Looking down the alley, you see several Iraqi Insurgents run past and realize it's a "no go." The only other choice you have it the wall behind you, about eight feet high, so you jump up in one quick motion and grab the top, pulling yourself over. The instant you do, a hailstorm of bullets erupt around you, shattering the mortar. You manage to fall over the other side, but not before one of the bullets catches your heel. \n\n<html><IMG SRC="http://cdn.thedailybeast.com/content/dailybeast/articles/2014/01/07/the-al-qaedastan-threat/jcr:content/image.crop.800.500.jpg/1389091555960.cached.jpg"></html>\n\nYou grimace and hop for several yards on one foot, but the pain is excruciating. You notice you've left a trail of blood behind you from the wall. There is a telephone pole in the middle of the street and you fall upon it for support, sliding down to sit in the dirt. The boot around your foot looks like its been chewed off, and blood is spreading in a small pool.\n\nDown the street, the insurgents are criss-crossing the street to contain you. You have seconds to make a decision.\n\n[[There is no fight left in you. You surrender.|Surrender1]]\n\n[[You're not going down without a fight. You reload your last clip and wait.|Surrender2]]\n\n
"I'm willing to take any help I can get," you tell Dwayne.\n\n"Excellent. First things first." he says.\n\nThe ghost-like soldier smiles returns to your foot. He places his hands over the bullet hole, and when he removes them, the split in your skin is gone. "How's that? I think you'll be able to walk now."\n\nYou stand up, and your ankle feels great. Dwayne sees your confused look. He holds up a hand. \n\n"Don't ask. I'll tell you everything later. We have to get a move on, and we need to get you a weapon. A big one." Do you trust me?"\n\n[[After what you've just seen, you trust Dwayne completely.|M60a]]\n\n[[After what you've just seen, you think you're beginning to hallucinate. You just can't trust a ghost.|Denies1]]
<html><IMG SRC="http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af223/curl2006/PhantomCorps1_zps4a5e7b2c.jpg"></html>\n\nThe Iraq War\nDecember 28, 2004\nThe outskirts of Fallujah\n\nThe first things you remember before you regain consciousness are your rank and your name. “Private First Class, Terrell Ford.” \n\nBefore your body let's you move, you recollect your mission. “3rd Battalion, 6TH Marine. Top-secret intelligence operation to recover Iraqi plans for upcoming Easter offensive. Intel recovered. No casualties. Evac to Camp Baharia via armored Humvee.”\n\nDreamily, you recall a moment yelling to Lieutenant Flynt to avoid the dead goat alongside the road. He swerves, but too late. You hear the instantaneous blast of a thousand fireworks at once, and then nothing. \n\n<html><IMG SRC="http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af223/curl2006/LAND_M1114_HMMWV_IEDed_lg_zps2ac8888f.jpg"></html>\n\nMinutes later. The ringing in your ears is leaving. Your eyes are closed and you can hear yourself breathe over the sounds of crackling fire. The first smells you inhale consist of many things, all burning: rubber, oil, flesh. This kicks you back to life like some horrible smelling salt, and you open your eyes. \n\nYou've been lying on a road of dirt and sand, and there's blood around your nose and mouth. The Humvee you were riding in is now a collection of grotesque metal puzzle pieces, smoking and scattered on the street around you. What's left of its hull is a dark shadow inside a blazing fireball. Near you lies the side door you were blown out of. You are the only survivor, and your weapons and supplies are melting away inside the fire.\n\nWhen you sit up you see two dead Iraqi Insurgents on the side of the road. Behind you are the shouts and war cries of oncoming enemy forces, followed by short bursts of gunfire. Your heart starts to pound and you know you have to get out of there quickly, or risk becoming captured by an enemy known for decapitating prisoners of war. \n\n[[You get to your feet and run for find cover. | Dead end 1]]\n\n[[You search the area for weapons and supplies. | Search 1]]\n
