Fan Fiction ❯ DEMON ❯ Burning Images ( Chapter 1 )

A/N: I'm really kinda a jock I play sports all the time and have failed English every year of my life but I had the odd urge to write this story. If you like it and want me to continue writing it post a review and say so or else ill just leave it at this one chapter.

 

Summary: In the year 2436 Earth is at war with the Zion Alliance, a group of space colonies claiming to fight for their independence. David Wolf is a genetically enhanced ex-soldier haunted by the horrors of his past. When David's colony is destroyed during a fierce battle he and his class mates are drawn into the heart of the conflict. Can they get to the bottom of this and put an end to the war before all of humanity is lost?

 

***

 

A young man leaned against the wall of the drop ship. The red operating lights of the craft made his shaggy, nearly shoulder length, navy blue hair appear as black as the Earth Forces Special Ops combat suit he wore. The word DRAGOON written in white block letters across the chest of the suit marked him as being a member of Cornel King's elite Dragoon squad. LT. DAVID WOLF was written in smaller letters above that. His eyes were closed as he tried to rest for the last few minutes that they had before entering the atmosphere of Titan, one of the Jupiter's many moons.

This would be the Dragoons third trip to Titan in the last forty-eight hours. Their numbers had dwindled form the original thirty men to a mere eight over the course of the two six hour engagements. The mission this time was simple: destroy an advancing battalion of, possibly nuclear armed, artillery. After the Burning Rose incident Zion's use of a nuclear weapon seemed highly unlikely, how ever even standard artillery would drastically increase Zion's chances for a victory on Titan.

“Hey kid, wake up.” Cornel King said as he punched David's shoulder lightly, causing his piercing emerald green eyes to snap open. The boy was fifteen years old, less than half the age of the rest of the men on the ship, and far too young to be waging a war.

“Yes sir.” Replied Lieutenant Wolf in his slightly gravely baritone voice. The voice seemed too deep, too big for someone barely over five and a half feet tall.

“We're a minute from the drop, grab yer shit `n get ready.”

 

***

 

It had been a set up, a traitor feeding them false intel maybe, or a beautifully laid trap by the Zion soldiers. Either way they were coming down in the middle of an enemy platoon. Above and to his left Lieutenant Wolf could hear the Cornel demanding immediate dust off. To his right he saw Sergeant Ramirez take a shot to the chest. Thirty feet from the ground David pulled a grenade from his belt and armed it. 1 second… 2 seconds, he was now just over twenty feet from the ground; he hurled the grenade straight down with all his might and unhooked the parachute harness, dropping the last twenty feet to the ground. The grenade hit the ground and exploded while he was still fifteen feet in the air, effectively clearing an area for him to land.

Lieutenant Wolf hit the ground in a crouch barely a second after the explosion. As the dust cleared he brought his rifle to bear and squeezed off a few rounds, cutting down the few remaining soldiers that had a chance of hitting his still airborne squadmates. Moments later the rest of the Dragoons began landing around him. The Cornel used hand signals to tell them that the landing zone would be five kilometers west of their current position. The Earth Forces soldiers didn't waste a moment heading toward the indicated area. Wolf, being by far the fastest of the group, took point.

 

***

 

It had taken nearly an hour for the Cornel and his men to fight their way across the four kilometers of enemy territory to the landing zone. Two kilometers back Ramirez had succumb to his wounds leaving the Dragoons with seven men. With one kilometer left and nearly everyone out of ammunition it seemed unlikely that they would make it to their intended destination.

Wolf heard the sound of combat boots on loose rock coming from the boulders to their left. He turned to warn his squadmates but it was too late; he could only watch in horror as the incendiary grenade hit the ground and flushed the area with fire. The air was filled with the screams of the six men being burned alive. The only family he had ever known was gone. Or would be after thirty or so seconds more of excruciating pain. The sound of their screams consumed him, echoed endlessly in his mind, over and over again.

