{"sf1_id":1221455,"sf2_id":null,"title":"RETREAT, HELL! WE JUST GOT HERE!","author":"EvanEH28","words":954,"posted_at":"2017-08-02T03:56:00.000Z","tags":["Blood","Dragoness","Flexible-Survival","Gryphoness","Poem","Tomahawk Missiles","War","combat","flexible survival","i don't know","marines"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1221455-retreat-hell-we-just-got-here","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/1221455","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=1221455\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"It was late and I decided to write poetry... And what better topic than Flexible Survival, or more specifically the final days of the battle to retake Fairhaven from the Ebonflame Matriarch? ... I don't know... It was later than hell. I couldn't sleep. Here. Read my late night poetic sleep deprived production!","content":"RETREAT, HELL! WE JUST GOT HERE!\n\nA poem inspired by the text based RPG, Flexible Survival\n\nwritten by Evan Hamilton\n\nFlexible Survival copyright Nuku Valente\n\n\\*\\*\\*\n\n-Dedicated to the brave men and women of 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines-\n\n\\*\\*\\*\n\n\\*\\*\\*\n\nMy bloodstained rifle still in hand\n\nAs we made our final hopeless stand\n\nAn enemy that should not exist\n\nMy initiative scarred yet it still persists\n\nShadows haunt the world out front\n\nOur youngest took the harshest brunt\n\n\"All I want is to see my son again\"\n\nWere the last words from my fallen friend\n\nSimple death contained within my fist\n\nTo kill the draconic bitch becomes my only wish\n\n\\*\\*\\*\n\nE.P. victory calls in, they've been overrun\n\nI cannot help them, for I a have a mission too\n\nMy orders are simple, protect the fleeing ones\n\nWe're undermanned, outgunned, but we will push through\n\n-\n\nFires, tracers, they burn bright all night long\n\nMesmerized by it all, we advance, sprinting forward\n\nNo time to think, no time to decipher right from wrong\n\nHellish danger, monsters, what we're trained to run toward\n\n\\*\\*\\*\n\nFrom claws to cold steel\n\nI can't believe this is real\n\nWhen will I be on the casualty list\n\nMy unit's spread thin\n\nBut I know we can win\n\nTo see our families again is our prominent wish\n\n--\n\nWhen we're all that's left, the unknown enemy draws near\n\nWe the few, We the proud, We cry\n\nRetreat, Hell! We just got here!\n\n\\*\\*\\*\n\nBlood does flood Fairhaven's many streets\n\nBodies of old friends lie tattered at my feet\n\nI refuse to be counted among the rest\n\nI will bite and stab until my last\n\n-\n\n\"Surrender or burn!\"\n\nThe dragon bitch roars out\n\nBut it's now the infantry's turn\n\nThere is nowhere to run, smoke blots the sky\n\nThe resolve I need, in time it must return\n\n-\n\nHer words bite to the bone but there's only us\n\nI will die, lest I kneel before her fowl clout\n\nTo my left and right, only those I trust\n\nSpirits of true warriors no one could survive without\n\n\\*\\*\\*\n\nWe stand as guardians of thousands of souls\n\nWe came, we brought only open arms and ourselves\n\nBut she desired war, and war we brought in its whole\n\nDiving head first straight into the worst of hells\n\nFlesh torn from bone, blood boiled in the air\n\nI felt the ground collapse and to my dirt covered face I fell\n\nAll alone, rubble all around, we found ourselves bare\n\nRifles blaring, the only sound reassuring me that all is well\n\n-\n\nSoon in my rifle sight is her face, but I am not scared\n\nHer jaws gaped, an ominous glow forms in her gullet\n\nThe space between her carapace, energy flares\n\nSteadying my breath, I let loose my stream of bullets\n\n\\*\\*\\*\n\nFrom claws to cold steel\n\nI can't believe this is real\n\nWhen will I be on the casualty list\n\nMy unit's spread thin\n\nBut I know we can win\n\nTo see our families again is our prominent wish\n\n--\n\nWhen we're all that's left, the unknown enemy draws near\n\nWe the few, We the proud, We cry\n\nRetreat, Hell! We just got here!\n\n\\*\\*\\*\n\nMutated or injured I could not care less\n\nI risked everything to bring them all out of this mess\n\nLeave a creature behind? I would rather die!\n\nThe suffering of innocents I will not abide\n\n\\*\\*\\*\n\nAll civilians we found are safely on their way\n\nMarines radio in, \"they'll live to see another day\"\n\nI cannot begin to describe the strong sensation\n\nKnowing my marines hadn't died in tribulation\n\n\\*\\*\\*\n\nOur objective complete, Our ammo reserves running low\n\nThe beast before us still stands, our eyes forced to behold\n\nShe opens her maw, prepares her final jet of flame\n\nStill we keep firing, accepting fiery demise without shame\n\n\\*\\*\\*\n\nI emerge from cover, my rifle raised in my bloody hands\n\nI feel the subtle fear, knowing this is truly my last stand\n\nMy death is all but certain, I have no second chance\n\nThe hunter now the pray, trapped in a deadly dance\n\n\\*\\*\\*\n\nStench of charred death, I feel her breath from here\n\nShe took a short pause, perhaps in sudden fear\n\nPerhaps to see a man with such unwavering determination\n\nUnbeknown to the dragoness, today none suffers dereliction\n\n\\*\\*\\*\n\nA tumultuous roar sounds far above the battlefield\n\nTomahawks scream in and force the tides to turn\n\nThe she-dragon shrieks out, her brash mind begins to reel\n\nI don't even flinch as the missiles begin to impale her\n\n\\*\\*\\*\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nFrom claws to cold steel\n\nI can't believe this is real\n\nWhen will I be on the casualty list\n\nMy unit's spread thin\n\nBut I know we can win\n\nTo see our families again is our prominent wish\n\n--\n\nWhen we're all that's left, the unknown enemy draws near\n\nWe the few, We the proud, We cry\n\nRetreat, Hell! We just got here!\n\n\\*\\*\\*\n\nWe watch the murderous beast as she crumples to the charred street\n\nWith absolute certainty that this is the end, some fall to their knees to weep\n\nThe choppers come soon after, some accompanied by friendly beasts of all sorts\n\nNumb with shock, a gryphoness the first to valiantly provide me comfort\n\nI felt lost, so many dead, so much lost to this unprecedented outbreak\u0026nbsp;\n\nNothing waiting, not much family who cared, only the feathered beauty who's hand I could take\n\nShe shared my predicament, and we resolve to live together\n\nFor richer, for poorer, above or below the weather\u0026nbsp;\n\nI had found my peace in the arms of a beautiful creature\n\nHer grace, her subtle sass, she nourishes my unpretentious nature\n\n\\*\\*\\*\n\n  \n  \n\n"}