The RPG really lived up to its reputation as the tank killer, eardrum destroyer, and single-soldier powerhouse. That rocket launcher was downright badass. You shoulder the heavy tube, peer through the sights, and fire—biu!
Whether the projectile hits a main battle tank or a thick armored vehicle, it's goodbye for sure. That's how fierce and armor-piercing its power is.
But it has got plenty of flaws too. The firing speed is slow, and while a bullet is often invisible to the naked eye, a rocket is so damn big that you can trace its entire arcing path through the air. That means fast-moving gunships can easily dodge it, so the hit rate is honestly pathetic.
And if you ever see someone fire an RPG and still hear perfectly fine afterward, you can bet they're a rookie. Every veteran is half-deaf by now from the concussive force. The recoil alone could break a weak shoulder, and the blast noise is enough to shake your soul right out of your chest.
Even so, the RPG is still the UN's favorite single-soldier weapon because it's cheap, effective, and absolutely brutal. Its best feature? If one rocket doesn't hit, it's no big deal. You just fire ten of them. One is bound to land eventually.
So, under her teammates' bewildered stares, Jing Shu calmly pulled out one, two… eight RPGs in total. All of them were cold, grease-smelling tubes from Peggy's private stash.
Now, about that gunship—it's a monster in its own right. The Apache loomed in the dark, equipped with a chain gun that holds thousands of rounds, plus multiple weapon hardpoints carrying TOW missiles and rockets. In theory, it could wipe out sixteen tanks in a single run. It's basically a flying armory, the real-deal tank terminator.
Tank thought to himself: Why is every damn weapon these days a "tank terminator"?
That thing could obliterate a whole battalion on its own. If Jing Shu wanted to survive, she had to go all in. They say once a gunship locks onto you, you're already dead. And they aren't exaggerating.
Everything happened in a flash. The helicopter swooped in, the thwack-thwack of its rotors shaking the air. It opened fire from a distance, planning to finish them with a bomb once it got closer. If that didn't work, missiles were next. The only reason it hadn't fired a missile yet was probably because the pilots wanted to keep the cargo intact for salvage.
The sound of bullets ripping through the cargo ship's metal hull like a giant sewing machine made Xiao Dou tremble uncontrollably in her nest. Jing Shu braced herself, her boots vibrating against the deck, terrified she would be turned into minced meat. Luckily, the distance was still significant, so the accuracy was low, and the ship was big enough to take a few hits without immediate failure.
The enemy probably hadn't expected that the "hundred-man pirate crew" they had heard about over the radio was actually just six people, a hen, a bird, and a dog.
Ling Ling was the first to react. She shouldered an RPG, her cheek pressed against the tube, and fired.
The helicopter swerved nimbly in the dark, banking hard to dodge at the last second. The pilot seemed pissed now. He hadn't expected these people to carry something that could actually threaten the aircraft's life.
"Boss, the enemy is carrying RPGs! Requesting permission to use Hellfire AGM-114 missiles to eliminate them!"
"Permission granted! Ensure the Apache's safety at all costs. Sink Cargo Ship No. 25 if necessary!"
Before the apocalypse, a jet like that cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Now, in a world where might makes right, it was one of the most precious assets left in the fleet. You could always salvage a sunken cargo ship or steal new supplies, but if that aircraft went down, it was over for their air superiority.
Meanwhile, Jing Shu didn't even need to shoulder the RPG properly. She might have been the first woman in history to fire one single-handed. She gripped the handle tight, the metal biting into her palm, aimed by instinct, and pulled the trigger. Each blast left her arm numb from the violent recoil. Some shots missed wide, disappearing into the dark river, while others grazed the air near the helicopter.
Still, her wild, rapid firing managed to throw the gunship into a brief panic, forcing it to break its steady attack run.
Piu!
Ling Ling switched launchers with a metallic clatter and fired again, but the chopper shot upward just in time to dodge the streaking projectile.
