Emily and her team took an armored truck to the east side of the city where the Marines had set up checkpoints along the road leading into the city. At three thirty, Emily and her seven-person team made their way into the city keeping to the back alleyways. Emily led the way following the route she had memorized the night before. It took nearly fifteen minutes to get to the tall building that the snipers wanted to use as a nest.

Emily waited until the group was ready before she ran to the back door and with an open palm strick struck the doorknob sending the doorknob crashed into the building. Emily jerked the door open and rushed inside. Looked around her rifle at the ready she entered a hallway. There were some stairs that were immediately to her right that led to the second floor. Further down the hallway was four more doors and a final door the led to the front of the building.

Emily used the stairs as cover as she waited for the others to enter the building and line up on the right side. Two Marines took over her position. One of the Marines pointed his rifle pointed upwards towards the stairs and the other Marine covered the hallway his rifle pointed at the front door. Emily jogged past the line of marines waiting on her to breach the first door.

She paused at the door waiting on the signal to breach the door. She felt a tap on her shoulder and ht the doorknob lightly with her open palm sending the doorknob crashing inwards. She charged in using her shoulder to crash the door open. Emily swept the apartment her rifle sweeping side to side looking for anyone inside. They had entered a tiny living room that had a small sofa and a really old TV. Emily continued on past an archway and into a hallway. To her right was a kitchen. Emily didn't enter the kitchen but continued on down the hallway. She did slow down as a two Marines entered the room and did a quick search before calling out that it was clear.

Just past the kitchen was three doors. Emily waited while her team got ready to breach the door to the left. She kicked the door in when she felt a pat on her left shoulder. She had a brief flash of the room before she spun out of the away and two marines charged in. The room was someone's bedroom with a small twin mattress on the floor some draws leaning up against the wall. She waited her rifle pointed towards the other room until they called clear. She set up as she did before and after getting the signal she kicked that door in as well.

One by one she helped clear the rooms on the first floor before the team headed up to the stairs. They cleared each room on the second and third floors before heading up to the roof. The building was empty. The roof had a small wall about three feet tall all around the outer edges. The SK team immediately started to pull out the cannon parts from their rucksack. One of the snipers had stolen a table from one of the apartments they had broken into and set it up a few feet away from the front wall. He climbed on top of it and throwing a mesh canopy over himself and his rifle as he settled down. The second sniper lined another canopy making a tent-like structure on the left hand of the table. He pulled two snipers riles out and a pair of binoculars and placed both rifles under the table.

The SK team had completed the assembly of SK cannon and lined up four rounds just behind and to the left of the cannon. The cannon was a breech-loading cannon that was five feet long and had a muzzle that was about six inches wide in diameter. The rounds were about a foot long and had red markings at the base of the round. They threw a canopy over the cannon and settled down on either side of the roof. Emily sat down in front of the roof door and took up the guard position.

“Green-Shell Actual, Green-Shell Forty.” Emily heard the lead sniper say over the radio.

“Go ahead Green-Shell Forty.” Came the reply.

“In position.” The lead sniper said from under his cover over the radio.

“Rodger Green-Shell Forty is in position.” Command acknowledged. Green-Shell Forty was the call sign for the whole team with each team member given a number in the forties with the lead sniper starting as Green-Shell Forty-One. Emily was Green-Shell Forty-seven since she was the lowest ranking member in the seven-man team.

Emily was bored silly and annoyed when the sun rose in front of her shinning into her eyes. She listened in as the Marines started to clear the city. The radio crackled with radio traffic from the company she was attached to as they began to clear the building in their area. Two hours into the operation Emily heard a loud explosion off in the distance the sounds of automatic gunfire. The radio remained calm with no one reporting being attacked.

“It must be the other side of the city.” Emily thought to herself as the gunfire intensified then slowly fell silent.

