A/N: Hello, and thanks for reading. I've known about Girls' Frontline for some time now, but I didn't start actually playing it until the English release, and now that I have, I thought I'd write on a story based on it. I like writing things like this because it gives me an opportunity to write about something that interests me and then put my own spin on it. However, that does mean that there will be some obvious differences from the game's story. Namely, this will not follow the game's story and will be set in a slightly different timeline, though most of the characters and organizations will remain the same.
Also, just an additional warning: the content of this story may end up being pretty dark, and the commander character himself is also... Well, not very moral is how I'll put it. I thought it would be interesting to write an MC who deviates from norm in this way, but I am aware that this will put off a lot of people, so you probably shouldn't bother with this if you need the MC to be a good guy.
Anyway, I remember when this section only had one story in it, so it's nice to see it getting more activity. This will be my contribution, as minor and as niche as it may be. I don't know how often I'll update this, so I guess it depends on my own interest and the audience's as time goes on. Either way, thanks again for reading, and I'll stop this long-ass author's note here and get on with the story.
07/24/2006
2100 hours
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States of America
Bright lights from the numerous hotels and signs lit up the summer night in the desert, and the city of Las Vegas was alive with the sound of cars and people talking and laughing. A family of three stood upon one of the bridges that went over the busy streets, giving them a good look out over the strip.
A child with light brown, almost orange, hair and turquoise eyes stared at his surroundings with wonder, completely captivated by the sensory overload of the Las Vegas Strip.
"He must be bored," a woman, the child's mother, said with a frown. "He's just standing there. There's nothing for a kid to do on the Las Vegas Strip, is there?"
A man, the child's father, replied. "He's 'bored'? Are you kidding me? Just look at him, haha! The kid's entranced!"
The woman walked over to her son, who barely even noticed his mother approaching because of how intently he was focused on the city. Smiling, his mother patted him on the head.
"Are you having fun, Ralph?" she asked.
The boy grinned at his mother and then went back to staring at the glamorous hotels.
The woman laughed, turning to her husband. "Well, it looks like you were right. Ralph is usually so shy and reserved! I didn't think he would like a place like this."
"Opposites attract, I guess," the man shrugged. He too then joined his wife and child as they looked out over the city. "But you know, it really is nice to be here like this. With the situation being as bad as it is, this may be one of our last chances to go on a vacation…"
"Right… I never thought the world would get so close to another war," the woman sighed. "And in a few days, it's back to work again. Do we really have to go all the way to Africa?"
"That's where the company we need to contract is based right now, so unfortunately."
"I still don't understand why the military needs the help of a private mercenary group," the woman said, distaste evident in her tone. "Grifon & Kryuger, right? What's so good about them? And why are they based out of Africa?"
"They're not based out of Africa. It just happens to be where they are conducting operations at the moment," the father corrected. "And don't ask me why the government needs them, I'm just an engineer. You're the diplomat."
"But they want to buy your product. The 'Tactical Dolls' or whatever."
The man chuckled. "They're not 'my product,' haha. Though I wish I could take credit for creating that technology…"
"Well, you're part of the company that developed them, so it's close enough," the woman countered. "Either way, the explanation I was given was that these dolls would be able to change the way war is fought and would be helpful in preventing an outright nuclear war. I don't see how that's possible, but…"
"Eh, maybe it has something to do with the war being fought by T-Dolls instead of humans?" the man suggested. "I don't know, though. I doubt we can even produce that many units so as to completely get rid of the need for human combatants, so that may just be wishful thinking. G&K are going to be our test subjects, so we'll see after that, I guess."
"Hm… Well, we'll just have to do our jobs and hope for the best," the woman decided, then glanced at her son, who was still occupied with the city lights. "But do we really need to bring Ralph with us? The country we're going to is dangerous."
"It's not like there's actual fighting going on there. Even G&K is just there to supervise government forces," the man told her. "Also, we'll have an armed escort the whole time just in case. It might even be safer than leaving him at home here in the US, to be honest."
"I suppose," the woman agreed in the end. She tapped her son on the head. "Are you ready to go now, Ralph? We can't stand here all night, right?"
The boy turned to his mother with a disappointed frown.
His father grinned. "Okay, how about we get down to the streets and see the hotels up close? We can even go inside a few of them."
Ralph perked up at that and nodded.
