Chapters (Cancelled) Rangers Never Sleep
Chapter 1 : Black Hawk Down
These dreams...Fucking dreams...
The same thing, the same redundant scenario set on replay every time I decamp into the night's embrace. Am I really this anxious about my deployment? This one goal has engrossed my entire life, and yet once I have achieved that simple, stitched tab, after 61 gruelling days of hell that they like to nickname Fort Benning, am I just now facing apprehension?
My eyes gently open, as they are immediately cascaded by a blinding white light. Like a moth to a lantern, I am equally as enthralled with this luminous anomaly. It is coming from beyond an old gated doorway, similar to one of a garden, but at the edge of a long corridor. From what my eyes can make out after being so hastily introduced to such an overwhelming glow, I think I can see a something dark at boundary of hallway. There is a figure approaching me with a gait that is not one of a human, but rather that of an elegant clydesdale. The figure that eclipses the bright light, with its equine traipse, halts within feet of my face. At this distance, I can see that it’s definitely equine, and from the looks of it, a Unicorn... It raises a hoof to me as to make contact, a hoof made of shadows that makes it seem that it’s not tactile. With due apprehension I raise my hand to meet this strange creature of equine origin, but the closer I get to this hoof, which is only about 2 feet from my hand, the stronger I get pried away. I don’t know why I want to make contact, but there is something telling me that I need to. As I’m pried away from the mysterious creature I hear the sound of increasingly loud screams. They are the screams of men. My men.
“..an”...
I shot from my nightmare into the relentless screaming of my bunkmate.
“Dude, the fucks goin’ on with you?” He was half-hanging by his forearms on my bunk.
Pvt. Daniel Westler, my battle buddy and bunkmate since Benning.
“You’re shrieking like a banshee, and look at your fuckin’ bunk!”
I looked down, where only then did I see my sweat soaked mattress.
“If you don’t cut this shit out they’re gonna file you section 8 man...”
I looked down at myself, my drenched bunk and t-shirt.
“Just another bad dream...” I stared down at my lap.
“Yeah? Well maybe some action will get your mind off of that shit, eh?”
I shot a look of confusion to him.
“...What are you talkin’ about...”
“2 of our UH-60’s from 160th SOAR got downed over Mogadishu, and that’s the thing with us Rangers, no man left behind.” He dumbly smiled
“Oh shit...Aidid’s men got them now?” I was fully awake at this point.
“They will if we don’t fuckin’ sky out now..”
His Nam terminology was starting to piss me off.
“Get your shit, we’re oscar mike!”
I could already hear the sounds of the HUMVEE’s engines roaring like a lions and the hurricane force of the MH-6/UH-60’s rotors spinning to life in the background. I jumped out of my bunk and grabbed my gear. I threw on my Coyote’s and interceptor, grabbed my M16A2 and ran out to meet my squad at briefing from Major Cardinal.
“As many of you already probably know, we’re embarking on a search and rescue mission. For many of you, this is probably your first assignment. For some of you, it will also be your last. Aidid’s men have engulfed the city and have set up numerous defence points to our great disadvantage. These men have an uncanny loyalty to Aidid and they are sure to put up one hell of a fight before you get anywhere close to our downed birds. Once you get there, you will meet up with the 1st SFOD-D Delta team and secure the area to make sure that we can get our boys out alive, hooah?”
“SIR, YES SIR!”
“Good, now get your asses to your posts, we’re oscar mike!”
The crowd dispersed and ran to their various positions, getting ready to head directly into the belly of the beast. I jumped onto the side of the MH-6, clipped in and we took off.
“30 seconds to contact.” The radio buzzed.
I yanked on the charging handle, a single .223 round slid up from the magazine into the chamber as the bolt closed on it. The pilot of the small black Littlebird lowered altitude to the rooftop of a native building. I pulled up my balaclava and jumped the 5 foot clearing onto the rooftop. As soon as we lowered, the chopper ascended back into the sky of day. Due to the small carrying capacity of the MH-6, I was put into a fireteam, luckily, Danny was still with me. He took point. We descended the staircase into the house that served as our LZ, making every measure to ensure the safety of the fireteam. 3rd floor, clear. We checked the room for munitions and any sign of enemy activity, but aside from a few bullet casings and empty magazines it was clear. We descended into the 2nd floor and used the same method that we used on the upper floor to this one.
