If you had visited this same destination, the stamps of the Bahamas tell you of sunshine, clear waters and clear sand, more of the same of enjoyment for miles. If someone looks at it now, that same stamp would had been made years ago. Because the Bahamas is now overrun with dealers making the mass fortunes of drugs being sold here from the South. This was happening since the 2011 hurricanes that struck the island nation. The gangs took the advantage of getting the weapons to fight the law or fight against each other. Forming a power vacuum of several street gangs that threatened the stability of the people.

International news outlets had covered this place for years. With more and more criminals flooding the neighborhoods, the police had been overextended greatly. There was no break after those storms. Nothing had ever worked until 2012.

With concerns coming from the US State Department, the Bahamas had used all law enforcement agencies to form as the Joint Defense Force. The first layer was the cops and the military, struggling to fight against the threat because of the money lost in repairing buildings after the storms. So in that disarray, a private military company of Vanguard Security Assessment had came by to aid the efforts. They came at different times at the end of 2012, all of 2013 to the current situation. The first active duty was coming here in small numbers, they were training the police to tackle advanced situations, even expanding into terrorist scenarios.

The first period was a great success, 140 men and women had joined for the PMC, and they had opened up financial assistance with the UK. The JDF had gotten stronger with Vanguard Security. But the second period came with challenges that defined their strength and unfaltering stance at the odds.

At 2013, the military contractors had sided with several banking services to store shares for use. Then they opened their off-shore accounts to start up a Caribbean HQ in the heart of the nation. Gaining more funding to share with the military and keep their reserves in the banks. There was more than 40 people being recruited and evaluated by the contractors every month to fight the gangs or overseas to the Middle East, and South and Central America.

However, the banks' chief staff were being robbed on the streets, and the reason was of the money they were getting into the accounts of the persons tied to Vanguard. And the PMC had spared a good deal of armed soldiers to handle security, but they had still robbed them because of the money they had on the armored vans and the accounts.

While the street criminals got worse, Vanguard had began to arm the cops and they began to appear on the streets along with the police. They had replaced several outdated weapons with newer ones. But the gangs never backed down from a foe, so the various gangs had stepped up their efforts. More drug and turf wars had occurred. Then, they started to kidnap or kill several private soldiers. They weren't so armed yet to take them on blindly.

At the spring break of 2014. The US Embassy was attacked by a gang that had well over 23 armed suspects, and 16 hostages. Including several tourists caught in the crossfire. The US Army had to come by to rescue them, and all of the suspects were typically arrested or killed. Suddenly, there was more major shootouts at major civilian areas. Hotels were even getting attacked by two gangs at one time. The State Department had raised the threat level in the Bahamas.

Tourism was slowing down, so the PMC had raised their manpower greatly after the Embassy siege, marking the third term as their massive expansion, and Operation Kingslayer officially began on July that year. There was tactically armed officers both from the police and Vanguard Security. They looked like SWAT teams walking on the streets, but had fresh high-end gear. Also adding the armored vehicles at certain locations of the island.

The PMC carried out several arrest warrants on the gang members responsible for the attack on the Embassy and stopping the other gangs from killing other civilians and officers, then focusing on taking on the national waters with boats, cameras and helicopters to prevent weapons and drugs from passing through from the US or from South America. The funds stored in the banks had been used to build military bases around the islands to manage newer recruits and increase the presence of armed personal on the borders.

As with the gangs, they still hadn't backed down from all of this somehow, and still fight against the law and other criminals. They had signed a death wish without an award, or there's something pushing them to do it.

November 22, 2016

9:30 AM.

Nassau, The Bahamas.

The airport had still advertised tourism normally, after getting the sure word of safety from the PMC. Hotels and other tourist-friendly areas are being guarded as normal, while the central communities had been slightly improving. Vanguard Security is more active during holiday seasons, usually on the same terms as Homeland Security. This place was highly guarded, armed with several tactical response teams and specialized bomb squads around the area.

The soldiers were wearing tan body armor and helmets, black full-sleeve shirts and tan pants too. They're well padded to absorb a little more bullets and can resist some explosive damage. Other personal were the officers and the bodyguards that were assigned from the company to guard VIPs in high-risk areas.

"You're the transfer, right?" A merc speaks as his vehicle pulls in to get several mercs that were assigned to the Bahamas. They were off the cargo plane that landed here.

