The Mission

stay down! my company commander yelled, breaking the stillness of the black deafening night. in the skies above reigned the moon, majestic in her fullness, her illumination creating a grayish haze of a dream-like world.

but it was no dream, a nightmare perhaps, but not a dream. the troops stayed on their bellies, keeping hush and refraining from any unnecessary movements, like long queues of corpses strewn across the road. i could tell everyone was as nervous as i was. the possibility of an ambush lurked along every twist and turn of the road ahead of us.

tasked to find problems ahead, the recon team we sent hasn't returned yet. questions rushed through my head: did they get into trouble? was our position and plan compromised? undoubtedly the rest would've been struggling with the same questions. were we waiting only to be attacked? every second that passed etched vivid images of horrible deaths.

my duties interrupted my musings as i began crawling around, i checked my own men. one was on his belly alright, but sleeping soundly. i hit him on his head saying: gising! gusto mo bang mahuli rito (wake up! do you want to be taken prisoner here)? i couldn't tell who he was though, it was dark and his face was hidden under all that camouflage paint, like the rest of us. i guess the exhaustion from all the day's activities got the best of him. the same temptation was heavily sitting upon my eyelids as well, all seductive in the peace and stillness of the night bathed by the moonshine from above.

like him it seemed i was wrong, and the anticipation of combat didn't seem to affect us all. i overheard some of my men talking: "epong para saan yan? camouflage? isang dahon lang yan... eh para pagnahuli may panakip kagad..." (epong, what's that for? camouflage? but that's only a leaf... my preparation in case i'm captured...)i didn't expect to smile that night, but they managed to make me. "quiet!" i immediately terminated their little exchange. again silence conquered, at least on the patch of earth where i found myself in. it was dusty and rocky, grayed by the interplay of the darkness and the moon. there were also thorny bushes dried up by the summer sun and around us were trees casting black shadows into the gray landscape.

my platoon's way up in front leading the rest of the body of troops, the spearhead, the cutting edge. if anything's going to happen up the road, they'd be the first to enter into the bloody fray. but for this mission, i received special orders. i was to command a unit composed of a squad from the elite special response team, specialists trained by the scout rangers, and a squad from my own platoon. we were huddled on one side of the road, with the same road separating us from the main body of troops. i was to lead these men in a suicide mission. it was an honor for us to take up such a task, but the consequences were in not in doubt, sacrifice was inevitable.

the main force's primary objective was to occupy a water tower at the end of the road, and from there, they would determine the position of the enemy and launch massive offensives. my unit's task however was to take an alternative path along the hill and negotiate our way to the enemy's rear and strike them there before the main force launches any real attack. we were to be decoy a unit in fact. ours was to trick the enemy into believing that the attack would commence from their rear. as a puny unit setting ourselves against a massive opposition, we didn't plan on surviving our initial salvo. but we knew that our sacrifice will buy the main force time and cover before the enemy discovers our real aim.

the anticipation of this deadly end was excruciating. it meant more unnecessary time in rehearsing the plan in my mind repeatedly and trying to come up with scenarios that didn't help ease the tension. the prospect of being annihilated decisively in battle was perpetually present, and so was the possibility of capture, and the torture that would follow suit.

various images played before my eyes, leaping in for a period only to be interrupted by the noise of boots hurriedly descending from the hill. it was followed by silence again but one that i wasn't familiar with. it was a new silence, one that pumped my my blood to go on alert. anticipation grew and with my weapon readied, i rose to my feet. the call was made, the company commander signalled us to go. i ordered my men to move ahead of the rest of the troops, and so the mission has begun.