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Dateline: Gauteng, South Africa

Operation Codename: Landlocked
This wasn’t the US Mobile Infantry’s first junket to South Africa but the MI was hoping to make it our last. For too long Brazilian desperadoes had oppressed the soccer loving free peoples of the land of the Golden Sun. Specifically for Alpha Company’s 3rd Platoon their job would be to assist South African forces in taking the key city of Johannesburg. South African forces had been pushing though the former Imperial capital for days but Brazilian forces supplied with the latest Phoenix weaponry was holding up the Africana advance to the capital city center of Pretoria.

The winds caused by the landing of hundreds of MI transport aircraft whipped in the face of Blackwolves platoon CO Chavo Ellison. Only after he had reached for his goggles and placed then securely over his eyes did he see the outline of his Company CO Hampton H. Hampton.
“Alpha 3rd Platoon reporting for duty Sir!” Ellison offered to his commanding officer while the rest of his platoon marched off the plane to the rest area inside the mini tent city set up by MI’s corps of engineers.
“At easy Lieutenant. We’ve got a tough mission for you and the rest of your squad which is why I’m now paying house calls to C-130 transport planes. The South African 1st Division is having trouble taking the Sandton business district in the northern section of the city. If we can take that section the roadway north to Pretoria would be open. This is also why the Brazilians seem so damm set on holding it. Our company is heading down there to punch a whole for our Allies that will allow them to retake their Capital. We will be working together so everyone will be in radio contact at all times and if possible stay in visual range. The Johannesburg stock exchange is where the Brazilian command post for their 12th regiment is located. That’s your objective. We’ve already hit the building with a number of air strikes so you may find there are is some “Post modern art” tattooed to their asses. 1st and 7th platoons will be on your flanks so keep a close watch out for their fields of fire. Any Questions?”
Sir! Am I to enter the stock exchange or will I be planting explosives around the outside to flush the bastards out into the open?
“Unfortunately, the Afrikaans have some ridiculous idea about “rebuilding their country” and all that S*#T. I aint in the business of interior decorating, I’m in the business of putting 155mm shells into peoples retirement plans if they F#&$ with anyone our command tells us is target practice. But that same all mighty command as told us to keep collateral damage to a minimum in respect to our South African comrades, so you’re going in the hard way. Remember to have your squad load up on grenades; you’re in an urban environment. Good luck and good hunting Blackwolves.

The company hitched a ride from the airdrome to the combat zone using American supplied Hummers and Striker assault vehicles. The drop-off went smoothly, the arrival not so much. As soon as the platoon disembarked mortar rounds from Brazilian guns began hitting the area at random intervals.
Even before the first rounds hit the platoon heard the bark of their XO Triplzero urging them to take cover. “Find cover in the storefronts!! Wait till they move to another target, their just saturating the zone in the hope of winning the mortar lottery”.
Pvt. Matthew Tobin and 2000max shoot themselves through the flimsy lock on a convenience store and crash their way in. The two veterans look around and starts stuffing their pockets with energy bars and filling their canteens with bottled water. “Nothing like gifted rations to start of a dangerous mission” Tobin remarks while still able to gin at his partner.
“Just nothing serious man” 2000max comments wryly, “We don’t need a repeat of you borrowing those goats back in China. Triplzero had to taze that poor lady twice to get her to calm down and then the CO put us on half rations for a week”.

Outside, once the shelling moves down the block the platoon notices a dusty South African major running over to their position, hysterically shouting for the American commander. “I need the American commander, you must help us NOW. We need help, you must come now!”
Casually composing himself Ellison walks over the major. “Ok calm down Habib, slow down. I’m the American commander. Tell me what your situation is”.
The South African briefly looks Ellison over before replying taking out a crumpled map from his shirt pocket. “Our position is right here” as the major points to a circled red dot due northeast of where the Americans were. “The enemy has broken through out lines and has us surrounded. We need ammunition, water, and your troops to help us. It is urgent you come with me now”.
Ellison takes a moment to look over the map before calling his XO over. “Triplzero front and center. We’ve got a situation here that needs your squad’s expertise. There are two missions now and I’m sending your squad to help the major here. You mission is to link up with the trapped South Africans and extradite them from their mess. Contact 7th platoon over the company channel and let them know your entering their zone. I’m taking the rest of the platoon and hitting that Brazilian command post. Any Questions?”
“Understood Sir! Don’t worry major, Alpha company’s 3rd platoon will get your men our. That’s why they call us the Blackwolves sir, we rip our enemy to shreds”. Triplzero then motions to the rest of his squad calling them over. “Ok JorgeJorge97 and Dr. Jonapello are with me. We’re going to save some Afrikaners and win us some free rounds at whatever they call bars around here”

