So here's a question for anyone who feels like answering. Of all four AW games, which mission do you think was hardest? If you don't know the name of the mission itself, that's fine: I've played all four campaigns, so I'll know what you're talking about regardless. For myself, I feel like the final battle of Days of Ruin was the worst. It was entirely one-sided, and unlike the other games or missions, you couldn't allow it to stretch on. Give the enemy too much time and they overwhelm you with ridiculous numbers, but rush them foolishly and get obliterated by mortars. It was entirely frustrating, and may be one of the only AW missions that required me to play it more than twice.

For the first time in the past few weeks, Ryu was scared of something happening off of the battlefield. That was a rarity for any soldier in this war: it was hard to be afraid of anything mundane after facing bullets and bombs.

Even so, as Ryu stared down his reflection in the base's barracks, he was afraid. Or perhaps it was actually just anxiety. After a routine checkup at the infirmary yesterday, he had been informed that he could take off the bandages that covered much of the right side of his face. This was something Ryu was entirely unwilling to do: with the bandages, he was constantly reminded of the damage, but never had to actually look at it. At least that way he didn't have to suffer his own gruesome reflection in a mirror, or the no doubt pitiable or disgusted stares he would receive from others.

But it was apparently against his best interests to leave it covered indefinitely, according to the medics. Some exposure would be good for the afflicted area, not that it made Ryu feel any better about it personally.

Either way, Ryu figured that he ought to follow the suggestions of those more knowledgeable than him, so he reached for the edge of the bandages on his face and began peeling it off.

Unfortunately, the very action of peeling made him think of sunburn and its associated effects, leading to an even more disturbing mental image of him peeling away his skin instead of this medical covering. Thankfully, since peeling the bandage didn't actually hurt all that much, he was able to distract himself with mundane thoughts over a book he had been reading in his spare time.

Of course, as he peeled away the last of the bandage, he had no choice but to look at the damage himself. In all honesty, it wasn't absolutely terrible. Ryu had seen men with far worse burn scars before. Soldiers who had lost ears or noses or half of their entire face to flames. For Ryu, the area of effect was mostly his cheek alone, and some of his neck. The only thing that was really affected aside from aesthetics was his ability to smile painlessly, not that he found much to smile about these days.

But even though he had seen worse on others, Ryu had never seen worse on himself. He could try to tell himself that it could have been worse, but as he gazed at the charred, leathery, and mangled patch of skin, it was hard to gain any consolation from such thoughts. It was still a scar that would garner the attention of others. It was still something that would mark him for the rest of his life: however long or short that would be.

While he likely would have been stuck in such dire musings for quite some time, Ryu's train of thought was disrupted when someone entered the near empty barracks. Considering that Ryu was one of the only soldiers to spend all day in there, whoever it was had likely come for him.

Despite himself, he sorely wanted the visitor to be Sonja. Even though the scar he was burdened with was quite literally her fault, Ryu found it hard to hate the young girl as much as he had originally. Of course, it was still there somewhere. Deep down, Ryu still loathed her for the cost of her mistakes. But he had also come to enjoy her company, somehow. Despite what she had cost him, Ryu couldn't help but admire her in many ways. Truthfully, Ryu had no idea how to explain his feelings towards her. He never would have thought it possible to both hate and like someone simultaneously, but somehow he could.

Unfortunately, as he turned to face the new arrival, Ryu was not met with the ever calm countenance of his Commanding Officer. It was instead the leader of his recon squad, who had yet to look at Ryu himself even as he spoke.

"Suzukai, we're deploying in twenty..."

As the man caught sight of Ryu's now exposed scarring, his words petered off. While inwardly disturbed at such a reaction so soon, Ryu was eager to put an end to this awkward silence. "Understood sir. I'll be at the vehicle bay in ten."

Likely ashamed to have been affected by a comrade's injuries, the squad leader quickly nodded his affirmation so he could leave the barracks, once again leaving Ryu alone.

There was little he needed to do to prepare for deployment, but for some reason Ryu felt that he needed to further reinforce himself before leaving. Strangely, this was not his by now usual paranoia: this was simply a gut instinct. Of course, now that he had felt this instinct it quickly became a matter of paranoia. And with that now plaguing him, Ryu quickly headed towards the supply building that housed munitions, uniforms, and parts.

Unfortunately, he didn't remember a certain obstacle to his goal until he spotted the quartermaster in front of the small warehouse. In order to obtain gear from the quartermaster, one had to possess a requisition ticket for whatever specifics you required, usually signed by one of the higher-ups. Ryu obviously did not have one.

Still, he was determined to acquire what he needed, so his approach was not impeded even as the slightly graying quartermaster locked onto him with his eyes. "What do you need, soldier?"

Having promised to be ready in ten minutes five minutes ago, Ryu did not mince words. "I need a tanker's helmet and vest. That's all."

