The Fifty Years War by R.T. Adams (popular books to read txt) 📕

“When did you even join?”

“Three years after you did, sir,” she said.

“You can stop saying sir now,” I said. Coming from her, it sounded a bit forced and weird.

“Understood,” she said. We continued to walk. She looked extremely joyous, even though we were in the midst of war. I looked around and noticed soldiers staring at her, some laughing. I sighed and looked down. Suddenly, soldiers began stopping. I suppose we were resting in the middle of enemy territory. Finally able to rest our aching feet.

In my dream, I saw myself standing in a building, staring out the window at the sea. It shone a beautiful blue, sparkling, almost like the stars. However, that all faded and ships appeared. Everything around me was destroyed, flattened by enemy shelling. Everything was leveled to the ground. I woke up, practically gasping for air. I jolted upwards, taking a look around at all the soldiers just lying asleep on the ground. I could see light over the horizon, making the sky an orange color. I took a deep breath and heaved it out. I looked over and saw Alex lying next to me, almost on me. I stood up and looked for a way to get away from the huge sleeping barricade of soldiers. I found a way through and crept my way through. Just as I got to the last soldier, something rammed into my back, forcing my to stumble and fall, right into a crater.

“Who the hell?” I looked and noticed Alex lying next to me.

“Ow, that hurt,” she began pouting.

“What the hell did you expect to happen?” I shouted, “Besides, you should ram your superiors, you could get demoted or taken off duty.” I continued to lecture her. I soon noticed other soldiers nearby waking up. Some of them crawled over and peeked into the crater at us. She was on her knees and I was standing in front of her, practically yelling. I looked over and spotted the soldiers.

“Oh shit,” one of them said, quickly squirming back to the group of sleeping soldiers. The rest of the soldiers followed him back. I simply just sighed and held my hand out. She was confused for a moment, until she grabbed my hand and pulled herself up.

“Look, just don’t do these sort of dumb things, got it?” I said.

“Yes, sir!” she said.

“And stop calling me sir,” I said, “It doesn’t fit you.” I climbed out of the crater, her following behind me. I began walking to the front of the group, only to find Commander Gutierrez, the commander of Port Halberd, and Commander Takeyo.

“Hello, Aeroman,” Commander Takeyo spoke without even looking at me.

“Morning, Commander Takeyo,” I said.

“I’ve told you, just call me Takeyo,” she said. Again, I refuse to call her by just Takeyo.

“We should continue moving, starting now. The earlier we get going, the earlier we’ll get there. After all, I believe we’ve had enough time to rest,” I said. She nodded and looked around at a group of soldiers who were sitting in a circle, talking to each other.

“Who is that next to you?” she asked me.

“This is Staff Sergeant Alexandria Smith,” I responded.

“Pleasure to meet you, Takeyo,” Alex reached her hand out.

“The pleasure is mine,” Commander Takeyo replied, “Why can’t you do as she does, Aeroman? Besides, where did you find such an adorable woman, anyhow?” She began spouting nonsense.

“You can call her adorable all you want,” I said, “But she’s just a childhood friend of mine. A true pain in the ass.” I closed my eyes and crossed my arms.

“Pretty rude of you to insult a lady, Aeroman,” Commander Takeyo said.

“She’s more like a guy, anyhow,” I said, “She likes rough-housing, wrestling, gaming, calisthenics, hanging out with guys, who knows, maybe she’s a lesbian?” I said.

“I’m not a lesbian!” Alex shouted. Some soldiers looked over to her and others woke up.

“Maybe we can use her to wake up the soldiers,” I said.

“Shut up!” she shouted. I simply began laughing.

“Alright you two, stop it. We have to get these soldiers awake. Hurry up, wake them up,” she said, turning, “Alright, it’s time to get moving, wake up, nap time’s over!” She began shouting at the soldiers, waking them up. All of us who were awake began shouting, waking up other soldiers. Soon, we all continued to walk another forty miles. Rather, another run. Soon enough, everyone was running again. Once again, our feet would be tired. The moment we got to the base, we’d all be sitting, lying around, exhausted.

By the time we got to Fort Hugo, we were all lying around, as I expected. By now, there were tens of thousands of soldiers. We all stayed inside the base, playing cards, training, reassembling our weapons. After all, we had nothing else to do. I looked around and saw hundreds of tents. I suppose this is where the soldiers rest at. With thousands more joining them, it may get a little more cramped. Some of us decided to set up our own tents, while others got sleeping bags and laid them outside of the tents. I set up a tent of my own and crawled in, tossing a sleeping bag in it. Right now, I can’t sleep. I walked around the base until I found the base commander’s office. I peered in and saw the commander of Fort Hugo, the commander of Port Halberd, and Commander Takeyo. At this angle, I could hear them. At first, it wasn’t my intention to eavesdrop, but it simply turned out that way.

“Names and ranks?” the commander of Fort Hugo’s voice was deep, strong, and confident. He seemed like a strong man in general, it also seemed as if he went through a lot.

“Major General Sachiko Takeyo,” Commander Takeyo spoke first.

“Brigadier General Harvey Gutierrez,” the other commander, Commander Gutierrez, then spoke. It was obvious that he was a lower rank than Commander Takeyo, but he was only one rank lower. If he was capable, he could probably easily pass Commander Takeyo.

