1: Peacekeeping
-20 years ago-
My name is Star. I have no last name or any knowledge of why I don’t. I also have no knowledge of why my name is Star. I think it has something to do with them, my parents, thinking that I would go far in life. I would ask them, but I can’t. Why, you ask? Well, it probably has something to do with the fact that they've been dead for 15 years.
I was 5 at the time. I remember, or rather am haunted by, the night that it happened. We were sitting in the living room watching a movie, when a man knocked on the door. He had asked if he could stay the night, since his car had broken down outside our home.
Being the nice man that he was, my father had allowed him to sleep on the couch that night. My mother had provided him with some leftovers from dinner that she had just finished cleaning. He kindly declined, saying that he had already eaten when he left work. When it was time for bed, my parents had me sleep in their room, for obvious reasons of distrust for the stranger on their sofa.
I was always a light sleeper, so naturally I heard it before my parents did. The man had walked into my parents’ bedroom and picked up the weapon next to my father’s side of the bed. Most people would have a bat, gun, or knife at their bedside. Not him. He had a 4½ ft. long sword that he had bought on a business trip to Japan.
The strange man had come into the mostly dark room, the only light source being the streetlamp outside, picked up the sword, and unsheathed it with a soft hiss of steel against leather. I saw the glint of steel in the soft orange light, heard the sharp blade slice through the air, felt the hot blood from my father splatter across the bed, and heard my mother scream as she jumped out of bed.
It’s a traumatizing thing to see your father sliced almost in half, but another completely different trauma of seeing your mother’s head come off as she screamed at the top of her lungs. The man had taken the sword out of my father, swung it at my mother, and silenced her as it sliced through her jugular and spinal cord, splattering her blood on the wall.
He looked at me and said “Sorry kid. This is why you never want to be nice to a stranger. You never know what they will do to you.”
He swung the blade at me, trying to kill me, but only managed to slice me across the back, instead of my neck, like he was attempting to do. He dropped the blade on the floor with a clatter and jumped out the window, into the night when he heard a knock on the door. That was the last thing I remember from that night.
I awoke in the hospital a couple of days later, terrified, in pain, and wanting my mother. I didn't understand what the doctor was telling me when he said that she was gone and couldn't see me. I cried out of pain, fear, and confusion. My back hurt like hell and I didn't understand why my parents couldn't come and comfort me.
-15 years later-
That was 15 years ago. I am now a hardened soldier in the Military. I have my own unit and everything that goes with it. Our unit is known as the “Peacekeepers.” The name is ironic because only around 10 missions we have done ended peacefully. There are only 2 other men in my group; Ice and Shadow.
Their real names are Jadon and Sam, but have code names to make things flow easier. Mine is Alpha because I am the leader, Jadon is Ice because he has a cold heart (his heart is like fucking Antarctica. He has no remorse, whatsoever. And I mean none.), and Sam is Shadow because both names start with S and he is one stealthy son of a bitch. He can scale a 15 ft. wall in about 30 seconds without raising alarm.
The names are kind of stupid, I guess, but they chose them, so I can’t really say anything, and well as stupid as they may be, the names stuck.
Ice was my first addition. It was six months after I got out of Basic Training. Our squad leader had motioned for us to stop. There were six of us. I stopped next to the commander. I was about to ask him something, but stopped when he fell. I immediately drew my blade and stood on guard. Four more fell before I was the only one left. I saw something, a dancing shadow. It laughed. I turned and raised my sword just in time to block his. It was crimson from the soldiers that he felled. He would not stop laughing the whole time. He flung my blade from my hands and mocked me for being bested so easily. I drew my twin knives and fought him that way. I mocked him once I bested him. He told me that he would follow me faithfully for besting him, since I was the only one to do so.
Shadow was the second, and final, addition to the team. We haven’t been able to recruit anyone that was insane enough to stay with us for more than one mission. They couldn't handle what we did.
