Chapter One: New Guy
1300 hours
Victory Valley Forward Operating Base (54th Intelligence/Counter-Intelligence Division HQ)
Kyrgyzstan
I was nervous as hell when I disembarked from the Black Hawk. I saw Humvees and M939s all over the place. I saw an Abrams tank roll by. Helluva secret base, I thought in my head. My name is Alex Tom Arthur, and I am a Sergeant. I was in Kyrgyzstan, at the Victory Valley F.O.B., the forward base for the 54th. The 54th ICI was supposed to be a group of the most elite combat warriors in the world. It was like those black operations rumors, only not so secret. I was caught off guard when I heard, "HEY YOU, FUCKING NEW GUY! CAN'T YOU LISTEN TO ANYTHING I SAY!" Captain Peter screamed, his face centimeters from mine. "Uhhh, I'm sorry, Sir." "Well sorry doesn't cut it." Peter walked away. "Haha, you just got schooled, bro!" said SpC. Timothy Smitts, the team's sniper. "Shut the fuck up, Timmy." I shot back. "Bastard." muttered Tim as he walked away. I went on to the training course.
30 minutes later, I went to my bunker. when I saw my bed, Timmy was standing by it. "Oh, you are kidding me, right?" I said. Tim started to say something, but stopped when Peter walked in. "Boys, I see you fighting like a fucking married couple. I'm sending you two behind enemy lines, to sabotage a building. The building contains things vital to them, but useless for us. Get your gear, the chopper leaves in 30 minutes. Go." Peter walked out of the room. "Dammit." I muttered. "Well well well, Alex. Time to get serious, dawg." In my head, I thought, Fuck my life. We packed our gear.
Chapter Two: Getting Along
1600 hours
Altai Mountains
Northeast Kazakhstan
I watched as the chopper flew away. "Well, here we are." said Tim. "Okay, let me tell you something. I only tease people to help me not focus on the horrors I have seen. But we're in the field now, so let's do this!" Tim explained, after which he pulled the charging handle on his M21 sniper rifle. I then readied my UMP. We walked up.
"Hold up- 3 man patrol ahead. AK-103's, Makarov PMs, RGD grenades. Lets kill 'em." He aimed his rifle, as I did with my UMP.
Silenced gunshots filled the air, but due to our guns having silencers, I doubted anyone knew anything had happened. Except for Tim and I. "Good aim, Tim." I said. "Hold on a second. Another lone guy. I will get him." Said Tim, as he handed me his rifle, and pulled his pocketknife out. With one arm, he held the guy and covered his mouth. The other, impaled the helpless guy with the knife. "That is how you take a guy out, Alex." He said, as he took his M21 back from me.
We continued on, until we saw a building. "That's the building! I'm gonna stay back and snipe, you go in and plant C4 on the inside of the building, so we collapse the goddamn structure. Lets move." commanded Tim. I went into the building, C4 and UMP ready. I shot a guy in the back, and got to work, placing each C4 pack just right, so as to cause maximum damage. I'm not ONLY stealth, you know. Anyway, when the last C4 packet was placed, I went to leave the building, but as I turned around, a Russian firing squad was standing right there, every rifle aimed at me. "Drop the gun, turn around, and get on the ground." said the Russian officer. I had no other choice but to comply. I dropped the gun and the c4 detonator, turned around, and kneeled. I raised my hands to surrender. "You poor, weak, little thing. You thought you could destroy my headquarters? And you think by raising your arms in the air, we would spare you? No, not when I'm the commander. Deal with him." I heard the Russians cock their rifles. I knew it was the end.
But, just when I knew my back would be flooded with bullets, I heard the window smash, and through it came Tim. He had come to rescue me! His M1911 drawn, he shot and killed each Russian, one by one. "You okay, man?" "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks." "We can talk later, we have to get out first." "Good call." I grabbed my UMP and C4 detonator, followed Tim out, slung my UMP over my back, turned around and pulled the detonator out. "Alright, here we go." I said. "Click Click-" I hit the detonator, detonating the C4, and collapsing the building containing my would-be grave."-Boom." "Nice job, Alex." "Oh come on, Tim, I would have been dead if it weren't for you!" "Ok, lets just get out of here" "Good idea." Tim pulled his radio out. "Command, this is Echo Two-Two, the HVB is destroyed, repeat, the HVB is destroyed, mission success, over" Command station Ozone answered. "Roger that, Hammer Six-One is en route to your area to get you guys back to base, over" "Roger that, Ozone, over and out." Tim tried to start a new conversation. "So, what word starts with Bi and ends in Tch?" "Oh, Timothy..."
