As promised, I’m sharing a chapter from the original version of Armored Piercing that I finished in early 2011. The draft I’m sharing is one that I wrote in 2014. This chapter focuses on the Siberia mission, which was inspired by the arctic section in Inception and the snowmobile segment in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. In the published version, the team conducts a stealth mission that goes wrong. In the original version, the team conducts a raid that starts in stealth but then becomes an all-out-assault. I edited this chapter a little bit but it’s not as polished as the published version. As you’ll see, this version of Armored Piercing is a lot more cheesy and over-the-top. Enjoy!
…
Snowy Mountains, Siberia
Day 104
1:06am
Sipho, Sevchenko, Petrenko, Gerald, Lancroft, and Mahdi regrouped at the tip of a hill. The heavy winds were blowing lots of snow around.
Sipho began to explain the plan. “Sev, Mahdi, and Lancroft take sniping positions here. Gerald, Petrenko, you’re with me for a while. The three of us will move in silently, and place charges at points A and B. Once the bombs are detonated, the three of us will split. I’ll take care of the patrol towers, Gerald will take out the AAA batteries and Petrenko will call in the napalm once the batteries are down.”
“We’re sniping the whole time?” asked Sevchenko.
“Yep, and keep your suppressors on at all times. I want to keep the element of surprise for as long as possible.”
“Roger that.”
“And what will the others be doing?” asked Lancroft.
“Macoy’s team is gonna set charges on C and D,” replied Sipho. “Soap will snipe until all points have been destroyed. Then he’ll help clear Sector C. Once we neutralize the factory, Jones will send in an extraction.”
“Why does Soap snipe for a while, then gets closer to the action, and I have to stay here the whole time?” complained Mahdi.
“Bit of a cry baby much?” teased Petrenko.
“Oh shut up, drunky!”
“Soap will get to move in because he’s special,” replied Sipho. “And you’re better at hitting long-range targets than anyone else I know. Plus, if you haven’t figured it out yet, from your position you can see everything. You’ll see any reinforcements before we do. Get it now?”
“He doesn’t,” teased Petrenko.
“Don’t trip over the snow down there, drunky,” replied Mahdi.
Sipho sighed. “Enough! Let’s get going.”
Sipho, Gerald, and Petrenko went down the hill.
“Make sure your guns have suppressors on them,” said Sipho.
A Russian trooper came out of the tower and Sipho knifed him. Gerald and Petrenko quickly went inside the room and shot all of the troopers.
“Clear,” said Gerald.
Sipho came in. “Good, plant the first charge.”
Petrenko planted C4 under a desk.
“Let’s go,” said Gerald.
They went upstairs to the second level. Five more troopers were on the level.
“Petrenko,” whispered Sipho.
Petrenko went ahead and spoke Russian to get the troopers’ attention. After five seconds, Gerald and Sipho moved in and shot the troopers.
“(Russian) Very good,” said Petrenko.
“(Russian) Thank you,” replied Sipho.
“Let’s plant the second charge and get outta here,” said Gerald.
Petrenko placed C4 on the wall.
“Let’s move,” said Sipho.
They crossed the bridge into the main building and went into the cafeteria. Twenty troopers were in the cafeteria. They went under a table.
“Ok Petrenko, do it,” ordered Sipho.
Petrenko pressed the detonator and there was an explosion. The patrol tower fell down. Sipho and Gerald got up from under the table and shot the troopers.
“Clear!” shouted Gerald.
“Ok, this is when we split. Good luck!” Sipho and Gerald ran off to their next objective.
“Well, I’ll just drink vodka while I wait,” said Petrenko.
…
Soap sniped a trooper. “It's clear.” Macoy’s team went inside a patrol tower. An enemy chopper passed by. “Macoy, speed this up. I think they sense something suspicious is going on.”
“Charges are set, get back!” radioed Macoy.
A squad of Russian troopers was going to Macoy’s position.
“Macoy, get out of there. An enemy squad is closing in on your position!”
The bottom of the patrol tower blew up and the tower fell onto the Russian squad.
“What squad?” radioed Macoy.
“Ok, I’m coming in!” said Soap.
…
“Triple A batteries are neutralized,” radioed Gerald.
“I still got one patrol tower to go!” replied Sipho. “Uh, screw it! Petrenko, call in that strike.”
