Chapters You Are Never Out Of The Fight
July 22, 2021
“God, what the fuck just happened to me?”
I said as I opened my eyes, only to be met with immediate pain throughout my body, this caused me to clench my teeth as I sat upright.
As I looked around I noticed that I was in a dense forest, then I stopped and I remembered what had just transpired. The last thing that I could really remember was the op that I was on with my team and how it went south fast.
I remembered how we were fighting on that mountain and how our enemy continued to push us further and further down into the ravine. It didn’t matter how many of them we killed, they still kept on coming at us with everything that they had. Our enemy had anything ranging from small arms, to RPG’s. All me and my brothers had were our rifles and our experience...And even that didn’t seem to be enough.
I thought that I was prepared for anything, considering that I went through BUD/s and a handful of other ops as well. Nothing ever could have prepared me, or my brothers for what was waiting for us on that mountain.
As I shook myself from these thoughts, I noticed that it wasn’t midday anymore and that the sun was setting; I wasn't getting shot at either. As I continued to survey the area around me, I did so in a cautious manner; aiming down the sights of my M4A1.
“I should try comms, maybe I can reach HQ that way.”
I said to myself as I wheezed and clicked on my radio and spoke into it.
“Spartan Base this is Spartan 0-1, radio check?”
I waited for a response, but received none in return.
“Spartan Base this is Spartan 0-1, radio check?”
I said again, hoping to get a response in return. After waiting a few seconds for a response, I sighed and turned off my radio.
“Looks like you’re alone for now Isaac.”
I said to myself as I slowly stood up and hobbled my way through the thick forest. As I was walking, I noticed that there were very large tracks on the forest floor making me kneel down to inspect them.
“Hmmm...Looks like these are recent, but no animal I know of could have made these types of tracks.”
As I pondered on this thought I heard a twig snapping to the right of me, which caused me to turn and raise my gun in response. As I waited for what felt like hours, a large beast came charging out of the dense forest.
This caused me to fire three rounds from my M4A1 into the creature's head, making it fall to the floor lifeless. Upon closer inspection of the creature, it looked like it was a lion, but it had a scorpion tail.
“Jesus fucking christ, the LT would’ve loved to see this son of a bitch.”
I said to myself. This caused me to replay the last memory I had of the Lieutenant in my head.
“Listen Isaac”
Woodson said to me as he pulled out a SAT phone and coughed up some blood,
“I’m gonna go up on that ridge over there and call for extraction.”
He said with labored breathing.
“No.”
I said, while attempting to wipe the blood from my left eye and shaking my head.
“Fuck that Woodson, fuck that.”
Woodson then handed me his remaining magazines and said,
“I want you to cover me while I make the climb, Isaac. Jacob can’t do it, since he’s covering the left.”
As Woodson said this I shook my head,
“I’ll cover you as best I can Woodson.”
With that being said Woodson broke out of cover.
As Woodson was pushing right toward the ridge, I took cover behind a rock and began picking my targets that would prove to be an obstacle for Woodson. As I aimed down my sights and pulled the trigger numerous times, I watched as my opponents began to fall one by one.
The magazine in my rifle was then spent as I heard the unmistakable ‘click’ that accompanied the problem that had shown itself to me. Silently cursing myself, I ejected the spent magazine and fed a fresh one into my rifle knowing that every second I wasn’t covering Woodson, he was in even more danger.
As I watched my closest friend stumble up onto the ridge, I saw him lay on his back and dial HQ on the SAT phone, he held it up to his ear and began speaking as bullets peppered all around him. Even as I watched on, knowing that I couldn’t help him I knew that he was doing the right thing for me and Jacob.
“Where’s the LT?”
I heard Jacob say from behind me,
“He’s calling for extraction, up on that ridge over there.”
I said to him as I continued to watch Woodson talk on the phone. Woodson then dropped the phone as he was hit in the leg by a bullet and attempted to stand up, using his rifle as a crutch. This attempt that he made was in vain as I watched two bullets pierce his back, with that he paused, dropped his rifle and collapsed onto the ground.
As this thought left my mind, I shook my head slightly and continued to look down at the strange creature that I had just killed. I then heard something drop on the ground in front of me. I raised my rifle up, only to be met with,
“A cream colored pegasus?”
I said in slight shock as I continued to have my rifle trained on the pegasus. As I continued to look her over, I noticed that she had the body of a human being. The only noticeable things that stood out was the fact that she had wings, a head that was horse shaped and fur encompassing her entire body.
As I silently scanned her physical form, I noticed what had fallen on the ground. It was her picnic basket, along with all of the apples that were inside of it. She was trembling uncontrollably and crying as well at the sight before her.
“Identify yourself, or I will fire upon you!”
I said shakily, with my rifle pointed at her.
She continued to shake and managed to choke out,
“M-m-my name i-i-is F-Fluttershy.”
I looked to my left and to my right before looking at her again and continuing the conversation,
“Where did you come from?”
“P-P-Ponyville
She said in a timid voice.
“A-Are you okay? You look so awful!”
She said in a worried tone of voice, I then replied with.
“I’ll be fine, I just need to get back to HQ.”
I said while grunting slightly.
The poor girl was probably scared shitless from what she had just seen, but I couldn’t blame her for that entirely, considering that I probably looked like a walking corpse right now. Hell If I didn’t have my boonie on, she would probably be absolutely terrified of me.
“Remember Isaac, the rules of engagement state that I’m unable to harm her unless she is hostile in any way.”
I then leveled my rifle and spoke to her again.
“Do you think that you can take me to this town of yours, so that I can get into contact with my HQ?”
She slowly nodded and began walking off into the forest, after I helped her pick her belongings up. As we were walking side by side in the forest, Fluttershy turned her head towards me and asked,
“W-What’s your name, mister?”
I glanced to my left and said,
“Chief Petty Officer, Isaac Bowen of the United States Navy.”
