Do you know the proverb that says when it rains it pours? A proverb that describes a situation where you have already experienced misfortune but it feels like the goddess of misfortune has fallen in love with you and keeps giving you her blessings again and again.
If you think that only exists in fictional stories, you are wrong. Because I do not know what I have done to the goddess of misfortune, but it seems like I have become her favorite puppet.
"Hey, do you have a boyfriend?"
A man with a green military uniform, with a symbol on his upper arm that indicates his rank, is speaking to me with a slightly naughty smile on his face which has camouflage paint on it.
He repeatedly fixes the helmet on his head because of the strong vibrations, but it is useless because with the intense turbulence inside this aircraft cabin, you will not be able to keep everything stay still.
Yes, that is right. Right now I am in a troop transport aircraft sitting side by side with my comrades from that hellish bootcamp, their faces now filled with thick nervousness and anyone who knows what they will face would immediately understand it.
"Sorry, I am not interested in something like that," I answer the man who is trying to flirt with me, I wonder if he is aware of the sounds of AA explosions outside the aircraft cabin.
"Ah, what a shame..."
It seems the man does not try too hard, and I am grateful for that. To be honest, I am indeed not ready for things like that, why? Because basically I still clearly remember my previous life which was a man!
Truly, that was terrible timing. I had just finished my thesis and wanted to do a self-reward by watching a war movie at the cinema that seemed interesting, but everything was ruined because some idiots who like to force their way of thinking came and blew us all up.
And after that, suddenly I was born into another world from a happy married couple, at least until the war finally broke out.
The man who became my father went to war and was assigned to one of the ships, and after that he was killed in action during a naval battle.
That made the woman who was my mother become depressed and eventually go insane, leaving me, who was still a young girl, to survive by scraping a living from the streets. Until I found out that this world has magic, but it is not like what magic fantasy enthusiasts imagine, the magic here is only limited to healing magic and only selected women have that talent.
There is a reason behind that phenomenon, but if it is explained it will be like long boring school lesson session.
By the way, I am one of the individuals who has that talent, and of course with the war situation becoming more worrying, the military eventually drafted me for training.
It turns out I have high compatibility compared to the others during training, so after being declared graduated I was directly placed into a paratrooper unit which was apparently also newly formed during this time of intense war.
"Fuck!"
That firm curse suddenly made me slightly startled and brought my awareness back again. The man sitting in front of me dropped his canteen, earlier he was trying to take a few sips of water, but because of the extreme turbulence combined with the roaring AA that gave strong impact, his grip was disturbed.
It could also be seen when he tried to reach back for his canteen, his hand was trembling uncontrollably, no matter how hard he tried to hide it, it was very clearly exposed.
"Damn it, I lost half of it!"
The man in front of me complained about the small misfortune that happened to him, no, that is something bad because water in battle is a very much needed commodity. The man finally just let out a breath and took a small sip and closed his water container again.
Glancing at the line where my comrades were sitting, I could see them showing faces full of uncertainty. Some were just silent and expressionless, some tightened their hands on the parachute straps as if it were truly their protection, and there were also those who prayed nervously for their own safety or for every unit.
"Ugh!" Suddenly the man who previously teased me vomited onto the floor of the aircraft. "Uh, this fucking turbulence!"
Now I could smell what was previously only oil, metal, and the sweat of every soldier becoming mixed with the vomit on the floor. However, the people sitting around did not really care about it, because in the end this was too small to be worried about.
The loud, clear roar of the aircraft engines struggling to get through the explosions around us filled the cabin, yet the atmosphere inside felt eerily silent.
Clenching my teeth, I also tightened my grip on the medical bag resting on my lap, an effort to endure the endless jolts.
Then, my eyes suddenly met those of a young soldier sitting near the still-closed cabin door, his figure dimly lit by the flickering red jump light. Through the small circular porthole next to him, you could see the dark clouds decorating the sky, occasionally illuminated by the distant flashes of AA fire. He gave me a small and warm smile.
I returned a smile to him, and seeing the calmness he displayed made me feel calm as well.
This young man was the officer that leading our platoon, his name was Lieutenant Bulgers.
