Tragedy

It had been 4 hours since the start of the exam, Unit 505 had been progressing steadily, they were now only 3 miles from Kiera River. Benjamin and the rest of the unit began formulating an attack plan, "Yurka and Fritch will go ahead and scout, mapping out the defenses and patrols, returning in no more than 3 hours. Then we can plan a precise attack" said Troy, the recruit they voted as mock commander for the exam. Yurka and Fritch agreed and set off. The rest concealed themselves within the forest and waited, keeping an eye out for the rogue element.

After 3 and a half hours with no sign of Yurka or Fritch, they reconvened. "They were probably spotted and eliminated," said Benjamin. "Yeah, we'll have to advance together" Troy agreed. Michaels spoke up at this point, "They'll be wary now, we'll have to be extremely careful.". They all agreed and set off, making sure they didn't even disturb the birds. After an hour, they were able to see the river and the defender's encampment, a small makeshift wooden bunker surrounded by sandbags and barbed wire with trenches to the sides. Troy took out his telescope and observed the camp, then he suddenly had a look of confusion on his face before saying, "There's no one there, no patrollers, no guards in the trenches, no one in the bunker windows. Why would they abandon their objective?". Benjamin pondered before answering, " Perhaps they're lying in ambush in the tree line. Maybe Yurka and Fritch were confused too and decided to check it out, got themselves picked off as they reached the camp?". "Probably, we should circle around and try to pick them off." said Michael. "Yeah, let's go." agreed Troy.

They circled around the tree line and crossed the narrow portion of the river before circling that tree line as well, they didn't find anyone, even after checking the treetops. The entire unit was confused at this point. Troy finally spoke up, "Benjamin, check the camp, haul ass back as soon as anything seem off". "Alright", Benjamin said before proceeding to carefully approach the camp. He was about 10 feet from the first trench when he started smelling something metallic and coppery, it took him a second to recognize it since he'd hardly ever smelt it before. Blood. Benjamin instantly had a shiver run down his spine and his hairs stand on end. He shouldered his rifle as he got closer to the trench, he almost puked as soon as he peered over the edge. In the trench were Yurka and Fritch along with 2 recruits from one of the defending units, all of their throats were slit, having filled the trench with blood. Benjamin immediately turned on his heels and sprinted straight for his unit, only when he got back to Troy, did he start puking. He managed to get out a few words between his retching, "Dead!... they're... dead". Troy was immediately alarmed and demanded he explain clearly. Benjamin finally got himself under control and managed to speak properly, "Yurka and Fritch, and 2 of the defenders, they're dead, in the trench with their throats slit!". The rest of the recruits' faces turned ashen, all of them having taken in what Benjamin had just said. Troy took a minute to recover the color in his face, finally managing to say, " We need to see if everyone is dead, and then, then, w..we should try to contact training command". Benjamin and Michael nodded their accent, trying to look brave to reassure the rest of the recruits. They all slowly made their way into the camp and counted out the dead. 42, including Yurka and Fritch. They collected their tags and hauled ass out of the camp, trying to find some high ground. an hour later, they managed to find a small cliff, with a protruding ledge, there was a cave on the ledge that could fit all of them, with barely enough room for a fire. The cliff was covered in thick, tall Merlin grass, a purplish red grass that was extremely common in Mercia. The thin trees and brush barely concealed the cave, but they decided that this was as defensible a position as they could possibly find on such short notice. They got everyone situated into the cave as Troy, Michael, and Benjamin brought out the mana transceiver. Mana transceivers were developed only 5 years ago, but hey had become essential to communications almost immediately, being able to instantly transfer information across as much as 100 miles between units. They were a grayish-brown enclosed backpack, with a rotating charger and two ports on the top. By using the charger, it spun an anti-magic stone rapidly around a mana stone at the left port on the top, creating a suction effect that pulled in mana from the air. The mana was absorbed by what was basically a magically grown brain in a jar. The brain used this mana to establish a connection with another transceiver, selected by rotating the right port on the top to select a channel. Benjamin always thought the transceivers were creepy and shouldn't exist, but they were useful, so he kept that to himself. They switched it to the command channel and began sending their message: Unknown enemy, 42 recruits KIA, request assistance immediately. They repeated this message 5 times; then sat back to wait, their rifles at the ready. after an hour of silence, they figured command hadn't been able to receive their message, which scared them. In class they were taught that it would take a psychic storm at least at the level of a fifth organ mage. A fifth organ mage could wipe out an entire battalion by themselves. Why would a mage like that be here, and from where, Mercia was at peace. In fact, this whole incident was bizarre, Mercia hadn't been to war since it was founded 150 years ago, they didn't have any present enemies. Just who would be attacking them? They didn't know, and honestly, they didn't care, they just wanted to contact command and get help. Troy finally spoke up, breaking the silence, "We should move out at first light, if they have a fifth organ mage, they might be able to track the transceivers psychic signature. We'll head west, towards the Lamont pass in crieg canyon. if we make it through the Lamont pass, we'll be less than 60 miles from training camp east. we can tell the command there". "Sooner, there should be an outpost guarding the Lamont pass, command set it up 2 months ago" said Benjamin. "Yeah, they said that Lamont pass was a major strategic point, needed a strong Mercian Prescence" Michael agreed. Troy sighed with relief, "Thats good, the sooner we get help, the better, we don't have any real weapons". They all had grim expressions, they knew it was 15 miles to crieg canyon, then another 7 miles to Lamont pass. The trip would leave them exposed if they wanted to make it there quick enough. "I know we're all frightened, and tired, but it's another 7 hours until first light, it's already been 11 hours since the start of the exam, it'll take at least 10 hours to reach Lamont pass, then 10 hours for our reinforcements to get to the exam area, whoever the hell is out there will probably leave before the exam period is over, we should leave now" said Benjamin. Troy and Michael considered for a moment before agreeing, they decided to use the dark of night as cover and move as fast as they could. The 20 recruits ventured out into the night; despite their fear, they managed to stay calm and alert, watching carefully as they moved. The darkness seemed to encroach upon them, covering them in an eerie feeling, making them all anxious. The forest was silent, not a single sound aside from their own feet and their breathing. The creepiness made them shiver, building upon their fear. It seemed as though the night would never end, as though they had already died, existing only in this dark purgatory that surrounded them. They yearned for the dawn, for the light of the sun, but they knew the light was still hours away. When seconds felt like minutes, the wait was agonizing.