You would think that as Koreans, we would have more respect for our own cultural history. What war teaches you though, is that people are far too quick to forget the past in pursuit of an uncertain future. Nothing is sacred, especially not our heritage. Only the here and now matters, and we who have abandoned our past will only be doomed to repeat the mistakes of our forebears.

“Wait, that place down there used to be a temple right.”

“That’s what the map says.”

“Then why don’t I see any temple-y things?”

Hwang Eunbi lowered her night-vision binoculars and rotated her shoulders as much as she could from her lookout position. Staying in one spot without moving for hours was hell on her neck -- hell on everything with muscles really. Despite what everyone thought, most of what they did was scouting enemy territory and calling in reinforcements where needed.

Observation duty was boring, that said and done. Technically, they were also supposed to maintain radio silence, but was that going to stop Hwang Eunbi? Clearly not. Then again, when your very own squad leader has been entertaining you the entire time, perhaps she has good reason to ignore the convention. Eunbi didn’t care much for authority, but she did respect Kim Sojung. The little spitfire may never admit it out loud, but there was no one else she would have trusted to order her into danger. Sojung cared for the lives of every single person under her charge, and had gotten into trouble for it more than once. She always had their backs. That much Eunbi could respect.

“Probably bombed at some point.” Sojung wiggled her toes inside her boots, trying to maintain circulation in her extremities. Tall people problems, as the twin jokers of the squad liked to put it. Hwang Eunbi and Jung Yerin had a very similar sense of humour at the end of the day, and lived to annoy the oldest soldier of the squad. Sojung tolerated their ribbing, but wouldn’t hesitate to smack them around if they ever crossed a line.

Lines had been crossed before, and retribution exacted accordingly, but somehow that never stopped PFC Hwang from trying her luck. Yewon, the resident data analyst and intelligence attache, would probably file that under ‘a fatal lack of a sense of self-preservation’, but no one ever knew exactly what went into her files. She could tell you, but then she’d have to kill you. Her exact words, delivered with a beatific smile, and no one was actually sure that she had been joking.

“Do you need to switch out yet?” The two of them had been conversing in hushed whispers that barely travelled the distance between their concealed positions. Higher up the tree, Eunbi shifted her weight on the makeshift lookout post concealed with clever use of brush and netting. She couldn’t see Sojung beneath her, but that was a good sign. The thought of the tall soldier all scrunched up in the undergrowth where they had constructed the hide coaxed an amused snort from her.

“What’s so funny?”

“Don’t you think us whispering like this in the night kind of feels like a sleepover?”

“If this is supposed to be a sleepover I want proper beds.”

“Don’t we all?” Eunbi chuckled, cracking her neck quietly before raising her binoculars again. The valley basin beneath the hills they were concealed in was shrouded in moonless dark, and as motionless as she had observed for the last two hours. No sign of movement either friendly or otherwise, and the other pairs hadn’t called in any sightings either since digging in the day before.

Granted, this was technically within friendly territory so they probably had not needed to be this cautious for a routine patrol, but Sojung clung to her customary paranoia and insisted on following their usual protocol in enemy territory. They had not been given an exact timeline for their objective, and team mom decided to err on the side of caution. The squad hadn’t questioned her orders either; they valued her judgement as they always did. When it came down to field decisions, none of them complained no matter what. They had survived worse.

“We should, you know.” Sojung’s voice came floating up through the dark, startling Eunbi for a moment.

“Should what.”

“Sleepover. You, me. All of us. When this is over.”

When this is over. Eunbi echoed silently in her heart. She did not answer out loud, but Sojung seemed to understand. They fell into a companionable silence, with only the occasional chirp of crickets to break the monotony.

“Vehicles approaching south-southwest.”

Yerin’s voice crackled over their earpieces, prompting them into alertness.

“How many? Civilian or?”

“Two trucks. Unmarked. Could be our bogeys.” Yerin sounded almost cheerful. Sojung sighed.

“Keep an eye on them, don’t shoot unless I give the order.” The squad leader switched frequencies. Choi, Lil Jung. Swing around to cover our position, Hwang and I will move to intercept.”

“Yes ma’am.” “I’m not little!”

