Disclaimer: Mass Effect does not belong to me. It belongs to it's respective owner, namely Bioware.
Chemin des Dames, France, Europe, Earth, Sol System, Unknown Cluster, Milky Way Galaxy.
16 April, 1917 CE.
Sheltering within the bunker, as their positions were being battered by the relentless onslaught of French artillery shells, Infanterist Johannes Kollmann looked around, seeing the faces of his kameraden, who were either trying their utmost to keep their spirits up.
As the dust fell down from the roof over their heads and onto their uniforms each time a shell shook the ground around it after impact, Johannes took care to ensure that his Gewehr 98 rifle was free of dust that could foul up his weapon by covering it with his zeltbahn.
Apart from the sounds of French artillery, and the rattling caused by the tremors, the only sounds within the bunker were the sounds of boots as men went to and from places all around the bunker, men coughing and fidgeting as they awaited the order to get into firing positions once the barrage let up. Evidently, this barrage was going to be followed up by a major attack by the French.
Even though today was not his first battle (Johannes had his first 'baptism of fire' at the Upper Alsace, once joining the Kgl. Bayerisches 3. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Karl von Bayern, Kgl. Bayerische 21. Infanterie-Brigade, 11. Bayerische Infanterie-Division), Johannes could not help but wince and close his eyes shut every time a shell landed very close to the bunker, seemingly thinking that the next shell after that might be the last he'd ever hear in his life.
However, he was annoyed, at how the veterans, despite being somewhat his age, all seemed to be apathetic to the barrage, and somewhat envied at how they seemed to be stoic to all the chaos that seemed to be around them.
Johannes soon felt something around his boots, and took a glance at it, only to quickly scramble for something. Immediately, he grabbed a small rock and chucked it right at the rat by his right boot, and yelled, "Beat it!", causing it to run off.
Laughter erupted within the bunker at this, and Johannes felt embarrassed at this, as the veterans were laughing the hardest.
One of them said, "Hey, Kollmann, want me to get you a pet rat? Just in case you miss your home and wet your bunk!", before laughing in an uproar.
Turning red at this, the young Bavarian was sparred from further embarrassment when one of the few friends that he had, Infanterist Ernest Gernhardt, just said simply, "Ignore them, Johannes. A rat's not really worth getting angry over. Save that for the Poliu".
Sighing in frustration, all he could say was, "Yeah, I know, I know, Ernest. It's just that, despite the fact that I wear the same uniform as them, they don't consider me one of them".
At that, Ernest turned to look at Johannes seriously and say, "It takes a while, before we're considered 'one of them'. Just survive a while longer here, and you might get your wish, but you know what they say, be careful what you wish for, Johannes".
With that conversation over, Johannes decided to get out a letter he had received from father, back home at Kitzingen, in Bavaria, which was quite surprising, as he rarely got letters from his father, who was often busy at work in a munitions factory, making artillery shells for the Army.
My dearest Johannes,
Even though I am proud for you, joining the fight for the Fatherland, I cannot help but feel a pang of loneliness even within the house that me, Constanze and you grew up in. Your mother's illness is getting worse and worse, and even though she is getting treatments, I feel that she will not get past the end of this year. The doctors are saying that treatments are not as plentiful as they used to be.
But enough of that. Your mother still lives for the moment, and all I can do, is pray. For her, and for you. I can only hope that it'll be enough.
Stay safe, Johannes.
-Your father, Helmuth Kollmann.
Even though Johannes frowned at how short the letter seemed, he reasoned that there was probably a lot that his father wanted to say to him, but just couldn't find the words to write it down.
However, Johannes sighed in frustration upon reading about his mother, somehow knowing that Constanze Kollmann was living on borrowed time, not at all helped by the conditions back home. He had seen it the last time he was on leave.
Even though rationing was in place, the blockade by the British was causing essential foodstuffs to be so scarce, that ersatz products like Kriegsbrot were being consumed. People were now starting to suffer from malnutrition. Whispers were being spread of looting and riots.
Shaking himself from those thoughts, Johannes instead tried to think of simpler times, before the war, and before he joined the Army, when suddenly, his mind took notice at, that, the shellfire had stopped.
Their Zugführer, Oberleutnant Albert Teschner (a veteran of the Romanian Campaign), soon called for everyone to get into their firing positions.
There seemed to be a orderly rush for everyone to get out of the bunker. Johannes got his rifle out, into his hands and began moving, until suddenly, someone bumped right into him and made him fall down.
Feldwebel Paul Knoth, was within the vicinity and shouted to Johannes, "Get up, Kollmann! Or I'll have you volunteering for wiring whenever possible!"
At that, Johannes immediately got himself back up and rushing to not get further noticed by Knoth or endure more of his wraith.