Throughout the day there were sudden sporadic eruptions of explosions and gunfire. Emily 's side of the city was mostly quiet with only two IED incidents. There were no casualties on Emily side of the city. The snipers were quiet and as the sun set, they had found no targets. Command called a recall as the sun was setting and the SK team went to work disassembling their cannon and packing it away. Once they were done the Snipers rolled off the table they had been laying on and packed their stuff away. Emily led the team back toward friendly lines.

Emily's team retreated completely out of the city to a small camp set up just outside the city. They were directed towards a food line where they got some food. Dinner was an MRE with a cookie and a juice box. Emily ate her dinner and went to bed.

In the middle of the night, Emily woke to the sounds of gunfire and explosions. She grabbed her weapons and threw on her boots and rushed outside. The gunfire was coming from the front lines and there were explosions all around her.

“Mortars take cover.” One of her bunkmates from her tent yelled.

Emily ignored her and rushed to the front lines. As she got close she heard the incredibly loud noise of a tank firing its main gun. “Dammit forgot my hearing protection and my radio.” Emily thought to herself as she rushed over to one of the barriers on the side of the street away from the tank. She found a spot between two Marines and started to fire. At the far end of the street maybe fifty feet away was a large pickup truck that was on fire and mostly demolished. There were several bodies around it.

“That must have been what the tank was firing at.” Emily thought to herself as she fired into the buildings around the burning pickup truck.

After a while, the mortars stopped falling and someone called a cease-fire. Emily was surprised to learn that she only fired two clips of ammo. She could have sworn that she fired a lot more than that. She stayed on the line for another hour before a Captain ordered back to bed. It was one in the morning. Emily made a quick detour to get some ammo then headed back to her tent. She was woken up two hours later. It was time to go back into the city.

It took them longer to find a new nest because the snipers wanted to avoid any chance that they would come into contact with the OCS. Their new nest was a two-story school. It seems like it took forever to clear the school. Worse it had two access points. Unlike the last nest, the school's roof did not have any walls so they all had to be undercover. So Emily was laying under a canopy facing the door under the hot summer sun when the lead sniper called in that they were in position.

Emily was really glad that her power didn't let her get too hot because the SK team were constantly complaining. “At least they doing it quietly.” Emily thought to herself as she checked her watch. It was only seven in the morning. “It's going to get a lot worse.”

“Green-Shell Actual, Green-Shell forty.” The lead sniper suddenly said on the radio.

“Go ahead Green-Shell forty.” Came the reply.

“We have a tango on the roof of the fifth building from the northwest point of my position. He is laying on the roof with what looks to be a cell phone. Possible detonator to IED.” The sniper said over the radio.

“Stand by Green-Shell Forty,” Command told him. Emily desperately wanted to turn around to look but that was not her job. Her job was to make sure no one snuck up behind them. After what seemed like forever Command came back. “You're clear to fire Green-Shell Forty.”

A few seconds later there came a loud crack. “Green-Shell Actual, Green-Shell Forty tango down.” The lead sniper said with a calm soft tone voice.

The City was a lot more violent today than it was yesterday. There were a lot of explosions and long periods of gunfire on the west end of the city. “They're attacking one of the police stations today.” The leader of the SK team said in a quiet voice. “This must be it” The sounds of fighting lasted for twenty minutes before it slowly died away.

Emily was looking at the clouds above the door she was guarding daydreaming when there was a loud explosion that sounded really close. “Green-Shell Actual, Green-Shell OneTwenty we have contact. IDE in the building. One KIA. Two wounded need medicavac. Coordinates as follows.” A frantic voice sounded on the radio.

“Copy Green-Shell One-Twenty Medicavac Humvees in route to your position. Do you need bomb disposal?” Command asked them.

“Yes. We just popped the front door. The rest of the building is not secure.” Green-Shell One-Twenty said over the radio.

“Dammit.” One of the SK team said sounding really mad.

