Driving through the first ruin of a town, Mig can’t help but look around in disdain at the tragedy that had occurred he finds himself sympathizing with the lives of Humans and Elves lost in these towns across the Veradigris Vale during the outbreak of the Enchanted War. Only as Mig does have these thoughts a rouge thought peaks around his mind that causes him to halt his Speed Chariot.
“Sympathy for Elves when they started this war. Did they? No, remember what she showed and told me. This war began from a false flag, we have to figure out why so this war can end. I can be doubting this now, she put her trust in me and herself on the line to help me escape. The most I can do is see this through to the End”
Mig continues to drive the cycle through the town stopping every once in a while to search if he could find anything useful to help him on his travel, like a radio, communicator, or more importantly, food, since he had no more and could not last his journey if he doesn’t get enough. Mig finds nothing in this ruin of a town so he drives off passing old Human APCs covered in overgrowth.
“Any equipment in there would’ve either been taken or is too far gone to be useful. I better keep moving, the faster I’m out of here and to the next the better my chances are”
While driving on the sun soon sets as night falls, Mig drives on as up in the sky a beautiful collection of stars can be seen illuminating the night below, but Mig doesn’t have the time to look up nor does he. The sole goal of Mig right now is to make it to the next town in search of food or any useful, working, equipment. Not an hour after leaving the last town Mig arrives at the next one, here he stops to rest, search, and let the Speed Chariot recharge.
“This is a good place as any to take a short stop at, and besides the Speed Chariot needs time for its power crystal to recharge, I wouldn’t want that to die on me mid-travel. Then I would have to go the rest by foot. Although now’s not the time to be thinking about what could happen, I have to focus on now”
Just then Mig’s stomach from, days now of, not eating growls loudly.
“They say that water is the most important to have, but when I have plenty of water, from the river back in the forest, all I’m missing is the food to keep my strength up. I better start checking the inside of all these houses, even some canned food would be a gift from the Almighty”
Mig searches through the homes for anything, while he goes home by home he doesn’t find much, assuming that these places were raided long ago they wouldn’t have much left in terms of useful or edible. Although Mig finds some homes that aren’t empty, looking down at the, now, skeletal remains of the people that used to live here. Mig is reminded about those, unlike him, who could not and did not make it out when the war broke out. Upon seeing those remains of people, whether they were Human or Elf, Mig leaves the house not even searching if it has anything, out of respect.
“It ain’t right. Even if this war was a false flag, by who knows and for what, I can’t shake this mixed feeling I have. I have all this anger from years of this war, but now I’m not so sure”
Mig looks around as if he is talking to someone only to see that there is no one around in a small bit of embarrassment Mig covers his face.
“Only for a few days, but I got used to that tuskdeer, now I’m talking to myself. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad one. I can worry about that later, although it's not like I dislike the company that the tuskdeer brought. I haven’t been in friendly company since my, Squad, I failed them. A Squad Leader’s task is to look after his own, I couldn’t do that. They were all killed, by her squad, yet she kept me alive. So that we can end this war, is that all there is to this, it has to be she wouldn’t risk something if she wasn’t sure. Now am I sure?”
Before Mig could ponder his question he heard the sound of a bird squawking, as he turned to it he saw the light brown hawk standing on a post overtaken by the wildlife, but taking a closer look Mig realized that the overgrowth under the hawk was a field with crops. Mig runs over to the field as the hawk stands watching him, Mig then pulls one of the crops to see a full-grown carrot and holds it with both his arms.
“I never thought I would be happy to see the maroon of carrots. A few of these would last me at least a month, but I can only carry so many in the Speed Chariot. If I break some in half, then maybe I can fit more”
As Mig goes to get more carrots from the field the hawk suddenly flies off. Mig looks over as it lands on the entrance to a cellar near a house. Setting down his carrots he walks over to see what could be, opening the cellar doors and heading down. Upon entering the cellar looking over Mig finds shelves of untouched supplies lining the walls of the relatively small cellar.
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“I hit the spring with this one. Canned food, survival gear, and low-frequency radios. Even with low-frequency if those radios work I just have to get in communication ranges of the Human Forces”
Mig grabs one of the radios as he tests if they have and function, after a short tension Mig finds that the radio works. It had luckily been untouched since the start of the war. Mig puts the radio in his pocket as he grabs a satchel bag from the nearby table, he puts some of the canned foods, including fruits and meat, as well as some survival tools, like a knife and flame rod, into the satchel. He wraps the satchel around his body as he exits the cellar, he then walks back to the field and picks up the carrots that he had. Breaking the carrots in half Mig placed the few he could in the satchel and the rest within the Speed Chariot. When he turns back he sees the hawk looking at him.
