A Game of Rulers
Chapter Two: A Matter of War
This Chapter is dedicated to Nathaniel 'Superhero' Warrin, one of my greatest friends, who was killed in action yesterday by a collapsing building after saving the civilian inhabitants of said building. He always said he wanted to die as he lived; saving people, so I suppose he got his greatest wish.
My melancholy mood may have leaked into this chapter a bit, but so be it.
Let's go.
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"Has she said anything yet?"
"No. I'm afraid the Vandal went too strong, too fast. She doesn't even beg him to stop like she used to, just hangs there blank-faced."
"Damn. I suppose we'll have to dispose of her then."
"No, not yet. We may still be able to make her talk."
"Why do you like her so much?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"She is of no more use to us. Why do you insist on keeping her alive?"
"I suppose it's because she reminds me of her."
"Allara, nothing's going to replace her."
"I know, it's just…"
"It's just that she bears a slight resemblance to your former lover, and therefore you can't kill her."
"So what if I can't?!"
"It shows weakness, Allara, and weakness gets you killed, especially when visible."
"I know…"
"Allara, listen. I'm giving you three more days. If she doesn't wake up by then, I'm killing her myself. Understood?"
"Yes, Mortrin."
"Good. And don't forget, we need to contact Psycho about that damn Royal Guardsman."
"Alright, I'll get on that."
"Remember, three days. Then I kill her."
()()()()()
"You have got to be kidding me." Erik said, as Churchill, his Ghost, floated in front of him.
"No, I'm not. She has requested you dine with her royal court in one hour." Churchill replied, before floating back to the door. "She also requests you wear your full armour."
"But I just got out of my full armour!" Erik protested. "It'll take me twenty minutes to put it all back on!"
"Then you're lucky you have an hour." Churchill said, before disintegrating into thin air.
"By the Traveler I hate you…" Erik muttered.
"But you keep me around anyways." Churchill replied from inside his head.
Erik sighed, before beginning the long process of applying his armour, groaning all the while.
"Erik!" Mark ran into the room, seeing Erik donning his wargear again. "Did you hear?! We've been invited to dinner with your future girlfriend!"
"She's not my future girlfriend, Mark." Erik said, sighing as he struggled with his right gauntlet.
"Of course she is!" Mark said, grinning. "You practically said so yourself!"
"I simply stated she was beautiful." Erik sighed, still struggling with the gauntlet.
"Yeah, but I could see the look on your face when you first saw her." Mark said. "You really like her, man."
"No, I am simply interested in the diplomatic reasons for befriending her. Now help me with this damn gauntlet!"
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"Well… Shieth." Erik muttered as he entered the dining room, seeing the couple-dozen Akenda nobles gathered to view his arrival.
Erik's gaze was immediately drawn to the Queen, sitting at the head of the table, two of her royal guards standing at either side of her chair. One was in their standard armour, his face concealed by his helmet, but the other was bare-faced with the exception of a scarf around his neck and mouth. This one drew Erik's attention, mostly because of the way he observed the Guardians. All the other Awoken were viewing him with mixed interest and superiority, but this one held a sort of respect in his gaze.
He watched as the guard noticed him staring, and as the man immediately straightened up, continuing to scan the room in the typical fashion of a bodyguard. Erik looked over the remaining Awoken he hadn't observed, seeing nothing too out of the ordinary, before cracking a wry grin.
"Well, if I've passed your inspection, I'd say it's about time we actually ate!" He said, Mark's immediate perking up agreeing with his statement.
The Awoken seemed rather surprised at this, but quickly took their seats. The Queen gestured to the spot to her left, and Erik gladly took it, noting that Crow took the right, the man staring resentfully at him. Erik shot him a quick grin, before looking to the Queen.
"Well, madam, what shall we be eating?" He asked, looking at the approaching waiters.
"Several courses, the first of which is a cold soup containing light seasoning of spirit bloom." One of the waiters interrupted, placing a small bowl before Erik, who noted the lack of a spoon.
He looked around and noted the Awoken nobles sipping from their bowls, quickly mimicking their actions and sipping at it himself. He noticed the greenish broth tasted almost like chicken, and then stopped questioning it when he realized he quite liked it.
The rest of the meal passed in similar fashion, increasingly delightful foods were placed before Erik, who proceeded to devour them wholesale. The rest of the Awoken were too busy observing him as a person to care about his table manners, but Edge had to smack Mark a couple times when the youth tried to eat with his fingers. Mark had only glared, looking like a small child, before returning to his meal.
Several times Erik noticed the scarf-wearing guard looking at him again, the man's gaze quickly reverting to scanning the room when he realized Erik was staring back. It had become almost a game, and Erik found it quite funny.
"So, why did the general bring you along?" One of the Awoken asked Edge, who only looked at the man in return.
