A Vengeful Vitality

[Carl Davidson]

-Defense Line 06 – (2 miles from Missile Base Paizlee)[/size]
-February 21, 2509 – Alexandria
-2:14 A.M Local Time

Sprinkles of dust landed gently on his face. They came down from the sky and drifted slowly down upon him, covering his features lightly. Within his bearded chin they got caught. A length of his long brown hair drooped over his mouth, much of which was submerged in the dirt he lay upon. His eyes were closed, and he did not move. He was like a corpse laying silent and motionless in his final resting place. And then he took in a breath, but instead of fresh oxygen which he desired, all he was met with was a mouthful of dirt. Suddenly his eyes open and he shot up.

Carl began to heave and cough. Half his body had been buried in what appeared to be a perfect mold of earth now that he had sat up. He hacked and coughed trying to remove the dirt from his lungs. With every force of the muscle in his body he removed more. He slobbered and dribbled onto the ground, as he got on his knees. He rubbed his left eye to get the dirt out of it. He could feel a terrible pain at his left side and he touched his arm. It stung and he released it quickly. Still forcing what was left in his throat out, he rolled over onto his right side.

He felt like crying, but he didn’t. Carl just sat there convulsing a moment, relieving his insides of the brown contents that had recently come to occupy his body. He put his right arm down to the ground and lifted himself up. He then rested on his rump, and put his feet forward. His mouth hung loose, and he breathed hard from it.

His tongue felt the specs of dirt all around, and it was terrible. He reached at his side for his canteen, to wash the dirt away. As he did water poured out from the side of it, where a hole had appeared which was not previously there. Carl brought the top to his mouth, turning the hole so it faced upward. He filled his mouth up, and spat the water out. He repeated the action twice. On the fourth time of bringing the water to his mouth drank the water. He then sat a moment, and poured what was left of the water over his head.

He cool feel the lukewarm streams go down his face, and enter into cuts, which he hadn’t previously noticed. Carl’s face contorted as the pain hit him. As it subsided, he caught his breathe. Suddenly he felt somewhat cool, as the night air began to hit him. It was calming, and brought him some relief.

Carl looked to the sky, and saw the large planet of blue and brown resting above him. Half of the world was completely black, and you had to fill in the emptiness with your imagination. But the other half was bright where the “Yellow Dragons” light hit it. It didn’t do much to light up his surroundings, but then again his surroundings didn’t need a lot of help to be lit up.

A small fire burned where a portable radar surveying unit had been set up. It didn’t bring very much light, but it gave enough to where he could see the things around him. But he didn’t want to be able to see what was around him. It was a visual not fitting for the eyes of someone who wished to remain sane. The site of corpses was all that there was for him to see.

Carl got to his feet slowly, and stumbled as he did. His leg hurt, but it was a manageable pain. He looked about to see nothing but faces of men and woman. Some had their eyes open, and some didn’t have eyes. Most were burned badly, and some were riddled with holes. Carl looked at his own arms to see he was bleeding. His long brown coat was ripped, torn, and tattered.

He was standing in what used to be a trench, but it had been rocked by what appeared to be an act of God. Dirt was just thrown everywhere, and it was loose. As Carl moved his feet, they sunk slightly through the unsettled ground. But he was standing and that was what mattered.

Before he could move again however there was a loud and bright explosion from behind him. His instincts took over and he quickly ducked. He covered his head as he felt bits of the shockwave hit him. Turning around, Carl looked to see where it had come from.

Though it was miles away, Carl could see missile base Paizlee. A fresh ball of fire was roaring up from it, and suddenly over head there was the race of jet engines. He didn’t know if the other lines had broken, but he suddenly realized he could hear the sound of gunfire farther off.

Carl thought about marching off back to the base, to see if he could help with the defense. With the state of his injuries however, it would take some time, and the terrain wasn’t exactly in a forgiving state at that point. But the idea faded as Carl got a different thought in his head.

