Chapter 80

Dear Mister Murphy,

Actually I'm not sure what name I'm supposed to give you. I've heard you are a Signifier, which is a rank no one on Wadi is familiar with, but I also heard you were an Ensign in charge of some kind of planetary militia.

Oh, sorry, this is Phoebe. I'm writing to tell you that it might be a while before Willow writes again. She's fine, or at least she was when Waikiki passed through Darling Downs about seven days ago. Unfortunately I can't say the same for the rest of the Rhinos. It's been bad.

Tank one – Fabio's tank, was hit with one of the sonic cutters the Sa'arm use. Their communications specialist was killed instantly. Fabio lost an arm and his driver was blinded. They were rescued, but have returned to Wadi to rest Tank two – Destroyed in a Sa'arm ambush, crew lost Tank three – The gunner, Joseph Ford, was killed by an attack that took the turret off the tank.

Tank four – Lieutenant Blackthorn's tank. This one took a hit from some kind of pressure wave. Willow and others think its used to clear loose soil after a cave-in. The force smashed the front of the tank in. The driver was killed and the loader lost both legs at the knee. They also have been brought back to Wadi to heal.

Tank five – Destroyed defending an advanced base, crew lost Tank six – Destroyed in the same battle that saw Tank five wrecked. Willow and Erica saved the crew, but Lionel Diego lost a hand. Crew returned to Wadi to heal.

Tank seven – flipped over by a sinkhole set up by the Sa'arm, they were unable to recover the crew Tank eight and nine – Destroyed after an attempt to stop a Sa'arm breakout found itself cut off from the Confederacy base. Erica and Willow saved both crews, but all six crew received serious injuries and were returned to Wadi to heal.

Right now only tank three, who are using an untrained gunner, and then the two women I owe everything to are still on Darling Downs. Every other tank that was sent has been destroyed and nine men are dead. The morale of the survivors who have returned to Wadi is terrible. Every day they gather to see if there is any news of Erica and Willow, but at the same time they pray they hear nothing.

The agreement among the men is that we were very luck to initially fight on Wadi. I don't know the whole story, but I've seen some of the film of the battles on Darling Downs. The Sa'arm don't like moving in the wind, but their exoskeletons definitely protect them from the constant scouring caused by flying dust and dirt. The bigger issue is that while their weapons have short ranges, they appear to be completely unaffected by the wind. On Wadi we had a range advantage and used it mercilessly to cut down the number of Sa'arm we were facing before the ranges closed. On Darling Downs, Erica is still accurate, but the Sa'arm were getting too many warriors through the ranged fire and once they got close the tanks were at a huge disadvantage. Worse, the tanks often had to try to hold territory to protect wounded. The Sa'arm have been winning the battles. The armored suits Erica and Willow wrote about help a lot, but there might be three thousand troops on the ground. They are facing over a million Sa'arm and the three hundred to one odds are hardly fair. I have yet to watch a fight where the number of troops was close to equal.

From what I can tell the fighting has really affected the concubines here on Trinary Island. I was the only sponsor not sent from here since officially I'm part of second company, and Colonel Frost refused to send that unit to Darling Downs. That meant I would head out for training and exercises before returning home to see how things were. Violet and Bree have been stressed, but their belief in the Mistresses of Movement and Violence is unshakable.

Willow is the Mistress of Movement, Erica the Mistress of Violence. I end up having to stifle giggles during just about every exercise. The commanders have put those two on a pedestal when it comes to their abilities. I know them ... quite intimately and I can assure you that away from their tanks they are giggling teenage girls who are obsessed with fashion, music and licking pussies.

Ok ... Fine. They also like a hard cock. They took me to an orgy with some members of the Roughnecks last week. That was a surprise. At home we only have Larry and Frodo and both men are quite gentle and loving. That's something Willow and Erica have insisted on from the beginning. At the orgy I kept hearing Willow scream "fuck me harder! Shove that cock deep into me!" and other even less polite comments. Your sister can be a very passionate woman. Erica tends to be worse during an orgy, but I've noticed they do those very rarely. Most of the time they stay home and enjoy being with the women that mean so much to them.