Ever groaned as consciousness returned slowly, and painfully, to her. Everything about her hurt, from her legs, to her breasts, hell even her fingernails hurt. As she pushed herself into a sitting position she blearily wondered why exactly she was feeling like she had decided to ask Zaerius to be her Sifu again. That had been a… memorable couple of years to be certain, but one she'd rather not be in the middle of repeating.
She looked around the snowy clearing, lit in blues and purples, in confusion. Where was she and why was there purp- A groan from beside her answered the second question. Rhys pulled himself up and out of the snowbank holding his head.
"My head feels like I just went drinking with Never-Ends-Well again." He groaned.
Ever snorted. "With a name like that I'm surprised you'd do anything with them." She snarked as she continued to look around for clues as to where they were. She looked into the sky, only to be greeted by the absolute emptiness of Calibration. "Rhys…" She prodded him.
"What?" He groaned without removing his head from his hands.
"Where are we?" She asked.
He looked up from his hands and looked around. "I- I don't know? Is the sky empty?" He asked looking up.
"Yeah…"
"But…" He trailed off for a moment, "But wasn't Calibration supposed to be next month?"
-0-0-0-0-0-
Tangled Fate
Chapter Three: Dawn of Broken Fate
By: Grounders10
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Nellens Junlein moved quickly, crossing the distance between he and Ryu with lightning speed. His feet barely touching the ground as he raced to close the distance. Ryu's first couple shots went wide, punching holes in the shields of the men form up behind. Both dropped screaming to the ground.
Ryu's third shot went wide as the wind buffeted him hard enough to send the shot whizzing past the monk's arm. Then there was no more time for using the rifle as a rifle. Ryu ducked the first punch and retaliated with a swipe of his bayonet. The monk swayed out of the way and launched a palm strike at his chest.
Ryu deflected the strike with the butt of his rifle and stepped backward, trying to give himself more space to use his weapon. The monk was not willing to let him go as he continued to press the advantage. Ryu deflected another strike towards his torso before shoulder checking the monk, knocking him away. As the monk stumble Ryu swung the rifle like a spear, aiming the bayonet for the monk's neck.
Junlein leaned back as he let the blade streak past millimeters from his neck. He spun away, pulling three daggers from his robes as he did. The blades flew unerringly towards Ryu only to be batted aside as he charged after the monk. He rifle barked twice as he charged the monk, both rounds missing due to the wind once more.
The monk drew another dagger, longer and sharper than the last three, from his robes and met Ryu's charge clashing blade to blade. Ryu felt resistance for only a moment before he pushed through the monk's block, his bayonet cutting a thin bloody path across the torso. As he went for a second strike as the monk stumbled back, a whizzing sound whispered in his ear. He ducked and the three blades from before went whirling overhead. They lost momentum immediately afterwards and bounced quietly off the ground as the wind driving them died down. Still the distraction was enough for the monk to counterattack, driving a strike into Ryu's chest that blasted the air from his lungs.
Reeling from the blow Ryu stumbled away coughing and gasping. He barely managed to avoid the follow up strikes aimed at his head and neck. Despite the difficulty breathing he managed to deflect the knife stab aimed at his stomach with the butt of his rifle before catching the monk across the face with his bayonet. The strike left a trail of blood across his left cheek and served to force him back for a moment during which Ryu managed to finally get his breath back.
"A nasty trick you have there." Ryu said.
"One of many I assure you." The monk replied as he wiped the blood from his cheek. "You will not stand aside?" He asked again.
Ryu shifted his grip on his rifle and set himself into a low stance, his feet planted well apart, between the monk and the young woman behind him. "I can't." He replied simply.
The monk nodded. "Very well. Then you will die." With that simple pronouncement he lunged forward.
Ryu brought his bayonet up, deflecting Junlein's first slash, then his second as the monk attempted to simply overwhelm his defenses. As the soldier deflected the third strike he stepped into the monk's guard, in direct opposition of what he had been doing up until then, and drove the butt of his rifle into his opponent's diaphragm.
Coughing and spluttering Junlein danced away, keeping out of reach of the bayonet aided by the wind that seemed to rage and swirl about him just barely visible in the blue light of his battle aura. Ryu let him go and, leveling his gun, he fired from the hip at the retreating monk. Most of the bullets went wide, deflected either by the wind or simply off target, but one caught the monk along his left leg. He stumbled but remained upright as the magazine clicked empty.
Ryu ejected the magazine and reached for another, backing up as he did. Junlein didn't give him a chance to use it as he launched himself into another attack. The winds, fierce before, doubled in intensity as the monk threw himself forward, faster and from further than before. The blue light surrounding him grew in intensity throwing their surroundings into relief as the monk drove a kick straight into Ryu's arms.
The blow sent the fresh magazine and the rifle skittering out of his hands, each in a separate direction. Ryu ducked the follow up slash and grabbed the monk's weapon hand, twisting it with enough force to cause him to drop the blade.
Ryu snatched the blade from mid air and swept the monk's feet from under him as he attempted to thrust the blade into the back of Junlein's head. The monk pushed off the ground with his free hand and barely avoided the blade, taking a minor laceration on his arm in exchange. He bounded to his feet, twirling away from Ryu's counter attack and launching another wave of a dozen small blades.
As Ryu desperately swung his stolen weapon to deflect those blades he couldn't dodge, which was most of them, the monk held one hand out to the line of soldiers behind him. "Spear!" He shouted and one of the men threw their weapon to him.
Junlein caught the weapon and leveled it at the JGSDF soldier as he finished deflecting the blades that had unerringly, guided by the wind as they were, come around for a second strike. With a shout the monk leapt forward, swinging his borrowed weapon about in a wide sweep aimed at his foe's chest.
Ryu rolled under the strike springing up out of it into a lunge of his own, stolen blade held out in front of him. The monk swayed to the side as he deflected the blade with the haft of his spear. He spun the weapon about and struck out with the butt of it, catching Ryu in mid-air. The blow sent him rolling across the ground where he bounced into a wall.
As Ryu shook off the blow he noticed something poking him in the side. He had landed on his rifle. He slipped another magazine out of his vest and grabbed the rifle. He rolled aside as Junlein's spear passed through the space where his head was. As he rolled to his feet he slammed home the magazine and racked the gun before turning on his enemy once more.
Junlein rolled under the burst of rounds that instead peppered the far wall of a building. Ryu stepped forward and caught the spear under one arm before snapping it with a single blow. As he did that brownish glow from earlier returned as motes of dust began to swirl around him.
Over Junlein's shoulder Ryu could see the young woman waking up, raising her head to look around, eyes wide and confused. Ryu put the sight aside as Junlein launched into a flurry of kicks and open palm strikes that Ryu had to push himself to avoid. He failed to avoid all of them and his rifle was caught clipped by one of the kicks and sent flying once more out of reach. He went for his pistol, only for that to also be knocked out of his hands. The handgun hit the ground and bounced to a stop next to Kodachi, who stared at it with wide eyes.
Ryu caught the next blow with his own hands and pulled Junlein into a kick that threw him off his feet. He rolled as he hit the ground, coming to his feet even as he dodged Ryu's next blow. In doing so he caught sight of Kodachi.
"So the anathema is awake. A pity, I had hoped to grant her the mercy of passing on in her sleep." He said.
That got her attention. She glared at the monk. "What did you call me?" She snarled, trying to stand up. Judging by the wince as she gave up on that she had to be injured from her fall, Ryu decided.
"I suppose I will simply have to settle for being swift with judgement." The monk said as he threw another brace of knives at Ryu and lunged for Kodachi.
Ryu cursed as he ducked and weaved through the spinning blades. This fight would have been over already if he had just used the Yamasenken, but honour demanded that he refrain from using it. As he tried to out maneuver the swirling blades he briefly considered tossing the oath out the window, only to discard the thought as Junlein closed on Kodachi. Even if he did there was no time or opening to-
A series of pops rang out and Junlein stumbled, falling to his knees. Patches of blood could be seen forming on both his front and back before he slowly toppled to the side. The winds died and the knives clattered to the ground as the power that guided them died with the monk.
From an alleyway a half dozen men in JGSDF uniforms came running out into the roadway. Ryu sighed with relief as he scooped his rifle from the ground and walked over to Kodachi. He picked the handgun up and holstered it.
