Darkness covered the
steps down the tunnel. The torch lights blew out from a gust of wind through the
tunnel. This did not stop the Vestrisian Vanguards as they continued regardless
of the pitch black. With each step down, the Vestrisian-Vanguards drew closer
to wherever the tunnel took them.
The company decided to
split up, thirty others went back up to stand guard and see about in coming supplies.
Thirty-seven of them remained in the tunnel. The Vestrisians walked down these ancient
stone steps. Their heavy boots thumped on the stone as they descended the long
tunnel. Each man with his night goggles on had no need for a flashlight. Their
multiple footsteps tapped and thumped on the stone steps, but not a word was ushered
from any lips.
Chiecra soon spoke in a whisper. "There's
something I don't get?"
"What's that?" Ilkez
replied. The group stopped and faced the cadet. All eyes were upon him.
"What's on your mind
cadet?" the Major demanded.
"What were the
Nazdar using to turn people into vampires? What chemicals were made or mixed to
create such horrifying results to convert people into blood thirsty
monsters?" The Cadet asked the Major.
"We have no time
to discuss this now! Major, sir our mission is what's important! Not some
chemical weapons used by the Nazdar." said a soldier agitated at Chiecra.
Kouthra spoke for the
Major and his brother. "Our mission is both the Nazdar invasion and the
chemical weapons, private!" The captain merely growled at the incompetent
private.
"Let's move out!
The sooner we force the enemy back the better!" proclaimed the Major. He
towered over the private, staring him down.
A soldier who went
ahead of Chiecra a few steps piped up. "Sir I've found something!"
The soldier stood up holding what looked to be a collar. It appeared too big
for a dog, and it had a crescent shape. Chiecra remembered seeing one of these
on a smuggler he had shot, back in Udraine. Before anyone started talking or
asked questions Liviscart approached the soldier taking the object from his
hand.
"Sir, this is a
voice modulator." He replied holding the object to the Superiors.
"A what?"
several Vanguards asked confused about what this object was.
"It’s a Voice
modulator! It goes around the base of your neck at the collarbone. It somehow
changes your voice." Liviscart explained to the platoon of Vanguards.
"Excellent find,
the only thing we need to know about this is who was wearing it and why."
said the Major grabbing the modulator from the Sergeant to examine it for
himself.
"There's some
blood on it." Chiecra said as he observed the object. All gathered in
closely to see the thin bit of blood.
"The blood's
covering something.” One soldier said pointing at the spot covered in blood.
"I doubt anyone
can make out what it says on there." One of the soldiers said doubting
anyone’s eyes.
The Major wiped the
blood off with his sleeve revealing the name Curtian. He sighed, "Apparently
there's something that our Corporal Curtian has to explain."
Kouthra looked at him
shocked. "You mean that Curtian is hiding some truth from us?"
Kouthra asked him. The Major nodded in response to the question.
"Keep moving, the
longer we stand here the more likely our comrades are dead!" The vanguards
started to move again, ascending the stone steps. Chiecra was in the middle and
looked up at the ceiling of the tunnel as they moved further down. He noticed
the rough stone structure of the ceiling was disappearing under some strange
substance. This substance looked very web like. It covered the stone entirely.
It didn't take long for others to realize the difference the way the tunnel
walls looked. Most including Chiecra already had a feeling of where they were
headed.
A dim light started to
appear at the end of the dark spiral tunnel. The vanguards were getting closer
to their objective they could feel it. Kouthra and the Major led them toward
this light at the bottom. Chiecra noticed the web like substance getting
thicker and thicker with each step downward. An opening to a large cavern
appeared before them. Major Hawke lifted a hand signaling to stop. Every one of
them stopped in their tracks obeying orders. They kept themselves hidden by
staying clear of the entrance. Major Hawke gestured for four men to come
forward. "Liviscart, Gwynor, Brutius get over here!" Ilkez, Liviscart,
Viktorov and Chiecra came forward.
"I want you four
to clear this room quietly and quickly. There is a group of guards doing
nothing but eating and drinking. Some are awake but are not paying attention to
the cavern and have their backs to us. Go in there quietly and kill them all.
Do I make myself clear?" He said in a whisper.
