'Fireteam'

29-Sep-2030, 1300T

Hazel Levesque, Hero of Olympus, Daughter of Pluto

Legion XII

Yuma, Arizona, USA

"For three week training, you make excellent improvement!" Mr. Kyung praised, examining my target through his spotter scope. It had been a little over three weeks since we began taking lessons with him—and since I first learned about guns—and we were doing some long-range shooting to finish off our lessons for the day. I had an AR-10 mounted on a tripod, firing .308 (or 7.62, I still had issues telling the difference), firing at targets around 500 yards away. Of the four of us, I had the highest score.

I still had a ways to go in terms of actually becoming proficient at what I was doing—particularly with the pistols and other close-quarters drills—but I had improved. We all had. We'd worked with pistols, pistol-caliber carbines, submachine guns, rifles (semi-automatic and bolt-action, mostly), even a grenade launcher and machine gun—that was actually a pretty fun day for all of us.

"That go for all you!" he added, looking towards Frank, Leo, and Reyna. "You need practice, much practice, but you four could make good fireteam. Hazel, you good marksman. Frank, big man, you automatic rifleman. Leo, good grenadier. Reyna... rifleman—basic, but necessary building block. But practice for proficiency. Learn job of man above, below, left, and right of you. Find special skill, but have redundancy contingency. Still have much to learn."

"I second that," Percy said behind us, observing our lessons. "You're doin' good, guys. Hell, I daresay you learned this shit faster than I did. Job well done, I'd say."

After stowing away the weapons, retrieving our paper targets, and getting a few last pointers, we bid the Koreans farewell. They had to close up early, but were more than happy to give us an extra-long lesson. We would still be coming back for a long time—three weeks of continuous training was nowhere near enough—but our morale was high. Plus, quite frankly, I was having a lot of fun learning and shooting. It was far different from what I was used to, but I finally understood why so many people liked shooting. It was thrilling, even empowering—a perfect tool to protect one's family, self, and property—an equalizer like no other.

So that's what Kahale meant when he said the journalists were liars...

Anyways, we had a small celebration at the local Tex-Mex that we'd become so fond of. We knew we weren't experts, but the praise from Mr. Kyung was the highest we'd heard in the three weeks we'd been learning from him.

"Well," Leo began as we stepped out after paying the bill. "What happens now, guys?"

"We head back to camp, I guess," Reyna replied with a shrug. "Nothin' else we can do today."

"Actually, I got something," Percy said, standing before us with a grin. Immediately, alarm bells rang in my head. That grin terrified me, more than Leo's mischievous one or Nico's bloodlusted one. Why? Because I knew from experience that Percy's was, in essence, the worst of both worlds.

"Wh... what do you have in mind?" Frank asked nervously.

"Well," he began, pulling out his phone and dialing a number. "Let's just call it a bit of fun... hello? Torch?"

Wait a minute... "Torch?" Isn't that Trivia?

"Yeah, better now than never. Anvil good? ... good. Fifteen seconds, you got it. Knight out."

"Wait, why did you just call Trivia and Vulcan?" Reyna asked suspiciously as Percy hung up and pocketed his phone.

"Well, this might be a little uncomfortable... but I promise you, it's gonna be great."

"What the hell are youUUAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Leo yelled as we were suddenly consumed by a flash of light so bright I couldn't see a thing. All of us let loose shouts of anger and surprise as we were tossed around like a salad. Strangely, I began to feel pressure on my chest, hips, and head—no pain, but as if I'd worn something extra. And was I wearing glasses?

Twenty seconds of this later, we unceremoniously collapsed in a heap, groaning in pain as we tried to get our bearings. Wherever we were, it wasn't Arizona.

"Ugh... remind me to kill Percy," Frank moaned as he sat up. "Hazel, you okay? Everyone else?"

"Yeah, we're fine, bro," Leo hissed as he sat up. "Just... wait, what? The hell happened to y'all?"

"Whaddaya mea—what the Tartarus?!" Reyna yelped in shock as she looked down at herself, prompting the rest of us to do the same. Thankfully, none of my clothing seemed to be removed, with my Camp Jupiter T-shirt and jeans being in place. However, there were a few things added: a camouflaged bulletproof vest—hang on, a plate carrier—with magazines and a push-to-talk button fitted to my size; a utility belt with a holstered pistol, radio, extra magazines, tourniquets, and other tactical items; a helmet with an integrated headset for communications and ear protection; clear glasses for eye protection; and in my hands was a silenced—no, suppressed—rifle (the designated marksman's version, I think), looking more fit for medium to long-range gunfights than a close-range one.

