The Road Ahead

Clouds of dust were kicked up from the vehicles as they passed the city of Lahore. Between small talk and communications with the other vics, bullets and explosions rang out through the city. USAF fixed winged bombers and fighters established air superiority as they dogged rocket propelled grenades and other anti-air platforms.

Majority of the FMPP (Freedom Movement for the People of Pakistan) used older 21st century Russian and Chinese anti-air weaponry, with old Soviet-era gear making up the reserves. Members of the FMPP used these weapons against the American troops that scoured the city and engaged in firefights much to the dismay of humanitarian groups, but from a soldier's point of view, such groups were making a mistake of moving into a destabilized conflict zone.

Traversing the main roads near the primary "Red Zone" in Pakistan was a risk command was willing to take. They needed ground units to cut off exits to the city of Peshawar while offering interceptors to anyone that was able to make it out during the raid made by the 10th Air Assault Division.

Sergeant Randall kept his eyes glued to the ballistic window next to him. As he was on the left side of the vehicle all he could see was the passing civilian cars along the highway.

He gripped the pistol grip of his carbine tight as the sudden thought of the rules of engagement presented not two days earlier came to the forefront. The orders were clear: "Weapons tight. No civilian casualties." It made sense; going into a heavily populated, mostly civilian oriented environment would call for precision operations rather than open bombing runs.

Corporal Richard let out a crude "yelp" as he stretched his arms. As he settled back into his seat, he followed up his shout with an opener to start a conversation, "Anyone else wanting to know why we're taking a ground vehicle to Peshawar?"

"You know they wanted us to stop any crazy jihadist fucker from getting out of the city, right?"

PFC Green said eliciting a response from Ramirez sitting in the front passenger seat.

"Doesn't Jihadist mean something like fighting?"

"It means fighting the enemies of Islam. It refers to the action of fighting more than any sole individual." Randall said gaining a smirk from Richard.

"So, it means we're working with them now? Didn't they attack us during 9-11?"

"That was Al-Quade, not the Pakistani government." PFC Simon interjected as he wiped his glasses clean.

"Yeah but, didn't they help Osama Bin Laden escape Afghanistan? That's the reason why SEAL Team Six crossed borders to whack his ass in the first place?"

Annoyed at the chatter, Lieutenant Patterson who was driving the vehicle turned his head momentarily to speak to the other Rangers, "All right you bunch, pipe down! Just remember we're working with the good Jihadists."

"Yeah, "Supposedly". Richard said which gained a round of snickers and light laughter from the others.

As the began to settle down, a sudden thunderous crack impacted the window next to Corporal Ramirez making him attempted to scrunch below the door. The other Rangers reacted in a similar manner as they shuffled in their seats attempting to get clear of the windows. Though bullet resistant, a well-placed anti-material or high caliber bullet would punch right through the glass.

"Fuck! Fuck!" Ramirez shouted as he kept his M-5 in the high ready. His gear scrapped against the seat and metallic door as Lieutenant Patterson brought up the radio microphone.

"Where's it coming from!? Was it a sniper?" Patterson shouted over the confusion.

"To the east! To the east! Three gunners!"

"Fuck!" Patterson said as he pressed the gas, "Vic two taking fire from three insurgents to the east!"

[Keep it moving down the road! Disengage from the hostiles!] Captain Thompson's voice came over the local radio frequency and kept everyone focused as the trucks began to speed away while occasional shots landed next to them.

Ramirez let out a quick and high pitch whistle as he attempted to sit comfortably in his seat. His gloved hand traced the glass splatter with his hand. Several more cracks echoed from afar as the insurgents attempted to fire at the three vehicles now racing down the highway.

With an excited voice, Randall spoke in Ramirez's place as he looked at the window, "Shit Corporal, looks like the glass saved you there. What the hell hit us anyways?"

"Fuck man, 7.62? It wasn't enough to completely puncture the glass, but man did it hit hard." Richard exclaimed as he struggled to wipe a small amount of sweat from his forehead.

"Either way let's count ourselves lucky that we weren't hit with an IED or RPG." Patterson said with a sigh and a forced smile. "We'd be screwed if we're token out of the game this early." He said garnering a few chuckled from the less shocked men.

High above the paved streets, a single MQ-43 Falcon drone. Its mission was to insert into friendly airspace and conduct surveillance and intelligence gathering operations to support coalition forces. Randall peered out the window and spotted the medium altitude drone, though it looked like a mere spec in the sky.

He held neither a stoic look nor a frightened face. It wasn't that he held apathy to the situation him and the other Rangers found themselves in, yet in an almost eerie way, he felt normal under the extreme stress brought around by the bullet hitting the vehicle.

Once again in an almost ironic way to the drugged-up recruits he had spent his time with in BCT and AIT, Randall took out his now half-empty canteen and took a swig of the room temperature water. Still to him, taking anything but water was a mistake.

As the nerves that were raised during the sudden engagement began to settle, the looming sun slowly set behind a plethora of clouds that had formed high above in the dark blue skies. The MQ-43 was long gone; its footage from the incident on the ground would no doubt be relayed to local patrolling elements that were closing on Lahore.

Bright lights from the trucks began illuminate the growing darkness, and each Ranger aside from Lieutenant Patterson equipped their AVS-30-night vision goggles that derived from the old IVAS, NETT Warrior, and Future Warrior programs. With either a single camera mounted to the helmet, or using the internal cameras on the goggles, the AVS-30 provided a low-profile night optic device that served to enhance the already capable grunt within the army.

Mounting the goggles to his helmet, all Randall could do was look towards the shrinking city of Lahore in the outside mirror.

Publicly Available Information: M-5 Carbine:

Designed by American gunsmith Alexander Weston, the M-5 Carbine is the primary weapon system for the United States armed forces and many other countries. With the 6.5 Advance Purpose Cartridge, the M-5 boasts incredible stopping power, range, and penetration well beyond what the AR-15 weapon systems could achieve.