Hello there, brave readers! Today, I return to you with the second part of my For Honor fan fiction. I do hope that you enjoy. Today, the action's ramping up, as we come across the second 'Hero' of the story, though he really doesn't deserve the title, alongside the one person you really can't do a For Honor story without. Any feedback or constructive criticism would be appreciated. Without further ado, I present...
The Battle Of Rosa Colis, Part 2: The Breach
Rosa Collis had earned its name. The peacekeeper, exasperated, leaned against the old stone wall of the fortress to pick the thorny stalks from her chainmail. Captain Marius seemed rather uncomfortable, as if a rose had wound its way into a more sensitive area within the inaccessible depths of his great suit of plate, but he stoically attempted to push the sensation from his mind; more for the sake of his pride in the face of the ever-mouthy assassin than anything else.
She had rather forcefully inserted herself into a mentoring role for the inexperienced commander ever since their first discussion on the topic of leadership, some days ago, and while he loathed her ever-present mockery, he could hardly say her teachings hadn't borne fruit. Well, that is to say, the Conqueror has decided to start spitting at his feet rather than in his face whenever he passed by, but it was an improvement.
Just about the only person in the whole company who trusted him was the surprisingly spry old woman, and the ever-cheerful and somewhat sycophantic Warden whom the old peacekeeper had also taken under her wing, who was now marveling at the magnificent architecture of the imposing castle before them. Twirling her dagger around one finger, the peacekeeper sighs.
"This is a terrible idea."
"This is what you are best at, sister."
"Why do you simply ASSUME that 'what I am best at' is infiltrating Chosen fortresses in the broad daylight?"
"This daylight is hardly broad, milady. There are many clouds, after all."
"Well, what ARE you best at, then? Mouthing off to your superiors?"
"Infiltrating Legion fortresses in the dead of the night, obviously. And the aforementioned, of course."
"I believe in you, Milady!"
"That counts for something, I suppose. You two should head back to the camp, see if our twitchy friend's search for 'sneaky mud-walker escape tunnels' has borne any fruit. I'll be up the wall soon, not to worry."
Winding a length of silk rope- strong and light, a staple of the average Peacekeeper's kit- around a small but effective grappling hook, the Peacekeeper shakes her head.
"I'm getting too old for this."
"If it helps, imagine sneaking up on Apollyon from behind and slitting her throat."
"You're right, that does help. Alley-oop!"
And up it goes. The towers on both corners of this wall have partially collapsed, meaning that the bandits patrolling the complex's interior have no easy access to it for their patrol routes or sentry posts; a perfect point of insertion. Bracing herself with the thin rope, she puts both feet up on the wall without so much as a grunt.
"See you on the other side. Be careful, the both of you."
"Same for yourself, Milady! Bonne chance!"
"Remember. You are to unlock the main gate for our forces and then plant these time bombs in the main armory. They have a long fuse, so you should have plenty of time to vacate the premises once you light them. After, light the war banner atop the central tower. We charge at that signal. Hopefully, their defense will die out quickly without arrows. You are not to engage Makoto, nor any of the Blackstone representatives if they've already arrived. Do I make myself clear?"
"You've already given me one briefing today dear, I hardly need another."
Adjusting her grip on the rope, the Peacekeeper prepares to climb.
"Deus Vult, my dears."
And up she goes.
"Hmm. Not good. I'd hardly call these bandits."
Closing her spyglass, the peacekeeper shakes her head, staring out worriedly over the rose-choked military complex. They were practicing drills in the gloom, their gleaming, rain-soaked steel reflected in the cloud-choked sunlight as they recited katas. Aside from this one, all walls and all towers of the great compound were fully stationed with archers. If it weren't for the damaged wall and the rainy weather stifling the morning light of dawn, she wouldn't dare approach this place alone.
"In for a penny, in for a florin, I suppose."
