The Perfect Assassin

Author's note:

I will update this periodically...

It does take a while to make large chapters like this one...

I don't sit on my ass all day and think of new ideas... Scratch that... I pretty much do that...

Anyways...

I hope you all enjoy this little trail and error of my mine...

I really want some ideas I can put in!

Just drop me a PM and let me know what you think should happen...

The first three chapters the main charcater won't be in Equestria so don't try to give me ideas before he gets there... I have most of that planned out...

Stop the hate...
Love and tolereate! (This is my T-shirt slogan and is copy writed!)
-Dashie

DISCLAIMER:

I REGRET NOTHING!!!!!

WELL ALMOST NOTHING...

Chapter 1
My Story...

3rd of May, 1957

The others have come to believe that the Sect will cancel the program. Myself as an elite refuse to believe this. After nearly nine centuries they wouldn't have any reason to stop something that brings in quite a large sum of money.

When I am asked to turn in my amulet and blade, then I will believe the claims. For now, I am not worried in the slightest. Rasfier may be the most calm and collective of the elite, but when he becomes unnerved, then something big is about to happen.

The only worry in my mind is on the next big contract. We have received less and less over the years. Jess was rather surprised after the assassination of Hitler. They called it suicide, but we knew the real cause. We are the only cause.

-James

I idly turned the page. Looking back up and watched as my captive slumped against the wall. She wouldn't dare try to leave if she valued her life. She knew me all too well.

"You know you never got me anything for my birthday..."

"How did you know? Doesn't matter... I didn't have time..."

"I don't plan on celebrating it anyways..." Tomorrow was my third millennia. I planned on killing myself. I've had a good life. Long yes, but good. I don't want to bore you with my story so I could show it to you. Turning the page once more I place my marker and closed the journal. Setting it down I stood up and walked around the bed to my captive. She was pinned to the wall by a few of my knives. She looked me in the eye for just a moment. As I reached out for the first of the knives she tried to bite my arm.

"Now, now... Is that any way to treat the holder of your life?" She shook her head. "Good, now I'm going away for a while and I expect you to behave... Do I make myself clear?" She nodded slightly making me smile a little. I raised my hand up to her cheek and gently stroked it.

"I'll miss you..." She whispered.

"I know..." I leaned in for a quick peck. I removed each knife in quick succession. She wrapped me in a quick embrace and smiled.

"Do you have to go?"

"Yes... Our grandchildren wanted to know... This life is too good to just let go..." Another quick kiss turned into a slobbering tongue wrestling match. Not the sexiest thing ever but at least it shut her up.

"When will you leave?"

"After a little fun..." She giggled pulling me closer. She was tall. Taller than myself and I'm close to six feet. I pulled off my pants after she ripped my shirt off which seemed difficult to her at first. She fiddled with my boxers for about a minute before ripping them off as well nearly taking both of my testicles with them.

I pinned her to the wall and had her. She was always good to me. I knew her way to well to know she wouldn't let me leave for a long while without a "proper" good-bye. I pulled my pants back on and grabbed a shirt lying on the bed. She gave me one last kiss before sending me off.

I traversed the castle until I came upon the gathering room. It wasn't large, only able to fit thirty or so, and had a nice table in the middle with an assortment of delicacies. My mind wasn't on the food rather my family. My son and daughter were the first to greet me. Their spouses dragged along behind them.

"Hey dad..." I hadn't spoken to my boy in over forty years. My girl hadn't seen me in just as long. I chatted with them for a little before the barrage of children hit me.

"GRANDPA!" They all yelled. Fourteen kids trampled me in a rush. Ten were great-grandkids the others were just grand. I gave each a hug before being able to stand up.

"Okay... So who's ready for a story?" All of them jumped around screaming 'ME! ME! ME!' This got the parents laughing and the teenagers to show their disgust. Most of them stood against the wall but some actually walked up to give me the hug I deserved. I sat in my comfy chair and picked up the nearest runt and sat her on my lap. This made a few others protest. I assured them they would get a turn.

I motioned for everyone to take a seat and of course they did. No one disobeys grandpa. My eldest grand kids learned this lesson very fast. I looked around the room with a fake smile. On the inside I was breaking down. I hadn't told anyone of my plans yet. I wasn't going to either.

"I think it's time you all learn about how I had to live in the old days."

"Grandpa you invented the old days." Everyone laughed at my numbskull of a son. He use to be a comedian but I ended that for him after I approved of his wife.

"No, I invented the ancient days... You invented the old days..." Everyone laughed harder as his cheeks grew red.

"Well mom doesn't think that." My daughter retorted.

"Yeah well mom ain't wearing the pants in this relationship."

"Mom doesn't wear pants."

"Point proven!" She scoffed and picked up a plate full of food. "Now, are we gonna sit here and bicker or do you want to know of the war?"

