NationStates Jolt Archive

They had given him the offer. The offer he had accepted and now hated himself for. By law, all Koryan citizens are required to serve 1 year in any military branch. Five months of that is training leaving 5 months of peacekeeping missions, aiding police, hunting down convicts, and working on federal projects as practical slave labor. After serving their time, the citizen would receive their Proof of Patriotism, a small certificate that hung in every living room across the nation. Those who backed out of the deal, claiming disabilities and such, were labeled as cowards and shunned by other citizens. Many disabled went into the military for small, unwanted tasks simply to get those certificates. However, there was one way to save time. Those five months of service could be halved to two and a half months by simply serving in a hostile conflict. His captain had given Private Mark Erickson the offer of going on a dangerous mission in exchange for halving his required service time. He had accepted without a second thought. Now, standing on a Wasp Class Amphibious Assault Ship as it neared those hellish islands, he hated himself for it. There was now a fifty-fifty chance he could die today. Probably a 75% chance he’d be dead by the end of the weak. He had heard on the news of the nearly 200 soldiers that had been tortured to death by the natives on simply peacekeeping duties. 11 of those soldiers were medics there to help cure an outbreak of smallpox that was killing off the native population. After two weeks, smallpox had nearly vanished from the islands but instead of a thank you, the medics were skinned alive and sacrificed to the native god of plagues. He was going up against bloodthirsty natives, ready to be skinned alive and tortured to death, just so he could get out of the service two and a half months early. The simple thought of his stupid choice, mistaken for bravery by his family and friends back home, made him sick to his stomach.

The Tyr Islands, named after the war god of native population for obvious reasons, had been a focus of nature, human, animal, and pretty much any other activists for multiple reasons. 21 years ago, it became public that the natives sacrifice every third child for good luck, infuriating human rights activists across Koryan. 19 years ago, two of the eight volcanoes that make up the island chain began spewing ash and other harmful materials making hundreds of fishermen sick and killing infants and the elderly in nearby Koryan cities. When volcanologists attempted to place volcano-monitoring systems on some of the volcanoes to help warn of future activity, the natives were afraid the scientists would anger Vulcan, one of their gods, and cut off all the scientists’ hands so they couldn’t complete their task. Two of the scientists died from infections yet the others were rescued by helicopter and hospitalized. Skipping nearly three dozen other incidents, the invasion of the Tyr Islands by Koryan was finally issued for multiple reasons. Human rights activists were practically protesting around the capital once a week over the Tyr natives’ love of sacrifice. The public, especially northern coastal cities, were getting fed up with the unpunished slaughter of sailors in the name of Njorer, the native sea god. The government finally gave in, although one of the major influences of their decision was the military’s need to test dangerous weapons on uninhabited islands and build a naval/air base away from the mainland in case of invasion. All these factors came together as Lord Ryu McKnight, leader of Koryan, announced that the Tyr Islands were now under Koryan control and would be civilized, modernized, and integrated into the rest of the population.

Now here, four days later, the Tyr Tamer, a nickname given to this certain Wasp Class ship after learning of it’s next mission, came to a halt within throwing distance of the main islands’ shores. Private Erickson and his platoon split up into two groups, one taking a small LCAC hovercraft to the beach and the other going by helicopter. That way both groups couldn’t be ambushed at the same time. The landing went well, too well for most of the soldiers’ liking. Not a single native had been seen the entire time. The Koryan Military was more than aware that many natives had, although very outdated, reasonably modern technology including self-recharging radios, binoculars, and plenty of weapons and ammunition taken from their victims over the past two decades. The natives would fight for their home in the name of Tyr. If only they knew what great things modern technology could bring them.

