Back Story

They’ve been in my care since… well, since the war began for us really.  I was as shell shocked and fractured as everyone else when they called me in to headquarters that fateful day that I was reassigned to Project C.A.F.S.  Everything I had known was destroyed, my home, my classroom, my daughter.  I was one of the “lucky ones” that survived.  After a few weeks being treated in a field hospital for laser burns and a very disorienting trip through one of those wormholes, I ended up on Foreas.  They stuck a gun in my hand and sent me off for basic training.  I just couldn’t cut it.  I was physically fit enough to make it through the endurance tests, but that’s about all I did well in.  My aim was terrible… the sounds of the gun firing made me yelp a little each time.  I froze during the field exercises.  It was clear after my first week in training that I wasn’t cut out for the front lines.  To be honest, that was quite fine with me.  But I still wanted to help the war effort.  Luckily, it seems there were other ways I could contribute, though at the time, I never would have imagined what it was.

General Wilkes called me in to see her a few days after I was “released” from basic training.  She was standing in a makeshift command center in Alia Das, looking over what I imagine was my personnel file. 

“It says here that you were a both a mother and a teacher back on Earth.”

“Yes M’am”, I replied, wincing a little at the reminder.  Losing my own daughter, who was in her kindergarten class down the hall.  Losing all the children in my care.  Being the only one in the entire building to survive… Thinking about it was still a raw wound.

I think she must have heard the uneasiness in my voice, because she smiled briefly before continuing on.  A warm smile that seemed somehow out of place in the midst of a war.  But then the smile was gone as soon as it appeared, replaced by a serious stare that made me stand a bit more at attention. 

She continued on, “Well, according to your field trainer, assigning you to fight on the front lines would be better for the Bane then for us.  He suggested we find another way to utilize you, and I think I have just the assignment”.

She handed me my orders, told me to gather my things and take the next drop ship to Foreas Base.  I barely made it there in time for the transport, and when I arrived at Foreas Base, the Sergeant that was assigned to meet me ushered me off the landing pad so quickly, I didn’t even have time to finish reading my orders. 

“Thank god you’re here” she exclaimed.  “I don’t know how much longer the men could have held out.  They just weren’t ready for an assignment like this one.  Hopefully, you’ll have better luck”.

Before I could respond, we turned the corner of the base to find three very harried looking soldiers trying to get a small group of children to sit still.  I couldn’t help but smile.  I hadn’t seen a child since the Bane attacked.  I wasn’t even sure any had survived.  But here were half a dozen of them, all different ages and very much alive.  Joy overtook me and I stepped forward, got down on my knees and called them over to me.  I opened my arms into a wide embrace, which they all delightfully ran into.  Over my shoulder I heard the Sergeant explain that our leaders finally thought it was necessary to bring them out of hiding and transport them to the base.  She continues to explain that, after much debate, it was decided that the larger, more heavily defended bases would be the safest place for the children.  So arrangements had finally been made for them to be brought here from the various “safe zones” where they had been hidden.  She said that more of them would be arriving over the next couple of weeks.

And so the Project C.A.F.S., Children of the AFS, was created.  I was assigned to oversee the project and see to their care and education.  The children that arrived over the next couple of weeks had all survived a nightmare.  Some arrived here with a parent to remain in my care as their mother or father was sent off to the Front Lines to fight the Bane.  But most were orphaned after the Bane attacked.  A few staff would be assigned to help me over the following months, but in that moment, as I released the children from my embrace and watched them run off to play, none of the details mattered.  The only thing that mattered was their smiles, their laughter, and the hope that filled my heart.  After all that they had seen, after all of the horror they experienced, they could still laugh and play.  In that moment, I knew that there was hope for us all.