Prologue
Year 2024
Thursday
March 24
15:00 hrs.
Baghdad, Iraq
Alpha/Zulu team
Air Force Special Forces
Dragon Skin Attack Group
"Hey Sarge, you see anything?" Sergeant Jack Cortez heard over his neural implant's bone conduction transponder. He could hear the voice, yet feel it. It was like a third conscience. The first conscience was his natural one; the second was his tactical commander.
"Sarge, are you there?"
"Yeah I'm here, Benny, what do you want?"
"I was wondering if you saw anything," Said Corporal Benny Hayes, Sergeant Cortez's third in command, "And I was wondering when we will get some explosive ordinance."
Another voice came over Cortez's neural implant, "Shut up you friggin' pyro." This voice had a dry Irish accent, it was the voice of Corporal Shawn O'Reilly, the "Leprechaun" of the team and Cortez's second in command.
"Corporal Hayes, you will get your explosives when we rendezvous with the boys from the First Infantry Division. Then we will−"
"Whoo-hoo! The famous Big Red One!" said Private Travis, or Tex as he normally was called. Tex was obviously from Texas and was a true Texan to the heart. He was the heart and soul of the entire unit."
"Okay boys, get up on your feet, check your ammo and supplies and saddle up. Let's move out!"
**
The two squads got up from leaning against the stone parapet and walked over to their armored tactical troop transport, or more commonly called the A-Triple-T. They entered the special made transports that had been designed to fit the Dragon Skin armor that the attack group wore. Dragon Skin was a new type of body armor that could withstand almost any type of ammunition and did not hinder any type of body movement, whatsoever. In fact it was so strong that they took it from its original design, which was just a bullet proof vest, to a full coverage protective suit. The suit could even take a .50 caliber sniper round to the chest and remain almost unscratched. The Dragon Skin's only weakness was that it could be blown apart by multiple anti-tank weapons or hundreds of high caliber rounds, other than that, it was nearly indestructible.
**
The war in Iraq had been going on since Cortez was a young child. Since the war began it had steadily gotten worse, until the U.S. government had decided a few years back to give their soldiers all they needed and more, at the expense of the taxpayers of course. Exactly five years ago the Dragon Skin test project began and Cortez was the first man to be picked for the program. At the time he had been only a private, but had quickly advanced to the rank of sergeant.
"So, Sarge what are our new orders?" a woman's voice said through the neural implant. The woman's voice belonged to Corporal Brandy Halverson, the only woman in the squad of eight. Though she was the only female, she wasn't a liability; she was the team's sniper and anti-tank specialist. When she was relaxed her voice was calm and quiet, but when she was in "sniper mode" her voice became icy and disembodied, and that signaled that she was ready to kill.
"Our job," Cortez explained, "is to clean out some crappy mosque on the outskirts of town; we're supposed to encounter minimal resistance, according to the Commander."
"Oh, sure this mission will go like the Commander said," replied the newest addition to the group, Private Rivera, "as if any other mission has gone with 'minimal' resistance."
Cortez ignored the comment and didn't reprimand him, but something didn't feel right.
"Hey, I'm sure this will be an easy detail for a change;" said Corporal Halverson, "lighten up Rivera."
"I was just sayin' what was on my mind,that was all." was the private's only response.
Both squads got into their transports and started of towards their destination.
**
Hussein Balleesh had just finished setting up the last 50 caliber turret and loading it with two hundred carbonized-steel-core rounds, when he heard his radio at his side go off: "Hussein I just saw the armored Americans enter their transport and head towards you."
As soon as he had heard this Hussein yelled to all of his fellow freedom-fighters, "Hurry up all of you, the Americans will be here soon! Get those cannons set up now! We need those sand bags constructed so they take the Americans' shots. We will win this battle, my brothers!" Quietly he said to himself," I will not lose this war, or Allah help me. I will not lose."
All the other insurgents in the mosque's courtyard yelled at the top of their voices in approval.