Eventually, he reached the outside world and got the taste of the aftermath of the French onslaught, the smell of freshly displaced earth in the air, courtesy of shellfire.
And soon, things were a haze as Johannes rushed to his firing position, rested his weapon upon sandbags and laid down into a comfortable firing position.
Squinting his right eye as he used the iron sights of his Gewehr to aim, Johannes saw them. The French, with their steel helmets and their Lebels, coming up towards the plateau.
Immediately, the MG08s in the concrete bunkers started opening fire, and soon, Johannes took aim at one of the Poliu, and pulled the trigger. He immediately went down face first, and after that, Johannes went to find his next target.
As the men of 11. Bayerische Infanterie-Division defended their positions against the French onslaught, Johannes was aiming, pulling the trigger, working the bolt of his rifle, then aiming and firing, men falling down every time he pulled down the trigger. It seemed to go on forever, so much so, that he lost track of time.
But then, the whistle of a shell was heard, and immediately, someone right next to him shouted, "TAKE COVER!"
Seconds later, the whistling got louder and louder, and Johannes knew that it was coming close to his position, and immediately he scrambled, jumping off his firing position, hitting the bottom of the trench and scrambling as far away as he could, when suddenly, there was an explosion right behind him, causing debris and smoke to batter and engulf him.
Road leading out South of Bullecourt, France, Europe, Earth, Sol System, Unknown Cluster, Milky Way Galaxy.
17th May, 1917 CE.
Corporal Kenneth Standing rubbed his hand over his shaved chin, to get rid of the slight itching irritation that was present, due to the rubber strap that held his slouch hat to his head.
The battle for Bullecourt was over, much of the German trench system around Bullecourt and Riencourt-lès-Cagnicourt was now their possession (with only Hendecourt still in the hands of the Germans) and the men of the 57th (Victoria) Battalion, 15th Brigade, 5th Division, I ANZAC Corps were now withdrawing, having been engaged in the fighting ever since the 5th Division had been called in on the 7th of May and relieving the 1st Division, fending off German attacks, the last one being two days ago.
Now, the British were the ones relieving them, allowing them to withdraw via the road that led to the village of Noreuil, where on the way, they'd get onto buses to some earned rest and recuperation.
Kenneth did not know how long they had been walking, passing Tommies who were on their way to Bullecourt, and passing dug-in 18-pounders, and 4.5-inch howitzers, but soon, everyone was looking pretty exhausted and the section leader, Sergeant Percy Sanders said to the whole section,
"Alright, everyone, time for a smoko".
He could hear sighs of relief, as everyone sat themselves down on the road.
Sitting himself down, and resting his SMLE Mark III* comfortably (after unslinging it from his right shoulder to allow himself to sit down), Kenneth's woollen gloved hands got out a cigarette and put it to his lips.
Then he got himself a match from a small matchbox (he had a lighter once, at Gallipoli, but was constantly unreliable, much to his annoyance, and due to the stress of being under constant Turkish sniper fire, the cramped confines of the trenches and the flies that seemed to take too much of a liking to him, caused him to chuck his lighter across no man's land after frustratingly trying to get the blasted thing working) that Kenneth had in his battledress, lit it after a few unsuccessful tries, and brought it up to his cigarette, habitually covering the light emitting from the end of his cigarette.
Ordinarily, Kenneth would never have smoked, but after joining the 5th Battalion, wanting to get away from the seemingly boring country life in his home town at Swan Hill, Victoria and thinking that this war would be one great adventure, everything changed at Gallipoli.
The naive, 'country boy' (as everyone within the platoon had called him), had disappeared, his romantic view on the 'great adventure, fighting for the Empire against the barbaric Hun', replaced with the reality of war, which was close to Hell on Earth as anyone could ever get in their life time.
But then, Kenneth started missing the trenches of Gallipoli, compared to the trenches of Western Europe, as Kenneth found out after transferring to the new 57th Battalion as a newly promoted Lance Corporal, then training in Egypt, before landing at Marseilles in France, and seeing action at Fromelles (where he had lost a couple of friends in the 'worst 24 hours in Australia's history'), the Somme (where he was promoted to Corporal), the advance on the Hindenburg Line and finally, at Arras.
His musing was then interrupted by Lance Corporal Leslie Hewson, his friend from Ballarat who had been at his side in the trenches at Gallipoli since May 1916, who got out a cigarette, checked his pockets and swore under his breath before asking,
"Hey, Kenno, got a light? I must have left my matches behind. Damn Tommies are gonna have their dirty little fingers all over my matches, I just know it…."
Rolling his eyes, Kenneth got another match and lit it, as Leslie leaned in closer to allow Kenneth to lit the cigarette in his mouth.
As the end of his cigarette glowed, Leslie smiled, "Much appreciated, cobber".
