Chapter 4- Preparations
Ash stared up at the ceiling as he lay awake in his bunk. The memory of the young Marine dying replayed over and over in his head. The fearful look that was in his eyes as he neared the end made a chill travel up Ash's spine.
Ash rolled over on his side and thought about what the young Marine might have been thinking during his final moments. Was it the family he left behind, the girl he loved, or what might be waiting for him once he crossed over to the other side?
Ash had never been much of a religious person, his mother had always tried to get him to go to church with her but he had always come up with an excuse not to go.
Though he held no animosity towards God or church, he felt that it would be wrong to attend mass when he himself held no firm religious belief.
He remembered saying a quick prayer in his mind before Drew ran out to distract the sniper, thinking that by doing so would have possibly improved the situation.
Though by doing so he felt like a hypocrite, turning to God only when he needed something. "Maybe that's what he was thinking about." Ash thought. Maybe in the Marines final moments he turned to his lord.
Whatever the case, the vision of the dying Marine was seared into his mind. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the young Marine gasping for a puff of air, beckoning for help, and neither he nor Drew able to do anything.
"That'll be me, probably." Ash thought, "In some godforsaken town I'll probably be hit, and no one will be able to do anything about it."
"Hey Ash," Drew whispered from his bunk "What?" Ash replied "It's my fault you know," he said, his voice sounded shaky. "It's my fault he died."
"No, it wasn't your fault; there was nothing you could have done." Ash said trying to reassure him. "Before he died he tried telling me something, but every time he opened his mouth all that would come out were gurgling sounds and blood."
Ash knew lingering on this wasn't going to be beneficial to either of them, they both needed to put this away if they were to continue being effective leaders. "Forget about Drew, you can't blame yourself there was nothing you could have done." Ash said.
Drew turned over on his side.
"I wish I could have known what he wanted to say, maybe he wanted me to tell one of his loved ones something like he loved them or he'd miss them. I would've told them, I would've done that right."
Ash wanted to comfort Drew, he wanted to say something to help alleviate the guilt he felt for allowing the young Marine to die, but nothing came to his mind. Ash couldn't relate to what Drew was feeling, because he felt no guilt about the young Marine dying, only fear that the same fate awaited him.
"I haven't seen battle and already I'm a coward, while Drew over their wishing he could've done more to help that Marine live, I'm over here fearing that, that could be me laying on the ground with a bullet lodged in my chest."
Ash's eyelids became very heavy all of the sudden as they slowly came together, Ash fought to keep them open. "I need to stay awake, just in case Drew has anything more to say." Ash thought.
But the exhaustion of the day took its toll and Ash's eyelids closed, and before long he had drifted off into a deep slumber.
Ash awoke early the next morning, and made his way down to the mess hall with Drew. Ash had his little yellow Pikachu perched on his shoulder; the little Pokémon struggled to keep its eyelids open.
The sun's rays had just begun to trickle through the tall buildings that dominated the city skyline. It was a cold morning, the coldest one yet.
All around them the base was frantic with activity. Choppers constantly flew overhead delivering both men and equipment to the base and trucks that were loaded with rifles and ammo roared back and forth on the roads.
Seeing this all of this made Ash anxious, his heart palpitated quickly as he knew the reason for such activity. Though there hadn't been an official announcement, Ash knew they were preparing for an assault, when and where he didn't know.
Ash glanced over at Drew who was focused straight ahead towards the mess hall. "How you doing?" Ash asked in an attempt to keep his mind distracted. "I'm alright, hungry mostly." He said as he opened the door to the mess hall.
The warm hall was a welcome change from the chilly dawn air outside. Ash and Drew made their way through the breakfast line. The meal being served was eggs and bacon, or rather what the Marine Corp defined as eggs and bacon.
Ash poured himself a cup of coffee before taking a seat next to Drew. Ash slowly picked at his food. His eyes wandered around the hall until they landed on a group of five Marines seated towards the back of the mess hall.
They weren't speaking to one another; a few of them picked at their food and took care to chew each bite as slowly as they could. The others who weren't eating smoked on their cigarettes.
Ash noticed that one of them had unknowingly allowed the ember of his cigarette to crawl between his fingers, but instead of flinching in surprise the Marine just stared off into the distance his large brown eyes focused straight ahead, locked onto the adjoining wall.
It took him a few seconds before he felt that his fingers were being singed by the orange ember, he separated his fingers and allowed it to fall into his tray then pulled out another cigarette.
He lit it, took a short puff then let it rest above his tray, never once breaking eye contact with the wall.
All five men had their faces and lips painted black from smoke and dirt, their camouflaged uniforms had become frayed and ripped, exposing parts of their bruised arms and legs. Two of them had large medical patches, which were at one time white but were now a pattern of black and grey, covering parts of their chest.
Ash recognized the division patch on their shoulders and realized that they belonged to the Second Marine Division. "Shit those guys must have come from Dewford Island." Ash thought.
