High School Soldier
135. The honor they have to prove

Some soldiers walk in the place where he held ‘party’. The pre-war party was held to keep the soldiers mentally awake. National and military songs were played from dozens of loudspeakers, and soldiers danced under the night sky with trillions of stars and two otherworldly moons.

There are no lights to turn on the colorful party lights. The lighting of the fort at night is just hundreds of torches and bonfires that are turned on all over the fort.National and military songs created by famous Indonesian composers symbolize the pride and dignity of the Republic of Indonesia and its soldiers.

For ‘forces refugees’ who do not understand the songs played, they simply listen and feel if this song is full of struggle. They also occasionally sang songs they knew when they were slaves and commoners. It's just that the song they sang had the meaning of a life struggle, not a war song.

It was dark tonight, the air was clear with a slight scent of fuel, and so many soldiers were gathering together. If plus the fireworks show will certainly be very beautiful, but too hope is not too good for physical and mental health. After all, the material for making fireworks is quite valuable and can be used as an explosive device or something.

It was only a matter of time until the time of the attack came, but they, the soldiers, had never wanted this war in the first place. Any time spent with them would be a mere illusion if the hope of winning was not there. So waiting for war time to arrive by partying is a way for the soldiers to meet with friends or lovers before facing the enemy attack.

No matter how strong the soldiers were, even though they had gone through more wars than they could count, death always loomed over them.

Until now, there is still no answer to the prayers of the soldiers of the Expeditionary Force. No matter how much they worship, if good wishes are not on their side, then no help will be gained.

The entire rover Team 1 and several other rover squads searched for Nio's whereabouts as they gathered to feast together. The atmosphere here was completely silent, not even the sound of melodious singing at all could be heard from the mouths of Liben and a few other warriors. But they continued to sing with happy faces, even though the girls stared at them with sinister faces.

They gathered around a large bonfire, with some cassava deliberately burned as a snack.

All soldiers must count down the time until the war breaks out, so they spend time having fun before the war. Even if the countdown repeats itself to zero, they will continue to struggle through it.

Some soldiers besides enjoying this party in their own way, some choose to invite some female soldiers to dance in pairs. According to them, if this war is over they can express feelings if good luck is on their side.

The members of Team 1 explorer, Sidik, looked at the ranks of the female members who were having fun. Then, Liben realizes that Sidik is interested in one of the girls of the Cruiser Squad 1. He smiled and patted Sidik on the back which shocked the 18-year-old.

“Who do you like among them?”

Sidik realized if Liben knew his movements earlier, then he with a small smile glanced at Fariz. Since being placed in Team 1, Sidik several times tried to find out the type of man the girl liked. However, soon a war will occur and it is impossible to ask that stupid thing again.

Then, he saw people dancing in pairs getting crowded, and Sidik could not help but invite Fariz to do that as well. Liben tells Sidik to get close to Fariz before another man approaches the girl.

Indeed, Sidik is no less handsome than Nio, and some girls who realize they can't get close to Nio admit it. Including Fariz, even the girl had heard that some young female officers were interested in Nio, and that made her give up on approaching Nio.

With steady steps, and both hands clasped, Sidik walked up to Fariz who was talking with the other female soldiers. Although he dared to fight with some superiors, except for Nio, Sidik was quite afraid to invite Fariz to dance together. Of course he was afraid that his invitation would be rejected, yet he had no intention of stopping halfway.

The aim stopped in front right in front of Fariz, and made the girl look up to see the face of the person approaching her. Realizing that the two of them were making eye contact, Sidik felt that his heart was beating much faster than when he ran 20 kilometers. Right then, while glancing at Fariz's cheekstarch's eyes flushed slightly.

“What is this? Sidik, do you want to take Fariz?” Dinda asked with a pugnacious face.

After hearing Dinda's words, Sidik gulped until his junks moved up and down, only to say, “Iya. Do you want to dance with me?”

Some of the soldiers who heard that immediately smiled, and some of them said they were envious because no man had invited them to dance together. Then Sidik reached out his hand that was already dry from sweat, and was ready to receive Fariz's hand. Even so, Sidik is ready to bear the shame if his invitation is rejected.

Fariz stood with a reddened face, then grabbed Sidik's hand as a sign of accepting the young man's invitation. However, it does not make Sidik's heartbeat calm, it becomes more and more so. Now, the faces of both of them turned red amid the cheers of the party participants surrounding this bonfire.

With the cheers of the male members of the Cruiser Squad 1, Sidik took Fariz slightly ahead of the party attendees, and joined the other dance participants. The accompanying music now was the singing and applause of the soldiers.

With a stiff initial movement, Fariz tried to compensate for Sidik's agile movements that were seen to have often danced. Their faces continued to stare at each other when the movements were mismatched, and continued to dance with the other participants.

