51 A Quiet Star

Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean not far from an seemingly insignificant island, a small fleet of boats are silently rowing through fog and mist. Their destination, the quiet island covered in what looks like an impenetrable fog in front of them.

The boats were in a spread out V-formation, much like a flock of ducks during migration. The boat in the lead carried the forward elements of the team, Captain Thomas Conlin for whom the smell of the ocean and the salty taste of the water is something he will never forget. It may be another ocean on another side of the world, but it all taste the same to him.

Along with Thomas, he had Specialist Smith, one of the original members from boot camp, Corporal Higgins, the same Commando who challenged his authority back in the briefing room, and his last squad member was a heavy weapons specialist, Marlon Freedman.

Marlon Freedman was a tall, muscular black man. His head was shaved completely and his face was that of someone you might meet guarding the door to a club or a bar, unforgettable. His arms were thick with muscle, almost like small tree trunks and his legs were very much the same. Together, these four men made up Alpha Squad of Reaper Company.

The entirety of Reaper Company had come the this Pacific island for one reason, to start a base of operations in the Pacific theater. They brought along some of their gear, once they've cleared the island of any Japanese forces, they were going to radio in the USS Tombstone, it was a fairly new ship that had been built just for Reaper Company.

It had the latest in all technology, according to what they could dig out of Thomas/Kincaide's journal. That's not to say it couldn't be destroyed, it was after all, just a frigate. There was no need to build Reaper Company a whole destroyer or even a carrier. It would be just slightly tougher than most frigates to destroy.

It was also the fastest ship in the navy arsenal now, with a top speed of thirty knots. It was even armed with heavier armaments than most destroyers, thanks to the new stabilizing technology they've managed to decode.

Thomas only had three requirements when they built in in the first place; speed, armor, and weaponry. He wanted it to be fast and tough, while also dishing out damage of it's own. Ordinarily it would be impossible, but the engineers behind the ship itself pulled some ingenious ideas out of the journal.

It would be almost impossible to go through the entire list of things they'd done to ship itself without knowledge of the mechanics behind a ship, which Thomas most certainly did not have, so they just told him these few key features.

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Thomas held a pair of binoculars in his hands and a plastic-sealed map in his other. According to the map and the course they set, there was an isolated beach up ahead on the island. As for the island itself, it was a monitoring station for the Japanese. They monitored ship communications in the surrounding fifty miles of ocean.

According to intelligence, there were three Japanese structures on the island itself. The first was the monitoring array, which was at the highest point of the island. The second was the communications hub for the entire island, taking that out would cripple communications island-wide. The third was a small airstrip with a small bunker that housed a Japanese recon plane. Intelligence wasn't too clear on what type since they only had photos from a night time reconnaissance mission.

They did have a fourth objective however, somewhere on the island a few scouts that came ashore a couple days before went missing. It was a squad of three well versed in spying. It was considered a secondary objective however, the main objective was to take out the three different compounds.

The boats finally reached the shore and the company silently pulled them on to the beach before covering them with tarp. Then to prevent any sort of patrol that might come out this way from spotting them too easy, they took sand from around the beach and piled it onto the tarps, making them look like little sand dunes. Beachhead was secure, Thomas signaled for the company to rally on him. His fist was in the air, thumb inwards, rotating clockwise in the universal signal for rallying. Once they all gathered, Thomas began his quick briefing .

"Reaper Company listen up, this is the first shot of the war and it's quiet and in the dark. We have until oh-eight-hundred to secure this island. We're going with the original plan. Alpha Squad will take the communications hub out to ensure radio silence across the island. Bravo and Charlie squad will link up together at Delta Point after taking separate routes, you will then proceed to take out the airfield. Remember, wait for the all clear and make sure the recon plane stays intact! Delta squad will move together with Echo and Foxtrot to ensure that the monitoring station falls silent, since it's supposed to be the biggest compound on the island. The rest of you stay here on the beach and make sure our equipment is secure." Thomas paused for a second and looked at the determined faces of the men and women under his command. "Remember, radio silence until the all-clear is given. Operation Mothball is a go!"

The squads gathered their gear and silently disappeared into the jungle, everyone left on the beach watched as the jungle swallowed them one by one. Leaving nothing buck darkness and foreboding silence in their wake. It was going to be a long night, but come morning the fires of war will have started and the Japanese would be in for one rude awakening.