AN: A grand total of TWO reviews for chapter 1! YES! That means someone is reading, so I'll keep writing! Also, again, I would really like reviews for my story. What am I doing wrong? What am I doing right? What would you like to see? Please, I WANNA KNOW!
I walked my way to the Watchbase, showed the Marine Security my ID, and began walking towards the male enlisted barracks. However, on my way there, 2nd lieutenant Thunder found me.
"Ey! Misriah!" He hailed. I looked over at him and smiled.
"Ahoy, L.T!" I walked over to see him. "Done napping?"
"Yeah, yeah. I heard there's gonna be a party tonight?"
"Yep. I was just heading to my 'racks to get myself ready. Ya know, make myself identifiable."
"Ah yes. I'll come with."
"Why?"
"You walked me to my barracks, I'll walk you to yours. Besides, we gotta get food, so if we arrive together, we'll both get eats."
"Sounds good." I say, and we begin our walk to my barracks. Rolling Thunder checked his watch, but didn't say the time. It was quiet for a little bit, but then Thunder asked;
"So what'd you do today?"
"While you were out, I was out getting lunch. And I met these Mares-" My sentence was interrupted.
"Mares, huh?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Were they hot?"
"What? C'mon man!"
"I wanna know if the girls here are pretty. So are they hot?"
"Well, yeah, I guess."
"Don't 'I guess' me! It's a yes or no, Private."
"Uh. Yes, Sir."
"Cool. So go on." Rolling Thunder finished. I had honestly lost my place, but I found a subject to recover on.
"They were pretty cool. I don't know what to make out of it, but they seemed alright."
"Alright. Anything else?"
"It doesn't rain much here…"
"Really?"
"But when it does rain, it rains like hell."
"Seems legit."
We continued with our small talk all the way to the enlisted barracks. Upon reaching my door, Rolling Thunder said he'd wait outside. Walking in, I spotted my carryall and dufflebag both sitting right where I had left them. I took a shower and looked at my options of clothing. Which were rather limited.
My Class As would be way too formal. I could wear my Class Bs, but even that could be too formal for a welcome party. What does one wear at a welcome party? I figure you wear what is an expression of you. PT clothes would work, but I don't PT all day, and I ain't a body builder. I could wear my cammies, and that would definitely show my Marine Corps pride, but I don't think I'd wear the whole thing cap and all. I eventually settled for the tiger stripe camouflage BDU pants, but with a dark brown t-shirt, as a non-uniformed uniform. Grabbing my patrol cap, I exited the barracks. Rolling Thunder examined me as I walked out. "How's it look?" I asked.
"Good." Was his answer. "C'mon. We've wasted too much time already. You take forever to choose what to wear."
"I can be a bit indecisive at times, yeah."
"You'll have to work on it."
We arrived about five minutes early at the town hall, right on time. Walking in, the place was pretty full, but not so full that it was difficult getting anywhere. I examined the environment. There were many ponies, both military and civilian alike. Everypony was congregating into groups. Seemed natural, ponies hang out with similar ponies, after all. There seemed to be the Marine Security group, a group of grunts, a party of officers, and then some pegasi group, Air Assault Infantry, by the feather pattern camouflage some are wearing, and then there were wanderers, going between the groups. I noticed that, besides the Air Assault Infantry, the spec ops communities are missing. Where's HECU? Recon? I looked over to Rolling Thunder
"Hey, seems the Special Operations community is missing."
"Yeah. Or, they are being modest and acting like professional badasses, unlike the fucking Air Assault."
"They are the kind to boast, huh."
"They relate themselves to the Wonderbolts, back when they were an actual division of the equestrian military. So they like to think they are the 'Modern Wonderbolt Soldier' and crap like that."
I was legitimately surprised at the knowledge the officer had on the subject. My interest peaked, I asked him: "How do you know this?" Thunder took a second to answer, maybe tactfully selecting his vocabulary.
"I was in Air Assault Infantry, twice in fact. First was Air Force, then I transferred to Navy. No matter which branch, AAI is the same, and we as Marines are already prideful as hell. So, after figuring so, I said 'screw it, I'm gonna do actual pilot stuff and really fly'. I was sick of my own pride. So I joined the Marines."
Made sense to me. I don't have friends in Air Assault Infantry, but even at the old base, they were always somewhere noticeable, but yet acted as if they didn't pay attention to anyone. So it sounded legit to me. I had finally spotted Pinkie Pie bouncing about the hall, making sure everything was in order. She seemed to spot me too, as she also began to move in my direction.
