The Team

“The roster goes as follows. Anna will lead Hans, Ryan, and Mark in a fire team. I will have Dan, Jimmy, and Kris in mine. Buck will lead the Machine Gun team. Anna’s team would be Red, mine would be Blue, and Buck’s would be Grey. Red Team’s role will be that of providing bases of fire. Blue Team will be the assault team, charging forward or flanking the enemy, but this can change in a defensive scenario. Grey team would be additional support for either softening up the targets or as a bug-out cover,” I explained.

“Who wants to be the squad leader?” I then asked, giving others a chance to channel their opinion.

“I think you would do,” said Mark. Franz and Dan agreed.

“Anna would fit more,” Karl replied. “She’s in the first team, too. She can direct everyone while providing base of fire,” he said. Jimmy and Hans backed that up.

“How about Buck?” said Anna.

“No, no, no... I’m already in charge of this big ass gun. It’s either you or Mick,” denied Buck.

“Karl’s got a point,” I joined in again. “I think I’ll do as a 2IC. How about that?”

Anna was a bit unsure. Neither of us actually wanted to be the leader. “Okay then, Mick, you be my assistant. But you are calling strats before the actual combat, okay? Provide me some base of plan,” she said, quite nervously.

“That’ll do. Any more questions?”

“No, Sarge,” Dan said, followed by others.

“Sarge?” I was confused. I heard it several times since they arrived.

“You sound like those sergeants we see in movies, haha,” Anna chuckled. Others agreed.

“Well, you should be the sergeant, Anna, you’re the squad leader,” I answered.

We were told that we will get our new equipment by the time we get to the staging area. The colonel himself had just texted me, saying that we should depart tomorrow. This is, of course, a bit of a shock considering he specified a date before and it’s getting pushed way forward. “We’re going tomorrow, guys,” I said over lunch.

A ripple of “What?” was then heard.

“Colonel Metsker, who is our contractor told me to come to his compound tomorrow. He said he wanted to prepare everything while we are present,”

“What time?” Anna asked

“He didn’t specify. All I know is we gotta be there tomorrow,”

Buck got up, then got out of the house. Dan saw something wrong, so he followed. We continued eating without much said. The atmosphere turned a little bit darker. Nobody was ready for that, I guess. Even Ann looked uneasy.

Everyone there except Anna were all guys, all college friends. Anna was this taller-than-average tomboy. She lived in the far part of Pouvre, quite near a military base. She got into military related stuff almost at the same time as we enter college, and our friendship grew there. She’s quite eager to learn, too. I heard she’s been giving hell the first few months of the invasion, defending her grandpa’s house with a sniper rifle.

When scouring the houses near my place, we found an old piggybank and a deck of cards while looting the house down the alley. Dan found them, to be exact. The piggy bank was quite full of coins, too. He then brought it back to the house. “Anybody up for a game of Poker?” he said. The guys weren’t so interested at first, but Karl and Jimmy came up to him and played a bit. I hadn’t played Hold ‘Em Poker in four years, might have forgotten how to play. Mark and Ryan then joined in, crowding the little table they used. They seemed to enjoy the little game they had.

Ann then smoked outside the house. I don’t really know what she was thinking about, so I came up to her, trying to dig something.

“Me? Leading the boys, out of all people? Are you crazy? They’re not even gonna listen to me”

“Well, we’re only a handful of people anyway,”

“I mean you could’ve led us. Dan even calls you ‘Sarge’ for Pete’s sake,”

“I’m not the type. The guys respect you enough, though. They’ll listen. Okay? Don’t worry about it,”

Ann had this rifle she found in her grandpa’s house; an old M16 with a telescopic sight mounted on to it, along with a few magazines worth of ammunition. Quite a handy rifle to be honest. That rifle had seen I don’t know what. She used it to defend her position from looters, both armed or not. She spray-painted two red stripes over the butt stock. Another pair of stripes was on the left side of the receiver. She would have to abandon that rifle though.

“I would hate to lose that M16, Mick”, she continued.

“Well, you can keep it, but it’s not much use anyway. The ammo’s not that compatible with the standard ammo we’re gonna be using. Can be an actual burden in the field, don’t you think?”

“Now that I left that house, it’s probably the last thing my grandpa left me that’s still in my possession,” she looked onto that rifle, caressing the receiver before putting it down. Tears formed up on the edges of her eyes.

“I uh… I’ll have to leave that decision on you, for now. It’s your grandpa’s rifle anyway,”

“I’ll think about it tomorrow, then,” she proceeded, flicking the cigarette butt away. I have to admit, that M16 is slick. Such a waste, really. I then tried to examine it, toy around with it a little, and of course respect its service history, especially in Ann’s hands. She went back to the house with the guys still playing poker. They really seem to have forgotten that we were about to move in less than 16 hours.

