A familiar face

At the start of the next day, we left. 

I was, naturally, ready, but Bernard and Oliver both had the same, tired look on their face, and while I could understand the former, the latter had no reason to be tired.

With us, a squad of soldiers was scouting us, but, even then, I could still see how their eyes kept stealing glances when they believed I wasn't looking. 

The lads were, really, awful spies. Either that, or examiners… 

It matters not.

The vehicle was much like the carriage, but larger and bulkier. Thankfully, it also had open windows, so the heat wasn't a big problem. 

"Hey, are you listening, V1NC-3T?"

"What is it, Bernard?"

"You… We're supposed to address one another by our numbers! You know that!"

"Aye, but saying your full number is a mouthful…"

"You…"

Before he could say anything else, one of the homunculi soldiers tapped his shoulder. Turning back, he eyed them, seeing their smiles.

"It's fine. Not a single one of us cares that much for that stupid rule, to be honest. Name's Jesse" he then pointed to the others on the squad. "Those are Barty, Horton, and Gustav. The three at my right are Will, Leo, and Tobias."

Huh, that's a new one. I thought they would be less lenient about this…

While Bernard showed uneasiness, he made an effort of addressing them by their names, something that made me smile inwards. He's a stickler to the rules, and while this has its merits, he won't be able to keep up if he only cares about protocol. 

After more than half a day, we finally arrived at the camp.

This is where the game starts. With a calm sigh, I exited the vehicle and lined up with the other lads, unconsciously entering in the military salute that was drilled in my head in the last two weeks. 

After waiting for half a second, she came. 

Blond, luscious hair, with sapphire colored eyes. Her skin was white, almost porcelain-like in its color, but remaining smooth as silk. She even had the same expression.

My wife died a long time ago, leaving me with two children to take care of… The woman standing across from us was, for the lack of a better term, the splitting image of Jeanne, my dear, beloved, Jeanne. 

So overcome with emotion I was that she caught me staring, and, immediately, I noticed the contrast. While Jeanne was gentle by nature, a true gift of god on this land, this young lady was cold. Maybe it was the military training, but her eyes bore into mine in a way that made me almost glance away.

"Something on my face, soldier?"

"No, sir. You just reminded me of someone, that's all" I cringed at my own voice and felt the need to shoot whoever was laughing… She then eyed all the other Homunculi, silencing their voices and stopping any laughter.

"You'll find that I'm not as lenient as your instructor, V1NC-3T," she glared at me, and I gulped. Not a single hour into service and already on the shit list of an official.

This has to be my best record as of yet.

"You are tasked with the extermination of bandits that took hold on a fortress on the extreme side of the map. After liberating it, you are to return to our base, where you'll be assigned new orders. Any questions?"

"Sir, no sir!"

"Good. Here's the map for the fort, V1NC-T3." After a parting glance, she left, and I was quickly subjected to the snickers of the idiots around me.

I screwed up, I guess… 

Still, this changes things. She might be my wife reincarnated, but I first need to be sure of that. If she is Jeanne, I'll need to bring her with me.

But how do I approach her? It's not like she'll just answer any of my questions, especially after she caught my bloody stare. 

"Well lads, you heard the lass. Grap your things and let's go. The fortress is…" I saw the distance and sighed. "Two days from here… Great." 

At least she wrote down all the details about them, including strategies they use and what to expect of those in the fortress… and… is that a bloody cat in here?

Well, no use in overthinking. 

We entered the vehicle and went towards the objective.

"So, our dear leader has a crush on the commander!"

"Tell me, leader, was it the blue eyes or do you have a thing for women wearing suits?" I tried to ignore the chatter, knowing well that showing any signs of anger would only make it worse. Let them have their fun… 

"I mean, he's not wrong! She's a real cutie, you know?" Barty said, snickering. "Right, Leo?"

"You know I prefer redheads. Don't know you two like blondes so much…"

"Maybe it is something with their genes…"

"We all got the same genetic material, you imbecile."

"I mean, our three Espers here don't."

From that point on, I tried to focus on the map given to me. It had two sides, one detailing the distance we should cover to get there, the other showing the structure of the fortress. From what I can see, I might be able to take a good chunk of their archers. While guns were outdated here, if my two pistols were made with the specifications I asked them, this should make things easier.

And, considering the time we are at, we should be able to strike at night, when their guard is more lax. 

"Jesse, how many explosives do we have with us?"

"Well, that's a good question, leader. Tobias, you're the guy who likes explosions! How many we have?"

"I'd say about 5 liters of molotov, 50 flashbangs, 60 dynamites and about… 30 heat grenades, leader."

"Only 5 liters?"

"Only 5."

"Well, we'll need to make do with what we have" the fortress have two entrances, one is the main entrance, heavily guarded… 

The other, one that isn't listed here, is from the archer rows, on the top of the towers. 

"Oliver, how high do you think you can throw someone?"

The lad saw what I was looking at on the map, and while he gave me a savage grin, the others were much less thrilled with the idea. 

"I'd say more than enough, leader!"