After our cruise ship crashed, me and my little brother were stranded on an island, where we did unspeakable things.
Chapter 1: The Landings
March 17th, 1538 BC: I was waiting for the signal, like everybody else around me; for the whistle to blow and for the thin pieces of metal protecting us from the enemies to fall. Even though most of the soldiers were vomiting and crying out of fear. I was smiling, even though I was feeling the same way as most. Unlike most soldiers though, I had already made a plan to survive the hellfire that was about to fall upon this metal clunk of a boat.
Once the gates fell, I put my plan into action. I dove over the side of the boat and dipped towards one of the medics. Running carelessly, I tripped over a fallen soldier, but without hesitation, I ran towards the medic, my friend, Brandon. After we found each other, the two of us then charged towards the seawall where our other friend, Gabrial, was already there planting a bangalore. There, we exploded an opening towards the bunkers. Unfortunately, most of our squads were either taken by mines, or were killed by machine gunners.
Due to our low numbers, the three of us headed back to the beach, each headed in our own direction to grab one of our wounded comrades. The man I grabbed had his shirt stuck in some barbed wire, so I grabbed my knife and cut off his shirt. Afterwards, I was able to drag him back to the sea wall where the others were. We then regrouped, and then headed back out.
As we ran back on the beach to grab one of the closer fallen soldiers, a machine gunner’s stray bullet hit a landmine near us. The shockwave from the landmine sends Brandon into a wall of barbed wire. It also sends me and Gabe into a landmine, blowing my right arm off my body. It also destroys my spine, nearly severing my lower body. As I drifted off to what could be my death, I saw the second wave of soldiers coming on the beach.
Chapter 2: Skirmish
When I woke up next, I was next to Gabe and Brandon. I had a belt around my waist, which I was told it was the only thing keeping my body together. He then tells me that my arm was severed. Freaked out, I demanded surgery as soon as possible so I can fight for my country again. They agree, and a couple of minutes later, I’m prepped for surgery. I tell my goodbyes to my friends, and I get put to sleep. During the midst of the surgery, I wake up, causing my spine to start bleeding an extremely dangerous amount of blood. It was stopped only because of a giant piece of shrapnel falling deeper into my spinal cord. The surgery was then continued after I was given amnesia again.
After the surgery was over, I was given a prosthetic arm and a new waist. But it’s only a few days until our division gets transported to an encirclement movement that was started on the northern end of the beach. Along the way, we have to get off our vehicles due to sightings of enemy tank forces. Our squad is moved to a hill where an anti-tank rifle is set up. We were waiting for the signal when we heard the sound of tank tracks in front of us.
We load up the rifle when we see an enemy tank climbing up our hill. Our rifleman immediately shoots the tank, but misses its main body and ends up breaking its right track, making it unable to move. Our squad moves to the right of the tank so they can flank it. As we are moving towards it, the turret turns towards us and fires, narrowly missing us. Me and Gabe slide under the tank to plant C4 on the bottom of it. Knowing we only have one minute before the explosion happens, we crawl out from under the tank as fast as humanly possible.
After leaving the underbelly of the tank, we contact the enemy inside of the tank to let them know there is C4 that will be blown up if they don’t surrender. The tank squad immediately leaves the tank, going with the rest of the squad to escort them back to the coastline. Me, Gabe, and Brandon leave the hillside to go regroup with our tank and infantry group.
Once we met up with our unit, we set off towards the mass encirclement. When we got towards the frontlines, all hell broke loose. There were massive tank fights, bullets blazing on every inch of the battlefield, and the screams of injured soldiers on both sides, screaming for help. But this was only the start of the hell known as Operation: Blood Rain.
Chapter 3: The Frontlines
Once we got on the frontlines, we were put into the 25th tank and infantry combined brigade. Our group was assigned with clearing out a heavily fortified village. And in no time, we were fighting in an abandoned village. When we got to the gate that led to the village, we heard something behind us. I turn around to see 4 of our comrades laying on the ground. Shot dead by snipers. Everybody started scrambling after that. Pushing each other over to get as much cover as possible before we would be killed by snipers.
