Chapter 3
The construction site had no action for about a week. Enough time for Groener and his squad to recover from the shock of a losing a friend and squad mate. In that short week H.Q sent a replacement. He was a support class soldier and he was first met with fierce resistance from the squad. They warmed up to him, sort of. His name was Mark Brangle. He was average build and height and he had tan skin and was quite handsome. A few of the female soldiers talked to him but otherwise he was avoided. After the week ended, the Chinese tried to retake the construction site. It began with Sholksor spotting an enemy soldier trying to sneak in, soon all the marines were in their positions. The fended off the first Chinese attack with no casualties and Groener didn't even break a stitch. But the USMC forces there knew it was not over yet.
Groener walked into the resting tent holding a cup of hot coffee, a rare precious item in Men'Uiea Harbor. Sarge walked in from the opposite end of the half constructed building, and said "Hot coffee, why didn't you get me a cup?" Groener's reply was "They only had enough for my travel mug." The travel mug was quite large and Sarge wondered how Groener had acquired it. Sarge shook his head and walked away and Groener walked up to Sholksor, who was cleaning his weapon. Groener struck up a quite conversation until Mark walked up and ruined their conversation. Groener walked outside after finding a good opportunity to leave Sholksor to his fate. He walked up to the commanding officer. "Cap'n, Where are you going to strike next?" The captain's reply was "Its Captain, not Cap'n and where staying put.""Why?" Groener said. "Because, a shit load of Chinese snipers have set up across the street, and Brunner, one of my men had his head blown off." "Great" was Groener's sarcastic reply. Groener was admiring the gun the Captain was holding. It was not standard issue. It looked like silver Kalashnikov. "What is that?" Groener asked. "Its and AK-101, standard issue for MEC troops. Found a shipment of them when I and my men stormed this construction site." Something should have clicked in Groener's head, that weapons from the Middle East in China was bad. It was not till later. That he understood the horrible truth about the alliance between America, China, and the MEC. All Groener did then was grunt and walk away. It started raining. If he had turned around, he would have seen the Captain, lying in a pool of his own blood, and a hole in his head would he have been able to warn of the impending attack. The attack that began the horrors of Men'Uiea Harbor.