Waiting Game
Xenet 71.43.1 System Msg
TTY31201.02.13
Network Connection Enabled
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I wonder if people still believe in some sort of divine plan. Being a Sniper, I have all the time in the world to think about things like this, especially since my buddy Gibs is currently having the time of his life playing Guinea Pig for the Exo boys. Gibs is my spotter, or was until he went to see the medics. I guess we are all still learning about these new worlds, and when the chief butcher couldn’t identify the fungus that was slowly moving its way upwards from Gibs’ foot, my buddy got an all expenses paid trip off to Exo wonderland for “further examination”.
The next mission they assigned me was a joke, and not a very good one, I had the great honor of over watching a convoy route through Concordia for three days. The chances of anything happening were about the same as a coin landing on its edge, but contrary to popular opinion I know that coins do sometimes play tricks. Three days is a long time to lie still on the ground with only your own mind for company. I move as little as possible once I’ve found my position, aside from the Bane there are still so many unknown dangers. My mind roamed incessantly while my eyes stayed glued to the road. I wondered about the Logos and how it would fit into the “Divine Plan” theory. Everyone seems to regard it as something new and extraordinary but they also say it was on earth for millions of years…
Humans are creatures of action, and all this downtime isn’t sitting well with me. If any of you see a man named Gibs tell him I said ”All I’ve been killing lately is time”. He’ll know what it means.
~J, Burd
Power of Paludos
Xenet 71.43.1 System Msg
TTY31201.02.11
Network Connection Enabled
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I sat there drinking some strange swill the Foreans said would calm my nerves but I couldn't help but feel my stomach turning as I drank. I could hear the sounds of battle raging outside the Forean warriors rushing out the small openings in the sides of the gate to meet the bane forces head on. I couldn't help but think of simpler scenarios when all I had to do was go scrap a few skin cells off a Boargar.
Now all I had to rely on was my staff and my instinct, though after what I had drank I think my instinct was getting the better of me. I sat down and talked at lengths with some of the Forean warriors asking them if they had a life before the fighting like the AFS had. The response I got was sketchy at best but I did remember to go and ask the elder what they meant, but what the elders explained to me made me almost feel selfish for thinking that I was too young to be fighting this hard for so long.
The Foreans used to be someone else, a highly technological society warring within themselves much like people of earth did. The extra boost the Eloh gave them tore their planet asunder so all they could do was contact the Eloh to save them. They were relocated to Foreas, but then we showed up and our arguments and fighting weighed heavily upon them. The elder gave me a herb to chew on that only grew out in the marshes and it definitely helped. It sort of tasted like that medicine you would take back on earth for an upset stomach.
I don't know why but then they had me drink the water flowing around the city and rest within the whirlpool. I never felt so alive this water had something in it that energized me to the core. The Foreans were so close to nature now and I wondered that if maybe, just maybe, all in the AFS could somehow get along better like the Foreans. Perhaps....perhaps we could finally start winning the war instead of just surviving it.
~ Jim Kelsson
Ambush
Xenet 71.43.1 System Msg
TTY31201.02.01
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Few days out of boot camp, and I'm already in the field hospital. Res sickness is everything they promised it would be.. my head is pounding and my stomach feels like it's twisted in knots.
I had just finished some recon at Eloh Creek, and shots started ringing out of nowhere. I hit the dust, dragging my battle brother Lecks down to the dirt with me, bringing my rifle to bear on where i swore they had come from. We knew there were likely to be snipers, but nobody in command warned me that the little bastards were actually invisible. Things like that would be useful to know, right? Then there's this high pitched screaming sound, and i froze.. dust kicked into the air as the dropship came to a halt just overhead. Gods be damned, more bane!
Lecks barked at me to move while the dust still obscured the sniper's shots, and I saw the sense of it. Still, he was halfway up the trail before I'd willed my legs to move at all. I was blind firing behind me with my chaingun to cover our retreat, bile and fear catching in my throat. Two things happened at once. A second dropship came in low for ambush, cutting me off from my damn athlete of a comrade, and a rock caught my ankle, bringing me down hard. My ankle was burning with pain I couldn't afford to feel as Bane now blocked me in completely, cutting off every avenue for retreat.
Except one.
Bringing my chaingun to bear, I let off a salvo of shots towards the closest crusty, then made a sprint towards a nearby pillbox. Shells were singing in the air around me as I ran up the framework of the bunker, onto the fortified roof.. No time to think. No time to second guess myself. I leaped off the roof, over the cliff, and swallowed my fear as the river came quickly to break my fall...
