War Spirit - Lead Leopard

#2 - Qarya Sakhra

CHAPTER 2

July 5th, 2018
COP Romeo, Afghanistan

"Reveille, reveille, reveille!" Rocky heard coming from outside. He let out a loud yawn, Chevy groaned himself awake and Zidar sat up rubbing his eyes. They had just been woken up by Sergeant Davidson calling out reveille, signalling to wake up. Rocky looked at his watch, the time displaying 05:42am. The men grabbed their body armor, gear and weapons, suiting up before exiting from the tent hastily. At 06:10 eighteen of the fifty-two men posted at COP Romeo met at the vehicle compound area of the base, where a Bushmaster, an ASLAV and a Hawkei PMV were parked, being refuelled by the armored crew.

"Good morning gentlemen." Greeted the platoon commander, Warrant Officer Miller.

"I see you've all had a good night's rest." He stated, before pointing to the armored vehicles parked behind him.

"Get yourselves a coffee, smoke whatever, as se'll be leaving in five minutes. Take this time to ensure your weapons are loaded, and your radios are tuned." He stated.

"Where are the Americans, Sir?" Asked Rocky,

"They'll meet us up there." He replied.

"Rocky. Here, have one." Sergeant Davidson met beside him, offering a cigarette.

"Cheers, Sergeant." Rocky smiled.

"Romeo three, I want you to take Desert Devil." Miller ordered, pointing the squad to the ASLAV,

"Romeo one, I want you to take the Bushmaster." He ordered, pointing Sergeant Davidson's squad towards the bushmaster at the front of the parked convoy,

"And Romeo one, jump into the Hawkei." Pointing to the Hawkei PMV. The men immediately jumped into the vehicles,

"Alright, let's roll out!" Ordered Miller, from the commander seat of the ASLAV, with the Bushmaster taking the lead. The ASLAV and PMV followed closely behind. The road took them along the bottom of the valley, eventually taking them up the slope onto the top of the hill. After some time, they reached a T junction where their road split in two, the left leading down into the valley, while the right led along the peak of a hill, where a vast range of Afghanistan's mountains could be observed.

"The American squad should be here soon." Noted Davidson, Rocky looked at the time, it was 06:32. The men waited for the next fifteen minutes, growing impatient.
"Where the hell are they?" Wondered the Sergeant. Just then, an American MRAP met them at the left of the junction. Miller jumped out of the ASLAV, with Davidson doing the same.

"Sorry for the late arrival. Had to take a detour, our path was obstructed." Replied one of the soldiers, as he jumped out of the vehicle.

"I'm Staff Sergeant Jackson, I'll be leading my men on this mission." He introduced himself, shaking hands with Davidson.

"Sergeant Davidson, nice to meet you." He greeted

"Warrant Officer Miller." He shook Jackson's hand

"Will you be taking command from here, Sir?" Jackson asked

"Yep, I'll take it from here." He inititiated. Rocky jumped out of the back of the bushmaster, sneaking to the front seat where Sergeant Davidson was seated prior. He then noticed Alice was seated in the backseat of the MRAP. She waved to him through the small window, Rocky smiled and waved back.

"Let's go" ordered Miller, before they walked back to their vehicles. Davidson strutted back to the bushmaster, only to catch Rocky about to enter the front passenger seat.

"What the fuck are you doing?" He questioned, losing tolerance with Rocky's michief,

"Please sarge, I'm getting carsick from sitting in the back." He pleaded, the Sergeant grunted, visibly annoyed.