[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."