“We aren’t going to actually stop them on the road are we.” Eunbi shimmied down the tree and landed with a soft crunch on the ground. Sojung emerged from the undergrowth, brushing leaves off her shoulders.

“No, but we need to get closer to verify. If they’re civilians we need to turn them back. If they’re hostile we need to call in backup.” Sojung tapped quickly on her handheld comms to send a status update back to HQ, while Eunbi retrieved the rest of her gear from the hide.

“Eh, we could probably take them. I’m pretty sure Yerin sneaked out an RPG-7.”

“She what!?”

“Oh right you weren’t supposed to know that.” Eunbi grinned sheepishly.

“That’s not the….how did she even requisition that? And why does she even need one?”

“It’s Yerin. She knew someone who knew someone…you get the picture. And you know she feels safer when she has things to make big booms with. It’s like a safety blanket.” Eunbi shrugged. Who was she to judge?

Sojung sighed. “As long as she doesn’t get busted for it.”

The two soldiers quietly skulked their way down the hills towards the basin they had been watching earlier. According the the live coordinates Yerin sent, the small convoy appeared to be headed to the old Gameunsaji Temple Site, although there wasn’t much left of the place following the air raids.

“Not much cover down there.” Eunbi assessed critically. “Nothing but craters. Why would anyone come here?”

“We’re about to find out.” Sojung adjusted her night vision attachment on her helmet to make sure it was secure. “Choi, you two in position?”

“Bogeys in sight. By the way ma’am, you might want to find a different angle of approach, you’re in my line of fire.”

“Hold your fire. We’re not going to engage unless we have to.”

“Yes ma’am. Bogeys are unloading at designated coordinates, sending location to you now.”

“Right. Can you see what they’re loading?”

“Some kind of excavation equipment. Can’t really tell.”

Sojung frowned. “Yewon, do you copy? ”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Tap the live feed from Choi’s helmet. We need to identify if this is a civilian operation.”

Eunbi had already crawled ahead to get a better vantage point. “Why are they digging at 3am in the morning?”

“No idea. We watch and wait for now.”

Another tense hour passed. When they finally got confirmation that the gear was civilian in nature, Sojung let out a breath.

“Hwang, back me up. I’ll hail them directly. Choi and Lil Jung, cover us. Yerin, Yewon, cover the approaches.”

The chorus of assent reassured the squad leader. Her team was a good one. These civilians weren’t a threat. Yet she couldn’t quite shake the sense of unease that had been nagging at her.

The whole mission was odd to begin with. This was friendly held territory, and despite their best efforts canvassing the area no hostiles had been sighted or even any sign of recent activity spotted. Sojung couldn’t help but feel that command was hiding something from her, but as a low ranking grunt, she had to obey orders. It was why she didn’t fault Yerin for flouting protocol to bring in heavy weaponry. When in doubt, more firepower was always good.

The war is over. She reassured herself as she approached. There was a yell ahead, and a rush of frenzied activity. The world was painted green in her night vision, but she would have to switch it off soon as she approached the lit area with the temporary floodlights the civilians had set up.

She paused just out of range of the lights,turning off night vision and blinking to adjust her sight for a few minutes. It was suicidal to approach any situation without being in full possession of your faculties. She could sense Hwang doing the same several meters behind her.

There was a low rumble ahead. Sojung could feel the earth tremble beneath her boots. She tapped her comms.

“Choi, what’s going on?”

“Part of the crater just collapsed. There’s….something there? The civilians are crowding around it.”

Yewon’s voice interrupted. “Looks like some kind of gate. Ruins?”

“What is going on…” Sojung muttered. Were these archaeologists? She would have to speak with them directly to be sure. Just as she took another step, the ground shook again.

“Earthquake?!” Behind her, Eunbi was already crouching low. They were out in the open, so it was relatively safe. The rest of the team though…

“Yewon and I are relocating, ground’s getting unstable here.”

“Crap, Lil Jung hit her head, I’m carrying her to open ground first!”

Sojung and Eunbi were forced to stay low to keep their balance, and judging from the chaos ahead, the civilians were also caught off guard by the sudden quake. Sojung couldn’t hellp but feel incredibly vulnerable out in the open with no friendly eyes on her. The unease that had been haunting her grew stronger with every moment.

A sudden explosion rocked the ground ahead. The screaming from the civilians died out at the same time. Eunbi swore loudly and creatively.

