Note: This story is written for entertainment purposes. All characters belong to their respective owners.

Chapter 9: Meeting New Faces

March 30, 1935

Since the invasion of Gallia, Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe has been doing a great job in bombing Gallia as well as giving the Royal Gallian Air Force a hard time. It has gotten so bad that any remaining fighter squadrons have been scattered all over the country. This has resulted in the Germans having almost complete air superiority over Gallia.

Almost.

In the southern part of the country, the Luftwaffe has been having a much harder time as one squadron of pilots that have somehow produced the most success so far. While taking heavy losses, they have forced the Luftwaffe to rethink their strategy in the south.

And it was this squadron that a certain Darcsen marine pilot was flying to.

"Of all the damn planes that we could have given to the Gallians, why did it have to be the Warhawk," Charlotte muttered as she adjusted her speed. Currently she was flying a P-40E Warhawk and heading towards a base in southern Gallia, where she was going to be joining the squadron there. Since Gallia is a small country, they really have nothing in terms of an indigenous aircraft. So, Gallia had relied on foreign fighters and the P-40 from the US was the main fighter. As such, the fighter she was flying had Gallian markings on it, so if any German fighter ran into her, they would just assume it is a Gallian piloting and not an American.

"Still though, the fact that this squadron was able to survive this long has been amazing still," Charlotte told herself. When she was given the record of the squadron before she left, she was pretty amazed by the kill ratio of the squadron when compared to other Gallian squadrons. While others were nearly wiped out in the opening stages of the war, this squadron suffered light losses while, at the same time, inflicting heavy losses on the Germans.

Overall, the squadron was a lot better than the others by a wide margin and adding on to the fact that it was an all Darcsen squadron just gave her encouragement to volunteer.

"Well, I guess I don't have to worry about having to deal with an incompetent leader. And I can then focus on looking for my idiot husband," Charlotte mused, frowning from remembering when she first learned that Andrew was staying in Gallia to fight.

And somewhere in Gallia, a certain Marine sneezed and felt a chill down his spine.

"This new pilot is pretty late," Captain Mara Sov sighed as she rubbed her forehead. She along with her liaison to the Gallian Army, Captain Jake Morrow, their chief mechanic Ben, and Pedro Hernandez, the squadron's….. "Supplier" were waiting for their new pilot to arrive. Though, said new pilot was supposed to have arrived about 30 minutes ago.

"You think she got lost?" Ben asked as he drank from his flask.

"Ben, no drinking while on duty," Jake reminded.

"Kid, this pilot is not here yet so at least let me pass the time with some alcohol," Ben stated.

"I think our little pájaro may have gotten their wing's clipped," Pedro mused as he played around with his pocket knife.

"One of our radars picked her up so she is not dead as far as I know. She could just be arriving late. You all know that the blockade has had an iron hold on us," Mara replied. All three men nodded solemnly. Everyone knew that Gallia was pretty much surrounded by air, land and sea. Supplies coming in through France was not enough and air supply was getting intercepted, more so now that America was in the war. The naval blockade also restricted shipping though there are rumors about how some US subs sneaked past and delivered much needed supplies.

"Either way, I say we wait for just a bit more and if she doesn't show up then we will have to report this," Jake noted, glancing at his watch.

Mara nodded as she continued to look into the sky. Since this war started, her squadron were the only ones that were keeping the Germans at bay but their numbers were getting smaller and since they were a Darcsen squadron, not many replacements have been getting through nor have there been many volunteers to come to the squadron.

Hence why she asked Pedro if he can get any volunteer pilots from other countries. While she doubted that it would work, she was surprised when he came to her with a pilot's file. Evidently, this pilot was a US Marine pilot that was in England and shot down two 190s. Mara seemed impressed and is looking forward to meeting this pilot.

When the pilot arrives that is.

After another 10 minutes of seeing nothing, she was about to give up and report a possible lost pilot or desertion when a soldier came running towards them.

"Ma'am, we have a situation," the soldier said as he reached the group and saluted Mara, who returned it.

"What is it?" Mara asked.

"We got a distress signal from a pilot. Says she is under attack by a couple of 109s about 50 miles away. Says she is a replacement pilot for a Darcsen squadron."

"Just my fucking luck," Charlotte groaned as she made a hard left turn to avoid a hail of bullets. As she was flying towards her new base, she had failed to notice that a pair of ME-109s happened to be flying above her. She only noticed when bullets started flying past her cockpit. Luckily, she was about to turn right away from the bullets as the two fighters dived down.

