2023-01-29 09:15:46“Alright, folks, gather around,” I began. “They want us to split into combat teams. We’re not supposed to see much combat, but I figured they want it just in case,” I explained. “As we’ve learned, there are three teams in a squad, so let’s do that. So, what I’d like to have is this. Red, you lead Harry, Ryan, and Mark in a fire team. I will have Dan, Jimmy, and Kris in mine,”
They all nodded.
“Buck will lead the gun team. Frank got a MAG, so whatever happens, he’s the heavy hitter. Karl would be his assistant gunner,” I continued. “I mean, in case we’re ever sent out, Red’s team will be providing bases of fire. My team will be the assault team, moving forward or flanking the enemy. MG would be additional support for either softening up the targets or as a bug-out cover,” I explained.
“Well, this is new,” Buck joined. He’s right, we had never been split like this before. We only received classroom instructions about this, but it was never applied to us in Basic Training as we were not expected to see combat.
“Let’s hope we won’t ever be sent out of the compound,” Red quipped.
“Alright, who do you think is gonna be the squad leader?” I then asked everyone.
“Aren’t you the squad leader?” Dan asked me back.
“That’s in basic training, man. This is combat,”
We have two Sergeants made during basic training; Red and I. The rest of the crew had no rank. The way the Marines see them, they were all privates, as rank structures are not going to be much use to rear guards.
“I think you would do just fine,” said Mark. Frank and Dan agreed.
“I think in this scenario Red is better,” Karl replied. “She’s in the first team, right… base of fire? I mean, she can direct everyone else while providing a base of fire,” he said. Jimmy and Harry backed that up.
“How about Buck?” said Red.
“What do you mean? I’m not a Sergeant,” denied Buck, “I’m only in charge of this,” pointing to Frank’s machine gun. “It’s either you or Mick,”
“Oh yeah I forgot about that,”
“Karl’s got a point,” I joined in again. “I think I’ll be the assistant squad leader. How about that?”
Red was a bit unsure. “Alright, then. I’ll lead. Mick becomes number two. Everyone else goes as specified before,” she said, quite nervously.
“That’ll do. Any more questions?”
“No, Sarge,” Dan said, followed by others.
We were told that we would be given new equipment by the time we get to the staging area. The compound was a part of the recon element and acted as a listening post. As it turned out, the Marine Major who had called for auxiliary reinforcement for his compound was the father of someone I was fond of back in high school, Grace Metford.
Everyone in our group were all college friends, but Red was one of my closest friends back in the day. She was this taller-than-average tomboy. She lived in the far part of Melville, quite near a military base. She got into similar interests that I had prior to entering college, and our friendship grew there. She’s a fast learner, and highly eager to do so given any chance. When I came to Melville and looked for her, she'd been giving hell for the first few weeks of the invasion, defending her home with grandpa’s hunting rifle.
Red was seen smoking outside our quarters. I don’t really know what she was thinking about, so I came up to her, trying to dig something.
“Me? Leading the boys, out of all people? Are you crazy? They’re not even gonna listen to me,”
“Well, we’re the only sergeants in the team,”
“I mean you’ve been leading us during basic, for Pete’s sake,”
“Well, now it’s your turn. Folks back there trust you. Okay? They’ll listen. Don’t worry about it,”
“They listened to you,”
“Look,” I continued. “We’re on our own, this time. I mean, in basic training, all I did was follow a superior officer. Without a superior, I’d be blind,”
“As if,” Red sighed. She then threw her half-spent cigarette away, still looking troubled.
Red had considered joining the CivDef before I came to Melville. But when the rest of the crew were gathered, she came with us and enlisted with the Irregular Reserves—a rear echelon unit specifically founded in response to the war. Before enlisting, she had this rifle she found in her grandpa’s house; an old No. 4 Enfield rifle with a leather sling, along with a few clips worth of ammunition and a scope on top. Quite a handy rifle to be honest. Her grandfather must’ve used it to hunt or something. Red, on the other hand, used it to defend her position from looters, both armed or not. She had to abandon that rifle though, as it was rather unwieldy at times—not to mention it was outdated. The ammunition wouldn’t be compatible with the ones issued for the M16 by the Marines.
“You know, I hated losing that No. 4, Mick”, she started. She had wanted to bring that rifle instead of using the M16A1 we were issued with.
