World War Three RPG

[UNLUCKY NUM13ER]

"OUR ORDERS ARE TO AMBUSH A RUSSIAN CARAVAN SUPPLYING THEIR TROOPS 8 BLOCKS TO THE SOUTH!" Miller yelled, trying to be heard over the hailstorm of bullets and helicopters.
Bullets kept wizzing only a few feet over their heads. Miller continued to shout the commands to his men. He saw their facial features change as they began to understand what they were getting into. It wasn't their first time in live combat, but none of them ever imagined that they would be fighting on their own soil....it was never supposed to get this bad. Finally after he was done with their mission briefing they broke from the steel barrier that had been protecting them. The 2 marines that had been on the eastern side of the base swung around to begin providing them with cover fire so that they could exit the camp. The Berets instinctively broke into 2 fireteams and began to leap frog from cover to cover until they reached a laundromat with the front windows shattered. Once inside six men took firing positions in the front of the store as Miller took the other six through the back door. Immediately after they opened it they were fired upon. The russians must have seen them making their way to the laundromat and went to go intercept them before their allies could be flanked. Miller slammed the door shut and took up a defensive position in case the russians tried a breaching maneuver. They were now at a stalemate.

"Specialist Marshall..." Whispered Miller, "Yes Sir?" replied the soldier. "Take Alan with you and find a window to fire upon the russians in the alley. We'll keep them busy on our end." The specialist then tapped Alan on the soldier and the two of them disappeared from the room. Miller then gave the hand signal for a door breach maneuver immediately followed by a cover signal. His demo specialist placed a breaching charge on the door and then took shelter behind a locker. Miller put up 3 fingers....2......1....an d the room had a large BANG as the door flew open. On the other side a russian soldier was now on his back not moving...2 more began to open fire inside the room, everybody ducked. Within 10 seconds more gun fire erupted and then it was quiet. From somewhere in the back of the building Miller heard Marshall yell "ALL CLEAR". Miller regathered all 12 of his men and continued to move out into the alley way.

[GhostHammer]

"Matt!" Barked Cody as he pointed to a JTF2 Operator carrying C8, "Take Adrian and secure us an exit at the back. We're going to circle around the main assault." The pair nodded and moved towards the back of the hangar, weapons up and sweeping. He turned to the American who had came rushing the the side door, noting the ranger tab sewn on his sleeve. "Where's your unit Ranger?"
The man shook his head. "They got hit hard, I'm all that's left." he breathed as another shell rocked the building, sending dust fluttering down from the parts of the ceiling that had remained in tact.
"What's you condition solider?" Cody grunted as Matt waved an "all clear" from the open back door.
"Pfc. Jesse Jenkins, my rifle's locked and loaded, I'm good to rock roll sir." he said yanking the charging handle on his SCAR.
Cody nodded and signaled for Mike to move to Matt. "Alright Jenkins, stay close and keep up, we'll take you as far as the harbor and then we'll hook you up with someone, we're on mission to assist your Tier-One assets."
Jenkins nodded and fell in behind Cody as the pair followed Mike out the back door and into a parking lot where Matt and Adrian had started moving forward. The pair froze, Adrian holding his hand in a fist by his head. Cody and Jesse quickly dove into cover behind Matt as gunfire erupted from a parking garage ahead, bullets spraying up the asphalt towards them shattering car windshields. Cody keyed his team COM. "Mike, get a bead on that bastard. Matt, Adrian, provide cover, fire pattern delta, go! Jesse, stay put!"
Cody waited until Matt and Adrian had started pushing fire onto the shooter before vaulting over the blue pickup he had hidden behind and shouldering his rifle, fingering the trigger and sending a steady stream of lead towards the parking garage as he side stepped over to another car before ducking down behind it. A loud crack from Mike's M14 followed by a scream silenced the lot. Cody waited a few seconds before calling for everyone to regroup.
The remainder of the JTF2 arrived at the car followed by Jenkins. Cody quickly motioned to the Ranger. "Listen up, we picked up Jenkins here until we hit the harbor." He gave the Ranger a light punch to the shoulder. "Let's see if the legendary Ranger's can keep up with us."
Jenkins smirked. "Don't you worry El-Tee. I'll keep up and some."
Cody nodded. "Who ready?"
The chorus of "We ready!" echoed in the lot as the six soldiers started moving towards the harbor.

The rattle of AA fire and heavy ship guns alerted Cody they were close to the harbor as he slid across the wet pavement, slamming into an upturned van, a fire hydrant was fountain next to him, the cool water refreshing in the August heat. He COM buzzed with incoming traffic.
"Eskimo, this is Hatchet, we're coming up the alley on you 3. FOF tags are on over."
Cody looked to his left to see a squad of Canadian infantry moving up the alley, their armor oblong in shape. But where is the...
Cody's thought was interrupted as the Coyote Fighting Vehicle he was looking for came tearing up the road from behind him, bushmaster chain-gun ablaze sweeping the building ahead, Russian's screaming and diving for cover as the heavy rounds punched holes in the heavy concrete wall. Matt let out a cheer as he came vaulting over a road barrier, landing next to Cody behind the van. "Business is good today sir!" he yelled leaning out and letting off a burst from his rifle.
Cody swore as he waved forward the Canadian Infantry joining them. "Too good. We need to get them out of this fucking building!" Cody propped himself up on one knee and surveyed the road ahead. A dozen allied infantry were dug in along the road behind cars and barriers in a stalemate with a large contingent of Russian infantry barricaded in a large bank at the end of the street. He spotted Adrian and Jenkins behind a truck putting fire on the upper windows oft he bank while Mike carefully picked off targets with his rifle, the heavy boom a steady beat among the harmony of gunfire. A whoosh ripped up the road, a heavy trail of smoke clouding the street as the rocket, launched from a bank window, impacted the front of the Coyote, burrowing into the front armor plate and detonating inside, sending molten metal and shrapnel flying into store windows, littering the pavement with glass. A few soldiers verbally swore and dug in deeper, the Russian fire picking up speed, emboldened by the destruction of the allied armor.

