High School Soldier
Forward must be backward

The government officially established the Student Army Headquarters in Karanganyar City, with the center of a former sports building. After the inauguration that was carried out before the return of the Expeditionary Force, the Student Army Chief of Staff occupied this place.

This 3-story building is the place where the ceremony of promotion and awarding of soldiers who have shown courage, determination, and heroism that goes beyond the call of duty in military operations. The area of this building is closed to civilians, and only special circles are allowed to enter this building, one of which is a family of soldiers.

A few hundred meters from the building is where the perfect Gate is now no longer there. Previously, a 2 meter high guardrail was built around the Gate, and now the guardrail only surrounds an empty area of 20 meters. On one side of the guardrail stands an 8-meter high memorial, as a symbol of people's gratitude to the young fighters who protected Karanganyar City from post-war enemy attacks.

No one objected to the construction of the Student Army Headquarters in the city, as it could be used as a symbol of resistance from a post-war event known as ‘Insiden Independence Day’.

After all, the 5 kilometer Forbidden Area could be used to build various facilities related to the Student Army. Thus, the land used to construct the Headquarters was only a part of the entire area of the Forbidden Area. So, the government plans to build a Transportation Center that serves as an entry and exit route for representatives of Indonesia and the other world.

The choice of Karanganyar City cannot be separated by the existence of ‘penglikan’ which has been rebuilt by the magicians of the Kingdom of Arevelk and Yekirnovo, so that the Gate can open in the designated area, on condition that the Gate will only open in the Forbidden Area. So, the plan to strengthen the military is the first step for the country to send back Indonesian and TNI representatives to other worlds.

The move was taken back in the hope that war with the enemy would quickly meet its final stage, and peace between the two sides could be achieved. So that the country no longer needs to sacrifice the best soldiers to survive all enemy attacks. A destroyed expensive weapon is not a loss to the country, but the life of a soldier is worth more than anything.

Such enemies have no plans to reconcile with Indonesia, and continue to launch small to large-scale attacks to fight the Expeditionary Force. In order to strengthen the troops that would be sent to the other world some time after the ceremony, the Ministry of Defense had prepared the best soldiers and weapons. The allied countries also expressed themselves to help with the delivery plan of ‘Peace’ Squad by sending a small army and other forms of assistance.

And thus, the government has agreed to re-deliver a new force named ‘Peace’ Squad. The force will fight alongside Indonesia's allies, with the aim of achieving peace and stopping wars with the rest of the world.

**

Some time after the promotion ceremony and awarding for Expeditionary Force soldiers and volunteers.

Soldiers and volunteers marched with several rows to receive the award, the fallen soldiers also marched but in the form of photos lined up in such a way. The representatives of the families of the fallen soldiers were the recipients of their ranks and awards, they suppressed their sadness and remained proud of their children, husbands, and lovers who died on the otherworldly battlefield.

A woman in a field uniform and armband bearing the symbol of Student Army, she looks like she is still around 20 years old. The Student Army soldier girl carried a photo of General Sucipto framed with beautiful carvings, and clad in honor of the Star of Kartika Eka Paksi Utama. He did not stand alone, on his right was a woman in her 40s who was Sucipto's wife and the girl's mother, and a 15-year-old boy who was his sister.

The mother seemed unable to hide her sense of loss towards her proud warrior who was also a husband. Then, the girl's sister could only bow and clench her hands very tightly in order to hold back the anger and hatred towards the enemy that had made her father fall. While the girl herself who was the rank of Soldier One Student Soldier stood up while carrying a photo of her father with a tough face, but her teary eyes still could not hide her sense of loss.

The existence of Sucipto family members in the front row makes Nio easily recognize them if that is the goal. He still keeps a letter belonging to Sucipto to be given to his family members, and this Nio considers as ‘the last command’ Sucipto for him.

Nio himself has received a promotion and award, he officially holds the rank of First Lieutenant of the Student Army and earned the honorary mark of Bintang Kartika Eka Paksi Pratama. All Expeditionary Force soldiers also received higher ranks one and two after receiving direct recommendations from the President, and similar awards as Nio got.

The Expeditionary Force soldiers were still standing in their respective places, respectively, and see the volunteers who are the majority of Demihumans and mercenaries who fight together to get the award given by the President in the form of the Star Mahaputera Adiprana.

Among the volunteers marching for the award, Nio saw Lux, Zariv, and Edera marching with them. Nio was not surprised or anything like that for not being told by those who would be the guardianship to come to Indonesia, and he just smiled to see the three girls and the volunteers get the award they deserve for helping to keep the glory of the Republic of Indonesia with the Expeditionary Force.

