Western China 2035...
"Roger that command, we'll gather intel at the requested AO and send it back ASAP."
Sergeant First Class Bradley looked up after having finished talking with the division commander. He looked ahead at what was his platoon. It was unusual for a person of his rank and pay grade to be leading a platoon but there was no commissioned officer available so he was called upon to lead the men. To his side was Specialist Jon Browning whom he respected very well.
Browning looked at him before asking, "So what's the plan sir?"
The NCO (non-commissioned officer) looked at him before addressing him. If you were to study the older man's face you would have noticed the sheer amount of wrinkles that shined with sweat while showcasing just how long he had been serving his country dutifully
"Same old thing. We've got a recon mission in an AO (area of operation) approximately 25 miles up ahead from here. It looks like the remaining PLA (Chinese army) retreated and dug themselves in after the battle we fought with them three days ago. Those bastards are resilient, I'll give them that."
Jon shrugged, "we'll flush them out and finish 'em off once and for all. It just takes a little time."
Bradley looked at him and nodded his head in approval.
"Well, there aren't many of them left, and I'm not going to send and waste a whole platoon or even a squad for this small job. It's going to be just you and your fire team carrying out this mission alright Browning? I want you guys to map out the area and then call up the redlegs when you've got all the coordinates down. Eliminate the remaining enemy forces. We don't need nor want any prisoners so don't be afraid to call the artillery often."
"Sir yes sir."
"Good, you're dismissed soldier."
With a salute the specialist was on his way. The mission was a go and he and his team were going to head out to the AO by dawn the next day. With that said, he had to warn his buddies to ready up and be prepared to leave by 5 AM. He strolled over to the tents where he knew his teammates would be. They're probably playing some cards to pass the time he thought to himself.
He entered the tent only to find exactly what he had expected.
To the left was the squad automatic rifleman, Corporal Steven "Bravo" Hart. Steve was sitting by his M41 SAW, a huge LMG with box magazines that typically carried 100 rounds at least. The rounds carried in the huge mags were 7.62x51mm NATO rounds, a perfect balance between sheer power, lower recoil, and high accuracy. He dealt the cards to the other two guys next to him.
To Jon's right was the squad grenadier, private first class Charles "poker-face" Henry. Ironically, he was terrible at keeping a poker face and the fact that he was smiling only punctuated that truth.
Straight ahead of Jon was Sergeant George "Buddy" Menert. He was the nicest guy of them all, hence his nickname. He was also technically the leader of the squad but since Jon was a little more coordinated they all decided that Jon should lead the squad. That was despite the fact that he was of the specialist rank and was the squad's DM (designated marksman).
Clapping his hands together, Jon got their attention before debriefing them.
"Alright guys, I just spoke with Bradley and it looks like we've got a job to do tomorrow. We'll be heading out early at 5 in the morning in order to clean up the remaining PLA from the fight three days ago. We've cut them off from their supply chain so they should be low on ammo, food, water, and sleep. There are hardly any left so Bradley doesn't want to waste a whole platoon or even a squad, so he's sending us in alone. That being said, we've got artillery support like always and he's allowing us to call for as much fire as we deem necessary. Load your guns, make sure they're clean, and have your vests dusted off boys. We're heading back to the battlefield."
They all nodded and went their own ways.
Jon was a little tired, it was 8 PM and the night had already dominated the sky as the lustrous moon hung above and shone at everything below. Heading out to the back of his tent and behind a nearby tree Jon unzipped his pants in order to take a piss. He sighed and looked up to the sky and then into the foreboding forest ahead of him. He had never been to China before and despite being at war he couldn't help but admire the nature around him. The trees were a deep green and there were some plants that he recognized while others were exotic species he had never before seen back in the states.
Just as he finished up and began zipping his pants up Jon noticed a yellow glimmer in the corner of his eyes. He tried to focus in on the yellow object or animal but was unable to as it was so fast that the second he began to focus in it was gone, lost forever in the deep foreboding forest. He shrugged it off as probably some sort of fox native to China or something, he didn't know, he wasn't an expert on animals. He was a fucking cav scout (and damn proud of it).
