Chapter 33: Like Rats

* Just a week ago I was in Aether the capital of Elysion taking advantage of my permission, but because General Tandsen had a big mouth at the high council it was decided that he would send a contingent to the north to destroy the rebels. Being one of his aide camps and son of a close friend he sent me here saying *.

-It is only a small campaign as we do a lot. You go there you kill some rebels and you come back with the medals. * He said laughing *.

-Don't be afraid kid. * Said one of his colonels *. We did lots of raids like that when we were young. You'll see it's easy like skipping a madelaine.

-I'm counting on you to keep an eye on him Steery.

-Of course you know me Jim.

* This is how I found myself in the middle of this jungle, it was already winter in the North and there was snow everywhere but not enough on the roads to make them impassable. My uncle had sent two brigades to the mountains to suppress the rebellion. So here I am in the cold with my coat on my back in the vanguard convoy *.

- Damn, we're freezing here. * Said one of my men *. When do we catch these rebels?

-The objective is to recover the Blackburn factory as well as the Sterben prison. *I Explained *. Once firmly installed we will deal with the rebels.

-Ah ... Ah, okay because I didn't understand. * He said sarcastically *.

-It's not to criticize the intellect of General Tandsen but sent a half-division to do the job of a corp is not very smart. * Said a sergeant *. I mean with all my respect, lieutenant.

-Speak without holding back Sergeant Lane. * I tell him calmly *. It relaxes me.

-Bah basically this Seb ...

-A myth. *I said*.

-It is big enough to crush an entire army and the general just sends a brigade.

-Two f them. * Corrected another *.

- Do you see a difference? We don't know where they are, we don't know where they live or where they come from or even what they want. Even when they come out of the thickets that we stumble upon, we have the impression of facing real ghosts.

* While we were discussing I saw my men return with the bodies of their friends in their hands. I was quite surprised but it was not the first time that I had seen corpses *.

-What has happened to you ? Where's the kid on the bike?

-An attack sir, some Huskies gutted my guys and I got nails in my arm. It was weird, it looked like ...

* I took the silver box he was holding and examined it. I had already seen it in a book *.

-That's where the nails come from. * He said *.

-A ... Claymore? * Thought I *. Impossible, we haven't even invented it ourselves yet. Very rudimentary though.

-Lieutenant. * Yelled one of my men *. It's good the road is clear.

-Well. Tell Colonel Steery we're going inland. Maintain radio contact.

-Yes Second lieutenant.

* Some would say that I got involved out of follow-up or to take advantage of the prevailing nepotism that reigns in the upper spheres of our army. It's partly true that I was able to take advantage of that, a second lieutenant at my age is not for everyone, but I'm not here by chance, I do my job and I do it well. Once the snow path cleared I continued with my regiment. I was on the passenger side of a truck, the officer's car I left it to my men. If ever there was an ambush, they would be the first to taste. It may be cruel but it is the voice of command. As I continued my momentum we came to an intersection, but a tree barred the right side *.

-Scheisse. Again. * The driver swore *. But how many trees are there on this fucking road?

- Calm sergeant. Calm down. *I said*.

-What do we do ?

-Then we follow the road. *I tell them*.

* Decision that I was going to regret later because I had not noticed on my right the tire tracks left by the leading regiment which had taken the right path. The route I took was the one the rest of the battalion was going to take, in other words the regiment after me was going to follow us. But this expedition was unlucky. A landslide separated us from the 3rd regiment *.

-What do we do, Lieutenant the 3rd cannot join us before clearing all the rubble. * Explained a subordinate *.

* I got out of the truck to make a report and indeed the snow prevented us from moving forward *.

-It's getting worse. * say Lane *.

-Tch forget them, they will come with the main body of the troops, we are going to catch up with the first regiment, they stuck us a good half an hour in advance.

* And my convoy left. I hate the north, at least this north with its mountains and its steep regions, its avalanches, its trees falling out of nowhere. I prefer the region ruled by Count Cailum, "Galate", it is calm and warm even if it must also be winter there. The people are welcoming and especially patriots *.

-What do you think Lieutenant, the kid from earlier?

-Ah eh ...

- I too would be pissed off if my daughter were made to fight. I mean these people have no pride and take their own children to battle.

-When we have more choice, yes it is. But no, I was thinking of Lieutenant Cailum. I wonder what he's doing now. We were supposed to have a date but the two of us but ended up being called.

-Ah a date ... A date?

-What bothers you? *I asked annoyed *.

-No I didn't know you were that kind of person ...

