"A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done. If a story seems moral, do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever. There is no virtue. As a first rule of thumb, therefore, you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil." -Tim O'Brien
when Thomas was a special forces marine in Afghanistan 2007*
Thomas and his friends had served a few tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. The year is 2007 and after hard work and dedication him and his friends Liam, Alfie, Zach, and Sam made it into MARSOC (United States Marine Forces Special Operations Command)
Marsoc's mission was to undertake high risk and dangerous missions. While providing support to standard infantry. And It's core capabilities are direct action, special reconnaissance and foreign internal defense.
Months of extra training went into becoming a Marsoc operator/Raider. Some of the hardest training there is in the marines.
But they made it
And this was gonna be their 2nd mission, This mission was to sabotage a Taliban M.S.R (main supply route)
This is where the Taliban was moving equipment to assault outposts in the east. The Taliban was also stealing vital military equipment during ambushes.
The Raiders had to stop this route for it was vital to the Taliban's success in repelling the deadly us push into Taliban territory. And to capture a high ranking Taliban officer who was directing coordinated attacks on coalition forces to steal their weapons and equipment.
Thomas and his buddies had already had their first kills, And had lost some comrades. But little did they know that this operation... would change them forever...
in an Afghani forest in the hills about 2 kilometers from the Msr*
The team comprised of lieutenant Gomez as squad lead. Gomez was a kind and understanding leader who cared deeply for his men and the civilians of Afghanistan and Iraq. His weapon of choice being an m4a1 rifle and his Beretta M9 pistol on his side.
His 2nd in command was Sgt trench who had the same values but was very rough around the edges. He was a true hardass! But still had care and dedication to his boys. His favorite weapon being his m60 machine gun that he had to fight with command to use.
Then there was rest of the team.
There was corporal jr. His real name is Alfie. He is the nephew of the Alfie that bandit Met and became friends with at the toy shop and is named after him. He is a soft spoken and patient dingo who grew up with Thomas and their other friends Sam,Liam,Tori,etc. Who's primary weapon is his m40 sniper rifle and an m9 in case of close quarters altercations. His sniper is Kitted out for any conditions and is extremely accurate.
Then there was Lance corporal sam. A friendly dog who enjoys eating and playing sports with his friends when not deployed, he's also a bit of a jokester and does his best to be a morality booster. His primary weapon is his m16 he named "charlotte" it's fitted with a grenade launcher.
Then there was Lcpl Liam. a very confident dog with a high kill count of terrorists. And has a track record of assisting and bonding with civilians. Something the unit would come to be known for. Defending peoples freedoms and keeping the country safe. His primary weapon is an m4a1 rifle with a holographic sight and a fore grip to help his accuracy.
Then there was Private First Class Zach. A former sports opponent and bully of Thomas and his friends soon became their friend after having to work with him after a fight, he enlisted with them in the usmc when they moved to America in 2005. He is a bit of a hot head, and is very competitive and could be quick to rush head first into battle. But is fiercely loyal to his friends and fellow marines. His favorite weapon is an m249 Saw machine gun. Which he uses to provide suppressive fire for his men.
Then there was corpsman Peter. Another former adversary and bully of Thomas. But became a friend to them when Zach did. He was the team's corpsman (medic) he was very quick and skilled. And was a bit of a brute a but caring and dedicated fluff ball when not at war. His primary rifle is a standard m4a1 with a acog scope and a foregrip.
Each rifle had a laser rangefinder and a light and a silencer
Then there was Corporal Thomas. The main heeler himself. A brave and dedicated mama's boy (mama's boy in a good way!) who looks up to Gomez along with the rest of the team. And learns a lot from him. He does his best to keep his brothers in arms safe. Though the war was slowly starting to tear his mind apart... his weapon of choice was his m4a1 rifle that had the common marine corps term "devil dog"etched on it. He kept it clean and polished the best he could. For it was his rifle. And without it he would be useless, and without him, it would be useless as the rifleman's creed would put it.
