In the confusion and the dark, Hawkins couldn’t immediately tell what they were facing, but it was obvious there was serious firepower down there. He tried patching into the AWACS, hoping to get some support. But the chopper was too low to get the controller directly, and when the E-3 Sentry AWACS operator failed to acknowledge his second try, Hawkins tried his ground team instead. They didn’t answer either. He could tell from their red tracers where they were, however; he told Fernandez and the pilot behind them to roll up the flank of the Iraqis, drawing their attention at least temporarily away. The pilots were a step ahead of him, sweeping in with a coordinated rocket attack. Hawkin’s chopper stuttered with the force of the 70 mm rockets gushing from the tubes on both stubby wings; he felt himself buck forward and then wrench violently to the side. The Little Bird’s machine guns opened up again, a quick burst that perforated a black shadow 250 yards away. The shadow turned into the outline of an APC, which morphed into red flame.
