Time: 0630

Location: Three Miles off the coast of Almeria

They had been praying for open skies- early morning sun to obscure their approach. Instead, a thick, unbroken sheet of iron gray clouds dominated the atmosphere, turning their midnight black warbirds into easily identifiable targets. The first line of Black Hawks, a sprawling line of ten aircraft, thundered through the sky as fast as their powerful engines could carry them, burdened down by vast quantities of firepower- and the precious human cargo within. Behind the first line, some 100 meters behind, lay the second wave, followed by three others as the air squadron strode forward to complete their task- deliver the soldiers within their steel hulls safely to their intended destination.

A young man, still bearing the boyish features of his childhood, stretched out from his seat to peer out of the open doors, and down at the crystalline sea below that churned with warships. The Navy had brought whatever forces they could spare to aid in the conflict, as well as the delivery of the main body of the forces set to lay siege to the city. The sheer magnitude of the operation was obvious, as tens of thousands of human lives were strewn across the surface of the seas all for the sake of taking one single region- an operation that was occurring simultaneously at seven other different points across the southern coastline. It was one of the largest movements of warfare in human history, an event that had been planned and strategized and dreaded by innumerable souls ever since the word of its existence had begun to spread. This is it, he thought, a single sentence that rose out of the maelstrom of his terror and panic that threatened to break at any moment. This is it…

“Reyes! Eyes on me!” the young man snapped his neck back and focused solely on his commander, a man hardly older than he was- First Lieutenant Shining Armor, leader of first platoon and commander of the ten other troopers aboard the bird. “Alright, we’re gonna be hot in less than ten mikes, we’re gonna go over our route one last time!”

Every eye of every man aboard was riveted as Lt. Armor unfolded the small map he kept hidden in his right breast pocket, stashed safely beneath the mountain of Kevlar and tactical equipment attached to his body armor. He unfolded it as best he could in the howling wind that ran through the bird, his fingers tracing the lines that spoke of their intended routes beyond the desert to their true target.

“Last drone scan said that the amount of armor and manpower heading to support the SAM’s has increased in the past 24 hours, so it’s gonna be hot the moment we make the jump- as soon as you let go of that rope you make a break for the nearest cover you can find, you hear me?” he roared, doing his best to be heard above the screaming squall. “We’ve still got our job to do- take out the SAM’s, artillery, AA guns and whatever other shit they have nested in those hills so the Navy and the rest of the brigade can make it onto that beach with minimal casualties. If we don’t get this done, then we’re not gonna be getting out of here - Sergeant Hack!”

“Sir!” barked the young NCO, a miniscule man of 25 years boasting a pencil moustache.

“Take your squad along this line here, move as best you can across in bounding pairs- and keep an eye on that hill nearby, it’s a perfect position for a machine gun nest!”

“Yessir!”

“To the rest of you- remember your training, this is what you’ve been working towards for months now!” Lt. Armor roared, addressing the rest of his team- a motley band of Privates and Specialists from various corners of their home country, most hardly distinguishable from children. “Don’t let your fear get the best of you, you are better than them! You are Air Assault, you are the Cavalry! No one else can do this job but you! Stick to your training and we’ll make it through this day alive!”

The recipients of his small speech gave a throaty “Hooah!” barely audible above the roar of the chopper’s engine, the young men too consumed by their own overwhelming anxiety to truly be able to give much else. Some had truly reached adulthood, but most were fresh from high school and the homes of their parents- barely men, and nothing in life had truly prepared them for anything like this.

Boom. Boom. BOOM. The air was suddenly filled with concussive blasts from below as the first wave of birds flew above the shoreline of Almeria where a massive defense line had been set in preparation for the invasion force. Ship after ship made its way through the rolling surf and onto the pristine beaches where their enemy lay waiting with weapons capable of unthinkable devastation, more than enough to wipe out hundreds upon hundreds. The air was alive now as the Crystal Empire fired its first rounds against the invasion- the battle had begun.

A green light flashed nearby- the signal they had been trained to wait for. “Five minutes!” Lt. Armor barked, rising to his feet.

The others followed their leader, rising to their feet and bellowing, “Five minutes!” The ropes coiled safely in the back were brought forward and tied to the side of the bird in preparation for the impending jump that now lay only a few spare minutes away.

Reyes looked around him, his gaze flickering across the brethren he had come to call friends- how many of them were as panicked as he was right now? How many believed that this was not just their moment, but their last, final moment on earth? Would it be quick and painless, or bloodied and spent in torturous agony as they all knew it could potentially be? He couldn’t help but wonder if this was his time as well.

