AN: I don't know much about military tactics and stuff so pardon me, imma just write what I think lol. Btw I've decided to remove "Ki" from the feature rewrites of chapter. You mights ask why, I don't know either. Anyways, that's all.
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
/Flashback/
\One Explanation Later\
> Time Skip look for the best route possible > prepare > and go.
...
This strategy of his continues. It seems it's working very well as he is on the last soldier. All he needs to do now is return.
As the barrage of bullets start once again, Yuuya runs like he do.
"Just a little bit more. I'm halfway there! Come on body, push through!" said Yuuya to himself
but then...
*BANG*
Yuuya knows this sound. It's not the sound of a ordinary gun. It's the sound of a sniper shot. And it didn't come from one of their sniper rifles which he knows the sound of very well. With that, it only means one thing.
"huh?" is all Yuuya can say as to himself as he found himself losing balance and falling to the ground along with the soldier he has in his back.
"COMMANDER!!!" shout one of his troop dread and disbelief. It can only be describe as that as Yuuya's soldier watch him fall to the ground.
It's not the fact that he suddenly falls that scares them. It's the fact that even though it's night time, they can see it very well. Their commander is shot through the chest.
"Damn it! Keep firing!" one of the guy said.
It might not seem obvious, but the shock of suddenly losing their commander, the person they see as a brother, infront of their very eyes makes them feel overwhelmed and panicked.
and slowly, they are losing hope.
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In Yuuya's point of view, everything happens so fast. He didn't even feel the bullet piercing through his body. All that he knew was the moment he heard the enemy snipers gun go off due to his strong sense of hearing, he was falling face first to the cold hard ground of the battlefield.
'So this is what it feels like to be shot huh...' thought Yuuya as he sense a strong taste of something metallic in his mouth.
'ah... I'm bleeding... It feels weird how I can feel my own blood leaking through my wound...'
'I thought being shot would be painful but it isn't too bad... It just feels... Like someone punching me very hard on my back... But the burning sensation is quite uncomfortable...'
'ah... What am I doing... I need to get up or else... or else my team will be killed...'
He wants to get up but he can't. His body feels so heavy as if a boulder is weighing down on him.
He tried, again, again, again, again, and again.
But he just couldn't get up, he lost far too much blood and his body was in shock. Most of all, he is starting to feel numb.
'Damnit... Am I... really going to die... here...?' thought Yuuya as the color in his eyes started to fade
Just when he is about to step into the after life, he suddenly remembers a promise he made.
A promise he said before this mission to his friends, family, to his troops he sees as brothers, and more importantly his fiance who he oath to marry after this mission is all over.
What is that promise you may ask?
'Ah... That's right... I promise I will come back. Alive.'
In an instant, the life on Yuuya's eyes which is about to disappear a while ago was brought back.
Yuuya clenches his fist tightly, forcing himself yet again to rise up and stand.
'Now is not the time to die! I still had a promise to keep, I won't allow failure Mitsukuji Yuuya! So stand up damnit!' said Yuuya to himself.
And so, through adrenaline, sheer willpower and determination, Yuuya manages to get into his knees as he barely scapes from the grasp of death. Yuuya grabs the now unconscious soldier from earlier and drags it with him to get back to their cover.
Of course his action didn't go unnoticed as Yuuya's vice commander, Gabriel, a soldier sent from the United States as a reinforcement to Japan, noticed Yuuya and shouted his name.
"Commander! You are alive!" said Gabriel with joy and relief in his voice.
"Yes I am! I won't die easy like that! So cover me before I get shot again!"
"Yes sir! You guys heard him! Cover fire!"
With every last bit of strength within him, Yuuya manages to close enough distance for his troops to help him and bring the other wounded soldier he carry to safety.
As soon as Yuuya manages to get into cover, he immediately feels the effects of his wounds and loss of blood as he immediately feels very weak and dizzy.
"Hey, the three of you, go treat Akio (the soldier he is carrying) first, he seems to be in a more critical condition." said Yuuya while fighting through his dizziness.
And they do what just that, and the two that is left out, well they already know what they should do as they approach Yuuya to give him a first aid and stop the bleeding or else he'll truly die.
When the medic finished treating Yuuya's wound, he immediately wore his vest and armed himself with his gun and continued fighting with his platoon.
The fight would go on, bombs that are dropped at a precise location to lessen the pressure to Yuuya's platoon lays the already destroyed place into nothing but rubles.
But even so, it's clear that Yuuya's platoon is getting overwhelmed. The heavy machine guns have long since stayed silent for it has run out of ammunition.
They have drained their grenades. They can escape through the cover of the smoke grenade but the enemies will just focus their fire on the smoke.