Only, Nio should be able to be happy within his reasonable limits after receiving all that, since there was a family of soldiers who received high honors in a state of having fallen with honor. He felt that he could not be happy excessively when there were many people who lost their proud warriors. Moreover, they had fought desperately until the help expected to arrive, and gave this victory in order to make the living soldiers continue to fight.

On the other hand, Herlina who is now getting a promotion one rank higher, and the rank of Major feels ‘kesal’. Or rather feel if the rank between himself and Nio is getting further away, and his chance to get closer to Nio is quite small. Herlina hoped that if she was a little slower to join the Student Army, so that she could now rank the same as Nio and make her chance of approaching Nio even greater.

From where she was standing now, Herlina could see if the otherworldly girls close to Nio were directing their gaze towards the young man. Even he also saw Sigiz and Sheyn at where the invited guests were, and just glanced at Nio alone. Meanwhile, there were quite a number of men who set their sights on the otherworldly girls.

“I hope the other world doesn't exist.”.

Herlina said that in hopes of no ‘competitors’ to get Nio, because she heard that almost all the girls of the world who are near Nio are that type of young man. But Herlina also thought, “But..if the Gate is not there, war will not happen, then the Student Army is not formed, so my chance to meet Nio is not there.”.

The more Herliana thought about it, the more she did not understand the flow of her mind, and was only fixed on Nio and Nio.

Arunika stood from a place specially reserved for the warrior family, and looked from the best place. Beside her, Lisa only noticed Nio who had officially become a student Army officer, as well as Arunika.

However, the rank obtained by Nio was able to make the two girls feel anxious. Because it means the task of Nio as a soldier is more and more, especially with the plan to send Peace Forces. Nio has been announced to be one of the soldiers who will be sent back to another world, in order to stop the war and achieve peace. That way, the two of them will not often meet with Nio, and will meet again in a long time when Nio gets a short leave of absence.

In essence, there were some girls who felt anxious about their feelings with Nio. But, they couldn't interfere with the young man's task just because of their feelings.

20.32 WIB…

Time has changed with night, but the atmosphere of Karanganyar City is like there is no death. Although in villages far from the city center, the atmosphere there is still crowded with people who go home from work or just do night patrols.

Then, at the Student Army Headquarters was still very crowded with soldiers and invitations attending this ceremony. There are also some representatives from ASEAN countries, G20 member countries, and Indonesian allies. In addition to watching the soldiers who had fought in other worlds being rewarded and promoted, the invitations from abroad also wanted to see for themselves otherworldly residents who fought alongside the Expeditionary Force. Because in the previous war, only ordinary humans were they fighting, so seeing the race called Demihumans firsthand was amazing.

Then, Nio was able to return to where Arunika was, where she attended this event with Lisa. Lisa is one of the civilians besides the staff of journalists present at this place, she gets a special permit after Nio pleads that the girl can attend this event to accompany Arunika.

But, some people actually use this event to get acquainted with female or civilian soldiers. At a place not far from the invited guests' quarters, Sigiz's troops sat at the place that had been provided and commented on the atmosphere of this world. Some of them even try to get acquainted with female soldiers with Indonesian as much as possible, at least they are elite soldiers Arevelk and Yekirnovo who have learned basic sentences in Indonesian, he said, for example, the sentence used to get acquainted or just introduce yourself.

Then Nio sees Arunika and Lisa looking uncomfortable with the 15 officers and bachelor invited guests surrounding them and throws some questions that offend both of their romance.

Nio actually wanted to let them get acquainted with one or two men, so that Nio did not have to worry about his work because he no longer needed to think excessively about the circumstances of the romance of his brother and sister's friend. But, Nio's actions were not what his mind wanted, he moved at the behest of his own feelings.

Arunika and Lisa see Nio walking towards them, and they try to escape the male encirclement. But, they were like they would not allow the two girls to stay away from them.

Nio forced himself to split the dozens of men who surrounded Arunika and Lisa, it made some men dislike the actions of Nio.

The young man then wrapped both hands around the necks of the two girls, and put on a face like after getting a big victory. Seeing the action of Nio who seemed to be the owner of the two girls, all the bachelor men who tried their luck by approaching Arunika and Lisa walked away from the three of them with broken hearts, some are accompanied by swearing.

“Basic jerk..”

“The bastard... why he can get two women at once..”.

Nio's smile grew wider after hearing such a remark, but not with Arunika and Lisa.

The two girls looked at Nio's big hand that was coiled around their neck, and the hand looked extremely strong and heavy. Although one of these hands is not the original hand, but is as heavy as the original hand. Those were the two hands that had protected the two of them from the threat of enemies from the other world.

Arunika and Lisa are not at all bothered by Nio's treatment like this, and want this moment they often get. Slowly, the cheeks of the two turned red, and did not want Nio to leave for now.

