SEPTEMBER, 2004

ON THE U.S.S MEDUSA

OFF THE COAST OF SOMALIA

"SANDMAN"

BRAVO TEAM, ALPHA SQUADRON

COMBAT APPLICATIONS GROUP*

O315 HOURS

They had been watching Reaper drone imagery for five days, every eye on the boat as it heaved with the violent tide. Autumn, with its storms and its angry, lashing sea, posed a hazard for any commercial ship making its way across the Somali coast, but for a ship crammed with twenty prisoners guarded by experienced pirates and stranded in the water with faulty controls, the consequences would be nothing short of apocalyptic.

Sergeant Sandman, the team leader on this mission, looked at the black and white imagery displayed on the computer screen, and noted something down on a piece of paper. He straightened up, and let out a curse. The thirty eight year old had been an assault troop commander for two years and had served four tours in the Unit. He had served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and had deployed with more than a dozen foreign special operations units. The vagueness of the orders passed down by SOCOM had frustrated him. He had flown in five men from Fort Bragg hoping to go in and rescue the hostages as quick as he could, but he had not yet been given the green light. His men had brought all kinds of breeching equipment and a variety of weapons from the armoury. They had brought in scuba kits, carabiners, and other top of the line equipment, anticipating they might have some use in the course of the mission. They were dug in and waiting, but the men who held their leashes were not ready to cut them loose.

He told Grinch to relieve him on what the boys had christened the "bird watch", and went out to the chow hall. The noise of cutlery on plates and the voices of sailors were a glad change from the eerie silence in the "bird watch room". He walked over to where Truck sat, talking with Rasta, Nightwing and Ice. He was about to take a seat when a sailor ran into him and fell back on the floor. Sandman's boys broke up in chuckles. He helped the boy to his feet, and the red faced lad with eyes downcast, squeaked, "Skipper requests your presence in his cabin. Sandman followed the boy through the tables, and out the chow hall, towards the skipper's cabin. The boy left him outside the door and Sandman entered, more curious than annoyed.

The bald skipper, Captain Gregory, looked up at him and nodded for him to have a seat. Sandman sat down. The captain looked at him over a sheaf of papers, and spoke, "The Batphone rang from SOCOM. Green Light"

Sandman let out a relieved breath, and nodded. He left the room and went back to the chow hall, and told his boys to accompany him back to the "birdwatch room".

By 0500, they were ready. They had packed the laptop in a day bag. They had dressed up in desert tan uniforms. They had slung on their Hk416 rifles and had loaded their Glock pistols. They had strapped on bricks of C4 and breeching hammers. They had imprinted that detailed picture of the ship and its inner portion on their minds. They jogged towards the Sea Hawk helicopters that awaited them on the carrier, as the Sun peaked out from its cover of storm clouds.

*: The CAG is the new and official name for what is more widely known as Delta Force

AUTHOR'S NOTE: this chapter details what happened before Sandman and his men take down the ship. The story is a two-shot. The ship is fictional as is its captain. The situation is based on some real events. The main characters of this story belong to Infinity Ward.