Ace Combat: The Dogs of Soma

by JohnnyFrost

Blaze and Edge's children are forced to fight a war in Yuktobania, now ravaged by famine and a psychotic militant group. However, the twin siblings, and Osea's army, find Yuktobania an even more terrifying place than anyone could have ever imagined.

10. The Calamity Jane Complex

Chapter 10: The Calamity Jane Complex

Brandon

August 31, 2037

1500 hrs

"You're out of your mind. That's not her voice." Alphonso countered.

"I'm telling you…it sounded like her." I said. I knew what I heard. It had to be; the pitches, the tone...

Wash finally spoke up, "Almost three days ago we had a transmission from G1…with a male voice."

And just like that, everything made sense and not at all. I decided to give the conspiracy theories a rest. My head was hurting.

"I give up." I said, throwing up my hands.

"It's a shame that we're not allowed to have any media outlet here. For the first time in my life, I want to watch the news. Dickerson said the Division order was set so it wouldn't affect morale. I get all my news from the Queue." said Teller.

"Why send Izzo to cover life in the Corps? It doesn't make any sense. She hates corporations, the government…" Walt added.

Hoot asked, "You know her Brandon, what is she really like? Apart from her being a rug burner and all. They say she's a war hero or something."

I knew plenty about Lillian. She always flew up from Oured for New Year's, Circum Memorial Day, and our birthdays. You never knew what you were getting when Lillian Izzo came to visit and for Tasha and me, it was always a good thing; for my parents…not so much. Our tenth birthday was one of the fondest memories I had. Lillian came to our house in some bizarre white and yellow feathered ensemble I called the "Bird Suit". She gave Tasha this silk Red-Riding Hood cape and she got me an air gun, much to my mother's chagrin. She insisted I keep under lock and key, even though it fired non-lethal projectiles. The best part was when I realized that her flamboyant nature had nothing to do with the fact she liked the identical gender. It was that she loved life and everyone in it. Lillian told Cormorance, Micho's old man, about life in South Oured and the scene of Izzo and that Shawna woman sharing the slice of birthday cake and smashing it into each other's faces. Life was much simpler back then.

"She was a pretty good pilot in her heyday. My parents flew with her. She shot down like thirty enemy planes, and then promptly got shitcanned by the Air Force. She wrote this book about the war, then, the Oured Post hired her eight years ago." I said.

Alphonso said, "Catch a Lighting Wave, right? I loved that book."

"Is it true she kept spiders as pets?" Wash asked.

"She's got a whole room in her house dedicated to spiders. It's freaky." I said.

Walt added, "I heard she's getting hitched to some woman in a few months. Talk about some crazy stuff."

After a dead period in the conversation, Captain Morrison walked in with appeared to be another officer. I thought he was a member of Battalion staff or one from another company. Both the Captain and the other officer had the same smooth, brown hair. But the other man was younger and a foot shorter. He had a set of narrow blue eyes and his round, baby-faced stare was slightly comical. But his posture suggested he was a recent graduate of Annapolis and Recon School.

"Good afternoon gents." said the Captain.

"Afternoon…Captain, sir, any additional word on the assault?" Alphonso said.

"Things are progressing at a natural rate. Everything is being put into position and all intelligence is tight. In other words, no word."

"Sergeant Adair, everyone…this is 2nd Lieutenant MacGruber. He'll be taking command of the team after we run through Severja. He'll only be an observer and advisor for the time being. He'll defer to you for the tactical decisions for now."

"Yes sir." replied the Sergeant.

As the Captain left, MacGruber relaxed his stance. He introduced himself to Alphonso with a handshake. I could immediately tell from his friendly demeanor and awareness of the room that he and the Sapinian would get along well. Of course, I also knew that from Hoot's shrug and derisive stance. I wasn't sure if MacGruber was a Dickerson clone. After all, he was an inexperienced officer. But I had confidence in him. However, if I was Tasha…I would have probably thought he was a retard right from the get-go. I always wondered if there was a phobia of commissioned officers. Tasha would've gladly been diagnosed.

"Lieutenant, welcome to Team 3. I'm Sergeant Alphonso Adair, Team leader as you know. We got a good corps of guys here. You'll like most of them. This is Corporal Rico Lazarus, heavy weapons. Corporal Eric Martin, we call him Eric the Red because he's crazy. He's on light duty for right now. We have the sniper team of Corporal Demetrius Wash, the kung fu master, and Lance Corporal Adrian Abernathy…spotter and the official white guy who thinks he black."

"That ain't funny 'yo. What do you expect when you're white like cocaine and grew up on Ten Mile?" Abernathy replied.

"Colorful group of people you have here." MacGruber said with a smile on his face.

"Sergeant Teller, Hoot as we call him…he's our company good 'ol boy and the best shot outside Wash and Abernathy. PFC Walter Snow, he's future wife abuser and heavy support gunner. PFC Mathis and Corporal Wilcox, they handle the C4. Bennett is going to be out for a few weeks. There's PFC Marco Desormeaux…who likes underage girls."

"Hey, Tatiana's legal Sergeant! Here and back in Orleans."

"Then there's Corporal Micho Alou…who likes older women and underage drinking. Corporal Cameron Craft, our Hollywood tour guide but has been indefinitely banned from driving military vehicles. Lance Corporal "Big" Willie Chapman, he knows more about fishing than covering a sector."

"And finally, here is Corporal Brandon Black. You need any info on radio frequencies, he's the guy. Plus some of our Team would trade their mother and two sisters for his girlfriend."

"It's good to meet you all. I hope to prove myself worthy of your trust in my future leadership." said the Lieutenant.

I knew at that point he would be, at worst, a decent officer. He certainly had a quieter sense of confidence. He spoke with a sort of Old Victorian comprehension.

"Okay, umm…let's go over this brief. I'll try to make things simple." said Alphonso.

Afterwards, we gathered outside to discuss the Kazar situation. The 09 LARA was outside near the road near our bivouac. Alphonso stretched out the AO map for the area.

"Kazar's been sticking in the CENTCOM's craw. Many civilians here are loyal to the Soma. This city stopped the advance of the 82nd. Terrorist forces along with Dogmen, keep making raids on rear elements of the 1st Marines…attacking straight from Kazar. Division's sending our Battalion right into Kazar. On our right flank will be the entire 82nd Airborne. 2nd Battalion's moving up with 2nd Regiment to support the assault on Severja. 1st Marines will make their final push for Severja in 24 hours. Our push begins at 0100. We're pushing right into the heart of Kazar after air and arty hit the city. Civilians have the entire south side to flee. At 0100 hours, Kazar is a free fire zone. 82nd will take and hold the city. Behind us, elements of 1st Marines…3/5…will be pushing through. The…154th Motor T will be directly behind us. The attack order will be Raptor, Vampire, and then us. Once we pass Kazar, we got fifty clicks of highway to Severja. We'll set up positions at the Darsi Bridge 20 klicks south of Severja. It's a full moon tonight. We'll have full illumination on the NVGs."

For the first time, I didn't think this was a good plan. It all the makings of a Charlie Foxtrot; air and arty, another branch of military, Dogmen and irregular fighters…my twin's company right behind us? It was a recipe for disaster.

"Do we have any air support? I haven't had time to look for the TADs." I asked, referencing the air radio frequencies.

"Yeah, because you were too busy getting busy with Dulcinea." Walt said.

