“My time here is shorter than we planned,” Johan commented to Stroan, “but I’m sure if we miss him, he’d understand our need to go with the big, armed group. I’m not sure another few days would have done us any good anyway.” Even if Aryu showed up somehow, the plan wouldn’t change, just the tactics. The information Stroan had told him the night before gave him a very uneasy-yet-hopeful feeling. It didn’t seem as hopeless as before.
After showing Johan the Ark 1, he had explained more thoroughly. “Some of the other military forces from the far reaches of the land surrounding the Blood Sea have many powerful, advanced weapons of their own. We may as well be throwing rocks for all the good we could do against them without something to match them.”
“How far advanced are we talking here?” Johan asked, the possibilities swirling in his head.
“I’m not the best one to ask, again I’m just a Cadet, but the word is they may not have full robot warriors, but some do have weapons that are energy-based like this, as well as vehicles and flying machines.”
“This is craziness!” Esgona said, listening in and fearing every word. “Trade the devil that chases us for the devil that’s just going our way?”
“We know them to be decent people,” Stroan reassured.
“I’m sure they are, but they still have possession of technology.” Esgona wasn’t about to let this go.
“How do we know they’re so good-hearted?” Johan asked, still mulling scenarios over in his mind.
Stroan, sure to quiet them and keep it between the three, leaned into their faces. “Because we’ve been in contact with them for hundreds of years.”
The Inja aversion to technology was more local than anything else. Understanding the fear it could bring, the land to the south expressed no interest in joining their ‘fool’s quest’ and agreed to keep to themselves. The two worlds left each other alone: one out of fear, the other out of respect and understanding.
“We’ve kept in contact quite extensively in that time,” Stroan told them. “Once they learned of the threat to our south, they agreed to intervene. I have no idea the true power or force they have given us, but there are definitely members of at least three technologically advanced countries that have come to aid our cause.”
Esgona was pale as a ghost, but Johan spoke up before he could protest again. “Grow up, Esgona. How did you think we were going to fight back?” Esgona looked at Johan with obvious malice and left as quickly as he’d come, cursing Johan for being right.
-----------------------
The last day in Huan was spent scouring the town for anything and everything they could carry to make the trip a better one. No one wanted to risk running out of food and supplies halfway into a one-way trip. Most of the available stock was stored in the Turtle, while everything else was spread out between the remaining four carts in case something unfortunate happened to the awkward rolling storage unit. “She’s stable,” Stroan had said, “but she sure isn’t indestructible.”
Johan was wandering around the wreckage with Stroan when he put the question forward about being an extra set of hands for the Riders, something beyond just being another civilian traveler.
“Are you asking to enlist?” Stroan asked, looking at him with confusion.
“No, no,” Johan said at once. “It’s just, I have a lot invested in this whole trip, more than most I would say. I would kind of like to put in a little more than the masses to that end. The more we could do to learn and be taught anything useful to help us the better.”
“You could ask to enlist. You’re a good man. We could use you, that’s not a secret. Your winged friend, too.”
“In all fairness, the path we may choose to take would be much easier without military…restrictions.”
Stroan caught the meaning and understood at once. Johan was looking for training and information for the purposes of revenge. That path wasn’t likely to coincide with the strict rules of warfare that the Inja Army upheld. Of course, neither was this particular enemy. Stroan saw in Johan a determination and resourcefulness that many he served with lacked. That was a set of traits he had no problem keeping around.
“I’ll be sure to speak to my superiors about it.”
They finished rummaging through the buildings, grabbing canned foods and travel supplies like unburned blankets and metal cooking pots. Johan even found some books to bring. Nothing he was very keen on, but he hadn’t had a good read in a while. He just hoped the trip would be uneventful enough to get the chance to do so.
When the carts and Turtle were fully loaded, the Brigade and their civilian charges set off for the Thunder Run and the mysteries of the Paieleh Valley.
Esgona had already been taken aside, much to the dismay of Johan, and shown the basic controls of the Turtle. The man in charge, Chief Rider Samson Wyndam, had done so after he noted the young man (or old boy) and his willingness to work hard, despite his obvious handicap.
Chief Rider Wyndam was keen on the work ethic. He
