Army Days

Lieutenant Foxtrot, 2nd Lt. Tango and Sgt. Echo were forming a team for recon in Klugetown. Whiskey, Jules, and Kilo were picked for the reconnaissance mission. This of course left Vesper, Yankee and Knuckles behind. The trio saw their commrades off and then were taken to the gun range for firearms practice. Knuckles still getting trained as a sniper and still missed by a mere two inches. Vesper was nearby on the shotgun range and was nailing it with ease. Yankee aimed a signed out revolver and was working on proficiency with the field piece.

Klugetown at 1300hrs

Kilo, Whiskey, and Sgt. Echo were posted on the western side of the city noting that the traffic on that end was mostly trucks and other vehicles. Jules, Lt. Foxtrot and 2nd Lt. Tango observed the coastal side of the city. Gathering Intel as they moved toward the center of the city counted the number of troop insignias and brigade and platoon number markings. When the two teams met up they counted about twenty different troop insignias and company or brigade numbers. They estimated about fifty thousand soldiers roamed the city. It was Sgt. Echo who was supposed to be observing what buildings had the most guards but failed to alert her squad mates that the building in front of which they met up and was flying the flag of a mercenary army. Dressed as locals they chatted, Jules nudged Whiskey who in turn nudged Kilo; Jules had spotted a reflective glint of sunlight on a small glass object from an apartment building near by.

Tango and Foxtrot soon realized that they were being a bit conspicuous, "Echo you and Jules head west! Whiskey you'll be with Foxtrot! Kilo with me and we will head for the docks. At all costs we have enough Intel for now but we need to become scarce." They broke up and slowly as possible left the spot where they had met. A shot rang out and a scream, out of sight of each other, Kilo and Tango knew that Foxtrot and Whiskey were in the clear as they spotted them duck into a pair of doorways in an alley. Tango and Kilo had turned a corner already. Tango cursed, "Damn you Echo! Can't you not be observant for once!" A second shot rang out but no scream followed, "That second shot was a lethal hit for sure....fuck! Kilo head for the docks and if possible reconnect with Foxtrot and Whiskey......I'll see if I can see if get to the others and see if they both live in the hand of the enemy or if they've fallen!"

Tango backtracked, she saw Echo crawl to cover as she heard subsonic rapports. Jules lay about fifteen yards behind a small sedan. Echo saw Tango and looked worried, bolting to Jules she grabbed the girl and hurled her into a car and began driving; Echo stood and limped through allies and held her side arm ready to kill. The mission was a failure, finding library she posted a random blog post that she knew Zulu knew what it meant and she hastily went to find a place to hold out until she could get the bullet removed.

Home side

"I can't believe you fucked up this poorly! Lieutenant Tango, I put you in charge, what the hell happened?"

"General sir, I had given Echo the job of counting the buildings with the most guards and she didn't warn us that we stood in front of a main HQ building and that it had at least one sniper covering the front."

"General Delta, Captain Shining Armor, send me in for Echo!"

"Corporal, are you sure you're ready for the field again?"

"I am, besides general I'm the best shot we've got...Knuckles will be my spotter and by back up. Vesper and Yankee will be my ground cover and recon team. For this rescue job to work..... I'll need to be able have free reigns and a kill who ever policy in place."

"Fine! Remember Zulu, if you fail I'm nuking Klugetown to hell and I'll raze it to the foundations and I'll make them all burn!" Shining Armor took the others and formed another recon mission; this time he was going to lead it.

Klugetown 36 hours after failure

They learned where Echo was being held, it was an old town home with a courtyard that was surrounded by a low brick wall. It was behind this house Echo was being held. Zulu and Knuckles set up a position and got sighted in, Zulu cursed for about two minutes. "Bastards! Hasn't your fucking whore of a mother teach you not to strike a bitch you assholes!" Knuckles with a pair of binoculars observed the scene below them. He saw Echo chained to a post and lintel frame getting beaten with rods; Shining Armor and his team were preparing for an attack. He lay on his stomach by Zulu and whispered his concerns.

"They need a distraction for this to work well....should I go and distract them?"

"Shining Armor is gonna kill me if your mom and dad don't beat him to it....what the hell do something but remember when we get Echo all hell is going to break loose and we may not be able to get you out.....not with a full team." Knuckles nodded and made his trek down the backside of the hill and worked his way to the street. All eyes saw Knuckles in his civilian clothes stroll up with a carton of eggs. He began to toss them at anyone he could easily hit.

Zulu through her rifle scope chuckled and forgot that her mic was active and when she saw Knuckles moon the guards and she chuckled again when she saw that Echo recognized him but didn't show it. At the very least Echo acted disturbed. "Dumbass!" Zulu softly spoke, "Nice butt to bad Kilo doesn't have my vantage point."

"What the hell sis!" Kilo hissed through the headset. Zulu chuckled as the guards got busy with Knuckles and shining Armor and his team got Echo and booked it out. It was going so smoothly until Knuckles began to run frantically.

Zulu aimed her rifle down the street and saw several squads of soldiers running down the street. "All troops get out!" Knuckles still in the street became aware of bullets flying over his head and bodies hitting the asphalt. He stole a nearby motorcycle and sped down some side streets. Zulu broke her rifle down and and slid its carrying tubular container over her shoulder She hit the street and and began to run.

"Zulu we got Knuckles and where the hell are you?"

"Forget me just get the fuck out of here!" She saw a military officer and his aid climbing into a car, Zulu drew her silenced pistol and shot the both of them in the head and took their vehicle. The vehicle had a full tank of gas and she slammed it into drive and made her way to the border.

18 hours later

Capt. Shining Armor and Gen. Delta and the others had Sgt Echo tended to and waited for Zulu to show up. Zulu was known by her people as one who could survive anything. It was about noon when Zulu appeared with a self bandaged forearm. "Just a small scratch from a bullet grazed me, so how's Echo?"

"Doing fine, I want the paperwork for every single bullet you fired by 0700!"

Zulu moaned, that would be paperwork for twelve 30 round clips for her Walther and 48 rounds of brass from her rifle. Cursing and swearing she went to her desk to account for her spent brass.