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Lieutenant Colonel Hakos Baelz glowered at the orders in front of her. She'd just returned from a briefing on the upcoming mission and had been informed there was no room for debate. The General Staff wanted this final advance before winter rolled in, and the fighting would inevitably stall out.
"Ma'am, the battalion leaders are ready to meet." Major Irys Hope said as she entered her commanding officer's tent.
Bae took a deep breath and sighed as she tucked the orders under her arm and put on her officer's hat. "Let's get a move on then."
"Is it bad? " Irys whispered as they left the tent and moved quickly.
"I wouldn't order this if I had the power," Bae said frankly. " The western flank is pushing too much, and the trenches on this side have caused us no end to our problems. How many times have we discovered a trap weeks after taking the trench from the Crovians? I want to stop here, but the higher-ups demand one final push, and so we shall push. "
Irys sighed and muttered something under her breath that Bae chose to ignore. Her subordinates' willingness to complain so outwardly was usually something she should discipline, but it conveniently only ever happened when Bae herself was too annoyed or angry at their situation to give a damn about the rules and regulations of being an officer.
Irys took two steps ahead of Bae and pulled aside a tent flap where the company leaders and their second in commands waited to receive their latest orders. Bae opened her folder and began to relay the details of the operation.
As the various officers filed out, Bae reached into her breast pocket and pulled out a small leather-bound book. Opening it, she was greeted with the wondrous words of her love and strength. The war had raged for nearly four years now, and while the poetry had faded from the letters, the love remained. The promises she made with Kronii kept her going no matter what this hell-called war threw at her.
"Ma'am?"
Bae sighed and closed the book before slipping it back into her jacket. "I'm sorry. We need to get ready."
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War was a disgusting thing, and every time Bae was forced to engage in this horrendous thing, she was appalled by her own exceptionalism. Why was it so easy to crush those who stood against her? Why could she so easily see the paths before her and choose those that resulted in the most blood being shed in front of her instead of behind her?
Bae kept her sigh of disquiet internal as she walked the trenches they had taken from their enemies. She'd ordered her troops to exercise extra caution after they had killed the last of the enemies. The Crovians seemed to excel at rigging their trenches when they knew they would lose them, and Bae was tired of having to send letters to families about how their love died to a trap someone had set days beforehand.
Things seemed to be going fine this time around. It was almost eerie how little there was. "Major Irys-"
Whatever words Bae was going to communicate to her subordinate were interrupted as the wall next to them crumbled, and two men sprinted out, their eyes wild and cheeks gaunt. Bae cursed as she heard the sounds of others fighting. The man in front of her slammed her into the far wall of the trench. Bae grunted as her hand reached for her sidearm, only for the man to grab her wrist. She quickly had to do the same to him as he brandished a knife and attempted to drive it into her face.
The two struggled as the man pressed Bae into the wall. Her eyes flicked to Irys, who had been thrown to the ground and was struggling with her own opponent. It seemed that all over the trench, Crovian forces were emerging from the walls and assaulting her troops. There was no help coming; she would need to deal with this man herself.
At that moment, the man released Bae's hand, and time seemed to move slowly as she watched him raise his hand, intent on slamming the blade down. She needed her gun, but no, there wasn't enough time to shoot him. She needed to block the strike-
Bae's hand moved as the man's palm struck the hilt of his knife. Her hand was too slow. Just a moment too slow to stop the blade's motions completely. Pain lanced through her skull as the knife sank into her eye socket, splitting the eye entirely. Bae screamed as her adrenaline kicked up a notch, and she tightened her grip on the hand holding the knife.
Bae tried to push the man's hand to pull the knife free and get him off her, but as it became clear that she wouldn't be able to dislodge herself before his palm struck the blade again, she kicked out in a futile attempt to create space, and her hand shot down freeing her sidearm from its holster. Bae screamed as she pressed the barrel against his gut and pulled the trigger again and again.
