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Chapter 2: New Duty Station

I awoke in my rack. The dangling clock read 16:00. 4:00 in the afternoon. So far, LtCol. Rogers, Shadow Base's commander, hadn't woken us up; it was probably safe to keep sleeping...

"Get up, soldiers," LtCol. Rogers, a tall, elderly fox, said, entering the tent at 4:02. "Get up. I've got an announcement to give." We groggily got out of our racks and stood at attention. "Alright, Phantom Squad," the lieutenant colonel continued. "You gentlemen are being stationed elsewhere. More than likely Earth." We all cheered. We would get to see home again. As I was cheering, the lieutenant colonel approached me. "I'm sorry about your injured men, sergeant," he said. "And about Lt. Grids."

"It wasn't your fault, sir," was all I could muster.

"Here," he said, handing me a dog tag. It read:

Name: Grids, Ryan L.

DOB: 3 June, 2104

Blood Type: B+

Religious Preference: Catholic

I curled the paw holding the tag into a fist, clutching all that remained in the squad of Lt. Grids. "Sorry," LtCol. Rogers echoed as he turned to the door of the tent. As he reached the door, he gave the order: "As you were."

I looked down at the fist holding the dog tag. I wanted to drop it, to bury it in the sand, to forget that today had even happened, or that I was even in the Army. Hines entered the tent with a disturbed look on his face. "Pretty nasty for a bunch of leg wounds," he said. He saw my paw clutched into a fist. "What's that, sarge," he asked.

"Lieu...nothing," I replied. "Get your stuff packed. We're being stationed somewhere else. Probably somewhere on Earth." Cpl. Hines' mood lightened really quick.

"Yes, sergeant," he responded. He rushed over to his rack, pulled a rucksack from his foot locker, and began putting everything else from the locker into the pack. I sighed, shaking my head. I turned to my own footlocker to begin packing my stuff. As I opened my rucksack, I heard the tent door open. I turned to see LtCol. Rogers enter.

"Phantom Squad," I shouted. "Attention!" The squad stood at attention, facing me. The lieutenant colonel cleared his throat, making every soldier turn to him.

"Your new duty station will be Highman Army Base near Anchorage, Alaska, on Earth." I was about to cheer out loud, but I remembered I was at attention.

"Permission to speak freely, sir," I asked, hoping to release my excitement.

"Go ahead, sergeant," he replied.

"Fuck yeah," came from my mouth and echoed throughout the camp. LtCol. Rogers shook his head, smiling slightly.

"Just be ready by18:00," he said.

"Yes, sir," we shouted in response.

As the base's CO left the tent, I turned back to my belongings. "Alaska, huh, sarge," asked PFC. Merendez, a 20 year old hybrid of a wolf and a husky.

"Yep," I replied, putting my toothbrush in my pack. "To me, that's home."

"I'll bet," Merendez said. "You were born there."

"That I was," I muttered. "That I was. You better get back to packing."

I turned to the dangling clock and saw it was 17:00; 5:00. I returned to packing. I stuffed my multiple ACU uniforms in the biggest pocket of the pack. Suddenly, a photo fell from the bundle of clothing. It was an old photo of my son, my wife, and me. "Oh, Erica," I whispered. "I'm glad you're not here. This is Hell." I carefully placed the picture in the pocket on my trousers. I'd thought I'd lost that picture.

I finished packing. All of the things in my footlocker now sat in my rucksack. Well, all except for the bar of chocolate I had buried in there. I took it out and found, to my delighted surprise, that it wasn't melted. I opened the bar of sweet chocolate and took a bite. I had forgotten what chocolate tasted like. Ever since I had gotten to Shadow Base, it was MREs, and nothing but. "Mind tossing some of that my way, sarge," Pvt. Jeldine teased.

"Heh," I mocked. "You're funny."

"Thank you," he mocked back.

"So, Jeldine," I said. "You're a marine otter. Why'd you join the Army and not the Navy?" "I...can't swim," he admitted.

"Oh," I replied. "What about you, Hines? Why join the Army if you're a sea otter?"

"Didn't want to have to deal with the jar heads in the Marines, sarge," he said.

"Hey," I warned jokingly. "My brother's a jar head."

"I feel sorry for you," Hines joked.

I rolled my eyes and continued to eat my chocolate. "Can't wait to get back to an actual base on Earth," I said to nobody in particular. "Stores, a car, hell, even tv."

"Is that all you care about, sarge," Sandzen teased.

"Try being stationed here for half the fucking war," I joked back. "Ain't seen a tv in two years.

