Refugees

7445717 here. I just back from field duty, and was recieved by absolute chaos. We recently took in about four hundred refugees, almost all ex-soldiers. We couldn't find their commander anywhere, he was most likely tortured and killed by the bugs a few years back. It's almost impossible to believe that this many men and women went unnoticed for so long. The last armed conflict between the standing army and the invaders was something like three years ago; between a pocket of the near-legendary 45th Heavy Infantry and the 3rd Wave out near Oldhaven. We figure these must be survivours from that conflict, wandering and hiding since then. The lack of Propelled Armour is disconcerting, although it was most likely dumped when the fuel cells ran out.

These soldiers are still armed to the teeth with a wide wariety of weapons, mostly the now-outlawed SR-17c and the standard military issue P-92s. Most of the initial group were so shell-shocked they could barely remember if they were in the army or not, and we're putting off any further inquiries until a full psychological assessment is complete. This has only complicated matters more and opened up who these people are to even more scrutiny. They're being held over in K-wing under serious guard; we're not taking any chances.

If they are the remains of the 45th, then we've just made seriously headway against the invasion. The morale boost they would provide would be substantial, and the training and expertise they could lend us would further their usefullness. They've also provided us with a plethora of weapons. Though we are not overly keen on violence, our raids and ambushes will now be much more effective. Currently, most of our fighters use pipe-rifles and barely-servicably pre-war weapons we've managed to salvage.

The soldiers have also brought with them a slew of pets and even some flora we thought had been eradicated by the invasion. They seem to also have thought up some ingenius mobile hydroponic growing methods and didn't require much food upon their arrival, which was a serious relief to the administrators here.

In other, related, news, our agents seized a large shipment of food headed for a small insect colony on Tarwall Island. The edible portions were distributed to human settlements and the rest was burned. The livestock was set free. We also seized smaller shipments headed for Overstone and an unknown location somewhere in the Blackpass region. We have agents looking into it their mysterious destination.

I met Hope the dog for the first time today, and she's every bit as wonderful as Seven-twelve would have you believe. Her name fits her, every around her (including myself) seems to be glowing with energy. The debate over what breed she is is apparently still going strong. I think she's a Border Collie myself, but what the hell do I know about dogs?

I'm slated for field work again, so my next update won't be for a few days. Until then, keep strong, and have faith in the Revolution.

An Unexpected Guest

Seven-twelve here.

It's been slow news lately. The calm before the storm you might say, in light of upcoming operations (those involved will surely know what I'm talking about, those that don't will soon).

We had an unexpected visitor at the base two days ago. It was just before lunch and the perimeter sensors picked up something moving around outside. We sent a few men to investigate and fifteen minutes later they came rushing back in, calling for a medic. One of the men was carrying a bundle of something in his arms. Everyone gathered around to get a look. Turns out the intruder was a very sickly and injured dog. Looked like she'd tangled with a bullworm, mangled up one of her legs real bad. The medics did their thing and patched her up best they could, got some food and water into the poor thing. She slept for nearly twenty hours, and yesterday morning she finally woke up, full of energy. She's been bounding around the base the last few days, despite her lame leg. She seems especially fond of me (Doc Murph joked it's because we're both cripples, we can relate to one another) and when she's not playing with the others she'll usually lie next to my station. In fact, she's sleeping next to my station as I'm writing this. I haven't seen a dog in at least 15 years, I completely forgot what beautiful creatures they can be.

We're not sure what breed she is, Lafferty says Border Collie and Jefferson says German Sheperd, but we don't have books or reference material to confirm what either of these breeds look like. Whatever she is, she looks like she's got a strong lineage. Hell, she'd have to to survive in the Borderlands as long as he has.

It just goes to prove that nature always finds a way. No matter what the Insects try to force onto this planet, it'll find a way to survive. In light of what she symbolises to us, we've decided to name the dog Hope.


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