Irregulaire

The Look Out

We pretty much enjoyed that evening, hanging around with the Marines. I had a little chat with the Lieutenant about what he did before the war. Well, he was already an officer back then, so that hadn’t changed. He used to be a respected family man, and graduated from officer school. But then he lost contact with his family after this thing started. Last thing he knew, he was called to action and his family had to move somewhere. From then on, he lost touch. 

“I haven’t the slightest idea of where they are now, or how they are. I can only hope they are alright. Soko has this similar problem. But at least he knows where his family went,” Poor guy. “You’re in love with the Major’s daughter, right?” 

“Well, I was, yeah,” I answered rather awkwardly. 

“Your family safe?” 

“That, I don’t know either. Last time I contacted them was before I enlisted,” 

“At least you get to be in touch with them. Let’s hope they’re okay, both our families,” 

“Yes sir,” 

As the sun started to disappear, a little silhouette of a man was visible on the caved-in house, seeming a bit hidden by the trees behind it. 

“Hey Mick,” Red called out. I think she saw him too. 

“Yea?” 

“Come closer, I need to tell you something,” she said, walking towards me. 

“What’s up?” I took a few steps towards her, also. 

“There’s someone on the roof of that house. Don’t look,” she warned, pointing towards the same building I saw with her eyes. “Right between those roof beams, with the tree behind him,” 

BANG, BANG

Two shots popped out. I ducked, as did Red, who unslung her rifle right away while crouching down. I put my rifle in my hands, as I looked around, and there was someone behind me—Buck with his smoking rifle. I gave him a quick thumbs up, it was indeed a good shot. 

Everyone was alerted. A Marine even launched a flare to illuminate the area beyond the inner compound. “What was that?” a nervous corporal shouted. “Who did it?” a Marine sergeant asked with a seemingly panicked voice. Everyone scattered, scrambling towards their positions. The flare lit up the compound. Nobody else was seen. The light from the flare dimmed, and it went out. Sgt. Soko then led four of his men to check out behind the house after being pointed out by Red. No one—or rather no more—was found. It turned out Buck managed to hit that man twice, one in the shoulder and one in the right chest. Apparently, the round pierced one of the roof tiles he concealed himself with. He lied down behind the mortared house after falling down from the roof. 

“Who sent you?!” asked Sgt. Soko. The man had little to no gear, indicating that he was not a regular soldier. The man had also appeared to wear a shriveled up black arm band with a white sword on it—the insignia of a low-level Weasel fighter—tied up over his short sleeve. He had an AK with him as well. Soko pointed his AG-2 up to the man’s head. He didn’t answer. 

The Marines then lifted up the man, bringing it to the inner compound for interrogation. At least he’s still breathing, and he had no bomb strapped on him for last resort. Because we’re not actual Marines, they don’t seem to allow any of our squad members to watch the process. It should be quick, as the man’s dying anyway. Not long after, Soko came towards Red and I, while both of us were about to talk about what happened. Honé and Stevens followed. 

“You guys wouldn’t believe what we have here,” 

“What was it?” Red said curiously. 

“Bastard back there said we would be dead,” he said, letting off a sigh. He’s upset, I figured. “We just have no idea when. Man passed out and died,” he added. 

“Well, at least we know what’s coming,” I commented. 

“Not really,” said Red, “We don’t know what they’re gonna throw at us. Of course, it would be an attack, you don’t say, but to what extent?” 

Larkwell sent out a patrol, covering areas up to 800 meters out towards the now abandoned civilian residence. These would serve as our scouts also, in case they encounter significant enemy activities during the patrol. They were expected to report back after finding whatever it is. He then also considered ordering a squad to be placed outside the wall instead of the inside—which was a little questionable. However, he ended up not issuing that order, even though we just had a bad case of infiltration. “We already placed tripwires and a few claymores,” Staff Sgt. Anfield, from 2nd Squad claimed. 

The Major came out of his house, a little startled. A few men are still scrambling here and there, checking out on ammunition and stuff. He then asked Sergeant Major Wilkins to assess the situation. He stepped off his porch, coming closer towards us, “Was it you who fired the shots?” he asked 

“No, sir, it was Buck,” said Red. 

