The section below this you can see a story I started for fun. I've decided that I'm going to turn it into a new Kindle Book for Unico. I've re-edited it and so far added another 2 chapters... you can see a sneak peek below.
His feet were cold and sore and he was pretty sure they were bleeding as well. Anthony and his squad had been marching back to Durham for three days now. From their vantage point they could see the settlement's approximate location some ten miles east of them. He looked off at its direction and watched the small balls of light pulling insane manoeuvres in the sky above it. Tracer fire from the settlement rained into the black clouds above in the sky, back lit by the dipping sunset.
“All for fucking nothing” Muttered Michael who had silently moved onto his commander’s flank.
Anthony gave him a look and noticed the rest of the squad had moved up to the ridge alongside him. They all were looking at the fighting off in the distance with despair in their eyes. The commander looked back in time to see the lights pull away from the area.
“Here we go” said Paul further down the line. His voice almost breaking as the words fell from his mouth.
They all knew what was happening next, and sure enough they didn’t have to wait long to find they were right. The dark storm clouds above where the base would have been, lit up and then seconds later they clouds violently parted as an energy beam passed through them and decimated what had been their home for the last three years. The huge blue orb rose up into the air and kept its shape for thirty or so seconds before it dissipated. Even at this distance the lads could feel the heat on their faces gently warm them. The alien ‘Piledriver’ as it was nicknamed was shot from one of the many low orbital bases. It had a similar destruction effect as a human nuke but with none of the radiation.
Anthony felt as if he should cry, the families lost, his friends, the idea of a new start.
But he didn't. He like the rest of the world had lost so much he had become numb to it all. He felt Michael nudge him and when he looked he was shot a glance to check out the line. Along it he saw all the squad handle it in their usual sombre manner, all except Jacob. He was crouched over and sobbing uncontrollably. Jacob was falling apart quick. Broken more then most because he still had family in this war, or at least he had family to be more exact. The last of them had burned up just now in front of his eyes. The squad leader watched, still numb as David and Glenn tried to control Jacob and get him, his shit back together. Anthony turned back to where the settlement used to be. Now it was nothing but a tower of black smoke.
“Come on” he said coldly to his squad “we need to get a move on”.
“Excuse me gaffa, but a ‘move on’ to where exactly”? snapped as he spun Anthonyony to face him angrily.
All the young leader wanted to do was punch his second in command in the throat. Instead he shot him a look to indicate that if the older sergeant steps out of line again then he'd would be getting a pulse rifle butt to the head. Michael knew he was out of line. Tensions were high, and he’s just watched his home obliterated by the enemy. It wasn't even like it was his first or even fourth home destroyed. They were into the third wave of invasions at this point. He had seen enough loss, they all had.
All except Jacob had seen their loved ones killed in the first or second wave of invasions. The war had started back in the year 2000 with the first wave of attacks that lasted eight long years. Millions killed but it could have been worse, the aliens had concentrated their attacks on military and government locations. The general populous was left alone to a certain extent but no country was left un-targeted.
After the eight years passed and with what looked like victory in their grasp they left as suddenly as they arrived. What followed was ten years of world peace, a first for humanity it felt. Instead of bickering and warmongering for once as a people we came together to rebuild and secure our planet in case they came back.
After the ten year break they returned.
In all the time until now not once have the aliens transmitted their intentions, their reasons for conflict. The second wave started in 2018 and unlike the first wave there were two great differences. Firstly we were better prepared. Technology stolen from the invaders was back engineered and put into production be it weapons, vehicles or new alloys. Even technology that was long repressed by corporations over the decades was freed up for general research and development. The second biggest difference was the alien’s tactics. No longer did they ignore the populous centres. The loss of life was unprecedented, the enemy set up camp in high orbit and just pummelled us from there. And only then would they send their raiding parties to the surface.
Again for eight years the war raged.
There was no rhyme or reason to the war, no one could work out why they attacked or what their end goal was. In 2026 they left just as they had in 2008 almost to the day. We knew we had only ten years to build as the pattern was certain now. We were worse off then ever and we were not going to be as prepared as we were the time between the first and second waves. In 2036 they returned and this would
would be the last wave for us.
“Fuck is he taking us now then”? Asked Andy at the back on the column. Adam just shrugged and turned back to the front.
