Chapter 8: A Journey Begins

I went to war for multitudes of reasons. But adventure was at the top of my list. Looking back at it, perhaps it was foolish. It was risky and dangerous, and perhaps, I may have been a burden.

Even then, I believe that it was right that I went there. I wouldn't be who I am today if I didn't...and the war would just be another distant, detached problem that I could not affect. And perhaps, in my Journey, I did some good things I would not have done if I continued sitting on Earth.

I think it was worth it.

Excerpt from A Peacekeeper's Journey

It has already been thirty minutes of driving through the Alterian countryside, the six vehicles racing on the long, unpaved road.

And with it came boredom. For now, as they drove, random chatter filled each vehicle of Baseplate One, and Sergeant Reynold's vehicle was no different.

"All I gotta say," Blake ranted, still standing and manning the Hemlat's turret. "Is that this is exploitation, like seriously, you have all been sitting comfortably there while I'm still standing here, in the heat."
Anderson groaned at the last part. His friend's complaints have been turning ridiculous every moment. Now he complains about the heat when their power armor already regulates their temperature.

"Will you please cease your endless whining?" Politely requested a tired Katelyn; even with the short sleep she enjoyed, it was still nothing, especially with the mana she expended. Drained and exhausted, she could not scold the man as effectively as she wanted to.

"Nope, missus, I won't stop until someone lets my poor legs rest. Like Jeremy, please just let my poor legs rest."

Jeremy groaned at the annoyance, and so he conceded. Moments passed as the two switched positions until Blake finally sat beside Reynolds and relaxed himself.

"Ah, this feels so nice," Blake said as he removed his Helmet to finally breathe fresh air, revealing a boyish face and his black hair and brown eyes.

"Man, this shitty helmet has been in my face since yesterday. Oh, nice air." He chirped as he opened the Hemlat's side glass, letting in the fresh Esuvian air in his nose and enjoying nature.

Which Anderson quickly copied, as he also opened his side door glass to also breathe some fresh air, only to inhale dust courtesy of the Hemlat's tires driving on the road at 70 kilometers per hour.

"Ah, what the hell!" He said as he snorted out the devilish particles that got into his unfortunate nose.

"What is wrong with this week, man? It's been misfortune after misfortune since, like, yesterday." He ranted as his irritation for the previous events finally flared up. It was all supposed to be an ordinary afternoon, and now he's running away with his platoon to a town that they don't know, enemy-controlled or not, sitting beside a childish, annoying aristocrat and a powerful, cranky, and arrogant one.

And then the wind just has to ruin his little desire to get some fresh air.

Anderson is usually a cool-headed, civilized man you can reason with, but now that Anderson is being placed on the test as life places bullshit at his face.

"I wish I knew the answer," Sherry said. "This has all been ridiculous. We thought Southern Alteria was safe, but now look at us!"

Her cute face frowned a bit, which made Anderson feel bad. Not that he can do much about it. After all, as Peacekeepers, all they and he can really do for civilians, is to protect them, talk to them, or give them essential supplies.

But they failed all of that, and that hurt Anderson. He and his comrades failed these two ladies. First, they could not rescue them in time, resulting in many of their friends dying. Then, they couldn't defend a town where the two could rest, forcing them to run with them to the unknown.

Those things sunk into Anderson's mind as they drove forward. He didn't think much about it hours ago, too distracted by all that was happening. Now, his mind is clear, and he can see things more clearly.

They failed.

"It's okay, Sherry, we'll get through this." Her older sibling soothed, even though she was still tired from her mana exhaustion. In a way, Anderson respected her.

"Everything will be alright...it's a long road, but I think we can manage."

She may be arrogant and ill-tempered (though that's probably because her convoy got ambushed, and she's exhausted, which Anderson knew would crack the minds of a civilian, Earthling or not). Still, she does have this...aura of protectiveness.

Perhaps, she was really a good person, Anderson thought.

He remembered yesterday when she saved that kid from his and his squad's very own bullets like an angel descending from the heavens. Bad people don't do that, and ever since then, he kind of viewed her positively.

