Creole Beach, Louisiana
August 12, 2133
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I sat upright and propped my rifle on the dirt. I kicked Daniel and said, “we got contacts!”
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He nodded, picking up his rifle and getting beside me. My hands shook with fear and my breathing was irregular. He asked, “you know what to do?”
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I took a deep breath in, resetting my breathing rate, “I hope so.”
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When the trucks came into view, I put my finger on the trigger and began to pull. Zach called out to us, “don’t fire! Those are our guys!”
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I let go of the trigger guard and switched my rifle to safe. A half-track and a minivan drove to the trenches. I walked over to the two vehicles and saw Tent shaking hands with a green-uniformed soldier. He had dirt in his skin and blood soaking in his jacket. Streaks of ripped cloth were all over his jacket. His ammunition belt was filled with Confederate made 7.44 cartridges and grenades.
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Tent asked, “you hungry?”
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He patted his stomach, “starving. Got filets?”
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Tent chuckled, “best I can do is a roast beef MRE.”
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Tent and the soldier walked off into one of the trenches while William helped some of their wounded out of the minivan. One of the standing wounded, who had a bandage wrapped around his upper torso, walked over to me with an open hand. He said, “names John.”
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I shook his hand, “Rogers, Matthew.”
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He looked out at the beach and said, “you do that?”
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I looked at all the dead bodies we had piled up, and the wounded who were crying for their mothers or wishing for a bullet. I nodded, “we did that.”
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He smiled, “no shit?”
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He too was covered in dirt and washed in blood. However he seemed more cheerful, and full of life. He also looked like he had already killed. We both had killed. I was only seventeen. He was only eighteen by the looks of him.
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He asked, “you got any water?”
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I reached for my canteen and handed it to him. He said, “thank you.”
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He sat down in one of the craters and swirled the canteen. I sat across from him and asked, “where were you?”
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‘Where were you’ became a popular saying after the Invasion of Creole. The Invasion of Louisiana was so large, consisting of about nine different landing zones or beaches with over 200,000 troops involved from the NCC and CFR, just saying you were a part of it didn't mean much. Each beach had its ups and downs. Creole just happened to be the worst. Which is why the Invasion of Louisiana was more commonly referenced by the Invasion of Creole.
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The invasion was set to be an easy battle. Take the beach and move inland. No one expected the Confederates to build bunkers and enforce defense on the beaches. That was the first blowback. It only got worse as we moved farther and farther inland.
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The strategy was simple. Take the beach and secure a landing point. Again, no one expected a tough defense. Instead of having multiple reserve troops after the landing, we had just the initial force. Confederate air planes started targeting our landing ships after the fog resided, forcing our ships to retreat. We were left alone, undefended and exposed. CFR and NCC forces supposedly took out all Flak Towers, but we later found more, smaller ones, in the countryside. Our superior Air Force, the Raleigh Air Corps, couldn’t even make it to the dogfight without getting shot down. We lost over a hundred planes in the first weeks of the invasion, more than what was ever thought.
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Luckily for us, the CFR had been dropping in paratroopers ever since 2128. These paratroopers probably spooked Confederate Generals, causing the defenses to be built in haste. However, the CFR paratroopers were sent in to disrupt Confederate operations. They sabotaged supply lines, sunk harbored ships, burnt down factories, and even went as far as forming an anti-TUC militia. This militia was still going strong by the end of the invasion, who all later became a part of the CFR Lion Killers or Patriots.
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Lion Killers were some of the CFR’s finest and deadliest soldiers. There weren’t many, kind of like our Trench Raiders. Although they were small in numbers, their actions spoke volumes for them. Unlike Wilmington Rangers, Lion Killers targeted soft targets like off-duty officers, civilian supporters, or undefended towns. Patriots on the other hand preferred the more traditional warfare. They didn’t target civilians and fought face to face with Confederate forces.
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The first initial invasion wave was made up of about 14,000 people. Over 10,000 0f them would die in the first hours. After that, reinforcements came in but it seemed like they went everywhere else except to us.
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John sighed, “we landed outside of Alexandria a few weeks ago. We’ve been on the run since.”
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“What happened?”
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“Well, half our planes got shot down and the landing zones got all mixed up. Half our guys got lost or landed right on top of enemies.”
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“Any of them get captured?”
