Picking up a chair I stand it up correctly in front of the table before taking a seat, with the package resting in front of me I eye it curiously as I contemplate opening it immediately of waiting for Gabrielle. Seeing as her group had been dealing with the Children of the Motherland longer then us I figure it may be best for her to take a look at it with me. Lifting my feet onto the table I rest my hands behind my head as I look around the tavern, a number of bodies rest at various positions and many chair and tables have been damaged in the fighting. Looking to the main windows I can see a number of broken panes and bullet holes from when Crimson fired into the tavern to cover us.

Letting out a yawn I call out to nobody in particular, "Someone tell Gabrielle to get in here as soon as she can. I'd rather not wait a decade for her."

"You can tell me yourself," Gabrielle calls out from behind me as I hear her approach. "I take it you've found something."

"That I have, I had to chase down some twat and kick in a few doors to get it. Thanks to Crimson he didn't get away." I turn in my chair to find Crimson as she leans back against the wall, "You are a cracking shot, girl. Remind me to keep you in my firing section in future." As Gabrielle grabs a seat she pulls it alongside mine joining me at the table, when I turn to face her I notice her eyes already locked onto the package. "I'll give you the honours of opening it up."

Lifting the package Gabrielle peels the seal away and opens up the envelope, removing the contents my suspicions are confirmed as it seems to mainly be documentation of some sort. Spreading them out over the table we look over the various documents to try and determine if they hold any key information for us.

Picking up one particular sheet I read over the text which has been written on it, the text seems to primarily provide information on key upcoming visits for key political figures who are campaigning for the new government. One includes the timetable displaying the locations where the current leader of the provisional government will be. "Looks like they were planning to prepare some sort of attack against those running for the Prime Minister."

Gabrielle leans over and takes the sheet from me, "This has the timetable of the acting Prime Minister. This knowledge isn't yet available to the public, someone must have given them this information."

"So a spy? Someone is leaking information to the Children to potentially take out anyone who threatens them?"

Resting the document down she runs her talon through the feathers on her head, "It sure seems that way. Question is, who's the rat?"

"Well I wouldn't have a bloody clue. I'm just a soldier, you're the reconnaissance and intelligence specialist. I'll leave this stuff to you."

Smirking Gabrielle shakes her head, "Oh, thanks. Well If I ever need an engineer I suppose I shall leave that to you then?"

"Of course, it's my job for a reason. Specifically when it comes to blowing stuff up, that was the main reason I became an ATO."

Lifting a new document up Gabrielle chuckles to herself, "I swear that males just love watching stuff blow up."

Chuckling to myself I lean forward as she reads through the next letter, "It made my job ever so enjoyable." Whilst I wait for her to read through the document I look around the room for Chaser, finding him by the bar I whistle to him getting his attention as I wave him over. "Do me a favour?"

Chaser raises a brow, "For some reason I don't like the sound of this."

"I know that you're a dipshit but I didn't expect that you'd dread writing."

"Writing?"

"Yes, writing. It's a wonderful skill used by literate people. Could you write up a report about tonight's activity and have it sent back to Luna in Canterlot? It's about time we show that we've done some work whilst we're out here."

Sighing Chaser sits alongside us as I place some spare paper and my pencil on the table, "If I must."

"Actually before you begin, are you literate?" Chaser's about to open his mouth before I cut him off, "Oh wait, of course you are. After all you have porn 'for the articles.' So at least I know you can read."

Scowling Chaser shakes his head, "You're never going to let that go, are you?"

Smiling I rest my hand on his shoulder, "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't take the piss out of you?" Chaser doesn't respond as he goes about writing up the report. As the two on the table go about their work I reach to the back of my webbing and take out my canteen and have a drink of water.

As I'm screwing on the cap Gabrielle slides a document over to me, "You'll want to see this."

Securing the cap I rest my canteen on the table as I lift the document, "What is it?"

"It's instructions on where to deliver a shipment of supplies, including gun powder, ammunition and grenades." That catches my attention as I go about reading the letter. Looking over the inventory it also shows a set of coordinates of where the supplies are to be delivered to.

"Any idea where these coordinates lead to?"

Reaching into her uniform she takes out a map and spreads it over the table surface. Taking the letter from my hands she reads off the coordinates and points it out on the map, "Holbeak? Why would they go there?"

Tapping the table I get her attention, "What's Holbeak?"