After the massacre ended, our Lieutenant took control because our general was killed by one of the snipers. He told us to encircle the town. Me, Gabe, and Brandon went towards the west side of the town, whilst most of the remaining force went towards the east. The three of us, along with a medium tank and fourteen other soldiers, went towards one of the tallest buildings to try to clear it out. Me and Brandon took the north side of the building, as well as five soldiers, while Gabriel took the rest of the soldiers to the south side of the building.
But before we were able to get near the building, we were under a hailstorm of bullets. Gabe’s squad was immediately injured, but they were able to move behind the tank before they were severely injured or killed. Meanwhile, my squad is able to take out seven of the machine gunners using grenades. After our side was cleared out, they entered the building. But the only thing they found was a fortified staircase leading to the top floor. I tell Brandon to throw a flash grenade while I place C4 at the posts that hold up the top floor. In a matter of seconds, the entire top floor blows up, killing everybody alive on the top floor.
Hearing the explosion, Gabriel expects the worst. He calls for a tank to ram through the wall. But when the tank bursts through, Gabe realizes what Brandon and I had done. We meet up in the middle of the room to discuss our next plan of action. Gabe, me, and Brandon take 3 snipers to the top of the intact tower in the building to scout out where the machine guns are.
We started climbing up the ladder that led to the tower, stopping half way there to see if the east squadron had any success in their building. I eventually get bored and peer away from the window. What I see next is the one thing that still gives me PTSD. I see 5 civilians tied to poles which were one fire. Their screams are still indented in my mind. Not being able to bear the noises anymore, I shoot at them one by one, their screams slowly fading away. I turn away and look towards one of the windows. Immediately a grenade is thrown into the tower. I automatically hit the flash grenade out, but its flash knocks me out. Soon, Gabe smacks me in the face, bringing me to my senses. I then remember that we are in the midst of a battle.
Confused but able to think, I grab a flash grenade and throw it towards enemy soldiers. I then climb up to the top floor of the tower. At the top, I see an oncoming enemy tank. I pitch a C4 towards the ground, hoping to get the tank to be disabled. But I end up missing, killing an enemy soldier. Brandon then reaches towards my arm, trying to get me down from the tower. As he does so, the tank fired a shell right where my head used to be. It pierces through the air, causing me to be temporarily deaf and blind.
Chapter 4: Evacuation
I can’t see anything. It’s like living on the darkside of the moon, an endless darkness that stretches on for miles. The only sights of color I see are from flashes of light caused by tanks, and fire. The only other thing I experience is my body being dragged around. After what feels like forever, I gain my sight back. The first thing I see is a headless body, filled with bullet holes. Understandably shocked, I get up, and run the fuck away.
After running in a random direction, I come to my senses and stop. I looked at my surroundings, realizing that I had stumbled into a bar. Looking around, I realized that there was a family inside of the bar. One of them, seeming to be the youngest, came out of their hiding spot. She then walked to me and gave me a hug.
I know now that not only do we have to take this city, but I have to get these people out of the town. I’m able to talk to their dad, and I convince him to come with me and his family to a safe zone. They agree, but as we leave the pub, five enemy soldiers open fire on us. I tell them to run back into the building. I then find a truck which I get in. The truck is full of weapons and supplies, and it also works. I get the truck on, run over the enemy soldiers, and get the family into the truck. When we all get in, I hand their mother and father guns and ammo to protect themselves. I then book it out of the area.
Once we reach a medic tent, I drop them off. Now I have to find the others.
Chapter 5: search
After telling the family that they’re going to stay at the tent until I get back, I hear gun and tank shots. I quickly got back into the truck, and I drove as fast as possible until I reached the action. This is what I saw when I got there. Four enemy soldiers dead on the floor, two of our men dead. Brandon hiding behind a wall as a heavy tank, along with 12 soldiers. Brandon was also with a destroyed light tank, and seven men. I quickly looked in the truck to find any explosive. After searching, I found a rpg, with one rocket. If I miss this shot, not only Brandon, but I will be killed, and the city will be lost.
I take a deep breath, aim, and miss the shot. Panicked, I went under the truck to hide. But when I look up, the tank is stuck. It turns out, my shot hit a building next to the tank. The shock caused the entire building to fall on the tank, making it stuck! Less stressed, I grab my SMG, and open fire on the shocked soldiers. I kill most of them, but a couple of them are able to run away. I quickly ran towards Brandon, but I found out he was shot through the back . I start applying pressure to his wound, but the soldiers tell me to leave, as they have already called a medic. But right when I was leaving, about seven squads worth of enemy soldiers attacked us, killing the rest of the men. My heart then starts burning, and my mind goes into rage.
