Note: All characters are the property of their respectful owners

August 18, 1933

The heat was unbearable for the platoon of marines as they hiked through the thick jungles of Nicaragua. It has been about 2 year now since this squad of marines arrived with their unit, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, to Nicaragua. Their mission here was to "prevent the nation of Nicaragua from harming U.S interests". However, to the standard boot on the ground, it was pretty much to make sure that the communist Sandinista guerrillas don't overrun the country.

The squad's current mission is to scout the area for a rumored rebel encampment that had planned an attack on U.S marines a week ago. The platoon consisted of 10 marines spaced out about 6 feet apart, weapons at the ready. Two of them were equipped with B. instead of the standard Springfield 1903 rifles, giving the platoon some extra firepower. To add to this, one marine was humping a M1917A1 heavy machine gun with one person carrying the bipod and another carrying the ammo.

With all this gear being carried around, there was of course the usual grumbling.

"Why the fuck do we have to carry the all this shit through the rain forest when we are expecting only a small rebel encampment," the marine carrying the machine gun over his shoulder. Being six feet, 2 inches, he is the tallest marine of the platoon and is also the strongest.

"Guren, you shouldn't be complaining. That machine gun is nothing to. Now if Miwa was the one carrying it then I can imagine it being heavy," Another marine responded. Guren glared at said marine.

"By the way, Kotetsu, why are you the only one wearing a cap while the rest of us are wearing helmets?" Guren asked.

Kotetsu turned to Guren and showed him his Springfield, which was outfitted with a scope and responded, "Cuz it helps me shoot. I mean someone has to watch all of your asses."

"Besides, the gear we have no beats the old uniform we were wearing when we got here and these new helmets are better than the old tin hats we had," the platoon's navy corpsman, Miwa Susaya, chimed in. She got some grunts and nods from everyone for that one. When the unit arrived in Nicaragua, they were all dressed in the khakis from the Great War and wore the old British "Tin Hats". After about 6 months in the country, they were given new uniforms. Now they wore forest-green uniforms as a form of camouflage and their old "tin-hats" were replaced by the new M1 helmet, which is claimed to offer better protection from shrapnel.

"True, and they are more comfortable," Guren stated, adjusting his own helmet.

"Though with you Guren, I feel like any helmet will never fit that big ass head of yours," Another marine jokes.

"Shut it Kurasame! Just because you are the platoon's XO, doesn't mean I wouldn't sock you in the face," Guren growled. Second Lieutenant Kurasame Susaya laughed at that statement. Being 5 feet 10, he is also one of the most aggressive and fast Marines of the platoon, giving him carrying rights of one of the two Thompson submachine guns, courtesy of the U.S Army.

"Be careful Guren, Kurasame can pretty much kick your ass without even trying," Another marine, Cpl. Joseph Capelli, commented back with a grin. He was Guren's ammo carrier. Behind him, Lance Corporal Sayo Hasegawa, the platoon's radio operator, giggled as well.

"Hey, I hope everyone knows we are in enemy territory. So let's keep focus," One marine in the front said over his shoulders. This was Private First Class Leon Lionhart and he was equipped with the B.A.R. Next to him was Private Cloud Strife, the other marine with the B.A.R, his blond hair poking out of his helmet.

"Stop being serious Lionhart, we are probably just going to find nothing. I mean I don't hear Cloud complaining," Guren responded.

"I am not saying anything cuz I don't want the fire heading towards my direction," Cloud said nonchalantly. This comment causes everyone to chuckle while Guren groans. Cloud and Leon were known within the platoon to be more blunt but mean well. It's a running game to see who can spot either of the two smiles.

Guren was about to comment back until Kurasame raised his open hand. The platoon stopped in their tracks and waited. After a few more minutes of silence, Kurasame then motioned his hand to have the platoon to advance with caution and to keep quiet. The platoon followed Kurasame until they reached a small ridge. On said ridge were two other marines. One of them was looking through a pair of binoculars while the other was looking through the sights of their rifle. As the platoon approached, the marine with the rifle turned around and aimed at the direction of the platoon but then lowered the rifle.