“Did it lead me to these supplies? How would it have known? No, I shouldn’t waste time thinking about this. I have enough supplies to last me for a good while of traveling, I better not waste any time”
Mig hops back on his cycle and begins to drive off all while the hawk staring at him flies away. Mig gets a strive going as he is now able to drive longer not needing to make as many stops, as he drives he holds the radio over his head trying to find a signal, for days Mig does this only stopping to rest, eat, and let the Speed Chariot recharge itself. Setting a fire with the flame rod, as he would use the survival knife to open some of the canned meat to cook, while with his dagger he would peal the carrots so he could eat them as well. Soon Mig gets a faint signal from the radio, during a short moment of resting, looking over where the signal would get stronger he sees a town in the distance, but not just any town, his hometown. Mig freezes, holding the radio in one hand and his dagger in the other, as he looks upon the ruins of his childhood town. While frozen in a state of shock from seeing his hometown for the first time in decades, Mig is unaware that a hedgehare walks up to him. The feeling of the creature walking near Mig is enough to snap him out of his state.
“Ah? Shoo. I’m not something you can lay on”
The hedgehare stares at Mig trying to shoo it away, but it only jumps and takes the radio out of Mig’s hand and runs off towards the town.
“Hey!”
Without thinking Mig runs after the hedgehare leaving behind his campfire and Speed Chariot. Chasing the creature Mig stops to realize that he made it all the way to the town center, as he looks around at the town in ruins and covered in overgrowth he remembers what the town used to look like.
“The town center? I remember when I and the other kids would play around here, then we would go to”, said Mig turning to look at another ruin of a building: “The old bakery. It had some of the best bread I’ve ever eaten”
In those small moments of remembrance, Mig forgets that he was chasing the hedgehare with his radio, instead, Mig walks around his old town. He sees the destruction that was left, the nature that reclaimed the land, and every once in a while he will find the remains of those who once lived. Nonetheless, Mig has a literal walk down memory lane as he looks around his town old memories that he had been repressing start to flow back. Soon he sees the hedgehare again with his radio, which brings Mig back into focus, he chases after the hedgehare. The hedgehare then drops the radio and runs off away from him. Mig bends down to pick up the radio as he does he notices that the hedgehare led him to in front of his old house. Staring at the house Mig misses that the radio sounds off.
“Signal…detected. The recipient is asked to respond”
“I…I don’t believe it. No matter what state it’s in I would always recognise it. My old childhood home, the one I ran from”
“Repeat, radio signal detected. The recipient is informed to respond. This is secure frequencies”
Mig still does hear the radio as he enters his old home, once inside he looks around, and it doesn’t take him long to find the bodies of his murdered family. Upon seeing this Mig sinks to the ground sorrow filling him as he remembers the day when he saw them get shot and all he could do was run away.
“I’m so sorry. It was the only thing I could have done. I’ll end this war so that no one else suffers this same way, I’ll do whatever it takes”
Then Mig is finally able to hear what the radio has been relaying: “Recipient, radio signal detected, Respond”
“This is Lieutenant Corporal Marvin Graves”
“Heard. Repeat, Lieutenant Corporal?”
“Yes, Lieutenant Corporal, Human Forces Service ID Number 124875”
“Reading. Service ID Confirmed. Lieutenant Corporal Mig? Confirmation?”
“Yeah, that’s me. I’m not dead yet”
“Status, Alive! Inbound rescue will be sent. Keeping transmitting from current location”
“Understood, Mig out”
A good half hour later Mig hears the whirls of Human Forces Helio-Jets circling and then landing nearby, that’s when Mig decides to get out of his old home and walk over to them with his hands up. The Human Forces Troops see him and exit the Helio-Jet.
“Sir, what happened? How did you get here?”
“It long story, kid”
Mig is escorted onto the Helio-Jet, to be flown back to Shadowfalls Fort.
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Elsewhere, across the Veradigris Vale, back at Verdentrech, Miriel in her quarters is tinkering with Mig’s old captured gear when she gets full access to Mig’s old communication device: “I repeat this is Human Forces, Air Hawk 2, to Command. Recovery of personal success, currently within Helio-Jet. Confirmation, one, Lieutenant Corporal Mig, has been recovered”
“Lieutenant Corporal Mig? Confirmed?”
“Yes, it’s actually him, it’s Mig”
“Understood, an Agent of H.I.M. will be deployed to assess”
The transmission cuts off as Miriel can’t help but be happy with what she just heard. She places down the communicator: “He made it back. I knew he was the right one to pick. Now the plan can continue”.