.com.unity Forums - OT: New story! Non-SE related

I'm going to write a new story (probably). After the long time of no updates for my old story, I'm starting another.

This is the prologue; the actual story isn't going to be like this.

PROLOGUE

A plasma bolt wizzed overhead and impacted into the side of a hovertank, dead centre in the banks of antigrav emitters. The tank, floating at ten feet altitude, made for a spectacular � if somewhat gory � sight as it dove forward and ploughed through an entire regiment of infantry.

�They�ve got plasma weapons!� the Sergeant shouted.
�No really?� A young draftee.
�SHUT THE HELL UP and ATTACK!�

Corporal Jim �Chazz� Carlton�s regiment charged forward out of the shell-crater in which they had taken cover from an approaching group of enemy vehicles. The last of the vehicles were destroyed as the first soldiers emerged from cover; the sleek, wide, purplish forms of the alien tanks provided excellent cover from enemy snipers and machine-gun posts, though pulse mortar fire started to punch holes in the loose ranks of the charging soldiers. Diving for cover behind one of the attack tanks� curved wing-like extensions, Carlton peeked over the perfectly smooth curved metal and got a quick overview of the situation in the front lines.

Several groups of Terran soldiers had moved past the jagged line of alien wrecks and were either charging for cover or diving into nearby shell-holes and ditches. Zarkanthian troopers moved in loose but orderly formations to meet the Terran attack, while their armor divisions assumed a three-pronged attack formation and prepared for a high-speed rush. As the Zarkanthian infantrymen ducked down and lay flat on the ground, Carlton quickly threw himself backwards and put his hands over his ears. When he heard the tracks of an enemy tank break through a wreck directly in front of where he had stood, he rolled sideways and watched the seamless flow of seemingly-liquid metal of the alien tank tracks, stained with the remains of his buddies, pass within a centimetre of his left elbow. He looked upward and saw numerous purple-black shapes flash overhead at what seemed like impossible speed. When he saw the clear greenish-blue sky again, he lowered his hands and rolled over again. He watched helplessly as the alien onslaught broke the forward ranks of the Terran formation.

He heard strange sounds behind him, and turned over to see three Zarkanthian soldiers standing near him, raising their weapons to finish him off. Instinctively, and with astounding speed, Carlton seized the pulse-laser repeater of one of his fallen comrades from besides him and fired the light weapon in a wide sweep. The aliens fell backwards, wounded, but not dead. He knew they would raise alarm about his being behind what now were the enemy front lines, so he crawled quickly to each of them and finished them off. It was a dirty war, on both sides. These three were just a fraction of the Zarkanthian civilian and military casualties as a result of Terran nerve-weapon attacks or biochemical bombardments.

Realizing the weakness of his comparatively primitive weapon against the tough duranium armor employed by all Zarkanthian military vehicles, he flung it into an old shell-hole filled with rain � here, pure mercury. He saw it dive straight into the silvery pool, and heard the sizzle as the weapon�s power core burnt out. He took one of the alien weapons � an advanced energy repeater, by the looks of it.

Crawling to a mangled piece of tank wreckage, the cockpit of which was still mostly intact, he looked back again and saw the alien offensive slowing down as it reached the heavily-defended trenches they�d taken last night. He clambered into the tank cockpit, which was designed for three Zarkanthians. And since Zarkanthians are on average ten feet tall and never sit down, there was enough room in the cockpit for a small field hospital. An access tunnel to the rear of the tank was open, and the tank having ruptured it showed a clear outside view. Peering through it, Carlton saw that there was no armor left within sight, and that most infantrymen had already followed the tanks. Only a few stragglers remained, checking on wounded comrades. Finding an extendable scope and a silent mode on the weapon � before the war, when the Terrans and Zarkanthians still had a military alliance, numerous weapon designs were swapped, so each soldier knew how to work the other race�s weapons � Carlton shot a nearby soldier who was just getting up to follow the assault group. The others hadn�t heard it; the energy weapon�s low sound output, even further diminished by the silent mode and the still-heavy armored bulkheads of the tank cockpit, wasn�t enough to be heard over long distances.

He took aim and fired again, this time at a heavy-weapons trooper whose plasma bazooka lay on the ground beside him. Four or so nearby regular infantrymen and a medic saw this, however, and began shouting across the battlefield. Nearly all Zarkanthian infantrymen left their wounded and began moving forward, weapons trained on whatever wreck or ditch was within their field of vision. It wasn�t long before the first soldier spotted the lone human hiding inside a wreck with a stolen gun. Now that they were running towards him, Carlton had to act fast. He activated �rapidfire� mode and opened fire. Yellow pulses streaked across the battlefield, striking down Zarkanthians every second. Each pulse was followed by another within a fraction of a second, and within twenty seconds of unabated firing, there were no infantrymen left behind the row of wrecks. However, the barrels of a division of Zarkanthian long-range heavy artillery peeked over the horizon, and a tank burst out from a clump of trees on top of a hill.