Now, she had been trying to lose said pilots for a good 6 minutes but they were still on her. She had called for help over the radio but she got nothing in response. So either she was on her own or someone was coming to help.

And like hell was she going to wait for someone to come help.

Charlotte lowered her speed and turned right, hoping that the two fighter would shoot past her. Her gamble half worked as one overshot her while the other just simply broke off.

"Well, at least I one took it," Charlotte mused as she quickly accelerated. The ragnite-powered Allison engine roared as she picked up speed to keep on the 109. She had to be quick though, as his friend could get on her tail real quick.

The 109 began to jinx side to side, to throw off Charlotte's aim. But, unfortunately for this German pilot, Charlotte was an expert at hitting her target, thanks to her marine training.

She took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger. The six 50. Caliber machine guns roared as they pierced the 109. The concentrated fire was too much for the fighter that the right wing got torn up, causing the fighter to spin out of control as it dived to the ground.

"One down. One more to go," Charlotte mused as she looked around for the other fighter. She got her answer when the plane shuddered. She cursed and began to dive as the 109 pursued her. She continued to dive as she knew from briefings that the 109 was not so good at low altitude. Sure enough, she saw that the 109 had to break off. She then adjusted and balanced out her plane, only to find that there was smoke coming out of her right wing.

"And just my luck," Charlotte groaned. She can see that there were about 6 bullet holes in the wing and 4 of them had black smoke coming out of it. She also saw that she was leaking fuel as her fuel gauge was slowly going down.

"OK, let's keep calm here. That guy knows he is at a disadvantage down here so hopefully, he won't pursue," Charlotte reasoned to herself. Her fighter was at around 5000ft so it put her more at an advantage over the 109 but she was not in a good shape herself, given that her fighter is damaged.

Charlotte reached for her radio and keyed the transmission button, "To anyone out there, I need support. I am damaged and am still being chased by one German fighter. Requesting support." Again she heard nothing as she looked up and the German was still circling her, like a vulture ready to pounce.

A voice over the radio got her attention, "This Blue 3, we receive you. We are going to be arriving from the East so keep an eye out." Charlotte looked in that direction and sure enough, she saw two specks approaching from the east. As they got closer, Charlotte recognized the silhouette of P-40s. One went and charged against the 109 while another went to her. It got on her wing and Charlotte can see the pilot give her a look over.

"Wow, you look beat up. At least Ben won't have to only yell at me from now on," The pilot commented, causing Charlotte to raise an eyebrow.

"Blue 4, escort the pilot back to base. I will handle this one," the same voice that responded to her said over the radio.

"Huh? But the captain said-"

"The captain isn't here so I am in charge. Escort the pilot back. I will catch up," the voice cut in. Charlotte heard a sigh before Blue 4 came back on the radio.

"Ok, so I will be escorting you to our base. Let me know if you continue to have any problems."

"Roger and thanks for the help," Charlotte replied.

"Don't worry about it. We were on our way back from a patrol so it was not much of a big issue for us to come help," the pilot replied back to Charlotte.

"Well, thank God for that," Charlotte said to herself as the two fighters flew away.

"And there is our new pilot, and I have to say that Ben is going to have his work cut out for him," Pedro commented, snickering. Mara heard Ben groan as they saw Anya escort their new pilot, who, judging from the smoke coming out of the plane, was jumped by some German fighters.

"You pilots really need to learn to better avoid bullets. We don't have many spare parts left," Ben groaned.

"Blame the Krauts Ben, not our fault," Mara replied quickly as she saw the plane make its landing. The landing was pretty smooth, even with a damaged airplane, showing that the pilot is pretty skilled.

'At least now we have an actual pilot and not someone who just finished flight school,' Mara thought as she and the rest walked over to the new pilot, who parked between a P-40 and a Bristol F2 biplane.

Charlotte turned off the engine, leaned back in her seat and sighed. While there weren't any major issues when heading here, she got a bit nervous when her fuel gauge edged on empty. Lucky, she was able to land on fumes and a smooth landing at that.

As she continued to sit in her cockpit, she heard a clang outside. She turned her head to the right to see a ladder being placed and seeing someone getup on her plane. She opened the cockpit to see an old man in mechanic's clothing and had an old German infantry cap on.

"You our new pilot?" the man asked roughly.

