Blood in the Sand

After a few hours of flying Ivory suad was approaching the Hammerhead. Roman spent the whole trip thinking about Sasha. In truth Roman hated himself the more he thought about his actions the more he felt sick to his stomach. Never before had he taken a child's life and he hoped to god that was the last time he would have to do it. The trip seemed to drag on. sensing Romans pain Rainbow scooted close to him and held him tight resting her head on his back. Ramirez looks over to Baxter.

“Are they an item, because it seems like everytime something happens they are hugging on each other like that.” Baxter smiles and looks at the two of them and looks back to Ramirez.

“No they have just been together for so long they have become brother and sister basically.” he looks at Baxter.

“So what are they both single or something. Cause if they are then I feel sorry for them. All this shit must be hitting them hard.” Ramirez says taking a drink from his canteen. Baxter just looks and chuckles,

“No Roman has a girl back home waiting for him. As for Gunnery Sergeant Dash well all she has is Roman and her friends back home.” Baxter says smiling.

“So she is available then.” Ramirez says smiling as Baxter laughs.

“Son trust me she is too much for you to handle.” Baxter pats him on the back and continues to laugh. Baxter puts his arm around the young private. “Don’t worry kid you’ll find someone.” Baxter smiles at Ramirez and smiles. The group soon falls asleep on the final approach on the compound. After a few minutes the pilot comes over the radio.

“Commander you're gonna wanna see this.” He said in a worried tone. Roman rushes to the front of the blackhawk and looked in horror at the sight before him. On the roof of the compound was a massive pile of bodies that were on fire. Just then Tahir hijacks the signal and comes over the radio.

“Hello there commander. It’s been a long time hasn't it. How do you like my little presentation. Ya know it took my men several days to find all the bodies from that horrid crash. Some memorable faces like our old friend Sergeant major Maxim oh and this blonde cutie we dug up near a helicopter.” Roman tightens his fist and pounds the chair next to him in the back Rainbow was twice as furious biting her lip until blood dribbled down her chin.

“You son of bitch, I’ll fucking kill you.” Roman said trying his best to restrain himself.

“Oh trust me commander I have no intention of running in fact I think I’ll just sit here and wait. So go ahead commander go ahead and take as many lives as you want until you're satisfied. Once your done with your pathetic little revenge mission come find me so I can put you out of your misery.” Tahir laughs hanging up. Roman grits his teeth and grabs his rifle slamming a clip into it and throwing it over his shoulder.

“Attention Ivory Squad there has been a change of plans. We will not be fighting Prometheus the twelve of us will be heading straight for that son of a bitch Tahir. The plan is we land in the compound kill every living soul in there. Even if they surrender if i so much as even hear any of you show mercy to anyone who serves Tahir then i will kill you myself. Now gear up and get ready to drop.” Everyone takes a few minutes to comprehend the gravity of the situation they were just presented with. It was clear Roman was mad but some members started to doubt his mental stability. However if there were two people he could count on it was Rainbow and Baxter. The helicopter flies over the compound and hovers as Ivory Squad repels down. Once on the ground they waste no time in cutting down anyone who stood in there way. Every second they spent in that compound caused the body count to climb soon the courtyard was covered in bodies and the sand was tinted with the blood of the poor souls who stumbled in front of Ivory Squads massacre.

Kicking in the door every switched to close quarter weapons and began spraying the walls with blood and buckshot. Men fell with each door that was kicked in. Roman was silent the whole time not saying a word just a cold blooded stare and no shred of humanity left in him. All he cared about was reaching Tahir and exacting his slow and painful revenge. Meanwhile on the battlefield Mako Company was pounding Prometheus hard. machine guns blasted every living thing that was caught in its sights. grenades exploded, limbs flying and screams filling the air as soldiers were dropping like flies. It was if the marines were possed everytime a marine fell not a single person showed any emotion just a massive army of killing machines rapidly thinning the Promethean forces. After several more minutes of what seemed like imminent death reinforcements came charging on from the east clashing with the men of Mako Company. The slaughter only increased as now Mako was quickly thinning along side Promethean forces. When all hope had seemed lost Reptile Company, Squid Company, and Siren Company came flying over the hills armed with missiles, machine guns and Infantry firing from the sides of the choppers as they mow down all remaining members of Prometheus. A few lucky survivors escaped the the U.S forces climbed on top of there tanks and jeeps and cheered firing their guns into air at their victory.

