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The Interstellar Medium
 Author
Join Date: May 2008
Location: [SWE]
Age: 34
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lordshadowisle
Unfortunately for your story I could more or less guess the ending, hence there's not so much of a kick when I finished reading it.
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True, it isn't much of a twist and I didn't really know how to do it any other way. It's actually a bad habit of mine.
Either way, small stuff has been corrected and since I don't want to dwell on it:
FINAL ENTRY
Spoiler for Decisions:
Decisions
Inside the metallic gut of an APC, blue light was the only thing that illuminated the tiny compartment. Bent over a screen, both of his hands grasping either side of it, the Colonel stared intently at it.
On the far bottom there was a dark blue circle. At the top red squares. In the middle, traversing the lines forming a grid, were green triangles. His soldiers moving towards the objective that laid before them.
It had been a tough battle so far. The Colonel had suffered major casualties, but he knew that the enemy had as well. Those red squares, moving like ants across the screen, had decreased in numbers the last few hours. But so had his green triangles. He knew he was in for a last push, a last show of power.
“Colonel, the jets are inbound,” the Corporal who was standing next to him said. His skin was glistened with sweat, much like the Colonel. “Do you want me to designate their strike area?”
The Colonel didn’t answer immediately. He thought over his reply, making sure it was the correct one. “Yes, but make sure they know where our guys are pinned down. I don’t want any casualties on our side.”
“Understood,” the Corporal said and turned back to his console to relay the order.
The Colonel returned his attention back to the screen. The situation was becoming dire. His soldiers were now pinned down in several locations and his tanks were stuck further back than he liked. If he couldn’t break the stalemate with the incoming airstrike, he wouldn’t be able to claim the objective. His forces would be annihilated and the battle would be lost.
His knuckles were white from grasping the edges of the screen. He was frustrated with himself, with the decisions he had made in the past. If only he had done that instead of this. If he had taken another decision at that crossroad. If he had, if, if...
It was always the if, the hindsight, that plagued him. It was a weakness he had refused to acknowledge throughout his career, but now it stood there. Laughing in his face with the disappointed faces of his soldiers staring at him.
He shook his head and concentrated. The battle wasn’t lost yet. The jets were coming. The last card he had to play. If he broke from pressure now, they would lose for certain. He decided to remain strong, to pull the last ounce of strength he had.
“Sir!” The Corporal’s voice was stricken with panic. “We have a problem. Some of our guys are too far up. If the jets strike now, they’ll hit them too!”
“What?” The Colonel stared at the screen, trying to locate the squad. He found them to the northeast, closer to the enemy than any other squad. He recognized their insignia. They were brilliant soldiers, but he hadn’t anticipated them to push that far on their own. “What the hell are those guys doing? Tell them to fall back!”
“Sir, we already told them. They are pinned down by heavy enemy fire. They are stuck.”
At that moment, the Colonel permitted himself to let go of the screen. He stared at it for a few seconds before eyeing the hatch. “Corporal, how far out are the jets?”
“Two minutes, Sir. How so?”
The Colonel didn’t respond. He walked over to the hatch and opened it. Bright light blinded him and the noise of war could be heard in the distance. The Corporal didn’t call out to him. The Colonel put his boot down on solid ground.
From the small elevated hill where the APC stood, the Colonel could take a real look at the battlefield. He could see his men pinned down. He could see his tanks stuck too far back to be of any help. He could also faintly make out the location where the squad was stuck. It was too far away for him to see the men, but he could imagine them fighting. Bullets flying all around them, lifeless bodies falling to the ground. They probably wondered what he would do, as they were aware of the impending airstrike.
“What would you have done?” he whispered into the wind. The gears in his head turned and turned. Different combat situations exchanged each other, as the Colonel tried to find an alternate solution.
But there was only a conflict of interest. The interest of life and the interest of war.
“Sir, thirty seconds,” the Corporal said behind the Colonel’s back. “What are your orders?”
The Colonel scoured the horizon, eyeing the plumes of black smoke that rose high into the sky. He could now hear the jets, coming from far away. The birds of war. He knew the firepower they carried. Firepower that was at his disposal.
He had a choice to make. If he didn’t decide, the battle was lost. If he made the wrong choice, his men would die. But no matter how much he thought he couldn’t see a right choice.
So he decided.
“Corporal, tell them... Tell them to go ahead with the airstrike.”
He didn’t turn around to face the Corporal, but he knew the boy’s emotion from the reply that the Colonel got. He couldn’t blame him. But the Corporal hadn’t made the decision. He wasn’t the one that would have to inform the next of kin.
The jets came from the east. As white lightning they shot across the sky so fast that the Colonel had trouble following them with his eyes. They only left a thunderous rumble that signalled their departure and existence.
As the bombs fell, eradicating the enemy and the squad that held his own men, the Colonel saluted in silence.
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