"I believe so since this seems to be the only air base that doesn't have many holes," Charlotte replied, causing the man to chuckle.

"Yeah, that is cuz we got some good and smart pilots here. Name's Ben, I am the chief mechanic on this base," Ben said, introducing himself to Charlotte.

"Charlotte Vandegrift, a pleasure. Sorry about the plane, Krauts jumped my ass while I was on the way here," Charlotte stated as she stood up.

"A pilot that actually apologies. I am starting to like you already," Ben commented as he got off the ladder to let Charlotte climb off.

As Charlotte got off the plane and touched ground, she saw that there was a woman and two men waiting with both men not being Darcsen. Charlotte took one look at the female and noticed that she was wearing a Gallian Royal Air Corp officer uniform. On her shoulder was an emblem, a Bald Eagle covered in a shawl with a cloth that had the Darcsen pattern on it. It had it's talons out holding onto a bomb and etched on it were the words "Darcsen Devils". The pilot had her long hair in a braid that is tied with a Darcsen-patterned cloth, Charlotte also noticed a Lugar on her hip holster, probably a captured one. She also noticed the woman has a small scar on her cheek. For the man next to her, he was wearing a captain's uniform from the Gallian Militia. He is wearing an officer's cap and has brown eyes. He also has a Colt 1911 in a holster and an infantry cutlass sheathed. She then saw the captain's insignia and straightened up.

"Second Lieutenant Charlotte Vandegrift reporting ma'am," Charlotte stated.

"At ease. I am Captain Mara Sov. I am in charge of the 66th Fighter Squadron and I welcome you to our base. While I would have loved to roll out a better welcoming party, I think the Krauts already gave you one," Mara said, noting the damage on her aircraft.

"Yeah, and I thought only Anya would get damage like this," Pedro commented, whistling at the amount of bullet holes.

"The difference between here and Anya is that she at least apologizes for it. Anya just keeps blaming the Krauts," Ben stated.

"Hey, that is just true. Not my fault they focus on me on every sortie," Charlotte turned to the direction of the voice to see a young girl, who Charlotte deduced at being 17, run to them. She was wearing the standard pilot gear on her but her helmet was in her hand, revealing shoulder length hair and had a cloth wrapped around her neck with a Darcsen pattern on it.

"There is a thing called maneuvering or even better, knowing when to get into a fight and knowing when to run," Ben countered.

"Whatever, so," Anya looked over to Charlotte, "Is she the new pilot?"

"Yes she is. Charlotte, this is-"

"My name is Anya. I heard you are from America. Tell me, is it really as big as everyone says? I heard they served large portions of food? Does everyone have cars there? And are Darcsens shown more respect there?" Any asked Charlotte, getting a bit too close and her eyes shining.

Mara sighed and pulled Anya a bit back, "Anya, give the woman some space. I am sure she will answer your questions later. Right now, we need to get her settled in."

Anya pouted but then recovered as she nodded and said, "Ok, well since she is bunking with me, I can ask her later tonight." Charlotte paled a bit at the thought. While she didn't hate the girl, she still likes her sleep.

"What is there to like about America? All they are are just people who just stand by and watch other people fight their battles," a voice called out with some venom. Charlotte turned her in the direction of the voice and saw another pilot walk up to them, a male this time. Like Anya, he was wearing a flight suit. He had a military crew cut but what really caught Charlotte's attention and to her horror was the large Iron Cross branded on his face. He also had a bandolier across his jacket though it was only partially filled with bullets and had a Darcsen bandanna on his head.

"Lucas, not now. If you do not have anything else to say or report, you are dismissed," Mara stated, holding a hand up to Charlotte before she could say something back. When Lucas stayed where he was, glaring at Charlotte, the militia officer spoke up.

"Lucas, that was a direct order. You are dismissed!" He told Luca sternly. Lucas just "Tsk." before heading to the squadron building. The man sighed, shaking his head and then looked at Charlotte.

"Sorry about that. Lucas can be…. A bit difficult to work with but he is a good person. I am Captain Jake Morrow, the liaison to the Regular Army. And this here is Pedro," Jake then motioned over to Pedro who nodded in greeting.

"Well, with that out of the way, we will take you to your room and see if we can give you a small tour of our airfield. Then we have a welcome dinner so that you can get to know everyone," Mara said. She then motioned everyone to follow her to the barracks. As Charlotte followed, she was consumed with a thought.

