From SC Creator: The COMPLETE saga of Samuel's novella about the QVB, its a great read and I am happy he's decided to share this story with all of us. Enjoy. Fan Fiction, not canon to the SC universe. 01182011.
SCFF: The Quebec Journal
BY: Samuel Kingma-Lord
Quebec City, Canada, Earth [Sol], June 31st 2060: They finally did it! Yesterday, those damn commies launched an unprovoked nuclear attack on our country. Result: over one hundred million American dead and countless more wounded. It’s only a matter of time before radiation sickness kicks in. I can’t write anymore… I’m just mad as hell!
Valcartier army base, October 17th 2060: Today, I and almost all of my friends went to the gates of the base to push the provincial government to create independent volunteer units to liberate the western part of our country from those damn CFR (Communist Federated Republics) invaders and also, to help our American comrades to hold the line against the Chinese onslaught in the south. It was an emotional day to say the least. The rallies not only attracted Canadians from all origins and horizons but even from the remaining separatist population, like myself, who, thank God, were able to put aside the brutal crackdown of the previous August for the moment. Many were thinking: The referendum can wait!
October 18th 2060: I won’t be writing today cause I’m just too damn frustrated with the provincial government who refused flat out all of our demands for independent units. They insist that we join the US Army. Of course we are not going to do that. We are still Canadians at heart.
November 5th 2060: I just have to write this! I found out that a good friend of mine, Mark Hansen, has come in contact with some kind of shadowy military people who have agreed to give us military training. I think they like our idea of ‘independent volunteer units’. I just can’t wait to go to the frontlines to kick those damn invaders from our soil.
November 13th 2060: I don’t have many occasions to write in this journal. The reason: Military training is way harder that I imagined. OK I admit that I know it was going to be hard but not harder than let’s say training for a sporting event. Well, I’m going to stop for today. I’m, let’s just say a dead man walking ha-ha. I’m just so tired But so eager too, let’s not forget that!
December 20th 2060: Today is Graduation Day! I may have had separatist tendencies but I’ve never felt so united with my fellow Canadians like I did today. I received my ABU uniform, simple camouflage fatigues, military-type combat boots, a flag of Quebec on my shoulder pads and a Canadian flag on my chest. As usual our drill instructor gave us a speech of the kind that just fills you with pride (Of course many of my friends never bothered to learn English well enough to understand so there was an officer who would translate in French after every sentence) I can’t remember all of it but my favourite parts went like this: -Men and women of the Quebec Volunteer Brigades I can’t begin to say how glad and proud I am of seeing so many of our young people standing up to the call to arms of the motherland. Now, I know we had our differences in the past… I also know that many of you would have liked to separate from the United States or Canada as you like to remind yourselves. But now is not the time to dwell on our past. As you well know the CFR forces have invaded the west Coast, laid siege to Vancouver, they hold the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Yukon and Alaska in their entirety as well as most of the Northwest Territories and a number of our vital oil fields. They have killed thousands of our countrymen. Men, women, children… They just don’t care who they kill! *He then stamped his anger down and continued* - You have received the best military training available to you. But you must understand the situation: All of you are going into battle against a tough and experienced enemy who has been fighting for the last few years against us in the Pacific and the Colonies. We are moving into the valley of the shadow of death where you will watch the back of the men next to you as he will watch yours. And you won’t care what colour he is or what his political affiliation might have been in the past. I can’t promise you that you will all make it through this war alive. But this I swear that before you and before almighty God, I will be there with you every step of the way through good times and bad ones. In the end though, we will win through to absolute victory! - God, I still have goose bumps when I think about the cheering that rose after that speech!
December 28th 2060: I will be brief. Today was our last day with our families before leaving for the front lines. It
was one of the saddest days of my life since the death of my grandmother seven years before. Even though my parents begged me not to go they knew that I had made up my mind and my father, a veteran of the First Democratic War, simply wished me and my fellow servicemen the best of luck. We will be deployed first to Winnipeg to receive our final orders then straight to the lines in eastern Saskatchewan.
January 14th 2061: I do not have the heart to write but I know I must. This week was the first time I saw combat. I have never been scared like that in my whole life. My own unit, called the White Eagles, has already suffered 25% casualty rate and double that number of wounded. I barely sleep. I’m lucky if I can get 2 to 3 hours of sleep per day.
January 17th 2061: Today, we were able to push the CFR out of many cities in eastern Saskatchewan. Cities like Kamsack, Yorkton, Esterhazy, Estevan, Moosomin, Weyburn and Melville just to name a few. Some of our advanced units have reached the outskirts of Regina and are holding firm in spite of ferocious counter-attacks by the CFR and their Holy Islamic Empire (HIE) reinforcements. The top brass promises us that Regina will be ours in a few days. Let’s hope they are right for once (They aren’t known for their reliability). There are rumours of remaining US/Canadian units around Edmonton who are harassing the Hegemony forces with constant hit and run attacks.
February 4th 2061: I haven’t been able to write much these last few days. The fighting has been horrendous and unending! Many units of the QVB and the American Army have been encircled and destroyed. Most of them to the last man or woman. We have lost most of our holdings in Saskatchewan except for a small and thin stretch of land around Esterhazy. Regina has been destroyed by a nuclear bomb! The CFR has also been able to launch several commando raids, robotic probes and missile attacks into Western Manitoba. Despite our AA defence, several missiles have reached Winnipeg! Let’s just say that many like me have been able to escape only by the slimiest of margins. On a historical note, I can almost say that I’ve been through a 21st century version of the Falaise Pocket, a battle in the Second Human Civil War, only worse!
March 16th 2061: Today is a day of joy for my unit and myself. My brother Michael Mann is celebrating his 21st birthday AND he’s getting married with a girl named Stephania, a volunteer from Bulgaria. Indeed, contrary to other units in the QVB, the White Eagles have received a number of volunteers from all over Europe mainly France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, The Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries as well as a few from Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Italy, Greece and even from the eternally neutral Swiss. I will admit, I’ve been very close to a Dutch volunteer named Amelia for the past couple of days. It just might work!
March 24th 2061: Not much to write about. The lines have stabilised all along the front. The fighting is still fierce. The cold is a killer at times. Yesterday we heard news of an uprising in Edmonton, Alberta. It was brutally crushed despite the air cover provided by the American and British air forces. Rumours speak of more than 60 000 dead. Sadly, the vast majority are civilians. And if that was not enough, the CFR have levelled half the city!
May 10th 2061: Finally I found my journal. I’ve been looking for it for over a month. I have good news: the snow is melting finally!! I’ve been looking towards summer since mid-April. Believe me I prefer by far to fight during the summer. Last week we were graced with success. My unit launched a lightning raid from the outskirts of Esterhazy. The city (what’s left of it) fell within an hour and we captured over 1000 prisoners from both the CFR and the HIE. While we secured the shattered city, other QVB units were able to push the CFR forces for several miles. For this action I’ve been promoted to sergeant and my brother to corporal.
May 30th 2061: I just received disturbing news from the West Coast. It appears that Vancouver Island is completely blockaded and isolated. Hundreds if not thousands are suffering from malnutrition and disease. Despite the fact that the USAF is dropping supplies daily on the island, it doesn’t seem to be enough. Many of my men come from the Vancouver area and are now worried sick about their friends and relatives trapped in the city after reports of atrocities perpetrated by the Chinese and CFR forces have reached us. I myself have a few family members in Victoria, the only place that is still free from the CFR. I hope they are all right! I try not to think about it.
June 6th 2061: Good news! It has been announced that a major landing operation by the CFR has been repulsed on Vancouver Island thanks to the ferocity of its defenders. Extra rations to everyone in celebration of this event! They are still isolated pockets of CFR soldiers on the island so I hope they will be doubly on guard.
June 9th 2061: Nothing special today although I had to transfer many of my best units to reinforce our American allies on the Mississippi Defensive Line (a place I would not like to be). If the reports are correct, the MDL is the worst place of the entire front. One of my good friends, Mark Hansen, has been reported killed in action during a raid in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is a sad day.
Dec 15th 2061: I know it’s been awhile since I last wrote. I have been in a coma for about six months. Reportedly, I was on patrol, around June 16th, when one of my soldiers activated anti-personnel mines which wiped out about half the group. I was smashed against a concrete wall and suffered a massive concussion. I actually regained consciousness early this morning. I was lucky, I guess.
