We then occupied the building, which turned out to be a bakery, with Bloomberg and Vic clearing the other rooms. I instructed Q to stay away from the windows and Mason to guard the entrance to the rear. I then took a good look of the dead enemies laying around. They have similar weapons as we do, again, but they are now in uniform. It’s the ANB again. “Red,” I called out, “These are Broenis again,” “No, shit,” she exclaimed. “Where the hell are the Marines?” Yeah. Where the hell are the Marines? We’re sitting ducks here waiting for them to break through and relieve us. it’s five past two, and the Marines are supposed to be here. Bloomberg and Vic were already done clearing the room and joined us downstairs. From our position, we could see the rest of the platoon lining up along the rubble I mentioned. “Mason, get on the radio and—where the hell is your radio?!” Red asked. “Lieutenant Stubs told me to leave it at the base, Sergeant,” Mason replied, to Red's disbelief. “Bloomberg!
I took Red to the casualty collection point near the temporary aid station. Blood was still dripping down her face. Q followed close behind, with Mason and Vic walking alongside her. That 100-meter trip was the longest walk I had ever walked my entire life. The fountain we passed by became crowded with wounded men as temporary aid station was placed there. Bloomberg was talking to Stubs. Major Patterson was seen organizing the men, telling people where to go and stuff. I put Red down near the building on the east side of that fountain. A medic then approached us, asking whether or not he could’ve helped. After putting her down, I reached into one of her pockets to retrieve our diamonds, figuring I would sell them later to make it easier to distribute among us. I had also taken Red’s leather sling off her gun before we pulled back. I figured I’d take it home. Near the fountain, Q sat and stared blankly into the ground while Mason was beside her, caressing her. Vic offered them cigare
2IC: Second in Command, i.e., assistant leader. ACOG: Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight, a type of telescopic sighting equipment used on rifles and machine guns. AK: Automatic Kalashnikov. Introduced in 1947, its design evolved into a wide variety of firearms. Bandolier: ammunition pouches sewn into belts or sling. Boobied: slang for booby-trapped Booby Trap: traps set up to maim or kill enemy soldiers. The term came from how it fools the enemy thinking it was safe, hence the term booby (=fool). C2: Command and Control center Cal.: slang/short for Caliber Company: a unit of soldiers consisting of roughly three to four platoons plus their commander Compound: a military encampment Detcord: A type of explosive charge, shaped like a cord (hence the name, detonating cord) DMR: Designated Marksman’s Rifle Friendly Fire: incidents where soldiers opened fire on their own comrades, whether or not the shots hit FN: Fabrique Nationale, Belgian arms manufacturer GPMG: General Purpose
Thank you for reading Irregulaire! This was one of my many war story ideas, however only a few turned into a meaningful fruition, including this one. I usually draw instead of write, and this is my first ever completed work. However, a few sketches were made, but since this platform doesn't have that feature yet, I have not been able to include any of the pictures I have made outside the covers. Like a lot of stories, it began with a what if. It did take inspiration behind an amalgamation of various historical wars involving separatist groups and invading forces, such as the Vietnam War, Korean War, Russo-Georgian War of 2008, etc. with one question: "What if a ragtag band of college friends was to participate in a war?" The result was quite fun, with worldbuilding (that had not yet been completed as of this publishing date) that takes ages to write and carefully spun-off historical events. I get to experiment with a lot of ideas for the storyline, and it turned out pretty good. An
It was July 31st, 2015—my birthday. Election results are coming out, and people are dissatisfied with these results. Incumbent government led by President James Widows won against Dennis Pieterzoon’s opposition by a tiny margin. Less than 3%, even. Still, Jacktown became very unstable in just a week. The whole country then turned unstable in just days. This situation was then taken as an opportunity by our neighboring country, Broenland, to retake what they had. They launched an invasion from the North with two prongs meant to encircle the capital city of Jacktown, a mere month since the election ended. This country, Griesia, was once part of Broenland before we decided to split up. Back in the 1980’s, we had a civil war which then had an impact on how we came to be. It was short, but effective. We stated that we wanted independence and would fight for it. Then we did it. With UN assistance, we established independence from Broenland in 1986. Tension never ceased, however. We still h
“The roster goes as follows. Anna will lead Hans, Ryan, and Mark in a fire team. I will have Dan, Jimmy, and Kris in mine. Buck will lead the Machine Gun team. Anna’s team would be Red, mine would be Blue, and Buck’s would be Grey. Red Team’s role will be that of providing bases of fire. Blue Team will be the assault team, charging forward or flanking the enemy, but this can change in a defensive scenario. Grey team would be additional support for either softening up the targets or as a bug-out cover,” I explained. “Who wants to be the squad leader?” I then asked, giving others a chance to channel their opinion. “I think you would do,” said Mark. Franz and Dan agreed. “Anna would fit more,” Karl replied. “She’s in the first team, too. She can direct everyone while providing base of fire,” he said. Jimmy and Hans backed that up. “How about Buck?” said Anna. “No, no, no... I’m already in charge of this big ass gun. It’s either you or Mick,” denied Buck. “Karl’s got a point,” I join
