The cacophonous thunder of gunfire sounded overhead as the APC raced through the sand and rocks of the desert. They were hitting the final point of suspected explosives storage, and while Aleksandra couldn’t speak for the other men and women in the vehicle, she was on edge. Bullets ricocheted off the vehicle’s armor as she blocked the outside world out for the moment, clutching the small silver cross she usually kept tucked away under her uniforms. Softly, in Russian, she spoke to nobody in the compartment, aware of what was being said to her, and acknowledging, even as she deadened her mind to the noise of war. 
“O angel of God, my holy guardian, given to me from heaven, enlighten me this day, and save me from all evil.” She began another prayer, hunched over as she held her rifle in one hand. “Instruct me in doing good deeds, and set me on the path of salvation. Amen.” Bullets continued to ricochet off the hull, and she looked up momentarily to give more visible confirmation to Nikolaj before she finished the prayer to the guardian angel as the boom of helicopter cannons sounded across the desert. 

“O angel of Christ, holy guardian and protector of my soul and body, forgive me everything wherein I have offended you every day of my life, and protect me from all influence and temptation of the Evil One.” They were close, she wouldn’t have time for anything else after this. Soon she would once again sin in the name of stopping an even greater sin. She closed her eyes for a few precious seconds, finishing the prayer. “May I never again anger God by my sins. Pray for me to the Lord, that He may make me worthy of the grace of the All-Holy Trinity, and of the blessed Mother of God, and of all the saints. Amen.” She looked up, surveying the interior for a split second before she grabbed her rifle, flicking off the safety as her previously calm and collected visage morphed to one of cold iron. She scowled as they neared the target, and braced for what would come any second now.

All the while she had been keeping up to date on the situation, and she nodded, grunting an, “Affirmative.” before the .50 opened up on the enemy and Nikolaj went through the back doors of the APC. She was the second one out after him, already barking instructions in thickly accented English. “Davidsen, Dima, Johnston! On me! You heard viking, keep Red’s flank secure and then we hit the left!”

She sprinted for cover, firing a quick burst that sent a skinny diving for cover of his own as she sheltered behind a piece of concrete. The roar of battle had been deafening - over a decade ago, today she scanned the area and glimpsed a technical, about to shout before Nikolaj beat her to it, and then the she got a nice little view of the .50 laying waste to the truck before a screaming AK wielding man popped up from above, toppling over moments later as she delivered two precise bullets to his chest. 

A voice crackled over her comms, Blacktail relaying information about traces of plasticisers in the area. She nodded an affirmative, barking the same word over the headset before looking back to Dima. “When Red goes in, we going in opposite side, you take point and do what you do best, I’ll be following.” She turned around again, yelling over the din of combat, “Johnston, need you keeping an eye out while we go and then we need you following up, put the support where we need it and help clear the area! Davidsen, bring up rear and go with Dima. Johnston! You with me when we inside!”

She looked over, Red was going in and she signaled to the rest of Blue to do the same, hoarsely yelling, “Go go go!” as she rushed the building, taking potshots at several skinnies who popped up, all of them crumpling as Blue filled them with hot lead.

She let Dima make the initial entry, breaking off to secure the next room, before waiting for Johnston to back her up. As she rushed through the door the room appeared empty, before suddenly a scream from behind her snared her attention and she whirled around to find a man in filthy rags leveling an AK at her as he screamed, “Allahu Ak-”

He was cut off as she kicked him savagely in the groin, pulling her knife out as she smashed him savagely against the wall and plunged the knife into his throat before smashing his now limp body to the ground. “Нет.” She muttered, returning the knife to its sheathe as she waited for Johnston to back her up. “Dima, engage, Johnston, I am waiting.”