Eagle flight down - TAG Ace

Alice looked back at the man facing figuring he'd been dragged out of bed too. The meeting room had been set up with a laptop, a pair of paper maps, her radio handset and the pot of coffee and plate of croissants at the other end of the table. Time was of the essence so they might not even have the chance to do a first light search.

She started by introducing herself. She would be professional if nothing else. "Lets start by introducing myself. I am Alice Seraphim of the search and rescue team. What I do know for sure isn't much to start with". She pointed out a location on the general isle map which was on the north east edge and jutted out into the sea like a finger of land. "The airport picked up a radar signal and a distress signal after they lost the radar blip. This was at 0100 hours. The general area is known as Blackrock Cove and the flight might have even ditched at sea. If it landed the potential search area could be wider. The priority is to find them hopefully alive" she added moving to the more detailed map. That showed the cove and it surounding geography including the coast line.

"Its more of a treking path than a beach area" she enlightened. "Do you know many crew and possible passengers were on the flight?" she then enquired. There were further questions to ask but an idea of numbers would help for now.

Ace Nottingham

So that was one question answered which led to another one. "Ace, I've told you all I know. Perhaps there was an OSE vessel which picked up more information than the airport did? I know about helicopters as I grew up on a US army base. The national guard air cavalry unit which was based there told me a few things over the years. They were told if they went down to stay with the chopper as long as they could. They were sometimes also told when somewhere was considered hostile territory. So do you know what they would have been told? I don't want to be shot at while we're doing this".

She considered the possibility that an island resident had brought the chopper down given Ace's vague statement but it would have to remain a theory. Mechanical failure was possible but still also a theory. They needed hard facts since speculation was like throwing gas on the fire. It would only make things worse. 

"A cause won't be known without a flight recorder. So given facts are sparse you'll have to ask the pilot that. Which leads to another question? Do they have a portable radio set as part of their survival gear?"

Alice didn't like the possibility of nine armed soldiers thinking they were going to have to fight their way out. That would affect anybody living in or around that general area too.

Ace Nottingham

Now what the fuck has just happened. They'd been in a meeting room looking over maps and now they were somewhere else. Alice wasn't going to freak out over it but given how weird the island was there had to be an answer somewhere.

She now knew a bit more about the rescue and not having to bring them in alive sounded ominous. Didn't the OSE care about their people? Judging what Ace said you didn't ask too many questions.

They were now at a crash scene and looking for the flight recorder but it didn't make sense and Ace was being a doucebag. Something she didn't stand for no matter the persons reasons or bad habits.

She looked back at him and firmly said "I didn't get a chance to grab anything. Not even my service pistol so I don't want to be shot either. Nor should you and stop being a fucking asshole". She joined him looking for something resembling the black box but had no tools to dig with. So used natures own tools and used her hands. It was softish sand which made it a bit easier.

She could see a downed crew member but others moving round them as well. With nothing but the suit on her back this was totally unexpected and very weird. Something did catch her attention as she dug. It looked out of place for starters.

The broken of tail of the Huey wasn't grounded. It was also upside down and it clearly wasn't right. Just floating above the sand. She pointed this out to Ace.

Ace Nottingham

Now they did seem to be back on track despite the weirdness of what was going on. She had different priorities to Ace as the medical kit from the crashed chopper caught her eye despite the darkness still round them. At least they could kind of still work together. "Yes its weird and that goes with the territory round here. I'll get the med kit and check on the wounded for starters. I can see one already and if you can find the pilot it'll be quicker than digging. They're the one person who can tell you what happened" she replied in a calmer voice now the tension was broken. So off she went thankful for wearing flat shoes tonight dashing towards the med kit. Time was off the essence as while the craft was on fire it hadn't blown up yet.

As she'd nothing herself just like Ace she'd have to depend on her mind, courage and abilities. She didn't even have a phone with her. She could still see the rest of the soldiers in the distance as dark outlines and so far nobody was being trigger happy in this chaos.

Reaching the man who was truely down she checked his pulse with a practiced skill. It came naturally but this was the first time using her first aid in the field. She still knew the tone of command that the army nurses used back in Jacksonville and hopefully this would help here and get them help in return. If the soldiers couldn't pull themselves together not many of them might make it out of here alive.

"I'm with the search and rescue people" she said to the closest soldier. He'd lost his helmet for starters and looked shook up. Then added "tell the others to get far away from the chopper. I don't know when its going to blow". She couldn't leave the wounded man who needed to be moved first and she then looked at his leg that looked badly broken and at a horrible angle. It looked like she'd have to get him out first and then deal with the leg. Something basic first aid hadn't covered.

Ace Nottingham

Alice did get to listen to what Ace had to say to her. "Yes we should but I think the tail of the helicopter is important; I have this gut feeling although I have no idea what is going on". Ace did end up joining her as the soldier she spoke to went back to his squad. Hopefully to get them out of the way before something really bad happened.

So with the first aid kit in their possession at least Alice agreed with Ace's plan. "We can leave him with the rest of the squad for now. I've never seen a leg as bad as that before. Perhaps one of them knows more first aid than I do. Either way he's going to need proper hospital treatment".

She got her arms under the mans upper body and felt his body lifting slightly already. "I'm ready when you are Ace" she confirmed. Flight would only hurt him more so they'd have to do this the old fashioned way. Then once the injured man was out of danger they just might be able to answer the other questions.

Like Ace she did wonder if her superiors would even believe her if she told her story. She still would if they got out of this situation. 

Ace Nottingham

Now they were moving away from the helicopter with the medical kit resting on the soldiers chest. Others would need it later on once they got him back to his comrades. Slow and steady won the race as they dropped him off at the feet of the guy with the sergeants stripes. "He's all yours sarge" she said then could turn her attention back to Ace. With her mind on the mission she was less likely to be annoyed.

"Thank you Ace but no harm was done. We got him back" she calmly replied looking back at him. Her way of accepting an apology. If the clouds would part they'd at least have more light to work with. So what else could they find. She looked as if she was concentrating as she tried to hurry a memory up; what did a typical soldier carry in with them along with a rifle and bayonet? She could't recall if a flashlight was part of that gear.

Two heads would be better than one. So she had a question to ask and also to reassure him. "Tell me about it. My boss won't believe me either but I might have an idea. Does anybody know the time right now? We know the time we had the meeting at before this weirdness started." She also addressed this to the sergeant she'd just spoken too as she didn't have a watch on. To figure this out they'd need all the information they could get which probally wouldn't be that much on scene. "Also does anybody have flashlights?" A guess on her part but she did have hope.

Ace Nottingham