"You came! Misriah, you came!"
"Yeah. I told you I would."
"Yay! Twilight is already here, as is Rarity!"
"Cool. What about the others?"
"They're on their way. I'll go get Rarity and Twilight for you while ya wait!
"That'd be much appreciated." I said, before the pink mare ran off back into the party.
"Who was that?" Asked Lieutenant Thunder.
"Her name's Pinkie Pie, and she's one of the mares I met. And you have her to thank for the party."
"Oh. Cool."
I signalled Thunder to follow me, and we found a counter to sit at. Taking our seats, I ordered myself a sandwich and cola. Thunder ordered the same. While we were waiting, we made small talk, about personal experiences and such. "Why does this base even exist?" I asked, wanting the lieutenants input on the question.
"I asked myself the same thing, as well as one the bases captains. No one here really knows, I'm afraid. I mean, the most logical answer I got was that this was really an environmental training base, for urban and forest fighting as well as with the added benefit of heavy rains." He explained.
"I don't know. I still think that we should tear the base down and set one up over by the Changeling Empire border north of us, or Yakyakistan to the east," I stated
"Switch your borders."
"What?"
"Yakyakistan is to the north. Changelings are east."
"Are you sure?"
"What do you think of when you hear 'Yakyakistan'? Snow, which means cold, so north. What do you think when you hear 'Changeling Empire'? An arid desert, which means it would be to the south east."
"Okay, you're right. But still."
"I get what you mean."
Eating our meals, we were joined by the same light brown and silver ponies from earlier today. The ones who were looking for their newbie.
"Excuse me, sir. Have you heard of a Private Misriah?" Asked the silver pony, who I remembered to be a Gunnery Sergeant. I waited for Rolling Thunder to answer. After all, he was talking to the officer.
"He's right here," Thunder replied, extending a hand towards me.
"Oh. Well thanks, sir. Misriah, I am Gunnery Sergeant Iron Hartmane. I'll be your squad lead while you're here," Said the silver pony. In response, I stood up from my chair, and took the pony hand in a firm handshake, looking into his deep red eyes.
"Good to be here, gunny."
Next to him was a light brown pony with gold eyes, who took a step forward. The gunny introduced him to me; "Misriah, this is Corporal Righteous Crusade, and he'll be your fire team lead," I shook hands with the corporal as well.
"I look forward to working with you." I said, trying to get to know the Corporal.
"Likewise. I'm guessing you're anti-tank qualified?" Asked Crusade. And all I could think of was 'Aw crap'. However, I wasn't going to lie.
"Yes, Corporal."
"Good, you know what that means."
"Aye. I carry the MATADOR."
"Right. Sorry, but you know how it works."
"Yeah. Newbie gets the heavy gear."
So Corporal Crusade, Gunnery Sergeant Hartmane, 2nd Lieutenant Thunder, and I sat there talking for a bit, and I got to know that my squadmates were actually pretty cool guys. Crusade had joined up just 5 years ago, a single year ahead of me, and Hartmane has been at it for about maybe 9 years now. We eventually started talking about training and swapped experiences of live fire exercises, and they both told me about the patrols and mock fights they do in the Everfree Forest. Naturally, once we got into how we use our equipment we had to get into what our equipment actually is. "Ya know, what's stupid is that no matter how hard we try, we can't ever update our military's arsenal. The griffons, Caneighda, Prance, Neighpon, and of course Spurta all outgun us because some members of the Royal Court, including the princesses, won't allow us to get some updated tech!" Exclaimed Righteous Crusade.
"Well, we're making progress, but it is really slow compared to some other countries." I explain.
"What rifle were you issued, Misriah?" Asked the Gunnery Sergeant.
"I got myself an M16, the new A4 model," I said.
"Oh, back when they got us some Griffon gear, but the stuff was expensive so less than 3 battalions worth of men were issued it. So how'd you get your hands on one?"
"I dunno. I did score pretty well on rifle qualification, so I think they gave me the rifle because it is more accurate and has a longer range than most others, and I'd put it to better use."
"Well I got myself an FN FAL, because y'know how they tried to modernize us again just 2 years ago?" Crusade leaned back into his seat.
