Wartime Memories

Chapters

Prologue & Operation Vulture
Operation Pilgrim
Siege

Prologue & Operation Vulture

Chap. 1: Prologue & Operation Vulture

War is hell. It's always hell...but we need to go through it to get to heaven, eh? That's what all of us soldiers thought, at the time. But most of us expected to dive straight into hell, not have it come knocking on our door. This is the story of me and my squad playing the Devil's game...and here in the Persian sand, the Devil always has his due...

[Intro: Rise Against - People Live Here]

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We are Vanguards. The Vanguards are the primary special expeditionary and deep cover operation forces of Equestria, and consisting of two divisions. One being the Sentinels, and the other the Lance. Lance is the most forward armed forces, and they mostly do the fighting and pushing against the enemy.They pretty much do whatever they can to take them down as quickly as possible, more often then not. The Sentinels, are the polar opposite in some aspects, they guard foreign soil and conduct intel. operations to help our Lance asses out. Many view us as big-time heroes for ending wars and saving lives. But some of us...well...all I can say is; some of us aren't "Hero" material...

Camp Stingray, Persia, 05:00 hours

"Well at least I'm no lug-head who snores all damn night!...damn, do you hear yourself when your dreamin?"

"Oh, don't get me started, kid. If it was up to me there'd be a dog house outside with your name on it."

Shit, it's 05:00 and Rev 'n' Orion are already arguing. It's always the same thing day in, day out...they really need to get a hobby...or a room for that matter. Anyways, Camp Stingray has been buzzing since 1 AM, taking in wounded and deploying other squads for early morning ops, as well as preparing to mobilize for later. We're still scheduled to deploy later, however, so now's a good time as ever to stroll around the F.O.B., get the scoop on other happenings, and possibly a late briefing from Sentinel Officers.

After a short walk, I happened to run by my old unicorn friend, Splinter, who was hanging around the mess hall. I suppose he was easy to pick out, however. His teal coat and more un-kept light blue hair didn't exactly fit in with that of the other soldiers, eating and lounging in the vicinity. He spotted me and called me over.

"Hey, Val, come over here for a sec!" His British accent sticking out from the crowd.

I obliged him, but as I got closer I returned with "You really need to start calling me 'Captain', now...first name basis doesn't help my rep with the higher-ups, ya know?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he replies "But hey we got ourselves a new enlistee in our ranks." he proceeded to point to the younger pegasus stallion with short purple hair, pale blue fur, and green eyes, across from him.

"Says his name is 'Glint', he pulled top of his class back at advanced training and wanted to join the Lance." He adds.

I proceeded to sit down next to Splinter and took a good look at the kid, determining his sort of character...it pays to be judgmental when heading into the high ranks more often than not.

I finally utter "So Glint, what makes you want to join the Lance? I mean, someone of your caliber would do better as a Sentinel...your career would last much longer, at least."

"Well I don't want to be stuck on guard duty most of my life, sir. I was assigned to this squad specially as a translator, so now I'm here" he mentioned in return

I must say I was slightly charmed on that whole sir thing, but he's just a scrub...that's what he was brainwashed to do, really.

"You don't have to call me sir," I say, while holding up my hand in good nature "I only ask to be called by my name if we're one-on-one or just between the squad, and by my rank everywhere else, but even the rules to that are loose"

But before we could continue the conversation the Officer's whistles started blaring...time for last chance briefing and deployment.

We ran out of the mess hall and met up with the rest of the squad back at the temporary barracks. I was glad to see Rev and Orion already getting geared up, and we rushed to do the same. Rev was a pegasus with light brown fur, which blended in with some parts of the standard digital camouflage uniform, as he was putting it on, but his somewhat transparent red hair and dark green-coloured eyes definitely stood out. Orion was an earth pony and had dark grey fur, blue eyes, no hair, a brunet goatee, and a vertical scar around the temple on the left side of his face. As we entered the tent Citrus wasn't too far behind. She was well-managed earth pony with Gold fur, and medium-length mango-coloured hair, and glistening orange eyes. If you seen her you'd say she seems like she could easily take care of herself, and possibly more for that matter.

We all had our own unique sort of personality and it often reflected on our gear, and especially on our helmets. Rev's helmet had the top of a shark's jaw painted on it. We never got a clear reason, but we all collectively thought it was a tribute to his gigantic ego. Orion had a really dark, faded, torn and beat-up helmet with an old blue and white sapper's Yin-Yang on the front, in memory of his fallen brother. Splinter's helmet had half of the Equestiran flag and half of Britain's Union Jack flag, split diagonally on the front of his. I suppose the reasoning behind that is self-explanatory. My helmet had a thin black and white striped rim with the Lance Captain's insignia on the front. It wasn't exactly my choice, since the officers made me wear it, but I didn't complain. Citrus' helmet had a picture of her sister on it, being her motivation to fight was the family she had at home. Glint already had his gear on and it seemed as if it came straight off the assembly line. He will most likely follow our tradition and do some sort of personal modification to his helmet later.

We rushed to put on the rest of our gear, and practically ran through a checklist in our heads. Within minutes we had our boots, jackets, bullet-proof Kevlar vests with added steel plate, and all other mandatory gear on and ready to go as we ran outside.

The next step in preparation for the mission was to run over to the Armory Tent. We all had to be met with a more standardized outfitting, on the count of base mobilization. As a result we were all given the standard R5-14 assault rifles with 4x magnification scopes, and A27A-3 handguns. We weren't given grenades or any add-ons of sort, but we won't even need them judging by the mass-scale trip we're taking.

As we were prepping, Rev obviously felt the need to start some small talk "So, what? are we actually using these this time? My trigger finger is getting a little itchy"

"Are you okay with carrying it and not using it, or are you willing to be shot in the arse with none to be found?" Splint mentioned, as he displayed an intimidating look,

"I-I'm good, thanks" Rev replied, with some sarcasm written on his face.

The rest of us except for Glint grinned and giggled, noting the obvious light and joking atmosphere.

