!IMPORTANT AUTHOR NOTE! Name change! Imperial Elite II: Eclipse of the Shadows was the first project name, ready to be disposed of when I find a more suitable name that comes along my fanfic journey. I got inspired by the banger that Command&Conquer is (I recently picked up RA2 and Tiberian Sun again). Thus, I changed the fic name to Act on Instinct, mostly because it actually fits what's going to happen later on (and Frank Klepacki's work on C&C is immeasurable). I hope this name change isn't bothering you. Enjoy reading!

IE VI: MUDTROOPERS

"We're getting a bit of rain."

Eva looks up at the sky with her hand flat. The grey clouds cascade over her as fast as a train, and the tears they drop feel cold on her hand.

Peyton shifts her head to her. She has her back against the hull of a tank wreckage. "Great. I already have enough of the mud."

Eva smiles. "Hey, you wanted something new and challenging. This is it."

Peyton giggles. "I don't know. I guess I'm just whiny today."

She chuckles a little and looks up at the sky. The grey shades whirl around like twisters. Hopefully, the clouds won't turn into a violent storm.

Yesterday was fun. The deathmatch game was tricky but Eva won it nonetheless. Hopefully, it made a good first impression with Lieutenant Amitash, and she hopes today will continue her good image. However, Eva has a feeling it won't. Today, it will be a whole lot different and she can feel it in her nerves. Today is Eva's first strategy training. The Flanking Manoeuvre she'll be training requires good timing and cover fire. A slip-up because of the soil turning into slippery mud can make it annoyingly difficult, and Eva hopes the turbulent weather above her won't escalate.

As it starts drizzling a little, Eva recites the instructions Lieutenant Amitash provided her. Like yesterday at the deathmatch game, two teams fight against each other. The D-team defends its stronghold surrounded by trenches, pillboxes, and bomb craters. Eva's team, the A-team, has to attack the D-team's stronghold and capture it by invading from three flanks. Sounds easy, but in practice, it probably won't.

Eva expands her chest and yawns. The nightmare she had yesterday has left her exhausted yet again. She could still feel the hot sweat on her skin when she woke up and held her hand on her pounding heart. It has left her with a mild case of fatigue. Hopefully, this day will end in an instant so she can lie all day on her concrete mattress.

Eva leans forward, wondering when the practice offensive will begin.

"Hey, Roslin. What are we waiting for?" she asks.

Roslin has her blaster on her lap and looks up.

"The signal," she responds, and she holds up her wrist. "We'll get a signal on our comm channel when the training starts."

Eva nods. "Got it."

"You're ready for it?" Roslin asks.

"Yes sir."

"You know what our part of the plan is?"

That's gonna be a problem. Eva searches through her memories but remembers just snippets of her instructions. Some echoing words about dispersing and advancing, but that's it. She must have been staring into oblivion when her part of the plan was told.

Eva sighs and shakes her head. "Could you repeat it again? I think I didn't get it."

Roslin tilts her head with annoyance hinting in her eyes. "D-team defends their position. We have to attack it and capture it. We advance from here towards the checkpoint further up. Depending on how quickly the D-team wakes up, there are obstacles that we can use to take cover from their fire. From that checkpoint, we're going to disperse from the rest and attack the D-team from the eastern flank. That's it."

Advance, disperse, flank, attack. Right.

"Where's that stronghold?" Eva asks.

"Behind the ridge almost a click ahead," Roslin responds. "There are some trenches surrounding it. You won't miss it."

Eva nods. She repeats her instructions a few times in her mind to make sure she won't forget it again. Advance, disperse, flank, attack. Advance, disperse, flank, attack.

Then, an alarm wails through the speakers of all of their wristlinks. The game is on and Eva's nerves ignite with nervousness.

"The game's starting!" Roslin shouts. She gets up and walks around to get in front of the squad. "On me!"

