Unit 731
“It was a laboratory conceived in hell. A place where death was routinely met. Those who entered never left. To this day the experiments remain unclear. But when the evil finally ended, it was compounded. Today the crime remains unpunished. It was called Unit 731 and few know its secret story.” (lines courtesy: Nightmare in Manchuria-History Channel)
Biological warfare. Lex hated it. After all, it had taken away his parents, his brother and his little sister. And all he could call his own were a friend and a dog (immune to anthrax as well). And some blasters with poisoned discs. Ah, you couldn’t have it worse. Now he had to face a whole army of anthraxed arachnids, infected insects and un-peaceful plants. Quite a combination he had. Plus now he had to escape. Escape back to the Isles of Man. He didn’t care how he did it. He just had to, no matter what. He would charge through the No Man’s Land, go undercover through a Ba’athist concentration camp and wield the ultimate blaster, Praxis. Yes, he would do it. Do it for the Allies. Yes,he would. They would be proud of him, the hero of the Union. And this time there was no stopping him. Ever.
***
He marched ahead with his bizarre squad. “Let’s roll,” said Lex, “Time for some savagery.” And what’s worse, he meant it. Shooting each plant, creepy-crawly or mutant fly with no mercy. Courage glowed in his heart as he knew that he had it in him to survive this daunting passage through the deadly fields. At night they found a shelter near the Shatt-Al -Arab waterway. Andrea, the killer canine at his disposal, had discovered its talent in being a vigilant watchdog. Once a soldier with an anthrax spray closed in and Andrea had sent him running back to his mama. Meanwhile, Lex was a nervous wreck remembering his parents’ murder. Luke, his best friend (quite), came in.
“What happened?” asked Luke.
“Hiro Ishii happened.” was Lex’s arrogant reply.
“Come on, tell me! I won’t tell anyone I swear! On my Nitron’s magazine!”
“Once and not twice, though.”
“OK”
“It started one night my parents were sent on duty by the NATO on the Chinese coast to protect against the invasions of the Empire of Japan. Ever heard of Unit 731?”
“Something with human experiments, right?”
“My parents and I were taken as Prisoners of War. Unit 731 tested diseases on them such as the bubonic plague. They died right in front of my eyes. Then I remembered my father’s gift, on my fourth birthday. The Swiss knife. Slitting throats of the doctors like a Gurkha I somehow escaped back to the mainland. But the memory of my parents’ murder and the cruelty of the Japanese will stay with me forever.” Lex’s voice trailed away even as he murmured these words.
“Dude, I’m really sorry to hear this. My deepest condolences.”
“Woof! Grr…Woof! Grr…”Andrea started barking in a code that only his squad members would understand. Alerted, Luke and Lex jumped up to their feet and raced out to see what the matter was. Their hearts sank at the sight of the Iraqi forces closing in. They began retracing their steps only to realize that they had been outflanked by their opponents. Now, knowing that defeat was near, they opted to surrender.
“We surrender!” declared Lex.
“Who’s we?” mused Luke.
“Cowards must die!” Boomed the Iraqis as they bound Lex and his squad and hauled them away to an undisclosed location in the mainland.