He looked across the bird and stared, wide-eyed, at his two closest friends: Wil Collie, a skinny teenager who’d run from home to enlist, and Big Mac, the only one in the entire troop who had known Reyes from the life before this life, back before this war had begun. “You guys good?” he asked, his voice almost absorbed by the latest explosion from beneath their bird, shaking them and nearly sending a few toppling to their knees.

Collie gave a retching groan and turned to vomit out of the open door, fear emptying his stomach. Big Mac gave a small nod but said nothing. His eyes were as wide as they could be, his face pale beneath his myriad of freckles. It was obvious he was terrified, and Reyes knew exactly why- he knew what Mac had left behind.

A quick movement caught his eye and Reyes turned to see his PL unbuckling his helmet and extracting a small wallet-size photo from beneath the interior and giving one quick kiss. A photo of his wife, most likely- she had recently had a daughter, something that must have been on the LT’s mind almost as much as-

“Oh, shit, please be there,” Reyes sputtered, his fingers diving beneath his armor and extracting a small picture of a young girl, his heart of hearts that he had left behind. She was safe, holding to a promise that he would return. She had promised to marry him when he came back. Reyes couldn’t help but wonder if their last goodbye would be just that- their last. He squeezed his eyes tight to hold back the tears of panic and slid the picture back into his pocket. He looked down at his left shoulder, where the emblem of a Huey borne by paratrooper wings rested. He was Air Assault trained, he bore the heaviest weapon the platoon could give him, a powerful 240L, and he had been trained in every possible way to prepare for this day. He had to believe he was going to make it, that he would live through this-

BOOM! The bird to their starboard side was met with an Anti-Air round straight through the belly, devastating the craft with an explosion of fire as its occupants were set ablaze and fell out onto the ground hundreds of feet below-

“Hang on!” The Black Hawk shook as the explosion rocked the surrounding airspace and sent the troopers within into a frenzy- the ropes were prepared, set out and ready to be thrown as the steel bird twisted and dove towards the hardened desert wastes-

“We’ve got hostiles beneath us!” yelled the gunner, a young man named Thunderlane as he set to work mowing down whatever movement he saw with his M240. “Multiple AA guns visible ahead! Get these guys the fuck out or they’re not gonna make it!”

BOOM BOOM BOOM! The whole world had erupted in fire and shrapnel as the numerous howitzers and machine guns buried in the foothills came alive, shooting into the swath of birds above their heads and slaughtering the soldiers within their steel hulls-

“Get the fucking ropes out! We’re jumping now!” Lt. Armor cried, snatching the rope for his side and throwing it out the side of the chopper, waiting in agony for it to strike the ground-

“GO! GO GO GO!” came the cry, and the eleven troopers rushed the doors and latched onto the ropes, instinct and training taking over where fear had once been held- terror was secondary now.

Reyes was fourth on his line, his thoughts not on a girl or a home or a future but on nothing but proper movement and technique: Eight feet per second, no jerky stops so don’t grip too tightly- slide but don’t fall, watch where the man ahead of you goes so as to avoid getting struck-

A smattering of machine gun fire darted past him, their fatal blows missing his body by mere inches as he descended. His heart was hammering madly in his chest, threatening to burst forth from his armor and kill him then and there-

Focus! Eight feet per second, maintain proper grip, slide but don't fall, no jerky stops­-

There was a horrible Crunch! sound and a burst of blood as the trooper above him, a young man named Stragazzi, was struck in the head-

“FUCK!” Reyes couldn’t hasten his descent fast enough to avoid the falling body and was struck full force by over 200 pounds of weapon, armor, and human flesh, tearing him from his grip on the rope and slamming him into the ground five yards below-

For a moment he thought he was dead. All of his senses fled from his body as he went numb with the force of the blow on all sides, forcing all air, thought, and feeling out from within him. Distantly he could see, hear, and feel the cataclysmic battle that had erupted around him, but as if from another world, another time and life of which he was not a part. He could hear the sound of bullets raking past his body, feel the spattering of blood as more troopers were struck down, the ground shaking beneath him as mortar rounds began to fall. He watched, unfocused, as another black hawk came crashing down in a putrid fireball and sent flames skyrocketing into the air, watching as the sole survivor crawled out from the wreckage, his body aflame and screaming from whatever was left of his lungs as his body was burnt to cinders-

“Reyes! Come on, man, move! REYES!” he could hear someone calling for him, filled with desperation. He tried to move, tried to summon himself back to reality, but the weight was so heavy… weight, weight, weight-

