Lord Of Goblins

"Are you alright!?".

Lev's voice could barely be heard despite his shouting.

"Who-who are you? State your Eurasian ID!", Eric screamed, his eyes were blinded by a flash grenade that was thrown at him just mere seconds ago.

"My EU-ID is 2406, Private Lev".

Eric tried to identify Lev through his blurred vision and could just make out Lev's general shape -luckily for Lev, Eric's ears hadn't been damaged by the fighting and though his vision was blurry, he could recognize the colours of the EU's standard private ranked MCS model.

Eric took a deep breath and calmed his nerves. "Alright 2406, I mean, Lev, is there a way to contact the neutral zone's HQ? I think there's something wrong with my MCS.".

Lev looked at the display on his right wrist and swiftly opened a few sub-tabs and took out his dog tag to confirm his ID on his local device. He waited for the device to establish a connection, only to find the connection between his squad and HQ had been broken.

"Sir, the line is dead. We can't make contact."

Eric sighed; still trying to regain his vision.

"Lev, tell me, did we lose?".

Lev looked at the battlefield, body parts and mangled cadavers could be seen far and wide. Wrecked vehicles, Broken MCS', and twisted guns created an ominous scene and presented themselves in a gory display.

'Looks like I'm in hell again… When will I finally gain my freedom?', Lev concluded as he looked at the confused corporal who was desperately trying to find his display.

"Looks like we're out of options Lev, we might be the only ones left here-... What's that sound?".

"Mortar!" Lev yelled and both of them threw themselves to the ground.

BAMMM!

The mortar shell exploded near them and the fragments flew dangerously close to them.

"Aaaarrghhh!" Eric screamed in agony after one of the fragments had passed through a small gap in his MCS near his left t.h.i.g.h.

'His MCS must've been damaged during the fight.', Lev concluded while examining Eric's wounds.

Eric tried to get on his feet, levelling himself at Lev's height. He moved his shaking hands towards the now exposed wound.

"Alright Eric, listen to me, I've been in this situation countless times, lie down and let me patch this up and then we just have to locate a valid contact point in order to re-establish contact with N-Z HQ." Lev said while taking out his dog tag and using it on Eric's MCS to release the reserve first-aid kit from a pod on its back. A feature that was added to allow soldiers to retrieve their allies' first-aid kits.

"And how are we supposed to reach that point? Are we supposed to walk straight into the enemy's fire!? Can I even walk like this? Ouch, watch it!" Eric yelled as Lev used a medical magnet to extract the fragments, poured some alcohol on the wound, and wrapped the wound with field dressing.

"There. You're good to go." Lev said as he looked at the scared corporal whose vision was finally recovering only for him to see the battlefield.

"God, how did we survive this massacre…? We really are the sole survivors, aren't we…?".

Eric let out a shriek when he lifted his left foot only to see that he had been sitting on a mangled corpse all this time. It was sergeant Mark.

"Oh god… I think I'm gonna be sick…".

"You're new to the neutral zone, aren't you? Where did you serve before this?".

"I served as a reserve in the fourth regiment of the fifth defence force…"

"Ah, the blaue adler. So you're a rear trooper and a reserve one at that... That's just great…"

"Don't mock me or the blaue adler! We're what's blocking the imperials in the southwest of the EU! I might've not shared as bad as an experience as you, but my brethren and I also fought the imperials when we were ordered to head to the neutral zone as backup and I gave an arm and a leg to score a victory against those pieces of shit!" Eric said with a glare causing Lev to smile.

"Good. You do have a spine. I didn't mean anything against your previous regiment, but I just needed to give you a little push.".

"A push?" Eric Asked dumbfounded.

"Do you still want to puke?".

"Umm… Actually no…".

"Good. Now just push through the pain and let's manoeuvre between wreckages, that way, we won't be in the enemy's sight. It'll take a while to get to a valid contact point but we'll at least make it in one piece.".

"Are there still any enemies here, and how can we find the contact point?".

"I don't know how they do it in other places but in the neutral zone the imperials always send some men to hunt down all EU survivors, and to answer your second question, the contact points are already saved in a map so let's head out while we still can.".

Eric nodded and both of them ran to the ruins of a nearby tank. Eric put his left hand on the tank's surface and felt something squishy, he looked to his left and found his hand inside a breach in the tank's shell. When he slowly removed it from the hole, he found his palm covered in blood and the source was one of the bodies inside, its face was missing, blood gulping out of the gaping holes where the man's eyes should've been. Lev heard a familiar sound coming from behind, he didn't need to turn around to know what was happening behind him.

"Are you done, corporal?".