They were a small and newer team of raiders. But they were feared by the Taliban throughout Afghanistan
(Ik alfie's son wasn't mentioned in the Alfie chapter. But that will be settled in due time!)
The helicopter began approaching the l.Z (landing zone) as the marines prepared to rappel down
"Everyone ready?" Sergeant Trench asked sternly
"OOH-RAH!" The marines responded
"Alrighty devil dogs. Our mission is to sabotage and destroy the MSR. The roe are that you do not engage enemies unless ordered too or are fired upon. Conserve your ammo and maintain extreme caution. The MSR starts at a crowded village. Meaning the civ pop is fairly dense. Maintain stealth. Treat the locals like you would wanna be treated if you are to come into contact with them. Don't be like them blackwater pmc scumbags in Iraq. We're here to help these people. And get the job done. Keep in mind the Taliban is absolutely dedicated to protecting this route and are likely heavily armed and will resort to suicide bombing. All Ana forces have been pushed out of this region. And this whole operation is to piece by piece retake it. Get locked and loaded and let's move!" Lieutenant Gomez explained and ordered
"YES SIR!" The marines responded as they began rappelling down
They landed on the ground unhooking from the ropes
(Roe is rules of engagement)
(Ana is Afghan national army)
(Pmc is Private military contractors)
They got into position as they slowly made their way towards the objective
Their night vision goggles ready for use. the cold air and soft giving an uneasy feeling.
Thomas took a deep breath as the team slowly made their way towards to objective in the dark woods
The moon was full in the sky.
Each breath the men took was frosty and left mist...
They got down when they saw 2 armed men in the tree line. But they didn't look like Taliban or any insurgents. They had sophisticated uniforms and well put together rifles. They seemed to be ak's with attachment railings.
"I take the one on the left... Liam you get the right..." Gomez whispered
TCHEW* *TCHEW*
The men dropped as they were struck in the head by the 5.56 rounds
The team slowly moved up their rifles pointed at every corner
"These aren't Taliban fighters. They're Russian mercs..." Said Trench in confusion
"The hell are they doing here?" Thomas asked
"Not sure.. something fishy is going on here..." said Gomez as they started drug the bodies into the bushes and began moving forward
The coast seemed clear but the squad kept their guard up.
"What if the Taliban is selling the equipment?" Alfie hypothesized
"It's a possibility. The Taliban isn't the most organized group. A lot of groups within them do this kind of shit.." said Trench
"Yeah. I can't wait to get my nco stripes on my dress blues!" Said Zach
"If you even make it to Nco" said Thomas teasingly
"F*ck off heeler" said Zach with a chuckle as the team chuckled at their banter
"At least We didn't almost trip and sprain my ankle 24/7 during drill!" Said Peter referring to Thomas
Thomas blushed in embarrassment
"Happens to the best of us mijo" said Gomez with a chuckle
They then halted once they made it to the hill overlooking the Msr
Alfie pulled out his binoculars as they began observing the area
They saw the relatively large village mostly dark as a good amount of the locals were likely asleep. Alfie observed the main road
He saw multiple large military vehicles full of equipment driving on it and parking at a depot.
Russian mercenaries and what seemed to be high level Taliban members speaking to each other and shaking hands.
This was the MSR
"Got eyes on the msr. Multiple large stolen vehicles. Seems like we got Russian mercs and high level Taliban members. They seem to be making some kind of deal..." Said Alfie
"Recon was spot on." Said Trench
Alfie continued to observe the area. A whole legion of fighters was there, Mercs and Taliban alike. All of them heavily armed with PKMs, Aks, and even some American m4 carbines and British SA-80s
"That's a lot of men... all heavily armed to the damn fangs..." said Alfie astonished at the amount of security but not surprised
"Damn..." said Trench not knowing what they would do
"We need to call reinforcements. Our tiny ass team can't take on all these guys..." said Sam
Gomez nodded and decided to hold off from a guns blazing approach. This was becoming a strategic and logistical nightmare. There was way more Taliban than expected and reported. They must have been new arrivals along with the Russian mercs. Something was happening here that turned the original plan upside down.