Eva's heart pounds in her chest as Roslin turns around the wreckage and steps onto the battlefield. She starts running and chases Roslin's heels as other squads of the A-team advance and swarm the front of the battlefield. There, in the far distance, Eva sees the ridge and the trenches Roslin was talking about. Behind those, the D-team has its stronghold.

Eva sees the troopers of the D-team taking their positions in the trenches and opening fire. The blaster bolts shriek towards the direction of the A-team and Eva hears the scream of a girl piercing through the air in her right ear. Glancing over her shoulder, Eva sees the girl being electrocuted by the stun round that hit her and she stumbles into the mud with a splash. Blast it. That looks painful.

The D-team reinforces their defense and Eva raises her blaster and fires back. However, their fire is too strong and the squad is forced to drop to the ground and lay low. Eva presses her chest against the ground as she gasps for air.

"We got cover there!" Roslin shouts.

It's the wreckage of a speeder truck and Roslin waves with her hand to the rest of the squad.

"Come on!" she shouts.

As Roslin crawls forward towards the wreckage, Eva buries her hands in the ground and starts crawling with her blaster in her hand. Some dirt gets in her mouth and Eva spits it out. Dank Ferrik. Yeah, now I get what Amitash meant with us wearing pyjamas.

Eva crawls towards her cover, gets up and pounds her back into it. The blaster bolts of the D-team remain shrieking past them, hitting other soldiers that fail to lay low.

The rest of the squad crawls closer and gets to the wreckage as well.

"Dank Ferrik," Peyton shouts, slamming her back against the wreckage next to Eva. "They weren't joking when the briefing said it was gonna be challenging!"

Eva shifts her head with a chuckle. "What else did you think?"

"Hey, cut the chatter!" Roslin snaps. "We're going westward to flank them!"

"Where's the checkpoint then?" Peyton asks. "Have we reached it already?"

"It's close, but we can flank them already," Roslin responds, and she points in a direction, away from the battlefield. "So, we're going west. We'll have to run for the nearest spot of cover so we can advance eastwards. Got it?"

"Yes sir!" Eva and the girls shout.

Roslin peers around the corner of the wreckage and immediately turns back.

"They're distracted," says Roslin. "There's a barricade of blast walls. We can make a run for it. Ready?"

"Yes sir," the girls shout once again.

Her heart aches and Eva takes one big gasp of air before she runs back into the open.

Roslin nods. "On me!"

Eva clenches her blaster and runs off. Her footsteps splash in the mud as Eva sees a barricade of concrete blast walls further down. The distance between her and her cover is desolate, however, and Eva's nerves burn hotter. She glances over her shoulder and sees the rain of fire originating from the D-team's stronghold. They're running away from it and the D-team doesn't seem to notice them.

Eva is running closer towards the barricade. Suddenly, Eva hears several blaster bolts shrieking past her and sees them flashing before her eyes, nearly hitting her. Her heart skips a beat and Eva shrieks with shock.

"Eva, go on!" Peyton shouts. "I'll cover you!"

Eva doesn't look back and runs on towards her cover. She gets to the barricade and Eva drops herself to the ground. She peeks around the edge and puts her blaster on the soil. Her gunsight lands on the face of an enemy trooper and fires. Though they all miss, it is enough to cover Peyton's run to the rest of the squad. Peyton runs towards them and drops herself to the ground. Gasping for air, she regroups with her squad and Eva shuffles aside to make space for her.

"Thanks, Peyt," Eva gasps.

Peyton gives her a fist bump. "Yeah, no worries."

Eva's lungs feel like they're burning and she takes some deep breaths to cool them. The briefing she received was definitely not lying. The whole manoeuvre is much harder than the instructions made it sound.

"Alright, we're in flanking positions," Roslin shouts. "Ecklund, check them out! Tell me what you see."

"Got it," Ecklund responds.

She shuffles past Peyton and Eva towards the edge of the barricade. Ecklund gets low and stares into her scope.

"Four enemies in a trench," says Ecklund. "There's a ridge behind them."

