The Final Mission
By this point, I had been on the battlefield for some time. I had seen a lot of things. I had seen countless deaths, I'd seen the relatives of the deceased go crazy from grief, but worst of all, I strangely missed the academy. Sure, it had been a year, but this was absolutely brutal. I really felt sympathy for Michael. He'd been forced out here since the beginning with no formal training either. We'd run into each other on quite a few occasions, even done a few missions together, but we didn't see each other too often. He was my best friend, and I missed him quite a bit.
He was pretty much all I had, except for the Builder, whom I had also gotten close to. He'd told me plenty of times that he hated soldier life since he had to get dirty all the time, and every time he properly washed his uniform, it would just end up getting muddy again. Typical. The army wasn't known for its cleanliness.
The Builder had also joined us on the battlefield, but he mostly served as a medic, saving anyone who got injured quickly. Healing magic wasn't used too heavily here. So many of us got injured, it would just be a waste of cookie crumbs. Even so, I was banned from learning it for reasons unknown to me. I did study some theory in secret, though, so I could generally defend against it.
As I ate breakfast, I scribbled something down in my diary, and Bucket was thinking of what cards to play. It wasn't particularly interesting, but it was a method that I found useful to sort of keep me sane. I recorded anything and everything that I saw. It also kept the hallucinations away that I used to have when I had just come to the battlefield. Now I knew what was real and what wasn't. I also reported some of the things that I saw to the Builder, who was utterly shocked.
But that was my goal. I needed him to feel these things if I were to turn him against the Leader. He was a medic, so he only saw the things that they did to us. But now, I was making his decision easier. And by easier, I mean that I'm giving him only a single choice. I was like a little brother to him. His being 18 years older than me didn't matter. We got along like siblings. Of course, once he saw me in distress, he naturally grew to hate the thing that made me this way. He hated the war, and he ended up disliking Captain Titan, who ended up putting me in a lot of unfavorable situations.
I had heard bits and pieces about his past. It seemed like he had a humble origin, and so he knew how precious life was. He was... different from the other scientists. It felt like he had a light in his eyes as he was creating things and explaining his steps to me. Meanwhile, the other scientists couldn't be bothered to explain anything. They just told us to figure out their inventions or die trying.
Through my many months of suffering, I had finally been able to get to the rank of executive officer, which was just under the rank of captain. Even Michael had reached a similar rank to mine, though it was slightly higher. Luckily for me, this was a big mission, and even though it was the last one till I was in forced enlistment, this was the last one where I planned to stay. After this, we had a 3-week break and then the graduation ceremony, where I would probably be promoted. There was even a bot fight, too! Michael and I both signed up for this mission and agreed that we'd take care of some loose ends in this mission.
I grinned at the idea of this as I ate my breakfast. Bucket put his bowl on the ground, and he set some cards down. It was five digits. He really thought he could beat me at Best of 7. I smirked and played 6 digits and one block. He pouted and forked over 12 chocolate chips.
Just then, a soldier came running up to us and said, " Big news, Sir! The mission guide is here! I heard it will be with the other team. Even their Captain is here this time!"
"Good, you're excused," I said.
"Yes, Sir!"
This was interesting; I had never known about a Captain being present. Maybe it was just a series of unfortunate coincidences that we missed each other. But Michael was usually there when it was the other team. It was rather poetic that my last mission was with my best friend, though. Guess that makes escaping much easier. I then left Bucket to wallow in his misfortune, and I saw who was inside this massive tent.
I looked around for Michael, but he was nowhere to be seen. I went up to the mission table, and I hoped my eyes deceived me. We were raiding something of size that was comparable to the Tagine fortress. As I looked up, a woman walked over, and she was accompanied by a slightly shorter woman with a bob cut.
"Hello, everyone, my name is Captain Elaine."
So this is who the captain was. She was a rather imposing woman, but looked to be around my age, maybe slightly older. She had white hair, which was streaked blue. Her eyes were cyan, and they were blazing. She had an air of confidence as she walked in. By this time, everyone had already gathered. She pressed a few buttons. A projector shot up, and images shot up onto the screen. We all sat down while she went around and got her laser pointer.
