The Rod of Jesse
Disclaimer: I don't own the Misfitverse or Kingdom Hearts: Mutants of Twilight.
Summary: After numerous riots in the Gaza Strip members of Israel's Unit YAMAS talk of events. A reaction fic to the events of RogueFanKC's fanfic, Kingdom Hearts: Mutants of Twilight.
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The tall barbed wire topped chain link fence surrounded the operational base of the Gaza YAMAS Unit(i), which was quartered with other IDF troops. Taking shelter from the brutal sun were several operators clad in a mix of civilian and military attire.
"Fifth riot call up in as many hours. Ever since Lex Luthor and that stupid TV announcement, the Palestinians have been more restless than normal." Avi grumbled as he lit a cigarette.
"Avi, will you knock off the griping." 'Imhotep' said, as he leaned against a wall, his olive drab BDU jacket being used as a pillow, together with his backpack. His Mauser 86P sniper rifle rested across his chest, and his boots were still on his feet, "I'm trying to sleep."
"Why bother, we'll probably get called up again." Avi replied, "I swear, riot after riot over some mystical chutzpah!"
"They're called talismans." Ted Griffin offered, as he looked up from a dog eared paperback.
"The talis-whatevers of Twilight?" Avi said, "And the Palestinians keep blaming us for hoarding them!"
"Well, being one of the non-Jews in the room, you guys do have the stereotype of hoarding shiny things." Ted replied.
"Fuck you Oxford." Avi grumbled.
Quite a few other soldiers in the room laughed, the Druze(ii) soldiers in particular. The laughter was more so directed at Avi being one-upped than any racial slurs.
"If you two want to fight, you two could always go wrestle each other or try to fight Samad…" Shlomo, the senior sergeant of the unit, remarked.
Samad still stood in the center of the big room, challenging any comers to wrestle with him.
"I'll pass fighting Samad unless I'm armed to the teeth." Avi remarked.
"T.I.I." Ted remarked.
"What?" Shlomo replied, "What insane attempt at wit have you come up with now?"
"T.I.I. – This is Israel." Ted remarked. Every one of the Israeli soldiers in the building had at least one weapon on hand everywhere he went.
"Funny for the yekke(iii) perhaps. But that one was lost on me." Shlomo replied.
In the back, Samad forced another member of a nearby MAGAV formation to tap out with a rear naked choke.
"Time to collect." Avi said as money changed hands among the soldiers from the two units watching the fights.
"Not nearly as big as a purse as on that mission with the Misfits." Ted remarked as he watched money changing hands, "Remember when we were on that American warship and a couple soldiers from that Syrian delegation bet their strongest soldier could defeat Samad."
Shlomo grinned, "And then Samad picked this guy up and slammed him on the mat. The Syrian tried to go for a takedown only to have Samad triangle choke him."
"Well I guess that the Syrian discovered Samad's extensive background in wrestling and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in addition to Krav Maga."
Ted went back to his book as another news broadcast, depicting the events of Paradise Island, "Looks like the Misfits and X-men were successful…"
The screen showed Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons, and Wonder Woman, speaking to the military leaders of various countries, discussing the clashes when their land was revealed to the world.
"It looks like General Warmbrun's mission was a success." Ted remarked.
"Weren't you on that mission?" Avi remarked.
"Yeah, didn't they pull you, Shlomo, and Samad out of there to help provide security?" Roa, a swarthy skinned Jew whose grandparents immigrated to Israel from Spain, said.
"Yes they did." Ted replied.
The camera showed the X-men, Joes, and Misfits also speaking with the Queen, the announcer saying something about negotiations to enlist the Amazons help in fighting the Heartless.
"What happened to her hair?" Roa asked, when he noticed the multi-hued hair of Piper Halliwell, courtesy of Trinity's paint missiles.
"Paint missiles, near as I can tell." Ted replied.
"How do you know?" Avi asked, curiousity piqued.
"I have my ways." Ted replied.
"What, Paige Halliwell told you that after she shot you down?" Samad joked.
Ted turned red as the other soldiers all laughed. "Let's hear about this!" Avi said.
"Nothing to tell, really…" Ted replied.
"Oh come on man." Shlomo added.