"Are you alright Miss Kuno?" He asked.
She looked up at him, then down again at the body before visibly shaking herself. "I- Yes I am." She said shakily. She made to stand and immediately fell back to the ground with a pained gasp. "Though, I don't think I can stand." She confessed.
"Sir." One of the soldiers said, interrupting them. Before Ryu could try and place the man's face he continued, "Sergeant First Class Ito Itsuki, 3rd Company 1st Platoon. Akiyama asked us to come and assist you since we were closer."
"And thank you sergeant." Ryu said as he looked around. The other five soldiers had formed a firing line between them and the fifty or so soldiers in armour that appeared to be varying states of shock. "That monk was difficult to handle. Do you have any more soldiers with you?"
"None here. I appeared in a market square two streets over. I left most of my men there to secure the equipment that came with us." He said.
"Not portable?" Ryu asked.
"Hundred and five millimeter artillery isn't exactly man portable sir." Itsuki replied with a shrug.
Ryu sighed heavily. "No I don't suppose it is."
A commotion in the enemy ranks drew his attention. A man wearing plate armour heavier and more ornate than the rank and file stepped out in front and glared at Ryu before turning back to his men. "MEN! More Dogs of the Anathema appear before us! Avenge Lord Nellens!" He leveled his sword on the JGSDF troops. "KILL THEM ALL!" A roar went up as the local soldiers leveled spears and charged.
Ryu cursed. "Someone carry Miss Kuno, we're falling back up the street." He ordered as the JGSDF soldiers opened fire around him. Men in the front rank dropped quickly, only for the second rank to step over their bodies as they advanced, shields held up. Some men died, but the combination of Jade-steel shield and heavy jade-steel plate armour provided enough protection that they continued to push forward heedless of the firepower pouring down on them.
"Coporal Tatsu, you're up." Ito shouted as he snapped shots down range.
A mousy haired young man dropped out of the firing line and dropped to a knee beside Kodachi. "Anything broken?" He asked.
She shook her head. "Nothing, it just hurts." She said.
"Then my apologies, but this is going to hurt as well." He said before picking her up a putting her over one shoulder. To her credit she only whimpered a little bit as she was handled. "Ready to go sergeant."
"Squad, fall back." Sergeant Ito shouted. As one the soldiers started backing up the hill, continuing to fire down at the advancing soldiers. By this point the gap between the two groups had been closed to less than half the distance most of the Realm legionnaires were still alive and advancing at a good clip.
"Sergeant, we're going to need more distance." Ryu said as he managed to drop a legionnaire. The man fell, a hole in both his shield and through his left eye. Another legionnaire stepped up to take his place.
"Squad, doubletime up this hill to the next intersection." Ito shouted, abandoning his efforts and sprinting up the incline. The rest of the squad turned and followed at a full sprint, even Corporal Tatsu burdened as he was by Kodachi.
The legionnaires behind them cheered and, abandoning all pretense of a formation, doubled their own speed intent on pursuing them. The thunder of steel on stone chased the JGSDF soldiers up the hill, biting at their heels with every step. As they were unburdened by heavy armour the Japanese soldiers managed to cross the hundred or so meters to the next major intersection without issue. The intersection was flat cobbled stone, and also occupied by a dozen legionnaires.
"Intruders! Ki-" The lead legionnaire died with a bullet through his eye from the sergeant. The rest of his comrades fell immediately thereafter.
Ryu ignored them as he turned and looked down the hill. The incline wasn't particularly steep, but it was an incline and the legionnaires chasing them were wearing heavy plate. The gap between the two groups had opened, surprising so in fact.
Ito stepped up next to him. "Orders sir?" He asked.
Ryu gave the intersection a brief look. A tea house with lanterns still lit sat in the north-east corner of the four-way intersection. It had wide open windows and looked reasonably sturdy. "Into the tea house. We'll hold until Akiyama gets here with reinforcements." He said.
"Yes sir." Ito said before turning to the men. "Into the Tea house boys! We're holding here." Two men ran up and threw the rice paper door open before charging in. Ryu turned away as the squad cleared the building and looked down the hill once more. The legionnaires were still more than sixty meters behind, how had they all managed to cross the distance so quickly? He could have, but he was a properly trained martial artist with years of experience, even if most of his repertoire was sealed away.
"Sir!" Ito shouted from the tea house. Ryu turned away from the slope and double timed it over to the building. Stepping inside he wasn't surprised that it was lit with paper lanterns like those that hung outside.
"Any complications?" He asked as he took up a position by the door with the sergeant. Most of the other soldiers had taken positions at the windows.
"Two civilians, a mother and daughter. They live upstairs. I've tasked Corporal Tatsu with keeping an eye on them while he tends to miss Kuno." Ito said.
"Good. What's our ammunition looking like?" The 2nd Lieutenant asked as he checked his own munitions.
"We swapped out the training rounds before we came to help. We're all near full load." The Sergeant replied, "Sir, can I ask what we intervened with earlier? Akiyama said you were investigating something that crashed in the street and asked that we make sure you weren't getting in over your head."
Ryu sighed. "That girl, Kuno Kodachi, crashed into the street. You saw the golden light coming off her?" He asked.
"Hard not to really." The sergeant shrugged.
"The moment that monk saw her he declared that she was a demon and had to die." At the sergeants confusion he elaborated, "Something about possession."
The sergeant frowned. "Sir, I've read the reports if she is Kuno Kodachi than-"
"They're here! Enemy sighted cresting the hill." Tatsu shouted from the window above them.
"We'll talk about this later Sergeant, when we're not about to die." Ryu said raising his own rifle and sighting across the street. The sergeant clammed up, but Ryu could tell he wasn't happy.
The legionnaires that crested the hill were tired and their line was less organized than before. They were undoubtedly tired from running uphill. Still they were wearing that heavy plate armour and carrying their shields before them.
"Pick your targets, aim for where the armour is weak. The head, joints, anywhere but the torso." Ito shouted as he followed through with his own orders and put a single round through the head of a tired Legionnaire.
The rest of the squad followed suit as the rest of the enemy platoon crested the hill. It took them a moment to figure out where the fire was coming from, during which nearly a third of the remaining legionnaires died. The commander took a round to his neck just as he came into view. He went down with a spray of blood and the men around him took a step back. The charge stopped and reversed as the few survivors huddle beneath their shields and slowly inched back down the street.
"Hold fire!" Ryu ordered.
"CEASE FIRE! CEASE FIRE!" Ito shouted as he lowered his weapon.
"Let them go." Ryu said as the remaining half dozen legionnaires ducked back down the street.
The sergeant sighed next to him and sat down against the wall. "So, about Kuno." He started.
Ryu held up one hand. "We don't know why Junlein claimed what he did. He could be propaganda, superstition, or any number of other things. Until we know more we do our duty." He said.
"Who the hell is Junlein?" Ito asked.
"The Monk. He told me his name before he tried to kill me." Ryu said.
The sergeant gave him a blank look. From behind them one of the other soldiers chimed in. "Seems like a dumb thing to do. Why the hell would he do that?"
"Never dealt with martial artists before have you?" Ryu asked, to which the man shrugged.
"I'm from Sasebo. We don't have the crazy kung fu karate type down there." He said.
"Stuff it Tanaka." Ito said as he stood up. "In case you're not aware the 2nd Lieutenant here is one of those 'crazy kung fu karate' types. Unless you want to get punched into next week I suggest to be quiet and take Mura to secure the perimeter."
"But-"
"And by suggest, I mean get moving." Ito glared at the offending soldier.
"Sir, yes sir." Tanaka said and stepped out, waving another soldier to join him.
"You know I wasn't going to punch him into next week over a simple question right?" Ryu asked as he dusted himself off and checked his ammunition.
"With Tanaka it always starts with a single question. Then it gets personal cause the boy can't handle the response. Even a benign one." Ito said as he took a seat in at one of the tables. He unhooked his radio and tossed it to Ryu. "Better call Akiyama and let him know what we ran into."
Ryu looked at the radio and raised an eyebrow. "I already have one of my own you know that right?" He asked.
"You sure about that?" Ito gestured to Ryu's chest.
The Lieutenant looked down and stared. One of Junlein's throwing knives was jammed sideways through the plastic casing of his radio. "When did that- Fuck I didn't even notice." He muttered as he unclipped the broken radio and tossed it and the knife onto the table.