"Holbeak was attacked centuries ago by a rogue dragon nearly killing the entire population of the town, only a few were able to escape. Since then the town has been left to ruin as it remains isolated within the forest, nobody has returned there since a few years after the attack."

"It's the perfect place then. Nobody has been there in centuries meaning it's location will only been known to a select few individuals. With the overgrown forest it will provide cover from all directions along from aerial reconnaissance. Tucked out of the way with no nearby civilian population centres, they could get up to all sorts in there without anyone knowing."

"We should move before they realise we've learnt of the location. Once word spreads that Hirsch has been apprehended they will potentially relocate any key personnel or facilities which are contained there, they won't want to risk losing any supplies."

Getting up I pass all of the intelligence to Gabrielle as I take my canteen and reattach it to my webbing, "Then we should get moving. Hopefully the airship will still be available still to take us to the edge of the forest. Chaser, finish that report as soon as and give it to one of the guards to send it."

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By 02:36 we arrived on the eastern edge of the forest, the former town of Holbeak should be a one and a half hours walk into the forest. We were able to convince the commanding officer at the MoD base in Threlkeld to provide us with additional forces to assault the town, he was more then happy to do it once he learnt that we took out a major recruitment ground within his town.

During the flight I also split my team into two sections, mine would be Alpha Section whereas Chaser would command Bravo Section. Alpha would consist of Myself, Sunny, Crimson, Comet, Shadow, Sure Strike and Slicer. Bravo would contain Chaser, Spectre, Georg, Janine, Colbalt and Silver Spark.

We landed at the outskirt of the forest with no resistance what so ever, there was also no clear indicators that anyone is operating from within the forest. Under the cover of darkness we moved into the forest as one large force, my Section was taking the lead with Comet taking point. As we advanced through the woodland we remained on guard, although the enemy shouldn't know that we're coming we should still remain on alert in case of any stragglers or patrols.

Being less then a mile away from our location we all come to a halt to ensure that we're all ready for combat, removing my magazine I load a couple of spare rounds into the magazine to replenish the ones I fired off during our last engagement. As I reinsert the magazine Gabrielle moves alongside me and shows me the map, "The site should just be over the top of this hill. We'll have a vantage point allowing us to survey the area before moving in."

"Sounds good to me. Comet, move on when ready." We all begin to move forward again getting ready for any potential engagements, this is all new to me since I've never done engagements in a woodland environment other then training. Throughout my career I've only ever done close quarters combat in small towns or compounds, or long range engagements in the plains of Afghanistan, a forest provides too many opportunities to hide and the potential of getting ambushed.

As we get closer to our goal I find it harder to see where I'm going, the dense woodland eliminates the glow from the moon submerging us in almost complete darkness. The only thing which is providing me with a path to follow is Comet as he steps forward with his rifle at the ready. As he walks we all hear a sudden click causing him to halt.

I look at him for a few seconds as he observes his surroundings, after a moment he begins to cautiously step forward again. After a few steps however I hear a sudden heavy rustling as I lose sight of Comet, he seems to fall forward as the rustling intensifies with the sound of metal scraping against a solid surface. Halting I raise my rifle and begin to look around in all directions, my heart rate increases as the rustling seems to have stopped leaving me fearing that an ambush is imminent.

However it never comes. Taking a few steps forward I look for Comet but instead find an opening in the ground where he was. Leaning forward I freeze at the sight below me, the opening is a pit filled with sharp metal spikes which appeared to have a thin wooden top which has collapsed revealing the trap. The only reason it has collapsed is because Comet has stepped on it, in the pit I find him impaled against a large number of the spikes. His body rests embedded on the spikes as blood pools from his open mouth onto the floor.

Holy shit! Holy fucking shit! Turning back I look over the rest of my team who have yet to discover the fate of Comet. "Slicer and Colbalt get over here," I call out to the two but don't raise my voice as to not alert any hostiles to our position. Once they both join alongside me they both freeze as they look down to Comet as he remains motionless. "Colbalt I need you to use your magic to lift him then I'll help you. We need to help him if we can."

As Colbalt's horn illuminates to try and lift Comet, Slicer leans close to me and whispers into my ear, "There's nothing we can do, John. He's dead."

"I'm not leaving him down there. Just... try something... anything."

As Comet is pulled off the spikes his blood begins to flow rapidly from the wounds over the spikes. Carefully positioning myself on the edge of the trap I wrap my arms around his chest and carry him back to the open ground, this result in the front of my webbing and white coat being heavily stained with blood. Resting him down I immediately open his winter coat and begin to unbuckle his armour as Slicer rests her pack alongside him. As I fiddle with the straps I can hear the others all talking to one another, the sounds of someone running towards us causes me to lift my head.