"Yeah, they wanted to completely phase out the AK74M in favor for the FAL, but give squad and fire team leaders the M16s because they could put a 203 grenade launcher on it," I answered. "But it was interrupted by the Royal Court, and only a couple units would get it for field testing before any more modernization would be considered."
"What the hell are squad and fire team leads gonna use an M203 for anyway? I mean sure, grenade launching, duh, but we don't actually invade other countries, using HEs would just be destroying our own home," Crusade complained.
"I believe the actual purpose was to have the ability to launch smoke grenades and flares to better coordinate a squad. For example, you could fire a red smoke onto an enemy position to mark it for your team, or use flares to signal another element or detachment." Explained Hartmane. "Besides, I'm still stuck with an AK 74, so be happy."
"Oh, and Misriah, do you have a '203?" Asked Crusade.
"No."
"Get one, and put it on your M16."
We continued to talk, but Rolling Thunder had to leave, said his brother needed help. Eventually Twilight Sparkle and Rarity had showed up, bringing Applejack and Spike with them. I examined them all. Rarity was in a nice pretty dress, Applejack was in normal farm wear, Twilight had worn nice semi formal "picture" clothing, and spike hadn't changed. I stood up to welcome them. "Hello group!" I said, and I got a greeting from them all in exchange. "Where's Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy?"
"Dash is around here somewhere. And Fluttershy had to leave," Answered Applejack.
"Said something about having to take care of an animal," Spike added.
"Well, that's unfortunate," I said, before turning to my group of Marines on the counter; "Sorry guys, I'm out," Crusade and Hartmane both said their goodbyes, but I would be seeing them tomorrow for work. As I left with my new set of friends to party, I looked out the window of the town hall, and there was a very suspicious somepony. I eventually overlooked it, as it was probably just me, and I quickly forgot about it. The group and I eventually found Rainbow Dash, just hanging around. I called out "Dashie!" and she took notice, walking her way to the group. "Having fun, Dash?" I asked.
"It's not bad. But it is, afterall, Pinkie's party."
"I will admit, she's good at what she does."
"The best."
"Probably."
The rest of the night was mostly partying, however I did not want to stay up too late. I had left at about 9pm to walk back to my barracks. Hartmane had told me that tomorrow we're doing rifle drills, so I got my separate Battle Dress ready and packed everything I would need.
The next morning I woke up at 5:30AM and got ready for the day. Putting on my BDU, making sure the sleeves were nicely rolled, grabbing my rifle, carryall backpack, and everything else I had managed to pack that day. Setting out, I went to link up with the squad at Hall Gate. I had arrived at 6:25 AM, and upon arrival, a Marine came by, and took a large cylindrical tube off of his back, dropping it at my feet. "That's yours," Said the Marine. I picked up the 20 pound MATADOR rocket launcher, and slung it behind my back. Five minutes later, Gunnery Sergeant Hartmane started his roll call, calling the name of everypony in the squad. No absentees. "Alright. Mustang 1, horseshoe!" ordered the Gunny, and the squad obeyed, gathering in a horseshoe around him. "Okay squad. We're gonna do some fire drills today, and such we're gonna have a fake fight to refine battle tactics. I have gotten the EOD base detachment to set up simulates ordnance, Mustang 1-1 will be playing as GreenFor, Mustang 1-2 will be playing BluFor, and Mustang 1-3 will be OpFor. EOD senior NCOs and officers will be tagging people as wounded or dead based on tactical mistakes and exactly who gets hit. Oorah?" The Gunny explained the operation.
"Oorah!" Everyone repeated.
"Alright. But before the fun stuff, we're gonna march our way to the ammunitions depot and then to the Everfree Forest. Fall in, two squads!" Ordered Hartmane. The entire squad had formed up into two rows, 7 in front 6 in back, and performed automatic dress right dress.
"Squad, attention! Right, face! Forward, march!"
We had executed our orders flawlessly, marching our way to the ammunitions depot, listening to the squad lead calling "Left, left, left right on left" to keep us in step. Upon reaching our destination, we were each given 12 magazines of simunition (simulated ammunition, like paintball except it actually flies and is fired from a real gun) for our rifles, 3 belts if you were a machine gunner using the M60. Each man was also given 4 orange Fog grenades (like smoke except more instant, but with smaller coverage) which would simulate frag grenades, 2 red smoke, 3 white smoke, and 1 green smoke. Loaded and ready to go, we marched into the Everfree Forest.
