Memoirs of a war torn land

Discussion in 'Worldbuilding' started by Ikalx, Nov 9, 2007.

  1. Ikalx

    Ikalx Member

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    {This is just a little something I cooked up because I was feeling in the mood. It might not be great because I fail alot...but I think it's decent. Not sure how well it fits into the empires scene, so it'll prolly need correction.}

    My mother always used to say; “No one goes to the war, it comes to them.” Of course I didn’t really understand what she meant back then. Living in the green belt far from the Brenodi and Jekotian lines, the war couldn’t have been further from our minds.

    My dad was a hunter, one of the best…or is it just because I idolised him that I see him this way? He hunted everything from the buck that roamed the forests freely to the lions fighting on the steppes. I once saw him leap onto the back of a wild stallion and bring him to heel in just a few short moments. In those days he used to shun technology and say that beasts were meant to be bested by skill and cunning rather than firepower. Those days I spent stalking in the undergrowth along side him, drawstring taut and feathers brushing my cheek brought out a talent in me that I have yet to find in anything else.

    I never really knew what my mother did. Sure she was good with machines, able to fix just about anything with her trusty pair of wire-cutters and a roll of duct tape, but I guess I never really knew why until that last day.

    We don’t take sides. As a general rule, those that live on the frontier try not to get involved. So it came as a complete surprise the day a Brenodi troop turned up, fully armed and with an AFV in tow…years later and I still don’t know what that stands for.

    They said they were lost and asked for some supplies and a map. Naturally we were worried, but in a small community of less than fifty families, the chance against trained soldiers and an armoured vehicle are slim. We decided to supply them and let them be on their way quickly, still I wonder if we were fools to hide the younger children in the underground shelter…maybe if they had been there…

    I wonder what the commander must have thought looking over us – eighty people with the youngest ‘child’ older than twelve. I wonder if that’s why he was so quick to judge, seeing a Jekotian advance force in hiding, ready to fall on any unprotected Brenodi settlement, rather than what we were – a simple village trying to make the best out of the frontier.

    I can still see it now, vividly, after all this time…I sometimes think my children will see it in their inherited memories; the half-a-minute conversation with the under officer, the chaingun rolling up, a man’s shout, my father moving quickly – faster than I’d ever seen.

    Two fingers extended towards the closest Brenodi trooper, a coughing gurgle as that trooper’s throat collapses under the pressure of the blow, while a sweep sends another crashing down to the ground. A diving roll across the body while he whips up a sub-machine gun, my elation – my father is invincible, unstoppable as he takes aim…my heart shudders, stops.

    Four bullets from four different directions thud into him with a sick wet sound, he falls and his last look is fear, blind fear for me, I know. Those few short seconds and the chaingun opens fire. People are ripped to shreds for what seems an eternity as I sprint away to the side.

    All of five seconds pass before a jeep comes racing up from the corner of my vision and slams into the AFV, igniting in a gigantic burst of flame. My mother appears like an immortal from the wreckage, wearing a multi-hued brown uniform that I’d never seen before, a rifle in her hands. Her eyes are firm and determined with no sense of fear or emotion as she snaps off shots from the rifle. Every bullet hits its mark.

    Soon the smoke clears, the ‘slaughterfield’ is still. My mother turns and spies me hunkering behind a low stone wall. She smiles in relief as she sees me…and she is still smiling when the bullet enters her right temple. Any time I falter, I just close my eyes and see that smile, urging me on, urging me to live.

    The next moment is a blur. There’s something in my hands and a scream of pure hatred on my lips as I throw it as hard as my fourteen year old body can. The fishing spear sails through the air, straight as a lightning bolt and punches right through the Brenodi officer’s chest as my shout dies away. He topples like a broken toy.

    There’s nothing much more to tell. I buried my mother and father next to each other behind our house, took my mother’s infantry badge and pistol and set off for Jekotia the next day. I remember I cried a lot as I put an old picture in my front jacket pocket, but as I left my home forever my cheeks were dry.

    Turns out my mother had been a specialist soldier who had left war behind her after one battle too many and I had no problem being placed in a respectable division after I told the recruiter my story. I said I wanted justice and he just looked at me, nodded, and extended his hand. “Welcome to the Jekotian brotherhood.” He said as I shook it.
     
    Last edited: Jan 7, 2008
  2. L3TUC3

    L3TUC3 Member

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    Pretty cool short story. Maybe you could expand it annd save it for an english class or something.
     
  3. Private Sandbag

    Private Sandbag Member

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    yeah that's a great story.
     
  4. DonMegel

    DonMegel Member

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    I love that, very creative and well written. You want to write some more?
     