As I throw the top of his armour to the floor Crimson kneels alongside me and leans over him, "Comet!? Comet!?" I can see she's about to break down, these two were always close to each other and joined the unit together. As Crimson is about to collapse I take hold of her and begin to move her away, she doesn't make it easy as she tries escaping from my grasp to reach him.

"Crimson... I need you to stay strong. We'll do what we can for him but I need you to keep it together, we're all at risk out here."

Falling to the floor she immediately breaks out with loud sobs as she buries her muzzle in her hooves. Kneeling alongside her I rest my hand on her back to try and comfort her until Sunny moves up and takes over for me. I can understand how Crimson feels, nobody wants to see their friend in that state. I know the feeling from when Taylor was killed by an IED. That helpless feeling that no matter how hard you try you won't be able to save them.

Leaving Crimson in the care of Sunny I join Slicer again as she quickly packs her kit away. Sighing I run my face along my sleeve, "He's dead, isn't he?"

Nodding she turns her gaze to me, "The spikes pierced his armour and penetrated his heart. It was quick."

Stepping up to Comet I kneel down alongside him and pat my hand against his chest. I remain there for a moment until Gabrielle joins alongside me. Lifting my head I focus on her, "Everyone needs to stick to the same route, the Children have laid out traps. Can you get some of the guards to take Comet back to the airship? I'm not leaving him here."

Clicking her talons she points out two guards who quickly make their way over. Reaching into one of their packs they take out a large tan sheet with carrying handles on each side. Resting it alongside Comet they carefully lift him onto the makeshift stretcher before standing up. Grabbing hold of his rifle and armour I rest them both over his chest and place his forehooves over them as the Griffins begin to carry him away.

Sighing to myself I look back over everyone else behind me, "We need to keep moving, we can't stay here."

Lifting her head from her hooves Crimson lets out another load sob, "What about Comet?"

"There's nothing we can do for him. He's being taken back to the airship, I'll make sure he makes it home." Crimson just sinks into herself as her head drops once again. She's in no state to fight. Stepping up to her I kneel alongside her and slowly run my hand over her back, "You can sit this out. Head back to the ship."

Crimson stays motionless for a moment as she looks to me. On shaky legs she slowly stands as myself and Sunny help her up. I'm expecting her to turn back and leave us, however instead she takes hold of her rifle and brings it close to her body. "I'm not going back."

Patting her back I take hold of my rifle and turn to everyone else, "Shadow take the lead with me, we will clear a path which I want all of you to follow. We don't know how many traps are out here so we need to play it safe." Moving to the front I grasp my rifle and run my hand over the butt, "Lets get these bastards."

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What should have been a ten minute walk ended up taking us an hour, we came across more and more traps as we got closer to our target. One of the guards drifted away from our cleared route and met a similar fate to Comet, he was lucky however since the pit was much smaller only damaging his hindleg.

I thought by leaving Afghanistan I would get away from the risk of being killed by a trap, it seems however that I would have no such luck. I have gone from avoiding IED's to having to dodge traps you'd expect to find during the war in Vietnam. Although I'm trained to deal with IED's and other traps I find my training to be completely useless against these style of traps, the only option is to mark and avoid them. Maybe we should have waited until morning before moving in, we could have seen the traps and Comet could still be alive.

As we moved I kept checking back over my team, it was quite clear that seeing Comet in that state has hit them hard. It's one thing to see a team member being killed by conventional warfare, such as gunshots or stab wounds, it's a totally different feeling to come across someone who has been killed by a trap. It instantly drains your morale and fighting spirit, you are often left paranoid that you'll be the next one to fall into a trap.

Crimson seemed to keep to herself after we began moving, I could clearly see the pain she was feeling based on her facial expression. I know exactly how she feels, losing your friends is never an easy thing to go through. I'll have to talk to her once we're in the clear, in fact it would probably be best to speak to the entire team after witnessing something like that.

Reaching our destination we all perch along the top of a small hill as we look to the town approximately one-hundred meters below us. The town consists of one inner area which has been walled off by a fairly new brick wall whereas the outside of the town is in a state of disrepair. The inner courtyard has large wooden and steel double doors which stands three meters tall reaching the top of the wall, from what I can see it's out only route into the courtyard on foot. Within the courtyards is a set of metal shacks which appear to be warehouses of some sort, since supplies were due to be sent here I can imagine that this is likely a supply depot.