The man screamed as he staggered back, ripping the blade from Bae's eye socket. Bae's throat was rendered horse as she cried, took aim, and put two bullets between his eyes before turning and putting the last shot in the back of the head of the man who had pinned Irys.
Irys tossed the corpse off her, and her breath was forced from her lungs as she saw her commanding officer. "Bae?!"
Bae panted as her arms shook. The pistol fell from her grasp as her vision rapidly turned red to black. She attempted to speak to calm her subordinate somehow, but nothing but a slur of noises came out before she promptly collapsed.
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November 15th, 1927
To Captain Ouro Kronii
Captain Ouro Kronii, I hope this letter finds you well. I do not know if you remember me as we were only children when we last saw each other, and I am unsure if my commanding officer, Hakos Baelz, spoke of me in her letters to you.
I am sending this letter regarding Lieutenant Colonel Hakos Baelz's current status. Several days prior to the writing of this letter, we assaulted the Crovians' lines and gained more territory. While we were moving into the trenches they had abandoned, we were caught in a trap. Lieutenant Colonel Hakos Baelz, along with myself and many others, were ambushed, and the Lieutenant Colonel was injured. She is in stable condition, but it is unclear if she will be able to continue the war effort.
From
Major Irys Hope
_____________________________________________________________________
Kronii stared at the paper in her hands and read the lines over and over again. She took in every letter, but nothing processed past the fact that Bae was hurt. She needed to do something. Her love was hurt. Kronii looked up as a hand gripped her shoulder.
Lieutenant Amelia Watson stared at her with worry in her eyes. "Captain. Are you ok?"
"I- what?"
"Please excuse my rudeness, ma'am ," Ame said as she pulled the letter from Kronii's weak grasp. Her eyes scanned the letters content. "Oh... oh dear."
"I... I need to go," Kronii said as she started to stand. The letter had luckily or perhaps unluckily found them when they were ashore for repairs and restocking. Given her current location, Kronii had only one single thought in her mind: She needed to go south and find her love.
"Captain, if you're thinking of doing what I think you're going to do, you can't ," Amelia said firmly as she gripped Kronii's shoulders.
"I need to find her. I need to be there. " Kronii mumbled as she stood from her desk.
" Please, ma'am, think about this for a moment. If you run off, you'll be considered awol. They will find you, and you will be punished." Amelia pleaded as she stepped in her captain's path.
"I don't care. I need to see her. " Kronii muttered as she tried to step past Amelia, only for the Lieutenant to step in her way. "Stand aside."
"I can't abide by that order, ma'am. Not if it'll end in you never seeing your lover again. " Amelia stated firmly. " If you abandon your post, the military will catch you, and if you're lucky enough to avoid a firing squad, you'll be in prison for years. What will happen to Hakos then, huh?"
Kronii stared at her, but Amelia got the distinct feeling she wasn't really looking at her. "I—we promised. "
"She's still alive," Amelia whispered. "Have any promises between you two been broken?"
Kronii's face contorted into concentration as her lips pulled down. "...No."
"Then stay. Remain here and wait for news. " Amelia glanced back at the door before saying. "I have friends from my time in the intelligence division, ma'am. If you order it, I will make some calls and see what information I can get on the Lieutenant Colonel."
Kronii's eyebrows shot up slightly. She had known something was odd about Amelia, but she hadn't expected to hear that the woman had ties to the intelligence division. Shaking off the surprise and keeping her mind focused on Bae, she nodded. "Then consider it an order. Find out everything you can about Lieutenant Colonel Hakos Baelz's condition and where she's at."
Amelia snapped a salute as she smiled. "Will do, ma'am. In the meantime, why don't we go find Gura and Ina? I think some company could do you good."
Kronii nodded after a moment of consideration. "Yes... I think some company could do me good."
"Then let us go find them," Amelia said as she led her commanding officer out of the room while making plans on who to contact from her old job.