//------------------------------// // Reporting for Duty // Story: The Faces of War // by Zero the Necromancer //------------------------------// The USS Ravager is the newest ship in the US Navy. With an impressive length of 713 meters it is the biggest dreadnaught ever built. The advanced weaponry on board stretches from heavy railguns to anti-air cannons and torpedoes. The cloaking system, which is still a military secret, let the Ravager slip through enemy radar-, sonar- and heat detecting devices. Even though it is officially a ship of the US Navy, every member of the U.N. can assume control of it. Of course, the security council has a veto right. Its current location is always a secret for most of the population. Shit, I’m so tired. The soldier rubs his hands over his face. He has short brown hair and brown eyes. He’s not old, probably in his early thirties. The chair in which he sits is maybe comfortable but after five hours of flying sitting is a torture. The free newspaper he got doesn’t make it any better. He looks outside the window of the plane. Pitch black. He would sleep, of course but the guy besides him, a big siberian man snores so loud that he can’t. I wonder how it’ll look like…like in Star Wars? “Excuse me, Sir?" The soldier snaps out of his doze and notices that the stewardess in the corridor and his chair neighbour are looking at him. He quickly sits up properly. “Yes?” “I just want to inform you that we will reach our destination in 15 minutes, so please check your luggage.” “Okay, thank you.” The stewardess proceeds to the other passengers while the young soldier looks out of the window again. The sun is already visible on the horizon. Damn it! Have I really zoned out for this long? The plane begins to descend and the military base is now visible. There is a tower, probably to coordinate planes and jets, hangars for both tanks and aircraft and many other buildings. But the most impressive thing is the portal. A giant blue rift filled with stars. It looks almost like a piece of space on earth. The plane now sets down on the airfield and the passengers applause to the captain, who had to fly for over five hours. The passengers begin to stand up and go towards the hatchway of the plane. The soldier is no exception. As he walks outside the plane and is immediately greeted by cold air. He hates it when the sun shines in your face but it isn’t even warm. The group of people begins to fall apart. Apparently everyone knows where to except me. Well, for starters away from the airfield. The soldier makes his way to one of the guards stationed on the entrances. He salutes and so does the guard. He wears US uniform. “How can I help you, soldier?”, the guard asks. “I just arrived here. Any idea where I have to go?” “Yeah, go to that guy over there.” He points at a soldier who is standing in front of a platoon. The young soldier joggs towards the group of people and is quickly noticed by them. The Sargeant goes with wide steps to the soldier. “Hey, you’re the guy from Germany, right? The uh…medic?”, the sargeant asks. “Yes, Sir! Jonathan Sturm, reporting for duty.”, the soldier says as he salutes. “Okay, first of all my name is Sargeant Hendricks. And you are exactly what we need now. My platoon will be one of the first to go through this portal thing. I assume you are already briefed on the current situation?” “Yes, Sarge! I know what to expect.” Hendricks gives a weak smile and rests his hand on Johns right shoulder.“Son, only god knows what is behind that portal. And maybe not even he. Hey! Sergey! Frank! Lucy! That’s our medic! He’s in your fireteam, so take care of him! If he dies before you three then I will personally rip your arse off!” Lucy and Frank, both from America are making a happy expression. Obviously because they now have a medic in their team, who improves their chance of survival greatly. Sergey, a russian has a pokerface. “Hi, my name’s Lucy and that’s Frank. The quiet guy over there is Sergey. He doesn’t talk much but he’s a good guy.” All of them shake hands and even Sergey has a weak smile on his face. John smiles back. “It’s settled then! Gear up, Soldiers!" "Sir, yes, Sir!", the entire platoon shouts. "And someone bring this medic his stuff!", the sargeant adds. "Okay, John...I can call you John, right?", Frank asks. "Sure." "Alright, we're gonna go to the armory and get you some of the good stuff." "Sounds great." The platoon is heading towards one of the hangars. In the meantime several medium and heavy tanks are forming a spearhead, ready to charge into the portal. The armory is in the same hangar in which the tanks are kept. On the walls are nearly infinite amounts of rifles, launchers, shotguns, grenades and magazines. John's weapons of choice are semiautomatic rifles with a nice mini-grenade launcher module. He takes a SCAR. Semi-and fullautomatic, red dot sight and a M203 grenade launcher for which he takes four grenades with him. As sidearm he takes a M12 Nova with a laserpointer and a flashlight. As he looks at his primary weapon, he has to grin. The best thing in the army are always the guns. "Sturm, Sir! Your medical equipment.", another soldier says while she is holding a bag with a red cross on it. John takes it and salutes. "Thank's soldier." He looks inside and checks if everything what he needs is there: A small bottle with morphine and other substances, disposable syringes, a military defibrillator, bandages, extendable splints and latex gloves. Look's good "Do you have to carry all that?", Frank asks. "Looks a lot more heavy then it is." After they armed themselves the platoon takes cover behind the tanks. Sargeant Hendricks stands on the back of the first tank. "Alright, Soldiers! Listen up! Our mission is simple: Go through the portal and establish a beachhead for the reinforcements! Everything is considered hostile! Is that clear?!" "SIR, YES, SIR!" "OORAH SOLDIERS!" "OORAH!" After the motivation of the sargeant the tanks and infantry, which has taken cover behind them move towards the portal. The closer they come the brighter it gets. At least the soldiers are protected from the shine by the tanks. The first tank enters the portal and is somehow transformed into light. Tank after tank slips through the rift until it is finally John's time. He is nervous. As he touches the portal a warmth fills his body. He just sees white but after some seconds he is already at the other side. His vision clears slowly and he begins to notice his surroundings. Where the hell are we?