War…War never changes
Well...Jasper, you could have thought this through better, you think as you step out of the airport and into the bustling city as you note you have no idea where the jungle is, the "Amazonas" or something like that.
As you walk through the streets of the neighborhood with your luggage on one hand and your cane with the other, you take a moment to observe how alive the place looked.
Cars and those weird 3 wheeled vehicles passing by, streets filled with young people going on with their lives, and those street vendors that were weirdly insistent on buying their food. You have to even threaten one of them with your paddlin' to make them back off. How insistent they were!
…It reminded you of Springfield, but from years before, where things were different. More importantly, it made you remember your age, and the main reason you were here.
Your sniper friend from your old unit. Learning most of the soldiers you fought with during WW2 were deceased was a heavy blow. It made you realize you wouldn't be long for this world, same with Abe. That left a sour taste in your mouth and you couldn't tell why.
No…that would be a lie. You knew the exact reason. It began since the Dome broke down, when your friend Abraham won that poker match and he asked you to check that damn Dust Bowl.
You were starting to feel alive again, after so many years of just going through the motions and just rotting in the retirement home.
Having to tame those hounds was one of the most exciting things you had done in the past months. You taught those canines some discipline with your old reliable paddlin', making you feel satisfied like you haven't felt in many years.
And then your thoughts went back to your friend, the one you couldn't even remember the name of. The amount of self loathing and fear you felt when you realized you were starting to forget your comrades you fought with awakened something into you. You wouldn't allow yourself to forget just yet.
So…finding your old lost friend was the only way forward.
But you weren't sure how to achieve that. You didn't have a name or an address, just a dainty old photo. Things seemed lost from the beginning.
Luckily, Abe came to the rescue, you reached out to him, telling him the problem and asking for help. He didn't think twice before lending his aid, something you were grateful for.
He had that Mafioso of his, asks around, with whatever resources he had left, for what scraps of info they could get. Flanders also lent his help, asking whatever people he could if they knew about your missing soldier. Heck, even that Nerd guy Frink assisted, happy to not continue searching Magic for even a moment, searching the "internet" for clues and even ran the photo through a program that somehow managed to get a picture of how your friend would look today
A month passed and hope seemed to scatter, even with his resources Abe couldn't find anything. You were almost ready to call it quits.
Fortunately, Fat Tony came to the rescue, his contacts finally got a hit and what you learned from them had you with mixed feelings.
A mercenary…that's what your old unit member had as a job today. It seemed he continued working as a Sniper for hire even after leaving the military, he even changed his name and went by a weird moniker, and has been doing this for decades now, taking jobs as a bodyguard, contract killer, heck, even as a babysitter.
Supposedly, he was seen around the Amazon Rainforest just a week ago. No one knew if this was for a job or he was just taking some vacations. You didn't care, you had your men locked in and you would reach him out, one way or another.
Abe offered to send someone else with you, maybe Flanders or the just recently hired Apu, but you refused. This was something you had to do alone.
…you did accept a few thousands of dollars from him thought. You weren't senile enough yet to refuse money.
And that's how you ended up here. Somewhere in Colombia lost and with no idea how to reach your destination.
Ah well at least the flight on 'plane awesome' is over, now then where the hell are you exactly? Let's see what that reads...well you don't know what is written there… is that Spanish or French?! This "Spanish for Dummies" is useless!
…This might be harder than you thought. Ah well, it will probably not take a while to figure out which city you're In. You have money, that opens many doors.
About 4 hours later.
Right then...You have no clue but at least you found a guide to take you to the forest, where the man you're looking for should be. Heck that young whippersnapper even had a boat you can use to sail around in the rivers, though oddly enough he seemed to hesitate when talking about the local 'bandits' as they're called.
Apparently for some time now, a year at most maybe, a bunch of people have taken residence inside the Amazon rainforest and have pretty much declared the place their playground. They don't bother the nearby cities or towns , but pretty much anyone that ventures inside the forest tends to not come back. Not sure why the authorities didn't do anything. Maybe the government here was as inept as the one back home.
While that tidbit of info is concerning, you couldn't care, you will go your way, make sure not to bother those people and if those whippersnappers try to start trouble you will introduce them to your paddlin.
