Chapter 8

Pray for Peace, Train for War

Pray for peace, train for war repeated in his mind over and over again. It was a saying he knew all too well. But at some point in his past he had yet to know what praying for peace, truly meant. In, time, Athos believed his men would come to understand that adage as well. He just hoped they wouldn't have to find out what that meant the same way he did.

Athos always heard his commanders say the thoughtful phrase. But he didn't fully grasp the meaning of the adage until he tasted the bitter spoils of war. This first time he saw someone die, his whole look at the world change. War wasn't fun. It was hell.

It happened seven years ago on a cold wintry day in Belka. Athos was a lowly Corporal, who had just earned his jump wings at the time. Osea decided to launch a series of retaliatory strikes into Belka after a harassing artillery barrage hit a bus full of kindergartners. Belka was considered incapable of fighting after destroying themselves in 1995. Unfortunately, Athos and several other brave paratroopers would find out just how wrong that assumption was, the hard way.

That day had long since passed, but the memories hadn't. Athos wanted to forget those memories for the longest time, wishing they had faded along with the past. The memories however, chose to remain.

Like any other soldier, Athos was scared to death on his first mission. He had no idea what to expect and the turbulent ride in the C-17 didn't help at all. His only surefire way to survive was to trust in his commanders and relying on his training. War seemed so distant several months before his first combat jump. Now it was dawning on him.

After taking a hard landing in a cold puddle of water several minutes later, Athos already began to feel bad. The scenery was the most dreary he had ever seen. Houses were rotting and the vegetation non-existent. A lonely road and rotting trees constantly reminded Athos, that Belka was now a wasteland. This wasteland used to be full of living creatures and activity. But now most of the Osean paratroopers began to doubt that anything could survive out here. But in a couple of moments Athos would come to understand what survival was all about.

The air was cold and still, just like the corpse of a dead body. Athos wasn't a man used to eerie silence, growing up in the bustling city of Oured. But as he walked through this barren, dead, distant land, he longed to be back home.

For a brief moment Athos looked up into a steep, wooded hillside. Hundreds of dead, black trees complemented the snowy, hilly landscape. Those trees, Athos remembered, seemed to be reaching out for him. It looked as if they were begging, pleading with him to save them. Unfortunately, Belka's time for salvation had long since passed.

Continuing along his walk Athos glanced at his fellow troopers. They plodded along, trying to look as relaxed as they could. But there was an unshakable tension in the air that couldn't be ignored. His friends and fellow soldiers nervously looked around the ghastly landscape, blanketed by a specter gray fog. Athos felt a presence closing in on him, but he didn't know were. At one moment he swore it was the fog, but he knew that fog couldn't kill. Swallowing, he tried to think of something else, but it was proving to become more and more difficult.

Athos didn't believe in ghosts, but the dreary landscape told him otherwise. Even though he couldn't see all those innocent souls that perished, he felt them watching him. Some were probably trying to warn him of something. But warn him of what?

God obviously left Belka a long time ago, the fires of hell already scorching the Earth. There's was no telling how many of Belka's dead, had once lined this lonely road. But Osean troops would soon fall on this lonely road too.

Belka's lonely silence was incredible, not a sound. Athos began to take a breath and concentrate on conquering the road in front of him. Then, in horror, he watched a fellow trooper's head disintegrate. He hadn't even heard the crack of the rifle, but he dropped down on instinct.

Rattling gunfire soon turned to the silence into a roaring battle. Confused, scared, and horrified Athos found himself struggling to fire. He saw white tracers fly past him. Lead rain whizzed past Athos, with all their sickening hisses and pops. Dirt and asphalt kicked up all around him. In the thick of the hellish encounter, Athos looked to his left and right to find five dead soldiers, soldiers he trained with. But he didn't take time to mourn their passing. Sadness quickly turned to anger.

The next couple of moments were a complete blur. Athos' training had kicked in, reminding him that the phantoms on the hillside were actually, Belkan troops. Quickly assessing the situation around him, he fell back to a ditch on the opposite side of the road. Three other Osean soldiers were held up there, firing relentlessly on the enemy above them.

Taking no time to talk Athos immediately started searching for targets. But what he saw nearly overwhelmed him. Hundred of Belkan troops were stampeding down the hill, their gray and white camouflage uniforms emerging from the woods. Belka may have had the element of surprise, but Athos was determined to survive this ordeal.

Other Osean paratroopers managed to regroup in a rather large ditch opposite the hillside. They were clearly determined to live through this as well, blindly firing on any Belkans foolish enough to step into the road.

