'What is even happening?' Khan wondered as he approached the buildings.
Khan had learnt about the consequences that those crimes could cause. Deserting could ruin entire careers and even lead to jail time, so he couldn't understand how the soldiers on Ecoruta could consider those options.
"Is something the matter?" Khan asked when he reached the soldiers arguing next to the buildings.
"It's a damned mess," Moses commented while stepping aside to make space for Khan. "Half of the thirty-seventh battalion is leaving the planet instead of joining the main army."
"Can they do that?" Khan asked.
"Well," Lieutenant Leville replied, "No one forces the soldiers to remain on Ecoruta. They only need to get accepted in another position to leave the thirty-seventh battalion. Their families can even help remove eventual punishments. Captain Clayman is also quite permissive, so he probably allowed everyone to depart before HQ could say something on the matter."
Everything began to make sense in Khan's mind now. No one would choose to remain in the main army during such an improvised attack.
"Why did you decide to stay?" Khan asked while moving his gaze on Moses. "Your family should be able to pull you out easily."
"Our team is relatively safe compared to the others," Moses explained. "Well, it was relatively safe. I don't know what HQ will decide to do after the recent events."
"They can't force to attack anyway, right?" One of the soldiers in the group questioned. "Our team won't be able to advance without the diversion of the main army."
"We still have many vehicles," Lieutenant Leville reassured.
"We lost hundreds of troops!" Another soldier complained.
"She is right," A third soldier added. "I'm not sure we can win in this condition."
Khan remained silent as the conversation continued. He didn't know if his relationship with Rick and Captain Clayman could help him get out of that situation. Part of him also wanted to stay as long as the attack didn't turn into a suicide mission.
'I might even get accepted somewhere else,' Khan thought as he studied the situation.
Ecoruta was different from Nitis. The planet had multiple battalions, so a single attack wouldn't matter too much, even if it involved the anti-mana project. The space station in the orbit also allowed soldiers to come and go freely. In short, no one was stuck there, especially if they had families willing to help.
"What's this mess?" Lieutenant Dyelow asked after coming out of one of the buildings.
"I'm sorry, ma'am," Lieutenant Leville quickly said. "We were discussing the recent events with the team."
"The soldiers these days are a bunch of lazy, spoiled brats," Lieutenant Dyelow sighed. "I wonder what they'll do when a proper war appears."
"Ma'am, this attack would have worried anyone," Moses politely contradicted. "Besides, no one would like to be cannon fodder."
"No one likes to fight," Lieutenant Dyelow stated, "And yet, here we are, fighting for metal that most of us can't differentiate from other alloys. Anyway, go back to your tents. We'll probably remain here for a while."
Khan and the others performed a military salute before going back toward their habitations. Still, they didn't enter them. The group gathered in an empty spot of the vast camp to continue the conversation without their superiors' influence.
"I'm telling you," Peggy announced. "HQ will never order us to charge forward in this condition. We'll probably have to wait for a battalion to join us."
"But that will put us back in the previous situation," A soldier complained. "I'm starting to think that we should defect and leave this position."
"He is right," A second soldier commented. "The Global Army can't punish all of us, especially if members of the Kilwood family join the movement."
"What about those who can't move on their own?" Moses chuckled coldly. "Our family won't pay for all of you. I'm pretty sure we'll get scolded to no end for leaving our post."
"HQ must call off the attack if enough troops leave the battalion," Another soldier said.
"You don't understand," Moses exclaimed. "HQ will never give up on this offensive. The mission is too important."
"What are we even trying to find?" A soldier questioned in an angry tone. "I don't like the trenches, but I prefer them over a reckless attack meant to destroy something so secret that even the Lieutenants don't seem to know."
"You don't want to know," Moses replied. "I also want to forget it."
Khan remained silent as the discussion continued. Most soldiers limited themselves to echo the opinions voiced by some relatively famous individuals. The group contained more than a hundred members, but only a few of them stood at its center and expressed their ideas.
The conversation felt a bit pointless in Khan's mind. The poorest soldiers wanted their richer companions to leave to prevent eventual punishments or red marks on their profiles. Meanwhile, the latter hesitated to put their careers in danger.
Most of the soldiers on Ecoruta had ended there due to their troublesome characters. Leaving without valid excuses would only ruin their prospects inside the Global Army. Yet, a joint rebellion could shift the blame on their superiors since it would highlight the poor management of the troops.
"Khan?" Moses called in a helpless tone, forcing Khan to snap out of his thoughts.
Countless gazes fell on Khan. He felt surprised to see how many soldiers actually knew him and respected his opinion. He had never met most of those men and women, but they had heard a lot about him, so they fell silent as they waited for his words.
"I can't help you here," Khan honestly revealed. "I didn't think we had a choice until a few minutes ago."
