Prologue
Human beings always considered themselves the smartest things on planet earth yet they were only the second smartest, smartest went to the ducks the most overlooked creature on earth, well apart from ants. So when the ducks saw the Human’s economy crisis they took the opportunity to take over the world.
Nuclear Weapons were employed against them, but this only made the ducks larger and stronger until they became humanlike in size. The use of Nuclear Weapons was banned and all of them were destroyed.
They struck strong and fast at the heart’s of the most powerful nations in the world. America was first to go then went England and China in quick succession.
Soon the entire world crumbled, schools were forced to close and humans spent their nights in fear that the duck bombers would strike their towns and cities next. This went on for 5 years until in 2025 when most of the humans population was wiped clean and the few survivors had to find refuge on islands and deep underground. In New Zealand there were only a few thousand people who hadn’t fallen to the Duck Empire TM and they were hiding out on the islands of Rangitoto and Motutapu the only places still resisting.
Orientation
“Get down!” yelled the sentry, “Duck strike inbound!”
Roger started sprinting for the shelters situated all over Motutapu and Rangitoto; the only place still inhabited by the human race in New Zealand. He realised that today was the last day he would run for the shelters and live in fear of being struck by a bomber. Once someone turned thirteen, they would be enlisted in the war against ducks.
BOOM!!! Roger’s thoughts were interrupted when a Duck Bomber squadron swooped down over him, dropping their Acid Egg Bombs. He sprinted away as fast as he could before the gas from the bombs could reach him. The concrete behind him began to dissolve with acid eating into it. The soldiers rushed to man the Cheese cannons, one of the most effective ways to hurt the ducks. One was not fast enough and was vaporised on the spot by an Acid Egg.
“What are you doing here boy?!” yelled a soldier. “Get to your shelter!”
Roger began his run to the shelter for a second time, dodging a squadron of troops armed with Machine Guns capable of firing cheese bullets at 120 bullets a minute. Suddenly an explosion sounded behind him and everything went black.
Roger opened his eyes in the Rangitoto hospital. He smelled horrible, but felt no pain. Early on in the war the Human Race had discovered that crushing Venus Fly Traps and applying the juices to the burnt areas would counteract the acidic properties of the eggs. Roger looked at his legs. The burns were already turning the yellow colour of healing.
He looked around and saw the nurse opening the door to show a man in a brown suit flanked by two soldiers in camo uniform with machine guns and a blue stripe down the front of the uniform which marked them as elite guards or the protectors of the General. Somewhere in the back of Rogers mind a voice was screaming
“IT’S THE GENERAL SHAPE UP” he tried to sit up but his body was still numb from the effects of the Venus Fly Trap juice. The General walked over to Roger and stood above his bed.
“Son your time has come, NOW GET OFF THE BED AND PUT THESE ON” screamed the General throwing a set of camo pants and top and some army issue boots which landed very hard in a very sore place. Roger slowly sat up and slipped into his uniform then jogged behind the General to the training fields. When he arrived the General was ordering a bunch of kids about Rogers age into a line
“ALRIGHT MAGGOTS YOU ARE NOW PART OF THE ARMY SO I AM GOING TO TREAT YOU LIKE YOU ARE IN THE ARMY, THIS TRAINING COURSE MAY ONLY BE TWO WEEKS LONG BUT IT WILL BE THE HARDEST THING YOU’LL EVER DO” screamed the General, all the kids groaned.
“Well this should great fun” muttered Roger, one of the kids sniggered.
“WHAT WAS SO FUNNY RECRUIT Leo,” screamed the General, The kid started crying and pointed at Roger “AHHH, ROGER. SO WHAT WERE YOU GOING TO SAY?”
“I was going to say how much fun this is going to be” said Roger.
After two weeks of being shot at, blown up and taught how to apply anti-poison juice Roger had finally completed Basic Training.
“Well boy, you’ve completed your training and you are now ready to enter the army. Because you achieved the highest rank in your training group you will lead your team into battle. You are all now part of Squadron Omega. Your team is being sent to hold off the production of the bridge to the islands. If they finish that bridge then the Duck Empire TM will send over their heavy weaponry. If they get Duck Tanks on this island and receive reinforcements from Australia, we will be overrun. You wouldn’t be my first choice but the other squads are busy defending the bases and holding off a duck landing in Islington bay. At this rate the Australian base on Tasmania will be overrun in days. Then the Duck EmpireTM will focus on destroying us. If they get Duck Tanks on this island and receive reinforcements from Australia, we will be overrun. Arm yourselves.”
