All In (Closed)

[LT Sandpaw]

Roaring of the engines and the sound of dirt crunching beneath tires drowned out most other noise. The Humvee shook and shuddered on its suspension as it drove forward rattling the passengers to no end. It was hardly better than the rough airplane flight, but definitely better than the rocking of that accursed ship. Of course Francis was only slightly bothered by the movement, it was the noise that was killing him.

Finding that his Iphone's music wasn't nearly loud enough to drown out the noise he turned the phone off and looked around at the rest of the Humvee's occupants. There was three others two of which looked like army pilots, the other was his friend and team member Gryphon McCauley.

"Hey McCauley," The ocelot shouted over the engine. His voice had a distinct Southern accent. "You still got th' earbuds to this thing, I want them back."

[Hickory]

Gryphon yanked the earbuds off his head and threw them to Francis. He was staring out the window absentmindedly.  "Haven't been to this base in years."

[LT Sandpaw]

The ocelot laughed at his companions gruff attitude easily catching the headset. "I ain't never been to this base before, hell, I ain't ever been to Africa before." He turned to look at the two Army pilots. "What about you two, ever been out here?"

One of the two pilots, a mouse, shook his head, as they were officers they expected a certain level of respect, even from Green Berets. Still they were butterbar Lieutenants who had never seen action, and just one look at the easy going ocelot and tough lynx said everything. They were battle hardened veterans.

[Hickory]

Gryphon noticed them staring. "Got sum'n to say, mates?"

[LT Sandpaw]

One of the pilots blinked in surprise, before glancing at the lynx's rank. "Shouldn't you be calling me sir, sergeant?" He asked staring hard trying to appear tough. The ocelot let out another laugh then pulling out his knife he offered it to the confused pilot.

"Oh that's a good'un hoss, here let me tell you something. You ain't earned the right to be called sir until you've painted that there flag on your chest red with your own blood." Francis leaned forward and tapped the flag patch on the officer's chest. For a moment the officer looked bewildered then his eyes widened when he realized what Francis wanted him to do. He passed the knife back.

"You made your point, I can see where I am beat." The officer turned back to Gryphon nodding. "I'm just impressed by your obvious capability... Mate."

[Hickory]

The lynx shruged. "You salute the man, not the rank. Sir." His eyes twinkled as he grinned at Francis before turning back to the pilot. "Let me ask, how many enemies have you killed?"

[LT Sandpaw]

The officer, who was a chipmunk shook his head good naturally and held out his paw to shake that of Gryphon. "Well I don't have much of a combat record yet. But if you count all the simulator kills I got, several hundred. Of course my death ratio is higher on the simulator too." He shook his head biting his lip. "As for actual C.Ks none, but I'm hoping to change that soon, I'm a insertion and evacuation gunner."

Francis eyes lit up clearly interested. "Are you now, well now we know who will be coming to save our tails when we get into trouble huh."

[Hickory]

Gryphon sat back in his seat. "Heh. Because no matter how hard we try, we always get in trouble."

[LT Sandpaw]

The ocelot prodded Gryphon a cheeky smile on his face. "I think that's always your fault Mr. Eager trigger claw." From the front the driver yelled out, telling his passengers that they were two miles out.

[Hickory]

Gryphon grinned. "At least I'm a good shot, unlike you."

[LT Sandpaw]

"Oh is that how its going to be?" Francis returned the grin before sitting back and crossing his arms. "I find a well placed grenade does a lot better then any number of sniper rounds. So at least I can throw, unlike you." The pilots watched the back and forth commentary from the two veterans wondering how two such different creatures could be friends.

[Hickory]

The lynx raised an eyebrow. "At least with a rifle you can't kill yourself."

[LT Sandpaw]

Francis spread his paws wide indicating his very evident liveliness. "Well they haven't killed me yet." He turned to the mouse pilot winking. "What do you think is better, a rifle or a grenade?"

[Hickory]

"Lay off, he's never used one against an actual enemy."
The lynx crossed his arms. "Now shut up, we're almost to base."

[LT Sandpaw]

Sure enough the Humvee halted and the occupants could hear the sound of a gate being opened. After a few more moments the Humvee started up again. Francis grinned and pulled on his backpack and picked up his rifle from where he had positioned it between his knees.

"Looks like were here yall." The Humvee parked and Francis leapt out first, the jungle cat stretched in the bright African sunlight enjoying the warmth. He looked around and was surprised by the size of of the base, or lack thereof. It was tiny, barely a few acres across. There was an occasional watch tower and six small buildings which Francis guessed were barracks. A few soldiers patrolled around the parked Humvees and helicopters.

"Not bad, looks more like a outpost then a base but I could dig this." The ocelot commented to Gryphon his initial inspection complete.