Kombat Kids - 38. Jome em if the Can't Take a Fuck

It was a dark and stormy night....Ooops, wrong story, damn, that's the second time I've done that. No wait a moment, it WAS a dark and stormy night, one of the few summer thunder storms that the Columbia Basin had every summer was rumbling its way through. For the area, it was considered a torrential downpour, almost a half-inch of rain had fallen during the two hours since the storm had hit. While this may seem like a mere drizzle to people who live on the wet side of the state and for those who live in places like Florida, a half inch of rain in the middle of the desert is really unusual.

The Gunny, who already had an attitude about what seemed to be every one of the unattached assholes in the state who had decided to be on the road going the same way he was heading was to say the least, unhappy. So he was spun up even more as he left the main road and drove up the driveway to the Bateman Home. He was returning after spending two weeks at the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island's Hospital. He had left the Base at around 14:00, just in time to hit all the traffic on his way to I-90, but he was prepared for that, it was the three hour traffic jam he found himself in on the I-90 approach to Snoqualmie Summit that pissed him off. As he was finally able to creep past the scene of the accident (a UPS truck pulling two trailers had tried to occupy the same lane at the same time as a Mazda Miata) he saw the reason for the traffic jam. The actual accident wasn't slowing down the traffic that much, it was the legions of rubbernecking fools who were creeping past the accident, hoping to see some blood and gore. After finally passing the accident scene, traffic was still moving at ten to fifteen miles an hour below the posted speed limit so it took him almost four more hours to hit the State Route 240 turnoff to Moreland. He only had about sixty miles left before he was home, "Funny how I consider the Bateman place 'Home', he thought to himself, when it started to rain. He shook his head, remembering how all the drivers in front of him slowed down so they could be 'safe,' he could understand them slowing down, but the shitheads bunched up, and at 50 miles an hour, these idiots only had two to three car lengths between them. If someone slammed on the binders, there would have been a most monumental and sincere pile up.

After parking his truck, he entered the house and went to the kitchen looking for some coffee. He was in luck, someone had recently put on a fresh pot and he quickly poured a cup, adding a spoonful of sugar. The Gunny sat down at the table and slowly sipped his coffee, thinking about the medical exams, tests and the final outcome. The previous day had been really difficult for him, probably the most difficult day he had ever had during the 25 years in the Corps. The results of the medical exams and tests left little doubt in his mind that his career in the Corps was at an end. It really hurt when the Navy Commander (equivalent to a Marine Light Colonel) met with him and told him the results, he had Type Two Diabetes. He could pretty much control the problem with oral medication, exercise and diet, but it signaled the end to his career. He wasn't worried about finding a job, what with his pension, the money he had saved and invested and the fact that he could get a job with a government agency, he was in better condition to retire than a lot of his peers, but he still wasn't happy.

As the Gunny was thinking, Mitch Babcock followed closely by Justin Stanton walked into the kitchen;"Hey Gunny how ya doin, when did you get back?" Mitch asked. The two boys looked very happy and their faces were slightly flushed.

Mitch's question startled the Gunny out of his reverie;"Hi Mitch, hi Justin, sorry you startled me, I'm Okay; I've only been back for a few minutes." The gunny watched Mitch walk to the refrigerator before saying;"God damn son, did you grow a new leg? If I didn't know you were wearing a fake leg, I'd never have known."

Mitch grabbed a couple of cokes form the fridge and he and Justin sat across the table from the Gunny;"Yeah, ain't it great, Doctor Allyn finally got it working while you were gone. We had a little problem with the power supply, but he got that taken care of quickly. I changed out the battery yesterday after a week and a half's use, I guess you don't remember I had it on for a while before you went to the coast, do you?"

The Gunny thought about what Mitch had just said;"Now that you mention it, I do remember, I guess it just didn't sink in. Now that I see you walking on it, I swear it really does look like you got two good legs. Ain't science wonderful?"

"You should see him in the pool; he's turning into a really fast swimmer." Justin stated with deep pride in his voice over his boyfriend's accomplishment.

Matt, George and Keener walked into the kitchen;"Hey Gunny how they hanging?" Asked Matt;"Glad to see you back, it's been kinda quiet around here with out you to liven things up."