Anyway, Ice and I had been our own team for about a year or so when we had an odd request as our mission. This mission was kind of unusual. The guy wanted us to break into a prison, break someone out, and recruit him. So we planned for a little while. This is what we came up with:
Ice went in as a normal visitor for the guy. I went in my own way. After dark, but before visitor hours ended, and dressed in all black, I scaled the prison wall with ease and once Ice gave me the signal, I acted. I messed with the security cameras and he and Ice just walked out. Unfortunately, a couple of guards got killed in the action, but it couldn't be helped. Sam liked my clothing style and it became his signature thing, making him appear as a moving shadow, hence the name.
Shadow dressed in all black, Ice dressed in winter camo and carried an ice blue blade, and I dressed in all black and had a long, sleek, crimson blade, giving me the nickname of ‘The Knight of Shadows’ or since the blade reflected the light, making it appear to be on fire, I got the name ‘Star Fire’.
Well, now that you know a bit about me, back to reality. Our current mission is to take our helicopter and fly toward an enemy base, land, and negotiate a peace treaty for trade and medical purposes. They have one of the best medical facilities in the area, and we need a place like that to take our wounded. Our pilot landed the Helicopter near enough to the base to let them see our white flag, but far enough away so that they couldn't get a clear shot in if things went wrong.
“Alright, everyone out, we’re here. Remember. I’ll only be here one hour. Get in, do what you need to do, and get the fuck out of there, alright.” He told us after we landed.
“Alright, that’s good. Thanks for the lift. We shouldn't need that long, but who knows. If you see this place go up in flames, start up and wait two minutes. If you don’t see us running, it’s probably because we’re dead, so leave.” I told him.
“Radio me every so often so I know what’s going on in there, alright?” He said.
“I will.” I replied, then turned to my team and said “You heard him, everyone out. Is everyone loaded and ready to go?”
“Yes, sir!” they saluted.
“Good. Let’s get this over with already.” I said as I got out.
We flew the white flag, the universal symbol of peace, and waited for their response. They waved theirs, signaling that the peace was mutual. We approached the facility with caution, however, as we didn’t know if they still had anything up their sleeves. We were welcomed in by a man dressed in all white.
“Welcome. We have been expecting you for a while.” He said in a thick accent.
“We would have been here earlier, but we had some problems with our ride.” I said, giving Ice a glance.
“Hey, not my fault, boss. I was working as fast as I could. This damn sand gets everywhere. Before I could oil the…”
I cut him off “ANYWAY!”
“Right. Sorry.” He apologized.
“So what do you wish to negotiate with us about?” The unnamed man asked.
“Yes, I do. I do, however, believe you know what we want, though.” I replied.
“You want our facilities to operate out of and our hospital to treat your wounded, correct?” He asked.
“Correct.” I told him, nodding slowly to confirm.
“What do we get in return?” One of his guards asked once we got inside the facility.
“What do you want?” Shadow asked.
“We are in need of supplies. We could use some more ammo, food, clothing, and an engineer.” The leader asked.
“For what, may I ask, do you need one for?” Shadow asked “We have Ice here as ours. What would you need him for?”
“Fixing medical and other machinery when it breaks down. Our last engineer left on a family emergency.” He replied.
“Your requirements are acceptable. We can get a shipment of everything you need every month, so we can have them shipped here instead. May we have a look at some of the equipment you may need repaired?” I asked.
“Yes, right this way.” He said, walking in through the main entrance of the compound.
We walked in the door and down the hallway. We ended up in a large room that had nothing in it. There were many doors along its four walls.
“What is this supposed to be!?” I exclaimed.
“A test.” He explained “I’m sorry that I need to do this. If you pass, you live. If you fail, you obviously don’t. I need my soldiers to be strong. It may seem random and unnecessary, and well, it may be, it is still required for those that wish to serve with me. I have heard about what you are capable, so I want you to prove it to me.”
“Bullshit!” Ice protested.
“If you want out, you have to pass.” He told us in a mocking tone.
“Fine, whatever.” I said “Ice, Shadow. Center, backs in. Lock and load. Doors open, people come out, shoot them. Shoot anything that flies at you. If you run out of ammo, MOVE. Use your blades and cut them down.”
“What about you?” Shadow asked.
“I’m going to be covering your asses. Now, MOVE!” I barked.
