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We Cannot Save Them All...

It all began on an unusually early spring day, Mag and his Platoon departed on a routine presence patrol on the streets of Gabahdad. The sun shone brightly as they left the wire, and Mag knew that the break of winter's grasp and the pleasant warm sun would bring the local cubs out to play. Mag grinned to himself as he thought about how the relationship between his unit and the local children developed during his tenure in Gabahdad.

In the early days of his deployment, Mag perceived the children as a nuisance, and obstacle to his Platoon reaching their given objective. The innocent charm of the younglings, however, wore down the hard edge of Mag's stoic personality, and he soon grew fond of the way in which the young cubs would swoon over the meager gifts of candies from their issued rations. Mag now felt a warmth course through his being at the delight in the youngsters' eyes when given even the slightest bit of attention by members of the Platoon.

One the cubs in particular stood out to Mag. Her name was Karah, a young bunny not more than 4 or 5 years of age. Mag was not entirely certain why he felt such fatherly feelings towards young Karah, however the tenderness of her soul and warmth of her being reminded Mag of the family which he'd left back at home. As she skipped out of her home Karah squealed with glee upon seeing Mag, and pranced across the empty street to meet him. Seeing Karah on this patrol pleased Mag, as the spring thaw allowed him to find something special for Karah. After a quick embrace of Mag's leg, Mag revealed the gift he had found for her. In his left paw, he held one of the first flowers of, a bright crimson Red Tulip he'd found blossoming on base. Mag gently placed it behind her ear, much to the delight of the little bunny. The small creature's joy in this brief moment of serenity reminded Mag of the hope that lay beyond this hell that was war. After the moment's contemplation, he motioned for Karah rejoin the other children so he could resume the patrol.

With a single gesture, Mag signaled his Platoon to resume the formation and begin patrolling once more. As each of the squads branched out into formation, the lead element was thrown off their feet by a massive explosion. The potent blast was immediately followed by withering machine gun fire from hasty fighting positions within the buildings.

"Ambush, return fire and get out of their kill-zone" Mag reflexively ordered. Instinct immediately gripped Mag, and he immediately sought to obtain full awareness of the immediate threat. "Distance and direction" Mag growled. "Two O'clock, approximately 200 meters, two RPK machine guns and about 6 other riflemen," one of his squad leaders replied. With the information on whom he faced, Mag seamlessly began to orchestrate the movement of his Platoon. "Weapons squad, lay down a base of on the second and third, floors where the RPKs are located, I want those guns silenced. First squad, I want you to flank the southern edge of their position, the dead space between buildings should allow you to approach without receiving much direct fire. Second squad, find cover, I want you to provide some precision suppression for First Squad as they maneuver on the objective, see if you can thin out their numbers while First moves. DOC! Doc, I want you to form a casualty collection point behind the western wall and treat any casualties if they occur." Each of the leaders nodded their acknowledgement upon receipt of orders, and the Platoon's three squads dispersed to execute their assigned maneuvers. Mag soon heard the signature of the 240B machine gun suppressing the enemy positions. Tracer rounds poured into the windows of the buildings where their ambushers besieged them. Under the cover of the metal storm provided by the Weapons Squad, First Squad began to bound towards the building. Upon seeing their movement amongst the buildings, Mag instinctively ordered the Weapons Squad and 2nd Squad shift fire North, in order to avoid any possibility of fratricide, whilst creating a wall of lead to close off one possible escape route. Soon, the blast sounds of flash-bang grenades indicated that First Squad arrived at the target building and began to systematically clear the building. Mag cued Weapons Squad and Second Squad to cease fire in order to give First Squad the greatest flexibility to clear each room. After several more sporadic flash bang signatures, the area was overcome with an eerie silence.

"Sitrep" Mag called over the radio to his First Squad Leader. "First Squad's all up sir, no casualties. No enemy casualties either, however, they broke contact as soon as we engaged them with the 240s." This was not a surprise to Mag, he knew the enemy they faced in this fight was intelligent enough not to fight a larger and more well-armed force toe to toe. In this fight, the enemy wisely learned how to use coordinated hit and run ambushes to inflict casualties whenever the opportunity presented itself. "Acknowledged, regroup at the collection point, and we'll resu-." Before he could finish his transmission, Mag suddenly found himself at a loss for words as, as though he'd been struck by a tremendous force. Mouth agape, he dropped the hand mike of his comm device, his eyes fixed in the direction in which his ambushers detonated an explosive device.

The settling dust revealed the source of Mag's speechlessness. Near the impact crater lay the limp form of a young bunny, with a crumpled flower adorning her ear. A creeping sense of dread crawled up Mag's spine as he beheld the scene. "Karah" Mag gasped, and leapt towards her diminutive form. Upon reaching her, Mag cradled the young cub into his arms and began desperately searching for signs of life in the young bunny. "C'mon, c'mon, you can't go like this, I won't let you go like this." Mag noticed a small, labored breath emanating from the bunny. Upon recognizing the signs of life, thoughts began chaotically racing into Mags head. She's alive, she can make it, but, how, the local doctors can't treat this kind of trauma. Wait, maybe if I... "Doc! Get a nine-line MEDEVAC going, let them know we have a gravely wounded cub from the blast, tell them she is urgent surgical!" Why didn't they wait, why couldn't they have at least let the cubs leave? This is bullshit, that blast was meant for us, for me! God, why couldn't it have struck me instead! Mag's thoughts continued to darken as he noticed young Karah's life-signs began to dissipate. Yet, in spite his inner turmoil, he was not ready to surrender this young one to death's grip. "Hang in there Karah, look, Spring is here, see, I'll find you many more of the pretty flowers, and you can make your own garden, see? Hey, stick with me, you know those candies you love? Jonesy has a pack full of them, saving them for a special occasion, just hang in there, and we'll break open Jonesy's stash, alright?

Yet, for all his efforts to keep Karah alert, the bunny seemed to know her little body was broken beyond hope. As the light faded from her eyes, she used the last of her energy in her final act in this world. The bunny stared knowingly at Mag, and gently placed her paw upon Mag's muzzle, as though to thank him for the kindness he'd shown her. And with that gesture, her arm dropped limply upon her body as she exhaled her last breath.

A surge of emotion coursed through Mag like a searing flame in his veins, and in spite his stoic composure as a leader, he could not hold back the tears from his eyes as little Karah passed away in his arms. "No, please..." he attempted to plea one last time. "I'm sorry..." As the fiery surge of emotion passed, Mag was left with a deep brokenness within his soul, a fathomless sorrow hit Mag in realizing that he'd been unable to fulfill one of his greatest moral obligations, to protect the innocent for whom he felt responsible. Choking back the bitter tears in his eyes, and clutching the cub close to his chest, Mag echoed to Karah the only words fit for him to say. "I have failed you..."

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