Reyes came back into focus and found himself staring straight into the bloodied pit that had once been Stragazzi’s skull-

he gave a shriek and pushed against Stragazzi’s dead body with all his might, not yet realizing the lifeless trooper’s weapon had become tangled with his own. He struggled to move, to get away from the man who had been his friend and partner in battle but was now a broken mixture of flesh and blood that flowed onto Reyes’ legs, the gore flying with each desperate attempt to get away-

“I got you, keep trying to get untangled!” said a voice, one he knew to be the LT, and he felt a pair of hands grab hold of his kit to drag him along. Reyes struggled against the tangle of equipment, his gloved hands slick with fresh blood until he could stand it no more- an open knife and Reyes cut through Stragazzi’s M4 sling, watching as the body fell to the ground and bleed onto the desert floor-

“Are you alright? Are you hurt!?” Sgt. Hack asked the moment he was pulled into cover, checking over the young soldier for any wounds, looking aghast at the blood that covered his armor-

“I’m good- I’m good, Sergeant!” Reyes said loudly, his heart still in full-panic mode from the incident that had nearly cost him his life. “I wasn’t hit- shit, Stragazzi had my additional ammo!”

“Keep yourself out of sight!” Lt. Armor replied, doing his best to keep himself beneath cover- a powerful duo of M2’s had been set across the nearby hill and were dominating the terrain with their superior firepower. The air itself felt explosive as the pure force of the weapon raked across the landscape, threatening to dismantle all who met its kiss of death. “Who have we got?”

The survivors who had managed to get to cover were cluttered together beneath a massive sand dune, thick enough to withstand the two guns above, though still leaving their number petrified and roaring with adrenaline. “We lost Stragazzi, Cpl. Hunt, Baker, and Roque, sir!” Sgt. Hack yelled back. “We’re about 500 meters short of our intended drop zone!”

“We won’t reach our intended zone unless we get rid of those 50’s!” Lt. Armor countered. “Get your team ready, we’ll bound forward- get your men ready to move! Reyes, Mac, Collie, you’re with me! Sgt. Hack, you take the others, get ready to move to that next dune! We’ll meet you beyond that hilltop!”

Lt. Armor motioned for Reyes, and the two men rushed to the peak of their dune, waiting just behind the tip of their cover. “Don’t fire until I say so,” the LT breathed. “When you do, aim straight towards those guns, moving up that hill- remember, short controlled bursts.”

Reyes cocked back his 240L and chambered the round- a belt of 200 7.62mm rounds now sat at the ready; meant for the sole purpose of destruction, and now awaited only the smallest squeeze of the trigger-

“Let ‘em have it!” Lt. Armor yelled, and he flung the muzzle of his M4 across the dune’s peak and opened fire-

Reyes threw himself out from cover and unlocked the weapon’s bipod, slamming it onto the peak of the sand dune and opening fire, squeezing down the trigger that unleashed a torrential volley of gunfire onto the open plain and onto the hilltop where the twin M2’s stood. The smell of gunpowder and hot steel erupted from the barrel of the machine gun as the trail of bullets cut across the desert sands and bringing the assaulting fire of the deadlier weapons to a halt as their gunners dropped to avoid being struck-

“They’re through! Drop!” The two men slid back down the dune to where Mac and Collie waited, their breaths coming in quick, ragged gasps. “OK, get ready for the others to start their covering fire!” Lt. Armor ordered. “That dune twenty meters ahead is where you’re gonna run, you hear me?”

They all nodded, unable to give a proper response as the booming gunfire of the 50. Cal erupted across the battlefield yet again, the thunderous sound threatening them once more-

The small, erratic Pop! of 5.56 rounds answered in response as Sgt. Hack’s team opened fire on the enemy position-

“Run!” the four troopers raced out across the open expanse towards their next place of safety, their boots tripping over rock and sinking into the thick sand churned by gunfire, but ceaseless as they ran behind their Lieutenant, with Reyes bringing up the rear, held down by his heavier equipment that only increased the terror in his chest-

Crack! Reyes slammed into the side of the dune as a mortar round hit its crest, showering the four men in smoke and sand-

“Shit! Try to find that mortar position!” Lt. Armor yelled, already dropping to the ground to sneak a glance around their cover.

“I’ve got nothing, sir! I think it’s beyond the hilltop, behind the two 50’s!” Collie coughed, choking on the thick cloud that had enveloped them.

“Then we’re gonna have to move quick! Return fire, give Hack’s team cover!”

Mac and Collie took their turn and peeked out from the right side of the dune, releasing a volley of rounds across the hilltop as their fellow platoonmates raced ever closer-

“One of them’s down, sir! Mac got one of the gunners!” Collie reported as they were called back.

