I always thought dying in war as a soldier was the peak of manhood, the truest way to prove you were a man.
And I always believed I was fighting for my nation, a cause worth dying for.
But no.
I was fighting for the masters of war. They were men above other men, but without the honor of a man.
And if my death wasn't for my nation, then what was my life for?
******
"Major! Major!"
A voice cut through the roar of explosions and the thunder of war around Din. He stood in the middle of the battlefield, corpses strewn all around him.
Broken bodies were scattered around like carcasses in a cutting plant.
Friends, comrades, brothers-in-arms. No longer recognizable, but their names never to be forgotten.
Some were new recruits, boys who had come with dreams of providing for their families, of protecting them.
Snap.
A twig underfoot snapped and a heavy weight pressed down on his shoulders.
"What… where…" Din's lusterless eyes widened as realization came.
"Major!" a young soldier called as Din turned stiffly. The soldier still had the face of a child. This was his first war. His hands trembled on Din's shoulders, his legs quivered.
"Private," Din answered.
Boom.
A grenade detonated. Debris missed, but the shockwave still hit them. Din landed hard on the ground, his ears ringing as he clutched his head.
This war was intense. How could they, after all the intelligence they had gathered, still have fallen into a trap? Din's mind raced.
They had walked into an ambush. The enemy surrounded them. By the time they realized, it was too late. The enemy swarmed like raging ants, tearing through their first line of defense.
They were completely surrounded. There was no way to escape except to fight through, but they were outnumbered and outgunned.
It was only a matter of time before Din and his army were wiped out like unwelcome dust on a plate.
"I need to inform the Lieutenant General," Major Din said. Someone from the inside must have leaked their plan. The Lieutenant General had to be told or more men would die a meaningless death. It was one thing to die in a fight, and another thing to die in a slaughter.
Right now, Din didn't care about his life or death. He cared about getting the words out. As a soldier, he was ready to lay down his life for his fellow men - for his country.
"Private, I need you to-" Din's words trailed off as he saw that the kid at his side was dead, his guts spilling out.
"Is this it?" Din closed his eyes. This boy was part of the newest batch of privates. Din remembered giving them a speech that morning. He'd joked, saying they had it easy, that this would be the easiest war for them. Now they were all dead. That joke wasn't funny anymore.
The metallic scent of blood and gunpowder filled Din's nostrils as he looked around. Corpses enough to form a mountain lay everywhere, and those mountains were growing bigger.
The enemy had suffered minimal damage, but his army had been wiped out.
The gunfire abruptly stopped. Din struggled to stand, only managing to kneel - not the final stance he wanted to take before his death, but it was the best he could do.
The ground trembled under the enemies' boots as they searched the field.
Din looked at his rifle. He had no more bullets. His pistol was empty too.
It was over for him, but Din had no fear - only regret.
"Wait… an officer spotted," a young voice called as marching boots drew nearer.
Din's head hung low in defeat. It was all over for him. And he failed. Miserably. He didn't even manage to report back to the base about the ambush. There was a mole in the army. More soldiers would die, not because they were weak, but because they were betrayed.
For him there was nothing left. He'd lost his parents two years ago, and at thirty he did decently to reach the rank of Major. It was a befitting life. Din had poured his soul into the army. Growing up he had been looked down on, but on the battlefield he was looked up to. He led by example and was rewarded with respect.
He knew he could die anytime, but his love for his country still burned hot in his heart. The leaders were making it a better place. He sincerely believed it. He would die today, but there would be a better tomorrow for those who lived.
"It's a Major, sir," a voice announced. Din assumed the young soldier who found him was reporting to his commander in charge. If he had one bullet - just one bullet, then he would have given his all to take the enemy commander with him.
"Good," a low, booming voice answered.
It was a voice that sounded…oddly familiar.
"Doesn't that sound like Lieu-" he began, but his words died as unfamiliar faces met his when he lifted his head. Cold, bloody, and ready to kill.
Seeing them, Din smiled.
For a second there he had thought it was the Lieutenant General. Din chuckled at the silly thought, a foolish hope. But when the first row of soldiers moved to the side, a familiar face came into view.
"Lieutenant General? How come…?" Din said, shocked. He looked around - had backup arrived? No messages had gotten out from the battlefield. So how? A divine intervention?
"Major Din, who knew you could survive to the end?" the man said as he approached. Tall, stern, and grinning, he made Din's mind reel.
"What is going on?" Din gasped.
"Ah, glad you asked, Din," the Lieutenant General said. "You did well. Our soldiers fought a great battle, none deserted. They gave their all to the end. You trained them well." His tone was casual, like men in the barracks sharing tea over playing cards, indifferent to the carnage around them.
"I commend you. What's happening is… well, let's just say it's for the greater good," the Lieutenant General continued. He smiled, theatrically looking around as if he was counting the dead bodies. Whatever he had in mind, to him, that was greater than the number of men who died today.
It was then that Din realized. A flicker of satisfaction in the Lieutenant General's eyes told him everything he needed to know.
"How dare you! You were the betrayer! How dare you betray our country!"
Din fumed. The treachery of the vile rat enraged him, and the thought that no one would ever know the truth crushed his spirit.
"Hahaha… betrayal? Wait, what do you think this is? Oh," The Lieutenant General paused before continuing, "I guess you were taught this was a war, but aw please… a war? In this day and age? Who would do something so barbaric?"
Din thought he had no more strength in his body, but his hands trembled with an anger he had never felt so viciously before.
"It's what we call… strategic maneuver. This is not war to destroy, but laying out the building blocks - foundations for the future. You had a role to play here, Major, and you played it splendidly. Really, I applaud you."
The mocking clap of the Lieutenant General caused a round of laughter from the enemy soldiers.
"Why…? Lieutenant General… what was all this for…?"
Din's resolve was fading away, and in its place, only despair grew.
"Resources. We've got something very special here. Something that no one in the world has seen before. Something that could change the course of civilization. Something that needed to be covered with blood to keep the prying eyes away from digging deeper. Wouldn't you sacrifice a few pawns to win the long game, too, Din?"
"You… sacrificed our lives for some fucking resources?!" Din erupted with fury. "They had families! They thought they were fighting to protect their people - their country! But to you, they're what? Pawns?! Fighting for some stupid material?!"
His eyes burned red as he shouted. A sharp pain stabbed his side. His rib was probably broken, but it didn't matter now.
"Shhh… there, there," the Lieutenant General said calmly.
He gestured with a wave. One of the men beside him handed him a pistol. The Lieutenant General took it, weighing it casually in his hand before glancing at Din.
"Thank you for your service, Major. You're dismissed."
BANG.
A single, clean shot to the head.
Din's body collapsed to the ground. Lifeless.
At that exact moment, deep beneath the earth, a translucent crystal pulsed faintly, flickering in and out of existence, as Din's final breath left his body.