Soldiers And Beasts

3. Ironfield Cantonment

(Gore Warning)

John Pov.

We were still flying in the Chinook for a few hours. I was sitting near the ramp, holding my AR-MD3 in my lap with both hands locked around its body with a firm hold. I was pretty nervous, to say the least, but I was certain, without a shred of doubt, that the others were as nervous as I was. As I looked around the Chinook, I could see the expressions on the others that they were all equally nervous. Perhaps they were scared as well. In all honesty, who wouldn't be scared at all? I was scared too. I couldn't possibly imagine being so calm when we were entering places occupied by enemies. Ever since we departed from Fort Taurus, no one has spoken a word. At first, everyone was chatting and remaining casual, as if we weren't flying towards enemy-occupied towns. However, halfway the conversations between the groups started to become slow and quiet, and eventually, they became soundless. Now the only noise that made any sound was the rotating blades above us and the engine of the Chinook. 

I took my beret off and threw my head back against the wall. I wanted to say something to appease the anxious tension that was progressively building up inside the Chinook, but I had no clue as to what to say.

Lt. General Hoffman and ADA were the only two who remained silent throughout the whole ride, not having said anything even since we left Fort Taurus. I wanted to break the silence so badly because it was killing me. Even though I wanted to say something to break the ice, I couldn't find the will to shatter the barrier of silence that was sitting between all of us. It was creating an awkward zone for everyone in the Chinook. Even Faith remained still and silent. Not even the pilot in the cockpit of the Chinook said anything.

Knowing that no one wasn't going to try and make conversation, I took this time before we anchor on the discrete location Lt. General Hoffman told us about to reflect on how I came to be one with the Spec Ops Division and a soldier of The New World Leadership.

I remember it so vividly as if it was only yesterday. I was just a soldier who wanted to get revenge for what the Anthros did to their father. But, when I was kidnapped and tortured for answers on how to defeat the people who I was fighting alongside, I preferred to die for humanity than let it die as if it didn't spend millions of years evolving into what it is now. However, when I joined the New World Leadership and assigned to the Spec Ops Division, I started to understand that these creatures, who we were meant to hate and kill, were somewhat similar to us than I hadn't thought.

They bled, they felt, they thought, and they behaved like any human would, even during times of war. At first, I believed Anthros to be nothing but feral beasts who were hellbent on eliminating the human race so that they could maintain superiority over the earth. I was wrong. That was not the full story.

Anthros never wanted a war to begin with. Humanity embarked on a journey to make sure that they remained the superior species of the earth by having Anthros bend down on their knees and submit to their rules: it was either submission or death.

Anthros wanted to avoid conflict, but its humans who forced them to fight back and kill off humans. Because of their need to keep themselves at the top, they signed their death warrants when they declared war on a species that towered above them with physical feats that humans couldn't match. As I glanced at the others in the Chinook who continued to hold emotionless stares and uncouth silence, I began to think that trying to help them regain peace between themselves and humans is worth the trouble. The more time that I spent with them, I started to see them as more than just Anthros, as more than just the people that I tried to kill. I saw them as my teammates, regardless of whether two of them didn't see me that way.

I started to understand that even if Anthros did some things similar to humans. It was humans that started this war first. It was their mistake that we have to fix. If I'm a war criminal, then good, I'd rather be seen as such than be seen as a contributor to the genocide of a species that wanted to live in peace despite having the physical feats to dominate the species that tried to eradicate them off the face of the earth.