T.A.C.P. ( Sasha )

Outside of Camp Rhino, Afghanistan in the Registan Desert. July 5th, 2002:

SSgt. Andrew Culpepper, Affectionately called Magilla trudging through a fifteen mile short range patrol mission, saw this cute little creature sun bathing on a rock. His shadow covered it but it didn't move. Andrew smiled and started talking to it. He finally coaxed it to walk onto his hand he gently placed it in his front pocket patting it lightly saying, "It's ok Sasha, One day you will be grown."

Two years later..

The morning mist of fog hangs low in the camp. Lights from the camp randomly flash here and there. Magilla looked up to see SSgt. Tom Riley walking his way. He gripped Sasha's leash and pulled her back a few feet as Tom walked up on them. Tom stopped short when he saw Sasha and stepped back three steps. He looked down and said," Really Magilla? How much did you pay for that harness? Did the brass really give you the go ahead with that?" Andrew smiled and said." Sasha can move IED by her self. So, yes, brass gave me the go ahead." Tom cringed slightly and said," Ok then, carry on my huge friend." Riley stepped back from the duo and didn't turn his back for at least 20 feet and went to the mess.

The cook was standing on the line talking to people as they went through the line getting their food. " Come on Riley, the Black Mamba has,50 to 1 odds." Tom shook his head and said," I got a hundred on Sasha." Peter was a little miffed and responded," There's no way Riley! Sasha can't beat the Black Mamba!" Riley smirked and said," When is the battle?" Peter huffed a bit and said," It's gonna be around back behind the showers after evening mess. Probably 10 when we get done with side work." Tom smiled and grabbed his food and morning coffee and went to sit down with his team.

Magilla came hurrying in and grabbed a salad and went back out quickly. He turned around and said. “I have to feed Sasha's food so it's nice and fat when she eats it.” Everyone got up and followed Magilla out to the outer alcove , just in time to see him feed the rat that was supposed to be the black Mamba's supper. Then everyone started laughing as they now understood what the big guy was saying. Magilla had no doubt that Sasha would be able to conquer the snake whatsoever and wanted to make sure the snakes last meal of Rat was fed well before ending up in Sasha's stomach right along with the snake.

The cook started taking more bets when the General came over to see what was going on and growled.” What in the Sam tarnation is going on over here?” Magilla nodded and said,” Good to see you sir. I was just feeding the Black Mamba's last meal it's last meal of delicious veggies so Sasha doesn't get sick from just any ole thing. You know she is going to kill the mamba. She has defeated everything we have pitted against her. She is Magnificent. Sir.” General Blackwell smiled softly and said,” I like your enthusiasm, I got 100 on Sasha.” The cook came over to the general and held his hand out almost smugly but he did not make eye contact with the old guy. Blackwell said ,” When?” Peter responded after dinner mess about ten o'clock Sir, behind the showers because the light is bright out there.”

Camp Rhino 22:00.

The bright lights shone down upon the two cages as Magilla pulled Sasha out of her cage. And Peter yelled,” In this corner we have weighing in at 5 pounds 13 ounces is Sasha The Magnificent! Everyone looked down to see the largest Camel Spider anyone of them had ever seen, wearing a bright pink chihuahua's harness. On the side of the harness said,” Military Working Spider, Do Not Touch.” IED Specialist Sasha.” Magilla picked her up and said,” Alright girl, You just gotta do what you do and kill that snake and then we can get you some beautiful cats or birds to eat ok?” The huge spider lifted up her front legs and stretched them and she tapped his chest lightly with the right one. Then the creature appeared to give the huge gorilla of a man a hug. Then she turned and hissed and screamed this spine curdling scream and flipped down onto the dirt and poised herself for attack.

Peter had a few of his friends wrangle the Black Mamba out of his cage and onto the dirt. Immediately it coiled around itself into a ball and feigned invisibility. Sasha stalked around it barely seeming to move. Then she covered herself up with dirt and struck a pose and waited for the snake to uncoil itself so she could leap to it's back and sever the spine with her very sharp teeth. The snake darted away from her several times but she always seemed to get the upper hand then in one final swift movement Sasha flipped up and pounced on the back of the snake wrapping her long legs around it and sinking her fangs into the spine at the back of its head and started chewing. Within minutes she had severed the Black Mamba's head from its body and it lay twitching in her legs as she began to consume her prize.

Everyone seemed to be shocked that the snake had lost . They had underestimated the power of a Camel Spider. No Marine in their right mind would have ever bonded with this sort of creature. Somehow ,Andrew and Sasha were two peas in the same pod. She slept at the foot of his bed in her own bed that he hand sewed for her. She lived in her crate when he was working, And in times of need she would be used to hunt out the IED's and she would pull them out to be disarmed. While being called a spider, Sasha is really a tailless scorpion.

Three days later, Magilla had Sasha on a leash walking the perimeter of the camp when she sensed something wasn't right. She stopped and hissed and screamed like something was hurting her. The device was emitting a frequency that hurt her spider ears. Magilla ques his com and said,” Spectre 1 this is Magilla here. We need a disposal team out near the water tower. Apparently someone was out here trying to destroy our water supply and Sasha found it. Send Ruthie too, because it could go off . It won't kill my girl here but it could mess me up a bit.” Riley smirked slightly and said as he motioned for Ruthie to get ready.” Drew, it's ok man. Sasha is the best bomb sniffer we have. Just back away enough to give it enough of a blast radius until we get there. Give us like 5 minutes to get everything together.” Magilla picked up his spider and cradled her in his arms as he pulled out a tiny doll sized pair of ear puffs. He snugly slipped them on her head and she immediately relaxed, “ Shhh, honey, you are such a good girl. Let's put you down now.” He put her down and she scrambled up his leg to his thigh holding on for dear life. As he looked down at the ground, he realized that he was standing in the center of a mine field. Some jackass thought it was funny to secretly put a mine field around the only water source the base had for miles. This wasn't good. He ques the com again,” Spectre 1, scratch just one ied man, I am standing in the middle of a mine field with my spider strapped to my leg in fear. We need some dogs, a helicopter, something! Get me out of here!” He yelled into the mic. When suddenly, Sasha jumped down and began moving slowly. Then she would stop and turn. About that time Ruthie yelled at him from the fence line. Stick something in the ground to show where the mine is and follow her out.” Magilla reached in his pocket for the blue flags he always carried in there and popped one in the ground. Sasha led him out of the mine field and let him pick her up at the end. He said," I never thought she would lead me out of them like a dog would. He placed her up on his shoulder to ride there while he did what he needed to do before heading back to his container. Within minutes, the whole bomb crew was out there pulling the mines and putting them safer distances from the camp. Late into the night the bright lights from the Bradley fighting vehicles shone down on everyone working.