Walking back to the tent he felt groggy. He made sure his gun was clean and his exoskeleton was functioning before plopping down on a mattress. He gave in to his sleepiness as he closed his eyes and began to snore ever so slightly.
4 AM the next day...
Jon's face was serene looking as he laid down in a seemingly perpetual stillness. Unfortunately for him, his stillness wouldn't last forever as he was lightly punched in the gut by George.
"Brown, we gotta wake up, it's 4 AM. You plan on sleeping all day you lazy ass?"
"Shut up shut up, I'm getting the hell up just give me some time..."
George smirked, "You are aware that I am, in fact, your LEADER right? You're just the de facto leader guy."
Jon chuckled at George's "smart-assery" as he got up and stretched. His back made multiple different pops as Jon sighed deeply. The sun wasn't anywhere near out yet as it was 4 AM and it was winter here in China. The sky was cloudy and there was a slight drizzle which foreshadowed the torrential downpour that would occur in just a couple hours.
The boys packed up their bags as they put on their exoskeletons. Jon put on his exoskeleton and right away he felt the power at his fingertips. He then put on the bulky SPCS and grabbed his MK1. He looked at his teammates and saw that they were all ready to go. Perfect he thought to himself. The time read 4:50 AM, they had ten minutes before they had to pack in to their HUMVEE-M2 vehicle.
Jon looked towards his men, "Alright guys let's hop in, I got shotgun."
Bravo called gunner, Buddy called driver, and Poker Face got to sit in the back.
Jon confirmed that he was ready by checking his ammo once more before hopping into the HUMVEE-M2. His blood pumped, in a couple of hours he would meet the enemy once again. In a couple of hours, he would once again be serving on the front-lines for the country he loved so dearly.
Chang'an AO, 6:50 AM, Western China...
The air was cold as it stung the skin on Jon's face. The sky was still an extremely dark grey, almost as if night had yet to fully pass, and the rain was pouring as it made little "pit pat" noises on the front facing ballistic window shields. It had been just a little under two hours since they left the base and they were finally at the area in which the PLA was reported to be hiding at.
The specialist was ever so wary of his surroundings. The PLA soldiers, although not as equipped as the American troops, were by no means any sort of pushovers. They were intelligent, resilient, and capable. For that, he respected them immensely. His eyes scanned the area around him as they pulled into a small village by the name of Chang'an according to the maps. They were in a rural area of China and it showed as the houses looked like they were stuck in the 17th century. Small huts dominated the village landscape and rice paddies were visible not too far off from the outskirts of the village.
The whole place was a ghost town from what the team could see as the HUMVEE-M2 stopped at the entrance to the town. Farm equipment was strewn throughout the place, the tools so terribly rusted to the point where a simple scratch could almost guarantee a tetanus infection.
The entrance to the houses were blown off in most cases which suggested that the retreating Chinese troops forcefully evacuated the citizens that once used to live here.
I doubt they evacuated them peacefully... The soldiers were probably starving and told them to either get out or get shot.
He grimaced at the thought until George took him out off his small trance.
"This place is fucking empty, I don't like it. We should just call for a massive bombardment before going in. Bradley doesn't even want prisoners anyway."
Jon thought about the situation they were in. On one hand, the bombardment of the village would guarantee 100% safety. On the other hand however, if there were any remaining civilians inside, they would be nothing but monsters. Even if the world never found out, Jon wouldn't be able to live with himself. He debated internally for a few seconds before he came to the conclusion.
"We can't do that. There may still be civilians in hiding and we can't just kill them. There should only be a small under-supplied contingent of PLA in this area, I'm betting we can clear them out without any indirect fire support. We should look for any remaining civilians first, I heard that the rural parts of China were angered at the government for having attacked us and starting the war. Some places were even reported to have gone through rebellions. If we can find some civs we may be able to pinpoint exactly where the PLA is hiding which would save us time and make our mission much safer."