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“I sure hope not.”
The Confederates were known as brutal prisoner keepers. They wouldn't torture you, they would just forget about you, lock you up in a cage and leave you there to rot. Most Rangers preferred getting killed by their own in order to save themselves from the cruel methods of the TUC.
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Tent walked over to the hole and asked John, “you prepped guy?”
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John nodded, “I can still fight.”
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“Good. We need everyone we can get.”
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I asked Tent, “are we attacking Creole Sargeant?”
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He sighed, “yeah. Fleet won’t be back for another three days. They lost a few landing ships and need to rearm.”
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My heart dropped. We were about to take a town by ourselves. Just a few guys, not even enough to take a bunker. John handed me my canteen and went to grab his gear. I did as well, waking up Daniel in the process. He glared at me, “what?”
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I jerked my head, “we’re moving out.”
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He grabbed his bag and groaned. We met Tent and the others on the road. There were only eighteen of us. How the hell were we supposed to take a town? We didn’t have a choice. I didn’t want a Confederate to slit my throat while I slept to be honest.
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Tent nodded, “alright. This is it. Move out in a single filed line. Hopefully the Feds already got wind of us and are running away. But, stay frosty.”
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We started to march on the road. While walking, Zach asked William, “how’s Lukas gonna be?”
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William replied, “he’ll be fine. Republic’s got good medics.”
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Daniel scoffed, “that’s cause their guys get shot up all the time.”
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The CFR commander looked back at him, snarled, and looked forward again. The nine CFR troops were battle hardened and well equipped. Having them on the team made me feel a bit safer and a bit more confident. We also took two guys from Fourth Squad, who were not wounded and not medics. Everyone else who survived the initial landings stayed back to defend our wounded.
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We entered the town late at night. We stayed on the outskirts for about twenty minutes, scanning the area and looking for hostiles. There was no movement, but house lights were on. A man stepped out of his house and walked down the street towards us. About halfway to us, he stopped. I heard Daniel clutch his rifle's grip. I looked over to see determination and evil in his eyes. He was about to shoot that man.
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He stood up, but I pushed him to the ground. His rifle fired, hitting the dirt in front of the man. The man fell and started running away but one of the CFR troopers tackled and restrained him. Daniel pushed me off him and asked, “what the hell are you doing?!”
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A light flickered in one of the houses. The second it did, the CFR trooper and man were both blown up by a grenade. I pointed my rifle at the window where the light flickered and shot four times. Daniel stood up and began shooting as well. Another grenade exploded ahead of us, forcing us to retreat into the roadside ditches.
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Tent was in the ditch and turned around, “what the hell happened?”
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Daniel shook his head, “Rogers pushed me out of my stance.”
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I scoffed, “he was going to shoot that man!”
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“Look at him now! He’s pink mist and so is one of our guys!”
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Tent smacked Daniel in the mouth and pointed, “lock it down. Both of you. Get moving up and take out that gunner.”
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Daniel and I shortly set aside our differences and crawled through the ditch. Grenades exploded all around us, but somehow I couldn’t stop. Hell, I wanted to stay but my muscles kept moving forward. Daniel stood up, collapsing soon after. I pulled him to my side, seeing a fragmentation round to his chest.
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I opened his first sheet of kevlar and looked for any bleeding. His second sheet caught the bullet. It saved his life. I told him, “you’re fine.”
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All he could do was nod. Even though it didn’t kill him, it probably hurt like hell and knocked the wind out of him.
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I kept going through the ditch and to one of the buildings. I recognized the hostile building from the road and moved in through a window. I slid my left leg in first, leaned to check the first room, and then brought the rest of my body in. I was standing in some kind of fortified living room.
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The cushions were used to block one of the windows to slow down shrapnel and the frame of the couch was used to barricade the back door. I crept through the dark house and found a staircase leading to the second floor. I started moving up the stairs. One of the boards creaked. I stopped, readying my rifle. A figure appeared at the top of the stairs and held what looked like a I-22. I shot the figure twice, once in the right leg and the other in the left leg. I didn’t want to shoot a civilian if I didn’t have to. Afterall, he probably thought I was a Confederate coming to kill him and his family.
