When the alarm clock in Jessica’s bunk beeped, Hailey was up and active the minute her eyes opened. Sliding down the bunk’s ladder, she gently roused Jessica from her sleep.

“Rise and shine, Lieutenant,” Hailey said, then rushed to the bathroom to get changed. Jessica was a little slower in getting up, rubbing her eyes but finding them still fogged from sleepiness. It had taken a while for her to fall asleep last night as she couldn’t stop thinking about home. Slowly, she slid out of bed, but her sleepiness seemed to get the better of her, and she stumbled against the bedside table and next to her boots. Uttering a fatigued whine, she slowly pushed her feet in, did up the laces, headed to the wash basin and splashed some cold water on her face to banish the sleepiness.

“You sure you’re ready for patrol today, Jessica?” Hailey asked, noticing some slight remainders of sleepiness in Jessica’s eyes.

“I’ll be fine,” Jessica said, shaking her head a little and putting on her uniform, “Perhaps the sun will wake me fully.”

“Alright, see you outside,” Hailey added, putting on her cap and heading out the screen door.

Outside, Jessica paced around the barrack area and watched Trisha run past each door, giving a loud pounding knock on each one followed by a forceful “Wake Up!” order. Following breakfast, Jessica, Trisha, Lilly and Privates Natalia Williams and Linda Garcia were assigned to a brief patrol around RECON’s perimeter. As Jessica patrolled along the eastern end of the perimeter, she kept thinking of her mother’s voice repeating some of the lines that she’d read in last night’s letter.

“The team has won about two games in the past month and they’re not too far off from going to the local championship”, her mom’s voice seem to echo in her head “How are things in the military? Has your friend Hailey been well?”, “We’re all very concerned for you and hope you have a safe return from service, even if it only be to spend some time with us for a few weeks or less.”

“A few weeks or less,” that part was the line that most commonly repeated itself in her mind. Again, a nostalgic tear sparkled on her cheek, but she quickly whipped it away before Natalia could notice.

“You okay?” Natalia asked.

“Mmm? Oh, yes” Jessica responded. Jessica was quick to banish the nostalgic feelings from her mind later during patrol, worried that they might make her look rather childish. After a couple more rounds on the perimeter, Jessica asked Natalia and Linda to go round up the rest of Unit Comet for a brief warm up at the outdoor gym courts.

During warm-ups, Jessica stood at the front of the court while everyone else stood on a painted number on the pavement. Warm-ups, unlike the group athletic sessions, were a brief set of athletic moves the troops performed in uniform that were designed to simply motivate them each morning. This first started off with a roll call followed by a brief set of stationary marching moves: (1) All the soldiers held their clip-removed rifles and did a series of flips and twirls with them, (2) The soldiers would do stationary marching with Jessica calling out “Right, Left, Right, Left. Turn!! Right, Left, Right, Left.” When Warm-ups came to a close, Jessica would give a salute and yell “Who are we?!” to which the rest of the unit would yell in their most forceful or loudest voices “Unit Comet!!” and return the salute. If Jessica felt they lacked enthusiasm, even just one soldier, she would have them all repeat it. When she finally felt satisfied, Jessica would yell out “Dismissed!!”

The convoy patrol that evening was further off from the RECON perimeter than Jessica expected, but she didn’t bother herself about it too much. She rested in the gunner’s nest on top of the jeep while Hailey was at the wheel. The night air seemed to be more relaxing than chilling, flipping through her hair and loosening up the tenseness in her muscles. Their convoy consisted of five jeeps, some of which were driven by Unit Hawkeye or Unit Guardian, the other two RECON-occupying units.

“You know” Trisha said over Jessica’s comlink “Going out this far from the perimeter seems a little eerie for some reason.”

“You afraid of the dark Sarge?” one of the other Privates of Unit Comet said back on the com.

“No,” Trisha said, but Jessica could recognize an unsure voice when she heard it. In her earliest years in the military, she used to be scared of night watch, worried that she could be ambushed, maybe even killed, in the dark without warning. Sometimes, it was just the eerie quiet of the night that creeped her out back then. Therefore, she couldn’t blame Trisha’s uneasy feeling.

Then, all the comfort of the night air suddenly went away.

The next thing Jessica knew, a bright red explosion radiated ahead of their convoy. Before she knew it, the first jeep was completely engulfed and gone within a matter of seconds. The blast, supposedly from a roadside bomb, sent three other jeeps veering out of control, including her own.

“Hailey, get a hold of yourself!!” Jessica yelled through her comm.

“I’m trying!!” Hailey yelled back. Desperately, she yanked hard at the steering wheel as the tires squealed in the sand. Her frantic steering was already violent enough inside the jeep and worse for Jessica. Once or twice, Hailey turned the wheel so violently that the jeep threatened to collapse on its side, forcing Jessica to grab hard to anything securing in the gunner’s nest to keep from being thrown out. Finally, Hailey got the jeep under control.

“Unit Comet, report!” Jessica shouted into the comm.

“My head hurts a little,” came Trisha’s voice.

“I feel sick,” complained one of the Privates.

“Safe and sound,” came Hailey’s groggy and exhausted voice.

Jessica then noticed one of Unit Hawkeye’s jeeps overturned, possibly from being sent out of control from the blast.

“Unit Hawkeye, what’s your status” Jessica asked.

Static.

“Lisa, Betty, do you copy?!” Jessica yelled, switching her comm to the RECON Medical Center channel.

“Lisa here,” Lisa said “Jessica, are you alright? We heard what sounded like an explosion nearby.”

“Yeah there was an explosion,” Jessica said back, a little bit annoyed “One of our jeeps must have hit a roadside bomb. One jeep is gone, two more are pretty badly damaged. We need medical assistance out here on the double!”

“Be there in a jiffy” Lisa said and cut out.

“All units, if you’re able to, get out to Unit Hawkeye’s jeep and help as many soldiers as possible,” Jessica ordered. Not too long after, most of Unit Comet and Unit Guardian rushed out of their jeeps to the wrecked jeeps. Jessica and Hailey helped pull out some of the injured soldiers, some of which had pretty bad injuries to the head. But it seemed as though most of the soldiers in the wrecked jeeps would survive.

Outside, as the flames on the first jeep continued to lick with ferocious heat, Hailey and Jessica worked hard to keep those in critical condition alive with First Aid and CPR processes.

“Is that everyone?” Hailey asked. Jessica did a brief count of all those present, both well and injured.

“Where’s Carlos?” Jessica asked suddenly, looking wildly around, “And Trisha?”

“Help! Please!” cried Trisha. Jessica quickly turned around to see Trish running towards them, carrying her brother over her shoulders. Laying Carlos down by Jessica, Trisha and the two Lieutenants quickly examined Carlos, who was still alive but kept making hoarse coughing and wheezing sounds. Hearing these, Jessica examined Carlos’ chest and the most woeful sight greeted her. Some bits of shrapnel, presumably from the explosion of the first jeep, and penetrated his chest, leaving a dark red circle about the size of a baseball on the injury. He must have been in his jeep’s gunner’s nest, thereby exposing him to flying shrapnel from the explosion.

“Hailey, is there anything we can do?” Jessica asked frantically, looking at Trisha’s streamy face. Hailey looked at the shrapnel wound herself.

“I don’t know,” Hailey said, but added a rather disappointed shake of the head, “That injury looks like it could be fatal. We’d probably need to operate on him.”

“Where the !#$! is Lisa and the medical team?” growled Jessica.

“Jessica,” Carlos said hoarsely, “Please, it’s alright.”

“No,” Trisha said, pleadingly “No it’s not alright. Please don’t die on us.”

“Carlos” Jessica said “Just remain calm, the medical team will be here shortly.”

“Jessica, please,” Carlos said, coughing weakly “I’ve done my duty for my country. I’m not afraid to die.”

“Don’t say that!” wailed Trisha.

“Trisha, I know I’m your only brother,” Carlos replied, “But you have to let me go.” Then to Jessica, “I can already confirm what your medical team will say, Lieutenant.”

Jessica’s eyes grew wide at this, but she continued to listen.

“Jessica, I can tell that this is a fatal wound,” Carlos admitted “I don’t think I’ll live long enough for the medical team to arrive and hurry me back to the RECON Medical Center.”

Trisha gasped horrifically and clasped her hands over her ears, as though not believing what she was hearing. Jessica ignored her and continued to listen.

“Jessica,” Carlos continued, his voice getting weaker now, “As I said before, I’ve done what I can for my country. Just please promise me that you, Hailey, and Trisha, and everyone else in Unit Comet does the same.” Turning to Trisha one last time he uttered “Goodbye, Trisha.”

At this, his body went limp.

“NOOO!!!” screamed Trisha, in a flush of tears, throwing herself against her brother’s body.

“##$$#$ you, Taliban, @$#$ you!!” she continued to scream in fury, her eyes completely shut and overflowing with tears, “You’ll *^&(^ regret this!!”

As Trisha continued to wail with tears, Jessica couldn’t keep back her own tears. She had a better control of her loss than Trisha did, only sniffling but feeling it hard to choke it all back. She valued Carlos so much and because he was gone now in addition to seeing Trisha wail in sorrow over the tragedy, she felt unable to avoid crying. It was just then that Lisa’s medical team arrived from RECON with a small military ambulance convoy.

“Handle the injured carefully,” Jessica said, doing her best to overcome her depression. Then looking at Trisha, who was still sobbing over her brother’s body, told Lisa and Medical Officer Betty Kay “Take her also. See to it she is given all possible comfort.” Lisa took Trisha gently by the arm, who continued to moan “No, no, why did this have to happen?” Betty took Carlos’s body and carefully loaded it into one of the other military ambulances.

Later that evening, Jessica sat on her bunk, finding it almost hard to fall asleep and sucking back tears as hard as she could. Finally, she just couldn’t keep it all back, and she too began to cry about Carlos’ death. It was more controlled, but she just couldn’t find a way to hold it back, almost like a weak dam that had just ruptured with no chance of repair. Her best chance was to just let herself cry it all out.

“There, there,” Hailey said, bringing Jessica close to her and gently patting her on the back. Hailey understood how damaging the loss of a fellow soldier could be and it also made her feel bad to see Jessica cry.

“Why didn’t I save him in time?” Jessica asked through salty inhalations, “He might still be alive had I found him earlier.”

“Jessica,” Hailey said, “Carlos had been fatally injured the moment the first jeep exploded. I’m afraid it wouldn’t have mattered how early you’d found him. He would have been in the same condition as Trisha found him. I sorry, Jessica.”

The next day, Jessica, Hailey, and everyone else who’d been on last night’s patrol were called to the RECON Medical Center for check up. Jessica and Hailey were both examined by Lisa, who checked their heart beats, lung capacities, eye and ear abilities, all of which came out positive.

“Where’s Trisha?” Jessica asked Lisa as she slid the upper part of her uniform back over her undershirt.

“She’s in intensive care, currently” Lisa replied.

“Why?” Hailey asked with a quizzical expression.

“She’s been diagnosed with a minor case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of her brother’s death,” Lisa replied, “ I’ve submitted her current medical report to General McCoy just in case things get out of hand.”

“Oh dear,” Jessica said, flashing a concerned look to Hailey, “Any idea as to when she will be released?”

“The symptoms of PTSD usually last about a month,” Lisa admitted, “But since the source of the depression isn’t the worst kind, I’d make a skeptical guess that her condition may only last a most a few weeks, maybe even only a few days.”

“Well, I can understand her shock and I hope she gets better soon,” Hailey said.

“Will there be a time that one of us can talk to her?” Jessica asked.

“I wouldn’t recommend any time until she’s released,” Lisa said, “As I said, she’s very emotionally affected right now and, at worst, she could get violent without warning.”

Despite positive health reports for Jessica and Hailey, both were given exempt from daily duties for the day to recuperate from last night. Jessica decided to take a walk that afternoon around the perimeter. As she walked, she noticed gray storm clouds rolling in from the south. The storm didn’t seem too violent looking, but she considered it best to probably keep clear of it as much as possible.

“Carlos,” Jessica muttered, leaning against the perimeter fence, “Why did you have to leave so soon? Look at the state your sister is in.”

Although she knew he wasn’t there, Jessica could hear Carlos’ voice repeating some of his last lines in her head.

“Jessica, I’ve done what I can for my country. Just please promise me that you, Hailey, Trisha, and everyone else in Unit Comet does the same.”

“Yes, Carlos” Jessica said, sucking back some tears and nodding up toward the sky, “I promise.” Thunder grumbled in the billowing storm clouds above, but sort of gently, as though acknowledging her promise.

Meanwhile, back in intensive care, Betty sat by Trisha’s bed, her feet propped up on a desk as she read a book. Normally while on duty in the RECON medical center, Betty wore a nurse-style uniform that consisted of a white long-sleeved shirt, blueish-gray leggings, and white slip-resistant Cross Trekkers sneakers. If, however, Betty was called to assist Lisa on the battlefield, she had a standard issue army medic uniform similar to Lisa’s that she could change into. Lisa had the exact same uniform as Betty’s, but only wore it while performing operations or other doctor-related duties in the medical center.

“Where’s Jessica?” Trisha suddenly asked.

“She’s out on patrol,” Betty responded, a little surprised, “Why?”

“I want to go find her,” Trisha said with a tone that made Betty a little uneasy.

“Trisha, I can’t let you go without authorization from Lisa,” Betty replied.

“So that’s it,” Trisha said, her voice getting a little more threatening, “I have to remain here while Jessica gets to be out in the open air, scot free.”

“Trisha, will you relax?” Betty insisted, getting concerned.

“Relax?” Trisha repeated, her eyes now fiery, “Relax? My brother Carlos is dead and you tell me to relax?!”

This was more than enough for Betty to tolerate, and she left the room to get Lisa.

“You say that she’s getting restless?” Lisa said, her own voice a little uneasy.

“Yes,” Betty said, “I’ve got to have you help me coax her if possible.”

“Coaxing probably won’t work with her condition, Betty” Lisa replied, “But we’ll see what we can do.”

However, when they arrived at the intensive care room for Trisha, her bed was empty, the velcro restraints seemingly pried open. To make things worse, Trisha’s boots, uniform and helmet were missing.

“Did you leave anyone here to monitor the area?” Lisa asked, now very worried.

“No, I didn’t think it would take long to get you over here,” Betty replied. Lisa’s eyes grew wide with shock and outrage.

“You bloody idiot,” she muttered horrified, then amplifying her voice said, “So we’ve got a mad patient running around the base!? Now I have to call security!” and was out of the room before Betty could stop her.

By this time, the rain was beginning to come down, lightly at first but steadily picking up. Jessica walked along the almost muddy landscape, sometimes shifting her gaze from the sky to the damp desert landscape that stretched far ahead of her.

“Jessica?!” a voice called from behind. Jessica turned to see Trisha in full uniform.

“Why Trisha,” Jessica said, completely surprised, “You’ve been released from the hospital this early,” and approached her.

“Why did you do it?” Trisha asked threateningly. Jessica was a little taken back by this tone.

“Do what?” Jessica said, “Are you alright?”

“Why did you leave Carlos to die?” Trisha asked, her voice getting a little more venomous.

“What are you talking about?” Jessica asked, “I didn’t leave him to to die. If I had found him, I would have done everything in my ability to keep him alive.”

“Then why didn’t you find him before me?” Trisha asked with a distasteful look.

“I couldn’t leave thirty or so others to suffer a similar fate,” Jessica said, “I was trying to keep everyone I found alive. And Trisha, I hate to say this, but Carlos was already in fatal condition the moment that first jeep was destroyed. It wouldn’t have mattered whether you or I had found him first.”

“That’s a #$ lie! Your whole unit matters more than the life of one soldier,” Trisha accused as the two started circling each other.

“That’s not true!” Jessica said, getting very impatient, “Now cut this out before I get Hailey or somebody else to get you back to the medical center.”

“Oh, you want to play rough, do you?” Trisha asked, cracking her knuckles.

“Trisha that’s enough!” Jessica ordered, “I’m not looking for a fight. I understand you are upset about your brother’s death, but you cannot go blaming others for it.”

“Says the one who double crossed him and left him for dead even when his younger sister found him,” Trish snarled.

“Alright that’s it!” Jessica barked, “I’m giving you ten seconds to start heading back to RECON before I get Hailey on radio and have her escort you back. One, two, three….”

The next thing she knew, Trisha jumped on her.

The force of Trisha leaping on her plus her own sudden jump back combined with the weight of both of them was too much for Jessica’s legs to withstand as they gave way and she slipped backward. The two of them landed in a mud puddle and began to struggle with each other almost immediately.

“Get off me!!” Jessica struggled to say.

“Never!” Trisha yelled back. They flipped, tossed and turned through the muddy water, using each other’s hands and legs in an attempt to gain advantage over one another. At one point, Trisha grabbed Jessica’s shoulders from the front and shoved her backwards multiple times into the water. But Jessica wasn’t about ready to be submerged in the shallow water. She flexed both her legs under Trisha’s body then pushed her feet straight up into Trisha’s stomach. Trisha gagged and flew up and backward into the puddle. But before Jessica could fully regain her footing, Trisha grabbed one of her boots, pulling Jessica back down. Jessica felt Trisha’s hand over the defensive semi-automatic she kept on her utility belt.

“Don’t touch that!” Jessica snarled, grabbing Trisha’s hand and twisting it, almost as though intending to break it.

Trisha seemed to briefly howl, but then her other hand, balled up in a fist, smashed hard into the side of Jessica’s face. Although one usually never lived to explain how it felt, Trisha’s punch felt almost like being hit in the head by the butt of a rifle. Now it was Jessica’s turn to howl as she fell against one of the banks of the puddle, grabbing the side of her face in agony. She felt Trisha’s hand pull out the pistol, but instead of aiming it at her, just threw it far behind her.

“So that’s it,” Jessica thought, “She’s worried I’ll shoot her, so she’s trying to make it so it’s an even match for the both of us.”

Again, Trisha grabbed her and threw a punch, but the painful effect from the first punch seemed to make Jessica’s face numb and she therefore felt little pain from the second punch. However, she felt a painful bruising effect on her lip, which turned out to be a small bleeding lip. Then Trisha turned her upward, and delivered several punches to the stomach.

“This one is for my brother,” she cried and hit. Jessica’s body lurched upward and she groaned.

“This one is for me,” Trisha cried out, followed by another punch. These punches made Jessica feel about ready regurgitate, but she held it in as best she could. Weakly, she balled up her fist and shot a punch straight at Trisha’s left eye.

“Ugh!” Trisha cried, grabbing at the injury and falling backward. But she was on Jessica again.

“When will she quit?” Jessica grumbled to herself in her mind. Jessica then spit out some of the blood from her lip bleed on Trisha’s sleeve. Disgusted briefly, she lightened her grip on Jessica to wipe off the bloody spit, providing Jessica the moment she needed to wriggle free and push Trisha back with a kick. Trisha balled up her hand, ready for another punch. But as she swung, Jessica intentionally fell backward, avoiding the punch. With Trisha still a little off guard, Jessica nailed an uppercut into Trisha’s stomach. Trisha grunted and fell forward. Jessica then delivered another punch to Trisha’s stomach to stun her. Despite Trisha’s pain, she rolled away and as Jessica struggled to get back up, Trisha grabbed her middle from behind. Jessica, keeling over, emitted a groan from the pressure on her stomach before Trisha pulled her back down. But Jessica ended up falling right onto Trisha. Using this to her advantage, Jessica then rolled over a few times, smothering Trisha briefly. Finally, with the best of her strength, Jessica began to stand up with Trisha still clinging to her back.

“Go take a slide, Trisha,” she said, then flexed forward. As hoped, the now muddy wet surface on her uniform was too slippery for anyone to cling to, and Trisha, shrieking in surprise, slid straight forward and landed hands first in the mud. Again, though, Trisha was on her feet. She swung, but Jessica ducked, grabbed Trisha’s shoulders and head butted her. Trisha screamed in pain and clutched her nose as she fell backward into the puddle.

“I didn’t want any of this to happen,” Jessica said, standing like a shadowy figure in the rain over Trisha, her voice still rather gruff. She turned to head out when Trisha suddenly grabbed her from behind again. Jessica’s outstretched arms cushioned her as she collapsed against the muddy bank of the puddle.

“Do you ever quit?!” Jessica demanded as she clawed at the bank to pull herself free of Trisha. Trisha didn’t seem to respond but continued to pull at Jessica. Looking up briefly, Jessica saw Trisha’s face contorted with the most hideous rage she’d ever seen, a dark red trail of blood flowing from her nose. In her hand, she clutched a ball of mud that she’d dug out of the bank. Although it didn’t seem to pose an imminent danger, Jessica’s struggling and breathing became much more frantic as she dug her boots, knees, and hands into the bank. But Trisha was determined to keep Jessica in the puddle, placing her knee on Jessica’s back and exerting as much weight as possible to pull her back despite Jessica’s continuous scrambling at the bank. Then Trisha’s mud-filled hand smacked Jessica hard on an exposed part of her neck. The mud had a very icy feeling to it, having been exposed to the temperatures of the rain.

“Auuck!” Jessica gasped, paralyzed by the icy feeling that had just hit her.

The icy feeling seemed to zip down her spine, bounce up from the pelvis, and zap her in the synapse. This sudden cold-shocking feeling knocked Jessica’s senses cold as she gritted her teeth, shut her eyes, and her head collapsed face first against the muddy bank. However, Trisha wasn’t given enough time to savor her supposed victory in the fight, for at that moment, two hands grabbed her from behind and pulled her off of Jessica’s limp body. It was Hailey, who had arrived with Privates Lisa and Cammy to find Trisha. As Hailey pulled Trisha off, she and Trisha fell backward into the puddle. Trisha squirmed and writhed in Hailey’s grip, even pounding both her heels against Hailey’s legs to break free.

“Cammy!” Hailey barked, “Get the ^*$% over here now!”

Almost the minute she said it, two boots splashed into the puddle as Cammy came to Hailey’s aid. Cammy, almost at a mid-running pace, made an intentional slip and threw herself onto Trisha’s struggling body. Trisha lurched a little but continued to struggle, even though it was a little weaker now. Hailey also felt herself pushed a little deeper into the mud from Cammy’s additional weight. While Cammy held Trisha’s wrists, Hailey flexed her legs around Trisha’s to disable her ability to lash out with a kick.

“Lisa!” Cammy called, waving her hand forward in a beckoning motion, “Bring the needle!”

Again, two more boots splashed into the puddle as Lisa entered the two-against-one tussle carrying with her an injection needle. Grabbing one of Trisha’s arms and not bothering to roll up the sleeve, Lisa quickly punctured the needle into Trisha’s shoulder. Trisha lurched up briefly then collapsed with a quiet groan against Hailey, unconscious. Cammy got off of Trisha and Lisa slung Trisha’s unconscious body over her shoulders and trekked through the puddle back toward the jeep that they’d driven to the fight scene, her boots making soft sucking sounds each time she pulled them free of the muddy water. Cammy, meanwhile, grabbed one of Hailey’s arms and pulling with all her strength, yanked Hailey out of the muddy water that she’d accidentally been pressed into and was quick to catch her before the either of them could fall back into the puddle.

“Sorry about pressing you into the mud,” Cammy apologized.

“Don’t mention it,” Hailey said dryly, taking her helmet off briefly and shaking herself like a dog to rid herself of the mud. Cammy had to shield herself from muddy droplets of water, but decided not to complain.

“I’m soo taking a shower when we get back to RECON,” Hailey said, grimacing as she ran her fingers through her hair, some of which still had some mud in it. It was then that she noticed Jessica, lying face down on the opposite side of the mud-puddle’s bank and unmoving.

“Oh my God, Jessica!” Hailey said, rushing over to her limp body and giving it some gentle but rushed shakes, “Jessica, are you alright?” No response, “Jessica, can you hear me? Jessica?!”

Still getting no response, Hailey cried out for Lisa, who was back almost immediately. The two of them turned Jessica’s body over, finding her face splattered with mud and a small bloody lip. Jessica’s expression was that of quiet agony; her lips were sealed together in a struggling frown, her eyes were shut, and her eyebrows were creased downward in a mixture of anger and pain.

“What...what’s her condition Lisa?” Hailey asked, her stomach twisting in tension.

“Hold on, let me check,” Lisa responded. She held Jessica’s wrist and put an ear to her chest. Lisa then relaxed a little and turned to face Hailey.

“She’s alive,” Lisa replied, and Hailey felt a lot more comforted, but Lisa continued, “However, she’s in a coma. Her body temperature is lower than usual. My guess; probably sudden exposure to cold on a particular part of her nervous system.” Almost to prove her point, she turned Jessica back over, and Hailey could still see the smudged remains of an explosion of mud on the back of Jessica’s neck. Hailey then took off one of her gloves and dipped her hand in the puddle, then pulled it back suddenly as an icy feeling zipped up arm. She then felt the muddy banks of the puddle, which were also icy cold from the temperatures of the rain.

“What do you recommend, Lisa?” Hailey asked, concerned.

“We should move her to a warmed space,” Lisa explained, “If we can get her back to the RECON Medical Center and warm up the room enough, she’ll reawaken within a matter of hours.”

“Well then, let’s get her up and out of this icy !@%^” Hailey said. Lisa helped haul Jessica’s body onto Hailey’s back. Almost immediately, Hailey felt her boots sink about ankle deep.

“This is very soft mud,” Hailey mused to herself, “It must have been made weak from all the tussling Jessica and Trisha and the rest of us were doing.”

Slowly, she pulled her left foot up and was rewarded with a loud sucking sound from inside the muddy water. Setting her foot down ahead of her, Hailey moved slowly, pulling each leg up one at a time and with Lisa helping to guide her out of the muck. Finally after trekking onto drier terrain, Hailey, Cammy, and Lisa walked back to the jeep at a normal pace. Hailey sat at the wheel while Lisa and Cammy sat on either side of the still unconscious Jessica, who occasionally slumped to one side or straight forward and needed to be gently propped back up by either Lisa or Cammy. Trisha had been laid down in the back of the jeep, still unconscious. When the girls finally arrived at RECON, Hailey slung Jessica’s body over her shoulders again while Lisa carried Trisha’s over her shoulders and Cammy drove off to park to the jeep.

Some of the soldiers inside the RECON Medical Center’s corridors would look with shock at Hailey and Lisa as the two tracked smooth muddy footprints along the white tiled floors of the corridor. Once or twice, the heels of Jessica’s boots rubbed against the wall of the corridor, leaving a small streak of mud on the wall.

“What happened to you two?” Betty asked, giving a slightly disgusted look at the two girls muddy uniforms, their slightly mud-stricken faces and the muddy trails they left on the floor, “You look like you got into a mud fight with each other.”

“We actually broke up a mud fight, and a serious one if I may say so,” grumbled Lisa as she carried Trisha’s body onward to one of the intensive care rooms.

“Do you have the heat on?” Hailey inquired.

“Just a little over room temperature,” Betty said, glancing up at one of the ceiling vent grilles, “Why?”

“Jessica is in a coma from a cold-shock,” Hailey said, beginning to slide Jessica’s body off her shoulders, “Lisa needs the room properly warmed in order for Jessica to recover.”

“I’d say 80 degrees at least,” Lisa said, returning from the intensive care room and removing her boots.

“Very well then,” Betty said, “But first let’s get Jessica into one of these beds.”

“Oh, and I’ll send all this muddy clothing, along with Jessica’s and Trisha’s, to the laundry,” Hailey added, then looking back at her tracks on the floor added, “And I’ll see to it that these footprints are cleaned up.”

When Jessica awoke, she found herself in one of the hospital beds looking up at the white-tiled ceiling of the RECON Medical Center. The room felt comfortably warm, the closest source being a fair-sized HVAC ceiling vent that hung directly above her bed and hummed in a relaxing way.

“Why...am I..here?” Jessica said, still struggling to get accustomed to her surroundings. Feeling under the covers, she found that she was only wearing her underclothes and that her hair was unbraided. To her right, near the door, was her uniform, folded neatly, with her helmet placed on top and her boots placed next to the folded uniform. Turning again, she saw Medical Officer Betty enter the room.

“Betty?” Jessica asked, squinting.

“Oh, thank heaven,” Betty said, coming over to her bed, “I was just checking on you.”

“What happened?” Jessica asked.

“You got into a nasty mud fight,” Lisa said, coming into the room, “With Sergeant Trisha.”

“I remember that,” Jessica said, a little groggy, then asked, “What’s up with my neck?”

“Trisha hit you in the back of the neck with a very chilling ball of mud,” Lisa replied, “You succumbed to some kind of cold-shock that led to a coma.”

“What happened to Trisha?” Jessica asked.

“After you fell unconscious,” Lisa explained, “Hailey, Cammy, and I arrived and we were able to subdue Trisha. Surprisingly, she recovered from her depression-fueled rage and at Corporal Leslie’s request, I had her transferred to the detention center. I’ve no idea as to how that situation is going.”

“When will I be released?” Jessica asked, shifting around a little.

“Shortly,” Lisa assured her, “Your condition is getting exponentially better.”

As predicted, Jessica’s condition was stable by that afternoon and she was released from the hospital. It took a few walking laps around the perimeter on patrol for Jessica to fully regain a sense of what had transpired last night.

Meanwhile, Trisha was under questioning at RECON’s Detention Center. Her uniform had been replaced by an orange straight-jacket and her boots replaced temporarily with regular sneakers. On one side was MP Warrant Officer Rebecca Sanders, who preferred to go by her nickname “Becky”, and across from Trisha was Master Sergeant Leslie Carly. Becky was another one of the unusually-uniformed soldiers of Unit Comet as her uniform was of a somewhat darker grey color than everyone else’s uniform and instead of standard issue military boots, she wore jet black laced SWAT-type Response Gear boots. Becky had worn these boots prior to enlisting in the MP as she had previously worked in the NYPD SWAT force, which had given her some good combat skills to use in the military. Whenever at an interrogation, Becky always kept a rifle at hand as a means of discouraging the interrogated from getting any ideas.

Master Sergeant Leslie had a calm attitude, but when she was in action, she was fairly strict. She had long red hair and eyes that could take on a gentle and serious expression at the same time. In questioning Trisha, she did her best to remain calm, but Trisha could tell there was distaste in her voice. By this time, though, Trisha had overcome her violent depression behavior, and now, in the presence of Becky and Leslie, felt very ashamed of what she’d done.

“Now Sergeant,” Leslie began, “You attacked Lieutenant Jessica Alison for what reason?”

“I...I lost control of my emotions,” Trisha admitted, “I thought that Jessica had left my brother for dead when I should have known that he would have died anyway.”

“But you realize that you put Jessica in a comma as a result from the fight,” Leslie continued.

“I told you before,” Trisha said, “I didn’t know what I was thinking.”

“Sergeant,” Leslie said, trying to keep a patient face, “You realize that, whether you intended to or not, you assaulted a higher ranked officer. You do realize how serious the consequences will be.”

“I do,” Trisha said, “If I must be dishonorably discharged for my actions, then I understand.”

Suddenly, Trisha began to cry. Leslie felt some sympathy for the Sergeant, but knew that she had to carry out the interrogation. Before Leslie could continue, though, she was interrupted by a knock on the door, and Private Cammy came in.

“Cammy, can this wait?” Leslie asked.

“General McCoy asked me to give this to you,” Cammy replied, “Said it had something related to Trisha.”

Cammy gently deposited a few papers on the desk then walked out. Looking at the papers briefly, Leslie found Trisha’s medical report that Lisa had filed to General McCoy the day of the fight. Attached to it was a note from McCoy himself. Apparently, he’d been expecting an issue like this to occur. But what caught Leslie’s attention the most was the order he’d given in the note.

“If Trisha’s condition causes her to commit a dishonorable act, then I’ll bend the disciplinary regulations for her, but only a little. At my request, I was informed as to how the incident had played out, and as long as Lieutenant Jessica comes out of the medical center in a stable condition, then the only punishment Trisha should receive is to be demoted from Sergeant to Corporal. I’ll not make any further adjustments and will not take requests, either for or against Trisha.”

Leslie also recalled that Jessica had been released from the hospital earlier that day and was confirmed to be in stable condition. Therefore, since it was General McCoy’s orders, she proceeded to inform Trisha about the consequences.

“Trisha,” Leslie began, “It may help you to know that General McCoy is partially on your side.”

Trisha looked up, her tearful face showing some surprise. Leslie continued.

