Chapter 38 "Peril in the Plains"
~ PRUDENTIAN PEAKS ~
It was an awesome sight, in the most unsettling way possible. Flashes of light from ether shots and explosions dotted the beautiful, sweeping plains of the other side of the Titan. A full-blown war had broken out while Nia and I were away on a mission and subsequent vacation. Despite my state of shock from the spectacle now unfolding in the distance, not to mention getting attacked at sea, we had an inkling of who was responsible.
"Gollach and Newt really did it, huh?" Nia huffed, both in fatigue and frustration. "It pains me to admit it, but you were right all along."
"I kept saying that they might raid the country, but I still can't believe that they seriously went through with it. Though, we haven't actually seen them yet." I stared back at the wretched scene, looking specifically for any signature flares of Newt. This Blade, the so-called jewel of the army, was perhaps the biggest enigma of all. Despite General Gollach's influence on her to build an impressive auxiliary army base, Newt's own intentions seemed to revolve around Nia and wanting to be the best Blade in Prudentia. Perhaps the two ambitions were intertwined at the heart of their ultimate goal, to conquer us with the most brutal of forces.
"What'll we do now?" Nia turned to me, never content to twiddle her thumbs.
"I-I'm not sure…" I couldn't forget the passion that she displayed following the attack from the watchtowers which, according to her, had sacrilegiously siphoned ether straight from the Titan. "You want to dive into the battlefield, don't you?"
"Not in your current state," she observed my pathetic posture before looking down at herself, "and probably not in mine, as well." Climbing the mountain had expended whatever strength we might've had left.
"Then we stay the course," my decision was made. "We were on our way home from Tantal, remember?"
"Tantal…" Her hand went straight to her forehead. "I'd already forgotten that we were just…"
"Nia?" I noticed her trailing off, but soon I realized why. Adding to the soundscape of faraway explosions was the distinct, proximate rattling of wagon wheels, drawing nearer by the breath. Instinctively, I grabbed her hand and pulled her with me off the path to hide behind sizeable chapparal. Within minutes, a hanging lantern carved through the darkness and presented us with an armu-taxi full of men and common Blades. "Are those… our mercenaries?"
"Let's find out," my brave partner leapt back to the path before I could object.
"Hold up!" came a scruffy voice from the carriage as it rolled to a halt.
"Sollies?" I stepped forward, too, cautiously.
"Affirmative," the same voice answered, belonging to the operator who clearly wasn't a typical armu farmer. "Solly Team Two, returning to camp."
"Solly Team…?" My eyes strained to identify as many teammates in the carriage as possible. "Where's the chief?"
"In the field," he tilted back his head, "leading the resistance."
"Resistance?" It seemed obvious now, but it hadn't occurred to me that my fellow mercenaries were the ones doing the fighting. "Who are we fighting?"
"Ardainian soldiers," the merc confirmed our suspicions. "They finally went berserkers, they did."
"We haven't lost anybody, have we?" my fears started to bubble.
"A dozen of 'em have been captured. Not sure about fatalities." The man rose from his front seat and swiveled around to survey the riders. "Everybody here is either going home to recuperate or to fortify the villages."
"Have any been destr-" I suddenly felt Nia's hand on me.
"Too many questions, Rem," she nudged me forward. "Let's talk while we ride, yeah?"
"No more room, I'm afraid," the operator informed us.
"Nothing we can't handle." Undeterred, Nia latched onto the side of the carriage, just like how we'd done with the sled in Tantal. "C'mon, Rem." I didn't need to be told nor nudged twice.
~ HAGAN ~
As luck would have it, the villages on our hillside remained intact, each one in varying stages of bulwark. Stones were piled up like fortress walls, and wooden planks were installed over nearly every window on ground level. Additional drivers and Blades patrolled the cobblestone lanes, including more of our mercs and even some independents. Finally, we reached Hagan Village, home sweet home, and found a greataxe-wielding Blade standing in front of my door.
"Akebono?" It was my old bodyguard from the chief's squadron of common Blades.
"You've returned at last." He disarmed himself and bowed to us as if we were arriving royals.
