My name is William Crowe; I was born on the 11th of January, 1999. I was Eight years old when the world turned to shit. War broke out between America and China when the Marines went to war in the Middle East. My dad was part of the Marines, but he died in the war, when Special Forces from the Middle East attacked the USS Essex, he died fighting. My brother Charlie was 14 at the time; he was hit pretty hard by dad's death. In 2014, he joined the Marines, it was after we went to war with Russia, but he died like his dad, he was leading his squad when they got ambushed during the Battle of Kharg Island. This year we went back to war with China, I saw it on the news, Admiral Chang Wei declared war by destroying Pacific Central Command, then he started annexing nearby countries; Singapore, North Korea, Thailand, just to name a few. At the time though, I had just finished training for the Marines. I was stationed on the USS Essex, just like Dad and Charlie before me, my first destination; the Paracel Islands, or so I thought.
We sailed directly to a tiny Island somewhere in the South China Sea. But it was impressive, Drones were flying overhead, they had a port, an Airfield, a shooting range and still enough room for a vehicle depot.
There was a strike force of 32 people, some were part of Sniper Teams, Anti-Tank soldiers, Pilots, and part of Fireteams. I was selected as part of Fireteam Bravo, but I hadn't learnt who else was with me.
All 32 soldiers had lined up by the shooting range. Standing in front of us was Captain Garrison, the man in charge of the USS Essex. I heard he used to be part of the crew on board the USS Valkyrie. Standing next to him was his Lieutenant; Marion Duncan, she was much younger than Garrison, less grey in her hair and much less wrinkles.
"Morning Marines" Garrison began
"Tomorrow, we start the offensive against the Chinese war machine, but today, you will be meeting your fellow marines, these are for the foreseeable future, the men and women that you will laugh with, cry with, fight with and possibly die with"
A bit brutally honest if you asked me
"We have Infantry units, Armoured Regiments, Pilots and many other people here, this is your last opportunity to train and get to know each other before the war resumes, don't waste this opportunity Marines" He concluded
People began to split off, and people called out things "1st Tank Regiment" and "Fireteam Echo", calling for their new comrades. I heard the faint sound of my group "Fireteam Bravo". Soon I arrived at a large APC, where two people, one holding an M16A4, and another holding an M4.
"Who are you?" The one holding the M16A4 asked
"Private William Crowe" I said
"Corporal Conor Thompson" He replied
"This is my brother, Brody" He added as he pointed the younger looking guy in the back ground clutching an M4.
"Hey" Brody said
"Nice to meet you" I said as I shook his hand
"Squire" Someone yelled from behind me
I turned around and saw Alex, he was training in San Diego with me and we were best friends
"Nice to see you buddy" I said as I walked up and high fived him
"Squire?" Conor asked
"It's a nickname" I said
"So then, who are you" Conor said
"Private Alex Anderson" Alex said
"Corporal Conor Thompson, this is my brother Brody"
"Sup" Alex said to Brody
"Sup"
"Okay now that were all acquainted I want to see how we can perform on the test range, gear up and get ready" Conor explained.
He and Brody Began walking to the shooting range, and Alex and I followed suit.
"Long time, no see man" I said to Alex
"Yeah man, it's been a while man"
"What are the chances?"
"Off what"
"Being in the same squad"
"It's not the weirdest thing to happen"
"Yeah but still"
"Hey, you two" Conor yelled from in front of us
"Yeah, Corporal" I called out back
"who wants the Machine Gun"
"Yeah, that's mine" Alex yelled
I leaned over and watched Conor pick up an M249 with a M145 Machine Gun scope, a Bipod and a Flash Hider on the barrel and hand it to Alex.
"So the M4 is yours then Crowe"
"Yeah that's mine Corporal" I said as I grabbed the M4 from Conor
It was equipped with an ACOG Sight, a Laser Sight and an Ergonomics foregrip.
We all had our side arms, M9's with Trijicon Red Dot Sights attachments on them.
Alex had grabbed a M18A1 Claymore from the desk with a sign saying "Fireteam Bravo" on it; I grabbed a pair of thermal binoculars and a portable radio.
