STORIES OF THE NAMELESS SOLDIER:
GOD'S PLAN PT.1
You slowly approach the desk, hands shaking, head filled with millions of thoughts per second.
-Good morning, I would like to enlist!
"This sounded pretty confident"
You tried your hardest not to show nervousness.
Person behind the desk slowly raised their head, it was covered with a paper bag, strains of smooth black hair flowing down their shoulders. Few seconds of silence feeled like eternity.
-Do you have all the papers ready, sir?
Finally an answer, this melodic voice puts you at ease just a little.
-Yes ma'm!
As you were handling them to her, you realized just how much sweat they soaked, but there is no return now.
She started to rummage through documents. Couple minutes passed as you stand straight up as a guitar string. Your mind bouncing back and forth between all the things that could go bad.
-Please come with me, sir.
You jumped a little. Did the guy behind you just giggled? No time to think about it. You started to follow her, trying to look as tough as you could. To impress the recruiter of course.
The two of you were in front of the office door.
"Recruiter Unit: Namelles Legion"
-Here we will separate. Please, show this documents to the recruiter, sir.
As she was handling you the sheat of paper, she started to head back to her desk in the main hall
-Oh, and good luck. For the glory of the Republic!
You nodded, filled with nervousness and determination, you knocked on the door.
-Come in!
Rhaspy yet gentle voice, almost like noise a bear would make. You slowly turned the knob and gave the doors a little push.
Room was filled with sunshafts peeking through the blinds. Smoke from cigarettes was everywhere. Around the room where cabinets filled with books, in the center, sturdy wooden desk and behind it, a man, around 40s, short dark hair, cigarette in hand, standard issued military uniform, almost identical to the ones teachers had in the academy.
-Please sit down, young man.
He said when pointing at the wooden chair in front of the desk. And so you did,maybe it wasn't an order yet, but you damn sure feeled like it was.
He snatched the papers out of your hand. When he was reading it, you gave him another glance. This guy looks like a perfect ancient statue! You weren't ugly or fat yourself, but this guy looked like out of this world.
-...good at the range, good first aid, above average physic, light signs of sociopathy…
-You know, you could land a good, behind the desk, job at some seashore base with those grades. Why the "Nameless Legion" ? There is nothing for you to gain here.
-My father was in this unit during the unification war, sir.
-Ah, coming in the footsteps of the father, many such cases.
Couple minutes of silence, you look around, but nothing catched your attention.
-So I assume you know what you are listing for?
-Yes sir!
-Here, sign this
-Now time for our oath, repeat after me…

"I give up my name, as the sacrifice greater than the sleep, I give my body as the tool to the Republic, I give my oath to the Nameless Goddess, my steel will kill Your enemies, my blood will soak in the soil of Your land. Give me strength and wisdom, give virtue and valor. I will be buried in an anonymous grave, with no flowers, with a simple tombstone. Yet my life will be remembered. So help me Nameless Goddess"

-Care for a smoke?
You took a cigarette with your shaky hands. One take by the other, trying to calm your nerves. "So be it !' You thought to yourself.
-Now go back home, say goodbye to your family, I'll see you tomorrow!
-Yes sir!

