Stories of a broken man

[Medic]

Entry One - There are no Athiests in Foxholes

 

An explosion rocked me off my feet sending me careening to the wooden slat floor of my trench. I grunted, and looked up as dirt and other debris landed on my helmet, face and body. I blinked up into the sky and watched as the clouds in the night sky were quickly lit up by the explosions that rocked the battle field around me. Tremors from those explosions could be felt for miles through the dirt. I raised my hand up in front of my face to block out the clumps of dirt that fell on me from the explosion. "Get up, Private! You think this is bad? Wait will we get into the City!" A Corporal I did not know screamed at me from down the trench. I put my hands down on the floor of my Trench, and pushed myself up to my feet. My Morita dangled from my sling in front of my chest as I stumbled forwards putting my hands on side of the wall. "Son of a-" Another explosion landed in the trench a hundred and fifty meters to my right. I could hear the screams of Troopers, the calls for Medics, and the frequent orders of NCO's. I gripped my rifle with both hands, and raised it up over the lip of my Trench. I brought my right hand back up to my eyes to rub at some dirt that got in them trying to clear my vision. Down no mans land I could see the enemy clamouring out of their trenches firing rifles, and shotguns towards my position. Rounds bounced around my position kicking up dirt, and splinters of wood as they hit my fortifications. I aimed my rifle at a silhouette of an enemy soldier, and squeezed the trigger of my rifle. It clacked loudly as it sent a burst towards the black outline in the distance. The sickening sound of bullets hitting cloth, and flesh were easily desernable from other battle field sounds, and the Silhouette fell backwards into the mud; I never saw it get back up again. "Good shooting Private, don't let up! Pour it on 'em!" I turned to look at the dirty face of the Corporal beside me, and then back down the iron sights of my Morita. I moved to the next silhouette, and then the next, and the next. My weapon continues to clack out rounds towards the silhouettes and the flash of my muzzle fire lit up the area around me for seconds at a time. I guess this is what I get for signing up right? I continued to squeeze my trigger until my rifle clicked, and I had to slam a fresh magazine into it. I pulled back the charging handle, and continues to sight new targets engaging them with the deadly precision that was beat into me during basic. All the while I thought to myself "Let God sort them out.."

[Medic]

Entry Two - a fight to remember

 

I looked up into the eyes of the large Seperatist and I dared him to try something. The man was a relative mound of muscle, and hatred for me; I could tell from the start that this man was going to be a problem. "All of you are here today to be questioned about your so called.. Insurrection against the Federation." I walked up and down the line of dirty prisoners looking each over as if I was a Sergeant looking over his Troopers. "Each of you will tell me something I need to know, or so help me God you will learn of the consequences of keeping it from me." I returned back to the largest of the group,and as I did with each of the groups brought in I motioned to him with my left hand. "Release this man." The Trooper at the back of the line rushed over to clip the mans zip tie from his wrists with a multi tool. The mans arms came around in front of him and he rubbed at the spots where his wrists were secured. The man eyed me like a predator who had found his prey, and I smirked at him. "What is this?" he said and looked down the line again at his comrades in arms before looking back at me. "I will not talk." He decided to solidify his defiance in front of me, and his comrades. I could see they were easily bolstered by his defiance and much like each other line that came through this prison.. I made an example of each. "Whats your name son?" I asked him kindly. "Mort." he said with a gutteral accent. "Hello Mort, its a pleasure to meet you. Mort, you seem like a reasonable man so I want to make a deal with you." I tilted my head, and squinted my eyes up at him in a contemplative manner. "What deal?" he said again in his deep voice. "If you can kill me right now in a man to man fight you will all be released. However if you should fail.. well.. You die." Mort began to laugh loudly almost like a man who had been told the funniest joke he had ever heard. "I will throttle you, and then I will toss your body in front of your men." I looked down the line of his comrades and say they were all smiling, and nodding as if this was assured for them. I looked back up at the man again with no emotion on my face. "Very well, step out of line." I stepped away from him and removed my black armor, and black beret handing them to the Trooper who was with me; When I turned back the man had his shirt off to show off his large muscled body. I still offered the same flat look I had given him before with no emotion, or give away. I widened my stance, and put my hands up in front of me the robotics of my left hand whirred softly as I did. He decided to make the first move, and charged at me much like a bull did and raised his right arm up, and back going for a haymaker towards my skull. I saw this coming a mile away, and I stepped into his charge raising both of my hands up. I struck him hard with bladed hands to his right peck, and the bicep of his right arm. Essentially the man found himself spinning to the floor unable to stop his motion, or his momentum. I looked down at him with a raised brow, and he roared at me in defiance pushing himself up to his feet again. This time he was more cautious and stepped towards me with fists raised. He took a quick jab at me which I stepped away from; a move he repeated a few times before trying his luck. He stepped into the attack this time so I could not duck away however what he did not see coming, or what he will never see coming was my attack. I ducked under the strike, and slammed my left fist into his solar plexis, and my right hand struck him square in the stomach knocking the wind from him. I turned quickly, and kicked out his right knee making him kneel in front of me; I stepped up on that knee grabbing the wrist of the hand he threw at me, wrapped my legs around his throat, and took him spinning down to the dirt ground. I choked him for several moments before I first broke his arm, and then subsequently.. His neck. I stood up brushing myself off and took my uniform from the Trooper. As I was putting it on I looked up at the gaping, and defeated faces of the mans comrades. One of them was brave enough to speak. "Who are you?" I looked him straight in the face. You can call me Young.