The Gunny gave Matt a small smile and said;"Thanks Matt, I didn't realize how much I missed the place till you said something. I guess this place and all the ankle biters and rug rats you got running around kind of grow on a man." The Gunny looked thoughtful for a minute before asking;"Where's your step son and his faithful blonde sidekick, I thought they'd be close by?"

Matt smiled;"They're down at Tyler's place, we had to take one of the LAV's down to get a couple new tires put on and they wanted to stay and help Tyler's dad."

The Gunny frowned;"What happened, I thought those tire's are nigh on to indestructible?"

George nodded;"They usually are, but by the looks of the tread, it appears to be a manufacture’s defect. The tread is separating from the body of both tires, we could still run it in an emergency, but I won't take a chance. You should have seen the two of them, Tyler with his head out of the driver’s hatch and Justin standing in the vehicle commander's hatch just as proud as peacock's, Keener was following in one of the FAV/s and I was leading in a HUMVEE. When we got there, I thought Terry was going to bust a gut at the way they were acting when we drove up."

Later that night after the six boys who were spending the night had gone to their rooms to sleep . . . or whatever, Matt asked the Gunny to come to his office.

"Gunny, I know about what you're going through." Matt said softly. "I can't begin to understand how you're feeling, but I want you to know we're all here for you."

The Gunny's face clouded up with a look of anger, than just as quickly with a look of calm. He sat across from Matt for a minute or so obviously getting his thoughts in order before saying;"You and Phil must have been talking?" Letting out a sigh, he continued;"Thanks Matt, I appreciate what you just said, but I'm really going to miss the Corps, and the Unit."

Matt looked at him with a quizzical expression;"I can understand you missing the Corps, anyone would after devoting 25 years of their life to something. But I don't understand your thinking you're going to miss the Unit?"

"Matt, when I leave the Corps, I won't be attached to the Unit anymore, Phil will end up sending a replacement for me, he'll have to." The Gunny said sadly.

Matt looked at the Gunny before saying;"You know, for such a smart fucking guy, you sure can be stupid sometimes." After saying that he picked up a file folder and tossed it to the Gunny.

The Gunny, a little pissed at what Matt had just said, opened the folder and looked at its contents. The anger and sadness disappeared from his face to be replaced with a look of happiness. Looking up at Matt, he spoke softly;"You really want me to stay, you really think I can handle this job? I mean, Jesus, I never even thought about this, all I had in my mind was that I had to leave the Corps."

Matt smiled at the older man;"Like I said Gunny, for a supposedly smart person, you can really be dumber than a box of rocks sometimes." Laughing, Matt continued;"You been doing everything in the job description for the last eight or nine months, I'd have to be out of my fucking mind to look for someone else now that you’re available, besides that I'd have a God damned mutiny on my hands if I didn't hire you. The boys, and I mean all of them love and respect you and so do James and I."

The Gunny's whole mental attitude changed immediately, he no longer felt like he was being cast adrift, never to be part of the fraternity of the Corps . . . And the Unit. Smiling, he didn't say anything, he just nodded his head, reached over and shook Matt's hand and hurriedly left the office going straight to his room. Once he was alone, he cried for the first time since the death of his son, only this time his tears were from joy, not from loss.

Matt went to bed, feeling better than he had since before James’ accident, hoping that bringing the Gunny on, as an employee was only the beginning of things getting better.

Down in the berthing compartment, the six boys had split up; Justin and Mitch in one of their assigned rooms while Ted and Shane were in the other. Each set of boyfriends showed their love and affection to their partners in their own ways, and all of them felt replete as they drifted off to sleep.

The meeting of the Unit held on the 4th of July was more of a giant party for the members, friends and families. After the posting of the Colors and the Pledge of Allegiance, Senior Chief Bailey talked to the Unit One members for three hours about the upcoming exercise with the Navy SEAL Team. Things would be very different during the exercise scheduled for the 9th of July; to begin with, the SEALS wouldn't be using laser equipped firearms. The sailors used a round specially developed for exercises such as this, and while they would use real weapons, the weapons would be firing ammunition similar to the paintballs used in paint ball guns. The ammunition used a small gunpowder charge to propel the small diameter paintball at approximately 430 feet per second; this meant that the SEAL Team members had to be really close to score a hit. The whole idea of the exercise was to see if the SEALs could get past the Unit One fire teams and gain access to the Arms Room without alerting the whole compound. If the SEALs were spotted, they could be taken out the same way the Marine Recon Teams were, that is if they were shot at and a laser hit one of their Miles Gear receptors, it would alarm and the SEAL would be a casualty. The boys were instructed that if they were hit center of mass or anywhere on the helmets and face shields they would be wearing, that they would be the casualty. If they were hit anywhere else, they were allowed to cry out, otherwise they were to remain silent.

