In 2006, the shock and awe campaign of securing the major cities had ended, and the Iraq War had moved into an alien phase for the clandestine operators of Blackflag-1. Their motto "swift, silent, deadly," the Marine operators of 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion were not intended for conventional warfare but they were now tasked with holding the Zaidon region of Iraq. In this deadly zone, where even Saddam would not send his most elite troops, the operators were faced with the war on a new front; fierce local tribes who proclaimed they would kill any who entered their lands, foreign insurgents or Marines alike.