A number of the Children are patrolling along raised platforms which sit on the opposite side of the wall, this includes the occasional Griffin flying around the perimeter to ensure nobody is sneaking up to the gate or walls. Despite it being early morning there are still a few Griffins moving around within the compound, a number of them are equipped in some sort of work overalls along with what appears to be gas masks. The sight of them in gas masks doesn't exactly fill me with joy. And here I thought CBRN training would be pointless, turns out it may have some use.

Lowering my binoculars I lean towards Gabrielle, "Have the Children of the Motherland used chemical weapons at all?"

Gabrielle looks to me with an expression of confusion then horror, "I've never even heard of chemicals being weaponized. If they were able to develop such a weapon it would be deadly. Why do you ask? Have you seen something?"

Passing the binoculars I point towards the one Griffin who's standing outside with a mask clipped to his overalls as he smokes a cigarette. Sighing I rub the back of my neck, "We haven't exactly got any equipment to defend us against chemicals, I also doubt anyone has any spells to protect us from gases."

Passing the binoculars back to me Gabrielle looks over the outer town. You can tell that some sort of attack occurred here centuries ago, all the old buildings are hardly standing as heavy plant life scales the walls which are left scattering the town. "Would the town give you cover as you moved up, we may be able to sneak up on them."

"You'll have to take out that one who keeps making the occasional fly by over the walls. With him out of the picture we should be able to get up to the gate and make our way in."

"You do realise that the gate will likely be locked, right?"

Smirking I poke her wing, "You guys can fly, once we're in position just fly to the other side and open it up."

Rubbing her neck she glances to the various lookouts on the wall, "If we do that we could take casualties."

As I try to think I look back over the guards Gabrielle brought with her. Glancing to their uniforms I find one has the text 'Engineer' inscribed on his shirt. "Have your guys got any explosives?"

"I think we have some..." Pausing she rolls her eyes as she turns her head to me, "You're planning on blowing open the gates, aren't you?"

"Ah, you can read me like a book." Standing up I quickly move over to the Engineer and hold my hand out to him, "Explosives?" He looks between me and Gabrielle for a moment before turning to allow me access to his field pack, digging through it I find a few sticks of some sort of explosive and take hold of them. Stepping back towards Gabrielle I pause as I glance over to Silver, "We may not need to get close to detonate it. Silver could just levitate them into position and ignite them with his magic."

"Sounds good to me, That way you can all be in position."

Clicking my fingers I raise my hand and rest it on the top of my head to signal for my team to form up on me. Once they're all ready I glance back to Gabrielle, "We'll set up and signal the attack by destroying the gate, from there you guys can move in over the walls as we keep them focused at the gate."

"Stay safe." Taking back my binoculars I grasp onto my rifle as we begin to move low down the hill and between the trees to reach the outskirts of the town. As I take the lead I have to halt us at one point due to nearly stepping on another trap, taking a small detour we reach a set of destroyed buildings without being spotter by the enemy.

Moving alongside a broken wall we all take cover as I slowly peak my head around the edge to scout out the main road leading directly to the gate, along the dirt road I notice discarded crates and canisters which one contained supplies. What was in those canisters? Could it have been the chemical which they're working on?

Observing the entrance to the compound I watch as the watchmen rest against the wall and converse with one another, it seems as though they don't expected anyone to locate them here. Holding my left hand out to everyone I twist my wrist and point my thumb downward to inform everyone that I have the enemy in sight.

Turning back to the two Sections I take a knee. Speaking in a hushed tone I address everyone, "Everyone take up positions along this line where you'll have a line of sight on the main door. Silver and Crimson I want you both with me, we'll move to a higher position. Once I give the order to move in I want everyone to join their Sections."

As the others move off to take up their positions I begin to move down the road away from the compound, ahead of me I can see a two story building which seems to be in fairly good condition considering its age. Once we reach the building I move in through the destroyed doorway and find a battered looking staircase leading directly to the rooftop. Pushing my foot onto the bottom step it gives off a loud and concerning groan. "Silver, can you do anything to help us get up safely?"

Silver steps onto the bottom step as his horn illuminates, as he walks his magical aura surrounds his body. Without so much as a creek for the stairs he is able to make it to the top, as soon as he looks back down he does the same for Crimson as she hesitantly ascends the staircase. Slowly but surely she joins Silver at the top leaving me at the bottom.

