TLoS: Origins Chapter 31 PartB

The new member of the City Guard was sitting in the shores of a lake that was located near the city of Warfang. The pendant and emblem that signified he was a member of the City Watch hung proudly on his neck. He had finished his daily duties and now he was going for some quiet time and some relaxation.

Incendio liked it here. The place was beautiful, where a waterfall fell from the mountains into the lake and the forest was the color of a vivid green. Life was abundant, the birds sang, the insects buzzed and the fish splashed in the water.

It was a beautiful place where one could stop for a moment to mediate, to relax and just to enjoy the scene.

Incendio had applied a requisition to be a member of the City Watch some days past. The mole, who was at the time being at the recruitment post, actually though it was some kind of joke. After all, how could Incendio, Ignitus nephew and unofficial fire guardian, a member held in the highest regard and honor, become one member of the City Watch at its lowest rank?

A dragon officer noticed the laughing mole and came to investigate. The small rodent, between laughs, managed to explain the situation. The dragon, instead of laughing, seemed quite surprised at the requisition. He immediately told Incendio to follow him. The two dragons went to the city barracks, and there, they met with the Commander of the Watch.

The old dragon seemed quite surprised at Incendio's appliance to become a member. After all, he was the candidate for becoming Fire Guardian, was he not? But he was even more surprised that he went to the recruitment office to become a recruit instead of using his influence with the Guardians to have him in become some kind of officer or something.

In the end, Incendio's request was accepted without much paperwork. But not as a mere recruit.

The commander wanted to make Incendio an officer on the spot. They knew of his battle records and his leadership skills. Incendio had protested against such an action, stating that he wanted to start at the bottom and work his way up. Even though the City Watch had recovered somewhat after the siege, the commander said that the Watch lacked competent officers since they lost too much during the last battle.  

In the end, Incendio started off as leader of a squad instead of the officer that controlled a whole unit. Even though Incendio wanted to start at the bottom, he agreed.

He started his duties immediately. He was assigned to patrol the streets of the city to keep order and catch thieves. He also went on flight patrols outside the city where he was to help the nearby villages. Also, he was too keep as eye and stop any raiding party that hoped to take the goods from those who have earned them though hard labor. And if necessary, ancestors forbid, spot an approaching army and warn the city.

Right now, he had finished his duties and he had come here to relax. It amazed him how beautiful and calmed this place was. It always seemed to soothe him.

But he had to get going. It was getting late.

Reluctantly, Incendio stood up from his lying position and took flight. He angled towards the city of Warfang. He flew over the wall and above the streets, looking at dragons and moles going back towards their homes after the day's work. As he continued flying, he spotted a few humans walking. He remembered that he had not seen Doctor Kelly for a while.

'Maybe I should pay her a visit' he thought.

Changing directions, he aligned towards where Kelly lived. It was in the section of the city the humans had taken residence, as well as near the hospital. Should someone need urgent medical attention; Kelly could be there in an instant.

He landed near her home, deciding to walk the rest of the way. He watched as shops were closing for the night and people returning to their homes. Candles and firelights were being lit inside the homes to illuminate in the darkness.

Just when he was turned the corner that would lead him to her home, he spotted her standing in the street, in front of her home. His heart swelled in happiness when he saw her and was about to take a step towards her when he noticed that someone else was with her.

"Well, it was a lovely evening" Kelly said to the male at the doorstep. "I enjoyed it very much. We should do this more often"

"Of course" the human male laughed.

Incendio quickly retreated and huddled to the shadows as he began to eavesdrop into their conversation, listening attentively to every word.

"I heard you are leaving" Kelly said, his tone changing drastically.

"I am. Doctor Espinoza wants us to help a city called Tall Plains. She says that we need friends"

"Is it true that there is going to be a battle?"

"How did…?" the male seemed perplexed.

"Father sometimes speak during his sleep"

"I thought you didn't sleep with the Colonel"

"I don't. He went to sleep early last night, and I was still at his house. I hear him talk in his sleep about a battle or something"

"I see" the human male replied in thought.

"I shall prepare my medical kit and be ready for tomorrow"

"No you don't!" the human said with a tone that broke no argument. "It was bad enough when you came here when the city was under siege by disguising yourself as a soldier. There is no way that I'm letting you go in this mission"

"There might be someone who needs me there" Kelly protested.

"And someone will take care of that" the male answered back. "Your father won't let you go into battle"

'Nor will I!' Incendio though, giving a slight snort in determination.