“Do you like me?”

Sidik still maintained his movements so as not to be chaotic, and felt if his face reddened after hearing Fariz's question.

“What can?”

“Te-of course, after the war is over you can ask me out,” Fariz's face gets flushed even more when she says it.

“Good. After getting the vacation ration, we'll both be dating all day.”

Looking at the dance participants who were dominated by the teenage soldiers, the senior soldiers who already had their own families were envious. They were eager to disperse this activity, but still they did not have the heart after seeing the pair of soldiers who were dancing happily.

How can they have fun and express feelings for each other even if they all know that soon war is breaking out?

**

Nio walked past several groups of soldiers who had gathered for some prewar fun, and greeted some people who greeted him first.

While everyone was having fun, Nio did not see Lux in the group of women. Meanwhile, Nio had already ordered the girls in his Squad to familiarize themselves with Zariv.

Nio then remembered where Lux and Zariv were resting, although he had to walk a little further to reach the tent where the general girl was.

There were many warriors still roaming the surroundings of the fortress to prepare themselves, and choosing to stay away from the party that was a little useless. All war vehicles were preparing before being used for war, and dozens of heavy equipment were deployed to create defensive trenches. The trenches built are interconnected and form a long defensive trench route.

Gio finds Nio walking alone without any control of the members of the Cruiser Squad 1. After Nio said the reason, Gio let Nio walk away from him and he walked over again to meet the officers to make sure the entire preparation was done.

Nio finally arrived at a tent that was enough for 25 people and luggage. For lighting inside the tent, there are three hanging oil lamps. The usual field tent for this refugee is inhabited by Lux who is still doing something in it.

“Lux, I'm in.”.

Nio entered the tent without a second thought after saying that, and looked at the inside of the tent that there was only one person with a beam of oil lamps as lighting. Although the oil lamp did not produce light energy as bright as a fluorescent lamp, but Nio could still see the beautiful curves of the girl in front of him.

Something that made Nio once again not want to see something just by looking at it from the outside alone, and a girl who still had not finished wearing her battle clothes. Nio was not a trashy young man who was happy to see the innocent body of a woman, let alone a woman who was very difficult to guess by nature.

“What? You must be hoping I yell ‘kyaa...!!!’ after you went inside when I was naked, right?”

A teenager like Nio was of course very surprised when he saw the reaction Lux gave after seeing her naked body. Even Lux looked completely unperturbed as Nio's eyes were fixed on her cleavage.

Nio thought that Lux had gotten used to it when a man saw her innocent body, but that was not the real answer.

“Looks like you've just seen the innocent body of a girl, huh?”

Lux's smiling face when looking at Nio's expression that looks ‘can't believe’ when staring at both of his chest turned out to be able to make Nio feel ‘threatened’. Because she still does not know the true nature of Lux, because the girl sometimes shows a flat expression when dealing with other people, and shows a sweet face when dealing with Nio. The young man was still curious about the smile Lux was showing.

Lux then turned her back to store the body armor she had not been able to wear because of Nio's entry into her tent, and showed something on the girl's back.

This was the first time anyone had seen a plain body without the protection of a single thread belonging to Lux. The girl never let anyone in her army see her naked, not even the other girls. So, Nio was the first to see her innocent body.

Her skin was white and and seemed to feel smooth if she touched it, completely different from the female soldiers of the Expeditionary Force who both often served in the field. Although there were some new scars, there were some striking old scars on Lux's back that didn't seem to be the result of a battle. Nio turned his gaze to the scar that looked like dozens of terrible sharp object incision marks. Although he also had some similar scars on his face and body, it was still nothing with the sizeable and long scar on the girl's back.

“Nio.. only you and His Majesty Sigiz did not stay away when they were near me. People think that if I am too strong as a girl, because that was when I was a kid my parents threw me away. Until finally he found me who lived wild, and ended up being one of the generals of the Kingdom of Arevelk.”

At first the atmosphere was calm, but after that Lux's voice seemed to be unsettled after maintaining its calm. Her pink thin lips trembled like a helpless creature as she tried to smile towards Nio.

Lux walked slowly with her upper body that was not covered by anything towards Nio while saying, “People in the military academy are starting to envy me being too close to His Majesty. Then, the male higher-ups did something to me, creating this terrible scar. That's why I always wrapped the bandage around my body causing my chest to look small.”

“Eh... ah…? Why did you say that?” said Nio with his innocent face.

Nio thought that Lux would cry, but the girl actually walked closer to him with a smooth body that seemed increasingly clear. He could not at all turn his gaze towards the two chests that turned out to be quite large in size.

“It is not like that Lux, even though the battlefield is filled with bad possibilities and suffering. We, the Expeditionary Force know that surviving a major war will be very difficult. But all we will do is find a way to reopen the perfect Gate. We also do not want to trouble the witches to continue to open the imperfect Gate in order to continue to connect with Indonesia. Tired is natural, but we can not give up, so patience is the best choice.”

