Final Fantasy: Not a hero
1
So it ends
March 3rd 2010: Arab Jabur, Iraq
"Good morning and happy new year. I'm Lindsay Garcia and you're watching CNN tonight." The news anchor, an attractive woman, as almost all female news anchors were, smiled as she pretended to organize a desk full of 'reports' while reading her script off of a monitor behind the broadcasting camera. "Newly elected president Barrack Obama seems to be making good on his promise to end the war in Iraq by issuing an order to pull more than one hundred thousand troops out of the war torn country within the next six months. We have, Brandon Fisher live at the Whitehouse."
Brandon Fisher, another reporter held his earpiece to his ear and waited for his queue. "Thank you Lindsay."
"Brandon, what we've been told here is that President Obama is actually issuing the order right now." Lindsay added.
"That's right, Lindsay he actually issued it hours ago and just got done informing the public at a press conference meeting." Brandon confirmed. "Now the question on everyone's mind is; where does Obama plan on sending these troops once they're back home."
"Many would hope nowhere." Lindsay smiled.
Brandon put on his best serious expression. "Yes many would hope, but too many are too intelligent to believe that's the case. Now we've all heard of the president's rumored plans for Afghanistan and Iran or even Pakistan but it's just too soon for anyone to make any solid guesses. We're just gonna have to wait and see what the president has in mind for the war on terror. Back to you Lindsay."
"Thank you Brandon." Lindsay turned her face back to the camera. "In other news, another car bomb has gone off in London this time injuring…"
The TV screen displaying the news report blipped off and was replaced by the dim reflection of a young Muslim man, Shail Ali. His shortly trimmed beard and mustache felt smooth beneath his hand as he rubbed his chin. "They are finally leaving."
"No." Yu Ya, Shail's cousin shook his head. "They are just going to put the world's attention someplace else. They will still keep many troops here, enough to continue their search."
"But it will not be as many as it is now." Shail pointed out. "We will not see them every time we walk down our city streets.
"So it ends…" Yu Ya stroked his own beard. "The war in our country is over. The war with the Americans at least."
An ear piercing explosion shook Shail's home, the massive shockwave knocking him and Yu Ya to the floor along with everything not nailed to the walls. "What is happening!?"
"The Americans!?" Yu Ya shouted.
"We are not terrorists!" Shail screamed.
"When did that ever matter!?" Yu Ya pointed out.
The two frightened men remained pinned to the floor for a handful of moments before Shail finally rose to his feet and crept over to the door of his stonewalled home. He peeked out the window beside the door then immediately dropped back down to the floor as several hundred bullets shattered the window glass and pierced through the stone walls.
"We are not Alkaeda!" Yu Ya shouted after the first volley of bullets ended. His eyes locked onto a tall Arabic man wearing peasant clothes and an orange road guard vest. "Why?" He rose to his feet. "Why do the Sons of Iraq do this to us?" His left eye twitched as the identity of the man was refreshed in his memory. "Mohamed? You know that we are not Alkaeda."
Mohamed raised the AK-47 clutched in his hands and put two 7.62m rounds in Yu Ya's chest. "Yes. We know."
"Yu Ya!!" Shail screamed while tears streamed from his eyes.
Mohamed turned the steaming barrel of the assault rifle to Shail's forehead. However before he could fire, another volley of gunfire shattered the foundations of Shail's house and cut down Mohamed. Shail clutched his cousin's dead body, still screaming his name until another large explosion forced his instincts for survival to take hold and he rose to his feet, grabbing Mohamed's rifle as he ran out of his destroyed home. Shail rounded the corner of his small courtyard and ran out into the street, only to be knocked back behind the gates of his home by another explosion. He regained his footing and hunched over, covering his head as three more explosion shook the ground. A quick peek around the corner revealed two massive M1A1 tanks and two M1151 HMMVs reeking havoc on Shail's small village. Along with the tanks and gun trucks were two Bradelys that carried an infantry platoon. The American soldiers dismounted from their vehicles and engaged the Alkaeda insurgents that Shail had no idea were living right next door to him. Many of the soldiers saw the rifle in his hands and turned their line of fire towards him.
