Hey guys. Back with another chapter. Done with finals, so that'll give me some time to work on chapters for my other stories. Still have to work on my senior project which takes two semesters, but at least I've got some things off my plate.
We'll now focus our attention back to the Marines.
The US and Arabian militaries were making quick progress throughout the country; Desert Storm 2.0. Although the capital city of Riyadh was retaken, Al-Asad was never in the city. Therefore, it wouldn't be over until Al-Asad was captured or killed.
In the city of Al Qunfudhah, the same city where Yasir Al-Fulani was killed, US Marines were pushing towards the city pursing retreating Lion's Sword forces attempting to dig in and make a final stand.
The US military command was tracking multiple firefights that were occurring throughout the city, when they got a distress call from a tank that had been disabled.
"Roger on location. Repeating: Map Grid 52761-niner, over."
"Red Dog 6 copies, over," Vasquez responded over the radio.
"Red Dog 6, we have an Abrams dead in the water. Callsign 'War Pig'. Lt. Vasquez, your unit is shotgun, over."
"Copy, Red Dog is inbound. Tell War Pig to stand by. We're on our way, out."
"The Bog"
October 11, 2011 – 05:00:13
Al Qunfudhah, Islamic Republic of Arabia
Private Hisakata "Sightseer" Hyuga
1st Force Recon Co., USMC
1st platoon had paused on the road as Lieutenant Vasquez informed the platoon of the situation.
"Alpha Company's tank is stuck half a click North of here. We gotta hustle! Let's go!"
"OORAH!" the platoon responded.
Air raid sirens wailed across the city as it came under attack from the US military. Anti-air cannons firing tracer rounds as they attempted to shoot down any aircraft bombarding the city.
Massey and McCoy took point as 1st platoon hoofed it on the highway. They were evenly spread out between the left and right flanks to prevent them from being bunched up and being easy targets.
Things looked calm when suddenly, Massey and McCoy were gunned down by machine gun fire from a building next to the highway.
"AMBUSH!"
"Contact right! Contact right!"
"Ambush!"
The platoon immediately took cover behind wrecked cars.
"Get suppressing fire on that building! We have to moved forward!" Vasquez barked. Harmer immediately let loose a hail of bullets from the M240 Golf. Those that had grenade launchers fired a few grenades into the building to attempt to suppress the Lion's Sword soldiers.
"Jackson, you and I will take half the platoon and hit their flank! Lars, Ortega, Griggs, you three take the everyone on the left flank and give us covering fire!" Vasquez ordered.
"Copy that!"
"Roger!"
"Oorah!"
"You heard the lieutenant, cover them!" Griggs ordered as everyone on the left flank laid down covering fire while Vasquez and Jackson took everyone on the right flank down the stairs off the highway. As they did so, several helicopters flew over trying to evade anti-air fire. Unfortunately, one of the helicopters wasn't so lucky. An AH-1W SuperCobra, another variant of the AH-1 Cobra, much like the AH-1Z Viper, was seen spiraling out of control as it was hit with a missile. They reached the building when they noticed it was dark inside.
"Switch to night vision, now!" Vasquez ordered.
Everyone brought down their night vision goggles, and everything became that iconic shade of night vision green. Everyone that had a laser sight quickly activated them to help aim their weapons, as it can be a bit difficult to aim down sights with night vision goggles on. They entered the building and began to clear if of hostiles. Since the enemy lacked night vision, the Marines made quick work of any OpFor they came across. Vasquez, Jackson, Hisakata, Manta Ray, Shadow, Spokes, Roycewicz, Carson, Bakowsky and Bormann entered a hallway with a giant hole blown off and scanned for any hostiles. They found none.
"Jackson, take Roycewicz, Manta Ray, and Sightseer and head upstairs. We'll cover this entrance, go!" Vasquez ordered.
"Roger that," Jackson nodded, "Let's move!"
Roycewicz took point, followed by Jackson, Manta Ray, and Hisakata. They were about to turn a corner when Roycewicz was tackled by a Lion's Sword soldier. Roycewicz would've been killed if it hadn't been for Manta Ray dashing towards the Lion's Sword soldier, tackling him and taking him out using her knife to the neck.
"You alright, Royce?" Manta Ray asked as she helped him up.
"Yeah," Roycewicz responded, "Thanks for saving my ass. I owe you."
