Almost immediately after basic we were sent out to the front. The early days of the war represented little of the trench warfare that would be seen in the following years. This means that troop movements were happening at a higher rate compared to the static warfare of the later war. This change was especially prominent in the Overland.
The Overland was a grouping of small Merchant republics that formed together into one large barely functioning republic on the other side of the sea from Rus. They bordered the Empire client state of the Passage and it was in the contested areas in which the war started a few months prior.
The Empire had control over the entire Northern Insula, which was about three/quarters the size of the Southern Insula, where most of the fighting would take place and where the countries of the Passage, the Overland Republics, Trent, Gelton, Ashfall, and the Sultanite lay.
In the early days of the war, the fighting represented the wars of old, where troop movement held the key of victory. Due to this the Overland front was changing rapidly, and thus we were to reinforce the troops. But we would never see this kind of combat, by the time we got there the two opposing forces had settled into stalemate.
We were on a troop transport ship, or at least that was what we were told it was. In reality it was a cargo ship hastily converted to fit thousands of fighting men. The ship itself was a crowded mess. If you were under the deck you could barely breathe, and we were only let out on deck at specific times to do exercises and other menial tasks. That is besides the point, I just have never had a good experience on troop transport ships, not then, and definitely not later in the war. In one of those seemingly endless days upon the troop transport lie the seven of us.
"Where do you think we're headed?" I asked as I was swinging in the hammock style beds that lined the tall walls of the innards of the ship. Bruno, Carlo, Felix and Adrian were huddled next to me playing poker in Felix' hammock across the way. Bruno takes a puff of a cigarette then takes it in his left hand while intensely looking at his hand. "No clue Luca '' He says as he sticks the cigarette back into his mouth.
"Really, not a single idea in that head of yours'' I ask as I sit up to look at the four of them gambling away the little money we had. Felix called the pot and looked up at me from his cards. "Don't ya know Bruno cant think of two things at once". Bruno looked up from his hand and stared at Felix. "Got to focus to beat you, this losing streak can't last forever".
Carlo raised the pot. "This might not be your game to say that, '' he shrugged. Adrian grimaced, looked at the pot, looked at his hand, and back and forth till he finally folded. "Damned bastards", he said as he lit a cigarette. "I dunno Luca, either Geltan or the Overland." He spoke out of the corner of his mouth while taking a pull to make sure the cigarette was lit.
"Those are the two options," Nando said as he poked his head out from the hammock above me. It startled me and the other guys and some curses were said under their breath. "Pete's sake Nando '' Bruno said as turned around, looking at the head above him. "Scared the hell out of me" Felix laughed and the other guys chuckled.
"But seriously those are the only options, can't any of you make an educated guess' ' I say as the talking and chuckling die down. "You're speaking as if you know something, got anything to tell us?" Felix said as he proceeded to fold. " If I knew, why would I be asking any of you dimwits?" I said sharply. "Dimwits! Ha'' Bruno exclaimed as he raised the ante once again. "That's rich coming from you. If you want to know so bad, ask the Sergeant."
Carlo and Bruno stared at each other as the last card was flipped over. "He said that he also is kept in the dark… Does anyone in the Legionnaires know what's going on" I lean against the wall of the ship with my feet dangling down from my hammock watching intensely as the two men stare off before the final round of betting.
It was Nandos turn to talk again. "Think they do that on purpose" Adrian looks up at the man leaning over his hammock, and takes out his cigarette from his mouth as he leans back supported on his right hand. "You think the legionnaires purposefully don't tell anyone any information about anything".
Nando looks down at the man with blonde hair, which has grown out somewhat since bootcamp. "Well yea, you know, just in case any information gets out to the enemy" That made Felix Adrian and I laugh a little, Bruno and Carlo were still deep into their card game and gave no notice of us. After Adrian was done chuckling he responded. "You care what I think" "No" Said Felix laughing a little, cutting him off.
Adrian shot him a quick glare "I think that the Generals are to busy wargaming up in their nice private bunks to even realize that no one in the entire unit knows what's going on, its gotta be a some sort of oversight" I looked at the man "Don't you know, Adrian, the Legionnaires don't make mistakes, nor oversights" He laughs, thinking back to what our old drill sergeant used to say what seemed like everyday back at basic.
"Who knows where we end up, we could end up in the Zultanit for all we know" felix said with a sigh. Nando looked perplexed. "The Zultanit, why in the Fathers good grace would we go to that place" "I'm not saying we will, it's just a what if, i'm trying to say that we have no way of knowing, so why get worked up about it"
Felix finished while leaning on his knuckles looking at the last moves of the poker game. They both showed their hands. "Straight, five through ten" Bruno Exclaimed while a smirk grew on his face. He looked at his taller brother, who sighed. "Bruno Bruno," Calro said, shaking his head.
"When will you learn?" Carlo flips over his hand; it was a spade flush. I could see in real time Bruno's face turn from the grin to the opposite. Bruno pushed his cards towards the center. "Bullshit cards, I'm never gambling again" Bruno said under his breath. Adrian patted Bruno on the shoulder. "You say that every time". Bruno looked back at Adrian ``I mean it this time, just lost half my spending money" Felix grinned "Cant have been that much then".