The hill they were on was relatively isolated. The Taliban's attention was mainly focused on the msr and village.
This was no longer a stealth operation
"Reinforcements will be a long way out. We should set up camp somewhere safe nearby while we wait." Said Gomez
"What the hell was command thinking?! Sending a small group of raiders to take down a big ass cell of Taliban?!" Trench asked astonished and angry
"I don't know. I don't like this one bit..." said Gomez
They withdrew from the area to set up camp nearby.
This turned from a special forces op to a full scale operation. The army and mainline marine infantry were soon alerted. The Air Force began to prepare strikes for airstrikes on convoys.
Gomez looked at his map and compass. Calling in reinforcements. A larger squad of green berets and tank divisions were en route and would be there in a couple hours. Air support would come in during the siege.
The marine Command in charge of this operation were incompetent and had turned what was gonna be a sabotage operation into a multi branch multi command clusterf*ck... lack of recon and good planning and miscommunication led to this whole mess.
The sudden change of plans led to stress and anger in the unit
at the camp*
"Great..." Gomez grumbled frustrated under his breath putting his radio down
"What's the Sitrep lieutenant?" Trench asked also on edge
(Sitrep is a situation report)
"Goddamned command has turned this into a complete disaster. This went from a reconnaissance and sabotage mission to a full on siege of the city. So many conflicting orders is taking its toll on our morale. They want us to establish an fob. Green berets, 2nd battalion marines and, armor will be here first thing in the morning. The Air Force is preparing to scramble a10's and f15's to provide air support. And with no Afghan security forces to evacuate the village. TONS UPON TONS OF CIV AND MILITARY LIVES CAN BE LOST... AND IT'S ALL INCOMPETENT COMMAND'S FAULT!" Gomez explained then yelled losing control snapping a pen his face going red a tear streaming down the right side of his face. The side that had a large scar from a Taliban bayonet slice during a close quarters fight.
(Fob is foward operating base)
Everyone stared at Gomez completely bewildered. Gomez almost never ever raised his voice in that way. He was always a gentle and stoic leader who put patience and reason before immediate dangerous action.
But they understood his anger and how much he cared for the innocent people of Afghanistan
Gomez took a deep breathe
"I...i'm sorry..." said Gomez shakily wiping his tear and sitting down by the fire
"We understand why your mad sir." Said Sam
"This whole situation is insane..." said Zach taking his helmet off and pulling out a cig handing one to Peter and Sam
"Yeah... but I shouldn't have snapped like that..." said Gomez taking a deep breathe doing his best to regain his composure As he sat down and drank some water
The team sat around the fire eating.
"Lieutenant." Said Thomas getting bud superiors attention
"Yes Thomas." Said Gomez
"What made you care so deeply for these people? Not saying it's a bad thing. But we can tell you have a very deep level of compassion and even love for this country and it's people." Thomas asked respectfully
"You've showed a lot of dedication to preventing civ casualties." Said Alfie
"Yeah. A lot of other higher ups I've met don't like the civs that much." Said Liam
"Same. I overheard some army officers calling them savages." Said Sam shaking his head
"You guys wanna hear a super duper long story?" Thomas asked with his trademark smirk as he regained his patience more and more
"Yeah! It's not like we have anything better to do for the night!" Said Peter
"We can Sleep..." said Trench going into one of the tents they set up
Gomez chuckled
"Don't worry that old man's heard the story a billion times!" Said Gomez teasingly
"I heard that lieutenant..." said Trench grumpily as he lied down Causing everyone to laugh
"Go to sleep Trench!" Gomez exclaimed teasingly
The group used teasing and comedy to cope with their situation. It helped keep them together and functioning. They even talked to each other on a mostly 1st name basis. They were a family of leathernecks United by their compassion and love for each other and their country.
