Lieutenant Merrill knew he was in danger. His men had suffered under horrible conditions for the last three weeks while traveling throughout the city of New Rydynn. Wherever they went they were harassed by Freemen trying not to kill them but rather to make them feel as harried and in jeopardy as possible.Merrill knew his small platoon -- eight men, five women -- were frazzled and haggard beyond huumunn endurance. He had pleaded with Commander Boyle to get them out of the city for some deserved rest, but the orders came back -- always with good reason -- for his group to remain.
That fateful evening, the suns setting, they moved through the streets of the hostile city with their weapons drawn, their nerves all on edge and their minds so aching for sleep that they could barely stand. One of his men shot out a street lamp and he didn't even bother to condemn him for it. They'd been under attack only two hours before by a group they'd thought were Freemen, until the magic began to flow. The filthy mages had burned them, thrown them, sliced them with unseen knives, frozen them in place … there must have been fifty of them. His platoon had been lucky to escape with their collective lives, but they were hurting, bleeding, dying and the only place they could go for help was the New Rydynn Memorial Hospital where it was fully well known that despite the neutrality pact, his men would be treated as second class citizens even while their wounds were treated.
As the sky darkened and they approached the hospital, distant shelling ricocheted sound all around them and some of his men cringed to the point of ducking their heads and covering their ears, weapons wildly askew even as their fingers were on the triggers. Merrill tried to calm them. Some growled at him, one even pointed her weapon his way and said, "Shut up, Lieutenant! We're hungry, tired and bleeding. Just get us supplies!"
He wasn't sure precisely when he lost control, but the smoking gun in his hand left the Corporal in a pool of her own blood, her skull blown away. From this distance, they could see the street lamps around the hospital all lit. The Union staff there kept things in as good repair as they could. The locals appreciated it -- he could see some of them, motor bikes parked beside the steps, lounging on the broken statue pedestals and cracked front steps in the last lying gold rays of the sunset on blood red clouds. His men were just staring at him. His Sergeant gaped and dropped to his knees beside the corporal. Their uniforms were barely recognizable, torn, tattered, bloodied, muddied.
"Get on your feet, Sergeant."
The man screamed and pulled his .38, pointing it at the Lieutenant's head. "You freakin' shot her!"
Merrill pointed his own weapon right back. "Damn right I did. If you don't get on your feet and get these men moving toward that hospital, I'll shoot you where you kneel."
It was the wrong threat to make. The sound of a shot -- amplified by the corridor of ruined buildings in which they stood -- thundered in the birthing night. When the Prvates and the remaining Corporal looked again, both the Sarge and the Lewey were dead.
"By the Messiah…"
"What'll we do?"
"Jerggs is bleeding out, Corporal."
"We gotta get to the hospital." He wiped his nose on his sleeve. "Brenerr, get those bullets and those guns. Jerggs had been hit in the belly and she was doomed, he was sure, but if they could just get her inside.
And so they dragged their dying men toward Memorial. On the steps of the building sat a gorgeous blonde biker with chocolate brown eyes, another lovely young Union woman with sad chestnut brown eyes and a tough looking man the Corporal was certain was a Scav. The woman called him Shad. Scavengers. The Church hated them. They stole what wasn't theirs and left men to rot who deserved decent burials. It galled the Corporal that he'd left the three bodies behind to rot in the Sabattann sun. No Church solider should die here. All they wanted to do was go home to Perdoxx.
Another woman asked the chestnut eyed one, called Mera the Corporal heard, what was going on and the answer, as the Church soldiers approached, was typical of Unioners. Freemen lovers, they were… and the Corporal knew it. She said, "Not really sure what's going on. Some one's coming and we're not sure if they are really welcome or not."
Damn them. His men were dying and they weren't "sure"? He'd show them. After they crossed the street he called a halt to the marching -- poor as it was. He stalked up the steps moving smartly forward. His footsteps echoed as he made his way towards the hospital staff member. His men supported their wounded and held their guns ready.
His face was haggard, and warn. They could see that his uniform was soaked with a dark liquid in more than one place. "Supplies....we need them." He leveled his gun at the group on the stairs. "Now."
The blonde tossed aside her apple core. One of the Corporal's men followed it with his gun barrel. There were so close to snapping it wasn't funny. "Food and water are free inside in the Cafe, help yourselves," she said, with a smile and leaned her chin on her fist.
Mera glanced up toward the soldier from her seat. "What do you need? Why don't you just come into the hospital? I'm sure we could fix you up."
The Corporal frowned. Like he was going to trust them, trust her, after her comment about whether they were welcome. Couldn't she see what they needed? Jerggs was bleeding all over the ground. "Get a gurney! Get the supplies... morphine, bandages, tape..." He waved his weapon from person to person. "Hurry!" The Scav named Shad frowned. The Union girl named Mera chewed on her lip and no one was moving. He raised his rifle into the air and fired off a volley which made his men raise and point all their weapons at the few on the steps. "MOVE!"