“Alright, that can buy us some time, now get ready, we’re gonna hit the base of the hill just beneath those rocks- three, two- ONE!”

They gave another mad rush through the chaos-

The ground at their feet was peppered with round after round as the enemy above opened fire with whatever they could muster, their bullets darting in between the racing troopers as they tried to stay one step ahead of the bullet that sought their name, not one of them daring to stop for even the slightest second-

“Get ready to take it out! Reyes, grenade at the ready, I’ll go around the left side, you take right!” Lt. Armor barked, wrenching out the safety pin in preparation. “You’ve got just ten seconds to get into position, make sure to cook it.”

Reyes gave a nod and pulled the explosive from the pocket on his MOLLE, unlocking the safety pin and slinging the 240L across his back.

“One-” With a quick breath he was out into the open-

“Two-” Enemy fire was already tracing him, he could hear the sound of rifle fire-

“Three-” the sand beneath his feet felt like mud, so heavily churned despite being broiled by the scorching heat-

“Four-” flecks of dirt struck his cheeks as hostile fire struck the earth, begging to reach him-

“Five-” An outcropping just ahead of him was perfect cover, just one more step-

“Six-” He rushed beneath as the 50. Cal began to fire upon his position-

“Seven-” He would have to jump out from cover if he was to make the shot, he was too heavily concealed-

“Eight-” He squeezed down the handle of the grenade and took a step out from cover-

“Nine-” He swung his body back as he had been trained, instinct overwhelming his fear of the incoming fire that threatened to slay him-

“Ten!” The explosive was thrusted from his hand and into the open air, soaring high into the sky and disappearing behind the nest walls. Reyes darted back behind cover once more, waiting for the explosion that would signal his ascent.

Boom. The ground shook as both his and Lt. Armor’s grenades erupted on that hilltop, sending sand, rock and human remains racing down the hillside to rest at his feet. One second, two seconds, three seconds- Reyes leapt out and began to slowly climb the hill, his ascent made clumsy by the heftiness of his weapon and armor, but he soon found himself in the midst of the machine gun nest, leaping onto the broken body of an imperial soldier that now lay dying at his feet, most of his upper torso torn apart by the force of the combined blasts-

“Knock them down, and keep low to the ground!” Lt. Armor said, leaping over the barrier to stand beside him, giving a swift kick to the tripod that supported the first M2. Reyes joined him and tore out the firing pin of the remaining 50. Cal and tossing it into the desert, not truly realizing yet that the five men that had manned this nest had been killed by his hand-

“Done with that, now let’s get back to our original mission, we still need to hit the linkup spot with the rest of the platoon!” said Lt. Armor, and the two men rushed down the back of the hill, opening fire on the two remaining mortarmen that had chosen to stand their ground-

The plateau before them erupted in a series of explosions that sent them reeling and scrambling for cover, Reyes stumbling and crashing to the ground, his 240L catching him in the throat and sending him into a spluttering coughing fit-

“Mortars! Get to cover! Get to cover!” The two squads had reunited in the midst of the chaos, rushing through the horrendous din of powerful munitions that bombarded them. They were pegged, fish in a barrel ripe for the picking-

A thunderous boom and a mortar round struck home, detonating between at the feet of Merkel and erasing him from the face of the earth. Sgt. Hack, who had been following close behind, was caught in the blast and fell to the ground writhing in agony-

“MAN DOWN!” Mac and Reyes rushed back to their fallen NCO, nearly put into shock by the sheer magnitude of the damage. Hack’s right arm was a bloodied stump, chewed off just above the elbow and spewing blood like a fire hydrant, his weapon now a blackened wreck that had been seared to the front of his kit and most of his exposed flesh had been instantly scorched by the unfathomable heat, leaving him a screaming mass of what had once been a human being-

“GRAB HIS LEGS!” Big Mac yelled, putting his hefty arms around the man’s shoulders while Reyes tried to grab hold of Hack’s legs and instead slid the flesh straight off the bone-

“HOLY FUCK!” Reyes dropped his grip and the bare bone slammed into the ground, eliciting another shriek from Sgt. Hack as the two Privates tried to regain their grip once more-

Reyes put his hands on the man’s charred boots instead, taking special care to avoid any exposed areas, wondering how the man was even still alive after such appalling damage. As quickly as the two terrified young men could manage safely, they brought their squad leader out from the midst of the bulletstorm and into cover, where Lt. Armor was already performing a nine-line via the radio in Collie’s dismount bag.