“Hold. I hear enemy activity on the lower floor.”
He was right, I could hear footsteps running through the first level of the house and orders that were spoken in swahili. We jumped into position as to await our assailants, they were getting closer. The footsteps were now slamming on the staircase and that door would be sure to bust open within seconds to where there was going to be an all out firefight. The footsteps slowed to a cautious walk, as we could see the doorknob slowly moving. I raised my rifle to my shoulder, and fired 10 rounds in a horizontal line.
Silence
The only movement was that of a small puddle of blood sliding under the door.
"Move up."
We cautiously approached the door and blood puddle, from the looks of it, it was clear. I want to meet the man that can survive that kind of barrage. That would be one hard motherfucker. Moving on, our rally point was a school house about 1&1/2 klicks from our current position and we needed to get moving. I opened the door and peered into it with caution, for all we knew there was someone waiting to send a round through my skull. Assuring it was clear, I moved down onto the lower floor.
"If we're gonna make the rally point in time, we're gonna have to double time it." I spoke without taking my eye's off 12.
We picked up speed as to make good time, it eventually turned into a run. Our rally was only about a 3rd of a klick away and we needed to get there, and get out. I truly wouldn't be surprised if they already got our pilots, this whole situation is already fubar. These streets were baron, a wasteland, I haven't seen a single civie since we got here. I didn't like it one bit. I was just waiting for a pickup with a bed mounted .50 to roll out of one of these alley ways and mow us down right there.
The sound of boots slamming into the concrete, gear in our rucks jingling and the increasingly loud sound of gunfire was the only thing that any of us heard until we reached the rally point. This school looked like it had been through hell and back, books everywhere, windows broken, just a complete fucking Charlie Foxtrot of assorted supplies and debris. We shortly met up with another team, but they weren't wearing ACU pattern.
"Hold...LIGHTNING!....LIGHTNING OR WE WILL FIRE!"
"Good, you must be the Rangers we were promised."
I relaxed my muscles a bit, now knowing they were friendlies.
"You're wearing desert pattern...Hell, I didn't think that we were gonna be fighting with SEALs, what team?"
"Six."
I looked at him quizzically.
"...What team?"
"Exactly. Now lets get a move on, we got our guys already fighting resistance and we're not paid to watch."
We reached the kill zone, the smell of gunpowder and blood hung heavily in the air.
"SUPPRESSING FIRE!" Was shouted by a automatic rifleman, just before a barrage of M249's 5.56 rounds were sent in the directions of the militia. This was our time to move. I hunched over and sprinted to the other side of the street, a trail of rounds following me the whole time. I reached the other side completely unscathed, but something was still wrong. I patted myself down for puncture wounds, but found nothing. I jumped back to my feet and scanned the area. I found out what was wrong.
"GAAHH....MEDIC!...MEDIIIIC!"
It was Daniel, he was hit. He was my battle buddy, my best friend. I remembered the point that Ranger school slammed home,
Your battle buddy will be there for you, so you damn sure better be there for him.
Without hesitation, I sprinted directly back through the street. If I got hit there, I wouldn't of even noticed, I had one goal and that was to get to Danny. I dived down behind some debris and back to him, a medic was on the way.
"DREW, GET A MEDIC I'M HIT!"
"YOU'RE GONNA BE FINE, THERE'S A DOC ON THE WAY! RANGERS ARE NOT ALOUD TO DIE WITHOUT PERMISSION, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!"
I heard one call. One word that made all of the difference.
"GRENADE!"
Without hesitation I jumped over Danny, completely shielding him with myself. All I heard was a bang. Endgame.
