Fourth Vector Ch. 49

That seemed to help the boy's confidence and with his mind at ease, he stood up and made for the door. Before he could leave, he turned to face his father.

"You knew him at one point in time, didn't you?" asked Alan. "Jack Easterbrook?"

Jasper started to nod. "Aye, I did. He was my friend long ago. Back when you were in grade school."

"What was he like?" asked Alan. "I find it hard to believe that he's this great traitor and brutal conqueror that everyone is making him to be. Was he a good man? He had to have been if he was a friend."

Jasper thought about his answer for a long time before he finally spoke.

"Yes, he was a good man. He was a good friend. And my conscience is telling me not to fight him. Even as conflicted as I am, we still have to fight, don't we? We still follow orders, don't we, son?"

Alan gave him a confident smile. "You're right, Dad. We'll follow orders."

With one last nod, Alan left the room, shutting the door behind him.

He was thankful at least that his son finally understood the measure that was needed from him to be a naval officer.

Jasper just hoped that he would remember his in time, especially before the next battle.

*****

"The gods piss on me!"

Brian Mikkelson let out a heavy growl as the rain started to fall once more. It was the second time that morning that the rain was starting up, with only a brief interlude between the two sessions. The first instance of rain had been heavy enough to drench his army fatigues and make the road south out of Lockhaven into a muddy mess.

There had been some relief once that heavy shower passed, with most of the soldiers hoping that the sun would clear away the rest of the clouds.

That hope was misplaced as another dark cloud soon unloaded on their heads, a torrential downpour that was heavier than the first.

"Hopefully it passes soon!" said Arnold Perera, Brian's best friend, as they continued to walk south toward the Javan village of Mobust.

"Only a day out of Lockhaven and this shitty weather starts," said Brian. "It would figure, wouldn't it? The weather in Lockhaven was nearly perfect. Breezy days without a single dark cloud in the sky but as soon as we start marching, here comes the storm!"

"Nah, that's just nature's way of telling us that we're the storm," said Arnold, ever the optimist. "We'll bring it south with us to visit upon the Javans. If they're paying attention, they might as well start running now."

Brian wasn't as confident. "If they're paying attention, they're probably making their plan to attack us as soon as they're in position."

With those words, he pointed to one of their tanks that was moving on the other side of the road. Its treads were getting caught in the heavier mud, bogging down the entire vehicle. If the mud got any worse, they would be nearly inoperable, and that certainly wouldn't help their cause.

Brian felt Arnold pat him on the back.

"You need to get over this funk you've been in, brother," said the big Swabian. "I would have thought once we set foot on dry land, you'd be out of this little mood you've been in."

Brian growled again. "I'm not in a mood. I just want things to be going right for a change. There's nothing worse than fighting in the heavy rain. I'd even take fighting in the snow as opposed to that."

"You might get your wish for snow if we don't win and get out of here quickly. We might be stuck here for the winter, and you know nobody wants that."

"No, you're right," said Brian before a grin spread out on his face. "Besides, we need to get you back to see your Eloise before she finds another big, dumb Swabian to lay with."

If anyone else had said that to Arnold, they might have found themselves with a mouthful of blood and broken teeth, however, the two men had been friends long enough that Arnold recognized it for the joke that it was and he started to laugh.

"Yeah, yeah, and we need to get you that Galician blonde bush you've been yammering on about," joked Arnold.

The two men chuckled to themselves as the rain continued on. After about another few minutes, the downpour lessened into something that was steady but much less volume.

"There, now this is manageable," said Arnold as he took his helmet off. He opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue. "Water tastes just like it does back in Swabia. Maybe sweeter though, I'm not sure."

"You think the water is different on this side of the world?"

Arnold shrugged. "I don't know. We've never been here before but what if most things are different? What if the water tastes different or people walk on the wrong side of the road? What if the women shave their heads and the men wear dresses?"

Brian started to laugh. "We've just been in one of the Javans' largest cities, where we saw a whole mess of Javans. You know the women have all kinds of different hair styles and I didn't see a single man wearing a dress."