"Oh grandpa don't start with the war... OH! Start with the rift! The radical job!"

"Yeah! I remember that! It gets better every time!"

"Alright..." I said. I cracked my knuckles and pulled my granddaughter close. "Long ago back when dinosaurs ruled the world!" I said moving my hand around in exaggerated movements.

"To far back!" I laughed.

"Okay... I use to live in a distant land full of exotic creatures..."

My vision faded to white as I remembered my life. I stood in a room that was the ugliest white I had ever seen. A man appeared in front of me was my sensei.

"Master." I knelt to the ground at his feet.

"Rise oh challenged one!"

"HEY! I did not put the stink bomb in the ladies' restroom!" He smirked at me. When I was still in India there was a little incident with some explosives and a skunk. Now I don't want to go into detail but there was some disciplinary action taken.

"Are you prepared to reveal ancient customs and secrets?"

"Do you have to plague my mind every time I try to tell my story?"

"Do you have to be such an arrogant ass?"

"Touché." He smiled at me.

"You are a very wise man... I trust you will keep some things hidden."

"Of course..."

"Good. As for your little audience... The universe they reside in doesn't matter. Our customs are safe. Tell it your way. It is your life after all."

"Thank you master." Darkness began to take over my vision as the memories finally took over. You will get unlimited access to my life. As for my family... Well something’s are better left unsaid. Our journey begins in Afghanistan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's just another day on the job."
15:49:23 October 2nd 2007
Sgt. James Sanderson
Delta Force

2nd of October, 2007

We finally made the push into deeper territory. Jess thinks we could end the war on our own. I told her she was full of shit.

Being hired by the US military was pretty cool in my books. It’s not often you get high tech equipment as your play toy. It was gonna come in real handy with taking out targets. Our gear is much heavier than usual and has weighed the new guy down. I don't expect him to live much longer. He calls himself 'Roach'. I thought it fit. He's an annoying pest that just doesn't know when to quit. Jess already kicked his ass four times. I laughed each and every time.

I feel bad for him though. He's lived a rough life. He got fired before his tour. His girlfriend left him because he couldn't pay the bills and he was the target dummy in boot camp. He kind of reminds me of myself before the Sect drew me under their wing.

I'll see how long his will to live lasts.

-James

Jess read over my shoulder the whole time. She was a real nosey one, but I did enjoy her company. She thinks I'm only good for sex but I know deep down she wants me for herself. She could say the same about me, but I had a better reason. Master Odon told us at an early age NOT to make ties. Well he said anything about tangles. Especially not sheets.

It didn't matter anyways. Three centuries of discipline taught me to trust in my ability to focus on the task at hand. Sometimes she was the task at hand, but I never called her more than an 'acquaintance'. I am 5' 10" and roughly 165 pounds. Being light makes for easier escapes. I'm of average build and average looks. Well, for my time anyways. Now I'm of 'Macho Man Randy Savage' build and close to drop dead gorgeous when I didn't have mud on my face.

There was one downfall to me though. I'm 1004 years old and one of the world's deadliest assassins. I'm proficient in every weapon known to man and some that aren't. I can kill a man ten minutes before he actually falls to the ground dead. I'm fluent in more than 500 languages and 6,000 dialects. Sixty billion men, woman, vampires, werewolves, some frilly fairy man from California and animals have fallen victims to my blades. I have ended some of the most world famous tyrants of all time with flick of my wrist. And Jess says I can make a mean apple pie.

Today was like any other day. Travel into enemy territory and kill a bad guy. It's all too easy. I love my job don't get me wrong. It's the only thing that keeps me alive and able to see the world planet and it is a constant reminder of what life could be without assholes running it. I've been on both ends of the stick. Back when we still took jobs from the highest bidder I had my share of jobs I couldn't shake off after we were done with them. The most memorable one was the assassination of J.F.K. He could have been a great man and led the US to greatness. Someone didn't want this to happen and hired me personally. The bullet went clean through and my mind scrambled in an instant along with his. I told Master Odon I was only on tyranny jobs from there on.

Most of you remember the twin towers? I hope you do. The plane that crashed way off target was the one I was on. Four people walked away from the crash. I wasn't one of them. Jess had dragged me away and patched me up. She shot the other survivors before we escaped. It wasn't even our job to kill those innocent people. We were being flown out to meet with a client but the plane had been hijacked. Jess and I realized the dangers of the situation long before the other passengers did. We sat in the back formulating a plan of action before everyone was ushered to the front. It wasn't the large amount of people that worried us. It was their dumbasses saying good-bye that did.

