A/N: This work was written for entertainment purposes and all characters belong to their respective owners.

Chapter 11: Operation Sea Devil (Pt.1)

April 6, 1935

Off the Coast of Sint Maarten

0600 Hours

Guren was having a very nice dream. He was relaxing on a private beach in Hawaii with Sayo with no worries in the world. He was relaxing on a beach chair when he saw that Sayo was exiting the water, with some water dripping down her body as it also glistened off her one piece swimsuit. However, just as she walked up to him and asked if there was some room for her, he felt a stinging pain on the back of his head. It was then that he awoke from his dream and opened his eyes.

Instead of a blue sky, he was staring at a steel ceiling. He then heard the rumbling of a ship resonating around him. As he rubbed his eyes, he finally remembered where he was. He was onboard USS LST-676, a landing ship tank that he along with most of Baker Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division were on that would take them to war and judging from the pain on the back of his head, they have arrived.

He craned his head to see Kotetsu looking at him, smirking, "Rise and shine sleeping beauty. We have a war to fight." He then left and started to yell the same thing to wake up the rest of the 130 Marines of their company. Guren groaned as he rubbed his eyes. Since he had the top bunk, he didn't have to rush to get out but not wanting to have to wait in a long line, got up.

Their quarters were extremely tight, even when compared to the other landing ships. Since the hold had their LVTs that they would be riding into battle on, they were squeezed together and if you had claustrophobia, well too bad. As he did the best he could to stretch, given his size, he looked over to the one hatch that was their exit out and already he was seeing a line. Sighing, he made his way over and joined the line all the while hearing the grumbling from the other marines, which was for the head.

It will be the first of many lines he will be in today.

The second line would be for breakfast. The galley on the shop can only handle about 80 people at a time so the company had to take shifts on who would eat first. This meant that everyone would have to eat quickly. The breakfast today was good and plentiful: eggs, potatoes, hash browns, bread and sausages. With all this food, the marines ate as much and as fast as possible. For some, this would be their last hot meal in a while, for others it would be the last they have on Earth.

Guren took his plate and piled it high with food. He was always one to eat a lot and he never got sea sick so he took advantage of that. Once he got his food, he looked for a table and sure enough he saw Kotetsu along with Joseph, Sayo, Cloud, and Leon sitting at the same table and one spot open for him. He made his way to them and took his seat.

He saw that Cloud did not have a lot of food on his plate and got curious, "Not eating much Cloud?"

"Unlike you, I would like not to throw up on the amtrak," Cloud noted as he took a bite from his toast.

"You still need some energy to get your skinny ass off the beach," Guren replied back as he began to dig in and then noticed that they were missing someone, " Where's Miwa?"

There was a loud commotion behind them, they all turned to see someone walking towards them with their arms full of fresh oranges.

"Excuse me! Coming through! Hey, get your hands off, I worked hard for these!" Guren and the others heard Miwa's voice yell out as she made her way to them. She finally reached their table and dropped the oranges, resulting in everyone doing their best to get one.

"You all save one for me ok," Miwa said as she took her seat.

"Well, at least we get to enjoy our last supper before they send us to the electric chair," Joseph stated as he finished the last parts of his meal.

"I know I shouldn't be asking this since it could be bad luck but…." Sayo asked but didn't finish. Everyone got quiet after that, as they knew what she was going to ask.

"Well, I can't say I am exactly thrilled to be shot at," Leon replied, "But we are marines. We have a job to do and we all know the risks that come with it."

"Yeah, and besides we will be fine. We have Kurasame leading us after all," Miwa pointed.

"Though, he didn't want it to go the way it did," Kotetsu pointed out, causing everyone to become quiet again. After the trial, Kurasame was offered Andrew's rank and spot for the platoon. At first, he declined as he was loyal to Andrew and thought he should be leading them once he came back to the platoon after his "imposed exile". However, the war started and Andrew was caught in the middle of it. Now, Kurasame took on the role as platoon leader though only because no one else wanted to have to deal with a new lieutenant.

