Chapter 12
Rhiem stared out from the shadows over his eyes. The Armed Personnel Carrier he was in offered no light, leaving the entire vehicle seeming like a large, metal coffin. He pointlessly looked about the transport vehicle, knowing he would see nothing but the inky blackness of the chamber. His fellow hunters looked similarly sober, all gazing out at what might be one of the last things they see in their life. Rhiem gripped the Fallen Tigress tight, and let the bumps and ditches of the trail they were driving on shake and vibrate his sore spots into painful cramps. To his left, Riu sat, stolid in the darkness, but her silver hair still shining bright in the APC. To Rhiem's left, Noa sat nervously, fingering his steel bow, scared to death of his first time in combat. the three sat silently, all feelings for conversation or friendship evaporated.
Now was a time to reflect.
The APC struck a rock, and sent it tumbling in pieces down a cliff. A lone piece fell past the gradual slopes, and plunged another hundred feet. It spun once in the air, and clanged on hard metal. The piece bounced off that once, and fell at the center of a lonely courtyard. Around the courtyard, were fifty-foot walls, all made of composite metal, soaring high in the sky; sentinels that guarded the entrance to the Archeries Fortress. The hum of an enormous iron windmill rang as the only sound in the metal stronghold. The place was next to empty. Outside it, men readied themselves for attack.
Inside the APC, Rhiem obediently followed the Driver's warning, and braced himself as the APC shot up a rocky slope to their insertion point. He held Riu up as the APC drove as high as it drove forwards, leaving the occupants shaken, not stirred.
The Driver called out to his passengers.
"Fasten your seatbelts! We're going for an impact insertion!" The Driver smilied a bit as he gunned the engine, straight at the metal wall of the Archeries Base.
"Imapct: ten seconds!"
Rhiem fearfully looked through the tiny-ass slit out the front of the APC that the Driver used to navigate.
The wall got ever-so closer...
"Impact!!" The edge of the APC stuck a small dent into the wall, leaving the tires spinning and kicking up dust as they slid fruitlessly on the ground.
"Detonation!" A small charge that was on the edge of the APC cracked in a flash of light, and left a sizable hole in the wall. "Go! Go! Go!" The back wall of the APC melted away, letting in a flood of light. Rhiem jumped out, and primed his weapon.
"Riu! Noa! Let's go!" The two nodded, and followed Rhiem into the hole in the wall.
Fringe Hunter tactics were simple: kill anything not human, take your spoils, and get out. There was little room for tactics like the Rubines did. The most anyone ever did was follow the orders of the strongest hunter there.
Rhiem felt two hunters brush past him, not even glancing at him, and watched the two disappear into the dark corridors of the wall. Rhiem looked both ways, and motioned for his friends to follow him. He pulled up his Fallen Tigress, and tread slowly down the corridor. His footfalls echoed through the empty halls...
"Wait..."
It just occurred to him that the Archeries could never fit a Heavy-Class Wyviod in these tiny corridors... which was comforting. Rhiem relaxed for just a second.
KREEE!!!
A stream of lava erupted through the wall on his right, and melted straight through the his left. The lava shone like hellfire in the dark shadows. Rhiem screamed, and leapt back, gripping his gun. The intense heat missed Rhiem by less than his arm's length.
Abruptly, the heat ended.
Rhiem glanced into the melted hole on his right with fear.
A powerful, cylinder-like body swayed with power. The grayed and dulled steel lent itself to absolute defense. The tail at the end was shaped like a massive club, studded with sharpened metal spikes every so feet. Huge, soaring wings stretched out and beat the ground with majesty and power. Massive, clawed feet whirred and groaned with the weight of the load, yet still held strong.
A face shaped like a mask of death, a grinning face from a skull, adorned the front.
The Krav IOS had made it's stand.
The Krav IOS screeched again, and a collection of heat could be seen foaming at the mouth.
Rhiem turned back, screaming:
"RUN!"
KREEE!!!
A second stream of heat separated Rhiem from Noa and Riu.
Rhiem waved hurriedly to his friends.
"Get to the other side! I'll meet you there!"
