Kombat Kids by GhostRyder
Chapter 50: Life Goes On

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Five days after the party held for the military, their family's and the Unit One members who helped bring Jap back to the Unit; Jap woke before the alarm clock went off. Reaching over his lover, he turned the clock off so that it wouldn't alarm, then lay back staring at Jacky's face, still feeling the guilt of breaking his nose. During the night Jacky had kicked the covers off both of them and was laying on his back, looking down Jacky's body, he smiled at his lover's morning woody. Moving slowly, Jap moved to Jacky's groin area and took Jacky into his mouth, applying gentle suction he took as much of his dick into his mouth as he could and then slowly moved back up. Jap only had to perform this action for a short period of time when he felt Jacky's dick suddenly get bigger and felt the first blast of cum rush through the dorsal vein on the bottom of his cock. After the first shot entered his mouth he felt Jacky's hands on both sides of his head, not really holding him in place, but steadying him, letting him know that his boyfriend was awake. When Jacky was finished, he pulled Jap up to him and kissed him softly on the lips, probing gently with his tongue.

When they broke the kiss, Jacky said three words; "I love you."

Jap smiled a real smile for the first time in almost a month; he reached up and ran his finger over the slightly swollen nose he had broken the previous week. Jap smiled at him and said; "You know how sorry I am for doing that don't you? I know it was an accident and shit, but I still feel bad about hurting you."

Jacky smiled back; "I know. It's getting better all the time so forget about it. You seem to be in a really good mood this morning, and that makes me feel good too."

Jap smiled back; "Yeah, the meds the Doc put me on seem to be doing their job; I even feel like going to school today."

Smiling, Jacky shook his head; "Nope, no way no how, the Doc and Erick said not until next week just to be sure the medication is really working like they want. I heard Matt and James talking about it and they said that if you don't have any problems here and Erick agrees after your next appointment, maybe you can go back sometime during the middle of the week."

Jacky climbed out of bed and pulled Jap along with him; "Come on, I have to get ready for school." Teasingly he added; "Not all of us get to stay home and fuck off all day."

The two boys performed their morning ablutions and dressed for the day, Jacky in school clothes and Jap in a set of MarCams. Hand in hand they walked up the stairs to the first deck kitchen both looking forward to a hardy breakfast. Entering the kitchen they found the Babcock's, Matt and James, the Gunny and Keener Webb already eating. The boys went over to the counter where the different breakfast foods had been laid out and filled their plates and then took their places at the table.

The Gunny looked up from his plate and smiled at the two; "Good morning troops, I see you're both looking pretty chipper this morning." Looking at Jap he continued; "What have you got planned for today Jap?"

Jap looked into the Gunny's eyes and smiled; "I thought it's time I start working with Bert again, it's been a long time since I exercised him."

The Gunny nodded his head in agreement, but said nothing. Thinking to himself he thought; "Out-fucking-standing, thank God the little fucker is starting to come out of his funk." After the Gunny finished his breakfast, he cleared his place and put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, turning to the table he announced; "I'm heading up to the range." Then to Jap; "Come on up anytime you're ready and we'll see just how rusty you are." Saying that, he walked out of the kitchen and headed out to the range to start his day, smiling for the first time in a long while.

