The Mil'Nor's Paw

[Kira]

Early Morning, Astillia 4th, 1932

Town of Harrlosburrow, Valdera
-Outer City defenses

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Inagio Yotep grumbled to himself as he fiddled with his lighter. Guard duty had been an easy enough assignment for the man, but it didn't stop it from being boring as hell. Inagio had taken to the service to try and evade loan sharks, looking forward to drop the past as being a member of Clan Meiyo had left on him. Flicking the device three times before getting the fuse, He'd give the cigar he had held in his mouth a drag once lit, looking over to his accompaniment for tonight's shift. 
"You still think they are going to do anything, Sugo?"

Standing on the other side of the makeshift trench the two had been assigned was Raph Sugo, one of the on station Carabineers of the town's defenses. The two's uniform's held little difference other then some minor color coding. Both held rank of private within their respective orders, but Sugo's commendations had left him 'incharge' of their two man station. Sugo had been looking across the hills of the nothern border with a pair of Pomaz binoculars, the pair being lowered as the man turned towards Yotep to consider his question.
"Maybe, maybe not. You know as much as I do when it comes to the rumors around here, and word is they are going to march head on into us"

Yotep snorted in response. "You can't be serious. You and I both know this is just some noble plot to show off Clan Gruvar. He and that succubus of his killed the king and my Chief."

Sugo shook his head in response. "It doesn't matter what the reasons are, solider. We don't get to make those choices any more, at least not until whatever is going on up here blows over. I'll be more then happy to talk politics when we aren't standing in the middle of a crisis that we need to work together on." He'd gesture out towards the hilly outskirts away from the town. "Last I saw, there wasn't anything out there. Hold on to your claws for a few months, then we can talk"

[Kira]

Several Hours after the Battle of Harrlowsburrow
-
Inagio sat within the corner of the destroyed inn of the town. The army had largely moved off to chase the forces of Boroko, with the private's post at the town keeping him from chasing the fight. The young man was currently busy trying to write a letter to his father, the battle that had taken place still fresh in his mind. Holding a broken pen in hand, his scribbles could barely be called legible, and more then a few words were marked off before a smaller proper spelling was stuck in awkwardly. More then several dozen others joined him, the ruins having been cleared to make for improvised housing for both solder and civilian. A few cries rung out in the night, some from the wounded, some from the children, and some from the now childless. War had left none unaffected this night, and as Inagio finished his letter, he wondered if it could even make sense to his dad. It was one thing to hear about the stories of Nils and the last Age of Darkness, but to be fighting in it couldn't compare.

Looking over at his gun, he went over the day again in his mind.
The arrival of the Xagreau was something he never thought would happen. Word had been abound about what they wanted, but when the orders came down to ready for a fight....Inagio's gut had dropped. It had to be a joke, right? He had thought at the time. He remembered the scene when his beilef had been stripped of him on that. The first round of Xagreau cannon fire had managed to remove the head of the man he had been talking to during morning shift, the second broke through Inagio's shock to remind him to get back into cover in the trenchline. The arrival of the Xagreau infantry, and gunfire exchanged had seen several men gunned down by the Private's hand. Morale had been wavering until the Rallies arrival, with the rest of the battle driving the invaders away.

Inagio knew that if he was kept stationed here, he wouldn't complain. The stories that war was hell painted hell in a far worse light then it deserved.