"We will be fine. Besides, the Navy is going to be shelling the crap out of the krauts so there probably won't be a lot of them for us to deal with," Guren chimed in though he only said that to try and lighten the mood. They all know that this is the first time since the Great War that the soldiers, sailors, and marines will be fighting another military from another country and this is this is only the second time in modern history that a landing of this scale was being commenced, the first being Gallipoli though this could even be bigger than that.

No one replied to him nor did anyone else say a word as they continued to eat and stew in their own thoughts.

After breakfast, the third line that Guren will be in will be for their equipment. In reality, it was a series of lines as they got different equipment and supplies. Walking side by side with other marines, a different piece of item will be placed in their outstretched hand. When all was done, a typical marine would be equipped with a Springfield 30.06 M1 rifle though there will be those who were unlucky and got the older 1903 bolt-action rifles, ammo, a bayonet, a full canteen, life belt, combat pack and other assortments of supplies like socks and rations. There were a few who were issued Thompson submachine guns or Browning Automatic Weapons or BARs. Others would receive M1 Carbines or motors and machine guns along with the ammo that goes with the.

Next they made their way to the holds of the ship where they began to outfit their equipment and check everything to make sure that everything was good to go.

Guren looked over his BAR and pulled the charging handle back. This pushed the bolt back as well as lock it. He made sure that the safety was also on and then checked the gun to see that everything was fine and made sure that it wouldn't cause any jams that would be inconvenient later. Once he was sure everything was good, he shouldered the gun and then began to help Sayo with her gear. Being the radio operator, she had to contend with their SCR-300 radio backpack, which will make her a prime target. She was equipped with a M1 Carbine and was having a hard time with the pouch that was on the buttstock.

"It won't stay on," Sayo complained as she tried to get it to stay on. Guren gave it a look and immediately saw the problem. He grabbed the rifle and then took the pouch off, to reveal that a part of the strap that held it to the rifle was broken.

"Best you just have this off. While convenient, it isn't worth the extra weight," Guren replied. Sayo nodded and then went back to checking the rest of the gear. Suddenly, the sound of a door opening echoed and a loud voice yelled.

"ATTENTION ON DECK!" Everyone snapped at attention as a group of marine officers walked out, equipped and ready. Kurasame was among them with their new boss, Captain John Miller. Hailing from New York City, he had a gung-ho attitude but also did not throw rank all the time. He took the time to listen to his more experienced junior officers and NCOs. That was the one reason why Guren and the rest liked him.

"Keep doing what you are doing. I just want to remind you of our mission here," Miller said aloud. As everyone continued their tasks, Miller continued, "Our mission is simple: clear the northern section of beach Plymouth. Baker Company is going to be in the second wave but I have been told that the first wave will gladly save some Krauts for us," That got a few snickers, "From there, we will regroup with the rest of 3rd battalion and unite with the 5th Marines and push to Espérance airfield, one of the two major airfields we need to take on the island."

For Sint Maarten, the entire island will be attacked with the entire 1st Marine Division along with a Canadian Task Force named "Task Force Maple". The two forces will invade 3 different beaches in what is called the Mallard Beach Zone. Each regiment was assigned to a different beach and the 4 battalions of each regiment will each have a responsibility to clear the beach for further reinforcements to follow up in the next waves. The Canadians will be landing with the 1st Marines as Espérance airfield is an important objective as it is needed to fly in additional supplies and will later act as a base where Army Air Corp fighters and bombers will launch patrols to protect supply ships that will come from the Canal.

Meanwhile, the army was sending 4 army divisions to attack the islands that are under German control near the Canal but that was not the marine's problem.

"While I do have here some words of encouragement from the higher ups," Miller held up a piece of paper, "First, from Brigadier General Vandegrift: 'Marines, today will be a day that will be remembered for generations. We are about to conduct the first offensive operations against Imperial Germany since the Great War. We undertake this challenge to defend the just and liberty of not only our own country but also for that of others that are affected by Imperial Germany. With God and your brother and sisters beside you, we will go forth and prevail. God Bless the United States and God Bless the United States Marine Corp.'

There was some applause with a few others nodding. One marine was brave enough to say, "We're going to whip those kraut asses!" That earned him some cheers of his own and a scolding from his platoon sergeant.