“Sir, we don’t have weapons.”
“You do now!” The General replied, gesturing for his guards to bring in a pile of new CheeseFlame3000sTM. Able to switch between Flame throwers and Cheese bullets at will, it was the latest in high-tech Anti-Duck weaponry. “Now go stop that bridge!”
After hiking cross country across the island Rogers team had arrived at the bridge.
“Tim go set up a camp under those supports, Bridget setup the explosives on each support and Leo go scout for enemy ducks, the rest of you R&R” ordered Roger
“Bu...bu...but I DON’T WANNA GO OUT THERE THEY COULD HURT ME OR EVEN WORSE I COULD CATCH A COLD!” whined a crying Leo.
“Go out there or I strap you to the supports with the explosives” bargained Roger. Leo weighed his options then scurried off to scout the bridge. Later that night Roger was woken by an explosion.
“What the...” was all he could manage before another explosion shook the ground. Roger got up and grabbed his gun, by the time he was outside Jake and Bridget were already firing on the fast approaching duck squad. Explosions shook the ground the sound of cheese bullets penetrated the air. An explosion flung Roger off his feet, Tim who was fighting right next to him was blown away screaming in pain.
“MY LEG, MY LEG I MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE LOST MY LEG”. Roger followed the bullet to it’s source.
“Cranberry sauce, a Duck Tank!” exclaimed Roger. The tank was coming down the hill it’s giant rubber duck like body glinting in the moonlight. Another shot exploded out of the beak mounted cannon there was a flash of light and a big splash as the shot splashed harmlessly into the ocean. Roger’s eyes finally focused on the driver, he was in a open top turret on the top of the head a good shot would take the tank down. Roger took his luck and fired. The shot was perfect and the tank veered out of control then flipped and blew up, killing a dozen ducks warriors in it’s path. “THERES TOO MANY,” screamed Bridget “I’M ALMOST OUT OF CHEESE BOTH LIQUID AND SOLID”
Jake ran towards Roger
“I’ll hold them, you take Tim and the others to the top of that hill over there, and wait there. Give me the detonator and I’ll blow the bridge” shouted Jake only just audible over the explosions and gunfire
“Fine I’ll get the team to retreat, just promise me that you blow that bridge” said Roger. He turned towards his squadmates and shouted
“RETREAT TO THE TOP OF THE HILL”
“YES SIR” they all screamed back in unison. Roger started running and didn’t look back.
Jake never was the strongest or the smartest but as he was firing on the unlimited waves of ducks charging his position he realised that he was by far the most courageous. BOOOOOOOM!!! An explosion flung him off his feet. Blackness was creeping into the edge of his eyes, Jake pulled the detonator from his back pocket
“Take this you Over Cooked Poultry ” Jake pushed the big red button and everything went white.
Back on the hill Roger looked away from the blossoming explosion cloud. It was then he realized he had just sent a soldier to his death. Roger looked around and realized he was a soldier down.
“WHERE THE HELL IS LEO THAT SNIVELING COWARD CRYBABY,” screamed Roger
“Probably dead” remarked Carl
“Yeah your probably right”.
Deep down in Duck City Leo was strapped to a torture chair.
“The prisoner spilled the beans as soon as we bought out the tickle feather” reported the torturer duck.
“Good, very good. Soon the humans will be destroyed!” cackled the Evil ruler of the Duck Armies New Zealand forces.
Roger and his team were in the middle of the Duck City. After successfully destroying the bridge, they had been promoted to Squadron Strike. They were the first resistance fighters to have stepped on the mainland since 2023 when the great William Coach, founder of the Motutapu resistance, had attempted to retake the Duck Headquarters. He had never been heard from again. As Roger and his team approached, he thought back to what he knew about the Duck Headquarters. It had once been a tourist attraction named the skytower. Now it was just a convenient place for the ducks to launch their bombers from.
“Carl, set the perimeter and Tim keep a lookout. The ducks are 100 times more numerous over here. And we do not want to have to go up against Duck Tanks without back up.” Roger ordered. Tim walked around to grab the binoculars, revealing his prosthetic leg. The rest of the quad was getting some rest while they could. He began to think about why they were fighting this war. If the Ducks had overrun the most powerful nations on earth, what could 20,000 resistance fighters do? As he sat there he realised that they were literally sitting ducks. They were just waiting there for the Ducks to bring their full force down on them. As soon as Tasmania was overrun, they would have no hope. When I get back... if I get back, then I’ll change this. I’ll make sure that we help the Australians.
