To think there was a time when I didn't have to worry about this shit...

He thought this as he stood at attention waiting for the captain to call him into the office. His Master Corporal instructed him to show up 15 minutes early. Presumably his superior, a Sargent, had given the Master Corporal a timing that was also 15 minutes early. The Sargent had received the order from The Warrant and god only knows how early he shows up for things. This cycle had likely repeated several times as the order was passed on. So it was that Corporal Sairento was both on time and 2 hours early at the same time.

He thought this and many other things. It was the one thing about himself that he still had control over. When he considered how much time-wasting bullshit the army could throw at him it seemed quite nice of them to still allow free thought. Free speech no, if the military wanted something as anarchic as that they would've unionized ages ago. At least for the time being, however, his thoughts were still his. Unless the topic of communists came up. Thinking about them really got his blood boiling. In fact, it was because of them he was currently in this hallway staring down the barrel of an investigation.

He could feel his face heating up, the commies, this pencil dick Captain in the next room, the war, all of it existed simply for the sake of wasting his time. If only he was handed a gun that could put the fear of god into all of them. he smiled at the thought.

"Corporal" The Captain yelled out into the hallway.

"Yes Sir!"

Sairento took a step forward and winced, it felt like walking on a bed of nails as the blood rushed back to his feet. Trying not to waddle into the office he managed the best march he could and came to attention again in front of the captain. The awkward display seemed to cause The Captain physical pain.

"Corporal this is a final review in regards to the events that occurred on the night of November 3, 2035."

"Final review, sir?"

"That's Correct."

"I was already questioned and gave my statements regarding M'kinnons disappearance... Sir."

"And that's the discrepancy we wish to resolve. Corporal M'kinnon by all accounts is not 'missing' he was killed in action. It won't do well for his family or your unit to be spreading false information."

"They found his body then."

"That line of questioning is not aligned with the force's current operational goals. Hence why you're here. You will sign this form which verifies that you witnessed The Corporal's death and your previous statements were made in error."

"But I didn't see anything, Sir. He was just gone."

"The front lines can be very stressful Corporal. We understand if you're unable to come to terms with the death of your team member, or possibly misremembered as the result of stress-induced psychosis. The military is fully prepared to admit you into psychiatric care if that is the case."

So that was it then. He would sign on the dotted line or get thrown in the looney bin for not witnessing someone's death. The military couldn't be bothered to deal with the possibility M'kinnon could be dying in the desert or worse defecting to the commies.

He didn't even like the guy but he deserved better than an empty coffin. As a Corporal, though he couldn't do anything about it and Between being shot at and going to the military mental hospital it was hardly a choice. He'd take his chances with the commies and who knows maybe M'Kinnon would stumble back with a shit-eating grin on his face. He signed the paper, gave the sloppiest salute of his military career and started walking across the base to his unit's tent.