Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Before

…The Kill Box Is Hot!...

The tank screeched to a halt, snapping Karl him out of his day dreams. As he hopped off the tank he realized how much his ass hurt from sitting on the hard metal of the tank. He learned his lesson the hard way; a trooper can never be prepared enough. Over the COM squad leaders called for their squads to assemble, platoon leaders called for their platoons to assemble, and the team leaders were called to the Captain’s V-33 Raptor Hummer for the briefing. Smoke drifted in the distance and small arms fire could be heard from the west side of the city. The roar of fighter jets rumbled the earth under him. And explosions rattled his teeth. His platoon talked amongst themselves, but Karl and Stacy remained silent and vigilant. Lieutenant McCoy walked back over to the platoon Sergeant Dickerson on his tail. The Sarge was the definition of Army material. A short and stocky man in his late 40’s he was always seen with a cigar in his mouth. He had been serving in the Army since before Karl was born and knew a lot more than even the lieutenant. He’d even been up for a few promotions, but declined from each and every one of them. He said it was because he didn’t want to be the babysitter for a bunch of “snotty brats”.
“Alright lady and gentlemen. Listen up. Our primary objective is straight forward. We’re to take control of this city no questions asked. But we’re gonna do things the hard way and fight sector by sector. Our first KZ will be designated KZ Brutusk. It’s smack dab in the middle of the whole damned city. And it ranges from 0.04 to 2.34.”
“But lieutenant, that’s over two miles for one platoon! We’ll be stretched too thin to hold off any counter attacks!” Private Mendez shouted from the front of the group.
“This is true, but HQ is smart this time and each KZ will overlap each other. To our North will be KZ Omaha, and to our South will be KZ Apex. That way we can get support from each side.” The lieutenant stopped and took a final drag from his smoke. “HQ isn’t taking failure as an option for this one lady. Reports show that the Nuke is still in this city and we need to get to it before anyone else. That SOF squad is still MIA, so we are also ordered to try and find anything that can show us what happened to them, or bring their bodies back home. Comprende? Can I get a Hoo-Rah?”
“HOO-RAH!” the entire platoon answered in unison.
The clicks of M3 tactical helmets could be heard snapping into place as the platoon geared up. Over the COM the Lieutenant gave the order for Karl and Stacy to scout ahead of the platoon and set up sniper cover. Karl reached into his sack and grabbed his 200x optical scope and silencer and attached them both to Tiffany then clicked his weapon off of safety. Stacy patted him on his helmet signaling to him that she was ready to go. On his HUD he clicked him status light to green signaling to the rest of the platoon that everything was good to go for the time being then he and Stacy made their way into the city just as the sun gave off its last rays of light and Karl’s world was plunged into darkness.
Karl and Little made their way around burning and broken cars, destroyed buildings, and darted from alleyways all the while being sure that they stayed out of sight their enemy who could potentially be in every building. He dropped to a knee and motioned for Stacy to do the same. He motioned her to look a building at the corner and she nodded. He stood back up and surveyed the area. He poked his head around the corner to find a Z-23 Crosman Artillery tank smack dab in the middle of the street. He motioned for Little to stay put, and dropped to a knee.
Karl turned to face Little and made a C with his left hand and used his index finger of his right hand to pierce the C. Then made the kill sign by taking his hand across his throat. He pointed across the street then to himself. Then pointed to Stacy then motioned for her to go around the building. She gave a half salute showing she understood her orders, then turned on her heels and silently ran into the darkness to flank the tank and its crew. Karl waited behind his corner until she gave the signal. Over the COM came one click. That was her signal to Karl that she was in position. He took a deep breath and made a break for the building on the opposite side of the street. As he did so he heard some voices, and the tank began to turn in his direction. He turned from around the corner and using his night vision he saw three men gathered around the tank. They were wearing the first model of the M3 combat suit, which meant they were Iraqi. He raised his Rapier and fired three rounds. Three bodies dropped to the ground with nothing more than a silent thud. He gave three clicks over the COM signaling to Stacy that the coast was clear and she could plant the C4. A minute later her status light went from red to yellow, signaling to take cover. Karl dropped to the ground and covered his head. As he did so the tank erupted into flames. Its barrel ripped from the base and the belly of the beast burst wide open. A loud crack echoed through the city. Stacy’s status light changed to green, as did Karl’s. He ran towards the destroyed tank and met with Stacy who crouched on the corner of the nearest building. They proceeded to the building without further incident.

No comments: