The Fifty Years War, R.T. Adams [good short books .TXT] 📗

“I believe they are using guerilla tactics, commander,” she simply just exhaled heavily.

“Take your squad to Base Emerald,” she said, “There, you will force the enemy into submission or you will simply have to kill them.”

“Understood, commander,” I saluted.

“Please, just call me Takeyo,” she said, saluting back, later dismissing me. I quickened my pace the moment I was out of the commander’s office. I hurried to the room that my squad was in. When I entered, they all looked towards me.

“Everyone, grab your weapons, we’re headed to Base Emerald!” everyone stood up, weapons in arms.

We climbed over the trench wall and continued forward, towards Base Emerald. The fog wasn’t as dense as earlier, just barely enough to see an approaching enemy from fifty meters ahead. We used craters as cover just in case an enemy was approaching. I had about thirty soldiers with me, trailing behind me or nearby. We slowly made our way to Base Emerald, which would be a long way, as Base Opium and Base Emerald were seven miles apart. By the time Base Emerald was in sight, we could see multiple enemies preparing another guerilla attack. They had only about fifty soldiers and three tanks. My plan here is to wait for them to pass, then ambush from behind. I signaled for all of the soldiers to act dead in the craters. Soon, the ground began to rumble. The tanks and soldiers were mobilizing. I could hear the tanks crunch through the dirt and pass by. The soldier’s boots were making comparatively no sound to the tanks. When they passed, we waited until they were roughly fifteen meters past, then we began the ambush. We all rose quickly and began firing. The enemy was most definitely taken by surprise, as they had no idea what was happening at first. Due to their surprise, they quickly began falling. The tanks were slowly turning. I ordered some soldiers to take over the tanks. Lieutenant Tentman hopped onto one of the tanks and began to try prying the hatch open. With the help of some others, and a crowbar, it popped open. They began firing their weapons into the tank, killing the enemy soldiers in it. I watched as the other two tanks were relatively taken over the same way. However, the third tank was a failure to take over. The soldiers on top of the tank were shot down the moment the hatch opened. The tank’s barrel was already aimed towards another tank. They fired at the tank that my soldiers were in. Since only the tank was left, I decided to take over the enemy tank, myself. I ran over, hopped onto the tank and fired my handgun into the tank, killing the three soldiers inside. I pulled them out and tossed them. Two of my soldiers hopped in with me. In the first tank, Lieutenant Tentman was operating it. The second tank, a sergeant by the name of Aelius Romus was operating. I was operating the third tank. We turned the tanks around and headed for Base Emerald.

“Captain, turrets are being operated on Base Emerald, permission to fire?” Lieutenant Tentman was radioing me.

“Fire when necessary,” I radioed back. I heard one of the tanks fire. The shell exploded on Base Emerald’s roof, forcing part of it to collapse. The turret had leaned a bit, making it harder for the enemy to fire at our tanks. The enemy operating the turret had quickly escaped the turret. After he got out, the turret fell over, collapsing on the ground. We continued to mobilize the tanks towards Base Emerald, firing at any turrets we spotted. I did feel bad, opening fire at the enemies, as they were humans, and I even felt bad because it was our own base. However, I knew I had no choice, simply because they would kill me without hesitation if I hesitated, so I continued to fire. By this time, all the turrets had been destroyed. Now, it was time for us to head in. We hopped out of the tanks and regrouped with the rest of the squad. They were already inside, taking cover behind concrete walls, as they were being fired at. I peered around the corner, only to be warned by a shot that flew by. I quickly jolted my head behind the concrete.

“We’ll have to take cover behind the carts,” I said. The carts were extremely small, only large enough for one person. There were a limited amount of carts, so most would have to remain behind the wall. I was the first to run forward, diving towards a cart. I took cover behind it unscathed. Some other soldiers followed my example, crouching what seemed very uncomfortably behind carts. We pushed the carts forward, closer to the enemy. It was an extremely narrow hall to navigate through, but it was our only chance. Occasionally, I peered to the right and fired my handgun. In only a few seconds, I was only feet away from the enemy soldiers. One leaped out and tried bashing me with the butt of his gun, but I grabbed it and fired my handgun, making him release the gun and fall. I then slid my handgun into its holster and used the gun I had just obtained. I peered over the cart and began firing, wiping out all the enemies I could see. By then, with the help of the others, no guns could be heard here. It was clear. We all stood and made ourselves clear, away from cover. We carefully searched around the corners and in other halls. It was small, easy to funnel your enemies and just mow them down. I was disgusted by the sudden thought I had.

We weaved our way through the halls, some collapsed due to our previous tank attack. We had to check each and every hall, making sure there were absolutely no enemies that could suddenly ambush from behind. Soon, I saw a bright light. We were entering a giant room just ahead. When we entered, there was a giant light on the ceiling. I looked around and noticed that it was the communication center. I walked over to one of the stations and sat down, dialing in a number. This number in specific was Base Opium’s, which would allow me to confirm our position to Commander Takeyo. Soon, I heard a long beep, and a voice came on.