Tank, piloting the cargo ship, pushed the speed to its max, the engines groaning as he tried to dodge the relentless barrage. Flames and black smoke filled the air, and then came the real nightmare: a Hellfire missile.
Boom!
The explosion rocked the air, deafeningly loud and white-hot. The missile slammed straight into the side of the ship, and the blast tore the massive vessel apart. The deck split open with a screech of shearing steel, flames roared into the sky, and everyone was thrown off balance.
Cargo Ship No. 25 was done for.
That missile was designed for tank-busting, a top-tier air-to-ground weapon with long range, massive power, and deadly accuracy.
Tank yelled over the roar, "Oh come on! Enough already!"
The blast completely crippled the ship. Tank, wearing his heavy exoskeleton suit, crawled out of the spreading fire, his armor scorched and his body badly injured from the impact.
"Prepare to jump!"
Ling Ling fired again, her face lit by the orange glow of the fires. "Last shot! If we don't take down that chopper, we're dead meat!"
But honestly, against a gunship like this, their efforts were about as effective as throwing pebbles at a hawk. That's why the enemy commander was so damn confident—because humans were just too fragile against superweapons like that.
"If only we had one of those helicopters…" Jing Shu muttered, her eyes shining with pure envy in the dark. She had gotten so ambitious she had wanted an Apache for her own collection now.
Boom!
The second and third Hellfires hit, turning the cargo ship into a flaming inferno. Water rushed in fast through the gaping holes, and the 10,000-ton vessel began to sink into the canal.
Ten thousand tons. Over 200 meters long—the length of two football fields. And it just went under, just like that. The ship had been packed with refined ores, essential for crafting and production back home. What a waste.
If only her Cube Space had been a few thousand cubic meters bigger. All that ore could have been hers. Jing Shu's heart ached at the loss—what good were a few dozen cubic meters of storage now when millions of tons were sinking?
Ling Ling held her breath, centering the sights, and fired the last shot. Jing Shu covered her, firing her remaining rockets wildly. They streaked toward the sky, one after another, but the helicopter danced through them all with practiced ease. Its altitude shifted constantly, its trajectory impossible for a human to follow.
"We're out," Ling Ling said regretfully, dropping the empty tube. "If I had had a bit more time, I could have nailed it."
And then—just as the last RPG was spent—the helicopter suddenly accelerated to dodge the predicted path of Ling Ling's strike… and slammed straight into one of Jing Shu's stray rockets.
No one could have seen that coming. Even the veteran pilot didn't know exactly where he would be in the next second, so how could the enemy have predicted the path of a random shot?
A brilliant burst of orange and white lit up the night sky as the gunship exploded midair. Flames rained down in long arcs, and the burning wreck plummeted into the canal, sinking alongside the massive ship it had just destroyed.
"Seriously? You really did that to yourself," Jing Shu said, half in disbelief as she watched the fire go out in the water. It was pure dumb luck, but she had done it—a perfect accidental hit.
Even the most advanced gunship couldn't survive against a fool with an RPG.
The group stood on the muddy riverbank, helpless as Cargo Ship No. 25 sank completely beneath the surface. The enemy hadn't just wanted to kill them; they wanted to destroy the evidence of the theft too. At least the ore could still be salvaged from the riverbed later.
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I've also got a little "toy" to share, basically a YouTube song downloader. It's a simple .bat file, so you just copy and paste the link and it'll automatically download and convert the video you want. I'll include the installation steps too, since the .bat file needs another program to run properly.
Remember to read all the instructions before running any .bat or .sh files. There are seven tabs in total. Two of them cover installation for Windows and Mac, along with how to set up the script. The first tab is the final checklist of things you need to change before using it. Tabs four and five are the Windows scripts, and tabs six and seven are the Mac scripts.
You can find it in my Google Drive or Terabox under the "My – Mine" folder, inside "Youtube Audio." Both cloud links are on my Carrd: https://rikhi.carrd.co