*Glug* *Glug* *Glug* *Glug* *Glug*
"Aahhaa…" I exclaim in a happy almost child-like tone after drinking a cold chocolate milk. It's really refreshing to drink something you like after sitting for a long time inside a car, a jeep no less. They aren't really known as a comfortable car to drive in but it's one of the only cars we can use in a war environment.
Where am I right now that I could enjoy a cold chocolate milk? Well, I am currently inside a city-like fort. This fort is the front headquarters of the United Nations military force in this sector. The fort is star shaped with each point having an arrowhead layout. This fort hosts an uncountable amount of defense installments, from rockets, guns, radars, to even some of the most technologically advanced pieces of technology a mere soldier like me wouldn't know about. It also hosts offensive elements to be deployed later on such as troops, tanks, aircrafts, artillery, APC and trucks.
I also said that this is a city-like fort and I wasn't kidding. It's practically a city with apartment and recreational area but with more soldiers than civilians and the whole thing is commanded under a military leadership rather than a legislative one. Then again, the military also has its own court so I guess it's the sameeeee… Meh, I don't know, I never study law anyway. The reason they incorporated the city aspect into this fort is that hopefully after the war has ended, this fort could be turned into an actual city without needing much change. The civilian's job is to basically run the city aspect of this place, from opening shops, hospitals, restaurants, pubs, dentist, school and many more and I am currently in front of one of those shops, sitting on the sidewalk, watching the road for vehicles that would pass every now and then.
If I have to be honest with myself, it's kinda boring sitting here alone cause Mia hasn't come back from giving her report to the higher up so I got nothing to do than sit around. The thought of just messing around and causing trouble comes to my mind but I promptly deny it, don't wanna get in trouble on my last day of the job right? As I thought of that, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching me. Probably a police officer or a civilian. They are probably going to ignore me since military personnel are common here.
"Hello there kiddo, funny seeing you here?"
And that person is talking to me. I turned my head to see who it was. He is an old man, possibly in his 50's, with wavy light gray hair and wrinkles decorating his face. His face also supports a variety of battle scars from minor scars to a major one that cut through his left eye. He wears a military uniform and by the look of it, he is someone with a higher rank than me, a general.
"General Robert…" I spell out his name in disbelief and it seems to make him laugh out loud.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! By the look on your face, you weren't expecting to meet me?"
"I wasn't expecting you to be alive if I can be honest with you." I get up and give him a salute. He then orders me to lower my hand and ask for a shake instead, one that I gladly take. "How are you doing?"
"Better than ever." He said with a big smile. "How about we buy something from the store? My treat." We both then entered the store and I bought another cold chocolate milk while he bought a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He immediately lights one when we get outside. "Damn, no wonder they are so pricey, they are better than the one I use. Want one kiddo?" He stretches me a cigarette and his lighter.
"No, I don't smoke anymore."
"Hm? why is that?"
"My new colonel got angry at me when she saw me smoking with the others. Can't risk getting caught again, not after I know how scary she could be when she gets angry." Even only remembering it made me shiver. Most of the time, her anger is playful and it's cute, but when she is actually angry, you feel like the devil is right in front of you.
"Well look at that, your colonel cares for you. Not many people get that privilege."
"Yeah, she does." Well, I am her boyfriend after all. The extra attention she gives me is kind of natural with the procurement of the title. It does make me happy but sometimes she cares for me more than she does for herself, especially when it comes to paperwork. "Sometimes I think she cares too much for me. She wouldn't let me do the paperwork even though I am her Lieutenant Colonel."
"Guess your colonel knew you very well. Hahahahahaha!" Can't deny that. "You should be happy about that." His loud laugh slowly disappeared into the night, leaving an uneasy silence between the both of us. I glanced at his face and from his expression alone I knew that something was troubling his mind. I ponder whatever I should ask him about it but he is a General and I am a Lieutenant Colonel, the problem he is facing right now would be different from what I know and it could be a classified one that I shouldn't pry into. Yes, I definitely shouldn't—"Hey kiddo, could you drive a car?" He is definitely going to tell me about it.
"Yes, why?" I ask innocently.
"Wanna take my car for a ride? Enjoy the night's air a little." He said to me while showing his car key that is attached to a keychain with a button.
"Sure, where is your car?" I ask him. As far as I know, he comes here by foot. Do we need to walk? "Do you park it far from here?"
"Not really, but we don't need to walk to it." His sentence raises an eyebrow on my face. He laughs at me and presses the key chain, the next second, a red car pulls up in front of me. Since it comes to us, I assume this car has an Automatic Drive. So why does he want me to drive this? "I got bored being driven by a robot, it's time to let an actual human drive." He throws me his car key and enters the car.