Most had made calls home or to loved ones to say their final good-byes. We all knew how this situation would end if we let it go on. The terrorist at the front had planned this all along. After all the calls were made there was nothing but murmuring. The fools were planning to take the plane back. None of them had any experience flying so they were screwed. We on the other hand had our 'special' tools hidden away. We just need the right opportunity. We never got it. The others had fought back and caused the plane to crash. Like I said four walked away and not a single one was me.

Jess nudged me lightly and pulled me from those dreadful times. It was fine back when I knew the dangers before things happened not moments before my life could end.

"You okay?" She asked wrapping her arms around my neck and pulled me close.

"No... Reminiscing in old times..."

"The plane crash?" I nodded. "Yeah, I hear ya..." Roach just stared at us. He pulled his M4A1 out and checked it for the fourth time in five minutes. I tossed him a suppressor.

"Why haven't you kept this on?" I asked in a monotone. It always unnerved him just a bit which was my entertainment.

"I like to hear my gun strike fear into their hearts."

"Wouldn't you rather hear their screams of pain after being hit?" He shrugged. I pulled out my M21 EBR. It was extremely reliable for a semi-auto. Everyone in training always said the Beret was the best semi, but it was very hard to suppress. This was a stealth mission.

Jess favored the ACR. I understood why when she covered my ass back in Iraq. It was very accurate having tight groupings even at fifty meters. I couldn't throw knives that close at that range. We traded guns sometimes after that. She liked to pop heads. There was something about her and brains I just never understood.

"Well, keep it on that toy of yours. We don't want to be spotted when you have to lay down covering fire."

"Fine, I'll keep it suppressed... You’re lucky you’re Delta Force or I would have told you to shove it up your ass." He snarled.

"I would have shoved it up yours." My deathly tone told him I would have too.

"Boys! We all know these are just toys... The real fun is with one of those!" She pointed to the chopper's mini-gun. I had almost forgotten we were being flown into Baghdad. Well twenty miles south of Baghdad to a small village suspected of housing some heavy arms. I remembered doing contracts for the Byzantine Empire when they had control of the area. The desolate waste was never my most favorite nor my least place in the world. I'd have to say modern day Brazil is definitely my least favorite. My most favorite is a tie between Russia and Germany. Mainly for the liquor they sell very cheaply and a little for the lawlessness they shared at one point or another.

Anyways I'm getting off topic. The only reason I took this job was to get more firearm training. Shamus wanted this job way more than anyone else but I talked Odon into letting me go. He doesn't like when I get 'bored'. I kill servants that are 'willing' to 'help' me train in martial arts. Odon almost revoked my amulet for a killing spree I caused my second time. He suggested I get a hobby. Now growing up more than a millennia ago has it's challenges. Now-a-days every normal teenage boy plays videogames. I have never touched one such device before; a computer yes. Those have very nice uses.

Anyways, I went out and bought an Xbox. Took me four weeks just to figure out how to run the damn thing. Then I realized I had to buy games to play. The controls seemed simple enough. The controller was not as easy. It took about three days but soon I felt confident enough to try online play. After dropping some more cash, which is in quite an abundance in my line of work, I got an online account. Let’s just say I was terrible.

Six weeks later I couldn't be pulled off the confounded machine. I was still terrible in the online players' eyes. But I scored the top in every game I played. 'Hacker' and something called a 'nube' were frequent labels I got plastered to me. Yeah, I killed that hobby as well when I learned what a real 'hacker' was. Worst 400 Euros I had ever spent. Now our dojo may be in India, but we have multiple hideouts across the world.

"MISSLE INCOMING!! BRACE YOURSELVES!!" The crew grabbed the nearest hand hold they could and gripped with all their might. Jess held out a fist which I hit with my own. Something she picked up from the troops and grew fond of.

"1,000 Rupees says that I get further away before we black out!" She yelled over the constant beeping from the alarms.

"Extra 2,000 if it's double my distance from last time!" She laughed hysterically as the missile hit. Roach was thrown around in his safety harness. One of the gunners was flung out. The other was torn in half and now bounced around the cabin spraying blood everywhere.

"WE'RE GOING DOWN!" The pilot screamed into his headset.

"NO SHIT SHERLOCK!" Jess yelled back.

"Hey! He was a good man!" I teased.

"You never met him!"

"Neither did you!" We both laughed as the ground grew closer. "You got mags right?" She nodded and primed her weapon. It wouldn't be long before we got contact.

"HUNDRED METERS!"

"Can we fall any slower?" Jess asked.

"Nope..."

"FIFTY!"

"Hey! Make sure he doesn't die in the first conflict!" I pointed to Roach.

"Rog!"

"TEN!"

"FIVE!"

*CRUNCH*

I opened my eyes and smiled. I owed Jess some Rupees. She was already wandering away from the crash.

"Hey! That's cheating!"

