To gaze upon a tombstone,
Only warriors are visible,
But their mission can be unearthed

An itching curiosity and a burning desire plagued Princess Luna's mind as she gazed down upon the device. As much as she wanted to rid Equestria--and her own mind of it, another part of her wanted to see them again. To see what they were doing. To know what Tombstone's purpose was. It was a fierce battle that waged in her mind. The part of her that wanted to destroy the device would push forward, tempting her to do so, then the other would make a push, and she'd take a slow step closer to it. She finally scrunched up her face in a concluding thought, and sighed deeply. Luna's horn lit up in it's dark blue glow and she closed her eyes. She prepared to rid Equestria of the device once and for all, but before she could fire the spell, thoughts of that squad... Tombstone... rushed though her mind, and her eyes snapped open.
"No..." She said to herself. "I must know more..."

The aura around Luna's horn turned a tad darker in luster as she levitated the device up to her face and stared at it for a moment. She stood there for longer than she had thought, lost in her mind. Turning swiftly, she marched quickly though her corridors, making sure to stay out of sight of the Lunar Guard posts, until she reached her room in which she shut and locked the door. Now in a eager mood, she cleared off a desk and set down the device. Hitting the power button, she turned the nob about until the static on the screen started to subside. She was about to sit and watch when a thought occurred to her. She fondled with a smaller nob on the side of the screen and sat down, waiting intently for the signal to come through.
"Please..." She murmured with wide eyes.
Her heart gave a leap of joy and surprise when the first sound that came though was more of those small canon like devices. It was a good thing she turned down the volume. Multiple cries in a language she didn't understand sounded as more gunshots thundered and her heart raced, not knowing what was going to happen next.

__________

Wrecker sent some more rounds down range as the other three moved up in a spread.
"Moving!" Shouted Pac as he advanced towards a column for cover.
The four of them, Tombstone, had fought there way through almost an entire platoon on soldiers with the help of Hawkins piloting her UH-1Y Venom mounted with a door gunner. Man was she a help. If she hadn't been there for the support, it would've taken Tombstone a lot longer to reach there destination. Or maybe not at all. Wrecker issued an attack gesture from his position as he moved up behind Dunn, who had knelt behind a crate.
"Copy that!" Called Irish as he took aim from his separate crate, followed by Dunn and Pac as the three of them peppered the few remaining enemies with 5.56 assault rifle rounds.
"Clear!" Shouted Dunn as he stood up, weapon ready, as well as Wrecker.
The four of them cautiously made there way into what was left of the entrance to the factory building, their designated extraction point.

"Clear." Updated Pac as he walked in behind Dunn.
"Corners, guys." Said Dunn as he took big steps forward.
The four of them walked though the only path in the building that wasn't completely covered in ruble in a few moments of silence.
"This rickety old place creeps me out." Pac said somewhat to himself.
"Yep." Added Irish in a blank tone. "Does a real shitty job of reminding me of home." Irish paused. "Yo, Dunn. Sorry I blew cover back at there." He said quietly.
"Forget it. We're all alive, guys. That's all that counts." Dunn replied calmly.
The rest of the walk to the other end of the building was quiet. A little too quiet if Wrecker was asked. When they got to the south wall, they rounded a corner to the right and spotted a service elevator. It looked in working condition.
"This shit is the best way up?" Asked Irish.
"It's the fastest, no time to explore any options." Replied Dunn as he lowered his weapon and jogged into the elevator, along with the other three.
"Wait till' you see the terrace view." Said Irish sarcastically.
"Now I expect to be blown away." Deadpanned Pac as he looked outside of the now rising elevator.
"Shut up. Eyes peeled." Ordered Dunn as he turned away from the two.

For a moment the only sound was the old elevator motor doing it's work until Hawkins called in over the radio. She sounded urgent.
"Tombstone Actual, radar's lighting up. You got hostile air!" She said quickly.
"Shit, she's right! Over there, enemy helicopter!" Yelled Dunn as he pointed to a MI-28 Havoc closing quickly.
"Son of a bitch! fuck!" Cried Irish as he and the rest of the team began emptying their clips on it.
The 5.56 and 7.62 bullets were no match for the tough armor and layered bullet glass of the helicopter, and they quickly took cover by the front of the elevator in hopes to not be attacked. It was no use however as two S-5 rockets exploded under the elevator before the third impacted the room, sending all four of them to the floor and Wrecker to accidentally discharge a few rounds into nowhere. They all began screaming and yelling but none of it was audible to Wrecker as they all fell out onto the floor of the level they had stopped on and started frantically getting up. Just before Wrecker got up himself, he caught a terrifying glimpse of the Russian attack copter hovering in place, as if taunting him, waiting for his next move.

"Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up!" Screamed Irish as all four of them bee lined it across the walkway by the windows, which were getting obliterated as they passed them.
A few lucky rounds hit inside the building and damaged a seem on the suspended walkway, causing a part of it to almost collapse. Jumping over it they made there way to the northern staircase to get to the roof as fast as they could go.
"Muthafucka's gonna tear this place down!" Yelled Irish as Wrecker followed him up the stairs.
"How far is it!?" Yelled Pac as the four sprinted across the next floor to what looked like a large breach to the roof.
"I think this is the top floor!" Shouted back Dunn.
None of them even bothered to take cover as they got closer to the hole.
"Tombstone Actual, where the hell are you!?" Demanded Firebird.
"Top floor! Running!" Screamed Dunn as they finally got to the roof, where the friendly helicopter was hovering in place on the opposite side.

Half the roof was left until Tombstone reached the helicopter
"It's backing off. Dunn, get everyone on the chopper, now!" Said Firebird as a door gunner came into view, holding onto the helicopter and reaching out to them.
"This intel better be fucking worth it!" Cried Irish as he caught up with Pac.
Dunn and Wrecker were leading and were so close...
"Get in here now! The building's unstable!"
20 meters...
10 meters...
Then everything went south.
A S-5 rocket impacted the ground just under the helicopter, knocking it unstable for a few moments and making the entire section of roof almost cave in. Dunn and Wrecker had been knocked off there feet by the blast and were now backpedaling as fast as they could from the still unstable helicopters blades, which were threatening to chop off both there legs as it banked to evade.
"Shit! Come on. Stand back!" Yelled Firebird as she tried to pull up.
"Hawkins, pull up!" Cried Dunn as the blades came within mere inches of his legs.
Finally the helicopter pulled upwards and swooped over the roof.
"I've lost controls!" The MI-28 strafed right behind her, blasting off a barrage of rockets everywhere.
Then the situation got worse.

One of the two massive cement smoke stacks had been shaken beyond it's limit and had started to fall with a loud groaning sound.
"It's falling apart!" Yelled Pac as wrecker scrambled backwards more to avoid being crushed.
The pillar slammed into the roof with tremendous force, making it collapse and Wrecker to fall half a story to his back, where two Russian soldiers were standing disoriented. Yanking out his SCAR-H, he emptied the rest of his clip into them, killing one and knocking down the other as the Marine began to slide down the sharp incline at alarming speed. Everything went by so fast as Wrecker slipped and slid through the crumbling building that he almost didn't see Dunn. He was trapped in some wreckage as he reached out from his stationary position to try and grasp Wrecker's outstretched hand, but no use. He slid helplessly past and went through a weak piece of stone on the very edge of the building, flying out and barely managing to grip the edge of the wall where he held on for dear life.
"I'm hit! I'm hit!" Shouted Firebird in a panicked voice.
Wrecker looked over and saw her helicopter half on fire and dropping quickly towards the ground. It was a good thing he look in that direction too, otherwise he wouldn't have caught Dunn who had apparently gotten free and nearly fell himself.
"Aah! Hold on!" He pleaded as he gripped Wreckers free hand like a vise.
Wrecker looked down at him and saw Firebird thundering towards the ground just below them.
"I'm going down! I'm going--" The helicopter collided with the earth and it spun on the ground from the force of the hit, spitting pieces of ground and blades in every direction.
Just then, Wrecker dared a look upwards and heard the sound of stone tumbling towards him, before a massive chunk hit him and sent he and Dunn plummeting four stories.

__________

Luna was almost speechless. These humans just went through so much chaos in less time than Luna could even comprehend and come out alive. Well... almost alive... The screen view was still obstructed by the large piece of stone that had fallen on the soldier, Wrecker, and Luna was most sure a fall like that and a two-hundred pound piece of stone landing on top of you would've been fatal. As the screen remained black and Luna sat frozen, she decided to take some notes. Just a few, in case there wouldn't be anymore of this frighteningly spectacular footage to behold. She turned to her night stand and grabbed a small notepad and quill & ink, and thought of what to write down what was important. It was slow, as not a lot was coming to mind, but she began writing.

