Both Morgan and myself actually slept completely through the night and only woke up in the morning when my alarm went off. I was able to snooze it once and when it started to go off a second time, I knew we needed to get up and get moving. Morgan hopped into the shower first while I got my cammies together for going to base later. I actually couldn't find my hat so I broke out a spare and asked Morgan about it when she came out of the bathroom.
"You didn't have one on when you came off the plane yesterday." She said as she started to get dressed.
I face palmed myself and picked up my phone to give my mom a call. She was awake and picked my call right away.
"Hey mom, by chance, have you seen my camo hat anywhere?" I asked and made my way into the bathroom.
"Good morning chicken, and yes, you left it on the banister yesterday, we only saw it when we got back from base. None of us thought it would have taken you this long to realize you left it here." Mom said.
"I only really looked for it now. Keep it by you, I have a spare I'll use till I come home and get it. I do have to go get in the shower because we need to get to base. I love you mom." I said.
"We'll keep it safe chicken, have a good day today. I love you too." Mom said and we hung up.
I jumped into the shower and quickly finished getting dressed. When I was done I finally picked dads letter up off the floor and put it on my desk. It took me a minute to lace up my boots before I went over to the bathroom to fix my hair. After I was all put together I went downstairs to find Morgan already dressed and ready to go. Before I did anything I went over to her and gave her a kiss. Just as I was about to move away, Morgan put her hands on my waist to hold me in place. I stood still and watched as Morgan pick something up from the counter top. The clinking of metal gave away that she was holding onto my dog tags. I let her put them over my head and she tucked them away under my undershirt.
I gave her a kiss on the forehead before I started to move around the kitchen to get breakfast together. This morning was simple, just some cereal and coffee as I didn't want to cook again. It didn't take us long to finish off breakfast. When we were finished I took the bowls to the sink and turned back to face Morgan.
"Can you bring your gear and get your rifle and pistol to bring it to base with us?" I asked.
"Sure" Morgan said and went off to her room to grab everything I asked while I washed up the breakfast dishes.
When Morgan returned with a full duffle bag and a gun case I grabbed my wallet and sunglasses from where I threw them on the table yesterday and the keys to the truck. With one more look at Morgan, I knew she was ready to head out as well so we locked the door behind us and went out into the garage. I hopped into the drivers seat and started up the truck while Morgan put her gun case into the bed of the truck. When she got into the passenger seat I hit the button for the garage door opener and wanted until the door rolled up before putting the truck into drive.
The drive over to base was short and quiet. Both of us were too in our heads about this meeting to really speak about anything. I drove us right over to the side of base were my team's cages were and parked in the lot. Morgan grabbed her duffle while I grabbed our cases from the bed of the truck before we started to make our way to the cages. I scanned into the building and Morgan followed my lead as we walked down to find my teams ready room. I scanned my badge and walked inside with Morgan following behind.
I was happy to see that none of my team was here yet. I wanted some time along with Morgan to get her battle ready without anybody else seeing. I grabbed Morgans gun case from her hand and put it down on the large meeting table in the center of the room along with my own. Once they were there, I walked over to my cage and unlocked the padlock I had holding the door close.
I sighed then pulled off my hat and tossed it behind me in the general direction of the table before walking inside the cage. Being team leader, my cage was a bit bigger then everyone else's. I unclipped the hammock I had hanging across the center of the cage and let it rest against one side so it's out the way. I checked over a few things on my own gear before turning around to find Morgan already unloaded her the contents of her duffle bag on the table.
Walking over to her I saw that most of her gear is outdated and needs to be replaced if she is going to be attached to my team.
"All of it needs to go." I said and didn't even bother taking more then a few second too look at it. Morgan sounded like she was about to rebut my statement but I didn't let her as I opened her gun case to take a look at her rifle. It's the standard issue M4 we were given during basic with no attachments to it.
"Are you comfortable shooting this rifle?" I asked picking it up out of the case, giving it a once over.
"It's the only one I've had Daniella." I could hear the edge to Morgans voice at my question but I didn't let it get to me.
"I can get you something much better. I just wanted to know how attached you were to this weapon. I'm already going to be getting you new armor protection, comms and helmet. I just wanted to ask about the gun because I know soldiers are usually more attached when it comes to their choice of weapon." I said explaining myself.
I could see some of the hostilely drain from Morgan after my explanation but some still lingered. I have no doubt there will be some by the time we finish all the preparations I have in store for today.
