A quarter of a day later, Louise, her armoured car, and the right flank reached the main royalist camp just behind the front lines.
And much to Louise's horror it was worse than anything she had seen previously. Countless bodies lay in rows covered by cloth, countless men hung from trees from their neck hung, accusations of cowardice. Men carrying their injured comrades away from the lines on red stretchers stained by the blood of the men they supported.
It only got worse the further into the camp she got, there were at least three men in ragged and dirty uniforms that were being dragged off while tears and snot ran down their face, their pleas for mercy ignored by the men who would no doubt be their executioners.
Would she be treated the same way if she lost her composure? If she couldn't face the entrenched enemy? The thought sent a chill down her spine and forced her back inside the turret, unable to face the horrors that were right outside.
She was sick of it, this stench of death that lingered in the air, the fear and dread that plastered the people's faces and that lingered in the air.
All she wanted to do was go home be with her sisters, forget about all of this.
"It truly is horrifying."
Louise couldn't even look to the newly arrived Wales, "Why." She muttered, watching as another man, who wore another necklace of shame was dragged off in tears.
There was a brief pause, where the shuffling of fabric was followed was all that came from the prince followed by a quick mutter, of some incantation. "Discipline," Wales replied, his voice sounding as if he was holding something in his mouth.
"Discipline?" She questioned
"That's how my father justifies it." There was another pause as he let out a large exhale. "He thinks the previous desertions at the start of the war are due to a lack of it. So executions for cowardice are commonplace."
Unable to think of anything to say, she looked to the man who held a pipe in his trembling hand. A sudden agonizing scream pulled her attention to a tent that looked to be where the wounded were being treated. She watched as a man dressed in a black suit that reminded her of the images of plague doctors tossed the bottom half of a leg into a nearby bucket full of various other limbs. "How, do you deal with all of this?" She asked looking away from the scene before her.
Another pause. "At this point... I simply focus on surviving,"
Louise ignored the grim statement and returned to simple gazing around the camp as they moved through it looking for any sign of hope in the destitute army.
After several more minutes of stop and go, the prince finally said something. "Here we are."
Ordering Tabitha to stop, Louise climbed out of the turret and hopped down, unfortunately into a muddy puddle. A shiver crept up her spine as the cold liquid filled her boots.
"This is the officer's tent?" Wardes asked dismounting his horse.
Pushing past the uncomfortable feeling creeping throughout her body, she looked up to the sight of a large mud-stained tent, at the door of which were two guards. The prince let out a tired sigh. "Yes, I apologize for its state, but the constant bombardment from the air forces us to continuously take down and set up and as such, it can get rather dirty."
The griffin knight scratched his chin. "Well then, let's not keep them waiting."
"Wait." Kirche started as both she and Tabitha descended from the car. "What are we supposed to do while you go discuss the best way to fling us at the enemy?"
Prince Wales only shrugged. "You could always explore the camp, we shouldn't be longer than half an hour."
The Germanian looked like she wanted to retort, but let out a simple grumble. "Great, you know when I left Germania my dream was to watch a surgeon perform an amputation, although the allure of watching an execution has me questioning what I might do. So many options to choose from." She remarked hopping down into the mud.
"If you want something to do, go find some mugs for the three of you, supper is going to be served early," Wales said with a sigh.
With a crossing of her arms and a sigh on her lips, she muttered. "Fine, guess I'm an errand girl now." Turning to her right, she continued. "Come on Tabby, le-" Only to find the blue-haired had vanished. "Tabitha?" She asked frantically looking around.
Louise herself was in awe, where had she gone? Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the young Gallian's staff was missing
"Tabitha!" She shouted hands at either side of her mouth. "This isn't funny! abandoning your friend who doesn't know a word of Albionese in the middle of one of their camps would be grounds for a feud!"
A hand pressed down on Louise's shoulder. "Perhaps it would be best if we leave her be," Wales said. With pursed lips, she turned and followed the pair into the tent.
xXXXx
It wasn't long before Kirche realized she had been left alone. Letting out an annoyed huff she mumbled to the ground. "I really know who my friends are." 'Guess I better start looking for those mugs.' Glancing around at her surroundings, she found a tarp porched up on wooden spikes with several tables beneath it.
With it being the best option, she stomped down the road, past men with nothing better to do than talk, by conscripts who all looked about as horrified as a peasant stumbling upon an orcs den unarmed.