'Guess I am in a shooting war now. I hope that Andrew is having a better time than I am.'

"A supply convoy?" Gusurg asked. Currently, Gusurg, Andrew and Kurt were looking over the documents that Andrew had brought back.

"It looks like the Krauts are worried about the impending counterattack so they are sending a supply convoy to the town. From what it looks like, they will send them at night and in groups. They already sent two and there is a third one heading out tonight," Andrew stated.

"Didn't know you could read German," Gusurg commented.

"My mom is German. She did want me and my siblings forgetting our heritage so she had us learn it. Turned out to be more useful now," Andrew replied. He still remembered how his mom would be tough on him and his siblings in speaking German. It still gives him chills.

"So, we need to intercept the convoy before they reach Vasel or the Regular forces are going to have a hard time clearing the city," Andrew pointed out.

"How much ammo is going to be in the third convoy?" Kurt asked.

"From what I can decipher, about a company's worth of ammo, including anti-tank rockets, rifles, machine guns, the works," Andrew replied, taking a look at a piece of paper that was the manifesto of the convoy.

"But I am worried about the amount of vehicles: 10 trucks, 3 armored cars and 4 half tracks with one of them being an anti-tank variant. With only the 5 of us right now, I do not like the odds here," Andrew noted. Suddenly Kurt looked over to Gusurg.

"Gusurg, besides you, No.1 and No. 13, how many others are in this squadron?" Gusurg thought about it for a minute then replied.

"Right now, 10."

"Please find five members that you think would be willing to assist me." Kurt asked. Gusurg looked at him for a minute before nodding.

"Understood." And Gusurg went to find members. Andrew then turned to Kurt.

"So, you think we can get some of them to help us?" Kurt just smiled.

"I believe that I can." Andrew just gave a confused look but shrugged. Whatever it was, Andrew just had to trust Kurt on this.

Gusurg returned later with five members from the squad. Kurt gave them a quick look over before asking them a question.

"Everyone please tell me your number and the reason why you chose to not participate in the last operation."

"What right do you have to ask?" One of the squadmates asked.

"Don't think that just because you're an officer that you can come here and show off." Another squadmate said, a bit more forceful than the previous man. Andrew stepped in and stood right in the face of the guy.

"I suggest you back the fuck off now or else I will gladly rearrange that face of yours," Andrew growled. Both men glared at each other until another squadmate attempted to defuse the situation.

"Hey, don't talk back. Even though I think No.7's being a bit impudent…" The squadmate said.

"You think so. I just think he is cold and distant. And his second in command is just odd." Another squadmate was added.

"Everyone's speaking such harsh words." Another squadmate said. Andrew broke his glare from the man who was calling Kurt out to look around. Three men and two women, correction girls, had shown up with Gusurg. Andrew heard someone take a deep breath and he turned to see Kurt massage his forehead.

"To think, these people are the people most willing to help me…" Kurt muttered. Then Gusurg spoke out.

"I also want to know why you didn't participate in our last mission. Can you tell me?" Then Andrew saw something that he shouldn't be surprised about but it still surprised him. The group of five were more than eager to tell him.

"If Gusurg asks..."

"Alright then."

'This squad reminds me too much of my old squad. While it is good to be a bit hesitant to trust new officers, that isn't enough of a reason to just not follow orders.' Andrew thought to himself as each member began to state their number and reason why they didn't fight. First up was one of the girls, and Andrew swore this girl was around fifteen, his little sister's age. Her uniform was similar to that of a school uniform, even with a yellow handkerchief hanging in the center of her chest. She also had a light blue backpack and two pouches of the similar color on her belt. There were also two leather kneecaps on her knees for protection maybe but Andrew doubted that. She also has short blond hair.

"I'm No.15, I don't want to die so I didn't fight." No. 15 replied. Fifteen stepped back and then came up the man who had called out Kurt. The man was tanned, making him a bit unique in the military, at least in Gallia. He had the standard uniform on but it seems like he decorated it with pieces of leather here and there and has grayish hair with a gold highlight in the front. It makes him look like a cowboy in a sense and Andrew had to hold back a laugh because of how he reminded him of some Texans he knew back home and it brought back a funny memory.

"No. 21, I didn't want my comrades to die so I picked the best alternative." He stepped back and the other girl came up to speak. The girl had short orange hair She had spandex shorts on, hinting she is athletic and a sleeveless jacket with a sleeveless grey shirt underneath with yellow sleeves covering her lower arm and brown gloves. She also has two big pouches on her belt.