His sense of self-preservation bigger than his desire to perform heroic acts, he didn�t open fire on the tank � which he could have slagged with a few shots � but rather dropped the large, heavy weapon and ran towards the front lines. When he closed to within half a mile of the rear of the Zarkanthian front lines, and saw entire rows of Terran infantrymen being cut down by withering heavy weapons fire, his patriotism took over and he grabbed the same weapon he�d used a mile back from a dead Zarkanthian.

Blinded with rage and patriotism, he ran towards the front lines and fired his weapon in a wide spread of fire. The enemy infantrymen, shielded from Terran front-line fire by a row of tanks, were taken completely by surprise as a lone Terran attacked them from behind. Still running, Carlton switched the weapon to �tank-killer� mode and fired at the line of armor vehicles, most infantrymen in front of him dead and the rest too startled to do anything. Though he could only fire one shot per one and a half seconds, he rapidly cut a gap in the line of armor. Picking up speed, he ran through, firing one last shot sideways which completely obliterated a light anti-infantry vehicle. Throwing his weapon away, he ran at full speed towards the Terran front lines and bounded across the first trench without any trouble at all, momentarily spotting the startled faces of his fellow infantrymen below him. Speeding towards the line of Terran combat vehicles which approached behind the infantry trenches, Carlton perceived himself completely safe.

***************

Sitting on the top deck of a Zarkanthian APC, a combat sniper watched events unfold as the APC took him to the front lines. He saw a small figure, obviously Terran, run towards the front lines, he saw him stop and pick up a weapon, and he saw the brave but foolish soldier starting to pour fire into the Zarkanthian lines. Enraged, he saw tank after tank disappearing in a large explosion as heavy photon pulses impacted in their rear. He lifted his large weapon and took aim for the soldier�s chest, determined to put an end to his killing spree.

He zoomed in even further as the man broke through the front lines and rushed towards a Terran command post. Seeing the line of tanks approaching over a hill, he knew he had to fire now.

When he squeezed the trigger, a sliver-thin, purple line that seemed to be three hundred feet long emerged from the barrel of the seven-foot-long weapon.

***************

Believing he was safe, Carlton slowed down and stopped. He saw the approaching tanks with a feeling of triumph. He only realized what he had done now. He realized that the gap in their lines would force the Zarkanthians to redeploy their forces, and that that would leave them weak. He already heard the artillery firing, knowing that their plasma shells would disrupt the enemy lines even further. He knew that the battle was won. He knew that he, in his state of almost superhuman rage, had turned the tide of the battle on his--

He felt a burning pain sear across his chest as the Zarkanthian sniper�s shot hit its mark. He saw the medics rushing at him as his knees collapsed and everything went black.

When he woke up � hazily � he saw bright white lines dart past. He looked upwards and saw a smooth, featureless metal ceiling. He looked right and saw that he was in a medical shuttle, on his way to orbit. The stretchers were farther apart than usual, though � and they weren�t stacked. As his eyes focused, he saw he was lying next to a Major.

He was going to orbit in an officers-class medical shuttle? He was barely a Corporal!

Then he blacked out again.

The next time he woke up, he was in a ship�s medical bay � again an officers bay, apparently. This time his eyes didn�t focus. He saw two shaped standing besides his bed. He heard a voice.

�We�ve done everything we can, Lieutenant Commander. We�re sorry.�
�Wh..... wh..... wha?� was everything you managed.
�Oh, after your, ah, rather heroic acts planetside you were promoted to Lieutenant Commander. Oh, and you also got a medal.�
Great, he thought. A medal. What use is a medal when I�m going to die?

He heard the voice again, this time more softly. It was whispering to the other shape.

�I�ve just heard a Zarkanthian orbital plasma launcher obliterated both sides� armies. This planet is lost.�
A second voice.
�We have no choice. We must make sure they won�t be able to harness its resources.�
�Global orbital plasma carpet-bombing?�
�Yes. Immolate the planet.�

Just before everything went black definitively, a few lines of an ancient song he�d found once while researching for a history paper at age 17 went through his head.....

Everything burns
Everyone screams
Burning their lives
Burning their dreams.....