Graduation Speech

[Hippin_in_Hawaii 639]

Graduation Speech

 
The general looked out at the sea of expectant faces, row after row of them, all looking expectantly at him, all fiercely proud. He had risen through the ranks starting from one of those seats himself, not even twenty years ago. He’d been near the back, as he recalled; certainly not the lowest in his class, but comfortably in the middle of the bottom half. No one, himself included, would have ever foreseen this day.
         

   “Attention!” he barked. Six thousand bodies moved in unison, rising to stand rigidly.

 
              “Salute!” Again, six thousand bodies moved in unison, arms snapping into salutes with crisp precision. He stood and surveyed the scene a moment, emotion welling in his chest. He fought to keep his face composed as he one-two returned their salute with an equally crisp one of his own.
 
           “At ease!” Six thousand feet shifted apart; twelve thousand hands clasped behind six thousand backs at precisely the right height.
 
            “As you were.” Ok, it was a little too much to expect six thousand people to sit and get comfortable in perfect unison, but the noise lasted less than a minute before everyone was settled.
 
            “That was your last salute as recruits. That moment marked the end of your training, although hopefully not of your learning.” He paused for a general laugh to run through the audience. “You are now all Tankers. Welcome to the Corps. “
 
            “FIRST IN LINE! LAST TO DIE! TANK CORPS! TANK CORPS! ROLLING DEATH!”
 
            The general paused and let the echoes of that heartfelt chant fade from the vaulted coliseum where they were gathered. He nodded proudly, letting his eye roam, meeting the expectant gaze of as many of the doomed as he could. Gods, he hated himself.
 
            The war was lost. The general knew this. The Leadership knew this. Anyone with half a brain and access to real information knew this. The enemy’s tanks were superior; their numbers, larger; their resources, vaster. Surprise was the only reason for the early successes in this war and the surprise was long gone. The only surprise left was waiting for these eager young souls; the surprise that comes from having confidence in your own invulnerability stripped away by a foe that truly outmatched you in every way. These proud young men in their perfect uniforms were going to ride their pristine tanks straight into oblivion.
 
            A mutter slowly began to rise from the crowd. People stirred in their seats. How long, the general wondered, had he been standing there without speaking? He glanced down at his notes, then back at the sea of faces. He remembered his graduation day vividly, remembered the keen sense of purpose that the general of that day had honed to a razor sharpness. He would have eaten broken glass and asked for seconds if that’s what his general had wanted. Now, today, what did he want these new Tankers to do for him?
 
            The audience was definitely growing restless, concerned. This was a terrible time for a crisis of conscience. Was he going to send these young men, the best and brightest that his nation had left, out to die for no good reason? That the war was lost was a foregone conclusion; the only points open to debate were the timeline and the cost.
 
            Minutes ticked by. The general stared at his podium. In the audience, feet shuffled, whispered conversations broke out.
 
            He cleared his throat. “Attention!” Despite the unexpected command, six thousand bodies again moved in precision. “Listen to me carefully. I am going to ask you a question, and you must answer it for yourself. It is simply this: which do you value more, your allegiance to your nation, or your allegiance to your leaders?
 
            “My duty, as set forth by the Leadership, is to send you out on a fool’s errand to die fruitlessly. With honor, maybe. With glory, maybe. But to die in the name of a suicidal national pride that is about to cost us everything. My duty, as set forth by the Tankers’ Oath, the same Oath you took today, is to protect my country against enemies foreign and domestic. And I say to you that these duties are now in conflict. So, I ask again, are you loyal to your nation, or to your leaders?”
 
            He stared at them, counting seconds, watching as discipline warred with confusion in their faces. It was nearly three minutes later when a voice from the rear finally called out “Sir!”
 
            “Yes, Tanker?”
 
            “We will honor the Oath, sir!”
 
            He smiled and nodded. “If any of you doubt that my intention is to serve the Oath, walk away now. Do your duty as you see fit, and Godspeed. Dismissed!”
 
            No one moved. Six thousand bodies stood firm.
 
            Tears flowed from the general’s eyes, and he made no move to conceal them. Good.
 
            “Let’s go lose a war!” A ragged cheer arose from the crowd. While they may not understand his plan, they understood that he was offering them a purpose.
 
            “Mount up!”
 
            It was organized chaos as the crews immediately headed out to their tanks. The general smiled. With two thousand tanks at his command right here in the capitol city, there was about to be a brand-new surprise for the Leadership.
 
 
 
 

Mahalo (thank you) for reading; I hope you enjoyed! This story is part of a series. Information on the series, and links to the other stories, can be found here.

Edited October 17, 2018 by Hippin_in_Hawaii

[tweezers 1,034]

Approved.

 

-Reformatted.

-A couple of minor errors.

-Added a title.

 

If you can, consider making article headers yourself, or getting someone to make them for you, as your work seems to be well deserving of a decent opener. 

 

Of all the Tanki related stories - of which I assume this is one - this is one of the best I've read, by quite a margin. Well done! 

Edited November 7, 2017 by tweezers

[Stratosphere 2,234]

This story is better than your last one, good work! ^_^

[g-force 1,000]

Nice story.

[Magenta 5,165]

10/10. Great guy, this guy. Great writing, by this writer.

[Hippin_in_Hawaii 639]

Thanks for the feedback and compliments! It's funny... when I was writing this, I felt like it wouldn't go over well. Glad I was wrong!

[Magenta 5,165]