Just as everyone was finishing up, they all heard loud rumbling and then a loud bang. Outside, the battleships Washington, and North Carolina opened fire. Their 16in guns roared to life. The ships engulfed in flames as the shells sailed through the sky and hit the beach to soften it up. This was soon followed by the cruisers firing their 8in and 6in guns, followed by the destroyers firing their 5in guns.

The bombardment would go on for 20 minutes. In that time, the marines would start battering amongst each other over cigarettes, rations, pretty much anything.

Guren felt a tap on his shoulder and looked over to see Cloud offering him a pack of Lucky Strikes.

"I'll trade this for your chocolate," Cloud asked. Guren thought about it for a minute and then pulled out the chocolate bar that came from his rations and gave it to Cloud while taking the cigarettes.

"Hey, what do you want for those oranges?" A marine asked Miwa.

"No way. These are going to be hard to find once we land so I ain't parting from them," Miwa answered.

This was then followed by silence as the nervousness and tension increased. Soon, the loud explosions stopped. That was the signal that the landings have now begun.

"Alright, everyone, time to go to work," Miller yelled. Soon, everyone began to file out into the hold where 10 LVT-4s were being held. As Guren and the rest of his platoon made their way into the hold and down a set of stairs, he saw that Miller was waiting for everyone at the bottom of the stairs. He was shaking everyone's hands and wishing them luck.

When it was Guren's turn, they shook hands and Miller looked him in the eye and said, "Good luck out there Hasegawa."

"Thank you sir," Guren replied as well as nodded to the captain. He then made his way forward and soon he began to feel his hands clam up.

'All those times we fought against those rebels, it didn't get rid of the fear of not wanting to die,'Guren thought to himself as he boarded the LVT that his platoon was going to ride in. His order in line resulted in him being in the middle of the LVT.

He wasn't the only one thinking the same. Kotetsu adjusted his glasses and helmet nervously, Miwa was chewing gum but her right leg kept shaking causing the constant sound of tapping, Joseph opened and closed his fists and then took a deep breath to try and calm his nerves, and Leon and Cloud were emotionless but if you looked carefully in their eyes, they too were nervous about the impending landing. Guren then made eye contact with Kurasame, who was at the front, and both nodded at each other in understanding.

Insert The Pacific OST "Landing Peleliu"

The ramp behind them began to close and soon Guren heard the ramp close and then lock secured. Guren adjusted his pack and took a deep breath before feeling another tap. He turned to see that Leon was offering him a cigarette as he already had one in his mouth.

"Thanks," Guren replied as he took one. He then placed it in his mouth and took out a lighter from his breast pocket. He then lit the cigarette and then blew a puff into the air. Behind him, he heard someone throwing up. Whoever that was, they weren't going to be the only ones.

Soon, a siren began to blare and the big doors on the LST began to open, allowing the bright sun into the hold. Guren had to squint his eyes as they adjusted to the light. Soon, the engines for all the LVTs roared to life. Soon, being guided by a sailor overlooking them, one by one the LVTs made their way out of the ship. Soon, it was their turn.

"Here we go Marines!" He yelled out. Soon, the LVT lurched forward. As they made their way to the exit, all the marines in the LVT steeled themselves. While scared, they will complete their mission and just as they were about to leave the ship and all of them seeing what awaited them, it will not stop them from moving forward.

Though, that did not stop everyone from having that thought in the back of their head: I am going to die today.

Soundtrack ends

USS Hornet (CV-8)

Plymouth Beach Zone

Off the West Coast of Sint Maarten

0610 Hours

Operation Sea Devil, L-Hour +0010

Jacob looked on as the battleships resumed their bombardment as the second wave was underway. They were soon joined by the cruisers while the destroyers went on a patrol to prevent any U-boats from sneaking in and sinking the carriers. Getting to the islands was tough, as they had to fight off 3 wolfpack attacks. Fortunately, the destroyers were able to fight them off, though 2 destroyers were lost, the USS Schenck and USS Simpson.

And now their sacrifice was not in vain. He turned away from the direction of the landings and went across the bridge to look at the flight deck. Just as he got there, he saw a SBD Dauntless launch off the carrier. It flew off the deck after a few seconds of falling, and started to climb. Soon, a TBD-2 Devastator was getting ready to launch.

