Even the best companies have the occasional failed assault. Every single assault that I have defended against was a failure to the other side. Now I know what failure feels like. Now I know the pain of losing so many friends.
The mission was planned horribly from the start. HQ decided to assault the remaining television station in town that wasn't under our control. Apparently the two that we currently own have been bringing in a lot of revenue so obviously the suits wanted more. The assault team was thrown together and consisted of the MCU and one squad from TV1. There was no pre-assault recon. We also weren't given time to do any practice runs. Never before had I felt so expendable.
My team would take our APC and the other squad split up into two SUVs. SUV1 carried SL Ramirez, FTL Cost, LRS Whitley, CQS Yolk, and TS Holly. SUV2 carried FTL Roller, LRS Toole, CQS Timberly, TS Jones, and SM Marie. We formed up a convoy and rolled out at 1300GMT. Our APC was on point and reached the target at 1315GMT. My stomach was in knots as we pulled into the driveway. I was able to calm down by doing one last check on my equipment.
The parking area must have been free of defenders because CQS Yarbanks didn't fire a single round from the mounted gun. I could hear the two SUVs back in and park beside us. The back door dropped open and we all charged out ready to fight. The scene was eerie. The black marble building sat in silence. All five stories reflected the images of a beautiful sky. There were no guards posted anywhere on the lot. There were only two ways into the building that we knew of. One was through front door and the other was a loading dock entrance that was in the back. The MCU was assigned to the front door. I watched as Ramirez led his squad down the side of the building and disappear around the corner.
We set a charge on the front door and stacked up to the side. I could feel my heart race faster as I anticipated the explosion. A loud bang followed by the sound of breaking glass signaled us that the doorway was open. My life went in slow motion after that. SL Clements was at the front of the stack and led us in. The broken glass crumbled under our boots as we entered. I kept a frantic eye on my sector and saw nothing. I expected to hear gunfire at any second, but instead everyone cleared their sector. The lobby was empty. The marble covered walls were as bare as the front desk. The ceiling was an extra twenty feet higher than I expected and for some reason it made me feel tiny. Clements noticed a door at the back right corner of the room. We stacked up against the wall and got ready for entry. Clements grabbed the handle and pulled the door open. I got worried when I noticed that the door opened to the marble wall.
Ear piercing alarms began to sound in the lobby. Random doors began to slowly open up on the ceiling. I heard Clements mutter, "fall back to the APC." We all stood still in awe with our rifles pointed at the holes. I could hear some sort of hydraulic noises coming from the ceiling. A shimmer of light caught my eye and I noticed a large metal door was slowly closing up the front entrance. I alerted Clements who was still staring up in curiosity. Suddenly his eyes widened as he yelled, "fall back to the APC now goddamnit!" I ran toward the closing metal door when I noticed the hole in the ceiling right above it. A large Gatling gun was lowering out of the hole. A camera mounted on the side of the hydraulic arm lit up red as the gun was rotating to a horizontal position.
I was the first to make it outside. CQS Yarbanks, CQS Turner, and SM Magley followed. The door shut before anyone else made it out. I could hear the others pounding on the other side of the door. About ten seconds later the sound of gunfire replaced their cries for help. Over a thousand rounds must have ricocheted off of that door. Finally the guns stopped. The room was completely silent. Outside the four of us looked at each other stunned. My mind drifted back to the rooftop where I witnessed three men turned to bits by a helicopter mounted Gatling gun manned by Geoff. Turner broke the silence, "what do we do now?" I took in the situation for a minute. Being senior in rank I was now in charge of my squad. I ran over to our TS and told her to make sure that all of the vehicles were ready to make a quick getaway. I knew that we needed to check on the other squad. I tried the radio them but there was no answer. I left Magley and Turner with the vehicles and took Yarbanks to try and link up with Ramirez's squad.
Cautiously we approached the loading dock. One of the doors had been blown open. I listened closely for the sound of gunfire, but heard nothing. I took off my helmet and slowly held it into the doorway. Nothing happened so I put it back on and inched forward. "I'd kill for a mirror right now," I said to myself. I didn't like exposing myself to blind corners. I pushed aside my overwhelming will to continue living and jumped through the doorway. Yarbanks was right behind me. The room was clear. There were no signs of a firefight. I started getting nervous. I couldn't help but wonder if what happened to my squad also happened to the other.
There was a door on the back wall next to a window. Some of the window's glass had been busted out. The other side was for some sort of dispatch area. The door was locked, and it appeared that the other squad had been unsuccessful at blowing it open with a charge. It looked like the thick, heavy metal type. I walked over to the window and poked me head through. I still didn't hear anything. I looked back at Yarbanks and shrugged my shoulders before climbing through the broken window. Yarbanks carefully climbed in as well.
