of Mexico. If not for the monstrous threat within Mexico City that seriously endangered the lives of Mexican leaders, they would never have asked their northern neighbors for help.
After a brief preparation period, the vanguard units set off towards Mexico City.
During the flight, all the soldiers were briefed on the enemy they would face inside Mexico City.
Brad Colbert, the sergeant of 2nd Platoon, 1st Squad, Reconnaissance Battalion, rode in the passenger seat of a Humvee, holding an M4A1 rifle. He was an experienced, sharpshooting, and taciturn non-commissioned officer.
“If you ask me, the commander has not only throat cancer, but his brain’s taken over by cancer cells too,” said Corporal Josh Pearson, the chatty driver. “He wants us driving these Humvees that a Green Demon’s destruct beam could easily obliterate into the city. Does he think the Department of Defense has too much condolence money?”
“Our weapons can’t even penetrate his skin!”
They had seen the footage of Broly’s fight with the Mexican Army and, based on Broly’s green energy, had nicknamed him Green Demon, a moniker that quickly spread throughout the division.
Private First Class Harold James spoke up mysteriously from the back seat.
“You know, I heard from Alpha Company’s Geller that Green Demon is a product of a secret military lab in Mexico City. He has a cousin who works in the military labs. They say the military captured many mutants to try and create the ultimate mutant weapon!”
Even Brad, who usually stayed out of the lower ranks’ gossip, found this topic interesting.
“If Green Demon is their creation, then the experiment succeeded. If they could mass-produce Green Demons, we wouldn’t be far from retirement.”
Josh looked disdainfully at his sergeant.
“That’s impossible. Stark Industries, the Pentagon, and our thirty-nine generals would never allow such a scenario. If fifty Green Demons were enlisted, it would maintain homeland security, but all those bureaucrats would have to retire, and Stark Industries, making our weapons, would go bankrupt. They wouldn’t let that happen. Aren’t we here to take out Green Demon?”
Josh Pearson’s rambling left everyone in the vehicle momentarily stunned.
Soon, the Reconnaissance Battalion reached the Mexican Army’s blockade. The atmosphere instantly grew tense. The Mexican soldiers, already scared out of their wits by Green Demon, hid behind cover, not daring to show their faces and looking at them as if they were seeing ghosts.
“These Mexicans have lost all their morale,” Brad remarked about his counterparts.
“If I had to face Green Demon in those post-World War II clunkers, I’d look just like that,” Josh said.
Before long, Bravo Company entered the area where the battle had occurred. The flames were still smoldering, and the air was thick with the acrid smell of tar. The atmosphere inside the Humvee grew heavy. Though outdated, the AMX-VCI armored personnel carriers still had a weight of several tons and a defensive capability not comparable to the lightweight military Humvees.
“Alpha and Charlie Companies organize defense on the spot. Bravo Company, move west to search. If you spot Green Demon, report it immediately. The brothers from the Attack Helicopter Battalion will come to support right away,” said Captain Fernando in a hoarse voice over the communication system, his voice strange due to throat cancer, sounding like a lizard suddenly learning to speak English.
“Mother Flerken!”
A burst of swearing erupted from Bravo Company, as the company commanders of Alpha and Charlie Company had strong connections at higher levels. So, the dirty and tiring tasks were permanently assigned to Bravo Company.
The military Humvees drove through the streets, navigating around large craters from bombings, some nearly two meters deep, that disrupted the entire roadway, forcing them to take detours.
As they cautiously searched, a Humvee swaggered over from the opposite direction, a rare sight in the current state of Mexico City.
Brad squinted his eyes, observing the surroundings, then quickly widened them alertly. Josh, the driver, instinctively stopped the vehicle, angling it slightly to block the incoming vehicle’s path. The leading vehicle stopped, and slowly, the rest of Bravo Company stopped.
“Which unit are you from?”
Brad asked, his finger on the trigger, ready to shoot. Although the approaching vehicle’s license plate and model were all normal, he felt it was necessary to question them.
“TACP, our transport plane had some issues during landing, so we’ve just arrived,” Matt said casually, pulling out a Common Access Card (CAC) from his wallet and handing it to Brad.
Brad took the access card and checked its photo. A CAC is equivalent to a U.S. military ID, embedded with a chip readable only by unique card readers. It displays the holder’s portrait, affiliated organization, birthday, blood type, and identifiers from the Department of Defense, making it highly secure against forgery.
TACP, short for Tactical Air Control Party, are Air Force forward air controllers who call in air support for ground units. To maintain the unity of the chain of command, they are typically managed centrally, deployed to battalions, and then distributed to various companies, making them unfamiliar with the members of the units they join.
Since Air Force forward air controllers belong to the Air Force but are integrated into ground units during combat, their position is one of the easiest to manipulate.
Brad glanced at the passengers inside the Humvee, handed back the access card to Matt, and then motioned with his finger for Josh to clear the way.
“Thanks for coming. Without air support, we wouldn’t dare to engage with the Green Demon.”
Broly overheard their conversation and guessed that the Green Demon must be himself. He hadn’t expected to steal Norman Osborn’s nickname inadvertently.
Matt started the vehicle and drove in the direction of the convoy. Seeing Brad’s decision to let them pass, the rest of Bravo Company didn’t trouble the car further.
The vehicle quickly disappeared from the rearview mirror.
The voice of Company Commander Nate came through the intercom.
“Brad, what’s the deal with that vehicle?”
Brad picked up the intercom and replied:
“TACP, they had some issues with their plane landing, Over.”
Josh started the car.
“Sarge, do you think they are TACP? Why would they be ahead of us?”
Brad shook his head.
“Mexico City is so big, and it’s normal for them to end up ahead of us if they took a different route.”
Suddenly, he had an intuition that this operation might end up being fruitless.
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