Disclaimer: I own nothing

A usual night on the joint American/British Lakenheath Airbase is calm, quiet and to most servicemen on graveyard shift; considered boring as hell.

Of course tonight wasn't the most "usual" of nights, and if one were to ask Sergeant Nat Bailey of the 101st Airborne, it was far from boring.

"Incoming! Everybody down!" Screamed Bailey as an MI-24 Hind gunship made a low oncoming pass among the pinned down NATO troops. His squad dove for cover behind the sets of sandbags that had been set up as a defensive position in case of an event such as now were to happen.

Despite the Sergeant's warning, a pair of British soldiers close by were ripped apart by the heavy 12.7mm rounds of the Hind's gatling gun. The mere sight of this caused his morale to plummet.

Bailey cursed under his breath before he returned his focus to the platoon of Red Army troops who were swarming through the front gates of the weakened airbase.

"Concentrate fire on those foot mobiles!" Bailey's squad leader, Staff Sergeant Holt yelled out.

The squad reply wasn't of voice but of the crackle of gunfire as a dozen men unloaded on the hostile troops attacking the base. Bailey took a knee and started taking steady burst shots from his M16A2. To his left, Specialist Joseph Michaels went prone and began firing fully automatic from the barrel of his machine gun, much to Bailey's annoyance.

"Michaels, you're not gonna hit anything if you keep up with the full-auto." He stated to the man.

The gunner ceased fire for a second and grinned up to Bailey, his pearly white teeth in contrast to his dark skin.

"So untrue" Michaels replied in his usual smartass way tone, "Chances are that if I do keep this up, then I will eventually hit someone."

Bailey couldn't help but shake his head and grin at his squad mate, here they were about to be overrun by Ivan and the man decides to crack a joke.

By now the Staff Sergeant realized that the raw firepower of the M60 support weapon was absent and yelled over to the pair.

"Michaels! Get your ass back on the SAW! Bailey, quit screwing with him!"

The two in question shared a glance, then returned to the firing line.

"Conserve your ammo dumbass" muttered Bailey, Michaels looked up to grin again, then turned back to the sights of his weapon and continued his stream of deadly fire.

At the same exact moment in time, the nearby town of Lakenheath was up in flames and chaos, the village was also under heavy assault.

But unlike the airbase, this was not the work of Soviets, nor any other country's militaries.

No this attack was conduced by a very different fighting group, a strike force of wizards, an army of actual darkness, of evil.

They were known throughout the land as Death Eaters. Dark warriors using black arts and unforgivable curses to become instruments of war, born and bred to serve their dark lord's every wish.

And their lord's wish for today was simple.

Crush, destroy, kill and annihilate those who were considered inferior to their perfect and pure image. Mainly those incapable of performing magic.

The entire community of Lakenheath to be precise.

Those muggles who still managed to survive in the small town had come face to face with the looming darkness that now stalked the streets, and were about to become witnesses to one of the most shocking and disastrous battles to ever occur in the world.

It was now only a matter of time.

The high pitched whining sound which filled the skies was the only warning the troops would get, a warning that they were sure to not take lightly.

"Artillery! Get dow-!" Staff Sergeant Holt never finished his last words as incoming shells slammed into the ground around him, creating a virtual wall of fire and earth which spread around the surrounding battlefield.

Bailey swore colorfully as he witnessed the Staff Sergeant be blown apart into an organic matter cloud by the falling explosives. Out of a mixture of both training and utter fear, Bailey ducked down as low as he could get beneath the trench and sandbags which were his only hope right now.

The bombardment lasted only a few more seconds, but there was no rest for the weary as the hostile infantry companies called out a fierce battle cry and charged the defender's lines.

Bailey's legs shook rigorously as he raised his rifle and fought to regain composure. The mere sight of an entire Red army division rushing forward caused himself to lose control of his bladder, The frightened calls for help and orders from his squad mates didn't help matters either.

"Nat" Michaels spoke, seemingly the only one who wasn't panicking, "Holt is dead, you're in command now. We need orders."

Bailey's eyes were wide as he processed the Specialist's words, A million thoughts raced through his head as he attempted to formulate a plan to counter the coming conflict, but only one thought gained dominance over the others.

Get the fuck out of there!

Suddenly as a saving grace, a pair of FV101 Scorpion light tanks sped out of seemingly nowhere and began peppering the swarms of Soviet soldiers with machine gun and cannon fire, effectively halting them from advancing any further.

"Alright!" Bailey voice cracked as he began shouting orders, "Fallback! This position is lost! Head to the airfield, we just might hold them there!" He lied, not even believing the words that came right from out of his own mouth. The Soviet war machine was coming, and nothing was going to stop her.

The squad ran, and ran as fast as their legs would carry them, they were joined by the remains of a platoon of British army troops and surviving Airborne infantry, all of whom were moving under the cover fire provided by the Scorpions.

"Speaking of which" Thought Bailey as he turned his head to the pair of light tanks that courageously held the failing defense line. Remorse filled his body as one of the two exploded into a large fireball which lit up the sky. The surviving tank attempted to escape by turning tail and running, but also met a similar fate as it's companion.

Bailey's face fell as he watched the culprit of the Scorpion's demise, a T-80 roll into view. The fearsome Soviet tank was a well known nightmare among NATO troops, it was heavily armored and required multiple anti-tank rounds to defeat it. Against an Airborne company, it was practically invincible. Behind it, the division of Soviet army soldiers, all of them having sights on killing an American or British soldier.

Deep within himself, Bailey conjured up as much remaining energy he had left and diverted it to his legs and muscles. He needed to survive, needed to get away, he needed to help his squad get away.

Mother Russia's fighting Bears were coming through, standing your ground was suicide.

Military and or other Terms you may not know

101st Airborne - An elite division of the US Army. Specializes in air assault operations. These were some of the guys who jumped behind German lines in WWII to disable key facilities during the invasion of Normandy.

MI-24 - Nicknamed the Hind; this Soviet heli doubled as both an attack and transport chopper. These things had a lot of armor and were once called the "Tank of the skies"

NATO - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was a military alliance of American and European countries. It's original purpose was to "help keep the Russians out." In post Cold War times, the alliance still holds together today.

M16A2 - The US Military standard issue rifle derived from the AR-15 family of rifles. It's an iconic American weapon and has seen action in every military conflict since Vietnam. It fires the standard 5.56 NATO round.

M60 - A belt fed machine gun, firing the 7.62 NATO. It was another standard issue weapon during Cold War times. In the modern times, it has been widely replaced, but it is still very popular with numerous Special Operations Units, most notably, the Navy SEALS

SAW - Squad Automatic Weapon. Proper and quick way to pronounce certain machine guns such as the M60 or M249

FV101 Scorpion - A light tank used by the British military. One of the fastest and lightest tanks in the world, it is most commonly used by Airborne divisions due to it's ability to be air dropped and it very mobile, much like paratroopers themselves

T-80 - A Russian main battle tank. One of the kings of the armored battlefield. Nearly impervious to anything short of a cannon. It is heavy and slow but packs a punch with a 125mm smooth-bore gun, one mean little bastard in tank warfare.

Short as of right now I know, but fear not, it shall get lengthier. The beginning of a story is always the hardest part for me.

Review if you wish. Feed back is greatly appreciated.

Later
-Tomato