In instance they survived that, there will still be casualties and even more insurgents waiting for them. Diversion will not work for they are surrounded from all sides. They are cornered and time is running out.
They already called for backup, but to Yuuya's dread, backup won't arrive till the next morning due to some reasons. So they are left on their own until then with only close air support from time to time.
By now, it's 10:15 P.M since the battle has started. They've been fighting for two hours straight with no rest and their ammunition is starting to deplete. They have killed so many enemies that they have stopped counting, but they just kept coming.
One more hour has passed since and they are dangerously running out of bullets. Some are down to their last magazine and some are already using their pistols. Still Yuuya stopped them to save it for later and just withdraw for now.
Yuuya has only one plan to get through this situation, and it's something his platoon won't allow. Even so, he is determined to do it.
Somehow, even though they've been fighting non stop, Yuuya finds himself uninterested to take a quick sip of water. But he put it on the side of mind for now, for survival is more important.
And so, the fighting goes on. The time now is 12:00 midnight. They manage to prolong the fight as long as they can but alas, they are down in their last mags.
Yuuya has long since decided to retreat and is just planning how to. But now that they can't prolong the fight, what must be done shall be done.
Earlier, Yuuya already told the snipers to retreat. They of course disagree at first, but then he said it's an order, and his orders are absolute. So they retreat. Now all's that is left is for Yuuya to give the command.
"Alright listen up. We can't keep doing this or else we will all die. We need to break through them and retreat. So suit yourselves up, Gabriel will be in the front. Assist the injured and protect them. I'll be in the back to provide cover and protect our flank."
"I also don't want to hear anyone volunteering to be left behind and to buy us some time to retreat. For fucks sake you guys have a family to return to so I'm not tolerating such bullshit at this moment!"
"One more thing. When we break through their lines, don't look back. Don't ever look back. Keep running because your life literally depends on it. Don't stop, don't ever stop until you are far away not to see this place. I will be silent in the whole thing because I need to focus."
"Do I make myself clear?"
His platoon all nods in agreement.
Deep down Yuuya knows, one must be left behind to buy them some time or else, they won't even make it out the place without being slaughtered.
Who's the person who will make the sacrifice? No other than him. Yuuya.
"Then shall we go for it?"
...
Yuuya knows that every time a smoke grenade is thrown, the insurgents fire at the smoke relentlessly. So Yuuya thought, he could bait them with it. Let them mag dump and then make a run for it. It's the best chance they have.
"Are you guys ready?" Yuuya said as they anticipate for the enemies gun to go silent for a reload.
"On my signal, run with all of your might. Don't hesitate to shit whatever appear in your field of vision."
And so, they all prepare theirselves. Their hearts and survival instincts on the max. For them, this will be the most gruelling and longest run they will have in their entire life.
In their mind, one simple mistake could mean the end of them.
Some are already tearing up, thinking about their family who's waiting for them.
" I'm really really so fucking done with being a soldier once this is over. " said one of them
As of right now, their attention is only focused to Yuuya. Silently waiting for his signal. It almost felt like an eternity for them.
And then finally...
The instant the sound of gunfire fades, Yuuya gave the command.
"Now! Run!"
With that, they run faster, faster they have ever been their entire life.
The insurgents are of course caught off guard from this sudden development.
In the initial breakthrough, those who still have some ammo left let out a few bullet to those insurgents they see. Thus killing some enemy in the process.
Yuuya with his incredible accuracy protect their tracks flawlessly. Paired with his strong hearing, he could anticipate where the enemy will appear thus finishing them off before they can even press the trigger.
Just like what Yuuya commands them to do, his platoon never looked back and just continues to retreat.
They are so focused into making it out this hell hole that they didn't even notice the gunfire behind them fading into the distance.
They are not still aware of it but Yuuya has decided to be left behind to buy them time.
Sure he could decide not to do it. But he could potentially endanger his entire platoon if he decided not to. After getting out of the city, what will meet them is a wide open space with almost no cover to hide on.
Since they are just sitting ducks at that moment, they will just be a very hard target practice or be hunted one by one.
Yuuya couldn't afford the slightest of risk. So as his last act of selfishness, he will buy them just enough time to escape.
For Yuuya, this act is beyond selfishness. After all he himself has a family waiting for him. But on the same time, he couldn't just think about himself and let his companions to fend for theirselves. No. He is not that kind of person.
And so he made up his mind, this is where he will make his last stand.
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An hour has already passed. It's already been 1:30 A.M since they make a run for it. When the platoon could no longer see the city behind them, they finally stop.
Their adrenaline has subsided and they finally feel the exhaustion. They all fall to the ground due to exhaustion. Not even a single one of them has any strength left. They have given their all to survive, and they do manage to live.
With that in mind, they finally let go and fall unconscious. Unaware of the price they pay, their commander paid, just for them to live.
