Doug and Vespin were the first to get to the town hall. When they reached there, ther was a heated debate on the next move.
"Ok, here's the deal. We can use our artillery to get them, but that will reveal our artillery's position while they would've moved ever since the first strike, "said Gerald.
"But that was 10 minutes ago. They wouldn't have moved that quickly. Furthermore, the radar jammer is activated. I say we strike now!" said a middle-aged Frenchman, very persistent on this move.
"What's going on here?" asked Doug, knowing he must interrupt before the argument could get any worse.
"Oh, Commander Doug, I would like you to meet Jacques Francois, the resistance leader of this town," said Gerald.
"What? This kid is a commander? How laughable," insulted the Frenchman. Doug tightens his fist at the Frenchman's insult, but following military conduct, he didn't make a sudden move. Instead, he crossed his hands and announced.
"The rest of the team is on their way. I'll bring them to the meeting," said Doug, before he turned away in anger. Vespin could feel his anger, even at a distance. She followed him out of the church. She saw him sit down at the kerb on the road with his head down. She went and sat next to him to see her commander's problem.
"These people have no idea how we put our lives on the line for the sake of them," muttered Doug.
"But that's how people are during war. After this, we will be remembered as the liberators of freedom," explained Vespin.
"I don't know how you still manage to think positively after almost getting killed," said Doug.
"We live for tomorrow. Even though shit happens, we'll still find a way to get through," replied Vespin.
"I guess you're right. Now I wonder how Rina is………now that she's serving at the Eastern front…, oh I miss her……," he sniffled. Vespin held him close by her while he let his tears flow. After a while, he stopped sobbing and managed to gain control of himself.
"Thanks, Vespin. I really needed that," said Doug.
"No problem, sir," replied Vespin enthusiastically. Doug stood up and saw the TSWAT teams arrived.
"A bit late, I suppose," said Doug in his sarcastic tone. Vespin just smiled; glad to see her commander back to himself.
"We could send out scouts. That way, we could estimate their numbers," said Gerald.
"I'll grab my people to do the scouting," said Jacques.
"That's suicidal," rebutted Doug. "They have snipers everywhere. Half an hour ago, we almost got shot."
"Listen kid, you don't know the rural area like us Frenchmen have," said Jacques sarcastically.
"Then we'll form a collaborated team to scout," suggested Doug.
"But with you kids? I wonder if you are even competent," insulted Jacques. Doug became furious and used his metal arm to grab Jacques by the collar.
"Listen here, be fortunate that we are putting our asses on the line for your petty resistance rather staying at home, eating chicken soup and reading storybooks! I might be a teenager, but I have endured the suffering of the world. You don't even want to know how I got this metal arm, so get used to it, old man!" said Doug angrily before pushing him down back to his seat. Jacques was fazed at Doug's speech, almost speechless.
"Like it or not, Gerald, we are scouting in approximately 5 minutes. Yulie, Eric, Nicky, Ivan, Terry, Vespin, get your gear. We're going out," announced Doug before heading out to the door. The rest of the team just sat and stared at Gerald.
"What the hell are you staring at? Get going!" exclaimed Gerald.
The team was getting ready to scout when Jacques came out of the town hall. He approached Doug.
"Um, Doug, I was thinking, I have been mean to you and your team. You guys have fought a long battle against racism. Well, I'm here to help you win this battle," said Jacques, feeling guilty. Doug just looked at him and opened his mouth.
"Hop in, there's space for more. Oh, and do you need a weapon?" asked Doug.
"No thanks. I've got me trusty AK-47 with me," said Jacques, indicating on the rifle behind him.
"It'll be thirty minutes before the suns sets. Let's get cracking," Doug announced. The team hopped into the Hummer and drove off.
Minutes passed as they went through small lanes of the countryside, looking for Nationalist troops, with the direction of Jacques. They arrived at an abandoned farmhouse when they spotted missile tanks miles off from their location.
"Quick, get into the farmhouse!" said Yulie as Nicky drove with speed. He drifted and reached the farmhouse in a matter of seconds. They parked the Hummer inside the farmhouse and closed the farmhouse doors. Ivan and Vespin rushed to the upper floors of the farmhouse to look at the missile tanks. Vespin reported back.
"The whole battalion is here. Distance, 5 miles," Vespin reported. Doug and Yulie started discussing about their next move.
"Ok, daylights are going off in 15 minutes. We can't possibly reach there in time," said Doug.
"An M1 is approaching with four troop escorts! One mile off and closing," reported Vespin, looking through another window. Yulie looked at Doug with a mischievous grin on her face.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Yulie. Doug could feel his evil self come out.
"Yes, sure……" grinned Doug.
