WARNING: The following story contains violence, coarse language and mature subjects. Readers discretion is advised.

Lieutenant Edward Masen and his troop of Navy SEALs have been stationed in the African country of Tembo Bara where a civil war has broken out allowing citizens to be manipulated into joining terrorist groups.

In the midst of this, journalist Isabella Swan has been dumped on Edward to protect as she documents their missions. Being attracted to the woman in the middle of the chaos is not what Lt. Masen is ready for but love is not something anyone can control, even a Navy SEAL.

Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue. I don't own Twilight, so please don't sue!

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"Twenty-one! I win!"

"Emmett, that's not twenty-one."

"It sure as hell is! Look!"

"No it's not. It's nineteen. Do you even know how to count?"

"Will you two shut the hell up?" I growled, turning from my post to glare at them as they sat against the disintegrating wall. They both looked up at me with annoyance evident in their faces.

"Why should we?" Emmett snapped, tossing his cards back at Jasper who collected them off the dirty cement they were sitting on to shuffle them again.

"Because we're on a stake out!" I hissed before turning away from their stupid card game and raising the NVGs* to my eyes. "Ass hole." I muttered under my breath.

"I heard that!"

I hissed at him to shut up again and he grunted in response before they started another game of twenty-one with Jasper's deck of cards. Rolling my eyes I stared out at the dark city instead.

My team was stationed here on a crumbling building's roof as we watched the dark city sleep. It wasn't much of a city as it was a town. A small African town riddled with the poor who slept within it. The village that was known as Pemoja was close to the capital of Tembo Bara, the country we were now stationed in.

It wasn't much of a united country anymore. It was the reason we were here in the first place. All army personnel and anyone the United Nations could get their hands on were here. The reason was of an odd sort of civil war which had the people pitted against the government. It turned into insanity as the poor back lashed against the people who were making their lives the way it was. It was the government's fault for refusing international aid to their own citizens when they so desperately needed it.

So what group decided to take advantaged of this situation? The terrorist groups that used to be in Afghanistan had somehow found their way across the countries between and was building up their followers in the broken down country of Tembo Bara. It wasn't difficult to do either. Young men were willing to join if they were taught to believe it would help their country. Taught being the key word. They were easy to manipulate and so began to the fight to not only gain aid to the people but to stop the terrorists from making any other moves into the country.

It had been difficult for the UN to talk the Tembo Baran government into allowing the troops into the country. They believed 'where there was international troops, there was aid.' They didn't want help. They foolishly believed they could handle it all on their own. But when the people went back against them they suddenly decided they needed our help.

As Navy SEALs we had been called in to defuse the situation. We were to be on defence for the people, protecting them from the terrorist's manipulations and from each other, and offence to defeat and drive out the dangerous insurgents.

Our mission at the moment was to find and remove any and all hidden weapons used by the terrorist group. It was the reason we were sitting on a rooftop, under a blanket of stars at that very moment. The reason why we had been staking out this one run down building a little ways down the street for a good three hours. The reason Jasper and Emmett were arguing about another game of cards.

"I swear to God Emmett. When did you go to school?" Jasper seethed, dropping his hand of cards.

"Oh! We're using insults now? Cause I got a whole bunch for you bucko!" Emmett growled.

I sighed before slouching back down on the small wall that surrounded the perimeter of the building's roof. It gave me a great look out spot for the place we were supposed to be watching which so far had no movement.

Jasper, Emmett and I had been friends since the beginning of our SEALs training. I still remember how we ended up doing push up's beside each other on the first day of training in November, at five am while the instructors hosed us down with freezing cold water. It had been a brutal first day and men were already dropping out after twenty-four hours but we stayed strong and became a team in every exercise. Of course there were some failures but we'd get right back up and do it again until we got it just right. It was the reason we were here now and able to call ourselves Navy SEALs.

I'd grown up in Chicago, Illinois with my parents Edward and Elizabeth Masen and sister Alice. It was obvious I had been named after my father and when I was young it was embarrassing to admit that but now I felt proud to carry his name. He was a successful lawyer and I had been ready to follow in his footsteps until I found my true calling. Medicine. They were both happy for me and said that I should go to school and become a doctor. I was ecstatic and ready to start my education right out of high school but that's when I found the Navy. I suddenly felt like I had to go and sign up since that's what real men did, right? My father was proud of me either way but my mother was hesitant and wanted me to go into college instead. She'd heard how difficult that life was and she was worried about me. I brushed it off and told her I'd be fine. I'd been very naïve when I enlisted in the Navy at nineteen.