As 2nd squad marches off with the major, Ellison turns to the rest of his men. “Ok here is the deal. We’ve got street fighting ahead us, so watch the windows and report any sniper activity. Matthew Tobin is our best shot so he’s got the sniper rifle. When we’re near the position he will take out the guards while the rest of us advance. When we’re next to the building Pvt. Ecco will blow us an entrance. That’s why he’s carrying the C-4 charges. Check for officers or anything looking like important documents or information. Ok people move out.
The Blackwolves begin to pick their way through rubble caused by the various artillery and air strikes that have hit the area over the last 2 days.
Menassah scans the rooftops with an eye trained through constant combat over these months while Bob Grey looks inside the windows of storefronts. The thousand yard stare is an infantrymen’s best weapon when fighting urban combat because the enemy has lots of cover. The sound of weapons fire in the distance never ends, it’s always there. Occasionally, the platoon hears the thud of an artillery shell as they pick their way closer to the objective.
“I wish the damm Brazilians would do us the favor of showing where they are BEFORE they ambush us” Matthew Tobin whispers to his partner 2000max as they turn a corner leading to the side streets the platoon needed to take.
“Yeah, why don’t you radio them to get on that 2000max, then you can tell them our name rank and serial number while your at is”.
At the end of their alley the platoon could see a corner building with smoke and rifle fire coming out of it. Before they could advance they hear a machine gun increase the fire from the building tenfold. The squawk of the Ellison radio at the same time the machine gun opened up had the power to spook even the battle hardened soldiers as they were expecting the machine gun to open up on them.
“S@%T Sir, can’t you keep that bastard thing on vibrate. I actually want to complete my bucket list and star in porn before I see my white light” Pvt. Nicolasbe breathlessly replies.
Ellison ignores the comment and answers the call. “This is Alpha 3, I have you over.”
“This is 1st platoon Skylancer and we’ve stirred up a hornets nest in the stock exchange building and the building directly in front of us. Our sniper has taken out the top floor and the roof but the bottom floors are holding out. We also have a wounded man who is being evacuated. Can you assist?”
Ellison thinks for a second before replying. “Copy 1st platoon, we can assist. Keep up the fire on the building while we take it from its back entrance. Then link up with us inside the Stock Exchange”.
“Copy 3rd Platoon. We will cover your entrance”. Over.”
Ellison motions back to his men and explains. “3rd squad will be assaulting the second building to assist 1st platoon. Follow this alley and assault from the loading docks in the back. When you’re finished clearing the building head to our rendezvous position opposite the Stock exchange and follow us in. Bring along 1st platoon if you can for extra firepower. Myself, and first squad will be assaulting the exchange building. Good luck men, I know you can handle it.

Assault two buildings at once with a third of their squad off playing “save our allies”. Nothing Blackwolves platoon couldn’t handle. 3rd squad leader Bob Grey leads his platoon down the alley towards the second building. The loading docks have only 2 guards as most of the Brazilians attention is focused on 1st platoon. Grey motions to Nicolasbe and Menassah to open fire. The guards went down before they even saw the glint of fire light out of the corner of their eyes. Even before they hit the flood Grey was jumping on the platform and throwing grenades into the first flood storage room. The fragmentation grenades that he threw are designed to explode after a self timed mechanism in the firing pin reaches the small explosive change embedded in the grenade. As the grenade hit the concrete floor it skidded for 3 seconds before exploding. The tiny metal shrapnel embedded inside the grenade plus its own metal covering shoot outwards in thousands of tiny needles that could rip strait though a human hand. Any poor soul standing near or around a fragmentation grenade would be shredded. How much is based on what direction the explosion inside the grenade fly’s out. In the case of the two Brazilian troops rushing towards the back entrance one grenade exploded directly in front of them while the second detonated a little to their left. Tiny shrapnel pieces sliced though their muscle tissue and cut major arties. In the case of the second Brazilian the shrapnel tore the ligament from his right knee severing most of his leg from it knee down.

