‘Bert Famishson. Although my friends call me Famish.’ Famish grinned. John had made a list in his head of all the recruits around him. There was Bert, a.k.a. Famish, Rafael, who after agreement became The Knight, Samuel Cardins became Shivererer, Thomas Birkins was now Dark Star, Rob Wesley told them he was called Red Demon on internet, and then there was George Ridley, who had a nasty rash on his face and became Pestilence, as suggested by Famish, who also tried to turn Dark Star into Death, but failed. There were another three whose name John didn’t manage to catch, but their nicknames were Ozzerd, a combination between Wizard and Oz, the new Death, who after a joke became New Death, and, to round it off, War. There was one more recruit who no one seemed to notice, and who didn’t talk. John saw him quietly sitting in a corner as all the rest socialized. John thought he recognized the situation. If this character ever got famous, it would be as another Unnamed Soldier.
John didn’t seem to get a nickname. He just remained John Wades.
‘Right!’ Sergeant Jake Tinder’s voice boomed into the room as he marched in and through. ‘Follow me, you lot! Training starts immediately!’
The room suddenly filled with rush and bustle as everyone tried to keep up with the sergeant, everyone else, and their stomachs. Sergeant Tinder had an amazing speed.
They were led into a shooting range, where they each got a target to shoot at with their Blasters. The targets reacted to the shots, and a small screen near the shooting soldiers displayed their bullseyes, regular hits, near misses, and misses. You could also flick through the menus quickly to check the other soldier’s scores. John’s scores were better than he expected. Three bullseyes, six hits, two near-misses and three misses. It wasn’t too bad. The target moved slightly, and the Blaster’s shots were slow-moving energy pellets. John took a break and checked everyone else’s scores.
He wasn’t the best, as expected, but he wasn’t the worst either. The worst was range 4. John looked out to see who was is range 4. He saw the Unnamed Soldier silently shooting his blaster directly at the target. If the target hadn’t been moving slightly, he’d have gotten all bullseyes. Now all he had was five hits, eight near misses, and four misses. John didn’t look at who the other scores belonged to. He didn’t want to start ranking people.
After a while Sergeant Tinder called the squad together, and handed out some new weapons. These were pretty basic too. John looked on the side of his.
“Rifle Mk I — Type B — B.T.S. FE 67 GE 12”
John wondered what the type meant, and what B.T.S. stood for. The sergeant had said that, unlike the Blaster, this weapon did not have unlimited shots. This was an ammo weapon. With bullets! Ammo is depletable! Keep that in mind when you’re shooting. And remember to aim before you shoot, otherwise it’s wasted ammo! Now get shooting! And be careful private, these things are rapid-fire! The Sergeant’s words still echoed through John’s head as he took aim. He pulled he trigger, and almost dropped the gun. He let go of the trigger. John sniggered. He took aim again and made sure his arms were ready for it.
Bangbangbangbangbangbang
Five bulls-eyes and a hit. He liked this gun already.
‘Right! That’s enough, lads! Hand ‘em back! And remember that the enemy won’t be patiently waiting for you to shoot them! Corporal Stream here will show you to your bunks, and we’ve got some physical training for breakfast! After that we’ll show you the shotgun and the mass driver! It’s time to get tough! You’re in the army now!’
The squad followed Stream to two bunk rooms where the squad divided into, put down their packs, and got called out again by Stream. ‘Right, lads!’ said Stream, sounding like the sergeant already. John didn’t blame him. A man like that sergeant was contagious. ‘You’re all going to be wanted down in the cantine in fifteen minutes. If you don’t like the grub you won’t get anything else. Turning back from this point on is what we call deserting. Soon everything will turn routine to you. Things are going to get tough, but it’ll be nothing compared to when war starts to throw some weight around, what’s so funny, private?’
War straightened up. ‘Nothing, sir. Sorry, sir.’ John could see he was suppressing a smile. So was the rest of the squad.
