The War of Winter
“Listen to me son, I’m gonna tell you a story.”
“What story is it, Grandpa?”
“Just listen, and you will know.”

*****

They stalked through the snow, waiting to ambush the Ostarian Outpost, the least protected one in the entire war area. The ruthless Federation controlled it, but they were about to overrun it, take it for The Phantoms Squad. As they approached the outpost, the heard a scream come from somewhere. They ignored it, and kept their eyes on the prize, the resource base, overflowing with everything they needed. They reached the wall, ready for some action.
“You ready?”
“Yes, Elijah, I’m always ready.”
“We know Bryce, I was asking everyone else.”
Elijah, the leader of the Phantoms, planted C4 on the wall, and blasted it. Bryce threw a smoke grenade in, and they all rushed in, ready for whatever would come there way. Bullets started flying, missing every single time. Shrouded by the smoke, they hid, behind barriers, waiting for when the smoke cleared, ready for a clear shot. When the smoke had vanished, everything silent, they attacked. It was chaos, the enemies were dropping like flies, not expecting the hard fight they were put up. Once the guards had dropped, everyone else surrendered. They took the supplies and traveled back to their base.
“Well that was easy.”
“Shut up Bryce, you’re so cocky.”
“Oh really Hesh? Well its not my fault that I’m better then you.”
“Yea, right.”
“You two stop fighting”
They dropped off the resources in the supply room, and went to relax. Bryce went to play on the flight simulator while Hesh watched. They were kicking back, having fun and messing around, until it happened.

“Bryce! Hesh! Get up here!”
They looked at each other, first with curiosity, then fear.
“We’re coming Dad!”
They bolted up the stairs to the main control center of their base. They didn’t know what to feel, fear, curiosity, excitement? When they got there, they knew. The Federation Army was stalking through the blizzarding snow heading for their base. They were lucky, if it weren’t for their heat vision cameras, they would have not been able to see them. The Federation Army had large numbers, but bad artillery. They had men with rifles, some with shotguns, and one tank. The Phantoms set up their defences on a delay, so they can get in position. The Federation had 10,000 men, The Phantoms had 100. As the Army neared, the Phantoms hid behind a shroud of snow. The Federation reached the front lines, and the quiet, was too quiet. They waited for a second, and then, all hell broke loose.
Elijah turn on the defences, they buzzed with power, and began shooting at the Federation. The Phantoms fought hard, and took out the Federation one by one. The battle waged, The Federation numbers falling quickly, and the Phantoms were prevailing. Once the battle was over, The Federation lost every man, The Phantoms, three men. The snow was filled with the blood of 10,000 men, leaving a horrible stench. Elijah reached the first dead Phantom, Sandman. The second one, Clark And the third, Hesh…
Elijah let out a roaring cry, his own son, shot in action. Bryce rushed over to him, and saw what had happened. Hesh’s blood was slowly seeping into the snow, like a trickling creek of blood. There was a hole in Hesh’s head, a bullet hole. Elijah grabbed a stick and pulled the bullet out. A sniper rifle bullet. He quickly grabbed his binoculars and searched the area. He saw a small flash to the side, and looked at it. A sniper.
“Everyone get down! Sniper! Sniper!”
Everyone instantly fell down, protecting themselves from the sniper.
“Bryce, go get the sniper rifle and take him out.”
“Yes sir.”
Bryce ran furiously straight to the base, trying his best not to get shot. Once inside, he went straight to the armory. He grabbed the sniper rifle and a few magazines of bullets. He bolted to the sniper post and took position. Briefly looking, he found the sniper and set up the shot. He took a deep breath, aimed his sight, and pulled the trigger. There was a loud bang as the gun went off, and the sniper went down. Bryce went back to his dad, still weeping over his son’s death.
“Go away, I don’t want you to see me cry.”
“Mourning is good dad, it means you really did love him.”
“If I really loved him, I wouldn’t have let him die.”
“It was not your fault dad, it happens.”
Together, Elijah and Bryce, father and son, sat and wept over the death of Hesh. After a while, the gained the strength to move Hesh’s lifeless corpse to a place where they could bury him. Slowly, they dug a hole, feeling the pain in their hearts, of the dead man, laying there that once was a fighting soldier. He was buried, remembered, and honored. The gravestone was put in and stated,
“Samuel “Hesh” Wood: A brave warrior, A strong heart, And a fighting will.
Born: 24 August 2189, Died: 25 December 2214”
*****
“That, is why I can’t celebrate Christmas, and why winter is such a horrible time. I still remember the cold, lifeless face, laying on my leg. He was so pale, the life had been ruthlessly taken away from him. Even thinking about it wants to make me cry.”
“Wow Grandpa, thats really sad. I have never heard the story of how Uncle Hesh died. I can’t imagine how bad you felt.”