Part I: Death of a Nation

Chapter 1: The First Battle

The first days of winter had arrived early in Olaf's hometown. Not that he cared. The snow had never been a problem for him. In fact, he enjoyed the snow. He remembered back to his childhood, when he would have snowball fights with the rest of the neighborhood kids.

He wasn't a boy anymore though. He couldn't go out into a blizzard and have fun anymore. That was kid's stuff. He had to work, make money for the family.

The work was easy enough to find. The country couldn't waste any man power, not when they were at war. They needed men to repair vehicles, to ship supplies to the front lines.

But it wasn't his country that was doing the fighting. The Blue Moon Army had been decimated within days of the first strikes by Yellow Comet. It was Orange Star, gallantly blazing through the countryside to save a war-torn country.

At least, that's what the papers said.

The truth was that Orange Star couldn't care less about Blue Moon. They came to save it, but they weren't doing so out of kindness. They were doing it for land. If they had a purpose to move their army through, the line between the countries would slowly fade until Blue Moon became apart of Orange Star.

He pretended, at work and at school, to not care. He pretended to welcome these invaders. People who did speak out against Orange Star tended to vanish the next day. They were the brave ones.

Olaf was a coward. He had spoken out against the occupation before they had taken over everything. He had protested with those lost souls. But once they did take over, he cowered and didn't fight. He praised Orange Star and assimilated himself into it. He would not fight.

That was, until the Orange Star Army came knocking on his door.

He was sitting down for lunch with his family. His sister was playing the piano in the background, Mother preparing desert. Father was talking with Olaf and his brothers, discussing the news and work. A normal family.

The conversation and music abruptly ended when the door was slammed open. A cold wind filled the air, and Orange Star soldiers filled the modest little home.

One of them, dressed in an officer's uniform, spoke. "We're the Orange Star Army. We're here to gather a militia."

"For what? Is Yellow Comet here?" Father asked, shocked.

"Yes, they are a few miles from here. We're evacuating this town, and we're recruiting every able-bodied man to serve in Militia brigades. You." The officer pointed at Olaf.

"You can't take my boy away from me! I will fight!" Father shouted at the officer.

The officer stepped up to Father. He looked over, examining him. He signaled one of the soldiers to come to him.

"Stand up."

Father stood.

Faster than Olaf could blink, the soldier slammed the butt of his gun into Father's back, and he fell to the floor.

"We're taking the boy."

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Olaf looked back at his house as the soldiers escorted him to their trucks.

"What's going to happen to them?" He asked the officer.

"They will be fine. We're sending them to the work camps."

"You can't do this!"

The officer stopped. The soldiers stopped soon after.

The officer stepped close to Olaf, so close that he could feel his hot breath on his face. "Are you questioning me, boy?"

Olaf tried to back up, but it would be into the soldiers. The officer stared into his eyes, demanding the answer.

"Yes. I want to know why you are doing this."

The officer took a step back, then slapped Olaf with the back of his hand. The pain struck him like hot needles in his face. His nose started to bleed. He did not wipe his face.

The soldiers proceeded to take him to their vehicles. He saw in the back of one of the old trucks many other young men, just like himself. He recognized the faces.

He climbed in, and leaned against the loose wooden boards. The entire truck seemed as if it could fall apart at any second.

"So they got you too, Olaf." He heard a voice say just across from him.

It was Vlad, one of his friends from school. Vlad had lived just down the road from him.

Olaf acknowledged him with a nod. He kept looking back to his house, wondering if his family would be okay. There had been stories about what happened to those in the camps. He didn't know if they were true, but be worried nonetheless. He couldn't bear the thought of losing them.

"Don't worry Olaf. They should be okay. Orange Star isn't gonna do anything to us anymore. They're trying to assimilate us, not kill us. Just let it happen." Vlad said, trying to reassure him.

"Did they take your family?"

"I don't know. I was just walking down the street and they started shooting at me. I put my hands up and they brought me here."

The trucks began to move.

"Where are they taking us?" Olaf asked.

"Taking us to the base so they can give us guns. Then they're going to send us out into the battle."

"We aren't even going to be trained. We're just the meat shield. Send us out to die so they can move some of their own guys to take the yella headquarters." A man sitting next to Olaf said. He didn't recognize the man, but he could tell that he was a miner. He looked like he hadn't shaven in days, and his face was covered in dirt and soot.

Olaf nodded sullenly. The man put out his hand. "Name's Alek." Olaf shook his hand.