Jacob frowned, "If only we had enough TBFs to go around." The Devastators was supposed to be an advanced torpedo bomber but they could not maneuver and it was slow and very vulnerable to enemy fighters. As a result, Grumman developed a new torpedo bomber, the TBF-1C. The engineers at Grumman didn't have a name for it yet so for now, everyone just called it "Fat Cat". Unfortunately, there was not a lot to go around and so Jacob was stuck with the older Devastators. There were also the new fighters like the F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsairs, though his carrier has a mix of Hellcats and F4F Wildcats.

"Sir," Jacob turned around to see his executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Erika Sullivan. Erika was a Darcsen born in Wichita, Kansas. Being at the age of 25, she was younger than Jacob by one year but she was tough as nails. She was originally part of the intelligence department but Jacob picked her as his XO when he got his promotion as he thinks her quick thinking and analytical skills will be great for carrier operations and he was not disappointed. She had long hair tied into a ponytail and wore her officer's cap over it. She also had the Darcsen style cloth tied around her left arm.

"Erika," Jacob replied as he motioned her to come forward. She approached him with a piece of paper in her hand.

"I have a report from the beach. It says, 'Enemy resistance is heavier than expected. Bombardment was ineffective. Bunkers and anti-tank guns causing extensive casualties. First wave taking heavy casualties. Requesting close air support.'"

Jacob cursed. Of course, the crews on the battleships were all green. They have never been trained on doing a pre-landing bombardment. Now, they were suffering for it.

"Get me in contact with Admiral King," Jacob stated. Erika nodded and a few minutes later handed him the phone.

"Sir, the marines are getting chewed up. I am asking permission to have my dive bombers cancel their attack on the airfield and assist in close air support for the marines," Jacob said over the phone. Jacob knew that the Marines had practiced with close air support requests and the Navy had worked closely with them to make sure that it works.

"Permission granted. We need to get those marines on the beach and fast. If we can't take the beach then-"

"ENEMY AIRCRAFT!" A sailor on the bridge yelled. Jacob dropped the phone from his ear to look out a nearby window. He saw some dots heading to them and then scattering when other dots appeared and flew into the group.

"Sir, I will call you back," Jacob said before giving the phone back to Erika.

"I want all AA guns to open fire once they are within range. Be careful not to hit our pilots up there," Jacob ordered. Soon, the 5in guns on the side of the Hornet began to bang. Lobbying shells into the sky and bursting in the air.

Jacob watched as 4 German dive bombers began to dive towards the Hornet. As they were diving, he could hear sirens blaring that did not belong to the ship.

"So those must be the Jericho-Trompeten," Jacob muttered. He had read the reports on the JU-87 Stuka dive bomber. Those sirens caused a lot of fear and many soldiers ran due to fear. In Jacob's case, there was nowhere to run to.

The 5in guns were then joined by the 1.1in quad AA mounts, also known as "Chicago Pianos". Jacob watched as one of the Stukas took a hit in the left wing and fell out of the attack. Another had it's bomb get hit by some flak, the plane being completely destroyed. That left two planes.

The Stukas released their bombs and then broke away. Jacob saw this and then yelled, "Left, full rudder!" He felt the carrier lean as it made the maneuver, thankfully he made it in time as the two bombs fell helplessly into the war, causing two huge geysers to soak the carrier.

"Can someone tell me where the hell are our fighters?" Jacob asked, noticing a lack of their own fighters over the fleet.

"The krauts tricked them with a feint to the east. Our pilots went out hunting fucking tail! They are on their way back now," Erika replied, anger clear in her answer.

Jacob scowled and then looked back towards the landing beach. The second wave should already be heading to the beach right now. He can also see that some Stukas and fighters were making attack runs on them.

He can only hope and pray that they miss.

Plymouth Beach Zone

Off the West Coast of Sint Maarten

0615 Hours

Operation Sea Devil, L-Hour +0015

Guren grit his teeth as their amtrak sliced their way through the surf and towards the beach. Around them, other amtracks and Higgin boats made their way to the beaches. As Guren was trying to stay focused, he heard the sound of sirens.

