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The creaking of the duckboards were brought to his attention just before a soft pressure was felt on his right shoulder. He only turned his head slightly in response, his body remaining in the same position with his left hand on the underside of his rifle's barrel ready to surge over the top like a force of nature. He gave a single, firm nod to the girl ignoring the what could be read as a offense. Instead he looked at her from her head to her feet back to her face, his face unchanging like a mask, as if looking for a weakness. Daniel hoped that she would not slow him down [color=AD2841][b]"Daniel."[/b][/color] He simply stated, extending his rough hand to shake hers in an almost crushing grip. Kalisa being a Darscen meant nothing to him, as there were more than a couple in his old gang. There would be little point giving out his first name if she bit the dust in a few minutes. Afterwards, he returned to looking at the top edge of the trench [color=AD2841][b]"We must do anything to complete our objective and survive. The enemy will do anything to stop us. I am preparing to do whatever it takes, and so should you."[/b][/color] The way he said this came off harsher than intended. Daniel knew what kind of brutal acts of violence humans could to each other, so why would war be any different?

The look on some of the soldiers who looked to be here more than a day...was what had him on edge most of all. Daniel could feel it in his gut that something awful was going to happen when they went over this trench, though he couldn't possible imagine the reality he would soon face.

Once the sarge came down the trenches telling each soldier to shut it, he knew that it had begun. The words of the LT that followed did nothing to sway Daniel's morale, not entirely convinced about duty to the Federation and Humanity. However, he could agree on one part of what he said: The Imperials would be destroyed by Daniel's hand. Just like a game of King of the Hill, Daniel would be the one standing at the top victorious. He watched completely unmoved as Middleton forced his ridiculous orders on some girl who could barely hold herself together. It was as he thought, however. Each and every one of them were simply pawns in a larger game and fully expendable. If that was the conditions for this game, [i]so be it[/i].

As Daniel affixed the bayonet to his rifle, he could feel his heart beating faster in his chest. A tool that made his rifle deadlier in close quarters, and one he would be sure to make full use of. For the first time since entering the military, Daniel reflected on the moments in his past that brought him here. A broken home where he wasn't wanted, an early life of crime on the streets, and lastly the loss of the only person that showed him unconditional love. How many people would have taken their life by now? Would he have been justified in doing so he wondered. That was not who he was. If he let every tragedy bring him closer to the edge, he would have fallen off years ago. No matter how broken he became, it was his ultimate defiance to life and the universe at whole to continue living at any cost.

The sharp whistle and loud yelling of the Lieutenant broke him from his rare self-reflection. He turned towards Kalisa, the shock-trooper who tried to calm his nerves even if she had been mistaken [color=AD2841][b]"I'll keep us alive, just don't get in my way."[/b][/color] He stated bluntly as he got in line to climb ladders that lead over the trench.

Flashes of light and splashes of blood filled his vision as he reached the top, breaking off into a full sprint the moment he was off the ladder. Yelling and screaming filled the dense air, saturated with the smells of the dead and dying. The sweet feeling of adrenaline pumping into his bloodstream allowed him to press forward through the hellish landscape. Nothing he ever saw on the streets of Ancaster compared to the sight of those first minutes of battle and would be burned into his memory until his last breath. He couldn't stop to think about anything else except for the enemy before him and his orders. The only option was to keep moving, since staying still would only get himself killed. More than once he stepped on strange terrain only to find out it was a body of a soldier who tried before them.

Daniel made his way ahead of Jean, his legs more used to running for his life than the write it seemed. It was hard not to notice the fear in the lance-corporal's eyes as he moved past. The last thing he wanted to do was follow in the footsteps of a leader who could not bring himself together. Meanwhile, Daniel would pave the way for his fellow soldiers while Jean got a grip. All he had to do was get in close, and the ones responsible for this massacre would pay.
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