Two years of Navy service and I found myself travelling to places I never dreamed I would see. I spent most of those years on a ships and carriers cruising around in the world's vast oceans. I learned new things, met and made amazing friends and enjoyed the seaman's life. Of course everything was not hunky dory all the time. I'd seen and heard things I wished never to speak of again and they were left to sear into my brain, becoming memories I could not dispose of. I'd been through storms in the sea and felt vulnerable while wondering if I'd ever make it out alive. But luck always seemed to be with me.

So after those two years I decided I wanted to do something even better. Since I was nineteen I had been able to tell everyone I was apart of the Navy but I wanted to step it up even more. I wanted to be able to call myself a Navy SEAL. And so I tried and succeeded, getting into the SEALs pre-training. They weren't lying when they said it would be difficult, I almost gave up and came home but then I thought about how far I'd come. I just couldn't give up. So I stayed and passed into the Basic Underwater Demolitions/SEAL, or the BUD/S training.

Of course while doing my first try at BUD/S I got injured and had to drop out. I'd been devastated and my self esteem plummeted. I started to think of myself as weak and just decided to lie around the house for months afterward. My little sister Alice wasn't having that. She set me straight and told to "stop being such fucking cry baby and try again." So with her enthusiasm I did go back to training which was where I met the guys of my future team.

Jasper Whitlock was one of those old town, down west country boys straight from the state of Texas. He was quick, intelligent, charismatic and able to read people's emotions easily. His mother and father owned a large ranch and offered to hand the reins (no pun intended) over to him but he refused, wanting to get out of the south and travel instead. So he did and went to the army to both prove himself strong and to travel all over the world. A few years after being in the US Army one of his friends suggested he try becoming a Navy SEAL. He did and the three of us became quick friends. After that first day I even invited him and Emmett to spend a few days in Chicago with my family. That's when Jasper met Alice and they instantly hit it off. It was funny to see how hesitant he was around me when he asked if he could date my sister. Why would I say no? Jazz was a complete gentleman and Alice was enraptured by him. So it wasn't soon after that year's Christmas that he proposed and they got married. I was sad to say that his duty to the SEALs had brought him away from his now pregnant wife. Alice was close to giving birth and I felt depressed that neither I nor Jasper could be there for her. No matter how annoying my little sister could be I'd always love her and it sucked that I'd have to miss the birth of my niece or nephew. At least my parents would be there for her.

Now Emmett McCarty was a whole other story. His reason for joining the US Army was, and I quote: "To pick up chicks! Dude, the ladies dig a man in a uniform." Ah Em. A man of many words. But I had to give him credit, he was loyal and even though he looked rough on the outside he was a complete gushy guy on the inside. Not so much the romantic but enough to get him a tall, leggy, blond named Rosalie. I had to admit, she was gorgeous but defiantly not my type. I preferred brunettes. I would say a friend of his suggested the Navy SEALs to him but it was more of a bet since that's what a lot of Emmett's friends were like. It seems he won the bet.

"No movement?" Mamun asked me as he moved to sit beside me on the wall. I shook my head at him. Mamun Iman (or Moony as we liked to call him) was a very good friend of mine and had been since we had met in Iraq a few years before when the American and British militaries decided to meet up for training. He was born in Afghanistan so it was good to have him on my team as both a translator and a medic. After he turned twenty he'd saved up enough money to move out of the Middle East and called England home instead where he got his major in medicine. It had been difficult to learn a new language on the side but now he was fluent in Dari, Arabic and English after living in London for over ten years. He was even married and had three children back home. He had quite a full and happy life so why he had decided to join the British SAS* was lost to me. He told me because it was his country that was under attack and he would always be attached to his birth place, even when he called England home. I couldn't fight with him about it so when he was told he was needed in Tembo Bara I was first to step up and offer him a position in our troop. And of course he accepted because he was sitting beside me at that very moment.

