Poppies and Sakura Chapter 3: A Conflict Destined
To Elmyra, my love.
The horrors of this war never cease. My naivety that I held at the beginning of this is utterly astounding to me. Blinded by the propaganda of Shin-Ra, I never resited the conscript program. I was too eager to make you proud of me my dear. That is my greatest sin of all in this entire war.
Memory is a funny thing. At the time, we know that we're doing the right thing, but in retrospect, we know that we were young, foolish and pigheaded. The words always reverberate in our minds. "I wish I could go back and change it all." But this is impossible. We can't live with regrets. You can't ignore the past. No, it achieves nothing to run. You have to face the past and learn from what has gone by to make a brighter future for all those around us. I must remember the way things were.
It was only a few months ago, but the month's weight pushes on me like the years.
The world back then was so much simpler…
Eight months earlier…
It was nearly nightfall by the time the convoys reached Svartal Port, some 300 kilometres north of the main city of Kalm. The place had been utterly taken over by the military. Helicopters whirred overhead, heavy machinery lurched huge crates of supplies, ammunition, guns. The roar of vehicles, trucks, tanks, cranes, filled the air with exhaust and fumes. I sat in a convoy van in my green standard uniform with a bunch of other conscripts. The atmosphere was oppressive, yet my fists were clenched and I couldn't keep still in my seat. The voices of barked orders, the sound of a hundred feet striking the ground at the same time, the music that just made its way over the din in blaring trumpets and rattling drums through the P.A. system. It was all so inspiring.
We were ushered from the truck into a mustering area. I tried to swim through the sea of green to find a comfort spot. I spotted a head bobbing above all the rest. The owner was a giant, with even their shoulders above the other men about them. I was immediately attracted by curiosity to this huge man. I walked up behind him. His greens were baggy, and, to my disbelief, probably a size too large. He wore a large, bulging cap that covered most of their head. He was facing away from me. Nervously, I tapped his shoulder.
The man turned and looked at me. He bent down to inspect me. Then I saw his face.
"Hiya! My names Freya. Freya Jotunheim. Very nice to meet you mister!" The sound of the voice, the look of the eyes, the smile of the face. It all fell together.
He was a she!
"I-I-I…You're a-a-a…you're a girl!" I could only stutter my response. She straightened up and giggled. The sound was strangely comforting.
"Well of course I'm a girl silly." She then lent down again and whispered close to my ear. "But don't tell my friend that I told you. She said that they won't like me much if they found out."
All I could do was blink. It was about then that her "friend" turned up.
"Oh no! Frey! Ya haven't gone and told somebody already, have ya? Honestly! I gotta teach ya how to lie properly." I distinctly remembered that Freya said her friend was a 'she', but this person certainly could pass for a guy. They only thing that made her stand out were the huge fronds of hair that stuck out of her head like a palm tree. Without warning, she grabbed the collar of my greens.
"Alright man, you so much as make a peep about the fact that we're girls and I'll kick you so hard they won't be able to tell if you're one or not!" Even the thought of that had me doubled over, holding on to myself.
"Hey! I was never planning on it. You don't have to go and get all aggressive on me! I was just shocked that you could get past the recruiters." All I got as a reply was Freya tapping her nose, smiling and saying.
"It a little secret, so there's no telling."
I stayed with Freya and her friend. The hot-tempered one simmered down a little and introduced herself as Dekal Whitewind. We talked a little, but it looked as though she was just as exited as I was. We piled into a large amphitheatre where the briefing would be held.
We sat at the back. Getting a seat was hard. The place was full to the brim with eager men ready for war. Eventually we got seats by a stroke of kindness. We found a place where there were two spare seats. Dekal and I had already sat and, in out state of excitement, failed to notice that Freya had no place to go. A tall young man with glasses man sitting next to us noticed we were a party of three and stood up.
"Here, you can take my seat." He gestured for Freya to sit where he had been. A dishevelled looking man sitting next to him looked at him.
"Aww c'mon, you're not gonna leave me hanging are you?" He rolled his eyes but avoided contact with us. The bespectacled man spoke up.
"I'm sure you can manage, Elmeth. Besides, we should let this young lady take a seat." Freya was halfway sitting down when he said this. Her jump made her hit her head on the low ceiling. Dekal and I too jumped when we heard this. His partner looked surprised too.
"W-what? Oi, mate, what do you mean 'young lady'!?" The tall man merely gestured to Freya. She whispered hoarsely to the tall man.