“We have hostiles from the east!”

The sea… It suddenly clicked in Sojung’s head. They had scouted the area yes, but they didn’t have naval support to sweep the coast. That was the thing that had been bothering her the whole time. She threw herself flat on the ground, hoping to present less of a target that way.

“Sitrep, everyone.”

“Yuna here. I’ve still got high ground but it’s too exposed. Lil Jung’s still down, I’m trying to wake her.”

“Yewon here. We’re on the southeast side of the basin in the foothills.”

“Yerin here. I’ve got eyes on the hostiles, but I can’t tell how many there are, they’re too spread out.”

Sojung thought quickly. If the hostiles had come in from the coast, then the entire north and east side was suspect at this point. Her snipers were the closest to them, but one was out of commission and they’d be exposed to counter fire if they started shooting. They needed time, and a distraction.

“Yerin, what did you pack this time?”

“What did I…Hwang, you snitched didn’t you.”

Eunbi snorted but didn’t reply.

“We’re wasting time, what’s your loadout?”

“Not much. Two HEATs and an OG-7V. Usual load of flashbangs and frags.” Yerin sounded oddly calm.

“I have a couple of smokes.” Yewon volunteered. Sojung resisted the urge to facepalm. Apparently Yerin’s habit of packing explosives was contagious. However, that was coming in useful this time.

“We need a distraction.”

“On it.” The glee in Yerin’s voice was palpable. Sojung sighed. At least someone was happy about this.

“Choi, sitrep.”

“We’re both up, but Lil Jung’s a bit…off. I can still cover you two though.”

“Don’t expose yourself too early, wait for the distraction. We need to delay until we get reinforcements.”

“Vehicle incoming.” Yewon reported. Two seconds and an explosion later.

“It’s not coming anymore.” Yerin sounded smug. Gunfire to the east. “Guess they know I’m here now.”

“Stay down, you two.” Sojung got up. “Come on Hwang, we got to go in and see if there are survivors. Can’t leave the civilians out there.”

It was a short sprint to the site. One of the trucks was overturned, equipment and body parts scattered everywhere. The lights were all knocked out, so the pair switched to night vision as they checked the area. The ruckus to the east was petering out, so they didn’t have much time.

“Amazing, this thing didn’t take any damage at all.” Eunbi commented as she approached. The stone gate exposed by the excavation team were weathered by time, but was otherwise untouched by the blast that had taken out the civilian crew. The minor earthquake prior had revealed more of the existing structure previously buried underground.

“No survivors…” Sojung sounded grim. “What’s going on out there?”

“Yewon and I are fine! Had to move though, those s are packing some serious heat.”

Yuna’s voice was clinical. “Looks like a full platoon. Half strength now though. I’ll thin them out as much as I can.”

“Don’t overextend, Choi. You’re out in the open.” Sojung barked. “Yerin, Hwang and I will try and flank them. You two sit tight and stay low.”

“Yeah I’m a little low on ammo, not gonna waste my Oggie on just one or two of those ers.” Yerin was breathing hard. “If we can herd them together I can take them out.”

“On it.” Sojung hefted her rifle and looked over at Eunbi. “Time to go play.”

“Ha! About damn time!”

The soft ping of the K14 was punctuated by the bolt action of the reload. It had only been ten minutes since everything had started going sideways, but Yuna found an odd calm through the lens of her scope.

The world narrowed down to only her and the target, lending a crystal clarity as she focused on her next kill. She was silent death from above, an angel rising on black wings to reap her due.

The crunch of leaves behind her almost threw off her next shot. A combination of instinct and training made Yuna roll away from her rifle, bunching up to draw her sidearm and aiming it at the invader. When she realized who it was, she lowered the pistol sheepishly.

“Sorry, reflex…feeling better?”

Yuna sat up and pushed herself off the ground, holstering her pistol as she stepped forward to examine her partner. Jung Eunbi was her eyes and her guide, and there was no one else Yuna trusted with her back. Her spotter was a little pale and shaky, but other than the bruise on her forehead, seemed to be mostly intact.

Eunbi bit her lip. “I…think so?” She looked around uncertainly. “Where is everyone else?”