Fluttershy then looked at me in a confused manner and replied with,
“I’ve never heard of the ‘United States’ before. Is that where you’re from?”
I looked over at her and chuckled,
“You’re joking right?”
Fluttershy only shied away at the comment I made, I decided that it would be best not to talk to her that much considering her shyness and that it hurt to exhale, let alone breathe. As we both walked in silence I slowly saw that the treeline was coming into view as well as a few lights that were scattered off in the distance as well.
“Is that Ponyville?”
I asked Fluttershy, to which she replied with a simple nod of her head.
“Okay, let’s go then.”
I said as we made it out of the forest and towards our impending destination. As we approached the town in question, we were both met with a group of peo-horses? I don’t fucking know at this point.
They all looked worried and all went over to make sure that Fluttershy was okay. As I tried to stay on my feet, different injuries that my body had sustained during my fight were weighing down upon me, this caused me to collapse on the ground.
After my collapse a purple colored unicorn ran over to me and shook me slightly,
“Oh my Celestia! We need to get him to the Ponyville Hospital immediately!”
She said and the last thing that went through my head before falling into darkness was Woodson’s voice saying to me,
“No matter how much it hurts, how dark it gets, or how far you fall. You are never out of the fight.”
You Are Never Out Of The Fight
“Do you think that the patient will be able to make it through?”
Celestia asked Doctor Cloud,
“I’m not entirely sure. The patient has a similar body type to that of ponies, so operating on him was easier in that regard.”
He then glanced at his clipboard and said,
“I’m surprised that he was able to walk, considering the injuries that he sustained. Miss Fluttershy said that he was a part of the ‘United States Navy’ so I’m going to assume that he’s military of some sort.”
Celestia then said,
“I’m glad that the operation was successful, but I do not know if this creature will pose a threat against my subjects, or not.”
Doctor Cloud glanced up at Celestia and said,
“Only time will tell your majesty.”
With that being said, Celestia let the Doctor go about his rounds and went to join the others that were waiting in the lobby of the hospital.
Upon her arrival she saw that all of the elements were present, as well as a certain baby dragon.
“Princess! Have you heard any news?”
said Twilight as she ran up to her mentor,
“I’m sorry Twilight, but I’m afraid that we have to be patient and wait for him to wake up.”
Looking down at the floor with a glum expression, Twilight walked back over to her friends in a defeated manner and sat down among them.
“Ah just hope that the feller ain’t dangerous and that he recovers is all.”
said Applejack, which got a nod from the collective group that was present.
“Hmmm….I wonder.”
Celestia thought in her mind.
*Jacob! You and Isaac cover left, me and Andy will cover our right.*
Said Woodson over the radio,
*Copy that LT, Jacob and I will cover the left.*
I said in response to Woodson’s orders.
*Do not let them flank, I repeat do not let them flank our position!*
Woodson said over the radio.
*Copy that Boss.*
I said again in my mic as I turned to Jacob to help him with the resistance.
“How ya doin’ buddy?”
I asked Jacob, he glanced at me for a brief moment before saying,
“Couldn’t be better, glad I could punch in my time card on this mission.”
He said with a chuckle as he returned fire towards the enemy.
“Roger that brother.”
I said as I slammed a new magazine into my rifle. I then went prone next to him and began to pick my targets, in order to make the most out of my ammunition. As I was aiming down my rifle, I watched as a Taliban soldier tried to charge us; but failed as I put two holes through his head.
His corpse proceeded to roll down the mountain in a sickly rag doll-like motion as I went to my next target. As me and Jacob were clearing out the enemy on our left flank, everything went silent.
I looked over to Jacob, who nodded at me; I then clicked my radio on and said.
*Woodson left is good, I say again left is good.*
Almost immediately after relaying the message a hail of bullets rained down on Jacob and I, forcing us to completely conceal ourselves.
*Left is not good, I repeat left is not good!*
I said into the radio,
“Fuck me!”
Jacob yelled as he was hit in the left shoulder.
“Stay down Jacob, stay the fuck down!”
I yelled at him as he retreated back behind our rock.
*Woodson, Jacob and I are pinned down. We need to get the fuck out of here ASAP*
I said into my radio,
*Isaac right is good, I say again right is good. Consolidate on me and Andy.*
I heard Woodson say over the radio. As Jacob and I were about to move from our current position, Woodson came over the radio again grunting in pain
*I’ve been hit! Right is no good, push back!*
With this being said I looked over to Jacob as he was returning fire towards the enemy, taking them down one by one in quick succession.
“Listen to me Jacob, we fall back down the mountain.”
I spoke with seriousness,
“You go ten yards, stop and cover me and I’ll do the same for you.”
I paused and looked at Jacob to see if there was any confusion in his expression...He showed none.
“Roger that Chief.”
He said to me as he began to move down the mountain, leaving me to return fire at the enemy. As I was picking them off one by one, I glanced back and saw that Jacob had positioned himself behind a tree and gestured for me to move towards him.
As I turned to do so, I felt an intense pain in my leg.
“Ah, fuck!”
I yelled as I hobbled towards Jacob.
As Princess Luna was watching over her subjects in the dream realm, she noticed a door that looked quite peculiar to her. As she approached said door, she saw that it was entirely black upon closer inspection...Almost like it was absorbing the light around it.
She then realized that whoever this door belonged to, they were going through a nightmare. Being the guardian of dreams she took a deep breath and entered the door, what she found on the other side of that door was absolutely terrifying.
She saw two creatures that were similar to ponies, dressed in the same camouflage type of garb, holding metal objects that were causing a deafening sound to come from them.
“Roger that Chief.”
One of them said as they proceeded to move down the slope that they were on, while the other stayed. Luna watched on in amazement and horror as she saw the one known as ‘Chief’ aim his metal object at other creatures that were similar to him and….Kill them.
The man in question glanced behind him and proceeded to move down the slope as well, only to get hit in the leg by some unknown force,
“Ah, fuck!”
the man screamed as he hobbled down the hill towards his comrade. From what Luna could tell, these creatures were in some type of war, but not a traditional war...This was outright horrific, to not know if you could be struck by an invisible force or not.