Arnold's face scrunched up as he realized the truth. "Oh, yeah, I guess you're right."

Brian backhanded the front of Arnold's chest. "No one is ever going to mistake you for some big thinker, I'm telling you that."

"That's the second time you've said that in the past day," said Arnold, his pride clearly wounded.

"That's because you were talking about some crazy stuff last night around the fire," said Brian, waving his hand. "Whatever it was that you were going on about with the stars."

Arnold looked up at the sky. At this time of the day, not a single star was visible. "I don't think what I said was that crazy. I just said that I thought perhaps the stars up there were just like the little miniature suns. I like to think that each of them is a sun in their own right, just at a great distance from us."

Brian started to chuckle. "Miniature suns, now that's a good one. Everyone knows that the stars are just holes in the celestial filament. Holes from which the heavens shine down on us. Not actual tiny suns, you dolt."

Arnold shrugged. "I still like my idea better."

"You may be a bit of a blockhead but at least you're an entertaining one," said Brian.

The two men continued to march throughout the rest of the day, taking what shelter they could in the night. That shelter was nothing more than a foxhole that they shared with three other men before getting an early jump in the morning. It continued to rain the next morning, a light drizzle that followed them throughout the entire day and really made it that much harder for the tanks to continue on.

Finally, by the end of the second day, the two men crested a small hill on the road and feasted their eyes on the small village of Mobust.

It was here that they would be expected to meet the thrust of the Javan Army and prevail, but at the current time, all the rain of late had turned Mobust into a giant mud pit. As Brian looked out on the city, the only color he saw in spades was the heavy, dark brown of drenched soil as far as the eye could see.

It would make this upcoming fight all the more miserable, especially when it came to digging into the land.

Right on cue, just about everyone within Brian's immediate vicinity groaned at seeing the muddy mess that awaited them.

Arnold summed it up nicely in the only way he knew how by looking at Brian.

"Your gods piss on us," he said, the words thick with his Swabian accent.

Brian started to shake his head. "That's not how the saying goes at all."

*****

There was a sound in the distance that Trevor couldn't place.

He first noticed it about a minute after waking up that morning, and his ears trained onto it before he'd even moved off of his cot. Beside him, Nina was still sleeping peacefully, her messy brown hair draped halfway over her face and the rest over her shoulder.

At first, he thought the sound was some kind of bird in the distance, perhaps an eagle or a hawk that was already soaring the skies but the sound seemed lower pitched than what he might expect from either of those creatures.

It disappeared shortly after which allowed him the chance to collect his thoughts. Next to him, Nina began to stir, displaying the first signs of consciousness for the day. She rolled over on her side but in the process, she grabbed his hand and pulled it with her, wrapping around her body and gripping her breast as he settled.

It wasn't a bad way to wake up. At one point in time days ago, he thought he might never experience the warmth and tenderness of Nina's body against him again. She'd been so distraught about the loss of their child that it almost killed their relationship, and it was only raw strength on her part that saw them through it.

Never had Trevor been in such a harrowing situation, even with all the events of the war around them. The thought of losing Nina after all this time was one that he couldn't accept. What else would all this bloodshed have been for if not for the chance at peace?

If he wasn't fighting for peace, for the promise of a future, then it made all this hardship not worth the cost.

Thankfully, Nina turned around, and they resumed sleeping together right away. Relief flooded him at that moment, grateful that their relationship had survived the tribulation that threatened to destroy it.

After all, now that he was so close to his goal, he couldn't let things fall apart now. Not when he was this close to Belfort.

At this point in time, the Javan Army before him was also in disarray. Trevor had just gotten news of a new commander having taken control of it, relieving the disgraced General Ryan and no doubt hoping to turn their situation around. Trevor had heard of General Zander before, knowing that he was a sycophant of Bancroft's who could only justify his high position on the fact that he pampered the Emperor's backside so thoroughly.

Trevor didn't have a modicum of respect for the man, even less than Ryan who had the ability to fight. With this latest news about the change in leadership, Trevor's plan to push the Javan Army back to its capital received new life to it.