Believe me, I admire him immensely. How could I not? Despite being so young, he was incredibly resourceful, and he genuinely treated the members of his platoon quite well, which made him popular among the unit.
On top of that, his personal assistance to me helped tremendously. Even though my soul is a man, my body here is still a girl, which made it difficult for me to interact with the majority-male members of the unit, but thanks to Lieutenant Bulgers, that awkwardness finally disappeared.
As time passed, the vibrations running through our aircraft became stronger, it seemed we were about to reach our landing point, and the enemy's AA fire was getting denser.
"Finally, after the long five years, hehe."
While the other passengers showed their anxiety, the man with a large scar sitting to my left instead displayed a very feral smile. I had actually noticed before from the bootcamp that he was eager to kill the enemy soldiers as soon as possible.
The country we are fighting is the Varexil Empire, a nation with openly expansionist policies, and I do not know how they were able to get away with it before.
And now we are in the airspace of a country that has already been conquered by the Empire and is now under its control. Believe me, for our country, the United States of Arken, reaching this point was not easy at all.
Our country itself is located across the Zelparia continent, which has been fully conquered by the Varexil Empire, so at first the fierce battles took place at sea, and at least Arken, together with the multinational organization of the Tuaria continent, often called the Tuaria Security Association, only managed to turn the tide at sea after five long years.
And now what we are doing is a strike-back effort, bringing the war to their own home, even though later on land we will have to pass through many countries that have already been conquered first.
"Hah…."
I let out a sigh after realizing that this would be a very long journey, we may have defeated them in naval battles, but land battles? I do not know what kind of surprises await us, but I hope they are positive ones.
"Hey, Elise? That was a long sigh, you know?" Suddenly the man sitting across, to the right of the man who had previously spilled his canteen, called my name. "You're homesick already?"
This carefree-looking man is often called Pat by the unit, I have come to know him quite well back in bootcamp. He often jokes with me or makes me the target of his teasing, but believe me, he has no bad intentions, it is just like colleagues messing around with each other.
"You do not need to be homesick, is'nt this your homeland down here?"
Honestly, he is right, the country where we will land is the Republic of Lonfre, which is where my family's roots come from, more precisely, my grandparents immigrated from that country and sailed to Arken.
"Elise, c'mon, I want to hear you speak Lonfre, hehe."
"Sorry, I do not even know a single word."
Well, what can I say, is'nt normal for the third generation to lose their original culture? Especially the language, I was never even taught it in my family, my mother herself was more busy locking herself in her room.
"Eh, seriously? That is a shame," Pat lowered his shoulders, showing his disappointment. Honestly, is'nt he too relaxed? "Look at Freddy! He is not Lonfre, but he is good at speaking Lonfre, right, Fred?"
"E-eh, what?" The man called Freddy was startled when Pat nudged his side. "It is just a song…"
"Oh, come on! Let us hear it!"
At first, Freddy showed his reluctance toward Pat's request, but seeing his enthusiasm, he eventually gave in and began clearing his throat with a fake cough.
Because of Pat's endless urging, Freddy finally started singing a song in the Lonfre language. Honestly, his voice was off-key and I could not deny that, but compared to the sound of aerial bombs outside, this was better. As for the pronunciation, I had no idea, as I said, I did not understand Lonfre at all.
"Hey Freddy! Why don't you borrow a loudspeaker later, with that you could drive away the enemy positions!"
One of the soldiers chimed in with a joke. Do not get it wrong, this was not bullying, as could be seen now, all the soldiers inside the aircraft cabin who were previously very nervous suddenly released their tension and laughed together. Freddy? He was not offended at all, instead, he laughed along.
Ah, this is how it should be. I did not expect my sigh to turn into a positive domino effect like this, the soldiers regained their composure.
However, in the middle of that laughter and chatter, the aircraft cabin, which was previously quite dark, suddenly became bright as the lights attached along the walls began to illuminate the entire cabin.
The lights were a dim yellow, but not dark enough to be called orange. The soldiers immediately stopped their laughter, they knew what it meant when those lights turned on.
"Get in the line!" Lieutenant Bulgers, who had immediately taken position at the front center of the cabin as soon as the light came on, shouted firmly while using hand signals to give orders to his unit.