"What's happening?" I jumped off the carriage and dashed for the house, relieved to find it as I'd left it.
"Aren't you the Blade who used to guard for us?" Nia joined us as the rest of the mercs on wheels finished their ride down the hill to Sollerta.
"Indeed, although perhaps this time the situation actually called for it." Akebono had previously expressed disinterest in housesitting over my past fears of vandalism which seemed silly and piddling by comparison now. "We've been on high alert and are ready to evacuate when necessary."
"Evacuate? To where? All the Sollerta ships are stuck in Argentum. We had to sneak our way back here, and we nearly died doing it." I set down my artifact and fumbled for my housekey, both of which had miraculously survived the misadventures.
"The chief instructed us to lead the villagers to camp should the signal be given," he glanced up the hill from whence we came. "And he specifically assigned me to wait for your return from your delivery mission."
"We were informed that the chief is in the field, but…" My hand nearly dropped the housekey when I clumsily missed the keyhole, reminding me of how exhausted I was.
"Chief Reynold set up base at the therapy center, as that is the furthest establishment out there that hasn't yet been overtaken by the Ardainians." His words cryptically implied that everything else beyond it, notably Dosilla, had been captured. "Now that you're up to date, I shall join the street patrol. My best to you two."
"Ake, wait," I tried to press for more intel, but the valiant, common Blade was well on his way. "Right, then. Let's go inside, Nia."
Despite being worn out from the travels and tribulations, I couldn't will myself to crawl into bed. The stress from the war on the other side of the Titan was too much to ignore. I stared out the windows incessantly, listening to the radio for more updates. (How did this happen? This doesn't feel like home anymore.)
"Here, have some tea," she offered, having reverted to her normal Blade attire. "It'll calm you down."
"It will?" My hands accepted the cup before my mind was made up.
"I dunno, but you should stop pacin' back an' forth. We chose to go home 'cause we were tired, right?" With her boots by the door, Nia removed her sleeves and shuffled over to the couch which was still out of place after the Gormotti boys' five-month stay.
"A few hours ago, you were raring to go and fight Gollach and Newt," I reminded her from our rough ride along the coast.
"Yeah, well… good thing we didn't," she finished her tea and settled in for the night. "Healing that Tantalese guy's small Titan took more out of me than I thought."
"Climbing the mountain wore me out as well." Unlike physical injury, natural exertion of my body was not something that a healer Blade could undo. After a few sips of tea, I shut off the radio and welcomed the vacuum of silence into the room. The only noises we heard were the occasional hollers of our fellow mercs outside. Normally, such chatter at this hour was unholy, but given the circumstances, I found comfort in it.
"We're going out there, tomorrow, right? No way will I sit and let a war tear the land apart." Nia's eyes dimmed as she stared placidly at the ceiling. "You can rest now. I'll let you know if anything happens."
"Nia?" I slowly crept up to her.
"Go on," she waved me off.
I barely slept that night which was no surprise to me. My usual nighttime worries were blown exponentially, given the current situation. The ensuing grogginess weighed me down the next morning, and getting out of bed felt like trying to escape quicksand. Nia waited quietly for me to get ready, but I could tell that she really wanted to jump into battle to defend our Titan. Despite fearing an outbreak of war for months, I was nonetheless shocked that it actually came to pass. No other situation on Prudentia ever felt this surreal.
~ THERAPY CENTER ~
We rode the next merc-led armu-carriage to the other side of the Titan where the clanging of weapons and explosions from backup tanks continued to fill the air. The ride sensibly went no further than the therapy center where we expected to find more of our teammates. What we didn't expect, however, was the poor shape that most of them were in upon our arrival.
"Oh no…" Nia ran for the merc lying on the nearest stretcher and immediately doled out her healing power. The entire lobby of the facility was filled with freedom fighters, bearing similar injuries. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here sooner."
"Nia, what are you doing?" I watched her flit from merc to merc, desperately trying to patch them up. "They've already been treated."
"Maybe it's not too late to… to… alleviate…" she stopped just short of babbling.
"I'm sure they appreciate the gesture," my hand rested on her shoulder, "but shouldn't you save your energy for the fighting?"