"Well, you better get it in gear!" She was dragging Roach a long with her. I yanked my knife out of its sheath and cut my belt. Replacing my blade I moved a large piece of rudder sticking through the cabin. The pilots were unconscious and upon further inspection the co-pilot was dead and the pilot was missing his left arm. He needed first aid he could never get. I'm one for mercy so I grabbed his M9 and shot him.

"Hey Jess!"

"Yeah?"

"We gonna need extra mags?" She just looked my way.

"Why would you ask such a dumb question?"

"Doth thou needith disciplinary retorts?"

"Shut up Shakespeare!"

"Hehe... Set up on that dune!"

"Rog!" She grabbed Roach's gun and began to dig a trench. We have to get out of here as soon as possible. There truly wasn't much I could scavenge. Maybe the mini-gun but that would just slow us down. I ran up the dune and watched as Jess dug the hole.

"Stop... We need to wake him and get out of here... He can't stay out long, or else lives are forfeit..."

"Like I said, shut it Shakespeare..." She looked up and wouldn't let her gaze falter. Her emerald eyes were exotic to say the least. She wasn't average in the slightest. In the 739 years I've known her, never once did I misjudge her. Now was not the time either. She didn't like my impersonation and I used it to get on her nerves.

I held out her helmet I found in the cabin. She grabbed it and covered her short dirty blonde hair. Her right forearm had a rather large gash running along it. I grabbed her hand and pulled it over to me. I barely touched it when she winced.

"Just a flesh wound..."

"Yeah, well I can't shoot you and get away with it..." She chuckled. I pulled Roach into the hole and ripped off some cloth. I saw a dribble of blood run down his arm. "Shit..." I mumbled under my breath. Jess looked over at him.

"Well shit... Got any bright ideas?"

"Yeah... Let me wrap you up real quick." I grabbed her arm and poorly stopped the bleeding. "Hold it..." She didn't argue. "He's wounded somewhere..." I ripped off his Kevlar vest and jacket. He wore a white wife beater. It was soaked in blood. "He has broken ribs... He won't last long without help..."

"Don't....I read your journal..."

"Yeah I know... It's your call..." She pushed harder on the cloth covering her gash. "Don't kill yourself yet..."

"Can you save him?" I tapped on each rib feeling the slight vibrations that ran across the bone. Each has a certain wave length and a time that it takes to resonate through. Countless years in the infirmary taught me what should be what. Luckily it was only one fracture. His third rib stuck out of his chest.

"Easy enough... You got that chipper from Italy I told you to keep?"

"Somewhere... Why?"

"Broken rib... It's bad..." She pulled out a small hammer and a chisel.

"Here..." I didn't waste time. I placed the chisel right at the skin and pounded the bone cracking more. Once I had a good hold and a significant crack I gave it another tap.

"Put something in his mouth... He ain't gonna like this..." She picked up a roll of cloth and stuck it in his trap. One hard hit was all it took. The bone shattered and he jolted awake. Jess held him down the best she could.

"It's all right Roach... Hold still..." He looked at me and I saw a tear run down his eye. "Keep eyes on Jess, Roach!" He's a brave kid.

"Up here Roach... Come on buddy... Don't make me flash you..."

"Okay Brittney Spears..." She laughed and Roach seemed to calm a little. "Just show him your boobs... You know that a woman's breast can lower a man's blood pressure just by looking at them."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, why do you think Rasfeir is so clam?" She couldn't help herself from that one. She fell back and almost screamed. "Hey! Shut it! We are deep in enemy territory close to a crash site..." She stopped in an instant and removed her padding. I've seen her naked many times so it really didn't grab my attention. I was too busy saving Roach from bleeding out. I pulled out a lighter and began to heat up a makeshift needle. Jess played with herself making Roach crack up a bit. Once I knew the needle was ready I burnt the thread from the spool I held.

Situations can happen at any moment. Always best to be prepared for anything that might happen. I had him fixed up in a few swift motions running the needle through his skin and pulling the flaps back together to cover his rib cage. He felt the first one sear his skin for sure. I wasn't going to slow down though. I wiped up the blood that had leaked with his wife beater after I was done.

"All better... Now if you want more holes in ya we could leave you here..." He shook his head and jumped up. Jess put her gear back on and handed him his precious M4. "Let's go..." We got lucky and extremely unlucky. The good thing was we are just a mile out from the planned LZ. The bad thing was we are just a mile from the LZ. Baghdad was four miles west of us. Roach was in bad shape and we had to move if we wanted to survive. "What time do you think it is Jess?"

"No clue... I'd say roughly five or so..."

"It's 7:24..." Roach said weakly.

"Having breathing problems, Roach?" He nodded. "Here drink..." I handed him a canteen. He drank it greedily. Didn't bother me or Jess. We have trained for low intake situations. The only thing we haven't for is failure. It doesn't exist as far as the Sect is concerned.

