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I awoke again for the millionth time to artillery fire. Sleep was difficult to come by and what I did get was very fragile. I opened my eyes to experience something new and blinding. Sunlight could be seen peaking over the horizon. I checked my watch and sure enough, 4:30. I groaned a bit and rolled over to get my toothbrush out of pack.

"Well it sounds like someone had a good dream," chided Dilis from behind me.

"Haha very funny. You know I got next to no sleep," I replied pulling out my tooth brush. I began to look for a toothpowder packet.

"Could have been worse, you could have been on that end of the field," he said lightly.

Not being able to find any toothpowder in my own kit, I rolled over and asked, "Sure, I mean they got" and that was all I could say. The enemy's forest was gone. Only a few branchless trees remained scattered across the field. There were craters from artillery shells of all sizes everywhere. The destruction continued on for as far as the eye could see into hostile territory. "Oh my," I muttered.

"Pretty shocking ain't it? Kind of scary what we anthros are capable of in just one night," he looked down at me. "Were you going to ask me something?"

I shook my head a little and said, "Yeah, I was going to ask you if you had any toothpowder. I can't seem to find mine."

"You know," he said bending down to rummage through his kit, "the enemy doesn't care what you look like or smell like right?" He found a packet and threw it over to me. Having not fully awaken yet, it hit me on the snout and landed on the grass.

"I know," I said picking up the packet and sitting up. "I just want to have teeth when this war is over."

"Yeah just pulling your chain a bit Silverback. Anyways, I am going to get the troops ready and I want you to report to the Section rally point in no less than 15 minutes. I would suggest you eat something, but not too much. You never know what we might find over there," he said getting up and swinging his kit onto his back, rifle slung over his shoulder.

"Sure thing," I replied through brushing my teeth. We casually saluted and he was off.

I finished up with my personal care, ate a little, and refilled my canteen. I did one last check on my kit to make sure everything was accounted for and secured. I did find my toothpowder packets let it be known! Satisfied with what I had, I swung my backpack onto my back, slung my rifle over my shoulder and began checking my belt: bayonet, extra stripper clips, grenade, and canteen. Then my hand paw bumped into something else on my hip. I looked down and there was the sword, weightlessly sheathed on my hip. This thing really likes to show up at weird times, I thought to myself.

"Just remember that it is always ready for you whenever you need it, growled a voice in my head.

Before I could reply and fully remember the voice I glanced at my watch. I had to leave or risk being late. I took one last look around the area and off in the distance I noticed something small at the edge of the forest. The rabbit sat there staring at me. Goodbye my little friend, I thought to myself and smiled as put my helmet on and left for war.

When I arrived at the rally point, everyone was just settling in. I took my spot next to Dilis and faced the section. No one said a word about the sword on my belt. It was like they couldn't see it. "Alright everyone listen up!" Dilis called out. Everyone shut up immediately and was listening intently. "Today is the day we stride forward to glory and victory! However," he held up his hand paws, "you cannot do it while being weighed down by your backpacks. We are to leave everything that is not used for killing the enemy or keeping ourselves alive for the next couple of days. Three days rations and weapons only. We will be resupplied and our kits will be brought up after we are taken off the front. You have one minute to put everything you are leaving behind by that tree over there labeled "C Section," now go." We all did as we were told and formed up into formation for equipment check.

When satisfied, Dilis lead us to our staging area and gathered us around. "Alright here is the plan. In about five minutes the charge will be sounded and we are going to charge quickly into the enemy's front line. We will clear out the front line and hold. Then from there on out, we are going to be guiding off of the Lieutenant for the duration of the attack. Clear?"

"Yes Staff Sergeant!" everyone said.

"Good," Dilis turned to address one of the runners who handed him two folded flags. He looked over at me and said, "Silverback, take this," handing me one, "This is just in case we need an extra flag."

I looked down and felt the red and gold fabric. I felt honored that my country was allowing me to carry its symbol into battle. I placed it into the small pouch on my back and took my position on the left flank of the section.

We all waited in the shade of the trees. Some lips were raised into a snarl, others were quivering with anxiety. "Fix bayonets!" Again with the speed, precision, and beauty of our first encounter, the bayonets found their way to the ends of the rifles where they gleamed in the sunshine that poked through the shade. All were still and ready.