“I’m sorry,” I responded.
“Yeah, no, it’s okay. It’s just… Now that I left that house, and the rifle’s gone, the last thing my grandpa left me that was still in my possession is this watch,” she looked onto her left wrist, caressing its crystal before adjusting its position a bit. She stared blankly forward for a while afterwards.
“Could you do me a favor?” Red suddenly asked, turning towards me.
“What is it?”
“In case anything happens to me…”
“Oh no we’re not talking about that,” I said, looking away.
“No, no, please, Mickey. Come on—”
“Alright,” I sighed, looking back at her again.
“I guess it wasn’t that important anyway,” she walked away, feeling dejected.
The next day, we departed for the Major’s compound. We got into the trucks and headed for the estate, locked and loaded. Ear plugs were on. It was around 9AM that we hit the gas. Along with us was a Sergeant Major. He said he was on a new deployment, under a new CO.
“You boys heading to Major Metford?” He inquired about us on the truck, half shouting.
“Yeah!” Red replied.
“Harris Wilkins,” He extended his hand towards her.
“Anne Riley,” she shook his hand, “This is my team!”
-------
We saw burning tires, dead bodies, and destroyed houses along the way. Roads full of potholes made by mortar rounds made the ride a little bumpy. I have already been to the Major’s house before. It looked like an old colonial house with tall windows with wooden sills. It only had a ground floor, so it wasn’t very tall. It is, however, now equipped with a radio tower.
The truck then stopped right before the gate, inviting curious eyes to see. We hopped off, tipped our hats to the driver, and walked towards the gate as the truck drove off.
“We’re here to see Major Metford,” I told the guards, giving one of them the paperwork for it.
“Oh, okay—yeah, I heard about your orders. Yeah, Major’s in there,” the guard confirmed.
“Hey, I know you,” the other guard said, “Crawford High, class of 2010?”
“Hell yeah, man! Dick, wasn’t it?” I pointed at him.
“Aye! Welcome to the fight!” he shook my hand.
“Yeah I got my orders now. Major Metford’s in there, right?”
“You sure you’re seeing the Major?” he teased me.
“Shut up,” I chuckled, “Besides, I got a Sergeant Major here looking to see him,”
“Yeah be careful, though, her boyfriend’s here. Who are these?” he asked.
“This is my squad. The Marines sent us here to assist a very particular Major,” I explained to him.
“You wise ass,” he chuckled, “alright then, go on,” he gave in.
There he was, standing proud at the door; smoking pipe hanging from his mouth. Grace, his daughter that I was fond of, was there. Her boyfriend, Ian Rhodes, was also there. It occurred to me that he’s a doctor; I think he’s here to help with medical stuff. Besides, Grace will need him close. Let’s hope he can cooperate with us.
“There they are. Come over here!” the Major greeted us. “Harris Wilkins?”
“Major Metford,” he nodded.
“Come inside, Sergeant Major, I’ll get to you in a moment,” he insisted. Wilkins then walked up the porch and went inside the house immediately.
“Oh, it is you?”
“Sir,” I confirmed.
“Wait, the girl is your squad leader?” he said, surprised.
“Yes, sir, this is uh… Anne Riley from Melville,”
“Ah, so this is Sergeant Riley,” he commented, “just make sure she makes it out okay. For her own good,”
“Well, she does have a death wish, sir, but of course,” I chuckled. “That Sergeant Major, sir. Is he a replacement?
“Yeah,” he turned, “Our last one was killed a few weeks ago, during an operation that went south,” —
Moments later, we were on his porch, taking his hand for a firm shake. I then proceeded to introduce my guys.
“It’s been a while, Michael, how have you been?”
“We’re alive, sir,” I smiled.
“Yeah, I can see that,” he chuckled back, looking at me up and down. “Yeah, alright, follow me,” he then instructed. “We got weapons for you guys. Have you split up into fire teams?”
“Yes, sir,” I nodded.
“Okay, good, because you’re more than likely to see some action in these parts. Now, it’s best to assign one support gunner per team. The guns are on the table,” he continued, “choose carefully,”
“Yes, sir,”
“Oh and Michael, come here for a sec,”
“Sir?”