Somewhere near the Mexican border, March 20th 2062: For the last few months, my unit has been in touch with members of the American and Mexican resistance movements. We are here to teach their new members in the lessons of warfare. It’s frustrating but slowly and surely, they are starting to act like soldiers.
Quebec City, April 10th 2062: Thanks to my military reputation, the top brass has afforded me a two-week leave. I think I’m going to spend them with my parents. Maybe I’ll present Amelia to them since she was permitted to come with me.
April 12th 2062: I must say, my parents have changed a lot since I left. They are skinnier because of strict rationing. Nevertheless, they are glad that my brother and I are safe. My father is particularly proud of our promotions. I am glad that they accepted Amelia almost like a daughter so quickly. That night I was able to do what a boyfriend and girlfriend are supposed to do… Let’s just leave it at that heh-heh.
April 27th 2062: I was rushed back to the lines after a surprise counter-attack by the CFR. Even though we were able to repel them, my brother’s wife, Stefania, was fatally wounded. When I went to talk to him after her funeral the words he spoke chilled me to the bone. He said to me: -My only remaining pleasure is to bring death to my enemies. He then left to be alone in his thoughts.
July 9th 2062: Our European volunteers are furious at the news that the CFR and HIE have launched an invasion of mainland Europe. Many wept hot tears of rage while looking at the newscast. Many have requested to be sent back to Europe to defend their native countries but they have received no response from the brass. Sadder still, Amelia has learned that her entire family in Amsterdam has been executed in a raid by HIE irregulars when they rampaged across The Netherlands in front of the main CFR forces. She has been almost catatonic and in shock ever since. When she could speak through her tears she vowed to all of us that she would wreak terrible vengeance on the Holy Islamic Empire.
July 10th 2062: I was awoken to the sound of gunfire. But when I got out of my bunker, the sky was surprisingly clear with a light breeze. When I turned however I saw that Amelia was taking her oath seriously. She, along with Dutch and Belgian volunteers, were shooting one after the other the CFR and HIE prisoners that we had taken back a year before in Saskatchewan. The method was simple: A pistol shot to the head and when the gun was empty, they resorted to slashing the prisoner’s throat with their bayonet. I tried to stop them but Amelia gave me this sort of Glare of death while aiming her pistol at me! I simply walked away. I must admit, it was the first time a woman scared me that much with perhaps the sole exception of my mother but that is another story.
July 13th 2062: There is tension in the air in our units. On one hand those that, like Amelia, want us to give no quarter to the enemy and on the other those who want to stick to the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners (like me). I think that there is only one thing that prevents them from going to each others throats: a common enemy.
July 17th 2062: A few hours ago I attended a briefing (by distance on a secure net) with my superior officers that was about *DECLASSIFIED* the defenses of the Hamburg Line in Central Germany and the position of the Grenoble Line in Southern France. They hope to contain the bulk of the CFR and HIE armies in Europe. I think they are putting too much faith in it but they might be right.
July 20th 2062: Back to the front lines. Today we are ordered to replace a part of the line held by a section of the famous Queen’s York Rangers. But, famous or not, those men and women that we replaced were ragged and tired in the extreme. A great many of them had the infamous thousand-yard stare, others had empty eyes. Many of them had been on the front lines since the very beginning of the war. Some even before the nuclear attacks. It was a truly pitiful sight.
July 27th 2062: Today has not been a good day at all! First of all we learned that France has signed a non-aggression pact with both the CFR and the HIE. As soon as my men heard this, a major brawl erupted in the mess hall. When we were finally able to separate the combatants, three French volunteers had been killed and scores more were seriously injured. It pains me to say this but I found out that it was Amelia who was the ringleader in attacking the French. I have then been forced by my superiors to relegate her and her close collaborators to a penal unit. (Note: Penal units were comprised of deserters, cowards, thieves, rogues and murderers. These men and women had chosen to participate in the most difficult and deadly missions imaginable instead of being put in front of a firing squad. For those who somehow survived a certain number of perilous missions they were pardoned and were then allowed to go back to their respective units).
August 17th 2062: The news I have been dreading for over a month has come true: the Hamburg Line has fallen to the Hegemony! Hundreds of thousands of our fellow soldiers have lost their lives. Over 80% of Germany has been carved up by the CFR and the HIE. The shattered remnants of the armies have fled either to Britain or Spain and have fortified their positions. I also heard that Amsterdam has fallen to the CFR after a lengthy siege.
SCFF: The Quebec Journal
BY: Samuel Kingma-Lord
Quebec City, Canada, Earth [Sol], June 31st 2060: They finally did it! Yesterday, those damn commies launched an unprovoked nuclear attack on our country. Result: over one hundred million American dead and countless more wounded. It’s only a matter of time before radiation sickness kicks in. I can’t write anymore… I’m just mad as hell!
Valcartier army base, October 17th 2060: Today, I and almost all of my friends went to the gates of the base to push the provincial government to create independent volunteer units to liberate the western part of our country from those damn CFR (Communist Federated Republics) invaders and also, to help our American comrades to hold the line against the Chinese onslaught in the south. It was an emotional day to say the least. The rallies not only attracted Canadians from all origins and horizons but even from the remaining separatist population, like myself, who, thank God, were able to put aside the brutal crackdown of the previous August for the moment. Many were thinking: The referendum can wait!
October 18th 2060: I won’t be writing today cause I’m just too damn frustrated with the provincial government who refused flat out all of our demands for independent units. They insist that we join the US Army. Of course we are not going to do that. We are still Canadians at heart.
November 5th 2060: I just have to write this! I found out that a good friend of mine, Mark Hansen, has come in contact with some kind of shadowy military people who have agreed to give us military training. I think they like our idea of ‘independent volunteer units’. I just can’t wait to go to the frontlines to kick those damn invaders from our soil.
November 13th 2060: I don’t have many occasions to write in this journal. The reason: Military training is way harder that I imagined. OK I admit that I know it was going to be hard but not harder than let’s say training for a sporting event. Well, I’m going to stop for today. I’m, let’s just say a dead man walking ha-ha. I’m just so tired But so eager too, let’s not forget that!
December 20th 2060: Today is Graduation Day! I may have had separatist tendencies but I’ve never felt so united with my fellow Canadians like I did today. I received my ABU uniform, simple camouflage fatigues, military-type combat boots, a flag of Quebec on my shoulder pads and a Canadian flag on my chest. As usual our drill instructor gave us a speech of the kind that just fills you with pride (Of course many of my friends never bothered to learn English well enough to understand so there was an officer who would translate in French after every sentence) I can’t remember all of it but my favourite parts went like this: -Men and women of the Quebec Volunteer Brigades I can’t begin to say how glad and proud I am of seeing so many of our young people standing up to the call to arms of the motherland. Now, I know we had our differences in the past… I also know that many of you would have liked to separate from the United States or Canada as you like to remind yourselves. But now is not the time to dwell on our past. As you well know the CFR forces have invaded the west Coast, laid siege to Vancouver, they hold the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Yukon and Alaska in their entirety as well as most of the Northwest Territories and a number of our vital oil fields. They have killed thousands of our countrymen. Men, women, children… They just don’t care who they kill! *He then stamped his anger down and continued* - You have received the best military training available to you. But you must understand the situation: All of you are going into battle against a tough and experienced enemy who has been fighting for the last few years against us in the Pacific and the Colonies. We are moving into the valley of the shadow of death where you will watch the back of the men next to you as he will watch yours. And you won’t care what colour he is or what his political affiliation might have been in the past. I can’t promise you that you will all make it through this war alive. But this I swear that before you and before almighty God, I will be there with you every step of the way through good times and bad ones. In the end though, we will win through to absolute victory! - God, I still have goose bumps when I think about the cheering that rose after that speech!
December 28th 2060: I will be brief. Today was our last day with our families before leaving for the front lines. It
was one of the saddest days of my life since the death of my grandmother seven years before. Even though my parents begged me not to go they knew that I had made up my mind and my father, a veteran of the First Democratic War, simply wished me and my fellow servicemen the best of luck. We will be deployed first to Winnipeg to receive our final orders then straight to the lines in eastern Saskatchewan.