I checked the clock. 17:45. It was 5:45, almost time to leave. I pulled my phone from the smallest pocket of my rucksack. I'd forgotten all about the damn thing. For two years, the only way I'd kept on contact with Erica was through letters. It was dead. No surprise there. I pulled the charger out of the rucksack and plugged it into the lone outlet I had by my rack. This was the first time I'd used the outlet. I plugged the phone into the other end of the charger and watched the screen light up. The Verizon logo flashed on my screen, then the main menu popped up. I went to my contacts and tapped my home phone's number. I started getting anxious when the phone started ringing on the other end. I was finally able to hear my wife again. "Hello," a voice answered. "Is this Erica Sandoza," I asked.

"Yes," she replied. "Who is this?"

"I'll give you a hint," I joked. "You haven't seen me in two years."

"Lucky," she asked.

"That's right," I answered. "It's me."

"Oh my God," she cried. "You're alright. I never thought I'd hear your voice again."

"Well," I said. "I've got bad news and good news. Bad news is my squad's CO is dead. Good news is I'm being stationed at Highman Army Base at Anchorage. I'm heading back to Earth." I listened to her squeal with excitement. I checked the clock. ; 5:59. "Sorry, sweetheart," I said. "I've got to go. We head out in a minute. Don't worry, I'll be on Earth soon."

I hung up just in time for LtCol. Rogers to enter the tent. "Attention," I commanded my squad. This time, they assumed the officer was there. We all stood at attention facing him.

"Ship's ready to take you guys to Highman. Anything you have packed in your rucksacks, take with you. Anything still in your footlocker will be shipped to you."

"Yes, sir," we replied.

"Get your gear and double time your asses to the ship," he ordered. Without further word, I repacked my phone and charger, and we obeyed the command.

The ship we were taking was a C-24 Hawk dropship. It was crowded, but it moved fast. "I'm going to miss you, soldiers," LtCol. Rogers said as we boarded the Hawk.

"We'll miss you, to sir," I replied just in time for the back hatch to close and seal shut.

"Pressurizing cabin," we heard the pilot say via the ship's intercom. Gas visibly streamed through vents in the door. Not a problem; we all knew it was pressurized oxygen.

"Damn thing's too crowded, sarge," PFC. Merendez complained.

"Want to be in fox hole with the leather necks," I asked. "Hell of a lot more crowded there."

"I'm good," he said.

"Can't wait to get back to Earth," I said to no one. "Hopefully, I'll get to see Erica soon. And Daniel." Daniel was my son. He'd always wanted to join the Marine Corps; wanted to break the family's Army tradition.

"Erica your girlfriend," Cpl. Ricks, a tiger roughly 21 years of age, asked.

"Nope," I answered. "She's my wife. Most beautiful thing on Earth."

"What about the northern lights," he continued.

"Even prettier than that," I said. I pulled the picture of me, Erica, and Daniel out of my ACU trousers. "This is Erica, Daniel, and me," I said, showing him the picture.

"I feel sorry for her," Ricks teased. "Being married to somebody as ugly as you and all."

"Coming from someone who looks like they fell from the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down," I teased back.

"I remember back when I used that in first grade," Sandzen joined. "Got so many other six year olds pissed."

"Fuck off," I laughed. I looked out the ship's window. We were in space. "Well," I yawned. "I'm going to sleep. Nobody disturb me." I slowly drifted to sleep.

"Goddammit, sergeant," I heard as the pilot shook me awake. "We're here. Get your shit and get off the Hawk."

"Yes, sir," I said groggily. I grabbed my rucksack and stood to walk off the ship. I heard a clink as I stood up. I looked down to see Lt. Grids' dog tag. I picked it up and rubbed it with my thumb.

"Ahem," the pilot cleared his throat.

"Sorry, sir," I said. I slung my rucksack over my shoulder and stepped off the small ship.

"You the last one, sergeant," an elderly raccoon, probably a colonel, asked.

"Yes, sir," I replied.

"Good," the raccoon continued. "I'm Col. Lechund, commanding officer of Highman Army Base. You are to report to banquet hall alpha. The reason should be clear when you get there."

"Yes, sir," the squad shouted. We picked up the belongings we placed on the ground and found our way to the banquet hall.

"The fuck's this about, sarge," Pvt. Sandzen asked.

"Damned if I know," I replied. I knew just as much of what was going on as the other soldiers in my squad. "I think that's the banquet hall, though," I said pointing to a brown-bricked building.

"How can you tell," Sandzen asked. I pointed to a metal sign that read "Banquet Hall Alpha". "Smart ass," he remarked.