The door to the dispatch room led to a hallway. The locked door to the loading area was to our left, and the hallway extended to our right. The walls of the hall were made of cold, gray concrete. Several doors lined the hallway on either side. All of them had been kicked open; most likely from the other squad clearing the rooms. The very last doorway led to a small room that contained a metal door with a small circular window. I looked around the best I could for traps before entering. I told Yarbanks to stay on the other side of the door just in case I set something off. Luckily the roomed seemed safe enough to enter. Peeking through the small window of the door I could see a large lobby of some sort. Ramirez was behind a column for cover and trading shots with someone that I couldn't see. The window was small and limited my field of vision for the rest of the room. The whole part of the building we were in must have been sound proof because each one of Ramirez's shots only sounded like a mosquito sneeze to me.
I grabbed the handle and pushed the door open slowly. The sound of the fire fight exploded into our room. I told Yarbanks to guard the door while I ran in to link up with Ramirez. Entering the room I was able to see the full picture of what was going on. Marie was sitting leaned against a column surrounded by a pool of blood. A couple of other guys were laid out on the floor and covered in blood. I grabbed cover behind the column next to the one Ramirez was using. I looked around my cover and saw four OPFOR behind a desk about a hundred or so meters away. Ramirez looked over at me and yelled, "SITREP?" I reported our situation to him. He was now in charge of the whole mission as the senior rank. Thinking for a second he looked back up at me and made the hand signal for fallback. He then pointed at Marie. Amazingly she was still alive, but couldn't walk out on her own. I could feel rounds whizzing by my head while ran over to her. I picked her up and slung her over my shoulder.
We all made it out of the door and ran down the hallway toward the loading dock. After every step we took I expected to see something in our path, but there never was. Yarbanks busted out the rest of the dispatch window to make it a little easier to climb through. We made it back to the APC and climbed into the back. While Magley worked on Marie; Yarbanks, Turner, Ramirez, and myself all watched out of the port holes for any sign of retaliation. Strangely there was none. The SUVs made it to the driveway first. A large explosion sent them both into a barrel roll out into the street. The leftover crater was large, but our APC rolled through it without much effort. There was absolutely no way either TS could have survived so we kept driving. We drove back to HQ to get Marie immediate access to an ambulance. Ramirez called ahead to make sure it was there when we pulled in. The rest of the day was spent filling out after action reports and providing information to the intelligence folks.
Marie is still her tuff Russian self and should make a full recovery.
For the others:
SL Clements
FTL Cooper
FTL Zed
FTL Cost
FTL Roller
LRS Whitley
LRS Toole
LRS Jorge
CQS Yolk
CQS Timberly
TS Holly
TS Jones
Please rest in peace…
The mission was planned horribly from the start. HQ decided to assault the remaining television station in town that wasn't under our control. Apparently the two that we currently own have been bringing in a lot of revenue so obviously the suits wanted more. The assault team was thrown together and consisted of the MCU and one squad from TV1. There was no pre-assault recon. We also weren't given time to do any practice runs. Never before had I felt so expendable.
My team would take our APC and the other squad split up into two SUVs. SUV1 carried SL Ramirez, FTL Cost, LRS Whitley, CQS Yolk, and TS Holly. SUV2 carried FTL Roller, LRS Toole, CQS Timberly, TS Jones, and SM Marie. We formed up a convoy and rolled out at 1300GMT. Our APC was on point and reached the target at 1315GMT. My stomach was in knots as we pulled into the driveway. I was able to calm down by doing one last check on my equipment.
The parking area must have been free of defenders because CQS Yarbanks didn't fire a single round from the mounted gun. I could hear the two SUVs back in and park beside us. The back door dropped open and we all charged out ready to fight. The scene was eerie. The black marble building sat in silence. All five stories reflected the images of a beautiful sky. There were no guards posted anywhere on the lot. There were only two ways into the building that we knew of. One was through front door and the other was a loading dock entrance that was in the back. The MCU was assigned to the front door. I watched as Ramirez led his squad down the side of the building and disappear around the corner.
We set a charge on the front door and stacked up to the side. I could feel my heart race faster as I anticipated the explosion. A loud bang followed by the sound of breaking glass signaled us that the doorway was open. My life went in slow motion after that. SL Clements was at the front of the stack and led us in. The broken glass crumbled under our boots as we entered. I kept a frantic eye on my sector and saw nothing. I expected to hear gunfire at any second, but instead everyone cleared their sector. The lobby was empty. The marble covered walls were as bare as the front desk. The ceiling was an extra twenty feet higher than I expected and for some reason it made me feel tiny. Clements noticed a door at the back right corner of the room. We stacked up against the wall and got ready for entry. Clements grabbed the handle and pulled the door open. I got worried when I noticed that the door opened to the marble wall.