Everyone else was in a similar state, though with different weapons in their hands. Reyna and Leo had rifles that looked suited for close-quarters, with the latter also having a grenade launcher on a sling. Frank, meanwhile, had a belt-fed machine gun.

"What the hell?" Leo muttered as he stood before helping Reyna up, with Frank doing the same for me. Looking around, we were in a field of grass, with a few trees in our immediate surroundings, though nothing was terribly dense as the sun beamed down on us. If I had to guess, we were back in California.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gents!" Percy's voice blared in our ears. "This is your buddy speaking. You are currently in the Elkhorn Slough Preserve, a tidal estuary sheltering otters, seals, and migratory birds."

"Percy, what is this?" Frank replied after fumbling for his push-to-talk button. "What is going on?"

"No names on the comm, Grizzly. Monsters don't have radios, but they could someday. Just call me Knight. I mean, I've kinda been stuck with that this whole time."

"Knight, schmight! What are we doing in an estuary?"

"Well, our friends have been trainin' y'all up real good... thought it'd be time to put it to the test. So I contacted Anvil and Torch for some help. Got you some gear, picked a spot, and transported you while puttin' your gear on—don't worry, it's all custom-made."

"Wha—you don't even know my size!" Reyna replied, dumbfounded.

"I don't. I've found that asking women about such things while not being a doctor or tailor is a very, very bad idea. Torch handled it—because she's a woman and she's got magic, I guess—so the armor will fit your... assets."

"Oh, Dio..." Leo sighed in what sounded like restrained amusement while I felt myself blush in embarrassment. As if the situation couldn't get more stupid.

"Hey, it's not like I was creeping around your bedrooms with a measuring tape, okay? Nor did I raid your bra drawer—"

"Please stop talking, please just stop talking," I pleaded, cutting him off before he drove my mind deeper down the hole of shame it currently occupied.

"Sorry, Goldfinger. Anyways, here's the deal: going off what our friend said, I've assigned each of you with equipment that makes the most sense. Goldfinger's got the M110, Zippo's got the M320, Grizzly's got the MK46, and RA-RA has the ATAK. And the M4s are solid. Your objective is to reach my pos and take down everything in your way. I'll be providing assistance every now and again, but it's on you to use what you've learned. Oh, and you can't teleport. Good luck. Knight out."

We stood in silence for a few moments, staring at each other. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry, considering just how stupid this situation was. Here was our old friend, back from the dead (in essence), throwing us into what appeared to be a live-fire training exercise. We had three solid weeks of training, but only a fool would think that was enough. We weren't ready for combat... were we?

"Okay, Percy wants to test us? Then we freakin' show him," Frank declared, looking a little angry. "Reyna, you've got the ATAK?"

"Yeah, yeah, working on it," she replied, folding down the cell phone attached to the front of her plate carrier before fiddling with it. "C'mon, c'mon, where's the thing... okay, looks like he's two miles northwest of here, at the riverbank. Lots of trees but lots of open grassland too... probably mortals. We'll have to go around some water too. All in all—"

"Shit! Down!" Leo exclaimed, the four of us quickly dropping into the dirt as a hail of arrows sailed over our heads, exploding into a cloud of smoke.

"Can you see 'em? Can you see 'em?" Frank shouted as he looked around wildly.

"I don't see jack!"

"Wait a second... they're coming from the north!" Reyna said as an arrow stuck itself into a tree behind me. "We gotta move, there's no cover out here!"

"There are way too many arrows!" Frank countered as another one exploded a little too close to us.

"Grizzly, it's tricky to move your whole team at once," Percy called. "What are the two elements for a tactical team?"

"Wha—base of fire and maneuver?"

"Yeah. And who's best suited for what?"

"... oh! Oh! Okay, guys! Here's the plan: I'll suppress the enemy with the machine gun, you guys run one at a time across the clearing towards that clump of trees!" Frank ordered. "Once you're finished bounding, you suppress while I move. Everyone got it?"

"... oh, I get it! Okay, say the word, bro!" Leo replied, with Reyna and I replying similarly.