They continued up the stairs where they saw several Lion's Sword soldiers fire RPGs at the rest of the platoon on the highway, who also activated their laser sights. The four of them opened fire on the RPG wielders.
"Watch your fire!" Jackson said on the radio, "We're on the second floor!"
"Roger that, shifting fire."
The lasers had changed direction indicating that the Marines had shifted their fire away from the second floor. Vasquez and the others came up and started to clear the rooms. Jackson, Roycewicz, Manta Ray, and Hisakata finished clearing a room when they came upon a machine gun nest.
"I got this," Hisakata said as she prepared a flashbang. She pulled the pin and threw it in. The loud noise disoriented the Lion's Sword soldiers, pausing their fire. The four Marines moved in and cleared the nest of enemy troops. There were still some Lion's Sword soldiers firing on the platoon on the highway, but the way there was blocked by debris.
"Red Dog 6, this is Red Dog 5! We're still taking fire from the building! What's your status, over?!"
"Hang tight, we'll get rid of them quick! Jackson, use their machine gun and hit their flank!"
"Roger that!" Jackson responded. He got on the mounted PKM general-purpose machine gun, changed the barrel, and loaded a new belt of ammo. He could see the Lion's Sword soldiers on all three floors. He opened fire on them tearing through their bodies with the machine gun's 7.62x54mmR cartridges.
"Cut 'em down! Shoot 'em through the walls!" Vasquez ordered.
"Got it!" Jackson nodded as he opened fire through the walls. He paused his fire to see if there were any survivors that tried to shoot back. After a few seconds of silence, there was no response.
"Good job! Lars, Ortega, Griggs, you're clear! Move up and regroup!"
"Copy that, Papa Bear," Mara replied, "We're Oscar Mike."
"Be advised, more enemy troops are converging on the tank. Get there ASAP!" Overlord said on the radio.
"Roger that! We're working on it – out!" Vasquez responded. They were wasting time. They had to move quick or the tank was going to get overrun.
The rest of the platoon had moved up and began to move through the building eliminating any stragglers left. Suddenly, Manta Ray and Hisakata got a strange feeling that they were being watched, and Jackson noticed this.
"Hey girls, what is it?" Jackson asked.
"Byakugan," said Hisakata, activating the Byakugan. She then noticed multiple hostiles coming towards them, but they were moving at shinobi speeds. "Get down!" Hisakata warned. The Marines fell to the deck as another wall crashed down. Hisakata and Manta Ray quickly got back up and got into fighting stances, while the Marines quickly got into a defensive stance. The smoke cleared and revealed eight figures, all of them wearing black robes with red cloud swirls, with one of them having glowing red eyes.
"Shit," Manta Ray cursed, "Who the fuck are these guys?"
"Well, well, well," said one of the robed figures with red hair, "It appears the Americans has a few kunoichi from the Elemental Nations; even better, a member of the Hyuga clan."
Hisakata tensed up at that. She knew at one point, a few members of the Hyuga clan escaped to America, but that was always a family secret, shared only with a select few very close friends, such as Manta Ray and Jackson. The former also tensed up as they figured her out for a kunoichi as well.
"Who the fuck are you?" Jackson asked as he aimed his rifle at their unknown visitors. Hisakata soon recognized the glowing red eyes of one of the robed figures.
"I know one of you is from the Uchiha clan, am I right?" she asked.
The figure with the red eyes didn't react to Hisakata's question.
"Looks like you've been made Itachi," the figure with red hair said, "Guess we'll have to kill them now. Can't leave any witnesses, can we?"
"Enough Sasori," the figure named Itachi said to the red head named Sasori, "These Marines aren't our primary mission."
"Yeah, but they know we're involved, so we might as well send the West a message," Sasori retorted.
Manta Ray and Hisakata realized what was about to happen.
"Lieutenant," Manta Ray said calmly, "with all due respect, take the others and get out of here. We'll hold them off and catch up if we can."
Vasquez was about to retort when Hisakata piped in, "Trust us. The tank's in trouble and there's no time. Go."
Vasquez finally caved, "Alright, but be careful. Marines, let's get out of here!"
The others moved on, with Jackson being the last one to hesitantly leave, but not before wishing the girls good luck.
"Well, isn't that adorable?" Sasori mocked, "The kunoichi sacrificing themselves for their comrades. Such a shame you won't be seeing them again."
Manta Ray and Hisakata didn't back down.
"You ready for this, sister?" Manta Ray asked Hisakata.
