Battle of Wanlaweyn

We are currently in a synchropter flying above the desert, toward the frontlines. One thing I hate about the deserts is when at night it's cold, but in the day it's fucking hot. Luckily, I haven't felt the heat yet probably feeling it, and hopefully by then we have taken the town. If we manage to capture the town and save the two of them, we can finally return home, I hope.

"You boys going to the frontlines, yeah?" ~Lt.C. Haris.

"Yeah, we are."~Gaz.

"Okay then, drop me off at FOB Echo, and then I'll give you a company of my best-trained soldiers, that's like 3-4 platoons will joining you guys."~Lt.C. Haris.

"Wow, thanks."~Gaz.

"Don't worry, my captains are top-notch, they'll assist you guys on the attack."~Lt.C. Haris.

"Appreciated it, Lieutenant."~Gaz.

As we draw closer to the front, we could hear light gunfire and explosion in the distance. I thought to myself, damn, that must be a very fierce resistance, now I starting to get nervous.

"Hear that boys, that is the sound of war in the distance."~Gaz.

"Yes, it is gentlemen, better get used to it. Oh, there's my stop."~Lt.C Haris.

"This Al-Abdukadir forces, how many are they? I mean their strengths."~Ajax.

"Erm...estimated around 7000-12000 troops, armed with conventional weapons, like old AKs and all that, but never underestimate them, one of our guys, KIA and four injured, the other one got killed by IED and the other four, got injured by drop munitions from civilian drones."~Lt.C Haris.

I didn't realize we have casualties, even though we have the advantage in technology, training, and money, we still have casualties. Ah well, guess we all aren't that invincible.

"Right boys, here's my stop."~Lt.C Harris.

We land on FOB Echo. The conditions of the base, it was hastily constructed by combat engineers, and I could see Osiris and Somalian army personnel running around and also medics attending to the wounded. Other than that, Osiris soldiers firing artillery pieces constantly.

"Sorry, about the chaos here boys, unlike our main base where it's more calm and organized. But here it's the real deal."~Lt.C. Harris.

"Oh, It's real all right. Nothing beats, the screams of the wounded and lines of body begs on the ground."~Gaz.

"Jesus, how bad is it out there?"~Ajax.

"One way to find out."~Gaz.

"Good luck boys, I'll be talking to guys on the coms."~Lt.C. Haris.

We left FOB Echo, heading to the front. As we drew closer, the sound of gunfire and explosions grew louder. I check my weapon, my gear, and my exo suit to see if everything works fine. I was sweating, my feet feels numb all of a sudden.

"Jackson, you all right?~Ajax.

"Bit nervous, since it's my first time on a real battlefield."~Jackson.

"Don't worry rookie you'll get used to it soon."~ Gaz.

Hope so. As we try to land our Synchropter, we started to receive small arms fire. I could see multiple Somalian Humvees and OsirisM-007 main battle tank that has four vehicle treads that can double as legs, and the tank positioned itself in the middle of the road heading to the town while pointing its smoothbore 240mm cannon in the direction of the town. Kinda odd that the tank is in the middle of the road like that without infantry protecting it. Guess, Mother was right, after all, with its amour made from chromium or ceramic composite, it sure won't get destroyed by old RPGs.

"We land here, gentlemen, looks like we receive some small arms fire. This is our LZ (landing zone) for the time being, next to the Tawakal Borehole."~Synchropter pilot.

We land next to the Tawakal Borehole water pump of the town while in a middle of a fierce firefight, It looks like we have control of the town's water supply. We disembark.

"Thanks, for the ride."~Gaz.

"No, problem boss, I'm heading back to base to pick up some reinforcement."~Synchropter pilot.

"Affirmative, stay safe out there."~Gaz.

Our Synchropter went away, wish I could stay in the Synchropter and go back to FOB Echo, but I can't, what a shame. We were then approached by an Osiris staff sergeant, his face looks darkened like charcoal. This man must have seen a lot.

"Which squad do you belong to!?"~Staff sergeant.

"Excuse me?"~Gaz.

It's quite loud with all the gunfire around us.

"Which squad do you belong to soldier?!"~Staff sergeant.

"Ah, sorry, couldn't hear you. We are Osiris-Alpha 01."~Gaz.

"Oh sorry sir, I didn't know."~Staff sergeant.

"It's okay, Sergeant. Now tell us what's your name and the current situation we are in now?"~Gaz.

"Name The enemy currently occupies multiple buildings, such as schools, hospitals, and mosques."~Staff sergeant.

I thought using any religious buildings for military purposes is prohibited, or maybe these guys don't fall under the same jurisdictions as us. Probably. Why am I thinking this stuff I'm in the middle of a warzone!