“According to a recent order passed by General McCoy, you are not going to be discharged for your actions. However, you will be demoted to Corporal,” Leslie explained.

“I’ll accept whatever punishment I receive for my actions,” Trisha replied, “I just want to be able to apologize to Jessica.”

“What do you think, Becky,” Leslie said, looking up at Becky.

“I’m just waiting for your response, Corporal,” Becky replied. Leslie gave a brief exhale then turned back to Trisha.

“Okay,” Leslie replied, “But for the next two days, you will be kept under watch. But otherwise, you can go. Becky, escort Corporal Trisha to the locker room and get her changed back into her uniform.”

“Ma’am,” Becky replied with a salute and gently took Trisha by the arm.

Jessica continued to walk around the perimeter, her mind in a flurry. She still couldn’t get over the fact that Trisha had attacked her. Why? Trisha was very respectful of those around her usually. What the heck was she thinking when she started fighting her. It just seemed unbelievable.

“Jessica!” called a voice behind her. As she guessed, it was Trisha.

“What do you want?”Jessica said, her face showing complete displeasure.

“I..I wanted to apologize for what I did,” Trisha said.

“Yeah right!” Jessica scoffed.

“Please,” Trisha insisted, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what I was doing.”

“Really?!” Jessica angrily replied, “I’ll tell you. You thought that I was a selfish @!# who had no interest in your brother’s life and you used that as an excuse to attack and almost cripple me.”

“I’m sorry!” Trisha said again. Jessica then suddenly slapped her. The slap seemed to burn Trisha’s whole cheek and create a small ringing sound in her ears.

“Get lost!!” Jessica shouted, “I’ll never forgive you as long as I live!!”

At this, Jessica turned on her heel and walked off, kicking the dirt as she left. Trisha just stood there, watching Jessica, and felt tears in her eyes. Why? Why hadn’t she stopped herself in time to prevent all this from happening? She knew now that Jessica was never going to forgive her for what had happened. Not as long as either of them lived. Feeling no further point in remaining there, Trisha walked in the opposite direction, the pain on her cheek from Jessica’s slap still burning.

The next evening, Hailey, who’d been on a brief night watch patrol around the perimeter, returned to her barrack to find Jessica already in bed on the lower bunk. She was reading a book with a flashlight held over it and her gaze didn’t flinch for a second even as Hailey came in.

“Jessica?” Hailey asked.

“Mmm,” Jessica said, still not shifting her gaze.

“Don’t tell me,” Hailey said, looking off to the side a little, “You’re still angry at Trisha for the fight.”

“Bingo,” Jessica muttered tiredly.

“If you don’t mind me mentioning,” Hailey said, a little cautiously, “You seemed very upset for the majority of the day. I mean, you were a little more aggressive during warm-ups today than usual and seemed not to be very talkative the rest of the day.”

“Yeah, so what?” Jessica muttered.

“Jessica,” Hailey admitted, “Some of the other commanders, even General McCoy are concerned that this ongoing resentment of Trisha may affect your friendly reputation as leader of Unit Comet. Personally, I have to agree with them. In other words, you’re going to have to forgive Trisha for the skirmish. I know she clobbered you badly, but need I recall to your mind that Trisha was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and was not able to control her actions properly. How she got out of the medical center and tracked you down is beyond me, but the fact is that she wasn’t thinking straight. You have to give her a second chance.”

“Pfft, forgive her?” Jessica spat, now turning to look at Hailey, “No way. I’m surprised the little @#$# wasn’t discharged for the fight.”

This was enough for Hailey. Since friendly talking didn’t seem like it was going to help, she figured she’d have to be a little more forceful. She stamped her foot on the ground with such force that Jessica seemed to literally jump a bit and fumble her book.

“Lieutenant Jessica Allison!” Hailey yelled, “This has gone far enough! I’m tired of seeing you so resentful. It’s not like the Jessica I remember from High School or from my earliest experiences in the military. You were always so energetic, compassionate, and helpful. Now you’re acting like a hateful and unforgiving person. If I’d known better, I might say you’d end up starting another fight with someone else, maybe Trisha, maybe even me! Would you want that to happen?! Answer me!!”

Jessica looked at Hailey, but with a look of shame, almost like a child about ready to cry. Hailey relaxed a little.

“Now she seems a little more understanding,” Hailey thought to herself, and continued in her more passionate voice.

“Jessica, everyone is worried sick about your attitude let alone your reputation. Cammy, Lisa, Lilly, Betty, Leslie, Melissa, Natalia, shall I go on?”

“Hailey,” Jessica said, then started to cry in the covers of her bed, “What’s happened to me?”

“Jessica,” Hailey apologized, “I’m sorry for being so forceful, but this has to stop.”

Jessica just nodded, switched off her flashlight, and fell right to sleep.

“I hope I did the right thing,” Hailey whispered to herself a she finished changing and climbed the bunk ladder.

General McCoy paced back and forth in his office as he waited for Jessica to arrive. He’d decided to send a patrol out beyond the base to check for an enemy presence in response to the roadside bomb that had been encountered five days ago. However, he was unsure about going forth with the plan, since the casualties from the last patrol had led to the tension between Lieutenant Jessica and Corporal Trisha. But he figured that it might help to send a unit out to repel any enemy presence near the base, because it did concern him as to how the roadside bomb that had been encountered in the first off-site patrol got there. Were the Taliban really that close to RECON, or was it merely just some random roadside bomb that had been left there for years and had still been waiting to be triggered?

After a few more minutes, Jessica came into McCoy’s office and whipped up a quick salute which McCoy returned.

“Lieutenant,” McCoy said, “This may be a little hard for me to explain.”

“Proceed,” Jessica responded.

“Lieutenant,” McCoy began, “I’m sending you along with a couple small squads in Unit Comet out on a mile-radius scan from the base to check for signs of Taliban activity near RECON. But I do hate to tell you this; Corporal Trisha is assigned to your unit.”

Surprisingly, Jessica showed no reaction at the mentioning of this.

“I understand you still have a grudge against her,” McCoy said, “But I’ll make sure that you two are assigned to different jeeps to avoid the risk of a conflict. Does that sound satisfying?”

“Yes sir, I’m satisfied,” Jessica replied.

“Very well,” McCoy said, “You’ll meet with Lieutenant Hailey this afternoon prior to the start of the patrol. Dismissed.”

The patrol that afternoon seemed like any other. There were three jeeps this time, all of them holding Unit Comet soldiers. Each jeep consisted of three soldiers in the back, one at the wheel, one next to the driver, and another in the gunner’s nest. As the patrol continued, Jessica, driving the second jeep, sighed as she looked ahead at the jeep Trisha was in. Maybe Hailey was right; was there anything to gain from this resentment of Trisha? On the one hand, she didn’t want to damage her reputation with the other soldiers, and she had to admit, Trisha was an excellent soldier.

“Have you really thought it over enough, Jessica?” she asked herself.

As the patrol continued, Jessica noticed that their convoy was heading down into a small gorge. Looking in the rear-view mirror, she saw RECON disappear from view. Jessica’s gutt seemed to twist a little as she sensed something wrong. Could some danger actually be waiting for them?

It was then that she heard Private Anne Ricardo, who’d been stationed in her jeep’s gunner’s nest, scream in pain and slide down into the back of the jeep. Almost immediately after, the glass in front of Jessica was struck by a side-slashing bullet, leaving a long cut through the windshield. Jessica pulled the jeep to a halt as the sound of gunfire began to erupt around their convoy and bullets kept making panging sounds against the jeep’s armor. Rushing to Anne’s aid, Jessica saw that a long bloody cut had been drawn into her shoulder by a bullet and was bleeding very badly.

“First Aid, now!!” ordered Jessica.

“Hailey to Jessica,” Hailey’s voice said over the radio on the dashboard, “Why have you stopped?”

“Our gunner is injured,” Jessica said, rushing to the radio, “Hailey, can you weave around?”

“There’s enough space,” Hailey responded, “I’ll go ahead and provide cover for Trisha’s jeep.”

“Fine,” Jessica said and cut out.

Hailey spun the wheel to the left and briefly decelerated to prevent accidentally brushing Jessica’s jeep.

“Trisha,” Hailey said, “Status”

“It getting hard to see,” Trisha yelled, “I can’t seem to tell where the bullets are through the windshield.”

“Alright, standby,” Hailey said, “I’m on my way.”

Trisha was just beginning to cut out when a small glass shattering sound startled her. Looking to her left, she saw that a bullet had cut a spiderweb-like hole through the windshield. The driver looked straight ahead of her in an expression of shock and pain. Trisha noticed the driver’s lip trembling and was suddenly horrified to see a trickle of blood flowing from a headshot just below the driver’s helmet. The driver groaned briefly before she suddenly collapsed against the wheel, blowing the horn and sending the jeep veering out of control. Trisha desperately leaned over and grabbed the wheel from the driver and tried to steer as best as she could, but it seemed almost vain. Her jeep’s gunner, Private Anna Summers, screamed as she lost her grip in the gunner’s nest from one of the sudden turns and was thrown from the jeep. Anna rolled on the ground a couple times upon impact before she came to a stop, unconscious. Trisha meanwhile continued to turn the wheel violently, but the driver’s body served as a major obstacle to getting complete control of the jeep as it kept leaning limply against her shoulder.

“Trisha, LOOK OUT!!” yelled one of the soldiers in the back of her jeep. Trisha had only a few seconds to see their jeep headed on a collision course with one of the small rock walls by the edge of the gorge. Trisha screamed just moments before the jeep made impact.

Hailey was horrified as she watched the crash unfold. A part of the fender on Trisha’s jeep made impact with the gorge wall face, and the sudden jump to the side that Trisha’s jeep made caused it to suddenly flip and roll a few times. Hailey winced as she heard glass breaking before the jeep bounced up, landed upside down and smashed once again into the side of the gorge, the jeep’s rear left tire bursting loudly as the overturned jeep came to a stop.

“Trisha,” Hailey said, staring horrifically at the overturned jeep.

“Their done for,” came somebody’s voice from inside her jeep “There’s no way anyone could survive that”

“Shut up!” Hailey screamed at whoever had said that, then switched her comm’s channel.

“Jessica!,” Hailey yelled.

“What is it Hailey?” Jessica’s concerned voice said.

“It’s Trisha’s jeep,” Hailey continued, “I don’t know what the @$# happened, but they suddenly veered out of control and now their jeep has been overturned.”

“Oh my God,” Jessica gasped, “We’re on our way”

Briefly, Jessica handed the wheel to Private Julia and jumped into the gunner’s nest. Not even bothering to take careful aim, Jessica yelled and fired into the hillsides on the jeep’s right. Immediately, the hillside began to fill with a series of explosions in the sand as bullets hit almost everywhere in the area. A few Taliban soldiers flew backward and rolled down the hill a ways while some others turned and ran, either in retreat or to just change their firing positions to avoid getting hit. After seemingly clearing that area, Jessica climbed down and gathered her squad together.

“Natalia, Julia,” Jessica ordered, “Cover the jeep. Nicole, take care of Anne. Melissa, bring a barricade axe. There may be soldiers caught in the wreckage.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Melissa said obediently, grabbing the axe from the back of the jeep.

“The rest of you, follow me,” Jessica ordered.

Natalia and Julia got behind the jeep’s front hood and while Natalia fired her assault rifle into the hillside, Julia triggered a grenade, spit out the pin, and threw it onto the opposite hillside of the gorge. She was rewarded by a bright orange blast that threw dirt, rocks, and a few enemy soldiers up into the air along with a couple others rolling down the hill.

Private Anna had just awakened from her brief unconscious state after being thrown from Trisha’s jeep just as a few bullets penetrated the ground around her. Desperately, she struggled to her feet and took off for some of the overgrowth in the gorge, using it as cover as she made her way to Hailey’s jeep. Her legs were bruised and scraped badly and her back ached with a serious burning feeling, but she finally made it to Hailey’s jeep, where a couple soldiers got out to help her.

When Jessica and her squad finally reached Trisha’s jeep, they found that the back door to the jeep was jammed. Melissa unclipped the barricade axe from her utility belt and hacked into the jeep’s rear door. After a few swings, Melissa and Jessica pulled at the door until it came off with a loud metallic tearing sound. Jessica called for some of her unit to help pull out the injured while the rest were to provide cover fire. Melissa’s Navy colleague, Corporal Helen, was dragged out first, moaning painfully with a bloody forehead and a bloody nose but otherwise okay. Quite a number of other soldiers in Trisha’s jeep were in similar condition, some of them not being able to talk or even move.

As Jessica and Melissa carried Helen’s body to the cover of Hailey’s jeep, Jessica looked around for Trisha. None of the other soldiers were carrying or tending to her. In fact, she wasn’t anywhere in sight.

“Where’s Trisha?!” Jessica asked frantically.

“Oh God, I think she’s still in the jeep,” Melissa replied.

“Dammit,” Jessica muttered, “Give me the barricade axe Melissa, now!”

“Here,” Melissa said, handing it over, “Be careful out there, Lieutenant!”

“Just take care of Helen,” Jessica ordered as she took off in a desperate sprint for Trisha’s jeep, jumping and side-stepping bullets that plunged into the ground around her.

Jessica knew Trisha wouldn’t be in the back and went directly for the jeep’s cab. She smashed open the side window with one swing of the barricade axe and slowly crawled inside. It literally was a living nightmare inside. The cab was very badly smashed up, shards of metal and other random materials hung or were sprawled throughout the driver’s section. Jessica grimaced in disgust as she saw the driver, who lay upside down with a few bloody lines across her face.

She then turned her attention to a sick moaning sound just in front of her. It was Trisha, who also hung upside down with a bloody lip and an awfully bloody injury to the side of the head. She kept trying to flex herself for some reason but seemed unable to move, each attempt just making her moan more. Jessica found that Trisha’s legs were caught in the dashboard up to the thighs and had already dug some nasty cuts into both legs.

“Keep still, please,” Jessica gently ordered Trisha.

“Please..augh….Jessica..don’t” Trisha tried to say, but just couldn’t seem to put together a full sentence.

“Just don’t talk,” Jessica said as she set the blade of the barricade axe onto the underside of the dashboard away from Trisha’s legs and pushed down with all her strength. For the first few minutes, it seemed in vain, but after a while, Jessica could hear a slight bending-cracking sound as she continued to push. Trisha suddenly began to wail in pain and a few moments later, the dashboard, stained with some of Trisha’s blood, broke off and came crashing onto the overturned ceiling of the jeep. Slowly, Jessica turned Trisha over as her bloody legs were freed up. Trisha’s bloody lip had worsened into a slightly larger blood flow that began dribbled along one whole side of her lip and bubble her speech a little, but she could still talk at least.

“Jessica...please...leave me” she said as best she could in a bubbled tone.

“I am not leaving you to die, Corporal!“ Jessica said and grabbed Trisha gently by the shoulder with the barricade axe in her other hand. Since getting into the jeep’s cab had been hard enough, Jessica knew it would be impossible to get herself and Trisha out through that opening at the same time. With that way blocked, Jessica was left with one other choice: break through the jeep’s windshield and climb out from there. Adjusting her position, Jessica pulled back both her legs and thrust a powerful kick into the jeep’s windshield. Her boots smashed clean through the glass, leaving a wide hole and fogging the rest of the glass with small cracks. Jessica kicked again and again, widening the gap in the windshield until it was large enough for her to crawl through with Trisha.

After pulling Trisha safely through the broken windshield, Jessica gently slung Trisha over her shoulders and, with the barricade axe in one hand, made a dash for the safety of Hailey’s jeep.

“WATCH OUT!!” screamed one of the Privates, and Jessica heard a loud roaring sound before a powerful explosion threw her and Trisha up into the air, flipping once head over heels before they landed. Jessica lost her grip on Trisha before she landed hard on her back. Jessica felt dizzy, bruised, and a little sick, but otherwise okay. Looking in the direction of the explosion, she saw the jeep she’d just rescued Trisha from in a large ball of fire. Shifting her gaze, she saw Trisha lying flat, her head turned to one side, her eyes shut, and her mouth still bloody. Slowly, Jessica got up and crawled to Trisha. She could see her still breathing, but guessed that she was unconscious. Because of all the chaos that had just transpired, it had been impossible to radio for Lisa’s medical team, so Jessica and Hailey would have to make do with whatever medical resources they had for a while. Jessica heard another roaring sound as Hailey’s jeep launched two small missiles into both hillsides, throwing several more enemy soldiers into the air. Not too long after, the gunfire seemed to come to stop.

“Jessica, are you alright?” Hailey asked as she ran over to her and Trisha.

“I feel okay,” Jessica said, still a little groggy, “But I think it’s Trisha who needs the most attention.”

“I’ll get Lisa,” Hailey said, “And while we wait, I’ll get the first aid for Trisha.”

As assumed, Trisha had been knocked unconscious from the blast, but besides that, some minor head injuries, and a fractured rib, she’d be back in action within a matter of days. The injury to the legs wasn’t permanent, according to Lisa. However, at her suggestion, Trisha would require some bandages on her legs for a full week following her release. Jessica looked at Trisha in her hospital bed from behind a glass wall, watching as Lisa or Betty came in to check on her condition. Hailey came over at one point and stood next to her.

“You made a very brave and daring choice that time,” Hailey said.

“If I really wanted to prove to Trisha that I hadn’t left her brother for dead,” Jessica replied, “Then I figured saving her would’ve been the best chance I had. Besides, I’d feel horrible if I’d left her to die out of resentment.”

“She’s finally returned to her natural self,” Hailey thought and smiled.

“I hope she get’s better soon,” Jessica murmured. Hailey only nodded simply and left.

Three days later, Jessica, who’d decided to go on her own early morning walk around RECON’s perimeter, found Trisha standing all by herself against the perimeter fence, shadowed in the faint blue on the dawning horizon. She didn’t seem to notice Jessica as she approached.

“Hey Trisha,” Jessica said.

“Hey,” Trisha replied quietly.

“Are you alright?” Jessica asked.

“You really want to know?” Trisha questioned.

“Go ahead,” Jessica assured.

“I’ve felt terrible for a good number of days,” Trisha said, “Ever since the fight I had with you, I’ve felt so regretful, especially when you said you would never forgive me for as long as you lived.”

Jessica felt as though she’d been impaled in the stomach as she recalled what she had yelled at Trisha the afternoon following the fight.

“Get lost!! I’ll never forgive you as long as I live!!” her voice seemed to echo in her head.

“Ever since,” Trisha continued, “I felt like I’ve committed a crime which I can never repay. I’m such a @!$#$ idiot!” and kicked the fence before leaning against it and beginning to cry. Jessica felt terrible at this. Now it dawned on her; was it really Trisha’s fault that all this had happened? Maybe, but then Jessica would have to take some blame for reacting so hateful to Trisha, especially since it had almost destroyed her own reputation.

“Trisha,” Jessica said, approaching her and putting a hand on her shoulder, “Listen to me.”

Trisha turned around and, with a tearful face, paid attention to what Jessica was about to tell her.

“Trisha,” Jessica proceeded to say, “You are a great soldier. Your athletic status, your accuracy, everything about you. I was wrong to lose my temper with you. I should have forgiven you earlier for the fight because I should have remembered that you were suffering from PTSD and couldn’t control your actions at all. I should have been prepared for the worst. Also, even if I tried, I could never hate you forever. It just wouldn’t fit me at all.”

Jessica then realized there was one thing she was leaving out.

“Trisha, your brother was a great soldier too. After he died, I felt very bad. In fact, I had questioned that night if I could have saved him. However, Trisha, your brother’s last dying wish was for you, I, and everyone else in Unit Comet to do everything we could to serve our country well. As long as we can do that, then I promise you, Carlos will not have died in vain.”

At this, Trisha hugged Jessica and uttered through a few salty inhalations “I’m sorry, so sorry,”

Patting Trisha on the back, Jessica gently added, “I am to.”

After this was over, Trisha asked “Jessica, I assume I’m not getting promoted back to Sergeant, am I?”

“I’m afraid that for the moment, Trisha, you’re gonna have to retain your current rank,” Jessica admitted, “But I think you’ll do good as a Corporal. And yet, there is still a chance that you may be able to regain your rank as Sergeant.”

Jessica looked down at Trisha’s legs, both of which had bandages spun around a small portion of her thighs and showed a slight pinkish-reddish color.

“How are your legs,” Jessica asked.

“They’re fine,” Trisha said, looking down at them, “I can’t bend them too much, but they don’t restrict my mobility. Lisa says I should be able to lose the bandages in about two days.”

“That’s good” Jessica said, then noticed a still slightly reddened part on Trisha’s right cheek, the place where she had slapped Trisha out of rage almost a week ago.

“Trisha,” Jessica said, “I’m going to have to ask you to do something a little, shall we say, unusual.”

Trisha’s expression didn’t change as she listened.

“Trisha, I’m going to ask you to slap me,” Jessica said. Trisha was a little caught off guard by this. Slap a higher ranked officer? She’d already been demoted for doing a much worse act that fell under a similar category. What was Jessica thinking?

“Slap you?” Trisha asked very quizzically.

“I shouldn’t have slapped you when I was angry, Trisha,” Jessica said, “Trust me, we’ll both be even if you do it.”

Trisha still felt hesitant.

“Trisha,” Jessica said, “Consider this an order. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure this doesn’t get misinterpreted by anyone else.”

Although still reluctant to doing it, orders were orders, and if Jessica was asking her to do it, did she really have a choice? Slowly, she got a little closer to Jessica, raised her left hand and, with a single breath, delivered a powerful slap to Jessica’s right cheek. Jessica’s head twisted a little at the force of the slap, and she felt a rather painful burning feeling where she’d just been hit, but she gently rubbed it off.

“Okay,” Jessica said, nodding appreciatively with a sheepish smile, “Now we’re even.”

Later that day, Jessica, who’d just finished the morning’s warm-ups, was pacing around by the courts of the outdoor gym. Sergeant Kate Carson, in uniform, was shooting a few hoops in the basketball court, which Jessica remembered Kate really enjoyed because she felt that it kept her attention and flexibility up and active.

“Lieutenant,” someone called and Jessica turned to see Private Cammy running her way. Cammy snapped up a salute which Jessica gently returned before Cammy continued.

“Lieutenant, General McCoy wants to see you,” Cammy said.

“General McCoy,” Jessica said, a little surprised, “What about?”

“He wouldn’t say,” Cammy replied, “He’d said it was a matter concerning only you, Hailey, and Master Sergeant Leslie. That’s all.”

“Very well,” Jessica responded, “Continue on,” and returned a second salute for Cammy.

“What would General McCoy want to see me about this early?” Jessica thought as she headed for General McCoy’s office, “I mean, I usually don’t have to report on updates until later in the afternoon.”

As she entered the corridor, returning salutes to various Privates and other soldiers in the hallway, she ran into Hailey and Leslie who were headed in the same direction.

“Hey Jessica,” Leslie said, “You headed to see General McCoy?”

“For the same reason you two have to see him” Jessica replied.

The three finally arrived at McCoy’s office and after engaging in a few brief salutes, were informed of the subject.

“Jessica, Hailey, Leslie,” McCoy said, “Have I ever mentioned anything to you about an old friend and colleague of mine named General Ryan Hicks?”

Hailey and Leslie looked at each other and both shook their heads, but Jessica, after briefly looking at the ceiling in thought, replied, “I think you might have mentioned something about him before. But come to think of it, I can’t remember much of it.”

“Well,” General McCoy explained, “I’ve been keeping in contact with him for a while, and he and his unit, codenamed Unit Eagle, recently been on conquest to break up the Taliban’s lines in this part of Afghanistan. His primary target is a Taliban stronghold that is located at the heart of a small town about five miles from RECON. Many of the town’s residents have evacuated the area but there are a still a number of civilian prisoners in the area. Recently, I’ve received word that General Ryan is within sight of his target. Yet, he has told me that the Taliban supposedly have a wide range of defenses throughout the town to guard the stronghold, and he figures that it might be suicide to send just Unit Eagle into the town to take the stronghold. He’s therefore contacted me out of interest of merging his unit with one or two of the units here at RECON, since he’s heard that the units here have some of the best skills in combat. I’ve called you three here to see if any of you are interested in submitting Unit Comet as the unit that would merge with General Ryan’s unit. What’s your opinion?”

Jessica, Hailey, and Leslie all looked at each other, trying to make up their minds.

“I think it might be nice if we get introduced to General Ryan first,” Hailey suggested, “Then we can discuss merges afterwards.”

Jessica and Leslie agreed with the idea.

“Very well,” McCoy said, “We’ll be going out to meet General Ryan tonight. Dismissed.”

In the dark of that night, one standing out in the desert landscape would have seen the headlights of a jeep bouncing across the horizon as it headed for a rendezvous point. In this jeep was Lieutenant Jessica at the wheel, General Robert McCoy next to her, Lieutenant Hailey and Corporal Leslie in the back.

“Now then,” Jessica said, squinting into the desert landscape that was visible through the headlights, “We’re looking for some kind of a blinking light marker, right?”

“Yes,” McCoy responded, “Ryan should have it blinking a two beat flash to indicate ‘over here’.” Turning to Hailey, he added, “Lieutenant Hailey, when Jessica or I see that flash, you get up into the gunner’s nest with that signal light next to you and flash a longer one note blink that indicates ‘we see you’.”

“Got it,” Hailey said, picking up a small signal light with cord.

“What is this code exactly,” Jessica asked, “I don’t recall reading about it in my early years of training.”

“It’s a special night-code that Ryan and I developed,” General McCoy explained, “We developed it sort of as a means of communicating in secrecy, especially at night.”

It was then that Jessica saw the signal, a small red light that flashed twice every five seconds, almost like the taillight on an airplane.

“There’s the signal,” Jessica said, “Hailey, send them the response.”

“Roger,” Hailey said again and dashed up into the gunner’s nest. As the chilly night air whipped around her, Hailey flipped the switch on her signal light’s handle and adjusted the flash pattern to a slower one-flash rhythm, then, standing like the Statue of Liberty, held it high above her. Jessica’s jeep made a slow turn to the left as they got closer to Ryan’s signal light. As they approached, the signal light lit for an extended time before flipping off. Finally, six jeeps came into view. Jessica pulled the jeep over to the side and got out with everybody else in her jeep. General McCoy walked over to a man who’d just gotten out of the lead jeep. Through the faintest of light, Jessica could make out a man with very low-cut hair, a mustache that went from under the nose and then angled straight down on either side of his lip, and finally, a slightly gruff posture.

“Ryan,” General McCoy said with a salute.

“Robert” Ryan responded with a return salute.

Following this, the two General’s hugged each other and exchanged a brief conversation with “How’ve you been ol’ buddy,” and “Long time no see.”

After this was over, General McCoy showed General Ryan over to Jessica, Hailey, and Leslie as all three of them whipped up a salute.

“Ryan,” McCoy said, “I’d like you to meet three of my best commanding officers from RECON; First Lieutenant Jessica Allison, Second Lieutenant Hailey Rincoln, and Master Sergeant Leslie Carly. All three of them are the highest ranked officers of the women battalion Unit Comet.”

“Ah yes,” Ryan said, eyeing them with a satisfied look, “Unit Comet. I’ve heard quite a bit about them. Name’s General Ryan, but when off duty, you can just call me Ryan,” he added, shaking each of the girl’s hands.

“General,” Jessica replied with satisfaction.

“Allow me to introduce some of my commanding officers,” Ryan added, turning to a few other soldiers who’d just gotten out of his jeep, “Corporal Harris Montgomery, Corporal Richard Smith, and Sergeant Nicholas Carter.”

Each of the three commanders shook the hands of the Unit Comet commanders, adding a pleasant smile with each handshake and a friendly hello.

“How far away are we from RECON, Robert?” Ryan asked, turning to General McCoy.

“Only a mile and a half out,” McCoy replied, “We’ll guide your convoy at the front if that’s okay.”

“Be glad to have a guide,” Ryan replied, “Will there be enough space for my unit,” he added gesturing to the other five jeeps.

“RECON is quite large,” McCoy assured him, “You needn’t worry about space.”

As the convoy headed back toward RECON, Hailey sat up in the gunner’s nest of Jessica’s jeep and held the signal light up in a single non-flashing mode as a secondary means of guiding the convoy. When they arrived at RECON, Ryan approached McCoy and Jessica.

“I’d be interested in getting a personal tour RECON tomorrow,” Ryan said.

“I’d be glad to guide you around,” Jessica said almost immediately.

“Thank you Lieutenant,” Ryan replied with great satisfaction, “In the meantime, do you know where I could find available barracks for my unit?”

“Lieutenant Rincoln can help with that,” Jessica replied, then turning, said “Hailey, could you help General Ryan find some available barracks for Unit Eagle?”

“Absolutely Jessica,” Hailey responded with a salute, “This way, General.”

As Hailey, General Ryan and his unit walked off, Jessica walked up to General McCoy and asked, “How long has it been since you two last saw each other, General?”

“About five or six years,” McCoy replied, and Jessica raised her eyebrows at this.

“Five or six years,” she repeated, “Did you miss him a lot?”

“Quite a bit, but not enough to make me feel nostalgic,” McCoy said, “Trust me, though, he’s a great General.”

“I definitely believe you there,” Jessica added with a passionate look in the direction General Ryan had left.

At her barrack that evening, Jessica and Hailey discussed a bit about Ryan.

“What do you think about Ryan?” Jessica said as she pulled off her boots.

“He seems quite handsome,” Hailey said, “That low cut hair and that interesting mustache of his. He also has that nice tough look on him that I adore.”

“Did you ever see those kinds back in L.A.?” Jessica asked with a silly look.

“I think only on magazine covers,” Hailey replied, “And they were mostly trying to look all macho and stuff.” At this, she pretended to pump her shoulder muscles, imitating a strong muscle-guy look. Jessica snorted with laughter and Hailey couldn’t help laughing along.

“Hailey, Hailey, Hailey,” Jessica said, shaking her head and recovering from her laughter, “You always tend to be rather cheeky.”

“Am I?” Hailey said, shaking her hair a little, “Well, good night Jessica. Pleasant dreams.”

“You too, Hailey,” Jessica returned as she pulled the covers up, fell against the pillow and was asleep in a matter of minutes.

The next morning, Ryan was waiting around for his tour of RECON when General McCoy walked by.

“Robert,” Ryan asked, “Have you seen Lieutenant Jessica?”

“She’s probably at Warm-ups right now,” McCoy said, “I’ll escort you there.”

When the two Generals arrived, they found the whole unit performing their marching warm-ups, the sounds of their pounding boots bouncing around the base and drowning out Jessica’s orders. Upon Jessica yelling “Turn!!” followed by all the soldiers turning to face Ryan and McCoy, Jessica suddenly yelled, “Attention, One, Two!!” and everybody whipped up a salute and stood absolutely still.

“Interesting marching pattern they have here,” Ryan commented.

“These are just daily warm-ups, Ryan” McCoy said, “However, Jessica,” he added approaching Jessica, “I believe today is your athletic session, right?”

“Fridays are athletic days,” Jessica said, “And as today is Friday, yes sir.”

“Very well,” McCoy said, “Would you be willing to exhibit today’s athletic session to Ryan?”

“Yes sir,” Jessica replied.

“I’d be happy to see it in action,” Ryan said with an appreciative smile.

“Very well then,” Jessica said, then turning to the rest of the unit yelled, “Athletic day today, girls. Deploy rifles at right fence, get changed and back out here in ten minutes! Go!”

“Yes ma’am!!!” yelled all the soldiers so loudly that Ryan felt pushed back a bit by the force of the sound waves. The soldiers then rushed off, deploying their rifles at the fence to their right as they ran.

“If you two will excuse me,” Jessica said patiently, “I’m going to go change for athletics.”

“Absolutely,” McCoy said, and then with a return salute, added “Dismissed,” to which Jessica took off at a steady jog for the locker rooms.

“She’s one attractive commander,” Ryan said.

“And a marvelous one too,” McCoy said, “But she’s had her rough days.”

Ryan, sort of jokingly, gulped and added, “Give me an example.”

“Well, about a few weeks back,” McCoy said, “She had a very nasty skirmish with one of the Corporals, who used to be a Sergeant. Corporal Trisha Catalica. Trisha had lost her brother a couple weeks ago when their night patrol hit a roadside bomb, which had been left as part of a thwarted attempt by the Taliban to advance on RECON. She fell into a terrible depression-fueled rage that escalated into a vicious fight the following evening with Jessica.”