"Everyone, heads down!" Kurasame yelled. Everyone ducked their head and eventually heard the bomb go off somewhere to their right as well as cannons firing. Guren lifted his head to see the dive bomber fly away, being chased by bullets being fired from the Higgin boats and the other amtracks with either their 50. Cal or 30. Cal machine guns, most of the time both at the same time.

"I thought they said that the Navy would suppress the airfield," A marine in the back yelled.

"Never believe in everything the Navy says," Cloud replied, earning him some nods. If a marine ever placed their full faith in the Navy, then God help them.

As they neared the beach, more geysers splashed all around them. These were more likely from the 88mm guns or their own 105mm artillery. Guren gripped his BAR and a million things were racing in his head. Would they die from a shell, or when they disembark, will a bullet hit him or Sayo or anyone else from his squad. He felt a small hand touch his left shoulder, he looked at Sayo who gave him a nervous smile.

Not wanting to scare her, he smiled back at her just as they got close enough that the German machine guns could reach them. Bullets began to whizz of their heads, some a bit too close for comfort.

"Fire, open fire now!" Kurasame yelled to the gunners. Both gunners, one on the and one on the , opened fired immediately. The gunner on the 50 had to recock the gun as it misfired after a few rounds.

As the machine guns were firing on the beach, Kurasame began loading his Thompson and yelled, "Load and Lock Marines!"

Yells of "Load and Lock" were repeated as everyone got their weapons ready. Guren pulled a mag from one of his pouches, charged the BAR and inserted the mag in. Next to him, Sayo pulled the charging handle of her carbine to get it ready along with Miwa, Kotetsu loaded his Springfield sniper rifle with individual bullets, Cloud and Leon were inserting en bloc clips into their Garands, and Joseph made sure that his own Thompson was good to go.

As everyone finished getting their weapons ready, the fire from the beach started getting heavier as they approached. Guren could hear the sound that was similar to a tear of a cloth followed by other rifle and submachine gun sounds.

Soon, there was a slight rumble below them, the amtrak hit the coral reef that was off the beach. Their speed was reduced as they tried to slowly make their way towards the beach. Bullets were now hitting the amtrak a lot more now.

"15 seconds!" the driver yelled as they inched closer to the beach. Guren gulped again as they were getting closer and closer. The sounds of war getting louder and louder.

Suddenly, the amtrak finally stopped.

"Drop the ramp now!" Kurasame yelled. The co-driver in the front tried to work the lever to lower the ramp but couldn't.

"Shit, I think it's stuck," He exclaimed. Then suddenly, his whole front exploded in blood and gore as multiple bullets went through the front porthole that the co driver had open to see where they are going.

"Ah fuck," the driver exlaimed, seeing her co driver get killed, "You all need to get off from the sides now!"

Kurasame did not waste any time, "Everyone climb off to the sides now! Now! Hurry!"

Everyone, not wanting to stay inside a steel coffin, immediately started jumping off the sides. Guren helped the others out of the amtrak, while also yelling at them to hurry up. He helped Miwa, Joseph, and Sayo up. He then helped another marine and as they were at the top, they were hit by three bullets. Guren fell back into the amtrak along with the body and felt something warm on his hands. He didn't have time to really look at what he knew was blood as Kurasame helped him up.

"Guren, you need to get out now!" Kurasame yelled as he helped his friend up. Guren then got hsi mind out of the gutter and got out of the amtrak. As he got out, he landed onto the sand and water and was a bit disoriented from the fall. As he got his bearings together, he saw that Sayo was still on her back, looking dazed.

He looked at the direction she was looking at and can see why: there was a dead marine, laying on their back with their eyes closed. However what was missing was their entire lower body, blood oozing all over the place.

As the amtrak was retreating, Kurasame who was low crawling forward, looked over to the two and yelled, "You guys need to fucking move now!"

Guren blinked back to reality and then grabbed Sayo and pushed her forward. As the two made their way forward, Guren was greeted with a horrible sight. The first wave looked like they were massacred. All over the beach, there were dead or wounded while those that are still somehow alive were either taking cover or were doing their best to push forward. There were beach obstacles that looked like metal Xs that were preventing some of the LVTs that were armed with 75mm cannons from really moving forward to provide accurate support. Guren looked forward to see that there were 3 pillboxes that were facing towards the sea. Guren can see some beach houses and other buildings and those too were converted to pillboxes.