  5. Ikalx

    Ikalx Member

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    Ikalx@mildlyintoxicated.
    Lol, i'm not sure if that's sarcasm because I failed english twice ^^ The story's not finished...I actually was supposed to snap back to the future but after two hours of writing I fail at concentration. I was surprised I got so into it after just thinking about it yesterday, but I guess as I fail at sustained writing, short new stuff works well fer me.

    Don, I don't want to step on your guys toes so if you've got other NF stuff outthere just point it out to me wouldya?
     
  6. Niarbeht

    Niarbeht Member

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    If you failed English twice, it just means that your education system SUCKS!

    I had goosebumps, man. That was well-written. I suggest you go slap those English teachers a couple times, they were probably just jealous.
     
  7. DonMegel

    DonMegel Member

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    Well the official Empires story in the forum (its a sticky) has a great number of NF and BE stories. Would love to include yours over there too. It is very well writen and made me want to know what happens next, kind of like when your favorite show goes off and you have to wait an entire week before it comes on again.
     
  8. arklansman

    arklansman Member

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    Or it wasn't creative writing. :P
     
  9. Ikalx

    Ikalx Member

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    That's the one...I fail at essay writing - if it's not creative I tend to go scientific with bullet point style :rolleyes:

    I'm part way through the official story, it's a bit difficult for me to read block text in the forum (prolly just the font and dark background), though I would like to take a couple nf guys and just run with it abit, and because I don't quite know the layout of the forces I might need a bit of help placing them in the right spot. The way I see it, Empires is a whole world, so I won't be using the play maps as a basis, i'll just be in all the in-between places.

    I'd love for you to put this in the main thread, but i'd like to see if I can get at least two more parts done for you first...assuming I can do it. I saw you post so regularly...I can't hardly write unless I feel in the mood, and it comes and goes like a yo-yo :|

    Still thanks guys, I was expecting a fairly lukewarm reception...I don't think that many people realise that writers need massive ego stroking to motivate them :p
     
  10. DonMegel

    DonMegel Member

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    Sure, make another couple posts if it makes you feel better. Any specific questions just PM me. You dont have to use maps, make up places, I do. Just keep in mind the officail world map and use those places as refrence; Glycen and the Badlands are in the north, Koln and the ancient city are in the middle, and, well, I dont know what city is in the south but its near the islands. Dont contridict anything in the main story and you'll do fine.

    just to say again, love your story.
     
  11. Ikalx

    Ikalx Member

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    There are so many different things and people in a Jekotian encampment, reminiscent more of a bazaar than any kind of military movement. I guess it’s down to the families - you put troops in an area, you expect a certain kind of discipline, but when those troops bring their mothers, brothers, fathers, daughters…second cousins, well you get the point.

    Would you believe I once ran into a guy who was convinced the Bren’s were secretly developing walkers and were about to wipe us all out? I told the guy that wars were fought with tanks and blood and fire trailing across the sky, not mechs. I mean that’s science fiction right? And then he wowed me. Turns out this guy had a whole set of plans drawn out for mechs, with pistons and turbines, and even interchangeable weapons and chassis. Some of the things he talked about hadn’t even been invented yet.

    Well I took him down to an engineer friend of mine right there and then, I didn’t want a genius who actually scaled his imagination down to the millimetre to be working for the other side. I hadn’t the heart to tell him that Jekotian construction just isn’t that precise and the Brenodi guys wouldn’t be able to…

    “It’s not bad Sel, you’ll live.” His mind snapped back to the present, the sonic sounds of artillery bombardment flying overhead and the gunfire ricochets off armour plating filling his ears once again.

    “If I’m not dying, you bloody well better help me to my feet. I’ve got a job to do.” Sel said, struggling to his knees and ignoring the pain of the patched hole just above his left hip.

    The medic helped him to his feet. “Take it easy on the movement; cover fire and marksman duty only for today at least.” He handed Sel a small bundle of syringes. “Stimulants, you’ve used them before right? Not more than one every two hours.”

    Sel took them from him and put them in his inner jacket pocket, next to his photo. He grinned at the medic “Thanks Mike, see you on the other side,” and ducked under the tent flag.

    “That’s not funny!” Mikes shout followed him as he once again entered the fray. He looked up and watched a particularly violent dogfight between a blood red Jekotian fighter and a steel blue Brenodi gunship. The NF ship took some flak from the Bren dual chainguns before spiralling straight up, spinning about its nose and punching two heavy missiles into the gunships rear engines. The Bren ship went down in a blaze of fire and burning bits of metal ripping off it in all directions. Sel chuckled to himself and then laughed out loud when the fighter released a purple coloured flare into the air above.

    “If I keep hanging around like this, drinks will be on me tonight!” Sel laughed as he spied his squad further up the battlefield alongside some NF heavies that were moving in on the Brenodi front outpost. Running to the nearby jeep, he spied his lightweight next-gen powered rifle and threw it in the passenger seat as he fired up the vehicle.

