05-23-2015, 11:44 AM
The Legionnaires pulled out without further complaint; many of the men were clearly shaken by the orders, but they trusted in Jacques' leadership, and refused to question his decision. Most understood, at least in part, his motivation. They might have won the battle, but would have lost the war. Their hold in Freetown was tenuous at best, and had they drawn Wallace-Johnson...Interim President General Wallace-Johnson's ire, the troops under his command would have been more then enough to squash the Legion Premiere presence there.
There was more to it then that, of course, but Jacques would keep his sin close to his chest. He knew what was going to happen at the refinery-turned-refugee camp in the Legion's absence, and intended to use that to justify his coming decisions in the world's eyes.
The refugees became restless as the Legion began to leave and the government troops grew more confident in their control of the situation. None realized that the refinery's cameras security cameras were still on, the feed streamed to the Legion headquarters in Morocco, and played on a small pop-up on Jacques' Landwarrior glasses. He would witness what would transpire there. He owed the refugees that much.
Azu refused to turn his back on his people; many of the refugees were his schools' staff and their families after all. Others looked to the man as their leader, no matter what trouble Ayo had caused in her childish accusations. Without parents of her own at the camp, stuffing Ayo into the waiting vehicle was easily done; the girl was too tired by that point to put up any more resistance, and went quietly.
Lt Kamenashi's group made no comment of Monday's presence with them. There was little they could do about it after all, and one more adult in the group, even if she were a reporter, only made it easier to herd the confused children away from the refinery. The cover story, of going out to look for some fruit and other food for the evening's meal, was thin and even the children were soon able to reason out that that wasn't what was going on.
The Legion officer kept near the front of the group, dropping to the side occasionally to do a head count, while relying on the handful of local men as guides. They knew the jungle in the area well enough to walk the group to the meeting point some hours away, where Jacques would have vehicles waiting to bring them and the kids to a different camp further from Freetown.
The jungles north east of the refinery were close enough to Masiaka that there were foot paths and vehicle trails, but the group mostly avoided those and kept to the thicker brush, at one point walking a few hundred meters along the bed of a lazy shallow stream. The children were quiet at first, but soon the older ones began to ask questions, the youngest began complaining.
A half hour away from the facility, the group stopped for it's first break, and Lt Kamenashi finally spent a moment to speak to the children. He fed them lies...comforting lies. They were going for a walk, then a car ride. Their parents were going to meet them at the new camp. A better one. Safer, with more food. Yes, Azubuike would meet them there, and the other teachers too of course.
It was during the break that Lt Kamenashi also finally spoke to Monday, in a more serious, and quiet, tone. The children weren't safe at the refinery camp, not with the government troops there. Jacques had surmised that Wallace-Johnson would send someone to follow them, and that it might have been necessary to sneak the children away, at least until the worst of it had blown over. So they were being moved to another camp for the time being, just until it was safe to reunite them with their families. That last was said with little actual hope of it being a possibility.
He shared with her the location of the rendezvous, made sure she had a means of tracking her way there, then returned to the front of the group. The break was over, and it was time to move on. The children were roused to their feet, Lt Kamenashi and his men readied their weapons, and the group set off once more.
Only to immediately draw to a stop; the sound of breaking branches, rustling leaves. The sound of a large group of people moving, as quietly as could be managed for so many, through the jungle, and coming towards them. Four men in the uniforms of the Sierra Leonean army, minus flags and unit emblems, which had been torn or cut free, emerged from the jungle on the bank of the shallow river, and everyone froze.
It wasn't hard to surmise that they were General Katlego's men, the rebels. There was a tense moment of silence as the four soldiers looked over the group of children and armed men in their company, eyes flicking towards Monday with more interest. But that interest was broken as Lt Kamenashi took a slow step towards the four, raising one hand in a calming fashion, although he never released his grip of his weapon.
He was about to speak, to try and talk their way out of the situation, but never got the chance. A fifth and sixth soldier stepped onto the river bank, one bearing the rank markings of a Captain. The man gave the group one quick glance then drew a pistol and fired at Lt Kamenashi, catching the Legionnaire in the hip.
Chaos erupted as Kamenashi fell onto his side in the shallow water. The rebel officer's chest was punched through by a burst from one of the Legion auxiliaries escorting the children, leaving the man's chest a wreck of red meat. Children screamed, some dropping to their knees or standing dumb struck, while others tried to run for the illusion of safety, the jungle on the opposite bank, away from the rebel soldiers.
More rebels appeared on the bank, taking a knee to fire indiscriminately down at the fleeing children or armed guards, and the only thing that saved many was how poorly trained the men were. Long bursts of fully automatic weapons fire climbed the barrels up, shredding earth and leaves on the far bank, then tearing into tree trunks, far more often then the rounds found flesh.
The water flowing past Kamenashi was dark red; blood was pumping from his shattered hip alarmingly fast, but the man still tugged free his sidearm and propped himself up against a rock, from where he could fire at the rebel soldiers, dropping two in quick succession before glancing towards Monday, "Run! Get them out of here!"