You get up and walk over to Dwayne with purpose in your steps, and a stern look on your face. \n\n"Where the hell did you go?"\n\nDwayne replies, "Terrell, I'm sorry I had to bug out on you like that, man. The situation was too dire and we needed reinforcements. I got back as soon as I--"\n\nBefore he can finish, you grab Dwayne in a bear hug. When you finish thanking him, he takes you over to the other "ghost soldiers." \n\n"I believe I owe you a bit of an explanation," Dwayne says. "We are the Phantom Corps, a top-secret Special Forces unit assigned to aid soldiers in impossible combat situations. We're only sent out to the men who need more than a prayer. Your situation called for more than mortal men can handle, so I was assigned to assist you. When it got worse, I got more help."\n\nDwayne introduces you to the other Phantom Corps soldiers. He also says that when you die, your spirit will have to serve time in the corps, to help others the way you were helped. \n\nYou gladly agree, and they offer you a ride to Camp Baharia on the back of their Abrams tank.\n\n[[You accept the ride back to Camp Baharia.|Ending1]]\n\n[[You deny the ride.|Ending2]]
Dwayne looks you in the eye. "Hold on there, soldier. You can't just go running out into the street. One, we don't know where the enemy is hiding, and two there are land mines scattered around the street."\n\n"What do I do?" you ask.\n\n"Get down and belly crawl. Use your knife to look for check for land mines. Like this." Dwayne shows him how to probe the sandy road. Got it? Go."\n\nIt takes you five minutes to reach the body. Sure enough, you slice and poke the dirt around the dead soldier and find he is wired to a land mine. You pull a pair of snips out and gently cut the wire connecting it to the gun. Now, you grab the M-60 and shuffle backwards to Dwayne.\n\n"HOO-rah!" Dwayne yells. \n\n"Where to now?" you ask. \n\nDwayne looks behind you and his face goes slack. "Anywhere but here. There's a tank coming!" he says. "Follow me. There's an empty house up on the left!"\n\nYou crouch run to the abandoned house and close the door just as you hear the squelching wheels of the tank approaching. \n\n"This isn't good," Dwayne says, and suddenly to your horror, he fades away right in front of your eyes. You're left alone.\n\nThere's only one thing left to do, load up the [[M-60|Fire1]]. Now's the time to use it!\n\n
The tank shoots again and part of the roof crumbles. Dust and boards fall all around the place. Before they reload, you move to a window where you thought you saw a thinner spread of troops. You remove the rucksack with the plans and run to the front door. You crack it open enough to throw the rucksack outside, and then make your way back to the window, open it, and begin shooting. \n\nYou see several insurgents explode in vapor clouds and fall away. "The tank still hasn't fired, they must be going for the bag," you think as you climb out the window. \n\nYou fall beside the house and push forward towards the downed soldiers. Just as you reach them, they are suddenly replaced by a fresh group of men with snarls on their faces, and AK-47's in their hands. You open fire...\n\nand so do they. You're cut down charging the enemy.\n\n[[So much for escape plans. Shall you reload and try again?|Fire1]]\n\n[[You only get one life in a real war. Play again?|Start]]
You try to memorize everything you can about the plans. The most important thing you remember is the date of the planned Easter offensive, April 12th. At least you can warn the coalition of the impending danger. \n\nYou stuff the papers back inside the rucksack and slide it under the burning Humvee. In seconds it is consumed by flames. You hear it crackle and pop, but that could just be the bullets zipping around you. \n\nYou look for a way of escape. Down the road you see an [[alley|Damage 1]], and run for it. When you get there, you hurl yourself behind a garbage heap.
