The next day, Kurt sat in his tent getting dressed and making himself presentable before heading outside. After the major success of yesterday, he and his squad had been allowed to rest back at the main Gallian base camp while some fresh reinforcements were sent in to continue the attack. From what Kurt had heard, it looked the like the Imperials were giving more ground and almost forced back to the walls of the citadel. He would have to go and make sure his squad was ready and equipped to move out again when they were called to replace the troops back on the battle line. Before he could leave, he was surprised when Imca came and entered the tent hauling her large weapon with her.
"Oh... good. You're still here."
"Imca? What are you doing here?" Kurt asked in surprise.
She shrugged, "I heard about your blow-up with Captain Fontaine yesterday so I thought I'd see if you were okay. You haven't been court-martialed again so that's a good sign."
She walked over and sat down in a folding chair and began to clean her weapon. Kurt crossed his arms in mild sarcasm, "Please. Have a seat and make yourself at home."
"You're still angry," she noted absently while she cleaned and disregarded his comment.
"After what happened, I think I'm allowed," he said.
"You're sure it's not something more?" she asked.
Kurt frowned, "What makes you say that?"
Imca shrugged again, "Knowing you, I just got the sense of it."
A short silence filled the tent as Imca continued to clean her weapon. After another long moment, Kurt finally sighed, "You're not going until I talk, are you?"
"Nope."
"Fine. I'm upset because Bernard has always been a loose cannon. As long as I've known him, he just does what he wants. He throws careful plans out the window and then charges headlong into battle without thinking of the danger to his people. What I can't stand is that people still admire him and gravitate to him for just being recklessness and irresponsible. He thinks that just giving a big smile and turning on the charm will help him coast through any flak he gets."
"And you feel shame because you're in a penal unit? And still a 2nd Lieutenant?"
Kurt scowled and mumbled quietly, "He's not a bad guy so I can't really hate him. I just... don't approve of the way he does things."
"But his tactics work sometimes, don't they?"
"Well, yes. But..."
"But you've dealt with this already, haven't you?" Imca asked without looking up, "Captain Fontaine's not the only one who's disobeyed plans and acted on his own. If you were able to handle it before, you can do it now."
She was obviously speaking about herself and some of the past difficulty Kurt had experienced before winning her trust and reining her in a little bit more.
Kurt gave a sigh and got up slowly, "Yeah, you're probably right. I should go clear the air a little, shouldn't I?"
He began to leave the tent when he stopped and turned, "Oh... and Imca? Thanks."
She looked up and for a brief moment, Kurt almost thought he saw the slightest hint of a smile on her lip before she gave a nod and went back to cleaning her weapon.
He departed the tent and headed across camp until he came to the makeshift field hospital that had been set up. Once inside, he passed a few nurses and medics who were busy tending to other wounded soldiers until he came to the recovery area where he found his people. Both Riela and Felix were sitting up in their beds and they seemed to be in better shape, and better spirits. To his surprise, Kurt stopped when he saw Bernard sitting on a chair nearby speaking quietly to both of the Nameless soldiers. He had a kind smile and the three seemed to share a quiet laugh over something when they stopped and looked to the tent's entrance. Felix spoke up curiously, "Lieutenant? Sorry. We weren't expecting to see you so soon."
"It's okay Felix. I came by to check on you both and make sure you're doing okay. How is your leg?"
The blonde young man shrugged, "I'm okay. It wasn't a bad wound so the doctors here said I should be up and moving again soon as long as I don't push it."
"I'm glad to hear that," Kurt nodded, "Riela?"
She leaned back on her bedrest, "I'm going to be fine too. I should be discharged in a couple days too. In the meantime, your friend Captain Fontaine came to cheer us up."
Kurt looked to his old classmate and gave another quiet nod, "I didn't know you'd be here... but thank you."
"Sure," Bernard said quietly as he rose from his chair and moved for the door, "I should probably head out. Give you some time with your people."
Kurt halted him, "Actually... I was also going to go look for you later so that I could speak to you. Riela? Felix? If it's okay, I'll be back in a little while. I've got some officer business to discuss with Captain Fontaine."
His two squadmates gave waves before the two officers headed out of the medical station and into the cold. They walked a short distance until they came to the corner of a parked tank where they could talk privately. Captain Fontaine sighed, "Let me guess. Something else you needed to get off your chest from the other day?"
Kurt shook his head, "No. Listen, Bernard... I did some thinking, and I wanted to apologize for going off like that the other day."
"You do?" Bernard asked in surprise, "Then you're not still mad at me?"
"Oh I'm still a little angry about what you did. But I do see I wasn't being totally fair either," Kurt admitted.
Bernard nodded, "All right. Fair enough, I'm guessing you came to this yourself?"
"Actually... I had a little talk with one of my own troopers," Kurt admitted, "In her own odd way, she can give helpful advice."
Bernard chuckled, "Well that's a first. Back at the Academy, I don't recall you ever really confiding in others and getting them involved in your personal issues."