    Speeding down the open plain, Sel was pleased to note the new reflective armour was managing to negate most of the damage done by the missile turrets that the Bren’s seemed to love to place. The Brenodi tanks were being out manoeuvred on the open plains and the Jekotian forces were in the process of handily defeating them. Looking up again, he swore as he spied a huge tank carrier coming into view. It was taking fire from the NF fighters but their firepower was limited and the heavy layers of composite armour on the Brenodi ship was taking little damage.

    As he neared his squad, he noticed the Brenodi’s large anti-aircraft gun was still intact – NF agents had disabled it earlier but it seemed to have avoided sustaining large amounts of damage from the arties that had been pounding the outpost for half a day. He reached his squad and hopped out of the jeep. “Nod!” He shouted to his sergeant.

    Nod ran over from where he had been ranging for the mortars. “Suh?”

    “We’re heading for the Brenodi’s AA tower because of that.” Sel pointed at the tank carrier.

    Nod swore when he saw it. “Lord! Is that thing full of nukes?”

    “Most likely,” Sel Agreed “I’m taking the newbie with me, let’s show him how the Jekotians do things. You lot come in the APC – make sure Rick gets geared up properly this time, I don’t wanna have to dig you guys out of a mine hole again.”

    “Roger!” Nod nodded and then was off. One of the best sergeants around and a godsend to the squad, his real name was Paul Handeragen but was known far and wide simply as ‘Nod’ for his characteristic “nod and get things done” approach to soldiering.

    “Rookie! Hey Zack, get over here!” Sel cupped his hands and hollered to an engineer with one hand trying to build a wall and the other trying to shield his face from the sparks. Zack stopped building with visible relief and ran over to him, leaping and hurdling bits of shrapnel and even the mortar team in his path. Zack would one day make a great rifleman, if Sel could keep him alive until then…or if the war was still going on. Heh, one can dream right?

    “Yessir!” The rookie saluted.

    “We’re gonna go see if we can appropriate that anti-aircraft gun the Bren’s seem to still have. I’ll drive, you cover me…and for god’s sake keep you bloody helmet on this time.” Sel leapt into the Jeep and Zack clambered in. He had the standard issue submachine gun. “Don’t use that piece of crap, use my gun. Don’t forget to switch it on or the bloody thing won’t fire.” Sel said handing the rookie his rifle.

    Sel picked up his 2-way while the rookie handled his gun in awe. “Hey sanders, Sel here. We need a hole in that Brenodi wall, see if we can’t do something about that carrier coming in.”

    The radio crackled “It’s as good as done.” There was a short pause and then a Heavy to the west of them fired two massive High Explosive shells at the protective base wall surrounding the outpost. The wall visibly melted to form a tank sized hole. “Good luck” crackled over the radio as Sel switched the jeep into overdrive and it pelted across the battlefield heading for the hole.

    A grenadier rocket zoomed out from the sides and followed the jeep for a short way before impacting just behind as Sel swerved. “Gren 2 o’clock!” Sel barked at Zack. The rookie took aim and three shots sounded, the grenadier fell away. “Wow, the shots go exactly where I aim!” Zack exclaimed.

    “Here comes the hard part.” Sel said as infantry began to open fire on the jeep from the hole in the wall. Zack returned fire and the air was filled with the noise of gunshot while in the air above them the fighters rained fire upon the carrier to delay it dropping its precious cargo. An arty shot went wide and cleared the wall in front of them raining death upon the infantry below.

    And then they were through. The jeep sped past the hole and slammed into the armoury just as Sel slammed on the breaks. The shock rocked the vehicle, but with its heavy rollcage there were no injuries inside. Sel shook his head, swept up the rookie’s smg and returned fire *rat-a-tat tat-tat* with the engineers who were still alive after the arty shelling. “Return fire dammit!” Sel screamed at Zack who was still shaking his head groggily after the crash.

    Zack picked up the rifle and was just returning fire as the APC with the rest of the squad cleared the hole and swerved into the outpost. The squad bailed while the APC’s heavy chaingun opened fire to give them cover. A plucky Brenodi rifleman with a sticky grenade ran out of the barracks to the APC, Zack brought him down with three shots to the torso.

    The others were returning fire by now, Rick was laying mines around the APC and the twins were deconstructing the Rax, while Nod and Sangaia laid down cover fire. The Rax went down spewing fire in all directions and Sel grabbed Zack and propelled him towards the anti aircraft tower as he began to run himself.

    An engineer appeared from within a radar and Sel shot him down. Other infantry appeared from within the vehicle factory and began to take pot-shots at the Jekotian troops running across the field. Zack returned fire and one of Sangaia’s shots came from behind them to punch into a Bren’s neck. They finally reached the tower, gunfire beat around the entrance as Sel kicked in the door, Zack spraying desperately.