Then a whistle blew loud and long, which was quickly followed by hundreds of canines emerging from the forest snarling, barking and howling. Front and center of the battalion was a standard bearer carrying the colors high and mighty across the field. There was a short lag period where the excitement traveled down the battalion and finally hit us. 1st Platoon was up and running. A Section was barking and snarling up a storm, B Section was unique with its uniform howl and then there was us. We were up and barking too, but probably not as noticeable as the others but being there with the Section, I knew that they were just as enthusiastic about the charge as the most fanatical soldier in the entire battalion. Regardless, the feeling of being in the charge was exhilarating which only made the dash that much shorter. Despite the size of the field, the battalion had crossed the field in a matter of minutes and was waiting for the all clear.

I made it to the other side and jumped into a shallow crater hunched down. I looked this way and that, waiting for the enemy to spring out and attack us. But no attack came. Not a single shot was fired in the entire battalion so far. Then I could hear the whistle give out two drawn out whistles. The Lieutenant stood up and motioned for us to advance. The plan was for 1st Company to cover the right flank, 3rdCompany on the left and 2nd Company, us, to push up the middle with 4th Company in reserve. Within my company, 1st Platoon would push the very center, with 2nd and 3rd on the flanks. The Major in command of the entire Company was advancing with the Lieutenant in front of B Section.

As we steadily advanced through destroyed trees, over craters, and through a slight haze, the artillery barrage was still pounding away at the enemy further ahead of us. There were a few small fires and slim pillars of smoke scattered about. A very dark shadow hovered over the grey battlefield as hints of the enemy started to show up. There would be a rifle or a shovel here, a limb or a tail there, and over there a few scattered bullets next to a holed helmet. You could always tell that someone had found a mostly intact body just by looking at them. A blank look rolled over their faces as they quickly looked away and sped across the spot. I found myself doing that when I discovered a poor feline who had several shrapnel wounds to the chest, neck, and head. I quickly looked up and through the haze, I could see a figure standing in the distance.

It was just standing there; no weapon and not a single movement could be registered. As we approached I held my rifle up and aimed at it and the Labrador to my right did the same.

"Hold your fire for now," I whispered over to him. He nodded and followed me up.

As we approached the figure, I could see through the mud and soot that covered it, the distinct blue-grey uniform of the enemy and the blue helmet. My body tensed up and I could feel the fur on my back rise. As we neared, I could see that it had a chunk of its ear and a portion of its tail missing. It was standing and staring back in the direction of the artillery barrage in the distance. With the Lab covering me, I snuck up behind him. I noticed that there was dried blood down the sides of his head, matting his fur together and that his other wounds had largely, if not entirely, stopped bleeding. I pushed him to the ground and pointed my rifle at him. He rolled over with a look of absolute terror in his eyes. The Lab ran up to my side also pointing his rifle at the poor feline. The feline was visibly shaking and he slowly brought his hand paws up into a surrender position.

"Check him for weapons," I commanded the Lab.

"Yes Sarg," he said, slinging his rifle over his shoulder and dragging the feline to his paws. The Lab quickly checked every pocket and ran his hand paws down every inch of the feline, yielding no weapon.

"Runner!" I shouted. A runner quickly came and was a bit surprised at what we had found. "Take this prisoner back to 4th Company," I told the Rabbit.

The runner quickly forced the feline into a brisk walk at gunpoint and escorted him back to 4thCompany.

"One down Sarg," grinned the Lab.

"Yeah, now if only the rest of them would give up like that we could go home," I replied with a smile.

The advance continued with a few more prisoners here and there who had survived the artillery barrage. A few shots rang out here and there from the other Companies who might not have run into enemy soldiers as shocked as the ones we did. The haze began to grow thicker, the smell of sulfur and gunpowder grew stronger, and the sound of the barrage grew louder as we drew closer to it.

Once again the haze grew extremely thick to the point of only seeing the occasional flashes ahead of us of exploding shells. "Stick together!" Dilis called out but I couldn't see him anymore through the smoke and the dust.

