Hello Readers of FanFiction that so generously took time out of your day to read this story o' mine. Anyways… this is the first chapter of Casualties of War.

Summary

"Cover!"

The last word Fang heard before losing not only eighty percent of his hearing ability, but his best friend. Civil War springs out in the least likely of places, a small island known as Paradise Falls. Fang is on a mission to avenge his longtime friend, even if it means risking his own life.

The Mission

"We gather here in memory of Admiral Iggy Griffiths." I sighed as the army priest said words of my best friend. I still remember the day, 38 days ago, when my best friend had fallen to the hands of the enemy.

Take Cover

I shook my head; I would never want to think of that day again.

"Admiral Griffiths was a brave man who would take a bullet for any man out there on the battlefield. He rose through the ranks and became an admiral. Admiral Griffiths protected countless lives on that night, but sacrificed his own to do so."

The priest paused for a moment but after that I couldn't hear anything. My ears felt as though a pillow came and shoved it in my ears. Not a sound could be heard from anyone. It was all silence, but I could still see.

The priest stepped down and grabbed a handful of dirt. He threw it in the hole of my dear friend and walked away. The Fleet Admiral came up and repeated the action. A few more people reciprocated the action and then came my turn.

I limped up to Iggy's grave; since my knee hit a slab of concrete a few rescue missions back and still bothered me. As I looked down into the earth, a tear strolled down my cheek and onto the dry dirt.

"I'll find out who did this" I wasn't sure how loud I said it, but luckily no one heard me. The handful of dirt in my hand found the top of Iggy's grave. "You have my word." I walked back to my spot as a few more people came up.

Iggy's family had passed away long ago so he hadn't had anyone in his relative side. That's how Iggy and I became so close. Iggy and I were like brothers, we both had no family, we both had no future, and we both had no one else.

A while later everyone left and it was just the Fleet Admiral and me, we stood there in silence.

My hearing had come back slightly and I could hear the waves as the water crashed along the side of the cliff, in which the cemetery was situated.

"He was a good man. He battled with heart and purpose. He wanted to protect his family, and he did so by protecting you." Jeb, the Fleet Admiral, said.

"Thank you sir, but he not only protected me, but he protected the medic canopy. If it weren't for him hundreds of already injured soldiers would've died."

We stood there for a while longer before Jeb said

"Captain Fang you are relieved of duty"

I was shocked, why am I relieved. "B-but sir. What am I supposed to do? I feel better than ever." A lie, a complete and total lie.

"You'll understand by tonight." With that the Fleet Admiral left me to ponder what that meant. I gave up and walked back to the bunker. There were still damages to the area, but overall it was clean. I was saluted and I retuned the gesture.

The cafeteria was busy and bustling, just like a shopping mall in the states. The lady at the line gave me my dinner and I went to my usual seat. I sighed as I took my regular seat on the west wing. A few of my partners that I work with were already sitting there, messing around and joking.

There was Zephyr, or Gazzy, that sat in front of my. He was messing around with some of the noodle-like substance on his plate. His specialty was stealth, even better than me in that department.

To my left was Monique, or Nudge. She was the motor mouth, but had become silent after she received news of her brother that was living in the states. He was a victim of a hit and run. The police are still looking for his killer. Nudge's specialty was computers and codes. She could crack into any site within a minute.

Next to Nudge was Angel, who was trying to comfort her. Angel was always the mediator that everyone would love to have. She always found a way to make matters better. Angel, even as nice as she seems, has a conniving side to her. She is a master camouflage artist and can make you think that she was the president of the United States in less then thirty minutes.

To my right is…right on time. Max came over and took her seat next to me. Max is a lieutenant and will probably be my assistant now. Max's…skills always scared me. She was a master assassin. She could find out a way to kill a person in an empty room, that's padded with five foot deep plush, without using her arms or legs. Trust, she's done that before.

"Evenin'" She greeted me with a grin.

I nodded my head towards her, Max and I never salute to each other. I guess it was because we grew up with each other. In the same town of Pleasantville, we went to the same schools and enlisted in the same year. She was also the highest ranked female in the whole army.

We were the special-ops unit. Whenever something got out of hand, we would be sent in and take hold of the operation. We were called "The Flock", so we were known as that. The name caught on and we are basically a household name.

I ate my dinner as Gazzy and Angel tried to cheer Nudge up. She would crack a grin once in a while, but that was it. Max kept giving me odd looks but I didn't react to them. I continued eating my dinner and waited.

The bell sounded which means that the eating period was over. We had the last dining period and it was late so I decided to hit the hay. We said our goodbyes, but today was different between Max and me.

"Bye Fang" Max hugged me tight around my waist. If you haven't noticed yet, I'm not exactly a touchy person so I stayed rigid, but wrapped an arm around her. We let go of each other and we parted paths.

As I was walking I heard Nudge ask, "What was all that about?"

Then I heard "It's because-" That's all I got because they turned the corner and was out of earshot. I brushed it off and made my way to the sleeping chambers. A few guys were already there, some sleeping and others writing letters to loved ones or reading letters. They saluted me and I returned the gesture.

