Arknights: Visitors from the West

[Hardcore] [Military] [Arknights]

This book uses a style similar to documentary military literature to depict young soldiers taking part in modern warfare on the continent of Terra.

A few words from the author beforehand, in plain language. You may find yourself deeply immersed as you read. However, because of my personal writing philosophy, the story may not have an obvious hook at the beginning to keep you reading. You may find it difficult to empathize with the characters. That's normal. This work may require you to think as you read.

The protagonist, an embedded journalist, joins Operation Promised Land, led by the federal government. He follows and records the combat operations of a forty-person Ranger platoon, the spearhead of the fictional U.S. Army's Terra Expeditionary Force, as it fights the Kazdel Military Commission during the Kazdel Civil War. Having witnessed this civil war in the world of Terra firsthand and endured frequent combat, he tells an unsettling story from a broader perspective: a story of conflict and exchange between two civilizations, and of the suffering on this land beneath the weight of war. The unknown, the violence, exhaustion, fear, and death at every turn form the central themes of this book.

This book offers no strongly subjective judgments. It is not intended to portray a modern army crushing another world, nor to provide the thrill of unrestrained slaughter.

Beyond the main story, there may also be side stories featuring other characters. Some unexplained elements in the main plot may be answered in those side stories.