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    We walked down into the bunker and immediately heard the command radio calling out to us. Tang Tango Seven repeat! Do you copy? There is an inbound assault force on the Cyclops position! The radio went quiet waiting for a response and across the bunker I could hear a muted bassline thumping from Han’s big earphones. He was laid back in his cot staring at the ceiling. I didn’t have time to address him, so I picked up the comm radio. Tango Tango Seven go ahead. Shade, where the hell have you been? There’s an armored column heading towards position Cyclops. We confirm the column is led by a turtle tank with a minerollers. We are redirecting arty assets, but you need to slow that thing down, try to keep it from crossing the minefield. Copy that, I said, we’re on it.  I looked back at Hans and he stood ready and alert, as if he’d always been there and was just waiting on us. Kurgan went to the drone storage and started prepping anti-tank munitions. I grabbed an observer dr...

Chapter 9 Gunfire pounded from the other end of the call. Repeat, taking heavy fire at the Onyx trench line. Requesting aerial assistance. I knew where the Onyx trench was, so I hustled back to the flight station and launched the recon drone. Kurgan set up an anti tank FPV and carried it outside as Hans sat down next to me and pulled his goggles back on. Hans started to say something…when PHOOM! An artillery shell hit right near our bunker. Dirt fell from the ceiling beams and the ground shook. I put my drone into hover and ran to the bunker entrance. I got to the chain curtain just as Kurgan was coming back down the stairs holding something in his gloved hand and grinning. He had fresh dirt smeared across his armor and face. Hoowee! He yelled, that was a close one! Check this out, He held out his hand and dropped a jagged black chunk of metal onto the desk. Whisps of smoke trickled off the shard. It’s still hot! Kurg said proudly. Hans stared at the chunk of shrapnel in disbelief. Han...

Tango Tango Seven you copy? The radio asked. I picked it up and listened to the order. Ok Hans, ready for your first flight over a combat zone? Yeah, he said with mild enthusiasm. I smiled, that’s good. Kurgan stomped down the dirt stairs and into the bunker. He had to hunch to keep his helmet from knocking on the wooden rafters. Is there an attack? Hans asked. Easy killer, Kurgan explained, they just need overwatch for an infil. Oh, Hans said, slightly deflated, he had his FPV goggles in his hand. I noticed and said, don’t worry you’ll be putting those on soon enough. This job is just as important. Ten minutes later Hans was looking at a phone-sized screen on a drone controller. The drone was high in the air looking down on two Bradly IFV’s and a Booker light tank as they made their way across the Texan plains. I sat nearby sipping an energy drink and watching the same scene on a tablet. There, see the trench line? It just came into view. Hans smiled, he flew the drone with ease. He s...

Hans looked like shit. Waking up early was not his thing and we had gotten up really early. Plus the humvee we were riding in didn’t have seats, so each bump and rut in the rugged dirt road tossed him side to side or bounced him off the bed of the truck. I thought the driver was doing pretty good considering he was wearing night vision goggles and driving down a tree lined road on a moonless night. Hans also wasn’t used to wearing body armor and a helmet. The bullet proof vest kept riding up making him look like a turtle retracting its head into a shell. I adjusted his helmet to fit him once, then he messed with the adjustment straps and now it rolled around on his head like a salad bowl.  The Kurgan squated at the tailgate, holding himself upright with a rifle and peering into the darkness like a gargoyle. Inside the humvee was loud, but I was sitting close enough to the passenger to hear him key the radio. Whiskey Two Four we are approaching Tango Tango Seven, do you still have a...

Chapter 3 I’m gonna go mount this new sight and hit the range, Kurgan said as we walked out of the depot. Ok, me and Sam McGee here are going over to the shop so I can show him where the magic happens. Kurg gave a low key salute and started walking towards the armory.  How about an animal? Are there any animals you like? Preston stared at me blankly, it started to dawn on me how awkward and out of place this question sounded.  We both started to talk at the same time, neither of us hearing the other. Then there was another pause. For your callsign, I mean . Ohhh, Preston sighed in relief. I thought you meant like, for a pet. You know first we got our groceries and then I got a new jacket. I thought you meant that some guys get pets, so I was thinking of something small like a hamster, maybe a bird. I started laughing, no one had made me laugh in a long time, it felt good. Getting into the golfcart, I said, No, the callsign, you’re just going to need one soon. You haven’t thoug...

Hello you beautiful people. I am still getting some rides in, but I've also started a night EMT class. It will be running until December so I don't have much time for blogging. Instead of letting the blog sit fallow, I'm going to post my war novel a couple chapters at a time. I started it when the Ukraine war was a new thing and never did anything with it. So I now present you...Fly. Our battered EV pulled into the lot across from the army base and parked next to a ‘24 Ford Bronco. I regarded the Bronco as the first significant  model to roll out after the covid pandemic and also the last to roll out before car production ceased for the war. It was an automotive time capsule.  My wife got out and walked to the passenger side to open the door for me. Not as an act of chivalry, but because a replacement interior door handle was impossible to find. She took my hand as we walked to the gate. It was nice to see the girls, I said. I’m so proud of both of them. I felt her squeeze ...