Uprising Earth

Chapter 1

City of Manila (6 months after the initial invasion)

General Frank Sy walked straightly in one of the Fort Omega's hallways as the soldiers who saw him formed a straight line and saluted in respect. He salutes back and proceeded to walk straight to the meeting room. As he reaches the door, a laser coming from the scanner started to scan his badge for authentication.

"Access granted," came from the door's speaker as it opens. "Welcome, General Frank Sy." And then he came in.

All high-ranking officers stood up and saluted in respect, as did the General. Frank made his way to the swivel chair spotted in the center of the table.

He looked up at his men, "Good evening, gentlemen. It's been a roughly 6 months of fighting back to these foreign species who invaded our world, am I right? I know a lot of things happened, a lot of families—even ours, got murdered helplessly. It's not even epidemic, it's pandemic." He paused for a minute or two, staring at his men's faces. "Regardless of what happened and what has been happening right now throughout the world, we should fight for our loved ones' lives." The men started nodding in agreement.

"Gentlemen, we maybe outnumbered, our soldiers limited, our supplies may not last long. Still I stand here before you, men, we cannot let ourselves be the slaves of our own country, Philippines. Let us grieve for all who died and continue fighting for them, and for us. Not only here, but elsewhere around the globe." Majority of the men, clapped their hands and started to shout, signalizing their agreement of fighting back no matter what it costs.

"Orders, general?" Major Johnson who's sitting next to Frank asked.

Frank stood up and rest his both hand on the table. "As I've said, our supplies may not last long. We need to scout at atleast 3 kilometer radius and gather up all supplies we can get. We are in need of foods, medications, clothes, electronic parts—I mean everything. Major," he looked at Major Johnson.

"Yes, General?" Johnson replied as he stands up.

"Round up 30 men including yourself and search every stores here," he pointed out a specific city in the map laying on the table. "That location should be filled with stores we need."

"Aye, General." He said, saluted and left.

--

Without thinking twice, Major Johnson immediately started his mission together with his 29 men. The general appointed him to do it so he needs to finish the mission as soon and as smooth as possible. They've all gathered up at the entrance of the Fort, silently planning before leaving with their 3 pick-up trucks. Each trucks are bulletproof just in case they encounter an alien attack while in the midst of their mission.

"We need to search at least 3 warehouses in this area," Johnson said, pointing at the map. "We will be searching warehouses now as almost all the small stores are emptied by other possible survivors." He then folded the map and placed it in his backpack.

"Aye, Major." His men said in chorus.

"Sergeant Corpuz and Corporal Dela Rosa, lead the second truck. Lieutenant Gargas and Private Sergio, you'll be in charge of the third truck. I'll be at the first truck. Set your watch at exactly 6 o'clock. We'll start at fifteen and we'll rendezvous here at 7:45. We'll gather up supplies for an hour and full load is a must, guys. We should finish this swiftly as possible, last call will be at 8 o'clock and if you're still not here by then we will leave without you. " After getting the go signal, all of them started to get in the trucks.

--

At exactly 6:47pm, Major Johnson's truck successfully arrived at the first warehouse. They first scanned the perimeter for hostiles and appointed two soldiers to guard the front gate while they gather some supplies.

"Open all the crates and take a look if it will be useful to us. Immediately place the entire crate in the truck. Food and medications will be our priority." Johnson instructed as they started searching inside the warehouse.

"Aye, Major."

An hour later...

"Major," a soldier confronted Johnson. "Majority of which we need is already expired. But we loaded 3 or 4 crates in the truck."

Johnson cursed in disappointment. "Goddamnit. I just hope that the other trucks could get as many as possible. I've found atleast 6 crates on that section," he pointed out. "And I think those supplies are still valid basing on how it looks. There were hardly any dust on it so quickly load it in the trucks and let's get the hell out of here. We're running out of time." He commanded.

The soldier saluted. "Yes, sir." And quickly loaded the crates.

It was definitely a smooth trip for Johnson but not as efficient as he expected. They didn't encounter any alien attacks but they hardly get any usable supplies for the whole Fort Omega. When Johnson arrived at the rendezvous point, only the third truck made it in time. That's when they hear gunshots from afar which made them panic at first.

