Hello everyone, here's the 6th chapter. Going good so far, thanks to everyone who's followed, faved and reviewed the story. I'm always happy to see them in my inbox. Hope you enjoy this chapter.
"Alright listen up guys, we're going to have a new member in our squad from now on," Mason said with his trademark tired face and yawn, it had been exactly two days since they were allowed on leave. They had taken each day and moment with seriousness, as they wouldn't know when their leave would be over and by the sounds of it that day had come. "She's a new recruit just fresh out of training, so make sure you show her the ropes and show it how it's done…you know the usual routine," Mason continued.
"I wonder who the new recruit's gonna be like?" Alicia wondered out loud, "Better not try to take my spotlight."
"I didn't know you had a spotlight," Louise remarked as she fingered the scarf, ever since Alexander had given her that scarf she had not let go of it or taken it off except for showers and even then she made sure that it was plenty safe. She knew that the squad would never steal from each other, they were almost like family now and Daniel was more than happy to safeguard Louise's scarf though he had a smile on his face that Louise was sure meant he was misinterpreting the reason for such a thing. Naturally Alicia was adamant and 'sure' that this was a sign that the two of them were dating though Louise would persist in telling them that it was simply a gift of thanks for helping Alexander out while the war was on.
"Of course I do, I am a rising star after all," Alicia remarked, "what kind of actress doesn't have a spotlight? And it should always be centred on me~"
"We call such people narcissistic people you know?" Louise replied as Alicia growled lightly.
"Alright then without further ado I'll let her introduce herself to you all," as a blonde girl with green eyes stepped in front of them, she couldn't have been taller than Louise as she had a nervous look on her face as the other squad members began commenting on her.
"H-hello everyone I'm S-Suzie Rose, it's a pleasure to meet you all," she said with a nervous smile. There was a bit of silence as no one spoke at all, however Louise could see that Suzie was no ordinary person. The way she spoke, stood and composed herself…it reminded her all too clearly of the way the nobles spoke and stood, was this girl a daughter from nobility? She sure didn't act like one as she expected someone from nobility to be more…haughty and arrogant, much like how she had been before she came here. Perhaps the basic training kicked that out of Suzie much like how it did for Louise? But Louise could see some sort of fear in Suzie's eyes, she didn't know why but it almost seemed that Suzie would rather be anywhere but here.
After Suzie introduced herself she then went and sat at the farthest corner of the room, well away from anyone as Louise glanced at her for a moment before directing herself back to the screen as Mason came on. "Now that's over let's get to business," as he pulled down a map of a city it looks like named 'Barton', "we've received word that the Confederacy has set up a forward base in the city of Barton. The city fell exactly a week ago and despite the army's best effort to retake the city they have not been successful so far, therefore we along with the 7th and 3rd militia squad are to join with the 3rd battalion to retake the city."
"Hold on if the army failed to take it, then what makes them think we'll be able to retake the city?" Alicia asked.
"That…" Mason said, "I have no idea," as the squad protested, "but it's orders from the top so we can hardly ignore it can we?" as the protests stop. "However we believe that if we launch a surprise attack then the Confederacy would be caught off guard allowing the other units to launch an attack to drive them out of the city. And of course the task of the sneak attack belongs to us," as more protests began, "but as always I have a plan."
"The last plan involved a secondary sneak attack…don't tell me you're going to use the same one," Luna remarked as Mason opened his mouth before closing it.
"Of course not," he said as the squad sweatdropped He was definitely going to use a secondary sneak attack was what they were all thinking. "I plan on using the river as a source of attack," as Louise could see that there was indeed a river running to the side of the city, "the river used to be a place where merchant boats could dock and unload their wares. This time it's going to unload us, we plan on using the boats to bypass all of their defences and have us then launch the attack on a supply base. Once their supply base is destroyed and taken the rest will fall like dominos," as the squad murmured their assent, "any questions? No? Ok then let's get to it guys, we leave in five hours so get ready and say your goodbyes," as the squad dispersed for the moment.
"So I suppose you'll be saying goodbye to your parents and sister right?" Louise said as Alexander nodded.
"Y-yes I am," Alexander said.
"Well I think I'll let you go there yourself, I mean it is a private thing after all," Louise said as Alexander looked unsure, "look seriously don't worry about me I'll be plenty fine."
"If you insist," Alexander said before he left the room leaving only Louise and Suzie alone in the room as the new girl stood up and walked out of the door as Louise caught up to her.
"Hi, you're Suzie right?" Louise asked as the girl looked at her.
"Y-yes that's right," Suzie replied.
"I'm Louise Valliere, it's nice to meet you," Louise said as Suzie smiled politely at her.
