Sounds Of War

Backstories

AN: Trying to be serious, but to me it sounds cooler if you read this part in Optimus Prime's Voice. ~Raven 🙃

Years ago, there was a war. A war against the dreaded forces of Gaea, an organization dedicated to murder, terrorism, and hate. They killed innocent people because they were unconventional. They hated anyone who wasn't them, people of different races, faith, sexuality, if you weren't them, you were the enemy. The war lasted four long years. During this time, many people endangered their lives, fighting for their country and their right to be who they wanted. Among the many people who put their lives at risk, few returned home. They were victorious in they end, but it did not feel as if it was truly won. People lost their family and friends. They kept their freedom, and lost the important people in their lives, it was an unfair trade. Those who fought gave their lives for something everyone should have.

Many of the heroes that did return, were not treated the way they deserved. After all they did, all the horrible things they had seen, they lost their homes, couldn't get jobs, they were pushed away. They were treated like they were the ones to blame for the loss. It was like a repetition of Vietnam.

(End Optimus Prime voice.)

                            ~

Jason:

In high school, I took ROTC all four years. All I ever wanted was to make a difference and save people. So, I joined the military. I was in the Air Force. Senior Airman, an Aerial Gunner to be exact. My job was to inspect guns, defensive systems, and related aircraft equipment before and after missions as well as operate the guns. 'With a job like that you're bound to see some scary shit.' If that's what you were thinking, you're right. But, to be honest, I really don't like talking about it, so don't ask me. Not trying to be rude, but I just wanted to make that clear before I started telling you about myself.

Anyway, I was raised in Sonoma Valley, California with/by my sister Thalia. My father abandoned us. My mother was a drunk, she was rarely ever home, so that left Thalia to take care of me when I was younger. Then one day, when I was around eleven, my mom just stopped coming home. Thalia was just 16 at the time and couldn't take care of us by herself so we went to live with our aunt.

Her name was Lupa. Our lives slowly got better from there, Lupa was a wonderful parent figure for us. She was strict yet still managed to be kind. We were all happy, Thalia finally got the chance to be a teenager, I had a mom, and Lupa couldn't have children of her own so she was glad to have us to raise. She was a veteran and she worked at a military school. She would tell us stories about when she was deployed, that's what got me ad Thalia so interested in the military. Lupa was so happy when Thalia told her she wanted to join the army and I can't even describe how ecstatic she was when I told her I wanted to join the Air force. She and Thalia were both there when I finished basic training, they congratulated me and Lupa hugged me so tight I thought she had broken one of my ribs. *chuckle* Ah, that was one of the happiest days of my life. As soon as the war had started I got sent to Arizona and I stayed on the Luke Air force base for about six months before I got deployed.

During one of the last attacks in the war, the helicopter I was on got shot down. Then I really had broken my ribs, six of them. We were so close to having them surrender, by the time I was done in the infirmary, we had won the war. The next day, I was on my way home. After we came back to the states, I was honorably discharged. I was only twenty three.

After that it was kind of difficult, I was lucky compared to others, but I couldn't work for a while because of my injuries, so I had to live with Lupa, who had moved to New York. She loved having me around and all but I wanted to be independent. About six months later, I started working again. I had gotten a job at a fancy restaurant as a waiter. The pay was decent, they let me take home the leftovers at the end of the night, overall it was an ok job. After a while, I had saved saved up enough money to get my own apartment.