"Can you see the stronghold from here?" Roslin asks.

"Yes sir. First the trench, then a field, ridge, then the stronghold," Ecklund answers.

"Is there something between us and the trench?"

"Affirmative. A crater."

"Alright, we can take cover and take them under fire from that crater," says Roslin. "Ecklund, you cover us from here, got it?"

"Yes sir," Ecklund responds.

Wait wait wait. A thought instantly flashes in Eva's mind. The D-team's slow reaction gave Eva and her squad the opportunity to advance further than they should've. They've been rushing the first part of the mission so quickly that they've moved further than everyone else. They've rushed forward while the A-team has fallen behind. Eva realises that if they're going to advance, they'll have no one to aid them. The rest of the A-team is still in a heavy firefight and is unable to disperse to flanking positions. Eva leans forward with the pressure increasing.

"Wait, commander!" Eva snaps. "Shouldn't we hold until the other squads join us? We've been rushing everything."

Roslin glances at her with a hint of annoyance growing in her eyes. "All they're doing is slowing everything down. We should act quickly."

"But-."

"Cut it, Eva!" Roslin snaps, and she glances at Ecklund still lying on the ground. "Ecklund, you're ready?"

With an annoyed sigh, Ecklund keeps her eyes glued to her sniper's scope. "Yes sir."

"Alright, squad, follow me!"

And with that, Ecklund unleashes a rain of terror towards the enemy. Roslin runs away from the blast walls. Eva hesitates for a flashing moment, but good soldiers follow orders. She can't leave her commander behind and she gets up and follows Roslin despite her hesitation. Her boots splash in the mud as Eva runs towards a gaping crater in the surface. Eva jumps down into the crater, drops herself on her stomach, and crawls towards the edge. Eva puts her blaster over the ridge and sees the troopers of the D-team in her gunsight as they keep shooting at them. Eva fires and hits one of the four soldiers. However, their trench gives them way too much cover and Eva can't hit them all.

Roslin crawls towards the edge and peeks over it.

"That trench is a pain in the ass," says Roslin, catching her breath.

Eva retracts her blaster. "Yeah. I got one. Three remain."

Roslin nods and glances back at the rest of the squad, catching their breath as well.

"Just three?" Roslin gasps. "We can do it with that. We can take them."

That's fast, Roslin. Shouldn't we slow down?

Peyton crawls towards her. "What? We're going?"

"Yeah," says Roslin, glancing over her shoulder. "Ecklund's keeping them busy. Just keep your blaster aimed at them."

"We're a bit fast, don't you think?" Eva argues.

"If we can do it fast, why not?" Roslin responds.

Eva tilts her head with hesitation. I'm not sure. The A-team is still behind us.

But orders are orders. Roslin waves her hand to the rest of the squad. Eva clenches her blaster and Roslin launches herself from the crater. Eva follows her, gets up and runs out of the crater with a drawn blaster. The trench is coming closer and she sees the head of an enemy peeking over the edge. Eva shoots him and hits him with a stun round. He collapses and Eva continues to advance, but then, she's hit in the leg. A wave of electricity zaps through her body and Eva collapses to the ground with pain in her leg. A stun round got her.

"Dank Ferrik!" Peyton's voice echoes.

But in the corner of her eye, Eva sees Peyton taking a hit in the chest and collapsing to the ground. Her pupils grow as Eva buries her hands in the soil with anxiety ramping up.

"Peyton!" she screams.

Peyton groans with a shivering voice, and Eva's lungs shudder with concern. Roslin and Ashara jump into the trench, but they're both quickly fired upon by the D-team. In fleeing seconds, she sees Ashara glancing at her with concern growing in her golden eyes, but Eva recognises she won't be able to. They're both under fire. She has to get Peyton and herself out of here, alone, by herself. Eva buries her fingers in the soil and crawls towards Peyton. The girl's eyes are shut and her lungs shudder. Eva can sense the pain in the shivers of her voice. Peyton has to reach the medic immediately. She glances over her shoulder. She sees Ashara putting her blaster down to come and rescue her, but Eva quickly waves at her to stop. Eva knows she needs to be covered or else she's gunned down in an instant. She needs that cover desperately.