“Good job,” he said. “Where is he?” 

“Right by that house, sir, he wanted to stay there for a while,” I added. 

The Major sighed. “I need to deliver this to the HQ, but the radio's not working again. I’m not sure if I can go out tomorrow,” 

A few weeks before we arrived, the Marine Recons had conducted a patrol towards the west in response to the local CivDefs report about a weapons cache. In that operation, in addition to the weapons they confiscated, they had also got their hands on a few maps and handbooks that showed the Diorne’s Weasels and their positions all over Eastern Seedland. This intel must reach headquarters before they can put any measurable offense against the Armed Forces, or something along those lines. I don’t know much about the details, I never did see that intel. 

“What if you send someone else, rather than risking it, sir?” Larkwell suggested, “I mean, we don’t want you to end up like Captain Reamer, do we?” Captain Reamer was killed in an ambush a few days ago.

“I still need to make sure the intel is intact. We got all sorts of surveillance, photographs, maps, documents, everything in physical copies. I just can’t sleep without myself ensuring this thing’s safety. Not that I don’t trust you guys, but still,” he said. I get it. 

“Well, not that you’re going to send these guys, sir,” LT said, “no offense,” he turned to me. 

“None taken,” Red responded. I just nodded. 

There’s nothing offensive about that, really. It makes sense. We don’t even wear uniforms; we just happen to wear the Armed Forces vests with the flag patches on it. Only these patches on our chests distinguished us as fighters on the Republic’s side. Sending us to HQ—apart from the fact that we had no idea where it is—is a straight up bad idea. 

"Look, the point is I need to personally make sure it doesn’t get intercepted. That’s it," The Major said.

Communications tower stood tall from the Major’s post. It is, after all, a listening post, setup on his own house I don’t know what for. Maybe it was temporary. Maybe that was why Grace is here. But I heard there were problems with the tower, that it can only receive, not transmit. They did say they have a few engineers to help with maintenance, but they were all killed the night before we arrived.

A radio broadcast roared that night, and the news it brought made some of us uneasy. We heard that the entire city of Florence has fallen from that local channel. That was the first city in the province to fall into enemy hands, and it was towards our southeast. They also said that some elements from the army were starting to break off. The men are now more cautious, as there could be more intrusions or probing to our compound, now that our position had been scouted for we don’t know how long. 

“I think we need to fall back,” Soko said, suddenly appearing beside me. 

“Well, I guess so,” I replied. “We’re compromised already,” 

“I don’t think Major wants to move yet, though,” 

“At any rate, we’d have to,” 

That night, guard shifts were improved, and sentries had more people. If usually they have a pair of guards per shift per sentry, they had two pairs after the probing incident. We sort of believed, then, that it was not only one guy. There was supposed to be another one, at least, who jumped back outside and escaped before even the flare got launched. At around 8.15 PM, we were having our dinner. It was better than the rations before, it had Mackerels and eggs and stuff. Some people even had meat stew. Grace cooked tonight; for what reason, I don’t know. 

“Damn, Mick,” Buck said to me, stoked. “I can’t actually believe I killed a guy,” 

“How does that feel?” Red asked, quite proudly. “Finally, our MG Commander scored one for the team,” 

“It’s quite weird, you know. Still a little bit excited now,” he said. “This stew is great, by the way,” 

“That excitement kind of makes you hungry, isn’t it?” I commented. 

“It’s not hunger, Mick,” he said, with a mouthful, “it’s appetite. Also, it is delicious, damn,” 

Well, it was our first home-cooked meal in the last couple of months. The food supply in the compound were rations if not bread—all bland, both texture and taste, unmanageable if not for the packet seasonings. No wonder the guys missed such delightful food, with spices and everything. That night, although eerie, had this sort of calming vibe to it. Maybe because of the feast we were subjected to, I don’t know. But something tells me that we’re going to be okay. I chose not to believe it, though, that I needed to be alert at all times. 

I decided that I’d sleep a little late that night. Frank even volunteered to stay up all night, manning his Machine Gun. That calm vibe I told you about didn’t last very long, apparently. 