Study on human society-First observation
At first sight of these human combatants, they appeared to be nothing more than weapon wielding killers. The single soldier I first saw seamed to be wandering aimlessly, but with haste. When it encountered another human soldier much like it, they seamed to communicate easily. The human, later found to go by the name 'Wrecker', and the other were shortly met by another, who addressed the second as 'Pac'. The three talked briefly to one another in fluent equestrian before the third, 'Dunn', had requested to know the whereabouts of a fourth soldier named 'Irish'. After taking position by three windows, the human Irish jumped through a nearby window and was attacked by two dogs. Both of which he killed before hiding behind a very strange looking carriage. Another thing I should note~

Luna shook her head as the unfinished last sentence didn't look good, and crossed it off.

Another thing I should note The thing that was truly interesting though was the three humans at the windows only used their weapons on the other clad figures near the street, even though they could've easily killed the crowd of unarmed ones before. These unknown clad soldiers were killed and Irish was rescued, and the footage was stopped.

Luna sighed as she set down the quill and notepad. She turned to get up and walk out of the room when the sound of churning rubble sounded from the device. Luna inhaled quickly and rushed back over just as some hazy light began to show. Eager to see what would happen next, she turned up the volume a tad and listened in.

__________

"Holy shit!" Wrecker hear Irish shout distantly as he regained consciousness.
There was just a narrow peak of light that the huge piece of stone that had almost crushed him didn't cover up as boots on dirt could be heard approaching him. Shortly after a pair of gloved hands gripped the end of the stone slab and hoisted it upwards.
"You okay, man?" Asked Irish before looking over to his left. "Pac, any sign of Hawkins or the rest of the crew?" He called.
"No one survived that!" Replied Pac, who sounded worn.
"Get Dunn away from the wreckage!"
"I can't! He's buried!" Yelled Pac as he strained his voice.
"Try! I'm over here digging up Wrecker!" Irish replied as he looked for a spot to grip before flipping off the larger piece.
He grunted as he did so and helped pull Wrecker up afterwards, who stretched and brushed his legs off.
"Arrgghh, my leg!" Dunn cried.
"Oh man, oh man." Pac said to himself.

Irish and Wrecker ran over to the other two. The sight was gruesome. Pac was knelt over Dunn who's right leg was pinned up to the knee in at least a thousand pounds of wreckage. It was swollen and bloody, and more than likely the bone had been crushed.
"Jesus Christ, his leg looks like popped sausage..." Irish said to himself as he knelt over Dunn too.
"You're gonna be fine, Dunn. You're gonna be okay, man. We're gonna get you out." Pac said quickly as he tried to treat the leg.
Then the situation somehow managed to get worse when the nearby helicopter fuel puddle ignited in a large inferno not far from Dunn.
"Pac, the fuel!" Yelled Irish.
"Yeah, I know, I know!" Cried Pac as he circled to Dunn's other side.
"Stop!" Shouted Irish in another direction.
Wrecker tuned around to see a civilian SUV rolling up to where they were.
"Wrecker, cover me!" Irish ordered as he circled around the driver side and Wrecker did the same on the other.

Both their weapons trained on a Chinese man, Irish stepped closer.
"Get out! Get out now!" He ordered. "Get out!"
The man quickly stepped out with his hands up.
"I help. Please, please. I help you! Please!" He insisted.
"No you have to get out of here! It's not safe here!" Irish said pointing past the driver.
The man seemed reluctant but complied as he turned and ran from the scene, leaving the two soldiers to tend to Dunn again.
"Fucking civilians..."
Then the last thing Wrecker wanted to hear came from Dunn.
"Wrecker, I need your knife!" He strained.
"What for, Staff Sergeant?" Asked Pac.
"Gotta cut the leg!"
"Gotta do what?"
"Wrecker, come here!" Demanded Dunn.
Wrecker kneeled down next to him and put a hand to his heaving chest.
"A wolf stuck in a trap will chew off it's own leg to survive." Dunn groaned. "Come on. The bone's powder, just flesh and uniform keeping me here!"

