I was walking down to what seems like an aisle that stretches out of perspective. I feel the path below move slightly as I hold on to the ropes beside me. An ocean, I saw an ocean surrounding the rope bridge I was standing on. The waves kept pushing the wooden steps beneath me back and forth, as if trying to shake me off. I kept walking and walking until I realized that I was in an unending loop. I stop and look above. The sky was blue, and the sun was striking as the horizon collected the clouds around me.
I close my eyes and feel the wind brush through my hair. Everything was calm and serene, the feeling of time, stopping its haste for me to breathe. But as everything seemed to be clear, the sound of the waves around me started to get harsher. As I open my eyes, a gigantic wave spawned beside me, and in an instant, devoured me, trying to bury me under a watery grave. I open my eyes and see a sparkling light penetrate the dark depths of the ocean. I reach out to it, seeking help, warmth, and comfort.
“Co…commander. Commander Reign, we've arrived, my eminence,” a shaky voice said to me.
I open my eyes and see a young-looking man with glasses beside me. I look around and see there are two individuals seated in front of us. Then I remembered where I was, inside an Imperial Groundrocker on our way to Duppy Village, a town in Coltan Province, nearest to the research facility.
“Apologies for waking you, commander, we'll be entering Duppy Village within 500m,” the young-looking man with glasses said.
“Yes, thank you. Once we reach the entrance sign, signal the team to stop. I'll be briefing you before we enter the village,” I said to him.
He uses his radio to disseminate my orders to the others. I look outside and see the forest of trees zooming past as we ride through this pothole riddled road.
“This vehicle lives up to its name, huh?” I said out of the blue.
“And why is that, commander?” the young looking man with glasses said.
“Well, the way we’re running through these potholes literally rocks my brain,” I sarcastically replied.
The man with glasses beside me covers his mouth with his hands, trying to prevent his laughter but it bursts out. He kept laughing for a few seconds then stops at a descending pace. I was surprised at his reaction as what I said wasn’t supposed to be a joke but to give subtle hints to the driver to be more cautious in his driving.
The Groundrockers are heavily armored vehicles that can withstand heavy siege fire from multiple types of heavy weaponry. These vehicles haven't been used in years as these machines, in the past when the colony was younger and still at war, were a menace to those who oppose it as even grenade launchers aren't able to penetrate its thick armor plating.
“I’d like to apologize for the decorum of my comrade, commander,” the woman with a thin frame sitting on the shotgun seat said as she turns back to us glaring at the young looking man beside me.
“Oh, please don't worry about it. I know someone as cheerful as him all too well,” I said to her as I heavily pat the man with the glasses beside me on the shoulder.
The man with the glasses beside me reminds me of Chonzou, his happy-go-lucky demeanor always gets him in trouble. And the woman in front reminded me of my younger self, working her hardest to climb the ranks, serious and strict, but deep inside, she’s just as carefree as the young man beside me is.
“By the way, if you wouldn't mind me asking, what are your names?” I asked all of them.
“I’m Second Lieutenant Shinji Zamora, ma'am, at your service!” The man in the glasses said to me proudly.
“I’m Second Lieutenant Jade Hiro, ma'am, at your disposal,” the woman sitting shotgun calmly said to me with a salute.
"I’m First Lieutenant Marco Mitos, ma'am,” the driver said.
“Glad to be working with such fine, young-looking individuals. Hopefully, we finish this mission without a hitch,” I said to all of them.
We were enjoying a small conversation until we saw a grand archway; its pillars wore swirled designs and blue colored rock decorations around its body. On its top, there is a Duppy Village text embossed in the middle of the arch and two identical crests embossed on its sides. “We’ve reached the outskirts of Duppy Village, commander,” the driver said.
“All right, stop by the archway and I’ll brief everyone before we head in,” I instructed him.
We reached the archway. I step out of the vehicle and face the platoon behind me. I raise my hand and clench a fist. A total of seven vehicles stop in front of me. The doors open and a total of thirty five men and women step of out the vehicles as they stand tall and give out a proud salute.
“All right, we're out here on a gather and destroy mission. Gather intel on what had happened in the facility and destroy any remaining remnants or individuals associated we come across,” I said to the group.
“To add, do not leave your vehicles while we are passing through the village as to not create further commotion, we would not want to make the villagers panic. They were all advised to stay in their homes beforehand until we can assure them that the situation has been cleared and dealt with,” I added.
One man in the back with a frail frame raised his hand shakily as if he fears for his life. I raise an eyebrow out of my surprise as I know that my instructions were already clear and concise. I point towards him and asked him what his question was.
“Commander, when you mean destroy remnants or individuals, do you mean for us to kill those people if there are any left inside?” the frail man stutteringly said.
“Yes, execute them, those are the directives given to us by the High Council,” I said to him.
“But with all due respect, commander, aren't we supposed to rescue them or help them out of there at least?” he shakenly added while his voice cracks.
Everyone starts murmuring softly, seeming to question if I had given them the correct orders assigned to us by the High Council. I start to get frustrated as I have never seen such a group that questions their commander's orders.
“These orders are not to be questioned! Let me remind you that as soldiers, we are to obey the directives of our superiors and make sure everything follows through even if it costs us our lives!” I shout to them in a commanding demeanor.
“Either you follow these orders or face the might of my Onyx Blade,” I added as I unsheathed my black bladed sword and point it towards them.