"You do realize that a robot would drive safer than a human, right?" I ask him as I get in the car. He laughs at me again.
"But you can't talk to a robot." Umm actually you can, but I understand what he meant. "Now why don't you start the car?" I did what he told me. I was expecting for the car's engine to rev but that's not what happened. In reality the car starts out just fine, smooth, silent and almost tranquil if you ask me. This must be a new car then or the very least, a newly serviced car. "Sorry if you're the type that likes to hear an engine roar, but this is not that kind of car. This is a better one."
"As long as I press the pedal and the car moves, I am okay with that." I said to him before putting my foot on the pedal. "Well look at that, the car actually moves. How lovely." I hope he understands sarcasm. Most of the time, a nice looking car like this would only be an encouragement or decoration for the soldiers to ogle on. Why would they send something beautiful, expensive and an extremely comfortable car like this to a warfront? To be nothing more than a candy for the eyes. I bet those decorations don't even have an engine inside of them.
"Sorry kid, this thing came from my wallet." He said arrogantly. I then proceed to drive the car around town. Seeing as the road was illuminated by the street lights and the light coming out from the various stores. "It's weird isn't it kiddo?"
"Huh?"
"That we have civilians this close to the frontlines. I know earlier war was no different if we look at this aspect, civilians getting caught in the battle between armies, but this time feels so different somehow." He said to me like he was reminiscing old memories. I mean he is right, we have built a city deep in the continent to avoid the frontlines so people could live with little to no fear of being bombarded. So why would they put people so close to the frontlines like this? "And I don't know whether it's better or not, but most of the civilians here are veterans. The people I promise freedom from the war. The freedom from hearing the sound of explosions and laser weapons. The freedom to be freed from the fear of death."
My body tensed up. If what he said was right then I could be one of the person positions in one of these forts. Then what is the point of becoming a veteran if you couldn't get away from the frontlines? "Then what is the point of those seven years if I would just be in the same place? They should have just said 'You'll be a soldier for life' rather than promise us freedom." I couldn't hold it in anymore. My thought immediately pours out of my mouth without even me realizing it.
"…" He remains silent. Is he mad or waiting for the right moment to tell me even worse news than this? I am hoping it's not the latter, please. "…At first I thought it was to help them with their PTSD or something but it seems I was wrong." Yeah, because if you want to treat their PTSD, they would take them to a psychologist or somewhere far away from the frontlines. "Guess I was blind to the actual number of manpower we got." That last sentence tells me everything I need to know. It's worse than I thought.
"…We are being redeployed, aren't we?" Without saying a word, General Robert nods his head. "…I see." I am honestly lost for words. Not only words, I couldn't even think of anything. My body immediately kicks off my calming method, breathing in, holding it and releasing it. But even when my mind tries to relax, my body is still in shock. My grip on the steering wheel tightens and my foot presses the pedal even harder. The speed of the car went through 160 Km/h as I tried to process what Robert just acknowledged.
"If you want to crash this car and kill us both, feel free to do so." Robert said to me in a frankly manner. "Free the both of us from the incoming pain would you?"
That is an interesting proposition, but killing him wouldn't stop the program from being signed now wouldn't it? And besides, I wouldn't want to leave Mia alone. The thought of her fighting again but without me this time scares me more than losing my life in a car crash. I would rather see her face in my last hour than this stinky old man. "Sorry, I have something that I care for and would like to see more of." Namely, Mia's hot naked body. "You however, I wouldn't stop if you want to kill yourself."
I know it sounds rude of me to say that, but this is also the same person that promised me freedom from the war 7 years ago. This person also just told me, that all his talk was bullshit so fuck him. Talking about 7 years ago, I remember something that I might be able to exploit. This may be my only chance.
"Hey old man, remember 6 years ago." He glanced at me, hinted at me to go on. He probably knows what I was talking about. "I know I said don't sweat it, but I am going to claim that life you owe me."
"Should have killed myself… Sigh… I assume you want me to scratch you off the list?"
"Not me." I said to him in a stern voice. "I want you to scratch someone off that list."
"Your colonel, right?" Damn, guess old age translates to wiser brain, Bravo. Either that, or he just read my brain. "You lovebird, how cute." He laughed at me. At least that lifts up the heavy atmosphere. I can see that silver teeth inside his mouth, reflecting light straight to my eyes. "What is her name? I am not going to promise you, but I'll try my best."
"This is your only time to prove that your words actually mean shit to me. If you can't do that, then a gun to the mouth would probably taste better than the disappointment you're going to be showered with."
"Sigh… I am your general kid."