We took our positions in the center of the room, backs facing in, and took out our weapons.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Ready!” They replied together.
“Ready!” I called out to the asshole that was doing this to us.
All at once, the doors opened up and men came filing in and surrounding us.
“Fuck the guns. Use your blades.” I instructed to my team.
They came running at us. My team cut, sliced and stabbed. I punched, broke, and snapped.
It was over in 5 minutes, give or take. We were escorted out of the building and to the front gate of the complex.
“Congratulations, you passed. When will you be able to return?”
“Um, I don’t know. Two, three days.” I replied. Unfortunately, that never happened.
“Safe journeys to you. I look forward to working with you.” The strange man stated.
“Before we go, may I ask of your name?” I asked him.
“Around here, just like with your own team, names are not required. The name I was given is ‘Discord’.” He answered “It means chaos, anarchy, and disharmony. The test I put you through was just an example of how my mind works. Makes the name fit.”
We walked toward our ride and got in when we arrived. The motor started turning the blades and we lifted off the ground. Several boring minutes passed before we noticed something flying toward us. It was large, black, and fast.
“Land this thing!” I shouted to the pilot.
“Alright!” he replied
Too late. BOOOOOMM!!! It hit us and ripped the bird into pieces. We fell from about 300 feet, spiraling out of control. Ice, Shadow, and I jumped at about a hundred feet. Our cloaks filled with air quickly, making us fall slower.
We were still falling too fast to land without injury. I hit the ground hard, landing on my left side. I heard the snapping of bones and felt immediate pain in my leg, my shoulder and my chest. I lay there in pain thinking about what would happen. I had one broken leg, my left, one broken shoulder, right, and several broken ribs. I tried to roll over and bent my arm the wrong way, feeling it snap.
Well, I thought, I have a broken leg, shoulder, arm, and several broken ribs. I don’t know where my team is or their condition. We have no way of signaling for help. We have no food, water, or supplies. We are in the middle of the fucking desert, where it’s 100 degrees during the day and about half that at night. We’ll either die of blood loss, starvation, dehydration, or freeze to death. Just fucking great.
My thoughts were interrupted when I heard Ice ask “Boss, are you still alive?”
“Yeah, I’m alive. Half a body broken, but still alive. Shadow, Are you still alive?”
“I’m fine. Broken arm and some ribs. I’m checking Ice now. My legs somehow didn't break in the fall. They hurt, but still work.” He said, somewhere from my right, I think.
He walked over and looked at me “You look like shit, man. Ice has a broken leg and some cracked ribs.”
“It’s a damn good thing you’re a medic. If you weren't, you really would be completely useless.” I joked with him.
“Says the man with a half broken body. I only broke my arm. You fucked your shit up.” He replied.
“I weigh a lot more than you. I would obviously hit the ground harder and faster.” I argued.
“Shut up already.” Ice groaned. He got up and limped over to me. He whistled, saying “You really are terrible.”
“Shut up and help me up already.” I barked.
I screamed as they lifted me up, shouting “Watch the shoulder!”
Shadow, being the only one without a broken leg, carried me over to a rock and leaned me against it. He helped Ice over to the rock. They both sat down next to me. We sat in silence for a while before we saw a couple of trucks on the horizon.
They drove closer to us. We sat in silence, waiting. They were about 20 feet away when a strong wind started to whip the sand around. A few seconds later another black missile, like the one that hit our bird, hit the first truck, which exploded suddenly, flying into the air. A short second later, the second one blew up, again hit by another black missile. Both trucks flew right at us. I closed my eyes, heard the crunch of steel on rock, but didn’t feel it crushing me. I opened my eyes to see the truck floating above us. I twisted my body so I could look above the truck. Above it I saw a large black shape.
“Ice, what is that?!” I cried.
“I think it’s a dragon.” He replied.
“Okay, so we’re both hallucinating right?” I asked.
“No, I don’t think so.” Came Shadow’s voice “I’m seeing it too. Large, black, and flying.”
It threw the truck over the rock, roared, and flew right at me, jaws spread wide. I screamed, then blacked out.