I grab three grenades and throw them at the enemy. I Then jumped out of the window. After a hard landing, I sprint than a fighter jet, running towards seven squads of enemies, a suicidal charge. The squads open fire.I duck behind a broken tank. I turn back around and I’m able to kill a squad’s worth of enemies. I then charge into the open to find more cover. A heavy tank fires, it slices through the air. I moved out of the way, having it barely miss me. Quickly, I run in a zig-zag line to the tank so that it can’t hit me. A broken sign causes me to slip backwards, giving the tank another clear shot. The fall made me lose my SMG, so I looked around for it. But I only found a broken katana from a fallen soldier.
I pick up the sword, knowing it’s the only thing I can fight with. The tank makes a loud clunk, telling me that it has loaded a shell. I tell myself,” Better to go out fighting than in your sleep…” After I made this comment, I made a last ditch attempt to live. I charge towards the tank with my katana in hand. The tank is about to open fire when I see a friendly bomber behind it. A bomb is then dropped. The shockwave moves me through the air. As I am flung, my robotic arm is ripped off by a stop sign. My mind goes in and out of consciousness, as I see visions of Gabe, staring at me, while he has a tank shell lodged in his stomach.
I wake up, sweating like a broken faucet. I look up to see the entire tank lodged into the floor. My eyes then moved to Gabe, who now has a giant piece of metal in his stomach. Without even thinking, I start crawling towards him. My foot then gets stuck. I turn around to see a wounded D.U.K soldier, holding onto my ankle. I start kicking at him until he lets go. I then kept crawling towards Gabe.
Once I reach him, I see that he is holding onto my torn off arm. My eyes begin to get wet, the dampness turns to tears, and my tears turn into sobs from the thought of my dead friends. “ I will go as far as I have to if you live, I’ll sell my soul to the devil, I’ll sacrifice millions for you to live… Just please don’t die on me…” Gabe then gains consciousness. Relieved, I grab onto his arm, for this may still be the last time that I see my best friend…
Chapter 6: “Peace”
I wake up, a waterfall of sweat covers my entire body. My eyes are blinded by the hot, desert sun. I try to move, but I realize that I have been strapped down to my bed. I then see Brandon walk into the room with a wrapped arm and back. I ask him why I’m strapped down. He tells me that my arm was completely destroyed, and so I was given a prototype. He also tells me that the medicine I was given has a side effect of anger. I try to get up to go see where our base is but my restraints hold me and I get electrocuted.
Brandon tells me that my prosthetic Needs to adjust to my body, and that any bold movement could shock me. Realizing that I can’t get up to see if Gabe is ok, I ask Brandon about him. He doesn’t respond. I ask him again, still no response. I start to get angry because of no response, and I start to get through my restraints. He then starts to back up, as the solid steel restraints start to bend. I then break from my restraints and walk towards Gabes bed. I see him with an entirely new lower body.
The general walks in with 18 heavily armed soldiers. Knowing I need to recover and get used to my arm, I decide to listen to what they have to say. The general tells me that I am very useful when it comes to combat, but he also tells me that I will be moved into a reinforcement division with Brandon and Gabe so that I can learn to control my overwhelming, and non-controllable power in combat. I think for a couple of seconds until I think of something to say to him.
I tell him that it will be fine on one exception, I will get to be with my friends throughout their recovery and mine. He accepts this offer and sends me back towards a captured town. When I started packing up my things, I came across an old picture of me and my friends. But in the picture, there is a third person. I recognized his face immediately, I mean, how could I not. His name was Nick Robbinson, he was the top in our military class, he also used to be my closest friend… That was until he was transferred into the 17th division.
I put the photo in my pocket so I can start packing up again. Once I finish, I walk towards Gabe, who is able to walk. He is kinda scared, but he gets over it and starts to talk to me. I move my eyes towards Brandon, who is staring. I tell him it’s fine, and we get over what happened 2 days ago. The general then tells us that it is time to leave. Excited that I will be able to practice controlling the “ corruption “ that is inside of me, I dash towards a truck with my friends. I was kinda hesitant towards the truck, as it had a mounted machine gun on it, but this would later save our lives.