...
Back to Yuuya, he is currently sitting behind cover.
He looked at his watch and sees that an hour has passed since they make a breakthrough.
He knows to himself that they already run off to a safe distance. As much as he wants to also retreat, he can't risk the chance of them following him.
After all, his enemies makes their intentions clears. They want Yuuya dead. As a response, he too makes his intentions clear.
"YOU GUYS WANT MY HEAD RIGHT?! THEN COME AND GET IT!"
After that, another hour has passed. Yuuya use every strategy he knows. Be it making a trap, confusing the enemy, or guerilla warfare. He do everything that he could think off, in hope of prolonging the fight.
But unfortunately, he can't avoid sustaining injuries himself. In just an hour, he already got shot in the right shoulder and left leg by the same sniper who shot him earlier. Fortunately the bullet avoided the major blood vessel and the bone. Allowing Yuuya to still use his leg, but his right shoulder now lacks some mobility.
Another hour has passed. It's 3:00 A.M now and Yuuya finally located the pesky sniper.
He then proceed to shoot both of the insurgents arms, then Yuuya continues to obliterate the poor guys knee cap. He made his intentions clear that he ain't letting him go.
Yuuya then delivers a single powerful punch to the insurgents face dislocating it's jaw.
He then pick his last flashbang grenade, remove it's pin and then continues to shove the whole thing in the insurgents mouth.
Yuuya then get up and before he leaves he says one thing.
"You should have gone for the head."
After saying that, he left the place without looking back as he hears the flashbang grenade go off.
Another hour of fight once again passed. By now it's 4:00 A.M and reinforcement still hasn't arrived.
By now, Yuuya sustained 3 more bullet wounds to the abdomen. Still, he continues to fight on.
Another hour once again passed, but this time, it's all finish. Yuuya has already killed almost all of the insurgents and hid himself in the second floor of a building.
In that entire hour, he sustained a disturbing 15 bullet wounds all over his body. The word miracle is an understatement of how he is still breathing.
But alas, he knows very well, he is just minutes away from death.
He lost too much blood. He is getting weaker by seconds.
" ah damn it. Damn it all."
"..."
"I can't taste anything. I don't feel thirsty. My limbs and hand feels cold and my eyes feels heavy. I'm... Dying..."
"..."
"Is there where I'm gonna die? No... It feels so cold... And lonely..."
"..."
"Please no.... I don't want to die alone..."
Amidst this situation, in the corner of his eye, he sees... A snow flake has fallen through the room he was in because it has no roof and no walls except the one he is leaning on.
"A... Snow flake...?"
"Oh yeah... Christmas is just a few days away..."
"..."
"Damn it... I should be back at the camp at this point and preparing myself to go home..."
"My family is expecting my arrival today..."
"I think... I have to disappoint them this time."
" I'm sorry... Everyone. For not fulfilling my promise. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me..."
Amidst his sorrow, as if an answer to his sadness, a ray of light shone.
Yuuya looked up and is surprised to see the sun. The beautiful sunrise he has seen so many times during his life.
Then suddenly, memories came rushing into his mind. More precisely, it's his life flashing before his eyes.
He then remember a conversation with his friend and family.
"Hey Yuuya do you know?" said one of his friend
"Hm"
"They say, after death your brain lives on for 7 more minutes to replay your best memories in life."
"Really?"
"Yeah man!"
" Hmm... If that's so, then you guys will be my 7 minutes." said Yuuya with a genuine smile
Right after that, Yuuya's best memories in life came rushing in.
Then finally, his last memory plays.
It was his memory with the girl of his life.
His everything.
"I love you, Yuuya."
"I love you too, my everything."
And with that, everything goes dark.
In the real world, during all of those moments playing, Yuuya has already passed away. His once ocean blue eyes who's full of life, has loss it's color.
Even so, in his last moments, he passed away with a smile on his face. A sentiment that even though he regret not fulfilling his promise, he is happy that he met such great friends and people in his life. He is happy and thankful that his best memories is with them.
And with that,
Yuuya Mitsukuji, age 20, passed away with a smile on his face, at 5:30 A.M. Just days before Christmas.
...
Trivia:
The inspiration for their mission name "Operation White Dawn" is because Yuuya will die when it starts to snow because of Christmas just few days away. Thus it signify the "White" and when I'm Yuuya's last moment, he was accompanied by the sunrise thus the "Dawn". Combine it then you have "White Dawn". I suck at making names so I just go with that, plus it gives a deeper meaning.
Side note:
Woah I finally finish this chapter.
Yo wassup guys, told you guys I wouldn't abandon this novel, I failed many promises in my life but one of my goals is to finish this then only can I finally die.
Until again then.