A/N:  The music title is "If I Die Tomorrow" by Motley Crüe.

13 June 2034, 06.30 WIB, Forward Operating Base "Merdeka" Rangkasbitung Pabuaran village, Pandeglang Regency, Banten Province

Pvt. Agnes Tantono

In light of our discovery of child soldiers, I was grateful for my friends' support, with William, in particular, reminded me to not dwelling in the past and not throwing my dreams away, in the spirit of "we have a duty to do; and I won't leave you alone" that promptly brought my memories when I was wounded and out of action. 

Today, brigade command had ordered for a stand down for one thing; our fallen comrades from the 2nd Platoon, Patricia Liuputri, who had sacrificed herself by falling on a grenade thrown by the NII, has been awarded the highest personal military decoration of our Republic, the Bintang Sakti. hence a need for memorial service and ceremony at the same time.

Our own equivalent of the Medal of Honor in the United States Military, Victoria Cross in the British military, or Param Vir Chakra in India.

At 1030 hours, we were assembled and watched the awarding ceremony broadcasted nationwide.

"The President of the Republic of Indonesia in the name of the People's Consultative Assembly takes pride in presenting the BINTANG SAKTI posthumously to:

SERGEANT (Anumerta) (1) PATRICIA LIUPUTRI

NATIONAL VOLUNTEER FORCE – INDONESIAN ARMY NATIONAL GUARD COMMAND (2)

For service as set forth in the following CITATION:

"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as the risk of her life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a volunteer infantry Non-Commissioned Officer for the 2nd Platoon, B Company, 288th "Pelangi Nusantara" Volunteer Infantry Battalion in support of Operation PERISAI CISADANE (2) on 12 June 2034. On that day, after the entire battalion was ambushed by NII rebels, the order for pursuit was given by Battalion CO and the insurgents engaged our forces in a close-quarter forest fighting. 

At 0855 hour, the platoon she belonged to was engaging the insurgents when a fragmentation grenade thrown by the NII insurgents bounced upon her chest and landed in front of her. Although she could have escaped the blast, she chooses to protect her comrades, especially her squad leader which were also close to where the grenade landed, endangering his life. Instantly and without regard for her own safety, she threw himself onto the grenade to absorb the force of the explosion with her body, saving the lives of her three comrades including her squad leader. By her undaunted courage, fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of certain death, Corporal Liuputri gallantly gave her life for her country, thereby reflecting great credit upon herself and upholding the highest traditions and values of the Indonesian Army and the Indonesian National Armed Forces in general."

We also held a memorial service for her and another volunteer, from Malaysia which also had been killed in fighting yesterday. 

Villagers came and gone to pay their respect to their protectors, laid in two coffins in a  local football field before the ceremony of transfer started. In case of the Malaysian volunteer, under the request of the Malaysian government, his coffin was draped in ASEAN flag, symbolizing the solidarity of ASEAN to the Indonesian people together with two soldiers carrying Indonesian and Malaysian flag thanks to the fact that most foreign fighters were de facto permitted by their own government to fight for Indonesia as a sign of support.

"Present arms!" 

"May their soul rest in peace," said Major Wambe. His parting word marked the departure of the ambulances. Villagers were dismissed but troops were ordered to stay for awards.

Our unit had been awarded "Bintang Pembebasan Nasional/Star of National Liberation" a special decoration created by the Defense Ministry for gallantry in liberating Indonesian territories that have been occupied or partially occupied by the NII or FDNI terrorists. The order's tier is equivalent to the old Independence War-era Bintang Gerilya but the latter has been awarded to individuals instead of the unit as a whole. 

The wounded also receive another medal called Satyalancana Penegak Kesatuan, which is awarded for participation in this campaign. According to the Battalion CO, for the "unwounded" this medal will be issued after 30 consecutive or 60 non-consecutive days of service.

