Disclaimer: I never owned freedom fighters and I never will.

My Notes: Yay new chapter! It is the longest by far. Hope youenjoy. Oh and how could I forget.

Please R&R.

"A house divided against itself cannot stand." Abraham Lincoln June 16, 1856

January 10, 2014. 1400 hours. Over Michigan aboard TA-33 troopship

The 'Sarge' was sitting in the troop compartment of the army's newest means of transporting Spec. Ops. troops to and from points of conflict, the TA-33 Multipurpose Transport Recon and Attack Craft or M-TRAC, but the troops new it as the 'Phantom'. It was a marvel of modern engineering, it was the first stealth transport craft, the plane could reach mach 1.5 using a turbofan jet engine coupled with the new pulse detonation engines, which were mounted above the passenger compartment, giving the plane a hunch on its back. This also meant that the tail had to be split so the exhaust could flow properly. The TA-33 also had a V-TOL capability granted by a vectoring thrust nozzle for the jet and two fans imbedded in its short wings. For defense, it carried a thirty millimeter, nose mounted, chain gun, and a pair of advanced AIM-1 Fire Bolt missiles that could attack both air and ground targets alike. It also had a twenty troop carrying capacity under normal conditions… under the current situation however, the bay was loaded with enough supplies to last the team for a full week of combat operations.

A radio in the team leader's helmet crackled to life, and a young, energetic women's voice spoke into his ear, "Delta squad we are approaching the drop zone. Repeat we are approaching the drop zone."

"This is Delta squad. We read you Lieutenant." Responded the 'Sarge'. "Now you do remember what the plan is right?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! You've only gone over it fifty two times! I know what I'm doing." Rebuked the pilot.

"Good. Maybe without our help the Coalition won't be able to proceed as quickly. Hopefully this will give the Union enough time to launch a counter attack." Said the 'Sarge'.

"Amen to that!" Replied the pilot.

"Delta squad! We are approaching our DZ. Now remember, if you see any Coalition forces, shoot. If you see any Union troops, don't return fire unless you have no choice. We are trying to establish a landing point for the ship. Got it?" Called the 'Sarge'.

"Sir, yes sir!" came the resounding reply.

"And Lieutenant, we will signal for pickup if things hit the fan. If we do I want you to come in fast and hard. Do you understand?"

"Yes… Good luck."

Suddenly the rear hatch of the troop compartment burst open, and a gust of wind tore at the troops faceplates as the ship flew over the forested earth nearly thirteen thousand feet below. The black armored figures donned their parachutes and jumped out of the cabin towards the land below.

January 10, 2014. 1600 hours. Unknown Warehouse

I awoke in a warehouse, dazed. I was surrounded by fifty or so other prisoners and the five troops guarding us. I scanned the faces of the prisoners, looking for someone, anyone that I knew, to no avail. I no longer heard the sounds of war outside, I just hoped and prayed that my family and friends were alright.

"Hey, I see that your finally awake."

I spun around toward the voice to see some middle aged man. He looked to be thirty-five years old, though his voice sounded like some elderly person. He was tall, I'd say five feet eleven inches, was of minor athletic build, he had dirty, dark brown hair, and light green eyes. He had bony facial features, and wore the uniform of the U.S. armed forces.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I am Corporal David Farges of the United States marine corps. I noticed you getting dragged in here unconscious, and I… wasn't sure if you were alive or not, but seeing that you're up… well I know that you are all right." He said in a raspy voice. It seemed to me that he hadn't had a drink in days.

"Right. But where are we? And why do you sound like that?"

"Whoa hold on! One question at a time. Okay, this is an old storage warehouse. The Coalition captured so many people they needed to convert many different buildings into prison camps. And I sound like this because I was yelling orders to my men for hours in the battle, and…" He trailed off and looked away towards the floor. "And then we were overrun. I was the only survivor." His voice became nothing more than a whisper as he seemed to work up an immense effort to speak those words.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

But he just drooped his head and walked away.

January 14, 2014. 1800 hours.

Four days of imprisonment can get under anyone's skin, living in a cold, damp, and dark warehouse away from the outside world was bad enough, but we also only had limited supplies of food and water.

It was hard to believe that all this shit started just one week ago. I couldn't believe that fellow Americans would do this to each other! It was just not right what they were doing to anyone they found whether they were civilians or not.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash. One of the prisoners had knocked one of the guards into a pile of boxes and continued to try and rip away his rifle. Two other guards pulled the man off the guard and knocked him out, leaving him unconscious on the concrete floor. The remaining guards kept their weapons at the ready for any other people who might try to try that same stunt. None of us were that stupid, we wouldn't go up against armed guards with our bare hands. The rest of the day afterwards was pretty calm given the circumstances.

I hadn't heard much from Cpl. Farges. He seemed to be off in his own world, probably still in shock over all of his troops' deaths.

The light entering through the dusty old windows was beginning to fade as the sun set past the horizon and darkness enveloped the warehouse… night had come. But this nightfall was not to be like the others… hours into this night, something happened that would set the course for my life.

A gun shot was heard in the distance. The guards were spooked by the sound, and cautiously went to scope out the situation. Then I noticed a shadow near the back of the warehouse. The figure move swiftly, silently, sneaking up to the remaining two guards, brandishing a twelve inch blade, jamming it into the first guard's back, he dropped without a sound. The other turned but was cut down by a hail of bullets fired from silenced weapons back from where the shadowy figure first emerged.

"Quick.." I heard someone say in the darkness. "We are getting you all the hell out of here." The person spoke quietly but I recognized it immediately.

"Justin is that you?"

"Yeah, of course it's me, who were you expecting some short gnome by the name of Joe?" That was typical Justin, always having some smart remark.