Wrecker hesitantly took out his blade and held it with both hands by Dunn's leg.
"Do it! Cut it now!" Urged the sergeant.
Putting a hand on his leg, Wrecker glanced up at Dunn before pulling upwards with his arm, slicing the leg clean off and leaving a bloody knife in Wrecker's grasp. Dunn let out a terrible cry of pain before passing out. Pac and Irish both dragged him to the car and Wrecker only stared at the blade before letting it roll out of his palm and following the rest.
"We gotta go." Groaned Irish.
"Is he dead?" Asked Pac nervously.
"He's not dead, he's just passed out." Replied Irish. "You're the combat lifesaver, man. You should know this!"
"It was like a three hour course!" Yelled Pac as the two continued dragging Dunn to the car.
And not a second too soon. The fuel detonated, blasting Wrecker off his feet.
"Ah shit!" Screamed Irish.
A moment later, the situation got even worse.

The MI-28 Havoc from earlier flew over head as Wrecker scrambled to his feat and stood by the back seat with Pac as they loaded Dunn into the car.
"Let's go, let's go!" Said Irish as he climbed into the passenger seat. "Chopper's coming back around, let's go!"
"Hey, these Azerbaijanis are alright, huh?" Huffed Pac as he shut his door and made sure Dunn was in a good position. "You're gonna be okay, Dunn! You're gonna be okay. We're gonna get you out. You're gonna be okay!" Pac said as he shot a glance at Irish. "He's gonna be okay, right?"
"He's the boss, man, you're damn right he's gonna be okay." Assured Irish as he shut his door. "Let's go! Wrecker, take the wheel!"
He complied as he got in the truck and closed the door. Turning the key the engine rumbled to life and he stepped on the gas, launching them out of the factory area and through a gate.

"Fortress, this is Tombstone. Our evac is gone. Need another way out, do you copy?" Irish asked over the radio.
"Tombstone, Fortress is tracking you. Secondary extraction en route. Follow the road three clicks west." Replied Captain Garrison.

__________

The recent events Luna had just witnessed were disturbing to say the least. She had just watched someone cut off another one's leg to help them survive. That phrase Dunn had said right before Wrecker cut his leg off recited itself in Luna'a head. Something about it was very unnerving to her. She watched without so much as moving as Tombstone flew along the black road in the strange and fast carriage like machine, while relaying commands and orders to their unknown leader. They kept on driving before something Luna didn't expect happened.
"Shit. My leg..." Dunn mumbled, making Luna's eyes widen. "My wife's gonna kill me."
"Dunn, breath slowly. We'll get you home. You're gonna be fine." Pac said calmly to him.
"If the intel we got is right about Admiral Chang and the Russians, none of us is going home." Dunn breathed.

Luna inhaled sharply. This 'Intel' Dunn just talked about. Admiral Chang, Russians, it sounded like some sort of other empire on Earth. An evil one. Could this have been what their mission was? Why Tombstone had gone through this Tartarus and almost lost a teammate? Why they were forced to kill? It could be it, but Luna had no way of knowing.

"Anyone else hearing the opening bars of "Dixie?" Dunn asked, apparently trying to lighten the mood, but he sounded very tired.
"Just hang in there! Speed up, Wreck! Dunn's going into shock!" Yelled Pac.
An explosion flashed in front of the vehicle, startling Luna a bit, and Wrecker swerved to evade.
"Here it comes!" Pac cried as the large flying object soared overhead, nearly destroying the road and blinding Wrecker with the smoke. "Can we shake it?"
"Not fucking likely." Irish said flatly as the car turned into a long tunnel. "Where the fuck is it? Where'd it go? You see it?" He continued as they left the tunnel, and Luna saw a massive roaring lake smashing into the rock beside the road as they drove.
"I don't see where the heck it went." Replied Pac.

Luna was leaning forward now, so eager but a little edgy to see what would happen. Would that flying contraption come back? Her question was answered a few moments later when Tombstone went over a hill and there it was, waiting for them. The view Luna got of the machine was menacing. It was nothing more than a shadow but massive spinning blades and it's narrow shape were easily visible. It almost gave her a shiver, but she stuck it out.
"There, I see it! Get ready!" Irish called as it started turning in their direction and Wrecker was blinded by more explosions and yellow bolts flying by the car.
They drove under it and it banked to pursue them quickly, more quickly than Luna ever thought a machine that big could do.
"That was too close!" Exclaimed Pac.
In the distance, the machine could be seen taking an offensive position as more yellow bolts sizzled past them.
"It's lining up!" Shouted Irish as explosions rocked the car back and fourth.
Now the bolts were hitting the front of the car and sparks and smoke were flying in every direction as Irish yelled something in audible over the explosions and now the shattering windows. The car jerked to the right, throwing Wrecker almost of the door but he managed to hold onto the wheel inside.

