[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/181022/cac4c696ebc21b35bf11eea7f2c76da5.png[/img] _____________________________________________________________________________________________[/center] [color=lightgray] [i][b]You can't break a man who is already broken.[/b][/i] Through every drill that made every muscle in his body ache to the long marches that nearly caused him to collapse in exhaustion, Daniel pushed through it all. He had nothing. That meant nothing was holding him back so he could put every fiber of his being into moving forward. All he could rely on was himself to get the job done. Honor means nothing if you die. That way of thinking did not earn him many friends nor did his unorthodox style of fighting in hand-to-hand combat. It seemed pointless to become friends with a person who very likely might be dead tomorrow. To that end, he only cared about accomplishing his assigned task and staying alive. Anything beyond that was outside of his interest. Daniel could tell simply from the arrogant way he spoke that the first lieutenant was a noble. That was reason enough for Daniel not to like the guy but truth be told, he liked the fact he got straight to the point. The early wake-up call was rough enough without having to listen to some old man rant prattle on and on. The Atlantic 15th rifles...simply another cog in a greater war machine. He was not here for some made-up concept like [i]glory[/i] and would settle for simply surviving day by day. His wary eyes scanned over the other soldiers in formation, noticing that many of them were around his age. A brief flash of curiosity made him wonder what kind of lives they all came from. He quickly stopped his examination of his brothers and sisters-in-arms. In the end, their personal history mattered little. Despite his childhood being spent mostly in a gang, Daniel had never once directly claimed the life of another human being. He had broken bones, cut open flesh, and even separated a few fingers from their owner. These violent acts gave Daniel the belief that when the time came, he would have no issue pursuing that kind of violence to its ultimate end. Once the platoon was dismissed, he separated himself from the group rather quickly to examine and double-check his gear. The last thing he would want would be for his rifle to jam in the middle of a fire-fight. As a shock-trooper, Daniel would be straight in the thickest of fighting and had the responsibility of charging enemy lines first. It was a dangerous job but it afforded him more freedom to be as ruthless as the situation allowed. While cleaning his weapon, he couldn't help but overhear the conversation between the two lance-corporals and a few privates from his platoon. They seemed, at least to him, a easy-going and relatively care-free bunch. It was better than having a few jar-heads and gung-ho morons as squad-mates, at least they would live a little longer. He had no interest in joining the conversation so he just kept to himself. If they survived their first battle, maybe then he would be more open to discussion. No sooner did he finish fully inspecting his weapon than did the first lieutenant return with new orders: to move towards the front line. He quickly changed his mind about the lieutenant, he was just a pretentious asshole with a greater-than-thou attitude typcial of one in his position. Quietly and quickly, he gather up his gear and joined his assigned group with the same people he had been eavesdropping on. Daniel had thought that he had suffered the worse smells on the streets of Ancaster but [i][b]this[/b][/i]....this was enough to even make his stomach churn. The entire scene leading up to the front-line trench was depressing to say the least. The flame of hope flickered and wavered in the eyes of soldiers, an early warning sign of what to expect. He simply took up his position, waiting for the signal to be sent towards victory or death. Any signs of anxiety that made have crossed Daniel were hidden deep under a mask of complete concentration. He appeared almost like a statue, a fierce look locked in on his face. Whatever happened in the next hour, Daniel would make sure he pulled through it all and carried any he could over to the other side. One observation that Daniel made about being in the army was that it was very similar to being in his old gang. There was nobody looking out for you except your fellow soldiers. He didn't need to know them and they didn't need to know him, but he would have their back all the same. [/color]