The Great War

I got this idea this morning and thought it'd be a good idea for a story.

I stood on the battlefield and surveyed the destruction that lay all around me. The burned carcasses of war machines litter the horizon. Around me the smell of the death is rising to the heavens. The great wars are finally over. Years, decades of death and destruction have plagued this land. It has taken it's toll and this place will never be the same.

Their was a time when I thought that the war was over. We had finally turned the tides on the demons that tried to lay waste to this world. We were for the first time in ages on the verge of winning the war, or so we thought. The Battle of July was where we turned it all around. We were finally able to launch an effective counter strike against the demons. They were driven back within the month and we saw our first major victory. For months afterwards we continued to see nothing but victories and gained even more ground against the demons.

Then everything started to unravel. The demons started a new type of war. One that we weren't prepared for with them. It involved the use of infiltrators that spread lies within our people. Our people began to turn on themselves and soon minor skirmishes erupted among us. With the chaos that was now running rampant amongst our people, the demons struck and struck hard. They hit us with a massive offensive designed to divide our armies and take them apart piece by piece. It was designed perfectly to sweep in quickly and decimate our armies. The initial assaults were almost one hundred percent effective. We had a few survivors who were able to warn the others, but casualties were high all around. After the Great Purge, we saw our numbers dwindled, and our hope smashed.

During this time is when I thought all hope was lost. I didn't think we would survive and waited for death to take me like it had done to my brothers and sisters. We were being pushed back and the war was all but lost at that time. I didn't think I'd be able to command my troops into another losing battle. We were on the run and desperate. Fellow leaders had the idea for Operation Death Blow which was effectively suicide. It would have killed the demons, but we would not have survived. They were within minutes of initiating the sequence when we were attacked. The device was rendered unusable, and we were forced into a battle that we didn't think we could win. Many leaders believed this to be our last stand.

During the halfway point of our battle, I saw an opening in their attack force. I convened with a small group of soldiers who were specialists in getting into tight situations. They were the last of their kind and we saw this as a last ditch effort to turn the tide of the war. As we sneaked behind enemy lines we were able to sabotage their death machines and send them crumbling to the ground. As those machines fell, a small glint of hope could be felt rising from our lines. The demons lines fell into chaos without the support of their machines. As they panicked, we surged forward. To say the battle was over at that moment would be incorrect. It waged for days afterwards, but without the machines to aid the demons, we were able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

So I sit here surveying the destruction of The Great War and The Final Battle. I'm bruised, burned, and haunted by the loss of my friends. But I know that the war is over and we shall rise from the ashes.

Author's Note

First draft.

Reviews

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. amen! ... brilliantly written, jeff ... goosebumps ... the philosophical dimensions that you are traversing with this one are mind-blowing ... sheer genius!!! ...