His mother also smiled at seeing the boy's enthusiasm. "Oh, children get excited by just about anything, don't they? Let's go then, Ralph. Maybe we can see the fountain show too."
"Ooh, a fountain show?" the man repeated, evidently more excited by that than his son was. "Sounds fun! Come here, Ralph."
The man hoisted his son up onto his shoulders. "There. Now you can see the city even when we're down on the streets."
The child giggled as he took in the city again from atop his father's shoulders.
The mother smiled again as she looked at them. "Hmm… I initially thought coming here as our last vacation before the war was a bad idea, but you know… I'm glad we're here.
The father glanced up at his child, who was now focused back on the city lights.
"Yeah… Me too."
"Great. It looks like it's going to rain now," WA2000 groaned as she glanced up at the darkening sky.
"Oh, no. I don't want to get wet," DSR-50 said with a sigh.
Kar98k frowned at her two companions. "It's just some rain. Our combat uniforms are water resistant anyway."
"But my hair," DSR-50 complained. "And I've heard about these Southeast Asian storms. They're pretty rough!"
"It smells terrible here too," WA2000 added, crinkling her nose in disgust.
The three Tactical Dolls stood on the wooden docks on the outskirts of a small Thai town, right by the local fish market. They had disembarked from the boat that delivered them here moments earlier, and now they were to wait for their escort that would bring them to the G&K base where they would be stationed. According to the briefing that the dolls received, the base was relatively new, but given the recent defeat of G&K forces at the Battle of Kunming in China, it just so happened that this base now became G&K's most important one in the region. Therefore, despite its newness, the base was being reinforced, and the three German snipers were unlucky enough to be part of that reinforcement.
The T-Dolls each carried a case on their back that concealed their rifles, as it wouldn't be good if they just openly carried their weapons around. Even so, they still drew a great amount of attention to themselves, and many of the market's shoppers stared at the strange-looking but beautiful girls waiting on the docks.
"What's taking the escort so long?" WA2000 demanded to know, evidently uncomfortable with all the looks.
"We've only been here for a few minutes," DSR-50 reminded her. "Perhaps we should give them some more time?"
"Hmph. They should have been here waiting before we even got off the ship," WA2000 insisted. "I can't believe we have to stand here in this humidity…"
As soon as WA2000 finished speaking, she began to hear the distant rumble of a car's engine. Sure enough, seconds later an open-top jeep drove up to the fish market, and two people exited the vehicle. One of them was a young girl with red hair and cerulean blue eyes, and she wore a white long-sleeved dress shirt on top of a black skirt. A loose red tie hung around her collar, and a pair of red glasses were pushed up onto her head. The second figure was a tall man with who wore a similar outfit, though he lacked the tie and had black slacks on. He had tangerine-colored hair and greenish-blue eyes, and his messy hairstyle added to his disheveled look.
"That must be them," DSR-50 nudged WA2000.
By now, a small crowd had gathered at the docks, in part due to the jeep's noise and also because the locals wanted to stare at the T-Dolls. The two G&K employees tried to make their way to the three waiting on the docks, but the crowd of villagers, who had now begun to chatter among themselves curiously, made it very difficult to do so. The T-Dolls watched as the man, fed up with the crowd, pulled out a pistol and fired it into the air and towards the sea. The group of people flinched and began yelling at the sound, some of them running away in fear. The man put down his gun and the locals quickly realized that he wanted them to clear a path, and they gave him angry and annoyed looks as they dispersed.
"Fuckin' unbelievable," the man muttered as he and the girl walked up to the T-Dolls. "So you three are the reinforcements, huh? All right… I like it."
"W-what's that supposed to mean!" WA2000 blushed as the man smirked.
"Such beautiful hair," the man said as he reached out and grabbed a strand of her maroon locks.
WA2000 slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me! What is wrong with you?!"
"Woah there," the man backed up, but he didn't look any less smug. "Is that any way you should be speaking to your new commander?"
"Huh?!" WA2000 wore a look of shock.
"Yeah, that's right," the man grinned. "You T-Dolls are programmed to obey your commanding officer, right? Well, you're looking at him. You'll have to do anything I say…"
"Um, before this goes too far, I think we should introduce ourselves," the red-haired girl cut in. She smiled at the T-Dolls. "Hi! My name is Kalina. I'm one of the officers at the base here."
"Nice to meet you. I am DSR-50," DSR-50 introduced, returning Kalina's smile and seemingly unperturbed at the supposed commander's actions.