After breakfast, Jap followed Keener to the arms room and took Bert from his storage rack. Smiling he asked Bert; "Miss me? I know I missed you, come on, let's get you cleaned up before we go to the range." Moving to the workbench, Jap took the large bore rifle down to its component parts and quickly cleaned and lubricated them before reassembling the Barrett. Grabbing a 'can' of ammunition for the rifle, he made his way to the elevator and then to the garage. Jap had already gotten a set of keys for one of the HUMVEE's before he left the first deck after breakfast and he loaded the rifle and ammo into the back seat before hitting the remote for the garage door. After leaving the garage, he drove quickly to the range and parked near the firing line used for the long distance target. Sitting behind the wheel of the HUMVEE, Jap thought over the last three months, especially about the three men he had killed. He remembered the feelings of elation when he had put the three men down, then the sadness when he realized that he had taken a life. He didn't notice the Gunny until the passenger side door opened and the grizzled veteran got in the vehicle and closed the door. After a moment or two, the Gunny spoke in a soft voice; "I was nineteen when I killed my first man, I was in Nicaragua and we had set up an ambush for the local rebels, actually they were drug runners playing at being rebels. I had been in the Crotch for almost a year at that time and was pretty full of myself. I was a United States Marine and I could do anything, go anywhere and whip anyone's ass. We'd set up the ambush and were in place for six hours when we heard them coming, I was ready, I was confident, Hell, I was looking forward to my first kill. The rebels started to enter the kill sack leading mules loaded with their drugs, our Gunnery Sergeant waited till the first man and his animal were at the far end of the sack before he opened fire. There were eighteen men in the rebel group, we took two alive and I know for a fact that I killed four of them myself. When it was over, I was on a high that I never knew could exist, better than booze, better than drugs, hell it was better than sex. I had a hard on you wouldn't believe, most of the younger guys did too. Then I got a look at the people we had killed, I noticed for the first time that most of them were the same age I was, there was even one that looked like he couldn't be more than fifteen." The Gunny stopped speaking for a few seconds, then continued; "I stood there staring at the boy I had killed, I couldn't move, I didn't even realize that the Gunny was talking to me until he shook me by the shoulder. When I looked at him he had a sad expression on his face and told me I wasn't a boy anymore and that if I stayed in the Corps, I had to learn that it was the bad guys or us. As far as he was concerned, it was always going to be the bad guys, none of these people, as a group or as an individual were worth any of his 'people’."

Jap watched the Gunny as he told his story and for the first time since he knew him, he saw the human being that had not only saved many of his men's lives, but had taken many men's lives doing it.

"What I'm getting at," The Gunny continued; "Is that I know what you're going through and if you need to talk to someone who's been there, I'm here for you.” The Gunny then patted Jap on the cheek and de-assed the vehicle.

Jap sat in the vehicle for another minute before he climbed out and unloaded his rifle and ammo, all the time thinking how lucky he was to be a member of the Unit.

The weekend meeting went well, each day Jap seemed to get stronger, mentally and physically. Wednesday morning arrived; Jap was actually looking forward to getting back to school. Jacky had made sure that Jap had taken his medication when they first awoke each morning and Wednesday was no different. After breakfast, Keener drove Justin, Jap and Jacky to Chief George Middle School, after picking up Tyler English on the way. Jap was in really good spirits during the drive in and held his own flipping shit and taking it from his friends. Jap's morning classes went by quickly, he, Justin, Tyler and the Babcock brothers met up with Jacky at the cafeteria for lunch. After eating lunch he excused himself and went to the nearest Boys Room to take a dump before his next class. As he was completing his call of nature, he heard the door to the Boys Room slam open and several people enter. The next thing he heard was; "Alright niggers, down on your knees, it's time for you to suck our dicks."

Jap hurriedly finished his needs and pulled up his shorts and secured his zipper and belt, then left the cubicle. Three boys had their backs to him. They turned and stared at him before the one in the middle said; "What the fuck you looking at asshole, unless you want to be on your knees like these here niggers you better keep your mouth shut and get the fuck out of here."

Jap Looked at the three and knew his only choice was to beat a hasty retreat; "Yeah sure, I'm goin." Jap said as he backed out of the restroom, as soon as he was in the hall way, he ran to the lunch room and yelled; “Unit one, on me!"

Soon he was surrounded by ten of the Unit One people who had been in the lunchroom including Jacky, Justin, Tyler and the Babcock brothers. Jacky was the first to ask what was wrong; Jap quickly explained what had happened in the restroom. Jacky took the lead from there; "Tyler, run down to the office and get the Principal, the rest of us will go to the restroom and stop those punks from whatever they’re going to do. Come on guys let's move."

The ten Unit One members burst into the restroom with Jacky in the lead; Jap and Justin were at his side. The three kids turned as the restroom door slammed into the doorstop, a look of surprise and shock on their faces. Jap saw the two black kids lying on the floor, one was unconscious and the other was trying to put himself between his friend and the white kids who were attacking them. Jap and Justin moved quickly to their side to see what they could do to help while Jacky and the others crowded the three bullies against the wall. The kid who had ordered Jap out of the restroom tried to bluff the Unit One members by flipping shit at them. The biggest of the three yelled in Jacky's face; "You better get the fuck out of here or we're going to get you all."

Jacky laughed in the kid’s face; "Fuck you punk, you mess with us and you'll end up just like the Princes' did, crippled and in jail. You just stand there and shut your mouth or we'll shut it for you."

