Shadows of Man

by Maddog3060

A tale of an alternate timeline, where a Peripherybased Republic has stopped the Blakest Jihad. But not all of the Blakests have been killed... FINISHED! Additional Extra uploaded! WARNING: Bad Language and bloody violence.

27. Chapter 27

The gathering was ominous, or so it seemed to Alexis. Maybe that's because the last time I and Mikula and Pavlo were invited into such a meeting, it was because Hercor was about to be ravaged. She tried to pass it off as simply a residue of that last conference, but my fur wants to stand on end.

She decided that it had to be the looks of the various officers, half of whom she hadn't really met before. They look so dour... And all of this so soon after that attempted Wobbie attack. Could they be related?

Then Major Kujira walked into the shed, towing behind him a tall black man in a dark blue navy uniform that lacked insignia. They walked over to the campaign table where the various unit commanders of Operation Last Call stood. Behind them stood the three native interpreters and van Horn, doing as much as possible to see what was happening without making themselves conspicuous.

Kujira and the black man strode to the head of the table, and the major began without preamble. "Officers, we have a situation.

"As you all have heard by now, the Blakests tried to hit us with an atomic warhead the night before last," he paused for the men and women gathered to nod their heads. "This is an obvious escalation of the conflict here on Bowman's Planet, one that cannot be ignored." He pressed a few buttons on the simple holoprojector on the table. Although it might've been simpler for everyone to crowd around the holotank, the campaign table was larger in perimeter, so more people could fit around without jostling one another.

A map of the continent that they were on flared to photonic life as Kujira spoke. "As soon as we confirmed the presence of the atomic, Captain Ladavic and her crew began a systematic neutrino scan of the planet, singling out artificial sources of the subatomic particle.

"We have found a cluster of such signatures located in a lupar city to the east of here," Kujira paused and leaned over the end of the table he was at. "They are artificial sources, not of fusion origin."

A quiet murmur came from the assembled officers, distracting Alexis a bit. I don't know half of what he's talking about! Why are we here? Then Kujira answered her unspoken question with this statement: "The signatures are confirmed to be the result of the natural decay of Plutonium-244; the prime component of fission atomic weaponry."

A chill went down Alexis' spine at the thought, and she listened in as Kujira went on. "We believe that the Blakests have chosen this native city, which they've not had too major a presence in since our arrival, to hide their cache of weapons of mass destruction." He nodded towards the tall black man behind him. "Mr. Black here has confirmed, through 'interrogation' of the captured ROM operative, that the Blakests do indeed have at least thirteen more atomic weapons, varying in yield from twenty kilotons to as much as fifty megatons." He paused to let that sink in. "I don't need to remind you that even a small one like the one that was captured by our forces could have destroyed almost our entire beachhead and killed a number of innocents."Therefore, Captain Ladavic, Mr. Black, and myself have formulated a plan to eliminate this threat. A raid shall be launched as soon as possible, the preparations for which will begin as soon as this meeting is over." Kujira pressed another button on the projector, and the map zoomed in to show the city and the area around it in more detail. Alexis felt a sense of deja vü, but she chalked it up to the similarities to the map of the area around Hercor; both had a pattern of farms centered around an urban center that lay next to a river As she watched, red icons popped onto the screen over and around the city.

"The Rodger Young also conducted a synthetic aperture radar imaging of the city to locate any masses of metal that could present a neutrino profile, such as an unknown fusion-based system. The icons you see are cleverly hidden tanks and APCs that the Wobbies managed to sneak into position during gaps in our orbital coverage. All of them are powered by internal combustion engines, so they didn't show up on the neutrino scan."

"Someone went to some trouble to hide and protect this area, then," observed one of the officers Alexis didn't recognize, though she could tell from the insignia on his shoulder that he was a MechWarrior.

Kujira, despite his usual sternness, simply nodded his head at the interruption. "Indeed," he said and pressed a few controls on the projector, and a new, yellow and black icon appeared. Alexis easily recognized it as the same symbol that was on the captured nuclear device.

"We've tracked the cache to what appears to be a large, castle-like structure in the middle of the city. From what the ROMmy told our friends in Intel, it's their center of power for the entire city, and so it's been completely taken over by the Blakests."

A Lieutenant from the Grenadiers' armored contingent raised his hand to ask permission for a question. He then took a breath as Kujira nodded. "Sir, if the structure is clear of civilians, then why can't we simply have the aerojocks smash it from the air?"

The black man put a hand on Kujira's shoulder. "If I may explain, major?" He said. Kujira stood erect and nodded to the man, taking a step back as he did so, and Mr. Black stepped forward. "The captured operative did say that the Blakests have taken over the structure, but he also revealed that the occupying forces have taken several hostages to ensure the good behavior of the city-folk."

That comment brought a low chorus of half-whispered curse words from the officers, and Alexis even heard van Horn utter an additional "cocksuckers" to the mix. Mr. Black just nodded. "I share your sentiments. The fact is that too many innocents would die if we blasted it from the air. Besides, even a pinpoint bombing could have excessive amounts of collateral damage." He paused for a moment. "Obviously, we cannot allow that to happen."

"Won't we have collateral damage if we go in on a raid, anyway?" The unknown MechWarrior added in. "'Mechs and even battle armor are not known for having a minimal impact on a combat zone."

"That's where the first, preliminary phase of this operation comes in," Kujira said, taking over the briefing again. He then looked past his officers to where the interpreters stood. "Van Horn, have you asked your friends about volunteering?"

Alexis blinked and looked to van Horn. He didn't say anything! She thought, but then she noticed the looks on Mikula and Pavlo's faces. Maybe he did... Just not to me. Then van Horn spoke, and all the room's attention was on him. "Yes sir, Major. Specialist Farkas," he nodded his head to Mikula to differentiate between the two brothers, "has agreed to the first phase, and he has even recruited the help of his brother who has been in the city far more recently."

Alexis then realized why the city map looked so familiar. I just never saw it with the city centered before, but it was on the Shaman's old maps... Tanzano... Although Alexis felt her emotions roil, but she controlled them with a discipline that she had cultivated through her recent martial training.

Kujira nodded. "Excellent," he said, bringing all eyes back to him. He pointed to the map, pressing another button as he did so. The zoom on the map shrunk a bit, and it widened enough so that Alexis could see where Kuamket had once stood. She again had to hold her emotions in check. Now is not the time, she chided herself as Kujira began again.

"Insertion of our Intel operatives will be here," as he spoke, a small gray triangle appeared in the forested mountains northwest of Tanzano, next to an obviously well-used road. "They will use this trade road to approach and enter the city. Their mission is twofold: First, to verify that the ordinance hasn't been moved. Second, they will attempt to warn the locals around the objective just prior to our raid, and so hopefully lessen any collateral damage."

Kujira pressed another button, and a blue box appeared next to Kuamket's ruins. "We will also insert 'mech forces here via dropship. They will then move north through this forest and await H-hour. Their mission is to provide support for the main raid force should they meet any unexpected resistance.

"The main raiding force of battle armor shall drop on top of the objective via gunship insertion. This will facilitate the necessary speed and focus of force that we will need to limit collateral damage as well as friendly casualties." An arrow lanced in as Kujira spoke, coming in from the east to spear the radioactivity icon with its tip. "Finally, all forces will rendezvous inside the forest to the south. Hopefully, this will be under the defensive stances of friendly 'mechs, so whichever battle armor force goes in needs to be on the ball so that they won't shoot their own."

"You mean on the bounce, sir," Vickers said and puffed his chest out a bit. "The Vanquishers can handle this, sir. Besides, the 5th's infantry and the Grenadiers are better at garrison duty anyway." He added in a grin at that prompted his opposites in those other infantry formations to either razz him or give him the bird.

Kujira politely ignored the banter and the gestures, but he did smile a bit. "Very well. The objective will be yours." He looked over to where his 'mech officers were. "Any 'mech lance want to volunteer?"

"I will, sir." Captain Tanaka raised a hand as she spoke, since her frame was slightly diminutive when compared to other humans.'

Kujira's smile faded. "I'm not so sure, Captain. Your 'mech lance isn't too fast, so you'd be at a disadvantage. Besides, you also have the company to look over."

Tanaka lowered her hand and shook her head. "I appreciate your caution, major, but I respectfully disagree. My lance is equipped with jump jets, which adds speed over rough terrain." She then pointed to the forest. "And that kind of mobility will be needed to use the forest for cover if the shit hits the fan.

"Also, sir, you are no slouch yourself when it comes to commanding a 'mech company," she said with a glint in her eye. "I do not believe that any unfortunate event shall destroy the unit as a whole, and if the fan is indeed hit, you'll want the heavier power available on my 'mechs."

Kujira stood silently for a moment, and then nodded. "Very well, captain. Lieutenant, Doctor," he said and looked at Vickers and van Horn respectively. "Get things moving. The sooner we're rid of Damocles' Sword, the better."

---

Alexis walked out of the meeting along with Pavlo and most of the other officers, though the humans went along on their way once outside of the command building. The people involved with the plan had stayed inside, though, to plan a bit more.

Alexis paused by the door, and indicated to Pavlo to do the same. After the crowd had left, Alexis turned to Pavlo. "So, when was I going to hear about this?"

Pavlo looked stricken. "Alexis, don't be angry at Mikula. He kept silent because he didn't even know if he was going to go until just now," he said, holding his hands up. "He didn't want you worrying if nothing came of it."