"Kar98k, reporting for duty," Kar98k saluted.
They all then stared expectantly at WA2000, who was still flustered from before.
"Uh, I-I'm WA2000. D-don't get in my way, okay!"
"Well, that's an interesting introduction," the man smirked again at WA2000. "Anyway, they call me Ralphie around here. And I was just joking about the commander thing. I'm actually just the vice-commander of this base."
"Oh? They sent two officers as an escort? How thoughtful," DSR-50 said, smiling seductively at the vice-commander.
"Well, this base doesn't have many personnel to be honest, and the few mercs we do have are usually busy drinking or whoring in town," Ralph admitted. "But I have to say… I am very glad I came today."
DSR-50 giggled at that, but WA2000 only bristled even more.
"You sure don't act like an officer, sir," WA2000 spat.
Ralph shrugged. "Fuck if I care. It's not like I was actually in any official military organization or anything."
"Is that so?" Kar98k spoke up, raising an eyebrow. "Pardon my presumptuousness, but what exactly are you doing here, then?"
"Ask that question to whoever assigned me here," Ralph laughed. "But honestly, I guess I was just a good fit. Jungle and urban warfare in hot and humid environments happens to be my specialty."
"Sir, we should get going soon," Kalina interrupted. "We are drawing too much attention to ourselves, especially after you fired that handgun…"
"Yeah, all right. Let's go, then."
The group got into the jeep, some more reluctantly than others. Ralph took up the position of driver while Kalina sat beside him in the passenger's seat, leaving the three T-Dolls in the back. As the vice-commander started up the engine and got the jeep back onto the rough village road, Kalina turned to face the T-Dolls.
"How much have you girls been told about the situation down here?" Kalina asked them.
The three Germans glanced at each other.
"Not much," Kar98k answered. "We were simply told that we were to reinforce a new base in Thailand."
"Oh. Well, there's way more to it than that," Kalina grinned. "You do know about the Battle of Kunming, right?"
The three nodded.
"Okay. Then you know that the League forces were defeated? Wait, firstly, do you know what the League of Nations even is?"
"Of course. It's G&K's biggest client," WA2000 answered.
"They are led by officials from the pre-war governments of various countries, correct?" DSR-50 added. "I believe we were programmed with this information."
Kalina nodded. "Yeah, I wasn't exactly sure what you know and don't know, so I was just being thorough. Anyway, yeah, the League of Nations basically just want to restore the world to the way it used to be before the war and reinstall themselves in positions of power. They're also paying us a lot of money to help them, so that's what most of our operations are about. Unfortunately, there are plenty of new governments and opposing mercenary groups who want power for themselves, so that's why the globe right now is just a never-ending series of battlefields. It's pretty chaotic."
"And the Battle of Kunming was fought against Sangvis Ferri troops, right?" Kar98k asked for confirmation.
"Yeah. League representatives from India and China sent as many troops as they could, but given that they have their own conflicts to fight, they couldn't focus all their strength on this battle specifically, so about half of the army was made up of G&K regulars. Sangvis Ferri sent in their own mercenaries and T-Dolls, and though we outnumbered them, they managed to beat us pretty badly. Now, in order to consolidate their hold on the region, they're marching on Bangkok, and that's why you're all here. The remnants of the defeated League and G&K army will be coming down to help us defend Bangkok from Sangvis Ferri as well, but other than them, it looks like our base will be at the frontlines."
"Those odds don't sound very good…" DSR-50 worried with a frown.
"That's an understatement," Ralph threw in from the driver's seat. "We're probably going to be completely wiped out by Sangvis Ferri, haha."
"Right. Thanks for the encouraging words, Vice-Commander," Kalina said sarcastically, giving him a sour look. "Anyway, we're supposed to march to Bangkok soon in order to defend the city… Your first operation with us will probably be a huge battle. Sorry."
Kar98k wore a look of confidence. "No need to apologize. This is what we were built to do."
"All right, we're here," Ralph announced as he stopped the jeep in front of a relatively large concrete compound. "Welcome to the base."
"It looks very… Brutalistic," DSR-50 noted as she stepped out of the car.
"Tch. Even the base itself is terrible," WA2000 spat.
Ralph grinned. "Oh, you think this is bad? Wait until you see the inside."