"And I am the one who saved your life. So what's your point?"
"Damn… calm down will ya? I am just kidding here." He holds his both hands in the air like he was surrendering. "Assume that I had done the job and she isn't going to be enlisted again. Go give her the good news. Although…"
"Although?" I ask him knowing full well that he is baiting me for me to ask with that long 'although' in the back but who cares. As long as Mia gets away from the redeployment, I am happy to be looking like a dumbo. "Spill it old man!"
"There is a way to ensure that she won't get enlisted." I stretch my ears to make sure I hear every single word. "One of the way is if she is heavily injured or-"
"So you want me to cut off her leg?"
"I haven't even finished talking, you psycho! Calm down son." He immediately retorts with a shocked face. Okay whose fault was that, who guided my brain to heavily injuring my girlfriend, who told me that it was a way to make sure Mia gets scratch off the list, it was you, dumbass! "That is one of the ways, remember one of the ways. The other way is if she is pregnant."
"…" There was an everlasting, creepy silence in the car. This old man just told me to cum inside my girlfriend and make her pregnant. I am not against it but it feels hella weird hearing it from him of all person. "...On what basis did you say that?"
"Common sense kid." He said with a rather annoying smile.
"I know that, I just thought that it was written in the law or something."
"Not really, everyone just agrees on that one." He leans back on his seat and relaxes his body. "It'll also make my job easier. If I say that she is pregnant, everyone would just say 'oh yeah, it'll be horrifying to send a pregnant mom to the battlefield so we better check her off the list' and like that, your colonel is free."
"…I am going to ask you for one more thing." I steal a glance at him and I see a very annoying, perverted looking smile on that senile face. Fuck, I want to punch that face. "Can I ask you for some money and can you tell me where is a good hotel in this place? Also I would like to ask permission to punch your face."
"I'll give you the first two but the last one is a no." He reached out for his pocket and pulled out his wallet. "Now, a good hotel with a sound damper and a comfy bed would be the best or do you both like it rough?" The annoying smile is back and even wider this time. Good god, how can someone stand being near him?
"It doesn't matter how comfy the bed is, as long as we can do it. In the frontline, we're lucky if we had a mattress, most of the time we use a table." I said to him in a matter of fact voice. I want to catch him by surprise, he probably thinks that this is my first time. Haha! Suck on that old man!
"So you did it! HAH! How was it, only having sex on her safe day?" I press the pedal and turn the steering wheel toward a light pole. "Wait! Wait! I am joking!" Good damn this guy is tiring. If he wasn't the person that could help me with Mia right now, I would just jump out the car at high speed. "Kid, you really need to learn to take a joke." And you really need a kick in the balls. "Here's the money." He stretches out his hand to me, handing me a crazy amount of money.
"Wait, how expensive is the hotel you're recommending me? I could take a normal one or a love hotel if there's any." I said to him rather panicking. In his hand are 1000 dollars and they look brand new. I know some hotels charge a crazy amount of money to stay, but this is so close to the frontlines, there isn't going to be any rich conglomerate or spoiled kid this close to danger so why is he handing me so much money?
"Don't sweat it." I could hear him snicker when he said that. Well, I also couldn't help but smile because those are the same words I said to him 6 years ago.
"Is this going to bite me in the ass later on?"
"Depend whatever I need your assistance or not, but no." Hey old man, those sentences contradict each other. "And it's not really bad if the youth has a chance to reproduce remembering we are in need of manpower. So why don't you take it? And here I'll give you a good place to stay." He pressed the map button on the dashboard and the panel immediately turned into a map. He zooms out the map and pinpoints a spot. "There, that should be good."
"Heh… Thanks old man." I took the money from his hand and memorized the location. I am going to have a hell of a night with Mia. Speaking of Mia. "… Old man, if my colonel asks you to cancel what I had just done, please refuse her…"
"…She's going to cry, you know?"
"I know…" My voice was solemn and dejected. I can guarantee that Mia is going to get angry and would like to go with me, but that is not the future I want to see. I want her to be safe and far away from the battle. At least one of us has to make it out of this hell hole alive. "…Please."
"…sure. You're going to make me break a woman's heart, but I guess it comes with the task." He said, this time his happy go lucky voice was replaced by a more authoritative one, the one that fit a general. "Just know, I can't force her to go home unless you can persuade her."
"….I'll try." This is the hardest part. Convincing Mia to return without me. I hope my future self is up to the task, cause if he doesn't, I'll never forgive myself.
My grip on the steering wheel starts to tighten once again and my eyes are staring dagger at the road. But even if my eyes are on the road, they are empty as I can't focus completely on the road. Robert seems to notice this and strikes a light conversation with me. "Hey kid, what brigade are you from?"
