20 miles from Bellnahgo
She woke up in a cold sweat, her ears protruding and her head shooting up as she did.
Where the hell am I? What the hell happened? Why am I here?
She looked around her, revealing to her shock, a tightly enclosed place in somewhere in what she assumed to be a wagon, due to its rhythmic movements. A dull hum constantly protruded her ears, indicating to her that this was no ordinary wagon. Around her were two humans, one male, and one female, each wearing a strange dull-green helmet decked with a visor covering both of their left eyes, along with clothing that appeared to be stained very badly with dirt and grass. The two humans sat on two benches, each across from each other in the truck-bed. Each had an alarmed expression on her face.
Who are these people?
The bunny-woman quickly shot herself up, managing to stand without difficulty on the moving truck-bed. One of the humans had instinctively moved back, while the other woman simply sat there, holding a small dagger in her hand.
That's my dagger! These people intend to take my dagger and with it gone, I'll have no way of stopping them!
The bunny-woman grabbed her dagger from the other woman's hand, nearly injuring the other woman in the process. The woman let out a cry of pain while the man reached for something black in his vest.
She grabbed the other woman with her free hand and pulled the woman towards her, placing the sharp edge of the bone and iron dagger towards the woman's neck.
"LE-LET ME FREE," She spoke. "OR I'LL KILL HER!"
The woman screamed.
The man shouted something incomprehensible behind him.
xxx
Irving was not having a good day at all. He had to sit in the back of the supply truck in the convoy to accompany the medic.
Additionally, he had to supervise her as she worked on the unconscious bunny woman. If there's anything he hated, he hated doctors. A doctor had falsely diagnosed him with a fatal disease once and he thought he was going to die. He had even written what he thought was his final thoughts and planned to give it to his mother. That was until he saw the doctor being arrested for negligence and scamming patients on the local TV. He quickly realized that his doctor was a piece of shit liar.
That belief has soon carried onto all doctors he met, even if he had never said it directly to their faces.
Why can't I just go shotgun with the Sergeant...
A few feet away, Alexandra had bent down from her seat to take out a dagger from the bunny-woman's hands. It required so much force to pry open the hands that she was seriously considering asking for the Australian's help.
Appears to have a concuss-
As she prepared to put away the knife in a plastic bag, a loud thud from her left side had alerted her.
The bunny-woman had awoken and was standing in the truck-bed. She was wearing a dirt-stained black and white maid dress. Alexandra could faintly make out a few specks of dried blood on it.
Her face was clearly one of anger, an anger so hot that it could literally melt through Alexandra.
As the bunny-woman stared at her, her eyes narrowed on Alexandra's right hand. More specifically, it narrowed on the dagger she was holding.
It didn't take Alexandra long to figure out that the bunny-woman was probably angry that Alexandra had taken her weapon.
A hand soon wrapped around Alexandra's hand with an iron grip, nearly crushing her wrist. It quickly flicked down, making her fingers release from the dagger in the process. In one swift motion, the bunny-woman caught it as it dropped.
It menacingly gazed at her. Then, in under a single second, the bunny-woman grabbed Alexandra by her right hand and pulled her towards her, then put her right arm around Alexandra's waist, securing her tightly. She pointed a dagger at Alexandra's throat.
"IRVING!" Alexandra yelled, panic slowly creeping across her. "DO SOMETHING!"
Nearby, Irving reached for his side-arm, located in his right vest pocket.
He pulled out the pistol and cocked back the hammer, aiming it at the bunny-woman's chest.
"DRIVER-"
Irving never even got the chance to fire, as the bunny-woman swiftly kicked the pistol out of his hand onto the ground. Another quick kick to Irving's nose knocked him back against the chassis of the truck, not knocking him out, but definitely disorienting him.
He tried to reach for the pistol, only to find that a maid's shoe had stepped on his hand.
He turned his head up, only to find a pawed fist about to punch him in the nose. Then everything went black.
xxx
Johnson gripped his 7mm assault rifle, while Darris flanked him on the left, carrying an assault rifle as well. To his right was one of the Polish Army units that had accompanied the recon team, Stefan. Stefan was a grizzled veteran of Stettin, the scars on his broad face clearly showing so.
