Ask around. Get the intel. Wait around a for a bit sometimes. Hit the target. Rinse and repeat. That was more or less the standard procedure for every time that Charlie company of the 75th Ranger Regiment went outside the wire. This time was slightly different since the target was provided by the boys up in intelligence instead of from going around on presence patrols but, it was more or less still the same thing.
Second platoon – callsign Warrior - was going after the target known as 'The Tinkerer' who has been plaguing the region with IEDs and has already hospitalized over 30 marines and killed eight soldiers. This will be the day that they bring the hammer down and put The Tinkerer out of commission and make him face the justice of a military tribunal or a plethora of copper jacket bullets.
Specialist Dominic Gordon would be leading the convoy out of the FOB in and was responsible for Warrior-One which would be the first onto the breach once they got to the target's house. Warrior-One was equipped with a M134 minigun that would blaze through any resistance and most of the Humvee's interior was taken up by 7.62 ammunition containers so the only occupants would be the driver, navigator/commander, and gunner. This proved to create quite a dilemma for the gunner Randy, who was currently trying to decide which was more fun to shoot – the MK19 which was an automatic grenade launcher, or the minigun, which could spew out death at 50 rounds per second.
The train of thought was quickly extinguished when Dominic announced that they just left the green zone. The ride was quiet as everyone was preparing for the battle that was sure to come. The convoy passed herds of donkeys, bombed out shacks, and buildings that were in varied states of disrepair. No matter where they went, there was a eerie mist that hung over the convoy as the dust was kicked up and the streetlights added a orange-yellow tint where ever one could be found. The mist however, was mostly disregarded since the green, grainy hue of the night vision nullified any coloration. The green screen however was often flickering and Dominic fixed that by applying a firm smack to the side of the AN/PVS-15.
Warrior continued through the urban sprawl until they got within a click of the target. Once there was less then a kilometer between them and the target, the convoy was pushed to max speed to reduce the time to target and reaction times. The Humvee's engine strained as it was pushing to get over 80KPH as it barreled down the streets, slowing only for turns.
Second platoon was at the target building within two minutes and struck with the ferocity of a Kansas tornado. Everyone dismounted save for the gunners of Warrior-One and Four and formed up at their assigned buildings.
Dominic ripped the door open as the Humvee slowed to a stop and made an attempt to get out when his rifle got tangled in a myriad of radio wires that came loose from it's jury-rigged holder thanks to several high speed turns. As he got the rifle untangled he looked up and saw a fireteam running at a dead sprint away from their building, a cry came over the radio in the Humvee's center console.
"EVERYONE GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE COMPOUND! That shack is rigged to blow with a timer that has less then 30 to det!" Dominic recognized that as his lieutenant who was currently making a bee-line for Warrior-One as the rest of the section ran for Warrior-Two.
A hailstorm of automatic gunfire came to life as a freshly awaken bodyguard opened fire on the Rangers that were in the process if leaving the compound. The minigun came to life and pumped in a stream of tracers at the window the offending jihadi was shooting from. The lead spewing buzz saw fired in short bursts in an attempt to suppress the enemy. It went completely cyclic as more and more guards and fighters came out and opened fire on Second platoon.
As that was happening, Dominic ripped the handset from the center console and began transmitting back to the FOB. "Kiowa this is Warrior. Tinkerer has his compound set to blow. We are getting the hell out of here. Prepare for mass casualties." the specialist didn't even bother listening to the response as his mental clock kept counting down.
14...
13...
12...
Warrior-Three, Six, and Four reached max capacity and began to haul ass out of there.
11...
10...
9...
Lieutenant Sykes turned around and began to drag the Ranger behind him who took a round to the hip towards Warrior-One.
8...
7...
6...
5... shit... we're so screwed.
Dominic began to pray as Sykes began to open the door, only to take several rounds along his back, painting the door of the Humvee red.
It turned out that Sykes' count was off as the building turned into a miniature sun prematurely according to Dominic's mental clock.
