Measured In Minutes

10th Mountain Division, one of three divisions in the entirety of the Canto Empire's military known as the Rangers, is an elite unit that chose selectively from their infantry. And it was the consensus that out of the three divisions of Rangers, 10th Mountain was the best; every single one of their soldiers was fearless. And for a good reason, the Ranger motto was 'these things we do, so that others may live,' and every single one of their members took that seriously; in whatever major battle, they could be seen on the frontlines leading the charge.



This led to the infamous joke that a Ranger's life could be measured in minutes; the average squad had a 68% fatality rate in their first year.



An officer strode along the line of Rangers, his white square patch on his shoulder standing out on the black uniforms, identifying him as a captain. "Read! Ready!" the veins on the officer's neck stood up taut like whipcords as he screamed at the top of his lungs.



Gyun's leg twitched in anticipation before he nodded to the captain; looking back at his squad; he tapped his helmet. "Check, check," pointing at the ropes attached to their waist; the ropes led to a nail that was driven into the ground.



"Check"



"Check"



"Check"



As all 9 of his squad members affirmed their equipment one last time, Gyun took a deep breath; feeling his sword, he took a step, peering down the cliff face to the Aegean Fortress below; it couldn't have been less than a 200-meter drop straight down to the ground outside the wall.



Swallowing the fear in his throat, he stepped back, feeling his sword at his hip he gripped the handle tight. Glancing across the line of Ranger squadrons, the air was silent, and the sounds of nature permeated the silence, starkly contrasting to the captain's voice that had screamed at the top of his lungs just moments prior.



The captain stood at the ledge, the rope coiled at his feet as he looked over the cliff face, pulling his sword from its sheath; in one hand his sword reflected the noon sunlight; in the other hand was the flag of 10th Mountain, a Mountain with a skull at the top, it symbolized the identity of the 10th Mountain; all eyes were on the captain's back, including Gyun's.



"Helmets on!"



With the sound of the helmets being pushed down, the line of scared faces of the rangers disappeared, replaced by faceless steel helmets with slits to peer through; Gyun shoved the helmet down over his head. The hot steel helmet was hot and stuffy and narrowed his view but it felt comforting to Gyun on some level, even though the helmet offered little in terms of protection from any sort of Qi-enhanced attack.



"Ra! Ra! Ra! Ra!"



The chant started with the captain, but soon the rest of the rangers followed; the shouts would attract the attention of the fortress spotters, but it was meant to. They were tasked with distracting and, if possible, taking the Southern Wall and opening the defensive fortress for the rest of the 2nd legion to assault the walls.



"RAAANNNNNGGGEEERRRRSSS!!" The Captain screamed swinging the flag of the 10th Mountain.



"Ra! Ra! Ra! Ra! Ra!" The chants echoed from the top of the cliff,



A horn resounded from the fortress below, and shouts could be heard from below the cliff face as the fortress soldiers rushed to man defensive positions against the incoming attack.



"WHAT DO WE DO?!"



"WE WIN!!!"



Taking a sharp inhale the captain turned back to the fortress below, "ON MY ORDER!!!!"



"Ra! Ra! Ra!" The chants persisted; Gyun pounded his armored chest, chanting, taking deep breaths, trying not to show the cold sweat running down his back or the hairs standing up on the back of his neck.



"GO!"



The captain desperately swung the flag, Gyun's legs stopped bouncing in nervousness. Swallowing his fear, he sprinted before jumping off the cliff face; the wind whipped past him, his vision blurring, time seemed to slow, and Gyun could hear the blood pumping through his body.