Post by Christopher J. D'Dario on Sept 23, 2011 15:52:22 GMT
(Come in and keep the troops from ripping eachother apart, this takes place shorty after Pelican Companies Defeat at Anzio and the surviving soldiers believe D'Dario is dead.)
The barracks was quite, the long shadows of several men were cast on the wall and moved like dark sentinels as the light swung morbidly on its thin chain. An air of defeat and loss had filled the room, the men of the 185. AD Folgore Pelican Company had suffered their first defeat, and it had cost them dearly. Each man in the room was fighting a personal battle with himself. They had not been together for long, and they hadn’t seen a lot of action, relatively inexperienced but full of heart, that was how they’d been, they where new to the war, they hadn’t known loss before now and each man still had its bitter taste in their mouths.
The door opened and another Pelican walked in, his steps where heavy and slow, as if weighed down by the grief he felt. Ulissie Borric closed the door behind him and walked over to a window. No one in the room had moved when he entered, they hadn’t even looked up. Ulissie let out a long, slow breath that fogged up the cold glass before quickly dissipating. Ulissie was easily the shortest man in the room and had the thin arms and legs of a long distance runner, but his eyes where sharp and his hands as steady as a surgeons. He turned around and looked at each man in turn, not all the Pelicans where here, most of them where out on a training run or trying to keep themselves distracted. Ulissie had spent several days at the firing range, hour upon hour of shooting, just trying not to think about Anzio. Those in the room were the ones taking it the hardest, and Ulissie was not going to let it continue.
He squared his shoulders and lifted his chin, D’Dario had always muttered to himself about leading my example, that crazy bastard was always muttering things to himself. With his head up and his feet no longer dragging Ulissie walked into the middle of the room and stopped, still no one lifted their head. He turned round to Vito Liesuno, a large gorilla of a man, with hairy arms and a thick neck. He was the Companies only Machine Gunner now with Rocco Littlerly and D’Dario dead. Ulissie shook his head, only Litterly was confirmed dead, D’Dario had been captured and most believed him to still be alive, or at least like to think so. Either way, this was not the way to remember him.
“Look at you lot!” Ulissie said as he scanned the other men, his voice fell over them like water breaking on the rocks, they didn’t move.
“What do you think the Sergente would think if he walked in here and saw you like this?” Still no movement.
“Are we not The Destroyers?” Movement, a flinch in the arm, a slightly raised chin, eyes focused. Ulissie wasn’t that good at big speeches, he didn’t like being the centre of attention, but something had to be done. Domanic Bellise raised his voice; he didn’t have to raise it very much to be heard in the silence.
“But we where beaten, we lost almost everything.”
Ulissie snorted, “Do not exaggerate! We lost the battle yes, but there is still a war going, the bastards who beat us walking around Anzio like they own the place!” The room seemed to shudder at the name of their defeat. Ulissie recognised his chance and pounced on it, he shouted at the top of his lungs.
“ANZIO!” The change in the men in the room was as noticeable as flipping a switch in a dark room, the sorrow that had been pressing down on them was being forced out by rage.
“Yes we lost, our friends died!” Ulissie’s voiced cracked on the last word, but he forged on. “But this is not how we remember them! Do you think they’d want you like this?” Ulissie turned on the Morettie Twins and Livio Deluna, like him and most of the others they’d been with Segente D’Dario from the start, but it was Ulissie and the Company medic who’d been with him the longest. Never the less, Ulissie knew that if he could get one of the twins to liven up, the other would follow suit.
He didn’t get a word out though cause Vito had turned to his bunk and upended it, gripping the base frame and flipping the whole bed over with a roar of anger.
“It shouldn’t have happened like that!” Vito punched the wall, splitting his knuckles on the wood. “They had a damn tank! What did we have to take that out? We had nothing! We shouldn’t have even been there!” Ulissie didn’t know how to handle that because he agreed, they had an armoured car, two if you count the Germans one. Armoured cars against a tank, only a madman would believe they had a chance, and yet D’Dario thought they could it. Ulissie was about to voice his thoughts when Peppe Morettie stepped forward towards Vito.
“The Segente had a plan! He wouldn’t have lead us into that if he didn’t think we could have won!”
“Well look at what his great plan has done! He’s dead! Rocco’s dead! Seven other Italians are dead too! All because of him and his insanity!” Vito kicked the bed he’d flipped over and turned around just as Peppe threw a punch at him, connecting his fist with the gorilla’s nose and spraying blood over his face. Vito barely flinched, instead he returned Peppe’s punch, hitting him in the chest and knocking him back, and this only gave Marco room to dive onto the machine gunner in order to aid his brother. The fight quickly consumed the room, beds were thrown about and blood began to flow freely before the others in the room managed to pull the three men apart.
