Latest News «
Submit News «


Articles «
Comics «
Journal Entries «
Squad Reviews «
Rat Profiles «


Infantry Bootcamp «
Creating A Squad «
Maps & Radio «
FAQ «
Dictionary «


Official Forums «
Chat Room «


Previews «
Screenshots «
Book Listing «
Equipment Specs «
Links «


Feedback «
Site Info «
Link to Us «

A war story - Part IV: "Char-red Remains"
by Modus Virtuoso

As I shifted my gaze from the shaking Grenadier up and out of the fox-hole into the smoke-filled air, I thought for a moment how pitifully horrible things were going right now...

Easing myself onto my hands and knees, the pain seemed to ebb and flow that much quicker through my body. Wretching on my own blood, I noticed a peculiar warming feeling in my ears... Soon thereafter I realized the concussion had ruptured my eardrums.

What had appeared to be an eternity of time had in reality only lasted an instant. Time was reeling - fleeting, quickly elapsing before I could even notice - and yet at the same time...

Regaining my composure slowly with my knees barely sustaining my wait - wobbling childishly, uncontrolably - I found myself inspecting my own figure for injuries...and found none to speak of! My clothes had fared worse, however, and my once proud uniform now had some distinctive rips and holes.

Peering over the edge of the fox-hole, I quickly found Leutnant der Vett commanding the troops and vehicles to hastily find cover. Our eyes met, and he seemed to sense that I was in no immediate position to move. As I was about to pull myself out of the fox-hole and attempt to head towards the rest of my command, I sensed, not felt, the explosion behind me. The 75mm shell had landed 15 feet behind me, and the subsequent explosion had thrown me face-first into the muddy ground before the lip of the Grenadier's fox-hole. It seemed that my back was afire with thousands of flames, though I made no attempt to smother them...Somehow I knew it was not the case. Before I lost consciousness again, I envisioned...

- ....what appeared to be a small hut, a building which reminded me decidedly of hell... Flames erupting from the roof and windows, licking ferverently at the surrounding land, hungrily wanting more. And from this abomination came three demons... Alit in the same fire, flailing their fire-ridden arms and screaming with all the insanity of a daemon of the underworld.
Only when I realized that the hut was der Vett's command vehicle, and the demons were his assistants - did I lose conscious thought... -

It seemed ages, years... before I awoke again...

I found myself laying underneath one of the few trees that lined the southern edge of the muddy ravine. Not moving from where I sat propped up, I tried to perceive what had occured since my last coherent moment. From the look of things... Our situation had neither improved nor worsened. The enemy still lay before us, defiant in the face of our petty opposition. The single Char still sat alone outside of his "Den", and his assosciate was nowhere to be found.

We had again lost more vehicles, der Vett's personal Halftrack among them, including his crew. Also included in the write-off list were 3 more Panzer IIs, and one of our Skodas. The rest had fled to safety further down the road. The Infantry Guns had not fared as well, both being completely knocked out.

It seemed too much at this frail moment in my existance.

"Why? Why can't we take them?" I said aloud.

The troops around stirred at the sound of my voice.

One of our Medics, I believe his name was Wagner, came over quickly.

"Sir, how's your head, sir?" he asked inquisitively.

"Why? What must one do? WHY?"

His look changed quickly..."Sir, please, sir...relax!"

And at that moment, my mind had had enough. I slowly drifted back into un-consciousness, hearing only brief snippets of the conversation that followed between Wagner and... was that der Vett? I couldn't be certain. I just heard a few words:

"Sir...concussion...Also a high... of fractured ribs...'m amaz...till al..ve..."

"When...think....command?"

"I don'...sir...i...uld.br..." and then the words ceased having meaning...

The visions that remained with me were hollow... Empty of thought or emotion. It was rather troublesome. Nothing happened before me, no vision... no glimpse of my family, no memory of times past.

Then it came to me in a surge of unbelievable power -

An angel, wings out-stretched in enveloping warmth, swooping down to comfort me in my time of pain. The angel was not alone, however. She came with three others just like her. All with beautiful wings of emerald. The cry they carried with them was truimphant, the most exultant cry of victory I had ever heard, in the purest form...

Yes, they comforted me in my time of weakness, smiting the demon that troubled me with ease.

They removed my fear...

But a demon, out of luck, or fate - I did not know - struck one of the Angels out of the sky with a series of flashes... The Angel, her wings breaking, bleeding, fell to the earth...

The demon again spread his claws around another of the Angels, tearing her to pieces before she had the chance to escape into the heavens...This demon was laying waste my faithful angels with unrelenting force...

The remainin Angels, their cry now silenced as if in mourning of their lost sisters, fled back towards the heavens...

I was alone, once again.

Something triggered my consciousness to re-awaken. I was not sure as to what, but with an explosive *snap*, reality became one with surreality once again.

Only then did I learn the truth as to what had happened in my absense.

And before me, lying before the "Lion's Den" was a Char Bis B1.

It was completely destroyed, and now lay resting on it's haunches - tracks blown off, black smoke rising from the burnt-out carapace, mantlet and face-plate mishapen, with shards and pieces of metal spread over a great distance surrounding it.

The wail of the Stuka-Angels had silenced one of the "Lions", but one still remained...