Then Rev decided to get acquainted with our new addition "So uhh, kid?...Where you from?"

"I'm from a small town outside of The Crystal Empire," he replied "aaaannnd my guess is your from Manehattan or something?"

Rev donned a smug look on his face, and said "Now aren't you sharp as a tack? Yeah I came from Manehattan, but I moved out, I'm livin' in Los Pegasus now..."

He proceeded to point and the rest of the squad and name off were the rest of the team lived "And Splinter over there is from England, Sweetheart here is from Baltimare" he then pointed his thumb at Orion "and uhh...I think lug nut back there is from the moon or something, right?"

Orion chimed in with a groan in his voice "Haha very funny, I totally forgot to laugh"

I thought it was about time I put an end to that before someone gets shot "Alright fellas, pipe down and start getting your asses outside"

The briefing was absurdly long this time, and needed to be reinterpreted to the rookie "I'll try to lay out the skinny as best I can. We're currently deployed 20 miles North of Jiroft and scheduled to move even further North into the city of Kerman, where we will join up with British forces, but before that we need to push the surrounding terrorists back. That's where Op. Vulture comes in. We're not big power-players in this one, and we're In fact, much of the opposite. We've been tasked with a simple clean up of enemy forces after a C.A.S. bombardment, and before the primary convoy follows through. So we got it easy this time if you'd think of it like that. So really, you don't need to do much of anything this time around, got it?"

"Yes si-...sorry, I mean alright" he replied scrunching his face at the fact he practically forgot what I told him.

I grinned and patted his shoulder "You'll do fine...you'll do just fine"

We moved up from the camp center to the make-shift motor-pool, mounted the A.T.L.I.T.V (All Terrain Light Infantry Transport Vehicle, or 'Atlit/Atlas' in a lazy pronunciation) second from the front, and we are a total count of 5 jeeps. 3 of the total vehicles had .50 Cal. MGs and the other two were AGL-12 grenade launchers placed toward the back.

We decided our seats, without much of an argument: Rev rode shotgun whilst Orion drove, Splinter rode in the center of the back seat with Citrus on the left and Glint on the right, and I rode the center seat slightly behind the driver and front passenger, which faced toward the back, for quick deployment out the backside doors. It's also quite handy because now I'm better able to socialize with everyone.

And so as we're packed into the Atlas with rifle stocks on the floor and barrels pointed toward the ceiling, we couldn't of helped but spectate the rest of the camp pack up and into two dozen Ace Cargo Trucks for the main convoy. Next thing we know the high and mighty Lance Commander Cartridge's voice graces us with it's presence on the radio

"All forward units, move out!"

Orion shifted into gear to follow the lead jeep and started us on the move through the barren Persian planes on Highway 91.

After a short while Splinter's voice pierces the silence "Sheesh...better hope the bloody sods are dead when we roll by...we got a lot on the line, here"

"Damn straight" I added

"Uhh excuse me but..." Glint asked "What exactly is the reasoning behind this war?"

I was pretty amused by that question...most soldiers don't care for listening to both sides of the war and would rather focus on the objective...the kid's quite observant, and I really admire that.

"Hey, Citrus" I call "You wanna' handle giving our new friend, here, a nice little history lesson?"

"Certainly" she joyously responds "You see, Persia as it is now, is a newly liberated country from a totalitarian regime, so realistically it needs to rebuild it's Government to the extent where it can defend it's self...so ironically Persia is practically a satrapy for the time being, leaving it very weak. Nonetheless, we must move to help the country stay mostly in one piece. Why this is called a 'war', however, is because recently the terrorist forces have spent a considerably large amount of funds purchasing heavy military gear...that or they are being funded and armed by an outside source all together. What we do know for certain about these armaments are: their primarily H.A.T.s, T.O.W.s and even a few armored cars...admittedly they turned into quite the paramilitary...aaaaaaaannnyway, Persia holds vital oil reserves we must get back to keep the country's head above water, considering terrorist cells now own most of the country, we must fight for every town to push them back into the dark caves they crawled out of"

I cut back in "Good work explaining...what we're doing now is a stone's throw away from a massive counter offensive to take the country back"

Rev hopped in with his massive ego as always "Well it don't really matter to me, we're shooting the rags off of their heads an-"

Rev was interrupted by the scout element stopping and the sound of distant gunfire from an unknown location. Rounds start pinging off the front Atlases and ricocheting off the ground around us.

It's time for some action now, so I ordered "Everyone stay in the damn jeep, 'till we can find and pop these idiots"

After a moment of scanning Glint spotted some slight muzzle flash off of the jeep's right side "Hey I think their over there!" he pointed

And there the bastards are, about 60+ meters away. Instinctively Splinter hopped on the gun and spun the bulletproof turret and Kevlar camouflage canopy right in the general direction of the insurgents and started laying down fire on their location of a few small hills. Meanwhile, the rest of us popped open the compartment holding the box mags. for the MG and got ready to pass them to him. The MG burned through the rounds quickly, and soon the cartridges started to cover the gunner's area, and also lay out on the ground. Sometimes Splinter stopped periodically to toss out all of the spent cartridges as well.

Over all the gunfire I hear Glint yelling "Are they seriously trying to attack us like that! do they really expect to kill us?"

"Don't let them hear you, they might actually grow a brain for once!" Rev answered

After having them suppressed for long enough, Splinter stopped, checked around and yelled out "Why the hell aren't anyone else shooting?"

Taking notice I order "Rev, hop out and let everyone else know of the current situation. Move, move, move!"

The radios were only on emergency channels or 'all clear' lines so we had to rely on runners for the mission. Splinter looked right to notice an AGL-12 gunner was in the middle of the line and completely confused about the action going on in front of him.

He started yelling at the gunner and pointing towards the contacts in the distance "Hey! Hey You!...Yeah you! Over there! Point your bloody gun over there and shoot the bastards!"

After some yelling the AGL gunner began to turn and fire whilst Rev was still running and letting everyone else know.

