Mantrin Imperial Guard - 005 Ethos of Solbrecht

Chapter 10: The Hunt, Part III

Weyan, Thylun, Itan, Syrran, Trezka and Nami

"Sheesh Thy, I haven't seen you this spooked since that time where we had to defend that outpost on Raza Seven and we had that Shizvadi horde converging on our position."

Frowning as he conjured up the memories of that particular event, Weyan's attempt to calm things down fell on deaf ears, which included Thylun's own. With Weyan being the one who discovered the written message, it surprised him how his friend was still able to smirk it off, despite his initial reaction.

"Wey, we had guns back then and even if we had those right now, these are our people we're talking about. Have you ever taken a shot at another Mantrin?"

"No." His friend shrugged his broad shoulders. "But I would sure fight back with whatever I can get my hands on."

To Thylun's relief, the others took it far more seriously. He hadn't failed to notice that something had happened between Trezka and Itan, the first one expressing her bad mood with an annoyed grunt, while the latter looked a little abashed. Judging by their wet clothes and Itan still holding the top part of his outfit in one hand, the two of them had gone for a more private swim, though the glum look on his face indicated that something had gone awry. None of that was important right now. It was also Trezka, sliding back into her role as chief of security who threw her weight in the scale with her statement.

"They don't appear to demand that we leave, though I feel we're about to overstay our welcome. We'll finish the day and like Thylun said we're gonna leave tomorrow morning at first light."

Weyan shrugged.

"Well, I'm not afraid of Wyr'Mo'Gehk."

"Don't say that!" Thylun hissed back at his friend. Looking over his shoulder at the row of bushes behind his back, he began to imagine the natives readying for a sneak attack. "They could be listening right now."

"This is not a debate!" Trezka growled, ended the discussion in a way that would make anyone think twice of talking back. "We're leaving, and that's all there is to it! Now we still gotta catch something to eat before dark. Don't stray too far from camp. And no one goes out alone. Nami, are you with me?"

The Fjetanha girl gave her consent with a quick nod.

"Lemme grab my bow."

Splitting up for a final time, the two women took on the task of scoring the meat for the evening meal, disappearing into the dense undergrowth surrounding their lakeshore campsite, leaving the men to divide the remainder of the tasks.

"I think we still got plenty of fruits and vegetables from the morning walk," Itan estimated after a quick look at their stash. "We'll leave it at this. Let's not be wasteful." Balancing on his long legs, he rolled his shoulders and smiled. "You guys liked the fish, right? Shall we catch some more?"

"Sure, I like 'em," Thylun agreed. Watching Weyan fold up the written piece of cloth before putting it inside his own backpack, it still left him wondering why the natives would not go through the more social procedure of coming out to talk to them. Scratching behind an ear, he asked the question out loud as it continued to bother him. "I still don't understand. If they would just come out and talk to us, there won't be any misunderstandings. What do you think it means?"

"Could be recruitment," Syrran speculated, shrugging his broad shoulders as he commenced to follow Itan who took the lead. "The portion of our people opposed to human influence know they're at a significant disadvantage in any kind of direct engagement. They're going up against directed energy weapons and mobile armor. It can become far worse than the Uhna'hir conflict."