The Enemies

One Karmian for One Drellian

unedited
Rhea

I wake up early in the morning a bit more cheerful than I should be, take my things and go to the bathroom to refresh. I am not called on to any of the meetings and it is fine by me. Major General Korstonbrow has many things to oversee. I take my time to go through my mail and spend an extra hour on the call. There is the device to be made by one of the technical laboratories. I am ensuring they have all the materials needed. The technology is quite rare and taken from Newtopia. Newtopians are prolific in not sharing anything and I wonder how my father managed to persuade them otherwise but like in many cases before that, I do not feel like asking. We will need it if we want to go through with our plan.

At midday, Joshua comes by and summons me to run through the whole scenario. We gather in the small opening of the forest. It is less than pleasant to spend any time outside in winter. In the forest, it seems even worse idea with wind and snow. Joshua takes out the projector and switches it on. While the projector is drawing the map on the snow, I scowl at the sky. I do not appreciate the idea as we are quite close to the territory occupied by Drell. It does not sit well with me for their drones to see even one bit of the map. On the other hand, one Drellian officer is already in on the plan. So maybe the drones are the least of what I should not like.

Drellians plan to head out at eleven in the evening, which means they are to reach the crossing at one in the morning. Karmian forces need to be on-site by the time Drellians reach it but not close enough for A9 to see. Of course, they will not know that A9 will be located further away with all its members apart from Candred unconscious.

The plan is to head out at nine and reach the destination two hours earlier. There will be twenty-three men Korstonbrow included, twenty-four with me. They will split into two groups. One with Bram as a leader will be waiting on one side of the river. Another group will cross the river and wait on the other side. This way Drellians will be unable to protect themselves efficiently and will have to abandon the vehicles.

We gradually go through the plan and then head to the mess tent. Everyone eats in silence, deep in thought and antsy before the raid. I catch the feeling myself, it spreads like a virus, a mix of excitement and buck fever. I usually get it before any action myself except this time I am not looking forward to the raid itself so much as for the person who is a part of it, who is in on the real plan. Joshua is always close by, asking questions or helping with minor things. I go back to the tent and change into my camouflage winter form without bothering to go to the bathroom. Some soldiers gawk but I pay them zero attention. Then check if my G390 and long blades are already with me.

We gather at the same opening and head at nine sharp. Korstonbrow is a soldier through and through and cannot tolerate any delays. We walk silently through the forest, knee-deep in snow. It is not snowing but wind becomes more vicious by the minute. Everyone concentrates hard on moving forward. Two sleepless nights take their tall and it is hard for me to be out in the open. I am panting hard and sweating but try not to show it. I did not bother to take out my gun since there are ten men securing the territory around anyway. The wind grows even stronger after an hour of walking and slows us down considerably. Good. It will hide any signs of our presence. 

Korstonbrow gets nervous and starts to spout orders. What he does not realize is that if we are slow, Drellians will be slower. We finally reach the location at eleven. The crossing is a narrow pathway through the higher bank that hangs over the river. The vehicles will be able to cross it but it is indeed a perfect location for an ambush – any mistake and all the supplies will be lost. Karmians do not really have to worry about destroying the supplies, as they will simply be taken by the river. Everyone stations themselves as was instructed and wait. When I reach the confirmed location I literally throw myself on the soft bed of snow from all the exhaustion. No one sees me now and I don't have to keep the charade.