January 14th 2061: I do not have the heart to write but I know I must. This week was the first time I saw combat. I have never been scared like that in my whole life. My own unit, called the White Eagles, has already suffered 25% casualty rate and double that number of wounded. I barely sleep. I’m lucky if I can get 2 to 3 hours of sleep per day.
January 17th 2061: Today, we were able to push the CFR out of many cities in eastern Saskatchewan. Cities like Kamsack, Yorkton, Esterhazy, Estevan, Moosomin, Weyburn and Melville just to name a few. Some of our advanced units have reached the outskirts of Regina and are holding firm in spite of ferocious counter-attacks by the CFR and their Holy Islamic Empire (HIE) reinforcements. The top brass promises us that Regina will be ours in a few days. Let’s hope they are right for once (They aren’t known for their reliability). There are rumours of remaining US/Canadian units around Edmonton who are harassing the Hegemony forces with constant hit and run attacks.
February 4th 2061: I haven’t been able to write much these last few days. The fighting has been horrendous and unending! Many units of the QVB and the American Army have been encircled and destroyed. Most of them to the last man or woman. We have lost most of our holdings in Saskatchewan except for a small and thin stretch of land around Esterhazy. Regina has been destroyed by a nuclear bomb! The CFR has also been able to launch several commando raids, robotic probes and missile attacks into Western Manitoba. Despite our AA defence, several missiles have reached Winnipeg! Let’s just say that many like me have been able to escape only by the slimiest of margins. On a historical note, I can almost say that I’ve been through a 21st century version of the Falaise Pocket, a battle in the Second Human Civil War, only worse!
March 16th 2061: Today is a day of joy for my unit and myself. My brother Michael Mann is celebrating his 21st birthday AND he’s getting married with a girl named Stephania, a volunteer from Bulgaria. Indeed, contrary to other units in the QVB, the White Eagles have received a number of volunteers from all over Europe mainly France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, The Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries as well as a few from Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Italy, Greece and even from the eternally neutral Swiss. I will admit, I’ve been very close to a Dutch volunteer named Amelia for the past couple of days. It just might work!
March 24th 2061: Not much to write about. The lines have stabilised all along the front. The fighting is still fierce. The cold is a killer at times. Yesterday we heard news of an uprising in Edmonton, Alberta. It was brutally crushed despite the air cover provided by the American and British air forces. Rumours speak of more than 60 000 dead. Sadly, the vast majority are civilians. And if that was not enough, the CFR have levelled half the city!
May 10th 2061: Finally I found my journal. I’ve been looking for it for over a month. I have good news: the snow is melting finally!! I’ve been looking towards summer since mid-April. Believe me I prefer by far to fight during the summer. Last week we were graced with success. My unit launched a lightning raid from the outskirts of Esterhazy. The city (what’s left of it) fell within an hour and we captured over 1000 prisoners from both the CFR and the HIE. While we secured the shattered city, other QVB units were able to push the CFR forces for several miles. For this action I’ve been promoted to sergeant and my brother to corporal.
May 30th 2061: I just received disturbing news from the West Coast. It appears that Vancouver Island is completely blockaded and isolated. Hundreds if not thousands are suffering from malnutrition and disease. Despite the fact that the USAF is dropping supplies daily on the island, it doesn’t seem to be enough. Many of my men come from the Vancouver area and are now worried sick about their friends and relatives trapped in the city after reports of atrocities perpetrated by the Chinese and CFR forces have reached us. I myself have a few family members in Victoria, the only place that is still free from the CFR. I hope they are all right! I try not to think about it.
June 6th 2061: Good news! It has been announced that a major landing operation by the CFR has been repulsed on Vancouver Island thanks to the ferocity of its defenders. Extra rations to everyone in celebration of this event! They are still isolated pockets of CFR soldiers on the island so I hope they will be doubly on guard.
June 9th 2061: Nothing special today although I had to transfer many of my best units to reinforce our American allies on the Mississippi Defensive Line (a place I would not like to be). If the reports are correct, the MDL is the worst place of the entire front. One of my good friends, Mark Hansen, has been reported killed in action during a raid in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is a sad day.
Dec 15th 2061: I know it’s been awhile since I last wrote. I have been in a coma for about six months. Reportedly, I was on patrol, around June 16th, when one of my soldiers activated anti-personnel mines which wiped out about half the group. I was smashed against a concrete wall and suffered a massive concussion. I actually regained consciousness early this morning. I was lucky, I guess.
Somewhere near the Mexican border, March 20th 2062: For the last few months, my unit has been in touch with members of the American and Mexican resistance movements. We are here to teach their new members in the lessons of warfare. It’s frustrating but slowly and surely, they are starting to act like soldiers.
Quebec City, April 10th 2062: Thanks to my military reputation, the top brass has afforded me a two-week leave. I think I’m going to spend them with my parents. Maybe I’ll present Amelia to them since she was permitted to come with me.
April 12th 2062: I must say, my parents have changed a lot since I left. They are skinnier because of strict rationing. Nevertheless, they are glad that my brother and I are safe. My father is particularly proud of our promotions. I am glad that they accepted Amelia almost like a daughter so quickly. That night I was able to do what a boyfriend and girlfriend are supposed to do… Let’s just leave it at that heh-heh.
April 27th 2062: I was rushed back to the lines after a surprise counter-attack by the CFR. Even though we were able to repel them, my brother’s wife, Stefania, was fatally wounded. When I went to talk to him after her funeral the words he spoke chilled me to the bone. He said to me: -My only remaining pleasure is to bring death to my enemies. He then left to be alone in his thoughts.
July 9th 2062: Our European volunteers are furious at the news that the CFR and HIE have launched an invasion of mainland Europe. Many wept hot tears of rage while looking at the newscast. Many have requested to be sent back to Europe to defend their native countries but they have received no response from the brass. Sadder still, Amelia has learned that her entire family in Amsterdam has been executed in a raid by HIE irregulars when they rampaged across The Netherlands in front of the main CFR forces. She has been almost catatonic and in shock ever since. When she could speak through her tears she vowed to all of us that she would wreak terrible vengeance on the Holy Islamic Empire.
July 10th 2062: I was awoken to the sound of gunfire. But when I got out of my bunker, the sky was surprisingly clear with a light breeze. When I turned however I saw that Amelia was taking her oath seriously. She, along with Dutch and Belgian volunteers, were shooting one after the other the CFR and HIE prisoners that we had taken back a year before in Saskatchewan. The method was simple: A pistol shot to the head and when the gun was empty, they resorted to slashing the prisoner’s throat with their bayonet. I tried to stop them but Amelia gave me this sort of Glare of death while aiming her pistol at me! I simply walked away. I must admit, it was the first time a woman scared me that much with perhaps the sole exception of my mother but that is another story.
July 13th 2062: There is tension in the air in our units. On one hand those that, like Amelia, want us to give no quarter to the enemy and on the other those who want to stick to the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners (like me). I think that there is only one thing that prevents them from going to each others throats: a common enemy.
July 17th 2062: A few hours ago I attended a briefing (by distance on a secure net) with my superior officers that was about *DECLASSIFIED* the defenses of the Hamburg Line in Central Germany and the position of the Grenoble Line in Southern France. They hope to contain the bulk of the CFR and HIE armies in Europe. I think they are putting too much faith in it but they might be right.
July 20th 2062: Back to the front lines. Today we are ordered to replace a part of the line held by a section of the famous Queen’s York Rangers. But, famous or not, those men and women that we replaced were ragged and tired in the extreme. A great many of them had the infamous thousand-yard stare, others had empty eyes. Many of them had been on the front lines since the very beginning of the war. Some even before the nuclear attacks. It was a truly pitiful sight.
July 27th 2062: Today has not been a good day at all! First of all we learned that France has signed a non-aggression pact with both the CFR and the HIE. As soon as my men heard this, a major brawl erupted in the mess hall. When we were finally able to separate the combatants, three French volunteers had been killed and scores more were seriously injured. It pains me to say this but I found out that it was Amelia who was the ringleader in attacking the French. I have then been forced by my superiors to relegate her and her close collaborators to a penal unit. (Note: Penal units were comprised of deserters, cowards, thieves, rogues and murderers. These men and women had chosen to participate in the most difficult and deadly missions imaginable instead of being put in front of a firing squad. For those who somehow survived a certain number of perilous missions they were pardoned and were then allowed to go back to their respective units).
