All friendly personnel piled out of the ICVs and set up combat positions around the vehicle, for what seemed an everlasting silence swept through the designated combat zone. Drastically out of no where shots rang out around point Tom aimed at fire team Charlie. A marine was hit in the upper right leg and fell to the ground another was hit in the torso falling back into a wall and sliding down it to the street. The fire team began yelling and running for more substantial cover, covering fire began exploding into action, Sergeant Gonzalez yelled enemy positions. A medic ran over to the marine with the wounded right leg and began to drag him behind the ICV.

"Someone give that stryker coordinates on the tangos! It's to close to break out the 120mm! Tell the Abrams to get on those .50cals!" Walker yelled at the top of his lungs.

A marine ordered for suppressive fire as he ran to the ICV, another ran to the two Abrams that were looking around for hostile targets. Across the way in front of a building an insurgent was hit in the chest and shoulder by the tank crewman on the machine gun and fell to the ground while another stood up to fire an RPG, he was shot in the head, distinct dark red mist flashed from the left side of his head.

"Alright, bagged me a bogey!" GhostShadow remarked through the Lieutenants headset.

"GhostShadow we need more fire on those rooftops!" Walker replied.

"Roger that...this is going to be fun."

One by one Insurgents dropped out of site from the roofs above, red mist every time. Soon enemies started showing up ground level, a marine tossed a frag grenade at the group of hostile forces, the grenade went off dismembering one insurgent and peppering the other with fragmentation.

"Bravo this is fire team Charlie, we are taking enemy fire! What's your status, over!" The Lieutenant called over the radio.

"Copy that fire team Charlie, we are also taking enemy fire from the east of our current position. We are engaging Al Qaeda forces and are currently neutralizing target buildings with our tanks, over."

"Roger Bravo team, keep fighting and eliminate the hostile forces. Stay frosty."

Lieutenant Walker turned out from cover and began to shoot at enemy personnel, hitting one in the left arm and in the abdomen. Three other marines ran to a building and crouched in the doorway, one reloaded, his empty magazine fell to the dirt with a hollow, metallic clank, while the others fired at the opposition.

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"Ground team come in, this is Tomahawk 4 ready to provide close air support where do you need us?" An Apache pilot called in over the radio.

"This is Charlie, Tomahawk 4. We need you over at coordinates three, eight, zero, five, five over" Lieutenant Walker ordered.

"Understood ETA three minutes."

Walker transmitted the news to the two other fire teams then began running over to another position. It was a surreal moment, running in the open across the courtyard under enemy fire. Walker couldn't think, the only thing he could do was keep one leg pivoting in front of the other while breathing hard from the adrenaline of combat. All he could hear was the sound of air move in and out of his lungs. He then met his destination and crouched under a broken wall near the marine that was shot earlier in the chest.

"Are you wounded marine?" Walker question in a loud yet calm tone.

"...uurhh....the bullet penetrated the Kevlar just barley...just enough to put me out of fighting Lieutenant..." The marine divulged with pain laced in his voice.

"Ok, sit tight I'll call the medic."

Walker signaled the medic to come over to the wounded marine.

"Gonzalez! Get over here!" he yelled, still stroking his arm toward his position at the medic.

Kelly shot a few rounds toward the buildings and ran over to the Lieutenant.

"What are your orders Lieutenant?" She questioned after she slid into cover.

"I want you to get some covering fire for us while we carry him out of harms way." Walker ordered.

"Ready when you are sir!"

The medic ran over to the two and put some temporary field dressing on the marine's wound, then he and Walker lifted up the man and Sergeant Gonzalez provided suppressive fire. The Apache roared in from the behind Kelly and began unloading M230 rounds into the enemy buildings.

"Bloody hell! You didn't tell me you had helo support!" GhostShadow yelled over the headset, quite alarmed.

"I thought it might make a nice surprise." The Lieutenant joked briefly. "Tomahawk 4 there are friendly's at three o'clock."

"Affirmative Charlie team." The pilot acknowledged.

Spent cartridges fell from the chopper with a loud, blunt thud, smoke still lifting off of them. The extremists began falling back into the buildings overwhelmed by the Apache and amount of fire the marines had laid down.

