The lone howls of the wind kept the night cool, as the grass on the hills swayed alongside it. With the moon shining above, the three divisions of Youden's Reserve Guard were camped between two of the largest hills of the area, simply waiting for the other twenty or so other battalions to join them in rank.
"Any new updates from the airfield?" one of the soldiers that went by his callsign Bandit asked with intent, stoking one of the fires in the camp.
"We haven't heard from them in the last three days. I can only assume that they're holed up right now." the closest commander to him responded, "Speaking of which, can you come with me?"
The other soldiers closest to him got silent, as the man heaved himself from the ground. Watching as the pair moved toward the camp's outskirts, one could only guess what was happening. Most people knew Bandit as one of the most serious people among them all, with many of them wondering why he didn't make the cut for the main military. Sure, the Reserve Guard was great, but they were more often than not relegated to minor skirmishes with resistance attacks or dealt with riots. It was until they realized what was wrong with the man, did they know why he didn't qualify, unfortunately.
"Ma'am, I can ensure you that I have done nothing wron-" Bandit began to speak once they made it to the edge and the commander stopped moving.
"That's not why I called you here, it's news I've received from the recruiting office back in Youdenio City." the woman replied, causing the man to lift his head up in shock.
"Wh-, What!" Bandit could hardly believe it, "I thought with this, I would never have a chance."
The woman commander watched as the man held over the left half of his face, before slowly pulling at his eye socket. A bit disgusted at the sight, she couldn't help but stand strong as the man managed to take out what one thought would be his eye, except for it being a piece of shaped stone taken its place. No wonder he didn't make the cut, the woman could figure out, as the military offices didn't want any "liabilities" inferring with work on the field. From what she was told, Bandit had qualified in every condition and would have been a great fit for the army itself if it wasn't for his eye.
"Yeah, well we've received news that if you are still interested, you can move to the 76th Mech-" the woman commander began to start again.
"Yes!" the man shouted in excitement, falling to his knees. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Looking back up, the commander couldn't help but notice the eyes of the nearby soldiers watching one of their toughest men shed tears, although happy ones. One couldn't help but be grateful for such an opportunity, especially as deserving as that.
Even as happy as that moment was, a loud noise rang through the area, causing all the soldiers to pause at whatever tasks they were finishing up with. Those that quickly picked up the possible situation at hand, went towards their rifles or activated their powers. Even the commanders themselves were a bit perplexed, until more pops rang across the camp, and the first scream alerted everyone with the reality. They were falling right for an ambush.
"Get back to your positions!" the woman soldier yelled out, as she helped Bandit up her feet.
No hesitation, Bandit collected himself to what was going on and began making his way back towards the encampment, as the soldiers nearest to the hills began firing into them. The man managed to leap over a fallen soldier, just as a shard of metal impaled into the figure. Closing toward his tent, he rushed inside to see a few gathering their gear for the assault, with his own weapon stashed in the covers of the mat that had set-up.
Returning back, Bandit was greeted by the sight of what had to be hundreds of people on top of the largest hill, with a glowing man standing in front of them all, raining balls of light. It wasn't until one of them landed on another one of their tents, and fire sprung about, did he truly understand who that person was. Jamal Wrint, alongside that infamous force of his, was bringing the firepower to them. A moment of fear ran through his veins, as he collected himself and aimed his weapon at a charging soldier of the opposing side. Without hesitation, he dropped the man with a single shot to the forehead, just as those forces continued to stream down the hill and toward the camp.
"Bandit!" a woman's voice rang out, causing him to turn to see the commander and other survivors rushing towards the carrs parked. "We got to go!"
Taking a quick peek behind, to see the few stranglers behind getting mowed down, he wasted no time jumping over the dead and dying bodies of his comrades, as the engine of the closest carr rumbled and began to accelerate. If he didn't push himself, he was going to die, Bandit grounded his teeth just as a fireball landed a few feet to his side.
"Stop as many as you can!" Bandit took a final look to see the burning man roar to his army, as he lifted his hands towards the sky.
Focusing back, all of the soldiers held their hands out for him to reach through the back opening, as the vehicle continued to gain speed. Lungs burned with no oxygen, Bandit practically pushed off the ground, as his fingers managed to latch onto someone's arm. No energy was left in him, he was pulled inside and collapsed onto the ground.
"We aren't out of the woods yet." one of them managed to say, causing Bandit to stir his head up.
The vehicles were all in a line, one could only assume, as what looked like the sun was floating in the air. Taking a quick look, Bandit and everyone around him realized that it was the fire from Jamal's abilities, as the burning man hurled it towards the line.
"Go as fast as you can!" the woman commander shouted in panic.
Hearing the engine rev up, those standing were forced back into their seats, as Bandit held the edge of a seat for dear life. The fake sun moved closer to them, as the air began to warm up enough for those not in any type of shade to sweat. All one could do was pray, which Bandit and several others were doing or the rest watched as the vehicles in the back were melting upon contact and exploding. This was really going to be it, Bandit could see the carr two down the line starting to slow down, before blowing up from the heat.
Before he closed his eyes one last time, the carr they were in managed to turn into the wooded road, and everyone watched as the insane fireball slowly began to dissipate, before expelling its energy. The final carr behind them was already smoking due to a lack of water for the engine, but at least some of them got out of there alive. Feeling the blast of warm air from the ball's collapse, Bandit took a sigh of relief, as he managed to crawl towards an available seat.
"That was absolutely insane." someone within broke the silence.
For a few more moments, no one added anything, silent in the thought of what just happened in the last few minutes. Hundreds, if not a few thousand dead, just like that. This was the greatest threat Youdenia would have truly faced, and any rumor could not outmatch the reality.
"We will make them pay." Bandit finally spoke, with no emotion, "On our lives, we will make them pay!"
...
Taking a quick breath of relief, Jamal stood among the dead of the ambush. That fireball looked to have taken out at least five of their carrs, but many of them still got away. Truth be told, Youden's forces still have access to more equipment than the city soldiers thought they had, as Beai moved towards him.
"We've rounded up thirteen prisoners still alive. All alive and well enough to walk." she said, "So we take them back?"
"Yeah, do as needed. We still got to keep them on their heels." Jamal returned his focus away from her and towards some of the taller weaponry he could make out as artillery pieces.
It looks like they would no longer be the only ones with such weaponry after all, Jamal couldn't help but smile, as he started at the trail of dead grass and melted metal, and a path of destruction that he would gladly bring to Youden himself.