"And don't even think of using a disguise again" the male told her. "I'll make sure you are not on the team that is leaving tomorrow morning"

Kelly seemed ready to protest against her not going, but as seeing that the element of surprise was lost, and her intentions known, she was very muck likely be left behind.

"Very well" she agreed.

"Don't worry. With a little bit of luck, things might not get too bad" the male tried to assure her.

Then, Kelly stepped closer and gave a thight embrace at the male. Slowly, the human male responded in kind. Incendio's heart skipped a beat as he saw them in such close proximity to each other. Sudden anger started to swell within him, anger at the human male.

"Just make sure you get back all right, Lieutenant"

"I will" the male promised.

With that Incendio decided to retreat and go back to his place, lashing at the air with his tail in agitation. As he skulked away, he did not notice the deep scratches and the burned marks he had made on the paved stone street where he had been standing.

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And so passed the days. The Atlawas were preparing their city for an attack as provisions were gathered, weapons forged and defenses built. The people noted this and rumors started to spread about an attack. It was only a matter of time before talks of leaving the city started to appear.

With those rumors and panic starting to settle in, Kane was forced to give the news of a most likely impending attack. He urged the citizens to remain calm and to stay in the city. When it was asked why, he was forced to reveal the enemy strategy of isolating them. But even with the warning, some families left the city in hopes of finding safety elsewhere.

The groups spent most of their time exploring to depth the city of Tall Plains. Spyro and Cynder went mostly by themselves, followed by the ever present security detachment, finding peaceful spots in the bustling city where they could have some time on their own if they could escape the guard. Shockwave often spent looking at the nice and strange architecture of the buildings. Gale often disappeared for hours, exploring the city on his own or taking small trips that lasted hours to the library. He had told them that the library at Aerie was small and he had read many books of it. He always craved to learn.

As for Sparx… well, it seemed that he was having a great time with all 'the god and worshiping' thing.

Days passed, and there was no sign of the impending attack. As nothing happened in those days people started to believe that it was some kind of sick joke. But soon enough, one thing happened that made them wonder.

It was their fifteenth day in Tall Plains when an alarm came from the sentry guards that something strange was coming in flying at a high distance. Immediately, the armed forces scrambled over each other to get into their respective defensive posts.

Spyro and Cynder both got out from the building they had been assigned during their stay to see where they could help. However, that was not needed.

"Hey… isn't that…"Cynder trailed off as she saw the thing in question.

Spyro squinted as he tried to see more clearly at the rapidly approaching object. In a few moments he recognized the silhouette of a vehicle that brought two species together.

"The humans!" he said excitedly. "They came!"

The human helicopter, with their annoying racket they made when they functional, started to head into the city. Before he could move a muscle, the choppers, as the humans called them, slowly started to descend amidst the city.

"Quick, get to the enemy" a llama officer shouted as he directed his troops, fully armed, towards where the human vehicles had landed.

Spyro also notes a few dragons were flying towards where the humans had landed.

'Why would they react such a way?'  Spyro wondered. 'Don't they know they are our allies?'

"Spyro… did you told Kane the humans were coming?" Cynder asked Spyro with a confused look.

Spyro's hear skipped a beat as he remembered he was supposed to deliver certain information about certain allies that were coming to help.

"Uh… oops?" Spyro said with a half serious, half amused face.

"SPYRO!!!" Cynder yelled at him. "HOW COULD YOU FORGET?!"

"I'm sorry!" Spyro edged back away from her.

"Don't you know what the Atlawas will do to the humans when they come near?" Cynder asked him. "The humans look like apes! And the Atlawa are no friend of apes!"

Realizing the danger the humans were, Spyro immediately sobered.

"Come on!" he said as he took flight with a few wing beats. "We have to get there to clarify certain things"

'Let us hope it is not too late and blood had been spilled already' he silently prayed.

Fortunately for them… it hadn't. Unfortunately, it seemed that any spark would cause it.

Spyro saw from the air that the helicopter had already landed and its occupants were already out. Their weapons were leveled and aimed at the defenders of Tall Plains that had them surrounded. The llamas, and four dragons, surrounded the humans with a clear intent of attacking should any opportunity arose.

Spyro also noticed that a llama was rolling on the floor in pain as he covered his bloodied nose. Next to the wounded soldier, there was another that seemed to have been knocked out cold. And yet another soldier was tenderly touching his limp arm, his spear lying next to him.

However, that was not the most interesting part.

