Some more action and trickery here. The plans are beginning to fall into place. Kijo makes a good tactician, doesn't he? The idea of a highly elite unit working together to just…completely fool other people really appeals to me. I hope it's obvious to your readers what's going on. I'd hate to confuse you. Not so sure I did a great job on this chapter. Please give constructive criticism and let me know what I can do to make it better.

I disclaim the things I don't own.

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Chapter 8

The Start of Deception

All the members of his cell had made it to the bunker in the middle of the field. To his relief, Kijo found that the trench did have an underground compartment big enough to fit them all. After some hasty negotiations and ordering, he got the soldiers in the bunker to listen to him.

"Alright, I don't have much time to explain this but we're drawing the enemy into a trap and we need your help for this." Kijo pointed to Brahv who was already at work wiring small bombs that could be triggered by remote. "Brahv is going to set some low grade explosives throughout the bunker. When I give the signal, all of you run like hell to the nearest outpost." He paused. "The nearest one should be outpost C over there," he pointed.

"After you've all run, we're going to detonate the explosives. To the enemy, this is going to look like someone accidentally set off the gunpowder or something. They're going to jump on the opportunity to snag some extra ground. My men and I will be hiding below. When there are enough Bevelle soldiers above, we'll detonate the second array of explosives, knocking out whoever is inside at the time. At this point, you can rush back to the bunker and take it for yourselves. We'll be gone. Do not pursue any Bevelle soldiers you see fleeing the premise." He stood up and looked over the Zanarkand soldiers. "Do you understand?"

They looked at each other for a moment, but finally saluted. "Yes, Commander, sir!"

Kijo nodded. "Very well." He turned to his cell. "Shuyin, Roy, Solene, into the hatch, now. Strip down to undergarments." He glanced at Solene. "You understand I'm sure."

Solene nodded. "Of course, sir. Speed is key after all."

Kijo nodded. "We're leaving all but basic equipment behind. If things go smoothly, we'll be supplied by those Bevellians themselves."

"Sir!" they shouted as they stepped down into the hole.

"Brahv," he turned to the man as he clipped another wire into place. "How much longer will it take?"

The man pulled a small remote from his pocket and turned a dial. "That should do it. I've set up both the first and second round."

"They won't set each other off?"

"No sir. But they'll kick up one hell of a dust storm."

"Great." Kijo turned to the other occupants of the foxhole. "Ok men, you know what to do. Do it screaming." The soldiers saluted and after a few seconds, jumped out the back side of the bunker. They scrambled out over the cracked earth running toward the other bunker. "Brahv, we're going down."

Kijo jumped down the hole followed closely by Brahv. "Shuyin, Solene, Roy, everyone here?"

"Yes sir!"

"Great," He reached up and pulled the cord of the hatch above. "Brahv, go for it."

There was a click, followed immediately by silence. Then, in the space it took for them to breathe, the ground above their heads shuddered and a booming crash echoed through the dark hole.

Kijo raised an eyebrow. "Is that what only one of the rounds should sound like? That was pretty loud."

"Sir, with all due respect, I know what I'm doing. And yes…that's just the sound of the first round," Brahv said with a confident tone.

"Alright," Kijo said hesitantly. "In that case, strip down to undergarments. We need to be able to just jump right in when we get up there."

After undressing himself, Kijo listened closely to the ground above him. After a few minutes, the sound of rapid gunfire was heard and then loud footsteps. Muffled voices could be heard above. Kijo stepped up the ladder and laid his ear against the ceiling above him.

"What's it look like to you? Explosions malfunction?"

"Now?" Brahv's voice could be heard in the dark.

"No, wait for my command." Kijo hissed.

Above them, the voices continued. Kijo quietly counted the number of different voices he could make out. "There's no one here."

"Yea, but you saw them run away, didn't you?" There were three now…

"Haha, yea. Those Zanarks must be pretty damn stupid to blow themselves up."

That confirmed that it was Bevelle soldiers above. Four at least…

"Shut up, keep your eyes open, they'll be trying to take it back. This post is important."

A fifth…

"Of course…alright you two, go back to base and tell them to send sandbags."

"Now!" Kijo hissed.

There was another explosion, this one accompanied by pained screams. Above him, several dull thuds shook the ground after the detonation. "Alright! Let's move! We've got a good thirty seconds before the dust starts settling!"

His hand shot up, pushing the hatch to the side. A body had fallen across it and it rolled to the side as the hatch pushed it aside. Kijo leapt up and out and dove on the nearest Bevelle soldier. He removed the uniform quickly and slipped it on over himself before grabbing his machine gun and strapping it over his shoulder.

When he looked up, the rest of his unit was almost done. He grabbed his bloody soldier and tossed him into the hatch below. "Any without clothes, you throw in there," he ordered. "Roy! As soon as they're in there, set them on fire and close the hatch. We want as little evidence as possible." He turned to Shuyin. "How many are left?"