I took off my captain's coat and lied down on my bed. I dozed off in a deep slumber, but a nightmarish one. The events of death replayed in my head as Iggy and I rushed towards the evacuation point. Everywhere I looked there was either one of us, or one of them.

The time bomb was set to burst three minutes ago, but Nudge was able to deactivate the code for a while, before another programmer came and put up a complicated firewall. The bomb now had about another minute before the whole factory goes Ka-boom.

"Fang" I heard as someone shook my shoulder. I connected it to my dream and lashed out a fist in front of me. "Yo Fang, it's just me man."

I looked closer and it was Sam, a medic of this regiment.

"What is it." I said slightly grateful. I did not want to witness that that type of bloodshed again, even if its just a dream.

"Fleet Admiral Batchelder requests you come to the Briefing Room." I nodded and he made his way out the door and towards the medic's station.

I walked towards the Briefing Room, straightened my coat and went in. First I saw the face of the Fleet Admiral, then I saw the rest of The Flocks' faces. I saluted Jeb and he returned it. I took a seat next to him.

"Why are we gathered in the Briefing Room Admiral?" I heard Gazzy ask while yawning.

"Thank you for asking ensign. We're gathered tonight so I can brief you on your next mission." I stiffened as he said this. Anxiety has made me jumpy, I haven't been out on the field for over a month.

"What kind of mission." Max demanded crossing her arms. She looked upset that she couldn't sleep.

"A rescue mission." I sat even straighter in my chair. "You will rescue a regiment of ten men who were captured. We only have the slightest detail of what may happen. You will infiltrate enemy lines and retrieve our me—I mean soldiers. And no one can know of your absences" Max looked as though she was going to attack Jeb when he almost said men, but what I thought of the whole time was vengeance. I will be with-in their lines. I could kill the men who killed my best friend, my brother.

"But how will we get in there?" Angel piped up.

"Good question. That's where you come in Angel. Camouflage you five as the southern Paradise Falls infantry and just pop in when the timing is precise. Then Nudge, you will have hack into their main frame, detach their source code of their Security program, use that code to turn off all alarms and security at a certain time so their soldiers won't suspect anything."

"When will this operation begin?" Max asked

"Tomorrow morning. You will all be relieved of duty to the eyes of our privates and lower ranks. If anyone asks tell them that you are going back home for a few weeks." Fleet Admiral explained to us.

"Is that all" I asked, thoughts of revenge on my mind.

"Yes that is all. Dismissed" We all saluted him and walked towards the door. "And Max, I'm not expecting to many deaths." Max just smiled as she walked out the door in front of me. "Fang can you stay back for a second"

I was reluctant, but I did. I closed the briefing doors and sat back down.

"Yes sir."

"I know that you're seeking revenge for Iggy, but please try and keep this mission civilized. I do not need the Southern end coming to us and killing us just because you wanted to seek out revenge."

My blood was boiling now, how could he expect me to be on enemy lines and not tear some throats out.

"Why the hell would you send me in then? If you know I am going to attack someone, why send me into the place where I would kill every single one until my thirst for vengeance is quenched!" That was the first time I had ever lashed out on anyone.

"Fang I understand, but this is your mission now. You have to take lead, act like Iggy would, stay calm and collected."

I breathed in deeply. "How would you think I would feel if the guy who killed my brother was standing right beside me? What if he looked me in the eyes and my actions just lash out and I kill him right then and there? How would you feel if you stood next to the man who killed your father?"

"That's enough Fang!" Jeb slammed his fist on the table. I knew his father's death was a touchy subject. I felt bad about bringing it up, but it had to be said. I stayed quiet as Jeb collected himself. "Just get to bed Fang. I'll deal with this tomorrow." He paused again. "Tomorrow will be a long day." I left without saluting to him and headed to the shooting range.

The one place that'll always clear my mind was always at my disposal, considering I am a Captain. I grabbed a Mark 3 pistol and fired away at the dummy hanging a couple meters away from where I stood. I shot the head multiple times. Each one would have been a straight away death.

"Good Shot" I turned around and Max was there holding a Colt 1911 .45 ACP. She had on her goggles and approached the shooting stand. She aimed and fired in a blink of the eye. I looked over at her dummy, straight through the chest, another critical shot.

"Touché" I said as she smiled at me.

She said something, but I couldn't hear it. I pointed to my ears and shrugged. She frowned, but nodded to me. I reloaded my pistol as Max turned around again and shot at the dummy. I followed suit and we just stood there firing bullets at a dummy, massacring it, making it look like Swiss cheese.

So that's chapter one of my latest story called "Casualties of War". I hope you liked it. If you did like it then please leave a review, favorite, or follow. If you didn't please explain to me why you didn't and I'll take it into consideration.

Also, this story does not go along with the movie "Casualties of War". I didn't even know that was a movie title until I told the synopsis to my friend.

U and A