Alexis looked crossly at Pavlo, then shook her head with a huff and walked off. The latter waited until she had disappeared from sight before he let out a sigh of relief. "Mikula, you better know what you're getting into," he muttered and turned to walk in the other direction, deciding to give Alexis some time to cool off.

He smirked a bit at the thought. I must be getting affected by being around these people. There was a time where I would've thought that Alexis should just shut up and forget about it. He sighed. No going back, though. I am no barbarian!

Pavlo's thought then soon turned to that of his little brother. Senmar, what's gotten into your little head? Or, for that matter, what's gotten into Mikula's head to even ask you for your help?

He sighed as he approached a gate set into the side of the fence surrounding Firebase Hotel. On a lark, he decided to go and talk to Senmar himself. Might as well use my advantage while I've got it, he thought, remembering his pass that, as an interpreter, allowed him to leave the base and go see people in town, just so long as he signed out at the gate.

But, as always, a guard was waiting there. He challenged Pavlo, and the lupar responded easily. "So George, how is it tonight?" He asked politely.

The guard from the Grenadiers shrugged. "Double S double D, man. You goin' out tonight?" Pavlo nodded and the guard grunted. "Well, good thing that the Major added some armored sentries back in the plains, otherwise you'd need to have a friend."

Pavlo grinned. "Good. I don't feel like getting another to come with me... Not now, anyway."

The guard raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Well, it's not my business. Just sign in on the 'puter and I'll let ya go."

Pavlo did as indicated, signing his name - something I didn't even know how to do a couple of months ago - with an electronic stylus onto the pad of the noteputer that the guard held up from his belt. A few minutes later, he was walking along a now-worn path towards the lower courtyard of Hercor.

Well, to the hole in the wall, anyway, he mused. The Maegister hadn't thought it a priority, not when the town was still recovering from so many attacks in recent months, the absorption of refugees, and most especially because there was a contingent of 31st Century soldiers nearby to protect the denizens of the town. And so a small path had been worn, not only by sentries and the interpreters moving back and forth, but also from the curious natives, who still kept coming out in smaller groups every now and again to peer in on the happenings of the humans.

Pavlo sniffed the air, searching for any familiar scents, but he found nothing specific amidst the overall blend of smells. He shrugged and continued his trip, soon reaching the area where the Blakest Centurion had been blasted. Here the path went around the blast area, which was still covered in the glass-like material that the soil had formed when briefly exposed to plasma temperatures.

"Halt! Who goes there?" This guard called in Lupari, and Pavlo slowed a bit, pulling his uniform jacket a bit tighter against himself. "Pavlo Farkas, passing through to get to Shulana."

A guard armored in the uniform of Hercor stepped out from behind a chunk of rubble from the wall. "Come forward, slowly," he said, sword pulled out and ready.

Pavlo almost wanted to laugh, as he let a hand touch his holstered pistol; an M3000, like van Horn's. Funny, I could kill him from here and he holds that sword like it's real protection. Then a thought hit him, and his arrogance died. Don't get like that, Pavlo. You were all cocky too until Kuamket was flattened.

The guard came up, and he looked over Pavlo for a moment from about a meter away, sniffing as well. "Well, you smell like one of them," he said, though Pavlo was confused whether he meant the humans or someone from Shulana. "Go on ahead," he said.

Pavlo nodded and walked past the guard and his position, noting another two more behind other chunks of stone. Cautious, at least, he mentally appraised them as he passed through the courtyard. He looked over the buildings of the yard, amazed at the changes over the days since his, Mikula and Alexis' return. They've cleaned up the bloodstains a bit, and most of the dirt that was tracked in. Also cleaned up the barracks and storehouses.

He walked through the area quick enough, meeting less resistance at the main gate. Soon, he was walking along the paths outside of the gates, heading for the wooden bridge that had been built by the natives to provide access across the river.

Pavlo's ears twitched at the sound of running water, as it still made him nervous to be near rivers. Silly fear, anyway, he thought. I can take showers easily enough. Still, he felt a bit nervous on crossing the rail-less bridge, and was glad when he was off of it. Soon, he was on the path to the town, and he approached it from the south.

"Who goes there!" Another guard called out, though this one had a different accent in his Lupari. Pavlo had had enough by then. "I'm the big bad Krashnor and I'm gonna come eat your children!" He snapped out, referring to the Lupar bogeyman. "Just come over here and take a goddamned whiff!" He called to the small stand of grass that the voice had come from.

A rustling accompanied the guard moving out. "Pavlo, is that you?" A familiar voice asked. Pavlo smiled a bit and nodded, though he didn't know if the other could see that. "It's me, Linaka," he said, calling to the female lupar.

Linaka walked over towards him, though he knew from the noises ahead that another person stood guard as well. "It is you, Pavlo," she said, her voice more friendly now. "Although I've never heard you sound so angry before."

Pavlo sighed and shook his head a bit. "I'm sorry, Linaka. I've just had to go through three checkpoints just to come and talk to my brother, and it's annoying me. But it's not your fault, so I'm sorry."

Linaka walked to within a comfortable conversation range. "That's all right, Pavlo. I know our friends in Hercor are being a bit paranoid," she said with a sigh. "I suppose you can't really blame them. I mean, things didn't start happening for them until we showed up, after all."

Pavlo felt a twinge of pain. It's gotten worse, and you don't even know it, he thought, remembering the briefing he had just left. Linaka saw his face change, and she frowned. "What is it?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing," Pavlo said and shook his head again slightly, clearing it of images of mushroom clouds. "Just thinking."

Linaka chuckled. "What is it with your family lately? All the time, you all seem to be drifting off in thought instead of paying attention to what's in front of you."

Pavlo cracked a grin. "If you only knew, Linaka," then guarding a path would be the least of your worries, he completed the sentence mentally.

Linaka shrugged. "Anyway, you can go on ahead, then."

Pavlo nodded to her. "Thank you, Linaka. I will probably be seeing you again soon, since I have to head back later."

She smiled a bit. "Well, I'd like that then," she said and bowed slightly. Pavlo smiled a bit at her and then continued on past the checkpoint, never having seen - though he heard well enough - the second guard. He then passed quickly into the small town, and he sought out his mother's new house.

Strange, I can't seem to think of this as my house, he thought as he approached the humble abode. He paused outside to consider just what he was going to say. How does one say, 'you are a moron' politely? He mused with a smirk on his face. Then he shrugged and walked to the door and knocked on it.

It opened only a few moments later to reveal Tiana Farkas. "Pavlo! What a nice surprise," she said and smiled. "Are Mikula and Alexis along with you?"

Pavlo shook his head a bit. "No, I'm afraid it's only me tonight, mother. I hope you shan't be disappointed?" He asked with a slight grin.

"No, I shan't," she replied, still smiling, and stepped back to let in her son. "Come on in, then."

"Thank you," Pavlo said and followed Tiana in, squeezing to one side so that she could close the door behind him. Tiana then turned and led Pavlo into the next room where the dinner table sat. Unsurprisingly, Kanu and Senmar were both there, playing a game of dice. Though I have no idea what they're playing for, he mused.

They looked up as Tiana and Pavlo entered the room, small smiles of genuine greeting on their muzzles. "Pavlo!" Kanu spoke first. "What's wrong now? A plague of zugerts eating the crops, mayhap?" He asked with a smirk, though in a jovial tone.

Pavlo tried to look innocent. "What? Just because I left a trail of crumbs here from twenty zugert lairs doesn't mean it's my fault!" He exclaimed, his face a picture of mock indignation. Then he couldn't hold it and a smile took over his features.

Everyone chuckled, save Tiana, who just rolled her eyes and went out back. "I need to check on the pongos. You three try to keep from burning the town down." She said as she left.

"Yes mother," all three brothers said innocently in unison, and then they laughed hard. "Just like old times," Senmar said after they had calmed down.

"Speaking of which," Kanu said and looked over Pavlo. "Why are you still standing? Waiting for an invitation?"

Pavlo grinned a bit sheepishly and pulled a seat out, plopping himself down in it. "Well, with you sitting here, I have to worry about what little tricks you might be planning."

Kanu smirked a bit. "Funny," he said and took a drink from the cup he had next to him on the table. "Want any?" He asked and held the cup towards his brother.

Pavlo leaned over and sniffed a bit. Then he scrunched up the skin on the top of his muzzle a bit. "What is it?"

Kanu gave a quizzical look at Pavlo. "It's water, from the river. Can't you smell it?"

"Oh," Pavlo said and leaned back in his seat. No wonder it smells familiar. "No, thank you anyway."

Kanu gave Pavlo a look, but then he wiped it from his face and shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said and took another drink.

Pavlo felt his belly churn a bit. By the Gods, did I really drink that before? He wondered, but then shook his head a bit. "Well, I suppose I should get to the reason for my visit."

Senmar and Kanu looked mildly surprised. "Really? Don't you want to wait 'til mom comes back?" The latter asked.

"No, not really. I think that for now, it might be better if all of us discuss this in private," he replied and then turned his head to look at Senmar, whose ears folded back in embarrassment.

Kanu turned his head and looked at Senmar as well, his countenance taking on the look of one who's caught someone in the act. "Senmar, what did you do now?" He asked in a 'big-brother-is-disappointed' voice.

Senmar looked stricken. "I, uh..." He closed his mouth and fell silent, apparently at a loss for words.