Just as the boy was about to try and flip Jacky some more shit an adult voice said; "All right, everyone out except you eight in front, move it." Once the Unit One members that were backing Jacky, Jap and Justin had left the restroom, John Murphy, the Principal of Chief George asked the apparent leader of the three white kids who had attacked the two blacks; “What's going on Miller, you causing trouble again?"

Herman Miller, better known as 'Buddy' tried to lie his way out of trouble; "I don't know what's going on sir, we just came in here to use the bathroom and we found these two guys on the floor, the next thing we knew these guys came busting in and started to threaten us."

Jap looked up from where he was checking the unconscious boy and said; "He's lying, he and his two buds were trying to get these guys to blow them. Can you call for some medical help? This kid's still unconscious and isn't responding to voice or other external stimuli."

Murphy looked at Jap for a second or two thinking; "External stimuli, where'd this kid come up with that line from?" Taking a portable radio from his belt and keying the transmit button he said; "Office, this is Principal Murphy, call 911 and have a police and medical team respond to first floor Boys Room by the Cafeteria."

Jap was speaking softly to the boy with the split lip and bloody nose, rubbing his shoulder and trying to calm him down. The boy started to reach for his friend and Jap gently took hold of his hands and pulled them away saying; "No, don't move him, we don't know how bad he's injured and you might make it worse by moving him."

Mr. Murphy observed Jap interacting with the two boys on the floor then at the three kids up against the wall where Jacky and the others had forced them. The three were starting to sweat and turn pale, the youngest one started to cry. Tuning to the three the Principal said; "Miller, Johnson, Ames, come with me, Hoffman, you and your two friends stay here."

Jap turned to Jacky and said; "Jack, how about going to my locker and getting my jacket I keep there, I think we better treat him for shock." Turning to Justin he asked; "Will you take this guy over to the sinks and try to stop his nose bleed please?"

As Justin pulled the injured boy to his feet and guided him to the sink, Jacky returned carrying Jap's light jacket and his backpack. Before he had left to get Jap's jacket, he noticed the gray tinge to the unconscious boy's face and knew they had to elevate his feet. Handing the jacket to Jap, he gently lifted the boy's legs and placed the backpack under them. Both he and Jap sat alongside the boy and spoke softly to him while carefully grasping his hands to provide a sense of security and contact to let him know, even though he was unconscious, someone cared.

Justin meanwhile had the boy with the split lip and bloody nose at the sink and was using spindled wads of toilet paper to stem the flow of blood from his nose. He had the boy holding a damp piece of paper towel to his lip while Justin helped to keep his head tipped back. Justin also kept up a running one sided conversation with the unknown boy, urging him to remain calm and encouraging him that everything would be alright with him and his friend.

About ten minutes after the principal had called the office and requested emergency services, the restroom door opened and three EMT's entered with a gurney and two emergency medical kits. The senior EMT looked at the boy Justin was working with and motioned for one of his team to attend to him. Moving to the unconscious kid on the floor, he asked Jap and Jacky; "Okay, it looks like you guys have been taking care of him, what do you know about his condition?"

Jap looked at the EMT and said; "He's been unconscious for at least fifteen minutes, no response to external stimuli, his pulse is fast and thready and his respiration is shallow. We think he went into shock so we covered him with my jacket and propped up his legs on my backpack. I did a check on his arms, legs, chest and abdominal area, I didn't find any evidence of fractures, but his abdomen appears to be hard and slightly distended."

As he finished telling the EMT what he knew, Tyler entered the restroom; "Jap, Jacky, Justin, Mr. Murphy wants you guys to come to the office as soon as you can."
The Lead EMT, slightly shocked by the response he got to his question looked at Jap and said; "It's okay, we got it here, you guys go ahead and head to the office. By the way, you guys did a good job." Looking at Jap he continued; "And you Red, that was about the best reply to a request for status that I ever got, from anyone."

Jap blushed a bright red from the compliment, nodded his head and stood up; Jacky took him by the hand and gestured for Justin and Tyler to follow them to the office. The four boys entered the main office and spread out along the counter, Jacky took it upon himself to act as spokesman for the group; "Umm Mz. Helms, we were told the Principal wanted to see us."

Mildred Holmes had worked for the Moreland School district for over twenty-two years and thought that she had seen everything a student or students could get up to. That is until today; these four boys and several others had stopped three other students from molesting and hurting two of the few black students the school had. Not only stopped them, but rendered aid to the injured boys and contacted the Principal, all without throwing a single punch. She smiled at them; "Yes he does, he told me to send you into his office as soon as you arrived." Still smiling, she pointed to the closed office door; "Go ahead, knock and go on in."

