《The Great War》 |1| The Charge He sat crouched in the trench, the sounds that had become deafening had died down, a lull in the constant terror. The voice of his commander pierced the silence "alright, i just heard from above.....we''re moving up next barrage, it will take 10 minutes before the start so make peace and be ready to run." -Commander It was the orders he dreaded the casualty rates for a push were close to complete annihilation when it succeeded. "please god if you exist let me die quickly" he heard the man next to him quietly whisper, the prayer they all had but didn''t voice. He decided to steal a glance at the field that he would be running across, corpses littered the expanse of the 50 meter no mans land, they would offer some cover if he decided to play dead. Then it happened, hundreds of mortars sounded off in a cascade as his commander spurred them into action "MOVE MOVE MOVE!!" suddenly all at once an uncountable amount of men started hopping out of the small trenches and ran not even bothering to shoulder their guns, pure survival kicked in soon as the bodies started dropping. No sooner had he stepped up and out of the safety than a bullet tore through his sleeve, missing his arm. Focusing purely on the path ahead, and the ground below he noticed small things. A patch of ground that seemed softer than the rest right next to a group of bodies, small rocks in the ground that tested his footing. And in front he saw a ball of fire the size of his fist heading straight for him, diving to the ground as fast as he could he heard the sound of it impact with the man behind him. Getting up fast so as not to be trampled by the horde behind him he saw the source of the fire, a mage. Many would die from this man and his kind before the rush was finished, but no time to think he had to keep running stopping meant death and that was unacceptable. Then it came the hellish rain of man, 81MM shells sent the enemy into a panic this would lessen their attacks on the rush. A mad war-cry erupted from the men running across the field, he joined in with a loud guttural scream it helped set him in the right mind made him fearless they could do this they WOULD do this. The drumming of the mortars played a song of war as they pushed forwards closing in quick on the enemy lines, he feared they would get there before the shells stopped. A few feet to go and the shells finally stopped he slid hoping to minimize exposure and get to the relative safety of the enemy trench. Falling into the enemy lines he looked around and immediately shouldered his gun, his first reaction was to look for that mage from earlier. It didn''t take long mages of the brotherhood tended to wear armor that was easy to distinguish, what he saw set him aback a kid maybe his age gurgling a spell while trying to hold his insides in his upper torso as the rest were no longer there. He put the mage out of his misery there would be no coming back from that, the last thing the young mage saw as he tried to utter a self destruct was a name tag sewn onto a uniform that read "Pvt. Parker." "That was a good push Colonel, we gained some land I''ll tell the engineers to start digging our trenches up." -unknown "Thank you sir, its as expected of these men....they do what their told even if it was to go to hell and back...Major have the mortars aim for the enemy lines 2 trenches back, that should help keep a counter push from taking back our progress." -Colonel Parker looked around the trench, he was supposed to regroup with his commanding officer which should be Sergeant Taylor but he didn''t know where the CO was. After an hour of searching he couldn''t find anyone from his squad so decorum says he was to tack himself onto another squad until further orders, by the time the line caught up if he didn''t meet up with the Sergeant he would report to the Squad Checkout and ask for orders. After hours of fighting off counter attacks that had been significantly softened from the mortar strikes fresh faces started flowing in from allied lines that had been dug forward, he was tapped on his shoulder by a man in his 30s a Private just like him "You''re to dirty to be a replacement troop, go on back to the barracks I''ll take your place." the man said. It was a 30 minute walk back to the forward barracks and as much as he wanted to fall asleep right there he had to go report as soon as possible. The flimsy building he walked into was labeled "Squad Checkout" and was painted a dark green it was one of about 5 in the area, there were a few placed in each forward base and each infantry was assigned to an outpost. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.He walked into the shortest line of about 9 men, some here to report a dead member, others to report not finding their squad. When his turn came up he had to recite his name, rank, and number after reporting that he couldn''t find his squad the man behind the desk told him. "We will get back to you within the day with your orders, for now you are to stay in the base and rest." Looking at the sky he finished his lunch, it looked like it was going to rain tonight, he had been hoping to see his friends but he didn''t then he was hoping they weren''t in the charge. The next morning saw him up early and dressed quickly, he had only been on the front lines for little over a few months but he was already accustomed to it, you had to be ready at any moment or you would be at a serious disadvantage should an attack come. When he left the barracks there was a messenger walking up to the stairway. "excuse me i''m looking for Private Parker?" -Messenger "That''s me." -Parker "Congratulations." -Messenger The messenger handed him a brown folder saluted and walked off, he opened the folder after sitting down for breakfast, there were maybe 20 other men in the hall some grouped up others sitting alone. The first page detailed the casualty report of his old squad, then his platoon. -Squad 4/5 MIA/KIA -Platoon 2/8 Wipe -Free 6 There was more details regarding the names of those dead or unaccounted for, but he didn''t bother to read it what did interest him was on the next page was his assignment. "Private Parker is to be promoted to Corporal and given a squad command under the newly promoted Sergeant Clarkson." Again it detailed the orders for the other platoon members, but this was big in only a few months he was already leading a squad of his own. His hand was covering his face with his index finger and thumb dragging across his eyelids, his new command was a suicide squad, he may not be the most seasoned veteran but they gave him people who have never seen battle. It made more sense as to why he got the promotion now, 5 of the stragglers got absorbed into the squads who were missing people, and the platoon needed 8 squads and called in the men who were put in reserve to fill in the blanks. There was even one who was still in transit from training ''Private Warren'', at the very least it meant his squad wouldn''t be sent on too dangerous an assignment, they would be put on patrol, and replacing men after a charge. It took over a week for the new guy to get to the front lines Parker was waiting by a fire when it started getting unusually quiet, feeling like something was behind him he looked to see a monster. Tarsus was a Minotaur, he had come to this new world alone at the age of 17 running from the end of his last world. When he got to this new world he wanted to explore, he eventually came to america after a few months of traveling. Deciding this is where he wanted to make his life he applied for citizenship, and was accepted rather quickly. Unable to find much work with his limited knowledge he enlisted in the Armed Forces hoping to make a career, Minotaurs were after all natural born warriors. He was one of few from his world to have enlisted, and the Military being hungry for soldiers accepted them he didn''t feel welcome but he had expected that. Once he got out of training he was surprised to see how fast they placed him in a squad, it took a few days on a large ship to get to the place called Europe. When he finally got to the base he was to be stationed at he went directly to the Squad Checkout to ask where his squad was stationed, many people seemed surprised to see him, some even disgusted or offended. "You''re looking for Corporal Parker? he is setup in barracks ''A'' try looking there, hes a short man about 19 years old with dark blonde hair." The person at the counter told him after some questioning, it took him around 10 minutes to find his commander, when he finally did he was nervous he almost didn''t know what to say, the men around them were oddly quiet. He started to salute as the Corporal turned around from the fire he was sitting at. "Private Warren reporting for duty sir." -Tarsus Parker sat dumbfounded, this monster that towered over him was saluting him and was claiming to be Private Warren the new member. "Do you have your assignment papers?" -Parker "Yes sir." -Tarsus The thing handed him the papers containing his assignment and it checked out. "Welcome to the front line Private follow me, we will meet up with the rest of the squad." -Parker |2| Tanks The trench seemed rather cramped being next to a 7 and a half foot muscle monster, the squad seemed to accept Tarsus after a week or so, he helped in some of the short pushes they did to move down the line. they had advanced nearly 90 meters in a single week but were finally stopped, a mix of high magic and friendly fire stopped their last attempts to advance. The room was well lit and warm there were hardly any chairs which left most of the people