Prompt 491 Guerilla Tactics - naughty_bangles - Guerilla Tactics - Original

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Title: Guerilla Tactics
Fandom: Original
Author: naughty_bangles
Warnings: Dead bodies, but it's not that graphic.
Word Count: 622


They found the bodies two days later, after a heavy rain had destroyed their chances to find any evidence. Each member of the unit has been left where they had fallen, the corpses seemingly undisturbed. They would found out later that munitions and every scrap of data had been removed, just like for the others. The rebels hit quickly, silently, and no one saw them coming ; how else could one explain that four units of highly trained soldiers, the best of the best, has fallen without a single shot fired? It wasn’t part of the plan. The autochtones were peaceful, meek creatures that shouldn’t be able to lead an operation like this. They had help, Smegod was sure of it. The question was : who?





It had rained all day long, and water had begun infiltrating itself in some parts of the caves. Rain washed up traces and kept them safe, but it has also a way to dampen the mood until everyone was cranky and restless. Too much rain meant no outing, military or recreational alike, and it didn’t sat well with them all. Damund has been looking for a fight all morning, arguing with anyone and everyone about anything and everything. The general has sent him on wood-splitting duty to channel his energy, and give everyone else a break.


Tex didn’t mind the rain. It allowed her to pause, to think about what they were doing here. She feared that if they didn’t take the time to take a step back and think from time to time, they would soon become like *them*.


She had spent her morning in the quarters she shared with three other fighters, all female for the sake of old-school decency, sharpening her short sword. Her riffle laid on the table, already clean from the previous day’s ministration. There wasn’t any window in the room, if you could call it a room; it was just an excavation on the side of a cave, with no access to the outside so no enemy would be alerted to their position by movements or light. She knew it rained because the acoustic of the place spread the sound of drops falling in every corner of the caves. It was like music to her hear, the sounds of natural order as opposed to the noise of man-made chaos.


“Here you are, of course”, Rayna’s low voice erupted from the entrance. Tex looked up from her sword, already smiling at the follow soldier standing up just past the door. Rayna had that indulgent smile she usually bestowed on children and didn’t annoy Tex as much as she wanted.


“What’s up?”, Tex asked, putting the sword aside.


“West is asking for a meeting. He has our next target planned.”


“This soon?”


Rayna shrugged. “Yeah, no rest for the brave and all that jazz. You know the drill. West is afraid the enemy won’t be afraid of us anymore if we don’t butcher them often enough.”


That casual tone was spreading among the freedom fighters in the caves, as if taking lives was not big deal. West was encouraging it, of course. He didn’t want such a petty thing as remorse getting in the way of his grand crusade. Not for the first time since she had joined them, Tex felt out of place among the rebels.


“Go ahead”, she said, standing, “I’ll be right behind you.”


Rayna didn’t hesitate and turned on her heels to join the meeting hall, where the rest of their small squadron was gathering to hear about their next mission. Tex sheathed her sword and clipped it back on her belt. For a second, she reminded herself of what she was fighting for, then go to join the others.