Operation Anchorage

Sarah Winters carried an injured comrade through the bunker's corridors, the walls where lined with dead, dying and injured soldiers, every room she passed seemed to be filled with them to. She found an empty spot on a table and placed him on it gently before a medic rushed over to help him. This was what? Day two? Three? She was utterly exhausted, the Chinese had been pressing hard and relentlessly against the Anchorage Front Line. They where holding for now but for how much longer could they hold out for? She wondered what had happened to the rest of echo squad, she had lost them almost immediately after the attack started. She gripped her R91 tighter and began to head out again. No doubt she would be needed elsewhere she still served under echo squad but it was more a title now. She hoped that her squad-mates where still alive. She was almost at the entrance when an officer stopped her, seeing her exhaustion and ordered her to find a spot to sleep in and rest.
Sarah had believed sleep to be all but impossible however the moment she found an empty spot to sit with her back against the wall, sleep claimed her swiftly. Her R91 was still held tightly in her hands though, just because she was in a US Army bunker did not mean the Chinese Crimson Dragoons could not get in.

Mark was in the infirmary, helping the injured, and clearing out the dead. A man at the front was listing out names of the deceased. One after another, Mark cringed to the knowledge of every man and woman who had died, that he couldn't have saved.

As he went back outside, he opened up his pack of cigarettes and started to smoke them. He hadn't smoked for 2 years, and now he starts it once more. After a few bloody battles between him and the Chinese. Maybe it wasn't the Chinese that made him what he is now, smoking dirty, nasty, cancer filled, tubes of death. It was the men and women he couldn't save, the ones that would never get to see their wives, children, moms, dads, grandparents, family in general ever again. Then he remembered his disfunctional family, Echo Squad. After the first attack, he had to split off of them to help some of the injured. He remembered Sarah scared as a puppy dog, then nothing. No emotions, but he knew. He knew she was still frightened, until the adrenaline kicked in for her, and it was all over for those Chinese men.

Sarah awoke all to soon and found herself unable to sleep. She stood slowly and made her way out of the base. She stood next to Mark not recognising that it was him, her R91 shook in her hands, the adrenaline still had not fully worn off. She was a soldier, she should not be scared. She slung the R91 and took out a worn, faded, dog eared picture of her family from a pouch and unfolded it. She found herself smiling at the sight of her large family. As soon as she could Sarah would write to them and say that she was still alive. Her left hand shook so much that she dropped the picture, cursing loudly Sarah knelt down and picked up the picture of her large Detroit family.

Mark looked down, and as Sarah picked up her picture. He didn't recognize her until she stood back up, "Sarah? Is that you?" He smiled, happy to see a friendly face. "I can't believe it! I thought you and the others were stationed somewhere else!"

He took out his pack once more, and moved it towards her. More of an offereing, "Want one? I got about 3 other packs at my bunk."

Sarah pocketed the picture carefully before turning to face him, she recognised the voice but wanted to see with her own eyes that it was Mark first before she said anything. "Yeah it's me... I thought you where dead" She said bluntly before swallowing awkwardly. "Thanks... But I don't smoke so how have you been? Is anyone else from echo here?" She had many questions, however there was some hope since clearly he was still alive and therefore the rest of echo could be to. She smiled at him. "I can't believe it's really you!" Sarah hugged him for a second before letting him go. "That was.. Unprofessional... I.. I'm sorry about that" She was still smiling however she was delighted to see him.

"Come on you Commie bastards! Come on!!"

Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore sprayed an endless hail of lead into the oncoming Chinese forces, their soft military jumpsuits tearing open as the 5.56mm rounds dug into their bodies, being pushed back in droves. The Lieutenant cheered to himself, holding his ripper over his head as he roared over the fighting soldiers in the trenches.

"Come on ladies! You can either surf or you can fight! Charge!"

And with that, the whole trench began to empty as soldiers surged over the snowy caps, missiles and bullets flying in every direction. By the end of it, most of the Chinese bodies had been torn apart. The remainder of the force ran into a retreat, and the American battalion congratulated each other on a successful defense. But it wouldn't last long.

Audie Murphy, one of the three Powered Armour soldiers in the base, was especially proud of himself. He'd taken part in advancements, but since the battle of Anchorage began he'd never seen a successful defensive, and this was something special to him. Holding his submachine gun up proudly, he cheered with the rest all the way back to the bunker. The few snipers and spies that had dotted the mountains were still going to be an issue, but they'd be more cautious now.

