The Humvee ride back to base was silent, Staff Sergeant Mick had forced me to take the passengers seat. My eyes fell upon the passing scenery, watching as tall grasses swayed and people went about their day. It was like a war didn't even exist. Old cars parked on the side of the road were bypassed, carts lead by donkeys and old men overtaking the dirty roads.  The city was virtually untouched by the monotonous march of time. Perez halted the vehicle as soccer ball rolled before the vehicle and an absent minded child chased it. The young boy's eyes widened at the vehicle, he stood still, a deer caught in the headlights. Mick, who was on the gun, waved to them. 

"As-Salāmu`Alaykum!" he greeted. A group of curious children, boys and girls, watched from the side of the road. The girls held tiny, shy smiles that reminded me of the dead girls in the car. My gaze fell to my boots, the memory still to raw and painful to think about. Perez reached under his seat and handed me a few small yellowish-brown packages. I looked up at him, a growl of displeasure rumbled in my throat. Young leaned up between the driver's and passengers seat. 

"Come on Micahart, it'll be good for you. I'll help ya'. With a clank the Humvee's door opened, the shut. Slowly, I opened my door and stepped out. The kids stayed where they were watching us with curious almond colored eyes. Young waved me to the groups threshold as I neared he knelled to the kid's eye level, I copied the motion. Young held out one of the packages, it was no bigger than an MRE and contained simple food items; candy, a sandwich, and a few other semi-nutritious items. Young bumped my shoulder, his eyes flicked from me to the children and back. I sighed and looked to child standing before me. A young boy no older than seven with wiry black hair and eyes full of childhood energy. 

"As-Salāmu`Alaykum," I said, handing over the packages to the group. 

"Shokran jazeelan!" the kid nodded and ran off, his friends in tow with their goody bags. I looked back to Mick on the .50cal, he wore a smile stretching ear to ear. 

"What did he say?" My Arabic was basic at best and the accent didn't help much. Young and I stood returning to the vehicle and shutting the doors. I repeated my question: "What did the boy say? Mick?" He looked down into the vehicle as the tires started forward. As he opened his mouth to speak a large explosion shattered the city's calm. Everyones eyes jerked to the city, a large plume of black smoke beginning to rise into the noon time sky.

People began shouting and scurrying. More explosions rocked the ground and Perez hit the accelerator. Our tires tore at the dirt and the Humvee sprung forward, cutting the distance between base and us in five minutes. The front gates automatically opened, allowing us to speed through and grind to a halt out front of the command center. Marines around the base were scrambling, rifles in hand and armor rattling on their bodies. Alpha squad hurried inside the building as I stepped from the vehicle. More stacks of black smoke diluting the blue sky in a river of black.  

"Micahart!" A voice shouted from behind me. Walsh, Thane, and Bishop hurried to my side in full battle rattle. Bishop shouldered his shiny new M249 'SAW', our squad needed a light machine gunner.

"What's going on?" I asked, emotionally drained. 

"Mortors," Walsh spat the word from his mouth like bad Copenhagen. Intell has been struggling to sort out what's going on. They're speculating it kicked off in the Red District, violence just spread from there into the Yellow District. If it spreads to the Green District, the base will be under serious threat. We already have the Mortors to contend with and the last thing we need is a riled up populace." 

I mulled over what Walsh had said, whatever had gotten these people up it would take more than a group of armored Marines to chill them out. I opened my mouth to ask what support we would have but a thundering of rotors answered my questions. A squadron of AH-1's roared, announcing their arrival by hovering just at the bases edge. A large swirl of sand tossed up from the rotor-wash and wiped around us.

"There's one more thing Corporal." I glanced to Thane, mixed expressions playing on his face. "Captain Kujo is leading the convoy to the border of the Yellow District. It's not exactly the scare tactic I had hope for but maybe the Iraqi's will hate him as much as we do."

"MARINES!" Kujo shouted as he shoved the Command building's door open. "Load into your vehicle's we're mobilizing!" Kujo then waddled to into Alpha's Humvee. Walsh pulled on my cammies, motioning to our own vehicle. Thane jumped into the passenger's seat, Bishop took the backseat behind Walsh who took the drivers seat. 