Before the dream could go any further, Luna shouted out,
“Begone nightmare!”
and with that the entire area was engulfed in a blinding light. As the light slowly faded, Luna saw ‘Chief’ but he looked like he had been put through the ringer this time. She saw that his once durable uniform was now torn in some areas and that he had cuts across his face. His right leg had bits of metal sticking out from his shin and his overall uniform was dirty and bloody.
Luna slightly teared up at the sight of this man and couldn’t help but weep for him as she knew that there was nothing that she could do for him. As she was about to go down and attempt to talk to this creature, she was suddenly forced out of the dream and back into her chambers in Canterlot Castle. Not knowing what to do at that moment, Princess Luna cried at what she had just seen.
As I opened my eyes, I felt immediate pain and discomfort shoot throughout my body.
“WaTeR.”
was the only word I managed to get out and before long a set of footsteps came approaching me.
“Oh, my...You’re awake!”
Said a feminine voice,
“Hmm...Guess I made it home after all.”
I thought to myself.
“Doctor Cloud! He’s awake!”
The woman said, after a short moment another set of footsteps approached me and this time I heard a masculine voice speak to me.
“How’re you doing there?”
I cleared my throat at this and said,
“Could be better doc. Am I stateside now, or am I on base currently.”
After a long pause with no response I said,
“Why can’t I see anything, take this damn blindfold off of me already.”
With that being said, I felt a pair of hands on the back of my head as the dressing was removed from my face. When it was completely removed I stared at the face that I was looking at in shock,
“What in the fuck is this?”
I said in a terrified voice.
“Now don’t do anything rash.”
Said the ‘doctor’ that was in front of my face.
“Doc, whatever drugs you have me on...Take me off of them now and release me from the hospital.”
I said trying to blame drugs on this ‘hallucination’ my mind had come up with. Then another voice came from the doorway of my hospital room, it was another feminine one.
“I can assure you that this isn’t the result of any drugs.”
You Are Never Out Of The Fight
One SEAL, two Princesses.
“Where in god's name am I?!”
I shouted out at the ‘people’ present within the room.
“You are currently in the Ponyville Hospital at the moment.”
The nurse answered. Upon closer inspection of her, I noticed that she had white fur all over her body and she had her pink hair up in a bun as well.
I then closed my eyes and took a deep breath,
“I don’t remember how I got here.”
I said to everyone while pinching the bridge of my nose, trying in vain to quell the migraine that was threatening to split my head in two.
The doctor cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses to sit better upon his muzzle before saying,
“Miss Fluttershy found you in the Everfree forest. If not for her, you surely would have succumbed to your injuries and died.”
This caused me to open my eyes suddenly,
“I remember it now!”
I said in realization, I then threw the sheets off of my bed and saw that both of my legs were wrapped in a thick layer of bandages.
The doctor cleared his throat again,
“As you can see, we had to deal with the injuries that you had sustained on your legs as well as the rest of your body.”
This caused me to give my body a once over. Upon examining both my arms, I found to my relief that all of my fingers were present. My right arm was wrapped in a thick layer of bandages and my left arm had stitches running down the front of my forearm as well.
As I continued to inspect my left appendage, I flexed my left hand only to be met with a stinging pain.
“Fuck me.”
I said through gritted teeth,
“As you can tell, your left arm needs some time to appropriately heal.”
The doctor said to me, I then looked at him with an annoyed expression and said,
“Who are you exactly?”
The doctor adjusted his tie and said,
“I am Doctor Cloud and I am the head practitioner here at Ponyville Hospital.”
I then took in a deep breath and coughed violently into my left hand. After gaining my composure back I looked back at Doctor Cloud,
“What the fuck is this, some kind of fairytail bullshit?”
I chuckled slightly at this,
“Hell, if this is supposed to be heaven...God played a cruel joke on me.”
As I said this, I leaned back into my hospital bed and stared up at the white ceiling that greeted my view.
“I can assure you sir that this is reality.”
Doctor Cloud said to me in a matter of fact tone,
“If I may ask, what caused you to endure such wounds on your body?”
This comment of his made me clench my left hand and look at the doctor with a blank expression,
“Oh, you know...A firefight.”
Before the doctor could get another word in I continued,
“Me and my brothers continuously being chased down by insurgents in the mountains of Afghanistan.”
I said through gritted teeth.
“Killing dozens of them, all while getting pushed further and further down the mountain.”
As I continued to speak, Doctor Cloud and the nurse present started to look worried,
“Having bullets tear at your flesh, but telling yourself that your brothers are going through the same pain...Knowing that no matter how many times you fall off a cliff and smack into rocks and trees while being chased, that you can’t give up...Because giving up means death.”
As I said this tears began rolling down my cheeks,
“Watching helplessly as your closest friends that you’ve known over the years die right in front of your eyes one by one.”
At this comment the nurse that was in the room covered her mouth in shock and walked out of the room. Doctor Cloud lowered his head and walked towards the rooms door,
“Your majesties, he’s conscious.”
And without another word Doctor Cloud left the room in silence. As I tried to regain my composure, two new faces walked into the room. One was probably about six foot six and had a pure white coat, with a golden crown adorning her head. She also had multicolored hair that blew in a nonexistent breeze, she was probably the most beautiful creature I had ever seen in my twenty eight years of life.
Her elegant white dress, her magenta eyes and her kind smile made me feel warm inside, almost as if I were right at home. As I moved my gaze from her to the second creature present, I internally gasped at the sight that was before me.
She almost made the other one look mediocre. She stood at about six foot three and had a midnight blue coat of fur that covered her body from head to toe and she was also wearing a crown as well, only instead of being gold it was jet black and so was the rest of her regalia. She had hair that looked like the night sky and it blew in a nonexistent breeze as well.