Grey stepped over the two incapacitated soldiers before moving into the main hallways of the building. Like a well trained Broadway cast 3rd squad moved through the building, throwing grenades before entering a room to finish off any survivors. The sound of their fighting was partially covered up by the thunderous noise created by the machine gun as it prevented 1st platoon from advancing any closer. Nicolasbe reached the last room of the floor and it about to pull the pin on his last grenade but something stays his hand. Hesitation in battle could be deadly to a soldier. Nicolasbe was literally putting his squad’s life on the line by not tossing that grenade. Yet something, a sixth sense told him to check out the room first. As he turned the corner, rifle at the ready he sees a large room with about 15-20 women and children lined up sitting against the far wall. Half shocked at seeing the women Nicolasbe casually scans the room for any men hidden amongst them and gently backs out the room. All he could before leaving is put a finger to his mouth and whisper to them “SSShhhhhhhhhh”, before closing and locking the door behind him.
Upstairs, the machine gun is still firing blindly down the street, holding up (company name)s advance. While Grey checks the remaining rooms besides the gun room for any leftover soldiers, Menassah quietly walks into the room with the Brazilian machine gunner. The gunner who doesn’t take his eyes off the street below yells at him in Portuguese to get him some more……something, Menassah’s high school Spanish wasn’t going to translate for him. He however ends the conversation by slowly walking up to the gunner and presses his 45 sidearm to the guy’s temple. “Ok pancho, Step AWAY from the vehicle! Don’t make me go Cinqo De Mayo inside your forehead”.

At the exact same point in time that 3rd squad was advancing through the second building, Chavo Ellison was leading first squad down the alley that led to the eastern wall of the Stock Exchange building.
“Tobin”! barks their commanding officer. “Get your ass and that infinitely more valuable sniper rifle into the building apposite that wall. When I give you the call you take out the guards manning the roof while we hit the ones that are patrolling on ground level”
“Ecco, how much explosive do you have on you?”
Ecco puts his best sadistic grin on, “Better question is how much wall do you want left after I’m done chief”.
“Remember, collateral damage is a no go here. Give me just enough to blow an entrance in that wall, I don’t feel like going in the front entrance with those guards hanging out front.
Matthew Tobin quickly makes his way to the roof of the adjacent building. Slowly, he picks out his sniper rifle and sets his sighs on the guards on the far roof. Two guards on the roof, one with a radio the other with a sniper rifle. Radio goes down first Tobin thinks to himself, he’s more dangerous to the team as a whole. He deliberately sets his sighs on the first solider, obviously an officer from his rank insignia, and imagines himself pulling the trigger. Then he walks his sights to the Brazilian sniper and mentally takes him out as well. Tobin repeats his mentally killing both targets till he is certain his movements will be exact. He then radios his CO telling him that he has a green light.
“Ok Tobin take your shot”. Seconds later the “thuup” sound of a silenced rifle is heard, twice. At ground level the two (platoon nickname) begin assaulting the stock exchange. Ecco takes his dash across the open street while Ellison and 2000max covers him across the way. A Brazilian patrol comes around the corner only to run headlong into a burst of automatic rifle fire. Two enemy soldiers go down immediately while a third takes cover around a garbage dumpster. He yells at the top of his lungs for help but only for a few seconds. Another “Thuup” is heard by Ellison and the last member of the patrol is down. However, everyone and their cat Mr. Fluffernut knows there is trouble along the east wall. Ecco completes planting his explosive and runs back to Ellison’s position as 5 packs of C-4 tears a huge hole in the buildings facade.
“We’re going in Tobin” radio’s Ellison. “Cover out entrance point for as long as you can and contact the rest of the platoon to follow us in”.

