Prologue – 000

Earth (2026):

Political instability had sparked the Global War of 2020. This war, unlike the previous World Wars, was in fact more encompassing than World War I and World War II. The Global War was split into three battlefronts.

In the West, the United States of America waged war on the continent of South America. The Caribbean Islands were invaded as war outposts and military bases. America claimed that nations like Mexico and Colombia posed a risk to national security due to illegal immigration, cartels and drug smuggling.

In the central continents, Europe was at war with the Middle East. Skirmishes and military presence in the Middle East0 had been ongoing for decades upon decades. Governments provided different excuses and reasons for the fights but there was no end to them in sight and the situation had finally escalated to a full war.

Over in the East, North and South Korea had finally erupted over their differences. Contrary to popular belief, the fight did not become nuclear and the war was fought mainly through land infantry and each country’s respective airforces. China had also started to intervene in this war, hoping to capitalise on the chaos and gain a new piece of land.

London:

The United Kingdom had been at the forefront of civilisation for millennia, at first due to its navy and then, in the 1700s, due to the industrial revolution. Seeing three enormous wars in the space of 100 years though, had definitely taken its toll on the economy.

Since the full-on escalation of the Middle Eastern battleground, the United Kingdom had resorted to tactics not seen in a long time. Conscription had been introduced. Men and women of applicable ages had to be present for military training as soon as they became of age. After years of training, these young men and women would be sent to fight.

Furthermore, most economic sectors had been frozen, scientific funding had been retracted for all non-military projects. Those who were scholars and academics, or those who were studying to be scholars and academics, found they had no opportunity of employment and could only hope for a military career.

Few civilian engineers or architects remained, most had been given good military positions to drive the war forward.

Unskilled jobs were manned my computers and machines and living was stripped to its bare bones.

Turkey:

Turkey was a key strategical position for Europe’s battle with the Middle East. This was because Turkey was the most direct land route between Europe and the Middle East. As a strategical hotspot, Turkey was plunged into chaos and fighting was fierce and perennial.

Civilians had mostly been evacuated and the whole country had been turned into one huge military base.

In a military base in East Turkey:

It was midday, the sun hung high in the sky. The ground seemed to be distorting, an illusion due to the unbearable heat crashing down onto the concrete paving of the military base.

‘Today you finish your training! Three years ago, in 2023, you all arrived at this military base to be trained to be elites! You all showed extraordinary aptitude at enrolment and you were chosen. You were chosen to be amongst the best of the best on the ground, on the water and in the air. Tomorrow you will be dispatched to your assigned posts, make no mistakes, all of you will be sent to the line of battle. It is true that one man cannot win a war but with soldiers like you on the ground I am confident you will lead your squads to glory!’ A robust man exclaimed to a battalion in formation.

‘This will be your last day of peace, say goodbye to your brothers-in-arms, you may never see them again.’ The man about-faced and left, leaving the soldiers at ease to do as they pleased.

The battalion present was of mixed genders and mixed ages. Men and women, young and middle-aged, all expressed their goodbyes. Some hugged, some kissed and some cried.

One man however, did not. He quietly left by himself, back to the barracks and sat on his bunk. He removed the chain around his neck, on the chain hung two adornments. One was a dog tag, standard issue to any soldier. On it there was some basic information, this made the soldier identifiable in the worst case scenario where he wasn’t. Alongside the dog tag sat a small green jewel. Normally, personal effects were not allowed in the military but due to the introduction of conscription and the tense international situation, small exceptions like these were made.

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The young man laid the dog tag on the bunk.

It read:

Blanchard (Surname)

Leon, L (First name, initial)

25-06-2000, 26 (Date of Birth, Age at date of issue)

O Type (Blood Type)

Atheist (Religion)

Leon was amongst the youngest to be present at this military base. This base was dedicated to training those who had shown exceptional skill or aptitude.

Here, they would be cultivated with knowledge from the air force, the marines and the army. They would be made into leaders and exceptional fighters, true death machines.

Leon was generally shunned by his peers in the military base, this was because he, unlike most of his peers, did not come from a war-like or physical background. Leon was a Natural Sciences graduate, he had just finished his university course when he was forced to join the military and as such he was looked down upon by those who had been training their physical abilities for a living prior to the war, as was the case for most of the ‘elites’.

Leon looked at his assignment sheet and sighed. He had been assigned to a squad behind enemy lines, they were known by others as death squads because of the high probability of death associated with the missions. He put away his assignment letter and his chain. He took a shower and turned in for the night.

The military day begins before first light. Today, the recruit battalion rose at 4AM. Most had not slept a wink, either due to excitement or dread.

By 4:30AM, the recruits had reported to their assigned superiors to be sent out to their outposts.

Leon reported alongside three other unlucky recruits who were also going to be heading behind enemy lines. Each of the elite would be leading a squad formed of normal soldiers from the army.

The four elites, Leon included, strapped in at the back of a Transall C-160 cargo-style military aircraft. These aircraft were old, but they still worked well and got the job done.

At 5AM the plane took off. The elites were scheduled to parachute over Afghanistan at 8AM. From there, they would have to make their way to a small and covert military outpost on foot.

7:55 AM – Somewhere Over Afghanistan:

The journey had been smooth so far, but life very seldom goes according to plan. The plane came under gunfire and the recruits just managed to do an emergency jump, catapulting them towards the ground below them. The pilot was not so lucky, the older aircraft could not take much of a beating and quickly turned into a fiery blaze.

Leon opened his parachute as close to the ground as he could whilst making a safe landing, this was an attempt to avoid staying in the air like a sitting duck.

The risks of the death squads were plain to see, even before arriving it was already uncertain whether they would survive or not.

Leon had no time to rest, he had landed in a forest and his parachute got stuck on a tree he quickly used his combat knife to cut the parachute off of him and quickly made way towards the military outpost. The decision to head to the military post was not an easy one. There were two possibilities once he arrived, either he would be able to get reinforcements and make it through the attack or he would reveal the location of his allies and compromise the whole operation.

Soon, the enemy was on his tail and he has still to make it out of the forest. The sound of radios going off was all around Leon, he was encircled. At this point, Leon knew he was done for, so he stopped running. He laid down his gun and held the chain around his neck in his hand.

The footsteps could be heard, and they grew louder and louder, the march of the reaper was making its way towards Leon. Within minutes over a dozen enemy fighters were in sight of Leon. In a truly brutal manner, one of the men took his handgun, pointed at Leon’s chest and fired.

Leon looked down to see blood, his own blood, trickling down from his chest, into his hands which were still grasping the green gem handed to him from his father, and right before his consciousness faded away, he could have sworn he saw the gem glow…

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Prologue End