Goodbye, Kusari

[Omicron]

The Aki Falls. Their rendezvous.

Serene place that was spared the burdens of war. Faint light could be seen just outside of direct line of sight. A fire? Drawing closer, the searing tongues of flame were neither spreading or dying off. It was a small camp and as Sora pressed onwards, he almost walked into the sentry. Ghastly figure drawn in black fatigues covered with green digital camouflage cloak draped over him. “Halt” Said soft spoken, yet with with his rifle raised and lined up, the little of light that flickered at this distance would show that soldier did not had his finger on the trigger on the bullpup design of the characteristic Order brand.They were expected, but theatrics of military regime had still to take part to avoid unauthorized individuals access to the campsite. The guard had taken a good couple of seconds and awkward silence to identify Sora in the near-darkness. “All Right, you are expected. Make way directly to our commander.” Lowering his gun and shrugging in the direction of the only lightsource nearby. It was hard to say how much did they knew about his status

The banter of the assembly subdued the sounds of ambient and nature. Similarly clad soldiers, well above dozen of them were using opportunity to eat their rations in peace. At their helm was a lowly Lieutenant, wide and tired looking Cretan fellow. It took them the next hour to assemble and dispatch towards their destination while still under cover of darkness. Uniform and warm, easy for concealment clothes were provided for the two of them but the matching cloak intended for his daughter was clearly an improvised solution, way too big for her. They were coming out of some hotzone coming by state of their equipment, spent power cells and their rations all but gone in favor of locally acquired water and Dragon provisions he found as familiar aspect. They had carried backpacks to last for extensive outing into the unknown, their weight now reduced and permitting them to cover much more ground on the first day that they could hope for in any other circumstances.

Their morale was in jeopardy, he could overhear. Talk was that Kusari battleship entered the system with its wings deployed immediately to relieve the siege. The Order marines did not carried the brunt of the assault, often reduced to role or reconnaissance, counter insurgency and combat evaluation of new gadgets and armament - some of which were provided to the Blood Dragon troopers. They were afraid of becoming stuck on this foreign world and opinions differed as to what the next course of action would be. They were at ease however, their platoon of 30 in total was being sent off-world to guard some forsaken station in deep Sigmas. It wasn’t anyone’s primary choice but everyone agreed it was pleasant change of pace from days of marching in the wild. Redeployment was a reward while another, rested unit would take their place.

The trek covered three days in total. Once the first night has passed, Lieutenant readjusted the schedule in strike of pity towards the two year old Kusarian. Second night they spend in again improvised camp, allowing to recuperate hours of sleep lost yesterday. Third day, they emerged into the fields that had once marked site of pin-point accuracy orbital bombardment against long since reduced to rubble fortification of some kind. Flattened and cleared of trees area housed some tents, plenty of crates and supplies brought from many light years away. This small strip was manned and protected by The Order space marines, tasked with ensuring that the locals would not pillage their resources. The next shuttles would take them out, marking their final farewell to Tomioka that once was.

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