"Oorah," was her response as she activated her Byakugan and got into her Gentle Fist stance.
Sasori was not impressed with the display and ordered his men to attack the two Marines. Manta Ray and Hisakata quickly countered the attack. Hisakata deflected her attackers while Manta Ray parried her attackers' swords with her combat knife. Manta Ray threw a few Water Jutsu and enhanced her knife with Lightning Jutsu to disrupt their attacks. Manta Ray had a strong affinity with Water and Lightning styles of Jutsu when she was younger. It just seemed natural to her, as was her love of the sea. The only reason why she was called "Manta Ray" and not "Stingray" was because of how personality. She was seen as playful, kind, smart, and well-mannered. However, if someone had the misfortune to piss her off, then that kind side of her disappeared. When her Water and Lightning combo had thrown off her opponents, she drew her USP .45 Tactical and fired two rounds in each of them: one in the chest and one in the head.
Hisakata found herself surrounded by the four of Sasori's men, each with swords drawn.
"Heh, we've got you outnumbered 4 to 1, bitch," one of the robed figures sneered. Hisakata was not deterred, as they had no idea she had one trick up her tactical sleeves. Even though her family had split from the rest, Hisakata was still a member of the Hyuga clan. With that, she was taught the secrets of the Byakugan by her parents, including the secret techniques that were known only to the Main House of the Hyuga clan.
"It doesn't matter," Hisakata responded calmly, "You're all in range."
Sasori's men didn't understand what she meant, but by the time they got within 5 meters of her, it was too late.
"Eight Trigrams Sixty-four Palms!"
The attacks from the robed figures were deflected from Hisakata's use of one the Hyuga Main House's techniques. Hisakata even hit a few of her attackers' chakra points which slowed their movement a bit, but they were still able to fight. They decided to attack her straight on instead of surrounding her as to not get hit by her attack again. This, however, also proved to be a mistake as Hisakata had parried and countered each of their attacks. But she had another trick up her sleeve. She had covertly added explosive ninja tags to the robes of her attackers. They weren't standard issue to the Marines, but she had received them in a care package from her parents to be used in emergencies. She broke off her attack and went behind a wall.
"Decided to give up and hide, bitch?" one of her attackers sneered; the last mistake he'll ever make.
"Not exactly. Fire in the hole!" Hisakata replied as she detonated the tags. All four of her attackers didn't know what she meant as they exploded, with their blood, guts, and body parts strewn the destroyed building. Hisakata and Manta Ray regrouped and aimed their rifles at Sasori and Itachi.
"Not bad," Sasori commented, "but now you have to face the both of us now."
Before Sasori had a chance to attack, Itachi held his arm out in front of him, cutting Sasori off. "Enough, Sasori," Itachi said sternly, "We've wasted enough time." Itachi turned his attention to the two kunoichi Marines, "The Akatsuki is only going to warn you this one time: leave this country or be destroyed."
The two Marines didn't take kindly to this threat.
"What do you mean?" Manta Ray asked as she fixed her rifle on Sasori.
"You'll see in 13 hours from now," Itachi said as he dropped a smoke bomb to mask his and Sasori's escape. Just as they did, Mara and the rest of 3rd squad came in.
"Manta Ray, Sightseer, what the hell happened?" Mara asked with concern.
"We got held up, but we're okay," Manta Ray explained hoping Mara would buy it.
Mara knew it wasn't the whole truth, but right now it wasn't their main priority. War Pig was still in danger of being overrun.
"You can tell me later, right now we need to move," Mara said before turning to the rest of the squad, "Ballbusters, we're Oscar Mike! We gotta save War Pig's ass, oorah?!"
"Oorah!"
Meanwhile with Jackson and Vasquez, they had met with the rest of the platoon and were making their way to the rear of the building. But outside were more Lion's Sword soldiers.
"Sir, there's a ton of 'em out there!" Griggs stated.
"Shut up and keep 'em pinned down!" Vasquez snapped.
"Roger that, suppressing FIRE!"
Griggs fired his SAW to lay down suppressing fire. Harmer and Glenn had set up on a window on the second floor to provide supporting fire with the M240 Golf. Urban Tracker and Moore had set up in two different rooms to provide accurate fire covering the flanks. Urban Tracker wished she had her M110, but she would make do with her M16A4 service rifle. As they began to thin out the Lion's Sword in the courtyard, Moore noticed more enemy troops on the overpass.