The ending was in sight. They just had to keep pushing and soon this war might be over.

Trevor's ear prickled as he heard the sound again, this time louder than it was before. It was a distinctive whistling sound, the kind that usually reminded him of... mortars.

Trevor bolted upright as he heard the explosion at that moment. Something was happening at the front and now he knew why that whistling had started with daylight.

An attack was coming. But he'd ordered no attack to start first thing in the morning, which could only mean that the Javans were up to something.

Trevor shook Nina awake as the rest of his small camp started to assemble. Nina's eyes popped open with a surprising amount of alertness, and the two dressed quickly before exiting their tent.

By this point in time, the entire camp was rushing as the sounds of explosions grew more frequent. In the distance, Trevor could hear gunfire which was getting heavier by the minute.

He had to figure out what was going on. The sound of the greatest amount of gunfire was coming from the ridge a short distance away, where the center of his army was dug into. Trevor ran into oblivion, trying to reach the rear lines of that army so he could figure out what was going on. Along the way, his radio crackled with the sounds of intense fighting.

"Javans are attacking our center! My men are under a heavy amount of pressure!"

"Mortars keep falling on our lines! Reports of a mass amount of Javans forming in front of us. Attack imminent!"

On and on, the messages keep flying in. As Trevor neared the front lines, he could almost feel the invisible waves of the explosions as his men were battered.

Finally, he found Gavin near the front, lying prone in a hole as he issued orders to the other commanders.

"Where the hell did this attack come from?" asked Trevor, his voice already at a roaring volume to get over the sounds of gunfire.

"It looks like the Javans still have some tricks up their sleeves yet!" replied Gavin. "Some of the men reported this morning about seeing Javans directly in front of our positions, more than usual, you know? With how docile they've been, I don't think anyone was expecting this attack but it looks like our new general is trying to make his mark!"

That was something that Trevor instantly understood. The Javans in front of them had gone from defeat to defeat. Their morale must be crushingly low as the stink of their failure was so bad, their own general had to be replaced.

At least Zander had the good sense to immediately order an attack, to try to boost morale. For an army that was perpetually retreating, it was the last hope that they might be able to keep it together long enough to save their capital.

To that end, the attack on the front lines was devastating for most of the next hour. The Javans just kept coming at them, even to the point where his Tyroleans had to abandon their forward lines and pull back. The Javans occupied the foxholes that Trevor's men had slept in the night before, using them as cover to launch the next wave of their attack.

It was a stark reminder that just because the enemy was down, they weren't entirely out. The Javans still had some fight in them, and they weren't going to make this last approach to Belfort easy for Trevor and his forces.

However, it was just as the Javan attack was at its furthest breakthrough that they ran into a stiffened Tyrolean resistance. In the center, the men that had been pushed back for the first hour were now refusing to yield one additional foot. The fighting was intense and bloody, but those Tyroleans in the front were eventually able to check the forward progress by their Javan foe.

It was over all too quickly. The Javans stopped rushing forward and seemed content to settle in the captured foxholes at the old front line. It put a small bulge in Trevor's center but at least the fighting seemed to be contained for the moment.

Casualties on both sides were heavy. The Javans had expended quite the price in blood to make their forward progress, without any serious change in circumstances.

"I don't get it," said Gavin as they were burying the dead. "Why did this morning even happen the way that it did? What was the point in attacking our center if they weren't going to sustain the attack? Our flanks weren't even touched and the attack died out after a little more than an hour. What was the point of it all?"

Trevor rested his arms on his shovel as he thought about the question. Finally, he spoke.

"I think you answered that question earlier on when I first arrived at the lines," said Trevor. "I think this new general is trying to show us that he's not Ryan. He's not going to keep retreating like his predecessor. I have a feeling that things are going to get a little more difficult moving forward. He wanted to show us that his army still has some fight left in them."

Gavin started to shake his head. "Why can't they just figure out when they're beaten and go home?"

