• Published 22nd Aug 2014
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From Humans, to Cryptids, to... Ponies? - TLP



(A CoD: Ghosts Extinction Crossover.) After activating the Medusa device, Godfather's Rapid Reaction Force wake up in a place that is not San Diego. With no Cryptids for once, but there's something odd about this place...

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Chapter 16: Operation: Sand Viper

Author's Note:

Here, you will know Marcus' and his squad's very first mission together, how he got his Medal of Honor, and the other two missing members of his squad. This was Operation: Sand Viper, a mission in which fifty Tier-One and MARSOC operators worked together to fight off five hundred enemy forces from invading a civilian hospital. This is also how Task Force: STALKER, or the 'Ghosts' were formed, and was before the Cryptid outbreak. Go to the CoD: Wiki to know more. Otherwise, enjoy!

(Also Elias T. Walker, Gabriel Rorke, Merrick, and Keegan from the Ghosts campaign were in this battle, but their appearence won't change anything. Just a helluva cameo. Hope none of you mind, and tell me your thoughts!)

Marcus looked at Rainbow Dash with a saddened expression "I don't feel like remembering the events of when we first met.. I don't think my squad does either."

Jackson spoke up "Actually, Marcus.. I think they deserve to know more about us, man. It's the least we could do. And I'm comfortable talking about it."

Marcus shook his head "I don't want to fill their minds with the horrible images of war! Even less of our mission! Did you see the look on their faces when they saw what happened in Tusla? Imagine if-" He was cut off when Twilight spoke.

"War? Wow... we've never been in a war for a little more than a thousand years..." She said in shock.

"And that furthers the point! Our planet is almost always at war. You girls don't need any terrible thoughts roaming through your heads." Marcus said.

Celestia spoke "If it's too much for us, we'll tell you to stop. We also want to help you all in all the horrors you've seen. You never know..." She said in a motherly tone. The girls nodded frantically.

"Jesus, you're all hard-headed.." Marcus thought. He sighed and spoke.

"First of all.. can someone bring me my backpack from wherever I left it?" He asked. Rainbow nodded and flew downstairs to the lobby to retrieve his backpack. After a couple seconds, she returned and put the backpack on Marcus' lap. He thanked her and opened the back pouch and fumbled around a bit. He then pulled out a small, black box. He opened it as the girls leaned in to see what was inside it. In the box was a bronze colored medal with a star shape. Engraved on it was were humans holding some unknown devices. The medal was held onto by a sky-blue colored strap and in the middle of it were 13 white stars. Marcus' squad gasped at the sight slightly. He then pulled out a paper that was below the medal and unfolded it. It read..

"For unbelievable and astonishing acts of bravery and valor above and beyond the call of duty as a Sergeant of one of MARSOC's 'Raider' Regiment near the Syrian-Israel border and fought for five days of endless combat along with his squad and other Tier-One Operators against five hundred enemy forces from July 3rd to July 8, 2016. Sergeant Ramirez and his squad held off enemy forces from over-running a civilian hospital. He then proceeded to lead the remaining soldiers and Marines to the point where they killed all but one of the enemy forces, and successfully defended the hospital until reinforcements arrived. In addition he lead other operations of counter-terrorism all over Israel and Syria. His unmatched bravery, remarkable combat skills, inspiring leadership, fierce loyalty, and dominant fighting spirit were distinctive factors in the offensive battles of the Tel-Aviv War."- President Keith L. Soyenter.

The girls were awed by the said acts that Marcus and his squad did. They looked up to see him trying his hardest to hold back tears, and then spoke softly.

"I... do you girls still want to know?.." He whispered. The girls looked at each other, then to Celestia. They all nodded as Marcus let out a ragged breath "How about you guys? Ready to take a trip through memory lane?" He asked his squad. They nodded in return. Marcus turned to Celestia and nodded. She lit her horn as the tip touched his forehead again, and saw Marcus put together the events of those days....

"Some wounds never heal...." He whispered as the flashback played on the walls in front of him.