We had reached our destination at 7:30 am, and was greeted by several figures in ghillie suits. I had assumed they were the EOD NCOs and officers that were gonna be calling us out on tactical mistakes. Gunnery Sergeant Hartmane got us back into a horseshoe position around him. "So in this scenario, BluFor will be representing Royal Marines trying to kill or capture a warlord hiding in a village in greneighda. OpFor are Insurgent Militia trying to protect the HVT. GreenFor are UN peacekeeper security forces, and they must keep the area from being influenced by insurgents and marines. The operation is a unsanctioned assault on a village under UN occupation, so GreenFor are friendly to no one. Oorah?"
"Oorah!"
"Good. Just to recap. BluFor gets 2 points for killing the HVT, 3 for extracting, and 1 for maintaining influence. Also note, if BluFor has control, they can extract while in the AO. OpFor gets 1 point per wound, 2 points per kill, and 3 for control of AO. If the HVT is killed, it's minus 3 points, and minus 4 for extracting. If OpFor has AO control, only 2 and 3 points will be deducted. OpFor score cannot go below zero. GreenFor scores 1 for each wound, 2 for each kill, and 1 for gaining AO control, but losses 5 if control is taken from them. BluFor wins if it outscores OpFor, OpFor wins if it outscores BluFor. GreenFor wins if it has a positive score at the end. It is possible for both GreenFor and another Force to win while only one loses. AO control is decided by the EOD combat controllers, and they will also be setting off simulated ordnance to represent enemy thrown frag grenades, grenade launchers, IEDs, and so forth. Also note, while we're the only enemies or allies you can see and shoot, you aren't the only enemies or allies being represented here, so a little imagination required. Ready up, we begin in 30 mikes." Explained Iron Hartmane.
Each of the three fireteams dispersed into separate directions. "Misriah! Over here!" I heard somepony yell. Looking over, I spotted Corporal Righteous Crusade hailing me. I double timed my way over, grouping up with 3 other ponies; A black furred, red maned pegasus, an earth pony with a camouflage green coat and a black mane, and a unicorn with navy blue fur and a gold mane. "Alright team, we're BluFor, so primary objective is the HVT, area domination is secondary." Crusade put a topographic map on the ground in front of us. "The HVT will begin here. OpFor about 400 meters to the east. And GreenFor will start about 300 meters to the north, and will patrol along the road. How do you say we do this?" Crusade said.
"Well, once first shots are fired, everyone is going to break into combat reactions. What would you be doing?" Asked the pegasus. I had run through the situation in my head before replying.
"If we were GreenFor, we'd first find cover before moving forward to clear out and secure the area. How we go about it, would depend on where we are at the time. If we were OpFor, we'd secure our immediate area and move the VIP to the most defendable position." I answer.
"Sounds good, Misriah. So, if we're gonna beat the enemy in the field we must beat them in mind." Crusader explained. "So the real question is, how do we react when that happens?"
The unicorn pointed at the OpFor deployment. "We have to think even earlier than contact. Deployment. Once it starts, OpFor is going to move in on the HVT. They deploy in a forested area, but once they reach the city they are gonna take the alleyways for speed and cover up until the HVT. Once they reach the HVT, they'll move him. To where, I'm not quite sure."
Our fireteam examined a the map a little more, until the green earth pony spoke. "Back to the alleyways. Easily defendable with only two real directions, but they could breach a door for quick escape." Crusade didn't like the answer, but he knew it was true.
"Damnit. I would have liked to narrow it down to a compound, but now we have an entire area to search." Crusade complained.
"Then I suggest we reach the HVT fast, before the OpFor reach him. And remember, once we extract the HVT, he's gonna be reinserted on the least contested area of the map." I stated.
"Right, but if we don't know where the HVT is, neither will OpFor," The pegasus crossed his arms.
"Not necessarily," Corrected the unicorn. "HVT will probably radio his position to the OpFor."
"I got a solution for that." exclaimed Crusade. "We engage the OpFor early, if we can wound or kill one, and get a look at his radio, we can copy the frequency and channel."
"Right. But what about GreenFor?" Asked the earth pony.
"GreenFor is gonna continue up the main street, maybe clearing alleyways and building they think may have contact." explained the Corporal.
"At a patrol pace, they won't be very far once we make contact with OpFor, but we are best to avoid them. We don't gain anything from fighting them." I pointed out.
"Right. So, when the round starts, we move into the alleyways and engage the OpFor, get the radio frequency, pull back after the HVT, extract, and then pull out and plan again. We'll regroup and rearm about 150 meters south in the forest. Good?"