Kalina sighed at her vice-commander's baiting, then turned to the T-Dolls. "Since this base wasn't initially intended to be of much importance, G&K didn't allocate a lot of funding to its construction. Because of that, most of the money went into making sure the T-Doll repair facilities and the supply portion of the base were well-furnished, which means that the living quarters and basically everything else went down in quality."
"Just what I wanted to hear…" WA2000 sighed.
"Come on, I thought you were supposed to be a soldier," Ralph continued to taunt her. "Someone with a little princess attitude like yourselves won't survive two seconds at this dirty base full of degenerates."
WA2000 grit her teeth. "I am a soldier! And don't act so high and mighty! You're only the vice-commander of a base that was originally irrelevant, so there's nothing special about you!"
"Actually, I was just transferred here recently too," Ralph corrected. "I was back at G&K Headquarters before now, so I was sent here specifically for this battle. That and because the previous vice-commander died at Kunming."
"So if you're the vice-commander, then where is the commander?" Kar98k then asked.
"You're about to meet him," Ralph said. "Just a warning, though, you probably won't like him. He's a former pastor and a hard-ass, and I think there might be something wrong with him psychologically. Anyway, let's get going. Can't keep the boss waiting."
The T-Dolls followed Ralph and Kalina into the base. The inside of the base was just as bare as the outside, and the hot, humid hallways were simply concrete corridors with small windows at the end. The two officers led them to a closed door, and Ralph knocked on it.
"Come in," a deep, harsh voice sounded from the other side.
Ralph turned to the group. "Well, you're on your own from now on. I've got things to do."
The vice-commander walked off, leaving Kalina with the T-Dolls.
Kalina shook her head. "As you can see, the Vice-Commander and the Commander don't really get along. Anyway, let's go."
The four entered to find a man seated at a mahogany desk at the back of the mostly-barebones room. The man was very large, and he wore military fatigues, which was what most G&K employees were issued outside of their red, white, and black dress uniform. However, what was most striking about him was that he wore a black ski mask which covered most of his face.
Kalina saluted. "Sir. These are the Tactical Dolls that were scheduled for reinforcement."
The three T-Dolls followed suit and saluted as well.
The commander nodded to them. "Only three? Very well. I am Commander Kinkaid, the chief officer of this base. I trust Kalina and the Vice-Commander have already briefed you on the important matters, so I will keep this short: as Tactical Dolls, you three are machines of war, nothing more and nothing less. You are to defeat and kill the enemy, and if you cannot do that, you are useless. If you do not follow my orders, you are useless. If you die, you are useless. The time will come soon enough where you will prove your worth, but until then, stay out of my way and perform your duties as expected. That is all."
"Sir," Kalina saluted again and hurriedly ushered the T-Dolls out of the office.
"It seems the Vice-Commander was right. The Commander is quite unpleasant," Kar98k observed once they were out.
"Oh, please. As if the Vice-Commander himself is any better," WA2000 scoffed.
Kalina, who was leading them to another location in the base, turned to them. "If you three want some advice from someone who's been at this base for a while and knew Ralphie before he was assigned here, then take it from me: the Commander may be harsh and does not care about his men other than their combat capabilities, but he is far more preferable than any of the other men at this base, especially Ralphie. These people are incredibly dangerous and depraved, and even though I know they can't hurt me since I've been sent directly by G&K HQ, I can't say I like being around them."
Kar98k tilted her head in confusion. "Is that so? But the Vice-Commander didn't seem so bad aside from his rudeness."
"Yeah… You don't truly know him," Kalina said with a grim expression. "Like me, Ralphie is a World War III orphan, but unlike me, he had an extremely rough upbringing. He was born in America to relatively wealthy parents, so it started out well enough, but he had the misfortune of being in Africa when the war broke out. He and his parents were caught up in the intense civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and his parents were brutally murdered there. Ten years later when G&K and League forces finally achieved a breakthrough and defeated the rebels in Kinshasa, they found him fighting as a child soldier on the side of the anti-government forces."
"So… He was being serious when he said he wasn't from an official military organization?" Kar98k asked. "I thought G&K operators were mostly made up of former military or government-sanctioned PMC employees."
"... Where we you three stationed before this?" Kalina questioned.
"The G&K base in Berlin," WA2000 answered.