“Alright, people, let’s blow this pop stand. Joe and Bridget, you take the windows. Tim and Carl you scale the walls until you get to the stairs. I’ll take the stairs.” ordered Roger. “This is probably going to be the hardest fight of our lives.”
After the hardest fight of their lives, they met up on the top floor of the building. They eavesdropped on two duck guards.
“What’s with all the extra security?” asked one of them.
“Don’t you know anything Yanni? The Commander of the Duck Empire TM is here.” replied the other. Roger and his troops decided they had gathered enough information from these two ducks. Roger stepped out from the behind the pillar and shot the first guard, the second guard, Yanni, strapped a suicide vest onto himself and ran at Roger. Luckily as the very clumsy and stupid duck ran down the corridor he tripped and fell, ironically the bomb wasn’t armed so it did nothing. Roger stood over the idiot guard and asked where the control center was.
“I’ll never tell you” shouted Yanni.
“I’ll give you a lollipop” said Roger
“Ok, take a left then a right then do 4 spins and take the first door on the left”
“Thanks” said Roger passing him a lollipop
“Hey that...That was mine” shouted Carl.
“Alright Bridget, Joe and Carl you destroy the control center, Tim and I will free the prisoners. Rendezvous at the exit” Roger ordered.
As they walked away, they could hear the sound of Yanni The Duck choking on his lollipop.
“Who do you think will be in the prison, sir?” asked Tim.
“I have no idea. But I think it will be interesting.” replied Roger. As they opened the door to the prison they let rip with a wave of cheese bullets taking out 3 guards, who were too busy playing Dungeons and Ducks to notice the intruders until it was too late.
“Roger!” yelled a familiar voice.
“Leo!” gasped Tim
“Tim, Roger, you have to get out of here! The Ducks made me talk!” explained Leo hurriedly. “They know it was you who blew up the bridge, and they know about the Mission here. They have a spy in the base!”
“But who would betray us to the ducks?” inquired Roger.
“It’s the General. The Ducks have his family captive.” Leo answered.
BOOM!!! BOOM!!! The walls of the compound began shaking violently. Duck Tanks thought Roger. He could hear the clanking of a whole Duck Regiment. Quickly, he unlocked the cages. There were about 50 men, all wearing the Resistance Uniform. He recognised one of them as William Coach. They all rushed to the Duck Armory and armed themselves.
“Everyone make a break for it!” commanded Roger
All the prisoners grabbed a weapon and hungry for revenge charged straight into a textbook suicide charge, almost immediately 5 men and women were thrown into the walls after a direct hit from the duck tanks struck them. After 3 minutes of fighting there 13 able bodied fighters plus what was left of Rogers squad.
“Squad on me” shouted Roger over the sounds of the battle, his battered squad emerged
“WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE” shouted roger
“YESSIR” rogers squad shouted. Roger’s squad ran in a v shape, explosions on both sides, the screams that rang out from both sides of the battle. There was a fine mist of blood and cheese in the air that coated clothes and feathers. The prisoners began to lose ground and Roger screamed at them to get back. The remaining men slowly began to head towards the entrance, unable to flee due to the waves of Ducks advancing.
“Run!” yelled Leo. “I’ll hold them off for now.”
“Ok, I’ll feed your Gerbil Bob when you are horribly killed!” screamed Roger in dismay. Leo seemed to accept this until a duck ran at him with a suicide vest on. A glint appeared in his eyes as he took out the duck and stole his vest.
“For the last time, run!” ordered Leo. He strapped on the vest, before creeping up on the enemy’s line of Duck tanks. he dived at them and the vest activated. A chain of explosions ripped through the tanks, taking out over half of them. Roger realised that Leo had needed to prove he wasn’t a weakling coward and make things right after he told the ducks everything. They all pulled back towards the exit making the most of the confusion rippling through the duck forces. They ran to the sewer entrance. The stench coming out of it was enough to make Roger’s younger brother ben faint. He only bathed once a fortnight so that was an achievement.
“Stick to the path.” Roger ordered. Out of nowhere there was a rumbling from deep inside the sewers.
“What the frankfurter was that” yelled Joe
“Dunno,” Roger shouted back “But it’s coming closer!” It was true the rumbling noise was almost deafening now. Then it rounded the corner and roared, Joe who was the closest to the beast got a face full of saliva and stumbled a bit. The monster saw the opportunity and flung Joe against a wall with such velocity that blood spattered across the wall and floor,
“JOE” Roger shouted
“MOURN LATER SHOOT THE MASSIVE GLOWING GREEN DUCK WITH CHEESE NOW” Bridget screamed back. Bullets flew through the air hitting the duck and doing seaminglessly no damage.