"Alright, this is the mission briefing for one of our biggest battles yet. Two nights from now, there will be a meeting at this fortress, otherwise known as the North Rock, right here. North Rock is very big, close to the size of Tagine. There is a small forest that's around a quarter of a mile away from the fortress itself. We will be utilizing that for cover. Try not to destroy the entire place. It's a key area for the Leader's plan, and we heard from an informant that they have some sort of prototype, which may pose a problem to our plans. If they destroy those pillars, that will hold him back. The two factions involved in this are Piquant and Lavacake. It would even be better if you could capture or even kill those leaders. If one of us kills the Piq Prince, that would be a whole lot better for our faction."
I raised my hand.
"Yes, Executive Kalerin?"
"The size of the North Rock is comparable to the Tagine fortress. Do you have a plan to be able to infiltrate?"
"We've had plenty of experiences with fortresses of that size. I don't know about you, but all of us are ready, and we know the consequences. For your other question, we're going to have 3 platoons. LISTEN UP, EVERYONE! We're going to make 3 platoons, and those platoons will have 5 squads. Of the platoon, one of them will be a diversion, one of them will be the infiltration, and lastly, one will be at base camp. I'm going to tell all of you this now. If you receive a 7 and then a 2 on the radio, that means that the worst possible outcome has occurred. If a 2 and then a 4 is relayed, then we've won. A 1 and then an 8 means to retreat, and lastly, a 3 and 4 mean that we're about to leave. Hardcode these signals into your wrist bands. Any other questions? Good. Mer, did I miss anything?"
"No, madame," she replied. The only facial expression she made was when she was glaring at me.
I shook my head and set the commands on my watch. I never used standard tech since it could be tracked. She handed us each a M.A.R.S., or Military Autonomous Radio Signal. These were essentially military tablets that almost all of us used on missions. Each device had our teammates. Luckily, he was still with Bucket. There were a bunch of other randoms.
"I wonder where Michael is," I thought out loud. Unfortunately for me, Captain Ellaine heard me and exploded in my face.
"Can you actually start minding your business instead of loitering around here?! It's your job to get everyone in your group ready. If even a single person is missing something, that'll be on you, since you're their superior."
I normally don't talk back, no matter how difficult my superiors are (e.g., the demon), but just something about the way she said that made something in me just snap!
"Can you relax? I'm getting to it. I don't know why you're in my case; the others are still here. Another thing: my squad will never screw up. I always make notes about what I need to bring and tell them about it beforehand."
"If you do screw up, I screw up, and then this whole operation fails! Have you ever thought about that?"
"Yeah, I have, which is why I prepare thoroughly for every mission. I never would've gotten this far if I hadn't"
"Sure you would've. You grew up all nice and sheltered, and then when you came to the army, you still grew up in a greenhouse with all the nice nutrients, while weeds like us had to suck the little water there out of the ground!"
"Well, I don't know why you're telling me this, since the so-called greenhouse had a demon and several caterpillars!"
"Stop complaining! And stop talking back to your superior!"
"I've never had any issues with you, so why do you have a problem with me?!"
"You're the only one of us who had a snob-like attitude!"
"For your information, I like to know all the parts about a mission before I begin!"
"And for YOUR information, you won't always get the entire story. You sometimes need to figure it out as you go."
"So you're cool with withholding information? 'Cause that's what that sounds like."
"If you could just wait, I could've explained that tomorrow before we left!"
"That's too late. I like to prepare for things beforehand!" Then quietly I said, "Tch! If only Michael were here."
"And don't act like you know him! If I hear you utter that name one more time with that dirty tongue, I will have your jaw splattered on the opposite wall."
I looked at her with utter disgust, putting all my hatred into a single glare. I just turned around and left without a word. My promotion would've been at stake had this gone further. I had to keep myself calm, cool, and collected. Think, promotion. I would get her back later. I headed to my tent, and to my surprise, everyone was already waiting for me inside. The members of my group were Bucket, Lucky, Venus, Galette, Carp, Steve, and Stem. Bucket and Steve were already two names that I recognized since I had been with them since the start.
