Lieutenant Juliet Benning was an excellent soldier; to have her taken out by that Blue Army general was intolerable.
"I shall avenge her loss myself," Marshal Sierra Stone promised.
"Strike!" she announced as he stepped forward with grim determination, adding, "By a marshal."
Although Sierra could see all her units clearly, all members of the opposing army appeared to her to be shrouded in blue. This included soldiers, the bombs, and the coveted flag. Of course, all members of the Blue Army saw her units shrouded in red. The only way to break through an individual enemy's shroud was to strike and occupy the same square as that opponent.
Now that she could see her clearly, Sierra briefly studied the enemy general. Her uniform was quite similar to Sierra's, except for the predominant blue color. She wore a dress with large brass buttons, cinched with a black belt and adorned with gold trimmings. She had a cluster of four stars on her cap, as opposed to Sierra, who, as her army's highest-ranking officer, had five stars.
"General," the blue soldier said sullenly, as she was required to do.
Of course, Sierra already knew her rank, as the general had previously stated it when she'd captured Lieutenant Benning. Sierra never lost track of an enemy's value, no matter how much one might move about. "I claim you as a prisoner of the Red Army. Turn around, and cross your wrists together behind your back."
The Blue Army general gave her a look of pure poison, but was powerless to resist. The rules of war were clear; in the event of a challenge, the lower-ranking soldier had to surrender to the higher-ranking one. She set her teeth together and complied with the order.
Sierra was not the sort of person to mistreat anyone, not even a despised member of the Blue Army. Still, she was not gentle as she wound a rope about the captive's wrists, binding them together. The procedure continued smoothly until the marshal had looped ropes about the general's torso, and bound her legs together. She then gagged her with several strips of tape.
"Off you go, prisoner," she growled.
The Blue Army general bent her knees and hopped awkwardly off to one side.
"Faster!" Sierra roared. "We have a battle to continue!"
The Blue Army general hopped again and again, and soon left the battlefield, to join her fallen comrades on the side.
Sierra surveyed her exit with satisfaction. The capture of the general more than made up for the loss of Lieutenant Juliet Benning. The battlefield lay open before her, ready for conquest. The enemy marshal was hemmed in, far off in one corner. There would be no threat from her! No, Sierra could move forward confidently, capturing enemy after enemy. Of course, there was always the danger of a bomb. However, she would never be careless enough to walk blindly into one of those! There were scouts to locate them, and miners to defuse them. No, she would only strike against opponents who had moved. Since she outranked all of them, she could act with impunity.
Not just yet, though. She was forced to wait, as it was the enemy's turn.
"Strike," someone announced, moving towards Sierra. As she now stood right next to her, the marshal could see through her blue shroud. Unlike the soldiers, her attacker did not wear a uniform, but civilian clothes, a slinky dress. "By a spy. I claim you as a prisoner of the Blue Army."
The lowly spy! She could be captured by absolutely anybody. Her only ability was that she could capture the enemy marshal, and only if she struck first. What was she doing here? She was supposed to be shadowing her marshal, just as the Red Army's spy, Echo Remington, was only two squares away from Sierra!
Apparently, the Blue Army marshal had chosen deception, placing the spy elsewhere. Exactly the sort of underhanded trick she would have expected of those despicable vermin!
As infuriating as it was, though, she could do nothing but stand quietly as the spy wound ropes about her. "Now that you've revealed yourself, it'll be easy to capture you," Sierra Stone promised.
The spy shrugged her shoulders. "I've served my usefulness." She smoothed a strip of tape over the marshal's lips. "Off you go, now."
In full view of her troops, she was forced to make the hop of shame over to the sidelines, where she received an apologetic look from Lieutenant Benning. The young officer was still bound and gagged, of course. To attempt to escape before the end of the battle was an unthinkable breach of honor!
A moment later another blow fell. One of her colonels, Indigo Reno, carelessly struck a target that had never moved. There was a loud bang; smoke filled the air. By rule, striking a bomb meant she too had to be bound and gagged, so she shortly hopped over to join her commanding officer.
"What were you thinking, a high-ranking officer like you blundering into a trap?" Sierra tried to yell.
Colonel Reno mumbled incoherently, feeling thankful she was gagged, which gave her time to come up with a good explanation for her carelessness.
Things were quickly getting worse. The enemy marshal had maneuvered her troops enough so she could finally move forward. In a few turns, she would be near the Red Army flag. Defeat seemed inevitable… unless Echo could capture her! Surely, the wily spy could catch her unawares!
"Strike!" the Blue Army marshal called out, adding her rank.
"Spy!" came the reply and a moment later, off to the sidelines hopped a young woman in a slinky dress, bound and gagged, of course.
"You were supposed to capture the marshal, not get captured by her!" Sierra Stone screamed through her gag.
"Sorry, I tried my best," or something like that, was the Red Army spy's answer.
Sierra looked back at the battlefield, praying for a miracle, when she noticed something curious. As the Blue Army was throwing all its soldiers forward to try to reach the red flag, one lone Red Army soldier was quietly moving down the field. The marshal recognized her, Lima Kasem, a miner.
"Please don't let the enemy notice her," she prayed quietly.
Lima continued forward. "Strike!" she announced, as she defused a bomb.
The Blue Army noticed her then! There was a whirlwind of activity, but they were all too far away to do anything. Lima entered the next square. "Strike!"
She waved the blue flag in triumph.
The Red Army had won the battle! No longer would the Blue Army oppress the citizens under the territories they controlled! Their reign of tyranny was ended; it was a time for a celebration of freedom!
"At least it will be once I get these ropes off," Sierra said, looking impatiently at Lima as she carried the flag to the sidelines.
"Yes, ma'am!" Lima said, understanding her meaning. Before she could start untying Sierra, though, something very strange happened.
An earthquake struck the battlefield. No, not an earthquake, a cataclysm! It seemed as if the entire world were ending. The ground rose up into the air, and all the soldiers, both Red and Blue, slid off, falling into what appeared to be an enormous box. A lid was placed over, plunging the combatants into darkness and nothingness.
There they remained, until the next game of Stratego started….