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I hopped up the stairs and slid the rifle away from his body. He then reached for a handgun, making me put a bullet in his chest to kill him. His lungs emptied with a groan. A woman then ran at me with a M32 MGL. I ducked, dodging an incoming grenade. The grenade didn’t explode, probably because it hadn’t reached its minimal arming distance.
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I shot her in the lower abdomen. She fell limp, crying in pain. I walked into the room and saw another man with a scoped I-22. He was aiming right at me. He looked like a boy. Didn’t look a day past fifteen. While I was physically shocked at a boy fighting us, he shot at me.
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The round whistled past my left ear, skinning the back of my head as it did. I put four bullets into his chest, putting him down. I stood above the girl as she coughed up blood and gagged. Daniel came up the stairs, holding his chest. He shot the man at the top of the stairs and then the girl below me.
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He looked at the kid, walked over to him, and then looked at me. He said, “you’re hit.”
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I nodded, reaching to the back of my head and feeling a piece of skin missing. I told him, “it’s just a skin. Nothing to worry about.”
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He picked up the rifle and asked, “this all they have?”
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“Yeah.”
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“What kind of townspeople are armed with standard issued Fed weapons.”
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I shrugged my shoulders, “maybe they are Feds.”
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Tent came up the stairs and told us, “good job Marsh. At this rate you’ll get a medal.”
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Daniel jerked his head towards me, “all him. I got done in early.”
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Tent noticed my bleeding and asked, “you hit?”
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“It’s just a scratch.”
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“Alright. If that starts pulsating let William know.”
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I nodded, “will do Sargeant.”
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Before leaving, he turned to us and said, “good job boys. Keep up the goodwork.”
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I nodded, feeling accomplished. We stayed in the building and waited for daybreak. Tent didn’t want to risk another surprise. Civilians walked the streets with rifles in hand. They didn’t know we were in the building. If they did, they would surely storm it and overwhelm us.
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We waited and waited. A few times a civilian would call up into the house. “Marsha?! Jim?! You kids better not be messing around up there ya hear?!”
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At dawn, we removed the barricade and stepped into the street. Tent formed a plan the night before to capture the church in the center of town and try to reach Command in the steeple.
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I was following a CFR trooper when an explosion went off in front of me. I fell back, ears ringing and head throbbing. I looked up to see the CFR trooper had disappeared. Only his boots and shins reamined. They stood upright like he was still there.
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Down the street was a Texas United Five ‘Tiger’. The barrel of the beast stuck out of a building. I couldn’t tell if they built the Tiger in the building or built the building around the Tiger, but it was still haunting to see. Timothy grabbed my vest strap and pulled me into the house.
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The TU-V ‘Tiger’ was one of the Confederates' prized weapons. With impenetrable frontal armor, two MG60s on the turret roof, a coaxial 12.7mm, and a devastating 225mm cannon, the Tiger struck fear into its enemies. The TU-Tiger was closely modeled after the WWII German Tiger, having the same look, just modern upgrades and beefier shape. Similar to it’s predecessor, the Tiger often ran out of ammo before being destroyed. The only way to destroy a Tiger was to take out the tracks and quite literally burn the crew out. It boasted an impressive 520mm of frontal armor with 380 on the sides and a decent 120mm on the back.
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Timothy asked me, “what the fuck was that?”
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I shook my head aggressively to clear the ring, “it’s a goddamn Tiger.”
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Timothy’s face drained of color, “oh.”
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Tent, already across the street with Daniel and Que, signaled for us to come. Daniel threw a smoke grenade into the street to conceal our movement. Timothy pushed me, “go go!”
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I ran out of the house and across the street to Tent. As I passed the CFR trooper, I stared at what was left of him. There wasn’t even blood. The 225mm shell moved so fast and hit so hard it vaporized him.
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All seventeen of us crowded in an alley. Que pointed to the steeple and told Tent, “if I can get a grenadier up there we can bring the building down on that bitch.”
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Tent nodded, looking at John, “okay son. Follow my man and take that bitch out.”
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John looked at his commander, who nodded. His commander unclipped a belt of 40mm High Explosive rounds and handed it to him, “goodluck Ranson.”
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John smiled, “I was born lucky chief!”
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Que and John ran towards the church. When they left, we started coming under fire from civilians in windows. Tent and the CFR commander didn’t know what to do. Daniel did. He shouted, “contacts!”