I heard Farges already on his feet moving to the exit. "How will we defend ourselves?" He asked.

"Simple, we give you guns and you use them." This time the voice was from someone else.

"Who are you?" I asked for I couldn't guess who that female voice was off the top of my head.

"Ugh, you can't remember who I am! Come on!"

Then I remembered, "Holy crap! I remember now! Bernadette!" I was extremely embarrassed that I had forgotten since we were almost always in contact with each other even when she was on duty for the air force.

She was another close friend of mine back in high school and had joined the Air Force just after graduating. She was about five feet six inches tall, with nearly perfectly straight, shoulder length, black hair, she always seemed to be tan no matter what time of year it was, and her deep brown eyes conveyed a feeling of exhaustion. I was surprised to see her there, after all she was in the Air Force, but when we were invaded I suppose that she had no other way to fight the Coalition, so now she was fighting the ground war.

She replied, "Yes, finally you remembered. I almost thought you forgot me."

"Hey. These people friends of yours?" Asked Cpl. Farges.

"Yeah. We all go way back…" I began to say.

Then someone else cut in, "Not now, we have to get moving before they come back."

Most of us received a slue of different handguns, I wasn't one of them. The Corporal however was presented a fifty cal. desert eagle, which he happily accepted and promptly cocked the chamber and let a fresh round enter from the magazine.

"Don't worry Kid, I'll cover you." said Cpl. Farges.

'Hmm… Kid? Well he could call me by my real name… but then it is better than hey you! And it is faster to say. I could get used to this.'

"Thanks. I'm glad that I have someone watching my back for me." I said.

"Alright now lets move. We have to go now if we plan on making it back in time to the HQ." Justin ordered.

I just had to ask, "How did you get here to find us? And when did you join a resistance force?"

"Just after those bastards invaded we met up with a group, including Bernadette, hiding out in a condemned building. Turns out they were with the resistance, so we just joined up. Now as for how we found you… well we have been raiding prison camps for the past two nights. I guess luck had it that we run in to you here."

"I'm just glad that you showed up. Now lets go!"

We moved out the rear of the building in groups of ten, that way we wouldn't be bunched up as one big target.

It was freezing out and a fresh layer of snow had just fallen, coating the ground. I heard someone say, "Damn it's cold out here!" I couldn't agree more, it must have been five below. Our breath formed clouds in front of our faces and in less than one minute I could see people's faces start to redden from the cold.

Everything was going alright until we ran head on into a squad of enemy soldiers. Some of those in our group just opened fire the second they saw the soldiers, it was a big mistake.

Soon a firefight broke out between our ragtag group of resistance fighters and professional infantrymen. Machineguns fired at us as we scattered for cover, I dove behind a parked car while three enemies let loose with hundreds of rounds of armor piercing ammunition. Seconds later there was a pair of immense explosions… then silence.

My heart was pounding like a drum, I had no idea what had just happened. Then someone shouted, "Come on, this way, before more of them come!" We all ran as one. No one wanted to be left out in the open after that encounter. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be the last.

No more than six minutes after our run in with the machine gunners, we came face to face with two armored humvees. This time everyone ducked into cover and melded with the shadows. However, in an ironic twist, like those in a bad movie, someone sneezed, and the heavy, triple barrel, machine guns mounted on the humvees were rotated in the direction of where that poor soul was, and opened fire.

Nothing survives when two .50 cal machine guns go to work, and it was a horrifying experience.

"You two are way too trigger happy!" Someone yelled from inside one of the Humvees. "Let's get back to base!"

Everyone just stayed put until the humvees left the area. Who ever was back there was no longer alive.

We continued along like this for another two hours, constantly hiding in the shadows when a patrol would cross us. Finally, we arrived at the resistance HQ. It was an enlightening experience, we even got to eat some dinner if you wanted to call it that, but to me it was the best food I had tasted in days. I saw quite a few people here and was surprised that they were all here putting their lives on the line for freedom.

We were welcomed by someone of seemingly important stature. He was short, I'd guess under five and a half feet, he had the build of an overstuffed teddy bear, was bald, and appeared to have three chins. Yet he carried with him the voice of a well trained and professional military dignitary.

"Hello, my name is Colonel Perrult, I am the leader of the resistance movement. You are here today because of the actions of this resistance, and so I request that you aid us in our campaign against the Coalition. Those of you that do not wish to fight can go back out to the street… and hope that the Coalition soldiers will not kill you. So what will it be?"

This "request" seemed more like an order than anything, and most of us were just civilians, untrained in combat. He didn't seem to be giving us much of a choice in the matter, it was either fight, or die at the hands of the Coalition. No one rejected his "request."

He then said, "I will now have Lt. Ash continue with your debriefing."

Lt. Ash, I thought to myself. Who could that be?

He was six feet tall, had short and somewhat spiky brown black hair. He was not overly muscular and at the same time not a super slim character. He had a serious yet saddened look on his face, most likely from shock from the war.

His speech was short and to the point,

"You are here to fight against the Coalition, you will serve under the command of Colonel Perrult of the 1st infantry division. You have already been to the kitchen, and the bunks are down the hall to the left. The armory is just past the bathrooms. As of now you will all be assigned the rank of corporal for command purposes. If there are any questions you can ask me now."

There were none.

"Good, then tomorrow at 0800 you will be taking part in operation linebacker, you will be briefed in the morning so for now you should get some sleep."

Now that appealed to everyone who promptly rushed to the bunks for a nice long restful sleep. I looked around in vain for my friends and family. Seeing that no one could be found I joined the exhausted "recruits", since it seemed like it would be a long day tomorrow from the sound of things.

My Notes Again: R&R! How many times do I have to say it before people do review. Honestly, just Review, I don't care what you say just so long as it deals with this here story.