Felgar Deprado Journal Entry 4

Entry #4

It felt like forever since the day started. We were awoken with a high-pitched alarm, and told to get dressed immediately. I put on my cloaking armor, readied my plasma gun, and quickly ate a small slab of Narotar meat. We were rushed to the courtyard of Fort Lanstein and sent to a corner of the fort. There, our group met up with the two other groups composing of Unit 431. Major Pairius, after doing a headcount, lead us outside the fort, where a massive cargo ship awaited us.

At this point, I’ve never stood near a ship before, so knowing that I was going to ride one peaked my excitement to a maximum. The ship’s exterior was lined with adamantium armor - and its boosters were splitting out a ghostly fire. The only windows in the plane were the ones sitting on the front of the ship - which I’m assuming is the cockpit. A faint green force field around the ship disabled itself as we neared it.

We were led up a ramp and into the belly of the ship. The interior was bigger than I expected, about the size of the indoor gym at the academy. It was lit up with dull florescent lights and lined with cheap chairs and iron walls. There was no windows, and half of the space was crammed with boxes and cargo.

At that point, all of the chairs had been taken, so I situated myself near the back of the ship, sitting on a large metal box full of holes. Once everybody got settled down, the ship began ascending into the air, and my stomach dropped. A wave of nausea passed through me, and I needed to vomit as soon as possible. I looked around at a place where I could do so privately, but found nothing. So I threw up into the metal box I was sitting on through one of its holes. Nobody had noticed when I was finished, so I shrugged it off.

As the ship stopped rising and started going into a direction, I eased myself and fidgeted with my gun. I remember how eager I was to finally be on the battleground. For five years I had waited to serve Bipond, and the moment had finally come. I reminded myself that one day, I was going to clasp a rebel by his neck, and squeeze. I promised myself that I was going to savor his every plead - his every beg for mercy. I would tell him how mistaken he was for opposing Bipond, before watching the light leave out of his eyes. I recalled the moment when I regretted leaving my family for the military yesterday, and snickered. I was weak - pathetic. I couldn’t let a moment of weakness like that happen again.

Suddenly, I heard a low growl below me, and then the box began shaking. It sounded like something, or someone, was pounding on the walls of the box. I slipped off of it and tried to look inside through one of its holes. Ignoring the awful smell of my vomit, I peered at what seemed like pure darkness. However, soon enough I saw an eye in the box look right back at me. I screamed and stumbled backwards onto the side of the ship.

Major Pairius filled my eyesight when I looked up again, a scowl etched on his face. He demanded an explanation, so I told him that something was in the box. Pairius chuckled, before telling me what I just saw. Supposedly, the Bipondic military deploys otherworldly beasts deep into enemy lines to destroy their men and resources. According to him, the thing inside the box was a fowl tentacled abomination, and I had angered it somehow. Of course, I didn’t tell him that I had vomited into the box, so I held his eyesight until he left.

Afterwards, I chose to sit down on the cold metal floor and endured the rest of the bumpy ride. After what seemed like forever, the ship finally slowed down and began its descent. After managing to avoid another round of vomit, the cargo plane landed and the doors swung open. I made sure my plasma gun was loaded and walked down the platform with everyone else.

The first thing I noticed was that the area around us was completely barren. Devoid of any life. The only sign that the area once flourished with flora and fauna were charred, broken remains of trees scattered around the grassless clearing. In its place sat a small town of tents and makeshift buildings, filled with military equipment and weapons. Men milled around the area, on their way to fulfilling errands and menial tasks.

Major Pairius informed us that we arrived at what would soon become Osnaine One - a military airbase that will make the transportation of soldiers much more efficient. After a brief walk, we ended on a wide road that cut through the very center of Osnaine One. A fleet of hovercars flew above the wide road, each able to hold a dozen people. We climbed onto the ships, and I, again, was assigned to the front car.

Sitting with Trunic and Pairius, our caravan of hovercraft began its journey down the road. Eventually we left the tents and huts of Osnaine One to the horizon and through a charred, barren plain. The wasteland lasted all the way to the horizon, where a faint line of trees marked its end. Occasional pillars of smoke leaked out from the ground and covered the sky with sulfuric fumes. Pairius explained that a large portion of the rainforest was burned down to make way for Osnaine One. Unfortunately, the fire wasn’t properly controlled and the flames went rampant. According to him, some parts of the rainforest are still burning.

An hour later, our caravan left the wasteland and into the forest. The transition was slow, but I eventually found ourselves being enveloped with trees. At that point, the road became less defined and curvy, weaving around large trees and mushrooms. Eventually, the path ceased all together, and Pairius told us to hold onto our seats. We soon found ourselves flying over rivers and under large overhangs. I specifically remember the world blurring around us as we swiftly moved towards our destination. At one point, we even went through a cave - faintly lit up with bioluminescent algae and large crystals reflecting light from our headlights. Some poor chap fell off one of the hovercraft when we flew over a raging river. He was gone when we turned around to rescue him.

Eventually, loud blasts rang though the forest and occasional flashes of weapons lit the sky. We started passing through large pits, abandoned forts, and broken machinery. Wrangled pieces of scrap and mass graves started to get more and more common the further we got into the battlefield. I briefly wondered if fighting the rebels would be what I thought it was, but it was only a fleeting moment.

Night fell soon afterwards. We camped at a nearby clearing, using fallen leaves and the ground as our beds. Of course, Pairius didn’t let us light a fire, so I snuck about 150 feet away and used my mandatory flashlight to write in here. Which is where I am now.

 

Glory to Bipond,

Felgar Doprado