standing, in the middle of the room was a table with a map on it, on the map were lines drawn in black, red, and green. "Our advances have been halted so far by the enemy mages, they have setup walls between our trenches, we cant get any planes close enough to check their movements." -Unknown 1 "I propose we use some of those new tanks we''re expecting, the crews should be here in a matter of days so if we prepare ourselves for the charge it may work" -Unknown 2 "That sounds good but how many will we have, I heard they only made 20 to be divided across the regiments?" -Unknown 3 "We have been given 3 tanks each with a crew of 8 and a replacement crew for each." -Unknown 2 Its been 3 days since the wall had come up and both sides traded mortar fire over it, Parker''s squad had been set in the trenches 1 row behind the front and were given orders to prepare for an assault after a light shelling. They heard the distinct noise of artillery batteries and mortars going off in unison, it wasnt just a regular push, command wanted to go as far as possible. The shells hit and tore down the walls as a thunder was heard from the allied lines, a tank rolled right over the trenches moving at a slow pace and nearly getting stuck several times. Looking forward the wall had been torn down and Parker saw an open field, or a killing floor, he didnt know what to call the 100 meter flat land just behind the wall. They would be dead before they got all the way over was command insane? Suddenly he had an idea, they had a wall coming their direction. "Once this thing clears over us we are going to hop right behind it and use it for cover" -Parker They looked him in the eyes, they thought he was crazy but they had to follow orders. Seconds after the mass of metal chugged overhead they jumped out of their trench and ran behind it, Parker and Tarsus keeping up while the rest of the squad struggled. Parker heard fire and water spells splash and flutter off the tank, and rocks the size of baseballs slam into it, it seemed to take hours of machine gun fire going both ways, but halfway through he heard an unusual noise. A plunk then a fizz and then screaming from the tank, it heated up rapidly then fire shot out the top, and then it cooled. ''Magic'' he thought, the tank stopped and he wasnt going to make his men run down a field of death, they sat behind the relative safety of the tank waiting for troops to catch up then pass. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.Magics still slammed into the tank as if to fire through it when Tarsus braced himself against it and started to push. "I will NOT be left behind on this charge, i WILL have my glory!" -Tarsus Parker almost couldnt belive he was even moving that thing but he decided to help. "Push this thing, if you cant find a spot to push then shoot at the enemy line!" -Parker The tank felt almost like ice, magic was an annoying thing. The allied charge caught up fairly quick as the tank had only moved a few feet at most, Parker gave the order to fall into the fray of the charge and move forward. Being behind at least 4 people made the squad feel safer, though not as safe as when they were just sitting in their holes. By the time they closed in on the enemy line the number of allied troops had thinned rather drastically. What had started out as nearly tens of thousands of soldiers was now maybe 2 thousand, the cost of claiming land in hell. The battle in the first trench wasnt long, having a minotaur to soak up the damage and deal it out seemed to work fairly well. Parker had wondered why he never even saw one of the battlefield so far, he would have to ask his squadmate later. It took almost a day of fighting to push the enemies into a retreat, of the initial chage only 500 men made it out alive, Parker had survived a full battle but couldnt believe how many had died ''the enemies had to have lost at least that much....right?'' He thought to himself as he watched the mass of routed soldiers running for a town in the distance, the men who had won the day cheered, and congratulated eachother. There would be time to mourn the dead later. The men in the room shook hands and congratulated each other on a battle won. "Enough of the hugging, we may have won this but we''ve only pushed them back to Thionville. We will need to take that as well" -Unknown 1/Colonel Dobson "Yes, right.....so do we have any plans for the assault? Its not exactly a fortress." -Unknown 2/Colonel Wilcox "We may need some better weapons, what are the losses on the tanks?" -Unkown 3/Colonel Briggs They looked to a junior officer who had a clipboard. "Ah..We lost 2 of our tanks sirs." -J/O "Lets talk to the french, I heard they recently deployed 10 of their new tanks we can ask for a one of those, and a few of their Renaults as well" -Colonel Briggs |3| Rest Parker