“I am Major General John Willick, Commander of Fort Hugo,” he said, “You, you could be demoted for eavesdropping on your higher-ups.” He looked over to me. He caught me. I stepped out and saluted.

“Dearest apologies, sir, I only meant to check who was here, not to eavesdrop,” I apologized, but I felt like it would do me no good.

“I do not recognize this soldier,” he said.

“That is Captain Jacob Aeroman, sir, he is one of mine,” Commander Takeyo spoke up.

“I understand. Please discipline him after we are done here,” Commander Willick demanded I receive discipline afterwards, “For now, leave, Captain Aeroman.”

“Understood, sir,” I left quickly, without a word after that. I entered my tent and sat down. I noticed another sleeping bag inside my tent. Suddenly, something dived into my tent and right into my stomach.

“Jacob!” I heard a high pitched voice, almost deafening.

“Who the hell?” I shouted. When I looked down, I saw Alex with teary eyes.

“They,” she said a word, “They want me to strip!” She said to me.

“Who is they?” I said. She grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the tent, to a group of men around a campfire. I didn’t recognize them, but looking at their decorations, I could tell they were lower ranks.

“Hey, hey, look behind you,” one of them spoke to another person. The person stood up and looked directly at me.

“Them,” Alex said, pointed at them all.

“Who the hell are you, her boyfriend?” the person directly in front of me said.

“No, I’m Captain Jacob Aeroman,” I said. Some of them began to cower away, but the one right in front of me still stood tall.

“Oo, a captain,” he scoffed, “Are you really?”

“Of course,” I pointed to my patches.

“So you are,” he said, “So you should be strong, right?”

“Strong, perhaps,” I said, “More of an intellectual part that got me to my rank.” It was true. The reason I got so far in the military was because of how smart I was.

“Really?” he said.

“Yes, and my friend here stated that you guys wanted her to strip?” I said.

“Yeah, so?” he said.

“Sexual activity is forbidden,” I said boldly.

“And?” he seemed still unfazed.

“You don’t understand these rules at all, do you?” I said.

“Don’t give a damn,” he said, “If you give me a good fight, and win, I’ll stop asking girls to strip. If you lose, she has to strip for us.” It was a challenge now?

“Fighting as such is also a violation of rules,” I said, “I’d rather not have to have more disciplinary action on what I have now.”

“So you have disciplinary action coming your way? Great,” he said, “But if you won’t pull the first punch, I will.” He then pulled back his arm and threw a punch. However, I grabbed his hand and pulled him forward, placing my hand on his stomach and using his momentum against him, flipping him over me and onto the ground.

“Do not attack your higher-ups,” I said. He got up and dusted himself off. He then ran towards me and dived at me. I moved out of the way. He flew past me and slammed into the ground. He got up and turned, ready to run at me again, but someone grabbed his arm and tripped him.

“More violations, Corporal Jennings?” Commander Willick stopped him.

“Screw off, bastard!” he shouted.

“I can’t do that. That’s the sixth time today,” Commander Willick said.

“He requested that Staff Sergeant Alexandria Smith strip, as well,” I said, saluting Commander Willick.

“This calls for heavy punishment, Corporal Jennings,” he said. He grabbed Corporal Jennings with his other hand and hauled him over to a small box with three small holes in it and a door on the front. Corporal Jennings was stuffed into the box and then it was locked.

“Anything else?” I said.

“He’ll be in there for thirty-two hours,” Commander Willick said, “You will still receive disciplinary action for eavesdropping, however.” Even after technically captivating a war criminal, I still receive punishment. Oh well, you can’t decide it yourself.

By the time Commander Takeyo came to me, it was night. I explained what had happened after I went to my tent, then she said it was bullshit how I still receive punishment. She said she wouldn’t give me any form of punishment, as I had redeemed myself. She dismissed me and I went to my tent, only to find a female figure sleeping in the sleeping bag that had appeared randomly. Alex was already asleep in my tent. Having a male and female in one tent seems rather suspicious, but I can’t do anything about it. I crawled into my sleeping bag and stared at the tent.

“Welcome to your humble home,” I could hear Alex whispering.

“A humble home, alright,” I whispered back.

“We’ll be like this for the next few days,” she said, “It’s almost like we’re kids again.”

“Yeah, kids,” I said. My childhood wasn’t exactly the best, other than meeting Alex. I could hear rustling in the tent, then an arm on my chest.

“You know, I’m still a virgin,” she said.

“I know what you’re trying to say,” I said, “Sexual activities are forbidden.” She just giggled a bit, then stopped. I could hear more rustling and then I felt a rope being tied around me.

“Well, what if you were tied up?” she said.

“Then you’d end up taking the hit,” I said, “Besides, other people outside the tent would hear us, anyhow. Stop tying that damn rope.” She continued to tie me, but I didn’t resist at all. I was too tired to. In only a few seconds, she managed to get me out of my sleeping bag and tied my legs, arms, and torso, holding me down.

“I don’t care if I lose one rank, I’ll get it back eventually,” she said.

“That’s not what I mean,” I said. Only moments later, I could hear, and feel, my pants being unzipped.

“So what?” she said.

“Get off,” I said. And after she actually started to unzip my pants, I start struggling. I should