Sarah watched American soldiers return to base, the front line always seemed to be shifting, it made a change for once to not be the one having to fight. She glanced at Mark and wondering if he had been scared during the initial Chinese attack or any of the subsequent battles. She doubted it. She shivered inside her winterized combat armour and once more thought of home and used that as the reason to explain why she was here.

Mark smiled, "It's fine, I was going to do the same thing, but I had this cancer tube in my hand. And no, I haven't seen anyone else from Echo... I got split off just like you in the initial attack. Though, I'm pretty sure they made it."

His smile went away, even though they had won this battle, doesn't mean the Chinese don't have more coming after them. Some of the soldiers coming back were even hoping for more, like it was some kind of game. He then looked at Sarah, "To be honest though, I thought you knew where they went, or that you've seen them. After the attack, I was stuck being a nurse for the past few days. I got to even play doctor at one point." He chuckled, and flicked the cigarette in his hand.

She listened quietly as he spoke nodding every now and then, before finally replying. "Mark I have been operating as the sole member of echo squad for the past few days" Sarah let out a weak chuckle. "I've never been soon exhausted only managed to get about an hour's rest and then I could not sleep so.." She shrugged and winced, it seemed that every inch of her ached or gave her some pain. "I think that was just the first wave, I saw no tanks or heavy infantry I heard from a guy in Able squad that there are Crimson Dragoons operating" She glanced over her shoulder cautiously half expecting to find one standing there. "I'm glad you okay Mark.."

Mark nodded, "You mentioned something about pain? Aches? Sarah, you need to get some sleep so your body can heal itself. And if you're scared that the Crimson Dragoons are coming for you, don't be. I'll sit by your bed the time. Just... you need to get some sleep, I can see the bags under your eyes."

He tossed the cigarette on the ground, stepped on it with his foot. Then looked at Sarah with concern."

Sarah wanted to object, say that she was combat ready but tiredness could kill as easily as sniper or a Crimson Dragoon. Besides she knew better than to argue with Mark. "Okay your the doctor... I... Yes but they freak everyone out they have stealth generators and..." She had clearly been listening to too many stories about the enemy commandos, some of what she had heard was true some of it was just rumours spread by scared soldiers.

Murphy looked over to two soldiers talking as he overheard the mention of Echo squad. He'd heard over the communications relays that most of Echo had been wiped out or lost contact with, and he wondered if perhaps these two were part of the company. He pushed his way over, listening in a little more as he heard talking of Dragoons and even the Chinese vehicle the 'Chimera'. But, he still had to make sure.
"Excuse me, sorry for interrupting but did I overhear one of you say something about Echo squad?"
He still wasn't used to the feeling of being so much taller, and the way he almost instantly intimidated anyone he walked up too. He hoped however that he didn't come off as anything other than a soldier to them.

Sarah saluted Murphy, her eyes widening seeing a power armour soldier. "Sir, yes sir we are part of Echo squad" She wondered what the Sargent had to say to them. Sarah felt dwarfed by the power armour she was small any way, barely managed to get into the door for enlistment. Being small had advantages and disadvantages... She could barely maintain any warmth in the freezing temperatures of Alaska. In her winterized combat armour she shivered.

Mark raised an eyebrow, "Yes, yes we are Sargent. Do you need anything from us?"
He always liked that armor, always wanted to join that outfit of men. But from he heard, there wasn't much a medic could do for them in the battle but drag them back to base. So he decided against it when he first heard about it.

"I heard news not long ago that remnants of Echo squad had been stationed near a Chinese relay station. Though..." Murphy looked between the two, sighing under his breath, helmet in his hands.
"The news was that their numbers were small. Strike Team small."
Murphy didn't want to say it, but he felt he needed too. He didn't know the details, but he knew that much at least.

Sarah lowered her head and shut her eyes taking a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "I... I understand" She was about to ask him a question when the ground shook, instinctively she threw herself to the ground. Another Chinese Artillery bombardment. The shells kicked up huge piles of frozen earth and snow. American soldiers scattered trying to take cover.

Murphy shook a little, turning around and seeing his two partners donning their helms and beginning to head out already. He grabbed his helmet, which he'd managed to drop, and pulled his 10mm SMG out as he did so, turning back to face the others.
"They're hitting us harder than usual. Be ready, this may turn into a full scale retreat of the bunker!"