August 17th 2062: The news I have been dreading for over a month has come true: the Hamburg Line has fallen to the Hegemony! Hundreds of thousands of our fellow soldiers have lost their lives. Over 80% of Germany has been carved up by the CFR and the HIE. The shattered remnants of the armies have fled either to Britain or Spain and have fortified their positions. I also heard that Amsterdam has fallen to the CFR after a lengthy siege.
SCFF: The Quebec Journal
Thu, 2nd June, 2011
A man from Quebec joins a unit of volunteers against the Hegemony. He writes about his experiences during the Third Human Civil War in his journal. Comments appreciated.
August 20th 2062: Because of problems in communication with mainland Europe, we only learned today that Vatican City had fallen back in early August and that the Pope had been executed. Of course, that does not sit well with our Italian volunteers who are all devout Catholics. They even went so far as to change the name of their unit: from Garibaldi battalion to Brigada Giovanni Paolo III. Even I, who have never been very religious, had a prayer for that man.
September 11th 2062: At several points along the frontlines, the numerous QVB brigades as well as units of the Canadian resistance have launched forays into enemy-held territory. Most of them have met with success! Even though he is still affected by the death of his wife, my brother has led many attacks personally on the CFR lines. For his leadership and his bravery, he has been promoted and, rumour has it, that the Americans might even give him a medal. Personally, I’m grateful that I have my brother back. Today I am very proud of the men and women under my command.
November 11th 2062: I feel like I’m reliving history. Today, there was a major cease-fire all along the front. But not only that men from both the CFR and our own side met each other in the middle of no man’s land. To my astonishment, they didn’t fight they simply stood there fixating each other. A few on both sides even went so far as to shake the hands of the enemy or even embracing them. I wasn’t surprise to see no soldiers of the HIE. I had a conversation with an officer from Belarus who told me they had to neutralise many soldiers of the HIE who otherwise would have shot them on sight.
December 31st 2062: Today we
February 3rd 2063: Today is a sad day. While we were fighting on the front lines, the cowardly CFR was able to smuggle a nuclear device into Winnipeg and detonated it. Over 100000 civilians were killed along with most of the top brass.
February 19th 2063: I am presently on the outskirts of Banff, Alberta, which is now an important command and control hub for the region. I’m in charge of a small penal unit ( since this is a very dangerous mission). What we must do is to sabotage the main communication arrays, fuel and ammo dumps, take any documents that we can find… in short a lot of damage. I hope we are successful.
February 23rd 2063: Our mission was a success but our evac bird was shot down and so we have to return to a rendezvous point in occupied Saskatchewan on foot. We have spent the last few days moving slowly across the countryside while trying to evade countless patrols out to destroy us. I have been in so many firefights that I stopped counting them. And if that wasn’t enough, my men are dying one after the other.
February 28th 2063: We’ve been able to hijack a CFR supply truck as well as uniforms for my remaining soldiers. We’ve also been able to pass the countless roadblocks between us and another flight out of this perilous situation.
March 1st 2063: Thank God! We arrived back to our lines just a few minutes ago! I must say it was one of the hardest missions I had to do yet. For their services, the survivors were sent back to their old units.
March 10th 2063: For the first time, I received a letter from one of my units that was sent to the Mississippi Defensive Line back in ’61. The letter says that they have suffered horrendous casualties. It also says that the fighting goes back and forth all along the river. Every time the Chinese or the CFR breaks through the American defenses they are always beaten back but with devastating casualties on both sides. On a more positive note, the letter tells me that the Quebec Volunteer Brigades (now renamed the Quebec Volunteer Legion) and their European counterparts, have distinguished themselves countless time on the battlefield and some say that the QVL is the foreign unit that has earned more medals and promotions than their American counterparts! Of course it’s just a rumour but one can never tell.
March 18th 2063: Today I received orders that I never thought I would receive: The QVL is being pulled off the battlefield in Saskatchewan to be redeployed in India! The order state that the White Eagles will be deployed in the vicinity of Hyderabad, near the front. During our stay on the Canadian front, we all heard the stories about the atrocities perpetrated by the Chinese and the HIE on the civilian population. We make our last emotional goodbyes to our comrades in arms with whom we have fought and died with for almost three years now. Sadly, I haven’t received any news about Amelia.
March 25th 2063: We arrived in India by submarine transport a few hours ago. The temperature is warmer and more humid that I ever thought possible. On our way to Hyderabad, we passed countless charred remains of tanks and fighting vehicles from all sides, Indian, Chinese and HIE. Some were there since the beginning of the war back in 2056. It’s quite understandable: the Indian army has been fighting for the last 7 years almost alone against the Hegemony. I have a new found respect for them already.
March 28th 2063: We received today a total change of equipment. We traded our ABU’s for actual armoured suits. They have been captured from the Chinese who, apparently, make the best suits of armour in the world. We were allowed to paint our armour in the color of our choice. Most of us painted them green to blend in the jungle environment. A few painted them a mix of green and light blue as to show the Indians where they came from. My own suit was a mixture of dark and light greens but with a blue and white Fleur de Lys on my chest and helmet. Those who weren’t from Quebec painted the traditional red maple leaf. I wish my brother could see me but he’s still on the MDL. I hope he’s okay.
April 2nd 2063: For our first taste of action on the Indian theater, we are assigned to the Indian 12th tank corps, 501st heavy tank battalion, one of their elite and most decorated armoured units. They have been supplied with brand new American M-75 heavy tanks. These babies are armed with twin 180mm pulse cannons as well as two automated machine guns. Our first mission consists of scouting the Chinese positions in the area of Chandrapur, north of Hyderabad.
April 4th 2063: Thanks to our experience in Saskatchewan, we effectively protected the Indians from Chinese anti-tank teams (Note: While they had powerful tanks, the Indian tank crews were sent into battle with only a few days or a few hours’ worth of training. This lead to massive losses in the armoured regiments). Many a stranded Indian tank crew were relieved when they were rescued by our veteran units. Thanks to our daring and combat experience, the Indians gave us the nickname of Canadian Red Tigers. There is already a bond that has developed between us and the Indians tankers.
April 12th 2063: For the last few days we’ve been assisting the Indians in their incessant offensives northward. Together we encircled and destroyed many a Chinese and HIE unit with an acceptable casualty rate to our own.
April 27th 2063: We were ambushed today. We were just finishing our patrol and were returning to our base when out of nowhere a massive HIE walker crashed through the vegetation towards us. It killed almost half our men before it was taken down and destroyed.
June 8th 2063: We’ve received word today that Vancouver Island was able to thwart a major invasion by the CFR who used captured European soldiers and Vancouver residents with some sort of brain control system. These people were used as slave soldiers against their countrymen. The good side is that the besieged were able to use their newly found weapons after neutralising all the slaves.
June 14th 2063: We are slowly moving north with the Indians. It’s some of the most brutal fighting I have ever seen: the Chinese and the HIE soldiers do not surrender; they fight to the bitter end. While the losses have been light among my men, the Indian losses have been very heavy.
June 15th 2063: We have reached the outskirts of the city of Bhopal. While we surrounded the city, we learned that the Chinese defenders were low on ammunition. For most of the day, the Indians have tried to make them surrender but have come to nothing.
June 16th 2063: This morning, I was roused out of bed by the shrieks of the pickets: - The Chinese are coming! The Chinese are coming! Strangely though, I didn’t hear any gunfire coming from the Chinese. When I saw them though, I understood why. The Chinese, along with a few HIE soldiers, were charging our lines armed only with hook swords, Dao swords and knife-like scimitar. On seeing this, the Sikh battalions on our left and right charged headstrong into the middle of them, brandishing their traditional Khanda swords and screaming –JAI HIND, JAI HIND! at the top of their lungs! At first we supported them with our shooting but soon enough they were too entangled for us to continue and since we did not have swords, we charged with our bayonets. It was… madness, pure slaughter! Heads, arms, legs were lying everywhere. They fought to the last man. I do not want to relive something like that ever again.
September 8th 2063: The last two months have been for the most part, calm. We’ve been behind the lines for a while now. There are rumours that we will be shipped somewhere again.