"Hazel, you're first! Three, two," he counted as he moved to a kneeling position and began firing bursts towards the source of the arrows. "One! Go, go, go!"

"Bounding!" I shouted as I pushed up and broke into a sprint, stumbling through some plants due to the unwieldiness of my long gun. Dashing for the clump of trees, I could just make out the sounds of Reyna or Leo's rifle joining Frank's machine gun in keeping the enemy down. Arrows still flew, but to a far lesser extent. As soon as I reached cover, I quickly checked the surrounding area for an enemy presence, finding none before making a call on the radio. "I'm set!"

"Bounding!" Reyna called as she began running. After briefly looking back towards her, I kept my eyes peeled for threats in other directions. She soon arrived, with Leo coming moments later.

"We're all here! Three, two," Reyna counted before opening fire, with Leo and I following suit. "Move, move, move!"

"Bounding!" Frank warned as we continued to send a hail of bullets towards the treeline west of us, though none of us seemed particularly accurate—which, if I remembered correctly, was actually somewhat okay for suppressive fire: something not necessarily meant to kill the enemy, but at least make them stay down. We succeeded, Frank reuniting with us after around twenty seconds.

"Okay, now what?" I asked as I ducked to reload my DMR.

"Well, the flow of arrows is still pretty strong," Reyna noted. "About the only change we've made is actually getting some cover. We have to clear out that position."

"It looks to be, what, thirty meters away?" Frank guessed as he fumbled with reloading his machine gun. "Not that far. Reyna, you've got that grenade on your plate carrier."

"Rey, what if we put out some more suppressive fire while you chuck it?" Leo suggested.

"I like it," she replied, pulling the M67 grenade—Mr. Kyung had us train with some dummies—from a small pouch. "Okay... go ahead and fire when ready."

"Gimme a sec..." Frank muttered as he finally finished, racking a round. "Okay, ready? ... go!"

Laying prone, we targeted the enemy position in the opposing treeline. They were keeping their heads down, but I could swear that one of us hit them. To my right, Reyna steeled herself before pulling the pin and throwing the fragmentation grenade. It sailed across the open field before disappearing into the treeline. It exploded not in a fireball, but into a cloud of dust and smoke.

And then, the arrows stopped, with us ceasing fire quickly. Given that the grenade could kill anything in a 5-meter radius, I was almost certain that there was nothing left... the operative word being "almost."

"We should be good, right?" Leo asked.

"Don't think so. We gotta check it," Frank replied.

"Uh-uh. Better one than four. I'll go in, you guys cover me." And with that, he reloaded his M4, pushed up, and made a mad dash across the clearing while we covered him from our position. Some seconds later, he radioed back that the area was clear, though there was something odd:

"Guys, our bad guys were three automatons with what appears to be automatic crossbows."

"... what the actual hell?" Reyna muttered. "Guess Vulcan did more than just get us gear."

"I like the initiative, fireteam," Percy called. "And good work on clearing that position, Zippo. Maybe coulda taken a buddy, but alright. Better get movin', over."

"Okay... coming your way."

A few moments later, we were reunited with Leo before beginning to move forward, advancing through the trees while remaining in the shadows to the best of our ability. We formed up, trying to apply what we were taught to ensure we had all the angles covered. We kept around fifteen feet apart, with Frank covering the rear, I the left, Leo the right, and Reyna the middle as she led us through.

Every now and again, I glanced upwards, remembering the times we faced threats from above. Now, at least, we had a greater ability to engage those threats. But everything was eerily quiet, apart from Reyna quietly directing us—and even then, it was limited, as she was applying what Percy said about hand signals.

Much later, we found ourselves facing a dirt road not far from the water. As Reyna tried to get her bearings, something suddenly exploded over our heads, making us jump back into cover.

"What the shit was that?!" Leo gasped. "Anyone see anything?"

"You really think you can engage 'em, Zippo?" Percy called. "This is gonna be tricky for you, I'll tell you that."

"Damn it, Knight, what the hell are we looking at?"

"Fiiiine... this one's gonna require some range."

"Sonuva—guys, I think we got a sniper!"

"Bingo!" Percy laughed as an arrow flew in and exploded like a concussion grenade—if I remembered the term correctly—having the explosive power minus any real fragmentation. "Whatcha gonna do?"

"Hold on, hold on, how much range does this guy have?" Frank asked.