"Think we can cover another three and a half by nine?" Jess asked poking Roach. "We can do it by eight but you're hurt..."

"Carry me?" Jess shrugged and handed me her rifle. I slung mine and readied hers.

"Bet still on?" Jess asked.

"First to Baghdad... Double or nothing!"

"You're on!" She took off like Roach wasn't on her back. I easily kept pace but I was watching for the Taliban. They could be anywhere nearby.

"What if we are spotted?" Roach looked back at me.

"Don't worry... By the way why aren't you supposed to be screaming in pain?"

"BOOBIES!" I almost broke out laughing. Almost.

Minutes flew by and the city was within sight. We dropped and checked if it was safe to even approach. "One sniper on the roof tops... Countless militia on the ground... All in all... Five minutes tops."

"Is that a challenge?"

"No... We need to do this by the books... Improv on the spot as needed... Sniper's first and then we close in best we can... I want a house locked down before sunrise..." Roach gave me a look like I had just told him he was on death row.

"Thought it was my call?"

"When I say it is..." She slugged me in the shoulder.

"When we get back you owe me, big time..."

"I'll bring the bull whip..."

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Roach looked at us horrified.

"Don't worry we were just kidding. She likes being slapped around more than being whipped." Jess slugged me again.

"He doesn't need to know about that!" I smiled at her. She hated being abused. Slow and steady was her way. It bothers me sometimes because she would always do something like slapping me or twist my tit to get me to finish early. Weird and rough yes but hey, I like her when she's feisty. Doesn't matter now.

We sat on the hill till sunset and even then we needed night fall. Another cool thing about the US military was the use of thermal and night vision scopes on their guns. We had the option and took both but thermal really isn't the best option when you're in a 104 degree desert.

Darkness soon overcame the city and lucky for us the dumbasses don't have lights or 'Nods'. The suppressors I had ordered for each of our guns would come in real handy tonight. Sadly the sniper wasn't alone any more. A buddy of his had joined him up there. I had two choices. Wait for a perfect shot or risk them shooting us on the way up.

I mulled it over until they sat down next to a fire that was going. Thank god for choosing my option for me! One clean shot and beautiful blood splatters would paint the walls. I didn't want to wait forever though so I judged to the best of my abilities where I should go. Left twenty meters should work. Well when I got over there it wasn't. Still off and this time I needed to be five to the right. And even then I wasn't close. I needed just another smidge to the right.

Once I saw the glory of no second person I let the round fly, and fly it did. Perfect through the first guy and the other shall I say got plastered. Hehe, he had a bottle in his hand and now he was pinned to the wall. So I guess my corny joke counted. Now was crunch time. We didn't need them to be spotted before we even got close so I motioned for them to come and Jess grabbed Roach. We booked it to the city which was at least four football fields away. Four hundred yards for you who are really technical.

When we got close I had to make a gut call. Two houses stood on the edge of town. Which do we take? I just jumped at one and tried my best to jimmy the lock. Wasn't gonna happen. "Jess... I need a bobby pin." She didn't hand it over immediately. She put it in for me. Sometimes this chick could read my mind. I really was going to owe her when we got back.

Jess led Roach upstairs to tend to his poorly mended chest. I turned around and locked the door behind us. I wasn't in the mood for people barging in unannounced and stealing our newly claimed shit. The building itself was a white stone complete with logs running along the ceiling to provide extra support. This place looked like it really needed it. I worked my way up the stairs and tapped on the stone every so often in a beat from one of my favorite artists. I had really grown to like the American's music.

"Don't go downstairs and keep away from the windows..." I stated coldly while leaning on the door frame.

"Yeah, yeah I got you." Jess said cockily.

"I meant Roach... He doesn't know the creed..."

"I don't plan on teaching him."

"Agreed."

"What's the creed?" Roach asked. What a smart ass.

"Don't worry about it just follow our orders and you just might make it out alive."

"Yes ma'am..." He laid down on a bed and I watched as he slowly drifted off.

"Jess... Come..." She followed me out to the hall. "Four days max got it?" She nodded. "We can't afford to stay here to long... If we have to we will just slaughter all hostiles that stand in our way..."

"Rog... What about Roach? You think He's gonna make it out of this?"

"I haven't decided yet... He knows too much already..."

"You aren't seriously planning on killing him are you?"

"No... I don't plan on keeping him is what I mean... He fits the bill but it would be a long time for him to even reach apprentice status..."

"So? What do you care? It's not like he's gonna kill everyone..."

"No, you're right... For once..."

"HEY!" I chuckled earning another punch to my arm.

"Remember what the Sect always says..."