Mark looked around, grabbing Sarah's arm, "We need to go! NOW!" The artillery shells began to hit the infirmary, crushing Mark even more. Now he REALLY needed to get out of there before he did anything irrational. "Common Winters! Get up! We need to go before they hit US!" He looked her straight in the eyes, knowing she was scared, well so was he. The thought that Echo squad might be dead, and the fact that he wasn't there to save them, hurt him even more. He was in the same boat as Sarah, but wasn't going to say anything until after they got somewhere safe.

Sarah felt someone pull her up and turned her head to see Mark shouting at her, looking her in the eyes. She was about to reply when a shell went off nearby and she pressed herself closer to the ground. Her ears rang and she everything sounded muffled. She knew she should run, fall back and take shelter in the bunker complex barely a dozen yards away, yet her limbs felt rooted to the spot. Like she was a statue or forged of ice. She gripped her R91 rifle tighter, inwardly she screamed at herself to move but Private Winters was not going anywhere.

Murphy groaned and went over to the male soldier, grabbing the Privates arm and frowning as he tried to get her up.
"Come on! You gotta get up!" The bunker shook more and more, and as soldiers began to run outside to attempt to combat the invasion force, but all it took was one shell and the front entrance, and exit, came crashing down. "Fuck!"

Murphy grabbed the Private by the shoulders and got down on her level, looking at her, and speaking softly.
"You can stay here and die. You can do that. People will do that now. But if you care about your friend, you'll get up, and the two of you will get out of here, right now." He stood up, looking at Mark, nodding, and making his way to the entrance, trying to pull some soldiers out of the rubble. He hoped she'd snap out of it.

Sarah heard a voice dimly and turned to see a power armour helmet. She nodded and swallowed, getting shakily to her feet. She pulled the bolt back on her R91 and began to make her way towards the front line, out of the corner of her eye she saw something shimmer and immediately emptied the hole clip into the mirage. Sarah reloaded watching as the stealth field overloaded and revealed a dead Crimson Dragoon. She glanced over her soldier and saw a trio of soldiers move forward only to disappear in a cloud of dust and snow. One of them screamed. "MEDIC!"

Sarah rushed over a ducked into the steaming crater, the soldier was covered in cuts his armour shredded and a dark shade of crimson. She fumbled for a stimpack and inserted it, before trying to stop the bleeding but she was no... The next thing Sarah knew was that she was staring up a clear blue sky, a Chinese shell had detonated nearby casting her out the crater like a ragdoll. Everything ached, her hearing was filled with a loud whine. She rolled to her knees and dragged the injured soldier back out of the shell crater, in the direction of Mark and Murphy. The soldier had fallen quiet, Sarah did not even know she had been injured. Scarlet slid down her left cheek from a cut on her forehead, her helmet was missing, her left shoulder armour had been shredded and was dark with blood, she holes had been punched into the left hand side of her chest armour which only two leaked blood. With her adrenaline now pumping Sarah did not feel any pain from her wounds, she struggled to drag the other soldier back.

They were already in the bunker.

Holding his SMG up, Murphy began to fire as the entrance was bombarded for a second time as a wave of Chinese soldiers flooded in. His armour left him as the only one standing, other blown back or completely apart as he began to shoot anything before him that moved. Bodies dropped over and over before his clip emptied and he was forced back, grabbing Sarah and Mark and running.

Bullets were flying everywhere, and his armour made him a massive target, but it's strength won out as he turned and, letting go of the two soldiers, rammed his fist into a Crimson Dragoons head.

"Chimeras! CHIMERAS!!"

Murphy had never seen a bunker diminish so quickly. He knew something was wrong. There must've been spies.

Sarah froze with horror seeing that the bunker had already collapsed and the Chinese where swarming it. The Chinese army seemed to be everywhere while the American forces where being overrun on seemingly all fronts. She continued to drag the injured soldier away from the front line leaving a rather obvious blood trail behind them. "Medic!" She called out once more, firing with her 10mm in her right hand.

Fall back, regroup that seemed like the logical plan. In the chaos however she did not know where to go to.

Mark had fallen from one of the blasts, his ears still ringing, he heard someone calling for medical attention, "I'm coming! Don't worry!" He pulled out his .45 Pistol, and started to run towards the position.