"Quiet," Alphonso sharply rebuked, "Army A-10s possibly, Cobras, and Comanche escorts…Loyalists are fighting to the extreme Western Sonza…too far away and most Marine air is tied up in Upper Gublina and Severja."

"Kazar's the Wild West, but be careful who you light up because civilians will be there. Hoorah?"

"Hoorah." We all said.

It was strange for Alphonso to be that driven, but I didn't sense any doubt in his voice. I thought it would be strange given his character; and there was nothing there. I noticed how quiet MacGruber was. He sat, taking notes as Alphonso laid out the order of vehicles for this mission and the future. Captain Morrison had shaken things up. After Kazar, I'd be riding in the Command Victor with the LT and Alphonso, along with Desormeaux, Abernathy, Wash and Chapman. It would the last time I'd ride with Walt and Micho in the LARAs for a long while.

After the briefing was over, one of the other NCOs from Werewolf, Sergeant Brannon of HQ Team, came by on a mail call. I dreaded opening my mail in front of the other guys because if I left, they'd follow. I'd been apprehensive because the last time I opened my mail, Dulcinea was gracious enough to send me a rather…racy photo of her. Someone stole it and I had to spend several hours tracking down the thief. But in this instance, it wasn't anything naughty. It was from mother's little monster…Astrid.

"Oh, man…they had the nerve to send me a cable bill. I'm a war hero, damn it!" said Cameron.

"What's that?" Willie asked me. I opened the envelope from Astrid. All I saw, besides the bedazzled and purple colored stock of paper was a single paragraph and a host of names. I just shook my head and laughed.

"My little sister sent me a letter. Her whole sixth grade class signed it and everything." I said.

"Does your family know about Lucy yet?" Willie asked. Willie Chapman was the opposite of Hoot. He wasn't loud or boisterous, he was a country kid...but he hated hunting. He preferred the quiet dignity of an afternoon fishing trip. He also almost never cursed.

"She still en route in Alaska. As far as I know…no word." I replied.

I wasn't trying to be facetious, but it certainly came out that way. At least, I thought at the time. The Marine Corps and war in general both have their share of dark humor…but I couldn't come up with an answer. There was an empty feeling inside. I couldn't go into battle feeling nothing. I left the letter behind and walked outside into the afternoon sun. My dad told me that before ever combat sortie, he'd try to go outside and look at the sky. There he thought about everything and everyone he'd lost and gained in the tumultuous wars in which he'd fought. My parents did so much to save hundreds of thousands of lives. But in the process, they'd sacrificed so much of themselves, took thousands of lives, and lost many people they loved and respected. They, the Razgriz heroes, made themselves into outcasts because the world had forgotten them and the aggressor nations hated them. And they took it all. I stood there and hoped I wouldn't have to endure the same fate. But the anger in me wouldn't make that easy.

Tasha

1600 hrs

I was excited. In fact, I knew Lillian probably thought the whole thing was orgasmic. Carly and Charles' opposing reactions both told the story. Lillian was on her way to us. She'd hopped on a plane the day before and was at Division as we sat around our billet talking about the move through Kazar. It was not a good plan, but I didn't care at all. I was just so anxious to see Lillian. And not mention, I was anxious to see how she would affect everyone else. Outside of me and "Nesha", as what her mother called her, no one was really anxious to have her here. The officers sure as hell didn't want her here. I could tell. Finch was giving us his briefing about the reporter situation. I could tell from his voice. He was not happy at all. Lillian was in striking distance; all she needed was the usual Kevlar packs and briefing there. Division Command was a heady place. It was like the VIP section at a club. I knew Brandon had visited his Division headquarters. But when I asked him over a Queue, he didn't want to talk about it. The only thing he mentioned was that people from H Corp were there. But why?

"Okay, when this reporter gets here…all of this is subject for articles and a book. Some genius at CENTCOM gave her and her employer near free reign to publish anything said during her time here. The only thing is she can't communicate with anyone back home until the war is over. But basically it's like the cops. Anything you say can and will be used against you, but you don't have to give her anything. I'm just warning you up front; if you don't want it said…don't say it when Ms. Izzo is around. Got it?" said Finch.

"Roger." most of us mumbled.

"Oh, I won't be too harsh." said a familiar voice.

There was a woman there. She had a set of draping braids on the front of her hair while the rest of the blonde hair came down to her shoulders. She didn't have the usual cherub cheek and eye makeup. She looked like a hippie alright, but it was betrayed by the flak vest and the helmet she held at her side. With her were two medium sized bags. But she didn't have on the Bird Suit this time. I was shocked. I thought she'd wear something extravagant like the purple and black tethered dress she wore to our high school graduation. Some people groaned when they saw her. Some just rolled their eyes. Carly and I simply smiled, looked at each other and nodded our heads in absolute agreement; as if we were both saying, Oh...yeah!

It was Lillian Izzo in the flesh.

"Lieutenant Finch, sorry to surprise you." Captain Wells said.

Finch looked stunned. "No problem Captain, sir…I assume this is Ms. Izzo?"

Just as he said that, I looked to my left and saw Carly South, who was behind everyone's field of vision, giving Lillian the goofy, cute wave she always did. She'd rapidly wave her fingers up and down with this goofy smile on her face. Of course, we, as in everyone in my family, knew the truth about Lilllian and Helena for some time. I'd long known; but…hell if I was going to out Carly and her future …step-mother. As Xanthia would say, I just didn't roll that way. However, Charles must have saw it too because he merely rolled his eyes.

"Courtesy of the Oured Post Gazette, she's going to embed with us for some time, so be gentle. I have to be away for awhile. Make sure nothing happens." said the Captain.

"Yes sir." he said. Then I saw Charles's face. He wasn't happy at all.

Finch interrupted, "Corporal Ellerbe, she'll be riding with your team when we step off."

There was this little moment where I could see Charles expend a little anger. His face twisted in a few different expressions all at once: anger, sadness, disappointment, confusion, and sheer embarrassment. I found it glorious. For once, I had to give Lieutenant Finch credit for making a smart decision.

He bit his lip, "Honored, sir."

"What about the step off, sir? Are we going in behind Recon or not?" asked Maris.

"Little's changed except the time. We're going in at 0100 tonight. Kazar's a free fire zone. Anything you see you shoot it. We'll be directly behind Recon, because some genius up at Division thought it'd be a good idea to send us through a hostile city. We'll have good illume on the NVGs. We're heading straight through the middle of the city, then onto the U74 Highway. That's all."

Then he turned and left. I wasn't sure what happened, but some strange confidence invaded me.

"Hey, look on the bright side...we might pop our cherries." I said. With those words, I was greeted with a sea of awkward, blank faces.

"What?" I said. Sheepish, being my state of mind, was an understatement. Lillian sat down on of our chairs, drawing some nonverbal ire from some of the other guys.

"Well, she has a point. I can't wait to light up some Soma. I'm sick of riding in the back doing nothing." said Briscoe.

"Please, when Airborne and Recon's done with Kazar, they may not be a mailbox for us to shoot. They're going to light up those Soma like it's cool." Xanthia said.

"I have to love this Calamity Jane thing. The empowerment of women in combat astounds me, even to this day." Lillian said, her floaty voice filling the air.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"The Calamity Jane Complex was my idea about the motivation of women in dangerous situations. It was just a minor thing in my overall study of war and government. I think it's going to be the title of this book I'm working on now." she replied.

