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 “What a regrettable predicament”, you find yourself thinking.
 Knee-dep in the mud of the trench, your fellow brothers in arm seem not to be as worried as you are. Have they come to terms with their own death? Or do they cling on the hope of eventually surviving?
-A nearby soldier produces a phone from his pockets, and proceeds to show around the picture on the screen. It’s his family, an old-looking couple, a guy that must be in his late twenties, and a younger girl, although you’re not sure if the latter is the guy’s sister or his partner.
+A nearby soldier produces a pocket clock, and proceeds to show around the picture on the flipside. It’s his family, an old-looking couple, a guy that must be in his late twenties, and a younger girl, although you’re not sure if the latter is the guy’s sister or his partner.
 As you stare in the picture, you start recalling that day not long after your graduation.
 
 A friend of your father had approached you with a rather alluring job offer in his company, member of the same keiretsu that employed your whole family.
 “There is one condition, though”, he said. “One year of mandatory military training”
 “Military training? But I am an engineer”
 “The army needs military engineers, not only to design new weapons, but also on the battlefield”.
 Weapon design wasn’t exactly your dream job, but there was no doubt that a lot of funds were diverted from civil to military engineering and, as a result, breakthroughs in military engineering often ended up benefitting the populace as well. Specifically, you were looking forward for the opportunity to design the first deepwater vessel.
 After all, a year spent as frontline soldier in training could have only been beneficial for your curriculum given your aspirations, so you accepted.
 “Why the condition, if I might inquire?”
 You father friend took you by the arm and forced you to turn your back on the crowd, with the air of someone who is sharing confidential details.
 “My company as well as your father are part of a proud association of innovative businesses all united in their loyalties to the Hakamichi Zaibatsu. Now, there’s no mystery the Hakamichi have territorial ambitions over the Amber Plains, an area largely mutation-free even after the events of the Day of Infamy. It seems that after the pacificatory marriage the Satou might be incline to grant the annexation of that land to the Hakamichi. For this reason, Jigoro, the pater familias, has decided to offer special grants and privileges to single enterprises and entire keiretsu who provide a certain percentage of battle-ready employees. Most surely you will never see a battlefield in your life, but we get to offer you an higher starting salary. Sounds good, doesn’t it?”
-It sounded good alright, but there was a catch. And the catch was you standing there in that muddy spot, attempting to defend the Hakamichi frontline on the Amber Creek.
+It sounded good alright, but there was a catch. And the catch was you standing there in that muddy spot, attempting to defend the Hakamichi frontline on the Amber Creek, called to arms as soon as you finished the training.
 
 Your first day at the training camp was nothing special. You remember it as consisting mostly of a long speech by an high-ranking officer and the attempts to mingle with your soon to be comrades. They were mostly dull and uneducated. Apparently they were in the process of organizing a wild night of partying, right on their first day at the camp, right before the attitudinal test.
 You were instead more concerned with getting to know the place you'd be staying at.
 After a couple of attempts at wandering around, a staff member stops you and points you to your room. He does however provide you with a brochure that includes a detailed map of the boot camp, unsure whether you're a brown noser or an escape artist.
 That brochure, however, became much more useful for you than you'd have previously expected.
 You managed to turn up for class earlier than anybody else, impressing the staff member you met the night before, who turned out to be your teacher for all the theoretical subjects you would have been learning.
 Not only that, you aced the attitudinal test, and discovered to be a natural born artificer.
 
 Whether it was assembling or defusing an explosive device, you were unrivaled among the recruits. "Bomber Bob" would in time become the name every soldier in training used to refer to you.
 Because of your general contempt towards your comrades, you never managed to bond effectively with any of them. Not that you regret it, but in time like this, it could have been probably useful. "Severely lacks leadership skills", said your report card, but that never bothered you too much.
 
 You and other 9 men are stuck in the trench, and you're just so glad the role of leading the men is assigned to Serg. Giraud and not to you. Then why is he looking at you so intensely?
 He finally works up the courage to walk up to you.
 "Oi, bomber Bob". He never bothered to learn the name it seems. "The Amber Wankers are coming. Not sure how many of them have proper weapons. Not sure how many of them are mutants or whatever hell-spawn abomination. What do you advise we do?"
 "Shouldn't you be in charge?", you ask, annoyed.
 "I am, and I am asking my subject what he thinks is wise. Come on Bomber Bob, we all know you've got the smarts. We all wanna go home and shag some pretty lady, so tell us how to do it and we'll all be happy".
 As a matter of fact, the only way the Amber Army has to assault the Hakamichi fortification on the Amber Creek is to cross several bridges. This allows for two possible strategies: blow up one (or more) of those bridges, or to assign an heavy machine gun team to every bridge.
 