The Colonel’s house was surrounded by other houses except on the Southeast flank. There’s only a wall out there, separating land owned by farmers and the compound. To the front of the house, that is the East, there’s a house with a caved-in roof. Looks like a close call on them. Mortars, I think. Attacks on military bases have increased in frequency, making daily patrols necessary, but on a housing complex? I mean come on. There were a couple of waypoints up to the North, with one going westwards, that narrows down to one heading South. These waypoints are closely guarded, with entrance to the Compound from the Northwest guarded with Marine personnel, as well as the exit, to the far West. There were low fences around the house, made out of cement, the kind you see on old rural house. The house itself would be the designated inner compound, along the fence, with the main objectives being there, namely the Colonel and his family. Before we came in, these parts were being guarded by a pl
We pretty much enjoyed that evening, hanging around with the Marines. I had a little chat with the Lieutenant, about what he did before the war. Well, he was already an officer back then, so that hadn’t changed. He used to be a respected family man, graduated from officer school. But then he lost contact with his family after this thing started. Last thing he knew, he was called to action and his family had to move somewhere. From then on, he lost touch. “I haven’t the slightest idea of where they are now, or how they are. I can only hope they are alright. Stubs has this similar problem. But at least he knows where his family went,” Poor guy. Tears started rolling down his face, his hand shook a little. “You're in love with Colonel’s daughter, right?” “Sort of, yeah,” I answered rather awkwardly. “Your family safe?” “That, I don’t know either. Last time I contacted them was before I got here,” “At least you get to be in touch with them. Let’s hope they’re okay, both our families,”
Thank you for reading Irregulaire! This was one of my many war story ideas, however only a few turned into a meaningful fruition, including this one. I usually draw instead of write, and this is my first ever completed work. However, a few sketches were made, but since this platform doesn't have that feature yet, I have not been able to include any of the pictures I have made outside the covers. Like a lot of stories, it began with a what if. It did take inspiration behind an amalgamation of various historical wars involving separatist groups and invading forces, such as the Vietnam War, Korean War, Russo-Georgian War of 2008, etc. with one question: "What if a ragtag band of college friends was to participate in a war?" The result was quite fun, with worldbuilding (that had not yet been completed as of this publishing date) that takes ages to write and carefully spun-off historical events. I get to experiment with a lot of ideas for the storyline, and it turned out pretty good. An
2IC: Second in Command, i.e., assistant leader. ACOG: Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight, a type of telescopic sighting equipment used on rifles and machine guns. AK: Automatic Kalashnikov. Introduced in 1947, its design evolved into a wide variety of firearms. Bandolier: ammunition pouches sewn into belts or sling. Boobied: slang for booby-trapped Booby Trap: traps set up to maim or kill enemy soldiers. The term came from how it fools the enemy thinking it was safe, hence the term booby (=fool). C2: Command and Control center Cal.: slang/short for Caliber Company: a unit of soldiers consisting of roughly three to four platoons plus their commander Compound: a military encampment Detcord: A type of explosive charge, shaped like a cord (hence the name, detonating cord) DMR: Designated Marksman’s Rifle Friendly Fire: incidents where soldiers opened fire on their own comrades, whether or not the shots hit FN: Fabrique Nationale, Belgian arms manufacturer GPMG: General Purpose
I took Red to the casualty collection point near the temporary aid station. Blood was still dripping down her face. Q followed close behind, with Mason and Vic walking alongside her. That 100-meter trip was the longest walk I had ever walked my entire life. The fountain we passed by became crowded with wounded men as temporary aid station was placed there. Bloomberg was talking to Stubs. Major Patterson was seen organizing the men, telling people where to go and stuff. I put Red down near the building on the east side of that fountain. A medic then approached us, asking whether or not he could’ve helped. After putting her down, I reached into one of her pockets to retrieve our diamonds, figuring I would sell them later to make it easier to distribute among us. I had also taken Red’s leather sling off her gun before we pulled back. I figured I’d take it home. Near the fountain, Q sat and stared blankly into the ground while Mason was beside her, caressing her. Vic offered them cigare
We then occupied the building, which turned out to be a bakery, with Bloomberg and Vic clearing the other rooms. I instructed Q to stay away from the windows and Mason to guard the entrance to the rear. I then took a good look of the dead enemies laying around. They have similar weapons as we do, again, but they are now in uniform. It’s the ANB again. “Red,” I called out, “These are Broenis again,” “No, shit,” she exclaimed. “Where the hell are the Marines?” Yeah. Where the hell are the Marines? We’re sitting ducks here waiting for them to break through and relieve us. it’s five past two, and the Marines are supposed to be here. Bloomberg and Vic were already done clearing the room and joined us downstairs. From our position, we could see the rest of the platoon lining up along the rubble I mentioned. “Mason, get on the radio and—where the hell is your radio?!” Red asked. “Lieutenant Stubs told me to leave it at the base, Sergeant,” Mason replied, to Red's disbelief. “Bloomberg!