Splinter continued to yell "No, no, NO! Fire higher! Higher!"

The AGL gunner was finally effectively compensating for the bullet drop and landing grenades on the insurgents' position. The rest of the scout element finally reacted and started firing and moving directly on the insurgents' position, quickly dislodging and killing them. One even got back up and was hopping away, as he appeared to be missing a leg, but a grenade launcher round quickly ended that. In the end 3 insurgents went down, and their blood coated the sand.

After the small skirmish we checked out with Strategic Command on one of the emergency lines and were given the A-OK to keep rolling. So we mounted back up to the Atlases but this time with Splinter and I trading seats. We finished securing the vicinity, and moved on. The rest of the trip had no action, and proved to be a good time getting to know Glint and his background as well as tell him ours. Turns out, Glint is one of a very long line of military brats whose fathers and sons served in the military, but he is the first to join the Equestrian Vanguard. Of coarse he has had a rough background, like the rest of us, being that he has had to deal with an alcoholic dad who left him and his mom for dead, which pretty much forced Glint to take care of them both...he's still a good kid, though...his sort life is really humbling. I honestly can't say the same for Rev, whose filthy rich parents abandoned him, so he pretty much lived off the street all alone and played Robin Hood for random people on occasion...no wonder why he cops up an attitude sometimes. And Citrus, who grew up in the most normal way possible, but a few heavy hitting things brought her life down on top of her, especially when she had her own dad die in her arms because of a random street shooting. Splinter didn't even have his mom around, and practically grew up in the military on the count his dad was pretty high up in the British Royal Guard. Orion always muscled his way out of talking about his past, and I surely don't blame him...he's been through some shit...a lot of it. I would say we had our fair share of bad occurrences, but now? Now were together and watching out for each other...like a real happy dysfunctional family.

In the mater of a day and a half of careful trucking, we made it to the outskirts of Kerman to rendezvous with the British Army. The British checkpoint was really old, and it had a few huts scattered around it, along with a few palm trees. After pulling into a spot to park the Atlases we dismounted and stretched our legs a while. It was around 19:00 hours at the time. Rev and Orion stayed awake across the night and the entire day whilst the rest of us slept-in, so they well-earned the R&R. Once we got out Orion found a spot to nod off at without being bothered by anyone, but as I was about to talk to whoever managed the checkpoint to give him an updated briefing on the Op. Rev had to pull me aside with the biggest grin across his face, along with the sound of him trying to keep back his mischievous laughter.

"Alright spill it, dipstick" I snapped at him

"Hah, yeah? a dipstick? well at least I'm not a little lovebird like you two were" He murmured, still trying to not burst out laughing

"What?" I say in return

I honestly thought sleep deprivation was getting to him, up until he flashed a picture in front of my face. The picture was taken from an instant-print reconnaissance camera he had found, and it had Glint, Citrus and I in frame, with Glint sleeping on his own side, but with Citrus resting her head on my shoulder and my head resting on hers. She was also holding my left arm as I had both my arms loosely crossed.

But just as quickly as he had shown me the photo, he took it back, and started to walk away saying "I am SO showing this to Citrus"

I quickly grabbed him by the back of his vest collar, spun him around, held my fist to his face and said "Hey, Rev, you look a little tired, you want me to help you get to sleep?"

"Uhh noooooo sir. I appreciate having teeth in my head, thanks" he replied as he threw up his hands, closed his eyes and put on an innocent smile, allowing me to take the photo.

I know he won't say anything now, since he knows I'm genuinely serious about that little warning. I'm sure I'll be giving Citrus the photo sooner or later, but I don't think now is the correct time to do so, so instead I put the photo in my fatigues pocket. Overall the Operation was entertaining, but it's nowhere near the strenuous and intense action I'm used to. I proceeded to find the checkpoint manager and explain the set-back we had as well as reassure him the primary convoy will show up soon. He advised me to stick around and wait for the rest of the camp to come around. I didn't complain at all. What I didn't expect was the manager brought me back and told me the Lance Commander was on the radio asking for me, I obviously had no way to say 'no'.

"Hey, is this Lance Captain Valor?" His voice rang out, above some slight static chatter

"Yeah, sir" I replied

"Hey" he went on "I was informed you and your squad luckily caught out 3 panicky insurgents, others might have overlooked...just wanted to say that they were planning to I.E.D. the convoy, and unlucky for them, they opened fire on you because they thought you seen them, and were obviously cut down in good time...anyway just calling to say thanks again, for taking control of the situation and slaughtering them instead of thinking their harmless and just let them slip...you boys certainly keep true to your reputation of tactics and initiative in battle...should be hearing from me up in our Command Center when we get it up soon, Cartridge out." the light static cut out as he left abruptly

I gave the soldier his radio back, and returned to the rest of my squad back at the Atlas...there's one thing that makes him very different from us, and he doesn't even know it. It's that he can change the tied of battle with a simple radio, but we change the tied of war with a mind and a simple gun...

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I expected more daunting tasks to be sent out from Command for Wolf Squad and I in our near future...everything we got after this we didn't expect...

Operation Pilgrim

Chap. 2: Operation Pilgrim

The day was quickly turning to night over the Kerman Checkpoint as the rest of the camp's cargo trucks shown up to the British line. It turns out the British weren't having that swell of a time as we expected since most of the city is still being feuded over, block after block is being contested and both sides are waiting for someone to break the almost stalemate-bound conditions in the dense urban areas. We lied to the direct south of the city, at a checkpoint which pretty much counts as a 'safe zone' to the combat going on ahead. Civilians did come few and far between, but most were hiding and running for their lives to escape the fighting in the city, just waiting for a reprieve. That fight is for the Brits alone however...Equestrian forces had different directives. Allied forces pushed up pretty far in the past months, and Kerman wont be the last city we passed through by a long shot...but it sure was the most 'memorable' if you'd like to think of it like that. Camps were made in the city to house civilians and keep them safe from the war...they must be scared out of their minds, seeing their families attacked, raped, and killed by enemy insurgents...wondering if their next on that list. It makes me really question why they fight. Are they really fighting for their God, because their religion is under threat? Or are they using it only as an excuse to shed blood? Are they fighting for the freedom of their people? Or are they fighting for the freedom to do whatever the hell they want to their people? I wish I can have a talk with at least one, and not be fed the load of brainwashed B.S. they came to believe. I suppose that day might not come, given the circumstances.

