Wings of Honor: Tales of Pyrrhia

Chapter 12: War?

War? How is that possible? How is any of this possible?
My mind spun in circles as I tried to make sense of what was going on.
Suddenly, Marvin whispered loudly. "Sniper! Get down!"
We all ducked. Marvin had brought out his own weapon, attaching something to the top of it that he looked through. Qibli stuck his head out a little, trying to see what he saw.
"Careful Qibli. There's snipers here. They'll shoot you from a really long way away, before you can even see them."
I sensed Marvin had dealt with something like this before. He looked carefully through his weapon. At least someone knew what they were doing. He eventually crawled backwards, sliding down the cliff to us.
"Let's go. We'll be safer then." He swiftly said.
I bent down so he could climb onto me. It was still weird having a scavenger on me, but we were faster, and this one was good at hanging on.
We flew low over the trees, as quietly as we could.
"Oh shoot. Qibli, Those men you scared, did you let them see you?"
"I don't think so. I stayed in the shadows. They couldn't have."
"But I can't take any risks. Do you think there's any chance they saw you?"
Qibli was quiet for a moment. I already knew the answer.
Well shit. "They know dragons are here, and they know they don't like the Japs being here."
"Do you think we can still get them to leave?" I turned back to put Marvin into view.
"No," Marvin shook his head, "I don't think so. Not without a fight. They're losing in the war, any territory they gain, they're gonna hold onto the death."
Suddenly, flashes of the images I saw. Scavengers charging up a hill. Claw like small swords on the end of their guns. They wore little straps of white cloth, all of them with a red circle and two symbols on each end. They were scared. They were being killed. But they wouldn't stop.
"Moon," Qibli called with concern.
I shook my head, feeling the cold air rush past me again.
"You okay?" He banked a little closer to me.
"Yeah. I'm fine."
"Anyways. Maybe getting them to be friends?" He looked over.
Marvin shook his head.
"Not likely. They massacred their neighboring countries. They're not afraid of genocide. If you're any kind of threat they can't push into slavery or control, they'll kill you."
"Yikes. They seem like really bad people."
Marvin sighed.
"Some of them are Qibli. Not all of them." I had a few Japanese friends at college, at home. I just wish more could see that.
"There's your friends." Qibli pointed.
I banked over and flared to land before them. They were waving as we approached.
"Marvin!"
"Lieutenant! Where were you?"
"And these two again."
Marvin slod down. "Great, so you guys got my message."
"What? That the yellow one wanted to eat us?"
"And the black one pushing us around?"
He looked over at me and Qibli.
"Hey. I did what I had to do to keep them from stumbling across those other scavengers. That's half the reason I went after them."
I only offered a nod for a similar reason. The older, and the person who seemed in charge under Marvin, walked over to him.
"Marvin?" He whispered. "What was that all about?"
"I'll tell you, Kish. We made contact with a large Japanese camp."
I heard him suck in air loudly.
"About three miles east of us." Marvin continued.
"Three mi- what should we do Officer?"
"What can we do Kish." Marvin looked up and saw the other soldiers staring intently at them. McManis chuckled, walking over and putting both of his arms around them.
"Come on officers. We're all friends here, you don't have to keep secrets. In fact."
He stepped back, turning and walking towards us.
"These two look about as shocked as you are." Suddenly his voice turned very serious. "Tell me dragon. I know you're smart enough to understand me. Did you see the enemy?"
I froze.
What would happen if I said I did? What would Marvin do? What would the others do? Should I lie? I think they'd figure it out though. I've underestimated scavengers before. But this? This!
Suddenly Qibli stepped in front of me. He nodded for me.
McManis nodded slowly with an "Ahh. So we're still fighting this damn war." Then he threw his gun far away, where it lodged into the ground. A flash of anger and rage came upon him. "I didn't fucking sign up for this shit! I've followed too many leaders to get myself killed now. This-this shitbucket... is worse than any war I've ever been a part of. No food, no drink, no God damned support. We're practically fighting this war on our own! I can't do that! I can't even do that if I tried. This shhhhhhhit is too damn fucking hard!" He stormed away towards his rifle, picked it up, and continued onwards. "It's fucking impossible!" He yelled, now echoing through the trees.
The rest of the men turned back toward the two leaders. Marvin just wore a blank expression, he didn't know what to say. It was a little while longer before the man with a similar object on his gun as Marvin's, walked up to the two. Wessly I think his name was, stopped short and spoke softly.
"Lieutenant. Sergeant." He looked to Kish. "What are our orders?"
Marvin took a second, finally getting his mind going again.
He's right. It's an impossible mission, not without help. I-I-I... I don't know what we're going to do.
Finally, Kish spoke up.
"We'll return to camp." He looked to Marvin. "That's what we'll do. We can sleep on it. Maybe when we're all rested and not hungry or sleepy, maybe then we can come up with a plan that includes our new friends."
But... I don't want them to get involved. I'll be putting them in danger they didn't sign up for. I can't do that. Not even with my own men. Marvin's mind whirled.
"Come on. Let's go home."
Kish began to lead Marvin away. He just turned to look at me with a glassy-eyed stare. Like he was staring at something behind me. Even in the dark, I could see his light hazle-brown eyes reflecting the stars. His crutch turned him back around, leading him back to their camp. I just stood, listening to the crunch of their footsteps fade into the noises of the forest. I felt Qibli's warmth next to me.
"So... what do you want to do Moon?"
"I... I don't know." I shook my head. "They're dangerous, those scavengers are. Marvin knows that. He doesn't want to involve us, but... unless we do, he's going to get himself killed."
I turned towards Qibli. He just hung his head, nodding.
"Sounds like something he'd totally do." He slowly nodded his head. "Maybe I can get the Outclaws, maybe Torch could lend us an army? Glory would want in too. They are right on the border of the Rainforest Kingdom. We could destroy them in one fell swoop."
But then they'd know we're the bad guys. And with that many ships, they could probably build another den somewhere else, somewhere more dangerous. We couldn't take them on. Not by ourselves.
I shook my head, trying to clear my mind of these dirty thoughts.
"Are you okay Moon?"
I sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's sleep outside their camp tonight. I want to know what they're planning." And if at all, to stop them.