"My proposal sir, my squad will defend LZ and the town's water supply pump. You sir, and your men will assault the town with Captain Ali Hassani and his men."~Staff sergeant.

"Affirmative, where is Captain Hassani?"~Gaz.

The sergeant points in the direction where Captain Hassani is.

"Is he okay? Looks like he's injured."~Ajax.

Captain Hasani sitting on the ground while he leans his back beside a Humvee. An Osiris combat medic attends to the wounds on his shoulder.

"He's been shot by a sniper in the shoulder, luckily the sniper was a bad shot."~Staff Sergeant.

"One lucky bastard."~Gaz.

We approach Captain Hassani, so we can formally meet him to discuss how we can properly assault the town together. As we come close to him, I could see his face looks exhausted, his woodland camouflage uniform looks dusted and ragged. This is what an experienced Captain looks like. I give my big respect to the Somalian army.

"Salaam Alaykum Captain Hassani, this is Gaz, Ajax, and Jackson. They are one of our Osiris special ops team."~Staff Sergeant.

Three of us greet him respectfully.

"Salaam Alaykum."~Ajax, Jackson, and Gaz.

Captain Hassani suddenly stood up and meet us.

"Wa alaykum salaam, an apology gentlemen, that you have to see me like this."~Captain Hassani.

"No need Captain, we are soldiers after all."~Gaz.

After that, we discussed and decided to execute the Staff sergeant's plan. Since the town is in the process of being encircled by, other units of Osiris and Somalian forces from other areas, we thought if we split our men into squads of nine we can then move from house to house, we might find them. Hopefully.

"Get ready to go in boys, I don't know when, Lieutenant Haris is going to send us some reinforcements, looks like we have to use what we got now."~Gaz.

We began the assault, with a systematic advance through the town, house by house and block by block, OsirisM-007 tank move down the streets supported by infantry and some Humvees. Our infantry split into small teams, advancing non-linear manner from many different directions. We encounter resistance from all directions, the enemy fired RPGs rocket at our tank but didn't cause a dent. Lieutenant Colonel Harris, was finally in contact with us in the middle of a firefight, with him online, we can have air support and artillery if we need to. We kicked every door and fought Al-Abdukadir men of varying sizes with small arms within a distance of up to 100 meters (110 yards), ranging from close-proximity shootouts to hand-to-hand combat. In one instance, I almost got killed by an Al-Abdukadir fanatic who rushed at me with a combat knife, he manage to tackle me to the ground, and he tried to shove his combat knife into my chest, but I manage to knee his groin then punch his left eye, I swiftly pulled out my ka-bar knife and slit his jugular. I stood up, he looked at me as he gurgles in his own blood, I then said to myself, "Next time, I should always have a battle buddy on me." After that encounter, Ajax almost steps on a booby trap as we try to clear out a kindergarten, luckily a Somalian soldier notices the trap, if not for that soldier we all would be killed.

It's 3 AM, reinforcement has arrived finally and we still haven't found them yet, this is one of the longest and most exhausting operations I have ever been through, my arms feel numb from holding my weapon for too long, and I have to stay alert all the time for snipers and booby traps two most unpleasant things to deal with, god knows how many men of ours died, but I didn't stop us from fighting to retake the town and save Elsa and Leon.

3:33 AM, Good news, from the Lieutenant is that the other units of Osiris and Somalian forces manage to encircle the town, and the bad news is I'm, fucking exhausted, I wish battle fatigue isn't real, those Al-Abdukadir bastards keep appearing from windows to rooftops I almost got burned alive from a Molotov.

"Damn, Jackson you alright?"~Ajax.

"Yeah, I think I'm alright."~Jackson.

We took a breather for a while, checking how much ammo we have, I only have 2 x30 full rounds of mags left, before the assault began the three of us each carried 7 x30 full mags, so we try to conserve as much ammo as we can. While checking our mags, Lieutenant Colonel Harris, suddenly comms us.

"This is Echo-01, boys do you copy? Over."~Lt.C. Harris.

"We copy, what is it, Lieutenant?"~Gaz.

"Gaz, we received a radio frequency I think, coming from Wardi Health Center. I think someone is trying to contact us."~Lt.C. Harris.

"Wardi Health Center? How far is it from where we are now?"~Gaz.

"It's about 408.90m (1,341.54ft) from you guys."~Lt.C. Harris

"Gaz, you think it could be them?"~Ajax.

"There's one way to find out. Captain Hassani, head to Wardi Health Center!"~Gaz.

Please be them, please be them I thought to myself.