I don't own Exosquad and its associated universe; I do not make money off the writing/posting of this story.
"Just" by Abraxas 2010-02-09
He wanted to believe it was just.
Almost singlehandedly Windfield ended the revolt with the capture of its leader. But was it that simple? And was it that right?
As days passed - and honors added onto honors - he could not help but wonder if, at the end, he had been a tool. Another cog in a machine built on slavery. Because observing Mars after the war he came to realize the evil that had been done to the Neosapiens.
A few times already he voiced the opinion that the Neosapiens might have been justified.
"If we were subjected to that treatment, we would have rebelled, we would have called it independence," he said to a newspaper.
What followed was an extended leave of absence and a pause to publicity - both of which came as a relief. Except that it gave him to reflect upon the consequences. He did not like where everything was headed.
That was why he found himself in the middle of nowhere - the prisoner of war camp - deep Wyoming wilderness.
Windfield stayed at a town nearby the facility. Frequenting bars and such. Trying to be inconspicuous. As he debated what, exactly, to say. And what, exactly, to do.
He sat behind the wheel of the car. The prison a distant blur. Every now and then he thought he saw a Neosapien and wondered if it was him. He was too far to be sure. He was inside, though, as the world debated what to do with his race.
He feared it would be too late if he waited.
"Unofficially, of course," he said to the warden. "It's soldier to soldier."
Windfield stepped through the gate uncertain yet determined to look the man he caught face to face again and try to find a purpose to it all.
END