---

The next morning, we departed for the Colonel’s house. We got into our two cars and head for the estate, locked and loaded. Earplugs are on, too, and we tried not to take it off even when sleeping. I put my gun on the dashboard, as it is quite unwieldy inside such cramped vehicle. It was around 9AM that we hit the gas. We see burning tires, dead bodies, and destroyed houses along the way. Roads full of potholes made by mortar rounds made the ride a little bumpy.

It didn’t take long as I have already been to the Colonel’s house before. Well, I did see him when discussing the job. With full gear, we were stopped at the compound gate at gunpoint. No surprise there. I then got out of the car and walked towards the guard posts.

“We’re here to see Col. Metsker,”

“Oh, it’s you. Are you seeing the Colonel or his daughter?” one of the guards teased me.

“Shut up,”

“Yeah be careful, though, her boyfriend’s here. Who are these?” he asked.

“This is my squad. Colonel wants us to help him around here” I explained to him.

“Alright then, go on,” he gave in.

There he was, standing proud at the door; smoking pipe hanging from his mouth. Grace was there. Her boyfriend, Ian, was also there. It occurred to me that he’s a doctor; I think he’s here to help with medical stuff. Besides, Grace will need him close. Let’s hope he can cooperate with us.

“There you are. Come over here,” the Colonel greeted us.

“Sir,” I smiled, took his hands for a firm shake. I then proceeded to introduce my guys.

“Wait, there’s a girl, too?” he said, surprised.

“Yes, sir, we figured she’d be able to provide better care for your daughter,” nonsense, it is. Not our first intention, really.

“Well, just make sure she makes it out okay. For her own good,”

“Well, she joined us to die, sir, but of course,” I chuckled.

“Follow me,” He instructed. “These are your new weapons and equipment. There are several options, and some of them are even platoon-level, so… choose carefully,”

“Yes, sir,”

The Colonel then went inside his house, his child followed. That is, after giving me a little smile. I shook hands with Ian, trying to explain to him our respective jobs. Clearly, he showed a not-so-friendly face when I arrived, knowing that I still have feelings towards his now-girlfriend.

“Look, I don’t want to take her away from you. I mean, I like her, I do. But all I’m doing here is to make sure that you two are getting out of here alive,”

“I get it. You do your job outside the house, I do my job inside the house, that’s all,”

“Unless things get dire. I will need to make sure any plan you have does not go FUBAR, and I will need you to help me in some things, if you don’t mind,”

“Hmm...” he nodded. A long pause. “But you stay off her,” he said as I turn my back

“Depends,” I added, turning to face him again. “I’ll do what’s necessary,” I walked away, gathering up with my men around the table.

“What are we looking at?” Dan asked.

“A few rifles, I think we’d need two of these SAWs, one of that GPMG, and a little grenade launcher there,”

“Roger that,”

“Do I really need to pick one?” Red asked.

“I already picked one for you, but if you don’t want it then it’s your liberty,”

Meanwhile, the guys are looking and trying to find what’s best for them. I took an M16A4. I had requested for those. It is, after all, my favorite rifle. I knew the 1st Amphibious Recon Battalion have a couple dozen of these lying around. There was a P226, and I took it.

I gave Anna a German rifle, the HK416. I think it fits her with its ability to provide automatic fire, but also accurate enough—well, it’s German—to be a sort of makeshift long-range rifle; and she likes that kind of weapon. That rifle is not that heavy, so she wouldn’t get fatigue just from humping it around. It had an EOTech holographic sights attached to it. I hope it’s zeroed. Her sidearm would be a light one though, a Glock 19 in 9mm.

For Hans, I put him in a marksman role. The weapon I was able to get him was an AG-2R1 with an ELCAN on. Although originally not intended for marksman role, it can be one. Put an optic on it, and voilà, a DMR. I think his build would be able to be steady enough to provide long range cover. Not that we’re going to need that long of a range, though.

Basically, Ryan, Buck, Jimmy, and Karl have similar setups. They all have M4, but Karl’s is an older model, a 727 with an under-barrel grenade launcher, the M203. That M4 weapon platform sure is light enough. The difference would be in optics and attachments for the guns. Also, Buck had this shorter barrel. Their sidearms are different, though. Ryan took a Glock 17 as his sidearm. Buck got himself a Beretta. Karl had a HiPower handed to him.

Dan took the AG-2A2, a Griesian take on the American AR-18. That gun’s reliable enough for him. It works almost like an AK, so it should be as tough as one. Mark and Kris had light support weapons (different versions of it though), known as Minimis. These Belgian beasts would be able to provide volumes of fire our rifles can never reach. But them bastards are quite heavy, at almost 10 kg with 200 rounds of ammunition. Their sidearms are, again, HiPowers.

We were given basic plate carriers for armor, and these “vests” had magazine pouches. They can carry up to ten magazines, but it’s quite unnecessary for us. We only carried around eight per rifleman—MG have their own pouches. They also have flag patches on the front, right under the left shoulder strap.

“Alright,” she sighed, “I’ll settle with that HK, but I’m gonna need the sling from this,” pointing to the M16 in her hands. It had a nicely finished leather sling, and it had her grandpa’s name on it.