He looked to the ground and found his helmet. It had a slight dent in the top, but it was still able to be worn. For all he knew that dent and saved his life, but he could never know. He looked around beside him, and found a rifle that was like the one he’d carried moments earlier. It was important to find the right kind, as he still had some ammunition for it. He hefted it up, and looked it over. It appeared to be in good shape, and he made sure it was ready to fire.

Carl then looked forward in the direction he had been facing before he fell. There were lines of smoke coming from that direction, and a few small fires, creating a scene that almost mirrored the one he was standing in himself. He shot out a jet of air from his nose, and his eyes formed to show a hatred that you’d find in a wolf that was backed in a corner. And with a fresh set of flames coming from behind him at Missile Base Paizlee, he started to move forward towards the trench of Alliance soldiers he had been firing before their Air Strike had unleashed upon Carl’s trench.

[Carl Davidson]

Stumbling over the dirt, Carl put one foot in front of the other. He moved at a steady pace, but it wasn’t very quick at first. The ground he was on was unstable, and his boots went straight through the dirt beneath them. He clumped his way forward, keeping his eyes only on what was in front of him. He did not so much as glance at the rips in his coat, or the blood that was coming from his limbs.

His entire body hurt, but at the same time he felt no pain. All he had in him was rage and anger. He had his weapon gripped tight, and he squeezed the front. It was pointed barrel forward, and his eyes scanned for things to shoot.

The distance between the Alliance line and his trench had not been very far, it was close enough for them to have shot at each other. The Alliance position had been established with landing craft, and they set up portable cover units, so that they could hold their line momentarily while waiting for the larger push to come up behind them. But as Carl moved forward he realized that his trench wasn’t the only thing that looked different.

Like his own trench, the Alliance position was hardly recognizable. There were large sunken portions of the ground, craters where explosives had landed. They had a set of vehicles that had been there, which were smoldering burnt replicas of what they had been. Unlike Carl’s trench, there were small fires burning everywhere, instead of just one.

Carl didn’t know what had caused it, and he didn’t care. He just kept trudging forward. To his surprise the Alliance line seemed to be in the same mess that the Independents was. As though a force that they had not prepared for swept through and damaged them as much as the Browncoat defenders. But then Carl noticed the difference.

There was a man standing in one of the craters. He had his rifle shouldered, and he had his back turned to Carl. His purple armor and helmet set off signals in Carl’s mind almost like an oil fire. He gritted his teeth together and brought his rifle up to his eye. He looked down the sites and put it centered with the man’s chest. His finger moved over the trigger and he squeezed.

Nothing happened.

The weapon just clicked, and nothing happened. Carl worked the trigger several more times, but it was no use. The rifle had likely been damaged in the explosion. Carl had presumed it would fire, but had not tested it. He didn’t bother dwelling on it. His eyes quickly went back to the man in purple. Carl released the weapon and the rifle dropped to his feet.

The sound caught the soldier’s attention, who turned around and with wide eyes spotted Carl. He reached to his back to grab his rifle, desperately trying to bring it up. He had so little time, the battered Independent had managed to sneak up right behind him. He got his hand around it, but not before Carl had reached to his side and pulled his pistol.

Two shots rang out from the weapon Carl held with only his right hand. One struck the man near his left shoulder. But the second caught in just above his nose. The man fell backwards instantly, and Carl continued walking forward. He didn’t think on the man he’d shot at all. He just kept crushing his feet on the dirt.

He found himself easing his way into the crater the man was in, and didn’t look to see him dying at his feet. What he did see was several other Alliance soldiers who were scattered about, and horrified at the image of an Independent soldier armed only with a pistol, shooting at them.

[Carl Davidson]

The group of Alliance soldiers fell into a panic. There were only a handful of them, which still greatly outnumbered the single Browncoat, but they didn’t know that. All they knew was that an Independent charge had gotten the better of them and now they were under fire. The hail of bullets rushing their way caught two of the soldiers without issue. They had been hit in the arm and the leg respectively. The others moved further down the line, near a parked vehicle. They returned fire, but it wasn’t enough to stop the lone Browncoat from pressing forward.

