Chapter 10: -Clarion Call's Counterattack-
{Revised: 19 Nov 16}
[7 days after Fieva's coronation]
In Queen Miliani's underground bunker, after already hearing about the treatment of the people and locations of the enemy, her intelligence operatives and military advisor fairies & sparrowmen briefed her on immediate actions.
"Alright, training of the troops is complete. Half the tunnels are finished as well. We have scouted the enemy extensively. You already know of the fairy- and sparrowman-rights abuses. The enemy seems complacent, as if the war is already over."
"I don't blame them; they haven't seen our military at all since her coronation. And I'd like to keep it that way," said Miliani thoughtfully.
"Yes Ma'am. We have found Dust-storage outposts so that troops don't have to fly all the way to the Dust tree. We can raid these. Our operatives confirmed the existence of weapons caches, weapon design blueprints, Dust formulas, and security rotation schedules. These will be invaluable. We recommend a strike now on this small research and development facility. Messenger-talents fly to it rarely. We would be long gone before Fieva knew. It has intelligence, is remote, and is on the doorstep of a command and control center…which could be your next target," they said, pointing at a large map.
"I like the sound of that! Thank you all. The mission is now clear. Commence the attack!" exclaimed Miliani.
"It shall be done, your majesty!" her servants proclaimed.
{ scene change }
Ree was in the staging area of the armory, equipping Syerra, Zed, Alivia, Clairette, and Doc with armor, weapons, and equipment. All of them carried tactical knives, which they were heavily-trained in, including Clairette. They also all carried shuriken for throwing in order to distract, as they weren't that effective in taking out enemies. And those with bows had short-swords for backup.
Even though Clairette wasn't going to fight, she still agreed to carry equipment and arrows on her back, to support the others. Miliani knew that if civilians were being executed, it would make no difference having Clairette unarmed. And she learned self-defense and escape even though she wasn't trained in warfare.
"I'll miss my coworkers in Miliani's protective detail. But I get to make a difference. Who knows, maybe if I don't serve in this new unit, protection of the queen would be meaningless," Ree said. Because of her ability to turn into Pixie Dust and back, she could fire a shot, move in Dust-mode, and fire another shot from a different position.
Syerra was a SouthEast Asian fairy, very beautiful, highly skilled, and deadly. She had long, sleek black hair, black-smoky eyeliner mixed with silver glitter, a slender build, and wore mostly red colors. She sometimes wore Japanese-style clothing, including kimonos, when not in a military uniform. She was serious, but cheerful when not fighting. Her hobbies included dancing with a katana, exercise, bird-watching, and singing. She was well-trained in using the katana in war, and did so in certain missions.
Zed was a Black sparrowman, handsome, strong, highly trained, and deadly as well. He was bald, wore sunglasses for style, was skilled in break-dancing, and wore mostly green colors. He sometimes wore African-style clothing when not in a military uniform. His hobbies included music, dance, hiking in nature, exercise, and painting. In addition to his skills with the katana, he could use a bow in war as well.
All 6 members of the new team introduced each other, made small talk, and talked about their plans for the next mission. They all got along well. The Special Forces made them feel comfortable, instead of being intimidating like Alivia and Doc assumed. Alivia knew that she would have to kill enemies, but knew it was just and necessary, after hearing about how civilians were treated. Doc thought of the enemies like they were snakes and wasps, because no real fairy or sparrowman would commit the crimes that the VEIL troops committed. Their training, despite being abbreviated, prepared them well.
After listening to the briefing by the military commanders, Queen Miliani herself walked in.
"I know you will all do well. Even though you'll be indestructible out there, please be careful. We don't know if the enemy can synthesize new Dust that cancels abilities. I believe in you all. The fate of all of Pixie Hollow depends on you. I trust in you," said Queen Miliani.
"Yes, your majesty. We won't let you down. We will not yield to the enemy," they said as they stood at attention and saluted her with their palms facing out.
"We will be careful. We will be kind. We will be Royal fairies at our best," proclaimed Ree.
"Go then! Down with the tyrant Fieva!" exclaimed the queen.
{ scene change }
The 5 moved under the cover of night, dressed in all-black, covered with camouflage face-paint, with the light of a quarter moon. They also had a subdued version of the Royal Defense Force logo on their right sleeves, which lit up when light from lightning bugs were shone on them. They surveyed the research outpost, which was lightly defended. They moved closer and halted with a hand signal from Ree.
As they stood, surveying the locations of the enemy guards, Clairette whispered to them "I can see their body heat. I must have the ability to see different spectrums of light." The team was surprised at this. She pointed to the rest where the enemy soldiers were.
"Do you see heat all the time?" Ree asked.
"No, only when I strained my eyes did it switch on. I can switch back to normal by thinking it," explained Clairette.
"That will definitely come in handy!" said their leader.
Ree, Syerra, and Zed silently took out 3 guards at the same time with knives. Alivia and Doc did the same to 2 more. Syerra sent an arrow silently at a guard on the roof. They went inside the compound, watching their rear in case of an ambush.
They shot the last 2 guards with arrows and knocked civilians unconscious. They found what was important and fled into the night. It would be over 12 hours before anyone knew they were there.
The mission was a success. Once safely inside the bunker, Clairette said "I've got an idea, because Ree is leading us, how about we call our group Clarion Call?"
They all said they liked it. Ree was a little worried and asked "But when I caused all those citizens to attack you, I said 'clarion call of destruction.' Doesn't it bother you?"
"No, you're different now. We can use this to cause Fieva's troops to fear us," reassured Clairette.
"It's official then!" said Ree.
They all placed their hands in the middle and exclaimed:
Clarion Call!
Miliani was overjoyed at their return.
"How was it?" she asked the team.