"Mera," the blonde said quietly and calmly. "Why don't you step inside and see about getting the supplies."
"Uhm, yeah." Union said and the other girl who looked to be Union too went in with her. As she backed up the steps, the Corporal watched and could feel his hand begin to tremble. He had this nasty feeling they weren't going to get out of this without trouble.
Union made some comment to the Scav about how she couldn't believe they were being threatened and the Scav, surprisingly enough told her the soldiers were tired and stressed. One point for him, the Corporal thought as the women went in to take care of the supplies.
"Corporal!" The man turned, his weapon still pointed at Shad-Scav and Blondie. "Jerggs is dead." The Corporal cursed and gestured for his men to lay the body of the woman down where she'd died. They took her weapons and bullets and stowed them. The Corporal's nerves were just about shot.
Blondie had to open her mouth. She actually threatened them! "I do believe that the Church will not be happy to find out that these folks robbed the hospital at gun point." She shook her head. "So sad."
One of his men laughs at Bliss. "Girl," he tells her, "no one cares."
Again Blondie shook her head. "I wouldn't count on that. I'm sure Boyle will love to hear about this."
One of the Corporal's men stepped up as the Corporal's shoulders sagged just a little. "Oh? We're quaking in our boots."
Another brandished her weapon in Blondie's direction. "And who says you'll say anything?"
Yet another added, "Or if the boss will hear anything..."
"Nobody," the blonde woman told them. "But you are presently being monitored by security cameras. Everything you say and do will be recorded for posterity."
Of course, thought the harried Corporal. Elliot … One of his fellows pointed his rifle to the first visible camera lens as it panned toward him and focused.
"Not all the cameras are in the open, fellas," Blondie quipped.
"Waste of ammo anyway," the Private said and swung his weapon back to pointing right at the blonde woman.
It was then that the two women who'd vanished into Memorial returned. They pushed the gurney to the top of the stairs, and the Corporal motioned for his men to approach while he and another covered them with their guns. They didn't need the gurney anymore. Jerggs was dead. "Scoop up as much as you can." He leveled his gun on the two medics while the Private continued to cover Blondie. No one said much of anything, but the Scav kept giving them looks like he'd actually do something about what was happening. He'd be a fool to try, wouldn't he? The Corporal was observing the others, their interactions, the looks that went between them. He saw Blondie keeping a casual eye on the Union girl named Mera and the other who wore a tag with her name on it. Olivia something… he couldn't see the rest as she moved.
With the gurney emptied, his remaining soldiers made their way back into a vague semblance of formation. They filled their sacks and scowled in a mix of fear and hatred at the Union Medics and the others who were obviously their friends.
The Scav made the mistake of looking askance at his most unstable Private. The Soldier glared back. "What are you looking at? Huh?"
"You have what you came for, be on your way before there is further trouble," Blondie told them.
Without warning, the Private stepped up and moved his hand to push Shad back harshly. Shad sidestepped the hand, causing the soldier to brush right by him. By some twist of fate he tripped and fell to the ground. Shad stood there looking as if he pushed the solider without any effort at all. The remaining members of the Platoon grumbled to one another at this. They'd dealt with Mages and suspicion rose against this Scav.
The solider growled in rage and came to his feet. "You little..."
Mera leaned toward Olivia, and whispered softly, "I wish they would just go... not our luck it seems."
Shad frowned. "You just have to be polite..."
"I'll knock that frown right off your face..." The Corporal leaned over to caution his man, but his vision was swimming and he didn't realize that the stain on his shirt was growing more damp by the second. It's then he saw several people in the street moving around the corner of the building across from the hospital. It was Seth Rahved. He had never met the man personally, but he knew the uniform and knew the associations the man possessed. He felt that the situation was out of his control. It was almost a relief to see the man.
Behind Seth came another man who's flowing white hair gave him a wild almost ethereal appearance. The White-haired one had a staff and used it as if it were an extension of his arm. Rahved conferred with the white-haired man a while, the latter tossed a fruit core over the nearby broken wall. The core hit something on the other side of that wall and it made such a loud racket that some of the soldiers swung their rifles around to point in that direction. Some of them frowned, one had his fingers knuckle-white on his gun and pointing at the white-haired man that Rahved seemed to know.
Rahved moved toward the Church soldiers, his men hanging back, the white-haired man with him. "What's going on here?"
The Corporal of the rag-tag group glanced toward the new arrival. "Came for supplies," he didn't call Rahved "sir" … he was just too tired. "The 5th is in need of meds ...damn ambush. We thought they were Freemen, but … they weren't." The knowledge that his men had been assaulted, some now dead from the attack, by unseen enemies assured him that it had been the damn unclean Mages. Some of his men had been unstable to begin with out in the city for so long. The Lieutenant had tried, but then the Corporal figured it was the Mages who made them turn against one another. They were out there now, still… he could feel it. Now his men were downright insane. He just wanted to get supplies and get out … didn't they understand?