"You have a requisition ticket?"

"No sir."

Surprised by the immediately blunt answer, the quartermaster cocked an eyebrow at him. "Then I'm afraid I can't give you anything. What tank squad are you part of? Nearly every squad was issued their gear weeks ago."

Ryu grimaced as he thought of his now deceased comrades. "32nd Light Armor Division, Squad Seven."

The mention of this unit caused a brief look of surprise on the quartermaster's face, but it was quickly replaced by a somber expression. "I see... you must be Suzukai. There's few people around here who don't know who you are by now. It was my understanding that you were in recon now. What do you need tank gear for?"

"I want the extra protection. Please, if you have any spares... I just want it for one deployment. I... I really feel like I'm going to need it today."

With a sigh, the quartermaster glanced around to make sure nobody was watching this exchange. As a grizzled old soldier himself, he knew the anxiety that could be associated with the battlefield. He himself had experienced many battles where he felt unprotected. Days where he wished he had worn more armor or hid behind a bigger piece of cover.

"Alright, I'll let you have the gear. You can even keep it, since we do have enough to go around... just don't let anyone know that I'm breaking the rules by giving it to you. As far as anyone should know, this was all official."

"Of course. Thank you."

The man merely nodded as he walked into the supply warehouse to retrieve what Ryu had requested. He only took a few moments, and soon enough Ryu was handed a tanker's helmet and vest, the latter of which looked slightly used, though Ryu did not complain about it. Quickly donning both of them, Ryu was soon jogging towards the vehicle bay so he could prepare to leave with his unit.

In all likelihood, Ryu was probably later than he had promised, but no one sought to berate him for it upon arrival. Besides, everyone was still getting ready: fueling their jeeps and loading the machine guns. Everyone was doing something, with the exception of the squad leader himself, who was off to the side conversing with Sonja personally. Ryu was surprised to see her out here, so he headed in that direction with the intent to inconspicuously eavesdrop from a distance.

Unfortunately, being the only person dressed in the wrong gear, he was quickly pointed out by one of the other soldiers. "Uh, Suzukai? You know this isn't a tank squadron, right?"

Hearing this, both Sonja and the squad leader turned to face him, and Ryu was immediately accosted by the latter. "Suzukai, what the hell are you wearing? Get in uniform!"

Before Ryu could mount his own defense, Sonja stepped in for him. "It's alright commander. He specifically requested that gear a few days ago, and I saw no reason to deny him. Carry on with what we were discussing."

"Oh.. if you say so, ma'am..."

As the man walked away to do whatever it is Sonja asked of him, the girl herself stepped closer to Ryu with the slightest of smiles. "If anything, I think this is quite clever of you. All things considered, I think I will talk to father about outfitting our recon gunners with sturdier protection. I would like to reduce casualties if at all possible."

Surprised at her effortless start to a conversation, Ryu wondered if Sonja did not even notice his scar. Then again, she was standing on his left: she probably couldn't see it. He couldn't help but wonder if she would grimace or recoil or some such, being unused to up close injuries. Something about the idea of it pained Ryu greatly.

"Yeah... why are you out here? Isn't giving orders face to face a little unusual?"

Sonja folded her arms behind her back as she glanced at the recon unit about to deploy. "It is, but this is a very special mission. I did not want any lack of understanding to occur."

"Special as in dangerous?"

Surprisingly, these words elicited a deep frown from the girl. "I'm afraid so. It's very risky... Suzukai, I know you don't want to be in a situation like this, but-"

"But I'm a soldier and I should do my job. I... I'm sure you've planned whatever this operation is in a way that will reduce casualties as much as possible."

"I did, but even so I have no delusions. Lives will be lost in this operation. I just..."

Though she muttered her last words, Ryu heard them clearly.

"I just hope you aren't one of them."

While his body stiffened, Ryu managed to keep his voice level. "Just how risky are we talking here?"

This question elicited understandable hesitation from Sonja, but she nevertheless gave him an answer. "...even under best circumstances, I anticipate casualties to be over forty percent."

Surprisingly, for some reason he couldn't explain even to himself, this news didn't make Ryu as anxious as it should have. Somehow he was remaining calm even after being so bluntly informed that he was nearly half guaranteed to die today.

"That bad huh... is this mission important?"

"Especially so. My father will be moving a large portion of his army towards a civilian area that has been occupied by Black Hole very soon. Preliminary reconnaissance has revealed that they have implemented a new weapon to decimate the Yellow Comet army. My father refuses to hang back until we can gather more information, so we must act quickly to gather data on this new weapon before it wreaks havoc on our troops. Casualties could be catastrophic if we don't find out more before the deployment."

At this point Ryu got angry. "So we're risking more lives in this recon op because the Emperor doesn't have the patience to wait a few more days?!"