Somewhere near the Syrian/Israeli border in a civilian hospital....
Operation Sand Viper
July 3, 2016
U.S.M.C MARSOC 1st Battallion 'Raiders'

Marcus and his five man squad were chosen to assist Tier-One operators on a mission to prevent a civilian hospital from being over run by Syrian troops. The amount of hostiles were unknown, but they suspected the numbers to be low. His squad was chosen mainly because other MARSOC units were on different operations, or were recovering from earlier operations. His squad members were him, Kayla, Jackson, Thompson, Ryan, and Johnathan. Their callsigns were Hunter, Prowler, Lightweight, Lucky, Cassanova, and Albino respectivley.

"Ma'm, you need to calm down, or he will not be able to take care of you!" Marcus said to a middle-aged woman as she spoke frantically in a language he didn't understand, but was pointing at her right leg, which was bleeding heavily and cut open to the point where the bone was noticeable "Lucky! Get some Morphine in her system, and patch her up!"

Lucky reassured the woman as he pulled out a needle and injected her with morphine. Her eyes rolled back into her head as the medicine took its toll on her. Lucky then pulled open his med-kit and treated the wound. The hospital building shook when a mortar landed outside the doorway as women and children screamed in fear. In the hospital were about 170-ish civvies, with more than half of them injured or in critical condition. Also inside were 44 Tier One operators, rainging to Delta Force's Charlie Company, to the legendary Seal Team Six.

"Hey, Keegan. You got eyes on whose shooting those fucking mortars?" A SEAL with a beard spoke into his helmet radio.

"I got nothing, Merrick. See if you can bring me another sniper to help me out." The one called Keegan responded.

"Wilco." Merrick then turned to Marcus' squad "Hey Marine, you got a scout sniper that could lend one of my boys a hand?"

Marcus nodded and called out to Kayla "One of the SEAL snipers need a hand. You'll be escorted to his position. Got it?" Prowler nodded as she was escorted cauciously outide by two Delta operators to Keegan's location. The rest of the men could do nothing but try to calm the civvies and pray to God the mortars don't hit the building.

Day 1: Zero killed. 4 Civilians wounded, two in critical condition.


July 4th..


"We got word from command that the number of hostiles is.. substancial. About four to five hundred of those fucks. With them, they brought around five to ten technicals.." Rorke spoke with a deadpanned expression. The men were shocked at this news. Lightweight then spoke up.

"What about air support, huh? What's their excuse?" He said irritatingly.

"Easy, Jackson.." Marcus warned.

"They reported SAM sites all around the region before our Predator drone was shot out of they sky." Rorke replied "And a sandstorm is gonna move in here in a day or so.."

"And the entire city's in lockdown by the enemy.." Elias added.

The room fell silent, aside from a couple sobs from the civvies. Then Hunter spoke.

"So what now? We can't leave these civvies here to die!"

Rorke thought for a second "Let's just prep ourselves for the long fight to come.."

The men gathered their weapons and gear and headed outside. Keegan and Prowler took position on the hospital roof with Keegan covering the East side, and Prowler covering the North. Delta operators took position on the North with the SEAL's, as MSOR dug in on the East.


The entire force waited about nine hours before the attack came. Had Kayla and Keegan not warned the rest, the hospital would've been lost. Marcus and Johnathan fires their M4 Carbines at several enemy troops with AKM-71's. Tracer and incendiary rounds brightened the night as the two forces exchanged brutal and heavy gunfire. The enemies started pulling back until Marcus heard a whistling sound.

"MORTARS!! GET TO COV-" He was cut off as a fast traveling object flew over him. Then another. And another. He then heard three explosions and yells of utter pain. Keegan then reported on his radio.

"YOU GOT THREE TECHNICALS HEADING TOWARDS YOU! AND RPG TROOPS ON THE ROOFTOPS!" He shouted. Marcus turned and saw three technicals with .50 Cal machine guns on the back, four heavily armed hostiles with PKM's and RPG-7's. He ordered Jackson to return fire. Jackson went prone, unfolded the bipods on his M27, and let out long bursts of F.M.J rounds. Johnathan saw the sillouettes of RPG troops on the rooftops of ruined buildings. He started picking them off one by one as his tracer rounds lit up the battlefield, but a couple were able to shoot off their RPG's at some Delta operators. He then started running towards the Delta operators to help the wounded, until a mortar shell landed in front of him, launching him back as the pressure and shrapnel tore his leg and sliced through his neck.

