Lt Seth Lt Seth and Fuentes rushed south, huffing and puffing under the weight of their gear. They found Johnson covered in rubble gripping his SAW. Johnson raised it as they came round the corner of the building. "Friendly! Friendly!" The Lt said, moving the muzzle of Johnson's SAW. "Johnson what happened? Are you hit? Lt Seth asked moving some of the rubble off of him. "N-no sir" Johnson stuttered. "I'll ask for details later, right now we need to get this airfield up and running and prepare for a counter attack" Lt Seth said. "Can you do your job?" "Yes Sir" Johnson responded, with some more confidence in his voice. "Alright let's get to it" The team linked up at the main terminal and started hardening their defenses. With Nike setting up in the main terminal. Her cannon pointed down the main road into the airport. Johnson was to move closer to the runway to guide in the aircraft. As he made his way to his position he passed Nike. "Are you okay sir?" She asked as he passed. "Mmm Hmm" he said as he blanched a bit. He then quickly hurried off to his position. Lt Seth noticed this exchange and made a mental note about it. "Baldwin, you're with Nike! Get those A-10's ready to smoke anyone who comes down this road!" He shouted. "Yes Sir!" Baldwin shouted in response as he moved next to Nike. "Fuentes! Go with Johnson." As Fuentes passed Lt Seth grabbed his shoulder and whispered in his ear "Just make sure he's good" Fuentes nodded and hurried off. The Lt himself set up south of Nike's position with Harris, ready to cover the southern approach to the airfield. As he readied his M79 he spoke to Harris. "How you holdin' up Harris?" Lt Seth inquired. "I'm fine sir" Harris responded "How's Lt Johnson?" "He's fine" Lt Seth said "Soon as the hadjis regroup they'll counterattack, they recognize how valuable of an asset this airport is." He thought to himself. A 6 person team.....holding up against the wrath of a whole city. This battle was far from over. Nike Nike adjusted her cheekweld to her cannon. She peered over the top of her sights down the road. Occasionally scanning the surrounding areas to the north and south. Baldwin laid in the prone next to her, scanning the city through a pair of binos. He suddenly put them down and readied his SCAR. "They're coming in!" He shouted over the radio. In the distance Nike saw several technicals and insurgents on foot in the distance. "There's some trying to sneak around off the road!" she shouted. "Understood" Baldwin said in response "Warhammer Warhammer I need you to do a gun run west-east down Jomhouri how copy over?" "Nike, focus your fire north of the road, they'll probably try and take cover in these few buildings that aren't knocked down." Baldwin said as he peered down the scope of his SCAR. "Hooah" Nike breathed shifting her cannon just north of the road. Through her sights she saw a few shadows of insurgents sneaking behind the buildings. The A-10's came in low, flying directly over Nike's position. They then opened up with their 30mm cannons. As they did their gun run she noticed an insurgent readying an RPG in one of the buildings to the North. "Nice try buddy but you're not that slick" She thought as she lined him up in her sights. Nike opened up with her 37mm, tearing through that building and causing the insurgents to scatter. She didn't let up, she fired bursts into the crowd as they scattered. To the south she heard bursts from from Harris's M240 and the "boop" of Lt Seth's M79. Baldwin suddenly listened intently to his headset. "Sir! We got a large mass of insurgents coming in from the North and South!.....Which group's closer?...The North Sir.....Understood." Nike! Push north and stop them from coming on the airfield! Watch out for suicide bombers!" Baldwin yelled as he reloaded his SCAR. "UNDERSTOOD!!" Nike said taking off to the North. She wasted no time, vaulting over a couple of the smaller buildings. She burst through the wall of a building and found herself 50 meters in front of the insurgents. They halted their advance and stood in shock. Some took off and ran, the more brave ones readied their weapons. But they never got a round off. Nike's cannon roared as she pulverized the insurgents. Some where blown up as her rounds exploded on impact, others seemed to disappear as they were hit. After she fired several of them surrendered. Dropping their weapons and pleading with her. She motioned them away from her weapons. With a mighty stomp she ground their AK's and PKM's into heaps of scrap, several insurgents shrieked in fear from the impact. She then guided them into the remains of a building, she took a piece of rebar still attached to the building