Fourteen crack troops moved out quickly, Tibbs and I were assigned eleven grunts and our Lt is fresh out of Cadet College. We had a hostage situation in downtown New Norfolk. It was probably a text book situation but obviously the Lt had not done his homework, after negotiating with the terrorists fell through we had to steam the place. The Lt managed to make a right pigs ear of it. The reports had suggested that there was at least fifteen terrorists in there, they were demanding the release of Reutgar Homar the Faction leader for the Peoples Rights of UNE, they were basically about better living conditions and so on. You could see their point, the standards of living had fallen if you wasn't corporate property because to them you were nothing. The United Nations of Earth tried to create a better world but with the corporations wanting their downfall things were hard.
Personal points of view don't come into the marine way of life, unless you're high enough in rank to issue the orders, the rest of us have to follow them. That's what we get paid for. The Lt wanted us to operate in pairs, that was his first mistake, all through our career right from the day we joined the Colonial Marines we are trained to work in Teams, these teams are usually about five to eight men, the theory was that no single marine could learn all the skills necessary to survive, sure you would have the odd few that were good at a lot of things, but he would be useless once he had bitten the dust. At least if you are in a small team and one bites the dust then someone else can step in, they may not be as good but at least that skill would still be available.
Small teams had more advantages than disadvantages and the Marine Corp. acknowledges this by training Marines to work as teams. These small teams are chosen for their wide range of skills but more importantly there was normally more than one marine that could perform the same function.
The Lt went against the grain and paid the price, splitting us into pairs left us wide open, I never knew whether he was trying to rewrite the Marine Handbook or had simply skipped the pages that defined Marine Corp. Teams because he managed to waste himself and all but one of the grunts. Private Hodges the remaining grunt was lucky he had been blown out of a third storey window by a shotgun round, he had landed in a garbage trolley on the ground.
After dealing with two terrorists and discovering my team member had been blown out of the window I was left on my own to find the hostages, we had no means of communication as each team had been given different wave bands to operate on. Passing through the Corporation Building it was obvious that the terrorists hadn't come for the hostages, most rooms were littered with dead personnel.
I had to get up to the next floor before I got to my target area, it was where the reports had lead us to believe where the catchment of hostages were, looking around I didn't really think there were going to be many. Checking the door at the top of the stairs there were no signs of tampering, I could hear gun fire from down the corridor, I rounded the corner and was confronted by a terrorist I instinctively fired and caught him in the shoulder, but I could feel this burning sensation in my lower back, looking down at my stomach my combat gear was soaked in blood and my body armour had a lump pointing out of it. My body armour had done its job by stopping the bullet, it was just a shame that the shot had missed my armour at the back and traversed straight through me.
That bastard of a Lt had cost me dearly and I was never going to get the chance to get a copy of the book he must have been writing. Darkness began to come over me and I fell backwards through the door to stairs and then darkness encompassed me.
I was in immense pain when I came round, I had always thought that pain wouldn't exist on the otherside, but then I suppose it all depends on where you go. I certainly hoped I wasn't in for an afterlife of Garden Plants and knitting. Surveying my surroundings I was outside the building we had just stormed, it seemed to be jumping up and down and then the ground leaped up at me, but it was soft. Someone was tying me down, all around there were flashing lights and all the noise seemed indistinguishable. Something was on my face and I could feel fresh oxygen cutting its way through my body. My stomach felt bad, but I couldn't remember having curry the night before. Lying across the small room was Private Hodges, he seemed asleep. A young woman wearing Light Body Armour turned from Private Hodges held my face while she shone a bright light in my eyes. After that everything seemed grey, and the blackness started to creep in. She was shouting about arresting someone.
How long I was out for I wasn't sure, but I was definitely in a Trauma Unit, computers were all around me they were connected to me by various pipes, bags and wires. A nurse was there taking notes from one of the many displays, she looked at me and smiled. Said they had been a bit worried about me for a few weeks. A few WEEKS Christ how long had I been out. She explained briefly about what had transpired while she ran some checks on me. Apparently Sergeant Tibbs had found only one hostage alive and on his way out had found me at the bottom of a stairwell. He had lead the hostage out while carrying me on his shoulder. I had been out for eight weeks and had the pleasure of her company for at least another ten. It could have been worse, I could be knitting and potting plants now but instead I was going to be surrounded by nurses for the next two months. What a hard life!
Tibbs well deserved the Service Cross he got and more, I owe him my life. It's a shame about the grunts it was a classic mistake made by the Lt, it was to serve as an example back at boot camp on why we operate in teams and not individually. It was an expensive lesson, because he didn't follow Standard Procedures or because he thought he knew better than hundreds of Commanding Officers before him, it cost those grunts their lives and nearly mine.
Jannie visited me nearly everyday she had sat vigil over me while I was unconscious. She now wants me to quit the Marines or get a desk job. I'm afraid pens and paper just ain't my line of work. Besides you can't fit a grenade launcher on the underside of a pen. She wants our baby to have father , not just a memory. I was transferred from the Trauma unit to hospital, soon after that I was given the okay to leave. Its only after you have been close to the end that you really appreciate life. My work for the marines would help to give a better quality of life to many civilians. On 2172.8.21 Amber was born a beautiful 6lb 6oz baby daughter.