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[bardische]

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[ziedrich_bearer]

Yes, they could. So many men. But they had to try and keep things stabilized at home too.

"No. I'm... not local."

His accent may or may not have given that away. Well, clearly not he supposed.

[bardische]

He'd noticed the accent, but his hardly fit the country -- and king -- he now served. Far be it for him to guess a man's life by marks of his childhood, and he isn't going to ask.

"I suspect you won't be the last soldier from far reaches to journey to the island. But if we're lucky, their missions will have a clear destination."

[ziedrich_bearer]

"Perhaps I won't be. But for now, I'm what my homeland could spare."

They had their own problems with empires going on.

Do we wanna jump this forward?

[bardische]

"I fear that's the case for many of us."

It certainly was for him. They were closer to home, he suspected, but the empire was still weak from the war, and chaos at home required careful monitoring. They couldn't spare many. Really, they couldn't spare him, but there was no one else who could do the duty and be trusted with the information.

Yeah that's probably a good idea.

[ziedrich_bearer]

"Then we better win our way through," Gladio says with a smirk. And he offers his hand out to the other man. "I give you my oath I'm not going down without the win here. For the people we care about."

[bardische]

Basch gives a smaller smile, but he means it, clasping the man's hand. "For the people we care about," he agrees.

They aren't at camp much longer, and sure enough, they're able to bunk together with a few other men. The boat passage isn't long, a week and a half, but it's slow going, the Mist preventing any enhanced travel. Basch spends what time he can on the deck, ends up running training exercises for interested recruits, but he's glad when they hit solid ground again.

Still, it's eerie. There are the tumbling ruins of societies long forgotten, but no sign of modern people. As groups disperse out to various target locations, soon it's quiet, just he and Gladio. Basch's eyes are on the sky.

"We should be able to clear some ground before that storm lets out."

[ziedrich_bearer]

"Sounds about fair," Gladio says, a sword almost as large as himself in hand. "Would be wise. Help set up a basecamp for everyone."

Because he expects some will need to fall back.

[bardische]

Basch nods. There will be some that need to fall back, and some who need to be tended, and some who need to be coached. There's too much, really, for how few senior soldiers they have.

"We do what we can. Once that's running, we should be able to go farther afield ourselves."

He doesn't want to wait, but he doesn't want to make foolish mistakes either.

[ziedrich_bearer]

"Would rather be out there," Gladio agrees. He hates being slowed up, but he knows good tactics.

"How about we split the area in half, take out what we can, and meet back in, say, a few hours?