Yelling and shouted commands could be heard in the jungle, signs of more soldiers rapidly approaching. The firefight would easily be heard at the refinery as well, alerting the soldiers there that they only had so much time with which to finish their persecution of the refugees before they had a fight on their hands. No Temne refugees would be spared; fighting the rebels with Temne rats at their backs simply wasn't strategically sound. Better the Temne refugees were dead before the rebels arrived.
There was more to it then that, of course, but Jacques would keep his sin close to his chest. He knew what was going to happen at the refinery-turned-refugee camp in the Legion's absence, and intended to use that to justify his coming decisions in the world's eyes.
The refugees became restless as the Legion began to leave and the government troops grew more confident in their control of the situation. None realized that the refinery's cameras security cameras were still on, the feed streamed to the Legion headquarters in Morocco, and played on a small pop-up on Jacques' Landwarrior glasses. He would witness what would transpire there. He owed the refugees that much.
Azu refused to turn his back on his people; many of the refugees were his schools' staff and their families after all. Others looked to the man as their leader, no matter what trouble Ayo had caused in her childish accusations. Without parents of her own at the camp, stuffing Ayo into the waiting vehicle was easily done; the girl was too tired by that point to put up any more resistance, and went quietly.
Lt Kamenashi's group made no comment of Monday's presence with them. There was little they could do about it after all, and one more adult in the group, even if she were a reporter, only made it easier to herd the confused children away from the refinery. The cover story, of going out to look for some fruit and other food for the evening's meal, was thin and even the children were soon able to reason out that that wasn't what was going on.
The Legion officer kept near the front of the group, dropping to the side occasionally to do a head count, while relying on the handful of local men as guides. They knew the jungle in the area well enough to walk the group to the meeting point some hours away, where Jacques would have vehicles waiting to bring them and the kids to a different camp further from Freetown.
The jungles north east of the refinery were close enough to Masiaka that there were foot paths and vehicle trails, but the group mostly avoided those and kept to the thicker brush, at one point walking a few hundred meters along the bed of a lazy shallow stream. The children were quiet at first, but soon the older ones began to ask questions, the youngest began complaining.
A half hour away from the facility, the group stopped for it's first break, and Lt Kamenashi finally spent a moment to speak to the children. He fed them lies...comforting lies. They were going for a walk, then a car ride. Their parents were going to meet them at the new camp. A better one. Safer, with more food. Yes, Azubuike would meet them there, and the other teachers too of course.
It was during the break that Lt Kamenashi also finally spoke to Monday, in a more serious, and quiet, tone. The children weren't safe at the refinery camp, not with the government troops there. Jacques had surmised that Wallace-Johnson would send someone to follow them, and that it might have been necessary to sneak the children away, at least until the worst of it had blown over. So they were being moved to another camp for the time being, just until it was safe to reunite them with their families. That last was said with little actual hope of it being a possibility.
He shared with her the location of the rendezvous, made sure she had a means of tracking her way there, then returned to the front of the group. The break was over, and it was time to move on. The children were roused to their feet, Lt Kamenashi and his men readied their weapons, and the group set off once more.
Only to immediately draw to a stop; the sound of breaking branches, rustling leaves. The sound of a large group of people moving, as quietly as could be managed for so many, through the jungle, and coming towards them. Four men in the uniforms of the Sierra Leonean army, minus flags and unit emblems, which had been torn or cut free, emerged from the jungle on the bank of the shallow river, and everyone froze.
It wasn't hard to surmise that they were General Katlego's men, the rebels. There was a tense moment of silence as the four soldiers looked over the group of children and armed men in their company, eyes flicking towards Monday with more interest. But that interest was broken as Lt Kamenashi took a slow step towards the four, raising one hand in a calming fashion, although he never released his grip of his weapon.
He was about to speak, to try and talk their way out of the situation, but never got the chance. A fifth and sixth soldier stepped onto the river bank, one bearing the rank markings of a Captain. The man gave the group one quick glance then drew a pistol and fired at Lt Kamenashi, catching the Legionnaire in the hip.
Chaos erupted as Kamenashi fell onto his side in the shallow water. The rebel officer's chest was punched through by a burst from one of the Legion auxiliaries escorting the children, leaving the man's chest a wreck of red meat. Children screamed, some dropping to their knees or standing dumb struck, while others tried to run for the illusion of safety, the jungle on the opposite bank, away from the rebel soldiers.
More rebels appeared on the bank, taking a knee to fire indiscriminately down at the fleeing children or armed guards, and the only thing that saved many was how poorly trained the men were. Long bursts of fully automatic weapons fire climbed the barrels up, shredding earth and leaves on the far bank, then tearing into tree trunks, far more often then the rounds found flesh.
The water flowing past Kamenashi was dark red; blood was pumping from his shattered hip alarmingly fast, but the man still tugged free his sidearm and propped himself up against a rock, from where he could fire at the rebel soldiers, dropping two in quick succession before glancing towards Monday, "Run! Get them out of here!"
Yelling and shouted commands could be heard in the jungle, signs of more soldiers rapidly approaching. The firefight would easily be heard at the refinery as well, alerting the soldiers there that they only had so much time with which to finish their persecution of the refugees before they had a fight on their hands. No Temne refugees would be spared; fighting the rebels with Temne rats at their backs simply wasn't strategically sound. Better the Temne refugees were dead before the rebels arrived.