McCoy continued to tell Ryan about how Jessica had been knocked unconscious from the fight, how she had loathed Trisha for the next couple days as a result, but then how she’d saved Trisha from almost certain death during an ambush on their convoy and how the two patched up their quarrel three days later. Just as the conversation was finishing up, Jessica arrived back in the court. To Ryan, the Lieutenant Jessica that stood before him now seemed quite different. Her hair was unbraided and flowed neatly down her back, the lower part of the uniform had been replaced by green shorts that were cut just a little short of the knees and Jessica wore white and blue Nike running shoes. But the T-Shirt was what caught Ryan’s eye. It was a traditional grey color, but instead of ARMY written on it, it showed what looked almost like Halley’s Comet shooting across a black encircled background with big letters reading UNIT COMET. Not too long after, the rest of Unit Comet showed up, all wearing a uniform closely identical to the one worn by Jessica.

“Ready to watch a demonstration, General Ryan?” Jessica asked, stretching her arms and legs a little.

“When you are,” Ryan replied.

“Alright, girls!” Jessica yelled, “First is jogging. In line in ten seconds.”

Jessica counted down on her fingers as everyone including Hailey rushed into line, pushing and lightly shoving to get into line before time expired. They made it two seconds before then.

“Excellent,” Jessica said, then winked briefly at Ryan before looking back at the unit and getting at the front.

“Stationary jog!” Jessica yelled. Everybody in line jogged in their places before Jessica said “One, two, three, four, FIVE! GO!!” and everyone took off in a jog around the court. As they jogged, Jessica and the rest of the unit sang an old ROTC chant:

“One mile, no sweat,” sang Jessica.

“One mile, no sweat,” responded the rest of the unit.

“Two miles better yet,”

“Two miles better yet,”

“Three miles oh no,”

“Three miles oh no,”

“Four miles gotta go,”

“Four miles gotta go,”

“Five miles, gotta run,”

“Five miles, gotta run,”

“Six miles, to the sun,”

“Six miles to the sun,”

“Seven miles feeling good like I should,”

“Seven miles feeling good like I should,”

“In my legs, in my head,”

“In my legs, in my head,”

“In my chest, Feeling good,”

“In my chest, Feeling good,”

“Super troop,”

“Super troop,”

Jessica suddenly yelled at a mid-running pace “Incoming!!” and she along with rest of the unit jumped to the ground and remained flat until Jessica yelled “UP!!” and they continued to jog.

“Natalie, out of line!” Jessica called out, “Twenty push-ups now!” The rest of the unit complied and hit the ground again, pushing up and down at a such a fast rate that Ryan was worried that a few of them might collapse from exhaustion, but they all completed the twenty push-ups and were back on their feet in a matter of seconds. After three more laps, Jessica ordered the unit to rush to their numbers to do jumping jacks.

“Thirty jumping jacks,” yelled Jessica and commenced her own jumping jacks immediately after, calling out “One, two, three, four,” and so forth. They were at sixteen when Ryan noticed one of the soldiers miss one. Jessica had seen it just moments before he did and yelled out “Natasha, incomplete! Start over!” A few of the Privates groaned resentfully but complied as they began all thirty jumping jacks again.

“Geez,” Ryan muttered to McCoy, “These girls must get tired after all this.”

“But you might recall, Ryan, our instructor was sooo much more aggressive. In fact, he would go so far as to push one of us to the ground if we messed up,” McCoy responded, “Jessica doesn’t lay a finger on any of the soldiers, and my assumption is that she learned this enforcing attitude from her ROTC teacher back in Los Angeles. But according to her profile, she was also very well trained at her boot camp in Colorado.”

“And every one of these girls is so very well disciplined,” Ryan commented, “She must do a very good job at those procedures.”

“Part of it is her friendliness,” McCoy replied, “It has really gained her respect over the years.”

After the girls completed their jumping jacks, Jessica yelled out “Who are we!?” followed by the rest of the unit yelling “Unit Comet!!”

“Where’s your enthusiasm? WHO ARE WE?!!” Jessica yelled back.

“UNIT COMET!!!!” everyone yelled, this time a lot louder.

“Dismissed for athletic free time,” Jessica yelled, saluting them off.

“Athletic free time?” Ryan asked as Jessica headed over to them.

“Athletic free time is where everybody gets to work out or play sports, either in the outdoor or indoor gym,” Jessica explained, “Shall I show you some of them?”

“Proceed,” Ryan replied. First, they walked around the outdoor gym. The outdoor gym was surrounded by a tall metal fence that had fences of the same size dividing the gym up into three sections. In the first court was the basketball area. Here, Sergeant Kate Carson and a few others were playing a four-against-four team game. One team consisted of Sergeant Kate, Sergeant Carla Richards, Corporal Megan Day, and Private Julia Miller. The other team consisted of Master Sergeant Leslie Carly, Private Kay Nicola, and Privates Sally and Lucy Reach. All the players had changed out their regular athletic sneakers with basketball sneakers for use in the game. Jessica and Ryan watched one of the games commence from the sidelines.

Kay threw the ball to Lucy, who made a quick dash for one of the hoops and narrowly dodged an interception from Carla. As Kate’s team closed in on her, Lucy threw the ball to her sister Sally, but Julia intercepted the throw and streaked back for the opposite hoop. Carla held out her hands for the ball but Leslie skidded soles first in front of Carla. With this way blocked, Julia ran on ahead for the hoop. Lucy and Sally were just about to overtake Julia when she suddenly tossed the ball to Kate. Immediately once the ball landed in her hands, Kate sprung high into the air and slammed the ball straight through the hoop. Julia whooped with joy and Leslie and the rest of her team just shrugged and prepared for the next game.

“One nickname that Kate loves to go by is Battle Angel,” Jessica told Ryan as they watched the second game start up, “If you look at her right shoulder, you’ll see a tattoo of an angel-like character that carries a spear in one hand and a sword in the other.”

Ryan noticed the tattoo, which was all red and had in ribbon-like text at the bottom “BATTLE ANGEL.”

“Part of it has to do with the fact that she’s one of the aggressive gung-ho Sergeants,” Jessica explained, “She took a lot of martial arts training prior to joining the military but also did quite a lot of heavy artillery training once she entered the military.”

The next court was for volleyball. Unlike the basketball court’s asphalt floor, the volleyball court was mostly sand and only had a little asphalt on the furthest parts of the perimeter. There were two teams of five playing: Team 1 had Private Jacey Ling, Private Anna Summers, Private Mary Sampson, Private Emily Johnson, and Private Natalia Williams; Team 2 consisted of Private Natalie White, Private Linda Garcia, Private Cammy Nikita, Corporal Melissa Richards, and Private Beatrice Violet. Anna made an underhand serve which Linda moved in to bounce back. Mary bounced it straight up to Jacey, who then moved to spike the ball but was intercepted by Melissa. The collision of both their moves sent the ball flying a little off to the side and threatening to come down on Melissa’s side when Natalie moved in and smacked the ball straight up. Before the ball could make a full return trip downward, Natalie and Cammy exchanged places and with a sand blasting jump, Cammy spiked the ball onto Jacey’s side. Natalia lunged for the ball but was too late to keep it from hitting the ground as she sprawled across the sand and slid to a halt. Brushing herself off, Natalia picked up the ball and tossed it to Beatrice who prepared for her own underhand serve.

In the third court was tennis. Private Nicole Ambrose stood at one end, holding the ball in one hand and her racquet in the other. Private Lisa stood at the other end, holding her racquet like a baseball bat in the ready position and staring competitively at Nicole through her sun-cap. Nicole tossed the ball up and hit it hard over the net. Lisa rushed to her right and deflected the ball to Nicole’s left. Nicole blocked this shot and sent it to Lisa’s left, which she deflected far to the right of the court. Nicole just barely avoided skinning her knees as she deflected this far shot, but Lisa whacked the ball to the other end of the court before Nicole could fully recover. The ball deflected off the side fence, bounced a couple times on the floor and into Jessica’s hand. She tossed it to Nicole, who in turn tossed it to Lisa.

“Did everyone in Unit Comet arrive with skills in these sports, or did they learn them,” Ryan asked Jessica as they walked by some wall ball courts.

“Some of them had skills when they arrived,” Jessica replied, “And others learned their skills from the previously experienced.”

The two then entered the indoor gym. They first came across a small room with mirrored walls and two large mats. On one mat was Trisha, who was doing curl ups. Listening to her count in between breaths, Trisha was at about 30 push-ups and not showing any signs of exhaustion. On the other mat was was Private Lilly Carter and Staff Sergeant Amanda Simpson, both of which had taken their sneakers off and were preparing for a hand-to-hand combat session.

“Despite her rank,” Jessica explained to Ryan, partially whispering, “Lilly is actually the unit’s top hand-to-hand combat instructor. Her record says that she took fencing, kickboxing, and even a wrestling class at one point prior to joining the military.”

“No kidding,” Ryan said, his eyebrows raised. They watched as Lilly and Amanda engaged in their match. Lilly and Amanda exchanged punches with each other, but each punch was caught by the opponent’s hand. Lilly then flipped on her side and attempted to deliver an upward kick with her left foot, but Amanda ducked this and as Lilly got back up, sweep-kicked Lilly’s legs, bowling her over. But Lilly recovered almost immediately and she and Amanda engaged in series of arm-wrenching struggles, trying to flip each other over. Amanda was the first one to suddenly flip to her right and land flat on her back. As she rolled over, Lilly shoved her down, made a mid-air stomp motion, and Amanda collapsed against the mat. With the session over, Lilly helped Amanda back to her feet.

Ryan and Jessica then went into the main room of the indoor gym. It was a large room, the ceiling being just a little over 20 feet tall. The majority of the room was lined with weight lifting and stretch stations. There were also some punching bags that hung at various corners of the room, two of which were occupied and getting almost beaten to a pulp from the soldier using them. Some other parts of the indoor gym had table tennis, which Ryan could see was a big interest to the soldiers of Unit Comet as a few of the tables were occupied by soldiers from that unit. At the far end of the indoor gym was a small boxing arena equipped with a small rope fence to keep fighters from falling out of the arena. The two boxers in the arena were Private Natasha Kilo and Private Anne Ricardo. The two girls wore red boxing gloves and stood at opposite ends of the ring with Helen acting as the referee. Instead of ringing a bell, Helen blew a whistle to indicate the start of the match.

Anne and Natasha charged at each other, colliding and wrestling fiercely for a few seconds before Helen broke it up. The two girls then engaged in a series of quick punches, many of them making contact with their opponent’s gloves, but a few getting each other in the cheek. At one point, Anne delivered a blow to Natasha’s lip. Natasha’s head flipped up and she fell backward onto the mat.

“One, two, three..” Helen yelled, but Natasha was back on her feet, rubbing her lip and throwing stronger blows at Anne, who seemed to block them pretty well. Again, the two girls rammed into each other, but Helen broke up the fight. The mat in the arena became etched with all kinds of temporarily visible footprint patterns from the girls sneakers as they swung, ducked, parried, and even launched a couple light kicks at each other.

Natasha threw a right jab, but Anne caught it and threw a straight blow aimed for Natasha’s face. Natasha ducked this, and with all the strength she could conjure, threw a powerful blow to the side of Anne’s face. The blow smashed straight into Anne’s right cheek bone, and Anne spun on her heel and collapsed with a groan. Helen stood over the unconscious Anne, counting on her hands and yelling out the numbers, but Anne seemed unmoving, her mouth opened slightly and her eyes shut. Helen finally reached ten and called “Knock Out” and Natasha yelled “Aw yeah! Take that!!” and punched the air triumphantly.

By this time, Anne had recovered, rubbing her cheek and shaking her head occasionally to banish a recurring woozy feeling.

“A heads up,” Jessica said to Ryan, “Natasha is very competitive. She loves to act like the cool girl of the school, if you get what I mean.”

“I think I have a good idea as to what you mean,” Ryan said, observing the still jubilant Natasha.

“Hey Jessica,” someone called, and Jessica turned to see Hailey over by one of the tennis tables, tossing the ball up in her hand, “Want to engage in a little table tennis? See if you can beat my record.”

“Sure,” Jessica said, “Excuse me please, General.”

“I’ll just watch from the sidelines,” Ryan replied as Jessica went over to Hailey.

“What’s your record?” Jessica asked as Hailey slid a paddle over to her.

“86,” Hailey replied with a playful smile.

“Seriously?” Jessica said, raising her eyebrows.

“Seriously,” Hailey said and gently swatted the ball to Jessica.

Jessica and Hailey engaged in the game for almost five minutes or so it seemed to Ryan as he watched the two Lieutenants play. Jessica and Hailey kept the ball in play for quite a while, but a number of times, Jessica either missed a shot or failed to swat at the ball before it bounced a second time on her side of the table. But Hailey was encountering the exact same difficulties, sometimes almost pushing herself into the table’s side to desperately keep the ball from double-bouncing, and she didn’t always succeed. The score was Jessica-49, Hailey-50 by the time they called a break to the game.

“Mind if I try the weights over there?” Ryan asked, motioning to one of the weight-lifting stations across from the table tennis area.

“Go right ahead,” Jessica said.

Ryan adjusted the barbels to a reasonable 50lbs and began a series of push-ups with the weight. Jessica and Hailey watched as Ryan did about thirty or so lifts before he put the barbels back on their holder and rubbed his arms gently and exhibiting no pain.

About thirty minutes later, lunch came around. All the girls went back to the locker rooms, washed up, put their uniforms back on, and arrived at the cafeteria by exactly twelve o’clock.

Ryan sat with Jessica, Hailey, and McCoy as the group talked about the day.

“You know, it just occurred to me, General Ryan,” Jessica said, “We haven’t displayed Unit Comet’s actual combat abilities. I assume that is what you are most intent on seeing, right?”

“Well, yes,” Ryan admitted, “I would like to see how well Unit Comet can fight.”

“I think I might have an idea,” Jessica said, then turned to Hailey.

“Hailey, do you suppose we could organize a couple large scale combat simulations to display to General Ryan?” Jessica asked.

“I think it would work,” Hailey responded after thinking it over a little while, “We could divide up the unit, one half commanded by me, the other half commanded by you.”

“The first one would be a hand-to-hand combat charge simulation,” Jessica added, “And just so we don’t actually hurt each other, let’s replace our combat knives with plastic hollow ones,” she added, motioning to a small pocket-like scabbard on her utility belt that held her combat knife.

“We’ll also arrange for a small ‘seize the fortress’ combat simulation to display Unit Comet’s gunnery abilities, but the rifles would be replaced with those smaller training rifles that fire those harmless little splatter shells,” Jessica added.

“When can we begin these simulations,” Hailey asked, a little excitedly.

“The hand-to-hand combat one we can do later this afternoon,” Jessica replied, “probably just an hour after lunch ends. The fortress one we’ll do tomorrow following warm-ups.”

“Excellent idea,” Hailey said, her eyes shining, “What do you think, General Ryan.”

“As long as it displays how well everyone in Unit Comet can fight,” Ryan replied, “I’m for it.”

Jessica, along with half of Unit Comet, waited at one end of a sand dune while Hailey’s squad waited at the other. The two were waiting for the right time to commence their first simulation, a hand-to-hand combat charge. Jessica clutched her scabbard, which held a mock replica of her original combat knife. Strung on her back and the backs of everyone else was a small baton that the soldiers on either side were to use to replicate a rifle clubbing move. Jessica looked up at a sandy hill far to her left, where Generals McCoy and Ryan stood as spectators. Finally, Jessica heard, out in the distance, a small but loud shrieking whistle. Jessica knew that was Hailey’s signal for her unit to charge, and likewise, Jessica responded by blowing her own silver whistle and drawing her mock knife.

Many of the soldiers in both squads yelled as they charged into each other's ranks. Jessica ran smack into Hailey. The two Lieutenants immediately engaged in a serious tussle on the sandy floor, rolling over each other as one tried to gain advantage over the other. At one point, Hailey gained the upper hand, placing her knee on Jessica’s stomach and ready to deliver the simulated death blow with her mock knife. Jessica, however, grabbed Hailey’s arms and engaged once again in a rolling struggle that sent Hailey’s mock-knife bouncing out of her hand. After continuous struggling, Jessica felt herself roll near a mock knife. Whose it was, she didn’t know, but she grabbed it, and adjusting her position, thrust the mock-knife into Hailey’s stomach. Hailey stood motionless for a little bit, her eyes wide with shock and her lip trembling, then emitted a moan as her eyes shut and she began to slump forward. Jessica gently pushed Hailey off as she sprawled out and played dead.

Originally, it would have been expected that once your enemy’s commander was killed or put out of commission, then that should have been the end of the simulation. But Jessica and Hailey had agreed that would just terminate the simulation to quickly, so instead, the simulation only ended when both Lieutenants were “killed” or when nobody else on one side was left “alive”.

As Jessica recovered, she turned her attention to an engagement between Corporal Trisha and Private Lilly. Trisha and Lilly were struggling fiercely in each other’s grip trying to either block each other’s mock knife from getting within “fatal distance” of each other or trying to twist each other over. Lilly suddenly kneed Trisha in the stomach, and Trisha keeled over, groaning and emitting some slight convulsing sounds. Lilly lashed out with another kick to Trisha’s side that sent her collapsing to the ground, writhing in a minor state of agony. Lilly approached Trisha, holding her mock knife and ready to deliver a death blow when Jessica snuck up behind, grabbed Lilly by the mouth and made a fake slash to Lilly’s throat. Lilly froze in surprise, briefly glanced at Jessica, and collapsed.

“You okay,” Jessica asked Trisha as she helped her back up.

“A little sick, but not bad,” Trisha responded, “I can still fight though,” she added, holding her mock knife in a threateningly ready position.

Jessica proceeded forward, with Trisha protecting her back with her knife held out and ready.

Jessica came across Corporal Melissa in an engagement with Private Lisa. However, this engagement didn’t last long. Lisa was distracted by something, and Melissa used this opportunity to deliver a slash to Lisa’s chest with her mock knife. Lisa, emitting a painful moaning sound, jumped and twisted backward, landing on her front and skidding to a halt. She grimaced in pain for a little bit before she ceased moving.

Melissa ran off to engage some of Hailey’s other forces while Jessica and Trisha proceeded on. Privates Nicole and Luisa then came charging at Jessica and Trisha. However, before Jessica could lash out in defense, Trisha stuck out her own mock knife, and Nicole halted in her tracks with a gurgling gasp, pretending to have been speared in the throat. Trisha then pretended to rip her knife out of Nicole’s throat, and Nicole collapsed with shut eyes against a sand dune in a mock-death pose. Luisa had stood almost motionless with shock as she’d watched Nicole “die” and then out of rage, charged Trisha. Trisha was ready for her though and swung her mock knife, getting Luisa in the lower stomach area. Luisa moaned, struggled back a couple steps while clutching the fake slash to her stomach before falling backward.

“Nice moves,” Jessica commented.

“Thanks,” Trisha responded with a smile.

Suddenly, Trisha threw up her arms and cried out in pain before collapsing on her front. Jessica could tell that Trisha had been slashed in the back and she wheeled around and lashed out with her own mock knife at the assailant. Jessica was rewarded with the painfully shocked face of Private Kay Nicola, whose eyes were wide with surprise and who clutched a fake slash to her throat and emitted a series of choking sounds. Kay stumbled back, dropped her mock-knife, and fell to her hands and knees, then to her side and stopped moving in a matter of seconds. Jessica looked down at Trisha, who lay sprawled out in the sand, unmoving.

“Sorry I didn’t get her earlier, Trisha,” Jessica said and continued on.

If this were real, then it would have been a bloodbath. Jessica could see the soldiers of Unit Comet struggling fiercely with one another, swinging their mock knives and their batons wildly. Troops fell or were tackled to the ground and “stabbed” or “slashed” in a gruesome number of ways and the thought of how messy the battlefield would be if this were real wrenched at Jessica’s gutt. Melissa was attempting to engage Private Natalia on the opposite side but was forced to the ground after Natalia lashed out with a kick to Melissa’s stomach. Natalia then jumped on Melissa and pretended to deliver a deep slash to her throat. Melissa’s hand jerked, twitched a little, and then fell limp. Amanda charged at Private Cammy but stopped in her tracks with a grunt when Cammy pretended to lash out with her mock knife into Amanda’s gutt. As Amanda, clutching the imaginary wound, fell face flat, Cammy rushed to intercept Natalia, who’d just “killed” Melissa. Although too late to save Melissa, Cammy wasn’t about to let Natalia get away with it. Before Natalia could even turn to see her assailant, Cammy ran head and hands first into Natalia, tackling her and forcing her off of Melissa’s body. The two girls wrestled fiercely before Cammy gained the upper half and pretended to club Natalia’s head in. Cammy then dragged the sub-conscious Natalia over to a sand dune, took out her mock-knife and pretended to plug it into Natalia’s lower stomach area. Natalia’s legs lurched upward and she wailed in pain before she faked her own death.

Jessica was suddenly confronted by Natasha, who held her mock knife as though beckoning Jessica to get closer. Jessica was not about ready to fall for the trick as Natasha flipped her mock knife a few times in a taunting way. Jessica suddenly took out her baton and pretended to club Natasha hard in the side of the head with it. Natasha’s head twisted to the side and she spun on her heel and collapsed.

To one side, Jessica noticed Private Linda struggling with Corporal Megan on the opposing side. Megan suddenly threw Linda off, who landed flat on the ground. Before she could get up, Megan was on her and stabbed her mock knife into Linda’s back. Linda lurched up, gritting her teeth and emitting fake choking and gurgling sounds in her throat before she fell limp. But Private Anna Summers arrived and confronted Megan. Megan swung at Anna, but she ducked and thrust her own mock knife into Megan’s middle section. Megan grunted painfully, clutching a pretend wound to her abdomen, keeling over and crumpling to the ground in a heap.

To Jessica’s other side, Private Beatrice held Private Jacey in a headlock and pretended to slit her throat. Jacey slumped to the ground and had faked her death before she even hit the sand. Jessica wanted to engage Beatrice so badly because she was on the other side, but she was forced to duck when a mock knife came spinning for her neck. Looking around wildly, Jessica saw Private Natalie White charge her. But a struggle was just barely averted when Jessica bent down and grabbed Natalie by the legs, pushing Natalie up and over her. Natalie, screaming and struggling frantically, fell flat on her back and by the time she got back up, Jessica had grabbed both her own mock knife and Natalie’s and slashed them both diagonally at Natalie’s upper section. Natalie cried out in pain, fell to her knees and then collapsed at Jessica’s feet. By the time Jessica was finished with Natalie, Beatrice was gone, probably off seeking other prey.

“I’ll avenge you, Jacey,” Jessica promised quietly, looking at Jacey’s unmoving body.

Jessica proceeded on, covering those on her side and pretending to lash out at anyone who was on Hailey’s side. At one point, Sergeant Kate grabbed one of the Reach sisters, Sally, and thrust her mock-knife into her back. Sally screamed in pain and fell forward. But once she hit the ground, her sister Lucy arrived and quickly swung her baton near Kate’s head, confirming her in simulation terms as K.I.A. Since both Reach sisters were on Jessica’s side, Lucy served as the replacement bodyguard in place of Trisha for Jessica, keeping her baton ready for anyone who wanted to sneak up from behind.

“We need to track down Sergeant Carla,” Lucy said, “Carla is supposed to be Hailey’s right hand man.”

“Alright,” Jessica said, “Just as long as we can also get Beatrice in doing so, because I promised to ‘avenge’ Jacey after Beatrice got her.”

“Understood,” Lucy said.

Private Anne joined up with the two and was able to “kill” Private Mary with a light smack of her mock knife against the side of Mary’s neck as she attempted a side ambush on the group. Finally, the trio tracked down Carla, who unsurprisingly had her own bodyguards, Privates Julia and Beatrice. The trio split up, each one engaging either Carla or her bodyguards. Lucy was “killed” from a stab wound to her stomach from Julia before Anne slashed Julia in the back. Beatrice, however, sweep-kicked and tackled Anne the minute Julia fell to the ground. Jessica watched with horror as Beatrice thrust her mock knife into Anne’s neck twice. Jessica so wanted to get at Beatrice, but Carla kept her preoccupied with her own moves.

Taking this to her advantage, Beatrice attempted to sneak up behind Jessica and take her down by surprise. But just as she got close enough to attack, Private Anna Summers snuck up, jumped onto Beatrice’s back, and pretended to bury her mock knife into Beatrice’s head. The minute she felt the mock knife bounce on her helmet, Beatrice rolled her eyes, staggered forward a few steps, and then collapsed. Anna had arrived with Private Emily Johnson to help Jessica defeat Carla. But this turned out to be harder than any of them expected, because Carla had pretty good reflexes, even for a three against one scenario. Emily proceeded to engage Carla head on, but was unprepared for whatever lash-out reflex Carla could use.

“Emily, No!” yelled Jessica, but too late. Carla lashed out with her mock knife and Emily grabbed at a pretend slash to the side of her head, screaming in agony and collapsing against the sandy floor.

Anna tried to counter Carla, but Carla’s reflexes were way too quick, and Anna was “slashed” in the thighs. Anna cried out and collapsed, holding her legs in agony and leaving Jessica completely unprotected. Jessica was able to cover Anna, but she experienced the same difficulty. Jessica tried to engage Carla in hand-to-hand combat to disarm her, but this just got both of them into a tangled mess. Carla pushed Jessica away with a kick, flipped herself backward, and grabbed her mock knife. Jessica held her own out and, yelling, charged Carla. The next thing Jessica knew, Carla’s mock knife brushed her middle, and Jessica knew that she’d received a wound to her stomach. Faking the injury, she collapsed to her knees and held her stomach in agony, pretending to convulse as she held the fake wound. Carla, who’d backed off in defense at first, now began to advance forward slowly, just the same way Lilly had with Trisha, but this time, Jessica wasn’t sure anyone would be able to save her from being finished off. Even Anna was still writhing on the ground from the imaginary slash wounds to her legs.

But then, Jessica saw her own mock knife within just a small arms reach away. Without Carla noticing, Jessica grabbed it and concealed it beneath her. Jessica also noticed that Carla now left one of her weak spots, the chest part of her uniform, exposed. Of course, she wasn’t anticipating Jessica to suddenly stand up and thrust a mock knife into her, or was she? Jessica knew that the simulated wound she’d received was fatal and she guessed that she only had about two more minutes left to live.

“Better make it count then,” Jessica thought to herself.

Just as Carla got within good range, Jessica slid her mock knife out from under her, got up as high on her knees as she could, and with all her strength, threw the mock knife. The spinning mock knife got Carla straight in the chest. Carla threw her arms up, both in surprise and simulated pain, keeping perfectly quiet. Carla backed up a few steps before she fell to her knees, then to her side, rolled over face flat, and ceased moving. It was just about then that Jessica guessed her time had expired and she too fell face flat and stopped moving.

From the hill on the sand dune above the simulation grounds, General Ryan observed the battlefield in shock. Only a couple of the soldiers from Unit Comet were still “alive”. Almost everybody else lay silent, either still clutching pretend wounds or just lying plain out still. Some even had their eyes open with shock, looking almost surprised that they were one of the many who had fallen. A whistling breeze added to the eerie surrounding that was left in the wake of the simulation, blowing through some of the girls’ hair and covering up some of the many clustered footprints made in the sand.

“My God,” Ryan muttered to McCoy, “In simulation terms, the unit has pretty much slaughtered themselves. The ground would probably be soaked red with blood by this time.”

“Well,” McCoy replied, “This simulation is basically over. One, both of the commanders, Jessica and Hailey are ‘dead’, and as you can see, hardly anyone else is still ‘alive’.”

At this, McCoy took out a small whistle and blew it, signaling the end of the simulation. With the end of the simulation announced, all of Unit Comet got up from their fake death poses, either shaking all the sand off themselves or helping each other up.

“You okay Hailey?” Jessica asked as she helped Hailey to her feet.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Hailey replied, rubbing her stomach a little, “But I think you went a little hard with that final stabbing move.”

“I’ll do my best to be a little lighter next time,” Jessica replied, then turning to Trisha, “You okay?”

“Never better,” Trisha replied, shrugging a little.

The next day was the second simulation. Once again, Jessica took one half of the unit while Hailey took the other. Hailey’s unit was positioned on a fairly tall wooden jungle gym in a large sandbox in the outdoor section of RECON. This wooden jungle gym served as her squad’s fort. Jessica’s squad was the attacking squad trying to gain access to the fort. Both squads were once again armed with plastic mock knives for hand-to-hand combat encounters, but both squads were also armed with rifles that fired bullet-sized splatter shells. These were like paintballs in a way as they fired like regular bullets but exploded upon impact, splattering some bright red paint on the impact zone. If soldiers on either side were hit by these little splattering projectiles, they were to either collapse in a death pose or if the simulated wound wasn’t “fatal” then they had to at least mimic being injured. As in the previous one, the simulation ended if either both commanders were “killed” or if one whole side was totally annihilated.

This time, it was General McCoy that blew the whistle that signaled the start of the simulation. Almost immediately after, streams of splatter fire came from Hailey’s fort. Jessica immediately took her squad to the side to evade the majority of the fire. They took cover behind a set of crates, which had been set up as a simulation object, to discuss their strategy.

“Megan,” Jessica said, “We need a diversion. Are you willing to take some of the squad to distract the enemy’s fire?”

“Yes ma’am,” Megan replied, “If we have to, we’ll make a frontal assault on their lines.”

“Very well,” Jessica said, “Now hurry. By now, Hailey’s squad will have already locked onto our position.”

Megan added a hasty salute and Jessica divided her squad up, half going with Megan, the other going with her. Megan and her squad charged out in the open, instantly coming under fire from Hailey’s unit. Being unfortunately at the front of her squad, Megan was one of the first ones to go down as a small burst of red paint splattered just above her chest. But the rest of her squad continued on through the hailfire, pulling each other along if they were “wounded.”

“Okay girls,” Jessica said, “I need a couple snipers to take out some of the guards.”

Jacey and Mary raised their hands immediately.

“Okay, load up,” Jessica instructed, “And sneak over to back side of the fort.”

Jacey and Mary took two rifles, loaded them with a least three splatter projectiles, and slinked off to their shooting area.

“The rest of us are to wait here until at least a few guards are cleared out of there,” Jessica instructed, “As long as they’re still in action, we’ll just be target practice for Hailey’s squad.”

The squad that had been commanded by Megan finally got into the sandbox surrounding the fort. Quickly, they took cover by the wooden pillars that held the structure up. Nicole saw a ladder-like wall structure that led straight onto one of the platforms. She and Anna went straight for the ladder, weaving between the pillars to evade enemy fire. When they got to the ladder, Anna gave Nicole a boost by holding her right boot as Nicole’s fingers and other foot hooked onto the ladder bars. Slinging her rifle on her shoulder, Nicole began to ascend the ladder.

Private Cammy, who was on Hailey’s side, was trying to nail some of the distraction squad that was now hiding behind the pillars, but most of her splatter shots kept hitting the posts with no effect. She was out of ammo before she suddenly saw Nicole ascending the ladder below her. Desperately, she looked around for another rifle or a fallen spare clip. She saw Private Emily waiting cautiously for a target, a fully loaded rifle in her hand from the looks of it.

“Give me that!” Cammy demanded, snatching the rifle briefly and firing it desperately down the ladder.

Anna heard Nicole scream as a few splatter shots zipped down past her. Looking up, Anna saw Nicole lose her grip on the ladder and fall off. The sandbox had been reinforced with some cushioned padding under the sand to prevent injuries from falls, so when Nicole landed in the sand, she didn’t suffer any actual injuries. Anna looked with some horror at the numerous splatters of red paint that covered Nicole’s body. Okay, so climbing the ladder wasn’t going to work, because apparently that area was well guarded. Anna had to find another way to get some of her comrades up and into the fort.

Jacey and Mary, meanwhile, took up a hidden position behind some crates at the back of the fort. As anticipated, nobody was paying attention to their side. They were either trying to fend off Megan’s squad or force Jessica’s squad out from behind cover. Keeping as concealed as possible behind the crates, Mary and Jacey peered through their scopes and prepared to fire their rifles. Mary fired first, and her shot got Corporal Melissa just below the left shoulder. Jacey fired next, getting Private Luisa in the chest. One of the other sentries, Private Natalie, ducked in fright briefly, but not far down enough, as Mary’s next shot got her straight in the helmet.