"Well it should be hurried," he said with that proper voice of his. I don't even think I've heard Mamun swear in all my life. He didn't even say 'damn it'. I looked back at him with a frown. "Michael looks like he might explode at any moment." I looked past him to see Newton trembling against the far wall, his gun held tightly in his hands.

Mike Newton, the lowest link in my team. Everyone was and still is confused as to what happened to him. When training to become a SEAL, Mike had been Superman. He was top of his class and everything but when he finally graduated and was put into a real mission he just froze up. He was like a fucking deer in the headlights. I couldn't count how many times I'd questioned the higher official's why he was still in my team. I think they were as confused as I was about his complete one-eighty. They'd tested him back in the States many times and he passed every one of them with flying colours. His only problem was fighting in a foreign country, which was pretty much ninety-nine percent of a SEALs career. Emmett had insisted we call him Dick until he finally proved himself but I, of course, had to put a stop to that. I didn't want to loose my position because one of my team members was being harassed like we were all back in grade school. A perfect example as to how childish Emmett was.

I merely rolled my eyes and looked back at the building, pulling out my NVGs* and ignoring the cowering Mike. "He's fine," I muttered. "It shouldn't be any longer."

"You said that half an hour ago," Jasper called as he continued his card game.

"Yeah well half an hour ago you wouldn't keep your yap shut," I answered.

There was finally silence on the rooftop, only the constant flick, flick of Jasper and Emmett's card's was heard along with our quiet breathing. Suddenly there was a rumbling sound, kind of like an engine, that made us all freeze. I narrowed my eyes at the ally next to the building we were watching. Headlights lit the area as a jeep came rocketing out and down the main dirt road. "Get down!" I hissed and we all hit the deck as the jeep flew past our hide out. We waited for over two minutes as the sounds faded away into the distance and left us in silence again. I was the first to raise my head and look over the wall, noticing the tire tracks in the dirt but no other movement. "Pack up your shit," I muttered. "We're going in."

Throwing my small backpack over my shoulder, I moved into a crouch as the others gathered their things and crawled closer to create a circle. "Right," I muttered as they looked to me for the plan. "We're going in quiet. Might be a few men left behind on guard. Em, Jazz, take Moony with you and go around the back to scope it out. Newton, you're with me out front. Radio in when you get clearance."

They all nodded, their faces serious now, before getting up and heading for the stairs. Newton followed along after them leaving me to cover the rear. I already had my rifle ready and loaded so all I had to do was raise it and fire. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that. Jasper seemed to be in the front, scoping out the surrounding area before taking his team across the road to the building. A perfect example as to why he was my second in command. I overtook Newton and he stood close as we hid behind our hide out's stone walls. It gave me a clear picture of Jazz, Em, and Moony sneaking their way towards the back of our targeted building. In the pitch black of the night in this small village which was without street lights it was difficult for anyone to see anything. That's when night vision came in handy.

The three men disappeared from my view and I held my breath as the silence continued around us. I was always this uptight when it came to my teams lives. If they were at risk, I felt at risk.

Suddenly my radio crackled to life. I grabbed it off my belt and held it close to my ear, my eyes still roving the street. "Clear." Jasper's southern drawl came in.

"Roger," I murmured into the device before stuffing it back on my belt and moving forward, gun raised. I felt Newton follow after me as I jogged quickly across the road to press my back against the buildings wall. I could feel my heart thumping with adrenaline. It was like a high most of us got off on. Moving slowly towards the corner of our targeted building I saw a light coming from up ahead. Two voices made me even more hesitant as I slowed my pace, my gun still raised. I needed a surprise to catch them off guard. One wrong move and this whole situation could turn into a cluster fuck*. They're voices seemed carefree and unaware of our presence so I had to guess that their guns were lowered. I inched my way along until I was right beside the corner. If I moved anymore I'd be in the light and easily seen.

Taking a breath I stepped out, announcing my presence with my rifle trained on them. They responded instantly and went to grab their discarded weapons. "Ah!" I crowed and they stopped before giving in and raising their hands. Moony suddenly showed up behind them and I was glad he was there. I didn't speak a word of Arabic and he was fluent. I nodded and he began to explain what they were to do. They did what we asked without protest and handed over their weapons before getting on their knees with their hands on their heads.

