A thick haze of smoke filled the air as the sound of gunfire off in the distance rages on. The conflict continued without any regard to whether or not any of it mattered or made sense as it always does. War brings out the best and worst in mankind. It can inspire the cowardly to become brave, but it can also take the weak-minded and turn them into psychopaths. Most of all it teaches good men how to be monsters by giving them the reasons they need to fight and the ammunition in which to carry out their slaughter of other people. And here lying amongst the dead under all this smoke are few good men and women clinging to life.

   First Lieutenant Charlemagne Ignis, recently promoted as all three of the much higher ranking officers above him had died in the previous conflict almost a month ago, I was busy trying to find as many of his platoon that still lived after their base was hit. Most of the squadron that was placed here got massacred by the Russians and Chinese forces when they have launched a surprise attack on the troops here. Charlamagne hated war with a passion. He had been forcibly recruited into the army despite the fact that at the time the war started he had just graduated high school and was planning to go to MIT. Over the last 5 years that this gruesome war has been fought, it has been nothing but a struggle just for him to survive in this hell of bullets and bombs.

   He spent most of the first two years of this conflict before it was officially announced as World War 3 trying to stop enemy forces from pushing past the Ukraine and Finland. Eventually he was stationed in Japan for some time to take part in a naval landing that would see them try and retake Taiwan from the Chinese forces. The explosions that surrounded them as they landed on the beaches of Taiwan and try to fight their way to the nearest forward operating base was very similar to the sounds that he heard right now.

   People had long since thought that this war would have ended years ago in a rain of nuclear hellfire, but that was prevented for the longest time thanks to a unknown organization people only refer to as the Cyber Daemons. With agents hidden in almost every major powers military across the world they were able to systematically take the nuclear option off the board for everyone. Some people saw them as heroes, but Charlemagne and those with half a brain didn't really trust them. If they had that kind of influence and they should have also be able to infiltrate places of power within every major government and take them down from the inside to prevent this war in the first place. However that didn't happen and instead the war was allowed to rage on. Which means that they want the war to happen, but they just don't want the world to be bathed in nuclear radiation. 

   Suddenly as he searching around and thinking to himself about how he got here to begin with and everything that's happened since this war began; the sound of coughing could be heard nearby. As he rushed over he found one of his soldiers trapped under a little bit of rubble but nothing too heavy. He was able to move it out the way and noticed that the soldier was bruised but nothing looked broken. 

   He recognize the soldier as a man Hector T.J. Sanchez. Hector was the cook for his platoon and the primary translator. As Hector started to come to he as Charlemagne as if he was some kind of guardian angel, "First Lieutenant.......? What happened? Did we get attacked?"

   Charlemagne helped him to his feet and as he did he explained what happened, "Yes Hector. The enemy has launched a surprise attack on us. Over the last 10 minutes they struck us with grenades, bombs, and missiles to cause as much destruction as possible. Once they were out of explosives they swept in and mop this up all before we had a chance to really get our bearings. That's when the other platoons here at the base started opening fire on them. Most of the platoon here is dead. Some of the others that managed to survive alongside me are currently helping find survivors and getting them to a location that I know it's safe for now. I'm taking you there so try to stay awake." 

   He very weakly replied, "Sir yes sir........" Charlemagne helped him walk as the two men started making their way through the area checking for anyone else that might be alive as they slowly made their way over to the rendezvous point where the other survivors are staying safe. All while the other 4 platoons fight to protect the base or rather what's left of it.

   Charlemagne hated this fucking war. He wished there was something that could have been done to prevent it. After Vladimir Putin had been relieved of office in Russia the man who replaced him was much worse and far more bloodthirsty. That man's name was Anatoly Kravchenko and he was a firm believer that the way of the USSR was the right path however it could not return in full in this modern society so he would implement laws and restrictions that would start to blend modern Russia with the old ways of the USSR. When he set his sights on taking both Finland and the Ukraine, he was no fool and learned from his predecessor while also making ties with both China and North Korea. The leaders of the three countries were rumored to have had multiple secret meetings before the green to create a united force now know as the East Asian Communist Alliance.

   The E.A.C.A all struck at once throwing the world into a state of confusion as another attempt to take the Ukraine was made but at the same time so was an attempt to take Finland, South Korea, and Taiwan. South Korea and Taiwan fell within the first two years and only Taiwan so far has been retaken. The Ukraine was mostly occupied by the Russians but the western half of the country was the hard set front lines of the war and for every inch the Russians took entire platoons of their men would pay for it with their blood. In the last year of the conflict as it's been growing on China has also sought to invade both Vietnam and the Philippines. Which is where ground in the conflict has started to finally be made has China had overplayed their hand. 

   Charlemagne remembered retaking Taiwan as him and Hector continued to press on. The only thing he could compare it to when it came to historical battles was that of D-Day with how similar it was, and just how many people died in the process. That was the first conflict where he was certain he was going to die in battle as he watched so many of his fellow soldiers be cut down all around him in mass.

   He remembers how the blood of his fellow soldiers ran so much that the surrounding ocean almost seem to have a red coloration for hours after the conflict was already over. 500,000 men and women died that day as both sides refused to retreat. In that conflict Charlemagne himself kept count of everybody he killed and added them to the total of the lives he had claimed in this war to know how many times he would need to repent for his sins. That day he killed 871 people. By the time they had finished retaking Taiwan that number had increase to 12,746. Now here with Hector his grand total so far after 5 years of constant bloodshed had reached 89,990, but he wasn't proud of it. Charlamagne just saw it as necessary for his own survival in a war that he didn't want to fight.

