From: "Jeffrey Hosmer" Oh! My Goddess DIVINITY By Jeff Hosmer ***** "All right, you maggots! Line up!" the Sarge yelled. If he had any other name, we had forgotten it. Oh, we could have found out what his name was easily enough, but he was the Sarge and that was that. He was the toughest, meanest, and most unsavory old coot anyone could imagine. He drove us to the breaking point, and then a little bit further, just to show that we could do it. We hated him, but it was the hate of a son for a father whom he knows is looking out for his best interests. What Sarge taught us would help us complete our mission and maybe even come back alive. "Absolutely bad asses!" Sarge yelled as we lined up. I think it's in the Sergeant's handbook that he say that when we lined up, because he always did. Usually this was followed by a detailed listing of our failings, the failings of our ancestors, and a fevered plea for patience and forbearance. The last was so that he didn't just kill us where we stood for not having what it took to become soldiers. We thought he was joking about that. "Listen up!" he bellowed. "As of now, you guys are on standby! There's a mission and you've been tapped for it!" We would have murmured in shock and surprise, but the Sarge had drilled that out of us by now. "As you know, the Enemy is getting more and more aggressive every year. Countless thousands already toil under the yoke of their tyranny. Tonight may just be a raid, but I want you to know that every little bit, no matter how small, is a blow for our cause, for freedom!" We had heard it all before, but pride still filled us. Our Enemy had been fighting us for years, but we refused to give in. Their system was harsh, arbitrary, and unforgiving, grinding the life and joy out of the people it conquered. While we lacked their power and size, they never could get rid of us, and we would fight them until the last drop of blood left our bodies. The Sarge wrapped up his speech and then dismissed us for a little R&R before we left on the mission. As I turned to go, he motioned me over. "Look, kid," he said, "I thought I better tell you this now. You're one of the best I've trained in a long time. Remember your training, keep a cool head, and do your job. I know the first mission is a scary one, but you've got the skills. The only other things you need are a bit of luck and the favor of the Goddess." A reverent look crossed both our faces and we looked down at the ground. The Goddess was more than a religious figure to us, She was the center of our lives. "I'm telling you this," Sarge said, "because I'm putting you in for a promotion when you get back. So don't take any unnecessary risks, you got me?" "Yes, sergeant!" I said. "Alright, get out there and have some fun. That's an order," he said, with an uncharacteristic grin. The hours of R&R flew by too quickly, and before I knew it we were massing our group for the mission. We all received the chaplain's blessing and then left through the tunnels. Our destination: Enemy HQ. The mission went too well from the first. We snuck through their security without a hitch, and that worried me. I had never run a mission before, but, from the stories I had been told, this was too easy. Some of my mates said as much, but I told them to keep quiet and do their job. True to my misgivings, alarms went off as soon as we reached our objective. "Scatter!" I yelled, running off in a random direction as my mates did the same. Alarms were ringing, lights flashing, everything was in chaos. I did what Sarge told me, however, and kept my head. I dodged left and right, not daring to make a beeline for the tunnel entrance. My only hope was to avoid capture long enough to double back to it. Then I saw Her. It was the Goddess. I recognized her from the pictures I had seen in school. She had long, gorgeous black hair surrounding an impossibly beautiful face. Her colors were red and white and in her hand she carried her Sacred Hammer. I knew at that moment that all of my dreams of the future, all of Sarge's hopes, would come to naught. But that was all right, for the will of the Goddess was not to be thwarted. It was my time. She raised her hammer high on seeing me and said the words of benediction that would carry my soul onto glory. "EEEK! A BUG!" WHAM. ***** AUTHOR'S NOTE: Surprised you, didn't I? Jeff Hosmer 10 February 1998 Jeffrey Paul Hosmer jhosmer@ix.netcom.com http://www.tass.org/~jhosmer/