"Which one is she again?" Avi asked.
"The skinny brunette." Roa said, "The one standing to the right of Piper."
Roa let out a whistle, "I have to admit, yekke, that's good taste."
Ted glared at him briefly.
"What pick up line did you use?" Shlomo replied.
"Come on, this is one for the records." Avi replied, "Even our infamous ladies man, Roa hasn't had the balls to flirt with a witch."
"Wiccan." Ted corrected, "Although the terms are interchangeable, I think the term Wiccan is less pejorative."
"Whatever." Avi replied, "Knock off the big words."
"If we had picked Roa for that mission she'd probably have turned him into a frog." Samad remarked dryly.
"That would be an improvement." Ted replied.
"You should have been there." Shlomo replied.
"Well, not surprising that Ted made a pass at one of the Halliwells," Roa remarked, "You did have the hots for Paige when she appeared for that press conference in San Francisco."
"Shut up Roa." Ted replied, irate.
"Well, you did…" Roa said.
"I just said I happened to think she was cute." Ted replied.
"So how'd she shoot him down?" Avi replied.
"She said, 'Are you flirting with me?'." Samad began, and pointed at Ted, "Then this guy says 'Depends, is it working?'."
As Samad spoke Ted's complexion got redder and redder with embarrassment, not helped by the fact that the other YAMAS troopers and quite a few fellows from the neighboring MAGAV company who had been watching Samad slam their company mates on the mat were listening too.
Samad continued, "And then she says 'No, but I'll give you credit for the nice try anyway.'"
Amid the raucous laughter that followed Roa said, "I have to admit, Griffin, that's one helluva soft landing you pulled."
"Yeah. If you'd attempted something like that, you'd have been transformed into a frog." Samad remarked.
The laughter improved the mood in the building. The Israeli soldiers in the compound had been quelling civil disturbances left and right, being called from hotspot to hotspot for almost three weeks on end. Every one of them was functioning on a few hours of sleep with the occasional catnap in between and liberal uses of caffeine and nicotine.
The TV screen showed another riot in Jerusalem. Showed Israeli riot police quelling riots from the Palestinian population and also riots among the Jewish citizens of the city.
"Seventeen people died today and another one hundred and twenty-seven more were injured in one of the worst riots in Jerusalem's history…" the broadcast said, "The death toll to the riots in Israel has been raised to thirty-three and the Israeli government is issuing a state of emergency. Reserve soldiers are being ordered to report to their units."
"Kristen…" Avi began, referring to his wife.
"I'm sure she got out of there alright." Samad replied, "If anything else, she got caught up in the reserve call up and their drilling civilian life out of her."
"If anything, I wish we didn't have this communication blackout." Avi replied, "Damned Shin Bet orders."
"As soon as we can find anything out," Shlomo replied, "we'll let you talk to her. Anyway, everyone get some rest if possible. We don't know when the next call up will be."
Avi nodded as the troops went about their routines, standing watches, cleaning weapons, or grabbing what rest they could.
--
Ted headed for they gym, at around six thirty that morning, he had watch on the building's roof from the sniper sangar with Imhotep. He wanted to get a quick workout in before then.
Samad was also in the makeshift gym, pressing eighty pound dumbbells over his chest at an incline.
"As if wrestling all those lads from the MAGAV unit wasn't enough?" Ted remarked as he cranked out a set of pull-ups.
Samad replied, "Have to keep the edge sharp somehow."
"That's how you're the hand to hand fighting instructor for the unit." Ted remarked.
"Which reminds me, PT tomorrow is going to be hand to hand tactics." Samad replied.
"Which means you get to toss everyone in the unit around like rag dolls." Ted smirked.
"You're not too bad yourself. You putting Imhotep in that rear naked choke had half the unit laughing."
"Considering Imhotep has easily eighty pounds on me, yes." Ted replied.
Samad chuckled, "You of all people know size isn't everything."
"It does help when grappling though." Ted replied.
"Hey, some of us are just born lucky." Samad grunted.
--
"Fuck." Imhotep grunted as he watched through the spotting scope. The fires had died down at the site of the last riot the Gaza YAMAS unit had put down.