Jap took the lead and knocked lightly on the door and led the way in. Inside they found the Principal, two uniformed police officers and the three kids who had beat up on the black kids. Jap spoke for the group; "You wanted to see us sir?"

Mr. Murphy nodded and gestured for them to sit down; when they were seated, he said; "Mr. Miller here has told us his side of what happened, I'd like to hear what you have to say."

Jap nodded his head and cleared his throat before saying; "I was using the end stall and was just finishing up when I heard the door to the restroom slam against the wall." Jap repeated what Miller had said to the two black kids, what he had said to Jap when he exited the stall and then turned to Jacky to continue. Jacky told how Jap had called all the Unit One members to come and help and what the Miller kid had said to him when they forced the three bullies up against the wall. He then finished up by telling what they did to help the two injured boys after the Principal had taken Miller and his cohorts Mr. Murphy looked at the Unit One boys before saying; "That's a considerably different story from what young Mr. Miller has told. According to him, he and his friend tried to stop you from beating up on the two injured students and you and your friends roughed him and his friends up, even striking them."

Jap looked at Miller and then glanced down at his feet; "Sir, you may want to look at Miller's right toe, and ask him how he got blood on his shoe."

Mr. Murphy looked startled and then looked at Miller's shoe, Miller turned pale and tried to rub his right toe on the back leg of his 501's. Mr. Murphy returned his gaze to Jap; "All that proves is he has something on the toe of his shoe."

"Not at all sir!" Jap replied; "I've seen that type of blood trace before, this past summer my boyfriend was kidnapped by members of the Prince family, there were traces of his blood just like that on several pairs of shoes and boots found in their cabin. You can check for yourself, the District Attorney is using that for evidence when they go to trial."

Mr. Murphy nodded at Jap's rebuttal; while he heard the reference to Jap's 'boyfriend' he didn't acknowledge it in any way. Looking at Miller and his friends he asked; "What do you have to say about Mr. Peterson's statement Mr. Miller?"

“He's lying, he's a faggot and he's the one who tried to get it on with them two nigg . . . Black kids, not me!" yelled Miller.

As Miller was shouting the Principal’s phone rang; "Murphy!' He answered; "Yes, I see, okay, thank you very much." After hanging up the phone he turned to Miller and said; "That was Assistant Principal Burton, he just got finished talking with Adrian D?john, it seems that he's identified you and your friends as the ones who beat him and Cameron Jones. Do you have anything to say Mr. Miller?"

With out waiting for Miller to reply he turned to the police officers; "Cameron Jones and Adrian D?john are being taken to Pontac Medical Center, Jones is still unconscious. How do you officers want to work it with these three, do you want to arrest them or bring in the Juvenile Authorities?"

Turning his attention to Jap and Company he said; "Okay guys, head for your classes, if we need you for anything else we'll call you."

As the four boys were filing out of the office, Miller let his alligator mouth overload his canary asshole; "I'll get you fucking faggot nigger lovers for this, I'm gonna get you all."

Hearing this Jacky did something he normally wouldn't have done, raising his hand well above his head and without looking at the mouthy little bastard, he shot him the bird. The two police officers and Mr. Murphy had to cover their mouths and turn away so they could hide their laughter.

The boys finished the school day and were met by the Gunny for their ride home. That night the boys explained what had happened and what their part had been in the day's activity. James, Matt and the three resident Marines talked about what had happened and what they could do to safeguard the boys while they were at school. James picked up the kitchen phone and made a call, after talking for twenty minutes or so, he explained what he had set in motion. The four members of his 'Kitchen Cabinet' all smiled and nodded their heads at his plans. George Babcock was especially happy at the safeguards James had set in motion.

The boys returned to school the next morning as if nothing had happened, as usual, they were picked up by one of the adults and taken home. Friday at lunch Adrian
D?john walked up to the table where Jap and the other kids from the Unit sat and said to Jacky; "I want ta thank ya for what you did the other day, Cameron was awake last night and he wanted me ta tell ya thanks also. I don't know what woulda happen if you guys hadn't come for us." Turning to Jap, he continued; "And you, little redheaded boy, we both owe you big time, anythin we got is yours, anythin."

