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

received my weapons on the other side of the metal detector. The soldiers behind us all followed our steps. It was like watching seven hundred of us repeating each other's’ actions. Suddenly, the scanner beeped and a red light came on. The man behind the counter pulled a revolver and pointed it at the man. Commander Takeyo walked over.

“What’s going on?” she said.

“This man’s I.D. is faulty,” the man behind the counter said.

“What, let me see?” she took the I.D. and examined it, “Sergeant Jomine?” She looked at it in disapproval.

“Didn’t Sergeant Jomine die four weeks ago?” a soldier made a solid point. Sergeant Jomine died in a failed ambush. The soldier standing here was not Sergeant Jomine, it was a spy.

“A spy!” I shouted. The spy reached for a weapon, but was immediately shot by the man behind the counter. Blood sprayed on the wall behind him and the man collapsed. The man was carried out and the blood was being cleaned while the rest of the soldiers were scanned. We all headed directly to the base placed nearby. Commander Takeyo headed directly to the Base Commander’s office to talk to the commander here. We waited several minutes before Commander Takeyo stormed through the hall in a fit of intense rage.

“Commander?” a soldier tried to confront her, but she entirely ignored him and continued her fit. Suddenly, I wondered what he said to make her so enraged. Without an appointment, I barged into the Base Commander’s office.

“Who said you could enter, soldier?” the commander stood and glared at me.

“What did you do to Commander Takeyo to piss her off?” I, too, was enraged without reason.

“Oh, you want to know?” he calmed down and sat down, a calm face on him. He simply smiled a little.

“Tell me,” I demanded.

“A Lieutenant has no authority over a Base Commander, watch your mouth, fool,” he was beginning to aggravate me, “I stated that a woman is in no position to be a base commander.” He told me what he said to piss her off and, personally, it pissed me off too.

“What do you mean?” I shouted, “Commander Takeyo is in the top-tier of commanders, how could you say such a thing?”

“She is a foolish person not to see a sudden ambush coming after you took over Base Emerald. Anyone would have spotted it coming,” he was seriously beginning to piss me off.

“Major General Takeyo,” I suddenly said her rank rather than Commander.

“Hold on,” his eyes widened, “Major General?” He suddenly looked frightened.

“Are you, perhaps,” I slowly caught on. He suddenly jumped out of his seat and over the desk, dashing out the door. It was most likely that he was a lower rank than Commander Takeyo.

“Wait, stop! Ma’am, please!” I could hear the man shouting as he ran down the hall to Commander Takeyo. I excused myself and began to walk out as two soldiers of this base stopped me.

“You are remaining here, as you have committed an action that was against military rule,” one stated.

“I am under the authority of Major General Takeyo, please, unhand me,” the moment I spoke her rank and name, they released me. I walked out of the room and down the hall. At the current moment, I could seem like a cocky bastard who just won a tournament against a world champion. Suddenly, the vibe in the air changed. It was almost crushing. I broke into a cold sweat. I looked behind me, then out a window. I saw a man walking down the road. A man clad in a General’s outfit. General Harkin. What could he need here in Port Halberd?

I stared out the window at General Harkin, who was walking down the main street of Port Halberd. Everyone, including innocent citizens, froze. They all looked at him, as if he was drawing sudden attention. Harkin was known to be both ruthless and merciless. He is known as The Merciless King. Shortly, I noticed that Harkin looked up at me. He stood for a moment, staring at me. He walked over to the entrance of the building and opened a door. Soon, I saw General Harkin in the same hall as me, standing only inches in front of me.

“Lieutenant Aeroman,” his voice was harsh and rough. He had wrinkles all over and gray hair.

“Yes, sir!” I saluted, standing tall and proud, chest out, head up. He saluted back and then released his salute and I shortly did the same after him.

“Today, you are being promoted to Captain under General Yokin’s authority,” General Harkin pulled out multiple objects and handed them to me. I took them with gratitude and pride.

“Understood, sir!” I said, loud and clear. General Harkin was soon out of the base. Soon, daily activity continued. It was almost like time, itself, froze. I ran into a changing room and placed the new bearings that I was given onto my outfit. I walked out and looked around, noticing no one around. I left the base and decided to take a walk around the city. I observed the people’s movements and activities. It seems like a very lively place, especially for a military base. Of course, it only houses the men, themselves, and a few artillery and jets. However, it was extremely well protected for what seemed like only very few things to defend with. I examined the harbor, in particular, watching people load and unload ships. Ships came in, some left, money was being exchanged, materials, food, many things were exchanged in this process. I walked up to one of the people who looked like he had come from one of the ships.

“You come from this ship?” I asked him.

“Yes sir, why do you ask?” he continued to unload the ship as we spoke.

“No reason in particular,” I replied, “I would just like to know what in particular you trade.”

