I left the bathroom, came back to my room and went to sleep. The dreadful dream and the happiness of Argen's pain still lingered in my mind. The only thing I now demanded was revenge.
Two weeks have passed, and our wounds have almost healed. We haven't been sent to any mission since then. The enemy's movement has slowed down since our mission. Argen's injury has placed psychological pressure on them. This has given us a chance to replenish our resources and effectively heal the injured. Michaela was still present in Egnisk.
It was noon and we hadn't got any mission. We remained in our rooms. For the past two weeks, we have been doing shooting practice in the morning. Barnett and I were reading a book. Alfred was cleaning his gun, and Ferry was studying for his aviation classes.
"Looks like we won't get any mission even today," Alfred said as he placed the scope aside.
"Seems so," Ferry continued.
I read a few more pages, closed the book and went to sleep. The three of them looked at me and then resumed their work. I didn't see any dream this time. But my heart wasn't at ease yet. When I woke up, it was 7 pm. Ferry and Barnett were sleeping, but Alfred was awake and polishing his boots. I drank some water. And decided to go out for a walk.
"Going somewhere?" Alfred asked me.
"Bathroom,"
I went to the door, but I felt some rumbling. I stood still. Alfred noticed me.
"What happened? Scared of the dark? Want me to come with you?" He asked.
"Alfred, do you feel the ground rumble?" I asked him.
He got up from his bed and stood on the ground, focusing. He noticed it.
"Yeah…I can feel it. But…it is very faint."
I heard a loud thud. I walked out and saw an Arkin-165, a 165 mm heavy artillery. Its cannon was adjusted and was aiming towards the border. I sensed something and placed my right hand near my right ear. And just as I thought, it fired. It was so loud. It literally shook my brain. After a while, Alfred, Ferry, and Barnett came running. A private came into view from behind the artillery.
"What the hell. Who authorised live fire this close to base!?" Alfred shouted
"Private! What do you think you are doing?"
"We just received a request for artillery support from Captain Dernik. He said that the enemy is attacking. They are on point C."
"Point C!?!?" Ferry asked shockingly.
"Are you out of your mind!?!? C is three kilometres from here. Your cannon is facing upward at 45 degrees. And this thing has a range of 40 kilometres. What are you firing at with this aim? Even when facing straight, this thing sends the shell beyond 4 kilometres."
"Leave it here, and go tell the command centre to turn on the alarms," Alfred ordered them.
"Yes, Lieutenant."
"Everyone, get ready, we are heading to point C," I ordered.
"Roger," They responded.
We ran to our rooms, put on our boots, and rushed towards the armoury. We grabbed our rifles and left the armoury. As we left, we heard a shriek, and one of the dorms blew up. It was a missile. Then we looked upwards and saw tons of explosions in the sky. It was the missiles, and our defence systems were intercepting them. Another missile bypassed the defences and hit the Arkin-165 we saw earlier. But after that, no missile came. Our defences worked. Then the alarms began to blare, and in five minutes the base was packed with soldiers. Captain Pierson came running to us.
"We are heading towards point C."
"But…You are on standby."
"Sir…We are tired of sitting idly."
"Fine, then…" He took a deep breath.
We were about to leave, but he stopped us again.
"Wait here…I have to give you something." He said and ran inside the armoury. After three minutes, he finally came. He had an ARK.
"This is the improved version of ARK-TS1, the ARK-TS2. It has reduced recoil, it is lightweight, and it has some safety features. The force is 2 times that of TS1. Now it has a digital scope. It will exert pressure on your shoulders, but it won't break your bones." He said as he handed me the gun.
"Thank you," I said, and then we left. A truck was leaving, so we rushed towards it and got inside. It was full of 14-year-old privates.
"Sergeant! Stop one and a half kilometres before point C." I said to the driver.
He turned his head backwards, looked at me, then at my badge.
"Okay, sir."
"Why aren't they using the air force, sir?" A private asked me.
