Underneath the Darkened Sky

Foreigners. All twenty-seven soldiers apart of the 75th Ranger Regiment were labeled as "foreigners" by the nation hosting them for a political meeting. All twenty-seven stood in their dress uniforms and were scattered about the venue while Diplomatic Security agents and a platoons worth of Marines provided the main security to the event alongside local military forces and policemen.

Though the meeting between the diplomatic officials for both the United States and the nation of Pakistan had already begun, a venue was being held to keep the curious occupied, and the daring controlled. As more western music was played throughout the venue, drinks, laughter, and romantic remarks were strung around the large foyer.

A sense a dread overcame one of the many US soldiers in the crowd. Eventually he found himself separating from the main crowd using a growing headache as an excuse for his departure. On his left shoulder his Ranger tab and Airborne tab placed themselves in the light, and his airborne pin glistened under the many chandeliers that hanged above. His polished boots reflected the room he was in under a dark hue, and his pale face eventually found color as the pain throbbing at the front of his head weakened.

Approaching a closed window, the Ranger in question found himself staring at his reflection. His face remained relatively unchanged, but a small scar was just visible on his neck below the collar of his uniform. Smacking his lips together as he temporarily held his forehead to ease the pain, he attempted to snap himself back into focus.

One of the many things he learned during Ranger School included the lesson of never letting his guard down until the area is deemed safe and a security detail had approved the initial observation after thorough investigations. It was simply a fact that he and the others were not in a "safe" location. They were in a country not of their own that once had hostile tensions with allies of the United States.

Standing under the cooling wind of an air conditioning unit, the Ranger took a light breath before turning around. A new found confidence breezed through his mind and a renewed sense of duty kept his mind away from the throbbing pain making it subside even further.

He walked the buffered and shining floors back into a lighter section of the crowd and along the way he snatched a glass of champagne. On normal duties drinking was heavily frowned upon and often prohibited during deployments, but during such a high tier event between two nuclear equipped nations, the limitations were lightly dampened in the name of "espionage."

Then again, it wasn't hard to discern the five Central Intelligence Agency agents that kept watch on everyone.

Wiggling his way through a group of gossiping women talking about who knows what, the Ranger found himself walking to another member of his squadron, Captain Oliver Thompson. His squadron leader was speaking to two other people; 1st Lieutenant Kevin Patterson and Major Tanvir Omar.

The two were locked in a conversation regarding previous deployments. Captain Thompson mentioned his two previous tours as a normal infantry grunt in Sierra Leone alongside an armored division, and Major Omar spoke of his time assisting Kyrgyzstan fighters against terrorist cells in the region.

"Captain Thompson, Major Omar." The Ranger greeted as he stepped forward giving a curt nod to his SL.

Thompson turned around with a half-full champagne glass in his hand. He extended his free right hand to the Ranger offering a handshake, and once satisfied with the action, he patted the Ranger on the shoulder and introduced him to the Major who was watching with a curios gaze. "Major, this is my trusted Sergeant, Mike Randall. He is the one I mentioned when we spoke about the critical mission to provide humanitarian aid in Puerto Rico."

Major Omar gave an amused snort as he too reached out a scarred hand. "Well, I'm sure you have many storied to tell Sergeant Randall."

"Of course, Major." Randall responded with confidence, albeit he was feeling off about the turn of the conversation.

Major Omar blew off the confidence that Randall displayed as he began to retell a memory about his time in Kyrgyzstan. He mentioned that during the initial flight in, he and five hundred other soldiers were to be the first ones in the hot zone of the Tash-Bashat, were a local insurgency and terrorist organization had been founded. The goal of this deployment was to effectively put up a counter-insurgency and to eliminate any strongholds of the terrorist group that supplied the insurgency with weapons and training.

He then went on to describe his frustration at the lack of support from the United Nations and how they failed to realize that the insurgency was being funded by the Chinese Communist Party. Now preforming a controlled rant to the two Rangers, he mentioned furthermore that the United States, and moreover the Whitehouse had failed to make any response to the calls that Pakistan had abnormally sent out to India and other NATO countries.

Thompson mitigated any hostile intentions the Major had, but even with stiff resistance it was clear that the conversation would not last any longer as the doors that lead to the offices where the US ambassador and the Pakistani President met open with a loud creek coming from the door hinges.

Walking out in a brisk pace, the ambassador found his way to the podium at the head of the event and cleared his throat as he and his security detail steadied themselves. He let out a short couch and stabled himself on the wooden podium as he made a general call for silence, then a call to attention. "People of Pakistan, and service members of the United States Marine Corps and Army, I come to you with news that will change the state of this Republic. As of eight-thirty PM in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the United States has officially declared its support in helping military of this fine nation to help clear the streets of any and all terrorist threats that have targeted both NATO and nonboring countries. The push to drive out these monsters will be hard, but with the cooperation of Pakistan and the fine service men and women of the United States, no monster will ever terrorize these people ever again!"

As a thunderous applause came from everyone in the room and controlled booming shouts coming from Major Omar, Sergeant Randall couldn't help but turn pale at the announcement. Though the next words spoken by the ambassador made him shake in nervousness.

"-And to the family members of the three service members killed by these terrorists, let it be known that revenge will be fulfilled at any cost!"