One-six

 

One-six turned over in his bed. It had been an hour since he and his team had gone to bed, yet he had failed to fall asleep. He never had sleep troubles before, but tonight was different.

Something was on his mind, keeping him from resting soundly.

They had failed to bring in the captured commander for questioning. Instead, they were forced to terminate him en route back to Europa.

The anesthetic didn’t work as well as they intended, causing the man to wake up while they were still in the air.

Then he got agitated and tried to break into the cockpit. One-six had to make the call to put him down, and One-five calmly did so with a single bullet from his service pistol.

One-six sat up quietly so as not to rouse One-five, snoring loudly above him. He wanted to take a walk, maybe get a drink from the vending machines.

The common room is usually empty at this time, but tonight a lone figure sat lounging in one of the couches, staring up at the ceiling with her hands behind her head.

“Two-six?” One-six was surprised to see her here. “Why are you out here at this time of night?”

Two-six quickly twisted around to face him, somewhat surprised as well. “Well, same question for you.”

“I’m having a bit of trouble falling asleep.”

“Me too.”

“Yeah, I figured,” One-six mumbled as he slumped down on the couch next to Two-six.

“You get in any trouble for not bringing the commander back?”

“No… flight lead said that it happens sometimes.”

Two-six sighed and slumped even lower.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing… Just… wondering why I can’t fall asleep.”

“Me too…”

“The war’s been slowing down, and I’ve been having more and more downtime. I think I’m just not used to being so… un-tired?”

“Maybe that’s the case for me too…”

They sat in silence for a while, listening to the faint hum of distant machinery and the intermittent commotion of the other divisions, going about their nighttime operations.

“I don’t think we’ve ever been outside these walls, have we?” Two-six suddenly broke the silence.

“Of course not. It is against the rules to leave our base without permission.”

“Do you want to go outside these walls?”

“No,” One-six answered. “There’s nothing out there except forest.”

“No, not outside outside. I mean inside, into the city. Because I want to go.”

“Do you want to be reported to Captain Steiner?”

“N-no…” Two-six stuttered. “I just want to see what I’ve been fighting all this time for. Besides, it’s quite easy to get out. They don’t bother to check your paperwork that often. After all this time, you know… I can't help but feel like…"

“Emotions are prohibited.”

“I… I’m sorry.”

“We’re soldiers. We follow orders. That’s it.”

Two-six nodded slightly.

“Get some sleep,” said One-six, stifling a yawn.

“But we don’t have assignments tomorrow,” Two-six argued back.

“There could be scrambles. Hopefully…”

The next morning, as if answering One-six’s words, they were called in for a mission briefing. They were given coordinates, maps, and reconnaissance reports. Reportedly, New Asian forces have been detected converging upon a remote cluster of survivor settlements near the divide. Fearing an impending strike from the New Asians, they have been tasked with surveying the area for hostile troops, and to destroy the settlement if necessary.

Within minutes they were in their fighters, speeding off with the rest of their squadron, toward someplace too far to be seen with the naked eye.

Six heavy fighters, including his own, flew in a chevron formation, with eight more single-seat light fighters taking up their sides and rear. Their payload bays were loaded full of high-explosive ordinance, ready to be unleashed at a moment’s notice.

It was a clear and sunny day, with few clouds visible, even from such a high altitude. When One-six turned to look back, he could see the contrails of their flight stretching away into infinity behind them.

It didn’t take long for them to arrive above their target, a little village deep in the mountains with only a few dozen houses. They circled low over the village, looking for any hints of New Asian forces being in the area.

Soon, they found the distinctive black and red markings of the New Asian fighters, barely visible beneath thick tree canopies. The order to attack was quickly given, and they swooped in one by one to drop their bombs.

With the single push of a button, they could bring annihilation upon any building their eyes looked towards. One by one, the houses exploded into shredded pieces of wood, the ground on which they were once built turned into gaping holes in the blackened earth.

When enough bombs had fallen, and enough explosions had ripped through the little town, a ceasefire was called, and the heavy fighters were sent down to deploy the assault infantry.

One-six maneuvered his aircraft down to the ground gently, touching down in a little opening facing one of the destroyed New Asian aircraft.

Something felt amiss—there wasn’t the usual crackle and pop of burning strike aircraft full of unspent ammunition, only fire and smoke, the exterior pylons of the burning aircraft devoid of weapons.

“They don’t appear heavily armed,” Two-six commented, noticing the same thing. “And not very heavily fueled either, the fire is dwindling already.”

“Somehow, I think this isn’t quite the New Asian strike force we came here to destroy…” One-six mumbled.

“What is it then?” Asked Two-six

One-six shrugged, but before he could say anything, heavy grunts and the thudding of boots echoed through the aircraft. The infantry had returned, taking with them several prisoners of war and civilian survivors from the town.

He enabled the microphone in the cargo hold, allowing them to communicate with the soldiers.

“All loaded?” He asked through the intercom.

“All loaded, we can go,” an infantryman’s gruff voice came through his headset, cutting through a background of shouting, crying, and whimpering.

The cargo ramp began to close slowly as their thrusters began spooling up. Within minutes they were airborne again, waiting for a few remaining aircraft to rejoin formation.

