The Unsung
Monday
I watched three of my friends get torn up by whatever they are calling those ugly bastards. They are getting closer and I don’t know how long we can hold them off. Another burst of fire goes off right next to me but I am too numb to even bother to jump. I just duck back into the ship and tell the gunner the coordinates to fire. Sho looks at me and nods as he looks into the viewpiece and starts to fire rounds back. I make my way to the front of the ship. The two pilots concentrate on their steering but the news I have to say is going to affect one of them. I put my hand on her shoulder and say lowly “Wildcat 4 just got it, I am sorry Maria.”
I can see the tears start to well up in her eyes but she doesn’t take it off the instruments for a moment. Not an easy thing to hear while you’re working that a brother, sister, or a husband or wife got killed. But a lot of us would say it is better than not knowing at all. And at any rate if by some miracle you do live, you’ll wish you didn’t. We heard reports that now the Machines are doing something different with the humans, something worse than death.
“Daniel, good work tracking that suppression fire”
I look back at our Commander who is sitting on this specialized chair that just came in a few days ago. Commander Wilson looks back at me and sighs “The thing that sucks is we have to go back to base, they say they are going to move back.”
Retreats and more retreats, oh wait they are calling them “tactical retreats” now. “And another city goes to the Machines then” I say almost derisively “you know where we will get reassigned to?” Wilson shrugs and says “Last I heard we are going to defend the Lu Chan province, for whatever good that’s going to do.” I nod and head to the back “Mind if I get some shut eye sir?” Wilson nods and says tiredly “go ahead Dan, you earned it today.” I nod back and head towards the bunk my eyes already growing heavy. God I miss the old days when the skies were blue, when the fight was “over there” and not in our backyard. I miss the normalcy of my boring life, even some things I have never seen I miss. I lay back on my cot and no sooner does my head hit the pillow I start dreaming of warm sandy beaches and the bright blue sky.
Tuesday
We must have been driving all night. The tunnel is dark and I always feel a weird sense of apprehension when we went there, but this is about as safe as you can get. The base itself is something like a supply depot, we got these bases scattered across the globe although with all the retreats we’re probably losing them more often.Our tank parks just outside and as I step outside I see a hovercraft slowly glide out from the base doors, briefly illuminating the dim cavern with its plasma charge. We step down from the ramp. The six of us probably all wanting the same things, a bath, some normal food and a few hours of good safe sleep. Our Commander looks back at us “Showers all around and we get some food first before we do anything. I have to go see command and figure out what our next move is.” All of us nod quietly, Parker, our other pilot flashes a smile and says “I could sleep for days sir.” Wilson nods “me too but I don’t think we are gonna get enough time, but I could be wrong though.” Our Medical Officer, Barbara asks quietly “will we have problems with supplies?” Wilson sighs and says “I don’t think so; in fact we might get very lucky with that today. Ok you guys get to the showers and get some food. That’s an order.” No argument there. I can’t remember the last time I had a good meal, so tired of those food packs you wouldn’t believe but they have better ones here, more variety.
We were at the cafeteria when Wilson walked in. I have seen my Commander in many moods but this haunted look was something new. The Commander sat next to us and said lowly “they want me to go through an “operation”. I quirk my eyebrows and look at Wilson “what kind of an operation?” I ask. He looks back at me strangely and says “well you remember that chair…”
Wednesday
They tell us the operation is virtually painless and the recovery is fast. This is a bad time to be alive. I thought it was bad when they darkened the skies but this “operation” is really the acts of the truly desperate and a clear sign of just how this war is going. The chair itself is for the sole purpose of infiltrating a program. Why would anyone want to be strapped to that chair is just nuts but for now only the Commanding staff is allowed for these missions.
I know the rumor is that now the Machines decided to use humans for energy. Well I guess something like this was inevitable being we took the sun from the sky.I have only seen those pods once and it was enough to give me nightmares for weeks. They looked like they were connected to a bunch of hoses. You could see them twitching in their “cocoons.” Some were bare naked but the ones that were still clothed…well I can recognize our uniforms anywhere.
The plan now according to our Commander was now to infiltrate this program that the Machines were using for the humans. The Machines even gave it a name, The Matrix.
Wilson told us that Friday was the launch date, we were to keep fighting while he went into this “program” and try to destroy it. I am so glad I don’t have to be in Wilson’s shoes.
Thursday
Maria didn’t show up for breakfast, by lunchtime we knew why. Suicides were commonplace nowadays but it always came as a surprise. Her body swung in the dim room that was her quarters. The contents of the note she left was no surprise, as I said suicides are commonplace nowadays. The death of her brother was just too much to bear. She already lost her family to the war and her brother was the only one left.