"Take the .50cal," Thane pointed to me. I nodded not mentioning the mornings events. The convoy radio hissed to life in an whir of static

"All vehicles, we are now callsign Hunter. Adjust comms chatter accordingly. All of the Cobras above are designated Broadsword 1, 2, 3, and 4. Clear?" Walsh picked up the handset and responded.

"This is Hunter 1, clear. Over." All the other vehicles responded in agreement with their corresponding numbers. Kujo's vehicle was called Hunter Actual because it was the command vehicle at the back of the convoy. Our vehicle, not surprisingly, was the lead car.    

"This is Hunter actual, all Hunter and Broadsword callsigns we're Oscar Mike. ROE is clear, anyone with a weapon is declared hostile. This includes women and children. Over." The Helicopters above shifted like a small flock of birds trailing above us and always watching. Our convoy left the front gates and rolled along Angel Rd turning onto an obscure side road. The streets that had once been filled only a half an hour ago was now abandoned. A very bad sign. 

"All Hunter callsigns, this is Broadsword 1, keep rolling one more mile and you'll be at one of the main intersections. I'm seeing a group of gunman moving right towards you. How copy, over?" The whine of rotors mixed with the pilots voice, Thane picked up the handset. 

"This is Hunter 1, We copy, thanks for the heads up, over."  Walsh turned our vehicle into the middle of the intersection and stopped.

"Looks a lot like the riots from back home," Walsh twanged staring at the large crowd of men. Their ages were the militant standard of around 16-35, most were holding makeshift weapons; clubs, farm equipment, and even AK-47s.

"This is Hunter Actual, why are we stopped?" All the other vehicles drove up and parked in a line door to door. It was a standoff in the middle of Ramadi, it was a Gunfight at O.K corral but no one wanted to take the initiative. Perhaps that was a good thing... 

[Might continue in the future, as of now this is the end. Sorry Gents and Ladies]

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As of now, I am putting this story on hold. Sorry, please read what I have and enjoy.

***Below are helpful insights into the story including; setting, characters, military jargon/ slang, and Arabic translations.***

Base of Operations
Ramadi, Iraq
*Callsign- Hotel

~Green District- The Base and a two mile radius surrounding it. Normally safe.
~Yellow District- Two miles outside of the base till four miles outside the base. Moderate Danger with chance of IED's and possibility of snipers.
~Red District- Four miles outside the base till ten miles outside the base. Severe Danger, Guaranteed IED's, and Snipers.

Roads (named after wives/girlfriends)
~Angel Rd. - Main road leading to the camp and out to the main highway
~Victoria St. one of many side streets that branch off of Angle Rd.

Nearby Bases
Fallujah (40 miles away) - Main Marine Base
*Callsign- Foxtrot

Characters

*Bravo Squad (Marines)
Corporal Micahart: (main character)Expert Rifleman on Second Deployment.
Corporal Thane: (Main character's best friend/squadmate) Heavy Machine gunner on first deployment, the squad's nerd and joker.
Sergeant Walsh:Squad Leader and is on his third deployment. Kind hearted with a great sense of humor. Has connections with the COC in Fallujah.
K.I.A - Private First Class Lakes:Was a new kid and self-declared know it all.
Lance Corporal Bishop:(As of Ch.7) Newest Soldier to join Bravo, stays silent and only speaks when needed. Very calm and collected. Can be sly and dangerous when put against enemies. Second Deployment.

*Alpha Squad (Marines)
Staff Sergeant Mick: Leader of Alpha squad. All around carefree guy.
Sergeant Perez: Second in command for Alpha squad. Tails Mick and is the more serious of the two in Alpha.
Lance Corporal Young: He's one of the greenest recruits on deployment and tends to push his commanding officer's / NCO's, buttons.

*List of Squads (main squads)
Alpha Squad:Infantry Squad; Mick, Perez, Young
Bravo Squad: Infantry Squad; Walsh, Micahart, Thane, Bishop
Charlie Squad:Infantry Squad
Delta Squad: Artillery Squad
Eagle Squad: Sniper Squad
Callsign Broadsword (1-4): Helicopter Squadron

*Other NCO's (Non-Commissioned Officers)
Staff Sergeant Luttrel : Leader of the resident sniper squad on base.

*Commanding Officers
Sergeant Major Dick: He oversees the squads and (in his freetime) finds the smallest problems so he can yell at someone for them. Sometimes though he does side with his soldiers and help them out.