“You’re dropping dismounts off at the SAME FUCKING LOCATION! Pick this guy up and get him the fuck out!” the officer shrieked, looking more incensed than they had ever seen him. “Casualty is a Priority, severe burns and missing right arm, we’re applying tourniquet now-”

“Sir, the rest of the platoon is incoming on our right side!” Collie yelled, pointing to where a set of about twenty men were crawling along the desert sand, barely obscured by rock and small mounds of dirt that pock-marked the landscape. They were far too exposed, but dared to push themselves across the madness for their last best chance of survival-

“GIVE COVERING FIRE! AIM FOR THOSE SAM’S!” Six different barrels set their aim towards the outposts ahead and gave volley after volley, Reyes’ 240L delivering its demoralizing power straight towards an exposed mortar team- a small cloud of blood erupted from one man and he fell out of sight-

“You two, do what you can to keep Hack conscious! Collie, I don’t care if you have to shoot the motherfucker but you get that bird to land and pick him up, you hear me?”

“Yessir!”

“And keep your heads down- Sergeant, how many have you got?” Lt. Armor asked as his Platoon Sergeant, Staff Sergeant Iron Will, slid next to his platoon leader.

“We lost a bird on our way in, sir- Sergeant Horton’s section is gone,” Iron Will reported. “Second platoon’s slant got cut in half, only one of their birds made it in. Those howitzers are too accurate, this operation isn’t going to last if we don’t get in there and take them out!”

“It won’t matter if we don’t take out the SAM’s, or else the rest of the brigade won’t land and give us the additional firepower!” Lt. Armor replied. “Where are those howitzers encamped?!”

“About half a click behind the line of SAM’s- lot of hostiles attached to their location, we’re not strong enough to take them on ourselves!”

“Then we’ve got to take out those SAM’s so we can free up whatever support we’re gonna have- Navy’s too scared to go in any further unless we cover their asses!”

“Sir, Captain Dyke’s on the ground, he says we need to keep moving, says the timeline is collapsing!” Collie yelled.

“What fucking timeline?” Lt. Armor roared.

“The Squadron’s getting pressure from Brigade command, the units down on the beach are getting hammered, they need whatever support we can give-”

“And they’re gonna fucking get it!” Lt. Armor snapped. “Sergeant, the two closest SAM systems are less than a click away, we need to hit them now or else the whole operation goes to hell. Take the section across the left lane and we’ll hit the right-

The sound of an explosion rocked the area and the roar of falling steel met their ears as a new Black Hawk was struck across the side by a fresh AA round, dismantling the fuel line and sending the bird falling lazily to the ground-

“EVERYBODY MOVE!” The platoon scattered in a race to avoid being crushed as the bird slammed into the earth, its rotor tearing into the ground before shattering and sending shards of steel and boiling hot metal streaking across the battlefield, every man rushing their position despite incoming fire-

Reyes and Mac raced after their platoon leader, doing whatever they could to avoid mortar fire and hostile elements across the landscape as their world seemed to be filled with nothing but sand and rock and metal and fire-

“Oh shit, oh fuck- fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” Reyes breathed in a panic as he ran forward, desperate for any way to find safety once more, even if it was only a target he could eliminate, a rifle he could stop from firing. He felt his boot dig deep into the sand and find an overly large rock, sending him stumbling into the dirt. “Fuck -shit!”

“Get up!” Mac yelled, helping his friend back to his feet and the two ran on, not concentrating on anything but moving forward and closer to their eventual goal.

“Where’s Sergeant Hack?” Collie screamed as the two men arrived. “Did someone pull him out?”

Reyes felt a lurch in his stomach as he realized the downed bird had fallen exactly where they had once stood, with the savaged NCO right in their midst. They had been to occupied with survival and they had-

“You just would’ve died too, don’t dwell on that shit now! There’s a trench about fifty meters ahead- mortar teams are all over it!” Lt. Armor said, pointing to the barely visible M252 tubes that dotted the terrain. “I’m gonna pop smoke so we can get in close- Reyes, when I give the signal, you hit the right side and light ‘em up!”

