86 Eighty Six Novel- The world engulfed by flames (ShinxLena)

CHAPTER 5 - Convoy in the mountains

CHAPTER 5 – Convoy in the mountains

The recommended time to sleep for adults is between 7 and 9 hours a night. Lena remembered her human physiology lessons, mandatory during her education in the military academy. She always got stellar grades, finishing her studies faster than her schoolmates, and on top of the class. Reality however was far from ideal, and every theoretical information had to withstand the test of the actual life. Sadly, she had learned the hard way, that the war doesn't wait and the soldier has to make some sacrifices to keep up with it. In the case of the commanders, the first on the chopping block was sleep. In the past 3 days, all she had were a few quick naps, always interrupted by a new emergency. Usually, the urgent matters turned out to be something trivial, but she couldn't ignore all the calls, in case something important was up. With a hazy mind and an instant coffee in hand, she sat up before her monitor in Vanadis, when she got a sudden connection request.

"Colonel Milizé, the Vanadis, is there an emergency?" She said plainly, because after so many calls there was no more room for intricate pleasantries.

"Private Tanaka 2ndSupply Unit. We found a trespasser in one of the supply carriers. She is a young girl around 10, claiming to be a special Mascot for the Eighty-Six. How should we proceed?"As soon as the soldier finished reporting, Lena knew exactly who the culprit was. She felt an upcoming headache, but instead of groaning to her subordinate she took a deep breath, a sip of coffee, and said calmly:

"Private, take the culprit to the Vanadis directly, please handle her gently." During the time spent in Federacy in preparation for this operation, she came to know her Squadron's new Mascot, who had become like an adopted little sister to them. She could've sensed that the girl disliked her, but she had no idea why. The fact was, Frederica Rosenfort should not have been here under any circumstances. Lena had no idea how the girl managed to sneak in and stayed unnoticed for the few days, but the truth was, that they were too far into the mission to escort her back to the Federacy. If something had happened to her they all would've been devastated, so she decided that the girl would be safest under her watchful eyes. After a few minutes, she heard someone entering the vehicle.

"Private Tanaka reports on orders. Here is the young offender, she tried to bite me when I found her." The tall man with a deep voice carried a little girl in one hand and saluted with the other. He seemed unfazed by the whole situation, even when she started kicking in the air and yelling.

"PUT ME DOWN YOU UNCULTURED BRUTE! YOU CANNOT TREAT ME LIKE THIS!" Frederica tried to sound intimidating, but while her little body was hanging midair nothing that she could've said was able to sound threatening.

"Rest, soldier, you can let her go. You can leave the reporting to me, but please make sure we don't have more stowaways on the way out." Lena dismissed Tanaka, who saluted once more before going out and focusing her attention on the young girl. "Now, Frederica, we have a lot to talk about. Does Mr Zimmerman know that you are here?"

"Vladilena Milizé, do you think I would be stupid enough not to inform him where I go out to?" Frederica scoffed and looked at her with contempt. "I truly do not believe you should be the one leading this operation, I do not know why nobody else sees that."

Lena did not have the energy to get mad anymore, so after a deep breath, she replied.

"I'll take it as a no. He is a reasonable man, there is no way he would've let you into the battlefield. What were you thinking, if there was a battle we wouldn't even know that there is somebody inside of the Supply Unit to protect. What if we decided to abandon the unit or use it as a decoy?" She scolded her firmly, knowing that it was only the beginning. Lena had heard about how she conspired with Fido before and sneaked in on the mission, but doing the same thing twice was utterly absurd. Who was guarding her?