Stepping out of the rain, she wiped the liquid from her brow and sauntered through the labyrinth of tables haphazardly placed around the area, over to a counter where a brown-haired woman dressed in brown clothing was bent over a massive pot behind it.
With a silent prayer, she attempted to get her attention. "You wouldn't happen to speak Gallian would you?"
The woman glanced over her shoulder. Letting out a sigh, she stood up and patted down her apron. "As a matta of fact, aye do." The woman replied in a thick accent while she turned to face her. Kirche found herself surprised by her age, she wasn't old as the rest of the people here if she had to guess, she was young if she had to guess between eighteen and twenty.
A sigh of relief escaped the redhead. "Thank the fou-"
"Ya not getting dinner early." The woman stated
"What no, I was just looking for some mugs," Kirche explained.
The woman looked to her left and right before leaning in. Biting the inside of her cheek Kirche did the same knowing full well that this wasn't going to be simple. "Ya need mugs?" She whispered.
Kirche paused for a moment before giving the girl a slight nod.
The young woman licked her lips before leaning closer. "How many ya need?"
"Three."
A conniving smile crossed the girl's face. "A hundred twenty Ecu's"
Kirche flew back at the boldness, "A hundred and twenty what!"
"Ya heard me." The woman repeated crossing her arms.
The Germanian blinked while her mind attempted to process what she had just said. "What reason do you have to suspect I'm carrying that much money on me!?"
"Your hair, the fact that I can see a wand sticking out of your waist. You're a noble so you ought to have that money on ya."
The girl let out a chuckle. "Yeah, not all nobles are rich."
The woman waved that explanation away. "I've seen how nobles live, even the poor ones live in luxury compared to the peasantry."
"And why do you think anyone would pay that much for a mug?"
"It's my policy, no mug no soup."
"Tch." Kirche glanced over her shoulder and found a group of five men watching the argument, from a table near the center of the room. "Yeah, I don't need your mugs." She stated, undoing the top two buttons of her jacket exposing her cleavage.
The young woman only smiled
Putting on a sly smile, she walked over to the men while exaggerating the sway of her hips. Standing at the end of the table, she leaned over allowing each and every man at the table a view down her shirt. "Would any of you be willing to part with your mugs?" She asked.
The men only glanced at her for a moment before returning to their conversation. A pang of annoyance was easily dealt with as she went on the offensive. Sitting on the table, "Perhaps you didn't understand me. But would you be willing to spare a mug?" She asked.
The man closest to her looked to her in a controlled fury, shouting something she couldn't comprehend.
The woman shouted something from the counter that further enraged the men. Before she could react, she was suddenly pushed off the table by one of the men, unable to react in time she fell on her back, soaking her hair and back with muddy water.
Sitting up in a fury. Kirche began shouting at the men in front of them using every swear in the Germanian language, from her spot on the floor. The men cared little for her, standing up and leaving the tent.
Her breathing heavy, she shot a glare to the woman at the counter who was leaning over the counter, head resting on a hand with an amused look on her face. "What did you tell them!" Kirche shouted.
"I simply told them the truth." She started pushing herself to her full height. "That you wanted to steal their food."
Spitting out the taste of dirt, she stood up and patted herself off. "What is with everyone on this island trying to rob me?" She asked herself.
"Probably because ya fall for it." The girl quipped
"And why on earth are simple mugs so expensive!" Kirche shouted ignoring her.
The cook shrugged. "They're made of metal. And any metal that isn't needed is being melted down into this new kind of musket balls."
"Well I'm out of money, I spent it all on this attire." She explained, too which the girl laughed.
"Really? Ya spent all ya money on that?" The girl's laughter only grew louder.
Kirche couldn't help but feel like challenging this peasant to a duel if only to silence her. "Look, unlike you, I didn't know I was going to be here, so all I had was my academy uniform." The cook suddenly went silent.
"What did ya say?" The brunette asked.
Kirche eyed the girl suspiciously. "All I had was my uniform."
The woman rushed over to her. "Do you have it with you?"
Eyeing the girl she gave her a nod. "It's under what I'm wearing now."
"Can you let me see it?"
"Why?"
"Do you want those mugs or what?"
This wasn't the first time Kirche had been asked to strip but now it felt embarrassing, perhaps because she wasn't the one in control, not the one initiating it. Now it was the cook who was in control. Pursing her lips and Beginning to unbutton her shirt. The young woman eyed her with a keen interest until her uniform was uncovered.
"Pure White." The brunette muttered to herself. "I'll trade you the three mugs for your uniform."