“We have a job here people stay focused on it. We can't do anything for them right now but what we are doing right here and right now. Keep your head on a swivel and eyes open.” The lead sniper said quietly over the talk- around channel on their radios. The talk-a-round channel was a squad frequency that command did not monitor. The team was quiet for a long time afterward.

They were recalled as the sun was setting. Emily led the team back towards the front lines. Her MRE was a vegan MRE and tasted horrible. She grabbed a few sports drinks and some cookies for later before she headed back to her tent to get some sleep.

She was awakened again in the middle of the night to the sound of incoming mortars. She grabbed her gun but there was no one to shoot at. The shells fell randomly around the camp. She stayed by the opening of her tent with the other women taking cover by some sandbags.

One of the women from Emily's tent cursed as a mortar dropped close by raining them in the dirt and hot sand. “Where's our air cover. They should be raining some hell on them by now.” The lady said looking over the sandbags towards the city. No one answered her as the mortars continued to fall.

It seems like the Mortars fell forever but really it was only ten minutes or so. “Back to bed.” One of Emily's bunkmates said after a few minutes of no more explosions. “We have a job to do in the morning.” Emily followed her fellow bunk mates back into the tent. She curled up in her bunk but it was a while before she was able to fall asleep.

In the early hours of the morning, Emily led the team deeper into the city to some four-story building that was the home office of a bank. After clearing the building they settled down to wait for the day to begin. Around six in the morning, the dawn was disturbed by the CRACK CRACK of automatic gunfire from the western side of the city.

“They’re starting early.” One of the SK crew said quietly. No one responded. Emily could see black smoke drifting up into the sky behind the door she was guarding.

“The blacker the smoke the hotter the fire.” One of the SK crewmembers remarked. Two hours later Emily was listening in on a conversation between two of the SK crew as one explained how to make homemade beer when the radio traffic picked up with a frantic voice on the line.

Green-Shell Actual, Green-Shell Ninety multiple contacts we are pinned down. Requesting Exo’s to my locations.” A man's voice said on the radio. Emily could hear a lot of gunfire in the background.

“Green-Shell Ninety, Exo’s in route to your location.” Came the reply.

“Where is Ninety’s location?” The Lead SK gunner asked.

“South of the city by the water.” The Lead sniper replied. “It's in Thirty’s area.”

“Can you see anything?” The Gunner asked.

“Nah too far south.” The second sniper replied. The SK gunner cursed and settled back down beside his cannon.

They listened as the fighting intensified until there was a loud high pitch whine sound of a Gatling gun firing. “The Exo’s are on the scene.” One of the SK crew members said unnecessarily. The gunfight ended with the Gatling gun powering down.

Several times during the day the Exo’s were called in as gunfights erupted as the marines tried to clear buildings. Emily was playing with a big brown and she had trapped with a circle drawn from a black marker. The ant kept on trying to escape but would not cross the black line. She was watching it go right up to the line then back away when gunfire erupted very close to there location.

“That’s us.” One of the SK gunners said crawling over to his cannon.

“Left side of the building second window on the second floor.” The second sniper said calmly.

“Yea I got it.” The first sniper said then fired. Emily really wanted to run down the stairs and help out but her orders were to keep hidden until a Main type super showed up.

“Hit.” The second sniper said just as there was a really loud whine of a Gatling gun powering up. Emily listened as more than one Gatling guns opened fire. Even though the Army told her that her power was strong enough to not be hurt by most Gatling guns she still did not want to be hit by one.

“Wow!” One of the gunners said looking over the side of the roof.

“Get back under cover.” The second sniper snapped angrily. The gunner sheepishly crawled back and away from the edge.

“Man you should see what four Exo’s can do to a building.” The gunner whispered to his crewmates. Emily cursed. She really wanted to see an Exo in action. It was one of the reasons she joined the Army. Exo’s were cool.

