The squads were called up by the major and were given another patrol assignment. They were reunited with Jovie’s squad.

  “Hello again, rooks, seems like we’re up for this new patrol mission,” Jovie stretched.

  “You’re sticking with just three? Thought you’d have another guy joining with you?” Avryn asked.

  “No one can really replace Dilleas, as goofy as he was,” Hraldi replied.

  “Besides, we’re pretty good as a three man group,” Jovie remarked.

  There was no truer words than that. Avryn sensed it. They were strengthened by their loss. He admired their bonds. It was back to business as they briefed on the mission: they were to take the same patrol route yesterday and gain intel on the Corpse bears from yesterday. Jovie informed them the recon squad had started calling them Gaia bears.

  “Let’s get some breakfast first. A soldier’s inefficient on an empty stomach. We’ll meet up outside the gates after, alright?” Jovie planned out.

  “Yes, sir” Leifren and Avryn’s squad saluted.

  Rations were distributed for the day. The cooks were generous for the day. A pound of meat was on the menu. Avryn savored every bite of it. He enjoyed a side of vegetable soup to supplement the protein. The homely smells served to calm down the nerves. The squads discussed strategy for the Gaia bears. They know they had enhanced magical powers under the element of earth. They needed magic on their side. A visit to the quartermaster would remedy that. They requested for magical bullets and arrows.

  Jovie’s squad came by and noticed that,

  “You won’t be needing those, we just need to log in whatever data we can find on the bears,” Jovie advised.

  “Aw man,” both Harver and Avryn said.

  “If you’re lucky, you get to be on an elimination mission on them,” Hraldi cheered them up.

  Rengo gestured to the dualcycles,

  “We should get out while there’s still daylight left,”

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  Jovie nodded along,

  “Rengo’s right, let’s go,”

  They followed the same patrol route: up the river, and into the first clearing where they fought the warthogs. Only bones and blood were left staining the ground.

  “Bear’s probably ate them,” Tvira observed.

  “Those were at least forty warthogs, just how many bears were there?” Kiria was concerned.

  Jovie turned to them,

  “Just to reiterate: no killing the bears unless you absolutely have to. Remember what instructor Kelinald said--”

  “Knowledge is the greatest weapon a soldier has,” Valoche parroted.

  “See? Big man gets it,” Jovie smiled. “Alright, Hraldi, Rengo, we’ll split up from here. You two lead Leifren’s squad, I’ll lead Avryn’s squad. Any questions?”

  “No, Jovie,” Hraldi nodded.

  They left their dualcycles at the clearing and proceeded on foot. Splitting up here was the most optimal choice to cover more ground. Avryn spoke up to Jovie,

  “Is it really alright we split up the group like this?” he asked.

  “I hear your groups were the top of your batch, plus we got you, Mr. Finalist.”

  Jovie did his research. Avryn was glad such news had reached to the outpost.

  “Trust me, a lot of the soldiers know who the real winner of that fight,” he reassured. “Glad you stuck up for your friend, Harver, was it?”

  Avryn nodded along,

  “Oh, I had good teachers to. To train for the Battle Festival,” he glanced at Rinna, who paid no mind.

  Twenty minutes into the patrol, there were still no sign of the bears. Jovie phoned in through his Scribe. Hraldi picked up the call.

  “No luck on our end, how about you?”

  “We found bear tracks. They had a certain glow to them. Sending coordinates,” Hraldi replied.

  The other group was forty minutes away. They made more conversation as they went. Avryn asked more about Dilleas.

  “Dilleas, huh? Figures. He was our life of the party. Never had a sad day in his life. Probably doesn’t even have it in his dictionary,” he recounted. “He absolutely hated having to be ordered around at first, by some of our seniors.”

  Jovie continued on how Dilleas was such a carefree spirit at first. He also didn’t care how it affected everyone around him. It was through teaming with him and the others that he started to get a sense of a found family. Dilleas told them that his family sold him into slavery. It’s why he acted such a way. He was on the news for a while, on saving himself and other kids by leading a rebellion against the slavers and escaped them.

  “Wait, slaves?” Avryn was shocked, and so was Valoche and Tvira.

  “Yep, he was,” Jovie replied.

  “Man, and I thought my life was hard,” Avryn looked down on himself.

  “Anyways, I made him wake up during one of our missions last year, and he started to get the bigger picture.”

  “And what was that?”

  “There was more to life than living free. There’s also living for others, for your loved ones. What happens to them if you’re gone? That sort of thing,” Jovie replied. “He ended up finding his real parents. His biological ones.”

  Avryn took mental notes. They finally arrived at the coordinates. Tvira pointed out the bear tracks. They hurried and met with the other squad. Hraldi gave Jovie her Scribe. It was in scanning mode, zoomed in.

  “A burrow,” Jovie said.

  “The tracks lead there. They were fresh,” Hraldi replied. “We already logged in the data,”

  “Good work,” Jovie returned her Scribe.

  “What about your team? Found anything?” Hraldi asked.

  “Nope. Means this is the only den with Gaia bears in it,” Jovie replied.

  “That’s good, we should head back,”

  They turned and went to the opposite direction. Harver, however, tripped on a shrub and fell. His armor clanged hard as he fell with a thud. The team turned to look at him.

  “Crap,” Harver said to himself.

  Avryn acted fast and helped him up.

  “To the dualcycles, and quick,” Rengo directed.

  Corpse swallows were curious on what made the noise and found the three squads running for it. Shooters unleashed their shots to cover the rest of them. It was a ten minute sprint for the dualcycles, and the swallows were still chasing them. They had no choice but to take the hits, they didn’t know whether the bears were on them or not, and they would rather not find out.