Two weeks passed since I was knocked out in combat in my very first battle against the aliens. For the prideful, it may be an embarrassment, laden with guilt; coming out unconscious when relief services and military personnel were stretched thin. Myself, I'm just happy to be alive. Even with the platoon I was in practically decimated, with only two survivors, I was given an unofficial promotion upon my return and recovery, tasked with the hasty training of the volunteers who were willing to fight. A desperate situation, given that all males in Singapore undergo mandatory National Service, the remaining civilians were those who did not and those unable to partake. To these civilians, I was a person to be respected; one of the few soldiers who have killed the aliens and survived first contact. I was but a 21-year old child.
"Your arm is shaking. You would not hit the aliens if your gun keeps shaking."
"S-sorry. This is my first time using a gun and.." The volunteer fell silent.
Until two weeks ago, I had not fired a gun upon any living being as well. The ability to cut short a person's life was a heavy burden. Yet the aliens were brandishing their weapons so freely, killing and abducting people like cattle. This volunteer I was currently assisting was one of the twenty under my charge, a young girl no more than eighteen years old.
"..and father hasn't returned." Her tears started to well up. All around the range, the grim faces on the other volunteers looked at me for confidence. For some inspiration that the aliens could be defeated, that this was some freak event that would go back to normal. I had nothing to give, save for an alien blown up and another shot.
"Try to focus on shooting for now. Your father is out there somewhere, taking the fight to the aliens for your future. You must believe that he will come home safe." A white lie, hopefully.
The girl nodded, turning her head back to the range and her target. There was little to say, save for tips here and there on how to fire the weapon better. She probably knew the truth as well. I went to another volunteer, a greying woman well past her prime. She was struggling with her jammed rifle.
"Here, unload the magazine then turn and pull this bolt here and release." I did it with the dummy rifle I was holding.
She nodded in appreciation. "Everyone here knows how dire the situation is, that's why we volunteered. Some of us are still terrified though. Thanks for allowing us to help."
Momentarily confused, I nodded and watched as she fired at the test dummy. Three out of ten rounds hit.
That night, I mulled over the strange airship that had come to my rescue two weeks ago, as well as "Vigilo Confido". When I asked the ones who had supposedly found me unconscious, they replied that they did not find anyone else save myself and the other survivor who only saw the airship. The foreign languages I knew didn't cover this phrase and the public internet service providers in Singapore were down. My rank clearance did not allow me access to computers with access to the top secret information on the aliens as well. Taking a rough guess in English, all I had was "Vigil Confide", which made little sense.
Stumped, I rested on my makeshift bed as I recalled what I could about the incident. The weapons they used fired bullets, not plasma, so they were likely a human paramilitary force. If Singapore possessed such a strange airship, it would have been used in the first wave of defence against the aliens and be scrap by now. The person who ran toward me was a woman as well, with navy blue hair. That was not at all local, nor common. Blue-haired women in the military, if this were peacetime she would be an idol among the soldiers. Unlikely to be Singaporean then. A strange airship, unusual soldiers and human weapons.
But why Singapore? What did these soldiers achieve? Their presence showed that there was something of value here, at least. Singapore was a country with little natural resources, our only "resource" being "human resource", as our Prime Minister had said. Unless there was something that was recently uncovered, they would probably be looking to find a person. Regardless, since the first day the alien attacks continuously slowed, from a rampaging pace to a more controlled, measured pace, as if content to pressure us into submission instead. Yet each time a fight broke out, at least half of the human participants would end up dead or dying, while the aliens made an organised retreat. Our resistance was slowly dwindling. Again that begged the question: "Why?"
Mind swimming in questions unanswered, I slowly fell into a slumber as a voice quietly hissed in the hallway outside.
"Yes we have the data. The compound has also been mapped, undetected. Ready to act as necessary."
A/N: Yes this is(albeit loosely) based on a Long War mod playthrough. How close I'll be to the original story remains to be seen, but major events (such as progression of alien lifeforms and character skills) I'll retain. Thanks to those who have read and reviewed, it is much appreciated!