"Contact on the overpass!" Moore called out as he and Urban Tracker began to try and take them out. But the Marines' situation was about to get worse.
"Red Dog 6, this is Overlord, be advised; UAV recon has spotted 4 enemy tanks heading for your position, over."
"Roger that Overlord," Vasquez responded, "Private West, get on the roof and hit 'em with the Javelin!"
"Right away sir-gah!" Private West screamed as he was picked off by an enemy sniper, who was promptly taken out by Moore.
"Private West is down!" Lars exclaimed, "West is down! Jackson, get the Javelin!"
"Jackson, pick up the Javelin so you can take out those tanks! We'll cover you!" Vasquez ordered.
"Roger that!" Jackson replied as he ran for the FGM-148 Javelin Anti-Tank missile launcher. He picked up off of Private West's corpse and ran to cover to fire the missile.
"It's been a minute, huh Paul?" Jackson said to himself as he was trained in using the Javelin, but it's been a while since he used it. He peered through the Javelin's targeting screen as he picked up 4 enemy T-72 tanks coming this way. He locked onto one of the tanks. Once it was locked, he fired. The missile launched out of the tube and went straight up in the air. A few seconds later, the missile found its target, hitting the top of the turret where the tank's armor was thinnest.
"Target destroyed!" Jackson said as he relocated to another position. Once he reloaded the launcher he locked onto another tank. The result was the same.
"Nice one, two down, two to go!" Moore said on the radio.
By that time, the two remaining tanks appeared on the overpass in front of the Marines. Seeing where the source of the missiles came from, they turned their turrets towards the building where some of the Marines had been posted. Those inside the building quickly moved out of the way. One of the tanks opened fire on the building causing rubble to fly everywhere. This was the exact time the rest of 3rd squad had come in for support. They could hear a few sounds of screaming Marines that had been wounded. Spokes had quickly assisted Privates Zhau and Kreeger in assisting the wounded.
Mara went over to two of the Marines on the ground but were not moving.
"Shit," she cursed, "Carson and Bakowsky are down!"
"Gilberts, Bormann, and Nelson are stable, but they're gonna need to be evacuated," Spokes explained as she finished helping the wounded.
Meanwhile Jackson hastily reloaded the Javelin and fired at one of the tanks. The missile went up in the air, but that attracted the attention of the other tank as well as some Lion's Sword soldiers that came up on the overpass. He quickly ran back into the rear building where he ran into Hisakata and Manta Ray.
"Nice of you girls to join us!" Jackson remarked, "You mind covering me while I take care of that last enemy tank?"
"You got it, big brother!" Manta Ray smirked as she readied her rifle. They made their way to the roof of another building. Manta Ray and Hisakata cleared out any hostiles hiding in the building as they made their way to the roof. When they got to the top, the opened fire on the OpFor that accompanied the tank. At this point, the crew of the last tank decided not to take their chances and try to flee.
"He's gonna get away!" Urban Tracker said on the radio as she spotted the tank escaping.
"No he's not," Jackson replied as he locked onto the tank and fired the missile. Try as the tank might, once the Javelin's missile got a lock, it wouldn't matter if it were moving because the missile could track its target until it hit. A few seconds later, the last T-72 tank was destroyed.
"Alright, that's the last of 'em," Jackson confirmed.
They regrouped with the rest of the platoon.
"Casualty report," Vasquez said.
"Carson, West, and Bakowsky are dead," Mara reported, "Gilberts, Bormann and Nelson are wounded."
But the somber moment was interrupted by a panicked voice on the radio.
"Red Dog 6, we're taking fire on our position North of the overpass! Where the hell are you?!"
"We're almost there, hang on!" Vasquez replied on the radio before turning to the rest of the platoon, "Alright here's the plan. Butts, Lowe, your fireteams will hold this position and protect the wounded until we can secure a CASEVEC. The rest of us will secure the tank, oorah?"
"OORAH!"
"Let's move!" Vasquez ordered.
"The tank is on the other side of the overpass!" Lars pointed out. Specialist Stevens got out a corrosive spray to break down a fence that was blocking their way. Once it was open, the platoon made their way through a homeless area that ran under the overpass. Once they made it out, they made it to a wall with an opening. They could here heavy fire on the other side. They made it to the tank.
"Alpha 6, what's your status, over?" Vasquez said on the radio.
"We're still surrounded sir! There's just the four of us left, but the tank's still ok, over!"