Liviscart was put in
charge of their team for his people of the Nachadian nation were masters of
stealth attacks. They only took blades and pistols for this little operation.
All four left their boots, rifles and other gear behind. Chiecra and the other
two were equipped with bayonets, while Liviscart had a long tribal knife.
Chiecra followed Liviscart
a the four Vanguards went in silent as mice. The cavern turned into a massive
chamber full of sleeping Nazdar. Moveable, cordless lamps lit the cavern. There
lay thirteen sleeping Nazdar on each side of the cavern. The walls were
decorated with red Nazdar flags. Five Nazdar guards sat around table playing
cards, paying no heed to the four Vestrisians coming to kill them. Next to the
five guards was a pillar, tied to this pillar was a damsel dressed in a Vestrisian
uniform. Chiecra recognized the long brown hair he glimpsed earlier. She
contained a gorgeous feature with a small body and developed breast. From the
way she looked that Nazdar already took advantage of her. They had ripped open
her uniform revealing her bra and corset which dangled from the ropes that
bound her. Her legs were bare and normal sized for a woman her height. A
trickle of blood could be seen flowing from her neck.
The five Nazdar got up
to harass her even more. Taking turns the heathens brutally assaulted the poor
dove. Chiecra turned away angered he would show no mercy to his enemy, not now
not ever. On the ground he spied a small bronze nametag with the name "Curtian'
etched onto it. Chiecra picked up the name tag and showed it to Liviscart. The
Nochadian signaled for two submachineguns. The two Gwynors were given the
sub-machine guns. The cadet covered one end and Viktorov the other.
Liviscart sprung into
action. The Nachadian warrior went after the five heathens stabbing his first
victim on the back. Ilkez slit the throat of one Nazdar nearest the table. Liviscart
killed the other three yanking them off the woman one at time stabbing and
cutting them. The two gwynors filled their targets with bullets. Both did not
stop shooting until the ammo was finished. They no longer cared for a covert
operation, the vanguards made so much noise they expected more hostiles to
arrive. No enemies came encouraging the rest to come see what the had done. The
cadet and other three Vanguards retrieved their boots and rifles. Major Hawke
ordered the soldiers to untie the female Curtian and give her medical attention.
His orders were followed and the damsel was wrapped in a tapestry ripped from
the wall.
Major Hawke observed Curtian's
face. "What's your name madam?" She did not answer she was still
traumatized from the assaults she endured. "Get her out here."
"Sir. What about
-" Private Mascerd tried to remind the major but the Major cut him off.
"Damn it Mascerd I
order you to carry this woman out of this pit!" Mascerd wanted to question
the woman, but the Major urged him to follow orders. "That's an order!
Follow them!" Several vanguards took the female Curtian up the tunnel. Chiecra
took time to snoop around the cavern. Looking behind a massive banner, he found
another tunnel.
"Major, sir!"
Chiecra drew their attention to him. All the Vanguards turned to the cadet.
"I've found another tunnel that leads deeper into the underworld." Chiecra
said showing them the hidden passage. He pulled the tapestry down revealing to
them another tunnel leading to unknown chambers and caverns.
"Holy Zeuxis, how
far down do we have to go to end this invasion?" a soldier complained.
“How ever far down we
need to go to complete our mission.” Ilkez wisely replied. By twos, the Vestrisian
went through the tunnel. Each Vanguard skimmed along the walls with a man next
to him. Ilkez and Viktorov were both at the head of the pack. Chiecra was
directly behind the zenhrai as the group of vanguards slowly krept along the
walls. They came across an entrance to another cavern on the left side of the
tunnels. The entrance had no door or tapestry to cover it. All the vanguards stopped
and crouched down. Twenty-eight Vestrisian soldiers were about to commence
another assault.
Chiecra was eager for
more action and loaded a new magazine into his sub machine gun. He and the same
trio, Ilkez, Liviscart and Viktorov approached the cavern. Two positioned
themselves on both sides of the entrance. Before the warriors carried out
another attack, Kouthra spotted more caverns ahead along the tunnel.
"Major, we should clean out these others
as well." Everyone heard him address the Major and turned to him. Major
Hawke agreed with the captain. Over a dozen soldiers rushed ahead and split up
into fours. Each group covered one cavern, but there were still a few
remaining.