There was a huge pile of soldier over each other; and it seemed that they were pinning something down. And that someone, underneath all the pile of llamas, was Ramirez, shouting in indignation.

"Everybody calm down!" Spyro shouted; as he landed amidst the trouble.

However, the other parties were too focused on one another to notice him or Cynder. Both sides continued shouting treats and commands of surrenders; but above all the screaming, no one was making sense of anything.

"CALM DOWN!!!" Spyro roared with a commanding voice.

Everyone fell silent at his resounding roar. All eyes stared at him with wide eyes as the echo took a few moments to feel silent as it traveled across the stone buildings. It took a few moments before anyone moved.

"Spyro, thank God you arrived" Parker exclaimed.

"Spyro, hurry! We must prevent the apes from getting further into the city" a llama officer said.

"HOLD IT!!!" Spyro said sharply, stopping the unnecessary shouting once again. He then turned towards the defenders of Tall Plains and explained calmly. "They are friends"

"Friends? Apes?" a llama asked, sounding confused.

"They are not apes; they are humans. They are here to help in the upcoming battle" Spyro explained. "Now please, lower your weapons"

The llamas looked at each other; hesitant to leave themselves open for an attack from this new strange foe.

"The humans are friends and they will not harm you" Spyro tried to calm the soldiers before looking at the llama that was holding his bloodied nose. "Unless you attack them first" Spyro added.

Reluctantly, the llamas slowly lowered their weapons and the dragons that were also there stood up. The humans as well lowered their weapons. However, both parties kept an eye on each other.

Spyro nodded toward both sides before making his way toward Ramirez, who was slowly getting up after all the llamas had gotten off him.

"Are you all right?" the purple dragon asked.

"Apes…" Ramirez said with disgust as he stood up. Spyro noticed that his hair was disheveled and he had a small injury on his lip from where blood was coming out. "At first it was kinda funny; but it is getting old already… and annoying"

"Are you okay Ramirez?" Parker said as he approached.

"Uh-huh!" he grunted as he started to clean off the dirt from his clothes. "I wonder why I always end up underneath someone every time that I go on a mission"

"Well, you did knock three llamas in quick succession, so they were would take you down first" Parker said with a hint of amusement. He then turned to Spyro. "Nice timing you have. Any moment longer and any form of diplomatic solution would have been thrown out the window"

"And we would have to resort to the aggressive negotiations" Ramirez said as he bent to pick up his fallen weapon.

Cynder came to his side and slapped his head with the flat end of her tail blade.

"Idiot!" she admonished. "Things like that should not be forgotten"

"Sorry!" Spyro apologized as he rubbed the sore spot.  "That hurts"

"Things like what?" Parker asked confused.

"About you coming here and not being apes"

"You forgot?" Ramirez said, quite indignantly. "How could you forget such a thing?"

"Oops!" Spyro said.

"Oops?" Ramirez asked indignantly. "I was nearly killed and the only thing you can say is 'oops'? I thought you were my friend"

"Ignore him" Parker said against Ramirez tirade. "He is a little hurt because of what happened"

"Sorry about that" Spyro apologized. "I kinda forgot to mention that you were coming"
Parker's eyes looked up. "Well, then I guess it is time for you to explain some things"

Spyro followed Parker's gaze and saw that Kane was standing nearby, looking at the humans with a serious face.

"I got some explaining to do" Spyro sighed.

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At first the llama distrusted the humans, since they looked so very much like the apes did; even with Spyro's explanations of them being friends. They kept and armed guard near each of the at all times. They were also not allowed to carry weapons, so they had to leave them at the place they had set up residence.

This, of course, annoyed the all humans to no end. Well, almost all. Ramirez had lots of fun as he tried to lose the guards that were assigned to him, which annoyed the guards to no end.

The humans spent some times bringing the supplies from a small ship they had brought. They told him that McAllister project of the engines for their vehicles was overly ambitious in the short time he promised. Instead, they got lucky.

Not soon after Spyro and group had left, two damaged warships anchored on the port near Warfang. One of them was a mole warship, while the other had been a pirate ship they had managed to intercept and capture. The pirates, of course, had all been apprehended and taken to prison.

Warfang's navy was still recuperating after the war against Malefor. They did not have that many numbers of ships. With one ship to spare, the humans had quickly commandeered the captured pirate ship repaired it in record time. They also had modified it to hold one helicopter, which was the one the humans had just arrived.