While Sonja had no audible change of tone, she gave Ryu a look that let him know she was not happy about his choice of words. "Jumping to conclusions rarely reveals the truth of any matter. My father refuses to wait for more intel because the civilian population in that area is suffering at the hands of the invaders. He may be reckless, but this is for a worthy cause."

Feeling immediately guilty after this explanation, Ryu said nothing back, especially since his squad commander called out to him. "Suzukai, we're leaving! Mount up!"

Figuring that Sonja was still irritated with him, Ryu merely turned his back on her to head towards his vehicle. However, he was pleasantly surprised to hear her speak up behind him. "Please be careful out there."

With a nod, Ryu hopped into the turret of the new jeep that had replaced the one lost on the last deployment. He was glad to hear Sonja worry for him, but unable to answer: now that he was in the seat of his vehicle and driving out of the vehicle bay, his fear and anxiety had returned full force.

While Ryu was initially full of anxiety and fear, the area of operations was quite some distance from the unit's forward operating base. After several hours of dull, mindless driving along back roads and forests, Ryu's oppressive emotions had subsided considerably. Of course, he had no doubt that he would feel them again when the action started, but he was glad to be rid of them for now, due to boredom if nothing else.

On the other hand, the trip was horribly awkward. Ryu had been subjected to gawks and stares from his newest comrades, making him feel alienated. Beyond that though, Ryu found it hard to even speak to people who were essentially replacements for the two men who had been blown to pieces before. It was an unsettling feeling, and Ryu figured he would feel better if he just didn't get close to people who could be killed at any moment. It would spare him the pain.

That being the case, he had not spoken a single word to anyone on the squad unless he was specifically required to. He had taken no part in any casual conversation up until this point, and he had no intention of taking part of the one going on now, which he could hear over his radio headset.

"I mean, I just feel like we're behind some of the other nations. Both Orange Star and Green Earth have women in their military. And I don't mean as CO's, I mean like actual enlisted soldiers. What if that's why we're still stuck with propeller jets while their tech keeps advancing?"

"I don't think those to things are related Kanari. Besides, I never saw any women on the battlefield in the first war."

"Well they usually aren't infantry. Y'know, they usually drive APC's and landers and stuff. But Orange Star has plenty of girls in their elite commando squads. We should have that too! It really sucks being in an army of all men..."

Uninterested in the route this conversation was taking, Ryu tuned it out in favor of watching his surroundings. The unit was currently traversing an open plain: not something he felt particularly safe doing, but it was the only passable terrain for them to go through. As far as he knew, their AO wasn't much farther...

"And wouldn't it be nice to have some beautiful girls around the base? I mean, really..."

For some reason, Sonja flashed through Ryu's mind upon hearing this, which elicited a slight smile from the man before his scar made him frown again. Don't these guys know we already have a beautiful girl on base...?

Ryu didn't know how much longer this line of conversation would last without interference, but he received a most unwelcome answer as something whistled by his ear, along with a scraping sound that probably shouldn't have been there.

"What the hell-"

Before he could finish this exclamation, the ground exploded several dozen yards behind the recon unit: someone had just barely missed a deadly shot.

With no need to warn anyone himself after such a greeting, the squad commander was quick to issue orders. "Everyone break off! Stay mobile and skirt the enemy! Go around them and disengage! We can't afford to fight here."

Ryu commented to himself that it was also pointless to try and fight tanks in any situation, but he was too quickly absorbed in his own fear to say it. He instead tried to spot the enemy. A foe he couldn't see was even more frightening than a visible one.

Unfortunately the enemy was well hidden, likely in the forest that bordered the plains they were traversing. While he doubted the effectiveness of such actions, Ryu began firing in that direction, hoping to suppress something. Then again, perhaps this was only drawing attention to his vehicle as it attempted to evade enemy fire.

At least it felt that way as numerous explosions made themselves known all around him. It felt like every possible enemy over there was focusing on him alone, though he was not dead yet. Fortunately, the much more agile recon vehicle he was riding in was difficult to hit, especially as it drove perpendicular to the enemy position.

Of course, they were still approaching said enemies, even if it was from an angle. Because of this, Ryu was soon able to identify their opponents: one medium tank squadron, along with several infantry and mech units. Unsure of whether or not his comrades in the other vehicles knew what they were up against yet, Ryu struggled through the lump in his throat to shout over the radio.

"We're facing a medium tank squad here! If we circle them we should be able to get away! We can drive faster than they can rotate the turrets, right?!"

There was no response forthcoming over the radio, so Ryu could only hope that he had been overheard. At the very least, his own driver heard him, and immediately began making use of his strategy. Ryu was not mistaken in saying that they could outrun their heavily armored opponents. Black Hole Medium tanks were able to traverse terrain easily thanks to their slight hover tech, but the machines themselves were bulky and unwieldy. Their turrets rotated very slowly, so if the Yellow Comet jeeps could outrun those, they were essentially safe.

