"It's a TRAP!" (But Ambushed Ambushes don't turn out well...)

The other members of the five vehicle convoy got onto the scene quickly, and the medic looks on Private Shaw's field dressing with approval. Though the wound is a bad one it is not as bad as it could have been, the bullet had punched through the Inter-Coastal muscles and clipped the lowest section of the Gunnery-Sergent's right lung, but she has dressed the wound properly and the Medic: who's name patch read 'Mac Guinness', finishes off the treatment enough to make their NCO stable. Everyone hunkers down in the ruins of the shelled building where Johnson had taken cover, and waits for the their backup to arrive: the chaplain leads a prayer for their Gunny's survival, and though Maey is not a catholic she joins in with the rest.

20 minutes later, with no sign of more hostiles, they hear the relief convoy approaching, and get ready to move Michael into the ambulance: however it is not going to be that easy. Just as the first vehicle, an Abrams, comes into view there is a cry of "في اسم الله!" and the surrounding buildings erupt with insurgent fighters, firing everything from RPGs to hand guns and in one case what appears to be a bloody sling!

The Abram's left track is blown off, and several other vehicles are badly damaged, but the terrorists are not counting on something else, from behind the area of the ambush a squadron of Apache's comes in and launches a bevvy of missiles into the base of the buildings in which the terrorists are taking cover, collapsing them on the insurgents inside! The surviving Jihadists are quickly caught out and killed or captured by the relief ****: including one that tried to suicide bomb Private Mary and the rest of the team guarding Michael but she spots him on the approach through the ruined window of the 'room' they are hiding in and puts a three round burst into his head and neck, detonating the bomb via it's dead-man switch well back from their position.

The whole fire fight has lasted less than 5 minutes, but though about 20 insurgents have been killed and another 5 captured, the toll to the American side has been almost as severe. Though they have come off lighter in terms of lives, (they lost a few, but far less), the US forces have lost more in equipment: 7 hummers totaled, 2 M1-Abrams out of commission, 1 ambulance a flaming wreck, 5 marines and 2 army members dead, 8 others wounded, some severely, and one NCO with a life threatening gunshot wound to the chest... No one has really 'won' this fight other than 'الشيطان' AKA 'Satan', who always delights when **** is done in the name of God/YHWH/Allah.