“But you still got a tower to go. You might get barbequed!” radioed Petrenko.
“Just call it in before they hit the buzzer!”
“This is Hot Flare, napalm strike coming in hot!” A bomber passed by the factory and dropped napalm bombs. Fires burned almost everywhere and the winds calmed down.
“Ok guys, move in! Move in!” Sipho, Petrenko, and Gerald regrouped in the factory and met up with Macoy’s team. “OK guys, now the next part of the plan. We set five charges in the factory.”
“Then what?” asked Macoy.
“We escape and blow this place up,” replied Sipho.
“Guys, I see enemy reinforcements coming in,” radioed Mahdi.
Soap looked out of the window. “Yeah, they’re on snowmobiles.”
“We’ll call in another strike,” suggested Petrenko.
“No, I got a better idea,” said Sipho. “Soap and I will take care of them. I hope you learned how to use a snowmobile.”
“What?! It should be me and you, we’re best buddies!” protested Petrenko.
“Drinking and drinking and driving isn’t good for you. The rest of you stick to the plan.”
“Plan? This isn’t a plan! This is improvising. You made the plan as you went,” complained Macoy.
“I didn’t exactly have the time to form a plan before we got here. I was too busy getting the troops ready. Plus, Jones was all too glad to let me prepare everything while he sat on his ass. Now stop complaining and let’s get to it! Let’s go Soap.” Sipho and Soap went outside and went down the hill.
“Let’s move!” shouted Macoy.
They went into the factory. Tons of weapons were being produced simultaneously.
“Wow. This is like a chocolate factory for guns,” said Petrenko.
“Focus, we have an objective to do!” snapped Macoy. Troopers began to fire at them. All of Macoy’s soldiers got shot. Macoy, Gerald, and Petrenko took cover. “Damn it! They got my whole team!”
“We’ll mourn them later, but let’s get this objective done!”
Gerald shot two troopers. “I ain’t gonna do all of the work!”
“I know, so sit back and take your aspirin while Macoy and I handle the bad guys!” teased Petrenko.
“Shut up, you crazy bastard!” replied Gerald.
“Why don’t both of you shut up?!” shouted Macoy.
…
A snowmobile was driving around. The trooper spoke on his talkie. Then Sipho jumped onto the snowmobile and threw the guy off. “Ok, I got one. Ready to smoke these guys?”
“Copy,” radioed Soap.
Sipho drove off a curve and landed behind a squad of Russians on snowmobiles.
“Ready when you are,” radioed Soap.
“Engage.”
Sipho took out his Mini-Uzi and shot the squad of troopers. Another trooper bumped into him and Sipho shot him. Then more troopers came in. Sipho shot two troopers. A trooper jumped onto Sipho’s snowmobile and began to choke him from behind. Sipho hit him with his elbow, punched him two times, and put his face in the snow. The trooper started screaming. Sipho threw him in front of another trooper snowmobile and he got ran over, and then that snowmobile flipped over and crashed into another snowmobile. Sipho ran out of bullets for his Mini-Uzi and threw it into another trooper which made him fall off.
…
“GOOOOOOOOO! THE CHARGES ARE PLANTED!” bellowed Petrenko.
“Did you have to yell on the top of your lungs?!” replied Gerald.
“Just go!” shouted Macoy. They left the factory. “Call in the chopper!”
“Romeo One, this is Bravo 1, come pick us up, we need to evac,” said Gerald.
“Copy Bravo 1, we’re inbound.” A friendly chopper came in, then a missile blew it up and the chopper came crashing down towards them.
…
“Ok, we’re doing good. Keep it up, Soap,” said Sipho.
An enemy helicopter appeared in front of Sipho and started to fire at him. Sipho jumped off the snowmobile and it blew up. He began to slide down the hill and fire at the helicopter with his M4A1. The helicopter shot two missiles at him, which exploded right behind him, flipped him over, and made him start rolling down the hill.
“AWWWW CRAP!” Sipho rolled off a curve, flew in the air, and landed onto Soap’s snowmobile. Luck was clearly on his side today. “We got an enemy chopper!”
“Copy that!” replied Soap.
“Good! Now give me a goddamn gun!” Soap gave Sipho a bolt action sniper and he began to fire at the helicopter. Three troopers on snowmobiles came in.
“Bollocks! Hold on!”
“What makes you think I won’t?!”