“We knew it was gonna be you. The uh… the real reason we called you out here is because I might need to leave for a while. I needed someone to take care of Grace,” the Major said, as he handed out a small pouch. “Please, take care of my daughter, at least until we move out,”
I was confused. However the Major then went inside his house. His child, who stood a little further away, followed suit. That is, after giving me a little smile. I never figured out if she was in on it, but—wait a second, are these…?
I went back out and shook hands with Ian afterwards, trying to explain to him our respective jobs. Clearly, he showed a not-so-friendly face when I arrived, knowing that I’ve had feelings towards his now-girlfriend before.
“Look, I’m here for the objective the Marines gave me—not to take her away from you. Okay? I mean, I like her, I do. But all I’m doing here is to take care of the compound,”
“I get it. You do your job outside the house, I do my job inside the house, that’s all,”
“Unless things get messy. I will need to make sure any plan you have does not go FUBAR, and I will need you to help me out with a few things,”
“Hmm…” he nodded. A long pause. “But you stay off her,” he said as I turn my back
“Oh, come on,” I sighed, turning to face him again. “I’ll do whatever’s necessary,” I walked away, gathering up with my men around the table.
“What are we looking at?” Dan asked.
“A few rifles, nothing we didn't already have there. But these are higher standards,”
“Understood,”
“Sergeants are allowed a pistol with two mags.” Major said, surprising us from behind and tapping on my shoulder. I guess I’m getting one.
Meanwhile, the guys were looking and trying to find what’s best for them. There were a few newer model M16 lying around—the A2 and A4, and I took one. I knew the 1st Recon Battalion had a couple dozen of these lying around from the news on TV a while back.
“These are nice, don’t you think?” Red said as she took a look around.
“Yeah, this is my favorite, as a matter of fact,” I lifted up the M16A4.
“Hmm,” Red took a shorter weapon, a plain M4 carbine with its default carry handle sight. “This thing looks handy,”
I think it fits her with its ability to provide automatic fire, but also accurate enough—well, it’s special forces specifications—to reach out to a distance; and she likes that kind of weapon. That weapon is not too heavy, so she wouldn’t get fatigue just from humping it around. It would’ve been nice if it had some form of optical sights attached to it, but I figured it wouldn’t have been necessary.
For Harry, I put him in a marksman role. The weapon, an M16A2. Factory configuration, no scope, similar to mine. Usually, a marksman would be issued a rifle with a scope on it. However, seeing that we’re on rear duty, it wasn’t necessary. For now, a stock rifle is going to be enough for him. Dan took another M16A4 available. He would be happy enough to keep his A1, but then again, I would be more comfortable if he made the switch, and he did.
Basically, Ryan, Buck, Jimmy, and Karl had similar setups. They all took a version of the AG-2—the R1, but I assigned Karl a grenadier model, with a 16-inch barrel and an under-barrel grenade launcher, the M203. I figured if anyone tries to flank team C, the 203 will deny them of that advantage.
I assigned Mark and Kris for light support weapons, known as Minimis (but our troops followed the American way of saying it, the SAW). This is the support gun that the Major was talking about earlier. I let Frank stick with his MAG, however. It is indeed a beastly machine gun, with a larger caliber than the rest of our weapons—and the ammo is widely available on both sides. We considered ourselves lucky to be issued that machine gun in the first place, as that thing is a platoon-level weapon.
“Do you know how to operate those bad boys?” I asked Mark and Kris about their SAW.
“Sure we do,” Mark responded.
“Alright. Just make sure you pull the charging handle first before opening the feed cover,” I told them. —
There were a few pistols lying around along with its magazines and holsters. There was a SIG, some Glocks, and some Browning. As per the Major’s notice, I picked the SIG and gave Red the Glock. I then decided to give each machine gunner one pistol, as they could be useful in dire situations.
Major Metford then also provided a mix of newer plate carriers for armor—in lieu of older flak vests the Marines had for Reservists—and these had magazine pouches, so we ditched our ALICE gear, except for Kris as he liked the flak vest better. They can carry up to six magazines, and that is exactly what we were going for. We carried six per rifleman except for Red who carried four—MG had their own pouches—and even that is excessive. They also had flag patches on the front, right under the left shoulder strap.
