Somewhere on the Dark Side of the Moon

"So, when we come back to life, what's it going to feel like?"
Maria sighed. A squad of almost 30 soldiers were sitting cross-legged around him like a class of kindergartners. They had no uniform aside from the tattered state of their clothes. The fire illuminated their hungry expressions through the perpetual evening of the Dark Side. The stars were out, and beautiful. Under their blanket, groups of tents representing The War-God's mercenary army swayed in the bitter wind. Many of these men hadn't known normal life for over four years, living off tribute from the small farms nearby.

Officer Vega was having a difficult time. When the revolutionaries had stormed her family estate she had been traveling through North Africa as a student. Her attempts to find any trace of them had been a frustrating waste of the years. The end of the Tsar's reign had taken from her a life as a member of court. All she had now was her trade. The hulking thrall that loomed behind her was proof of that. And today, she had been attached to a squadron of the Baron's finest infantrymen. Or so he had said. They didn't look like soldiers worth bringing back from the grave to keep up the fight.

"You won't feel anything." She said. This did not seem to calm anyone down.

A round-faced boy with a mouth like a perfect O pointed at the Revenant who was presently staring at the sky. "We're gonna look like that?

She sighed again. "No, you will not look like Boris. In life, Boris was a Bear."

There was a general murmur of understanding at this. The silence that followed was absolute. Boris turned to the flames with glassy, unblinking eyes. The Baron had told her these men would be proud to be so valued, but she doubted he would care about their concern. Soon, they would be laying siege to the walled city of Daedalus. Their first attack had been a shambles, even though the shamans had declared the date auspicious. They had burned the whole supply of wood, making 3 campfires for every soldier. They must look terrifying in the dark.