Roughly 4 minutes ago, their supply truck's driver had radioed out a distress call, claiming that the bunny-woman that they had rescued had taken Alexandra, the squad's medic, as a hostage. The whole convoy had stopped, intent on rescuing the hostages in the truck. A few mishaps later and Johnson was now leading a squad to retake the truck.
His hastily drawn up plan called for a squad to advance from both sides of the truck to ensure that the bunny-woman had not already escaped, then link up at the back and form a firing line. Johnson wasn't exactly trained for hostage situations and this was the best he could think of.
Command's gonna fucking berate me for this, hell I'll probably be court-martialed for my incompe-
"PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!" barked Darris.
Johnson had gotten so distracted in his worries that he failed to notice that he already reached the back of the truck and the rest of his squad was forming a firing line.
The bunny-woman simply looked confused as she slowly edged the rest of the dagger to Alexandra's neck.
"They don't understand English, Darris!" Stefen yelled.
"Well, the fuck am I-"
Darris was interrupted as Johnson spoke a garble of incomprehensible language to the bunny-woman in a calm tone.
"Surrender yourself or we will use deadly force."
She simply chuckled.
"I am a Warrior Bunny, the finest of all the races, trained extensively in hand-to-hand combat. What do you think you can do to me?"
With no hesitation, Johnson aimed his assault rifle at her feet on the truck-bed and fired a round.
The material splintered and sent shards of wood flying at her.
She dropped her jaw in shock, dropping the dagger as well.
Johnson then aimed the rifle at her chest. It was risky to fire live rounds near hostages but Alexandra had already hopped off of the truck and ran behind the small firing line.
"Still thinking that you're the finest of all races?"
xxx
A few mishaps later and berating from Irving and now Johnson was sitting in the supply truck itself, interrogating the bunny-woman, accompanied by Darris on his right side, who was currently gripping an assault rifle.
"What's your name?" He asked in a caring tone, like a father comforting a crying daughter.
"M-my name is Tora..." The bunny-woman had managed to say while sobbing.
"I'm-I'm so sorry," The bunny-woman said in between her sharp crying. "I thought you would kill me or enslave me. I had to defend myself! You have to understand..."
"It's ok, ma'am," Johnson replied in a caring tone, attempting to comfort her. "Why did you think we were going to kill or enslave you though?"
"B-because the Imperials did the same thing to my village a day ago..."
Johnson began listening intently at that.
"What do you mean by that, ma'am?" He had adjusted a small button on the left side of his helmet and began activating his helmet's recording system.
"Th-the Imperials ransacked my town,"
"Ransacked?"
"They set fire to it and killed every single male in the town and, and..." She stopped for a few seconds, trying to recollect her thoughts.
The bunny-woman's crying had abruptly stopped, replaced instead by a cold, blank stare, which discomforted Johnson.
"Then they rounded up every single woman, even the younger ones, and..."
She stopped speaking. Johnson didn't take long to infer that they were probably kidnapped and raped. That explained the absence of women in the burnt out village they had searched.
The Colonel's gonna want to know about this.
Imperial Capital
A few days earlier
"Your Majesty, we expect 100,000 casualties in total among the nations."
Count Marcus's hunched figure stood before Emperor Molt in his vast, luxurious throne-room, decorated with marble pillars on each side at irregular intervals. In front of him were several marble stairs, which lead up to Molt himself, who sat in an opulent throne topped with the finest fabrics available. Behind him was the giant purple flag of the Saderan Empire.
"The defeated armies have been left without leadership and are to return home."
"All according to plan," Molt spoke in his deep, rich voice. "Our neighbors can no longer threaten the Empire."
Of course, he was talking about the Battles of Alnus Hill. Nearly 120,000 Imperial soldiers, along with troops from several other vassal kingdoms, had died there. All had been slaughtered by the JSDF.
"Burn every village and town from Alnus to the Imperial Capital. Poison their wells and take their food and livestock. That will stop any army and leave them vulnerable."
"Scorched earth tactics, I see," Marcus responded. "I worry about defectors and the loss of tax revenue. And what about the other army at Aquila?"