"I'm No. 24. I wanted to fight, but everyone held me back!" Twenty-Four replied with excitement.

Andrew leaned into Kurt's ear and whispered, "This one is a bit too eager to go fight. I like her already." Kurt smirked and elbowed Andrew in the gut.

The next person to come up was a Darcsen. Like most Darcsen males that Andrew has seen, he had a slender nose, pale complexion, elongated face, and his eyes were slanted downward. His hair reached down to his shoulders and he was covered in chain mail and a metal chestplate. His Darcsen pattern shawl was wrapped around his neck and when he spoke, he sounded like he gave up on life.

"No. 56, I hate fighting." Fifty-Six said before immediately stepping back. The final man stepped up and the way he was dressed caught Andrew's attention a bit. He wore a standard military uniform but under it was a chef's uniform as well with an apron tied tightly around his waist. He has grayish hair with a small goatee of the same color.

"No. 32, we don't have a captain right now, so we don't have to do anything." Thirty-two answered simply. This caught Kurt's attention.

"No captain?" Kurt asked, a bit confused. Andrew was confused as well since Kurt was their captain. Gusurg saw both men's looks and told them a piece of information that would have been helpful in the beginning.

"In practice, the captain of the Nameless is someone who everyone agrees is worthy." So even if your rank is the highest, you still aren't recognized as the captain." Kurt then thought about it for a minute.

"Come to think of it… my transfer to this squad didn't say I was to be its captain." Kurt said. Andrew just gave him a dumbfounded look.

"What?" Andrew said.

"Well, since I was the only ranking officer here I assumed that I would be the captain." Kurt replied. Gusurg nodded at this.

"Understandable. I believe in you Kurt but you still don't have half of the squad supporting you. In other words, your orders don't carry the weight that a captain normally would." Andrew was just curious at this point and had to ask.

"Are those official military rules cuz if so, I would love to recommend that to some platoons and companies back home." Gusurg just smiled at this.

"These are the rules of the Nameless. If you want to find out if they're official, why don't you ask Lieutenant Colonel Crowe?" Gusurg answered. Andrew chuckled while Kurt just closed his eyes.

"There's no need." Kurt said. All of a sudden, No. 21 approached the three.

"Gusurg! We all decided that you should be captain." He stated. The three turned and saw that he wasn't alone, and not alone in that statement.

"That's right! I respect Gusurg!" No.24 proclaimed. However, Gusurg just shook his head.

"I'm not capable of being the captain. Besides, if a Darcsen were to become our captain, then everyone's wage would worsen." Gusurg warned.

"Wait, that happens?" Andrew question, confused. Everyone just looked at him.

"Nevermind." Andrew said. Then thought to himself, 'I need to keep telling myself that Europe is completely different from the States.'

"But besides you, who else can lead?" No. 15 asked.

"I believe that No.7, Second Lieutenant Kurt Irving is suitable for the position." Gusurg said, motioning to Kurt. The five members were doubtful of that and Gusurg probably saw this because he continued.

"You were absent for his battle, but I saw with my own eyes his capabilities as a leader. That's why I recommended him. If you are interested, please fight under his command once before you decide." Gusurg paused then announced, "If after, you truly can't accept him, then I will become your captain. I wish for all of you to personally see for yourself. What do you say?" There was a brief silence and Andrew assumed they were going to say no but then No. 32 replied first.

"If Gusurg says so, then it's alright with me. I'll accept." He was followed by No. 24.

"I always wanted to go anyway, so there's no problem!"

"I'll listen to No.6." No.56 replied.

"If No.7 really made Gusurg feel that way…" No.15 replied.

"If everyone else thinks it's okay, I won't disagree. I'll stand by my comrade's decision." No.21 replied. Gusurg looked over the group and then a smile formed on his face.

"Thank you for your support." Gusurg told the group. He then turned to Kurt and Andrew and said, "Kurt, Andrew from here on in, it's up to you both to prove your strengths." Andrew was a bit confused but before he could reply, Kurt replied with a smile, "All right, as far as I'm concerned, our next mission will be much easier than persuading our squad." As everyone dispersed, Andrew stopped Gusurg.

"Why did you mention me? I mean they really need to listen to Kurt. With me, I can work something out with them." Andrew said. Having dealt with a lot of troublesome people in his life, he knows how to be able to get on someone's good side but was a bit surprised when Gusurg responded to him.