You give yourself a moment to catch your breath, and then make a break for the far end of the alleyway. You feel your best bet is to keep moving forward and south out of town, stay ahead of the insurgents with your superior training. You can hear the burps of automatic weapons fire, but don't dare look back. You zig-zag your way to dust covered station wagon and crough low behind it. You want to burst out, but something catches your attention. It's the sound of a rocket and you can tell it will be close! You peek...\n\nKA-BLAM!\n\nYou've just become fused to a 1989 Oldmobile Custom Cruiser. The RPG rocket that punched into it, burst the station wagon like a balloon, and you with it. \n\nAt least it was fast.\n\n[[Think about that move again?|Rucksack 2]]
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You tell yourself there's no such thing as ghosts, and realize you might be slipping into hysteria. You can't even remember the REAL way you got into this house. You pull a morphine capsule out from your med kit, and jam the tiny needle into your calf. The warm liquid spreads down to your ankle, relieving much of the pain.\n\n"I don't accept this," you say, shaking your head. You see the ghost soldier raise his hands at your surprise answer and start to disappear. His words becoming fainter, "Wait. Think about what you are doing..."\n\nYour only mission now is to get back to Camp Baharia and warn them of the coming invasion. You get up and head for the door. As you reach for the handle, you know something is about to happen. The hair on your neck raises, and you inhale as --\n\nThe entire front door is blown away, and you with it, from the blast of a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG). The Iraqis cheer as they know they have stopped the missing American. Their celebration continues as they parade your body through the streets.\n\n[[Return to an earlier checkpoint and try again?|wall]]\n\n[[You only get one chance in war. Restart?|Start]]
<html><IMG SRC="http://cryptome.org/info/ik37/pict58.jpg"></html>\n\nYou watch in horror as dozens of Iraqis move closer. You take out your pistol and load a new clip. If this is going to be your last battle, you are going out, guns blazing. You lay over on your side and take aim...\n\nSuddenly, you are grabbed from behind. Two rough fists close on the material over your shoulders and pulls you away from the oncoming soldiers. You try to turn and shoot at the man, thinking he's the enemy, then you hear his voice.\n\n"Take it easy, son. I'm here to help!"\n\nYou try but you can't see his face. He drags you into a building and sets you in the middle of the floor. You see him close the door and lock it, but there is something wrong with the way he looks. He's wearing desert fatigues, and is loaded down in full combat gear, but there is a soft glow around him and his skin is deathly white. \n\n"Who are you?" you say. \n\n"Dwayne," he says. "I'm with the Phantom Corps. I've been sent in to help. It's gonna be a tough one, but I think we can make it out of here alive."\n\n"What's wrong with you? Your skin? Am I seeing things?"\n\nDwayne kneels over you, looking at your foot. "I'll explain everything later. But I will say, there are things here that border on the supernatural. I can offer you my assistance, but I can't help you unless you accept it. What do you say?"\n\n[[You accept the ghost soldier's help.|Accept1]]\n\n[[You deny the ghost soldier's help.|Denies1]]\n\n\n
Your foot is killing you, and you start to have tunnel vision. You know you need a medic fast. The only hope you can think of is to give yourself up to the enemy, perhaps they will keep you alive until you can be rescued. \n\nYou throw your pistol out into the street and raise your hands up high. The Iraqi soldiers surround you, talking to each other and looking to one soldier in particular, an officer. To your horror he takes his thumb and runs it under his neck. There is no mercy shown your way. You try to stand, but the butt of a gun hits you in the temple. Lights out. \n\n[[Return to an earlier checkpoint and try again?|Damage 1]]\n\n[[You only get one chance in war. Restart?|Start]]\n