Meanwhile, Sheyn, who was carrying several Barisan Roses knights, was also not a target for some TNI officers who were bachelors or invited guests from allied countries interested in them. Some of the knights Sheyn brought were the commanders of the troops and some of his best knights.

The Yellow Rose, with her real name Seish, she looks completely uninterested in the bachelor TNI officer trying to get acquainted with her. Although she understood what they were saying, Seish seemed to only respond with a smile, then went to where Sheyn was.

The girl one of the commanders of the Rose Line who has silvery hair, or she earned the nickname White Rose whose real name is Uto actually responded to the men who approached her with harsh words. Surprisingly, some of the men who got a rough answer from Uto were happy, and increasingly wanted to get close to the girl.

Then, the commander of the Rose Line who had reddish hair responded to the men who approached him with pleasure, and spoke normally with some TNI bachelor officers. The face of the girl named Gozoa looks ‘adult’, and that is what attracts men to get acquainted with her. However, Gozoa responded to them only to avoid troublesome things, aka he was not too interested in bachelor officers, except for a few certain people.

Together with several officers and female invited guests sat down together and did some topics of conversation with Sigiz and Sheyn. Sigiz and Sheyn are only interested in the beauty products discussed, because they admire the beauty of Indonesian women who look simple but elegant even with only thin makeup.

In addition, Sigiz and Sheyn's fluent-sounding Indonesian language skills amazed the people who spoke to them both.

“You're too complimentary, Queen. Precisely we really admire your beauty that looks natural.”

The words of one of the female officers who had just ascended the ranks to the Infantry Captain made Sigiz feel astonished.

“Yah.. but I have never used beauty products like you guys. But I often use natural ingredients that are formulated by the best servants of the palace, which serves to make my skin always look well maintained.”

“So other world women like you also use natural ingredients to care for the body?”

Then, an invited guest related the words of the female officer, “Yah... Since the war was over, the natural ingredients we used when money was running low and not enough to buy cosmetics are getting scarce.”

After the words of the female invited guest, simultaneously all the women around Sigiz and Sheyn were seen sighing and limp-faced. Although Sigiz's heart was a little relieved, after the Indonesian women did not say if there was magic that could make a face of youth. Because ‘kuduk’ his family received caused him to be like a teenager in his 25 years despite his original age of 60 years.

But, Sheyn and Sigiz alike feel their words are a way to strengthen the relationship between the two countries they lead with Indonesia. Although they are not famous businessmen or officers, there are at least some people who can be invited to support the relationship between Indonesia and the country they control.

One of the TNI female officers replied to Sheyn's statement, “Of course, because your country has also helped a lot of Indonesia in the previous war.”

“True, there must be many people who support Indonesia to strengthen relations with all countries in the other world.”

After that, their ‘gadis’ torch continued even though there were still some men, both from among the TNI bachelor soldiers and invited guests who were interested in the two queens.

Then, the two turned their heads in the same direction, which was towards Nio who was embracing two girls. They felt that even though Arunika and Lisa were the closest people to Nio, the young man should not forget them after meeting the two girls again.

Suddenly Sheyn stood up without saying anything towards where Nio was, and Sigiz had the same goal as him.

“Sorry profusely, actually I want to see someone. Can I leave this conversation?”

“Oh.. please..”.

Sigiz then follows Sheyn to approach Nio who has not yet released his embrace of the two girls. When they saw the two queens walking towards Nio, the women they had talked to before felt that they would not return for talks. Because she was Nio, so they thought it was only natural that the two queens wanted to meet her.

There is no quarrel between women that occurred after the arrival of Sigiz and Sheyn amid Arunika and Lisa who still want to feel the rare things from Nio. Fortunately, the arrival of the two queens did not make Nio give up his embrace, but the young man could not react properly.

“Sister, do you enjoy it?”

Sigiz asked that while smiling the full ‘makna’. But, Arunika increasingly attached her body to Nio, and managed to make Sigiz's eyebrows twitch.

“Yeah, I really enjoyed it... do you want to, Queen?”.

“No need, I've often been treated like that by Mr. Nio.”

“Masa?”

Arunika knew that what Sigiz said was a prank, and felt that what he did really upset her.

“Wait. Right, Arunika?”

Lisa's reaction when she heard Sigiz calling her best friend with the call ‘kakak’ was indeed unexpected.

Then, Lux, Zariv, and Edera were the otherworldly girls who came next. Nio just smiled satisfied with what he got, and listened to the fight between the girls nearby.

The actual event had been completed, but Suroso stood on the pulpit after paying tribute to the Expeditionary Force soldiers and volunteers. Seeing that, Nio took off his embrace from Lisa and her brother, and listened to what the young president was going to say.