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As I walked through the checkpoint and passed various soldiers all alone with my thoughts, Citrus flagged me over. Citrus was leaning against a sandbag wall near a concrete two-story guard tower with Glint accompanying her.

"So any news?" Citrus said.

"Nothing of any real importance," I replied "we probably won't hear from much of anything for now...the city is turning into a real slice of hell, though."

"And we're expected to jump into that cesspit?" Glint added

"Yeah, but I expect it to be a little more toned down, it's the Brit's problem now, but it'll be everyone's problem when were ready to liberate the place and set up another F.O.B. in the vicinity...for now we get to be lazy"

After taking a second to look around I notice someone is missing.

I proceeded to ask "Hey, where's Splinter?"

"He's off socializing with some of his war buddies, who returned from the city," Glint replied "should be around here somewhere"

"Ahh...so be it...well I suppose we just get to sit around and chat, until further notice..." I said with a slight sigh

Slowly, I watched some vital components of the camp be temporarily set up, the primary armory, the comms. center, etc. In a mater a few hours we were combat ready, and in a few days we would be operational for missions further from home. The big brains of our commanders were hard at work, planning for logistics pathways, tactics assessment, handling intel. on insurgent movements, and so on. I'm sure they'll have something cooked up for us warfighters soon enough...they always do think of something. The rest of the camp's soldiers also offloaded from the trucks and began assisting the British with patrols and checkpoint work as well.

Some time passed, and it was about 04:00 hours when we noticed the soldiers around us become more lively, so we were bound to get assessed on the current situation. Much to my surprise the officer's called the squad leads in for a lengthy briefing. After about an hour of briefing from Equestrian and British high ranks, we had a new Op. set out for us: Operation Pilgrim. The plan is to extract all of the civilians in the city using a major 6-lane roadway through it's center, as now the city is primarily secure. Unfortunately due to the current situation we couldn't get vehicles in to help them out, and also other roads are too enclosed and open for I.E.D.s, so as it turns out...we're all walking them out the front door. The British forces were tasked with holding the rooftops and to generally keep an eye out for enemy forces, our forces were the ones defending the civs. as we got out. We were ordered to hold up the rear of the crowd along with teams Chaos, and Shredder, and together we made Bravo team.

We actually get use of radios this time, so none of us are out of the curve with this one. Alpha and Bravo teams have their own channels, so squads can keep in close contact no matter what. Command obviously has their own channel on our triple-line radios so were able to flick between Chaos, and Shredder on our Alpha line, and between Bravo teams, and command. British forces on the roofs also have their own channel, but their only linked to their command group, so our command line has to play runner for us.

After laying out the plan for the rest of the team, we went for outfitting. This time we had a far better selection of arms, and really no restrictions to what we could chose as a result of command trusting us so highly. Splinter and I chose the standardized R5-14 Assault Rifles with standard sight and attachments, given that there's no real need to do anything special for a standard Op like this. Splinter, however, picked the grenade launcher variant with High Explosive-Concussive rounds. Orion picked the cR5, which was a lighter model of the R5 set of rifles. Citrus picked out an M3SG/1-E from the rack...she was quite the good shot and I think she took pride in that, given she always picked a weapon worth it's accuracy when given the choice, this being a marksman rifle. Lastly, Rev took the FN Minimi Mk.3 with 7.62 rounds, as he was the squad's support gunner...ironically it shot as fast as his mouth sometimes.

After outfitting we mounted up in the Ace trucks and went out to the entrance of the city. When we were in the truck everyone was able to socialize.

Shredder leader (who was sitting right next to me) nudged my shoulder "Yeah we heard of you and your squad, man...fuckin' badass that we're pairin' up for this one, eh?"

"Well I wouldn't think of it as 'badass'....we're just kickin' ass and saving lives, through and through" I return.

"Eh, I guess your right about that..." he says "but gotta admit some of us are gettin' laid tonight, eh?...what you say about bringing your boys along so we can 'talk' to some Arabian hotties after this is all said and done?"

"Nah, man, I ain't about that life...I prefer keepin' it clean" I replied.

"al'ight, suit yourself" he mentioned as he picked up his hands and raised his shoulders showing no contest

As we rode I glanced out the back, and saw plenty of 5+-story buildings...we're getting close to operation launch.

The trucks dropped us on a really encroached alleyway, so it made the walk to the A.O. a breeze. What happened when we met the crowd...I...didnt really expect.

Time to hop out of the truck and get on the move to the mission area.

"Alright, alright, simple Op. We go in and we get people out, and if we meet any new resistance, we tear them up and keep going." I declared.

The squad formed on me as we marched ourselves up the street with the rest of Alpha and Bravo closely behind. The crowd grew as we got closer and it really is massive, with about 200+ men, women, and children within it. I looked toward the roofs and saw British sharpshooters and other soldiers posting up and keeping eyes out for insurgent movements. Must be hell for them...spent all day fighting and now their watching our backs hearding people out of a city like cattle. It really didn't matter, we all had a job to do, at the time...we'll bust each other's asses once we get Stingray set back up. As we approached the crowd of people, some were cheering and waving, others were crying because they lost their families, and others were even crying because they could finally get out of that hellhole.

I saw a filly in a white dress and brown knit jacket as we walked by, she just stared right at me with her big beautiful hazel eyes. There were no parents around to comfort her or do anything for that mater, she was just all alone in the ocean of a crowd. It's hard to believe she may never get a home after this, or even if there will be someone to take care of her. That's war for you.