**
Both squads were dropped off about 2 minutes from their destination, because the transports were needed elsewhere. Sergeant Cortez was standing on the side walk going over the plan with both. "Now one more time, team alpha will go into the mosque's courtyard and clear all resistance; zulu team will go onto the neighboring rooftops and give us cover from above. Lieutenant Segraves, if things get too hairy down here, you and your wingmate have full permission to blow the mosque to pieces, do you copy?"
A crisp clear voice came over the line,"Ok sir TX-89 Reapers are in the sky and ready to fight." The voice belonged to 2nd Lieutenant Eric Segraves, a pilot who had just been sent over to Iraq about seven months ago and was still on his first tour of duty as being teams alpha and zulu's "aerial assistant". He had been valedictorian of his class; but none of that mattered anymore, being smartest in your class gave you bragging rights but it won't help you dodge an incoming surface-to-air missile that will blow you out of the sky without hesitation. With all that in mind he finished his statement, "We are loaded up and our weapons are hot. Call on us if you need us, as you probably will. Oh, and by the way, Corporal Halverson, how's it going down there." The Lieutenant fancied the pretty, brunette woman.
Hearing this Benny jokingly said, "Now why would you say that?" While he said this he was in the process of releasing the slide of his M-8 assault rifle. Seeing this Cortez realized that he hadn't loaded his own weapon. He also noticed that Corporal O'Reilly was twirling his side arm like he was some sort of Irish cowboy. "O'Reilly, stop doing that with your pistol, someone will accidentally get shot" reprimanded Cortez. He knew that by doing this O'Reilly would shoot at his best. He also knew that O'Reilly could shoot a man in the head with a 9mm. handgun from seventy-five yards away, so he had no doubt in his capabilities.
"Ok boys, what's taking so long," said Brandy, "I'd love too have a pleasant chat, especially with you, Lieutenant, but we have a job to do." After she said that, they all knew that she meant business by the tone in her voice: she was in "sniper mode". In reaction to this everyone got back to their feet and headed out.
**
Corporal Nicholas James was in a building across from the mosque that they had to raid with his .50 caliber sniper rifle. He had been studying it from afar, and had seen minimal activity from the time he had been there, which had been about ten minutes. All he had seen was a couple men with AK47's, M-16's, and M-4's there were 2 sandbag barriers, nothing that they couldn't over come. He reported to Sergeant Cortez, "Sir, this is Corporal James, I have 5 men standing in the courtyard with AK's and M-16's do I have permission to take them out?"
"No, permission denied Corporal, hold your fire," was his only reply from his commanding officer. After he heard this James swore under his breath, he really wanted to get some of the action, instead of sitting in a building and watching in case they needed help. In fact if they needed help they would probably pick that stupid fighter pilot to assist them. It sucked to be a sniper.
**
"Come on Sarge, you and I both know that James can't shoot for his life!" complained Corporal Halverson. "I'm the best shot of both teams, not James! Why do I have to stay behind with you guys?"
"Once again, no." said Cortez, "we need you with us on the ground so you can take out any enemies that are hidden behind barriers. Plus I know that you are a better shot than James; that's why I chose you to stay on the ground with us. By the way, load your weapon, you're gonna need it."
"Whatever, Sarge, you know that you're hindering my abilities." was the corporal's only response. After she said that she immediately loaded her own .50 caliber sniper rifle with armor piercing rounds and headed off with her team towards the mosque.
Once they were a block away from the mosque, both teams came to a stop at a street corner and waited for Corporal James meet up with them. When he did he reported that there was no activity at the site. For the third time, Cortez went over the plan for the last time and Zulu team headed off to be stationed in the vacant buildings beside the mosque's courtyard. Alpha team waited for their cue to attack once Zulu was situated.