<html><IMG SRC="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44304000/jpg/_44304316_tankafp416.jpg"></html>\n\nThe tank stops in front of your building and the turret swivels to face you. A man pops a hatch in the top of it and starts calling for you surrender in english. You answer with a spray of armor piercing shells. The man in the turret drops like a mole back inside his mobile artillery piece, and the engine fires up. \n\nThe tank fires! A huge hole is blown through the house. \n\nThis scares the hell out of you, and you run through the house peeking out windows looking for an escape, but notice that Iraqi troops are positioned everywhere.\n\nYou move to the center of the house by a closet. This will give you a moment to think.\n\n[[Do you look for a weakness in the surrounding troops to try and punch through?|Weakness1]]\n\n[[You hatch a last ditch effort plan!|Plan1]]
Photo References:\n\nAdmin. (Photographer). (2012, September 23). Makarov pistol caliber 9 x18mm [Web Photo]. Retrieved May 31, 2014 from http://www.special-ops.org/makarov-pistol-caliber-9-x-18-mm/ \n\nAFP/Getty Images. (Photographer). (2010, August 22). Last American combat forces left Iraq last Thursday [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/aug/22/us-soldier-killed-attack-iraq \n\nAllmon , A. (Photographer). (2005, February 03). TallAfar.jpg [Web Photo]. Retrieved May 31, 2014 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TallAfar.jpg \n\nAP. (Photographer). (2014, January 17). Gunmen fighters [Web Photo]. Retrieved May 31, 2014 from http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/07/the-al-qaedastan-threat.html \n\nBaghdad alley [Web Photo]. Retrieved May 31, 2014 from http://stanouse.com/ImagesIraq/Baghdad_April_2003/FirstDay/images/015_BaghdadAlley_32_I_02_02.JPG \n\nBBC. (Photographer). (2014, January 06). Iraq Violence [Web Photo]. Retrieved May 31, 2014 from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-25620538 \n\nBBC. (Photographer). Iraqi tank [Web Photo]. Retrieved May 31, 2014 from http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44304000/jpg/_44304316_tankafp416.jpg \n\nCampbell. (Photographer). LR_IED_Close_Call.jpg [Web Photo]. Retrieved May 31, 2014 from http://media.defenceindustrydaily.com/images/LAND_M1114_HMMWV_IEDed_lg.jpg\n\nHanlon, M. (Photographer). (2005, May 02). Heavy Metal [Web Photo]. Retrieved May 31, 2014 from http://www.gizmag.com/go/4001/ \n\nM1 Abrams in Iraq [Web Photo]. Retrieved May 31, 2014 from http://armscontrols.com/tag/iraq/ \n\n(2004, April 12). Lt.Ahmed holding tight his M60 [Web Photo]. Retrieved May 31, 2014 from http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/American_Soldiers:_A_Day_in_Iraq \n\n(2005, February 19). Insurgents engage in street fighting [Web Photo]. Retrieved May 31, 2005 from http://cryptome.org/info/ik37/iraq-kill38.htm \n\n(2014, January 07). U.S. speeds up drone deliveries [Web Photo]. Retrieved May 31, 2014 from http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/07/u-s-speeds-up-drone-deliveries-to-help-iraq-battle-resurgence-of-al-qaeda/ \n\n[[Restart?|Start]]
The moment you move, gunshots ring out. You lose your bearings on the drone dodging the gunfire. You look for the drone and it is nowhere in sight, and that's when you see that your several yards away from your cover. You duck and dodge a swarm of bullets trying to relocate your flying savior. "I must find it!" you think, as you start to become dizzy from turning and looking. You feel the drone is your only hope, and you will do anything to find, and follow it. Suddenly, you find yourself out of the alley, standing on a new road. One that is heavily populated, and everyone is looking at you. The drone's buzzing stops. It is long gone. You snap out of your reverie in time to realize that your cover has dried up, and the Iraqi horde is closing in!\n\n[[Terrell is captured by an angry mob. Restart?|Start]]
You rack your brains trying to figure out what to do. Unexpectedly, you come up with an idea and flip the map over. You pull a Sharpie from your sleeve pocket and scribble on the back of the map. In large letters you write:\n\nPFC Terrell Ford\nSerial #384882645\n3rd Battalion, 6th Marine\n\nYou hold it as high as you can towards the drone, hoping your extended arms won't get you discovered. The drone makes a pass, but pauses, and swings back around. \n\nYou think for sure it's seen you, hoping they'll mobilize in minutes and come to rescue you. Unfortunately, you weren't the only one who saw the drone make its pass and you have to move.\n\n[[Terrell climbs over the alley wall.|wall]]\n\n[[Terrell makes his way to the far end of the alley.|alley]]
