Roach, Shade, Kim, and more of Shade's friends were on the rooftop of a mid-rise apartment building with a crowd of other people who were there. The main display was about to commence in fifteen minutes, and already Roach was amazed at the spectacle. A few hours ago, an F/A-18F Rhino made a few passes at high and low speed. An hour after that, two Blackhawks and a Tiger made a circuit around South Bank, the Tiger stopping to do some hover manoeuvres over the Brisbane River. Between the flyovers, Shade had shown Roach some clips from past Riverfire displays, mostly those with the F-111 and its signature dump and burn. And Roach was impressed. Only the Australians would use shoot a 100ft flame out the back of a fighter-bomber over a crowded city at low level, just for some firework display.
Then again, it was quite a spectacular sight from what he saw. He looked around, and looked at Shade's friends. There was Kim, Shade's closest friend from their time in high school. They both said to Roach that they hadn't dated, but Roach knew to read between the lines. Sure, they didn't date, but they did something. Then there was Carl, Shade's other closest friend. They'd known each other since the start of primary school, and hadn't left each other's side until Shade joined the Army. You could not separate the pair of them, even if you tried. Roach looked to the others. Jeremy, Shade's mate from the Army, lent against a low wall away from the edge. He was taking the weight off his prosthetic leg, which replaced a leg he lost in Afghanistan while on deployment with Shade in the 2nd Commandos. Shade had dragged Jeremy back from a wrecked LRPV after it hit a twin-IED strike. Unfortunately, their patrol leader was killed in the same blast. Jeremy had lost his leg from just below the knee, and was working as a communications specialist in the reserves.
The last of Shade's friends, Stephanie, was somewhat puzzling to Roach. He couldn't get a read on her. She'd met Shade in high school, but they weren't exactly close. However, they seemed affectionate to each other. He hadn't been able to figure out why, mostly because when he asked, Shade dodged the subject. And Steph wasn't the easiest to approach when she was by herself.
"Gaz, mate, display's about to start, get up front. You do NOT want to miss a bit of this!" Shade's shout brought Roach back to reality. Shade moved to crank the radio to max, the station it was tuned to was broadcasting a simulcast soundtrack to the fireworks, something they did every year.
The first pyrotechnics set off were on the Story Bridge, up at the top. The chain followed down the crest on each side, finishing in two seconds. Then the entire river lit up. Charge boxes on the river bank and barges on the river spewed out a mix of fireworks. Some climbed to high altitude and burst into huge balls of sparks. Others left smoke and spark trails in their path, only travelling a short distance from the launcher. Then lasers set up on the bank lit up, cutting through the smoke left by the fireworks. More fireworks flew up from the banks and bridges. The entire sky was engulfed in the colour of the fireworks and pyrotechnics. Then it went dark.
A dramatic, action movie sounding track played on the radio. Then a voice came through.
"Brisbane Central, this is Rhino Flight. We are thirty seconds from target, preparing for run."
"Roger that Rhino Flight, Central copies all, airspace is clear. Good for run." Roach tried to decipher what exactly was going on. To him, it sounded like something that an air traffic controller would say to an aircraft. He turned to ask Shade about it, but Shade's face was that of a small child in a confectionary store. His eyes were wide and glazed, focused on the sky. A countdown started on the radio, the music slowly building up. In the distance, the sound of jet engines grew louder.
The count reached Zero, and a pair of F/A-18F Rhino fighter jets flew at each other, flying along the river. They crossed, and as they passed each other, they dropped a long string of IR decoy flares. Each string lit up each end of the river, and the river bank below. Applause, cheers and yelling erupted from the crowds below as each fighter circled around and dropped another string. The pair formed up and climbed at full afterburner, their display run complete. The fireworks recommenced at a much higher intensity, and finally finished roughly an hour after they started. Roach had never seen such a display in his life. Sure, they had Guy Fawkes Night back home, and they had the Red Arrows, but nothing like this.
Shade and his group of friends retreated downstairs back to the apartment they had rented for the night. There were three rooms, one of them with a double bed. A thought passed through Roach's mind that Shade and Kim would be staying in there tonight. Jeremy and Steph took the remaining rooms, leaving Roach out on the couch. It didn't mind him though. The couch was probably more comfortable than lying on a foam mat half an inch thick in the damp rainforest. He set up his sleeping gear, and switched the TV on.
The TV broadcast of the display had ended, and the channel reverted back to normal programming. The first show to come on was one that Shade had mentioned back at base. It was a police action-drama, called Rush. It followed members of a tactical response team down in Melbourne, and followed their lives on the job. Roach took note of how the actors handled their weapons and cleared rooms. Unsurprisingly, he drew many parallels to their tactics and the tactics the 141 were trained to use.
The show was halfway through, and the team were chasing down a man who had just hit and run a small family whilst on a getaway from an armed robbery. Roach was completely hooked as the officers in the second car positioned themselves to be driving on a parallel road to the suspect. As the suspect turned right, the second police car cut them off, officers jumping out with guns drawn. Roach jumped as Steph sat down beside him, also wrapped up in the episode.
"You know, Shade likes this show." Steph said quietly.
"I know, it's one of the many things he talks about on base."
"He must be quite the novelty. A lone Australian commando in the middle of an army of Brits."
"It has its moments. So, how exactly do you two know each other? I mean, it's clear with his other friends, but I can't figure out the bond between him and you."
"It's not something I really tell a lot of people. Only I, he and our parents know."
"It can't be that bad."
"Ok. It was the second last week of high school. And things had become haywire for our year level. Graduation and Formal was creeping around the corner, marks were coming in, and groups of friends were close to being broken. I remember on the Wednesday, we finished early and I had decided to drive my car home. He had walked. We didn't hang out much back then, and he preferred to walk. Liked the exercise I guessed."
"Then how come you hang out with him so much now?"
"It's because of what happened after. I've turned into a road that I normally take to get home. As I make my way down, a cat or something crosses in front of me. I swerve to avoid it, but in doing so, I jumped the gutter and flipped down the hillside to an empty patch of land. It was a good twenty metre roll, as the road was situated on a hillside. By the time it stopped, I was completely unconscious."
"Shit."
"Shit's right. I woke up on the roadside, being tended to by paramedics. As I was being wheeled into the ambulance, I saw Tom sitting on the back tailgate of a police four-wheel drive. He was also being tended to by a paramedic. I was told later in the hospital by police officers that he had walked past the scene and had seen my overturned car. He climbed down and pulled me out. I received a few broken ribs, busted leg and a badly bruised face; he earned a few cuts and scrapes from the bushes and broken glass. It could have been much worse though."
They spent the next half hour talking and sharing stories. Roach shared a few times where Shade had saved his life and others where he had saved Shade's. They found themselves falling asleep on the couch, but didn't think much of it.
Hmm, life down here isn't as I had thought. I'm glad I came down here.