Pavlo, though, took up the slack. "He volunteered to go with Mikula on a rather dangerous mission for our friends."

Senmar looked at his just-elder brother. "Not that dangerous. Mikula explained it to me; we'll be safe."

"What mission is this?" Kanu asked, no longer disapproving, but merely suspicious. Pavlo then took a moment to explain the plan, including the reason for it. By the end, Kanu was shaking his head in disbelief. "I don't understand... How can any weapon be so powerful as you say?"

Pavlo licked his lips nervously. "I don't know, really," he said. Then he sighed before continuing. "But I've seen recordings of such weapons in use before. We cannot let them be used here."

He then turned to look at Senmar. "But at the same time, I don't like the idea of you going out and risking your neck on this mission."

Senmar's ears again went back in embarrassment. "And why not? You and Mikula certainly took on a dangerous mission when you stole those danier," he replied angrily. "And in case you haven't noticed, I am only a bit younger than you." He sat back with a huff. "I can handle this."

Pavlo harrumphed. "Can you, Senmar? Have you faced Wobbie weaponry? Have you used the same weaponry and trained with it?" He lowered his voice to a near-whisper. "Have you seen people, even loved ones, torn apart by those same weapons?"

The dark tone and content of Pavlo's words seemed to stun Senmar. Then he frowned, his facial expression slipping as far into a lupar blush as possible. "I've faced such weapons. Perhaps not as much as you or Mikula, but I've felt the heat of their fire-breathers. I've seen friends torn asunder. And I can learn as well as you can." He replied slowly, enunciating clearly.

The two youngest Farkas brothers stared at each other for a minute, before Kanu grumped. "Frankly, I think you both are too damn young to do something as harebrained as this," he said, bringing both of the others' attention to him. "Why didn't Mikula ask me, or even you?"

Pavlo pitched his head down and shook it. "Because we haven't been there in months, and Senmar only left a relatively short while ago."

Kanu looked towards his youngest brother. "I think I see... But I still don't like it."

Senmar looked about to say something before Pavlo tilted his head back up and waved a hand to cut his brother off. "I don't like it either, Kanu. But we don't have to like it for it to happen."

"What do you mean?" Kanu asked, a bit confused.

Pavlo turned to his younger brother. "Despite what you might think, I didn't come here to talk you out of this," he said, surprising both of his brothers, he could see. "I came to make sure that you know what you are getting into. Do you think that you can handle the kinds of things you may very well see?" He tilted his head down a centimeter. "Do you know that you can do what must be done?"

The room fell silent for a few moments. Then Senmar gulped and nodded. "I know what you ask. You ask if I can not only handle the simple aspects of hiding and sneaking about, but the tough aspects of seeing people die and even taking life myself." He waited for Pavlo to nod before going on. "As I've said, I've seen such things before. And I wouldn't have become a soldier if the idea of killing was incomprehensible for me."

"You don't really know until you do kill someone," Pavlo responded. "But I see your point." He sighed then, moving his head back to a more neutral position. "Alright, then. I just wanted to know that you had no illusions about this mission."

Senmar tilted his head back a bit in slight indignation. "I know. Mikula explained and asked the same things as you when he came to me yesterday." He then sighed and relaxed his posture a bit. "I rather don't like having to go through the same things with you."

Pavlo grunted appreciatively. "I know, Senmar. And believe it or not, I am sorry," he said and then shook his head. "I've had to go through some of the same repetition in the past few months, as well."

They fell silent again. Kanu decided to re-enter the conversation then. "Pavlo, what the Hell happened out there to make you like this?"

Pavlo blinked in surprise as he turned to his older brother. "What do you mean?"

Kanu gave him a look. "What I mean, is that you used to be nearly as reckless as Senmar, and you goofed off a lot more as well," he added the last bit with a sly grin, prompting similar ones from the other two. "But now, you're all business, serious, and even learned. It's like you've aged ten years while you were gone."

Pavlo sighed and closed his eyes as he brought up his arms to the table, so that he could rest his head in them. "It was a couple things.

"Some of it is traveling farther than any one of our people have done before," he said quietly, and then raised his head and opened his eyes. "You had to have been there... No words can suffice, and even pictures pale in comparison." Pavlo closed his eyes again, bringing back the image of the Neo Tokyo skyline. "I saw a great city. A city so large that it could have housed our entire people, our whole civilization, and still had room for hundreds of thousands more."

Pavlo shook his head. "Then I went into the city, saw the wondrous and fearful things that lay within. I saw the power of our new friends, and I was humbled." He opened his eyes and saw that his brothers had begun to see what he had meant. Then he sighed. "But that wasn't the only reason." He took a moment to gather his words, and then relayed the story of the fight at the Kurrnaki village.

His emotions ran high as he got to the part where Alexis was hurt. "I saw her collapse in a heap. You should have heard Mikula's voice, the sheer pain in it that made even mine seem distant in comparison." He shuddered. "Even as he ran out to get her, I could only think that she had died to save my life."

Pavlo paused in his retelling to breath deep, his brothers looking on in intense interest. "That is the other reason that I'm different now, I guess," he said, sighing. "I couldn't understand it at first, how someone like Alexis, a civilian, a female, a gatón, could dare so much, and then lose it all." He breathed deep again. "But on the way to the human world, I had time to think. And what I realized is that the way I had thought was wrong." He smirked then, though he looked at no one in particular. "And then I was humbled, as I told you.

"And then we took it upon ourselves to learn how to help our friends as they prepared to come and help our world, and I learned all sorts of things besides." Pavlo looked from one brother to another. "What I learned has helped me to understand things that normally would take those ten years you spoke of, Kanu, to learn." With that, he sat back in his chair.

Again, silence reigned for several minutes, until Kanu broke the spell that had fallen upon them all. "I had no idea... No wonder you've changed." He shook his head. "No wonder you've all changed."

Pavlo nodded. "Yes. Though, I can think of one good thing coming of the whole affair."

Kanu's ears perked up. "Oh? What?"

Pavlo grinned as he replied; "Mikula finally realized how much he cares for Alexis, so now they've been all kissy-faced ever since."

Both of the older brothers shared a laugh at that, though Senmar frowned. "Wait a minute, you're saying that Mikula cares about her... Like that?" He sounded almost stricken.

"What, you didn't notice it two nights ago?" Pavlo asked with a small grin. "Mikula practically couldn't keep further than a dragna away from her."

"I thought something was unusual in the way he sat," Kanu said with a wide smile. "Probably had to keep adjusting his pants." Both Pavlo and Kanu laughed again at that; the kind of raucous laughter one hears in starport taverns.

"What's the matter, Senmar?" Pavlo asked, noticing that his brother wasn't laughing.

"Well..." Senmar let a frown cross his confused features. "It's just... She's a gatón." He said, as if that explained everything.

Pavlo frowned. "So?"

"'So?'" Senmar repeated. "'So,' it doesn't seem right." He said, as if pronouncing a judgment. Then his brothers stared at him for a couple of minutes, and he wriggled under their gazes. "What?" He finally asked.

"Senmar, Senmar, Senmar..." Kanu said with a shake of his head. "Don't tell me you let your unit's penchant for anti-Gatón beliefs affect you that much?"

Senmar frowned, and he blushed. "I just... I didn't..." He tried to speak, but the words caught in his throat as he realized how foolish they sounded. "I have just never heard of the Gatón being trustworthy."

"How can you say that," Pavlo asked with an incredulous voice. "How can you even think that when I've just told you how one helped to save my life?"

"Or when I and mother have told you how they helped save Mikula's life," Kanu added with a growl. "Or even how they helped us, worked with us, built a town with us?" He paused for a heartbeat. "Do they teach you to ignore honor in soldier's training now?"

Senmar looked tremendously unhappy. "I... Well..." He stuttered, and Pavlo could hear his voice crack a bit. "My Gods," Pavlo said, "what the Hell did they tell you in the Garganors?" He asked, naming the near-infamous unit that Senmar had been assigned to.

Senmar turned and looked away. "Nothing... I mean, I guess nothing that was true," he said quietly. "I'm sorry, Kanu, Pavlo... I guess I didn't think."

"No, you didn't," Kanu added harshly. But then he softened his voice. "But you're thinking now. So just keep your mind open and your mouth shut, and maybe you'll see that the Gatón are just as good as any Lupar."

---

Alexis had been lying facedown on her cot for the past hour and a half, holding the large (for her) pillow between her arms and her head. She had not cried, nor had she felt like it. Instead, she had wrestled with conflicting emotions about the night, and her own recent experiences.

Then she heard the tent flap being unzipped, and the sound of someone entering the tent. Alexis didn't bother to look around, as the sound of the person's footsteps and his scent revealed his identity to her. "Hello Mikula," she said quietly.

"Hello Alexis," he said and walked up to the side of her cot. "Do you mind my being here?"

She just remained silent, and so Mikula just slowly sat on the edge of the cot, careful to not tip it over. Then he laid a hand on her shoulder. "I know you're angry with me."

"I'm not angry, Mikula," Alexis responded finally. "I'm just upset... Upset that you didn't tell me, upset that you decided to go off on a dangerous mission without even talking to me about it..." Her voice trailed off, seeming to fill with emotion at the last.

Mikula rubbed his hand along her back. "Alexis, I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry."