I run towards the truck, and once I enter, I hear the ear bleeding, piercing air raid siren go off. The D.U.K Air Force is taking the offensive. I turn the truck on as fast as possible, and I ram the thing towards the open road. Looking back, I see three enemy fighter jets on my tail. I order Brandon to mount the machine gun. He gets on it and starts firing at the enemy 88’s ( 88’s are the fighter jets ). Two of them are able to move, but the third gets hit in the engine, blowing it up. One down, two to go. This time, it’s the enemy’s turn. One of the 88’s starts flanking our right side.
Brandon turns, but it is too late for the truck. A hailstorm of bullets hits the right side of the truck. The impact causes me to nearly crash into the sand barrier. I gain control of the vehicle, and I tell Gabe to throw a smoke grenade to confuse the enemy. He obeys and chucks the grenade to the side. Like I had planned, one of the enemy planes crashes into the sand dunes nearby. Two down, one more 88 to go!
I look towards the last 88. But when I look back, I see that the 88 left us. Finally, you can relax, you might be saying… But no. You’d be correct that we are safe, but we are also in a very damaged vehicle that can blow up at any moment! We decide to stop to think of how we can go 20 miles with a vehicle that is leaking gas at an alarming speed. After a quick vote, We decide to patch up the gas leak as best as we could, and to start driving towards the safezone. On the way, we notice that the car is slowing down. We pulled over to the side of the road, and to my surprise, we had a flat tire.
Chapter 7: stranded
We discuss what to do about this roadblock. Gabe suggests that we use the radio to call for help. Brandon disagrees because we can’t be certain that we will get a connection. After a moment of silence, we agreed to try the radio. We get onto a nearby sand dune, and turn it on. To our surprise, we were able to connect to the base.
We tell them the situation that we were in, and they tell us that they can get a squad to us in 7 days. In rage, Brandon tells them that all we have is 2 cans of tomato soup, 8 liters of water, and 5 M.R.E’s. They simply tell us to ration our supplies wisely. They then hang up.
Not knowing what to do, we just stare at the radio for minutes. I get out of my haze, and I devise a plan to survive the night. I grab our pistols and ammo, and split them evenly. I tell Brandon to collect firewood, and I tell Gabe to go collect logs so I can make a makeshift tent for us. After getting the supplies needed, Brandon makes a firepit, while I make a tent. After about an hour, I finish making the tent, and Brandon makes the fire.
We then went away from the camp to hunt for food. While we were out there, Gabe saw one of the 88’s that we had shot down. We start walking towards the plane when we see the dead pilot. His head was smashed through the windshield, and part of his skull was on the front of the smashed plane. He also had a giant piece of metal from his back, through his shoulder. Creeped out, I headed towards the end of the plane, where a piece of the plane jutted out of where it should be.
As I enter the plane, part of the plane’s wing collapses. Knowing that I don’t have much more time. I quickly grab as much supplies that I can. I hear parts of the plane collapse. I run towards the cockpit, where I find a shotgun as well as a flare. Then the cockpit starts to collapse. I quickly run towards the door, barely making it out before the metal folds on itself. I then finally get out of the plane, watching it finally collapse into the sand dunes that it lays on. After the near death experience, Brandon points out that it is night time. He then suggested that we should get some rest. We all agree, and head back towards the camp.
Chapter 8: Endless sand
( Days 2-4 )
We walk about a mile or so back to our makeshift base so we can see what resources we have now. After counting up our food and ammo, we have 5 cans of food, 7 M.R.E’s, 3 C-17 pistols, 1 Buckeye shotgun, 12 shotgun rounds, and 7 pistol mags. We evenly divide our food and weaponry and decide to look for the other 88 at dawn.
After getting 7 or so hours of sleep, I tell Brandon to try and fix the car and get resources, while I take Gabe to look for the other fallen plane. After we set out we start talking about how long we think it will take until we get rescued. “ If we get lucky we’ll be gone in a few days,” Gabe tells me. “ Yeah… if we get lucky. They will most likely be here in more than a week.” I said back to him. The rest of the journey to find the missing 88 was a quiet one, only our footsteps could be heard.