The yelling as hunters gathered in the Courtyard below to fight the Krav IOS rang out in the melted corridor. "Hurry!"
Riu nodded, and pulled Noa back to where they came. Noa got dragged, blankly. His eyes glazed over and stared blankly at the melted holes.
Rhiem sprinted down the other way, and slid down a flight of stairs. Yet another stream of lava burst behind him, but it was not aimed at Rhiem. The Krav IOS had begun fighting.
In the Courtyard...
The screams of agonizing pain littered the courtyard. The Krav had made several sweeping shots at the clusters of hunters around it, burning a few unlucky ones to a melted crisp at a time. The rest pelted the Wyviod with round after round, shell, after shell, to no avail.
One enlightened hunter attempted to get out of the range of the sweeping lava by moving as close to the Krav IOS so to have less distance to dodge.
After getting in three shotgun shells at the belly, the hunter and his enlightened brain were swiftly crushed to a mush by the Krav's enormous foot.
Rhiem could hear the sickening stretch of bones as the Krav lifted it's foot off the now-flattened corpse.
It was then that the ranks of the hunters started to break. One by one, they began to peel back. First the strong ones, retreating with some dignity, pelting the Krav IOS with bullets. Then the weak, following the strong, not even bothering to get in some retributive hits. And then only the brave and foolish were left standing.
And after a couple of beams, there were none.
Triumphant, the Krav IOS raiseed it's skull-like face, and screeched it's tremendous victory howl The pressure raised the dust off the ground, and shot it into the air. Shaking a bit like a dog, the movements caused hundreds of bullets and bits of shrapnel clinked to the ground, in a metallic shower of crushed steel and lead. Not one round managed to penetrate the thick armor.
The heavy plates of armor ground and screeched as the Krav IOS lumbered over to the entrance of the Archeries Stronghold.
"Shit!" Rhiem pulled the slide on his gun, and cocked it.
He dived through the doorway, and drew his weapon. He lined his iron up, straight at the horrid, skull face.
"Shrug these off."
He squeezed his trigger, letting the magnum rounds soar, and bury themselves within the folds of tempered steel that made up the armored plating of the Krav. Three resounding explosions rang out clearly in the empty courtyard.
It turned it's head slowly. As the clouds of powder cleared, Rhiem could see the damage he done. He might as well have thrown rocks. At least he wouldn't be wasting ammo. The Krav screeched at this annoyance, and charged yet another stream of lava. Rhiem readied himself. He could see the path of fire that it would carve. The angle of the neck... the timing... everything.
As the Krav swung it's head around, Rhiem flew into a barrel roll; he felt the heat of the beam single the skin on his neck, he could feel the rubber of his boots starting to deform... His body tucked into a ball, and he cleared the stream of lava like a true high-jumper.
And then he hit the ground, hard. Through dizzy vision, he could see the beam continue down it's path, past him.
He drew his Fallen Tigress a second time.
A single Magnum Crag flew, and struck itself inside the mouth of the Krav. The round exploded immediately, blowing off several chunks of metal from the head of the Krav. The Wyviod whooped, and stumbled a bit. It shook it's head, like a true animal, and cleared out several pieces of twisted metal.
Growling mechanically, it advanced again. No more beams. It charged Rhiem like a bull.
Rhiem pulled himself up, and started dashing as fast as he could to the left. The enormous profile of the Krav was like a moving wall, ready to splatter him. Rhiem dived into his third combat roll of the day, and just barely grazed a dull spike off the end of the tail.
The impact tore his leg out of his socket.
"Gahhh!" Rhiem writhed for a bit on the ground, and thinking quick, he slammed the stock of the Fallen Tigress on his thigh, knocking the joint back in place.
Krakak...
"chhhe!" The pain was so great, he could see colors, flashing around his vision.
Rhiem pulled his Fallen Tigress one last time, just in luck to see the great maw of the Krav baring down on him. He saw the flash of the Soul Gear, exploding behind the plating of the belly of the beast.
"Oh shit--"
He covered his face, hopelessly, as to not see his death.
But it did not come.