I introduced myself. "Hello, everyone, I am Executive Kalerin. I'm going to be your squad leader for this mission. I also want to get this out of the way, but for those of you who have been stuck in the war since the beginning, I neither pity you nor do I value you any less since you never went to the so-called genius academy. You're in my squad, and therefore, I will look after you and take responsibility for you. Another thing. I am a cradle kid, but we had our struggles there, too. While you guys had to fight enemies, those of us in the fortress had to deal with teachers who abused us and made us their errand boys. We're never rewarded or told that we've done a good job. You guys get to keep whatever you find on the battlefield. We don't even get crumbs! They made us want to bury them alive ourselves. I just want to get along with all of you guys. Our graduation will be very soon, so I want you guys to hold on with me. Even if you resent me, I understand, but please restrain yourselves because you won't be stuck with me for very long. I wouldn't even be angry if you prioritize your captain's orders over mine. Just please, don't cause needless chaos, and cooperate. That's all I ask. Thank you."
"Don't worry, we believe you'll do great, just as always," chirped Galette.
Everyone clapped and had smiles on their faces. Whether those smiles were real or fake, I had no way of knowing. I just had to play it cool and be extra careful since I knew tensions were high. I could probably get poisoned or something since I fought with the Captain. It had happened before with Bucket.
"One more thing. We need to get our tactics straight for this one mission. I know your Captain has different methods. I'll just tell you mine. I'm not a fan of standard tactics where you fan out and go room by room. That's not efficient. That just helps them figure out what to do next. I need everyone to pack their sticky bombs and their geosensors." (A geosensor gives you a reading on those in the building based on data like vibration, noise, etc.)
The next day, we spent the entire day prepping our weapons, checking our armor and other gear for defects, and making sure our vehicles worked properly. After that, we shared a small fire. We didn't worry about the Piqs since we were quite a few miles away. It was like one last gesture before the big event. I had a cup of hot chocolate. I also played best of 7 with my squad mates, and they were, unsurprisingly, a lot better than Bucket.
We were to leave in 5 hours, and it was 2100 right now, so I decided to take a gamble and give Elaine and plant a seed of doubt in her mind. I checked the battle records. She had taken 5x more prisoners than any other squad. In other words, she was saving almost all the civilians from death. I knew, based on her disposition, that this was the only battle she had served under Captain Titan. While I didn't like Elaine, I knew that she was Michael's friend. What was unclear, though, was why she hated me.
I had to make sure, though. I went over to her tent, and the first thing I did was apologize.
"Excuse me, Captain?"
"What?"
"It's Executive Kalerin."
"You again? Honestly, we have nothing more to discuss."
"Ye, we do. Firstly, I'm sorry."
Her expression didn't change.
"That's a good start. What do you want?"
"I... well... I was wondering, have you met Captain Titan before?"
" Don't tell me, you want a promotion?"
"No, not at all, quite the opposite actually."
"So you want a demotion. I mean, I can help with that."
"Not that either. I have something to tell you regarding him."
"Well, I haven't met him, but what could be so important that you tell me this now?"
"Don't take this the wrong way, but he is kind of suspicious, in a multitude of ways. There has been a lot of needless and senseless violence in our past battles. They don't even mention the civilian death count. I had to dig deep into it, and I nearly got caught!"
"I understand what you're trying to say. I get that they hide a lot of things from us. But saying things like that about a superior is treason. I could get you court-martialed for this."
"Well, I get it. I'm not saying you should believe my words. Just keep them at the back of your head."
"And that's where it will stay, ok? Now get out! I don't want to see your face until we leave. I'm doing you a favor!"