But, shame also plagued his mind from the irony of how a mere civilian protected the innocent better than a squad of peacekeepers. It was almost an insult to their job, though, to be honest with himself, the United Nations doesn't seem to be doing a great job overall.

"You guys went through worse stuff because of us. Sorry." He said to the two. Sometimes, he wonders if it's them humans that are the problem. He's not sure. Still, he supposed an apology for their failure should to be given.

"You don't need to apologize. I...I think I should be the one apologizing." Katelyn said, biting her lower lip a bit. To her, these soldiers were just doing their jobs; she could hardly blame them for their recent failures. Plus, her father told her that fuckups happen all the time in the military, and foot soldiers are usually not the ones to blame for such events; they hardly have any control over what happens on the battlefield.

"I have been rude since what happened yesterday. It's just...too much, too fast? We started on the wrong foot, so I'm sorry." She apologized, her face showing genuine guilt. While the peacekeepers could not have controlled their fuckup, she could have controlled hers. Being polite was drilled into her since she was but a child. Only now did that training crack.

To Anderson on the other hand, being rude is barely even close compared to the crime of failing to protect the innocent. Especially since Katelyn was placed in a shitty situation, making her current attitude a little bit understandable. Still, he didn't want to look ungrateful. Plus, it doesn't hurt to clear out negative feelings.

"Well, sure, apology accepted; I guess since we're now all in this bullshit together, we should smoothen things out a bit. Right Reynolds?"

"Right." Their Sergeant, and Driver, still wearing his helmet, replied, still focused on the road. "Gonna be a long journey from now on, so we better get used to each other."

All in the Hemlat agreed. It would be detrimental to their survival if they were divided after all.

"I think you should say that to Blake, though," Jeremy suggested to Katelyn, slowly turning the Hemlat's machine gun to the left. "Dude stood here for hours because you took his seat."

She indeed looked genuinely guilty after Jeremy said that.

"Sorry...Blake, for stealing your seat."

"Hey, I don't mind, I mean, it's my job to stand there for hours operating the gun, and I was just joking when I asked you to stand here; only Jeremy and Anderson deserve that. Though my legs would feel better to sit." The man replied, smiling. "But apology accepted."

"I take that back," Jeremy said. "That guy was just whining because he's lazy." He jeered at Blake, even he was irritated by him.

Blake turned offendedly to him in response.

"Hey!"

"Still, I was rude to him," Katelyn said, genuinely sorry for earlier actions. And again, Anderson could hardly blame her. Blake does become irritating when his laziness flares up, and he starts whining.

"Ha, big sis is becoming a softie!" Sherry said in a sudden burst of cheerfulness. Katelyn didn't respond and merely pouted and looked away at the side window as Sherry began teasing her.

Anderson smiled; it seemed things were looking up a bit for now. He looks at Blake's seat as he hears the telltale sounds of him sleeping. That's probably why the dude was whining; he wanted to sleep. And it seemed like he was enjoying fresh air too much, so he turned his head to get some too.

He cursed his luck as, this time, dust entered his dry eyes. Thankfully, Sherry was there to help remove it quickly with her water magic.

As the day wore on, Anderson became more and more tired. They took multiple detours and stops on their little journey, slowing them down little by little.

Caution had to be observed in their situation. They were a separated lone platoon driving around in a possibly hostile alien countryside. No matter how lucky they were earlier, all it would take is one wrong ambush, and they will end up as burning, dead wrecks.

And so, that's where Anderson and Jeremy found themselves. A few hundred meters behind them on the road was their Hemlat convoy parked on the side, hidden by some foliage. Reassured by their comrades watching over them from cover, the two advanced silently and cautiously on a seemingly abandoned UNPC outpost.

"Hey, relax, man." Jeremy's voice came over the comms. "You look so stiff. Nervous?"

He got him, but he used denial.

"It's just the armor, dumbass." He replied in a blank tone, devoid of emotion, but Jeremy picked that he is definitely suppressing emotions.

"Oh, I see," it was not effective.