Soon, they, along with a troop battalion of moles sent from Warfang, set sail and headed towards Tall Plains. With help from some sailors whose ship were under repair, the ship set sail. The trip had been a calm one. Then, when the ship was close to Tall Plains, they dropped anchor.

So far, things were calm; but it was only a matter of time before the storm hit them.

One afternoon, the scouts reported that the enemy army that was about to attack them had been spotted amidst the thick jungle. It was a considerable sizable force, consisting of many orcs and grublins and hundreds of trolls. But what was worse was that they were close… too close. It baffled Kane and the llama officers about how an army had sneaked so close to them undetected. The most logical assumption was dark magic was at play here.

If the army did not stop to rest during the night, it would arrive by morning.

After that, the llamas understood that they could not be picky about their allies; at least not being caught by surprise. They 'released' the humans from their small confinement.

After a brief talk with the llamas and a quick look at a map of the city and the Tall Plains, Parker started to direct the preparation of his own troops. They immediately set to work in building their own defenses for their own style of warfare as they deployed some deploying machine guns and mortars on strategic positions.

Apart from those of defenses, the humans started to build traps by the dozens. They worked through the night setting traps everywhere! Spyro watched as the placed explosive devices over an area.

"And when they come… BOOM!!!" Douglas explained happily.

Spyro saw another type of explosive trap, which Parker explained as he set it up.

"You attach the cord here, to the explosive" Parker said as he demonstrated, "And you attach the other end to a fixed object. Remember that the line must be tense in order to work. Anyway, when the enemy comes, and steps on the line, the Claymore blows"

And the explosive traps were not the only traps they set. This time, Spyro had to gawk at the human ingenuity as they set traps even with the most simple of things!

"You pull this vine here" Jason demonstrated and a huge trunk tied with vines at the extremes, came swinging down in a horizontal manner. Any unfortunate enemy in its path would be sent flying with a broken body.  "Well now, I have to get this back into position" Jason said.

Even Spyro had to marvel when he saw the most simple and, in his opinion, the foolishness in some kind of traps. Spyro found another group of humans digging small hole like crazy while several other sharpened wooden sticks with their knifes.

"We put the sharpened stick on the hole the rest of the guys are making" Jackson explained. "Then we cover them with a little bit of foliage to hide them; and when the enemy comes walking by, the will step into one of these and will find their feet impaled. And my favorite part is we are poisoning these things with things you shit. That way, we can make sure that the enemy will not return to battle fast. The wound will become infected and will have to be tended, or they will find themselves with a nasty infection… or worse. We learned it the hard way in Vietnam"

Shaking his head, Spyro stepped away, wondering how anyone could be so foolish as to step into a hole. He was quite surprised when he suddenly stepped into ground that gave away, making his front paw fall into a clearly hole that had been dug. When he turned his face to look at Jackson, he saw grinning widely looking in his direction, moving a wooden spike in his hand. Spyro only lowered his head and retreated, his scales reddening in embarrassment at falling in such a trap.

Spyro also found that the humans could make weapons out of things he didn't even suspect.

"We have distilled a lot of the llamas' alcoholic beverages" Ramirez said as he took a swig of a still intact bottle of wine. "Not the most popular move amongst the Atlawas. Anyway, we bottle all the alcohol, set a rag on the opening, and were are good and ready; we light it up and throw them. When the bottle shatters, a nice flame ball will ensure"

One thing that enraged the Atlawas was that the humans started to rig the bridges that connected one plateau to the next to blow.

"If things go bad, you will thank me" Parker said seriously. "But hopefully, it will not come to that"

After hours of work, the humans decided to get a few hour of sleep. They would need it in the upcoming battle.

In the end, it was a good call, since the army had once again marched through the night and thus, leaving less time for the defenders to prepare themselves.

The impending battle was nigh.

"So… what do you think?" Parker asked.

"There are many" Spyro commented as he saw the black mass that was the enemy army moving.

They stood on a vantage point above the plateau on a clear day, looking at the Dark army approaching. Parker stood leaning forward, his right foot resting atop an outcropping rock. Spyro just stood straight, looking forward intently.

Spyro gazed at the small group he was in. Cynder was next to him on his left, while Parker and Sergeant Jackson were on his right. Behind them was Shockwave and Douglas, the demolition expert form the humans.

"Are the explosive ready, Douglas?" Parker asked at the demolition expert.

"Prime and ready to blow up sir" he answered.

"And the bridges that takes from one plateau to the next?"