"And you came here to do that? This is the last place you need to be. I bet the second the bullets start flying you're gonna be on the next plane back to Oured Southie." said Sgt. Denton.

"I've been shot at before. I'm…" Lillian countered.

"In a plane. You got to sleep in your own beds in Versua. You and Micho's dad and Tasha's folks…you guys lived like kings and queens back then. Don't come at me saying you were shot at. What was the worst thing you had to worry about? Sand storms knocking down the one tent you guys had to build. Please." said Charles.

"Have you been shot at?" Lillian asked.

"That's not the point. I'm a grunt; I'm expected to get shot at. Reporter, you're just some wine sipping sophisticate who thinks you're hard because you flew a plane in a war before most of us were even born or could have complex thoughts." Charles added.

"Did you read my book then?" Lillian asked, her hands on her hips.

"No, I don't need to read that crap. It's all a bunch of left-wing bias." Charles said.

"Well, I have a suggestion: why don't you sacrifice one of your nightly self-gratification routines and take a look at what we had to go through back then, like…I don't know…evading superheated electricity…and if you're still not convinced, I'll go ahead and leave."

Everyone gasped a little bit. Charles was apparently not offended at all...but was surprised. "Hey, I don't want you to go. I got have my people to make fun of…including you. Plus, I don't want a stray bullet hitting our RTO, who like you…is a walking mass of contradictions."

"From what I've seen, you're entire platoon is a walking mass of contradictions." quipped Lillian.

"Okay guys, enough teasing the reporter. She's here to do a job; we have a job to do. Go ahead and start packing your stuff. We're not going to be staying at BP for awhile. Any loose ends, you better wrap it up now." Sergeant Maris said.

We all seperated and I followed Lillian outside. I sometimes forgot she was 43 years old. There were times she certainly didn't act like it. When I told my father about this, he said she was 43 going on 26. There were some that thought she was on Zelene, an anti-aging substance. Zelene was an illegal intravenous anti-aging drug. She did look a little younger than her age...but Zelene was a huge issue with the rash of heart attacks suffered from Zelene users. Now...there were times I thought that maybe, just maybe, Lillian Izzo was on something. I wouldn't have been surprised if she was.

I approached her, she put her arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to her. She then pushed my head to her shoulder blade, her hand rubbing the side of my neck. I didn't have my helmet on so she couldn't tug on my hair like she could when I was younger. Of course, I didn't have any hair to tug.

"How are you darling?" she said. She always called her friends darling.

"It's been months since we've seen you. I heard the news though. It must be pretty crazy." I said.

"It wasn't my choice to come here actually. It really put a crimp in our plans." Lillian said, "How's Brandon doing?"

How was he doing? What else was I going to say? Brandon never changed. He was still the immature, skilled soldier who could spend hours talking about a lot of useless crap.

"He's still Brandon; a lover, a killer, and a little boy inside a soldier's body." I replied.

"And you are the same, except a little girl in a soldier's body?" Lillian added.

"Well, I haven't gotten to fire my weapon. I'm the one driving the Humvee."

"It's good to know my life is in your hands; as well as your…friend's." Lillian said, scoffing.

I put my hand on her shoulder. "Don't mind Charles. He's an asshole but he's a smart one apart from the other dozens of retards in this company."

"They're treating Nesha okay?" she asked me.

"Let me put it this way: they think she's bad luck. I told Carly that Nagase told Brandon and me as kids that those guys in the air force treated you like shit because you were unique. It always nagged at her." I said.

"I know the feeling. Nesha's just like me. Trust me darling, they'll be thanking her someday for being there. Then again, everyone back home is probably going to feel the same way. But no one's getting any straight news. Everyone thinks I'm hardcore Democrat. No, I'm just going by what I believe."

I took her back inside our billet to show her what I meant. I ripped through my ruck and found Astrid's handwritten letter to me. She always sent us these things with these strange colored envelopes. She always sent me the pink envelopes. But one problem of the Corps was that if you open a letter in front of others...they'll try to get their hands on it.

"Oh, Tasha's got a letter! Public property!" Jason said. He ripped it open as I tried to take it from him.

"Give that back!" I shouted. Jason read it aloud.

"What the hell is this crap? Dear Tasha: I really miss you and Ran. I hate the fact that the people for news network lying about you guys. You guys are heroes for fighting in a stupid war. I really hate the fact they're making you fight this war. War is a terrible thing and it only takes away the people you love. I wish it would end but what would happen to the Yukes? I know Aunt Sueltana is still missing and that's what makes it so difficult. Maybe if war never happened, they'd be living in peace."

Charles took it and slammed it on the ground, got up and paced about the ten addressing the room. "That is some hippie, communist crap! I'm sorry to disappoint you Astrid Black, but we Marines are trained to kill people. I am a warrior. I work out until I bleed, then I do some more pushups and run another mile! At the end of it, I clean my rifle and wait for orders! I wake up every day just for the chance to kill something."

"Posing philosophical ideas at eleven? That's impressive." Xanthia said. I was more embarrassed than angry.

The intellectual Xanthia was not needed right now. I wanted bitter Zanne back.

"Zanne," I said, "You're talking like a white woman again."

"Whatever…sis." she said. We bumped knuckles again and the entire thing was forgotten. Lillian just laughed.

Brandon

2300 hrs

I remembered the Lucy situation and I finally sent my parents a Queue mail about the issue. My parents were heartbroken. Their words in their reply were depressing and I couldn't bear to read them anymore. I told them not to tell Tasha because I didn't want her doing something stupid. She was going to drive into a hostile city at night without Recon's advantages. The last thing she needed to know was her niece couldn't talk because some Dogmen sociopath cut her tongue out. It still made me shiver when I thought about it.

Though in reality, if something went horribly wrong...it would not be Tasha's doing. It would be her company mates. Her company was filled with all sorts of sketchy people. Abernathy's father, the senior NCO or Gunny Abe, was involved in drugs in Rutherford and walked out on Adrian's mom. Even Xanthia, who Tasha looked up to, was a cokehead kleptomaniac. Charles, a fact Micho swore he knew this, cheated on his wife every time his company went on leave and lectured other people about how much he loved his spouse. Of course, Jason was no better. It was a running joke that the entire Transportation Battalion in 1st Marines were made up of people who couldn't make Recon.

But all I could feel was loss. As I walked to Dulcinea's tent, I felt I couldn't live with myself if I did lose someone I caed about. None of it was in my control and I only felt empty.

I still had Dulcinea though. She was safe. I couldn't control it, but that much was true. I wanted to say my goodbyes to her because our next billet would be Severja, the ancient city of the Tatars...or whatever it was called. I walked in and considering the circumstances, she was radiant. She ditched the bloody clothes for a clean white t-shirt and black sweats, but she still had those same ragged shoes.

I just grabbed her and we didn't say anything because we both knew I was leaving. I just hugged her for over half an hour, rocking her back and forth, just wishing it would never end. Maybe the Soma would surrender that night and we could all go home. But it wouldn't happen. It was awkward by twenty minutes, but I didn't care. I wouldn't let her go. I did have this advantage over everyone else. In the darkness of night, the fear went away and the loss vanished in an ironic sense. Here I was saying goodbye, but I felt fuller. The only thing I could worry about was Kazar. There were reserves of anger and revenge...but it was enough to keep me going with a full soul.

She stopped and gave me the rosary beads. "Take it. It might save your life someday."

