Chapter 13—With Wings Spread
The battle of Gamir was quite different from the siege of Egdar. In Egdar, there was a clear line between Sarasaland troops and enemy troops. In Gamir, though, there were small smatterings of troops all over the forests. There was Gamir, then there was the Sarasaland-Koopa camp, and the line between the two sides was the forest, which made it far from easy to avoid getting separated from everyone else. Flora and her battalion had been holed up in the forest for two days, rarely getting any sleep due to the occasional enemy unit that found them. She heard the sounds of air battles being fought overhead and the sounds of cannons and guns being fired on the ground. It was impossible to tell if she was safe or if there was a napalm bomb over her just waiting to be dropped. The battle gave her an easy reminder of why the Mushroom Kingdom always got beaten by the Koopa Kingdom: the Mushroom Kingdom troops wandering the forest were poorly trained, easily scared, and rarely found in groups.
"Found a road, Colonel," said one of the soldiers, returning from a scouting mission. Harwell was a coward, but he knew how to get around undetected. His grey shell was also covered in scorch marks and had a crack on it, so if he heard enemy troops near, he would just hide in his shell so he would just look like the shell of a dead Koopa Troopa. That way, he could get just about anywhere in the forest without getting attacked.
"That's good, but there are probably hordes of enemy troops along the road waiting to ambush any driver dumb enough to use it," Flora said.
"So how are we gonna get back to camp?" Irala asked. "'T's not like we've got a map of the forest with every ambush marked." Irala had recently seen her sweetheart get killed. Needless to say, she did not feel like fighting.
"That's exactly why we're not trying to get back to camp. We don't know where we are; the city could be in any direction. We do know that camp is to the south of the forest, though. We'll just go south. If we reach Gamir first, all the better."
"So we're lost?"
"I thought you'd have figured that out a while ago. Yes, we're lost. If we get contacted, that's good, but I'll go ahead and tell you that we're in a really bad situation."
"Us 'n' about fifty thousand others," Mia remarked.
"That's right. By the way, how are we faring with ammo?"
"Well, there's the stuff ya've already got loaded, 'n' there's about thirty clips f'r our auto-guns, 'nd about seventy rounds f'r the rifles. Oh, we also got two grenades left and, 'f course, our melee weapons (like that'll do any good wi' bullets whizzin' everywhere)."
"Not the best stock, considering how much we left with," Flora said. "Somebody wake up Jake; we're going south."
The group headed out, careful not to make too much noise. The battlefield smelled of death and fire. The forest was probably burning in several areas as a result of the explosive shells and grenades being set off. "Smokoop would go nuts if he saw this," Flora thought to herself, referring to the well-known Koopa Troopa who made the public service announcements on forest fires. Every now and then, they would hear the sound of automatic guns nearby, or the crack of a rifle. Almost all of the wildlife had fled from the forest by now, but they still heard the sound of frightened birds flying away from a burning tree on occasion.
They stopped at a tank trail, the roots and shrubs flattened in the tank's wake. Flora looked out and saw a Mushroom Kingdom soldier walking down the path, a nervous look on his face. A twig snapped to the soldier's left. In a reaction of pure fear, the soldier turned and emptied his gun firing into the bush where the sound had come from, waiting for blood to flow onto the trail. Irala quickly dispatched him with a shot of her rifle.
"And they say you're a coward," Irala said to Harwell.
The group continued on across the trail until they reached a highway, one which led to Gamir and had a large amount of enemy tanks, artillery, and APCs moving out. Following it at a distance of about five meters from the edge, they reached a suburb, home to a number of houses on each side of the highway. Enemy vehicles were driving down the highway in huge numbers.
"Let's find a place to make into a base for now," Flora said. "One of those houses on the edge would be the best idea. Hopefully, it'll be safe in there."
They sneaked along the forest's edge, eventually reaching the door to the cellar of a house. They were running out of food and were unlikely to survive if they went any deeper into the city. In addition, there were about ten thousand enemy troops between them and camp, not counting the thousands wandering the forests.
"Hey, the owner of this house has some nice stuff," Luke said.
"Forget it, Luke; the only thing we're stealing here is food," Flora said, disappointment in her voice. "We're going to stay here until help can come. We don't shoot anything unless the enemy comes in here. As tempting as it is to take a shower or watch TV, we've got to avoid using any energy or water; it might tip off the enemy that we're here. No shouting, either. Let's see if there's a map of the city in this house. If there is one, we can contact General Equani and get help; he'll send a transport to get us once the enemies are driven from here."
"Ya sure about that?" Mia asked. "After all, we're just a team 'f nine. 'T's not like he's gonna send an entire legion ta come 'n' get us."
"He won't, but we've found a big road for enemy troops." Flora looked over a map that Harwell brought to her, contacting General Equani on the radio in her pack. "Sir," she started, "this is Colonel Ornilla." She waited for a response.
"The General's kinda busy right now," a nasally voice (obviously a Yoshi) responded. "Is it urgent?"