"That's not it at all," she said and then turned around on the cot. Mikula withdrew his hand and shuffled towards the foot of the cot as Alexis moved herself up to a cross-legged sitting position. "I'm upset because I feel like you don't trust me. Like I'm some 'weak little girl who can't handle the men's' stuff.'" She said, and then sniffed a bit. "I honestly expected more from you, Mikula."

That stung him, and Mikula's ears went down in total embarrassment, his face falling at the same time. "Alexis... I Didn't... I don't think that of you, honestly." He stood up to stand in front of her. "I only wish to protect you, like any good mate would."

"That's just it, Mikula," she said, some tears welling up now. "You went and made a decision that affects the both of us without even talking to me about it. You ignored me."

"Alexis!" Mikula nearly yelled, and they both fell silent for a moment. "I'm sorry for raising my voice, but your words wound me," he said and kneeled down in front of her. "I didn't make this decision lightly, nor would I have kept it secret from you." He reached out and put his hands on hers. "But just as you have found out how wonderful it is to take your life into your hands, I too must make the same kind of decisions for myself."

Alexis sniffed again, and Mikula continued before she could speak. "When Earl came to me and explained this mission, I knew that it was something that I could do to help." He shook his head a bit, facing down. "We've all been helpful so far, I know, but we've only done so much." He looked up at her then. "And I've done less than you so far, Alexis. While I've been simply walking back and forth, talking to people, you've been doing heavy work, learning how to repair these machines our friends use."

He paused, and Alexis finally spoke up. "What are you saying, Mikula?"

"You told me, just the other day, on how much it helps you to do that heavy work, so that you can feel free," He said, and then paused for her to nod. "I feel the same way, but I couldn't think of a way for me to do anything like that, not without looking like I was trying to follow you around and keep an eye on you like I was suspicious.

"Then Earl spoke to me of this mission, and I knew, Alexis, I knew, that this was something that I could do. Not for glory, praise, or wealth." He squeezed her hands again. "But to do it because this is a way that I can help out. Only I and Pavlo have any experience with human technology and are able to blend into the native folk of Tanzano."

"Then why not let Pavlo do it?" Alexis asked. Then she saw Mikula's pained face, and she knew the answer almost as soon as he spoke it. "I can't, Alexis. I can't for the very same reason that we all raced out to find and capture that Wobbie two nights ago." He paused to take in a breath. "We want to protect those we care about. Then it was all three of us working to protect the town.

"But now, Alexis, you're the one staying behind." He raised a hand to stroke the wetted cheek. "I know you can protect yourself, but not everyone can be strong in all things. You can't do this mission, but I can. And if I shirked my responsibility off to my younger brother, then what kind of man would I be?"

They sat there for a few moments, Mikula lightly stroking the side of Alexis' face. Then she spoke. "Mikula... You're right." She sniffed again. "It's just that... I guess it's that, for the first time since we've met, you'll be going away without me. And I'm worried that I won't see you again."

Mikula withdrew his hand and stood up so that he could sit next to Alexis on her cot. "I'll be all right, Alexis."

She shook her head. "But what if you aren't, Mikula?" She asked with pain in her voice. "Ever since we've met, our lives have had nothing but violence and death in them. We've been attacked a half-dozen times, and we've both been injured." She turned her head then to face Mikula. "And now, you want to go away, on a mission so dangerous that you can't even think of telling me about it until you're about ready to go lest I worry myself sick over it. A mission into the very heart of enemy territory, where you'll be without help if things go wrong." She lowered her head, trying to control her emotions. "I've seen you hurt before, Mikula. Once before that if my people hadn't helped you, you'd have died." She then looked up at Mikula, tears in her eyes and down her cheeks. "But who will help you, Mikula, if you get hurt again?" She shook her head and then added in a tiny voice. "I don't know what I would ever do if you didn't come back."

A moment of silence, and then Mikula reached over to hug Alexis. She didn't resist, but instead leaned into him so that he could wrap his arms around her comfortably. "Alexis," he said quietly. "I won't lie to you, because you're far too smart to even ignore the truth if you wanted to. There is a chance that I may not come back, and I'll admit, that scares me too." He then squeezed her a bit. "But the thought that scares me more, a lot more, is the thought that if this mission fails, then the Wobbies will try again to attack us with their bombs, and next time, we might not be so lucky.

"What scares me most of all, Alexis, is the thought of you dying." Alexis heard the pain in his voice, even felt a tear fall from his face to land on her hair. "I won't let that happen. That's why I'm going, because with me and Senmar helping, we're almost guaranteed a success, and that means that I won't have to worry about you and our families disappearing in a flash of light. If that means I may have to loose my life, Alexis, then I will die happy knowing that you're safe."

"But I wouldn't be happy," Alexis sniffed quietly.

"I know," Mikula said. "But I promise you, I'll do anything and everything to come back to you, alive and well." She sat up at that and Mikula smiled a bit. "After all, you're not getting rid of me that easily." With that, they bent towards each other and kissed.

---

Two days later, Mikula sat strapped into the back of a Ferret Scout VTOL that the Seabees had converted for cargo carrying. Next to him, equally secured, was Senmar, whose face showed a near-constant mask of fear.

Not that I blame him, Mikula thought as the Ferret bounced up and then down over a small rise as the pilot worked to keep it in the ground returns of any aerial sensor. The plan called for a covert insertion, and the best way to do that was to hug the land's contours as much as possible so that the rotary craft's signal would be lost in the constant stream of false echoes that any active sensor received when its radiation hit the ground. It was an old trick, older than interstellar flight, but as of yet, no one could find a foolproof way of defeating it.

Just in case, though, the Ferret's pilot was determined to fly no higher than a danier's head, or so it seemed to Mikula. I swear that we hit one when we flew over a heard of them ten minutes ago! Although he had flown before, Mikula still found the experience a harrowing one, especially as it occurred in the early morning hours, when a defender's attention and reaction ability were at their lowest ebbs.

Suddenly, the VTOL pitched back and the pilot applied the thrust of his blades in the direction of the craft's forward momentum. Within the space of ten meters, the craft heaved to a ragged stop, and then it dropped the fifteen meters to the ground.

"That's it! Go!" The copilot/loadmaster called to Mikula over the headset intercom as he swiveled in his seat. Even as Mikula slapped Senmar to let him know that it was time to go, the man had already unbuckled himself. When the two lupar were moving towards the door, he yanked it back along its rails just in time for Mikula to hop through, followed quickly by his brother.

The man on the VTOL heaved a pair of bundles out of the VTOL and then gave a casual salute to Mikula, who returned it. Then the man slammed the door shut and the Ferret heaved off of the ground almost instantly, turning as it gained altitude to head back the way it came.

Mikula and Senmar quickly went to work, grabbing their bundles and then rushing off into the trees at the edge of the clearing that the Ferret had grounded in. They then spent the next twenty minutes moving quickly but quietly through the forest, until Mikula decided that they had put enough distance between themselves and the clearing, and he called for them to stop and rest.

As he sat on a log of a storm-felled tree, Mikula strained to listen carefully even as he caught his breath. He couldn't help but hear the thin wails of Republic aerospace fighters screeching in the distance as they engaged in an active sweep that would both harry the Wobbies and distract them from any anomalous ground returns.

Senmar, meanwhile, just looked around nervously in the dark. "Something wrong?" Mikula asked when he couldn't stand watching his brother peer around again.

Senmar looked at his brother for a moment, and then shook his head. "No... Nothing, I guess. I'm just nervous... Especially from that form of travel."

Mikula grinned a bit. "Rather interesting way to do so, isn't it?"

"Indeed," Senmar replied, and he looked around from where he sat. "So, what now?"

"Now, we look at the map," Mikula said as he stood, turning to rummage through his pack. He quickly brought out the hardcopy print of an orbital survey map of the area and a flashlight. Laying out the former on the damp ground would have caused him worry, but the map had been laminated, and so Mikula just simply made sure that the flashlight was properly shielded. With that, he turned on the low-light beam and played it across the map, looking for the clearing they had landed in. Soon he found it and he quickly made a mental calculation for the distance they had traveled. "Okay, we're about here," he said and tapped the map between the clearing and their first objective.

"And we're supposed to head for the road..." Senmar added in meditatively. "How long a walk do you think we have?"

Mikula looked over the map carefully before replying. "To the road? About another hour or so. After that, though, it's almost half a day to Tanzano." He turned off the flashlight and closed his eyes then, to recover his night vision. "If we keep going now, we'll get there about dinner time."

"Sounds good," Senmar added. "It's been too long since I've eaten at the Laughing Daukner. I wonder if Pelana is still tending tables there?" Mikula opened his eyes to see Senmar's take on a far-off look.

At that, Mikula lightly tapped his brother's arm, bringing the younger lupar's attention back to him. "Stay focused, Senmar," Mikula said, slightly frowning. "In fact, I don't think that it would be good to go to any of our old haunts. Someone may recognize us."

Senmar tilted his head and looked petulant. "I don't see how that matters, Mikula. I mean, it's not like the Wobbies will be in those places."

"No, but someone who works for them might," Mikula replied testily as he worked to fold up the map. "You know very well that spies are always a possibility."

Senmar frowned. "Even so, who cares if two brothers come to a tavern? Not like the Wobbies know who we are."