"Rrrgh… right." Her desire to heal them was strong, but alas, their deeper injuries weren't fresh enough to be reversed effectively.
"Were you the ones in the field last night?" I asked the recuperating group. "There's a carriage outside that can take you ba-"
"The next carriage to the villages is here!" came a sudden but familiar voice behind us, finishing what I was about to say. "My Blades will assist… oh, Remi! Nia! Thank the Architect you're back!"
"Chief?" My mind started to ease at the mere presence of our local leader, although his apparent condition was far from impervious. His arms bore more battle scars than before, and his palms were chafed raw.
"I'm so sorry," Nia apologized again. "If I'd been here when this began, I could've…"
"Please don't put it on yourself, m'lady," he cut her off.
"How long have you been fighting?" I tried to keep my gaze above the shoulders, not wanting to stare at his injuries.
"Ever since you left…" his answer didn't make Nia feel any better. "Remember those two Ardainian blokes who showed up to camp last time? They asked for a large team to haul their equipment to some garages at the Iradell Port. So, I sent 'em out and they never came back!"
"They were kidnapped?" my eyes widened, no longer focusing on anything.
"I almost hope so," he wiped his dirty brow, "t'is better than gettin' killed."
"Then what?" Nia jumped in. "The Ardainians just went… ballistic… an' started attackin' everythin'?"
"Nearly that," the chief nodded. "I sent more men out to investigate, and they discovered that Dosilla had been invaded by Ardainian troops. That beautiful city has turned into their stronghold, it has. The shootin' started there an' then they started pushin' forward through the plains."
"And this all happened on the day that we left for Tantal?" I circled back around.
"Indeed," he nodded again. "Say, how did you get back, anyway? Last I heard, the ports were closed."
"A Tantalese skipper kindly ferried us here, but then we were attacked at sea by the watchtowers at the Iradell port," I recalled from last night. "That place might've been rigged as a base of operations all along."
"T'would explain the disappearance of the first team," his pieces of the puzzle fit with mine. "The queen's men are too busy guarding the capital to help us, although I received word that they might send some over, later."
"Honestly, this Titan is so hopelessly underprepared for a crisis," Nia groaned, likely harboring more critical thoughts about our queen in her head.
"We're the best ones to deal with it. Architect knows we've tried." Chief Reynold scooted aside for his slew of common Blades to carry the beaten mercs to the carriage outside. "I've expended all of my people. A lot of the resistance are random drivers and Blades who volunteered to help."
"We're here to help, now," my body straightened up. "Tell us where we should focus our efforts."
"I'm afraid we haven't got a better strategy than knock out any Ardainian soldier you see. Just because the path runs through the Titan's shoulders doesn't mean that they can't cross over the lower parts." The always-prepared chief rolled out a map on the receptionist's desk. "We've been fightin' 'em up an' down the Titan. Logic would tell us that they're after either Sollerta for its port or the capital for the queen."
"I see, so it's a disorganized chess match." My analogy was lost on Nia who was anxious to set out and wallop the enemy. "With our luck, we'll run into General Gollach and Newt themselves."
"General, you say?" Chief Reynold tilted his hairy head. "He's retired, no?"
"No, but he will be once we're done with him." I almost couldn't believe the enmity in my statement. "His men have been sneaking around the Titan all year, probably plotting for this very moment."
"I guess they're done pretendin' to be regular folk, huh?" Nia pressed her hand against the glass as she stared out to the fields. "Gollach himself pretended, too… sort of…"
"I suppose it makes sense," the chief rubbed his chin. "Soldiers need captains, and captains need a general."
"One of his captains is his Blade, Newt," I informed him, unsure if he'd already encountered her during battle. "She challenged Nia to a Blade-only duel, earlier, probably to gauge her strength and see what sort of obstacle she'd be."
"We sure made it easy for her, then," my disgruntled Blade scowled. "She didn't even have to deal with me when they began their raid."
"Well, if you beat her before, then you can beat her again, especially since you did it without healing yourself last time." My encouragement wasn't just for her but also for me as well. It'd been three years since we last participated in a full-scale war, after all. "Alright then, chief, we're off. You be careful, now."
