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The First Onslaught

An explosion rattles the ground before Darian's feet. His expression was that of a somewhat disgruntled soldier reacting thanks to years of training and veterancy. His squad of three men and two women stand spread out behind him, weapons aimed and searching in response to the blast. "It was only a mortar," claimed Darian as he raised his fist to give the command "halt". The squad freezes in their tracks, awaiting an "all clear", or "move out" command.

Darian's gaze sets upon an average hill about seven-hundred meters northeast from their position. "Screech, how close do you think we can get before they spot us?" inquired Darian. Screech the second in command, a very wise and leading man on the terrain comments, "About three-hundred-fifty meters, sir". "Yeah, that's what I was thinking," Darian adds. "Gamble, Hammer, Go see if you can set up an overwatch on that hill," commands Darian whilst pointing to a smaller hill one-hundred-forty meters to the team's east.

Gamble, a slightly younger but muscular male figure starts in the direction of the order while checking his surroundings and weapon. Hammer, a slender man with a slightly flowing grey beard is the team's marksman, he sets off tailing Gamble uttering "we'll be your eyes, you be the blade we can count on." To this Darian chuckles lightly, "good luck old man," he whispers as he thinks on what do do next. After moments of pondering, He finally decides to split the rest of the team into two prongs, one will advance from the south west, the other will be in the east of the targeted hill to provide suppressive fire.

"Pixie, Screech you're on the the east flank," orders Darian. Pixie, a well toned female figure with only two years of combat experience taps Screech's shoulder "C'mon, you'll have to help me set up the radio transmitter," she explains as she walks stealthily in the direction of the designated area. Screech replies "Yeah, yeah, we'll be there" as he shadows Pixie's footsteps. Darian, with the two now out of sight, taps the new blood on the team, callsign "Firefly" on her shoulder. "And you're with me," says Darian while motioning the newbie to follow.

The two now advance cautiously towards the hill making sure to keep to the three-hundred-fifty meter minimum out of sight distance. A voice calls across the team's comms, "overwatch established, giving visuals now," Gamble informs. He then transmits a video feed through a binocam to Darian's headset. "how many you see, Gamble?" Darian inquires. "About a small battalion, maybe with a few 3 man patrols," he responds and Hammer adds "make that four man recon teams," as he points out the shadowy figures on the distant edges of the binocam feed. Gamble zooms the image in and chuckles "nice one... that's why you're the marksman," Hammer then nods acknowledging the praise from his comrade.

Darian asks into his headset "Pix, Screech you two in position yet?" . No response is heard for awhile. Darian repeats his transmission "Pix, Screech respond". A few moments later, Gamble curses through the comms "Shit! they're made!" as soon as he finished, gunfire rang out from the position of the two discovered soldiers. "You two keep an eye on their main position!" "Firefly we're gonna go bail them out," he says moving with a quickened pace towards Pixie and Screech's last known location.

Dashing and clambering over the rocky crags and fallen trees Darian and Firefly make their way ever closer to their teammates, praying they won't be too late. "ROE is now only if threatened," Darian huffs while running. Firefly asks "If threatened ?" "If you are spotted, drop them quickly and quietly," he replies. "Pixie, Screech if you can hear this try and make your way back towards Gamble and Hammer's overwatch position," Darian commands while he and Firefly are still sprinting through bushes and weaving around trees.

They finally arrive at a clearing in the woodland where the two have a clear line of sight on an enemy position. The enemies are taking cover and returning fire, presumably on Pixie and Screech. "We need to get in there!" Firefly demands. "Alright, we'll go with a grenade then," He informs. Firefly retrieves a fragmentation grenade from it's designated pouch readying her hand to pull the pin. "Remember grenade training," she murmurs to herself.

"Remember that's about thirty-five meters," Darian explains "you sure you can lug it that far?" He inquires. "M.V.P On my high school softball team, yeah I'm sure," she replies while pulling the pin off the grenade and placing her arm in position to throw. "Now!" Darian commands as Firefly rockets the grenade the perfect thirty-five meters, landing on an enemy who goes crazy attempting to get away. All six of the enemies in their "trench" are obliterated as Darian and Firefly take shelter behind some trees. The two have successfully disabled the enemy position lifting some of the the pressure off their targets, the supposed hell bound navigator and comms woman.

"Damn, I'm truly impressed Firefly, now let's go find Pix and Screech," Darian chuckles motioning her to follow while giving her a pat on her shoulder. She smiles and comments "Thank you, sir" . The duo now happen upon a minefield, one of the most tricky traps Darian can think of. "Sir, can we maneuver it?" she asks. "Either that, or we circumvent it taking precious time off an already short clock," he discerns.

Darian draws his most fabled weapon, the machete that his father had given to him when he was young. He then starts drawing a line ahead of him with the blade weaving it around every mine-head he could see. He luckily diverts the machete away from one of the mines whispering "phew, too close" . Once across, he beckons Firefly to follow "follow my footsteps print for print," he requests. She inhales deeply gathering up courage and then stares down the line starting her journey across the death-trap.

She happens to follow the path perfectly, second guessing her every step, but not receding her pace. The two now cautiously edge closer to their teammates, making sure every action isn't their last. Meanwhile, Pixie and Screech are shoulder deep in hostiles. Screech yells "well we couldn't get any worse at least!" as he raises himself and weapon out of his fox hole to return fire at the platoon of enemies to his west. "Yeah it could, we could be dead," she replies also bringing herself to return fire.

"Aye that i- GRENADE!" he screams tackling her to the ground. Both land with a grunted "Oof!" . The grenade detonates, sending more earth flying atop the two. "If they weren't jamming us I could probably get some reinforcements," she explains. "I'll bet Darian is about here, by now," he replies. They ascend out of the pit to check their surroundings. "They're gone..." Pixie informs, while weakily trudging in the direction of where she thought the team would be.

