In the recreation room, all sounds were drowned out by chatter and laughter. Not much different from the mess hall, save for the smaller space. Christian quickly recognized Ted, Hector, Karl and most of the other members he'd seen the day before.
Among the most notable members already present, there was a girl with gray hair, which was tied into a pair of pigtails with blue ribbons. She seemed to be having an argument with another woman, a redhead with her hair tied up into buns, while she held a curly-haired boy under her arm, sometimes delivering a punch to the top of his head.
"Don't act like you don't know it, Rosie!" The gray-haired girl said angrily. "We both know I can best you at anything! Just you wait and see!"
"Hah! That would be the day!" The woman adressed as Rosie replied. "The way you screamed at Vasel doesn't help your case."
"You did freak out a little during that mission, miss Edy." The boy under the girl's arm spoke up. "For a minute I thought y-" *WHACK*
"Shut it, Homer!" Edy responded with a swift hit to the top of his head. "I did not freak out! I was practicing my vocal chords, that's all!"
Close by the argument was a young, dark-haired girl trying to tame the quarrel between the two. She wore the distinct markings of the Darcsen on her cloth, which covered her shoulders and most of her upper body. By her side stood a tall, brown-haired man and frantically called for the others to stop, in a surprisingly feminine voice and keeping his arms close to his chest.
Around the room were many other noticable characters. There was a blonde girl with a pink ribbon in her hair and a pair of boys who looked like twins and couldn't have been much older than 16. There was also a small girl, even younger than the twins, a rough-looking woman with brown hair and determination in her eyes and even a timid, tubby man with a bowlcut.
"Wow... Quite a colorful bunch..." Christian thought to himself as he looked across the room. He noticed as Claudia walked towards the little girl and another timid-looking with a similarily childish face, greeting them happily. "Huh, guess it's just me then."
Slowly, Christian snuck through the crowd and sat down in an empty chair by the far wall. He knew the militia wasn't as uptight as the Regulars, but he never expected such a diverse gathering of people. The fact that they were obviously a lot more social, too, didn't settle within him too well. He hated socializing.
The chatter was soon silenced by Largo's booming voice, who just entered the room along with Welkin and a girl with a red scarf in her brown hair.
"Alright, squad. We've got our next assignment." Welkin finally addressed the room. "There's an Imperial supply base within Kloden in the southeast, providing northern forces with ammunition and rations. Taking this base would severly reduce Imperial supplies to the north, hopefully giving us the edge we need to push them back." He stopped for a minute and looked over the crowd. "Intel on base defenses are limited but, for a major supply base, we should expect moderate-to-heavy resistance. As for preparations, I want everyone to get ready for thick forest combat. We move out in one hour. Any questions?" He finished and looked over the room once more.
There was a second of silence before someone at the back of the room spoke up. "We have a plan of attack yet, sir?" Christian's gaze moved towards Hannes, one of the shocktroopers from the training field the day before.
"No." Welkin replied calmly. "Before we gain the opportunity to observe the area ourselves, we have nothing specific to build on."
"What about additional support?" A dark-haired, gloomy-looking man asked and adjusted his glasses. "I don't suppose we're so lucky as to get a backup-squad?"
"Squad 1 will be accompanying us on this mission, providing additional troops and fire support if necessary."
"Bah, we don't need them!" Vyse suddenly spoke up from the middle of the room. "There's no challenge in that! We should just handle this by ourselves, test the limits!"
"Oh, don't be an idiot, Vyse!" A woman with short, blonde hair and glasses retorted. "What if they call in reinforcements? You're just going to take them all on by yourself?"
"Ah, I like the way you think, Juno!"
"What? I didn't... you... Argh! How can you be so ignorant!?"
"Hey! Does this really matter?" One of the twins, one with an X-shaped scar on his forehead, spoke. "As long as we get to kill some imps, I don't care how we do it!"
"How can you say that!?" The blonde with the pink hair-ribbon responded in shock. "What if they've got friends or... or family?"
"Please... They're Imps! They don't have any!"
The room was quickly engulfed in chaotic arguing, with a large majority of soldiers throwing insults and spiteful replies at each other. Welkin tried to calm down the fighting, but didn't seem very focused on doing so. Almost as if he wanted the crew to vent.
It wasn't until one of the snipers, a gray-haired young man, slammed one of the women, a Darcsen, against the wall that the fighting died down. Everyone turned and stared as the man kept her pinned against the wall, with a hateful glare in his eyes. Hector and Largo quickly grabbed him and dragged away from the girl.
"Let me go! The bitch needs to get what she deserves!" He growled and struggled to break free, but to no avail.
"Not so tough now, huh, Cezary?" Hector scoffed at the man with disgust.
"Shut up, Hector! You'll get yours eventually!"