Carter Mannon,
AFS Soldier.
Waiting for Reinforcements
Xenet 71.43.1 System Msg
TTY31201.01.30
Network Connection Enabled
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Damn Bane. Killed half my squad in the first invasion. The rest lay maimed and bloody. I managed to get a med evac to our location. Two more men died on route. Damn crusties. When I found out they were shipping off world I pulled a few favors and got the hell off Earth in hopes of finding the source of the Bane and their murderous brood. I was itching for some pay back. When I arrived on the new world I was greeted by some tree hugging hippie aliens. Nice folks but a little bizarre. That's when I found out I was a receptive or what ever they call it. I really enjoyed the feeling of letting loose a bolt of lightning from my fist, stings a bit but man what a rush! Learning that parlor trick took me while, kind of feel like I should be riding the short bus to Logos class. I never was much for crystals and mumbo jumbo. I prefer my polarity gun to any kind of magic symbol.
So here I am, sitting behind a boulder waiting for reinforcements. We will take this Bane outpost for our own. Then I can sleep a little better knowing I helped take something of theirs, and it really pissed them off.
Carter out.
Epic Glory
Xenet 71.43.1 System Msg
TTY31201.01.29
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Through those endless trenches we shall roam,
Forever lost, we think of our home.
When the shells and fire fall,
We step up, giving it our all.
We are strong, we are brave,
The evil Bane, we shall fight til the end of day.
Though desecrated our planet may be,
To punish the transgressors, that is the mission for you and me.
All aboard soldiers, lock and load,
Let's hits the road, let's no longer be displaced,
For the glory of combat, our honor and our race.
All of this we fight for, and never rest,
Glory to the Brave,
Glory to the AFS!
- Izekial Symons
Hard Lesson
Xenet 71.43.1 System Msg
TTY31201.01.28
Network Connection Enabled
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There's no such thing as R'n'R on the front lines. I'd been discharged from the field hospital, but was still feeling pretty roughed up from the res sickness, so i thought I'd find a nice quiet corner in the LZ to clean my weapons and clear my head. I was dreaming of home when the damn klaxons started wailing. Troops were rushing every which way to man the defenses. Bessie was still laying next to me in pieces; I'd dozed off before I'd finished cleaning her. I cursed and rushed to put her back together and get her loaded before the place was crawling with crusties, and I was without my favorite weapon.
I rushed through the shield barrier, and no sooner had i picked a position at the sandbags, the sky went dark with dropships.
"INCOMING!"
Almost instantly its Crusties everywhere. I emptied a full clip into the oncoming mass, and reloaded. I squeezed the trigger but Bessie jammed up on me badly. Damn it all! As I struggled to unjam her, a massive shadow fell over me and I found myself staring at the knees of a massive Kael. I barely had time to jump out of the way of its huge fists. Holy hell, those things can move! It had me pinned until a few chaingunners drove it back. A high pitched scream became a roar as FAR support soared overhead. Somebody had called in an airstrike, and high explosives tore the Bane apart. From there it was just cleanup.
I learned today that a soldier's closest friend is his weapon. Treat her with respect, and she'll look after you. Neglect her, and she'll abandon you when you need her most. I won't be forgetting that ever again.
Carter Mannon
AFS Soldier
Humanity Lost
Xenet 71.43.1 System Msg
TTY31201.01.25
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As I look out over the wall of Fort Defiance, I began to think; who am I? Who are we?
I just don’t know anymore. I sometimes think back to the days before the attack and try to remember what life was like for the human race. We went to work, we ate, and slept, laughed, loved…you get my point.
Now, it’s death. No more, no less. I’m sitting on a planet that most people never knew existed, fighting an enemy that people never knew about. Fighting for what? Earth? It’s deeper than that. I’m fighting for what makes us human. What good is it to take back Earth if we forget who we are? This constant battle is taken more humanity out of us everyday. I’m not fighting for the Earth. I’m fighting to laugh and love again. I’m fighting to be human….
Sydney Blackfin
Seeing for the First Time
Xenet 71.43.1 System Msg
TTY31201.01.24
Network Connection Enabled
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I woke up last week for the first time. How is that possible, you might ask? Cloning, ‘A miracle of technology’, they call it. Taking the life experiences of a human being and putting them into a new body. There was a time when mankind feared this questionable act. Now it could help us win this war.