Anyway, with the guide just willing to take you to the forest, it would be up to you to find your buddy. Not sure how you will achieve that just yet, but you will come with something or just wing it.
How hard can it be to find a guy inside a huge forest?
(A FEW HOURS LATER)
Okay…you stand corrected, this might be way harder than you thought. You think as you stand in the middle of the jungle, and just tired with everything.
You've been walking for hours now through this jungle now and you are definitely lost. That cheap map you bought from the convenience store has helped you bupkis, as the Old Jewish man would say!
All the trees seem the same! it's freaking hot out here, it doesn't seem to stop raining and these Damn mosquitos are haunting you worse than the army did when you and Abe tried to escape the draft!
You are positively sure you have passed the same place again, you recognize the shape of that tree with how many times you have seen it! Are…you going in circles? God Almighty! That seems to be the case. How?
Irritation fills your being alongside tiredness and hunger and in a moment of rage you throw to the ground the map you have been trying to read for the last few hours and shout to the skies.
"Where are youuuuuuuuuu???!!!" You shout with all the strenght your lungs allow you to.
A moment passes, and as expected no one answers back, just a parrot screeching back at you from a tree branch high above you.
You sigh to yourself, and resign to continue walking aimlessly, you definitely could have planned this better, or planned something at all.
As you ponder to yourself what your next move could be, you hear some screeches getting closer to you, a quick glance around shows that green parrot, who seems to be following you, continuing making annoying sounds.
You have a feeling that the parrot is mocking you, that would be the nail in the coffin wouldn't it?
"Shoo birdy, shoo!" You shout to the bird as you wave your paddle around, trying to scare it as you continue walking. It doesn't seem to have the desired effect and the parrot just keeps squeaking, following you from tree to tree.
"Dumb bird…gonna get a paddlin once I get my hands on you." You grumbled to yourself as the bird kept infuriating you. You have your paddle ready in case the bird decides to get closer, but it never gets anywhere near you.
You narrow your eyes as you stare at the black orbs of the avian, seeing nothing but madness and malice.
"You win this round, but trust me…sooner or later, you're gonna get a paddlin." You tell the bird as you decide to ignore it and continue your trek. Ideas of how to get revenge against the bird folk come to your mind, perhaps you can convince that nerd Abraham hired to build something for this.
Your thoughts of revenge are interrupted quite abruptly when you suddenly hit the ground, your face and body getting covered in mind. It seems you tripped with something when you were busy declaring war to the parrots.
"What in tarnation is it now?" You mutter annoyed as you look back to see what you tripped with. At first glance it seems like…a green rock covered in moss?
You take a moment to stare at the rock…and can't help but think how weird it looks. The more you gaze at it the more you think it isn't a rock, but something else. Your eyes narrow as you dig into your mind, trying to come up with something. You know you recognize what's that, but it's eluding you, staying at the edges of your memories.
And while you are pondering this, you notice the parrot landing on top of the "rock" and begin squawking loud and clear for all the jungle to hear.
"Oh can it, you feathered rod-" You begin to shoo the parrot away but that's when the rock surprises you by…suddenly growing eyes?!
Out of nowhere, an eyeball just pops out of nowhere staring right at you! You can0t help but be surprised by this, starting to back away quickly. While you are retreating away, what's clearly a moss monster, starts to wake up and rise from his slumber.
You cannot believe this. Your father was right about them!!! How?! What else was he right about?! As you crawl away you eventually hit a tree, your back colliding against it, stopping you from running away.
"AHHHHHHH Moss monster!!!! S-St-stay away! Y-Y-Y-You don't want my flesh! I'm too old, too old I tell you!!!" You shout as you wave your paddle at it.
But the monster…just ignores you, focusing on stretching out and listening to the bird squawking at it from a nearby branch of a tree.
"I see…" A deep raspy voice sounds out from the monster. "You let me sleep quite a while didn't you?" He says as he slowly walks out to the tree the parrot is standing by, kneels at the base of the tree and puts his hand in a big bunch of leaves and takes out a…sniper rifle?
"Waaaaiiiitttt..." You stop panicking for a moment and focus on the "monster". Now that you are able to see it calmly, it's actually an…old man in a ghillie suit covered in moss and leaves?