*
The next few months went by extremely fast, and were quite hard. John had learned to hate Stream. Stream was a horrible snob and didn’t care about anyone but himself. Stream didn’t make the impression he was here to defend his country. Stream didn’t even look like he was here to fight at all. Stream was a nutcase. Physical training wasn’t any problem for John. Working at Albert’s had been enough to prepare him for that. In the meantime Sergeant Jake Tinder had been promoted to captain, and Stream managed to become the squad’s sergeant. This made John hate him more. The new corporal was Knight. It still worried John that war was getting closer every day. He didn’t know how far he was going to get. He’d kill one man before dying...
*
‘Okay, mates! That’s enough for now!’ Knight yelled. John stopped staring into the scope of his mass driver and handed it back to Knight. ‘Let’s go back to the bunks. We’ve got a lot to do tomorrow. Again.’ He sighed. ‘Let’s go! March!’
They all marched to the doorway, where they almost marched straight into the newly promoted Commander Tinder. He looked darkly at the squad. ‘Right, lads. I’ve got some bad news for you.’
The squad looked at each other. Behind them, Stream had seen the Commander’s dark expression and walked up to next to the squad. ‘Sir, what’s wrong, sir?’ said Knight. Commander Tinder waved a hand. ‘We’re going to war, lads. And it isn’t a small one.’
The squad started murmuring at each other. John could see Stream’s face contort in horror. ‘The first true world war?’ John said. Tinder’s eyes narrowed.
‘What do you know about it, kid?’
‘Just that it’d be the first war worthy of being called a World War.’
‘Is that all?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes, sir.’
Tinder seemed to relax. ‘The reason it will be called a World War is not because the whole world is fighting, lad.’
‘It isn’t? But... then why–‘
‘It’s because it’s a fight between worlds.’
There was a chorus of gasps through the squad, and more mumbling.
‘And the worst part...’ Tinder gulped ‘...is that we’re going to be the first to the front.’
More shocked gasps. John noticed Stream’s wide-eyed shocked terror.
‘We don’t know what we’re fighting here. The commander wasn’t specific about that. We don’t know what we’re up against. We don’t know what these alien buggers can do.’
‘Do we know what they look like, sah?’ said New Death
‘No,’ Tinder shivered ‘And that’s what scares me the most.’
‘W-When are we g-going, s-sir?’ said Shiverer
‘That’s another bad part.’ Tinder looked as if he was going to cry. ‘We’re being transported directly into the battle right now.’
‘Sir, what about defences, sir?’ said Knight
‘Now see, soldier, this is where I explain the base to you.’ said Tinder
‘First, you need a Reactor to bring power to all the other units. Do you understand that?’ The squad nodded. ‘Then,’ Tinder continued, ‘You’ll need telenodes so we can send you reinforcements.’ Squad-nod. ‘After that, you’ll need an Armoury to get your weapons, and a Medical Station to regenerate your wounds and replenish your remote healer. Understood so far?’ Nod. ‘When that’s done, you’ll need some base defences. Machinegun turrets are fully automated defence units, and will definitely help defend the base, but you’ll still need some people defending the base as well, because, again, we have no idea of the enemy’s abilities. That’s it for now. We have all our researchers working on more weapons and armour, and we’ll be able to get you more as we learn more about the enemy. Reinforcements have been called for. Sergeant Stream, you are now acting captain, take them to the teleporter! Corporal Doromir, you are now acting sergeant, and Private Wades, you are acting corporal. Right! Dismissed!’
*
The squad was teleported into the battlefield. ‘Pay attention, now.’ Said the voice of Commander Jake Tinder over the comms. ‘Corporal Doromir, I know you’ve studied the army before you joined up, but did you study defences as well?’
‘Sir, yes, sir!’ said Knight.
‘Then you’re designated chief builder. Hurry up, the enemy could arrive any minute. Reinforcements are on the way. Commander Tinder signing off.’ There was a beep suggesting the disconnection.