About three minutes later Zulu reported that they were in position and that Alpha could attack. Alpha team moved to the wall in front of the courtyard, when Corporal James called in with a voice of pure terror, "Sarge, they have heavy weapons at the site; they know that we are here! We gotta get out of here! We gotta—"
A huge explosion shook the very ground Alpha team was standing on, and the building that Zulu team was in exploded and collapsed. "Corporal-- Zulu team report! James!" Cortez shouted into his microphone. "Alpha team, move in now!"
**
Hussein Balleesh had known that the Americans were in that building since they entered it. He had been waiting for the precise moment to strike with the artillery cannon they had hidden inside the mosque, but he hadn't expected it to blow the entire building up. It really showed how effective American technology could be. While he was considering this, gunfire erupted in the courtyard, so he ran out to fight the infidels who were going to defile this holy place.
**
Cortez ran into the courtyard, like a bat out of hell, firing his rifle at any attackers he could see. He wanted to kill them, all of them. They had killed his men and they would die for that. Any man in his path was cut down by his gunfire, until he had to reload his weapon. At the very moment he had to reload, an attacker popped up out of cover and started to run at Cortez, until he suddenly stopped and fell to the ground, missing part of his head. Cortez looked over his shoulder and saw Corporal Halverson's rifle barrel smoking. "Thanks." he said. She nodded in approval and ran off to kill some more enemies. Cortez looked around at his team and saw complete chaos. He watched Private Travis run past him and saw the armor on his shin explode in a shower of blood and bits of bone; he heard him scream in pain, as he shot back at his attacker and put twelve bullets in his attacker's chest. It was then that he realized that all of the weapons that the insurgents had was not here by chance, it was here for only one purpose: to completely annihilate his team. His team didn't stand a chance.
**
The Americans didn't stand a chance was all that Hussein was thinking. They were disorganized and would fail. He started yelling orders at his men, "Uncover the rockets! We will win my brothers! Today we will be in Paradise!" he hefted a rocket propelled grenade over his shoulder and fired a rocket at one of the Americans. He dropped the launcher and threw a hand grenade at the closest American and waited.
**
Corporal O'Reilly was just praying to God that he would get home to see his wife and children, when he heard a metallic ping at his feet. He looked down and saw a hand grenade at his feet. "Holy sh—"
**
BANG!! Cortez looked in the direction of the sound, the direction of where Corporal O'Reilly should have been, but all he saw was a fine cloud of red mist and a blackened crater in the ground, surrounded by small pieces of flesh. "O'Reilly! Shawn!! Nooo!" This couldn't be happening, his team was dying, and it was all his fault. It was too late to retreat. "Lieutenant blow up the mosque, blow up the frickin' mosque." As soon as he said this he was hit by a bullet in the chest and the entire world turned a bit hazy and blurred. He saw Private Rivera be shot in arm and scream in pain, but suddenly the artillery cannon in the mosque fired in a deafening explosion, and he couldn't hear a thing. The entire world was silence and all he saw was bloodshed on both sides. He gathered up enough strength to call for reinforcements from HQ, but he knew it would be too late.
**
Lieutenant Segraves was observing the firefight from the cockpit of his TX-89 Reaper, when he received the orders to blow up the mosque. "What in the world is going on down there?" asked his wingman.
"I don't know, but we just received new orders: take out the mosque. Hit it with all our air-to-ground missiles." was the lieutenant's reply.
The two jets flew side by side and approached the mosque at one quarter speed. Right before they got to the safe distance to release the missiles, the insurgents in the mosque opened fire at the jets with shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles. Before the jets could release their payload, they had to execute evasive actions to keep themselves from being blown up.