Kayla and Keegan were picking off the gunners on the technicals, until they saw that the mortars were getting closer and closer. They gathered their gear and ran downstairs when a mortar shell hit home, making the staircase crumble beneath their feet. After gathering themselves, they helped the civvies inside to take care of them.


The sun rose up on the morning of July 5th. The soldiers and the squad had fought like hell, taking out more than half of the hostile forces and nine technicals. But it came at a huge cost. Over sixteen Delta operators were killed by the unexpected mortars and RPG troops, and one of the mortars had hit a part of the hospital, killing thirty civvies and injuring forty two.

Marcus and his squad rounded up the bodies of their fallen brothers, until he realized one of his squad mates was missing. He looked around and saw the corpse of a Marine laying in a huge pool of blood and bits of flesh with his left leg severed from his kneecap below. He carefully turned the body and immediatley recognized him.

"Johnathan..." He whispered. He just kneeld over his lifeless corpse and looked at him. He was very pale and had a long, deep, cut on his neck, oozing unspilled blood. His wound had sand and flies over it. Marcus then reached down and pulled off his dogtags.

"... I'm sorry." He whispred as he kissed the blood-covered tags, curled them up in a fist and put it in his pocket. He stood up and heard a whistling sound once more.

"MORTA-" Marcus heard Ryan yell before a loud explosion cut him off and landed between three SEAL's, maiming them as they howled in pain and shock. He then turned and saw three hostiles prop up two RPD's and one PKM. The place turned into a killzone yet again, taking the entire force by suprise. Marcus then saw Ryan run for cover until he was riddled in the back by 7.62mm rounds.

Marcus sprinted towards him until he felt a round hit his thigh, but Miss Adrenaline took over Marcus instead of pain. He reached Ryan and grabbed his vest straps and dragged him to covery until another mortar shell landed behind Marcus, making him fall. The ceramic plating on his back took the full force of the blast and shrapnel. he turned over to Ryan to carry him, but his lowerd body was gone and his intestines were spilled and mangled, covered in blood and sand. He just stood there in a blur until Jackson brought him into the hospital.


Day 2: 430 enemy K.I.A. 29 K.I.A, 30 Civilian K.I.A

Day 3...


"We can't hold them off another day, we need to get these civvies outta here today!" Elias stated.

Rorke knew he was right. There were only fifteen left, and over seventy enemies left. He thought about it for a second "Let's get one of the SEAL's to lead the civvies to one of the nearby villages we flew over."

"What do we do?..." Jackson said.

Rorke looked outside. The bodies of their fallen bretheren were spewn all over the battleground. He then saw a huge wind of dust coming in from the East. He turned to the remaining soldiers and Marines.

"Avenge our fallen..."





After sending out one of the SEAL's to escort the remaining civilians to a nearby village, the remaining fourteen men camoflauged themselves into the ground. Marcus layed in wait in between Johnathan and Ryan's bodies. He felt utterly defeated. He had sworn that he would protect everyone in his squad regardless if his life was put at risk. And now he way lying in between their pools of blood. The very men he swore he would protect, were now dead. His mind and personality changed and took a dark turn as he lay in wait. He wanted nothing more than to viciously murder every one of them. He felt his bloodlust return, since the day his mother was killed. And he felt it coarse through his veins forcefully and strongly. And did he ever so enjoy it.


The sandstorm kicked in, blending in with the blood on Marcus' face. The enemy came in small groups of 10-15. As they walked over the bodies, they were brutally slaughtered by the remaining Americans. They used their knives until they went dull, then used their hand to choke and beat the remaining enemies to death. Then the last enemy walked into Marcus' path. He grabbed him and pinned him to the ground, beating him like a savage. It took the other 13 to get Marcus off of him. They let the final one go, as a message and a warning to those who would even dare fight against them...

End of flashback...


Marcus then closed his eyes, put his hands on his face, and started sobbing and shaking uncontrollably.

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