We met up adjacent to the center of the crowd and Concord squad leader in Alpha called out "Alright people lets get into position, and begin moving these people the hell out. The guards fulfilled their part of the job, lets do ours"

And so we did. We split into Alpha and Bravo, began coaxing the people to get moving, and started down the highway. The crowd was big enough to take up 3 lanes if we let them spread out more, but we kept them at 2 for safety. They started laughing and cheering, as if they were part of a parade, all chanting and singing songs of celebration. Some were about ready to hug us and even carry us, but they knew they couldn't because we may think them to be an insurgent. I'm sure we all preferred we save the real partying until we actually got the hell out of here, though.

The people began cheering one phrase, now, but I couldn't understand them, so I walked over and patted Glint's shoulder to get his attention "Hey, your our translator, so what's the crowd saying right about now?"

"Their yelling an older chant, right now. Their loosely chanting 'Make us safe. Long live Persia', and also alternating between our countries, as well...good to see the citizens actually know who the good guys are, ya know?" he replied

...I honestly couldn't agree more with him, better to hear chants of motivation, than chants of death and war, these days.

Before I could say anything more, I heard one of our soldiers yell out "Hey, stay with the group! Hey you hurry the hell up!"

Then I heard "Alright, we got a straggler, just keep going we will get her back with everyone else" from the radio.

I turned and looked back... my concern instantly rose. It was that little girl I saw earlier, but she was now 50 feet behind us. Shredder leader and 2 of his men were walking back towards her...but instead of continuing to walk with everyone else, I just stopped. I stood there looking right at her, thinking to myself 'What the hell are you doing, you can leave now, but instead you just stop in your tracks? Why?'. I noticed Rev was starting to come back to tell me to keep up with everyone, but I just wanted to make sure everything was ok. As I watched Shredder leader put his hand on her shoulder and try to get her to come back to the crowd, I noticed she probably wasn't even paying attention to him...she didn't even care he was there. She just stood there with her head pointed towards the ground, maintaining a sort of isolation. I began to walk backwards, putting distance between us. After watching her, I noticed she wasn't just putting her head down, but she...she was crying. Eventually she did pick her head up, but instead of finally acknowledging the presence of the soldiers, she just looked up and stared at me again. Her hazel eyes once again locked on my face as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Then as if without warning, that innocent little girl...someone who would of had her entire life ahead of her...in a massive flash and boom just disappeared. There must of been an I.E.D. strapped to her chest, underneath her loose dress. The explosion disintegrated her and the soldiers, and knocked me off my feet.

I heard the radio fill with chatter and also heard Alpha yelling "What happened? what the fuck happened over there?"

The rest of the men answered for us and also assessed we were fine, other than the fact we lost 3 men and a civilian. The crowd screamed and started to run up the street in terror.

I got back up and ran back to Bravo, instinctively grabbing my radio and ordering "Alpha! Stay ahead of the crowd and keep them controlled! we'll catch up!"

I met up with the rest of Bravo as Splinter yelled "Did you just see what I saw?"

I turned, looking back down the road, the horrible occurrence still raw and looming in my mind "Yeah, but it doesn't mater, we still got a job to do"

Gunfire broke out from the roofs, cutting me off from saying anything else.

Command started barking on the radio "British sentries reported heavy insurgent forces moving on your position, Bravo! They'll be on you in a minute!"

"Copy all" Chaos' squad lead replied.

"Hey!" I yelled, grabbing everyone's attention "If these guys are running up on us, we can't just turn tail and retreat! let's hold position here, and set up a line of defense against their attack so we won't have to worry about any more civilians being in danger!"

Some of the men nodded in agreement, but others didn't like the idea at all.

Chaos leader chimed in "Well that's all we got in terms of action right about now, so lets get set up while we still can".

The rest of Shredder squad joined Chaos, as they set themselves up on the left and center parts of the roadway, whilst we set ourselves up on the right. We moved segments of debris to make cover. Rev set up on a concrete block on the center lane, Splinter and I took rubble on the outer lane, Orion and Glint took the inner lane, and Citrus took an elevated position behind us. Soon we all signaled we were ready to the other squads.

"Well you think we should of expected this?" said Splinter, as we was sitting on the ground and leaning against the rubble

"Well yeah," I replied "but at least we get some action, right?"

"Eh, yeah, can't argue with that" he agreed.

Eventually, gunfire broke out on the ground, and not just on the roofs like before. 'Contact!' was shouted as bullets whizzed by our heads, and enemy insurgents appeared among the heat waves in the distance. Bravo started unloading on the insurgents as they ran toward us. They were practically ignoring the fact they were being shot at as they went from a charge to taking cover. It was a hail of lead all over the place, and nobody was letting up, nobody giving an inch. I periodically heard soldiers yell out 'Reloading!' as they all went through their clips, and covered the ground in cartridges. More and more bullets started flying toward us in the firefight, and I soon realized we were becoming heavily outnumbered.

"Rev keep the bastards suppressed, we need room to work over here!" I yelled

"Aye aye, Cap.!" He responded as he began to take longer bursts of fire toward the insurgents trying his best to keep them pinned

The other squads likewise did the same.

I knew that couldn't be enough to break these militants, so I turned to Splinter and yelled "Looks like it's time to let loose with that GL of yours!"

He nodded, popped up, and started to send shells periodically down range in between firing normally. After 3 hard minutes of non-stop shooting they started pulling our RPGs and began firing those at us as well. One of the squads on the left flank were hit, and one man went down.

"Hey, command, tell the Brits to make themselves more fucking useful, we're being hammered down here!" Chaos lead's voice screamed on the radio

"Look we're doing all we can, just please hold out for just a while longer, we got support units on their way" command calmly replied

'Well they better get here soon, we may have to lose ground if they don't.' I thought to myself. But of coarse in an Op. like this there's bound to be something else going wrong, to make life that much harder. Like thunder there was a BANG that was much louder than the others in the fight.