Louise looked at the girl flabbergasted. "What?" She muttered.
"You want to eat right?"
Kirche couldn't argue with that. "Do you have someplace I can change?"
The girl said nothing as she grabbed her by the hand and dragged her off to a tent set up behind the kitchen where, after given privacy, Kirche stripped-down, tossed her uniform onto the hay bed before redressing in the peasant attire.
Exiting the tent, she found the cook, the three mugs hanging from their handles in an open hand. With a shifting gaze, Kirche grabbed the mugs. "The uniform is on your bed."
The girl gave her a pleasant smile. "Pleasure doing business with ya."
Kirche only grumbled. Stomping over to the kitchen. Why was it always her that had to do everything for those other two? Why couldn't it be Louise that had to sacrifice her dignity to get food? Why not Tabitha, what was she even doing?
Marching over to a table, she sat down and slammed the metal mugs on the table. 'Seriously Both Valliere and Tabitha should be thankful that I'm willing to put myself and my money pouch on the line for this mission. "Thank you for being so willing to sacrifice your dignity to help me Kirche I'm sorry for all the nasty things I called you back at the academy." Louise will say.'
Closing her eyes she rested her head on a closed fist propped up by an arm on the table to compose herself. 'I do wonder when supper will be served.'
A sudden clang of metal, caused the girl to open her eyes. Newly placed upon the table was another three mugs along with two pistols and holsters to go with them. Glancing up she found a soaked Tabitha dressed in a royalist uniform with a single hole in the gut.
She looked to the mugs and the pistols and back to the girl. Her jaw grew progressively heavier and more a gap as her shifting gaze grew faster until it fell upon the table.
Clenching a hand into a fist. Kirche proceeded to pound the table. "I'm going to fucking kill someone!" She mumbled through barred teeth in her native language.
xXXXx
Within the officer's tent, Louise stood silent at the end of the table trembling in fear of what was to come, before her was a map of Albion, on which was the path they would have to take to reach Newcastle. All around her stood men, larger than her, both in confidence and in stature.
They all spoke but Louise couldn't focus. Her mind was too fixed on the words that were uttered at the beginning of the meeting.
"Spearhead towards their artillery pieces."
"Advance covered by poison gas."
"Offensive all along the lines to ensure no swift counter-attack."
All of this left one question in her mind. How many men were to die so they could slip behind the enemy lines and reach the king.
But what happened if they got stuck, could the car withstand a cannonball? Horrific images flashed within her mind. Tabitha crushed in her seat by a cannonball that hit the car head-on. Kirche knocked to the floor, unconscious, and herself. Attempting to clamber out of the vehicle into the sights of an entire rebel army, their guns aimed and focused on her.
"Louise?"
Blinking, Wales looked to her concern on his face. "Can you punch through their line."
Clenching a fist in an attempt to calm herself, she slowly nodded.
"Then that settles this matter. We'll commence the assault in the next half hour and make sure that the men partaking in it get food no matter if they've already received their daily ration."
The prince received several versions of agreement from the simple yes, to full-on salutes, before like cows being corralled towards a slaughter. Until she was alone with Wales. Time crept by and not a single word was uttered until Wales finally broke the silence.
"I know what it's like to have everyone look to you as if you have the solution to all their problems..." there was a brief pause as the prince seemed to attempt to find his words. "There's nothing I can say that would take that weight off your shoulders. One of his hands crept into her view placing a cylinder of paper wrapping in front of her.
Reaching out, she picked up and unwrapped the item, finding several small grey pills of varying shapes. "What is it?"
"It's a courage pill." The man said his voice tinged with joy she hadn't heard since her arrival. "If I'm being truthful it's a Germanian pill that heightens aggression alertness, and can allow a soldier to march days without tiring. At least that's what the soldiers believe."
Letting a pill fall out into her hand, she rolled it around her gloved hand, eyeing the grain-like texture that covered its surface. "Does it work?'
"It helps me focus, when I have doubts." Wales said, "Perhaps it can help you complete this quest." Without another word he left the girl alone in the tent
Louise eyed the unremarkable pill in her hand. She had never taken medicine in such a way before, it had always been a liquid, but she had occasionally spotted her mother taking such medication.
Believing the info that her friend had given her, she brought the open palm to her mouth, and with a tilt of her head, took the pill that she had been given, swallowing it and sticking the rest into one of her belts pouches.
xXXXx
Louise had changed. This was something that Kirche had noticed as soon as dinner had concluded. She no longer carried herself as a scared child, she had regained that confidence she always had at the academy, that unyielding vigour that had caught her attention when she had first arrived at the academy.