"You going to give him a call?" Ito prodded.
"LAV ON THE ROAD!" Tanaka shouted from outside, "LOOKS LIKE ONE OF OURS!"
"Looks like I don't have to." Ryu said and tossed the radio back to the sergeant. Privately he was thankful for Akiyama's timing. He hadn't noticed the blade hit his radio, nor had he even considered calling and informing the Sergeant about the opposition he'd run into. If the older man hadn't managed to find some aid for him, he'd probably be fine, but Kodachi would have been dead for sure.
He sighed as he stepped out into the street. The Komatsu LAV came squealing to a stop outside the tea house and immediately the doors flew open as JGSDF soldiers stepped out onto the cobbled road.
First out of the left-hand rear door was a short broad man in his mid fifties. His hair was more grey than white and a web like pattern of scars decorated the side of his face. "Lieutenant, good to see you're alright." He said as he stepped down. "I was worried."
"Took a dagger to the radio." Ryu said with a shrug, "Good job on sending Ito and his squad my way. Things would have gone a lot worse if you hadn't."
"Next time you find yourself in a strange land," Akiyama said as he walked over, "Remember to broadcast on more than just the platoon channel."
Ryu felt a blush forming on his face. "I'll try." He said with a cough, "Where's the rest of the men?" He asked.
Akiyama gestured down the road where he'd come from. "Ran into a platoon's worth of the local troops. They didn't take too kindly to us running about their city. I came ahead when i couldn't raise you. They shouldn't be too long." He looked up at the fortress on the hill. Lights in most of the colours of the rainbow could be seen flickering over the walls. "Still planning on heading up there Sir?"
Ryu followed his gaze and nodded. "I am. Come inside, we need to talk, and plan. I want to head up the moment your men get here." He said as he headed back in. "How many men do we have?"
"In contact? I'm getting reports from at least five separate groups beyond mine and Ito's." The Sergeant said as he followed Ryu inside. "Two outside the walls, three more in the lower levels of the city. Not everyone in those groups are JSDF though. We're looking at nearly a hundred and seventy-five people all totaled, but we'll be lucky if half of them are SDF." He slid the rice paper door shut behind him with a solid thunk.
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Ryouga rolled under the fist of the blue metal giant and bounced into the air, flipping over the sweep of a spear from a Dragon-blood as he did so. He landed and dropped to one knee as he caught the overhead swing of another giant blade between his palms. There was a whisper of wind just behind him and he pulled the blade, as best he could, past him as he twisted to avoid the spear strike.
The swordsman was dragged along with his blade, stumbling into the path of the spearman. The two tumbled to the ground as Ryouga rolled away, barely avoiding the descending foot of the giant mecha. He poked a spot in the ground near the foot as he went by. With an echoing boom the ground exploded, a large crater forming beneath the mech's foot.
Ryouga jumped back as the mech stumbled and barely caught itself before it fell flat. The head of the mech turned to look at Ryouga and he had the distinct impression that whoever, or whatever, was behind the mask was glaring at him. He flipped them the bird before ducking under a punch from a khatar wielding Dragon-blood. He grabbed their arm, flipped them over his shoulder to the ground, and twisted their arm, breaking the bone and pulling it out of the socket.
He jumped back as the mech's hand soared through where his head and chest would have been. The mech stumbled back to its feet and drew itself up to its full height, wisps of blue light dancing across its form. Then, it clapped, great hands of blue jade coming together in a explosion of sound, essence, and cold northern winds.
Ryouga braced himself just as the winds hit and he was almost sent flying. A layer of frost flash froze into existence across every surface facing the Jade giant. Ryouga shrugged off the ice with little effort and looked down at the Dragon-blood at his feet. The man was struggling, pinned beneath the layer of ice without the ability to breath. He reached down, grabbed the man by his shoulder, easily breaking the ice, and hurled him from the battlefield.
The world was suddenly lit in the flickering lights of fire as a wave of heat rolled over the courtyard, originating from behind Ryouga. He heard Ranma yelp and curse loudly, but restrained the urge to see what had happened. If Ranma was still in good enough shape to curse that loudly then it couldn't have been anything important. Instead he kept his eyes on the large mech that was trying to crush him beneath its jade boot.
The giant lunged at him, throwing a slow and wild jab that Ryouga could see telegraphed from the moment it started moving. He jumped as it came down on him and landed on the back of the wrist as it cratered the earth. The metal was cold, unnaturally so. As he ran up the arm of the giant he could feel the skin on the bottoms of his feet try to freeze to the metal with every step.
As the giant pulled back and tried to swat at him with it's other hand he leapt off the arm straight at its chest. The punch he delivered sent the jade ringing from the force as it was knocked off balance. It stumbled, arms windmilling wildly as it tried to regain its footing. Ryouga landed at its feet and leapt back up to punch it again.
The second blow finished what the first started the the armoured giant tumbled to the ground with earth shattering force. Yet after a moment of lying there it pushed itself up and started climbing to its feet, rattled, but unharmed. Unharmed did not, however, mean unmarked. A small dent barely visible on the front of the plate could be seen by those with a keen eye.
"Ryouga!" Ranma shouted from behind him. He glanced over his shoulder at his redhaired rival. She was dancing around the wild swings of the red giant. "This guy's too hot to touch." Sure enough Ryouga could see acrid smoke billowing around the mech with every stride it took.
"This guy's almost too cold." He shouted back.
"That guy's ice?" Ranma asked as she rolled under a two handed swing.
"Yeah. Why?" He asked.
Ranma backflipped over a low sweep of the red giant's arm and continued the movement into several more flips that took her to standing next to Ryouga. "I've got an idea, but you're not going to want to be here when I do it." She said seriously.
It only took Ryouga a moment to figure out what she was thinking. Fire and ice. Hot and cold. "Hiryu Shoten Ha?" He asked quietly.
"Yup. Get moving." She said before rolling out of the way as the burning giant slammed a fist into her position. Ryouga jumped away as a chunk of gravel, torn from the ground and held together by a coating of ice, bounced through where is torso would have been. He needed to find a way to disengage with the fight, without dragging one of the mechs with him. Before he could start planning Ranma succeeded in focusing all attention on herself.
Twin flickers of golden light flashed out from Ranma as she blasted both mechs off their feet. Ryouga took advantage of the distraction to turn and run. Normally he would have stayed, fleeing a fight was anathema to him. Normal did not include conjuring tornadoes. So he ran, his form shifted between steps as he tried to put as much distance between him and the soon to be natural disaster.
As he approached the lines of Legionnaires he could see the men balk even as they slammed their shields into place before them and levelled spears to ward him off. They needn't have bothered as Ryouga leapt into the air and soared over the lines of men.
"GO AFTER HIM!" Shouted one of the Dragon-blooded officers. Twenty men broke away from the cordon and tried to pursue. Ryouga left them behind without trying as he weaved through archer fire and past groups of wounded soldiers. As he neared the barracks he narrowly ducked under the swing of a blue-haired swordswoman before bounding off the side of the barracks building in a jump the lead him to the roof of the fortress. There he settled down, just out of sight, to wait for the fallout of Ranma's latest hairbrained scheme. He didn't have to wait long.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Lily stared up at the silver-glowing black wolf as it ducked behind the parapet of the fortress roof. Something about the beast's behaviour bothered her. In the short time she'd seen it it had show all the signs of enjoying the thrill of being challenged in battle. By Malfeas he'd been winning against the blue jade warstrider and its escort quite handily, as attested by the large dent in the front plate. So why, why, had he simply taken off like the hounds of Malfeas were on his tail?
Beside her, lying the folded wreck of a cloak, Zeriah groaned. Lily looked away from the beast; if it intended to attack then, as had been demonstrated repeatedly, there was little she could do to stop it; and looked back to her companion and mentor. She stabbed her daiklave into the ground next to him and dropped to her knees.
The older man coughed and, with a groan, opened his eyes. He blinked. "Lily?" He said.
"Zeriah, you're alright." She said with relief.
"My everything feels like I lost a fight with a blood ape, but I'm awake aren't I?" He grumbled as he tried to stand up. He groaned and lay back down. The sounds of battle drew his attention and he craned his neck to get a look at the ongoing battle. "It's still going on? How long have I been out?" He asked, "And are things so desperate that the Satrap ordered those things deployed?"
