A thin line indeed

Posted on Wed May 15th, 2024 @ 2:50am by David Mccolugh

Mission: Mean Green Queen
Location: The Kings Shilling pub
Timeline: Mission Day 1 at 1330

OOC: The bar is open, anyone who wants to come by, come on down.

It was a thoughtful bartender who cleaned the lunch mess. It was the usual collection of plates and dishes; as he started washing some of the older cups and glasses, his mind wandered, as it did with his years and experiences.

His thoughts were consumed by Mia, a young woman who, despite her determination, was teetering on that delicate line. David couldn't help but empathize with her internal struggle, which he was familiar with.

The thin line between courage and cowardice, between standing firm and running away, it was thinner than people believed. It wasn’t fear if you were going into battle, whether it was facing French Curiaseers in a square on a Belgian field, charging Zulu warriors, or even thugs in a bazaar on some planet. No one who enlists or enters service, be it to the King or Federation, to run away. But sometimes it happened. He had memories of young soldiers who had just hit that point where they couldn’t fight anymore.

He understood that, having reached that point in 1945 somewhere in Europe, near Germany, when he just couldn’t fight, and that was in armor, his CO had put him in a staff position rather than explain to Patton, who would have taken it very poorly.

It was always a rough business soldiering in any time; even if you survived the battles, you still had to work through what you had to do to survive..

Once he finished the last glass he quickly wiped down and then picked up some of the debris that he saw.

It was a thin line indeed between hero and coward. Much thinner then people knew.

Tossing the rag in to the sink under the bar he continued to busy himself while he waited for any visitors.