"You should really learn when to keep quiet!" Largo said and smacked the back of Cezary's head.
"All right, just calm down, everyone!" Welkin finally commanded, his voice slightly irritated. "Cezary, 12 hours in isolation for hostile actions!"
"Right, pretty boy. Off we go." Largo mocked and dragged Cezary outside with Hector's help.
"You okay there, Nadine?" An elderly Darcsen scout asked the woman. The young Darcsen girl from before, the one with the cloth, also approached to see if she was alright.
"Yeah... I'm fine, Wavy." Nadine replied and rubbed the back of her head.
Rosie suddenly left the room in a huff, but not before displaying obvious feelings of disgust. Welkin gave a short sigh and rubbed his forehead before turning his attention back towards the squad. "Do any of you have anything they wish to get off their chests? If not, then I ask that you get ready." With that, he left as well.
"You heard the lieutenant, everybody." The girl with the red scarf spoke. "Get yourselves ready and we'll meet up by the courtyard in an hour."
At the training field, Christian had decided to do a little target practice to pass the time. It hadn't taken him long to get his gear ready for the mission, and he lacked something else to do.
With a firm grip, he aimed his machine gun down the range. One short burst, then two, a third and a single long burst, emptying the clip. This continued for a while, three short burst, followed by a long burst of what ever number of bullets remained. Sometimes it was one, single bullet hail until the clip ran dry.
Christian payed little attention to his surroundings, until someone spoke up from few feets behind his back.
"Easy there, Chris. Shooting the target apart won't make it any less dead than it already is, you know!" It was Ted, throwing one of his random jokes.
"... What is it Ted?" Christian relaxed his aim and rested the gun on his right shoulder.
"Eh, just wanted to talk for a bit."
Christian let out a low sigh and prepared to resume his practice. "I'm not interested in chatting..."
"Oh, puuuhleeease." Ted mockingly replied. "Like we don't have one Marina enough already!"
Pretending not to hear, Christian took aim and fired several short bursts.
"You know, I saw you hanging out with Claudia in the mess hall this morning." Ted persisted. "Anything special going on there?"
"... What makes you think so?" Christian asked without taking his eyes off the target.
"Oh, you know. First day as the new guy and you're already hanging with the unfortunate, cute girl."
"... I just happened to bump into her on my way to get some breakfast, and she decided to hang around a bit longer... Nothing special about that."
"Suuuure, there isn't!" Ted joked sarcastically.
"... So, what if there IS something going on? What business is it of yours?" Christian replied with growing annoyance. "I sure as hell wouldn't tell you anything, or anyone else for that matter... Now, leave me alone. I'm trying to practice..."
"Ho, chill out, Mr. Grumpy." Ted retorted, but Christian ignored him. "Alright, I get it. I'll leave you to your target-killing. Have fun." Ted began to walk off, but after few steps he turned around. "By the way, we're heading out in 15 minutes. Just so you know."
Christian sighed and emptied his current clip, then headed off the range. Making a quick stop at his room, he picked up the rest of his gear and ammo reserves and ran for the courtyard.
At the courtyard, most of the squad was already gathered, with the exception of Welkin, the girl with the scarf and a few others. And, of course, Cezary. Most were just talking, some even playfully fighting each other. Few more gradually joined the gathering, bringing with them more chatter.
Eventually, a large tank rolled into place next to the squad. It wasn't like any standard army models Christian had ever seen, but it looked familiar somehow. From the top hatch, Welkin emerged and gave the order to move out, and the squad quickly organized into transports before heading out the main gate.
Seated at the back of one of the transport trucks, Christian felt awfully bored. A common feeling. The roads, lined with trees, passed quickly as the drive continued and watching them slide by was pretty much the only way of passing time.
"Say, I don't believe I've seen you around before." A blonde kid sitting in front of Christian spoke up. He had an orange lock of hair by the left side of his forehead and looked curiously at the new shocktrooper in front of him. "You new or something?"
"... Yeah." Christian responded with his usual unenthusiastic tone.
"Cool. Nice to meet ya!" He continued and extended his right hand. "I'm Alex Raymond, shocktrooper."
Christian shook the guy's hand. "Christian Raves... Shocktrooper as well."
"Neat! I guess we might end up kicking some mean ass together, then, eh?" Alex cheered.
"Maybe..."
"I'm curious, aside from the obvious military classes in school, do you happen to have any combat experience?"
"... Well... No, not exactly." Christian managed to respond, somewhat liking the aspect of combat-related conversations. "I didn't get to see much action in the Regulars... Sure, I got to have some fun, but I'm rather glad it wasn't more than that..."
"Oooh, you were in the Regulars? What's it like?"