Mikula sighed as he placed the map and flashlight back into his pack and refastened the zipper. "But other people know us. Hell, they thought me dead, and you? You went out with a force that got destroyed by our friends." Mikula stood up and shouldered his pack, prompting Senmar to do likewise. "If someone recognizes you, a person from the soldiers who accompanied the Wobbies' attack force, then they might wonder how you got home so fast when no one else has. And the Wobbie will wonder, too."

Senmar frowned, but he nodded his head. "Alright, I give. We'll avoid the tavern and all the good spots," he said as they began to walk through the underbrush, guided by a compass that Mikula held. Then Senmar sighed. "But I'll miss not being able to see Pelana..."

---

Meanwhile, another, similar scene had played out to the south and east. The USS Silver Pagoda burned hard to brake at the last minute, having come down towards the landing zone hard and fast to minimize their exposure to Blakest sensors. To facilitate their cover, the Rodger Young and both of the Republic's Diomedes-class assault DropShips were providing heavy jamming, and the two aerodynamically shaped assault craft had entered atmosphere to make runs that would appear to be deployments for jump troopers or battle armor. The two ships were even dropping various radar reflectors to make the Blakests think that they were, in fact, the actual transports for some raid.

All of this passed through the mind of Captain Cassandra Tanaka as the DropShip burned hard, causing her body to push hard against the command seat of her Guillotine IIC as inertia was bled off via the ship's fusion thrust. She thought not so much for herself as for her passenger that sat in the 'mech's jump seat. Turning her head, Tanaka looked over to where Alexis sat strapped into the seat for safety. The gatón returned the gaze and gave a small smile to show that she was okay, and Tanaka nodded before looking back over her console for any new information.

Alexis, though, dropped the smile as soon as Tanaka had turned away. She then closed her eyes and tried to calm herself. What did I get myself into? She wondered quite naturally as her body was pressed down at three times its normal weight.

The day before, when preparations were finishing for the raid, Alexis had been trying to help the captain with some of her native language skills, helping to sharpen them in case they were needed. Unfortunately, though, Tanaka didn't have a flair for languages, and so she could only manage a few basic words. Tanaka had then commented that Alexis might be handy to take along, speaking as she did all three languages involved and a couple of extra dialects of her native tongue. To this Alexis had readily volunteered, surprising Tanaka, van Horn, and Kujira, and then surprising them again when she had asked that Mikula not be told.

I wanted to help, Alexis remembered as the Silver Pagoda began to reduce its thrust to a relatively light two gees. To help, but also to be nearer to Mikula, as well. She knew full well why she had volunteered for the potentially dangerous duty. I know and agree with what he said, but that doesn't mean that I can't be ready to help him if he needs it, she thought as the 1,900-ton spacecraft settled with a rough thump to the ground. I know I can't really do much from here, but it's better than sitting back at Hercor, waiting to hear anything!

Alexis shifted in her seat, partially to readjust after the long thrust, but also partially to get some feeling of warmth from friction on the inside of the cooling vest she wore. Although the 'mech lance didn't expect trouble initially, they weren't going to be caught off-guard, and Tanaka wasn't about to hobble her 'mech by withholding from her full weapons compliment so as to not fry her passenger. And so the gatón was wearing a vest that was made for someone much larger, and it cooled her more because of that.

Although that's good, Alexis thought as the 'mech bay doors began to roll upwards to release the 70-ton behemoth. My fur and body's cooling system isn't as efficient in heat dissipation as a human's so it all evens out.

Tanaka's conversation with the dropmaster then brought Alexis' attention back to the present. "This is Oni One, calling Drop Control. Request permission to disembark."

"Oni One, Drop Control," the male voice Alexis could hear easily from her own helmet/headset combination. "You and all Onis are clear to disembark. Happy Hunting, and Godspeed."

"Thanks Drop Control. Just keep the lights on, 'cuz we'll be home soon," Tanaka easily replied and then pressed a virtual button on a touchscreen monitor. With several loud clacks, the restraints that had secured her 'mech fell away and to the side. After that, Tanaka set her machine moving and quickly had it clear of the ship.

Although Alexis had ridden in Tanaka's 'mech before, she still couldn't help but look on in awe as the captain moved her mount with the easy grace of an accomplished rider getting a horse to move off in a walk. In a few minutes, Alexis could even see the other three 'mechs of Oni Lance approaching from behind the bulk of the Silver Pagoda.

The first 'mech to appear was off to the right and rear of the Guillotine IIC was a 70-ton Grizzly; a dangerous 'mech with heavy weaponry, including a potent Gauss Rifle. Following off to the left was a Wyvern IIC, its humanoid shape resembling a man in armor, and its array of machine guns and flamers would allow it to destroy any infantry foolish enough to attack. Finally, from around the furthest part of the Silver Pagoda came a Corvus, a bird-legged 'mech that carried a massive Ultra autocannon and enough ammunition for prolonged engagements.

Tanaka pushed her 'mech to move towards the nearby forest, reaching the tree line in just a few moments. There, she paused and turned the 'mech around to look over her lance and the dropship to make sure that everything was going right.

Alexis, though, looked past the shapes, dim even in the light-amplification mode that Tanaka was using for her HUD. Instead, she peered out towards the vague lumps beyond the landing zone; the ruins of her old village.

Suddenly, a box appeared in the HUD and within it a highly zoomed-in image of the ruins took shape, and Alexis could see the half-destroyed village better. She turned to look at Tanaka, who was simply staring at the image on the HUD. "Thank you," Alexis said quietly.

Tanaka turned her head slightly to glance at Alexis. "You're welcome. I figured that you'd want to look at it."

Alexis nodded her head. "It still brings back all those terrible memories... But also, it brings back the good ones, as well."

Tanaka nodded in her helmet, turning to stare out over her approaching lance mates and the distant ruins. "Was it a good place, Alexis?"

The question, spoken softly, surprised Alexis. She paused to think about it, and then nodded. "Yes... It was."

Tanaka then turned her 'mech about to face north, cutting the HUD back to standard zoom as she did so. She said nothing, and simply marched her 'mech into the dark forest ahead.

---

Near midday, Mikula again had them stop for a rest. Senmar hadn't complained, since they had pressed along the road at a marching pace, instead of a walk, and so his feet were complaining by the time the two found a small clearing in the forest off to the side of the road.

Looks like a stopover for travelers, all right, Mikula thought as he leaned next to a well-worn rock. The area had several spots where campfires had burned, leaving sterilized patches of dirt, and the smells of old wood, wagon wood, permeated the ground itself. Looking over the area, Mikula also noted how it made good sense to camp there. Stones like the ones he and Senmar leaned against seemed to line the area, and he figured that the formation wasn't natural. After all, they make a good perimeter to settle behind.

Mikula sighed and then pulled his pack closer to him from where he had let it slip to the ground. He opened the gortex pack - disguised as a leather bag by Naval Intelligence - and rummaged around for the Sandwiches he knew to be in there. He found the two in his sack and tossed one to Senmar, who caught the plastic-wrapped snack handily.

Senmar looked at the strange object with curious suspicion. "What is this?"

"It's a sandwich," Mikula replied matter of factly. "You know, meat and such between two slices of bread?"

"I know what a sandwich is, Mikula," Senmar replied with a razz. "But I've never seen one like this before." He sniffed the plastic wrapper. "Very strange smell. Doesn't seem edible."

Mikula chuckled, which prompted a dirty look from Senmar. "What?" The latter asked in annoyance.

"Senmar, just watch," Mikula replied, and then he began to peel the layers of wrapping from the sandwich. Senmar simply blinked in surprise as Mikula finally exposed the food within, and the scent made his mouth water. "How...? I didn't smell that food at all!"

"No, I suspect you didn't," Mikula said with a grin. Then he bit into his sandwich and closed his eyes to enjoy the taste as he chewed.

Senmar frowned a bit at his brother's attitude, but he decided to focus on the strange item in his hands. Looking carefully, he found a small lip in the wrap and pulled back on it as he saw Mikula do so. Although the wrap clinged to itself and anything else, Senmar was surprised to find that it wasn't sticky in the sense that glue would have been. What a strange material.

Then he finally unwrapped the sandwich, and he gripped it delicately in his hands. The scent of alien ingredients gave him some pause, but as he knew Mikula hadn't had a problem eating the food, he quickly bit into soft bread. Taking a bite out, Senmar chewed it slowly, as the flavors of the food were strange and yet appeasing. "What's in these?" He asked after swallowing.

Mikula waited until he finished with his second bite. "Ham, salami, turkey, cheddar cheese, lettuce and pickles," he said, licking his chops. "All stuff from our friends' worlds." With that, he took another bite.

Senmar looked over the layers of food exposed by his bite, wondering how the meats were sliced so thin, and yet still were all in one piece. Finally, though, he shrugged and decided that it was better to eat food than to obsess over its appearance, and he worked on the food.

They ate in silence, broken only by Mikula offering Senmar some water from his flask, which was politely turned down. Finally, Mikula finished his sandwich and he lay back against the rock and closed his eyes. The warm rays of the sun cut through the light chill of the autumn air, and reveled in the way it warmed his clothes.

Wish I could've worn my uniform or some other nice fabric from New Honshu, he thought. I never realized how ill fitting and itchy our clothes are. As if to emphasize, an itch promptly developed along his side, and Mikula quickly scratched it.

"So, how long are we to stay here?" Senmar's question brought Mikula's eyes open and to rest on his brother. "Oh? Getting bored already, little brother?" He asked with a grin.