    Inside they slammed the door shut and wedged the console’s chair under it. “Hold this door and don’t let anything get through until that ship goes down, Corporal.” Sel said. Zack smiled widely at his sudden promotion, he had been hit in his right arm but that hadn’t seemed to slow him down at all and Sel could still see the gleam of battle fever in his eyes.

    Sel ran over to the console, or at least tried to. Putting his hand to his side it came away bloody – his wound had opened again. “Well, no help for it” he thought as he punched in the officer override code to disable the sabotage lock on the system. He hobbled over to the gunners’ chair and had just got himself strapped in as the ceiling on the tower opened and the chair began to rise. Debris from above rained down on him and he shielded his face from it with his hands. He winced as a piece struck his wound, even through the Kevlar it hurt.

    And then he was up, the guns were online and he swivelled the chair around to target the carrier which had almost come into position for the tank drop. He swore a couple of times as the Brenodi ally lock prevented him from targeting the ship and punched in a few more codes to disable it. By now the carrier had started its drop and the first of the nuke tanks had fired its payload. Too soon after the drop and the nuke impacted harmlessly on the wall of the compound, failing to detonate because of friendly recognition.
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2013
  12. Ikalx

    Ikalx Member

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    Sel began to fire and the anti aircraft gun barrels let out a deafening cacophony as the dual barrels let off round after round of ammunition at the carriers engines. The carrier began to wallow in the air as its capacity for air travel decreased and Sel focused on the next set of engines. The carrier began to go down and the fighters began to take advantage of its inability to defend itself and soon it was trailing fire.

    Sel closed his eyes and once again saw that smile in his minds eye, as he opened them again the carrier crashed to the ground – on top of the two already deployed nuke tanks and exploded. Shrapnel and wreckage flew up into the air and rained down upon Brenodi and Jekotian alike for miles around. They had won!

    Sel punched in the retractor code and the seat began to lower, the ceiling to close. As he reached the bottom Zack helped him to take off the harnesses tying him to the chair. “That was amazing! We did it!” He exclaimed.

    “That’s right, we did. Remember that, a single infantry man can make the difference if he works with his team. That was me and that was you, but it’s not over yet.” Sel said as he stuck a stimulator into his leg. “Help me to the jeep.”

    Outside Nod, Greg, the twins and Sangaia were waiting with the jeep. “I figured you’d want to show him, boss.” Nod said.

    “Thanks sergeant. That was a nice shot back there Singer.” Sel said to the female marksman Sangaia.

    “Thanks chief, I’ll soon be better than you if you keep lettin’ the rookie do all the work.” She smirked at him.

    Sel smiled. “I’ll be back in a bit, see if ya’ll can’t make this place more Jekotian by the time I’ve returned.” Nod nodded. “Get in then corporal. I’ll show you what war is really about.”

    Zack looked askance but got in the jeep with him. He made to give Sel’s rifle back to him, but Sel waved his hand. “Keep it, I’ll get a better one made.”

    They drove slowly around the outpost finally reaching the main camp and the tents that housed the regular people who did all the cooking, cleaning, washing and moving of all the things that come with having a large army. As usual the area was ringed off by NF troops awaiting orders from higher up. A sergeant met him at the wall dividing the camp from the main base.

    “We figured you’d be along soon Lieutenant.” He saluted Sel and eyed Zack thoughtfully. “Nice work on the carrier, looked like it was touch-and-go for a moment there. Looks like I have both of you to thank.”

    Sel waved a hand at Zack “This is Zack, he earnt Lance Corporal for today’s work.” Sel eyed the tents “Have you found our people yet?”

    “Every one o’ them accounted for, it seems. I’ll say one thing for those Brenodi bastards, they treat their prisoners well. You’ll find everyone with any kind of rank who wasn’t an acting soldier today in the main pavilion.” The sergeant saluted again and then moved off.

    “Alright, let’s go. Bring my gun with you.” Sel said to Zack as they moved to the pavilion. Zack ran back to get the gun from the jeep and caught up with him as he was just entering the tent.

    The tent was awash with noise from the three dozen or so representatives of the couple hundred people that the encampment housed. Four NF troops with machine guns stood guard at the front creating a zone of space around them. Sel stepped into this space and waited for silence…it didn’t come. Insults about his parentage and shouts such as “Jekotian scum!” echoed around the tent for a while until Sel clicked his fingers at Zack and he handed over the rifle.

