Awakening the Lightforged

We attack the Imaia. Become enough of a nuisance that they send one of their cruisers after us, to wipe us out. We’ll need a convincing target. Maybe one of the bases we can abandon. Or maybe we can use one of the old towns the Imaia used as a base while gathering resources.

C. 19 days, 23 hours since the assassination of rebel leadership

Uuchantuu tried to keep her expression neutral and not to fidget as she waited under Lightside's red, relentless sun near Memfoso's rail station. It was one of a handful of towns—outposts, really—that the Imaia maintained along the magrail lines they'd built on this continent, making it one of the only places the trains stopped before reaching the sea to the north.

She and her other teammates wore local guard uniforms—stiff, uncomfortable things of red, white, and black fabric with yellow accents meant to imitate Imaia gold. Everything was going well so far, but Uuchantuu couldn't help feeling exposed out here. Vulnerable.

She wished they could just steal the equipment the town used and be done with it, but then Memfoso's people, including their sympathizers who had provided the uniforms, would suffer. They would take some of it today, but they needed the distraction of the train for this all to work.

Taking a deep breath, Uuchantuu leaned against one of the overhangs lining the railway to provide some shade, and glanced over her shoulder at Memfoso.

Uuchantuu had only seen the town a few times, but she'd never gotten used to it.

She was surprised the Imaia hadn't lifted most of the older buildings here from the continent like they had so many other ruins and ancient structures. These were old, but had been well-maintained. Most bore the ornamentation and more severe lines of the Iron Empire, as well as some Imaia sun and axe motifs. Those structures fit.

The metal structures in the back, some tall, some squat, all painted white to reflect the sun and bearing at least one sun and axe motif, seemed to contrast everything about the ancient town and the rocky scrubland beyond. That made sense, though, as they were temporary, modern buildings. In this case, that meant a few years rather than a few weeks or months, but Uuchantuu knew that once the Imaia saw no more need for Memfoso and its mines, they would pack up as much as they could and leave this area behind to crumble like the rest of Efruumani.

Checking around to make sure none of the real guards were too close—there were a few close by, but none within earshot—Uuchantuu reached up to her ear and activated the radio hidden in her helmet.

"Naruuna, how are things going for you?"

"We're all set, and the train is on its way."

"Good. Radio once they're on."

"Yes, sir!"

Uuchantuu took a deep breath. The plan was simple enough.

The train would slow down on its way into Memfoso. Uuchantuu's people hid with Naruuna near a rocky outcrop the train would pass when it was slow enough to board. Using the cars they'd stolen from their last raid, Naruuna had trained Akseli, Kakengo, Tshala, and Joret in how to deactivate the coupling georaurals. Once on board, those four would detach the cars resulting in them being left behind a short distance outside Memfoso as the train's main body pulled into the station. That was when Uuchantuu would take over.

Just as a low hum reached Uuchantuu's ears, the ground starting to rumble, her radio sparked to life.

"They made it!"

Uuchantuu smiled at Naruuna's excitement before glancing toward a nearby guard and schooling her expression. "Good. The rest of you, stay hidden."

Movement out of corner of her eye caught her attention and Uuchantuu looked over just as the train came into view.

Footsteps to her right made her swallow, stomach clenching, but she kept her features neutral as she turned to the approaching guard.

The Natari man wore a uniform similar to Uuchantuu’s, though with a sergeant’s stripes on the shoulders, meaning he outranked her.

"Looks like we'll be needed to help unload soon," he remarked.

Uuchantuu almost barked a laugh at the small talk.

Swallowing her nerves, she nodded. "Always hate that part. We'll be in the shade for some of it, though."

The man grunted. Natari liked being in the sun, liked feeling its rays on their skin, but even they needed a break from it every now and then.

"Any idea what this one's carrying?"

Uuchantuu forced a grin. "Mining equipment, I think. Overheard some talk about needing repairs. Other than that…" She shrugged. "That's above my pay grade."

Uuchantuu tried not to tense as she noticed the man frown and study her out of the corner of his eye. What had she said wrong?

Was it the pay grade, thing? They do still have pay-gaps, don’t they?

Uuchantuu knew the Imaia was big on wealth redistribution—effectively putting that stance into practice had won them many allies before and even after true war had actually broken out. It would have made opposing them much more difficult if they hadn’t used such cruelly efficient tactics when their diplomacy wasn’t good enough. Most of the reports from their moles didn’t include the Imaia’s current economic policies, but Uuchantuu imagined there was still some sort of meritocratic consideration when deciding on what to pay people.

“At least they’re stopping to give us and Aksomo some supplies before sending them all off to Darkside,” he said.

Uuchantuu frowned at the officer’s fishing. “This train isn’t scheduled to stop until it reaches Djeduu after it leaves here. Or did the schedule change?”

He smiled, looking a bit too self-satisfied. “Of course—my mistake. Even our efficient scheduling grows confusing some times.”