“No idea why I’m asking you” he added in a joking manner. Back when they were younger and all friends at a sport called Airsoft Adam was a bubbly always talking character. But the war changed him like it changed so everyone else. With him he had made him mute for ten years now, his voice worked just fine but he just won’t use it. A doctor they once met said it was probably shell shock of some sort.
The column stopped suddenly.
They lads moved their heads to see what Anthony was playing at. The commander still had his back to them but they could tell from his body language he was breaking down. Glenn moved up to him and gently put his arms over the lad’s shoulder.
“Howay mate, lets find shelter yes?” said Glenn softly.
Frenchie the teams navigator took out his well worn and battered AA Map and located what used to be a farm back in the day.
“We'll head east Gaffa” he offered to Anthony only who nodded in silence.
Sixty minutes later they found shelter in an old abandoned outbuilding near the ruins of the farm. Each man set up a basic look out and rested up. Anthonyony had pulled himself together and apologised to his lads. Everyone told him to save it, there was no need to say sorry. They all felt as he did. All except Jacob that is.
He had been asleep as soon as they arrived. The shock of losing the last of his family had taking its toil on him and he had passed out. He had known like the rest that continuing to the settlement would be pointless, there would have been no survivors.
Nick sat holding his Magshot rifle in the door way sat looking at him on the floor. He felt angry that Jacob was still half sobbing in his sleep, still angry that his friend had up until now had family when he himself had lost everyone back in the first wave. But mostly he was angry at himself for feeling that way.
Anthony had sat back down opposite his number two, Michael.
The guy was in his mid fifties now and looked ready for the knackers yard. His gaze moved down to Michael's bare, dirty arms. There cut into his skin was the names of his two children lost in the earlier conflicts. This is what kept Michael fighting, his anger. The names were basically scar tissue now, it had been that long. A blood oath to avenge them.
They all had their stories.
They all had their loss.
Mostly they all just wanted a way out, to end the pain.
It was dark a few hours later. Everyone was asleep and no one was on watch. Jacob stood in the middle of the room looking down in the dark at his friends. He has stripped to his basic clothes and piled his kit and pulse rifle in a neat pile. The only thing on him was his old SIG 226 pistol. There wasn’t much call for brass ammunition weapons these days but he had kept it as a good look charm. He smiled at his friends one last time as he left the building.
No one woke up when the single gun shot went off. Each man was so deeply in their dream world they didn't find out their youngest friend killed himself until they woke the next morning.
They didn't bury him. Why bother? Waste of time and effort on their part. Most survivors had stopped burying the dead a long time ago. To many bodies and not enough space in the ground to stick them in it was felt. Jacob's kit was passed about and shared and hit cooling mags passed to those with little left in their own Pulse Rifles. Within the hour They were ready to go but waiting for Adam to finish his silent prayer over Jacob. The lad had found religion about the same time he decided for what ever reason to stop speaking.
“Right boss, where the hell are we going?” asked Andy “I'm not fucking stepping one foot more until we know the plan”.
“You'll shut your bastard mouth and do...” but before Michael could finish his rant, Anthony stopped him.
“Holy Isle” he said calmly.
The whole group stopped in unbelievable shock, Nick even let out a surprised laugh.
“You're kidding right?” asked Andy. His voice calm but still give away his anger.
“He's right boss” added Smith “that's an old wives tale. We've been through this”.
Anthony turned and looked at each one of his men in turn slowly.
“You all have somewhere else to be?”
He had made his point well. Only now had it dawned on them that there were men without a cause. They didn't stand for the settlement any more, Christ the thing was dust. The ancient Japanese would have called them 'Ronin'. Warriors without a master or cause.
“Screw it” sighed Paul “We've got nothing to do but wait on death. I say we make a run for it”.
“And when we get there and there is nothing but burnt out houses and
polluted beaches?” Michael snapped sarcastically.
“It's there. I know it is” Anthony said with what authority he could muster in his voice.
Located off the west coast of Scotland, Holy Isle has an ancient spiritual heritage stretching back to the sixth century. In the last hundred years it was a tourist trap but rumours were rife that back during the second world war it was converted into something else. Legend had it that each building was removed brick by brick and an massive underground base was constructed for the need to fight the Nazi's if they ever invaded. Once built the small town was rebuilt back up like it had never happened. Of course it could have all been horse shit but Anthony always believed it to be true. He figured it would give a safe place to live out the war.