And down from the wall the peacekeeper stealthily descended. Thankfully, the outskirts of the grounds were overgrown with bushes to hide in, and even more thankfully, the bushes in this area weren't even rose bushes. A thick patch of snowbells, as it were. Luckily for her and any other potential intruders within the mire, most Mireite buildings are elevated slightly off the bare earth, leaving an easily accessible crawlspace between the floor of the building and the ground. As she crawled beneath one of the outlying buildings of the castle grounds, she heard the telltale 'chirping' of the uguisubari, or 'nightingale floors', specially built planks that form the flooring of most buildings that are expected to serve a function in the defense of the homeland. These planks are hammered in place with special nails that rub against their mount, creating an unavoidable squeaking noise as one walks on them. One of many reasons that the Peacekeeper really, really hates infiltrating Chosen fortresses, daylight or no. The steps were heavy- heavy enough to set the wood itself creaking alongside the nails. Could it be...?
The peacekeeper crawled along silently, following below the heavy steps to the center of the building. One last, trembling thump, as the great mass above her came to a seat- there were no chairs among the Chosen, as it were- and then several seconds of silence. She could see the light of a lamp through the boards, and a great circle of shadow from the bulk of her object of interest, and a similar square of darkness from what seemed like a short table in front of them.
Then, more footsteps. Their footsteps were different from the other's; whoever it is was smaller than the other set of feet, but just as heavy. As they sat across the table from the other, she heard the sound of something hard hitting wood. That explains the extra weight; they were wearing metal armor. The Chosen didn't have metal armor. Then, the first set of feet speaks in japanese with a chuckle, his voice a deep, booming baritone, filled with mirth.
"At last! I am honored to make your acquaintance in person, Nanban-dono. With how excited I was to receive each of your letters, I don't know if I can focus on our united purpose, having you with me in the flesh! Truly, it is a rare treat, to find a like mind sourced from such far waters! Ahaha!"
He noisily slurps something from the table, and, setting it back down, some spills, leaking between the cracks to meet her nose. Saké. The other set of feet speaks. Her voice was quiet and calm, like the grave, and muffled by a metal visor. She knew that voice all too well. She was speaking Japanese now, perfect Japanese, but she could never fail to recognize it, even if she tried. The tenor of her voice had been seared into her, three years ago, like that scar on her back. She could still taste the smoke in her throat from when she last heard it.
"Yes, indeed, Koga-san. So few of us refuse to embrace who we are. To accept our nature. But you... you see what you desire, and you seize it for yourself. This fort attests to that. You understand that the only law that matters is that of nature."
"Of course! The world only gives you what you take! Dogs that do nothing but whimper should just die! Together, you and I can show the rest of the world how man is truly meant to live!"
"...Teach them to be the Wolves they were always meant to be."
No. She was already here. Apollyon. Makoto called her Nanban-dono, or Madame Foreigner, probably to keep from embarrassing himself trying to pronounce those double L's, but it could be no one else. She was half-inclined to worm her way out from under this mud-soaked hut, crawl back up that wall, and try and call off the attack. The blood of good men would spill by today's end if she didn't.
No. Damn it all, she refused to run away again. If the blood of good soldiers didn't spill today, then that only meant even more blood, innocent blood, the blood of civilians, of 'sheep', in that madwoman's eyes, would be shed in the future. Her senseless reign of terror ended today, along with her Chosen ally. Determined, she continued forward along the sodden, bare dirt, towards the main gate of the compound.
"...I'm worried about milady, Sir."
"That's only natural. After all, this is a high-risk operation, and moreover, a solo mission. She has no backup to speak of, should she be found out. That said, you should rest easy, for now. That one can handle herself. You don't get that old in Ashfeld without skill, even more so as a member of the Peacekeepers."
"Y've sent her t'her final grave, ye have! They'll tie her down with rough hempen bindin's, I tell ye, over a bamboo shoot! It grow, little by little, wormin' its way through 'er back like a hellion's tongue! And when we find her, she'll be all sun-dried, I tell ye, like a prune, and ran through by the thing! Like a spear, I tell ye!"
"Silence! You're hardly helping things, you mad old coot! You didn't even find any of those 'sneaking tunnels' of yours!"