Chapter Three: Ambush Territory
200 miles south of Kabul
Afghanistan
PFC. John Hudson held his M4A1 Carbine nervously. "What's the problem, Hudson?" asked Cpl. Jack Marston. "I'm just nervous, that's all." "If its because its gonna be your first battle, then stop worrying. These OpFor dipshits don't stand a chance against us Marines." The pilot's voice was heard over the intercom. "Alright deltas, we are approaching the DZ. Get ready to fast rope out of the chopper." Sgt. Micheal Wilding gave orders to the squad. "Hudson, Marston, when we get down there, we are gonna keep them suppressed, Cooper, you lay down some MG fire on the soldiers. If tanks show up, then you help our Strykers out, help blow them up. Everyone got it?" The squad replied all at once. "Sir, yes sir!" The squad executed the plan. Before they knew it, they were assaulting the town itself, the one that the so-called "OpFor" was defending. "Gosh damn, we move through so fast. It's like we have the force of a fucking juggernaut." said Hudson. Marston replied, "That is what the United States Marine Corps is about, Hudson." The marine squad, designated Delta Four, found an abandoned technical. Cooper spoke up first. "Nice, we could use it." Mike replied, "Good idea. Hudson, you drive. I will sit in the passenger seat. Marston, you get on the M2. Cooper, you sit in the back with Marston, since you carry the squad's heaviest weapons. Go." The pickup started. "Keep your eyes out for movement" said Mike. Cooper said, "This is ambush territory. They are probably watching us." "We are not shooting unless they shoot first" replied Mike. As if on cue, a bullet struck the side of the truck. "Shit, we have a sniper!" screamed Marston. All of a sudden, MGs, Rifles, and RPGs opened fire on the truck. Mike yelled, "HUDSON! GET US THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" Hudson replied, "I cant! This damn road has too much rubble, and I'm going as fast as I can!" The truck was battered, but it held together. Both Cooper's 249 and the mounted M2 were tearing out bullets. Hudson shouted, "Mike, I cleared the rubble!" Mike replied. "Alright, haul ass, HAUL ASS!" Marston pulled out his radio. "Ozone, this is Delta Four-Two, we just got ambush by a shitload of Afghani militia, requesting evac, over" There was no answer. "Repeat, this is Delta Four-Two, can you hear me?" Again, no answer. "Damn it. Mike, radio is messed up." Hudson spoke to himself. "This is going to be a long first battle..."
Chapter Four: Stranded
The squad had been driving for almost an hour, when the truck stopped. "Shit, were out of gas" said Hudson. "Alright, we need to go on foot." said Mike. "But where?" asked Marston. "We will figure it out." The squad moved on, and found themselves walking through a wide, open road. The squad was caught offguard. A shout was heard in Arabic. Then the sound of gunshots filled the air. The OpFor had taken positions in an apartment building. Mike yelled, "Hudson, clear out that building!" as he gestured to a bank across from the apartment building. "Yes sir." replied Hudson. Hudson walked in. He cleared the first two rooms, but when he reached the third, an OpFor soldier had hidden behind the door. The soldier, unarmed, punched Hudson in the face and kicked his gun away. The two proceeded to get into brutal hand-to-hand combat.
