Ultima Ratio

Chapter 29: Fog of War

As darkness seeped into the sky from the depths of the sea, Akira and her team followed, creeping their way from water to land like the tide.

Even in the cover of night, they couldn't let their guard down for a second. After all, they were in enemy territory.

Like the other allies of Concordia, the country of Madagascar was a relatively mysterious enigma. While that wasn't the case before the war, a lot changed in the last fourteen years. For other countries, the UN had been successful in sending and retrieving spies behind enemy lines to get a vague grasp of the internal situation. Unfortunately, Madagascar wasn't one of those cases, and anyone who went in didn't return.

From the water, Akira led her team quickly across the sand and to the thick forest ten meters away, all the while monitoring her earpiece display for signs of enemy sensors or traps. When none were detected, they paused just inside the treeline and stood in a rough circle to regroup.

"Alright, we have about eleven hours of low visibility," Akira whispered as she activated her uniform's quick-drying function from the inside of her collar. "While we want to spend as little time in the open as possible, we still need to move carefully. We'll prioritize caution over speed; limit radio communications to close-range comms only."

While most of her team reported their confirmations, there was unsurprisingly one complaint.

"And where does comfort fall in the priority spectrum?" Danya asked from the other side of their huddle, raising one hand and scratching under her stealth collar with the other. "Because I am almost certain I got some seaweed stuck under this thing."

Akira barely managed to hold back a sigh. Since the incident in Nairobi a week ago, Danya was required to wear a disguise whenever she left the Crusader—a slim metal necklace that digitally altered her face in real time. For Akira, the only drawback was her unfamiliarity to Danya's new face and how all of her features seemed sharper and older—yes, even though Danya was already over a thousand years old. Evidently, Danya had many more qualms, and she frequently voiced them every day since.

"And now I'm completely certain that it's messing up my vision," Danya added. "That affects my ability to be cautious, you know."

"And the last thing we need is for someone to see you in enemy territory," Akira unintentionally snapped. "You're the most recognizable one out of all of us. The enemy seeing you here could escalate this war to an entirely different level, and that is exactly what we don't need right now. So quit complaining and just deal with it, okay?"

Danya returned her words with a blank stare. To her right, Navin seemed focused on examining his rifle while Elodie fidgeted with her backpack straps. On her left, Quyen kept her gaze firmly on the ground; in contrast, Jivan glanced between Akira and Danya with eager anticipation.

Akira took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I know it's annoying, and I'm grateful that you're putting up with it. But please, could you bear with it for the rest of this mission?"

It took a few seconds, but Danya eventually shrugged.

"Whatever you say, Captain."

Akira grimaced. There was a long road ahead of them and no time to smooth things over, so she simply turned and led the way into the Malagasy wilderness.

They proceeded at a steady walking pace with their weapons drawn and their eyes and earpiece sensors constantly scanning their surroundings. Surprisingly, there was nothing but nature.

"You alright, Akira?" Jivan suddenly whispered as they stepped in line with her.

Akira tensed at their words, as if that alone would trigger a trap. When nothing happened, she let out a long breath.