"He's an archer, whaddaya think, Grizzly? Hell, I'm pretty sure you could reach out and touch 'im with 5.56. But even so, who do you think's better suited for this shit?"

"... me," I muttered. "This is a counter-sniper test of some sort, isn't it?"

"Winner, winner, winner! Goldfinger, you've got the DMR. Whatcha gonna do?"

I thought it through as yet another arrow exploded close to us. Rushing the sniper wouldn't work, considering that we didn't know where he was. Flanking would be excellent, but we still had no way of figuring out where he was. Unless...

"I think... we split up, give him a target," I said. "If we can draw him out, we can see him. If we can see him, we can hit him!"

"Okay, okay, that can work... what if we do a combo? Frank holds here, Leo and I move out, with all three of us shooting," Reyna suggested. "Hazel stays low, crawls out, listens to us while we try and find this guy. Then, she shoots him."

"Suppress and distract. I like it," Frank agreed as another arrow exploded, no more than ten feet in front of us. "Okay, looks like he's towards the west. Leo, Reyna, move right. Hazel, you go left. Everyone clear?"

"Clear!" we replied.

"Okay... three, two, one," he counted before he began firing bursts with his machine gun towards the west. "Reyna, Leo, go!"

"Moving!" Leo said as he and Reyna began crawling towards the right, staying low in the grass while going as fast as possible. After about thirty seconds, they began firing upon the sniper too, forcing him to alternate between firing at Frank and them. Finally, upon receiving a signal from my boyfriend, I crawled to the left. While my size certainly helped, it was incredibly difficult moving with the long gun, and I had to be careful to keep it from getting caught on foliage. But after three frustrated minutes of going slow and low, I'd set myself up next to a tree twenty yards from Frank's location.

"Okay, okay... where are you?" I mumbled as I set up, peering through my scope before getting on the radio. "Anyone see him?"

"Hold on, hold on... looks like there might be another one. Two snipers, repeat, two snipers," Reyna warned as arrows continued to sail towards us. "Firing a little faster now."

"Hold on, I got a glint of something... three hundred meters, westward, next to a tree on that path way over there," Frank called.

"How far, again?" I asked as I adjusted my rifle.

"Three hundred, give or take fifteen meters."

I continued to search for our enemies, keeping an eye out for the glint Frank referred to earlier. If I had to guess, it must've been the metal of the bow, or perhaps the arrowhead itself. But as I searched, I realized something: if this was Vulcan's doing, there was likely some sort of immortal metal involved—Celestial Bronze or Imperial Gold... both of which I could detect with my own senses.

One massive mental facepalm later, I managed to ascertain the direction the arrows were coming from. After turning my rifle that way and looking closer, I saw two camouflaged automatons—well-hidden, but not hidden enough.

"I see them," I called over the radio. "Everyone keep up the good work. I'm setting up the shot."

"Goldfinger, you've got maybe three hundred meters between you and the target! No wind! Take them down!" Frank encouraged as he continued to lay down suppressive fire.

Remembering Mr. Kyung's lessons in long-range shooting, I lined up the left automaton's center mass in my scope—the image not being nearly as clear as in the movies. After adjusting as needed, I steadied my breathing before checking that I had my sights lined up right.

Squeeze, don't pull... easy...

Even with the suppressor and my ear protection, I could still hear and feel the power of the rifle as I fired. Before I could blink, the automaton went down, the shot hitting its mark.

"One sniper down," I muttered after a brief moment of shock. "Goin' for the other one."

The second automaton, seeing his brother go down, began to move, but he didn't get more than a few steps in before I fired three more rounds in rapid succession. I don't know about the first one, but the second two bullets definitely took him down.

"Second sniper down. Both targets neutralized," I reported.

"Interesting maneuver there, fireteam. Good shooting overall, Goldfinger," Percy congratulated, though he didn't provide any further comment. It took us another ten minutes to maneuver to the snipers' position—as we continued to stay low and covered or at least concealed—and clear it before we continued our northward movement to meet Percy.

Once again, we fell quiet. Despite the new weapons and tactics, this felt very similar to the war I was used to: long hours of quiet with brief moments of terror. It was, in essence, a combination of rapid close-quarters battle drills, relaxed target shooting, and plain old marching.

This must be modern warfare...

