June 14th, 2552, 6:11 PM

Stew, bread, and dirt mixed water. I grew tired of it. We had the same meal every day and it was starting to make me sick. Steve, Max and I made our way to the upper part of the camp with our food, to what we called the 'balcony.' It was the area above the sleeping quarters and the edges dropped straight down. We sat down with out feet hanging out over the side.

"Yo!" Someone said, I looked around then noticed movement below us. I looked down at the guards below us they where staring back at us.
"What?" I asked, then I noticed the snow on them.
"You knocked snow down the back of my armor." Said the marine.
He started to shake his body to get rid of the snow between his armor and back. Bits and pieces of snow came out the back of his shirt under his armor and off his shoulders and other places of his body.
"Sorry." I said back. Steve and Dave apologized as well.
The marine turned back away from us and continued shaking, trying to get the snow out of his armor. The mechanized guard chuckled at the marine. We chuckled a bit too.

"Have any of you guys seen Andy?" Asked Steve, taking a bite of his stew. "Haven't seen him since our briefing." he added.
"No, I haven't seen him either." replied Dave.
I took a sip of my tea and set the cup down on my helmet that sat beside me.
"No, me neither." I added as I tore out a chunk of bread and tossed it into my mouth.

I chewed it up and swallowed. I froze as my stomach turned. Something was wrong with the bread, it tasted horrible, well worse then normal. I set my tray down and put my hand over my stomach.
"You okay?" Dave asked.
I sat there for a second. I leaned forward and puked.

I my eyes had closed when I did. I opened them to find the marine below covered in it. The marine was looking up and down his arms and at the ground that was covered in it too. Then he looked up at me.
"Oh shit!" the mechanized guard by him said and began laughing.
"You son of a bitch!" Yelled the marine. "I'll kill you!"
The marine threw his gun to the ground and bolted off for the stairs, piece of my barf flying off of him as he ran. He was coming for me. He came up the stairs sprinting, people stepping out of his way. He turned the corner and was soon sprinting straight at me. I stood up quickly and readied myself for a fight.

The marine did something unexpected. I had readied myself for him to spear me. He instead slid to the ground, going between my legs on the snow. He grabbed on to my legs and came to a stop behind me. Before I could react and turn around, he had taken me to the ground from behind by pulling my leg out and pressing forward with his body. I could tell he was well trained for hand-to-hand combat, but so was I.

He pinned me to the ground and put me into a choke hold, about all he could do seeing as the rest of my body was still in armor. I rolled over to my right side and got the that feeling of free fall. I had forgot we where right by a ledge. We hit the ground hard but it didn't end there. We where both on our feet quickly and he charged me again, still a bit covered in puke.
"Mother fucker!" he screamed.

He went for a punch but I dodged. A crowed soon gathered around to watch. The marine swung his leg at me with all his strength striking me in the side, but I didn't feel it much. I took the chance and punched the marine in his face. He stumbled back a bit, his body arced back and head turned to the right. He came to a stop and stood up straight and looked at me, blood came down from the corner of his mouth.

He started to charge me again. I got myself ready. Suddenly my bother jumped in and grabbed him, pulling him to a stop.
"Calm down." my brother said to the marine. The marine struggled to get free and get to me.
"Let go!" he yelled. The other guard stepped up and grabbed hold of him too.
"Okay, its time to end this mate." the guard said. "Cool down. It was an accident."
I stood there in the snowing looking at the man. My stomach turned a bit more and I almost puked again. The marine struggled a bit more to get free and then finally cooled down after a bit.
"Come on mate." the mechanized guard said to him. More guards came jogging up from the wall, each with six-inch bayonets in their hands.
"Lets go mate and get you cleaned up and forget about it." he said trying to keep him calm, the two guards then walked off for the top of the wall. The marine glancing at me as he and the other guard made their way up the wall stairs.

"Alright people, nothing to see here, move on." I could hear someone saying.
"You alright man?" someone behind me asked.
I turned around. It was Steve. I glanced at him a bit, then looked back at the marine as he made his way down the wall to the other end.
"Yeah..." I said. "Yeah, I'm fine."

A few hours later I went into the sleeping quarters for a minute to take and drop off my armor after playing a big game of war with Steve and Dave and put on my side clothing that had been given to us.