Athos was still busy firing on the hill, but he soon realized that there were plenty of targets in the street. He quickly shifted position and loosed a wild volley of bullets in the enemy's direction. Like pieces of paper, three soldiers crumpled to the ground. But immediately afterwards three more soldiers fired in his direction.

"SH!T!" Athos said as he dropped as low as he could behind the ditch.

"CAN'T YOU GUYS BACK ME UP? WHAT ARE YOU…"

All three soldiers were dead now, open holes in their heads. Reacting Athos got up and headed towards those last remaining Osean troops. Just by luck Athos looked behind him to find a Belkan soldier running towards him. Without aiming, Athos squeezed the trigger, taking no time to notice the three bullets enter the man's torso.

Making a dash to a single barn down the road, Athos hurled his body behind a frozen haystack.

"ATHOS! ITS GOOD TO SEE YA!" A voice called out.

Athos looked to his left to see a familiar face, his squad leader.

"YOU TOO SARGE! WE GOT ANY AIR SUPPORT!" Athos yelled back, reloading his M-4.

"THOUGHT YOU'D NEVER ASK! YEAH, OUR RADIOMAN HAS GOT TWO F-16s FIVE MINUTES AWAY!"

"WE HAVE FIVE MINUTES!" Athos returned.

"DON'T KNOW! BUT I AIN'T DYING 'TILL I USE UP THIS CLIP!" The sergeant replied turing around to fire.

Turning around the flimsy cover of the frozen haystack, Athos began shooting the enemy again. His mind eventually faded into autopilot. Without second thoughts, he squeezed the trigger at anyone that moved, hearing bullet after bullet hit its target. Athos was so drowned in the cacophony of gunfire, that he almost missed what his commander said.

"GET DOWN! HE'RE THEY COME!" The sergeant yelled.

"WHO'S COMING!" Athos asked.

"LOOK UP!"

Two low flying F-16s blazed by overhead. Their engines nearly shattered everyone's eardrums. Despite their blazing speed, Athos could still remember the ribbon logo on their tails. He even watched four grayish objects fall towards the hillside. Suddenly, the whole area lit up in a heap of flames.

"STAY DOWN! IT'S GONNA GET HOT!"

Athos watched helplessly as the flames of napalm engulfed the enemy around him. It looked like a sadistic circus of hell, as bodied burned and fell to their deaths. In seconds an enemy was devastated.

Sporadic gunshots and screams rang out. Osean troops were firing on the last retreating Belkan troops.

"YEAH, YOU BASTARD!" A soldier yelled out.

"F#K YOU!" Another yelled.

Soon the gunfire subsided, the dead silence covering the landscape. The only noise left was the crackling of fire from the napalm.

"Sh!t Athos. One hell'uva day." The sergeant said.

Athos could smell and taste the napalm in the air. The sight was absolutely horrible and hundreds of charred bodies littered the hillside. The trees Athos saw earlier were now burnt to the ground.

Looking around, Athos saw Osean troops on the ground holding their stomachs, arms, or legs while medics tended to them. Everything was bloody and death was all around Athos. He looked to the road and saw dead bodies, both Belkans and Oseans.

"I hate this Corporal." The sergeant stated.

"I do too, sir." Athos sadly replied.

"You ever wonder what it means to pray for peace and train for war?" He said looking around.

"Not before today." Athos replied.

"Well, now you know." The sergeant replied walking away.

That was all Athos needed to hear. It's meaning hit him like the cold. Alone, Athos finally understood what that adage meant. War's only gifts were death and destruction. Nothing good came of it, but at least Athos had survived. Sighing he began to walk, until he heard a familiar click.

"More will die." A ghostly voice whispered.

Athos found saw himself getting shot by a dying Belkan soldier. He tried to tell himself to run but his body didn't budge. Screaming, he watched his body helplessly crumble to the ground in a blood mess.

Suddenly, Athos found himself resting against a red barn, feeling warm breeze. His breathing was rapid and sweat was running down his neck. Surprised, he found his gun pointing at Addison.

"Don't shoot. I'm one of the good guys, Sarge." Andersen nearly yelled.

Athos shook his head, surprised that he was still alive, "Sorry, Corporal. Bad dream."

"What? A bunch of armed rabbits?" Andersen joked helping Athos to his feet.

Getting to his feet, Athos replied, "Nope. Much worse."

The bad dream was a haunting memory from Athos' past. But he learned an important lesson that day. Pray for peace, train for war. He repeated the adage over and over again, making sure his men would never experience a day such as the one he did in Belka.

Looking at the evening sun Athos repeated, "Pray for peace, train for war."