Cody ducked back down and opened up his TACMAP on his helmets HUD Monocle, his team highlighted by their JTF2 icons, other infantry insignia's dotted the map along with the towering bank shaded in red. A quick check of the bank's blueprints reveled a side door down an alley a block over. Closing the map and returning his HUD to the primary screen, he clicked his COM and broadcast to the entire street. "Hatchet this is Eskimo, we need you to keep the fire up on the bank, we have an entrance to the bank a block over. On my mark, pop smoke to the west. Once we're inside, you boys are going to have to keep up the fight while we clear it out, boo-ya?"
Hatchet flashed a green light on Cody's HUD, obviously too occupied in the firefight to handle his radio. Cody switched over to his team channel. "Adrian, grab Mike and Jenkins and move to the west, push through the clothing store and out the back into the alley. Move on the smoke, over."
Adrian gave him a thumbs up and tapped Mike on the shoulder while Jenkins got ready to run. Cody hit an amber light, signaling Hatchet to toss smoke. Seconds later, a muffled pop announced the start of a thick yellow smoke. Jenkins tore across the road first as Cody and Matt opened fire at the upper levels of the bank, smashing any remaining windows and poking holes in the heavy wall. Once all three had crossed the intersection, Cody tapped Matt and the pair ran forward towards the store, ducking under an oncoming hail of bullets. Cody's helmet alarm began to wail as his armors infrared sensors started to ping. "Matt! Down!" he yelled as he dove into the pavement as a resounding boom echoed down the street.

Cody spun in time to see the heavy sniper round strike Matt in the throat, ripping open his light neck armor, sending his esophagus flipping through the air like a bloody snake. Matt went down as if he hit a clothesline, his head slamming back onto the pavement with a wet smack. A second shot tore an apple sized hole in the pavement to Cody's left, snapping him back to reality. He rolled left behind a concrete barrier and crawled into the alley where a panting Adrian rested on one knee, rifle spiting bullets at the bank through the haze of smoke. Cody rolled to his feet and spun into the wall holding down vomit as the grotesque images of Matt's death played over in his head. "El-Tee where's Matt?"
Cody shook his head. "Russian's. Keep your head down, they brought infrared."
Adrian swore as the pair moved down the alley, rifles up until they reached Mike and Jenkins who had secured the corner before the bank's side door, the rattle of gunfire in the street a block over intensifying. Cody moved forward beside Mike who waved him forward. "We're good sir, no windows, and no way the Russian's could see us coming. Can't pickup anything from the other side of the door though, it's too damn heavy."
Cody spat. "Hate going in blind, door's probably rigged with C4. Any other route?"
Mike jerked his head towards Jenkins who stepped forward. "I may have a way sir, but you might no like it."
Cody opened his mouth to reply when a window behind him smashed and a Russian solider came vaulting into the alley not three feet from where he stood. Instinctively moving in front of him men, Cody dropped his rifle and launched forward at the surprised Russian, striking the man in the chin with a quick jab, following with an uppercut to the kidney. A swift kick to the chest sent the Russian sprawling onto his ass as Cody drew his sidearm, clicking off the safety and firing a pair of shots from the heavy Sig Sauer P226 putting him down for good, the heavy .45 slugs ripping holes in the Russian's chest. A final shot to the face put him down for good.
"Jesus Christ!" Jenkins swore as he watched the JTF2 Operator holster his pistol. "You guys are fucking hardcore."
Mike clapped a hand on his shoulder. "The El-Tee is a real warrior."
Cody spat on the Russian and re-shouldered his rifle. "Enough bullshit. What's your idea Ranger?"
Jenkins pulled a strange looking shotgun from his back. "The iGrapple sir. I can launch it onto the roof, scale up the rope, and let you all in from inside once I defuse and booby traps at the door."
Cody cocked his head. "Why not all scale up the rope with you?"
Mike grinned as Jenkins shrugged. "It's an experimental device, it may not even hold my own weight once I get up there. Better me falling twenty feet then all of us."
Cody calculated the odds, the increasing fire from the street slowly becoming overwhelmingly AK in nature.

"Alright Jenkins, it's on you. Get up there and get us in. Adrian, stay put and watch the door. Mike, with me, we're going back to the clothing store to provide support. Rally back here on the door once it's clear. Got it?"
A chorus of approval answered as the soldiers exchanged fist bumps. Cody paused and called to Jenkins who had been moving towards the bank. "Hey Jenkins!"
The Ranger spun.

"Stay alive."

[Nocte]

August 27th, 2016
U.S. Army
10th Mountain Division
New York City, New York
Corporal Alexander Hayes

When there was about 500 civilians left in Fort Hamilton is when shit really hit the fan. The Russian Navy had punched through the American Navy’s front line and pushed directly into the harbor where the massive naval ships laid siege to New York City.

“2nd Platoon this is 1st Lieutenant Randal, we have Apaches inbound so just sit tight. They will clear out that hospital for us, and then we can fall back and get on the final convoy out of here. The Verrazano Narrows Bridge is still in one piece, but they will target it soon. So when those Apaches get in range. Haul ass to the center of the fort.” The Lieutenant broadcast over his platoon’s com. He looked out into the bay and watched as shell after shell was launched into the city as watched as massive slabs of concrete and hundreds of specks of smaller things would rain down from the impact of the shells. He had grown up in New York, and after a few minutes of staring at the destruction felt a warm stream flow down his face.

“Lieutenant.... sir?” A sergeant was asking for him, and he wiped his face quickly before turning around to see what he wanted.

“Woods, get your god damn M249 up again and soak those bastards.” Blanc barked pointing to the middle of the hospital where muzzle flashes happened sporadicly followed by their bullets slamming into the bullet proof vests which were slowly being eaten away. Hayes leveled his rifle and fired off a few bursts before taking cover again. Echo squad followed suit and they got a rotation to keep a steady stream of fire.

“There they are!” Private First Class Williams yelled pointing behind them as five Apaches flew towards them. They started firing rockets and chain gun rounds into the hospital and floor by floor the building turn into rubble and dust.

“Hoo ah!” Private Lee yelled raising his rifle to the Apaches before Echo squad followed their orders and began to high tail it back to the fort so they could load up and move out.

“Shit, we got Russian fast movers!” Private First Class Rogers screamed and the squad looked up to watch as two Russian Mig-29’s came sweeping in and launched missiles at the unprepared Apaches. Two missiles connected, but because the Apaches were so close together they slammed into each other. All five Apaches crashed into the ground exploding in a ball of flames and twisted metal.