Or rather, they would be, were it not for the hail of bullets and hip fired rockets coming their way. But unlike the tanks, this was something Ryu and his allies could fight back against. With that fact in mind, Ryu wasted no time in unloading as many rounds as he could manage at the faceless adversaries that threatened him. He watched in satisfaction as ammunition tore through their suits and helmets, allowing blood and some sort of gas to leak into the area around their fresh corpses. It felt so good that he almost forgot they were firing back at him, with much increased accuracy now that his jeep was zooming right past them.

Oblivious to this as he tried to mow down an enemy mech trooper, Ryu was knocked back from the turret as he felt something impact his chest. Rebounding off of the steel behind him, he slid down into the jeep itself as he struggled to breathe through newfound pain near his heart.

The allied soldier in the passenger seat took notice of his condition immediately. "Shit, are you alright?! Are you hit?!"

Clutching at his vest where the pain was originating from, Ryu was shocked to feel nothing but the fabric itself and scraps of some sort of paper near the site of impact. Whatever had hit him hurt like hell, but he wasn't bleeding. It hadn't penetrated.

"I think I'm fine! I... I'm getting back on the gun!"

While he struggled to pull himself up into position again, Ryu heard the driver call out to him. "No need! We're just about to break through the line!"

Ryu found that hard to believe since bullets were still pinging off of the jeep's hull, but after a few swerves and several moments of high speed acceleration, the incoming fire ceased, presumably because they had left the enemy too far behind for them to engage.

Seeing as how they had gotten away for now, Ryu relaxed into the back seat of the vehicle as the driver tried to radio the other vehicles to see if anyone else had made it. In the meantime, the passenger pushed his way into the back to check on Ryu, but stopped short when he glanced at his helmet.

"What the hell happened to your helmet?"

Unsure of what he could have been talking about, Ryu simply rubbed his hands across the leather and metal dome to try and find an anomaly, but stopped in shock when he felt a shallow depression across the entire left side. Even though he already knew what it was, he took the helmet off anyway so he could look at it. He was not at all surprised to see that the width of this depression was roughly equal to that of a tank shell.

Apparently his comrade noticed this too. "Holy shit man, was that the first shot they fired at us? Holy shit..."

Too shocked for words, Ryu simply placed the helmet in his lap as he reached towards the pocket in his tanker's vest that had been penetrated by an enemy bullet. Reaching into it, he felt what was likely a small cardboard box. Upon pulling it out, he assured himself of this by laying eyes on a deck of cards. Somebody had apparently forgotten about them when returning their gear, or perhaps they had been killed with it still inside and no one had bothered to double-check for personal belongings.

Either way, as Ryu opened up the ruined container and poured out its contents, he noted in silence that the entire deck had been pierced to the end, with the exception of the very last card that had been closest to his chest: the Joker.

At the sight of the unharmed card, Ryu burst into laughter. Not manic laughter or even disturbed laughter, just... laughter. If anything it was the simple fact that he couldn't believe it. This was the final piece of evidence he needed. It really was all some sort of game to someone up there. Some sort of higher power was screwing around with him for kicks. Now, was the point of the game to actually kill him or just to come close? Was it all some test of his luck? Because if it were, Ryu had to admit that he was winning this game. This was the fourth time he had cheated death, maybe the fifth. Today he did it twice in five minutes, solely because he had been too paranoid to deploy without more armor to keep him safe.

Hell, he had been saved by a deck of cards left behind by someone he would never know. It was ridiculous. It was crazy. It was utterly unbelievable. And that's why Ryu laughed.

The sight of it kind of disturbed his comrades, leading to the question, "Are you alright, man?"

Ryu smiled genuinely for the first time since he had been injured. "Alright? I'm great! I'm literally the luckiest guy in the entire Yellow Comet Army! Maybe the world!"

Still laughing, Ryu took the Joker that had survived and tucked it into the strap of his goggles, which had miraculously evaded damage from the tank shell earlier. "The Joker, that's me! Mocking the universe's attempts to kill me as I dodge each one by the skin of my teeth!"

This did very little to assuage the concerns of his comrades, but seeing as how he wasn't injured, they decided to leave him be as they continued to try and rendezvous with whatever was left of their unit.

As for Ryu, he simply leaned back and folded his arms behind his head. In all honesty he had probably lost some bit of his sanity just now. But then again, he had also lost his fear of the battlefield. Because, after coming close to death this many times in but a few weeks, being scared of dying was entirely stupid. Now it was simply a matter of whether or not he was lucky enough to avoid the hand of death till the end of the war.

This man makes Nell and Rachel look like a joke. His luck knows no bounds. Unfortunately he's now kinda messed up in the head, but hey, that's war for you.