Chapter 1: A World in Ruins

=Xazhi simply sighed and plopped down onto the bed, staring at the ceiling=

Fuck... My life...



=Back at the main stronghold of the D-SS in Sturmhalten, Liza slammed her fist onto her desk, utterly pissed at the news brought by her officers=

Was zum Teufel soll das heißen, er ist weg!? Ich will ihn gefunden, jetzt!!!

=She sighed and sat back down=

Wenn Sie nicht finden können, meinen zweiten-in-Befehl und bringen ihn zurück unversehrt bis zum Ende des morgen nacht Ich schwöre bei Gott ich werde eure Köpfe auf dem Tisch wie gefüllte Schwein haben. Jetzt gehen!

=She saluted and I saluted back=

No need for salutes, ma'am. It's all informal around here.

"That'll get you into trouble."

That's where I work the best, ma'am.

=She chuckled and walked off. I lowered my arm and leaned back into my chair=

Well, isn't this an interesting turn of events...

Twas a twilight evening and I was sitting at a small round table, smoking a cigar. The room was dark and smoky. A bar in Germany, with some soldiers sitting at a long table in one of the dark corners. The spy was enjoying his short break, listening to the german being tossed back and forth. Wasn't anything worth reporting to anyone in particular. Just typical banter between good soldiering friends. I took another puff and blew out the smoke. A cigar and a stout beer. It would be a fine night tonight indeed.

=Just over the hill, there came a rumbling noise. Not gunfire, nor vehicles, nor planes. Soldiers. The entirety of Delta Wing under the direct command of Steinherz herself, and all the soldiers who had positions in Sturmhalten, had marched onwards toward the allied encampment. They were pushing West and taking back lost territory in France. The sound of a thousand or more marching soldiers thundered from Strumhalten and stopped on the hill. Liza yelled to them=

Laufen! Feuer auf alles was sich bewegt! Lassen Sie keine Überlebenden!

=Battle cries erupted from the men on the hill as they charged down into the allied encampment=

=I heard the sound of a battle cry, and my stomach lurched. I ran out of the tent, and saw the soldiers running down the hill=

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit... BATTLESTATIONS! ENEMY INCOMING! OVER THE HILL!

=I ran towards the nearest tank, noting it was a Buffalo. Well, it was better than nothing. I hopped in, and someone else jumped onto the gunner. He turned it and started firing, soon other tanks firing as well. A Growler started up, firing cannon and MG shots everywhere. Rockets and small arms fire came back at us, and I saw a good many people get shot and fall over, never to rise again. Someone climbed up next to me and yelled at me to get out of his seat. I nodded and jumped out, he got in and the whole transport started moving. I raised my MP4 and started firing away, knowing full well I probably didn't hit anyone. I ran as fast as I could towards Shrapnel Slayer. It felt as though I was running in mud, but that might well have been my imagination=

I checked the time on my watch, noticed that I needed to be somewhere shortly, and stood up. Adjusting my uniform, I look around one last time, and bring my empty glass to the bar and say goodbye to the bartender. In german, of course. I walked through the brisk cold of the german night to my destination. I was getting information, as well as giving some. I loved my job. Dealing and selling information. Double Crossing the world one piece of information at a time, all the while getting rich.

=I heard the sound of gunshots. The sound of a battle cry. But it was probably just a dream... I opened my eyes slightly, everything seemed blurry. The other Tanks had already started firing... This was all a dream right? Right?=

Ethan: Daniel! Wake the fuck up! It's another god damn attack!

Daniel: Whatever... Wake me up when its over...

=I felt a cold hand punch me in the face. Yep. It was happening. I sat up, vision still blurry, and started firining the M2 Browning.=

Jack: Where the god damn hell is Will?!

Ethan: I don't god damn know! But until he gets here, I can't figure how to fucking work the 105mm! And Daniel up there doesn't know wether he's in a dream or not!