"Chances are another call-up is in the making." Ted replied, "Remember two days ago when they fought thru prayers?"
"Who can forget? Whatever this talisman is, it's got people in Gaza so desperate that they'll even forget Islam, the one thing they do hold sacred." Imhotep replied.
Ted scanned over the perimeter of the camp with the binoculars. The only sign of activity other than the various sentry posts, was the sight of another Israeli soldier smoking a cigarette in front of the building. He yawned and checked his watch, 24 December, and it was just before dawn.
Ted began to sing quietly to himself, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel. That mourns in lonely exile here. Until the Son of God appear. Rejoice, rejoice Emmanuel shall come to thee O Israel..."
"I don't know about you," Imhotep said, "But Israel can take care of herself until the Son of God shows up..."
"I hope he shows up sooner rather than later and gets rid of these Heartless." Ted replied, "We could use the Rod of Jesse right about now."
"Let me ask you something, Griffin, what made you fight the Jews' fight? After all, aren't you a Catholic, a Christian?" Imhotep said.
"Israel has felt like home for me since childhood, when my parents would come here for archaeological digs in the summers." Ted replied, "And aren't we all Jewish in a sense? After all Jesus himself was a Jew."
"Hey, we can use all the help we can get." Imhotep said.
"All-ah Akh-bar..." The scratchy call to prayer echoed from the old speaker system in the Gaza mosque.
In the courtyard of the Israeli base Ted and Imhotep watched as Samad led the YAMAS team in some hand to hand matches.
The emergency warning claxon blared loudly and every Israeli soldier in the compound dropped what he was doing and assembled in the briefing room.
"Sierra One, stay on station. Stand by to be briefed." Samad's voice echoed over the radio.
True to his word, not ten minutes later, Samad came onto the roof, dressed in civilian clothes.
"Ted, you and Imhotep are providing sniper support for the latest op." Samad began, "Another riot has broken out, and the local MAGAV units are barely able to contain it. We've got some lads from the team infiltrating the riots already..."
Samad motioned them over to a seemingly decrepit looking Volkswagen van, carrying more YAMAS operators dressed in civilian clothing, carrying Mini-Uzi machine pistols and IMI 941F Jericho 9mm pistols under their loose fitting mix of Western and Palestinian clothing.
Ted and Imhotep were the only ones in the vehicle in Israeli uniforms. Roa and Shlomo were in the other sniper team.
Ted checked his weapons for the umpteenth time. The heavily modified M16A3 sported an ACOG (Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight) telescopic sight, a heavy barrel for greater accuracy and a bipod. He had eleven magazines of 30-rounds apiece and ninety loose rounds in his cargo pockets. He also checked his IMI Jericho 941F handgun. A magazine was in the well and a round was chambered. Also he had four spare magazines of 9mm rounds. The heavy spotting scope was in his backpack, along with a thermos with coffee and various snacks and water bottles.
Beside him Imhotep busily checked his bolt action Mauser 86SP rifle. Where Ted's rifle was a semi-automatic, Imhotep's was a slower firing but very accurate bolt action rifle. Imhotep glanced at Ted and Ted knew what he was thinking. In the next five minutes their lives would depend on each other.
Samad brought the van to a stop in an alley and Ted dismounted, with Imhotep behind him. Imhotep slung his sniper rifle and extracted his pistol and nodded his head. Ted kicked a door in of the nearby building and the two Israelis burst inside, clearing room by room before reaching the roof of the three story building.
From their vantage point the two Israeli snipers had a panoramic view of the riot. Ted already set up his spotting scope and set up his M16A3 and radio.
"Alpha One this is Sierra One, radio check..."
"Read you loud and clear." came the voice.
"Sierra Two reporting in." Shlomo's voice came over the radio.
The shouts of the rioters drifted up towards the snipers' positions. Rocks were being thrown at the contingent of MAGAV troops trying to contain the rioters.
Ted already had a visual of several YAMAS team members heading towards the leaders of the riot.
Several Palestinian policemen stood to one side of the riot, ostensibly guarding their police station, their AK47s gleaming in the sunlight.
"Shit!" Ted remarked as he saw three Palestinian rioters knock one of their own policemen over and take his AK, beginning to fire at the MAGAV troops.
