[21:51] 10 April, in Shiva, with Raskan
Outside Shiva, inside a tendon, preparations are completed.
"You should relax Erina, maybe in the next tent with me…"
"Ah-ah! Bring me the hearts of the Twins and I'll think about it"
I am Raskan, a simple soldier, the reason why I am with Erina and this Captain-creep is that she took a liking to me.
"Assistant. Bring me the maps of the seventh ring" Erina ordered
"Oh, you want some privacy with me? I may give you some of my time"
"Assistant, the maps are in the tent next to us. Be quick! And you Zeus, I hope you keep that moral in war, or I'll bury you"
Things were getting sharp in that tendon, so I moved quickly, searching these maps. I had to put up all the tents for Erina, so I know the position of all the items there. I went back in the big tendon.
As I walked in Zeus (the Captain-creep) was getting out, and he had a gash on his right cheek. "I like sharp girls. See you on the battlefield!" I ignored his words and I went for Erina.
"Here are the maps"
"Good, now guard the tendon, and bounce everyone trying to enter" Erina's orders were as cold as always, at least since I met her (3 days ago)
I don't understand why a nobody like me got nominated as assistant, she has a reputation to keep up. However she's the once in charge, so i better work my way through this if I wanna keep eating.
While I was contemplating, a short man tried entering the vent.
"Sir, I wouldn't enter now, the General needs to be left alone now"
"The General needs to see what I found. So I am entering" I bumped him, and he fell in the mud.
"Damn! I slipped, are you okay little man?" I love to provoke.
"You little piece of…" He stood up, aggressively, so I felt justified in smashing a shovel at him, but this made too much noise.
I heard Erina yelling from inside "What the hell are you doing there?"
"Nothing, I'm just doing what you told me to do" While responding to her, I dragged the body of the man behind some barrels on the side of the tendon. I was pretty sure he wasn't dead, but I didn't want to deal with it now. After a few minutes, Erina showed up at the entrance of the tendon.
"My father should've come by now, have you seen a short old man?"
"Hmmmm…(I am cooked) No, I didn't. I'll let him enter then if I see him" Erina smiled for the first time I think.
"Thanks, it means a lot to me" She went back inside then.
"Yeah…I just killed her father…the general…she is a ranked wallahi am finished" While I giggled hysterically, two men on horseback stopped in front of me, they got off and approached me.
"We need to speak urgently with the general" One of the soldiers spoke up. "Pipe down, what's the deal?" (I had to do my job)
"It's about the General's father" A shiver ran down my spine.
"I'm the only one who can communicate with the general now, I will refer to her"
…so, basically, the situation was even worse, more than 30 men and 4 dogs were searching for the father.
After a few minutes, Erina called me.
"There were some problems out there?" I was trying to not panic
"Not at all, general" It's kind of weird to be this formal with someone that young, especially a girl.
"My father still didn't come. Probably he is busy with the preparations" I just nodded at that, and she continued. "Since you are the only one available, I'll make it go well, follow me" She went into her private room. At this point my heart was racing, was I beating Zeus on time?
"You'll have to help me choose the armor for the war" I was kinda surprised, the cold-blooded general needed advice on how to dress?"
"It's a long story, every time I choose the armor by myself I get very unlucky.
I am very superstitious. Don't laugh or I'll wear your skin"
I dropped the little smile. She opened her wardrobe, and many armors popped out. Was kind of hard to help her, I never knew they did female armor.
The differences between the armors were big, in terms of color, coverage, texture, and materials. "I like the one on the left" She looked at me a little nervous. "Do I look like a white armor type to you?"
I apologized, and she said.
"If this armor gets dirty, I'll make you clean it with your tongue! Now get out, I have to change" I am praying to die on the battlefield now.
After a few hours, the highest grade of that military operation regrouped the soldiers. Erina was shouting to the soldiers:
"If you've read the summary, you already know the main steps of this operation. I am reminding you of two things:
1) Be aware of their Aces, like the Lethal Twins or the Mower.
2) You are not allowed to hit the central rings, we don't want to create problems with other rich families. If you understand, get ready, we are starting in 30 minutes"
Battle cries accompanied the end of her speech, as she returned to her tent. I made my way through the crowd of soldiers, and I rushed into her tendon.
"General Erina, if this is a simple operation, to scare the Shiva's family, why on Kelea in this summary, the Enemy casualties are expected at more than 200,000??"
"Raskan, no operation is simple, we are entering an era of wars, you've never heard the famous saying? If you want peace, prepare for war" She lit a pipe, and after a few puffs, continued.
"I gave specific teams the orders to focus on killing civilians, kids, mothers, grandparents, innocents, priests, farmers, everyone on sight. Do you think that was easy? Right now every main clan wants to fill the imbalance created by the Boros family"
"But there will have to be someone who opposes this! We can't just…"
"Raskan, get in position, the operation will start in 20 minutes, and if you follow my instructions, we'll all get paid at the end"
I nodded, with a long face, so I grabbed my equipment and I reached my team.
The head of my team was going over the plan.
"Okay, as I've already told you Shiva's seventh ring is very particular, there is no external wall, it's a defensive line, where approximately 15.000 soldiers guard the ring every day. The terrain is unstable, tortuous, and made of different sand. Full of traps, barbed wires, a hell for invaders.
He chuckled, and after clutching his duffel bag over his shoulder, he said:
"The only advantage they have from that ring is that it gives them more time to prepare and hold the enemy there. Fortunately, our elites will deny that advantage. So prepare yourself, and trust your companions, they will be your only allies in there"