"Christ, could you all be more bloody loud?" The marine asked, an Australian accent apparent and adjusting her cap.

"Fang, you have the ears of a rabbit. Even if we crawled you would still hear us," Kurasame stated.

"Hence the reason why she is our lead scout," The other marine noted then added, "Get everyone over here." Kurasame nodded and then turned and motioned the rest of the platoon to come forward. Once the platoon was gathered around, the marine that called turned from what he was observing to face them. He was wearing the standard forest green uniform like the rest of the marines along with an M1 helmet but he was armed with the other Thompson submachine gun as well as two 1911s, one on his hip and one that is slung across his chest, styled in a way for fast drawing. He also had silver bars on his neck flaps, signifying that the marines was a first lieutenant.

"Ok, so what Fang and I have been observing is that the rebel encampment is down that valley. It looks like there are only about 15 rebels and nothing heavier than rifles and grenades. So here is what we are going to do," the lieutenant then drew a map of the encampment on the ground.

"We are going to set the machine gun here," the lieutenant pointed to a spot that is about 50 yards from the spot where the lieutenant stated was their current position, "That will be Guren and Joseph. Kurasame, take Cloud and Leon and attack from the south. I will take Sayo, Miwa and the new kid and attack from the east. Fang will stay here and provide sniper support along with Kotetsu and also keep an eye on any reinforcements. Sayo, give Fang one of the radios so that she can let us know if we got any more trouble heading our way."

Sayo nodded and pulled out one of the small radios and handed it to Fang.

"Ok, any questions?" the lieutenant asked. When he got no questions he continued, "Ok, get in position everyone." As the platoon disbursed and got into position, the lieutenant noticed that the new marine was really quiet.

"You ok there kid?" The lieutenant asked, as Sayo and Miwa signaled they were ready.

"Um….. aye, sir," the marine stuttered.

"Kid, take a deep breath and relax," The lieutenant said.

The marine took a deep breath and said, "Thanks lieutenant Vandegrfit. I guess i'm a bit nervous."

"It's ok kid. We are all nervous and scared and admitting it is better than lying about it. Also, you can drop the whole lieutenant thing. Never really sit well with me, it's just Andrew or boss." Andrew stated, trying to get the kid to relax.

"Yes, Lie- um boss," The marine corrected himself.

"Good, ok then let's get a move one," Andrew stated. The four than made their way to their attack position. Getting down the small ridge and heading down the valley was tough but eventually they reached their position.

'Tell me, what's your name kid?" Andrew asked. They just got the new marine for this mission and had yet to even get to know his name.

"Um, Private Izana Kunagiri," Izana answered, causing Andrew to chuckle.

"What's funny sir?" Izana asked, pretty confused.

"Nothing. It's just, of all the people to land in a platoon in the corp, I end up commanding one that is half Japanese. What are the odds?" Andrew commented. He then looked over to the kid and gave him a small smile.

"Some advice: make sure to not panic. You can be sacred before and scared after a fight but being scared during a fight and you are just going to get yourself killed. Remember your training and you will make it out of this alive ok?" Andrew asked, trying to calm Izana's nerves. The advice seemed to work as Izana took a deep breath and nodded.

"I'm ok now boss. Thanks," Izana replied.

"Ok, just remember, the first person to get the shot out will usually win, if their aim is good. Since we are marines, it shouldn't be a problem for us," Andrew stated as he surveyed the small camp. The enemy camp itself wasn't that big, there were a couple of tents here and there for sleeping and in the center, the rebels had gathered wood and rocks for a campfire. Around the camp there are crates and inside were either rifles, most likely Kar98 rifles from Germany or ammunition. Overall, these rebels were ready for a fight.

But they didn't expect the United States Marine Corp.

Andrew looked over to his right and saw that Kurasame was already in position as he waved. He then continued to look and saw Guren was finishing up setting up the machine gun, with Joseph loading it with a box magazine holding 200 rounds of 30.06. Finally, Andrew laid eyes on Fang and Kotetsu and Fang flashed from a little mirror twice, signalling that they were ready as well.

