“Name?”Alvis, Michael G., sir.“Date of Birth?”May 31st, 1992.“Look, kid. I gotta tell you. This isn’t gonna be fun,”Yes, sir, I know..-----------------Grieland was once part of Marronia, our northern neighbor, before we decided to split up. Back in the 1980’s, we had a civil war which then had an impact on how we came to be. It was short, but effective. We disagreed with them about a few things and fought for it. With UN assistance, we established independence from Marronia in 1986. Tension never ceased, however. Our respective diplomatic representatives even once got caught in a fistfight. Last I heard, we found oil reserves under our territory to the southeast, beneath the ocean floors of Bakers Island. The word is that Marronia will try to claim it as theirs. We took it as mere rumors. Until, on 31st of March, they invaded.A portion of our population were of Marren origin; which would mean that they have immediate families in the regions that are still within Marronian Terr

The Major’s compound was set up around his own home, surrounded by other houses except on the southeast flank. There’s only a wall out there, separating land owned by farmers and the compound. To the front of the house, that is to the east, there’s a house with a caved-in roof. Looks like a close call on them. Mortars, I think. There were a few waypoints around the compound, being in a housing complex, which mostly leads to the northwest gates. However, there is this one heading north right in front of the Major’s house, with an intersection that goes westwards and another heading southeast. These waypoints were closely guarded, with entrance to the Compound from the northwest guarded with Marine personnel, as well as the exit, to the far west. There were low fences around the house, made out of cement, the kind you see on old rural houses. The house itself would be the designated inner compound, inside the fence, with the main objectives being there, namely the listening post. Befor

I caught a glimpse of the blast just before I got thrown into the ground. The concussion forced air out of my lungs. My ears were ringing due to the blast. I could’ve been dead—but somehow I’m still here, breathing heavily with blood running through my nostrils. Dirt and mud was raining down all over my face. I was trying to get up when I felt a sharp pain in my left side, around the ribs. A fragment from that mortar round had embedded itself into the vest where the armor plate did not reach. A similar piece scratched my left cheek. When I fully regained consciousness, another round had fallen right into Honé’s spot, killing him instantly. “Grace,” I said to myself, still trying to get up while pieces of dirt fell all around me. “GRACE!” I screamed as I grabbed my rifle. She laid there with Ian trying to pick off shards of glass that’s been embedded into her skin. “IS SHE OKAY?!!” “Yea!” “Let’s get her inside!” I shouted as another round fell quite close to the house “RED!” “Yea!?

Soko then ordered us to clear the field of fire. That means we had to move the dead bodies so the next wave couldn’t use them as covers. He only needed two men from my squad, so I told Kris and Frank to do it. Also, he needed to report how many enemy combatants we had killed, so we had to count the dead. I decided to join in, to help clear ordinances. I picked up weapons and ammunition on those bodies before the others could pick them up. We moved them and collected them by the mortared house. We need to be careful, as they could be tripped or boobied, both the weapons and the bodies. They could have left a grenade under them that explodes when the body is being moved. One of the pairs of Marines who did this with us actually had one of these but put the body back down quick enough to muffle the grenade. Lucky bastards, they are. But then— “What was that?!” Soko shouted towards us. “It’s a—” BUB, BUB, BUB, BUB, BUB “TAKE COVER!!” A string of machine gun fire came in towards us. P

“FUCKING BASTARDS!!” Red let it rip with her M4, switching it to full-auto mode, expending the rest of her magazine. I got back to the machine gun, handling it even more furiously. But the wave got so close I figured we would’ve needed to call in support—but we were alone. We didn’t have mortars either, and our grenades would’ve been less effective. Not long after that, two rockets flew past us. The Marines still had a few LAWs, it turned out. It was very much like Independence Day celebration, with bursts of explosion from the rockets lighting up the compound and the enemy positions around them. Now where is that can I left in the bushes? “Red! Last can! I need to find some ammo!” “Alright, Mickey, take off!” It was just a few steps towards my left, but it felt like yards. Enemy fire went above my head as I turned back to look at Red and Kris. Red had moved forward, taking cover behind the fence, beside the MG position. She kept firing and firing, magazine after magazine. When she