A Soldier's Story

At first my parent hated the thought of me going into the army. We had run a small town eatery which had been struggling. I had shown promise as a chef and even ran the place the years my father had to go off into the army. I remember my mother on the communications network for hours on end trying to reach her cousin. He was a political officer and if you know anything about government it’s all politics. Her hard work paid off when his mobilization papers came in. Assigned to mechanized infantry he went off for two years. In and out we received a message here and there from the front.
After a year passed he was promoted to an AFV command position. He would support the tanks and run guard duty of APCs when required. As the front was pushed back bit by bit he was requested to run APC guard duty to a sector then return to run light support for the main tank push. APC drop off was perfect, said the official report. The problem arose when “AFV Commander R. Lewis failed to change course deviating from the shifting front, and drove into the enemy lines.” The initial shock lead him on a speeding chase away from enemy missile turret fire. The road was clear and he was in eye sight of the tank convoy so he paused to turn around and received a sneak rocket barrage from a Factionist heavy tank. The official report listed the damage as Commander Error. I remember watching on the Vid Screen the news ran a story of a Factionist army taking a city. The men that were caught in there swore the world was burning. The media, pushed by the Government named the city battle “Streets of Fire”.
Dishonorably discharged and mangled from the attack, my father made his way home. He returned to us missing most of his fingers, voice box, and his left foot. Times fell hard on our family. Depression washed over us all. It was as if a cold steely robot replaced my father. Bit by bit again I worked for the family restaurant. I began slowly slipping in school, catching hell by my mother. It was about a month before my father spoke to me.
“It was hell boy, Pure Hell.” The mechanized voice said. “I followed everything they ever asked me to do. I followed that plan. There was no god damned change of plans. The cowards! They left me and my men to burn until it was safe for the tanks to pull up.” Tears welled up.
“Poppa, listen mistakes happen.”
“It was no god damn mistake. There was no attempt to reach us to tell us to return to safer roads.”
“You were a venerated officer dad. Why would they ditch you? You need faith in the Empire”
“It’s a different world when you grow up. The empire is flawed. I wonder now are the Factionists to blame for my injuries, or just a careless government.”
I stood up and looked him dead in his eyes. “You are not well father. I’d be careful to whom your alliances lie.” And walked off to my room to try to forget the lies he spoke to me.
Month after month news of defeats here and there shocked the nation. We had conquered so much but were now losing to a bunch of upstarts? School became less and less about learning and more about propaganda which we all bought into.
“Freedom and Safety for our people! Do your Duty!” read one poster.
It was during a dinner that I ruined the ties I had to my family. We were eating a quiet meal when one of those rare times my father spoke. He was asking me various questions about school.
“What is being taught now that you are in your ending years of school?”
“There are posters detailing our duty as citizens of the Empire.”
His face became hard at the mention of duty.
“And what is your duty son?”
“My duty is to join the Army and beat back the Factionists”
Instantly my mother broke out in tears. My father gazed at me with pained eyes.
“You are wrong son. Your duty is to your family. This war is lost on us. If you join you would be just another body of the Empire’s machine.”
Truest words I’ve heard in a while, but my arrogance spoke and ruined everything. I stood and retorted with:
“The Empire needs men Father, Real men. You seem to have forgotten what it is to be a man, but I have not. I join tomorrow.”
And a chapter of my life closed. I was homeless after that night, rightfully so too. Only one place left I could turn. I had one person left to tell of my venture into the army. I walked a distance to my girlfriend’s house. Her parents always loved having me around. Being lower class did not bother them at all. They were what one could call Nobility. Their daughter I fawned over since I met her in the education system. She took the news hard. She had always been up on current events and knew the statistics of returning soldiers was rare. And even then if a soldier returned it was almost never whole.
There was a long discussion and her parents let me stay the night seeing that the circumstances were dire. They were proud of me. Or so they told me repeatedly. A sense of pride and love blossomed within me. I ask her to be mine and she agreed. We coupled together blissfully into the night. I awoke and snuck out of her room and went downstairs to see the parents. He father was eating breakfast which he offered to me. Greedily I ate as he told me that he was proud to see that there were men still left in the empire. His last words to me as I left the house was:
“Are you ready to become a man now?”
Just like that the world became drills, Boot camp. I won’t get into the boring laborious hours spent. Let’s just say my life was Rifles, grenades, Expedited building techniques or “e” building. When I was done getting yelled at and called various names I was assigned to the 9th Infantry division. Where ever they went I went. By then the war had reached even the frozen north. Soon I would be on my way towards Frost Valley, and the destination of my story.