I could see that dark figure, that luminous anomaly, that same black gate. Something was different this time though, I could walk. I walked right up to that dark figure. I reached out my hand and touched it. It was only then where I was enveloped by a bright light. Brighter then anything you have ever seen.
My eyes shot open, I was completely disoriented, completely confused. I didn't know what the fuck was going on. I felt my vest, the velcro on my arm where a small scroll hung. It all came back to me. I shot up from the ground and grabbed for my rifle. Nothing. I frantically searched for it, but to no avail. I grabbed my sidearm, a Colt Model 1911 .45 ACP, and brought it to eye level. It was only then that I realized that I wasn't on the street any more. I don't even think I was in Mogadishu anymore...I don't even think I was in AFRICA...
Where the FUCK am I?!
All of the walls were stone, stain glass windows and regal tapestries. But there was something else there too. I couldn't quite make out what it was in this light. Then it hit me, terrifyingly so. It was the figment of my nightmares, that FUCKING unicorn that caused me nights upon nights of shear terror. I readied my sidearm.
"It appears as though my attempts of telepathy have come to fruition" She spoke with a concerned expression.
(Cancelled) Rangers Never Sleep
I jumped to my feet and raised my sidearm, eye level, directly into the face of the beast. She began to backpedal into the wall, completely terrified of the hostile creature she summoned into her kingdom. She frantically looked around for some way out, an escape route from the imminent death staring her in the eyes. She broke the silence.
"Please...Let us negotiate..."
I was staring daggers directly into her eyes.
"...Since it is apparent that you speak English, lets start by you explaining, what the FUCK IS GOING ON!"
My expression quickly turned into one of fuming rage.
"Everything will be explained, please, just put that...thing , down..." She spoke, I could hear the terror in her voice.
I stayed in position for another 5 seconds, restraining her with my 1,000 mile-stare alone. Without breaking eyesight, I lowered my weapon, and relaxed my muscles. I opened my mouth to speak, but the sound of large BANG interrupted my thought process. I looked back to see the door of the room slammed open with about 6 more horses standing there.
"HALT! IN THE NAME OF THE PR-"
*BANG*
I didn't hear what he said, and I truly didn't care. Never sneak up on a Ranger in attack mode. As soon as he opened his mouth, I sent a .45 straight through his skull, splattering all of his buddies with his blood.
"...YOU MOTHERBUCKER!! I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!"
Oh, this was gonna be fun.
I was charged by all 5 of the left ones, but that's when I noticed that a few of them could actually fly... Yeah, they had their very own pair of wings. I was starting to wonder what kind of damn fairytale world I was in. The one's who couldn't fly, or the normal ones as they appeared, charged me full force. I just simply sidestepped the one, and cloths lined the other one, except I didn't let go. I pulled him into a huma-er...Pony sheild. God these things were heavy, they looked like chew toys, but in reality, they had to weigh at least 120-150 pounds, they're all muscle. I had him suspended by his throat, clutched against my chest with my arm extended next to his head with my the other ones at the business end of my 1911. One of the flying fuckers basically dive bombed me, but his terminal velocity was not as fast as a .45 traveling at 1,000 FPS. I squeezed another round off, the ear splitting BANG sent shudders through everyone in the small enclosed room. I embraced the recoil of the pistol as it lifted my arm. The body of the pony fell limply out of the air and landed on a wooden table, splintering it with ease. The ceiling, now decorated with the blood and brain matter of one unfortunate soul, was starting to drip down on the other soldiers. I still had the other pony wriggling in my arm, and I didn't want to spend all of my ammunition on these things, who knows, maybe there is something bigger that I will have to deal with now that I'm probably a most wanted fugitive. I holstered my 1911 and from the same area withdrew my KA-Bar Tanto from it's sheath, brought it up and dragged it across his neck. I didn't hold his mouth, I wanted them to hear his gargled screams as the blood escaped from his severed carotid. I dropped him to the floor while he was writhing in pain, fighting for his life. I simply stared into they're eyes, blood of my enemy dripping down my face. They were completely frozen, horrified.
"...GO...MOVE ALONG..." I yelled at them, they obliged.