Lily smiled brittley. "I doubt it's been more than a half hour Zeriah. And yes he ordered them brought forward."
"Kitano will be quite angry about that when he gets back." The earth aspect said with a pained chuckle.
"If we're still here." Lily reprimanded her mentor.
Zeriah raised an eyebrow. "Did she bring so many troops into the fortress we can't handle them?" He asked.
"Not troops. There's another anathema, one of the moon. We've scarcely been able to touch him, and not even Master Silver managed to land a strike on that girl." She said quietly. "I-What do we do Zeriah?" It had been a long time, decades really, since she had felt this lost.
The look her mentor sent her way did nothing to help her confidence. "There are four dragons of the legion, and dozens of dynasts, dragon-blooded and otherwise…" He wheezed before once again trying it sit up. He managed it, but Lily could see the effort it had taken. "That girl knows how to fight." He grumbled.
"And you should know better than to strain injuries so fresh." Lily snapped before a gust of wind buffeted them. "The wind is picking up now as well it seems."
"Not the wind." Zeriah gritted out, his eyes tracking something that Lily couldn't see. "Not natural wind. Look at the way the leaves are swirling towards the battle." Now that it was pointed out Lily could see it, leaves, dust, and bits of cloth were swirling slowly through the air as the winds picked up. The air itself felt heavy, just as it was before a storm.
A horrible dread sank to the bottom of the magistrate's stomach like a heavy lead weight. She glanced towards the parapet of the fortress where the Lunar's eyes could be seen glowing yellow in the darkness of calibration. He had run away and there was something strange with the wind. With certainty Lily knew that the two events were connected.
"She's luring them into a trap." She told Zeriah before acting immediately.
She grasped the winds with her essence, a feat that took more effort than normal, and shaped it as she said, "To Nellens Rombulac, pull the men back, NOW! The Forsaken is luring the men into a trap!" With the message shaped she sent it out. From the way the Satrap jerked a moment later on the far side of the she could tell that he had received the message.
She sighed before reaching out to her mentor. "Come on, we need to get you out of here." She said as the Satrap began shouting.
"PULL THE MEN BACK! GET AWAY FROM THE FORSAKEN!" He shouted, though his voice was barely audible over the sounds of battle.
Lily ignored him as she pulled Zeriah onto his feet. A pained groan escaped his lips through a grimace as she did so. "We need to get some distance, or some cover." She said. Behind them the Legionnaires began to break their formation, falling back from the battle. Despite the shouted orders to retreat however the Warstriders continued their assault as the redhead danced nimbly through their strikes.
"Agreed. The barracks door is just-" Her mentor was cut off by a loud whump behind them. The wind, previously mild, surged. They both stumbled as the wind clawed at them, pulling and tugging them back towards the battle.
Lily couldn't stop herself from looking back. She stared, entrapped by a horrific combination of fear and awe at what she saw.
-0-0-0-0-0-
"The Lunar ran..." Setarial murmured as she watched the battle unfold. The wolf totem lunar hadn't gone far, he was easily visible to her, hiding as he was behind the fortress parapet. "Why did he run?" She wondered. There had been a conversation, muffled even to her ears, between the two Celestial Exalted before he had abandoned the battle. Obviously there was a plan, but what did they intend?
The redheaded Dawn caste had managed to draw, and keep, the attention of the two Warstriders and their meager escort with a truly blistering barrage of insults and taunts. She questioned their bravery, honour, ancestry and even their skill. Implications of impotence were rained from on high with almost disturbing glee as the redhead ducked and weaved through the strikes of her foes.
Truthfully Setarial was impressed by the sheer variety and creativity of the Solar's repertoire of insults. She was substantially less impressed by the fact that she was being pushed back. Whatever her plan was it seemed to be backfiring quite horrifically as she was forced back in an ever decreasing spiral. Eventually she would have no room to maneuver and be crushed by the warstriders.
She sighed. It looked like she would have to rely on whatever remained of the garrison after this was over. She glanced back up to the Lunar. "Perhaps he's waiting for her to die before he leaves?" She wondered. It wouldn't be the first time she had seen a Lunar linger when they should have fled. Especially if there was a bond of some sort involved. Rival, friend, lover perhaps.
As she allowed her mind to wander from the battle she caught sight of a swirling piece of cloth. Her eyes tracked it idly as she tried to figure out how, exactly, she was going to manage to protect Greyfalls with more than half of its remaining garrison out of action. The cloth swirled through the air above the courtyard, dancing in the slowly rising winds. Winds which hadn't existed just over a minute earlier.
Setarial blinked. The wind was growing stronger, sending cloth, dust and leaves swirling around the courtyard; and it pulled at even her incorporeal form. Which should have been impossible. Using the debris it was carrying, the goddess tracked the winds following them as they spiralled around the courtyard in an ever shrinking spiral. Just like the Dawn who was even then dancing around her opponents in an identical ever shrinking spiral.
For the first time since the pace of the battle had seemingly shifted Setarial looked at the redhead. For all of her boisterous taunting and seemingly desperate dodging, her expression was serene, cold even. Like the tundra of the far north, peaceful and deceptively dangerous.
"Oh." The goddess whispered. There was a plan, a scheme of some kind. What it was though… What was she planning? It wasn't sorcery, and it definitely wasn't some innate Solar ability. It was too elemental, too raw in form.
The Dawn stepped around a punch of the red jade warstrider, and into the center of the imperceptible spiral. As the other warstrider lunged forward, striking in sync with the Dragon-Blooded around them. The Dawn smiled. It was cold, glacial in its shape and as empty of remorse or sympathy as the Fae themselves. Setarial shivered imperceptibly.
The Dawn threw a single punch, straight up into the sky. To the warstrider operators and the surrounding Dragon-Blooded it must have appeared desperate, the last vague attempt at fending off the inevitable. To Setarial it was the signature on the bottom of a document ordering the deaths of everyone involved.
Three words drifted across the courtyard to the Goddess's ears. "Hiryu Shoten Ha."
It took less time than an eye needed to blink for the winds to surge beyond the ability of even the warstriders to fight. A tornado had been conjured; not with sorcery, or the skills of a powerful Dragon-Blood, nor with the mystic might of an elemental Dragon of air; but with the raw martial skill of a single young woman.
Setarial saw more than just winds clawing at the warstriders and Dragon-Blooded as they were hauled into the air. Ethereal forms, twisting snake-like through the whirlwind, were invisible to mere mortals as they swam through the conjured storm. They clawed and pulled at those the winds touched, lifting them from the ground with supernatural force and dragging them into the swirling maelstrom of elemental power.
She brushed aside several spirits as they tried to pull her into the funnel. This was something she had never seen before. Through sheer martial might the Dawn caste had managed to forge a cauldron of elemental energies that was pulling on all sources of essence that lingered to fuel the lesser elementals it was spawning. With how much essence had been loosed through the desperate Dragon-Bloods attempts to stop her it was hardly surprising that the storm that was wrought had enough supernatural strength to simply pluck entire warstriders into the air.
She could see them as they tumbled around the vortex nearly a mile above the courtyard. Lesser elementals clawed at the armoured plates, throwing their bodies heedlessly at the jade behemoths in an effort to get at the Dragon-Blooded pilots. With every second of exposure to the relentless assault Jade bent and deformed further and further. It was only a matter of time before they breached the armour.
As for those poor unfortunates caught inside the tornado without protection. Elementals clawed and strangled those caught within, wrapping long sinuous bodies around the struggling Exalted and what few mortals were within. Their efforts left no visible mark, but with every second their victims struggles grew weaker and the the storm around them stronger.
At the heart of it all, in the eye of the storm, knelt the Dawn Caste. Her face coldly serene as she seemingly meditated, her eyes closed. The wind hardly ruffled her long braid and the elementals gave her a wide berth. Those who ventured too close withered and froze before dissipating into the storm.
It took a force of will to yank her gaze away from the maelstrom that had been born with such horrific suddenness. What discipline had existed amongst the Legionnaires had long since disintegrated with men running away from the tornado as fast as they could. The vast majority of them made it, the strength of the winds dropped quickly, with them losing the ability to pluck people from the ground after a mere twenty feet.