 

soldier's story pt 2

The air was colder than I expected. It almost hurt to breathe at times. Kept you chipper though. We were riding in an APC. I had been gunning for Golf squad for about three months now, before that, two years in various squads in the 9th. We were being lead by one of the better soldiers in the division, a true warrior if you ask me. Kramer had been a veteran of several battles taking few casualties in the squads he led. The layout of our squad was:
Kramer, Sgt. Heavy Rifle
Sabastian, Pvt. Sniper
Tetsu, Pvt. Heavy Machine gunner
Brutan, Pvt. Engineer/Medic
And me
Lewis, Pvt. Rifleman
The engine hummed as is rode along. The things always put me to sleep as they went. This time was no different. I barely heard the com system click in as order poured out. I had to get nudged back to reality.
“Listen up team. That includes you Lewis.” Barked Kramer.
“Sorry sir”
“Factionists have been reported pouring into the Frost valley and 9th division is gona bottle them up. Our mission is to take a hold a minor facility on our side of the lake.”
“Did you say a lake? It’s fucking freezing out their sarge.” Complained Sab in his usual fashion.
“Well I am sorry Sab; I thought that bullet cut though your upper thigh not your nuts. Seriously I know its odd theirs a freakin lake here but let’s just get the job done so we all can go back to base and relax. Ok?”
All said and done he was right. None of us wanted to be stuck out here in the frozen north, but whatever the Factionists thought was important. The Empire thought was important. That’s the way it had been for a long time. The ride became quite while everyone was dealing with their own pre-battle enemies.
“So Lewis you going to introduce me?” He was pointing to a picture I had taped to my rifle. It was out of hope really to remind me that I had someone to go home to, something to live for. Most of these guys end up with nothing left to live for and ending up biting it in the end.
“Nah Sab. No offense man, but I’d rather introduce her to Kramer than you.”
“Don’t worry Lewis I’ll show her a good time” Chimed in Kramer.
The loud crackling of the intercom cut the conversation off.
“ETA 2 minutes. It’s going to be a hot zone, lock and load Golf.”
A hushed silence blanketed the cabin. I’ve never know anyone to really carry on happily when they knew the world would be burning and dying in 2 minutes. The APC tipped as it drove over a snow dune, and fell back into place. The squad shook its head.
“These drivers get younger and younger since every tank buys it when the heavies come in.”,added Tetsu.
Tha-da-dump sang the grenade launcher trying to soften up the targets for us. It repeated about three times before we had a green light. The stopped vehicle made a great target so the APC opened up with a chain gun. The sound sent me cringing. It brought back memories of me being on the other end of a chain gun. Panic would spread though the enemy ranks as everyone ran for cover. Hopefully some of them decided to catch a bullet and make our job easier for us.
“Zone suppressed Golf, jump out and good luck.”
The hatch opened letting a blast of cold air in waking us to our “duty”. The only cover offered to us was a snow dune. With Brutan, Tetsu, and Sab at my side we ran for the ditch. Safely we had made it before a steam of counter fire bullets streaked towards our position. Glancing around we set up a skirmish line setting Tetsu’s heavy machine gun up and my rifle on opposite sides of the embankment. There were scream of anguish across the mound and one closer to home. To my right were the mound gave way was Kramer with several bullets lodged in his stomach. His hands were clawing at his stomach and trying to put back the parts of him that were exposed.
I froze in that instant. He was a man I’ve seen charge a machine gun emplacement and been fine. It was he who rescued me from chain gun fire only two months ago. And here he was, screaming in agony as the holes in his body slowly leaked his life away. Brutan was already working on him with his engineer tool. It was knitting the flesh and dissolving the bullets. The chatter of bullets continued in the background as I watched. Brutan quickly drew his SMG driving bullets home into an attackers chest only yards away. He slapped me with his bloody hands leaving a print.
“Watch the line! I’ll take care of him just keep them off me.”
The rifle read thirty and I was ready to return the shock to the Factionists. The chatter of my own gun added to Tetsu’s machine gun and the APC’s chain gun. The enemy was dying at an outstand rate, their wounded and dead lay in an exposed field. I saw some engineers of their running forward. Taking time to line the shot up I dropped the two of them with the thirty bullets.