(AN: The Bog-Tank Defense OST starts playing)
They rounded the corner and immediately opened fire on approaching Lion's Sword soldiers.
"Contacts to the East and more flanking from the South! Hold the perimeter!" Vasquez ordered. Everyone got into defensive positions. Harmer, Glenn, and Griggs had set up on the right flank and laid down suppressing fire on enemies coming from across the bog. The others had joined with the four surviving Marines of Alpha Company as they continued to fight off another wave of enemy soldiers.
"Red Dog 6, this is War Pig!" War Pig's commander said on the radio, "Our main gun's offline but we still have our machine guns, over!"
"They're moving in with det-packs! Don't let 'em get close to the tanks!" Vasquez ordered as he noticed a few Lion's Sword soldiers carrying detonation packs trying to destroy the tank. More Lion's Sword soldiers kept coming to the point where Cowgirl and Miller had to hop on top of the tank to man the machine guns.
"Enemy tank coming across the bog!" Moore pointed out seeing another T-72 tank through his scope.
"On it!" Jackson replied as he fired another Javelin missile. The tank was successfully destroyed, but that wasn't the end of their troubles.
"Red Dog 6, be advised. More hostiles and enemy armor have assembled to the West of your position, over," Overlord said on the radio.
"Last belt for the 240 Golf!" Harmer called out as he and Glenn loaded the last hundred round belt of ammo, knowing that it wouldn't be enough to hold off a coming counterattack.
"Only 3 missiles left for the Javelin!" Jackson reported.
"2 Charlie, Red Dog 6, requesting air support for fire mission, over!" Vasquez requested on the radio.
"Uh, negative Red Dog 6. There's an enemy ZPU to the South of your position. Until you can take it out, we can NOT risk sending any more choppers, over."
Caught between a rock and a hard place, they had to move fast.
"Jackson, find that ZPU and take it out so we can get some air support! Lopez, Gaines, Manta Ray, Sightseer, cover him!" Vasquez ordered.
"Roger that!" Jackson responded, "You heard him guys, we're Oscar Mike!"
"OORAH!"
"Alright, let's move out! Secure the Western approach, move!" Vasquez ordered the rest of the platoon.
The five Marines picked off any Lion's Sword soldiers that stood in their way. They made their way to a small shop where they could see flashes from the ZPU anti-aircraft gun. They also saw the shop filled with Lion's Sword soldiers. Jackson fired a few grenades from his M203 to clear out as many of the enemy troops as he could. When they reached a shop, Manta Ray threw in a flashbang to disorient any surviving troops. They quickly stormed the building and took out any remaining enemy combatants. They moved to the back of the shop where the ZPU was located and unloaded their magazines onto the ZPU crew.
"Any of you guys got some C4?" Jackson asked.
"Yeah," Manta Ray replied, "always keep some for such an occasion."
She gave a block of C4 to Jackson who placed it on the ZPU.
"Alright, let's move!" Jackson ordered. They quickly exited the shop.
"Manta Ray, blow it!"
"Fire in the hole!" Manta Ray yelled as she detonated the C4 destroying the ZPU.
"Red Dog 6, Red Dog 2," Jackson said, "ZPU is down! I repeat, ZPU is down!"
"Roger that," Vasquez responded, "Overlord, this is Red Dog 6, enemy Triple A is down. Requesting air support, over."
"Roger, Red Dog 6. We're sending 2 SuperCobras your way, over."
"Red Dog 6, this is Rattlesnake 1-1, flight of two AH-1W SuperCobras. We are inbound to your location. Plant your IR beacons so we can get your fix, over," the pilot of the SuperCobra said.
"Jackson, plant the IR beacon at the other end of the bog to get their attention. We'll cover you, over," Vasquez ordered.
"Roger that, out," Jackson replied. He ran over to the designated spot as he planted the IR beacons. A few clicking sounds went off as the beacon activated.
"Ok, positive ID on your sparkle. We're coming in hot from the Northeast, standby."
(AN: Bog Victory OST begins playing)
The Marines braced themselves as the were taking fire from the remaining Lion's Sword forces in an abandoned building with BMP-2s converging. All of a sudden, they could hear chopper blades coming in. Two AH-1W SuperCobras, callsigns Rattlesnake 1-1 and Rattlesnake 1-2, entered in and started to fire their rockets and M197 20mm gatling guns at the enemy armor and machine gun nest. The Marines cheered at the sight of the Marine attack helicopters raining fire on the enemy positions. The choppers paused their fire to check and see if there was anyone left to shoot back.
