I immediately suited up and got into my VHT-1 Spartas hovertank. I pressed the buttons to start the engines. We had to be ready to go.
"Explain the situation," said Lieutenant Colonel Lupon Kravshera.
"Colonel, a hovertank troop went into the ship to do recon," said Major Yoon. "If we do not hear from them in six hours, or they call for backup, we go in."
"And our battalion is on standby to go into the ship?"
"Yes, sir."
I looked at the huge alien ship which was the centerpiece of the camp site. It was massive, bigger than our largest ships. "Has anyone come outside?" I asked.
"No, Lieutenant," said Major Yoon.
"Everyone remain on standby," said Colonel Kravshera.
And so we did. As we watched for anything to come out of the ship, I started thinking. About if I would have to kill people again, I tried to not think about that, and then started thinking about the ladies. Melissa Sharp, Shelby Porter. I would even consider Rebekah Avital even though she was a decade older than me, were it not for the fact that she was an enlistee. And then I started thinking about the ladies back home in Jamaica.
And we kept standing watch, all of us. It wasn't a pleasant duty, on par with scrubbing latrines. I could still remember by days in Basic when I had to do the dirty work. Standby was just boring, and even officers had to stand by sometimes.
"Could we get any relief?" asked Private First Class Glenn La Belle.
"We wait until we are relieved, Private," replied Executive Sergeant Rebekah Avital. "Just keep watch."
And we kept watching that alien ship. It was a novelty at first, a huge alien spaceship from God knows where, but it got boring pretty fast just watching it. Because just standing here keeps my mind wandering, and memories surface that I would rather not indulge.
I could hear some chatter, like how we are still in contact with the infiltration team.
"You know what's amazing?" asked Lieutenant Isamu Shirogane. "They sent in an Army squad, not a Space Marine squad. You'd think the Marines would be the first to bust into an alien vessel."
"Yeah," said someone else. "Our job is to take ground so you people can move in, and cover your asses when you retreat. We Space Marines are the head of the spear, you know."
"Quiet," said a colonel. "We don't want to break concentration."
I did enjoy the chatter. It was one thing to distract me from thinking about other things. I hated thinking about things. My mind rambles on and on and on when nothing is going on.
"We are receiving a call for backup from the infiltration team," the colonel said a few hours later. "All battalions and squadrons get ready."
"Okay, team," said Colonel Kravshera. "Arm your weapons and get ready for battle."
And so I did, switching the master arm switch to "on". We made sure to cover every exit.
"The infiltration team is out!" someone yelled.
"They're all accounted for!"
"Do we go in?" asked Colonel Kravshera.
"Negative," said a higher-ranking colonel. "We maintain the siege until RDFCOM orders us in."
"We copy," replied Kravshera.
Ooooooo
I washed my hands at the hand-washing station after using the officers' latrine. I was grateful that the Army kept us supplied with clean water; I had learned from history that disease can ravage troops in the field as much as combat can.
I saw Private La Belle standing near the latrines.
"This is officer country, Private," I said.
"I was here on official business, sir," he said. "I was restocking the toilet paper."
"Finish what you are doing and get back to your post."
"Yes, sir."
Things have wound down a bit after the infiltration team escaped the enemy ship. From what Lieutenant Jack Emerson told me, Lieutenant Dana Sterling led the infiltration into the ship, the same lieutenant whose team shot down the ship. We were once again doing the usual routine of keeping the campsite secure and maintained. More trucks moved in to bring supplies from supply bases.
"I wonder when the enemy will surrender," I later said, eating dinner, which was tacos for me.
"I don't know," said Jack. "I heard we were broadcasting messages in the Zentraedi language."
"Zentraedi?" asked Lieutenant Mike Meyers.
"The Zentraedi kept the peace in the galaxy before the Robotech War," said Jack. "Command figures that every spacefaring power would know their language."
"I wonder what space travel is like," I said.
"Basically you are inside this small box," said Mike. "I remember taking the Air Force transport ship from Glorie to Earth."
"And why did you decide to come over to Earth?"
"Glorie colony is only a town and a bunch of farms," answered Mike. "The only thing to actually see is the UEF base. Sure, we get people from Earth who want to observe live scalies- that is what we call the native people of Glorie- but other than that there is no excitement. Even that new colony in Tirol has more people, since there were cities there before we arrived."
"Well, you guys are pioneers," said Jack. "It takes time to build things. Plus the colonists there have to make more babies for future generations."
"That's a popular pastime there," said Mike.
"All combat units scramble," I heard a voice say. "There is an enemy attack on Monument City and reinforcements are being ordered."
"Time for us to go," said Jack.
And so we did. I suited up, started up my VHT-1 Spartas veritech hovertank, and moved out with the rest of the battalion as we all traveled on the highway leading to Monument City.
"Everyone stay alert," said Colonel Kravshera.