September 20th 2063: We received word that we will be redeployed back to Saskatchewan for a new offensive. Until then though, we hold the line in India.
September 27th 2063: We will be leaving India tomorrow. What I will probably remember most about this place, except for the heat will be the tenacity and resilience of the Indian people. Through countless sacrifices, they have been able to keep their country where other nations were utterly destroyed. One thing that I kind of hated here: Night patrols. Long, dark, you don’t know where you’re going, you don’t see anything, and you jump at shadows all the time. I must have aged 10 years only in night patrols. Just before we left, our Indian hosts threw us a fancy yet simple barbecue type meal around a campfire. It was delicious! Several of my men exchanged addresses and phone numbers with their Indian counterparts. It was memorable.
September 28th 2063: So it is today that we leave the Indian theater of operations. We made our last goodbyes to our Indian friends and then boarded our transport that will take us back to Canada. I will miss them dearly.
September 29th 2063: In an ironic turn of events, I find myself teaching a new batch of young men and women in the lessons of warfare. They remind me of myself only three years ago. It seems so far away in the distant past.
September 31st 2063: Something happened today that I did not expect. My training assistant left on leave and his replacement was none other than my own sister: Abby who holds the rank of corporal. She left for the army without informing our parents.
October 5th 2063: I must take my new section on a perilous reconnaissance mission on the Hegemony lines in western Saskatchewan. It is so perilous in fact, that we must leave all our personal items, including my journal, in our trenches. I’ll be back in a couple of days.
October 10th 2063: I have returned from the most terrible ordeal I have ever witnessed in my life. 120 hours, five days, the last two crawling in dirty snow and ice-cold mud, under constant fire from the enemy, without any protection except for a narrow ditch. I had left our lines with roughly 275 men and women. I now return to our lines with barely 24 of whom several are now half insane after what they saw.
November 8th 2063: I received a pleasant visit today. Abby was able to come and see me in my quarters. She told me of her plans to leave the infantry and of her desire to become a fighter pilot. I gave her all my support even though I perfectly knew that the training will be very hard even for her.
November 14th 2063: The cold has come again. It is a big change compared to the warmth of India. Today was calm even though there were a few mortar rounds that landed close to our positions.
December 10th 2063: We’ve heard news of renewed offensives on the MDL down south. The American defenders are holding firm but Hegemony troops have breached their defenses in many areas. Sadly, I’ve heard reports that my brother has been killed while leading an assault in western Illinois. The QVB in the area has also been hit hard. Of the roughly 1600 soldiers sent south, about 780 of them have been killed.
December 18th 2063: The Hegemony offensives on the MDL have been stalled and pushed back across the Mississippi river. Although this is a big victory for us, the losses number in the hundreds of thousands on both sides. What pains me the most is that the QVB units have now dwindled to less than 120 men. Some say that they should be disbanded and sent home while others say they should stay and continue fighting.
January 3rd 2064: We are slowly moving across Saskatchewan. It’s a very sad sight. What had once been endless miles of wheat fields are now nothing more than brownish mud and craters crisscrossed by endless miles of trenches and barbed wire. The worst thing is that I traveled here several times with my family when I was young and I know what beauty this landscape once had.
January 5th 2064: We passed the ruins of what was once the city of Saskatoon. For some reason, the gutted buildings and the empty windows that almost resemble the eye sockets of a skull, made me shiver. Sadder still, I saw several hundred civilians who were nothing more than skeletons beg the passing soldiers for any food. I gave them everything I had. Those people had endured the harsh treatment of their CFR occupiers.
January 7th 2064: There is something amiss here. Ever since we took Saskatoon, the CFR and Chinese forces in the area have been retreating west with little fighting. I don’t know what to make of it. It either means they are leading us into a trap or moving to more heavily fortified positions in Alberta. Only time will tell.
January 11th 2064: We have been ordered to stop and dig in. I used my free time assessing the strength of the QVB: At its creation in late 2060, the Quebec Volunteer Brigades numbered about 8000 men and women from Quebec and Canada. The arrival of the European volunteers in ’61 brought about 5000 more soldiers. Today, after almost four years of war, the brigades are down to about 6470 men and women. So many good people have been lost. I fear that it will get higher before the war ends.
March 12th 2064: My mood is good today. I was right about the fortified CFR positions in Alberta. At first I thought it would be slow attrition but thanks to the resistance and Special Forces, we were able to bypass them with a minimum of losses compared to the fighting in Saskatchewan.
March 26th 2064: I can’t believe it but we are more than halfway across Alberta now. Calgary and Edmonton (what’s left of it) have been surrendered by the Hegemony. Some die-hards are still holding out in some neighbourhoods of Calgary. The fighting is very hard and close-quarters.
May 4th 2064: The Hegemony forces stopped our progress in the city of Spruce Grove. There, our assaults were broken by concealed artillery and tank positions as well as experienced snipers on the roof of the buildings. It’s the snipers who caused the highest losses for us. Those who surrender tell us that with the Russians there are also Thai, Cambodian and Laotian contingents as well as Ukrainian and Estonian mercenaries inside the city. In most cases, prisoners have to be locked or driven away to prevent them from being beaten to death by our soldiers.
May 6th 2064: We’ve been reinforced today by resistance units who call themselves the Western Defenders. They are a hodgepodge of people: men and women, young and old. There was a bit of mistrust in the beginning but it quickly went away. They are very glad to be liberated by Canadians. Dinnertime was literally filled with war stories from both sides.
June 1st 2064: Spruce Grove has finally fallen under our complete control. The scattered remnants of the Hegemony have fled to the west while its hired mercenaries have fought to the bitter end.
June 22nd 2064: We are now at the city of Grand Prairie, just a few miles from the border with British Columbia. It seems that the Hegemony is using the same tactics as in Spruce Grove. To shake them up a bit, we decided to hit them hard with our heavy artillery and rocket launchers while the resistance hits them with technicals armed with heavy AAA machine guns and recoilless rifles. To show their trust in me, they’ve given me the honour of firing the first shot with one of their recoilless rifles.
June 24th 2064: Today, several Press journalists were attached to my unit to tell the folks back home how the fighting goes. I thought they were going to be trouble but this wasn’t their first warzone and they obeyed any of my commands.
June 25th 2064: There was a sad incident today. While the cameras were filming a savage firefight, we saw a CFR sniper break cover, toss his weapon down and run like hell. We ran after him but when we turned the corner of the street, we saw that he had been stopped by resistance fighters. We then found out that the sniper was in fact a young woman who was maybe 19 or 20 years old. She was on her knees crying and begging for her life while a pistol was being shoved in her face. Before I could order them to stand down, the woman was shot in the head at point blank range. I was literally enraged and ran into the shooter and gave him a beating he was not going to forget. I told the reporters to keep what they were filming because that is what represented war at its most savage. Sadder still, while I was sifting through her bloodied uniform I found her papers. She was actually one of the mercenaries from Estonia and she was barely 18 years old! I ordered my men to give her a proper burial. The thing I regret from this incident is that she had a very beautiful face.
July 1st 2064: We finally took Grand Prairie, or rather what’s left of it. The fighting has been really hard for this city. The losses have been high especially for the Americans. The only good thing in all of this mess: Hegemony forces have left Alberta for good to reinforce their positions in British Columbia.
July 8th 2064: It’s been over a week since we entered British Columbia. Progress has been slow thanks to the fluid in depth defenses of the Russians. We are about 50 miles from the Alberta border. Most of the cities in eastern British Columbia are already in ruins and populated by starved and scared civilians.
July 15th 2064: We arrived near the city of Castlegar early this morning. Although the city had already been evacuated by Hegemony forces, there were a few clashes in some neighborhoods. Except for those, the day has been relatively calm. Maybe too calm.
July 17th 2064: We discovered the most disgusting thing today. About 5 miles west of Castlegar, we came upon some sort of camp. At first we thought that it was a work camp but the entire camp population was made up of women and young girls. We soon learned that we were in what they call a comfort camp. One of the survivors told us that the camp once held 3000 people. With our recent victories in Alberta, the Chinese camp guards decided to kill as many women as possible. Now there are barely 450 women and girls left in the camp. The vast majority of them are underfed and have been badly beaten.