Once Silver cast the same spell on myself I find myself feeling much lighter, the weight of my armour and webbing seems to disappear relieving the pressure on my shoulders. Testing the stairs I put my full weight onto the step, although it does creak slightly it is much better compare to when I originally tried the stairs. "Levitation spell," Silver calls down to me. "I may not be able to lift you but I can at least lighten your weight."

Once I'm at the top all three of us move low against the roof with our rifles pointed towards the main compound. Tilting to the side I'm able to reach into my pack and remove the sticks of dynamite and place them in front of me, reaching into my pocket I bring my lighter along the fuses. "Once I light these can you get them to the gate?"

Silver pokes one of the sticks, "How long is the fuse?"

Pausing I hold the stick in front of me as I tilt it, "I don't know. I knew I forgot something, I never asked." Examining the stick I move it around fully in my hand as I try to determine the length of the fuse. Give me a detonator over a fuse any day of the week. Finally I find a small selection of text at the base stating the time of the fuse, "Fifteen second. You can get them by the gate in that time, right?"

"Definitely, once you lit them I'll move them into position." Nodding to him I hold all the sticks together keeping the fuses pressed against one another. Grasping onto my lighter I strike the spark wheel and quickly light the fuses, as soon as I do this Silver envelopes them in his magic and pulls them from my grip. Pocketing my lighter I take hold of my rifle as I watch the explosives get moved into position, in about ten seconds the sticks are lined up along the centre of the two doors resulting in two very confused looking watchmen.

BOOM

The Explosion carries enough force to blast the doors open, propelling the left one inwards as the right door is blown completely off and impacts the floor. The shrapnel from the blast was enough to take out the two watchmen, they both immediately fell back behind the war following the explosion. With the doors open I'm able to see into the centre of the compound where a number of the Children of the Motherland begin rushing towards the platforms. "OPEN FIRE!"

PHAT

The round buries itself into the chest of the front Griffin sending him straight to the floor as he cries out in agony. As I eject the cartridge from my rifle both Silver and Crimson begin opening fire, deeper within the town I can hear shots being fired from various other positions. One by one the first group of Griffins all drop to the floor as they're riddled with bullets.

Loading a new round into the chamber I watch as the enemy are able to reach cover behind the wall, from their position on top of the platforms they are able to return fire on us. Due to their primitive rifles they lack accuracy at this range, many of their shots are going completely off target compared to our .303 rounds. As the guards make their approach on the flank I start to fire as many rounds as rapidly as I can towards the wall in order to keep them suppressed.

Once my magazine has been emptied I watch as the guards fly over the wall and flank the Children of the Motherland, moving to their rear they are able to easily eliminate the riflemen as they make their flyover. Once the fighting is taking place behind the wall I get up from my position and make my way back to the stairs, as my boot comes into contact with the top step Silver uses his magic once again to reduce my weight.

As I load another magazine into the rifle I start to run down the road towards the compound. As I run I shout out to the rest in cover, "Alpha Section, on me!" Advancing down the road they all gradually join me as I hear Chaser call out for his Section to form up on him. Stepping through the destroyed gate we come across the guards and the Children engaged in a melee skirmish. Noticing one caught in an engagement with Gabrielle I raise my rifle and take aim.

PHAT

The bullet pierces his neck and tears his throat apart, a heavy spray of blood forces itself from his body as he slowly collapses. Slinging my rifle over my back I draw my sword in my right hand as I take control of my pistol in the left. Charging an enemy rifleman I bring the sword down on the barrel of his rifle knocking off his aim resulting in him shooting the floor. With my Glock in hand I bring it across the back of his head knocking him to the floor where I step on the back of his neck and take aim.

PHAT PHAT PHAT

The three rounds bury into his back ceasing his movement. Stepping off his body I examine my surroundings and take aim at a small group as they exit one of the metal shacks.

PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT

The rounds meet their targets by sending four to the floor, however the last two are still standing as they move to charge me. Before I can adjust my aim one of them takes a swing causing me to block the strike. Back peddling I continue to block his strikes as his ally attempts to circle around me. Not wanting to get flanked I deliver a quick kick to my attackers rear leg sending him to the floor as I raise my pistol to his friend.

PHAT PHAT

The first round misses as I had to rush my aim, thankfully my second round hits the target piercing his skull. His body tumbles forward as his neck violently jolts back from the sudden impact. With the risk of the flank being dealt with I'm able to turn my focus back to the downed Griffin as he takes another swing at me. This time however I'm unable to react before the sword slices through my coat and impacts my left forearm causing me to release my pistol.

