CHAPTER ONE: Team Sierra

Sokcho was too quiet. Taeyeon scanned the buildings. The rooftops were clear and the windows were closed. She exchanged a look with Hyoyeon. Too quiet. 

"Kim Taeyeon, fall out." 

Taeyeon broke out of the formation and turned around. Sergeant Yoon Hwanhee gestured to his boot with his M16A4 assualt rifle. Taeyeon raised an eyebrow at him. The sergeant was always on her case after she had mouthed off to him as a private. He got in the way when Hyoyeon recommended her for Private First Class, and again when she bypassed Lance Corporal to become a Corporal.

"Tie my shoelaces, Corporal."

Taeyeon put her own M4A1 carbine on the ground and squatted to pull on Hwanhee's stupid shoelaces.

The platoon was made of two squads, one made of all female soldiers, one made of all male soldiers. Usually female soldiers only worked with each other so that they wouldn't get in the way of the men, but this unusual arrangement was because their Second Lietenant, the officer captaining the platoon, was Choi Sooyoung. Everyone knew that she was the General's daughter. The year that Sooyoung started the officer training program, women were allowed to join the same Marine Corps training program that the men did. Over three years, six of two hundred women made it through, and they compromised of Team Sierra. The first woman in the squad was Kim Hyoyeon, now the Staff Sergeant. The next year, three other women made it through: Yoojin, Shoo and Bada. The third year, Soyeon and Taeyeon. Currently, they were eight months as Team Sierra, partnering with the eight-man all-male squad, Team Delta. 

Taeyeon was grateful to be on Sierra. It would have been boring being taking lame missions or defending the barracks. At least she could stand proudly against the naysayers who dismissed female soldiers for not being able to do what the men could. She was giving her life up for her country, and if anyone had doubts about how she was doing it, they could say it to her face. And Taeyeon would be able to cut them down to size.

Right now, under the gaze of Sergeant Yoon Hwanhee, fiddling with his stinky boot, Taeyeon could only wait for the day when they were not on the same platoon any longer.

"Hurry up, Corpo-"

One moment, Taeyeon was finishing the double knot on Hwanhee's boot, the next moment, the boot was pulling her forwards as Hwanhee fell backwards into the ground. A bullet had punched a hole through his eye. Gunfire tore up the dirt and the platoon ahead of them took cover. Taeyeon grabbed her carbine and scrambled behind a car. She took off the safety and fired at the now-open windows.

She saw a head peek out, but missed it. She aimed where she last saw it, waiting for the enemy to show his face again. Sure enough, the head popped out again, and she got him. Taeyeon trained her sights on the next window. Bullets richocheted off the car hood she was hiding behind, and she ducked back down. This gunfight was unfair. The enemy had the advantage from above. This was war, no doubt.

Time to regroup. Taeyeon lobbed a smoke bomb onto the street and it covered her as she joined up with Hyoyeon and Shoo. Shoo had been clipped in the neck and she was losing blood fast.

"Taeng, try to see if you can get her into the shophouse behind us, then try to stop the bleeding. I'll cover you," Hyoyeon said.

"Okay." Taeyeon grunted as she dragged Shoo by the arms towards the shophouse entrance. The gunfire was loud and she felt exposed to the enemy, so Taeyeon backpedaled quicker.

There was an explosion. Taeyeon felt Shoo get lifted into the air with her. Taeyeon sailed through a window and she landed hard, Shoo falling on top of her. The back of her head cracked against the shophouse floor, and everything went black.
 
Taeyeon opened her eyes. There was shooting and shouting outside. Taeyeon tried to get up, but the room was spinning wildly and her ears were ringing. There was a weight on her chest. Taeyeon tried to push Shoo off her, but she couldn't seem to do so. Her vision was still blurry.

The shooting stopped. Taeyeon crawled from under Shoo and struggled to stand. A wave of nausea overcame her, and she threw up in the corner. That seemed to clear her vision, although it didn't cure the headache. The back of her head was damp with blood. Taeyeon stumbled over to Shoo. Her body was torn up by shrapnel. Without her, Taeyeon would have died. Taeyeon threw up again and lost her balance.

Sprawled on the ground, Taeyeon reached for her handgun as someone entered the shophouse.

"Taeng, it's me, Hyo."

Hyoyeon checked on Shoo before going to Taeyeon. Taking the roll of gauze form Taeyeon's assualt pack, she bandaged Taeyeon's head. Hyoyeon's face was covered in blood.

"Are you 'kay?" Taeyeon asked.

"Got grazed by a bullet, but that's it. It looks worse than it actually is. You?"

"Seem ta havea concussion but 'm fine," Taeyeon said. wasn't moving like she wanted it to. 

"Everyone is dead, but they took Choi. We have to go rescue her and get back to base. Can you stand?"

Taeyeon didn't have time to grieve her comrades. She grabbed Hyoyeon's arm as she stood up again. "Leggo."

