The recruits were taken into the outpost and given their uniform. A dark green and white fur padded jacket and pants. This symbolized the unity of The Chain, coalition of the five nations that surrounds the Lost Lands. Avryn examined the uniform. It was made of a fabric he did not know by name. He traced the lining with his hands. Time was not friendly to them. They needed to change, and quickly. The recruits, fleshly donning their new uniforms, formed ranks outside of the barracks. Major Shalshukein gave them their assignments. Leifren and Avryn’s squad were to work under a group of veterans.

  The two squads met with them.

  “Name’s Jovie. Rengo’s the guy with the mask, Hraldi’s the blonde woman, Dilleas is the young guy,” the leader introduced.

  Jovie seemed like a relaxed leader, Avryn thought. A guy his style would blend well with him. He felt content. They were given the assignment of patrolling the scouting perimeter of the outpost. An easy enough job, one that needed good eyes, good ears, and a tinge of gut.

  “We’ll set out now,” Jovie gestured outside. “On these bad boys.”

  He gestured to the jeeps. A Baradovian construct made to efficiently patrol the lands of the Lost Lands. Avryn had never seen such a design for a car before. Jovie gave them a quick tutorial on how to handle the vehicle.

  They left the safe walls of the outpost and made their way along the route. Lay of the land was taken by the recruits. Tvira and Valoche especially took notes as they could. Two years of training in the simulation rooms and still the land surprised them with how dead everything was around them.

  “A library is livelier than this,” Harver commented.

  “Don’t worry, man, you’ll get used to this in no time. Trust me, we went through the same,” Dilleas pat him on the shoulder.

  “If you say so,” Avryn observed the surroundings.

  Fifteen minutes in, they took their first break. Jovie taught Leifren and Avryn on how to use the Scribe to update the patrol data. It was a quick typing in of values and a few swipes of menu navigation. Dilleas was busy sharing stories to the others, regaling them with tall tales of what his squad did.

  “So we were faced with a group of Corpse Ursa’s,” he told them.

  “There were two of them,” Hraldi replied.

  “I saved the day with my quick thinking,” Dilleas pointed to his head.

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  “Rengo made some good shots,” Hraldi continued.

  Avryn was smiling all throughout hearing it. He noticed Jenilah was certainly gripped by Dilleas’s storytelling. Everyone’s spirits were up. Time flew by quick. Their break was over. Continuing down the path, the teams continued to survey the patrol route. The forests were thick. Sound of the rapids filled the eerie silence of the lands. Twenty minutes continued in and they found a pack of Corpse wolves in the horizon.

  Jovie signaled to turn off the engines. The other leaders did so. They disembarked their vehicles and shuffled their way towards the wolves. They were on the patrol route. That called for an elimination. Weapons were drawn. The two squads of fresh recruits awaited their orders.

  Adrenaline started to rush in Avryn’s body. This would be the first real fight he would have in this place. The first of many. His hands were shaky but he stood firm. Fighting an animal is easier than fighting other humans. He drew Lerosa. The honor of first blood belonged to her.

  The wolves were too busy feasting on another Corpse. Jovie gave the signal and they all attacked. Avryn stabbed Lerosa through the first wolf right through the skull. He then sent a shot through another. It was quick execution. The two squads’ teamwork was impeccable. The thrill of a first real fight motivated them. Jovie commended the rookies for a job well done as the last of the wolves fell. Dilleas specifically was pleased with the results.

  “Wow. Just a few more missions and you’ll be up there with some of the best,” he praised.

  “You really think so?” Kiria asked.

  “I know so,” Dilleas offered a high five.

  “If we’re done high fiving, we should get back to the jeeps and continue on,” Rengo walked back.

  They continued making down the patrol route, they had reached the farthest point. Fortunately for them, there were no Corpses nearby. Jovie pulled out his Scribe. It was noon time. He signaled for their lunch break.

  “Ooh, my favorite part. It’s time to break out the rations!” Dilleas cheered.

  The leaders opened the trunk of their jeeps and distributed the day’s rations to the rest. Valoche volunteered to start a campfire. Tvira served as a lookout, alongside Rengo. They would eat their respective rations later. Avryn took this time to ask a question that was at the back of his head.

  “Hey, have you heard of Leandros Solus?” he leaned towards Jovie.

  “Kid with the big fire sword? Yeah. Why?” he replied.

  Avryn hoped he would have run into him soon. Jovie advised him to not rush it. Squads often changed around the outposts all the time. It was just a matter of time the two would meet again. Avryn nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer. They continued enjoying their meal for the day. Dilleas continued on with his wild tales with the others. He was keen on earning big brownie points with the rookies.

  “What’s the deal with Dilleas?” Rinna spoke up.

  “He’s pretty stoked to be a senior this time around. He was the last of us to attain that distinction,” Hraldi replied.

  “Well hey, he’s pretty cool,” Avryn gave his two cents.

  “His noise can attract a lot of Corpses, though,” Tvira muttered under her breath.

  “Hey, leader, can we go a bit further in this time?” Dilleas came up.

  Jovie shook his head,

  “We stick to the route.”

  Dilleas was adamant,

  “Come on, this’ll be a cool time to show the rook’s something cool!”

  Jovie sighed, looked to the others, then relented.

  “Alright,” he was stern. “Just a few ways away, and then we make our way back,”

  Dilleas jumped for joy and was the first to make it back to the jeeps. They ventured out beyond the patrol route, taking in the scenic sights of more trees. They were getting thicker the deeper they went. Jovie provided data to the Scribe for later. They stopped upon what seemed like the scene of a past battle. Therer were some old, rusted weaponry on the ground, and some rusted bullet casings.

  Dilleas jumped out of the jeep and beckoned the rookies to come with him.

  “Let’s come find and see what happened here. That’ll be a fun game, eh?”

  “We can just take a picture and go, we need to leave this place asap,” Rinna looked around.

  “Ah, come on, where’s the fun in that? Let’s make some theories here,” Dilleas examined the battleground.

  Jovie was visibly facepalming,

  “Rengo, make sure we’re not being stalked,” he gestured with his fingers.

  “On it, boss,” the man patrolled the perimeter.

  A few minutes passed by as they played that little game. There were several bushes and leaves shaking around them. Rengo was on high alert, and so was Tvira and Valoche.

  “Alright, time to go,” Jovie commanded them.

  “We can probably take them, anyways. We can continue afterwards,” Dilleas complained.

  Little did he know, he would regret those words.