When he was first assigned, honestly Nio felt very afraid of facing an enemy from another world that was only armed with swords and arrows. He always heard rumors if the enemy troops always beheaded the defeated troops. Then, when he remembered his goal of becoming a soldier, Nio did not care about all the risks while fighting. That is why a person who is in the midst of danger will continue to live if he emphasizes the feeling of fear of dangerous things.

The fact that he is fighting on a very dangerous battlefield, is that he and all TNI soldiers have sworn soldiers to be loyal to the Republic of Indonesia, and obey the orders of the superior to continue to fight to protect the people and the country even though it is no longer connected, if necessary to do battle until the body is destroyed rather than suicide.

The soldiers would always carry the name of the country in their hearts, just as they gave the lover a place in their hearts. The name of the friend who died before them is always in the heart. Never ignore or forget anyone and anything, they will continue to fight until they reach the last goal, which is to win. It was the most glorious ending for the soldier.

When he saw Lux's bright face illuminated with oil lamps, Nio remembered Beautiful whom he had recently cut off his relationship with. Lux gave a small smile as she got closer to Nio, meanwhile Nio stepped back as Lux got closer to her.

“Lux, why don't you join the party-.” someone who entered the tent suddenly and said it immediately made Nio turn back quickly.

Lux again put on a flat face when she saw the person who was bothering her to be with Nio. Meanwhile, the person who entered the tent without permission, Zariv, just stood in front of the entrance of the tent.

Zariv intends to bring Lux to join the party, and prepares to face the battle. However, now he saw Lux half-naked with Nio inside the tent as the entire army prepared to welcome the enemy.

“So yes, you intend to precede me and His Majesty?”

“Am I wrong trying to have him?”

Nio was just standing in the middle of a female fight, he had not found a way if he was in the middle of a situation like this. Even when Arunika was arguing with Lisa she could only keep quiet while watching from a distance while enjoying ice cream.

Nio did not understand the conversation between the two of them, and still could not ignore Lux's half-naked body.

Meanwhile, Lux and Sigiz are still arguing about how to fight over a Nio's heart. Because besides them, there must be some women who are interested in approaching Nio.

But who will take Nio's heart?

Then, the siren sound of war signs sounded very loud and shocked all the soldiers, even the refugee troops were also shocked. The entire person immediately completed their respective preparations before occupying their respective positions. All the soldiers prayed according to their respective religions and beliefs, some were still performing morning worship. Finished all preparations including breakfast and listening to the words of encouragement from their generals, all the soldiers who were in charge of facing the enemy directly, came out of the fortress and occupied their respective positions.

The personnel inside the command and control room were no less busy and the atmosphere in this room was very tense. All turret defense operators try to refrain from excessive sweating of their hands.

Nio immediately dashed out of the fort with the two girls as the sound of a very loud siren continued to sound. Even before the war started, Nio seemed to be able to see the end of this war. Nio sensed something also at this war, he could feel the waves of his emotions filled with a sense of courage, and hope to win.

Lux closed her eyes, and Zariv was still praying to the Goddess of Hope whom she trusted. No matter how powerful they were, a large number of enemies continued to overshadow them. If it were to fall, Lux would be very proud to be able to fight alongside Nio, Zariv was also like that and would be very proud to be able to bring out all of his full magic abilities on this battlefield. They will not hold back any longer, as soon as they both want to end this war, in order to immediately capture Nio's heart.

**

Without a sense of coercion, the soldiers occupied their respective positions on the battlefield of death. As long as the Gate did not appear again, the things they had to defend were the fortress and the red and white flags fluttering in several corners of this place. They just fight to keep it going.

The entire army must have wondered how they came home, was there still anything that could be done to meet the family again? They have no reason to back down, they have a future to defend. The warrior also has the command to defeat any advancing enemy, without knowing what is next.

They are Expeditionary Forces, TNI representatives to explore other worlds. They were now surrounded with an overwhelming number of enemies, they had sworn before to defeat the enemy until they breathed their last. It is an honor they have to prove. They don't care if they can go home or not, all they care about is protecting what needs to be protected.

“Then, why can you swear to fight until your body is destroyed.?.?”

They don't have to answer that question. But if they were obliged to answer, they would say, “We have seen many wails of dead friends, and there is no reason for us to retreat. Behind us there is no longer Indonesia, but there is a red and white flag that we need to protect.”

They take refuge in the trenches and will reach heaven.

The 300,000 troops that filled this plain were only a spectacular number.

Metal armour reminiscent of medieval troops, reflecting bright shining sunlight. The sound of a drum being shot to exaggerate the troops, overlapping with the sound of a drawn sword.