"Rule number four... Do NOT grow attachments to anything..." We both said at the same time. I sighed and looked up at her. Those emerald eyes just stared into my soul as if my body never existed. In this line of work emotions get you killed.

"Get some sleep your--" She pulled me into a kiss and held me there until I kissed back.

"We will be fine... Come there's only one bed left in that room and it's calling our name..." She grabbed me by the arm and led me into the small bedroom. The only thing really in there was a raised bed laying awkwardly in the middle with Roach sleeping peacefully on it. A dresser stood at another end but it was raided and wiped clean. Jess sat down on a shotty mattress laying in the corner of the room. With one firm tug she pulled me into it and got comfy real quick.

"Sleep tight..." She whispered in my ear. She held me really close and snuggled the back of my neck.

"If you sleep any tighter I won't be able to sleep myself."

"Oh quit whining and being such a baby." We laughed before slowly embracing the darkness and taking the peace and comfort that sleep offered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Grandpa! Why did you start with the war?"

"Well the frantic job doesn't make sense if I don't tell them about the Baghdad... Okay! Who's next on my lap?" A bunch of kids began bouncing around like balls. I picked up one of my great grandsons and held him tight.

"Grandpa! You're not Jess!"

"And you're not me!" I tapped him on the nose and took a quick drink of water my daughter so kindly put on my stand. "Now, while we hid out in our little hut we forgot about the bad guys..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was forced awake by Jess. It was light out and I cursed myself for sleeping in. How could I have slept in so late? The sun was at least a good four inches in the sky. I looked back to Jess who lifted a finger to her mouth before pointing to the floor. She held up three fingers then made a walking motion with her hand. I nodded and crawled towards my rifle.

Roach was still out cold. Good thing too because I guarantee he would have given us away. The door was open and the sound of footsteps rang through the little shack of a home. Every so often voices would accompany those steps.

"Hey, Rasheeb... Check upstairs..."

"Alright... Don't raid the pantry first... I got dibs on anything sweet..." Heavy footsteps worked their way up the stairs. I sat behind the bed aiming at the door. The night vision scope was still attached. It was ten times harder to shoot at the hip. What I wouldn't give for the thermal at this moment. I could at least turn off the thermal and use it as a regular sight. I saw movement but had to wait. All we need was a body tumbling down the stairs and giving us away. I was still gonna put a bullet next to his pituitary, but this soon to be child won't know what him. That’s when Roach rolled over in the bed making a sound. Yeah his dumbass is loud.

"Hey! Who's up here?"

"Don't shoot! We are hungry... Please... Help..." I called in my best Arabic. Still was rusty at best.

"Come out!"

"We can't! Our friend is sick!" Jess answered. He popped his head around. Big mistake. I didn't take the tie to see if I'd get another chance or even a better shot. Time seemed to slow as I lined up my shot. The whole event took less than a second. A blink of the eye and you would have missed it. As his body hit the floor his partners ran up the stairs. Jess flattened to the wall next to the door. I covered Roach and hit the deck and then crawled under the bed

An AK-47 poked around the corner. The carrier of the weapon followed soon after. He was terrified and bet he pissed his pants when he heard his buddy drop like a rock. He got four feet in the room before the other walked in. Jess hit his hand knocking the gun to the ground. She chopped his neck and pulled him in front of her before raising her ACR to her hip and putting a bullet in the first man's brain, or at least were his brain should have been if he had one.

Tossing her gun to the mattress she grabbed his head and gave it an extremely firm twist. A loud crack resonated in the room and sparked a little excitement in my heart. The man dropped to his knees and Jess round housed his ass to the ground before wiping the dust from her hands.

"Disguises?" I asked.

"If the blood doesn't ruin them first..." I nodded in agreement. We had each other figured out. We quickly dragged the bodies out of the puddles of blood forming. The man I had shot first was wearing brown and blood was real hard to see on brown. Now, the man Jess shot was wearing white and he was laying in a fast forming pool. His uniform was fucked for our purposes but we still needed one for Roach. I kinda wish I had brought bleach. Or some cola. We woke Roach up. He didn't like the little pile of bodies in the corner.

"Okay, so who wants the brown one?" Jess snatched it from my hands. It was thicker and could easily hide her assets from prying eyes. "Understandable... Roach your hurt so you get the blood stained one..."

"Wait... Why did you ask if I wanted the brown one if you were gonna give me the bloody one in the first place?"

"Because I like being an ass..." I stared at him with a blank expression.

"Well, do I got to act shot?"

"No, we'll just say you got your ass handed to you on a platter..."

"And what about our guns? Won't they notice it's not an AK?" Jess asked.

"Easy... We leave our guns here for later and use their own weapons against them... I need my hands on a sniper rifle though..."