I exited the building and made my way to the bathrooms. I started to take a leak in one of the urinals that was installed into the side of the cave. I heard someone enter. I looked into a nearby mirror and saw it was the marine guard I had fought with. He looked over at me and stood there. I stopped peeing, even though I wasn't done. A stinging sensation built up on the tip of my penis from having to stop early. He started to walk up to me. I zipped up my pants and turned to meet him.

He stopped a bit in front of me and looked at me.
"Look." he started. "I'm sorry for what happened back there." he said surprisingly. "I jumped the gun a bit, even though it was an accident... And I wanted to say sorry before I left." He put his right hand out. I looked at his hand, a bit confused as to what he meant by 'before he left'.
"It was my fault." I replied.
"Maybe." he said. "Nonetheless I still acted immature." I shook his hand carefully, making sure that he wouldn't use the change to attack me. He soon quite and saluted me and turned and walked out.

I stood there a bit in disbelief of what had just happened, I hadn't expected it to. I turned to the urinal and started to finish going pe. When I was finished I zipped up my pants and headed to the sink on the opposite side of the cave and began to wash my hands. Another soldier walked in, one I didn't know. I didn't pay much attention to him until he walked over by another sink and took off his shirt.

He ducked his head into the sink as best he could to get his hair wet. He soon soaped up his hands and began putting it into his hair. I stood there and watched in shock. He looked over at me.
"What?" He said to me. "I don't have any showering time on my card. Next best thing." He finished.
"O-Okay." I said and turned away to finish washing my hands.
I was drying off my hands when alarms started going off. I then could hear D77 Pelicans flying overhead. I glanced at the other soldier who had looked up at me. He stared at me confused also. He began to put his shirt back on.

A guard stepped out from around the corner where the showers where.
"Hey!" He yelled at us. "I I told you that you couldn't cheap a shower!"
"What!" The guy barked back. "I don't know what your talking about."
"Yes you do, I told you yesterday!" He angered.
I focused them out and listened as the Pelicans took off again overhead. I started for the exit, leaving the others behind to fight as the alarms continued.
"Do you know what that alarms for! It's the asshole alarm and your here!" Yelled the man as I exited.

I made my way to Steve and Dave where at last but noticed them on the wall line ahead of me instead.
"What's going on?" I asked as I came in by them.
"I don't know!" Dave said back.
I went up to the wall edge and glanced out with everyone else. A convoy of four Warthogs with Heavy Machine Guns on the back and a Scorpion battle tank moved though the open and came to a stop a way out. Three transport Warthogs came into view and pulled up by the convoy. I watched as about fifty marines dashed out from around a small hill and mounted up in them. The convoy soon pulled off. I was so focused on watching what was happening that I didn't even notice the alarms had shut off. A marine in the last transport vehicle at the back of the convoy glanced back at the fort. I recognized his face, it was the soldier I had gotten into a fight with. He waved toward us. I waved back.
I watched until the convoy was out of sight and stepped back.

"What do you thinks going on?" Dave asked.
"Hell if I know." Steve said in return.
I stood there in thought for a second.
"We better go to sleep." I said, and looked at Steve and Dave. They looked at me strangely.
"Why?" Said Steve. "Something's going on, maybe we should stay up and find out what's happening."
"No." I answered back. "We better get some sleep while we can. If something going down then well be sent out on recon soon. We better sleep while we can."
"True." Dave replied.
We made our way down to the sleeping quarters and turned in. I put my armor on and laid down and tried to go to sleep. I listened as someone yelled out among the camp.
"You can't kick me out of the restroom cause I just left!"
I smiled a bit at it. I laid around in thought. It took me forty minutes before I finally crashed.

"Get up." Someone said, and I woke up with a jump. I was in a light sleep.
"Are you in the 15th Airborne?" A voice asked.
I looked over and saw a soldier in mechanized armor. I took it he was the guard.
"Yeah." I replied, still waking up a bit.
"15th Airborne has been called outside the main gate. You need to go." He told me.

I knew it. I knew we where going to be called on for something. I glanced to my left and right. Steve and Dave where still asleep.
"What time is it?" I asked the guard.
"Around eight-ten pm." he replied.
I had been asleep for about an hour.
"Dave, Steve!" I yelled. They awoke with a jump also.
"We've been called on. Lets go." I said and stood up.
The guard walked back off to the wall opening. I started to walk off too, Dave and Steve got up and followed.

