Time was...something that had a habit of running out at the wrong moments.  For some, anyway, this was the case.  For others, not so much.  In a fair and just world, this war wouldn't even be happening, but more to the point...better, decent men than those who hate everybody around them and always shoot their mouths off would never die.  But let's not get ahead of ourselves.  One thing at a time.

First, the explosion...

When Isaac had gone out to go look over the scene and see what had gone on - shouting for everybody to ready for combat - he had seen damage in the street, to old buildings, to some of the encampment, and so forth.  He had no idea what'd done it or if they were really about to be attacked by Imperial soldiers.  Something had happened, something with a single shot...and then no further action.  It was like a sudden jarring threat, reminding them that their enemy can touch them, blast them to bits.  The question on Isaac's mind had been [i]how[/i].  they'd fired some cannnon, it made a [i]severe[/i] impression on the area, and then...what?  And then...they left?  And then...they were on a smoke break?  Did they only bring [i]one shot?[/i]  Because, if so, Isaac wasn't complaining, but it was damn peculiar!  He looked left-to-right after lowering the binoculars, seeing a man from the next camp over basically doing the same thing he was.

[color=f7941d]"Did you see anything?"[/color]

[b]"No!"[/b]

[color=f7941d]"Does [i]anybody[/i] know what's going on?"[/color]

[b]"Apart from getting blasted?  Not a clue!"[/b]

[color=f7941d]"Keep asking down the line, then.  I don't like this kinda' surprise."[/color]

[b]"Who would?"[/b]

He didn't wanna answer that, because the obvious implications here were that the Imperials rolled up some kind of cannon and fired it at them...but what a cannon!  It'd probably been [i]worse[/i] than a mortar.  If he and Britta had been closer or out here in the open, they'd been hit by all the debris thrown around by the explosion!  Britta was, in the meantime, making rounds to check on everyone, seeing if they were alert and ready, or injured from the attack.  Rikes was with him, by his side.  He was silent, staring, but fortunately...not overtly reacting to any sounds he might've picked up.

Time passed...for some.  For others, it had stopped.

He was watchful, keeping an eye out on the town of Amone, trying to spot the endpoint of something like a cannon or alot of troops or even a flash to indicate that something had fired.  Hell, he almost expected another one of those machine gun cars to appear, but in this case...nothing.  He kept his eyes open, drank shitty coffee that made him AND Rikes gag, and prayed he was wrong about everything, that there wasn't something bad going down.  He didn't notice that the scouting team had come back until he heard some kind of commotion...and Luke Godfrey.  There were worse things to hear, but right now, Isaac couldn't think of any.  Luke was shouting on to some other soldiers that they'd been attacked by Green Fox...and that Thomas was dead.

[color=f7941d][i]Oh, shit fucking Christ...[/i][/color]

In a fair and just world, none of this shit would be happening, but even in a marginally-decent world, Thomas would be alive and Luke would be riddled with holes, dying in a ditch, possibly having been killed by a Darcsen.  But no, there was no luck today, no good to be found in the world.  They'd been blasted by the Imperials and Thomas 'Marathon' Carter had been killed.

There weren't enough cuss words in the world for this.

He didn't even know Thomas that well.  He was just an Oceanic guy who was working with them, pulling his own weight like everybody else, but Isaac did what they all did around here when someone new shows up: Treat 'em like family.  Granted, that was a tall order with Luke, but he was a black sheep.  There's [i]always[/i] going to be problems with his like.  Britta came up to him as he was petting Rikes, who had no idea why he was so somber, but stuck by him to alleviate that, anyway.  The other Gunner was a bit ashen-faced right now.

[b][color=ed1c24]"I guess you heard?"[/color][/b]

[color=f7941d]"Yeah..."[/color]

[b][color=ed1c24]"We have alot of good people in this Squad.  I don't think we're getting over this easily."[/color][/b]

[color=f7941d]"And, we shouldn't, but at the same time...we have to."[/color]

He could only imagine what Jean was thinking, right now.  It'd been his mission, Thomas was under his command, and he'd been a friend to them all.  No way was their Darcsen Corporal taking this lightly.  Isaac didn't want to even guess at how distraught he was, and Britta picked up on that from the look on his face.  Change of subject time.  Maybe not a [i]good[/i] topic, but a change nonetheless.

[b][color=ed1c24]"You still think that Middleton will order us to go looking for whatever hit us?"[/color][/b]

[color=f7941d]"He didn't when it struck, but I guess he doesn't have to.  We're going on the attack soon, so we'll probably FIND it, on the way.  They moved it here in the night, they couldn't have moved it far, by now."[/color]

[b][color=ed1c24]"Unless it's like that [i]car[/i]..."[/color][/b]

Isaac stared at her a second, considering the possibility for a moment.

[color=f7941d]"God, I hope not..."[/color]