"A trap, fuelled by their own power." She said aloud. She had seen traps like it before, but they were always the work of some form of sorcery or artifice. "Perhaps…" Her lips twitched upwards in a small smile. Perhaps there was still a chance for her city after all.
"What in- Milady!" Setarial flinched as a voice shouted loudly from beside her. She whirled to face it, and sighed as she recognized Leitleen, the raven sitting on the parapet of the wall as she stared at the essence fueled tornado.
"Leitleen. You have found others I take it?" The Goddess asked.
"I-Yes." Leitleen shook herself, "Milady what is this? Is that Solar a Sorcerer?"
"I do not think so. The method used is too different from sorcery." Setarial said, looking once more at the funnel. Her eyes fell onto the warstriders. Their Jade plates had finally given way under the vicious assault of the wind spirits. Even as she watched a serpentine form slid it's way through a gap in the armour that should have been too small for it. She winced. "I suspect a martial arts technique." She said.
The Goddess turned back to her companion. "Now, others?" She asked again.
The Raven struggled to pull her attention from the strangely stationary tornado. "I-yes others. Several groups of soldiers in strange uniforms have been fighting the Dragon that was responsible for tonights patrols. Based on the flaring of anima banners as they fight there's at least a dozen Dragon-Blooded amongst their number." She said.
"Dragon-Blooded? Strange… Do you believe they are related to the Solar and Lunar in any way?" Setarial asked.
"I.. Possibly Milady… Are you sure this is safe?" Leitleen asked gesturing with one wing towards the swirling mass of wind and elementals.
Setarial watched the winds quietly for a moment. The force that was buffeting them was weaker than it had been moments before, and she could feel it dropping off. Those trapped inside the maelstrom had been released by the elementals, which were sedately allowing the winds to carry them skyward.
"I believe it's dying out." She said confidently. "Now, these Dragon-Blooded?"
Leitleen took a shaky breath, gave the tornado one last look and said, "There was a Solar under their protection. A young woman..."
-0-0-0-0-0-
Raw elemental power. The Dragon-Blooded commanded the elements with their every action. Fire lent their words passion, wind let them communicate across vast distances, wood let them heal those who should have been beyond aid; and yet…
Lily had never seen a tornado before. The Blessed Isle so rarely had storms, and those that occurred were mild and over quickly after having left ideal amounts of rain behind them. This was no gentle storm, no light pattering of rain. This was the power of air unleashed in a way she had never been witness to.
"By Mela. What in the-" Zeriah seemed as speechless as herself as they watched the warstriders, vast and mighty as they were, be lifted by naught but wind high into the sky.
Wind buffetted them, nearly bowling both of them over. It was enough to break Lily's gaze. "We need to move. Come on!" She told her mentor and together they managed to fight through the winds that were trying to drag them into the funnel. Screams could be heard as men, Dragon-Blooded and mortal alike, were hauled from the ground into the sky. They succeeded in avoiding the same fate as they ducked into through the open barracks doorway, the two great doors creaked on their hinges as the wind clawed and pulled at them.
Once inside they sat down, backs against the wall. They were breathing hard and Zeriah seemed to be barely able to retain his consciousness.
"Hey, stay with me." Lily said, gently shaking him as his eyes closed.
"Just-just give me a moment." Zeriah said through heavy breaths. "That is… I never imagined that such a young girl could… Conjure something like that."
"Neither did I." Lily said quietly. Both of them fell silent, only the howl of the wind and the screams of the unfortunate men was left. Lily flinched every time she heard a scream. She jumped as a jade dire lance was blown through the doorway. It embedded itself in the floor with enough force to skewer a Legionnaire, plate armour and all.
It was not just men that the wind plucked away to wield as a weapon. Swords, spears, any weapon or piece of armour left lying around from the battle could be plucked from the ground to become a flying weapon.
It left Lily feeling sick. This battle… no this was no battle. A battle included the chance for victory. This was a slaughter. The only reason it had taken her this long to realize it was the simple lack of blood. Their enemies were either compassionate enough to refuse to take a life, of sadistic monsters that enjoyed the suffering they left behind. She knew which the Immaculate Monks would argue if she asked one…
In her mind she once again recalled what the small redhead had only a short time before, "I don't like fighting to kill." She said quietly, "but if you keep trying to kill me, I won't have a choice."
"Choice…" Lily whispered.
"Hmm?" Zeriah mumbled.
"I… Just a thought Zeriah." She said. Choice. According to the Forsaken she, if she had a choice, would prefer to not kill. Yet she was willing to if pushed… She had warned them, and they had… What? Scorned her? No, not scorn. They had simply declared themselves judge and executioner.
Had it been her, surrounded by so many foes, would she have been willing to spare their lives despite knowing they would try and seek her death? Lily knew the answer. If she had been faced with the same odds her choice would have been different, had been different in the past.
A sword, made of steel, skittered through the doorway. Lily spared it a glance before turning her musings to the winds. The noises had died down. Were dying down even as she listened.
She stood and walked to the door. Looking out she was in time to see the two warstriders fall from the sky. They landed with twin crashes, their plates warped, bent and broken. Limbs were twisted unnaturally and their ornate decorated helms shattered.
The ground, already mostly devoid of grass, had been scoured of all signs of plant life in over a hundred feet. In the center, where the tornado had originated, sat the girl. Her hair still bound in its braid with nary a scratch to be seen on her from so far out. Above her the dragon of her anima banner roared its victory to the heavens in complete silence. Around her swords, spears and other weapons fell to earth, burying themselves point first in the wind-blasted soil around her.
A shudder rolled down Lily's spine. This was… The strength and skill required to perform such a feat was mind boggling.
In the center of the broken piles of weapons, armour, and warstriders she could see Ranma open her eyes and stand up. She didn't even look tired as she took in the battlefield.
"Dragons damned monster." Lily heard someone say. She turned to see the Satrap, Nellens Rombulac, emerge from around the corner of the building. His armour was ripped and dented, and the usually elegantly styled mustache was missing half its length on one side.
"I've held this post for just shy of fifty years and I've dealt with three anathema in that time." He said as he walked closer. His gait was stilted, one of his legs was quite visibly bandaged with blood visible through the wrappings. "None of them managed something like this." He was practically seething with anger.
"I've dealt with an anathema before, on the blessed isle. He was skilled with a blade, but between Zeriah and I, he fell quickly." Lily replied, "This…" She swept and arm towards the empty courtyard. "I've never seen this before." An awkward silence fell between the two of them as they watched the redhead pick up a sword and walk over to the nearest warstrider. She poked it a few times before discarding the blade and taking a seat on the bent arm. She caught sight of them and gave a cheery wave. Lily noticed the Satrap flinch at the action.
Around them men, Dragon-Blooded and mortal, began to stick their heads out from cover. One, then two, and soon dozens started to cautiously step out of wherever they'd taken shelter. A few of the Dragon-Blooded spotted the two of them and headed to join them, along with a sergeant who Lily didn't recognize. Large, nearly as round as the Satrap in fact, he seemed quite shaken as he snapped to attention before the two of them.
"Lockler, you're alive, good. Status on the troops?" Rombulac asked, having evidently recognized the sergeant.
"Bad sire. Only a handful dead, mostly from that thing that just happened. Most of them are wounded though. Broken bones, or stabbings sir." The sergeant replied. His voice quavering as he spoke.
A loud howl shook the courtyard, scaring many of the men back into hiding. Lockler jerked but managed to barely strangle a yelp of fear. Lily and the rest looked up. A silver-black blur streaked across their vision as the Lunar leapt from the fortress roof back to the ground near the other anathema. It shifted back to human form as it walked through the field of blades before stopping in front of the redhead. He said something and the girl shrugged.
The Satrap recovered first. "How many men do we still have capable of fighting?" He asked.
"Hundreds sir, but… Permission to speak freely sire?" The Sergeant asked.
"Granted." Rombulac said after a moment.
Lockler gulped, visibly steadied himself and said, "It's not that they men can't fight, they'll fight if you ask sire, but… They won't want to fight. All they've managed to do this entire battle is get beaten down out of hand. After seeing this last trick she pulled out…" He trailed off as Rombulac held up a hand.
"I understand Sergeant, truly I do. Which is why my orders are as follows: Gather the men, collect the wounded and rally at the main gate. Since we can't kill them our priorities must shift to containment until General Kitano can return."
