Chapter 28- Darcsen Prejudice
Vyse and the rest of Squad 7 were now just outside of the Darcsen housing district of fouzen, where all the poor forced labor workers were. And Vyse, being a corporal joined the higher ranking officers and all the other Darcsens in squad 7 as they entered one of the Hovels. But they weren't prepared for what they had witnessed once they were inside.
The inside was packed with dozens of Darcsen mine workers in rickety bunks, filthy living conditions and buckets of dirty water not fit for a dog at the back of the Hovel. Many of the Darcsen mine workers were sick and very ill looking. Welkin and the rest of the officers walked down the middle of the walkway between the bunks, while Vyse and Nadine moved from bunk to bunk, looking down at the poor inhabitants.
Nadine came across a Darcsen mother and young son, they looked up at her weakly. "Water...please, water..." she said, the child holding out his hands to Nadine.
Nadine nodded quickly and took her canteen off from her belt and handed it to the mother and child. The mother drank, then poured some water into her eagerly awaiting child's mouth. Soon more Darcsens, male, female, young and old were flocking to Nadine. All crying for water, Nadine was doing her best to help all of them, but she just didn't have enough water for everyone as her canteen was now empty.
"Vyse!, give me your canteen!!" Nadine cried as she tried to give all of the Darcsens some water. Vyse didn't hesitate and took out his canteen and helped Nadine attempt to quench the thirst of all the poor Darcsens.
Soon both of their canteens were empty, so they ran outside and Vyse gathered the rest of the squad. "Listen up guys, these poor Darcsens are dying of thirst, so spread out and try to give out equal portions to the Darcsen laborers."
Soon, everyone was sharing their water with the Darcsens inside of the cramped hovel. But there were still 4 other hovels besides the one they were in. So there was no way they could help everyone out sadly. While the members of squad 7 continued to try and help the Darcsens inside the hovel, Nadine and Vyse were walking around the hovel. The sight of the place shocked Vyse, for her had never seen people treated so poorly just because they were born a different race and hated for something their ancestors supposedly did so long ago.
The stench of sweat was strong in the air, the Darcsens worked all day and came back to the hovel soon after, no bathing or anything. There was a single toilet which dozens of people shared and it was in very poor condition. Even rats could be seen scurrying across the floor. Vyse was walking behind Nadine and she was visibly shaking as she walked forward.
And eventually it proved too much for Nadine, so she ran out of the hovel. Vyse right behind her and he followed her as she ran around to the back of the hovel. Once he saw her again she was bent forward, retching hard over and over again, finally throwing up. After she threw up, she wiped her mouth and breath hard, in and out afew times.
Vyse slowly approached her and put his hand on top of her shoulder, very worried about her. "You alright?" he asked, a rather stupid question to ask given what had just happened.
Nadine nodded and began to breath normal again, standing up straight once again and turning to Vyse. But her face was flush, and her eyes were watery and red and she looked unsteady on her feet. She then staggered to the left and Vyse caught her just as she was about to fall over. He then helped her to sit on a box crate just behind them and together they just sat, side by side, no words exchanged.
But Vyse could tell that what she had just seen must of been extremely difficult for her. She was, after all a Darcsen, just like all those poor people back in that hovel and all the other ones around them. It upset him that he couldn't find words to comfort her in her time of need. So he just wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him, she rested her head against his shoulder and sighed.
"I've heard stories..." said Nadine finally, looking down at the ground, "Stories about what happens to Darcsens in Fouzen, how poorly they are treated. More like animals, then as human beings, but I had always hoped they were untrue. But tonight...I saw that they weren't, those Imperials aren't treating them like human beings in what they feed and give those Darcsens in there to drink. It's already hard enough to be born Darcsen, the Imperials are just making it far worse."
"I know, and I'm sorry that you had to see that." said Vyse, "But this is why we must win tomorrow, once the Imperials are gone, we'll bring aid and relief to these people.", Nadine nodded and closed her eyes, releasing another long and sad sigh.
The higher ranking officers then had their encounter with the informant, the one who would help them destroy the armoured train that wrecked havoc on Welkin and the other Militia squads that were sent to Fouzen. He too turned out to be a Darcsen, that went by the name of Zaka, and he was the leader of the Fouzen resistance.
He then led all of the squad into a mine shaft, that had a secret tunnel, or rather a series of tunnels that the Fouzen resistance had dug before the empire had invaded and kept secret from them. Inside were seized and recovered weapons from the previous Gallian forces that were staged there, the resistance seized as many weapons, ammo, ragnaid, medical and other military items as they could before the empire arrived.
And as the squad was lead through the secret tunnels, they came up to a large carved out room that had crates set up with a white cloth material covering it, it was basically a giant table with a 3-D model of Fouzen was set up and the mission briefing began. Vyse sat with the Darcsens. Such as Nadine, Lynn, and Isara.
Zaka was going over the mission plan, moving around the table as he went on. He came close to Rosie and she backed away.
"Stay away from me Dark-Hair, I can't handle the smell you Darcsens give off!!" shouted Rosie, everyone gasped.
Everyone except Nadine, Rosies hateful comment angered her and she attempted to get up and rush towards Rosie, but Vyse grabbed her by the arm and stopped her. It was a rather strange instance, for the roles of Nadine and Vyse were changed for once. It was usually Nadine holding Vyse back from getting into a scrap. Nadine was glaring at Rosie, who was just looking back at her, eye brows furrowed.
Zaka walked up to Nadine and placed his hands on her shoulders, "Hey, relax girl." said Zaka, patting Nadine ontop of the head, "This girl's obviously just out to state that she's far better then us." he turned to Rosie, "We're used to discrimination, so whatever you think of us, I for one don't care. The Imperials treat us far worse then just some harsh words, so go ahead, say anything you want."
Nadine breathed deep and exhaled slow and long, "Fine, I'll try and keep my mind on the mission." said Nadine, sitting back down next to Vyse once more.
The rest of the mission was explained and everyone knew what they had to do tomorrow. so they found places around the resistance hide out and curled up to get some sleep. Vyse rested his back against a blanket, placed against a wooden box. Nadine was next to him and they leaned against each other, heads together and closed their eyes.
Rosie's words came to Vyse, "I can't stand the smell you Darcsens give off!!", Vyse was alittle curious, Nadine was one of his best friends and he spent most of his time with her, but he never noticed anything, such as the Darcsen smell people talk about.
He peeked over and saw that Nadine had her eyes closed and her breathing was slow and steady, so ever so carefully he moved towards her and moved his nose close to her hair. *Sniff sniff*, but he smelled nothing unusual, just the smell of the shampoo she used.
"What are you doing??" asked Nadine, eyes still closed, head still resting against Vyses shoulder.
"Oh uh...nothing, I was just..." stammered Vyse, looking for a good excuse. But could think of nothing. "Sorry, just curious I guess. The comment Rosie's been saying over and over again, about the Darcsen smell."
Nadine chuckled, "Well, we don't actually give off a smell." said Nadine, "Most people mean that we have an invisible aura around ourselves, that ruins the atmosphere around the room cuz they don't like Darcsens. But for some people, if they hate Darcsens enough, they claim to smell an unpleasant odor radiating from our bodies. But it's all just in their heads, we don't smell any worse or better then normal people."
"I see, sorry about that." said Vyse, "Guess I still have alot to learn about Darcsen people.", Vyse then rested his head ontop of Nadine's once more and went to sleep.