I took the beads from her, confused. I just stared at them, wondering how this would help me. I appreciated the re-gift, but what did she mean? Then, she looked straight at me. "There's something I have to tell you. It's really, really important."

"You're not going to tell me what I think you are, right?" I said. I was scared for a moment. I knew what she was going to tell me...for a moment. But a second later, I knew that seemed stupid. And it was a shame too; I prided myself on not saying things like that.

"And what is that?" she said. But she wasn't patronizing me with her voice.

"Yo, Brandon!" I heard a voice call outside the tent.

"I'm kinda busy here!" I yelled back. It was Micho.

"Dude, we gotta go! We're Oscar Mike in ten minutes!" he said.

"Damn!" Now I was pissed. I was getting sick of all these changing orders. Dulcinea pulled me closer to her.

"Don't get killed on me." she said. This time, it wasn't as much worry as it was a demand. As if she was giving me an order not to die. Therefore, I just laughed it off.

"I'll save the dying for the Soma, baby." I said.

Dulcinea shook her head and chuckled. Whatever it was, maybe it wasn't important after all. Maybe she thought it was to her. I kissed her one last time and fled into the night. We loaded up into the LARAs, drove into the sea of nocturnal green beneath our eyes of night vision sights.

Tasha

2330 hrs

We were just sitting around our trucks, staring into the night. Southerland, who'd snuck out of the aid station, was with us. I could only wonder how she was managing to stay upright, given that when I was sick, I could barely move for twenty four hours. However, she told us that she'd been misdiagnosed. She had in fact contracted Seelow Rot and the sickness that came with it actually had a faster recovery rate than my illness. Lucky bitch, I thought humorously.

I hadn't seen Lillian in awhile. I didn't know much about her and Helena Southerland. Given she was completely out of the closet, it didn't surprise me. What did surprise me was Carile Nesha Southerland ending up in my company. She never really talked about her family. Everyone was under the impression she was just some rich kid playing Marine. The only thing was…she wasn't born into new money. All I knew was that her mother got a huge inheritance from her parents based upon some technicality in North Point law when she was eleven. She'd come from a normal family…that is, if one considered a normal family to be your mother turning into a lesbian after a divorce.

But what Carile didn't talk about her family, she made up for it with her borderline obsessive knowledge of softball; something she treated with religious fervor. I didn't give a shit about softball. I thought it was a boring sport, but Carile actually made it seem like it was much more popular than it was. My only question was…why did she join the corps? She never answered it.

In the meantime, I told the others a rather interesting story from my childhood. One thing that amazed me was the international influence in the Corps. There were half-blooded Oseans and other races all over the place. Immigrants, expatriates, even refugees found a home in the Corps from all over the world. Belka, Yuktobania, Versua, Sotoa, North Point, Aurelia, Fato, Sapin, Ustio, Ratio, Erusea, Estovakia, Emmeria…they were from everywhere. I sometimes wondered if I was the only true pure blooded Osean in the company. I sitting near Lillian, Nesha, PFC Emilio White and Corporal Felix Briscoe. White had to take Nesha's place for this mission since she was still under aid. Briscoe and Southerland rode with Finch on the Command Victor, a most…honorable position.

"There was this one time when we were kids, we got lost in this amusement park. It was my fault, I kinda wandered off into the Gypsy section and Brandon took off looking for me. We wound up in this weird tent with these fortune tellers. We were both almost eight years old. We were so lost but they were really cool. They read our palms and everything. This old woman, this…hag who looked like she had herpes, melanoma, and a goiter all at once, she said our destiny lay in a far away land. I thought it meant something out of those cartoon movies we looked at." I said.

"I guess she was right." Lillian said with a smile.

I continued, "Then her daughter or some chick took us back to the main gate. There was this guy at the parking lot who claimed to know us. He had this strange buzzcut, thick glasses and a duster on…even though it was July. He was a real thick guy… very imposing. He's got this wicked smile on his face. And this chick didn't know…she was like what, sixteen? She leaves us with this mouth breather. He's trying to get us to come into his car, says he got candy and video games and stuff. Brandon, to his credit, realizes were in a dangerous situation. He's saying no because he saw the way he was looking at me. I thought I recognized the guy…then my folks run over and sees him. The guy grabs us with one arm and pulls a knife with the other."

"Holy crap." Carly said.

"Now, my mom was like…38 then? She was what…120 pounds against a guy who was what, 240…250?" I said, looking at Lillian.

"Your mom was real fierce when it came to protecting you guys. There was one time when you guys were three…where she punched a guy in the face after she ran into back of your car." said Lillian.

"Well, this time she wasn't so lucky. She got slashed in the shoulder real bad. Still has the scar from it. She kicked him in the nuts so hard her shoe went flying. Then my dad comes over and drop kicks this guy. One shot, down for the count! My dad kicked the shit out of him. It was a great family bonding experience." I said barely holding back my laughter.

Nesha scoffed.

"My real dad would have never done that. He always had a drinking problem. He lost his job and got drunk on my eighth birthday. He hit my mom in her face on my party at this amusement park and my mom shoved him into one of the rides and got crushed to death." Carly said, "Then my grandpa died when I was eleven, leaves my mom money in the low nine figures and my uncle tried to have my mom killed to get her inheritance. That was my family bonding moment."

"Wow…that's messed up." White said.

"Guys! We're on! We're moving out early." shouted Gunny Abernathy, running up to our position, "Let's go! We're Oscar Mike!" he continued. Carly ran back to the aid station while everyone else ran for their trucks and Hummers.

We all hopped into the vehicle. Lillian had a rather humorous go about putting her helmet on and nearly falling down.

"Reporter, welcome to hell!"Charles said, roaring with laughter as she got in. Lillian was sitting right next to Xanthia, cramped in the back as Jason was on the turret.

"All X-Ray vehicles, radio check." said Captain Wells.

Charles picked up the receiver, "Two Four Actual, standing by."

"All X-Ray vehicles, this is X-Ray Two Actual. We are Oscar Mike to Highway U74." said Captain Wells.

Charles began setting up his rifle and the Blue Force tracker. "Recon's in front of us. Werewolf, I think. What's our TAD with the air escorts, Xanthia? "

Xanthia replied, "Got no rogers on the TADs. I think I can get into Recon frequencies…I'll need some time though."

"Do you have any idea how many freqs they use?" asked Jason.

"I got an inside track, Jason. Don't worry about it. Have faith in Black Power." Xanthia replied.

As everyone turned on their engines, Xanthia began to sing. Lillian was a bit confused, which in turn confused me. She knew I liked to sing. She just hadn't been with us until this point. They'd picked up the habit. We knew what Xanthia was singing. She'd done it a million times. However, even as the order to stand by came over the wire, we didn't care. We sung anyway. But given our mission, we altered the lyrics just a tad. Speaking of Black Power...

We all started rapping, "Hey, hey…it's all about killing Soma today. Because the boys in the hood are all the same, all the same…packing nines, rings and a forty to go. Hey, hey…it's all about killing Soma today. Because the girls in the hood are all the same…packing shiny jewels, knives and skirts too low…"

Tasha

September 1, 2037

0430 hrs

Kazar had three main roads. Kazar was known for its wide streets but the enemy had made chokepoints all along the highways. There were only three ways through, codenames: MSR (Main Service Route) Detroit, MSR Angel Land, and MSR Midnight. U74, our objective was near MSR Midnight and Angel Land.