"That'll be weeks from now." One of the Dragon-Blooded around them said, "You can't expect-"
"It is our duty. We will fall back to Alder Plaza and focus on keeping them within Garrison Heights. Kitano has nearly two dozen more chosen of the Dragons with him. Along with all but one of the Immaculate Monks." The Satrap snapped, "If we can hold long enough we'll have the numbers to deal with them permanently."
"A good plan, if based on flawed information." Lily was not the only one to jump as a smooth, feminine and melodic voice joined their conversation. A woman had appeared, as if from thin air, just beside them. Her hair, as black as the night sky, glittered with the light of stars as it swayed gently in an unseen breeze.
"Setarial." Rombulac said with a surprising amount of venom in his voice. Lily recognized the name, and the woman. She was Setarial, Lady of the Glittering Eastern Lights, the Goddess of Greyfalls itself. Reclusive, as many Gods were under Immaculate rule, she was rarely seen outside of her festivals and the occasional ball. Or so Lily had heard. She hadn't been in Greyfalls long enough to claim she had made an acquaintance of the powerful Goddess.
"Satrap." The goddess bowed shallowly in acknowledgement. Her voice was sardonic as she continued, "I see you are proving the superiority of Realm administration once again."
"We have things well enough-" The Satrap began.
The Goddess scoffed. "In hand? Hardly. I've seen enough to know that you have failed your charge of defending my city more thoroughly than you seem to realize." She said. There was a definite feel about her, like she knew something that none of them did, and was taking great joy out of holding it back.
The Satrap frowned. "In what way do you believe we've failed?" He asked, "We were just discussing containing these two Anathema until General Kitano returns." He gestured to the two who were sitting on the broken body of the warstrider as they looked on with bored interest.
"To start with you assume that General Kitano will return." The Goddess said with dry humour.
Lily felt her stomach drop out at that calm and measured statement. "He's dead?" One of the others asked in shock.
"Oh yes." Setarial smiled grimly. "I just received the message not even forty minutes ago. I was just coming to inform you when this entire… disaster began."
Lily looked back to the Satrap. The man looked like he'd just been fed an entire cart of extremely sour grapes. Well that or like someone had smacked him with a fish during the middle of a quiet meal.
"How?" He ground out wearily.
"He was drawn into battle, surrounded, and cut down by the Anathema at the head of the Vanehan army. There are, to my knowledge, no survivors." The Goddess informed them. "My condolences to any of you who had relatives or friends amongst the army."
Soft curses were bandied about as the men exchanged worried looks. Lily ignored them as she turned away from the conversation. Her gaze came to rest on the redheaded Forsaken and her moon-cursed partner. The girl was, by all appearances, starring up at her anima banner with a curious expression on her face. Her anima banner was slowly fading, the dragon in the sky was already barely visible amongst the ever shifting spectrum of reds and golds.
Behind her the conversation continued. "I assume there's more?" Rombulac asked tiredly.
"While you have been 'dealing' with these two a small host of just over a hundred strangely dressed soldiers equipped with odd weapons have been making their way through the city in the direction of this fortress. So far those troops that have encountered them have been killed almost to the man." To Lily the Goddess certainly sounded like she was relishing the chance to inform them just how screwed they were.
Lily closed her eyes and sighed softly. Hostile soldiers in the city, whether they were affiliated with the two anathema that they had just expended the vast majority of their strength against was debateable. What wasn't was the simple fact that they no longer had the strength to finish even the two fighters that they had been losing to.
Greyfalls as a Satrapy of the Realm was finished. Even if they simply allowed the Anathema to leave, and assuming they still wanted to do so, with the loss of General Kitano's army there was no chance they could hold the city against a determined assault.
"Is the Vaneha army headed here?" The Satrap finally asked.
"I believe so. Having smashed our primary field force he will want to capitalize on our moment of weakness. Of course with most of your troops needing medical attention there is little that can be done to stop them." Setarial sounded far too cheerful for Lily's sanity. "Of course even my informants low estimates put the enemy's troop count at around ten thousand."
Silence met the Goddess' words. Before anyone could say anything Lily turned away from the group and headed back inside the barracks building. As she did she spared one last glance at the pair of anathema that were still relaxing on the warstrider's broken form. A large raven had landed on the warstrider's head and appeared to be peering curiously down at the redhead.
It was an ordinary raven. Perfectly ordinary. There was nothing strange about the raven. In fact it was so perfectly ordinary that it was almost a marvel in itself. But it was an ordinary raven and deserved no more attention. After all, it was ordinary.
Lily turned away as she crossed the threshold of the building. She needed Zeriah's advice.
-0-0-0-0-0-
As the winds of the Hiryu Shoten Ha died down Ranma relaxed ever so slightly. The tornado she had just summoned had been, hands down, the single largest and most powerful tornado she had ever summon. Keeping it in check had taken a toll that she could feel in her muscles as a dull ache across her entire body.
She suppressed a flinch as the two warstriders crashed down nearby, followed by a hail of rather sharp and pointy weapons. She opened her eyes and looked around. Nearly a hundred meters of ground had simply been swept clean of all plant life, leaving only bare stone and dirt. Not that that was too surprising. There was rarely anything left after she unleashed that particular technique.
Still weapons and falling armour aside, there were also bodies scattered across the courtyard. Many of them were definitely dead. Broken necks, impaled on weapons, or imbedded in the ground. Fortunately it was only a handful, most of whom Ranma recognized as having been part of the group trying to skewer her. Still this place had made her a killer, again.
Death was a part of battle and fighting that she had been threatened with many times. Challengers and rivals had spent most of the last two years declaring their intent to kill her for whatever perceived transgression they were attempting to avenge. Yet while it would have been easier to simply kill them, in many cases she could have justified it as self-defence, she hadn't. It wasn't her way.
She sighed and stood up. While her muscles ached from the strain controlling the Hiryu Shoten Ha there was no stiffness in her movements. In the distance she could see the girl, Lily, step out of one of the buildings and look around cautiously. She was joined moments later by the Satrap as he slipped out from behind the corner of the same building.
She ignored them. Really at this point if they wanted to keep fighting then they were probably crazy. While they certainly hadn't impressed her with their skills, they had not come across as suicidal. Which meant she probably had time to relax a little and think about this whole mess she'd gotten into.
She looked at the mech nearest her curiously. Its limbs were bent and broken, and the armoured plating had been warped and ripped apart by the winds. It looked a bit like they'd been pried open by claws to be honest which was something she'd never seen from the Hiryu Shoten Ha before.
She walked over and pulled a sword from the ground as she did. Using the tip of the blade she poked it. Nothing happened. She repeated the action several times before dropping the blade. While made out of broken metal the warstrider was the only thing she could sit on that wasn't the ground.
The metal of the warstrider was cold as she sat down, but that was fine. She just needed to get off her feet for a little while. She caught sight of the two Dragon-Blooded staring at her across the courtyard and, in a fit of mischief, waved jauntily at them. Even from where she was she could see the Satrap flinch. Good, it served him right for unleashing a pair of mechs on her.
More men began to filter out from within and behind buildings where they had sought cover from the tornado. Some simply stood staring at the devastation she had wrought, seemingly broken by the sight, while others headed to join the Satrap and Magistrate.
As the group began to discuss something, probably her, she had to wonder what they were going to do. Really it would help if she at least knew why they seemed so hell bent on trying to kill her. She could understand arresting her; she had, after all, crashed through the ceiling during what appeared to be a party. But that didn't seem to be the reason why they wanted her dead.
They called her 'Anathema'. What an Anathema was, beyond a 5' 4" girl, she was had no clues. Every time she'd tried to talk it had been like reasoning with an enraged Ryouga. Completely and utterly pointless.
A howl split the night and Ranma looked up in time to catch sight of the silver outline of Ryouga's new wolf form as it crossed the distance from the fortress to land just in front of her. He shifted back and stretched.
"Was that bigger than last time?" Ryouga asked as he walked over.
"The Tornado?"
"What else?" Ryouga scoffed, "It nearly pulled me off the roof."
Ranma snorted. "Drama queen…" She muttered before sighing and shrugging. "Yeah it was bigger. A lot bigger, and… It felt different." She confessed, "It was wilder than normal and if I hadn't been so focused on the soul of ice I'd probably have been pulled in as well."
