”Sergeant Gribs, we would appreciate it if you were paying attention here. You’re already notorious for having an incredibly short attention span, but still, I think you could probably last at least 15 seconds.” This statement earned chuckles from Gribs fellow squad leaders.
With that he suddenly looked up at his Platoon Leader. “Sorry for already spacing out, sir, but is this mission going to be any different than any of the numerous other snatch and grabs that we’ve already completed?”
Captain Rikes shrugged and resumed, “Probably, there have been reports from our assets that these ones have advanced technologies.”
Gribs interrupted, “Like what, sir? What have the terrorists come up with now? Have they figured out how to use the clackers?”
Rikes continued, “We don’t know for sure since our informant seemed terrified about being shot the entire time he was on the base; he didn’t really delve deeply into the information he was providing. But, we have been trained to handle any of the shit that they try to throw at us. Always remember that we are Rangers; there are few in this military that are better than us, and even then, they recruit from us.”
The Captain continued with his Op Order and told his men to get to their squads and gear up. Gribs stuck around for a moment after the rest of the squad leaders had left. Rikes noticed this and then sat down.
“Something on your mind Jim?”
“Well, yeah… It’s the 5th anniversary.”
“I know, I remember your brothers. Best damn sniper team we had. So what do you want?”
“Well… I was wondering, sir, could my squad be the one to breach the compound?”
“Does your squad know about this?”
“They were the ones who suggested it, sir.”
“I see, do you personally want to be the point man?”
“I… Yes, sir, I would like that very much”
“I’ll let 2nd squad know that their position has been moved to the roof.”
“Thank you, sir, I’ll go get my men squared away now.”
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Back at the barracks, Jim’s squad was busy getting ready for their mission. They all knew what had happened five years ago today.
Jim had two brothers that were in this very same company and had somehow managed to convince their superiors that they would make a good sniper team. The oldest brother, Luke, was the most deadly sniper in the U.S. at that time and had often gone hunting with the baby of the family, John. During their hunts--some of which having them go out into the wilderness for weeks at a time--they developed a method of spotting and sniping that rivaled and eventually surpassed the best of any nation that sent their teams to the annual sniper trials. Their shear amount of kills bestowed upon them the nickname The Brothers Grimm. During a mission that took them deep into heavily defended mountain ranges, the two brothers managed to take out almost ninety terrorists before they felt the need to call for an extraction. When Jim got the message that his brothers needed help, he was ready to go in ten minutes, record time considering that he had been sleeping when the message came in. The Blackhawks in which they were riding were heavily modified for silence and stealth so that all but one of them were able to sneak behind the encampment with great ease. The one that Jim was in was to be the one to actually pick up the brothers. When all of the helicopters were in place, an order was given and everything erupted in the camp; incendiary rounds mixed with hollow points roared from the mini-guns mounted to the helicopters, turning everything organic in the camp into smoldering piles of red jelly. John and Luke were sure they saw a terrorist’s head explode into nothingness. Once all life in the camp had been obliterated, the one helicopter that had hung back swooped in to pick up the brothers just as a group of terrorists that had been on their way to the camp came up behind the brothers and opened fire. Jim watched from the helicopter as his brothers were torn to pieces right in front of his eyes and screamed with rage. Accuracy ran in the family and Jim was currently the squads SAW operator; he opened fire and dropped half of the terrorists before the mini-guns even began firing. Once the last of the terrorists were disabled, Jim’s squad swiftly lined into position and Jim began stabbing any of the terrorists that were unfortunate enough to survive the machine guns’ tirade.
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All of Jim’s squad knew this unfortunate tale. For this reason, they encouraged him to ask to be the first squad into the compound they were storming.
“So, you ready to be the first in the door Jim?”
“That all depends… are you ready to give one of your signature kicks, Private Allen?”
“Well, are we going for the complete destruction of the door or just partial destruction?”
“Do you even have to ask?”
“Hell yeah! Which way do you want the door to go? Bottom first or top?”
“Let’s go with the top; we wouldn’t want the door to slide under anybody, now would we? Besides, if the top goes first, we can use the door to step on anything underneath.”
“Aw yeah, my legs are ready.”
“Alright, enough screwing around. Get your shit squared away and to the heli-pads”
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The ride to the LZ was uneventful, which gave Jim time to think about his brothers; about how Luke always protected them, about how John always seemed to be getting picked on and called gay because he enjoyed being able to show kindness to the most seemingly undeserving people. When his body made it back to the base, the only organ that didn’t have any bullet holes in it was his heart. Jim heard about this and began to do something he had really never done before; he began to cry.
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For strategic and stealth reasons, all of the soldiers that were entering the building at the ground level were dropped about five kilometers from the compound. When the compound was reached, Jim’s fire team formed up in their customary file formation to be able to charge in quickly. The signal was passed and Private Allen moved up to the door to check the frame for wires to any explosives. Finding none, he looked to Jim who merely nodded. Immediately following was a jumping two foot kick to the top and center of the door from Allen. The door flew down as requested and was followed almost immediately by Jim charging into the room.
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“Greetings James. I have been watching you for some time. You have unfortunately detonated a trap set by your enemies.”
“…JIM! JIM CAN YOU HEAR ME?...”
“I have noticed that since your brother’s deaths, you have not had any joy in your life and have been alone.”
“…DON’T YOU FUCKING DIE ON US JIM, WHERE THE FUCK IS THE MEDIC?...”
"I, too, know what it is to be alone. Fortunately, it ended quite recently."
"...GIVE HIM THE FUCKING MORPHINE..."
“I am offering you a choice: you can either be sent back to your body and live without your legs and most of your face or you can be sent to a veritable paradise where you will be able to find happiness in your life again with a new body that is slightly conformed to your current skills.”
“…YOU'RE GOING TO LIVE JIM, STAY WITH US MAN...”
“No matter your choice, you will not remember our conversation.”
“…We can’t save his legs or his eyes. With how severe his wounds are, he should be dead right now…”
“Make your choice James.”
“…He’s gone…”