There was just one problem. We weren't anywhere near them. We were twenty klicks south of Kazar when we were ordered to halt. The first problem came when Recon's Raptor Company was nearly bombed by friendly planes. Then retards up at Battalion started changing the orders. We move for a few clicks and then we'd stop, start, and then stop again. Apparently, the same thing was happening in Recon. They weren't anywhere near the city yet. I knew my brother had to be pissed with all this incompetence. He just wasn't used to it. What was going on that they couldn't punch into town?

I could only listen to everyone's stories for so long. I nearly lost it. There were times I wished I had my mother's grace and patience. But then again, she had her own retards to deal with at Sand Island. They just went by different names: Perrault, Hamilton, Thunderhead...

But the biggest retard right now was Musharak...for starting this war. My other sister was lost in this vast wasteland wiped away by whatever this Seelow Rot was. No one knew where it came from. There were even some people who doubted the Soma even created it in the first place. Some, like Charles, changed their theories to an idea the virus was not man-made. How could it? All this while we were parked alongside of dirt road in the ass end of Lower Gulbina.

"What are we waiting for? It's been six damn hours!" I shouted. "Stop, start, stop, start...ugh! Goddamnit!"

I started banging my head don the steering wheel.

"Tash! Cool it. Take a deep breath." Charles said.

"Ah, the classic hurry up and wait. This never happens in the air force." Lillian laughed off. I was upset at her...after all, she'd slept most of the way.

"82nd Airborne's been fighting tooth and nail inside the city while we sit on our goddamn hands." Xanthia said. She was angry.

"Who cares? If they can't fight an urban battle by themselves, then they don't deserve to be called an elite unit." said Charles. He did have a valid point, but it was something he needed to say.

"X-Ray Actual to all X-Ray Victors, Recon is pushing into the city. Stand by." said the Captain.

"What else are we going to do? Seriously?" I said.

I was not too happy with Captain Wells. Ever since the officers got into Yuktobania, something flipped for them. There was something wrong with all of them. No one told Finch off for the Ak-47 incident. And Captain Wells kept changing orders and radio frequencies whenever he felt like it. It was almost as if three quarters of officer corps had no idea what they were doing. Supply Company didn't get us enough batteries for the thermal scopes and Carlton didn't trust the locals to help us translate Yuke. No one in the company other than Me, Carly, and Swafford knew any Yuke. Swafford was a driver. Carly had no respect from anyone. So surely she, of all people, the one who spoke Yuke perfectly, was not suited for translation duty. I wonder what the thought process was on that one:

Yeah, let's ignore the Private who could speak Yuke without missing a beat or unlike our sister company, let's not hire a local to translate. Instead, let's go for the overworked Tasha Black who has to drive for days without sleep and now she's got to translate three dialects of Yuke. Yeah, that's a great plan.

"Zanne, do we have comms with Recon?" Charles asked. He sounded incredibly impatient.

"I told you brother…I've working on it! Jesus Christ!" Zanne spat back.

It was a good ten minutes of nothing. We just sat there with Lillian as she took notes from our conversations. Izzo wasn't her usual talkative self. Then we were amazed when she pulled out her own set of NVGs, a special civilian version; something for which she paid 500 dollars. We would have raided her for the batteries, but hers were incompatible with our NVG devices.

"Wait…I got it now!" Xanthia exclaimed.

"How'd you hack into Recon freqs?" Lillian asked.

Xanthia said, "I overheard the Sapinian guy talking to Tash's brother and the Belkan guy…Sheckinhosen or whatever his name is. They talked about UHF-14 or something. Encryption protocols...those things are hard to decipher unless you're good…like me. They like to switch things up. Single units are UHF for inter-squad communications. They have enclosed comms with squads and fire teams…unlike us. But they don't use one frequency plain. They don't need RTOs because of their special comms, but someone like me can circumvent it because their radios aren't as advanced as they think they are. The only problem is I can only trace a plain…like two squads or something. Hang on…I got it!"

I listened to the beginning transmissions. I knew most of the voices on them. Rico told me he was riding with Chapman, Micho, Walt, Brandon...and this new Lieutenant named MacGruber. I knew Chapman from Infantry School. He tried to get me on a fishing trip, but I declined. He was a nice man, but I'd rather have lied down on the railroad tracks and let the Trans-Pacific train run over me than go on a fishing trip. If I was sent to hell, I knew fishing would be my punishment. And what the hell kind of a name was MacGruber, I thought.

Rico: "Let me get this straight, you, your mother…and Elizabeth D'Shubert were all in a lingerie store together?"

Brandon: "Rocketman, it was one of those bizarre encounters that could only happen to me."

Cameron: "It was that Constance Barriea's Paradiso on Sunset Boulevard and South Amsterdam, right? My mom used to work there. She'd always say she felt unclean after working. I didn't see the big deal. That place has the most upscale intimates store in Osea. It was always filled with hot chicks from Rodeo. I met Bree there! She used to live in Manhattan Shore."

Micho: "Oh, I love Manhattan Shore. Place's got the hottest forty year old women in the world."

Sheckenhousen: "Werewolf Lima One to Werewolf Juliet One. Raptor's in contact ahead."

Alphonso: "Roger, break. Enough Hollywood…game on gentleman. Lieutenant MacGruber, now we get to earn it."

Walter: "For someone who thinks Hollywood's overrated…Brandon sure talks about it a lot."

Brandon: "Well, maybe if the Soma would stop shooting at us...I can finish, dumbass."

"Your brother's quite the spifire, isn't he?" Lillian asked. The Recon guys were like children talking in the back seat.

Teller: "Okay, guys. Be quiet and focus."

I started blushing. I couldn't believe that Brandon had the guts to tell his squad mates that embarrassing story. Nagase, my mom...she never shied away from telling us about her past with one exception: the Hollywood Story. My mother would never, never discuss the details of that story. It was almost as if it never happened. What amazed me was their patience. They obviously were used to this over all these days of warfare. My question was...why was Recon waiting? Recon was holding us up.

After a long pause, we heard a series of loud sounds. It was like a chain gun was going off.

Teller: "What the heck is that?"

LT: "Comanche squadron's above us."

Chapman: "I love those things. It's darn near impossible to hit a Comanche with a SAM; taxpayer money for good use. My brother pilots one of those things."

"This is Werewolf Alpha to all Victors: be advised. Dogmen are in the city. I repeat, Dogmen are inside the city."

My heart almost stopped. I heard plenty of stories about them executing White Crow workers, torturing Loyalist and Osean prisoners of war, and just the general brutal, inhuman way they conducted themselves. I was scared to death for Brandon and Dulcinea because of them. But Typical Brandon, he acted all hard and cocky. He was never afraid of them...and neither were his teammates.

Cameron: "More of the psychos coming to play? Let's give 'em something to play with."

There was this long series of clipped communications. It was the typical chaos of moving into a combat zone. It lasted for several minutes.

Alphonso: "Why are we slowing, Teller? What's going on up there?"

Teller: "Too many flashes from the chopper rockets. They keep washing my NVGs out."

Alphonso: "Just go straight. Now, it looks like...wait. Hoot, halt the vehicle!"

Walt: "What!"

Alphonso: "Werewolf Alpha, this is Werewolf Juliet 1, Vampire's halted. What is going on?

Alpha to all units: be advised. Raptor's reported contact with enemy tanks ahead, possible Samizats.