"Wait!" Shail dropped the AK-47. "I am not a terrorist!" His Arabic words did nothing to stop the Americans who barely understood anything he was saying. Shail raised his hands in surrender and hid back behind the concrete wall connected to the steel gate in front of his home. Realizing that the soldiers would not stop he turned and ran towards the back alleys between the many houses of many frightened civilians and fanatic Alkaeda insurgents.
**************
President Obama stood before hundreds of news reporters from all of the prestigious news agencies of the United States. "We Americans have grown as a people since the birth of our nation nearly three hundred years ago." His eyes scanned the expressions of the journalists. "Since then we have endured many hardships and fought many wars. All of which have been in direct conflicts with other established nations. Now, the entire world sits on the edge of a scale, weighed down by the deaths of billions and the ruination of trillions of lives. We now find ourselves facing an adversary unsanctioned by any civilization…"
***************
Shail zigzagged through several of his frightened neighbors trying as they did to escape the death the soldiers were raining down upon them.
"Help! Help me!" An Iraqi woman shouted from the ground. She crawled on her knees trying frantically to escape the gunfire and grenade blasts while shielding her two year old son from the explosions.
Shail gazed out in horror as the woman, reaching out for him was crushed by a large stone that broke off from one of the houses towering above them. "Why!?" He fell to his knees and lowered his hands and face to the ground then lifted his hands and gaze to the smoke filled sky. "Allah…why!?" A ground-shaking explosion from the blast of a 120mm heat round threw Shail from the ground, high into the air. As he fell through the air his back slammed into the edge of a well before he disappeared into the nearly dried up water source.
***************
"This deadly foe has destroyed one of our most sacred monuments and ended the lives of thousands of people from all over the world." Obama continued. "To combat this threat, in anger, we have tried invading the homes of the innocent to weed out the guilty and as a result we have lost countless more American lives and those of our allies."
***************
Shail splashed into a small assortment of water, shimmering three hundred feet below the ground. Dazed and disoriented, his mind had time to wander through the events of the past few minutes and the real shock of what had just happened to him hit Shail harder than the tank round. His eyes caught a glimpse of a feint green glow emanating from a cavern, uncovered from the tremors caused by the tanks and explosions. Shail slowly rose to his feet and crawled through the cavern entrance.
***************
"Many leaders have tried to end conflicts with radical decisions and I'm no different except in the fact that I won't try to end violence with more violence." Obama leaned forward on his podium. "This administration will not allow American lives to be lost in vein nor will it sanction the killing and destruction of foreign nations to appease the anger of the populace." He paused as a thunderous applause echoed throughout the conference room. "Preparations for our troops to be pulled out of Iraq and Afghanistan have been set in motion even as we speak and within six months every soldier overseas in these hot zones will be back home in America." Another thunderous applause erupted from the crowd of reporters.
***************
Shail, now able to stand upright in the large cavern, crept up slowly to the source of the green light. "What is this…?" Fear slowed his movements but his confusion and curiosity pulled his sandaled feet forward. A small rock formation had formed beneath the drip of a light green liquid. Atop the formation a perfectly shaped emerald orb lay nestled inside the stone. Shail found himself reaching out for the orb before he realized his arm was moving.
***************
Obama scanned the crowd one last time before finishing. "What's next? That's what's on the mind of every American citizen. Where do we go after Iraq? What do we do? Questions of Osama and other insurgent leaders enter our minds. It is true they are still out there and we will find them. But not through war. We will find them through cooperation and intelligence. We will no longer move our forces forward without a clear target in front of them." He took in a deep breath then leaned back and stood upright. "Questions." The mob of journalists screamed for acknowledgement.
***************
As Shail's hand cupped around the orb the green aura surrounding the rock formation faded and an emerald electric current shot up the Muslim's arm. His body convulsed and the currents flickered behind his eyes. Slowly the orb vanished beneath his skin and the green aura encompassed his body. Shail held his hands out in front of himself in amazement. "Allah…"
Captain Cunningham, commander of Alpha Company, a tank unit stationed in Arab Jabur Iraq along with Captain Andrews, the commander for Charlie Company, Alpha's infantry attachment, surveyed the ongoing battle from inside his HMMV. "Hold the line! Edwards…call up Charlie and tell them to reinforce second platoon at grid six o four, four!"