My main focus was my immediate surroundings, but the thought of future enemies in this little exercise kept nagging me as I wondered what Percy would throw at us next. We hadn't even faced half a dozen automatons, but I felt just on edge as when we faced down hordes of monsters. And this was training, for crying out loud!

"You guys havin' fun?" Percy suddenly asked.

"This is weird, man," Frank muttered as he glanced towards the rear of our formation. "What're you doing?"

"That's for you to find out, Grizzly."

As if on cue, something whizzed over our heads and blew up a tree behind us, forcing us to dive to the ground. It didn't take a genius to note that the projectile was not an explosive arrow, but something larger... something that could be fired from an artillery piece.

"Hey, you found it!" Percy said. "What's next?"

"What the hell is this?!" Reyna hissed as an arrow stuck into the ground beside her, barely missing her head.

"Ehh, you can handle it. You've faced down the Jolly Green Bitch, haven't you?"

"Guys, I think we've got a ballista!" Leo shouted as we were rocked by another explosion. "We gotta move before he reloads! Stay low and don't stop!"

"Frank, left with me! Hazel, right with Leo!" Reyna ordered before crawling as fast as she could, stumbling slightly as dirt, rocks, and plants were kicked up by more explosions around us. Panting from exertion, I scrambled after Leo, getting caught on the environment a few times. He shouted at me to move as I kicked off a fallen branch that had pinned my gun.

We're in the thick of it now...

If the ballista wasn't bad enough, its accompanying archers were making matters worse, raining down regular, smoke, and concussion arrows that made us burrow further into the dirt than we already were. How the mortals weren't aware of this, I didn't know. Perhaps Trivia had set up some sort of barrier? Whatever the case, we were under heavy fire.

"Fireteam, you're doin' good evadin', but you gotta take out that arty," Percy reminded.

"A little busy right now!" Frank shot back.

"Just sayin', Zippo. But you can't run forever."

"Shut the hell up, Aquaman!" Leo growled as he yanked me behind a boulder. "Haze, can you see anything? It's to the north!"

Staying low and behind cover, I tried to get a bead on the enemy position. I got a few glints, but they were partially concealed by the trees. Worse, the next ballista strike was only five yards from us, forcing us to high-tail it out of there.

This happened thrice over seven minutes. When we stopped for the final time, we were both so covered in dirt and leaves, we might've been able to blend into the environment really easily. Once again, Leo covered me while I tried to locate the enemy through my rifle's scope. This time, I was successful. Two treelines and three hundred yards away were the ballista and several automaton archers. However, they'd fortified their position well, using what appeared to be fallen trees, sandbags, and shields to protect themselves.

"You've gotta be shittin' me," Leo muttered as I reported my findings on the radio. "How the hell are we supposed to hit that?"

"I don't think the machine gun's penetrating that," Frank replied. "No clear shot either, considering the line of trees in the way."

"Under normal circumstances, RA-RA would be calling up some sort of fire support," Percy said. "But you got none of that."

"But we can't break that with what we have."

"Oh yes you can, brother. You just gotta make the call. What sorta gear do you have?"

"The hell does that even mean?" Leo muttered beside me as I shrugged. Percy was obviously getting at something, but he had yet to shed light on it. "Yo, how are we supposed to beat this shit?"

"Well, what's your recommendation, Zippo?" Percy asked.

"Wha—whaddaya mean, my recommendation? This is your thing, not mine?"

"Another lesson for y'all: always listen to the guy on the ground."

Now I was even more confused. Percy was being no help whatsoever, insisting that we had to figure it out. Granted, it was a learning scenario to put what we knew to the test, but we didn't know nearly enough to do this. What could we possibly do with three weeks of training? Back in World War II, I'm pretty sure soldiers got more training than we did, even though theirs was rushed due to the Army needing men.

Leo and I tried taking some shots at the enemy position, but all the rounds either hit the trees in the way or the automatons' defensive walls. By the sounds of it, it didn't seem like Reyna or Frank were garnering any success either. The archers and artillery weren't hitting us, but we weren't hitting them either.

The stalemate persisted for several minutes more before Percy finally got back on the radio, sounding disappointed.

"The four of you have faced far, far worse than this. You can do this."

"How?!" I responded, frustrated. "Tell me, how in tarnation are we supposed to do this? We can't exactly use our normal powers, only the training we have—which keep in mind, was only three weeks!"