[Medic]

Entry Three - Yellowjackets

 

The screeches of the bugs are what were the worst. The sound of angry, and impending doom that rushed at you with only the intent to rip you apart like a rag doll standing in the way of a farming combine. The wall of the installation I stood on was made of good strong steel but it might as well be paper to these massive insects. They ripped, and tore at the fortifications if they got too close making holes they can squeeze through, and attack the Troopers and Civilians inside. The horrors of what they had done to the Troopers who were caught out in the open, and could not make it back to the installation still to this day haunt me. The screams of the Troopers made as the Arachnids took no time stabbing, and ripping them into bloody pieces stuck in my dreams for months. Not even the clacking of Morita's or the screams of anger, and hatred of the other men around me could bring me out of my fear. It was only when my Corporal slammed his Morita into my helmet and told me to "Stop gawking." did I raise my rifle, and start returning fire at the bugs. Bug limbs blew off the group I was firing at sending green tendrils of blood, and ichor into the air then dramatically splatter across the red blood on the round like paint. It might have been a beautiful mural if not for the face that men, and bugs died for it. The vibrations of my rifle started to make my hands go numb, and reloading became difficult as fingers that had no feeling in them fumbled with the new magazines from my webbing. "Shit!" I screamed at myself as I recovered the magazine, and slammed it into my weapon. "Come on Rookie! Get your head out of your ass!" The Corporal screamed at me again; Always at me. Such a fuck up. I pulled the charging handle back and continued the fight blasting away pieces of the bugs before finding the so called "Sweet Spot." the veterans call it. The nerve stem was the perfect target that put down Bugs easy, and quickly. But it was hard to hit when they were flailing at you with limbs that cut through you like knives. The bodies of the bugs started to bunch up under me and bugs that were still alive started to climb up them just to get at the Troopers on the wall and I felt my stomach lurch at that thought. I was shoved to the side during my reverie, and a man carrying a long tube with a rocket on the end stepped up into my position. "Clear back blast!" he called out, and the Corporal cleared him. He aimed that massive tube out towards the bugs, and fired the silvery rocket towards the enemy. What I later learned is that in the distance there was something called a "Bug Hole" that the bugs were pouring out of in the side of the mountain. The rocket slid inside that hole as if it was a virgin on prom night, and detonated deep inside. The ground shook from the explosion and dust kicked up making it seem like we were in a dust storm for a while. We mopped up what bugs were left, and set in for the rest of the night to wait out what stragglers would come looking.

