Renegade

The troops were dropped off 600 feet from the said mines. They were told to travel by foot in order to minimize possible detection by the rebels. Shinichi was leading the fray,with their camo-suits allowing them to use the tall grass around their surroundings as an advantage. The sun was about to set when they arrived, Shinichi ordered the troops to rally up as he gave them orders.

"Alright, set up the camp for the night. I'll scout around the mines to see how we are supposed to take it back or at least rescue our soldiers." Shinichi looked at Honoka expectantly. "Honoka here will be in charge of the camp. If anybody disobeys her it will be your heads." the orange haired girl blushed but nevertheless nodded at the responsibility given to her. Shinichi trusted her more than anybody in her troops right now, not to say the rest of the troops weren't trustworthy but he was more familiar with Honoka more than anybody here right now.

"If there are no questions, then you are dismissed." The troop scattered,taking out supplies to set up camp with meanwhile Honoka approached Shinichi. It wasn't new that Shinichi would like to do things solo but she was with him right now, Shinichi had a history of working solo, she was usually assigned for spy missions and was once part of an elite group of spies whose missions is usually gathering enemy intel but after the disbanding of her group Shinichi lead troops but her old habits did not die hard. She could always come with him, he wasn't alone anymore.

"Are you sure you don't want me to join you. I can always accompany you." Shinichi grabbed a pen and a blank of piece of paper. He smiled at the girl and petted her head.

"I really need you to keep an eye on them, not that they're incapable but because it would kill me if something went wrong during my absence. Which is why I left you in charge Honoka. Because out of all these people I see potential in you." Shinichi stated as she readied herself to venture onto enemy territory. He grabbed his grappling hook and dagger from his backpack. His eyes hands visually nervous as they shook frantically.

Honoka petted her in the back as a mean of encouragement, it was his first solo mission ever since the disbandment of his old group.

"You can do this, I know you can" Shinichi smiled at that, breathing slowly to calm himself down. "Thanks, I needed that."


As Shinichi scouted ahead, Honoka was left to manage the camp, when camping it is best to try and not attract attention. Keeping a camp small, simple and most importantly out of plain sight is best for the sake of stealth and thankfully the tall grass helped with hiding their tents from plain sight. They only used small lamps instead of fire to minimize whatever chances they had of being spotted, the less chances the better, especially since Shinichi was not with them and most of the troops are recruits. Honoka assigned shifts for selected troop members to be on patrol during certain times. The troop members being You, Dia and Hanamaru, with Honoka taking the first shift.

Honoka looked at the stars, her binoculars on her right hand. Her head deep in thought about this whole entire war situation. Did we really need such a thing? Would it have been better if all the 4 villages just peacefully come into terms? How many more lives do we need to sacrifice for this selfish cause? Those questions haunted Honoka ever since her first day. The blood of her fellow soldiers on her hand, as her commanding officer ordered them to retreat but they were surrounded as she saw her comrades picked off one by one, captured and mercilessly slaughtered,she herself barely surviving the encounter as she limped back to her village, she wouldn't have survived with the blood loss from the grievous wounds she had from having to escape but luckily a group of travelers took pity on her and took her in a nearby inn in a neighboring town and tended to her wounds.

Her hands turned into a tight fist, she hated feeling so.. worthless, so powerless in that situation. A sudden tap on her shoulder snapped out of her thoughts, You was right there lamp on her right hand. "You seem to be out of it." You showed a sheepish smile, as she took a seat right next to her.

"Just a bit of wishful thinking You, what if this whole thing never happened" You had her right eyebrow curled up, clearly confused.

"You mean the whole war thing?" Honoka nodded, not quite sure how You would take it but regardless she opened up to what she was thinking, it was better than bottling it up anyways and it's important to bond with your fellow soldiers in order to build cooperation and teamwork in the group.

"We could have lived our ordinary lives, be able to play with our friends, go eat with our families but here we are." Honoka detested war. She could never fully understand how war could attain peace when war destroys the life of others for the sake of a goal and usually the goal is selfish or one-sided.

"I hate war too Honoka" You looked at Honoka her eyes burning with anger. "But to compromise? Don't we have the right to fight for our freedom? If we do not fight back we will be conquered and I'd rather die fighting for our freedom than to live but have our freedom stripped away from us by another." Honoka was shocked by what You said because it was right, she didn't want to live a life of being ruled and it was not just for her but for everyone in this village.

"Go get some sleep chief, it's my shift anyways." You said as she snatched the binoculars from Honoka's hand much to the ginger's dismay. Letting You take over she let You have it her way and made her way to her tent, as she was about to close her eyes a thought came to her head.

How's Shinichi doing?