BAAAAAMMMMMMMM!!!

Everything was shaking. What the heck was going on?!

Having fallen out of my narrow bed, I fought myself out of the sleeping bag that held me down. My other persona instantly took charge. Changing my uncoordinated struggle into efficient movements. Quickly I looked around and took in the surrounding situation. Half of the wall was cracked and the red emergency lights at the door were flashing.

“All men to arms, this is not a drill! We are under attack! All men to arms!”

The cracks in the wall were an obvious sign of an attack. The enemy shouldn’t have been able to attack this building. We were in trouble.

Grabbing my combat gear, I swiftly dressed before I sprinted toward the weapons-locker. Running down the empty corridor, I was reminded once again of how my superiors treated me as a pariah. My little bed was separated from the rest of my group. In a little niche below an air vent. The Logistic officer had told me that it had been a slip up, but I knew the truth. With my abilities they couldn’t lie to me.

I could hear the muffled bangs of spells exploding against our defensive structures. The explosions were much too close already. They should not have been able to get that close to our main defensive line without us spotting them first. Something must have gone very wrong.

I needed to know what was going on. I sprinted towards the emergency meeting point of our team. As I arrived, they were already there. Chief was organizing our group with his usual calm. Seeing him behave as if nothing had happened let me hope that the shit still hadn’t hit the ceiling completely.

“Check your mags ladies! I will kick your butts if you don’t have enough ammunition on you!”

Yes, that was our chief, he cared a lot for us.

“We have been given the duty to support the other groups! We will stay on standby at the entrance to the second trench, so we can move quickly if a need for reinforcements arises! Understood!?”

“Yes, Chief!” we all shouted back.

“Everyone ready?! Move out!”

Trotting out of the barracks in orderly ranks, we made our way towards our designated defensive position.

Scanning the night, I tried to find out what had happened. I couldn’t see anything, wait! No, there was something, it looked like it… Oh damned…

“Incoming!!!!” I shouted and threw myself on the ground.

Booommm!!

Luckily, my teammates followed my example immediately. Thanks to that, they got only shaken through thoroughly and covered with a lot of dirt.

“Stand up and spread out! We are under enemy fire! Everyone moves for themselves, try to get as quickly to the trench entrance as possible, we will regroup there!”

We immediately followed the command and ran towards the designated position in the defensive structure.

They were much too close already to bombard us like this. Why hadn’t the artillery shot already?

My mute question got immediately answered by the powerful thunder of our big guns firing. Good, we were still in the game.

I hadn’t finished my thought when a much louder explosion occurred. Only this time it came from behind us. I was in the middle of turning, when the shock-wave hit us and knocked everyone over.

Standing up a second time, I glanced around disoriented. My befuddlement suddenly lifted, being replaced by a deep bone chilling realization.

I looked at the hill where the artillery stood. I should say, had been standing. Now there was only a big dark fissure. Everything was gone. The entire top of the hill had been obliterated and with it our artillery that had been “safe” on the backside of it. How had they located it so precisely?!

My analytical mind helpfully informed me that our survival chance had taken a deep dive towards zero. Most of my mates were still reeling from the sudden loss of our key defense line.

Brad, our communication officer called out.

“Chief, position delta requests immediate back up! They are getting overrun!”

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Chief reacted straight away, “Get a grip on yourselves! Our brothers need us! Follow me!”

Jogging through the trench structure, we made our way to the delta station. We came in the nick of time. The enemy had pushed the other group back into the station. Our comrades were in the middle of a bloody melee with the Darkons.

“Take position!”, said Chief quietly.

“Prepare!”

“Attack!”

As we moved in from the third entrance, we hit the Darkons hard into the side. Yes, they were faster and stronger than us, but we had shotgun attachments with armor-piercing shells in our guns. They packed a real punch.

As the Darkons couldn’t retreat and their shields were not made to ward off our special ammunition, they fell quickly.

Shortly after, we had wiped them out.

Chief walked towards the other group leader.

“How’s the situation?”

“That was the rest of the first wave that had gotten through the artillery fire. Thank you for the help! This would have been very hard otherwise! We have to get out again and man the trench, if not, they will breach our line.

The Darkons ambushed us! I don’t know how they had gotten so close to us. Luckily the artilleries fired, now it should get easier after this.”

We realized that the other group still didn’t understand the severity of the situation.

“I hate to have to break it to you, but we will not have any artillery support anymore.” Chief said with a stony expression.

“What?! Why?! They can’t do this! I know that the ammunition is scarce, but the enemy will wipe us out without artillery support!”

“I know, but we have to make do as it is. The artillery is gone.”

“What do you mean with gone?!”

“There is no artillery anymore, they blew up the hill.”

“Wha…, No, that can’t be!”

I could see exactly when the understanding dawned in his eyes. We were already dead men, only our bodies didn’t want to believe it yet.

My alter ego didn’t allow for fear. I simply stood there and observed, keeping an eye on the surroundings while everyone else was occupied with our impending doom. I could have fled now. My skills would have made it easy to do that. But that was not who I was. No, I would fight.

Cracking my neck I relaxed. Let them come.

“Cody, Mat, Thomas and Andrew! You will follow them into the trench! The rest will support them where needed from the station. Move out!”

Following the others, we made our way through the trench, positioning us over the entire length of the trench segment between the two nearest bunkers.

Something was strange with the surrounding darkness. Checking my watch, it was eight o’clock in the morning. The sun should have been up over an hour already.

Gazing up at the gloomy clouds above us, I realized what had happened. It was another sign of an impending disaster. Normally the clouds only followed above the enemy army. The fact that they had spread out over our whole defensive position, cutting us off from most of the light, told us about the seriousness of our plight.

Sighing, I concentrated myself on the enemy. The Darkon legion was reforming itself. It looked like they would attack not long from now.

“Listen up my brothers!” The other group-leader, I think his name was Singer, called out to us all. It looked like he had gotten a grip on himself.

“I know that it seems like we have no hope left. But we have to endure! Behind us stands a city with over three million people living in it. If we fall, our enemy will massacre them all. Think about it! Your families, wives and children will all be killed if you let the enemy pass!”

“I tell you, we won’t let that happen! We will stand strong! We will endure! We will survive! For us, for our family, our fatherland and our whole world! We will win! For Victory and survival!!”

“For Victory and survival!!!” We all chorused.

The speech did its job, my mates had found their moral again. It didn’t have an impact on me. Nevertheless, I was looking forward to it. It was time to do what I did best.

We prepared for the coming engagement. Somewhere deep down they knew we couldn’t win this, not without the artillery. But these thoughts were pushed deep down. Now was the time to fight.