"This is kilo-four-four, anyone on this frequency respond," she calls into her headset. "Pixie! that you?" Darian excitedly yells into his headset. "Yeah, i'm here with Scre- oh no," she replies as the transmission is cut off. "Gamble, Hammer, you two see their position?" he asks. "Yes, sir, She's north from you," Hammer replies.

"But Screech, Screech isn't looking too well," he comments. Gamble adds "Yeah, and they've got the whole battalion descending on their position" . "How far are we from Pix?" Darian demands a response. "About... two-hundred sixty meters sir," Gamble answers. Darian punches the ground feeling ashamed for his lack of intellect, thinking sending the two out there was a mistake.

"Sir, if you don't get it together they aren't going to make it, save that petty self-hatred stuff for the bar!" Firefly yells. Darian looks at her with eyes wide, surprised she would dare say such a thing. "All right then, let's do it!" he yells with enthusiasm. "Gamble, Hammer, see if you can stall those enemy reinforcements," he commands. "Should we call for CAS-EVAC?" Gamble requests. "Yeah, we're gonna come RUNNING," Darian explains.

Darian, with new found confidence in his leadership, runs like a bat out of hell towards Pixie and Screech's position. Firefly, having trouble keeping up, searches for her inner strength to match the speed of Darian. Hammer nods at Gamble before readying his rifle "Ready to kick the hornets nest?" he inquires. "And knock the whole tree down with it," Gamble responds, also readying his rifle. Hammer and Gamble line up their shots, knowing they can only slow the battalion, but they were damned determined to do it.

They start dropping enemy soldiers one at a time for what seems like an hour. The air is filled with desperation as Pixie attempts to lift Screech onto her shoulders. She succeeds, now acknowledging the rifle fire she hears, identifying it as Gamble and Hammer's. "Hang in there, I'm gonna get you out of here," she informs trying to comfort Screech, who has suffered a brutal shrapnel leg wound. Darian and Firefly reach the exhausted Pixie, grabbing under each of her shoulders lifting the two of them a bit higher and now moving faster.

"We're heading back, let 'em have it guys!" Pixie yells into her headset. Gamble and Hammer quicken their target acquisition and firing pattern to the point of being a western quick-draw competition flooring even more of the enemies' numbers. A helicopter is heard overhead as a transmission takes the comms "This is Valkyrie two-seven, someone call for a rescue?" the pilot inquires. "Yeah, the green smoke," Gamble replies while instinctively rolling over and throwing the smoke behind their overwatch hill, and rolling back over to assist Hammer in killing more hostile soldiers. Darian, Firefly, Pixie, and Screech make it to the hill, Darian signaling "on me" for Gamble and Hammer to fall in.

The team boards the helicopter as the on board medic gets to work on Screech's leg. "All aboard, we're outta here," the pilot jokes as he lifts the aircraft up and away from the LZ. Leaving the AO, the helicopter is safely hovering its way to F.O.B. Northwind. "Is he going to make it?" Pixie begs a response from the medic. "He should be fine, so long as we don't have any turbulence," He jokes.

An alarm spooks all occupants of the helo. "Aww damn! Hang on everyone, this ride's about to get interesting!" the pilot exclaims. "What's going on?" Darian asks, hoping that the alarm is just a fuel reminder. "Something has locked on to us, and I'm not sure I can break the lock!" the pilot yells in response. Darian buckles a safety clip to his combat vest, and leans out of the open side-door of the craft. He focuses around until he spots an anti-air missile launcher firing at them.

"Do you have flares!?" Darian inquires loudly. "No, I dumped them on my way over here," the pilot responds. "What about heat, anything hot on board?" Darian motions for a response. "Uhhh, YEAH! Flare gun, on your right," the pilot yells while pointing to the weapon's holster on the wall. Darian, full of zeal, grabs the flare gun and leans back out of the helicopter, ready to pull something that may not work.

"You're gonna have to keep the shot right in front of the exhaust," the pilot informs. "I know, I know," Darian replies, attempting to steady his aim. The missile floats closer and closer, defying everyone's wish for it to lose it's target. Darian, out of time, fires the flare. The flare heads along the length of the craft, passing in front of the exhaust, hopefully diverting the missile.

"Get evasive!" Darian screams, as the pilot yanks the flight stick, taking the helo to it's right. One quick glance back, and Darian saw his attempt to save the crew and his squad had failed. "Everyone grab onto something, cuz this... this is gonna HURT!" he commands. Darian, Firefly, Gamble, and Hammer strap themselves in, bracing for impact. Pixie grabs a-hold of Screech's palm, and clutches it tight.

"You better make it through this, you hear me?" she demands to Screech. The medic luckily gets himself buckled in, as the missile rips into the craft. All on board are shaken, as the helo is sent into a violent tail-spin. The craft's alarms are going haywire, whilst the craft itself is speeding it's descent. The tail of the helicopter strikes a tall spire, sending the helo into a mountainside.

The craft's crash is so sudden, everyone aboard is knocked unconscious, the sound of steel colliding with rock is so loud, it is enough to echo throughout the mountain-forest, of which the aircraft touched down upon. Amongst the chaotic confusion of the command center in Northwind, a brigadier general, named Carter Jeffries, is viewing battle assessments. "Where on earth is Kilo-four," He asks the room. All of the command staff are looking amongst each-other, trying to come up with a response. "Well snap to it, it isn't rocket science!" He yells. A decently thin man, with the rank of Sgt. Major responds "Sir, we have no idea, they may have been killed," a grim look taking his face.

Carter laughs heavily "Darian, die? Please, I'm too old for humor. Now somebody get me a twenty!" He commands, as the room steps to, resuming their tasks. (Placeholder)