and bent it around them, and for good measure, ripped a wall off from another building and leaned it up against the one with the insurgents, trapping them inside. "Lt Seth sir, I've pushed back a raiding party and captured several insurgents." She said into the radio. "Understood, link back up with Baldwin and lay down fire to the east." "Roger that!" she replied, and with that she took off. Her mighty footfalls shaking the foundations of the remaining buildings in the airport. Lt Seth A few minutes earlier Lt Seth set his M79 by his side, his grenades and magazines lined up in front of him to be reloaded quickly. Harris sat next to him, peering through his ECLAN. "Sir, they're coming!!" he yelled. In the distance several technicals and insurgents on foot came advancing up the road to the main terminal. "Harris, focus on the technicals, I got the infantry." Lt Seth said as he set down his M4 and picked up his M79. "Range 250 meters, 6 guys bunching up by that broken wall" The Lt muttered to himself. "Aim.....fire" His fired his M79, a few seconds later the round came cascading down onto the insurgents. Harris followed up with bursts from his 240L. The first technical swerved and went off into a ditch. The rest of the technicals stopped and the gunners charged their weapons, ready to fire on the duo. However their drivers had made a critical mistake: the technicals were all bunched up, making for a juicy target. "Range 300 meters" The Lt said as he adjusted the leaf sight, he pulled out the spent 40mm casing and put in a new round. He shouldered his weapon, aimed, and fired. The technicals went up in a fantastic explosion. The few insurgents neared them who'd survived started to scatter, but Harris was quick to follow up with his M240. He fired several bursts in quick succession and within a few seconds the insurgents were eliminated. "Those were SBVIED's.....no way a regular car could explode like that." Harris said. "They're willing to do anything to recapture this airport, they realize how important this location is." Lt Seth said as he removed the spent case from his M79. Baldwin suddenly came on the radio "Sir! We got a large mass of insurgents coming in from the North and South!" He said "Roger which group's closer?" Lt Seth said as he chambered a fresh round. "The North sir." Baldwin said in response "Roger, send Nike up their to deal with it, get one of the A-10's over to our position, and tell her to watch out for suicide bombers. We had a run in with some SBVIED's" The Lt said as he removed the grenade from his M79, replacing it with a smoke round. "Sir! I see them they're taking cover in the trees by the south terminal!!" Harris said as he peered through his his ECLAN. "Got it, Baldwin get the A-10's ready for a gun run. I'm marking the target with smoke." "Understood sir" Baldwin said in response "Range 400 meters" he muttered to himself. This was the max range for his M79. He noticed a slight wind going from east to west. He held aimed the grenade launcher, holding slightly left of the target, and fired. The round came down into the trees, and yellow smoke started pouring out. "That's it sir you put it right on top of them!" Harris said with glee. Some insurgents started to scatter, moving away from the smoke, but concentrated fire from Harris's 240 pinned them down until the A-10 arrived. An A-10 came in and obliterated the tree line. The rounds tore through the enemy position, sawing several of the trees in half. Lt Seth and Harris observed their handiwork. Lt Seth keyed his mic "Baldwin all targets are destro-" Suddenly a pickup truck came speeding past the destroyed enemy position. "SHIT, HARRIS LIGHT THAT BASTARD UP!!" The Lt shouted. Harris fired several bursts into the truck but it kept coming. "SIR HE'S NOT STOPPING" The Lt quickly chambered a grenade. "Range 50 meters" He quickly mumbled to himself. He shouldered and quickly fired the round detonated in front of the truck causing it to flip. The car came tumbling towards the Lt and Harris. Harris laid into it with his M240 and the Lt quickly grabbed his M4. The truck came to a stop 10 meters in front of them. Fuel was leaking everywhere and the vehicle was smoking. "SHIT BACK UP BACK UP!!" Lt Seth yelled. They ran and dove behind the remains of a wall. A few seconds later the truck exploded behind them. "Lt Seth, Harris are you two alright?!" Baldwin said over the radio. Lt Seth keyed his mic, "Yeah we're goo-" All of a sudden the car door from the truck landed right behind them, it sticking into the dirt. This sudden impact caused both Lt Seth and Harris to yelp in surprise. "JESUS FUCKING CHRIST" Lt Seth shouted still keying