Trevor started to chuckle. "Because that would make things a little too easy, that's why."

While Gavin continued to grumble under his breath, Trevor put his hand on the other man's shoulder.

"Don't worry. We've beaten enough Javan forces in the past. What's one more general? Why can't we keep doing it?"

"That's what worries me a little, Trev. What if this general knows how to fight? What if he starts to sacrifice his men just to make little gains in ground while we get pushed back to our own borders."

"I wouldn't worry about that. The enemy will bleed themselves dry long before they bleed us. We just need to hang on a little more."

"Just a little more, Trev? I'm tired of hanging on."

"Just a little more. And hopefully soon, all of this will be over."

*****

The Javans didn't try any other attacks that day. Trevor suspected that the cost in casualties outweighed any point that Zander might have been trying to make.

In any event, the message was received loud and clear. Zander wasn't Ryan, and any future battles would look much different than they did with the previous general at the helm.

That evening, Trevor took a small dinner for his meal and joined Nina as they sat around a smoldering fire. Their dinner consisted of a small ration of bread, meat, and cheese--all items that had been pilfered off the local populace to support the army.

"How are you feeling after today?" asked Nina after she was largely done eating. "You've been quiet ever since the battle. I can tell you're in your head right now."

"I am in my head," he confirmed. "I'm just thinking about Zander on the other side. Trying to will myself into his head so that I can figure out what kind of general he's going to be."

Nina laughed softly. "Having any luck doing that? The last time I tried, I couldn't see what anyone else was thinking."

"If I make any progress, you'll be the first to know."

Nina slapped his thigh playfully. "Appreciate that."

She fell silent for a moment as her eyes turned toward the fire. Seconds seemed to tick away until Nina started to look over at him again.

"I want to ask you something but I don't want you to take it the wrong way."

"How so?" asked Trevor, feeling confused at the wording of her question. "That doesn't sound promising."

"Well it is, at least I think it's promising. But it could not be. I don't know, Trevor, but it's something that I want to talk about with you."

"Okay, well tell me."

Nina chewed on her lower lip before picking the right words. "We're so close to the end of this war that we can see the finish line, right? I mean, one more good victory against the Javans, and it's likely we can dissolve their army and occupy their capital. Independence is as good as ours when that happens."

Trevor grunted. "We can only hope. As long as everything continues to go right. We still have to beat Zander."

"Right, right, but we can see what that looks like. It's on our horizon. And I've just started to think about what things look like after the war. When we go back to Tyrol."

"When we go back to Tyrol," he repeated. "What do things look like?"

"You're probably going to think I'm crazy," she said, shaking her head. "But after what happened a couple weeks ago, I've just been giving a lot of thought about the future. I know that I can't take life for granted, mine but especially yours."

"Why mine especially? It was you that... well, you know. You were the one most seriously affected."

Nina's sorrowful eyes met his. "Trevor, that assassin was after you. It was only his mistake that saw that poison disseminated amongst a wide group of people. If he would have gotten it on your plate, you wouldn't be here right now."

Trevor nodded but said nothing. At certain times, when the night was dark and his mind quiet, he secretly wished that it had taken him. He wished for almost anything to not have affected Nina the way that it did.

As well as their unborn child.

Nina placed a hand on her stomach almost like she was channeling his thoughts. "I know that we've really gone through a terrible struggle recently but I'm starting to think about justifying that struggle. These last few years have taken so much from us that the only thing that seems right is for us to make good on all these sacrifices."

"Was there something in particular that you wanted to make good on?" asked Trevor, his curiosity piqued. "What are you envisioning after this war is over?"

Nina actually smiled. "A return to Tyrol, for one. Where in Tyrol I'm not sure yet, but Bushing or Amboy would be equally nice. But I was also thinking about a bit more permanence when we get back. Permanence for you and I."

Trevor gave her a funny look. "Permanence? You know I'm not going anywhere. I have no desire to leave Tyrol ever again."

Nina elbowed him in the ribs. "I was talking about us, you lunk. I was thinking about our relationship."