"Sadly we don't
have the man power to cope with all the Nazdar scum down there." Ilkez
whispered to Chiecra.
Major Hawke sent one of
the remaining men back up to retrieve reinforcements. In moments the soldier
was already halfway through the tunnel in the direction they came.
"Perhaps we should've brought more men with us." Kouthra said to the
Major. As soon as the runner disappeared, the commanders signaled for them to
storm the dens.
The four valiant
warriors stormed into a cavern full of Nazdar soldiers. Hesitating was not an
option, nor did it cross their minds. Mercy was not present as Chiecra and his
comrades shot every Nazdar present. Though greatly outnumbered the four Vanguards
managed to outgun dozens of enemies. Bullets flew all around hitting everything
including the Nazdar. The constant spray of bullets overwhelmed the Nazdar. It
seemed impossible for a few men to storm a den packed with twenty-three
hostiles.They each caught the enemy off guard. As they stopped killing the
Vanguards grew aware of their new surroundings. Blood flowed all over the
ground from the corpses that littered it. Banners and Nazdar corpses were not
the only things in this den. Stacks of Crates and stockpiles of weapons lined
the walls. The four Vanguards stood in the center of the den surrounded by
ammunition and weapons.
Viktorov took the nerve
to observe the dead Nazdar. "Look", he said and the others joined
him, "See how they're lined up." Viktorov's arm pointed out to the
others.
"It's as though
they knew we were coming." Chiecra said bending over an officer with a
whistle in his mouth.
"Yes, and they
were just about to attack when we did." replied Ilkez. The four Vanguards stood
in the middle of the den, mute and still as statues. The only sounds they heard
were the shots of their comrades shooting the enemy in their assigned dens. They
waited for the shooting to quiet down before stirring a muscle.
Chiecra was the first
to move and knelt over the dead officer to claim the whistle as a souvenir.
Observing it, Chiecra noticed it was a bronze military whistle connected to a
golden chain. He placed it around his neck and began scavenging for more spoils
and prizes. None of them bothered Chiecra as they watched him with blank
expressions on their faces. Liviscart began chanting a tune in his own tongue
mumbling it to himself. As Liviscart and Chiecra carried on with their own
tasks the other two checked out the crates all over the den.
Chiecra was enjoying
himself, pick pocketing the dead bodies. Taking badges, watches and a few knives,
he felt like a thief in his own heaven. He placed all these spoils in a sack he
had found. Something at the back of the den caught his eye. Looking up he
noticed a path behind the wall leading to a secret chamber. From the looks of
the back wall it was unclear that there was another passage. The cadet took the
chance to check out the back wall. It formed an inward pattern that was wide
enough to hide another passageway. This overlapping illusion could fool anyone
since it almost fooled Chiecra. This illusion was made by nature herself but
not well enough for Chiecra. The cadet prayed to the gods the Nazdar hadn't
discovered this yet. What lies behind this wall? What dwells in the other
passages? Were there more dangers, and more Nazdar? If there were any left they
would have come out by now.
Looking to the left he
found a secret passage while he looked to the right nothing. He only saw stone
covered with the web like substance, which concerned the cadet. He remembered
the same substance earlier in the tunnel. Have they entered the Arachnid's
Lair? His attention was switched back to his comrades when one of them called
him.
"Cadet Gwynor." Chiecra
turned to see Ilkez looking at him. "What are you doing?" asked the zenhrai.
"Nothing!" he replied,
but the zenhrai did not buy it.
"Yeah, you're doing nothing
alright. Help us crack open these crates." He ordered. Chiecra placed his
weapons against the wall. He was handed a crow bar found amongst a pile of
tools near the entrance. The four began prying open one crate at a time, until
others came to see what they were up to.
"What in the name
of Carcossa are you fellows doing, eh?" A voice asked behind them. This
voice did not sound familiar to any of them at all. None of them recognized
this voice. They each froze and turned their heads, before them stood three
Nazdar troops. The middle Nazdar was a high ranking officer, a Marshall in the
Nazdar Army.
"Drop them!"
he commanded the four Vestrisians. They did as he commanded them.
The Nazdars fixed their
weapons on the four of them. Each of them raised their arms in surrender. Chiecra
felt that their mission had failed. He was ordered to stand next to his fellow Vestrisians.