"Tell our surviving forces to burn every village from there to Bellnahgo," Molt said, once again stroking his beard. "And I would like to hear more about these so-called defectors."
"There are motions to have you recalled within the Senate, beginning with Marquess Casel," replied Marcus.
Molt chuckled as he heard Marcus speak.
"This is a good opportunity to take care of the Senate in one fell swoop. Let us order the Council to investigate."
After he was done speaking, the loud creak of a door opening reverberated throughout the room. Several footsteps soon followed.
"Your Majesty!" She called out.
Marcus turned around, only to see Pina in her knight armor, pacing up the red carpet on the floor.
"My daughter," Molt spoke, this time as a mentor figure. "What do you need?"
"It's about Alnus and Aquila, of course."
Marcus perked his eyebrows up.
"I have learned that the Imperial Army has been crushed at both Aquila Hill and Alnus Hill by enemy forces. Both occupy the holy grounds of the Empire. What are you doing at a time like this?"
"We will use this opportunity to take back both places," replied Marcus.
Pina turned around.
"What complacency!" Pina shouted. "That will not help us stop the enemy invasion!"
"Pina, you are correct," Molt's voice resonated across the room, attracting Pina's attention. "But we are far too ignorant regarding both of our enemies."
"This is perfect. Could I ask you and your order to scout out the enemy's position at Alnus Hill?"
"Me? With my order?"
"Indeed. If your order is more than your plaything, of course."
Pina took offense to that but did not say anything else.
"Your majesty, I understand."
Tarsha Village
The markets were busy, as they always were, at this time of year. In the bustling village center, dozens of merchants had stalls set up, selling goods from lands-faraway, food, or sculptures made by artisans. Of course, you could only afford these things if you had the money to. Around the markets, dozens of commoners and nobles were lining up to buy these goods, crowding much of the town center.
And of course, intelligence operative John Walker had the money to buy all these things. John himself was dressed in basic robes, one that most commoners or low nobles would wear, while his suppressed side-arm sat underneath the robes, ready to be fired. A large bag of coins was in his pocket, ensuring that he had enough money to buy anything he wanted. A hood covered most of his head, obscuring the earpiece he was wearing.
He paced through the large crowd in the village center, budging and nudging several people many times. Some had thrown insults at him but he didn't mind it as he continued pacing through the town.
Around him, stone buildings topped with wooden roofs surrounded the market area, with the local village guard being posted up in them. He was outnumbered, but definitely not outgunned.
As he advanced through the market area, he noticed that merchant stalls began to appear more infrequently, before completely disappearing. The crowd itself began feeling more dense, tighter, and packed, as he advanced into the center of the crowd.
In front of him, dozens of people held their bags of golden coins, screaming at something which he couldn't see.
Wonder what they're making such a fuss about...
As he budged his way into the center, he saw several rusty iron bars, all protruding from what he presumed was the ground, and all the bars were connected to each other with a horizontal iron bar which laid across the center of the vertical ones.
He then realized.
It's a cage.
As the realization dawned on him, he heard a language that he did not hear for days at this point.
English.
Amidst the Saderan yelling and hollering, John noticed a single, meek voice speak out in English.
"Please..."
Please don't be what I think it is...
John finally budged and nudged his way to the center of the crowd, and what he saw horrified him.
A woman, in dirty mud-stained rags, bruises on her face, and dirt in her hair, sat in a cage. Her hands clenched to an iron bar on the right and left side, while she laid her back idly on the front side of the cage. She reached out her hand towards the crowd as if she was asking for forgiveness or mercy.
The crowd simply laughed, with some even offering up golden coins to buy her.
"Please... Help me..."
Fuck.
John quickly ran from the center of the crowd, intent on informing his commanders what he had just seen. After a few seconds, he found a secluded place in an alleyway between a hut and a stone building.
He activated his hidden microphone and began to speak into it.
"This is Bravo Two to Bravo 6 Actual, do you copy Bravo 6 Actual?"
"This is Bravo 6 Actual. Go ahead, Bravo Two."
"Bravo 6 Actual, I've confirmed the presence of enslaved American civilians. Over."
This is a relatively shorter chapter, but don't worry. I've been procrastinating a bit, but don't worry, writing schedule is back on track.