"Ok, you lot. Ready to start the fireworks?" Andrew asked the marines around him. Miwa and Sayo both nodded and Izana nodded after a few more seconds. Andrew then focused his attention onto the small rebel encampment. He unslung his Thompson submachine gun and aimed at the nearest rebel. The rebel was sitting on a crate eating some food, most likely his breakfast.

Andrew pulled the Blish lock to cock the submachine gun and aimed towards the chest of the rebel. Seeing as the distance was a bit far for the submachine gun, Andrew slightly raised the submachine up towards the rebel's head, taking into account for bullet drop.

Thanks to years of training, Andrew has become one of the best marksmen in the Corp, and with that he can pretty much hit anything he wants, given the effort. He took a deep breath, and then pulled the trigger right in between heartbeats. The Thompson let out a burst and hit the rebel in the chest about a few seconds later.

From there, all hell began to let loose. Guren followed the burst with his own from the machine gun. This was followed by the automatic fire coming from Leon, Cloud, and Kurasame and the crack of rifles from everyone else.

Five of the rebels didn't know what hit them. They all got peppered by bullets and collapsed onto the ground. The rest got their rifles and began returning fire. Despite them being farmers or just your average civilian, they sure knew how to shoot. Andrew had to duck behind a tree as rifle fire hit his position. He turned and saw Sayo and Miwa also hiding behind cover while occasionally firing back. Izana was surprisingly holding up on his own, returning fire as well.

Then suddenly, their position was being racketed by heavy fire. So heavy, that Andrew's group had to stay in cover while bullets were flying past.

"What the hell?" Izana exclaimed. Andrew peered out and to his surprise saw that the rebels had their own machine gun, a Maxim.

"Why am I not surprised those bastards have one?" Andrew muttered before saying to Sayo, "Contact Fang and Kotetsu and see if they can take out that machine gun."

Sayo nodded and reached behind her for the walkie-talkie and relayed it to Fang. Minutes later, she offered Andrew the radio.

"She said it's urgent," Sayo said, her face looking grim. Andrew didn't like this and took the walkie-talkie and held it up to his ear.

"Go ahead."

"We are seeing a big group of rebels heading our way, probably about 50 rebels. They are probably reinforcements," Fang reported.

"How the fuck did they call for reinforcements?" Andrew asked bewildered by this piece of info.

"I think this group was already on their way to this camp. We just happened to attack them at the wrong time," Fang pointed out.

"Oh that is just fucking great," Andrew muttered as he looked out of cover only to take coer again as a couple of bullets hit the tree he was hiding behind.

"We won't be able to take all of them. We don't have enough ammo, I recommend we start to fall back," Fang suggested. Andrew thought about it, weighing the odds, and then nodded in agreement.

"Ok, let's do it. We will begin the retreat in waves," Andrew said over the walkie. He then turned to Sayo and said, "Ok, contact command and tell them we are falling back to base. Enemy strength is too high and we cannot face them without taking unnecessary losses."

Sayo nodded, reached back for the radio and began the transmision. However, after a few minutes, she look back at Andrew with a worried expression.

"Sir, we can't fall back. Command is ordering us to keep up the attack," Sayo reported.

"What?" Andrew asked, surprised and confused, "Give me the radio." Sayo handed him the line and Andrew spoke back to command in a pretty annoyed tone.

"White Castle this is King Fish, my scouts are saying that we are dealing with a force a lot larger than what we thought. We need to fall back and regroup," Andrew stated.

"Negative, you fall back and those rebels will just attack another group of American soldiers. Press the attack," The other voice stated.

"I don't think you understand what is fucking happening. I have like ten marines while the force heading to us is 50. You want to tell me how to compete with those fucking odds?" Andrew asked, his anger showing.

"Once again Lieutenant, we can not let this slip by. We have had a hard time finding the rebels and now a good number of them are heading your way. We need to take this opportunity to hit them where it hurts. White Castle out," And with that the transmission ended and Andrew just looked at the radio with disgust.