The two continued advancing as they raised their rifles and scanned the outpost. It was a small well defensible outpost with a watchtower at the entrance, multiple machine gun nests around, four small pre-fabricated military buildings, and a checkpoint. All around it was more defensive fighting positions with sandbags and barbed wire.

"Geez, dude, look at that," Jeremy said as they entered the outpost.

It was apparent that it was abandoned. Electronic devices were gone, and some guns were lying around, but it was mostly empty. The two advanced inside the outpost and continued checking if anyone was there, and after five minutes, they both concluded that there was, in fact, no one in the outpost.

"Whoever garrisoned this place evacuated hours ago," Jeremy said as he walked out of one of the abandoned buildings toward the road.

"Yeah, no shit. It seems like they were in a rush, too; they even left some guns and ammunition around," Anderson said, looking around the abandoned defensive structures around the outpost. He was slightly thankful for it, as they would have extra supplies, but also not at the same time. If they had to evacuate like this, things definitely don't look good for them.

Anderson decided to switch to the Platoon Level comms using a screen on a wrist-mounted tac-pad in order to contact the rest of the platoon.

"Baseplate 1, this is Baseplate 1-2 Charlie. The outpost is clear, how copy?"

"We read you loud and clear 1-2 Charlie, hold position, over."

He looked back at the road and watched as they began entering back into their Hemlats and moving towards the outpost.

"Roger that, out."

...

It was already afternoon when Anderson and Jeremy found themselves on another guard duty. The platoon decided to garrison the little outpost, in order to get some much-needed rest and vehicle maintenance.

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Their Hemlats were parked in strategic locations around the outpost, while some troops garrisoned the buildings, the outpost, and some of the defensive structures around.

Jeremy and Anderson were no different, as they stood behind sandbags beside the outpost's checkpoint, vigilantly watching over the road for intruders.

In the far distance, they can hear distant explosions, sometimes there would be shots, but for the most part, their area was quiet.

It served as a small reminder to Anderson, Esuvia was big, especially Alteria. It's why outposts like this are found on many roads, it's one of the UN's military strategies to occupy Esuvia with their limited personnel. A reminder that they are a few hundred thousand humans, stretched thin to police a planet with hundreds of millions.

"It's like, we're the only UN unit around." Anderson blurted out uncomfortable, and Jeremy turned his head to him.

"Yeah, no shit. I mean, who would have known that Tria would be randomly attacked? Or Astar for that matter. UNPC's been stretched thin in this province, and now they evacuated, probably everywhere."

He looked in the distance. "Hear that, Anderson?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Over there, is Yorburg, a little bit ahead of Kloch." He said, pointing his finger to emphasize his point.

"I studied some Esuvian geography before coming here you know."

"That's not my point, my point is, the UNPC here is too stretched thin to defend the countryside. And so there they all are, defending major cities. I doubt we'd see any other unit unless if reach Yorburg or something."

"That's unfortunate, what about the civilians?"

"The United Nations can't protect everyone. If they're lucky, they get evacuated, most likely, they are abandoned to the insurgents." The last part of his words seemed bitter. He did know that Jeremy saw the war since the start, and perhaps he did see some awful shit. Though he did not want to press further, so he just kept himself silent.

"You know, I can tell you're curious, Anderson," Jeremy said, and Anderson agreed. But he didn't want to tell it. Still, it was a bit scary how easily Jeremy can understand people.

"You don't have to tell you know."

"Don't worry, I think it's time for me to inform you anyway." He took a deep long breath.

"I, Corporal Jeremy Powell, and Sergeant Max Reynolds over there, was one of the first UNPC troops that went into Esuvia." He paused and looked at him.

"Anderson, do you know what our job is, as peacekeepers?"

"Of course I do, it's to keep the peace and protect the innocent."

"Then tell me, after what happened, do you still believe in that mission? Anderson, I can see that you placed a bit too much expectations on our role, but, I should tell you now, you should reduce it."

"Uhh...what are you trying to tell?"

"Expect to see many failures, from now on. This smells like the 2079 Esuvian Crisis. You probably only heard about it on the TV, but I saw that shit."

