They entered a house that looked like a dormitory. And north of the house were large fields of green. To the west was a large building with shattered glass scattered over its entrance. And to the east was an overview of Perth city, bellowing in smoke. Jonsey sighed.
"I used to live here, in this boarding house, as a Hale student….," said Jonsey. But Rina looked around the boarding house and saw a hotel instead.
"Are you sure this is a boarding house? Because it sure doesn't look like one," commented Rina. Jonsey chuckled.
"You sound like one of those parents years ago when they toured this school. Yes, it was one of it's' kind in those days…," sighed Jonsey.
"The beds are still good, Jonsey," said a voice from one of the wings.
"Cheers, Tommy," replied Jonsey.
"The TV still works, but it's all Nationalist propaganda," said another voice from one of the four rooms near the kitchen.
"Noted, Wannah," replied Jonsey.
"Hey, we've got some bacon, butter and oil in the fridge!" exclaimed the one in the kitchen, looking inside a working fridge.
"Its barbecue night tonight!" exclaimed Jonsey, the rest of his team cheering. Rina could just laugh at their antics.
The sky was getting dark. The barbecue pans were lighted up and the bacon was laid on the pans. The bacon sizzled on the pan, making anyone near it hungry for some much-needed meal. Jonsey was lighting up the fire; the person who found the bacon was taking a spatula and laying the bacon on the grill.
"Hey, Sting, do you even know how to cook?" teased Jonsey.
"Better than you are, Jonsey," replied Sting. Everybody else laughed. Then a PT-91 tank drove itself and parked near the boarding house, its occupants came out and into the boarding house.
"I smell bacon, spare some for us?" asked the tank commander.
"Since you asked so nicely, you're welcome," replied Jonsey. The tank crew went to the foyer and sat down on the chairs, waiting for the bacon to be done. After the bacon was done, they found some old plates and took a share from the grill. They enjoyed the meal though the bacon was a bit burnt.
"Mmmm, a decent meal in months," said the tank commander.
"Did you like it?" asked Sting.
"Absolutely, the war made us not picky eaters," replied one of the tank crew.
"So, what's your name?" asked Rina, giving a handshake.
"Oh, I'm Janice. And my tank crew, Lina the gunner, Sally the driver and Jane the turret gunner. We're all from Malaysia," said the tank commander, pointing to her other three tank crews. "How about you?"
"I'm Rina of Delta 13. We've got the Briton Arthuria, the Japs Kairi, Namine, Saya and Diva, and a new member, Italian Peach. I'm from Deutschland, by the ways," replied Rina.
"Ah, cool. We've got go soon though. We'll be sent to Adelaide by tonight," said Janice.
"Us too. We'll be sent to Sydney by 4 am," replied Rina.
"Anyways, we'd gotta get going. It's 8 pm. We have to regroup with the other tank squadrons," said Janice after looking at her wristwatch. Rina waved goodbye to them before they left.
It was 3 am. Jonsey's team was on guard duty, basically too anxious to sleep. Jonsey was cleaning his rifle at the kitchen table when Rina walked towards him.
"Hey," greeted Jonsey.
"Hey, Jonsey," replied Rina. Rina took a seat next to Jonsey.
"Can't sleep?" asked Jonsey.
"Yea pretty much," replied Rina, slumped her head on the tabletop.
"One hour to takeoff," said Jonsey.
"You don't have to remind me," said Rina, giggling a bit. Then she looked at Jonsey's eyes.
"I kinda like you," commented Rina. Jonsey blushed a bit. Rina reached out and landed a passionate kiss on his lips. It was for quite a while before Rina let go. Jonsey was breathless.
"That......was the first time a girl kissed me," commented Jonsey. Rina smiled. Then the sound of rotor blades became louder and louder.
"I guess this is where we part," said Rina, getting up from her chair.
"We'll meet again," said Jonsey.
"Don't make promises you can't keep," commented Rina. Jonsey gave a small laugh. Rina giggled a bit. She slipped a piece of paper with her caller code to Jonsey before the voice of Tommy called out to her and her team.
"What, delayed?!" exclaimed Rina.
"Something's wrong with the aircraft. We don't want to go crashing into the desert," said the commander.
"Then why pick us up so early?!" exclaimed Rina again. The commander was really on her nerves. With the extra hour, she could spend more time resting, or be with Jonsey.......
"Because the TSWAT regional commander wants to give you this," replied the commander, handing in a letter. Rina saw the envelope, but it has no name on it. She opened it and read the contents. It was in German. She read it out loud.
Dear Rina,
As my first directive as regional commander, I am suggesting that all TSWAT members serving in the Asia Pacific are to be discharged when Australia and New Zealand has been successfully captured, same with TSWAT Europe. TSWAT will then be disbanded. You all deserve it.
