Discaimer: I don't own Code: Lyoko or the song Letters From Home. They are the property of their respective owners.
It had been five years since Xana activated Carthage. In five years, he made earth into a living hell. With human casualties in the thousands every day, it wouldn't be long before Xana completely eradicated the human race. But as their numbers dwindled, the human race rallied together and began to take back what was theirs. But it wasn't easy.
Ulrich Stern sat in the middle of a group of nine other soldiers. Whenever somebody got a letter, they would usually read some or all of it to the others.
My Dear Son, it is almost June,
I hope this letter catches up to you, and finds you well
Its been dry but they're calling for rain,
And everything's the same ol' same in Johnsonville
Your stubborn 'ol Daddy ain't said too much,
But I'm sure you know he sends his love,
'Dear Ulrich," he read, "I hope that you are alive, and this letter reaches you swiftly. Lately its been dry, but it is still spring. Nothing new has happened, except I had to watch poor old Mrs. Luke have to bury her only son. I hope that I never have to do that for you. I still hope you haven't been wounded, but the likeliness of that is next to impossible." he paused and smiled down at the shrapnel wound in his right leg, "I hope you make it home safely..."
And she goes on,
In a letter from home
"Love, Mom. P.S. Tell everyone Mama sends her best y'all. "
I hold it up and show my buddies,
Like we ain't scared and our boots ain't muddy, and they all laugh,
Like there's something funny bout' the way I talk,
When I say: "Mama sends her best y'all"
I fold it up an' put it in my shirt,
Pick up my gun an' get back to work
An' it keeps me driving me on,
Waiting on letters from home
By the time he was finished, everyone was smiling and laughing at the way he imitated his mother's voice. He put it in a Velcro pocket in the front of his vest. Catching movement out of the corner of his eye, he picked up the two SMGs laying next to him and opened fire. The Hornet fell to the ground, slain. Looking around, he saw hordes of Hornets, the skies full of them.
"Open fire!" The command was given, and the bullets started flying. Ulrich saw the man next to him, Emmit, fall to the ground after taking a blow from one of the Hornet's deadly stinger. He shot it down, watching as it fell to the ground and exploded in a flurry of pixels. Another man beside him took a hit to the leg. He stood one on leg and continued to fire, ignoring the wound in his leg.
"Megatanks!" The warning came to late, just as the tank opened to fire. Ulrich dove out of the way, taking another soldier with him out of the deadly wake of destruction. Ulrich crawled until he found what he was looking for: a green case, six feet long that held a copy of his Lyoko weapons, two Katanas. Guns were fine for enemies in the air, but it felt natural to use a sword, almost as if he were fighting back on Lyoko, still trying to protect the world without it ever realizing it was being protected.
Dodging Hornet lasers and Megatank blasts, he leaped upon the nearest Megatank, stabbing it in its weak spot. For a moment, he actually believed he was back on Lyoko. Then he hit the ground, and pain, like a red hot flame, flowed all over his body. He jumped back up and began hitting everything in his path. Soon, there were no more Megatanks. The remaining four soldiers had taken care of the Hornets as well.
Ulrich unclipped a radio from his belt. "Stern to Eagle One, request immediate evac of five dead, four wounded."
As he finished, a Tarantula appeared, killing one of the marines. Ulrich ran towards it, dodging laser fire. He slashed at it, but was caught in midair by one of its arms. He was casually tossed aside, as if it didn't care who or what he was. But the Tarantula made its target clear: the evac helicopter.
"Stern to Eagle One: pull out! Tarantula's locked on to you. Odd? Can you hear me? GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"
But the helicopter kept on its course. Odd either ignored him, or hadn't heard him. The chopper kept on its course, headed straight for the Tarantula. As it fired, Ulrich hit one of its arms with his Katana, causing one of the two shots to miss. The other hit the tail blade, causing it to spin instead of holding\ steady.
Ulrich saw the chopper go up. Probably retreating, Ulrich thought. He turned back to the Tarantula, and saw the last two remaining marines fighting it with an SMG and a shotgun. He ran forward and climbed on its back. It tried to throw him off, and it succeeded. He dropped his Katanas in midair. He landed on a Glock 9mm. He picked up the handgun and started firing at its weak spot.
Ulrich's radio crackled to life. "Eagle One to Stern, get those marines away from that Tarantula. You need heavy weapons to take it out. This chopper is irreparably damaged, so we might as well use that to our advantage."
"Marines: let's move. We got a Kamikaze incoming." He said, pointing to Odd's helicopter. "We need to get clear!"
Ulrich looked up and saw four people already out of the helicopter, heading for the ground. Odd was staying just long enough to aim close to the Tarantula. The chopper's targeting computer would do the rest. Every helicopter was equipped with a targeting and auto piloting computer along with 50kg of nitroglycerin. It could target one enemy and head in for a suicide run, allowing the pilot and the crew to escape.