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He dropped to his belly and started laying down suppressive fire. I stayed with Daniel while everyone else moved down the alley to more cover. Once they were in cover, I patted Daniel’s shoulder and ran to my team. I turned around to see Daniel collapse.
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I stopped, shot at my enemy, and grabbed Daniel by his vest strap. He rolled himself over and began shooting at the buildings while I dragged him. I dragged him to William, who jabbed morphine into his leg. Daniel looked at the back of his thigh, where a bullet went cleanly through his flesh. William wrapped his thigh with a bandage and said, “don’t worry it’s just a flesh wound!”
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The dumpster we were behind didn’t offer a lot of protection. Every other bullet pierced the metal. The rest of the team had already moved into the buildings but William stayed behind for Daniel. I pushed the dumpster to horizontally face the incoming fire, so William could have more room. I mounted my rifle on the edge and shot into a window. I saw the occupant of the window jerk back and fall down. I aimed at another window and shot that occupant. I just kept shooting. Until I heard the chamber lock back.
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I threw out my empty mag and slid a full one in. I pulled back the charging handle, sending the first shell into the chamber and then at my next target. William wrapped Daniel’s arm around his neck and yelled, “moving!”
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I put my ass to William’s ass and shielded him with my body. He wrapped around another dumpster, giving me enough time to reload. Once I reloaded I told him, “go.”
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We moved again, ass to ass. William entered the building on his right and laid Daniel down on a nearby table. It looked like we were in a bar. Daniel puffed, “Rogers get me some Whiskey!”
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I nodded, opening some of the nearby cabinets. William told Daniel, “stay off it yeah?”
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Daniel shook his head, “I ain’t done yet.”
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William chuckled, “buddy you been done a while ago.”
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On the third cabinet, I found whiskey. I handed him the bottle and he popped it off. He took a large gulp and offered some to me. I denied, trying to stay focused on the mission.
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I went upstairs where Zach and Timothy were laying down fire. Two CFR guys were setting up a M240 machine gun. Once the gun was set up on a table alongside the window, they started sending 7.62 rounds downrange. One of them operated the machine gum while the other fed bullets into the chamber by holding up a belt and fixing any interruptions.
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I looked out the window to see the Tiger moving it’s barrel towards us. I yelled, “get back!”
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I jumped away from the window, seeing Timothy and Zach fall beside me. I looked over at the CFR soldiers to see them disappear with a cloud of smoke and debris. Their window and floor beneath them collapsed into the street.
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Timothy dragged Zach downstairs and I followed behind them. The Tiger fired again, hitting the room we were just in. The pressure from the shell pushed me down the stairs. I hit the floor with a splat, seeing two civilians preparing their weapons. I rolled to my side and shot the civilians.
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Timothy shot them as they were falling, picking up Zach and handing him his rifle. Timothy asked Zach, “you good?”
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Zach nodded, “I just love getting a concussion from overpressure.”
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I shook my head, shaking the pain away. I too was affected by overpressure I felt a warm liquid flow down my neck and into my jacket. I rubbed the liquid and looked at it in my hands. It was blood. Thinking I was hit, I put a roll of bandages against my ear. Timothy told me, “your ear.”
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I sighed, “am I hit?”
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He shook his head, “just some overpressure Kid. Nothing like bleeding out the ear. C'mon. We gotta get to Tent.”
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I put my bandages back and picked up my rifle. Thank God it wasn’t shrapnel. I followed Zach and Timothy out to the alley. Daniel was sitting against a wall, laying down suppressive fire. I picked up Daniel’s arm and carried him into the other building. I asked Daniel, “you see where Tent go?”
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He shook his head, “no. Fuck this hurts.”
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“Where’s William?”
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“He heard someone screaming and went to get them.”
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“Okay. You alright?”
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“Oh I’m peachy.”
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“Aren’t you always?”
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Zach and Timothy came into the doorway. Timothy asked me, “he alright?”
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“Yeah he’s peachy.”
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“Good. We gotta fallback to the church.”
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Zach sighed, “ah. You do understand our line is the opposite direction. Right?”
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Timothy nodded, “yeah I know. But right now our line is blocked by a damned Tiger. Daniel? You mobile?”
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Daniel scoffed, “yeah. I might need some help.”
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“Okay. Kid, help him out.”