Peppe was screaming at Vito about respecting the dead D’Dario and trying to break free of Ulissie’s grip while Domanic and Livio were holding Vito back.
The barracks was quite, the long shadows of several men were cast on the wall and moved like dark sentinels as the light swung morbidly on its thin chain. An air of defeat and loss had filled the room, the men of the 185. AD Folgore Pelican Company had suffered their first defeat, and it had cost them dearly. Each man in the room was fighting a personal battle with himself. They had not been together for long, and they hadn’t seen a lot of action, relatively inexperienced but full of heart, that was how they’d been, they where new to the war, they hadn’t known loss before now and each man still had its bitter taste in their mouths.
The door opened and another Pelican walked in, his steps where heavy and slow, as if weighed down by the grief he felt. Ulissie Borric closed the door behind him and walked over to a window. No one in the room had moved when he entered, they hadn’t even looked up. Ulissie let out a long, slow breath that fogged up the cold glass before quickly dissipating. Ulissie was easily the shortest man in the room and had the thin arms and legs of a long distance runner, but his eyes where sharp and his hands as steady as a surgeons. He turned around and looked at each man in turn, not all the Pelicans where here, most of them where out on a training run or trying to keep themselves distracted. Ulissie had spent several days at the firing range, hour upon hour of shooting, just trying not to think about Anzio. Those in the room were the ones taking it the hardest, and Ulissie was not going to let it continue.
He squared his shoulders and lifted his chin, D’Dario had always muttered to himself about leading my example, that crazy bastard was always muttering things to himself. With his head up and his feet no longer dragging Ulissie walked into the middle of the room and stopped, still no one lifted their head. He turned round to Vito Liesuno, a large gorilla of a man, with hairy arms and a thick neck. He was the Companies only Machine Gunner now with Rocco Littlerly and D’Dario dead. Ulissie shook his head, only Litterly was confirmed dead, D’Dario had been captured and most believed him to still be alive, or at least like to think so. Either way, this was not the way to remember him.
“Look at you lot!” Ulissie said as he scanned the other men, his voice fell over them like water breaking on the rocks, they didn’t move.
“What do you think the Sergente would think if he walked in here and saw you like this?” Still no movement.
“Are we not The Destroyers?” Movement, a flinch in the arm, a slightly raised chin, eyes focused. Ulissie wasn’t that good at big speeches, he didn’t like being the centre of attention, but something had to be done. Domanic Bellise raised his voice; he didn’t have to raise it very much to be heard in the silence.
“But we where beaten, we lost almost everything.”
Ulissie snorted, “Do not exaggerate! We lost the battle yes, but there is still a war going, the bastards who beat us walking around Anzio like they own the place!” The room seemed to shudder at the name of their defeat. Ulissie recognised his chance and pounced on it, he shouted at the top of his lungs.
“ANZIO!” The change in the men in the room was as noticeable as flipping a switch in a dark room, the sorrow that had been pressing down on them was being forced out by rage.
“Yes we lost, our friends died!” Ulissie’s voiced cracked on the last word, but he forged on. “But this is not how we remember them! Do you think they’d want you like this?” Ulissie turned on the Morettie Twins and Livio Deluna, like him and most of the others they’d been with Segente D’Dario from the start, but it was Ulissie and the Company medic who’d been with him the longest. Never the less, Ulissie knew that if he could get one of the twins to liven up, the other would follow suit.
He didn’t get a word out though cause Vito had turned to his bunk and upended it, gripping the base frame and flipping the whole bed over with a roar of anger.
“It shouldn’t have happened like that!” Vito punched the wall, splitting his knuckles on the wood. “They had a damn tank! What did we have to take that out? We had nothing! We shouldn’t have even been there!” Ulissie didn’t know how to handle that because he agreed, they had an armoured car, two if you count the Germans one. Armoured cars against a tank, only a madman would believe they had a chance, and yet D’Dario thought they could it. Ulissie was about to voice his thoughts when Peppe Morettie stepped forward towards Vito.
“The Segente had a plan! He wouldn’t have lead us into that if he didn’t think we could have won!”
“Well look at what his great plan has done! He’s dead! Rocco’s dead! Seven other Italians are dead too! All because of him and his insanity!” Vito kicked the bed he’d flipped over and turned around just as Peppe threw a punch at him, connecting his fist with the gorilla’s nose and spraying blood over his face. Vito barely flinched, instead he returned Peppe’s punch, hitting him in the chest and knocking him back, and this only gave Marco room to dive onto the machine gunner in order to aid his brother. The fight quickly consumed the room, beds were thrown about and blood began to flow freely before the others in the room managed to pull the three men apart.
Peppe was screaming at Vito about respecting the dead D’Dario and trying to break free of Ulissie’s grip while Domanic and Livio were holding Vito back.