"How did you know? It was supposed to be a secret. Do you have some sort of special powers, mister?" The tall man merely smiled and scratched his head, moving off to the aisle to stand.
Freya sat down next to the other man. He just gawked at her. She noticed this, turned to him and waved. He managed to waved back timidly. She greeted him.
"My name's Frey Jotunheim, what's your's?" He stuttered a little.
"I-it's Elmeth. Elmeth Reik. I-I…I didn't know that girls were allowed into the army." Frey just smiled along. I looked at Dekal.
"Does she always take things like that?" Dekal shrugged. We both turned to the podium, where a man in a blue uniform was beginning to address the audience.
"Men, soldiers, my countrymen, my name is General Julian Sezar, and you are here, because we are in a time of great crisis. You have all know that for a year, Shin-Ra, the glorious company of men and women that have helped unify so many nations, has been facing some problems abroad. They have used all forms of peacekeeping to still the raging ambitions of those nations that are too bloodthirsty and proud to see the world as a brotherhood of men. The forces of SOLDIER, of which I am proud to be a part of, have been the ultimate shield of the civilized world for over two decades, but now, the Shin-Ra peacekeepers must call upon the nations of the world to unite against a common enemy. Wutai."
We all found the speech rousing and inspiring. After that, they rushed us to our barracks. I was separated in the confusion from Freya and Dekal, but I remained with Reik and his friend, who introduced himself as Kael Morrow. We slept in the same quarters. The next morning they woke us for an early drill session.
First they decided to give a demonstration, immediately followed by our first use of the new Shin-Ra standard rifle. The demo was impressive. SOLDIER operatives fired weapons we had never seen before. The guns fired automatically, three shot bursts. This was all new technology and most were simply stunned by the innovation. We were shown the tanks, the power of the shells. We even saw a sparring match between two members of SOLDIER with swords. Then the General got us into the real training.
We lay on a firing range for most of the day, picking off targets as they came. Reik was damn good, lying next to me. I asked how he could shoot so well.
"I might well ask you the same question, man."
"No…really, how did you learn to do that? You told me you lived in the slums. There's no way you could have got enough money for a gun."
"It just comes naturally to me I guess."
"That sorta stuff does not come naturally. C'mon. How?"
"Look, it's just a plot device, man! The story can't progress if I don't have skills."
"What!? That sucks! How come I have to try so hard, and you just have the bloody 'gift'?"
"Well, maybe I killed some creatures in the slums and used the money I got from them to buy a gun. Happy now?"
"What? Why the hell would monsters in the slums be carrying money!? Am I the only one that thinks this world doesn't make any sense whatsoever?"
"Look, just go with it man."
About an hour after we managed to re-erect the shattered remains of the fourth wall, I saw someone new on the field. Standing behind most of us, I could see a fat man in a dark blue suit with a huge cigar, pointing at troops, talking to General Sezar. He walked past us lying prone on the ground. I noticed that he lingered with my group. I felt suspicion rise. At the end of the day, we retired to our barracks.
In the middle of the night I was woken by a man in a dark suit. He was large, muscular, with hair slicked back and a pair of round, shiny glasses. He told me go get dressed. Another huge man, bald and pig-eyed, had woken Reik and Kael and ordered we come to the main amphitheatre in five minutes. We were to sleepy to complain.
In the amphitheatre we were found some two hundred other people, sleepy eyed and deary, but ready for anything. Below stood the fat man in the suit next to General Julian. The two huge men that had woken us and a bunch of others wearing similar dark blue suits also lined the stage. My senses had begun to come around and I began to recognise them. They were members of the Turks.
The General called for quiet and then addressed the crowd.
"You may all wonder why you're here." From the mummer there was a general consensus in the audience.
"You are here because these men here have selected you. They saw you in the trail training, and have picked you for your natural talents of marksmanship and discipline." Reik then whispered in my ear.
"They could tell all that from one training exercise?" Kael simply leaned forward a little more. The General continued.
"For those that have not already identified these men, they are from the branch of Shin-Ra known as the Turks. While we know that Shin-Ra does not officially recognise the Turks, they are, operationally, part of the corporation. You have been selected for a specific task. I shall let the representative of the Turks tell you about that. Mr Janus Palmer."
The fat man waddled up to the podium. When he spoke, a harsh, rasping, nasal quality crept into his voice. All the while he puffed on his cigar.
