Act 5 Quill 3: Unkown Reconnaissance
Cyrara and Bretete turned towards the voice. A keronian waved happlily, "That was awesome! We came here just in time!"
"Oh, you saw my fight against the vipers? Good." Cyrara surveyed the group of keronians.
"We're ready to kick some viper!" another keronian said. The rest cheered.
"That's the spirit! We'll be dividing into smaller groups." Cyrara said. The keronians lined up according to Cyrara's instructions.
"We're approaching planet Arras! Weapons at the ready!"
The ship landed on the dark side of Arras. Cyrara, Bretete and the Cadets slipped out. "Group one, the viper base is a mile from here. Circle around the back of the viper base and keep tabs if they attack. And the second group," Cyrara said, "we'll keep eye on the front." Group one marched off and Cyrara's group headed towards the front of the viper base.
The base was situated at the bottom of a hilly valley. The troops moved silently through the grass to where the shrub line started to thin. They waited there for any signal. The darkness grew, if it could, darker and the keronians were still waiting.
"I'm starving." Someone said.
"Go check the supplies." Another keronian said.
"You get it,"
"you're lazy." The keronian said. There was some silence then,
"I-There's nothing there!"
This comment caused a commotion among the cadets.
"What's going on?"
"I'm hungry!"
"My ramen! Nooooo!"
"My mom's rice balls"
"My Peanut butter jelly sand-"
"SETTLE DOWN!" Cyrara spoke loudly, "You'll call the vipers attention to us!"
That silenced the cadets.
"We have to handle this calmly," Cyrara said, "now, did any of you notice the missing food?"
Everyone shook their heads as best they could in the dark.
"Ok, either someone lost the food pack or the vipers know we're here; it seems to be the second option since-"
"Cyrara, we're looking at the control room! I think they're gonna move out soon." Bretete's voice echoed over the radio, "Once sec, I'll bring up the audio if it works…"
There was some crackling and then, faintly, voices were heard:
"I don't see the trouble of moving out." A voice said.
"Fool! I think the Keronians might try and siege our base. One of our scouts found a bag of food and it looks like it was from keron." A deeper voice replied.
"But, that could have been from ages ago!" the first voice protested
"You think THIS is ages ago?" a sound of metal clinking was heard, "this is from an hour-no a few hours ago. No buts sergeant, we're moving to a safer location." The second voice barked.
The second voice mumbled something but faded out.
"Yeah, it seems like they're gonna come soon. Should we send someone in to investigate when?" Bretete asked.
"Wait for now. It might just be a false alarm," Cyrara replied, "We'll see if there's further developments."
"Roger. I'll be out then." Bretete clicked the communicator off.
The keronians retreated a few yards away, but not out of eyesight of the viper base. Pretty soon, most of them fell asleep.
"…En garde! With steel and wit I play you at the fit abord…At the last line, I hit!" Cyrara hummed a tune he made himself. The cadets looked so peaceful, you'd imagine they were taking a field trip, if not for the guns and swords of course.
The sun shone making the darkness a little lighter. No sign of any alarm had sounded yet in the past week. The cadets were beginning to stir. "I'm starving." Someone said.
"And good morning to you." Cyrara said.
"When's break feast?" Another cadet asked. "Just-" Cyrara spotted that the food supply they had gathered before ran out, "-Just in a bit. We should do some exercise first. Nothing like training on an empty stomach!"
After running for a few minutes, everyone was tired. "We're all starving!" Came in unison all of the voices.
"All you guys think of is your hunger," Cyrara cried, "Tedada, you play the orcania right? Well, play something from home. Something that'll remind us of the sweet sounds of the grass on a hill, the distant traffic the rice-cooker's electric hum." A keronian took out her instrument and started to play. In a few minutes, all the cadets were teary-eyed thinking of home.
"Hey, Cyrara." Bretete was on the radio again.
"What is it?" Cyrara asked
"Someone overheard the vipers planning to move out sometime today or tomorrow. Can we meet up somewhere for an hour or two?"
"Reconnaissance is a good idea. See that hill where a field of flowers are? No. That one. There, the one with the daisies. Meet there in ten minutes."
Cyrara motioned to another keronian. The keronian got out a small drum and started a lively rhythm.
"Huh? What? What's going on?" The Cadets grabbed their guns and looked around.
"Nothing like the sound of drums to drum out the homesickness," Cyrara smiled, "We're off everyone!"
"Hey!" Came a resounding chorus from the other group. Cyrara's group answered back and they gathered 'round.
"Hey, where's Cyrara?" Bretete said looking around.
"I dunno, he went off somewhere." One cadet said.
"Yeah. Said he had to do something." A cadet on the right of Bretete confirmed.
"Hm, in that case…Cyrara!" A figure came up the hill. Bretete ran to meet it.
"What is up? What were you doing?"
"Ah, just mailing a letter." Cyrara replied casually.
"Oh, I see." Bretete grinned, 'So, why did you send us here?"
"What are you talking about? I thought you sent us here?"
"Really?"
Cyrara gripped his sword, "It must be a trap! I can't believe I fell for such a thing…EVERYONE be on guard!"
The cadets were confused but loaded their guns.
"I'll contact HQ." Bretete said. He talked into the walkie-talkie and after a hurried discussion, shut it off. "HQ said that they're sending reinforcements, so we'll be the diversion." He said.
"Typical. Us getting killed while the army takes its time. I bet it was Gukuku you spoke with, that dunderhead." Cyrara muttered.
Everyone waited, alert for signs of movement.
Suddenly, a blaring siren broke the silence. "They're starting to move out! Get ready everyone!" Bretete yelled.
(I couldn't help it… but some parts are starting to remind me of bunker hill in an odd way O_o never intended for it to happen!)