My name is Trenton Locksheon, and I am a clone. My ‘father’, if you can call him that, is called Irras Locksheon. I haven’t met the guy yet, but I know him very well. He is me…
Apparently this Irras fellow was just a normal guy, he had a wife, two kids, and a nice little house back in Ohio. Heh, I remember having these dreams...I mean, he used to have dreams of strange symbols. Turns out they were actually Logos elements. Part of a message hidden in his mind, the mind of a ‘receptive’. As a receptive he was a priority evacuee when the Bane hit Earth. Lucky us I guess. Not so much for his family...my family.
I have to admit that giving us all their past memories is an extremely effective way of rallying clones to fight the Bane. Imagine just being born, and having everything you ever loved, everything you ever held dear ripped away from you all in a five second flashback of memories. I was literally born into pain, and anger.
Well, I can’t thank the guy for a happy childhood, but at least I can thank him for this here Polarity Gun. Every time I pull this trigger, I’ll remember what they took from us. Thanks for the gun, dad.
Trenton Locksheon
A.S.F. Demolitionist
A Thin Line
Xenet 71.43.1 System Msg
TTY31201.01.23
Network Connection Enabled
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It's cold out today, I like that, it dulls the nerves allowing me to push my body further. The Thrax have held this outpost for some time now, I'm just waiting for the right moment to strike. I've been in and out of that base in Plateau many a time disguised as a caretaker. The fools not even able to spot a fake one of their own kind. I've been waiting for three days now, waiting for the assault teams to arrive, waiting for the right time to jump down from my cliff position and annihilate the enemy.
A normal person would have gone insane by now waiting and observing from sleep deprivation, but i have a colorful rainbow of stimulant injectors to keep me wide eyed and bushy tailed so to speak. My CO worries about me and my time here spent on the battlefield. He knows and respects that I'm an extremely valuable asset to his team and few things would progress without me. But he is worried about why I do the things I do, he always says "Whites. there is a thin line between killing because you have to for the greater good and killing because you enjoy it. That is the difference between a soldier and a murderer."
It looks like the AFS has finally sent their assault team pity none will be left alive. But they will provide my needed distraction so I can infiltrate their ranks and kill every single one of those god forsaken creatures. I've given a lot of thought to my CO's words about the thin line between a soldier and a murderer. I'd like to think of myself as a soldier cause I'm doing what I'm doing for the AFS and for the greater good. There is just one problem.....
I like it.
Saya Whites
Spies Need You!
Xenet 71.43.1 System Msg
TTY31201.01.22
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I made a petition to AFS Command to recognize every soldier's accomplishments. As a Spy, my training is only on sneaking past the enemy and killing them. The problem is that how many Bane you've killed is a status symbol for the soldiers. A Spy with 10,000 kills is regarded as having more combat experience than a Medic with 500 kills, even if that Medic has healed thousands of soldiers in the field.
As a Spy, I see this as wrong. If every AFS soldier had stealth armor and a blade, we would not win this war. Without medics, even small injuries could be fatal. Without engineers, we would not be able to hold a single outpost against attack. Without Commandos, the Bane would overpower us everywhere. I know Snipers have saved my life many times. The point is, we all have our part to play, and that's the area we should be rewarded in. Sure I was wounded, and when the medic healed me at the hospital I went out and killed 1,000 more Bane. The medic gets credit for those kills just as much as I do.
So be gracious all of you, and do well in your part of the war. Hopefully AFS Command will read my petition and start rewarding soldiers for more than kills. Until then, know that at least one Spy admits he needs you more than you need him. And please don't let me die :D
Sharp Glass
Squad 288
The Bridge Must Hold at any Cost
Xenet 71.43.1 System Msg
TTY31201.01.21
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Yesterday I looked out over troops.
This ragged band of men and women. Hard faces, hard surface. Hard veterans among so many new recruits. Some of the new ones might survive long enough to become as hard as the others.
Since I took command I have seen 150% losses in my ranks. 150% damn, so many faces, so many lives. So many doubts in my mind.
Could I have managed to get more back with the rest?
I have just received the company orders… It is time again. Someone needs us, someone is dying. And the order was the same simple message. Hold until all have past. Another retreat. They seem to be so many recently.
Why do we still do this?
How can we?
This is no longer for humanity or for Earth. We continue to do this for the man we have next to us our brother in arms.
They know what our task is and what have become our call sign. We are the Charlie Company of the 13th inf Div. Also known as the Bridge Keepers. We are the last to leave. We cover your back.
Capt. Lazzaro Father
CO C Comp 13th Inf Div "The Bridge Keepers"
Bane
Xenet 71.43.1 System Msg
TTY31201.01.18
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Bane. Bane of Earth. Bane of Human kind. Bane of my life.