In the past month the Marines had deployed the men of the second division to take Dewford Island, as it would provide a good position to launch air raids all the way to Petalburg City, as well as providing a good launching point for an assault on either Slateport city or the beach next to route 104.
Taking the island was a vicious endeavor for the men of the second, as they encountered heavy resistance from the native islanders and Hoenn military. Casualties were high, but eventually the island fell. Now, Ash assumed, these men had returned to Lilycove for some rest and recovery.
"Hey Drew, maybe we should go talk to those guys." Ash said "Why?" "Don't you want to know what it's like?" Drew shrugged his shoulders "Yeah, but I think they just want to be left alone right now."
Suddenly the mess hall door opened and in came Red. He scanned the room from the door way noticing Ash and Drew first, then the five Marines. His eyes darted back and forth between the two groups as he tried to decide who he should go and speak to first.
Eventually he went with the five Marines. He walked over to them. Just the sight of Red walking made Ash want to take a swing at him, the way he carried himself was very cocky, his head held high, hands clenched in fists as they swung by his side, but perhaps it was the expression on his face that upset Ash the most.
He had monotone look of boredom as if to say everything and everyone was below him. "Doesn't he know where he's at?" Ash thought to himself.
Red walked to the end of the table and stood in front of the five marines. He looked lost among them with his freshly pressed uniform and gleaming gold bars. "You guys just arrived from Dewford, correct?" Red asked.
"Yes." One of the Marines said pestered by the stupid question. Red pretended not to notice and continued on "So what's it like? The fighting I mean."
The Marine staring at the wall finally broke his gaze and turned to Red. He squinted at him as he looked him up and down, then shook his head and turned away. Red frowned at the Marine then looked to the others.
One of them glanced up at Red and locked eyes with him, he didn't say a word, but Red could tell that the Marine wanted him to fuck off.
Red gave up trying to get them to speak and made his way over to Ash and Drew's table. "Fuck, here he comes." Drew said.
"Morning boys." Red said taking a seat across from them "I heard you two had quite an adventure yesterday."
"Two men were shot and killed, I wouldn't call that an adventure." Drew growled "I suppose you're right," Red said "But now my platoon is short two men." Ash looked up at Red "I'm sorry."
"Yeah well, shame the sniper wasn't quicker." Drew clenched his fist "Are you really going to speak like that," Drew said "Two of your men just died and you're going to start talking shit to us?" "My men died because of your fucking stupidity."
Drew slammed his fist on the table "Fuck you!" he shouted. The five Marines in the corner snapped their attention to Drew. "He died in my fucking arms," Drew said through clenched teeth.
Red pretended that he wasn't embarrassed at the moment; he glanced back at the table with the Marines on it and saw that they were staring. He slapped both his hands down onto the table as he got up to leave.
Still with his head held high.
"Fuck him, right?" Ash said as Red left the building "Yeah, Fuck him." Drew said.
The five Marines seated in the corner got up from their seats and began to exit the mess hall, one of them though decided to approach Ash and Drew. "You lose a man, Lieutenant?" The young private asked not even bothering to say sir.
"Yes." Drew replied. The young private took a puff on his cigarette "It happens." He flicked away his cigarette before he turned and staggered out through the front door.
Ash's platoon entered the mess hall a few minutes after Red left; Ash gave them twenty minutes to chow down on their food before running them through another two hours of PT. After this Ash received word of a briefing that was going to take place at the base head quarters and that all officers were required to attend.
Ash and Pikachu went down to the briefing room were a sea of officers ranging from Colonels to 2nd lieutenants sat. At the front of the room were two large maps detailing the Hoenn region.
Ash went down the rows and found a seat next to Drew who was staring intently at the maps. "What's going on?" Ash asked "Looks like advancing deeper into the region." Drew replied
"Where do you think we'll be sent?" Ash asked. Drew shrugged his shoulders.
"ATTEN-HUT!" a bellowing voice roared. The scraping of chairs against the floor echoed through the building as all the officers rose from their seats to the position to attention.
A short bald headed square faced man walked in front of the officers. He wore a dark green uniform that was decorated with numerous medals and awards, on each shoulder were three silver stars that glinted even in the fluorescent lights.
He scanned over the men with a scowl over his face. "At ease." He said with a scratchy voice. The men returned to their chairs and listened intently to anything the general might say.
The generals scowl turned into a sly smile "I suppose it's no secret that were preparing to move out." He said. "With Dewford Island secure and a fresh supply of Marines, all the pieces are in place." "Our destination will be Slateport City." He turned facing the map "Four battalions from the first Marine division will part of first wave of troops to hit the beach, once they make it up to the sea wall and secure it, the rest of the division will be sent in." "Before making the initial landing the navy plans on conducting a series of airstrikes that will eliminate any beach head resistance."
The general turned back to the men "Also while we conduct our landing operation the Johto army will be conducting a similar operation near route 104, from there they'll advance and capture Petalburg City."
The general paused to survey the crowd one more time "Tomorrow all men will meet down at the parade grounds at 0700, then after that we're shipping out." The general's expression returned to a scowl "Any questions?" there were none.
"Dismissed."
