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With the obvious exception of the dream, that night I slept the best I had in quite a while. When I woke, I felt very refreshed, and decided to read the letters on the bedside table. The first one I might've expected. It was a letter notifying me that I had recieved a Distinguished service citation, 2nd class, which I knew came complete with a bronze medal. It was to be presented to me formally, by Field Marshall Irving himself.

Irving was in command of all Balfor Confederate troops on the Altama, and he was sort of a legend among us soldiers. He was a short, stocky bulldog with piercing, yellow eyes, at least, that was what we'd heard. After the assasination of the previous general on the Altama, he had come up and famously remarked that he was going to "Change some shit around" - something that did not seem to have come around yet.

Perhaps this would be a good time to explain the motives of our adversaries on the Altama. We were fighting against various groups of people who wished to make everything between the Blacktail and Zapalka mountains - the land known as the Altama plain.

Before Balfor annexed the land, the Altama had been a disputed territory between Karlov, Balfor - whos borders had at that time been much farther south - and the former Republic of Mancitoma, which was also annexed by Balfor a few years ago. As such, its position between the three lands, and its unsettled nature, made it a perfect place of refuge for outcasts, outlaws, and recluses from all three countries. The descendants of these people, locals who were tired of Balfor's laws, the Anarchist "Black Hammer" gang, and revolutionaries from all over the world, just looking for a fight, were the types we fought in the "Altama plain insurgency," to call it by its formal title.

But as I lay pondering whether I would recieve a purple heart in addition to my service medal, I heard the noises of the door being unlocked, then it swung open and banged against the wall, as a red fox charged into the room, whom I recognized instantly. It was Sgt. Kent, and he was followed immediately by Cpl. Scott and Pvt. Oquendo; my 3 brothers in arms.

Kent grinned ecstatically "I knew you wouldn't cop out on us!" He said as he came up to the bed.

"How ya feelin', my man?" Scott said, his long ears flopping as he danced about in excitement.

They all were so happy to see me! It felt like some kind of homecoming. Even Oquendo, the Half-wolf, who normally was very stoic and emotionless, had a big smile on his face, even though he said nothing.

"Well, my feet were hurtin' like hell, don't exactly know why, though." I said with a laugh.

"I can tell you what happened there." Kent said. "That stuff you were walking through lit up with the truck, and your boots caught fire too. Some of the boys put 'em out though."

"I reckon your boots saved you from gettin' something worse." Scott added

At that moment I noticed the collie doctor, standing in the rear. "How are you feeling this morning?" He asked, when he caught my gaze.

"Great! I bet I could stand up and walk right outta here." I said with enthusiasm.

He chuckled "Well, I'm afraid you can't do that just yet."

"But hey, look at this!" I said, returning my attention to Kent, Scott, and Oquendo, and holding up the letter I had been reading. "I'm supposed to get a medal from General Irving himself."

Kent slapped me on the shoulder and chuckled "You deserved it, in my opinion. I don't reckon I'd have tried to drag that dog out of the truck. But you've got stronger arms than I do, anyhow."

Thoughts of the unknown dog began to creep back into my mind.

"Damn, speak of the devil, though!" Scott said suddenly, as if he had just remembered something.

"What?" I asked.

"The general's made some big plan, sounds like." Scott chortled. Apparently, he didn't think too highly of it.

"And it's going into effect when we get off leave, next month." Kent added. There was a pause.

"Well, what is it?" I asked apprehensively. Kent had seemed to tense up a bit, and Oquendo had stopped smiling.

"We dunno, yet. I suppose it's supposed to be secret. In the meantime, we've got a 4-week leave, our whole division, actually." Kent said. "After that, we take part in some parade."

"And Ostin is dead." Oquendo blurted out, surprising me.

"Yeah, that's right Okie." Kent said, slowly, and obviously surprised. "Shot right through the head, same guys that were takin' potshots at you, I bet." There was a short silence.

"Well, what's the other letter ya got?" Scott asked.

"I dunno, haven't read it." I said, picking up the letter.

I examined the envelope; There was no name given, and I didn't recognize the address, but my heart nearly stopped when I noticed the postmark; It was from the Karlov republic.

"Well, I'll look at that one later." I said, trying hard to suppress a lump in my throat, and I put the letter back on the table face-down. I knew all too well who the letter was from.