"Sniper!" Orion yelled

I took a look around to see who was hit, and I saw Rev on the floor "Shit, Rev's down I'll go check him, keep me covered!" I yelled out as I quickly moved to Rev's barrier

He was screaming in pain and holding his left shoulder, so I can expect he was hit around that area. I got down and pulled out field dressings from his tac. vest.

"Dammit, they got me, the bastards got me" he uttered as I was applying bandages and other necessary field first-aid.

"Citrus, you found that sniper yet?" I yelled

"Yeah, I've got him in my sights!" she replied

"Good," I continued to yell "then drop the ass-hat!"

I heard her take the shot, I wouldn't have doubt in the same accuracy that saved us in the past. Likewise knew that he was well and truly dead.

"Alright, now you, just try not to get shot again, alright?" I directed towards Rev as I was getting him against the barrier

"All due respect sir...fuck you" he said in reply

I grinned at him and began to look back at the enemy ahead. They were slowly being worn down in the fight, and they couldn't last much longer.

"What the hell?!" I heard Orion declare with some surprise in his voice "I put three shots in one of these guys and he is not even flinching! Must be hopped up on drugs or something!"

They probably were, considering they aren't afraid to be shot at, nor do they appear to feel pain from being shot and just shrug it off.

In the distance I started to hear a sort of low THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP sound get closer and closer to our position. Looks like command pulled through yet again, because we found a UH-1 Huey gunship hovering over us, and it started absolutely devastating enemy troops with it's dual Gatling Guns.

I hop back on the radio and ordered "Alright, looks like our work is done here, let's get back to the edge of town while we still can!"

The squad an I started running back, with the rest of Bravo following suit.

We finally made it to the edge of town again to find Atlases and a cheering crowd of people waiting for us. One of the Alpha soldiers said "Damn, you guys got hammered out there" as we passed by them

I think we all just wanted to get back to the checkpoint at that time. When we got back, we mostly split up, with Splinter taking Rev to get his arm checked, and the rest of us turned in all of our equipment and got out of our gear and just wore our fatigues.

Instead of checking on the squad, I walked alone to a stone wall that overlooked the sunset that descended on the mountains. I just sat there...not reflecting on the battle or what's coming next...I was just thinking of that young girl. They strapped a bomb to her, and blew her sky high. It's hard to think what else they could of done to her, as well. I began to think 'The bastards...they think their fighting for a good cause...they think their not going to be touched by the slightest bit of karma...monsters...their *all monsters...they deserve to be put down like rabid dogs, the lot of them. After all my time fighting wars, I never seen someone go that low...to sink themselves to using a defenseless child as a weapon to maim and kill. They better prey to God that I don't get close enough to touch one of them, because I'm ripping their sorry ass in half when I do'*.

"Hey...you ok?" I heard someone say as their steps grew louder behind me

She hopped over the wall and sat next to me "So are you going to answer me, or are you going to not tell me like a big idiot?" she demanded.

It was Citrus.

Trying not to show my stress, I said "Don't worry, I'm fine...just tired"

"Bullshit" she fired back

I turned my head to look at her, and I noticed she was looking me in the face the entire time, her deep orange eyes not deviating from mine.

I finally gave in, letting out a sigh and saying "Fine...it...it was before the attack...that innocent little girl...just the way she died...disappearing in that explosion...I just can't get it out of my head"

Not breaking her gaze she said "Well I've learned there is always a good side to everything, no matter how bad the situation is. Can you pick anything that went well in that amount of time?"

"Yeah," I reply "we only lost 3 men, and got the crowd out with minimal injuries..."

"Aaaaaand?" she questions with a smile beginning to form on her face

"and what?" I said bluntly

"Well..." she began "remember how the little girl stopped and didn't continue moving with the crowd?...you could see it as she was sacrificing herself...she did die, yes, but imagine the outcome if she stayed with everyone. Many more people would have died. she made a decision many of us would have made as well, and in the end it was the right one, so you can't beat yourself up over something like that, especially over something you can't change. So in the end you could just accept it for the way it is, and make sure that you yourself are doing the right thing, as well."

With even a slight smile showing on my face I said "Well, I guess your right."

She then did something I didn't expect: she giggled, threw her arms around me, pulled me in for a long tight hug and said "Yeah, I am...and don't worry, if you don't do the right thing, I'll make sure to give you a nice hard smack to get you in the right direction"

With a slight laugh, I replied "Hey, whose the Lance Captain here, you or me?"

Adding a seductive tone to her voice she lightly uttered "If it's just you and me all alone, I'm 'Captain'"

In this moment I remembered I had the photo Rev taken in my pocked, and must of forgotten about it until now. I pulled away from Citrus' arms and taken out the photo with her giving the typical response "What's that?"

Without saying a word, I handed her the photo, and she took a good few seconds to look at it, before blushing and innocently saying "O-ohh...sorry"

With a smile still locked on my face I reply "It's ok...you can go ahead and keep the photo, though... I don't need it"

I began to hop over the wall and head out towards the medical tent.

With her cheeks still blushing still on her face I hear Citrus make a feint "T-thanks" as I walked away

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I think we all can agree the ending to that day was as good, if not better than any of us expected...our luck was sure to run out next time...

Siege

Chap. 3: Siege

It was always said not to let your guard down, not to let an advantage slip...we all thought we had that advantage...we all thought we were safe...how wrong were we...now...we really paid for it.

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Weeks after Operation Pilgrim...

North Kerman, Camp Stingray, 01:37 hours

We're all having fun now. We all were ordered to hang around at Stingray while bigger bulkier forces pushed ahead to take more and more of the fight to the enemy. The camp was pretty laid-back with a bunch of guys playing music on boom-boxes and there were even a few inflatable pools lying around. The most of the squad was playing volleyball at the time. I, however, sat down in one of the guard towers overlooking all the fun in the sun and listening to some music myself, without a single care in the world. You could consider it a vacation if you lost all the military gear lying around, and the occasional armored cavalry convoy passing though.