“Just things like ammunition, food, and a few other materials,” he said. I nodded and thanked him for the answer to my question. As I thought. Abruptly cutting the peace in the city, there was a huge explosion in the ocean nearby. Water exploded into the air, raining down on us, pelting our skin. I noticed a few ships that were firing at each other extremely close to the harbor. Just then, a shell flew into a building, exploding on contact. Rubble and bricks flew around, making the people scatter and scream. All I could do was watch. Moments later, turrets from land began firing at the enemy ships. I grabbed my binoculars and peered through them, only to see an entire armada coming to the harbor. I quickly threw my binoculars back into my pouch and ran to the base, shoving the door open, only to find Commander Takeyo in front of me.

“Aeroman, what’s going on?” she said.

“An enemy armada is coming to the harbor,” I told her, almost stumbling my words. She quickly dismissed me and began running down the hall. I ran out of the base and to a large base on the harbor which held many warships. I hopped on a gunboat with a few others. The gunboat started up and headed out. I hopped into a turret on the gunboat and began firing. The enemy warships continued to come at us, even when we began forming a barricade. Suddenly, they began ramming us, breaking apart our barrier. I climbed out of the turret, and began running across the ship, only to fall to the ground after the ship was rammed. Slowly, I was sliding to the edge of the ship, as well. I grabbed onto a hook on the edge, holding on for my life. I began climbing back up, only to see a cargo crate coming my way. I placed my feet on the side of the gunboat and propelled myself off, into the ocean. Soon, I was in the ocean, the ice cold water stinging my skin. I could see metal and cargo crates sinking. I swam upwards, emerging from underwater, floating on the surface. I looked around, watching all the ships being torn apart from being rammed. I began swimming back to the harbor and climbed up a ladder, looking around. A lot more buildings had been destroyed, and were still being destroyed. I watched as shells flew by, exploding in buildings, forcing them to collapse. For years, I almost thought nothing of it. But now, it has come to me. Innocent humans are being killed in this war. My arms went limp and I simply just stared at the scene in front of me. Buildings, now ruined. Innocent civilians, lying on the ground, dead. My home was thousands of miles away, but I began to wonder if this had become my own home.

Although this was what I knew what would happen, I wasn’t able to run. Although I know this is war, I wanted to run. I wanted to abandon my post. However, I would be shot if I were found running away. I had no choice but to fight. I turned around and just watched as the ships arrived, only meters away. Soldiers on this ships began firing. I grabbed a rifle and began firing back, killing off as many as possible. If Port Halberd was taken, we would become prisoners of war, and I refuse that. Port Halberd cannot fall. We wouldn’t have anywhere to go if Halberd was taken. I continued to fire the rifle, ruthlessly, watching them fall. Suddenly, stopping my fire, someone grabbed my arm. I turned and saw Lieutenant Tentman.

“Captain, we’ve been told to retreat,” he told me.

“Where to, Port Halberd is the last remaining base we have in this region, we’re surrounded by the enemy!” I began to shout.

“Sir, I don’t know,” he said, “But we have been ordered to retreat by General Harkin.” I stared at him blankly. I sighed and dropped the rifle, turning and running with him. We ran until we found the rest of the soldiers, packed at the gate. Enemy soldiers were approaching quickly, so we began firing back at them. They had us trapped. Soon, I found my way to the gate, exiting as quickly as possible. I saw soldiers running north, to the next closest region. The closest base to us now is roughly about one hundred miles away, Fort Hugo. We ran and we ran, nonstop. Hours passed as we ran. It was now night time. By now, we’ve began walking. We covered about sixty miles during the time the sun was up. We will probably arrive by mid-day tomorrow.

“My damn feet hurt,” a soldier complained.

“Live with it, unless you want to die,” a higher-up told him. The soldier continued walking without a word.

“Aeroman!” I heard my name being called by a rather unfamiliar voice. I turned, only to see a large crowd of people.

“Who’s calling my name?” I spoke out. Soldiers looked around for a person who could have possibly been calling my name.

“Aeroman, over here!” the person yelled out again, their hand popping out above everyone’s heads. The people split apart and I saw a rather small girl running up to me.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“You don’t remember?” she said, “Alex Smith.” Suddenly, my memory came back.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I shouted at her. Soldiers around us looked at me.

“Well,” she seemed fidgety.

“By your markings, you seem to be a lower rank. Don’t slouch, stand tall, head up, stop stuttering,” I told her as she followed each thing I told her to do, “Most importantly, say my rank before my name.” I said, lastly.

“Yes, Captain Aeroman!” she said, loud and clear.

“What are you doing here?” I repeated myself.

“I decided to join the military, sir,” she said plainly. I told her not to, and yet she came along, anyhow. Alex Smith is a girl I have known since elementary. I guess you could say we are childhood friends. When I was younger, I promised I would join the military. In other words, that’s one of the reasons I’m