“Sojung and Hwang are harassing the enemy. Yerin and Yewon are pinned down at the moment, but they’ve got good cover. Speaking of which are you recovered enough to spot for me? I can’t watch both sides at the same time.” Yuna scratched her head awkwardly.

“Yerin’s here?” Eunbi’s eyes lit up. Her fists balled up against her pants, clutching the fabric in a nervous tension. Yuna nodded absently, already crouching to get back into position to snipe.

“If you’re not up to it yet, just stay down first. I’ll manage somehow.”

Eunbi stared after her for a moment, then looked up at the pale grey of the wolf dawn on the horizon. She was here, everything had changed, and yet somehow things remained the same. Flashes of familiar faces, unfamiliar climes, the same team together. Her head spun, but she gritted her teeth and suppressed the nausea. Her friends needed her.

The binoculars was still hanging off her neck. Dropping to a crouch, Eunbi shuffled awkwardly up the ridge where Yuna was, plopping herself down and scanning the battlefield below. This felt right, like she had done it a hundred times before, and she had, had she not?

Eunbi caught the smile on Yuna’s lips as the sniper noted her presence. The world felt stark against her senses, grounded yet distant. She trained her sights down to the craters where another pair was weaving in and out like wily foxes, harrying the enemy and forcing them to reposition.

Again, the strong sense of familiarity. She zoomed out to get more perspective, a nagging itch crawling across her skin like the aftermath of a bad dream. The nausea came back as she took in the broken landscape and what it revealed.

“We have to get them out of there.” She whispered, dread crawling up like a vise to lock around . Her vision swam, and she struggled to stay conscious and grounded in this reality.

“What?” Next to her Yuna took another shot, then turned to look at her partner with worry in her eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Do you trust me?” Eunbi turned to meet her eyes.

“With my life.” Yuna replied instantly. A wan smile flashed across Eunbi’s lips, but her face grew tight as she bit her lip again. Yuna waited patiently. It took but a moment for Eunbi to compose herself, but she finally opened up.

“Something’s down there, in those ruins. I can’t tell you what it is, but it’s not safe for them to keep fighting there. We have to pull them out and run.”

Yuna frowned. “Are you sure?”

“Yes…the earthquake earlier…this is bigger than what we can handle. We have to leave.”

“This is important to you.”

“Yes. None of you must die. I won’t let any of you die.”

Yuna closed her eyes briefly. She snapped them open a few seconds later, decision made.

“I’ll radio Sojung. Get ready, we need to cover their retreat too.”

Impulsively, Eunbi dropped her binoculars and embraced Yuna. “Thank you for believing me.”

Yuna patted her on the head. “You’re my partner. There’s no one else I’d trust more.”

Eunbi smiled into the crook of Yuna’s neck, and released her reluctantly as the taller sniper moved to call their squad leader. After a moment, she frowned.

“I’m not getting a signal. Can you try too?”

Eunbi fiddled with her earpiece as well, trying to raise a signal. Static. She shook her head.

“Jammers? But we were still able to communicate earlier….” Yuna mumbled to herself, sweeping another quick glance down the ridge. Next to her, the small spotter looked visibly ill.

“It’s too soon…we have to get them out before it’s too late.”

“Now?”

Eunbi shook her head. “We should never have come here at all.”

Yuna looked grim, then dismantled the supports for her sniper rifle, hefting the meter-long rifle onto her back. “We go down there and pull them out. If it’s as bad as you’re implying, I’m not leaving my squad behind.”

Eunbi smiled, wistfully. “You never could.”

Yuna was already climbing down the ridge. “Hurry up, slowpoke. We don’t have much time.”

Eunbi looked up again at the murky skies where the sun was still emergent from low on on the horizon. She couldn’t understand why this was happening, but at least she was still with everyone important to her.

That was all that mattered. She would keep them all safe. She had to.

Even if they were not the same, they were still her team. Her friends. Her family.

“Coming!”

“Hwang! Get down!”

Hwang Eunbi threw herself down to the right, rolling back up into a crouch as a bullet whizzed through the space she had occupied a split second ago.

“What the .” The tiny spitfire took a double take. “What the Choi what are you doing down here with us.”

“Because you obviously would be dead without me.” The bulky rifle barely encumbered the athletic sniper, who was now taking potshots without even using her scope, peppering the opposition with precision.”We need to pull back.”