Jap tried to brush off what he had done by telling Adrian that he would have done it for anyone.

Adrian looked him in the face for a few seconds before saying; "I believe you would, but the thin is you done it for me and Cameron. Like I say, we both owe you; just you know we know it, me and Cameron both." With that said Adrian looked away from Jap, nodded his head to the other boys at the table, turned and strode out of the lunchroom.

Soon the lunch hour ended, classes continued, and time rolled on. The last bell rang at 15:15 and the afternoon 'Lemming Rush' of teenagers and 'not quite' teenagers burst forth from the Chief George Middle School portals. The drop off and pick up point for the students was at the south end of the school, on a narrow piece of road barely a hundred meters or so long and nine or ten meters wide. This short narrow corridor, named Hillard Street, challenged the driving skills of even the most seasoned drivers, though in a wide body HUMVEE going in either direction was instant chaos time.

Matthew had made the trip to Moreland early in the afternoon so it was his turn in the barrel, so to speak. Having picked up the kids before, he arrived a half hour early and was parked at the curb on the south side of the street; he passed the time until school let out by reading the new John Ringo novel. When the final bell of the day rang, he braced himself for the arrival of six high speed low drag school boys who were going to cram themselves into the HUMVEE.

Mitch was able to claim "Shotgun" by making it to the front passenger side door first. The rest of the boys climbed into the back bitching about the 'bionic boy' getting to the vehicle first, Mitch answered the complaints by shooting them the bird and laughing at them. Once everyone was onboard and before Matt could pull away from the curb, Jap asked; "Matt, can we stop at Pontac, that kid who was hurt yesterday is still there, I'd like to see how he'd doing?"

It only took a second or two for Matt to make up his mind, looking over his shoulder he saw a break in traffic and eased the HUMVEE away from the curve. To the serenade of car horns and comments such as; Asshole, shithead, dipshit and several comments about his parentage, number of legal parents and some physically impossible suggestions, Matt headed toward the hospital. When they arrived at the hospital Matt decided to follow the boys in and see what was going on.

Entering the lobby Matt walked over to the 'Information' desk and said "Jeez Mr. Hampton, don't you ever go home?"

Fred Hampton had known Matt and James Bateman all their lives and had been a good friend of their parents. Sitting behind the desk, the older man looked up at Matt and cackled; "Damn Matty, if I went home I'd never get a chance to see you or Jimmy. It seems like the two of you spend more time here than at your home." Looking at the six boys he continued; "What are you doing Matty, getting these younguns used to being here? Let me see who you got, I know Tyler there, and Jap, but the others seem to be new to me."

Matt quickly introduced the other four boys and explained their connection to him and James.

"That's nice that they have someplace to go to get away from the bullshit." Fred Hampton said. This simple statement caused the boys and Matt to laugh at the old man’s down to earth way of describing the Unit. So he continued, “What can I do for you and these here youngsters?"

"These guys want to visit a friend of theirs that got hurt in school yesterday; his name is Cameron J . . . ." Before Matt could finish, Mr. Hampton chimed in; "Jones, yeah I heard about that, that Miller boy was involved in him getting hurt. Well let's just see here, yep, there he is, room 309." Looking back at the boys he smiled and said; "I hear a bunch of boys lead by a little redheaded boy stopped that little peckerwood from hurtin him more than he did." Looking Jap in the eyes he said; "Good job, I always did like seein someone stand up for the underdog. When you see young Mr. Jones, tell him that a lot of people are praying for him."

Jap, blushing from the praise just nodded his head. Matt led the boys and they rode up to the third floor, unusually quiet, nursing over what Mr. Hampton had said and trying to figure out how he knew so much about what had happened. Reaching the Nurse's Station, Matt asked the nurse behind the counter; "Ma'am, we're looking for Cameron Jones, Mr. Hampton downstairs told us he was up here in room 309, we just want to make sure we can see him."

The nurse looked at Matt and then looked at the six boys accompanying him before saying; "He's in 309." Looking back at the boys she asked; "Aren't you the ones who scared off his attackers?" The boys nodded their heads but didn't say anything. The nurse smiled at them; "Okay, but he needs to remain calm, just make sure you don't get him all spun up. Oh and boys, that was a really good thing you did for him and his friend, go on in, but don't stay too long, he's still weak."