Roman kicked in the door and slaughtered the remaining men in the room before stripping down to his shirt and pants grabbing his knife he heads up the stairs.

“I want the forteen of you to clear out this building of any remaining soldiers. Remember people no mercy.” Roman walked up the stairs and kicked in the door. There before him was Tahir sitting in his chair enjoying a nice glass of wine.

“Ah Mr. Roman it's so nice to finally see the face of the man who killed my brother. Although I expected my brother's killer to have both his eyes.” Tahir laughs mocking Romans missing eye.

“Well I was tempted to dig up his body and take his, but i felt that a nice dirt nap in an unmarked grave in the middle of the dessert was a fitting location for that piece of filth.” Roman and Tahir stare each other down as they pace back and forth sizing each other up.

“So tell me commander what was it like seeing all you cared about taken away from you.” the man said cracking his knuckles and assumed a fighting stance.

“The same way you feel. Now enough talk lets finish this here and now.” roman throws his knife and weapon to the ground taking up the same stance. This was the moment of truth the two men narrowed each others eyes before charging at each other. The fateful duel lasted for what seemed like an eternity. The men matched one another blow for blow. The men get more violent as Roman tackles Tahir to the ground and begins slamming his head into Tahir's rapidly. Tahir kicks Roamn of of him as he stumbles to his feet and spits blood onto the floor. The two continued their brawl. Below the top floor Rainbow and the rest of Ivory company were weeding out the remaining soldiers. Once the dust settled and the men lay dead the brave soldiers take a breather as they radio in and receive confirmation that the battle was over and Prometheus had been defeated the men cheered as Baxter and Ramirez hugged each other tightly cheering that the long bloody chapter was finally over.

Back in the control tower the fight was beginning to drag on both Roman and Tahir were beaten, bloody and near death. Tahir looks at Roman and laughs.

“What's so funny shithead.” Roman said getting back up on his feet.

“Applejack that was her name wasn’t it. Poor girl ya know it was touching seeing you risk your life to save her a pity the last time you saw her she was a bloody corpse. I Imagine she must have finished burning by now. So before we finish this I have one last thing to say. Take all that hatred and all that pain and relish in the fact that not only is your closest friend is now just a charred corpse in the middle of my compound in a country no one ever gave two shits about. Relish in the fact that the same person who did this is about to kill you.” Tahir laughs as Roman snaps he picks Tahir up by the throat and punched him repeatedly he begins slamming his head into the wall before stomping on his head for several minutes. Roman then picks up the knife and begins cutting Tahir all over his body before throwing him through the door and into the hall. Roman limps towards Tahir gun loaded and aims it at Tahir's head.

“Do it kill me satisfy your vain bloodlust. Killing me won’t stop a thing, cut off one head of the hydra and another will spring up in its place.” He laughs coughing up blood.

“You terrorists are all the same. You're always optimists even when you're staring death in the face. Truth is I don’t care if killing you brings new evil into the world, you took something dear to me, caused emotional pain for friends and families everywhere, and killed thousands of innocent people. I would kill a monster like you over and over again.” Roman pulls back the hammer and squeezes the trigger.

“Just remember Roman you took something from me as well. I hope you can live with all that blood on your hands. Live with the memory of every life you took in this quest to rid the world of evil.” Roman fires the gun as Tahir’s head slams against the floor as blood pools behind his head. Roman falls to the floor and leans against the wall laughing.