"We failed to cover all of them, but we have managed to get all of the inner bridges" Douglas answered.

They stood there for a few minutes in silence, each of them inside their own minds, having their own thought about the upcoming battle. However, they could not linger. They had to go to their post and be ready for the attack.

"Let's go" Parker said as he finally left his perch.

Without saying anything, the group started to go back towards where the defenders were gathering to give the final instructions. Kane was there, surveying his troops with critical eye as they were formed in ranks.

As for the humans, they were separated in several groups. Some were having small talk while others were preparing their weapons for battle by cleaning them and making sure they were in proper working order.

"Soldiers…" Kane began to speak towards his troops, catching Spyro's attention. "Ever since we were freed with the help of Spyro, we have been living a good life. Harvest has been bountiful, our city population has grown, and we have trades routes that cover a lot of places. The city has prospered! Enemies and pirates have looked upon our prosperity with greed. They have tried to steal what we have gain through hard work. However, this time…" Kane pointed towards where the enemy army was approaching; "this time, we do not face thieves or pirates. They do not come here to steal and plunder. They came here to kill"

When Kane explained the grim situations, the soldiers looked at each other with uncertainty. Spyro was certain that a few soldiers must have had the thought of fleeing since he himself had them at one time and another. However, none of them moved.

"Soldiers…" Kane continued, once again looking at the soldiers, "this time, we do not fight for what we have acquired through hard work. We do not fight for the wealth and goods that we have earned. This time we fight four our lives… for our families, for our homes. If the enemy wins, then everything we hold dear will be destroyed. This is our home! We have been in this land for generations and we will not leave. A new day may come; and when it does, we will see our growing sons running and laughing on the fields without a care in the world. For your friends… for your families, for your sons, for all the goodness and light that exists in this world, we will FIGHT… to make sure that that day comes"

The soldiers raised their weapons and shields as they banged them together in agreement with Kane's speech. Spyro nodded his head in appreciation, and recognition of Kane's words. This battle would determine the fate of Tall Plains and all it inhabitants.

"Pretty speech isn't it?" Sergeant Jackson said with a sarcastic tone. "Lieutenant; request permission to tell my men a good pre-battle speech"

"Go ahead!" Parker chuckled.

Jackson strode purposefully toward where the humans were. They had finished doing whatever they were doing, and now they were lazing around.

"What is this?" Jackson barked. "Is this some bar club or a fucking army? Strighten the ranks you lazy maggots!"

Immediately, the humans scrambled to their feet and hurried to form straight lines in front of the awaiting Sergeant. They stood straight and rigid, with their weapons at the ready. Spyro counted the humans and found that there were nearly fifty humans soldiers.

"Men… a battle's never an easy thing to face; especially before breakfast!" Jackson said in a grave tone.

Spyro, knowing the dark skinned human, looked at him with an amused look; but the llamas, they were looking at him as if he were mad.

"You how irked I get when I do not get my healthy morning meal" Jackson continued as he strolled among the ranks of his men. "And you also know that there is also only one path that will set me back in my good mood. That path is the one paved with the skulls of our enemies with the taste of victory"

By this moment, the llamas nearest to him started to take a few step back away from him.

"Do you see those ugly bugs? Do you see them?" Jackson said as he pointed at the approaching army. "Those damned bugs have DARED to invade our precious little Earth. So, this is the place where will we show those damn and ugly bugs why they couldn't have picked up a worse enemy that the human race. They will only have moments to regret that action before we stamp our boots on their broken skulls in triumph. We will spill their blood until not a drop remains in their pathetic little bodies. We will scatter their gust all over the place as we laugh in delight as the enemy flees in terror against our unstoppable onslaught!" Jackson exclaimed as he finished his strolling around the troops and giving his back to them. He then suddenly turned. "AM I RIGHT, MARINES?"

"SIR, YES SIR!" a chorus came from the humans ranks.

"Uh-huh! Damn right, I am. Now move it out! Double time!" Jackson barked.

With that, the humans soldiers started to ran toward their defensive positions. Jackson, Parker and a few other humans remained.

When Jackson finished saying his speech, he looked with a smug face towards the Atlawa. The llamas, for their part, seemed too shocked and disbelieved at Jackson bloodlust speech to move. They seemed ready bolt out should Jackson so much as sneezed in the wrong way. But Spyro knew better.

He had acted like the Atlawa the first time he heard Jackson's 'famous' speeches. Parker then explained him that he only meant it as pep talk and as an encouraging towards his troop that he didn't really meant it.