“What? Why? We almost got them!”

“Don’t have time. Didn’t you notice our comms have been jammed for the last ten minutes at least?”

Eunbi checked. “. I thought it was too good to be true that Sojung wasn’t nagging at me.”

“Yeah we have to leave. Can you signal Yerin from here?”

“You just told me comms are down you know.”

“And I know you two have a way to signal each other without that.”

The pair took cover by some of the stony ruins. Eunbi risked a look at the direction where Yerin and Yewon had last reported in their location.

“I don’t even know if she can hear our secret whistle from this far.”

“So Yewon was right. It was you guys who set the kitchens on fire that one time!”

“Choi Yuna is this really the time?”

“No, but I do have some flares on me.”

“Gimme.” Hwang growled. “Which way are we retreating?”

“South. We need to regroup with Lil Jung and Sojung first.” Yuna handed over the flares from her belt, watching with interest as Eunbi set off one of the flares at a certain angle and then followed up with a very specific sequence of shots using her backup pistol. The sound echoed through the valley.

“Is that Morse code?”

“No.”

“Cool, you gotta teach me what it is after this.”

“No.”

“I just saved your life.”

“...that’s dirty.”

The pair bantered easily as they traded shots with the enemy, slowly pulling back from the front lines. A sudden boom rocked the ground as a plume of smoke rose from the field shortly after.

“That’s Yerin, she got the message.”

Yuna shook her head in amazement. “I thought Sojung was kidding when she said you had a way.”

“This was supposed to be a secret.” Eunbi grumbled. “Why do we have to pull back so fast anyway? What’s the rush?”

“No idea, but do you want to stick around with our comms jammed?”

Eunbi grunted. Her blood was up from the firefight, and being cut off before they could rout the enemy left her in a bad temper. She was still a good soldier though, and immediately recognized the significance of jammers being deployed in an area.

“You think this could be the start of a full scale invasion?”

“Another war?”

“Yeah.”

Yuna fell silent. Eunbi popped off a few more warning shots and ducked back down.

“Will it ever be over?” Yuna asked quietly.

“I don’t know.” Hwang Eunbi replied with her customary bluntness. Then her voice softened, ever so lightly. “But you’re not alone. You’ve got us. I’ve got your back.”

“More like I’m the one constantly saving you.” Yuna joked back. “Come on, I don’t have that many rounds left, then I’m down to my pistol. We have to go.”

“Yeah just let me make sure the ers over there don’t get a clear shot while we make a run for it.”

Eunbi rolled out the grenade she had been saving, pulling out the pin in a practised motion as she revved up for a throw. Yuna was already running when the grenade left her hand.

“Take that!” She turned and also started sprinting after Yuna, who was already halfway across the crater.

‘How does she even run so fast with that giant sniper rifle I want to know.” Eunbi muttered under her breath.

She risked a look back across the battlefield, where noxious fumes were spreading rapidly, near-invisible in the gloom. Eunbi smiled grimly, she had been saving that for a special occasion, and it was almost a waste to use it now, but getting to safety was paramount. She could only hope that Yerin and Yewon could circle around in time to meet up with them.

“Be safe, guys.”

“Christ, those s are persistent.”

Yerin panted as she ducked under an exposed arch, throwing herself behind the somehow indestructible pillars of the revealed ruins as more bullets pelted over. The whole space was spooky as hell, but Yerin wasn’t going to question the logic behind bulletproof cover when it was saving her .

On the other side of the arch, Yewon flicked out the last of her smoke grenades.

“Ready for the next stretch, unnie?” They had been in the thick of the action earlier, and retreat was a lot harder for them as a result. Yerin had managed to burn through her entire grenade stash earlier, and even used her last PG-7VR to force an opening for them to make a run for it. If not for Yewon also carrying smoke grenades, they might not have made it as far.

“If Hwang was screwing with us about the retreat order I’m making her buy me new ammunition.” Yerin muttered, trying to catch her breath before resuming their sprint for safety.

“We should be close, my instruments are all wonky but we should be headed in the right direction.” Yewon checked the compass built into her watch, but it was still spinning crazily. All her electronics had failed her just a while before they had seen the flare and the subsequent coded message, and as they had already been trying to work their way back to the others, the retreat order meshed in well with their original plans.

