[ WP ] Use a Civ 5 ( or any civ ) game you 've played to inspire a story .

Tales from the Front 
 
 By 2LT Aleksy Urbaniak, FUAF 
 
 The sun rose behind the boat; I watched as the waves off stern changed from pitch black to deep blue, then to a light rose and orange, before finally shining a bright blue. By now, the sun was hot and full in the afternoon sky above the Third Liberated Military Academy, where I had been a cadet only 8 months prior. The sun climbed over me quickly, but the temperature certainly wasn ’ t reminiscent of the Academy ’ s humid heat. Here, near the far southwestern end of the Lesser Divide, where sizable pieces of ice were known to gather during the depths of winter and frigid gusts traveled as fast and directionless as they pleased, I was cold. 
 
 The hull of our small transport ground against the frozen, rocky beach. Command had decided an amphibious landing was safer and less likely to draw attention than a traditional airborne entry. While not unheard of, it still struck me as odd to use seafaring vessels in a military operation. In 3458 P.L. – nearly 3500 years after my ancestors established the Freegard Union and long after we ’ d perfected the nuances of aerial transport and combat – here I was, in a floating steel can. I ’ d feel much safer dropping in, as I ’ ve done countless times back home. On this transport, it was unnerving to think a single breach of the hull could send me to a lonely, dark grave. But higher was on edge too. In those same 3500 years, the Freegard military had never attempted to liberate a people across the Lesser or Greater Divides. Our military was entirely unaccustomed to operating at sea; we were setting a precedent. 
 
 
 Hydraulic pistons unlocked and lifted the front gate; accompanied by a whoosh of cold, dry air rushing in. My boots were the first of the main liberating force to step on the grey and rocky beaches of Procule. They were hard and unwelcoming compared to the soft and warm sands of Aeterna I had left a week ago. It was quiet; the only sound was that of crashing waves, transports landing on the shore, and men marching silently inland. The sky was becoming cloudy and the air was becoming heavy like before a large storm. On the horizon I saw the behemoth vessels from which our transports launched. They were brand new - designed specifically for Freegard ’ s historical first cross-Divide war of liberation. The Union ’ s first navy in 3500 years ( aside from the smaller vessels used to defend our coastline ) was the finest the world had ever known; made possible by the greatest coffers the world had ever known. Liberation was, after all, a lucrative business. 
 
 I led a group of First Recon On Ground ( affectionately referred to as FROGs ) soldiers a half-mile inland to establish one of several patrol bases along a 15-mile beachhead. The rocky beach turned into hard, frozen tundra. No trees grew; only grey and dark green colored moss and lichen. The land was flat in every direction. To my right and to my left, I could see the tiny silhouettes of other FROG teams trekking to their assigned positions. We encountered no resistance. Indeed, we encountered no signs of life. 
 
 The sun descended in the west, disappearing behind the expanse of flat, unknown tundra that awaited me in the coming months. There was no beautiful display of color as the sun set; only a small change from the day ’ s dark grey to the night ’ s pitch black. Turning back towards the Divide, the monolithic Union Navy was only a multitude of small specks of light. While my men laid silently in the dark – half keeping watch and the other half sleeping - the men aboard those great vessels were certainly wide-awake and extremely busy. The main liberation force would follow us ashore in the morning, bringing heavy infantry, artillery, communications equipment, and provisions to sustain a force across the Lesser Divide for years to come. I turned back west. Tyranny existed over that horizon and in the grand tradition of the Union military, we had come to lift it. I laid down to get some hard-earned rest, but my fervent excitement made it difficult to fall asleep. 
 
 [ I apologize, I do n't know how to indent... ] 