The North Korean soldiers that ambushed them had set up camp in the train station. That afternoon, Sooyoung had led her platoon of twenty soldiers through Sokcho town. It turned out that they had been accosted by just eleven men. Hyoyeon and Taeyeon staked out at the hill until night time. They found some villagers who were providing meals to the North Koreans. The villagers had betrayed their country in exchange for safety. While the North Koreans were eating, Hyoyeon and Taeyeon gunned them down.

Sooyoung was tied to a bathroom sink. She had been shot twice in the leg.

"Lieutenant," Hyoyeon said.

"Sergeant? Corporal?"

"It's us," Hyoyeon said. "We've gotten rid of the Northern bastards. We need to get back to base now." 

Sooyoung groaned as Taeyeon started to bandage her thigh. She still had a massive headache and bouts of dizziness.

"Sorry, Sergeant," Taeyeon said, "but we don't have any morphine."

"No, it's fine," Sooyoung said. She looked up at Hyoyeon. "What's the status of your team and Team Delta?"

Hyoyeon stared to the side. "All gone, Lieutenant. Only Corporal Kim and myself made it out."

"No..." Sooyoung's face became grave as she realized how bad the situation was. Hyoyeon and Taeyeon stayed silent to give the Lieutenant a moment.

Then Sooyoung reached around Taeyeon's waist and pulled out her handgun. Sooyoung cocked the Beretta and raised it to her own temple. Taeyeon was close enough to Sooyoung that if the bullet bounced out it would hit her. Sooyoung said, "Back off, Corporal."

"Uh," Taeyeon said, but she didn't move. This Lieutenant had lost it. "Calm down."

"Put the gun down," Hyoyeon said.

"I failed my platoon. I deserve to die," Sooyoung said. "Back off, both of you. That's an order."

"Right now, you're not our commander, Sooyoung," Hyoyeon said. "I'm not following some who gives up so easily. Twelve good people just died and you're going to on their deaths like this?"

"Then shoot me."

"Don't around, Sooyoung. You want to make things right again, not let two subordinates clean up your mess. Give Taeyeon back her Beretta and let's go home."

Sooyoung held her grip, then she lowered the gun and slotted it back into Taeyeon's holster. ", I'm sorry, Corporal."

Taeyeon shrugged it off. She couldn't judge the commanding officer, but she did feel disappointed. Sooyoung had led the platoon through successful campaign after successful campaign. It wasn't like her to lose her cool like this. "No, I... I feel torn up about Yoojin, Shoo, Bada and Soyeon, too. And Team Delta. So... I understand."

"You don't have to pretend."

Taeyeon grinned. She clipped the bandage. "Yeah, you lost your , Lieutenant. But you can make it up to me by bringing us back to base safely."

"Since I'm such a crappy platoon leader, let's do away with formalities for now," Sooyoung said. "Call me Sooyoung."

"Okay, Sooyoung," Taeyeon said. was awkward around the name. She swayed when she stood up. "All of us are injured and we're a hundred miles from base. Enemy s probably nearby. We need to run."

"Giving us orders now, huh? Said like a true Sergeant. Looks like you're due for a promotion," Hyoyeon said. They shouldered Sooyoung between them out of the train station. The villagers had a pickup truck with a quarter tank of gas. Hyoyeon drove while Sooyoung and Taeyeon sat in the back.

"Sooyoung, make sure Taeng doesn't fall asleep."

Once the truck started bumbling down the road, Sooyoung asked, "How's your head?"

"Concussion, I think. Threw up on the way here, but it's better now. The head is killing me."

"Sit upright. The headache is from the fluid that usually cushions your brain. Sitting upright will reduce the pressure from the fluid."

"Had a concussion before?"

"A very mild one. From a soccer game in high school."

"Did you play for your school?"

"Was team captain," Sooyoung said.

"Of course."

"We were second in the country." 

"Whoa. I was on the basketball team in Jeonju and we were the best, but when we went to Seoul for Nationals, the city girls kicked our country asses."

"My father wasn't all that proud when we got silver."

"Ah... Must be a lot of pressure from your dad."

"Every day. So you're from Jeonju, huh. Why did you join the army?"

"Was barely passing in school. Family wasn't doing so hot. But the army's right for me."

"Do you have any siblings?"

"An older brother and a younger sister. With any luck, they're still in Jeonju," Taeyeon said. She really hoped that they were still alive. She hadn't had the chance to use a civilian phone since her tour started. The conflict was mostly contained North of Daejeon, so there was a good chance that she would see them again if she survived the war. "What about you?"

"I'm an only child. My father wanted a son, but my mother left early," Sooyoung said. 

Taeyeon felt like she had a pretty good idea of who Sooyoung was as a person now. She wanted to catch a nap. 

"Hey, Taeyeon, keep your eyes open. Sleeping in the first twelve hours of a concussion is not a good idea. Talk to me. What's your favorite food?"

"Rabokki," Taeyeon said. "Two of my favorite things combined together. But I would settle for Budae jjigae right now. Sick of energy bars. Peanut butter? Cinammon raisin? They all taste like western crap."

"You and me both."

"I thought that officers would get better rations."

"We do get better equipment, but the food's all the same."

A/N: And... first chapter~ Other than the Sootae homage, this fic is going to be quite different from Bam City=X Let me know what you thought of the chapter!