She had been relieved to see the smaller girl in higher spirits, this had no doubt been her first time in combat against fellow humans.
But something was off, it was only something she noticed when they were in the final preparations for the assault, positioned at the top of a hill that overlooked the muddied haze filled valley between both sides' lines. Bodies could be seen dotting the landscape and yet, Louise didn't look scared, she simply watched the soldiers while drinking her soup, but there was something underneath that mask that she had noticed in the tapping of her foot the sweat forming on her face. She was anxious but she looked like she was aching for a fight.
It was a mixture of anxious fury that Kirche had only seen in her father when dealing with peasant revolts.
"Louise?"
The calls of her name pulled the girl's attention "What?"
"Are you ok?" Kirche questioned, her voice carrying with it the same emotion that adorned her face.
"What kind of question is that." Louise spat.
"The one I ask when in the hour since we left you, you've gone from scared and unconfident to looking like you want to punch Cromwell himself in the throat."
*Tch* Louise turned away from the girl to focus on the battle that was brewing. "Well perhaps that's what he needs to stop spreading his venomous ideas of peasant governments." her words were punctuated by the firing on cannons that kicked up dirt as they impacted the area near the enemy trench.
"Look, it's just that you haven't been acting like yours-"
"Your concern has been noted Kirche." She stated. "But I would suggest you focus on doing your job." Before the fire mage could retort, Louise cut her off. "Looks like its starting." With a bang of the turret, she ordered Tabitha to begin the descent down the hill.
The armoured car slowly made its way down the hill towards the trenches from which came a sickly yellow gas that wind mages were blowing into the valley towards the enemy trenches. In the distance through the haze of rain, she could see the faint outline of heads popping out of the enemy trench before ducking back down.
Letting out a sigh the gunner ducked inside the turret and looked through the spyglass that acted aimed the gun which gave her clearer picture of the terrified men that darted around the trench no doubt unsure of what to do with.
The car slowed to a halt while a clank to her right informed her of what was being asked of her. "Rattle their skulls."
Breathing heavy, she spun the elevation control, until the sight lined up with the back of the trench and with a squeeze of the trigger, the cannon fired. Sending the shell into the trench, detonating on impact. Another round was slammed into the breach, but before she could fire again, the gas finally reached the trench, flowing in and obscuring her view.
Upon reaching the allied trench a bridge was formed by some unseen earth mage allowing the vehicles continued advanced which was followed by the sound of a signal whistle. All around them men climbed out of the trench and begun a slow advance towards the enemy trenches with the wind mages that had initially unleashed the gas providing protection from the toxin.
The difference between the road and the land between trenches
The air in the turret grew thick as the young pinkettes anxiousness seemed to have become contagious. In the distance beyond the walls of gas, guns could be heard as the battle raged on, the roar of cannons and the screams of men filled their ears.
Through the narrow slits in the armour, Kirche watched the infantry as they marched through the uneven ground, their muskets and rifles pointed forward towards the enemy trench, bayonet at the ready, followed by the wind mages keeping the poisonous cloud from straying too close.
It was strange, their advance was going practically unchallenged. Perhaps due to this machine but for an army that was in such a state, this sort of unopposed advance seemed improbable.
As if the god of fate had heard her inner thoughts, the car slowed to a halt. The machine roared yet they didn't move. "Tabitha!" Louise shouted.
"Stuck in mud." The blue-haired girl replied in the same dull tone as always.
Their commander obviously irritated by the halt in the advance. Popped out of the turret and shouted at the men behind them to help them get moving again.
The few mage officers that accompanied the charge rallied behind the car, working together the wind mages lifted the vehicle while the earth mage engineer created stable land underneath it.
Something felt off to Kirche, they were stuck between the lines yet there had been no retaliation in this area. The gas should have tipped the enemy off as to the importance of this area yet there was nothing? Not a single cannon shot in their direction, no musket fire from the rear trench. What was going on?
Within less than twenty seconds they were back on the move the enemy trench drawing closer and closer.
"Once we cross the trench, I need you to really push down the gas pedal. We need to take the hill as fast as possible!" Louise shouted.
"Got it." The girl muttered in response.
Arriving at the trench, the wind mages blew the gas away revealing dozens of bodies within the trench, all of which had their hands near their throat, no doubt dying as they begged for air.