It was one of the reasons he signed up for the UNPC in the first place, but he remembered that the news didn't tell that it is that awful.

"Yes, Anderson, they lied. Best way I can describe it, it was hell. A clusterfuck of unimaginable degrees. Not fit for the comfortable Earthling consumer. So they whitewashed it. You fell for it."

He doesn't understand what he means by "unimaginable". He knew it was a humanitarian crisis, and that the UNDF and UNPC suffered severe casualties. He didn't really think going to Esuvia was much of a risk when he signed up.

"I didn't even say anything."

"You think I didn't observe you since you were assigned to us? Anderson, I read you like a book. So I'd tell you now, get yourself together, because this shit is going to get ugly."

The two looked at each other for seconds, before they returned back to watching over the road. It was when Anderson muttered a small reply.

"I see."

...

Walking around the outpost after eating, Anderson was simply mulling over what Jeremy told him earlier. He wanted to ask Sergeant Reynolds about it, but he wasn't exactly an approachable person.

He kept walking until he was slightly outside of the Outpost. He stared at the bright moons of Esuvia for minutes, pondering.

Why is he here? Was signing up worth it? Why couldn't they stop a bunch of insurgents? Why couldn't they stop a simple hostage situation?

Why couldn't the United Nations stop all of this? It was all going so well, they were making so much progress at stabilizing the region, then suddenly, this all happened?

Suddenly, everything is falling apart. How did they fail so hard?

"What are you doing?" Came a soft, soothing voice behind him. He turned around and found Katelyn standing behind him, her little floating Halo illuminating the darkness around her.

"Oh, nothing," He replied cordially. "What about you?"

"I saw you standing alone here, so I came and checked." She replied neutrally, though, Anderson could sense that she was a bit concerned for him.

"Hey, don't worry about it, I doubt anyone's gonna attack, plus, look, there's Blake in the Hemlat behind us. I'm safe."

"What if he's asleep."

He almost forgot his good friend's habit. Though he doubted that Blake would sleep on his duty, he knew it was a possibility.

"...You got a point."

She gave him a little sigh of disappointment. In hindsight, wandering even just a little bit away from safety was stupid.

"You know, you can be a little stupid sometimes." Perhaps he's really stupid, for even coming here in the first place.

"Alright, alright, I see your point."

The two stood there for moments in silence, with Katelyn slightly squirming, as if she wanted to tell something.

"So...could you...could you invite Blake, I kinda cooked something, and I wanted to give it to both of you, as an apology, for my rudeness."

"Woah Woah, there's absolutely no need for that missy!" A girl treating them food? No way, especially not someone they failed.

"There is! I'm a noble, what I did was a breach in my stature. But, if you don't want it, then fine! Sherry and I can eat it ourselves."

Oh, that was out of the question, Anderson's stomach grumbled. For months, he has been eating rations shipped from Earth.

He could technically buy food from the town back then, but with the food shortage affecting the natives, he thought it would just be an asshole move.

But, he's at the limits now, and after what happened, he needed some comfort for his stomach.

"H-hey wait, that's not what I meant. I just ate but I'd be lying if I said I want anything other than shitty MREs, please let me have some." He pleaded.

She turned her head to the side and gave a pout, giving him another one of her classic disapproval poses.

He continued pleading. She looked back at him, and her negative expression dissipated.

"Fine...still, I'm sorry."

"Thanks, I'd like to really eat real food this time. Just, no need to keep apologizing, seriously."

"Hmm, is that so, but it has to be done. What I did was shameful." She said. She genuinely believed that her actions was shameful.

But again, Anderson personally believed that their clusterfuck was much much more shameful, but he didn't want to tell that.

"Alright, I'll go call Blake...I have a question though, where'd you get your ingredients?" He didn't really need to ask, as he already saw it.

"Pocket dimension." She confirmed.

"Magic is such a convenient cheat, why don't we humans get cool stuff like that, you know what, whatever." He grumbled as he walked towards the Hemlat, the angel behind him giggling a bit at his envious frustration.

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