//------------------------------// // Enemy Of Friends // Story: The Final Crusade // by Enfield //------------------------------// Morning dawned and the Crusaders looked rather refreshed, James had only got a couple of hours of sleep but he was able to function normally. He unpacked a small bag and gave the Crusaders some food to keep them going, a fog had descended over the land and James sought this to his advantage. He and the Crusaders were able to sneak through the woods and make up for the time they lost when they had to wait for their clothes to dry. James spotted a store and immediately regretted wearing his Enforcer uniform, he had no idea if the Enforcers controlled the area around here. But risking his safety was nothing compared to the other problem that he had, James had packed food but he accidentally left it behind at the Zecomecks house when he saw the UAV. James had the Crusaders hide behind the store with his rifle while he went inside to buy food. James had a pair of sunglasses which he used to hide his identity. James stowed inside and hid behind one of the aisles, he grabbed as much food and drinks as he could and then went to the teller. The teller was cheery but rather dim, he said to James that he had no idea what was going on and that he had never heard of the Enforcers or the Guardians. After a short conversation and a bribe, James walked out of the store with enough food to last him and the Crusaders for at least seven days. James and the Crusaders continued walking in the general direction for the flying club. But after seven hours they had to stop. They had come across a small town, and a massive battle was going on within it. “Well that just bloody great,” James said over the gunfire. “Now what do we do?” Sweetie Bell asked. James huffed and tried to see who was fighting who. As he guessed, it was the Enforcers fighting the Guardians. He then looked back down the road they just came. “We have to go around the town,” James said finally, “It will cost us time but it’s better than walking into a war zone.” The Crusaders moaned but they followed James as he led them around the town and into the woods. Several more hours of walking ended up with James in the middle of a field. He had no idea which way the flying club was. James searched the sky for any sort of light aircraft but all he could see were jets in pitched dogfights and supply planes dropping cargo and tanks. Tanks. James now had a bigger threat to deal with, not only were there Federal agents and soldiers chasing him, but he might end up trying to escape a tank. James didn’t dare mention the tanks to the Crusaders because they would surely panic and run away, if they did there was the chance that they could be killed or captured. The only help James had was an old flight map and a compass, he stood in one spot and span around a few times until he found the general direction of the flying club. “This way,” James said to the Crusaders. “How do you know?” Apple Bloom asked as she jogged to catch up to James. “I can’t use the roads but I can use the radio towers,” said James. “How can you tell which tower is which?” Scootaloo asked. “It’s how they’re grouped and which direction they’re in,” James replied. “I don’t like walking across this field,” said Sweetie Bell. “I don’t want to either but it’s the only option,” said James. They walked across the field, every explosion that happened in the sky make James shudder. He had his Enfield in hand but what good would that do against an F-16 or an F-18? James took the lead and helped the girls over a ditch that sat next to a road, he looked up and saw a jet flying over them, then it turned and flew at them. “Get in the trench!” James shouted. He dove into the ditch and pulled the Crusaders in with him. The jet screamed overhead and turned away, James looked up and around. The jet was on an attack run and bearing down on James again. James ducked as the jet unleashed a hail of cannon fire, the road exploded as the rounds hit it, then the jet turned again. Scootaloo started to run but James pulled her back into the ditch. “It’s no use,” James said, “That jet will keep machine gunning us until we’re dead or it runs out of ammo. “It’s not the gun I’m worried about,” Scootaloo said, her eyes were full of horror as she watched the jet steer around again. James watched the jet in Scootaloo’s eyes then realized what she was going to run from. “Everyone up and run!” he shouted. “What? What is it?” Apple Bloom asked fearfully. “Missiles!” James shouted, “It’s going to use laser guided missiles to bomb us!” The Crusaders didn’t miss a beat, they were up and sprinting to evade the missile that was bearing down on them. James was the fastest runner but he stayed behind the Crusaders to absorb the blast wave, it hit him faster than he expected. James was thrown forward and he landed between Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell. James jumped up and let the adrenaline fuel his escape, the jet roared overhead and circled again for the kill shot. James tried to turn his head to see it but the jet was