"Sir," I said to Col. Lechund as we approached him. He was standing in front of the banquet hall. "Phantom Squad reporting as ordered." I gave him a salute, which he returned.

"Get inside and find yourselves a seat, soldiers," he ordered.

"Yes, sir," we replied in unison, then began to shuffle through the door.

The hall was crowded. There were other squads and platoons occupying tables. I was fortunate enough to find a table with just enough chairs for my squad. We took our seats.

"Alright," the colonel said, walking up on stage. "All of you here are new to this base, this much you should already know, especially in regards to your own units. However, you don't know why you are here."

"Why, sir," a soldier at a different table asked.

"You are here," the colonel said. "Because I have been authorized by General Wilfred to promote each of you for your recent service." My squad's eyes lit up. Ever since we'd been on Jettison IX, we'd been hoping for a promotion that never came.

Most of the ceremony was boring. It was a speech and the other units. Finally, we heard, "And now, the promotions of Phantom Squad." We had paid attention enough to know to stand at parade rest on stage. We stood up, marched into the stage, and stood at attention.

"Squad," I ordered. "Parade rest." We all stood, feet spread, hands on the smalls of our backs.

"By order of Gen. Wilfred, commanding general of the Army, I promote each soldier to the rank specified for service on Jettison IX. To the rank of Private First Class: Pvt. Mark Sandzen." Sandzen moved to attention marched to Col. Lechund, shook his hand, took hold of the small ACU insignia patch, and saluted. He returned to his position in the squad and resumed parade rest. "Pvt. Nicholas Jeldine. Pvt. Anthony Gerard. Pvt. Andrew Garrison. To Corporal: PFC. Xavier Merendez. To Sergeant: Cpl. Alex Hines." I grew eager. My promotion was next. "And finally, to the rank of Sergeant Fist Class: Sgt. Lucky Sandoza."

"What the fuck," my mind said. I wondered why I'd skipped a rank while my other soldiers only got promoted to the next highest. I stood at attention and followed procedures. I returned to my squad and took on the parade rest position.

"Room," the colonel boomed. "Attention!" In unison, we all snapped to attention, heels clicking at the same time. "Dismissed!"

"Yes, sir," the room replied together.

"Stand fast," I told Phantom Squad as I headed toward Col. Lechund. "Why the hell did I skip rank, sir," I asked the colonel. "Why did I, but my men didn't?"

"You were meant to be promoted after your first year on Jettison. The rest of your squad had been there for what? A year? A year and a half, at max?"

"I still think this is bullshit," I muttered under my breath.

"Say again, sergeant first class," Col. Lechund asked.

"Nothing, sir," I managed.

"Very well, then," he said. "Your squad is dismissed. You are stationed in barracks 2 Charlie." I saluted the base CO and turned to my squad.

"Let's go find barracks 2 Charlie," I said.

"Yes, sergeant first class," they replied.

Arriving at our new barracks, we were greeted by a Major Clay. "SFC. Lucky Sandoza, saluting for Phantom Squad," I said, giving the major a clean salute.

He returned it and said: "Your insignia designates you as a sergeant, soldier." I looked down to see the sergeant patch was still on.

"My apologies, sir," I said as I pulled my new insignia from my pocket. I showed it to him.

"Very well," he said. "These are your barracks while you are stationed here. You will be expected to keep them clean. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir," we rang.

"Where the hell's your squad's CO," the major asked.

"KIA, sir," I answered. "Killed on Jettison IX."

Maj. Clay shook his head. "Shame," he said. "Well, you're dismissed into your barracks."

"Yes, sir," we cried in unison as we filed inside.

I looked around. The barracks were big enough to hold a platoon. Each bed was in its own little cubicle, complete with a door. In the corner was a tv. An Xbox 360 was hooked up to it, a PS3 next to the Xbox. "I'll kick someone's as at Halo later, if anyone wants to," I offered.

"You're on, sarge," PFC. Jeldine accepted. I was going to correct him, say I wasn't a sergeant anymore, but, I liked being called sarge, and, it was shorter anyway.

I put my rucksack in the last cubicle. The clock on the cubicle's nightstand read 22:03. It was 10:00 at night and it was still light out. But, it was Alaska in the summer.

"Halo's going to have to wait," I told Jeldine. "I'm getting my ass to bed."

"Night, sergeant first class," everyone said.

"Good night, soldiers," I replied. "Don't fucking break anything." I closed my cubicle's door, flopped on my bed, and fell asleep.