Grier Army doctrine would say, for rear or guard duty, a person is to take three magazines and put it on the three front pouches of their vests—and if they want to, the rest goes anywhere else. However, the Grier Marines’ vests were wider to allow more pouches, and they opted for four double pouches. This allows them to carry more ammunition and sustain longer field operations than the Army.
“About yesterday…” Red suddenly spoke behind me. I turned as she was holding her grandfather’s watch on her left wrist. It has a nicely finished leather strap with her family name carved into it. “I don’t know what’s gonna happen to us here, but… in case anything happens, I want you to hang on to this for me,”
“You keep it,” I insisted, “If anything happens, then I’ll take care of it. But I’ll try my best to keep us alive. Deal?” I gave her my hand, which she then took.
“Deal,”
“Your palms are wet,”
—
Previous Chapter
Related Chapters
Irregulaire The House
The Major’s compound was set up around his own home, 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 to the east, there’s a house with a caved-in roof. Looks like a close call on them. Mortars, I think. There were a few waypoints around the compound, being in a housing complex, which mostly leads to the northwest gates. However, there is this one heading north right in front of the Major’s house, with an intersection that goes westwards and another heading southeast. These waypoints were 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 houses. The house itself would be the designated inner compound, inside the fence, with the main objectives being there, namely the listening post. Befor
Irregulaire The Look Out
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, and 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. Soko has this similar problem. But at least he knows where his family went,” Poor guy. “You’re in love with the Major’s daughter, right?” “Well, I was, yeah,” I answered rather awkwardly. “Your family safe?” “That, I don’t know either. Last time I contacted them was before I enlisted,” “At least you get to be in touch with them. Let’s hope they’re okay, both our families,” “Yes sir,” As the sun started to disappear, a littl
Irregulaire Shards of Glass
I caught a glimpse of the blast just before I got thrown into the ground. The concussion forced air out of my lungs. My ears were ringing due to the blast. I could’ve been dead—but somehow I’m still here, breathing heavily with blood running through my nostrils. Dirt and mud was raining down all over my face. I was trying to get up when I felt a sharp pain in my left side, around the ribs. A fragment from that mortar round had embedded itself into the vest where the armor plate did not reach. A similar piece scratched my left cheek. When I fully regained consciousness, another round had fallen right into Honé’s spot, killing him instantly. “Grace,” I said to myself, still trying to get up while pieces of dirt fell all around me. “GRACE!” I screamed as I grabbed my rifle. She laid there with Ian trying to pick off shards of glass that’s been embedded into her skin. “IS SHE OKAY?!!” “Yea!” “Let’s get her inside!” I shouted as another round fell quite close to the house “RED!” “Yea!?
Irregulaire Rank and File
Later that day, around 9.30-ish, the eleven of us gathered in front of the porch. Buck’s leg was fine, it turned out to be just a ricochet. Major Metford then joined us. He briefed us about what we should do with this squad. Or so I thought. “If we’re talking about Marine doctrine, the squad leader is best not to be part of a team. I mean, good job what you did here, but it’s gonna be better for you if you’re separate from the team. Second in command, however, is more flexible,” he said. I didn’t understand at first, but then, “If you are leading the squad, you don’t want the hassle of leading a team on top of that. Relegate the team to someone else, and you coordinate with that person,” he continued. “Roger that, Major,” Red said. “That means you lead the team, Ryan,” “Me? Oh, no, no, no,” Ryan said to Red. “Oh, yes, and that’s an order,” “I guess it’s time for you guys to have this,” Major chuckled as he handed out some patches. “Put these on your vests, those are your insignias
Irregulaire Body Count