Senmar razzed Mikula as he responded. "Not hardly. You just look like you're about to fall asleep, that's all."

Mikula's grin widened. "Says the one who had to be yanked out of bed this morning."

Senmar blushed a bit at that. "Well, excuse me if I don't usually get up when good people are normally sleeping."

"Heh. Well, no one's ever accused you of being too good a person," Mikula countered good-naturedly.

"At least I didn't get caught raiding the treat shelf in the pantry all the time," Senmar countered. Mikula winced at the jab and Senmar raised his hands. "Yes! Victory is mine!"

"Only because you fight dirty," Mikula responded with a knowing nod. "Now, if you want to compare childhood deeds, I still recall how long it took you to know where to-"

"Okay Mikula," Senmar interrupted his brother, ears folded down in embarrassment. "No need to bring that up."

Mikula laughed a bit. "Ah, I'm only joking, Senmar. You know I'd never bring that up in front of others."

Senmar frowned at his brother. "I still wish you'd not touch on it. It's not like I could help when I was too young to know better."

Mikula sighed and shook his head. "All right, I'm sorry, Senmar. But you shouldn't bring up childhood foibles unless you're willing to take them."

Senmar grunted. "So noted," he said and then yawned. "Seriously, shouldn't we be leaving soon? I'll fall asleep here before too long."

Mikula nodded and then stood up to stretch. "Yeah, you're right about that. Besides, I don't like the smell of this place. Seems like it's been too long since someone's been here."

Senmar got up after his brother and likewise stretched the kinks out. "Well, you haven't been back in a while, but merchants aren't exactly too willing to brave the road lately."

"I'm not surprised," Mikula said as he picked up his bag. "The bandits have gotten worse, haven't they?"

Senmar nodded as he, too, picked up his pack. "Yeah. That, and the Wobbies' have scared everyone. No one wants to leave home with something so strange going on." He then smirked. "Well, except for mother and our brothers."

Mikula chuckled as he led Senmar away towards the road. "And you and I, too, Senmar, had we been there."

His brother grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, you're right about that," he said as they passed the last rock and started along the beaten dirt path. They walked along for some time before either spoke again.

"So Mikula," Senmar began, "I haven't seen much of you since we were all reunited. What have you been up to with your friends?"

Mikula turned his head at his brother as they walked. "What, we've been walking all morning and you ask this now?"

Senmar shrugged. "Well, the way we got here kind of spooked me, I guess. But now we've been along this road for a while and have had no problems..." He shrugged again. "So I'm curious."

Mikula smirked slightly as he turned his head back to face forward. "I've been doing lots of things. Mainly helping out with translating messages between the human commanders and the town leaders. Some help with technical work." He shrugged. "Odd jobs, that sort of thing."

Senmar gave his brother a look. "Translating messages? So you're almost like a courier?"

"Basically," Mikula replied. "Although, with the kinds of communication capabilities the humans have, a courier doesn't have the same kind of luster to its title."

"Ah. Well, it must certainly be engaging work."

"It is, at times," Mikula said and shrugged again. "Tiring, too, whenever I help out with the heavy work." He smirked again. "Their machines take a lot of work to keep them in perfect condition."

Senmar grunted appreciatively. "Well, swords have to be cleaned and re-sharpened from time to time, so I guess it's not surprising that such fancy devices need some sort of care."

Mikula smiled at his brother. "Since when did you get so sharp?"

"Since I had to march along in an army run by those invaders," Senmar replied sadly. This took Mikula's smile away and he nodded slightly. "I see. I take it you saw some similar activities with the Wobbies?"

Senmar nodded in return. "Aye. The invaders didn't want any of our help, though. Said they didn't trust us." He looked at his brother. "So how did you get on good graces with these other humans?"

Mikula frowned at the tone in Senmar's voice. "It helps that they're a lot different from the Wobbies. Surely you've seen that by now?"

"Well, they're nicer," Senmar figuratively backpedaled. "But I don't see that much of a difference. They use different machines, too... Maybe..." His voice trailed off as he saw Mikula's expression darken.

"Senmar, maybe if you'd been with us, seen what we've seen," Mikula sighed. "Maybe then you'd know that there is a world of difference between the Wobbies and the Republic. Quite literally, too."

"So Pavlo's been telling me," Senmar grumbled. "It just seems fishy to me, the way they are so willing to help. It's just not like any other group I've heard of."

Mikula grunted. "I know, Senmar. I even had the same reservations when I first met Earl." He chuckled a bit at the memory. "Of course, it didn't help that our first contact was Pavlo sticking a sword in his back and trying to take him prisoner."

Senmar's head snapped around at that. "What?"

Mikula chuckled again at his brother's reaction. Then his mirth went away and was replaced by a far-off look. "We were going back into Kuamket after the Wobbies attacked it to get some supplies from some houses, when Earl rolled up in his metal wagon." Mikula smiled a bit at the old term he had used for the Darter. "I knew him to be related to the attacks, somehow, and I thought that we could capture him. Pavlo had grabbed an old toy sword from one of the wagons, and so he volunteered to go in and surprise the strange creature we saw enter the Shaman's house. He had the perfect drop on him, too, but then Earl just slipped away like Pavlo was a child.

"Then I thought to capture him with a pitchfork, but he managed to get out of that, as well," Mikula decided to leave out the Mexican standoff - funny thinking about it, now that I know what that means - and shrugged. "He had us at a disadvantage, but he didn't press it. Since then, he and his people have done nothing but help." He shrugged again. "I can't really think of them as anything but good people. Especially after seeing one of their cities."

Senmar nodded. "Pavlo came by the other night, wanting to talk. He mentioned that city after Kanu had asked what had changed you all so much."

Mikula nodded back. "It's true, Senmar. We can look at one of their machines and think the humans just some people with a simple advantage. But when I saw those soaring towers of metal, glass, and concrete..." His voice trailed off at the memory, sharp even though he had been worried over Alexis at the time. "And then, learning that it's but one of thousands, even millions of such wondrous places these humans inhabit. Well, you can see that they don't really need to have anything to do with us.

"It's awe-inspiring, and humbling at the same time," Mikula said with a sigh. "You can't see that and not be changed. You realize that these people are not only helping us, but they're doing because they want to."

Silence fell as the two walked along the road as it wound down from the hills. "That's just like what Pavlo said, pretty much," Senmar finally said. "I thought he might've been exaggerating but... A place can change you that much?"

Mikula sighed. "That, amongst other things," he said, and then a smile grew on his muzzle. "The love of a good woman helps, too."

Senmar frowned a bit. "You mean that female gatón?"

Mikula rounded on Senmar at that. "Her name is Alexis," he growled.

Senmar held up his hands and lowered his head submissively. "I'm sorry, brother. I just forgot her name."

Mikula took a couple of breaths to calm himself. "That's alright," he said and turned to continue on. "I'd just suggest you'd leave behind any prejudices concerning the gatón, if you haven't already."

Senmar jogged a bit to catch up with Mikula's annoyed stride. "So Pavlo and Kanu told me... Or rather, chewed me out about."

Mikula gave Senmar a sidelong glance. "What's this about?"

Senmar's ears went down in embarrassment and he just looked down at the road. "It's nothing... I just said something, and they set me straight."

They walked along in silence for a bit before Mikula spoke up again. "You got assigned to the Garganors, didn't you?"

Senmar snapped his head at Mikula at that. "How did you know? Your unit left before I even finished training."

"Because I can tell when someone's been affected by their hatred for the gatón," Mikula replied severely. Then he sighed. "But I suppose you should be alright, then, if our brothers set you straight."

Senmar nodded slightly. "I never meant any offense, Mikula... I just... Well, when they're all the family I had left after everyone was gone..." His voice trailed off as some of his emotional pain bled into it.

Mikula looked over at his brother. "Senmar... I'm sorry. I forgot that you were left behind." He shook his head. "I guess we shouldn't be surprised that you let their ways affect you. Not like you knew that you'd ever meet up with us again."

Senmar shook his head. "No, don't be sorry Mikula. I'm the one who was acting stupid... Still acting that way, I suppose," he said quietly.

"Even so, I shouldn't have spoken to you so harshly," Mikula replied earnestly. "So I am sorry for that."

Senmar looked up at Mikula and gave him a small smile. "Don't worry about it. I'll be fine so long as I have my family to keep me sane."

---

Alexis woke with a start as the Guillotine IIC came to an abrupt halt. She blushed in embarrassment, even though Tanaka wasn't looking at her at the moment. "What's going on?" Alexis asked from her seat.

Tanaka didn't spare her a glance, but a small grin lit up her face. "Have a nice nap?" She asked good-naturedly.

Alexis blushed again, though her ears were somewhat hampered by the infantry helmet she wore. "Apparently so," she said and turned to get a look at the holographic HUD floating in mid-air between the ferroglass canopy and Tanaka's face.

She saw the edge of the forest scant meters ahead, and beyond that, through the trees, she saw the very same place where the insanity of the Blakest Invasion had begun for her. "We're here," was all she could say.

"We're here," Tanaka repeated with a small nod. "Any good spots where we'd be hidden from above?"

Alexis thought hard for a few moments, and then nodded. "Head east from here, and in about a madragna- Excuse me," she paused to recalculate in meters. "Head east about five hundred meters, or so, and there'll be a small ravine made by a steam. It's only about three meters deep, but the trees there have grown taller and thicker from all the extra water, so they should be good cover."