With Guren's help, he and Sayo slowly crawled forward with everyone else. Some would get up and run a few feet to get behind some cover. Many were firing back but it wasn't much since the machine gun fire, combined with mortars and artillery shells falling on them, made returning fire a bit difficult. Add on that not much armor has made it ashore yet, it made getting off the beach much harder.

As they made their way forward, Guren decided that they were not making enough progress so he grabbed Sayo by the arm and dragged her with him as they both ran forward. As they ran, bullets were whizzing all around them, a few hitting some marines either killing them or making them fall down in pain.

The two were able to reach the carcass of a M4 Sherman tank, one of the few that have made it ashore but was destroyed from a shot from an anti-tank gun.

Guren took a deep breath to calm his heart while he looked over to Sayo who looked white.

"Hey, Sayo, stay with me ok?" Guren said as he placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

"I-I-I'm ok….. It's just…." Sayo didn't finish as she bent over and threw up.

"Yeah, this is nothing like Nicaragua," Guren finished. He then heard a body slam and turned to see Kotetsu beside them.

"Kurasame wants us to gather in that crater over there," He stated, pointing out to a crater where Guren can see most of the squad having gathered there.

"Alright," Guren then turned to Sayo, "We are going to run and meet up with everyone else ok?"

Once Sayo gave him a nod, he took a deep breath and yelled, "Now!" The three then broke out of cover and ran towards the crater. As they ran, an explosion to their left killed two marines, with an arm flying past Guren. He had to fight every fiber in his body from throwing up from being pretty close to a severed arm.

All three made it to the crater safely and as Guren looked around, he saw that everyone was okish. Kurasame's right arm was wrapped up from a bullet grazing it, Leon and Cloud were looking forward with their rifles at the ready, Miwa was patching up a Marine who was shot through the leg while Joseph was firing with his Thompson at one of the pillboxes.

"Anyone know where the captain is?" Guren asked.

"He's dead. Stepped on a landmine," Kurasame stated simply, motioning his head back towards the beach.

"Then that means you are in charge then," Guren stated.

"Can't really see what I am going to be in charge of, considering that I do not see everyone here," Kurasame replied as he looked around the beach. Here and there, marines were making their way forward. Some were doing it in pairs or groups while others were making their way forward on their own.

Suddenly, two bodies rushed forward and landed in their crater. Guren looked over to see that the two men wore a more green-gray color rather than the forest green the marines wore. They both wore the older "tin hats" with some camouflage webbing. One of them had a more muscular build than the other, has brown eyes and Guren can see black hair and some strains of gray poking out of the helmet. He was armed with a Thompson that had a drum magazine and had additional magazines attached to his webbing.

The second soldier was also built but leaner when compared to the other soldier. He has blue eyes and some gray and black hair poking from underneath his helmet. He's armed with a M1917 Enfield Rifle and judging from the bandolier around his chest along with the ammo patches he already has on his waist, he has enough ammo on him for a long fight.

Guren then finally saw on their shoulder and spied their insignia. It was a maple leaf over two sabers with a rifle underneath it. Above it, read the words "1st Light Infantry". These guys

belonged to the Canadian 1st Light Infantry Regiment but there was a slight problem with them being here….

"What the hell are you guys doing here?" Guren asked.

"What do you mean? This is Pontiac beach right?" The one with the Thompson stated.

"No, this is Plymouth beach. Pontiac is supposed to be on our right flank," Kotetsu replied as he took aim with his Springfield and shot a round.

"Oh that is just great," The one with the Thompson exclaimed, clearly annoyed.

"Yeah, well I think everyone is just as confused as to where the hell they are so for now, you two are with us until we can find the rest of your unit. What are your names?" Kurasame asked.

"I'm Corporal Jason Fenris. This is my twin brother Logan. We were supposed to attack a gun emplacement but that plan went down the gutter," Jason stated, pointing to his brother who showed them that he had a charge to take out the gun.