the mic. "Sir? SIR??" Baldwin said over the radio "We're fine Baldwin, we're shifting our position, out." The duo moved back near their original position, as they were walking Lt Seth noticed Harris was walking kinda oddly. "Harris you good?" He asked "........I pissed myself sir" Harris said. "Lt Seth sir, I've pushed back a raiding party and captured several insurgents." Nike then said over the radio. "Understood, link back up with Baldwin and lay down fire to the east." Lt Seth replied. "Well Harris, for the sake of your bladder let's hope the people of Kerman have had enough." Nike Nike repositioned herself next to Baldwin. She scanned the area around her for more enemy but found none. Neither did Baldwin, or the A-10 pilots circling above. Johnson then hopped on the radio. "Sir, the air operations are up and running, the Army's ready to move in" Johnson stated. "Outstanding, Nike what'd you do with these prisoners?" Lt Seth replied. "Sir I put a piece of rebar around them and boxed them into a building." Nike replied. Baldwin whistled at this response. "Damn girl you don't fuck around" He said behind his binos. "Nice work Nike, Harris and I are gonna push back to just south of your position, I'm gonna see what I can do about our guests." Lt Seth replied. "Understood sir" she replied enthusiastically. Finally, she was doing something right. She was scared that taking the prisoners would upset the Lt and incur another lecture. Instead she was praised, even Baldwin seemed impressed. She finally seemed to fit into this team. The Lt and Harris soon got set up, once he was satisfied with Harris's positioning the Lt sauntered over to Nike and Baldwin. "Corporal! I hear you took some hadji's prisoner, how'd you manage it?" He asked Nike kneeled behind a building for cover and spoke to him. "Sir I busted through a wall and got contact from 50 meters away by a force of approximately 50 insurgents, a lot of them ran off from seeing me but some didn't. I smoked most of them and the ones that survived surrendered. I then disarmed them and herded approximately 10 insurgents into a building, where I wrapped rebar around them restraining them and boxed them in with a wall from another building." she stated "Do you have any questions sir?" she finished her statement off. "I got none, but I'll admit I am fucking impressed. You were on your own and not only did you repel a force that severely outnumbered you. You were able to capture and restrain 10 enemy troops. HFG or not that's fucking impressive. With that and your actions assisting Lt Johnson I'll see if I can put you in for something." The Lt responded, sounding incredibly impressed. "Hooah Sir!" Nike responded gleefully "Would you like me to take you to the location of the prisoners?" She asked. "Yup, I checked with Lt Johnson already and he's got this airport up and running. Army's 15 mikes out." He said after checking his watch. "So let's go see your handiwork" He said moving North. Nike got up and followed, walking to the Lt's left. She was visibly beaming, her first mission had gone so well, she'd finally made it. As they approached the building where Nike stowed the prisoners Lt Seth surveyed the damage she had caused. Almost all of the buildings were severely damaged, some had been completely leveled. "You really don't mess around now do you" he said as they passed yet another damaged building "Baldwin said the same thing sir" Nike replied "Sir I really apprecia-" The Lt suddenly halted them. He shouldered his rifle and turned to a building that was more intact from the others. He peered into the dark interior his rifle shouldered. "Nike did you hea-" Suddenly a person came running out of the building straight towards Nike, the Lt slammed into them and grabbed their right hand. "SHIT NIKE HE'S WEARING A VEST!!!" Lt Seth The Lt wrestled with with the insurgent, struggling to prevent him from pushing the detonator. With an almighty pull he broke the insurgents thumb and began pushing him away from Nike. The insurgents pushed back, undeterred. The Lt let go of the insurgent's hand with his right hand and hooked him. He then grabbed the insurgents shirt and head butted him. Driving his NVG mount deep into the insurgent's skull. The insurgents looked back at him, his head bleeding and sniggered. "Fuck" Lt Seth muttered under his breath. He'd heard about insurgents taking amphetamines to reduce their fear and numb their ability to feel pain. This guy was obviously on them. He couldn't shoot him for risk of setting off his vest. The Lt had a knife in his right pocket. If he were to pin this guy and stab him he might not set off the vest. "NIKE BACK UP!!" The Lt