Echo continued even though, they all wanted to turn and look at the massive ball of flames that was lit behind them. They entered the fort’s courtyard to see two Strykers waiting for them and another squad. The rest of the convoy had just left, and Echo was quick to hop into the Stryker. Colemen got on the 50 cal.

“Hang tight, shit might get bumpy!” The driver announced to the cabin.

“Fu.....ck! Those two fast movers are circling back around!” Colemen yelled and the 50 cal. went off. Hayes gripped the handle that would open the back hatch just incase.

“Brace for...” Colemen could never finish his sentence as the MiG’s heavy cannon rounds smashed into the Skryker’s armor and ripped Colemen to shreds. His shredded remains dropped into the Stryker and two of the soldiers puked from the sight. A few seconds later an explosion sent everyone in the cabin flying about.

“They hit the bridge! We’re going into the water!” The driver screamed, and Hayes was quick to open the hatch. The force of gravity kept it from opening, something that Hayes hadn’t thought of and now fear set in. The idea of being kept in this metal tomb was enough to make his mind race as they were free falling, he was quick to draw his side-arm and shoot the two hinges that kept the door in place and when he felt the door would move he grabbed onto the railing to his right and kicked the door. The heavy door jerked and flew up from where it was hinged to the Stryker. Hayes saw everything above them, dust and small chunks of the bridge falling. He closed his eyes knowing he was going to die and just thought of home. The sweet fall evenings he would spend on his back porch writing, his beautiful, and his young son. The thoughts all ended by a loud splash and water flooding the cabin.

[SuRroundeD By 1]

"Stay alive," was the JTF2 Operators last words, Jenkins flashed a quick salute and made haste towards the allyway outside of the building. As soon as he exited bullets began to pound the walls around him, "peeling" pieces of asphalt and brick all around him. Jesse moved deeper into the ally to avoid fire, but it discontinued shortly anyhow, most likely because those Canadian special forces had his back. The vision of El-Tee popping that Russian in the head still in his mind, Jesse aimed the iGrapple at the top of the roof, making sure to aim carefully he fired and the metal claw at the end of the gun landed on the roof, quickly latching itself via metal extentions that pop out once the grapple hits its target (the same system made it possible to kill people). Dropping the shotgun looking device Jesse planted both hands on the rope and started to climb. Gun fire continued to roar on the other side of the building, Jenkins knew he had to pick up the pace, those operators wouldn't make it forever under the amount of fire they were under.

He reached the third floor quickly, he was about 25 feet in the air and almost at the roof. However as he passed the third floor window he spotted two Russian troops with their weapons pointed at the stairway. Heart pumping he quickly pulled himself up above the window as one of the troops turned, most likely because they had heard him. Pausing for a second to let out the breath he had been holding in, he finally reached the roof and placed his left hand on top of the roof to pull himself up. As soon as he went to pull himself up however, a mortar round pounded straight into the building, seemingly shaking the foundation apart.

"SHIT!" Jenkins screamed as he lost grip with his left hand, he only stayed up with his right latched on hard to the iGrapple rope. Hanging by the balance for a half second Jesse went to grap the rope with his left hand, but as soon as he started to pull up the grapple gave. The sound filled Jesse's ears, and instant fear began to bubble up in his stomach, screaming explicitives Jenkins held onto the rope for dear life as it distanced itself from the building, then, his last glimmer of hope came into sight, the third floor window. Acting at unhuman speeds Jesse thrust himself at the building at just the right time to crash through the window and into the two Russian soldiers crouched beside it. Jesse rolled across the floor for about a second before stopping himself and pushing himself to his knees, both of the other Russians were still shocked and confused about what happened, giving Jesse enough time to grab his SCAR which had been slung around his back, and shoot each Russian between the eyes. Blood splattered the wall being each of them as the rest pooled out onto the floor beneath them.

As soon as he shot more Russian voices came from the next room, Jenkins switched his rifle to fully automatic and as soon as the door swung open, another two Ruskies were greeted with a hail of bullets to the chest. As close as they were the Russians body armor wasn't enough to stop Jenkins shots from penetrating and killing them. Those two Russians slumped to the floor, dead as the other two. Jenkins replaced his old mag with a new one and pulled back on the charging handle, he only had one mag left after this one, so he switched back to single fire. Now inside, Jesse burst through the third floor door onto the stairway, and rushed to the first floor, skipping the second just in case a few more Russians were sitting there waiting. With a few jumps Jesse was at the first floor, looking out the tall glass window placed on the door. On the other side was nothing, so Jenkins slowly opened the door and walked straight through, coming under no fire. He could feel something was wrong. As he moved towards the direction of the heavy steel door he found a good reason that they hadn't tried to force that door open. There was no C4 strapped to it, but there was about six Russian troops all pointing their weapons at the steel door.

"Damn," Jesse whispered to himself, "I can probably take out three or four of them but the other ones would light me up instantly." He thought for a second, but couldn't find a way he could shoot all of them without it being his final hurah. Then a thought came to him, he hadn't come into New York with any fragmentation grenades, however he was equiped with two breach and clear flashbangs, now was the right time to use them. Jenkins let his SCAR-H dangle from his kevlar armor where it was attached and unpinned a flashbang grenade, tossing it straight into the group of enemies'. Moving back behind the wall and covering his ears he waited for the grenade to go off, and within half a second he heard a loud bang. Taking that time to move he jumped the corner and started firing bullets at the opposing troops, who were either on their knees covering their eyes or on the ground covering their ears. Within five shots he had four Russians on the ground with bullet holes in their necks, another shot found it's way into another Russians groin area, causing him to unleash a blood curdling scream, Jesse finished him off with a bullet to the head. One last Russian remained, but now Jesse had another problem on his hands, that Russian was standing up.

He had to react quickly, if Jesse tried to aim his weapon at the Russian who was already pointing his AK at him, he would be killed. So, instead of shooting Jesse charged in at the Rusky head on taking a bullet into his armor before Jesse bashed the stock of his rifle into the guys skull. With that the Russian kicked Jesse away, who stumbled a little bit, but came out standing and weapon aimed straight at the Russians head, problem was, Jenkins head was also targeted. It was a stale mate now, neither one of them shot, or made a move. The air tensed and had there been any spectators, they could argue that there were sparks flying around the room from the intense glares. Finally one of them made a move; the Russian, and he dropped his weapon on the floor, following up by taking out his Combat knife. Jenkins smirked.