-What kind of person?

-You know ... Between guys ...

-Speak well, Lane, you're starting to irritate me.

* I admire Lieutenant Caillum very much and I am curious to know how he would have handled this crisis. As I was about to yell at my sergeant an explosion rang out. We felt our bones vibrate and I looked in the rearview mirror to see what had happened. A truck had apparently run over a mine and not just any *.

-The ammunition truck just blew up, shit.

-Stop swearing in my car what the heck. *I said*.

* It will speed up and the convoy lands in a wide open clearing. There I saw in the distance lenses shining in the sun and the ends of rifles protruding from the forests.

-Oh shit. Turn around quickly.

* Shots erupted from everywhere and a machine gun in the front swept the car in front. The soldiers ended up in shreds. Seeing that my first thought was not "Oh no poor people, or I'm sorry I put you in front of it as a shield" it was more like *.

-I made the right choice.

* I got out of my vehicle at the same time as the rest of the regiment. We had our vehicles in circles as I ordered them and we started to fight back. But retaliate on what? We couldn't see anything through the trees that were shooting at us. A machine gun a little upstream was gushing at us like no other. I've seen a lot of my guys being torn to pieces without even being able to defend themselves. I ran to my radio operator hidden behind a tree trunk but the poor guy was shot in the head. I picked up the radio and contacted backup but *.

-Here the first regiment, 2nd regiment or are you?

-Here 3rd regiment we are ambushed at the collapse point. Immediate request for reinforcement. 2nd regiment where are you?

* It didn't make sense, a simultaneous 3-point ambush. Unless ... The tree wasn't there by chance, just like the landslide was unnatural. Oh shit those rebel bastards were ... No matter what, I was ready to give instructions to the different sections when a bullet destroyed my radio. I hid behind a car by reflex *.

-These motherfuckers have snipers. * Shouted Lane *.

* But that wasn't the worst. I looked up at the sky and saw mortar shells fall on our heads. A whole regiment surrounded being decimated. We did not know where to turn, the men fell one after the other and the vehicles exploded around me. In a last gesture I ran to the car where there was a megaphone and yelled *.

-The treeeees. Run to the trees at 5 o'clock. If you want to live, run the hell.

* Once again a sniper shot went over my head. So I put on the helmet of a dead soldier and ran to the forest, which most of the troops did. We had to step back and reorganize. Some were shot in the back, but several of them reached the forest. We continued to run for a while then I ordered them to stop *.

-Formed the line. * I screamed *.

-He ... But they will ..

- Go through the top to come down towards us and we will be able to retaliate.

-Second lieutenant ... Did you hear? Everyone forme the line.

* He was to remain in the 300 survivors out of the starting 800 but we were determined to fight. As I had predicted they came out the top charging us. The volley of lead they caught caused many of them to collapse but continued to charge before hiding behind the trees and firing. The fight was to our advantage as we took them down one by one. With a rifle in hand I killed half a dozen, but I didn't notice those motherfuckers flanked us. In no time we were surrounded in the middle of the forest. It was horrible my guys weren't prepared for it, I wasn't prepared for it, nobody was prepared for it. But the worst was when they brought their machinegun into the forest. The machine gun rained bullets and many of my men fell to the ground dead *.

-Die dirty bastards of Elysien, die all. * They shouted *.

* It was hell, nothing to do with the easy mission I was promised, soldiers were dying on both sides and Elysion had suffered considerable losses. Hidden behind a tree trunk I opened fire on the machine gun man and shot him in the stomach. He was quickly recovered by his pairs and a new gunner presented himself. Having said that, I took advantage of this time to flee with the rest of my men through the woods. We ran, ran and ran for a long time. When we were far enough away I could finally count my subordinates. As company leader I had 300 men at my command, there were only 65 left. The other two companies in the regiment were wiped out and their leader killed. We had no more radio, no chain of command so we walked fulk south but when we thought we were out of danger a bullet pierced the head of one of my men, Barry, next was Clay a young farm man who had been conscripted, Hamilton got 4 bullets at the same time. I start believing that these savages like it. It took me a long time to understand that we were being tracked by a squad of snipers and that these guys their game was humans. I don't know how many guys there were, but part of my time I saw my men fall. I was fed up, fed up with it all fed up with this war we had no chance. I then turned and motioned to them. I indicated my heart with my finger then dismissed the briefs. It was sharp *.