"This son of a bitch. He only wants the damn glory," Andrew stated. For the past month, him and the new captain for the company haven't really been seeing eye to eye on many things. While Andrew wanted to take a more passive approach, winning the hearts and minds of the locals so that they wouldn't be flocking to the rebel's side, the new captain instead pushed for a more harsher plan, treating everyone as if they were the enemy and this has caused a divide in the local population's look on the marines. Some view the marines as people who were here to help while others viewed them as oppressors, save for some who would only work with Andrew and his platoon seeing as they were trying to help.

"Sir, what do we do then?" Izana asked, who observed that the first group of the rebel reinforcements were arriving at the camp.

"We pretty much have no choice but to follow orders. But if things begin to go sideways, we are falling back, orders be damned," Andrew answered. Izana nodded and continued to return fire. Andrew also shouldered his Thompson and fired again, his gut telling him this was going to go horribly wrong.

And true to fashion, it did go horribly wrong. Andrew gritted his teeth as he once again went behind a tree as a spray of machine gun fire went his out, not only were there now a lot of rebels but they also brought some Lewis Light machine guns with them.

'I bet they raided some of the army's depots for those,' Andrew thought bitterly as he saw Miwa fire and then go back to cover.

"Lieutenant, we need to get out of here now!" Miwa yelled over the loud gunfire all around them.

"Yeah, I'll let Fang and Kotetsu cover us. Miwa, make a rush towards Guren and let him and Joesph know. Then make your way to Kurasame and fall back with them," Andrew ordered.

"Roger," Miwa responded. She leaned out fire a couple more rounds and made a run towards Guren and Joseph, who from the sound of things were unleashing hell on the rebels.

"Izana, Sayo get ready to retreat. I'll cover you guys," Andrew stated. Both acknowledged and Andrew loaded a fresh magazine into his Thompson. He then took a deep breath and got out of cover.

"GO NOW!" Andrew yelled as he began to fire at the rebels. Both Izana and Sayo retreated as Andrew covered them, killing a couple of rebels who were trying to sneak up onto their position, Behind him Izana and Sayo ran for about 15 yards before finding cover behind some trees and turned back around.

"Come to us boss," Sayo yelled as both of them began giving cover fire for Andrew. Seeing as the fire was keeping the rebel's heads down, Andrew also retreated to where Sayo and Izana were.

Andrew only made it 8 yards until Andrew felt something like a baseball bat hitting his leg, forcing him to collapse. He looked down to see red beginning to form on his left leg.

'Oh for Christ sake," Andrew groaned as the pain was starting to take effect. He heard movement behind him and he grabbed his Thompsons, turned around and sprayed at the rebel who was trying to get close to him. He then reloaded his Thompson and began to drag his body bag with his left arm while using his right arm to fire his Thompson on the approaching rebels.

Andrew then felt a pair of hands grab onto his shoulders and begin to drag him. Andrew turned his head to see who was the one that was dragging him. To his surprise, it was Izana. His rifle was slung over his right shoulder as he was using both of his hands to drag him.

Izana dragged him to a nearby tree and leaned him up against the tree and said, "Anyone ever tell you how heavy you are boss?"

Andrew blinked and then laughed and replied, "You ever say that again, I will kick your ass." Andrew then slowly got back up but the pain in his leg prevented him from standing up fully.

"Ok, now let's get out of here before things get worse," Andrew stated. Izana nodded and he then had Andrew grab a hold of his shoulder and helped him back. The two then began to make their way back to Sa'yo and Miwa who were giving them cover fire.

Time seemed to slow for Andrew at this moment. Him and Izana were making their way up to the ridge and then suddenly Andrew saw blood splurt out in front of him. His right side began to collapse and he turned to see that Izana had been hit three times in the chest. Izana collapsed and Andrew followed. Andrew turned to see that there was a rebel pointing a pistol at them.

"You son of a bitch!" Andrew growled as he pulled out his own pistol and fired at the rebel before he could react, hitting him in the chest four times.

Andrew then turned to Izana who was now coughing up blood and said, "Hey, stay with me kid. C'mon stay with me." Andrew then looked around, reached to grab his submachine gun and began to fire back at the rebels.

He heard footsteps behind and he slightly turned his head to see that Miwa and Sayo have rushed to them, with Miwa reaching Izana and applying first aid.