Klaxons. That was what Dominic heard as his body began the waking up process. When he opened his eyes, he was greeted with a light so bright it felt like someone took him and forced his face onto the surface of the sun. After a brief period of disorientation, he quickly realized that his night vision was the perpetrator of his painful blindness so he pushed the goggles off his eyes and had perched them on his helmet.
Giving a brief moment to allow his eyes to adjust to the new lighting, he stared straight ahead and rapidly blinked his eyes. That was when a sounder of black and white armored boars charged across his field of view.
I have to be hallucinating, right? There is no way that I could have survived that explosion. Yet despite what Dominic thought, there was no denying the tremors in the ground caused by the black and white creatures.
It was then that he remembered that Randy was, should, be behind him in the gunner's platform. He turned around and saw Randy squinting his eyes trying to adjust to the light since he too had his night vision on when he woke up.
"Randy, you good man?" Dominic called out
"Yeah, never been better." Was the reply from the gunner.
"What the hell is going on?" Dominic asked but he knew it would be a fruitless endeavor since Randy was behind him the entire time.
The reply came after a moment of contemplation. "Let's see here... It seems that we're not dead and there is a pack of boars running around the street with reckless abandon."
"A group of boars is called a sounder you-"
A group of fleeing civilians caught Dominic's attention as they were running from the boars and were failing seeing as how the boars were gaining on them. One of the group slowed down and drew a pistol from his hip and got into a Weaver Stance and opened fire.
Dominic saw enough and spoke, "Randy, those boars are hostile. Tear 'em up but watch your fire." He got a grunt and a whirring minigun motor in response.
A flurry of 7.62 round began flying towards the sounder and started to rip them into pieces, literally. This however got the person with the pistol to stop shooting and look at the Humvee in awe. Unfortunately, this temporary break in fire allowed for the beast to get close enough so that Randy couldn't open fire. It charged forward and gutted the gunslinger, making two very deep puncture wounds. It shook its head side to side in order to get the man off and succeeded at the cost of the man getting much more severe wounds that would most likely be fatal. Once the tusks were free from the body, the black swine moved far away enough so that the minigun could take care of it.
Dominic hit the accelerator and drove up to the injured man and got out and grabbed the trauma kit in the back seat. He set to work in getting the man stabilized and in order to keep him awake, asked for his name.
"Name's Ruben. Who are you people?" he asked.
"I'm Specialist Dominic Gordon. The guy on the gun is Private Randy Caruso. Is there anywhere that we can take you where you'll be safe?" the rifleman was disinfecting the puncture sites and when he noticed that the bleeding slowed down considerably, something that shouldn't happen for wounds that size. While he was curious, he didn't mention it figuring that he'll find out later.
"The best place I can think of is at the shuttle ports. It's just to the east of here." Ruben's words were punctuated by bursts from the minigun as Randy opened fire on what looked like a pack of giant armored bears in the same color pattern as the boars.
The sound of roaring engines could be heard as dozens of attack transports made its way towards the Rangers' position. Most of them dropped off airborne units, without parachutes, on a position to the south while others peeled off and actually landed more towards the outskirts.
'Those much be some crazy sonza bitches if they're jumping without chutes from that high up.'
Oh how little did he know that the Knights had been made with that purpose in mind.
A pair of dropships made it's way towards the Humvee's direction and landed in a empty square about 100 meters north of their position. Two squads of men clad in white armor with red decals accompanied by a few robots poured out and ran towards where the remains of Warrior-One were located.
A pair of medics put Ruben on a stretcher and went towards the dropships without a word while a person who Dominic assumed was a squad leader stepped forward with his rifle halfway raised up.
"Who the hell are you guys?" asked the white armored man who gave both of them a once over. Before Dominic could respond he cut him off, "You know what, I don't care. You've been helpin' people so might as well continue. Come with us."