‘Allright, squad! Cover me, and watch for any good spots for the Reactor!’ Said Knight. Pretty soon, Pestilence discovered a nice little alcove which looked like it would keep the entire base. Knight took out his Construction kit, which looked vaguely like a large orange beam-gun, and beamed a Reactor into existence at the back of the alcove as the other builders patiently waited for it to finish so they could start building the rest. When the Reactor finally became solid, Knight started shouting orders where to place the rest of what they needed. ‘Put a telenode over there! Shiverer! You put an Armoury as close to the wall as possible. Wades! You put a Medical station next to it! Put another telenode over here, Ozzerd! Now close off the entrance with machinegun turrets, like that, try to get them in an inward crescent!’
It all took two minutes. When it was all done, everyone was ordered by Stream to get a weapon. Once every had a weapon, Knight seemed to know what to do.
‘Now we wait.’ Knight said. ‘The enemy is in this closed-off area and we just have to wait for them to find us. We’ll be able to see them from far, so we’ll know what we’re up against.’
They waited.
After a while, Dark Star said: ‘I object, sir!’
‘Why is that, Dark?’ said Knight.
‘I suggest we go out in small patrols of say, two-three people?’
Knight thought for a while. ‘You’re right, Dark. I call two patrols. John and Stan, you go with Dark Star, and Ozzerd, you’re leading the second patrol. New Death, you’re with Oz. Famish, you too.’
John looked around. Stan? He watched the Unnamed Soldier salute Knight and join John’s squad. Knight continued with the orders. ‘The rest of you, take up defencive positions in the base and try to look for any movement at all. Report if you see anything. I’ll be watching too.’ He turned back to the patrols. ‘Dark, you and your men patrol to the west,’ he pointed, ‘And Oz, you go east. I want both patrols back here in half an hour with full reports on any alien activity you encounter. And keep yourselves alive! Dismissed!’
*
John and his patrol had been walking for twenty minutes now, and were on their way back. They hadn’t found or seen anything. John was starting to wonder whether there were any aliens here at all. Just at that moment, almost as if history was keeping up a tradition, they found something just around the corner. John stared at it. It was a small animal, and all green. It looked like a large green blob with a head, three eyes on each side of it’s head, six stubby legs and two large frontal shield-like... well, more legs. Although they weren’t used as legs. More like arms. The animal stopped, and scuttled backwards a bit when the squad saw it. ‘Aww, cute!’ Said Dark Star, dropping to his knees to get a closer look at it. The alien edged away. ‘Prr-RR!’ It said. ‘Did you hear that?’ Dark Star said. ‘It purrs!’
‘Be careful, Dark. It could also be growling. We don’t know what this thing is!’ John said cautiously. Dark reached out his hand to pet the alien, which scuttled backwards a little further. ‘PRR-rr-RR!’ It yelped. Dark leant forward a bit more, and stretched out to pet it, but as soon as he touched it... ‘RRRRR-rr-RRR!’ It lept back, spat at Dark but missed, turned around and scuttled off, growling. Dark looked shocked at where the spit had landed. There was a strange stringy puddle of black.. stuff there. No one dared get near it. ‘Told you.’ John sniggered. ‘You okay?’
‘F-fine...’ Dark said, getting up. ‘What’s that noise?’ He said. John had heard it too, and was looking around. It had sounded like a strange cross between a cricket and a broken record player. ‘Skrrit-Krit!’ It went again. ‘Aargh!’ John turned around and looked at Stan, who was looking at his heel. A part of the boot had been torn away and there was a nasty wound underneath. John looked a little further. Sitting there, a drip of blood dripping down it’s front, was was looked like a very large orange spider. ‘Skrrit-Krit!’ It said. It charged. ‘Look out!’ John screamed. He was too slow. He watched the spider jump and bite Stan’s head. ‘Aaaaaaaggghh!’ Stan dropped to the ground. He was dead. John looked at the spider, which had scuttled a little further away. Then he looked at Dark Star, who was slowly drawing his weapon. John did the same.
The spider charged. John and Dark Star did all they could, shooting at it. The spider got hit three times, but managed to get to Dark and bite him in the chest before it perished. ‘Ungh..’ Dark moaned.
‘Are you okay? Use the medkit! The... remote regeneration thingy! Err...’ John was panicking. This was his first battle against anything harder than a wobbling target. It wasn’t a nice first battle to have.