"Yes; we've taken shelter in a house in one of Gamir's suburbs, and there are hordes of tanks and other vehicles rolling out of town on a highway. It appears to be leading west."
"Say again, Colonel?" General Equani asked.
"Do you have a map of the city?"
"Of course."
"Well, we've taken shelter in a house in a western suburb. Judging by the highway cutting through it, I'm guessing it's Devika. Anyway, there's a huge number of enemy vehicles moving out into the forest via the highway. They might be gearing up for an attack."
"Got it. Good job, Colonel. Stay in that house unless you're detected. I'll see if I can spare some air units to take out that army you told me about. If things work out, you'll be back at camp before too long. Make sure to alert me to any changes."
"Will do, sir."
General Equani disconnected. Their trek would be over before too long.
Flora walked upstairs and entered what she concluded must have been a bedroom. Judging by the Nintendo Power magazines on the floor and suggestive pictures on the walls, she decided it was the room of a teenage boy. "Not for me," she thought, walking out of the room. She entered another room just next to the boy's room. There were two twin beds, both obviously for girls. She noticed an army of stuffed animals on one bed and a smaller number on the other. That room might be suitable for her; she even recognized one of the stuffed animals as the same type she had left in Xanria—a Goonie with wings spread. That room would be just fine for her; it reminded her of her home. Since the children had left their keepsakes behind, the family must have been in a hurry to evacuate.
She lied down on the bed she had decided she would sleep in and began to think about her family. Arthur would turn seventeen in a few days, which meant Maria would give him a good, annoying lecture on finding a girlfriend; he had never loved in his life and had shown few signs of wanting to. Maria was probably trying to be the center of attention at school again, not in a flirtatious way, though; she was more of a class clown. Laura would probably be entering that "I want to stand out" phase, which meant Jenna would imitate her and try to enjoy whatever Laura suddenly took an interest in. As for Jacob… Flora felt a tear coming to her eye; she missed them. Jacob was probably able to talk, and Flora had not been there to hear his first words. Her parents were probably trying to keep Flora from being forgotten and possibly teaching Laura how to work in the fields. Being twelve now, she was old enough to help the family. Seeing them struggle to get Laura in the fields without Jenna would be quite a show.
Somehow, she then remembered Nathaniel. "I wonder if he's worried," she thought.
"Of course he is," another part of her said. "He loves you; anyone would be worried about their sweetie going off to war."
"Nathaniel…" she sighed out loud. She missed him greatly; she wanted to go home immediately and see him again. She noticed Luke coming into the room.
"Glad to see you're comfy," he said. "Anyway, I'm sleepin' in the room right over here." He pointed to the teenage boy's room and went in.
"How suiting," Flora thought. Luke had been reprimanded before leaving camp for peering into the tent of a group of female knights. She saw Harwell entering the same room.
"How predictable," she heard Harwell say. "Do you ever have anything on your mind but girls?" Flora chuckled; Harwell had taken the words right out of her mouth.
"Does it matter?" Luke responded. "'T's got a bed, and I'm usin' it. Think what ya want; I like this room." Harwell left the room and noticed Flora in one of the beds.
"Guess I'm not taking this room," he said. "I'll try the master bedroom." He turned around after hearing female voices from that room. "Looks like I'll have to tolerate Luke."
Mia wandered into Flora's room, Jessica right behind her. "Okay 'f we sleep here, Colonel?" she asked. "Master bedroom's all full, and I'm not interested in sleeping in a 'gentlemen's' club."
"Sure," Flora said with a laugh. "Three to a room seems fine with me."
Mia took the army of stuffed animals off of the other bed and made a makeshift bed out of a pile of them, curling up and folding her wings. "Don't any of ya make any noise 'nless 't's an emergency," she said before placing her big nose down on a stuffed Chomp.
Jessica removed her armor and placed it at the end of the bed, then removing her uniform.
"Heh, even in battle, you fold your clothes and place them in a neat little pile," she said to Flora. "Shouldn't there be a watch?"
"Good idea," Flora said. "We'll do it in shifts. For equal division, they'll be one hour and twenty minutes each—one per person during the night, one per person during the day. I'll go ahead and take this one since the clock's already on a 20-minute mark. You'll go next, then Mia, then Luke, then Harwell, then Mike, then Irala, then June, then Phyllis."
"Will ya be quiet?" Mia asked, annoyed. "'M tryin' ta sleep here!"
"Sorry. I'll go keep watch. Get some sleep so you won't be too tired when your shift comes."
Flora put on her uniform and armor, loaded her rifle, and walked out into the hallway. She looked out a window in the master bedroom onto the highway, which still had units pouring out. She then walked back down the hallway to the stairs and went down. She noticed that the front door was open and instantly knew that someone was inside. She yelled upstairs, telling everyone to get ready for battle. She heard the shot right behind her and felt the bullet lodge itself in her cap.
"Stupid…" she thought as she fell to the floor.
Author's Notes: No, this isn't the last chapter. Give it some thought, though. Anyway, I'm not going to type "please read and review" anymore; it's essentially a tacit request now.