End of chapter 1

After all the paperwork at the reception, you started heading back home, thinking what to say to your mother, to your siblings. They knew you would do it, but still. Indulged in thoughts, you finally find yourself in front of your home.
It wasn't a very noticeable building, one floor tall, 30 meters wide, made out of concrete and stone, painted faint yellow, roof was made out of red tiles.
You started to slowly open the doors and there she was, beautiful as always, slightly shorter than you, long curly dark hairs and worried pale face. Yeah, it was definitely your mother.
-You did it?
-Huh?
Well, that was quick.
-You signed up?
-Yeah…
-Ughh, just like your father. And I was here hoping that you would change your mind, idiot me.
She said that with her typically irritated tone as she was heading towards the kitchen. She was mumbling something to herself, but you gave it no thought. You stepped inside the room you shared with your younger brother. He was just a couple years younger, but younger enough to notice the difference between you two.
-So, how was it, you enlisted?
-Yes…
-Well, in that case, good luck!
He lightly hit you in the arm.
-When will you start?
-Tomorrow, I need to pack some of my things.
-Need any help?
-Nah, I will manage.
A minute of awkward silence
-You know, when I will be gone, you will be the head of this household now, so, good luck to you too!
You lightly hit him in the arm.
-Yeah, yeah, I know, go to say goodbye to our little sister!
-Yeah, I'll pack just a few things more and I'll go tell her, you can never be sure what will come in handy.
You swiftly packed things you deemed necessary, when you felt a small hand on your shoulder. You turned your head, trying to look surprised, but you knew who this was. She may be just a kid, but she isn't stupid.
-When will you be back?
This question, though in childish and squeaky voice, hit you like a mace. You were always soft when it came to your sister.
-You will need to help mom and brother, you know? You are not a little girl anymore.
You tried to avoid the answer at all cost, but she was a stubborn little brat, just as always.
-I know, but when will you be back?
-I don't know…
You looked at her face, she had a forced smile, a thing she always does when trying to hold tears.
-But, you will be back, right?
-I…
You tried to give the answer, but was interrupted by a loud noise of broken glass from the kitchen. You and your siblings quickly rushed to the source of this noise. In the middle of the kitchen was your mom with hands visibly shaking and beneath her feets, broken bowl and hot potatoes spilled all over the floor.
-Ughhhh. I tried to make you some potatoes and meat, but the bowl slipped from my hands.
-Uh, don't worry mom. They make good food at the army nowadays, so I don't need that much.
All of you cleaned it rather quickly, one happy family, huh.
-You should get a home pass near the holidays, I will disown you if you wont show your face here!
-Well, how much is this schack worth again?
You all shared a giggle, tension lifted, those slippery bowls saved your ass. You ate your last dinner with your family and headed to bed, tomorrow will be a busy day.

End of chapter 2

You woke up by the sunrise, just like that, with no alarm clock, no sleepiness. Maybe it was the anticipation and adrenaline it produced.
You took your duffle bag, your cloak and bayonet from the old war that father gave you. With fast paced steps, you arrived at the destination in no time. It was just a couple minutes of walk outside of the town. You thought you would arrive first, but there was one guy standing there. Close to your age, slightly skinnier and taller, probably a recruit just like you. It was cold, but not freezing, you slowly walked towards him, stepping on this gravel road near the forest.
-Hi, uh… Are you from Namelles Legion?
-Yeah, I just enlisted yesterday, and you?
He answered you immediately. It was still quite dark, so you couldn't grasp the shape of his face yet, but from the specific accent of his voice, you could tell that he wasn't from the city, more likely some distant rural area
-Same…
And so you two waited at the gathering place the recruiter asked you to come. You exchanged a couple of words, he indeed was from the rural area near the coast line, just not that far away as you have thought. Hours passed, the sun is fully on the sky, you looked at the guy you waited with again. He wasn't as skinny as you firstly thought, but he sure was taller than you. Slightly tanned skin, almost white hair and piercing blue eyes, those looks are well known from his region. You heard a distant rattle, the one a fastly approaching wagon, pulled by horses, would make. And sure enough, said wagon stopped right in front of you two in no time. From it jumped a rather bulky man in military uniform, his bald head shining from the sun.
-Get in!
A quick and loud order. You are soldiers now.
You looked at the tall guy, he looked at you.
-Are deaf? Get in!
And so you two did. When you stepped inside the covered wagon, you were grabbed by the arms and legs. You tried to scream and escape, but to no success. You were blindfolded, hands and legs tied, potatoes stuck in your mouth.
-Sorry guys, it's for yours and ours safety.
You started to slowly accept your fate, yeah it wasn't very nice of them, but it's for the safety reasons, for the safety of the Republic, right?
Some time passed, and the wagon was put to a halt. You were carried from it to the outside. The sun is slightly visible through the blindfold.
-Ok, let them free!
They untied your hands, you swiftly pulled the blindfold down and spitted out the potato. It took a while for your eyes to accomodate to the sunlight. As you looked around, you were inside a thick forest and in front of you was a tall, wooden wall with a little gate.The bulky, bald guy opened it with one hand, signalling you to come in, with the other
-Come in ladies! Your training starts today.

