The characters and the plots belong to Dolphinheart99, who wrote the entire original story, and to their respective owners. I got authorization from Dolphinheart99 to take some elements of her stories. I therefore own nothing, minus the names of my OCs. And for anyone wondering why, I explicitely asked for Dolphinheart99's consent to pick up elements of her stories and adapt them with mine, as I did with DieHardBrendan with his.
Link: . ?rid=302065999#last
BTW : I sign this fanfic to the brave defenders of Ukraine. Glory to Ukraine, glory to heroes.
Eight years after welcoming her cousin, Ava Grady is now a US Marine in Task Force 61, whose mission was to keep a close eye on America's enemy in the European Command's area of responsibility. But this year was particular due to the war in started on February 24th 2022 by a megalomanic, delusional and sadistic Russian dictator named Vladimir Putin against democratic and freedom-loving Ukraine led by brave and well-surrounded Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky's resilience in the face of overwhelming odds prompted US President Joe Biden and world leaders from 130 countries to get to work in order to provide Ukraine's military with sufficient equipment to kick Russian forces out of the country.
And it was in this context that Task Force 61, consisting of American warship USS Kearsarge with a squadron of USMC MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor planes, UH-1Y Venom helicopters and AH-1Z Viper gunships supported by a whole battalion of 1,000 US Marines was deployed to Europe both as a deterrent force as well as to train with allies in training operations like Estonian-led Kevadtorm or Spring Storm, Siil or Hedgehog, French-led exercise Orion and Georgian-led Allied Spirit. And PFC Ava Grady was one of the US Marines involved in those operations.
"Hey, Grady. Happy to be able to see your father again?" A US Marine asked.
"Yeah. Fucking wish it was under different circumstances, though." Ava confessed.
"Don't worry. He apparently owns a new restaurant or whatnot with his friends Barry Sembène and Joe Westcott." Another US Marine inquired.
"Fuck yeah. But fuck Putin though. He killed hundreds of thousands of civies for his dellusions of an empire." Ava told the rest of her squad.
"Fucker, indeed. Putler deserved to be fucked off." A third US Marine said.
"Fucking dictators. Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, the CAR, Syria. Putin just arms them like it's fucking Christmas." Ava told the squad.
Just then, the loudspeakers of the USS Kearsarge told everyone to get their equipment consisting of a tactical plate carrier complete with ballistic plates and tactical pouches, a Special-Forces-style helmet with a camouflage cover, a SIG-Sauer M18 pistol and a Heckler & Koch M27 rifle and a backpack containing enough supplies for two days worth of fighting. And Ava knew it would be necessary since they would board an Osprey bound for Paris from the North Sea.
Once packed up, Ava and the rest of her unit, C Company Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion 6th Marines walked to the giant elevator, where they stayed still for the whole duration of the lift upwards to the flight deck, where the deafening noise of AV-8B Harrier II+ jets, MV-22Bs and smaller helicopters. Ava and the rest of the company were to accompany a French-German-Dutch heliborne assault behind enemy lines to capture vital crossings and allow heavy armor to cross the rivers. Ava knew how vital the mission was, since it was a return to the US Marines' roots as an elite special-ops-capable force.
But Ava also had no problem with Claire coming into the Marine's life as a future stepmother.
Meanwhile in Paris, a group of friends came next to a bar and a restaurant before a surly-looking man greeted them. The man happened to be none other than Joe Westcott, since the plaque of the bar read his name. Next to him was a woman who was dressed in a black t-shirt, a pair of blue jeans and a pair of white sneakers with a red baseball cap reading 'Hollister California'. Suddenly, a bearded man came from behind them and tapped the woman's shoulder.
"Owen! I knew you'd come visit your two sisters!" The woman told the man now known as Owen. "And you must be Claire Dearing, whom my bro always talks about." She continued seeing Claire following Owen.
"Yes, And you must be the Grady sister Owen talks so much about. Cameron if I'm not wrong." Claire said with a huge smile.
"Comes natural. Barry owns the bar next door and our sister Kayden co-owns it."
"Nice to see you again, Cammy. And does Kay work?" Owen asked his sister.
"Nope. I'm not working!" Kayden happily said to her brother and sister.
Just as the group of female friends came into Joe's bar, he cleared his throat, getting his associate's attention. As Cameron left the counter and politely greeted the friends, Joe finally spoke up. Much to Claire's relief, who thought Joe was mute or even worse, she thought Joe hated her. Claire indeed saw numerous pictures of Joe Westcott's days as a US Marine pinned onto the wall behind him.
"Hi dude. Did you hear the French military is going to train in the whole French territory alongs their allies, among who Task Force 61?"
"Yeah. And why does it involve Owen, aka my fiancé?" Claire politely replied.
"Ava's now part of Task Force 61 Marines." Joe replied.
Owen and Claire were surprised but not shocked upon learing this, since they knew Ava always wanted to become a US Marine, following her grandfather's footsteps in Vietnam. Claire also knew Ava had no problem with her coming into the Gradies' life. But what Claire was most concerned about was the noise the fired blanks would inevitably make, since the training was supposed to be ultra-realistic. Moreover, Owen saw his friend was surly because he was concerned his customers would flee upon hearing the US Marines and other forces yell and scream.
But the group of friends just giggled upon hearing one of them tell a joke as Cameron came back to the counter of the bar. She handed the list of drinks ordered by the youngsters, who mustn't be older than Ava was. Joe poored several glasses of soda and orange juice before handing the full tray to his associate, who brought the tray to the enthusiastic hipsters. Suddenly, Greg Suarez, Sophie Jones, Tricia Wilkins, Jim, Sherry and Wu came running into the bar.
"Wait guys. Looks like you ran a marathon! What's up?" Owen asked.
"You won't believe who we saw at Orly airport from a distance!" Wu said panting.
"You gotta be kidding me." Joe said enthusiastically while taking a picture of Ava with her father.
Greg Suarez, Sophie Jones, Tricia Wilkins, Jim and Sherry just nodded, given how tired they were after running like mad lads from their bus stop.
After a few hours of flight, the Ospreys landed at Orly airport, where C Company disembarked and followed a group of French soldiers to several military trucks and boarded them before the Ospreys refueled as the trucks began driving towards the French Army barracks, where Ava and the rest of C Company left those trucks and put on some laser simulation equipment and took blank-converted rifles and putting theirs into the mobile racks they had at their disposal.
Ava then took some time off during the journey by truck to the staging area, where the leaders would hold an operational briefing with their allies before going on the offense against the enemy forces.