He looked, and saw that the Krav was actually staying still. Puzzled, but still moving, Rhiem dragged himself into a corner, and then turned to look at the Krav IOS.
It was just standing there, maw open, like a dead shark.
He sniffed the air.
Gasoline.
Shit.
Rhiem started dragging his useless body as fast as he could to a door. The smell of gas was growing stronger.
A large hissing could be heard from the Krav, as well as a shimmering consistent with gasoline fumes.
"Come on!!!" Rhiem started throwing himself forwards, trying to get to cover. The smell of gas was now filling the courtyard...
Just as he saw out of the corner of his eye, the Krav moving, Rhiem pulled himself into the doorway.
He groaned with both pain and exertion.
Noa appeared in front of him, bow drawn and ready.
"Hey! Rhiem-you alright?"
"Noa... Get DOWN!"
"Just stay still, I'll take care of it."
"NOA!"
Noa stepped out into the doorway, and out into the open courtyard. He had his Bow drawn, and a Warhead Arrow all ready.
Rhiem just managed to see Noa draw his bow to full length, as the Krav released it's Soul Pulse.
"NOA!"
THROOARR...BOOM
MOAB. The Massive Ordinance Assault Blast. The Krav ignited the gas around it with a clack of the teeth, and a huge fuel air explosion rocked the courtyard. The entire area filled with furious fire. Rhiem could see the profile of Noa, a dark figure silhouetted in the flash of the explosion.
Rhiem was Noa's entire body lift up a foot, and then become engulfed in the rising firewall. He saw Noa's neck snap back a bit, and then he was lost in the fire.
"NOA!!!"
Rhiem struggled to pull himself up and look for Noa's figure. The inferno lasted for only a second, yet the destruction was obvious. The entire courtyard was charred and blackened. The Krav IOS stood growling at the center of a huge circle of blackness. It was like it was at the center of a meteor impact.
Riu looked up from hiding underneath the stairwell. A sound of an explosion rocked the walls.
Her lips pursed in worry.
What... is going on out there?
Rhiem dragged himself over to where Noa's charred body lay. He winced as he dragged his belly over the searing hot concrete, but he went on. Rhiem glanced at the damage.
"Noa..."
The entire body was charred and blackened. His left arm was charred down in spots where Rhiem could see bone. The left arm...was horrifically fused with Noa's Bow. The arrow still clung, twisted, on the frame of the bow.
Rhiem felt Noa's neck. The heat from Noa's skin fried and burned his finger, but he held it there.
A hopeful beat, a pulse.
"Noa...Noa!"
Noa's eyes looked at Rhiem. He tried to blink, but his eyelids were burned off. He tried to speak, but his lips were curled back, and blackened.
Curling his tongue, and half-snarling, half-weeping, Noa opened his mouth:
"Rhiem...I'm sorry--GAH!"
His burnt, limp body convulsed violently for a second.
"I'm so sorry... so...sor...for in the end, being so useless."
Noa looked down at his bow. Flames still flickered on the frame. The explosive warhead on the arrow was still there.
"Rhiem... lea...ve."
"Noa, no! Just hang on!"
"Heh... I didn't listen to you, look what happene-" Noa started choke. His eyes started crying with no tears. "Oh God! Just leave me before I go! LEAVE!"
Rhiem looked at the warhead, and the flames slowly crawling toward the explosive arrow.
"Noa... What's your full name?"
"...Hafvelt..."
Rhiem pulled himself back. The pain from his leg was great--but this was worse.
"Noa...good-bye."
Rhiem backed away from Noa, but never taking his eyes off him.
Noa struggled for his last words.
"Rhiem, take... care o--"
The warhead exploded
BANG!
Just a puff of dark red dust, a bit of shrapnel... and Noa was gone.
Rhiem clenched his hands, until he thought they would never come undone. His arms started shaking a bit, and his nail cut red marks into his palms. He pulled his Fallen Tigress tightly.
"You won't be forgotten." He pointed the gun at the Krav IOS. "And you won't be forgetting this, BASTARD!"
He squeezed the trigger.
