Journal of the 106th #1

>My first day as a member of the 106th... it was hot, it was sandy, chaotic.
>Nothing at all like the simulations in Atlas.
>Of course that's pretty much the way it was for all of us, wasn't it?
>All that learning, all those years of training... it doesn't really prepare you for the all the screaming or the blood, does it?
>Frankly I'm still amazed we ever made it through the first hour, nevermind the first day.
>When we were deployed, it was originally to rescue a group of Hunters that had been sent in to investigate the local Grimm.
>Rumor had it the Color Nazis had found a way to tame them.
>We didn't think any were still alive, but Ironwood had his own opinions.
>When the drop ships landed, we were immediately met by the heat of that unforgiving desert.
>Soon after, our helemts came alive with the sounds of buzzing.
>The insect-like Grimm native to the sands came alive, swarming us with their seemingly un-ending numbers.
>Our bullets tore through them, but where one bug got squashed, three more soon arrived.
>One by one, our numbers slowly dwindled.
>It wasn't until the Incendiary Unit's drop ship arrived that we began to stand a chance.
>Their fire casters were what drove the Grimm back long enough for us to regroup and hold them off.
>After the last one was added to the BBQ, we pressed on to where their hive was supposed to be.
>We came across it's entrance soon enough, it wasn't exactly hard to find the only thing in the desert besides sand.
>We entered the catacombs, taking out what few Grimm remained as their came at our group.
>Eventually, we found ourselves in the heart of the tunnels.
>To our surprise, we found two of the Hunters still alive, though 'alive' may be an exaggeration.
>They had been stuck to the walls of the caves with some sort of hardening fluid the Grimm seemed to secrete.
>We bashed our guns against the stuff until it broke and quickly got them out of there.
>We thought we were home free, but the sounds from the banging only alerted what Grimm were left.
>They came at us harder than ever, and we just managed to hold them back long enough to get out of their hive.
>But that was only the beginning.
>Once we got outside, we found ourselves surrounded by the Oppressionist's forces.
>We nearly surrendered then and there.
>But just as we were about to lay down our arms, the two Hunters came to, and another drop ship arrived with fresh boots.
>We fought our way forward and punched a whole in the Opp's lines.
>They closed in behind us, but we were already on board the drop ship.
>Incredibly, the 106th survived the crucible of the desert, emerging battle-hardened, and ready for whatever the world would throw at us.

A dramatic reading:
http://vocaroo.com/i/s0ox45pBEQDL