"Can I see what you guys use and then decide later?" Morgan asked.
"Yes, we are going to go to the range, I want to see how your accuracy is." I said and put her rifle down before stepping back into my cage to grab my rifle. Once in hand I turned around and held it up for Morgan to take a look at.
"This is my MK 17 SCAR. My team mainly uses it with an exception of a few members. It is fitted with a standard-length barrel right now but I'm thinking of changing it out for a long barrel for this upcoming trip to turn it into a light sniper rifle, SU-231A/PEQ holographic sight, flip-to-side magnifier, AN/PEQ-15 IR laser and Insight WMX200 Visible Bright Light. Like I said, we have some new and improved toys here." I said and held it out for Morgan to take a look at.
She took the rifle from my hand and held it up to get a feel for it. I used this time to open my gun case and take out my sniper rifle and Beretta to put it away in my cage for now. When I was done Morgan held out my rifle for me. I took it back and put it into my cage then checked my watch.
"We need to get moving to the meeting room. When the meeting is over I'm going to bring everyone back in here and go over equipment issues to take a stock of anything that needs to be fixed or replaced. Once I have the order ready, I'll bring it over to Major Collins and she'll get it ready." I said.
"Sounds good, after that I need to go speak with my CO to get the equipment I need to bring over there. Once I'm done we can meet up again and then we'll hit the range." Morgan said as she started to pack up her old gear again.
"Alright, lets move out." I said and took the duffle bag of gear and stored it in my cage before locking it up.
We moved out together and walked down the hall to our meeting room and before I scanned in I dropped my cell phone in the clear container on the wall outside. Morgan followed suit and I scanned us into the meeting room to find that Major Collins was already waiting for us.
"Afternoon Major" I said and took a look at the paperwork she already had spread out in front of her at the head of the table.
"Afternoon Donovan, Lieutenant Alexander, this is for you, your mission package along with the skill set file on all of Gold Team." Major Collins said and handed her a larger folder.
"Thank you Major." Morgan said and took a seat towards the back of the room to start to look over her package.
I took my normal seat next to Major and started to leaf through the folder with my ID on the cover. Operation Black Spear is written on the cover and I ran my fingers over the letters for a second before opening up the folder. Reading through the mission objective was simple and straight forward. We wouldn't be doing the heavy lifting for the op, just proving extra security and support to Alpha team while they went in after the HVT. I wasn't surprised to see that the mission had capture status next to the HVT's name. Even though command wanted us to take him in a live, the chances of that happening are slim to none. Most of our ISIS HVT's always end up clocking off a suicide vest before we have the chance to intervene.
As I was just starting to make my way through the detailed schedule our assets in the area have put together on the HVT, the door to the meeting room opened and in walked a few members of my team. They all gave me a polite nod before taking their seats in front of there call signs, but none of them opened their folders. It took another few minutes before the rest of my team strolled into the room and all took their seats.
Once everyone was collected and seated, I paused in my reading and stood from my seat along with Major Collins. She took hold of a remote and hit a button which turned on the screens behind us along with dimming the lights.
"Good afternoon gold team, nice to see you all and have you all here on time. Today we are going to over your mission assignment for operation Black Spear." I started and turned the floor over to Major Collins. She went into detail on all aspects of the mission as my team went page by page of the mission folders and took notes. It didn't take long to get through all of the mission parameters and once we were done, Major Collins let the screen go black but didn't turn the over head lights on just yet.
"Does anybody have any questions about this mission?" She asked my team. Nobody spoke up and I nodded.
"Alright, now, we are going to discuss what happens after operation Black Spear." I said and resisted the urge to look at Morgan.
"Yes, so after the completion of operation Black Spear you all will pack up and be sent to Rzeszow Military Base in Southeast Poland. You will accompany Alpha Team there and your teams will be the first to be deployed into Ukraine if the order comes down. I will not be joining you guys though if that order is given. I will either be stationed in Germany or at Rzeszow to be your point of contact. That is why if our presence is requested in Ukraine, Lieutenant Alexander will be joining your team on the ground as an intelligence officer." Major Collins said.
It was the first time in the meeting that my team turned to look at Morgan. She remained quiet throughout the meeting, reading through the folders she was giving by Major Collins when we walked in. But now that all the eyes were on her, she stopped reading the folders and sat up straight. Her eyes met mine and I took a breath before speaking.