"Milady told me that you learn to ignore him, sir."
"I find that rather hard to believe."
"Oh, oh, I know! Let me try something!"
She stands up straight, attempting to peer over a nearby pile of bushes.
"Oh dear! A ninja!"
"WOT NOW?! TE OCCIDAM!"
And away he goes.
"He better not try and kill my squire again, soldier."
"Oh, not to worry, I sent him away from camp, sir."
"...Well, but what if there ARE ninjas out there?"
"I should think he can handle a few measly ninjas, sir! You said it yourself; don't get that old in Ashfeld without skill!"
She could see them through the walls. Koga Makoto, the Oni-shiseiji himself, and his foreign consort, their silhouettes cast by the lamplight onto the thin paper shōji of the guest house.
But, something unexpected. A shadow crawls out from under the building's foundation, cloaked in dark cloth and mud-splattered scalemail, two glistening blades, one just shorter than the other, in hand as she pounces upon a lone bandit.
"...Nani?"
Leaning in closer from her perch atop the storehouse roof, she uses her naginata to steady herself, as she observes the foreign shadow slip into the bushes, a guard with a dagger in his heart slung over her shoulder, narrowly avoiding a patrol. Some kind of western jonin? She sought the bandit lord's head. She cared little for the enigmatic Nanban-dono. But perhaps the knight cloaked in black metal had a hunter of her own?
In. Left ear to right ear. Done. The peacekeeper withdraws her dagger, allowing the sentry to slump over into an overgrown rose bush, throat slit. She was almost to the gate now, but the station to unlock the gate was located atop the wall, in one of the two towers girding each side of it. Each tower was filled with guards, and she didn't know which one contained the locking mechanism. This could get messy. One more small building, seemingly a barracks of sorts, laid between her and her destination. The whole crawlspace was choked with rose stalks, a great gnarl of old thorns. There was no way she'd be able to go under it like the one Makoto and Apollyon were in. Cutting a small slit in the paper walls, the Peacekeeper looks through, scouting out the interior.
Aw, damn it. Two of the guards were playing shogi within, and four more were betting on the results. She couldn't go around; the building was up against the outer wall, and the other side had a clear line of sight with the central tower, virtually guaranteeing that she would be seen by an archer if she tried going around that side. The only way was through. This was gonna be fast and dirty. She had to think care-
A muted gasp of surprise sounded from inside the barracks. Looking though her cut, it was immediately apparent why. The two shogi players now lacked heads, and there was a bloody slash through the wall closest to them. She had to act now, before the rest screamed. Loading her hand crossbow with one hand and flipping her dagger to a throwing grip with the other, she crashed through the thin paper, sending a bolt through one guard's head as she hurled her dagger into the back of the other. From the other side, from the wall with the bloody gouge, came one of the marsh rangers of the Chosen frontier, the Nobushi. Twirling her naginata over her head artfully, she swings in a wide arc, elegantly opening the throat of one of the remaining two. Hurling herself forward, the peacekeeper draws her shortsword and promptly sheaths it once more, now in the last guard's heart instead of its scabbard. Six dead in the span of less than one breath.
"...Hmm. And you are?"
The Nobushi levels her naginata at her, and she responds in kind, assuming a fencing stance with her shortsword. Speaking in well-trained japanese, the Peacekeeper attempts to defuse the situation.
"No need for this to get violent. In my experience, two women killing the same people is usually the start of a great friendship."
The nobushi barks angrily at her.
"Silence, nanban! Leave this place. You intrude upon our territory."
"Because we hunt one of our own. I have no intention of proceeding into your lands any further than I have to. We both want the same thing."
"You know nothing of what I want, nanban."
"Oh?"
She pokes one of the still warm bodies with her foot.
"These are your friends, then? You want Makoto. I want Apollyon. Can't have one without the other right now, dear."
"Nani? Apo-... Apol..."
She looks down at the ground, fuming with shame.
"…Nanban-dono?"
"Yes, dear. If they form an alliance, both of our homelands are in dire peril. Let us work together for now, so that we might save innocent lives. That is what you nobushi do, no? Defend those too far from the heartland for the armies to protect?"