"All they had to do was ask politely..."
The Private who was the closest to losing it, the one who'd made a move for Shad already, said, "Damnit... if that Scav doesn't shut up soon..."
"Stow that Private," the Corporal said. The white-haired man stared at the soldier, grey eyes gleaming beneath snow-white brows and the Private shuddered. They'd been through too much already, the Corporal knew. Too much more of this Magic crap and he wouldn't be responsible for what his men did. He had to get them out of there.
"This," a gaze on the soldier. "This is neutral ground."
"Neutral my..."
The white-haired man spoke up, his voice calm, quiet. "Mera has given you what you need. No one has raised a hand against you."
"You need to leave in a civilized manner," Rahved told the Corporal who was about to acknowledge that order-like statement when his Private gestured toward Shad.
"How can we act 'civilized' around them?" He meant both the white-haired one and the Scav. They were clearly mages. They'd seen enough mages that week to make a Syrynykk Witch Doctor smile. Blondie turned to Mera then and warned her and Olivia in a soft voice to head back inside the hospital. The Corporal wondered if the woman had a headache with the way she frowned and rubbed the back of her neck.
Shad continued to push the soldiers that he, himself, had observed were tired and ragged already beyond their endurance.
Rahvad scanned their faces. He took note of the Corporal's rank and addressed him. "Who is in charge here...?" He looked to the side, noting Shad. The white-haired man moved around the troops and climbed a few steps to stand watching closely. He leaned casually on his stout quarter staff.
Squinting his eyes, he tilts his head to the side, "I am asking you Corporal. Who is in charge of this group? You?"
"Hold on... We gotta beat some sense into this Scav..." The soldier who'd had enough of Shad began.
Shad muttered, "Oh really?"
Rahved looked toward his own men, still in the shadows. The white-haired guy gripped his staff more tightly and prepared for the worst as the Private got out of hand in front of his superiors. The Corporal was feeling dizzy and gripped Rahved's shoulder even as the Private lunged for Shad. Rahved tried to stop the fight… but soon all the Fifth was involved but for the Corporal who had Rahved still in a tight grip, using the man for support.
Rahved shouted for the men to cease and desist. Bliss tried to intervene, saying that the Private had shoved Shad first and found herself threatened with assault. The Corporal found he couldn't really speak and Rahved shouted orders while reaching for the Corporal's weapon. He shoved the Corporal into the hands of a female Private, swinging the weapon around at the men disobeying his orders.
He moved forward grabbing one of the soldiers by the shoulder. "I'll take you out myself if you don't stand down, right now!" He swung the butt of the weapon into the jaw of another attacker and the white-haired man raised his staff to a striking position. Shad swept around with his foot in a smooth motion and took the Private attacking him to the ground while others jumped him. One tried to kick him but Shad grabbed his leg and thrust it upward. The soldier screamed at the pain of doing a sudden split and collapsed to the ground.
Blondie made a scrunched "ooo that hadda hurt" face.
Shad blocked a few more blows, his body a blur of motion as he counter-attacked. The white-haired man called the name of the Syrynykk God of Fate and began to swing his staff, thwapping soldiers here and there quite soundly. Soon, Churchmen were dropping left and right and Rahved called his men in. Even Blondie got into the fray before Rahved's men swarmed around the scene.
Not a single shot was fired. The Private who'd first hit Shad got in a few more cheap shots while two of his buddies held the younger man but Rahved yanked on the jacket of the attacker. "Stop! Stop! That's an order!" Four of his men moved in with their rifles raised to action. Shad shot a kick at the man behind him just as Blondie spin-kicked the other.
"Leggo," she said.
The soldiers didn't move at all as Rahved's men aimed and the fighting soldiers were culled into obedience.
"You...You ...and You!" he pointed at the troublemakers...then at the rest of the soldiers. "You are under arrest for disobeying direct orders...disrupting peace in a neutral zone and therefore violating a major agreement..." he ran the claims down while pushing and shoving the soldiers towards his own men, who with weapons kept them under control. They were relieved to be told what to do by a man with certainty in his voice; taken care of by their own.
Mera rushed forward to Shad's side and the Corporal felt his vision going. The Scav gets the royal treatment … The Private who hit Shad groaned as he got up and hobbled over to the rest of his platoon. The Corporal held his aching side and watched Rahved come up to him.
Rahved began a dressing down of the Corporal right there in front of his men. "You will proceed without further disruptions ... you will be taken back to the third legion. I can tell you already...that you will wish you had never set foot on this ground."
The Corporal didn't have the strength to tell him he had wished that many times. To die at home was better than what passed for living here.
Rahved shoved the Corporal back to his troop. Then he nodded for them to take the men away. He stepped to his second in command to tell him to take the group back to camp. "Relay word to Commander Boyle that I'll still be in the city a few days more."
"Aye sir," the second said and herded the wounded 5th away. The Corporal collapsed into unconsciousness ten paces later.