We soon found the fallen 88, which was almost entirely covered in sand. I tell Gabe to stay back and watch out for enemy planes. Once I entered the fallen fighter jet, I immediately noticed that It was bigger than the other plane. I walk a bit further into the jet where I find a flashlight. I pick it up and turn it on. I look around to find anything, where I see that written on the inside of the plane it says that this is actually a B.G-33, a type of bomber which can also be used as a fighter if needed.
After discovering this, I notice a rack of bombs near a body. I slowly reach and turn over the body, where I find that an intact bomb was lodged into his throat. I quickly move away and headed for the cockpit. There, I find both pilots with a giant 5 foot long piece of metal lodged into one of their heads, the other end inside of his friend’s heart. I look around and find a map that had fallen out of one of the dead guys pockets. On it, it showed a detailed map which showed an invasion plan into the northern parts of the Zokuro beaches.
I also find an intact watch on one of the pilots wrists, and I take it for mine. With this new information, I leave the plane and return to the surface. I find Gabe near a hole with a white and black crystal. “ What is it?” I ask. “ Do you think I fucking know what it is?” He says with sarcasm in his voice.” It’s a Dragonfield crystal, but I haven’t seen anything like this.” He says. “ Well mind as well keep it… I don’t think the pilots will mind If we take it anyways.” I said back to him. We both sort of chuckle and start to head back to the base.
Once we get back, we find Brandon finishing up a second tent. We show him the crystal and he has the same reaction as we did. As they talk, I pull out the map and show them. “ Holy fuck!” Brandon says.” It must have been important if they put it in a B.G-33.” Gabe chimes in.” I was thinking that we should call H.Q again, I mean… now they have a really good reason to get us as soon as possible.” I add. We then call H.Q and tell them about this development. They then tell us that they will be able to come get us in another 2 days at 5pm. With as solid time and day for our departure, we celebrate by getting 10 hours of sleep
Chapter 9: Departure
I was the first to wake up from last night’s party. I started the fire and cooked 3 M.R.E’s for us to eat. I then woke up the others, then we ate. We decided to just explore the surrounding desert which was bearand with nothing other than death and decay. Gabe and I started to explore the dunes of the vast desert when we stumbled upon a large hole in the ground which was filled with what seemed to be life. We had no way to retrieve the water or even get down to it. I was going to make something to get down, but I noticed that the sun was setting,so we headed back to the camp. Once there, we were met with a hut which we could all stand in with room to spare.
Once we woke up the next morning, we went back to the B.G-33 to find anything that could be used. Me and Brandon enter to search for cloth to make into a rope. We leave the plane and head back to the water hole we found. After arriving there, we turn the cloth into a rope, and I get lowered down into the cavern to get water. Once I’m near the bottom, I turn on the flashlight to see what’s down there with me. The only thing I see is an endless black void… and water. I reach for a bucket that I got from camp, and collect as much water as it could carry.
After it’s as full as it could get, I tell them to bring me back up. Once I’m back at the surface, we all take a long drink of the water, since we haven’t had any. We then head back towards base with our water. Once we arrived, we contacted H.Q to tell them that we are ready to be picked up. Once the call ends, I look at my watch where it tells us that it’s 4:45 pm, 15 minutes until our military uber arrives.
Since we still had a quarter of an hour left, we ate our last meals, and drank the rest of our water. I checked the time afterwards. 4:55, five minutes till departure. I look away from the watch and tell Brandon and Gabe to start packing up our supplies and light the flare once we can hear the plane or helicopter they come in. Once they start packing the materials, I walk away from camp to look for the rescue team.
I’m eventually able to hear the blades of a helicopter and so I head back to base to tell the others. I eventually arrive back and tell Brandon to light the flare because the rescue team is here and we are heading back to the front lines. He lights the flare, and the helicopter lands in one of the sand dunes. We head with the map and the other supplies. Once we get in the helicopter I hand the map over the driver and we head off back towards north Zokuro.
As we are flying on our path towards freedom, the Co-piolet comes out of the cockpit, and tells us that we will in fact not be stopping in an allied city, but we will be immediately transferred to the 13th defensive unit to stop the invading forces.
End