Charlie Company, third platoon, rolled up in front of Shail's house and unloaded their dismounts into the fray. The needed support provided cover for the advancing dismounted tank platoon sections that were currently operating HMMVs. The extra firepower from the platoon's M-249 SAW team ripped through the opposing insurgent forces. After two minutes of gunfire and grenade blasts the Iraqi insurgents began to dwindle and retreat.
Sergeant Mathews, of Alpha Company, first platoon slowly rose from his position of cover and surveyed the landscape. The closed in stone houses crumbled from the many volleys of gunfire and explosions. His eyes spotted no signs of enemy reinforcements. "Apache six, Red four, no enemy in sight, moving in for a better visual."
"Red four, Apache six, roger." Cunningham acknowledged.
Mathews cautiously moved up with four members from his platoon, carefully scanning the area for any signs of enemy movement. Twenty paces into the stone housing community brought his team to a large white well. The feint scent of something burning caused Mathews to stop and raise the back of his fist to his soldiers, ordering them to halt. "Allen, Flores, you guys see anything burning?"
"Besides this whole town?" Private Flores always used sarcasm as a smokescreen for fear.
"It smells like…" Mathews eyes caught sight of orange flames slowly creeping up a brown rope attached to the well. "Oh." He sighed in relief. "It's just the well bucket rope." He grabbed the hand mic attached to the ICOM radio attached to his vest and keyed it. "Apache six this is—holy shit get down!" Mathews and his team dropped to the ground as a massive wave of flames erupted from the well towards them.
"What the fuck was that?" Specialist Allen asked, slowly gazing up at the well from the ground.
"The fuck am I supposed to know?" Sergeant Mathews snapped.
The team stood to their feet and took a few steps closer to the well then stopped at the sight of two flaming hands gripping the edge of the stone water source. Suddenly, Shail's infuriated gaze rose above the white rock striking pure terror into the hearts of the soldiers. He jumped over the edge of the well and stared down the monsters that had just murdered his family and friends and destroyed his village. "You all claim to fight for freedom and justice." His words were in that of his native tongue and only added confusion to the soldiers' terror. "But you come here to spill the blood of terrorists and spill the blood of my family too!"
"What the fuck is he saying!?" Mathews managed.
"Fuck what he's saying." Allen took another step back. "That motherfucker is on fire and he's walking around!"
"You destroy my home…ravage my lands…" Shail raised his hands, pointing his palms outwards towards the soldiers.
"I don't like where this is going!" Allen raised his rifle.
"Now…you will pay!" Shail shrieked.
"Shoot him!" Mathews ordered while already beginning to fire.
All five Soldiers opened fire on Shail as two massive flame clouds erupted from his hands. The heat from the fire destroyed the bullets before they came close enough to cause Shail any harm then engulfed the five soldiers. Their screams only lasted for a few seconds before their bodies were burnt in such intense heat that not even their ashes remained.
"What the hell was that!?" Captain Andrews shouted over his radio.
"I don't know, Andrews!" Captain Cunningham replied. "Mathews….Mathews!" Static was all Cunningham heard over the first platoon channel. He glanced over at his driver. "Edwards, roll us closer to first platoon's position."
Captain Cunningham's HMMV rolled up to the street where Shail Ali's destroyed home crumbled and came to a halt at the sight of several American soldiers being burned alive at the hands of what appeared to be an Iraqi on fire.
"What in god's name!?" Cunningham shouted. "Pull back! Bring the tanks up!"
Alpha section of first platoon Alpha Company rolled up. The two massive tanks traversed their 120mm cannons down the street and centered them on Shail. The now insane Shail raised his right hand and set Red One, which held the platoon's platoon leader, ablaze. Within thirty seconds the tank had melted in on itself and the crew was cooked alive. Red Two opened fire on Shail with every weapon system save the cannon and Shail's body was filled with 7.62 and .50 caliber rounds. Shail toppled over as his body was ripped apart by the nonstop onslaught of gunfire, his head exploding before his husk hit the ground.
"Is it…dead?" Andrews glanced out from his gun truck.
A squad of infantrymen from Charlie Company ran up to investigate the body. Blood poured out onto the ground from the husk of flesh that was once Shail Ali. As Sergeant Michaels knelt down beside the husk, a bright green glow caught his attention.
"What the hell is that?" Michaels wondered.
The emerald orb slowly rolled out from Shail's remains into the pool of blood beside Sergeant Michaels's knee.