Tanaka nodded and quickly radioed the direction change to her lance, and then turned her own 'mech and walked off to the east, gingerly picking her way through the trees.

Alexis was still impressed at how easily Tanaka could move the behemoth. Almost as if she's doing the walking herself, she thought.

After a few more minutes, they finally arrived at the indicated ravine. It was as Alexis had described, the small, shallow-banked 'ravine' was hardly anything that the 'mechs couldn't handle, and so Tanaka easily walked her ride down to the bottom of the ravine where the stream flowed. "Looks like it doesn't fill the bottom," she commented to the gatón.

Alexis nodded and replied, "No, not at this time. It's autumn and the rains don't come often enough to keep the water at a higher level."

"Good," Tanaka replied as she moved downstream a bit to let her lance mates drop down with room to spare. "Sounds like we can make camp here, then."

"That was my idea," Alexis said. Then she pointed towards a group of bushes next to a hillock. "Those bushes aren't as large as they look, either. They have a nice open space in the middle, so that's another spot if the water floods unexpectedly."

Tanaka spared Alexis a glance as she began to lock her 'mech down so they could disembark. "Does that happen often?"

Alexis frowned and shook her head slightly. "No, but it's not unheard of, either. But it only does so when it rains heavily, so we should have ample warning. At least, if the weather officer in the Rodger Young can let us know beforehand."

Tanaka chuckled as she locked down her 'mech's fusion reactor. "Don't count on the weatherman too much, Alexis. Predicting the weather is still half art as well as half science."

Alexis smiled at that, even as she disconnected her cooling vest and began to unfasten it. "So I've been told. Still, it is nice to be able to have a general expectation of what's to come next."

"True," Tanaka replied with a light shrug as she disconnected her neurohelmet from the controls. "I take it for granted, I guess, having grown up on a planet that has decently predictable weather."

Alexis raised an eyebrow and tilted an ear down at that. "Oh? There are worlds where one can't predict the weather?"

"Well, you can predict the weather," Tanaka responded casually, "but whether you're right or not is up for grabs."

Alexis chuckled at that, and Tanaka sported a grin as she finished stowing her neurohelmet and unlatched her cooling vest. "You might want to keep yours on hand, in case we have to get out of here in a hurry," she said to Alexis, pointing at the gatón's own cooling vest, now neatly folded over the native's arm.

She nodded in reply. "Sounds like a wise precaution."

Tanaka then turned and squeezed past Alexis and popped the hatch on the back of the cockpit, pushing it open as soon as she could. Air kept cool by the forest's canopy flowed in to mix with the air warmed by the waste heat from the 'mech's fusion reactor, giving both women a welcome change from the near stickiness of the cramped confines.

Tanaka then opened a small hatch beneath the cockpit one, and she pulled out a rolled-up chain ladder, the end of which she let drop towards the ground. After it was done swinging, Tanaka waved for Alexis to go down first. "I gotta get the stuff stowed behind my seat, so you go on ahead."

"Thank you," Alexis replied with a nod. Then she turned around and quickly climbed down the ladder, reaching the ground in moments. Once her footpads touched the damp, slightly squished soil, she paused to inhale the scent of the area. Strange how this forest smells different from the ones near Hercor. Smells almost like Kuamket used to.

"Heads up," Tanaka's voice brought Alexis' attention upward, and she hopped aside just as a bundled up tent smacked into the ground near where she had stood. Looking from the bundle upwards, Alexis rolled her ears back. "Hey! Watch where you're dropping things!"

Tanaka smiled and disappeared from view, and Alexis sighed heavily. She also caught the few chuckles from the other mechwarriors, who were also dropping their tents and getting their supplies out. Alexis shook her head and went over to the tent that she and Tanaka would have to share. She managed to pick it up, despite its not-inconsiderable weight, and carried it a bit away from the 'mechs feet.

Alexis picked a spot that seemed to have not seen the touch of flowing water for some time, and she laid the bundle out there and began to unpack it. By the time Tanaka had managed to climb down her 'mech and walk over with her second, lighter - and more fragile - bundle, Alexis had already laid out the tent on the ground. "That's some good work, Alexis," Tanaka said with an impressed note in her voice.

"Thank you," Alexis replied with a slight blush. "I could use some help, though, in getting it erected."

Tanaka's face contorted as if she was holding back laughter, but she nodded. "Yes, let's get to that," she said and then set down her bundle.

Two hours later, the group had settled into their small camp, though one MechWarrior would always be in his or her 'mech at all times to monitor radio traffic and be on the lookout for any Blakest sneak attacks.

At the moment, it was Lieutenant Carmike, the boisterous young pilot of the Wyvern IIC, and he occasionally bugged those below with fake birdcalls he hooted out with the help of his 'mech's external speakers. That is, until Tanaka told him to "shut up or I'll stick a real bird up your ass."

Alexis thought over this with a smile. Mikula, Pavlo and Earl often commented how soldiers often have such nonsensical arguments, she thought as another Lieutenant, this one named George Stein, stoked their small fire. And lots of swearing, so much so that I think I've learned those almost as fast as any other English word. At that thought, she chuckled lightly.

"What's up?" Tanaka asked as she sat down on the ground next to Alexis, in her hands an MRE pack and a canteen.

"Oh, nothing," Alexis said innocently. "Just thinking about how funny you all are when you argue about silly things."

Tanaka smiled at that. "Well, I suppose we are," she said as she began to work at the MRE's wrapping. "Soldiers have to let off steam somehow, yanno."

Alexis nodded, vaguely recognizing the idiom. "So Mikula has told me before."

Tanaka nodded as she opened her meal and began to look over its contents. "You two seem to spend a lot of time together, alright." She said with a lecherous grin. Alexis blushed deeply at that and she rubbed her arm. "Heh. Yeah, that's not exactly a secret we're trying to keep."

"So everyone in camp can tell," Tanaka teased as she set her main dish down and engaged its chemical heater.

"So everyone in our old caravan noticed, as well," Alexis replied with her own smile. "I think Mikula and I were the last two to realize it."

Tanaka chuckled. "Sometimes, that's the way it happens," she said and touched her meal pack to see if it was warm enough yet. "By the way, unless you're not hungry, there's some MREs in my pack over yonder," she said and gestured to where her pack lay a meter and a half away.

"Actually, I am pretty hungry," Alexis replied and then stood up. She stretched then and yawned. "Excuse me," she said afterwards. "I'm surprised at how tired I seem to be."

Tanaka smiled at that as she opened her food. "Well, even sitting on your ass burns energy, I guess."

Alexis chuckled as she walked over to the pack and rifled for an MRE as Tanaka, Stein, and the fourth lance member, Amanda Myers, worked at their own meals. Soon she found a nice beef-centered MRE and walked back to sit next to Tanaka, where she soon took care of her own eating needs.

---

The sun was low in the sky by the time Mikula and Senmar reached Tanzano's outer reaches, though it wasn't quite dinnertime as Mikula had originally predicted. Their progress had been speeded up by the fortuitous meeting with a pair of merchant wagons who had come along the road after them. Their encounter, though initially tense, had grown friendly when they both established each other to not be bandits.

Of course, it helped that we portrayed ourselves as soldiers for hire, Mikula mused as he sat on the edge of the first, flatbed wagon, holding onto the wooden frame to keep himself from falling off. Although they didn't feel like hiring us for real, they certainly didn't mind giving us a ride so long as we would protect them in case of bandits. Then Mikula stopped thinking about it, and he just looked over his old home city.

Tanzano's walls rose a good six meters from the surrounding farm fields through which the road now wound. Though many lived in the city, there were several houses that dotted the large fields where some families lived to protect the farms from raiding. The Ganol River swept by the farms and city, and a stone bridge crossed from the middle of the city where it edged the bank to the other side, where more farms and a few estates for nobles sat in the distance.

Turning his attention back to the city, Mikula's eyes easily swept across the towers along the walls, and the tops of the few larger buildings that crested above the walls. Amongst them were the Temple of The Creators - said to be the largest in all of the Eastern Cities, he thought - and their target, the Citadel of the Ancients, or 'the Citadel' for short. That's where the Wobbies are running their oppression of the city, where they're hiding their nuclear weapons.

"Such a wonderful sight, isn't it?" The driver and head of the small trading group, a Mr. Jaarka, asked from where he drove the wagon. "I know that you youngsters from Okarna haven't seen anything like Tanzano!"

Mikula smiled politely for the middle-aged lupar, and he tried to look appreciative of the view as his and Senmar's cover story demanded. "It truly is a spectacle. Especially that large building over to the right of center."

Jaarka nodded, though his attitude dampened a bit. "Yes. It's the city's Citadel, though it's formal name is 'the Citadel of the Ancients' because it was built before the city itself was founded."

As I remember hearing from my grandmother years ago, Mikula mentally yawned. Outwardly, though, he nodded. "That is an interesting bit of information. Do you know why anyone would build such a structure here?" I already know this, but it's better to ask like a tourist and play into character.

Jaarka nodded. "Oh yes. It seems a noble by the name of Tanz Karno was fighting a war in the city-state of Izana in the north, but he was forced out along with his followers. He and they came here and built the Citadel as a fortress to fight off any attempts to finish their destruction and-"

Mikula let Jaarka prattle on, half-listening as the slightly overweight trader told stories that Mikula had learned as a pup so that he could nod or grunt at the right places. However, he looked over the landscape again, and this time, he tried to single out something that made his hackles rise a bit.

