Shades of GrayHistory will be kind to me for I intend to write it.
~Winston Churchill
Chapter 1: Many Meetings
Every story has a beginning. It includes a character, time, place, and problem. Who: Sir Francis Richard Dannatt Jr. When: January 1st, 2020. Where: London, UK. As for the problem, all in good time.
Richard was out on leave when his phone rang. The simplicity of the actions required to answer it were tossed aside for a moment as Richard felt a premonition within the subtleties of the repeating noises coming from his personal communications device. Discarding his feelings, he reached out and picked up his phone, "This is Richard Dannatt, what do you want?"
"General, you're being called back from leave." The empty words rolled from the other end of the phone as Richard sat back and sighed.
"Any idea where i'm being sent off to THIS time?" The General replied, obviously annoyed.
"Gdansk, Poland, Sir. The Russians are strirring up trouble again."
"Be happy it isn't the Americans this time," Richard managed to get off a smirk before he spoke again. "That'll be all."
"Thank you, sir." With that, the conversation had ended and yet Richard still held the phone in his hand, staring blankly towards the other side of the room.
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January 5, 2020. The HMS Sir Galahad.
The General napped silently in his room aboard one of the large transport ships that were carrying him and his 5 battallions of M11A2's over to Poland. To his surprise, his rest would not last long as banging came upon his door. He slowly stood up and strolled to the door. A corporal stood there with anxiousness on his face, "Sir! It's all over the news! It's on BBC! Israel has moved troops past Golan Heights and is invading Syria!" The General needed to hear no more, and he quickly followed the corporal to the television in one of the other rooms. As they arrived, the TV was much too low to be heard and Richard quickly turned up the volume.
"...rael has astonished the international community today as it began moving massive amounts of troops from Golan Heights into Syrian lands. As you can see behind me, Israel has mobilized a massive armoured column and has began pushing unmatched towards the Syrian capital of Damas..." The reporters words were cut short as a bullet tore through his torso. The cameraman was obviously paniced as he dropped the camera to the ground. The television clearly showed the dead reporters face in front of the camera and 3 pairs of feet quickly running over him. Suddenly, the view went pure static and the crew that was watching the video sat silently, stunned.
The General finally managed to get out a word, as he had been surprised as well at this aggression. "All right men, back to your rooms. The damned Poles are going to need us if the Russians decide to get stupid. Go get some rest." The men began slowly exiting the room. The only two who stood still were the General and the Corporal that had brought Richard in. Their eyes were locked with worry. Richard sighed and walked over to him and put his hand on his shoulder, then nodded gently. The message was clear, Be Ready.