"Ah, so that explains it. Yes, most of the G&K operators at the bigger main bases are professional soldiers from well-established organizations," Kalina agreed. "However, once you go away from the main bases, G&K starts to care less about appearances and more about results, and so we end up hiring mercenaries who come from all sorts of backgrounds. The mercenaries here are from street gangs, prisons, less-reputable PMCs, Third World armies, and places like that. Unfortunately, Ralphie and his ilk are pretty common in bases like ours."
"That sounds ridiculous!" WA2000 declared. "Those are the types of people Sangvis Ferri hires! Are you telling me that we're really like them?!"
Kalina shrugged. "That's just how it is. In today's world, we can't afford the luxury of only hiring the most prim and proper mercenaries. The disheveled state of most countries results in these unsavory types being the most common, and so we either hire them or we get steamrolled by Sangvis Ferri due to a lack of manpower."
"So is that why you need us?" DSR-50 brought up.
"Yes. But T-Dolls are very, very expensive to manufacture, especially their cores," Kalina told them. "Therefore, we can't afford to just stock our army full of T-Dolls."
"Were there any fighting at Kunming?" WA2000 asked, curious.
Kalina looked troubled. "The former vice-commander of this base actually had a squad of four T-Dolls under his command for that battle specifically, but we lost all contact with them after the battle. Most of us have assumed that they're dead, but we never recovered their bodies, so I'm not sure. Also, Sangvis Ferri would probably use their corpses as propaganda if they really were dead, but since we haven't heard anything from them either, it's possible that they're MIA rather than dead."
Kalina then stopped in front of a door, which she opened to reveal a spartan room furnished only with a lineup of uncomfortable looking beds. The walls, ceiling, and flooring were all made of concrete like the rest of the base, and a single small window was carved into the far end of the room.
"These will be your quarters," Kalina told them. "There's a bathroom right over there, but other than that, it's pretty bare… Oh, and don't leave the window open for too long or the mosquitoes will get in. Aside from that, please put your stuff down in here and then I'll show you around the rest of the base."
All three T-Dolls looked unenthused at the prospect of living in such a space, but nevertheless, they complied and put down their gun cases next to the beds.
"Okay, now I'll show you where the dining hall -"
"Still showing them around?"
The vice-commander had returned, and he peeked his head in to the room.
"Yes. We should be done soon, though," Kalina replied. "Did you need them for something?"
"Not really," Ralph waved her off. "Oh, by the way, I'll be returning to the base late tonight. Tell whoever the fuck's on guard duty not to shoot me."
"Roger that," Kalina said as Ralph exited.
"Where is he going? A mission?" Kar98k asked.
"Probably to partake in that 'drinking and whoring' he mentioned earlier," WA2000 guessed with disdain.
"Well… That's certainly possible," Kalina admitted with a sheepish smile. "Actually, let's hope that's what he's doing…"
"Oh? What's that supposed to mean?" DSR-50 wondered.
"Oh, uh, forget I said anything," Kalina hurriedly covered up.
Kar98k gave her a look. "Come now, Miss Kalina. That only made us even more curious."
Kalina sighed. "Fine, but you didn't hear this from me, and it's just a rumor anyway. Since Ralphie first showed up on the base a month ago, there have been a couple of disappearances in the village nearby. Rumor has it that Ralphie kidnapped them, killed them, and then ate their corpses."
WA2000 recoiled in revolt. "He did what?!"
"Calm down, it's just a rumor!" Kalina waved her hands. "But yeah… The insurgent group that Ralphie fought with back in the Congo was known to eat people from time to time, so… Some of the mercenaries here on the base even call him the 'Cannibal Commander' because of that, but it probably wouldn't be a good idea to say that to his face. For all we know, it's just a dumb rumor someone decided to spread once they found out about his background."
"So then… The disappearances?" Kar98k brought up again.
"A third world country in a post-nuclear world isn't exactly a safe place, so disappearances and murders and other crimes are pretty common," Kalina told her. "The more likely explanation is that the disappearances are just related to some sort of crime or feud among the villagers, but that doesn't make for as good of a story, so people decide to go with the more interesting take."
"I see," Kar98k nodded. "Then we'll leave it that. Best not to spread bad information, especially about our own commanders. For now, I'd say it's best we trust that he's done nothing wrong."
Ralph stalked through the jungle foliage, silently making his way towards a clearing in the distance. He walked quickly but quietly, more out of habit than by some sort of conscious decision. His hand lingered over the machete that always hung on his belt, though this too was mostly an unconscious action that was the result of years of combat in the African bush. Eventually he reached the clearing, though he remained hidden in the tall grass and leafy plants.