The banners, he finally realized, looking up at where the city's normal standards would by flying. Those aren't Tanzano's banners... But I recognize them nonetheless. Mikula had seen them in a documentary on New Honshu about the Republic's recent campaign against the Blakests on Terra. The broadsword overlaid upon a star enclosed in a shell, with only two points sticking out at the bottom; the Word of Blake insignia.

"Are you all right?" Jaarka's sudden change in demeanor for the question startled Mikula. He turned sheepishly to face the merchant. "I'm sorry, your stories are interesting, but those banners," he gestured to the fluttering flags, "I think I've seen them before, but I don't know who they belong to."

Jaarka's face darkened, and he looked around as if someone was going to listen in on them. Not bloody likely, Mikula thought as the open ground near the crop fields was quite devoid of anyone even remotely close enough to listen in, even with my people's hearing.

The merchant finally turned back to Mikula and nodded. "Those banners belong to that group of Invaders I told you about." He shuddered. "Strange creatures, they be, taller than any Lupar I've seen in all my travels, and a shock of hair on their head the only covering on their pale skin. Well, except for their clothes, of course." Jaarka shook his head. "They're a mean lot, nasty as any bandit I've heard about. Don't mind killing a body if you do something wrong, or you have what they want, or even feel like it."

Mikula frowned - easy to do - and tried to feign ignorance. "Well, that doesn't sound good. Why don't people leave, or even fight them?"

Jaarka gave Mikula an incredulous look. "I take it you've not heard of their fearsome weapons and magiks?"

Mikula suppressed a sigh at the last word, knowing now that magic was just an illusion. But he kept his face straight. "I have heard of some strange things going on in the eastern cities, here, about that kind of stuff. It's one of the reason my brother and I decided to come this way."

Jaarka shook his head as he carefully guided the wagon closer and closer to the city gates that the road led to. "Then, begging your pardon, you two might very well be fools." He sighed at that. "The Invaders are a nasty lot, and they don't share. And you can't fight them because their power can reach out and kill a man at a hundred paces without the effort you need for a bow!"

Mikula made his eyes go wide at that. Takes more effort than you think to aim a rifle than you know, he thought. "Well, perhaps me and my brother made a mistake coming here?"

"If you ask me, you did," Jaarka replied with a nod. "But you're here now, and Vorana blessed me that you were along for the last leg here. That's where the bandits have been the worst, you know."

"So I gathered," Mikula replied neutrally, having seen three separate wagons overturned on the edge of the road on the way in, half burned and with the stench of dried blood nearby or on them.

"Strange thing, though," Jaarka went on as they came around the last bend in the road and rolled slowly towards where guards stood to block the gates. "The Kurrnaki have almost disappeared."

Mikula was genuinely surprised at that. "Really? They've gone missing?"

Jaarka shrugged. "Well, I don't know what's happened to them, but they haven't raided any towns or trade routes in months. If the Invaders stopped them, then at least this hole might find gold yet," he said, using the idiom for benefit in the face of bad news.

Mikula almost smiled, until he remembered that he shouldn't. Well, I'll be a son of a rakna, the Kurrnaki have a sense of honor after all! He turned to face the guards, then, as they came upon them. Dear Gods, don't let it be anyone I know.

As the head guard came up, Mikula fought to not release a breath of relaxation at the fact that the lupar wasn't anyone he'd met before. He walked to Jaarka, who went through the whole rigmarole of paying customs, signing a log book, and giving the guard a bribe to not inspect he cargo too much, lest he find the containers of wine that would normally have been heavily taxed had they been officially noted.

Then they were past, the second wagon, being little more than a family wagon for the elder lupar's wife and children to ride in, going through without so much as a second look. Mikula then looked around the avenue they had entered in, and a flood of memories came back.

The street was wide for a Lupar city, though Mikula knew that it was only a little bit wider than the two-laned "blacktop" that ran out from Neo Tokyo to the nearest villages. It looked even smaller with the vendor's stalls set up between the shops that took up the ground floors of most buildings along Karno's Way.

Karno's Way, he thought of the avenue's name with a warm feeling. I used to come here along with Heyver and Eno and stare whenever a caravan or band of entertainers rolled into town. He looked up the street, and his heart caught in is throat. The trader's guile hall! Oh, Pavlo and I would go down there and try to wheedle treats from old man Geroka, may Grakia rest his soul well. Then the childhood memories rolled into adolescence as the wagon rolled along towards the street that would lead the wagons to the warehouse district.

Down there, he mentally pointed a particular street off to the right. The Lane of Pleasures. Home to every form of entertainment frowned upon by the priests. Memories of stalking the dark streets at night with his brothers brought a sense of guilt to the lupar. We chased many a woman those nights... 'Course, none of them would have anything to do with us adolescents, but we still had fun. Memories of Alexis then popped up, and Mikula fought not to cringe at what Alexis might do if she found out what sort of things he and his brothers did in the city.

Oh, well, he thought and tried to bring his attention back to the present. I'm not the same man I was before. There's only one person now that I'd want to chase. At that, he unconsciously grinned.

"I hope you're not thinking about heading down that street," Jaarka commented from his seat next to Mikula. The latter blushed deeply as he had realized just how he might've looked, and he turned to look at the other lupar. "No! No, I was just... Remembering a similar place in Okarna, and how I was a clueless child."

Jaarka chuckled a bit. "Well, no one is perfect, and we all have had such things in our past," Then his joviality died. "But some can't seem to let go of the trivial pleasures of youth. You'd best remember that, son."

Mikula grunted and nodded his assent. I know that, Jaarka. Nothing like having someone to care about to bring what's important out from the trivialities. "You sound like my grandmother, and she was always a wise woman." It was true; the man spoke similar to Mikula's departed grandparent, for which he found a bit more respect for the sometimes-oblivious merchant.

Jaarka nodded and grinned a bit. "Well, can't say I'm all that old yet," he puffed out his chest a bit before continuing. "But I'll admit to having seen more than those who sit in one place all the time."

Mikula grinned back as the wagons turned onto the warehouse road. They continued on for a little bit, until they reached a warehouse not too far down the way. Mikula grunted appreciatively at the look of the place. Neat, not too old, and it's not that far along the road. Jaarka must do better business than his appearance suggests. The old caveat against taking a merchant at face value entered the lupar's mind, and he smiled a bit as he turned to grab his bag off of the wagon. Towards the back of the second wagon, Senmar was doing likewise, and soon they met with Jaarka by the front of his wagon to say their goodbyes.

"I do wish you boys would reconsider my offer," Jaarka said as they met. "I may not look it, but I could pay you both well enough to help guard myself and my family on the longer trips."

Mikula smiled with genuine warmth. "No, thank you, Mr. Jaarka. Senmar and I are soldiers, and though your company and that of your family has been welcome, we'd feel a bit lazy in just taking such a job."

Jaarka sighed in light disappointment. "Are you sure about that? You could travel just as much with me as you'd do with any army. Perhaps more, since I'd be more willing to take on the longer routes with a couple of strong warriors to ease my worries." He then looked around and leaned in conspiratorially. "In fact, I might even consider trading with the Gatón. Especially since the Invaders don't seem to care too much about them."

Mikula smiled and shook his head gently. "I appreciate the offer, Mr. Jaarka, and you honor the both of us with it, having known us for such a short time." He then sighed. "But I'm afraid it's just not the sort of life we're looking for."

Jaarka sighed again. "Well, I can't blame you two, wanting to have a little excitement in your lives. But if you ever change your mind, I come along to Tanzano every few months, and if I haven't found anyone else, the offer will still be open."

Mikula nodded appreciatively. "Perhaps if we get tired of battle, we'll take you up on that. But for now, we must go."

Jaarka nodded back with a smile on his face. "Go with Vorana's blessing," he said, and then turned around to go get his family ready for the work they needed to do. With that, Mikula and Senmar turned and walked away, heading back along the warehouse road for Karno's Way.

After they had walked down the road a bit, Senmar grunted. "Actually, that was a very nice offer he made. Wish we could of taken him up on that."

Mikula smiled and looked at his brother. "And the fact that he has a shapely young daughter doesn't enter into your calculations, hmm?"

Senmar blushed. "Well, I'll admit, it's a job perk," he said, and the two laughed a bit. "Still, if it wasn't for all that's going on, I would have taken him up on that."

Mikula grunted. "If it wasn't for all that's going on, he'd probably not make the offer, since you'd still be in the army and the bandits wouldn't be so bad that he'd be anxious to have a couple of soldiers guarding him and his family."

Senmar frowned at that. "Yeah, you're probably right." He sighed then. "Still, can't a guy have his fantasies?"

Mikula grinned lopsidedly. "Sure. Just don't let them distract you from the cart to your right."

Senmar blinked and spun around, only to find the area clear. He turned back slowly to face his brother, ears folding down in embarrassment as Mikula chuckled. "That's not funny."

Mikula laughed and started off again, prompting Senmar to follow along. "Ah, Senmar, just be glad it's not Kanu with you. You know how he gets."

Senmar shuddered lightly. "Don't remind me. At night, I can still feel where that zugert bit me."

Mikula smiled at that, despite the nasty nature of that particular prank. "Well, in any case, let's go find an inn or tavern for now, so we can rest up for tonight."