[Medic]

Entry Four - Crimson

 

I gripped my right thigh with a vice like grip and my vision swam as I looked at the giant hole that went through it. "GAWD!" I called up to the ceiling as I looked up at it. It hurt like nothing I can remember and it was so bad that it turned the edges of my vision black. The blood poured out between my gloved fingers and there was little I could do to stop the bleeding. I rocked back and forth, and side to side as the pain overtook me and I cried. I cried so hard that the sobs were easily heard by medics nearby and the looks on their faces showed nothing. Like this is something they have seen a thousand, maybe a million times. The pain; How do I stop the pain? That God damn bug came out of my blind spot and stabbed me right through the thigh like a hot knife through butter. Blood continued to splatter on the floor like water from an overfilled sink around me as Medics worked on wounds from other Troopers. Other screams, and sobbing clamoured together with my own making it sound like a childs daycare filled with needy kids. One of the Medics finished up with a case that looked much worse than my own, and jogged over to my table pulling it towards the bed. I never got to ask her name, and I definitely never got to see her again because she shot me up so full of anesthetics I passed out. I woke days later in a tank floating softly while machines pinched the flesh of my leg together. It still hurt like crazy, but at least the pain had subsided to manageable levels. The thoughts of all the blood, and the screaming still ran through my mind like a screaming child running down a hallway. I shook from the drugs, and the terror that assaulted me for most of my ordeal. The bugs are no joke, and I am lucky to be alive.

[Medic]

Entry Five - Silence

 

We moved through the building silently from room to room. I looked over my shoulder at my masked partner in black behind me and she nodded after we stacked on an open door way. I turned through the doorway with my Mark 3 Morita raised, and found myself standing outside of the building on a grate bridge that led around the corner to a Ladder. However standing at a railing directly infront of me was a Draconian Trooper who had his hands on the railing over looking the valley from where he stood. Slowly I raised my fist to halt the squad following behind me and then held up a single finger. I approached cautiously lowering my rifle, and then peeked the corner for an additional Trooper. When I saw none I continued my approach slowly pulling my knife from the sheathe on my belt. With a single fluid motion I raised my free hand up putting it over his mouth, and slid my knife through the flesh of his chest past his sternum and directly into his soft heart. He made only a small surprised sound, and then immediately went limp in my arms. I slowly, quietly dragged him back to the building the squad was in, and laid him in the corner. My partner who was just as professional as I was had already moved out of the door way in front of me to clear the rest of the walk way. I finished up with the body, and followed her out; the rest of the squad followed on behind quietly. There was an elevator at the end of the small bridge that led to the bottom, but we knew immediately that would not be an option. Not only would it be loud, but if we took it then we put ourselves in a kill box. Silently my partner gave me a hand signal and pointed at the railings. Having been trained thoroughly for so long I knew immediatly my partner was asking me to set up a lizard line. I pulled my line from my pack, and tied it around the railing. Instead of tossing the line down like normal Troopers would I held onto the slack in one hand, and used my other hand as a brake. I hopped over the railing after attaching the line to my rigging, and slowly desended to the ground below. When I hit bottom, I removed the line and gave my partner the signal it was clear to come down. After the squad had followed down a few hand signals were given and we split up from the team to take an overwatch position. We crossed from where we hit the floor to a small wooden shed where another Guard stood with back towards us. My parter tapped my shoulder and indicated for me to distract him. She crawled through a small slat hole, and I turned to look back at the Guard who was just out of reach. When I saw she was in position I made a sound. "Psst. Hey.." I whispered to him. He turned to look at me, and found himself instantly gurgling on his own blood as the end of a knife busted through the front of his trachyea. My partner dragged his limp, and dying form into the darkness of the building, and put him clean out of his misery. I nodded to her in appreciation of her talents before we moved across the small clearing at a crawl, and climbed up a small cliff face; Then turned to watch as the squad moved up under cover towards our objective. I flipped on my scope, and looked down over the valley watching as the rest of the team moved silently over obstacles taking down targets of opportunity. I saw a Draconian on a hill turn around and spot one of my team mates who was making his way over a small rock, and I took that opportunity to put the man down before he raised the alarm. My supressed Mark Three huffed softly, and the man dropped like a sack of bricks.