[GZG] RE: [GZG Fiction] Everyone's Hero

Everyone's Hero

New Guardian Times, East of Rosado, October 29th, 2196.

When I joined up with the 33rd Parisian legionaries, just about the
first words out of the company commander's mouth was that "Every person
in this company deserves the Astre en bravoure" His accent was quite
thick, but his words were still quite clear and crisply pronounced.

As we walked around in the patch of scrubby brush the unit was using as
shelter for their foxholes, I watched them cleaning their gear or
chatting cheerfully with their compatriots. The commander was definitely
leading me a certain way, guiding my elbow every time I started to
wander. Eventually he outright said "Let's go over here, there is some
one I would like to introduce you to. My personal hero in fact, but
don't let them know that they would be unbearable!" He confided with a
chuckle. 

Someone from a company where every member deserved the prestigious Astre
en bravoure that still stood out sufficiently to be ranked alone as the
lieutenant's "personal hero" must be a an exceptional soldier.

We approached a foxhole with three troopers sitting on the edge,
dangling their legs back into the hole. I looked between the big, happy
faced blonde Caporal on the left and the smaller intense, dark eyed
balding Sergent sitting beside him. Then the lieutenant completely
flummoxed me by turning and introducing me to "Soldat première
Jacqueline Savina". The young lady in question, matter of factly, but
still rather timidly, shook my hand and quietly said "Pleased to meet
you." She smiled shyly, but dipped her eyes, blushing and didn't offer
any more. Causing the two men with her to begin laughing. The bigger one
reaching up to shake my hand and announcing cheerfully "No to worry,
little Jacqi here is like a mouse with everyone she likes."

She was a lithe girl, in her early twenties, but her hands were strong
and nimble, suggesting years of working in the outdoors on manual tasks.
Based on the small leaf tattoo she had curling round her right ring
finger I guessed she was probably from farming stock on one of the FSE's
colony worlds.

I didn't get much from Jaci then, but later that evening when I came
back past her foxhole again she was more forthcoming. This may have been
because the other two were off on some errand or other. We didn't talk
much about the war actually, but concentrated on Merlon, her home
planet. As we chatted her hands were constantly on the move, checking
and rechecking this or that, or fiddling with a set of prayer beads she
had; I rather unthinkingly picked up an old weapon cleaning rod and drew
abstract figures in the dust by the fading light. 

We talked quietly into the night, and again many times in the days that
followed. In the end I came to know her well. Now the first few wags I
told this story too immediately started making ribald connections, which
I flatly deny. Yes people bond under harsh circumstances; yes you come
to love them. And while I loved Jaci dearly by the end of our time
together I was not in love with her. Rather it was that strong, but not
all consuming love that marks true friendship and respect. She is to me,
and every person she has ever served with, one of the greatest people
this war has illuminated. She is quite literally everyone's hero.

Over the cause of our long talks I learnt much about Jaci. She was
indeed a farmer before the war, though she often went fruit picking to
bring home extra dollars for her family. Her family is third generation
agri-settler, though her siblings and cousins are diversifying into
other trades in their local district. She was born in a little town on
the south western edge of the rich valleys rising out of the coastal
deltas near the main settlements on Merlon's equatorial continent. Her
father and mother still live in their ancestral home. 

Jaci has rather a carefree and pixie-like nature, once you penetrate her
quiet initial persona. Just being around her sets you instinctively at
ease, you just feel safer with her than other people. Despite her
demeanour, and fine frame she is far from helpless. Her upbringing
making her a practical assest that can improvise a patch for most
things. At twenty-five she has already been widowed, her husband dying
weeks after their wedding when a surprise Kra'Vak raid hit Merlon. A
topic she won't discuss at length no matter how long she has known you.

Jaci likes animals, but her deep love is quite obviously plants, she
showers them with loving attention when ever we come across some half
starved plot. While we were holed up in one homestead she spent every
spare minute tending a seed bed, coxing some weird Krak berry bush come
cactus thing back to life. We all thought she was mad until it went and
produced the sweetest fruit you've ever tasted. Even those whose tummies
didn't take to it as kindly as others found the fruit more-ish. You
could see real pain in her eyes when we had to leave and abandon the
little plot to its fate. 

Jaci already has a chest full of medals, though she'd never say as much;
others quietly let you in on that secret. In battle she is meticulous,
cold and deliberate. Her commanders and squad mates depend on her far
beyond any other person in the unit. She's been wounded thrice, and has
had countless narrow escapes. Francois, who keeps a running tally of
each man's kills (a nice little kitty resting on who ever walks away
from this with the most skulls) reckons she is out in front of her
nearest competitor by a factor of five or more. Something you wouldn't
believe until you saw her in action. The compassion she shows her human
comrades nowhere in evidence when it comes to the alien foe.

If there is one flaw to Jaci it's her deep seated hatred of the Kra'Vak.
Not for her any magnanimous feeling toward the enemy, no "just getting
the job done, only killing to keep alive." She is there to see the
Kra'Vak gone and if she has to personally eradicate every one herself
more's the better. She's resigned, maybe even content in a warped way,
with the idea of the years rolling over her, the war her only world and
battle her only profession. She has armoured herself with a philosophy
of acceptance of what may happen and polished it with the cold rage of a
lover deprived of that most important to her. 

When asked about her plans for after the war Jaci has to pause, as it's
not a topic that seems close to her mind. After some cogitation she says
she'll head back to Merlon, start up a little place of her own. She
won't be drawn on whether she'll try and start a new family. After a
long pause her voice cracks a little and with eyes averted she quietly
states "I'm mighty sick of it all, I would much rather be at home
raising fruit trees. But there is no sense wasting breath lamenting it.
I have a goal, a task to complete, and I've got to do it. If I don't
live through it, that's the way it must be, there's nothing I can do
about it... besides it would be such a sweet release to be reunited with
Thiery." 

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