The sharp crack of the telemat displacing air was just barely louder than the roar of the surf, the wind that whistled by, and the distant thudda thudda thudda thudda of the helicopters. Stealth helicopters, in this kind of technical civilization, didn't mean silent fans. It just meant radar reflection and IR baffling and, possibly, alterations to how the blades moved through the air to make the sound harder to track - just confusing people for a few seconds as to whether the sound was coming or going could be the difference maker in a commando op.
"We've got maybe two minutes," Tai'lon said, lowering his binoculars. The rest of the Newton's security certed crew were gathered around the collection of parts and supplies that the rocket had sent down the well, and Sandy was already directing everyone to carry this, place that, and crank that.
"This technology is amazing," Cedak whispered.
"It is the byproduct of cooperation and unity - once freed from the fetters of enforced competition and capitalist exploitation, the scientists and engineers of the Union of Allied Stars to innovate, spearheaded of course by the minds of the workers and laborers of the United Soviet Socialist Republics!" Lera said - and in the space of that single boastful sentence, she had managed to attach half the portable capacitors to the electro-magnetic induction sphere, which Sandy was busy calibrating, punching in numbers to the portable, wood paneled keyboard that had come down with it.
"One minute!" Tai'lon called out.
"Ready...now," Sandy said, then punched down a lever with her hand. The capacitors whined audibly and the EMP device went off - visible only in the wave of lights going off across the oil rig, plunging them into the gathering twilight, their shadows cutting harshly across the oil rig's greeblie covered top. The helicopters...kept coming.
"Shit," Sandy whispered.
"I thought they wouldn't be shielded!" Vai said, scowling a bit.
"They shouldn't be! Unless they just… don't even have electronic fuel injection?"
"The Narie might have warned them," Tai'lon said, unslinging his ACER rifle, then ducking down into some cover. Vai whistled, then gestured, pointing at various areas. The Newton crew rushed forward into cover, and ducked down, while Mark underhanded Sandy an ACER pistol, then tossed another to Cedak, who caught it awkwardly, before gripping it more confidently.
"Ever gone shooting before?" Mark asked as Cedak stood up, then hurried over to join him by the cover.
"Yes, from time to time, when the situation calls for it," Cedak said. "Never with a ray gun from space aliens, though. At least, not since I was twelve, playing at Captain Quim…"
"Well, the situation seems to be calling for it soon," Lera said, bringing her ACER rifle up.
The helicopters began to fan outwards, swinging wide, their blades blurring. They don't shine down flashlights, and as Tai'lon keeps them in his magnification lenses, he muttered: "They're having trouble with their gear…" Then, louder: "They're taking off what appear to be light amplification goggles as they hover, I think that Sandy did manage to knock out their fragile electronics."
"Yes!" Sandy grinned.
"However, there are still a platoon of them," Tai'lon said.
"This is fine," Vai muttered, in that way that meant that it was absolutely not fine at all. "All right, boys and girls, this is what we're going to do…"
---
Will you
[ ] Open fire while they're still at range and hope your bigger guns take the choppers out
[ ] Withdraw inside and force them to come through choke points
[ ] Write In