 

***

 

David Wolf sat bolt up right in his bed; his entire body was dripping with sweat. It was that same damn dream… no… nightmare that had haunted him for the last year. He couldn't for get the image of his comrades burning alive or the sound of their dieing screams. Some times he thought that he would gladly trade places with them, thirty seconds of pain followed by the endless peace of death. Better than to be tortured endlessly by the memory of helplessly watching while they died and he lived. But that wasn't the only nightmare that haunted his dreams courtesy of the war, no he also-NO he wouldn't think of that. Damn he felt like someone had smashed his head with a sledge hammer.

David sighed, massaging his temples for a minute before heading into the bathroom. Turning on the water he stood there and stared blankly at the floor for a few moments before shedding his boxers and stepping into the ice cold water. He'd gotten used to cold water showers during the war when hot water was unavailable and now any thing else felt wrong to him. As he washed him self he thought of his life since he had been assigned to non-combat missions.

The last six months marked the longest time he'd spent in any one place and the last four months were by far the longest he had gone to school. He'd been assigned to gather intel on what was believed to be a top secret Zion research center. While he was on the colony he was suppose to attend Woodcreek High School and keep up the pretense of being a normal sixteen year old boy. That one made him laugh. Even if he had been normal before he fought in the war how could they possibly expect him to by normal after?

Shutting of the water he stepped out of the shower. `This is such a bullshit life' he thought as he began drying him self with a towel. It was all so routine it hurt him. Everyday he went to that school, went to the gym for a few hours, came back home, drank him self to sleep, woke up with a killer hang over, and then did it all again. He sighed and continued on his morning routine (damn it there it is again more routine) so that he could get to school on time.

 

***

 

As David stepped onto the school campus his sensitive nose was immediately overwhelmed by the scents of all the students at the school. He snorted as he slung his bag over his shoulder and headed toward his locker. Everyone seemed to stop and stare as he walked by. It was always like this. Some stared at the horizontal scar across his left check, others stared at this unusually colored hair or eyes, and some stared at him because he was the only student on campus that didn't wear the mandatory uniform. David snorted again and just kept on walking.

Oddly he saw a large group of people standing around his locker waiting for him to arrive. He ignored them and pushed his way through the crowd so he could get to his locker. As he opened his it and began to take random things out of it some one to his left started to whisper some thing in his ear.

“Thought I should warn you, Ken Amada is gunna jump you as soon as you turn around. He's looking to settle a bet over which of you would win in a fight, good luck man.” The voice said. David almost laughed. Ken Amada was the captain of the varsity foot ball team and considered to be the strongest person at the school. Poor guy… he had no idea what he was up against.

David dropped his bag and turned around. He saw the enormous fist coming strait at his face and moved his head to the left just in time to avoid the blow. Aloud crash resonated trough the hall and a large dent appeared in the locker where Ken's fist hit. Ken hissed in pain before he took up a boxer like fighting stance. David still stood with his feet shoulder width apart and his hands hanging limp at his sides. By now a large crowd had gathered around them and people could be heard cheering for which ever one of them they had bet their money on.

As the two boys stood facing each other it looked as if Ken had the advantage. Towering a foot over David and easily weighing a hundred pounds more he was clearly the crowd favorite. The crowd erupted with cheers as Ken took a swing at the smaller boy. David easily ducked under the attack and replied in kind with a lightning fast jab into Ken's stomach. Amada gasped as the air was forced from his lungs, his eyes narrowed with rage and he attacked viciously. David was easily able to dodge or block every blow and it wasn't long before Ken was thoroughly exhausted. He made one last attempt to hit his opponent, but David easily caught his hand and slammed him roughly against the lockers. Ken slide to the ground and didn't even try to get up again. The crowd roared with applause and a noticeable amount of money changed hands

David picked up his bag, slinging it over his shoulder again, and turned to leave. `And here a thought that today was just going to be a bunch of the same old shit' he thought to him self as he headed toward his first period class. Joy. English, how exciting. Not that he paid attention in any class but English seemed to bug him extra for some reason.

As David walked into the classroom he noticed that class had already started. He must have missed the bell ringing during his fight with Ken, oh well. With out even looking at the teacher he took his seat in the back left-hand corner of the classroom. David took to looking out the large floor to ceiling window ran the length of the left side of the room as the teacher returned to the lecture he had interrupted with his late arrival. Somewhere in the back of his mind he noted the classroom door opening as he watched to small birds chasing each other around tree on the campus.