Operation: Home Front, Acceptance

       by Trooper Cecrops, Doberman Empire



       The young man stepped off the bus and began walking south, as he had
done many times before.
His thoughts were vague and erratic as he put one foot in front of the
other. He thought of the friends
that he had had and lost, and of the great changes in his life that had
happened over the past several
years, and especially in the past couple of months.
       He stopped at a crosswalk and pressed the button. The lights were
green for the eastbound traffic;
it would be time for him to cross soon. He watched as a person on the other
side of the street dashed
across through a lull in the traffic, and wondered why some people were so
impatient that they would put
their own personal safety behind saving a minute or two.
       After a short time, the 'walk' sign lit, and he started west across
the street, but was forced to step
back as three cars took right turns in front of him, through a red light,
the last two not bothering to slow
down. He stepped boldly in front of the fourth car, which stopped, as he
gave the one fingered salute to
the third car which was departing hastily towards the freeway.
       He was walking slower than normal, perhaps it was the heat of the
day, maybe it was just to give
himself more time to think. It was quite hot for an early November
afternoon, and he was feeling the
weight of his backpack when normally he would not notice it. He walked into
a residential neighborhood
of town now, and he would not have to worry about insane automobile drivers
as much. He walked by a
small park that bordered an elementary school, and he began to think about
what kind of world these
children would enter as they reach adulthood, whether they would be able to
have solace in their
thoughts, or whether they would find nothing but grief and unhappiness.
       Then he wondered the horrible thought of if these children, when
they reached adulthood, would
not have the power of thought. It was worries like this that had caused
most to join the Jihad. He had
not have any such thoughts before. He wondered, then, if he had not had
such worries, what had caused
him to join the Jihad. Perhaps it was on a foolish whim that he had sent in
that application to the
mysterious Samhain the week before. Or perhaps he was just looking for a
place to belong. Perhaps,
while he had not consciously been worrying about the children, his
subconscious, knowing that one day
he might have children of his own, had pressed him to join the cause to
protect the future of humanity.
       He was startled from his thoughts as a movement caught his eye. A
large dog had wandered out of
an open driveway, and had walked right up to him. After a moment, he
realised that even though he'd
had a fear of dogs all his life and this one reached up to his waist, he
was not afraid. He could sense that
the dog was scrutinizing him, and he said,"It's okay, I'm friendly," even
though it did not seem that this
needed to be said. A few seconds later, the dog turned around and walked
part ways up the driveway.
The young man then continued on his way, looking back once at the large
black dog with orange
undersides, and he felt that this was a sign.

       He was a Jihaddi. He was a Trooper of the Doberman Empire.

       He was Trooper Cecrops.

       The young man continued walking.

       To be continued...






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