First Light of a New Age

Chapter 12: Mobilization

Austronesian Empire, Imperial Tanah Melayu, Butterworth

2000, 1, 1st Week, January.

I remember hearing a thunderous roar made when the violent storm happened. It was so loud that I could hear it even from our home. At first I thought it was a rocket attack or something, and no sooner had it faded when I could already hear gunfire and explosions erupting from south of us. I immediately rushed back into our apartment and found my husband there. The TV had cut out and instead there was just a blue screen and an announcement that some kind of attack was going on. My husband and I both served in the military, that's where we met, and we remained with the reserve. So he brought out the radio tuned into our unit's special frequency, and we could hear the order was being made by the Colonel for all reservists to report to Ammunition Hill at once.

We arrived at the rally point maybe 20 minutes later, all kitted out in our gear and everything. It was past twelve in the early morning during this violent storm, but the entire area was lit up with floodlights. We saw many of our neighbors and others we had served with already there. There were also several M113s that were being loaded up. 

Not long after we arrived, I saw ten tanks come rumbling down the street, right past us. In addition to the men riding inside them, I also saw some of the men riding desant on the back of the tanks. I was so very confused. This was an awfully large show of force for what we thought until then was just another terrorist attack, or maybe another riot.

We were given orders as follows: several units, including my husband's, would lead the charge, aimed at putting this enemy down for good. The rest, including my unit and the other all-female squads, formed a reserve who would follow some ways behind the main push. Our job would be to provide support to the first line, and also to engage in search-and-rescue ops for wounded civilians. 

We were all still confused about what was going on. I didn't think it could be a simple riot because we had tanks and everything, but I also didn't think it could be another coordinated surprise attack, like ten years ago, because we would have known about it long before. Something was definitely wrong.

At 0040pm, not more than 40 minutes after the storm appeared, we were off. My husband and his unit were part of the first wave. We followed behind, maybe fifty, maybe sixty meters. As we approached downtown, on our right, we could hear the shouting and gunfire getting ever louder and louder, the sounds of the enemy, the police and reservist units in those neighborhoods already engaged. I could hear new orders coming over the radio all the time. 

They were being overwhelmed, shouting about superhuman giants in black armor that looked like knights, armed with what appeared to be... a sword. Yes, swords. One guy even claimed it was, like a wrathful Malaikah or something. I couldn't believe it, I thought that maybe they must have been delusional or something. 

Oh, how wrong I was.

Then, new orders came. It seemed that our initial push to put down the enemy was failing. Our new instructions were merely to herd them away from the downtown and out eastwards, it's mainly enemy territory out there, so we didn't think much of it at the time. The enemy, logically, would try to follow the path of least resistance, and so we would dig in and hold our ground. With these new orders received, we began hunkering down and taking up defensive positions. I took point in a storefront, along with two of my squaddies, Sarah and Miryam. Across the street, I saw a heavy weapons team digging inside a cafe front. 

They were setting up an M47 Dragon.

That's when the radio again alerted us that the situation had changed yet again. It seems these enemies did not "follow the path of least resistance" as we had expected, and instead were deliberately charging right towards where the fighting was heaviest.