We all agreed on the plan, and Corporal Crusade lead the team to our staging area. We loaded in our mags and got ready to execute our plan. I wasn't new to this, but whenever you get ready to fight, even if you're absolutely prepared, there is always gonna be a worry factor. What if things go wrong? GreenFor could move faster than expected, so once we ambush OpFor, GreenFor would move in and have us cornered. Thats one of many possibilities. But, ya just gotta swallow it.
"Alright fire team. Now that the plan is all set, I'll introduce you guys. Misriah, this is Private First Class Colt Force, our SAW Gunner."
"Glad to meet you," I said to the camouflage pony.
"Mutual," responded Pfc. Force.
"The pegasus is Lance Corporal Vermillion Shadow."
"Ready for this?" Asked the black pegasus.
"Oh hell yeah." I answered.
"And the unicorn is Private Ocean Breeze."
"Think we good?" I asked the navy blue unicorn
"Yeah. We got this. We good," Was Pvt Breeze's answer."
"Alright, now that you've been properly introduced, get ready. We start in 5 mikes." Ordered Corporal Crusade. We fell silent, ready to move as soon as the green flare was launched, marking the start of the operation. It seemed like eternity, like those 5 minutes we're the longest minutes ever experienced, and frankly, I didn't mind. Then suddenly a loud pop was heard, and looking up, I saw a streak of light fly into the air, then igniting on its way down, illuminating everything with green light. And we moved. We double timed our way to the city, staggered column on Righteous Crusade. We had to move fast if we were gonna get em. Moving into the city we checked our corners. We knew that so far we were executing the plan perfectly, as simulated ordnance has yet to go off signalling we had exposed ourselves to an invisible enemy. Taking it slow and steady ee breached corners in a textbook commando style, clearing each alleyway. LCpl Force had been watching our backs the whole time.
It took us about 13 minutes to reach our ambush point, and we had arrived before the enemy. Still no shots, or explosions. Yet I knew that we were being watched for every tactical mistake. EOD officers waiting and watching, analyzing our movements for errors, waiting to set off their explosives, call us out. We had waited at the ambush point for a minute, and still no contact. We began to get worried something was off. Until we heard shuffling down the alley way. The team concealed ourselves the best we could, taking cover behind concrete walls and metal dumpsters. I hid behind a dumpster, and was using a small hole to get a look at the enemy as they advanced in our direction. "Corporal. When they get close, I'll toss a frag at the first guy, then the team should cover me as I go for his radio frequency," I whispered to Crusade.
"Everypony got that?" He silently asked the rest if the team, who responded positively.
I eventually saw the enemy OpFor, dressed in non uniformed militia clothing to fit the were sixty meters and closing. Fifty meters. Forty. At 30 meters, I pulled the pin on the orange fog grenade. The enemy seemed to notice, as they all stopped moving, facing directly in our direction, but still have yet to spot us. I cooked it for 3 seconds, before tossing it over my head and cover. It wasn't a great toss as it fell about 3 meters short, but it exploded a moment after hitting the ground, before anyone could call "Grenade!". The enemy point man was engulfed in orange smoke, and I heard a voice talking from a megaphone; "OpFor pointman is incapacitated and unconscious!" it said, and I noticed that we were being watched from the second story of an apartment complex.
LCpl Force opened up on the enemy team with his M60, firing bursts of five to ten rounds into the fog, with a yellow tracer every four rounds. "Suppressing!" He screamed, as the rest if the team opened up with their rifles to cover me as I moved up. I ran into the smoke, keeping my head down, as I finally spotted the enemy laying down on the floor, pretending to be unconscious. Going prone, I scrambled up to him, and I could hear the gunfire coming from both sides, although the bullets didn't have the crack to them, because they were traveling subsonic. I climbed onto the enemy, and eyed his radio, channel 3 frequency 097.5.
"Got it, falling back!" I called, however I right then realized it was a tactical mistake, as I started to see marks of paint fall around me, and such I took cover behind the unconscious enemy, but this did not stop the firing. I heard two liquid sounding impacts, and the body in front of me squirmed in pain, followed by a hollar of agony.
"Friendly Fire! The downed OpFor is dead! Watch who you shoot at!" Boomed the voice from the officer watching our engagement.
I crawled my way back into cover. "I got it! I got it!" I screamed.