The boys were excited about the new rules for the exercise, still coming down off of their last win the previous weekend against a forty man recon team, they felt invincible. After the Senior Chief gave his briefing, the Gunny took the floor;"Listen up people, I know that each and everyone of you think your purty near invincible, well you better get that notion out of your heads right now. You all know I've got 25 years in the Corps, you know how I feel about Force Recon. Well I'm here to tell you that you're going to be fighting an entirely different type of battle next weekend. ESPECIALLY if you go in with the attitude that you can't be beat you WILL get your asses handed to you."

The members of Unit One looked at the Gunny with shock evident in their eyes, not once had any of the leadership told them anything like this. They knew they were good, they knew that in a stand up fight they could kick just about anyone's ass, but they also knew that the Gunny wouldn't say something like that if it weren’t the truth. The Gunny told them to listen to their Squad Leaders, follow orders and pay close attention when they were deployed for the exercise.

The 4th of July Party started promptly at noon, family members, friends, boy friends and several girl friends were impressed with the facilities and the equipment the Unit. Matt had gotten Jason Tembler to cater the party; the number of people who had RSVP'd the invitations numbered close to 300. Once again, the rifle range was available to anyone who wanted to shoot, the Squadies were allowed to take a vehicle from the Unit's motor pool and drive around the site and the more adventurous were permitted to run the Unit's obstacle course. Of course both indoor and outdoor swimming pools were available and the game room was also usable by any gamers who weren't interested in anything more strenuous than pushing a button.

The party continued into the evening hours, with the final guest leaving at around 21:00. Matt's stepson Justin went home with Tyler to spend the night at the English place. The Stanton twins, Mitch and Shane left with the Martin Clan and were going to be with Phil Martin and David White for a couple of days. All of the adults decided to go to Cheney's Inn for a few beers before turning in for the night; this would be Keener's first trip to the bar since the ambush he had gotten shot in.

The four Marines and Matt entered Cheney's at around 20:00 and took seats at the bar, Matt called to Edie, Cheney's resident bartender: "Hey Eddy, give us a round of that horse piss you got on tap."

Eddy looked at Matt and asked;"Would that be the 'Sam Adams, Coors, Budweiser, Miller or Olympia horse piss?"

Matt laughed;"I guess the Miller, MGD if you got it."

Eddy soon places chilled 22 ounce beer glasses in front of the four men and went to serve some other new arrivals. After everyone took their first long draught of cold beer, Matt spoke;"Guys, at the chance of embarrassing the Gunny, I need to tell you that Stan has agreed to come to work for Bateman Brothers Inc. as the facility supervisor. You all remember that ad I was going to put in the Navy, Air force Marine and Army Times (http://www.navytimes.com/index.php ). It's no longer needed. Last night the Gunny and I closed it by Stan agreeing to working at my place as soon as he separates from the Corps."

This announcement took George and Keener by surprise, they knew he was having medical problems, but neither had been made aware of the fact that he was being retired. Question after question were asked of the Gunny and answered in turn, both Keener and George knew the Gunny was unhappy about leaving the Corps, but both knew that remaining with the Unit would ease his pain over being forcibly retired from the Corps.

The four men had been drinking for about an hour when the front door opened and in walked Delbert Prince with five of his buddies. Eddy made a beeline to them and told them they'd have to leave, this was the second time he had to do this, the first time was just before Keener, Matt and Tommy Martin were ambushed and Keener had been shot in the ass.

Eddy had no problem getting in Delbert's face this time, not after what happened to Keener;"Del, you gotta leave right now, Matt and his friends were here first, you're friends can stay if they want, but you gotta leave."

For a second or two, Eddy thought Delbert was going to argue, but he just nodded his head, turned on his heal and left followed closely by his friends.

