If I cross her path this morning, it’s best if I face her alone. At least it should be enough of a distraction for the others to escape.

We head down to the city outskirts in the silent shadows. By the time the first hints of light start graying the sky, we have taken up our positions behind the piles of steel and wood near the train yard. A smattering of soldiers patrols the area, and the front gates are open, through which a steady stream of workers and guards head back and forth from the train station. Along with them walks a steady line of prisoners. As I look on, they shuffle out from the gates, stumbling as Karensan troops guide them one by one onto one of the train cars. A few of them are still dressed in sapphire coats. Some Strikers are mingled in with the common soldiers. With a sick feeling, I know that these are the ones the Federation has deemed promising, fighters they will turn over to the Chief Architect once they arrive in Cardinia. Future Skyhunters, perhaps.

Suddenly I’m reminded of my early training days, when I was a young Karensan recruit sent out for the first time on a mission patrolling the streets of a conquered city in Larc. I’d been assigned to follow a tall, gruff warrior, one who had no patience with this scrawny boy tailing her every move.

“Stay here,” she’d told me that afternoon, pointing to the rubble of brick and mortar that had once been a house. “If anyone gets past me and tries to flee, you raise the alarm. Understand?”

I had nodded and stayed back as she then entered a house with several other soldiers behind her. I remember how small I had been then, how easy it was to hide in the shadow of that rubble. Waiting for her felt like an eternity. Then a shout came from the house, followed by several sobs and then the sound of a gunshot. I jumped, tense as a rabbit ready to take flight. But no one emerged, so I stayed where I was. I waited for a long time before she finally reappeared leading several men out, their hands bound tightly, their eyes blindfolded.

Please, I remember thinking. Do not move.

No one did. I do not know what happened to those men, nor why they had been led out. Maybe they were rebels, the same as we are now. Whatever the reason, I lost my nerve and stole away through the rubble, silent and unseen, back to the Karensan base set up at the outskirts of the city. The female soldier I had shadowed didn’t even care about my absence. She must have been relieved for my disappearance.

Now I crouch behind the tracks and will myself to become as small and invisible as I had once been. Some distance away, I can see the outline of Adena, Tomm, and Pira near the train station, while Jeran and Aramin have settled into hiding places around the farther cars of the train. They’ll wait for my diversion before making their move.