By the time we got to Yuri's squad, they had two bodies lying in their own pool of blood.

His squad was in a bad position: in the open, surrounded by three balconies each with an enemy fireteam blasting down on them. It's as if 1-2 walked straight into an ambush.

"Suppressive fire, now!" McCord yelled.

We all fired at the same time as pushed towards Yuri's position. I focused my fire on the balcony directly in front of the 2nd squad, putting a dozen rounds into the three PRF riflemen there, killing two and forcing one to seek cover. The  fireteam from 2nd Platoon did the same as they shot the shit out of the PRF soldiers on the upper left balcony. Yuri and his squad made sure that the last balcony was pinned down.

Jackson hit the ground before setting up a bipod. Then his SAW screamed into the air, "Get some!" He yelled.

"Center balcony, focus fire," McCord said.

I emptied my magazine, putting whatever I had into the PRF positions. My suppressive fire was joined by my squadmates.

Suddenly, an explosion erupted at the right balcony, sending several PRF soldiers falling to their deaths. One of Yuri's grenadiers reloaded his grenade launcher, and did the same to the center balcony.

By the time the dust cleared, all we could hear was the screams of the wounded.

Then the gunfire started again.

Yuri yelled to us, "Contact front! Kill em!"

"We're coming to you, sergeant!" McCord yelled, "Anderson, cover fire."

"You got it," Anderson replied, before ordering his fireteam to open fire at what looked like an enemy squad approaching from the opposite direction.

We quickly made our way to relive Yuri's squad,which at this point had 2 KIA. I found cover behind a concrete pillar while the rest took shelter behind whatever that could stop bullets.

A squad of hostiles formed ahead, charging at us. But one of the enemy riflemen stopped, raised his rifle and fired into Yuri's squad.

That's when another two members of 2-1 went down.

"Man down!" Someone in Yuri's squad yelled.

My heart boiled knowing that someone just shot dead our guys.

You'll die for that.

I shouldered my rifle, eye on the red dot.

Before he could shift his aim, I had the reticle lined up to his chest.

Then I put four rounds into him.

Two rounds maimed him and two more made sure he stayed down.

More enemy infantry poured in to reinforce their brethren. We replied, with more bullets downrange and  added little mix of 40mm grenades.

I picked off a few more enemies before needing to reload. Once I had fresh rounds in the chamber, I immediately rengaged the targets, dropping another two more.

Jackson and Anderson pushed up together, joining the firing line. They both set up their SAWs on the ground, and fired away. Both men laughed as hundreds of rounds flew into the enemy ranks.

"Push up!" Yuri yelled to his men.

Together, the men of 2-1 rose from their defilades, and advanced in on the enemy. Relying on our cover fire, they moved quickly, killing any PRF soldier that stood in their way.

One of the enemy soldiers behind a metal bench took several shots at me. Some missed and some hit way too close to my body. I withdrew behind cover. Thank god the pillar wasn't made of wood.

I exchanged looks with Amber, who knew what's up. I motioned by head toward the enemies' direction.

She closed one.

I readied myself.

She closed the second finger.

I anchored my rifle to my shoulder.

The moment her index finger curled, Amber rose up and opened fire.

"BOUNDING!" I yelled.

The covering fire was effective. It kept that guy's head down.

When I reached the bench I leaped onto the seat, weapon raised.

It was as if I caught a man with his pants down. The PRF soldier was reloading his rifle. By the time he realised my shadow was looming over him, he dropped his rifle and frantically tried to reached for his sidearm.

The muzzle flash from the M24A4 painted light on his face. If it wasn't for the black balaclava he was wearing, I would've seen his expression. His panicked eyes were wide open as he knew he was dead at that instant.

He was one of the remaining PRF soldiers alive. I hopped over the bench and kicked the man's rifle away. I kept my gun trained on him, in case he got back up.

No one can survive a headshot like that. I thought to myself as I tried not to stare into the man's wide open eyes.

"Target down!" I yelled and scanned ahead with my rifle. It was clear, for now. I turned around and gave Amber a thumbs up.

Until the last guy stood up with his arms raised, yelling in English, "No shoot!"

I shifted my aim at him, "GET DOWN ON THE GROUND!" I yelled at him.

"ON YOUR KNEES!" McCord yelled.

"DOWN ON THE GROUND!" What sounded like Amber's high-pitched voice joined the air.

But Yuri had enough, they took down four members of his squad. He wasn't going to let any of these men live.

He cursed in Russian, or Ukrainian, whatever. Then shouldered his M12A1.

The man danced as Yuri emptied his carbine into him, riddling him with a dozen or so bullet holes.

Amber almost objected that sudden act of violence,"Sir, that was a prisoner of wa-" before McCord placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't, just don't," McCord said.

"Check the bodies," Yuri said, "Make sure they are dead."

"You got it sarge," one his squad members replied.

Yuri attended to one of his downed soldier. However, judging by the amount of blood he lost, it was inevitable.

"I can't save him sir," Corporal Anderson said.

Yuri took a knee beside Anderson, "It's alright, brother," he said to the wounded man, clasping onto his hand tightly.

He was weak. His body armor had two small punctures and his combat shirt was soaked in crimson. The expression on his white pale face was mixed with despair and regret. It was as if he had things in mind. Plans for the future, a loved one, family, who knows. The chances of him seeing them again in the future were zero.

All we could do was just be there for him as life was slowly seeping out of his body.

He coughed softly, blood on his lips, "Tell...." he coughed again, this time it was harsher, "Tell Ella..." then a small glint filled his eyes, "I love her." Yuri held his palm until his grip became weaker and weaker.

Until he let go.

He just stopped blinking, just staring at the battle-scarred Slavic sergeant who closed his eyes and accepted fate.

"I will, private," Yuri said in the end before brushing his hand over the dead man's eyelids.

We all took our helmets off, and had a brief moment of silence, distant gunfire still going off.

He then said, "He was going to propose to his girlfriend when he got back."

"I'm sorry, sir," McCord said.

Yuri got up and addressed his marksman, "Situation report?"

"Ali, Egnil, Larry. All KIA," the marksman replied.

The sergeant cursed again, violently kicking away the empty cartridges on the ground.

He took a deep breath and composed himself.

"McCord, sit-rep, over, " Jackal's voice played in the squad channel.

McCord put an hand to his ear, "We took the heat off 2-1. But they suffered four casualties, over."

"Fuck me," Jackal replied, "Tell Yuri to hold position, we're inbound."

McCord looked at me, as if to say 'are you hearing what he's saying?'

I nodded in reply.

"Roger that, out," McCord said.