I should probably backtrack and detail how I got here, shouldn't I? Well, there's not much to talk about... okay there is a lot to talk about, but theres not a lot I feel comfortable talking about. or writing for that matter. It's not like I think Master is going to read this, or his v-sistant VAIA (note to self: its pronounced Vi-Uh. Vi as in Violence. Uh as in Umbrella. It's short for Virtual Artificial Intelligent Assistant). I trust him. They both seem very nice, and I'm incredibly grateful to them. It's just- wait what am i doing? I don't have to justify my actions to a piece of paper. This is my journal. Mine. I can do whatever i want here.
It's weird to think that. I haven't had anything like this before. Something to call my own. Something to confide in without the paranoia of someone listening in. Something that I own and won't be confiscated by the sergeants as contraband (and get me 50 lashings as a result). I don't know how to feel about that yet. Where was i? Right, how I got here.
As i mentioned earlier, I thought I was going to die today. Lieutenant 35B woke us thirty minutes earlier than usual today by screaming "If you worms are not at the eastern entrance in 30 minutes in full uniform with loadouts ready, I will personally subject all twenty of you to public whippings and revoke hot shower privileges for a month!" Our scheduled patrol wasn't until the afternoon. That meant trouble was brewing. We rushed through our morning routine and thankfully we were all in formation with two minutes to spare. The youngest of the platoon, a scrawny thirteen year old boy named Urus, was last to arrive.
We could have left early. Unfortunately, waking life on my home planet was a nightmare of endless red tape and fascist dogma. We all stood at attention in black and brown smart armor (ill-fitting hand me downs that could deflect bullets. Unfortunately, bullets had been out of style for about 200 years. the current fashion the military industrial complex favored was laser rays, which could poke a hole through smart armor like it was tissue paper), waiting for 35B to give the command to march. After what felt like the longest one hundred and twenty seconds of my life, the ten story tall iron doors began to slide open. It took just as long for them to open. I remember thinking at that moment "I'm so tired, mother. I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this."
When the gates opened, we were greeted by the vast plain east of Scrag Training Center-525. "Boys, line up in Alpha-Bravo formation." We lined up in two parallel lines. Alpha made up the ten oldest boys between the ages of 17 and 15. Bravo comprised the remaining 10. The two soldiers with the highest accuracy rate in training simulations and on the range were placed at the front. This meant i stood at the front of the bravo line. The sun had just started to rise, but you could barely tell. It was an overcast day, and there was fog in the distance. Speculation of rain spread in hush tones like wildfire. I prayed it wouldn't. As we set out on our hike, it did.
As we trekked through rain, I pondered if the Sergeants were ever capable of emotion. With the stoic way they whip us you'd expect they wouldn't. Then they threaten 20 child soldiers to go walking through the rain for no adequately explained reason with the most sadistic grin. Those ebony goggles don't help. 35B never took them off. They're linked to the supercomputer back at Scrag High Command Headquarters, used to communicate top secret information and orders. Who gave the commands today? Sometimes they were so nonsensical and poorly thought out I wondered if an office goldfish that had fallen out of its tank had flopped over to a computer to type out an SOS, only to send its gibberish to a lieutenant who had to best fulfill the order under penalty of death for insubordination.
By the time we arrived at Klothgars Wood, which was about five miles east of the training center, the rain had ceased. A spooky fog spilled forth between the trees. All 21 of us had walked the entire way in two hours, only stopping twice to rest. We were cold and wet, fighting back shivers as we readied our slings and bows and arrows. Since none of us were of age, we technically weren't allowed access to firearms outside of training ranges. Only Sergeant 35B had one, a silver Ray Rifle. It's three feet long and deceptively heavy. Despite the weight, I'd rather have one of those then my slings and stones.
The rising sun behind us escaped from behind the clouds and cast our shadows into the heavy fog. We awaited orders from 35B. Despite the cold, i could feel myself sweating. I didn't like this one bit. this felt like a trap. I glanced over at 35B, who stood at attention as green text scrolled across the tinted glass at a high speed. He nodded his head and turned to us, and began to speak in a sinister monotone.
"This morning, two hours before dayrise, a satellite detected a power surge in the heart of Klothgars Wood. a half hour later, two suspicious persons-" His goggles started projecting a hologram of footage from a security camera back at the base. It was super zoomed in, showing a man holding binoculars and a woman who was partially see through like a phantasm . "-were spotted on the outskirts of the woods. The high command believes these two might be scouts for the enemy." In retrospect, it's weird that our enemy was never given a proper name.
"The plan is this. we're going to split into three groups. two teams of nine, hereby referred to as Alpha and Bravo, and one team of three, hereby referred to as Omega. Alpha and Bravo will trek and search through the north and southern parts of the wood respectively, before they rendezvous at the west edge and make a beeline back to base. Omega, meanwhile, will investigate the location of the power surge. If anything changes, i will radio your team leaders, but keep chatter low. we must assume they have a way to listen in, so only use your radio in an emergency."
I stiffened at the mention of Omega formation. that meant he was going to split with the two best shots for reconnaissance purposes. That meant he was going to be taking Augustine from Alpha team, and me from Bravo team.
We have a history. We were currently on the outs. Nothing nasty, just a mutual agreement that what we did was ill-advised. Now we're going into a spooky foggy wood, looking for two strangers who may be spies, or more likely refugees (they'd probably be branded spies anyway) with our superior officer who can't find out the nature of our relationship. I thought I was scared before. Now I was terrified.