1.
His feet were cold and sore and he was pretty sure they were bleeding as well. Anthony and his squad had been marching back to Durham for three days now. From their vantage point they could see the settlement's approximate location some ten miles east of them. He looked off at its direction and watched the small balls of light pulling insane manoeuvres in the sky above it. Tracer fire from the settlement rained into the black clouds above in the sky, back lit by the dipping sunset.
“All for fucking nothing” Muttered Michael who had silently moved onto his commander’s flank.
Anthony gave him a look and noticed the rest of the squad had moved up to the ridge alongside him. They all were looking at the fighting off in the distance with despair in their eyes. The commander looked back in time to see the lights pull away from the area.
“Here we go” said Paul further down the line. His voice almost breaking as the words fell from his mouth.
They all knew what was happening next, and sure enough they didn’t have to wait long to find they were right. The dark storm clouds above where the base would have been, lit up and then seconds later they clouds violently parted as an energy beam passed through them and decimated what had been their home for the last three years. The huge blue orb rose up into the air and kept its shape for thirty or so seconds before it dissipated. Even at this distance the lads could feel the heat on their faces gently warm them. The alien ‘Piledriver’ as it was nicknamed was shot from one of the many low orbital bases. It had a similar destruction effect as a human nuke but with none of the radiation.
Anthony felt as if he should cry, the families lost, his friends, the idea of a new start.
But he didn't. He like the rest of the world had lost so much he had become numb to it all. He felt Michael nudge him and when he looked he was shot a glance to check out the line. Along it he saw all the squad handle it in their usual sombre manner, all except Jacob. He was crouched over and sobbing uncontrollably. Jacob was falling apart quick. Broken more then most because he still had family in this war, or at least he had family to be more exact. The last of them had burned up just now in front of his eyes. The squad leader watched, still numb as David and Glenn tried to control Jacob and get him, his shit back together. Anthony turned back to where the settlement used to be. Now it was nothing but a tower of black smoke.
“Come on” he said coldly to his squad “we need to get a move on”.
“Excuse me gaffa, but a ‘move on’ to where exactly”? snapped as he spun Anthonyony to face him angrily.
All the young leader wanted to do was punch his second in command in the throat. Instead he shot him a look to indicate that if the older sergeant steps out of line again then he'd would be getting a pulse rifle butt to the head. Michael knew he was out of line. Tensions were high, and he’s just watched his home obliterated by the enemy. It wasn't even like it was his first or even fourth home destroyed. They were into the third wave of invasions at this point. He had seen enough loss, they all had.
All except Jacob had seen their loved ones killed in the first or second wave of invasions. The war had started back in the year 2000 with the first wave of attacks that lasted eight long years. Millions killed but it could have been worse, the aliens had concentrated their attacks on military and government locations. The general populous was left alone to a certain extent but no country was left un-targeted.
After the eight years passed and with what looked like victory in their grasp they left as suddenly as they arrived. What followed was ten years of world peace, a first for humanity it felt. Instead of bickering and warmongering for once as a people we came together to rebuild and secure our planet in case they came back.
After the ten year break they returned.
In all the time until now not once have the aliens transmitted their intentions, their reasons for conflict. The second wave started in 2018 and unlike the first wave there were two great differences. Firstly we were better prepared. Technology stolen from the invaders was back engineered and put into production be it weapons, vehicles or new alloys. Even technology that was long repressed by corporations over the decades was freed up for general research and development. The second biggest difference was the alien’s tactics. No longer did they ignore the populous centres. The loss of life was unprecedented, the enemy set up camp in high orbit and just pummelled us from there. And only then would they send their raiding parties to the surface.
Again for eight years the war raged.
There was no rhyme or reason to the war, no one could work out why they attacked or what their end goal was. In 2026 they left just as they had in 2008 almost to the day. We knew we had only ten years to build as the pattern was certain now. We were worse off then ever and we were not going to be as prepared as we were the time between the first and second waves. In 2036 they returned and this would
would be the last wave for us.
“Fuck is he taking us now then”? Asked Andy at the back on the column. Adam just shrugged and turned back to the front.