Soko then ordered us to clear the field of fire. That means we had to move the dead bodies so the next wave couldn’t use them as covers. He only needed two men from my squad, so I told Kris and Frank to do it. Also, he needed to report how many enemy combatants we had killed, so we had to count the dead. I decided to join in, to help clear ordinances. I picked up weapons and ammunition on those bodies before the others could pick them up. We moved them and collected them by the mortared house. We need to be careful, as they could be tripped or boobied, both the weapons and the bodies. They could have left a grenade under them that explodes when the body is being moved. One of the pairs of Marines who did this with us actually had one of these but put the body back down quick enough to muffle the grenade. Lucky bastards, they are. But then— “What was that?!” Soko shouted towards us. “It’s a—” BUB, BUB, BUB, BUB, BUB “TAKE COVER!!” A string of machine gun fire came in towards us. P
Irregulaire Casualties
The next day. I was walking around the compound with my M16 when another explosion went off near the fence, followed by a bunch of gunfire. It was a little past 3AM. A little more probing, I think. Lucky, I had that gun locked and loaded. Let’s just hope they don’t come as far inside the perimeter now. But he did have his pistol ready. Red and I jumped out and stormed towards my position. We both noticed that the right flank machine gun was not firing.“GET THAT DAMN MACHINE GUN FIRING, MICKEY!” she commanded. I rushed towards the machine gun, then fired away almost immediately. You know, when you fire that thing, you’ll feel an overwhelming force pulling you into shape, protecting you. A steady stream of thumps hurt you a little at first, but it made you feel stronger over time. And with a cartridge that powerful, the weight seemed not to be a problem for a while. I kept pulling the trigger until I ran dry. That gun fires rather slowly, but 200 rounds don’t seem to be that much. I w
Irregulaire Refuge
“FUCKING BASTARDS!!” Red let it rip with her M4, switching it to full-auto mode, expending the rest of her magazine. I got back to the machine gun, handling it even more furiously. But the wave got so close I figured we would’ve needed to call in support—but we were alone. We didn’t have mortars either, and our grenades would’ve been less effective. Not long after that, two rockets flew past us. The Marines still had a few LAWs, it turned out. It was very much like Independence Day celebration, with bursts of explosion from the rockets lighting up the compound and the enemy positions around them. Now where is that can I left in the bushes? “Red! Last can! I need to find some ammo!” “Alright, Mickey, take off!” It was just a few steps towards my left, but it felt like yards. Enemy fire went above my head as I turned back to look at Red and Kris. Red had moved forward, taking cover behind the fence, beside the MG position. She kept firing and firing, magazine after magazine. When she
Irregulaire Last Glance
The rest of the squad were mostly okay. Mark’s ears were still bleeding, and Kris’ upper arm was scratched. But for the most part, they’re okay. We then gathered with the Major who then commanded us to clear the field of fire. The dead bodies of the enemy piled up again, and it needed to be torn down. “Why didn’t you just ride your way out to HQ?” I asked the Major.“I was waiting for you. I need an escort to move out, so I sent for you to stand guard in their place and take care of Grace while we leave,” he said, smoking his pipe. “But we didn’t get to take off because—well, you saw it yourselves. We couldn’t risk getting flanked. Every time I thought it would be clear for me to move out, they make a move on us,” “How about an airlift?” “We couldn’t send out a request,” he shook his head. I remember now that the tower cannot transmit anything. “That radio tower is busted. The last thing I sent for using the radio was you. Besides, it’s too hot of an LZ,” he concluded.A few minutes
Latest Chapter
Thank You Note
Thank you for reading Recon: The Battle for Crawford! 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 writing. Like a lot of stories, it began with a “what if”. It did take inspiration behind an amalgamation of various historical wars involving irregular and paramilitary fighting and invading forces, such as the Vietnam War, Korean War, Russo-Georgian War of 2008, etc. The result was quite fun, with world-building (that had not yet been completed as of this publishing date) that takes ages to write and carefully spun-off historical events. I got to experiment with a lot of ideas for the storyline, and it turned out pretty good. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Cheers!