Ahead, I could see smoke rising. There was no doubt a battle was going on. We soon reached the city itself.
"Follow me," said Jack.
The hovertanks in my troop followed Jack's Spartas. I barely paid attention to the buildings.
Jack then directed me to go down this street.
"Okay," I said. "Wing, La Belle, stay by my side. Ducasse, Hayase, protect our flank. Rear guard goes to Stabler. Switch to battloid and take position."
For the time being, I was in command of this small group. The street was quiet, lined with shops. Most of the people had taken shelter.
We were supposed to keep the enemy from using this route to attack the troop's main force.
The quietness was interrupted when the enemy mecha fired upon us. We immediately took cover and returned fire, striking the enemy and destroying a few of the armored suit.
Which were operated by people, I thought for an instant.
More and more of them kept coming at us. We did everything we could to hold our position.
"There's too many of them," said Staff Sergeant Wing.
"We're pinned down here," I said. "We need fire support."
"I hear you," said Lieutenant Nina Washington. "I'll send someone over."
"Copy," I said.
We kept firing at the enemy from our hiding positions. More pieces of buildings fell on the asphalt street.
Then some of the enemy mecha was destroyed from above. A VF-11 veritech guardian flew in, and then the nose folded down as it transformed into battloid mode.
"Are you all right?" asked Lieutenant Shelby Porter, her battloid hovering.
"Thanks," I said.
"There is more of them coming in from the west."
And so we went in and took care of them, leaving only smoking husks.
"Everything looks clear," said La Belle, looking around.
"No enemy activity nearby," said Hayase.
"This is Cabon," said Master Sergeant Cabon. "We need some fire support."
"I'm here," I said.
"I'll transmit coordinates. We're under heavy fire."
"Copy," I said. I pulled a lever to transform into guardian mode, and the veritech shifted around to look like a hovertank with legs. "All right, cover me."
I received the coordinates on my targeting computer. I then fired several blasts.
"I'm going over there," said Shelby, transforming her veritech into guardian mode and flying off. "I think you hit them."
"Thank you, Lieutenant," said Colonel Kravshera.
"Shall we join you?" I asked.
"Negative," replied the colonel. "Hold your position."
And so we did. The battle raged on elsewhere. I could hear distant explosions.
We then got an order from RDFCOM to continue on; the enemy was apparently retreating. I hoped it was not another trick. We soon rejoined our battalion and other hovertank battalions. We could see an enemy transport ship fly towards the sky. We all fired at it, and our fighters chased after it, but the enemy transport escaped.
We stood by for a very long time.
"All right 6th Battalion," said Kravshera. "Return to the campsite. And then assemble in formation."
And so we did. It was dusk by the time we returned to the campsite. There was no word on the alien ship.
All of us assembled in formation by troop. I then noticed someone was missing.
"Master Sergeant Tomas Cabon was killed in action," said Colonel Kravshera.
We all felt sad.
Oooooooo
"There is neither rhyme nor reason for his death," said an Air Force chaplain dressed in MARPAT camouflage. "All we can do is remember his life and his dedication towards his country, family, and his Army."
The entire battalion attended a memorial service for Master Sergeant Tomas Cabon the following morning, after breakfast. I felt somber, even though I had not known the master sergeant well. I did remember the advice he gave me about dealing with the fact that I was killing people.
And now, those people had killed him.
People from the battalion staff, including Colonel Kravshera and Major Yoon, gave brief statements on how the master sergeant was helpful and how they were grateful that he was in our battalion.
I later went out, and saw Executive Sergeant Rebekah Avital. Her face was in tears.
"I served with him for over ten years, on and off," she said, wiping her cheek with a tissue. "He was a mentor to me. He was hard on me back when I was still a buck private, but he had good reasons. And now….now he's dead."
"I appreciate the advice he gave me," I said.
"I served with him in the campaign against renegade Zentraedi in Afghanistan about seven years ago. That was my first experience in combat. He told me that he can rely on me, because he trained me. And I could rely on him."
"He trained you so that others can rely on you. Remember that."
"A third lieutenant giving advice to an executive sergeant?" she asked.
"Yeah, what would I know?" I asked.
"You gave good advice, sir," she said. "You are learning."
I knew there was work to do. I had to finish my after-action report and do a whole lot of other routine tasks.
And yet, even as I did my work, I knew that Tomas Cabon's death diminished the battalion.
Ooooooo
Jack, Mike, and I got liberty a few days later, along with many other troops. There was still much cleanup in Monument City over the battle with the enemy forces. It was hard to believe that we had been here for about a month now. I had wondered how things were going back in Gibraltar Base. And I wondered how Melissa was doing. She should be prepared for this sort of thing, as troops could be deployed anywhere at a moment's notice. Could Melissa have been deployed? Or transferred?
We went to this establishment that was in this part of the city that had avoided heavy damage. The inside had a piano and a bar and some tables for patrons. The whole place was dimly lit.
