Doomsday Pillars

Chapter 126 - The New Java

Semarang DDay +56

Today is a special day. As soon as the first light shone on the city of Semarang, the people have started walking out on the street and went to the city center of Semarang City. They headed to the five-way intersection which is centered around a huge park that is about the size of four soccer fields, which is called "Simpang Lima". All of these people were informed that the gathering time was 8 in the morning, but the field has been filled with thousands of people much earlier.

A simple stage has been prepared and there's a tall pole standing in the middle of the street. The side of the stage is filled with dozens of VIPs: high ranking soldiers, cabinet members, religious leaders, community elders, etc. 

It's now exactly 8 am in the morning and the number of people that have gathered at the field counted around 500,000. The place is fully packed, but everyone is patiently waiting.

From the side next to the stage, a dozen of soldiers wearing all-white uniforms raised their rifles and aimed it to the sky.

"Fire!"

BAAAANGGG!!

All 12 guns fired to the sky, the sound echoed around the area.

"Fireee!"

BAAAANGGG!!

The second shot was immediately followed by the third shot and the sound echoed throughout the city. 

Soon after, a group of young men and women, also in white uniforms, came marching in a 4-row formation with a boy in front holding a folded cloth with his both hands. This group of youth is called the Paskibraka, which is a title given to the flag bearer group in the ceremony. 

Each marching steps were spectated by everyone with mixed feelings, with the current condition of the country, it's very hard to follow such a ceremony.

The marching stopped and the flag was unfolded.

The leader of the ceremony shouted. "The flag is ready! SALUTE to the flag!!!"

All 500 thousand plus people raised their arms in salute respectfully. The red and white flag slowly rose up the pole. The flag was fluttering in the center of the field and the people suddenly started singing together one of Indonesia national anthem.

'Padamu negeri kami berjanji'

'Padamu negeri kami berbakti'

'Padamu negeri kami mengabdi'

'Bagimu negeri jiwa raga kami'

'To you our country we promise'

'To you, our country we dedicated'

'To you, our country we served'

'For you, our country our body and soul'

The country of 300 million people probably only has less than 5 percent still alive, they were spread out and were doing their best to survive all over the continent. The people left standing within these fields are the survivors of a once large country, but now they are broken. They understood things will never be the same as it was in the past. Seeing the flag fluttering gracefully with the wind, it reminded them of the life they had before the doomsday. Singing the national anthem, bit by bit, their shattered spirit started to rise up.

When the flag was raised, 4 people walked onto the stage. One standing in the front and three at the back. The person standing in the front is the commander-in-chief, the elected president of the country, Rico. The leader of the ceremony shouted one more time.

"Salute to the president Rico Karnavian!"

All 500 thousand people gave their respect to the famous general of the country. Most of them had seen his achievement in the news, he is a rising young general famous for his actions against the terrorists and the leader of the police special forces. The Jakarta survivors knew about his election, but for the other survivors, this was the first time they heard that he is the current president of the country. Seeing such a famous, strong figure leading them, these people felt somehow reassured.

The figure behind him was Regent Suryo, James Randall and Alex. The regent was actually more famous than Rico, so for him to stand there was expected. But the other two people standing next to him made the crowd somewhat confused. They were expecting one of the ministers or maybe another general standing beside Rico and the regent, but instead these two were regular people. 

James Randall may have shown his contributions to the people of Surabaya, but not to these crowds. At the very least, the people knew him as a famous billionaire. The people convinced themselves and thought that a billionaire's contribution to the current situation should not be small, but that unknown ordinary-looking person next to him was very questionable.

Just like James, Alex was only known by the Bali survivors or just within the fighters and soldiers. This was the first time among the majority of the 500 thousand people have seen his face. But seeing the people on the stage or the VIPs giving him the honor created a mysterious visage toward him.

Rico saluted back to the people and took a step forward. It was a huge crowd, but Rico was already used to being in front of a lot of people, but after singing the national anthem, Rico couldn't help himself feel a bit nervous as these people were looking at him with eyes full of hopes and expectations.

"My fellow countrymen, today is the day we will start rebuilding our country. We will work together to achieve this goal. From the east to the west, we will endure, and will survive this disaster. I will accept the honor of leading this nation. But I am asking for your trust and support, for me and every people behind me or next to me. On this special day, I am also asking permission from you and from the predecessors to rename the city of Semarang. There will no longer be a citizen of Jakarta or Surabaya or Semarang among us, only the citizen of Java. The name of Java came from an old Proto-Austronesia language which means home. Because as of today and onwards, this city will be everyone's new home, therefore we shall name it [The New Java City]."

The short simple speech from President Rico was accepted by the people and they expressed their approval by giving him a big applause. This ceremony was Alex's idea to combine two things, to show his support for Rico as the commander-in-chief and also to raise the people's spirits and hopes for the future. 

When the ceremony was over, all the VIPs have gathered in the huge hall within the newly restored city hall. This will be the most important meeting for rebuilding the country.