The Phantom Corps
You crouch low in the dusty alleyway, your back flat against the mortared stone wall behind you. You don't have the slightest clue where you are. Fear crawls up your neck, so you break for a heap of trash that provides better cover, and press up tight against it. You fish a map out of your pocket and unfold it, squinting and wiping dust out of your eyes as you try to read it. \n\n"Where the hell am I?" you say as you push the map flat against the ground. Your finger follows a route that looks familiar. Suddenly, a high pitched whine grabs your attention. You duck back to the garbage pile for cover, peeking around it. \n\n<html><IMG SRC="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Drone-in-Iraq-via-AFP.jpg"></html>\n\n"It's a U.S. Drone! Hell, yeah! I've got to let it know I'm here." You move around the garbage pile as the drone hovers some distance away, knowing you will have to give up your cover.\n\n[[Terrell makes a break for the drone heading out of his cover.|Drone2]]\n\n[[Terrell realizes that he will be spotted if he tries to go for the Drone.|Drone3]]
That last bullet almost grazed you, so you return fire. Pop! Pop! Pop! Immediately, the Insurgents scramble for cover. This allows you to grab the rucksack from under the metal fragment. You sling it over your shoulder and make haste down the street till you come to a corner and round it. Up ahead is an alley, and you make your way to it, running as fast as your heart will allow. You dive behind a dumpster near the middle. Hopefully, this has given you enough time to collect your thoughts and get your bearings. \n\n<html><IMG SRC="http://stanouse.com/ImagesIraq/Baghdad_April_2003/FirstDay/images/015_BaghdadAlley_32_I_02_02.JPG"></html>\n\n[[You rest for a few minutes, checking your body for unseen damage.|Damage 1]]\n\n[[You open the rucksack to find out what it contains.|Rucksack 3]]\n
You need to decide if the rucksack is important to keep with you, so you unlatch it and look inside. To your surprise, it's the top-secret plans of the forthcoming Easter offensive. You realize you have some vitally important information here. Do you:\n\n[[Place the plans back inside the rucksack and secure it to your back.|Back 1]]\n\n[[Decide it is best to destroy the intel, so the Iraqi's can't get it back in case you are captured.|Destroy Intel 1]]\n\n[[Bury the plans, so you can come back later and retrieve them with a fresh squad of soldiers.|Bury plans 1]]\n
That last bullet almost grazed you and you shudder. You realize you have a gun and some water, so it's best to escape with your life. You make haste down the street till you come to a corner and round it. Up ahead is an alley, and you move your way to it, running as fast as your heart will allow. You dive behind a dumpster near the middle. Hopefully, this has given you enough time to collect your thoughts and get your bearings.\n\n<html><IMG SRC="http://stanouse.com/ImagesIraq/Baghdad_April_2003/FirstDay/images/015_BaghdadAlley_32_I_02_02.JPG"></html>\n\n[[You rest for a few minutes, checking your body for unseen damage.|Damage 1]]\n\n[[You realize you have no time to waste and get a move on.|Move on 1]]\n
Looking around the road, you find a small crater and toss the rucksack into it. You pull off your helmet and begin to scoop sand and dirt into it until it is covered. Then, you drag the large Humvee door over it. "I can't be caught with these plans," you think. "I'll have to regroup and come back with for them later!"\n\nYou grab your helmet and start to run down the street. You find an alley between two buildings and dissappear down it, hiding behind piles of stacked garbage. For the moment, there is only one thing you can think of to do.\n\n[[You have to find out where you are?|Damage 1]]\n\n
<html><IMG SRC="http://images.gizmag.com/hero/4001_2050512400.jpg"></html>\n\nYou return to Camp Baharia on the back of an M-1 Abrams tank with the charred rucksack full of the intel. At debriefing, you remember the dates and routes of the oncoming Easter offensive, that were destroyed by fire. You ask your superiors for one more mission before you get some much needed sleep, and call for a team to recover your fellow marines at the Humvee. You say you want to lead it. It's comes as no surprise when they give the order. \n\nYou never see Dwayne and the Phantom Corps again in your lifetime. But, there is always the next.\n\nThe End.\n\n[[Credits]]\n\n[[Restart?|Start]]\n\n<html><IMG SRC="http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af223/curl2006/PhantomCorps1_zps4a5e7b2c.jpg"></html>