The platoon met up at their arranged point and called in satellite surveillance of the area for any hostilities. Before HQ could respond, their answer was given as a rain of arrows, spears, and bullets came down upon them. Private Erickson leapt behind a large rock and pulled out a grenade. Everything seemed to be moving at the speed of light, as his fellow soldiers zoomed past him, fighting and dying without ever seeing their enemy. As he looked around, Mark spotted another soldier, crouched behind a Whitebark Pine tree. The man was simply watching the other soldiers fight, his gun sitting in his lap and his hands grasping his dog tag as if it would teleport him away. ‘What a coward’, thought Mark before realizing that he was no better than that man. Suddenly reality hit him and Erickson leapt to his feet, pulled the pin, and chucked the grenade in the general area of the enemy fire. Seconds later, an explosion revealed two mangled corpses, neither looking past adolescence. However, the fighting still raged from all sides. Erickson unloaded a clip from his M16 into a haze of nearby volcanic gases, answered by multiple pistol shots. Ducking behind an odd formation of hardened lava, the soldiers reloaded and scanned the area. He counted sixteen Koryans dead and two more that surely wouldn’t make it. All three medics were dead, although one soldier was attempting to bandage his own wounds using a fallen medic’s kit. An iron-tipped spear bounced off Erickson’s cover, bringing him back to the fight. He leapt out of cover, spraying two natives with bullets but entirely missing a third, before rolling to cover under a long-dead tree. A bullet shattered the frozen bark beside his head. Another soldier, one Mark recognized from the poker game two days earlier, fell dead in mid-sprint within arm’s reach of him, a metal device resembling a throwing star protruding from his skull. Erickson stood up and was about to open fire when he realized everything was silent. The other soldiers looked around, amazed as well. Just as quickly as they had appeared, the natives had vanished into the volcanic jungle, the only proof of the battle being the dozens of bodies spread out across the battle site. He hadn’t even been on the island for an hour and half his platoon was dead. Mark Erickson decided right then that he wouldn’t leave this island alive.

It had been nearly eight days on the island and it had rained for the past six. Bloody skirmishes and disorganized guerrilla battles had already exhausted the Koryan soldiers; many whom had never seen live combat before in their lives. Most surprisingly, the natives had shown their quick learning ability by scavenging dead Koryan soldiers’ bodies and using their weapons. Three more platoons had been sent in to aid the five original, most of which had been depleted of men. Even worse, the heavy rain was causing difficulties for air support to bring wounded soldiers to safety and proper medical attention. An estimated 14,000 natives lived on the island and it seemed like every single one had taken up arms to fight Koryan.

Adding to troubles on the battlefield, the public back home, who had supported and begged the government to annex the Tyr Islands, was starting to turn against the war. Three disasters had already been made public, first being the 58 Koryan casualties in eight days. The second was that 4 captured Koryans had been tortured horribly by the natives then lived to tell the tale to reporters just before passing away. Last but not least, satellites had found a major native warrior camp inside a tunnel network. After destroying the entire tunnel network with bunker-busters, the camp was discovered to be a hideout for women and children; the only warriors being two guards. The Koryan Military was quickly learning that keeping public support would be much harder than actually fighting the war.

Mark Erickson had already been promoted to corporal after receiving two recognitions of Outstanding Combat Performance by the operation commanders. This island, a barren, volcanic wasteland at first glance, had turned out to be quite complex and full of life. All sorts of bugs and small animals lived here, along with seals, otters, and even some birds. Not only that, but massive tunnel systems called ‘lava tubes’ traverse the entire island, formed by a complicated process which Edward, one of the reinforcements added to Erickson’s platoon, was more than happy to tell them about (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lava_tube). These tunnels made chasing natives much harder, and the natives’ knowledge of the tunnel systems allowing them to seemingly appear out of no where and attacking unsuspecting Koryan units. However, casualty rates were still in Koryan’s favor, with 58 Koryans dead compared to the estimated 300 natives killed.

Fire and explosions filled the air around Corporal Mark Erickson. However, it was not the flames of war. He was part of the team for the fireworks display on the top of Tyr Volcano, in celebration of Koryan’s victory. Over 320 Koryan soldiers and an estimated 4,000 natives had died in the three-week conflict, yet it was finally over. The three tribes of Tyr Island had all given their holy artifacts to the Koryan commanders, their symbol of surrender. The fighting on the other islands had been over for over a week now and Koryan contractors were already there, surveying the land for the modernization projects. Lord McKnight had promised to have full electrical, water, and sewer systems finished within three months and to open up a new airport on the main island within six. Temporary helicopter pads had already been placed to make sure every reporter in Koryan was able to get there. For over half the population, this was the first war they had ever seen. There was no way McKnight would let them miss the victory celebrations.

The show was spectacular. Tanks had been flown to the island for a 20-shot salute for the Koryan casualties; over 10,000 Koryan soldiers (most of them officers and veterans of the small war) and 20,000 guests (mostly the families of the soldiers and celebrities) were there for the feast and after-party celebration. The natives were also invited to the celebration and were amazed by not only all the people, but at the numerous fireworks shows and the after-party laser show. Most symbolic of all was the massive flag planted on the very top of the volcano, with battery-powered spotlights shining on the flag from all sides. Starting at 1:00 pm, the celebration and after-party finally ended at 12:30 am so visitors could return to the mainland before a storm would hit later that morning. On June 21st, the Tyr Islands were officially annexed by the Republic of Koryan.