    As Sel powered on and cocked the rifle the sound melted away, the threat was palpable. “I know you’ve heard a lot about the Northern Front,” he began “but no matter what you’ve been told I can assure you of one thing; we don’t kill our prisoners.” A quiet sound of disbelief went up from the crowd. “You will all be housed as prisoners and put to work doing much the same as you are now until such time as you are ransomed or,” Sel smirked “the Brenodi take back this land. Either way you’d better get comfortable because both will be a while coming.” A loud muttering began to come from the crowd and the NF troopers readied their weapons.

    “You still have your lives however,” Sel’s voice cut through the hubbub “which is more than you thought you’d have an hour ago. You’re free to go and tell your underlings now,” Sel stopped and his next words came out with deadly calm “but if you even think about causing disruption to Jekotian forces while you are with us, you and the five people closest to you will die.”

    As Sel left the tent with Zack behind him there was dead silence from the pavilion. “You see, Zack,” Sel said suddenly “no matter what you think, we’re all human, and we all bleed and die. This war could go on for a long time and we might change a lot of our genetic makeup, but if we lose what makes us human, we will only become monsters.” Sel handed him back the rifle “Here’s your gun” and left him standing there in astonishment.
     
  13. Ikalx

    Ikalx Member

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    So...I...seriously no one liked it? I...actually thought it was good...that's...worrying...


    :dead_nf:
     
  14. DonMegel

    DonMegel Member

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    What the deuce? I thought I replyed to this one too. I think Im loosing my mind.

    I loved how fast paced it was, incorperated elements that all of us can recognize. I found it very enjoyable to read, you did well.
     
  15. Angry

    Angry Junior Member

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    Ikalx's, story is better than mine :headshot:
     
  16. Ikalx

    Ikalx Member

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    Ah you guys saved me! ^^ I thought i'd lost the thread, which is seriously no fun at all - can't write if I think it's good when it's not! I don't usually write that much in one go so it was quite possible that i'd written it all badly and thought it was good. Thanks :)
     
  17. Melee

    Melee Member

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    goddam Ikal u underestimate yourself, this story has the content of empires , armours etc and it feels personal , like I know the characters with jus the right amount of comedy, Sgt Nod lol, cool.
    now stop wat yur doin and give us more , cant wait, jus one thing keep them characters alive :)
     
  18. Ikalx

    Ikalx Member

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    Ah thanks Melee, I actually did just that, although I seem to have failed slightly. I've done the memoirs bit, but can't seem to rack up the actual/present situation part. I know what I want to write, just...out of concentration p0w4h! :(

    So tomorrow hopefully...I think i'll carry on watching 'zeitgeist' fer now ^^


    p.s. it'll be a bit of a departure from tank battles/hardcore empires...but hopefully i'll manage to incorporate some elements
     
  19. Ikalx

    Ikalx Member

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    [I don't usually write like this, and it seems a bit strange, it was supposed to be longer with more action, but I couldn't justify it with the almost off-topic theme. It doesn't fit into the Empires world really, but for some reason I couldn't really change it...it just needed to be written :confused: Give me a buzz if it's too far from the Empires world and i'll see if there's any way I can change it, if I can't i'll see about switching it with something else.]

    If there has been a saddest moment of my career in this eternal war, then I think the medal has to go to the commanding officer of my first campaign. A Captain it was, sublimely convinced of his own talent and divine right to glory. With me still earning my Lance Corporal stripe he looked like Caliphaans come back to the earth to lead us against the great defilers and I had the honour of being his aide.

    I remember he liked to plan out things on his own and give his subordinates little information on what they were getting themselves into; still he had a good track record so they questioned him little, entrusting their lives to him. I think you can already smell the way the wind is blowing on this one…

    The Northern Faction is made up of a lot of different peoples united together with similar goals with the core being the remnants the Jekotian nation. Back in those days the Jekotians had to persuade the various tribes and clans to their side of the fence, demonstrating the shared ideals and the real reason and purpose for the war.

    This particular campaign was to woo a small tribe of northerners reputed to have the physical prowess of bears. Well I don’t know about that, but they were all certainly strong, a bit crude in wolf and seal skins but with a beautiful language that could only have been passed on to them by the gods. Every nuance and intonation sounded like music whether coming from the gruffest voice imaginable or the lightest whisper; there was certainly magic in it…the kind that makes people sit and listen rather than storm off looking for an axe.

    I used to love canyon country – the rocky hills, the lovely valleys used to take my breath away…now I can’t stand the sight of it. The standard plan for this kind of area is usually find a nice pass, lure the enemy into it and then either hold it forever or rain down rocks and boulders on them until they’re convinced that invading your country is in fact -not- a good idea. Our glorious leader had decided to do just that, although he added a few alterations to the standard plan.

    We were to dig out and mine the floor of the pass, assuring an even more devastating result against the enemy. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out that way. The Brenodi troops somehow got wind of our trap and quick marched to the location, filling the pass and engaging the five hundred or so engineers and grenadiers that were preparing the trap. Apparently in the middle of the retreat word came through that the pass had been evacuated and our captain ordered an artillery bombardment of the cliff face surrounding it to collapse the wall on the enemy troops.