Ryouga looked at the broken mech then around at the field of weapons and bodies. After a moment of quietly looking at the dead he said, "You alright with this?" He gestured at the bodies.
"I'm fine." She replied, too quickly as it turned out. Her rival simply raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked away. "S'not like we haven't seen stuff like this before."
"We don't normally kill over a dozen people in our fights either." He said, looking oddly conflicted for a moment before sighing. "You sure you're fine with this?"
Ranma gave him an odd look, concern from him was really really weird, before sighing and conceding the point. "No, I'm not. I don't like it when I have to resort to things like this." She said before looking for a change of topic as an awkward silence enveloped the two.
Failing to find something she looked up at the manifestation of her battle aura that had formed during the fighting. The golden dragon was strange, but it felt… right? She'd never seen it before but it felt like it was a part of her just as much as her hands or feet. At the moment it seemed to be roaring its victory to the heavens in absolute silence.
Ryouga sat down beside her. She spared him a brief glance. He was busy starring at one of the bodies. His brow was furrowed in thought and his mouth was set in a grim line. Whatever his thoughts were, they were probably as depressing as they normally were.
Well she'd be horrible person if she just let him stay like that. "Wonder what they'll make of this when we get home." She said aloud.
Ryouga snorted. "If we get home." He replied.
"What?" The look she gave him was decidedly confused.
"This place… I've never seen anywhere like this before. It's so… anachronistic…" He said.
"Ana-what?" The confused look grew.
"They're using mechs," He tapped the metal beneath them, "but at the same time they're using torches to light their hallways and this courtyard. The language they're speaking sounds like Japanese, but it's so odd. Wherever we are, I don't think getting home is going to be as easy as swimming across the sea from china."
He fell silent and Ranma let him. He had a point, this was… Honestly it wasn't the absolute strangest thing that had ever happened to them, and didn't that say a lot about how messed up their lives were, but it was certainly one of the more unique incidents.
A soft caw drew Ranma from her thoughts. A raven, a perfectly ordinary and not strange raven, was sitting on the main body of the mech and looking at them. Ranma almost looked away, it was after all a perfectly ordinary raven doing perfectly ordinary raven things, when it spoke.
"My name is Leitleen, my mistress Setarial sends her regards and hopes that the unpleasantness of this evening has not unduly influenced your impressions of her home." Said the most definitely not ordinary raven.
Ranma stared at the most definitely not ordinary raven for a moment before tapping Ryouga on the shoulder.
"What?" He said irritably.
"Raven." She said.
He looked at the raven. He looked back at her. "What about it?" He asked.
"Its talking." She said.
He looked at it again. Starred at it for a moment before shrugging. "You're seeing things. Its an ordinary raven." He said before starting to turn away. Then the raven snickered. He turned back.
"Ravens don't snicker." Ranma pointed out.
"Yes, we do." Leitleen said and something imperceptible changed about the raven. Ranma's eyes noticed the slightest silver sheen that glimmered amongst its feathers.
Ranma shook her head and sighed, while noticing that Ryouga was now giving the Raven a very wide-eyed stare. Idiot. "What do you want?" She asked irritably.
The raven stopped snickering. She bowed formally, her wings spreading ever so slightly in a curtsy. "My apologies for the trickery. It was not my intention to deceive. My mistress is currently speaking with the Dragon-Blooded in an effort to end the hostilities that have taken place this evening. She was hoping that the two of you might consent to a meeting once she has taken measures to convince them to ignore you."
Ranma shared a look with Ryouga. This night had just jumped up the weirdness scale quite a bit.
-0-0-0-0-0-
"So the old fool is dead." Zeriah greeted Lily as she walked in.
"That Goddess believes so." Lily said as she sat down knelt to her mentor.
"Then it is most likely true." The Earth-aspect said with a sigh. "I've met Kitano before, it was one of the reasons I decided to bring us out here after that incident. To be crushed so handily… I expected more of him."
Lily shrugged, then realized that her mentor's eyes were still closed. "It sounds like he was heavily outnumbered." She said.
"Outnumbered and outsmarted." Zeriah snarked before he opened his eyes. "Rombulac will be a fool if he doesn't run home to the realm after this mess."
The water aspect leaned against the wall of the barracks and sighed. "Greyfalls is finished. The Vaneha army will roll over it, and if what we've heard about its master's opinion of the Realm holds true…"
"Greyfalls will burn, as an example." Zeriah finished, "Aye, that's the most likely case. Which puts us into something of a pickle. I am in no condition to travel, and I have no doubt that Rombulac will take every ship Greyfalls currently has when he leaves."
"We are sure he will leave?" Lily asked. She knew it was likely. Too much territory to hold, too few men to hold it with. Too few left to even hold Greyfalls itself, and that assuming they hadn't just finished getting crushed by a little girl and her dog.
"Rombulac is a political animal. He knows when to cut and run." Zeriah said softly. He groaned as he shifted himself into a more comfortable position. "Even if I were capable of travel at the moment we still can't return to the Blessed Isle. With everything the way it is…"
Lily frowned. Going back to the Isle wasn't possible, not unless they wanted to go back to ducking assassins. "House Ragara won't have forgotten what we did yet." She said softly.
Her mentor scoffed. "They won't forget within our lifetimes." He said, "Some humiliations can never be forgotten."
A soft knock on the doorway drew their attention. Setarial stood smiling, framed by the doorway in the flickering torchlight. "I see the two of you have a good grasp of our current situation, or as good of one as can be expected." She said, stepping into the entrance hall.
"And what is it you want?" Lily asked acerbically. Her mentor placed a calming hand on her shoulder, grunting in pain as he did.
"Easy Lily." He said. He turned as well as he could to face the goddess as she entered. "What does the Goddess of Greyfalls itself what with a pair of forlorn Imperial Magistrates?"
The smile she sent them was nearly inhuman in its width. "Ah, but forlorn magistrates are the best I find." She said, "After all, they have no reason to run off and leave me to fight an impossible battle by myself."
"So he's leaving?" Zeriah asked. He didn't need to say a name, all three of them knew who he referred to.
The Goddess shrugged daintily. "He is acting as I expected him to. He has sent runners to inform the Dynasts of the change in situation and it leaving via the Garrison Heights Canal entrance. Even if the forces inside the city were to throw themselves onto his blade he would still run. Eight hundred men are not capable of defending this city by themselves." She said, smiling despite the nature of her news.
"You have a plan." Zeriah stated. The Goddess inclined her head, but said nothing. "But what do you have planned I wonder…" He trailed off leaving his words hanging for the Goddess to continue. She merely smiled.
Lily's mind whirled with thoughts as she looked at the smiling Goddess. "The anathema." She said finally after the silence had dragged on for a full minute. Both looked to her, her mentor puzzled, and the Goddess smug. "You intend to try and persuade them to fight in defense of your city."
"I intend far more than that, if they'll hear me out." Setarial said.
"You would hand over an Imperial Satrap to Anathema." Zeriah breathed, horrified. "Are you mad! When the Immaculate Order hears of this they will-" His rant was cut off as Setarial raised a single finger.
"Point One: I have never been loyal to your Realm child. My only loyalty is to this city and its continued survival. Until now the Realm was the best choice. As of today I must cast aside surety and take a gamble if I wish to ensure this city survives the next month." She said firmly, before raising as second. "Point Two: I lived during the first age. I, in point of fact, lived before the first age. I have seen what Solars can accomplish, what they can achieve. Even their most incompetent administrators were far better than any of the fools the Blessed Isle has sent in the last several centuries."
She paused as they stared at her. Lowering her hand she folded them both inside her robes. "You have seen the might these two so-called 'anathema' wield. Tell me, Magistrates, what is it you desire most? I doubt it is moral righteousness, else you would have joined the immaculate order. I suspect what you wish for most is what has driven you this far from the safety of the Realm."
Despite herself Lily couldn't prevent herself from speaking. "And what, pray tell, is it you believe we desire." She asked, flinching at the stern look Zeriah sent her.
"To live Magistrate. If Dawn-Comes-With-Thunder finds you. You will die. He hates the Realm and you, regardless of your current status, are of the Realm. He will kill you, and it will not be quick." Setarial said.