There were almost constant firefights on the west side of the city as the afternoon wore on. They broke out here and there on Emily’s side of the city but nowhere as heavy as the west side of the city. As the sun set the Marine company was recalled and soon after Emily's team was recalled as well. Emily paused just outside of the building to look at what the Exo’s had wrought.

The building was a two-story brick office building. It was covered in holes the size of Emily’s fist. Part of the window had been destroyed and caved inwards. The front door had been chewed around the edges making it wider. There was no sign of the door.

“Spot lollygagging Never. I would really like to get back before someone shoots us.” The Lead Sniper said breaking Emily out of her amazement. Emily nodded and with a last look at the Swiss Cheese looking building she led her team back towards friendly lines. Emily followed her routine once she got back to camp she got dinner and cleaning up before going to bed.

The mortar rounds started to fall around one in the morning waking Emily up. Cursing the OCS Emily grabbed her weapons and headed out of the tent. She followed her tent mates to the sandbag wall to take cover. Emily was counting the rounds and when she got to twelve she heard the sound of a helicopter. Standing up she looked to the north where the sound was coming from.

“Is that a helicopter?” Asked one of her tent mates. She was standing up beside Emily.

Emily opened her mouth to answer when she saw two flashes of light followed by a really loud explosion that shook the very ground. From the city, two fireballs exploded shooting up into the sky. Cursing Emily turned towards the girl beside her and pushed her down. Emily covered the girl's body with hers as there were seven more earth-shattering explosions. After a few more minutes there was no more explosions and no more sounds of a helicopter Emily risked standing up again looking towards the city.

“Hell yea. Burn you bastard! Rebel country! Woohoo!” The girl beside Emily said jumping up startling Emily.

“What the hell does Rebel country mean?” Emily wondered as the girl continued to jump up and down cheering. “Wow, Marines are crazy!”

An hour and a half later Emily was woken up again to head into the city. The new nest was a two-story house that sat on a small hill. The house was furnished with some really expensive furniture including a really thick red and blue rug that sat on the roof.

“Air conditioning is almost nonexistent here so many people sleep on their roofs.” One of the Snipers said as he was setting up.

The first explosion to rock the city hit around quarter to five in the morning. There was no roof access point for Emily to guard. They had used a second story window and climbed up to the roof so she was able to look around and see the smoke rise up from the western end of the city. By eight am the Exo’s had been called twice on Emily’s side of the city.

“This is going to be a busy day.” One of the gunners remarked.

“I heard there is a large presence of foreign fights in the city. Suicide troops from Africa. They snuck in just before the mosques rose up and decided to go crazy.” The quietest of the gunners said peeking over the side of the roof. That started an hour-long discussion about how good the foreign were and so on.

Gunfire erupted suddenly to the right not far from where the nest was. Emily peeked over the side of the roof but a couldn’t see where it was coming from. “Anyone have eyes on?” Asked one of the snipers.

“It's coming from behind those brown houses.” One of the gunners said pointing to a bunch of row houses connected together.

“Green-Shell Actual, Green-Shell One One zero request Exo’s at my location.”

The lead Gunner cursed and then sat down with his back to the wall. “Well, there goes that. The Exo’s will take care of it.”

Command clear it and after about a minute they heard the tell-tale sounds of Gatling guns powering up. Emily moved around the roof trying to see over the brown houses. She really wanted to see the EXO’s in action but was unable to see over the houses. She was tempted to stand up to see if she could see over the house but she didn’t want to give their location away. She laid down with a sigh. “At this rate, I’ll never see an Exo in action.”

“Green-Shell Actual they getting torn up. Dammit, she’s killing them. Jesus! You need to send someone right now. She killing them!” A frantic voice said over the radio.

“Please Identify yourself!” Command responding sounding pissed.

“Ah, Green-Shell One One Four. Captain Horn is dead. Look there is this female superhero killing the Exo’s. They keep shooting her but she got this stick and she keeps stabbing them. Please God hurry.” The man on the radio said.