Lieutenant Segraves was frantically using all the evasive tricks he could dig up from his training at the Air Force Academy to keep himself from becoming a fireball. He flipped, rolled banked left and right, he could not shake the incoming missile. It was like the missile knew what he was going to do, this was no ordinary rocket. He heard over the radio, "Hey Eric, I'm gonna try something to shake this thing off my tail. Hopefully this will work. Cross your fingers, man" said the lieutenant's wingmate. Lieutenant Segraves watched in horror as he saw his wingmate bank very sharply to the right as the incoming missiles got closer. He watched until the stress was so great on his wingman's ship that his engine stalled and the missiles collided into his wingman and explode into a ball of flame. While he was watching, he didn't notice that the missiles on his tail were getting closer. When he did notice this the attacking projectiles were almost in contact with his fighter. He dug into the deepest parts of his memory to think of a maneuver he could use in this case of life or death. He finally thought of one, it was probably the dumbest idea ever but it should work, it had to work. If it didn't work he would die.
**
Hussein was alive with energy and victory he and his men had just about won this tiny battle; shot down one, soon to be two jets; and were going to take several of the Americans captive, if the men let them survive. This was a glorious victory. Allah would smile upon him and his tactical genius.
**
Corporal Halverson was in the midst of the hellish firefight. She was like a killing machine, all that was seen was a target and was promptly shot and killed. She wasn't thinking, she was just killing; she killed for revenge, for justice, and for the sport of it. Even though she was killing nonstop she still saw her team being cut down by a hailstorm of bullets, grenades, rockets, and God knew what else. She saw Corporal O'Reilly get blown up, she saw Private Sanchez get hit in the face with a rocket, she saw Private Rivera get shot in the gut, she also saw her own Sergeant get shot four times in the chest and keep on moving. She saw everything but the rock that was flying toward the back of her head. She was in the middle of shooting a man in the right eye, when all she saw went black and she heard nothing.
**
It was amazing how much throwing a five-pound rock at the back of a person's head could help in a situation like this, thought Hussein. Just in doing that simple action he had saved the lives of many of his men that were still alive. Now he only had to deal with the one commanding the American, the one who was shot in the chest many times; the young one whose ankle had been raked with multiple bullet and the other wounded Americans who were on the ground. This was too easy, but he wondered what had happened to the last American pilot. No matter, he was probably dead by now.
**
Lieutenant Segraves was just about to do the stupidest act of desperation ever. The move was from a movie he had seen when he was about four or five years old, the movie was about a group of fighter pilots who had to shoot down their traitorous wingman. The move was to let the enemy ( in this case a missile ) get close and cut the engines and pull the stick sharply towards your own body and the plane will do basically a backflip. When the move is executed, the attacker will overshoot and then the pilot will be behind the enemy, and can shoot it down.
He decided to do the move, which he nicknamed the "cut-throat". He waited until he was heading toward the mosque at a high rate of speed, let the missile approach until it was about ten yards from the back of his fighter jet and he did it. He cut his engines to five percent and pulled back on the yoke as hard as he could, he watched as the missile passed a foot away from the cockpit canopy. He had did it, he was successfully behind the missile, and shot it down with his jet's cannons. He then double-backed, targeted the mosque and fired. That was for you, Simmons was the Lieutenants only thought. He would miss his only friend that he knew over in Iraq dearly, but there was work to be done. "Sergeant, mosque has been neutralized."
**
Hussein's last notion of victory was destroyed when the mosque he was standing in front of imploded in a massive explosion. All he had now was a lot of wounded soldiers and a few fighting enemies. Now he didn't have even a mosque to protect. He was going to get revenge for them demolishing his holy place. They all would die, in due time.
**
Sergeant Cortez was the only soldier left fighting. All his teammates were either dead or passed out because of blood loss. He was also about to pass out he fell to his knees and fell onto his back, coughing up small amounts of blood. He saw the insurgents who were defending the now demolished mosque raised their guns and cheer in unison. He saw one of them approach him and speak to him in Arabic, the man said, "You fight like many men, you are a good opponent, that is why I will leave you die, I enjoyed fighting you." He saw other men drag away some of his wounded men and Corporal Halverson. He stared back at the man leaning over him and said, "Burn in hell." After that he passed out.
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