“GET THE HELL OUT OF THE STREETS! GO!” Stubs commanded the rest of his men. “Get away from the windows! Mark!” Red instructed. The explosion then rang all around us, rattling windows and kicking dust. A few rounds landed really close to the building we were in—thankfully, none of those landed on top of us. The shelling lasted for only less than a couple minutes, but it surely scared the hell out of us. when it fell silent, we poked our heads out and looked out the windows. Most of the platoon seemed to be okay, and we got out of to the streets again. Stubs then told us to move across the intersection and take the now empty machine gun nest and settle there. “We’ll stay here for the moment,” he said. “Dukeman, take three men and cover our south. Hal, take four and face east. They might be coming down on us really soon,” The Platoon then took a little break, drinking water and such. A few of them even lit cigarettes, thinking this break would be long. The rest of them checked for am
By 12.15, we were already out front, lining up for the vehicle we were boarding to head closer towards our objective. “I thought you said we’re walking,” I said to Stubs, who was getting his driver ready. “I thought so, too,” he answered, “But Major said we could use the vehicles halfway through. Don’t want to tire this little lady over here,” he added, looking at Q. she grinned. These trucks are big, and it could be a bullet magnet if we drive all the way up to the front. Besides, we’re supposed to be a surprise element. It makes sense if we were to be dropped halfway. “Oh, yeah. Tell your radio guy to leave his pack. I got one with me,” “Alright,” I said, “Mason!” I called him. “This is it, folks,” Red announced up front. “Go for equipment check,” We did as we were told, and found nothing wrong. We carried enough ammunition and explosives—even Q carried 8 magazines—and brought water and several food items we can fit inside our vest. Because we were going far from base, we didn’
With Beavers gone, we’re down to only 12 men. The only team with four men would be mine. With that in mind, I returned to the men. A thought had occurred to me that we would volunteer to try and find Price, but I chose not to. Seigers was still mourning his deceased friend. Victor and Mason knelt beside him, as they had served together. “We found Price,” Hal approached us, “But not in the ideal state,” “What do you mean?” Red asked. “He’s dead,” Hal answered, “The shelling and machine gun fire had blown him away,” “That figures. Now we’ll never know what they were all up to,” I joined in. “We still have something,” Stubs appeared behind me. “What is it, sir?” Hal asked. “Identification papers. It might sound normal, but there were two of them,” “I figure one of them was forged?” “Yes, and it doesn’t match as well,” “doesn’t match… how?” Red asked. “It didn’t say that he’s 2nd SOD. It said that he was 18th Highlander, and his name was Matthieu Price. Now that can already mean
Out of anger, a few of the officers and NCOs ran off to catch those three men. They had already gone into the tall grass towards the South at this point, and a few gunshots can be heard. An eager officer later, a handful of men had already run outside, carrying only rifles and what little ammunition they could immediately take with them. It soon erupted into a firefight, as they had been walking—or running, rather—straight into an ambush. They soon pull back, with the rest of us standing by near the outer fence providing cover. I left Red and Harrison with Stubs to try and assist those who pulled back. It turned out, they somehow managed to capture Price, which was surprising. A corporal said he tumbled over a rather large rock and fell. He took a fair case of beating, but was brought in relatively awake. He was relatively calm; he didn’t try to fight back or escape—probably because he was beaten up first out on the field. His hands were tied, and he was then handed over to Major Patt
We then saw rolling dust moving in towards the gate. I hope it’s the rescue team returning, as I had left my rifle inside. As it closed in, the gate swung open and three intact vehicles came in. Well, that was quick. But hey, at least they’ve made it. We stood up and walked towards them, and saw the three survivors of the crash. They were all in uniform, army fellas. They were quite heavily armed as well, looking like special forces. You go, guys. Stubs and the Colonel welcomed them and had them debriefed. We heard that they were being sent to the aid station, as Mason and his guys were. One of those spec-ops guys were taller than the others, and has a strikingly messy hair—something unusual for soldiers, but I guess it’s fine since they’re special force. “Well shit, this base even has a hooker on board,” one of the three exclaimed, looking up and down on Red. “We’re Marines, you asshat,” She replied, seemingly upset. “And she’s a squad leader too,” I added. “I don’t remember ask