It was a cloudy afternoon in a military camp located in Afghanistan. Tents could be seen everywhere. Fortified buildings were almost nonexistent; there hadn’t been any time to build them. So far, it had been an average day, mostly quiet with few attacks.

The few attacks that had been made were by civilians and not by trained terrorists. With only low caliber guns and home made explosives, the attacks were easily compromised. Suddenly a military general called seven of the best Marines into his tent.

The general quietly closed the tent. He motioned for the men to come closer and then revealed to them that what they were about to hear was completely confidential. They were told they must infiltrate a terrorist base that was highly protected and might be the meeting place of Al Qaeda. The war in Iraq could be stopped much sooner if their mission was a success.

Over countless training exercises and special missions, the general carefully assembled his team. It wasn’t enough to be a great Marine. These men demonstrated unique fighting skills, weapon mastery, integrity, honor, dedication, courage, and leadership. But despite these attributes, they were still not a team…at least not yet.

To make them work like an elite military squadron, the general knew he would need to make them train together. This training would test them like never before. It would test their physical strength as well as their mental aptitude. The general took them to the armory where they would pick and train with their weapon of choice.

Julius, or “Ninja”, was trained as a sniper. No one ever saw him before being shot. His weapon of choice is the Barrett .50-caliber semi-automatic sniper rifle with a silencer and three to thirty time zoom scope because no one has a steadier aim.

Charles, or “Mouse”, picked out the M4 A1 automatic assault rifle due to his small size, jerky movement ability to stay calm in close quarter battles making him impossible to hit.

Jimmy, or “Trigger”, picked out the M60 fully automatic machine gun because of his steady and consistent firing while shooting in fully automatic mode from the waist.

George, also known as “Psycho”, picked out the Vector sub-machine gun because of his like to put many rounds down field in a short amount of time while still being able to have an easily maneuverable weapon, making it very easy to charge.

Robert, known as “Ringo” because he constantly tapped on surfaces, picked out the M16 A1 three round burst assault rifle because of great aim while being able to put down rounds quickly.

Diego, or “Falcon”, picked out dual Desert Eagle semi-automatic pistols because of his excellent peripheral vision, allowing him to fire at two enemies simultaneously and being able to accurately fire in the middle of a dive.

Wong Chow, known as “Pyro”, picked out the Javelin GPS-guided rocket launcher for highly explosive, guided missiles that allow one to leave his location even before the missile has hit its target without having any chance of missing.

Each soldier was also given two fragmentation grenades, one Centex grenade which sticks to any surface, and two flash-bang grenades that blind and disorient attackers without harming any hostages. As determined and confident as they were with their arsenal, one could tell that they also knew the chances of success were slim. They headed to the chopper to be transported to the base.

The night was dark, and the Marines had finally reached their destination. To avoid being picked up by radar, they had to be dropped off ten miles away from the base. The Marines were traveling in complete darkness. It was about 10:00 p.m. and there was no moon. Even with night vision goggles it was difficult to see. They knew the base was heavily guarded, and there was no margin for error. If any errors were made, the entire operation would fail. The men started to make their way towards the terrorist base.

Suddenly the loud and aggressive fire from a terrorist’s AK47 rang out. The first guard had spotted them. As the terrorist was calling the base to say U.S. forces were invading, the distinct sound of the Barrett.50-caliber’s silencer was heard, and the terrorist fell to the ground. The call was never completed, meaning that Ninja had saved the entire squad from certain death. The squad could now proceed in their mission as planned.

The men clearly realized that it had been a very close call. They would have to fight more strategically in order to overthrow the base. They continued ahead and every time a guard was spotted, Ninja would take aim and eliminate the threat before there was any danger to the team. They continued trudging through the forest, while having to worry about being seen and making too much noise.

They continued towards the base, and were now only two miles away. They walked into a clearing of flat land with only large, upright cement blocks directly in front of the base. It was very quiet, almost too quiet. Out of nowhere, a wall of fire began coming at them, followed by a tsunami of grenades. The sides were blocked off, meaning they had to stay and fight.

Everyone rushed forward to get cover, except Ninja, who was able to stay back due to superior range. He counted thirty enemies, and told the squad. He sniped out three terrorists and threw a fragmentation grenade, taking out four more. Pyro locked on to a bunker, and fired a GPS missile, obliterating five terrorists. Trigger fired fifty shots from his machine gun, giving suppressing fire so Falcon could run up to cover. Falcon threw a flash-bang grenade and blinded two terrorists. He then dove while firing with his arms spread in opposite directions, looking like an eagle in mid-flight, and getting two kills. Mouse ran up to a wall, took cover, and threw a flash-bang grenade. A terrorist ran out to avoid the grenade, but ran into Psycho’s line of fire.

Suddenly, a terrorist threw a fragmentation grenade. Ringo fired three rounds, shooting it before it could do any harm. But it was a trap. Before Ringo could lower his aim, he was shot in the leg and dragged into the base as a hostage. As he was being taken, he threw his Centex grenade, which landed and stuck right under a terrorist, launching him into the air. The terrorist landed with a hard thump next to another terrorist, distracting him, and getting them both shot by Falcon. The remaining terrorists retreated to the base, but Pyro launched a missile that took them out as soon as they reached the entrance, and only a few survived the large explosion.

The Marines had to save Ringo. They decided to enter the base. With Falcon’s easily maneuverable pistols in front, they slowly walked down a long, narrow hall… a very risky and extremely dangerous way to move. A lucky bullet could go through all six of them at once and with this many twists and turns, someone could easily set up an ambush. They also had to watch out for hidden land mines that could very easily have been placed as booby traps in case the base was invaded.

Finally they reached the room where Ringo was being held. Falcon cooked a flash-bang grenade, and then threw it in the room. It completely blinded, disoriented, and confused the terrorists. The Marines all dove to the ground, except Psycho who spun in circles on fully automatic mode, missing his teammates while hitting the terrorists. It was complete chaos, but he still got all eight terrorists present in that room.

Two hours later, all the Marines at the camp had arrived at the base, armed and in full armor, ready to search throughout the entire building.

After five additional hours, the men had completely searched the base, finding weapons of mass destruction, guns, and explosives. Additional terrorists were also found and taken prisoner. They later confessed that they were planning future attacks and gave great detail as to how they would be carried out. They also found out that this base was the meeting place of a lower branch of Al Qaeda, but their victory was still a great step forward and helped the United States in the war in Iraq.

Plans and methods of the attacks previously performed, as well as those that would take place in the future, were found. Along with those, blueprints for new, highly advanced assault rifles and rocket launchers were discovered. This all served as evidence, allowing them to be easily prosecuted.

Upon returning to the military camp, the men received medals and became honorary Marines. After several more years in service, they were able to return to their families in the United States of America. Ringo’s leg healed, leaving only scars and a small limp. Luckily, no one from the squad had been severely injured, allowing the seven American heroes to serve another day.