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I picked Daniel up by his arm and wrapped my arm around his torso. Timothy continued, “okay. Okay okay. Everyone ready?”
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Zach checked his mag, “any chance I can get a head start?”
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Timothy smiled, “okay then. You’re point man Zach. I’ll watch our rear.”
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Zach stepped out of the building while Timothy leaned out of the doorway, firing his rifle down the alley. I carried Daniel out and followed Zach down the winding alleys. Eventually, Zach stopped, looked down an alley and waved his hand. The CFR commander came around the corner with two of his guys and one of the guys from Fourth Squad.
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Zach asked him, “where’s Que?”
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The commander replied, “they’re pinned down at the church. We’re on our way there.”
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The commander looked at me and asked, “is he okay?”
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Daniel nodded, “yeah I’ll hold.”
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We moved down the alley towards the church. On our way there, two A-10s screeched overhead. Zach looked up with a wide smile, “hell yeah! Those are the Wolf Angels baby!”
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The A-10s fired their guns and dropped bombs ahead of us. I felt the shockwave of one of the explosions, which meant we were close to the target. Timothy asked, “do they know we’re here?”
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Zach pulled the radio from his pack to his mouth and said, “Wolf Angel 4-1 this is Devil Dog Division. We’re here on the ground inbound to the church. Do not fire on the church, how copy?”
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We stopped at the back door of the church. Zach nodded, “roger that. Out-” He looked at me, “we got 10 minutes till we get AC-130 support.”
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An AC-130? The tank of the sky. Armed with a 25mm chain gun, a 45mm auto-cannon, and a 105mm cannon. An AC-130 could take out a Tiger with enough concentrated fire. Maybe this was the turn of the battle.
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The CFR commander smirked, “an AC-130? Been awhile since I worked with one of those.”
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One of his troopers chuckled, “yes sir.”
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I handed Daniel over to Zach and followed the guy from Fourth Squad. While entering, he jerked to his right but was shot in the chest. I quickly took his position and killed his shooter, who was fortified on the stadium. I looked down at the soldier to see him still breathing. A CFR trooper pulled him out of the church and joined me at my hip.
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Together, we walked around the stadium to the stairs. Que and John came up from one of the pews, tired and annoyed. Que said, “he had us pinned.”
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The trooper and I started walking up the steps, keeping our eyes to the right-stadium-and the left which was a door. The door slowly opened. I stepped to my right to square up with my target and shot four times through the door. My target fell down, but I heard him get back up. I strafed through the wall twice, hearing him drop again. I dropped to my knee and reloaded my rifle.
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I laid my hand on the troopers shoulder, listening for any sounds. When I thought it was clear, I gave his shoulder a pat. He opened the door. Before he even stepped in, a spray of MG fire ripped him apart. First, his forearm flew off, then a large piece of his chest, and then pieces of guts from his stomach.
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I unclipped a grenade from my belt and pulled the pin. I counted to three, and tossed it into the room. When the grenade detonated someone cried in pain. Then the shrapnel hit the walls and even shot through the door, landing in one of the stadium fort pieces.
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I stormed in, seeing the MG operator and his partner. Both of them held their hands up. One had a piece of shrapnel in his neck, while the other was missing a foot. I shot both of them in their head.
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I slowly crept up the church steeple. Que followed behind me, with John behind him. A burst of large rounds struck through the steeple. The sound of an A-10 screeching overhead rattled the church, causing John to stumble. John rolled his shoulders, “are we sure this is a good idea?”
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I kept moving up. That Tiger needed to be taken out or at least disabled. When we got to the steeple, I mounted my rifle on a railing and started shooting at enemies down below. John loaded his small, single tubed grenade launcher while Que shot at enemies to our rear. John shot one grenade, which landed just in front of the target structure. John flipped the tube out, exclaiming, “fuck I missed.”
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In the distance, towards the beach, I saw two Su-27s approaching us. The jets broke off, targeting the two A-10s. Su-27s were superior to our aircraft. Our aircraft could hold up in a dogfight, but the TUC mass-produced their own ‘copycat’ aircraft and mass-imported Su and MiG aircraft. We made our own aircraft and used them, but the United States stockpile lasted us for a few decades. This meant the TUC could flood skies quicker than we could.
