Maghrib finds the cove and the area around it transformed. The rest of your company, and then trickles of men from the rest of the division, have arrived. Dugouts litter the quarantine line, while a makeshift field hospital has been set up just above the beach and tents stretch across the cove. Once your hearing recovers you find yourself explaining the situation to Mulazim after Mulazim, until finally the Division's Mirliva, Binali Pasha, finds you, takes a brief report, and asks for a written one.
And so you find yourself in your tent. It is shared it with Bilal and the runner-boys instead of a full squad of soldiers. A lantern illuminates the twilight, and you sit atop your pack. Outside you hear the faint sounds of men realizing that their perfect slice of beach was not unoccupied because everyone else is an idiot, but rather because it would be underwater at high tide.
You would not call the yelling and panicked scramble relaxing, but it does put a smile on your face.
It doesn't last long. For your report is grim and you know what you must suggest. A harsh and immediate quarantine, backed by martial law. To recognize this as something far more pressing than a Russian offensive. Ensure that what happened to that submarine never happens to anyone, ever again.
You have scarcely begun to put pen to paper when you hear someone approach the tent. They knock, then enter and you recognize Elaheh's friend. A slight, local woman in a red hijab. You stand, and motion for her to sit. "Salaam, sister," you say, "Can I help you?"
"Salaam Mulazim," she says. She is quiet, her voice is raspy and hesitant, "I was told that we would be moved to a boat tomorrow?" You nod, but don't say anything, and she finally sits. "I have medicine. In my apartment. In The Ci-in Kianid," she says. She is hesitant, pausing regularly, visibly second guessing her decision to talk to you, "I would ask for an escort to the city? To retrieve it?"
"I am sorry, Sister," you say, "But I can't let you out of the Quarantine. If you tell me your name, and the medicine, I will have a runner grab it.."
"Are you sure-" She stops herself and takes a few deep breaths, and begins again, "It is a glass jar, filled with a thick, blue liquid that hums." You recognize Distilled Nar by description and her refusal to name it. Doctors do not often prescribe it, but the military is more fond of it. "It's in, well, my apart-I'm sorry. I'm Sophia, I forgot to-"
She begins to breathe more quickly and so you hold up a hand to stop her and let her breathe. "The navy keeps a stock of Nar on hand, Sister Sophia," you say,."I'll send the ship a message, it will be there for you." She begins to relax and you pause, think of saying nothing on the matter, but you decide against it. "I apologize if I am overstepping myself," you say, and you see her tense up instantly, know instantly that you already have, "But Nar is not a cure-all. It is...ephemeral, unpredictable. There are good reasons doctors don't use it. I myself have-" And you feel that itch in your neck for the first time in months and you stumble over your words. "It has treated me less than kindly. You are sure of this?"
There is some glint of recognition, perhaps even sympathy, but the moment passes and she frowns. "I assure you Mulazim," she says, and there is a steel and determination that was not there before, "I know what I am doing."
And she is gone and your neck gnaws at you and your mind races with horrors. You do not look forwards to your dreams tonight.
But now is not the time for such worries. You give Bogoris a note telling the patrol boat headed your way to give Sophia her Nar and tell him to have it sent to port. Then you turn back to your work.
It is late when you finish writing. Isha has passed, and the light of the full moon floods your tent. You do not know if Mirliva Binali will take it seriously, or if Command will if he does, but it is all you can do. And so, you sleep.
You dream of Italy. Of blood and steel. Of your chest, your throat, being crushed. The endless, eternal, terrifying pain of strangulation. No rescue this time, nor release, just mindless panic.
You awake drenched in sweat and groggy. Bilal and one of the runners are reading Dua over your form. The rest are still asleep.
You rub the sleep from your eyes. "What time is it?" you ask.
"An hour before Fajr, Mulazim," says Bilal, "We're holding quarantine in Kianid." And that slices through your exhaustion. That faint haze that kept you from quite registering yesterday. Gore and carnage come unbidden to your mind and your eyes snap wide and your face pales.
"Blessings be upon you, Brother," you say as you pull yourself out of bed, "I will see you both at Fajr." They nod and you head out to perform wudhu and perhaps bathe before Fajr. After all, you doubt that you'll manage to get back to sleep after that.
When the shooting stops you have time to reflect back on what happened. Process traumas, mourn the dead, visit the injured, and react to your actions and those of your subordinates. As such, most combat operations will end with a vote looking backwards, rather than forwards
What was your biggest mistake during the operation?
[ ] You knew there could be Russians in the area, you shouldn't have sent the traumatized Second Squad into the woods.
[ ] Atun's been a problem since you got him, tasking him with the perimeter was a mistake.
[ ] You know there are multiple towns and a city on the island, you should have put the perimeter farther away and then you wouldn't have this mess with Quarantined civilians.
[ ] A comprehensive sweep for hidden monsters was more important than the head count. The gun-thing could well have killed someone.
[ ] Write-In
Which piece of information you gathered do you think is the most important
[ ] According to the journal, the Russian Agent was supposed to bring someone with him from the island. You don't know who or why, or if they were a Russian Spy or a kidnapping target, but they likely know more about this mess.
[ ] Elazar says that each of the abominations was human, no Nar in them. In addition, they didn't seem to have extra flesh or machinery. It needs people, animals, and equipment to make its monsters with.
[ ] There are living Russians on the island, you very much doubt that those three were all of them. Whether they survived on the sub until it crashed or got off on the boat they will know the most about what happened on the submarine.
[ ] There is a Russian assault on Kianid planned for some point in the future.
Did You Know? In our world, the island of Kianida sunk into the black sea in the late 15th to early 16th centuries. In the world of Incident Eliph, it didn't and became an important port and naval base for the Ottoman Empire!
