Asad has been fighting in this never-ending war for the past ten years. So long that he would give anything to be able to go back in time.
Even if the tensions between America and the Middle East had been strained at the end of the Second World War, with the USA now becoming the big bad force of the world, Russia was scrambling to hold enough power comparable to the superpower.
They decided that Extreme Aggressive Expansion was the way to go. Surprising every single post-war country, none more surprised than America, Soviet Russia took most of its remaining troops and launched a large-scale invasion in the Middle East, toppling dictatorship after dictatorship with such reckless abandon that all countries were too stunned to react.
Russia then went back to its main ideal, spreading Socialist Marxist ideas left and right in all the dominant countries. Turkey, Iran, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia were especially affected. Being surprised when its main forces and troops betrayed one another for the promise of greater riches and power within the Soviet Dominated states.
After almost a full-blown year, NATO had formed a response. A single message that if the Soviet Union did not back off and took its troops off the Middle East, war would be the consequence.
The Soviets were on their last dregs. Second World War had depleted most of its troops, millions of dead, resources quickly drying up for the war effort, and a constant tension between itself and its Sphere of Influence.
While on the other hand, the European countries were relatively in the same situation as the Soviets, America was still fresh from the Second World War, having lost little troops. They had the great almighty power of an "I win," card known as the nuclear weapon held by the Military of the United States.
So of course, Russia said, "Bring it on."
And as such World War broke out not a year after the last one.
Granted, thanks to its reckless expansion, the Soviets now had a completely new pool of resources to draw from in the form of the conquered countries. America was hesitant to perform another Nuclear strike, this time in the Russian populace, with many Americans believing such actions to be inhumane and breaking many War Crimes, not wishing for a repeat of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Their hesitance was the worst move they could have made. Not a month after war broke out, the files containing crucial Nuclear Weapons schematics had been stolen.
NATO was soon after informed, of the creation of "First Lighting," the Soviet's first Nuclear Bomb.
It was now a nuclear war.
MAD was recognized by all parties. As such many international committees and treaties were drawn into the front, the major blocs of the world making all efforts to stop the two Superpowers from ending humanity as they know it.
Both countries admitted that full-on confrontation would quickly lead to the destruction of civilization. Russia and America backed off each other's throats, but war was still in effect.
The European countries were forcing passage towards the Middle East, pushing back Soviet forces, while the Soviets refused to budge.
Things quickly began to devolve over the years. It became less and less about pushing back Marxism, and now it was simply not allowing the Russians to keep on expanding.
The world gave up on liberating the Middle East, and the war ended after six exhausting years.
Of course, it couldn't have ended there. It would have been so goddamn easy for everything to end there. But the people realized something.
If no one will save them, then they will save themselves.
A resistance was formed, known as the UHLA, or Unified Humane Liberating Army.
And civil war broke out. The ones supporting the liberation of their people, and the others who supported the new regime and refused to let go of their new wealth and power.
Attacks happened one after the other, skirmishes and gang violence exploded, as did Police brutality.
Sometimes you would go to sleep and wake up with your neighbor missing, to later discover he was accused of committing treason, and the secret police had gotten to him.
Sometimes the police would just brutalize people and take advantage of their authority, enjoying the ruthlessness of war to do whatever the hell they please.
It was hell. It was a hell they were fighting to be freed from.
Asad had joined the UHLA, this resistance force in the hopes of bettering the world for his people. To do the right thing and step up for those who can't take care of themselves.
So that his little girl doesn't have to live in an Earth filled with monsters.
An explosion from an RPG hitting a nearby building broke him out of his thoughts.
He still wondered how these assholes knew bout their plan. They had been planning for weeks, after getting information about the higher-ups Politicians, and other high-value targets being moved to the same place.
It was the perfect target. A nice blow to not only the current hierarchy, getting rid of the supporters and backers of the Marxist regime, but they could also negotiate for supplies and monetary trades. Something the Resistance desperately needed.
They fucking doubled, tripled, and quadrupled-checked their information, the source, and if the leaker was trustworthy. Everything pointed towards the tip being correct.
Asad rolled behind a half-fallen wall, crawling through the rubble and cursing as he felt sharp rocks scratch his exposed side.
Not a second later shots began to rain down on his cover. In response he immediately ducked his face, waiting for the shots to stop.
Well, the tip was correct. The targets were all here. What it didn't fucking take into account, was the variable of the Secret Police silently stalking their shadows.
Secret Police his ass. This was more like a SpeSec platoon. How did they mobilize without notifying any of their watchers?
The shots stopped, and he risked a slight glance behind cover.
He shouldn't have, the moment his body left the cover, a loud bang rang out. His body was thrown back by the sheer force of the shot, piercing straight through his shoulder.
Fuck, snipers.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. 'Have to stop the bleeding,' Asad dazedly went through the motions, quickly applying pressure to the wound, careful to not aggravate it further, his amateurish Med Aid training kicking in.
He dragged himself across the floor, towards another vantage point, careful this time to not show any signs of agitation to not alert snipers eyeing the building.
Gritting his teeth, he propped his back to another wall and used his knife's reflection to see the enemy forces. A blind opening for snipers, but he still had a few seconds.
What he saw made his heart sink. People were being taken out of their houses; civilians were being shot down on the streets.
Asad knew what they were doing. The soldiers were using the civilians to either force the resistance to make a move or to simply eliminate them all until a rebel was actually found.
A ruthless yet effective technique.
That wasn't all, what he saw gave a very bad mental image. Fully decked out protected militia vehicles. At least sixteen armed soldiers in his vision and many more he probably didn't even see.
Asad felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. That perhaps this would be it, this would be his moment.
He didn't better the world. He wasn't able to protect his people.
He would miss his daughter's birthday.
The silence was the answer to the realization.
Wait, silence? No!
There was a shout, followed by more screaming. Asad heard the police talking amongst themselves in hushed whispers, their voices were scrambled and there seemed to be an edge of worry in it.
The screaming didn't come from the civilians.
Asad didn't hear much, but there was one phrase he made from the gathered soldiers, each with a haunted look on their faces.
'The Black Storm was seen'