"Ashara!" Eva shouts. "Stay there and cover me!"

Ashara glances at her, hesitating, but she nods eventually, grasps her blaster and turns around. Troopers of the D-team upon a ridge duck away into their cover, giving Eva a window of time.

With pain in her leg, Eva grasps Peyton's feet, gets up, and with all of her power, she pulls the unconscious girl towards the trench. Her body leaves behind a trail in the black mud. Eva pulls her into the trench and catches her body.

"I got her, Ashara!" Eva shouts, putting her body on the ground.

Ashara retracts her blaster and moves towards her. The girl swings her backpack from her back and lowers to her knees.

Eva taps on Peyton's cheek, trying to get an answer from the girl.

"Peyton, you hear me?" Eva asks, her voice shivering.

Peyton doesn't respond as Eva stares at the girl's shut eyes. Eva's lungs speed up with concern, hoping Peyton will wake up soon.

"Hey, Eva!" Roslin shouts. "I need you here!"

Eva glances up at her commander, going wild with her blaster. However, she hesitates. She wants to stay with Peyton to know if she's going to be alright, but, she knows Roslin needs her. She must keep her composure. All that matters now is giving the field medic some space to work. Eva leaves Peyton behind and runs to Roslin.

Eva grasps her blaster and pounds it on the ridge of the trench. Her gunsight lands on the defenders of the D-team, but they're standing their ground. They fire back and Eva has to duck away from the blasterfire. Roslin ducks away too and Eva can see that her face has become as pale as snow. Her pupils are wide.

"Commander," Eva asks. "What happened?"

Roslin shifts her eyes to her. "There were six of them."

Eva's heart sinks in her chest.

"What? I thought Ecklund said four. I got one."

Roslin shakes her head. "There were six."

That means Ecklund was wrong. The sharpshooter didn't have her glasses on or made a reckless assumption. Eva sighs and curses under her breath, recognising their first failure at camp.

"Blast it," she curses. "You're good?"

Roslin shakes her head, but she remains quiet. Eva can see the sheer panic in Roslin's eyes. The girl can't keep her eyes still and Eva feels the nervousness rushing through her veins. She realises they've made a massive mistake. They relied on information that wasn't true, and now, they're with too little to advance further. She knows they're doomed to fail.

The sounds of the battlefront die down as the game ends with a wailing alarm on all the comm channels. Roslin supports Eva out of the trench as other cadets emerge from their covers, dragging others who have succumbed to the fire through the mud. Eva looks over her shoulder and sees Ashara carrying Peyton. The tech girl is still unconscious from the stun round she took. Her feet drag through the mud.

"That went well," Eva remarks, catching her breath.

Roslin sighs with frustration in her voice. Her face is still as pale as before. This training session has gone horribly wrong for the squad and the A-team. The D-team is most probably better off.

They arrive at the collection point of the A-team in the middle of the training ground and Roslin drops Eva off. Her leg that took the stun round still aches and feels dull, but the muscles start responding again. Ashara puts Peyton on the ground too and arranges her arms and legs into a comfortable position. Eva's gaze lingers on Peyton's shut eyes as flickers of anxiety cross her mind.

From the battlefield, Lieutenant Amitash walks among the cadets of the A-team. From afar, Eva can see the disappointment in his cold eyes as they scan over the cadets. For a brief moment, she feels a shiver down her spine as her nerves keep burning with nervousness. She knows there will be a heated conversation between him and Roslin, and her commander sees it coming as well. Roslin's eyes are glued to the ground as she desperately tries to calm herself down. Her hands tremble a little and her breath shudders. Roslin has never been like this. Never has failure struck her this hard and deep into her emotions, and Eva can feel her commander's anxiety.

"Roslin, are you good?" Eva asks.