had to report casualties, and injuries to the Squad Checkout, Tarsus had been heavily injured during the battle, Private Clarkson took a bullet to the leg and the other 2 died. One had died shortly after they reached the trenches, blown apart by a grenade. The other was skewered by a bayonet and bled out while everyone around him tried to protect their own lives. After the report he decided to check up on his remaining squad members, on his way over he noticed large amounts of basic wooden caskets moving around. Some loaded onto trucks and sent out to the battlefield, others set cerimoniously in a line. There was also a burning pit the size of a house where the bodies of fallen enemies were thrown, Their mages had brought back the dead before and it was devastating. He stopped and saluted in front of the array of filled caskets, holding the salute for a minute before starting back on his task. The medical area had started as a wooden building raised a foot off the ground, but as the fighting dragged on this one being closest to the middle of the battle had become the most busy. Thus they had to add onto it with a massive tent sewn together with other tents. Parker entered the tent and asked the first nurse he saw about the people he was looking for. It wasn''t hard to spot them, there weren''t many magical creatures in the army, and even then he was certain there weren''t any other Minotaurs. Clarkson was having his bandages changed by a nurse who seemed to be having some trouble keeping him laying down, when he got close to them he heard an argument going on between Clarkson, and Tarsus. "It aint your fault big guy, this is a war....people die....others live that''s all there is to it." -Clarkson "But if I had acted differently, maybe if I had noticed Daniels laying there I could have taken him out of the battle and he would have lived." -Tarsus "No use in thinking about ''what ifs'' you cant change the past, and if you could you might not like what happens." -Clarkson "It is a great loss for such men to be taken from this plain, should we not be mourning their deaths?" -Tarsus "We''ll get to that soon enough, for now we just need to get better and enjoy the view, Ah Sir." -Clarkson Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Clarkson tried to salute but the nurse kept him down, and gave a stern look. Tarsus looked almost like a mummy but was energetic enough that he seemed fine, after the battle he was covered in small wounds. "Rest for now......we won the battle but we will probably be on the march soon, Tarsus how are your wounds?" -Parker "They are fine sir, Minotaurs can heal remarkably quick compared to humans, I should be ready for battle by tomorrow." -Tarsus "I''ll probably be out for a while sir, don''t worry too much, the doc said I would live." -Clarkson Parker nodded his head as he started to leave, he knew Clarkson would be out for a while, might even be sent home. The day was almost over, and no doubt they would be marching soon he didn''t know what they could do with a handful of soldiers but he knew the order would come. It took for the reinforcements to arrive and that only replaced about half the losses, Parker had noted a few more magical creatures walking around. A total of 20 Elves and then nearly 100 humans who could use magic with a dozen or so other races mixed in, Parker wondered if there would be any problems with infighting. A shipment of new weapons and ammunition came in as well, loads of semi-automatic pistols and BARs were distributed in anticipation of what would be coming. Minimal amounts of M1917s had come as well, but they would be used in moderation. Parker had been assigned 3 new squad members to replace the 2 that had died, and Clarkson who had been sent to a medical center deeper in France. Private Silvari, an elf fresh out of training to be a marksman, Corporal Donovan a light machine gunner who lost his squad in the initial charges, and private Ensly another fresh soldier, no specialist training. The orders finally came in, they would be marching to the town by mid day. -------------------------------------------------------- I apologize about not updating, but writing doesn''t come naturally to me so I need to look at what I put down a lot and it will go through several drafts.... |Extra 1| Breaking World Theodore Wilks was a low grade mage, barely passed entry level. Though by most standards he could be considered a genius, he simply didn¡¯t have the mana capacity to catch anybody¡¯s attention. That was fine with him, he was born to a family of farmers and he enjoyed making plants grow. He also had a woman he cared for dearly, Isabella she was the daughter of a local merchant and they interacted often when he would go into town to sell his crops. Those were times he would cherish, as it stood though, the