Now my heart really stopped. I heard rumors about them too. I knew what those things were capable of from those rumors. They'd turned back an attack by 101st Apaches. It was like something out of my worst nightmares.

Walt: "Oh, hell no! Not those again!"

Rico: "How the hell did they wheel those up on a short notice?"

I wasn't sure either. As we sat there listening to the short, tense communications, I began to fear for the guys we listened to; but it seemed that, for the part, they weren't that concerned about the events around them. We looked up into the town and saw a few flashes on the west side of town. The Werewolf Victors began moving again, then...

"All Victors, this is Werewolf Alpha, Team 1 and 2, halt to herringbone, Team 3 pull off by second intersection and hold. Air's making a sweep of the west side."

Dickerson: "Werewolf Beta to Alpha, Raptor's made it through."

Brandon: "Why are we stopped? What's going on?"

Alphonso: "Not sure. I'm trying to get some situational awareness on this."

Micho: "I'll tell you what it is...no one knows what's going on right now."

Alphonso: "You may be right, Corporal. Well, at least I have no idea right now."

LT: "This is insane. They're cut off from the battalion. Are they going to pull off Second Battalion to reinforce?"

Brandon: "Probably not, sir. You can't rely on Raptor for anything. Frankly, I'm surprised they didn't get schwacked in the city."

Alphonso: "This is going to be a long trip. We've wasted hours just to go a few klicks into this dead city."

Then the communication went off. We all turned to Zanne and she started working again. A few tense minutes passed as we could barely hear the faded communications. We knew at some point they'd taken more enemy fire, but as radios often did...they washed out under interference from everything...mechanical, resonance, even where they were in the city. At least, that's what Xanthia said.

"What's going on?" Lillian asked. Zanne turned her head towards Izzo.

"Vampire's made it through. Werewolf is halting for five mikes to evac wounded Marines from Vampire." she said.

"Can you boost it, Zanne?" Charles said, unable to hear the radio. After Zanne kept with the radio and the sockets, she finally got the radio to where we could hear it. Of course, that required some interesting...jury-rigging.

Alphonso: "Werewolf Juliet One to Werewolf Theta, interrogative: What's the status on the cas-evacs?"

"Ten minutes, ETA for evac. Hold defensive positions."

Alphonso: "Not really SOP…but roger that. Juliet 18 and 13, check out that parking lot. 19 and 14, you guys push out twenty meters; check those alleys."

I recognized the voices of nineteen and fourteen. It was my Rico and Brandon.

Brandon: "This is 19, I got possible foot mobiles in the alleyway."

Teller: "Juliet 2 to 19 and 14, if they got weapons, light 'em the hell up."

Brandon: "Copy."

Rico: "He keeps poking his head up."

Brandon: "Wait! Don't shoot!"

Rico: "Jesus Christ. I almost shot that kid! It was just some stupid girl playing peek-a-boo."

I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew Rico enjoyed the combat and war in general, but I knew he couldn't allow any unneeded blood on his hands.

Rico: "Tasha would have been pissed if I shot that kid."

Brandon: "Well, no shit…you obvious bastard."

Rico: "I wonder how she feels about what I'm doing."

Brandon: "Did you write that love letter to Tasha?"

My eyes bulged. What was he talking about?

Rico: "That's none of your business."

Brandon: "Oh, I think it is. She's my sis and I want to know if you're doing right by her."

Rico: "Well, you have your opinions. As far as I'm concerned you take those opinions and shove 'em right back up your ass."

Brandon: "Retard…all you have to say is, yes I did write that letter. End of discussion."

Rico: "Why are you doing this to me?"

Brandon: "I saw how Dulcinea looked at you. Is it true…that you two dated once?"

Charles smirked. I wanted to slap the shit out of him and Rico.

Rico: "Yes, it's true. And there's always some part of me that'll miss her. But it's for reasons you or Charles can never understand. Something that she hates me for, something Tasha can never know…"

Brandon: "What are you…oh snap, contact left! Contact left!"

"What happened?" I said, desperate.

Xanthia replied coldly. "They came under fire. Cut off the transmission."

"See what I meant?" Charles said.

We waited for about ten more minutes. It was the longest ten minutes of my life. Doubt began to creep into my soul and it was a shame...since I swore not to be the jealous girl. But this was too much. Everything Charles had said suddenly made sense, even if his story was rather sketchy. I had to find out the truth; but a war zone was not the right place to do investigative work on one's significant other. I was wrapped up in my own emotions and I didn't hear the call to move out.

"Tasha, we're on the move." Charles aid firmly. Then I just snapped.

"About freaking time! Jesus Christ!" I shouted. I wasted no time in turning over the car. This war was pissing me off.

Tasha

September 1, 2037

0600 hrs

The summer months meant that the sun rose early in this place. Plus, there was something about Yuktobania topographically that made the sun rise sooner than in Osea. By 0600 the sun was in view. Kazar had about 100,000 people in the city. But the city was cramped, dark and congested. It looked more like a Versuan city. I was sure that up ahead, Alphonso was entertaining my twin brother with his story about Kazar's history: how what's his name founded blah-blah-blah in year too-old-to-remember and he did it because people from Group A persecuted Group B and yada, yada, yada…

The road to the town was filled with the ruins of war. There were destroyed T-72s, BMPs, Strykers and Amtracs, crashed planes, unexploded munitions, damaged and abandoned humvees, smoking Zil trucks and mud was everywhere. All around the entrance to the adobe looking town was walls…but they were crushed and broken. We could've walked over it if we wanted too. This was where 82nd had been stopped days ago.

There were nothing but smoke plumes from the city. On the east side, we could see the explosions where 82nd continued to fight their bitter struggle against the city's insurgent defenders. Radio said that they'd taken close to 200 casualties. I drove us through the destroyed city walls and cramped road of MSR Detroit. The first thing I saw, besides the ruined buildings and muddy streets…were bodies. They weren't civilians, but they weren't regular Soma troops either. They were obviously the paramilitary forces everyone talked about. They all had weapons in their hands or near their corpses. Charles pointed out that these were fresh. Oddly enough, I didn't become ill or anything at this. After all, these guys deserved what they got.

"Man…they tore this city up; Recon shooting insurgent bastards like it's cool." Xanthia said.

We knew Recon did the damage. Xanthia and Lillian pointed out how smart the insurgents were for opening up on the rear elements first. But they were, as Lillian said, overmatched. Everything along the streets was either destroyed, shot up or in flames. Some of the bodies were cut apart as arms and legs were missing. Those Nano-Bushmasters they had ripped their attackers to pieces. I knew Rico had a hand in this…as well as Brandon. I knew they enjoyed it. Hell, I would have too.

"Check out that place. It looks like a nursing home." Lillian said. "Or what's left of it. My goodness...your brother's unit tore them apart."

As we passed the heavily damaged nursing home, we came to the second part of the city. The rubble made travel onto the highway from MSR Midnight impossible. We had to divert to MSR Angel Land. As we made the turn, I saw a black SUV in a parking lot near an old apartment building of some type. In the midst of all this destruction, this one building and car was untouched. To the left was an alleyway filled with trash and rubble. I knew as I looked around the environment that it was the exact spot Werewolf halted. The six enemy bodies near the left sidewalk, the little child playing near the porch on the right…totally innocent and ignorant of her surroundings...

"Tasha, halt the vehicle." Charles said.

"What?" I said, slamming on the brakes.