Dominic gave a quick knowing glance to Randy who simply gave a curt nod while scanning the streets. The riflemen got in the driver seat again and got behind and between the staggered column of the white armored soldiers and got a few sideways looks from the soldiers on the right side of the column. It was because of the fact that the right side was painted in Sykes' and the other Ranger's blood and riddled with bullet holes. They continued down a street in relative peace that was soon broken by a swarm of the black monstrosities rounding the corner.
"GRIMM!" shouted a soldier somewhere to Dominic's left
'So that's what they're called.'
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrtt was the only sound that responded to the cry.
'Thank Christ for earpro.'
As cooling brass casings cascaded onto the hood and Dominic, the rest of the soldiers opened fire on the pack. Half of the had an incredulous look on their faces while the other half bore full on grins. As soon as the last of the pack fell, it was obvious who killed what. The ones that were killed by the soldiers and robots had tiny dots along their bodies and heads. The ones that were killed by the minigun were eviscerated, some of the bear like grimm had holes that were the size of dinner plates in them. Needless to say, it was absolute carnage whenever the minigun opened fire.
The group of soldiers moved down the streets with the support of Warrior-One, tearing through any resistance. The vanguard of robots which Dominic learned were called Knights rounded a corner and were ambushed by a large group of boarbatusks, something else that Dominic learned from listening to the callouts from the soldiers.
This time however, the minigun was silent and as he turned around to check the ammo feed, he saw Randy frantically trying to fix the electrical system that powered the gun. Of course, something breaks when you need it the most. The specialist grabbed his rifle and got out of the Humvee, hoping to make up for some of the lost firepower. His first kill was on a boarbatusk which tripped from having its leg shot out from underneath it. As he sighted in on his second target, the minigun came back to life and shredded it.
Dominic let out a smile and a curse of "Bastard stole meh' kill" before getting back in the driver seat.
Things were looking up. There hasn't been any casualties and all grimm encountered were killed. However Murphy's Law of Combat is notorious for striking at the most inconvenient of times, and strike it did.
A Knight was taking care of a boarbatusk when a second one charged and ran a tusk into its midsection. It started to shoot wildly on fully automatic as any control lines were severed and it was stuck on fire. As it was falling down, a bullet went under the brim of Randy's helmet and went through his brain, lodging itself in his helmet. Randy fell down dead, not even getting a chance to cry out in pain.
The minigun ceasing fire clued Dominic that something was wrong and as he turned around to check the ammo levels the sight of blood dripping from the weapons mount sprang him into action. He quickly pulled Randy out of the mount and moved to grab his personal first aid kit when he noticed the nature of the wound. The upper half of his forehead was blown clean off and brain matter could clearly be seen. At this sight, Dominic simply gave a quiet huff of rage mixed with sadness before checking the canister the minigun ammo was stored in.
Slightly under a quarter left. Maybe a fifth or so.
Dominic stepped out and approached the nearest soldier, "You there. You're now my gunner. Randy's dead." With the terse statement concluded, the Ranger turned around and got back in the driver's seat. A shocked Atlesian did as told and got on the gunner's platform of the Humvee.
"Okay. The button on the left spools up the gun while the one on the right shoots it. You need to hold down both of them at the same time if you want to shoot it. Don't fire in bursts longer then two seconds, we don't have much ammo left and this thing chews through it like nobody's business." Dominic spoke rapidly as he rolled down the windows and angled the Humvee to the side so he could shoot out of it.
"I gotcha'." said the soldier.
The process of clearing the streets of grimm was a long and hard one. The short platoon would go for blocks without contact and suddenly encounter a massive horde. Then there were also the random stragglers that would be spread through the streets. It only became harder when the minigun ran out of ammo, giving no fire support to the platoon on the ground. The closest term describing what was happening would be a slugfest but it wasn't so much of a challenge as it was a game of endurance.
Soon the platoon's sector of responsibility was cleared and they made a move for Victory Square, the epicenter of this grimm incursion. When they arrived, Dominic didn't expect what would be there whatsoever. Thus, when he saw a dozen teenagers with massive weapons drawn and lazing about, he thought that he must have been going crazy. One of them had a freaking handheld minigun like Blaine from Predator and nobody even batted an eye!