"You have more experience than all of us combined. I have heard of you, from the American newspapers. You were known to the rebels in South America as "El Diablo"? Andrew just gave Gusurg a shocked look.

"I didn't think that information would get to Europe but then again…." Andrew started but stopped himself.

"What is it?" Gusurg asked.

"Nothing. I need to get some parts for my rifle." Andrew said quickly and then bolted. Gusurg just looked at the leaving man confused while Andrew had to do his best to control his right hand which was shaking. His nickname comes from the Banana Wars but to him it is a reminder of the hell that he went through during one mission that made him do something that still gives him nightmares.

"And to think it was because of that nickname that got me and my squad on a bounty." Andrew muttered to himself. After that mission, his entire squad had a bounty placed on them and until they left, they were pretty much hunted by mercs that the rebels hired. He was still thinking about that when he finally reached the resupply truck that gives the Nameless their gear and weapons.

Since the Nameless are a special forces unit that operates far from a base, they would need to be resupplied by ruck and this was usually in the form of an armored APC. It had a blue/tan camo with the Gallian Army markings on the side. There was also a C, encased in a horseshoe with the C representing the name of the person in charge of the APC. As he approached the APC, there were sheets of canvas laid out around the APC and on them were an assortment of weapons from rifles, to submachine guns, machine guns, and even weirdly swords and mauls. Andrew never really understood the sword and maul being used in a war. In a changing world, guns would be taking over but again he can't say anything since he isn't technically in the Gallian military. As he approached he noticed No.15 and No.24 talking amongst each other and from what Andrew heard, they were pretty excited.

"What has seemed to get you two in happy moods?" Andrew asked the pair as he approached them. They both jumped in surprise and faced him, with No. 24 hiding something behind her back.

"Oh, nothing sir. Uhm, No.28." No. 15 said.

"Yeah we were just uhm you know looking at a beauty magazine." No. 24 answered though it sounded forced. Andrew was not convinced.

"Alright hand it over." Andrew said, extending his hand. No.24 finally reluctantly handed him what she was hiding and it surprised Andrew that it was a newspaper.

"A newspaper?" Andrew said as he looked at the front page and read the headline, " 'U.S Navy sank 3 U-Boats in the Atlantic that were attempting to intercept a supply convoy heading to Gallia.' Didn't think you two would be interested in any war news."

"Well, since America is now in the war, it looks like the fighting will be a lot easier now," No.15 stated.

"Kid, I do not want to break it to you but I think the U.S will be a bit more focused with the German troops in the Caribbean. But, I wouldn't be surprised if some troops are diverted here," Andrew mused.

"How are you so sure about that?" No.24 asked, curious about how Andrew would be confident in his statement. Before Andrew could reply, he heard a voice call out to him.

"Hey, Yank. I have been waiting for you." The trio looked up and saw someone approaching him. The person approaching them was female and was wearing a standard Gallian Army uniform with her wearing a skirt instead of the usual trousers. She also has a map hanging from her neck and also wearing a headset and throat mic. She had a huge purse attached on her hip with her personalized symbol on it and a small pack also attached. She wore knee high boots and stockings with the red and blue color of the Gallian army. She also has the sergeant major markings and she was the one Andrew had come here to see eventually.

'Carisa Contzen. This woman is probably one the few people that I love/hate. I love the woman for having some good stuff like rifle parts, goods, ammo, hell even mail somehow. But I hate her because with her, everything has a price. Granted, it's not as bad as the black market merchants but we should be getting this damn stuff for no charge since we are still part of the military. But I can't deny, she does somehow get the best gear and even foreign gear and weapons. It's safe to assume she might have other friends she is working with.' -Andrew W. Vandegrift.

Andrew turned to the two girls and whispered, "I'll tell you girls later." He then winked at them and the two nodded and left.

"I was actually going to talk to you but since you were looking for me, I'll let you go first." Andrew said.

"Well, from my recent visit back to base, there was a nice little package waiting to be delivered just for you." Carisa said. This caused Andrew to raise his eyebrows.

"For me? From who?" Andrew asked. Carisa shrugged as she made her way to the APC, opened the passenger side and pulled out a long package.