Damn…that's impressive, you haven't seen anyone pull off such good camouflage since your war days, in fact, you remember the only person to hide so well was…
"No way in Sam Hell." You mutter as you quickly reach out into your bag, taking the photo that Frink gave you. The one that's an approximation of how your old squadmate is supposed to look now.
By now, he finally noticed you, and he slowly but calmly approaches you, not pointing his sniper at you, but holding it just in case.
You don't notice that thought, you are too busy quickly looking from the photo to his face. You can0t help but be amazed how close the photo is from the real thing. The baldness, the form of the cheeks, the sunken eyes, even the impressive beard! The only thing that the real one has different from the Original is that gleaming monocle.
And finally, as the guy stands directly in front of you, giving an indecipherable gaze, a name finally comes to the front of your mind. You aren't sure why you are so confident about it, but…you know that's his name.
"It's been so long… Gr-" You start to talk, but your old squadmate doesn't listen, he just hits you in the face with the butt of his gun.
"Oooowww!!! The front of my head!" You exclaim as you grab your now broken nose. The hit causes you to tumble further into the ground, not being able to do anything because of the excruciating pain.
"Wait…" You try to make him stop, but he still ignores you, and just hits you again, this time harder.
"Ahhhh geez! The back of my head!" You manage to exclaim before blacking out.
But as you begin to lose consciousness…you can't help but feel satisfaction, even if its a short lived one.
__________________________________________________________________
Consciousness slowly comes back to you, as you slowly begin stirring back to life, you can't help but feel annoyed that the thing that woke you up was that DAMN PARROT!!!
"Stuuuupiiiid… birdieee." You mutter, your eyes still closed, but that bird is still squawking like it's trying to imitate a rooster. You try to move, but notice that your body isn't responding to you, alarmed you open your eyes in an instant.
First thing you notice, it's that you are in some sort of cliff, if the view of the whole jungle is anything to go by. You would be kind of impressed by it if you didn't have other issues to worry about, like…for example, being tied with vines to what seems to be a tree. From your neck to your feet you are tangled by thick vines keeping you in place.
And let's not forget the guy sitting in a tree trunk, aiming his sniper rifle at you with an annoyed look on his face.
"Sooooo…" He says, drawing out the word for a bit. "Did you have a good sleep? The forest is quite the place to have a nap. Am I right?" He says, his hoarse voice being the only thing you heard. You notice how quiet the forest is right now. Like…it just muted itself to allow the guy to talk…creepy.
While a normal person would be scared out of their mind by being tied up and having and having a gun aimed at your face, this doesn't face you. you have dealt with worse during the war. Heck, you dealt with worse during the airplane trip here!
"It could have been a nice sleep…if you didn't hit me with your damn gun." You say grumpy. Your head still hurts from both hits, you are going to have a headache the rest of the week pretty sure.
You wish you could…waiiiiiiiit.
"Wait a minute…Where's my paddle!?" You ask indignantly. You don't care if the guy shoots you, you had that paddle for the better part of your life, you are NOT losing it! They don't make paddles as good as they did in your youth…damm capitalism.
"I decided to confiscate it." The moss covered man responds simply. "Seeing you were the one who interrupted my nap, I saw it fair to…relieve you of your things." He shrugs, not seeing anything bad with that, increasing the headache you currently had.
He gently puts his sniper rifle down in the trunk and then reaches for his pocket and pulls out a photo…you recognize it, it's the one the lab coat gave you!
He just stares at it for a few seconds… his eyes narrowing and he with a swift motion, he turns it around and shows it to you, moving his face closer to you so the photo and him are side by side.
"Now…I'm in the middle of something right now, so I will ask this only once." He says with a tone that leaves no argument for silliness. "Who. Are. You?" His eyes seem to drill onto you and directly into your soul…that's unnerving.
"I… I …am…" You stutter, being caught off guard for how things are proceeding. Your squadmate furrows his brows, not liking your lack of answer. "I'm Jasper! Jasper Beardsley! We were in the same unit back during the war! I..I…was looking for you!" You shout quickly, words just escaping your mouth without any thought.