* POV Lane *

* Decidedly the fate is hitting me. Everyone got turned on. As soon as I saw Barry hit the ground I lay down just as dry. Playing dead pays off sometimes and I was probably not the only one on the team. We had been lying there for about thirty minutes, a sniper doesn't verify with the bayonet who he killed. Then I called my buddies on *.

-Jano are you still here?

-Yeah....

-And you Bertrand.

-They shot my arm but I would survive.

-And you Willy.

-It's over ? Are you sure they're gone? * He asked *.

- I don't know. And the lieutenant?

-He took a bullet in the heart, it's over for him. * Willy replied *.

-Ah the poor guy ... I liked him. Too bad he's ... You know he likes guys.

-What serious? Glad he was dead then. * Said Jano *.

-It's nice to worry about me Jano. You will have a great promotion when you return.

-Thank you lieutenant.

* We all shouted a WHAT, in amazement, the guy was still alive *.

-S ... Second Lieutenant Quincy? Is it really you? How you ?

-A little tip i read in a book Cailum gave me. If I had known that one day it would help me. But it doesn't matter if we hang out here or they'll come back to kill us.

*He was right. I have already heard legends about the corpses of soldiers who disappear in the north I do not want to be one. Assessment of the battle. 3 regiments virtually wiped out, few confirmed injuries and many dead. A hundred survivors will return to headquarters under cover of night. The soldiers were evacuating the wounded and rare survivors of the attack. And even this HQ seemed to be temporary. The lieutenant after having received adequate care left the infirmary to seek information from a general. The poor fellow only had his shirt on his skin *.

- Sir ... Sir ... Excuse me but ...

-No time son I have other things to worry about.

-Please sir I'm a survivor of the 2nd regiment. I would like to know what happened to others.

-Where are regiments 1 and 3? * Quincy asked *.

-Dead. All dead are almost nobody. Besides, we are preparing to evacuate this HQ as well.

-This is not possible and Lieutenant Colonel Steery in all this?

-Killed in action too. His car exploded at the start of the clash. * Explained the general *.

-But but...

* I saw the young officer trembling with his eyes on the verge of tears, his day couldn't be more shitty frankly. He wrestled squarely in a nearby trash can. There were hundreds of dead in the camp and we had not finished counting *.

-The ... The second battalion ... What happened to the second battalion sir?

- Where does this guy come from? * Said the general *. They too suffered the same fate as you but they weren't even able to cover half of your way when they got beaten up. Some say that SEB in person would have led the assault.

-SEB ... but it's a legend.

-Hahaha. He's cute. Welcome to the North kid.

* The general patted him on the shoulder as he got into his jeep towards the rear lines *.

-And hurry to leave the camp. Seb never takes a prisoner. * He shouted *.

* I don't know why, but at that moment, a click occurred in the mind of the second lieutenant *.

* End of chapter *

* 2 days after this attack Elysion had taken a big step backwards in his conquest of the North. Uncle Tandsen had lost one of his trustees and shame was now on him for failing to regain the north. I don't know what he will think of as a counterattack and I didn't care because I took the first train to the Cailums area. County Galatea where a small group of soldiers were training. Once there I unpacked everything I knew about the battle, its ins and outs. I was happy to see Cailum but I was there for something else *.

-So if I summarize correctly you saw practically nothing of the attack. You haven't seen SEB at all and the little survivor won't help much, right? * Cailum asked *.

-Yes, but...

-It's okay I got the outline. * He said touching his chin *. These guys are much worse than I imagined.

-You really think we'll get there, Lieutenant? * Asked a black sergeant next to him *. They pushed back 2 battalions of the Elysian army how can we have a chance against these guys?

-It's my job to think about that Hakim. * He replied calmly *. Rico.

-Yes...

-You said you wanted to be part of the Task force is that right? Yet I have not once felt in your story the desire to want to avenge your comrades.

* I looked down at the pressure in his gaze but took my courage in both hands *.

-Even if ... I can hardly say if I fought. They shot me I retaliated but did I really kill an enemy or did I save anyone? I was just a cog, another soldier, a number on a map. I am tired I refuse to fall prey to these people next time. From now on I will be able to take charge of my destiny on the battlefield. I wanted to have a chance. I wanted to be able to "Exist" on the battlefield.

* I saw Cailum smile at my speech and he put his hand on my shoulder before turning me towards the training area where there were already plenty of soldiers practicing *.

- Seeing that you join a new army corps, you lose your stripes, are you okay?

* A satisfied smile crept on my lips and I stared at the lieutenant happily *.

-No problem.

-So 2nd Class Quincy, welcome to Task Force Beowulf.

*To be continued*.