Sergeant Jergen walked into the commander's office with a scowl on his face. The building was mostly underground and the air inside always seemed stale to him, no matter how much was pumped in from outside. Even under a dozen feet of reinforced concrete, the sound of artillery continued to rumble in the distance.

 

That had been another of the commander's ideas. The average demon was suicidally aggressive but most had little more intellect than an insect. If left to their own devices they would search for and kill anything living but without prey they mostly just ran around aimlessly. The more intelligent demons would then gather them up into massive hordes and send them crashing into the fortifications. The artillery could be heard for nearly 100 miles in any direction and it gave the dumber ones something to charge at. That made them run in piecemeal instead of giving the elites a chance to gather them into a larger and more cohesive charge. 

 

It was one of the reasons they alone, among most of the border bases, hadn't had a serious breach yet. Jergen didn’t expect it to last. Trying to hold a line 800 miles long was near impossible even on the best day. Still, the job was the job and someone had to do it or they were all dead.

 

He went through the last door and into the Commander’s office. She was at her desk and looked all the world like she was still in her mid-twenties. She had a delicate face and was cute, if not exactly beautiful. She looked like the typical girl-next-door co-ed assuming you didn’t look at her eyes. The sergeant knew she was at least four years older than his 53 but no-one really knew how long someone at tier 4 could live. 

 

“Get the new recruits settled?” She asked without looking up from her papers.

 

“Yeah, this morning was the last group. Something like 50 total from 4 different towns in Wisconsin.” He replied crisply.

 

“Anyone standout?” She asked.

 

“A few healers, at least 1 with a pretty powerful system even though he’s low level. A cook who’s food gives buffs, she'll be a godsend and should shoot up in levels with all the cooking we’ll be making her do.  Then there’s the last kid.” He said, with a half-laugh.

 

The laugh finally made the Commander look up and she raised a brown eyebrow.

 

“He’s got a sex system, displayed his info in front of all the Lieutenants. Rodreguiez nearly collapsed in a fit. Apparently anyone who sleeps with him gains a mental focus buff, and a minor physical boost, even increases training results, supposedly.”

 

“What did you do with him?” She asked, curious. 

 

“Sent him in with the normal trainees. Christ they’re all kids. Every single one of them should have gotten at least a month of basic before they ever sent them out here. I figured I’d leave him there until I figured out what to do with him. It’ll be good for him either way.” Sergeant Jorgen said.

 

“I agree with the training. They all should have it, but we need their support abilities more than a few more people to stab demons.” The Commander told him. The Sergeant grunted, but it didn’t exactly sound like agreement. “If his system does what you say It does I wish we had two dozen more of him. Well Maybe a dozen of him, and a dozen female versions.” She said wryly. “God knows the fighters could use the R and R after the month we’ve had. We’re running into some serious moral and fatigue problems.” She continued.

 

“So what do you want done with him?” He asked finally.

 

“Find him an empty officer's quarters somewhere. We can’t have him work in the barracks. Then I guess someone should talk to medical and see if they have any recommendations. If we do this it’s going to have to be consensual on both sides. I’m not gonna use an 18 year old kid as the base whore, especially when he’s a draftee and didn’t get a say in the matter.” 

 

“If he’s anything like I was at eighteen I doubt he’ll turn many women down.” The Sergeant said wryly before he saluted and left.

 

*****************************************

The next week was a nightmare of sweat, vomit, and soul-deep exhaustion for Tanner. He’d been shuffled off into a group of training recruits as soon as he’d left the others. He had to make one quick stop at the quartermasters where he was given a few uniforms, boots, and got to pick out his rune weapon. 

 

He’d been handed a backpack full of clothes and various supplies, then taken into an armory full of beginner rune-weapons. Rune-weapons were one of the reasons for humanity's initial success against the demons, before the Final War screwed everything up. Mundane weapons were of little value against demons, any weapon that didn’t contain mana was significantly less effective. Sure, a demon would still die if you cut off it’s head, or blew its body into chunks with heavy machine-gun fire, but they could soak up a surprising amount of gross physical damage from mundane sources.  Luckily, one of the first magic system users had figured out a way to imbue mundane materials with magic.

 

You could take a sword, stick a rune or two on it, and you had a weapon capable of dealing real damage to a demon that any system user could wield. They just had to pour in enough mana to activate the runes. The problem was mana had to be actively moving through the object to make it work, which meant ranged weapons were much trickier. Possible, but expensive and delicate. 

 

The quartermaster had weapons of every type and variety from all over the world. He saw katanas from Japan, basic long swords, scimitars, spiked-clubs, knives, A roman gladius, swords and axes with huge anime-sized blades for system users with super-human strength scores, but Tanner’s eyes were drawn towards a rapier. Well, he thought it was a rapier, although it didn’t really look like most of them he’d seen in movies. 

 

It wasn’t just a thin piece of metal for stabbing, although it did have the large cage of metal to protect the hand. Instead it was a thin sword with a dual cutting edge a good three-feet long. It had some real heft and Tanner picked it up to test the weight. He guessed a good three pounds, which was more than he was expecting.

