Cavalcade of the Iniquitous

The Start

Tuesday, 2213 hours, 6th of July, 1915

One day earlier

Moonlight filtered through the forest canopy, casting mottled shadows across the leaf-strewn ground. Mist curled around our boots as we waited, straining our ears for the faintest sound of the enemy's approach.

"Remember the training. You've prepared for this. If anyone can do this, it's you." Her words were warm, encouraging, her eyes shining with hope. I wanted to believe her, to share her confidence in my abilities, but I couldn't. Pressing my back against a tree, I crossed my arms and looked away from her, the familiar doubts pushing their way to the forefront of my mind.

Why me? Surely there were others much more experienced, much more suited to the task than I was. Perhaps it was for my expendability, rather than my skills, that the general had chosen me for this.

I told her as much. She refused to believe it.

"The general wouldn't send you on this mission if he didn't think you were up to it." Her hands moved to my collar, gently adjusting the red tie at my throat. Despite having been a soldier for four years now, my ability to knot a tie remained sub-par. Just another skill I'd failed to master. "He believes in you, Lien," she continued. "We all do."

"And what if he's wrong?" I snapped, a little louder than I'd intended. "What if you're all wrong?"

"Oi, keep it down over there!" Through the gloom I could see Elaine's crouching figure nestled amongst the undergrowth, the barrel of her rifle catching in the moonlight.

I shot her a glare but lowered my voice nonetheless. "What if he's wrong about me, Sofia? What if I mess this up? What if I give myself away?"

"You won't."

"You don't know that."

She gnawed at her lip, an unconscious habit that betrayed her uncertainty. "You're right, Lien—I don't know. But I have faith in you. And don't forget, we'll be close by. You don't think we'd just leave you stranded in enemy territory, do you?"

My heart beat a little faster as I looked into that freckled face, those determined eyes gleaming up at me. My fears, though overwhelming, seemed to wane. Ever since we were little she'd been at my side and I at hers, supporting each other through whatever life hurled at us. Now was no different.

A rustling of leaves. In an instant, our weapons were drawn. A man dressed as the enemy appeared in our midst, but it was only Valter, a pair of binoculars hanging around his neck.

"It's coming," he whispered urgently as we lowered our weapons. "The truck. Get into your positions."

"About time," Elaine grunted, lifting her rifle, aiming it into the darkness. Sofia and I crouched down in the scrub, peering through the foliage at the silent, tree-lined road.

For a while, all was still. Then we heard it. The deep rumbling of an engine, the crackling of tyres over rocks and twigs. In the distance a light appeared, steadily moving closer. The spruce tree we had earlier positioned to block the road was soon illuminated in the wash of the headlights.

The grinding of brakes. Muffled voices. The opening of a door. A grizzled looking soldier stepped from the truck and made his way cautiously to the fallen tree. He nudged at it with his boot.

"Another one," he grunted. "Boy, get out here and make yourself useful. Help me move this thing."

"Yes, sir!" The door on the passenger side of the truck creaked open and out stepped a tall, young man, his mop of orange hair contrasting against the cool darkness of the forest. I instantly recognised him from the transmission we had intercepted a week ago.