"Nice to meet you too Louise," Suzie said, "you're...quite young to be in the militia aren't you?"
"Haha really? I'm only 16 so I guess I'm the youngest squad member around here," Louise said with a chuckle.
"Eh? You're 16...you're older then me," Suzie said as Louise looked at her in surprise, "I'm 15 years old."
"Wah~ you're even younger then me? How could the military allow that?" Louise asked.
"The minimum age for the conscription is 15, so since I just turned 15 a couple months ago I had to sign up for the militia," Suzie said.
"Really? That sounds like a strange policy," Louise remarked.
"I suppose so," Suzie replied, "so...have you been...in any battles?" she asked nervously.
"Just one," Louise said, "you may have heard of it, squad 13 repelling back the Confederacy while snagging a tank along with it?" as Suzie nodded, "I was involved in that operation, in fact I was the one that was part of the team that took the tank."
"Wow really? That must have been scary," Suzie said.
"It was the most frightening moment of my life," Louis deadpanned as she had flashbacks of her getting shot at while the tank drove away, of course that didn't happen but it didn't stop the 'what-if' daydreams afterwards.
"I-I'm sorry...I must have brought up something bad..." Suzie said.
"Oh no, no you're quite fine," Louise said.
"I hope I can be like you, or anyone else in the squad for that matter," Suzie said fearfully, "I hope I survive this war..."
"Don't worry Suzie, we all take care of each other," Louise said reassuringly, "say if you don't mind telling me what did you do before you signed up for the militia?"
Huh? Oh I..." Suzie said as she looked away and the pain in her eyes were reflected in it as Louise confirmed that there was something more to Suzie then she was telling them, "not much...I was just a simple girl that's all," Suzie said with a smile. Louise noted that the smile was the same smile that Louise used to give to her teachers when they asked her if anything was wrong, she would give it so that they wouldn't worry over them even though it hurt her inside not tell anyone what was going on. She did to protect herself, to make herself feel strong even when she felt weak and vulnerable. Suzie...just what is your reason for joining the militia? Louise thought to herself.
"Uhm Louise...do you know where I can get my weapons? I haven't really been shown the way there," Suzie said interrupting Louise's thought.
"Sure it's right this way," Louise said as the two of them talked other trivial topics before they were sent off to Barton.
River Barton, 3 hours later
"Hey I just thought of something," Alicia said as the squad was on a barge heading towards the Barton docks, they had been quiet throughout the entire trip not wanting to tip off the enemy that they were here. Even the tank, which they dubbed Falcon, was turned off though it was ready to roar to life at a moment's notice as Mason and Alice were inside; as Mason had done an armoured division training course in military school and Alice was designated as the Falcon's driver because of her familiarity with it. "How do we know that the Confederacy won't be guarding the docks?" Alicia asked.
"We don't," Mason admitted, "they could be guarding the docks, but they're still fighting off the 3rd battalion and the other militia squads. And also intelligence confirms that the rear base supply's defences are inadequately weak so we can assume that they're not expecting an attack from the rear."
"Oi, oi you mean we could be walking right into an ambush?" Adrian asked, "Are you kidding me?"
"Well it's too late to turn back now," Mason said with a yawn, "and besides we have the Falcon here...everything will be alright."
"I wonder about that," Adrian muttered to himself as the landing party made it to the dock, there were signs of what was once a bustling area as boats were bopping up and down silently while fishing next and cargos laid all over the place. There wasn't even a single sign that a violent takeover occurred here as the squad looked around nervously as the tank drove out of the barge and onto the docks as Mason's head popped out of the hatch.
"Alright the supply base is just straight ahead, I want three teams for this. Two teams to flank their sides and one for a direct assault, basically a three-pronged attack, we don't know whether they have armour here but I'm guessing that they do so there should at least be one anti-tank soldier in each team," Mason explained, "so sort it out and tell me when everyone's ready," as he then popped back into the tank.
"Oi, oi..." Daniel said as he sighed, "what a troublesome commander."
"I'm so sorry for my brother," Luna said embarrassingly as Daniel patted her.
"That's fine, we're kind of use to it by now," Daniel said as he and Luna sorted out the teams as, naturally Alexander and Louise were together again with team 2 who would be part of the direct assault along with Daniel and Suzie with the Falcon leading the charge. While Alicia would be leading team 1 to flank its left and Luna leading the 3rd team in flanking its right side; with the teams sorted out and a plan in mind they began the operation as team 2 followed the Falcon through the ruined city as their eyes were on the alert for any sign of enemies waiting for them. The entire was quiet, penetrated only the distant rumblings of tanks firing and the rat-tat-tat of machine gun fire, it made Louise nervous since she was going to directly assault the base to draw the enemy fire as she bit back the fear building up in her. However Suzie was positively pale as she was shaking all over the place and even the smallest sound would make her yelp in surprise as she gripped her rifle tightly as she stuck close to the Falcon.
