THE LIFE OF A SOLDIER (FF3) by : Paul Furfari
	
	"When the time comes to be a man, then you must enlist"
	 This is what my father said to me on the day of my eighteenth birthday.
 Soon after, I found myself wearing an imperial uniform, and I was saying
good-bye to my parents.  You see, when find yourself in the imperial army,
you lose your identity; just another solider with a life to waste.  That was
me.  The brown uniform did not even fit me, but I couldn't complain, or else
face a court martial.  
	My first assignment, a base north of Doma.  The captain told us that we were
stationed there to attack Doma.  They had been resisting the Empire's orders,
and they were suspected to be rebel sympathizers; how I hate those rebels.  
	I stayed in base camp for close to a week, hoping everyday that we would get
the order to attack.  But General Leo did not feel it was necessary, I could
see his point.  There was no real need to attack a castle, when there was a
larger enemy out there.  Well, as the days passed, General Leo was ordered to
seek council with the Emperor.  In his place came one of the most respected
leaders, General Kefka.  
	We attempted to sleep that night, but we got called out in a drill.  The
moans of the soldiers told the story of how we hated it.  We were met outside
our tent by the laughing Kefka.  The drills lasted long, we ran and practiced
combat situations.  Kefka watched on with delight.
	"This one, I like this one.  He will be part of the team." Kefka pointed to
me.  I was moved onto the side with a few other soldiers.  Some of the people
I knew made it on this so called "team".  
	"Pssst.  Hey Jones, what the heck is this team thing" the soldier to my
right whispered.  It was my friend Rally. 
	"Dunno Rally, I have no idea what he is talking about.  Maybe we are part of
a strike team or something." I responded back.  
	"Hey, you, soldier shuttup will ya" a higher ranked officer yelled to me.  I
was beginning to become tired  and my body was close to collapsing, but the
drills went on.  In total, twenty soldiers were picked for this team, and we
then became secluded from the rest of the soldiers in base camp.  We were
moved into a tent, and were told to sleep.  
	The morning came too quickly as we were forced to leave our beds.  We
dressed and ate our prepared slop.  How I hated the food in base camp, it was
if a stupid imp was making the damn food.  I still ate it, but how I hated
it.  After our slop for breakfast, we were led out of the mess tent, and went
through debriefing.
	We were told by Kefka himself what to do.  We were supposed to wait for the
people of Doma to become weak with poison, then assault the castle with
force, not withholding anything.  
We were told that if it moved, it must be killed.  The rest of the day was
left up to us, as we were told to write letters to our parents in case we did
not return.

	Dear Momma and Poppa,
		I find myself in a position of no return, I am going on my first mission.
 We are instructed to attack Doma.  I may not come back, so in case I want to
say I love you all.  Tell little Annie about her big brother, and his bravery
in the Imperial Army.  
						Love Always,
						Terrance Jones

	The long march to Doma was silent the whole way.  Some prayers were heard
throughout the march, and I said a prayer for myself too.  My legs began to
feel weak at the site of Doma.  Then the assault began.  
	We flanked the soldiers outside of Doma, and slaughtered them easily.  As
the attack ensued we could see Kefka's poison take effect on the people of
Doma.  They began to fall down one after the other.  I saw the faces of the
victims, how low I felt.  I began to tear from my right eye, as I felt sorry
for my actions.  
	Screams of "Poison" were let out all over, and the battle raged on.  As the
battle raged on, we were met head on with a soldier dressed in all black, his
black hair stretched downward on his back.  "So THIS is the legendary
defender of Doma," I thought to myself. That was my last thoug