"Orders from battalion, but that's all I know." Charles said angrily, "What's going on up there? What is Colonel Miller thinking…us stopping here? This is a kill zone with a capital K. The LT's messing with our SOP."

Then, Sergeant Ellis came on the radio, "We're sitting ducks here! This is the last place we should have stopped! We need to get the heck out of here now!"

I wasn't sure why Ellis, of all people, was blowing his stack on the radio. It wasn't like him at all. Charles spit out the window and series of loud bangs next to us shook us all. I became furious.

"Is Finch firing those AKs from his vehicle again!" I said. Lillian looked right and saw the kid wisely run into the house.

"Why is your platoon commander shooting up a car?" Izzo asked. She was raged.

Charles got on the radio, "X-Ray 24 to Two Actual. Interrogative: why are you engaging a non-hostile vehicle?"

Finch replied, "We have to deny these insurgents vehicles. They love using them for suicide attacks!"

There was this long period of silence after he stopped firing. I kept thinking about how much of a retard Finch was. If we got ambushed and I got killed, that would have been my last thought. It wasn't that his logic was entirely false, but one with any common sense did not go about firing wildly out of a military vehicle, and unannounced at that.

"Umm…Echo Three Bravo, I require your assistance up at our position." Finch said, obviously referring to me. I took the radio from Charles.

"Roger," I said. I slammed the receiver down, turned to Lillian and scoffed, "Lillian, take this down. It is in this Marine's opinion that the Retard to Reasonable Person Ratio in the Corps is three to one."

I got out of the vehicle and walked over to the LT's position. Lillian got out of the Humvee and followed me. I made my feelings clear, "I could have been at Annapolis. But no. My test scores weren't good enough because Madame President Shelley thought the middle class wasn't elite enough to be officers. The pipelines for the officer corps are a bunch of rich kids."

Lillian smiled, "I couldn't have said it any better myself. I did an article on that by the way."

We arrived and all we could see was a woman sobbing over her shot up car. She was dressed in some black shawl with a headwrap on; the traditional dress of the Fundamentalist Jaair Yukes...our enemies. But this woman wasn't an insurgent. She was just a civilian who, like an idiot, stayed inside the city while it was being bombed. I explained to the LT why Recon didn't engage the vehicle. The car wasn't shooting at them...so they didn't light up the only valuable thing she had other than her home and kids.

Lillian and I just stood there, looking at this sad woman despondent over a cheap SUV. I wasn't sure whether to be angry at Finch for firing an enemy weapon at the vehicle for no reason and subsequently not calling the target or to feel sorry for the woman for losing the only luxury she had. Then again, I wasn't sure if I should have been angry at the woman for supporting the Soma in the first place. Maybe she deserved what she got…maybe not. She was a Jaair Yuke. It wasn't like Sueltana who was red-blooded Cinigrad-Yuke.

Then, I saw Lieutenant Davis over with a few of the other guys from HQ posing for pictures with the dead insurgents. All of this stupidity was occurring in a city that wasn't even secure yet. Izzo looked ill and I shook my head in anger. I just walked away disgusted and tired of the retardation to which I'd been subjected. I should have joined the air force.

But there was little I could do. Who was going to listen to a Lance Corporal? The other officers constantly undermined the NCOs. I was beginning to think that the Company Placement Officer after infantry school wasn't joking when he put me with the "retards and screw ups" of 154th. There were plenty of smart people in the right places, but too many dumb ones in the same areas.

But, what was I going to do? I decided to ride it out for the time being. Everything had an end…didn't it?

I just left it to my bitching sessions with the others. I made my opinions, however, perfectly clear with Lillian Izzo in my f-word laced tirade on the way back to the Humvee.

Christ, I thought, Mom and Dad never knew I'd develop such a filthy mouth.

We got back into the car and we were Oscar Mike again. I didn't want to think about the scene and I almost got away with distracting myself. But once again, someone screwed up and we made a wrong turn. As we tried to unscrew ourselves...

"It's amazing to look at all this destruction. You never see it in the air force after the pass and drop is over." Lillian said after a short period.

"Maybe we'd be already out of this if our retarded officers didn't have us take a wrong turn!" I said. My patience was thin.

"This town's dead. Recon's through. Airborne's pushing left. This is just plain bad tactics." Charles said.

As we finally got turned around I said, "Gee, you think! Battalion staff had to be stoned out of their minds when they came up with this plan!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

"Calm down, Tasha. You're losing it…but that doesn't mean you're wrong." Charles said, tacking on the last part in a quieter voice.

"That sounds like something Polly would say." Lillian said rather quietly.

"Polly? Who's that…your ex-girlfriend from back in Versua?" Jason added.

Lillian replied, "No. Silly. Tasha's mother was my girl crush back then. No, Polly Elbe was my dear old pal. I never had a better wingman." Lillian then droned on in a sing-songy voice, "Up went Polly into the sky one day over a city called Disra…down went Polly along with a massive weapon. My good friend died that day…never to come to the ground."

Her voice broke and she almost choked a bit. "I'm sorry, I…"

Xanthia said, "Let me ask you something reporter. How did you turn into a flaming rainbow of journalistic prowess? Did you hate men or something…because as I understand it you weren't always a fruitcake, right?"

"I don't hate men. The only man I hated was my dad. He disowned me after the war and gave me this ignorant speech about my…life after I started dating this wonderful woman I met at the Air Force Academy. Shawna had lost her right eye in the war in Versua and we were always cool with each other. We had some pretty wild nights," said Lillian while laughing.

She continued, "We broke up on pleasant terms though and we're still good friends. I love people passionately…and no matter what I shill about, my faith is in people. I love everyone except my asshole father but…"

"Quiet. I think we're gonna take fire when we turn the corner." Charles cut us off.

"I'm just curious. If we do get shot at…are you going to blame Nesha for this…or me?" Lillian asked.

Charles was silent. Irrelevant of his sketchy and embellished stories, it was easy to forget that Charles Ellerbe was a pretty good soldier. His M-4X was equipped with a newer DVX-88 Day/Night Scope. No one could hide from his eyes, night or day.

I looked up at one of the buildings that hadn't been seriously damaged and probably saw the same thing he did. It was some kind of office building with large windows. Most of them had been shot out and there were signs of RPG and grenade launcher fire along the area. But for the most part, it was intact. Charles and I extended our heads to look at one window that was whole. It was the fourth floor and the farthest from the right. Then, I saw the building was part of a larger series of buildings. When I did, I saw something else: that same window pane shattered and tracers came out.

"Contact Front!" Charles shouted.

That kicked off a ton of fire. I floored it as everyone began firing at the windows and doors. Charles was targeting each insurgent in the alleyways with precision fire. Meanwhile, bullets were skipping right in front of me. We were rather inexperienced, but as far as I knew, no one was firing down our axis. Zanne blazed away on our M249X SAW, an upgrade to the previous model… but accidental discharges were still a problem. Jason was blasting away on the fifty caliber gun, which had been improved slightly over time. It didn't jam as much as it did in the past. I wanted to shoot at something, anything…but I couldn't exactly put the Humvee into cruise and blast away with my M4X. Lillian was a little calmer than I thought she'd be, but she still jumped when an errant round cracked near her. We continued up the street as fast as we could to make the turn into the main drag of MSR Angel Land. The building in front was still spitting lead at us, but there was little we could do. Brown, behind us, fired a Mark-29 Grenade Launcher, but the building was too big to be brought down by a M-29, an upgrade from original Mark-19.

