“Take hold of your hearts brothers and sisters! For these trenches shall be our tomb. The enemy stands in the east one hundred of them for every one of us. But our loss is not whole, for if we can keep this line steady for six hours then those of us behind our lines may yet escape massacre.”

There is silence in the ranks, Heil does not blame them. Who would want to die here? Maybe if it wasn't so cloudy it would be better. He thinks as he walks between his prefect valiant soldiers. Shen, a trusted commander, with Heil from the earliest days of his service intercepts his walk and pulls him away from the rest of the soldiers.

“Sir, take to the others fleeing from the city. Without you they do not stand a chance!”

“Shen, please gather yourself. We must be calm now and face this impending dread. How can I tell these people to refuse to yield when I would not do the same for them? There is another among their ranks who I trust, who will lead better than I ever could have.”

Distant cannons rock the earth and shells begin to rain down upon the neatly dug lines. Cries and guns break the silence between the blasts and for the smallest moment light breaks from between the clouds and kisses the rebels with its warm embrace. Shen grips at his friend's shoulder with mist in his eyes.

“Sir, please. There is no need for such a sacrifice.”

“Hold your head high Shen, it's time for us to be the bravest we have ever been. I was a coward when the God of our enemy was against us and we had to throw away brave men and women to steal another day from his cursed grasp. I was a coward when I sent you to deal and dine with criminals in the depths of the city so I might save my reputation for the rebellion. I was a coward when I sent you all to execute the lords of the land while I sat within my headquarters. Even now I paint my cowardice as bravery. I ordered children killed, families slaughtered, I sent young people to their graves in droves. I suffer endlessly under the weight of those choices. I will not live to see justice, instead I for once do what I have told others to do.”

Heil can see the enemy now as they approach the first row of trenches. Machine guns roar along with rifles while the ground soaks with blood. The dead and dying lay all throughout the battlefield. The green grasses quickly dissipate and become a mudded brown scorched by fire. For three long hours the struggle till the smoke clears and the enemy retreats to lick their wounds.

Heil can feel pain in his side, a bullet has struck him through his stomach and exertion from battle has tried him too far to tend it. Shen lay dead and gray, killed mere minutes after speaking with Heil. But three hours remain, Heil knows he will not live to see them. He finds a long rod and jams it between the trenches. His rifle barrel finds a home in the mud with the stock planted firmly in his chest. Slinging his arm over the rod he breathes, waiting for relief.