shouted as he continued to wrestle with the suicide bomber. The Lt moved to trip the insurgent but his foot slipped on some rubble. The insurgents saw this, and grabbed the Lt's arm head butting the Lt's face so hard the lens on his Oakleys cracked causing the Lt to gasp in pain. The insurgent then pushed the Lt off of him and grinned. "ALLAHU AKBA-" BOOM The Lt flew back and landed hard on his back, his head bouncing slightly off the dirt. "That's it I'm a goner" he thought to himself. Being that close to an explosion there's no way he could survive. The pain washed over him, everything began to hurt. Wait Everything Hurts! The Lt slowly began to pat himself down. "Arms, hands fingers, check. Right leg, right foot, check. Left foot, left leg, check. Face, check, nuts, check." "I'm alive" he thought to himself. But what caused him to fly back? The Lt looked beside him and saw the arm of the insurgent, his hands still grasping the detonator. He looked beyond his boots and saw a red splatter, and at the base of that splatter not 6 inches from where he was standing, a massive combat boot. "Sir? SIR!!!" Nike said, looking down on him. The Lt just sat there in shock as the rest of the team came sprinting towards them. "What the hell happened?!" Baldwin said. "LT are you okay?!" asked Harris. "Sir?! Oh god I didn't....please sir are you okay?!" Nike said taking a knee over him. Much to the misfortune of the team the bottom of her boot, still covered in gore was facing them. "Oh god" Harris gagged. Baldwin said nothing, he leaned over and retched, vomiting at the sight of the insurgent's innards. The Lt stood up and dusted himself off, he then turned to face Nike who was still kneeling next to him with a worried look on her face. "Corporal......why the fuck would you do that?" He asked Nike all of the praise he previously addressed her with gone. "S-sir?" Nike stuttered out. "I said, why the FUCK would you do that Corporal?! I gave you a fucking order to back away. YOU instead play the hero!" "B-but sir... you..." her voice broke and her eyes started to water "I-" "ENOUGH! I TOLD YOU ONE FUCKING THING BEFORE WE SET OUT HERE: DON'T ENDANGER YOURSELF OR OTHERS! AND WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU DO?" Rage poured from both his words and his body. "Sir he would have killed you" Nike said tears starting to come down her face. "Corporal I'm fully aware of the results of my actions but you have got to understand one thing, we both survived due to sheer fucking luck. This motherfucker was half a second away from detonating. Had you been any slower not only would I have died your leg would have easily been blown off! That's why this son of a bitch was targeting you in the first place!!" The Lt was breathing heavily and gesticulating widely with each point he made. "THEN what would have happened? You would have had four guys facing down a possible- no, a LIKELY counter attack, with a seriously wounded HFG and I would have been blown to pieces! Who's gonna tourniquet your leg? Fuentes?! The motherfucker is smaller than your thigh, soldier!!" "Sir..I-I'm sorry..." Nike said "Sorry does not fucking cut it, I have told you time and time again Noveske don't fucking play rambo it'll only get you killed!" The team suddenly paused at the name. The Lt suddenly realized what he said and blanched. "Sir.....Her name's not Noveske it's Nike" Harris piped up. Lt Seth walked over to him. "Excuse me Airman?" Harris notices his mistake and sputters a reply "S-sir I" "A more pertinent question is why ALL OF MY FUCKING TEAM is sitting with their asses hanging out when we're in the middle of ENEMY FUCKING TERRITORY!" The Lt suddenly shouted "QUIT STANDING AROUND AND RETURN TO YOUR POSITIONS, NOW!!" "YES SIR!" the team said collectively and they hurried off. All except Nike who just kneeled there, a thousand mile stare on her face. "Corporal, scrape off your boots, return to your position. We'll deal with the prisoners later." Nike only nodded and she walked off. Everything had been going so perfect, how did this all happen to her? The Lt just stood there. He leaned up against a wall and began punching it. "Fuck....Fuck!" He'd hope this'd be a fresh start, a new team and a step away from his past. Memories suddenly came flooding back to him as choppers came over the horizon. Nike The ride back to base was awkward to say the least. Once the Army came in force to secure the airfield a C-130 came out to pick them up. Nike did her best to distance herself from the rest of the group. However, in the cargo hold of the C-130 that was impossible to say the least. The Lt sat on the other end near the door, not making any