After he brought them their next round, he moved to the far end of the bar and picked up one of the bars cordless telephones and punched in a number. When the phone was answered, Eddy spoke softly;"Tommy, this is Eddy down at Chaney's, I got Matt Bateman and his three Marine buddies down here at the bar. The reason I'm calling is that I just told Del Prince he couldn't come in while Matt and them were here. He and his five friends left, but he did the same thing just before Keener was shot and I'm kinda worried. Eddy listened for a minute or so and then said;"Thanks Tommy I appreciate it, I'll try and give you some warning before they leave, if necessary, I'll feed them free beer until you can get here. Okay buddy thanks, talk to you later."

The four friends had been drinking steadily, but not all that heavily and were still in good shape at 23:30 when they decided to call it a night. Matt called for the check, instead of a check Eddy brought them another round;"I been listening to you guys talk, and I just want the Gunny to have a round on the house. It's not often that I get a new customer." The Gunny blushed and thanked Eddy for the beer, the four continued talking amongst themselves when the front door opened and in walked Tommy Martin in his Deputy Sheriffs Uniform.

Tommy walked over to Matt and clapped him on the shoulder;"Evening Matt Gunny, George, Keener, that was a great party today, I really enjoyed it. Gunny, sorry to hear about you having to retire but you couldn't find a better place to go to work than for the Bateman brothers."

The Gunny knew Tommy but couldn't quite figure out how he had learned about him retiring from the Corps so quickly. Then he realized how;"You been talking to your Uncle Phil haven't you. Damn this town has a better intelligence apparatus than the Corps."

Tommy refused a beer but did accept a can of coke from Eddy, then Matt and the three Marines climbed off the bar stools and said good night to Eddy, Tommy led the way to the parking lot. As soon as Tommy was visible in the doorway of the bar, red and blue strobe light bars on the top of eight law enforcement vehicles started flashing, Matt and the Marines stopped dead in their tracks.

"What's going on Tommy, you going to arrest us, we ain't even got in our car?" Keener asked with a bewildered look on his face.

Tommy chuckled before replying;"Naw, some of the guys just thought they'd like to try out their emergency lights to make sure they worked okay. This way they don't have to get out of their cars to make the check and besides, it lets people know that they’re here and maybe not want to do something illegal, you know, like speeding or double parking, shit like that."

Matt had more that a few beers, but wasn't really drunk. He knew what Tommy and the rest of the Deputies, Highway patrol guys and even the one car from Moreland had just done. Testing their lights was an excuse to let anyone lurking nearby know that it wasn't a good idea to be pulling any shit, shit like the last time when Keener was shot.

Matt looked at Tommy and said;"I owe you Tommy, thanks, thanks for all of us."

Tommy just shrugged. "Call it preemptive, us being here could possibly have stopped something from happening and that cuts down on the paperwork. Besides, it's a quiet night and the guys weren't doing anything anyhow."

Matt smiled and nodded, knowing the truth and promising himself that he would do something nice for these guys.

Tommy had his Explorer with him and said;"Climb in guys I'll give you a lift back to your place, Matt, give me the keys to the HUMVEE and I'll have Joseph follow us back."

Once back to the house, everyone thanked Tommy and Joseph again and went inside and hit their trees. Before turning in, Matt activated both the building and the grounds alarm system, he figured that if the situation were such that Tommy was worried about their safety, then he would take all the precautions necessary to safeguard his friends and himself.

Wednesday, Matt called his squad leaders, sniper teams and Armor crews to a special meeting that night. He had talked with Chief Bailey and got him to agree to brief the Squadies on what they could expect during the upcoming exercise, Greg was going to have Borne put on a display of "Snoopin and Poopin" for the boys. The squadies were in for some eye opening experiences during the upcoming Unit One/SEAL exercise, stuff that they had never been exposed to before. Wednesday night, Senior Chief Bailey and Chief Macintyre met with the fifteen youths in the parking lot of the Bateman compound, and started giving the briefing. About an hour into the briefing the boys were getting restless when the fronts of Matt and the three Marines MarCams started blossoming with white and light yellow splotches. The four men were standing to the left of the two Navy Chiefs and said nothing about the sudden appearance of the splotches on their uniforms. Chief Macintyre continued talking as if nothing had happened, about five minutes later; the fronts of the two Chiefs blossomed with light red, almost pink and light blue splotches. This was too much for Jap to handle, raising his hand; he started speaking before either of the Chiefs could answer;"Chief Bailey, what's with them splotches on your uniforms?"