"So you want to play it that way huh?" He laughed, and also dropped his rifle, but as he tried to grab his own blade the Russian had charged him with his. A second later Jesse was blocking and dodging multiple swift strikes from his opponent, throwing his own punches in between. The situation was difficult, after ten seconds of fighting Jesse would have been able to strike the Russian down had he pulled his knife, but the Russian had caught him off guard, and the punches had little affect. Another slash at his neck, another jab at his ribs, Jesse dodged them all with the most concentration that he had ever had besides the day he had asked Jenna out on a date for the first time. Finally, the Russian made another fatal error and Jesse grabbed his arm and threw him against the wall, pushing his arm away from his body and towards the Russians, the knife was now by his neck, maybe a centimeter from.

However, nothing happened after that, neither man could force the blade into their opponent, both Jesse and the Russian were equal in strength, making the battle look odd from other aspects of the room. "This isn't good," Jesse thought to himself, "I can feel my strength slipping, and I can't even tell if this bastard is getting tired!" He continued to think about what to do, then a dangerous, sinister, but hopeful plan crossed his mind. What if Jenkins caught him by surprise? A pause in the battle would be enough to finish it, but it would be dangerous, if Jesse slipped it could mean his death too. After another ten seconds of struggle (that seemed like eternity) he decided that he had to do what was necessary. Jesse flashed the Russian a smile, but continued to struggle, finally Jesse mustered the courage he needed and pulled the knife upwards instead of towards his rival, and with one quick, swift blow, sank the combat knifes blade into his own flesh.

The Russian stood there on the wall, shocked that this American had just stabbed himself, he paused to think but just couldn't come up with any idea why, then it happened. Jesse saw his puzzlement and pulled the knife from his abdomen, pointing it upwards and striking the cold steel blade straight through the Russians neck, he turned the blade a few times. The surprised, and defeated Ruskie spat up blood onto the floor, and dropped, a picture falling from his hand along with the knife. Staring at his dead body, Jesse picked up the picture, holding the wound he had given himself, which wasn't serious as the cut hadn't hit any major organ, he had struck himself a inch left of the stomach. Wiping blood of the picture he saw the same man he had just killed holding hands with a women, a pretty Russian girl about the same age as Jesse, the man looked that age as well. A pain struck his stomach as thoughts ran through his mind had it been him who was killed, what about Jenna? She would be crushed, and that is what Jenkins had just forced upon that same young women in the picture, his heart dropped.

Then Jenkins reminded himself that if he hadn't killed him, he would have been killed. Jesse pocketed the picture and began to run towards the heavy metal door, the pain in his lower body peaking as he moved. The door hadn't been locked, so he opened it the best he could (about half way) and shouted over to the Canadian forces on the other side of the door.

"It's open!" Jesse shouted, and seconds later the doorway was fully opened, the JTF2 operators standing over him, who was sitting on the wall by the door clutching his stomach.

"What happened?" The leader named Cody asked once noticing the room.

"I'll explain later, get in here and get that door shut." The rest of the special operators entered the room and shut the heavy metal door, but when they turned back to check on our Ranger, he was unconscious (not dead don't kill me off here haha).

[UNLUCKY NUM13ER]

08-16-2016
1230 Hours
559th Green Berets
New York City, U.S.A
Unknown Office Complex
Sergeant Major Jason Miller

Miller stood over the last corpse....It was a mercenary by the looks of him...German. Miller and his men had found about five of them spread out throughout and office complex. They had advanced gear and tattoos that gave evidence that they were ex GSG-9 operatives, Germany's equal to our SWAT teams. Highly trained and not easy to take out....but somebody did. The first two were killed my a booby trap, a landmine by the looks of it, too hard to tell. The next two were found about fifty feet apart from each other heading in the same direction, both shot to death. The last one had his throat slit execution style, but instead of continuing the same path the previous two had he had taken a hard right once he passed the fountain in the plaza. Forrest, the squad's core intel specialist guessed that he had been interrogated first and Miller agreed. Their weapons were gone as well as any at hand forms of identification. Miller ordered pictures to be taken of each body before they moved on. He would send it to HQ and hope they could provide some more information on the matter. Whatever it was it couldn't be good. Those five were highly skilled soldiers, that had probably been working together for years. Whoever killed them should not be dealt with lightly. Miller and his men moved on.

1330 Hours

Still no word from HQ about the dead mercenaries, it was starting to get into Miller's nerves.
He and his squad had finally reached the Russian convoy. There were an estimated 12 trucks carrying soldiers, ammo, and other supplies. 4 Hummers with .50 Cal guns on the roof, and 2 light Anti-Infantry tanks. The convoy was ahead of schedule, Miller had to rush his men to set up their ambush. Seth, good kid, was the team's local Sharpshooter. He put a silencer on his carbine and fired at the two back left tires of the middle truck. Soon the entire convoy came to a stop. Some russian officers got out of their respective vehicles and began yelling up and down the convoy. Eventually the front half of the convoy began to pull out leaving the other half behind. Not what Miller wanted. He had to stop the entire convoy. But 2 of his men hadn't gotten to their positions yet and he didn't want to risk losing them, he'd have to catch up to the rest of the convoy later. When his squad was ready Miller gave the attack order. A Javalin missle went shooting in the air, the Russians all looked up in horror and when they realized what it was they scattered like cockroaches. The missile came down hard on the tank, damaging it but not yet destroying it. Miller's squad then popped up from their cover and began firing on the Russians. The soldiers in the trucks didn't stand much of a chance. Their bullets easily tore through the tarp covering the back of the trucks and the front cabs containing the drivers. One truck that must have contained ammo erupted in a big ball of flames. The Hummers were the real trouble. their .50 Cal guns began to tear up the cover Miller's men were hiding behind. Luckily there were only 2 guns and Miller had his men spread out over 6 different locations. They would pop in and out of cover and shoot the Russians manning the guns when they had their backs turned. After the Hummers were taken care of Miller's men focused on killing the crew inside the tank. The popped the hatch and dropped an grenade into it. While they were distracted one Russian snuck into one of the Hummers and started the engine. Miller began shooting at the driver but he was protected by bullet resistant glass. There was nothing he could do as the lone Russian sped off into the distance.

"GRAB WHAT YOU CAN AND PREPARE TO MOVE OUT MEN! WE'RE ABOUT TO HAVE SOME MORE COMPANY" Screamed Miller, they had to reach a defensible position soon before the rest of the convoy returned.

[GhostHammer]

Cody's COM buzzed as he jammed a fresh clip into his rifle, adjusting his knee on the dozens of shell casings that littered the roof of the clothing store. He and Mike had been providing covering fire from the roof for Hatchet who had slowly been advancing towards the bank, their efforts renewed as a squad of Marines had joined the fight, bringing with them a AH-6 Little Bird which made a few runs down the street before being pulled back inland due to increasing Russian air activity. Needless to say, the battle in the harbor wasn't going well. With a good chunk of the U.S. Fleet engaged in the Pacific and in the defense of Florida, the Navy was stretched thin.
"Lieutenant, Ranger has the door open, suggest you haul ass, over."
Cody clicked his green response light and tapped Mike who had steadily been picking off targets since they had reached the roof, laying prone, bi-pod resting on the ledge. The entire team agreed Mike was scary when he was shooting. The pair of JTF2 Operators jogged to the opposite side of the roof and clipped onto a pair of rappelling lines before vaulting over the edge and zipping down to the alley where Adrian was already moving towards the open door.
Cody pushed through the heavy door and into the dark maintenance room, Russian bodies littering the floor in pools of blood. Jenkins sat against the wall, hands clutching his stomach, looking pale. "What happened?"
Jenkins gasped for air. "I'll explain later, get in here and get that door shut."
Cody turned and called in Adrian and Mike who had been securing the alley. The trio slipped back inside, closing the door with a heavy metal slam. Mike shoved the deadbolt across and locked it into the Down position. "We're secure El-Tee!"
Cody nodded and turned back to Jenkins, who now sat slumped over, hands at his sides covered in blood, his uniform darkening by the second as he slid sideways and hit the floor. "Adrian! Medical now!" Cody cried as he dove to the ground, rolling Jenkins onto his back and ripping open his shirt and exposing a gaping slit from a combat knife. Adrian knelt next to him and placed a pressure bandage over the bleeding wound, both men pushing down with both hands.
"Mike, secure the entrance in front, no entry!" Cody yelled as Mike slung his M14, pulling his SPAS-12 from his back and moving the door leading into the bank. Cody grabbed his radio. "Hatchet Hatchet this is Eskimo, I have a man down and need medical. Do you have one with you, over?"
Static answered.
Cody tried again, "Hatchet come in! Hatchet! Anyone? Over?"
Silence.
Cody cursed and took a moment to wipe sweat from his nose with the back of a bloody hand. "Adrian you need to keep this up, I'm going to Hatchet and find us a Medic."
"Boo-ya sir. Stay frosty."
Cody released his pressure and took a moment to wipe his hands on a dead Russian before sliding the door's bolt into the Up position and stepped into the alley, rifle ready.

Weapons fire exploded next to his head, sending him diving to his right, rolling behind a dumpster. Taking a moment to thank their bad aim, Cody peaked around the dumpster down the alley. A pair of Marine's knelt at the corner of the clothing store, apparently looking for the Canadians and the Ranger. Cody swore. "Hey fuckheads! Watch your fire! Friendly coming out!" He raised his rifle out first, then slowly emerged, the troopers waving at him. He quickly jogged to join them. "What the fuck asshole?"
The Marine's, both Privates, visibly stiffened. "Sorry sir, our CO sent us to see if you'd made it in or not. Saw someone coming out and reacted, won't happen again sir."
Cody nodded, understanding their thinking. "Thank god your aim's piss poor Private. Listen, we're inside, but I got a man down needing attention, you got a Medic with you on the road?"
The taller private nodded. "Hell yea sir. Got a Corpsman with our CO setting up a CCP. Little Bird put a dent in the Russians, they're not pushing forward as much now, giving us a chance to breathe, but we're hurt bad."
An explosion sent dust washing over the alley as a renewed gunfire erupted from the street over.
Cody checked his ammo. "Bring me to him Marines."

Moving to the corner store, Jennings, the taller Marine checked the corner before waving for his counterpart Tillman to cross the street. Cody queued up for his bounding maneuver when a loud boom blasted down the street, the heavy Russian sniper back at work. The heavy round caught Tillman in the kidney, lifting him up and spinning him around, the young solider smashing into a car as the troops on the road began to fire on the upper windows. Jennings swore. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck!"
Cody knelt and leaned around the corner. "Go Jennings go!" he yelled as he moved his sight reticule over the windows lining the upper floors. A shadow moved behind a shade. Cody fired a burst, neat holes punching through the cloth as the Russian behind crumpled against the wall. Jennings dove and rolled behind a truck and moved into position for Cody to cross. A quick check of his rifle, Jennings waved Cody forward. Here goes nothing. Cody thought as he pushed off from the wall towards the Private and the alley where the CCP had been established.

His boots filled with lead as he charged across the road, his feet pressing into the ground as time slowed, dust and ash swirled around him amidst bullets and shrapnel. The sniper's boom resounded once again, a windshield in front of the Canadian shattered, spraying him with glass as he reached a blue sedan. Grasping his rifle in his right hand, he braced against the hood and jumped, kicking his boots forward and vaulting over the hood before hitting the ground running, ducking into the alley. A black Marine stood before him, covered in dust and sweat, his uniform bloodied. Cody panted, "Hatchet I presume?"
The Marine grinned and extended a hand, "Nice to meet you Eskimo. Not everyday you meet a Tier One Operator. Lieutenant Marcus Brown."
Cody shook it. "Cody Shaer. Thanks for the cover getting us in there."
Marcus nodded. "Jennings said you got a man hit?"
Cody was about to reply when a door slammed open at the end of the alley, a line of Marines pouring towards them as yet another squad joined the push to harbor. A young looking Sergeant came running over to the pair of Lieutenants. "Where do you need me guys sir?"
Marcus looked over the unit, "You got a combat medic?"
The Sergeant nodded.
"Good, you go with Eskimo here, he's got a man down and needs your Medic. Once you're finished, start clearing the bank, we'll send more men once reinforcements arrive, oo-rah?"
The Sergeant cheered back. "Oo-rah sir. Eskimo? Lead the way sir!"
Cody thanked Marcus and led the Marines back to the road for another deadly cross.

