Thread: Kaminoyama {Zella and Alan23}

27 Leagues NNW of the capital. The region known as Yakushima. Midwinter. Those who had little to do with hovercraft might have said either that the machines were silent, or that each and every one of them made the same sound. If pressed, they would have made a gentle, humming noise, their face bearing a self-conscious expression as they did so. A sort of, well, like, whirrr whirrrr whirrrr they'd say. Cavalrymen Toshiga and Zumozo knew better. Eight years, beginning as Mechanical Assistants, the lowest rank in the entire army, in their childhood, and having a fight every day until they had both reached the age of thirteen had given the two-man team a bond that could not be bought. Now, risen to the elite rank of Cavalrymen First Class, the pair would never deign to do anything so crass as actually mention what they had achieved, even to each other. It was, by unwritten rule, a thing not mentioned. Each took the other's bravery, loyalty both to the Empress and to each other for granted, and neither felt it worth articulating that they were the crack scouts, the go-to pairing when vital information concerning the movements of the Kiah - the savage, mutant tribesmen that dwelt outside the Empire's boundaries on the scrubland to the North, and which no forcefield could have kept out had the entire tribe made a determined rush -was needed. Toshiga and Zumozo would come back alive, and with every piece of information the Commander needed. It was a given. Yet, all the bravery in the empire, even that attributed to the legends of old, was at naught against the tricks and jokes of fate. Against, more specifically, a clogged filter that damaged the hovercraft's engine so badly that it ground to a halt. The long trek back that this meant might not, in itself, have been a disaster, save that on the second day of their exodus they had chanced against a group of Kiah warriors, mounted on the ugly, mutant camels that provided their transport. Warriors, furthermore, that had been armed with the latest Zumo Lasers taken from dead comrades of Toshiga and Zumozo, and thus representing the very best the savages could put into the field. It had been a breakneck run, on foot, followed a shootout in which they had feared for their lives. The Imperial Scouts' greater discipline and superior training had finally prevailed, and nothing had seemed more natural at the time than that the victorious Scouts had appropriated the mutant camels, deciding this means of transport a relatively superior means of making it back to civilisation. It had not turned out a wise decision. Within two hours of setting off, the recalcitrant beasts had stampeded in one of the short dust storms that periodically blew up in the region, and while Zumozo had managed just to bring his own beast under control, Toshiga had been thrown, and was reduced to hobbling, his limp causing pain to shoot through his body with every step. Thus it had been that what had been intended as a three day reconnaissance had turned into one lasting more than a week. And such had been the panic at their failure to return on schedule, and the inability of the patrols sent out to discover any trace of them, by the time they did finally return the entire camp had been in an uproar. As far as their personal reputation went, this had achieved more than success might have, for the army at that time was desperate for prestige, for some favourable publicity, and it had been decided that strings would be pulled and that at the Cavalry Scouts were to be awarded the Imperial Service Medal, to be presented by the Empress herself. Both had protested - they already had received plenty of awards, citations and other gee-gaws - but the political need was expedient. Finally, the Commander had given the pair an ultimatum. They were to toss a coin, and the loser was to accept the medal, presenting himself in full dress uniform at the Imperial Palace at ten the following day to receive the award from the hand of the Empress herself. And to prevent them finding a way of wriggling out of it a skill in which both took pride the award was to be announced on that very night's news bulletin, which everyone knew was watched even by the Empress herself. It would then be a fait accompli. Having lost the toss, Cavalryman Zumozo spent a resentful night during which he became roaringly drunk on sake, and at first light suffered himself to be collected by a guard of honour as, in full dress uniform, he was driven through the streets to the Imperial Palace.