The six men standing in front of the Squadies smiled and Senior Chief Bailey said;"About time Jap, why didn't you say anything when Matt and the Marines were shot? The chief looked at all the Squadies;"You guys need to sing out in a situation like this, nobody said anything and Whitney and Borne who have been in the brush behind you for the last fifteen minutes were able to take out two separate groups of people from two different locations."

When the chief told them that Whitney and Borne were behind them in the brush, all the boys turned to see where they were. The two sailors were nowhere to be seen, after scanning the desert behind them for a few minutes, the Squadies turned around to find Whitney and Borne standing on either side of the Chiefs. The two men had what appeared to be standard Government Issue 1911A1 pistols in their hands pointed straight up. All of the Squadies took note that their trigger fingers were "indexed" on the side of the pistols frame, above the trigger, just as they themselves had been trained to do when handling any firearm. The Sailors were wearing a form of MarCam that the SEAL Teams had modified to fit the requirements of their nighttime reconnaissance activities. Instead of desert or woodland pattern, it had a lot of grays as well as black and several different shades of brown. Both of the men had painted their faces in black and dark gray camouflage paint and looked scarier than hell.

The Squadies aped at the two; Jacky Hoffman was the first to break the silence;"Where the fuck did you guys come from, how the hell did you get past us?"

All of the adults chuckled, then the Gunny spoke;"I attempted to tell you guys, not just you but the whole Unit, that this was going to be a different type of fight than you ever been in before. These guys train long and hard to be able to do the job and do it well. If you had been paying attention to the area around you as well as you were to the lecture, you would have heard them at least three times when they made their approach."

The Senior Chief continued;"We're trained, each and every one of us to use all three parts of the SEAL acronym SEa Air Land, that means we can come at you at anytime from any direction. Modern electronics can help you see us coming, but not always, they can be spoofed. The only defense against us is to detect us first and take us down in a hurry. Our doctrine depends on not being detected, if we are, 99 times out of a 100 we'll back off, our teams aren't made up of large numbers, we rely on stealth and tradecraft to complete our mission. You guys got any questions?"

Borne and Whitney's demonstration of "Snoopin and Poopin" caused the boys to step back and re-think the way they play game. For once, they were the ones trying to figure out how to beat their opponent. Most of the questions that the boys asked had to do with the tradecraft the two SEAL's had used to get within handgun range. While the other Squadies were asking questions, Jap and Jacky were talking amongst themselves;"What do ya think Jacky, are those cami's they’re wearing act as heat blankets, and if so how close do we got to be before we can see them through our sights?"

Jacky thought for a second, jumped up and ran into the building, less than five minutes later he came running back with a set of night vision goggles they had gotten a couple of weeks before. He sat down beside Jap and put them on, after turning them on, he looked at Whitney and Borne. Shaking his head no, he took them off and gave them to Jap, after looking at them he smiled and said;"Gotcha, at least we can see their IR signature, that'll make a big difference."

Jap turned and looked to the east, across the property, the two-lane highway and the two hundred yards to the eastern bank of the Yakima River. Thinking for a few minutes before he spoke. "Ya know, we could put a 'Hide' just below the military crest of the hill on the other side of the river and still be able to hit right up to the front door of the house."

Jacky nodded slowly before speaking;"Yeah but that would leave the western side unprotected, I mean we wouldn't be able to support the fire teams from over there."

"I was thinking of only one of us going over there, the other would still be over here in support. The guy over there would be able to control the whole eastern side of the house as well as take under fire anyone who slipped through from the west, what do ya think?" Jap asked

Jacky nodded his head in agreement; ”Lets get a laser range finder and see what the distances are, that way we can know for sure."