P.S. Guess what? I have been promoted!
Your old friend,
Melvin
"Cheeky bastard," commented Rina. The intelligence office that helped placed Vespin into her brother's team and advised them on battlefield terrain prior to their assaults, has now been put in charge of the Asia Pacific region. Then Saya walked towards Rina.
"Want a hot coffee?" asked Saya before noticing the letter Rina was holding.
"What's it say?" asked Saya, referring to the letter Rina was holding.
"Guess what? Our intelligence officer just got promoted," replied Rina.
"Really?! To what?" asked Saya, surprised.
"Regional commander," replied Rina. You could almost feel the ground shake as Saya 'fainted' at the sound of 'regional commander'.
"Oh my god! Seriously?!" exclaimed Saya.
"Yeah, it's all in the letter," replied Rina, showing Saya the letter.
"I can't read it," said Saya, giving a weird look.
"Because it's all in German," replied Rina, laughing at Saya's silly face.
"Forget about the coffee, you'll go hyper," commented Saya before leaving Rina.
"Saya, it was just a joke! C'mon, be sporting!" exclaimed Rina, chasing after Saya.
"ETA 5 minutes," announced the pilot. Rina and her team were wearing their parachutes. A flight attendant checked their parachutes and hooked them on the railings on the top of the fuselage.
"3 minutes," announced the pilot. The flight attendant stood by the exit door.
"1 minute," announced the pilot. The flight attendant opened the door. Then he received command.
"Officer, close the doors. We're getting outta here," said the pilot. The officer closed the door. The pilot then steered the plane away from Sydney.
"Hey, what's going on? Aren't we dropping in?" asked Rina.
"No, commander. We've got a report of a confirmed nuclear threat. We're heading to Canberra," replied the pilot. Some J-11 jets zoomed past the plane, causing it to shake under turbulence. Then a bright light pierced through the aircraft windows. A big bang was heard. After the light had dimmed a little, Rina looked outside. A mushroom cloud appeared, and the shockwave was rushing towards the plane. The shockwave rattled the aircraft violently.
"Hang on, we're getting outta here!" replied the pilot over the sound of the explosion. The aircraft's nose pointed upwards, increasing its altitude. The rattle became less apparent as the aircraft climbed upwards. Finally, the rattling gone, and the pilot stayed at altitude for a while before descending. After descending through the clouds, it headed towards Canberra. Rina looked out the window and saw a mushroom cloud and dust covering the area that was Sydney and its outskirts. Rina thought about all the troops that were in the area before the nuke went off.
"A moment of silence," declared Rina as everyone bowed their heads down. The plane left the area.
The plane landed on Canberra Airport. Several MiGs took off from the tarmac and Shenyang J-11s parking into the hangars. A Type-99 and PT-91 drove by as the plane neared the terminal. An airport truck came by the plane and started refueling the aircraft. The airport bridge closed in to one of the aircraft doors and the doors opened. Rina and her team stepped out of the aircraft and walked towards the terminal. A man was standing, waiting for them.
"Melvin!" greeted the team to Melvin.
"Hey, girls. At least you made it out," replied Melvin. He sounded sad.
"What were the casualties?" inquired Rina. Melvin looked down before answering.
"I don't know the estimate, but we lost Delta 4 in there. You were lucky the flight got delayed," replied Melvin in a monotone voice. They all kept quiet for a while.
"But, we've finally captured Australia. You all have been officially discharged," replied Melvin.
"Thanks Melvin, but what about the American mainland? Doesn't the army need our help?" inquired Rina.
"We've got more than enough soldiers to go through the American Invasion. All of you can finally go home. Just head to the immigration area, an officer will get you to your next flight home," said Melvin before turning around and leaving them.
"Home....We get to go home," said Saya. Saya and Diva hugged each other, shedding tears of joy. Kairi and Namine quickly made a run for the immigration area. Arthuria took a seat on a nearby bench.
"So, what now?" asked Arthuria.
"Go home," replied Rina. Then her cell phone vibrated. She took it out and saw a message. It was from Jonsey. It stated that he will continue on to the American Invasion, starting from Alaska. Rina closed the phone and kept it in her pocket. She started walking to the exit.
"Where are you going?" asked Arthuria.
"Alaska," replied Rina.
"If you're going, I'm coming along," said Arthuria, getting up from her seat and going side by side with Rina.
"Thanks for standing by me, Arthuria," said Rina
"Hey, we're still friends, eh? I won't let you die on me," replied Arthuria. They both laughed as they head towards the exit. The automatic doors open, letting an overflow of sunlight to pour from the door and onto their faces.
END PART III