Roslin shakes her head. "No. I almost got two of us killed if this were real-"

"Commander Verin."

Lieutenant Amitash suddenly stands behind her and Roslin shakes and breaks her gaze. She stands up immediately and crosses her arms behind her back. Eva's pupils grow as she knows it won't be a lovely chat Amitash and her commander will have.

"Yes sir?" her voice shivers.

Amitash steps towards her with his cold eyes focused on her while Eva watches them and listens.

"The performance of your squad at the deathmatch game yesterday was excellent," Amitash begins, his cold voice piercing through the air. "Your squad pleasantly surprised me. Today, your performance and that of your squad was a letdown. You put your own squad in front of the entire A-team."

"S-,sir?" Roslin stammers, her arms tensing up. "An operation depends on speed. I thought the others were too slow so I-,"

"Commander," Amitash snaps with a sharp voice. "You found your own squad better than the rest?"

Roslin tilts her head down and shiveringly sighs. Eva can tell Roslin recognises where she's gone wrong.

"Yes sir," Roslin responds, barely whispering.

Amitash sighs with annoyance growing further in his voice. Eva can hear it.

"Commander, are you familiar with the values the Imperial military is built upon?" he asks.

Roslin remains quiet.

"Perhaps one of your men can answer," and Amitash shifts his cold eyes to her. "Trooper."

Eva's lungs suddenly stall with tension and she almost chokes on her own breath. In an instant, she gets up and straightens her back with her arms crossed behind it. The dull ache suddenly sharpens in her leg and she almost tumbles, but Eva shifts her feet and manages to balance herself.

"Yes sir?" she asks, clenching her fists.

"Can you tell me what our values are?" Amitash asks.

His cold eyes stare straight through her eyeballs into her soul. Eva can feel them burning through the air that's between them. She swallows.

"Pride, power, order, loyalty, duty, discipline, honour," and she takes one deep breath, "and unity, sir."

"Unity," Amitash repeats, and he shifts his eyes to Roslin.

He smacks his hand onto her shoulder. Roslin shudders.

"Unity is when you stay with the rest of the team to fight," he says. "Unity is not when you leave a team for dead. Because of your arrogance, Verin, your team lost the match, do you grasp my meaning here, commander?"

"Yes sir," Roslin's voice shivers.

"Good," Amitash snaps. "Get your squad together and discuss the issues. We'll be rehearsing this within 15 minutes and I want to see this improved! No longer will you leave your team behind!"

"Yes sir," Roslin repeats.

As Amitash walks away to speak with commanders of other squads, Eva stands, watching Roslin gasping for air. She can feel each shudder that comes out of her throat and she waits nervously for whatever her call will be.

Roslin tilts her head a little.

"I almost got us killed," she whispers and turns around to her. "Eva, get the squad together for me."

Eva notices the frantic movements of her eyes and her racing lungs. The massive error she made is pressing hard onto her commander's shoulders.

"Everything alright, commander?" Eva asks.

"Sorry, I just need a second to wind down," Roslin whispers.

Eva smiles a little and she nods. "Will do, sir."

She turns around and her heart starts slowing down a little. Eva can still feel the shudders Roslin's lungs made when the Lieutenant stood before her. Roslin was slapped in the face with the harsh truth, and rightfully so. Eva warned her about the fact they had advanced too far and too quickly, but Roslin was too arrogant. If we can do it fast, why not?

Eva realises she should have pushed through with her hesitance. She should've brought it up to her commander with more force to get her out of her arrogance. Thinking back, she has no idea why she didn't push through. Perhaps because she didn't dare.

Walking past Ashara's shoulder, Eva's eyes land on the sudden movement of Peyton's hand. Her heart makes a jump and she sees the tech girl has finally woken up. Her breathing sounds shallow, but she's awake, well and responsive.

Eva smiles. "Welcome back to the overworld, Peyton."

Peyton looks up and she smirks a little.

"How are you?" Eva asks.