Soap drove left into another snowmobile then through the trees. Sipho shot the other two snowmobiles. The helicopter shot two missiles at them.
Sipho aimed at the helicopter. “It’s too bumpy to get an accurate shot! Screw this!” He threw a knife at the helicopter. The knife bounced off the window and back towards him, barely missing him. “Damn it!” Sipho began to fire at the helicopter. He missed his first shot, second shot, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth, and on the ninth, he shot the pilot. The helicopter started spinning, and then it started rolling down the hill towards them. “Pick up some speed, Soap!”
“I’m trying! I’m trying!” The helicopter was getting closer. “Come on, come on!”
“SOAP!”
The snowmobile ran out of power.
“BOLLOCKS!”
“What is the bollocks?! WHAT IS THE BOLLOCKS?!”
“The snowmobile ran out of power!”
The helicopter was getting close.
“Jump!” shouted Sipho.
“Are you crazy, Sipho?!” replied Soap.
“Just use your chute! On my mark: three-two-one-jump!”
They jumped off the snowmobile and the helicopter crashed into it. Sipho activated his parachute. Then Soap did as well.
…
Macoy got up and helped Gerald and Petrenko up. “Come on, we gotta keep moving. We still need to blow up the factory.”
More troopers began to fire at them.
“GO!” shouted Gerald.
Petrenko jumped off the cliff.
“Come on, Macoy!”
“This is madness going down that big ass hill!” protested Macoy.
Gerald grabbed Macoy and jumped off the cliff. They started sliding down the hill.
“Sevchenko, it’s time to go!” shouted Gerald.
…
“Roger that. We’ll see you at extraction,” replied Sevchenko.
“This mission was a ripoff. The only thing we did was spot reinforcements,” argued Mahdi.
“Hey, I didn’t mind. Sometimes you gotta be grateful you got the boring job when in the middle of a war.”
“I get that, but this isn’t one of those times.”
“Want to know how to avoid the boring positions?”
“How?”
“Don’t be someone with the last name Cosabi.”
“Oh shut up, Sev!”
“What kind of last name is that anyway? It sounds like a salad.”
“You’re a salad.”
“You’re the one that keeps getting me into boring situations.”
“Let’s just go.”
Sevchenko, Mahdi, and Lancroft moved out.
…
“Petrenko, don’t blow up the factory until we’re in a safe distance!” shouted Gerald.
There was a big explosion and an avalanche was formed.
“Crap! My fingers slipped!” shouted Petrenko.
“Now we’re DEAD!” shouted Macoy.
The winds picked up.
“Sipho, get us an evac chopper ASAP!” shouted Gerald.
…
Sipho and Soap were on solid ground. “Eagle 20-20, this is Bravo 2, we need our evac chopper right away, over,” said Sipho. No response. “I say again, we need you to send us our evac chopper, do you copy?” No response then the headset got jammed. Sipho yelled and threw the headset away. So did Soap.
“What now?” asked Soap. “We got no choppers coming for our evac, our communications is jammed and we have an avalanche coming in. What do we do, Sipho?”
Sipho looked around. “Pray.”
…
“What in bloody hell just happened?!” shouted Gerald.
“Our damn communications got jammed! What are we gonna do now?!” replied Macoy.
Petrenko was talking in Russian.
“Who are you talking to Petrenko?!” shouted Gerald.
“Guys, I’ve got my chopper to pick us up, but we have to get to the town,” replied Petrenko. “So when we reach the bottom, run like you never run before!”
“The only chance for our survival, but that seems almost impossible! The avalanche will catch up on us!” shouted Macoy.
“It’s rather that or suicide!” replied Gerald.
A big boulder bashed into them.
…
Soap saw the avalanche coming in. “Sipho!”
Sipho looked at the avalanche and saw Petrenko coming down.
“SIPHO RUN! THERE’S AN EVAC CHOPPER WAITING FOR US IN TOWN! GO! GOOOOO!” bellowed Petrenko.
“Sipho go, I’ll make sure the others make it! Trust me on this one!” said Soap.
Sipho ran towards the town without a second thought.
Petrenko came down. “Soap, what are you waiting for?! GO!”
“I’m waiting for the others! You go! Don’t worry about me!”
“No, I’ll wait too!”
Gerald and Macoy flew down.