Well, that was fine. I never expected her to hear me out anyway. Her calm reaction was quite a surprise. Nevertheless, the seeds had been sown. Now I just had to wait. Captain Titan and the Leader would definitely commit some kind of war crime. They did it every time. Yep... this is what happens with corrupt governments. I went back to my tent, and my eyes slowly closed shut. About 4 hours later, everyone woke up. For this mission, we decided to use snowmobiles with the silence engraving on them so they wouldn't hear us coming.
We loaded up our backpacks and got on the skis. 2 snowmobiles per squad, so 30 total snowmobiles. We more or less averaged 6 people per squad. I put on my helmet and revved the engine. As I did, many others followed. Finally, with a smirk on her face, Elaine raised her hand, and then... after a few seconds, she pointed, and we all took off. It was 0300 in the morning, and since we were going at around 120 mph, it was probably going to take us around 45 minutes to get there based on timing, but we needed a bit of time to set up.
We passed trees left and right, and my heart was pounding. For how much I was looking forward to the mission, I was also dreading it. For all I knew, this could be the last time I saw Michael. I wanted to be with him. I knew better than to contact him in case he was on a mission, but I was still worried. It was a good thing that the compassion in my heart hadn't faded yet. I would've hated to become like the Captains or even the Leader.
Soon, we arrived at the thicket of huge, deep green trees, lined with little flakes of snow in their thick branches. They were the best place to hide. I got off my snowmobile and lined up.
I looked around me. The other EOs had just arrived as well. Even Finn, now Sergeant since he ended up getting demoted, was there. When we had all gotten in an orderly formation, Captain Elaine started walking us through her plan.
"I'll keep this short. Diamond, Square, Rectangle, Parallelogram, and Rhombus squads will stay back for defense and signal relation to Captain Titan. Reuben, you'll need to relay connect me with him when phase two happens. The rest of you, including you, Sergeant Finn, so I can keep an eye on you, will be coming with me. Hills, Veris, Foster, and Dex, you'll lead your squads with me for infiltration. Levin, Tanner, Grace, Sharpe, and Maxim, you'll be diversion. For phase one, infiltration and diversion will move together; however, diversion will break off early to create chaos at the front. For phase two, the infiltration squad will break up into groups of 2 to 3 and will circle. Veris and Foster will be the only ones actually raiding the base. And-"
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" I exclaimed, "Why are we breaking off! Wouldn't that endanger the platoon?!"
"Are you saying I'm not capable of being a good Captain?! Well, guess what, the diversion squad will mainly be in the forest and the outskirts of the city, and this will lead some of the soldiers away. Meanwhile, the other members of the infiltration squad and I will be going through the city and the small buildings. We will be infiltrating, but we won't be going into the main castle."
"That's not the problem. You didn't consider the fact that other factions will be there as well. While every faction is against the O.C.R., some factions have miniature conflicts with Lava cake and Piq. How can you assume that they won't be there as well?"
"That's even more reason why. We need to hold the city down so they can't escape under the chaos."
"That's spreading the forces too thin. They could have more numbers for all we know, and then we'd get exterminated!"
"And that's where you're wrong! Less of us means we stand out less. Plus, numbers aren't everything. If you're really good enough, then you'll be able to survive, won't you?"
"Is that a challenge?"
"Let's say it is. Prove me wrong. Then I'll take back everything I said."
"Yes, Ma'am!"
"That's what I like to hear, and if you interrupt me again, I'll bash your skull in."
"Noted."
"As I was saying for phase 3, you two will mow down guards. If there are other factions, do not engage. Pretend as if you are mercenaries. In fact, it's good that the two of you have custom uniforms. You and your squads can spray paint them gray to make it more believable, too. You will capture or kill the Prince and the Lava Marshal. Even if you kill one of them, that will still be fine. Finally, for phase 4, the diversion team will set the forest on fire. My team will set off explosions in the different areas of the base. The fortress guys, you should've ideally taken out most of the soldiers there. By the way, you're allowed to kill anyone who stops you from taking the Prince and the Marshal. Escape how you see fit. Phase 5 is to escape, but I'll spread the message as we are escaping. Understood?"
"YES, MA'AM!"
"Great, then let's go, everyone!"