Chapter 1: You'll be home before the leaves have fallen from the trees

I watched as the army returned from the war. I was a simple child then. Humanity had won the war yet the men who came back looked broken. Some had no arms, some had no eyes, others looked depressed. Many seemed like they had seen unspeakable horrors. These men were different from all the other human soldiers. All Terran soldiers came back victorious happily, they bragged and told tales of how they had shattered the Drakos Empire. These men were broken. I was confused. Never before have I seen a Terran so low. They had won, we had won.

Why did these specific Terrans look... depressed. My mother whispered to my father. "They must have come from Platea." My father's face went white. Whispers echoed among the crowd who had come to see the human soldiers. I asked father "what is so terrible about Platea" He responded, his face still white. "They spent 33 years under the sun" He then took me and mother home. I never understood what he meant until I was much older.

34 years earlier. Earth.

"It is war!" shouted our principal. "Those damn lizards couldn't keep their hands off another planet and invaded the innocent Sarlacks! gather around me students." I watched as my friends Henry, Phillip, Hans, and my French friend Raphael gathered around along with the thousands of other students in the auditorium. "You are all of age. Some of you have Sarlack friends. Are we gonna let Drakos invade them?" The principal yelled. "No!" We all responded. "The President of our proud nation the USA has called for the UN to do something about this, and they have. This is your chance to prove your worth. All males from 16 to 45 are allowed to join this campaign of liberation and freedom. So, what are you waiting for! Go on, my sons fight for what is right! For the president! For Humanity! For Freedom!" He yelled. We Yelled back his cry. it had happened all of a sudden. We were at war.

"Common, let's get a beer and drink like there is no tomorrow" said Hans excitedly. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea, you up for it guys" I chirped in. "Hell ya." Said the others. School had been canceled earlier because of the news of the war we had gotten into. "What do you think these lizard men look like?" Asked Rapheal as he struggled a little in pronouncing what he was saying in proper English. " Maybe like the lizard men from DND. You know I'm sure you've seen some art of them in the D&D manuals" Responded Henry. "Yes, I have but they are aliens, so I doubt they'll look like their stereotypical lizard people." I say. "I wonder if their women are hot." Said Phillip. He looked like he had spent much time thinking of this. "You want to shag a lizard?" Said Rapheal in much disgust and amusement. "Of course not!" Said Phillip. "I was just wondering".

We continue to chat. Most of it was banter until Hans brought up something "Rapheal what's going to happen to Sarah. You've been dating her since 10th grade and now we are going off to the recruitment center. You think she'll be ok with this." Rapheal seems to stop and go into deep thought. I elbow Hans Lighty. "You had to bring it up. You really wanna worry him? We were having such a good time you should have brought that up much later." I said annoyed. " Lay off Hans. It is a valid concern." Henry said. Rapheal seemed to still be in much thought about what Hans had asked him which put us in a sour mood. "Don't think too much about this man. We'll get through in one piece like we always have." Said Phillip trying to make Raphael not think too deeply about it. " I guess you're right" sighs Raphael. "You know the bar is just around the corner, want to" I say, "Yes why not" says Raphael. "That's the spirit now let's get wasted" says Henry eagerly. We walked off to the bar to get wasted.

Drakos land.

Me and my parents walked to center square. The tall Trees with their burrows and tree houses surrounded us and the crowd. The emperor himself stood on the balcony of the Royal palace. "My citizens, I have grave news." He said his voice booming. I saw my two friends Narthon and Tanmol among those in the crowd. "The foolish Terran have declared war on our mighty empire for our justified invasion of the Sarlacks. Knowing this we will destroy every single Terran. Every man 14 to 80 steps up. I had no choice but to step up. My dad and my friends followed suit. Around four fifths of the crowd had stepped forward. "You are all now soldiers of our proud empire. You will be home before the leaves have fallen from the trees; I promise you that." Said the emperor proudly. Something about his voice and him saying this was reassuring.

Hovercraft and trains full of uniforms and gear rolled up. I along with my friends and dad were tossed uniforms, a backpack with proper supplies and food, and our guns. A man I assume was a general inspected each of us. He walked to my dad. "You look like a good fit from the space fleet." He then turned to me "Hmm. You'll do fine in the army boy" he said, his scales turning a bluish color. "Can't I go with my father?" I ask tugging on my father's arm. "No. we all have special purposes. You should be happy you'll get to kill your first human most likely" Saif the general handed me a knife "This is a fire knife. I can cut through steel like butter. It's yours"Said the general sweetly. "Now do your duty for the emperor and make him proud." I looked up at the general as he said this. My Father shot me a "don't worry I'll be ok" look. Trusting him I boarded the nearby hover train along with several others. I saw my father board a different one. That was the last time I saw my father.

Earth.