Anna could hear the guards collapse on the wooden floor above her as she wove between the supports. When she exited just a little outside the back end of the fort, she could just make out the discharge nozzles of two sniper rifles. Whose they were she had no idea, but that wasn’t of the biggest concern. Looking up at one of the square pillars, she saw an area that didn’t look too well guarded that she might be able to ascend. Conveniently, she had a nice long bungee cable on her utility belt which had a blunt hook to ensure that no one actually got hurt when she threw the cable up. She’d recalled rock climbing lessons she’d taken just a month or so before she joined the military, so she felt that ascending the pillar wouldn’t be too hard. However, she could be fired upon without warning just like Nicole had. Was it really worth the risk?

Then again, the snipers, whoever they were, might cover her, but for how long? She banished the concerns from her mind and prepared to throw the cable up. With a thrust from her right hand, she hurled the cable high up, and it successfully latched onto the top of the wall facing her. Tying the other end to her utility belt, she pulled back and let the cord’s springy nature pull her forward. She landed against the post feet first, her boot soles gripping the wooden post with intense strength. Slowly, she began to walk up the post, pulling at the cord for additional support.

“What the #$ is Anna doing?” hissed Mary as she watched Anna climb the post.

“Who knows,” Jacey replied, “Just fire at anyone who tries to take her out,”

“I’ve only got one shot left,” Mary said.

“You have extra clips,” Jacey replied, “Just load your rifle with those. They’re the same kinds of splatter shots you know.”

Anna, by this time, had just about reached floor-level of the fort. Suddenly, two soldiers inside the fortress arrived to fend her off. The first one, Lilly, aimed her rifle at Anna’s chest. However, as she leaned forward, splatter fire from below rippled her body, and she collapsed with limp arms on the top of the fortress wall. Anna didn’t have the time to check who had fired those shots because the other soldier who tried to fend her off, Private Emily, who’d retrieved her rifle from Cammy, also prepared to fire at Anna. A sniper shot suddenly got Emily in the helmet and she staggered and fell backwards. Now Anna could look down to find who fired the shots below and saw Private Anne give a thumbs up in support. Swinging one leg over the side, Anna ended up right in the middle of the enemy’s lines.

“Look out, one got in!” yelled Hailey.

Immediately, several soldiers rushed Anna. Anna took out her rifle to gun down her attackers, but was quickly overwhelmed and pushed to the ground. Two soldiers, Natasha and Beatrice, held Anna by the arms while Natalia kept her foot lightly pinned on to Anna’s stomach. Another soldier, Sally, approached with a mock knife in hand, ready to deliver a simulated death blow.

Then Anna heard yelling coming from outside the fort. It was Jessica and the rest of her squad, who’d apparently considered it safe to charge the fortress. Anna had actually done them a favor by climbing into the fort because she’d distracted the remaining guards from their posts and drawn almost everybody else in the fort towards her. Although not the most pleasant of circumstances, Anna knew that there was a better chance of victory for her side because of her decision.

Jessica and her squad overwhelmed the guards on the furthest perimeters of the fort and merged ranks with the distraction squad and the two snipers. With this merger, the whole squad charged up into the fort, taking out anyone that blocked their path either through shots, pretend rifle club moves, and slashes from their mock knives. Mary ran smack into Cammy, who had armed her rifle with a second clip. Mary aimed her rifle at Cammy, but Cammy kicked her in the stomach, sending Mary slamming against one of the walls of the fort with a painful gasp. Cammy approached Mary as she struggled to recover and held her hard against the wall of the fort. Before Mary could even begin to break free, Cammy took out her mock knife and thrust it into Mary’s stomach, twisting it a few times as she did so. Mary moaned through gritted teeth and pretended to have her legs give way as she slid down the wall and fell limp.

“Nooo!” cried a voice that caught Cammy by surprise, causing her to drop the mock-knife. It was Linda, who’d watched Mary’s simulated death unfold. Cammy attempted to shoot down Linda, but Linda already had her rifle up and was firing before Cammy could even aim. Cammy was forced back and her body vibrated violently as splatter shells blasted all over her. Her vibrating body forced her to drop her rifle, and Linda could see her holding up her hands as though trying to say “Please, please, that’s enough!” but Linda kept firing. She only stopped when her clip ran out. Cammy stood against the wall opposite the one Mary lay by, her uniform smothered in red paint, her lip trembling and painful wheezing sounds coming from her throat. Cammy then slid down the wall and faked her death as her head tilted to one side and her eyes shut.

“Come on, Linda, keep moving!” came Jessica’s voice as more of her squad charged up the ladders and stairs of the fort. Suddenly, Jessica was hit in the stomach by splatter fire.

“Augh...Keep...going,” Jessica gasped as she collapsed and pretended to fall limp. Her squad complied and moved forward, firing away at the opponent side. Jessica’s squad finally reached the central part of the fort, where Hailey and whatever remained of her squad were waiting for them. From General Ryan’s viewpoint, it seemed to be just as bloody looking as the first simulation, with all the troops on both sides taking out their mock knives and slashing away at each other.

With her captors distracted, Anna seized the opportunity and with a growl that evolved into a roar of tension, she broke free and pushed her captors away. She sweep-kicked Sally, putting her out of commission and pulled out her mock-knife as her other captors advanced. Natasha was the first one to attack, charging at Anna and with her mock knife in the ready position. Anna countered the attack with a slash aimed at Natasha’s face, and Natasha staggered backward and grabbed her face with an agonized scream, pretending to have received a slash to her eyes, before collapsing. Then someone grabbed Anna from behind, held her by the mouth and brought her mock knife within slashing distance of Anna’s throat. Before her attacker could pretend to slit her throat, though, Anna adjusted her elbow and thrust it backward into her attacker’s ribs. Her attacker, Beatrice, gasped and released Anna, clutching her side. Natalia threw her mock knife at Anna, but Anna ducked and the mock knife bounced into an unsuspecting Beatrice.

“Ohhh,” Beatrice moaned, holding the knife just above her stomach to fake being impaled before collapsing forward.

Natalia was paralyzed and wide-eyed with shock, having “killed” one of her own teammates. Anna took advantage and threw her own mock knife, which got Natalia straight in the throat. Natalia slammed back against one of the wooden pillars with a painful grunt, holding Anna’s mock knife in an impaled pose between her chin and her collarbone before her head sagged forward, mimicking lifelessness. Then Sally, who’d just recovered, charged Anna as she removed her mock knife from Natalia’s throat. However, Carla, now on Jessica’s side, fired her rifle into Sally’s back. Sally gagged as the splatter shots exploded on her back before she fell forward.

However, other soldiers from Hailey’s side came in to replace their fallen comrades and take down Anna. Leslie, carrying her own mock knife, came running at Anna and tackled her to the ground. But Anna lashed back defensively by thrusting her mock knife into Leslie’s gutt. Leslie flipped backward, moaning and wailing in agony while clutching the pretend wound. Lucy and Julia rushed Anna, rifles aimed straight at her chest. But Anna was ready for them and was already swinging her mock knife. Her first swing got Lucy just within range of her jugular vein and her second swing got Julia clean in the throat. Kay aimed her rifle at Anna and was just about to pull the trigger when Anna ducked just below Kay’s aim and slashed at her unprotected stomach. Kay staggered backward, making a somewhat grotesque moaning sound and firing her rifle wildly upward before she slid down the wall, collapsed to her side and released her rifle’s trigger.

As Anna struggled and fought through the pandemonium, she just happened to see Hailey try to climb desperately to a higher point in the fort. Then a couple soldiers on Jessica’s side grabbed Hailey by the boots, legs, and shoulders, trying to pull her down. Hailey tried to hold onto the ladder as hard she could, but in the end, she was pulled from it with a brief scream and fell straight into the middle of her enemy’s clutches.

Anna could see Hailey above the mayhem, struggling to get out of her enemy’s grasp. But only a few seconds later, Hailey wailed horribly like an animal as someone from Jessica’s squad got her somewhere “vital” and Hailey sunk below the pandemonium. Not too long after, those on Hailey’s squad surrendered, holding their hands up or getting down on their knees with their hands on their head. Following this, General McCoy blew the whistle yet again to end the simulation.

“Come on Cammy,” Mary said, pulling Cammy to her feet, “Simulation is over.”

“Yick, what a mess,” Cammy said, looking down at the red splattered paint from Linda’s rifle as it trickled down in small canals across Cammy’s uniform.

“We’ll get it cleaned up,” Jessica said, who’d recovered from her own mock-death position.

“I want to do that again,” Mary said, a little jubilantly.

“You and anyone else in the unit can come and do smaller simulations here on the jungle gym again later,” Jessica said, “But I think we’re done with full unit combat simulations for now.”

At lunch that afternoon, Jessica, Hailey, Ryan, and McCoy talked about the situation.

“Well,” Jessica said, “What do you think about Unit Comet’s fighting abilities, General Ryan?”

“I feel as though I’m beyond words,” Ryan replied, “The fact that every single soldier in your unit would fight to the death in the ways I’ve seen, and the way you girls slaughtered your opponents in the simulations, you’re a perfect match for my unit.”

“Then, we’re accepted?” Hailey said, her eyes shining.

“Precisely,” Ryan said.

“YES!” Jessica and Hailey said together and clapped each other’s hands in excited joy.

That evening, Jessica and several others from Unit Comet went to the small club lounge at RECON. The club lounge was set up to look a bit like a pub with the exception that there was no bar, as drinking was considered illegal in the military. Even if the military did allow such activities in measured circumstances, McCoy was opposed to having a bar constructed because he figured, for one, he’d have to post continuous security watches in the lounge, and two that the lounge could subsequently become extremely rowdy and he therefore wasn’t willing to take such a risk. The lounge was still quite relaxing and entertaining, featuring a set of chairs and a couple couches, a few dart boards, a billiards table, and even a TV to that was occasionally switched on for the soldiers to either watch sports or the news and find out how things were going back home.

Jessica, Hailey, Leslie, and a few of the privates sat around in the chairs discussing about their experiences in the simulations as well as few other topics, while Sergeant’s Kate and Carla played darts and Trisha was with Lilly and Cammy playing pool.

“Did I tell you I can hit a moving target from almost 100 yards away?” Cammy said as she shot the 6 ball into the nearest hole.

“What?” Trisha said with a playful snort, “From that distance? Your can’t be serious.”

“You wanna bet on it?” Cammy said, giving a playfully competitive look,“If I can make two shots in the same hole twice in a row, then you have to throw an apple across the courtyard at exactly 100 yards for me to hit.”

“Challenge accepted,” Trisha said, eyeing Cammy competitively and dusting up her cue.

“Did you hear that we’ve been accepted into General Ryan’s mission?” Kate told Carla while at the dart board.

“Yeah,” Carla replied, throwing her next dart, which landed in the inner 10 section, “I can’t tell you exactly how I feel. Currently, I feel excited about going into combat, but at the same time I feel nervous about the same thing.”

“I can’t blame you,” Kate replied casually, “Any soldier who’s about to take on a risky mission like this is bound to get nervous. The important thing, though, is to control it.”

“So I’m scrambling up the ladder,” Hailey was saying to Jessica and some of the others in the lounging area of the club, “And the next thing I know, a couple soldiers pull me down like I’m a frantic animal trying to evade a hunt. Then I’m suddenly impaled in a number of places, including my stomach and my back.”

“Yee, that’s gruesome,” Leslie commented, “I managed to tackle Anna, but she had me writhing on the ground from a stab wound to the right of my abdomen within seconds. And what happened to you, Jessica?”

“I was taken down by a few concentrated shots to my vitals,” Jessica said, “I have no idea who fired them, but I’m willing to bet that they either got overwhelmed or were forced to surrender. But you should have seen what happened to poor Cammy. She took a whole magazine of those splatter shots before going down.”

“Don’t remind me!” Cammy called out from the pool table.

“Sorry!” Jessica called back.

“Yeah, well Cammy sure is aggressive,” Mary said, “My stomach still hurts from when she kicked me into the wall. And I think she left a boot mark on my vest as well. Did she take martial arts or something?”

“She either did that or she just took a lot of hand-to-hand combat training in boot camp,” Jessica replied, shrugging her shoulders, “I’d need to check her profile again.”

“It might help you to know, Jessica” Hailey said, “Trisha and I were the ones who fired those fatal shots at you.”

“Really?” Jessica said, her eyes showing both surprise and a trace of competitivity, “Next time we have a simulation, you both will be my primary targets.”

Private Natasha was getting a little bored of all this and felt her need for attention getting the better of her. She saw Private Beatrice sitting by herself at one of the further tables, acting rather sleepy or dulled out or whatever.

“Hey, sleepy,” Natasha said, coming over to her table, “What’s up? Long day?”

“Just tired, can I be left alone,” Beatrice replied, tiredly.

“Why don’t you play some darts or some billiards?” Natasha requested, sounding a little showy.

“I’m not interested,” Beatrice said, and her tired tone seemed to get a little more annoyed. This only provoked Natasha more.

“Come on, you, stop being sluggish,” Natasha insisted.

“I said I’m tired, now will you please leave me alone?” Beatrice requested.

“Look who’s being nasty now,” Natasha retorted.

“Oh no,” Hailey muttered, shaking her head, “There goes Natasha bein’ all showy again. When will she quit that habit?”

“Natasha, cut it out,” Jessica requested, but Natasha seemed to ignore her.

“You heard the Lieutenant,” Beatrice said, “Cut it out,”

“Sassy,” Natasha said, a quite rudely.

Suddenly, Beatrice stood up and delivered a powerful punch to Natasha’s nose. Natasha flew backward and slid across one of the tables. Jessica, purely out of reaction, got up to break up the possible start of a fight. But as she approached, Beatrice suddenly drew her real combat knife, and held it threateningly out at Jessica. Jessica backed up, startled, and held out her hands.

“Get back!” Beatrice yelled.

“Beatrice, are you okay?” Jessica asked.

“I’m warning you,” Beatrice said, paying no attention to what Jessica had just said.

“Beatrice, you could hurt somebody with that knife,” Jessica tried to prompt, “Please, just put it away.”

“Do as she says, squirt,” Natasha said, rubbing a bloody nose and struggling to recover.

“Shut up!” Beatrice yelled.

“Beatrice, put away the knife,” Jessica repeated.

Hailey, meanwhile, could see that this situation wasn’t improving, and began to sneak along the furthest end of the club, using the tables and chairs for cover.

“Beatrice, this is an order,” Jessica said, “I’m asking you to put the knife away. Please do it.”

“How do I know that this isn’t a trick to catch me off guard,” Beatrice responded competitively.

“Beatrice, I’m not going to get rough with you if you just comply with my orders,” Jessica insisted.

By this time, Hailey had just about gotten within good range of Beatrice and began to slowly and silently advance on her. But just as Hailey got short of tackling distance, one of the floorboards creaked beneath her feet. Aware that someone was behind her, Beatrice lashed out with the knife. The knife didn’t come within vital range of Hailey, but the blade cut into the palm of Hailey’s right hand. Screaming in pain, Hailey fell backward, clutching her hand in agony.

“Beatrice, what the #$$’s gotten into you?” demanded Jessica.

“I knew this was a trick to make me defenseless,” Beatrice replied, gesturing to Hailey, whose hand was now oozing a dark red color and Hailey, whining in pain, seemed unable to staunch the blood flow.

“No it wasn’t!” Jessica responded, a little infuriated now, “I’m not going to ask you again, put away the knife!”

“And if I don’t,” Beatrice retorted, returning her knife’s aim back at Jessica, “What will you do. Call security. That won’t do you any good.”

“Beatrice,” Jessica said, “I wouldn’t want to authorize it, but security could shoot you on site if you act this way around them.”

“Really?” Beatrice demanded, “You haven’t seen my full skills, have you?”

At the pool table, Trisha and her fellow players watched the whole scene unfold.

“Oooh, if it weren’t for that knife in her hand,” Lilly said threatening, “I’d break her,” and snapped her cue in half on her knee.

“There has to be something we can do,” Cammy said with a little resentment that Trisha knew was directed at Beatrice, “But we can’t engage her head on unless we want to end up like Hailey or worse.”

“Well what do you suggest,” Lilly argued quietly, “Throw a cue or something at her? If we hit Jessica, then it’s game over for certain.”

“Game Over?” The phrase seemed to snag like a fish hook in Trisha’s mind. Her eyes then drifted to the 8 ball that still lay on the table. Could she use that, perhaps? No, too risky. That thing was heavy. Lilly was right; if she threw that ball and ended up hitting Jessica instead of Beatrice, especially in the head, that would be it. She’d probably be discharged or worse, sent to a military prison. The whole idea haunted her. On the other hand, Jessica didn’t seem to be making any progress; she and Beatrice just seem to stand at a stalemate, just going nowhere, with Hailey lying critically injured on the floor nearby.

“You’ve got good accuracy, Trisha” Trisha said to herself, “Just go ahead. Take the risk, you may miss, but if you get your target, things might turn around for you.”

Slowly, she picked up the ball, clutched it hard in her hand, and began to aim. At just the right moment, she reeled her arm back, raised her leg like a baseball pitcher, and threw the 8 ball. And just by sheer luck, she got her target.

The 8 ball bounced right into Beatrice’s shoulder. The sudden reflex in her muscles caused Beatrice to drop the knife. As it clattered to the ground, Jessica charged Beatrice. She grabbed Beatrice, and as Beatrice struggled hard, Jessica’s fist smashed into her cheek. Beatrice spun on her heel, collapsed against one of the tables, and slid unconsciously to the floor. Jessica then desperately rushed to Hailey.

“Hailey, are you alright!?” Jessica pleaded.

“Augh, I this hand is bleeding like crazy..eenh...get Lisa here...mmf..now...before I bleed to death,” Hailey painfully insisted as some of her blood began to pool rapidly on the floor. Jessica pulled out a walkie-talkie on her utility belt and got the medical center on the line.

“Lisa, this is Jessica. Do you copy?” Jessica asked desperately.

“Lisa here,” came Lisa’s voice.

“Lisa get to the lounge. There’s been a fight over here. Hailey’s injured, very badly. Natasha has also suffered an injury,” Jessica said, then added, “And bring Becky over here while you’re at it.”

“Roger,” Lisa said and cut out.

Only a minute or so later, Lisa and Becky arrived. Jessica ordered Becky to take Beatrice to the detention center while Lisa tended to Hailey.

“This looks pretty bad,” Lisa said, “I’ll need to bandage it up.”

She first got out some antiseptic, and Hailey whined a little as the antiseptic went to work in the knife wound in her palm, stinging badly. After this, Lisa pulled out a bandage roll and began to roll it around Hailey’s palm.

“Okay, you three,” Jessica said, approaching the three soldiers at the billiards table, “Who’s responsible for throwing the billiard ball?”

The three soldiers, even Trisha, looked at one another. Was Jessica upset with them, or was she just curious? Cammy wanted to blurt out that Trisha had been daring enough to intercept the fight by being the one who threw the ball. But before she could, Trisha stepped forward and replied solemnly, “I did, Jessica. I’m the one that threw the 8 ball into the confrontation and got Beatrice. Am I in trouble?”

“Over here for a sec, Corporal,” Jessica said, and Trisha gulped, looking at the other two, who nodded. Trisha then approached Jessica as the two walked to a corner of the lounge.

“What were you thinking?” Jessica asked, “That was very risky what you did. You could have hit me, you know.”

“I know,” Trisha said, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Jessica said, and added a smile. Trisha knew that smile, it was Jessica’s reassuring one, which almost always meant something good about what she was going to say next.

“Since you were daring enough to break up the fight,” Jessica said, “I’m really proud of you. Considering that you assisted a commanding officer in an above-and-beyond way, I’m hereby promoting you back to Sergeant, Trisha Catalica.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Trisha said, smiling with brightness and reassurance.

“Lisa,” Jessica said, “How’s Hailey?”

“She’s doing fine,” Lisa replied, helping Hailey to her feet, “But she’ll have to be in the medical center for a while. But yet, I anticipate that with the right care, she won’t be there for too long.”

The next day, Jessica and Trisha proceeded through the corridors of the detention center to deal with Beatrice. Normally, if Jessica was going to carry out an interrogation, Hailey would be with her. Although Hailey’s injury from the last night had been reported getting better, Lisa had advised against releasing her until late afternoon. However, wandering through the corridors of the detention center gave Trisha some pretty haunting memories of the skirmish with Jessica and the consequent resentment she’d received from Jessica as a result. Trisha, in her mind, could hear the sounds of her and Jessica struggling in the mud, the rain pouring around them and thunder rumbling above. Then she could hear herself struggle as she was pulled off by Hailey, then she began to think about Warrant Officer Becky, how she had to accompany Trisha in a straitjacket to her own confrontation. She could also hear Jessica’s voice, yelling expletives at her in her hatred, which chilled Trisha so much that she had to grit her teeth to avoid crying.

Jessica could see that Trisha was disturbed about being in the detention center. It sort of struck up Jessica’s own remorseful feelings for Trisha.

“Are you okay, Trisha?” Jessica asked.

“I’m trying to banish my memories of the detention center,” Trisha said, “But I can’t seem to fight them off.”

“Just try your best, Trisha,” Jessica said, “Just remember, you’re not the one who’s in trouble anymore.”

This sort of comforted Trisha but she still found it hard to get rid of the memories all together. When the two entered the interrogation room, Trisha had to briefly blink a couple times to dismiss what appeared to be a mirror image of herself in the straitjacket next to Becky, but was really Beatrice in the same attire. Jessica and Trisha pulled up seats at the other end of the discussion table, and Trisha clutched her hands together to regulate her tension as Jessica began.

“Private Beatrice Willow,” Jessica said “I’d appreciate it if you told me exactly what you were thinking last night.”

“That snobby Private Natasha,” Beatrice said, disgusted, “Wouldn’t stop picking on me, and I just wanted to get her away.”

“Yet when I came,” Jessica continued, “You drew your knife. On top of that, you even injured a higher ranked officer, Second Lieutenant Hailey. How do you explain that, Private?”

“I thought you were trying to attack me,” Beatrice said flatly, “Tell me it’s illegal to defend yourself in the United States, is it?”

At this, Becky poked the nozzle of her rifle at Beatrice’s cheek.

“Watch your tongue, young lady,” Becky cautioned.

“Becky, back down,” Jessica quietly ordered, and Becky complied.

“As a matter of fact, Private,” Jessica said, “It isn’t illegal to defend yourself in the U.S. But you still should have obeyed me when I told you to put away the knife.”

“As I told you,” Beatrice responded resentfully, “I didn’t want to be suddenly caught off guard. If your friend Hailey hadn’t intervened, she wouldn’t be injured right now.”

Jessica narrowed her eyes at this, resisting the urge to punch Beatrice again.

“This doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere,” Trisha whispered to Jessica, distracting her.

“Well there’s something else I need to get straightened out here,” Jessica whispered back, and turning to Beatrice said, “Your name is Private Beatrice Violet, right?”

“Of course it is,” Beatrice replied, “Check my file.”

“I did,” Jessica said, “I even did a background check on you to see if that had any bearing on your actions last night. And get this, Private, Beatrice Violet doesn’t exist. If by possible chance she does exist, there is no record of a soldier from either the U.S. or England registering under that name. So, Private, it turns out that you’re using a falsified file, and I think it’s time to come clean. What is your real name?”

“And don’t insist that it’s Beatrice,” Trisha added, “Because we can prove through the RECON database that it isn’t.”

Beatrice looked between Jessica and Trisha, and it was clear to see some resentful impression in her eyes. Finally, with a tired and agitated exhale, Beatrice responded to the question.

“Alright, my name is Penny. Penny Willow. I’m an MI6 Agent that was dispatched into the army.”

“And what is your mission, Penny?” Jessica asked.

“That’s classified,” Penny replied flatly, but again, Becky got her rifle’s muzzle close to her cheek.

“Becky!” Jessica shouted, standing up abruptly, “For the last time, back down, or I’m going to assign you to KP duty for a day.”

KP Duty? That puzzled Trisha. Jessica never threatened that to a soldier regarding disciplinary issues before. The usual consequences were either a demotion of rank or incarceration here at the detention center. There might’ve been a few other punishments Trisha could’ve been forgetting, but KP Duty was almost never a punishment under Jessica’s command.

“Penny,” Jessica continued, “It should already be clear to you that your cover has been exposed. You might as well tell us what your objective is.”

“Gimme a cyanide capsule,” Penny angrily muttered.

“Excuse me, I’m not interested in your suicidal requests,” Jessica said, a little outraged, “Now answer my question.”

“Alright, you win,” Beatrice said resentfully, “About a year or so back, there was an attempt to bomb a London double decker when it drove into the streets near Trafalgar Square. The attempt was thwarted, and the MI6 was able to trace who was responsible. It was an Al Queda terrorist mastermind who fled the country not too long after the attempt was thwarted. MI6 believed that he was somewhere in Afghanistan. Later surveillance reports confirmed that he was in some kind of stronghold that lies within a small abandoned town that is conveniently near here.”

“That’s possibly the same stronghold that General Ryan has targeted,” Trisha said to Jessica.

“So what’s with the false identification?” Jessica inquired.

“MI6 was worried that if my true identity was exposed,” Penny replied, “Then word might get to the enemy’s ears. In other words, even if the military didn’t want to, MI6 was afraid that my true identity, my combat abilities, or other facts would get prematurely exposed to the enemy.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Trish snorted, “Anyone in the military, Unit Comet included, who releases information to an enemy of any kind would be considered a traitor.”

“Well regardless,” Penny said, “MI6 was convinced that they should give me a name to use while in the military. And in case you’re wondering why they didn’t just send me in by myself, it’s because MI6 was convinced that the stronghold would be well defended against any attack. Therefore, they thought that any unit in RECON might be best to send me into. They chose Unit Comet, obviously, because this is a women combat unit. Does that answer all your questions, Lieutenant?”

“For now,” Jessica replied, “But I’m still going to request that you remain in confinement until I say otherwise.”

At this, she and Trisha got up, slid their seats under the table and left.

“An MI6 Agent, in our unit, looking for the same target we are?” Trisha said, “My head hurts now.”

“I too am a little confused, Sergeant,” Jessica said, looking behind her at the room, “But it at least explains why I kept having continuous errors pop up while doing a background check on ‘Beatrice Violet’,” making little quotation signs with her fingers as she said this.

“When is lunch?” Trisha asked a little abruptly, “I need to eat to clear my mind of this whole haze.”

“Just half an hour away I think,” Jessica replied.

At lunch that afternoon, Hailey, who’d been released from the hospital but still wore a bandage around the hand that had gotten slashed in last night’s fight, listened to what Jessica and Trisha had found out from Penny’s interrogation.

“Well that’s gonna make my day,” Hailey said, forking a potato, “We had an MI6 Agent in our unit all along and we didn’t even know it.”

“You know how those ‘government agent guys’ are,” Trisha said, “Slippery and discreet. They’ll say or do anything to keep their mission a secret.”

Jessica snorted a little at this but continued to eat.

“Well,” Hailey said, “What do you suppose the MI6 will do now that their agent’s identity and mission have been exposed?”

“I’m not the MI6 head, I don’t know,” Jessica said, shrugging her shoulders.

The next morning, Jessica was called to General McCoy’s office. The matter regarded the arrival of a new soldier. As Jessica entered the office, she found the new soldier standing in front of General McCoy’s desk.

“Lieutenant,” McCoy said, indicating to the new soldier, “This here is Private Elena Hickson. She was transferred here from a British military base up in Birmingham, England. Elena, this will be your main commander, First Lieutenant Jessica Alison, of Unit Comet.”

Elena whipped up a salute and Jessica returned it casually. Elena was fairly tall, had jet black hair, an eager smile that seemed to almost never drop, and had a sharp look to her eyes, almost daring. It was the daring look in her eyes that caught Jessica’s interest the most. She liked that look in a soldier. To her, it meant they were willing to do anything in a fight. In Jessica’s opinion, there were two ways for a soldier to look suitable. If they either had an eager look which implied they were interested in participating in battles or if the soldier was very experienced or knowledgeable of fighting tactics.

“Here’s the profile,” McCoy said, handing Jessica a folder, “I’ll leave it to you to file it with the rest of Unit Comet.”

“Yes sir,” Jessica said, saluted, and went to her office.

As Jessica sat down in front of the computer to register the file, something tugged at her in her mind. Elena had arrived about a day after Penny had been exposed as an undercover MI6 Agent.

“Don’t think about that now,” Jessica mumbled to herself as she inserted the information into the database. But she couldn’t help doing a background check on Elena. Jessica narrowed her eyes in annoyance as she started getting error messages in the database every time she tried to get somewhere with Elena’s background. Flipping through the profile, Jessica tried inserting various key facts and data about Elena into the database. Still no success.

“Dammit,” she muttered to herself and dropped her head onto her desk in exhaustion.

“This has to be coincidence,” Jessica thought, “But then again, what kinds of fighting skills does Elena have? If Elena really is another undercover MI6 Agent, then surely the MI6 would want to send somebody else in who's got skills different from Penny.”

She flipped through Penny’s phony file and tried to compare any physical or accuracy test data to that of Elena. But this didn’t seem to be getting her anywhere. The MI6 had done a pretty good job of covering up any true facts of both Penny and Elena’s bios. Jessica felt the need to notify General McCoy of the situation. On her way there, Jessica ran into Lisa at the Medical Center. When Jessica told Lisa what she might have found out, Lisa flipped out into a wild rage.

“Bloody #@$!, Bloody @#~!” yelled Lisa, kicking a file cabinet.

“What are you so steamed up about, Lisa?” Jessica asked, shocked by this attitude.

“What do you think!?” Lisa said, pacing around in various directions in the medical center, “The MI6 seems to think that because Unit Comet is a mostly women unit that it is the perfect place to send their cool girl agents and assassins into our ranks to get at anyone in the enemy who they perceive as a threat. Not only that, I had a soldier, Hailey, who was injured by one of these assassins two nights ago. The next thing I know, I’ll get another soldier who fell victim to a skirmish with this Elena soldier that just arrived! How the !#~ do we convince the damned MI6 not take advantage of the gender of Unit Comet soldiers!?”

“I’m going to talk it over with General McCoy,” Jessica assured.

“What do you mean she’s a fake?” McCoy asked, caught off guard by Jessica’s report, “Her profile is valid, isn’t it?”

“Oh the profile is good, sir,” Jessica said, “But I couldn’t help doing a background check on Elena. It just seemed to bother me that a day after we discovered the truth of Beatrice being an MI6 Agent named Penny, Elena shows up. Now of course her profile is good, and I personally like how eager she is to fight. But the problem is that I keep getting errors on the database regarding background checks. And this isn’t a malfunction with the database, because I tried doing background checks on a few other soldiers, and I’ve had no problem finding important background information on them. So therefore, General, the only possible alternative I can consider would be that Elena is another undercover MI6 Agent, supposedly sent to replace Penny.”

“Go find Elena and Penny,” McCoy said, “I’m going to have a long talk with the head of MI6.”

Elena was the first one to report to Jessica’s office, and it seemed to hurt Jessica when Elena’s eager smile flipped upside down in concern and sadness when Jessica began to tell her about the situation.

“You mean that I’m going to be kicked out?” Elena asked.

“No Elena,” Jessica said, “Your file has already been registered into the RECON database, and I do think you look like you’re good for service. But the only issue is that the day before you arrived, one of our soldiers was revealed to be an MI6 agent undercover. It just seemed a little awkward to me that you showed up the following day and I had to sort out all the loose ends.”

“What was the name of the exposed soldier?” Elena asked.

“Undercover or her real name?” Jessica asked.

“Her real name,” Elena said.

“Penny Willow,” Jessica said, and Elena’s eyes seemed to widen at this.

“I know Penny,” Elena said, “She’s my sister. And, just between you and me, you’re right, my real name isn’t Elena, it’s Lucile, Lucile Willow.”

“Well, I can’t guarantee this is going to remain confidential between us,” Jessica replied “General McCoy wants me to bring you both to his office, but I’m pretty sure he won’t discharge you for anything?”

On the way back to General McCoy’s office, Jessica stopped by the detention center to have Penny temporarily released.

“Is she going to be returned later?” Becky asked.

“We’ll see,” Jessica said plainly as she took Penny gently by the arm.

When Penny and Lucile met each other’s gaze they immediately rushed to each other.

“Lucile, what are you doing here?” Penny asked.

“The MI6 originally sent me to replace you,” Lucile replied, “But the Lieutenant is going to take us to General McCoy to see what the consequences will be.”