"Lieutenant Alexander is one of the few intelligence specialist who have combat experience, which is why she was chosen to be assigned to our team. Her call sign for the duration of our mission will be Gold-13. We have all worked with Lieutenant Alexander in the past while being deployed, this will be the same as before, just now she will be on the ground with us, watching our backs like always. You will all make her feel welcomed and if I find out otherwise, you won't like the repercussions." I spoke to my team and got their attention off of Morgan for now. I want them to know that if they mess with her, it will not end well for them.
"Make one thing clear though, if Gold team is deployed to Ukraine, Staff Sergeant Donovan is in charge. You will get your orders from her and follow them to the letter. We are going into uncharted territory here and she will keep you all safe. Now back to the mission details that we have so far. I was given a new update on Russian movement from command this morning." Major Collins said and displayed some maps on the screen and I flinched at what we were seeing.
"There forces have doubled in days." I said and took a step closer to the screen for a better look.
"Yes, this isn't the only place they have. It's been happening up and down the boarder of the country. We have been in contact with the president of Ukraine to offer help to get him out of the country but he has stated multiple times that if it came down to it, he is going to go down with the ship and fight along side his military. He has requested our support though in the form of weapons and soldiers. Again, because of NATO and the fact that this is Russia we are dealing with, the president has yet to give an order for troops over there. He has okayed weapons support though and we have been sending it in covertly. The Ukraine military has been setting it up throughout the boarder town in preparation of an invasion." Major Collins said as she flipped through more aerial photos of Russian troop enforcement of the boarders.
While she spoke I was barely paying attention. The only thought going through my head right now is that we are going to be 100% going into Ukraine, it's only going to be a matter of time now.
"For now as a team please started to study key locations, the capital city Kyiv, Chornobyl with the remains of the nuclear power plant and then the total south east region of the country. Intel suggests they are going to not only hit Chornobyl and Kyiv, they are also going to use the already captured Crimea territory to their advantage to try and gain control of the Donbas region in the southeast of the country and use it as a stepping stone to go deeper into Ukraine." Major Collins said as the screen went black.
"This is why I requested the training you guys had with Segreant Rath and Owens this past week as well as start brushing up on your foreign language skills. Show of hands, who in the room can speak and or is fluent in Polish?" I asked first wanting to get a better understanding of who can speak what on my team. When two hands went up, I made a note of who it was and then asked my second question.
"Anybody for Ukrainian?" Was the next. Only two takers for that one.
"Now for Russian?" I asked. Four hands shot up, including my own, and I was happy to know that we have people on the team that speak the three different languages.
"Sorry Staff Sergeant, languages aren't my thing." Corporal Emmett Martin said.
"It's alright Corporal, not everyone in the room needs to have foreign language skills, it's just an added bonus." I said wanting to let him know and anybody else on the team that doesn't speak another language that they are still an important member to my team.
"Does anybody have any questions regarding going to Ukraine and Poland right now?" Major Collins asked.
"Now is the time team." I said wanting to make it clear that it's now or never.
"What would our objective be if we do get called to Ukraine?" Sergeant Rath said and I turned to face Major Collins.
"I have no doubt that this will turn into a fight for land and property with civilians in the crosshairs. There is no objective as of right now. The only one I can think of is to keep those caught in the middle out of harms way." Major Collins said leveling all of us with a bit of honest that is rare from her.
"Anything else?" I asked. When nobody spoke up I nodded at Major Collins and she turned the lights back on.
"Alright, right now I want to go over to the cages to go over everyone's equipment to make sure it's in order and give a last-minute supply order over to Major so we have everything we need before we ship out. Also, all personal phones are to be left in your cages or at home, they will not be making the trip with us. Your secure devises should be in your cages already. If they are not, please let me know and we will get it sorted out. For now you are dismissed. I'll meet you guys over in the cages in about 5 minutes. Please get dressed in your gear as I want to go over everything. Dismissed." I gave the order.
My team picked up the folders and chatted as they made there way out of the meeting room. Morgan stuck around for another minute collecting everything before getting up. Before she could leave Major spoke up.
"Alexander, your key card will swipe you into Gold Teams cages. While you don't have a cage, I wanted to give you access while you are attached to the team." She said.
"Thank you ma'am, I'll see you in a little while Staff Sergeant." Morgan said before picking up her folders and leaving the meeting room.
"Well, that went over better then I could have hoped." Major said after Morgan left the room.