End of chapter three

And so, your training started, you got issued your uniform, tall leather boots, long flintlock rifle with repeater and a peculiar hat. It's a symbol of this unit.
(illustrations in the future)
For a couple of first days, you were getting accustomed to the layout of this fort. You didn't know where it was, all you could tell was that it was in the middle of thick forest. You finished the military academy of your region with good grades, so you avoided all the drill for newbies. You can't tell the same about your white haired friend. He really was put through the mud and the blood, as one of the officers used to say. You two got to know each other a little better during the first week. He was from a family of farmers, joined the army to give a better future for himself and his large number of siblings. His family wasn't poor or anything, his father had a profitable potato and vegetable farm. What he meant by better future, you had no idea. You used to think that living such a peaceful life was something a lot of city folks wanted. Maybe grass really is greener on the other side of the fence.

End of chapter four

As days turned into months, your training was slowly coming to an end. You gathered so much knowledge in such a short time, that you started to question the efficiency of Military Academies. After all day of training on the range, you and other recruits came to the evening roll call. In front of the slowly setting sun, standing with a grim face, was your commander. You started to get worried, but he suddenly started his speech.
-This day marks the end of your training program! You will be given a callsign, but only for use inside this unit, for the other soldiers of the Republic and for its civilians, you still will be anonymous.
You barely caught this last part, as the whole crowd, you included, started to cheer.
-But don't get too excited!
The shouting slowly stopped.
-Tomorrow, 5:00, I will see all of yours stupid faces in the armory. You will be given a map, and be transported into random places in this vast forest. Your task will be to survive and get yourself back here. You will be divided into pairs. If anyone wants to be with any specific person, please state it in my office, otherwise you will get assigned randomly. You can bring anything you have in your possession, beside any type of firearm. I hope we will all see each other in a couple of days. March off!
So that's it. The final test. The harvesting season for the fruits of your training. Indulged in thoughts you started marching back to the barracks.
-Hey buddy!
You heard someone behind you, slowly approaching.
-You there?
You felt a little pat on your shoulder. This snapped you back into reality.
-Uh, yeah?
-Wanna go together?
Yeah, it was him, your blue eyed friend. You two have spended a lot of time together and found a good connection from the start. It was natural for him to ask this question, or so you thought.
-Yeah, sure. I don't mind. Just don't die on me, haha…
-Nah, don't worry buddy. Im a fucking war machine right now!
He started to flex his biceps when he was saying that. You looked at him as you would look at some kind of clown in the circus, but surely enough, he gained some muscles, he is not as noodle armed as when you first saw him.
-Ok! I will go inform our commander.
He wasn't wasting time waiting for the response. He started jogging towards the office. What a strange man, are all people from his region like this? With this thought, you walked back into the barracks and started to pack up your things. Some matches, your fathers bayonet, one can of food and a survival guide book, it will make a good firestarter. You laid in the bunk bed. Tomorrow will be a busy day, huh? Not much time later your friend came back, you will be deployed together. As night was closing in some recruits were still thinking what to bring, some were already asleep. What catched your attention was that some of them were writing what looked like letters. Were those for their family? Are they afraid of not coming back? Nonsense, you quickly brushed off these thoughts, they got the same training as you and you feel pretty confident. You blew out the candle, laid your head on the pillow and slowly fell asleep.

End of chapter five

More to come in future, maybe so illustrations, idk

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Pub: 17 Mar 2022 13:38 UTC
Edit: 30 Mar 2022 14:55 UTC
Views: 868