"Uh? Huh? 160th Infantry Brigade why?" My mind feels like it was hit by a flashbang. Confusion is one word to describe what just happened in my brain. All of my thought just went *POP* and gone.
"160th Infantry Brigade….Hmmmmmmm I seem to recall something earlier this week regarding your brigade." I look at his old forehead frown, creating more wrinkles in the process.
"Now that you say it….. I swear I heard your name today but where? Hmmmm." Both of us ponder into the night.
O0O0O0O
!-! At the frontline
I know Igo always said take it easy, but I knew it was never easy being a colonel. Now that I am the new colonel, most of the paperwork are my responsibilities just like when Mia was the colonel. Well, at least I know Luke and the others are helping the new recruits adapt. That one thing I could check off the list. Talking about the new recruits, I should start searching for a student to pass on the knowledge like Igo wanted. Now, what will the criteria for a student be? Igo never give myself one, so I assume the person has to be similar to my younger self.
As I try to reflect and remember my younger self. I come along with a particular piece of paper. From General Robert regarding the experimental sniper railgun? The one who is responsible for the test is Jake? I never heard of this. Did Mia forget to inform me about this? She probably did. I should contact Jake and tell him to write a report immediately.
I get up from my chair and walk up to the mouth of the tent with the paper in my hand. When I went outside, I was greeted by a cult circle trying to summon a demon complete with candles and a sacrifice.
WAIT NO!
"What are you guys doing?!" I scream at them.
"Huh Rika?" The cult leader—no, Luke responds to me. "What do you mean? This is our baptism for the new recruits. Don't you remember? We also baptized you 3 years ago."
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh! I don't want to remember that!" I remember that! It was the weirdest thing I have to attend and there is always a lingering goose bump every time it comes to mind. Sigh…. How could Mia stand up with this? I should focus on why I am here. "Um Luke, where is Jake? There is something that I need to ask him."
"JAKE! RIKA IS SEARCHING FOR YOU!" Luke screams toward the crowd and almost in an instant, a mound of earth rises up, revealing Jake in a camouflage.
"Yes?" Jake asks while still covered in dirt. Oh my god, how I wish Igo was still here. I could bury my head in his chest and it would be the most relaxing thing ever.
"This," I gave him the paper. "Can you write a report about this? General Robert is probably waiting for the answer."
"…sssshhhhiiiiiiiiiiiitttt…." That is definitely not a good sign. "Please hold on a minute." He said to me before throwing away his camouflage. "Garry, Hun, Tom, Jaka! Come here for a bit!" The four men rises from the ground just like Jake did and give him a puzzled look. "We need to write a report to General Robert."
A unison of "…ssssssssshhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiitttttttt…." blast from each of their mouth as their face grow pale. All of them immediately get up, throw their camouflage and walk up to Jake.
"Did Igo give us the result?" "He didn't give it to me. How about you guys?" "Nay here." "Me neither." "Shit, we got drowned in the moment that we forgot to ask him." "Where is the railgun right now?" "On my tent." "Maybe we could try it and write it as a report." "Genius! Let's go men!"
I see all of them run to one of the tents. Why do I have a feeling that this will not end well? As I and the others stood put, we could hear their conversation from inside the tank.
"Okay, so who wants to try?" "OH ME! You guys can try it after me." "Okay, that settles it." "Jake, aim for the sky, so we don't shoot anyone." "But wouldn't the bullet fall down and hit someone?" "The maximum momentum of a bullet falling isn't strong enough to kill someone." "So in other words, it's safe?" "Yes." "Cool! Ready when you are." "Okay, in the count of three. One… Two… Three….."
A high-pitched almost scream-like sound tears through the starry night. There is a small hole on the roof and the tent, probably where the bullet went through. Oh yeah talking about the bullet, did they fire a flare? It's so bright. It has to be a flare, a tracer isn't that bright. And how far is it going to go? It's still shrinking for goodness sake.
Huh? Why is there only silence?
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"JAKE!" Maya bolted from the medical tent carrying a first aid kid. She seems to know that something has gone wrong when Jake and the boys go silent. She enters the tent before other medical personnel arrive at the scene to treat the presumably injured Jake.
Mia, is this what you have to deal with everyday?
.
.
.
Igo…
.
.
.
.
.
.
Please give me strength.
O0O0O0O
"Eh, if you can't remember it, it's probably not important." I said to him, Erasing the train of thought from my brain.
"You're probably right. I bet it's just some equipment or some sort." He said to me in a demining kind of way. "We should really be heading back to where your colonel is right now. She's probably confused about where you are right now?"