The guard towers were quite nice, and roomy. They obviously looked like your average olive green steel towers, but the one I was in had a few tables and chairs lying around, along with a bulletin board, and a whiteboard. Got me thinking to turn this place into the squad's hangout or something. Not like we'll be on the front in quite the while, anyways, since Vanguard's job as being a spearhead for other branches is done. Now, all we have to do is sit back and let the more run-of-the-mill cavalry and mechanized infantry Vanguards do what they need, and we all can head home. Then again, we will probably be called back to fix someone else's mistakes, but we usually do that anyways.

"Yo cap. what's up?" said Glint with sweat still dripping down his face from the volleyball game as he climbed up the stairs behind me

"Oh, nothing, just hanging out mostly" I replied

He proceeded to pull up a folding steel chair next to me "Alright...I believe I haven't really heard your 'story' yet, have I?"

"Kid, I'm full of 'stories'...I lived for a thousand years or so...what exactly do you want to know, eh?...better to be exact than spend a week telling you my life from A to Z. To make it fun, just go rapid fire if you want," I replied as I began to lean back in my chair

"Well...well how long have you been in Equestria?...You seem to know everything about anything but it's like you've always been there." questioned Glint

I stopped leaning and then turned to him whilst slouching forward and resting my elbows on my knees "Honestly I was born in Equestria, and I spent quite a good amount of time there, and it does still and always will reside as my home...but when I was younger I developed a massive wanderlust and just left to see the world. I went everywhere, learning everything straight from the tap. I also spent my time fighting many battles for multiple causes. Every opportunity, I also learned from someone else's folly as well as my own falters. Every time getting better and better. Eventually I found my way back, and dropped my self into this conflict as well. That all you need to know?"

He scratched the back of his head and took a good moment to think of a crafty question to ask "Uuuuhhh...well your a alicorn, so your much, much stronger than any unicorn, so why don't you just use magic to fight your battles...you'll surely take anyone down with ease, right?"

"Good question," I replied "well, yes I am an alicorn, and yes I am far stronger than a unicorn, but you see, magic isn't that effective in combat with modern tech. Sure, there have been those occurrences where a unicorn was able use magic spells to deflect a fatal bullet, or save his friend from a crude demise, or even take out many adversaries, and these are few and far between but it's actually quite ineffective when tested. Especially when top brass proceeds to sink their time and money into tactics, the practice of magic in combat is discouraged even further. That and also many countries are signing doctrines to stop that now. Soon magic will only be used in one-on-one duels or strictly old-fashioned combat with steel armor and sword 'n' board...In the end even if I did use magic, sooner or later I'll be court martialed for it, that and it's more challenging not to use it, and make battles more balanced. In my honest opinion, I think it's just an unneeded variable on the modern battlefield,"

He kept the ball rolling "Ahh...I see...what other battles or wars have you participated in, in recent years?"

"Even there resides a long list," I sighed "But one of my more entertaining battles I fought was when I was a pilot fighting for a barren mountainous air region called Bravo 7 Romeo, around North Asia. And let me tell ya that is quite the tale."

"Oi lads, wot the 'ell are you doing?" I hear as a set of hands are planted on my shoulders

"Alright Rev, Spinter is so going to whoop your ass when we tell him you've been doing the whole 'mocking accents' thing again" Glint mentioned with the annoyance reflecting in his voice

"I'm not mocking," he futilely responded "I'm just practicing,"

Glint crossed his arms "Yeah, as if!"

Kids will be kids.

I got up and proceeded to lean against the metal siding of the tower "Alright you two, knock it off...Rev remember that 'offer' I made you a while ago? I'm still more than happy to make that a reality,"

"Yeah whatever," said Rev as he started walking away "it's dead up here, I'll be heading back to the volleyball games,

"Please" simultaneously shot out of our mouths as Rev went back down the stairs...so smooth running himself right out of that one.

"Uggghhh, how did you even get a team mate like this guy anyway?" said Glint as he pointed his thumb at the stairs Rev descended on

"I didn't exactly chose them by hand per-se," I sat up on the railing behind me "command had that honor. But they were particularly keen with these squaddies of ours because they all excelled with something that covered certain weaknesses. Orion and Rev fighting for example: they always are at each other's throats and that's what keeps Rev on his game, and also Orion can control Rev to make sure he doesn't do something stupid. Rev helps Orion by making Orion be responsible for him, which keeps Orion 100% focused on anything and everything and not get tunnel vision on just what's at hand, even though it doesn't seem like it. Orion doesn't talk much to just about anyone, though. Some of us just think he's anti-social like crazy or secretly developing PTSD or something. He changed after his brother died...that's for certain... Splinter and I were old buds for the longest time, so it by all means seems logical for us to be teamed up, since we have such a good chemistry. Citrus always cared for everyone and made sure to put problems to bed...but she still comes to me when she has a big problem. We pretty much talk stuff out most of the time. I'm the leader of coarse, so I'm always keeping everything in order and planning ahead of the fight in front of us. You, well...your the new kid on the block...so we do have to train you, but you also train us in some ways, and you keep us 'in character' if you'd look at it like that,"

"Oh, I'm so honored" Glint replied

I grinned slightly "Eh don't worry kid...I said you'd do fine, and you are now, right?"

"Yeah, whatever," he went on to ask another question "You said you went through plenty of battles, but why aren't you in the Equestrian Royal Guard by now?"

"I just didn't want to enter that field. And what, you expect me to turn into big bad Prince Shining Armor or something? Yeah, I'm just not about that sort of lifestyle...sure, I may end up there eventually, but that will solely be on my terms, and mine only," I replied

Glint smiled "You know, your surely an interesting stallion, boss...sometimes I just wonder how your not the most well-known pony on the planet yet"

"Honestly I think the same exact thing...the world works in weird ways, sometimes" I giddily responded

"Yeah...it sure does" agreed Glint

Someone started shouting down below "Hey, are you done roosting in your nest up there, or will I have to go up there and carry you down myself?"