In a few more, they were speeding back towards their city high above the clouds, their planes much lighter now with their munitions gone, and their cargo holds much stuffier with all the spoils of war.

They spoke little on the way back—they don’t usually talk unless the information is mission-critical. Even though Two-six sometimes likes to ignore that rule, today she seemed to be deep in thought.

“We have a graduation ceremony to attend later, don’t we?” Two-six asked, breaking the long silence.

“Yeah…”

“It’ll be us next year,” One-five added. “It’ll be our turn to retire, and become citizens of Europa.”

“I wonder how our tutors are doing right now…” Two-six mused, her head tilted up towards the sky.

At the altitude they were flying at, the ultramarine expanse of space was almost looming over them.

“They graduated a couple of years ago,” said One-six as he followed Two-six's gaze, and saw a singular star in the otherwise speckless blue. “Maybe they won’t even recognize us.”

“We can visit them sometime after we graduate,” suggested Two-six.

“Yeah… maybe… maybe we will.”

 

*****

 

“Step forward and greet your tutor pilot,” the instructor said in a booming voice that resounded throughout the spacious hall. “Today will begin the final phase of your training before you can become pilots and conquer the skies. For the future of Mankind!”

“For the future of mankind!” A thunderous chorus of voices echoed the chant.

A younger One-six stepped forward and came face to face with the fair complexion of a tall young man. He sucked a quick breath in, the presence of the man creating a sense of awe within him.

“Code One-two,” the man said, “Good to meet you.”

“Code One… One-six,” he stuttered.

“Commander of the F-51, second Heavy Fighter Squadron,” the man continued, giving a textbook salute.

“Tr…trainee commander… One… One-six!” He stuttered, trying his best to remember the words his instructor had told him to say.

His tutor pilot eyed him briefly, then relaxed his formal posture and dropped his piercing glare. “You should straighten your back more,” he said. “But other than that, that was a textbook salute.”

“Th… Thank you for your compliment,” replied One-six.

Thus began his proper training days. No longer did he only fly in simulators—now he soared the blue skies.

Over time, he got to know his tutor pilot quite well and found him to be a likable person. Though, of course, he wouldn’t tell him that, as emotions are prohibited.

He was good at flying, good at commanding, and good at teaching.

“Why are the girls always given the role of systems specialist and mission specialist, while the boys are always commanders and gunners?” One-six asked one day while on a patrol training mission in a little two-seat training aircraft.

“Because men are better and more interested in tasks that grant immediate and tangible feedback, such as piloting a plane or shooting down targets, whereas women tend to be better at tasks that do not grant tangible rewards and multitasking. Though I think that’s all just made up,” One-two answered. “As you probably know, men are given a ‘One’ prefix with an even suffix for commanders and an odd suffix for gunners. Women are given a ‘two’ prefix with an even suffix for mission specialists and an odd suffix for systems specialists. Each pilot is also given a longer ID number, which specifies their unit, squadron, etcetera, but it is not usually used.”

“That makes it feel like serial numbers for planes or something.”

“Yes, that’s the point. It makes it easier from a logistics point of view. But you probably shouldn’t think about it too much.”

“Why?”

“Well, because…” One-two hesitated—something which he didn’t often do. “It will take your focus away from the missions at hand…”

There was a while of silence between them before One-six spoke up again. “Who will I be put in a team with?” One-six asked.

“Every codename has been passed down from the previous team to the next. So naturally, suffixes ‘five’ and ‘six’. If you haven’t already, you should start getting to know them.”

One-six knew most people from his cadet class quite well. He knew Two-six was quite a troublemaker since he often saw her getting told off by their instructor. One-five he did not talk too much, but he talked to him enough to know that he is a person who loves abiding by the rules. Two-five is someone he almost forgot existed. She is very unsocial and is by herself most of the time.

“What happened to the codes fives and sixes before me?” He asked.

“MIA,” One-two stated without a single ounce of emotion in his voice. “Went out on a routine mission and never returned. Crash site was too deep in hostile territory for us to rescue them. But it’s not like we would have anyway. If they ejected they were probably taken as prisoners and already tortured to death long ago. If they couldn’t eject… then, well, good for them.”

One-two turned to look at One-six, and upon noticing One-six's fearful expression, he tried his best to lighten up the mood.

“All of us will die at some point. Nothing is immortal. Dying while fighting for your country is the most honorable way a pilot like us can give our lives,” said One-two. But his words didn’t do much good.

Soon, his real-world training concluded, and One-six officially became a pilot of the F-51 fighter. While he talked to One-two much less, he still ran into him every so often and sometimes conducted missions together.

On the day of One-two’s graduation, One-six sat and watched as the general made the speeches and the retiring pilots handed their badges to the graduating cadets. It ended with the chant of their motto, and the retiring soldiers left the walls for good.

One-two had come to One-six just before the ceremony and told him something. Something he still remembers to this day.

“Do you want to know the most valuable lesson I learned as a pilot?” One-two asked as they walked down the gently curving hallway together with the crowd, headed for the assembly hall in the distance.

“What is it?”