Kramer was healed enough to lob grenades from his prone position, mostly as a deterrent since they did not fly far. It was nice to see the color returning to his face which was pale so soon ago. Brutan had stopped to repair the damage APC which was looking like our only chance out of here. Command need to know that there was a lot of Factionists coming their way.
It was of course Tetsu who ran out of ammo first. I had only spent two clips since I had always been picky about my shots. I remembered glancing over my shoulder seeing a missile streaking towards the APC. I yelled a warning but it was too late. The explosion was large, mostly due to a higher explosive compound probably fielded by the enemy. The blast took the APC and Brutan with it. The Blast deafened my ears. All I heard was the high pitched whining of the cells in the ear dying. I could not even hear my own pleading screams.
I turned with vengeance in my heart and took aim. My finger readied to shoot stopped only to see the grenadier’s head explode as a sniper round took his face. Sab I knew had taken the man’s life in an instant.
“Lewis, take… Tetsu and Sab into the facility. They can’t out number you in there… I’m lost I still feel a bullet in my stomach and I can’t move.”
“Sarge I ain’t leaving you here alone.”
“Not an option, And anyway Sab’s beating me in kills again. Can’t let that happen.” There was hate in his eye as he leveled the heavy rifle to the mound. “Now beat it and let me do my duty.”
It seemed the word, “duty” was haunting me for that night with my parents. I caught a glimpse of my girlfriend’s picture in the snow. I reached out to pick it up and Kramer pushed me aside as a sniper round scorched the picture.
“That twice I’ve saved your ass; now get the hell out of here. Now!”
Tetsu and I bolted for the concrete facility. Bullets whizzed past us in our desperate gambit. One even decided to lodge itself in my hip dropping me to the ground. The pain was horrible ass it sat there making it hard to move. The delightful sounds of a heavy rifle tearing into the bodies help drive me towards the buildings. I crawled what must have been fifteen yards, but it felt like thirty yards and an eternity. A sniper shot sounded out. A good soldier I was always told can tell the difference between the rounds.
As I arrived slowly Tetsu help pull me to my feet. The pain was harsh and subsided when I was standing.
“Decided to take home a souvenir, huh?”
“Shut it, you know where Sab is? Kramer told me to get you guys out of here.”
“Up one level and in the corner, from all his giggling he is making a mess out there.” And then he moved out.
The structure was blocky and cold. Machines still hummed alive even while men died over them. The lights danced as things were computed and understood. I was limping behind Tetsu with my rifle set and ready. All he had left was his high caliber pistol. We moved in further to the complex to where an entrance was. He was in first gun drawn and ready.
A yell drew his attention as a man rushed at him weapon readied. Tetsu dropped him with some hand fire from the powerful pistol, only to be cut down by the infamous buck shot pistol. The killer snickered as he realized his enemy was dead. He turned to walk out of the doorway I was in and received a dosage of bullets he would not survive from. Slowly I limped towards Tetsu only to find his lower jaw smashed and his face peppered by the shot. That was three friends down, my mind reminded me.
One flight of stairs and a short hobble was what was left for me to do. My last living squad member, what a mess this turned out to be. The ladder was not hard to find at all. It was climbing it that gave me the greatest trouble. The bullet reminded me every other step to the roof. It was still freezing out but the snow had taken a new red color. From this vantage point I saw the Factionist placements and began relaying them back to command. If anything could be done I was going to do it.
They had and APC and turrets supported by a walled off armory. They set a skirmish line and were sending wave after wave of what looked like levies because even recruits no not to stand tall when running. They were quickly cut down by Kramer’s rifle. The sound of his rifle brought me joy. “Only two down,” I muttered. Radioing in the rest of the positions I slowly started towards Sab’s last known position. The fire fight down on the ground intensified as I limped towards the end of the building. Occasionally I donated some of my own fire to help keep the enemy pinned while I failed to he Kramer’s gun.
A loud Thump sounded towards the enemy line. A mortar had fired the shell dropping short of our mound.
“Kramer, This is Lewis. Get out of their man they have you zeroed.”
“Yea kid I heard. You forgot I can’t move. Hey if you make it out of here take care of the men. Ok Lewis?”

