Author's Notes
This story arose from an evening of playing Soul Calibur II with my son P.J. on the Game Cube. P.J., playing Link, was kicking the snot out of me, and I began wishing aloud for a new character in the game, designed to my specifications . . . named "Sarge" . . . packing a .45 . . . BLAM! There, that oughtta fix that annoying elf boy!
The idea was, of course, too good not to run with.
I made no attempt to be canonical with respect to the Soul Calibur storyline, but I did my best to be true to the SC characters I put into the story.
The first chapter is a bit of Tom Clancy wannabe pastiche that serves to get our hero Seamus sucked back in time.
Hollenschau is an actual place in Silesia; Fr. Jan Sarkander, the parish priest, is an historical figure; and the local political situation and troop movements are correct (in general terms, anyway) for March of 1620. I've never been to Silesia, so my apologies to Silesians everywhere if I've gotten the topography wrong.
The rest is a product of my fevered imagination. I'm not in the military and never have been, but I've done my best to get the military details correct, and to give my viewpoint character an authentic modern Armyworldview. There is no "1/93rd Infantry" in the U.S. Army at present--the unit designation, platoon call sign ("Beamer"), and go-code ("Let's Roll!") are my feeble tribute to some real-life heroes, the passengers of Flight 93.
You can probably guess which is my favorite SC battle setting.
Enjoy, and let me know what you think via the "review" section. Many thanks for the kind words to those who have already put in a review.