As both of our eyes met, I averted my gaze to the foot of my bed and waited for the two to speak.
“Hello. My name is Princess Celestia.”
The white one said,
“And my name is Princess Luna.”
Said the other one.
“My name is Isaac Bowen.”
I said to them in a stoic manner,
“Charmed.”
Luna said with a wide grin upon her muzzle.
“May I ask who and what you are?”
I said to the two, which made them glance at one another in a confused manner. Celestia cleared her throat politely,
“My sister and I.”
She gestured towards Luna,
“Are ponies and we are also the rulers of Equestria.”
She finished with a kind smile. I scratched at my beard before saying,
“Equestria...Can’t say that I’ve heard of it before.”
Celestia frowned slightly.
“I would imagine so, considering that you are not from this realm.”
My eyes widened to the size of dinner plates at her comment, I then looked at both of them before laughing really hard. This made the two sisters look at me with different levels of worried expressions.
“So, you mean to tell me that I’m in some fairytale type of bullshit right now?”
I said before swinging my feet over the side of my bed.
“Thanks for your hospitality, but I need to talk to Headquarters or get stateside again.”
Luna ran over to me and put her hands on my shoulders,
“We recommend that you do not move from this bed. Not until you are healed properly.”
I looked up at her with anger in my eyes and shouted,
“Let me go now!”
I forced her hands off of me and stood up shakily, much to the surprise of them both.
“By the sun.”
Celestia said,
“You shouldn’t even be able to walk right now.”
I looked back up at her and said through gritted teeth.
“I’m a fuckin’ frogman. We don’t give up.”
Celestia looked at me shocked but confused at the same time. I ignored both of them and hobbled my way towards the door, only to have my hospital gown get caught on an i.v. stand causing me to fall on the ground. Behind me, I heard Luna gasp as she made her way over to me.
“Why are you doing this to yourself?”
She said with what sounded like a tremble to her tone. I ignored her yet again and began to crawl towards the door, leaving a long streak of blood on the floor behind me in the process.
Before I could fully make it out of the room, my body was engulfed by a golden aura and I was suspended in the air.
“What the fuck is happening to me?!”
I shouted out in response to the sensation of being lifted into the air by nothing. I was abruptly flipped around, only to be met with the stern gaze of Celestia herself,
“You are not going anywhere, Isaac.”
I immediately shut my mouth,
“I feel like I’m being scolded by my mother right now.”
I said to myself. Celestia moved out of the way and I found myself floating across the room and back into my bed.
As I was placed upon my bed, the sheets were lifted up by the same unknown aura and placed upon my body.
“Honestly, you need to rest and recover.”
Celestia said to me as she folded her arms across her chest in a scolding manner.
“I’m sorry Celestia, but for the first time in a long time I feel out of my element at the moment.”
Her expression softened at my remark,
“I understand, but could you tell my sister and I about yourself?”
Luna nodded at her sister's question and returned to gazing at me.
I sighed at her question,
“I guess it would be the polite thing to do.”
I sat up in my hospital bed and got as comfortable as I could before continuing the conversation,
“My name is Isaac Bowen and I am a Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy.”
Celestia spoke up this time,
“We figured that you were a soldier, considering the attire and gear that you were wearing when you arrived.”
Luna then chimed in,
“Are you a sailor then?”
I chuckled at her question,
“Not necessarily. I am a part of a Special Operations force known as the Navy SEALs.”
Celestia and Luna looked confused at my statement,
“What exactly is a SEAL...You don’t look like a seal after all.”
Celestia said.
This caused me to burst out laughing, making her blush in embarrassment. After getting my laughter under control I continued,
“SEAL stands for Navy Sea, Air and Land Teams, which basically means that I am conditioned to fight in the air, land and sea.”
Luna slightly blushed at my comment before saying,
“So you are a warrior then?”
I scratched my chin,
“Yes, but I am an elite warrior. Less than twenty percent pass SEAL training.”
Celestia then said,
“So what does one of your expertise do exactly?”
I cleared my throat,
“Typically a SEAL specializes in covert and surveillance operations. In my line of work SEALs are in close-knit teams, ranging from four to six members per team.”
Luna’s eyes widened at this,
“How is this possible?!”
I smiled at her antics and said.
“Because SEALs are the very best Special Operations group in the entire United States Military, if I dare say the entire world.”
Celestia looked amazed by this and said,
“Why were you in bad shape when you arrived here?”
I frowned slightly,
“Me and my team were doing an operation and got compromised. It was four of us against an entire army of insurgents in the mountains of Afghanistan.”
Luna put her hand on mine and said,
“Where are your other team mates? Surely they would have arrived with you as well.”
After she said this I looked down and stared off into nothing. After a few minutes of silence I managed to choke out my next words,
“They all died up on that mountain. Didn’t matter how many enemies we took out, more and more just came.”
Luna gasped in shock at this and moved to hug me, the warmth that she provided made me smile weakly.
As Luna removed herself from me, she sat at my bedside,
“What were their names?”
Celestia said.
“Lieutenant Morris Woodson, Petty Officer First Class Jacob Ford and Petty Officer Second Class Andy Schultz.”
I felt more tears rolling down my cheeks,
“God this is the most I have cried in my entire life.”
I chuckled weakly,
“It’s okay to let your emotions show themselves, Isaac.”
Celestia said in a motherly tone. I smiled at her with tears continuing to roll down my cheeks,
“Thank you for understanding, Celestia.”
She nodded and smiled warmly at me in response. Before I could say anything else, I lurched forward in my bed and vomited up blood. It sounded like Celestia and Luna were trying to say something to me, but I couldn’t hear anything.
The last thing I saw before succumbing to darkness was Luna’s beautiful blue eyes crying while looking at me.
“Why is she crying?”
You Are Never Out Of The Fight
Operation Ridgeline Pt. 1
As Celestia, Luna and the Mane 6 were all in the lobby of the hospital waiting for Doctor Cloud to give them a report on how Isaac was currently doing, Luna spoke up.