"These people are gouging us!" said Mike, looking at the prices that were printed on new paper.
"Not too many businesses open," said a waitress decked out in a blouse and miniskirt. "So many people want to come here; we raise prices to limit customers."
"Oh well," I said. "We haven't had much opportunity to spend money since we got deployed here."
"He's right," said Nina. She holds Jack's arm. "Come on, Jack."
So I spent about ten dollars on a cocktail, given to me by this blond-haired lady in a ponytail. I made sure to take a mental note of her. I could be transferred to a more permanent post in Monument City, and it was not like I had any commitments yet. This dark-haired dude was playing the piano.
"May I join you?" asked Shelby as she sat on the table.
"Sure," I said, seeing as she already sat down, a beer in her hand.
"What is going on?"
"Just relaxing I guess," I said, sipping the cocktail. "Our battalion master sergeant was killed in that battle here a few days ago."
"Oh," she said. "I thought flying would be some grand adventure. My squadron lost three pilots since this war started."
"I have learned a lot since joining the Army."
I saw Jack talking to the young man who was playing the piano.
"That was a nice song you played," Shelby said to him.
"Thank you," he said. "My name is Bowie."
"Shelby," she replied.
I introduced myself.
"I have known Bowie since I was a kid," said Jack. "Dana told me he was serving under her command as a hovertank driver."
"So you like singing and he plays the piano," I said. "Maybe you can play music together."
"The problem is that piano doesn't go well with gangsta rap."
"Bowie, meet my new lady Nina," said Jack.
"Hi," Bowie said to Nina.
"Hi there," said Nina.
I had barely noticed how far Jack got with Nina. Come to think of it, Jack sometimes spent weekends off the base.
"Is there a lady for you, Bowie?" asked Jack.
"Well, not really," replied the piano player. "There are some complications."
I could understand. After all, my experience with Melissa and Shelby was a demonstration.
"So where are you from?" I asked Shelby.
"Minnesota actually," said Shelby. "It's not too far from here- well, it is a lot closer than Spain is."
"What do you remember?" I asked.
"I remember how cold it was," said Shelby. "Sometimes we would get blizzards and get a whole lot of snow dumped on the ground."
"I had little experience with snow, growing up in Jamaica. I remember my dad taking us on a trip to Colorado once. That was the first time I saw snow. We were all bundled up tight, bundled even more than those suits we wear when driving the hovertanks."
"Did your family practice any of that voodoo stuff?"
"That's Haiti. You know, there is this Haitian dude in my troop, a Private Philip Ducasse. Maybe he can do some voodoo on the enemy."
"Excuse me," said Shelby as she stood up and joined the others in her squadron who came to this bar. I looked around and it was packed, with barely any room to move around. I leaned back and smiled, trying to look like I was relaxing, even though my mind was running on overdrive. It was always like this with huge dense crowds, with me barely even able to hear myself think.
"Pretty good business," said another waitress, a dark-haired lady with slanted eyes. "I'm gonna make a fortune tonight."
Perhaps she did.
Ooooooo
Having liberty was nice, as we went straight back into the routine of maintaining combat readiness in the campsite around the alien ship.
Excitement would soon come again. We once again were ordered to scramble. I suited up and started up my hovertank. I saw several of the veritech guardians take off and transform into fighter mode.
We all waited at the campsite.
"An enemy ship is approaching," I heard a voice say over the radio.
"Everyone get your weapons ready," said Colonel Kravshera.
I then saw the enemy vessel approach our position, already taking fire from our fighters and anti-aircraft artillery. We all took cover and fired on the enemy ship.
"Come on," said Mike. "Go down in flames."
It did not go down in flames. It picked up the enemy ship that had crashed here nearly a month ago and flew to the sky. We kept firing at it until we depleted our ammo. I saw the spaceships get smaller and smaller, hoping that they would disappear in an explosion, but they simply disappeared out of sight.
"Everyone stand down," I heard.
"Check for casualties," said Kravshera. "I expect full reports."
Ooooooo
Not long after the enemy ship escaped, we all packed up. All of us were ordered back to our respective home bases. We went back to the air base in Monument City, with a C-130 Hercules and a Liewneuatzs cargo shuttle waiting to take us home. It was a cloudy day, with a layer of clouds hiding the sky. I was reminded, once again, that Master Sergeant Tomas Cabon was no longer with us.
"You take care of yourself, Jack," said Lieutenant Dana Sterling as she hugged him.
"Don't get yourself killed, Dana," said Jack.
I looked and saw Executive Sergeant Avital.
"I'm not going with you, sir," she said.
"Why is that?" I asked.
"I have orders from the colonel. I am to be a pallbearer for Master Sergeant Cabon's funeral in Chile. I should rejoin you in two days."
She saluted me, and I returned the salute. Soon we were on the plane back to Gibraltar Base.