 

“Not a bad eye.” came the sound of the quartermaster from behind him.

 

“What is it? It’s like a rapier, but heavier.” Tanner asked. He was kind of a geek, but old weapons had never been something he’d studied over-much.

 

“That’s a classic Espada Ropera, or well something like that. It’s hard to say really, all the names were pretty muddled back then because of how slow ideas moved around. People were always ‘discovering’ the same things and taking credit for everyone else's ideas and slapping their own names on things. Basically it’s the grand-daddy of the rapier, back when it was still a real combat weapon and not just for rich-people killing each other in duels.” The quartermaster said, showing his knowledge on the subject.

 

Tanner gave the sword a bit of a flick and it hummed through the air. “I’ll take it.” 

 

That encounter in the quartermasters had been his only positive action the whole week. The rest of the time he and the other new soldiers he’d been stuck with had been run ragged.

 

The were forced to run for miles with their weapons and full packs, then they did ‘circuit training’ which had to be some kind of torture technique they learned from the demons. Then it was more running, weapon drills, sparing, and more running. The only time he actually got to rest were during meals  and that was when they brought in other instructors or showed videos to teach them to field-dress wounds, maintain their gear and weapons, and show them the various types and anatomies of demons. 

 

By Monday afternoon Tanner was so tired he could barely think. By Wednesday he wasn’t really sure if he was even alive anymore. His whole world was a sort of fugue where he did things but didn’t remember what or how. They did get a day off on Friday but Winston didn’t really come back to himself until late that afternoon. When he’d stumbled into his room Thursday night, he’d slept for 12 straight hours without even rolling over.

 

One thing he had appreciated was that unlike all the other recruits, he’d actually been given his own room for some reason. He’d have likely figured out the reason if he had not been so exhausted but the few hours of relaxation he’d been given hadn’t put him in much of a thinking mood.

 

The whole ugly cycle started again at 0600 Saturday morning. It wasn’t until the following Wednesday the cycle was broken and that was only because of the demon attack. 

 

Tanner was sparring against another Trainee with wooden weapons. The guy's name was Jeremie Miller and he was only six months older than Tanner. He was a tall dark-haired boy with a wrestler’s build. He was all broad shoulders and a thick-powerful torso to match his height. He was using a 2-handed axe to fight against Tanner's sword. The battle was a surprisingly good one. The axe was unwieldy in the extreme but Jeremie was so damn strong that trying to get in range to use his sword was a nightmare for Tanner.

 

Trying to parry was nearly impossible so Tanner would have to try and dodge, or work at Jeremie’s arms and legs with quick in-and-out slashes. The fight dissolved into an odd sort of chess match, which is likely while the instructors had paired them up. Jeremie needed to get used to fighting smaller and faster opponents, while Tanner needed to work on how to deal with someone stronger and with better reach.

 

He’d just decided to try his luck when the sound of the artillery changed. Tanner had quickly figured out that the artillery weren’t really doing anything. There was a single shot every thirty seconds, day and night, day after day. When he heard a second shot right after the first, he was so startled he fell, which was likely for the best as Jeremie’s axe whistled over his head a moment later. 

 

“What’s up man?” Jeremie asked as Tanner got back to his feet. More of the big guns sounded and  Tanner looked to the North and saw he wasn’t the only one. A second later a blaring siren came out over the base's PA system.

 

“Demon horde Incoming… All personnel arm yourselves and report to your CO’s immediately!” 

 

The sound was incredibly loud and all turned to their training Sergeant. “Rack your training weapons and grab your gear. Piss if you need to but be back here in Sixty seconds NOW MOVE!” Tanner did as he was told, putting his wooden sword back onto the racks and running over to the side where they’d dumped their gear after another miles long run. 

 

He was sweaty and exhausted but all that fled as adrenaline pumped into his veins. This was the real deal. The enemy was at the gates and Tanner was terrified. He slipped on his pack and camelback, then belted on his scabbard. The sword was so long it was a pain in the ass to wear and draw but the weight felt comforting in an odd way. 

 

Tanner took his spot in formation as they formed in front of the Sergeant. “Follow me, double-time march. MOVE!”  If the base had been busy before, now it was like a kicked ant-hill. People were running everywhere but the chaos had an organized quality to it. There wasn’t any panic, just haste and that, more than anything, comforted Tanner.

 

They marched over to the airfield and got in line to board one of the aircraft. It was a massive six-rotored troop carrier at least 50% larger than the shuttle he’d taken from school. It had 300 seats, but they packed it full before the big door shut and the rotors screamed to life.

 

The wall was fifteen miles north of the base, but the big transport made it there in six minuets. The back door started to open before they’d even landed and soon their little group was being led away from the landing pad as more transports swooped down and disgorged their troops.

 

The Sergeant was talking on his radio while he led them North-West. The sound of the artillery was deafening this close to the big guns so tanner dug through his pack and stuck in his ear-plugs. They were eventually led down into a bunker near a section of the wall. There were seats so everyone parked themselves as the Sergeant explained the situation.