It was depressing to see these young boys being pulled into the line of fire. You couldn't blame them for what they were doing. They thought they were doing something right and helping their country. They just didn't understand the damage that they were actually inflicting. It would never be these boys fault. They were just the followers that knew no better. Got caught up in the wrong crowd.

Moony told me their leader had gone off on the jeep convoy and was to return in a few hours to collect what was in the building. It was obvious he would not be coming back after hearing his hide out has been compromised but I did wonder what they had in the room. They're leader carried the key to the only door so that meant it had to be taken by force.

I tried kicking it in twice until the third attempt proved victorious and I was admitted inside. I still kept my gun raised, unable to know what lay inside until I could pull my flash light off of my belt. The place smelled like road kill so it was no wonder why it was used to house things rather than people. Flipping on my flashlight I looked around the small room to find it stacked full with weapons. Rifles, shotguns, grenades. This place was loaded. It was evident the room was void of human life but filled to the brink with machines.

"Bingo," Em muttered from the door, coming to join me inside while Jazz, Moony and Newton kept watch.

Moving the flashlight along the boxes of ammunition I noticed something I'd never seen before. "Em," I called as I stood over the curious looking objects. The goofy ass was also our resident ace on weapons so I knew he had to have some clue as to what these things were.

He came to my side and I nodded towards the box full of them. Hesitantly he reached in and picked up one of the objects to roll it around in his hands. It seemed to be a very out of date cell phone that was spray painted a bright blue. "Detonators," Emmett said as he continued to carefully look it over. "I can't tell if they're set to a bomb or not."

I sighed and shook my head before muttering my thanks and going into my pocket to pull out the high tech phone given to me. "I'm calling back to base," I told him. "We'll get them to pick up all this shit."

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Slang:

SEALs – United States Navy SEALs (Sea, Air, Land Forces.)

BUD/S – (Basic Underwater Demolitions) Navy SEALs physical training designed to develop and test their stamina, leadership, and ability to work as a team. Search 'BUD/S training' on YouTube for a look into the life of a training Navy SEAL. It's brutal.

SAS – British (Special Air Service). Kind of like the US Navy SEALs.

NVGs – Night Vision Goggles

Cluster Fuck – Military term where nothing will go right

Locations:

Tembo Bara – Imaginary African country located in the original country of Eritrea (eastern tip of the African continent by Sudan, Ethiopia and the Red Sea). Basically Swahili for "elephant land." Eritrea is very small and is mostly populated by Muslims and Christians but in Tembo Bara the Muslims will outnumber the other religions for purposes to the story. The country was colonized by Italy in 1890 which is why I called one of the cities Port Italia (there is no such place in Eritrea). It is scrubland or desert with some grassland and grazing area's, which 80% of the population farm and herd on. Although some things may be similar between Tembo Bara and Eritrea nothing I write should be used against the real country. Tembo Bara and everything in it is MADE UP. I'm just using some geographical and cultural bits from Eritrea. NONE of the civil war in Tembo Bara happened in Eritrea.

Pemoja - The little village in this chapter. Means 'together' in Swahili.

Author's Note:

1. Just to clear this up, this story is not an attack against Muslims or Middle Easterners. I happen to know people from that religion or culture and they're amazingly kind. Stereotyping someone is wrong and I hope that this story does not offend anyone. If so I am terribly sorry and if it does offend you please private message me and tell me so and I'll take the story down.

2. I LOVE MAMUN! He is probley my favourite character that I've created. His name is Arabic origin and means 'trustworthy'. I thought it'd be cute to add him in.

3. Yes, I am allowing swearing in this story! Isn't it exciting?! Well I thought to myself that these are grown men in the middle of a dangerous conflict. Everything is not going to be all hunky dory and innocent now is it? This story is going to be a little more mature than my previous ones so if you don't like it, tough luck sugar! I'm growing up and taking in everything that comes with becoming an adult, the good and the bad. But sadly there will be no lemons. Haven't experienced it, won't write it yet. Sorry.

4. I know absolutely nothing about guns, weapons and military. I've never held a gun in my life and I don't plan to. I'm using the internet to look up stuff about this but if you reviewers know that I'm doing something wrong then let me know and give me your wisdom!

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