Matt and the boys nodded and headed down the hallway to room 309, Matt had gestured for the boys to take the lead and followed close behind them. Jacky was in the lead when they got to the door so he gently rapped on the open door just to let Cameron and whoever might be in the room notice that he had visitors. Cameron and a middle-aged woman who was sitting in a chair alongside his bed looked up to see who had knocked. For a second a look of fear crossed Cameron’s face as his visitors were all white. Then he saw Jap and Japs' red hair, he then visibly relaxed realizing that he was one of the boys that saved him further injury by Miller and his buddies. Smiling he said; "Come on in guys, I remember that redheaded boy, but I don't know any of ya'll."

Jap blushed as they moved to the foot of the bed, worse to Jap's way of thinking the women stood and pulled him into a hug in front of the other guys before saying in a soft deep southern accent; "Thank you Jap, that is your name isn't, Adrian said that the boys that rescued my son was led by a redheaded boy named Jap? That's kind of funny, you don't look oriental."

Jap continued to blush as he explained that 'Jap' was short for Joshua Allen Peterson and that there was a whole group that stopped Miller and his friends. He pointed to Jacky and said; "My bo . . . . My buddy Jacky's the one who made Miller back off and held him ‘til the principal showed up." He then introduced the other boys and Matt explaining that he was driving them home from school and that he decided to tag along while they visited with Cameron.

Mrs. Jones released Jap and turned her attention to Jacky, and pulled him into a hug just as she had done with Jap: "Thank you, thank all of you for helping my son and his boyfriend."

The statement about Cameron and Adrian being boyfriends took everyone by surprise. From behind Mrs. Jones, Cameron said; "Mooooooommmmmmmmmmm!!!!"

Mrs. Jones turned back to her son and asked; "What, you think I'm blind? You think that I couldn't tell that you and Cameron aren't just friends; you think I couldn't see the love you have for each other? Well think again son, I've known since before we moved up here, the only reason I haven't said anything sooner, is that I've been waiting for you boys to come to me and tell me." Looking back to the four boys and one man, she continued; "I'm a Para-legal and I work for Mr. Lawrence and we've talked about some of the cases he's handled and the custody hearing for Justin Tannonligua, Mr. James and Matt Bateman was one of the ones we talked about. I normally wouldn't talk about any discussions Mr. Lawrence and I've had, but you, your brother and the youth organization you two have started seems . . . pertinent to my son and his boyfriend.”

Matt looked at her for few seconds before saying; "I understand." Reaching into his pocket he removed a small card case and pulled out a business card; "If your son and his friend would be interested in coming to one of our meetings when Cameron is well, drop by any Saturday. They and you will be welcome."

Matt and the boys shook hands with Cameron and his mother, told him they hoped he would get back on his feet soon and were leaving as Adrian was entering the room. After greeting Adrian they continued their way out of the hospital and headed for the bypass highway where they picked up SR 240. On the way back to the house, they talked about their visit with Cameron and his mother and tried to guess whether or not the two boys would show up for a meeting.

Dropping off Tyler at his home they continued to the Bateman place, Jap and Jacky changed into their MarCams and went to the arms room to get their Barrettes to get in some practice. Keener was working on one of the M60s when they entered; "Hey guys, how was school today?"

"Pretty good, one of the kids who were being beaten up the other day stopped by our table during lunch today and thanked us for helping him and his friend." Jap explained.

Jacky continued; "We were able to stop by the one kid’ hospital room on the way back and talk to him and his mother. Matt gave her his business card and invited them all out to the house here for a meeting, I'm not sure they'll come, but Matt seemed to think it was worth a try." Jacky smiled as he related how Cameron's mother had 'outed' the two boys; "They may not want to see us after that, I kind of hope they show up though."

Keener nodded his head in understanding as he continued working on the '60'; "Yeah, I know what you're saying, but who knows they just might.”

Jap and Jacky nodded and removed their Barrett's from their stowage racks and ran a pre-fire check on them. Finding the big rifles in working order; they each grabbed a can of .50 caliber cartridges and headed out to the range. Reaching the range, they set up the rifles at the two 1,500 meter target line stations and went in search of the Gunny. Entering the range ready room, they found him at his desk talking to someone on the telephone; "I don't give a flying fuck what the regulations say, I'm not going to get involved in a retirement ceremony, just send me the damn paperwork and I'll get it filled out and sent back to you." Jap and Jacky could see the Gunny's knuckles turning white as he listened to the person on the other end of the line. "This isn't over, I'll be over there next week and you and I'll have a real private conversation." Saying that, the Gunny disconnected and jammed the phone back in it’s charging stand with enough force that the boys expected to see pieces fly from it. The Gunny took a deep breath, swiveled the chair around and saw the boys standing there. His face clouded up and they expected a shit storm to fall on their heads, once again the Gunny took a deep breath and the boys saw the anger flow out of his features as he sat staring at them.