It was still daylight. It was always daylight and would be for the next month or so, this land annoyed me.
"What's going on?" Dave asked me.
"I don't know yet. We've just been called out to the gate is all I know." I said.
We walked quickly though the snow to the gate. We walked out of the fort and out in the distance stood about two hundred men from the 15 Airborne. The nut job general was there also. We walked up and joined the rest of them.
"What's going on?" I asked the soldier in front of me. He turned and looked at me, it was the war-hawk.
"I don't know. I think where going somewhere." he said.
He sounded a bit scared rather than excited.

We waited around until all three hundred of us from the 15th Airborne where here.
"Form rows!" Yelled the general.
We formed into six rows of fifty men per row. Officers stood in the very front. The general stood up on a small snow mount. I looked to my left. D77 Dropships flew in and landed down the way, melting the snow around them do to the heat of the engines and thrusters. There where three of them.

People began whispering to each other. It got loud with so many people whispering.
"Shut up!" Yelled the general. "Do you hear it?"
It grew silent very quick. We all listened. I could hear a very faint rumble every few seconds...artillery. We all made it out.
"About four hours ago a marine company was sent out. We had come across some intel and found a weapons crate still in piece that was once used by the EWCU. After reconing the area we found a pocket of EWCU troops. The marine battalion was sent out to recon and then make contact with them. The EWCU troops attacked the marines instead. That faint artillery you hear is from a battle going on between our marines and the EWCU royal troop!" A soldier spoke up and interrupted the general.
"Why did they attack?" He asked. "They are our allies ain't they?"

The general glanced at the soldier, I feared for the trooper. The general shifted his body and stayed where he was.
"Yes they are... I believe." he replied. "It is unknown why the group attacked. They may be confused or something, we don't know yet."

I couldn't believe what was going on. I couldn't think of a reason as to why they would attack us.
"You guys." said the general and paused and looked over us.
He pointed out at us and started to move his hand among us.
"You." he said again and put his arm down and back behind his back with his other arm. "Most of you are being deployed to a small region where it is believed the enemy is moving to. You are going to observe any movement that comes by. Another group will be sent into reinforce the marines."
We sat there in disbelief that we where actually being deployed for battle.

"Commanders." said the general.
The COs of the 15th Airborne stepped up to the general. They talked over things, I couldn't here. I heard someone whimpering. I looked to my right, it was the war-hawk. He was crying a bit and his legs where shaking. Shaking just like the soldier who got yelled at by the general when we first dropped in. I was looking at the real him. I felt bad for the man for some reason. I looked back at the COs and the general.

The COs snapped to attention and saluted to the general and turned to us. Our commander stepped forth.
"Fifth squad! Mount up on the far left Pelican now!" He yelled.
I looked at Steve and Dave.
"Where going to fight aren't we." said Steve. I stayed silent.
We made our way to the far left Pelican and got in with the others from our squad. A guy came up to the Pelican dragging a rope tied to a large piece of wood. On the plank of wood where guns. Another guy came into sight dragging a plank off wood that had ammo on it and held a helmet in his other hand.

The mechanized soldier who dragged up the guns pulled out a piece of paper read it. He called out a name and handed that person a gun, the same kind of gun we had been issued. The other man gave ammo to the person as well. He also pulled out a M9 Frag Grenade from the helmet and handed a belt as well. Soon we all had our guns and ammo and where loading them and readying for combat. The soldiers ran off as the alarms flared off again.

"What, no more vehicles or something." I said aloud.
"Yeah, bringing the things in on planks of wood makes us look bad." Someone else said.

I ended up sitting between two grunts. I looked at the one on my right, the man in his red mechanized armor and found myself wondered if he was going to die in the time coming. Steve sat across from me and Dave sat beside him. I leaned out and peaked out the back. I saw our CO making his way to the dropship. He soon mounted up.

He stood at the back for a second.
"Alright boys..." He started and paused. "Are we ready!"
"Boyeah!" We all said and started hitting the floor with the butts of our guns, just like during drill practices during training. Our CO walked up to the dropships cockpit door.
"Lets go!" He yelled inside.
We all quit hitting the floor with our guns. The dropship flared up even more as the dropship lifted off the ground and began to fly out into the open skies.