The Silence of Seven Men
Somewhere in Central Africa, inside a military base in an unknown tropical forest, a group of 21 soldiers gathered in a dimly lit room, where a seasoned general prepared the men for a briefing on the events that happened long before they had entered the army.
As the men found their seats, the general wasted no time with introductions and began talking.
“My name is General Sheppard, and I will be introducing you whelps to the objectives of our army you just joined.” Behind the general the movie screen showed the word “objectives” in a very flashy manner.
“Number One: Take back Earth. Number Two: Take back Earth. And if the first two weren’t clear Number Three: Take back motherfucking EARTH!” The general said as he clenched his fist in anger and slammed it on the desk after mentioning the last objective.
After cooling down, General Sheppard focused his attention on the movie screen as he began talking once more.
“What you are about to see on the big screen behind me, is actual footage of the disasters that befell the civilized world almost ten years now.” The general said as he gave the signal to start the movie, and took a seat as well.
What little light illuminated the room vanished as it was replaced by the shinning screen, when the movie began rolling.
“The events that occurred at the beginning of the year 2014 which continued for seven years were recorded by many of those that were victims, but the information left behind by seven men in particular would give rise to a new type of movement among the masses.”
Images of buildings falling to the ground, people dying and running away flashed on the screen, as the dominant voice continued talking, replaced by seven shadows that stood imposingly in the middle of the screen.
“A movement that would give humanity the fighting chance it needed, for the future that seemed so bleak when it all began on February 27th, 2014 in the city of Constanta, known now as the city of Martyrs.”
Images of how the city was before the events, images of how it was during those events, and lastly images of the city after it had fallen. All these brought smiles which turned to frowns and ultimately shock.
To most soldiers such images were hard to believe and accept, having lived for half of their life in the comforts of the forests and jungles around them, their memories of their former home were only now dreams from a fairytale.
“Nobody knows why the events began here, but this city was also the last to fall.” The voice said with pride, as images of the army fighting amongst the chaos appeared and disappeared abruptly as it left behind the image of the desolate city Constanta in ruins.
“It’s thanks to this city that you who are watching now are still alive. It’s thanks to what these men discovered in this city that a solution to the horrors that came after those events was found.”
With that last sentence a date appeared on the screen, large enough that even those that had bad eyesight could see it clearly.
“On February 14th a war between Russian and Ukrainian troops engulfed the whole region spreading throughout the neighboring countries, Romania however was sparred such a fate, but the people had become accustomed to seeing military planes flying above their heads.”
A map of Europe appeared on the screen, followed by a close up of the Ukrainian and Russian border. Here, images of people shooting each other, tanks ramming into fences and planes bombing buildings appeared one after the other.