The hum of the wind and the shattering sound of steel machinery from kilometers away broke the silence of my camp.
The location wasn't bad, I'd say. I had quite the view of that massive city, probably the biggest I had yet to lay my eyes on for the short time I'd been on this planet. Even on the top of this small mountain, I can still make up the skyscrapers, especially the big one. Pretty ominous to say the least.
That being said, Londinium's smoke was still visible from miles away. Learning how to differentiate between factory smoke and artillery smoke took me some time. Luckily, the latter was pretty rare, but the fact that it happened said a lot about the city's current situation.
Putting my binoculars away, I marked my report.—the same one I was tasked with every four hours.
Aside from a funny-shaped smoke cloud, no new movement of anomalies was detected. I marked my report accordingly.
"I suppose no news is better than bad news," I told myself. The last thing I wanted to see was a mushroom cloud in the sky.
I walked back to the tent in the middle of my camp, grabbed myself a bag of rations, and prepared myself to wait for another four hours of nothingness.
Aside from the local fauna, which was nearly non-existent, there was very little to do here. For the last three days that I have been stationed here, there were no incidents worth reporting, aside from that one animal waking me up in the middle of the night. It was mostly wet climate, mild winds, sunless sky, and rain.
That being said, I'm not one to complain about the mission, and I have a pretty good idea as to why I was assigned as a lookout when my skills don't specialize in one.
Although thinking about it, my experience of being able to sit around doing nothing all day might be a factor in why I was assigned this task. Fair enough.
Company would've been nice, but I'm aware we're stretched thin.
I shook my head, putting those thoughts aside, and focused on my new task at hand. Reading.
I gently reignited the fireplace, which by the way, had been a challenge ever since I'd got here. There is only so much I can do with damp wood, rotten luck of ours that this had to happen in the rainy season. It would normally be easy but I was told to only use 'normal' fire, and it doesn't help that using the lighter was a pain.
After a few minutes, I managed to ignite a fire, albeit the boring way, but the smell was comforting. I did not need the warmth, but something was soothing about watching the flame ebb and flow.
I sat next to the fire and grabbed the only book I brought with me. It was a recommendation. It was supposed to be a popular dark fantasy novel from Kazimierz, the presence of old magic and beast seemed like a prominent theme. Although I was halfway through, I hadn't been enthralled by any of the plot points so far.
"Nothing special so far, I'm not sure why she recommended this to me, and she even said it got a few sequels," I complained. But she's proven me wrong before so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.
After a little over half an hour, the wind started picking up, and a few sprinkles fell on my face, prompting me to look up. Giant grey clouds now drifted the sky above my little camp and the looming landscape as well, threatening an early shower in the worst-case scenario. A situation I was all too familiar with.
My reading could continue inside the tent; if anything, I welcomed the change in atmosphere.
As I was getting ready to move my belongings into the tent, a sudden sound from inside stopped me in my tracks.
"Camp Lambda, this is Talon. Come in, Camp Lambda."
I quickly picked up the old radio. "Camp Lambda here. Go ahead, Talon."
There was a brief pause, accompanied by static, before the reply came through. "Lookout phase complete. Proceed to the rendezvous point and regroup with the others."
Finally.
"Understood. Is the mission proceeding as planned?" I asked, doing my best to hide my anticipation.
Another short pause. "Confirmation for deployment orders is still pending, no details have been provided yet."
"Roger that, ma'am."
I put the radio away and started packing up everything as fast as possible. My camp wasn't big, basically just a tent, observing equipment and weapons; and they said four hours. One would think it is enough but Rhodes Island tends to be too effective at times, I wouldn't be surprised if they arrive early.
The tent didn't prove to be a challenge, and so I was almost done with everything less than an hour after the call. I technically had enough time to report one more log on the city.
I walked towards my sightseeing spot, the many engines of the city remained silent, yet sometimes, echoes from within could still be heard in the calmest moments of the day. Something I was already familiar with.
Its walls and cannons alone make everyone think twice regarding any idea of an attack, giving it more the impression of a mobile fortress than an actual city, which wouldn't be far from the truth. Add to that the Sarkaz army behind its walls, especially with who is commanding it, and you have yourself an impossible task. I've not even taken into consideration their not-so-secret weapon.
That being said…
There is not such a thing as an impenetrable fortress. I think. I've seen too many things I never considered possible before, what's one more?
"Talon to Camp Lambda," the radio beeped, pulling me out of my thoughts "It's been confirmed. All nearby outposts are to rendezvous with the main group and proceed with the main plan."
Time to test it out then.
I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.