Soukou Kihei Votoms EP21 - Upriver

"So many villagers killed. caught in the midst of the war. The stench I smelled seemed full of the anguish of the dead."Travelling by boat toward the inner reaches of Kummen, Chirico and the others try to keep a low profile; no easy task with the hot-tempered Kan Yu in charge. Against Chirico's batter judgment, Kan Yu stops another boat that passes by, insisting it must be searched for Veela weapons. The search turns up nothing...but when kan Yu fires a cannon at the boat, explosives hidden within it rip across the water. Kan Yu gloats that Veela Guerrillas cannot be underestimated.Later, the boat reaches Ramoh Temple, a religious colony that is supposed to be neutral. Again, Kan Yu insists that the platoon march in with their ATs to look for enemies. Exasperated, Chirico agrees, and reluctantly follows the others into the huge compound. Nothing turns up until Kan Yu spots a boat similar to the one he blew up earlier. he repeats his action, and gets the same result - it also carries Veela weaponry.Their cover blown, Veela Guerrillas burst out of hiding and open fire on Kan Yu's task force. The battle is joined and quickly ends...but now the secrecy of the mission has been compromised, and they must ask for new orders from EX-10. Those orders are delivered a short time later by a helicopter pilot new to the EX-10 ranks: Vanilla! Chirico wanders the wreckage of the temple, pondering this turn of events."What is it that leads men to the battlefield? For some, they pull the trigger to earn their daily bread. For others, the chance to fight for their ideals. For me, I can't live without the scent of gunpowder and death. This was no longer a house of God. It was now merely a pile of rubble."