As they approached the base Louise could hear the soft rumblings of an engine indicating that there were tanks here as she took a deep breath to calm herself down, Daniel was here as well as other anti-tank soldiers so she felt confident that they were safe from them. Then there was the soft sound of metal hitting the ground before a loud explosion knocked Louise to the ground, "They're onto us!" one of the squad member said before the sounds of guns firing echoed around the area as Louise's training kicked in, she went to a nearby rubble and took cover there as she peeked over it to get a better idea of what was going on, several of the Confederacy soldiers were firing back at them as the Falcon used its machine gun to suppress the enemy while the squad retaliated back. Alexander was across from her as he fired off shot after shot at the enemy as more troops poured in, the plan seemed to be working as more troops were moving in to attack the team as Louise took two soldiers down though whether it was a fatal shot or not she would much rather not think about it, "Tank!" as Louise popped her head to see a tank rolling towards them. It was smaller than the Falcon so it was likely a light tank, but it still posed a threat as it fired its cannon at the Falcon as it missed and hit a building behind Louise as the shockwave pushed her to the ground before she scrambled up and ran to another cover.
Daniel popped out of his cover as he aimed his anti-tank weapon at it as he positioned himself despite the onslaught of bullets that were peppering him, Louise had to admire his bravery for not ducking under enemy cover as he then fired as a trail of smoke left the weapon before the load smashed into the tank as it exploded into a fiery fireball. Louise covered her eyes from the explosion as it also seemed to have knocked back some of the soldiers out as well as the squad moved in further to pressure the enemy forces, "Hey wait..." Louise said pulling Alexander back, "where's Suzie?" she asked as she did not see the girl anywhere at all as she frantically looked around hoping that the girl wasn't wounded as her heart hammered against her chest.
"I-I don't know, I lost her when the tank came and fired, are you okay by the way?" Alexander asked.
"Yeah I'm fine, where's Suzie?" Louise asked as she looked around panickingly.
"Worry about yourself first," Daniel said as he slid to their side as he covered himself, "I'm sure she's fine," as the sound of further gunfire and explosions followed by soldiers running from the side indicated that the enemy had been caught off guard. The tactic had worked! As the teams rejoiced as they pressed on the attack as the Confederacy soldiers fell back into the base itself as squad 13 penetrated into the base as they shot at anything that moved.
"Keep pushing them back, drive them out of the base completely," Luna ordered as the squad members redoubled their efforts as Louise fired at a Confederacy soldier as he fell back in pain as his comrade dragged him away as slowly, but surely, Mason's plan seemed to look like a success. At least that is until several tanks rolled in firing their cannons as explosions rocked the base.
"Damn it tanks? And five of them?" Luna exclaimed.
"All of you aim properly, protect the squad," Daniel said as he fired at the tanks, however their rockets were inaccurate at a distance and so only few hit their mark and it wasn't enough to destroy the tanks. They couldn't move further because the Confederacy infantry were continually aiming at the anti-tank soldiers as they seemed intent on protecting the tank at any cost, "damn it...at this rate enemy reinforcements will arrive," as he turned to the Falcon, "Lieutenant we need your help!" he cried out.
Inside the Falcon Mason seemed his usual lazy self as he looked at Alice as she was the only one could see what was happening, "Lieutenant the squad needs our help, should we arm the anti-armour shells?" Alice asked.
"Is it bad?" Mason asked.
"Yes five tanks are right in front of us and they're shelling our squad, Lieutenant we need to help them now!" Alice said, "Even if our tank cannons don't have the reach, at least we should cover the anti-tank units so that they can shoot at the tanks."
"Well then we'll get hit and suffer damage," Mason said as Alice looked at him in aghast.
"Lieutenant!" she exclaimed in shock.
"Calm down, I was just joking, listen to my orders carefully," as the Falcon then lurched forward as it rolled towards the tanks as it shrugged off the small arms easily as it then turned so that it's sides were facing the tank.
"What is he doing?" Luna asked, "Doesn't he know that tank armour are thin on the side?"
The Falcon then fired its cannon as its first shell hit spot on as the tank exploded and the subsequent shockwave damaged the tank next to it as well, "Well come on don't just stand there," Luna said seeing the squad just sitting there in dumbfound surprise, "aid the Falcon," as the anti-tank units, using the Falcon as cover began barraging the remaining tanks with rockets as they exploded one after the other as the Falcon aided them as best it could. Seeing that their armoured division was wiped out the rest of the Confederacy defence force retreated as the rest of the squad cleared out the buildings before flying the Belfast flag over the supply base and then firing a flare, a sign to the forces outside the city that they had captured the supply base which would signal them to attack the city defence force with earnest.