Ellison stepped into the now dusty building, feet crunching on broken pieces of plaster and ….tile? As he looked around Ellison saw a dead Brazilian officers in a very compromising position for someone of his rank and position. He called back to his demolition expert “You busted strait though a bathroom Ecco, and caught a lieutenant taking a leak”.
“Son of a bitches die like Son of a bitches SIR” replied Ecco nonchalantly.
With the same carbon copy movement that 3rd squad had displayed in the adjacent building Ellison, 2000max and Ecco moved though the stock exchange room by room. After clearing the 2nd floor Ellison could already hear 3rd squad and 1st platoon enter the building from its front entrance, with all the subtlety that a shoulder mounted rocket launcher has. The boom echoed through the building but it did the nice job of scattering the remaining Brazilian defenders. On the 3rd floor Ellison and 2000max came to a half open room from which confused yelling was heard over the dim of paper being shredded. With a silent movement of his hands Ellison motioned that they should enter the room together. Ellison kicked in the door and pointed his rifle at the officer most likely the commander of the Brazilian regiment. Only one man went for what looked to be a weapon but he was cut down by 2000max before he could raise his arms.
“Any movement gentlemen and your commander will be dead. Now please line up against that wall so no one else has to die today”.
Thirty minuets went by and by and large the battle was considered over. Outside the rest of the platoon was mopping up the remaining Brazilian resistance and herded their prisoners back to the adjacent building for holding. Inside Ellison was radioing MI command that the building was taken and they have plenty of Brazilian officers to question, when he got a call from Tobin who he had positioned on the roof.
“You’d better get a look at this chief”, Tobin nervously recommended.
Once on the roof the commander was shocked to see the Brazilian military had put together a response this quickly. Hundreds of ground troops were marching towards their building being led by 2 Medium Brazilian tanks. Before Ellison even got a chance to evaluate the situation one of the tanks let loose a full high explosive round right into their building, that shook the Blackwolves it their core. Inside pieces of plaster fell from the ceiling and a large section of the northern face of the building was decorated with a massive hole and rubble. Not unexpectedly Ellison’s radio became dynamite is his hands from every possible source.
Hampton H. Hampton “What the hell was that commander? What is going down there I need information OVER”. NOW!
1st Platoon CO Skylancer “What’s going on Ellison, I’ve got enemy targets directly in front of me and they’ve got heavy backup. I need orders man, what’s our plan”
Bob Grey “Sir, Nicolasbe has been hit. That blast hit him and his leg is trapped under a pile of rubble. He needs help now SIR. What should we do?”
Tobin “Sir, we’ve got more incoming on the north east side of the building. They look like their going to flank us Sir. Orders?”
Hampton “Ellison answer. Repeat: Answer. What’s your status? Can you handle the situation”?
It was impossible to think strait; the radio was like on fire. And, after such a successful attack it looked like all their work was going to hell. Ellison needed to think. Yelling he answers his radio “I need a clear Channel OVER! Everyone Listen up, We are retreating to our former positions. We are going too need everyone to……”

“Fwwwoooooooshhhhhhhh…………..BOOOOOOOOOOM! !!

F@%*K YEAH!!! Screams platoon XO Triplzero over the now screaming radio. “Sir the Cavalry is kicking ass SIR!
Ellison, Tobin and 1st platoon’s sniper Zagadee look over the side of the rooftop. What was once one of the Brazilian tanks is now a charred flaming mess of twisted metal. Coming up from the eastern roadway was 2nd Squad, led by Triplzero and 7th platoon with their CO Lawliet who were both riding shotgun to a pair of South African MI-A Abrams Main Battle Tank.
“SAY Hello to my little friend” JorgeJorge97 screamed is his worst Al Pachino impression as he engaged the enemy using the tank’s 50 caliber mounted machine gun.
“If only you could shoot as well as you quote old movie lines Jorge then they would promote you to Field Marshal” quipped Dr. Jonapello as he fed JorgeJorge97’s machine gun clip after clip of 50 caliber rounds.
“They are going to promote me to God Walking Amongst Mortals once they get through counting all my confirmed kills” answered JorgeJorge97 to his long serving squad mate.
The convoy behind the tank disembarked from their hummers and trunks to join the battle. Even at first glance it looked to be an entire battalion of South African troops along with 2nd squad and all of 7th platoon. Fwwooosshhhhh…… BOOOOOOM!!! Seconds later the second Brazilian tank went up in flames just like the first.
With their tanks KIA and a much larger force of infantry to deal with the Brazilian force took to retreat. With northern Johannesburg secured there was nothing stopping EDEN’s forces from taking the capital of Pretoria for South Africa. After the fighting was over the same South African major went to congratulate Ellison for all the help his platoon had been and to give him a warning.
“You Americans have been wonderful for our country. We are now free and we cannot thank you enough. But I must warn you, not everyone thinks like me. There are officers who are not grateful for your help. Perhaps we will meet again. Perhaps not. I will help you if I see you again, but you and your fine military must be careful”.
Ellison had little time to think over the major’s words before he walked back into the mass of South African soldiers. Over the radio he hears Hampton H. Hampton. “Excellent work Blackwolves, your men are some of the best we have. Turn your positions over to the South Africans and head back. Something is brewing and we are going to need every soldier we’ve got”.
“Don’t worry SIR, that’s why we have the MI. We’re kick ass problem solvers SIR”.


Respectfully submitted
Hampton H. Hampton
Mobile Infantry Press Officer
Ajax Archimedes
Asst. Writer