Hey guys, back again with another chapter, I'm trying my best to improve based on advice I got from you, so feel free to leave more constructive criticism, but anyway, I hope you enjoy. Also, I referred to Pelayo in the last chapter as a captain as that is what is shown in game however just to make interactions and storylines more sense, I'm going to refer to her as a corporal.
"Jackson, we've been given the all clear, it's time to roll out." Vasquez shouted from across the hall I was still seated at, waiting for Pelayo to finish struggling in the bathroom. I gave a sharp "Yes sir!" back and knocked on the door to Pelayo, who was clearly having a hard time in there.
"Hey, we gotta get back into the city right about now, you coming or…?" I quickly realised my poor choice in words and corrected myself. "I mean, do you need any help?" I said again, stood patiently at the door.
"Yeah, no I'm just about good to go, you ready to see my new threads?" She laughed, muffled by the door blocking me from seeing her slipping and crashing around. "Man, I'm a marine too you know, Jackson! I can't let all you guys have the fun." She now appeared before me in marine uniform, minus webbing and a helmet, clean of her blood-stained hands. I stood in awe.
"Damn, so, uh, you're coming with then, huh?" I scratched the back of my head, looking round to make sure we hadn't been left behind. "Yeah, obviously! Come on, gimme my gun." A suddenly joyful Pelayo asked. I handed back to her the MP5 I left by her flight suit crumpled on the floor. We turned to leave the building, in quite the hurry. The blistering heat whacked my face again as if I had just thrown myself into a microwave. Looking at my accomplice, she had reacted the same way.
"Are you sure you can manage; you can barely walk." I asked again, paying close attention to her strong limp.
"I'm fine, Jackson, I can handle myself." I looked at her unconvinced as she almost tripped over herself for the fourth time and regained her balance on me. "Well, maybe a little help." She said again, smiling into my eyes. As we sat down on the Sea Knight again, in the same place as when we touched down, I reached over and placed my bulky helmet on her small head, tucking in loose strands of hair. "You'll need it more than me." I told her, sitting down in my seat. That earned a mock-mad face aimed at me.
By now several of the other guys sat in the Sea Knight were staring at us, so I just looked through the small window. The familiar city sights returned, and soon so did the gunfire. My head left its calm level composure and I regained the adrenaline of battle. Pelayo grit her teeth and adjusted her leg. No one talked. We sat, anticipating the enemy fire coming straight toward us.
Vasquez then stood up, to issue our new objectives. "Alright listen up marines. The SEALS and NEST teams are stuck in the palace and are pinned down by incoming enemy forces. For our outstanding performance rescuing the recon team and corporal Pelayo," He quickly nodded to Pelayo. "Command has graced us with the task of picking up the guys stuck down there and bring them to our FOB. Oorah?"
"Oorah!" The Sea Knight almost shook from all of us acknowledging Vasquez's orders with our signature shout. However, soon it would be shaken around by something much more dangerous than our bellows. The distinct sounds of RPGs passing close by put me on my toes. The growing intensity of the enemy fire indicated that we were close to the palace. I glanced out of the window, instantly recognising the incoming smoke trails as more RPGs.
"This is too damn hot!" I heard someone say. Several others also spoke in panic, becoming restless in their seats. "Shut up marines, we do our job!" Vasquez yelled out, shutting them up. I looked over at Pelayo and caught her staring at me for a moment until she looked away, blushing.
"You okay?" I asked, searching for her eyes as she looked into her lap.
"Yeah, yeah. Stay focused." She said back, not moving her eyes from her lap. I took her advice and looked through the window again, observing the city. The enemy fire never let up, but we had finally arrived at the palace, as we started to descend.
"We're coming down! Get the fuck ready!" Vasquez ushered us all up off our seats, ready to rush out as soon as we touched down. I prepared my M4 carbine, checking my ammo and the chamber. I saw Pelayo doing the same with her MP5, noticing a slight shake in her hands.
"Hey, Pelayo, your hands," I said calmly. "they're shaking." I placed my hand on her shoulder. "Stay by me, it'll be fine, we'll barely be leaving the Sea Knight."
"I know, it's not that, man, it's…" She looked at me for a moment. "Don't worry, Jackson. I'll tell you some other time, if I get the chance." And with that her adorable smile returned to her face, and I turned to face the ramp.
Looking out of the window again I saw the sandy yellow palace walls surrounding us. The walls boxing us in. It seemed that we were going straight into the centre courtyard of the palace. Now I could hear the gunfire over the loud Sea Knight, and it sounded close. I returned to face the front.
A thin strip of light emerged through the Sea Knight as the ramp began to descend. Soon I could make out the surroundings and instantly recognised it. The large walls surrounding us, the arched tunnel leading out of the courtyard, and finally, the wooden post in the centre. This was Al-Asad's palace, the one we had all seen him publicly execute the old president Al-Fulani.