“Uh crap!” moaned Macoy. Soap and Petrenko helped Gerald and Macoy up.
“Come on, let’s go!” shouted Gerald.
The avalanche got closer.
“RUN!” shouted Petrenko. They started running towards the town. The avalanche touched the ground. “DON’T STOP RUNNING!”
They got to the town. The avalanche was gaining speed.
“There’s the chopper!” shouted Petrenko.
Sipho, Sevchenko, Lancroft, and Mahdi were in the chopper.
“COME ON! COME ON!” bellowed Sipho. They all grabbed onto the ladder of the chopper. “(Russian) Come on, let’s go!” The chopper ascended and the avalanche was closing in on them.
“You guys climb up!” ordered Gerald.
Macoy climbed up first. Sipho helped him get in. The avalanche was now moving under them.
“Hey, what’s taking you so long?!” shouted Sevchenko.
The pilot spoke Russian.
“We can’t fly fast enough!” translated Sipho. “The chopper is off balance and the wind is blowing through the doors! If we don’t get the guys in here and close the doors the avalanche will eat us up!”
Soap climbed up next. Snow from the avalanche touched Gerald’s and Petrenko’s feet.
“(Russian) Crap! (English) We need to hurry this up!” shouted Petrenko.
Sipho helped Soap in. “Come on, you two!”
“Petrenko go!” ordered Gerald. Petrenko began to climb up, but then a wind gush hit the chopper and Petrenko fell down. Gerald grabbed his hand. “BOLLOCKS!”
Gerald’s grip was loosening. The avalanche was eating its way up Petrenko’s legs. Gerald’s other hand was losing its grip on the ladder. He couldn’t stay in this state for long. “SIPHO!”
Sipho hooked himself up to a rope and threw the other end down to Gerald.
“PETRENKO REACH FOR THE ROPE!” yelled Gerald.
Petrenko grabbed the rope with his other hand and wrapped some of it around his arm. “PULL, SIPHO!”
Sipho began to pull on the rope. Petrenko slightly rose up. Sevchenko grabbed the rope and helped pull. Petrenko rose a bit more. Soap helped pull. Petrenko rose to Gerald’s height. Mahdi helped pull. Petrenko rose a few feet.
Then a wind gush hit the chopper again and Sipho got knocked out the left side of the chopper and Petrenko lifted up all the way. Sipho was close to the tip of the avalanche. Petrenko was being pulled out. Mahdi, Sevchenko, and Soap pulled Petrenko back in.
Gerald quickly climbed up, pulled the ladder up, and closed the door behind him. “Pilot, you gotta pull up!”
The pilot responded in Russian.
“Petrenko translate!”
“We’re off balance! Ascending even more will cause us to spin out of control!” replied Petrenko.
“I DON’T CARE! WE NEED TO SAVE SIPHO!”
Petrenko yelled in Russian. The pilot argued. Petrenko raised his voice even higher and the pilot unwillingly agreed.
The chopper began to ascend and tip more to the left. Gerald and Lancroft helped pull. Sipho rose a few feet. He grabbed the rope and climbed up all the way. The guys helped him in. Sevchenko closed the door. That was too close of a call, but they weren’t out of gutter yet.
A wind gush hit the chopper again and the chopper almost flew into the avalanche. Then an alarm began to ring and the chopper began to spin out of control. It spun off the path of the avalanche and touched the ground. The landing gears broke off and the chopper spun upwards. The winds calmed down and the avalanche began to shrink. The spinning began to slow down… slower and slower… slower… slower… slower… and it stopped spinning. The chopper regained balance. The pilot shouted in happiness.
“Well, ain’t today our lucky day,” said Sipho.
“Thanks to my vodka.” Petrenko took a vodka bottle out of his pocket. “Oh! It’s freezing but still liquid and drinkable.” He tried to open the bottle but the cap was stuck. “Come on, baby! Come on! Time to flow into papa’s mouth.” The cap refused. Petrenko shook the bottle several times and opened the cap. The vodka exploded in his face.
Mahdi began to laugh. “You’re right, Sipho. Today is our lucky day.”
“True, so let’s celebrate.” Petrenko splashed the rest of the vodka onto Mahdi.
“You son of a—"
“Hey, that’s enough!” ordered Sipho. “Now cut this crap out. (Russian) Pilot, take us home.”
The pilot replied in agreement and flew the chopper off.