 

“We’re assigned to this section of the wall. You guys are going to be the reserve’s reserve. Hopefully you won't need to see any action but if things go South, or this drags on too long you may be called in. You’ve only had a fraction of the training I’d like, but these are the front lines for a reason. 

 

“These aren’t the wars of old. This isn’t a fight between religions, or nationalities, or political systems. It’s for the survival of our species. Remember that.” He said.

 

The next twelve hours of Tanner's life were incredibly nerve-wracking even though he wasn’t doing anything besides sitting. They got to eat a cold lunch but it sat in his guts like a lump of lead.

 

The Sergeant’s radio crackled to life and he waved them up out of their seats. “Show time boys and girls.” He said grimly.

 

They all geared up again, and Tanner made sure to pull on his heavy gloves and hat. It had to be after dark and he had no doubt it would be freezing up on the wall.

 

“Things to remember.” The older man continued as they marched up out of the bunker.  “Don’t go up there in a frenzy. This is a marathon not a sprint. Your job is to hold the line, not kill demons. Save your mana and abilities as much as you can or you’ll wish you had when you really need them.” They stepped out into the cold but the area was surprisingly well lit. There were lights everywhere and the Sergeant led them up a long switch-back staircase until they made it to the top of the wall. 

 

The structure was at least forty feet high and half-that in width. Tanner looked out to the North to see absolute pandemonium. Black and red figures were being slaughtered everywhere. Mortars, machine-guns, and spells were killing demons by the thousands under the glare of huge flood-lights but the demons didn’t seem to care. For everyone killed, another appeared from beyond the light and rushed towards the wall.

 

The river where they were at was only about 200 ft wide and most of the demons never even made it to the water. Those that did and were forced to try and swim were quickly dispatched. The water of the river was always dark, but now it seemed like a river of gore more than one of water. The few demons that actually made it across then had to climb the wall. Mostly they made it in groups of two’s and three’s and once they got to the top they were met by runed steel.

 

“Alright, you guys take a spot on the back of these lines.” Their sergeant ordered. “Every five minutes they’ll call rotate, and you guys will move forward, until you're at the front. When they call rotate again you move to the back and it starts over.” Tanner took his spot behind 2 men while a third was jabbing a spear at a demon Tanner couldn’t see over the wall. 

 

Thus began another boring but incredibly nervous wait. By the time he actually got to the front of the line his nerves had been completely shot and he moved by instinct more than conscious thought. 

 

Nothing happened for almost a minute before two dark shapes skittered up the wall in front of him. One was a ‘cutter’ a spider looking demon that had two sickle claws on the front like a praying mantis. It was far enough to Tanner’s right that someone else would have to deal with it but the ‘crawler’ was heading his way, slightly to his left. Crawlers looked like monkeys but they moved low to the ground with their stomachs almost touching the dirt. They were fast, agile, and had a long spiked tail. It was their most dangerous weapon. 

 

He saw that Jeremie was to his left and Tanner locked eyes with him as they both made ready. “I’ll take the tail, just kill it.” He told his large friend. The boy nodded and the pair waited a moment longer. As the crawler got to the top of the wall it’s tail lashed at them like a whip. Tanner swatted it away with the flat of his blade and the weapon rang. Then Jeremie swung his big axe and nearly bisected the creature. It screamed and plummeted down into the river below. 

 

He only had to fight twice-more on that first rotation but when he was rotated out it felt like he’d run for miles. The night continued in the same vein. 5 minutes of fighting, and 10 minutes of resting. He saw new faces all the time so he knew people were being pulled off the wall, and others added in.

 

Things only got dicey once. Some kind of large demon had pressed forward with a large mob of fodder and had drawn the fire of three of the emplaced machine guns. They killed the creature but that left nearly 200 demons to enter the water all together. Most were killed but nearly fifty swarmed up the wall in one big wave. Fortunately whoever was in command saw that the ‘greenies’ were on the line and rotated them to the back so more experienced soldiers could handle it. 

 

The soldiers all used their abilities and the wall turned into flashing lights and swaths of destruction for a moment. Then all the demons were dead and things went back to normal, aside from two soldiers who were pretty badly injured. By the time Tanner was pulled out of the rotation and sent back to the bunker the sky was starting to lighten and all his limbs felt like jelly. He was alive and uninjured. He’d survived his first shift of the wall and nothing terrible had happened.

 

He didn’t remember being roused from the bunker or flown back to the base. He must have slept through most of it. When he finally woke up again it was Thursday afternoon and he was back in his room, still wearing his dirty uniform. He grimaced down at himself before he stripped and hit the showers. Once he was clean and back in his room he had no idea what to do or who to report to. It was already late Thursday and Friday was normally their off day. He supposed if someone wanted him they’d come find him.

 

He’d no sooner had the thought when someone knocked on his door. He groaned but walked over and opened it only to see two women standing in the hall.