"Sorry about that, that was a clerk typist in the admin department telling me something I didn't want to hear." The Gunny explained. “I see you two are ready, lets go pop some caps.”

Nothing further was said about Gunny's telephone conversation, the Gunny didn't want to talk about it and the boys were smart enough not to ask. Jap and Jacky spent two hours on the range, their shooting was improving all the time, Jacky held a slight lead when they finished for the day and rubbed it in a little. Jap looked him in the eyes and said; "Keep it up dude, just keep on running your mouth and we'll see how you feel at bed time when I'm wearing my cast iron briefs and you got a hard on."

Jacky looked at his lover; "Come on Jap, you know I'm only funning you, you wouldn't really cut me off would ya?"

Jap just smiled at his boyfriend and headed the HUMVEE back to the house, letting Jacky stew over what he had said.

Friday night arrived and the Unit got its game face on, instead of a Marine, Navy or A-Team coming at them this weekend, they were scheduled to defend against a platoon of Army Rangers. Colonel Dalton decided that it would be good to have some of his non-SpecOps people have a go at the Unit. While the Rangers weren't really in the SpecOp community like the SEAL's and the A-Teams, they were trained to operate behind enemy lines for extended periods of time. This was the last weekend in September and the nights were longer as well cooler, the daytime temperatures were still in the upper 80's to the low 90's. After sunset, the temperatures had been dropping to the lower 50's, with the wind chill factor added in, the temperature felt like it was in the 30's sometimes. Jap and Jacky had set up their hides to cover as much of the Bateman compound as possible. Usually they would set up so that they would concentrate on the seven main routes leading to the house from the west side of the property. Not having any experience with the Rangers, they figured that they needed to cover all bets. The fire teams had been placed in locations that would allow them to converge on several different approach 'lines,' thus better able to concentrate their firepower. All of the Unit One Squaddies that were outside of the house after dark were under their Ghilley blankets or were wearing Ghilley suits. This not only provided them with warmth, but masked their IR signatures in case the aggressor forces were equipped with NVGs (Night Vision Goggles). Stephen Peterson had continued to manufacture his laser Claymores for the Unit and at current count; the unit had fifty-two functional devices. This allowed them to not only cover the obvious lines of advance, but the area around and on top of the house as well as the range buildings. The night passed slowly, the expected attack never came.

At 06:45, the fire teams were all recovered along with the two snipers and their security teams. As the Squaddies were eating breakfast, the sound of a claxon horn sounded; "AH OOO GA, AH OOO GA." The Gunny's voice came over the 1MC: "Operation Ranch Hand, Operation Ranch Hand, all personnel go to their Operation Ranch Hand stations." Everyone looked startled; 'Operation Ranch Hand' was the code words for a surprise attack. Until the Gunny spoke it over the 1MC, it had never been used before. The Squaddies headed for the Cavern where they had racked their firearms, grabbing their LBE's as they went. Ten of the Squaddies once armed and led by Bobby Bauer headed for the arms room to act as a security detail while twenty or so took the elevator to the garage level. The Crews for the LAV's were in the second load the elevator was taking to the Garage level, having stopped by the arms room to get the M60s for their vehicles. Two other Squaddies had each picked up a 60 for use on their FAV's and once in the Garage hurriedly set up weapons on their vehicles. When every one had their equipment ready and had found cover, Conner Beck hit the 'Red' button alongside the regular garage door open one. The red one opened the door just like the regular door open button, but twice as fast and with no alarm bells to warn anyone waiting outside. The drivers of the four vehicles already had them running and as soon as the doors were open wide enough to allow them to exit they moved out. The two FAV's broke right and left once they were out of the Garage taking up positions to cover the front of the house with their M60s. When they were in position, the LAVs moved forward out the door at a fast walking speed, followed by the Squaddies who used the big vehicles for cover while they advanced to their pre-planned fighting positions. Jap and Jacky, along with their security teams made their way to the top of the house and set up their firing positions on the north and south ends of the underground building.