Jumping backwards I bring my left hand over the rune of my sword activating the enchantment. With a quick lunge I'm able to scratch the side of his neck, thanks to the heat of the blade I'm able to burn his flesh as he screams out in anguish. Seizing my opportunity I take a side on swing for his exposed neck. The enchantment allows the sword to slice through his flesh, muscle and bone decapitating the target, his body slowly stumbles to the side before collapsing in a rapidly growing pool of blood.

Leaning down I pick up my pistol and holster it as I look over the last of the battle. With the Children being outnumbered they quickly begin to throw down their weapons as they surrender. Deactivating the rune of my sword I sheath the blade as I keep hold of my pistol. As I look to the surrendering units one of them falls to the floor as a bullet tears through his head. Rapidly pivoting I find Crimson loading another round before firing at another of the surrendering Griffins.

"CRIMSON! STAND DOWN!" She doesn't seem to hear me, instead she simply loads another round and fires at the next target. She's fucking lost it! Sprinting from my position I rapidly approach her as she's about to fire at her next target. Lowering my body I wrap my arms around her torso in a rugby tackle as I force her from the floor, as we collide with the floor I force myself on top of her and hold her hooves down. "I SAID STAND DOWN!"

"THEY KILLED COMET!" Crimson screams at the top of her voice as tears run down her cheeks. She uses all of her strength to try and escape my grasp, not having much luck she turns to delivering a quick and swift kick to my gut knocking the wind out of me. As I roll to the side she quickly reaches for her rifle and tries to fire once again, thankfully Sunny uses her magic to yank the rifle from her grip disarming her.

Sunny moves over to keep her down in an attempt to control her, Colbalt joins Sunny as I slowly climb to my feet. "You two keep her under control!" Standing I move over to Crimson's rifle and take control of it, removing the magazine I clear the round from the chamber before stepping up to Sure Strike and passing him the rifle. "Everyone else watch the prisoners! Gabrielle's unit will conduct a search of the area!"

As I move over to one of the warehouses I lean back against the wall and roll the sleeve of my coat up. I wince in pain as my hand runs over the cut, the injury stretches from my wrist and reaches the base of my elbow. My white sleeve is dyed a scarlet red as it's pulled back fully from the wound. Trying to slow the bleeding I take off my field pack and search inside for a tourniquet, once I've found it I attach it around my upper arm and tighten it as much as I can. Once that's done I hold my right hand over the deepest part of the cut and apply as much pressure as I can.

As I rest my head back against the wall I look to Slicer as she steps up to me. Examining my arm she takes a hold it and pushes it up so it's elevated, "I take it you won't want me to treat you?"

Groaning I twist my arm so she can clearly see the injury, "Is it serious?"

"Well it certainly isn't good. You'll definitely need to have it cleaned a sutured, you wouldn't want to get an infection."

Sighing I slowly slump down to sit on the floor, "Great... just great. Fuck it. I'd rather lose the bet then potentially lose my arm to gangrene or some shit."

Slicer sits alongside me as she removes her pack to get out some cleaning equipment and bandages. Pausing momentarily she turns her head back to look towards Crimson. "What are we going to do about her?"

"I don't know. We'll have to keep an eye on her until I make a decision. Surely the Griffins will has a psychologist or councillor back at base who can assess her, based on that I'll have to decide whether to discharge her or to keep her in the unit." As Slicer pours fluid over my arm I bite my lip as it immediately begins to feel as though it's burning.

As Slicer continue to treat my arm I watch as Gabrielle's unit move in and out of the shacks as they continue searching the compound. It doesn't take long until Gabrielle comes to me with a worried expression. "We've found out why they needed gas masks. There's a large stockpile of various weapons here, including Chlorine gas."

"Chlorine? Shit." It may not be the worst chemical weapon out there but it can certainly still do some damage in the wrong hands. "We need to seize everything that's here, there's bound to be intelligence that will be of some use here."

Nodding Gabrielle moves off to continue with the search. Chlorine gas? What are they planning? A gas attack? Multiple scenarios begin to run through my head involving the use of the Chlorine gas, none of them good. This leave me concerned about the fact that we haven't got any gas masks or CBRN equipment to protect ourselves. If the gas is used directly against us then we'll be fucked.

Just what have they got planned with this?