As Jessica, Penny, and Lucile approached McCoy’s office, they heard McCoy yelling in outrage through the phone.

“DON’T TALK TO ME ABOUT NATIONAL SECURITY PRIORITIES!!!” McCoy yelled, “Look, one time isn’t a problem. But once you start trying to treat the military as just a cloaking device to cover for your stealthy assassination operations, that’s when I start to take notice….NO you will not be allowed to withdraw Penny or Elena, not even if you come over here and drag them out by their legs. Their files have already been registered into the database and they are therefore only subject to dismissal from service when we say they are. I don’t care what kind of government back up you’ve got, because what you’re doing is infiltration, which is currently interfering with military activities right now and is thus illegal given the circumstances. And get this straight Mr. Chief of MI6, if you persist on this inserting and extracting of undercover agents as soldiers in any, I repeat, ANY unit here at RECON, so help me I will lay off the attack which you have hoped will allow your assassins to track down and kill your target. Now, can we come to terms?”

McCoy waited a while, then relaxed a little before continuing.

“Alright good. And rest assured, the bios and any other critical information of Penny and Elena will not be prematurely exposed, especially since it should be clear to you that anyone who leaks or exposes information of any kind to an enemy is considered a traitor, and I’m quite sure you wouldn’t have such people in MI6. I know we don’t have people who would betray their country here in RECON, including Unit Comet.”

After a few more minutes of relaxed negotiating, General McCoy hung up and turned to face Jessica, Penny, and Lucile.

“Well, Jessica,” McCoy asked, “What did you find out?”

“My suspicions were correct, sir,” Jessica said calmly, “Elena is an MI6 Agent. And not only that, she’s Penny’s sister, Lucile Willow. I assume these two will not be dismissed from duty?”

“Of course not,” McCoy replied in his own calm voice, “You registered Lucile’s file, didn’t you?”

“Yes sir, I did,” Jessica replied.

“Then they can stay,” McCoy said, and the Willow sisters hugged each other again.

“And Penny and Lucile,” McCoy added, “If you want, you can keep your undercover names, Beatrice and Elena if you like.”

“Well,” Penny replied, “It may not be necessary now that everyone in Unit Comet knows our real names now.”

Jessica and Hailey were up earlier than usual the next morning. General Ryan had called for an appointment to take place with them and General McCoy that morning because he’d just finalized his battle plan for attacking the Taliban stronghold. Jessica and Hailey had their uniforms and boots on within seconds and were out the door in a flash, running across the open courtyard near the jeep garage in the faintest showings of the morning light. They arrived at General McCoy’s office just in the nick of time to find Generals Ryan and McCoy sitting near a large map. As expected, the map was an enlarged surveillance shot of the whole town where the stronghold was centered.

“What’s the situation so far, General Ryan?” Jessica asked looking at the map.

“Well,” Ryan said, “I’m anticipating that we will need to station some snipers to take out the guards at the outer part of the stronghold. In order to do that, I’m proposing that we set up camp about half a mile beyond the town’s perimeter.”

He indicated to a wide patch of desert landscape that lay exactly that distance from the town.

“The campsite would include a defensive line,” Ryan continued, “Which will be occupied by both of our units. The defensive line is at the very front of the camp to ensure that any enemies attacking us have a hard time actually getting into the camp.”

“Wait,” Hailey said, a little questionable, “Are you implying that we might have some enemy units that will charge our defensive lines directly? I mean, not to question orders sir, but it makes me think like we’re setting up for a WWI trench warfare battle to start off.”

“I see your point, Lieutenant,” Ryan commented, “The only difference is we won’t charge on the enemy’s lines if they’re forced into retreat. We only penetrate their defensive lines when I’ve confirmed that the way in is less dense.”

“I guess in that case,” Jessica said, looking at Hailey, “Ryan’s probably right. The fact that enemies may charge our lines is the least of our concerns. We need some way to eliminate the enemy’s sniper and patrol forces. Otherwise, it will be exactly like charging on the enemy’s lines in WWI because we’ll be the ones facing deadly firepower. And I think that as long as we can stay together in the defensive line during combat, we shouldn’t suffer too many casualties.”

“Once we’ve taken care of the enemy on the outer part of the stronghold,” Ryan added, “Our next move is to proceed either straight down or parallel to the main street.” Ryan indicated to wide dusty road on the map that seemed to split the town in half. “My men are considering attacking along some of the side alleyways because they anticipate less resistance in those areas. If however,” he added, looking at Jessica and Hailey, “You decide on going straight down the middle here, then you’re going to have to be extra careful and try to keep out of sight as much as possible, because the Taliban’s central defensive lines appear to be located in a position right towards the end of the main street. Since the town is mostly abandoned, there is very little obstructing their view down the street for at least a couple miles.”

“Any idea where the stronghold itself is located?” McCoy asked.

“Well,” Ryan said, observing the map a little closer, “Towards the further end of the town, the main street seems to diverge into smaller streets. But what catches my attention the most is that there seems to be a large obstruction a mile and a half in front of that divergence. More than likely, that’s the enemy’s central defensive line. Somewhere beyond there is probably where the stronghold is. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get better location coordinates of the stronghold itself, but I’m guessing it’s located within the cluster of buildings behind the central defensive line.”

“When do we leave to set up camp?” Jessica asked.

“As early today as possible,” Ryan responded, “Does that sound acceptable, Robert?”

“If Jessica is fine with it, then I’m fine with it to,” McCoy replied.

“I’ll just pack a few things,” Jessica said.

“Same with me,” Hailey said.

“Very well,” McCoy said, “Jessica, go find Trisha and have her get all of Unit Comet and Unit Eagle up.”

“Yes sir,” Jessica said, and was saluted off with Hailey.

“Oh by the way, Hailey,” McCoy added as the Lieutenant’s turned to leave, “How’s the hand?”

“The bandage is off at least,” Hailey replied, “But I can’t flex my hand too much because I still have a scar from the slash. But otherwise, it’s okay.”

“Okay that’s good,” McCoy said and the Jessica and Hailey continued on.

“You nervous?” Jessica asked Hailey as the two Lieutenants trekked back across the courtyard to the barracks.

“What about?” Hailey inquired.

“Going into combat for the first time in a long while?” Jessica added.

“A little,” Hailey admitted, “But I’m sure we’ll come out fine.”

“We will,” Jessica assured with a satisfied look.

Jessica went to Trisha’s bunk and rapped on the screen door. As hoped, Trisha was the first one up.

“Jessica?” Trisha asked with slightly tired eyes.

“Trisha,” Jessica said, “We’re getting up early today. General Ryan has just got the battle plan finalized and is getting ready to have us prepare for combat. I need you to go around and get everybody else in Unit Comet and Unit Eagle up and ready.”

“Yes ma’am,” Trisha replied, almost immediately snapping out of her sleepy state, “Just give me a second to change.”

Back in her own bunk, Jessica and Hailey got some supplies and a couple personal belongings. As Jessica rummaged through her bedside drawers to put a few things into her ARMY backpack, her hand came across a picture that she remembered she’d kept from home. It was a picture of her and Alicia, standing by a tall oak tree in her backyard. To the left of the picture was a tire swing. Next to them was their dog Stanley, a Golden Retriever that Jessica remembered she always loved to play fetch with. Jessica looked at Alicia’s smiling face and felt a smile touch her lips. Alicia’s young smile was one that nobody could look at without smiling themselves. Then a memory triggered in Jessica’s head. It was a flashback of her boarding a bus that would take her to the airport where a Military jet liner would be waiting to take her to Afghanistan. She remembered Alicia and her mother, standing by the house. Then she remembered how Alicia had run up to her, hugging her with a teary face.

“Will you come back?” Alicia asked.

“Of course I will,” Jessica replied comfortingly, “Me and Hailey will return. I promise.”

“Cross your heart?” Alicia asked, making a gentle x-gesture over her chest.

“Cross my heart,” Jessica replied and returned the gesture.

“I’ll miss you badly,” Alicia said.

“I will to,” Jessica replied.

As the two girls parted, Alicia turned back and said “Remember, cross your heart and return safely.”

“I will,” Jessica called back.

“I will,” Jessica said to herself, looking back at the photo, “Don’t worry, Alicia, I’ll return home safely. You’ll see,” and added an x-gesture over her chest.

“You ready to go?” Hailey asked.

“Yes,” Jessica replied, stuffing the photo into her backpack, pulling the strap and slinging the bag over her back, “I’m ready.”

After putting on their gear in the changing rooms, the two Lieutenants returned to the courtyard, where quite a number of other soldiers of Unit Comet were already up, fully equipped, doing stretches and jogging a little to get into shape. Within only minutes, all soldiers from both units were out in the courtyard awaiting orders.

“Attention!!” yelled Jessica as Ryan and McCoy approached.

“Lieutenant Jessica,” Ryan said and approached, “How many soldiers can those jeeps of yours hold?”

“About ten if you count one at the wheel and one next to the driver,” Jessica replied.

“Perfect,” Ryan said, “Oh and Jessica, I don’t know if this sounds like very good news, but Robert isn’t coming with.”

“I don’t blame him,” Jessica replied simply, “He still has to monitor activities back here at RECON.”

“Okay,” Ryan replied, then looked up at the sky a little and added “It looks like it’s going to rain.”

“A little rain won’t hurt,” Jessica replied, “If anything happens, we should be able to take care of it.”

“Okay, then let’s get these girls and boys loaded,” Ryan said.

“Okay girls,” Jessica called out, “I need some drivers.”

A good majority of Unit Comet raised their hands, desperate for a chance at the wheel.

“Okay then,” Jessica replied, and called out a few names, “Cammy, Leslie, Natalia, and Kate. General Ryan, it’s your call now.”

After Ryan picked his few drivers, Jessica called out to Unit Comet “The rest of you, into the jeeps, on the double!!”

Jessica stood by the first jeep as six Unit Comet soldiers clambered inside. Jessica was going to be the accompanying rider in the first jeep, driven by Cammy, while Hailey was going to be the one in the second jeep, driven by Leslie. Any of the selected drivers who were not driving jeeps were tasked with driving the supply trucks that followed behind. Hailey had picked a few soldiers to ride in the back of the trucks to help guard the supplies and equipment. As the convoy began to head out of the RECON perimeter, the rain started to fall. Although it came down rather hard, it wasn’t enough to obstruct the driver’s view in Jessica’s jeep. The convoy’s rendezvous was about 5 miles away from RECON, so it took a noticeably long time. Part of it also was that they had to keep in formation with each other, which required them to drive slowly, extending that time period.

As the convoy continued to move forward, Jessica’s jeep and a few others kept bouncing through recently made mud puddles that every once a while made Jessica’s stomach jolt uncomfortably a little. She tried her best not take much notice of it though.

“Aw great!” Hailey’s voice said over the radio, “Just #%$@ great!”

“What is it Hailey,” Jessica said, grabbing the radio.

“Our jeep is stuck,” Hailey replied, “Must have hit one of those deep puddles. We can’t get the jeep to pull out.”

“We’ll be right there,” Jessica said, then turning to the driver, Cammy, “Turn around. We need to help get Hailey’s jeep out of that puddle.”

As Jessica’s jeep approached, they saw that Hailey’s jeep had sunk to half the height of its tires in the puddle.

“Cammy, there’s a tow cable in the back of the jeep, right?” Jessica said as they got out.

“Yes, I believe there is,” Cammy replied, “I’ll go get it.”

She was back in less than a minute, carrying the tow cable in a large coil around her right shoulder. Jessica and Hailey hooked one end of the cable to the front bumper of the jeep while Cammy hooked the other end to the rear bumper of her jeep. Cammy jumped into the driver’s seat, gunned the engine, and attempted to pull Hailey’s jeep out. This by itself, however, was ineffective.

“We’ll need extra manpower,” Hailey said.

Jessica and Hailey ordered the soldiers from both of their jeeps to rush to the back of Hailey’s jeep and attempt to provide a push force to help Cammy. They received some assistance from some men from Unit Eagle. Hailey and Jessica dug their heels into the puddle as they pushed backward against the jeep’s fender, each time both yelling “PUSH!!” The other soldiers kept pushing hard, sometimes slipping and having to grab the fender to avoid falling face flat into the mud. Cammy, meanwhile, kept stomping on the gas pedal, trying to pull the jeep forward.

“Come on, COME ON!!” she kept grunting. Finally, her tolerance faded, and with all her anxiety, she slammed on the gas and clutch at the same time. The jolt from the engine was powerful enough to slam Cammy against the steering wheel, knocking the wind out of her briefly. Back at Hailey’s jeep, the sudden jolt from Cammy’s jeep combined with the total pushing force of all the soldiers pulled the jeep straight out of the puddle. Quite a number of the soldiers, caught of guard by the sudden pulling jolt, were thrown into the mud, including Jessica and Hailey. Jessica was the first one up and helped Hailey back to her feet. Some of the other soldiers did the same thing for each other, a couple of them shaking their heads or spitting out some muddy water.

“Finally,” Hailey exhaled, “How far behind schedule do you suppose we are?”

“I don’t think it really matters,” Jessica said, “Just as long as we get to the rendezvous point in one piece.”

The convoy reached the rendezvous point just as the evening began to creep in. Unit Comet helped Unit Eagle set up the campsite and unload a large portion of equipment from the trucks and jeeps in their convoy. After this was done, Jessica and Hailey observed their defensive line: a small nature-made wash used for channeling rain water but had been clogged at one end with mud, which prevented the danger of possible flooding in the trench, even though there were some puddles still forming from the rain that continued to drizzle around them. It was not very deep, though, as Hailey and Jessica could both stand at their regular height and still be able to look out at what lay beyond. What lay beyond their defensive line was a desert plateau that seemed to drop below view, then continue forward until it came right up to a large cluster of buildings. Hailey paced around in the trench a little while Jessica rested her chin on her arms as she continued to look out at the town.

“Well,” Hailey said, “This definitely isn’t as bad as I thought it was.”

“What were you expecting?” Jessica asked.

“Something like a real WWI trench,” Hailey said, “Where the trench is so deep you have to use ladders to climb out. Not that I was interested in that; in fact I felt quite the opposite about such a circumstance.”

“Well now you’re satisfied,” Jessica said.

“The only thing I’m not satisfied with,” Hailey commented, “Is that the enemy could come running up the plateau at us at any moment to eliminate us. And suppose they don’t even do that? Maybe they just snipe us down one by one from their own cover.”

“Relax, Hailey,” Jessica said, “Ryan knows what he’s doing, okay?”

“I guess you’re right,” Hailey said, resting against the opposite wall of the trench.

The campsite consisted of multiple desert-colored tents, all set up in an ordered series of rows. There were a couple small changing tents for soldiers to use when they were getting ready for bed or vice versa. There was also a larger green-colored tent where all the coordinating and planning was done. The tent also contained the rations for everyone, which were actually very appetising for battle rations: Potatoes, Carrots, Chicken, Apples, Oranges, Water, Salmon, Beans, and quite a few other foods. In case of a shortage of supplies, each soldier also carried several MREs in their backpack.

After a brief dinner, Jessica assigned Kay, Anna, Nicole, and Natalie into the trenches for night watch. Corporals Richard and Harris and Sergeant Nicholas were assigned by Ryan on night watch in the trenches also, which the girls in Unit Comet appreciated. Jessica and everyone else turned in for the night at the tents. Hailey, Trisha, Leslie, and Jessica chose the front tent for their sleeping quarters. After changing, the girls said goodnight to each other and Jessica turned off the camping lantern in their tent.

Back out in the trenches, Kay rested her assault rifle on her arms, her eyes occasionally peering through her rifle’s scope and her feet placed smoothly apart on small beds of mud she’d dug with her boots.

“Damn, I hate this eerie setting,” Kay grumbled to herself.

“Is there a problem, Kay?” Anna asked, her eyes trained through her own scope.

“Well,” Kay said, looking up and grimacing as thunder gently rumbled above and the rain that had previously slowed to a drizzle began to get heavier, “For one, it’s !@#! cold out here, and two there’s always the fact that the enemy could blow us outta here any minute.”

“Come on, Kay,” Natalie said, sitting below on the trench wall next to Kay and tampering with her rifle, “The Taliban aren’t just going to throw a nuke on us. Not without risking blowing up their own stronghold that is.”

“Oh you’re a big help,” Kay seethed, gritting her teeth at Natalie and adding, “Screw you.”

“Okay, that’s enough you two,” Anna said, “There’s no point in us arguing. We might as well keep watching the horizon and make sure that we know when the enemy is coming.”

Kay looked back at Anna with dulled annoyance before returning her focus to her rifle’s scope.

“Say, Nicholas,” Richard asked, “Any chance that we should expect a night assault from the enemy?”

“I’d doubt it,” Nicholas replied, “But I don’t want to be one to judge when and how they will attack us. From my experience, enemies such as the Taliban can attack in any way and at any time, especially when it comes to defending a vital military target.”

“Better keep our eyes open, in case someone tries to attack us from behind,” Richard said, somewhat joking but trying to keep a plain face.

Nicole was having a hard time staying awake and looking out of the trench and had settled down against the trench wall to stretch out her legs.

“Tired?” Harris said, coming over next to Nicole and stretching out his legs.

“Yeah,” Nicole said, “But I can’t help wondering, what will the morning have in store for all of us?”

“I don’t know,” Harris said, “It actually puzzles me if the Taliban will come charging out of their stronghold to counter us at all?”

“How long have you been in the military?” Nicole asked, interested in learning a little more about Harris.

“Oh, six years or so,” Harris said, shifting his hand to indicate a so-so response, “How about you?”

“About four years for me,” Nicole said, “My dad died in 9-11, and I promised I’d avenge him by joining the military when I was old enough and stopping Al Qaeda from continuing their violent religious conquests.”

“It’s always confused me,” Harris said, “The beliefs of those in Al Queda and the Taliban. Islam was founded with peaceful intentions and thriving principles. And yet, Al Queda makes it look like Islam was meant to be a religion that made violence and savagery necessary for salvation. I mean, how can one benefit from such a belief?”

“I don’t know,” Nicole said, shrugging, “It confuses me why they think what they do is right and just. I mean this whole spread of Islamic Extremism just doesn’t seem to benefit anyone in the end. We invade each other’s countries, we commit terrible violence against each other, and endanger the lives of the innocent in doing it. I know that I joined for avenging my dad, but I just can’t help thinking if the whole reason we’re at war is really that logical, on both sides.”

“From my own knowledge and experience,” Harris commented, “People often times don’t think logically in times of war. In the end, we tend to think the same reason as you did when you joined; we want to retaliate on those who hurt us.”

“I guess you’re right,” Nicole said, yawning, “The politics of war are so confusing.”

“Yes, they are,” Harris agreed.

The next day, after all the soldiers had woken up and had some breakfast, Jessica and Hailey along with a few others took the morning watch. The rain was still falling, but not extremely heavy, allowing for good visibility but still making the ground quite muddy as Jessica and Hailey’s boots sloshed around in some small puddles on the trench floor.

“Blimey,” Lisa muttered, “What is this feeling I’m getting?”

“Nervousness?” Jessica commented.

“I don’t know,” Lisa said, “I guess it’s tension. Just staring down my scope while waiting for the enemy to come, if they do.”

“There’s one way we can find out,” Hailey said and pulled out a pair of electrobinoculars.

At first, it looked almost like what it had been for most of the day, nothing. Then something caught Hailey’s attention. A squad was coming up along the main street from the city. Zooming in closer, she could see some men among the squad whose faces were mostly masked. This is what General Ryan had been expecting, a Taliban delegation. And as expected, they were proceeding to climb up the fair slope of the plateau toward Unit Comet’s trenches.

“They’re coming, Jessica,” Hailey said, a little frantic but with some vague excitement. She then stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled loud and called out “Here they come! Everyone, to arms now!!” Jessica followed up on the call with “Everyone, in the trench. Make sure your rifles are loaded before you even jump in here.”

Jessica checked her rifle to make sure she had a full clip in it.

“Where’s Trisha?” Jessica asked.

“Right here,” Trisha said, jumping in and clicking her rifle’s clip in.

All of Unit Comet and Unit Eagle ducked behind the cover of the trench just as the first few Taliban soldiers appeared at the edge of the plateau.

“Steady!! Steady!!” Hailey yelled, staring down her scope tensley.

“Come on, just give the friggin’ order,” mumbled Natalie, looking down her own scope and stiffening as the enemy got closer.

Just as the enemy got within 20 meters of their lines, Jessica and Hailey yelled at the same time “NOW!!!”

In that instant, the whole trench was ablaze with gunfire. Some of Unit Comet’s soldiers yelled as they fired continuously at the enemy. Even General Ryan was within the group, firing away with his semi-automatic behind the cover of the trench. Quite frequently, soldiers would slide behind the lower cover of the trench to reload but were back up in an instant and firing away. Taliban soldiers fell in all sorts of directions, but they just kept coming.

“This is one !@# of a squad for a simple delegation!” yelled Kay over the continuous cries and gunfire.

“Hold your position!” Hailey yelled, “Don’t let ‘em get within ten feet of us.”

The firing continued, enemy soldiers kept falling. But the enemy still seemed to be holding their ground.

“Fff, how much longer can we keep this up?” seethed Jessica, “I’ve only got about three clips left on me.”

“If they get keep getting closer,” Hailey said, briefly turning to Jessica, “We’re gonna have to engage them in close-quarters combat.”

“Trisha,” Jessica said, turning to her, “We’re going to change our strategy.”

At this, Jessica pulled out her knife.

“You ready when I give the order?” Jessica asked.

“I’ll be sharp and ready,” Trisha said, taking her own combat knife and twirling it in her fingers a little.

At just the right moment, Jessica yelled “Knives, everyone!”

Everyone drew their knives just as Jessica yelled “Charge!!”

Immediately, all of Unit Comet ascended the trench and, yelling, met the enemy head on. Unit Eagle was a little caught off guard by this, but Ryan told them to stay behind to guard the trench.

“Let Unit Comet take care of ‘em,” he said, “We must not let the enemy enter the trench.”

Immediately once Jessica and Hailey jumped out of the trench, Jessica speared a soldier straight in the chest. Withdrawing her knife from the lash out, she looked over at Trisha.

“You with me?” Jessica asked.

“Yes ma’am,” Trisha said enthusiastically.

“Okay, here we go,” Jessica said, knife ready.

Nicole and Natalia met at least three enemy soldiers in their charge. Nicole was punched in the nose and fell backward with a cry of pain, dropping her knife as she fell. Natalia covered Nicole as she searched for her knife, driving the butt of her rifle into one soldier’s forehead before another soldier tackled Natalia to the ground. As Natalia wrestled fiercely with her attacker, the third soldier advanced on Nicole, who was still without her knife. Nicole then muttered, “You know what, heck!” and desperately grabbed a rock the size of a softball and threw it at the oncoming soldier. The soldier jolted briefly before collapsing and Nicole, who’d just recovered her knife, finished him off by rolling over and swinging her knife into his chest. As Nicole recovered, she saw Natalia holding her own attacker by the mouth before quickly slicing her combat knife across her attacker’s throat.

“You okay?” Natalia asked as she helped Nicole regain her footing.

“Oh, my nose hurts,” Nicole mused, rubbing it and then widening her eyes when she saw a little blood smeared on her hand.

“It’s just a small nose bleed,” Natalia assured, “You should be okay.”

By this time, the enemy realized what they were up against and had drawn their own knives. Natalie yelped as a slash got her in the right arm. The injury wasn’t too debilitating though, and she knocked the wind out of her attacker with her other arm and tackled him. Natalie swore at the enemy soldier as she beat him to death with her fist. Emily got one enemy from behind by using her hands on his shoulders for thrust and driving her knee into his back. A sickening crack was heard, and the soldier slumped to the ground.

Penny stabbed one of the enemies in the lower middle and swung her rifle like a baseball bat into another soldier’s head. The clubbed soldier was still alive as he fell to the ground, but then Lucile jumped on him, burying her knees into his back before she plugged her knife into his neck. Julia was tackled in the legs by another soldier, and she lost her rifle as she fell. As she struggled out of her attacker’s grasp, she pulled one of her legs free and kicked the soldier between the shoulder and the neck. Her attacker let go and lay limply. Kay jumped on another soldier, sending them both collapsing into a mud puddle. Kay punched her target repetitively before driving her knife into his middle. Kay then climbed out of the puddle, dripping with mud and holding her bloody combat knife at the ready position. Leslie threw her knife into the back of a soldier, but then saw Carla tackled by another soldier and forced face first into the mud. Leslie was on him immediately and broke his neck with a quick wrenching of her arm. Shoving the soldier off, Leslie helped Carla up, wiping the mud off her face and handing Carla her combat knife.

Lilly and Megan were some of the soldiers at the back of the fray, making sure that no one got through to the main defensive line. One soldier suddenly jumped in front of Lilly, catching her off guard. Lilly screamed as she lost her balance, slipped and fell backward into the trench. The soldier attempted to follow, but Lilly was up immediately. She clipped her attacker in the chin with her rifle, clubbed him in the temple, then gave a final smack to the back of the head. As the soldier slid down the edge of the trench, Megan yelled “LOOK OUT!!” Too late; a bullet ripped through Lilly’s shoulder blade. Wailing, Lilly fell against the side of the trench, but Megan was at her side immediately, cleaning and tending to the wound with any medical supplies she had in her pack.

Lisa ran across the battlefield, taking down enemy soldiers with her defensive semi-automatic but occasionally using her combat knife to get an enemy off one of her comrades. She was suddenly intercepted by a bearded enemy soldier who bore a threatening look and a combat knife in hand. Lisa took out her knife to counter, but her attacker was expecting this and swung his own combat knife at her. A small stinging pain originating from Lisa’s lower middle forced her back and caused her to drop her knife and clutch the injury. Removing her hand from the injury site, Lisa saw that her enemy’s knife had torn a gash in her uniform and drawn a small bleeding cut just above the stomach. She looked at her attacker with a look of shock which then switched to display fury before she stepped back and kicked her attacker in the groin. As the soldier bent over in pain, she picked up her assault rifle and smashed her attacker’s face in. Lisa still had a little time to assess the injury, and noted it was not fatal nor was she losing a lot of blood. Retrieving her knife, Lisa proceeded on, ignoring the occasional sting of pain from her middle.

“Take ‘em down!!” Jessica yelled as Unit Comet continued to struggle with the enemy. She then took a hard punch to the side of her jaw from an enemy soldier and was knocked off her feet. As the soldier advanced on her, Jessica kicked the soldier in the legs, rolled away as he fell then rolled back onto him and stabbed the soldier in the back. Although her jaw still hurt, Jessica was back in action almost immediately.

As Jessica fought through the bloody mud fight, she could see Trisha slash one soldier’s throat while Hailey snapped another soldier’s neck while holding him in an arm-lock. Mary shoved an enemy soldier to the ground and crushed his skull with her heel. A stronger soldier tackled her, though, and delivered a punch to her face. Mary vision blurred red for a second and she screamed in pain as blood began to run down her face. The soldier hit her again, but then Cammy jumped onto his back and buried her knife into his head. Cammy pushed the dead soldier off of Mary before he could slump against her and came to Mary’s aid.

“Mary, are you alright?” Cammy asked desperately.

“Cammy?...” Mary wheezed before falling unconscious.

Cammy knew Mary wasn’t dead and kept her covered, delivering a sharp upward kick into the chin of an oncoming soldier and slashing another in the mouth with her knife.

Finally, the enemy withdrew, running back down the plateau while still under fire. Some of Unit Comet’s soldiers cheered as the enemy ran off, but Jessica just looked on with some pleasure. They’d demonstrated good fighting this time, but she knew the enemy would be back. But the question that bothered her was what would they bring with them when they returned?

That evening, a jeep pulled up by the campsite, and General McCoy got out. He’d arrived from RECON to check on the status of Ryan and Unit Comet.

“Robert,” Ryan said, saluting.

“General,” Jessica and Hailey said, also saluting.

“At ease,” McCoy replied, then added, “What’s the situation?”

“It was a bloodbath,” Ryan said, and McCoy almost turned pale until Ryan added “For the enemy, that is. Our side suffered very few casualties. In fact, hardly any.”

“Well, what happened?” McCoy asked, still a little confused.

“The enemy charged our lines,” Ryan explained, “And after a least a few minutes of firing, all of Unit Comet just charged into the enemy ranks and sliced and diced most of the enemy unit. Only a few enemies survived while in retreat.”

“I hope we didn’t do anything wrong, General,” Jessica said.

“Not at all,” McCoy replied, “I was just worried if you girls had survived. I’m glad that you were able to force the enemy into retreat.”

As McCoy wandered around a little, he could just barely see through the available light the bodies of several Taliban soldiers.

“My God,” McCoy said as Jessica came up next to him, “Your unit really did a number on them.”

“We should have this all cleared out by tomorrow morning,” Jessica said casually.

“What have you got in the way of rations?” McCoy asked, “I’m a little hungry.”

“Still quite a lot,” Jessica commented, taking him to the rations tent, “We’ve been pretty good about avoiding any large consumptions of the rations, especially since Ryan hasn’t given us an estimation of when we’ll be moving into the stronghold.”

McCoy opened one of the small crates and pulled out an orange. He tossed it a couple times before peeling off the skin and taking a slice out.

“Very good,” McCoy said, his eyes widening a little, “Especially for wartime rations.”

“I want my soldiers fit and healthy if they’re going to fight,” Jessica replied with a smile as she pulled out an apple and took a juicy bite out.

Later on, Jessica saw some of the Privates gathered around a small fire they’d made. They were replicating a campfire and talking about each others lives and stories back home while snacking on some rations.

“So you joined because you wanted to help wounded soldiers,” Lilly asked Lisa.

“Yes,” Lisa said, “I just thought that it would expand my contribution to my country after my medical assistance for the victims of the London bombings.”

“But why didn’t you just sign up for being at a regular army hospital?” Natalie asked, “I’m mean, there’s so much more danger being a medic on the battlefield than in an army hospital.”

“Well, couldn’t I also ask for a piece of the action?” Lisa commented.

“Well, I definitely think that you did well today,” Linda replied.

“I didn’t make very many killings with my knife, though,” Lisa said, a little confused.

“I was talking about your accuracy,” Linda reassured, “I mean, you nailed quite a number of those bastards before we charged out on them.”

“Yeah, but I nasty cut on my stomach in the course of the fight,” Lisa added.

“I meant to ask,” Natalie responded, rubbing a bandage on the slash to her own arm, “How are you faring with that cut?”

“Just stings,” Lisa said, “But at least I got a bandage on it not too long after the enemy withdrew.”

“How about Mary?” Lilly asked, “I heard she got beaten in the face before Cammy saved her.”

“Yeah, Mary was pretty badly bruised and her nose was fractured,” Lisa admitted, “But she recovered within half an hour after the enemy retreated.”

Jessica was reminded of her times camping. If there was one thing she enjoyed as much as the military, it was camping. She didn’t like the idea of spending one of those three-day or four-day weekends sitting on a couch and playing video games. Even just a morning hike along a small loop trail with Alicia was enough.

“You wanna join, Jessica?” Natalie asked.

“Sure, why not?” Jessica said. “So Lisa, I heard you were a medic during the bombings on July 7th. Would you mind telling me about that?”

Lisa explained about how she had been walking past the British Medical Association headquarters when she saw the bus explode. Since she had a valid CPR and First Aid license from College, she along with a group of other medical personnel within the area were able to provide medical assistance for every passenger they found. Lisa also told how she’d been called on to provide care and supervision for injured victims of the three London Underground bombings. She talked about how she did her best to comfort the victims while working as a civilian nurse at one of the local hospitals, but in the most helpful way possible, knowing that they’d been through a terrible experience that day. Lisa also explained that she’d previously enlisted as a nurse at a mobile army hospital. However, Lisa said that she’d gotten pretty bored and decided to enlist as a battlefield medic, eventually earning her position as a Combat Casualties Officer.

As this all wrapped up, Jessica got up and stretched a bit then clapped her hands and said “Alright girls, let’s call it night. We need to be active and ready for whatever tomorrow brings us.” As the girls headed to the tents, Jessica threw some dirt on the fire and scuffed the remaining ashes before turning in herself.

“What will tomorrow bring?” Hailey asked, partially to herself and partially to Jessica as she opened up her sleeping bag.

“I’ve no idea,” Jessica replied, yawning as little, “I just hope it won’t be catastrophic for us.”