"Yeah, you're right." I said to him as I turned the car. "Hey old man, thank you. For accepting my request even if you can just deny it."
"You're welcome and I also want to thank you. I can at least sleep tonight knowing that I saved a life." I stole another glance at him, his smile wasn't as joyous as earlier, it was a smile fitting for an old man who has done everything in his bucket list. Full of satisfaction and no regret. "Now you just need to prepare yourself. You're going to have a night with her." And there it is. The perverted and annoying smile is back.
"Heh! Wipe that smile off your face, old man. You should prepare yourself for the amount of uproar this is going to cause." He definitely knows by the chuckle I hear from him. This program will not only piss off the veterans but also the families of the veterans, hell it could even impact the new recruits. Most people just want to finish their years and go home. What happens when they hear that they'll be enlisted to the navy after those gruesome 7 years? "You're going to get a shit ton of complaints. Be honest with me, is this your plan or the HQ plan?"
"Sigh… HQ but they'll probably load all the complaints to the generals. Honestly this kind of instance is why I still prefer to have a lower rank." He said tiredly. His shoulders lump to his seat, eyes close while swaying his head. He looks like someone who has accepted their fate and given up. "And the biggest problem is that all the veterans will be enlisted to the navy."
"And that is going to cause riots." I said rather frantically. Why? Because each branch of the military is trained to fight differently. Their area of operation is different, Army in the ground, Air force in the sky and Navy in the sea. Hell, even if you are on the same branch, you're still trained to do different things. Putting all of these veterans, which have different skill sets, in one place would undoubtedly cause a massive amount of confusion. An infantry first reaction from getting shot is to take cover, can't imagine how they are going to react when projectiles the size of their head come flying at them. They'll probably try to take cover instead of whatever the navy usually does. "You might as well throw dead bodies at the sea."
"I know. I have no idea what they were thinking when they made this decision." Robert closes his eyes and massages the temple between his eyes. He lets out a weary sigh before continuing. "I hope they are going to at least think where they are putting these people, like the air force in an aircraft carrier."
Heh, yeah putting the guys that used to have long runways in a cramped and short ship is a recipe for disaster. Landing an aircraft in the land is hard, but landing an aircraft in an aircraft carrier is harder. At least the ground isn't moving and the runway is longer than you need. Can't wait to hear the news that the navy lost a shit ton of planes because of inexperienced pilots.
"Did the navy accept this? And why them?"
"Sort of. The reason why we focus so much on the navy is that the enemy seems stronger in the water." Or we humans were never meant to go to the sea. Ironic, considering we evolved from fish and now we need boats to explore the sea. Whoever plays the life simulator better start thinking where they would like to put the DNA points, because putting all of fish evolutionary points out the window for humans is and will always be a stupid idea, at least save some. "Most of our navies are brown water navy, which means they are only capable of conducting military operations on rivers, lakes or swamp. Only a handful are actually green water navy."
"Damn, we got denied that bad huh?" I may not be a sailor but I understand how important the sea is. There is so much history and stories regarding the sea that it's honestly fascinating how a species that wasn't meant to be in water tried so hard to conquer them. It's like the world wrote a 'Don't enter' sign at the beach and humanity just like 'That can't stop me! Because I can't read!' and proceeded to do so. "Who are the green water navies anyway?"
"Eagle Union, Royal Navy, Iron Blood, Sardegna Empire, Northern Parliament, Iris Orthodoxy, Dragon Empery and Sakura Empire. That is as far as I remember them."
"Hmmm, most of those countries used to be a blue water navy right? What happened?"
"They got decimated." He said rather darkly. "I remember hearing the news, they said that the sea was red from the blood of millions of navy officers. Guess we are still not winning that front eh? How unlucky of us, the enemy is the strongest where we are the weakest."
"So you're telling me, I have a higher chance of dying?"
"Sort of. If you're lucky you might survive. But hey, if you want a bright side, I heard the navy got some sweet ass babes on their deck. Maybe you could hook one or two." Okay pervert. "You know, while your colonel is not there with you."
"Sigh….. honestly old man." Can I really take this fucker seriously? He is my general and yet he told me to cheat on Mia. "I don't want to be caught cheating by my girlfriend."
"That's the point. Don't get caught. There is only one crime in this world and that is getting caught."
This woman almost gives her boyfriend a heart attack and she giggles?
I am afraid to destroy the atmosphere between us.
"Just like you will suck my balls dry."
"WHY ARE YOU SO CUTE AND SO LEWD AT THE SAME TIME!? THOSE THINGS DOESN'T GO TOGETHER!"
"Uh? I am sorry about that… are you angry?"