"Goldfinger, think about it. In fact, all of you should. What sort of weapon systems do y'all have? More importantly, how do they relate to the entire fireteam? You've done this before... it's just something different."

"... it's me," Leo muttered before getting on the radio. "Guys, I think I got it! I've got the M320, the forty-mil! It doesn't shoot straight, it shoots in an arc!"

"What're you getting at?" Frank asked.

"I think I can put some grenades right behind their fortifications! Only problem is, the line of trees in the way blocks it! If I can get up there, I can take the shot!"

"Damn, you're right!" Reyna exclaimed. "And I think I just got an idea. With the trees in the way, suppressive fire isn't gonna work as well. So what if we conceal our advance with smoke?"

"You got a smoke?"

"Yes! They'll probably keep firing through the smokescreen, but they'll have a damn hard time hitting us!"

"That could work!" I realized, remembering that I too had a smoke grenade on my plate carrier. "I've got one too!"

"Okay, we'll toss them at the same time, wait until there's plenty of smoke, then rush."

"200-foot dash?" Leo replied. "We better stick to the side, spread out."

"Good thinking, Zippo," Frank replied. "Everyone good on the plan?"

After everyone chimed their understanding, Reyna and I prepped our smoke grenades, waiting for her order.

"Okay... three, two, one, throwing!"

"Throwing!" I acknowledged, doing the same. The grenades sailed across the clearing before landing in the line of trees before us, with Reyna's going a little further than mine. Upon impact, they began emitting smoke—nowhere near as fast as the movies, however. Still, after around fifteen seconds of waiting, a somewhat thick smokescreen had engulfed part of the trees. We couldn't see the enemy... but they couldn't see us either.

"Go, go, go!" Frank barked. This time, without stumbling, I pushed up to my feet and sprinted after Leo. In my peripheral vision, I could just make out Frank charging with his machine gun at the ready, Reyna hot on his heels. The ballista and its archers sent more munitions our way, but we safely made it to the trees, quickly dropping to the ground with a much clearer view of the enemy position.

"Guys, suppress those baddies! Don't stop pulling the trigger!" Leo ordered. Without another word, we began firing on the enemy 300-400 feet north of us. Our rain of bullets wasn't enough to neutralize the automatons, but it did make them hesitate... enough time for Leo to load his grenade launcher.

One "thunk" and a few seconds later, the grenade exploded forward and to the right of the enemy position. As he reloaded, I did the same. Switching to my pistol was certainly faster than reloading, but at this range... the 7.62-mm of the M110 would probably be better. Leo's second grenade had much better results, this time hitting the fortification itself, blowing apart some sandbags and a shield—and even better, providing a window through which to shoot. Our combined suppressive fire was able to take down, at most, two automatons. But better than anything, it gave Leo an easy target... one he exploited with his next grenade.

The third time, poetically enough, was the charm. The third forty-millimeter grenade appeared to have impacted the ballista—or more likely, a pile of its explosive ammunition—because a large blast consumed the enemy position, sending dirt, splinters, and metal everywhere.

Seriously, how are no mortals responding to this?

And finally, quiet reigned once more as we peered across the field, examining the thoroughly destroyed enemy position. There couldn't have been anything left—something we confirmed a few minutes of careful movement later.

"Well... that was fun," Leo remarked, lightly kicking the dismembered head of one of the enemy automatons. "What's next?"

"In case you're wondering what's next, Zippo, you get your asses to my pos," Percy replied curtly, offering no congratulations or degradations. Shrugging amongst ourselves, we obeyed, continuing our trek northward.

Twenty minutes of peace later, we arrived at a large, open grass field. Kneeling at its edge by the water was none other than our friend, mentor, and tormentor, seeming to have a conversation with some aquatic animals. When Percy looked over his shoulder and saw us nearing, he appeared to bid the animals farewell before standing and facing us. He wore his same tennis shoes, tan cargo shorts, and blue T-shirt, along with his sunglasses and FDNY ballcap. The only difference was his own plate carrier (with ATAK), battle belt, and communications headset.

"Hey, ladies," he greeted with his typical energetic grin. "Y'all look real pretty. Have fun at the ball?"

"Oh, ha-ha," Reyna replied sarcastically. "You're really funny, Jackson."

"Bro, we're gonna need some serious showering after this," Frank remarked, noting just how dirty all four of us were.

