When the cops arrived, it was the typical bar fight process. Eric was arrested and booked. The difference is that Eric is a soldier. Once in the jail, he waited to get picked up. Whenever someone in the Armed Forces is arrested, the unit bails them out. Not only will an Armed Service member her charged under the Criminal Court of law, but they will also get charged under the UCMJ/(Uniform Code of Military Justice). Eric was prepared for the ass chewing of his life, when suddenly the arresting officer came up to the cell and started to unlock it. He looked up at him. "Sir, are you Eric Dryer?" The officer says with an emotionless face. "yes sir, I am." The officer nods to him. "You're free to go. We reviewed the tape from the bar, and no charges will be brought against you. We have also informed your chain of command since it was a clear cut self defense case." Once free, Eric got in his car and drove home. He had had little to drink, so he was not wary about getting a DWI.
The next morning, Eric was woken up by a phone call. He scrambles out of bed, thinking he may have missed PT, but calms his heart, remembering it is a Saturday. "Ah, thank fuck." He says as he picks up the phone groggily. "hello?" he calls out. Before another word gets out of his mouth, he hears screaming. "YOU LITTLE FUCKING SHIT! I TOLD YOU TO RELAX AND GO HOME, BUT YOU GOT INTO A GODDAMN BAR FIGHT! YOU'RE LUCKY THAT THE CHARGES WERE DROPPED OTHERWISE I WOULD PUT YOU ON STAFF DUTY EVERY FUCKING WEEKEND. I BETTER NOT HEAR A GODDAMN PEEP ABOUT ANY FUNNY BUSINESS FROM YOU OTHERWISE THE SMOKING SESSIONS WE USED TO HAVE WHEN YOU WERE A PRIVATE WILL LOOK LIKE RECESS. ARE WE FUCKING CLEAR?!" The more that first sergeant screamed at him, the harder it was to not respond jokingly back for Eric. He simply said "Roger first Sergeant." There was a pause on the other line before First Sergeant Hammond hangs up. "Good. Stay that way." Once off the phone, Eric takes a piss before getting into his gym clothes. The faithful routine he had built up would never leave him. Women cheat, dogs die, and beer gets warm, but the gym will always be there. That was Eric's model, and he lived by it.
Today at the gym, Eric was going to do a simple routine. It consisted of thirty minutes on the treadmill, a 25-minute row, and to finish off, 10 minutes in the sauna. It was technically his rest day, but even on his rest days, he could not rest. When getting into the gym, he could tell something was terribly wrong. Everyone in the gym was looking at one TV. There, on the screen, was shown a horrifying scene coming from Iraq. "According to our preliminary reports, this attack was premeditated." The news reporter says as the camera pans to the background. Off in the distance, an American base in Iraq had flames and smoke coming out of it. As soon as Eric sees the scene, he gets a call. He doesn't even have to see the phone to know who it is. "I just saw the news, Top. Let me guess, we are leaving for Iraq early?"
The next month was hectic for Eric. In the aftermath of the attack on the American base, his unit geared up to leave two months early. There was a lot of pressure on the US military to respond to such an attack, and the rest of the world watched with bated breath as the countries in power prepared to watch the US use Iraqi soil as a playground. There had been one rule thus far in the last six years of the Iraqi conflict: "Don't fuck with the American bases." Well, these guys had just burned one to the ground. The insurgents had also killed 3500 American soldiers, with another 1000 civilian casualties. Needless to say, that this time, they had gone too far.
The day arrived that the units responding to the attack were geared up and ready. All the connexes were loaded, the AC130's prepped, and munitions were checked. It was time to make the Iraqi's pay.
Twenty-four hours later, the 6th CAB of the 7th Cavalry Brigade was on the ground. First contact was made between the soldiers and the Iraqi's, with the American soldiers destroying the Iraqi's lines of defense they had built. The battle had been over as quickly as it began, with American bombers demolishing any potential threats to the American soldiers. The tank battalions did their jobs too, clearing out any and all threat deterrents within the city.
After the battle was over, it was time for Eric and his soldiers to get to work. The intelligence assets in the brigade spread out, with drones scouting for potential high value targets, and signals intelligence searching for communications between enemy troops. Meanwhile, the Human Intelligence team was collecting data from the Iraqi soldiers through their best tactics.
Eric looks down at the scared young Iraqi in front of him. Eric had just shot the soldiers buddy in the head right in front of the young soldier. "Now, will you speak? You see, I have been quite irritated lately, these little punk ass kids decide to burn down an American base just to get a little attention.. Ill tell you now, little scum rat... Now, you have my attention. The only way for you to live is to tell me where your base is. If you don't, I will make the last fifteen minutes of your life hell."
At first, the Iraqi soldier seemed hesitant to answer, but as Eric dug his knife into the soldiers thigh, the soldier gave up. "The main headquarters are here, near Al' Shamar." The man cries out in crude english. When he finishes speaking, the guy passes out from exhaustion and bloodloss. The Iraqi soldiers were cruel and heartless, but Eric had learned some of those same skills. those skills helped greatly when it came time to squeeze information out of rats like this.