[Lauchenoiria]

Just outside Tupicchi Imperial Airbase
Ten miles west of Xohuayán, Manauia Island

Lupe Casales had been perched in the bushes watching the airbase for a while now. The other WOE members were awaiting her signal to go, but she wanted to watch the security patterns a little longer first. Not that she didn’t trust the Teyatia, but she found their language and accents hard, and running through her head was always the time from the war in her own country when she’d been captured – briefly – by Kerlians before escaping.

When she was confident, and it was time, she gave the signal. The WOE members and others she was working with crept forward. The few assigned cut the outer fence, and ushered through the others. When her group was through, she tied the fence back together as covertly as she could, so the tear was barely noticeable, and took cover with the others waiting for the patrol to pass before they could cut the inner fence.

Next to her, she could hear heavy breathing from some of the other, more nervous people, and gave them a reassuring look. Lupe’s advantage in battle was that she could remain surprisingly calm surprisingly easily when in danger. Caution was important, as was calm – one can’t exactly be cautious while one is hyperventilating in fear, after all.

They managed to repeat the breaking and entering at the inner fence, and then they were inside. They split into four and prepared to go for the helicopters. This was where they had to be careful. If they were spotted too early, then they wouldn’t have the chance to set the explosives before they were killed by security. And if that happened, the forests of the island would be destroyed, its people killed, and the junta would be victorious.

Lupe found it irritating how some of her fellow WOE members cared more about the trees than the human beings on the island. Caring of both was not incompatible, and human lives were valuable and irreplaceable. Yet it was worth risking theirs to stop this catastrophe – or far more humans than just the gathered helicopter destroyers would die. War was always like that, a play-off between two lesser evils.

On the signal, the four groups dashed to their helicopters with the explosives. Lupe’s group made it, and there was no time to check if the others had done so as well; they had to set the charge and keep lookout as quickly as possible. If someone came by, it would be a problem. So, work quickly, work quickly or die. And on the signal from her comrade, get out of range of the explosion.

“Go!” he said, pushing her out of the way as they ran away to take cover and shield their ears from the loud noise about to follow.

BOOM.

One of the other helicopters went up in flames a little earlier and Lupe had to wait several incredibly long seconds to hear the other three.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

“RUN!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.

They had a slight head start before the airmen and security figured out what was going on, but not long enough. The gunfire started before they’d reached the inner fence. Lupe and some of the others stopped and turned to return fire while others continued to run. A single kick was enough to open the tears she’d gently sealed on their way in.

When the first group was through, hers turned to follow, and beside her one dropped. She did not allow herself to feel emotion, it was not the time, and she turned and fired in the direction the bullet had come from. She was behind now, only by seconds but seconds would be enough to cause problems. At the back, she was the easiest target. She practically leapt the last few metres to the fence, something hitting her arm as she went. A graze, only, or perhaps the adrenaline was making her think that. She couldn’t stop to look.

In between the fences, some patrol members were exchanging fire with her comrades, and she had to quickly duck for cover. They’d come behind them as well. They had to move. She ripped some cloth off her top and tied it around her arm with her other hand and her mouth, wincing at the pain and the smell of blood. She didn’t know how bad the wound was, and didn’t care to.

“We have to move,” she panted, out of breath, to the others, “they’re coming behind and we’ll be pinned down from both sides. There’s not enough of them ahead of us to kill all of us.”

“We’ll take casualties!” screamed back a Milintican.

“We’ll take more if we stay here!” Lupe yelled, then decided to put her words into action and stood, firing non-stop at the patrol in front of her. Some of the others followed her lead, and the remnants of the patrol were swept away. A few of hers had been hit, but no immediately fatal wounds.

She ran. Her wound was not bad enough for her to need assistance, but she wouldn’t be able to help the others. The Xiomerans behind her were firing again but she would need to take a leap of faith if she wanted any chance of getting out alive. It was like in Yervia back home when they’d been fighting the Kerlians, you knew not everyone would make it out alive but you had to put that out of your head.

Lupe made it to the outer fence, and scrambled through the jungle hoping she wouldn’t touch anything poisonous on her way to their vehicle. In the trees, the gunshots became muffled, and she could dodge through them to try and shake off pursuit. She’d lost track of where the others were, her ears ringing with the sounds of explosions and her vision beginning to cloud as blood dripped through the cloth on her arm. The wound was worse than she’d thought.

She saw the vehicle with the waiting Teyatia by it, some of the others had made it ahead of her, and in her relief at seeing the escape route, she allowed the dizziness to wash over her and collapsed on the ground.