My name Herald Silver I currently sweating through my light tan shirt in the third hour of physical training. A six-mile run ending with an obstacle course. It got the usually hops and ducks. But the running over when I finally get to that finish line and think on how I got myself into this mess.
My family situated in the Bronze Jungle Orderlands. My family cursed it seems with a forever sense of wanderlust as we must always travel the world landing in some nation for a few generations then moving on. I decided that the military was a good idea to help out my need to find new things. That was a mistake, my high athletic score and intellect got me squarely in the Sunbound Guardian training camp, their elite ground shock troops. They specialize in force recon, but really, we train for every grueling scenario to fight anyone and everyone.
I take deep breaths trying to calm my pumping heart as I count in sets of fours to breath in and out. My heart slowly calming down allowing the thundering drums in my ears to calm down.
"EHH! 'cough.." I give out a sudden cough as a water bottle shoved into my gut. A rough voice I have grown to both admire and hate over the past three months sounds in my ears. "Private Silver get off the finish line pad and move to the side! You overgrown cockroach taking up all the room! First place will still get you killed if you stand in the open! NOW DUCK AND COVER YOU WOULD BE GUARDIAN!" He finishes his words by nearly screeching like nails on a chalkboard.
My body moving on instinct I go into a nearby trench as fast as I can. As I go to get in I trip and fall head over ass into the trench. The Drill Instructor yells again. "Private Silver I give you a two for form and an eight for speediness. Now sound off." I coughing a lung up from the harsh impact but manage to get my words out. "Private Silver sounds off Drill Instructor."
Soon enough all my fellow guardians in training arrive by my side in the trenches. We all wondering what the next training for the day when the trench walls open up to reveal tactical vests, helmets, and our mark 24 assault rifle. We all quickly grab the gear to put it on as we realize it another live fire drill where a screw can get you killed. I load a magazine into the mark 24 as I finish donning the vest and quickly run through it three fire mode in my head. Single fire, Burst, and full-auto also nicknamed lead vomit as the mark 24 has a defect in the firing pin the entire military refuses to fix. On full auto is expels the entire 40 round mag in under three seconds. You shred whatever you're pointing the gun at but it also shreds the firing pin and makes it unusable.
As I fully situated, I peek over the trench line to try and get a grasp what we are going to be up against. My eyes quickly seeing a mockup of a Steelwork Dominion drone tank. A three-meter-tall spider robot with a main body built around a 90-millimeter cannon. The cannon snaps to my head and I duck right as it opens fire. The other side of the trench on the top side exploding.
"Who did we piss off?" I hear someone down the trench shouting as the drone tank start going through it shells suppressing the entire trench line. We all know what going to happen next. Battle doctrine of the Dominion is suppression with heavy ground weapons followed by aerial drone strikes to negate or remove cover.
I shout down the trench line. "Who got the leader stripes?" The Drill Instructors keep swapping who in charge during training exercises all you know is whoever go the red stripe on their vest is the one in charge. "You dumbass! Your vest on backwards!" Someone shouts back. I glance down only to see that indeed the configuration on the vest I looking is indeed the back half of it. I mutter some curse to anyone nearby and glance around to assess what we have.
Our squad has 12 members other than me. Eight got mark 24s, two got anti-tank recoilless rifles with three shells each, two got a missile launcher set up with anti-air capabilities and only 4 rockets. Though the pour guy that got stuck with the launcher struggling to put on the radar backpack for it.
During this time the damn tank drone been shelling up endlessly, dust and debris kicking up badly and I starting to have trouble making out people. I shout. "The two with the anti-tank go to opposite sides of the trench. Middle line prepares to blind fire a few rounds at the tank, keep it attention. Anti-tank on their blind fire get up and take out that drone. Anti-air prep that radar unit and get that launcher up the moment that tank down.
Everyone quickly spread out to get into position. "Middle line engage." I with three others put our rifles over the trench and fire a dozen rounds in the direction of the drone. The drone then shells our spot of the trench harder making the dust cloud so thick I can't see the soldier three feet away from me. But I see the thermal bloom of one of the recoilless rifles going off followed quickly by the noise metal makes when a high explosive around impacting it.
I shout out a new set of orders. "AA get that radar up and running now that drone about to probably be over our heads, engage at will. Everyone else sound off!" I hear the others starting to pat themselves down and then look at their hands to see if there any blood, if their is they check again to see where it coming from. After a few moments I hear 11 all clears. After that I hear. "Shit, medic! Carlson is down, shrapnel from the drone hit his arm."
I get a bit worried, it wouldn't be the first dead of this training. I call out. "If its critical call it and we end the exercise." After a few moments I hear back. "He good, shrapnel a flesh wound with only light bleeding. Though he got knocked out cold from something, probably some other shrapnel smack him in the head. Maybe this will fix his idea to ask officers out." A few chuckles escape from everyone at that.
Before I can say another word another thermal bloom as the launcher send off a missile. It soaring into the sky as 20 seconds later we hear a resounding boom. "Perimeter check, what does it look like?" I call out
"Clear east side." Clear west side." "Clear north side." "Clear south side." "Radar is clear." When the last clear been called we hear the siren of exercise over. Soon two vehicles arrive, one with proper medical staff that quickly rushes over to Carlson. The doc gives Carlson an injection that quickly wakes him up. Doc. "Private Carlson, can you hear me?"
Carlson. "Of course I can hear such a pretty voice. Hey since you saved my life mind if I buy you a drink after this?" This if followed by a thud as Carlson get 'accidently' dropped by Davern the soldier that gave Carlson his first aid. Davern sarcastically. "Oops sorry.." We all snigger a bit. Carlson is a five-foot muscle head with a need for dating female of much higher rank and taller woman than him. Davern the friendly giant of the group a nearly seven-foot-tall dark skinned mountain of a man with muscles bigger than a person head. They stopped letting up give Davern the heavy weapons after he decided attempting to duel wield recoilless rifles and firing them both together one on either shoulder was a good idea. For the record he did pull it off.
Drill Instructor. "Good work, now run back to the armory with all that gear and I better not see you walking, on the double. You too private Carlson if you can ask for a Captain's number you can run two kilometers." The Doc a Captain... something I can't read the nametag. The Doc injects Carlson with a cocktail of rapid healing agents and long-lasting adrenaline. Carlson groans and slowly start to get up. We all form up and start running as a formation back to the base.
As we are running back we all hear this noise. It like a tornado siren but warped low and then high pitch in unnatural ways. The Drill Instructor in the vehicle driving beside us stops and he gives us a single to hold. We all do and look around still in formation. All of us having a confused look.
Davern is the first to talk up and points off towards the center of the logistics area of the base. "What is that?"
We all look to see what looks like lightning arching around in a circle in midair. After a few moments that siren noise turns into a loud popping sound. The inner side of the circle we can see turns instantly dark like a void. A minute later as we are all standing in stunned silence we start to hear screams.