“It was just awful, one moment he was perfectly coherent and the next he’s vomiting blood everywhere.”
Luna’s bottom lip trembled a little bit as she tried to get her breathing under control. After seeing her little sister in such distress, Celestia walked over to Luna and began to comfort her with a loving hug.
“I feel so bad for the poor guy.”
Twilight said out loud to everyone,
“I wonder if we could access his mind to see what he went through so that way we could get more insight as to what’s troubling him.”
At that statement, Luna’s ears perked up slightly and she said.
“That could work young Twilight.”
Celestia looked down at her younger sister and said,
“I don’t know if that’s wise dear sister.”
Luna backed away from her sister abruptly and looked up at her with an almost desperate look upon her muzzle.
“If we don’t know what he went through, we cannot possibly sympathize with him in the coming future.”
This caused Twilight and the others present to nod in agreement with the Princess of the Night. Celestia chewed on her cheek in thought, before sighing heavily,
“I guess you do have a point, Lulu.”
With that being said Luna said,
“Alright everypony, take a deep breath and try to relax.”
And with a bright flash of light all of the ponies present within the lobby of the Ponyville Hospital collapsed onto the floor and entered the mind of Isaac Bowens.
July 21, 2021
Sitting in the briefing room, I rubbed the remaining sleep from my eyes and sipped at my cup of coffee while I listened to Commander Christensen - Field Operations Commander - debrief the entire room that was present.
As I listened closely to what he was saying, I took a moment to glance around the room to see if I could recognize any faces. At the far left of the room I spotted Woodson and Schultz flipping through their folders as they occasionally glanced down, following the Commander’s instruction about the upcoming operation.
Upon glancing to my right a couple of chairs down, I saw Jacob intently staring at the Commander and occasionally writing down notes in his folder as well.
“Fuckin’ Jacob, always writing shit down. Fucker could write a book if he wanted to.”
I said this to myself with a slight smirk upon my face,
“Something funny Bowens?”
I heard the Commander say from the front of the room.
This made me turn my head towards the front quickly and I stammered out,
“N-no, Sir.”
The Commander gave me one last look of annoyance before continuing the debriefing. With my attention towards the front I listened more intently than before,
“Now, the SEAL team entering the mountainous region in the east, will consist of these members.”
The Commander paused and went to the next slide. Upon viewing the next slide, I saw a picture of myself along with three others that I knew too well.
“Lieutenant Morris Woodson, Chief Isaac Bowens, Petty Officer Jacob Ford and Petty Officer Andy Schultz.”
The Commander paused again before going onto the next slide,
“All four of you will be dropped here.”
He said as he pointed to a red dot on the map,
“When you make contact with this point, you will proceed to checkpoint Modelo and after that Dodger and so on.”
The Commander paused and turned to survey the room to see if there was any confusion, when he saw none he continued with the presentation.
“Once you guys reach objective Heineken, you will set up a position for surveillance. Your target is Muhammed Ishmael, a notable characteristic of his is the fact that he has a scar running from his right cheek to his forehead.”
The Commander turned and looked at everyone in the room again.
“If you guys make contact with the enemy, a Quick Reaction Force, or QRF consisting of Rangers and SEALS will be put on standby to assist you if that happens.”
He then took a deep breath and sighed,
“Woodson will be the lead on this mission, Isaac will be the Field Medic and Support Gunner, Jacob will be the Primary Sniper and Andy will be the Radioman for this operation.”
The Commander looked from left to right and said,
“Any questions?”
When no response came from the crowd present, he said,
“Dismissed.”
And with that everyone present closed their folders and exited the briefing room. As I found my way outside into the desert outcrop of our base I was stopped by Jacob,
“Hey man, you think that we’ll be alright up there?”
I scoffed slightly while hitting Jacob on the arm in a joking manner,
“We’re fuckin’ Frogmen Jacob, we’ll be just fine. I mean what are a couple of Haji’s with AK’s gonna do to us, huh?”
Jacob glanced at the ground before smirking at me,
“Ya know...You always know what to say to make me feel more at ease, Isaac.”
With that being said, Jacob walked towards the armory and went to get geared up for the mission.
“Why do I feel as though something isn’t right?”
I said to myself in my head. I scratched at my beard briefly and then shrugged this particular feeling off before making my way towards the armory.
When I arrived at the armory I found my other team members filling up their packs with various types of gear.
“Hurry up Chief, we need to be loaded on the helo in about thirty minutes.”
Woodson said, I then grabbed my rucksack and began to fill it with extra water, a med kit and extra mags as well.
When that was finished, I grabbed my tactical vest and put it onto my chest.
“Ready?”
I heard Jacob say to me. I looked over to him, grabbed my rifle and put my boonie on my head before saying,
“Yeah, let’s get this shit done and dusted.”
Jacob nodded at me and we both made our way outside of the armory to our other two team members that were waiting for us.
“Make sure that you have your night vision NODS ready for this op. Looks like they’ll be dropping us under the cover of darkness.”
Woodson said to all of us. All of us then reached into our packs and fixed our NODS onto our heads.
“Alright guys, let’s go.”
Woodson said and we began to jog towards the Chinook Helicopter that was waiting for us. When we got on board the helo, we all strapped in and waited patiently as we lifted off of the ground.
When the helo took off from the base, I heard Woodson say into his mic,
“Sally wants me to buy her a fuckin’ Arabic Horse as our one year anniversary gift?”
I looked over at him suddenly and said,
“You realize how much those cost, right bro?”
Woodson shook his head slowly,
“Holy shit man, I mean the cheapest ones are about 15k at the very least.”
Jacob said to Woodson, this comment made Woodson’s eyes widen slightly.
“15 fuckin’ grand?!”
He said in a shocked tone. This made the rest of us chuckle,
“Don’t worry Woody, I had to buy Cindy a new car for our anniversary gift. I’m still paying the fucker off as we speak.”
Andy said to us.