You refuse the ride back to Camp Baharia. Instead, you tell the members of Phantom Corps that you have one mission left to fulfill, recover your fellow marines at the Humvee site.\n\nYou hit the streets of Fallujah like Zeus throwing thunderbolts until you retrieve the men of 3rd Battalion. It is only then that you return to camp with the plans for the Easter offensive.\n\n<html><IMG SRC="http://armscontrols.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/m1-abrams-in-iraq.jpg"></html>\n\nSemper Fi!\n\nThe End.\n\n[[Credits]]\n\n[[Restart?|Start]]\n\n<html><IMG SRC="http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af223/curl2006/PhantomCorps1_zps4a5e7b2c.jpg"></html>
Searching for the best way to leave, you look down the opposite end of the alley. It opens out into another street, similar to the one you just left. Only this time, there doesn't look to be anyone trying to kill you there. You burst forth from the protection of the garbage heap and sprint for the opening. When you break free from the alley, you are met with the butt of a rifle in the stomach. You bend over and fall, but the momentum carries you forward causing you to roll. It doesn't take long before you hear the first rifle shot. Today, the Iraqi's take no prisoners. \n\n[[You are a casualty of war!|Start]]\n\n
You look down the street and see that the Iraqis are a couple blocks away, approaching cautiously, and realize this will give you some time to search the site. You pull yourself up, ignoring the ache in your head, and stumble towards the dead Insurgents. You ferret the bodies quickly. One of them has an AK-47, but its been bent, so you search the other. Tucked in his belt is a Soviet made, Makarov PM handgun, and his pockets turn up three cartridges. Around his neck is a canteen of water. \n\n<html><IMG SRC="http://www.special-ops.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/makarov-pm_2.jpg"></html>\n\nYou drink from the canteen like it was your first time in days, and then splash some water in your hair and on your face. Your body's energy levels perk. You check the clip of the gun and see it is full, just as a bullet whizzes by. This makes you jerk and something catches your eye you didn't notice before, a tan camouflage rucksack lying partially hidden under a piece of scrap. \n\n[[The Iraqi's are coming, but there's still time to grab the rucksack.|Rucksack 1]]\n\n[[There's no time! You have to get out of there.|Rucksack 2]]\n
You don't wait for Dwayne to get to you, and run to meet him, embracing him in a giant bear hug. You don't care how, or why, just that he came back and got you through this nightmare. \n\nDwayne introduces you to the other Phantom Corps soldiers. He also says that when you die, your spirit will have to serve time in the corps, to help others the way you were helped. \n\nYou gladly agree, and they offer you a ride to Camp Baharia on the back of their Abram tank.\n\n[[You accept the ride back to Camp Baharia.|Ending1]]\n\n[[You deny the ride.|Ending2]]
"What are you doing? Get down!" Dwayne says, just as a volley of shots hiss by. One of the passing shells tears into your arm. You fall, but still struggle forward towards the dead soldier's body. \n\nIn seconds, you reach it and pull at the M-60 locked in the man's death grip. There is a click, and a monstrous explosion! Your body rises 30 feet in the air, but you're gone before you hit the ground. \n\n[[Return to an earlier checkpoint and try again?|Surrender1]]\n\n[[You only get one chance in war. Restart?|Start]]
These plans have to get back to Camp Baharia, at any cost! But where the hell are you? You fish a map out of your pocket and unfold it, squinting and wiping dust out of your eyes as you try to read it. You push the map flat against the ground. You study the map, sliding a finger along a route that looks familiar. Then, you find it. Camp Baharia is three miles away. Out of nowhere, a barrage of bullets strike the wall in front of you. You sling the rucksack over your shoulders, and check your pistol. It's half full. You look down the far end of the [[alley]], then up at how high the [[wall]] is.