"Just two."

"Leave one, grab the other. We're taking him to the Bevelle medic station."

"Yes sir!"

His orders were carried out quickly and when the dust settled, they were running out the other side, clothed in the uniforms of the enemy and carrying their wounded. They made their way forward and stumbled into a nearby bunker, breathing heavily and acting dizzy. Kijo turned around as he ran and fired off wild shots with his machine gun.

When he reached the nearest Bevelle outpost, Roy was already talking. His speech was jumbled and confusing. Imitating shell-shock…Kijo hadn't thought of that…

"Alright!" One of the Bevelle soldiers grabbed him and held Roy still. "You've got shell-shock, soldier! Calm down, get back to the medical tent, now!" He turned to face Kijo. "You, how steady are you right now?" Kijo shook his head.

"Things are spinning…I…I don't know where the medic tent is…but we've got a man down here."

Shuyin finally dragged the wounded soldier into the bunker. The other soldier blinked and cursed. "Shit, alright." He turned to another, shorter soldier. "Lamont, bring them back to base. All six of them, and hurry. They're a liability out here."

Kijo faked a dizzy salute. "Thank you, sir!"

"Just get out of here!"

Lamont gathered them and began running back toward the hill that led to the Bevelle base. "What happened out there?"

Roy babbled something unintelligible. Kijo could barely hold back a smile as he translated. "The bunker…it was a trap. They rigged it with explosives…fucking Zanarks…"

Lamont sneered. "Yeah…the bastards." He turned. "But hey, you survived right?"

"We'll pay 'em back though."

"Hell yea."

"Especially when we finish that machina."

Lamont turned as they ran, giving Kijo a funny look. "There hasn't been a new machina in production since the YAU units…" he shook his head. "You must have some pretty bad shell-shock."

Kijo stopped talking as they ran. After a few minutes, they reached the medical tent and dropped off the wounded soldier. The medic took his pulse and shook his head. "I'm sorry…he must have died in the explosion."

"Fuck!" Kijo kicked at the ground and lowered his head. "FUCKING HELL!"

Brahv stepped forward and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down…" he started. Kijo shook him off and backed away like a cornered animal.

"Calm down? How the hell am I supposed to calm down!" His eyes flitted back and forth like a beast. "He's dead! That could have been me!"

Shuyin, who had been staring down at the dead soldier. Suddenly backed away quickly. He reached up and clutched at his head and began screaming.

Kijo pointed a shaking finger at him. "See! That's what this does to people! WE ALL COULD HAVE DIED!" He turned away. They were following his lead…that was good. "I have family in Bevelle…I could have never seen them again!"

Lamont strode forward. "Calm down, soldier! This is no time to-"

"SHUT UP, LAMONT!" He forced tears into his eyes. "Fuck…fuck fuck FUCK! I need to get out of here!" There was an explosion from below. Shuyin screamed and Roy flinched. Solene fell to the ground, covering her head.

The doctor leaned forward and laid a hand on Brahv's shoulder. "They're experiencing a severe case of shell-shock…I don't have the time to deal with them. Please, take care of them, you were with them at the time."

"Sure thing, sir." Brahv nodded and stepped toward Kijo. "Listen to me…it's going to be ok…we're still alive."

"I don't care…I don't care!" Shuyin stumbled over toward Kijo and was joined by Solene and Roy. "I'm not going back in there…we're not ever going back in there!" Kijo turned and ran out of the tent followed by Shuyin and then Solene and Roy.

Brahv took after them but stopped at the flap and turned back to Lamont. "I'm…sorry for their behavior…I will do my best to bring them back to their senses and back to the battlefield."

Lamont nodded solemnly. "Alright…I understand."

Brahv ran out of the tent and then ran after Kijo as he led them out of the Great Plains and into Macalania Forest. They drew stares from soldiers and other members of Bevelle's army. As they ran, Brahv shouted the reason for their interruption and was met with weary shakes of the head and sad, understanding nods.

Kijo led them past all the tents and past the entrance to Bevelle, further into Macalania and keeping an eye out for where they ran. When there were no more signs of Bevelle soldiers, he stopped and caught his breath.

With a smile, he removed the uniform's headgear and laid it on a nearby branch. "Well done." He laughed. "We're past the worst of it now." He leaned back against a large root of an enormous tree. "We'll rest here for a while and then move out again. Start thinking about how we're to get into the heart of Bevelle." He shook his head and dust and dirt fell from his hair. "Lamont didn't know a thing about this machina we're after so…if it's really here…they're keeping it under wraps."

His hands reached over his head and he stretched out against the tree behind him. "Now get some rest. We've got a hard trip ahead of us…no need to rush things."