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Author Topic: Joe Canuck: Canada's Elite - A Joe Canuck fan-fic  (Read 3185 times)

Sundance

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Joe Canuck: Canada's Elite - A Joe Canuck fan-fic
« on: June 08, 2010, 02:35:36 AM »

This story follows on from my Expand the Universe entry 'Codename: Aurora'.

Joe Canuck HQ, Canada

The Joe Canuck team, unlike their brothers in arms in America, was a small unit. The main combat arm of the team had assembled in the main briefing room. They’d received a message from Colonel Hinchcliffe, one of the unit’s Defence Ministry liaisons.

Hinchcliffe entered the briefing room, trailed by a woman in the uniform of Canada’s Joint Task Force 2, the elite special ops unit.

Snowbank stared at the woman as she moved to stand at Hinchcliffe’s right as he stood at the front of the room. She was a blue-eyed brunette with her hair in a bun under her tan beret. Her curvaceous body filled out her uniform in all the right places, and she appeared to be in her early thirties.

Snowbank was intrigued to notice she was wearing a US Army Rangers tab on her left sleeve above her Canadian parachute wings. A single row of medal ribbons lined the left side of her jacket. The three stripes on her sleeves indicated she was a sergeant.

Hinchcliffe cleared his throat, calling Snowbank’s attention back to the colonel.

“Good morning, gentlemen. I’d like you to meet the newest recruit to Joint Task Force One,” he paused to look at the woman, “More commonly known as Joe Canuck. Sergeant Aurora is the first woman to pass selection as a JTF 2 Special Operations Assaulter. She’s also one of a small number of women to have earned a Ranger tab at Fort Benning in America. Aurora’s rated as a sniper, which will be her principal role with the unit.”

Aurora was looking around at the Joe Canuck soldiers. Only two of them were wearing unique outfits. One guy was wearing tan coloured trousers and a grey coloured tunic with lighter grey armour. A helmet was on his knees. The other guy wore a grey body-suit with a white panel on the chest with a large red Maple leaf in the centre and red gloves. A white helmet with a red visor was on his lap. The other soldiers uniformly wore white trousers and white tunics with brown webbing gear.

“Snowbank, Backstop; you’ll be working with Aurora on her first assignment. We’ve had reports from the RCMP in Whitehorse that an unidentified helicopter’s been seen in the area, as well as several Cobra Ferret vehicles. Looks like Black Ice is back and got a new toy,” Hinchcliffe went on. “We want you to take the Dead Eye north and check it out.”

“Just us three?” asked Snowbank.

“For now. You’re principal objective is recon and intelligence gathering. If you need further support, I’ll be monitoring here and can send help. Any other questions?”

No one else spoke up, so after a moment’s pause, Hinchcliffe said “Dismissed.”

Aurora hesitated, unsure where to go. The two men wearing the distinct outfits came over to her.

“Hi, I’m Snowbank. This is Backstop.”

“Hello.”

“Welcome to Joe Canuck,” Backstop said. “We’ll show you where you can get your gear together and then we’ll head out to the airfield.”

Several hours later

The Canadian Forces Hercules roared north toward Whitehorse, carrying a Snow Cat and the Dead Eye tank.

Whilst Backstop was fiddling with the instruements in the Dead Eye, Snowbank was trying to chat up Aurora.

“My dad was a biathlon competitor,” she explained. “He taught me to ski and to shoot. Neither of us were good enough for the Olympics, but I was a better shot than him. I joined up, thinking I’d get a front line assignment. I got sent to become a radio operator.”

She rolled her eyes in exasperation. “After three years of that, I applied to go to Benning and Ranger School. Once I passed, I spent eighteen months on TDY to the Rangers. Saw some action with them. When I came back, I applied for JTF2 selection. Had to wait two years because they had a backlog of volunteers. I spent that time with the Princess Patricia’s. Passed JTF2 selection and spent three years with them before I started hearing rumours about some top-secret outfit called ‘JTF1’.”

