Call of the State

Author: Miyoshi Akachi

Original post:

Entry for the YC123 Union Day Celebrations in the Short Written Works category.

“Captain.” The Lieutenant saluted as the older, greying man walked past him. He returned the salute but he kept walking past, he had been recalled for a mission of utmost importance. It had been years, long years, since his boots had stepped onto those metal floors, since he had saluted higher ranks and lower ranks had saluted him. So many memories…

~

He was sitting in the patio of his summer house, on Abagawa IV; the sun was peeking through the grey clouds and he was contemplating the world past his garden. He had spotted them right away, walking up the street toward him: some things never truly died, not even after years a military career has ended.

He wasn’t wrong. The two military officials had stopped right in front of the opening to his garden. They did not have ranks on their uniforms but for sure, just by the way they walked, they showed off they were military… and not any military, they were the Navy.

He had risen an eyebrow as he regarded them; he had closed with the Navy back in the day, he wasn’t going to be back any time soon, he had said and repeated that again and again.

“Mr. Laakkonanen, we would like to have a talk with you.”

He had shrugged, such invitations were one way invitations: there was only one answer, yes. No was not contemplated. He had gestured for them to come in and he had led them inside his house, where prying ears would not be able to ear. He liked his privacy and had made sure his house was private.

~

The door swung open in front of him, opening on a lecture room with bleachers raising for 180° degrees around the podium, much like an amphitheatre. His grey eyes inspected the people gathering there, recruits, newbies still going through the military school that still hadn’t seen the front line.

A military aide approached him and saluted “Captain, the lecture will start in 10 minutes.” He nodded as he reached for the podium, inspecting the equipment there; it had changed since he had last walked these halls. He had the military aide walk him through the basics, preparing for the upcoming lecture.

~

They talked, made their proposal but he had resisted, he had made his point clear and they left. They came back a week later and they talked some more and once again he made his point, refusing to play their game. However, in the starry nights, he knew his resolution was eroding, the State needed him… how could he refuse to help it?

They had come a third time, they talked and, in the end, he had agreed… at last. Agreements were made, plans were set in motions and just days later he had taken a shuttle up, to the sky, something he hadn’t done in a long long time and he hadn’t thought about doing again in his life.

~

The clock ticked and the latecomers hurried to the last few free spots in the amphitheater. One last check with the military aide and he stepped on the podium: silence fell, barely a movement as the lights lowered and only he remained clearly visible at the center.

He breathed as he slowly surveyed rows after rows of young cadets; he had agreed to come back to help the State, to help the Navy, and return the help he had received when he was younger and he somewhat still did. He gripped the podium, many of them could be his grandchildren if the war hadn’t taken her away.

He steeled himself, it wasn’t time to remember such happenings, it was the time to teach the new generations how to avoid the same mistakes, how to make the State stronger, how to uphold the values that had let the State push through the centuries and through its many enemies.

“Cadets.” The word resounded in the silent amphitheater “I’m not here to tell you nice stories of war with heroes and damsels in distress. I’m here to teach you about the wars we fought, I fought… to defend the Caldari State. History to avoid doing the same mistakes. I will be gritty, I will be hard, but that’s what you will find out there, cadets. We will go through the actions that had made to the history books and holos as much as through the actions that did not. By the time you will be done, you will be able to understand how we did it and why we did it.”

He had chosen to do what must be done: he was going to teach these recruits how they did it, to build the foundations of a brighter future for the Caldari State. The State needed its citizens and its citizens must answer the call.

He had answered the call.

At last.