"... Ridiculous... The whole damn Command is littered with utter morons and simple-minded fools with no strategic sense whatsoever!" Christian started wringing his gun. "What I wouldn't give to see them trying out their own plans in person..."
"Really? That bad, huh?"
"... Worse."
Alex let out a low laugh, shaking his head in the process. "Say, you know Vyse? That guy is amazing! He doesn't flinch under fire and just keeps going, no matter how bad things can be."
"Yeah... the Sergeant mentioned him yesterday."
"... Which one? Alicia or Largo?"
"... Largo, of course. Who's Alicia?" Christian asked curiously.
"Oh, I hear she's a former watch-captain from Bruhl. Always wears a red scarf in her hair, can't miss her." Alex answered. "You seem like a cool guy. You should come hang out with us some time. We could kick some serious ass, you, me, Vyse, Aika, Hector! We'd be one tough group!"
"Eh... I'll think about it... Never know."
"Sure."
Time passed slowly, but steadily, as the convoy moved ever closer to Kloden. Aside from the constant rumbling of engines and individual conversations from time to time, the ride remained relatively quiet. Eventually, the trucks stopped by the edges of the forest.
"Alright, squad!" Welkin's voice sounded over the radio. "We'll leave the trucks here and continue on foot. Rally on me and assume formation. Watch out for ambushes. Welkin out."
From the wide country roads, the squad left the transports and entered the confined spaces of the woods. Old stories spoke of the Kloden forest as inaccessible to all but the forest's residents, but everyone knew those were just tales. Although, getting lost among the trees was anything but rare. Without proper guidance, the unfamiliar and repetitive landscape could easily confuse one's sense of direction.
Christian felt himself frowning slightly at the tight vegetation around him. Despite his preferred taste of small spaces, he hated when said spaces had no real limit, like a corner or a wall where he could safely rest his back, and the thought of countless possible hiding spots for enemies to lie in wait didn't help much either. But on the up side, this setup did provide him with numerous escape paths, should everything go to hell.
Occasional branches snapped as the squad continued to march through the forest. Everyone stayed silent, the only major sound being the tank's engine as it rolled along the forestfloor surrounded by soldiers. Welkin was not aboard, but next to it. Every now and then, he would check his compass and look over his map.
After about 2 hours of marching, Welkin gave the order to stop.
"Ok, team. We should be getting close to the supply base." He checked his map once more. "I want scouts monitoring the area and to keep me posted." He continued and started putting the scouts into small teams. "Wavy, you take Ted and Melville and scout out the northern area."
"Will do, sir!" The trio saluted and headed out.
"Southern area. Montley, Juno and Noce. Juno, you're leading." He continued and watched the three salute and head off as well. "And, finally. Susie, Freesia and Aika, you got the east. Aika, you're in charge."
"Yes, sir!" Aika responded and left with her group.
"Rest of you, establish a perimeter and wait for further instructions." Welkin finally ordered and returned to his map.
Located at the western area of the now-established perimeter, Christian sat against a tree and fiddled around with strands of grass. It was quiet. It felt hard to believe there had already been almost an hour since the scouts' deployment, and, as far as Christian knew, they had yet to report back.
Growing restless and bored, Christian merely sat there and stared at the ground. His lookout buddies weren't much livelier. First, there was Marina, the silent sniper, who had found a good spot in a nearby tree that gave her a decent view over the area, despite the density of the forest. There she had positioned herself on a large branch and peered into her scope regularly for any signs of Imperials.
Next, there was Nils, a gruff looking lancer with brown hair and slightly tanned skin, not much unlike Hector, except Nils looked a lot more menacing and his hair was shorter. The large man tilted up against a tree and sucked on a cigarette, looking into the distance.
The only one who looked like she actually wanted to interact with the others was Aisha, the little girl Christian had noticed at the briefing that morning and, apparently, one of Claudia's friends. Although she looked like wanting to talk with someone, she seemed to be intimidated by the silent trio she had ended up with.
Suddenly, there was a loud thud, followed by minor groaning, causing Christian to jolt his head to the left, where the sound originated. On the ground, about 3 feet away from him, Claudia lay face first on the grassy floor.
"... You okay, there?" Christian prepared to offer a hand, but Claudia quickly hoisted herself up.
"Yeah, yeah!... I'm okay!" She responded without pause and dusted the mud and grass off her uniform. "I just tripped... Thankfully."
"... Thankfully?" Christian asked, puzzled.
"Of course! It could have been much worse! Maybe I'd twisted my ankle or even been... um... shot..." She answered, looking more and more troubled by that last thought. "Oh, nevermind!" She quickly regained her composure and sat down.
"What are you doing here, anyway? Weren't you stationed by the northeast lookout?"
"Yeah, I was just checking up on Aisha, making sure she's doing okay. I mean, Marina and Nils aren't actually known for their social skills and Aisha loves talking with friends."