“Yeah, that was an administrative name that was made up for our pay-cheques. When they put the unit together, it was done in a hurry. Cobra’s been causing chaos in the States and abroad for years. Someone decided we ought to have a unit up here too, JTF1 was used as an unclassified name to cover us,” Snowbank explained. “When we ran a training exercise with the GI Joe arctic specialists, they jokingly named us ‘Joe Canuck’. The name basically stuck.”

“Well, I heard about it, did some poking around at the Ministry and when I finally found Hinchcliffe, I volunteered. I was accepted pretty quick.”

“Well, we’re glad to have you. We don’t have a sniper at the moment, although several of the guys are designated marksman.” Snowbank smiled. “That and you’re a lot prettier than some of the guys.”

Aurora laughed at the comment.

When the transport arrived at Whitehorse, the three soldiers were met by a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The Mountie, a Staff Sergeant, explained that they had received numerous reports of an unidentified helicopter flying at low level in the countryside.

“We’ve also had several sightings of what witnesses described as ‘armed men on blue quad bikes’. One of our constables saw one and identified it as a Cobra Ferret. We believe the helicopter’s one of Cobra’s as well,” the sergeant explained.

“Thanks, Sarge,” Snowbank said. “We’ll take it from here.”

The sergeant nodded and stepped aside as Backstop drove the Dead Eye tank from the Hercules, whilst Snowbank and Aurora rode in the Snow Cat.

The two Joe vehicles sped out of the city, heading north towards the area where the most recent report had come from.

The sight of the mini-tank and the half-track speeding through the streets caused a few raised eyebrows and double takes from passers-by as the team travelled along.

In the Snow Cat’s cockpit, Snowbank was explaining to Aurora that Canadian Forces Command had bought several American vehicles to equip the team when the radio crackled.

“Snowbank, this is Colonel Hinchcliffe. We’re receiving reports from Air Command that the helicopter’s been spotted near the Takhini Hot Spring. A pair of CF-18s was in the area and they spotted at least half a dozen Ferrets on the ground and a helicopter overhead. By the time they were able to slow down and turn back, they couldn’t find them. They had to break off and return to base.”

“Copy that Colonel,” Snowbank replied. “We’ll get on it.”

Snowbank handed the radio to Aurora, “Give Backstop a call and let him know where we’re heading.”

Aurora nodded.

In minutes the two vehicles were speeding across the Canadian countryside, heading for the hot spring.

They’d got to within three miles of the spring when Backstop radioed to the Snow Cat, “I see the Ferrets! Heading east at speed!”

“Roger that, Backstop,” Snowbank answered. “I see them too.”

The Ferrets were soon visible, Snow Serpents riding on them.

Backstop opened fire, the Dead Eye’s machine guns bracketing the quad bikes before ripping the trailing vehicle to pieces. A second was hit by flying debris and destroyed.

As the two Joe vehicles pursued the Ferrets toward a small wood, several Ferrets burst out of the tree line, guns blazing.

Snowbank yanked the Snow Cat into an evasive turn as bullets stitched across the ground toward them. Backstop swerved the Dead Eye away from the oncoming fire, but swivelled the turret and sprayed fire into the crowd of vehicles, cutting three of them to pieces.

Suddenly machine-gun fire rained down from above. Backstop slid the tank into a turn, avoiding the gunfire by mere centimetres. He glanced up as a helicopter raced overhead. It looked like a FANG, but as the Snow Serpent piloting the small aircraft threw it around into a tight turn, he saw it lacked the usual gun turret on the nose.

Backstop had no more time for detailed analysis as he threw the Dead Eye into another fast turn to avoid a second strafing run.

Snowbank, however, wasn’t as lucky. The Snow Cat was hit by the 20mm bullets from the FANG as it screamed over. The cockpit canopy shattered and Aurora and Snowbank threw their hands up to protect their heads as the half-track went out of control. The vehicle slid around and halted.

Several of the Snow Serpents on the Ferrets were quick to see the vehicle’s precarious position and turn their attention to it.

Aurora sat up, glass falling off her. She saw the Ferrets coming their way.