“Yessir!” Burned and scarred Sergeant Hack, the easygoing NCO turned into a seared piece of human roast in the matter of a few seconds, transformed into something inhuman in almost an instant-

“Tossing smoke!” A dark grey canister was extracted from one of his MOLLE pockets and Lt. Armor heaved, throwing it like a football, and landing perfectly in the dip right before the trench and igniting, the thick, gray smoke slowly whirling out from inside-

“Not yet, not yet,” he hissed as Reyes shuffled himself. “It’s not thick enough, wait a little longer…”

The seconds ticked by in agony as each one of them knew the very ground where they stood had already been marked- they were easy targets unless those tubes were disabled-

“Go, go!” Shining Armor and Bic Mac leapt out from cover to give covering fire as Reyes ran ahead into the miasma of smoke that filled his lungs and threatened to choke him out-

Breathe, breathe, don’t freak out, you can’t freak out, you have to breathe. Every second in the impenetrable smoke was horrific torture as he knew one stray bullet would be all it took to bring him down. He could hardly see, he couldn’t open his mouth for a single gulp of air-

“Whoa!” His right foot fell into the air as he found the trench and fell into it, collapsing in a heap right next to a pair of mortarmen that nearly jumped out of their skin at the sight of him-

Reyes gave a yell and tried to right himself, hoisting himself off the ground as rapidly as his heavy load would allow, his left hand grasping out for the bipod for grip-

The two mortarmen reached for their rifles and it occurred to Reyes that they hardly looked any older than he was, as his eyes adjusted to the free air of the trench and caught sight of the other teams preparing to open fire-

The trench came alive with the muzzle blast of the 240L as 7.62 rounds raced through armor and muscle and bone, soaking the walls of the trench crimson as the mortar crews fell to the deadly machine gun’s firepower. One man, then two, then five- until no enemy was left standing. Reyes felt his first belt exit the chamber and spit the last round, his first 200 rounds now dispensed-

“We’re clear!” He yelled to his teammates, waving his hands in an attempt to signal them. “Trench is clear!” He felt a shift within himself as he saw the dead that now lay at his feet, believing them to be his first kills, his mind not having yet accepted the deaths on the hilltop or the fallen mortarman from before as his own-

Reyes could hear heavy footfalls and Big Mac landed right beside him, falling through the air just as he had done and landing in a heap beside him. Collie appeared next, taking note of his friends’ clumsy entrance and landed with more grace before being followed by Shining Armor, who took note of the havoc that had just been wreaked. “Alright, that’s one more obstacle out of the way,” he said, slapping the young Private on the back. “We’re almost there, guys, just a little further. Ammo count!”

“I’m down two magazines, sir,” Collie reported.

“Three,” Big Mac added, slapping in a fresh magazine into his rifle.

“Down three myself. Reyes, what do you have?”

“One 200-round belt, three additional magazines, sir, but I’ve got to replace the barrel!” Reyes answered, opening the feed tray to insert the next belt, pulling back the cocking handle and instantly feeling it jam- “Fucking come on!”

“What the fuck’s wrong-”

“Jammed, I think there’s a link stuck in the ejection port!” Reyes replied, pulling off his assault pack and reaching for his secondary barrel while his right hand dove into the ejection port, his fingers searching for a shell or a link-

The air suddenly roared with an overpowering thunder and the sky overhead was filled with fire and smoke as a massive PAC-3 missile screamed through the skies, followed by a trio of its brethren.

“We’re running out of time, the SAM’s are opening fire-”

“Working as fast as I can, sir!” Reyes yelled.

“Navy must be in range, those missiles are locked on to one target that’s gonna have a helluva lot of people onboard-” Collie cried.

“NOT! NOW- GOT IT!” Reyes replied, extracting the damaged link and tossing it aside. He pulled off the hot barrel and threw it into his pack, sliding the new one into position and chambering a round. “Ready to go!”

“Alright, we’re almost there- we’re gonna bound as buddy teams, Reyes you’re with me! Mac, Collie, provide cover!”

Lieutenant and Private jumped out from the trench and dashed ahead to where the SAM Launcher lay half-buried beneath the sand, the truck itself appearing to be swallowed by the desert leaving only its missile system above ground, the entire area surrounded by a well-entrenched hostile force that opened fire on the two men as they rushed forward-

“Open fire!” Lt. Armor cried as the two men slid behind a small mound of dirt and rock, lifting their weapons out from beneath their bodies and sending smatterings of fire over the heads of their foes to give their two remaining companions the time they needed to make their rush-

“We’re clear, we’ve got you covered!” came a thin cry, as Big Mac and Collie took cover behind a nearby thicket of brambles-

“All the way to it, let’s go!” Reyes leapt clumsily to his feet and rushed forward into the fray, leaping to the top of the enemy position and opening fire alongside his platoon leader as their fire mowed down enemy resistance until the team manning the installation was no more-

“Get up here with that C4!” Shining yelled, motioning for Big Mac and Collie to join them as he stood atop the cab of the MIM-

“Get down, sir!” Reyes cried, leaping backwards and slamming into his PL just as an all-powerful 125mm round seared through the air, ricocheting off the side of the MIM and exploding in the dunes beyond, detonating with the force of a small bomb-

“What the fuck was that?”