I turned back to the main bitch. She sported a stern expression, and her horn was glowing. I figured it wasn't best to stick around for this one. I turned, but couldn't lift my leg. For that matter, I couldn't move anything. I realized something in my unnatural seizure, either I was hallucinating, or my body was engulfed in a pale aurora. I began to panic, trying to the best of my ability to set free of my binds. My heart was racing by the time I saw a whole lot more ponies show up at the door, and boy let me tell 'ya, they-were-angry . I heard a voice from behind, and looked to the source.
"Seize him."
I rotated my head back around, just in time to see a hoof on a crash course for my face. Wonderful.
*SMACK*
I was shaken awake by the extremely uncomfortable setting I was thrown into. My eyes shot open, my back was screaming. I looked down to see that I was actually sleeping in a cage, and I was defiantly being moved somewhere. After I was out of my initial shock, I found that I was actually in the back of a wagon of some sort, and there seems to be an entourage. One of them saw me awake; he spoke up.
"He-hey, look who's awake guys! Have a pleasant sleep? Hahaha..."
"Where the fuck are you bringing me. Am I gonna have to slaughter more of you fucking chew toys?" Still using my 1,000 yard stare.
"Look out everybody, we gotta tough guy over here! Don't worry, you're not gonna get the chance to even touch us. You're not so tough without this, are ya?" He levitated my sidearm and blade in front of my face.
Fuck...
"You alien bitches wear such heavy armor, unlike us Equestrian Guard, our armor is paper thin, we don't let our enemy get so close. Only idiots do that, but I guess you know nothing about combat tactics, huh?"
"Nah, didn't just kill 3 of you little cunts with the lift of my fucking finger..."
A louder voice came from behind me.
"SHUT YOUR ALIEN MOUTH", followed by a smack to the head with the back of a spear.
Ouch...
Another voice came from left side of me.
"Hey Moonlight! Check me out!" An Pegasus guard came walking into view with my jacket, vest, ruck and helmet on. "I'm alien soldier, sent here to fight! It's OK that I'm dumber than Derpy the Mailmare, they said that this is a special mission, just for me!"
Let's see just how smart you are."
"Wait, come here, you have something in your mane."
He gave me a very suspicious look, but after a moment or two he proceeded to fly over. With him about a foot from the cage, I reached my hand out to his mane, and one to my vest pocket.
"Yeah, it's just a little mud or something, just lemme-"
"OW! WHAT THE FUCK?!"
I looked at the piece of his mane in my hand, it wasn't the only thing I took...
"Well it's out now, you're welcome!" I smiled at him.
I quickly put the small object from my vest into my pocket. Now just to wait for the right time.
About 30 more minutes down the road, the sun was setting fast. That was the last experience I had with those shit talking little motherfuckers. I seemed that now would be a good time to put the fruits of my labor to work. I withdrew the small Leatherman Multi-Tool, an iconic Ranger tool, and selected the awl. I inserted it into the key whole, and hit it with my fist. It gave way a tiny bit, but nothing really substantial. I looked around to make sure that no one was looking, and kicked it through. The lock basically shattered, but I made sure that it would still stay shut but could open with a little pressure.
"OK...3...2...1..."
I pushed it open, no one was around. Maybe they were sleeping, where ever they were they weren't here and that was the important thing. I climbed up on top of the cage to get a better vantage point on the situation. Seems that these are officially the WORST soldiers in the universe. They had one man awake, the guy pulling the cart. All the rest of them were sleeping in various positions in the cargo area. Shit, we would get castrated and have to eat our severed genitals if we got caught during unauthorized sleep. This was gonna be too easy. Their rucksacks weren't difficult to find, especially since they were sleeping. I looted them, and it really payed off, I found a compass and a map. I grabbed the gear of mine that that one pony was wearing, my knife and 1911 and hoped of the back of the wagon and ran over to some brush. I pulled out my dads lucky zippo, he gave it to me right before he passed. I keep this thing with me where ever I go. I lit it up and took a look at the map.