Just as I walked off the porch, around 10 pm, there came that eerie atmosphere again. But this time, it was silent. The dreaded battlefield silence, I thought to myself. I went up to Honé and tried to talk to him. 

“You’re not supposed to be here,” he said 

“How is that?” 

“This is our job, Mick. It’s not like you guys are interfering or anything, but it just… it’s like we have a little more burden to keep you guys alive, too, especially with your relation to the Major’s daughter,” 

“Grace has nothing to do with us being here,” I responded, “We just carry out orders around here, man. Major wants us here to support you guys, remember?” 

I turned away and walked towards our tent. There was a dry patch near the entrance and I sat there. The crickets sound louder now. This kind of silence always makes me uneasy. There were even ringing bells in our ears. We would have liked to have music, but such a tune would give our position away. Well, not that they don’t know it yet or anything. Music would also distract us from any noise that the enemy would make when approaching. We already had a close one, for crying out loud. Out of nowhere, someone tapped me on my shoulder. 

“Wouldn’t you like to go to sleep?” she said. It was Grace. Ian was standing behind her. 

“I don’t think I can, for this little while,” I answered, still sitting. “How do you do?” 

“Fine, I think. A bit panicked when I heard those shots,” 

“Well, it was my guy anyway,” 

“Yea how on earth would we know,” Ian joined in. He seemed more accepting towards me now. 

“What are you guys doing outside? It’s dangerous, if you haven’t figured it out,” 

“We’re just making sure that you’re okay,” Ian said. 

“You wanna switch jobs, now?” I quipped. I’m supposed to make sure you’re alright. Not the other way around,” I chuckled, “Now you two get inside and go to sleep before things get worse. And thank you,” I waved at them while they both smiled. I nodded as Grace smiled at me again just before closing the door. 

“Why don’t you go get her?” said Mark, standing over my shoulder.

“No way. They’re already engaged,” I said, “If it wasn’t for this damned war, they would’ve gotten married,” I continued. He chuckled. 

“Have you heard about Cleavess being taken over?” he said

“Wait what? No,” although it’s no surprise. “The whole territory?” 

“Yes. The Army’s getting pushed back. More of them Weasels are coming towards us,” he said, quite bitterly. 

“Don’t worry, man. We’ll be fine,” 

“How long would it be until this position is overrun, you reckon?” He asked. 

“I don’t know. How long did Cleavess hold before being overrun?” 

“Weasels took over Cleavess in just three weeks,” he said. “They came out of nowhere and outnumbered the Army 20:1” 

“Yeah. The Cleavessi population is not as big as us, and with fewer men, their irregulars would not be able to hold either,” —

That night, I was finally able to get a good sleep. But just before going to sleep, I wandered off to the mortared house. That house across the street apparently still had water from an underground reservoir. There was a little electricity, even. I proceeded to peek into the restroom when a rat jumped out of the toilet inside. “Jesus!” I almost screamed. I don’t really like being surprised, to be honest. I then opened the door to let the rat out, when another guy stood there in the doorway. 

“Who is it?!” he shouted. 

“It’s Mick!” I shouted back. 

“The hell are you doing there?” It was Stevens. He must’ve heard me. 

“Nothing,” I shouted. “But I think I’m going to take a piss,” 

“Why would you want to use the toilet here? we got one in the house,” 

“Nyeehh, might as well,” I said to him, “I’ll be right back,”

I let myself sleep after that whole thing, sitting on the Major’s porch. Everyone else slept as normal, inside their tent. It was quite a good night’s sleep, being in a combat zone. I woke up around four hours later. The sun was not coming up, yet, but the sky was already bright. Here it is, the house of the rising sun, I thought to myself. It looked beautiful, though, with the Sun shining directly into the window panes as it rose. The golden light struck at the right angle; it was majestic. Not really a best idea to put your front door in the way of the Sun, but it could be worth it. 

Everyone else also woke up around the same time as me. We then scrambled for either water or breakfast, at least tea. But I stood there, as I saw a glimpse of Grace’s shadow behind those glass panes, seemingly greeting me with her smile. But just as I saw Grace through that glass window, I heard a faint thump in the distance. As I came to realize what that might be, a shell fell right between where I stood and that window.