world was ending. A blight of unknown origin was sweeping the land and everything it touched would fall apart. Nobody knows just how many have fallen victim yet, but all mages were required to help slow the advance long enough for the High Magus to open a portal to another plane. The city of Thunderward was chosen as the last bastion of hope, mainly for the fact that it was where the High Magus had lived for the past 300 years. Many people flooded the streets, and even decided to camp outside town. In hopes that they would be able to get to the portal before it was too late. Even Theodore was called, while most would laugh at the thought of seeing him on the front lines of anything, it was such dire times that they appreciated his help. Two weeks was all the time they managed to buy, and to get even that many men sacrificed their lives some used soul magic. A method in which when you run out of mana you start using your soul as fuel. Not many would do this because it can damage the soul enough to keep it out of the rebirth cycle for thousands of years, there was even the risk of completely destroying your soul if you used too much of it. Theodore had heard of what the magus was planning, and hoped that Isabella would have gotten through the portal. He knew she would be in the city, the entire town traveled as a caravan to Thunderward. As the last few mages started falling the blight started to spread faster, even patchy at some parts. Theodore realized this would be his end, he decided to feel out the city and make sure the one he cared for most was safe. But to his horror she and a couple hundred still remained, before the blight could take him he broke into a magic driven sprint. His reserves already half way depleted, he could barely make it to the city. It took an hour to get to the city, and the blight would be maybe an hour more behind him. The feeling of mana he had gotten from the portal was gone, and the people he saw had looks like they had given up. He felt out with his magic again to find her, she was in a tavern with 10 other people. When he arrived he saw her drunk and barely able to sit right crying in a corner while others sat at a table bitter-sweet looks on their faces. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. He recognized a few of them, people from his farming town, one had just had a son, another had a daughter of 3 years, he realized by their conversation that they had made sure their children got a spot before the portal had closed. As he approached Isabella she seemed to notice him, she smiled sadly, and he pulled up a chair. It was the end of the world, and he didn¡¯t care much because he would spend his time with her. They talked, about their childhoods, the first time they met, what they once hoped to achieve, the talk had lasted almost an hour. Screams from some of the people outside could be heard, the blight was catching up. ¡°I¡­.I don¡¯t want to die¡­¡­but¡­it¡¯s all that¡¯s left¡± ¨CIsabella She had looked him in the eyes, tears still lingering, Theodore knew that if there was any chance he had to give it to her. He took her by the hand and led her outside, if there was a way to make this portal it would be in the magus tower, and that¡¯s where they went. As they ran the blight started to catch up but as soon as they neared the tower it started to slow down, the tower was fairly tall, but it wasn¡¯t the tallest building in the area. Once they got inside they didn¡¯t find any stairs, but a large box, a sign that said ¡°up¡± hung in front of it. The ride up was jarring to them but once they made it to the top Theodore felt a heavy presence, after looking through the rooms they found the High Magus. They stood there watching the most powerful man in the world singing a song while nursing a bottle of what smelled like orcs brew, a strong alcohol that almost no species other than orcs could handle. When he noticed the two watching him, the High Magus gave a bit of a jump. ¡°Ah, you saw that? Well I guess it doesn¡¯t matter much, would you like some?¡± ¨CHigh magus He offered his bottle to Theodore and Isabella but they both declined. ¡°No sorry we are looking for the portals spell.¡± ¨CTheodore Isabella gave Theodore a slight shocked look when he said that. ¡®What would we do with that, and why would you tell him that?¡¯ she thought to herself. The High Magus laughed. ¡°Well, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re looking for, look no further¡­.the spell is in my head¡± ¨CHigh Magus Theodore once again shocked Isabella, he bowed as deep as he could and begged the Magus. ¡°Please, I don¡¯t care what it costs please just send Isabella somewhere safe with another portal¡± ¨CTheodore ----------------------------------------------------------- I wanted to provide a bit of backstory to the fantasy world.