After days of uneventful riding, Simone was glad for a task to occupy her attention. The excitement of her first deployment was already wearing thin under the constant grind of the march. It was certainly something the great bards of the stage had neglected to include in their performances. Still, the day itself was pleasant enough, and with some distance from the main body of the group the air had cleared of the worst of the dust such a large mass of men stirred up.  Quickly patting her breast pocket to check for the umpteenth time she had her cigarette case with her, she rode ahead of the rest of the squadron.

With Wesler and Schuseter to her right, she kept her head on a swivel, looking for any sign of a path towards the river or danger. The smoke in the distance seemed like a promising place to find a village with a ford, or at least people to ask where to find one. On the other hand, this was the closest the group had been to Imperial forces, and it was entirely possible the village was already occupied. For all they knew, there were Imperial scouts in the woods near the river watching them. All she could do was keep her eyes open, and hope that any sharpshooters missed, and hope the knot of nerves in her belly didn't develop into anything worse.