Battles Beyond (Book 1: The Fleeing Saga)

Defence & Troupe Talk (18)

Leaflet took on fresh scars from battle. Worse ones were sustained in times past, but these were particularly ugly. Lifeforms were the same. Many were injured and deceased by the invaders. Zartzs and the War Troupe walked away, knowing another day would come to effect victory. The Defence Force let them go aware of this fact.

The petals, bound to hover in fortunate flight, formed something of quality and integrity: a massive driveway that looped around the twister after each Architect was turned on. The temporary structure remained constant despite rotational movement.

Parked in front of Grand Station were five hoverbuses full of soldiers with Mezamica Um in charge. Besides the many beings willing to partake in the mission, the storage compartments were stuffed with medicine, clothes and search and rescue equipment. They didn't know how long it would take to get Hahbou back.

The soldiers manning the driver seat got the vehicles moving in a linear formation as they went down. With support crews behind them, they went on their mission of finding Hahbou. Mounted on the dashboards were radar displays to assist their efforts.

And if they were lucky, they would return with an escaped starcraft or two.

* * *

After he left the hospital ward on the third floor of Grand Station, brought down Wixin from rising into the stratosphere, and had a chat with Ral, he returned to his quarters covered in bandages. But considering the socio-economic state of the planet, it was essential.

His mind went back to the talk he and Ral had with Ees over their perspectives towards death. He knew what it meant to Ral’s culture, but civil war supersedes that. All morals should falter in the Midwest of protracted conflict. He made it to his room, comprised of a bog-standard inversion table dotted with red knobs and velcro straps on the sides, a nightstand, shag carpets and a closet in the corner. But the greatest thing about it was the all-encompassing view from the small balcony.

Bright rays gently hit him, the hardwood flooring, and the wrought iron rails for a timeless look. It was well past midday, even though the cumulonimbus clouds didn't help in that determination. He wanted to talk to Ees, his right side being.

Ees, everything's good? Ippe saw him working on a new project. Most of it couldn't fit on the screen generated in Ippe's presence. It had rivets, bolts and welded pieces. This was his way to relieve stress and overcome disappointment—building, fixing, improving and learning.

He halted his work. Yeah, bossman. All good.

I want to talk about my problem. The Defence Force leader became stern. Do I take war seriously?

I believe you do.

I think I get a thrill out of it. It's addictive.

We should've stopped after you let Das die. You knew we had to pull out that day, but you kept pressing forward and that was the result.

I know, He felt regret within. To lose such a valuable warrior brought his head close to Earth in shame. After that, I began to get fed up with seeing skilled warriors dying. That's why we tried to make peace treaties.

It always fall apart though. Ees stated. But we know that not going to happen, it conflict with our primary goal of victory.

Maybe we should consider it again. Ippe adjusted his bandages.

If you want sir. I feel grateful for the opportunity you give me some years ago. I was able to improve so much as a tinkerer.