The sound of the artillery was growing louder and louder. Soon I could feel the explosions through my paws and I could begin to hear screams of the dying and the whistle of the shells as they sailed overhead. Then all was quiet. I stumbled on through the smoke seeing a few fires here and there. The moans from enemy soldier that had been hit and were dying soon took up my hearing. Then I could hear shouts. I could start to pick out words in the foreign language of the enemy as I drew near. The screams grew louder and the shouts drew closer. Then it happened. Shots started to ring out as our line met the enemy's. I could see off to my right that the Platoon was definitely fighting as flashes could be seen here and there. The Lab and I took cover inside a crater together and peeked over the rim.

"Can't see shit through this smoke!" stated the Lab.

"Me neither," I replied, "Come on!" I got up and ran ahead and jumped into the next crater. He was right behind me. I peeked out of this one and I could make out some silhouettes in the distance. The helmet didn't look like allied helmets so I fired a couple of shots in their direction, the Lab firing in another. Then we ran to the next piece of cover and repeated. We did this, while trying to stay with the advancing line of muzzle flashes that I assumed to be the rest of my section. This went on for a couple of hours with the smoke and the dust gradually clearing as it settled or blew away. At one point we ran into some 2ndPlatoon canines and we turned sharply to the right to try and correct our heading.

The smoke began to clear to the point that I could finally see at a distance and the distance only increased as we advanced. Then I heard the whistle blow out two quick whistles followed by a slightly longer final whistle. That was the halt command and I knew it, but I couldn't see where the whistle had come from or any other friendlies nearby. The Lab patted my on the shoulder and pointed to our right. Through the smoke and the fog, there was the flag, waving high and mighty as it advanced and with it, the rest of the Platoon. We quickly found our Section again. Everyone who was there looked winded as we waited for the next advance order. I was taking a sip from my canteen to clear the smoke and dust from my throat when Dilis came next to me and said, "Take a head count Sergeant, we are missing a couple." I did so and unfortunately, he was right.

"Maybe they just got separated from us, I mean it happened to me," I said hopefully.

"I hope that you are right," the whistle blew again in the distance, "We will count again when the day is done."

The advance continued with scattered resistance all along the line from what I could tell. This continued on for a couple of hours. When we had finally left the dust and smoke cloud behind, I could see that we were on a plain with gently rolling hills and a town only a couple of miles from our position.

"What town is that Sarg?" asked one of the soldiers.

"Does it matter? If the enemy holds it, we are going to take it," I replied with a little snap in my voice.

"What if there are civilians in the town still?" asked another.

"Our orders are to advance and kill the enemy. If the civilians take up arms and start to fight us, we kill them. If they don't, then we leave them be. Now quiet down and stay vigilant. The enemy could be anywhere regrouping," I ordered and they all quieted down.

We advanced to the one hill that overlooked the town when we were abruptly stopped. The enemy had dug in around the town and it looked like they were finally ready to put up a fight. Despite having the high ground over the enemy, their machine guns pinned us down before we could crest the hill. I was scared out of my mind as bullets whizzed by and bounced and buried themselves into the ground. A couple of guys got hit next to me, one in the arm and the other in the head.

"Fall back!" ordered the Major. Another canine and I grabbed the guy who got hit in the arm and drug him over the hill, a couple other guys got the other poor Dog. We fell back over the hill so we couldn't be shot and regrouped. A runner ran up and told the Major something. The Major rubbed his forehead and waved the runner away. The Lieutenants gathered around him and they strategized. Meanwhile the guy that got hit in the arm was bandaged and he tried to claim he was fine, but was carried back behind lines with the other one.

"Sergeant Silverback!" called the Lieutenant.

I shook my head and looked over to him. The other NCOs were gathering on him. I had been so engrossed by the wounded; I missed him calling for a meeting. "Yes sir!" I called out as I ran over to meet up with them.

The Lieutenant had a map spread out and was pointing to a town. "This is the town of Ocelcott and we are here on this hill. Command is astounded by our advance and would like us to take the town by the end of the day. That is in about 5 hours," he said looking at his watch. "The Major wants 2nd Platoon to sweep left around on the flank and draw there fire to this small valley while 3rd Platoon takes the right to support us. We are going to be the brunt of the assault. On the Major's command, we are to charge down the hill and take the town." The Lieutenant finished and looked up with a frown.

"Sir, what about 4th Company? Are they going to reinforce us?" asked a husky.

"The enemy counter attacked 3rd Company and 4th has moved to reinforce them. So we are all we have with 1st Company occupied with our other flank," stated the Lieutenant. "Make me proud gentlemen."