"This war needs more then the average soldier. Originally, SOLDIER itself could handle this, but these Wutai are a cunning foe. The resources of Shin-Ra are limited, so we cannot afford to train the average man as much as we would like. That's where we come in, my fellows." He peered around the room with his little eyes, shifting his weight from one stumpy leg to the other.
"We are the recruiters. We scout the masses for the elite. The cream of the crop. The best, and only the best. Shin-Ra has benevolently granted us funding to train you extra-special people to become the best conscript fighters in the army. You will be the special Ops. section of the army. If all goes well…" he paused for a while and shifted back with a smile on his face. "you will all be eligible for entry into SOLDIER itself."
That roused another murmur amongst the crowd. SOLDIER was exclusive. Only the best fighters in the world made it into SOLDIER, and for any of, mostly men from the slums, it would be an extreme honour to even be considered potential SOLDIER material. Mr. Palmer began to speak again, hushing the crowd as if they were children.
"Now quiet, hush now. I said 'if all goes well'. You must first complete your training to the Turk's satisfaction. Those that perform adequately will be inducted into the special ops. units. Those that perform extra-well will be given leading positions in those units." He paused again and let a murmur rise. Kael lent over and whispered to both of us.
"And the fate of those that fail?" Reik shrugged.
"I guess we just go back into the normal army." Kael face forward again.
"They wouldn't let someone who will be trained by the Turks and SOLDIER just go free. Knowing the Shin-Ra, they won't waste an investment like that." Reik and I looked at each other. This could turn out dangerous. I just hoped that I could pass the training. We were dismissed and told that we would be collected the next day. IN the crowd, I spied the shapes of Frey and Dekal. I felt somewhat assured that I was at least with familiar faces.
The training for the next few days was intense. I was called out of the normal troopers and driven out of town to a special range the Turks had set up. We trained there under SOLDIER taskmasters. We were pushed to our limits. We were told to pointless tasks, which Reik never failed to comment on, but Kael always chimed in about the possible merits it induced, like teamwork, discipline, and the ability to obey orders instinctively. This mostly ended with Reik shouting at Kael, although it was usually directly in my ear.
I caught up with Freya and Dekal. They told me they weren't having any troubles with the training. Apparently they were both quite capable of it. There had been some trouble with their roommate discovering their gender, although the sheer intimidating power of Frey's size coupled with Dekal's wildcat threats and fists apparently settled any danger. We were all on edge about the outcome of all our training.
A month passed. We had assembled in the amphitheatre. Reik had been muttering something about 'vaporisation' and 'erasing', but Kael and I managed to ignore him.
Finally, we saw the General and the Turks parade out on the stage at the base of the amphitheatre. Palmer spoke up.
"We have finished our evaluation of your training, and have divided you into ten units of eighteen men each. This project is shared by both SOLDIER and the Turks, so you will be reporting to both SOLDIER members and Turks. Keep that in mind. We outrank you although we are not military. What I say, goes, is that clear?" The chant 'crystal, sir!' echoed through the auditorium. I could feel how much everyone had changed since our training. It was almost a miracle. We immediately fell quiet for him.
"Right. In that case, I'll read off the names of those assigned to the units." We were all relieved to hear our names called out for one of the units. The Turks had dubbed my own unit the 'Ravens'. All the other units were also after portentous animals. I couldn't help but notice that some of the Turks had led some people from the crowd and out the doors. I never found out what happened to them.
Palmer finished reading the role, and began to speak again to the crowd.
"Now, some of your have done very well in your training. It has been decided that each unit will have a command group of five. Four corporals and one sergeant. I shall read the names of those in command of each unit." I was in suspense when he came around to the Ravens.
"Raven's unit command. Corporals. Morrow, Kael." Kael straightened in his chair. A small flush had crossed his face. Reik gave him a little punch in the shoulder.
"Whitewind, Dekal. Jotunheim, Freya." In the silence I heard a little cheep of excitement. Freya was easily noticeable in the crowd, and I could see her bouncing in her seat. The hurried hush and flurry of frond-like hair told me Dekal was silencing her before she embarrassed herself.
"Reik, Elmeth." Reik jumped in his seat.
"What the hell? Wow, was I that good? Hell, the rest of the platoon must be terrible. Pah, I get to command a group of novices, that's just peachy."
I rolled my eyes and listened for the name of our sergeant.
"And the sergeant of the Ravens unit…Gainsborough, Brenain."
All Reik's jaw dropped. I knew I most likely looked just like him. I saw Kael lean over a little and smile.
"It'll be an honour to serve under you, sir."