Each man knew what was coming, the swift end to their mission. Only a miracle
could save them and the others. Then Chiecra remembered something the others
nearly forgot. Reinforcements were coming down to bail them out of this
captivity. The Nazdar officer observed each of them in turn including Chiecra.
He got into Chiecra's face giving him a queer look.
"This one's too
young. Take him to the back with the other prisoners. He'll be a fortune maker
if we sell him. No doubt he'll make an excellent worker in the factories."
The marshall said and the other Nazdars smirked at this. Moments later a group
of shadows dashed past the den. Several more figures appeared behind the
unsuspecting Nazdar, leading the figures was a female. Chiecra could tell from
how short she was compared to the males' heights.
"The tables have
turned against you, Morphose." a feminine voice spoke. The Nazdar Morphose
was awestruck caught off guard by this woman’s appearance. He had no clue what happened
or what to do next. In panic Morphose tried to kill his four prisoners.
Morphose fired a few shots hitting Liviscart's leg before he and his lackeys were
gunned down. The three vermin twirled around receiving the bullets all over the
body before falling to the ground with three tremendous thuds.
"Are you boys
alright?" the female said in a comprehensive voice. None of them spoke a
word, the three gazed at the woman before them. She was the same person they
thought who was Curtian. This woman had disguised herself as a man. Her brown
hair had slight curls. It went over her shoulders by a few inches. Her body was
short, but perfect, her legs long and strong, her face gorgeous as an elf. She
was almost Chiecra's height, which was considered the average height of a
woman. Chiecra was awestruck that this woman had posed as a soldier, a male
soldier for reasons they were about to learn.
"Most of us are
okay. I'm not sure about our friend Liviscart." The Cadet finally spoke
for the team of Vanguards. He then turned to help the Nachadian and he noticed
something strange about Ilkez.
The woman ordered the
others to help Chiecra. "Get him to a medic quickly; I don't want a
vanguard to bleed to death." They silently obeyed their orders and carried
the wounded man off. As they carried a wounded Liviscart the woman kissed him
on the cheek. She sighed and placed a hand over her chest. Under her breathe
she whispered.
"What a noble
warrior he is." Only Chiecra heard the phrase. She turned her attention to
the other three Vanguards. Chiecra stared into her hazel eyes. Something about
her eyes looked oddly familiar. It was as though he had seen those eyes
somewhere. Had he seen them somewhere? Had he seen this feature somewhere? Then
it hit him, his memory jogged up where he had seen her face. He soon remembered
a family tree Arctice showed him one time. He remembered in the corner of a
large family photo next to the Furd Antalace. She was Arctice's cousin Athenere
Greymir. Chiecra returned to the present as he set his mind to the current
task. He did not see the other two working fast to open the crates. The other
Vestrisians who came in helped them crack the crates open. This Athenere stood
next to Chiecra and studied him.
"Chiecra
isn't it?" she asked him.
"Yes."
he said nearly raising his voice above normal.
"The
others told me you can handle yourself, right?" she asked.
"Yes."
he answered once again. She looked at the back of the den.
"Will you help me
with something?" Chiecra would have felt foolish not helping her. He
immediately said "Yes." a third time.
He followed her to the
hidden passage. When they got further in
the passage, Chiecra jumped ahead of her. It may have seemed rude, but he did
this to ensure she didn't face any dangers first. Chiecra drew the knife meant
for the Nazdar earlier. He cautiously led the way through the passage. Through
the passage they came across another cavern, which was darker than the others.
Somewhere in the dark, they heard someone crying.
"Do you hear that?" Athenere asked placing a
hand on Chiecra to stop him.
"Silence my child,
or the Arachnids will come, hush, hush." A faint voice whispered in the
dark. Chiecra knew this to be bad. Arachnids were flesh-eating spiders,
especially of humanoid flesh. Lights were turned on from behind Chiecra.
Athenere found the light switch. The lights illuminated an even larger cavern,
which formed a long oval shape with a wider middle. On the other side was a
massive hole two feet off the ground. All about the walls were more prisoners.
