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Life On Helghan.

I just thought it was gonna be another normal day of selling food but no, at 3:00 PM that day it all started, we had what seemed to be a sudden lightning storm, the only strange part was that it seemed to be coming from the ground rather than the sky. People started running around panicking at the sight and the noise but I wanted a closer look so I climbed to the top of my building to see where the lightning was coming from, when I reached the top I couldn't believe my eyes, I saw a tower with openings and more transformers than I could count, I don't pretend to be an expert on electricity and machinery, after all I just work in a market stall selling home-grown food.

But from what I saw it looked like this tower was the source rather than the reciever of the lightning then I saw it for myself, the spire lit up and arcs of electricity shot up into the air, I hadn't even realised it was a weapon until I followed the lightning up and saw it hit a GIGANTIC cruiser with the ISA symbol stenciled on it. the cruiser started to just fall out of the air, it was burning from stem to stern, it hit the ground so far away but I could feel the impact explosion from where I was and couldn't believe what I had just saw, were we being attacked or was there just something really fucked up going on?

My question got answered as I scanned the skies and saw hundreds of cruisers all bearing the ISA symbol, before I had time to take it all in black-uniformed soldiers came to the roof and grabbed me, I remember looking into their orange eyes and pissing myself, I'm not ashamed to admit that after everything I've seen and been through. They took me down through the building and outside to a troop transport and told me to get inside so I did as told, as I entered I saw that I was the only civilian in there, the rest were all soldiers.

I settled in for a long trip, I knew it was an evacuation and I thanked Visari they couldn't smell me because they were all wearing rebreathers for some strange reason, I asked one of them why and he said "I don't even know mate, they just said it makes us breathe more effectively. Load of bollocks if you ask me, I doubt the ISA will be wearing these things so why the fuck should we?" Another soldier piped up "(sigh) Look it's standard issue with the uniform, most people on Helghan are second generation colonists, and only we third generation Helghast can breathe this atmosphere and live past our thirties, and most people who join the Helghast army are second generation so there you go."

I was a third generation Helghast so I knew what he meant, I remember my father always wearing a mask, I didn't even understand what it was for I was only 9 when he died, my mother had died in childbirth which was all to common among the first and second generation, I did sometimes ask him but he always said "Nevermind son you'll never have to worry about wearing one so it doesn't matter."

The other soldier spoke to him then me "Oh all right, sorry didn't know."

"That's all right." I said, I asked what was going on and a different soldier spoke to me "We're being invaded by the ISA (chuckling) pathetic bastards must want revenge for us invading Vekta or something."

I asked where we were going and the first soldier who spoke to me said "Visari Square, we've set it up as a makeshift civilian shelter and strategic defence point, I'll be commanding the perimeter defence."

"What isn't that contradictory? What if we got overrun? All civilians would be slaughtered!" I said. "Nothing to worry about mate, it's only temporary, as soon as we can get you all to Constantine City. Plus the fucking orders came from the senate themselves, bunch of cowards sitting in their cushy chairs up there." Then the soldiers' radios crackled and the driver told everyone we were taking a detour and we'd have to move along the Corinth River bank.

One soldier started cursing and seemed to be getting angry so I asked him what was wrong, first bloke who spoke to me again said "It's the main landing point the ISA are using to get into Pyhrrus city, the place is a fuckin' warzone." He stood up "OK everyone check your weapons and give one to the civvie, what's your name?"

"Caleb Lente, what's yours?"

"Captain Frederick Hakha, you any relation to general Joseph Lente?"

"I don't know, my father told me I had a brother but he died before I was born."

"Hmm yeah same here, my fucking brother betrayed Helghan so he's dead to me now, but anyway nice to meet you Caleb Lente."

"Nice to meet you too."

"OK can someone give Caleb a weapon from the rack?" Second soldier gave me one. "Thanks." Was all I could say.

We arrived onto the Corinth River bank and almost immediatly we were taking heavy fire, it wasn't long till we got hit by an RPG and the APC got totaled, the captain shouted "OK GIRLS, OUT! Lente with me, let's go!" As we left the APC we'd managed to stop in a small area that was nicely covered from gunfire, the captain told me to follow him as he and his troops cleared the area.

End of chapter 1

OK that was a LOT longer than I originally intended but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, I've got a few different directions I could go in for chapter 2 but still not sure which direction to take the story in, please comment and some suggestions for chapter 2 would be nice.