Looking for signs of the aggressor forces, Jap saw the first of the Rangers land this side of the Range Shack and hastily released his parachute harness. Bending down he opened his jump bag and retrieved his M4 from it; he was able to insert a magazine before Jacky took him out. The snipers were servicing targets as they appeared so they weren't paying attention to their surroundings until their security teams opened fire. Both Jap and Jacky were startled as they looked up and saw a half a dozen Rangers descending on their location. By the time they got back to business, thirty or so jumpers had made it to the ground on the other side of the range firing line and building. Just as Jap was about to pop one of them he was enveloped in a parachute canopy. As he was fighting his way out from under the parachute, he heard his security people open up on the people who landed and the screeching sound of the Ranger’s Miles gear alarming. From behind him, he heard the M60s on the FAV's open up taking the parachuter's under fire.

The louder 'squank, squank, squank' of the catastrophic kill alarm on the southern FAV got Jap's attention. Speaking into his chin mike: "Hey Jack, we got problems coming from the east side, you continue to work the west side and I'll see if I can hold them to the east." Jacky acknowledged the problem with a simple; "Roger."

As he and his spotter, Doug James, oriented then themselves, they saw fifteen or twenty Rangers to the east of the main parking lot moving towards the house using fire and maneuver tactics. There were even two of them that landed on the outside of the Cyclone fence that surrounded the Bateman property. Jap ignored them as he started servicing the targets inside the fence. The remaining FAV in the northeast corner of the parking lot started to lay down cover fire to allow a fire team from the building to move forward and take up their prepared firing positions at the edge of the parking lot. Between the FAV's M60 and the fire teams, the Rangers were pinned down and Jap was able to pick them off one by one. By this time, the Rangers outside the fence had made it to the gate and punched in their 'assault code,' on the access panel, as the gate started to open, Jap had already moved his point of aim to cover it. As the first Ranger moved through the opening, Jap took him out. The second one remained hidden behind the concrete gate buttress unable to move in any direction.

While keeping the main gate under observation, Jap contacted Jacky; "Bravo, this is Alpha, over."

"Go for Bravo." Jacky replied.

This side appears to be clear; do you need any help on yours?"

As Jap finished his question, he heard the loud, authoritative boom of 'Gargon' firing. "Negative, Tyler and Mitch on Two Five and Two Six are hosing them down pretty good and I'm making them keep their heads down so they can't use their LAW's, over."

As Jap was about to reply the Gunny came over the 1MC; "Secure from exercise, secure from exercise. Safe unload all weapons. Now secure from exercise, restore all gear, and restore all casualties." After a brief pause, the Gunny spoke again; "All personnel muster in the Cavern level in one hour."

As Jap and Jacky descended from top of the house to the ground level, a green four door Ford Echo wearing Alabama license plates pulled into one of the parking slots. As they watched, both front doors and a rear door opened. Mrs. Jones, Cameron and Adrian climbed out and walked towards them, both of the boys looked excited, while Mrs. Jones looked a little nervous. While they had been waiting for them to get to them, the boy’s security and the James’ boys had gone on ahead to finish their breakfasts before the debrief.

Jacky was the first to speak; "Good morning Mrs. Jones, Adrian, Cameron, nice morning isn't it?"

Mrs. Jones gave them a weak smile; "Well it was until we drove into the middle of World War Three, what in heavens name was that all about?"

Jap explained how the Unit was helping the various military groups train before they were deployed to Iraq. He also explained about the use of Miles Gear, the firearms and the use of blank ammunition during the exercise.

Adrian asked only one question; "If we join the Unit, will we be able to shoot guns too?"

Jacky smiled before saying; "If you’re a part of the Unit, you'll get to shoot, but only after you take the Washington State Hunter Safety Course.” The boys looked at Mrs. Jones with a questioning look on their faces.

Mrs. Jones sighed; "I don't know, let's look around and see what this group is all about.”

Jap and Jacky smiled at Cam and Adrian, then when Cameron's mom wasn't looking winked at the two boys. Jacky said, “Come on, we have to put our rifles away and finish eating breakfast before the debrief, if you’re hungry, breakfast is still being served in the dining facility.

The boys nodded their heads yes and Mrs. Jones said; "Maybe a cup of coffee if you got it." Jap and Jacky led them inside, both thinking; "YES!” two new members.