On Friday afternoon about 15:30, a Marine Corps bus drove up the access road and parked in the Bateman Compound parking lot, the doors opened and Marines and Sailors started to debark. Besides the four Sailors of the Training Department, there were two ensigns (2nd Lieutenants), a Lieutenant and a Lieutenant Commander (Captain and Major) followed by six Marines who had been to the compound as observers and controllers. Starting with this exercise, the Marine Corps and Navy would share the duties as observers and controllers, but depending on which branch was acting as the aggressor, that service would provided the O.I.C. (Officer In Charge). The two Ensigns weren't that much older than some of the Unit One boys; in fact, Ensign Lewis looked younger than some of the teenagers did. The officers and Warrant Officers were taken down to the berthing area and each of them were given their own, while the E-6 and below shared a room with one of the other observers and controllers of the same rank/rate.

At 18:00 the Squadies started to arrive, Jap and Jacky arrived on their 10 speed mountain bikes, each of the boys was wearing cargo shorts and a T-shirt, both were wearing their spit shined Corcoran's rather than cross trainers. The boys went immediately to the office and found the Matt and the Gunny discussing the upcoming exercise. The two snipers quickly laid out their plan, Jacky would set up his 'Hide' to cover the west side of the compound and Jap would take one rifleman for security and set up his 'Hide’ on the east side of the Yakima river. Matt looked at the Gunny;"What do ya think Gunny, will we gain anything by doing it their way or should we just stick with the way we been dong it?"

The Gunny thought about it for a few minutes, going over the information the two snipers had just given them. Looking at the boys then turning to Matt;"Actually Matt I think it's a pretty good idea, in fact I'm kind of surprised that no one thought of it before now." The Gunny thought about it for a couple minutes before saying;"Grab one of the new high res IR spotting scopes, that way you guys can take turns looking for intruders. You guys know that you’re going to have to maintain strict light and noise discipline while you're over there, even more so than over on this side." Matt nodded okay to the Gunny;"Okay guys get your gear and the rest of your team together Jap, and have Carson drive you over there in one of the HUMVEE's."

Jap smiled;"Aye, Aye sir."

Jap found his spotter, Doug James and one of his security detail, Jeff Shields and quickly briefed them on what they would be doing. The three boys changed in to their LOR outfits went to the EDF to grab a coke, while in there; Senior Chief Bailey stopped them and asked them what they were up too. Jap knew that the Chief and his people were impartial about the whole thing and he had no problem letting him know exactly what their plan was.

The Senior Chief mulled it over in his mind for a few seconds before asking;"Jap, would you allow me to attach an observer to your group? This is his first time in the barrel and it might be better if he was away from all the action, but close enough to get some experience?"

Jap shrugged, he didn't really want a newbie following them around, especially seeing as how this was the first time they tried something like this. "I guess it will be okay Senior Chief, we got to get our gear right now, how bout we meet him up in the garage in about fifteen minutes?" Jap stopped and looked at the Chief;"Could you kind of tell him that he needs to listen to us about Op Sec (Operational Security), I know he's an adult and all, but this is our operation."

The Chief nodded and said he would as the three boys headed for the stairs to the upper levels. After collecting their equipment, weapons and Carson McMillan, their driver, they got on the elevator and went to the garage. Senior Chief Bailey and a slight blonde haired Sailor in standard issue desert camouflage BDU's was waiting for them. On closer inspection of the young Sailor, Jap saw the two bars on the collar of his blouse;"Great" he thought to himself. "Just what we fucking need, a butter bar to baby sit."

As they approached the two Sailors, Jap saluted the Ensign and said;"Good evening sir, Senior Chief, I'm Josh Peterson, everyone calls me Jap." When the Ensign somewhat hesitantly returned his salute, he dropped his hand and stuck it and shook hands, then introduced the rest of the Squadies. After shaking hands with everyone the ensign spoke in a surprisingly deep voice; The Senior Chief has briefed me on what you guys are going to be doing, he also informed me that since this was your operation that I was to be sure to follow any and all directions you give me. I just want to say, I got no problem with that, this is my first time in the barrel and really want to get some first hand experience. I'm scheduled to attend SEAL Training back east this November, I just hope I can make it through the course."

Jap nodded;"Well I wish you luck sir." Jap turned to Carson;"Which rig are we taking Car?" Carson looked at the key he held and pointed to the nearest HUMVEE. Jap nodded;"Okay guys let's mount up, we're burning daylight."