“Not just howitzers, sir- tanks, infantry, they’ve got a helluva lot incoming!” Reyes screamed, pointing to the mass mobilization heading straight for their position, well-armored and intent on pushing back the invaders-

Fuck- GET THAT C4 UP HERE NOW!” Armor yelled, catching the kneaded package Big Mac had just finalized. “Fuse and wire!”

The fuse, attached to a small thin yellow wire, was sunk into the package and kneaded around to ensure its stay, and the four men dropped out down below the system and encampment for some semblance of cover. “Alright, get ready- three, two, one-!”

The world exploded as the C4 detonated the system with a concussive blast that sent them reeling, the explosion sending billowing clouds of smoke that were marked by fire and shards of metal into the sky, falling to the ground and threatening their own lives-

“Incoming fire!” The four troopers watched as tank rounds and continued howitzer fire, interspersed with rifle and machine gun fire, tore through the battlefield, streaking towards whatever open target lay before them. Reyes watched as a nearby troop came under threat by a blast of 125mm that struck their path heading to a nearby MIM, obliterating a pair of troopers and sending others flying. The entire squadron was under threat as the impending failure of their mission blared through their minds as round after round after countless round met their mark with deadly results as countless lives ended in the matter of a few heartbeats-

“Sir, what do we do?” Collie asked, his face tinged with panic.

Reyes felt a flash of terror as he saw the fear in his PL’s eyes- he didn’t know what to do. Lt. Armor looked just as frightened as the rest of them and was grappling for an answer that would somehow save their skins and keep his men from losing control-

“Sir! What do we do?” Collie pressed again, every inch of his face plastered with terror as he began to realize his commander was struggling with the panic and reality that they were in a situation that was going to spiral out of control and turn into a massacre-

“Uh- fuck! How many MIM’s are still active?” Lt. Armor asked, somehow finding his voice again. “Get me a visual!”

Reyes and Mac slid to the very edge of their cover and peered out into the rest of the battlefield, assessing the conditions.

“I see one destroyed, three active, sir!” Reyes called.

“Two destroyed, two active!” Mac added.

“Uh… With ours that makes five down, five to go- uh, uh- shit, it’s not enough but it’s gonna have to be,” Lt. Armor said rapidly, his words and movements disjointed and clunky as he tried to force himself into rational thought. “Radio!” he finally yelled, snapping his fingers for the hand-mike. “This is King Zero-One calling any Leviathan unit on this frequency! We are BROKEN ARROW, I say again, BROKEN ARROW- We need immediate suppression on this location!”

Reyes swore his heart must have stopped beating at the mention of it- Leviathan was the operation’s primary source of firepower, the joint power of ground and naval artillery meant to shell into the city. “Holy fucking shit-”

“Leviathan 1-4, MIM’s are still active, but we are in ‘Broken Arrow’ protocol, we are not gonna make it unless you get into position! Standby for location,” Lt. Armor yelled, scrambling for his mini-map. “Grid as follows: 3696 by 2373- fire for effect, I say again, fire for effect!”

Reyes’s mind returned to the pre-mission debrief they had been given, his mind returning to the coordinates they had been forced to memorize and know by heart in the event of full destabilization and as he connected the numbers to where he stood now-

Lt. Armor waited on bated breath for a response before giving a nod and throwing the handmike aside. “It’s gonna be coming right on top of us, get ready!”

The four men huddled closer together, practically burying themselves into the ground as they watched the grim melee turn into a massacre as their squadron was becoming quickly overwhelmed by the enemy line pushing towards their location. A massive T14 roared across the landscape beside them as it opened fire on the incoming troopers-

Reyes felt the first round hit before he even knew it had arrived, watching as the cannon round exploded on a nearby MIM, killing both sides of the battle that were clashing on the wreckage-

Another round, followed by another, and then another until it seemed the entire world was alive with nothing but explosions and fire, dust, debris and rage as both forces came under threat by the same gunfire that sat both on and offshore as the combined forces of two powers sent their devastating payloads out into the wastes, striking against their fellow soldiers as well as their enemies, so finely merged together into a single lane that neither could escape the powerful onslaught that had been called down upon them-

The ground around him exploded as an arty round struck the remains of what had been the MIM-104 just above him and Reyes soon found himself coughing and covered by the debris sent barreling towards him and he saw the world around him disappear behind walls of smoke and fire and sand that were the thinnest of shields against his own end, and on and on the barrage went until he could think of nothing but the fact that he was going to die, he was going to die here and now in this desert hell or be buried beneath the sands and never to be found again and he grasped his helmet in terror and in that moment he heard a thin, shrieking scream of terror that he soon realized was his own-

He woke in an instant. No sudden intake of breath, no panicked yell, no throwing of the sheets. In a single moment he had gone from the battlefield to his own bedroom, no longer staring out into the sands and iron-grey sky. The ceiling above him was a light tan with a thin crack where the drywall had been soaked by rainfall through the roof. The curtains had been pulled shut, with only the smallest sliver of early morning light seeping through their thick folds.