Ponyville...It'll be a cold day in hell before that will ever sound threatening, sounds like a good place to start... "MOONLIGHT! WAKE UP! THE PRISONER HAS ESCAPED!"
"huh...what?..WHAT! SHIT, EVERYPONY! WAKE UP!"
"What! What's going on!?"
"THE PRISONER IS GONE! YOU IDIOTS! HOW COULD YOU FALL ASLEEP!"
"Staff Sargent! I found a note! It reads..."
Dear poorly disciplined soldiers, If I wanted to, I could of killed you without waking a mouse. Next time you're carrying a prisoner, don't fall asleep because back where I'm from, that gets you what's called a "Blanket Party" Sincerely, Pvt. Cole
(Cancelled) Rangers Never Sleep
Chapter 3 : Hike in the Hills
Author's Notes: Sorry I haven't been writing, I've been very busy lately, and with school starting soon I will probably only be able to put out a chapter once a week. Also, am I the only one who is a little freaked by the semi-erotic RarityxAppleJack cover pages that admin has been putting up?
I started on my hike back down the road from where I came from. I really didn’t know what the hell I was going to do now that I was here, go set off into the woods and try to survive? Try to negotiate with the boss and get discharged from this eccentric land?
For that matter, how the actual fuck did I get here? I mean, last thing I remember I was in…I was in Mogadishu after those downed birds and …Did I… No… No that’s impossible…I couldn’t of, I just went back after Daniel and…
"Heh...No...Couldn't of..."
I forced that thought out of my head and carried on down the road.
It was night already and although the moon was brilliantly luminous, it wasn't enough for sufficient visibility. I knelt down on the side of the road and opened up my ruck. I figured it would be best to don my equipment now. I secured my vest to my torso and helmet to my head. I clipped the NVG set onto my helmet and swung it down over my eye. My left eye was met with a brilliant, green hued light as I regained my visibility. I raised myself back to my feet and continued back on down the road. I checked my watch, 0800, obviously there was a time difference. Whatever, I was sheltered by the night; I didn't need to rush or stick to the shadows, that is unless they send out another patrol to look for me. Wonderful fucking choice on my part there, not the smartest decision to make myself wanted by the fucking government within the first 5 minutes of being here. If being here in the first place wasn't bad enough, now I have a high price on my head, no where to go, no friends, no family, no nothing. Just me and my conscience; but it's quite apparent that I can't trust that after my last intelligent decisions.
I left the cart about 3 hours back been walking for about another 2 hours now, only thing audible is the excessive chirping of the crickets and the thumping of my boots connecting with the rough dirt road. If it wasn't for the relentless conditioning that I underwent in the form of ruck marches at Sand Hill, I would of passed out from shear exhaustion by now. Sure as hell must suck for the automatic riflemen, luggin' those 30 pound M-60's around with them. God I miss that sound, the notorious chugging of the M-60: the sound of freedom. I was in an almost trance-like state, just thinking about the fond memories of home. I got snapped back to reality by the sound of voices and the faint glow of torches. I halted all movement as my mind was switched to warrior mode. I hunched over in a crouching position as I swiftly ran into some brush off of the roadside. I realized that I needed to blend better with the environment, desert pattern wasn't gonna cut it for woodland areas. In the behavior of a sniper, I rolled into a puddle of muck, making sure to get everything covered in the dark and earthy viscous substance. I felt like a pig. I stealthily crawled over to some brush that had a vantage point on the road and lie prone. The hunters came into sight, it was just like the last group, except more. Their ringleader, the sergeant from before.
"Spread out, he has to be around here somewhere..."
I lie my hand over my sheathed blade, if this was about to get ugly, I was ready. There was a rather official looking soldier among them, he wore armor with purple plates and an extravagant gold trim. It was decorated with a shield on the chest plate, the iridescence of the armor was completely inappropriate for combat. His voice however did not sound intimidating at all, it sounded as though he just got back from a surfing competition in Cali.
"How in the hell did you manage to lose a 6 foot, bi-pedal, hairless ape, sergeant? You had one damn job. One Job."