We returned to our positions and got the soldiers ready. Laying there in the grass on the top of the hill panting in the hot sun. I saw several guys shake hands and pat each other's backs. I had a decent view of the left and of 2ndPlatoon. As planned, they were drawing a lot of fire and they were pinned down. I thankfully couldn't see how many guys they were losing, but I could only imagine.

Then the moment I was dreading. The whistle sounded its long blow to signal the charge. As before, the charge was resilient with pride and optimism in the face of the enemy. We made it about half way to the town before we started to take fire. At first, it was a few shots here and there no problem. Then it progressed into a steady stream of rifle fire then they added a machine gun into the mix. But by the time the machine gun turned on us, we were too close for it to be effective.

Many of us threw our grenades and created gaps in the enemy line. It was these small gaps where we were not getting shot from, that Dilis and I flooded our troops through. The battle was a brutal hand to hand fight with the fatigued and understrength enemy finally losing. Those who could, escaped out of the town. The rest were killed or captured.

The town was about half occupied with civilians and intact. The others were either drafted or fled I think. Some were happy to see us, but the feeling was largely neutral. We moved to the far side of the town where the town actually ended and the plain continued on.

We were told to dig in. There were a few groans, but everyone got to work diligently. I thought I was tired before I started digging. My paws hurt, my legs were sore, my arms were tired and now, my back was killing me. I was drenched in sweat and my fur was beginning to mat up in my armpits and behind my knees. I could feel the dirt that was clinging to my body. I stood up straight for a moment and looked around. Everyone else looked like they were in the same situation I was.

As the day came to a close, so did our work. Nighttime meant one thing and that was rest. Neither side could effectively attack at night, which was proved on another front a few weeks earlier, and our artillery was moving into position and theirs was destroyed from what I could tell. We had dug up a mound of dirt for cover and a slight dip behind it so we could easily conceal ourselves behind the mound. A small engineer division showed up as the sun set and they picked up our tools and started working behind us about 20 yards. The army occupied several of the abandoned buildings that were closest to the front. One of which was the field HQ that I was called to just before 9:00.

When I arrived, Dilis was sitting in a chair waiting. He got up and approached me with open arms and a smile. "Sergeant Silverback! I am glad to see you! I didn't know if you made it down that hill being that I haven't taken a head count yet since we arrived," he wrapped me up in a huge hug. I was caught off guard and limply hugged back. "Jeez, for being gay, you sure don't hug all that great, even when hugging a guy," he whispered in my ear with a humorous tone in his voice.

We broke off after having the wind taken out of me nearly. "I just didn't want to cripple you before tomorrow. It would be a shame to take an injury outside of combat, especially after all that we have been through today," I replied playfully with my tail giving a few wags.

He swung his arm around my shoulder and started guiding me back to the chairs. "That it would my friend. Hey let's take a seat while we wait, the officers are talking something over and will be with us shortly, I hope," he said cheerfully.

We sat down next to each other and relaxed. It felt great to finally sit down and get off my aching paws. I turned my head to look at him and asked in a low tone, "Speaking of relationship preferences, do you have a mate Staff Sergeant?"

"Me? Yeah and three pups too," he said reaching in one of his pockets and pulling out a photograph. "Here they are. My mate and I have been together for six years now and had triplets when all we wanted was one," he said with a chuckle.

"How does it feel? You know, to have a mate?" I asked honestly.

"You know, it is one of the most special things in my life right now. To always have someone who will be by your side and there when you need help. Someone to cry on and to laugh with," he said looking down at the photograph. "Hell, I don't know how I would be able to take care of those three without her. She is the very special piece that completes me," he finished with a content smile, like he was with her in his mind. He snapped out of his gaze and put the photograph away when the door swung open.

The Major appeared through the doorway. We stood and saluted while he greeted us, "At ease gentlemen and thank you for coming. I hope you weren't waiting too long. If you will follow me, we have much to discuss."

We followed him into the room where the officers were gathered around a table with a battle map on it. I should have been scared and anxious that we were the only NCO's called to an officer's meeting, but all I could think about as I walked through the doors was what Dilis had said.

Everything he had said about his relationship was what I was looking for, and in a way had already found, with Snow. It made me a little upset about the whole situation, but I knew that deep down, there was still hope. Then the doors closed behind me.