A Battle Unseen

[hyraemous]

Sometime in April 5625...
Though the weird situation vis a vis the capture of 58 people caught up valuable intel regarding what they were planning to do, the question was what to do with these agents. They shouldn't be released into the general population; after all, they would probably return to their homeland up north. Or worse. But killing them, while it would boost morale, would probably shake up the election a bit.

They kept Bronislav Sladek in jail during the civil war, but eventually, he got rescued. What's to say the Legion wouldn't do something similar?

Eventually, the President himself, Tiberius Claudius Nero, decided their fate. But it wouldn't happen for a while. He, his staff, and the Etxean Garrison Command had their own ideas.

Twenty people were picked up from various military sites across the island and taken into a room together in the southern part of the island. These troops were already part of the special forces and were trained in infiltration and various tactics to set up networks around the enemy and communications. 

Over the next seven months, isolated from their families, who were told that they were headed to Valruzia for electoral monitoring purposes, the 20 people would also be trained and retrained on various fitness needs and physical tasks like climbing walls and crouching for long periods of time. They were also taught various methods of movement without making much noise.

When the President saw the 20 people, he was satisfied. Though they wouldn't be the best spies in history, they sure will be the pride of the Kundrati Union.

And thus it was. On 3 December 5625, the 20 troops were taken to a spot in western Etxea. Beyond the ESK housing construction site was an area—a makeshift monument to all who had died in the liberation of Etxea. They would pray and pay their respects. They were then taken to a rented site nearby to rest and prepare.

The next day, they were driven to a spot somewhere in the middle of northern Etxea. There, various boats were laid out. A final goodbye was said before the 20 troops got onto their boats and began to move off. 

Another series of boats was launching nearby, a couple of miles east. They carried communications equipment, some weapons, and various pills in case the agents were compromised.

A few days later...

As the boats reached the mainland shores, the crews of both boat sets readied to meet up. Waiting were a few vans, which had been arranged somehow. When the 20 troops got off their boats, they entered the vans and drove off to a pickup spot for the equipment. A few minutes in, they got the equipment and got in. Each soldier got a weapon, a pill, some falsified identification, and a Bible.

Normally, such a thing would've gotten them arrested on the mainland—possibly worse. Yet after months of painstaking intelligence work, the Union found that there were a few spots where not even the Legion could've set up monitoring equipment. One of those spots was where the crews landed.

The destination was a village in Jildrath. It took an hour to get there. 

The vans made it to a few longhouses. They had taken a side road to get there. Their handlers identified the spot where they would set up shop. The communications equipment began to be installed, which would take a day at most. The longhouses were a bit old—they were former warehouses. They needed some sprucing up, but they were good for lodging.

A few days pass. The agents get used to their environment and work on their hunting skills. It would be a while before they learned those skills with their eyes closed, so to speak, but at least they had some rations and some meat from a few animals they managed to kill off. In the meantime, some of the agents had made some forged documents that looked like official announcements and publications, which would be a handful for the upcoming project.

But the real work had to begin. And begin it did.

Around the area, 15 of those 20 roamed nearby villages while five remained to keep stock of supplies and to post guard. 

Those 15 agents soon approached these nearby villages and began their work. They put up these official-looking papers in mailboxes and left them at home. Some even entered local businesses and looked at what was for sale, roaming around the nearby shops and apartment buildings to see what to expect and how friendly the locals were. One had begun to talk to a shop owner, first about the nearby forest, but then about some concerns about the government. They spoke in hushed tones, and by the end of the day, that shop owner and the agent met at an empty apartment. 

A day later, the shopowner began working by talking to his friends and family. According to the shopowner, there were some concerns about the government in Jildrath, and perhaps now was the time to take action.

Some of his family and friends joined the shop owner at a pre-arranged location days afterward with some of the agents. They weren't far from the longhouses but wouldn't be spotted. The agents encouraged the group to talk to their friends and ask them to think about the current government and whether it was worth it to continue supporting them. They were also asked to tell the agents everything they knew about the Legion and the general area, which they were hesitant about. Still, the agents encouraged them, saying that they were all friends now and wouldn't talk to the Legion without sacrificing everyone, including themselves.

During that meeting, another agent opened the cash register to the shop owner's store. She took out a few Legionary Kuno and put them in her pocket. She closed the register and walked out via another entrance. Then, a man saw her and asked her what she was doing here. The man spoke in a distinct Jildrati accent, though recognizable from the Lurrian tongue. She said she worked for a nearby store and was leaving for lunch. The man let her go.

Within a few days, a small network was made.

Work continued afterward.