 

Soldier's Story pt 3

I laid down some think suppressing fire trying to buy some time. My ammo was running dry but so long as I could stop them from launching more rounds I could possibly pay Kramer back. A sniper round rang out again. This time it was not one of ours.
Thump. I knew in my heart I failed. Kramer had been hit by the corrected mortar round. “That makes three” No, no it does not. That makes four.
The world became blurred. I fell to my knees; even my burning hip could not mask the pain in my chest. I was bleeding very badly. The air was suddenly thick as I tried to breathe. I felt I was drowning; my mind helped me remember a better time. A time when my father loved me, we were swimming in the public pool. I had thought myself a strong boy and jumped in the deep end without my father knowing. My strength failed me as it was failing me now. At the core of it I was still a boy in need of help, wishing my father would once again dive in a save me from the clutches of death.
A loud pop sounded. It was like the time I was playing with fireworks. The sound was odd, almost muffled. Reality was fading in and out. I heard loud blasting sounds in a quick succession. The world was burning as they always told me it was. The sound of boots on concrete shook me back into reality. My eyes still blurred focused on a familiar face.
“Dad?”
“It’s Sab, Lewis. I got him man. I am sorry I did not get him earlier.”
“Sab, Kramer…. He told me… to get you out of here. Sorry…”
“Forget it man I am going to get you a medic”
The world fell into darkness with the fading boot clicks. And I realized I was not a real man, just a boy still playing soldier.
________________________________________
Pain. I awoke to pain. Where was I? Am I a prisoner? I started flailing about and muffled voices began yelling commands. I’ll be tortured my mind ran. I tried to scream but only gurgling came up. Blurred faces raced over my as arms bound me. One face came into focus. An horrible night mare of someone to come carry me off in the darkness of sleep again.
“Lie still Lewis.” Spoke Brutan.
My eyes widened in terror as I saw a man who had most certainly died. I wanted to bat him away as his hand slowly went towards my arm. What did he have? What is he doing? My attempts became even greater but sleep was pulling back at me. I fought the temptation of rest but my body slowly gave into the dark. Only a faint whisper of a voice reached me.
“You’re a hero.”
The next couple weeks I spent in a hospital away from the front and back towards home. I was going to get some sort of medal they kept telling me. The doctors and political officers were a constant flow. They asked me sever questions.
“How many did you kill son?”
“Was it terrible in the frozen north?”
“What are you going to do when you are released now that your duty is finished?”
I am done? My duty to the man hungry Empire? I can go sit in peace, on some farm with… with. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I could marry my lovely girlfriend and live peacefully. That’s the first thing I would do. Then guilt rose in me as I remembered the last time I’ve seen my parents. They are the ones who I should apologize to. They are the first I should see.
“I will find my parents and apologize to them for leaving.”
There was a gasp and several reporters scribbled down my sentence with amazed faces.
“As you can see the man is delirious. He needs rest and our reporters are taking advantage of him in this state,” The political officer added.
I then knew none of what I said would make it to the papers. A “hero” saying he was wrong to join the army. It would be a moral collapse for new recruits. They’d publish me saying I regret not being able to re-enlist and fight the good fight. What a bunch of crap it all is. All I wanted was my parents.
When I was released they sent me a car to drive me around for the day. This was because of my status and because I still had a horrible time walking and breathing despite what they did. In time they told me I’d hear fine, but it seemed I would not.
The driver took me past building complexes that looked familiar, the old stomping grounds that I used to play around. The memories were fond. Good times were spent here. Most of the time we played soldier, now I understood what being a soldier really meant.
The car halted at the complex that was my old home. I used to run up the stairs, now I looked upon them with dread. The epic encounter was all that stopped me from apologizing to the people who gave me life. It took me a while and I was tired by the time I reached the door I so remembered well. Upon It was a note.
“Pursuant to the provisions of RSA 540:2, you are hereby given an eviction notice and notice to vacate immediately.”
The notice was signed for a month ago. A deep sadness filled in me. I was their hope, their chef, And I let them down. When they needed me I ran off to find a dream I could never find. Slowly I took in the sad sight and hobbled back to the waiting car. I gave the address of my next stop to the driver and the car wheeled off. I was lost in heart ache to find my childhood home abandoned. Where would my parents go?
The distance was not far at all as I pulled up to the house. I remembered it as the last kind place I had been in. Slowly I went to the door and rang the bell. There was laughter behind the door and as it opened I saw the face I had carried into battle on my rifle and in my heart.
“Steve… oh … what a surprise. What are you doing back?”
“I was in the battle of frost valley. A war hero they call me, but I just carried on long enough to get back here. To you, so we are carry on where we left off.”
Her face was shocked. But yet not the shock I had thought I’d see.
“That was a long time ago Otto.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’ve married to a Political officer. I needed someone when you left for your own reasons. Night after night I cried and waited for a message from you. And Kenneth was working in the offices and helped keep track of you so I know where you were and if you were safe. Things just got involved. I need to think of my station. You understand.”
The whole world went mad in the instant. I had fought hard and long in the front. Watched my friends die in battle after battle. And the mean time the only worthwhile battle was lost. A political officer no less, a lazy man who handed out fliers about how great it was to join the army and fight for the Empire. The gall of it all. But I looked into her eyes and still saw the love I once had. Slowly I moved my hand to my chest and took of my medal and handed it to her.
“Take this, you won this medal. You kept me going when all hope was lost.”
“I can’t take this. This is your dream.”
“Not worth a dream I can never have.” And I turned to leave shuffling along.
“Where will you go?” she called out, with care echoing in her voice.
“To my family.”
“But they were evicted and moved elsewhere, you have no family.”
“Back to the 9th. To the dream I chose, and the only family I have left. ”