The HUMVEE left the property drove south through Denton City before coming to the bridge that would take them across the Yakima River. When they finally made it to the point directly across from the house, it was 19:45; the team unloaded the vehicle and crawled to the military crest of the rise over the river. Carefully Jap and Doug surveyed both riverbanks and up and down stream, looking for evidence that the SEAL Team was already present. After they were sure that the area was secure they moved over the rise and down to a small depression on the side of the hill. The last one over was Doug James, the teams' spotter; Jap had already set up his Barrett and was busy checking the magazines for it, making sure that all they contained were blanks. Every one of the Unit One Squadies had heard about the accident several years earlier when a police officer was killed during an accident in a 'Shoot House' down in Oregon. Somehow a magazine with live ammo was mistakenly used instead of blanks and no one wanted a repeat of the accident that resulted in the death of the policeman. The Ensign had moved to one side of the team when they first got to the shooting position and watched as the three boys quickly got set up, he like them, wore a headset with a microphone so he could follow what as going on.

None of the team had said anything until the position was set up, Jap was the first to speak;"CIC, CIC, this is Alpha 6 . . . over."

Four or five seconds later;"Alpha 6, Alpha 6, this is CIC, how do you read . . . over." was heard over their radios.

"CIC, this is Alpha 6, I read you 5 by 5 . . . over." Jap said softly into his mic.

"Ah roger Alpha 6 . . . CIC reads you same . . . CIC out."

Jap turned to the rest of the people in the depression and spoke softly;"Okay guys lets settle down, Jeff, you and Doug switch about every fifteen minutes on the spotting scope. Pay special attention to the up and down stream areas of the western bank in case they come in by water, I'll take the road to the house. Lets all put on our game faces now. We are on low noise starting now.

For teenagers, the boys showed remarkable self control; Ensign Lewis was highly impressed with how little they fidgeted or for that matter moved at all. Every hour or so, Jap would contact the CIC and check in, once he listened while CIC spoke with Bravo 6 the Bravo team sniper.

03:15;"All stations, all stations, this is CIC, we have a movement alarm near the front gate, all stations standby." At 03:20;"all stations, the movement alarm appears to be false, continue on station alert."

At 03:40, Jap heard a noise and was turning to see who had broke noise discipline when he heard 'Phutt' keying his mike he was able to get out;"C" . . . before he felt something sting him on the middle of his back and heard another 'Phutt,' and then another 'Phutt.'

Looking around, Jap saw the man dressed in the same style camouflage that Borne and Whitney were dressed in on the previous Wednesday night. "Shit." was all Jap could think of saying. He just lay there behind his marvelous new M107 semi-automatic .50 caliber Barrett rifle, completely impotent. The Sailor moved down into the depression and spoke;"Hi guys, nice night, huh?" Then turning to Ensign Lewis;"Evening Mr. Lewis, fancy meeting you here . . ." Before he could continue, his Miles gear started alarming, a shocked look appeared on his face and a startled;"What the fuck?" He then looked at the Bateman House some 850 or so yards away and just shook his head;"Damn, Chief Bailey wasn't shitin us when he said you guys were good."

Seconds later, the distant sounds of automatic and semi-automatic gunfire could be heard coming from in and around the Batman house. Doug and Jap were looking through their night vision scopes and saw the front door wide open with several Unit One Squadies firing and advancing. The garage door was sliding open and more Squadies were entering the structure firing as they went. Ten minutes later at 03:56, the sniper teams radios squawked in their ears;"All stations, this is CIC, stand down, I say again, stand down, all Unit One personnel assemble in the Cavern. Alpha 6 this is CIC, over . . . "CIC . . . Alpha 6." Jap said. "Alpha 6 stand down and move to recovery point, transportation is en route . . . Over." Jap replied;"Ah roger CIC, Alpha team en route to pick up point . . . Out." "CIC out."

Twenty-five minutes later, one of the Unit's HUMVEE's arrived and all five of the men and boys crowded into its interior after stowing their gear in the back of the vehicle. There was little talk during the trip back to the house, besides being tired, the boys were really pissed off at themselves for being taken down so easily. When they arrived at the house, Jacky Hoffman was waiting for them, his rifle resting on its' bipod alongside him.

When Jap got out of the vehicle, Jacky went over to him and embraced him, kissing him softly on top of the head;"Hey guy, good to see you again, I missed you." Jap stood there hugging his boy friend, crying softly into the larger boys' chest.

Aggressors?? Defenders??