"Boots...Check, Uniform...Check, Backpack...Check" Brian sat alone in his room knowing it would be the last time for 7 months. He thought he was trained for every possible mission the seals could throw at him. He had already finished 8 deployments as a member of Navy Seal Team 7 and had become a very highly decorated lieutenant in the process by receiving a Medal of Honor in 2009 for his bravery and strength. Still after achieving all these things Brian felt different about this trip. Maybe it was the fact that he still didn't know where he would be stationed or what his mission was, or maybe it was the fact that he was going to have to leave his now 5 months pregnant beautiful blonde hair blue eyed wife Karen, who sat downstairs with tears in her eyes trying to wipe them away and fake a smile before Brian came down for quite possibly what they both realize could be their last goodbye for a long long time.
     “I love you.”
  "I love you too...call me when you get settled."
Karen tried to suck up the tears as she hugged Brian goodbye with tears glistening down her cheeks standing at the same spot in the kitchen where they had said goodbye many times before. The white washed walls with pictures from their wedding seemed to be the only piece of happiness in the room. Something about this goodbye felt so different. Karen watched as her husband's car slowly faded into the distance. Once the car was completely out of sight Karen stepped back into her empty house and slowly closed the door hoping the heartache would eventually fade away.
      One...two...three...Brian counted the panels of windows built into the 19th century Hummer that was driving him to his base where General Jacobson would hand Brian the small orange envelope that would forever change his life.
      Brian stepped slowly out of the taxi onto the helicopter pad where General Jacobson was waiting for him holding the orange envelope in his left hand while using his right hand to salute Brian. As Brian approached the general he saluted back and reached for the paper that determined his fate. As Brian opened the package he skimmed through the words till he came across what he was looking directly for..."Mission: Stop Anti-American Activist group Sanewi...Lead by Al Habib Shakrah...Shakrah has leaked information to the US government claiming that he plans to kidnap the president and bomb the White House while using Mr. President as bribe for 4 million American lives. Mission Location: Mosul, Iraq"
       Brian felt his heart skip a beat as he shook hands with the General and stepped into the small two person helicopter. Brian had been to Mosul many times but he has recently heard about Sanewi and knew just how dangerous this would be for him. As the doors closed he thought not only of Karen but of his unborn daughter and the thought of her being raised without a father. His last thoughts as the helicopter started to take off were how he wouldn’t let that be possible.
“I won't let her be raised without me.”
His adventure has now started and he knew it wasn't about to be easy.
Fourteen hours passed before Brian reached Mosul. Not even a fourteen hour plane ride could of prepared Brian for what happened for the next days...Weeks..Months...even Years. Brian stepped slowly off the helicopter without realizing that....BAM!!!!!! Bullets flew everywhere.
What had he gotten himself into? Brian got down on his hands and knees and began to crawl. He knew his base wasn’t to far away and he would be able to crawl there and not be seen. His commander would be able to tell him what was going on.
Brian held onto his gun with one hand and using the other one to help him crawl along the hot desert ground. All around him he saw members of his team hiding in areas of the deserted town. Men who Brian had never seen before were hiding on the other side of the town shooting at Brian’s men. Brian stayed as low as possible crawling four miles on the ground to the base. He had been to this base many times for different missions and he could find this base with his eyes closed. As he approached base the bullets started to come to a slow...occasional...stop. Brian was still unsure of where they were coming from or why they were everywhere but he knew something needed to be done. When he approached the base he slowly opened the door and stepped in. Commander Ross was sitting on a metal stool staring at many different computer screens that were flashing many bright colors. Once Brian walked into the base a little farther he realized the base was on lockdown. Ross turned towards Brian and signaled for him to grab a headset and call the control center in Moscow, Russia to see if they could get a tracking area from Shakrah and see if he was the reason for all this shooting.
The control center informed Brian that Shakrah was in fact the cause of this shooting and was trying to bomb the base. Therefore why all Brian’s men were trying to stop these men before they got to the base. Brian was informed that they had already killed 4 members from Brian’s team. A feeling of sadness swept over Brian....4...4 men..4 families...4 innocent lives..He thought back to Karen and his unborn baby. Suddenly the sadness turned to anger. Something has to be done and fast. Brian had always been the action member of his team. While some men stepped back and waited for the right moment to attack, Brian would force the attack to happen and he would always get it done fast and efficiently and that was why everyone loved him. Brian wanted to be able to get back to Karen as soon as possible and continue his near perfect life with her.
I could...
Capture him
ALONE...
Brian thought long and hard till the only thing in his mind was to capture Al Habib once and for all. Today. Before anyone else died. He wanted to do this mission alone.