After about 30 seconds Roger was dry
“I’VE UNLOADED THREE CLIPS INTO THIS RADIOACTIVE POULTRY DISH, HOW DO WE KILL IT” Roger shouted over the roaring sound of the duck swinging at rogers squad
“WAIT WHAT ABOUT LIVE AMMO THIS DUCK IS MUTATED REMEMBER” Bridget shouted back. Roger pulled out his high caliber lead shooting pistol and sunk 3 shots into the ducks forehead. The duck gave one final roar of pain then dropped dead, mushing Joes body into a red puddle which dripped out from under the beast.
Roger was transfixed by the growing puddle of red liquid coming from under the beast
“Roger let’s go” Bridget shouted pulling him out of his trance and up a ladder into the open air. They climbed out and found themselves next to the beach where they had landed.
“But how do we get back to the Island?” asked William.
“On these.” replied Bridget, the team’s technical chief, gesturing to a pair of large submarines. “Armed with proton torpedoes and with 5 mounted cheese guns, it is the latest in Resistance transport technology. That’s how we’re getting out of here.”
“Shotgun!” yelled Carl.
They clambered into the submarines and began to power them up. A squadron of ducks, led by the guard Yanni were charging towards them intent on stopping them. As they got closer Roger noticed an oddly shaped lump in Yanni’s throat. Tim and Roger hopped into the turrets and began filling the duck with cheese. The Ducks scattered before the powerful guns and fell back before a unit of HDDTs (Heavy Duty Duck Tanks) came towards them. The Torpedoes only worked underwater and the cheese guns weren’t strong enough to penetrate their armour.
“Head to the mainland!!!” screamed Roger.
“Head to the mainland!!!” screamed Roger.
“Starting engines!” reported Bridget. The engines began to spin, pushing the submarines through the water at speeds of 150 Kilometres per hour. Roger let out a breath that he hadn’t realised he was holding. It was a relief to be away from there. It disturbed him to think that 6 years ago that had been his home and he had run along those beaches with his friends. Now it was a town filled with demolished buildings and Duck troops. It also housed the largest Human prison in NZ. He had heard terrifying rumors about that place. The ducks had the humans mining from 5 till 11. Any arguments that occurred with the Guards were met with harsh punishments. Prisoners could be locked up for days with no food. And as soon as you became useless to the ducks they would get rid of you. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Bridget.
“Sir, we are nearing our destination.” she reported. Roger hopped off the submarine onto the shore, leading the rescued prisoners to the base.The sentries ignored As soon as he walked in he could hear people murmuring in astonishment. He walked up to the general and his men. The General looked shocked to see him alive. Roger turned and began to speak to the crowd gathering in front of him.
“I have returned from the mainland. My unit succeeded in destroying the control center and rescuing several prisoners. We have also brought back our old commander, General William Coach. But it came at a cost. Many soldiers were killed including two members of my own squad. This is because there is a traitor on this Island. This person has been named and we will forcefully remove him unless he hands himself in.”
The General stepped forward.
“I am the traitor. The ducks have my family and offered to let them go if I fed them information. I betrayed our forces and I will willingly hand myself in.”
A unit of Men took him away to the prison while the residents of the island stood cheering for their new General. William stepped forward and and began to speak as well.
“This young man,” he started gesturing to Roger. “Is the only reason I am here today. He has convinced me of the importance of helping the Australians in Tasmania. I will remain here and I officially appoint him to commander of our Support force!”
The crowd answered with a massive cheer followed by large amounts of applause, making Roger’s cheeks go bright red.
“I can only give you 5000 men. I need as many men here as I can get, and that’s all I can afford to give. You can take our remaining air force and most of our fleet. They should be able to go in two weeks.” instructed William afterwards.
“Any information on what we’ll face on Tasmania?” inquired Roger.
“Only that the ducks number around 750,000. The Australian General has about 45,000 men at his disposal. The duck’s have officially landed on the island and now control the northern half of it. The defenders have a massive wall that’s heavily armed separating the sides of the island. The duck’s haven’t been able to breach t yet but that could change at any moment.
Two weeks and 1 day and 3 hours and 2 minutes and 15 seconds later
Roger stepped out of his personal Jet. He was the first Kiwi to have stepped foot in another country since the very beginning of the duck war. He activated his radio and called in the Tasmanian Commander.
“Reinforcements reporting for duty.”
End of Book 1
