Historical Storyteller
Four Thousand Club
The full mock glory of the newly created 25th Fleet was shown for all the stars to see. It was a fleet in name only for it only had a small number of ships. Several proud destroyers and cruisers towered above the five troopships that held the 9,792 soldiers of the 53rd Division in them. Originally, they were composed of a solid 10,000 troops but 208 were lost to sea. They were a few miles away from the port city of Patria, and the men were excited to finally see land.
So far so good the fleet has not bumped into any storms or heavy rains yet the fleet has sustained casualties in the trip. There were ancient ships from a bygone age that met their end in the middle of the sea when they just fell apart due to their own obsolescence. These victims of time plunged into the vast deep blue sea along with their hapless crew, and they died before they ever got to see action.
There were other ships that were recently made but they were of poor design. All shorts of problems plagued these ships, the engine would overheat, the decks would overflow with water, and other sorts of disasters would come. Miraculously, such hazardous vessels did not sink but their crew had to constantly repair the damned thing or it would sink.
The men inside these inferior ships were physically and mentally exhausted and they often had not slept for a day or two. All hands available in the ship had to be used even if they were soldiers that were unfamiliar with the workings of the ship. There were tales of soldiers sleeping everywhere in those poorly designed ships, they would sleep on the hard steel floor of the decks, inside the cabinets in the kitchen so they would not be caught by their officers, and they would sleep at work when they were convinced that nobody would catch them sleeping on the job.
There was even a famous account of a soldier that fell out of the side of the ship when he was trying to take a nap. Nobody ever saw him again, and they did not notice that he was gone until it was too late and he probably drowned.
The general was not happy with these developments and he had the man who was in charge of procuring ships for the fleet shot for incompetence. A total of 2 ships would descend to the bottom of the sea, carrying 692 men both soldier and sailor with them and the rest were rescued by other vessels that could still hold more men.
You are Corporal Clifford Beasley, the 2nd-in-command of your squad. The squad itself consists of 10 soldiers, each with different functions. The sergeant was the squad leader while the corporal would act as his assistant. There was the machine gunner, his assistant, and an ammo carrier that would take care of the light machine gun that the squad possessed. The other 5 remaining soldiers were riflemen with bayonets to advance into the enemy position.
Currently, your squad was in the troop quarters along with the rest of the other men. The space was horribly cramped and you could see people struggling for an extra inch of space. Every corner of the room was used to place extra beds for the troops to sleep in and those beds were quite uncomfortable since there was not much elbowroom to move around in.
Tired of lying down for long periods of time, the squad gathers in the middle of the room, chatting together.
"Poor bastards," A private of your squad said, you did not remember his name, "Not like we've got our share of problems even if our ship doesn't have to contend with multiple maintenance problems. People who get too much exposure to the elements get sick while those who aren't used to traveling by sea get seasickness. At this rate, half the division would be too exhausted to do anything by the time we reach the docks."
You find yourself nodding in agreement, but you could not bring yourself to speak with this newcomer. It was not in your nature to easily acquaint yourself with others. You were the type of person that liked to keep things to yourself and not bother with people. That behavior was not exactly anti-social but it was more like a tendency to avoid social situations.
Yet a lot of time has passed, you might as well talk to this fellow and be friendly with him. He would be more likely to save your life if he did like you. Then again if you were to get cozy with the bastard you would risk your life to save his ass instead.
----
Options:
1. There's no harm done in getting to know the private. If you're going to lead them you might as well get to know him.
2. The bastard is going to die anyway and you shouldn't let him drag you down with him.
3. Try talking to someone else.
4. [Write-In]
So far so good the fleet has not bumped into any storms or heavy rains yet the fleet has sustained casualties in the trip. There were ancient ships from a bygone age that met their end in the middle of the sea when they just fell apart due to their own obsolescence. These victims of time plunged into the vast deep blue sea along with their hapless crew, and they died before they ever got to see action.
There were other ships that were recently made but they were of poor design. All shorts of problems plagued these ships, the engine would overheat, the decks would overflow with water, and other sorts of disasters would come. Miraculously, such hazardous vessels did not sink but their crew had to constantly repair the damned thing or it would sink.
The men inside these inferior ships were physically and mentally exhausted and they often had not slept for a day or two. All hands available in the ship had to be used even if they were soldiers that were unfamiliar with the workings of the ship. There were tales of soldiers sleeping everywhere in those poorly designed ships, they would sleep on the hard steel floor of the decks, inside the cabinets in the kitchen so they would not be caught by their officers, and they would sleep at work when they were convinced that nobody would catch them sleeping on the job.
There was even a famous account of a soldier that fell out of the side of the ship when he was trying to take a nap. Nobody ever saw him again, and they did not notice that he was gone until it was too late and he probably drowned.
The general was not happy with these developments and he had the man who was in charge of procuring ships for the fleet shot for incompetence. A total of 2 ships would descend to the bottom of the sea, carrying 692 men both soldier and sailor with them and the rest were rescued by other vessels that could still hold more men.
You are Corporal Clifford Beasley, the 2nd-in-command of your squad. The squad itself consists of 10 soldiers, each with different functions. The sergeant was the squad leader while the corporal would act as his assistant. There was the machine gunner, his assistant, and an ammo carrier that would take care of the light machine gun that the squad possessed. The other 5 remaining soldiers were riflemen with bayonets to advance into the enemy position.
Currently, your squad was in the troop quarters along with the rest of the other men. The space was horribly cramped and you could see people struggling for an extra inch of space. Every corner of the room was used to place extra beds for the troops to sleep in and those beds were quite uncomfortable since there was not much elbowroom to move around in.
Tired of lying down for long periods of time, the squad gathers in the middle of the room, chatting together.
"Poor bastards," A private of your squad said, you did not remember his name, "Not like we've got our share of problems even if our ship doesn't have to contend with multiple maintenance problems. People who get too much exposure to the elements get sick while those who aren't used to traveling by sea get seasickness. At this rate, half the division would be too exhausted to do anything by the time we reach the docks."
You find yourself nodding in agreement, but you could not bring yourself to speak with this newcomer. It was not in your nature to easily acquaint yourself with others. You were the type of person that liked to keep things to yourself and not bother with people. That behavior was not exactly anti-social but it was more like a tendency to avoid social situations.
Yet a lot of time has passed, you might as well talk to this fellow and be friendly with him. He would be more likely to save your life if he did like you. Then again if you were to get cozy with the bastard you would risk your life to save his ass instead.
----
Options:
1. There's no harm done in getting to know the private. If you're going to lead them you might as well get to know him.
2. The bastard is going to die anyway and you shouldn't let him drag you down with him.
3. Try talking to someone else.
4. [Write-In]
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