"Alright, withdraw!" Ordered Crusade. Private Breeze started to fall back, and covered our escape route. Followed by me. Lance Corporal Shadow eventually withdrew, presumably emptying his magazine before doing so. "Cmon Force!" Screamed Crusade to the SAW Gunner. The team leader tried to cover the automatic riflemen, but while crossing, Force took a shot to the thigh.
"BluFor MG is wounded and cannot walk!" Stated the observer. Crusade picked him up and we got moving. I quickly handed the wounded my rifle and traded for his M60. I grabbed a spare belt from his off of him and loaded it as fast as possible. Loaded, I laid down suppressive fire to keep the enemy from advancing. We fell back down the alleyway about 15 meters. Holding the weapon with one hand, I took a white smoke out of my vest, using my mouth to pull the pin, and dropped it at my feet as the grenade started to seep white smoke and obscure the alleyway to break visual contact with the enemy as we made our escape. The team took a left down a separate alley way and Vermillion kicked open a door to the teams right and breached the room with Ocean Breeze.
"Right side clear!"
"Left side clear!"
"Room clear!"
Righteous Crusade carried Colt Force into the room and set him down. I made sure no one saw our retreat, and closed the door behind me. Walking up to Colt and Righteous, I returned the M60, and took back my M16. "Misriah, Shadow, clear the rest of this complex, Breeze, get over here. I'ma gonn call in supervision and you perform first aid on him. Do it right and we might be able to get him back in the fight."
"Aye aye" we answered, and I could hear the corporal radio for supervision to watch Breeze try to fix up Force.
Pfc Shadow and I stacked up on the next room, I was in front. I put a thumbs up to show I was ready, and I got a tap on my shoulder, signifying he was ready as well. Using my fingers, I counted down from three. Three… Two… Breach! I opened the door and cleared the lethal front, then turning to the left and moving to let Vermillion Shadow move in.
"Left side clear!" I announced.
"Right side clear!"
"Room clear!"
We repeated the process throughout the compound, moving to the second floor and clearing that too. Of course, we did spot supervisors in the compound, to make sure everything was done by the books, or they'd say one of us is dead. We returned to Corporal Righteous Crusade and found that Ocean Breeze had begun her first aid, and she seemed to be finishing up. Applying the last bandage, we noticed the supervisor shake a cup that sounded like it had some cube in it. A die most likely, to determine the random result. "The bleeding stops, no major internal damage. He can fight, but he'll have to limp. Fastest I wanna see him go is an unsteady trot." Said the officer, who then walked off to where he was needed next.
"Rooms clear, corporal," Pfc Shadow reported.
"Good. Alright guys, let's reassess," Crusade pulled out his map, and marked where we currently were. "We gotta move on the HVT. I think that the OpFor will be occupied for a little bit."
"They at least have to move at a slower pace. They are a gun short after all," I stated.
"Misriah, did you get the radio freq?" asked Breeze.
"Yeah. Here." I took out my radio and changed the channel to channel 3, frequency 097.5 and the team began to listen in.
"-stang 1-3, where are you! My position will be compromised soon!
"We've encountered BluFor Mustang 1-2, and taken a casualty. Currently being engaged by GreenFor, hold position! How copy?"
Gunshots can be heard between the operators words
"Solid copy, holding position."
"He's still right where we want 'em," Shadow leaned against the wall.
"GreenFor is engaging OpFor, should hold them off for a bit. Let's move on our objective, we're already a point behind. Maybe more now that OpFor is fighting." Ordered Crusade. "let's go, we gotta get into the next complex over."
The team stacked up on the exit. I would be breaching first with Shadow behind me. Breeze and Crusade would toss smoke once we clear the immediate alleyway, and then we'd breach the compound. Thumbs up, should tapp, three, two, one, execute. I open the door, clear lethal front and left.
"Left side clear."
"Right side clear."
"Alleyway clear."
The smoke grenades started to fill in on the left and right side, rendering the team totally invisible to anypony in a building across the street, hoping to take shots. The team stacked up on the opening to the hostile compound. "Wait. Shadow could fly up the compound and breach from a window when we breach the objective room." Suggested Breeze.
"Right. Upwards, Shadow," Crusade took the suggestion. Vermillion Shadow flew upwards onto the building, moving cautiously as to not get spotted.
