As the morning rays of Helios began to brighten the valley below her, Kosarch Carolyn Grey yawned deeply and rested her chin in her hand, cursing yet again whomever had made it so easy for dirt to get into her uniform. She and her cell of Humanist Alliance resistance fighters had been waiting for a Southern Republican Army column to pass through the valley through the last two days. Her hole in a hillside under a camouflage net - no, wait, her "observation post" - was hot and cramped, but she was used to it - she'd been on long stakeouts before.
When the column did show up, she was to contact another cell in the city of Gardena and let them know how many troops there were and when they might arrive. After that, her group was to dash a few hundred kilometers north and observe a Republican staging area on the Alpha maglev line. The trip would be a long one, but it was the kind of work that Grey's Longlegs were best at.
She smirked again at the nickname her team had chosen for themselves. Farry Kyvinlis, the communications technician who had suggested it, swore up and down that it was only in reference to their task as a long range reconnaissance unit, that it would only last until somebody thought of a better name and that it had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with her physical attributes. The name had stuck, though, and ever since Carolyn had caught protectors taking second and even third looks at her legs.
The one person from whom Carolyn didn't mind getting those looks climbed under the net and sat down next to her. Holding field ration packs in his hands, Penarch Xavier Rimoto offered one to her and announced, "I bring breakfast."
"Thanks, Xavi," she said as she took the ration pack, then frowned as she looked at the label. "Didn't we get three cases of the ones with springer and rice?"
"We did, and we ate them all," Xavier replied. "Barnaby patty is all we have left."
As she opened the pack, Carolyn said, "When we get to that maglev job, remind me to swipe some different food. I'd kill for a bowl of Valley Flakes right now."
Xavier chuckled, and they ate together quietly. He cleared his throat after a while and asked, "Did you get much sleep?"
Carolyn sighed deeply. "No. Did you?"
Xavier just shook her head. As a Mounted Police Ranger, he didn't normally go into town, but he had been in Thebes for a regional conference when the Blight began. Carolyn was just one of many Public Order Protectors who had tried to help as best they could as the disease raced through the city's population and everyone began to die. They only left when there was nothing more to do, he because he was ordered to and she because there was no one to tell her to stay. Soon afterwards, the command structures of the Alliance's military and law enforcement services collapsed completely, and they had worked on their own ever since.
A few of the protectors in her cell worked for her because they needed to work for somebody. When the carefully planned and structured nature of Alliance life collapsed between the Blight and the war with the Southern Republic, a lot of people just didn't know what to do. Despite everything, however, Carolyn found that she was actually enjoying herself. Her newfound freedom of movement and action was unlike anything she had experienced before, and she reveled in it. She wasn't the only one; she always enjoyed how Xavier's eyes would light up at the beginning of a long journey, as he wondered what new sights and experiences lay before him.
Something moved in the valley below, and Carolyn raised a set of binoculars to her face. "Finally," she said with a smile as she activated her communicator. While Xavier looked through his own binoculars, she called Farry. "Voice, this is Longlegs, the game's on, over."
"Roger that, Longlegs," Farry replied. "Who's playing?"
"Stand by one," Carolyn said as she started to count the units in the valley. She let out a low whistle as she saw one cluster of vehicles. "Are those Visigoths?"
"Yeah," Xavier replied. "And that many of them means this is a whole armored regiment."
"Swell," Carolyn sighed. "How long do you think?"
"They're not in a hurry. From here, two days minimum."
"Okay," she said before she spoke into her communicator. "Voice, this is Longlegs. The visiting team is bringing a first string of heavy hitters, I say again a first string of heavy hitters. Game time should be the day after tomorrow. Tell our friends in Emerald City, then move out to the locker room."
"Roger, will send. We're leaving now to beat the traffic. Voice out."
"Let's go," Carolyn said as she and Xavier gathered their gear. She started to take the camouflage net down, but Xavier said, "No, leave it. They might notice if the terrain changes suddenly."
They slipped out from under the net and crawled to the other side of the hill where their Elan was waiting. It still bore Border and Isolated Facility Service markings, and between the truck and their uniforms it was hoped that any Southern troops they might encounter would dismiss them as two protectors out on patrol. Enough protectors were still at their posts that this was plausible, and they had orders from a nearby BIFS post to back it up. They had never laid eyes on the post in question, but the Southies wouldn't know that.
They climbed into the Elan once their gear was stowed. As the vehicle started to move, Carolyn looked at Xavier's face. Even though they were in a risky situation just then, he still had that excited look in his eyes.
And though she didn't realize it, she had the same look in her eyes too.