They barely got two rounds off before Ted found the range and called out corrections. CRACK! Imhotep's rifle went off and sent one of the Palestinians spiraling to the ground.
The riot became even more violent. Molotov cocktails, glass bottles filled with petroleum with simple fuses, were thrown towards the Israeli soldiers.
"Sierra Teams, engage those Molotov throwers and any gunmen you see."
"Affirmative." Ted replied as he peered through his ACOG. In its sights he could see a Palestinian youth with a fire bomb in his right hand.
Ted lightly squeezed the trigger, letting the recoil surprise him. The Palestinian boy with the Molotov fell backward, clutching at his throat. Ted's rifle killed with the sheer velocity of its 5.56mm rounds, unlike the heavy punch of Imhotep's 7.62mm Mauser. CRACK! Imhotep let fly again, killing a bearded Palestinian man who tried to grab at the AK-47 from the wounded Palestinian policeman.
Ted's rifle cracked again as a Palestinian youth with a 9mm pistol ran out to try and engage the YAMAS forces.
"This is getting heavy." Ted remarked after he opened fire and got onto the guard net, transmitting to all available Israeli units.
"I agree. Now shut it." Imhotep said as he picked off another Palestinian trying to shoot the YAMAS undercover operatives arresting the riots leaders.
Instead of dispersing the riot, it only intensified it. The MAGAV and YAMAS perimeter units were still trying to contain the rioters. Tear gas grenades and rubber bullets were being fired as the YAMAS undercover operatives were met by two heavily armed squads of uniformed YAMAS operatives. They had bundled the arrested riot leaders into an unmarked van and they raced away.
Even though the undercover operatives and the riots instigators were safely away and the rioters were being broken up. The Israelis were no longer facing Palestinian rioters, now Al Aqsa and HAMAS militants started throwing themselves into the fighting.
The sound of the QRF approaching could be heard. He noticed that there weren't just MAGAV troops coming their way, but there was a fair number of IDF troops as well.
Ted aimed his rifle at a Palestinian gunman firing a PKM light machinegun at the approaching convoy and squeezed off a single bullet. The Palestinian fell, dead, a smoking hole in the middle of his forehead. Another Palestinian tried to race for the gun was immediately shot dead.
Coming up the street was an Israeli Merkava tank flanked by several IDF and MAGAV troops. "Sierra One, we're at your building..."
"Roger, egressing now." Ted replied as he crept down the stairs and then joined with the IDF patrol.
After a relatively uneventful ride in a nearby Sufa jeep to the outskirts of the settlement, the YAMAS team began to assemble to debrief.
In the distance sounds of not-to distant street to street and house to house battles between the Palestinian insurgents and IDF and MAGAV soldiers could be heard.
"Good mission." The unit C.O. Eyal Moshe said as he walked from the command vehicle, "But as you can tell, we seem to have started a battle in the Gaza Strip. We have not yet received orders to go back into Gaza...yet. Be ready to support operations on short notice. In the mean time, get some food and some sleep because we're gonna need it."
Later as Ted cleaned his weapon, he listened as mortars hissed and exploded, grenades detonated and Israeli and Palestinian forces alike traded fire.
His pouches were full of ammunition in the magazines and his body armor and helmet were not even an arm's distance from him. His 9mm Jericho pistol was strapped to his right thigh and had four spare magazines handy.
As he worked he lightly sang, "Oh come, oh come thou rod of Jesse free, thine own from Satan's tyranny. From depths of Hell thy people save. And give them vict'ry o'er the grave. Rejoice. Rejoice Emmanuel, shall come to thee oh Israel..."
Please come fast, oh Rod of Jesse and save us. Ted thought.
--
END
(i) YAMAS – The Israeli Border Guard (MAGAV) undercover anti-terrorist formation.
(ii) Druze (pl. Druses) – An ethnic minority living in mountainous areas of Israel, they practice an offshoot of Islam. Quite a few Druses live in Israel, Syria and Lebanon. In Israel they have served and continue to serve in the IDF and MAGAV.
(iii) yekke – foreigner, typically refers to foreign born Jews, but in this context Shlomo means any non-Israelis.