On the edge of the clearing and clearly visible to Ralph was a lone female figure. Her stance was relaxed, and she leaned back on the trunk of a tree, her arms crossed and her eyes closed. Slung on her back was a large weapon fitted with a scope and suppressor.
"Stop slinking around. I know you're there," she suddenly called out.
Ralph smirked as he stepped into the clearing. "Hm? Your skills certainly haven't dulled, AR-15."
She regarded him with an unamused expression. "Of course not. But it has less to do with my skills and more to do with the fact that you told me to meet you at this location and at this time, so I was already expecting you here."
"I guess so," Ralph shrugged. "So… What have you got this time?"
"That can wait. I want to know what happened at Kunming," ST AR-15 demanded, her tone serious.
"Uh, you're asking the wrong guy. I wasn't posted here until after that happened, and you know that," Ralph replied. "Just hurry up and -"
"You are still the vice-commander of the base here. You're really trying to tell me you haven't been informed about the situation?" she interrupted forcefully. "Tell me everything you know."
"Fine, whatever," Ralph relented. "It's probably just the same as what you've heard. Sangvis Ferri forces defeated our army at Kunming, and the former vice-commander of this base along with the four members of the AR Team went missing. They may even be dead, who knows."
AR-15 remained silent for a bit. "... That's all you know?"
"For now, yes. There's going to be a battle at Bangkok, and if we defeat Sangvis Ferri there, then we might learn more."
"I see." AR-15's expression remained neutral, but her blue eyes darkened with emotion. "Then I want you to search for them during and after the battle. Even if they're dead, I want to know."
"Well, I have other things to worry about," Ralph told her. "Like, you know… Trying to win a battle against superior forces? Don't know if I'm going to have time to look for your buddies."
"Then you can consider our agreement voided."
Ralph's mouth twisted into a vicious scowl. "This is your first and only warning: don't make an enemy out of me."
AR-15 returned his look with a cold glare of her own. "The same goes for me."
After a brief but tense silence, Ralph smirked and raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, I'll do what I can. No promises, though."
AR-15 nodded. "Then here… This is what I've found."
She handed Ralph a short report. The vice-commander quickly looked it over.
"So this is basically saying that the United States is impenetrable from the Eastern Seaboard," Ralph concluded. "What about the West Coast?"
"I don't know. This was all the visiting officers in Germany had on them."
Ralph rubbed his chin. "Hm… This doesn't really do me any good, then… Can't you get more information?"
AR-15 glared at him again. "Do you know the things I had to do to get this information?"
"I honestly don't care. If you don't get results, then it's pointless," Ralph said dismissively. "Besides, we both know you've been through much worse."
"Right…" Restless fury boiled behind AR-15's eyes as she recalled unpleasant events. "Speaking of that… Do you have any information for me this time?"
"I told you over the phone that I didn't," Ralph shook his head. "I'm working on it, though. How about next time we both have what the other wants, all right?"
"Fine. Then I will see you in Bangkok after Sangvis Ferri is repulsed, assuming that you survive until then."
Ralph gave her a lazy, two-fingered salute. "Yeah, sure."
ST AR-15 then walked off, disappearing into the jungle. Ralph stood in the clearing for a bit longer, glancing down at the report that she handed him. A few moments later, he collected himself and began his return trip to the base.
When he got back to the base, he decided to head back to his room and just go to sleep. The meeting with AR-15 had been rather short, but for some reason, he was very exhausted by it. As he walked through the halls, he noticed Kalina and the new T-Dolls talking together in the dining hall, but he just continued past until he reached his room.
He spent a few minutes getting ready for bed and then collapsed in his rather uncomfortable cot, the humidity in the room making his clothes stick to his skin. Nevertheless, he closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep.
He began fading off to sleep, but unsurprisingly, he was continuously jerked back awake when his mind began to drift off to the more disturbing experiences he had in his life. The lash of the whip, the metallic scent of blood, burnt flesh and screams of fear, the feeling of a knife digging into his skin… A whole demonic medley kept him awake.
However, another memory suddenly flooded his senses. Bright lights against the night sky, a feeling of warmth… Slowly but surely, the lights lulled him to sleep, and he was at peace again.