It doesn't take a genius to know a hopeless situation. You sigh and recognize that a latch ditch effort is in order, and decide they are not going to take you alive, or get the plans. You light the rucksack on fire. You wait until it is nearly consumed, then throw it out one of the holes left by the tank. You can hear the Iraqi's shouting, and brace for the worst. \n\nSlowly you slide the M-60 muzzle out the blast hole. You can see the tank commander out of his perch again, and sight him up perfectly. You inhale and squeeze the trigger. click. click. click. click. Nothing. You are out of bullets. \n\n<html><IMG SRC="http://www.imfdb.org/images/thumb/8/8c/As_m60.jpg/600px-As_m60.jpg"></html>\n\nIt's over. You drop the M-60 and hold up your hands, stepping out onto the front lawn. Two soldiers race up to you and drag you forward. You see the tank commander laughing and dusting his hands together. Then, you see him take his thumb and run it across his throat. \n\nYou struggle to get away, but they push you down on to your knees. One of the men procures a sword and approaches you. Sweat is dripping from your forehead, and you grab your swinging dog tags with your teeth. You close your eyes just as you see the sword raised high. \n\nAll of a sudden, there is a huge explosion. The Tank Commander and his tank explode in a huge fireball. The men beside you are blasted off their feet. This is followed by fierce machine gun fire. The heat from the burning tank is intense, but you look anyway. \n\n<html><IMG SRC="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/TallAfar.jpg/640px-TallAfar.jpg"></html>\n\nAnother tank is approaching, led by a small force of soldiers, deathly white and semi-transparent. Out in front of them is Dwayne, chasing away the enemy with his M-16.\n\nBRATATAT! BRATATAT! BRATATATATAT!\n\nThe combat is over in seconds. You see Dwayne making his way towards you.\n\n[[You angrily approach Dwayne.|Mad1]]\n\n[[You walk up to Dwayne, fists clenched, and...|Celebrate1]]
You reach out a hand and shake Dwayne's. It is ice cold and feels damp. You ask him what kind of weapon he is talking about, and he tells you there is an M-60 an an Iraqi sentry down the street. You wonder how he knows this, but keep the question to yourself. A smile crosses your face for the first time all day.\n\n<html><IMG SRC="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/8/19/1282227857179/Two-soldiers-with-4th-Str-006.jpg"></html>\n\nDwayne leads you outside and out into the street. You take the insurgents by surprise at first, but the bullets start to fall. You keep your head down, following close, and move from cover to cover. You move smoothly, marveling at your newly healed foot. \n\nYou spot the M-60 machine gun, but the sentry using it has been killed, his arms hugging the weapon. You rush out to grab the gun, but suddenly, Dwayne shoots an arm out to catch you.\n\n[[You rush past Dwayn's arm in to the street.|Rush1]]\n\n[[You ask Dwayne why he is being so cautious?|Cautious1]]
David Curl
Your hands start to shake when you realize the situation. You pull yourself to your feet, ignoring the ache in your head, and shamble away from the wreck. You make it fifty yards before gunfire starts to zip past you, kicking up puffs of dust on the road ahead. \n\nThere's a store to your left with a man in robes standing in the doorway, and you make for it. When the man sees you, he puts his hands up to halt you and shakes his head, speaking loudly in Arabic. You're too weak and can't push past him. He shoves you back out in the street, just in time for a bullet to punch into your hip.\n\nYou wince and fall on your back, staring up at the blistering Arab sun. In moments, an Iraqi patrol is on you. They kick and beat at you until you there is no more fight. The last thing you remember before blacking out is your boots being pulled off. \n\n<html><IMG SRC="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/72092000/jpg/_72092546_72092545.jpg"></html> \n\n[[The war has come to an end for you.|Start]]