Even though using of handheld radio is prohibited when outside the Fort, Johnson quickly grabbed it and tried to contact the second truck but they got no response.

"Major Johnson to Sergeant Corpuz, are you there? What's happening? Over." Johnson says repeatedly but still got no reply.

As they hear the gunshots getting louder and louder, that's when Major Johnson contacted General Frank for orders.

"Major Johnson to Fort Omega, can anyone hear me? Over." Johnson panicky said repeatedly.

"This is Fort Omega, General Frank speaking, over." Frank said at the other end of the line.

"General, I think the second truck led by Sergeant Corpuz and Corporal Dela Rosa was compromised. And we're hearing gunshots getting louder and louder. What are your orders, sir? Over." He said but all he heard from the other line was static sounds. "Sir? Can you hear me? What are your orders, sir? Over."

After a while, General Frank started talking. "Major, we can't risk more lives and those supplies are badly needed. Fall back and return to base immediately. Their deaths will not be in vain." He said in a sad tone.

"But sir, they're one of ours. They're fighting back, why not help them?"

"Consider it as sacrifice for you to get here safely. Get back here quickly, Major. That's an order." The general commanded.

"Aye, General." Major Johnson replied and started to instruct the soldiers of the General's order. They disagree in unison but orders are orders.

They all move out wearing sad faces in contemporary.

After 30 minutes of eerie journey, they successfully arrived at the Fort.

--

Major Johnson's team is waiting for the front gate of the Fort Omega to open. At first sight, you will see nothing but a flat surface in a normal city but once it opens, the plain road will start to level down slanting and a massive tunnel will be visible which can be called as the Fort Omega's main gate.

The soldiers looked intently at the slanting gate. Some was taken aback by the sudden amazement of how perfect the gate was built.

When the tunnel was already visible, they all started to walk towards the pathway and the road automatically retracts. Once they reached the end of the tunnel, the serious look of General Frank Sy welcomed them.

"I'm glad you are safe." He said looking at the soldier's grieving faces. "Take a break all of you. Get some rest. Let's call it a day."

"Yes, sir." They said in unison as the General turned his back and left.

After getting the General's final order for the day, they all paced the direction towards the sleeping quarters to take a rest. Some of the soldiers slept leaving the thought of how they abandoned their colleagues but some didn't manage to get even a single nap. They obviously couldn't stomach it.

"I still couldn't believe how the General makes orders like that." Private Sergio said in dismay. He's fixing his bed under Lieutenant Gargas'. He immediately slides under the blanket as he stares at his dogtag.

"I think he just made the right decision. Every General knows what to do. He might also be grieving right now after what happened." the Lieutenant replied as he, too, stares at his dogtag.

"I doubt that. I saw his face earlier and he doesn't seem to care." Private Sergio said doubtfully.

"You should keep your voices down, both of you. I'm afraid we got an order to rest, not to chitchat." Major Johnson approached them as they both stand to honor the Major's presence.

"We apologize, Major." They said in unison.

"Enough with that topic. You don't want the General to find out that you're talking about him as if questioning his authority, do you?" he said while proceeding to his bed.

--

Meanwhile at the storage area, General Frank has been observing the soldiers unload all the crates from the trucks and by the looks of it, the supplies they got were very insufficient.

He confronted one of the soldiers who's about to go back to the truck and asked. "Is this all?" pointing at the crates in the storage area. The soldier shyly looked at him and nodded in disappointment. He tsk-ed, not knowing what to say exactly. He knows that gathering supplies will be different from now, thinking that they might not just be the only survivors in the country, and the fact that there are no manufacturers who will produce goods.

"Most of the crates contain foods and medications, sir. But most of the goods are about to expire so we need to consume it as soon as we can." the soldier said. He just nodded in response and walked towards the entrance of the room as he continued to observe them.

A voice coming from the Fort's speaker cuts his thought.

"General, there's a request coming from above the Fort asking to retract the road so they could get in. I think it's the second truck, sir." the voice said.