"Uh, 2, you see anyone left down there?" 1-1's pilot asked 1-2's pilot.
"Negative, we got 'em," 1-2's pilot reported after seeing nothing moving on thermal scopes.
"Roger that. All targets destroyed and we're outta here. Good luck boys and girls, out."
The gunships exited as gracefully as they entered to go rearm behind friendly lines. Vasquez let out a sigh of relief before getting on the comms to Overlord, "Overlord, this is Red Dog 6, LZ is secure. Bring in the engineers, and we're gonna need a chopper for CASEVAC. We've got wounded and KIA here, over."
"Solid copy, Red Dog 6. Sea Stallions are on the way. Good work. Overlord out."
"Mara, take your squad and retrieve Lowe and Butts' teams. And go retrieve Massey's and McCoy's bodies so they can be taken back home," Vasquez said to Mara.
"Yes sir," Mara replied sadly, knowing it was hard to lose their fallen brothers in arms. 3rd squad made it to Lowe's and Butts' position where Mara had Urban Tracker's team assist them in bringing the casualties to the LZ for CASEVAC. Now it was just Mara, Manta Ray, Hisakata, Shadow and Spokes.
"So Mizushima, Hyuga, you two wanna tell me who the fuck you were fighting earlier?" Mara asked seriously. Manta Ray and Hisakata knew they were in deep shit now. Whenever their sergeant used their last names, then it was serious. There was no hiding it now.
"Sergeant, those robed men that attacked us earlier were ninjas and samurai from the Elemental Nations," Hisakata explained, "Two of them were leading six other men. We took them out quickly. From what we gathered, their names were Sasori and Itachi. The one named Itachi is possibly from this ninja clan called the Uchiha, and they're immensely powerful. From what we gathered, they were a part of this group called the Akatsuki. Before they retreated, they gave us a warning."
"A warning?" Mara asked suspiciously.
"The one called Itachi said to leave Arabia or be destroyed in 13 hours," Manta Ray clarified.
"Heh, well that ain't gonna happen," Shadow scoffed.
"I agree with Shadow over here," Spokes added, "Making a threat and then running off sounds like them pussying out."
"Well, that's what they told us," Manta Ray argued.
"While I somewhat agree with Shadow and Spokes, threats should always be taken seriously," Mara said sternly, "The last time we underestimated a threat to US security, 9/11 happened. Whoever these Akatsuki are, if they start becoming a threat, then we'll put them down; just like the SEALs put down bin Laden. Understood?"
"Yes, ma'am," was the response Mara received. They made it to the bodies of Massey and McCoy. Mara and Shadow hoisted the bodies over their shoulders while Hisakata, Manta Ray, and Spokes escorted them back to the LZ.
Once they made it back to the bog, Vasquez had everyone gather around the tank as he made a crude drawing of bog with X's drawn at different locations around the bog around the tank.
"Alright, listen up," Vasquez explained, "once those Sea Stallions get here, we aren't gonna have a lot of time to get this tank out of here. We're gonna take up defensive positions around the bog here, here, and here, and buy the engineers some time to get the tank moving and to load up the dead and wounded. Oorah?"
"Oorah!"
They then split up to set up their defenses. They had scavenged whatever ammo was on the bodies of the fallen Marines and distributed them amongst the Marines. Jackson cleaned his rifle as best he could and topped off on his remaining ammo. After getting a few spare magazines that he could find from some of the fallen, he was down to 8 spare magazines for his M4A1, 7 grenades for his M203, 7 spare magazines for his M45 pistol, 3 flashbangs and 2 frag grenades. Not exactly ideal in case the Lion's Sword tried to attack again, which they most certainly would. Manta Ray and Hisakata joined him a few minutes later.
"Hey, girls," Jackson greeted, "What's your ammo situation like?"
"I'm down to 7 spare rifle mags, 3 spare pistol mags, 2 blocks of C4, 3 flashbangs and 4 frags," Manta Ray reported.
"Same here, minus the C4," Hisakata reported, "Still have a few explosive tags, though. I'll save those for later. Used four of them on those Akatsuki that attacked us."
"Akatsuki…," Jackson contemplated, "Is that what those guys were called? What were they doing all the way here in the Middle East?"