Luna now openly gasped at the rush of the situation as Wrecker looked up and the machine thundered over. He looked to Irish who had a very strange looking device in his free hand, and was holding the end with a handle to Wrecker.
"Burn those motherfuckers!!" He screamed as Wrecker snatched the device and took aim behind the car, where the machine was about to ultimately destroy them.
With a loud thumping sound a large projectile flew at a bulge on the side of the machine, which exploded and caught on fire. The explosion sent flams across a glass part on front and to another bulge on the opposite side and within a second the entire thing was ablaze. Luna actually recoiled as it spun and crashed ahead go them, forcing Tombstone off the road and plunging into the large lake.

"Oh my gods..." Luna was so shocked that she couldn't help herself. This was unbelievable what these four soldiers were going through. How could they be sane after going through something like that? Killing, killing, and more killing. Even if it was for a purpose like the one mentioned earlier, Luna could hardly bare to think of it. Now these soldiers were underwater with a very badly wounded one. Luna was about to simply stand up and leave when she heard music from the device. It sounded calm, almost relaxing. The instruments used sounded unfamiliar, but she took a deep breath and returned her attention to the slowly clearing up screen.

__________

"Oh man, I don't wanna die to this song." Pac said somberly.
"Hey, Irish. You know what kinda fish they have in Baku?" Dunn grunted.
"Negative, Staff Sergeant." Irish replied calmly.
Wrecker's senses flew back to him and he gasped, grabbing the upside down steering wheel.
"Hey, Wrecker." Irish said, grappling his shoulder as he turned to face him. "Wrecker, you conscious? Get back in the game, man. Stay with me."
The car groaned loudly as it's integrity was pushed to it's limit by the water.
"Nice play, Wrecker. That was some of the finest driving I've ever seen." Dunn said with a small smile from his upside down position. "Right there until the end." He said before sighing. "Hit the light, Pac."
The soldier complied and turned on the LED and let out a sigh/whimper.

"The seat won't budge." Said Irish as he rocked his seat back and fourth, trying to loosen it. "You're pinned in, Sergeant."
"Irish," Dunn wheezed as he started trying to free the seat with more force, as well as Pac. "The worst thing we can do in a situation like this is panic."
"You talk like that, man you scare the crap out of me" Irish said as he halted his attempts to free Dunn. "Pac, help me move the seat, man!" He ordered as he and Pac began rocking it hard again.
"We're still sinking!" Pac hissed as tension began rising alarmingly fast.
"Shit. We're gonna get you out of here, Dunn. You hear me?"
"How, man? The doors are stuck shut." Pac said.
"Shit!" Yelled Irish as he looked out the front window, which was slowly cracking.
"This wasn't how it was supposed to happen, Irish." Dunn said in a surprisingly calm tone. "Wrecker, take my gun. It's yours now."
"What the fuck are you thinking, Dunn? What the fuck are you thinking?" Demanded Irish as Wrecker grasped the MP412 .357 revolver.
"For the wolf to survive its gotta chew off its own leg. Fire!" Dunn said sternly.
"Negative, don't do it!" Irish pleaded as Wrecker looked at him and back.
"Now, Wrecker! Shoot out the window!" Continued Dunn. "That's and order!"

Wrecker turned to the window and slowly raised the handgun with a shaky hand.
"Don't you fucking do it, Wrecker!" Yelled Irish.
"Save yourselves! Get out of here!" Dunn almost begged. "Get out of here!"
"This is fucking bullshit, man! You hear me!?" Screamed Irish as Wrecker now pointed the gun at the window.
"Shoot out the window or you all die!" Cried Dunn.
Wrecker slowly squeezed the trigger and the double-action hammer slowly came back, before he took a quick breath and the hammer went forward.

Author's Note

Well! Needless to say, Battlefield 4 has one of the most intense campaigns I've ever seen and probably will see in a long time. Anywho, I hope you enjoyed and I can't wait for chapter three!

Oh yeah, and just so you know, mission two of the campaign--Shanghai-- is not going to bee in this story. Sorry.