As soon as he heard the word second truck, he immediately grabbed his radio to contact the radio operator. "Ask for confirmation. Once confirmed, immediately open the gate." he commanded.

"Yes, General."

Moments later as he waited for the confirmation, the radio operator started speaking again. "Confirmed, sir. It is Sergeant Corpuz and Corporal Dela Rosa's team. We're opening the gate now."

This surely is a good news which made the General start his way towards the Fort's Tunnel.

The general, together with the other soldiers, immediately reached the tunnel. They waited for the gate to completely retract for the second truck to get in. A continuous scratching sound from the ground can be heard getting louder and louder, it seems to be metallic or something closer to that variant. But instead of getting annoyed from the sound, it just added to their hidden excitement.

It was like General Frank Sy saw the soldiers from the second truck for the first time or better yet, like he was reunited with his son, by how he immediately ran to them and hugged the Sergeant and Corporal who led the team.

"Welcome home, my men." The General said as he smiled at them, cheerfully. The soldiers was taken aback by the sudden rush of feelings the General showed them. It was a first time. General Frank never acted like this in the entire 6 months of working with them. They all smiled at him back and salute, cheerfully.

"Thank you, sir." The soldiers said in unison. They can't hide their happiness despite of the fact that they almost got ambushed by the aliens.

"I'd like you all to rest but I'm afraid I need Sergeant Corpuz and Corporal Dela Rosa for some reports about what happened." Frank stated.

"Gladly, General." Sergeant said in a matter-of-factly manner.

Corporal Dela Rosa nodded in agreement. "It's definitely a long night but making it here is worth it, sir. We'll gladly report what happened."

As the General nodded in response to the corporal, he also looked at the soldiers at the back, "You have a great sleep. Nice work for today."

"Yes, sir." The soldiers salute and silently walked to the sleeping quarters.

"To my office." General Frank said and turned his back as the two immediately followed him. "Judging by how you all look, you didn't encounter any attacks? If so, then who did?" Frank asked as soon as they set foot in his office.

"That's what we're wondering about, too, sir. We didn't encounter any attacks from the aliens but we heard a lot of gunshots near our location so we altered our course to another suitable route for our safety. Thus also the reason how we just got home." Sergeant Corpuz paused for a while, thinking. "Are the other trucks safe, sir?" he added.

"Yes, they are. In fact, we thought you were the ones who didn't make it." The general frankly said. "I'm actually planning to write your families an MIA letter." He joked.

"Too bad, I'm also planning on retiring this year, sir." Sergeant Corpuz stated jokingly, and as if everything in the world is set to normal, they all laughed.

"Also, before we conclude this meeting, why the hell did you haul that massive truck?" Frank asked pertaining to the other truck he saw earlier except from the pick-up truck assigned to them.

Corporal Dela Rosa scratched the back of his head and stated, "That truck is filled with multitude variants of metal varying from car parts. Sorting it out will consume a lot of time so we've decided to take the whole damn thing with us. It just needs a new front wheel and it can be hauled."

Frank nodded. "What about the supplies we need?"

"You'll be disappointed, sir." Corpuz said seriously. "We barely got any usable supplies from the warehouse. Speculating if there's any surviving citizen, those places will be first from their lists."

"That's quite expected." Frank paused for a while as he turned to sit on his swivel chair in his office. As soon as he settled his back on the chair, the door's speaker announced that Major Jonhson is requesting permission to enter. He looked at the firmly closed door and said, "Permission granted." And it slides open.

"Damn, it's really you, brothers." Johnson approaches them looking so excited as he swiftly hugged them both. "Thank God I didn't lose hope. I knew you'd come back."

"We both made a promise, Major that we'll die together in the battlefield. You'll be the first one to hug the ground." Sergeant Corpuz said, laughing so did the other two.

The laughter was eventually cut by General Frank. "Enough with the lady talks. Go grab some shut-eye. It's been a rough day boys."

The three stood straight in front of the General and saluted in goodbye. They simultaneously exited the office to proceed to the sleeping quarters. It was truly an unexpected event but all of them slept wearing smiles on their faces and a sigh of relief.

xxx