After another few months of being AWOL thanks to exams and studying, I've returned with another story. This one is a prequel to That Was Then, This Is Now by WheresDaBeef and KING112, and so, two of the main characters; Charlie and Tommy, belong to WheresDaBeef, the other two; Lee and Dwight, are mine. You can check out TWT,TIN here: s/9987209/1/That-Was-Then-This-Is-Now
EEENNNJJJOOOYYY

Chapter 1:

"It's the same as always. We plan to do something, then you start taking calls in the other room and you disappear." Sophie Hawkins said angrily over the phone.

US Navy SEAL SSGT. Lee 'Tombstone' Hawkins grumbled. "You say that like I do it deliberately." He retorted. "I don't have any control over what happens and when I'm needed." There was a long pause. "Are you sure about that? You're only really alive when you're out there. Admit it!" Lee was angry now. "That's not true and you know it. I love you and I want to make a life for us so we can have a kid or two. We can sort this out when I get back home. I love you Sophie." He finished before hanging up and putting the cell phone on the drawer next to him.

Collapsing onto the bunk nearby, he lay staring blankly up at the ceiling when Dwight stepped in the door. "Yo!" he greeted him as he crossed the room to his own bunk. "You got that shit sorted out with your wife yet?" he asked, half serious, half joking as he rooted around in a duffel bag he had dumped on the bed. The quarters simply screamed Sergeant Dwight 'Dice' Diaz, with dozens of magazines strewn haphazardly near the bunk, an Ohio flag pinned to the wall above his MK.12, which hung ready on a rack.

"Found it!" He exclaimed, taking a laptop out of the bag before climbing into a chair as he opened it. "What's the big deal?" Lee asked, curious as he looked across the room to his fellow SEAL. "Dom just emailed me a video. 'Said I had to watch it before we rotate back next month." Lee shrugged and grabbed a book off of the top of the drawer and flipped through the pages until he found where he was up to. He was hoping to finish the book by the end of the day as he only had a few chapters remaining. It was at that moment that another figure appeared in the doorway. It was their communications expert, Charlie Tyler. Her real name was Charlotte, though Charlie had seemed to stick instead. "Lee, Dwight. You're needed. Tommy wants to go through briefing for a new op." she said. "Meet up's in the tech room in five."

As Dwight groaned behind him, Lee clambered out of his bunk and shouldered a duffel bag of equipment, carefully lifting his MK.12 SPR off of its' rack on the back wall. "A new op?" Dwight asked. "We're in Kyrgyzstan, bang-smack in the middle of fuckin' nowhere!" By that point, Lee was already out of the door and heading down the corridor. They had been based in Kyrgyzstan ever since the Russian Civil War had broken out. Higher ups in the US Government saw the Ultranationalists as a major threat, even with their leader, Imran Zakhaev, dead. Everyone knew that the Loyalists would never win, so it was only a matter of time before Russia returned to its' Soviet roots.

Forward Operating Base Thunder was a large complex near the Chinese border. It had a moderate population of all-military personnel. The operations room was, ironically, barely used due to the quiet nature of the location. This time, however, the room was almost packed. A dozen other SEALs and Night Stalkers stood around the room, all listening intently. At the far wall of the room was a whiteboard with a couple of photographs and markings on it. Next to the whiteboard was Lee's team leader; Lieutenant Thomas 'Tommy' Tyler, Charlie's brother. "Back from your marital issues, Tombstone?" he asked as he watched Lee enter the room. "You two should try counselling." He joked, getting a few chuckles from the others around them.

"Anyway, back to business." He said, looking to the board next to him. "I think we all know Vladimir Makarov." Lee knew who he was. He was the new de-facto leader of the Ultranationalists, notorious for a long list of war crimes. Vladimir Makarov was a sick son of a bitch. "Well, he's about to become familiar with a round of five-five-six, courtesy of us." Several soldiers mumbled amongst each other. "He is currently hiding in a Safehouse several klicks north east of here. The compound is guarded day and night by the Ultranationalists' best. With almost a hundred foot-mobiles and a lot of vehicles, it's a small army over there: so that means a direct firefight is not an option." Tommy explained, pointing to several satellite images, showing different clusters of gunmen and trucks.

He then gestured to another satellite image, this one zoomed out to show the surrounding mountains. "We will insert at the southern base of the mountain at Twenty-One-Hundred and hike our way to the target area overlooking the compound, kill Makarov and head to this plateau here and signal for extraction." Tommy then looked around at the other men and women in the room. "Best of luck, folks. Lets' gear up and get evil."

…

"So who gets the launcher?" Dwight asked, lifting up a suppressed M4 with an underbarrel grenade launcher. "Charlie can have it." Tommy replied, she's got the best aim aside from you and Lee." The SEAL nodded, handing the carbine to his squadmate before going back to his own weapon.

Lee picked up his sniper rifle again, clicking a magazine into the receiver of the MK.12, checking that the sights were aligned. He then set the rifle aside and got his sidearm; a Vickers' Tactical M1911, sliding the pistol into a holster on his chest just below the American flag on his tactical vest. He likely wouldn't need the pistol, as they were going for a stealthy approach, though he had the weapon with him in every op, for luck more than anything else.

A few mags for the rifle, a pair for the 1911 and his ammunition was sorted. He picked up a couple of frags and some smoke grenades, clipping them onto his vest before slinging his sniper and turning to the others. "Anyone else ready to kick some Russian ass?" he asked.