Everyone stood in silence with pale faces as they look down on the ground with worried expressions. I sheath my sword back in its scabbard and turn my back to them and walk towards the Groundrocker. Everyone else returns to their vehicles in silence, the only sound that can be heard was of the clanging metal doors closing along with the strong gust of wind.
Shinji, Jade, and Marco enter the vehicle with Shinji and Jade wearing straight faces. A sense of tension looms the atmosphere. I can feel their doubts about my order, yet I feel that they know that they have not a choice on the matter.
“Shall we continue forth, ma'am?” Marco says to me.
“Yes, head north towards the edge of the town and go towards the Grand Treeline Forest. From there, just follow the road until we reach the its edge, from there we'll see the facility,” I instructed him.
“Shinji, tell everyone to tail us in a convoy and keep a watchful eye to anything suspicious as well,” I ordered him.
“Yes, ma'am,” he replied.
We start moving along the narrow two-lane road, passing through various homes. The surrounding area has trees alongside the houses which give the surroundings a more natural and relaxing atmosphere.
After some time, the houses slowly disappeared, the surroundings turned from residential to grassland. At the distance, a beautiful mountain range glowing at the horizon can be seen as the sun rises to complete the beautiful picture. Without anyone realizing, all of us inside the vehicle were in awe of the beautifully painted scenery we’re seeing.
“Look at that over there, what are those animals?” Shinji exclaims out of curiosity while he points towards the window beside me.
We look towards where he pointed and see three Black Dwarf Buffalos gathered by a pond. Black Dwarf Buffalos are rare, especially in this day and age as they had been hunted down for generations. No one knows how many there are. Some people believe that they are totally extinct as these Black Dwarf Buffalos had not been seen for many years.
“Well, would you look at that, it's our lucky day. Those are Black Dwarf Buffalos that are said to be extinct, but look at them, there are still some roaming around in the wild in this area,” I said to them.
“Oh my gosh, really? How exciting, I wish I had my cam—“ Shinji says.
Thud!
Shinji was slowly leaning in on my side as he wanted to get a better look of the Dwarf Buffalo. But as we hit the pothole, his hands slipped on the seat making him fall chest first into my lap. Jade was in disbelief as her eyes and mouth were wide open at the sight of what happened. Shinji hit his head on the window that made a loud sound. My eyes were wide open as well as I thought that this man could have never been a soldier in my standards. His clumsiness and his happy demeanor were like that of some child's, even worse than Chonzou’s. The situation is truly outrageous, so much so that, in the disbelief, laughter bursts out of me.
“I can't believe it. How did you pass and survive the academy? Have all the Masters there become soft in the past few years?” I said while laughing, wiping of the tears I shed out of laughter.
“I… I’m sorry, commander, I didn't mean to—“ Shinji said before getting cut off.
“You useless piece of—, how could you be so careless!” Jade shouts at Shinji.
“Please, commander, forgive him for his clumsiness, he's always been a bother, please don't execute him for this,” she pleadingly added,
“Execute? No one's going to be executed. I just find it unbelievable that Lieutenant Shinji became a soldier with such a personality,” I replied.
“But I think it would be better if you stop warming my lap right now, lieutenant,” I added with sarcasm.
He gets off me as his face turns beet red out of embarrassment. He tries to hide his head in between his shoulders, his hands in front of him as like a child that's been scolded.
“How many years have you been in the Regal Guard, lieutenant?” I asked Shinji.
“I’ve been training for about five years and had just been recently promoted alongside Lieutenant Hiro,” he shyly replied.
“Oh! So that's why—“ I said before realizing something.
I suddenly realized that his demeanor and his years of service to the Regal Guard do not match the criteria required for this mission. But how could that be? General Machida told me that he gave me his best men. How exemplary are these young individuals to be sent to a top secret specialized tactical mission like this?
“If I may ask all of you, what are your designated roles and specializations on your platoons?” I said.
“Well, it’s our first mission, ma'am, so hopefully after a few more missions, we'll be evaluated and trained further to be able to specialize on a certain field inside the Regal Guard,” Shinji says.
“Wait, but all of you told me earlier that you are lieutenants, am I correct? Before you can become a lieutenant, you need to have a specialization before being deployed in platoon missions,” I exclaimed out of surprise.
“You should have been trained on Marksmanship, Tactical Groundwork, Bombing, Siege and Acquisition, or Search and Rescue. All of you had to pass for one of these to become a lieutenant and for this mission, the mission briefing says that this group is composed of Marksmen, Bombers, and Siege personnel,” I added with irritation and anger.
“We’re inside the Grand Treeline Forest, commander,” Marco says.
“No, halt the vehicle. We need to turn back,” I ordered.
“But, commander, with all due respect, our orders are—“ Marco exclaims.
“Screw their orders! We need to turn back before anyone gets hurt. Clearly, none of you should be out on the field, yet alone, be out here on a top-secret operation,” I exclaimed.
They all wore shocked expressions as Marco hit the brakes. We stopped in the middle of the towering Indicus trees inside the forest. I told Shinji to tell the platoon to meet outside as I needed to give out new orders to them. But before Shinji can relay my message, we suddenly heard a loud sound coming from the direction we were heading.
“What was that?” Jade said with deep concern.
“That sounded really loud,” Shinji added.
The sounds get stronger as we feel the ground shaking beneath us. Then over the distance, we see a wall of dust coming towards us.
“Order everyone to turn around. TURN BACK AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN!” I screamed at them.
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