eye contact with her or the other team members. In contrast to his cool demeanor into Kerman the Lt's eyes nervously darted around before he returned deep into thought. Nervously drumming his fingers. The mission was a tactical success, but at what cost to the team? After arriving at back at Balad, the team walked back to the TOC for their debrief. Nike sat in her chair, a solemn look on her face, and she wasn't alone. Johnson and Harris sat down stony looks and the Lt was still far from his relaxed easygoing self. "Alright, guys we've got to address the elephant in the room." The Lt suddenly spoke. "I understand, there were several things that happened today that were pretty awkward. But we've got to move past that." He said pacing slightly. "That was our first mission of the deployment, we've got a long way to go together, the sooner we rid ourselves of this awkwardness...the better, and to start I'd like to apologize." The team suddenly looked up, somewhat surprised. "I....well I honestly fucked up back there, and I owe you guys an apology. Nike, I'm sorry for going off on you like that. You saved my life, and I'm honestly grateful." Nike nodded in response. "I accept your apology sir." She replied "Now, while the mission was a success there are some concerns I'd like to address, first off Johnson, Nike what happened back there? Johnson said you got hit, and next thing we know you're tearing half the airport apart." Johnson spoke up "Well sir, we were laying down fire at the main terminal when all of a sudden we caught contact from the east. Nike shifted to get a better angle on them, then....." His voice suddenly trailing off. "Well-" "I got hit by an RPG in the helmet" Nike said cutting him off The Lt suddenly focused on her. "You got took an RPG to the helmet?" he asked looking somewhat dumbfounded. "Yes sir, it glanced off the side of my helmet and exploded in the building behind us. Next thing I knew I was on the ground, I crawled back into cover and saw Lt Johnson covered by a bunch of rubble, including a large section of wall." Johnson gave her a look, but Nike continued on. She knew full well that she was lying, but admitting what actually happened to Johnson may cost him his spot on the team. "I ripped off the wall from Lt Johnson and then charged the enemy position, leveling the building. I then attacked the main terminal, and well, you know the rest from there sir." She concluded. "I see, Johnson was buried by a bunch of rubble." the Lt stated, analyzing her statement. "Yes sir" Nike replied "Quite honestly sir, he was lucky not to be crushed." She added "Well....that does explain a lot. In any case that's all I have. Guys for your first op, for your Blood Mission....y'all did great. We've got some stuff to improve on but considering the task we were given and the resources we had available I'd call this one a success. You are all dismissed, except for you Johnson I'll need your help for the AAR." Nike got up from her seat and walked out of the TOC, climbing out of the hole and moving towards the giantess side of Balad. She was relieved that the Lt had apologized, and happy that she was able to protect Johnson from being reprimanded. But still felt so unsure. She was unsure if she really did belong in this team, she was unsure how the Lt felt about her. "Screw it" She said to herself "I can think about this shit later" She went to the mess hall and grabbed some food, she was exceptionally hungry after the mission. After eating she plodded back to back to the barracks and went inside her room. She sat down and undid her boots ready to get some rest. As she pulled off her left boot she noticed something red on the bottom. She turned her boot over to check. She saw a red stain, the last remnants of the insurgent she.....she crushed. Nike suddenly felt extremely sick, she remembered the feeling of the insurgent's spine snapping like a twig as she came down on him. The rest of his bones shattering under her boot, the feeling of his organs bursting under her foot like small packets of jello. She...she did that, she crushed a person to death. Nike realizes, she killed so many people during that battle, scores of insurgents were torn apart from her cannon, her mind races back to her pulverizing the raiding party, to her tearing through the main terminal, to leveling the building with several people inside. People...she killed tens of people. Nike shook her head "No, they were insurgents it was kill or be killed. My job is to protect the team, what I do to the enemy doesn't matter. Above all I gotta protect them." She flopped back in her bed, starting to nod off. "I'll protect them, no matter what."