Ear piercing alarms began to sound in the lobby. Random doors began to slowly open up on the ceiling. I heard Clements mutter, "fall back to the APC." We all stood still in awe with our rifles pointed at the holes. I could hear some sort of hydraulic noises coming from the ceiling. A shimmer of light caught my eye and I noticed a large metal door was slowly closing up the front entrance. I alerted Clements who was still staring up in curiosity. Suddenly his eyes widened as he yelled, "fall back to the APC now goddamnit!" I ran toward the closing metal door when I noticed the hole in the ceiling right above it. A large Gatling gun was lowering out of the hole. A camera mounted on the side of the hydraulic arm lit up red as the gun was rotating to a horizontal position.
I was the first to make it outside. CQS Yarbanks, CQS Turner, and SM Magley followed. The door shut before anyone else made it out. I could hear the others pounding on the other side of the door. About ten seconds later the sound of gunfire replaced their cries for help. Over a thousand rounds must have ricocheted off of that door. Finally the guns stopped. The room was completely silent. Outside the four of us looked at each other stunned. My mind drifted back to the rooftop where I witnessed three men turned to bits by a helicopter mounted Gatling gun manned by Geoff. Turner broke the silence, "what do we do now?" I took in the situation for a minute. Being senior in rank I was now in charge of my squad. I ran over to our TS and told her to make sure that all of the vehicles were ready to make a quick getaway. I knew that we needed to check on the other squad. I tried the radio them but there was no answer. I left Magley and Turner with the vehicles and took Yarbanks to try and link up with Ramirez's squad.
Cautiously we approached the loading dock. One of the doors had been blown open. I listened closely for the sound of gunfire, but heard nothing. I took off my helmet and slowly held it into the doorway. Nothing happened so I put it back on and inched forward. "I'd kill for a mirror right now," I said to myself. I didn't like exposing myself to blind corners. I pushed aside my overwhelming will to continue living and jumped through the doorway. Yarbanks was right behind me. The room was clear. There were no signs of a firefight. I started getting nervous. I couldn't help but wonder if what happened to my squad also happened to the other.
There was a door on the back wall next to a window. Some of the window's glass had been busted out. The other side was for some sort of dispatch area. The door was locked, and it appeared that the other squad had been unsuccessful at blowing it open with a charge. It looked like the thick, heavy metal type. I walked over to the window and poked me head through. I still didn't hear anything. I looked back at Yarbanks and shrugged my shoulders before climbing through the broken window. Yarbanks carefully climbed in as well.
The door to the dispatch room led to a hallway. The locked door to the loading area was to our left, and the hallway extended to our right. The walls of the hall were made of cold, gray concrete. Several doors lined the hallway on either side. All of them had been kicked open; most likely from the other squad clearing the rooms. The very last doorway led to a small room that contained a metal door with a small circular window. I looked around the best I could for traps before entering. I told Yarbanks to stay on the other side of the door just in case I set something off. Luckily the roomed seemed safe enough to enter. Peeking through the small window of the door I could see a large lobby of some sort. Ramirez was behind a column for cover and trading shots with someone that I couldn't see. The window was small and limited my field of vision for the rest of the room. The whole part of the building we were in must have been sound proof because each one of Ramirez's shots only sounded like a mosquito sneeze to me.
I grabbed the handle and pushed the door open slowly. The sound of the fire fight exploded into our room. I told Yarbanks to guard the door while I ran in to link up with Ramirez. Entering the room I was able to see the full picture of what was going on. Marie was sitting leaned against a column surrounded by a pool of blood. A couple of other guys were laid out on the floor and covered in blood. I grabbed cover behind the column next to the one Ramirez was using. I looked around my cover and saw four OPFOR behind a desk about a hundred or so meters away. Ramirez looked over at me and yelled, "SITREP?" I reported our situation to him. He was now in charge of the whole mission as the senior rank. Thinking for a second he looked back up at me and made the hand signal for fallback. He then pointed at Marie. Amazingly she was still alive, but couldn't walk out on her own. I could feel rounds whizzing by my head while ran over to her. I picked her up and slung her over my shoulder.
We all made it out of the door and ran down the hallway toward the loading dock. After every step we took I expected to see something in our path, but there never was. Yarbanks busted out the rest of the dispatch window to make it a little easier to climb through. We made it back to the APC and climbed into the back. While Magley worked on Marie; Yarbanks, Turner, Ramirez, and myself all watched out of the port holes for any sign of retaliation. Strangely there was none. The SUVs made it to the driveway first. A large explosion sent them both into a barrel roll out into the street. The leftover crater was large, but our APC rolled through it without much effort. There was absolutely no way either TS could have survived so we kept driving. We drove back to HQ to get Marie immediate access to an ambulance. Ramirez called ahead to make sure it was there when we pulled in. The rest of the day was spent filling out after action reports and providing information to the intelligence folks.
Marie is still her tuff Russian self and should make a full recovery.
For the others:
SL Clements
FTL Cooper
FTL Zed
FTL Cost
FTL Roller
LRS Whitley
LRS Toole
LRS Jorge
CQS Yolk
CQS Timberly
TS Holly
TS Jones
Please rest in peace…
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