Place: Camp Babylon, Iraq
Time: 0030 (1230 am for those non-military types) 25 September 2003
We fade in to the TACSAT sleep tent, where our unsuspecting victims are lying in cots preparing for another nighst sleep. The usual conversation is taking place about nothing in particular. All seems good and pure in the world.
SGT Hanley is about to ask about why the light is still on in the tent. "Hey, why is the light still on in the tent?" are the final words uttered as the battle for survival commences. From directly overhead, not unlike the Kamikaze attack on Pearl Harbor, the Camel Spider mounted the initial assult. In situations such as these the best of a man is usually brought to the surface. Instead, SGT Hanley leaped out of his bed, still in his sleeping bag and uttered the only warning in a language not fit for this publication. Unaware of the eminent danger of life and limb, SPC Lopez and SPC Breckenridge mistook the simple warning as a comment about the operation of a 15kw generator. With much pointing , yelling and running for the other side of the tent, SGT Hanley's warning finally made it through. Sound the alarm, everyone in the foxholes, we are under attack, this is not a drill...
Tommorrow, the story continues with...
The Battle is Joined (AKA The TACSAT Counteroffensive)
As Breckenridge and Hanley maneuvered on the spiders flank (got the hell out of its way), SPC Lopez, whith courage only seen on the beaches of Normandy, presses the attack back to the spider. Moving forward, he arms himself with the first weapon within reach, a flyswatter. As his counterattack began, he realized that the camel spider would only laugh in jest at a flyswatter assult. As Lopez moves forward, the spider again gained the upper hand, by climbing up the reoof of the tent, pressing his attack from an angle that would allow an airborne drop. Breckenridge then moved into a blocking position to attempt to bat the spider form it's new position on the roof. Seeing that his attack was blocked on 2 sides, the spider committed a tactical retreat back down the edge of the wall in the tent. This momentary gaining of ground was all Lopez needed. Re-amred with more specialized weaponry (a glove and a set of pliers), Lopez presses the attack to the invader, knocking him off the high ground and on to the floor. But, the spider's superior reflexes took Lopez by suprise, causing him to roll left onto Breckenridge's bed. This is where the spider attemped a hasty retreat, and Lopez unleashed his fury in a single, irevocable moment. As the spider is making a break for the door, Lopez grasps the ultimate weapon of destruction and raises it over his head in a final act of defiance. Once, twice, and finally a third time Breckenridge's boot came down on the spider, with Lopez shouting "DIE, DIE, DIE!!!" at the top of his lungs. As quickly as the battle began, it ended. All was calm in the TACSAT tent once again, leaving america's favorite sons stunned, struggling to pick up the pieces of their now shattered lives.