"Didn't really say. All I was told is that it must be delivered to you. Something about a new weapon." Carisa said, giving the package to Andrew. Andrew examined the box and thought what it could be. Looking around, he found a crowbar lying next to some other boxes and picked it up. He then proceeded to open the crate and was surprised by what he saw. Inside the crate was a brand new Thompson submachine gun but it wasn't one that he used back in the Banana Wars. This Thompson was beefed up to have a more sturdy foregrip and on closer examination, it even had a small vertical grip to it, it was just brought up to conceal it. Also the magazine seems to be a bit bigger than the old 30-round mags that Andrew is used to and the sights seemed to have been altered slightly as well with the standard Fixed L sight being altered to be more precise. However on this model, the Thompson the Blish lock was retained. The Blish Lock was a method in which rounds would be ejected with the force of friction rather than anything else, though it was phased out by the military due to it not really being necessary. All in all, this submachine gun was redesigned to be more suitable for warfare but why Andrew was getting it he had no idea. He then noticed a letter tucked in the crate. He picked it up and opened it to read the note.

'Andrew, if this ever reaches you I want you to know that our mother and I are worried about you. Your mother hasn't had a good night's sleep and your brothers and sisters are also worried. I know that you may be still mad about what happened but believe me that there was no other choice. When I heard that you had put up a request to fight, I pulled some strings and got you assigned to a Gallian Special Forces unit. So, I sent this new Thompson model to you to help out. I am told it can take the 9mm that the Krauts are using so ammo will not be an issue. I hope it helps, and shows those Germans how Marines fight. Also, write to your mother please. Love, Dad.'

Andrew had a small smile form on his face as he chuckled.

"Thanks dad." He muttered and tucked the letter in his pocket. He then looked up and saw that Carisa was staring at him.

"Who was the box form?" She asked him.

"From home." Andrew answered. Carisa raised her eyebrows but didn't push further.

"Anyway, you said you were looking for me too. What is it that you wanted me for?"

'So it turns out Garand was out of the fight as Carisa will have to get replacement parts and since most supplies are being given to the Regular Army, it will take some time. So, now I have to use the submachine gun for now but hey I wasn't complaining. Shortly after that, Kurt called everyone together for a mission briefing. And when I mean everyone, I mean the five people that volunteered along with the One, Thirteen, Gusurg, and I. And the mission that was being briefed to us was going to make the squad working together a lot harder.' Andrew W. Vandegrift.

"Our next mission will be to intercept the resupply convoy that will be making its way to Vasel. They only move at night so we will have to wait until it is dark to ambush them," Kurt stated.

"Where are we going to intercept them?" Twenty-One asked.

"Here," Kurt pointed at a point on the map. From the symbols, it was a stone bridge over a river. It was one of 5 bridges that the Germans needed to reach Vasel in their invasion. Now, it was one of their supply routes.

"From what intelligence we got, this route it used the most and the one this convoy will use," Kurt noted.

"We will have half of the squad on the other side while another will be one the other. Once the convoy crosses the bridge, both sides will strike, preventing them from retreating but also making it hard for them to retreat," Kurt said.

"So you want one side to hide on the other side of the bridge," Twenty-One asked, skeptical.

"It's best we prevent them from leaving and I think blowing up the bridge is not going to be a good idea since we will need the bridge for later," Andrew noted.

"That is correct. We will splitting up into two teams: The first team lead by Twenty-Eight will take Fifteen, Twenty-Four, Fifty-Six, and Thirteen will be on the side bridge when the Germans cross it while i will take Thirty-Two, Twenty-One, and One with me to the other side of the bridge and attack when Twenty-Eight commences the attack. Gusurg will take the tank and support Twenty-Eight on his side of the bridge," Kurt pointed out. Many eyes widened at the plan.

"Wouldn't they just start shooting when they see Gusurg's tank?" Fifteen asked.

"His tank looks like a King Tiger tank. The Germans will assume it is their own tank so they will not shoot," Kurt pointed out. One of the things that Kurt had noticed was that Gusurg's tank looked like the King Tiger tank that the Germans were using.

"But still, we cannot just leave Gusurg by himself. The Germans will surely shoot him," Thirty-Two pointed out.

"I have a plan to counter that," Kurt stated. He then looked at the group and then asked, "How many of you speak German fluently?"

Well, looks like Charlotte is now in the war and we see the return of Mara and the 66th Fighter Squadron. In the next chapter, Kurt and Andrew will now have to prove to a few members of the Nameless that they are worthy to lead them. Will the succeed or will they continue to have to deal with unresponsive teammates. If you anyway has any questions or anything, feel free to PM me. See you all next time.