Interview with the General - Part 2 [Tankiverse Fanfic]

[Hippin_in_Hawaii 639]

Interview with the General - Part 2

Fanfic in the Tankiverse by Hippin_in_Hawaii

 
[Editor’s note] Our agreement to publish this entire interview, unedited, forces us to distribute it across several issues as space allows. We apologize for any confusion this may cause.
 
World News Weekly: Can you think of other notable instances of absurd events marking such a pivotal moment?
 
General Fred: Well, even now, it’s not always clear what events were, or may yet prove to be, pivotal. As I said, I’m inclined to think that I’ll one day look back on this very interview as pivotal in some way.
 
WNW: I hope that proves to be the case!
 
GF: Be careful what you wish for! (laughs)
 
WNW: Aside from absurd circumstances, are there any other unusual happenings or influences that contributed to your choices along the way?
 
GF: (after a thoughtful pause) Triskaidekaphobia.
 
WNW: Triskaidekaphobia? Isn’t that fear of Friday the 13th?
 
GF: Yes. Not many people know that about me.
 
WNW: That seems very out of character for a man of your reputation.
 
GF: Well, it doesn’t come into play very often. I don’t know if you know this, but each year contains between one and three Friday the 13ths. We have three this year, the next in about two months.
 
WNW: Has something significant happened on a Friday the 13th that contributed to your choices?
 
GF: You know, I did lose my keys once on a Friday the 13th. That resulted in a few hundred people surviving the firebombing of Paerth.  
 
WNW: Paerth. You mean Nova Victoria?
 
GF: Paerth was one of the last major cities we liberated, and one of the few places that there was significant resistance to the Liberation. The Leadership decided to raze the city and ultimately build a new capital there. Not that we knew that at the time. All I knew is that Leadership was ready to firebomb a city where hundreds, probably thousands, of people were still hiding.
 
WNW: Surely those were classified as enemies of the state?
 
GF: Sure, a couple of them probably were. Most of them were just people whose homes had been destroyed and who were leery of accepting relocation offers from the same government that had just wrecked their lives. They found scavenging in ruins a preferable choice to forced relocation and probable internment.
 
WNW: So you’re saying that you helped save those people?
 
GF: No, I just drove a truck loaded with food and water into the ruins, had a snack, lost my keys, and had to walk a very long way home. All on Friday the 13th.
 
WNW: If that saved lives, it doesn’t seem like you should be scared of Friday the 13th. Maybe it’s actually a lucky day for you!
 
GF: Friday the 13th, my lucky day? I guess we’ll see soon enough!
 
WNW: Can we talk for a minute about Malcolm Morrison?
 
GF: Wow, something even scarier than Friday the 13th!
 
WNW: You served under Grand Marshal Morrison, yes? What can you tell us about him?
 
GF: When I first completed my training and entered the field, Captain Morrison was above me in the chain of command. Far above me. I had no reason to think that he knew I existed, and was startled to find out that he did. I had no way of knowing it then, but the captain certainly knew which way the wind was blowing, and had plans to let it carry him to the top. Hm. Ok, that was a terrible metaphor… let me try again.
 
WNW: Certainly, General.
 
GF: Captain Morrison was a shrewd and effective leader. He had a way of recognizing people’s talents and encouraging their use. In retrospect, it’s clear to me that I was one of several such people. At the time, well, I guess I felt like he was mentoring me. But he built his command on the backs of people who were effective, people who utilized lateral thinking, and, at least in my case, people who were naive. I was thrilled by the trust he placed in me, by the autonomy he allowed me, and of course I felt like I deserved the awards and promotions. Again, it never occurred to me that I was simply one of his many tools, and that every success of mine was also a success of his. So I climbed the ranks, as did his other pet projects, all of us pushing him up ahead of us. Until one day, the Legislature was disbanded, the government structure shifted, and I found myself at the right shoulder of a Grand Marshal, promoted to commander of the Tank Corps, with general’s stars on my shoulders.
 
WNW: Sounds like quite the Cinderella story!
 
GF: I spent years working my way up the chain of command. I both saved and took lives. I worked and fought, sometimes in the most brutal, literal sense of the word possible, for every incremental gain. Part of my road I paved with humanitarianism and part I paved with blood. There’s nothing Cinderella about it, unless you’re talking about the original Grimm’s version. But that one’s not bloody enough.
 
WNW: Sorry, I didn’t mean to… I guess I finally managed to offend you?
 
GF: (laughs) I suppose you did! I just don’t want anybody to think that I’m blaming someone else for my actions. Was Captain Morrison a villain? Absolutely. He was a villain in the best possible way, too, in that his choices and actions all seemed noble. He was patriotic, he nurtured those under his command, he rewarded success and used failure as an opportunity to inspire loyalty and growth. It wasn’t until he was at the apex of power that his true colors shone through. But his villainy in no way absolves me of any consequences of my own actions. Nor did his patronage in any way ease my own ascension to power.
 
WNW: Sounds like you two had a complex relationship.
 
GF: It only sounds that way when you sit back and dissect it years after the fact. Our relationship was always simple; he set the tasks; I accomplished them as best I could. If I did well, I was rewarded. If I did poorly, I was given a chance to redeem myself. He was my commander, I was his subordinate.
 
