Riven could feel her anxiety sitting angrily in the pit of her stomach. It was the first mission she had under the title of Commander; she felt she wasn't ready for the position or the mission really. She wasn't even twenty years old, the youngest promotion to a commanding rank ever seen in the Noxian military but it's not as if Riven was going to turn down the chance. Her fast climb in the military was partly attributed to her 'Poster Child' status, a symbol of strength and meritocracy, an ideal Noxian. This had always come between her and other members of the military both in training and in the field, believing that Riven felt she was above them.
This first mission was an important one, Noxus had decided to move forward with its plans on invading Ionia and while there had been a few small battles while entering the land, it was time for a much larger battle. Riven had been ordered to take Fury Company and engage the forces settled at medium sized village (one she couldn't pronounce the name of) further inland. The orders said to take no prisoners and leave no survivors, she hated the idea of killing everyone inside the village, military or civilian, but she couldn't disobey orders so soon after being promoted. She sighed loudly before one of her men ran up to her, holding a map.
"We're almost there Commander, should only be another twenty minutes of walking. Though I expect they'll be ready and have gotten word of our movements. They could engage with us at any time." Riven nodded in response, agreeing with the young man.
"Have everyone ready themselves in case of an ambush of some kind." The man nodded before running back to the men walking behind her. She hadn't had the time to decide on a second in command just yet, but she suspected she would pick him, one of the few who followed her orders without talking back and questioning her promotion.
Sure enough, only five minutes later, arrows flew out of the nearby trees, taking down a few of the men in the company before a large company of men emerged from the same trees. As Riven unclasped her rune sword from the holder on her back, it dawned on her that the information given in the reports sent to her was wrong. The enemy force that was stationed here was much larger than previously suggested, twice as large. This had just gone from a decisive defeat to a long drawn out engagement, at best.
As the hours of fighting raged on, it turned out Riven was right, even though she had sent a man for reinforcements, no one had appeared yet even though Ionian reinforcements seemed to be appearing out of nowhere. Riven and her men were exhausted but there was no way to stop until reinforcements came, if they ever did.
The battle went from hours into days as Noxian reinforcements finally made an appearance over twelve hours in, they were just barely preventing this battle turning into a loss. A few command tents had been set up to allow for the various commanders to leave the battle to discuss strategy, none of what was suggested seemed to work. This engagement was nothing like the decisive victories earlier in the invasion and Riven was far from certain about what had changed; the Ionians were finally fighting back. The invasion wasn't going to be as simple as squashing the blindly peaceful people as High Command had suggested in the months prior.
Eventually Noxus became nervous, the battle had lasted almost a week now and Noxus was no closer to defeating the Ionians. That nervousness and desperation to be victorious became clear to Riven when she was on the battlefield, hearing the sound of catapults firing in the distance. She looked the sky, seeing the barrels of Singed's melters flying through the air. They had been told the melters would only be used in extreme circumstances, it had never crossed Riven's mind they'd be willing to use it on their own men in order to take out the Ionians. She should have known.
"Run!" She screamed the men nearby who hadn't seen the flying melters or known what they were if they had. It wasn't long before the melters hit the earth behind her, hitting Noxian and Ionian alike.
Riven collapsed as she felt the poison seeping into her skin. The skin on her outer arms and back burning, melting. She let out a scream of agony, like many of the men dying in the field nearby. She could feel the noxious gases burning the inside of her throat, suffocating her and making her fall unconscious.
Riven came back around, opening her eyes and seeing the singed grass of the field in front of her, she suspects several hours later at the very least, it was now in the evening, sun preparing to set. She attempted to stand, crying out in agony due to the chemical burns that covered her arms and back. She managed to kneel, looking at her surroundings, seeing dead men littering the field she was in. She supposed she may be the only survivor.
It took several minutes and attempts but Riven finally got to her feet, part of her Commander's uniform falling apart due to the chemicals, but she remained largely covered. She managed, inch by inch, to reach the forest that the Ionian forces had emerged from days ago. Riven used the trees to steady herself against the trees as she managed to stumble her way through. She was in agony, but she couldn't stay out in the open field like she had been before. Her mind was set on managing to hide and survive the next days, not even processing what had happened to her and the many men in her company who died.
She propped herself up against a tree, not able to move any further forward, sliding down to her knees. Riven heard footsteps ahead of her, feet crunching on fallen leaves on the ground. Riven looked up, seeing a familiar Ionian face in front of her. Irelia Lito, the Will of the Blades. She had seen Captain Lito's face and name in many information briefings and reports before the invasion, listed as someone to never engage, to be afraid of.
Riven knew this would be the end of her, she had managed to survive the melters just to be caught and probably executed by the Ionian Captain of the Guards, just her luck. Riven gave into the pain caused by her burns and passed out against the tree, Captain Lito fading out her vision.