We all walked up to the shooting range, where Capt. Garrison and Lt. Duncan were waiting. Garrison was holding a cup of coffee while Duncan was holding a check board.
We all stopped and saluted the pair.
"At ease Marines" Garrison said
We complied.
"So corporal, you ready to do the test"
"Yes sir" Conor replied
"Ok you have 45 seconds to complete the test, good luck Marines"
We walked towards the test range.
There was two targets directly in front of us, then another two to the left, further pack there was two to the very right and left, then four right up the back, on rails and moving from left two right, and in the water there were two RHIB's, and on the beach was a .50 calibre Machine Gun.
"Ok, I've got a plan" Conor started
"Alex, you get your Machine Gun set and take down the first four targets. Crowe, you and me will move up to cover. Brody, you go to the Machine Gun and take out the two RHIB's and we'll cover you. Me and Crowe will take out the further back objectives, and cover Alex and Brody, and then we can get Brody on the XM25 and take out the last four targets. Ready team"
"Let's do this" Alex yelled
"Go" Conor said
Alex set his bipod and opened fire on the first four targets, I saw Conor run towards a large slab of concrete to the left, I vaulted over the small concrete barrier and ran to another concrete slab.
"C'mon Brody run" Conor yelled out
He hesitated for a second, but then vaulted over the concrete barrier and ran towards Conor.
"Goddammit Kid to the Machine Gun, not me" Conor yelled at him
He ran out in front of Alex, who was still firing, but Alex stopped firing, I looked back and he was reloading.
I turned around and started firing at the targets I was assigned as Conor did the same. I aimed the sights on the first target, tapping the trigger twice as six bullets flew towards the target. I readjusted to the left and tapped the trigger twice more.
Brody has been firing with the machine guns at the two boats, causing them both two explode.
I backed around cover and yelled for Alex to run up to cover. Alex ran towards Conor while Brody ran towards me.
"Okay Brody, light em up on my signal" I said as Brody as he grabbed his XM25 grenade launcher.
I grabbed the half empty magazine a dropped on the ground, grabbing a new full magazine and inserting it in my gun.
"3, 2, 1, Fire" I yelled as I swung around and began firing at the last four targets, followed by Alex and Connor.
Brody levelled his M4 and began firing at the targets as well
"Brody, what the fuck are you doing, get on the XM25" Connor yelled
Brody levelled his XM25 and shot five times; I watched the grenades detonating just above the moving dummies, blowing them over in the Airburst explosion.
Brody took out the empty magazine and dumped it on the ground, grabbing and inserting a new one, hitting it in the rest of the way in and pulling back the bolt to insert the new grenade in its tube.
We all began reloading as well as we slowly walked back to the two officers.
"That was a nice show marines" Garrison began
"You got some rough edges, but you looked alright out there" He said
"What was there time Lieutenant?"
"38 seconds" Lt. Duncan said, never taking her eyes of here clipboard
"I need you to improve marines" Garrison said "But I have every bit of faith in you doing that, dismissed"
We began to walk away.
"Oh, Corporal, do you have a moment?" Garrison asked
"Sure thing, sir" Conor answered as he swung around to meet the officers
We walked to back where the APC was, but it seemed to be missing.
"There was a tank here right?" Alex asked
"Yeah, maybe the tank guys are driving it?" I sarcastically answered
"We should head up to the building at the middle of the island" Brody said timidly
"Let's go then" Alex said as he started walking up
Suddenly the Island came to life. Helicopters flying overhead with drones and jets above them.
"That's cool" I said to myself
"Oy" Conor yelled out from behind me
We all turned around in unison
"I just got my ass kicked by the captain cause of you three" He yelled
"I didn't do anything wrong" Alex said
"You're right" He yelled
"Brody, what the hell is wrong with you kid, what the fuck were you thinking" He yelled
"I don't know, I just panicked a bit"
"You panicking keeps fucking me up, get your head together kid, were about to go into a war zone Jesus Christ"
And he was right, we were about to face the biggest war since the 1940's, took the phrase 'sailing into a shitstorm' too a whole new level.