Zeriah was silent as he gazed up at the Goddess. "And our fates are now bound to Greyfalls, is that the point you wished to make Goddess?" He asked firmly.
"One of them." Setarial replied. "I believe that those two, the Solar and Lunar, and those who even now are advancing on this fortress from within the city. I believe that they might be able to manage victory where your realm has failed."
The two magistrates remained silent for a time. Zeriah and Lily exchanged a Look, and Lily opened her mouth to speak only for her mentor to nod. She remained quiet. "What is it you require?" He asked finally, resignation clear in his voice.
"Your cooperation, and possibly, your loyalty." Setarial replied with a gentle smile. She spread her arms out in a gesture of kindness. "This city is where you have chosen to flee, it stands at the edge of your world. Where further can you run Magistrates? The time to make a stand has come. Will you make it, or will you run past the edges of the map?"
"We hardly have a choice." Lily said as she stood.
"There you are wrong magistrate." The Goddess of Greyfalls said with a smile, "For choice is the one thing all Exalted have."
"So it is said." Zeriah murmured before nodding. "We will… cooperate with this madness. For now. What is it you wish?" He asked.
Setarial smiled. "Lily if you wouldn't help your mentor to his feet. We will be needed at the Scintillating River Palace shortly." She said.
The two magistrates shared another look. "Why there?" Lily asked.
"Because I have arranged for a meeting to take place there at Dawn, which is only a few short hours away." Setarial said, "There the future of this city shall be decided."
-0-0-0-0-0-
Ryu surveyed the newly arrived soldiers with touch of disbelief. He turned to Sergeant Akiyama who was standing next to him. "They're women." He said quietly. Indeed the soldiers who had caught up to them were, all of them, women. While Ryu was under no misconceptions about how well women could fight…
"Yes they are." Akiyama said, "But they are perfectly capable in a battle."
"That's not my problem." Ryu said, "My problem is that regulation forbids women being used for frontline duties where the possibility of close combat exists. We're fighting in a city."
Sergeant Ito snorted from the other side. "With respect sir, your plan isn't exactly regulation approved either." He said, "And I may not have mentioned but the rest of my group are also women."
Ryu pinched the bridge of his nose. "And that is how many?" He asked.
"Another fifteen or so." Ito shrugged. "I didn't even know we had this many women in the battalion."
Ryu sighed a shook his head. In the end it didn't change his plans, it was just odd. Just like the entirety of this situation was to begin with. "Anything else odd, but inconsequential, that I should know?" He asked.
"All the other groups reported a similar gender ratio." Akiyama said after a moment, "It's nothing that should affect operation, but there you go."
"Nothing that will affect operations. There's a reason I stuck them with guard duty and left." Ito snarked quietly.
Ryu sighed, rubbed the bridge of his nose and looked up. "Sergeant Akiyama, get them briefed and ready to head up. We're moving out in ASAP. After that tornado I want to get up there quickly. Before Saotome decides to try and bring the city down on our heads." He said.
"Yes sir." Akiyama said before stepping forward barking Ryu watched the soldiers moved to obey the orders given with alacrity.
Ito leaned forward. "Is this wise? There's a reason that regulation exists." He said.
Ryu snorted. "Visit Nerima sometime, then come back and try to say that with a straight face." He said, "Get your men together."
"Yes sir." Ito said snapping to attention before heading back inside the tea house. The sound of him barking orders could be heard through the open windows.
Ryu sighed. This night was rapidly climbing the list of 'strange fucking things I wished never happened to me'. A flutter of feathers caught his attention and he looked up. Immediately he looked away. It was just a raven sitting on the roof of the Komatsu LAV. A perfectly ordinary raven, doing perfectly ordinary raven things. At night, in the dark.
Ryu paused then shook his head. It was a perfectly ordinary raven, nothing to be suspicious of. A snicker drew his attention back towards the raven. The perfectly ordinary raven looking at him with perfectly ordinary raven eyes…
"Hello there, are you the one in charge here?" The perfectly ordinary raven said.
Ryu blinked and stared. Perfectly ordinary ravens did not speak, but this was a perfectly ordinary raven so obviously it didn't just speak. So who spoke?
The perfectly ordinary raven snickered, and then suddenly it wasn't perfectly ordinary. Its feathers shimmered silver in the reflected light of the headlamps. He went for his sidearm.
The raven blinked as the handgun was leveled in its face. "My apologies." It said in a feminine voice. "I'm here with a message for you from my Mistress Setarial."
"Sir, why are you pointing your gun at a perfectly ordinary bird?" One of his soldiers asked.
Ryu glared at the bird and clicked off the safety. The woman who had commented stopped, stared and rubbed her eyes as the bird stopped being perfectly ordinary.
"What in the world…" She said before raising her rifle. Around the intersection others noticed what was going on and in moments the bird found itself surrounded, quite uncomfortably, by nearly eighty rifles and one handgun. Someone ducked into the turret ring of the LAV and the fifty cal. on the back joined the other weapons as it was pointed down at the bird.
"Well… this didn't go quite as planned." The raven said softly.
"I imagine not spirit." Akiyama said as he shouldered his way through the crowd, "Now, what is it you want? And answer quickly, my commander's trigger finger looks itchy."
The bird gulped audibly. "Very well. As I said my Mistress Setarial wishes to speak with your commanding officer. At the top of this street is Garrison Heights. Up there is the Scintillating River Palace. She wishes to speak with you, in hopes of forestalling further hostilities." The raven said.
"Well that wasn't hard to say, now as it?" Akiyama said.
"What conditions does your 'Mistress' set." Ryu asked, not lowering his weapon.
"You may bring as many troops as you wish. After tonight the local administration and their men have decided to abandon the city. Mistress Setarial hopes that you may be, amenable, to talking this over rather than fighting." The raven said.
After a moment Ryu lowered his weapon and gestured for everyone else to do the same. "Lower your weapons." He ordered, "Sergeant, thoughts?"
"Well it's better than assaulting a fortress, though I have to wonder what happened up there." The older man replied.
"The Dawn caste girl and her Lunar destroyed the local garrison." The raven said, "My Mistress thought it best to extend an invitation to you as well, since you are protecting that Zenith girl."
"Zenith girl? You mean Miss Kuno?" Ryu asked, "The monk called her Anathema."
The bird made a mocking noise. "Immaculate Monks think they know the truth. Dogma guides their actions, even when the truth is staring them in the face. My Mistress will share what she knows if you attend." She said.
"And if we don't spirit?" Akiyama asked.
The bird made an odd motion that Ryu interpreted as a shrug. "Whether you come or not is your decision. Milady has many things to deal with after tonight. You are just one of those. All that will happen is discussion, nothing more. The meeting begins at Dawn, should you wish to attend." With that a perfectly ordinary raven flew into the sky.
Ryu track the most-certainly-not-ordinary raven with his eyes before turning to his 2IC. "Well?" He asked.
The older man shook his head and rubbed his eyes. "That is a rather disorienting experience. I think we should go. For one, it sounds like Saotome will be there."
Ryu nodded. "I agree. We'll leave Ito here with most of the men. We'll take twenty with us up the hill, and we'll take the LAV just in case." He said, "Get it organized."
"Sir, yes sir." Akiyama said. He turned to the crowd around them. "Alright you lot heard him. Corporal Nakajima, Corporal Saito. Your teams are coming with us. Everyone else report to Ito. You are holding this intersection until we call for you, or come and get you. Understood!"
"SIR, YES SIR!"
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Author's Note: Ow my fingers. No I'm not joking. The last half of this was written in something of a marathon.
So, I realize there's probably a few section that are going to give people issues, I'll address them as they come up for the most part. Also to those who know their Exalted Lore you can probably guess the reasoning behind the gender ratio thing. It's not just a throw away.
Anyway have fun ripping apart the story for inconsistencies and spelling mistakes. I look forward to fixing what needs it!
Changelog: I've made a few edits to this chapter. In the sections where they speak about the numbers of SDF personnel involved I've dropped the number from around 300 to somewhere in the range of 80-90. At the same time what I had previously stated at being 500 or so people outside the sdf has been given an actual number, and a much smaller one. That being around 90-100 people. This is of course the preliminary number and will rise, but after having given it some thought and played with a few different variations I've come to the conclusion that there shouldn't be more than between 250 and 300 in the greater Greyfalls region.