“Hello?” Commander Takeyo’s voice could be heard from the radio.

“Commander Takeyo, we’re currently in the communication center,” I said.

“I told you, just call me Takeyo,” she said, “Anyhow, how many have you taken?”

“Lieutenant,” I called over my shoulder to get a count from Tentman.

“About half of the base, sir,” Tentman replied.

“Tentman reported about half,” I repeated Tentman’s words to Commander Takeyo.

“A few more should drive them out. Continue to attack, and make sure you aren’t put on a defensive. If you are, it’s over for you,” she sounded serious and somewhat grim.

“Understood, Commander,” I hang up and stood. I signaled for the squad to follow me. We approached a door and got into position. Tentman kicked open the door and quickly raised his gun only to find an empty room. It was the main hall. In the main hall someone could see several columns to hold the roof. In the center was a large system, with multiple monitors on it. They were security cameras. However, this wasn’t here when I was patrolling before we were attacked. Suddenly, it came to me. They lured us!

“Get to cover!” it would seem Tentman caught on as well, as he shouted. Everyone ran behind a column and hid, only to find a tank ramming through the main hall’s doors.

“Tentman, do we have anything to take it down?” I asked Tentman, who was back-to-back with me.

“The only way we can take that tank is if we use the same method we did outside, tear open the hatch and kill everyone inside,” Tentman told me what his thoughts were

“Then that’s what we’ll do,” I ran to another column and told the soldiers the plan. Soon, I signaled them to commence the plan. Several soldiers ran forward, advancing closer to the tank. Of course, to them, it seemed like suicide. However, By how close the column was, the tank couldn’t fire. The only options they would have would be to use the machine gun or to run them over. However, running them over would cause the roof to collapse, as the treads of the tank would ram the columns. In other words, their only option is the machine gun, which is on top of the tank. A soldier popped out of the top, only to be shot down in mere seconds. By the time the soldiers hopped onto the tank, it began to move forward. It rammed and broke the columns. That could only mean that they were doing a suicide mission!

“Run, get out of there!” Tentman shouted, but he was far too late. The roof collapsed, crushing both the tank and the soldiers. I closed my eyes and felt pain in my chest. Three more soldiers lost.

“We have to keep moving,” I called out to the soldiers, “Advance.” Everyone climbed the concrete. As soon as we reached the top, bullets flew by. Everyone ducked and fired back. There were only a handful of soldiers, who were shot down easily. Soon, I heard a whistle blow out. A retreat whistle. The enemies were falling back. We, once again, have Base Emerald. I told some soldiers to remain on patrol, just in case the enemy came back. I went to the communication center to radio Commander Takeyo. I dialed the number to Base Opium.

“Aeroman?” she instantly assumed it was me.

“Yes,” I responded, “We’ve taken Base Emerald back.”

“But lost Opium,” she seemed angered.

“What, how?” I was surprised.

“They wrapped around Emerald. I assume they saw through our plan and made an all-out attack on Opium,” she said, “They’re heading to Emerald next, I just know it. Aeroman, get out of there as soon as possible, right now. They have the base surrounded. Head east to Port Halberd, it’s the only place they don’t have control of yet.” The last place they had no control of in this region, Port Halberd. Halberd is a very strongly protected harbor town. They I.D. every person who enters and exits. If your I.D. has any suspicious content, you get detained. Anyone found with a faulty government or military I.D. will be immediately imprisoned without questioning. Any enemy soldiers will be shot on sight. I ran out of the communication center without hanging up. I called out to all the soldiers.

“We’re getting out of here ASAP, hurry, we’re heading east to Port Halberd, quick, now, no time to wait!” I started shouting at the soldiers. Some were confused, but they still ran. We all ran out of the base and began running to Halberd.

We arrived at Halberd much earlier than expected, but we did meet up with Commander Takeyo’s forces. Takeyo was at the front of the soldiers. She immediately told me to come to her. I walked beside her, emptiness filling the air. She didn’t say even a single word. She simply looked forward. Although the sun shone brightly, these were grim times. We were currently losing ground, quickly, as well. We were losing a battle for each battle we won, but we weren’t gaining any land. In fact, we were losing land. Finally, we reached the scanner. Commander Takeyo placed her I.D. on a counter and removed her weapons, shoes, and belt, then placed them on a conveyer. The man scanned her card and gave it back. She walked through the metal detector and received her belt, shoes, and weapons on the other side. I removed my weapons, belt, and shoes, then placed them on the conveyer belt, then handed my I.D. to the man to scan it. The man scanned my I.D. and let me pass, handing my I.D. back. I