I woke up. I felt awful. Me and my friends had had a night of hard drinking before we had gone our separate ways. I grabbed my phone and shot my friends a quick text asking when we should meet at the recruitment center. Henry texted me back that he and Hans were already there and were waiting for the rest of us. I grabbed my coat and got on my clothes fast. I looked out the window and could see snow. I knew those lizard men wouldn't last a winter here. I said goodbye to my parents without telling me where I was going. They would have disproved. By the time I had gotten to the recruitment center everyone, but Rapheal was there. "Where's Raphael?" I asked. "Probably discussing with his girlfriend if he should join us in volunteering for the war." Responded Phillip. "Let's hope it doesn't take long, we can't wait in the cold forever." Hans said.

5 minutes later we saw Raphael stumbling towards us trying not to get knee deep in snow. "What did she say?" I asked. "We talked and she's ok with me going as long as I make it in one piece. Which I will of course" He bragged. "Good to hear buddy. Those lizard men have nothing on us humans." Said Henry. "He's right. I bet they haven't seen a single race that has the stubbornness we do. They'll be scattering once we enter the fray" I said confidently. "Correct as always," Joked Hans. "Now which branch of our military should we join. "Army we all said in unison. "Ok whoever kills the first lizard man gets 500 dollars" says Phillip. "Game on" I say.

We enter the recruitment center eager for our first taste of glory. Those lizards will never be able to face Humanities, I thought. This will be our chance to prove ourselves and show what humanity is made of. We would make our families and humanity proud.

Chapter 2: The humans inferno 

Drakos empire war council.

The Terran declaration of war had been unexpected but the war council of Drakos imperium had already had a plan in case the humans were bold enough to declare war on the empire. "So are we to stick with our original plan for the Terrans or are we to switch up our strategy" asked General Valarium. "Plan stays the same. Platea will be the main target of our offensive against the humans though we will have to divide more resources to counter the human offensives in our sector." Responded to the Command Claw, the commander in chief of the Drakos army and space fleet. "Still if we are to attack Platea it will be a risky gamble." Said one of the generals. "Well, that is where our space fleet comes in. The humans have relatively been copying the ship designs of those used by the Galactic council. We have learned how to properly deal with the council ships." said Claw in a confident manner. "What about numbers. Humans mate like Snarconics they most definitely start to outnumber us if the war drags on." Said Valaruim. "Which is why we will crush them swiftly and fast and if we don't, we double down on Platea. "We shall bleed the humans to death on that planet whether we succeed or not." Said claw as her scales turned red. "But that's the worst-case scenario, the planet shall be captured swiftly. If Platea falls the gateway to the Terran home system is open." She continued. "It is also a relatively historic site. That is the first planet outside their solar system they colonized and was where the current Terran president was born." Her generals listened intently. Then General Ractong spoke up. "What about the many forts on the planet and how will we hide our attack on it." He asked. "Quite easy. We launched small offensives onto Terran planets directly boarding our side of space. These attacks will also stretch human manpower thin." She spoke with renewed confidence. "Terrans may have a president but are currently still divided among their stub groups they call countries. This may end up being easier depending how disunited Terra is." The other generals nod in agreement. "What shall the date of this offensive be?" asked one of the generals. "Oh, it shall be the 11th day of the turtles passing in the year 4356 or February 21st, 2069, in human time." She said calmly. The council then disbanded to organize the army for this grand offensive.

Platea. 12th of February. 2069

To my disappointment I had been separated from most of my friends. We hadn't gotten to see any glory yet and had been left on this quiet planet named Platea. I could see Fort Lincoln in the distance. It was certainly an impressive sight. It was humanity's largest and strongest fort and being stationed within eyesight of it was quite an honor. Based on what I knew Hans and Rapheal were stationed in Fort Petain. Probably it was an honor for Rapheal to be stationed in a fort named after a national hero of his country. Henry was in an area called the fish hook. The fishhook was a forest that was shaped like a fishhook. It was a relatively nice forest. Alien plants had always been fascinating. Some of the trees in that forest glowed a purple color in the dark. One thing I hate about this planet is the overly complicated trench and defense systems we have. The trench lines are a maze, and it took me 4 hours to get to my post. One thing that unnerved me a lot was the lack of manpower we had on the planet. I expected this place to be packed with soldiers, but it really wasn't. It wasn't common for me to run into an empty Anti-ship battery or a machine gun bunker. Humanities strongest fort only had 6,000 men manning it not the required 20,000 based on what I remember from history class. The food was good at least. We ate like kings. The trenches were also surprisingly clean and weren't what you'd expect from your typical trench. 5 days ago, general Ney had gone to inspect the planet. He didn't seem pleased. Maybe it was because we hadn't been working on the defenses or lack of manpower on the planet. There was heavy fighting on the Ege of humanities area of control. We had made some progress I had read on the news, though I had been upset and my friends hadn't been there to teach those lizards a lesson. "Hey, I got us some rations and some cake" said Phillip, appearing out of one of the tunnels that lead to me and my crew's battery. "Oh thanks" I said as I grabbed a ration and the slice of cake. "Hey what do you miss now that we are at war." I asked him. "I miss women. It sucks trying to get a date with one of the female soldiers" Whines Phillip. "I miss having a bed all to myself. It sucks sleeping in a trench or in one of the beds in the barracks since there is always a guy above you or below you. "I get it too man." said Phillip. "Hey Wallace?" said Phillip. " What?" I asked. "How long do you think this war will last. I know we haven't seen any action, but I hope the war last long enough for us to see some action at least." He said tired. "Hey, I bet we'll get to see enough action for us to come back to earth as hero's." I said reassuringly. "You think one of us might die." He asked worried. "No of course not do you see where we are. I doubt those lizards will even get close to where we are." I say optimistic. "Yea I guess you're right about that." Phillip said. "Who knows maybe this whole thing will last just a year or 2 and we'll be home by next Christmas." Said Phillip joking.