"They said that American forces should leave this country or in 13 hours, they'll be destroyed," Manta Ray explained, "I don't know what they meant by that."
"I don't know, Naomi," Hisakata said, "I get a feeling something bad is gonna happen."
"Hey, we'll worry about that when the time comes," Jackson assured, "Right now, let's focus on the here and now. We still gotta keep this tank safe until the engineers can get it moving again."
Then an embarrassing rumble came from all three Marines' stomachs.
"How about some breakfast, first?" Jackson asked sheepishly.
"Agreed," Hisakata said as she pulled out her First Strike Ration (FSR), a more compact version of MREs.
"Cool if I join you guys?" Griggs asked as he approached them.
"Sure, just make sure you don't start flexing or playing rapping CDs," Manta Ray teased.
"Hey, now can resist these bad boys?" Griggs mocked offense as he flexed his muscles and sat down with them, "And I'll admit, Sean Price may be a bit dated, but you gotta respect classics. Besides, I hear Killer B is gonna be releasing a new album in about a month."
"Mm-hmm," Jackson nodded as he started making his instant coffee from his ration pack. He added the non-dairy creamer and sugar and mixed it up to make it somewhat sweet. Jackson had a bacon cheddar breakfast sandwich, Manta Ray had toaster pastry, Hisakata had filled French toast, and Griggs had filled cinnamon bun. Once they finished their breakfast, they took up their positions.
A few minutes later, two CH-53 Sea Stallion heavy lift helicopters carrying underslung ammo crates, carrying ammo for the tank's main gun, machine guns, rifle, and pistol ammo. Once the crates were unhooked, the choppers landed and unloaded the combat engineers and litter bearers. The engineers started to get to work on the tank, while the litter bearers began to evacuate the wounded and the dead. Two of the engineers came up to Urban Tracker carrying a certain case that she recognized.
"Corporal Turner?" one of the engineers asked.
"Yes?" Urban Tracker asked.
"Gunnery Seargeant Peterson sent you a care package," said the engineer as he set the case down. Urban Tracker couldn't contain her excitement as she opened the case. Inside the case was her M110 semi-automatic sniper rifle, the military version of the SR-25 sniper rifle. She squealed with joy as she picked up her beloved rifle and spare magazines.
"Hey, Moore," she called out, "I got my baby back! We can get back to our contest now!"
"Keep dreaming, Tracker!" Moore out back to his rival, "I'm still 25 ahead of you!"
"It don't count when I'm using my M16, you damn cheater!"
"Bite me!"
Moore and Urban Tracker had been friendly rivals since they were trained as squad sharpshooters. Moore had preferred the M39 EMR, a modern accurized version of the old M14 battle rifle, while Urban Tracker had preferred the M110 SASS (Semi-Automatic Sniper System). They were always trying to see which was better.
Urban Tracker handed her M16A4 to the engineers, "Tell Peterson if he messes with the ACOG, I know where he sleeps."
"Threat dually noted and verified," said the engineer who understood to never get on Urban Tracker's bad side.
As the Marines resupplied their ammo and grenades, it was just a matter of keeping an eye out for hostile forces as they defended the vulnerable Abrams tank.
Oorah! That does it for this chapter.
Again, I apologize it took me so long to update this story. I've got a lot going on in my life.