"Sayo, focus your fire on those who have automatic weapons. I am going to throw a smoke grenade to cover us," Andrew stated. Sayo nodded and then began returning fire onto the rebels. Andrew reached behind him and pulled out a small cylinder. He pulled the pin and counted to three before throwing it. The grenade landed in between them and the rebels and then it began to pop out a smokescreen. Miwa, having stabilized Izana, began to drag him back with the help of Sayo. Andrew meanwhile also fell back and firing back with one hand.

As they fell ack, Andrew can still hear the crack of rifles over his head, indicating that Fang and Kotetsu were still covering them. After a few minutes, they finally reached them along with the others.

"Ok, we are getting the hell out of here now!" Andrew ordered. No one argued as everyone retreated. Andrew looked over to Miwa, still tending to Izana as a stretcher was made for him by Sayo and Guren. From the look on MIwa's face, it wasn't looking good.

Andrew paced outside the medical tent while the rest of the platoon sat and waited. It took them about twenty minutes for them to make it back to camp. They rushed Izana toteh medical and now it has been 45 minutes since they brought him in.

"This is taking too long," Guren grumbled, his left foot tapping the ground.

"He took three shots into the chest. That is a lot of damage," Miwa stated gravely.

"Damnit! We should had fucking fell back earlier!" Fang yelled, clearly frustrated.

"Fang, yelling won't help the situation," Cloud noted but inside he also agreed with her. Meanwhile, Andrew continued to pace. Kurasame then spoke up.

"Boss, it isn't your fault," He then a man approaching them and then scowled.

"But this man has some responsibility," He growled. Andrew turned and faced the man and saluted.

"What the hell were you thinking disobeying my orders Lieutenant?" The man yelled, ignoring the salute.

"Sir, we were outnumbered, outgunned and I had a man down. We could not face the enemy when they outnumbered us two to one. We had to fall back," Andrew answered, his voice not showing any emotion.

"I don't give a fuck. You don't just disobey my orders anytime you want just because you are the general's son," The captain quipped back. Immediately everyone stood up, ready to argue but Andrew held a hand up.

"Sir, with respect, I only disobey orders when I know they are wrong. My relation to General Vandegrift has no relation to what happened today," Andrew replied.

"So you're saying that my orders are wrong?" Andrew was about to respond when they heard a voice clear their throat. Everyone turned and saw a doctor.

"Lieutenant, may I speak with you?" The doctor said, his voice grave. Everyone soon became downcast as Andrew followed the doctor into the tent. They then approached a bed that Izana was one, his body covered in bandages.

"We tried to stop the bleeding, but…." The doctor began but Andrew stopped him. He already knew. He approached Izana, who looked up to him and held up his left hand. Andrew took it and gripped it tightly.

"S-S-Sir… I'm sorry…." Izana said, his voice weak.

"No, it's fine. We are going to get you home alive ok?" Andrew said, forced to lie.

"Sir…. I have a little brother…. His name is Machina. Please… look after him….. Please….." Izana said.

"You are going to take care of him ok? Just hang in there," Andrew replied, continuing to lie and his heart breaking for the man.

Izana shook his head and said, "I know Boss….. I know… It has been…. An…" And with that Izana exhaled one last time before his eyes went wide and he stopped breathing. His grip on Andrew's hand fading as Andew's hand shook. Andrew felt tears sting his eyes and began to grit his teeth.

"Doc, make sure you clean him up. He's going home," Andrew said, letting go of Izana's hand and placing it on his chest. He then also closed his eyes and without a word to the doctor, turned and walked out the tent.

He walked out the tent and from his demeanour, everyone knew. Miwa began to cry with Sayo joining her while the rest just gritted their teeth and scowled.

Andrew looked over to the captain and all the anger in him, the rage finally overcame him. He approached the captain and without any hesitation punched him square in the jaw. The captain dropped to the ground and Andrew continued to wail on him until Kurasame and Kotetsu pulled him off.

"Boss, stop!" Kurasame stated.

"It's not worth it, sir. Stand down!" Kotetsu added.

