No Gods, Nor Masters

Dark Encounter

The valley was eerily beautiful. Layers of thick snow blanketed the area around the convoy as it descended onto the least bumpy part of the mountain road. They drove between pine trees whose branches glowed white with the layers of crystalline snow on top of them. Through the treeline, they could see wild animals wandering about, too, ranging from wild rabbits(Which would explain where Tuka got the meat for the stew) to foxes.

There were other inhabitants in the area, too. Torres had noticed them while they were driving by:Short, stout figures patrolling through the forest, keeping tabs on them. He'd even caught a glimpse of one on his thermal sight. The Dwarves, Dawi, or however in Tolkien's good graces one referred to them, were watching.

The Rose Knights rode their mounts beside the vehicles again, more-so to show the Dwarven Kingdom that the Newcomers knew not to come without guidance. The Princess led from the front of the formation, while Bozes exchanged small-talk with Itami about Sergeant Tomita's status. Most of the team had listened in to only hear good news about the man recovering... Despite the 14,5mm round he took.

To an old Russian tune, the team descended deeper into the valleys, moving past the riverbed as the surface began to freeze. A slight chill filled the air, too, with the gunners and soldiers scanning the trees for any movement or potential ambushes from Imperial or Innie troops that fled in this general direction.

The group remained quiet, growing ever more tense the deeper they advanced, until the Russian infantryman on the gun of the BTR-D ahead of them let out a swear and raised his hand, yelling back, "Road's out! Fucking shit!" and he climbed out. The entire force dismounted quickly and set up a perimeter around the vehicles as their officers went forward to check.

An explosion had dug a crater five feet deep into the road and water from the river rushed in to fill the hole. Only a small sliver of ground, only big enough for a column of infantry to walk on, remained to the right. Everything else past that was either the trees, or the Crater. Itami knelt beside the crater, then said, "... An IED that detonated too soon? We could try and bring a bridgelayer, but it might take'em hours..."

"No," Torres said, "That's a tactical move. Block off the road for ground vehicles, leave the infantry open for ambushes. And if we bring a Bridgelayer, we risk being bogged down here if and when they come to check this little hole in the ground..." before sighing.

"And we're gonna have to walk right into the next ambush," Richard mumbled as he shouldered his rifle and scanned their surroundings. He looked to his fellow Lieutenants for advice, but then realized they could do something simple... "We should send the drivers and a few escorting troops back with the vehicles. Rolling up to the doors of the Dwarves with an entire company's worth of infantry probably won't look too good to their leaders anyway. Some of our boys and girls defend the OP, the rest of us move forward."

"I'll take a few of my men back to the top alongside some Americans," The Russian Major voiced as she cradled her AK-12 in her arms. The Ami officer nodded, shifting his own M4A1 forward and rallying his troops to board their vehicles. She then said to the others, "Radio us when you need pickup... Or if you need reinforcements."

"We will," The three Lieutenants voiced.

Kurata spoke, "This is gonna be interesting. Haven't done a ruck march in forever."

Shino snorted and said, "Your spindly ass is gonna fall behind with all the shit we have to carry, K," then she looked at Nanami and her boss and told them, "You two should probably go back with the vics, too."

Kaylee shook her head, "Hell no. I already interviewed the Princess and queen Tyuule. I ain't gonna leave without interviewing the Dwarf king," and she flashed a grin. Nanami, meanwhile, was shaking due to the cold. Shino sighed, shrugged and mumbled something. They unpacked their cold weather gear from their vehicles and, with the Lieutenants in the middle of the Formation, they began the hike.