Most of them were female with a few males here and there. A fourth of the women
were aviators and pilots, the rest were just pilgrims and students. Amongst
them were four small girls and two boys nearing their teen years. There were
only five men, one Vestrisian soldier, two scholars, a professor and a half-dead
Zhenrai Master. To their right in the center of the group was the crying child
in her mother's arms, and her mother trying to calm her.
Chiecra knew why the
girl was crying. She was crying for something sitting in the middle of the
room. In the middle sat a small cage harassed by a dog-sized spider. Acting
quickly the cadet threw the blade at the eight-legged creature. The knife
struck the creature and it curled up in a ball with the knife in its side. Chiecra
retrieved his blade, pulling it out did not seem difficult since the skin of
the Arachnid was soft but scaly. He wiped orange goo off the blade in disgust. Chiecra
kicked the corpse away from the cage. Kneeling down next to the cage to see
what was inside. There cowering in a little ball was a red brown Finx with a
white stripe on its head. A Finx had the appearance of a ferret crossed with a
small monkey. It looked up at Chiecra with its light brown eyes in a hopeful
way. He grinned opening the cage as he reassured the little Finx. "It's
alright its safe." In his mind Chiecra hoped everything was alright.
Quietly it stepped out of the cage and rushed to the girl crying. By some miracle
she stopped crying.
"Thank you noble
soldier, there is hope after all. We left the mountains to seek a free life in
the Vestrisian Republics." She said to Chiecra.
"I'm just doing
what I was trained to do for the Republic. Justice has to be brought down upon
these slavers." Chiecra replied to the mother. The cadet got up to cut the
ropes that bound the prisoners to the walls, but Athenere was already ahead of
him. She had already cut the pilots loose with her knife. They embraced and
thanked her and Chiecra with much gratitude. He did not care who listened to
their little chats. The cadet made quick work of cutting the ropes. The Vestrisian
soldier thanked him and stood up to stretch his limbs.
"Are there more
comrades?" asked one soldier.
"Are there any more
prisoners?" Chiecra asked instead of answering the question.
"Not just them but have you come
with more soldiers?" The soldier asked Chiecra again.
"You
answer first." Chiecra insisted the soldier to tell him feeling persistant.
"Yes, we were
aboard a convoy of Emetef cruisers transporting pilgrims, pilots and refugees
from Ulfhineu. The convoy was attacked and many of the soldiers aboard were
killed and the rest like myself taken prisoner. What about our rescue?"
The soldier asked him.
"I'm with a party of nearly seventy men
led by Major Hawke and Captain Gwynor. If you want to, we could use a hand with
some crates." He told the soldier.
"Those crates are
filled with our own weapons from rifles to sub-machine guns, and shotguns.
Those vermin meant to use these weapons against us or something like that."
the Vestrisian explained. Kouthra, Major Hawke and Ilkez stormed in with half a
dozen Vanguards.
"Get these people out now! Everyone who
is not a soldier please get to safety through the tunnels and up the stairs. As
for the three of you here are some weapons." Chiecra and the other two
were given a rifle and shotgun. The cadet was given his own rifle back plus a
new toy. One of the scholars happened to be a Vestrisian veteran taking time
off. The other prisoners rushed out for their own safety.
"Kouthra what's
going on?" Chiecra asked his brother forgetting about rank for a moment.
"Just be ready for whatever comes out of
that hole!" His brother replied and gave him a stern look over Chiecra
addressing him as Kouthra instead of Captain. Kouthra then turned to Athenere.
"Senator Greymir, your father
would want you away from this fight. I'll have to ask you to please join the
other refugees. Or stay clear of the action." She obliged running off to
join the other prisoners. Major Hawke and Kouthra made quick plans.
"Captain you stay here with these men and
kill anything that comes out of that hole! I'll be leading the assault to gain
more ground in the other caverns. You defend our flanks right here."
"Good plan sir, all
of you gather around." They gathered around the captain. He had what
looked to be metal earplugs in his hands.
"Put this in your
right ear just like this." He demonstrated sticking one in his right ear.
Each soldier took one and repeated the same procedure he did. "Pull this
antenna out." Kouthra pulled on a piece that stretched out to his mouth.
"This is a new radio commlink, which will be used in future battles. It's
better for communication across the field." Once the men did as he had
done, Kouthra prepared for another enemy assault. They heard movement from the
larger tunnel and took defensive positions. With plenty of ammo, the Vestrisian
soldiers were ready to defend this spot.
