The Guardians of Eden Valley

Rise -1-

The heat of the sun warms my dark fur. Finding its way between the coat of jet black and white and nestling into my skin. The forest is singing with its tunes from songbirds and the light breeze from the North. The peace and quiet, the firm yet gentle feel of the Earth below me makes me feel more at peace with the very thing my ancestors decided would be nice enough to treat with disrespect and a wave of death.

The company I have been assigned with is in the northern region of Eden Valley. At an old training yard and camp for those in the USAF and USNG. They need training here as a part of their final leg of their long and dreadful training. Their grad week. This is the hardest and most repressing week for them as they have to be exposed to as much as possible in seven days. Small radiation exposure, civil unrest simulations, and the final day before the resting day, war simulations. Not the ones you'd expect to use after nearly two hundred and twenty five years after the cataclysm. No. We use a war sim that mixes and uses World War One, World War Two, and the war for the Americas. That last one was back in 2045. It lasted up until 2052, when things got more heated than needed. The nuclear Arms race of 2052 was on. Stockpiles worldwide were nearly up to 127,000. Then in May of that year, it happened. Every single one, from every nation that had one, launched in sequence. The world was soaked in radiation and a nuclear winter for 25 years. The radiation we experience in training is above what we have evolved to be exposed to. They only stay in exposure for symptoms of radiation poisoning to occur, then they are safe and can recover at the Facility.

I don't necessarily agree with this part of training as it goes against pre war ethics and entity rights used in the Earth Day Doctrine. But we live in the post war world now and most of the rights and laws that were established are now in the history books. Our capital, Sanctum, tried to reinstate these forgotten laws with their own twist. I see most of these cadets as possible helpful hands in my unit. The President created a small task force for the GEV that is basically inspired by pre war special forces and mashed and mixed together in one big pot to create my task force. We learn all forms of MMA, interrogation and diplomacy measures and we do our best as a peacekeeping force. Requirements are extremely strict and will ensure a very tight knitted screening test to keep out possible sadists, terrorists or other unwanted and unnecessary predicaments. It contains a very rigorous and extremely tiring physical, a long and deterring mental, and a strong and cunning emotional component. If anyone is going to be in the special forces, you need to meet the minimal requirements or exceed standards. I'm talking carrying up to three hundred pounds, calculate current events or a mathematics problem in under ten seconds and be able to force out strong emotions that could fog thinking and mess up logical processes. Long gone are 5e days where the media could tell people what they should look like if they are male, female or other. In special forces, as long as you meet the requirements or exceed them, you can stay. But in your down time or when you are excused for absence, it is up to you to continue training in these categories.

When I met the President, she specifically told the General and the Admiral that we need a special forces that mixes the Army and the Navy. One that can help blend the two elements and bring more unity, and make Eden Valley more prosperous. To ensure the safety of the population and this administration in the most uncertain of times. Whether it be from extreme civil unrest, to a complete lockdown to enforce the laws meant to protect the people. She was right to the point, specific about what she wanted done. With this power, she seen me as the perfect candidate for this opportunity. Without hesitation, she made me head of this task force. Not as direct leader and has no ability to help. She wanted me to be "team captain." To be the main leader of this small little band of people who are willing to help when times are dark, or when things get too hard for the Army for an operation, or for the navy when they need a frontline assessment and reconnaissance of the area.

We have a mix of different species in our core. Bears, canines, and felines. We would have others in the mix as well, but the majority of their population doesn't want to join and we wont force them to. We did have a few possible chances of other species getting in, but when things got too difficult for them, they backed out. We understood and we let them leave knowing they tried. They get to keep their respect, dignity and valour when they leave the facility and no one can take that away from them. It takes a level of dauntless, responsibility, and courage, as well as mental preparation and physical progress to even get pass graduation. It is not meant for everyone and we still encourage others to try for it. We won't turn you down if you come in and try. I have had over the last few years since it started, around 200 possible candidates, but we ended up with a company of around ten. Some of them left because they didn't want to stay in it due to multiple reasons. Some were recently discovered medical problems that would hinder them over time and some were for moral and family reasons. All acceptable reasons and they left without any complications.

Now we are down to six. Me, a Siberian Husky, German Shepherd, and Grey wolf mix. Weighing two hundred and twenty pounds of muscle and a slight belly. I can carry up to two hundred and seventy four pounds, be extremely logistical and shows no expression outside of those I trust. So strangers, no emotion. There's Thor, a purebred Malamute. Six foot six, three hundred and thirty pounds, stern as a sergeant while as gentle as a father. Blake, a grizzly bear who wears over five hundred in pure muscle, smart as can be and yet, sympathetic with others. Alyx, a Tiger that weighs one hundred and forty five pounds, can shoot with deadly accuracy and very logistical. She is one of our most dedicated. Ryder, a German Shepherd who used to be a police chief. He weighs almost as me at around two hundred and fifteen pounds of muscle and "muscle gut" loves to have a drink with the company and wants to start a family when he retires. Then there's Zulu. A young and brand new squad mate fresh from training. He is a great balance of everything we need. But he is very shy and is the lightest of us, making him the most sneaky. He weights one hundred and fifty, can carry three hundred, is very logistical and can handle himself in a emotional situation. But when it came down to his fighting it wasn't the greatest. But with his medical exception we was able to bring him in. We call him "kid".

That's my company. We are known as Special Forces Task Force 1. Or what I call, "Skaireaper".I and everyone else in the company pronounce it as sky-reaper. It is in honour of our ancestors who were very interested and knowledgeable of the stars. Believing them to be our moral compass and show us between bad and good. We honour that tradition by wearing a small, little compass rose on our ranks. With North pointing to our hearts to show us our correct direction. Most of us have our favourite season and weather, but I am the only one so far who enjoys taking a small break and goes practicing with a bow during the downpour of rain, the war drums of thunder and the sky splitting lightning. It lets me keep to my roots, explore the new scents that are released when cool water hits the firm soil beneath my boots, that runs down my face as I search for the target I set myself up with. For when the week shows nothing but just rain, Thor, Ryder, and I will actually go out to the mud hole, practice our MMA, spend hours ranting on about problems going on and we bond. We are all one big family and Thor and Ryder are very close to me. All of the members of Skaireaper are close to me, but not as close as Thor and Ryder. It's not the fact that we are the same species, but I think that it is some mental connection that brings the three of us together.

A strand that links the bridge between us.