Chapter 2

I remember our first mission together. It was affected by a memory more than anything else that had occurred just at the end of 2029, one of the last combat missions of another, 'War to End All Wars'. Like some of the others, it had an un-intended ending that had more impact on those 'left behind' later on than anything else. Maybe not directly on them, but on those who followed at least. Let me tell you some of it.

Off a might from some now forgotten Island you could hear.

Ping ... Ping ... Ping ... and so the search continued! It was 17:32 hrs. A might too early yet. We would just sit and wait until it got dark out. Of course, the would expect us to do something just like that. Alpha Team then Bravo Team would do just what they expected. We would go in with Bravo who would follow Alpha 15 minutes later. Both teams would then 'cut and run' giving the impression that they just were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the 'opfors'.

Inside the ship was a mixture of the Good, the Bad and some Ugly Bastards.

I guess team, 'Charlie' was the ugly ones, well maybe some of them were bastards too, I'd have to check that again.

The extraction of the earlier set of 'eyes; should have been a piece of cake. Some asshole officer sat on the call for help because he could not 'see' any way that 'we' could get them out. After all, he had said, some losses had to be expected and these were acceptable ones.

What a dumb shit! Most wondered if 'FRAG' was a valid classification for assholes like him? Our 'Fearless Leader' at that time had announced we would exit 'Stage Left' from the Island. Our presence was no longer necessary; we had brought peace and tranquility to the land. You might want to translate that mumbo jumbo into we were getting our asses kicked, too many coming back missing body parts, voters were pissed and an election was coming up. Either that or the slags already had all the money they were going to get out of this deal. (No this was not Viet Nam gold or Iraqi oil folks)

Our feints would begin at 19:11 hrs. 'Dolphin' would surface, then make a short run over the wire with Alpha Team, who once engaged, would fire a few times would bug' out, withdrawing back to the sub. With 'Dolphin' now, drawing everyone's attention 'Tiger Shark' would surface and have a go next with Bravo Team and us. Bravo would do just about the same thing as Alpha, except we, Charlie, would stay under water and try to move away from where they would be fighting at. At least that was the plan.

Our 'Evac plan', Oh, we had none really. It was pretty much 'common' knowledge that the 'enemy' did not keep many prisoners, and in the 5 or 6 days 'Asshole' sat on his lazy, stupid, fat Ass, no one would still be alive. If they were we would put them out of their misery before ... yeah, this was not a 'no one left behind' op, it was more a little goodbye message we all wanted to leave behind.

Few of those fine upstanding desk jockeys knew about this. From those that 'volunteered' drew straws, just like real life, those here that got the short end went for the ride. Ha, Ha, funny Ehhh. Covert (Black) Ops owed one and this was sort of a payback. Of 324 'volunteers', some were going for a swim that night. No one expected any of them to be needing a ride home and no one planned to be a 'guest' either.

That at least that one 'REMF' would be attending a farewell party that night made all this more meaningful, at least for some it did. Who; let's just say, what name would you like today. John, Shawn, Ian, Thad, Brad and a dozen others, just don't tell any that they were too late for a drink or food. Bet you hear that a lot, right. Well as I was saying before you distracted me, it 'Don't matter who they were', or their names. They were not leaving this place alive. Hell none of them want to go back anyhow. They had nothing to go back to anyway.

Since about 2017, 'Cobra' units have been getting mixed. I don't mean race and creed mixed, I mean male and female mixed, even before the U.N. teams were taking over. Most of the comm grunts and Medicos were female, although some of the 'shooters' allowed women on a team too. If someone can hit 9 'Maggie's' out of 10 at 1,000 metres, no one cared what they are. We had been losing too many to care now, even back then. It has been an unwritten rule that any females on the team 'eat' the first 'bedtime snacks'. Some even carry some pills or a Syrette. "We leave no team member alive, ' was the new mantra.

Oh Yeah, Charlie Team, let me introduce these crass, old farts and a couple of forgettable skirts.

Maxi had to be the ugliest, meanest, most obnoxious one of the bunch. Even her own mother screamed in terror when she saw her after she was born, and that was on her one cute day. If you ask anyone though, whom they would give their life to save, it would be Maxi. We all know if asked, she too would give her life to save any of us; and she had almost done that a few times. She was the Doctor, Nurse, Chaplain, Partner but most of all, best friend.

Slick, or as he was better known, 'Slick Willie' since he rather reminds you of someone famous.

Doc. He believed in the adage that putting you to sleep dulls the pain. His 'needle' of choice though was a 454 mm sabot round.