"Here we go marines, time to chase down these bastards! Harkens, Keller stay back at the Stryker and help guard the wounded incase Al Qaeda decides to make a counter attack."

Harkens and Keller ran around the ICV to tell the medic and his wounded that they are here to help if things get too dicey. The rest of the fire team began running into and out of the buildings clearing the rooms incase any remaining forces where left behind. Gonzalez and three other marines kicked down the front door of a residential building and went in for a sweep. The helicopter flew off over to Bravo team to help pacify any enemy barriers. Gonzalez and her squad cleared the first building and moved over to the next, Walker followed the squad into the building, two marines went down stairs another searched the up stairs bedrooms while Walker searched the room to the far right, Gonzalez breached the door to the balcony room. Two shots boomed out of thin air, all of fire team Charlie looked around frantically for the cause of the firing. Lieutenant Walker dropped his M4 Carbine and ran to the room the Sergeant went into, while un-holstering his MEU(SOC). In the room he saw a man, his head wrapped in a red and white cloth.

"Put the gun down! Put the gun down now!" The Lieutenant shouted continuously.

The man lowered his pistol to the ground and dropped it on the floor. Then Walker looked over to his right and saw Gonzalez on the ground, two gun shots in the abdomen, her teeth clenched in mortal pain. The shooter had his arms in the air but had a wicked smirk in his eyes. Walker raised his pistol at the mans head with his right hand, two marines appeared in the door way about to raise their guns. An abrupt shot discharged from Walker's pistol, fired into the mans head, deep crimson and pink matter flew to the back wall. The mans smirk in his eyes faded away as he fell to the floor.

"Lieutenant! He was unarmed! That's a war crime!" one of the marines in the back exclaimed in disbelief.

"No, he wasn't. I dis-armed him." The Lieutenant growled.

Walker then stepped over to Sergeant Gonzalez and picked her up over his shoulders, Gonzalez let out a shrill, blood curdling scream as she was lifted from the floor. Walker ran down the stairs and out of the house to the make-shift medical station. He put her down near the medic.

"Hang in there Sergeant. Your in good hands." Walker whispered with a mixture of uncertainty.

"...Lieu...tenant....I think y...you and.. I... both know... what's going to happen..." She spoke, voice fading.

"Don't say that Gonzalez, your going to be-"

"Jason... don't kid yourself..."

The Lieutenant took off the Sergeants Kevlar helmet and held her head up. He looked into Kelly's fading blue eyes, he knew what would happen.

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The rest of the fire team traveled back to the original fire fight position. Various signals came from the radio about the accomplishment of the mission, apparently fire team Alpha ran into enemy tank opposition toward the beginning of their mission. Bravo had about the same resistance as Charlie, the Apache helped a lot in both Bravo and alpha's mission. Few casualties for the Marine Corps about eight in all, five wounded and three deaths. The medic over at Charlie managed to stabilize Sergeant Kelly Gonzalez' condition, if there is any hope in her survival she needs to be medevaced to Landstuhl Regional Medical Hospital in Germany.

"How long till the medevac arrives?" Walker questioned softly.

"Well we will have to travel to the Al Asad Air Base to get her aboard the AA to Ramstein Air Base. I don't think she'll make it lieutenant..." The medic spoke in a low manner.

Lieutenant Walker stared into blank sky. Walker's strong compassion for his men was renown, he never accepts any operation that has an inevitable casualty rate unless he leads it personally, any loss in his company is never a statistic and always hits hard within him, but when one of his men gives their life on the battlefield he takes it upon himself to visit their family's, paying airfare and all out of his own pocket. Walker pulled his dark green and black bandana off his face and threw it on the ground, this can't be happening, not to the one he took under his wing, not the one he felt had the determination to get the mission done and the same compassion for squad members as he.

"Lieutenant over there! In the sky!" a marine exclaimed in shock. A huge black ship was heading closer and closer to their location. It had a aerodynamic hull and two unknown propulsion systems branching off to the left and right. It was moving faster and faster toward them, some marines ran for cover while others stood there looking at it, it came close enough to see markings and such in a quick blur.

"Sir! I think the hull reads "Normandy"!"