"Khan, you probably are the most talented soldier in the second year," Moses commented. "Drop that misfit mindset and tell us what you think."
Khan's eyebrows arched in surprise, but a quick inspection of the soldiers around him told him that many shared Moses' opinion.
'When did I even become so important?' Khan wondered while trying to sort out his ideas.
"I honestly don't understand why you are complaining so much," Khan eventually declared. "Leave if you don't want to fight, or stay if you don't mind following your orders. There's not much more to it."
"Come on," Moses complained. "This problem involves the whole battalion. Our companions left us in the dirt."
"Not really," Khan explained. "They have only made their move before all of you."
"That's the point!" Peggy joined the discussion. "We will look bad now. They are forcing our hand."
"Peggy, your family can put you in a good position even if you were the worst soldier in the entire Global Army," Khan responded. "Most of the soldiers here don't have that privilege, but they still decided to risk their careers. It takes guts."
A few silent seconds followed that statement. Khan was right, but the soldiers didn't feel any better after that realization.
"What will you do then?" Moses asked after the silence became deafening. "I'm sure HQ wouldn't be able to say anything if we all refuse to join the battlefield."
"I have come on Ecoruta to fight," Khan revealed. "I won't back off because the mission has become more difficult."
"That's easy for you to say!" A soldier shouted.
"Easy?" Khan voiced.
"You are a chaos wielder," The soldier replied. "The Global Army will obviously put you in a safe position."
A series of soldiers joined that complaint. The respect and faint admiration that they had directed toward Khan transformed into anger and disappointment. They expected him to join their movement due to his past and poor background, but he ended up voicing the opposite opinion.
Khan didn't expect that development. The comment even hurt him. Those soldiers didn't know anything about the chaos element and what he had to overcome to use his spells. That belittlement angered him, but he decided to ignore those disrespectful companions.
Khan scoffed and shook his head before turning to leave. Someone called him, but the soldiers in the gathering didn't dare to block his path. He could return inside his habitation in no time and forget about that pointless mess.
The annoyance vanished when Khan fell in his meditative state. He didn't care about those political issues. He could have probably used that chance to establish his position as leader of the younger generations in the Global Army, but he didn't want such dumb companions.
A thought appeared in his mind when he came out of the meditative state. Delia was far from wealthy. Her desertion had probably caused serious problems for her career, but she didn't hesitate to reassure him when he questioned her about the issue.
'They didn't even put my relocation on my profile,' Khan read on Delia's message. 'The Global Army is probably worried that I might disclose what we have seen in the labs. I'm in the space station now, but I'll probably leave tomorrow morning.'
Khan replied with a simple goodbye before thinking about his position. He could definitely leave without suffering any repercussion, but he had no valuable destinations. Ecoruta was perfect for his current needs, and the idea of seeing a messy battlefield even intrigued him.
In the end, Khan decided to spend the rest of the night sleeping. When the morning arrived, Khan left his habitation and found a similar gathering of soldiers and Lieutenants around the camp's main buildings. The discussions were louder than the previous night.
Khan didn't want to join those pointless conversations, but he inevitably heard something. It seemed that some soldiers had left during the night, while others threatened to depart if HQ didn't inform them about the changes to the mission.
The scene was quite surprising and very different from the other interactions between underlings and superiors that Khan had seen on other planets. The soldiers were probably scared, but their behavior remained disrespectful and rude. Some Lieutenants even had to raise their voices to remind everyone about their position.
Lieutenant Dyelow came out of her building and inspected the situation for a few seconds before finding Khan near the tents. A helpless smirk appeared on her face as she shook her head and walked toward him.
"They are so loud," Lieutenant Dyelow announced before patting Khan's shoulder. "It's a pity that they aren't like you. We would be already on the battlefield otherwise."
"They are scared, ma'am," Khan said, ignoring the fact that many gazes had moved toward him.
"They should be," Lieutenant Dyelow announced. "War isn't a nice place, but running away and relying on their families isn't a solution."
"Did HQ decide what to do?" Khan asked.
"Yes," Lieutenant Dyelow stated without adding anything else.
"Why aren't you informing the camp?" Khan questioned as a frown appeared on his face.
"I can understand who to report to the Global Army like this," Lieutenant Dyelow explained. "The Kilwood kids are untouchable, and the same goes for a few of these cowards. Yet, I'll make sure that the others won't get anywhere in the future."
Khan widened his eyes, but he didn't say anything on the matter. He remained silent until his curiosity had the better of him and made him voice a question. "What did HQ decide?"
"The attack has to happen," Lieutenant Dyelow revealed. "However, the thirty-seventh battalion is short in manpower now. HQ will send troops from other platoons to reinforce our ranks, but I wouldn't be too happy about that.. We lost our chance to exploit flaws in the enemy lines."
