Chapter Sixteen: Old Wolf
/USS William Stenz, San Francisco, October 12th 2029…

Hunter sat alone in one of the empty cantinas, blankly staring into a cup of coffee as he thought to himself. Preparations were being made for the upcoming battle, leaving him completely alone for a good few hours. Reaching over to the polystyrene cup, Hunters' eyes widened as he noticed his hand shaking violently as it hovered a few centimetres off the table. He was scared. Clenching his hand into a tight fist to supress it, he sat up as he let his thoughts drift. Hunter was a veteran soldier, he had fought in countless conflicts around the globe; from Iraq and Afghanistan to Pakistan and Somalia. His career had been all he had known for years, with his subconscious pushing aside unnecessary feelings of hatred or fear of death as not to distract himself from the mission at hand.

The last time he'd gotten the shakes was at least twenty years ago back in Afghanistan. After a botched recon op, he and half of his team had been stranded in enemy territory with at around five hundred enemy fighters closing in on them. Resources were running low and it would be hours before any sign of rescue. The team had to hold out until dawn in a suicidal last stand.
Trying to clear his thoughts, Hunter closed his eyes and put his head down on the table, drifting off into a deep sleep….

/AFO Lightning, Shahi-Kot Valley, Afghanistan
Sergeant Hunter 'Wolf' Storm….

"Wiki, how's our Evac?" Hunter asked Corporal Yancy 'Wiki' Wikingsworth as the soldier jogged up to him, radio pack on his back. Wiki shook his head grimly. "Not good, boss. Nearest forces are a Ranger QRF Team coming up from Kandahar; it'll be morning before they get here." He said. Hunter smacked a clenched fist against the rock he was crouched against. "Dammit. There's at least a few hundred guys out here with us and they expect us to hold out until morning?!" Wiki nodded.

Getting up, Hunter looked across the small rock formation to the other two members of his team; Lizzie and Chris. Running over, he crossed through the woodland up the hill to where they were. The night air was cold and sharp, allowing Hunters' breath to be visible as he exhaled as he trudged through the patches of snow which clumped together on the rocky soil. Skidding to a crouch beside his squadmates, he brought them up to speed. "Evac won't be for a good few hours. We'll have to hold here till sunrise." The two soldiers exchanged shocked glances. "Prep your weapons and keep your heads screwed on." Hunter said, raising his M4.

….
Almost an hour had past and Hunter was lying in the dirt behind a fallen tree as he watched several humanoid shapes in the forest ahead of him; at least six enemy fighters, armed with assault rifles. Even with a suppressed weapon, he would break his concealment if he fired, however, the approaching enemies were getting dangerously close to the large rock Wiki was hidden behind. Once they past the rock, the man would easily be in view, even in the woodland camo he wore.

Looking through the scope of the rifle, Hunter picked a target. It was a tall man, with a thin dark beard and sunglasses, resting the wood handguard of an AKM over his shoulder as he talked to the fighter next to him. Slowly inhaling, Hunter lined up the crosshairs of the scope over the mans' head and gently squeezed the trigger. The muffled crack echoed through the forest and the enemy soldiers' head shot back and he collapsed. Instantly, his friends were on alert and began to shout and bark at each other, darting about looking for cover. Several other suppressed gunshots coughed out as Lizzie and Chris opened fire.

Reeling out from the rock, Wiki yelped as an enemy lunged at him with the bayonet of the rifle ready. Pushing the blade aside, he drew one of his own, ramming the knife between the ribs of the enemy before tossing him to the side and running for cover as more shots rang out. Watching him slide behind a tree, Hunter squeezed off another burst and dropped another two guys before coming out of cover to retreat through the darkness. The night was lit up as the infamous rattle of Kalashnikovs stuttered loudly as they were fired blindly. Shooting as he ran, Hunter tried to line up the sights of his weapon again when he felt pain shoot up his leg as a bullet tore through his thigh. Roaring in pain as he collapsed, he rolled over onto his back and returned fire, watching the shooter quickly fall.

"Come on!" He heard Wiki shout grabbing him by the back of his combat vest, dragging him across the ground. "We need to get to the ridgli…" He never finished the sentence. Hunter looked on in horror as Wiki let go of him and threw his hands up to his throat as he collapsed, gurgling. "NO!" Hunter cried out, forcing himself over onto his stomach, crawling up to his teammate. Going into shock, Wiki spasmed and kicked blindly as his ally tried to help. Eyes wide with fear as blood sputtered from his mouth, Wiki made one final, painful wheeze before going still. Hearing footsteps and shouting behind him, Hunter spun and saw an enemy charging at him. Raising his weapon again, he shot three rounds into the attacker and he immediately fell face first.