“No idea why I’m asking you” he added in a joking manner. Back when they were younger and all friends at a sport called Airsoft Adam was a bubbly always talking character. But the war changed him like it changed so everyone else. With him he had made him mute for ten years now, his voice worked just fine but he just won’t use it. A doctor they once met said it was probably shell shock of some sort.
The column stopped suddenly.
They lads moved their heads to see what Anthony was playing at. The commander still had his back to them but they could tell from his body language he was breaking down. Glenn moved up to him and gently put his arms over the lad’s shoulder.
“Howay mate, lets find shelter yes?” said Glenn softly.
Frenchie the teams navigator took out his well worn and battered AA Map and located what used to be a farm back in the day.
“We'll head east Gaffa” he offered to Anthony only who nodded in silence.
2.
Sixty minutes later they found shelter in an old abandoned outbuilding near the ruins of the farm. Each man set up a basic look out and rested up. Anthonyony had pulled himself together and apologised to his lads. Everyone told him to save it, there was no need to say sorry. They all felt as he did. All except Jacob that is.
He had been asleep as soon as they arrived. The shock of losing the last of his family had taking its toil on him and he had passed out. He had known like the rest that continuing to the settlement would be pointless, there would have been no survivors.
Nick sat holding his Magshot rifle in the door way sat looking at him on the floor. He felt angry that Jacob was still half sobbing in his sleep, still angry that his friend had up until now had family when he himself had lost everyone back in the first wave. But mostly he was angry at himself for feeling that way.
Anthony had sat back down opposite his number two, Michael.
The guy was in his mid fifties now and looked ready for the knackers yard. His gaze moved down to Michael's bare, dirty arms. There cut into his skin was the names of his two children lost in the earlier conflicts. This is what kept Michael fighting, his anger. The names were basically scar tissue now, it had been that long. A blood oath to avenge them.
They all had their stories.
They all had their loss.
Mostly they all just wanted a way out, to end the pain.
It was dark a few hours later. Everyone was asleep and no one was on watch. Jacob stood in the middle of the room looking down in the dark at his friends. He has stripped to his basic clothes and piled his kit and pulse rifle in a neat pile. The only thing on him was his old SIG 226 pistol. There wasn’t much call for brass ammunition weapons these days but he had kept it as a good look charm. He smiled at his friends one last time as he left the building.
No one woke up when the single gun shot went off. Each man was so deeply in their dream world they didn't find out their youngest friend killed himself until they woke the next morning.
3.
They didn't bury him. Why bother? Waste of time and effort on their part. Most survivors had stopped burying the dead a long time ago. To many bodies and not enough space in the ground to stick them in it was felt. Jacob's kit was passed about and shared and hit cooling mags passed to those with little left in their own Pulse Rifles. Within the hour They were ready to go but waiting for Adam to finish his silent prayer over Jacob. The lad had found religion about the same time he decided for what ever reason to stop speaking.
“Right boss, where the hell are we going?” asked Andy “I'm not fucking stepping one foot more until we know the plan”.
“You'll shut your bastard mouth and do...” but before Michael could finish his rant, Anthony stopped him.
“Holy Isle” he said calmly.
The whole group stopped in unbelievable shock, Nick even let out a surprised laugh.
“You're kidding right?” asked Andy. His voice calm but still give away his anger.
“He's right boss” added Smith “that's an old wives tale. We've been through this”.
Anthony turned and looked at each one of his men in turn slowly.
“You all have somewhere else to be?”
He had made his point well. Only now had it dawned on them that there were men without a cause. They didn't stand for the settlement any more, Christ the thing was dust. The ancient Japanese would have called them 'Ronin'. Warriors without a master or cause.
“Screw it” sighed Paul “We've got nothing to do but wait on death. I say we make a run for it”.
“And when we get there and there is nothing but burnt out houses and
polluted beaches?” Michael snapped sarcastically.
“It's there. I know it is” Anthony said with what authority he could muster in his voice.
Located off the west coast of Scotland, Holy Isle has an ancient spiritual heritage stretching back to the sixth century. In the last hundred years it was a tourist trap but rumours were rife that back during the second world war it was converted into something else. Legend had it that each building was removed brick by brick and an massive underground base was constructed for the need to fight the Nazi's if they ever invaded. Once built the small town was rebuilt back up like it had never happened. Of course it could have all been horse shit but Anthony always believed it to be true. He figured it would give a safe place to live out the war.
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