"Yes… Excuse me...", pieces of vomit still dropping from Eric's mouth.

[6 Years Ago, Frankreich – Eurasian Territory]

"So you're going back to being a soldier, Eric?".

"I guess so, seems that's the only way to get full citizenship...".

"Why would you fight; you've already been granted Limited-Citizenship by the United Council…".

Eric had been badly injured after 5 years of service in the rear. You could say that he'd been one of the 'lucky' victims of the levy system. He was assigned to the rear, and not to the dangerous neutral zone. Sadly, after 4 years of service, in his 5th year, he was eventually assigned to the neutral zone due to a shortage of soldiers. When Eric left those dreaded trenches to charge at his enemies, he knew he'd be dead or mortally injured in mere seconds – and he was right. An artillery shell exploded near him, severing his left arm and right leg in an instant. He woke up days later in a field hospital behind the Eurasian frontline. He was sent back home and his Eurasian status was raised to limited citizenship.

Eric was rather disappointed, if only he had been allowed to stay in the rear for another 5 years… He was so close, yet so far away from full citizenship. Filled with regret and sorrow, he entered the levy system for another 10 years to gain full citizenship. With the last of the remaining veteran money that he got after being excused from the system, he bought artificial limbs from the cloning labs and upgraded his eyes with night vision via the newest innovations in biotechnology.

Limited citizenship was no option in Eric's eyes, after that day he wanted to change the federation by becoming a general in the Eurasian army and change the Eurasian aged trench doctrine to that of the Imperial's modern mobile warfare doctrine.

Eric took a sip from his coffee, frustrated with this woman – his wife.

"Don't you understand? I need you here! We promised each other that both of us live our lives to the fullest together, not die in some unknown trench! You told me that if we'd get limited citizenship, you would accept Macmaran's offer to work in the mines..."

Eric disregarded his wife's words and walked away with a determined look in his eyes. He opened the door and looked one last time at his now enraged wife.

"To do what? To work myself to death? To slave myself away to some rich bourgeois who has connections in the United Council? I don't want to work for him or anyone supporting this wretched federation!"

[Neutral Zone – Eurasian Frontline]

"It's getting late, let's shelter in this wreckage and sleep for a few hours..."

Lev opened the hatch of the destroyed tank's turret, he checked for plasma and bullets before getting a spot to rest. After seeing a few remaining tank plasma shells, he carefully opened the plasma container and restocked his and Eric's plasma supply.

"A Lord of Humans", Eric said, looking straight into Lev's eyes.

"A what?"

"Lev, if you had the power to change society, to change this federation, what would you do?"

Lev thought for a while, remembering the horrors he endured as a kid in the slums of Neue Berlin.

"You know Eric, I'll know what to do once I survive this battle, get some rest."

Lev already knew what he'd do, but the fatigued Eric needed to rest in order to heal the wounds caused by the mortar's fragments.

Lev needs full citizenship, he needs to survive and he'll need every single shard of aid left in this world to accomplish that goal. If he survives and finishes his service, Eric could be one of those shards, he could be a valuable ally if Lev's suspicions about him are true. He once saw Eric writing in a field manual, probably a draft to his wife or an acquaintance. When Lev entered the barracks, after Eric had left, he saw that Eric mentioned his hate towards the federation and how corrupt the current battle doctrine was.

The deadly and old trench warfare doctrine, dating from the old wars before the federation was formed. It used men as waves to throw at the enemy, the survivors would return to their trench to rest and heal or to shelter from incoming enemy fire. The Empire was known for its modern mobile warfare doctrine that had seen great success in recent years in the neutral zone. It used a combination of tanks and other vehicles to rush at the enemy with speed and vigour. The speed of these vehicles would easily outmanoeuvre the running soldiers and swiftly destroy the batteries of support artillery in the rear.

Even though Eric didn't know much about warfare and didn't have the experience. He knew from his fatal injuries and the efficiency of mobile warfare that trench warfare wasn't created for this time and age.

Lev knew that something had to be up within the core of the federation. Why would they use such an aged doctrine? Was it to clean the slums? To throw meat at the meat grinder until there was nothing left to grind?

[25 Years Ago, Slums of Neue Berlin, Capital of Eurasia]

"Schweinhund!" Yelled an old baker at a child running away into one of the dark alleys of the slums.

"This kid… He always manages to steal my bread!" Growled the baker with hate in his eyes. It was already hard to earn a profit in this hellhole without thieves stealing from him.

"What's worrying you so much, old man?".

"Ah, finally, the police arrived; a little too late isn't it?" The baker said with a sneer.