"Gas." She muttered to herself. It was something that she had only heard of in the stories she occasionally listened about from the old soldiers that occasionally visited her family's manor, just the thought of toxic air sent chills down her spine.
Another bridge formed, and crossed. Louise let the other officers know of her intentions before banging on the roof. The car sped up, crossing the trench and reaching a road that rounded the hill which they followed finding it, thankfully, clear.
Sweat began to form on the gunner's hands and grip on the handles tightened while the car continued to barrel down the road towards the enemy camp where a fight was sure to take place.
But no fighting came.
Reaching the rebels camps confirmed what she had been suspecting. It looked like it had been abandoned in a rush. Cannons lay destroyed, tents lay in heaps of fabric obviously hastily disassembled and the wounded, dead and mangled lay alone where they were when the order came in.
"Tabitha, park the car and follow me." Louise ordered. Climbing out of the roof and dropping down into the mud. "Kirche, keep an eye out in case this is just a trap."
Keeping her head on a swivel, she watched as the pink-haired girl pulled out a strange-looking pistol as she was joined by her Gallian friend, who grabbed her staff before heading off into the camp.
Unable to do anything, Kirche simply sat inside to the turret, waiting for all of this to come to an end. What would they do when they got back to Tristian, she wondered, they would have missed a rather large number of classes so for obvious reasons the first week back would be torture, but so long as her parents didn't find out about this little stu-*BANG*
Shaken back to reality by the crack of a gun, she looked around for the source. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the pair emerging from behind a bush, a disgruntled look on Louise's face.
"What happened?" Kirche asked as the pair neared the machine.
Louise said nothing letting Tabitha enter the car first. "Dog," Tabitha muttered as she passed by the fire mage.
"Must have been attracted by the food," Louise muttered, holstering her pistol. "But it seems Reconquista has abandoned this position," She stated.
"wh-"
"If I knew Kirche I would tell you!"
Taken aback by the aggressiveness, Kirche could only reply with the most obvious of questions. "What's gotten into you?"
The young Valliere looked to her as if what she had just asked was sacrilege. "What's gotten into me? I'm sorry but do you not understand the stakes were facing here!?"
"No I don't all I've been told is that we need to get to Newcastle and that we need to meet with the royal family, but I've never been told what will happen if we don't make it."
"So, they've abandoned their position." The voice of Wardes pulled the two feuding girl's attention to the Tristianian captain who was accompanied by a brown-haired old officer that neither of them recognized. However, the thing that caught their attention was the strange uniforms they were wearing, ridding themselves of the red and replacing it with a light blue uniform with gold trim. "Good." The man muttered
"What's with the uniform." Louise's voice trailed off as the confusion hit her. "Is this the next step of the plan?"
The girl's fiancee nodded "We're disguising ourselves as Reconquistan soldiers." Wardes replied. "The royalists aren't in any shape to launch an offensive, it would be a pointless waste of life."
"But what about Wales, he is too well known to simply dawn a uniform."
The officer chuckled. "I don't need you to worry about me." The officer replied in Wales's voice further confusing the group. Raising a hand, he removed a ring, instantly the air around him grew hazy, as his hair and face changed back to the prince that Louise knew. The man chuckled once again at the sight of the armoured group's faces. "Elven magic sure is interesting." He replied with a smile and raising the ring up.
"What?" Kirche mumbled.
"Either way it's going to be dark soon and we still have fifty miles to travel," Wales stated ignoring the question. "But we need one more aspect to complete the look." Dismounting his horse, walking over and climbing atop the rear deck of the machine. Opening a satchel at his side, he unfolded it revealing a strange flag that Kirche had never seen before attaching it to the top of the bendy metal pole that stuck out of the rear of the machine.
"Then we best get going," Wardes started climbing aboard the rear deck and taking a place beside the prince.
With nothing left to say, Louise climbed aboard and ordered Tabitha to advance. After several minutes of silence, Louise asked the question they had all been thinking. "Where did you get that ring."
The disguised prince raised a gloved hand to look at it. "It's a trophy my family acquired in the last crusade." with the question answered silence soon returned to the group of five the gunner, however, had something on her mind, this had been such an easy victory. Could this be replicated in Newcastle? Kirche wondered.
xXXXx
A/N
So i know this chapter has taken long and so i do hope that you guys accept the longer chapter length as an apology. I do hope you don't mind that i've taken a step away from armoured combat and the whole Armoured commander.
Either way i hoped you enjoyed this chapter and i hope you have a good day.