Chapter 5: Wrapping Up

July 31, 1994

Happy to be back in Misera, Colonel Naff paused to look around the tarmac. He was the last of the Misera soldier to step off of the plane. He was pleased to see his wife and kids waiting for him. There were a few little items to take care of before he could go over to see them.

This had been the first combat deployment of the Misera Army to a location on another continent. The political types had wanted to make a big deal of it so there was a welcoming home ceremony. Both First and Third Battalions were lined up in formation in front of a viewing stand.

On thinking about it, he decided that they were probably correct to make a big deal out of this. Two Battalions had participated in a war that had defeated two countries. Although they had little to do with the victory, they had been the presence that kept people from doing stupid things. The police had hung back waiting for support. The Armies were delayed long enough that they were given stand-down orders before anything escalated to an all out battle.

He marched over to take his place. As soon as he was in position, the speeches began.

Ignoring the speeches, Colonel Naff watched Sword Miquel leave the plane and walk towards the Jade Force plane that was parked off to the side of the tarmac. Other Swords were making similar trips from the planes on which they had flown. There were Shields guarding the Jade Force plane, despite the fact that it was on a Misera military base. Having seen them in action, he wasn’t surprised.

Watching the rear of the Jade Force plane close up, he was reminded that there was no ceremony for them. They just went on their way ready to react to the appearance of any kind of threat. He wondered what it would be like to live that way.

After far too much time passed, the ceremony came to an end. The troops were dismissed and rushed off to meet their families. Their family members had viewed the ceremony with mixed emotions. On one hand, they were proud of the men for having gone to war. On the other hand, they just wanted to hug and touch their returning heroes.

While making his way to his wife and family, the realization that he was now a veteran of a foreign war came upon him. He was one of only two thousand people in all Misera who could say that. He had been the highest ranking officer there. He’d probably get a promotion out of it.

He couldn’t say that he had looked war straight in the eye. He had been there, but hadn’t fired his weapon. The men guarding the depot had surrendered as soon as they had seen the soldiers landing. At the government center, the Sumar Army had arrived after two hours, but it never made a threatening gesture.

It hadn’t been a bloodless war. A number of security people in Sumar and most of the personal guards of King Ba had been killed by the Jade Warriors. He knew it could have been a lot worse for everyone involved.

Having returned to the Jade Base, Sword Miquel joined the other Jade Warriors who had been involved in the war, at the Temple of War. He was tired and looking forward to a couple of months of rest. This visit to the temple would allow him a chance to regain his balance.

The Temple of War, here, was set up just like the one located at Jade Academy. The only difference was that the Kor armor on the figure at the center of the shrine was of a slightly different style, and it did not have the Jade Sword hidden within it, though it did have a piece of jade hidden behind the eyes. When the sun was positioned correctly, the eyes glowed green.

His little wooden placard had been moved here with him, and it was sitting on the right side of the shrine where it belonged. He glanced over at the other side. There were no wooden placards over there. That was a reassuring sight. No one had died on this contract. So far, no Jade Warrior had died since the move to the base.

There had been some wounds received during the firefight in Desera. That had happened while the Jade Warriors were still descending on their jump. The body guards of King Ba had been good, better than the security men around President Jalleh. They had reacted quickly to the threat from the air.

He sat down before the statue and closed his eyes, to face inwards. Taking a deep breath, he entered a meditative state to review his actions over this last contract. Although the contract didn’t cover a long period of time, he had been working on it for more than a year.

It started with Sada sitting down at his table and announcing that she had a plan. He knew he should have run rather than asking her about it.

Azikiwe Turay had flown, first class, from Sumar to the Misera International Airport on a commercial airline. It was a much better flight than the Jade Force Transport that had taken him from the refugee camp to Misera. He decided that he didn’t mind flying so much, so long as it was first class.

The limousine pulled up to the front door of the main administrative building outside the Jade Base. Azikiwe Turay knew he would not be able to get back into Jade Base without a Jade Warrior escort. That was a security thing and he understood the reasons behind it.

He slowly got out of the limousine. His slowness was due to age as much as the fact that he was feeling tired from the long journey. Parked next to the limousine was Jeep with Sada sitting in the driver’s seat. He smiled upon seeing her.

She said, “Hello, Mr. Turay.”

“Is it Pen, Sword, Shield, Cart, or Hearth today, Sada?” he asked with a grin. One never knew how to address her until she answered that question.

“Cart.”

“I should have guessed, Cart Sada. You’re sitting in a Jeep,” he said gesturing to her vehicle.

“Would you like a ride to your home?”

“Yes. That would be wonderful and much appreciated.”

The limousine driver dropped his bag into the back of the Jeep. After thanking the driver, Mr. Turay then sat down in the front passenger seat next to Sada. She started the engine up and drove around the administration building to the receiving warehouse.

As was always the case, the warehouse was well guarded. The Shields on duty waved to her. She waved back while driving past them to enter the warehouse. She drove past a truck that was being unloaded and examined for unwanted items or people. The goods would be transferred to a Jade Force Truck. It was a precaution that had caught a few unwanted items, even a stowaway animal and a number of people. The animals went free. The people didn’t.

She stopped at the rear of the building where another gate stood. She put the Jeep into park to wait until the front door of the warehouse was closed. It could be a long wait depending on what they found in the truck.

She asked, “So how did it go?”

He answered, “It was strange. I left my home to flee a war, only to find that I had a front row seat at the defeat of Sumar. I have mixed emotions about it.”

He had left Sumar to escape war. Because of that, he wasn’t welcomed back in the country of his birth. He was still a citizen of Sumar and was proud of it and the culture in which he had been raised. It had been hard watching his country get defeated even if the people who defeated it had given him a new life. Yet, now he was welcomed back in the country because it had been defeated. To say that his emotions were mixed would be an understatement.

“You had a front row seat?”

“I flew into Sumar the previous day and stayed at a hotel over night. I was supposed to meet Sword Howard at a coffee shop right at the government center. I was waiting for him when the Jade Warriors dropped from the sky. I watched them run into the government buildings. I watched the Misera Soldiers arrive and take control of the government center. I watched the Congress vote to surrender. I watched the President sign the treaty.”

“It sounds like you had an exciting time,” Cart Sada said.

He smiled and said, “I have quite a story to tell my grandchildren.”

The Shields at the back of the warehouse opened the gate. Cart Sada put the Jeep in gear and drove through the gate. She was followed by a Jade Truck. There was an enclosure surrounded by a high wall with Shields walking around on it. She parked leaving sufficient room for the truck behind her. The area was large enough to hold two large trucks. Another gate was at the far end of the enclosure. Any group that managed to fight its way into the enclosure would never escape.

Only when the warehouse gate was closed, did the Shields on guard open the gate into the Jade Base.

Cart Sada asked, “So did we do the right thing?”

“You once said to me that the country wouldn’t do the right thing without a gun held to its head, and that only Jade Force could be the gun. I think you were right.”

“That’s what I believed,” Cart Sada said.

“Sumar and Desera have both done the right thing, finally.”