Cody threw open the metal door, all but two Marines behind him. Adrian looked up. "He's stable. Just needs to get patched up and given some fluids."
The Marine Corpsman rushed to Jenkins and began working instantly while another marine held a medical kit open. Adrian released his pressure and stood, flexing his shoulders. Cody stood over the working Marine. "What's his status doc?"
The Corpsman shrugged. "He'll be alright. Mostly blood vessel damage, looks worse than it is, nothing major has been hit. I'll dress him up, fill him with Quick-Clot and shoot some juice in him. Give me a few."
Cody sighed as Mike came in from the main hallway, the entering Marines taking his position and starting their clearing of the banks lower floor. "How's our Ranger?"
Adrian gave him a thumbs up. "He'll live."
Mike smiled. "Good. I'm starting to like the kid."
Cody grunted. "We can't wait around for him to get back up. We stay on mission. If we don't get to the rally point at the harbor our fellow SF might not make it out."
Both JTF2 Operators nodded.
Cody turned to the Corpsman. "When he's up, let him know we had to stay on task. And thank him, he's one hell of a soldier."

Before the Corpsman could say anything in return, Cody fired a series of quick hand gestures and sent Mike and Adrian ahead, rifles up and sweeping as the trio of Operators moved to the Bank's back door, pushing once again for the harbor.

[SuRroundeD By 1]

It was getting late in the day, the sun had already set upon the breath taking shores of the Great Lakes, and now the air was filled with fire works. The winter had just previously ended, and Spring was in full bloom in the year 2016. It was April 10th, the first year anniversary of Jesse's relationship with Jenna, and they decided to spend it at the lakes. It was Jenna's idea really, a nice day at the beach under the sun, in nice warm weather, her in a bikini, and that was when Jesse was sold to the idea. When they arrived they rented a small cottege by the lake near a secluded area on the beach, the entire day was spent just the two of them, and their love was just as strong as the year before, if not stronger. The real reason Jenna wanted to come to the lakes was because she had never been there, and she wanted to visit before the conflict started. It was all over the news, the U.S. and most nations around the world were boosting enlistment rates, and all vehicle manufacturing plants were transformed into war workshops producing tanks and jets. The world was paving the way for a third world war, but that didn't bother Jenna, being blown up by a nuclear strike meant nothing to her as well. As long as she spent her last moments with her lover, she would be fine, ready to die.

The fireworks created a sight almost as beautiful as the sun setting on the lake, but it was enough to keep the two love birds attention as they laid down on the sand and held hands. For fifteen minutes the fireworks cut through the open sky, exploding in grand fashions, but Jenna was the only one truely amazed at the spectacle, Jesse had other things on his mind. After another five minutes the fireworks stopped, and Jenna got an irritable look on her face, she turned to Jesse.

"Why did they stop? What happened to the finale?" She asked him, he didn't hesitate to answer.
"They must be setting it up, their not professionals Jenna," Jesse laughed, "Just give them a minute." She was satisfied with that answer, but when Jesse turned back to look at the night sky she caught a look in his eyes, an odd facial expression she had never seen before, call it women's intuition, but she knew something was wrong.

"Wassup?" She asked worried, at first Jesse didn't answer, he just stared blankly at the night sky, "I asked you a question." She said with a hint of irritation in her voice. This was the one thing Jesse didn't like about his girl friend, she could never, not know anything. But she was trustworthy; however, that wasn't the problem here. Jesse decided to give in, he had to tell her sooner or later.

"I've been thinking," Jenna went completely stiff, that line never meant anything good, which is something she had learned over the years. Jesse continued after a pause, "The war is going to begin soon, they're already rumors that Congress might pass another draft, if that happens it doesn't matter who or where you are you're going to get placed in the military." He paused again, Jenna started to get worried, but remained silent.

"I too, will most likely get drafted, but the people who are will only be paid half of what you get if you enlist; so, I thought that if I enlist now, I can still get the money and support you, along with fight for our freedom," he finished, but that's when it hit her, that look in his eyes wasn't blankness, it was a sense of duty, the sense of duty one young patriot felt towards his country, the duty of protecting her from any threat near or far. At the same moment she understood that Jesse was determined, and there was no way he would change his mind. Instead of replying with words first, she planted a small kiss on his cheek, he looked at her surprised . . . he had expected a slap.

"I know I can't stop you, so go ahead and enlist, but listen here, if you die I will hunt you down when I get to the after life, and I will kill you again, and again," a pause, "and again." She finished, Jesse smiled, he understood.

"It's settled then, I'll go enlist tomorrow for the Army." His destiny was now set in stone, he sat up on the beach still staring at the night sky, Jenna still laid down in the sand, a pit in her stomach. Jesse noticed her and placed a hand on her left shoulder.

"But for now," Jesse smirked evily while tracing his lovers curves all the way to her bikini bottom, "Let's enjoy this last night together." With the same evil smile Jenna knocked him onto the ground and got on top of him.

"Don't say last, there will be more, I guarentee you this, buddy." The finale started, and fireworks once again lit up the night sky.

Jesse closed his eyes and took a breath of fresh beach air, but what he smelled was nothing of the sort, what he smelled was the sweet smell of blood and the bitter taste of sweat and dust. Jenkins quickly opened his eyes and saw dozens of explosions shaking the air.

"What the-" He started, but was interrupted by a man, a Marine, standing up above him.

"He's awake!" He said to another man, presumably behind Jenkins.

"God damn, I was almost sure he wouldn't be up until we reached Times Square, yo man how ya feelin'," it was a black man behind him, the word Hatchet displayed on his Kevlar Helmet. Jesse took a moment to answer that question, the first thing he did was look at his abdomen, which had a large bandage over it, smeared and damp with dark red blood.

"It hurts but I can still fight," Jesse tried to say but the man in front spoke up again.

"Ha! Not after that one buddy, you cut a artery, we need to make sure you're actually good to fight before we can let you do anything." It was at this moment that Jesse realized that he was moving, he looked over to his side and found that he was on a stretcher and leaning forward he found about half a dozen HMMWV's (Humvee's) supported by an M1A1 Abrams tank. He didn't say anything else, it hurt a little to speak, so instead he looked over to his right, but that didn't help either.