As the two friends took their smokes, Kenneth observed the British troops moving towards Bullecourt, before Sergeant Sanders then shouted that smoko was over, and immediately, everyone knew it was time to move up and head back to a rear area where they'd get transport to go on leave.
Getting up, Kenneth then slung his rifle sling across his right shoulder and walked amongst his brothers-in-arms in the 57th towards the rear holding area.
All while this was happening, Kenneth looked at the Tommies marching towards Bullecourt, to his right, and muttered, "Into the frying pan, they go".
Sister's Solitude, outside Ship Dock AI184, Nossia, Ialessa System, Athena Nebula, Milky Way Galaxy.
18th May, 1917 CE.
Lieutenant Trileena Navuris was sitting on a stool by the bar, holding a glass of Elasa, watching her sisters in arms as they did what they did whenever they were on leave.
Slowly sipping her drink, Trileena had been asked by her friend, Keilgara, if she wanted to join her at a drinking contest she was having, with some Huntresses from Mytheedia's Sisters, a lone Salarian Lieutenant, a group of Turians and a bunch of Batarians.
But Trileena had declined, as she had much on her mind after their mission to Cyone. And was content on sitting to the side and letting them enjoy themselves.
After all, the bar chose the right name, Sister's Solitude, remarked Trileena.
After seeing that Keilgara was now up against a Batarian (after having outdrunk the Salarian, all the Huntresses and 1 Turian), Trileena looked around the establishment, and saw that Chethra was at a table, talking to a Volus.
Marsselia, meanwhile, was nowhere to be seen, even though she had been with Trileena, Keilgara and Chethra when they entered the establishment.
Major Thanoptis, Captain T'Soni and Senior Huntress Vasir were not present, of course. They had been about to go and do whatever they did whenever they went on leave, but they had been called to the Asari cruiser, Serrice's Guardian, for something important.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't my favourite Huntress".
Trileena's eyes widened at that voice.
Turing around, she could see Kalot Prax, a Krogan battlemaster whom Trileena had first met, about 19 years ago, on the planet of Wrill.
The 147th had been on a mission about to go behind Rachni lines, until their shuttle was shot down and crashed itself upside down amongst the blazing heat and toxic methane-ethane atmosphere. Several onboard, including the pilots, had died from various causes. Asphyxia from exposure to the atmosphere via compromised helmets, broken necks, bleeding out, impaled by shrapnel, you name it.
Anyway, there had been around 9 survivors, Trileena included, and when the Rachni investigated the crash site, Trileena, Keilgara and an Huntress named Tyssarida, defended the shuttle, from wave after wave of Rachni. Tyssarida had been killed after a Rachni used it's whip to slash her neck, just as her weapon overheated and she was about to unleash 'Throw'. After that, their weapons started malfunctioning, and soon, Trileena and Keilgara started using biotics. And when they overextended themselves, they were about to resort to just using their fists (they were that desperate), when a group of Krogan, Vorcha and Varren reached them and cut down the Rachni fast approaching them.
Keilgara had collapsed from exhaustion, and soon, Trileena had to work with one Krogan named Kalot Prax, the two of them fending off Rachni until reinforcements arrived.
This was to be the start of a strong friendship between Trileena and Prax, even though the last time she met Prax, was 3 years ago.
Trileena was ecstatic as she extended her hand and smiled, "Prax! Great to see you!"
The ageing, scarred battlemaster grinned and grasped her hand, "You too, Tree".
Afterwards, Trileena asked Prax on how was he, and all he said was, "Oh, just on leave before I head out tomorrow. I saw you entering this establishment, and I reckoned that I pay you a visit. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
Even though Trileena had wanted a bit of time for herself when she entered Sister's Solitude, she wanted to catch up with her friend in the time that she had, so she shook her head and said, "No, not at all. I was just on my lonesome, while my sisters-in-arms do their thing whilst on leave, until you came along", and thus, she beckoned her Krogan friend, "Come, get a drink".
As Prax approached the bar, the bartender easily noticed the Krogan, not that hard since Prax had a black, spiked crest, as well as spikes on his chin, and his scars extended from his throat, right side of his face, mouth and crest, which made him stand out in a crowd.
The bartender asked dryly,
"Oh, let me guess. Ryncol, right?"
A pause and "Armali Juice".
The bartender laughed outrageously for a few seconds, but upon seeing that Prax was serious, immediately changed her tune and set off to get some Armali Juice.
At this exchange, Trileena snickered at Prax, and asked, "Still drinking Armali Juice?"
"Yeah, you know me, Tree. Armali Juice may not be ryncol, but it's sharp. Just the way I like it".
Moments later, the bartender came back with Prax's order "Here, one Armali Juice, as you ordered", before turning her attention to Trileena, "You want a second round of Elasa?"
Trileena took note of her glass of Elasa, which was now bone dry (something Trileena hadn't realised until now), and nodded her head to the bartender, who got a bottle and filled the glass up.