"I noticed you seemed bewitched by Athenere." Chiecra
asked him.
"What's your point?" Ilkez asked paranoid at
the spiders and the question.
"So you do like her?" Chiecra asked as he
reloaded.
"Yeah, I sort of
like her." Ilkez admitted like he was still in his academy years.
"Don't be a teen,
Brutius tell her you're in love with her!" Viktorov yelled blasting a
spider that was climbing upside down on the tunnel ceiling.
"Okay, I
will!" the zhenrai hollered shooting down the eight legged pests.
Chiecra watched with
obsession and disgust. He obliviously enjoyed shooting these eight-legged kegs
with eyes. Feeling the heat on his hands from the barrel of his shotgun Chiecra
had no shame in killing these monsters. With each shot the shotgun grew hotter
in his hands, but he did not care. The shooting from their weapons was nonstop.
While the Arachnid bodies were piling up so were the shells from their bullets.
"It looks like we have
a new enemy!" Viktorov commented still unloading his shells on the
pests.
"A determined
enemy or a stupid enemy?" a Vanguard asked him.
"Does it really
matter what kind of enemy they are?" another vanguard asked, reloading his
sixth set of shells.
"Yes it
does." argued the first vanguard jokingly. This little squabble of words
continued as the vanguards blasted every single arachnid that came through the
hole. Whether the body fell rolling over the other bodies now forming a mound
of corpses, or exploded leaving orange goo all over the tunnel. The arachnids
soon crowded in the hole, the vanguard noticed as they pushed each other
forward. The pests were also coming through in larger sizes. As the spiders came
in bigger sizes their numbers shrank. Large bodies rolled down the mound of
arachnids. Several nearly knocked the vanguards down. One body came hurtling
towards Chiecra barely skimming him. The body count of the spiders began to
fill the hole creating a roadblock to the others coming through. From each dead
arachnid, the hole was clogged up to where one could come through at a time.
This made the task even easier. For every time one popped its head through the
narrow gap a vanguard would shoot it. Once each man fired a round or two taking
turns, one arachnid got stuck in the gap. They then chose to stand down for
now. They checked their ammo, most were all out. The others had at least one or
two rounds left.
"I'm all
out!" viktorov cried.
"Same here!"
said another.
"Yep I am out."
Viktorov said fingering his pockets for more ammunition.
"Definitely
empty." Ilkez replied, checking his shotgun.
"Yeah, I'm
out." Kouthra exclaimed in disappointment.
"That just leaves
you three!" replied Ilkez, pointing at Chiecra and the other two. The
cadet checked his shotgun he had one shell left. The other soldiers only had a
few left. They happened to be two of the soldiers amongst the captives he
rescued. One was named Vinco Barzini, the other Terc Gelteze. They stood watching
the Arachnid squirm trying to gets its fat body through the narrow gap.
"All yours
kid." Vinco said, urging the cadet on.
"By all means go
ahead." Terc concluded. Chiecra aimed the shotgun at the squirming
creature and he fired the last shot. He lowered his weapon it was now smoking
from the barrel, the metal part felt hot as a stove. He placed it on the ground
to cool down his hands from being burned. Sitting down Chiecra observed the
mound of dead Arachnids. Ilkez also observed the dead creature with strange
interests.
"These arachnids
seemed to be running away from something rather than going after food wouldn't
you say Chiecra?" The zenhrai asked with a crave for some form of an
answer.
Chiecra did not notice
the way the arachnids were approaching. He paid no heed to the appearance of
these creatures, nor their eyes. He took the nerve to stare at one staring back
at him. It had six hideous eyes the shape and size of a grenade. Its fangs were
much like the front teeth of a lion. Fur covered its entire face and upper
front legs. The anthrax was big as a pig, and scaly like a lizard. A shotgun
shell had shot this large spider, for the top of its anthrax contained a huge
gash. Though the creature itself was dead the eyes were still alive but
lifeless. Pulling out his pistol the cadet began shooting the eyes out. The
eyes burst from each shot leaving a gruesome mess. Before he fired a fourth
shot Kouthra grabbed his hand, which wielded the pistol. His foolishness made a
lot of noise.
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