“Oh, Hell NO!” she snapped. She grabbed her M4 SOPMOD carbine and, quickly flicking it over to automatic fire, opened up. Standing there in the cockpit of the Snow Cat, she shot three Snow Serpents in quick succession, pivoting on her heels to turn. Two more fell in short order as Snowbank picked himself up, grabbed his own rifle and opened fire.

The Snow Serpents quickly began to realise the folly of their actions and started to flee from the angry Joe Canuck soldiers.

A loud whoosh and a roaring noise caused Snowbank to look up. An anti-tank rocket was bearing down on the Snow Cat as the FANG peeled off.

“Aurora! Get out!” Snowbank shouted before leaping from the Snow Cat’s cockpit.

The woman looked up and saw the missile streaking in. She leaped clear of the Snow Cat and sprinted away from the stricken vehicle. The missile hit the arctic assault vehicle and detonated. Aurora felt herself picked up and thrown through the air. She crashed to the ground and managed to roll with the impact.

She picked herself up to see the Snow Cat was now a burning wreck. Cursing under her breath, Aurora picked up her carbine and looked around.

Backstop was heading her way as the Snow Serpents retreated. Snowbank was hanging on to the back of the Dead Eye.

The mini-tank stopped next to Aurora and Backstop called out, “Jump on, we’re going after them!”

Aurora scrambled onto the small platform on the rear of the tank and it raced off, as she held tight to the rail behind the turret.

As the small armoured vehicle sped after the Cobra quad bikes, Snowbank had pulled out his radio and was reporting in to Colonel Hinchcliffe.

After he finished the conversation, Snowbank gave the others the news; “Hinchcliffe’s got a team en route to back us up. Two Arctic Strikers and four Polar Battle Bears.”

“Who’s he sending?” Backstop asked.

“Moose Jaw’s leading the team,” Snowbank answered. “I know Downhill and Prairie Dog are as well. Dunno who else.”

“How long ‘til they arrive?” Aurora asked.

“Hinchcliffe said they’ll be in Whitehorse inside an hour. They’ll hold there until we get a location for them.”

The Dead Eye sped onwards.

Several miles and nearly an hour later, the three soldiers were lying on a low rise overlooking the Cobra’s airfield. Unlike the base Aurora had destroyed in her training mission, this facility had only a rough landing strip and a few small wooden shacks around. Several Ferrets were parked at the edge of the runway, which was home to the FANG they’d seen and several regular examples.

Aurora had dubbed the new version the ‘Ice FANG’ due to its white and blue colour scheme.

Snowbank relayed a report to Colonel Hinchcliffe on the helicopter. He particularly noted the fact the nose turret had been replaced with a Forward-Looking Infra-Red or FLIR camera, while two of the FANG’s rockets had been sacrificed for a 20mm gun pod mounted on the right skid, like the American Dragonfly helicopter. Hinchcliffe told him the others were on their way.

As Aurora and Snowbank watched the activity below, Backstop was staring intently at the two HATE tanks that had trundled out of a small copse of fir trees nearby and were making their way toward the airfield.

“Targets…” he muttered.

Aurora glanced at him, but said nothing before returning her gaze to her sniper scope.

She watched as a man walked out of one of the buildings and met the HATE tanks. He was dressed in blue and white, with a balaclava and goggles hiding his head.

“Who’s that?” Aurora whispered.

“The number two man in Cobra’s Canadian operation, Shiver,” Snowbank answered.

“Oh. I capped him in the training exercise Hinchcliffe put me through, but I didn’t know who he was.” Aurora watched as he spoke to the two black clad tank drivers before returning to the building.

Moments later, the thunderous roar of C-130’s engines split the air as the four-engine transport plane dropped out of the clouds, raced low across the airfield and pulled away as two jeeps and four skimobiles dropped from the rear ramp.

Backstop leaped to his feet and sprinted the short distance to the Dead Eye as the other vehicles hit the ground running.

Aurora and Snowbank watched as the Polar Battle Bear skimobiles opened fire, destroying several of the black FANG helicopters. The two white Arctic Striker jeeps opened fire with their mini-guns and sprayed several of the buildings as the Snow Serpents raced to react.