“Fuck that shit man. It pays to be single.”
I said into my mic, which made Jacob fist bump me.
“Single for life brother!”
Jacob said, which made me smirk slightly.
“I don’t think that’s a good thing brother.”
I said to him, this only made him chuckle. As the conversation died down, I found myself staring out one of the windows of the Chinook and at the Afghan sunset.
“If it weren’t for the fact that we were currently at war, I’d enjoy this a little bit more.”
I said to myself. As we approached our impending destination I heard Woodson over the mic,
“30 seconds out guys.”
I then made sure that my rifle was chambered and we all stood up from our seated positions. When the Chinook came to a hover over our LZ Woodson and Andy threw the ropes down from the back of the Chinook.
“Andy and I will rappel down first and establish a small perimeter, you two will follow shortly after us.”
I gave Woodson a thumbs up and watched him rappel down the rope and onto the ground with Andy following him. When they were secured on the ground I grabbed my rope and looked at Jacob, he only nodded at me and we both rappelled down as well to join our team mates.
When we both touched down, I ran over to my perimeter spot and flipped my NODS over my eyes soI could see better in the dark.
*Spartan 0-1, Eagle 1 out.*
The Chinook pilot said,
*Copy, Eagle 1. Have a nice flight, over*
Woodson said over the radio and with that being said the helo left the area, leaving us in complete silence. When we made sure the surrounding area was clear, Woodson gave the all clear for us to start our journey to Objective Modelo.
When we arrived at Objective Modelo, Woodson took a knee and said,
“Everyone, take a short break to get some water in you. Andy, let Spartan Base know that we have made it to Objective Modelo.”
Andy pulled the radio off of his back and began speaking into it,
“Spartan Base, this is Spartan 0-1 we are Modelo, I repeat we are Modelo.”
After a short pause we all heard,
“Copy that Spartan 0-1.”
On our end. As I was sitting down on a rock, I opened up my canteen and took a nice gulp out of it.
The refreshing water hit my dry lips and made me feel like a new man in a way,
“So, Woody.”
I said, this caused Woodson to turn to me,
“We on schedule with our checkpoints so far?”
Woodson nodded and said,
“Our next objective is Dodger and after that is Heineken. Once we reach Heineken, we’ll post up and take some photos of Ishmael.”
I nodded my head in affirmation and took another sip of my water.
“We’ll head out in two minutes guys, so make sure that you’re ready.”
Woodson said to us, we all nodded to him and continued to replenish our spent fluids.
“Fuck me man, I didn’t think that the mountains of Afghanistan would be so rough on my body.”
Andy said to Jacob and I.
“Suck it the fuck up brother, we’re Frogmen. We can survive anything.”
I said to him, Jacob nodded in agreement.
“Well guys, we should probably pack up and get prepared for the next objective.”
I said to the two.
They both nodded in agreement and packed up their belongings for the journey.
In the treeline behind the four SEALs sat everypony, watching in awe at the previous events that played in front of them almost like a live action movie.
“I can’t believe that these four men managed to hike all that distance in a short amount of time.”
Rarity marveled out loud into no one in particular.
“They did it tha hard way.”
Applejack said with pride.
“Not to mention those bucking cool metal objects that brought them into the area!”
Rainbow Dash said in amazement. Celestia had her arms folded across her chest and said,
“If these beings possess such technology and capable soldiers, I’m afraid to see what happens in a situation of combat.”
She said as a chill ran up her spine. Celestia then glanced at her group that was present and smiled slightly as she saw her prized pupil Twilight Sparkle vigorously attempting to take down some mental notes about what she had seen so far.
As the four of us came up to our final objective, I walked up to Woodson and tapped him on the shoulder.
“LT, I think that we’re at Heineken now. We should stop and post up to get some surveillance.”
Woodson looked back at the other two men that were with us and then nodded at me.
“I agree, Isaac.”
Woodson then took off his pack and took a knee on the ground, he then unzipped it and stuck his NODS in, being that it was no longer night. He then wiped the sweat off of his forehead and said,
“Andy, notify Spartan Base that we’ve reached Heineken and that we’re getting prepared for recon.”
Andy nodded and slung the radio off of his back. Woodson looked over at Jacob and said,
“Jacob, I want you to go and find a nice perch for you to post up at.”
Jacob nodded and said,
“Roger that, LT.”
before moving into position. Woodson then looked at me and said,
“I want you to take your camera and binoculars and build a hide sight on that ridge below us that’s overlooking the village.”
Woodson then paused and said,
“I’ll be joining you shortly over there.”
With that being said, I moved into position and began making a hide sight out of the foliage that was around me and within an hour, I was all set.
Laying down in my hide sight, I pulled out my binoculars and camera and began overlooking the village below our position.
“C’mon you rat bastard, where are you at?”
I said to myself while scanning the village below. As I continued to observe the village, I saw the Afghan people that were inhabiting it were just going about their normal lives. All of a sudden, Woodson came into my hide sight and laid down next to me.
He took a deep breath and pulled out his binoculars before saying,
“You find this Ishmael bastard yet?”
I turned my head slightly from my binoculars and glanced at him briefly,
“Nothing yet man.”
Woodson then looked through his binoculars and said,
“Get comfortable Isaac, I think we’re gonna be here for a while.”
I sighed slightly and said,
“Y’know, being a Navy SEAL and all I would’ve thought that I’d see more action.”
I then pointed down towards the village below and said in an annoyed tone,
“Not watching some Haji civilians go about their daily routines.”
Woodson smirked slightly and said,
“Amen to that brother.”
Over my earpiece I heard Andy’s voice come through,
*Guys, the radio is not transmitting through to Spartan Base. We’re in the dark.*
Woodson looked to the side and spoke into his mic,
*That’s alright Andy, just keep trying comms for the time being. Spartan Base knows that if we miss two windows that they need to send the QRF.*
I then clicked my mic on and said,
*Hey Jacob, how’re you holding up in your nest?*
After a brief moment of silence, Jacob came through.