"I'm almost there! Just hang in a little bit longer!" As he walked, he felt a bit of a limp coming from his right leg, it was damaged, bruised. But he knew that this person needed more medical attention than himself.

"Medi.." Her breath was knocked out of her mid cry as a Chinese 5.56mm round slammed into her chest, spinning her off her feet. It had bounced off the armour... Just but her head struck the frozen ground hard, stars exploded in her gaze. Sarah rolled over and struggled to drag the injured trooper.

Mark finally limped to Sarah and the injured Trooper. He grabbed his medical bag, grabbed some morphine, and gave to the trooper. He looked at Sarah, seeing she was still trying to drag him, "SARAH! You can stop! GO! Get out of here! I get him covered! Get to the bunkers! I'll see you there in a bit!"

He smiled at her, gave her a nod, and went to work on the Trooper. Grabbing bandages, and more morphine.

"No someone has got to give you cover fire while you treat him" She objected, holstering her pistol and drawing her R91. Sarah crouched down nearby and began to open fire in short, accurate burst, pining down Chinese Soldiers. "Echo squad sticks together, no matter what"

The bright blue lasers were burning holes through soldiers all around him, and Murphy could do nothing but fire back, though his bullets practically bounced off the hulls of the modified mining machines. He fell back, to rejoin other squads, as the Chinese advancement continued.

"Everyone! We need to move back! Now! Fall back to the bunker! Gather all injured personnel and retreat!!"
He didn't know who or where the CO was, but with no one giving commands he had to make a stand then and there.

Sarah reloaded, hearing the order. She stood up firing in full automatic, bullets casing clattered onto the ground. "Come on Mark! We've got to go" A bright blue laser punched a hole through a nearby soldier. She shot at the Chimera watching her bullets spark harmlessly off the machines armour plate.

She turned to look at Mark her mouth moving as was about to speak however an explosion detonated nearby, she felt a sharp burning agony in her legs and she crumpled to the ground with a scream of pain.

Mark felt the soldiers pulse, nothing. He was gone, aand as the explosion went off nearby by, he saw Sarah go to her knees. He crawled towards, trying to get her up, "Sarah, come on! You gotta help mee here, or we'll both die! Now common! We gotta fall back!"

He had a slight ring in his right ear, not being able to hear anything from it. As the blue beams hit soldiers, and was taking them down, Mark finally got her to her feet and wrapped her arm around his shoulder, "Why are you always so stubborn sometimes, Sarah?" He smirked for a second then started to walk as fast as he could with her around his arm.

Sarah gritted her teeth against the pain. "I... It helps when your the smallest and also the eldest everything has to be done with grim resolve" She forced a smiled and tried to walk, each step sending waves of agony shooting up from her legs. Sarah had not noticed that she had dropped her R91, not that it mattered, she could barely fight at the moment. "What's the plan Mark?" She asked her voice tight, filled with raw pain.

He looked around, his breathing was becoming heavy, his leg felt like it was swelling, and he felt a bit of a trickle running down his side. "Well... I'm guessing we head past the bunker, and go deeper into our own territory. No sense in staying here, especially since we're wounded."

He pulled out his Marksman Carbine and handed to Sarah, " you'll probably have a better chance at hitting the chinese with this thing then me." As they walked, Mark smiled at her as best he could given the situation that was given to them.

She accepted the rifle with a tired grin. "Not sure how well I can shoot one handed but here goes" Sarah fired the rifle cutting down a Chinese soldier. "I don't think I can hold up till we reach there you should go" She was being serious, she could not move very fast and soldiers like Mark would be better off on their own, especially as he could move faster without her. "Put me down.. I'll hold the line"

Mark looked at her, he felt like he should just punch her, "what happened to, 'echo squad satys together' and all that crap, huh? No way, I'm sticking here with you! We'll make together, and if you REALLY want to be stubborn, I'll stay here with you!"

He wasn't ready to lose another friend, and he wasn't just going let stay behind because she said so. He looked at her, and knew that if she. Was to stay, she wouldn't make it out here by herself with limited ammo, and about a million chinese right on their tale, "and if you argue, I'm just going to say words, 'sarah, shut up' and that'll be the end of that. Now let's go!"

Exhausted, stressed Sarah oddly found herself laughing at this. "And here I thought you where about to pull rank on me Mark" She did not have the strength to argue with her friend. Truth was she did not want to die, no one wanted to die. But more than that she did not one Mark to die because of her.