"Gotta get dirty every now n' again, bro," Percy shot back. "Well, I was monitoring your progress. All in all... you're still a shit sandwich, but you ain't a soggy one. You need more training, more experience... but you weren't half bad for your first run and three weeks of training."

"Are you praising or degrading us?" I asked, unsure of what to make of his statements.

"Y'all got a ways to go... but I think you four did good. This fireteam experiment... I think it was a success."

"Yo, I'll take that!" Leo exclaimed. "It ain't CoD, but I definitely feel the adrenaline!"

"Whatever you say, Zippo. C'mon, let's get outta here. Whaddaya say to pizza? A buddy of mine told me about this really good deep dish—"

"Knight, this is Torch! Do you copy?" a female voice suddenly called—Trivia.

"Wha—yeah, I copy, Torch. Send traffic," Percy replied.

"There appears to be a situation at the Salinas River National Wildlife Refuge! There are are hostages!"

"Okay, I gotta admit, this next drill sounds kinda dope," Leo remarked with a grin, only to be met with a lack thereof from Percy.

"Valdez... this isn't a drill," he replied, deathly serious. "Hostage rescue is something only done by the best in the business. You're still workin' on the fundamentals, so it wasn't in the training plan."

"... wait, what?"

"Torch, elaborate further. What's happening?"

"It appears that the Council of Cloven Elders and their aides have come under attack and have been taken hostage," Trivia explained. "Be advised, the monsters that have captured them appear to be knowledgeable in magic and have set up barriers I cannot interfere with due to the laws of the universe. Shadow-traveling is impossible without a true specialist, meaning that Goldfinger cannot do it. An aerial insertion is also ill-advised, given the presence of special weaponry. Stand by, Anvil has more information."

"Knight, this is Anvil," Vulcan called in his typical gruff voice. "The enemy is fortifying their position in the wildlife refuge. They possess several hwachas that will undoubtedly knock you out of the sky. Given the circumstances, I'd advise the employment of a maritime insertion. You'll have to fight your way in, but it's better than ground, air, or shadow-based movement. I'm sending the data to your ATAK."

"Roger that. We're gonna need a boat of some sort," Percy replied. "And I'm gonna need more than a pistol!"

"Understood, Knight. The equipment should be teleporting to your position momentarily, along with spare ammunition for your fireteam."

"Copy your last!"

Suddenly, the air above the water began to shimmer and smoke, the cloud growing in size. Some small, fiery explosions later, the smoke cleared to reveal... a very odd-looking boat. There were two machine guns mounted, one at the front and back, and two crates of what I presumed to be more weaponry. But it looked a little less than twenty feet long and six feet wide.

Is... is this thing a tugboat?

"Perce... what in the blue hell is that?" Leo exclaimed, sounding as confused as the rest of us felt and looked.

"Ladies, gentlemen," he sighed with a shake of his head. "Meet the jury-rigged combat-ish variant of what I'm fairly certain is the smallest ship in the US Navy's inventory: the Boomin' Beaver."

I'm serious, the Boomin' Beaver is a real thing. There's no record of weapons ever being mounted on it, but let's be real... give this thing to a bunch of SWCCs, Seabees, or even the Marines or SEALs... this shit would absolutely happen.

But I digress. I'm not sure if the tactics here are all that realistic—I'm going based on what little I know from veterans' reactions to videogames and movies, as well as some books and interviews (remember, I'm a Level 66 Keyboard Warrior). Anyone with any sort of tactical background, feel free to let me know if I'm batshit insane.

Somewhere, somehow, I have a feeling that there's probably a bunch of actual military personnel (combat arms or not) that are reading this like:

Hell, I can almost see and hear the raucous laughter, unamused sighs, and stunned silence of actual operators now:

"It's just... not very realistic." - Jocko Willink

"There is so much stuff that is incorrect in this." - Andy Stumpf

*blank stare intensifies* - Shawn Ryan

"That is totally fake." - Kyle Lamb

"There's no f***ing way!" - Sean Rogers

"... what?" - Jason Lilley and Patrick Moltrup

*highly amused laughter intensifies* - Israel Wright and Cameron Fath

But I digress. As always, thanks for reading! Be sure to leave a comment—good or bad—because I do like hearing your thoughts on the matter. Always trying to improve, and all that.

Until next time,

- ADF-2