"Then what is she doing here? Shouldn't she be better off stationed with someone she knows?"
"I think it's more a matter of safety. I think she was placed back here to minimize danger." Claudia shrugged. "I don't think everyone trusts in her abilities yet. Some still just see her as a little kid."
"But... she is a kid. Shouldn't she be home, playing with her friends or going to school?"
"I know it doesn't seem right, but she received very high grades from her military classes. She volunteered on her own and was excempted from the 16-years rule because of her skills. They're calling her a prodigy."
"... How old is she, exactly?" Christian asked, bewildered.
"She's 12."
Christian couldn't believe his ears. "12!? And she's already serving!?" He thought and felt a hint of worthlessness crawling in his chest. "Ok, anyway, if you were just checking on her, shouldn't you be on your way back or something?"
"Oh, I just thought I'd check on you as well, since I'm here." Claudia seemed to blush a little, but it was very subtle. "You know, I never did thank you for lending me your handkerchief earlier. So, um... Thanks."
"... S-sure, you're welcome." Christian noticed some trembling in his shoulders, like he was cold, yet he wasn't. "It was n-nothing, really." He really wasn't used to talking with girls, not like that...
"Yeah. So, anyway, thanks again." She replied and scratched the back of her neck. "Well, I'd better get back to my post. I'll see you around."
"Of course, see you around!" Christian waved and watched as Claudia walked off. "... Shit. I'm no good at this..."
Welkin was in the process of figuring a plan of attack. The scouts had reported back about 40 minutes ago, and the squad had now moved closer to the base, which had been located about a half-hour walk to the northeast of their position. However, aside from the main road leading from the base, the scouts had been unable to locate a feasible path for an attack due to enemy patrols, which prevented them from getting much closer.
"Hrm... The main road is sure to be well guarded... and all the other sides are covered by thick growth, making it hard to pass through..." Welkin thought to himself and sighed. "If I split the squad, the ones taking the flank might be delayed for too long... We might not last long enough for them to arrive..." Pacing back and forth by the Edelweiss, he stuided the general area, hoping for a path to reveal itself.
Then, from the corner of his eye, he noticed something on the ground. "Hmm... Maybe, if I'm lucky, there's a hidden animal path around here somewhere..." He thought as he examined the objects closer.
"Alicia? Could you hold these for me?" He said and handed Alicia some of the objects.
"Huh? Sure." Alicia responded and examined them curiously. "Are these... some kind of nuts?"
"They're Longbeard Goat droppings, actually." Welkin replied.
"What!? Ew!" Alicia jolted back, dropping the excrement in her hands. "What's wrong with you, making me hold poo!?"
"I recommend lowering your voices, guys." Isara, Welkin's Darcsen sister and the tank's pilot, whispered and pointed at a patch of grass. "We're not alone here." The grass patch rustled. "I've seen movement there for a while now."
"A spy?" Alicia thought and moved in closer, pointing her gun at the patch. "Come out! I know you're there!"
The rustling continued, moving towards her. What emerged, however, was nothing close to a spy. A small, winged piglet came out of the grass. It looked around, observing the people around it curiously.
"Moink?" The piglet responded to Alicia's command with a look of confusion.
"It's a... a pig?" Alicia replied, no less confused than the pig, perhaps even more so.
"Oh, looks like a porcavian!" Welkin spoke up and knelt down next to it. Looking at the grass patch behind it, he suddenly appeared very enthusiastic. "Ah, look here!" He called, pointing at the patch.
"What is it, Welkin?"
"See this grass? It's trampled!" He exclaimed cheerfully. "It's an animal path, a natural road made by the creatures of the forest!"
"... And?" Alicia asked suspiciously.
"And... It just might lead to the supply base!" Welkin continued. "This might be our way in! But... oh..." He suddenly went silent as he noticed a dead porcavian further down the path. "That must be this little guy's mother... Looks like a stray bullet got her." He said, looking at the piglet.
"Aw, you poor guy..." Alicia picked up the piglet, caressing it. "So, you're all alone too, huh?"
"Well, does he want to come with us?" Welkin asked casually.
"What?" Alicia's eyes went wide with surprise. "Is that... is that really a good idea?"
"Sure! After all, this is the militia. Every Gallian is allowed to join!" Welkin grinned in response.
"Oh, wonderful!" Alicia responded, giving the piglet a big hug. "Hear that? You're going to be a part of the militia!"
"Moink!" The porcavian replied happily.
"But you need a name. What should I call you?" Alicia pondered for a moment. "Ah, yes! I'll call you Hans!"
Hans "moinked" again in agreement.
"Now then, we should get started." Welkin spoke up once more and prepared to ready his squad.