*Couldn’t be more at home than right here Chief.*
I chuckled and replied with.
*Roger that brother, keep me and the LT posted on what you see.*
After about thirty minutes, Woodson tapped me on my shoulder and pointed down towards the village,
“Look to the center of the village, tell me you see what I see.”
I adjusted my body and made myself more comfortable before looking through my binoculars once again. My eyes widened slightly upon what I was seeing,
“My god Ishmael is an ugly son of a bitch.”
I said to Woodson with a slight chuckle.
“We’re right on the money, take some photos of him while you have the chance.”
Woodson said to me, he then clicked on his radio and said.
*Andy, contact Spartan Base and tell them that we have the Jackpot, I repeat we have the Jackpot.*
Andy then responded with,
*Been trying to reach them this whole time, no dice.*
Woodson then flicked his radio off and silently cursed. He then glanced over at me with a look of annoyance upon his face,
“You think that since we’re doing an op, HQ would think to give us a proper fucking radio.”
I shook my head slightly before replying,
“C’mon now, that would be way too easy for us to have working comms.”
Woodson scoffed at my remark before flipping his radio back on.
*Alright guys, change of plans. There is a summit to the east of us about a click out. We’ll climb it and make comms and get the fuck outta here.*
With that being said, I packed up my gear and followed Woodson to our rendezvous point. When everyone arrived, we began our climb towards the summit that would hopefully grant us comms to HQ.
After walking through the rugged terrain for about an hour we finally broke through the treeline, but what we saw in front of us made my stomach sink ever so slightly.
“Fuck,”
I said
“False summit.”
Woodson then looked back at the three of us and said,
“Alright guys, looks like we’re not getting out of here that easy. We’ve already missed three windows with Spartan Base, so now we’re gonna walk towards HQ.”
He then took a sip of water and said,
“We’re gonna get outta here one way or another.”
With that being said, we began to walk back to where we came from. As we were about to get back into the treeline, Jacob stopped all of us by pointing up the incline of the mountain and saying,
“Who the fuck is that up there?”
We all turned to see a man wearing robes and a headwrap staring down at us.
“That can’t be a good fucking sign.”
Andy said as he gave his rifle a once over,
“This mission is compromised, we need to haul ass outta here.”
Woodson said as he looked at each of us with slight worry in his expression.
“Let’s get the fuck outta here then.”
I said as I quickened my pace down to where we came from.
After walking in the direction of HQ for the better part of two hours, Woodson stopped the group so that we could take a short break before continuing.
“Jacob, you watch our rear. Andy, you keep trying comms. Isaac, post up next to Andy to cover him while he attempts to make contact. I’ll go do some recon above us to see if we’re being followed.”
With those orders being given to us, we went to our posts and watched as Woodson made his way back up the steep incline. A couple of moments later, I heard some snapping of twigs to the left of us in the woods. I leveled my rifle and crouched down besides Andy, who was still trying comms but failing.
As I scanned the surrounding area, I saw movement to our left that caused me to tap Andy on the shoulder in a calm motion before saying.
“I see movement in the trees over there.”
I pointed towards our left, which caused Andy to grab his rifle and look over there as well.
“You sure you saw movement?”
He said, I only nodded slowly at his question. To the right of us, Woodson came towards the both of us with Jacob in tow and said in a hushed voice,
“Prepare to get contacted.”
My throat closed slightly and my mouth became dry at his words, I flicked the safety off of my rifle and waited.
“Hey, Isaac.”
Jacob said to me as he flicked his safety off of his sniper rifle. I looked over at him,
“I think I’m about ready to punch in my time card.”
He said to me, I then looked back at Woodson who nodded.
“Do it.”
I said quietly and with that being said, Jacob fired his rifle making a loud cracking noise. At that moment all hell broke loose.
You Are Never Out Of The Fight
Operation Ridgeline Pt. 2
“Isaac, move!”
I heard Woodson yell over to me as he fired off rounds at the enemy.
As soon as I registered what he had said an RPG went off to the left of me, sending me flying to the right and making me roll a few yards downhill.
As I tried to get my mind back into the fight, I attempted to stand up but fell to one knee as pain shot down my left leg.
Confused by this, I looked at my leg and saw a jagged piece of shrapnel sticking out of my left thigh,
“You good, brother?”
I heard Woodson call over to me as he briefly glanced over his shoulder at me.
“I’m fine,”
I said through gritted teeth as I hobbled my way over to a tree to get some cover,
“Just got tagged by some shrapnel.”
As I crouched by the tree, I leaned into the trunk in order to take some weight off of my now injured leg.
I raised my rifle and began to pick my targets once more; looking through my scope I saw a Taliban fighter with two RPG’s slung over his shoulders.
“You son of a bitch.”
I said to myself as I shot him square in the neck, this caused him to clutch at his throat in a vain attempt to stop the blood that was spraying out of the open wound that I inflicted upon him. I then heard shouting coming from the left of me and I turned to look at who was screaming, to my horror a Taliban soldier was on top of Jacob attempting to stab him with a knife.
I quickly turned around and shot the man in the shoulder, causing him to drop his knife and scream out in pain. Upon seeing the opportunity I gave him, Jacob picked up the man’s knife and stabbed him three times in the neck; making him let out a sickly gurgling noise as he tried in vain to get some air into his lungs.
I nodded toward Jacob and he picked up his rifle and proceeded to return fire towards the enemy.
“We just need to get to high ground and we can take these fuckers!”
I shouted to Andy, who was rotating to our right flank to help Woodson,
“Let’s push the bastards back!”
I heard Andy say to me over the deafening gunfire that was all around us.
“There’s too many of them, move down the mountain and consolidate on me!”
I heard Woodson say,
“Fuck!”
I cursed to myself as I started to hobble my way down the mountain; Jacob followed close behind. As we got to our new position, Jacob and I posted up behind two boulders. I was on the right side and he was on the left.