    More than eighteen hundred men and women died that day, three hundred and twenty eight of them Jekotian. The incident was billed as a regrettable miscommunication; the scout who relayed the information was demoted and disappeared shortly thereafter. The fallen cliff face carpeted the mined floor of the pass perfectly and our tanks rolled over to defeat the Brenodi forces in that area with hardly any casualties, but the slaughter on the demoralised Bren’s side was atrocious. So many dead…

    Surprisingly the small tribe of northerners didn’t join the cause – apparently someone had spread a malicious rumour that the lamentable sacrifice of three hundred brave Jekotians had actually been deliberate. The Captain was promoted for a job well done against the odds and sent to another area to repeat his success. He didn’t last long though; he had an unfortunate incident with a mortar which had had its shell loaded in backwards.

    It seems someone had held a grudge, someone who had lost friends in that pass, maybe someone who had been cleaning the captains’ rifle outside of his tent when the call had come in saying that the pass was full of Brenodi troops...

    Sel stopped writing, put his pen down and gazed around his tent with unseeing eyes. As white as the snow that surrounded them on all sides and stretched for miles to the constant war zone of Glycen city, looking at the canvas was almost the same as looking through it. Although nothing like his home on the frontier, or indeed the Jekotian lands, this snowy landscape seemed to smell of new beginnings and eased rest, and Sel found himself warming to it.

    Abruptly he stood up and picked up his heavy white surcoat off the back of his chair. Swinging it around his shoulders, he strapped the long knife he had since his first hunt to his leg and checked his shotgun pistol was still in his holster before reaching for the rifle he had given to Zack. When his fingers closed on nothing, he tutted to himself and let his hand fall. Thinking it over, he discarded his shotgun pistol and picked up the new, heavier Brenodi pistol he had looted from the outpost those few weeks back. After checking the sights and securing two spare clips at his belt he holstered it, buttoned up his surcoat, untied the tent flap and entered the flowing white wonder.

    Zack was outside in the gentle snowfall knocking in one of his tent pegs that had worked loose. “Not cold corporal?” Sel asked him.

    “Sir?” Zack looked up questioningly.

    “You don’t have your coat on, Zack.” Sel told him.

    Zack looked down and smiled “I guess I must have forgotten because I’m still wearing these.” Zack held up the pair of multicoloured fingerless-gloves, still on his hands.

    Sel raised his eyebrows. “Are those homemade?”

    Zack smiled, a little twinkle in his eye and then lowered his head to tap at the peg again. “I know a girl in R&D. Sometimes I think she was the reason I took engineering, although she and I never talked much.” He smiled again. “She’s just one of those people y’know? When she smiles you just can’t help smiling too. And she’s smart, so smart…I could just listen to her talk all day…” Zack coughed and blushed. “Well anyway, turns out I wasn’t so under her radar, and somehow – I don’t know how – she found out I was coming here and well…” He trailed off and smiled to himself.

    Sel patted him on the shoulder and moved on, heading for the APC. At eighteen, Zack had seemingly found what he was looking for and Sel promised himself that he would make sure the boy lived long enough to enjoy it.

    Boy? A man…Sel wondered to himself when he had gotten so old. At twenty-nine, his birthday had officially marked the point at which he had been in the military for over half his life. It seemed like he and Nod and Sangaia had been soldiering for ever even before Rick and the twins had joined them several years ago…and now Zack. The twins were off supporting the third in a drive to take Glycen, giving Sel a five man squad for the first time in a long time. Nothing would come of Glycen of course, years of fighting over the city had proved only one thing; if you had it, you were bound to lose it.

    Sel reached the APC and knocked on the heavy metal door, it made barely any sound and there was no response from within. Sel rapped his fist again, this time on the reinforced window set into the door. This time a face appeared in the window and the door slid back.

    “Sorry about that Sel.” Rick said letting Sel into the warm interior and sliding the door closed behind him. A tall man with a shock of black hair and a cheery smile, at twenty-six Rick looked exactly what he was – a happily married man with more cares than worries. Neither a grenadier nor an engineer, Rick’s passion was for vehicles; a mediocre shot with anything but the mortar, he preferred to take care of vehicular support and was a master mechanic. He was clutching some images and had headphones around his neck; on the dashboard of the APC were a half eaten sandwich and an open letter.

    “Again?” Sel asked, waving his hands at the pictures.

    Rick bobbed his head happily. “A girl. She was born in the two weeks we had off after the outpost – you remember?” He said taking another bite of his sandwich.

    “You’re going to have to give this up for a while you know.” Sel told him.

