[ WP ] A world that lay broken

Smoke billowed out from under the gun's cycling chamber. A fault that was too costly to fix in manufacturing, but a work around made the weapon still field ready in such instances. It could no longer spin up the projectiles, but it could still pack the punch behind them. No longer capable of fully automatic fire, it became a hand held artillery gun. Seeing the smoke, his commanding officer yanked the gun from Tucker's hands and shook his head. 
 
 `` Rookies.'' 
 
 Tucker joined the army because it was the only profitable thing that was left to do. In training, he got a few choice nicknames for his ability to seize up his weapons. Instructors' yelling did n't seem to sink into his head so he's keep firing until both barrels would stop spinning. He'd look up the sky and shake his head, the clomping of the instructor's boots always meant a chewing out. 
 
 `` Damn it, son! How many is that this week? Rampart Corp has been in existence for near three hundred years and you're single-handedly bankrupting the entire outfit!'' The instructor tore the gun out of Tucker's hands. 
 
 Tucker chose the Rampart Corporation because the qualifications were the most widespread. He did n't do well in the other other of the hundred jobs he'd applied for. The things he did manage to do were menial, which meant enough for only him in his life. Tucker needed a little more, there was someone new in his life. He tried, he really did, but he failed out of everything else. Rampart Corporation for his last choice because it was so controversial. 
 
 The shiny office buildings were only the tip of the iceberg. It was a company in charge of requisitions on a planet wide scale. Invasion forces were dispatched once a year to some outer arc planet who did n't want to join the federation. All the other times, Rampart would be scooping up systems rich in various resources. The armada at the hands of Rampart was impressive, that's what happened when war became a viable business. 
 
 The invasion force Tucker was assigned to had their own slogan, the jingles in the commercials were pretty catchy, `` Pick a star on the dark horizon''. The battle cry went up when it came time for requisitions. Every species had the choice, they were wined and dine first, the join the federation. In all honesty, the benefits of joining were vast, science and technology on those outer arc planets were always slow to evolve. Some of them were a little hesitant, that meant invasion. 
 
 During the drop, Tucker could hear thousands of voices singing their jingle. There was really no going back at that point. He was part of the problem now, might as well make some money. He started to sing. 
 
 The initial landing went well, the scouts made their way inland setting up operation bases. The company had a policy that the newest recruits, like Tucker, would be sent in to scare unarmed civilians. Take as few lives as possible in the time-frame set by the bean counters. 
 
 Tucker's commanding officer called him a rookie and pushed him behind a wall. The racket of fifteen other guns cycling and blasting an empty building to pieces was drowning out the CO's voice. An explosion shook the ground, Tucker tried to lean forward to see what was happening, a hard rap on top of his helmet caught his attention. 
 
 The CO was pointing at the settings. Cycle, fully auto, a little red light blinked meaning that it was out of action. He help up his finger and spun it in a circle, his mouth moving, but Tucker could n't hear a thing. The CO pressed the level to the next setting, semi-auto. The CO held up one finger, then he pointed down a street at the side of an office building. He pointed the gun and pulled the trigger. A wisp of smoke trailed down the street and when it hit the wall, an neat hole the size of a fist was left in the concrete. 
 
 The CO dragged Tucker by the collar and pushed him down to one knee. The noise was still overwhelming the CO so he reverted to trying handsignals. Tucker had to cover their backs, keep an eye out for any moment behind them. He knelt, keeping the gun trained on, eyes swept left to right, nothing. It was n't long before he lost focus, he was taking in sights rather than covering anyone. He was sitting on his feet with his gun across his knees when he felt a smack on the top of his helmet. When he turned to look, his squad must have moved a block down. A sheepish grin crossed his face when he thought of sitting in the middle of a street with no one around. His CO dragged him to his feet. 
 *** 
 * [ I swear, it's inevitable that folks'round these parts will walk in when I'm clacking away at this thing... other than a writing exercise, I guess it's something else I should learn to pick up, continuing something I lose the groove on... let's us continue ] * 
 
 Blah blah blah and some stuff happened and I have to read what I was writing. And I know I'll debate whether to leave these notes in when I go through on a very quick once over. Tucker, in his FNG wisdom says, just do it. The CO would just leave you on the street, bleeding, buddy boy. But would he really? Who is that guy? I do n't know, he's a pair of letters who's trying to keep an employee moving. Yet, there was always something with that employee, what is it? fjfjfjfjfjfjfjfj And do n't forget, this is Tucker's story, not the company's. Okay, we need some colour. 
 *** 
 
 It took Tucker a cold night sleeping on a patch of grass to realize that there was colour in this world. All he'd been experiencing up to that point was yellows and reds of explosions, greys and browns of destroyed city blocks. The klaxon like sound of his CO's voice broke the unsettled sleep he was enjoying. He opened his eyes to the blinding blue of the sky. 
 
 Another day, another dollar. 
 
 What the company would n't like was Tucker always being left behind. His CO was n't a big fan of having to track back to find where he was either. No matter how many times he was yelled at, he'd find something interesting to get hung up on. This last time, he'd been back trying to help the crew in charge of intel sweeps throughout the bombed out buildings. 
 
 [ 10000 character limit... huh, was n't aware ]