September 4th 2064: We have been sent to the rear for R&R. It’ weird to be able to sleep without the fear of constant attack. The food is way better here. I’ve also been able to get my hands on a newspaper. Even though it’s two months old, I’ve learned that the war in Europe is still mired in attrition. The Barcelona Line in Spain has, until now, repelled every attack but at an atrocious cost. It goes on saying that their food situation is very critical. They simply do not have enough food to feed both their armies and their civilian populations. Closer to us though, it appears that our food situation is way better because there are vast swathes of land in Quebec and eastern Ontario that are being used as automated farms and cattle processing plants. In the Maritime provinces they are able to grow massive fish hatcheries in protected zones. A high percentage of this food is shipped to Europe but a high number of our cargo ships are being sunk by enemy submarines.
October 5th 2064: Breaking news! It appears that the Colonies have decided to abandon us and declare secession from Earth! Only Venus, the poorest of the colonies, has chosen to stay. Not that I had great love of the Colonies (except for Mars) even though several of my childhood friends have moved there throughout the years, but we need the raw materials (iron, aluminium, methane, hydrogen, silicon and many others) that they supplied us to build not only our weapons but everything from bandages and gloves all the way to clothes and helmets. This is the kind of thing, I’m sure, is going to make the difference between victory and our extermination. That they want to be a separate entity from Earth is understandable but they couldn’t have chosen a worst moment to do it.
December 3rd 2064: There are persistent rumors of troop movement on the MDL down south. Some say the Americans are preparing for an important offensive all along the eastern bank of the Mississippi. Of course they are only rumors but one can hope for an end to this madness.
December 15th 2064: The rumors were true! All along the Mississippi River, American forces and their allies have broken through the Hegemony lines at several points. They have made important gains in Arkansas and Louisiana.
January 2nd 2065: Our reconquest of British Columbia is going well. Yesterday, our Greek battalion retook Cache Creek village after a day of heavy fighting. They lost several tanks but the loss in lives was relatively low. Our Portuguese, British and Romanian battalions are having a hard time breaking through the town of Barriere. There, though, the losses have been relatively heavy.
January 3rd 2065: Several CFR units have counterattacked our positions in hopes of retaking Cache Creek village. For the greater part of the night, the CFR has assaulted the lines held by the Greek, Polish and Norwegian battalions. All night long they assaulted them with tanks and large infantry charges. They were always beaten back. When some of our men were low on ammunition they took on the CFR soldiers in vicious hand to hand combat. Unfortunately, the Polish battalion has almost been wiped out. Out of roughly 300 men, over 247 of them have been killed. The Greek and Norwegian battalions have also been hit hard but not as much as the Poles.
January 19th 2065: Cache Creek village is finally ours! The remaining CFR forces have retreated further west. In another bit of good news: the city of Kelowna has been taken after a lightning attack by American and British forces. It appears that the city was defended by Islamic troops who thought that the Quebec Volunteer Brigades would spin around and attack the city from the west where they had decided to put nearly all their defending troops. The combined American-British thrust came from the east and routed them completely although casualties were still high.
February 25th 2065: We are advancing quite fast now in BC. The main CFR forces have fallen back all the way to Vancouver. I just can’t wait to liberate that city and be done with this damn war!
March 1st 2065: We are now less than 90 miles from Vancouver. Our camp is a real melting pot of Allied soldiers: walker operators from Japan and Korea, combat engineers and sappers from Australia and New Zealand, artillerymen from Switzerland and the UK, shock troopers from the United States, pilots from Sweden, Denmark and even Finland, and of course, volunteers like myself from Canada, Spain, Portugal, Italy and many others from Europe. Sadly, some of the volunteer units have been totally eliminated their flags kept at half-mast: Belgium, Poland, Romania and France. Tonight, there was a big feast with everyone. I’ve also been able to talk to many soldiers from the other countries. The ones that I liked the most were from New Zealand. Their Maori unit performed the Haka which is their war dance. I don’t know if it will have the same effect on the enemy but by God they freaked me out! One of the Dutch troopers, a young woman, beautifully sang a song about Amsterdam called Geef mij maar Amsterdam (Give me Amsterdam). Before I went to bed I accompanied a drunken Australian lieutenant to his tent. He kept blabbering about how Australia is the greatest country on Earth. We were joyfully singing Waltzing Matilda and I was only 19 when he simply fell asleep in my arms just short of his cot. Crazy Australians I tell you.
March 3rd 2065: Over the past few months I have noticed some radical changes in the mindset of the people under my command. More and more, there are a number of shadowy political organisations that have arisen. Organisations with names like White National Front, Anti-Chinese Committee, National Alliance of Freedom Fighters, Western Guard, European Freedom Organisation, Anti-Muslim Group, Catholic Youth Union, Legion of St-Stephen, Imperial Faction (mostly Japanese-Korean based), National Crusaders, American Liberation Movement and the National Vanguard against Communism. (Note: These movements only had a few hundred members at the most. The majority of these were extreme right-wing in ideology. Analysis of the national archives indicates that many of the leaders of these movements came together to create the National Socialist Republic of the Superior Species Party, also known as NROSS, in 2088.) These are the groups that I’ve identified so far but I’m sure that there must be dozens of others which have not revealed themselves. I must admit that I find this situation worrying.
March 12th 2065: We are now making camp on the very outskirts of Vancouver. From where we are we can see a thick blanket of smoke over the city as the Russian and Chinese defenders attempt to hide their troop movements from us. Up in front of us in the infamous Sugar Bread Ridge. Don’t let the name fool you though. That hill is surrounded by anti-tank minefields, has sizeable anti-aircraft defenses as well as being crisscrossed with miles of trenches, barbed wire and automated pillboxes. It’s here that I actually saw for the first time what the Americans call the clone soldiers; something which I always thought was a rumour. For some reason, the American commander in charge of these soldiers seems to think that the more you send out to be killed in pointless wave attacks the higher your chances of success. As I write these words, well over 3500 clones have been killed in this area of the front alone. What a fool that commander is. He doesn’t seem to understand the basics of tactics for assaulting a fortified position.
March 15th 2065: While we were conducting the siege of Vancouver, we heard massive amounts of gunfire even though we hadn’t received orders to enter the city yet. It appears that for over a year now the Holy Islamic Empire has betrayed and attacked its allies, the Chinese Hegemony and the Communist Federated Republics, all over the world. In Europe, the CFR positions have been particularly hit hard. The whole of Germany is now in Islamic hands and has been proclaimed as the Islamic Domain of Germany. Just you wait; we will liberate Germany one day, you can count on it .
March 17th 2065: We have just finished our first day of fighting in Vancouver. It was harsh! We had to fight literally street to street and house to house all day. My unit was charged in guarding Korean, Dutch and British tank columns and walkers against Hegemony anti-tank teams. Out of the roughly 160 tanks under our watch we lost almost 75 of them. We lost a lot of good soldiers.
March 28th 2065: Vancouver is now ours. The fighting has destroyed the greater part of the city. Our losses have been very high. Now the only remaining Hegemony positions are grouped around the airport on Sea Island. But the airport has been changed into a labyrinth of dugouts, pillboxes, dug-in tanks and concealed artillery. I don’t want to think about how many snipers are going to be in that mess.
April 4th 2065: Unbelievable! The CFR commander has offered his surrender to us. He surrendered in exchange for free passage and political asylum for his men. I don’t know what the Americans think about that but I’m accepting these terms. Later, we learned that Los Angeles and Seattle had fallen to the Allies. The war in America is over! We won!
November 14th 2063: The cold has come again. It is a big change compared to the warmth of India. Today was calm even though there were a few mortar rounds that landed close to our positions.
December 10th 2063: We’ve heard news of renewed offensives on the MDL down south. The American defenders are holding firm but Hegemony troops have breached their defenses in many areas. Sadly, I’ve heard reports that my brother has been killed while leading an assault in western Illinois. The QVB in the area has also been hit hard. Of the roughly 1600 soldiers sent south, about 780 of them have been killed.
December 18th 2063: The Hegemony offensives on the MDL have been stalled and pushed back across the Mississippi river. Although this is a big victory for us, the losses number in the hundreds of thousands on both sides. What pains me the most is that the QVB units have now dwindled to less than 120 men. Some say that they should be disbanded and sent home while others say they should stay and continue fighting.