Who ever thought up that name should be leading this war. I had a good life before those monsters came along and screwed everything up. I had a wife who was perfect, four kids and a nice place to live. We had a nice house, two cars and a dog. You cant get better than that I promise you. When the bane came I lost all of that and now I relish every chance I get to fry the sorry excuse of a life form called Bane in front of me with my flamethrower.
Bane. Bane of Everyone. Bane of Everything. Bane of my life is an understatement.
—Grenadier Alistar Robinson
Savoring the Moments
Xenet 71.43.1 System Msg
TTY31201.01.17
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Each day I awaken to the sound of gunfire around me, each day I hear the screams of AFS Soldiers, both recruits and veterans, each day I live as if it is my last.
Recruits come to the base eager and excited, and many leave in a body bag. Although I feel much pain for them, I know there is nothing I can do. I worry about myself first. Fortunately for us here at Foreas Base, we live a relatively easy life, at least compared to other outposts and camps. Every morning I head to the mess hall to consume rotten paste my superiors call food. I wash myself with a quarter pail of brackish water, saving the rest for my canteens. I don my worn armor, clean my pistol and load my grenade launcher, and take one last stare at the locket bearing the picture of my fiancee before leaving the safety of the base walls.
Every time I look into another soldier's eyes, I can't help but realize that they too had lives, happiness, and friends. I realize there is virtually no chance I will see Earth again, so I make the best out of every possible moment, as it may just be my last. My squad mates give me hope, get me through the days, and give me a reason to fight. I can't help but smile when I see the proud faces of the AFS standing in front of a captured Bane base, or Foreans collecting scraps from a fallen Stalker. Moments like these may often be bittersweet, but they remind me that there is still hope in the war.
-Cody Lindstorm
Sergeant, AFS Marine Division
What’s in a name?
Xenet 71.43.1 System Msg
TTY31201.01.16
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It is interesting how we look at things. For example how we reference time, I remember it used to be BC and AD for Before Christ and Anno Domini, now it is BB and AB, Before Bane and After Bane. Watching my city being destroyed, my family killed, everyone or everything I knew or cared about, dead or missing, and now I’m on another planet that is struggling to hold onto its life, fighting against the bane as we did and lost.
After getting through the initial wormhole an AFS officer on the arriving end asked me my name I told him it was Times. The officer looked at me quizzically, and asked, “First or last?” I replied, “Last. First name is Hard as in giving the bane Hard Times, just like they give everyone else.” The officer grinned, gave me a wink, and said, “Welcome to the AFS soldier.”
So what’s in my name? I’d like to think fear! I picked a new name for a new life, for a new way of life. The Neph/Bane ripped our lives away from us and as a result I’m driven to remove them from the universe, one at a time, as many times as I am able, for as long as I am able to breathe. I want to bane to fear the sight of me. I want to give them as many a hard times as they give others.
Hard Times
AFS Ranger Corps
No Rest for the Weary
Xenet 71.43.1 System Msg
TTY31201.01.15
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I've been stationed on Arieki for longer than I care to remember. If there is a god, he left this damned planet a long time ago. It is for the most part barren and inhospitable, all volcanic ash and lava flows. The entire planet is contested, but none of the conflict seems at all out of place in this hell hole. It's like it was born a battlefield, and life on this world evolved simply to fulfill that destiny.
I briefly returned to Mt. Hellas outpost after a lengthy recon mission with my squad mate Tael. We had spent the better part of the last week scouting a Bane mining operation. Hiding in the shadows has never sat right with her, she's impatient and fiery, and much prefers to be in the thick of things. Her impatience was beginning to grate on my own nerves, but I was glad to have her there when things turned ugly and we were surrounded by Thrax. ]
All in all, the mission was successful and we returned with valuable intel. The top brass must have been keeping tabs on us, because after being debriefed I was informed I was to receive further training and reassignment. It seems to be very much centered around espionage and assassination; I'm being given extensive training with blades and close combat weaponry, and being taught the finer points of spreading confusion and discord amongst the enemy. My trainer has even mentioned that he will teach me how to move amongst the Bane as one of them, but I have no idea what he means by that.
In any case, I have the feeling that the action I've seen up until this point is going to be child's play in comparison with what is in store for me in the near future. In the meantime, I'm going to attempt to enjoy what little time I have left away from combat duty.
Liliara Mannon,
Covert Operative
AFS Omni-tek Division
