In the shadowed depths of the dense forest, Warin found himself face to face with his captor, a UOM soldier with a steely gaze and hands that had swiftly secured his own behind his back. "Where are my friends?" she demanded, her voice cutting through the chilly air. Her two comrades were missing, and she was convinced Warin knew of their whereabouts.
Feigning ignorance, Warin quipped, "What's the matter? Lost your playmates in the woods?"
His remark earned him a sharp rebuke, her patience thinning. "Stop playing games. Speak truthfully, or I'll end you here and now," she warned, her tone leaving no room for doubt.
Sensing her deadly seriousness, Warin conceded, mentioning the ambush on the two UOM soldiers, adding a morbid joke about the forest's cold possibly claiming one of them by now.
His attempt at humor was met with a fierce slap, her anger flaring. "Don't you dare joke about my friends," she hissed, her loyalty fierce as the cold wind that whispered between the trees.
Under her stern demand, Warin reluctantly led her to Kasper and Wendy, her companions, now bound and gagged.
...
As she released them, the trio's reunion was a mix of relief and gratitude, with cries of "Hera!" filling the air as they thanked their savior.
Warin, seizing the moment, asked, "How about you free me too, then?"
Hera scoffed at his audacity. "Are you dumb or just playing the fool?"
"So, I'll take that as a no?" Warin retorted, the corners of his mouth twitching in amusement.
She was unamused. "You're going nowhere but to our camp for interrogation," she declared, her resolve as firm as the ground beneath their feet.
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Warin sighed, feigning resignation. "Sounds like a hassle. Well, this is goodbye for now, Hera."
Her confusion was palpable. "What are you talking abou—" Her words were cut short as Warin, having already freed himself, dropped a smoke bomb. The forest erupted in chaos, visibility reduced to zero.
As the smoke began to clear, Hera, Wendy, and Kasper stood bewildered, realizing too late Warin's cunning. "When did he...?" Hera muttered to herself, piecing together the moments of her distraction.
Meanwhile, Warin, ever the strategist, had melted into the night, his absence a silent testament to his foresight.
...
Hera, though frustrated, couldn't help but respect the cleverness of her adversary, contacting her fellow UOM operatives to warn them of Warin's ingenuity. But the news that the brigade had vanished into the night, fires doused and tracks covered, hit them hard.
"This is not good...don't tailgate them!", Hera yells to her UOM operatives. "They stole 2 of our weapons, we'll be the hunted if you run after them in this dark forest!".
...
"It's all too 'lucky'," Hera mused, realizing the evacuation and theft of their weapons were part of a larger strategy designed to outmaneuver them.
...
Back at the West Department, Warin's arrival was met with a scene of quiet triumph. Aki, Miro, Karen, and Daw had executed their parts flawlessly, the brigade safe within the walls, and the new weapons in their possession. Their success was Warin's doing, a plan so daring and precise that it had turned the tide.
"Good job, team! A hundred points each!" Warin praised, his smile genuine and proud.
"Thanks, Lieutenant!" they responded in unison, their address of Warin as 'Lieutenant Radboud' marking a newfound respect forged in the crucible of their impossible mission.
As word of their success reached the Central, Vice Admiral Herto Stessler received the report with a mix of surprise and admiration. "Well, well, well... It seems this kid has more in him than I thought," he mused, the corners of his mouth lifting in a rare smile.
...
"So, we have a new Colonel..."
...