To my right I saw Andy and Woodson behind two dead trees returning fire towards the enemy, “Fuck me, man.” I said as I tried to catch my breath.
“Picked a hell of a day to show up to work.”
Jacob then took cover behind a rock as he ejected his magazine and slammed a new one into his gun,
“No fuckin’ shit.”
He said as he returned to firing at our enemy.
“Andy, call for the fuckin’ QRF!”
I shouted towards him, he then picked up his radio and began speaking into it, while Woodson was trying to cover him.
“Spartan Base, this is Spartan 0-1! Troops in contact, requesting immediate QR-”
Andy dropped the radio as he shouted in pain,
“Fuck!”
He said as he looked at his hand in shock.
“My thumb is gone! You motherfuckers!”
He said as he picked up his rifle and bagan firing into the trees.
“Woodson, tell Andy to wrap his hand in some cloth!”
I yelled over to him. Woodson nodded and threw Andy a bandana that he had in his pocket.
“Ahh!”
I heard Jacob cry out in pain as I saw him get hit in his left arm.
“We can’t stay here for long, Woodson!”
I yelled out as I shot another Taliban soldier.
“Move back!”
Woodson said, I then looked behind me and saw that there was a drop off about twenty yards behind us.
“You mean fall off?!”
I shouted; Woodson nodded at me and we all gathered at the drop off. Below us I saw that there was a fifty foot drop off that led into boulders and trees.
“Fuck me.”
I said and then an RPG round exploded behind us, forcing us off of the ledge. What happened next was mostly a blur of pain and confusion as I loosely tumbled down the drop off; slamming into rocks and trees.
It felt like some unknown force was using me as a punching bag and I had no control over it. I’m pretty sure I could hear the breaking of my bones as I continued to slam into debris that was down below.
That’s when I came to a stop as my back crashed into a tree stump. I layed there for a minute, before sitting up and wheezing. I then heard Woodson say,
“We’re not out of the fight yet, brother.”
I turned my head in the direction of his voice as blood was coming out of my nose and mouth. What greeted me was a very beaten and mangled mess of my friend, he had deep cuts along his face, blood was coming out of his nose, mouth and eyes and his nose was crooked.
I picked up my rifle that was laying next to me and crawled my way towards Woodson,
“Let me see you, man.”
I said as I wheezed.
“I’ve certainly seen better days, Isaac.”
He said through a blood filled smile. As I inspected his wounds I saw that he shattered some of his teeth, but not enough to where it would impair his speech.
I saw that his left eye was badly swollen and that his breathing was almost as bad as mine; which probably meant that he punctured a lung.
“We’re in bad shape, Woody.”
I said as I slouched behind a boulder next to him. He then began to check his ammo and said,
“We gotta find Jacob and Andy, they’re around here somewhere.”
I looked up at him and stood up on my feet slowly,
“I lost my pack in the fall, so we have no medical supplies on hand.”
I gave him a once over again and said,
“Any wounds that are profusely bleeding, I want you to pack that shit tight with dirt.”
Woodson nodded his head and said,
“Yes, doc.”
And with that being said, we both slowly but surely made our way down the mountain in order to search for our comrades.
Luna and the others couldn’t believe what they were witnessing in front of their eyes. To think that these beings were this resilient and that they were going through such pain and torment was unbelievable.
In comparison this made all of Equestria’s conflicts look like child’s play. Celestia on the other hand was sickened by what she had seen. How could someone take another’s life so carelessly?
Even if they were in battle, it still felt wrong.
Where Isaac came from was a place of loss and destruction and Celestia couldn’t help but feel threatened by what she had seen unfold before her eyes.
Twilight on the other hand looked distraught by the situation and had stopped taking notes when the fighting had begun.
“I don’t understand how these men could be so calm in this situation.”
She said out loud to no one in particular.
“This is their profession afterall young Twilight. If they were to lose their focus it could cost them their lives.”
Now that Twilight thought about it, she guessed it made sense but what she saw here would haunt her for the rest of her life.
As Twilight thought about this, she glanced back towards her friends and saw that they all had different looks upon their muzzles.
Rarity looked sad, Pinkie’s mane was deflated, Rainbow Dash looked like she was inspired by the events, Applejack looked neutral and Fluttershy….Well you can probably assume what she was like in that moment in time.
Twilight shook her head to clear her thoughts and returned her gaze towards the events that were playing out in front of her.
After about thirty or so minutes of us searching the surrounding area, we heard gunshots coming from our left flank.
“That’s gotta be them.”
I said to Woodson, he nodded and said,
“We’ll make our way over there and assist them, I want you to cover me while I push to their position. Once I’ve made it there, we’ll cover you and then we can come up with a strategy to beat these fucks.”
I nodded in agreement and we set off to execute his plan of action. When we got to the area of the fighting, I saw Andy and Jacob firing up the incline towards the Taliban but Andy looked much worse than Jacob.
He looked like he could barely move,
“Alright, cover me while I make my way over there.”
Woodson said as I posted up behind a tree and began picking my targets one by one. As I selected my targets carefully, I noticed that a Taliban soldier was trying to set up an MG, so I placed two rounds into his chest making him slump over his gun.
“Seems like there’s no end to these fuckers.”
I said to myself as my breathing became more shallow. As Woodson got into position, he signalled me to make my way over to him with a wave of his hand. Just as I was about to make it into cover, I got hit in my right leg; making me fall face first into the ground.
Jacob broke from cover and dragged me behind the boulder that he was positioned at and sat me up against it.
“Thanks brother.”
I said through labored breathing,
“You’re gonna be alright, Isaac but we need you in the fight.”
I clenched my teeth in pain as I picked up my rifle and stood up to fire at the enemy. Andy did the same motion as me, only when he stood up to fire at the enemy…..He got hit in the forehead, making his body crumple to the ground. I stopped what I was doing and stared at the corpse of my friend. I felt sick to my stomach but at that moment all I saw was red.