"Not bad," Peyton sighs. "I just feel dull."

Ashara taps on Peyton's knee. "Sleep inertia. It's when you feel tired after just waking up. It usually goes away within an hour or so."

"Hopefully within 15 minutes," Eva responds, shifting her head to Ashara. "We'll be rehearsing."

Peyton sighs. "Dank Ferrik."

"So just stay here, I'm gonna get Ecklund," says Eva and she turns around and walks away.

With her eyes peeled on the horizon, Eva taps on her wristlink and moves it towards her chin.

"Ecklund, retreat," she says.

"Copy that," Ecklund's voice crackles.

As she turns off the wristlink, Eva scans the battlefield with her eyes for Ecklund. Thinking back, she can still feel the frustration brewing in her chest. Roslin wasn't the only person who made a big error. Ecklund gave them false information. Instead of four, there were six of them and that caused the squad to lose. She still can't comprehend how the sharpshooter, the one who observes more than the city bank, didn't see that the enemy was with more. How did she make such a big oversight? How was that possible?

There, Eva sees Ecklund running towards her in the corner of her eye. Her boots splash in the puddles of mud as the grey clouds above her start whirling more intensely. For a moment, Eva shifts her eyes up to look at the sky. It seems like a storm is coming.

"E-Eva," Ecklund stammers, gasping for air.

She shifts her eyes to Ecklund, and Eva notices the guilt and panic flickering in the girl's wide eyes.

"I'm sorry," she gasps.

"Ecklund, there were six. Why did you say there were only four of them?" Eva asks.

"I-, I'm so sorry," Ecklund stammers. "I only saw four. Just four, not more. It was my mistake, I'm sorry."

Eva takes a deep breath. Like Roslin, Eva can feel the emotions brewing inside of Ecklund. Through her darting eyes, Eva can see that the error she made has inflicted a hefty punch in the guts. Though it was costly, Eva winds down her frustration and feels it slowly subsiding in her chest.

"It's fine, Ecklund. We all make mistakes."

Even me.

During the rehearsal, the plan changes. No longer is the squad rushing forward, but staying at the frontline to press the attack. The A-team breaks through the first defense line of the D-team. With that out of the way, Eva and her squad disperse from the A-team. She runs through the puddles of mud as the dark clouds above her whirl violently. The breeze starts picking up with each gust crashing into her face. The cold drizzle slowly intensifies and the mud on the ground becomes more treacherous than before. Slowly, the battleground turns into a sea of mud.

Eva follows Roslin into a trench they've captured along with the rest of the squad. Eva goes to her knees and drops herself into the trench. Her eyes land on the unconscious bodies of the D-team with their limbs spread all over the place.

Roslin bumps her back into the metal wall of the trench, gasping relentlessly for air. "Okay. This time, no rushing forward. We're pressing our attack. Take positions!"

Eva sees her commander stepping onto the fire step, a raised platform high enough for her to put her blaster on the ridge of the trench to fire. She follows the steps of Roslin and leaps onto the fire step. Her eyes land on the defenders behind the ridge in the distance. She aligns her blaster and fires.

Then, something goes wrong. She pulls the trigger but her blaster won't fire. Instead, Eva hears a sharp click making her blaster tremble and her heart fills with panic.

"Blast it, my blaster is jammed!" Eva shouts, retracting her rifle.

Eva looks at Peyton standing on the fire step next to her.

"Stomp it," says Peyton. "That should unjam it."

Eva ducks away and smacks the butt of her blaster against the wall of the trench. The metal wall plates dent with each smack. However, whatever she tries, the blaster doesn't want to unjam as if it has a mind of its own - stubborn and not wanting to give way. Nothing seems to work.

"Hey, need some help?" she hears a voice ask.

Eva turns around and sees a boy standing on the fire step a couple of meters away from her with his own squad. He's glancing over his shoulder with his blaster on the ridge. Even if she needs help, Eva reluctantly wants to take it. She can't press her finger on why exactly, but she just doesn't feel the need to get it from someone who can unnecessarily distract her. The boy in The Well did, and that didn't have good consequences for her nightrest.