    Rick looked down at his sandwich for a moment and nodded. “I know. I guess I’ve been putting it off since I’ve been needed here, but now you have Zack…I was thinking of taking an extended leave after this mission, show my kids everything that my parents taught me, spend some time with Sahrah, you know?”

    “I’ll approve anything you want, you’ve certainly earned it.” Sel said rummaging around in the arms cabinet. “Anyway, do you know where my rifle is?”

    Rick’s head snapped up sharply. “Your old one? Why what’s happened?”

    “Singer’s not back yet.”

    Rick nodded and bent down to reach under the dashboard. “I keep it down here, just in case.” He said pulling out a long rectangular container. “Do you want me to come with?”

    Sel shook his head as he undid the clasps and lifted out the first rifle he’d had commissioned. Based on the standard issue scout model, the barrel was tapered for closer combat and the bolt switched for lever action. It had been modified to accept Teflon coated rounds and the last thing he had added was an aim point.
     
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2007
  20. Ikalx

    Ikalx Member

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    “How’s Paul doing?” Rick asked.

    “I haven’t talked to him yet.” Sel said. “If I don’t make it back, you and Zack bundle him in here and call in a company to scope the area. We don’t want any false moves.” Rick nodded. “By the way, why is it so warm in here?” Sel asked.

    “Fission reactors have their uses, I tinkered with the containment a bit.” Rick said smugly.

    “So we are being irradiated right now. Isn’t that dangerous?”

    “Well…could be,” Rick said chewing on his sandwich “if you didn’t know what you were doing.” He winked.

    “You and technology,” Sel chuckled and shook his head “Anyway, I’ll be a while…or I won’t be. You know the drill.”

    “We’ll be here when you and Singer get back, boss.” Rick waved him goodbye as Sel went out the door and back into the cold.

    Sel slung his rifle onto his back and trudged off in search of Nod, he had begun to get the feeling that time was running out and moved with more urgency. Quickly, he went over the last few days in his mind; they had been sent out to this research facility to check on a new gas that was being developed to disorientate enemy troops and reinforce the facility in the event of an enemy attack. It should have been an easy task except a day away from the facility, they had lost contact with it. Presuming a Brenodi strike, Sel and his squad had set up camp far above on an overlooking ridge while Sangaia snuck in to take a look. It shouldn’t be taking this long, Sel knew she could handle herself but had a feeling that was making him edgy and he had learned to trust such instincts.

    He found the sergeant looking over the facility and rolling a cigar back and forth between his fingers. Sangaia had once made a remark on Nod’s smoking habit and said it made him look like an old man. Consequently Nod never smoked anymore, but had a tendency to roll one between his fingers when he was worried.

    At thirty-three, Nod still had traces of the blacksmith he had been before joining the war all those years ago. His skin was still tanned and arms bulked, though his face had a slightly weathered look from hard living and his eyes sometimes carried the look of faraway sadness so apparent on those who had seen too much.

    Sel came up alongside him. “She not back yet?” Nod shook his head. “I’ll be back in a bit then. You know what to do Paul.”

    “Bring her back to me, Mark. Bring her back safe and sound.” Nod said quietly.

    Sel nodded and laid a hand silently on the big man’s shoulder before disappearing into the snow. The winding path down would take about ten minutes and Sel suddenly felt like he didn’t have that kind of time, so throwing his rifle off the ridge to the soft snow below, he slipped and slid down along the edge landing in the bank below.
    Aside from a slightly twisted ankle there seemed to be nothing else damaged, so Sel gathered up his rifle and stalked stealthily towards the facility. Halfway there Sel encountered a Brenodi collapsed face down in the snow. Turning him over, Sel gasped as he saw the massive claw mark that seemed to have caved in one ribcage. They had bears with claws as big as this in his native land, but they were friendly giants, rarely attacking humans and keeping to themselves.

    The Brenodi troop opened his eyes and coughed in a breath at Sel’s touch. “Jekotian scum,” He spat “But even you I would not send in there.” He closed his eyes and breathed in a wheezy breath.

    “What did this? Bears?” Sel asked, looking around for paw prints.

    “Bears?” The Bren let out a coughing laugh, dripping blood from his lip. “Ignorant savage! No bear in this world can kill like that. No, this was something else, something that should never have been disturbed.”

    “What was it?” Sel asked intently.

    “A friend, an enemy, I don’t know. You’ll find out soon enough!” He cackled and then pulled at Sel’s arm “Do you hear it?!”

    Sel cocked his head to listen. “Hear what? All I can hear is the wind.”

    “That’s what I thought at first…but no, no…what you hear is death. Well I’m not waiting for it to come back, end it for me Jekotian; I’ll see you in the big battlefield in the sky.” The Brenodi troop looked Sel in the eye, his eyes fever bright. He hadn’t even noticed that Sel had severed his femoral artery and the snow around them was red with blood. Sel watched as death claimed its latest victim, and then closed the troopers’ eyes.