"At least I know they still know how to behave in presence of officers." I said and snickered before collecting my folder off the table.
"Fair point, you do have a good team Daniella. Come find me in my office with the supply order once you have and I'll work on getting it together today." Major said.
I gave her a nod before walking over to the cages. I could already hear my team yelling over each other and I sighed before scanning into the room and pushing the door open. I ignored them all as I made my way over to my cage and started to assemble my gear that was flown home with Rob and left for me when I got the call about dad. Pushing past through those thoughts I put together my gear on my body and even grabbed my helmet before walking out of my cage to see my team.
It looked like everyone was ready in full gear and it made me happy to know they still take my orders seriously. I clipped my helmet onto my head and jumped up on top of the table to get everyone's attention. Once I seemed to have it, I got down onto one knee in a spot where I can see just about everyone.
"I'm happy to see everyone is in good spirits despite what we heard in our meeting." I started with and unclipped my helmet, realizing it was a bit unnecessary right now.
"Operation Black Spear will be a success. Working with Alpha team is working with the best. I know we will rise to the opportunity when we work with them. I'm hoping our teams mesh together so when we continue on the rest of our tour, we can all come to rely on them." I said making sure to look around at everyone on my team.
"I'm going to go around the room to check over everyone's gear and take a list of anything that needs to be replaced before we leave. Even though we could most likely get replacements in Germany, it will be easier to get everything done now. Once your gear has been checked over by me, I want you to all to start to build a med-kit with Emmett. Each person will have there own supplies to be prepared in case Emmett or Cosima can not reach you. It will be worn at all time when we get deployed to Ukraine." I said.
"We are going?" Monica asked a bit of surprise in her voice.
"Officially right now, no. But my gut tells me we have about a 75% chance of going. I would be utterly shocked if we don't get deployed to tell you the truth." I said leveling with my team.
"I want you guys to pack up anything you think is going to help you survive in Ukraine. I can't say how long we are going to be there but be prepared for all weather. Also, even though most of you guys don't like using them, I'm instituting the use of tactical headphone for Ukraine. You can wear what you like for operation Black Spear but I want you all to have ear protection for missile strikes. When you guys are done preparing you med-kits and they are approved by Emmett you're all dismissed. The plane leaves here at 01:00 hours tomorrow. If you do not show, we will not wait for you and you will be court marshalled for being AWOL, am I understood?" I asked my team.
"Yes Staff Sergeant!" My team yelled back at me.
"Good stuff, Emmett you are going to be up first so you can assist everyone else with their med-kits. Then we are going to go in call sign order, so Rob, you will be next." I said and jumped off the table top.
Emmett quickly walked off to his cage while I grabbed a notebook from mine then met him at his cage. All of Emmett's gear was in shape and the only thing he needed was a new set of elbow and knee pads. Then we went over his extended med-kit and together we came up with a list of things I wanted everyone to have handy. After that was in order, I dismissed Emmett to the supply room and walked over to Rob.
Checked everyone's gear took just under an hour. There wasn't much that needed to be ordered and it made me happy to know that everyone's gear was up to our standards. As the room started to thin out, Morgan reappeared with a backpack. I can only assume it's her gear that was given to her from her CO. While I was still checking over everyone's gear, I asked Emmett to get her a med-kit and stock it up.
After I finished up checking everything and making sure I had everyone's gear order, I started to pack up my own gear so it's ready to go for tomorrow. When that bag was put together I grabbed the gear list, slung my rifle across my back and holstered my pistol before turning to Morgan.
"Ready for the range?" I asked.
"Yes can I leave this bag here though?" Morgan asked.
"Sure." I answered and watched as Morgan put her bag into my cage and grabbed her gun case.
"We are hitting the range if anybody wants to join." I said to the room that was half full. Most of my higher-ranking team member are already gone, wanting to spend the last little bit of time they have with their families at home. But, I know some of my team members don't have families waiting for them at home.
"Anything to delay going back to the barracks a little bit longer." Private First-Class Micah Allen said, my teams forceable entry specialist.
"You got that right, I'm in as well Staff Sergeant." Private First-Class Lionel Chapman answered as well. Even though he is one of my best gunners, he is always willing to go to the range.
"I can never turn down getting the chance to shoot." Private First-Class Cosima Taylor said. Because our team is 12 members, I decided to take on another combat medic. Cosima still has a lot to learn but Emmett has been an amazing teacher for her so far and the pair have worked really well together.