"No alarms were raised. We got the intelligence," said Ree, standing at attention.
"At ease, all of you. We have celebrating to do! Was it difficult?" the queen said casually.
"Nope! Easy pea-zy lemon-squeezy," said Syerra.
"Any one of us could have done it alone," said Zed.
"I'm glad to strike back at our foes, after hearing what they've done to Incompletes," said Alivia.
"Me too. This is the beginning of the end of her reign. We are a part of history," said Doc.
"Ironic…one of them was former RDF. He chose immortality…only to die sooner than his time," said Clairette thoughtfully.
"Well said, all of you. I especially like your wisdom Clairette. The betrayal wasn't even worth it. Who's your favorite queen now?!" said Miliani.
They all cheered, ate at the same level at the queen's table, and rested for the night.
{ scene change }
They raided other outposts and research facilities, accumulating more and more intelligence. They also stole Dust supplies from factories and storage bins. Miliani's science-talents, engineering-talents, chemistry-talents, and inventor-talents, reverse-engineered Fieva's work as fast as they could.
"Now it's time to reveal ourselves to the enemy!" Miliani declared to all of her special operations units, not just the 5 in Clarion Call. That night, they dropped leaflets in every VEIL-controlled city, setting small fires on military base buildings, and painting "Miliani is the rightful queen. Down with Tyrant Fieva!" near every burn site. They left before they could be attacked or followed.
"Excellent! The enemy thinks this is bad. They have no idea what is about to hit them!" said Miliani to Ree, Syerra, Zed, Alivia, Clairette, and Doc.
She continued, "Now, strike this command and control facility, taking out as many officers as you can. Then steal the intel inside like we rehearsed. This time, stealth will be useless, so dress in clothes which stand out to strike fear into Fieva's army. It will not be easy; and this is where Clairette comes in. I know you may be invincible, but you can still be trapped and feel pain. Please be careful and come back," said Queen Miliani.
"Yes, your majesty. It shall be done," they all said.
{ scene change }
They prepared in the armory staging area again. Ree was dressed in yellow, Syerra in red, Zed in green, Alivia in pink, Clairette in pure white, and Doc in dark blue. They didn't bother with trying to conceal their faces this time either. Applying Dust to themselves, they set out into the night.
They approached the fortifications, charging the main gate.
Ree fired an arrow at a guard in a tower.
Syerra raced toward a guard at full speed, knocking him to the ground while firing at another.
Zed used light to temporarily blind others, dashed forward, and sliced with his katana.
Alivia burned wooden structures with fire, and caused panic in the enemy.
After they flew over the wall, Doc pulled water out of enemy water tanks and soaked many of the VEIL troops' wings so they couldn't fly.
Alivia danced around with fire as both a weapon and shield. She laughed when she heard reed whistles being used to alert the fortress. Like they need an alarm after seeing these flames! she thought.
They took out enemies left and right, catching the VEIL soldiers off-guard, surprised to see anyone fighting because the other bases only had messages written in fire but no actual battles.
The enemy launched AntiDust shells at them, hitting their own troops in the process.
Clarion Call was quick, lethal, and fluid.
When the defenders of the fort lost their Dust, they were as good as dead. No one could understand how the 5 elites could still fight without Dust, let alone obliterate the opposition.
Finally, the RDF special forces were all shot with crossbow bolts.
They staggered, in pain, but trying to remain calm.
Clairette's bolts melted with a flash of white light and she was back to normal.
She quickly touched the other 4 whose bodies copied hers…and they were back to normal.
The VEIL defense stood in bewilderment.
They fired again and this time, they went down, holding their wounds.
But Clairette simply melted the bolts and they stood up, smiling.
The VEIL archers fired again.
But the process repeated.
They kept getting back up.
The enemy threw down their ranged weapons and used swords and spears.
But that meant they had to get close.
In a flurry, Clarion Call dispatched them with ease, knocking spears aside, parrying swords, even fighting hand-to-hand with grace and speed.
The RDF unit found containers of Pixie Dust and quickly emptied them on themselves. But while doing so, they were surrounded.
The 5 were stabbed with spears.
Clairette melted her's and waved Dust with her hand onto the other 4.
This time, without physical contact, the offending weapons were melted and they were healed again.
VEIL stood in abject horror. Many ran and flew away.
No matter the wounds from the sword, arrow, or spear, they just kept being healed. VEIL fired SplinterCinders at them, hitting their own forces, but even these didn't kill them, as Clairette healed any and every body part.
In desperation, VEIL troops jumped on them and tried to hold them down.
But holding down Ree never works. She transformed into Pixie Dust, moved to the top of the pile, and "persuaded" them to get off. When the surviving members of the pile tried to grab her, she simply transformed again, dodging any attack or escaping any grasp. They had never seen a fairy do this before and despaired, running as far as possible from Clarion Call.
The Special Forces continued to the command center. Mowing down opposition, they neutralized the officers. They took a look around the room, splashed Pixie Dust on themselves, stole maps, plans, weapons diagrams, Dust formulas, and anything else that looked like it had value.
Alivia then burned everything in the room down as they jumped out the window.
Any living VEIL forces left turned and fled after they saw that all weapons were pointless.
Clarion Call grabbed mortar-cannons loaded with SplinterCinders and opened up on the structure, especially flammable containers. They flew over the wall and paused.
To add to the effect, Alivia wrote in the ground using fire:
"VEIL will learn to fear the nightfall / (8)
Miliani galvanized all / (8)
Fieva's days are numbered small / (8)
It is pointless to try to stall / (8)
'Tyrant, perish by fireball' / (8)
All, beware us, Clarion Call! / (8)"
All 6 left a shuriken in the ground by the words "Clarion Call" for style.
After flying a safe distance away, they watched the military structure burn to the ground.
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