At first, I didn't realize how terrible this situation was for us. We didn't have Recon's equipment, yes. That was obvious…but we were ill-equipped to deal with an ambush like this. We had mostly trucks on a narrow uneven road, and no air. When the RPGs flew, that was when the situation sunk in. One of the rounds impacted a few meters from us.

"Left, Tasha! Left!" Charles said, announcing where the turn would be. We had no choice but to turn into the main street…right next to the office building. As everyone blazed away, another RPG round flew right for us.

"Look out!" Jason said.

Like a machine...or a fighter pilot would, I took a lesson from my parents. I made an evasive turn to the left and the round exploded in one of the abandoned buildings next to us. By now Lillian was hunkered down a bit as survival became the number one goal.

"Go...go, go, go, go, go!" Charles kept yelling as I made the turn onto MSR Angel Land.

Then I turned my head for a mere moment and ducked down as I thought another RPG round was on the way. But a bullet screamed through the window...where my head was! The bullet shattered one of our boxes we had cramped in the back...splitting Xanthia and Lillian's heads.

"Whoa! That was close!" I shouted.

"Keep going! Drive us out the kill zone!" Xanthia shouted. Obviously, she wasn't concerned about how close she came to her head being taken off. Now Lillian, on the other hand...she was in full panic mode.

I started laughing. The near death experience…was rather comical at this point. I wasn't sure if it was the adrenaline or something making me insane. It sure happened to Jason as he was having a little too much fun.

"You want some…oh, you want some too?" he kept chanting.

"All X-Ray Victors, increase speed and dispersion!" said the Captain.

The battles went on for a few more minutes as the fire tapered off. I knew Recon didn't go this way. Our moronic commanders told me the wrong darn turn and put us into this situation. Recon went a different way…the RIGHT way. I had to drive the convoy through Ambush Alley. Then, as we crawled out of the kill zone, I began to wonder how anyone lived here. After a few tense minutes, I found the highway and made the turn onto U74. And just as quickly as it began…it was done.

We were home free. We sat there in silence as we passed the ruined walls of the hostile Kazar. I started laughing, but it seemed automatic. My soul had taken over my mind and I was laughing independant of my sensible mind.

"We're clear! We got Recon on our left heading off the highway. We're halting there." Charles said.

I finally took control over my senses. I kept breathing just to see if I was really alive. I took one hand off the wheel just to touch my skin and check my pulse. After that, everyone joined in the laughter.

"Wow…we got lit up." I said.

"I guess you were right. You guys did get to pop your cherries." Lillian was whistling and shaking her head with a huge smile when she said that.

Jason said, banging on top of the humvee, "Hell yeah! So, reporter…how did it feel to get shot at by a legit target this time?"

Lillian had a huge smile on her face, "Pretty good for once."

I was in a state of euphoria. I couldn't believe I was still alive. Our orders were to push past Recon's position and hold. We exited the city via the U74, which was clogged with debris, but as far as I was concerned…it was a golden road of hope. As we came down into the valley, we saw several LARAs parked at a herringbone some 500 meters from us. I could tell it was Werewolf. If anything, they'd received the worst of the fire through their slog in Kazar.

We pulled up right in front of Werewolf Company. Our infectious joy had spread to the entire company. Everyone was whooping and hollering…even the officers. To be honest, none of us expected to get lit up this early in the war. It was clear that Werewolf did not share our enthusiasm. We were yelling, hopping out the vehicles and slapping hands while we yelled get some!

Recon was simply going about their jobs, refueling, setting new tires, reloading and brass checking weapons. I saw Chapman eating some MRE pound cake, Walt and Rico were tossing shell casings from the vehicle. I blew Rico a kiss and he simply smirked at me. And Brandon? He was just sitting there in a listless, half-conscious state.

"Hey, Brandon! Rico! I'm a combat veteran now. I'm Action Girl baby, woo!" I said, pontificating about.

"Whatever." He just didn't care.

"Come on! We got lit up, dude! We're in the thick of it now." Charles shouted, right in Rico's face.

"Charles, shut up!" Rico yelled back. Everyone froze. "I got news for you. None of that meant a damn thing! The whole thing was a maneuver. 1st Marines are already on the outskirts of Severja. The whole thing was a feint to draw all the Dogmen to Kazar. We let them have the city!"

"What?" Jason said, "You mean to tell me, we spent nearly seven hours waiting and twenty getting shot at…for nothing?"

"Yep. We're an elite unit and all we got was a crap mission." Chapman said.

"Sorry, Calamity Jane. It was more like a shootout at the B.S. Corral." Brandon said, coolly.

Then three Recon guys walked over. One of them was a baby faced NCO and a private. Walter came out from the LARA.

"Geez, is this your sister, Brandon? And Rico's dating her? Wow. Tasha looks like a cancer patient who got hit in face with a shovel." The private started laughing.

"What was Rico thinking? I've seen twelve year olds that look better than her."

"You POGs think you're hard 'cause you got shot at one time. Give me a break!" Walter said, walking past us pointing his middle finger at us. "We're number one! Recon for life, baby!"

"Rear echelon yellow bellies, get the hell on somewhere." Hoot added.

Some of the Recon guys walked off. Brandon just sat there, confused and apathetic. Rico was more shocked than he was angry.

I was frozen. My entire ego and all my bravery…died. It was built up in a twenty minute firefight and it was deflated in a few seconds. Then, anger filled my soul like it was a molten liquid being poured into the vat. I was furious at everything now: Rico (For his secrets), Brandon (for not being more vocal and standing up for us), my superiors (for being freaking retards), my platoon mates (for embarrassing me with their displays of joy), and myself…for being stupid enough to think I could walk up to combat hardened, elite soldiers and boast about one firefight.

I hated the enemy we were fighting and this damn war all together. I looked at the men in my life…and I said nothing. I walked away and got back in the Humvee. Lillian tried to console me, even though she hadn't left…she heard the verbal evisceration Power Recon gave us. And besides, we'd been given the order to move out anyway. We had to go north and help the 1st Marines. I walked slowly to the Humvee, opened the door and sat down like a petulant child. Everyone else followed, their feelings shredded by elite Recon soldiers; they, while we walked away, were still going about their jobs...as if we weren't even there.

I stared at the bullet hole in the glass right in front of my eyes. For whatever reason, I started to sing. It was my favorite song by the Ellen Coates Band…Teenaged Wasteland.

"I stay in my room with the music blaring…forget the world, I just stopped caring…"

Slowly, the others started to join in. Even Xanthia did…because we'd sung this song before.

"My boy drives and old, old pickup baby, mixing cocaine and vodka maybe…we are the ones who refused to obey, we are the ones who waste nights away…"

Finally, Lillian added her less than soprano voice.

"Sex and punk rock are our crimes, my parents don't know the times and they don't give a damn about me…'Cause I'm from the Teenaged Wasteland baby, we're all dying from hard drugs maybe…'Cause I'm from the Teenaged Wasteland baby, Our story is a style of crazy…"

Lillian would probably embellish it, but the truth was this: We really were just POGs, people other than grunts. We'd be in the rear trucking supplies while Brandon and his boys were fighting up north…in a place the Yukes called The Dead City. It was the very place where the Seelow Rot started…according to some. But I wondered what horrors were really in that city? I knew this: Brandon and Rico were going to find out real quick.

I just kept staring at the hole in the glass.

Next Chapter: The City of Sinners