"Well, we’re wasting daylight standing around like we got our heads in our asses!" Roach chuckled at Jess' comment. I smirked; she had a good sense of humor in my opinion. Well, mine doesn't count for shit now does it?

"That’s the spirit..." I helped her get her turban situated just right. She tried to slap my hand away. I just waited for her to stop flailing.

"Alright, let’s get over to the square... Act like we're on patrol. Don't fuck this up Roach or I'll put a bullet through your head personally..." I saw him gulp. "Now Jess don't walk like a woman... Men don't flaunt their assets..."

"But you love my assets!" Roach was cracking up again. I just punched her in the arm. "OW! Don't you know not to hit woman!"

"You're not a woman that’s the point... Any ways, Roach leave all the talking to me and Jess." He nodded and picked up an AK propped against the wall. "Make sure you got spare magazines. We don't want to be SOL in a firefight if it comes to it."

"What is SOL?" Roach asked checking his clip.

"Shit outta luck..." Jess said pocketing the suppressor for her ACR.

"That..."

"Oh, I've heard that... Anyways, so we are looking for..."

"Good question... I don't know... I just got a picture." I rummaged through my gear and found a color photo. The invention of photography was amazing! "This guy..." I handed Roach the picture and strapped my own weapon on my shoulder.

"That's Sudam Hussain... You sure he's here?"

"Nope... I never trust intelligence... Only facts... We'll chase him down if we have too..."

"Dead or alive?" Jess asked.

"Are you waannttedd!?" Roach said in a poor Bon Jovi accent.

"Don't even start Roach... Alive if possible..." I said walking out of the bedroom. Roach ran after Jess. The downstairs was rearranged somewhat. They were looking for something. I looked out the window to see if there were any guards mulling around in the streets. "All clear but I want to stay out of the open as long as possible."

"Oh! Look a penny!" Roach said picking up a small coin. I just slapped my face and Jess took the coin away. "Hey!" He protested.

"What are you? Four?"

"No... Can we get on with this?"

"Yeah... Let's go..." I pushed the door open and swaggered into the street. Jess helped Roach out playing on the 'We need to teach him a lesson' act. He had a broken rib and a freshly sewn cut so it could easily pass. Jess pushed Roach so he had no more support. He stumbled for a second but regained balance after a few feet. "I want to see if they found those bodies..."

"Most likely... They were searching house after house..." I glanced back to make sure we weren't discovered yet.

"Use Arabic..." I mumbled. Jess caught it and I had to cover Roach's mouth before he said 'What?' No more than three meters away was another patrol. One man spotted s and called out to his buddies. They soon approached and one of them pointed to Roach.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Broken rib... He decided to mouth off so I gave him a good one." Two of them laughed while the other looked at him with some concern.

"Take him to the infirmary... Stop by the square and pick up a new turban while you’re at it..." He pointed to me. I didn't put on a hat and my dark brown hair shown. It was matted and looked almost like theirs.

"It ain't that hot."

"Fine..." He motioned for the other two to follow. One was still laughing pretty hard and the other wiped tears from his eyes. I pointed to the square and told them to keep moving. Roach didn't understand until Jess began walking away.

"Let's hope that works for the medic of this hell hole..."

"No shit..." As we approached the square the first thing that caught my eye was the tent. I was definitely the infirmary. Next to it was a building with probably a stock pile. That’s gonna have to go first. I pointed to it and Jess started off to it, she knew the drill. She swaggered over to the door and closed the door behind her. I pushed Roach along until we reached the tent.

"I'll do the talking... You just act wounded as best you can." I whispered into his ear before punching his broken rib. He gasped and I felt a bit of blood trickle from the wound. "Much better... When I tap you on the foot say this... I need pain killers..." I spoke in Arabic. He nodded and repeated it back. "Good. Now just hang in there. We will get you before we leave."

"Alright." I opened the tent flap for him and waited until he was fully inside before I followed him in. It was actually pretty large. I didn't realize it from the outside but it connected to a shelled out building. A few beds lay out in the tent and a medium size strange of medical supplies sat inside. I approached the man I assumed was the doctor. He wasn't armed and he was writing something on a clipboard. He wore a red set of clothing probably in case of bloodstains.

"We got a bleeder..." I called out. He looked up and motioned for him to come over. Roach laid down on the cot in front of the man. He looked up to me and back to Roach.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"I broke at least one of his ribs..."

"At least?"

"Sort of, yes. I sewed him up but it's not working as you see..."

"Hmmm... How's your pain?" I tapped Roach on the foot. He groaned.

"I... Need pain killers..." The doctor nodded and walked back in the supply room. I gave Roach a nice little 'OK' symbol with my hand. He gave me a thumbs up in reply. I kept my eyes on the doctor. I didn't trust him to well. Roach's Arabic was shit and I bet the doctor could tell. I watched very closely as he picked up a vile and began to draw a small amount of liquid out of it. He returned and lifted Roach's clothing. The patch work was busted on the cut. I knew I shouldn't have hit Roach but he needed to bleed and when I fix someone up they usually are ready to go in a few days.