Gomez then began telling his story
"Well.. you see The reason I care so deeply... is because these people remind me of my home country El Salvador.. you see when I was a kid there was a civil war happening there. Our people struggled with poverty, crime, war and bombings daily. The reality of war came apparent to me... when my uncle was shot to death by the army right in front of me.. he was unarmed and innocent and ran a shop. But the soldiers accused him of supporting the rebels which he didn't. My uncle was a former soldier himself and one of the kindest people I've ever met. He took me and my parents in when my Abuela kicked my mother out when she got pregnant with me. Same with my father's parents. He taught me very important lessons on humility and empathy. He's showed me and my parents that humanity was capable of love and courage. After my uncle died we fled to America and for our citizenship. Soon after me and my parents made it to America. During the early 90's as a teenager I got caught up in a lot of trouble in the streets of east la. Happened to a lot of us immigrant families who thought the big cities in America were an escape. Me and my friends Joined gangs. Sold drugs and all kinds of stupid nonsense that I will always regret. The police would always stop and frisk us. Don't blame em at this point in time. I was there during the 92 Rodney king riots and a lot of other crap. Until one day. An army recruiter set up in our neighborhood. He offered me and my community a chance at a better life.. Despite my stupid lifestyle I had good grades in school. That would get my parents mad because I was doing dumb shit and getting arrested while I could have been doing better things with my good grades. But soon I graduated and I signed up as an officer and took whatever combat role I could as I worked my way up after Officer candidate school. When I was first sent to Iraq I saw how these people are in a similar situation to how we were when I was little... Innocent hard working faithful people. Being torn apart by this war for greed. I met a family on a deployment in 2004. They took me and my friends in without any hesitation. They fed us a well cooked meal and let me and my team and let us know they were thankful for our presence. Reminded me of my family who would do that stuff. It showed me despite the circumstances these people are kind, educated and hard working. A lot of Afghani people see us as warmongering morons invading their country for resources. They may be right. Maybe we shouldn't be here. But as long as we are here. This team will never ever mistreat any of these people. We're here to help them and protect them." Gomez explained in depth
Everyone was mesmerized by this story. The lieutenant had a long and complicated story
Gomez yawned
"With that being said. I think it's time to get some shut eye... we have a horrid week ahead of us." Said Gomez
"Yes sir. Oorah!" The team replied setting up their tents.
Alfie and Thomas shared a tent
The rest of the team was falling asleep one by one
Alfie and Thomas huddled up to each other for warmth
"Hey Thomas..." said Alfie not able to sleep
"Yeah?" Thomas replied yawning
"Remember when we used to snuggle like this all the time without a worry in the world?" Alfie asked with a smile
Thomas giggled a bit
"Yeah... simpler and safer times." Said Thomas
"I think about that all the time.. when we used to.. you know... be together..." said Alfie
"Yeah... same. It was a good time but it wouldn't work. We were both confused and scared. But we had each other and we always will. But no matter what we'll always be brothers." Said Thomas as they snuggled
"Thomas... I'm scared..." said Alfie starting to tear up a bit
Thomas comforted his friend. They were all scared of the battle that lied ahead. The whole team was on edge and scared. But they knew they would say
"Me too Alfie... me too... we'll make it home... I promise... we're marines. It takes a hell of a lot to bring us down." said Thomas
Alfie wiped his tears and smiled wagging his tail a bit
"I just want this war to be over" said Alfie
"Same here brother." Said Thomas as they fell asleep snuggled up. Their rifles and gear next to them
This was the last semi peaceful night they would have... for hell awaited them once they woke...
To be continued
(A/N: this had to be one of the longest chapters I've ever written. It is a very long flashback that will lead into the present situations. This is gonna be extremely hard to write. But it's necessary to highlight the brutality of war and Thomas's mental struggle. Also it seems strange Thomas and Alfie jr we're together. The thing is we already know sex isn't really a thing in ab except for reproductive purposes *besides the coomers who do it normally none of the known main or side characters in ab are coomers btw* this all Makes relationships very strange. When a couple cuddles and have feelings for each other they form a special instinctual bond. Soon I'll make a book on ab biology and other subjects! Anyway! Another huge shout out to Kodiwolf321 and Rakoon1 for letting me use these characters! Many more chapters coming soon! Stay tuned! -jr)