Meanwhile, the group outside was being faced with stronger and stronger opposition. Marston was getting worried when Hudson wasn't coming back."I need to go find Hudson, it has been three minutes!" he said. "Alright, but hurry up." said Mike
Hudson fought hard, but was succumbing to the power of the OpFor soldier. Hudson was lying on the ground, too weak to fight anymore. The OpFor picked up Hudson's M4A1, cocked it, and then got his helmet knocked off and covered the floor with blood as bullets from Marston's M16 tore into him. "Buddy, are you okay?" asked Marston. "Kind of." Hudson tried to get up. He was not able to stand well. As Marston and Hudson came out, Mike screamed, "Take cover! We have enemy LMGs tearing this place up!" Gunfire from an estimated one-hundred OpFor soldiers lit up the area. All the squad headed for cover, as there were a few holes in the ground caused by artillery fire. When all hope seemed lost, the sound of helicopter rotors were heard. "Wait, what's that?" asked Cooper. Then an AH-6 attack helicopter came into view. "OORAH, OpFor bastards are in trouble now!" All the rifle fire had stopped. This was soon replaced by the ominous sound of the AH-6's dual Miniguns spinning, and then the sound of them firing. "Delta Four, this is Hornet Two-Four, a Black Hawk chopper from the Navy SEALS, callsign Able Two-Three, is on it's way to pick you guys up, E.T.A. 5 minutes, over." Marston replied "Roger that, this is Delta Four-Two, thanks for the support, over" "Your welcome, Delta Four-Two, over and out" Hudson then spoke up. "Finally, we get to leave." The squad watched at the Black Hawk's silhouette came through the air.
The Black Hawk landed, but encountered MG fire from dug-in Militants. One SEAL shouted, "Keebler! Get on the Minigun!" the other replied, "Yes Sir, Pillsbury" as he hopped on the Minigun, and started blasting away at targets. "Thanks for getting us out of here." said Cooper. "No problem. By the way, you can call me Pillsbury, and my partner, Keebler." Everyone started to introduce themselves to each other. "You okay with the first mission?" Marston asked Hudson, who looked depressed. "Yeah, I guess." "Don't worry, after a few more, you will be fine." "Gee thanks, Marston..."
Chapter Five: Intelligence
1700 hours
150 miles east of Pripyat
Ukraine
I walked on through the abandoned town. My squad consisted of, Timmy, who I now sometimes call Hellraiser, Corey Walden, the new guy, and Captain Peter. Our mission was to secure some old Soviet Intel, before the Russians get it and get any ideas, I should say. Rumors say that around 100-200 miles away from Pripyat, there is a ghost town with Soviet Intel. We had to get it.
"Hold up, squad" said Peter. Timmy, Corey, and I stopped. "Booby trap." Peter disarmed it. "You seriously think that a booby trap from 30 years ago would still work?" said Timmy. "I agree with Timothy. I don't think it would still work." said Corey. "Well, we can't take chances either." I spoke up. "Well wait a minute, this type of booby trap was made in 2001. There are people guarding it." Peter asked, "What makes you think that people are guarding the Intel?" Then we heard low engines. We hid quickly, as a BMD-3 went past them. "That BMD tells me." I said. "Screw you" said Peter. We became silent again, as a Russian patrol came by. "They've passed, lets go" said Peter. We moved up. Hellraiser spotted a small patrol. "Lets take them out" We aimed our weapons. A few quiet ticks from the muzzles of our guns, the patrol was knocked out cold. We moved up. Corey spotted the building. "How are we going to get past that?" asked Timmy, gesturing to the entrances. "There are guards at every door." "We go in by force" said Peter. We opened fire on the building. Moments later, the air was filled with gunshots from Russian weapons, as our weapons were silenced. We made it in the building, when I heard the ominous three words: "Alex, take point."
I went on up there, and practically got jumped by three unarmed men. I was thrown to the ground, got kicked, punched and nearly stabbed when a one of them took my knife. Corey saved me just in time. "Thanks, Corey." I said. "No problem." was his answer. We then cleared the rooms together, and neither of us got jumped. I was looking in one room when I heard Corey say, "I found it!". I replied, "Good, now let's get the hell out of here." I looked out a window, and saw the BMD. At the same time, I heard Hellraiser on the Radio. "The BMD is targeting us. Take it out." I tried to call him back, but he did not answer. I looked around, and, luckily, I found an RPG-7, but with no rockets. "Corey, did you by any chance see an RPG rocket in the other room?" "Yeah." "Go get it for me!" He came back moments later with the rocket. I slid it, locked it, and fired at the BMD. The rocket curved away. "No!" But, it hit a building next to the BMD, causing the building to collapse and destroy the BMD. We took a UAZ, a truck that one could call the Russian version of a Jeep, out of the area. Timmy was first to read the papers. "Whoa, it says the Soviet Union was planning an invasion of the U.S. We have to get this to the marines" "Yeah" I said. "Good call"
At that time, little did we know that we were too late.