Generation Warfare

A Sci-fi short story based in a futuristic war-torn Newyork.

Generation Warfare

Small silver projectiles with neon blue traces of light behind them traveling in a large arch pass over his head twenty or so feet above. What his eyes behold reflect like a mirror off of his helmet’s black polished electronically intelligent eye visor as his matte black helmet blares a small siren in his ears. Red warning signs flash across the inside of the visor as his light green eyes dilate from the light show going on in his helmet. Warning of the nano strike that just passed as a woman's voice repeats, "Warning, warning." He and his M8A1 spark rifle, which handle he grips more sternly but eases off the trigger knowing there's nothing to shoot at, spin around. He traces with his eyes what appears like hundreds of arching laser beams, the silver projectiles have propelling them. The projectiles suddenly arch straight into the ground exploding with a spectacle of neon blue electricity. They echo a high pitched ring similar to the sound defibrillators give off as they are charged to resuscitate someone but this sound means quite the opposite.  As he watches, the newly paved city street shatters like glass as the entire convoy of 2-ton armored crawlers are lifted off the ground by the anti-gravity that the nano explosions create. He can't help but notice the reactions like a title wave moving down the convoy line picking them up and smashing them down.  Then all at once, it's over.  Heaps of metal and concrete lay as thick gray dust and ash settle to the ground. Black smoke clears and rises to the skyline of the city as Mattia stumbles backward. His dark blue digital camo uniform consisting of thousands of small different colored hexagons contrasts the dull gray city in the year of 21, once known as the bustling city of New York. 

     Before the war broke out, staying out past curfew was normal and you would work in an office building focusing on what will go on tomorrow's newspaper. A boss whose focus is getting the highest customer satisfaction and who's got a family just like you. Now you work in the headquarters of the world's largest military, your boss is the leader of a new order, a man who your focus is on getting the highest satisfaction from. There’s constant need to look over your shoulder as you stroll through the city, the cold metal of your rifle in hand that you trust to stop the world from falling apart just as it did for a few brief moments only seconds ago. 

"Mattia, Mattia!", his friend yells, he snaps out of it as he turns away from the rubble of the convoy to the call of his name. The two dozen or so ground troops at the front of the convoy with him witnessed the same destruction come and go but the man calling his name is the only one of them he knows personally. Just as Mattia remembered him, as the 14-year-old short cut blonde haired  boy who he had come to know long before training side by side with him.  His cheekbones tensed out from grinding his teeth constantly. He had a short but built professional stature much like his own, but Mattia, now 43 years old will always have the four-inch height advantage over him. His name is Darien, the age of 40, a close friend he grew up with and was recruited into General Greyfield’s special forces. "Where the hell did those nanos come from!" Mattia barks at the men wearing the same hexagonal patterned dark blue uniforms as him, the only difference is Mattia,s uniform has a silver star barely noticeable over his heart which only squadron leaders have. He’s expecting them to know the answer but they all just stare…..

 "Useless,” he scowls.  "Darien, did you hear anything over Coms about enemy artillery in the sector?" Mattia asks with a less hostile manner. 

"Nothing at all, they must have laid low until now, those rebel b******s gave their position away firing that nano strike, though, I'm calling a responsive drone strike now." Mattia nods his head at Darien as he nods back then puts an ear piece in, pulling a mic to his mouth and walking away uttering coded coordinates to the UAV drone controllers who pilot the drones via counsels from the safety of General Greyfield’s Headquarters. 

Only two or three minutes go by when five high-tech, black, and sleek shaped drones blur across the sky above. Silently their purple flames propel them forward, flickering behind them. Mattia and the two dozen men stop going through the rubble of the convoy to watch them fly five or six city blocks to the coordination provided before swooping down. Each of the drones shoots what can only be described as bright red shooting stars towards the ground. The men all watch the shooting stars disappear behind the skyline of the city. The sky above flashes white like lightning striking. Thunder of an explosion follows and the drones make their way back overhead, headed back to HQ. Mattia looks to Darien who was watching the live video feed from one of the drones on the inside of the eye visor similar to Mattia's. It's like he's there as it happens. He flips the visor up as it goes into his helmet, revealing his light brown eyes which have dilated from watching the flash of white from the camera's point of view. He squints and manages to see Mattia looking his way for confirmation as he announces, "Last we’ll hear of them." "They got wiped from the face of the earth, direct hit." Mattia grabs Darien’s shoulder and shakes him back and forth excitedly as the rest of the men let out hoots, cheers, and whistles. For Mattia, Darien, and the soldiers in Greyfields Special Forces, this is the reality of the people of their lifetime, known as "Generation Warfare".

Reviews

[Andy Leavy]

Nice read with a lot of potential. Enjoyed it and would like to read more.

If I was to pick out a few problems it would be trivial things such as sentence structure and punctuation. Some sentences are structured a bit strangely and I feel there is a lack of commas which would break up sentences nicely, they would also help with the breaking up of the adjectives used in your in-depth descriptions (which are great I love how descriptive you are)

Also the part: "and you would work in an office building focusing on what will go on tomorrow's newspaper.and you would work in an office building focusing on what will go on tomorrow's newspaper.", I feel should read :", you would work in an office focusing on what will go into tomorrow's newspaper." A small change but I feel it works better.


Altogether this was a fun read with an interesting plot that I would be interested to see more of. Keep on writing!

[Jamieya B-Johnson]

Good detailed story. Great work, keep writing. I love it!

[Coyote Poetry]

A very good write. I wanted to read and know more. The logic of the story is true. World controlled by war. A dark place. Thank you for sharing the amazing story.
Coyote