Grizzled Veterans

The year was 2035; it had been eight months since talks had broken down between the two new American countries. Tensions were at an all-time high, and both sides knew that war would be coming soon. The two leaders of each party would never see eye to eye. Captain Gomez knew this. He had been training with his company for the past two years as he had predicted the decline of America and wanted to get ready for the war. His company was the most advanced in the entire country. They had been in many "pre-war" missions where they assassinated political opponents and carried out attacks against supply lines and factories.

He looked over his company. "Men; we just got word that the real battle is about to start. The enemy's president has sent a message to the capitol. She said that we would all be finished and completely wiped out by her large superior army. That's why General Hyde has instructed us to make a daring attack on the capital at the very start of the war. We have been assigned to take out their president."

The company was a group of grizzled men. Most had been shooting weapons for as long as they could remember. The group had been together since before the tensions began. They were a local group that usually went hunting or hiking together in their free time. Every man knew he could trust whoever was on his side. Trust was something that wasn't common anymore in this world. That one fact alone made them special.

Gomez knew that this task would cost the lives of most of his company. Sneaking almost 1000 miles into enemy territory at the start of the war would be near impossible. He knew they had the skill, but lady luck would have to be on their side. Not being detected would be almost impossible. The terrain would be nearly impassible, but that's where the defense would be the weakest. The men were all from the mountainous areas of the old United States. The dead of winter would cause a lot of problems, but time was of the essence. Gomez knew that he had the best men in the world. The rigorous training gave him hope that everything would be alright. But how would he lead? The company had been on so many missions, but none were as dire as this one. The pressure was starting to get to Gomez. He never cracked and was the best leader the old US army had ever seen.

Gomez told the men to go and have dinner. It wasn't a usual slop dinner that they were used to. Tonight they would have steak and ice cream, a rare treat in the new world. This communion would be the final hot meal for many of the men. The mission would have to be bleak and long. The food would be even worse. There were no MREs anymore. It was what you could hunt or find. Morale wouldn't be the best so it was important for Gomez to make sure that morale would be as high as possible tonight. The task was great and noble.

"Eat up boys. We are leaving at 0330. Get some sleep and get ready."

Gomez knew that he would not be sleeping much that night and most of his men wouldn't either. The task at hand was dangerous and scary. He was up to it. After all the leader was his ex-wife Art Girl. TBC...

Author's notes: This was based off the story The Armies at Kurukshetra. I tried to keep the part where the armies receive news that the war is about to start. I made Gomez's company part of the smaller force, but they are much more skilled as opposed to the other side. Later in the readings, Amba gets revenge on Bhishma. To kind of work off that point, I am making Gomez's company have the task of taking out the leader of the other side. I also wanted to make it based on the accelerated United States a world where political differences keep getting worse. The right and left get so far apart that there is going to be an inevitable war. I do think this is something that could actually happen in the future. Things like social media have caused a great divide where there doesn't seem to be a lot of grey area. Everyone takes a side and will seem to defend is no matter what. I wanted to make this world be like one that is not too far away for us. I am also going to be adding more parts where there is the conclusion to this story.

Bibliography: India Myth and Legend Donald Mackenzie