Standing before this huge army was the impregnable fortress of the Expeditionary Force.

The soldiers of the Expeditionary Force had worked tirelessly to build the defensive moat, and formed a line similar to the defensive trench during World War I and II. The Alliance forces realized that the trenches and defensive fortifications had covert traps that played an important role in the battle of the fort.

“The 8th Squad, forward...!!!”

The 8th Corps of the Alliance Army, numbering 60,000 soldiers, attacked. They advanced with shields held in front and started advancing to the fortress with parallel formations, like a horde of ants.

Behind them were prepared siege weapons such as balistas, giant catapults, and trebuchets. The entire weapon fired a support artillery at once. Burning stone balls and giant spears were released from a distance of over 300 weaponry leading to the Expeditionary Force fortress.

The shortest range of fire was 300 meters, and some weaponry was hidden in forests and small hills and fired indirect fire.

There was no counterattack from the Expeditionary Forces and the refugee forces. The good news was that the Alliance Army fired a barrage of artillery pieces in the form of stone balls and giant spears into the fortress, which was considered its weakest target.

Smoke flew due to the impact of the burning rock, and the debris from the fort was thrown upwards when it was hit by enemy artillery. The Alliance Forces could see the Expeditionary Force soldiers and the evacuated refugee forces in a hurry.

“Time to tear down that weak wall...!!!”

Satisfied with the fire, the corps commander continued to command artillery fire and ordered all his infantry to move forward. In military terms this is called mobile barrage shooting. Tactics to order all infantry troops in order while suppressing enemy counterattacks by pelting them with stones from giant catapults and trebuchets.

The horde of infantry of the 8th corps of the Alliance Army continued to move forward, and the distance to the fortress slowly shrank and continued to approach. The first officer stood in a formation setting, and the lower officers continued to scold the soldiers to defend their formation.

As before, there was no counterattack from the troops hiding behind the fortress. And the 8th corps stood at a distance of 100 meters in front of the defensive trench and continued advancing to carry out their massive attack.

It was at that moment that the troops that had previously stayed inside the hole started a counterattack.

Mortars of various calibers mounted inside the trenches roared, and rockets mounted on vehicles as well as on the shoulders of soldiers flew at the speed of sound. When dozens of rockets and mortars hit the Alliance Army's close-knit infantry line, hundreds of people immediately scattered and were thrown into the air with pieces of metal emanating from their armor and weapons.

“Do not be afraid of enemy attacks, it is just a bluff! Keep attacking until winning!”

The commanders continued to urge his soldiers to continue firing mortars and heavy and light machine gun shells.

Dozens of defense turrets fired entire bullets with 1,000 shots per second.

However, the 8th corps of the Alliance Army did not retreat. Their soldiers had consumed some kind of narcotics that the Germans used during World War II. It makes them feel no pain, fear, fatigue, and hunger. As the hot bullets pierced through the body, they continued to advance despite losing a lot of blood and rushed towards the Expeditionary Force's target.

If the commander of the 8th corps of the Alliance Army ordered a sudden retreat, it would be extremely dangerous for their soldiers to be an easy target of fire. The Alliance forces also knew that the safest option was to retreat from the battle against the barbarian army. However, even though it looked already weakened, their opponent turned out to be still very strong.

In the moments that followed, all firearms from assault rifles to light and heavy machine guns were fired at once. The 8th Corps of the Alliance Army had unknowingly set foot in the firing zone created by the Expeditionary Force.

As the name implies, the enemy's shooting or killing zone, and there is no reason to change its name. The storm of unstoppable hot bullets continued to hit the 8th corps of the Alliance Army that rushed back, and claimed the lives of the soldiers whose numbers could not be ascertained so much.

In addition to the hail of bullets, several soldiers emerged from inside the moat while carrying fire-throwing weapons. They were already wearing anti-heat clothes, and were in a safe zone firing bursts of fire. With the temperature of the flames being spouted reaching 900 degrees centigrade, it was able to make hundreds of mature Alliance Army soldiers with armor that was burning red from the flames.

“Argh…!!! It's hot…! I don't want to die..!”

What was heard and left over from the 8th corps of the Alliance Army was the smell of charred and rancid scent of blood. On the ground, thousands of metal shields were shattered, spears and swords were broken. The strong and beautiful armor became trash, and the body of the wearer who used to be a living human, was now a piece of the body cut apart in a mess.

When they realize that they lost the war, human nature actually emerged. The amateur soldiers recruited by the Alliance Army threw away their weapons and fled, while the experienced soldiers continued to attack even though they would eventually die as well. Because experienced soldiers will surely know their imminent death, and will never retreat. On a long and grueling training day, a sense of solidarity approaching the level of madness enveloped the soldiers of both armies.

No one was left behind, and no one left, all the soldiers continued to advance towards death.