The nobushi looks back up, holding the Peacekeeper's gaze. Finally, she lets the razor edge of her polearm drop.
"...Very well. You may call me Shinobu."
"Very good, very good! I'd tell you my name, but you'd still call me nanban, especially with that nasty L in there."
"N-nani?! You tell me you're not even going to introduce yourself?"
Shinobu turns around to face away from her.
"I had been told that westerners are rude beyond compare, but this is too much...!"
"Hey, hey, hey, take it easy, Shinobu-chan, focus upon the task at hand, hm?"
"CH-CHAN?!"
"Should the crazy one be back by now?"
"Um, probably, sir. Maybe there were ninjas out there."
"AS 'E WERE, THERE WAS, LITT'L LADY!"
And from the bushes came the Conqueror, dragging a very angry Shinobi into the firelight by the flail chain wound around his neck.
"野郎! 死ね!"
As it were, no one around the campfire spoke Japanese.
"WE DON'T SPEAK MUDWALKER, YE PAJAMA WEARIN' GIT!"
Unwinding the chain from around his neck, the Conqueror gives his flail a few whirls above his head, building up brain-splattering kinetic force in it's flanged end. Just as he was about to swing down, Captain Marius grabs him by the arm, stilling the deadly down stroke. Planting a foot on the Shinobi's back and putting his weight down, the Lawbringer pins him to the boggy earth.
"Do you speak English, Chosen? I have some questions for you."
"お前最低だな、人間のクズ!"
"I think that means no, sir.
"So it would seem."
"Lemme knock 'is brains out, damn ye! You'll kill us all, I tell ye!"
"SHUT UP, DAMN YOU!"
"Sir, let me try something! Shinobi are spies, right? They steal intelligence? They need to know what's important, so..."
She crouches down, looking down into the angry, yet unquestionably frightened ninja's desperate eyes, and takes off her helmet. Golden hair falling down her face, she smiles earnestly at the Chosen captive.
And then she speaks. In Latin.
"You know the tongue we write in, yes? The words of the Holy Book?"
"Kuso. Jozu should be back by now."
"Jozu? Who's that, my dear?"
"A shinobi chunin. My apprentice. Bit of an airhead, but good potential. Skilled in ninpo. We are working together on this mission. He was supposed to plant bakudan in the enemy armory, and destroy their store of arrows, but he forgot them back at camp. He should have returned."
"Bakudan, hm? Those flimsy paper-wrapped bombs of yours? Fortunately, I can do you one better."
"Huh?"
"Ashfeldian powder charges. These pack some punch, I tell you!"
She stopped suddenly.
"Wait... Camp? You're traveling with an army? I thought Nobushi moved in small groups?"
"Not this time. We have a camp on the east side of the Bara no Oka."
"Well, we have a camp on the WEST side of Rosa Collis!"
"Nani?!"
"A camp on the eastern side?! You mean to tell me we're not the only army trying to get into Rosa Collis?!"
"It seems not, sir! He says they intended to infiltrate the fortress silently and launch an ambush after destroying their supply of arrows!"
"Th... THAT'S WHAT WE WERE TRYING TO DO! WE WERE GONNA HAVE THE GATE UNLOCKED BY HER AND EVERYTHING!"
"But he says that's not how they were going to do it, sir!"
"What?!
"A secret escape tunnel?! That mad fool was right! Well, if you have a way in, then why did you sneak into camp?"
"I am to light the war banner atop the central tower aflame. That would signal the archers to begin their opening volley."
"W-wait a minute! That's-"
"Lighting the war banner was going to be our signal to fire the catapults! Two armies, besieging the same fortress, with the SAME plan?! To kill two people who hold the same philosophies and have committed the same crimes in their respective homelands?! This is too much!"
"And yet, it's the truth, sir!"
"ME 'EAD 'URTS!"
"W...W-well. Frankly, I'm aghast. Truly, the Chosen and the Legions are more similar than either one of us would like to admit."