In the distance, Olaf could hear the gunshots and the sound of artillery fire. It was only then that the reality of the situation hit him.

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Only a couple hours later, Olaf arrived at the battlefield. He had been given a rifle, and was unaware how to use it. He had shot guns before, but this was a fully automatic rifle. The only person that seemed comfortable with these weapons was Alek. As they marched through the thick snow, he explained to those that didn't seem ready how to shoot.

As they marched on, the sound of artillery fire and gunshots got louder, and they could begin to hear the sounds of battle. Men screamed in pain. These new soldiers could only imagine what would happen when they got there.

Before long, the artillery fire became visible. Blasts of fire came from the forests unexpectedly. Before long, Olaf could see the line of new recruits thinning out.

A man near the front of the line stared straight forward, and Olaf saw the terror on his face. His eye twitched for a second. Another artillery shell landed, taking out more of the marching soldiers.

The man turned around and ran away from the fight. An Orange Star officer that marched with them pulled out a pistol and shot him. No one dared look back from that moment on.

The roar of the machine guns got louder and louder, the sounds became unbearable. Then the men started getting hit.

"Take cover!" A voice yelled. Everyone began hiding behind trees and rocks, getting their guns ready. Those who were too slow were ripped apart by the bullets.

The Orange Star officer had taken cover just a few yards away from Olaf. Olaf looked to the officer and saw him throw a grenade forward. The explosion seemed to shake the earth, and there were audible screams. The Yellow Comet Army was coming through.

"Fire at will!" The officer yelled.

Olaf grabbed his gun and aimed it towards the advancing soldiers. He shot, and a spray of fire came out of his gun. He lost control of it, and let go of the trigger. He looked towards the other soldiers, who did the same. But the inaccurate fire had done its damage. Enemy soldiers fell, marking the snow with red.

Olaf shot again, this time making sure to control his gun. He wasn't aiming at anything, just shooting in the general direction of the enemy. He couldn't bear the sight of the men being destroyed.

Alek ran up beside him, firing his rifle, one shot at a time. Each shot hit its mark.

"Aim the gun Olaf! Don't just shoot!" Alek yelled into his ear. But Olaf could only barely hear it.

He looked down the sight of the gun, and looked into the body of his enemy. He shot. The enemy was hit.

Alek nodded and ran off into the forest, taking more shots at the enemy. Again and again he hit them, not missing a single shot.

The officer signaled to Olaf. He pointed forward. They both ran forward, dodging death a million times with each step they took. They stopped a few yards later, and fired more shots at the enemy.

Olaf could notice that the Yellow Comet soldiers were no longer advancing forward. They were hiding behind the trees, just like he was, firing at the advancing Blue Moon troops.

But this was not the same. The Yellow Comet soldiers were better trained, firing back with more ferocity. They were making gains again, killing off the untrained militia forces. Olaf saw the Yellow Comet tanks crossing over the frozen river. They shot out the sides at the unprotected militia troops.

The advancing line of death kept coming through. It was getting closer to Olaf. So when he heard the shout of "Pull Back!" he did not hesitate to run. The Yellow Comet soldier began to pull out of hiding to chase down the militia.

But Alek was there. He ran through the forest, shooting them down one by one. Olaf would not wait idly while Alek took all the fire. He turned around and fired, trying his best to hit the enemy soldiers. He missed. But he hit many too.

The Orange Star officer kept trying to push forward, but he was alone. He threw a grenade just ahead of a Yellow Comet Tank. The tank exploded in a brilliant display of fire. The advancing soldiers were being shot down by the now emboldened militia forces. Alek began to turn back, and Olaf followed, continuing to shoot at the Yellow Comet Soldiers.

The enemy soon realized what was happening, and began to pull back, firing their parting shots. They were trying to get past the river, where their base was.

Alek ran forward, fast as he could, ignoring the enemy soldiers. He picked up something from his belt. It appeared to be a grenade. He pulled the pin out, and threw towards the river.

The explosion did not hit the enemy. They were not at the river yet. But the ice cracked, melted. The water was flowing beneath, and these soldiers were cut off. They kept going slowly through the snow, but the militia was faster. They had lived in this country for years, the weather was no problem for them.

The enemy tried desperately to march through the river, but it was no use. They were slowed down by the cold water, and could not move quickly enough to escape.

The militia shot down at the soldiers as they attempted to move through the river. The water soon ran red, and blood stained the snow. They could not hope to withstand the fury of Blue Moon.