ASHES OF VALOR

ASHES OF VALOR BY. NIMCO ALI CHAPTER ONE: THE DEAD TEAM The battlefield was silent because every one else was dead Kael Drax stood in the middle of the smoke her refile empty, her knife dripping, her breath the sound left. Around her , twenty men who had been told to kill her lay still The radio crackled in her helmet, “commander Drax , mission failed Retreat” She smiled . It was the first time anyone had told her she failed . “Mission just started » , she whispered and walk into the fire . The fire was not from the bombs, it was from fuel depot ,they were supposed to protect. It was burning because someone blew it up from the inside Kael knew everyone of her dead soldiers’ names Jace 22 . Wanted to be a teacher Mira 19. The only other woman . She called kael “big sister » Colt 30. had a baby girl he never met They were not killed by the enemy, they were killed by their own bullet . Friendly fire , the report would say . But kael saw the truth . The bullet came from behind She found the black box . The mission recorder . It was still hot . She ripped it from the wreckage and put it in her vest . This small box had the voice of the man who sold them . A shadow moved behind her Kael turned, knife ready . It was General kane , her mentor. The man who raised her in the academy since she was 15. “You should have retreated kael “ , he said. His gun was low but not lowered . “You send us to die “, she said . Her voice was flat .No tears . Warriors don't cry on the battlefield. “I send you to win”, he said . You were the only one strong enough to survive it . He walked closer, the fire reflected in his eyes. “There is a bigger war coming. I needed to see if you were ready to lead it. They were weak , you are not ” Kael looked at Mira's body on the ground “She was not weak”, kael said And She stabbed the black box into general kane's chest , not to kill him, but to show him she had proof “I'm done taking orders, Now I give up “, she said. She left him standing in the fire , alone . As she walked away from the burning depot, from her dead team, from the army she served for 13 years , the radio crackled again. “Commander Drax , you are now declared a deserted. We will shoot on sight” Kael pulled off her helmet, threw it into the flames , and kept walking into the dark. Behind her the war was over. Infront of her ,her war had just begun. END OF CHAPTER 1