January 3rd 2064: We are slowly moving across Saskatchewan. It’s a very sad sight. What had once been endless miles of wheat fields are now nothing more than brownish mud and craters crisscrossed by endless miles of trenches and barbed wire. The worst thing is that I traveled here several times with my family when I was young and I know what beauty this landscape once had.
January 5th 2064: We passed the ruins of what was once the city of Saskatoon. For some reason, the gutted buildings and the empty windows that almost resemble the eye sockets of a skull, made me shiver. Sadder still, I saw several hundred civilians who were nothing more than skeletons beg the passing soldiers for any food. I gave them everything I had. Those people had endured the harsh treatment of their CFR occupiers.
January 7th 2064: There is something amiss here. Ever since we took Saskatoon, the CFR and Chinese forces in the area have been retreating west with little fighting. I don’t know what to make of it. It either means they are leading us into a trap or moving to more heavily fortified positions in Alberta. Only time will tell.
January 11th 2064: We have been ordered to stop and dig in. I used my free time assessing the strength of the QVB: At its creation in late 2060, the Quebec Volunteer Brigades numbered about 8000 men and women from Quebec and Canada. The arrival of the European volunteers in ’61 brought about 5000 more soldiers. Today, after almost four years of war, the brigades are down to about 6470 men and women. So many good people have been lost. I fear that it will get higher before the war ends.
March 12th 2064: My mood is good today. I was right about the fortified CFR positions in Alberta. At first I thought it would be slow attrition but thanks to the resistance and Special Forces, we were able to bypass them with a minimum of losses compared to the fighting in Saskatchewan.
March 26th 2064: I can’t believe it but we are more than halfway across Alberta now. Calgary and Edmonton (what’s left of it) have been surrendered by the Hegemony. Some die-hards are still holding out in some neighbourhoods of Calgary. The fighting is very hard and close-quarters.
May 4th 2064: The Hegemony forces stopped our progress in the city of Spruce Grove. There, our assaults were broken by concealed artillery and tank positions as well as experienced snipers on the roof of the buildings. It’s the snipers who caused the highest losses for us. Those who surrender tell us that with the Russians there are also Thai, Cambodian and Laotian contingents as well as Ukrainian and Estonian mercenaries inside the city. In most cases, prisoners have to be locked or driven away to prevent them from being beaten to death by our soldiers.
May 6th 2064: We’ve been reinforced today by resistance units who call themselves the Western Defenders. They are a hodgepodge of people: men and women, young and old. There was a bit of mistrust in the beginning but it quickly went away. They are very glad to be liberated by Canadians. Dinnertime was literally filled with war stories from both sides.
June 1st 2064: Spruce Grove has finally fallen under our complete control. The scattered remnants of the Hegemony have fled to the west while its hired mercenaries have fought to the bitter end.
June 22nd 2064: We are now at the city of Grand Prairie, just a few miles from the border with British Columbia. It seems that the Hegemony is using the same tactics as in Spruce Grove. To shake them up a bit, we decided to hit them hard with our heavy artillery and rocket launchers while the resistance hits them with technicals armed with heavy AAA machine guns and recoilless rifles. To show their trust in me, they’ve given me the honour of firing the first shot with one of their recoilless rifles.
June 24th 2064: Today, several Press journalists were attached to my unit to tell the folks back home how the fighting goes. I thought they were going to be trouble but this wasn’t their first warzone and they obeyed any of my commands.
June 25th 2064: There was a sad incident today. While the cameras were filming a savage firefight, we saw a CFR sniper break cover, toss his weapon down and run like hell. We ran after him but when we turned the corner of the street, we saw that he had been stopped by resistance fighters. We then found out that the sniper was in fact a young woman who was maybe 19 or 20 years old. She was on her knees crying and begging for her life while a pistol was being shoved in her face. Before I could order them to stand down, the woman was shot in the head at point blank range. I was literally enraged and ran into the shooter and gave him a beating he was not going to forget. I told the reporters to keep what they were filming because that is what represented war at its most savage. Sadder still, while I was sifting through her bloodied uniform I found her papers. She was actually one of the mercenaries from Estonia and she was barely 18 years old! I ordered my men to give her a proper burial. The thing I regret from this incident is that she had a very beautiful face.
July 1st 2064: We finally took Grand Prairie, or rather what’s left of it. The fighting has been really hard for this city. The losses have been high especially for the Americans. The only good thing in all of this mess: Hegemony forces have left Alberta for good to reinforce their positions in British Columbia.
July 8th 2064: It’s been over a week since we entered British Columbia. Progress has been slow thanks to the fluid in depth defenses of the Russians. We are about 50 miles from the Alberta border. Most of the cities in eastern British Columbia are already in ruins and populated by starved and scared civilians.
July 15th 2064: We arrived near the city of Castlegar early this morning. Although the city had already been evacuated by Hegemony forces, there were a few clashes in some neighborhoods. Except for those, the day has been relatively calm. Maybe too calm.
July 17th 2064: We discovered the most disgusting thing today. About 5 miles west of Castlegar, we came upon some sort of camp. At first we thought that it was a work camp but the entire camp population was made up of women and young girls. We soon learned that we were in what they call a comfort camp. One of the survivors told us that the camp once held 3000 people. With our recent victories in Alberta, the Chinese camp guards decided to kill as many women as possible. Now there are barely 450 women and girls left in the camp. The vast majority of them are underfed and have been badly beaten.
September 4th 2064: We have been sent to the rear for R&R. It’ weird to be able to sleep without the fear of constant attack. The food is way better here. I’ve also been able to get my hands on a newspaper. Even though it’s two months old, I’ve learned that the war in Europe is still mired in attrition. The Barcelona Line in Spain has, until now, repelled every attack but at an atrocious cost. It goes on saying that their food situation is very critical. They simply do not have enough food to feed both their armies and their civilian populations. Closer to us though, it appears that our food situation is way better because there are vast swathes of land in Quebec and eastern Ontario that are being used as automated farms and cattle processing plants. In the Maritime provinces they are able to grow massive fish hatcheries in protected zones. A high percentage of this food is shipped to Europe but a high number of our cargo ships are being sunk by enemy submarines.
October 5th 2064: Breaking news! It appears that the Colonies have decided to abandon us and declare secession from Earth! Only Venus, the poorest of the colonies, has chosen to stay. Not that I had great love of the Colonies (except for Mars) even though several of my childhood friends have moved there throughout the years, but we need the raw materials (iron, aluminium, methane, hydrogen, silicon and many others) that they supplied us to build not only our weapons but everything from bandages and gloves all the way to clothes and helmets. This is the kind of thing, I’m sure, is going to make the difference between victory and our extermination. That they want to be a separate entity from Earth is understandable but they couldn’t have chosen a worst moment to do it.
December 3rd 2064: There are persistent rumors of troop movement on the MDL down south. Some say the Americans are preparing for an important offensive all along the eastern bank of the Mississippi. Of course they are only rumors but one can hope for an end to this madness.
December 15th 2064: The rumors were true! All along the Mississippi River, American forces and their allies have broken through the Hegemony lines at several points. They have made important gains in Arkansas and Louisiana.
January 2nd 2065: Our reconquest of British Columbia is going well. Yesterday, our Greek battalion retook Cache Creek village after a day of heavy fighting. They lost several tanks but the loss in lives was relatively low. Our Portuguese, British and Romanian battalions are having a hard time breaking through the town of Barriere. There, though, the losses have been relatively heavy.
January 3rd 2065: Several CFR units have counterattacked our positions in hopes of retaking Cache Creek village. For the greater part of the night, the CFR has assaulted the lines held by the Greek, Polish and Norwegian battalions. All night long they assaulted them with tanks and large infantry charges. They were always beaten back. When some of our men were low on ammunition they took on the CFR soldiers in vicious hand to hand combat. Unfortunately, the Polish battalion has almost been wiped out. Out of roughly 300 men, over 247 of them have been killed. The Greek and Norwegian battalions have also been hit hard but not as much as the Poles.
January 19th 2065: Cache Creek village is finally ours! The remaining CFR forces have retreated further west. In another bit of good news: the city of Kelowna has been taken after a lightning attack by American and British forces. It appears that the city was defended by Islamic troops who thought that the Quebec Volunteer Brigades would spin around and attack the city from the west where they had decided to put nearly all their defending troops. The combined American-British thrust came from the east and routed them completely although casualties were still high.
