When Zeppelin first arrived in West Blue, she was expecting a harsher and tougher environment than what she was used to. She was looking for a fresh start where no one knew her and she had to earn her position through her own merits. She was not aware however that, among her transfer papers, a letter of recommendation was included, giving more than modest praise for her talents. Said letter found its way to a senior Marine officer on the base. Whether or not the man actually believed in them, she did not know. The next thing she knew, she was out on the road with a small band of fresh recruits. Whatever was in that note apparently gave the impression that she was some sort of genius field commander. That was not quite accurate. She preferred to give instructions from a base where she can oversee everything. Still, perhaps this was a good chance to flex her muscles a bit, mentally and physically. The question was could these boys keep up?

The mission at hand required great care and speed in accomplishing. Failure meant a hefty amount of damage to public property and there was a decent chance that their group would have casualties if they faced the threat head-on. The thought made Zeppelin wonder if the officer who gave the the order was a little on the mean side. This was not an undertaking for inexperienced soldiers. The enemy wasn't a band of disorganized pirates. It was the more cunning and intelligent revolutionaries. This time their aim was bomb and destroy a major bridge on the east side of the island. Zeppelin and her band of greenhorns were on their way to put a stop to it.

It was probably a huge plus side that despite the danger, her little gang was mostly in high spirits and eager to prove themselves. Although she could feel that there were at least a couple of them with doubts about her being the team leader for the mission, it didn't look like they bore any intentions of blatant insubordination. At most they would likely question more things, but she was ready for that much. As they neared the target location, she gave the instruction for the group to travel through the forest beside the road to try and keep out of sight. It was a sound enough order that did not need further explanation. About a few hundred meters from the bridge, they halted their advance to survey their surroundings. Displaying a level of athleticism that somewhat impressed her grunts, Zeppelin skillfully made her way up a tree to get a bird's eye view of the area.

The road was empty except for a lone cart parked in the middle of the road about a hundred meters from their current position. Beside the cart was what appeared to be a local farmer watching over it. She paused to think. There was nothing and no one else in that area other than the bridge coming up a bit further away. Neither the farmer nor the ox strapped to the cart looked visibly tired so resting seemed unlikely. She concluded that they must have been waiting for someone then. But with them standing out in the open while the almost noontime sun was over their heads, she could not help but feel slightly suspicious. It was like the farmer wanted to be noticed right away by anyone passing through. The opposite was also true. From where the man stood, he could see anyone coming up the road from a good distance away, probably even before they noticed him. Anyone passing through the road might not have realized something was up. But from Zeppelin's perspective in the forest, something about the man definitely looked off.

She made her way down the tree and shared her findings with her company.

"There is a farmer up the road who looks like he is waiting for something. Frankly, in this heat you would expect a person to be doing any waiting under the shade. So it bothers me quite a bit that the man opts to stay out in the open like that."

Most of the men were unsure at first but eventually nodded and agreed there was something rather unnatural about it.

"If we assume the worst and that man is a lookout working for the revolutionaries, then their operation on the upcoming bridge must be already underway. It is a shame we could not get there before they did, but there is no helping it now. Either way, we cannot ignore a possible lookout lest he be trouble for us later. Two of you will remain here to watch over him. If he does anything suspicious, you are to apprehend him."

"Be wary of him carrying concealed firearms. If he really is a lookout, then he must have some way of warning his fellows as quickly as possible and gunshots would be the perfect way to do so. That means you should also refrain from firing as much as possible. I'm not asking for the unreasonable though. If you must protect yourselves then by all means, use your guns."

"I expect that if he gets wind of the ruckus we will be stirring up at the bridge, his first action will be to retreat from his position, likely to call for help. That would be the best time to catch him unaware. He will be doing his best to maintain his cover as a farmer so that ox cart will slow him down."

Their instructions having been made clear, Zeppelin motioned for the rest of the company to continue their advance. She sincerely hoped they were not too late to foil the revolutionaries' plans.