Kurt wrinkled is features slightly, "I guess in my position, I've started to learn to rely on them more and place some trust in others. Maybe not completely yet... but a little."
"I can tell. Despite what I've heard of the penal units, you seem to have a good group under you."
"Oh? What makes you say that?" Kurt asked.
Bernard smiled, "I could just tell by the way Felix and Riela spoke of you. If I can be honest, I thought a little bit about what you said yesterday, and I can understand why you got upset too. I know you care about them too."
"I... yes. I do," Kurt nodded.
"Then we should try and wipe the slate clean and start over again," Bernard offered, "You know I've always been a hard charger in battle and wanting to take the initiative. I know you're the kind of guy who likes to wait and plan things to the tiniest detail. It's something I could never do."
"Then I guess it wouldn't hurt us to try and learn a little from each other," Kurt agreed. "That means we could try to agree to work together and trust each other?"
"Right. Sounds good," Bernard said.
Kurt nodded, "All right. Then I'd like you to answer something because you didn't give a straight answer a few days ago. Why did you transfer here and volunteer for this mission?"
Bernard frowned slightly and paused before reaching for the rose lapel on his coat, "There's a reason I want to fight hard to end this war as quickly and decisively as possible. I'm doing it protect someone I love. You remember Giuliana Valens? From our graduating class?"
Kurt thought for a moment before giving a nod and recalling a beautiful redheaded cadet with a fiery personality, "Yes. She was right up there with us in the class rank. You and her..."
"Are together now? Yeah..." Bernard nodded as he looked away, "I heard she might be assigned to this posting because she's an engineer. If we went about this like a normal siege, then it might involve heavy casualties."
"And you were afraid she would be one of them," Kurt surmised.
Bernard nodded, "Yes. I wanted to keep her out of the line of fire and end this battle before we'd need to pull units like hers into the fight. That's why I've been pushing so hard."
Kurt remained quiet and gave his own nod of understanding, "I see. You're just forgetting one thing."
"Oh? What's that?"
Kurt shook his head, "Maybe you'd be able to drive the Imperials back here, but you're not going to be any good to Giuliana if you did something stupid and got yourself killed either."
Bernard scoffed, "You're telling me to slow down and be more careful... like you?"
Kurt smiled quietly, "I didn't say anything. You said that yourself."
His classmate stopped and chuckled quietly, "Okay. I get it. Though this is kind of another surprise too. Who would have thought Kurt Irving would have a sense of romance and be a little sentimental."
"I don't know what you mean," Kurt answered bluntly, "I've always had more important things to worry about. Romance has never really been my thing."
Bernard gave a kind smile, "Then you might want to open your eyes a little more. It seems you might have your own redheaded girl that thinks pretty highly of you."
"Wait... you're suggesting Riela might... don't be silly Bernard."
Bernard grinned and clapped Kurt on the shoulder, "Remember what I said about taking action and throwing caution the wind sometimes? About seizing opportunities? Do me a favor and just give it a little thought... just not too much thought, okay?"
Kurt looked at his old classmate for a moment before giving a faint smile, "Yeah... okay."
Unfortunately, the moment of friendship was cut short as a female camp runner came sprinting toward them with a panicked look on her face. The young dark haired woman in ponytails panted breathlessly and stopped to give a salute before huffing out, "Captain! Lieutenant! Thank goodness I found you! We have a big problem!"
"Easy there, Private. Take a breath and tell us what's wrong?" Bernard said.
The runner caught her breath and spoke again, "Our forward units are under attack. They had been able to push the enemy all the way back to the walls of the citadel. Then the Imperials hit them with a major counterattack. It was chaos! We've never seen those guys before. Black armor... hoods... and skull masks like the Grim Reaper. They came out of nowhere. They were so fast... and they were good."
Kurt's heart skipped a few beats as his stomach flipped over backwards in dread. If he was understanding this private correctly, then that meant the Calamity Ravens were here and so was their notorious leader, Dahau. He did his best to keep his expression level, "What happened Private?"
"They routed the forward assault squads and are driving back our troops right now," she replied in dread, "They're at the second fortified line, but I don't know how long our people can even hold that position."
Bernard narrowed his expression, "Understood. Go warn HQ. I'm going to take my squad and help hold the line."
As the left, Kurt caught Bernard's arm, "Wait! Hold it! Are you really going to just rush in without a plan?"
"What choice do we have right now?" the captain protested, "You heard the private. We don't have a lot of time and if our line breaks, then everything we've done here might be for nothing. We can't let the Imperials win here."
Kurt shook his head, "Not without a strategy. Trust me, I know these guys we're up against. They're a special forces group called the Calamity Ravens and I've tangled with them several times. I know how they think and I know how to fight them."
"Are you offering to come along and help too?" Bernard asked.
Kurt gave a dark smile, "Yeah... I guess I am. But now is your turn to trust me a little. If we work together, maybe we can stop the Ravens."
"All right then Lieutenant. Brief me on the way. We've got a frontline to save."