One managed to get into the Ice FANG’s cockpit before a Polar Battle Bear fired a missile and blew it apart.

The HATE tanks opened fire on the Arctic Strikers, which sped apart and evaded the gunfire.

The Dead Eye raced over the rise and Backstop opened fire with his guns, spraying fire across the HATEs.

One exploded under the onslaught, whilst the second raced away, trying to avoid a similar fate.

Aurora began firing at Snow Serpents as soon as she could line up shots, cutting several down.

The surviving HATE pulled up next to the building Shiver had entered. Shiver ran out, a second man on his heels.

Aurora fired, narrowly missing Shiver as he leaped on to a rail at the tank’s rear and scrambled into the gun turret.

A burst of gunfire ripped across the sky over her head, causing her to duck as the second man grabbed onto the silver-sided tank and it raced away.

Backstop pursued as the other Joes continued their battle.

Aurora shot another pair of Snow Serpents as the survivors regrouped.

As they were quickly surrounded, the Cobra troops seemed to lose their fighting spirit and quickly surrendered.

Aurora and Snowbank joined the other Canadian troops as they disarmed and handcuffed the Cobras.

The Dead Eye sped up a minute later. Backstop climbed out, pulled off his helmet and wiped his forehead.

“They damaged my cluster cannons,” he complained as Snowbank and Aurora approached him. “Black Ice and Shiver got away.”

“Well, we threw a major spanner into their operations here,” Aurora said. “And we destroyed the Ice FANG.”

“We’ve also got a lot of prisoners,” Snowbank added. “CSIS are going to love us for this.”

Elsewhere…

Shiver watched Black Ice as the other man paced around the operations room of their secret base.  His commander was in a towering rage.

“I can’t believe those damn Canucks!” he stormed. “I thought that base was secure!”

Shiver didn’t comment.

“And we lost the prototype of the new FANG!”

“Yes, but the Joes can’t know we’ve got a dozen more in the process of being assembled,” Shiver said. “The loss of the Snow Serpents and another HATE is the larger concern, surely?”

Black Ice merely glared at his lieutenant.

Shiver wisely kept quiet.

“The Joes haven’t seen the last of us…” Black Ice growled.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
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bandonov

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Re: Joe Canuck: Canada's Elite - A Joe Canuck fan-fic
« Reply #1 on: June 08, 2010, 09:30:20 AM »

Very nice, How long did it take to write?
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Re: Joe Canuck: Canada's Elite - A Joe Canuck fan-fic
« Reply #2 on: June 08, 2010, 03:42:40 PM »

no idea, i did it in fits and starts over several weeks... maybe... 6, 7 hours? plus, i also stopped and wrote 'Codename: Aurora' in the middle.
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Editor

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Re: Joe Canuck: Canada's Elite - A Joe Canuck fan-fic
« Reply #3 on: June 08, 2010, 04:04:58 PM »

Nifty. and thanks for the Downhill shout-out  ;D
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BHMike

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Re: Joe Canuck: Canada's Elite - A Joe Canuck fan-fic
« Reply #4 on: June 08, 2010, 04:50:52 PM »

Interesting story. ;-)

Just wait until the new JoeCanuck wiki is finished where you can pull some "official" info on each character. ;-)
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Re: Joe Canuck: Canada's Elite - A Joe Canuck fan-fic
« Reply #5 on: June 08, 2010, 05:28:49 PM »

Wow it was nice to read that story! Man I love these JoeCanuck characters..
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Re: Joe Canuck: Canada's Elite - A Joe Canuck fan-fic
« Reply #6 on: June 08, 2010, 06:06:47 PM »

Quote from: "THE Mike™"


Just wait until the new JoeCanuck wiki is finished where you can pull some "official" info on each character. ;-)

Looking forward to that,
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Sundance

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Re: Joe Canuck: Canada's Elite - A Joe Canuck fan-fic
« Reply #7 on: June 09, 2010, 02:15:46 AM »

Quote from: "Editor"
Nifty. and thanks for the Downhill shout-out  ;D

no probs!
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
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