Twelfth Friday Flash: Endless War

*The story below was inspired by this photo.

** you can find part two Desolation here and part three Bear Necessities here



It was the seventeenth year of the war. The opposing armies were down to one battered and die hard squadron each. Amy, one of the grunts in the Kitty Power army had been laying low for most of the war. Coming in late when she was drafted and fighting only when she had to. It had kept her safe and under the radar until today. Her commander Sergeant Whiskers had a mission for her. Amy had the best functioning Kitty powered suit left. It was practically spotless compared to her fellow soldiers' machines. Some even had to resort to fighting without one. As much as Amy disliked using the suit, it made her feel safe. It turned her five foot something frame into a eight foot fighting machine with enough power to rip open a bus.

“Amy, get your ass here, right now!”

“Yes, sir!”

Amy rushed over and stared eye to eye with her commanding officer until she had to look away. He looked like a teenager; curly haired and a high pitched voice. In fact he had the body of a fifteen year old. He was a clone officer. Made in a test tube to fight in the endless war. Brought out when he was ten years old, because the breeding facility was soon to be over run and destroyed by the enemy. Somehow he survived to be the last remaining clone warrior.

“Look at me! I want you to see how serious I am about this mission.”

Amy took a breath and stared into his white souless eyes. It always creeped her out.

“Good, now listen to me carefully, under the cover of darkness I want you to venture out into the middle of the battlefield and when you reach the middle stop.”

“Stop, sir?”

Amy began to turn away, but her commander gripped her cheeks and bored into her eyes with his. “Yes, you're going to be the bait. You know they cant resist spare parts.”

“So I go out there, leave my suit and return?”

“No, no you have to stay to tell us when to strike. Don't worry we will be positioned all around you. They won't stand a chance.”

The sun was peaking over the scarred and smoking horizon. It wouldn't be long before the enemy's sentries spotted her. Her suit powered down, Amy laid as still as possible. They had to believe the suit was empty or she was dead inside. Just as she thought she should give up and head back an armoured face peered over at her.

“Ah, crap! They're here. Attack! Attack!”

But she needn’t have said a word. An energy bolt blasted the enemy's head right off. Hyper-ventilating, Amy powered up her suit and rolled away, falling into a ditch. It was several feet deep and Amy's bulky armour was trapped between the sides. She had to get out before she was blasted. She flailed and kicked. Explosions, shouts, and gun fire rung out above her. It sounded like both squads were going all out.

What seemed like an age later she managed to pull herself free. Huffing and puffing she scanned the area around her. They were dead. They were all dead. No life signs of her squad on her HUD and the enemy's squad were scattered all around her. Pulling off her helmet and taking in a deep breath she plopped down.

She was all alone. What should she do next?

She decided to head back to base. Maybe she would investigate that abandoned secret cloning facility she had heard about, but that could wait for tomorrow. She was tired, hungry and wanted nothing more than to have a meal and take a nap.