3 3 301 Bexonidas and Halam unload the cumbersome auto grenade launcher stand from its position together. Squad 19-1 is pulling out of the observation post.
4 4 301 This auto grenade launcher has been with Squad 19-1 for six years. Halam, the grenadier, is probably the only one who remembers how many grenades it's fired.
5 5 301 However, it hasn't been used even once in this observation post. All 60 grenades still lie safely in the pack on Halam's back.
6 6 201 2 500154 -400
7 7 201 3 500005 400
8 8 301 1 Halam I don't think we'll even use this. Why don't we just stash it somewhere around here? 2
9 9 301 1 Bexonidas You dolt, how would you like to be surrounded without this big guy? 3
10 10 301 Halam To be honest, with the speed our "friends" are slicing and dicing, I don't think there will be any enemies left for us to observe by the time we reach the next station. 2
11 11 201 2 500005 -400
12 12 301 1 Bexonidas We still have to go. 3
13 13 301 Gryphon Chill, Halam, I don't want to end up carrying your rifle. 2
14 14 301 Gryphon Tools and equipment are all packed and mounted on the vehicles, sarge. 2
15 15 301 Bexonidas Good. You take the lead car. 3
16 16 301 Gryphon We've got at most one and a half cars to rub between us. 2
17 17 301 Bexonidas I mean I'll be lounging on the backseat and getting a very good nap. 3
18 18 301 Gryphon A good nap... and a glass of sangria, perhaps? And a sandwich... and a—what do you call it—a maid? 2
19 19 301 Bexonidas Whatever. As long as the maid doesn't have a face like yours, I wouldn't mind. 3
20 20 301 Gryphon ...[Beep—]. 2
21 21 301 Gryphon starts the engine while giving Bexonidas the finger.
22 22 301 Bexonidas pulls his backpack into his chest and buries himself in the tattered car seat.
23 23 301 Just like every other break in between missions, he falls asleep almost instantly.
24 24 301 Perhaps because of the conversation with "Skyking", he dreams of the past.
25 25 301 In his dream, he was right there in the civil war his father had told him about.
26 26 301 They're in the northern tundra, in the snow-covered woods. A fully armed special force, standing there watching as "His Majesty", whom they've fought so hard to protect, flies away on an orbital transport, leaving them behind.
27 27 301 Confused and lost, the soldiers exchange glances, and finally begin to take inventory.
29 29 301 The statistics lead them to but one conclusion: Either 40% of them have to go, or they all die.
30 30 301 At first, they fought over disagreements; Then, over raids and resources; After that, people no longer cared what they were fighting for.
31 31 301 All the soldiers remembered were their accessories: trinkets they wore that told them who to shoot, and who not to.
32 32 301 Flags and crests were soon trampled and forgotten in the snow, replaced by simpler, more feral symbols. The men of Squad 19 started wearing skulls on their heads, while those of Squad 20 decorated themselves with mountain plants.
33 33 301 But the war, meaningless yet unstoppable continued for more than a decade.
34 34 301 And in the memories of his father's generation, the one who finally stopped the war was "Skyking"—Watanabe, leader of the Forsaken.
35 35 301 And right now, not far from his position, Watanabe is on a mission, and Bexonidas is helping.
36 36 301 He pinches himself, but it doesn't deflate the pride swelling in his chest.
37 37 301 AniZhuanchangBegin If Gryphon, that blockhead, hadn't slammed on the brakes out of nowhere, causing Bexonidas to nearly conk his head, he'd probably have been able to bask in the excitement for a few more minutes.
