Into the Gulf: Farewells, Scuds & a Desert QRF Ambush, SAS Drivers, Int Cell & The Beast

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Chapter Thirty-One carries The Parallel Four from the quiet pain of family farewells to the sand-blown chaos of the First Gulf War. After a wrenching goodbye, the team mobilises: Vinka & Marlin head into the Intelligence Cell (maps, intercepts, strike timings), while Stephen & Johan up-scale at Hereford, take charge of an Unimog nicknamed “The Beast,” and roll with a half-squadron of Pinky Land Rovers. From Brize Norton to a cavernous C-5 Galaxy, then straight into the UAE and onward to the Saudi–Iraq border under air-raid sirens and Scud alerts, the tempo never lets up.

Mission brief: slip behind enemy lines, cut comms, smash infrastructure, disrupt and disappear. In the black of the desert, the lads guard the FRV… until a QRF barrels in. Cue a berserker countercharge: GPMG roaring, M203 thumping, vehicles going WHUMP in fireballs—and a patrol saved. The aftermath? Quiet nods, a fast exfil, and a hard-earned Military Medal each.

This episode blends combat driving, SAS Int, desert logistics, and the brittle humour of soldiers at war—tea in dented mugs, letters from home, and stars over a hostile horizon.

The Parallel Four Book Two Chapter Thirty One

Writing The Parallel Four has been a journey in itself—a walk through memories, dreams, and all the little moments that shape who we become. Some parts of this story are true. Some are truer than I’d care to admit. And some—well, let’s just say they’re inspired by what might’ve happened if life had taken a different turn.

The characters you’ll meet in these pages—Stephen, Johan, Vinka, Marlin, Tim, and Petra—are fictional, but they live and breathe with the spirit of real people I’ve known, loved, and lost. Their world is stitched together from scraps of real places, actual events, and a few wild yarns that got better with each retelling down the pub.

Poplar, Hitchin, and the snowy reaches of Sweden aren’t just backdrops—they’re characters in their own right. They’ve shaped this story as much as the people in it. And if you happen to recognise a place, a turn of phrase, or a certain kind of mischief from your own youth… well, consider that my nod to you.

This first book takes us from scraped knees to stolen kisses, from playground politics to life’s first real goodbyes. It’s about growing up, making mistakes, and finding the people who’ll stand by you no matter what—even if they sometimes drive you round the bend.

To those who remember the ‘50s and ‘60s—this one’s a memory jogger. To the younger lot—it’s a peek into a time when life moved slower, but feelings still ran just as fast.

And finally, to Stephen, Johan, Vinka, Marlin, Tim, and Petra—six hearts bound by the wonder of first love. Not the fleeting kind that fades with time, but the rare and lasting kind that deepens, steadies, and endures—a love that grows with them, becoming part of who they are, and who they will always be. And though this is only the beginning, the road ahead will test them in ways they cannot yet imagine—through training, through battle, and through the choices that will shape the rest of their lives.

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