Crusade took Shadow's place when breaching. We stacked up, readied, and opened the door. This time, there was a mannequin pony armed with an AK 74 in front, so I put two rounds in its chest and one in its head. Turning to the left, an instructor with CQC training gear rushed me, managing to get close and clock me one in the jaw. Staggering back just enough to make space, I jabbed the instructor in the gut with the tip of my weapon, and screamed "Bang! Bang!" to signal that I had shot him while he was on the ground. He got up and resumed his position to ambush the next team. Before we could breach the next room, my radio caught another hostile transmission.
"Mustang 1-3, I heard shots in the first floor. I think BluFor is here for me, how copy?"
"Solid copy. Hold position, we are on our way. Mustang 1-3 withdraw! Withdraw!"
"They're withdrawing from their fight with GreenFor to move in on us," I explained.
"You stole the enemies radiofrequency?" asked the instructor who had ambushed me. "Good job."
We continued to breach rooms, and Force watched our back using his machine gun. Some rooms had targets, some didn't. Some had CQC, and one even had three at a time. We had almost lost, had Colt Force not walked up and kicked an instructor off of Ocean Breeze, and then called him out, which allowed Breeze to help me beat the second one and then we ganged up on the third. We had made it too the last room, where the HVT was being kept. I turned my radio off because I didn't want OpFor to realize I had it and switch. We stacked up, I was point. Upon execution, I opened the door and was immediately rushed by CQC, who tackled me backwards and into my team, delaying the whole assault. "Breeze, his legs!" I screamed. Ocean Breeze managed to climb his way over and grab the opponent's legs, locking them in place.
"I got his arms!" Announced Crusade as he pulled the enemy's arms to his chest, holding him down with a guard. With the enemy immobilized, I went for the head. However, he squirmed and continued to fight, managing to knee Breeze in the chin with with a thlop, resulting in the Unicorn yelping in pain, but regaining control a second later. I finally managed to grip the enemy headgear and jerk it to the side, simulating breaking the neck of the enemy, causing the instructor to go limp, pretending to be dead.
We moved in, and then realized the second bodyguard was in fact armed, and fired rounds at us, causing us to fall back behind the wall, stalling our attack yet again. "Shadow, now!" Ordered Crusade over the radio. And then shadow busted down a window, flying in and gunning down the enemy bodyguard.
"Room clear!"
The rest of the team moved in, and we apprehended the HVT. "Corporal, you're gonna wanna have a look at this," stated Shadow, pointing towards the window.
"What is it?"
Shadow pointed towards the five pony team of GreenFor across the street 1 wounded, identifiable by the blue UN helmets of the troops they are representing. He then also continued to show that they are engaging and pursuing a 3 pony team of OpFor, two of which seemed to be wounded.
"GreenFor don't know we're here and left themselves exposed. OpFor will be breaching this compound soon. I see an opportunity for AO control," explained Shadow.
"Oh-ho-ho, hell yes!" Exclaimed Crusade. "Force, Shadow, get ready to engage GreenFor, The M60 and Vermillion's flight ability should allow you to get fire superiority on the enemy. Misriah, Breeze, down stairs, prepare to engage OpFor. I'll call in extract with green smoke. Once we have the AO."
"Oh yeah, get some!" taunted Force as he readied his machine gun at the window.
"Oorah! Let's go!" I exclaimed, bringing Breeze with me down stairs.
"Remember guys, we don't need to inflict casualties here, just keep the enemy suppressed and this is ours!" Called Crusade.
Breeze and I were in position on the doorway OpFor was most likely to open. "Alright. Execute!" Crusade said over the radio, which I had now set back to my fireteam. I immediately heard bursts from Colt Force's M60 firing upon the UN Peacekeepers, as well as the added pop of Vermillion's AK74M. We heard the OpFor stack up on our door, using this opportunity to escape from GreenFor while they were pinned by the unrelenting amount of machine gun fire. Breeze lowered his AK, and I lowered my M16, switching to burst fire.
The OpFor breached the room, the first one put down instantly by Breeze's fully automatic fire. Rapidly firing bursts of ammo, I dropped another, both were called dead by the instructor in the room. The third simply refused to face the hail of fire. Breeze and I let up on the fire rate to give each other time to reload, to keep the suppression constant. Eventually I hear "BluFor has Area of Operations control!" being broadcast over our radio. And two seconds later;
"Mustang 1-2 requesting HVT extraction over!"
"Roger that Mustang 1-2, mark current position, over."