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One of the Su-27s swiftly took out an A-10. The A-10 crashed into a field with a ball of fire. The other A-10 maneuvered and dodged it’s chaser.
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John shot another grenade, this one landing on the target and collapsing the wall. John cheered, “yes!”
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I watched as the A-10 flew towards us, but was hit by a burst of cannon fire from the Su-27. The A-10 stayed on it’s path towards us, smoking and catching fire. I calculated the path of the A-10, seeing it would hit the steeples base. I looked back at John and Que, “get out!”
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The A-10s wing sliced the steeple in two. I felt the floor beneath me rumble and shake. The A-10 crashed into a building on the street below us. Thinking we were safe, I relaxed. Nothing happened. Then, after a few seconds of quietness, the steeple snapped with a loud pop. I grabbed onto the railing beside Que.
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He hooked himself to the railing, giving me the idea to do the same. I yanked out my rope, but the steeple started to fall before I could hook myself up. I managed to grab a hold of the railing in time. John fell out of the steeple, colliding on the roof. The steeple fell on top of the church roof, not breaking through but just barely denting it.
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The wind had been knocked out of me and I didn’t know what just happened. Que quickly unhooked himself and crawled out through a small gap. I followed behind him, the roof underneath me shaking. I crawled out before the steeple collapsed through the roof, sending up a large dust cloud.
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I crawled backwards to Que. He chuckled, “that’s a first.”
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I gulped, “not for me.”
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He nudged my shoulder, “I like you already Kid.”
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John crawled over to us and rolled onto his back. He sighed, “damn that was awesome. You guys okay?”
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Que nodded, looking down at his rope burned hands, “yeah. Kid?”
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At least this time I didn’t get crushed by concrete, “yeah I’m good.”
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We climbed off the roof and regrouped with the rest of our team in the church. The two Su-27s flew over again, reminding us they were here. Tent shook his head, “air support is inbound.”
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We went to a window in the church and waited for our airsupport. About six minutes in, I saw four F-16s glister in the sun. The Su-27s boosted to the F-16s. One F-16 was shot down immediately. Then the two Su-27s were blown out of the sky. One Su-27 exploded midair. The other collided with the ground.
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Reinforcements came in early. The Wolf Angel Air Wing cleared the skies of enemy hostiles, allowing our ships to come back safely. With air cover, the civilians quickly turned in their arms and gave up. We later found out that the Tiger had escaped from the building and Creole. Our AC-130 support didn’t see the Tiger leaving, but Timothy and I found the tracks. We weren’t going to hunt down a Tiger though.
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We were reinforced by six more Divisions. All of whom started setting up a Forward Operating Base in Creole. If a building was intact, we used it. Armor was air-lifted in, which there were two Armor Divisions. One Division consisted of light armored tanks like Bradley’s and LAVs, the other had more heavily armored tanks like the Abrams.
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The tanks that got stuck on the beach were salvaged for extra ammo and parts. We couldn’t risk the Confederates using our own armor against us.
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For a few weeks we stayed in Creole with a steady flow of troops and supplies coming in. We quickly rebuilt Creole into a fortified FOB. Abrams managed to pull out the A-10 with a tow cable and we picked up the dead bodies. Anybody who wasn’t on our side we tossed into a ditch outside the town. Our own guys we buried in a grass field. We marked their graves with their disabled rifles and their helmets. I buried Arron.
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He always told me if he did die to take him back home and bury him underneath his mother’s apple tree. He said his father had died from a heart attack under that tree, and he wanted to be a part of him. Sadly, we didn’t have time to send our dead back. Helicopters were for wounded and reinforcements only.
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After we buried our dead and dumped the CFR dead, Tent gathered us at their graves. He cleared his throat, “I’ve said this too many times in my career. Too many times I’ve said ‘these men died heroes’. The men in front of us didn’t just die as heroes. They were more. They were so much more and no one other than us will know their sacrifices, the heart, and the drive they put into this mission and the men beside them. They’re more than heroes. More than we’ll ever be until our time comes. But we move on.”
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Daniel sniffled, wiping his eyes. I patted his shoulder and gave him a nod. He nodded back. Tent continued, “I am glad to have served with these men and women. I am glad to call them my teammates ten years down the line. Instead of mourning these men who died, we should thank God that these men ever lived.”
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