"Alright, you guys can get your own ammo, I have to go submit this form and we'll meet you guys there." I said and locked up my cage before nodding my head towards the door to have Morgan follow me.
She didn't say anything as I walked into Major Collins office to hand off my gear request list. Major looked it over and approved everything. Told me she'll have it ready in a case for the flight tomorrow. I took my leave and together Morgan and I went to the armory to get bullets. We each got a case and went down to the range. Even though I should have brought us over the outdoor range, I didn't have the time to request a time slot. So we went to the range that's in the basement of the building.
When we got there, Lionel, Micah and Cosima were already in stalls starting to put bullets into their magazines. I pulled Morgan towards the end of the room and placed my rifle down on the table. Morgan did the same and started to load a magazine while I went over to see how my team was doing. I got to them before they started to shot and I stopped them to make sure they are trying to take individual shots instead of bursts. With one alteration to Cosima's stance, I let them fire their first magazine. The spread on their targets was good, not far apart and it made me happy to see. I told them to get another mag in on their rifles then switch to there pistols.
Morgan was waiting for me with two loaded magazines. I took my rifle out of the case and took one of the offered magazine from her before loading it into my weapon. Morgan did the same for herself and grabbed the pair of earmuffs for hearing protection. I left my weapon loaded with the safety on and watched as Morgan took her stance. She looked down the view finder and slowly pressed the trigger. Three rounds shot out of the barrel before she pulled her finger off the trigger. From here I could see that the shots went a bit high on the paper target but I didn't offer any corrections yet. Morgan took another breath and pulled the trigger again. Another three shots rang out and went wide right of center mass of the target. Before I could try and give her any suggestions to help her out Morgans shots went wide left. That's when I knew she was fucking with me.
I hit her shoulder to tell her to knock it off and I saw her smirk before Morgan unloaded the rest of her clip into the center mass of the paper target. She pressed the button and the paper target flew up to us to see as I pulled off my own ear protection.
"You're a little shit, you know." I said took in the spread of the bullets. Morgan only laughed and pulled clipped a new paper target in place before sending it down range.
"I was waiting to see how long it was going to take you to try and correct me." Morgan said and put her rifle down on the bench.
"Alright, let me show you how it's done." I said and picked up my weapon. Morgan rolled her eyes and took a step away from me so I could line up my shot. With a quick press of the trigger I sent a few rounds down range right into the head of the paper target before switching it up and sending a few more into the center mass region. With a few bullets remaining in my clip I held out my gun to Morgan.
"Give it a spin, let me know if you would rather keep your or pick up a new toy." I said and moved out of her way when she grabbed my gun.
Even though the rifle was set to my specifications, Morgan did pretty well in shooting it. As she finished the magazine I just held out a replacement for her and she quickly replaced the empty for the fresh one and started to try out my attachments. When the second magazine was empty I pulled the paper target in and took a look at the spread. While the middle of the paper target was gone completely there are some groupings close together on the edges of the paper.
"You can get me one of these?" Morgan asked as she looked more closely at my attachments.
"You're deploying with my team. I can get you anything you would want, within reason." I said.
"Then yes, I'll just take the same one you have then with these attachments. When we get to Germany I'll hit the range some more to see if I want to change anything out." Morgan said and handed me my rifle back. I only nodded and then pulled my pistol out of my holster and left it on the bench.
"How's your sidearm work?" I asked sent a new paper target down the range.
"You know it's been a long time since we were infantrymen but we do still need to weapons qualify every year Dani." Morgan said and picked up her pistol and sent a whole magazine of bullets down range. Each one of them, finding the target and I knew I just walked into that one.
"Noted. Think you're good then?" I asked and picked up my own pistol.
"All yours Staff Segreant." Morgan said and stepped out of my way. I sent my own magazine of bullets down range and once I was done Morgan pulled the paper target up for us to review.
"We should go home." Morgan said and she put her weapon back in it's case. She didn't need to tell me twice.
a/n: so here's the deal chickens. There will be no update for the next two weeks. My cousin is coming in from out of state next week and we are trying to find a day to meet up with him, I'm going on vacation next weekend, I'm trying to get a new job, we are starting construction on my house and I want to try and enjoy some of my summer before it ends. I figured this would be a good place to take a break for the moment. If that changes I will let you know. I will also post another chapter under the character list of Daniella's full team so you can refer to it if you need to. questions, comments, concerns you guys know where to find me.