Glossary
2IC: Second in Command, i.e., assistant leader. AG-(number): Autorifle, Grieland (number of iteration). Locally developed service rifle.AK: Automatic Kalashnikov. Introduced in 1947, its design evolved into a wide variety of firearms. ALICE Gear: All-purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment. A setup of belts and pouches to carry ammunition and several other things an infantry might need.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 Carbine: short rifles.Company: a unit of soldiers consisting of roughly three to four platoons plus their commander Compound: a military encampment CP: Command Post det-cord: short for Detonation Cord. a type of explosive shaped like a cord to cut through various structuresDMR: Designa
Epilogue
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 Neil and Vic walking alongside her. That 50-meter trip felt like the longest walk I had ever walked my entire life. The fountain we passed by became crowded with wounded men as a temporary aid station was placed there. Bloomberg was reporting to Soko. Colonel 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 gold pouch, figuring I would hold on to it, though I wasn’t sure what I’d do with it. Following her request, I also took Red’s leather-strapped watch off her wrist and pocketed it. I caressed her hair one last time before heading back to the rest of our squad. I’ll see you soon, I whispered.Near the f
The Last Push
“Vic, you got a couple of frags?” I asked, to which he responded by giving me two pineapple grenades. I pulled the pin on the grenades and let the spoon fly off before tossing it consecutively inside the house. I closed the door right after, containing the blast inside the room. Two loud thumps and a few screams later, I kicked the door down. We then opened fire towards the inside of the building, which turned out to be a bakery.“CLEAR!” I shouted after looking left, to which everyone responded by coming inside, with Bloomberg and Vic clearing the other rooms. I instructed Q to stay away from the windows and Neil to guard the entrance to the rear. I then took a good look at the enemies laying around and popped off a few rounds to make sure they’re dead. They were in uniform, and it’s the ANM. “Red,” I called out, “Marren troops,” “No, shit,” she exclaimed. “Where the hell are the rest of the Marines?” Yeah. Where the hell are the Marines? We’re sitting ducks here waiting for them
Surrounded
“GET THE HELL OUT OF THE STREETS! GO!” Soko 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 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 to the streets again. Soko then told us to move across the intersection, then take the now empty machine gun nest and settle there.“We’ll stay here for the moment,” he said. Feeling too bunched up, he spread his men to cover more area. “Konan, take 1st squad and cover the intersection to the south. Hal, take the 2nd squad and face east. 3rd squad will cover our rear. They might be coming down on us really soon,” The platoon then took a little break from the fights, howe
Going out
“I thought you said we’re walking,” I said to Soko, who was getting the drivers ready. By 10.05, we were already out front, lining up for the vehicles we were boarding to head closer towards our objective. “I thought so, too,” he answered, “But the Colonel said we could use the vehicles halfway through. Didn’t want to tire this little lady over here,” he added, looking at Q. She grinned. Now, 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, “Neil!” I called him. “This is it, fellas,” Red announced up front, carrying a map of the area we were going to attack. “Everyone, check your equipment. Put your helmets on. Team leaders, gather around,” she waved at us.“Here we are, Red,”“Okay, here’s the deal. I want you guys to split into two sections at our en
The Father
8.00 am. Mufudzi was kneeling head slumped, mourning his deceased friend. Victor and Neil knelt beside him, as they had served together. With Benson gone, we’re down to only 12 men. That effectively makes Harrison’s team the only one with four men—a proper fire team. I mean, a team of three had sufficed so far, but four was the actual infantry standard. About an hour later, Soko gathered his sergeants—including us. Looks like a briefing, as we had just been under attack. I figured it’s about the plan to reconstruct the defense in case another attack comes, but I figured wrong.“Looks like we’re heading out. Not now, though. Word is we’ll take three blocks of housing complex about two kilometers towards the northwest of the Airport. Enemy activity in that area is still perceivably high, so take caution,” Soko briefed us. “Wait, just us?” Red frowned.“No, word is I’m going with you,” Soko explained, “but I’m not sure so don’t tell anyone yet,”“Are we gonna be on foot?” I asked. “I’
Rage
Out of anger, a few of the officers and NCOs took off to catch those three men, carrying only rifles. 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 their 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 them standing by near the outer fence providing cover. I turned my attention back to Red and Harrison. Red was kneeling beside the Major, putting her hand on the Major’s wound. Soko was both furious and panicking. “Fuck,” Soko exclaimed. “You guys get back to your men. I’ll handle the Major,” he said to crowding Marines.“What happened? I heard gunfire,” Kris asked while coming over towards us with the rest of the crew as we came near our quarters.“The Major was shot,” Red answered. “Wha
Guests
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—or so I thought. They were all in uniform, although I don’t necessarily recognize them. They were armed as well, only minus armor vests. Look out, we got some hotshots over here. Soko and the Major welcomed them and had them debriefed. It turned out they were not survivors of the crash—they were Long Range Patrols, one of the branches of Army Special Forces. They might have run into the jeeps on their way back here. One of those spec-ops guys was taller than the others, and had strikingly messy hair—something unusual for soldiers, but I guess it’s fine since they’re SF. “Well shit, this base even has a hooker on board,” one of the three exclaimed, looking up