“Well, we’ve definitely shown how lethal we really are” Hailey commented, laying her combat knife scabbard next to her sleeping bag, “So they may try some more powerful means of taking us out. But, we’ll have to see tomorrow, won’t we.”

“Yes,” Jessica said, sliding into her own sleeping bag, “Good night, Hailey.”

“Good night. Pleasant dreams, Jessica,”

Trisha starred thoroughly through the electro-binoculars, thinking furiously to herself. All morning, she kept thinking of what Hailey had said last night.

“We’ve definitely shown how lethal we are, so they may try some more powerful means of taking us out.”

Just hearing that in her head made it hard for her to stomach down her breakfast rations. What would the Taliban do? Sabotage from behind Unit Comet’s lines? Unlikely. Explosives? Most probable, but what kinds of explosives? She tried not to think, but the fact that she’d been placed on morning watch just made it harder to forget.

“What the @#,” Trisha muttered to herself, laying her arms with the binoculars across the upper part of the trench, “I feel so dumb shivering on the inside like this.”

Then something caught her eye. She took the binoculars up to her eyes immediately and zoomed in.

“My God, here they come,” she muttered. Just as she thought, it appeared the Taliban were sending a second unit out. Some of the enemy soldiers carried something in their hands, a weapon of some kind, but an occasional fuzziness in the binoculars’ screen made it impossible to get the best visibility. But heck, the facts were clear; they were under attack.

“JESSICA!! HAILEY!!” Trisha yelled at the top of her lungs, rushing along the trench to the camp just as Jessica, in uniform, was exiting the changing tent, “The enemy is charging us!!”

Jessica put her hands in her mouth, emitting a loud whistle and added “To arms, everyone!! In the trenches now!!”

Everyone in both units made a beeline for their weapons, and rushed into the trench. Trisha navigated her way to a position near Jessica as she jumped into the trench and laid her rifle on the edge of the trench wall.

“Where are they?” Jessica asked Trisha, peering through her scope.

“I saw them coming,” Trisha said, “I know I did. There they are!”

Sure enough, there came the enemy, charging back up the plateau towards Unit Comet’s defensive lines.

“Hailey, you give the order,” Jessica said.

“Hold you position!!” Hailey yelled, “Steady, Steady!”

The enemy was about ten yards short of their lines when Hailey said it.

“FIRE!!”

As before, the trench was ablaze with gunfire.

“There was something funny about these guys,” Trisha yelled to Jessica over the gunfire.

“What was it?” Jessica asked loudly.

“I saw some of them carrying something,” Trisha said, “Something big on their shoulders.”

Just then, a howling sound came through the sky before Kate yelled “GET DOWN!!” and jumped on Leslie, knocking her out of the path of a mortar that exploded just a few meters in front of the trench.

“I knew it!” Trisha yelled to Jessica, “The enemy is carrying explosives. They mean to blow us sky high!”

“!@#” Jessica muttered, her eyes getting wide with fright and gritting her teeth, “Target any enemies with explosives! Don’t let them set up their launchers!!” she ordered.

Sometimes, the enemy would set up mortar launchers at the back, but all those manning the launcher would be cut down, neutralizing the threat. Other times, however, they were successful in launching at least one mortar. Some of these mortars exploded pretty close, but most soldiers in the blast range were able to duck before they hit. But at least one of the mortars landed square in the trench, blowing a few of Ryan’s men to shreds. To make matters worse, the enemies were also firing their rifles, intensifying the danger. Kay screamed in pain as a bullet drove itself into her shoulder and exited out the back, causing her to clutch the wound and fall backward against the trench. Natasha cried out as a shot grazed her cheek, leaving a bleeding gash in its wake.

Emily was firing wildly, cutting down a number of enemies with Natalia just a few feet to her left doing the same. As Emily ducked down to reload, she saw a soldier draw a pistol and aim it at Natalia.

“NATALIA, LOOK OUT!” yelled Emily before jumping in front of Natalia, firing her rifle just as the soldier fired his own weapon. Although Emily had succeeded in killing the attacker, she felt three bullets pierce her close to the middle and the chest. Emily cried out in pain and fell at Natalia’s feet.

“Emily! Emily! Speak to me!” Natalia insisted, but Emily only groaned, grabbing at a few red punctures to the middle. It was just then that Natalia heard a mortar screaming down near her position. Hailey yelled something, but just then, the shell hit. Natalia screamed as the explosion threw her backwards before she hit the opposite wall of the trench and the lights went out.

Jessica was getting so tense inside that she felt about ready to collapse from internal heat exhaustion, but she kept firing, ducking only to reload or hide from explosives. She was very scared now. The previous enemy unit had seemed so simple and puny, but this group had a better idea of what they were up against, making the situation much more difficult. The commotion was so intense that Jessica did not notice an enemy soldier prime a hand grenade and toss it before being cut down. The grenade bounced off someone’s helmet before landing near Jessica, Cammy, and Hailey.

“Grenade!!” screamed Cammy.

Time seemed to slow down for Jessica just a little as she looked at the grenade, beeping away. She had to stop it somehow, but it might be too dangerous to pick it up and throw it back out, because it could explode in her hand. She then thought of one other alternative, covering it. It was a fatally risky alternative because she knew that she could die if she did it. On the other hand, dozens of others around her were at just as fatal a risk if that grenade exploded.

Muttering a word of hope for survival, she threw herself over the grenade just as the beeping became much more quicker paced. She kept it smothered hard under her stomach, looked up at Hailey and a few other troops, then closed her eyes.

Hailey saw this transpire, and she wanted to keep Jessica from doing it, but she’d landed on the grenade before Hailey could stop her. Then, Hailey heard a muffled thump under Jessica’s body. Briefly shielding her eyes, Hailey looked at the outcome, expecting Jessica to have been possibly blown in half. It wasn’t as bad as that, though. Jessica was still alive, but very badly injured. She groaned and writhed on the ground, only opening her eyes briefly and taking big gulps of air.

Jessica felt like one of the strongest WWE wrestlers had punched her in the stomach and compressed every gut and organ in her body. She looked up at some strange figures, whose voices she recognized as Hailey’s and Trisha’s. Jessica’s vision was very blurry, though, swaying almost as though she were looking into a pool and unable to identify any crucial details from the surface.

“Jessica, Jessica” Hailey’s voice kept saying.

Jessica looked up, her eyes very glassy, and she tried to speak. Then suddenly, she bent her head downward, and Hailey was horrified as a thick stream of blood poured out of Jessica’s mouth.

“Oh !@$,” Hailey uttered, horrified, then turned and yelled “LISA!!!”

“Oh my God, what the @!# happened to her?” Lisa asked, looking with her own shock at Jessica as she struggled to keep herself up a little.

“She fell on a grenade,” Hailey replied, “Saving us, but for all I know, fatally injuring her.”

Lisa took Jessica into her arms, wiping away the blood that still stained the lower parts of her lip. Lisa then quickly switched her helmet com’s channel and got the RECON Medical Center on.

“Medical Center, this is an emergency,” Lisa said, frantically, “Lieutenant Jessica Allison has been critically injured. We need an ambulance here, immediately.”

Hailey couldn’t hear what the other side of the line was telling Lisa, but she was able to guess based on Lisa’s responses.

“No dammit!!” Lisa shouted, “Just get that friggin’ ambulance here immediately. You can do the @## preparations later.”

Pause. Lisa looked down as Jessica made some sick choking sounds and coughed up more blood, some of it splattering across Lisa’s uniform.

“DAMNIT, I DON’T FRIGGIN’ CARE ABOUT HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE YOU TO GET HERE,” Lisa yelled, almost red in the face, “OUR MAIN COMMANDING OFFICER MAY DIE IF SHE DOESN’T RECEIVE PROPER MEDICAL ATTENTION, FOR CHRISSAKE!! NOW JUST GET THAT BLOODY $^% AMBULANCE HERE, NOW!!!”

After this, Lisa switched off and gently transferred Jessica to Hailey and started heading for the camp.

“Where are you going, Lisa?” Hailey asked, concerned.

“I’m going to get the medical kit,” Lisa said, “It’ll be a while before the ambulance arrives. In the meantime, I need you to look after Jessica. And whatever you do, DO NOT face her upward or any similar direction, or she’ll choke on her own blood.”

“Got it,” Hailey said.

As Lisa went off for the medical kit, Hailey watched over Jessica. Already, much of the gunfire had subsided, and judging from the actions of her comrades, Hailey assumed that the enemy had been forced into retreat again. But that was only of second concern to her now. Hailey’s closest friend, Jessica, could die.

“No,” she thought to herself, partially aloud, “I won’t let that happen. You won’t die Jessica. Just stay with us, you’ll be fine. Stay with us...stay with us...please Jessica.”

Hailey could feel tears in her eyes as she kept saying this, and Jessica coughed pitifully some more, but Hailey assumed she could hear her. Lisa was back with the medical kit almost immediately. However, most of what the medical kit contained wasn’t going to suffice for Jessica’s injuries. The equipment was more suited for external injuries; Jessica’s, from what Lisa and Hailey could tell, were internal. At the very least, Lisa was able to use a few clean wipes to clear the blood around Jessica’s lips every time she coughed it up.

“Jessica, stay with us...stay with us..stay with us.”

That was all Hailey could say as Lisa helped her tend to Jessica.

Trisha, meanwhile, found Private Natalia lying against the wall of the trench next to Emily. Emily was still groaning from the pain inflicted by her wounds, and Natalia’s face had been splattered with dirt and a few trickles of blood ran down sides of her face.

“Natalia,” Trisha said, holding her hand.

Natalia turned to look at Trisha and, weakly, asked “Trisha..wha..what happened?”

“We’ve forced the enemy back again, but we’ve taken some damage,” Trisha replied, “Jessica is very badly injured from falling on a grenade. I’ve no idea if she’ll survive.”

“No, no, no” Natalia moaned, “Not Jessica. Please not Jessica.”

“Hang in there, Natalia,” Trisha said as reassuringly as she could, “You’ll be okay.”

“I don’t care,” Natalia said, beginning to emit a choking sound that Trisha assumed was her trying to cry before she suddenly wailed “Heaven, take me, not Jessica! Please!”

“Natalia, don’t say that,” Trisha said, but she herself couldn’t help worrying. Jessica was in very bad condition, unable to speak, unable to move much, or worse. The thought of Jessica dying haunted Trisha.

“What will happen if she dies?” Trisha thought to herself. Melissa, who’d been treating Kay’s injury, came to Trisha’s aid and slung Emily’s body over her back while Trisha carried Natalia in her arms and hiked out of the trench just as the ambulance arrived.

“Where the !@# have you been!?” yelled Lisa, climbing out of the trench.

“I told you it would take a while,” Betty retorted, climbing out of the ambulance, “Especially for five miles.”

“Nevermind that,” Hailey said, “Here’s Jessica,” she added, handing Jessica over to Betty.

“Do not position her upward,” Hailey reminded Betty, “She’ll most certainly die that way.”

“Wait!” another voice called from behind, and Hailey and Lisa turned to see Trisha and Melissa carrying Natalia and Emily and running for the ambulance.

“Take Natalia and Emily too, please,” Trisha said, “They’ve both suffered serious injuries as well.”

“Alright,” Betty said, pulling out two more stretchers from the ambulance. Trisha and Melissa gently laid their injured comrades onto the stretchers before Betty and Lisa pushed them both back into the ambulance.

“Lisa,” Trisha asked, “Should I come with?”

“No Trisha,” Lisa said, solemnly “You must stay here. Ryan is depending on all those who are still able to fight in order for this mission to be successful.”

“She’s right Trisha,” Hailey said as Lisa boarded the ambulance, “ We have to keep fighting on, and keep our fingers crossed in hopes that Jessica will live. That’s all we really can do.”

“You take command now, don’t you?” Trisha asked Hailey.

“As part of a very old truce that Jessica and I established while in service,” Hailey said, “Yes, I do take command of Unit Comet if, for whatever reason, Jessica is taken out of action.”

The two, along with a large part of Unit Comet and some of Unit Eagle watched as the ambulance containing Jessica, Natalia, and Emily drove off.

Trisha crossed her fingers together as the ambulance got smaller and smaller in the distance and muttered, “Please come back Jessica. And please come back Natalia and Emily. I hope you all come back.”

In the ambulance, meanwhile, Lisa sat next to Jessica’s stretcher. Jessica had been laid downward as instructed, but also having her head extended just a little beyond the stretcher to allow for any further coughed-up blood to freely exit. However, it seemed as though the worst of that was over. But Lisa still tended to her side as the ambulance bounced and sped back for RECON.

They arrived at the medical center within another five minutes.

“Get Jessica straight to surgery,” Lisa ordered, “And put Natalia and Emily in intensive care. Have some medics monitor their condition.”

In surgery, Lisa and Betty along with a couple other medics did a check-up on Jessica. Lisa slowly removed a bed sheet to check on the affected area of Jessica’s body. As anticipated, the blast had been concentrated to the lower middle section. Jessica’s uniform was terribly burned, but her stomach didn’t seem to have suffered any serious external damage from the looks of it. However, after very gently and carefully pulling the burned uniform upward, Lisa could see some dark black blotches in places where she knew internal bleeding was present. Very, very slowly, Lisa reached out and lightly touched a part of the affected area. Almost immediately upon contact, Jessica jolted and let out a horrific scream of pain.

“Sedate her, NOW!” Lisa ordered frantically. After a quick injection that put Jessica into a perfectly deep sleep, Lisa turned to Betty.

“Your analysis, Doc?” Betty asked, not meaning to be sarcastic.

“It’s bad alright,” Lisa replied. She then took a small x-ray device that hung above the medical bed and suspended it over Jessica’s middle section. Lisa then observed the results on a separate computer screen at one end of the room.

“Just as I thought,” Lisa said, concerned, “Internal bleeding at a bad level, although I cannot identify the exact variables of how quickly it’s filling. Jessica’s stomach has been compressed a bit and some of her lower organs have been pushed to the back of her body.”

“Is there a chance to save her?” Betty asked, looking back at the table.

“Yes,” Lisa replied, “But it will require intensive surgery. Doctor, we need to operate on Jessica immediately. At least we need to stop the internal bleeding, because that will kill her before anything else. I’m estimating that we will need a blood transfusion, though, because once we open up the affected area, the blood is going to spill out at a large rate. We’ll make sure to contain as much of it as we can, but a transfusion will be needed in case we can’t stop enough of it.”

“Got it,” one of the chief doctors said.

“What blood-type is Jessica?” Betty asked immediately.

“Type-A, I think,” the chief doctor replied, “I’ll go check.”

After looking through a few files, he found what he was looking for and replied, “Yes, Type-A blood.”

“Check my record,” Betty said, ignoring Lisa’s confused look.

“It’s a match!” the doctor exclaimed triumphantly, “Betty, you also have Type-A blood.”

“Betty, are you proposing to be the donor?” Lisa asked.

“Why not?” Betty replied simply, “My blood type is the same. And I want to do everything possible to help you get Jessica back into stable condition.”

“Alright then,” Lisa said, “Doc, take Betty to the transfusion room and get the necessary amount of blood extracted. And hurry, we only have an hour to operate on her before the internal bleeding reaches the danger level.”

Betty remembered that she’d given blood at a Blood Bank twice in her life, so it didn’t bother her as the doctor poked an extraction tube through her upper left shoulder, told her to remain calm, and began to the extraction. The blood extraction only took five minutes, and Betty along with the doctor returned to the main operating room with the blood sample immediately.

“Alright, suit up,” Lisa ordered as she headed for a small changing room in the back where she changed from her military uniform to her nurse uniform. Over this uniform, she put on a turquoise surgery outfit with a cap, foot cover ups, and mask for her mouth.

Lisa pulled at her surgical gloves, picked up a scalpel, looked at the other doctors, and nodded.

“Okay, let’s get operating,” she said.

Hailey paced along the trench lines as she watched Mary, Jacey, and a few other snipers she’d assigned take out various sentries on the outermost lines of the Taliban stronghold. Hailey had also ordered Melissa, Helen, Kate and Lilly to retrieve some fallen mortar launchers that had been left behind in the wake of the second attack to keep some explosives ready in case a third regiment came back up the plateau, desperate to take them out. It was the least she could do, now being in charge of Unit Comet as a result of Jessica’s absence, and the last thing she wanted was for further casualties to mount on her side and General Ryan’s unit. If it required blowing the enemy sky high, then she’d be fine with it.

“Status?” she asked Kate.

“The only thing I’m seeing through these electrobinoculars,” Kate replied, scanning the outer perimeter of their target, “Is maybe occasional sentries that just keep collapsing every time one of our snipers get’s them. I don’t see a full unit charging out on us if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Alright,” Hailey said, “Carry on, Sergeant.”

Hailey then went to the command tent to talk with General Ryan.

“What’s the status so far?” Ryan asked after he and Hailey exchanged salutes.

“Mostly just picking ‘em off one by one,” Hailey said, “I am wondering though, General, when should we start moving forward for the main attack?”

“I’ll come through the lines later this afternoon,” Ryan replied, “And I’ll help determine the situation from there whether or not the coast is clear. But at the same time, Lieutenant, I’m concerned as to how the absence of your colleague Jessica will affect the charge.”

“I admit that some of the soldiers are restless,” Hailey replied, “Especially since we haven’t heard back from Lisa yet as to whether or not Jessica is fine. But I’m sure that it will not affect the charge too much. Since I’m just as experienced as Jessica and I am her closest friend, Unit Comet shouldn’t have any trouble following through with my orders or any orders I carry out from you.”

“Very well,” Ryan said, but added, “However, before we can advance further, I need to talk to you and the other commanding officers of both units about how we’ll plan our strategy for the attack before we can carry it out.”

“Understood,” Hailey replied before being saluted off.

As Hailey left, Ryan sat by the command table, deep in thought.

“I sure hope that Jessica comes back alive,” he mumbled to himself, “I was really beginning to admire her character in battle.”


In the medical center back at RECON, Jessica lay tucked in by a white sheet on the surgery table. She was still fairly seduced from the injection given to her prior to the surgery the previous day. Next to her, a small monitor displayed her lung capacities and her heart beat. Neither were anywhere in the red zone, but they were also not yet at a level in which her condition could be considered stable.

Deep in Jessica’s mind, memories began to flicker about her past. First came memories of when she was only seven and playing with Alicia, who at the time was only two years old and just beginning to speak. They were trying to see who could build the tallest tower out of wooden stacking blocks without them falling over. Then came memories of when Jessica was in the Girl Scouts in her later middle school years. She was always playing on the tire swing with some of the other girls, kayaking, playing basketball, or working in the kitchen periodically.

Then came some of the best memories, her high school ROTC experience. The tanned uniform and the badges on her chest that she slowly earned that made her First Lieutenant in her class and gained her a lot of popularity. This was also where she first met Hailey. She remembered the chants her class would sing during jogs, the sharp marching orders her teacher gave as they marched around her school’s basketball courts and that old rifle of hers that she always enjoyed twirling when instructed to do so. Then memories of her favorite paintballing and army games that she always played with Hailey on weekends came. She could hear Hailey’s voice calling her name as she tied on her Timberlands, checked her paintball rifle before tossing it into Hailey’s truck and getting ready to leave for the paintball site.

Memories of some of the various matches she had with Hailey in the woods around the paintball site began to flow in now. She could remember hiding behind hills, trees, and slinking through various artificial obstacles thrown out into the area, either avoiding Hailey’s fire or trying to gain a good firing position.

Then, as the sedation began to subside, Jessica’s memories suddenly turned into dark visions. There was Hailey, with the rest of Unit Comet, preparing for a charge on the Taliban stronghold. As the unit made its way through the streets, many soldiers from both units began to fall to enemy fire. Hailey kept ordering the soldiers forward, charging with them, until suddenly a shot slashed fatally across the upper side of her temple. Hailey, clutching the heavily bleeding wound, fell to the ground and stopped moving shortly after.

Immediately, Jessica sat straight up from shock with a yelp, perspiring profusely and breathing in a slow but frightened pace. She looked around the medical center just as Lisa entered.

“Jessica, you’re awake!” she exclaimed in quiet pleasure.

“Lisa, where’s Hailey?” Jessica asked frantically.

“She’s out on the defensive lines, with the rest of the unit,” Lisa replied, “She’s been in command while you were out.”

“What happened?” Jessica asked, putting a hand to her head.

“Well,” Lisa began, “You fell on a grenade, which caused severe internal bleeding and a compression to some of your guts, but we were able to fix all of that with surgery. Are you feeling okay?”

“If you mean if anything is hurting,” Jessica replied, “No, I feel okay. But I’m terribly worried about the unit.”

“Last I heard,” Lisa said, “I think they were getting ready to make a charge. But Hailey never specified when they would launch the attack.”

“Lisa,” Jessica said, gently grabbing one of her hands, “I need to get back out to the front.”

“I understand your desperation, Lieutenant,” Lisa replied, “But I can’t let you go just yet. We have to check if your condition is stable.”

“Well hurry, please,” Jessica said, “I’m feel the unit may suffer heavy casualties if I don’t get back there soon.”

Lisa grabbed a stethoscope, and carried out brief lung capacity and heartbeat tests, which, to her satisfaction, were stable. Lisa also checked the area affected by the blast. This area was also doing pretty good, with most of the burns pretty well healed up and no signs of internal bleeding of any kind. Lisa also asked Jessica to do some flexibility and balance tests to confirm her physical status. In the end, Lisa had to admit that Jessica’s condition was within the “Stable” range.

“Here’s your uniform,” Lisa said, handing most of it in a bundle to Jessica.

When Lisa herself had finished changing back into her own military uniform, she found Jessica waiting by the medical table.

“Am I ready to go?” she asked.

“I’d say so,” Lisa said and accompanied her out the door. As they walked down the corridor, Betty came up to the two.

“Oh thank heaven, Jessica,” Betty said, “You’re alive.”

“Alive and well,” Jessica replied with a sympathetic smile.

“Lisa,” Betty added, “Private Natalia’s recovered as well.”

“Thank heaven,” Lisa said, “Where is she now?”

At this, Betty’s smile disappeared and she gulped.

“Betty, is everything okay?” Lisa asked.

“Well,” Betty admitted, “I’m afraid Private Emily won’t make it.”

“What do you mean?” Lisa asked, worried.

“One of the bullets penetrated into the right ventricle of the heart,” Betty replied, “By the time the doctors began to work on her, she’d already lost a lot of blood. She only has about seven or so minutes left to live. Natalia is by her hospital bed right now.” She then turned to Jessica, “Jessica, Emily wanted to see you one more time.”

“Absolutely,” Jessica said, looking over to Lisa, who nodded approvingly.

When they entered, they found Natalia kneeling by Emily’s medical bed, holding her hand for comfort. It wasn’t until Jessica put a hand on Natalia’s shoulder that Natalia turned to look at the three.

“Jessica!” Natalia quietly cried out, and hugged her, “You’re alive.”

“Yes, Natalia,” Jessica assured her, “I’m alive.”

Jessica then came over to Emily, who opened her eyes and smiled when she saw Jessica.

“Hey, Emily,” Jessica said, sitting by her bed.

“Hey, Lieutenant,” Emily replied through hoarse breathing, “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it.”

“Make it for what?” Jessica asked.

“Accomplishing the mission,” Emily clarified, “With you and the rest of Unit Comet.”

“Emily, you did what you could,” Jessica said.

“And Emily,” Natalia added, “If it weren’t for you, I’d be dead right now. You saved my life when I didn’t even know that I was in danger.”

“I couldn’t let you die, Natalia,” Emily replied, maintaining her smile but with a teary face, “Given the choice, I’d much rather give my life than see one of my younger friends lose theirs.”

As the heart monitor’s beeping began to get slower, Emily looked at Jessica one last time and said, “Jessica, I know you’ll miss me. But I just want my friends to know, I didn’t die in vain. As long as you all win this battle, I will always be happy. Just remember, Lieutenant, if there’s one thing other than my country that I’m willing to die for, it’s for my friends.”

Then turning once more to Natalia, “Natalia...do well in this fight. All of Unit Comet will be counting on you. You have my word. Go fight….and bring back the honor for our country. You too, Jessica.”

Finally, Emily exhaled her last breath and silently fell back against the pillow and her eyes closed for the last time.

“Oh no,” Natalia whispered before crying into her palms. Jessica also felt tears building up and she cupped her hand to her mouth as she observed Emily’s unmoving body, lying almost peacefully in the medical bed. But Jessica couldn’t afford to cry, not this time. If she didn’t get back out to the rest of the unit, many more of Jessica’s friends and allies might also suffer the same fate. Quietly, she put her hands together and muttered a small prayer to Emily. After this, she touched Natalia’s shoulder, to which Natalia, with a teary face, looked up and returned to a standing position.

“Emily’s right, Natalia,” Jessica assured her, “We have to get back out to everyone else and help accomplish this mission.”

Natalia simply nodded, wiping away her tears and trying to return to a firm posture.

“Alright, let’s get back out there,” Jessica said, looking at Lisa and Betty.

“I’ll drive you back,” Lisa said, “And Betty, you may want to come along too, because we may need another field medic out there.”

“I’ll come,” Betty said as obediently as possible.

“And by the way, Jessica,” Lisa added, “Warrant Officer Becky wanted to join if that’s okay. Or would you rather that she stayed back at RECON?”

“If she wants to serve as an extra soldier,” Jessica said, “Then that’s fine. I’ll just have someone else replace her position while she’s out. But I would like to talk to her in private before we leave.”

“Yes ma’am,” Lisa replied.

Lisa, Natalia, and Betty waited by the jeep garage for about five minutes before Jessica and Becky arrived. What struck Lisa as odd, though, was that Jessica was carrying a couple large boxes and Becky was pulling a cart with several more boxes, all of which were loaded in the back of the jeep.

“I know you’re going to ask about what is in these boxes,” Jessica said, “Well I’ll tell you along the way, okay.”

“Yes ma’am,” Lisa replied, hopping into the front seat of the jeep as Natalia, Jessica, and Becky got into the rear seats and Betty got into the seat next to Lisa. Lisa ignited the jeep’s engine and the group drove off back to the defensive line.

Elsewhere, Hailey and Ryan stood by the command table, trying to figure out a way to attack the enemy’s main lines without minimal casualties, but neither could agree on a good strategy.

“I’m sure we should try to go through the side alleyways, Lieutenant,” Ryan was saying.

“General, I respect your opinion,” Hailey replied, “But I can’t fit all of Unit Comet through those alleyways. And radio communication between squads might be too difficult since we’ll be trying to navigate each squad’s position while under enemy fire. No, there has to be a better way.”

“Are you suggesting going straight down the main street?” Ryan asked, his eyes wide with concern, “That’s pure slaughter, for both of our units.”

“General, I’ve no intention of such an attack,” Hailey countered, trying to keep her patience under control, “But we at least need to find another large street somewhere where we can fit most of one of the units. I agree that we should avoid any move that could result in a slaughter, but do you think you could suggest an alternate route for us to attack?”

Before General Ryan could respond, Cammy came dashing into the command center, whipping up a very hasty salute.

“Cammy, what’s the meaning of this?” Hailey asked.

“A jeep is approaching from the direction of RECON ma’am,” Cammy said, “I don’t know exactly who’s driving it, though.”

“Excuse me please, General,” Hailey said and rushed out with Cammy.

Sure enough, a jeep was approaching their campsite fast. The jeep pulled up at the campsite just a minute or so later, and Lisa got out with Betty. At first, Hailey felt a sinking feeling in her heart; were they going to inform her that something had happened to Jessica?

“Please don’t tell me she’s dead, please,” Hailey muttered, but kept a firm posture as she approached Lisa and Betty.

“How’s Jessica?” was the first thing that came out of Hailey.

“Surprise, surprise, Hailey,” said a voice behind Lisa and Betty. Hailey knew that voice; it was Jessica’s. Quickly, she looked beyond Lisa and Betty to see Jessica coming out of the jeep, acting as though nothing at all had happened.

“JESSICA!!” Hailey screamed in happiness and rushed to her. The two Lieutenants embraced each other for a little while Lisa looked at Betty and said, “I’m glad you made the blood donation.”

“It was the most I thought I could do,” Betty replied, smiling.

“Natalia, it’s great to see you back again,” Hailey said, giving her a small shoulder hug as she came out of the jeep.

“I’m ready for the action, Lieutenant,” Natalia said with a firm and confident voice, “I do regret to tell you, however, Private Emily is gone. She died earlier this morning.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Hailey said, and she meant it.

“She at least wanted you and her friends to know she didn’t die in vain,” Jessica said, “So Hailey, what’s the status of the mission?”

“We’ve been trying to plan how to attack the Taliban stronghold,” Hailey told Jessica, “But we’ve been unable to agree on a plan that will guarantee minimal casualties while also preventing us from diverging into multiple groups.”

“I think I might have a plan,” Jessica replied, “But I’d like to keep part of it a secret from General Ryan. He might find it a little outrageous and after all, he’s the head of this whole operation.”

“I can’t disagree,” Hailey agreed.

Jessica went into the command center and observed the map of their target.

“General,” Jessica said, “I have a battle plan set up. However, not that I don’t trust you or want you to think that I’m being secretive against you, but there’s a part of the plan I’m leaving as confidential.”

“Okaay,” Ryan said, a little hesitant, “At the very least what part do you want to tell me.”

“I’m considering that we go down the main street here,” Jessica said, indicating to the center street on the map.

“But that’s exactly what we’ve been trying to avoid,” Ryan objected, “Going down that main street could annihilate both of our units.”

“I’m not suggesting a charge,” Jessica said, “I’m suggesting your unit move along the alleyways nearest to the main street. Once you get to the safest points, take up shooting positions and try to take out as many Taliban soldiers as possible.”

“While you do what?” Ryan asked, still a little bit skeptical.

“That’s the confidential part,” Jessica said, winking a little.

“Okay,” Ryan said, “But I don’t want to lose all of Unit Comet, because you are all great and heroic fighters and you’ve made great contributions to this operation.”

“I know what I’m doing, General. Don’t worry,” Jessica said reassuringly.

The next day, Unit Eagle quickly unloaded from their jeeps. As planned, the unit quickly diverged into various alleyways that were close to the main street. Ryan took one half while Corporal Harris took the other. The two squads navigated their way through the alleyways, taking out either individual troops or small squads of enemies. Finally, the two units semi-converged near the main street, taking cover behind walls, parked cars, or anything that could serve as sufficient cover.

As anticipated, Ryan and Harris’ squads encountered heavy firepower that zipped through the streets. At least a few soldiers fell to enemy fire as a result of peering a little too far out from behind cover to attack.

“Where the !@#! is Unit Comet?” Ryan hissed, “Especially with that ‘secret strategy’ of Jessica’s.”

“Could they have deserted us?” a soldier asked.

“^*$ no!!” Ryan yelled, “Robert wouldn’t recommend a unit to me that was prone to just deserting us. But they have to get here soon.”

“Sir!” Harris’ voice said over the comm, “Jeeps approaching from behind us. They’re coming from the direction of the campsite.”

“That must be them,” Ryan said to himself, “Keep firing! Keep those enemies occupied until Unit Comet arrives.”

While reloading his semi-automatic, Ryan watched as the jeeps pulled to a stop just outside the town and Unit Comet’s soldiers began to unload.

What happened next though puzzled him. Instead of rushing to provide cover for Ryan’s unit, Jessica, Hailey, and some other soldiers took out special force-grade riot shields while the rest of the unit assembled behind them. Then one of the soldiers, Nicole, took a hit to the chest from some of the stray machine gun fire and was thrown back against one of the jeeps. She appeared lifeless, but only half a minute later, she recovered, simply shaking her head and proceeding back into formation with the rest of the unit. Then all at once, Unit Comet went charging straight down the main street, right in the line of fire, with the shielded soldiers at the front of the line.

“What are they doing?!” Ryan yelled, confused, “Running in the line of fire with riot shields!”

Ryan also noticed that some other soldiers, just like Nicole, would take enemy fire but keep running on. Occasionally, one or two soldiers fell, but they got back up and continued running.

“Amazing” Ryan said, astonished, “They must be wearing something underneath their uniforms to shield them from enemy fire.”

“That’s probably it,” Corporal Harris suggested, “They could be wearing bulletproof vests. And fairly strong ones, judging from the fact that they’re running right in the path of a machine gun nest.”

“That must’ve been what was in those boxes that were coming from RECON,” Ryan thought, still astonished, but added, “Keep firing, men! Provide cover for Unit Comet!”