***
Extra One
NCO Marius trudged behind his troop. Panting heavily, Marius tried to catch his breath by resting his pack on a nearby tree. His thin arms trembled heavily; his knees were on the verge of collapsing; his dust-blond hair was matted to his forehead with exertion.
"He-Hey... Wait up..."
Already, his division had gained a huge lead over him. Marius sighed heavily, and pulled his pack up again. It was going to be a long march.
The 103rd division had been dispatched to the forests of Gaul to engage and neutralize enemy rebels, the so-called Shin-Minegardes.
...Supposedly there were no more Minegardians left. But for once, Rubine intelligence was wrong.
The Shin-Minegardes had set up base in an abandoned castle, set against a hanging cliff-face. The Castle was made of crumbling rocks and mortar, perfect for hiding away from the radar sweeps of Rubine Scouts.
The Shin-Minegardes were currently launching a guerrilla campaign against Rubine supply lines moving through the area, stealing weapons and supplies for the war-front against Archeria.
Marius knew he should have refused a front-line position. He was a pacifist, and so refused to fire a gun, and was given a job as NCO radio line. He had to carry a heavy and bulky radio on his back at all times, so to keep in contact with the Rubina Armed Forces at all times. Unfortunately, he was never that strong in the first place, being the weak, timid person he was.
Marius' CO glanced far back to spot his radio operator. The CO was a large, bulky man, with a furious mustache that shot out from under his large and protruding nose. His skin was red and blotchy from sunburn, but his body was bulky and resonated testosterone.
He saw his weak subordinate next to crawling about a half-mile away.
"Hey! Marion! Pick your ass up, and get over here!" The CO smacked the tree he was standing next to. "NOW!"
"guh...."
"Damn it! Damn weaklings!"
Marius trudged sadly behind his CO. He was depressed, and humiliated--His CO was carrying the heavy radio, and his pack, and the CO's pack FOR him. The man never seemed to lose breath.
"Weakling! Quit sulking and get out of my face! You're a disgrace! Scum like you don't deserve to even to be looked at!"
Marius flinched at the words, but did not deny it. He knew it was true, too. He was a disgrace.
"What? No balls to comeback? Didn't think so. No balls to turn the vagina under your nose into something speaks rather than sucks. "
Marius grit his teeth, but did not speak.
"Worthless trash. How could you ever get a girlfriend? That chick must be desperate and a slut."
The CO stopped, and took a deep look in Marius' eyes.
"How about you just let me in her? It'll be the first sex she had in months that's not lesbian."
-Viviana!-
He clenched his fists until they bled. Marius snapped.
"Why you...YOU Son of a--"
Marius swung wildly, and with abandon--His CO smiled from under his bushy mustache.
"Oh? You can actually punch?" His CO grabbed the arm, and twisted it over his back. Marius flew, and the CO slammed him down on the rocks and roots. Some soldiers glanced at the spectacle, but kept on marching. "I'll teach you some manners, boy."
The CO reached behind, and drew his knife.
"Hey--wait!"
-Krick-
His CO stabbed Marius' left index finger. Clean through.
"Ah-GAHHH!! Ah...gah...."
"Even your screams are pathetic, pussy."
His CO tossed a low-grade painkiller on Marius' face, and went on, picking up both packs and the radio.
"You'll stay here until you can take that painkiller. No doubt about it. If you've got any sense, you won't follow us men...Weakling."
The CO went on.
Marius writhed on the ground.
Castle Thenard
The CO held his hand up. Stop.
The CO led the way, forming the point-man for his division of almost fifty men. What he saw...
A wire. Almost invisible to anyone but the CO's sharp eyes.
He followed the glistening thread into a large bush growing off a tree at the side. He parted the branches and saw--
A huge bomb. Set to blow when the tripwire was sprung.
The CO leaned back to his second in command.
"Watch for traps. We don't want to lose anyone to these obsolete terrorists." The Second in command nodded, and spread the word to the rest of the men. The CO took a careful step over the wire.
What he didn't see, was the second tripwire set up just behind the first one, even thinner and more invisible. It set off a silent alarm, alerting the Shin-Minegardians of their visitors.