And now, with a full glass of Elasa, Trileena was then asked by Prax "So, you on leave as well, Tree?"
"Yeah. Just came from Cyone. We're here for 5 days, before we leave for Canrum".
The krogan paused, "Huh, that's where I'm going as well. Turians apparently need Krogan reinforcements, and yeah, well, I'm it".
A raised eyebrow and, she asked "What, you, by your handsome lonesome, Prax?", before indicating to Prax's scars on his face and crest.
Gruffly, the old Krogan battlemaster laughed, "Ha! I wish. Nah, it'll be the 6th Legion going as well as me. Anyways, point is, we'll probably clean the bugs up long before you arrive. Save you a lot of trouble".
Trileena smirked, "Nah, we'll be rushing in to save you from trouble before you know it, old man".
Chuckling, the Krogan then held his glass up, "Well, then. To saving this old man from trouble from a bunch of bugs".
Smiling, Trileena said simply, "Yep", before the two of them clinked their glasses together.
Then the two of them drank their drinks in silence afterwards.
I had been working on a segment that would have been set at the Battle of Polygon Wood, from Kenneth Standing's perspective. But I kept getting stuck and it wasn't working, so I instead changed the setting to the end of the Battle of Arras, which I admit, worked better.
In case anyone is wondering, the segment depicting Infanterist Johannes Kollmann of the 11th Bavarian Infantry Division, is set during the Second Battle of the Aisne, the main part of the Nivelle Offensive, which was a Franco-British attempt (of which the Battle of Arras was also a part of) to inflict a decisive defeat on the German Army, but however, the preceding artillery bombardment alerted the Germans and failed to destroy German defensive positions, which were a network of deep shelters in old underground stone quarries below the Chemin des Dames ridge, so when the French infantry (and colonial Senegalese troops) made their assault, the German machine gunners let rip, inflicting many French casualties, up to 40,000 on the first day alone.
Despite some initial successes at Champagne and taking 29,000 prisoners, the offensive's failure to achieve a strategic defeat on the German Army, resulted in multiple French Army mutinies, which were stopped when General Philippe Pétain took command and replaced General Robert Nivelle as Commander in Chief of the French armies on the Western Front, improved conditions for the troops (better food, more pay and more leave) and promised no suicidal attacks (only conducting limited offensives that were to wear the German Army down while conserving French infantry, as Pétain waited for the Renault FT tank to be produced in larger numbers, as well as waiting for the Americans).
Wiring duty was basically replacing barbed wire and placing barbed wire obstacles in No Man's Land, which had to be done at night, making it potentially hazardous, especially since minimal noise while working was required.
Poliu is a term used to refer to the French infantryman of World War One. It meant, literally, hairy one, as they often wore beards and moustaches.
For those not familiar with Australian (and New Zealander) slang, a Smoko is an informal, cigarette break (even though it could also mean a rest or a coffee/tea break, as well as a mid-morning break, between breakfast and lunch, to eat a light meal) which originated firstly with the British Merchant Navy in the 1860s, but for the Australians, originated with the sheep shearers of the 1860s.
And Cobber is basically an Australian and an New Zealander word for 'mate' and 'friend'.
The segment set at the Sister's Solitude establishment, actually, was not planned initially and Trileena was not to make an appearance yet for some time, but I instead decided to have a segment focusing on Trileena on her off-time in between fighting the Rachni with the 147th Huntress Unit, as so to expand her character a bit more.
Don't forget to leave a review whenever you can, and see you next time!
Update (7/5/17): Had to delete this chapter, which I posted originally on the 5th of May, and repost it due to a glitch that's happening all across the site. Apparently, chapters are being updated, but no one gets any alerts via email. Oh and the only way to know that someone's updated, is the number of chapters, which isn't really the best way to know if someone has updated. I know, it sucks, but that's apparently the way it is, until someone fixes it.
Update (11/6/17): Added a physical description of Prax.
Update (29/6/17): Changed the month of the update previous to this one. Also, this chapter, which was originally chapter 4, I had plans for a segment focused on a battlefront against the Rachni, with three segments focused on Earth, but I reckoned that this chapter worked better, standing on it's own as a more relaxed chapter, focused on the interlude in between battles.
Then came the suggestion on the 29th, that I merge some of the prologue chapters, so I took a look at the original Chapter 3, which was just consisted of Infanterist Johannes Kollmann's participation during the Second Battle of the Aisne, and I realised that it worked well, to merge that with the original chapter 4, as an opening segment.
Also, did a restructuring of the chapter, trying to make the paragraphs not all bunched up.
Special thanks to Apollonir for pointing all of this out!
Update (3/7/17): Changed Chimes des Dames to it's proper name, Chemin des Dames. Whoops!