"Jasper…Jasper." He mutters, saying your name like he was tasting it. With his free hand he scratches his bald head, deep in thought. "That name doesn't ring any bells." He comments with a huff. "I would remember a soldier with a name like that."
"It must be! You shot me in the leg that time during basic, remember!" You say motioning with your face to your now fake leg. The old man just looks at your tied legs, shrugging.
"Unlikely story…I never miss my shots." He says with a tone of confidence. "Try again."
"I tried to escape the draft by dressing as a woman!" You comment exhasperated. "The guys kept mocking me for weeks for that! Except you!" You say trying to jog his memory.
"Wait…" He mutters, his eyes not blazing at your soul, but instead looking at the ground, deep in thought. "Jasper..jasper…leg…dresses as a woman…" He stays like that for a minute or two, by your experience, he must be reliving a flashback most likely.
He then gasps and looks at you, with recognition in his eyes. "Jasper!" He shouts amazed, then his eyes narrow again. "Oh you son of a gun, you own me like a hundred dollars! You poker cheater!" He says exasperated.
"You cannot prove I cheated, no one can!" You answer back rapidly. It's never cheating if you aren't caught. "Only God can do it!"
"And that was the reason I stopped playing poker night with you." He smirks as he takes a more comfortable position in the trunk.
His posture is more relaxed, not as antagonistic as before, but it seems he is still somewhat wary of you, you don't get why.
"It's been more than 50 years since we saw each other." He comments as he grabs the photo with both of his hands. "Last time was…was…uh…I don't think I remember." He says with a sad undertone. You just stare at him with sadness in your eyes.
"Grant…" You start, but then he cuts you off before you can continue.
"I don't go by that name anymore." He says abruptly. "Nevermind that. Why are you here Jasper? Who sent you?" He asks you as he strokes his beard, thinking. "Uncle Sam knows not to bother me anymore, so…who you represent."
"Well…myself?" You shrug helplessly. "I had to find you. I just…had." The raising of one of his eyebrows is the only thing you receive back from him. You sigh.
"It's just us now y'know. Everyone else in our unit is dead." You start, voice filled with sadness. "And…I think I've forgotten about most of them at this point. Their faces, what they did…about the war…And it hurts. " You finish lamely. "I don't want to forget all the friends and good I did back then. I… don't want to be left with just nightmares."
"You too, eh?" Your friend answers softly as he just stares at you for a moment, sadness and recognition filling his eyes. With a heavy sigh, he gets up, calmly walks up to you, and grabs a stray vine from the bunch keeping you tied.
With a simple pull from him, the vines constricting you and keeping you tied to the tree seem to loosen up, leaving you free sitting in the ground.
"Let me help you brother." He says as he offers his hand for you to take. You gladly take it and with his help you manage to stand up. You feel your bones creak a little as you get up on your feet.
"I feel the same as you brother." He comments as he puts a hand on your shoulder, grasping it tightly. "The war…what we did back there…what we saw…what I saw through my scope…it never leaves my mind. It's there every time I close my eyes." He comments with empathy, and you realize at that moment, that he is the same as Abe and you.
"Even now I think a part of me is still in the war, fighting." He comments as he stops grasping our shoulder and slowly walks up to the edge of the cliff, taking a knee and just staring at the scenery. "I never could go back to normal. There's a part of me that needs to keep fighting. To do good. To just…keep pressing that trigger…over and over again."
"That's why you became a mercenary?" You comment as you walk up to him, staring at the same view of the magnificent Amazoness. The view somewhat calms your mind, even when talking about this subject.
"I didn't start as a mercenary." He comments lightly. "I was approached by Uncle Sam, you see? They recognized how good I was and wanted to keep putting my skills to use instead of getting rusty. I was put in some secret team nonsense."
"I accepted and it was good for a while. I fought the good fight, help get rid of some…problematic people, and above all…I was able to keep shooting my rifle." He says with a nostalgic tone.
"But after a while…something changed. I can't tell what or how I started to not feel that satisfaction of doing another mission, just the yearning feeling to just keep shooting my rifle." He comments sadly.
"Grant…" You don't say much, you just put a hand on his shoulder, making him know you are here for him. He, for an answer, puts a hand above your own, keeping it there.