The paratroopers quickly moved to position themselves in a line down the middle of the aircraft, of course, I joined the line as well. We also immediately hooked the lines attached to our bodies, which would serve as the mechanism for when we jumped from the aircraft.
"Check your gear!" Once again, Lieutenant Bulgers shouted loudly, loud enough to overpower the noise outside.
Still remembering the procedures that had been drilled into our heads countless times, we carefully checked the equipment attached to our bodies, making sure that nothing was left behind, this was also a critical part, you do not want even the smallest piece of gear to be missing.
The sound of thick uniform fabric rubbing filled the cabin, the soldiers were truly serious in carrying out their gear checks, and those sounds only made me even more tense.
After that, the soldiers also shouted their reports that they had completed the checks and everything was intact.
"06 ready!" I shouted with a very clear and feminine voice among the firm voices of my comrades.
At this stage, I felt a mixture of sensations within my body. My blood felt as if it was racing against itself, flowing rapidly, my pores became more active, producing cold sweat, and on top of that, my heart was pounding hard as if it was already exhausted inside and wanted to jump out.
"Alright, boys! And girl!"
I could no longer see his figure because it was blocked by the person in front of me, but I could still clearly recognize that it was the voice of Lieutenant Bulgers.
"Listen!" Bulgers shouted. His gaze swept across every face in front of him, including mine. "Do you know what those Varexil bastards said in their propaganda broadcasts? They said this world is broken because we are divided. They said that to restore the glory of the past, they must step on the neck of every nation and force us to kneel under the same boot."
He paused for a moment, letting the flak explosions outside punctuate his words.
"They call this invasion a 'Restoration.' They think magic and life are theirs to manage! But we are not here to become part of their 'collection' of history. We are here to remind them that humans are not pieces to be rearranged at their will!"
I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Beside me, I saw Pat's hand, which had been trembling, now clenching tightly around his strap.
"Tonight, we are not just soldiers of Arken. We are the spearhead of an entire continent that refuses to surrender. If we fall, then the hope of Tuaria will be buried with us. But if we take this land, we will shatter the illusion of their empire!"
Without breaking his determined gaze toward his unit, Bulgers reached for the aircraft door lever. His hand was steady, without the slightest hesitation.
"Never forget who you are! Never forget the hellish training you went through! Every life you will save, every inch of land you take back, is a slap to Varexil's empty ambition!"
CLAK!
He pulled the lever down, causing the aircraft door to slide open, and instantly, a high-pressure gust of wind roared into the cabin, carrying the smell of gunpowder and the cold of the Zelparian night sky. Outside, the black sky burned with red and green tracer rounds, creating a deadly firework display that was both beautiful and terrifying.
Bulgers glanced back one more time, his face now illuminated by the flashes of explosions outside. He shouted one final sentence that made my heart feel as if it stopped beating:
"Show them what we are made of! Remember, the world is watching us!"
"GO! GO! GO!"
One by one, my comrades disappeared into the darkness beyond the door.
I saw their faces before they jumped, there was no longer any nervousness or uncertainty that they had previously shown without shame. Instead, fear seemed to have become something they were immune to, all thanks to Lieutenant Bulgers' speech.
After waiting as each person in front of me gave their body to gravity, my turn finally came. Maintaining my balance, I walked forward steadily, then stopped right in front of Lieutenant Bulgers.
Now, at this distance, I could feel his unmatched presence, and he gave me a sharp gaze that felt like flames were burning within it.
"Your turn now, be careful."
I nodded in response. Standing right at the edge, I saw white objects like mushrooms scattering across the sky, piercing through the claws of death below, they were the brave ones who risked their lives to stop evil with righteousness, at least that is what we believe.
Oh God, I do not know what your plan is in placing me in this position, but whatever it is, I will not give up just because of this, remember that.
I do not care anymore, if this is truly a world created for me, no matter how broken it is, I will go through it, even among the ruins of destruction.
Feeling that my resolve was set, I leaned my body forward and surrendered everything to Mr. Gravity, because in this case, it is our best friend.
"Just wait, Emperor, I will cut off those big ears of yours!"
Those were my last words before I finally left the transport aircraft.