Satisfied with the response, George nodded his head in agreement and kept driving until he was finally inside the village walls.
Bravo, like Jon, was also very wary of the ghost town. He shivered a little due to the cold and his nerves as he began to hover his finger around the firing mechanism of his XM308 mounted automatic 50mm grenade launcher.
The fire team kept advancing until the team heard the cry of a young woman in one of the huts. Instantly the vehicle stopped, turned around, and was parked in a secluded corner before the team leaped out. George activated the vehicle shut down to ensure that neither it nor any of the systems could operate until he deactivated shut down mode. After all, it would really suck if they came back to their vehicle only to find some random potential enemy sitting in the gunner's seat with a loaded 50mm grenade launcher.
Jon led the four man team with his pistol out since the MK1 was a little unwieldy for indoors CQC styled combat. The team arrived at the hut and took note that it was the only hut whose entrance wasn't blown off.
Jon didn't like it, he had a queasy feeling in his stomach since the building seemed to have an almost unwelcoming aura about it. Nevertheless, they proceeded.
"On my mark, okay?"
They all nodded.
Jon placed the water filled breaching charge on the back of the hut in order to surprise any enemies inside who would be watching the door instead. He locked the charge, filled it with a small amount of explosives and leaned to the side of it.
"3, 2, 1, breaching."
BOOM!
The breaching device went off as the soldiers rushed into the hut shouting and aiming their guns. Luckily for them, the house was empty except for a single woman who was crying on the floor, partially covered by a rug.
The soldiers slowly advanced towards her and removed the cover only to flinch collectively at what they saw. The woman was bleeding vaginally as she was most likely raped in an extremely rough manner while her legs were chewed up, disallowing her from even being able to sit up. It was a gruesome sight and the soldiers had to rely on their experience to not barf as even their training didn't prepare them for scenes so gruesome.
"Buddy, give her some first aid and check her pulse. Poker face and Bravo you guys assist him, I'll keep guard outside the hut."
They all simply nodded as George took out a first aid kit from his back and approached her. The other two followed suit and Jon walked outside while conjuring up his MK1 Garand. He watched the back of the house and occasionally the front as well. The area was still quiet as ever even though the sound from the blast of the breaching device undoubtedly resonated throughout the village. It was eerie.
Only a minute after he had went outside did he hear a scream from one of his teammates, George. Immediately he turned around and was about to rush in the house when he heard Bravo yell "IED!"
The hut exploded into millions of little pieces as Jon flew meters in the air and smashed into the cold hard earth below.
His vision began to black out as he fought to stay awake, but his entire body ached and he felt a massive headache.
"Buddy... Bravo... Poker face..."
His resolve was admirable but futile. His vision went black and his body lay limp among the debris.
Standing on the roof of one of the huts was a yellow furred, fox-like animal. It stared blankly at the scene before it.
A band of PLA soldiers from the opposite side of the village began to shout and run towards where Jon was. The yellow fox felt sorrowful.
Crawling up to the limp form of Jon. The fox picked him up and carried him back to the vehicle which was well out of sight and placed him in the gunner's seat as it had no idea in terms of how to open a door.
The fox then walked away from the vehicle, and outside of the village. It kept walking, only to disappear once again into that dark, foreboding forest. For the rest of that day it was never to be seen again.
Amazing how one day you can be at your base playing cards and laughing the time away. Only to have an IED explode in your face the next. These are the daily fears soldiers must face, it's not an easy job. Only the most courageous can serve their country, that is no doubt.
Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter. As always, there is more to come... I hope you're excited!
sidenote: don't be afraid to do a super quick google search for words you don't know. I don't think my writing is THAT advanced so you shouldn't need it often, but like I said, I hope to have a more high class fanfiction for serious fanfic readers out there like myself. Plus, it's always good to have more words under your vocabulary :)
word of the chapter!
contingent = a group of people united by some common feature, forming a larger group.