“Alright, I’m as ready as I can be, light them up.” Yerin puffed out a breath and pushed herself off the ground. Yewon turned and threw the grenade, waiting a second to be sure the smoke was spreading before sprinting off, zigzagging to prevent anyone from getting a straight shot at them.

Bullets whizzed around them, and Yewon felt something graze past her ear, but she felt elation despite the sharp pain. Right ahead on the ridge was a familiar figure with a scoped rifle, and she could sense the pressure easing off behind them as the enemy ducked from the sniper fire.

“Remind me to buy Yuna all the drinks she wants!” Yerin called out exuberantly, waving her own assault rifle in the air in triumph. “I’ll hide the bodies this time!”

“We don’t talk about the bodies unnie!” Yewon yelled back, tears of relief gathering in her eyes. She could see a few other figures sprawled out along the ridge, ready to cover them once they got closer. Only Yuna had the confidence to shoot with them still in the line of fire.

Fifty meters, then thirty… They were so close. The rest of their squad had joined in with providing cover fire, though Yerin wondered why Lil Jung was sticking so close to Yuna instead of observing the usual safe distance to avoid getting taken out by splash damage from missiles aimed at any one of them.

Risking a quick glance over her shoulder, Yerin caught a fleeting glimpse of a familiar silhouette just off to her right, barely thirty meters out - a long tube not unlike the one slung over her back. It was aimed right at the most obvious target: the sniper on the hill.

“YUNA! RPG! GET DOWN!”

There was only a split second to react, and Yerin watched in horror as the rocket-propelled grenade left the tube, leaving a lazy contrail in its wake.

It all happened so quickly. To her credit, Yuna decisively abandoned her rifle and tackled her partner off the hill as soon as Yerin’s warning rang out. It was still too little, too late.

The top of the hill exploded in a burst of flying soil and shrapnel. Yerin’s heart rose up to as she saw her two squadmates fly downhill. Surely the angle of the hill would have shielded them from the blast?

“!” Yerin swore angrily as she stopped in her tracks and turned, lifting her own RPG-7 and slamming her very last round into the launcher. Off to the side, Yewon already altered her course to run towards her downed comrades.

Yerin’s return blast took out the enemy grenadier in a mess of blood and bone, but she was still wildly, irrationally furious. The familiar staccato of shots far to her right flank cued her in to the fact that Hwang had also left cover to charge the remaining enemies, the few of them still left. She tossed her empty launcher to the ground, drawing her pistol since she was already out of ammo for her rifle.

There really wasn’t much left to clean up. Yuna had cleared out most of the ones still chasing them earlier, and the vengeful pair took the remainder by surprise by changing course to charge them instead. When it was over, Yerin made a point to stomp a boot into the face of an enemy soldier before putting a bullet in his head to end his misery. It didn’t make her feel better, but it was better than nothing.

They returned with grim faces, making straight for where the rest of their squad was.

“How are they?” Hwang said before Yerin could. Sojung looked back at them, eyes grim.

“Yuna took the worst of the blast protecting Lil Jung. She’s conscious, but if we can’t stop the bleeding…” The squad leader closed her eyes and clenched her fist, shaking in frustration.

“Comms are still down, we can’t call for extraction in time.” Yewon had real fear in her eyes. Next to her, Jung Eunbi’s hands were shaking as she tried to stem the bleeding, but the shrapnel had shredded the skin of Yuna’s back, the raw flesh angry and red with scorch marks as blood seeped out to soak the soil beneath them.

“Why did you do that, Yuju…you could have gotten away if you hadn’t stopped to save me…”

Yuna’s eyes were unfocused, but her bloody hands squeezed reassuringly around her partner’s smaller hand.

“Ain’t…leaving…anyone behind…” Her head was lolling in Eunbi’s lap, and the sniper made the effort to turn herself to face upwards, a weak smile wavering on her lips.

“Don’t cry, bunny…love you.”

The grip on her hands grew slack. Eunbi cried out, clutching the bloody hand to her face as she tried to rouse the unresponsive sniper. The rest closed in, trying to pry the inconsolable spotter off.

Beneath them, the ground trembled, drinking in the blood of their grief.