Russell nodded at Lt Black's reply. "Sir, I appreciate that you want to stick by the grunts in your unit," he said quietly. "The last thing a unit needs is a CO who's a buddy-fucker willing to screw over his own troops. But your job is to command, and our job is to do the grunt work. We trust you to do your job, Lieutenant. Just trust us to do ours, okay?" he requested.<br/><br/>Once he had finished talking with his commander Russell made his way back to the Humvee where he had been talking with Niko. A slight smile crossed his face when he saw the blonde elf was dozing, wrapped in a sleeping bag of different manufacture than the ones used by the Americans. The elf-maid mumbled something the blue-eyed Marine couldn't discern as she snuggled down, and his grin broadened.<em>She's so cute,</em>he mused as he watched her for a long moment.<em>The night's getting chilly, and she could use some help staying warm - no, no, bad Russ!</em>he admonished himself sharply.<em>Mind out of the gutter, and back in the zone!</em>Shaking his head sharply Russell turned and made his way to his own sleeping bag, doing his best to remain focused on the team's current situation.<em>Someone could have heard our engines as we made our way out of the village, and tracked us here. We've gotta remain on guard in case they're not friendly.</em>As he set aside his M-249 and unzipped his sleeping bag the young soldier glanced back at Niko. His sleeping bag was the closest to hers, just in case she woke up during the night and needed to speak to someone, but it was still far enough away that she wouldn't feel crowded or threatened. And while Russell Davis had bunked down countless times in field exercises in military sleeping bags just like the one he had been issued for this mission, and he knew how warm it could be on chilly nights he couldn't help glancing back at Niko and contemplating just how much warmer it could be...<br/><br/>* * * * * *<br/><br/>It was about half an hour before dawn when the first signs of trouble appeared.<br/><br/>Russell was hunkered down in a foxhole that had been dug out for sentry duty when the 13th Recon had first set up camp, keeping watch over the western approaches to the camp. His M-249 was set out before him, bipod already set and a two-hundred round ammo drum fastened to the weapon, and the young Marine was vigilant. The AN/PVS-7 night vision goggles he wore made the predawn darkness seem as well lit as broad daylight despite playing hell on the depth perception. Still they had proven a great advantage in many of humanity's wars on Earth -<br/><br/><em>Movement!</em><br/><br/>The Marine's ice-blue eyes narrowed as he focused his attention on one particular region of forest, sure that he had seen something moving among the trees. Right now was a perfect time for infiltrators to attempt to sneak up close to the recon team's perimeter, and it was pretty unlikely that they would have friendly intentions towards the Americans.<em>Although maybe I'm just being -</em><br/><br/>Russell bit back a curse as he caught sight of movement again, and this time he managed to spot the figure in question It was tall, bipedal and broad-shouldered, and while he couldn't make out details through the NVGs the way it moved told him it was trying to remain stealthy. Panning his view along the treeline he caught sight of several more figures, and even more came into sight as he watched.<br/><br/><em>Well, shit.</em><br/><br/>The machinegunner looked to his right to the sentry guarding his flank, an Army private named Tanner. Giving a low hiss to attract Tanner's attention  he pointed towards the new arrivals, watching as Tanner peered in their direction then turn back to him. The Army soldier held his index finger and thumb in a circle around his eye, then held out his open hand palm-up.<em>Enemies - question?</em>In reply Russell pointed his index finger at himself, then made a walking motion with his index and middle fingers before finally curling his thumb and pinky together before pressing his remaining three fingers against his shoulder.<em>Me - go to - commander.</em>As soon as Tanner gave him a thumbs-up and turned back to watch the treeline, his M-16/M-203 assault rifle/grenade launcher pulled tight into his shoulder the Marine slithered back out of the foxhole. He left his M-249 behind as he remained low, putting some distance between him and the sentry line before he stood up. As he walked quickly back to the main camp Russell stripped off his NVGs, as false dawn was beginning to lighten the sky. Now that it was becoming light enough to see unaided he didn't want the fragile optics anywhere near his eyes, especially when combat might be around the corner.<br/><br/>Moving quickly but quietly he made his way to Lt Black's sleeping bag, before reaching out and tapping the sleeping officer's shoulder. "Lieutenant," he murmured in a soft voice, "we need you on your feet. We got a dozen contacts on the western perimeter, " he reported grimly. "Possible hostiles, and they're trying to be sneaky. Orders, sir?"<br/><br/><br/>