"So... it would seem, nanban."
"Well... On to our respective duties, then? You should plant the bombs in his stead, we can't afford to wait around in enemy territory. I'll unlock the gate for my people, then we'll light the war banner to signal yours and start the attack. "
"Very well. Which Legion do you follow?"
"Iron, Shinobu-chan."
"Good. Should Jozu return, I will tell him that the Ashfeldians in green and yellow standards are allies, and to deliver that message to the rest of our forces."
"Very good. I just hope they get the message."
"You must tell him something very important, soldier. We are after the bandits, and the Blackstone legion. He must tell his own forces that we mean them no harm. We are the Iron Legion. We wear green and yellow, and for today, we are allies."
After several seconds of translating, the Warden looks back.
"He says that he understands, sir."
"I just hope that this 'Shinobu' doesn't mistake our Peacekeeper for an enemy."
"Or the reverse, sir."
Letting his weight off him, Captain Marius pulls Jozu up and claps him on his shoulders.
"Tell him I am dearly sorry for his mistreatment, both by myself and our Conqueror friend."
"I'll kill ye the next time I see ye, ye filthy mudwalker! KILL YE!"
The warden turns to Jozu, and speaks once more in Latin.
"The man with the shield says he overreacted, Jozu."
Sheathing her sword and dagger quietly as the last of the archers collapse to the ground, the Peacekeeper looks around the bottom floor of the watchtower. A great wooden wheel sat on the far side of the room, surely the mechanism to open the gates. Shinobu had told her which tower to infiltrate. Apparently, their forces had the original blueprints for the castle, the same reason they found the secret tunnel so easily. She'd crack it open just slightly, so Marius' company could approach without alerting the enemy, and open it themselves. Now, she just had to reach the main tower, and rendezvous with Shinobu.
Jozu sprinted briskly through the underbrush, arms trailing behind him and torso held low to minimize wind drag. Had to tell the general. Maybe he didn't care much if that crazy man died in the attack. He somehow doubted that what he said before he left really meant that he overreacted. And that man in the big metal armor wasn't exactly nice either. But that woman... With her golden hair. Those blue, friendly eyes. That kind smile. He couldn't let her die because of some foolish mistake. Shinobu could handle herself in there, especially with the western ninja she had told him about helping her. She would never do something so foolish as mistake a potential comrade as an enemy. As he said, she could handle herself. He had to run.
Shinobu recited a prayer for the fallen at her feet, wicked though they were. Placing the western bakudan every few feet along the rows upon rows of bundled ya, she couldn't help but shudder at the sight of their lit fuses. A hourglass of flame. A ticking clock, counting down to the chaos ahead. Today, Bara no Oka fell. And, with hope, the Oni-shiseiji, the mad berserker Koga Makoto, would fall with it. And, for some reason, maybe the fear on that western jonin's voice she tried so hard to hide, she prayed for the Nanban-dono to know justice, too.
The weak are meat: the strong eat.
That was the proverb inscribed upon the banner waving limply above her head. To think that two monsters, both so similar in their shared madness, could be born onto this earth in the same lifetime, terrified the Peacekeeper. Closing her eyes, she prayed herself.
"Our lord and savior, see the good and righteous from this place, and send those who are wicked here to their just punishment, with he who was once your most beloved, the Morning Star."
"I see that I have arrived just in time, nanban."
"To see me offer prayer to a god I barely believe in anymore?"
"To light the banner, actually."
"Hmph. You remind me of myself when I was your age."
"And how so?"
"Blunt, disrespectful, and very good at killing people."
"You are different now?"
"Yes. Now I think I'm funny, and act like everyone's scary knife-grandma."
"Ah. Let us begin. If we start now, the archers may finish their first volley and reach the storehouse to fill their yebira as it explodes. It'll save us some time clearing them out."
The peacekeeper removes a flint and steel from her pack.
'Apollyon...You're not getting away this time.'
Shaking the thought from her mind, the Peacekeeper smiles behind her mask, and reaches up to grip the great black flag.
"Shall we?"