‘Urk... I’m fine...’ Dark said. John heard the pressure squeak of the medkit, and Dark’s wound disappeared. ‘Let’s get Stan back to the base. You carry him. I’ll cover you.’ He said.
John didn’t argue. He was used to heavy lifting, and Dark was a much better shot than him. Luckily, the base wasn’t too far away.
*
‘You’re back! We were worrying a lot... Oz’s squad came back early and they were heavily wounded. After they already had used their medkits to heal some other wounds. They got back just in time, too... We’re fighting some horrible creatur—’ Knight stopped. ‘Oh...’ He said. ‘A casualty...’
John put Stan’s lifeless body down inside the base, next to the turrets. Then he climbed over the turrets himself, fell into the base, and refused to get up again.
‘Oh dear. We’re going to have to stick together. Get yourself on the medipad, I’ll tell you what the others saw.’
*
John gaped at the story of what the other had seen. The squad had given the various aliens names, too. Most names were made by Ozzerd, who seemed to know a lot of mythical creatures’ names and a lot more after that, too. The green alien John’s squad encountered was called a Granger. The large spider got named a Dretch. Then there were stories about Basilisks, pink lizard-like creatures with six long legs that walk on the walls and can grab you firmly so you can’t even turn around, and then they’d start biting you. There was a Marauder, an even larger, red alien which, unlike the Dretch and the Basilisk, couldn’t walk on the ceiling, but it could jump. It could walljump, too. It would jump all around you and attack you as it flew past from all directions. And the biggest alien they saw, they had called a Dragoon. It had been an enormous beast, bigger than a lion and also bearing six legs. This huge beast could pounce.
John didn’t want to encounter it. Luckily, some time after, some reinforcements arrived. Five more troops. And they also brought better armour, more weapons, and, best of all, strong helmets. The helmets had radars in them. After the first alien encounter, the researchers had been able to configure these radars. And they were taken gratefully. At least you’d know if there’d be some aliens around the corner.
Now was the time that the entire team would charge the aliens, and wipe them out. And destroy any way they could come back, if they found any. John looked around. Everyone was wearing some armour, a helmet, and a weapon. There were shotguns, mass drivers, lasguns, which where an energy-type upgrade to the rifle, and there were three or four pulse rifles, which were another kind of energy upgrade, for who could afford them. John pitied them. John pitied himself. John didn’t pity the aliens they were about to destroy. But John noticed a certain kind of... tremulousness about the band of soldiers. No one wanted to be here. They were shivering. They were frightened. But, against all expectations, Shiverer was not shivering the worst. Stream was. Stream looked like he could break down in tears any moment. Stream suddenly turned around, and headed straight for a telenode. ‘No!’ shouted John. He knew this about the telenodes: they were one-way only until High Command would set them to work the other way. This was done to avoid desertions in-battle. If someone attempted to teleport in the wrong direction, there would be a power cut and everything would shut down unfixably. ‘Stop him!’ John shouted, running after him. Stream wouldn’t listen. Trembling in fear, he ran for his only escape, which would leave everyone else to die without defences. John didn’t have any options left. He pulled out his mass driver, and shot Stream through the head.
Bang!
The rest of the squad hadn’t moved. They had just watched in terror. Now they had betrayed their own captain, they had to win. They didn’t realize that their captain had betrayed them first. ‘This has gone far enough!’ shouted John. ‘This is where we destroy the enemy! We fight for our planet! We fight for our lives!’
John stepped forward, and held his mass driver up. And in a voice that demanded authority, he shouted:
‘Chaaaaaaaaarge!’
The soldiers charged.
John leading the squad into battle, they fought with pride and power. They fought with all they had. They fought with their lives. The five deaths were worth the victory.
John had not been the fighting type. John had been officer material. On the battlefield, he was merely an extra target so his fellows could take a better aim. That put aside, and he fought the fiercest of them all. If he hadn’t been there, the world would have perished. John had been brought forward.
And he had killed only one man, before dying.