Looking ahead to the ridgeline, he could see Lizzie and Chris firing at the attacking enemies, silhouetted as the sun climbed over the mountainous horizon; Evac wouldn't be long now. Panic shot through the soldier as a small, spherical object thudded into the dirt ahead of him, rolling a little before stopping. Grabbing Wiki's body to shield himself from the blast, Hunter rolled away from the little metal ball and covered his ears. There was a deafening boom as the grenade went off and the world was plunged into silence. Roaring blindly, yet unable to hear himself, Hunter wiped the flecks of dirt and blood from his face and looked around in shock.

He could hear Lizzie's cries of pain as a bullet tore through her shoulder and she dropped as Chris ran to her aid. A painful screechy whistle bit through the air as the shellshock faded and the world came alive again to Hunter. Ignoring the pain that burned in his injured leg he forced himself to his feet and limped toward his teammates, firing as he went. The weapon fired a final time and he pressed the mag release, letting the empty metal box drop from the underside of the gun as he pulled a fresh one from his belt, ramming it into place as he reached the rocks his allies were behind. With a free hand over her injured shoulder, Lizzie had her rifle rested on the rock as she fired it one handed, having to readjust it after each shot. Chris had dropped his M4 and drew a pistol, firing the Berretta into the trees at the advancing enemy.

The ground began to rumble as the whir of helicopter rotors echoed in the woodland canopy. Looking up to the sky, hunter saw the shape of several chinook helicopters hovering above them, door gunners firing at the enemy as they searched for a landing spot. The hope that had built up in the soldier was immediately shattered as a small rocket propelled grenade arced up into the sky and struck the nearest chopper through the open hatch at the back, causing the vehicle to burst into flames as an explosion erupted and gutted it inside-out. Debris rained down as the chinook spun out of control. Diving out of the way of a falling rotor, Hunter lost his footing and slammed his head into a nearby rock, falling unconscious.

…

Opening his eyes, he sat up inside the bay of a helicopter, looking round at the soldiers around him. A battered and bloody Lizzie sat staring blankly at the floor as the commander of the rescue force, Hunter's brother Zack, walked up to him. "Thank god you're alive. We're on our way back to base now. That was one hell of a fight." He stated. "What about Chris?" Hunter asked, looking around to find one of his team missing. "He took a round to the head as we boarded. I'm sorry, brother." He said grimly, avoiding his siblings' look of shock and hurt. "Along with the two from your team," Zack explained, "We lost twelve Rangers on the chopper that went down. This can't be how it ends, right?"

….

Opening his eyes as he sat up groggily, Hunter looked around the cafeteria of the William Stenz and saw that it had since filled up a little, with crew, pilots and soldiers grouping at various tables with food and drink. Looking at his watch, it was 2 in the morning, he had been asleep for some time. Getting up, he walked out of the cafeteria for his allocated quarters.

Going down the hall to the small room that was his, he shut the door behind him, passing the bunk beds that took up most of the space in the tiny living quarters. Going into the bathroom, he looked at himself in the mirror. Over the past few days he had gotten some of his colour back, looking more human than had in years, though his hair was still greying at the sides and his beard was getting very long. Opening a nearby cabinet, he began to look for a razor, plucking the small plastic shape from the top shelf. Closing the cabinet again, his eyes locked with a small photograph he had left next to the sink. Picking it up, it was an old, faded and worn photo of his family. It must have been taken before he had met Diana's mother as his daughter was not present, neither was his younger sister, Angel. The photo contained himself, his brother Zack, his father Rick and mother Zoe, all smiling with arms on each other's shoulders as they stood outside a small Denny's in Cincinnati. Smiling at the picture, he folded it along the thin crease line where it had been before and pocketed it before scooping up his old dog tags.

Name: Hunter Storm
Designate: Wolf
ID: 016425679
DOB: 05/01/86
United States Army

Examining the dog tags for a couple of seconds as memories came flooding back, he lowered his head and put them on, letting the two metallic plates dangle in front of his chest. The battle to decide the survival of mankind was drawing near, and almost everyone around the globe was preparing to fight. No matter the cost, Hunter was going to protect his family. He was going to war with Colossus.

Back again. For clarification on this chapter, the dream sequence Hunter goes into was a flashback to past experiences of his. The battle depicted was loosely based on events that unfolded in Operation Anaconda and Operation Red Wings, two grisly engagements in the war in Afghanistan in the early 2000s. The two costly battles would go on to inspire the 2010 video game Medal of Honor and 2007 novel (and 2013 film of the same name) Lone Survivor, respectively. A quick reminder, this chapter is inspired by those events and is not in anyway intended to identically replicate or defame the events or those involved.