1st platoon "Red Dog" status update:
Lieutenant Romeo "Papa Bear" Vasquez (Red Dog 6): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M16A4 assault rifle w/ M203, laser, ACOG; M45 pistol
Staff Sergeant Marcus Griggs (Red Dog 5): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon), ACOG; M45 pistol
Machine gunners:
Sergeant Harmer (Red Dog 4-1 Golf): Status - Alive
-Weapons: M240 Golf w/ ACOG; M45 pistol
Corporal Glenn (Red Dog 4-2 Golf): Status - Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ laser, ACOG, foregrip; M45 pistol
1st squad:
Sergeant Lars (Red Dog 1): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M16A4 assault rifle w/ laser, AGOG; M45 pistol
Corporal Carson (Red Dog 1-1 Alpha): Status – KIA (Killed in Action)
Private Roycewicz (Red Dog 1-2 Alpha): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ M203, laser, holographic; M45 pistol
Private Bakowsky (Red Dog 1-3 Alpha): Status – KIA
Private Bormann (Red Dog 1-4 Alpha): Status – WIA
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ laser, ACOG, foregrip; M45 pistol
Corporal Butts (Red Dog 1-1 Bravo): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M16A4 assault rifle w/ M203, laser, holographic; M45 pistol
Specialist Kelly (Red Dog 1-2 Bravo): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M249 SAW, ACOG; M45 pistol
Private Kreeger (Red Dog 1-3 Bravo): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ laser, ACOG; M45 pistol
Private McCoy (Red Dog 1-4 Bravo): Status – KIA
Corporal Hampton (Red Dog 1-1 Charlie): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ laser, ACOG, foregrip; M45 pistol
Specialist Moore (Red Dog 1-2 Charlie): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M39 EMR (Enhanced Marksman Rifle); M45 pistol
Private Nigel (Red Dog 1-3 Charlie): Status – WIA
Private Silvers (Red Dog 1-4 Charlie): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ laser, ACOG; M45 pistol
2nd squad:
Sergeant Paul Jackson (Red Dog 2): Status - Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ M203, laser, holographic; M45 pistol
Corporal Jones (Red Dog 2-1 Alpha): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ M203, laser, ACOG; M45 pistol
Specialist Massey (Red Dog 2-2 Alpha): Status - KIA
Private Zhau (Red Dog 2-3 Alpha): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ laser, ACOG; M45 pistol
Private Gilberts (Red Dog 2-4 Alpha): Status – WIA
Corporal Miller (Red Dog 2-1 Bravo): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ laser, ACOG; M45 pistol
Specialist Harris (Red Dog 2-2 Bravo): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M249 SAW; M45 pistol
Private Lopez (Red Dog 2-3 Bravo): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ laser, ACOG; M45 pistol
Private Gaines (Red Dog 2-4 Bravo): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ laser, holographic; M45 pistol
Corporal Park (Red Dog 2-1 Charlie): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ laser, holographic; M45 pistol
Specialist Stevens (Red Dog 2-2 Charlie): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ laser, ACOG; M1014 shotgun w/ holographic
Private West (Red Dog 2-3 Charlie): Status – KIA
Private Nelson (Red Dog 2-4 Charlie): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ M203, laser, holographic, M45 pistol
3rd squad:
Sergeant Mara Ortega (Red Dog 3): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ M203, laser, ACOG; USP .45 Tactical w/ laser
Corporal Naomi "Manta Ray" Mizushima (Red Dog 3-1 Alpha): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ laser, ACOG, foregrip; USP .45 Tactical w/ laser
Private Hisakata "Sightseer" Hyuga (Red Dog 3-2 Alpha): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ laser, holographic, foregrip; USP .45 Tactical w/ laser
Private Erica "Shadow" Miles (Red Dog 3-3 Alpha): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ laser, ACOG; USP .45 Tactical w/ laser
Private Carly Spokes (Red Dog 3-4 Alpha): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ laser, holographic; USP .45 Tactical w/ laser
Corporal Alexa "Urban Tracker" Turner (Red Dog 3-1 Bravo): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M110 SASS; USP .45 Tactical w/ laser
Private Denise "Rampage" Michaels (Red Dog 3-2 Bravo): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M249 SAW; USP .45 Tactical w/ laser
Private Millie "Cowgirl" Daniels (Red Dog 3-3 Bravo): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ laser, ACOG; USP .45 Tactical w/ laser
Private Hannah Beach (Red Dog 3-4 Bravo): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ laser, ACOG; USP .45 Tactical w/ laser
Corporal Jennifer "Alias" Lowe (Red Dog 3-1 Charlie): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ laser, ACOG, foregrip; USP .45 Tactical w/ laser
Private Joanne "Sliver" Mitchell (Red Dog 3-2 Charlie): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ M203, laser, ACOG; USP .45 Tactical w/ laser
Private Tammy Davison (Red Dog 3-3 Charlie): Status – Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ laser, ACOG; USP .45 Tactical w/ laser
Private Izzy Rider (Red Dog 3-4 Charlie): Status - Alive
-Weapons: M4A1 assault rifle w/ laser, ACOG; USP .45 Tactical w/ laser
As you can see, 1st platoon has taken some casualties. Tragic, but it happens in war.
But what's this? The Akatsuki in the Middle East? What are they doing here? And what did they mean by they'll be destroyed? You'll have to find out in a future chapter.
Next time:
"Forget it, Hinata. Naruto's dead."
"You're wrong, Kiba! He's alive, and one day I'll find Naruto."