His presence drew everyone's attention when he drove up in an armed, blood soaked vehicle that was covered in shell casings and looked like it had been through hell and back. Which, to an extent, it had been. The engine cut off as Dominic flipped the ignition switch and the door opened and Dominic gently dismounted, taking in the environment around him as he did so. He took his helmet off and set it on the hood of the Humvee and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and looked at it longingly. He had promised himself that he would quit smoking but after everything that has just happened, there was a full on firefight going on in Dominic's head debating whether or not to light one up.
The young hunter and huntress trainees along with their professors watched in morbid fascination as a medic interrupted Dominic's train of thought and told him that a truck from the morgue was waiting for Randy. He simply nodded and opened the door to let the medical examiners get to Randy's body. When the rear door was opened, an outpour of blood accompanied by the occasional shell casing riding the current fell onto the pavement. The MEs put Randy's body on a stretcher and put a tarp over him before loading him onto the truck for one final farewell. The morbid fascination quickly turned to horror for most of the trainees.
The Ranger ran a hand through his virtually non-existent hair as the Atlesian lieutenant walked up to him and extended a hand. Gordon shook it with a firm vertical jerk and a tired smile.
"I don't know where you came from but thanks for the help. You guys kicked ass and I hope that the Creator will look over him." the lieutenant continued. "Well, we have to debrief and do an AAR with you at a secure location. Just wait for the transport that's going to pick up the Beacon kids." he concluded and gave a crisp salute to the specialist.
"Sir," Dominic started, "I'm just a specialist. Shouldn't I be the one saluting you?" he asked as he returned the salute.
"You did something that went way above what was expected and helped minimize casualties within my ranks. Not only that, you helped us clear out sector in record time, literally. So, if you ever find yourself in a sticky situation, you got yourself a platoon of Atlas' finest waiting for you." the lieutenant concluded with a smile.
"Thank you sir." was all that Dominic said, all that needed to be said before he let his arm fall from his brow.
Then the most curious of acts got committed in the strangest of times. Specialist Gordon started to sweep the shell casings and ammo links off of the hood of the Humvee until there were none left. Then, he took the night vision goggles off of his helmet and placed them in their carrier case before he jumped up and laid down on the hood of the Humvee. He positioned his helmet under his head, finding as comfortable a spot as he could, and dozed off.
Much to the shock and chagrin of the Beacon staff and students, he was out cold within twenty seconds.
Murphy's 23rd Law of Combat. Never stand when you can sit. Never sit when you can lie down. Never stay awake when you can sleep. It's better known within the ranks as, 'Anywhere, Anytime.'
A/N: I would like to give thanks to doomtrooper83 for reminding me to put this additional notes section in to explain any nomenclature and acronyms used.
IED: Improvised Explosive Device. Bombs that are homemade (using artillery shells and/or stolen plastic explosive) and are the weapon of choice by insurgents across the Middle East.
M134 Minigun: A six barreled gatling gun that fires 7.62 millimeter rounds at 6000 rounds per minute.
MK19: A weapons system that fires 40 millimeter grenades at 375 rounds per minute. Basically a grenade machine gun.
FOB: Forward Operating Base. Self explanatory, a base set up closer to enemy lines and is smaller then full on bases.
AN/PVS-15: Night vision goggles that have two tubes and are most commonly used by special operations forces (But getting phased out soon)
Humvee: The technical name is the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle. It's the backbone of the US armed forces that does everything from transport troops to being a frontline fighting vehicle (But it's not supposed to)
Weaver Stance: A stance that's used to fire pistols. It has the user have both hands on the firearm and is the most common pistol stance
Earpro: EarProtection. Anything from noise canceling headphones to earplugs, if it saves you from going deaf, it's earpro
Edited 1/19/16, 1310 for spelling
Edited 1/19/16, 1840 for additional notes/explanations