WNW: So you don’t see yourself as one of Morrison’s Murderers?
 
GF: That’s a label the media cooked up after the war was over and the trials began. Someone had the clever idea to look for the names of Morrison’s top officers and attach a catchy, alliterative title, then to go and selectively weave a few truths into a tapestry of atrocity. (laughs) Hey, that one came out pretty good!
 
WNW: To weave a tapestry of atrocity. Yes, that does sound poetic. Are you saying that your role in that tapestry has been misrepresented?
 
GF: Probably every fact that you have heard about me is true, or at least has its basis in the truth. But it has been selectively pulled from a much broader story, is devoid of context, and has nothing held up as balance. I don’t believe that I’m a murderous caricature of a man, some demon who uses orphans’ blood to grease the treads of my tanks as I order them to mow through crowds of innocent bystanders. That actually appeared as a political cartoon during my trial.
 
WNW: I remember.
 
GF: And, if you collect fragments of facts, it’s not untrue. War is a terrible thing, and chaotic. Troops under my command did follow my orders. Those orders did result in the destruction of an orphanage and the deaths of 37 children plus seven staff. There was a demonstration the following day where thousands of civilians gathered to protest. My troops were soldiers fighting a war, not police enforcing the peace. Their reaction to an approaching mob was appropriate, and over 200 unarmed civilians were killed. All of that is true, and my responsibility. But I can assure you I wasn’t sitting high in some luxurious tower, cackling madly and cheering as I watched the bloodshed. I wept for those lives, and I wept for the good people who inadvertently took them. It is one of the more notable stops on the long train of self-recrimination I ride over and over in my cell.
 
WNW: Are you asking for pity?
 
GF: I must be doing a bad job of this. No, I’m not asking for pity. I’m not asking for understanding. All I am asking for, and I think this is something all people are entitled to, is an accurate portrayal. I doubt I’m a hero; I doubt I’m a villain. I doubt I’m any archetype. But what I am cannot be judged from the fragments presented in the media and the courts.
 
WNW: So what are you hoping for?
 
GF: Hoping for? Nothing. It’s just refreshing to have an opportunity to share my perspective. Who knows? Maybe one of your readers will be moved to start researching my story. Maybe they’ll write it as a novel. Maybe it’ll even get made into a movie.
 
WNW: Who would play you?
 
GF: Oh, I don’t know. I’m not really up on contemporary actors. Some everyman, I suppose. Maybe Philip Seymour Hoffman?
 
WNW: I’m sorry, but he died. In 2014, I believe.
 
GF: That’s too bad. He really disappeared into his roles! I think he could have managed an objective performance. Anyway, with a little even-handed portrayal in the mass media, maybe I’d have a chance at a retrial. Revisit my sentencing.
 
WNW: Your life imprisonment?
 
GF: Life imprisonments, plural. I’m not saying I don’t deserve it. I’m just saying it would be nice to know if I do. The outcome of my trial was a foregone conclusion; the political cartoons and memes of the time are proof enough of that.
 
WNW: Surely you can file for appeal?
 
GF: Of course, but there’s just no point. If you’re a member of the Federated States, I’m a hero. I’m the one who saved the country from the clutches of madmen and returned it to normalcy, defying the unified armies of a continent to do so. If you’re anyone else, I’m a butcher, a power-mad murderer, a usurper. Surely I’m neither, but I doubt there’s an eligible jury member on this half of the world without an opinion. Getting a fair trial? Well, that would be a red folder miracle.
 
[Editor’s note:] To be continued next week.
 

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.

[KillerGnat 3,135]

Edits:

• Changed leary to leery

Approved!

 

Really like how this is coming along! gg  ^_^

[fury987 604]

nice!!! BUT try to make something special all are making interviews. :ph34r:

[Pyre 3,485]

[KillerGnat 3,135]

nice!!! BUT try to make something special all are making interviews. :ph34r:

welp, in Hippin's defence, this isn't really a normal interview. It's a story formatted as an interview; entirely fictional and meant for the reader's entertainment, so yeah.

[GrandExecutioner 1,403]

nice!!! BUT try to make something special all are making interviews. :ph34r:

This is part of a series. It makes sense if you've read previous installments otherwise it will seem like a random interview.

[BlueDragon_tamki 3,204]

This is entertaining. Nice job

[thethiefofvictory 339]

Hmmm. Liked this. Good job, Hawaii! And tell me, when do you plan on ending your fanfic?

[tweezers 1,034]

Love.

 

And tell me, when do you plan on ending your fanfic?

I devoutly hope that the answer to this is "not for a long long time."

[Hippin_in_Hawaii 639]

Hmmm. Liked this. Good job, Hawaii! And tell me, when do you plan on ending your fanfic?

 

 

 

I devoutly hope that the answer to this is "not for a long long time."

 

I think it's clear that the Tanker Fred Chronicles (I'll think of a real name later) are wrapping up. I've got 3 stories written and another few planned. Barring some unexpected intervention by my muse, I think that'll wrap up this volume. But fear not! The Tankiverse is vast, and there are myriad things still to explore! 

 

That being said, life has happened. I'll try to keep to my post-every-Saturday schedule, but the next couple of months may make that challenging.