The captain got up, blood spilling from his mouth and stated, "You career is over you bastard! Not even your father can protect you! I'll make sure you and your squad will pay for this!" Before he can continue, Fang gave him a punch in the gut and Cloud and Leon had to hold her back too.

"You bastard! You were the one that gave us shitty orders!" Fang quipped and the platoon dragged the two away.

August 29, 1933

Washington D.C

Andrew sighed as he held onto his cap. Beside him, Fang had an annoyed look on her face with her cap lazily hanging on her head. After the small scuffle, both of them were arrested by MPs that same day. They were sent to the brig for a few days before it was decided they would be sent to D.C for a court martial trial. That went on for about a week and a half and now they were waiting for the results.

"That bastard should be getting a court martial, not us," Fang commented.

"Well, we weren't really exemplary ourselves. We let our emotions get to us," Andrew commented back. There was silence for a minute and then Fang asked.

"You think we really are going to get kicked out?"

"I don't know Fang. Just hoppe for the best and expect the worst," Andrew replied. Suddenly the door to the room opened and a head poked out.

"They are ready," The person simply stated. Andrew nodded and both of them stood up and adjusted their uniforms. Once everything was squared away, they then proceeded to walk into the room.

The courtroom was your typical courtroom with the judges surrounding one table. There are five judges in this case, three men and two women.

Andrew and Fang approached the table and stood at attention.

"At ease," One of the judges said, the two then went to at ease. The judge who gave the command continued, "We have deliberated and while the officer in question was wrong in giving the order, you both still violated military law in striking him."

"Not like he didn't deserve it," Fang muttered, causing Andrew to glare at her to shut up.

"Now, while normally we wish to have kept this hidden from the public. The newspapers still caught wind of this and we have been dealt with some difficult choices. Now we have taken into account both of your records and have come to a final decision." The judge then looked at Andrew first.

"First Lieutenant Andrew Walker Vandegrift, because of your exemplary service as well as being one of two marines to have earned the Congressional Medal of Honor while serving in Nicaragua, you are hereby reduced to the rank of Staff Sergeant and are to be stripped from your command. You will be sent to be an embassy guard at the embassy in Randgriz in the Principality of Gallia." He then turned his attention to Fang.

"As for you Sergeant Fang Oerba Yun, be thankful that your Silver Star and Purple Heart saved you from a harsher fate. You are hereby honorably discharged from the Marine Corp, effective immediately." The judge said and banged his gavel. Andrew's face turned white. He knew that he was going to be spared and he knew that Fang could get kicked but was still shocked by it.

Fang didn't give Andrew any time to say anything as she turned around quickly and stormed out. Andrew got out of his shock and chased after her.

"Fang!" Andrew called out, Fang ignoring him and they descended down some stairs. Andrew then sped up and finally caught up to her, grabbing her arm.

"Damnit Fang!" Andrew said as he turned her around. What words he wanted to say stopped in his mouth as he saw that her eyes were red and that tears were falling down her face. She was also biting her lips to keep a sob from coming out. She had to look at the ground since she didn't want to look Andrew in the eye.

Andrew was speechless until he pulled her into a hug. Her body began to shake as she finally let it out.

"Hey, I did say we should expect the worst," Andrew commented as he continued to hold onto his friend.

"It's bullshit!" Fang sobbed.

"I know, but better this than either ending up in Leavenworth or worse," Andrew replied. They stayed like this for a few minutes before Fang let go. She wiped her face for any tears left.

"Sorry you had to see that," Fang stated.

"Ah, hell Fang. We have been friends since boot camp. Seeing you cry is nothing new," Andrew replied, remembering those tough few weeks.

"Yeah those were the days," Fang replied with a chuckle. There was silence for a minute before Andrew asked.

"What are you going to do now?"

"Probably work with my dad on the ranch. It's better than hiring more hands," Fang stated. Fang's father was a rancher in Texas and always had to hire people to help on the farm. With the hard times that had hit the U.S in the early 30s, looking for people wasn't bad but it was getting expensive.

"Alright, do that. And hell, try to find other work to. Do what you can to survive ok?" Andrew advised his friend. Fang nodded and then picked up her cap that fell on the ground and put it back on. She then looked at Andrew and then stood at attention ans saluted. Andrew saluted back and Fang said, "It was an honor sir."