=They were shouting over something... It probably wasn't important. But Will hadn't shown up. He was our loader/operator, and early he'd metioned that there was something wrong with the 105mm. He was meant to fix it... But he got distracted. So I was still bobbing in the open, firing the Browning. I didn't even know if I was going to hit anyone...=

=I ran faster and faster towards Shrapnel Slayer. I saw Alex climb onto the tank into the gunner seat. He grabbed the firing controls, and started shooting. He got maybe 3 seconds of fire off, before something jammed. One of the fatal flaws of the Manchesters, due to the way the guns firing rig is set up, if something jams, it won't fire any of the guns until the blockage is removed. And they also have a tendency to fire as soon as the blockage is gone, so the only real way to clear a blockage is to point it at something you don't care about, and go to work. Which really isn't possible now due to us getting shot at. I waved for him to turn the turret around so he didn't get shot, and kept up my fire=

=I kept firing. But there were loads of these god damn fuckers. Loaaaaaaaaads. But... I was still tired. And I couldn't be bothered doing anything but firing the Browning.=

*Jack*: Its Will!

*Ethan*: Tell him to get the fuck in here now!

=I didn't notice anything... Until Ethan told me to get down onto the Main Gun. I ducked down, and moved to where I could aim the Main Gun, the 105mm. I fired, in hope that it did something. And... It looked like it did. I saw an Explosion. But that was about it.=

*Ethan*: Keep it up!

=Xazhi heard the commotion from where he was. His guard had left, and he was on his own. He grabbed hi mask and helmet, through them on, and picked up his rifle. He ran out into the snow and immediately started firing at Alliance soldiers. He was spotted by men of the Delta Wing, and they rushed over to aid him. A bullet pinged off his helmet as they ran. He turned and shot the man that fired it. Approaching their own troops, they turned back towards the allies and kept shooting=

=I managed to get behind the tank, and finally noticed that the bell on my wrist was swinging madly. I hadn't even noticed during my run, but now, it was like invading my mind. I shook my head, re-focusing on the current battle. I climbed up, fired a burst or two and then helped Alex turn the turret=

Angle them up and get to work on unclogging the pipes! We need these hoses flowing now!

"Yes, sir!"

=He angled the guns up into the air and started getting to work on trying to find what was jamming and stopping the guns from firing. The terms I used were from an old time ago. In training, it was joked that the guns of a Manchester were "bullet hoses, like how the Fire Department has fire hoses." It was an attempt to ease his mind a bit. He wasn't in a firefight, he was just in someone's house trying to fix their plumbing. It just so happened that a firefight was next door. I leaned out a bit and started firing again. Just trying to keep the fire away from Alex. Jake was nowhere to be seen, but I had faith he was still alive. Meanwhile, another Manchester came online, and started blasting away at the approaching enemies=

=It would be about a day before we'd be redeployed to the war, but for now, me and two guys from my squad entered a tavern full of other soldiers and I bought them a couple beers=

3... Danke.

=We finish the drinks, I pay and we walk out of the Tavern and head down the dark, windy road=

=They continued swarming down the hill, bullets and rockets flying in all directions. Xazhi saw two soldiers as they were climbing into a tank, and he shot them down. He got to where Liza was, and started firing at any enemy soldiers he could see. The snow became bright red with the blood that now painted it as more and more Alliance men were cut down by the oncoming horde. They made their way into the camp, mixing ranks with the Alliance soldiers, knowing that anything other than small arms would risk friendly fire. Xazhi found the guard from his tent as he was scrambling to get dressed, and shot him four times in the chest with his rifle. The battle raged on=