Odd jumped from the helicopter, a thousand feet in the air. He pulled the parachute at 950. He landed pretty hard. Lucky for him, his marines were there to catch him. The Tarantula exploded in a burst of flames, metal, and pixels. One piece of metal was propelled through the air, sailing in an arc towards the soldiers. It embedded itself in Ulrich's right shoulder blade. He was sent forward, screaming the entire time.
Odd's medic didn't waste any time in giving him a sedative. Soon, he was soundless, in a drug induced sleep.
"Della Rhobbia to Eagles Five and Eight, Eagle one is down. No casualties. All but three of Stern's squad is dead, and Stern is hit, request immediate evac for dead and injured."
My Dearest Love, its almost dawn
I've been lying here all night long wondering where you might be
I saw your Mama and I showed her the ring
Man on the television said something so I couldn't sleep
But I'll be all right, I'm just missing you
An' this is me kissing you
XX's and OO's,
In a letter from home
Six weeks later, Ulrich was in a hospital bed, surrounded by Odd, Odd's squad, and the last two men of his. He just received a letter from Yumi:
"Dear Ulrich, its been four weeks since I got your last letter. I'm laying on my bed, wishing you were lying with me. I saw your mother a few days ago. Your parents, my parents, and I all met the other day, and I told them about your proposal. I actually managed to keep a secret for two months, one of my longest kept secrets. Jeremie and Aelita visited the other day, just to say hi. Can you believe that he finally asked her to marry him? I saw Sissi last week, and she told me that William and her got married? Sissi isn't sure, but she thinks they might be parents soon. Maybe we'll get that chance too. Love, Yumi."
I hold it up and show my buddies,
Like we ain't scared and our boots ain't muddy, and they all laugh,
'Cause she calls me "Honey", but they take it hard,
'Cause I don't read the good parts
I fold it up an' put it in my shirt,
Pick up my gun an' get back to work
An' it keeps me driving me on,
Waiting on letters from home
"Who would have thought?" Odd asked aloud.
"Thought what?" A voice asked.
"That William and Sissi would get married." Odd replied without turning around.
"I always knew you were an oddball, Odd."
Odd turned around slowly. He saw a twenty year old with short black hair. "Long time, no see." Odd said.
"Well, now I can make up for it." William said. "I'm on your new squad. As it turns out, Hiroki and I are going to join your two squads into one."
"That's not all," another voice said. Ulrich looked up and saw Aelita standing next to Jeremie. "Jeremie and I are almost finished locating Xana."
"Two weeks." Jeremie said. "That's all that's left of Xana's hell on earth. "
Two weeks later
Ulrich sat on the ground, a small envelope in his hand.
Dear Son, I know I ain't written,
But sittin' here tonight, alone in the kitchen, it occurs to me,
I might not have said, so I'll say it now
Son, you make me proud
"Dear Ulrich," he began, reading to Jeremie, Aelita, Sissi, William, Odd, and Yumi. "I haven't wrote to you this entire time you have been risking your life, fighting for us all. There are some things I should have said four years ago, and some things I shouldn't have." His voice began to break as he continued reading. "I never once told you this. All your life, no matter what you did, you still made me proud."
I hold it up and show my buddies,
Like we ain't scared and our boots ain't muddy, but no one laughs,
'Cause there ain't nothing funny when a soldier cries
An' I just wipe me eyes
"Ulrich?" Yumi said.
"He's right." Ulrich said. "There were some things that should have been said, and some that shouldn't have."
I fold it up an' put it in my shirt,
Pick up my gun an' get back to work
An' it keeps me driving me on,
Waiting on letters from home
Ulrich strapped a 12-gauge shotgun across his back, slipped four Glock 9mm handguns and three EMP grenades into his waistband, and picked up two SMGs. Everyone else had almost the exact same thing, except Jeremie. Instead of a shotgun, he had an even better weapon: a laptop with a virus coded to shut down Xana. He also carried two large black bags.
They ran in, quickly dispatching a first patrol of Blocks. Around the next corner, they met a group of thirty Kankrelots, but they were destroyed quickly. After a half hour of running, they found what they were looking for: the center of the complex that held the supercomputer that Xana was currently hiding in.
After destroying the Krab guards, Jeremie went for the supercalculator in the center, while the other six surrounded him. Suddenly, several sections of the wall slid back to reveal Tarantula; at least 50 of them.
"Thirty seconds and its all over," Jeremie said, reaching into one of his two bags. He pulled out an RPG launcher. He fired at some of the Tarantulas, destroying half. Odd reached into the other bag and began to throw grenades. Soon, the Tarantulas were destroyed.
So was Xana.
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