"Mustang 1-2, Marking position with green smoke! How copy?"
"Solid copy, green smoke identified. Hold that position for 3 mikes. How copy?"
"Solid copy, wilco, out."
"Keep him down," Breeze requested, and in response I switched back to semi auto to allow a more sustained, though lighter, volume of suppressing fire, as Ocean Breeze pulled a fog out of his vest. Pulling the pin, he cooked it for 4 seconds, before tossing it out the door, which was immediately engulfed in orange smoke. The instructor walked out the door, and we could here him say;
"You're dead. OpFor mustang 1-3 team eliminated, move back to staging area and redeploy."
"Oorah!" I called "Damn fine throw, Breeze!" I turned into my radio to talk to Crusade; "OpFor has been eliminated, Breeze and I are gonna move back up to put more fire on GreenFor."
"Roger, go ahead. Only a mike four-zero left, keep the pressure on." Was the answer.
Breeze and I ran our way back up the compound, finding Force in the middle of a reload, which meant that the enemy wasn't being suppressed much. Breeze must have noticed this too, as we both ran to the window and sprayed rounds at every blue helmet we could find. Our magazines had run dry, so I had asked an instructor in the room; "Can I pretend to fire this?" referring to the MATADOR on my back.
"Yeah." Replied the instructor, pulling out a detonator. "Where you want it to hit?"
I pointed at the group of GreenFor, which I noticed 1 was dead and another two had been injured. The instructor brought out another dice cup and rolled it around, so only he saw the result.
"Fire it."
"Backblast clear!"
"Clear!"
"Firing!"
And at that, the instructor detonated some simulated munitions hidden under some rubble GreenFor had been using as cover. The instructor called out using a megaphone; "GreenFor closest to blast marker is dead, next incapacitated and unconscious, last two are heavily wounded but still fight worthy."
"The hell was that?!" One of the Peacekeepers hollered back.
"MATADOR rocket launcher."
"Aw, dammit"
The remaining two GreenFor knew better than to fight back, and so hunkered down behind cover, in relative safety as we fired at them for fun at this point, up until our radios recieved another transmission: "HVT extracted, pull out team."
In the end, the total points were:
OpFor: 0 points, 1 GreenFor wound and 1 BluFor wound, minus 4 points for HVT extraction, until zero.
GreenFor: -1 points, 2 for OpFor kill, 2 OpFor wounds, -5 for loss of AO control.
BluFor: 4 points, 3 for HVT extraction, 1 for AO control.
Winner: BluFor.
At the end of the day, GreenFor had won the most rounds with a score of 3 games. However, both OpFor and BluFor had won 2 rounds. It was already 9pm when we were getting debriefed. "So OpFor, Mustang 1-3, must work on their situational awareness and communication skills. GreenFor, mustang 1-1, did well overall, but shouldn't be static, and should work on mobility. BluFor, mustang 1-2, seems to be practically built for mobility, as well as taking attacks of opportunity, they have to be more cautious on who they assign to do what job. The Anti-Tank Missilepony should not be the initial breacher, and a pegasus pony should not be used to carry an HVT to extraction. All in all, it's a good training, it was fun, hope to do this again sometime, but for now, you're dismissed."
Before walking off, I heard somepony call my name, "Misriah!". I turned around to see Gunnery Sergeant Hartmane with the rest of my fire team. I walked over to join them, but as soon as I got close, the Gunny spoke "Misriah, I need to ask ya to help the EOD make sure everything is in order and ready to go. Mostly has to do with making sure the ammunition gets cleaned up and unexploded ordnance gets recovered. Might take an hour extra or two, but I know you got this." Hartmane chuckled. And all I thought was "holy crap… I hate being the fucking new guy," but, what I said was:
"Yes, Gunnny."
The group started to walk off, but Righteous Crusade commented; "You did good, Misriah. Glad to have you on the team."
"Yeah. Not bad at all." Added Colt Force.
"Better than Air Assault Infantry." Chuckled Vermillion Shadow.
"I'll get you a drink later." Ocean Breeze waved.
"Also, I told OpFor you had the frequency," Hartmane stated.
"Aww. But why?" I asked.
"Because in reality, that trick only works once." Hartmane walked off.
"Guys. This still ain't cool!" I called.
AN: Hey guys, what's this, an actual chapter two? Heresy. But really, I hoped you liked it. In the meantime, I'm writing chapter 3, so please write reviews and PMs, thank you!