Eva shakes her head. "No, I can do this myself, thanks."

She smacks the butt of the blaster into the wall again. She tries firing again, but the blaster refuses to fire. Eva realises she can't fix it on her own. She can see in the corner of her eye that the boy is looking at her. With a sigh, Eva looks at him and holds out her blaster with the butt towards him. The boy grasps the blaster and starts working.

Waiting for the boy to finish unjamming it, Eva drops herself and sits down on the fire step. He grasps the barrel and twists it until it comes loose. His sharp eyes are peeled on the blaster. Eva's eyes land on the quick movements of his fingers going in and out of her blaster, and a sudden thought arises.

"Why are you fingering my blaster?" Eva blurts out.

Eva's heart skips a beat and her cheeks turn red a little. Oh my god, what the hell did I just say?

The boy looks at her with surprise and chuckles.

"When mud gets into the barrel, it slowly seeps into the firing chamber and the ignition coil," says the boy. "If that's wet or covered, it won't be able to ignite the plasma from the power cell. That's what got it."

Eva raises her eyebrows. "Seriously? It was defeated by some wet dirt?"

"Yeah," he responds. "I mean, put Iso9 in an arrowhead that only drinks Aco2 and the engine will explode. Put some water in a firing chamber and it will be jammed."

Eva nods. Okay. Makes sense.

The boy then looks at her. "The name's Daxan by the way. VSRC012."

Eva rolls her eyes. Here we go again.

The boy keeps his eyes on her, expecting her to introduce herself, but Eva keeps her mouth shut. She knows that she has to focus on the things that are a priority. An introduction in the middle of the heat isn't one of them. Daxan sees it and nods.

"No need to tell me your name, that's fine," says Daxan.

Suddenly, the blaster makes an electric recharging sound and the boy looks up with a thin smile on his face.

"It's done," says Daxan, and he holds out the blaster for Eva to take. "Next time, if stomping doesn't work, check the firing chamber."

Eva nods as she takes her blaster back. "Got it. Thanks."

"At your service," says Daxan with a nod.

Eva glances at Roslin with her blaster squeezed in her hands. "Commander, I'm ready!"

"Good," says Roslin. "We're going to push up. There's a crater on our way, so we're going to run out on my mark, got it?"

"Yes sir," Eva responds.

"Peyton, Ecklund, you two know what to do?" Roslin asks, turning to the two girls.

"Yes sir," Peyton and Ecklund both chant, the mud all over their body armour.

"Alright. Ashara, Eva, we're going to make a run for it," says Roslin. "Those boys are in it too."

Eva nods. She steps onto the fire step to prepare herself to climb over it. She sees the barren landscape between her and the D-team's stronghold. It's littered with craters her nerves start burning.

"Ready," says Roslin, and she takes a sharp, deep gasp. "Now!"

Roslin climbs over the ridge. Eva jumps up and climbs out of the trench. Her feet splash in the mud as she starts running behind Roslin. Behind her, Peyton and Ecklund hold positions and fire at the defenders of the D-team. Their fire covers them as Eva and the others run toward the nearest crater. She leaps over the mud and sees the crater they're aiming for coming closer.

Suddenly, Eva sees images flashing before her eyes like lightning. For a moment, the blasterfire hurdling towards her stops and hangs in the air. The stormy clouds above her cease twisting like whirlpools. Eva sees the Rebel robber before her eyes again and they are stuck to the horizon, unable to focus. The Rebel robber ran through the street while Eva chased him until her last shot at him made him stumble onto the road. The six-ton truck sped towards him with hissing brakes until the engine hood crashed into his head. He was killed on impact and Eva almost saw his head nearly bursting open with blood as it spread all over the road. The stone she uncovered from his jacket flashes as Eva is captivated by her thoughts. The lines were elegantly inscribed in the stone with perfect precision. Then, something else flashes before her eyes. It's a sharp, screech, louder than any weapon she's come across. She sees a yellow beam of light, burning in her eyes like fire.

