"Ey, Staff Sergeant MC fuck face! You're hot-micing into the headset again!" Said Derek as he sat in the back passenger seat with his M4 Assault rifle pointed upward by his side. "Sorry, First Sergeant! Just a little happy to have my favorite asshole out roaming with us again! Hey Truck? Golem? Y'all gotta admit it's just like old times, right?" Asked Xaldin.
The Driver, Staff Sergeant David "Truck" Pluckett, smirked. He was a six-foot-tall, muscular man with a crew cut and a mole on the corner of his right lip. Truck looked over to the TC in the passenger seat at Staff Sergeant Gary "Golem" Giant, who was also smirking. He was also Six Feet and built the same as Truck, except he was African American with a shaved head. "Ain't nothing wrong with being a little overzealous, First Sergeant! Ever since your ass got promoted... only time we get to see you is when you're barkin' orders at us!" Said Truck.
Derek Sonata sighed and nodded. "Fair, ever since I got this promotion, the Officers have been breathing down my neck! That's why I had you all squad leaders in different platoons! Just so they wouldn't think I'm playing favorites... The ONLY reason we're all on a team right now is because of all the moving around... and the Casualties." He admitted.
There was a brief silence before Golem cleared his throat. "Damn, way to bring down the mood again Darkness" He said with a laugh. Derek just glared at him. "I thought I said to stop calling me that!" He said with annoyance in his voice. "Hey, you earned that name fair and Square, Darkness... all those morning shifts you got out of so you could drink during the night shifts! Barking orders the next day in your Dark raspy zombie voice! And hey, at least your nickname didn't come from SOMEONE drunkenly rasping your name!" Calle Xaldin.
Derek's face flushed red, and he grunted. "Still can't believe they promoted me in spite of all that." He said as he looked down. Truck chuckled. "Hey, that's because we ALL put in a good word! You may drink and yell a lot, but you're a good leader, you have the most training... and most importantly, none of us wanted that job... Plus, your little sister could use the money! She needed funding for her studio, right?" He asked.
Derek nodded a few times before pausing. "Wait, how do you know that last part?" He demanded. "Guiltyyyyy!" Said Xaldin in a falsetto voice as he looked around. "Saw on her website she was looking for one! I'm a huge fan of her videos!" He admitted. That made Derek smile with pride as he thought about his sister Lisa back home. "You did it, kid..." He muttered as he looked down happily.
"Now, who is talking into the microphone?" Teased Xaldin, causing Derek to glare up at him. As he was about to retort, an explosion caused the truck to flip on its side. Derek quickly grabbed Xaldin and pulled him into the truck as he handed him his M4. Everyone in the truck crawled out of the truck and ducked for cover.
"IED IED! EVERYONE OKAY?!" Asked Derek as he checked his team. They all nodded as Derek called a report in on his phone. "Fuck... signal is busted... Base is ten miles out, we got enough water and supplies in the truck... we can make it back by nightfall!" Said Derek. The others salvaged what they could and got ready to ruck back to base.
Derek led from the front as he had Xaldin scout for any attackers. "Keep sharp... where there's explosions, there's gotta be some of these asspukes around here!" Said Derek as he spat and stared ahead. The sound of a bullet hitting the sand by his boots was heard a few minutes later. "I had to open my mouth, GET DOWN!" He screamed out as they returned fire. Derek and Xaldin quickly returned fire. Xaldin dropping a few enemy combatants as he nodded "Plink plink motherfucker" He muttered as Derek scouted around.
"All Clear! Truck, Golem! On me!" He called, but no one came. "TRUCK! GOLEM! ON ME!" He called again as he looked around, only to see a couple of bodies not far off. Xaldin and Derek ran up and applied Gauze to the bloodied wounds on their chests. "Fuck! Don't worry, guys, just a few more miles to go!" Said Derek as he lifted Truck into a Fireman's carry, with Xaldin doing the same for Golem.
Truck grunted and laughed. Derek nervously chuckled. "What's funny, man?" He asked as he walked. "Darkness will be coming with us back to base." He said. Golem and Xaldin slowly chuckled as well. "But I heard footsteps, First Sergeant... I think... someone was out of sight... I think there's an Ambush a few hundred meters off where you shot!" He admitted.
"You sure about that?" Derek asked as he heard a loud drop. "Truck?" He asked as he jumped a little bit to shake Truck awake. He slowly turned back to see Xaldin with a dark shadow over his eyes. Derek nodded. "Our best friends died in our arms, didn't they?" asked Derek. "Yes, First Sergeant." Answered Xaldin.
Derek laid the two bodies next to each other and stripped them of any supplies he could salvage. He then broke a chemlight over each of them and used what signal he could to report their bodies on a digital grid back to base. Xaldin's eyes raised. "You gonna report back to get a truck to get us?" He asked.
Derek just shook his head. "Too risky right now, if Truck is right... An ambush is lying in wait... I'm not about to risk more dead bodies until we've verified it is safe to come out here." He said as he bowed his head to Truck and Golem. "Don't worry, boys... Your families will see you one last time." He promised.
And so First Sergeant Derek Sonata headed out to investigate Truck's suspicion. Xaldin carefully watched from behind to make sure no one would sneak up from the rear. The memories of Truck and Golem were still fresh in their minds as the sun began to set.
First of all, I love how this begins! The war scene is very descriptive, and you can tell the one who's writing it has vast knowledge of the military. I also love the tidbits of them giving each other nicknames (or codenames), and Derek (at this time) hates being called Darkness. Interesting!
ReplyDeleteI love how they all banter like good friends, and it's interesting to note that Darkness always drank a lot, and this is nothing new or out of the ordinary. They carry on with a casual conversation. I do love Xaldin's energy, but it suddenly takes a turn for the worse when Truck and Golem are killed, and both die in their arms.
Yes, this would take a toll on anyone. I know of many people who served come out with PTSD, so I can see why this affected both Xaldin and Darkness so much. And both of them still have to watch their own backs as the memories of their fallen friends remain fresh in their minds. Goddamn. I feel badly for them.
Excellent work done, dude!
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I gotta admit, my knowledge of the military has come in quite a bit of handy! And We'll be closing in on WHY Darkness drank a lot soon!
DeleteI love how you explore Darkness' backstory in this adaption! You did an excellent job setting the scene here and taking us into the scene! As someone who has never experienced anything like this, I feel as if I am here and feeling what they feel, so excellent job! The military themes are so very AurianCore! This is your niche and you do it well!
ReplyDeleteRight away, the dynamic is clear--Darkess is the eldest and ranks above the other men. You can tell by their behaviour. Darkness is hardened by his experiences, while the other men behave like young and inexperienced men on a night out drinking at the pub. Despite this, Darkness doesn't view himself as better or above them and has respect for Xaldin to speak to him in the way he does with all their banter!
Interesting to note this Darkness is a lot more stoic and emotioanlly numb than present Darkness who seems to have reconnected with himself again. I wonder if this was a mask he had to wear to survive or if this is a case of how much he has grown and developed since then? Possibly both? Eitherway, this flashback was insightful in many ways. They go from banter to Truck and Golem dying in their arms. They don't even have time to greive them and must keep moving on, lest they end up like them. No wonder Darkness doesn't feel his feelings and work through them. He had to keep moving forward to survive in the war. This is the brutal and tragic reality of war. It's clear to see how this affected Xaldin and Darkness. Damn, I feel for them. Excellent job! I look forward to the next part!
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I'm going to be honest with... I did NOT expect to incorporate as much military stuff as I have, but it's helped show off my characters a bit more! And unfortunately, we've got a bit more of Darkness' story to unfold!
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