The officer revealed a smirk, slightly agitated by the baker's remark.

"You know how expensive bread is these days, let the kid have some food."

After the economic collapse caused by continuous wars and setbacks to the asteroid mining project, prices inflated drastically, causing most of the population to suffer from poor living conditions. The parliament of Neue Berlin tried to limit the damage caused by the war by investing most of its budget into various stocks – this limited its abilities to invest into solutions to help the lower and middle class in Neue Berlin.

"WHAT!!! How could you let a kid who's DEFYING THE LAW just do whatever he wants?"

"10.000 Marks worth of bread is what he stole from me, officer! 10,000 Marks!"

The officer grasped in his pocket and revealed a wallet.

"Take this as payment then, 10.000 Marks for the bread that the kid stole..."

The now baffled baker looked at the officer and took the money "If you insist, but don't blame me when I refuse to give you a refund.".

"I won't.".

…

"Leonard, how did you manage to get this bread?" Ann, one the youngest and last caretakers at the orphanage asked Leonard.

"I-I..." He stammered.

"You stole it didn't you?", Ann said with a sad tone.

'Kinder Orphanage Neue Berlin' could be read at the entrance of the building. An orphanage for the children in the slums, the lower class – the class that the United Council doesn't recognize. They're subhuman sc.u.m that should only be addressed by their EU-ID. They're spoiled meat whose only purpose is to be used on the frontlines of wars so that more 'qualified' individuals can relax in the back.

The entrance door opened, an officer standing in its opening.

"Miss, is this your kid?".

"Y-Yes he is one of the kids I oversee officer, we'll return the bread if this why you came." Ann replied nervously.

The officer looked at the now scared Leonard. He was hiding behind Ann and visibly shaking from the officer's striking uniform. The uniform had the EP logo, Eurazische Polizei (Eurasian Police). The EP are known to take out their frustrations on the lower class in the slums, they charge innocent people with meaningless crimes and beat them down if they ever dare to complain.

"Don't worry miss, I paid for it.".

This shocked Ann, why would an EP pay for the bread that one of her kids just stole?

"You-you P-paid??? How much do we owe you?"

The officer now started laughing, reminding Leonard of the countless beatings he got from middle-class kids after he tried entering the upper parts of Neue Berlin, leaving the lower slum. They'd always laugh like that after having their fun with him.

"Don't worry, the bread's on me."

He walked towards the entrance and said one last sentence before leaving.

"You know, that kid, Lev could be a great officer one day."

"Why'd you say that?" Ann asked.

"He seems like the type that always manages to go against the law but yet, does something good by breaking the law."

The officer walked away, into the rain, leaving the confused but grateful Leonard and Ann behind. This encounter, although rare, didn't change Lev's hate for the Federation. Rather, it showed a way out, a way to start something new from nothing.

[Neutral Zone – Eurasian Frontline]

BAM

BWAAMM

BOOOM

"Wake up Corp, we've got visitors – explosive visitors!" Lev yelled while bringing out his MCR-17.

"Uh-what?" Eric mumbled in confusion.

Bullets started pouring, the sound engulfing both Lev and Eric causing the latter to scream.

"FIRST WAVE! ATTACK!".

"AYE, AYE, SIR!".

A flute could be heard coming from one of the now occupied trenches.

"What's happening Lev!?".

"Seems like the 117th Eurasian Division finally reached this frontline..." Eurasian soldiers could be seen in their trenches – looking in fear whilst their comrades in the first wave are being slaughtered.

"Does that mean that we don't have to contact HQ?".

Lev looked at the fresh soldiers, pouring into the battlefield, dying one by one under the enemies' fire.

"No, we still have to contact HQ.".

"What do you mean Lev? They're right there!!! They can SAVE us!".

"Just wait Corp, you'll see what I mean, I've been in these fields countless time...".

A deafening blast could be heard from miles away. Lev knew this sound all too well...

"It's coming, grab something Corp, you'll need something to hold when it hits..."

"WHEN WHAT HITS?", the corporal hastily grabbed the tank's inner hatch and settled in tight.

It was the sound...

Of a railgun class artillery shell heading straight towards the trenches.

"Here it comes...", Lev knew that most of the soldier would be incinerated when the blast hits the ground.

BTOOOOOMMMMMM!

One by one the soldiers evaporated, leaving dust behind.

"AAARRGGGH!!!".

Lev and Eric heard the soldiers who were partly incinerated screaming in pain. They could only look at the mangled corpses, immobilized by the horror unfolding before them.

"Oh God…" Eric muttered.

Lev sighed "There are no gods nor demons here, Eric. Only death and the dying…".