Platea. February 21st. 2069 or 4356 Drakos time.

I saw as our proud fleet sailed near the planet. I like our uniforms. I was a regular soldier, so I got a standard green uniform with a leather cap and Plasma ammo belt along with 5 plasma grenades. Me and the other watched and cheered as our fleet began to pummel the planet. The planet's shields shattered and laser after laser hit the planet. The Drumroll started today. It must have been heard from 100 lightyears away due to how powerful it was. 1 billion Laser and plasma beams hit the planet, yet those damn human forts were standing strong. Though by this point the battle has begun so there's no turning back. I saw our Shock troops and the Nargansent move into the landing pods. Their heavy Sargant plated armor and Sargant helmets shined as they entered the pods and were dropped down. After waiting what felt like centuries me and my battalion were signaled to enter into our landing vessel to be shipped down the landing zone. I entered our landing vessel and after some time my battalion was all loaded onto the vessel, and it began to fly down to the planet's surface. The trip to the planet's surface was quicker than expected and it seemed like most human anti-ship batteries had been knocked out. Once we landed, I rushed out. I saw thousands of craters and fires everywhere. A once beautiful landscape turned into a nightmare by our bombardment. My battalion walked over the ruined human trenches and over their dead and dying. Some had been mutilated beyond belief. Their flimsy arms ripped to shreds; their guts scattered around the floor in a bloody orgy. I tried to stop myself from throwing up. My battalion after some walking met up with the Shock troopers who seemed to have cleared out the remaining resistance in the sector. Our Grand Lizard had received orders from high command to go assist in the assault in a forest the humans had code named the fishhook. Me and my battalion began our march over there through this hellscape.

Fishhook. Platea. February 21st. 2069

I laid flat on my belly as laser beam after laser beam hit our positions, I could literally smell the forest burning. I looked up and saw an unlucky chap get shredded by the bombardment. God, I hope my friends are ok and alive. It then all stopped. My ears were ringing. I poked my head out of the mess our trench had become and saw the lizards for the first time. They wore some sort of plate armor and were throwing grenades into our trenches and slaughtering our guys. I grab the rifle off a dead man and fire at the advancing lizard men. Most of my bullets bounced off their armor until I got a lucky shot and a bullet went through a lizard man's eyes and brought him to his knees. Some of my dazed and confused comrades that were alive began to get up and fire away. The forest had been turned into a dreadful inferno. The trees burned. I saw one of my fellow comrades screaming as he was being burned alive in the forest. I rushed to our destroyed machine gun bunker and found our machine gun and began to fire it mowing down scores of those lizards. I saw them jumping into the trenches on my left and I grab the closest thing to me which was a digging shovel. I then rushed out of the nest as a grenade was thrown my way. I rolled on the floor as it exploded. Then one of them jumped into the trench I was in and tried to hit me with his claws. I dodged his attack and punched him in the face and thrusted my shovel into his neck killing him. I then saw to more enter, and I grabbed the dead lizards' grenades and threw them widely as they exploded all around. I saw some of my own comrades be taken on by my reckless throwing, but I also took out some of the lizards. I then ran like a man possessed out of the trench into the advancing lizards. "I'm still alive, you fucking amateurs." I yelled as I began to bash the lizard's brains in with my shovel. I fought for what seemed like hours hacking and slashing them until I heard a bang and saw a gaping hole in my stomach. "It hurts." I cried and I slowly felt myself collapsing. I cried as I lay on the ground. I didn't want to go like this god no. I didn't want to die in this inferno. I heard one of my comrades screaming for his mom. I crawled over to him. Me and him held onto each other for each other. I saw the lizard men walking past us not even wanting to help us. I felt his body grow colder and it slowly went black for me. That's how we died.