H-Hour

H-Hour is the first mission in Danger Close: Art of War.

Characters

 * Private Samuel Ruiz
 * Corporal Mike McDonnell
 * Private Zayden Johns
 * Sergeant Ronald Mill
 * Captain Shawcross
 * Randomly generated NPCs

Mission
Day one of the invasion. A 500,000-strong coalition force led by the US military crossed the Saudi Arabian border into Iraq. The USMC 1st Recon Battalion deployed infantry via UH-1Y Venom helicopters.

Private Samuel Ruiz from 1st Recon Bn. looked outside the window to see dozens of helicopters escorted by fighter jets converge on the port city of Umm Qasr, Iraq's only deep-sea port. "All the civilians have been evacuated and there's only one battalion-sized infantry unit defending the city. Intel says there's no armour in the city. We expect this to be an easy mission but keep your eyes peeled and move carefully, don't let your guard down just because we're not expecting heavy resistance." Captain A. Shawcross, commander of Ruiz's company, affirmed.
 * - "Hey Sarge, why exactly are we in Iraq again? Is this what voting Independent gets you?." Private Ruiz sardonically commented to his CO, Sgt. Mill.
 * - "Remember the massacre in the Panagiot Oil Complex? 152 Americans killed, all by Al-Namir's death squads?. Yeah..."
 * - "Geez, I don't know Sarge, do you really believe that's how it went down? Lots of things don't add up from that story... It may be hard to believe, but we've been fighting these guys on and off for longer than I've been alive; every single time there's a new reason for it, too."

The helicopter finally reached its objective, and Ruiz and company rappelled down from the helicopter. Ruiz cocked his HK416 and stood vigilant as the rest of his unit finished deploying. Private Ruiz was a young recruit hailing from New York City. He and his parents had recently immigrated from the Dominican Republic when the 9/11 attacks occurred, and both his parents were afflicted with serious health issues as a result of the asbestos. Pledging to prevent those events from unfolding again, Ruiz enlisted in the Marine Corps and hoped to participate in the war against terror. Months later, however, Ruiz would find himself fighting war against a sovereign nation that - as far as he was concerned - did not cause any harm to him or his country.

The Marines stood vigilant on the derelict town of Umm Qasr, almost entirely flat save for the gantry cranes and the towering stacks of shipping containers on the other side of a chain-link fence on the USMC deployment site. Infantrymen ran back and forth setting up defensive positions and ordinance.