With the ramp down, I nodded over to Pelayo, and we raced out, taking positions in an arc around the back of the large chinook, watching our surroundings. The last of the marines had unloaded, and we stood up to relieve the stranded SEALs and NEST guys.
"Get those guys back here quick, we're not staying for long. We got guys all around." I heard the pilot say into the comms. I hoped we'd find them quick, this place seemed perfect for an ambush.
"Sir, how do we know where they are?" I asked Vasquez as we jogged cautiously through the tight palace walkways and corridors.
"Follow the gunfire, Jackson."
The gruff lieutenant was right, as we swivelled around a corner, I became face to face with the enemy. Well, not quite. They hadn't noticed us and were busy firing at our friendlies, shooting down from a balcony above. I looked back at Vasquez, unsure what to do and he put a finger to his mouth.
We waited for all of us to get into position, the enemy soldiers never noticing us, and chose targets. "Jackson, fire when ready" Vasquez said almost under his breath through the comms. Looking through my holographic sight, I tightened my trigger finger.
With my aim dead on my target's head, I squeezed the trigger, my rifle cracking to life, followed by the unfortunate man immediately falling to the ground. He would have been dead before he hit the floor.
Now, the rest of the marines opened fire. Fully automatic fire ripped through bodies and cover alike. The enemy soldiers, taken completely by surprise, panicked and ran, being cut down by the SEALs up on the balcony as they attempted to run to cover.
Spotting two more crouched behind a small upturned table, I opened fire again, with two distinct screams of pain in return. "Room clear, get the fuck down here, sir!" Vasquez shouted up to the SEALs who breathed a sigh of relief. I found it odd to hear Vasquez addressing someone as "sir". His voice did not suit it.
The SEALs who were now followed closely by a group of other men lugging large bags of equipment, which I assumed was the apparatus needed to defuse the nuclear threat, emerged from a back door they'd barricaded with furniture.
The man leading the group of SEALs was a large burly tower, with a wild beard and sporting a backwards cap and sunglasses. He really fitted the 'spec ops' stereotype.
As we started to jog back the way we came, several echoey voices rang behind us. Pelayo looked over her shoulder and called out "Hostiles right on our ass!" and as she turned to face the forward bullets found their way into the sandstone walls inches away from her. "Shit!" She cried out again as she winced at the close cracks.
Seeing this, I suddenly decided to run towards her and push her out of the line of fire, seeing the enemy mere metres away. I crouched down and without a second thought fired a long burst of automatic fire from my M4 down the narrow corridor, cutting down the pursuers.
"Man, what the fuck!" a marine said, eyes wide. I regained my composure and breathed out slowly.
"Get a move on, ladies! What are you waiting for!" The huge navy SEAL bellowed, shaking us all back into gear. We ran through the palace, encountering pockets of resistance along the way, who were gunned down within minutes.
I decided to stick with Pelayo. I was confused over my sudden impulse to protect her, but I felt that she would be safer if we stuck together. We moved inches away from each other, and I made sure to be a little behind, so I could react quickly if we started taking fire from behind again.
A few firefights later and we found ourselves once again boarding the Sea Knight with zero casualties. The new mark 19 gunner fired relentlessly at the palace as we lifted off, fighting back RPG-armed men who had emerged into the courtyard after us.
I looked over at Pelayo again. I must have caught her staring again because she looked down at her feet as soon as I laid eyes on her. "See? Wasn't bad at all." I said to her. Her head lifted up and she looked at me again. Her exhausted face tried her best to smile. "Yeah, I guess. It's been a long day." She replied, rubbing her eyes.
Afterwards, a visibly fatigued Pelayo leaned forward and looked down the Sea Knight.
"Vasquez, sir! Is this it now? Was this our last job?"
"I don't know yet, corporal. Sit tight. Once we get back to the FOB and drop off our VIPs I'll ask."
So, we had another at least a few minutes of RR at our FOB. Rest that the brave pilot I'd saved multiple times now clearly needed.
My eyes found their way back to that certain pilot-turned-marine, and we sat staring at each other in silence, the Sea Knight rocking us back and forth now and then. Eventually, I broke the stare-down by burying my face in my hands, the calmness of the moment wearing the adrenaline off.
The heat seemed to suck all oxygen out, almost choking me as the ramp came down. I had lost myself in my thoughts as we touched down at the FOB. I disembarked the Sea Knight alongside Pelayo, and stood beside the ramp, waiting for the Lieutenant.
"Sir- "
"Do whatever, sergeant. I'll call you all up if we have another task. Damn fine soldiering, Jackson."
"Yes sir, thank you sir."
I swivelled on my heel and came face to face with Pelayo, who was ready to drop dead on the spot.
"Shade?" I asked, nodding towards the same spot that I had treated her leg wound at before.
