Secret Shadow Ops

The Road Onwards

"Hey uh, Arcrai? We have to move." said Azrael.

Arcrai and Azrael stood before a grave among hundreds of other graves in a hill across the battlefield where they once fought. The rest of team Friedenberg stayed at a farther distance. The sky was already turning light blue but still gave some stars a chance to twinkle, and it would soon turn a brighter color. Arcrai knelt down and touched a small tombstone, it had no name, like the other tombstones that stood with it. It is a shame, that no one has the time to give these soldiers their rightful honor. They will be remembered as soldiers to the people. But to their friends, their families and to their brothers in arms, they will be remembered as heroes.

"Her name was Marya." Arcrai had only said. He only had known through the other soldier they were with at the time of the sandworm attack, and the soldier himself volunteered to do the report. Arcrai wanted to say Marya's heroic act of bravery, but everyone wanted him to rest instead. He took it harder than anyone else, because he was the one in the situation and he was the one who could've done something. He blames himself for not having done enough. 

Eventually Arcrai stood up and passed Azrael, walking towards the rest of his team. Azrael only looked back a little longer at the tombstone. He felt uncertainty, along with his sadness. Something along the lines of fear. Would they be able to come back? Will they end up with the same fate as these soldiers? Who will remember them? As Azrael walked on, he began to ask questions if this was worth the trouble. They had not seen the enemy in this light, and now that they are here, they found that they are outmatched.

The moment before the sun had risen, the team of Friedenberg had already moved out with a few hundred soldiers with them. The platoon was very noticeable in the distance, so formation was heavily important. In any case, they could be easily ambushed, and they must always be prepared for what may come out, sandworms, shadows, even heavy weather that may delay their march towards their rally point and objective, the wall.

Friedenberg and his team stayed at the center, while the flanks were strengthened with other footmen as they marched. The mages were of utmost importance along with their provisions, so they stayed at the center most, only followed by tens of soldiers to protect the rear.

"Nyyaaaaa~" Catalina yawned. "It's way too early for anything."

"I'm surprised you can keep that attitude despite having your life in danger just recently." said Friedenberg with a smile. It was not obvious to anyone, but he was actually glad that someone on their team had an upbeat personality, or anything close to positivity. The team had been hit hard on their morale as he noticed.

Catalina held her side. It was not shown, but a couple of layers of bandages wrapped around her stomach under her robes. It made quick and big movements difficult, but she could walk and turn just fine.

"Well, not like that would be able to stop me." Catalina replied.

"Oh but you should have seen Schmidt. The guy was heckin' worried." said Azrael. Schmidt heard this and didn't look at their way. Truthfully, he was embarrassed about how he reacted. He questioned why he reacted that way in the first place. Even as Azrael poked his side as he teased, he just took out his shooter and started to fiddle with it. Everyone was giving Schmidt smirks and smiles, except for Aria. She seemed to be out of it as she stared out to the plains. 

The sun rose and the sky turned blue, it was very good that they hadn't seen any rain recently despite the start of the new year. What seemed to be different however, was that it seemed they had not encountered any resistance so far. No reinforcements or enemy troops met them on the grounds, as if they had given up on retaking their lost ground. Friedenberg found this very suspicious, and told the head of their platoon that they may be heading towards a trap.