True… it was bloody and gory, but it kinda held some humor in it.

"Sir; who will be my spotter?" Spyro head the human called Jason ask.

He turned and he had to open his eyes in surprise as he saw the longest weapon he had ever seen a human wield. It looked a lot like the weapons the other carried, only this one was much longer… and it also had a sort of cylinder attached at it top.

"Don't worry, I will get you one" Parker assured him. "Now, get into the tower and start picking out officers and any leaders you find"

"Yes sir!" Jason said as he started to retreat, grunting as he lifted the heavy weapon.

"What do you mean by spotter?" Spyro asked.

"A spotter is a member of a sniper team" Parker informed him. "The shooter or sniper is a man whose accuracy and aim excel at great distances. We use snipers to take out any valuable targets like officers, generals and such. However, it is difficult if the distance it to great. That's where the spotter comes in. He helps the sniper by 'spotting' the target, as well as advice him on the wind velocity and direction so the shooter can make a precise shot"

"So they are marksmen?" Spyro asked in terms he could understand.

"You could say that snipers are the elite of marksmen" Parker said.

Spyro nodded his head in understanding.

"Where the hell is Ramirez?" Jackson growled out loud.

"Sir, Private Jose Ramirez reporting for battle" Spyro heard said person arrive.

When he turned to look, Spyro had to widen his eyes in surprise.

"Dear Lord and Jesus Christ!" Spyro head a human who was nearby, exclaim. "Looks like John Rambo is ready for war!"

Ramirez had in him a great deal of many weapons at his disposal! Like most of the others, he carried what appeared to be the standard weapons with him; but that's where it ended the similarities. Instead from the single smaller weapons that humans used for backup, Ramirez had brought two; each attached to both end of his hips. He also saw the handle of a weapon that was attached to his back.  AND he could at least see three knives and one small looking axe! On both side of his thighs and on his left shoulder. The was also a small axe on his belt that seemed easy to reach for. To making his appearance a little more colorful, Ramirez wore a red cloth on his forehead. The loose ends on the back swung freely on the calm breeze of the morning.

Like the human had said… Ramirez was ready for war.

"Whoa!" another human exclaimed. "M4 carbine with a grenade launcher… 2 M9s pistols… a shortened barrel shotgun; DAMN is that a Tomahawk? Where the hell did you get one?"

"I got a friend in the Army Rangers that got one for me. I owe him a huge favor for this one" Ramirez said as he took out the small axe from his belt.

"Cool! You have to let me borrow it!" the human said as he extended his hand, expecting to at least allowed it touch it.

"HEY! Hands off!" Ramirez said as he jerked away the weapon. "No touchy!"

"Ramirez…" Jackson said a little sarcastically. "Are you sure you got everything you need?"

Instead of answering outright, Ramirez placed the small axe on his pocket once again before head to a nearby carte the humans had brought with them. He pried it open and took out another knife from the inside. He then placed it on his right boot, making it the fourth knife that Spyro could see he carried.

"Yes" Ramirez answered to Jackson's question.

"Why all the weaponry Ramirez?" Parker questioned the obviously over armed soldier.

"Every time I go out on a mission, I somehow end up underneath someone!" Ramirez rambled somewhat angrily. "Well guess what? Not gonna happen again! This time, I'm prepared"

"If you say so" Parker said dismissively.

"Well then, I better go to my position" Ramirez said as he started to leave.

"Not so fast Ramirez" Parker stopped Ramirez. "You may be armed to the teeth and ready to take everything head on, but you are needs elsewhere"

Ramirez had turned around faced Parker.

"Jason Powell needs a spotter… and you are it" Parker pronounced.

"What?" Ramirez nearly shouted as surprise reached him.

"You heard me. You are Jason's spotter" Parker repeated himself. "He is very good sniper and we will need him; but he need a spotter"

"But why me?" Ramirez complained, almost sounding like it was a whine.

"You know Ramirez, you could have been an excellent sniper yourself" Parker said. "You have the stealth and the accuracy to make it. What you didn't have was the patience. I guess that's why you dropped of the sniper school"

"I hated waiting…" Ramirez said in a low voice as he remembered. "But why me?" he whined again.

"Because there is no one else who is able to do it" Parker said. "Now, quit your whining and head to the tower, where Powell is waiting"

"Oh man…." Ramirez whined once more before walking towards the tower.

"And Ramirez…." Parker called for him. "Behave"