"That's where it dawned on me. War…war never changes. It doesn't matter how many wars are fought or how many people. Things won't change. The U.S is in the precipice of another war, even if the common citizen doesn't know it. Just know that it's fought between some madmen businessmen with desires of greatness." He says gravely. "The U.S of America that is today is not the same our brothers and us fought for. Not one bit."
You understand what he says. The reports Abe shared with the rest of you in the Power Plant. Flanders and Frink couldn't believe it themselves, while the zombie just didn't care, he was more busy trying to look for some cowboy clothes that fit him.
"War never changes…but it changes us, the people that fight for it…and almost never for good." He says with a tone of finality. "I don't think I will be able to go back to normality." He finishes with a grimace.
"So what…you just gonna…keep doing this until you die on the job?" You ask incredulously. You understood what he was saying every word. But still…hearing him saying this just made something inside of you twist in worry.
"Heh…that would be lovely. As long as I get to fire one more shot…I couldn't care less." He says with a grin that doesn't reach his eyes.
Is at that moment that you knew that you couldn't leave him alone…not for yourself but for him. You won't leave a soldier behind…especially a good friend.
"You…can come with me if you want." You start, not even sure yourself of the world coming out of your mouth. "I'm working for another of my friends in the army. Abe Simpsons not sure if you heard about him." A glint in his eyes tells you that he does, either if it was from recent news or from the war itself doesn't matter.
"Might not look like it, but the guy does want to do good with what he has. Might fumble in the dark a lot. Even so…I trust him with my life." You continue, confidence picking in your every word. "We know a little of how bad things are but…he seems determined to move forward and do…something."
"And…we could use the help of someone as experienced as you. We…can cover whatever price you ask for." You say, throwing out the offer, giving the best shot you got.
"So…what do you call a soldier… Once more unto the breach?" You ask with a hopeful tone.
And for a few minutes, both of you say nothing, just staring at the forest, enjoying the tranquility it offers.
As sunset started appearing on the horizon, he spoke again. "You know, you always sucked at giving speeches. Did you know?" He says with a huff.
"Yeah…well I'm not a politician." You say in defense, trying to appear nonplussed. But inside you were feeling sadness. But then…
"You got yourself a deal soldier." He says as he retires the hand above of yours and gets up. He starts walking to the trunk where he sit before.
You are just too surprised to say anything. You stay there as he reaches inside the trunk of the tree and pulls out a pair of binoculars.
"I really hope your friend can do what he promises. And to tell the truth. I might need his help with something." He says as he passes you the pair of binoculars.
"With what…exactly?" You ask with wariness as you accept the object.
With calm movement, he motions you to put them on and once you do, he grabs your hands and calmly moves your view to the left.
"I found these guys during one of my jobs a few months ago. At first I thought little of them, just another paramilitar group playing around." He says as your gaze lands into what seems like a military base. and from the looks of it…it's wrecked.
"But then I encountered them again. And when I tried to look up who they were my contacts came back empty handed" He says gravely as you stop using the binoculars and look at him. He reaches again for his pocket and pulls out… a medal? He hands it to you.
And as you accept it, you can't stop yourself from having a feeling of wrongness when you look at it. It has a symbol of a black talon on it, but somehow it reminds you of something else…you cannot out your finger on it.
"This is the 5 base I've crashed, and in all of them they had no info to give me. The only thing of value I found was that symbol in all of their agents." He says as he takes it back. "Your friend better be ready to help me snoop around a little more."
You nod in acceptance, thinking Abe wouldn't mind taking a look at this. You then offer him a hand. "You got yourself a deal Grant."
He gladly shakes it as he offers you a solemn look on his face as he fixes the monocle on his eye. "Thanks. And please don't call me Grant anymore."
"...I go by "The finale" these days."
REWARDS:
Recruited THE FINALE!!!
A new fire has lit inside Jasper. He is more determined that ever before. He gains a +1 to all his stats except Occult.
Jasper appreciates all the help you gave him to find The Finale. +15 Opinion gained.
Jasper trait: Brothers in Arms applies now with The Finale, whenever they go on adventures together! It does not stack with the bonus he gains with Abe though!
