Valya looked at the pole, stretching her hand to put it down on the knob. She could feel the soft hum of the pole, a frequency of discomfort meant to annoy the local fauna and keep it from harassing the poles. Given the angry glares of nearby crows, it clearly was working. Though it was a good thing Majors couldn't hear it, or else they'd smash the poles up instead.
She looked forward while taking a deep breath. Sure, the pole was mostly symbolic to most, but to her it was very real. From this point onward, they would be on their own. No drone patrols to cover their six, just the drones and folks in their Exploration squad. It might be the third time for her, but that didn't make it any less of a milestone. Didn't help her nerves that she only had half the amount of Defenders under her command compared to normal, as an Exploration always only involved thirty troops, not the sixty a captain usually commanded.
One more deep breath, then she put her poker face back in place and looked at the Battle Spears they were accompanying. She answered the questioning blank stare from the leading Spear with an affirmative nod. A nod in return, then both of them started giving out the marching orders. It was time to move into the unknown.
Look, y'all know that old saying from that one movie? Everywhere the light touches is our kingdom? Well, wouldn't we like that. But no. That ain't how this works, down here on Ymir. When it comes to the city-dwellers, their realm ends at the walls, meant to protect them but at the same time hold them prisoner, restrict them to a life without thrill. For us Wildlanders? Our walls are near-invisible, marked with simple poles.
That's right, simple boring white concrete poles with electronics hidden inside. Black markings to identify them, a small knob on top which is painted white on our side, and black on the forbidden side. If you see the black side of a knob, you'd better make like a deer and get past it. Because that other side, that is where humanity's reign ends. And we have no intent of moving that border any time soon. Hard enough to keep control in the land inside, we ain't going outside.
You asking why? Well, do you really believe that we Homesteaders are just out here in the wild by ourselves? Of course not. We've got Defenders and more nearby, drone patrols keeping an eye out and watching our back, hell we've got entire satellites that monitor us and warn us when they spot anything risky near us. Out there? No such thing. In here, we like to pretend we're all by ourselves. Past those poles, we actually are. And that terrifies me. As it should you.
Comments