It's Citrus yelling at me yet again "C'mon we got a good game going and I'm so not letting you miss out on it!"

"Alright fine, have it your way!" I screamed back as I jumped over the rail to join them

I turned to yell up at my previous post "Are you gonna sit this one out Glint? You looked pretty beat earlier!"

"Yeah, I'll spectate this one!" He yelled back

"And here I was actually thinking I'd have to drag you out" Citrus sarcastically mentions behind me

"Yeah, you'd like that, now, wouldn't you?" I lightly fired back, making her smile

I took a position on the make-shift court "Alright, let's get this going"

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Later on in the day I must of fallen asleep back in the tower...it-...it's just that it seemed like the pieces all fallen into place...that everything was 'ok'...how wrong was I...how stupid was I...some leader I was...I still think everything is my fault...I know it is...

____________________________________________________________________________________________

PHSSSSSssssssssssssssstt BOOM! An extremely loud explosion woke me from my sleep, and it caused me to fall off of my chair. It came from the camp courtyard. Soon after that I heard multiple smaller booms and crackles, and saw flashes in the distance. I quickly ran out of the guard tower trying to collect my thoughts and get a bearing as to what the hell is going on. But as I stood there at the bottom of the stairs, it seemed as if everything had no sound...as if I was losing my hearing all together. I was tunneled in and caught entirely by surprise. I noticed a figure came up from behind me, grabbed me by the back of my shirt collar and practically dragged me to the side of a more permanent aluminum building from when we made this place the camp's permanent home.

The blurry figure yelled "STAY THE FUCK DOWN!" as he pushed me right up against the paneling

After a few seconds I noticed it was around midnight, but the flashes kept everything well-lit, and quite deceptive. The figure that saved me tried turning the corner of the building. In his attempt he fallen backwards and was lying motionless on the ground. After another 10 seconds I broke out of what seemed to be a trance to find that...that a soldier fallen right in front of me with bullet holes in his chest. I quickly came to the realization 'Th-...that's gunfire...we're under attack!'.

I struggled to pull the lifeless soldier's body into the cover he placed me in, and instantly started grabbing his gun and as much ammo as I could. My mind was still trapped in a sort of fuzz.

After I picked up all I could, I realize had to refer back to what other experienced soldiers commonly told recruits in emergency combat situations. They always said to lay out your actions into steps, and so I did. I went over it all in my head then and there.

'Step 1: Find a safe place to get my head straight...Step 2: Find friendlies...they know about the situation better than I do...Step 3: Re-unite with the squad...Step 4: Try not to die...'

I tried to measure where the bullets are coming from and run directly away from them. It turns out I needed to be heading towards the back of the camp, towards Kerman.

The fire was coming from everywhere, and I had to use a few boxes to move from cover to cover in my retreat from the deadly hail. Some came close enough to where I actually felt them pelt the ground as I was running away with my tail practically between my legs.

As I finally made it towards the back of the camp, I noticed more and more soldiers were around me, returning fire to wherever the heck we were being shot from. As I was rummaging along, trying to find where exactly an enemy was without getting my head shot off, I was seeing we were at a horrible disadvantage...more than what we were already. The rain of led still poured down onto us, and for certain it was much, much more than we could throw back. I was thinking we all had to run the hell away, and figure out a better position to fight from, but nobody moved.

Soldiers were getting cut down left, right, and center. I remember one got hit clean in the head with a PLINK! sound of his helmet being pierced by a bullet. His blood quickly coated the sand as I saw him just lay there. Half of his skull was torn off, leaving a massive bloody dent.

As I kept moving, a field medic yelled out to me "Hey you, I need help over here, he's hit!"

I quickly darted over to the set of supply crates they were behind, and took a look at the soldier who was injured. He was hit in the lower abdomen and was bleeding out fast.

The medic gave me a thick cotton pad and said "I'm almost done here, I just need you apply pressure while I patch him up,"

I pressed the pad against the poor sap's open and fast-flowing wound. He let out a painful scream as I applied pressure, and the doc. wrapped another bandage around him to keep it secure. The entire time his warm blood seeped all over my hands, coating them in a dark, sticky crimson.

After he wrapped the bandage around a final time, he put his arm on my shoulder "Ok he should live, now. Move out and find safety!"

I legged it out of there without question, leaving that small group of soldiers and the medic behind.

Once I finally got to the last aluminum 'hut' on the back corner of the camp, I noticed I was caught right between the enemy fire, and also a strip of desert before Kerman. One soldier in particular stopped me and pulled me to his side when we were in cover against the building.

"Orion!?" was the only thing that left my lips

He turned around with an extremely stern look on his face. With his normally torn and scratched voice he said "Look...I'm only saying this once. Dammit we've got a losing battle out here. Just point your nose out to that city, run and keep fuckin running. I've already sent everyone else out there, so you should be meeting up with them as well"

My mind went numb to what he was saying "Well w-...what about you? we need to stick together in this!"

He looked me dead in the eyes and said "You need to meet up with your team!...quit being a stupid prideful fuck-up and take your own advice for once, high and mighty squad lead!"

His words took me aback...why is he saying this nonsense? Why? I was speechless

"Look" he grabbed my attention back from my mental absence...he proceeded to tear off his dog-tags and push them into my chest "These past few months have been good to me, Val. Take these and join up with the others. Don't worry about me. NOW MOVE IT!"

He pushed me backwards, leaving me to catch his tags in my hands

I followed his advice and ran into the desert to the city, periodically looking down at his tags. I knew what that meant. He wasn't coming back...

Everything seemed surreal...as if it was all a nightmare, but I still had to keep my head, despite whatever was going on. Eventually, after a hard sprint through the barren planes, I made it to the edge of the city...so starts the search for my missing squaddies...

____________________________________________________________________________________________

I should have stayed...I should of been there to fight by his side...but instead I ran like some coward...I ran and kept running...It all happened so fast...I could barely keep up at the time...