"My greatest apologies, Sir. He overpowered us, we were defenseless against his seething rage."
"If basic taught you one thing, it's that Guardsmen don't give up. If it wasn't for your cowardly actions, I would still be enjoying a beautiful dinner with my wife and sister, who I rarely get to see. If you were sent home in a body bag then I would understand. Are we clear, Private? "
He wore a look of shear horror.
"B-but Sir...Is a demotion...Truly necessary?"
"My decision is final."
"Yes Sir..."
I smirked
"Heh...You lying little shit..."
While the squad and I were enjoying the performance, neither of us had an idea that one of the soldiers needed to relieve himself. It just so happened that he chose a spot directly over my head.
Fuck...
The warm stream of putrid liquid impacted my head with force, he was pissing like a...Well, like a racehorse. I tried to keep completely still despite the circumstances, though it's really hard to keep a straight face whilst receiving a golden shower. About 4 seconds into the strange, non-sexual act, it broke me. I reached my breaking point. I jumped up from the birm and grabbed the soldier by the neck. He was scared shitless; a look of pure terror in his eyes. I pulled him down into the ravine and put him in a choke hold. He struggled for air as I was tightly compressing his trachea, I wasn't trying to kill him, I just wanted him out of the equation. After a bit of futile struggling, he passed out in my arms. I dropped him to the floor. I looked back up over the berm, just in time to see the eyes of another soldier looking back at me.
"SHIT! THERE HE IS-"
*Smack*
Before he could finish his SitRep, I gave him a right hook to the jaw. The punch was strong enough the knock him out, and as it did I grabbed him and brought him down with the other soldier. I had the feeling that shit was about to hit the fan. I hesitantly looked back up over the berm to see 6 other pairs of eyes looking back at me. I could see it in their eyes, I knew because it's happens to me often. They're minds switched into warrior mode, their training kicks in they certainly won't go down without one hell of a fight. I vaulted up to the road and retrieved my colt from it's holster. I raised it to eye level. The soldier closest to me, a unicorn with a white coat, charged me. As he got close to me, he reared up as to confront me with his forehooves. I grabbed his right arm and used his momentum to throw him to the ground. As he lay on his back I brought all of my weight on one knee into his chest. With an audible *CRACK* and a scream, I lifted myself back to my feet and readied once more, leaving the incapacitated pony to writhe in pain. As soon as I was back, there was another one, this time a Pegasus, charging me from a flying assault. He was using his body as a flying battering ram. There was nothing I could do except anticipate the impact. The force of the impact sent me back a few feet with the pony on top of me. I was now lying on my back as my assailant was impacting me with a barrage of punches connecting with my face. I threw my right fist at his jaw and it connected with a sickening crack. While dazed from the hook I threw my left arm over the right side of his neck and opened his entire side for attack, a classic Hand-to-Hand move. From this position, I could easily cause severe internal damage if I got a knife in there. Sever the intestines that would leak fecal matter, hemorrhaging, lung deflation, ect. I didn't really want to kill anymore of them though, I stuck to non-lethal. I pounded my fist into his gut, the resulting effect was yells of pain. Lastly, I brought my knee up and drove it into his gut, hard . With another pony out of commission, I was starting to get pissed. I looked to the 3 remaining soldiers. The Officer spoke.
"You don't know who you're fucking with."
"Likewise..."
He wasn't a fan of my attitude.
"Surrender, or die. The Equestrian Guard is the most elite fighting force in the known world. You stand no chance."
"Neither did those guys." I pointed to the writing soldiers. "Now if you don't stand down, I'm gonna put a bullet in all three of your heads, and as much as that would break my fucking heart, I will do what's necessary to survive."
They weren't buying it. I opened up a pouch on my vest and pulled out a black cylinder.
"Seize him!"
I pulled the pin and threw it to their feet. The stepped back a small bit, but their curiosity got the best of them as they moved closer. Right in time for it to detonate. With a blinding flash and a deafening boom, they were completely disoriented. Perfect time for me to slip away into the night.