    Standing up, he readied his rifle and looked about him. With no danger in sight, he headed to the facilities main doors; one stood firm and solid, the other swinging crazily from one hinge. Cautiously he peered around the side and came face to face with a NF troop. Startled, they both raised their rifles against each other.

    “Friend or foe?” The question came out half shout, half squeak.

    Sel lowered his rifle. “Put down the gun, rookie, and tell me what the hell is going on here.”

    The trooper lowered his gun and took a deep breath; Sel noticed he had a deep wound in his left arm. “I don’t know sir. I was part of the security detail for this complex, before it went to hell.” He shuddered. “We came under attack about a day ago from Brenodi forces, they were obviously after our research, but we weren’t that worried because we knew help wasn’t that far away.” He looked at Sel “I presume that’s you.” Sel nodded. “Anyway, it was regular stuff, engineers diving for cover, the rat-a-tat of rifles opening fire, the occasional mortar shell or two. Then it went a bit crazy.” The troop looked around for a moment before continuing.

    “The stuff you came to get – the disorientating gas stuff? Well looks like a stray shot hit the canisters and it got into the vent system. The battle turned wild with friend shooting friend and brother against brother…it was terrible.” He sighed. “I don’t even know how many friendlies I took, but I’m not staying here to find out.”

    “What do you know of a strange creature around here?”

    The trooper looked a little wild around the eyes. “Creature? There’s a creature around here? I don’t know about that, I just want to go home! Are you coming with me or not?”

    “I have someone I have to find.” Sel said firmly, moving up the corridor, his rifle ready.

    “Well you’re in luck; most of the troops are dead and the gas seems to have dissipated by now. If you can get in and out quickly it shouldn’t have much effect. I am leaving.” By the time Sel had turned around to tell him where their camp was, he had gone.

    “Idiot.” Sel muttered to himself and continued up the hallway. As Sel traversed through corridor after corridor, he found it littered with bodies. Usually when a force tries to take a building, the infantry work together to overwhelm the defenders; this had clearly not happened here and troops had fired on each other as between one moment and the next, the gas had taken affect.

    Jekotian architecture isn’t that bright usually, being chiefly a mixture of reddish rock and metal, and with the stillness and blood Sel found himself shaking slightly as he found a severed arm along one of the corridors. “Lord what have my people done?” He whispered to himself as he found the Jekotian troop it belonged to six metres away. Further on he found an unidentifiable soldier outside a restricted area door who had had his skull crushed.

    Swallowing down bile, Sel looked at the broken panel next to the door. It had been smashed. Pushing at the door, Sel leapt back and almost let off a shot as it fell in with a crash. Inside was a scene of horror; blood and bodies everywhere, it looked like five people had been torn to shreds before they had a chance to flee. A pile of corpses in the corner twitched slightly and Sel trained his rifle on it. “Show yourself!” He barked.

    “Paul?” Came a shaky, but recognisable voice.

    Sel quickly slung his rifle over his shoulder and pulled the corpses off to reveal Sangaia covered in blood. “Sel!” She cried and hugged him. He hugged her back for a moment and then asked “What happened here, Singer?”

    She wiped the sticky blood off her face for a moment before replying. “I don’t know. When I got here there were Brenodi and Jekotian troops shooting anything that moved, including each other. By the time I realised it was the gas I’d already been exposed, apart from having both a Jekotian and Brenodi on my tail. So I ran, I don’t really remember why I didn’t just take them down, everything seems a blur until I found myself smashing in that panel outside.” Sangaia twitched and looked around crazily. “Can we get out of here?”

    “Sure.” Sel said as he helped her stand.

    She swayed for a moment and almost fell. “Uggh…I think I hit my head.” Spying her satchel she motioned Sel to pick it up. “That’s all the research on the gas I was able to find.” Suddenly she grabbed Sel by his coat and pulled at him. “Did you see it out there? – the creature?”

    “No, it’s not out there, just dead bodies.” Sel said and her hands relaxed. They moved out into the corridor and began to make their way back to the entrance, Sangaia leaning on Sel.

    “After I smashed the panel, I figured I could hide in there for a while, and find the rest of the research while the effects of the gas wore off.” She continued. “But when I got in there, something was waiting for me.” She started to shake a little. “I – I think it was just trying to get out, and I was in the way, you know? I managed to get it in the arm before it threw me across the room. Before I blacked out, I heard the guys on my tail being slaughtered.” She shuddered. “When I woke up I managed to crawl under those corpses and hide in case it came back. I managed to find out one thing though; they were conducting experiments on it, trying to find out why it could change its appearance.”
     
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2007

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