“It’s not about how to kill or how to fly,” One-two looked at One-six, who was now only a tiny bit shorter. “It’s that… emotions are prohibited… but not really. For the future of Mankind… most of the time.”

“What do you mean emotions are not really prohibited?” Asked One-six, slightly confused.

“Well, you know… us soldiers aren’t supposed to feel emotions.”

“Of course.”

“Do you know what emotions are?”

“I…”

They arrived at the door leading into the assembly hall, and One-two paused at the entrance.

“I’ve got to go now,” he told One-six. “I’m not supposed to say such things. Don’t think about it too much, it's mostly just random stuff I thought up while I was bored.”

“Yeah… sure…”

“Goodbye, One-six, it was good flying alongside you.”

“The pleasure was mine.”

They said as they saluted each other.

Then One-two smiled, turned, and disappeared into the crowd.

 

*****

 

The clock struck 2200.

The beginning of rest time for the pilots of the 2nd Heavy Fighter Squadron of the European air force.

After this time, their daily routines of cleaning their aircraft, exercising, and doing paperwork would be over, and it was time for them to get some much-needed rest. Of course, scrambles could still happen, but those are few and far between.

Tonight there would be no scramble, so the pilots were allowed to sleep soundly for the night.

But One-six had no interest in sleeping.

He sat in the common room, staring idly at the ceiling. When he heard footsteps approaching, he turned to see Two-six walking up to him.

“One-six?”

“Good evening.”

“Having sleep troubles?” She asked as she rested her hands on the back of the couch.

“I didn’t even bother going to bed.”

“Me neither,” Two-six replied. “What about One-five?”

“He said he’d try to rest for a bit,” He answered with a sigh. “Hey, why don’t you come sit down. Standing behind me like that is a little unnerving.”

Two-six smiled, walked around the couch, and dropped herself down next to One-six, landing on the soft cushion with a slight bounce.

“Did you find out anything about those New Asian planes we destroyed earlier?” Two-six asked.

“They turned out to be a group of defectors, flew away in their planes as far as they could, seeking refuge in some random town somewhere,” One-six explained. It was this fact that had been keeping him up. “And then we found them, and decided to level that entire place because it intervened with our motto.”

“For the future of Mankind?”

“Yeah. But I don’t see how bombing some little town in the middle of nowhere would be ensuring our prosperity.”

“Hey,” Two-six cut in, laying her hand on One-six’s shoulder. “Don’t overthink it, okay? You told me yesterday, right? We’re soldiers, we just follow orders, that’s it.”

One-six thought for a moment, then sighed. “I guess so.”

He had conducted countless missions like today’s, yet he had never been troubled by them like this, ever. He felt like something was different, but he didn’t know what.

Silence fell over them as they both stared idly at the ceiling.

“Do you remember what you said yesterday?” One-six broke the silence.

“That I wanted to see the outside?”

“Yeah…”

“What about it?”

“I want to see it to…” One-six mumbled.

He doesn’t know why he said it, or whether he even meant it.

Two-six perked up. "Are you sure? Yesterday, you were all about rules and stuff."

"Well..." One-six paused, thinking of how to respond. The day's events did something to him, something he can't quite put into words.

But the doubts in his head were soon cleared away.

“What about us?” One-five's voice echoed through the empty room, followed shortly by he and Two-five’s entrance. “Going without us?”

It turns out he isn't the only one with the crazy idea.

One-six stared at them for a moment, then sighed. "Of course not..."

They followed the winding hallways towards the outside. Security checked their credentials, and let them out without questions.

Past security, they found themselves in a much less military area. Many people weren’t wearing uniforms, and hanging signs were everywhere to guide them.

One-six had been here a few times. Once when he was taking a mandatory visit to other branches of the military, and another time when he was too young to remember clearly.

They followed the signs, eventually finding themselves at a busy maglev station.

There was a complex map of interconnecting lines, but it only took them a while to figure out which train they had to hop on to get out of the military establishment.

It was okay if the others woke up and found them missing since it wasn’t uncommon for them to wake up early and go for jogs around the base. But the thought of getting caught weighed down on One-six’s mind.

“How will we be punished if they find out?” One-six asked.

“Cleaning duty? Paperwork maybe? Probably not much worse,” Two-six answered.

One-six wasn’t convinced, but he nodded his head anyway. Then, the train pulled into the station, slowing to a stop before them with an electrical whine.

“Hop on?” Two-six asked.

One-six hesitated. He knew this was a stupid idea, yet something was urging him on.

“Come on, it’ll leave soon!” Two-six shouted above the noise of the crowd.

With that, she tugged roughly on One-six’s arm, who didn’t resist as he was pulled into the carriage, One-five and Two-five following suit. Then the doors shut, and they accelerated forward into the pitch-black tunnel.

At that moment, none knew the grand gears of change their split-second decision had just set in motion.

“We’re breaking rules,” One-six murmured.

“Rules are meant to be broken,” Two-six replied.

“Where did you learn that from?”

“I thought of it myself.”

One-six looked at Two-six, she looked back, and he felt the heaviness within him ease off a little.

Even if it sounded like a lame excuse.