 "Alright Giraud, hear me out. To reach our position they need to cross Tomorrow's Bridge. We can take Michael and Nikita and assign them to the heavy machine gun, then we order them to defend the bridge.
 Meanwhile, me and Sarkas will place explosives on the bridge. If worst comes to worst, we blow those Wankers up, and we'll see how good they are at swimming".
 Giraud smiles imperceptibly and nods. He turns around and starts assigning orders.
 
 In two hours, you're done. In four hours, the Amber Army is advancing. You see at least 200 men coming to cross the bridge.
 "Half of them are mutants of some sort", Giraud comments with contempt.
 Michael starts to shoot, and the first soldiers fall. Some others duck and try responding to the fire.
 Giraud reaches for his binoculars. "Protectorate-made weapons. Why, of course. Thank you so much, southern friends!"
 At least 50 men have been gunned down by Michael and Nikita, but a grenade thrown by an Amberian soldier blows the position up.
 Sarkas reaches for the detonator and returns the favor to the Amberians. Those on the bridge explode or fall to their deaths in the river.
 Giraud quickly establishes radio contact with the High Command to inform them of the situation. Some soldiers are still deployed on the other side of the bridge, they fire a couple of rounds, then realize they're out of range.
 Slowly they go back whence they came.
 
 You spend the rest of the day collecting what is left of your comrades. They could have been spared, probably, but war isn't just and war isn't fair.
 
 The next day, Satou Special Corps are inspecting your trench. They're never a welcome sight, not even now that they're supposed "friends".
 Sergeant Giraud is there explaining them what he defines "his plan", which is actually the strategy you came up with. The thing mildly annoys you, but you let it pass.
 The Satou officer, his arms crossed, is intently listening to the explanation. Once it's over, he speaks up.
 "The Amberian strategy, no doubt a brainchild of the Protectorate High Command, was heavily reliant on that attack on the bridge to succeed. Apparently they had some intel that it was poorly defended. You and your squad have proved them otherwise, in what might have been the decisive battle in this war. I commend you Serg. Giraud, and I will recommend you for promotion".
 'So he's gonna get promoted thanks to MY plan. War is really not fair'
 
 You're a bit annoyed and you get out of the tent.
 You breathe the morning air, trying to let go of your resentment.
 Giraud joins you a couple of minutes later, putting an hand on your shoulder.
 "Thank you for not ratting me out, Bomber Bob. I didn't forget to include how crucial you were in the plans. The Satous said they are really impressed with your skills, they might have additional tasks for you to perform later, possibly".
 He passes you a bar of chocolate. "Extra ratios from our buddies. Thought I'd share".
 You devour the bar, overwhelmed by its full and sweet flavor. You let out a grunt of satisfaction.
 "Those Spec Ops guys sure are spoiled"
 "The whole Satou army is spoiled, really. It's just the Hakamichi who think that putting us into hardship will make us harder warriors. I don't entirely disagree, but giving your army a few extra fags isn't gonna make them sissies".
 You both laugh at his joke.
 "Seriously though, Giraud. What are the Satous doing here?"
-He suddenly frowns. "Relationships between Satous and Hakamichis are not as good as they used to be. They never were to begin with, but they used to be able to stand each other at least for the whole War of Defiance. Then the Satou patriarch agreed to wed his daughter to the heir of Hakamichi, and that was a step forward I dare say. Then the old farts called it quits, and here we are. The new Satou lord had a daughter 8 years ago, then both his wife and his daughter got pregnant. The kids were born one year ago, and after that Hakamichi and Satou don't talk with each other anymore".
+He suddenly frowns. "Relationships between Satous and Hakamichis are not as good as they used to be. They never were to begin with, but they used to be able to stand each other at least for the whole War of Defiance. Then the Satou patriarch agreed to wed his daughter to the heir of Hakamichi, and that was a step forward I dare say. Then the old farts called it quits, and here we are. The new Satou lord had a daughter 8 years ago, then both his wife and his sister got pregnant. The kids were born one year ago, and after that Hakamichi and Satou don't talk with each other anymore".
 He lowers his voice, almost afraid of being heard. "It's rumored they both gave birth to mutants, but again, it's just rumor. It's likely the Satous gave the greenlight to the Hakamichi invasion just because they had another interest in the area. Our brothers in arms are probably here to see that this interest is protected".
 