We held a service for her; even our Commander came to it although he wore a cap, probably to cover up that strange device to the back of his head. No time for a replacement driver, the base was literally alive with personnel moving equipment and there was no one really left qualified to drive the Wildcat. We said our good-byes to Maria and headed to the tank outside the base. I know it sounds cold, but in this world you can’t stop and mourn for the dead unless you are anxious to join them.
I trace my hand over the printing of the tank that once looked new. “Wildcat 6” was our home, our only protection from the war and we took care of it almost religiously.
We must have spent the whole day, rearming it and filling the interior with supplies. We checked, double and triple checked all the systems. She was ready to go; we just had to hear the order come down.
Commander Wilson came by late that evening and the order came through, tomorrow we deploy…
Friday
The base was in the last phases of moving as we all took out places in our tank. Maria’s spot was empty, looks like its all on Parker now. He looks nervous and its no surprise, we all are. Wilson gives the order and we head out in the early morning, the digital display on the control panel is the only thing that tells us its morning, otherwise it looks the same outside, day or night.
I climb up and open the top hatch, grabbing my binoculars I look off in the distance. I see the flashes of light in the distance, and it isn’t the lightning making that. The fighting already has started, or maybe it was going on all night. I talk into my headset, telling Wilson where the fighting is coming from, the tank turns slowly and with a platoon of butterflies in my stomach our tank heads in that direction…
My god…they are everywhere. All you can hear is the explosions but that’s expected. It’s the screams, the human screams that want me to get away from here, anywhere but here. Barbara yells for me to come below and looking at Wilson I see why. He is shaking all over, his face a mask of pain. His eyes are bleeding, his *CENSORED* eyes are bleeding! Barbara looks at me clearly freaked out “I don’t know what to do Dan!” she yells “Do we unhook him from the chair or not?!” I close my eyes and for a split second the sandy beach and the crashing waves produce a clear image in my mind, then the explosions shatter the image. Opening my eyes I say calmly “Unhook him, wherever he is, it’s killing him.” She nods once and pulls the probe from the back of Wilson’s skull. No sooner does she do that when all his lifesigns go to zero. Wilson has enough time to shudder and sigh before dying. Barbara shakes her head and with tears in her eyes look at me and says “we killed him, oh my god we killed him!” I want to say something, I know I should say something, but even as I open my mouth Sho yells “Dan we are getting company!” I look at Parker and yell “get us out of here now!” I see Barbara unhooking the lifeless body of our Commander and before going to the hatch I tell her “dump him Barbara, we can’t have the extra weight.” She looks at me hatefully and I can’t blame her, just as she knows she can’t blame me for the order. Like I said, thinking about the dead is a good way to join them. The tank lurches forward and veers off but I can see that it’s too late, way too late. The Machines are everywhere, right in front of us. They look so weird, so alien. I know now why they call them “squids” but before I can get another thought in my head we take a hit. From the screech below I know it’s the treads, we are grounded. The tank veers hard to the left and plows into a wall. I go below and check everyone, so far we are ok but we have to get out of here. “Grab a plasma rifle, we got to go!” I yell as I head towards the side hatch. Parker gets there ahead of me and I can see from the look in his eyes he isn’t going to be alive much longer. He doesn’t say a word to me, he really doesn’t need to, and his panic is all over him. With a high whine he hits the hatch door and bolts out. Sho and Barbara grab their rifles and follow me out to side of the building. I just got enough time to see Parker pulled away by the machines from across the street before I signal my group to head for the alleyway. I hear plasma fire from behind me and look back to see Barbara hold off two of those squids. Sho and I try our best to keep them back, but there are so many of them. Barbara’s screams echo in the alleyway and we both know it’s too late for her. We keep moving past another street, in another alley and coming out to the next street I see what happens to the ones taken. The screaming as they are tangled up in metallic hoses, their skulls drilled in as they are used for power. The machine they are attached to is monstrous; there are probably hundreds of humans attached to it. We both run the other way, this battle…*CENSORED* this war is lost. I know it and I think Sho knows it too. The explosion knocks me off my feet; I land somewhere hard and have enough strength to draw breath before everything goes dark around me…
??????????
The sand is warm, the water cool and I just close my eyes for a moment, taking in the sea air. I open my eyes to see the bright blue sky, the sun shining brightly. I look down at my open white shirt and see a chest without scars. I breathe deeply trying to remember how I got here and then decide it doesn’t matter. Off in the distance I see a small campfire. I see people there; they don’t look like they are in any danger. Another sea breeze caresses me and I decide that it doesn’t matter how I got to this paradise, I just know it was better than where I was before. I don’t know why, in fact I don’t want to know. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss…
NOTE: I always wanted to do a story from the perspective of those soldiers that fought in those dark days, hope you all enjoy!
" />