Chapter Ten – A Lot Going On Up There

Chapter Ten – A Lot Going On Up There

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***

Unfortunately, or maybe it was rather fortunate, the little get-together broke up soon after it started. We couldn’t all just sit around and yap. The army-types had subordinates to scream at and us Samurai had to… not really do much that was pressing, actually.

“Hey,” I said to Gomorrah as she squeezed her way out of the Fury. “Do you think we’re going to be staying here for long?”

“Probably not,” she replied. “We’ll likely have to fly ahead of the army. None of the vehicles they are using look particularly fast. Though it might be wise to keep pace with them. For moral support, if nothing else.”

“You think they might get ambushed on the way?” I asked.

“It would take a brave person to ambush a half battalion’s worth of soldiers supported by tanks and armoured cars,” Gomorrah said. “Or someone particularly stupid. It is entirely possible that the antithesis will pop up and attack, but the Trans-Canadian is reporting relatively low numbers between here and Quebec.”

I hummed. Better to be close, then. Plus flying slow like that could be foisted off to the autopilot, which made my life easier. “Alright. Now we’ve just got to wait for the army to get their shit together,” I said.

I turned and glanced over the field. In their defence, they really weren’t fucking around. Two dozen trucks had pulled out and were parking themselves in a rough line next to the open field. Soldiers were forming lines of their own behind them, each one carrying a heavy bag on their back and a smaller rucksack in hand. They had guns on slings and at the front of each group was a… sergeant? Yeah, something like that. Some person who was checking them all over then tapping them on the back before they jumped in.

APCs were parking up on the other side, and more troops were being loaded into those. Though they couldn’t carry half as many. My shinier eye zoomed in, and I was able to make out the 77th patch on those loading into the APCs. So, the recon company got the cooler ride and the rest got the tarp-topped trucks?

Sucked to suck, I suppose.

We were getting a lot of looks, which I supposed was only fair. A bunch of samurai plus the Bastion and Gomorrah’s Fury, it all stood out quite a bit. I waved, and a few soldiers waved back, which set off the sergeants something fierce. Oops?

“Well, at least they seem happy to see us,” I said.

“They’ll be getting combat pay for what might just be a day-trip. If they’re lucky, we’ll arrive in Quebec city and they’ll have nothing to do but cool their boots and earn more credits and hour than usual. Or if they’re less lucky, they get to finally put their skills to use. This is the same group that helped us with the Big gun project and Saint JEEErome. Some of them probably came out of that with some commendations, and I’m pretty sure there was a minor campaign medal of some sort handed out.”

Oh, shiny medals. Yeah, I could see why people wouldn’t mind risking their asses if it came with a small piece of metal at the end. Or were modern medals all digital? I hoped not, that would be lame. Poor dictators couldn’t have a strip of tinsel across their front if it was all digitized, could they?

“Catherine?” Gomorrah asked.

“Huh? Sorry, I let my mind wander a bit there.” I gestured vaguely at my head. “Got a lot going on up there.”

“I’m sure,” Gomorrah said, though I noticed a fair bit of doubt in her voice. “It looks like they’re nearly halfway done with the loading.”

It did look that way. A few tanks were moved around, though most of them–all of those with threads, at least–were loaded onto the back of long-trailered semis. The wheeled tanked–whatever those were called–could probably just keep up, and the mobile bases were already rumbling ahead of the forming convoy.

“Alright, I’m gonna gather up the rest. See you in Quebec?”

“Keep your comms on,” Gomorrah replied with a nod before returning to her car.

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I had an idle thought, wondering if she needed to use the washroom, but I dismissed it. It’d probably injure her religious sensitivity if I asked. Walking off towards the others, I clapped my hands for attention. “Alright! We’re almost ready to head back out. Say good-bye to the soldiers and… where’s Shy?”