“It’s finally over. Applejack I’m sorry for everything but your death wasn’t in vein now me and Rainbow kept our promise we're finally going home.” He says pulling out the picture of his friends and rubs his finger over the picture and wiping the dust from over top Applejacks face. He drops the picture and breaks down crying into his hands. Ivory Squad comes running up the stairs to find their commander near death and crying. For once in his life he dropped his guard in front of everyone. The squad just sit there admiring the sight of seeing their commander acting like a human instead of the vengeful killer they always saw him as. Rainbow and Baxter help him to his feet and they walk him out to the helicopter.

It was a long helicopter ride back to the Hammerhead, but it was an easy one. The nightmare was finally over the two brothers were dead and Prometheus was now just another dark chapter that claimed the lives of so many innocent men and women. The road to recovery wasn’t going to be easy but Roman didn’t care. All he wanted was to be debriefed and come home to see Sunset and his friends. Once they landed everyone was debriefed and several hours later a big party was thrown and everyone celebrated. Baxter even got cozy with Private Ramirez. The two new lovers were drinking together and dancing and enjoying each others company. Meanwhile Roman and Rainbow were hitting the bar hard knocking back shot after shot numbing the pain.

“Ya know what sucks, I never got to confess my feelings for Applejack.” Rainbow said taking another shot. “I mean I’ve loved her ever since we met she was really the only one besides you who understood how I truly am deep inside. I was gonna tell her how I felt when we returned home. It’s a shame I’ll never get that chance.” Her eyes swell with tears as she takes three more shots as Roman puts his arm around her and rubbed her back.

“It’s ok Rainbow I’ll always be here for you. I’m sure if Applejack was here today then she would accept your feelings and be with you.” She rests her head on his shoulder.

“Thanks Roman. I’m glad atleast someone I cared about made it out alive. It's gonna be hard the next few years but we can make it through this.” Roman pours six shots and slides three to Rainbow.

“Let's have a toast.” Romanansd Rainbow take the first shotglass.

“To all our fallen brothers and sisters.” Roman and Rainbow clink their glasses and knock back the first shot.

“To Applejack, may she finally rest in peace.” Rainbow says as they once again take a second shot.

“And to a peaceful future with our friends and loved ones.” They said as knocking back the final shot. They continued drinking into the night before collapsing in their cots. Over the next several weeks everyone relaxed and defused Roman and Rainbow never left each others side not even when Roman was skyping with Sunset. On the flip side Baxter and Ramirez got closer. In a way those two were just like Roman and Sunset. The two men would constantly be around each other. In a way there relationship was perfect. Roman only got more excited as he marked his calender before be. Tomorrow was the day they would arrive in port and he would be reunited with Sunset. After a year and a half of bloody fighting the day of reckoning was finally on the horizon. The next morning the soldiers piled onto the deck of the ship bags in hand as they see the bright and colorful flags and the banner home that read “Welcome Home Troops”. Once the ship was docked the men and women poured out of the ship as there families run towards them. As rainbow and Roman walked into the hanger and there before him was his Goddess. He dropped his back and ran up to her hugging her tightly and kissing her repeatedly. the two starved lovers kept their lips locked for several minutes before Twilight cleared her throat to get there attention.

Roman jokingly flipped her off before giving Sunset one last kiss before everyone shared a big group hug. Roman shuffles through his bag pulling out a black box he got back in Nigeria during a trip into the city on a leave day. Roman gets down on one knee and looks into Sunsets eyes now filled with tears as she covers her mouth.

“Sunset I have been to hell and back and fought my way through the jaws of hell. The thought of you was the only thing keeping me alive and running. Sunset I’ve waited for this moment for a long time. Sunset Shimmer will you marry me?” Roman stands up as Sunset pulls him close.

“Yes a thousand times yes. I’ve wanted this for so long Roman it's all I could dream about.” She kisses him once again this time they kissed like never before lips locked tight hands exploring each others bodies as tongues danced in perfect unison. The now reunited group of friends hopped into Romans jeep and they all went out for a night on the town. Roman and Rainbow did it, they stared death in the face and made it home safe and sound. More importantly Roman had the girl of his dreams glued to his side. Everything was finally starting to go Roman’s way.