=The enemy mixed with my soldiers, and everything went to hell. The tanks were all stuck in place, unable to shoot. They were getting boarded and killed, and, while I hadn't been in command that long, I had served with these men for ages. I was well and thoroughly pissed. I told Alex to get into the tank and hop on the radio, call HQ and tell them we need reinforcements again. He nodded, unsure, and slid down into the rest of the tank. I hopped down off the tank and held my MP4 one handed. I cracked my neck and my hands, and started laying into the enemy soldiers. I shot one man in the leg and quickly followed up with a left hook, the bell jingling as he fell to the ground with a crack. I shot another man, in the chest, several times, before my magazine ran out. I didn't have a reload on me, so I put it behind my back and drew my sidearm. I steadily walked forward, firing at a third man. He dropped, three holes in his chest. Someone tried to grab me, but my right fist and my Colt M2011 said that was a no-no. He dropped, this time only unconscious. I continued on my rage-filled path=

=There was a lot of fuckers. Alot. Alot and alot and alot. There was alot of fire, and return fire... And whatever. But I just kept shooting. A lot. And I tried to stay focused. But... I was still tired... I just couldn't seem to wake up. But... There was just alot of shooting.=

=Liza noticed an Alliance soldier walking forward with a sidearm drawn. She fired a few shots into his legs, and kept on shooting down enemy troops. The Empire soldiers marched forward still, unaffected by the deaths around them, their faces all hidden behind their masks. Then, the roar of artillery fire from behind the cap, in Alliance territory. There were three small explosions right in the center of the Empire lines. The explosions themselves did little more than knock down a few troops. But what came after was a thick yellow-green cloud of toxic gas. The Imperials shared a brief sense of humor at the mistake, and kept on=

=The guy to my right tries to light a cigarette but the winds blow out the Zippo lighter before it even lights. He puts it back into his pouch=

=I try to follow the street lights back to our barracks=

=i fell to the ground, I fired my last few rounds at the bitch, assuming it was a bitch due to the curves I could see, hoping to hit her. I couldn't tell if I did or not, as soon gas spread. I yelled out=

GAS GAS GAS!

=I started crawling towards the nearest tank, a Growler. They were the only ones rated for gas. Someone picked me up along the way and carried me into it. I didn't know what kind of gas it was, but I knew it wouldn't be good. Everyone was still firing, even those who were in the open=

=Those soldiers that didnt fall to the gas were shot by the sweeping Imperial forces. The gas cleared rather quickly after fast winds came in from the east. The Imperials went around and checked for any casualties on their side. Many were wounded, some were dead. Overall, deaths were pretty low for a battle like this. Xazhi thanked the Alliance for the gas under his breath. He went to go speak with Liza=

=We got back to the base and soldiers were loading into the trucks already and on their way to the frontlines, all of my squad jumped into an Opel Blitz=

=I looked out the viewing port. All I could see was enemy soldiers, no one was alive on our side out there. I heard a soldier climbing on our tank. He tried to pull open the hatch, but we had closed it. I signaled to the man closest it to open it and drag him inside, quickly. He nodded, and did so. The hatch made a noise, but he managed to drag the soldier in before he could shout anything. I signaled to slit his throat. We didn't have time for prisoners right now. I took my shirt off and cut it into strips using my knife. I wrapped them around my legs, around the bullet holes. It wasn't much, but it was something. The little bell jingled as I went, making a half-hearted attempt at cheering everyone up. I signaled to load the main cannon and await for my order to fire. I wanted to see if any of them would leave before too long. We were in no position to fight, not yet=

=The trucks rev off to the front lines, the driver tells us to put on gasmasks because a big Gas attack just occured=

=I take out my gasmask from my pouch and throw it on under my helmet and clear it=

1, Ready!

2, Ready!

3, Ready..

=The truck stops in a misty yellow area=

ALL, DISEMBARK!

=The truck door is kicked open and the troops pile out=

=Xazhi and Liza stopped their talk and looked over to the truck unloading Soldiers. Liza went back to rounding up Delta Wing, and Xazhi went over to the new arrivals=

Xa- [Your a little late to the party, soldiers.]






*Side note: From now on, all text i put in brackets is only in english so it is easier to read. Feel free to keep using whatever languages you were using if you want to.*