"They have deployed all their advanced aircraft in Targalia. The ones here are outdated and simple cargo planes." Ferry replied as he had more information on this matter.
"Why?" Another private asked
"Well, they are too proud of their defence systems," I replied.
"Although we carpet bombed them two weeks ago," Said Alfred.
"The pride ate them." I continued.
I knew it was another try to breach our defences, the same try they have been doing for the past two years. But for them to reach point C so fast. And we didn't even know about it, which makes it a serious problem.
After a bumpy ride, we got out, and the privates followed us.
"Privates, don't rush towards the enemy. Advance slowly, but steadily. And don't form big groups. Be in pairs." I ordered, took a breath. "Okay…move out!"
"Yes, sir!" They replied together and began to move towards point C.
"Barnett and I will join the snipers 300 metres ahead; the two of you follow the privates. But don't go too near. Maintain a distance of 400 metres. And…Be careful."
"Roger," Alfred and Ferry replied. And they left.
Barnett and I rushed towards the sniper group. They were present in the ruins of Outer Egnisk. They were under the command of Captain Jensen.
"Lieutenant, go to that house." He said as he pointed towards the ruins of a three-story house in the far left.
Barnett and I went to the roof of the house and took our positions. I placed the new ARK, adjusted its position and the scope.
"TTC in the right, wind 4 knots…" She spoke, but I interrupted her.
"Sorry, Barnett, but the digital scope is giving me the wind speed and the range. So your role has now been reduced to telling me where the target is."
"Then remove it."
"Well…" I chuckled. I had chuckled after two weeks.
I spotted the TTC. The scope gave me the information. I aimed and fired. The recoil pushed me back, but it didn't hurt much. The bullet travelled the 800 metres and took down the TTC.
"Another one in the right, moving south."
I followed her directions, saw the TTC and took it down. This new ARK was indeed better than the older model. With it, I took down three more TTCs. The enemy forces were advancing slowly and slowly. But their movements were coming to a halt.
"TTC towards the right in the north." She told me.
I was about to fire when suddenly a shell came at us. It missed us but hit the foundation of the house, hence, collapsing it. We fell, but it wasn't high enough to damage us badly. Due to the fall, the pain in my ribs and thigh was revived. I got up and called Barnett's name. But she didn't respond. I looked at her. She was unconscious, and her head was bleeding badly. A big rock lay beside her head. My heart began to beat rapidly.
"Lieutenant, take your squad mate to the medic. I will give you cover." A second lieutenant on my right spoke.
"Okay…" I responded.
I placed the ARK back on my shoulder and was about to lift her, but suddenly I heard and saw multiple explosions occurring among the enemy forces. Our tanks have arrived, and they have begun to take down the enemy forces. The enemy began to retreat, leaving many corpses behind. And the attack was repelled.
I lifted Barnett and hurried towards the medic camp. I moved as quickly as I could. But her head kept bleeding. My heart went numb. The moment Valkin died replayed in my mind. I was too scared. I couldn't afford to lose another one. When I reached the medic camp, a nurse signalled and helped her onto a bed.
The nurse checked her vitals, her blood pressure, and her heartbeat.
"Her condition worsening, I will give her the necessary treatment."
My mouth opened. I could feel my breathing getting faint. I could hear my heartbeat getting louder.
"Martin, where are you?" Ferry asked me on the radio.
"I am in the medic camp. Barnett is badly injured." I responded.
"What?" He took a pause. "Stay where you are. We are coming."
I took out my water bottle and drank half of it. I was sweating. My heartbeat was becoming faster and faster. Then, at last, Ferry and Alfred came. They looked at her and then at me. They understood. I explained to them how it all happened.
"Martin, relax. Go back to the room. Alfred will come with you. I will stay here. Don't worry." He tried to relax me.
I looked at him and Alfred. Alfred was nodding as well. I looked at Barnett's face. And with Alfred, I went to the room.
"Don't worry. Just relax." Alfred assured me as we left the camp.
"Okay…Okay," I said and took deep breaths.