He struggled another smile, then he pushed her along side him. Forgetting about the trickle down his side, and since he had adrenaline going through his body, a piece of shrapnel had punctured his armor then through his side. His breathing became quicker, and he winced in pain a lot more on their way to the 2nd fob.

"So Mark I never did get to ask you" Sarah began her own voice weak and tired, filled with pain. "Do you have a special person back home? You know someone worth fighting for?" The battle seemed to have grown quieter in her ears, either it was almost over or they where away from the bulk of the fighting.

Mark smiled, then chuckled a bit, " well if count my dog, then yes." He laughed, then coughed a bit, "just kidding, no, no I do not." He frowned at the thought. Realizing he didn't have anyone back home, waiting for him. He looked back at Sarah, "well what about? You got anyone inparticular you're fighting for?"

She found herself smiling as well. "Aw really? I would have thought you'd have someone waiting for you" Sarah knew she had someone to fight for, well it was a lot of people really. "My family" She answered, the mention of them making her heart long to be in the comfort of the cramped family home. "They need me so I enlisted and came here... Miss them.. Ahh!" Her left foot jarred as it hit a rock, sending flaring agony up her leg. "But I have no sweetheart waiting for me if that is what you mean?"

Mark looked at her foot and stopped, "Are you alright? Do I need to look at it?"

He smirked at thought of his family, how much they weren't really interested in him. "I've got family, but they are more interested in my older, and younger brother, and helping them succeed." He shrugged, and looked at her foot. Taking her boot off, then rolling the pant leg up, then taking her sock off. "Well I guess we should take a look, so you won't be stuck at the FOB for months."

"Jeez... It's freezing" She said shivering as her bare skin was exposed to the frigid air. Sarah nodded slowly and glanced at her injures, her foot looked fine but her leg looked red and bloodied. "I guess that's from the shell that hit nearby..."

Mark grabbed his bag, as he swung it around, it hit the side that had shrapnel in it. He winced in pain, holding the wound, and breathing slowly. "Alright... Alright, let's... let's take a look at the damage you did..." He grabbed a clean rag, and began to clean the wound. He then grabbed some disinfectant, and put on it. Afterwards, he grabbed some gauze and wrapped it as best as he could. "That should do it until we get to the base."

He put her sock, rolled her pant leg down, and put her boot back on. Got back up, put her arm around his shoulder, and walked in the direction he thought the base in.

"Ah... I did not... Do the damage Chinese did" She argued through gritted teeth, forcing a smile. Sarah could not wait to get back to base however she did not want to spend too long healing up. The US Army needed every last soldier in the fight. Besides if anyone was sending the Chinese invaders into hell, Sarah wanted to be there sending them in.

"Your hurt too" She told him, knowing that he should treat it. Sarah had other wounds but they where not serious.

Mark smiled, "I'll be fine, my mission is to get you to the base. And get you back out there in the fight, and your mission is to stay with me, and stay alive." Even though he knew his own injury was serious, his priority was to get Sarah to safety.

"How can you do that if you bleed out?" She questioned, hoping to convince him to stop and treat himself. "You can't help me or anyone else if your dead Mark"

Mark rolled his eyes, "Fine... I'll look at it. But we need someplace to sit down so I can 'operate' on myself."

He shook his head, wondering why he was taking the suggestion from Sarah. As he found someplace to sit. He sat Sarah down first, then sat down him self. Slowly and carefully taking his armor off, then his under shirt. It was cold, but he tried to let it not bother him. "Alright... You're my eyes on this one Sarah. I can't see it to well from here. You ready?"

Sarah looked at the wound and nodded, deciding now was not the time to say she was not a medic, but that was rather obvious. "I'm ready let's just sort this out and get moving... I don't want to get caught by the Chinese out here"

He began to feel for the wound, then the he grabbed some morphine, injecting it in himself. He then grabbed some tweezers, and tried to grab the piece of metal from inside him. He didn't think to wash the wound, though it wouldn't help him any.

"Here let me..." Sarah said carefully taking the tweezers from him, she could see the piece of metal from where she was. "If that is okay Sir?" She was not just going to attempt to remove the metal without his say so.

He looked at her strangely, unsuspecting she would do that. He nodded to her, "And Sarah... I'm not a sir, I'm not an officer. No even a non-commissioned officer.... I'm just a Corporal." He laughed at it.