The entire street was riddled with bullet holes, the same could be said about all the cars and buildings around the area, it was a mess. Along with the uprooted asphalt were the countless bodies of Americans and Russians, all drowning in pools of their own blood, which drained into the sides of the streets and down man holes seemingly creating "rivers" of blood, it was sickening but Jesse held his reflexes in place. When he reached the Humvee he was moved from the stretcher, but instead of having the two Marines place him inside he volunteered to walk in and sit down himself, which he did successfully even through the pain, which had subsided a little since falling unconscious. Before closing the door the Marine known as Hatchet handed Jenkins his SCAR-H.

"Wouldn't want to forget this would ya?" He joked with a large smile and shut the door. He and the other Marine then entered on the other side of the Humvee, the man who entered first mounted the .50 Cal gun on the roof. Seconds later the convoy started on its way.

"I didn't catch where we were going," Jenkins told Hatchet, who was fiddling around with his M16A4 assault rifle. Hatchet looked over, back at his gun and replied, "Times Square, we have a Forward Outpost Base set up there." With that, Jenkins removed his helmet, took his left glove off and swept a sweaty, bloody hand through his close cropped red hair. He then put everything back on and rested his head on the Humvee's door, he felt like the he wasn't out of the shit yet, it was the feeling that was conveyed multiple times in Star Wars movies, and Jenkins mind was running the same thought over and over again, "I have a bad feeling about this."

[GhostHammer]

The size eleven combat boot connected with the apartment door, breaking open the lock as Mike and Adrian criss-crossed into the room, Cody close behind them. The trio had made their way through the bank with minimal resistance thanks to the U.S. Marines that attracted the majority of the attention while they cleared the building. Silencing their weapons, they slipped down a few city blocks and into an apartment complex, the outer most windows facing the harbor. They hoped to make contact with the SAS-SEAL joint operations team and slip into the harbor while avoiding major Russian patrols and aircraft. With the U.S. Pacific fleet split between New York and Cuba, the Russian's had quickly overwhelmed the Americans. With the British and Germans still en-route, it was starting to look like the allies would have to hold them as long as possible or risk a Russian invasion of the mainland or a large scale. Cody had no intention of letting that happen.

The sun hung low in the sky, having been hours since they first landed, Cody was at least happy they could use the semi-darkness and sharp angles of sunlight to sneak quietly to the rendezvous point. Adrian gave Cody a thumbs up from the bedroom. "Mike," Cody whispered pointing a a large window across the room, "Get eyes on the harbor."
Mike nodded and slowly drew his knife, cutting a slit in the thin blinds wide enough to get a view with his M14. Adrian moved to the apartment door, covering the only entrance into the room. Satisfied they were secure, Cody pulled a small PDA from his inside pocket, furiously tapping the screen until a red light began to blink on the corner. He then flipped down his helmet monocle and watched as a series of codes scrolled down the dim green plexiglass, flickering as the helmets processor pushed itself to the limit. A minute later, the code stopped, and "Connection Established" flashed briefly before a map of the harbor, a small way-point flashed blue on a dock house near the tip of the inlet. A small text message "No COM's; Russian's listening" flashed underneath the map. Cody saved the location on his teams map and flipped up his display screen.
He turned to call for Adrian when an explosion rocked the building, shock waves sending him and the others sprawling to the carpet floor.

Mike ran to Cody and offered a hand. "Russian's are targeting the apartments with their ship batteries, looks like the don't want any over watch!"
Cody pulled himself up and quickly assessed the room. "Alright, Adrian, set up rappel lines, Mike, get that window open, we're going to have to move fast." he finished as he un-slung his rifle, checking the magazine. The trio moved faster, Adrian securing lines to the rooms far wall while Mike smashed out the curved window with the butt of his rifle. Cody quickly fired a text message to the SAS-SEAL team on his wrist mounted touch pad, "Russian's clearing house; we're on route." A second explosion, closer this time shook the room more violently, knocking over chairs and lamps. Adrian tossed Cody and Mike their lines, all three clipping in. Cody counted in his head, waiting for the right moment in between reloads.

"Now!" Cody yelled as he sprinted towards the window, Adrian and Mike but steps behind him. The JTF2 Operators hit the open window and jumped, free falling down the thirty three stories towards the pavement below. As they descended, a Russian battle ship close to shore roared, it's main batteries flashing as heavy cannon rounds blasted into the apartments above, sending rock and dust raining down behind the three soldiers now praying as the fell. To the Russian spotters on the ships, it looked like they had scored a direct hit on an enemy spotter team. As the bridge cheered, no one noticed the JTF2 operators snap their lines taught as they approached the ground, slowly lowering themselves amidst the rubble before un-clippng themselves and sliding behind an SUV. Cody paused, counting to ten before nodding and signalling to Adrian to fix suppressors and move.

Snapping on his own QD silencer on his rifle, Cody slung his M4 and threaded his silencer onto his Sig Sauer. He gave a quick jab forward, and Adrian moved down the street, Mike covering the rear as they began the five block journey to the meeting point, Russian patrols and snipers covering every inch of their route.

[Nocte]

August 27th, 2016
U.S. Army
10th Mountain Division
New York City, New York
Corporal Alexander Hayes

Hayes sat next to grandfather, tears were streaming down his face. His entire reality had been shattered upon finding out his grandfather was dying of lung cancer. A man that had never smoked a day in his life, but was still dying from something caused by one of the few things he actually hated in this world. His grandfather rubbed his hand on his back, “it’s okay Alex. I’ve lived a good life, I’m at peace with it. There’s no need to be upset, I got to do everything I’ve wanted to do in this life. I’ve done the jobs that I loved to do, I’ve torn and rebuilt old cars, and I got to watch you and your brother grow up.” The last thing he said really dug deep into Alex’s heart and soul. He dropped his head lightly to his grandfathers shoulder. “I love you, Poppy.” Alex said.

“I know butch, I love you too.” His grandfather reassured him.

Everything went blank and then Hayes was walking into his grandparents house crying.

This morning as he stepped out the door to go to his bus, he received a call from his grandmother. “Alex....” She didn’t even complete the sentence, before Alex had spun around. “Is it Poppy.” His voice trembled.

“Yes.” She said and he stopped his brother at the door pushing him back into the house and quickly moving to his parents bedroom to wake his mother. As he walked into the room he noticed his grandmother had hung up the phone.