She then gave him a small smile and turned and walked away. Andrew stayed standing there for a while until he heard footsteps behind him. He turned to see two women walking towards him. One of them was wearing brown boots, gray overalls, and brown gloves. She wears a breastplate, pauldrons, and high collar. She has short pale blonde hair and brown eyes and had some . She is 5'3 and looks like she is 26 years old. The other woman was wearing the standard marine utility uniform with black boots, 1911 strapped to her hip and a KABAR knife strapped to her thigh. She has wavy brunette hair which she partitions and ties half of it into a ponytail, and she has brown eyes. She is 5'6 and she is 27 years old. Both women approached him and Andrew, already knowing what this is about, just scoffed and walked away with the women following.

"Andrew, just wait a minute," One of the women called out.

"What? Did dad tell you to come find me?" Andrew replied, his voice dripping with contempt.

"No, we came looking for you ourselves. Damnit, just slow down," The other woman replied. The three reached a door and Andrew just pushed through it, entering an alleyway. The three entered the alleyway with one of the women closing the door.

"How many times have they all come to visit? How many times has he met her? He knew she had always wanted to be a marine and he knew she saved my life more times than I can count. SO WHY THE FUCK DID HE LEAVE HER OUT TO DRY?!" Andrew replied, the last part a yell.

"Dad wanted to save you both. But then the story got leaked and they need to punish you guys. The captain who gave you those orders was drummed out from what I heard," One of the women said, making Andrew look at her.

"And yet Fang gets the boot. Tell me Qun'mi, how the fuck does that seem fair?" Andrew replied.

"It was either that or get dishonorably discharged and spend the rest of her life at Leavenworth," Qun'mi argued back. Andrew shook his head and then looked at the other women, who nodded.

"It's true. You were at first going to be busted to private and sent to a logistic company," She replied.

"Honestly Emina, I would have just taken a discharge and had her stay," Andrew replied.

"And then what? It's already bad enough the Corp is being gutted and we are on the short end of the stick for funding, a scandal like that would just pretty much kill us," Qun'mi argued. It was no secret that the Army wanted to get rid of the Marine Corp and with the recent budget, the Corp is still not getting as much funding as it would like.

"Look, I know it hurts. Believe us, we know. But it was the only way. Dad really did fight for you both, so much so he threatened to resign. But in the end, there needed to be some punishment so this is the best one out of all of them," Emina replied, her voice filled with worry for her younger sibling.

Andrew sighed and rubbed his forehead, "How long is my deployment to Randgriz?"

"Until the end of your enlistment. You get out in June of 35, so just just stay out of trouble til then and you can have enough money in the bank to go to college. Didn't you want to be a teacher?" Qun'mi asked.

"Yeah, but that may be awhile. Besides, I have some other plans," Andrew replied, an image of a girl with short dark blue hair came into mind.

"Well, you don't have to ship out for another week so c'mon, let's get you home," Emina said as she grabbed Andrew's arm and dragged him away with Qun'mi in tow. They reached the street and made a left, the opposite direction of where Andrew's apartment was.

'Wait, my apartment is in the other direction," Andrew pointed out.

"Nope, we mean home home," Emina replied. Before Andrew could reply, Qun'mi beat him to it.

"Mom won't take no for an answer. Besides, Alice misses you. So does James and Nicholas though they probably want to hear war stories. Jerome and Jacob are also home too so all the kids are home so you already know how mom is," Qun'mi stated. Andrew sighed and admitted defeat by letting his older sister drag him towards the station. As they approached the station, Andrew thought about his new post.

'Randgriz huh? Well, nothing really happens in Europe except for the Krauts but hell they are probably still busy fixing their country. Might as well enjoy the quiet post while it lasts. Besides, nothing is going to happen out there anyway."

Well, everyone, I'm back! Yes, I have returned and not a minute too late. I apologize that it took so long but now I am back in the saddle so I am now going to updating this story from here on out. Can't really promise any timeline since life can change but I will try to be consistent. Hope you all enjoy the first chapter of this remake. I'll see you all next time.