 

Thank you

Well if you have gotten to here, thanks for reading or at least pretending to. Some C & C would be nice. I think you can PM on this but im not normally a forum guy.

- Lewis {9th.ID}

 

That was good, I liked it. A little depressing but much more realistic. Nice to have another writer

 

Thanks man. I am a bit rusty but I felt i should write something. Love the game and needed a topic.

 

OMFG. :eek: Summed up: Just one more reason to hate the Empire :p . But really, that's some great writing! And that's only reading the first post! :D

 

not in the mood to read a story, but we havent had any stories in a while.

keep it up.

 

That's because this one hasn't been posted in a while. ;p

 

tl;dr

But a tip, to get more chance of people like me reading.

Put in paragraphs!
Seriously, that wall of text is scary.
It doesn't look poorly written though, it's punctuated, so I'll hazard that the content is good. Keep it up, just learn the power of the double tap of Enter.

 

Poor standards much?

 

hay genrelly ppl who typ liek this dont right well

 

Zomg. That's a really sad story. And I would know, I read it all.

 

I often do not use punctuations because i edit my sentences so much in english that in the end the capitals wont end at the start of the line, and the point wont end at the back.



i try, and will add them if it is needed to make it easy to read, but wont if its okay

 

And maybe, if you don't know that "won't" has an apostrophe, take an English class.

 

What about willn't.

 

The problem isn't "not knowing" the problem is "not seeing".

I have a very bad case of dyslexia so foreign languages are very hard on me, and for the most part i let the computer do the correcting of words, but sometimes i don't have that luxury.

I know its not a real excuse, but please try to understand i will try harder in the continuing.