The soldier in back listened carefully to his comrade's warning to look out for traps. He pulled his gun up, and carefully searched the ground under his feet, making careful steps.
However, the soldier didn't look up, in the tree above him.
His last mistake.
A Shin-Minegardian, clamped in Hunter's Mail, drew his weapon. A huge sword, eight feet long, and made of the synthetics, keened in the silence.
The Shin-Hunter slid off the branch he was crouched on, and swung the Greatsword. The sharp edge sheared off the top of the skull of the Rubine Soldier.
Brain, bone, and blood splattered the second-to last Rubine. The man had only to turn around, before a second Shin-Hunter swept from the tree canopy above, and struck the Rubine through the spine. The man took a short look at the hunk of carbon that stuck through his sternum, and touched it for a second, as if he wanted to see if it was real. The carbon Longsword pulled out of the man, and let loose a spray of blood.
Crouching low to the ground, the Shin-Hunters, dashed towards the turned backs of the Rubines marching up front. The majority of them managed to fire off only a single shot before the Shin-Hunters were upon them. A single shot was enough. The two sword-wielding hunters slammed into the nearest Rubine Soldiers, dead, with bullets rattling in their each of their ribcages.
One of the Rubines swore out in relief.
They continued, keeping their eyes to the canopy as well as the ground.
The company had reached the base of where Castle met earth. The stone walls rose almost fifty feet in the air, towering over the Rubine men as they gazed for traps and enemies. One of them stepped on a wire. In an instant, he was peppered with crossbow bolts, breaking bone and flesh wherever they struck. Which was everywhere. The man fell, crushed to a pulp, while a signal flare shot out from the trap he set off.
All at once, the Rubine Soldiers were under fire. Huge shells, the size of their faces, fired out of the ramparts of the Castle. Hunters appeared from the death holes and the top wall of the castle, and opened fire with their bowguns. The CO screamed at them to get cover, many of them hiding behind trees before realizing that the Bowgun Shells shot through trees, and rocks before realizing they were hiding behind an easy target for cluster explosives.
All over, the CO's men were taking casualties. He ordered his anti-sniper squad forwards.
These hand-picked men wielded grenade launchers and anti-material rifles. Meant to root out the snipers who so favored heavy cover.
One of them fired a sticky bomb launcher, nailing the stone wall, from which behind, a Shin-Hunter used a heavy bowgun.
The sticky bomb exploded, sending pieces of rock, wire, and hunter flying every which direction. This trend continued, with the anti-material rifles blowing holes through stone and chest, and grenade launchers finding pockets of Shin-Hunters and blowing them to bits.
In seconds, the ramparts defense was routed.
The CO waved his men on, to the main gate. Engineers shuffled up, and set C4 charges on the hinges of the huge metal door. They pulled back, and the CO personally detonated all of them, causing the door to fall forwards, almost comically, opening the way in.
It was a single passage to the central courtyards; a quarter mile into the castle.
The CO marrched his men down.
About ten minutes in, the men found their path completely blocked by four shields and four lances and four men.
Four shin-hunters, wielding huge lances, charged forwards, leaving absolutely no room to flank. The Rubines opened fire, but to their dismay, found the huge shields the hunters carrying to be completely bullet, explosive, and edge-proof.
The CO simply pulled out his firearm. A gold-plated, .845 desert eagle, weighing almost ten pounds. It took only the CO's specially modified hollow-point rounds, designed to blow apart targets in one shot. It was meant to be fired with a hand and a half. He held it with one.
KAM
One hunter, with a hole in his shield and his heart, crumpled.
KAM
The second joined his comrade, knocking into the hunter next to him, and distracting the third to fall with no more face, simply the outside ring of the skull and jaw.
The last hunter flew into the air, and dropped his shield in mid-flight. He set the lance, and thrust towards the CO's chest.
The CO merely shot the lance. The Armor-Piercing hollow point, an enigma in itself, tore through the lance, and into the last hunter's arm. The hunter continued to fly, and hit the CO with his good arm. Then he crumpled, and passed out from blood loss.