It was then that Guren came up with an idea. He looked back at the enemy pillboxes, The one that was closer to them had no infantry backing them up, it's only protection was the natural embankments it had, forcing any attacker to go around it and expose themselves to whatever defenses are on the other side.

"I think I have an idea. First, we are going to need some more firepower," Guren suggested. Kurasame then looked over the Guren.

"What is it?"

"Well, we are going to need more men first," Guren replied. Kurasame nodded and then went over to Sayo and grabbed the radio.

"This is Shark One, is anyone still alive?" Every platoon leader had a radio on them so through this, Kurasame hoped that some of the marines in his company were still alive.

"This is Shark Three," Came a response. They were commanded by Second Lieutenant Jacobs. He was green, though, and this was his first baptism of fire and what a baptism it was, "Five down"

This was the only good news they were going to get though.

"Shark Four, Sergeant Piconti is in command. Eleven down, including LT. "

"Shark Five here, Sergeant Hernandez. Fifteen down, ditto."

"Shark Two here. Sorry but both the LT and Sergeant are gone. Corporal Jacobs is in command. Nineteen down."

Kurasame began to calculate the losses. So far, 51 marines are gone. That is pretty much 30% of the company gone, well above the expected 20% they were told before they landed. And from what was happening on the beach, things were going to get worse before things could get better. Once Kurasame got a good sense of how much of the company is still alive, he began to give orders.

"All right everyone, listen up! The skipper is dead so I will be taking command. We need to get off this beach and secure a beach exit so that the rest of the division and Canadians can come ashore. Start gathering weapons and ammo from the dead, then start pushing off the beach and meet up and meet up at the schoolhouse," Kurasame said over the radio. The local schoolhouse was their company's rally point once they pushed off the beach. But they can't reach it until they get off the beach.

"Ok, before we move, I am going to need someone to go scout and see what is behind that emplacement," Kurasame asked. Logan and Kotetsu raised their hands.

"Alright you two, go scout and come back. Meanwhile, everyone other than Miwa and Sayo are to gather as much ammo from the beach and bring it up here," Kurasame ordered, then focused forward and tried to see what they could do.

Meanwhile, Guren and the others went back to the beach and began getting extra ammo from the wounded or dead. Guren had to swallow hard to keep himself from throwing up as he peeled a few belts of .30 cal from a marine who was caught in a blast and lost both their legs and right arm. After grabbing the belt of ammo, Guren made his way back to where the rest of the platoon was. Once he got back, he saw that someone had brought up a 30. Cal. The gunner was putting a new belt in, locked it in place and began to fire on the pillbox. Guren placed the belts near the loader and then focused on the bunker.

Soon, Logan and Kotetsu returned from their recon.

"There seems to be another platoon holding their fire in the cafe next to the makeshift bunker. There is also a halftrack parked nearby, probably being used as a mobile machine gun nest," Logan replied. Kurasame nodded just as a Marine landed near him and he had a bazooka on him.

"Well, aren't we lucky," Guren stated, pointing at the bazooka.

"Ok, here is what we are going to do. We are going to blow up that pillbox with the charge Logan has and use the bazooka to blow up the machine gun nest in the building next to the cafe. From there we are going to start pushing in and eliminating enemy resistance to open the beach up. Got it?" Kurasame ordered. Once getting rogers from everyone around him, he turned to Guren, who had a surprised look on his face.

"I assumed that was your plan?" Kurasame asked, smirking.

Guren recovered and then chuckled, " Can never really hide stuff from you. Yeah, that was what I was going to propose though I wanted to use the bazooka to knock out all the pillboxes."

"We can't use all the rockets on the pillboxes. We need some for the armored vehicles we will find in the town," Kurasame answered. Guren nodded at this, Kurasame then looked over to Logan who got the charge ready.

"You ready?" Logan nodded and with a Kurasame took a deep breath and then yelled," Suppressive fire!" The machine gun team began to fire on the pillbox, making sure that it wouldn't fire back.