"Yeah, good idea." Was her response. We sat down next to each other and sat in silence for the next few minutes. On several occasions I saw her head droop down for a few seconds before shooting back up again.
"You wanna sleep? That's not very marine of you, Pelayo." I teased.
"Oh, I'm sorry, model marine, am I not up to your standards, hmm?" She replied, laughing cheekily. I replied with a laugh, looking down at the sandy ground. But then I remembered. I reached for her head and took my helmet back, placing it my side.
"That's still my helmet. A model marine never goes without a helmet." I said. She laughed back again. Silence ensued. We were both ready to fall asleep. As I stared at the ground, I felt her small and soft head bury itself into my shoulder. I gently looked over and saw her quietly snoozing away.
I chuckled quietly to myself and rested my head carefully on the wall behind. Without a moment's notice, I was gone too, Pelayo's head still dug into my shoulder.
Sometime later, I woke up suddenly to a large commotion gathering. What had happened? As I began to pick myself up, a small body next to me stopped me in my tracks. It was Pelayo, but she had blood stained over her face and clothes. Her MP5 in her stone-cold hands. What the fuck? I thought. I started to panic, seeing people on the helipad in enemy uniforms. A few metres away from me was a body in marine uniform. As I stood up, a voice almost burst my ear. Arabic.
Next to me stood a man with a red beret, exactly the ones that I would find in my weapon sights. He picked me up by my collar, and I couldn't respond. I was too weak, my arms slumped by my side. He marched me towards the rest of the group. My eyes were still adjusting to the scorching sunlight. As I gained my bearings, another man in front of me hit my stomach with the stock of his AK-47.
I struggled for breath on the floor. I was still trying to understand what was going on. They began to scream at me in English now.
"Get the fuck up, get up! Hurry up!" They shouted. The broken English started to turn into proper English, and I felt them hit my back again. Their shouts continued, and their voices turned to an American accent, still telling me to get up. What was happening? I looked up at the man who had hit me again, and with a swift kick around the face I was out.
"Holy shit!" My eyes burst open, I was gasping for breath, my face sweaty. I immediately looked at my side and saw Pelayo, sitting and staring at me confused. In front of me was a fellow marine.
"Jackson, sir! I had to wake you! Lieutenant's orders! We got a situation building!" He shouted. Urgently he ran back towards the group of marines stood in front of the Sea Knight.
"Jackson? What was that about? You were breathing, like, really heavy." Pelayo asked. The familiar sound of her voice calmed me down.
"Some lucid dream, it doesn't matter. Let's go." I replied, standing up to join the others. Pelayo, now rested up, followed closely. We made space in the circle around Vasquez, who had drawn up a sort of battle plan for us.
"Ah, Jackson, nice of you to join us. We have a situation building up here, in the north of the city." He brought out a larger map and circled a large section of it.
"The invasion has been going to plan so far, and all districts have been tied up. However, here," Vasquez now circled a smaller part of his circle. "as our guys rolled in on foot and vehicles, they were attacked by a significant force, and now they're doing a widespread counterattack."
"Sir, maybe that was their plan B in the nuke was compromised." I said.
"It's very possible, however we weren't prepared for this sudden surge in enemy manpower and we walked right into it. So, here's the plan." He put down the large map and brought out his improvised battle plan.
"We've established a frontline going along this river. The invasion force has set themselves up against it and so have they. Rangers were sent in to neutralise a small section of this which includes a bridge, allowing us to pour in and break their defence." Vasquez traced along his map with his finger. "However, the enemy blew the bridge and they're in need of reinforcements. And that, guys, is us. We're to go alongside a group of REBS vehicles, and to protect them along the way." He ran his finger along the road we would use to get there. "Enemy air defence is too strong on the other side of that river, so the safest way is to use the REBS to replace the bridge and go by foot and motor. Oorah?"
"Oorah!" The circle replied in turn and we grabbed our rifles and gear. The Sea Knight roared to life again, but this time set off, leaving us on the ground. We would now be going in a column of LAV-25 infantry fighting vehicles.
Pelayo remained close behind me as we boarded the LAV and sat down in the dark space. There was a small slit of light coming from the small windows along the side. That was a good thing though, as it was significantly cooler here than in the Sea Knight.
This time Pelayo sat next to me. She seemed awfully cosy pressed up against me, as it was fairly cramped inside the LAV. I was worried she was going to fall back to sleep again.
The driver in the front shouted back to us, "Alright, we're ready to go! I'll be your chauffeur for today, have a nice trip." The four of us, all sat in the back laughed, and swayed into each other as the LAV lurched forward. I wasn't complaining as Pelayo rocked into me and caused some more small chuckles. I wondered how long the trip was; I wanted to make the most out of this cool and calm space we were in.
Another chapter done, let me know if you think I took all your advice into account and, of course, what you think!