"Of course. What did you expect from the operative files we've sent you?" He replied as he got into the SUV.

Driving away from the airport and onto the coastal road to downtown, few minutes later.

"What are we going now?" The merc asks.

"At Bridgeford's Financial Offices, where you're going to be fully assigned into the company's payroll here." He speaks of an indoor training complex at downtown Nassau. A warehouse that was remade and sold to the company.

At the complex. Today was a tour around the warehouse for two school groups and the natives and tourists that were visiting. There was the training between the national military soldiers and police recruits. And a few others that were joining Vanguard Security. The private military firm has also created the fighting grounds for other companies in the trouble hotspots on the Caribbean. With this, their promotional campaign has made the headlines rather than the crime situation.

More than 45 people were visiting the area. Watching the officers being trained by mercs and practicing weapons in gun ranges outside. Further into downtown were the PMC's Office HQ. A financial quarter that houses the money, arranges the payrolls for its soldiers and executive individuals who are working in the financial sector.

Posters and company pictures were taken since 2012. The recent one was from the show of 'Truth-Bringers', a youth service program worked from the JDF to prevent negative situations in youth from evolving to the structure of crime. The show was made this year, with Vanguard's soldiers serving to prevent the situation from developing new criminals from joining up.

Several transfers had received the folders and accounts, a system that keeps track of several workers at one time. However, due to the nature and complex setups in the workforce recruitment. Details couldn't cover the entire process. The officers that signed up for the training package had to send almost everything about their experience in technical, law enforcement and mechanical fields, also for that effect, they were to have no severe or repeated minor offenses. If it wasn't the case with some of the people, they had trained them in those fields before handling a rifle or any gun at that matter, the rest were based on the choices of that person.

At the end of the program, they're either skilled as the SEALS or the Marines. The assignment depends on the person as well, either he or she gets to be working in the Bahamas, or the person can be deployed elsewhere.

This same building was having the tour guide for the natives and tourists as well. That same guide was a PMC soldier working under guard in this building. He signed up the day before.

"That was one of the shooters of the Embassy Siege last year during the beginning of Operation Kingslayer. We had all of our men to target and arrest about several other gangs involved with the planning of the attack. One of the US diplomats had nearly died at that same day. While 14 US tourists had been killed and looted as they tried to escape. So, instead of being carried to a normal prison. We changed the inner city prison to a military version, in that nature, that was a terror attack that required us to put every effort into stopping that from ever happening." A merc shows a gallery of 2014's major event.

Then later into summer was the operation that had managed to shut down the gang in about a week later. There was video showing Vanguard's Elite personal, wearing bright jungle camo uniforms with reinforced armor. Not too heavy and not too light. They had raided one of the gang's hideout, it was just a bar and they had breached the door and arrested all of the suspects. That gang was wiped out within days, while the other ones had trouble trying to fight against each other.

In October 2014, Vanguard Security has yet again faced with another situation. At the largest island in the Bahamas, located west of Nassau was Andros. A shanty town was responsible for the wreckage of two large military vessels owned by the JDF. They had robbed it, for they had nearly no reasons for it. Over 180 men was deployed at the Western National Park, as they had a shanty town of over 165 civilians. Since they had no idea of any armed gunmen, they had to detain everyone to find the ones responsible for the plundering.

The video shows off a mixture of Vanguard's tactical teams, armed with riot gear along with their normal weapons, then the national soldiers came along as well. They had launched flares into the air, and they cut the power to the town as they approach. All of the teams had machine guns to put fear into the gunmen, then the regular rifles they held in their hands. Armored trucks had came around to drop off troops, and or to round up civilians for questioning. All of the men had came from Dragon Maw's Military Prison at the northern tip of Andros.

But as soon as the immigrants realize the situation as a act of hostility against them, they fought against them unarmed. Some were criminals that had engaged them with weapons. In this case. Most immigrants were unharmed, some were injured or killed due to fighting them back with firearms. While they were sending them to the prison up north. Several surviving crew members from the US Navy were held here. This was to prevent them from reporting back at the base, and they were here since the hurricanes in 2011. It was controversial at first, until the US Military had sided with the company and they had won the case.

The tour continued, with more of Vanguard's activities to be explored. What experience will one of their soldiers will go through? None the less, tomorrow will be uncertain.