February 25th 2065: We are advancing quite fast now in BC. The main CFR forces have fallen back all the way to Vancouver. I just can’t wait to liberate that city and be done with this damn war!
March 1st 2065: We are now less than 90 miles from Vancouver. Our camp is a real melting pot of Allied soldiers: walker operators from Japan and Korea, combat engineers and sappers from Australia and New Zealand, artillerymen from Switzerland and the UK, shock troopers from the United States, pilots from Sweden, Denmark and even Finland, and of course, volunteers like myself from Canada, Spain, Portugal, Italy and many others from Europe. Sadly, some of the volunteer units have been totally eliminated their flags kept at half-mast: Belgium, Poland, Romania and France. Tonight, there was a big feast with everyone. I’ve also been able to talk to many soldiers from the other countries. The ones that I liked the most were from New Zealand. Their Maori unit performed the Haka which is their war dance. I don’t know if it will have the same effect on the enemy but by God they freaked me out! One of the Dutch troopers, a young woman, beautifully sang a song about Amsterdam called Geef mij maar Amsterdam (Give me Amsterdam). Before I went to bed I accompanied a drunken Australian lieutenant to his tent. He kept blabbering about how Australia is the greatest country on Earth. We were joyfully singing Waltzing Matilda and I was only 19 when he simply fell asleep in my arms just short of his cot. Crazy Australians I tell you.
March 3rd 2065: Over the past few months I have noticed some radical changes in the mindset of the people under my command. More and more, there are a number of shadowy political organisations that have arisen. Organisations with names like White National Front, Anti-Chinese Committee, National Alliance of Freedom Fighters, Western Guard, European Freedom Organisation, Anti-Muslim Group, Catholic Youth Union, Legion of St-Stephen, Imperial Faction (mostly Japanese-Korean based), National Crusaders, American Liberation Movement and the National Vanguard against Communism. (Note: These movements only had a few hundred members at the most. The majority of these were extreme right-wing in ideology. Analysis of the national archives indicates that many of the leaders of these movements came together to create the National Socialist Republic of the Superior Species Party, also known as NROSS, in 2088.) These are the groups that I’ve identified so far but I’m sure that there must be dozens of others which have not revealed themselves. I must admit that I find this situation worrying.
March 12th 2065: We are now making camp on the very outskirts of Vancouver. From where we are we can see a thick blanket of smoke over the city as the Russian and Chinese defenders attempt to hide their troop movements from us. Up in front of us in the infamous Sugar Bread Ridge. Don’t let the name fool you though. That hill is surrounded by anti-tank minefields, has sizeable anti-aircraft defenses as well as being crisscrossed with miles of trenches, barbed wire and automated pillboxes. It’s here that I actually saw for the first time what the Americans call the clone soldiers; something which I always thought was a rumour. For some reason, the American commander in charge of these soldiers seems to think that the more you send out to be killed in pointless wave attacks the higher your chances of success. As I write these words, well over 3500 clones have been killed in this area of the front alone. What a fool that commander is. He doesn’t seem to understand the basics of tactics for assaulting a fortified position.
March 15th 2065: While we were conducting the siege of Vancouver, we heard massive amounts of gunfire even though we hadn’t received orders to enter the city yet. It appears that for over a year now the Holy Islamic Empire has betrayed and attacked its allies, the Chinese Hegemony and the Communist Federated Republics, all over the world. In Europe, the CFR positions have been particularly hit hard. The whole of Germany is now in Islamic hands and has been proclaimed as the Islamic Domain of Germany. Just you wait; we will liberate Germany one day, you can count on it .
March 17th 2065: We have just finished our first day of fighting in Vancouver. It was harsh! We had to fight literally street to street and house to house all day. My unit was charged in guarding Korean, Dutch and British tank columns and walkers against Hegemony anti-tank teams. Out of the roughly 160 tanks under our watch we lost almost 75 of them. We lost a lot of good soldiers.
March 28th 2065: Vancouver is now ours. The fighting has destroyed the greater part of the city. Our losses have been very high. Now the only remaining Hegemony positions are grouped around the airport on Sea Island. But the airport has been changed into a labyrinth of dugouts, pillboxes, dug-in tanks and concealed artillery. I don’t want to think about how many snipers are going to be in that mess.
April 4th 2065: Unbelievable! The CFR commander has offered his surrender to us. He surrendered in exchange for free passage and political asylum for his men. I don’t know what the Americans think about that but I’m accepting these terms. Later, we learned that Los Angeles and Seattle had fallen to the Allies. The war in America is over! We won!
*For reasons of space, journal entries from May 2065 to September 2077 have been omitted from this report. These entries are available at the National Archives in the new Parliament building located in Ottawa. Ministry of Culture permission required.*
October 4th 2077: The third World War is officially over! It has been a long 12 years since I fought in North America. When I got back from the war, I found that Quebec, even though it had suffered no fighting, had radically changed. Crumbling and ruined buildings were common place. I got a job working in a cattle processing plant. My sister survived the war and came back as a triple ace meaning she had destroyed more than 15 enemy aircraft.
June 20th 2078: We buried our parents my sister and I. They both succumbed to the Red Fever which has been ravaging several regions of the globe. At least they had a full and happy life.
March 10th 2080: Ever since that bastard De-Tierra took power last year, our rights have been whittled down to almost nothing. Abby has already left Earth for the Titan colony around Jupiter. Maybe it’s time for me too to leave this old planet.
May date withheld, 2080: I’ve taken everything that I could from my apartment and withdrew all of my life savings. I’ve been able to purchase a seat on the SS Venus Dawn, one of the few transports still going to the Colonies. It makes a detour around Venus before going to Mars, my destination.
August 19th 2117: I received word that the De-Tierra government has finally come crashing down! Many of those who fled his despotic regime have decided to go back to Earth. As for me though I’m too old for that kind of travel. Although I miss Quebec, Mars is my home now.
September 1…. 2127: Canada… Army… Quebec… Amelia… War… Devastation… Retaliation…
Archival note: Master sergeant Steven Mann died on September. 17th 2127 on Mars at the age of 97. He died from a diagnosed but untreated stomach cancer. He is one of the few military men to have a statue outside of the National Assembly in Quebec City. Even though he wasn’t the most decorated soldier, his journal and personal papers from the war and its aftermath have become best-sellers in Quebec, Canada, the United States and the Netherlands. He never found out what happened to Amelia.
October 4th 2077: The third World War is officially over! It has been a long 12 years since I fought in North America. When I got back from the war, I found that Quebec, even though it had suffered no fighting, had radically changed. Crumbling and ruined buildings were common place. I got a job working in a cattle processing plant. My sister survived the war and came back as a triple ace meaning she had destroyed more than 15 enemy aircraft.
June 20th 2078: We buried our parents my sister and I. They both succumbed to the Red Fever which has been ravaging several regions of the globe. At least they had a full and happy life.
March 10th 2080: Ever since that bastard De-Tierra took power last year, our rights have been whittled down to almost nothing. Abby has already left Earth for the Titan colony around Jupiter. Maybe it’s time for me too to leave this old planet.
May date withheld, 2080: I’ve taken everything that I could from my apartment and withdrew all of my life savings. I’ve been able to purchase a seat on the SS Venus Dawn, one of the few transports still going to the Colonies. It makes a detour around Venus before going to Mars, my destination.
August 19th 2117: I received word that the De-Tierra government has finally come crashing down! Many of those who fled his despotic regime have decided to go back to Earth. As for me though I’m too old for that kind of travel. Although I miss Quebec, Mars is my home now.
September 1…. 2127: Canada… Army… Quebec… Amelia… War… Devastation… Retaliation…
Archival note: Master sergeant Steven Mann died on September. 17th 2127 on Mars at the age of 97. He died from a diagnosed but untreated stomach cancer. He is one of the few military men to have a statue outside of the National Assembly in Quebec City. Even though he wasn’t the most decorated soldier, his journal and personal papers from the war and its aftermath have become best-sellers in Quebec, Canada, the United States and the Netherlands. He never found out what happened to Amelia.
Memorial to soldiers of all nationalities who fought and died on the Mississippi Defensive Line. Dubuque, Iowa. 2067.