Carl had fired slowly but efficiently at the soldiers that were in front of him. He’d caused two of them to fall, in addition to the one he’d killed already. Though he could pick up the rifle of the first one he killed, he didn’t want to waste his momentum. He had the soldiers on the run, and rifle or pistol, he’d make them stop running soon enough. He came close by the Alliance soldiers that he’d shot moments before in his pursuit. One of them was clutching his arm, and other his leg. Both were on the ground, but only one took notice of him. He had a fear in his eye that seemed to beg Carl to accept their surrender. Carl looked down only a moment for each. He squeezed the trigger, and the bullet ripped through the man’s face. He repeated the action for the second man.

The weapon in his hand clicked after he killed the two men, so Carl reached into his coat, and reloaded the weapon with fresh ammunition. He then looked forward to see where the other two had gone. He saw them make it by a vehicle which was parked at the line further away, and he continued his charge. Instead of going at them directly, he moved to the left, and stayed low. It got darker the farther he moved, and after making it by a cluttered of rocks, he disappeared from view.

He waited a moment, and then moved towards the darker area to his left slowly. If they were looking in his direction, he’d likely be shot, but he was fortunate to slip away quickly without being seen. He stayed out in the dark portions and circled like a wolf towards the vehicle he’d seen the Federal Troops run towards. When he finally got around it, he could see the two remaining Alliance soldiers. They were looking the direction that he had been in, and they seemed to be certain that he would be coming from the light.

Carl didn’t care, all he saw was advantage. Staying still low, but not being able to move very quickly due to his leg, he approached the car a bit behind them. He took aim with the freshly loaded pistol, and looked at one that was on the side of the vehicle looking over the top. He held his pistol in front of him, and fired. Three bullets tore from his gun and hit the soldier, who fell.

The other soldier turned around, but Carl had initiative. He fired twice. One of the shots struck the soldiers gun, and the other hit them in the chest. Carl approached with his weapon pointed at the soldier on the ground, and when he got within a few feet, he noticed the soldier was reaching for a pistol. He tried to fire, but his own gave another click. He squeezed quickly, but it didn’t work, and he threw the weapon at the soldier. It rushed forward, but not before the soldier shot him in the chest.

Carl felt the bullet hit his armor, and he still kept moving. His pistol hit the soldier in the head, and he heard a grunt that sounded a bit high pitched. Carl took no notice, as closed the gap and dove on top of the soldier. He looked down at their face and realized the soldier was a woman.

He held her right arm, and elbowed her across the face. He grabbed the pistol and threw it. With the woman then on the ground, a hard struggle ensued. She was strong, but not nearly as much so as Carl, who reached into his coat and revealed a huge knife. He looked at the woman in the eyes, who was still struggling and kicking.

In that moment Carl suddenly could see his wife, Elsie. His second wife who had just months earlier ran off with another man. It struck him hard, and for a brief moment he let up. But as he felt her struggling he was filled with more rage. His empty house, no mention of what had happened, abandoning him because he was off fighting a war to protect her and all the other people beyond the Core. His mind began to fill with hate, and his grip tightened. He brought the knife around close to the woman’s head, but he never broke eye contact. What he saw was his wife. His teeth were hard pressed together and brought the knife just in front of her face.

”HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME!!!”

Carl screamed, and he jammed the knife up under the woman’s jaw. The knife went straight up into her head, and he wrenched it out quickly. He brought it to the front of the woman’s head, and he brought it down through her forehead. In that instant Carl’s rage began to calm down, and he saw the woman was dead. Her eyes ceiled shut and he pulled the knife out.

The action would seem brutal to many, but it was very common. There were men and woman on both sides, and if they saw someone on the other side, it was their sworn duty to do what needed to be done. Carl then got to his feet, and looked around, seeing if there was anyone else left in the area.