"This is morphine..." He spoke in perfectly clear English.

"Excuse me, what the fuck did you say?" He smiled at me and waved me off.

"Don't play dumb... No one can sew anything up but myself... Plus your friends’ accent is terrible..." I laughed and nodded.

"What you gonna do doc?" He shrugged.

"I've pretty much been a prisoner here... I'll hide him out here, but if he gets caught..." He didn't need to continue.

"Fine... Give him the meds and fix him up... Also do you know where this guy is?" I pulled out the picture that Roach labeled as Sudam Hussain.

"Yes... He is Sudam Hussain..." Two for two. Positive match now just to find his ass. "I'm sorry but he hasn't been near here in at least two months maybe more." Fuck.

"Thanks..." I watched as he stuck the needle right next to the now open wound. It was oozing blood and looked infected. "Don't worry Roach he's gonna take of you... I'll pick him up soon..."

"Fine by me... And if you are captured... I never said a word to you..."

"Agreed..." I walked back outside only to be greeted with a gun to the face. Jess was behind it and laughed as I pushed it aside. "Report?"

"It's an armory alright!"

"Any plastic explosives?"

"Nope... But they have quite a large amount of... What are they... The missle things..."

"RPGs?

"Yeah those... How's Roach?"

"The doc knows but is zip-lip. I got word of the target too..."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yep, it's a wild goose chase. He hasn't been here in at least two months."

"Sooo... We don't even need to check the village anymore?"

"No... We're gonna let Roach rest and then work our way back to base."

"That’s at least a thirty mile hike."

"And?"

"And we won't make it with the condition Roach is in..." I sighed. She was right. We could easily make it without him. We needed something to get him back safely.

"Let's go back to the armory and see can rig something to give us a window of oppertunity so we can escape."

"Good luck..." She said as we walked over to the makeshift armory. Everything wasso different here. In the US' bases everything was organized and easy to find. Here it was all sprawled out. Almost like they didn't have time to designate where an item went before they started acts of terror. It seemed ten times easier to just blow up a building then roll in, take the town and get up.

As we walked through the stash of weapons I noticed something that could help out a lot.

"No plastic explosives, huh?"

"Well it wasn't there earlier..."

"She's right... It wasn't..." I looked up and saw three men from the street. Yep we are fucked. "What do you plan on using explosives for?"

"Who doesn't love a good boom every now and then?" He shrugged and raised his gun. Not a second later he shot. I felt a burning heat rip through my side. I whipped my gun around and sprayed at them blindly. When my clip was empty and I couldn't hear shots I opened my eyes.

All three were dead. So was Jess. She lay in a heap on the floor staring at the ceiling I knelt down and shut her eyes. I reached under the collar of her clothes and felt a cool metal object. I grabbed and gave it a firm tug. It wasn't budging. Reaching my hands behind her neck I unclipped it and pulled it gently away. It was gold band that fit somewhat like a collar. It had a diamond resting in the middle of the circular collar.

Rubies surrounded the diamond making it a little more enigmatic. It was beautifully enchanted which allowed prolonged life by stopping the aging process. It couldn't fall into enemy hands. It was way to valuable for anyone to use abusively.

My side was on fire. I placed my hand over it and sighed in relief. It was just a graze. It still bled but it could have been worse. I reloaded the gun and ran out the door with a package of C4. Next stop the tent. Two shots sounded and I turned in time to see a flash along with one more *BANG* in the tent. Next stop the house! I wasn't leaving without some better protection. The AK is reliable yes but it is so loud.

I tossed the mini-bomb towards the tent and ran. Once I cleared the first street I hit the switch and smiled as a comforting *BOOM* rang through the square. It didn't take long to get to the house. I changed quickly and took off the night vision scope on the EBR and replaced it with thermal. Grabbing the ACR I ran as fast as I could. I needed to get out a Dodge and fast.

19th of October, 2007

Happy birthday to me... I almost wept this morning. Jess had promised me a wonderful dinner as a present but she won't ever get the chance to make it. I regret ever going into that fucking city. We should have tried to head back. I knew it was a lost cause but at least we could have tried.

I need to stop. I can't let their deaths slow me down.

I still hold the amulet from time to time. It's true what they say. "You don't know what you got to till gone..."

-James

Author's note:

Hope you liked the first chapter of my little trial and error HiE...

Expect more soon but not too soon.

"The corner of your mouth tuned up is always Pinkie's dream. But if you're kind of worried, and your face has made a frown, I'll do my best to turn that sound frown upside down."
-Dashie