“Yes sir!!” everyone in his squad replied and continued to fire.

Trisha was running within the far back of the unit, keeping her eyes set on the movement of everyone else ahead of her and nothing else. Suddenly, a howling sound came through the air. The Taliban were attempting to throw mortars into their ranks. The first one missed the unit completely, but another made impact not too far behind Trisha.

The shock wave from the blast smacked right into the back of Trisha’s legs, and she screamed as the world flipped upside down and she skidded forward a few feet. However, besides some minor bruises, Trisha was fine. But she then heard moaning and wailing behind her, and looking to her right, she saw Private Cammy lying on the ground, clutching her stomach in agony. Trisha ran to her and very gently pulled one of Cammy’s hands up and found it sticky with blood.

Trisha saw that the explosion had blasted open a section of Cammy’s vest, exposing her middle section to shrapnel from the explosion which had created small puncture wounds that were already bleeding a dark red color. Cammy lay there, wailing and crying for her mommy. Although the injury looked pretty gruesome, Trisha didn’t care how much damage the explosion had done to Cammy; she just wanted to keep Cammy alive.

“You won’t die Cammy. Don’t look at it, just don’t look at it,” Trisha said, very gently picking up Cammy and rushing behind the rest of Unit Comet. Natalia could see that her allies were in danger of being blown up or crippled by the mortars, and, running as fast as she could along the sidelines, she bit off the pin of a grenade and threw it at the main mortar set up. The grenade landed just short of the sandbags on the defensive line, and the explosion shot a dense cloud of sand up that blinded the enemy for a few seconds. Jessica then yelled “Diverge!!” and immediately, Unit Comet split into two large squads. Jessica took one squad to the left while Hailey took the other squad to the right. Trisha, with the still groaning Cammy slung over her shoulders, ducked over to Jessica’s squad, gently dragging Cammy behind the cover of a parked car. She rejoined with Jessica’s squad, who all lay crouched behind the car and a few other bulky objects that served as sufficient cover, setting up their riot shields to reinforce their cover.

“Oh God, what happened to Cammy,” Jessica said, looking at Cammy’s injured appearance and Trisha’s blood-stained uniform.

“It was a mortar that exploded behind us,” Trisha said quickly, “It got both me and her, but she took the worst of it.”

“Lisa, Betty, take care of Cammy” Jessica ordered and Trisha gently transferred Cammy to the two medics.

“Where do we go from here, Jessica?” Linda asked, keeping her head low.

“Wait,” Jessica said, and started to slink down further behind the cover of the car they were hiding behind. She then unclipped her helmet and took it off.

“Jessica, what are you doing?” Trisha asked, shocked.

“Checking for snipers,” Jessica said, placing her helmet on her rifle.

“By exposing yourself to them?” Trisha questioned.

“No,” Jessica said, a little impatiently as she raised her rifle mounted helmet above cover. Almost immediately, a couple pows echoed in the streetway, followed by two sniper bullets that penetrated into Jessica’s helmeted decoy.

“As I thought,” Jessica muttered, strapping her helmet back on.

“Well, now we’re trapped,” Linda said, panicking, “A %^# machine gun directly in front of us and snipers pinning us down from all other directions.”

“Don’t worry Linda, I’ve got a plan,” Jessica reassured, then, turning to Mary, gently ordered “Mary, I need you to find a position in one of the buildings to take out all those snipers. You’ll be accompanied by Kay and Melissa. Kay, Melissa, your task is to cover Mary at all times; take down anyone and anything that fires upon, or otherwise, interferes with you.”

“Yes ma’am,” Kay and Melissa replied, saluting.

“But before you can leave,” Jessica added, “We need a firing squad to fire from behind our barricade to blind the gunners on the enemy’s main defensive line and keep them from firing on your group. Who’s going to be in that firing squad, raise your hand.”

Julia, Becky, Natalia, and Linda raised their hands enthusiastically.

“Alright, load up,” Jessica ordered, locking a fresh clip into her own rifle.

“When I say go,” Jessica said to Mary and her bodyguards, “You three get moving as fast as you can.”

Mary, Kay, and Melissa nodded.

“Firing squad, ready!” Jessica ordered, and the firing squad set their rifles just on the edge of the barricade before Jessica yelled “COVERING FIRE!!”

Amidst the loud gunfire, Jessica yelled to Mary and her companions “GO, GO, GO!!”

Mary, Kay, and Melissa took off in a rush and were around the corner of the nearest street before the firing squad’s rifles ran out of ammo and the gunfire stopped.

“The doorway in front of us should give us access to an upstairs level of some kind,” Mary said, indicating to a small receiving door directly in front.

“Okay,” Kay said, “I’m going to kick the door in. Melissa, Mary, cover me.”

Mary and Melissa got on either side of the doorway as Kay lowered her rifle, backed up a step, and kicked the door in with one sharp forward kick. The force of the kick was so strong that the door flew off its hinges and fell flat into the building. Mary and Melissa probed their rifles into the dusty setting beyond the doorway to check for signs of enemy activity. The coast was clear.

Kay entered first, and had to balance herself and walk very slowly as the kicked-in door wobbled under her weight. Mary and Melissa followed behind, keeping their arms outstretched and walking at a fairly slow pace to avoid stumbling from the door’s continuous jostling. All three soldiers attached small flashlights to their rifles and probed the haunted setting that surrounded them. The building was very dusty and abandoned, as Mary anticipated most of the buildings might be. Cobwebs were strung all over the place, the floorboards creaked loudly beneath the girl’s feet, and some of the wooden beams in the walls and ceiling seemed fairly rotten, but not to the extent that the building might collapse on them. Kay judged that the building they were in had, at one point, been some kind of small shop, as she saw a counter with a seemingly non-functional cash register set on top of it and empty shelves behind the counter, supposedly ransacked by the Taliban or taken by the store clerk when he or she was forced to evacuate. There was also a stairwell just ahead of them, just as Mary had hoped.

The trio then heard rapid footsteps coming down the stairwell ahead of them. As a trained precaution, the three raised their rifles, and fired when the approaching person turned out to be a densely-masked Taliban scout. Kay and Melissa got on either side of the stairwell, pointed their rifles up the stairwell to check for further enemy signs.

“I’ll use a grenade to clear the remainder of those $$@#s out of the upper level,” Kay mused to Melissa.

“Good idea,” Melissa said, “Mary, get behind me and wait for my signal to come up.”

Mary got behind Melissa as Kay primed a grenade and threw it into the upstairs level of the building. The explosion blasted open a window and briefly lit up the room with a fiery orange before Kay and Melissa ran up the stairs. Mary remained behind, waiting for Melissa’s signal. The grenade had left three dead bodies, including one sniper, and miniature flames around the room, which Kay stamped out while Melissa cautiously probed the room for any hidden bodyguards. After about five seconds, Melissa returned and gave the signal.

“Coast clear, Mary. Come on up,” Melissa quietly called, motioning with her hand.

Mary rushed up the stairs and took up position by the window. Dropping her standard issue rifle, she removed the strap that held her sniper rifle on her back and loaded a clip into the rifle. As she got into her firing position, Kay and Melissa patrolled the room.

Mary balanced her rifle on her knee and stuck the discharge nozzle of her rifle out of the window, but was careful to avoid exposing her cover. She locked her sights on one sniper who was trying to aim at the cover for Jessica’s squad. Mary whispered a line of encouragement to herself and fired. Switching her sights, she locked onto a soldier in a window near the main barricade who was aiming in the direction of Hailey’s barricade. Whispering the same words of encouragement to herself, she aimed and pulled the trigger.

Although Jessica didn’t want to chance looking over her barricade to see the situation unfold, for fear of being targeted by any surviving snipers, she could guess that Mary was doing a pretty good job of clearing out the snipers that stood between them and the main barricade, judging from some continuous echoing pows not too far away from her position.

After going through at least two clips of at least five bullets, Mary confirmed that all the snipers had been cleared out.

“Mary to Jessica,” Mary said through her helmet comm, “Snipers neutralized, repeat, all snipers between your position and the main barricade have been eliminated.”

“Roger that,” Jessica’s voice replied and added, “Good job, Mary. Try to return safely with your companions to the barricade now.”

“Alrighty Kay and Melissa,” Mary said, strapping her sniper rifle back on and picking up her standard-issue rifle, “Our work here is done. Let’s head back.”

Kay and Melissa nodded and they all proceeded back down the stairs and headed back for the barricade.

“Jessica to Hailey,” Jessica said through her helmet comm, “All snipers between our position and the enemy’s have been taken out. I’d advise that you find a sniper in your group to take out some of the sentries on the main defensive line.”

“Affirmative,” Hailey replied, and after cutting out, turned to her squad and said, “We need a sniper to take out some of the enemy’s guards on their main defensive line.”

“I’ll take the position,” Private Luisa said.

“Me too,” Jacey said, “I’ll act as a secondary sniper for her.”

“Okay, you got your rifles?” Hailey asked.

“Yes,” the two girls replied.

“Alright, set up and start firing once you get a good position,” Hailey ordered.

Jacey and Luisa took out their rifles and prepared to fire. Luisa squeezed the nozzle of her rifle in between the cracks of their squad’s barricade while Jacey crawled around to the furthest part of the barricade and, keeping well concealed, aimed from the ground level at the enemy’s main defensive line. The two snipers exchanged shots at the enemy and were successful in taking out at least three guards with their first clips.

Meanwhile, Mary, Kay, and Melissa came running back to Jessica’s squad and all dove behind the cover of the barricade. From their current position, Unit Comet and Unit Eagle were not in danger of snipers anymore, but there was still the main defensive line ahead of them, which had the strongest firepower. But once again, Jessica had a plan in mind to remove the obstacle.

“I’m going to send a second squad out,” Jessica told her division, “But your task will be very difficult. You have to arm an explosive behind the enemy’s defensive line. It is likely you’ll encounter guards behind the defensive lines.”

“Who cares?” Lilly said, “We’ll blast ‘em before they even get within meters of us.”

“But you’ll be carrying explosives on you, F.Y.I.” Trisha retorted, “One hit and you’ll all be blown to pieces. So I’d listen to Jessica and be careful if you want to come out of this alive.”

“Lisa, how’s Cammy?” Jessica asked, looking over at Lisa and Betty tending to the injured Cammy, who occasionally groaned and twisted her head from side to side.

“We’ve safely removed the shrapnel,” Lisa said, “And we’ve stopped any external bleeding. I just need to cover up the exposed section in her vest and she should be fine.”

“How long before she fully recovers?” Jessica asked.

“It may be another three or five minutes,” Betty said, “But I’m sure she’ll be ready before we move to take the stronghold.”

“Alright,” Jessica said, assured, then turning to the rest of her squad, added, “I need a show of hands for anyone who wants to be in the detonation squad.”

Quite a number of soldiers in her squad showed eagerness to volunteering. However, Jessica felt that she could only let about six go, because she needed the remainder of the squad to be ready to charge into the stronghold once the way in was clear.

“Alright,” Jessica replied, “Lilly, Trisha, Linda, Anne, Natasha, and Kate, you six will go behind enemy lines and set the explosives.”

Jessica then handed them a couple military backpacks along with an extra navy colored duffle bag.

“The backpacks have at least a few kinds of explosives inside,” Jessica said, “Do not put these on until you are behind the corner of the building behind us and out of the enemy’s range of fire. The duffel bag holds the detonation accessories, fuse, etc. Trisha and Anne, carry the explosives. Linda, you have the detonation accessories. The rest of you will provide cover fire. Everyone else in this squad who’s not going to prime the explosive, form a firing squad. If you must put your whole self out there to blind the enemy and keep them from hitting the explosives, go ahead.”

As everyone else in the squad loaded their rifles, Jessica told Trisha, “When I give the word, take off as fast as you can.”

Trisha nodded and passed the word to everyone else in the detonation squad. Then Jessica said it. “COVERING FIRE!!”

Once again, Jessica yelled at the top of her lungs to the detonation squad to run their fastest. Everyone in the squad, regardless of whether they really were ready or not, went running like sprinters, keeping as low as they could to avoid being a target. They were around the corner in minutes and after getting about five meters away from the corner, they stopped to catch their breath.

As Trisha and Anne strapped on the explosive-containing backpacks, Trisha muttered to Kate, “This is really dangerous. I feel like an open target wearing this stuff on me.”

“I agree,” Kate muttered back, “I mean who the !@# knows what kind of explosives are in those things. C4, a handful of grenades, dynamite?”

“Well the thing we should be more concerned about is who are we going to encounter on the way there?” Linda asked, feeling concern herself.

“I’ve no idea,” Trisha said, then added, “Come on. Let’s get these sacks behind enemy lines ASAP. Let go, go, GO!”

Again, they were running, most of them keeping their rifles ready at the slightest sign of interception.

“Hailey to Jessica,” Hailey’s voice said over Jessica’s helmet comm, “We’ve taken out at least five guards. What’s your status?”

“I’ve sent some squad members to carry out a sabotage mission behind enemy lines,” Jessica replied.

“What?” Hailey’s voice sounded disbelieving, “What kind of a sabotage mission?”

“If you really must know,” Jessica replied, cautiously, “An explosive one.”

“And how the #%$! did we get behind with explosives for a sabotage mission in the middle of all this?” Hailey asked, still not understanding what she was hearing.

“Just be patient,” Jessica soothed, “The detonation squad knows what they’re doing. Keep working on the main defensive line as best you can.”

“Right,” Hailey said, a little dulled, and cut out.

“I sure as heck hope the squad knows what they’re doing,” Jessica muttered to herself, “If they get themselves blow up before they can detonate the main defensive line, I’m never going to forgive myself.”

Another five minutes later, the detonation squad was within a good range of their target. Strangely enough, they hadn’t encountered any kind of resistance along the way.

“Where are those ^&^*% enemies?” Natasha asked, looking around and pointing her rifle in a series of directions.

“They could be more focused on Jessica, Hailey, and Ryan’s squads,” Linda suggested, “I mean, we were covered by that firing squad that Jessica created, so the enemy couldn’t have seen us too well. Therefore, they probably don’t know where we are.”

“All the same,” Trisha advised, “Keep your wits about you. Even just one soldier could become an imminent danger if we’re spotted. And don’t give me your gung-ho attitude, Lilly.”

“I said nothing,” Lilly grumbled to herself.

The group found a small alleyway that lead in the direction of some of the echoing gunfire. The alleyway looked dark, stacked with boxes, trash cans, timbers, and a variety of other alleyway contents.It also featred a couple slightly collapsed shade structures, probably the source of the faint darkness within the alleyway. Trisha went in first, treading very carefully around the various contents in the alleyway.

“Everyone,” Trisha said quietly, “Get in a single file line and follow my footsteps exactly. Avoid touching anything in the alleyway. If you knock anything over, it could give away our position.”

The detonation squad obeyed, covering each other and taking carefully placed single steps as they moved. The detonation squad did a fairly good job of weaving their way through the alleyway, the only sounds being their own footsteps and the gunfire which steadily grew louder as they got closer. Finally, after exiting the other end of the alleyway, they found themselves in a shadowed bunker-like area. Here, the gunfire was immense sounding, so loud that Trisha would have thought that firing their own rifles wouldn’t give off their position.

Trisha and Anne removed their backpacks and Linda opened up the duffel bag.

“Okay, I’ll go first,” Trisha said. Grabbing her backpack by the top strap, she stepped quietly into the denser part of the enemy’s bunker. As she proceeded forward, she took out her semi-automatic and fastened a silencer accessory to it.

“It may be loud in here,” Trisha thought to herself, “But I still don’t want to take any chances.”

A few steps in and she could see the enemy’s main defensive line: a series of sandbags with a heavy machine gun mounted on top and at least seven Taliban soldiers present in the area. Very quietly, she set her backpack down and headed back.

“Anne, you’re next. Set up your backpack next to mine,” Trisha quietly ordered, “Linda, follow up behind Anne. When Anne has deployed her backpack, unzip both backpacks slightly and stick the fuse in. Close the backpacks again to keep the fuse from slipping out and then run the remainder of it back here.”

“Roger,” Linda said and followed after Anne. Doing exactly as Trisha had told her, Linda unzipped both Trisha’s and Anne’s backpacks slightly, sticking a fuse wire in both backpacks. After re-zipping them, she took the wire coil, attached to a spinner, and began to roll it backwards.

“Alright, everyone, get way back,” Trisha said, issuing stand out motions with her hands, “We have no idea as to how powerful these explosive will be or what kind of a blast radius they have.”

They all backed up about five feet from their original position before Linda cut the wire on the spinner and attached it to the fuse box.

“Trisha to Jessica, do you read me?” Trisha whispered hoarsely through her helmet comm, “Explosives set, repeat, explosives set. Awaiting further orders.”

“Detonate when ready, Sarge,” Jessica’s voice said.

“Alright, when I give the signal,” Trisha told Linda, “Commence detonation.”

Trisha counted down from 10 on her fingers and Linda got ready to fuse the circuit wires that would detonate the explosives.

“5...4...3...2...1...NOW!” Trisha didn’t bother to lower her voice at this.

Linda literally smashed the wires together, and the explosives erupted in an almost blinding orange sun. A wave of heat suddenly blasted back toward the detonation squad, throwing them all off their feet and about a couple yards from their previous position. Linda was one of a couple who screamed as the wave threw her off her feet and sent her flying through the air before she hit the ground again and the lights went out.

A ground shaking explosion followed by an immense roar echoed through the main street. Hailey, completely shocked by this, peered over the edge of her barricade. What had once been the enemy’s main defensive line was now engulfed in a sea of flames.

“Oh...my…” Hailey couldn’t even finish the sentence as she watched the flames swallow the remainder of the main defensive line.

At the other end of the blast site, Trisha, who like most others in her squad had been knocked unconscious from the blast, slowly woke up. Her vision seemed rather blurred and she thought she saw bodies. As she blinked to clear the waviness from her eyes, the bodies appeared to be those of her comrades. The one closest to her, Lilly, lay on her side, eyes shut. A little further behind her was Linda, laying upward on the ground, her eyes also shut and a small dribble of blood trickling from her nose.

“They can’t be dead,” Trisha thought to herself as she struggled to her feet, and in doing so, nudged Lilly’s body.

Lilly groaned and pushed herself to her feet.

“Lilly, are you alright?” Trisha asked.

“Groggy,” was all Lilly could say as she tried to shake her own dizziness.

To Trisha’s pleasure, everyone else in her squad awoke as well, many of them clutching the upper part of their nose between the eyes or rubbing their head as they recovered from their previously unconscious state.

“Are you all ready to rejoin with Unit Comet?” Trisha asked.

“Yes ma’am,” the rest of the detonation squad replied, tiredly.

“Jessica to Trisha,” Jessica’s voice said over the helmet comm,”Are you and your detonation squad okay?”

“We’re fine,” Trisha replied, shaking her head a little, “Dizzy, but fine. We’re going to try to meet up with your squad. What’re your orders?”

“We’re going to rejoin with Hailey and Ryan and charge straight through the remainders of the enemy’s lines. Rejoin with us the moment we reach the wreckage.”

“Got it,” Trisha replied and cut out, then turning to her squad, “Alright everyone, let’s go. We’re going to reconvene at the wreckage site.”

Trisha and her squad ran back toward the wreckage of the defensive line. Anne helped lead the way, setting her hand on a small bulky obstruction in the wreckage and doing a side-flip jump, which everyone else repeated. As the squad made their way through to the wreckage, they were held up by two masked Taliban soldiers. The bandit-like soldiers were running at Trisha and her squad, shaking their rifles and swearing in Arabic at them. Trisha and the rest of her squad already had their rifles up as their assailants drew nearer.

“What? What was that?” Lilly sarcastically asked the oncoming enemies as they drew nearer. At just the right moment, some of the squad’s members fired, taking down the two attacking soldiers.

“What the @# were they saying?” Natasha asked Lilly.

“Hey, my rifle’s for sale, you want it?” Lilly said, imitating the rifle shaking of the soldiers then laughed tauntingly with Natasha. Trisha simply rolled her eyes, mumbling, “You girls,” and continued on.

The group finally broke through the wreckage just in time to see the rest of Unit Comet, with Unit Eagle in tow, charging straight for their position. Trisha’s squad stood to the side to allow a clear path for the oncoming unit before merging with them. The squad encountered some pretty frequent gunfire from enemy units deeper inside the defensive line, but their bullet-proof vests and riot shields kept them safe from any fatal damage. Julia kept Hailey covered from the side but was briefly disabled when a bullet sliced across her upper left arm. Lisa came to her aid, however, and quickly pulled Julia to the side, wrapped a bandage around her arm, and got her back to her feet.

As the charge continued, Unit Comet and Unit Eagle began to diverge into a variety of directions. Some soldiers kept to the main group, firing up into enemy-occupied buildings or firing straight ahead of them. Other soldiers would storm some of the enemy firing positions, killing off most soldiers in those areas and taking some prisoners. Megan went charging up the stairs of an apartment where some soldiers were attempting to fire down upon Unit Comet. Megan succeeded in taking out a couple of the main gunners, but as she turned the corner to fire at the enemies inside the building, a gunner in the room fired at her. The gunfire hit Megan in the stomach, but her bullet proof-vest kept her safe from any fatal damage. At the same time, however, the force sent her backwards, right over the balcony and plummeting to the street below.

Anna heard Megan scream and ran straight to the would-be point of impact, stretching out her arms to catch Megan. Anna was successful in keeping Megan from falling to her death, but Megan’s weight and the speed of her fall sent Anna crashing to the ground. This only bruised her a little and she checked to see if Megan was alright.

“Thanks for catching me,” Megan said, struggling to her feet.

Lilly finished off the gunners inside the building that Megan had attempted to storm by throwing a grenade up into the doorway. Anna then followed up behind Jacey, who’d taken cover behind a wall to fire at some oncoming enemy forces. As Jacey turned to fire, a bullet hit her in the wrist.

“Ow! Dammit,” Jacey grunted as she dropped her rifle and collapsed to her knees.

Anna covered Jacey by taking out the oncoming forces herself. Cammy was now fully recovered from her shrapnel wounds, wearing a spare uniform over her original one to cover the exposure left behind by the mortar. She ran at her normal pace, keeping to the main group with Lisa providing cover and Betty at her side, keeping a defensive pistol ready to counter any sideline attacks. Harris, along with Richard and Nicholas, were able to keep to the side and provide cover for Unit Comet, taking down any unsuspecting attackers from the sidelines as well.

Again, Unit Comet found themselves facing intense machine gun fire as they neared the main entrance to the stronghold. Linda was knocked backwards off her feet as a volley of bullets punctured her vest in a variety of places. The force of the bullets had rattled her body so much that she felt herself slightly trembling from the vibrations as she struggled back to her feet. Melissa covered Linda as she regained her footing while Helen ran on with Natalia. Natalia fell to the ground briefly after taking a shot to the lower part of her vest while Helen stopped in her tracks with a yelp and fell after taking a shot near her left shoulder. Both Helen and Natalia, though, recovered in a matter of minutes.

“If it weren’t for these bullet-proof vests,” Melissa thought to herself, “I would’ve considered this charge to be almost insane.”

Meanwhile, Jessica and Hailey, still at the front of the lines, managed to get within close enough distance of a second machine gun nest right in front of the stronghold building before they diverged. Leslie accompanied Jessica while Becky accompanied Hailey. With the help of Nicholas, Harris, and Nicole, Jessica and Hailey overran the enemies behind the machine gun nest, gaining control of the area.

“Man, we must look like dead soldiers with all these bullet holes in our vests,” Hailey said, observing a number of bullet holes in Jessica’s uniform.

“At least we’re not exposed to any fatal damage, yet,” Jessica said.

“How much longer do you suppose these vests will last?” Hailey asked.

“Hopefully long enough for us to take the stronghold,” Jessica replied as the rest of Unit Comet and Unit Eagle arrived at the entrance to the stronghold. Jessica, Hailey, and everyone else who had a riot shield discarded their shields by the overrun machine gun nest.

Jessica and Hailey found the door to the stronghold building blocked and unopenable, even after Jessica and Hailey kicked it and threw themselves against it. Richard then came up and laid a grenade by the door. Everyone cleared away, some covering their ears, as the explosive blasted the door open.

“Go, Go, GO!!” Jessica ordered, and every last soldier went running through the open doorway.

There was an intense commotion once Unit Comet and Unit Eagle stormed the stronghold. Soldiers from both units as well as the enemy’s side were dashing through the rooms in the stronghold, firing at each other or ducking behind anything that served as sufficient cover. Quite a number of Unit Comet’s soldiers also had their combat knives ready to counter any threat that came too close.

Jessica clipped a soldier in the chin as he appeared around a corner and shot another soldier who proceeded down a stairwell. Hailey, meanwhile, jumped and rolled up onto a table, lying flat on her stomach as she fired at some oncoming soldiers. Leslie, Nicholas, Melissa, and Helen were moving in a variety of directions while firing their rifles and would duck behind overturned tables or stacked boxes whenever circumstances made it unsafe or impossible to fire. Nicole covered Harris, using her bullet proof vest as a shield to keep Harris safe from enemy bullets while she gunned down the attacker. Harris, in turn, would take down enemies who tried to get Nicole from the most unexpected points without endangering himself. Cammy overturned a table and Kay somersaulted behind it for cover. Cammy kept low behind the table, firing her rifle over the edge of the table while Kay would stand up and provide additional firepower, ducking only to reload.

Trisha was limiting the amount of clips she went through, using her rifle mostly as a club to counter enemies unless they were out of range. Suddenly, a soldier threw a bolo knife at her. Trisha ducked as the knife came spinning at her, but she then heard a groan behind her. Turning around, she saw that the knife had buried itself into Kate’s stomach. Kate gritted her teeth and sunk to her knees. With eyes of fire, Trisha ran at the knife thrower and delivered a skull-shattering smash to the soldier’s head with her rifle. The soldier spun on his heel, slammed into a wall and was dead before he hit the ground.

Trisha ran to Kate, who was still clutching the knife that had impaled her.

“Kate, can you hear me!?” Trisha said, her eyes beginning to get glassy.

“Tri...Trisha” Kate struggled to say.

“LISA!!” Trisha called out, almost screaming.

“What is it?” Lisa said, running over, then saw Kate and inhaled a concerned breath.

“Doesn’t look like there’s much I can do, Sarge,” Lisa said, looking at the knife, “It’s pretty deep in. And we can’t chance removing it, otherwise Kate may die from severe blood loss.”

“Trisha,” Kate uttered, looking up at her, “Trisha...I have a daughter back home. If...if she...asks about me...why I didn’t….come back...just tell her…..”

“Yes, tell her what,” Trisha asked patiently.

“Tell her…..I died...saving...my….country….” Kate replied, with a weak but triumphant smile, “As the victorious….Battle Angel...the angel that will...fight to the death...for her country…”

Kate finally exhaled her last breath and ceased moving, slumping gently against Trisha’s shoulders. The painful feeling of loss seemed to burn like acid on Trisha’s heart. It was so painful that Trisha felt she might cry. Then she heard what sounded like her late brother’s voice in her head.

“Trisha, you must be strong,” Carlos’ voice seemed to say in her head, “Just let go of the pain. Keep fighting.”

Trisha quietly acknowledged the request and slowly stood up.

“We’ll take Kate back to RECON afterwards,” Trisha told Lisa, “In the meantime, we’ve still got a battle to fight, and a stronghold to take. So let’s keep moving.”

As the chaotic fighting continued Ryan pulled Leslie, Carla, Lisa, Betty, and Trisha to one side.

“According to the data that I have,” Ryan told the five, “There are hostages in the upstairs level. Leslie, you and the other four of you go up and release them.”

“Absolutely,” Leslie replied, saluting.

“Um, General,” Betty said, “I’m not equipped to take down hostage holders.”

“Betty, your task is to follow the Master Sergeant and her group and to tend to any hostages who may be injured or sick. You will be at the back of the group,” Ryan clarified.

“Alright,” Betty said, a little more reassured.

“Okay, let’s move!” Leslie ordered, and the group went running up the stairs.

The group then came across a corridor with a series of rooms. Trisha turned the knob to one door and very gently opened it. Immediately, Trisha found herself facing a Taliban soldier who held an American teenage girl of about 19 against him. The soldier also held a semi-automatic to her head, speaking threateningly in Arabic. Trisha kept still; one wrong move and the girl hostage would die.

Carla, behind Trisha’s back, took out her own semi-automatic and fastened a silencer to it. Taking careful aim and keeping well concealed behind Trisha, Carla fired.

Trisha was alarmed when she heard a bullet zing past her from behind and hit the enemy soldier straight in shoulder. As the soldier collapsed, so did the girl he was holding. Lisa, without considering whether there were other soldiers in the room, rushed inside and caught the girl as she fell. Trisha gunned down the soldier and along with Carla, followed Lisa, probing their rifles around the room. No one else was around.

“There there,” Lisa said as the girl began to cry, “You’re safe.”

“Why did you do that?” Trisha hissed to Carla, “You could have killed me or the girl.”

“You think I was going to let you just stand at a stalemate with the life of a hostage on the line?” Carla asked in an obvious tone.

“What’s your name,” Lisa asked the girl gently.

“Melinda,” the girl replied, beginning to wipe some of her tears away, “Yours?”

“Private Lisa Marilyn of Unit Comet,” Lisa said, “How did you end up here?”

“I was with a small class that was touring a part of Afghanistan that we were sure was way out of the war zone,” Melinda explained, “Apparently, we were wrong. Three days in, the Taliban attacked and kidnapped us all. Then, I just remember that we were all held in various rooms in this building along with various civilian hostages from the town.”

“Do you know where the others may be?” Lisa asked patiently.

“In one of the nearby rooms, I’m guessing,” Melinda said, “But I’m frightened that they won’t get out alive now.”

“Trisha, Lisa, Carla, come with me,” Leslie said, “Betty, stay with Melinda. We’re going to find the remaining hostages.”

Leslie, Trisha, Lisa, and Carla went through every room, either finding enemy soldiers waiting to fire at them or hostages, desperate to get free. Sometimes, there were guards placed around the hostages, but Trisha, Carla and Leslie neutralized them as quickly and safely as possible. At one point though, they broke into a room and found a 16-year old civilian boy from the town struggling to get out his captor’s grasp. He broke free, but the soldier threw a knife at him as the boy ran. Trisha, almost without second thought, jumped in the path of the spinning knife. The knife hit Trisha in the left arm, saving the boy but injuring herself. Leslie gunned down the soldier and Lisa came to Trisha’s aid.

“How deep in is it?” Trisha asked.

“Not much,” Lisa said, “But I’m going to put a bandage on it.”

Carefully, Lisa removed the knife, and Trisha briefly whined in pain but quieted down as Lisa quickly tied a bandage to her arm and applied pressure to the wound.

“We have to keep the hostages up here,” Leslie recommended as Trisha got back on her feet, “It’s obviously too dangerous to take them downstairs as long as the fighting is still going on.”

“No problem,” Lisa replied, “Betty and I can take care of ‘em while you, Carla, and Trisha rejoin with the others.”

“Are you sure I’m allowed to go back into combat?” Trisha asked, looking at the bandage on her left arm.

“Just avoid knife throwers as much as possible,” Lisa said, part sarcastically, “That’s my best recommendation.”

Back downstairs, the pandemonium seemed to continue endlessly as Unit Comet and Unit Eagle pushed their way through the stronghold. Suddenly, Penny spotted the target she’d been sent to kill. He was running for a corridor and had disappeared behind one of the corridor’s corners before she could even aim at him.

“Jessica!” Penny called to Jessica, “I’ve located the target which the MI6 sent me to terminate. Requesting permission to diverge from the unit.”

“Permission granted!” Jessica called back.

“Lucile, come on!” Penny called, and the two girls went running down the corridor after their target, neutralizing any enemies that got in the way.

Penny and Lucile’s target kept running down the corridor, firing a semi-automatic behind him to fend of his pursuers. As they reached the end of the corridor, the target fired his semi-automatic at the control panel of a roll-door. The panel exploded in a series of sparks and miniature lightning and the roll-door began to descend. The target ran smoothly through the open doorway, but Penny and Lucile were able to slide straight underneath the doorway before it fully shut. They were met, however, by a whole group of Taliban soldiers, who’d arrived to defend the target. The soldiers held assault rifles pointed straight at Penny and Lucile’s heads. Penny then ducked a little beneath their aim and lashed out with a kick to one of the soldier’s legs, giving them an open pathway through the group. The sisters then used both their knives and some advanced hand-to-hand combat moves to take out the remaining soldiers before continuing after their target.