Then, her foot trips. Eva instantly loses her balance and falls with a shriek into a puddle of mud. She splashes into it and she can feel the fiercely cold mud all over her face. She almost chokes on it. She feels and tastes the foul mud in her mouth and spits it out. The images that just flashed past her have left her disorientated. It feels like an empty spot aching in the back of her mind and she can hear something ringing in her ears. Not sharply, not painfully, but barely audible.

Something just happened. The images she's always been having at night came back with violence. This time, in the middle of the day. Disorientated, Eva has no idea what happened. The ringing in her ears subsides and Eva hears a shouting voice. It's Roslin, waving at her with wide eyes as she lies in the crater.

Slowly, she grasps onto reality, and Eva's heart starts to race in her chest with nervousness. Dank Ferrik, I have to get there.

Eva puts her hands on the ground to get up. The blasterfire is hurdling towards her and Eva knows she has to get to safety. But before she can get up, Eva sees a stun bolt speeding towards her. It hits her and Eva feels a shockwave rippling through her spine and instantly immobilises her. Her face splashes into the mud again and the screeches of blasterfire vanish as a dark void entangles her.

That late evening, Eva feels the hot water of the shower pouring down onto her. The black, gritty mud washes off and vanishes in the drainage. As Eva entangles her arms around her naked body, she tries to grasp reality and figure out what happened on the battlefield. The images she always saw in her dreams now came back as full-fledged flashbacks. She can still feel each image that flashed before her eyes like lightning. However, there was also something else. It was the sharp screech that came out of a beam of bright, yellow light. That image has never appeared in her dreams. So where did that come from? She squeezes herself in her arms in fear.

This damned Army base is haunted. Eva can feel it. At no other place has these flickering images ever become more violent than just flickering images. Eva has no idea what has attached itself to her. However, she knows it all happened with one single object. That stone the Rebel stole from Mr Dane on Steel Crane Plaza has set everything in motion. These nightmares and flashing images can all be traced back to that single day. But she can't press her finger on why.

It could be the pressure that's been building up ever since she started here. Whatever it is, Eva has a feeling that she might need help. Or her fury has weakened. That wouldn't look good for the supposedly cold-blooded Rebel killer. Eva knows she's supposed to be the perfect kind of soldier. Those memories weaken her, whether she sees them in her bed or on the battlefield. They chase her like obsessed vultures. It's slowly gnawing away what she feels she's supposed to be. She can hear them talking in the quiet corners of her mind.

Gazing down at the water streaming down her legs, Eva recognises she might need help. She knows the doctor's office is close.

Eva lets go of herself and slams the shower faucet. She dries herself and pulls on her off-duty clothes. She throws her wet towel in the dusty laundromat and steps outside the refreshing building. The dark clouds above her are pouring down water and the whistling gusts of wind crash into her face violently.

Leaping over the rivers of mud, Eva stops in front of the entrance door of the camp's main building. Doctor Kirbley might know what she's dealing with. As the door slides into the wall, Eva's eyes land on a pamphlet displayed on the wall in the empty lobby.

SOLDIERS, OUR FEARLESS HEROES. YOU TOO, RIGHT?

That first word echoes through her mind. Shame fills her as her eyes are peeled at the pamphlet. Soldiers are brave, fearless men. If she ever wants to become one of them, she can't give in to her feelings. I can't let those blasted thoughts sway me. I'm a soldier now. They don't fear anything, and neither should I.

Knowing that her own mind is running away, Eva feels her cheeks burning with shame. She can't let down the Empire she loves. She can't break her promise to Eline. Ashamed of herself, Eva leaves the doctor's office behind, convinced that she doesn't need the help with her racing mind.

!IMPORTANT AUTHOR NOTE! The part I'm thrilled to write about is now truly coming!