 You see the officer Giraud was talking with earlier get out of his tent and signal you to come on in. A gun is on the floor.
 "This is broken. Can you fix it?"
 You take it into your hands, inspect it for a few, you remove some components and add them back again.
 "Try now".
 The soldier takes the gun into his hands, heads out and fires a couple of rounds.
 "Nicely done, private. You passed the test. Now you're gonna come with us"
 The prospect of a spec ops mission isn't really thrilling. Chances of dying are much higher.
 "Alright then. What is it?"
 "You will have details tomorrow. We will send special equipment later. Rest for now, and make sure to practice your skills"
 The officer and the private leave shortly afterwards, leaving you with a lot of doubts and questions. Nevertheless you do as they said, and practice on an ordinance gun. You disassemble and reassemble it, you jam and fix it, and eventually you decide you're good to go.
 
 That evening, you chat with Giraud.
 "Sergeant, there's one last thing I must ask you"
 "Don't talk like you're already dead"
 "I might be tomorrow". You hand him a letter. "Give this to my parents if I don't come back. And thank you for heeding my advice. You saved our lives and many more"
 "I already received my thanks in the form of a promotion. Thank you for coming up with the plan".
 You shake hands, then you head for the tent and fall asleep.
 
 You wake with the feeling that something's missing. Then you remember that specialized equipment was going to be here yesterday, except it never came. The first thing your eyes see as you wake up are the Satou Spec Ops soldiers.
 "Rise and shine private. We brought the equipment. Sorry we couldn't deliver it yesterday".
 You change into the brown, green and black camo complete with bulletproof vests that constitutes the uniform of a spec ops. The helmet covers your face completely and probably doubles as anti-gas mask.
 "We're gonna cross the river at Tomorrow's Ford and infiltrate behind enemy lines. We are gonna perform an exchange. No other questions will be answered today"
 You nod heavily and head for the exit.
 Outside, the private that visited your encampment yesterday and 3 other soldiers are waiting. You're six in total.
 
 "Are we going to walk there?"
 "Yes, why?"
 "I just thought the Satou soldiers could do better"
 "Then maybe you should show us what the Hakamichi endow their men with"
 "A private's equipment isn't much"
 "There's not much we need anyway while we're in hostile territory. We want to get out was soon as possible. Understood?"
 "Sir yes, sir".
 The walk is long and painful. Your feet hurt and you believe you have blisters by now. Then you cross the river on its shallow point, then you conclude that nothing will save you from fungal infection.
 You walk well into the territories of the Amber Plains before stopping by at a broken house.
 The Officer knocks three times and the door opens.
 A middle-aged man is sitting on the sole chair in the room, in front of a worn table. He's holding a baby in his arms.
 
 "Oh, my friends, you've arrived. I am sorry, I don't have much to share. The greed of the Hakamichi ravaged this land... nothing you didn't already know I guess"
 "As if you were any better. Is that the kid?"
 "Yes"
 "Good. And where are the books?"
 "I will make sure they're delivered at the Ford by the time you're there. Just to make sure that the exchange goes as planned".
 "Very well. The guy is here".
-You receive a push from a soldier standing behind you.
+You receive a push from a soldier standing behind you, which sends you to the ground.
 "You'll have to take one for the team, Hakamichi"
 No way to get out of this.
 "Stabbed in the back by the Satou. It's a wonder how your kind hasn't gotten used to that yet", says the middle-aged man
 "Big words coming from a small man. Now give us the child".
 The man gets up and hand the soldiers a kid, no older than 1, completely wrapped in a towel. It appears that the face of the kid is wounded in some way.
 The soldiers just silently take their leave.
 
 "Who do I have the pleasure to talk with?", you inquire.
 "It's your King. So you better keep your knee bent"
 "There are no kings since..."
 You stop in the middle of the sentence. You now realize who you're talking with. It's evident from the tattoo on his left hand.
 "Oh, really? Well, your silence tells me that your probably reconsidered your foolish opinion. Now, can you show me how you assemble that gun?"
 "And why would I?"
 "Because I am your King"
 "You're not my King. You might delude yourself into thinking otherwise, but you're just another wretched, miserable Mutant. You're a king of dust, nothing else".
 "And isn't dust what all men become when their life is over? Therefore obey my orders, and show me how you assemble the gun".
 He leans forward to stare at you, but his eyes are empty and white, devoid of expression.
 
 You slowly take the weapon apart and pull it back together.
 "What was the purpose of that? You clearly can't see anyway".
 "On the contrary, my son. It's you, who can't see".
 His eyes glow, and the weapon fluctuates in front of you. It breaks down, and it assembles again.
 "My people is gonna need this. Not for greed and not for land-grabbing. Just for surviving".
 You stand up, and prepare to leave.
 "Oh, are you off already?"
 "I am. I have nothing else to tell you".
 "Very well then. Ash to ash, dust to dust".
 
 Suddenly, you feel heavy, Very heavy.
 You collapse on the ground, not able to sustain your weight. Your last thought is for the maimed kid you saw. Then everything around you goes black.