Various HANRA (self-defense militia) groups and units were also awarded such decoration according to what I had heard from the Battalion CO; or one-tier higher "Bintang Pembebasan 2033/Star of War of Liberation 2033" and for us, the belated issuance of Satyalancana Dharma Pertahanan - equivalent to United States National Defense Service Medal - that was entitled to all combat and non-combat personnel in our battalion.

............................................................................

Nothing eventful in today's checkpoint duty with the rest of the squad until a seemingly innocuous man entered the edge of this village.

"Halt!" I raised my hand ordering him to stop. He complied, but before we could start checking him, one of the local villages called us. Sgt. Stephen and William greeted him.

 "Sirs and Madams, I think I know this man."

Meanwhile me and some others lead the man further away from Stephen, before the latter ordered us to frisk him.

"Let me see your phone"

"Before the war I often see him come to our local pengajian and taught something, well, out of normal people usually got in the mosque." 

He answered. "It's locked"

"Give me the code, Now." Widya ordered, with more force than before, and he complied. Even with that, I couldn't deny that he might had something in store from hints from his movements so far.

Jackpot. Widya found photos of the said man together with the NII's Deputy for Wilayat Banten, who has not yet been captured.

"Who is this? Do you know where he is?" Widya asked.

"I don't know, sir."

William barked. "Don't try to lie with us. We might have to arrest you."

It was a last straw for the man as he pulls out a knife and attempts to stab me but my trigger finger was faster; he lay down there, heavily injured, with a bullet in his stomach. 

"Medic!" 

I confiscated his knife and other personal effect and gave it to Sergeant Stephen. In return he would present it to the local police detachment as evidence.

Other than the photo, we also found messages showing a hint of another planned attack on the village by the NII rebels at night.

The palisades were mostly completed by the afternoon, and at night, it's time to make the hunter, the hunted.

Now we were laying low, making sure that each entry was under watch by squads of our unit and the local militias. Speaking of HANRA militias somehow we got a team of RPG-7 rocket launcher - a Cold War item that refuse to die.

"Neng (miss), this is from Bulgaria." one militiaman with the RPG answered me where did those weapons come from. Not long we heard the hum of motorbike and car engines went closer to the village. 

"I can see +12 hostiles in motorbikes, and one pickup configurated to hide fighters (or even IEDs) in the cargo area (with tarpaulins)" whispered a villager served as a scout. At night, it was generally silent and no one wants to be out of their homes except necessary (medical needs, especially). 

"Beware of bombs, those people might instead plan to put IEDs to harm this village." Said the Lieutenant, under the name of Sumaryono.

"Get ready," said Stephen when he saw the attackers prepared to begin their attack. The Islamist rebels didn't realize they were being watched until it was too late. Upon the hand signal from the lieutenant, the man that I had just talked with fired the rocket towards the pickup truck, completely ruined it. 

"This is for our comrades," I said firing my HK 416, squarely hitting an insurgent in his head, his pathetic life was over is a flash.

"Man with Minimi, take him down!" one guardsman hollered as his position was dangerously exposed. His comrades covered him by throwing two grenades on the rebel concentration.  

The opposition was caught off-guard, overall, and after 20 minutes of firefight three last surviving fighters pull out their machetes and charged us like someone possessed by the devil. 5,56 mm NATO slug ended their misery forever.

Mission success, Pabuaran is defended. Drones laid the truth bare; 20 enemy fighters were no more with only three wounded HANRA militias in our side.

"I need a relief"

It was Abe, nothing I could do with tiredness kicked in, luckily, there was William.

"Don't. Here is a bottle instead."

A reason to breath in relief.

..............

A/N:

(1). Anumerta means posthumous promotion. Indonesian military and police practice promoted soldiers who had been killed in action one to two ranks higher (in the latter case, a Lance Corporal to Master Corporal)

(2). Operasi Perisai Cisadane is the follow up of the Operasi Naga Cisadane. The latter is the liberation of cities and villages controlled by NII in Banten, and the former was the counter-insurgency, restoration of security and rule of law; and reconstruction phase (the enemy fall back into guerilla fighting in both rural and urban areas)