The M1 Abrams tank moves slowly alongside its troop escorts. Then, one of them sees tire tracks on the road. The person signaled the tank to stop as he goes to inspect the tire tracks. Doug, Nicky, Yulie, Eric, Jacques and Terry crept from behind the tank and seized its operators. The other four troop escorts, including the one inspecting the tire tracks, were taken out by Ivan from the farmhouse. The operators were shot and thrown into a ditch nearby.
"We wish we wouldn't have to kill them, but they've been led by a bad government," commented Doug after disposing the bodies. The others stayed silent, possibly a silent prayer. Then they entered the tank and moved towards the battalion.
It was late evening. The sky was almost dark. The sun was nothing but a streak of orange, floating atop the ocean. The company commander was counting down to the assault in a tent when one of his soldiers alerted him.
"Sir, one of our tanks is coming towards us," said a soldier, observing the M1 tank through his binoculars. The company commander came out from his tent, and took the binoculars from his subordinate and looked through.
"Yeah, probably needs some refueling. Signal them for authentication code," commanded the commander. The soldier ran towards the tent and brought out a torch light. The soldier flicked the switch on and off, sending Morse code to the tank. The tank stopped in its tracks just a mile off.
"Sir, they've stopped," said the soldier.
"What the hell?!" commented the commander before looking through his binoculars again. He saw the main gun adjusting, aiming towards the battalion. The company commander realized it was a trap.
"Battalion, abort mission!" shouted the commander as the first shell was fired from the tank. The shell hit one of the missile tanks and the tank burst into flames. The company commander ran towards the tent and radioed in.
"Mayday! Mayday! We are under attack! We need support!" reported the commander. There were explosions in the background and men shouting and running helter-skelter, finding for cover. One of the soldiers was on fire and he ran frantically around the area before succumbing to the heat. The M1 tank that was a mile away appeared before the tent and Eric opened fire on with the tank's mounted machine gun, killing the commander and destroying the equipment. All the missile tanks have been destroyed and all its soldiers were killed or ran away. Doug, who was commanding the tank, pulled out his radio and radioed in.
"Mission accomplished. Tonight's gonna be a quiet one," said Doug.
Weeks later, British Challenger and French Leclerc tanks were rolling through the town, bringing together troops and equipment from the British Isle. Doug looks at the movement of supplies from the beaches from the town hall. Commander Gerald came from behind and patted his back.
"We did it, Doug. We did it," commented Gerald, smiling before being called upon by one of his troops. Maddie approached Doug and asked him a question.
"Are we going home?" asked Maddie, starting a private conversation. "Since the army is now here?"
"I don't know, Madeline. We'll know soon enough," replied Doug, looking into her eyes.
"Hmm, you're the only person to still know my real name," commented Maddie. Doug just smiled at her.
"Well, your hair's a mess after all these weeks," teased Doug. Maddie lightly slapped him on the shoulder. Doug grabbed her hand when she did that. She lifted her robotic left arm and aimed her fist on his head.
"You don't want me to hit you, do you?" asked Maddie in a not-so-serious tone. Doug used his robotic arm to grab her by the waist and pulled her closer to him.
"Try me," answered Doug. Their faces were inches apart when Vespin came out of the town hall.
"Doug, I……….," said Vespin before looking at Doug and Maddie close together. Both of them turned and looked at Vespin.
"……………..I have received word, we're going home," said Vespin while she smiles.
"Really? Gosh, I wanted to get out of this filthy uniform," said Maddie. Doug let go and Maddie went to Vespin.
"You know there's this store where they sell the best clothes," said Maddie.
"Really? I want to go buy some too," said Vespin as they walked away. Doug just stared at them before his senses came back.
"Doug, don't be too greedy," Doug said to himself while he grinned. He turned away to see the 2nd Alpha team.
"So our next place is Gibraltar, where we will meet with the 3rd and 4th Alpha teams," said Yulie, giving a briefing to her comrades with an aid of a map on the Hummer's bonnet when Doug arrived. Yulie noticed Doug and she saluted. Doug saluted back.
"I heard news that we're all going home," said Doug. Yulie and her team looked at him.
"We decided to stay," said Yulie. "With the unpredictability of the Nationalist forces, it's best we stay on while other teams take a break. Furthermore, we already had ours three months ago."
"Oh, I see," said Doug. "Well, good luck in your next mission. Hope to see you again."
"We will meet again," said Yulie before putting out her hand. Doug shook her hand when a jeep pulled by.
"Commander, the transports are about to leave. Hop in. We'll give you a ride there," said the driver. Doug just nodded and ran towards the jeep and got in. He waved goodbye to the 2nd team before the jeeps zoomed off.
"I wonder if I will actually see them again," thought Doug.