Before he or Uuchantuu could say anything else, the train passed by them, settling its length before the station and Uuchantuu glanced to the side.

There.

"Do you see that?" she gasped, pointing the way the train had come.

The sergeant frowned, then stiffened as he noticed the disconnected cars. "Scarlet light!"

Before he could give any orders, Uuchantuu started in that direction. "You secure the train, sir, I'll go handle that."

She whistled for a few of the other guards—most of them her people in disguise—to follow her, then took off at a run as soon as she saw the officer wave a few other guards to him as he jogged toward the head of the train.

As she closed in on the detached train cars, Uuchantuu fell in with her team. Araana and Oka’ada made no indication they knew her other than a small salute, but Uuchantuu allowed herself a small smile. They would take care of the real Imaia guards soon, but Uuchantuu wanted to be far out of earshot and have the cover of the cars before they did anything.

If Jaran and his people are ready, that part should be done in seconds.

All the guards with Uuchantuu were Natari, or Natari-presenting, at least. Their sympathizers within Memfoso, and general intelligence, told them that most Samjati personnel in the Imaia were sent to Darkside rather than being posted on Atonga or anywhere else on Lightside, so anyone wearing a lightcover would draw too much attention. Uuchantuu had posted that part of her team with Naruuna, ambushing the train and hiding among the cars, and with Jaran near Memfoso's mine and the entrance to Ironpeak.

When they reached the cars, Uuchantuu turned to the group of guards that had come with her and took a moment to assess them. Fifteen had followed, and there were four groups of cars that had come undone.

"I want three per group," Uuchantuu barked, pointing to the tracks. She'd been given the uniform and faked insignia of a corporal, so the regular guardsmen would follow her orders without question.

Maybe that's why the officer was suspicious. Would I be paid enough to know that sort of thing?

Uuchantuu shook the thought from her head. That didn't matter at the moment.

As the guards started to move toward the track, she pointed toward Araana and Oka'ada. "You two, with me."

Both flashed quick grins as they fell in with her, lagging behind the other guards just a bit. From Araana, that surprised Uuchantuu, but she tried to see it as a good thing.

Everything is going as planned. We just need to get through this.

As the groups of guards reached their respective sections of cars—each one no more than three or four long—Uuchantuu quickened her step and grinned as she heard a grunt and a few thuds from the first group, then silence. She and her companions continued past that group, glancing over just long enough to receive a salute from her people before continuing toward the next group.

When they reached the last car, Uuchantuu smiled and activated her radio as she made her way back toward the station. "Good job. Naruuna, help them secure these cars and wait for the signal."

The easy part was over.

Now, Naruuna and her team would search the cars, ensuring the equipment they needed was there. Once that was done, they would work out of sight to reverse the polarity on the georaurals on the bottom of the cars, then wait for Jaran's team's distraction.

As Uuchantuu noticed the officer from earlier jogging toward them with a handful of other guards, she dropped her hand and clenched her fists. They would need that distraction, soon.

"Corporal?" the officer said as he came to a stop before her. "What's the status on those cars?"

"I've got the men working on them, sir," Uuchantuu said, saluting. "Looks like the wiring on the georaurals wasn't as secure as it should have been. One of the men is apparently familiar with the frameworks and said they would have the cars re-coupled within a quarter of an hour. After that, all we need to do is push them back toward the rest of the train."

The officer looked past her toward the cars, then nodded, gaze returning to her. "Good. Make it ten minutes, if you can. After that raid last week, I—"

An explosion shook the stone beneath them, ripping through the air and drowning the man's words. A cloud of dust and dark smoke billowed up from just beyond the town.

"That's from the mine," Uuchantuu gasped.

The officer looked to her, eyes wide.

Uuchantuu nearly told him to go check it out, but she'd already come too close to giving him an order earlier.

"Do you need me to assist with that, sir?" Uuchantuu asked, hand on her sidearm.

The officer looked between her, the column of smoke, and the train cars, then shook his head. Uuchantuu covertly turned off the safety and unbuckled the latch.

"Secure those cars and get the train out of here," the man ordered. "We'll ask Djeduu to offload them and send back what we need once the town is secure."

"Yes, sir!"

"Once the train is gone, come to the mine, but make sure the town is secure on your way. Leave a handful of people to make sure none of the citizens are hurt."

Uuchantuu saluted, and looked after the officer as he jogged off with his soldiers.

That was the sort of thing that made what they did just a bit harder. What made her glad for Estingai's order not to kill unless absolutely necessary.

Despite all the horrible things the Imaia had done and continued to do, it cared for the safety of its people. Or its soldiers did, at least.

Uuchantuu turned back toward the cars with a sigh. She was about to radio Naruuna when the other woman spoke first, voice crackling in her ear.

"Uuchantuu, we have a problem. You need to get over here."