In a storage room just beyond, Penny and Lucile had their target cornered. But the target wasn’t going to just wait to get shot. He took out two grenades, flicked the pins off and tossed them straight at the sisters. Penny and Lucile jumped to opposite ends of the room as the grenades exploded, creating a long wall of fire that stretched to either end of the corridor. Penny attempted to shoot the target from the side, but the target shot her in the shoulder as she raised her rifle. Penny yelped in pain as a small burst of blood erupted from her shoulder and she collapsed to her knees, grabbing her shoulder and trying to staunch the blood flow. Lucile ran at the target and tried to tackle him to the ground. This only resulted in tangled struggle between the two until the target smacked her in the forehead with the butt of the semi-automatic. Lucile collapsed, holding a bleeding injury to her forehead.

Assuming that his attackers wouldn’t be able to follow, the target ran for the corridor, jumping over the wall of fire he’d created with the grenades.

“It’s now or never,” Penny said to herself, struggling to her feet, her shoulder bleeding profusely.

She got Lucile to her feet, who’d surprisingly recovered from her own injury, and the two aimed their rifles at their target as he continued to run down the corridor. The next corner to the corridor was still quite far away, so the sisters still had a chance. They ran after their target, and as he turned to fire his semi-automatic, Penny pulled the trigger on her own weapon. Lucile followed suite.

Bullets hit the target all over the place, and he stumbled, fell forward and moved no more.

“Mission accomplished,” Penny said, looking at the target’s body.

“Not just yet,” Lucile said, and Penny noticed that Lucile had turned her semi-automatic to the underside of her chin.

“Lucile, what the @#% are you doing?” Penny demanded, shocked.

“The MI6 wanted to keep our identities a secret from the enemy,” Lucile said.

“But no one in Unit Comet would betray us,” Penny insisted, “Now please take that pistol away from your chin.”

“Even so,” Lucile said, “Protocol requires that missions such as this should not be traced back to the MI6. Our deaths may be needed to prevent such a trace back.”

“But for all we know,” Penny insisted, “That protocol could have been suspended for us following that conversation General McCoy had with the head of MI6.”

“Orders are orders, Penny,” Lucile said, and briefly switched her aim in Penny’s direction, “Now take your pistol out now or I’m going to have to shoot you also.”

Reluctantly, Penny complied and drew her semi-automatic from her utility belt. She pulled back and locked the clip and aimed it under her chin. But inside her, a voice asked her one question.

“Who’s your true loyalty to, Penny? To your country or to some protocol enforced by the MI6?”

It was painful, but Penny couldn’t withdraw now. It seemed almost like a lose lose situation. Lucile returned her own aim back to her chin and began to count from ten.

“Don’t do it Penny, Don’t do it” the voice kept saying, and Penny was on the verge of tears as she kept hearing this. It felt like she was being squeezed into crying, and the pressure kept building on her more and more until it seemed like she couldn’t breathe. Just as Lucle hit three, Penny quickly switched her aim and fired. Lucile dropped her pistol and held her side, which began to turn red.

“Wha...Penny...what have…..you….done?” Lucile uttered and collapsed into Penny’s arms.

Penny knew what she’d done. She hadn’t killed her sister, only put her out of commission with a small shot to the side. Penny knew that Lisa could fix that up.

“Penny….you...cheated…” Lucile said between breaths.

“I had to decide,” Penny said, relaxed, “Should I devote my loyalty just to the MI6 or should I devote it to my country altogether. In the end, my country is who I’m serving. The MI6 shouldn’t require us to take our lives just to keep some stupid information leakage from occurring. Maybe it’s true that if we were captured, we may not get a chance to kill ourselves to prevent a leakage of government or MI6 secrets, but it is worth a try. While we’re still serving in Unit Comet, let’s keep fighting for our country, fighting like Jessica, Hailey, Trisha, and everyone else is, until we can fight no more.”

After this, Penny picked up her sister and carried her back down the corridor to where the rest of Unit Comet would be waiting. When she arrived, she found that the fighting had stopped. And to her pleasure, it was a victory for Unit Comet. In all the time that Penny and Lucile had been chasing their target, Unit Comet and Unit Eagle had fought through every last room and corridor in the stronghold complex, either neutralizing or taking enemy soldiers as prisoners.

Once the whole complex had been cleared of threats, the stronghold was theirs. Unit Comet and Unit Eagle had accomplished their mission.

A week later, all of Unit Comet and Unit Eagle stood in an organized formation in the cafeteria and watched an emailed speech that had been sent by the U.S. President on a large projector.

“Soldiers of RECON,” the President said, “Your recent victory in taking the stronghold 5-miles north of your base’s coordinates has given the American people great hope of a turn in the tide of the War Against Terror. All soldiers involved in this conquest went beyond the call of duty and took extreme risks in getting us to where we are now.

I specifically wish to congratulate one particular unit for helping score this victory. This was a unit consisting of women fighters, all of whom were willing to do anything to protect their country and repel the spread of terrorism to the furthest extent. This unit is Unit Comet, and it is with every last soldier who has fought in their ranks that we were able to score this victory. Unit Comet has been viewed by some as the brightest star in the constellation of freedom, liberty, and bravery and with this recent victory, has shown just how capable women can be in fighting for our country. Every last soldier in this unit shall be honored for their participation in this victory. All those who died while fighting for this victory will be remembered and given a place at the Arlington National Cemetery in recognition of their bravery.

Unit Comet; the brightness of their starry light shall shine for many years in this country’s future. We can hope that they will score further victories as this war continues, and maybe even bring the war to a close. I say personally that everyone in Unit Comet shall go down in history as an example of those who fight under the banner of ‘The Home of the Brave’. God be with you all.”

As the speech ended, everyone in Unit Comet removed their caps and with screams of joy, threw them high into the air. Jessica and Hailey hugged each other hard, jumping and joyfully repeating “We did it, WE DID IT!!”

As the projector screen rolled back up, General McCoy stepped up onto the stage area of the cafeteria and approached a microphone that had been set up for him during the President’s speech. Jessica narrowed her eyes a bit in curiosity as she caught a glimpse of something shiny suspended on the General’s arm and was hidden behind his back.

“I myself wish to extend my gratitude to Unit Comet and Unit Eagle for their actions during this conquest,” McCoy said, “But I have something extra I wish to present.”

At this, he took his hand from behind his back to show a small array of medals that hung on his arm.

“In addition to a collectively outstanding performance,” McCoy continued, “There were specific individuals who I believe must be commended for their actions during the fight. First I’d like to offer the Medal of Honor. This individual holds the rank of Sergeant in Unit Comet and has been through alot in her career of service, including having to bear the losses of her brother and a couple friends in combat, and was required to do one of the riskiest missions in the operation, which was to carry explosives behind enemy lines. I would like to award Sergeant Trisha Catalica the Medal of Honor for her bravery and commitment to the United States Armed Forces. Well done, Ms. Catalica.”

Trisha was blushing with excitement but kept a firm posture as she walked past her applauding friends and comrades and up onto the stage to receive her award. When she reached the center of the stage, she bent down on one knee as McCoy placed the medal around her neck and shook her hand as she got back up and stood firmly to one side of McCoy.

“The next person I wish to award,” McCoy said, “Goes to an old friend of mine whom I have not been in contact with up until now. But I hope that the Military doesn’t object to a General awarding another General, because I wish to offer the Army Distinguished Service Medal to my old friend, General Ryan Hicks, for leading the attack that has gained him, Unit Eagle, and Unit Comet national recognition.”

Again, everyone applauded as Ryan stepped up on stage and accepted his award and a firm handshake from General McCoy.

“This next medal is the Department of Defense’s Distinguished Service Medal,” McCoy said, “I wish to award this medal to a member of Unit Comet who is probably more experienced with medical science than combat, but still deserves a lot of respect. Without her, the commanding officer of Unit Comet, First Lieutenant Jessica Alison, would not be here with us today. She has also saved a number of other soldiers from agonizing pain and other near death situations. How she does it, I do not know, but I wish to award Private and Combat Casualties Officer Lisa Marilyn the Distinguished Service Medal for her abilities.”

After a few other awards came the highest ranked medals McCoy held in his hands; the Silver Star.

“There are two individuals who deserve this award,” McCoy said, “This first individual is one who has demonstrated great fighting skills as long as she’s been with Unit Comet. As one of her friends told me, ‘She may look friendly, but if you tick her off enough, she may come around behind and break your neck.’ She also took temporary control of Unit Comet when their First Lieutenant was taken out of commission and although she didn’t have command for too long, she is still an honorable individual. This first soldier recognized with the Silver Star is none other than Second Lieutenant Hailey Rincoln.”

“SWEET!” Jessica shouted and high-fived Hailey as she stood up, “Great job Hailey.”

Just as Hailey finished receiving her award and giving her honored salute to McCoy, the second individual was announced.

“This second individual I’ve known since she came to RECON and first started serving in Unit Comet. She too has been through alot in her service career, and has nearly died twice. But she has made it out alive and as both me and Ryan have observed, she has come up with some of the most daring, insane, and bravest combat strategies I’ve ever seen. This second Silver Star medal goes to none other than First Lieutenant Jessica Allison, the commanding officer of Unit Comet.”

This time, instead of just regular applause, screams of joy, excitement, and jubilation filled the room as Jessica proceeded down the nearest aisle to receive her award. After receiving this award, Jessica turned to the microphone.

“Thank you General McCoy,” Jessica acknowledged to everyone, “But I have to say, everyone in Unit Comet and Unit Eagle did an outstanding job during the mission. They all did everything in their gut to accomplish the many tasks that were put before them during the mission. As much as it is true that all of us standing here with these medals are truly recognized for our performance in the mission, I must say that everyone here deserves a great deal of respect for their actions, decisions, and abilities which they performed in combat during the operation. On behalf of everyone here with me on stage, thank you for your service to our country.”

Jessica then saluted to the audience before turning to leave the stage with everyone else.

“Great job out there, Jessica,” General McCoy said as the applause continued. Jessica hugged him before McCoy continued, “You had me scared stiff when I heard you’d fallen on that grenade earlier on. I thought I’d lost one of my best commanders for good.”

“I probably wouldn’t have recovered without Lisa,” Jessica said, looking over at Lisa, who was in conversation with Betty, Linda, and Lilly, “Just like you said, without her therapeutic abilities, you really might have lost me.

“I have some more good news, Jessica,” McCoy added, “I’ve recommended temporary relief for you and a few other officers in Unit Comet to see their families for the holidays this December. I thought that you would want to see your family again, since I believe it has been a long time since you last saw them.”

Jessica was beyond tears when she heard this. She would see her mother and Alicia after so long overseas.

“See, what did I tell you, Alicia,” Jessica said in her mind, “I promised I would come back, and I kept my promise.”

It was Christmas Day, and Jessica walked with her sister into what she assumed was the living room, her eyes covered by a blindfold. Jessica followed her younger sister’s voice around the living room until she heard Alicia say stop. Almost immediately, Alicia removed Jessica’s blindfold, and an almost heavenly sight greeted Jessica. A brightly glowing tree with a variety of ornaments and lights, an angel at the top, and a Lionel train set running in a small loop around the bottom of the tree. There were also a variety of miniature U.S. flags that were suspended all around the tree, but what made Jessica most excited was the sight of all the presents underneath the tree.

“My, it’s beautiful,” Jessica commented, a rush of joy and pleasure rushing through her whole body at the sight, “How long did it take you and mom to set it up?”

“Only a day,” Alicia said, smiling, “Most of the decorations we put on while you were asleep just before we cleared the way for Santa.”

“You must’ve worked hard,” Jessica commented.

“Merry Christmas, Jessie,” Jessica’s mom said, embracing her in a hug.

“I bet you and Alicia missed me a lot,” Jessica said, “And you must’ve been worried sick when I went to go fight to take the enemy stronghold.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Jessica’s mom replied, “Alicia couldn’t sleep for days when she heard you were actually out fighting.”

“I literally found myself choking back tears every night,” Alicia added “Feeling a desperate want for you to be home with me again.”

“Well, let’s enjoy the time together that we have now,” Jessica said, kissing Alicia on the cheek.

Then the doorbell rang, and Jessica opened it to find Hailey and Trisha, who’d taken a flight from her home in New York City to see Jessica and Hailey. Following introductions, Jessica, Alicia and everyone else gathered around the tree to open presents. Jessica got a portrait of a group picture of her and everyone else in Unit Comet. The picture had been taken not long after the victory speech from the President. Jessica pointed out some of the soldiers to Alicia, giving some of them nicknames as she pointed them out. Jessica pointed out “Miracle Lisa, Sharpshooter Mary, and Offroader Cammy” as well as a number of others, a few of which Jessica gave some brief stories of.

“There’s you and Hailey” Alicia said, pointing to the lower middle of the picture.

Sure enough, there was Jessica, kneeling on her knees next to Hailey, the two of them smiling brightly.

“Wasn’t there some kind of group name we called ourselves,” Hailey asked Jessica, “It was the group that included us, Trisha, Leslie, Cammy and Melissa, right? What was the name again?”

“I think it was the rough-riders,” Jessica said, “I might not have told you, mom, but Hailey, Trisha and I did quite a lot of driving with those Humvee jeeps before the fighting started.”

“I hope you didn’t crash any while you drove them,” Jessica’s mom replied, and laughed a little. Everyone else joined in the laughter.

“Oh, Alicia,” Hailey said, grabbing one present that was labeled to Alicia from Hailey, “This is for you,” then turning to Jessica, “I thought she might want one of them.”

Alicia opened the present to find an athletic T-shirt, and not just any, the signature ones worn by Unit Comet during athletic sessions. And it was exactly her size.

“Thank you so much Hailey,” Alicia said excitedly, and quickly put it on over her other shirt.

“Now you really do look like you’re one with our athletic team, Alicia,” Jessica commented, “How did you get one of those that was her size, Hailey?”

“I made a request before we left RECON for the holidays,” Hailey said, “It was merely an email which I sent to the shirt printer that created the athletic shirts for Unit Comet, only I asked that the size match Alicia’s and that it be shipped to my address for packaging.”

“You are a marvel, Hailey” Jessica said.

Another box for Alicia that was labeled “From Santa” contained a set of women soldier action figures, and then another one, “From Jessica” contained a movie which Alicia had so wanted to see. It was a movie Jessica remembered seeing when she was about Alicia’s age: the Olsen Sister’s production of Switching Goals. Jessica knew that since Alicia loved little league soccer, this was just the right video for her to watch. Another present to Jessica, this time “From Alicia” was a very well sketched drawing of a logo for Unit Comet, written using red and blue colored pencils.

“Here’s something I thought you’d want,” Trisha said, handing a present in her hands to Alicia.

Inside was a pink and silver Nike soccer ball which glowed reflectively as though it were new.

“I used to play with that when I was about ten or so,” Trisha said.

“Really?” Jessica said, raising her eyebrows, “You never told me you’d played soccer before.”

“I never played on a team,” Trisha admitted, “Just played with family or friends at times.”

That evening, Jessica came to Alicia’s room to read her a story to help her go to bed.

“There was this one story that my history teacher showed us,” Alicia said, pulling a small packet out of her backpack, “It’s a WWII Christmas story. It may sound a little sad, and it did make me think about you.”

Jessica looked at the story, then after looking to Alicia for approval, began to read:

Twas the night before Christmas,

He lived all alone,

In a one bedroom house made of

Plaster and stone.

I had come down the chimney

With presents to give,

And to see just who

In this home did live.

I looked all about,

A strange sight I did see,

No tinsel, no presents,

Not even a tree.

No stocking by the mantle,

Just boots filled with sand,

On the wall hung pictures

Of far distant lands.

With medals and badges,

Awards of all kinds,

A sober thought

Came through my mind.

For this house was different,

It was dark and dreary,

I found the home of a soldier

Once I could see clearly

The soldier lay sleeping,

Silent, Alone,

Curled up on the floor

In this one bedroom home.

The face was so gentle,

The room in such disorder

Not how I pictured

A United States soldier

Was this the hero of whom I’d just read?

Curled up on a poncho, the floor for a bed?

I realized the families that I saw this night

Owed their lives to these soldiers who were willing to fight.

Soon round the world,

The children would play,

And grownups would celebrate

A bright Christmas Day.

They all enjoyed freedom

Each month of the year,

Because of the soldiers,

Like the one lying here.

I couldn’t help wonder

How many lay alone,

On a cold Christmas Eve

In a land far from home.

The very thought

Brought a tear to my eye,

I dropped to my knees

And started to cry

The soldier awakened

And I heard a rough voice,

“Santa don’t cry,

This life is my choice;

I fight for freedom,

I don’t ask for more,

My life is my God,

My country, My Corps.”

The soldier rolled over

And drifted to sleep,

I couldn’t control it,

I continued to weep.

I kept watch for hours,

So silent and still

And we both shivered

From the cold night’s chill.

I didn’t want to leave

On that cold, dark night,

This guardian of honor

So willing to fight.

Then the soldier rolled over,

With a voice soft and pure,

Whispered, “Carry on Santa,

It’s Christmas Day, All is secure.”

One look at my watch, and I knew he was right.

“Merry Christmas my friend, and to all a good night.”

Jessica looked over at Alicia, who was still awake but fading into sleep rather quickly.

“I kept thinking that soldier was you, Jessica,” Alicia said, “So willing to fight, for freedom, justice, and liberty.”

“Yes,” Jessica replied, stroking Alicia’s light brown hair, “You could picture me as one such guardian of freedom.”

“It did bring some tears though, when I read it,” Alicia said, “Thinking of all those in our army right now who may not be able to see their families, probably forever.”

“Well it’s like the soldier in this poem,” Jessica reassured, “That life is their choice. They are fighting for their country, and ask for nothing more.”

At this, Alicia yawned and fell into a deep sleep.

“Good night, Alicia,” Jessica said, kissing her on the forehead and quietly leaving the room.

A week later, Jessica was walking with her sister to the local soccer field at the park, where the annual Little League Soccer Championships were taking place. Hailey and Trisha were going to meet up with Jessica at the park, where they would watch the game commence.

“I would like to see just how good your sister really is,” Trisha had said.

Alicia had already changed into her soccer uniform, which included a red and black shirt that bore the team name TIGERS, black Nike shorts, white socks that stretched to the knees, and black/pink Vizari soccer cleats. Alicia also had her hair tied back in a ponytail to keep it from flowing in front of her eyes while playing. Jessica carried Trisha’s Nike soccer ball with her so that Alicia could practice before the championship started. Jessica and Alicia arrived at the field about half an hour early. The park field had been divided up; one whole half was the playing area, the other half was for warm-ups and training.

Alicia did some warm-ups with Jessica being her athletic supervisor. First were 12 curl-ups, followed by half that many push-ups before Alicia did some jump warm-ups through a pathway of tires. Each jump was successfully made, with Alicia landing straight in the middle of each tire and not touching the sides for even a second. Then came Alicia’s favorite part, practicing to shoot a goal. The TIGERS’ goalie was a girl of about Alicia’s height with golden hair and who kept a look of concentration that seemed so competitive that it might distort any oncoming offensive player. A couple times, she caught some of Alicia’s kicks, but after this, Alicia managed to shoot pretty well out of the goalie’s reach.

Jessica was also introduced to the twins whom Alicia had befriended about a few months ago. One girl was named Samantha and the other Jenny. Both had free-flowing blonde hair and some playfully excited looks. They both wore the same uniforms as Alicia and both girls had on black and white Nike cleats. The only one difference between the twins was a bandana that Samantha wore around her head like a pirate.

“Alicia’s told us quite a lot about you,” Samantha said after the twins took turns shaking Jessica’s hand.

“The leader of the famed Unit Comet,” Samantha chimed in.

“Yep, that’s me,” Jessica said, flashing a satisfied look.

“Did I tell you that we made our own special name?” Alicia said.

“What name is that,” Jessica asked, curious.

“The Tri-Star Entity,” Alicia replied and held her hand with the twins, “We named it after Unit Comet, partially because I wanted it to have the same ‘starry’ feel to it.”

“That’s an amazing name,” Jessica commented.

Then the announcer from the booth spoke into the microphone.

“Attention all players, the championship will start in less than five minutes. All players, please report to your team's’ coaches at this time. Again, the championship will begin in less than five minutes. All players, please report to your coaches at this time. Thank you.”

“Good luck, Alicia,” Jessica called out as Alicia and the twins ran off to their team.

As Jessica headed for the bleachers, she found that Hailey and Trisha had reserved a seat for her. Hailey wore a sun-cap that shielded her eyes from the sun, her Unit Comet athletic shirt, and a pair of black Converse High-tops. Trisha was in a similar attire, with a baseball cap and Adidas Superstars instead. Jessica sat between the two and watched as the two championship teams raced out onto the field.

“Which side are we looking at, again?” Hailey asked, peering out at the field.

“The one in red,” Jessica said, “They’re the Pasadena TIGERS.”

“And which number is your sister?” Trisha added.

“She’s number 16,” Jessica said, pointing to a girl on the TIGERS that wore the number 16 in big white font on the back, “She’s on the offense.”

About a few minutes later, after the announcer introduced the teams, the referee blew the whistle to start. A girl from the opposite team ran forward and kicked the ball hard, but one of the twins, Samantha, blocked it, deflecting it to Alicia. Alicia kicked the ball forward to a running Jenny, but the ball was blocked by someone on the opposite team. Another girl from the opposite team dribbled the ball at a very quick pace, sidestepping defenders and other players who tried to intercept her. She fired the ball hard, but the TIGERS’ goalie blocked it with both hands. The reaction force threw her to the ground, but she was back up in a matter of seconds. Jenny stole the ball from the opposite team and kicked it to Samantha. Almost immediately once Samantha entered the opposite side of the field, most of the opponent team began to corner her. One girl kicked at the ball and missed. However, an accidental shock reflex from the sudden interception move caused Samantha to stumble backward a little. Some dirt shot forward as Samantha skidded cleats first and the ball went out of bounds.

“Dangit!” Jessica muttered as the referee blew the whistle.

With possession of the ball handed to the opponent’s side, Alicia backed up behind the TIGERS’ furthest defensive line. When the opposite team kicked the ball, Alicia stuck out her foot and intercepted the rapidly spinning ball. She then started dribbling forward, crossing the midline into the opponent’s side of the field. As anticipated, many of the opposing team members rushed in, desperate to intercept her.

“Come on Alicia, COME ON!” Jessica yelled.

Alicia kept on running, sidestepping as many interceptions as the opponent side would throw. At one point, however, a girl made a kick for the ball, accidentally getting Alicia in the legs and causing her to trip.

“Oh no!” Jessica muttered, her eyes wide with fear as she watched Alicia plummet to the ground.

But then, something miraculous happened. Time seemed to slow down for Alicia, and as she fell, her outstretched hands curved forward. As she finally hit the ground, instead of falling flat, she used the momentum of her fall to her advantage and did a somersault and was back on her feet immediately. She continued dribbling the ball at the same rate, almost as though she had never been intercepted in the first place, her cleats seeming to reflect the sunlight with each release step as she ran toward the goal.

“GO NUMBER 16!!” Jessica, Hailey, and Trisha yelled at the same time, “GO ALICIA!!”

As the opponent goalie stretched out her hands to block, Alicia, making a small jump, swung her leg forward with so much upward force that she almost fell backward. The ball went zipping for the goal, and went just out of the goalie’s grasp and into the net.

“YES!!!” Jessica yelled among the intense joyful roar of the crowd.

“YES!!!” Alicia cried out and threw herself in a non-injuring knee skid on the grass in jubilation.

In another round, Alicia dribbled the ball along the side of the field and after crossing the midline, kicked it across the field to Samantha. She kicked the ball hard, where it was stopped by her sister Jenny. Jenny dribbled forward a few meters before kicking forward with all her strength. The goalie lunged for the ball, but missed.

The TIGERS seemed to be bounced from triumph to triumph most of the game, many of these scores being made by Alicia and her Tri-Star entity.

At the end of the game, the score was 4 - 12, with the TIGERS being the winners of the first round of the championship. The sweet feeling of success seemed to fog all over the game area, with the TIGERS jumping with joyous screams and holding Alicia high above the rest, and Jessica, Hailey, and Trisha exchanging high-fives.

“Well done, Alicia, well done!” Jessica said after the game as Alicia ran into her arms, “Your Tri-Star Entity really is the best of the best.”

“If we can win the next two days, then we get to go to the state championships,” Alicia said in excitement, “I can’t wait for that.”

“Well, be ready,” Jessica advised her younger sister as they walked with Hailey and Trisha back home, “They could be much tougher than you think.”

The next day, Alicia went out with Jessica, Hailey and Trisha for a little warm-up exercise prior to the next game that would take place that afternoon. Jessica wanted to teach Alicia the cadence that she would have Unit Comet sing during their athletic jog. Alicia wore her new Unit Comet athletic T-Shirt, the same Nike shorts she wore at the game, and some pink and white ProSpirit running sneakers.

“Okay, so we’ll do a little jog around the main cement pathway,” Jessica told Alicia, “As we run, I’m going to call out each verse and I want you to repeat each verse.”

“Is there a penalty if I mess up?” Alicia asked.

“Usually during Unit Comet’s athletic session,” Jessica said, “There would be. Thirty push-ups if I remember correctly. But I won’t hand you a penalty if you mess up,” then looking over at Hailey and Trisha, “You two ready?”

“Just about,” Hailey said, doing a standing hurdle on one of the benches.

“Ready when you say so,” Trisha said, finishing up a series of push-ups.

As the four girls got into formation, Jessica gave a counting-start.

“Okay, one...two...three...let’s go!” Jessica said and they all started running.

“One mile, no sweat,” sang Jessica.

“One mile, no sweat,” Alicia, Hailey, and Trisha sang back.

“Two miles better yet,”

“Two miles better yet,”

“Three miles oh no,”

“Three miles oh no,”

“Four miles gotta go,”

“Four miles gotta go,”

“Five miles, gotta run,”

“Five miles, gotta run,”

“Six miles, to the sun,”

“Six miles to the sun,”

“Seven miles feeling good like I should,”

“Seven miles feeling good like I should,”

“In my legs, in my head,”

“In my legs, in my head,”

“In my chest, Feeling good,”

“In my chest, Feeling good,”

“Super troop,”

“Super troop,”

They did about a couple laps around the park, repeating the whole song a second time as they reached their second lap. Afterwards, the four sat down to rest.

“You exhausted?” Jessica asked Alicia.

“A little,” Alicia said, “But man, that was fun. Can we do this everyday that I have a game?”

“Well, I could do it with you,” Jessica said, then looking at Hailey, “But I’m not sure about Hailey’s schedule.”

“Just email me when Alicia has a game,” Hailey said, “I’d be willing to come help out with prepping her.”

“I wish I could too,” Trisha said, “But I may have to head back to New York soon.”

“I can probably send you some videos of Alicia’s championship games,” Jessica replied, “I’ll just email them to you.”

“That’d be great,” Trisha said.

After yet a second victory for the TIGERS in the championships, Hailey came up to Jessica and the two talked for a little.

“Say, Jessica,” Hailey said, “While we’re still on leave from service, why don’t you, Trisha, and I do a little paintballing. I mean, it’s been awhile since we last played the game.”

“Yes it sure has,” Jessica agreed, “Perhaps later today, if that suits best.”

“Perfect,” Hailey said.

Later that afternoon, Jessica went through her closet, pulling out her uniform and getting ready for paintballing. After putting on the rest of her uniform, Jessica pulled out her Timberlands. They were still in good condition, the sandish color on them still intact and the laces still kept in organized crossovers along the tongue. After pulling them on and doing up the laces, she walked around in them a little. They still fit like they did almost a few years ago and she felt soothed by each loud thump the soles made with each step.

Then she heard a car horn beep outside. Looking out the window, she saw Hailey in her Toyota Tacoma, waving up at Jessica. Trisha sat on the back load of the truck, also waving encouragingly. Jessica waved back to both of them and grabbing her trusty paintball gun and backpack, ran down stairs.

“Mom, Hailey’s here,” Jessica said, “I’ll be back a little after five.”

“Okay, Jessie,” her mom called back.

“I wish I could come,” Alicia said as Jessica headed for the door.

“Well, paintballing is a rather dangerous sport,” Jessica said, “But once you get to be about 18 or so, you will enjoy it.”

“Well, good luck at the shooting site,” Alicia said, hugging Jessica, “Score as high as you can.”

“Absolutely,” Jessica said, and after kissing Alicia on the cheek, headed out the door.

“You ready?” Hailey asked encouragingly.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Jessica said, and hopped into the back seat next to Trisha.

As the trio drove off, Jessica waved to her sister, who stood on the driveway, waving with that same affectionate smile that Jessica would never forget.

“Who do you think is going to win?” Jessica asked.

“Pfft, me of course,” Hailey said, playfully.

“Oh yeah right,” Jessica said, then turning to Trisha, “Who’s side are you going to pick?”

“Maybe I’ll switch sides depending on rounds,” Trisha said, examining her paintball gun, “Sometimes yours, sometimes Hailey’s.”

“Well, maybe you’ll be the secret weapon for one of our sides,” Jessica said.

“Maybe yes,” Trisha said, then looking over at Hailey, “And it all depends on how well each of your tactics are.”

“It may well depend on that,” Jessica said.

THE END

DISCLAIMER:

This book does not contain any reference to any real events or battles that took place during the War in Afghanistan and by extension, the War Against Terrorism. All characters, with the exception of the U.S. President, are works of fiction and are not related to any real persons (living or deceased). Any resemblance to any real persons in the story is pure coincidence. All opinions stated by the characters in this book are solely the opinions of the characters themselves and are not to be assumed as or related to the opinions of the author.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Unit Comet was one of a series of story ideas that flowed through my mind just prior to entering the 9th Grade. I’d started taking an interest in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games and through both the story itself and the subsequent movie release, I thought “I wonder if I can write some hooking novels like this one?” Unit Comet, however, didn’t start off focusing directly on a women battalion unit but seemed at first to focus on just an entire legion of soldiers, men and women alike. However, this idea kept swimming in and out of my head, and I almost lost interest in the idea. Then, around 10th Grade, I finally started to think of a better way to approach the story; I decided to focus more on the characters themselves and less on the war action. From there, characters like Trisha, Cammy, and Lisa began to appear in the story. Finally, after almost a full year of planning, I felt that I was ready to write Unit Comet.

The story was originally called Stars and Stripes of Liberty, but within at least a month of writing the story, I became convinced that the title didn’t fit in with the context of the story. As a result, the name was changed to Unit Comet, based on the name of the unit which Jessica commands. While writing Unit Comet, I wanted to make the story feel a bit like a movie, so I would listen to music from the soundtrack to HBO’s John Adams mini-series while writing certain chapters, because the music sounded so patriotic and emotional. In fact, this particular soundtrack was what had fueled Unit Comet’s development. Also, in the course of the writing, I imagined specific actors and actresses playing the roles of the characters so that I could better envision the story. Much of Unit Comet was written during my Junior year in High School on my spare time, and as I wrote Unit Comet, I began to get very emotionally attached to the story because of how I wrote out the views and personalities of various characters. Because of this, sometimes I would feel disappointed when the bell for class rang and I would be forced to stop work for a while.

A question some of my readers may ask is that “if this is a war story, why aren’t so many soldiers in Unit Comet getting killed?” Since the story was aimed more at the characters themselves, I felt more like I should make the story more of a struggle for survival and accomplishment through teamwork and trust rather than just killing off the characters to illustrate the horrors of war. If the focus had been the opposite, then there would be reason to eliminate multiple characters.

All in all, I had a lot of fun writing Unit Comet and I always love reading and re-reading sections to entertain myself. I hope that all of Unit Comet’s readers feel the same of the book.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

I would like to credit a couple websites for providing access to some materials that were necessary to write the story:

http://www.searchquotes.com/search/Women_Military/

This was the website where I obtained the quote from U.S. President Jimmy Carter on women being allowed to serve in the armed forces.

http://www.rotc.neu.edu/wp/?page_id=304#Up

This was the website where I got the lyrics for the military cadence sung by Jessica and Unit Comet during their athletic jog.

I’d also like to thank Kathleen (Angie) Miles of Patrick Henry High School, who provided me access through my history teacher to the christmas poem that Jessica reads to Alicia in the second to last chapter.