Grounds

Grounds - Prologue

Prologue

4 August, 001 AI

Unknown Battlefield 

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"Soldier! Were you paying attention?!"

Ken blacked out again. He was clutching his rifle close to his body as he pressed his back hard against the cold stone that was his shield. Every muscle in his body ached and he could not bring himself to move. 

"Get your goddamn head outta the cloud's and point that gun of yours to those stinking mud diggers!" 

Orders were being shouted at him but he could barely hear them. All he could hear were the sounds of the desperate, screaming in agony. Ken did not know where he was but he knew that hatred was all around him. Hatred and anguish. 

"Where... am...-" His words were whispers. 

The rifle fell from his hands and he picked his chin up from his breast. He was sitting on the floor, his back against a half destroyed wall that only provided as much cover as a few more inches above his head. Beside him were two more soldiers, dressed exactly as he was. Light blue camoflauge uniforms with a black helmet and boots. One had their back to the wall, desperately trying to reload their rifle. The other had his gun mounted atop the small wall and was trying to take aim. 

"Move your ass!"

There was the harsh voice again, this time getting through to Ken. About twenty feet to his left there was another section of the destroyed wall with the commander taking cover. He was well built and his skin was a hue tanner than most. His helmet had two bullet dents in it and his ear was half torn away. Blood trickled down the side of his neck and arm. 

"Are you just going to sit there while those dirt diggers kill us all? Goddammit soldier, pick up that rifle!" The commander called to Ken. His voice was harsh from barking orders. The commander then peeked his rifle around the corner of the wall and pulled the trigger. Ken could tell by the sudden outburst of screams that he had hit his target. 

Ken, finally winning command over his body, picked up his gun. His stomach was spinning and he felt feint. His mouth was dry as cotton and he couldn't swallow if his life depended on it. He looked to Commander Derik Uzik and wished he could be more akin to him. The commander could do one thing that Ken simply could not. That was to defend the people he loved. When Ken was drafted into the army he thought he could change. He thought he could become stronger, more capable. But he now sat there, useless. 

"Come, we have to press forward. We need to make it across this span, to the next building. There we will find more supplies!" The commander called over to the three of them. In total there were five of them. Ken had no clue how many of the UG's there were. 

"C'mon" The soldier beside him said. It was just then that he realized the soldier was a female. She grabbed his arm and inched to the edge of the small wall. She peeked around the side, spied for only a moment, and then returned her gaze upon Ken. "Are you ready?" She spoke softly to him. 

The commander pulled the pin on a small red cannister and quickly hurled it as far as he could towards the direction of the enemy. 

"Move! Move! Move!" He called as he emerged from behind his cover at full speed, followed by one soldier. The woman in front of Ken pulled his arm along, forcing his legs to operate purely on instinct. Ken's eyes now beheld the battlement. Bodies were strewn across a large field, some still crawling about the ground, looking for lost limbs or trying to find help. The sky above them was red and the building they were in was nearly completely demolished. The ground, which once held lush green grass, was now black. Ken could see ahead that the canister that the commander threw was an incendiary grenade. A plum of fire was rising and several men emerged from the smoke ablaze.