Suroso did not bring any notes at all like at the official meeting, because indeed this is an additional event that Suroso really wants to do.

“I want to say a few words about the struggle of Expeditionary Force soldiers and volunteers.”

“There are many captives that they have, and we can use the captives as a source of information about the enemy's future plans. The most important information we got was that the enemy had formed a great power called the Alliance.”

“The Alliance has conducted their first battle with the aim of finishing off the Expeditionary Force and retaking the Indonesian Special Region in the New World. They are enemies who have killed our best soldiers.”

“Indonesia and allied countries of Indonesia have agreed to send a new force which we named ‘Peace Forces.”

“As the name implies, in addition to maintaining the security of countries from other worlds, this army will be in charge of stopping wars and bringing peace to both worlds. Maybe some of you have heard this news, but I will re-notify this news.”

“We will not repeat the previous mistake, where we only equip the troops with old weapons that are more worthy of being destroyed than used to fight again. We will send the selected soldiers, special forces, and the latest weapons that are much stronger.”

“As Expeditionary Force soldiers and volunteers say, the other world has many very dangerous things and other secrets. In addition to maintaining the security of the country from the other world, the Peace Forces have the task to continue the exploration of the Expeditionary Forces. Because they just mapped a region called Andzrev.” Continent

The large screen behind Suroso had changed the image, and showed an illustration of the Andzerv Continent. Many people took advantage of this opportunity to take photos, so Suroso's conversation was slightly interrupted. After everyone took photos of the Andzrev Continent, Suroso continued his talk.

“Despite suggestions not to send troops to another world, because not necessarily the Gate will open again in Indonesia. However, it does not open the possibility if there is a country that plans to open the Gate again, and open it in one of the countries in this world. So, the task of the Peace Forces there is to prevent things that if they happen will end badly for this world.”

“The first war with the Alliance might make other countries in the other world join that useless war. ‘Iron Storm in June’ is the name I gave to the war that made so many of the nation's best warriors fall.”

“For the surviving Expeditionary Force soldiers, I hope you continue your fight. There is a question from me for you Expeditionary Force soldiers who have gone through battles with enemies that number far more than you. What keeps you from retreating and continuing to struggle, when the Gate has closed and you are not connected to Indonesia for a while?”

The faces of the Expeditionary Force soldiers look confused with ‘easy questions’ asked Suroso. They felt they could not answer with “Ingin to protect the Red and White Behind us”, because it was an overly ordinary answer.

“Forward must reverse..”.

One of the Expeditionary Force soldiers who came from the Student Army replied with such a faux pas, and that soldier was Liben. He could answer like that because when the battle of the fortress had been besieged from all directions, so if the troops would retreat then they would be attacked by the enemy.

But, Suroso was still looking for answers from the other soldiers, and held back the laughter with the answer Liben gave.

“Yes already, we are usually just forward doang anyway. because in the Indonesian army, it takes more courage to retreat than to advance.”.

(olog note: those who like history must know the person who once said those words.)

An unnamed soldier first answered him like that, and made most pairs of glances directed at him.

Arunika just sat quietly as if not hearing anything, whereas the one who answered the question from Suroso was Nio himself. Meanwhile, Nio just sat quietly with a feeling of unworthiness for quoting one of the words from a World War II historical figure, he felt that his words had very little to do with the question of Suroso.

The atmosphere of the place that was suddenly quite silent after he said his answer, made Nio's feelings even more unnerving. So that he now desperately wanted to get out of this place, and bury himself rather than bear great shame.

“True...it's our new commander...!”.

The voice, coming from Sidik and sounding was not at all ashamed of his quite loud tone.

Meanwhile, the people who finally knew if the answer came from Nio were wondering with what happened to him to lose his right hand and eye.

However, after hearing Nio's reply earlier, it made them confident that Nio would not allow himself to retreat from the fight.

Then, Suroso said after hearing Nio's reply, but he said with a slight smile.

“You have 300,000 enemies, and the remaining number of troops before the arrival of the relief force is only 14,809 soldiers with very limited ammunition. Though death is in sight if you continue to fight with the rest of your strength, but you still pursue the target and fight it. That means there are two possibilities, you are crazy or you are indeed the best soldiers this nation has.”

Though Nio could answer like that because he saw his own fortress surrounded by enemies from all directions. If he chose to retreat, he would equally choose to advance because both would fight the enemy.

“Alright, we can't mess with the troops of this country.”

“What do you mean?”

Lux himself said that after seeing the struggle that passed the confidence of the Expeditionary Force. He responded to the words of one of his subordinates with a very serious face.

“Or we will face off against the strongest weapon in the world.”

**

(illustration of the Andzrev Continent, source of personal images)