"I was gonna say the same thing to you," he crossed his scratched-up arms. "Make us proud."
~ PRUDENTIAN PLAINS ~
Nia and I joined the next wave of mercs who formed a front against the nearest platoon of Ardainian soldiers who'd done the same. Everybody had a Blade behind them, powered up and ready to switch at a moment's notice. The prowess of my partner quickly overpowered the enemy, knocking out one soldier every two or three minutes. Our progress was steady, if not for the occasional break to heal a fallen fellow merc with fresh, treatable injuries. Soon, we were onto the next platoon, rinsing and repeating.
The further we pushed into the plains, however, the rougher it got as the next line of Ardainians arrived with Archelons whose tanks boasted a seemingly endless supply of firepower. Nia's Blade barrier was put to the ultimate test of protection, warding off countless bullets and even absorbing a few point-blank blasts which left our ears ringing. Persevering through our strength in numbers, we found an opening during their reloading to sever their guns and apprehend the soldiers manning them.
By late afternoon, we had successfully moved the frontline back to the outskirts of Dosilla City where turrets guarded the bridge and the stone walls behind it. Seeing so much machinery brought to light just how little strategy we'd used to make it this far, having relied on Nia's strength and abilities to cut through the Ardainian pawns on my proverbial chessboard.
"This is all so messed up," I finally had a moment to process everything and whine about it. "The Ardainians are supposed to be our allies. We're friends with the Special Inquisitor, after all."
"He's got a lot of explainin' to do," Nia chimed along, "lettin' his tin toys run amuck on our Titan."
"You're right that he's responsible, in the end. If only we could reach him." My tired gaze drifted off to the Cloud Sea, as if telepathy were something I could perform.
"What if he's in on it?" she snapped me out of my putter. "He was pretty chummy with Gollach, y'know?"
"What? No way!" my loyalty was swift to defend. "Mor Ardain has its own crisis, remember? I'm sure that this here raid is related to it. He and Brighid are probably busy dealing with…"
"Maybe their Titan finally bit it, and so he told Gollach to go ahead and finally conquer ours already." My partner's words were bitter, perhaps influenced by my own conspiracy theories, although I'd never included the Special Inquisitor in them.
"Speaking of whom," I surveyed the grounds, "we still haven't seen General Gollach, yet. I get the feeling that he's been hiding in Dosilla, calling the shots."
"Then let's flush him out." Nia swiveled around and knelt to heal one of the felled Ardainian soldiers.
"Do what…? Oh, wait!" My hand instinctively reached for her arm to stop her.
"Get up, you bastard!" Embers flew out of her mouth as she ordered him to his feet, ignoring me. "Go back to your sticky hive and tell Gollach to get his sorry arse out 'ere!" Her hisses were audibly sharp, inciting fear into the soldier as he scampered to Dosilla.
"W-was that wise?" I questioned with a quivering lower lip. "What if he brings Newt along? We're not exactly fresh, anymore."
"If I beat her before, then I can beat her again," she recited my encouragement from earlier. "You said it, yourself."
"Yeah, but that was before you'd used up a substantial amount of your power, today." My head hurt from the noise of the tank explosions alone, but I didn't think it was worth troubling her for a healing touch. Meanwhile, the queen's men had finally arrived from the capital to arrest as many of the defeated Ardainian soldiers as they physically could. Watching them tending to the task made me wonder what had become of Dosilla's own guardsmen, in addition to our missing mercs.
"She's coming…" my partner tensed in place, returning the focus to the captured city ahead.
"Newt?" I needn't have asked. There was only one other Blade in Prudentia whose ether mark she could sense from this far out, much less one that she could recognize so easily.
"There she is, lookin' mighty proud of herself," Nia observed her rival, judgingly. General Gollach, the man for whom she'd actually called, accompanied her, along with another troupe of troops. Curiously, none of these particular men brought Blades with them, only rifles. Despite this vulnerability, however, they marched indomitably behind the general and his Blade. After a long day of peril in the plains, it was time to face the two figureheads of this raid.
"Ah…" Gollach smiled upon recognizing us, "so you two finally decided to come back and show your lovely faces."