On our way, a sergeant came to us.
"Lieutenant, Captain Pierson told me to tell you that Colonel Yornus is calling you and your squad to General Yarna's office."
"Just say General Yarna is calling us," Alfred responded.
We heard and began to move towards the general's office.
Upon reaching, I knocked on the door. A voice said Come in. It was Michaela. I opened the door, and the two of us entered.
"Well…Well. Lieutenant, you are here." Michaela spoke as we entered.
Colonel Yornus was sitting on a sofa on the left. General Yarna was sitting on another sofa on the right.
"I have heard that you, rather than taking out Argen, took out his arm. You made him armless." He smirked. "I also heard that you alone took down 5 TTC just now. Well done."
Alfred looked at me with shock and a bit of a scared face. I looked at him with a serious face. He understood that I would beat the hell out of him if he said something, so he began to look forward.
"Sir, those kills were due…" I was interrupted.
"You speak when I tell you to." Said Michaela.
He opened a box and took out a badge. I understood what it was, and I only became angrier.
"Well, now…" He stripped my Lieutenant's badge and pinned the badge of a captain. He adjusted my collar, patted my shoulder. And looked at me while smirking. He…was mocking me…AGAIN!!
He turned away and threw away the previous badge.
"Congratulations on the promotion. Captain…Martin. Well done." He said and clapped.
I became full of rage. I clenched my fists. But Alfred slightly hit me with his elbow. And signalled to cool down, to control.
"Sir…His feats are indeed great. But it's too early for a promotion." General Yarna spoke as he spotted my anger.
"Yarna…I…am the Supreme Commander. I can promote or demote whoever I want. And no one can question it." He looked at General Yarna.
"Yes, sir," General looked at me, then below.
"Well…" He turned and was about to say something. But then he looked at Colonel Yornus. The colonel was staring at him. The look in his eyes was something I had never seen.
Michaela then looked at me. His smile had faded. "Leave, both of you." His tone has changed. Both of us saluted and left.
I was so angry, I couldn't control it. I rushed back to the room. Alfred followed me.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM?" I shouted and slammed my cap on the ground. "I am so going to kill him next time. Alfred, I will kill him." I went near my bed. I stripped off my new badge and threw it on the ground. "Captain Martin…That son of a…"
"Martin, Martin!! Relax." Alfred said to me. "Relax, take deep breaths."
On his words, I began to calm down and sat on my bed.
"I understand your frustration. I hate him as much as you do. You are now a captain. You like it or not. But you are." He took a deep breath. "Don't worry, your time to humiliate him will come. You will get your revenge."
I calmed down.
"Now, lie down, and sleep. You are tired."
I followed his orders and went to sleep. The anger was overwhelming, and I doubted I would get any sleep. But the opposite happened. I nearly slept for six hours and woke up. I was about to get up, but I heard Ferry and Alfred talking. So I decided to hear.
"The pressure is too much for Martin. Leader, Valkin's death, that retard supreme commander, and now…Barnett. We have to do something. We must help him," Alfred said.
"Yeah, you are right. He has too many expectations, too many duties on him. We have to do something to reduce the burden. Or he may go mad." Ferry continued.
"But…the question is what to do?" Alfred asked.
"That's what I can't understand myself."
Both of them were worried about me. It made me slightly happy.
After a while, I decided to get up. I slowly got up and sat on my bed. They looked at me. Something was wrong; their faces told everything.
"What happened? Tell me." I asked them.
"No…nothing happened." Said Alfred.
"Alfred…make a believable face before lying. Hiding will make it only worse."
"Martin…" Alfred was about to speak, but Ferry stopped him.
"Martin, after you left. A doctor came and checked her. He said that her cerebral hemisphere was badly damaged, and she had gone into a coma." He took a pause. "Captain Pierson found out, and on his expenses sent her to Pharkis for better treatment."
Upon hearing that, my heartbeat increased rapidly. I couldn't control my anger. I demanded only one thing—the death of Argen and Michaela.