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I hope you guys are enjoying the story, thanks for tuning in. I just finished the medical section of class and now we are starting to learn about trauma. EMT class is definitely a challenge, lots of studying and homework. It will be nice to finish in December, but until then here's more WWIII action. CHAPTER 14 Two hours later we had both drones in the air over a squad of enemy soldiers moving through a treeline. The wind had picked up and the drones were getting blown around with each gust. Hans was hunting for a way to attack through the trees while I watched from above. Kurgan sat next to me watching on the tablet trying to monitor the movements of each soldier as they appeared and disappeared under the heavy foliage. Each of us was focused on a task.  My hands were sore from running the controller non-stop, my back hurt from sitting on a wooden crate all day. I closed my eyes and then snapped them open trying to rally my energy. I swear to god,I said, I could actually save the ...

Chapter 12 I selected our most powerful anti-tank drone, a custom heavy lift drone fitted with an anti-tank mine. Kurgan started to carry it outside then came rushing back into the bunker. Drone coming in! He yelled, Hans is that you? Hans looked up from the screen he was watching, yeah Kurgan, that’s me, I’ll land the spotter right outside. Kurgan turned back out the door again. I lifted my FPV goggles off the charger and sat at the station.  Flying the spotter drone was similar to driving a remote controlled toy. I was sitting at the station making the drone go places. I could use the camera on the drone to look at the scene below, but it always felt like a tool that I was using at a distance. Flying the FPV was an entirely different sensation. With FPV I truly felt like I was there, flying like a bird, or hovering inches away from an enemy soldier. If I tipped the drone to the side my view was as if I had tipped my head to the side. FPV’s could fly up to one hundred miles an hou...

    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...