.We were all abducted, people from every corner of the world, thousands of us. We all seemed to have nothing in common, so no one put it together. The news was silent. There wasn't any articles in newspapers. The tabloids didn't even run any stories. It seemed as if we just slipped of the face of the earth. We would eventually find out how true that actually was.

    These weren't some random kidnappings. They weren't after money or political goals. These were highly organized and specific military operations. After we were taken we were put in groups. Some of us were angry, some cried, but mostly we were afraid. What frightened us the most was that the soldiers seemed to be even more afraid. You could see it in their eyes and hear it in their voices. These men were not fresh recruits mind you, they were battle-hardened soldiers. What could make these men so afraid? That question put us all on edge. We searched for answers, but all we found was silence. It was in the mess hall the following night that we would find them.

    The food tasted like soggy cardboard, but it didn't really matter most of us didn't have much of an apatite. The mess hall was mostly silent. We were all tired, it had been a long day. Then a muffled scream from outside broke the silence, but before any of us had a chance to react an explosion tore threw the mess hall. There..... was nothing we could do. All that was left was smoldering crater and twisted metal.  We had to get out of there and ran for any exit we could find. Outside, our eyes scanned the sky, following the tracer rounds of the solder's as they randomly fired into the air. The sky was empty, but suddenly there was a low rumble off in the distance. The sound made the ground tremble. Then the sky seemed to be set ablaze as swarms of tiny red dots appeared and quickly descended upon us. They would hover above the ground and in a beam of brilliant red light would summon what appeared to be monsters. These monsters would seem to be at home in your darkest nightmares. They were merciless, no hesitation, seemingly a pure hatred of us. Everyone dashed for cover, and armed themselves anyway they could. We began to fight back, even though this was the first time most of us had held a weapon. But for every one we killed two more arrived. They seemed to have no fear of death. It appeared to be a fight we had no hope of winning and I wondered if these would be our final moments.

    As I began to loose hope a series of explosions erupted right in front of us. Then a voice from behind shouted "I'm here to get you out, stay close and follow me." It was surprisingly calm given the circumstances. As we turned around we saw a heavily armored man with a small group of soldiers. He motioned for them to lay down some cover fire. Without hesitation we followed him. He led us threw a breach in the wall to an awaiting drop ship. It was covered in scorch marks which wasn't very reassuring. Nonetheless, it was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen in my life.

    The ride was silent except for the sounds of the engines. We were all in shock. We rode like that for hours until we arrived at something that looked like it was torn from a science fiction movie. The device had rings that seemed to defy the law of gravity, with bolts of electricity arcing throughout. The soldiers motioned us towards the center and we all hesitantly moved onto the device. As we all gathered together the ground began to shake. A wave of fear fell upon us as we began to see red dots appear in the sky. The soldiers quickly rallied and encircled the platform. Their commander flipped a couple of switches and also stepped off the platform. He turned and saluted, drew his weapon and shouted "Let these beasts come! They face Squad 288 and death is all they will find!" The air began to fill with electricity and what seemed like a brightly glowing vortex of energy formed above our heads. The light grew brighter until we all had to cover our eyes. The air snapped a cracked and we all suddenly felt a shock of electricity. The next thing we saw was a beautiful forest. The sounds of war were silent. All we heard was the songs of birds, or what we thought was birds.

    Over the years the screams of our past grew ever more distant, and memories faded. The men and women that gave their lives so that we could live shall never be forgotten, and that is why we call ourselves Squad 288. It is our new family. We will fight for it and defend it by any means necessary. This time we will not run. This time we will not loose. We have been given a second chance, a clean slate. Everyone will know the name Squad 288 and the Bane will learn to fear it.