“Mom. Get up, grandma called, Poppy, isn’t doing good.” He said and almost instantly she was up and getting ready to leave.
As he walked into the door looking down at his phone, reading a text from his best friend. Alex waited for everyone to clear his grandfather’s room before he went in, tears running down his face since they left their house that morning.

Alex leaned down next to his grandfather and grabbed his hand.

“I’m sorry for scaring you, butch.” He grandfather said weakly and Alex let out a loud sob.

As Alex looked up to his grandfather a loud explosion shook him awake. He coughed up water as he laid on the beach. He flipped himself over and puked out the rest of the water. He looked up and his vision blurred as he focused on what was happening. He tried to stand up, but fell backwards. Quickly he slipped off his backpack, and ripped his body armor to take off his uniform. Underneath all he wore was a light brown T-shirt and then slipped his body armor back on. His rifle was gone, but he had put his M9 back in it’s holster before the Stryker was fully engulfed with water. He spun around looking for his squad mates, but didn’t see any of them.

“Shit.” Was the one word that slipped out of his mouth. He looked forward and saw trees and a battered residential area. Drawing his side arm he moved up the beach and towards it using the trees as cover as he checked the area. He couldn’t hear any type of movement directly around him, but then again it was hard to hear over the salve after salvo of naval rounds that shelled the city. He moved into the residential area using backyards as his main pathway so that he had cover in case any Russians were patrolling the area. Night was falling and he would be able to use that to his advantage.

[SuRroundeD By 1]

The Humvees' sped along the street behind cover of the M1A1 Abrams, hitting every little damn crator in the road. It reminded Jesse of the times back when he was still in Elementary school, where one of his stops required that they drive through a dirt road. The bus driver wasn't too bright at the time and sped down the damn thing, poor 7 year old Jesse thought that the entire bus would shake to pieces. The Humvees' bounced along the road, still a bit away from Times Square, and the fact that a straight path there was blocked by toppled buildings or large trenches in the road didn't help either.

"Man, this fuckin' thing gonna shake apart!" Hatchet shouted at the driver, who didn't respond. Hatchet proceded to throw his hands into the air in a 'what the fuck' gesture but the driver still ignored him. The jumping around didn't help Jesse's knife wound either, pain spiking up and down his spine whenever his back was thrown against the back of his seat. The bleeding had stopped, and Jesse was operational, but it wasn't the best of situations. Then, another sharp turn jolted his shoulder against the door, sending another wave of pains through his body, making Jenkins simultaniously clutch his stomach and shoulder.

"Shit man you want to watch it there!?" Jesse began shouting at the driver too, who got sick of it and turned the radio on almost full blast. It wasn't music however, it was the multiple shouts and screams of soldiers on the battlefield. One broadcast asked for reinforcements, another was trying to call in an airstrike, none of them made too much sense. In short, from what Jesse could tell, the battle was not going well. At least on the ground, Jesse leaned forward and tapped the drivers shoulder, who turned the radio down for a second.

"How's the Navy doing?" I asked, he took a moment and with a spare hand started turning the knob on the radio, more and more emergency radio calls blared on the radio as he tuned it to the navies channel. Jenkins began worrying, New York is one of the largest U.S. cities, and terrible to defend without a Navy having your back. New York is surrounded by water, almost all around, if the Russians are able to destroy the U.S. Navy and surround the city, it would pretty much spell Russian victory, seeing as they could shell the city without opposition. Finally the driver had the radio dialed into the Navies channel, what came through wasn't very reassuring.

"How the hell did they get past us?"
"Were hit, the U.S.S Vermont is out of commission, abondon ship!"
"Their shelling the city god damnit, where are our reinforcements?"
"More Russians out on the horizon, they outnumber us 3 to 1!"
"Damnit, our ships at the Keys are also under fire, and the half stationed on the Pacific is too far to be of any use!"
"Holy shit, the Virginia has taken a hit! She's sinking, fuck we're next!"

With that last one the driver shut off the radio, either because he was trying to protect those of us behind him from losing morale, or because he got sick to his stomach listening to it. I turned over to look at Hatchet who had a blank look on his face, he never even noticed me. Jesse, starting to feel defeated looked out the window, from what he could see the city was still barely worth defending anyway. The streets were destroyed, almost every building had a huge chuck blasted out of it, it was bad. The sun was beginning to fall, the sky had went from a smoggy blue to a orangish color, but that wasn't what grabbed Jesse's attention, what grabbed his attention where the five streaks in the air heading straight for the city.

"What the hell are . . .?" Jesse began to mouth when the shapes came into sight . . . they were missiles. Jenkins panicked for a second but gathered himself and grabbed the drivers right arm.

"Look out the window!" He shouted, jabbing his thumb on the bullet proof glass, the driver looked, and his jaw dropped to the floor.

"Shit those are missiles? Where are they going?" He turned and asked Jesse, but he didn't return his look, he was fixated on the half a dozen missiles heading straight towards the city. The humvee drove out of formation and stopped, the driver grabbed the walkie talkie handing from the radio and began to shouting at it. Within seconds the rest of the convoy stopped too, all eyes were on destruction. The missiles were almost at their target when the driver suddenly noticed something.

"Those are heading straight for . . . If I'm right those god damn Russian explosives are targeted right at Times Square!" He was right, the next five seconds was something Jenkins would never soon forget, the missiles, in clear sight hit their targets, creating one large explosion blocks away from his current position. The shockwave threw rubble and asphalt straight at the small armored convoy, the building to the right of it seemed to peal away. After the five seconds it was all over, and the only thing a person could see was the smoke from the attack. The driver began to frantically shout things onto his radio, trying to get a reply back from Times Square, but nothing ever came back. Jesse was stunned, when he was a kid, all he ever used to hear was how America had the greatest army in the world, and now here they were . . . losing New York, just like in the Revolution. For the city it was deja vu, but for every American still fighting this battle it was hell.

Finally the driver gave up communications and punched the drivers wheel, rubbing his hand afterwards from the pain. He sat back with a large sigh, and with a defeated look on his face slumped in his seat.

"Are they . . . well you know . . . gone?" Hatchet asked, leaning towards the driver, who still never turned to face him. The answer didn't come instantly, Hatchet sat back and rubbed sweaty, dirt and grime covered hands over his face. Finally the driver looked back to address his passengers, the gunner who hadn't really done anything besides rest an elbow on the roof of the humvee came down to hear the drivers verdict.

"They're gone."