Captain Kujo:Fresh from the states, Kujo is the newest officer to Ramadi. Likes to treat all enlisted soldiers like dogs. Arrrogant and selfish.

*Killed in Action
Private First Class Lakes:
Belonged to Bravo Squad, killed during a morning patrol in Yellow District.

Acronyms and Terminology
(Alphabetically, farther below is Arabic words translated to english)

~0440- 4:40am
~0557 hours- 5:57am
~0600- 6:00am
~0615- 6:15am
~0800 - 8:00 am
~2100 hours - 9:00pm
~2200 hours - 10:00pm
~AK-47-
~ Area of Operations (AO)- The area where assigned squads or bases operate.
~Bag Nasties- normally given to Marines sitting a vehicle checkpoint. Usually looks like an elementary students sack lunch
~Battle Rattle- The combat gear worn by a solder
~Blue Falcon- A marine who screws over a friend or fellow marine for personal gain
~Bravo- Micahart's squad's name
~Bulkhead - wall
~Butterfly trigger- Needs both thumbs to depress the trigger to fire
~Charms- known as bringers of very bad luck, eating or even touching one could bring bad luck. Superstition in the USMC
~Civvie- Civilian (usually derogatory)
~COC- Chain of Command
~Contact-Either seeing or being engaged by a possible enemy combatant; making contact with the enemy
~COP- Combat Outpost, Military base
~Corpsmen- Naval medic assigned to Marine units to provide medical treatment
~Danger Close- Ordinance within 200 meters of friendly forces
~Ditty- short and simple or simple popular song
~Dropped the dime- to call out or challenge
~DZ- Drop Zone
~Eagle Point- Sniper Perch at the base
~Evac- Evacuation
~Exfil - Exfiltration, getting friendly units out of enemy occupied territory
~Fly-Boys- Air Force/Any other pilots
~Hadji-slang used by troops in Iraq to describe an Iraqi citizen
~Hotel - Call sign for Bravo Squad's base
~Humvee- Common land vehicle, not to be confused with the civilian Humvee
~I.E.D- Improvised Explosive Device (Bomb)
~In country- on deployment in a foreign country, in a war zone
~Insurgents - extremist (political) enemies that use terror to accomplish their goals
~K.I.A- Killed in Action
~M249 SAW- Light machine gun, SAW means Squad Automatic Weapon
~Ma Deuce - .50 caliber Machine gun
~Mark-19- Automatic Grenade launcher, shoots 40mm grenades
~MARPAT- Marine Pattern, Type of camouflage that Marine's use
~MEDEVAC- Medical Evacuation (normally by helicopter)
~M.I.A- Missing in Action
~Mike - Minutes (can also mean miles or meters)
~Motor T- Motor Transport, where (ground vehicles) are handled, has large garage
~Mujahadeen- Muslim extremest, Jihad
~NJP- Non Judicial Punishment, discipline without a court marshal
~N.V.G's- Night Vision Goggles
~O' Dark 30 - early hours before dawn
~OFP- Own &%#*ing Program
~Oorah- means yes, hell yeah, or is a standard shout of comradry
~Oscar Mike- On the Move
~Out of country - off deployment, out of war zone, sent home
~PFC- Private First Class
~POG- Person other than Grunt
~Racks- Beds
~ROE- Rules of Engagement
~Roger- Affirmative or Understood
~RPG - Rocket Propelled Grenade
~SAPI plates- Small arms protective insert, body armor against small arms fire/shrapnel
~%&%^ hot - overly arrogant person
~SITREP- Situation Report
~Skinny- news
~smokin' and jokin' - a marine being unproductive
~SM- abbreviation of Sergeant Major
~SNCOIC- Senior Non Commissioned Officers In Charge
~Strykers- Armored Personnel Carriers (Ground)
~Tango - Target or Enemy
~The Suck- The desert/middle of nowhere
~Tracers- Specially modified bullets that burn when shot allowing shooter to note point of aim
~UH-60 - Blackhawk helicopter (normally troop transport or medevac)

Arabic Words translated to English

~As-Salāmu`Alaykum-Arabic, meaning Peace be with you
~Shokran jazeelan-Arabic, means thank you

Note: I'm sorry if there are any discrepancies with my story and actual military life/deployment as I am not a soldier yet, I do not know it's intricacies. Let me know if I need to make corrections. Thanks, Devlin.

updated Apr 1 '11 by Anna_Devlin