   Eventually they found 2 more members of their platoon as they made it halfway to the safe area. First was Javianna Karsantos, Charlemagne's best friend since childhood and the main person who he is glad to see survived. And she was also completely unharmed which he was happy to see. With her was Velma Winchester who was their primary engineer and mechanic. Both ladies not only seem to be unharmed but also trying to gear up to go out and fight against the enemy forces that were assaulting the base.

   Charlemagne called out, "Absolutely not. No heroics from the two of you just because you think I'm not looking. We're taking Hector and any other survivors we see along the way to a specific rendezvous point where we can all collect ourselves and re-evaluate before even attempting a counter-attack." 

   Javianna rushes over and hugs Charlemagne in a tight embrace. She was overcome with emotion in that moment happy to see that her friend was still alive after having feared the worst. He could only return her hug with the freehand he had as the other one was busy holding up Hector. 

   Javianna asked him, "I thought you were dead. The mess hall and barracks got hit the hardest. I know that you went to one of them so I thought you had got killed when the surprise attack started. Are you hurt? Are you blooding? Is anything broken?"

   Charlemagne answered trying to calm her down a bit, "Javi listen, I'm fine. As you can see I'm not dead, and no nothing's bleeding or broken. However Hector here is kind of bruised up and may have a concussion. We need to get him to the rendezvous point so he can see Velvetina. I know she survived and she's currently looking after any injured people from our platoon there. So since you both are looking for combat follow me because I don't think I'll be able to shoot right and carry him." 

   Velma turns the safety off of her AK-69 and says, "I got your back sir. We leave no soldiers behind and we protect out allies." 

   Charlemagne told her as they all started walking together as a group, "Your constant desire for combat it's going to get you or someone else killed one of these days. Try not to do anything reckless while we're trying to meet up with the others." 

   The two ladies saying unison while giving a quick salute, "Sir yes sir." From there they start making their way ever closer to the safe area.

   Not much longer after when they're just a little bit away from the entrance to the rendezvous point they run into another survivor. The gunfire in the distance and sounds of explosions all the way on the other side of the base echo throughout the sky as they meet up with Private Jonathan Smith. John was the quartermaster for their platoon and the man in charge of mail deliver to the soldiers. He looked to be alive but he had some noticeable scratches and bruises. None to be life-threatening or debilitating enough to stop him from fighting.

   John saw them and rushed over to help by offering to carry Hector. John happily exclaims, "Thank God you all are okay. I was worried I was the only survivor. The other platoons are out there giving them hell while we are still here in this mostly collapsed building. What should we do Lieutenant Ignis?" 

   Charlemagne gladly handed over Hector and pulled out his plasma revolver which was only meant for first lieutenants and up in rank. He told John as they continued walking, "We're actually not that far from a rendezvous point where Velvetina and some of the other survivors are. Fortunately for us it just so happens to also be the armory. So we're going to let Velvetina see to the injured that's probably the only trained doctor left alive here, and those of us that can fight will protect them until she can get them back on their feet. Once everyone that can fight is back in action will push out further and help the other platoons with fighting off the enemies."

   Javianna asked right as they got to the door to the armory, "How are we going to be able to put up a good enough fight to push back the enemy, or at least cause enough of a distraction for the other platoons to capitalize on?" Charlemagne looked back for a moment right before opening the door and said a simple calm statement, "We got something the enemy doesn't."

   As the door opens immediately they have guns pointed at them by fellow soldiers in their platoon worried that they might be enemy troops. The two soldiers playing the guns at them, Theodore Morrison and Gregory Gunther, see who they are and immediately lower their weapons. Theodore looked over to Velvetina and told her because she was too focused on saving someone's life to look, "The First Lieutenant is back Vel. He brought John, Hector, Velma, and Javi. Hector looks all bruised up." 

   Velvetina asks while finishing up attaching a cybernetic prosthetic arm on the only other soldier that seems to have survived with them being Francesca Carter, "Does Hector look like he is going to die if I don't treat him this very second?" 

   "No but it does look like unless he gets treated he's probably not going to be able to walk without assistance," replies Gregory.

   Velvetina slides them a type of syringe device called an Omnistem. It was the latest breakthrough in medical technology as it he uses a combination of nanobots that die after 30 seconds after returning into the needle and stem cells that can be programmed by those nanobots to heal a person to a certain degree within a couple seconds. She instructed them, "Inject him with that Omnistem on the side of his body with the most heavy bruising and he should be good enough to walk around on his own afterwards."

   Charlemagne seeing how everything was going I walked over to the part of the armory that was guarded by a security code. He typed in the code and once it opened the others in the room all watched as the once untouchable area of the armory was finally able to reveal what was inside of it. To everyone but Charlemagne's surprise what was behind this locked off part of the armory was the X01 Power Armor. 

   Velvetina even stopped for a moment to look at it as four suits of power armor stood inside waiting to be used. At the same time she immediately injected an Omnistem into Francesca who woke up not that long after the needle was removed from her chest.

   Charlemagne said to them, "This is how we will push back the enemy. The X01 power armor is very rare but because of our position here being so integral to the war effort they sent us a couple suits in case of emergency. Technically me and the other three first lieutenant's stationed here are supposed to be the only ones allowed to use the armor but I'm not even sure those guys are alive. So Javi, John, and Velma..... Come suit up with me."