"Go now!" Kurasame stated as he fired his Thompson at the pillbox as well. Logan got up and ran towards the bunker. Guren also joined the party, firing his BAR at the pillbox. As he was covering him, he saw that Logan was able to make it to the pillbox. He reached the edge of the pillbox, leaning against its side. Guren watched as he inched closer, bullets ricocheting off the pillbox. Logan inched a bit closer to the slit, just as the machine gun in the pillbox fired a burst off. When he got close enough, he pulled the trigger mechanism on the charge, waited 4 seconds and then threw the charge into the pillbox. We braced himself as the charge went off, blowing a dust cloud out of the slit. Suffice to say, the machine gun will not be firing anymore.

Kursame then motioned the bazooka gunner and his loader to move forward. The two then leaped from their positions and ran to where Logan was. The gunner brought the bazooka to bear on his shoulder while the loader began to load the rocket. The loader finished wiring the rocket when the machine gun in the building noticed them. It shifted its fire to them, which also made Guren and the rest try to suppress it.

"Clear the backblast!" The loader yelled. The gunner took aim at the machine gun nest and squeezed the trigger. The rocket shot out of its tube and flew a straight path. It hit the building, destroying the machine gun nest and also blowing a huge chunk of the building away.

After seeing that the machine gun nests in this part of the beach were finally taken out and an opening appeared, Kurasame looked back and yelled,"Plymouth exit right here!" he then looked over to Sayo, "Let everyone on the radio know we now have an exit!

"We are finally in fucking business," Guren yelled, wearing a feral grin as he jumped and began to charge, while Sayo was relaying the message to everyone on their radio. Other marines began to do the same as they saw that there was now a beach exit. Soon, other pillboxes across the beach start to fall, paving the way for the marines to advance.

USS North Carolina (BB-55)

Plymouth Beach Zone

Off the West Coast of Sint Maarten

0625 Hours

Operation Sea Devil, L-Hour +0025

"Latest reports indicate that Plymouth beach is open. We have suffered 15% overall losses, which suffice to say is above what we were expecting," Alexander grunted, both from the news and the shaking from the battleship's main battery firing again. He knew that the Krauts wouldn't give up so easily but did not expect this many casualties.

"We also have to contend that everyone is all over the place. We have Canadians landing in our area and our marines landing in their area. Overall, everything is confusing but so far we are gaining ground. Aircraft reconnaissance has seen some armored vehicles moving to counter the landings but it looks like they are holding them in place near Espérance to defend the airfield."

"Can we take them out before the ground troops get there?" Alexander asked.

"The navy will try but as of right now, they are contending with maintaining air superiority. The Army Air Corp will try to provide some support from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands but as of right now, they are limited. We will just have to depend on the carriers," the intelligence officer stated.

Alexander nodded and looked down at the table in front of him. It was a magnetic table that displayed the entire map on the island. There were markers for all the enemy and friend positions on the island as well as one's for ships and aircraft. He can see the friendly blue markers slowly making their way inland but they were already behind schedule for their day one objectives.

"What is the status of the landings on Sint Eustatius, and Saba?" Alexander asked.

"From what we can gather, the landings are going smoothly. It looks like the Germans mainly reinforced Sint Maarten as this is the largest island that can accommodate two airfields and a lagoon for ships," was the response he got back.

"So, the 1st Marines got the toughest island huh? Well, I always liked a challenge," Alexander commented and the looked back on the map, "Even so, that German tank regiment near the airfield is going to be our main problem." Hen then closed his and took a deep breath.

"We may need you to help clear a path to the airfield, Qun'mi. I don't want to show all my cards yet but since the Germans showed that they have a full house, they don't know that we have a royal flush," He then opened his eyes and looked up and towards the corner of the room. Standing in the corner was Qun'mi and she was wearing brown boots, gray overalls and brown gloves. She was also wearing a breastplate, pauldrons, and high collar. She had her eyes closed and looking down but when Alexander called to her, she looked up and when she opened her eyes, they were bright red and a blue aura began to emit from her.

"The Krauts love the Valkyrias. Let's see how they react when one is charging them."

Well, it has been a while everyone. Sorry about that, life has been a wild ride and I am now getting back into the grind to writing. This story isn't dead, not by a long shot. Now we see the American military getting into the fight and soon we will be seeing a Valkyria make an appearance soon. Hope you all enjoy the new chapter and see you all next time.