The noble frowned, displeased by the Titan's silence. "I asked, why did the general bring you along?"
Edge only gestured towards his throat, the angry red and pink lines of his scars making his story clear, but this noble seemed remarkably slow. "Dammit man, talk!" He said, scowling. Mark looked up from his current dish, some sort of meat.
"Edge had his throat torn out by a Hive Wizard." He said, frowning at the intrusive noble. The man looked back at Edge, and tilted his head slightly.
"So?" He asked, causing Edge to roll his eyes, before bringing his palm to his head with a 'SMACK!'.
"Edurad, please, stop interrogating the guests." The Queen called, causing the noble to retreat into his seat as the Queens two guards, as well as the rest of the table, turned their heads to him. Mark gave him a quick smirk, before snatching Edge's dinner roll. The silent Titan only rolled his eyes again.
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"Well, that was nice!" Mark said, rubbing his stomach as Edge only nodded, after Erik had asked them what they thought. "The nobles were kind of dicks, but the meal was great. Can we stay here for a while?"
"We have to. You need to find Larana, and I need to arrange another bloody peace treaty." Erik said, sounding tired. "I'm going to be up for hours."
"Just tell the Queen you're tired." Mark said, shrugging.
"It doesn't work like that, Mark. She has set the time of the meeting." Erik said, sighing. "We're meeting in her private study… get that damn grin off your face!"
"It's bound to happen, Erik." Mark said, smiling. "I saw the way she was looking at you the whole meal."
"I'm surprised you saw anything but the food on your plate." Smoke's voice came from their earpieces.
"S'not my fault the Awoken know what they're doing in the kitchen." Mark said defensively.
"Mark, go to bed." Erik said, before looking at Edge. "Edge, do you mind checking up on the engineering bay in the ship? I want you to see about that project we started. And Smoke, stop picking on the kids."
Edge gave him the Titan salute in response, before turning and jogging away. Mark was sulking.
"What am I, seven?" He asked, pouting.
"No, but you're acting like one." Erik pointed out, before turning and leaving.
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Erik entered the study at almost ten o'clock exactly, knocking at the door with three solid raps on the metal, before it slid open. It opened to reveal the Queen, looking just as tired as he felt.
"Ma'am." He said, bowing slightly. The Queen returned the gesture, before turning and entering her study. Erik followed.
"Well then, General-" Erik interrupted her.
"Just call me Erik, my lady." He interjected.
"Very well then." The queen seemed surprisingly amicable at this. "Anyhow, Erik, I have identified our first target. The rebels have several caches of weaponry and supplies in the city, and we need to find and capture these caches."
"Simple enough." Erik said, looking at the map spread before him. Most of the caches were cunningly placed in civilian areas, meaning that all out assaults would be risky. "This'll be tricky. All these areas are heavily populated with civilians that could get caught in the crossfire."
"That's the issue we've been trying to work around." The Queen said, sighing.
Erik thought for a moment, rapidly running plans and strategies through his head, before the answer came to him.
"I think I may have a solution." He laid out the plan to the Queen, who smiled. He noticed her smile made his heart skip a beat, than swore at his mind for procuring the thought.
"I like it." She said, looking back at the map. "We'll do it."
And all Erik could do was nod as his mind raced with a million contradicting thoughts, mostly on what he thought about the Queen.
()()()()()
"Indeed, Silenok. The prototype is prepared." Edge took the strange weapon from the table, walking over to the firing range that had been redesigned for just this purpose.
He braced the rectangular skeleton-stock against his shoulder and looked down the squared scope, smiling beneath his helm when the video feed between his helmet and the scope synced up, leaving him looking at what the scope saw. He took aim with the rifle, designating the furthest target, partially hidden by a wall. He smiled again when an outline of red revealed where the rest of it was. He centered the crosshairs over the head and pulled the trigger, two high caliber shells flying from the barrel.
The sound it made was a dull whish, nice and quiet, and the target's head disappeared into nothing, and the solar energy in the rounds caught and burned the rest of the target. He sighted and fired again, this time at a target entirely behind a wall, and almost laughed with glee when the first round exploded, punching a hole in the wall, before the second flew through said hole and turned the targets head to mulch.
He aimed again, this time at a target resembling a Hive Knight, armour included, and pulled the trigger, feeling three rounds fire instead of two. The first round blasted a hole in the armour, the second ignited the flesh and the third went for the kill. He loved this thing. He looked away, disconnecting his helmet from the scope, and placed the weapon on the table again, only nodding once at the engineer. The Psion nodded eagerly, before gently taking the rifle and returning to her lab.
Edge rolled his shoulders and yawned, the sound rasping and dry. He turned and left the room, grabbing Broken Truth LR-3 on the way out.
He needed a drink.
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What, you want excuses as to where I've been the past month and a half?
Florida.