He righted himself, coming to a seat and staring at the darkened walls painted a soft blue. He looked over at the battered oak dresser where their clothes were kept. He glanced at the nearby bathroom, seeing nothing but a damp towel hanging on the door from a late-night shower. His hands felt the soft sheets and fabric that sat upon his bed. His gaze settled on his companion, still asleep on the opposite side of the bed, breathing gently and undisturbed by his dreams. Judging by the state of the covers, it had been a quiet nightmare.

Marcos Reyes looked around the room before sliding out from beneath the cover, his unease having yet to be abated. He could see quite clearly where he was, but his mind was not so easily satisfied. His hardened instincts told him a different story. His feet, bare and not wearing his boots, settled onto soft carpet instead of hardened rock and sand, and took him away from his room and into the depths of his home.

He found himself in the kitchen, his throat parched as if he truly had been in the midst of a wasteland. Reyes reached for the tap and watched as clear, cool water fell onto the metallic sink before cupping his hands beneath the flow and bringing it to his lips. As he drank, his eyes caught his bare reflection in the window above the sink- slightly scruffy, as he hadn’t yet shaved that morning. All the youthful features of his boyhood were gone, replaced by the visage and scars of a man. He thought he could see his eyes in the man that looked straight back at him, feel that haunted look matching his own.

Reyes shut off the flow and looked around the room, taking in its peaceful stillness. Nothing wrong here- and likely nothing wrong anywhere else, he chided himself. He counseled himself to relax, as he had been taught, but still he failed to bring his anxiety to a halt. Try as he might, he at least needed to check the outside world.

He entered the living room and pulled back the curtains to the bay window, staring out into the misty morning, taking in the soft yellow and pink sky that spoke to the coming of the rising sun, barely visible above the treetops that stood on the other side of the streets. He looked over at his neighbor’s house on his left, and then his right. Nothing was wrong. Nothing at all…

He heard a movement behind him, a gentle, recognizable sound that did nothing to stir his fears. Slow, careful footfalls coming down the hall and stopping somewhere just behind him. He could feel her presence, the warmth that she dimly radiated even now. His love, his life, his heart beyond hearts… his wife.

Sunset Shimmer brushed the hair from out of her eyes and pushed it aside, slowly reaching for her husband’s hand, carefully intertwining her fingers with his as they had done so many times, so many years ago. She gave it the smallest squeeze, waiting patiently for the return gesture. The smallest bit of pressure on her hand, then more tightly as he returned her warmth with a bit of his own. “I’m alright,” he whispered.

Sunset gave a small breath and put her arms around his waist, resting her chin on his shoulder, feeling the tension fleeing his powerful frame. His muscles relaxed, letting the adrenaline escape his body in a slow, gentle pattern with each passing breath. It was a practiced movement now, a lesson the both of them had learned over time. She gave him the time she knew he needed, letting him relax and reenter the real world once more.

“Where were you?” she asked.

Marcos looked down at her hands, reaching for her arm with his left hand and holding on gently. “Almeria,” he whispered. “The drop.”

“How long ago was that?” said Sunset.

Marcos bit his lip. “Four years ago,” he answered.

“Is that where you are?” she queried.

Marcos took a breath, closing his eyes and giving a long, lingering sigh. “No.”

“So where are you?”

“I’m home,” he answered. “I’m in my home.”

“Are you safe here in your home?”

“Yes.”

“Are you with me?”

“Yes.”

“So what does that mean?” she asked finally.

Marcos turned to look at her. “It means I’m going to be OK,” he said, staring straight into her eyes that were still heavy with sleep.

Sunset gave a small smile. “Yeah, you are,” she replied. “You want to go back to bed?”

Marcos’ memory drifted back to the last explosion he could recall. “No,” he said firmly.

“OK, then. I’ll get some breakfast going,” Sunset said, letting go of her husband and heading to the kitchen. “You want anything special?”

“No,” Marcos said, turning to the front door to grab the newspaper. His mind was calm and the unease had left him.

It was 6:30 on a Saturday morning.

Author's Notes:

And we have returned at last.
So begins the tales of war, and the love that can overcome it.