"Finally it's over," Louise said as she tightened the scarf around her neck, "I thought we weren't going to make it for a moment."
"Well I guess my brother can be reliable when he wants to be," Luna said as Louise nodded, "you two okay?"
"Yeah I'm good," Louise said as Alexander nodded as she then remembered something, "Suzie! I have to find her, she wasn't at the assault just then I-"
"Yeah I found her," Luna said as Louise's heart dropped, "she's..."
"No...she's not..." Louise said as a cold chill came over her body.
"No, no she's not killed but..." Luna said as she gestured to her as Louise sighed in relief though she could see that Suzie went from pale to ashen white as she shuddered while hugging her knee as she looked ready to crumble. "The guys found her hiding away in one of the buildings, it seemed she chickened out during the fight and just sat there while we were fighting," Luna said as Louise detected a hint of anger in her voice.
"Well it was her first fight," Louise argued, "of course she would be frightened and with the tanks rolling by even I was a little bit scared."
"But at least you didn't freeze up right? You kept on fighting!" Luna snapped as Louise looked at her in surprise, why was Luna acting this way? Sure she was a bit tough on the others because of her position as second-in-command, but she had always been understanding of other people...what was it that made her act this way?
"Luna you..." Louise began.
"If a soldier freezes up in a battle then he, or she, is just a useless waste of space. That is the tenant of war, that's why we...we have to steel ourselves for the battles ahead. If this was a major operation and she was in charge of a crucial role then she jeopardizes the entire mission as well as our lives. Suzie should get her act together because the next battle is going to be just, if not more, tougher since we have to hold this supply base until reinforcements can arrive," as Luna left Louise in a state of shock as Alexander sympathised with Louise.
"I understand how you feel Louise," Alexander said, "however I think you should understand how the Belfast military philosophy works. All of us were taught from a young age to be proud of our country and to fight and die for it when the time comes, cowardice is something that highly looked down upon and those that aren't able to fight or do anything useful to a war effort is considered an embarrassment," he explained softly. Louise's eyes widened, then their philosophy was no different than the one back home where a person who was unable to summon a familiar or cast a simple spell was considered an embarrassment as a mage and was shunned by the magical community, Louise herself had felt that stigma and knew first-hand how it felt to be an outcast; already she could feel the disapproving glare directed towards Suzie as she gritted her teeth in anger. It infuriated her that even in this world such discrimination existed, it infuriated her that another person had to undergo the same thing that Louise went through, it infuriated her so much that she just wanted nothing more than to send them all flying with her magic. However doing that would achieve nothing and just open up a whole lot of questions she would rather remain unanswered, or questioned, for this moment in time as she decided to prove them wrong.
"Come on Louise, I'm not going to act like this to her, it's wrong and stupid," Louise announced as Alexander sighed and smiled.
"Alright then, it's not like I can't decline it could I?" Alexander said.
"You could...but don't expect me to help you the next time you're under fire," Louise said warningly as Alexander laughed nervously as the two of them approached Suzie who was muttering under her breath and was quite frankly in a state of disbelief.
"Hey Suzie...Suzie you okay?" Louise asked softly as she didn't get any sign of response as she called again before touching Suzie's shoulder. The reaction was immediate as Suzie pushed Louise away before pointing her rifle at Louise as Alexander stepped in as Suzie snapped out of it as she dropped the rifle before collapsing to the ground.
"I'm sorry," Suzie sobbed, "I'm sorry," as she kept apologising as Louise slowly embraced her after she got over the shock of nearly getting shot.
"It's okay," Louise replied, "it's okay you're safe now."
"I...I wanted to fight," Suzie said, "I had him in my sight but...but I couldn't...oh god I couldn't kill him in cold blood..."
"I know, I understand," Louise said, "it's hard for me as well...to suddenly be asked to kill someone simply because they're the enemy...don't worry, I'm not angry at you. I won't let anyone else bully you I promise you that."
"R-really?" Suzie asked, "You mean that?"
"Of course," Louise said smiling, "from now on you, me and Alexander are friends, comrade-in-arms!"
"Ah...dragging my name into this...how troublesome," Alexander said to himself.
"What was that?" Louise snapped glaring at him.
"Nothing, nothing!" Alexander said laughing nervously again.
"T-thank you Louise...I...I don't deserve such kindness," Suzie said sniffling.
"Think nothing of it," Louise said, "for something like this to occur...unforgivable..." as she balled her hands into a fist as she swore she won't let Suzie suffer the same pain she did when she was in the academy, she swore it on her life!