right behind him. James braced himself for the missile hit, but instead of hearing the missile impacting behind him, he heard a loud boom and an even louder explosion. James stopped and span around, a black M1 Abrams tank was on the road and the jet was falling from the sky in pieces after being blown up by the tank’s main gun. James watched as the turret turned to the front and the top hatch opened. The Crusaders stopped running and they joined James at he tank. “WHOOO!” said a voice from inside the tank, “WE KILLED A JET!” Cheers erupted from the tank and the tank gunner pulled himself up to look at the hulk of jet that sit by the tank. “Nice kill,” James said. “We saw the jet and decided to see it the guided shell would track a jet,” said the gunner. “Anyway,” James said, “Thanks for the assist.” “No problem,” the gunner said turning to face James. The satisfied smile on the gunner’s face dropped when he saw James and the Crusaders. “YOU!” the gunner shouted, “You’re the cause of all this!” “Fuck, this isn’t good,” James thought. “It was you and that squad that caused the termination of the Enforcers!” the gunner yelled at James. “I’m on your side!” James said. “If you were on our side you would’ve stuck to your orders and not looted that room!” the tank gunner shouted, “You caused this war! You have betrayed your country and the Enforcers!” The tank gunner then grabbed the .50 cal machine gun and pointed it at James. James aimed his Enfield and fired at the gunner, hitting him in the face and making his head explode. “Run!” he said to the Crusaders. With that in mind the Crusaders and James ran to the nearest forest, the tank started up and gave chase. James never had a tank chase him before and he hoped that this would be the only time it would happen. As they sprinted to the woods James noticed that the tank’s guns were aimed at them, but none were firing. “Why isn’t it shooting us?” Scootaloo shouted to James. “Might be because I killed the gunner,” said James. They reached the forest just as the tank was about to crush James, the armored beast toppled a few trees then got stuck on a few larger trees. James looked back and saw a second hatch open and the tank driver pull the body of the gunner out of the machine gun turret. “I’m going to kill you for everything!” the diver shouted as he let loose a hail of bullets. James dove between the trees until he heard the gun jam and the driver scream with rage. The scream sent chills down his spine and almost made him trip on a log. James and the Crusaders didn’t stop running until they were sure that they had evaded the tank and any more jets. They stopped under a cluster of trees that still had a few leaves, James took inventory of the bags they had left. The backpack that contained the tent had been lost as well and the bag that contained a large amount of food, the bag that had all the Crusaders’ clothes had been ripped apart by a pair of .50 cal rounds so now all the Crusaders had to wear were the clothes that James found them in on the first day he met them. “Well we’re stuffed,” James said as he tried to ration the food out to the Crusaders. “No jokes about food,” Sweetie Bell moaned. “That wasn’t a joke,” James said. “Where can we sleep?” Scootaloo asked as she rubbed her arms and legs. The temperature had dropped since the day James’ parents ditched him. James knew he couldn’t answer that without the Crusaders all moaning. “I don’t know,” James said as he took small sips out of a water bottle. “I’m cold,” said Apple Bloom. “Me too,” said Sweetie Bell. “Huddle up,” James said, “It’ll work until I can build a campfire.” The Crusaders all gathered up into a mass and tried to keep warm while James searched for wood, he knew that once more his safety would be at risk but what choice did he have? The Crusaders were freezing and he wanted to get them home safe and sound. James managed to get one going after several attempts, the Crusaders all gathered around it and drank in its warmth. James sat back against a tree and watched the explosions of artillery shells pound a small town to rubble. Tears formed in his eyes as he took in what the tank driver and gunner said, James looked at the patches on his uniform. He ran his fingers down the patch on his right arm. The tank gunner’s last sentence spoke repeated itself in his mind. “You have betrayed your country and the Enforcers!” James rubbed the patch again. “You have betrayed your country and the Enforcers!” James curled his fingers around the edges of the patch. Now only one word rang in his mind. “Betrayed!” “Betrayed!” “BETRAYED!” James sank his fingernails around the stitching and he yanked the patch off his arm leaving a piece of blank black fabric on his arm where it used to be. James then did the same for the patch on his left arm then the ones on his chest and the emblem on his beret. He left the name tag on his uniform however, he at least wanted to be identified after he was killed. James took the patches to the fire and dropped them into the flames. “I didn’t betray my country, it turned on me,” he said, “Who Dares Wins.”