Descending Chaos

Prologue.

My name is Nat Radcliff. Doctor Natalee Radcliff to specific. Serving on the frontline in the Armies Medical Corp. Attached to the Manchester Regiment.

The rising tensions of eastern Europe were spearheaded by the Ukranian far right government who went on a xenophobic purge of its citizens. akin to the extreme far-right of the century old Nazi party of Germany – they began by passing the iconic 2026 National Identity Legislation which forced all nonnative born Ukrainian members of the population out of its borders, causing an influx of an estimated thirteen million refugees heading towards western Europe and eastern Asia.

The fascism was originally contained to just the Ukraine until the Baltic elections of 2028. Overnight, half of the Baltic nations had subscribed to the Fascist ideology. They began referring to themselves as the 'Purity Party' - the birth of the new Regime.

January 1st 2030 was the day that changed modern history as we know it. History repeated itself in almost every aspect of that statement. Fourteen thousand soldiers drawn from the Baltic allied nations massed on the Polish, Finnish and Greek borders waiting for the morning sunlight to rise. In the span of one morning, they brutally forced their way through the borders, while a mechanized task force stole the Suez Canal away from the Egyptians. Their assault was swift and deadly. The allied nations of the United Kingdom, France and Germany quickly launched a counter offensive to try and stem the inflowing forces but they were too strong in numbers.

It would appear the 'Purity Party' had taken the new year's vow of "New year, new you." seriously for the terms of their country's borders.

By March The War had been declared in the East and the century old Soviet brethren had reformed into a new red tide, while the West started its mandatory conscription of the military to try and prevent the breaching of Germany's border line. I, like thousands of another NHS personnel, signed up to do my part for the King and for the Country. Being from the northern city of Manchester, I was attached to their regiment and was deployed into Europe's chaotic warzone.

Serving a total of three tours before peace time was finally declared, each day that passes I remember those I fought against, the people forced to fight and while serving with people forced also to fight, because if we lost, then we would to be enslaved by the ideology we were instructed to fear. But what I didn't realise then, was we all were enslaved by an ideology - a belief of what we thought was freedom and choice to live how we pleased- was just brainwashing.

The combat didn't just cost my friends and colleagues and I, but also my lower left leg. We were in a convoy with the Bristol Regiment, traveling across the Mediterranean coastline near Greece in the hopes of assaulting a fortified sector held by the enemy, but our trucks were stricken by an IED (Improvised Explosive Device), which toppled our transport. I was considered lucky as I lost most of my battle brothers in that incident. Their lives, along with my mind are lost to the ether. Scarred with the sights of war and innocent people, including children, being consumed by the black archangel in unspeakable ways.

I returned to Britain against my will, following my dismissal from my military service due to the injuries sustained in the field, I was provided with Flesh Hook Prosthetics allowing me to try and return as best as possible to regular life, running was recommended to try and regain my confidence on my feet but it's like trying to run on a dead leg, almost literally.

Britain though was different, changed permanently. Including my home, the scars of bombing raids never healed and left those able to return without housing or employment and the refugee camps, that started out in such small numbers grew drastically, becoming a common site to try and host those who were displaced.

Peace was instantly declared on both sides following a conditional surrender on both sides in 2036; Russia launched four nuclear warheads into the north of Germany and Poland creating the Ash Fields - where all life ceased. Those lucky enough to not be caught in the original blast became plagued with the lingering fallout.

They never could calculate the actual toll of The War. Spanning only seven long years, it had shattered Europe's core resulting in a physical divide between the Soviet nations and the rest of the world. Millions of people dead for nothing! The toll, of course, wasn't just the amount of the population that were slaughtered but also economic, leaving a vast proportion of the work force to unmarked graves.

The now so-called United Government had to take drastic action. Nations that would have been originally to provide well fare benefits, could no longer afford them and the renowned British NHS was stripped of its capability following a combination of two decades of austerity preceding The War but the lack of manpower became the last nail in its coffin. Luckily, my return and treatment were before its collapse.

Conscripted Labor they called it, where first world countries looked akin to third world poverty-stricken wastelands, children were left as orphans to die in the streets and made to beg for what little bits of food they could get or the possibility of shelter because as children they aren't able to contribute to the economy, that fate was if you weren't deemed fit for work. Those who could pull their weight had to be employed in a job that was chosen for them; irrespective of creed and class. Farms to factories all filled with workers who were being forced to try and repair the lost economy, but it changed nothing, for the profit and salary was known only to those fortunate enough to own the companies. Conscripted labor! A system that didn't discriminate against male or female, black or white, English or French. The system didn't care for your background, just if you could work in some form of capacity and if you couldn't then you were labeled 'Unfit' and thus a parasite to the state. If you were physically able to work then you were mandated to do so. And those who couldn't - were sent to one of the three dozen Compounds established along the Maginot peninsula. Losing both my physical ability and sanity to the trauma I suffered, I was quickly deemed 'Unfit' for work and was labelled a parasite to the state.

And Parasites must be eliminated.

So, I was sent over seven hundred miles to a Compound in central France. My name stripped and replaced with a four-digit number: #2416.

As you read this, you yourself will most likely be a cog in a machine or The Machine. Humanity is a rare creation, the perfect accident and coincidence, yet how do we spend our lives? We spend each day slaving away to appease the higher powers – a turn of the cog – we spend our entire lives laboring away – even from birth: we go to school and from school we decide how our lives will be spent and which part of the machine we will work for. Some will be the ratchet that keeps the machine from falling backwards and breaking while others just are simple standard cogs turning a single degree each day.

But what would I know? I'm just a foot solider sent to serve and defend one ideology from another.

My name is Dr. Natalee Radcliff. Or #2416, depending on who you ask.