The CO would not let the man off so easy.
Castle Thenard Courtyard.
The CO had his men go into the courtyard, searching for hostiles. There was only one left.
A hunter, dressed in black armor, seemingly made out of the bone and scales of some horrid beast, stood at the center of the courtyard. He held in his hands, a huge sword, made of some black material that was identical to his armor. He seemed to be waiting for them.
The CO raised his gun, along his the rest of his company.
"You have one chance to surrender, rebel. We'll give you a fair trial, and simply treason for rebelling against the great state of Rubina."
The Black Hunter chuckled.
"You have one chance to surrender, before you and your men pay for the sins and atrocities committed to the neutral state of the Confedracy of the Nation-States of Minegarde."
"Give me a break." The CO turned to his ready troops. "Men! Fire at will!" The sheer number of bullets bathed the courtyard in a whirlwind of dust. Stray bullets tore up the visible dirt, releasing deposit after deposit of lead into the ground.
Then, they were all out of ammo.
"Reload!" The CO gestured towards two of his men. "You two! Go confirm the kill!" The men nodded, and then stepped into the slowly clearing cloud of dust.
Their screams shook the remaining men as they reloaded.
The CO brought his Desert Eagle up.
There was nothing in sight, but the four pieces of the two men that had been sent to die.
A Rubine Soldier at the far, far right screamed as his shoulder separated from his neck. The man went down in a splattering of blood, painting the Black Hunter crimson. The Hunter set his Greatsword down, tip barely in the dirt, and dashed towards the center, cleaving man after man straight in half. He was bathed in lead, but barely flinched as the projectiles dented and cracked his armor. The Black Hunter had bisected half the Rubines by the time he suffered his first injury. A lucky shot from a grenade launcher smashed his foot.
The Black Hunter stumbled for a second, and then made a beeline to the CO. The Black Hunter was twenty feet away as the CO brought his Desert Eagle up to blow the Black Hunter away.
Just like that, the heavier parts of the Greatsword fell away, revealing an elegant short sword. The Black Hunter increased speed, and relieved the CO of his shooting hand. The Desert Eagle fell, with the CO's hand still on the trigger.
"Shit!" The CO reached to pulled out a knife, but then realized he had no hand to wield it. "Shi-"
The CO suffered a great cut across the chest, before he fell.
The Black Hunter continued down, cutting down man after man, like the black death reaping his bloody harvest.
NCO Marius made it to the courtyard. With wide eyes, and a throbbing finger, he saw the massacre. The Black Hunter was decimating his company. He had to do something!
His eyes fell on the hand still gripping the late CO's gold-plated Desert Eagle. With two hands, he struggled to raise the ridiculously heavy handgun.
BLAM!
The Black Hunter stumbled forwards a second time, as he finished removing yet another Rubine from his head.
The Black Hunter looked down, and saw a gaping hole where his liver should be. He gazed back, searching for the one who had finally ended his life.
A young, scared, weak Rubine with dust-blond hair, weak eyes, and trembling knees, gripping an enormous magnum with two shakiing hands, stared straight back at him.
The Black Hunter grinned in both pain, and slight disbelief. He pulled off his helm, made of some organic horn of some beast, and dark hair fell in bunches down his head. Intense eyes shone in the high noon of the sun.
"Nice shot." The Black Hunter fell, a cloud of dust rising from his impacted corspe. He took to hell with him the entire 103rd RTD division with him. All except, for Non-Combat Operative Marius Gramais.
Trembling, marius dropped the gun, and pulled out a necklace around his neck, and kissed it.
"Viviana, I'm...I'm alive..."
***
Ten Years Pass...
Lt. Gramais was at his small apartment, preparing to leave for his work. He called out to his wife.
"Viviana, could you help me with the kid?"
"Honestly! Can't you? You're not afraid, are you?!"
Lt. Marius stopped buckling his suit for just a second. It was true. He was a bit unnerved by his 3-year old son.
"I'm telling you, he's just like HIM."
A loud, groan of exasperation leaked from the bathroom. Viviana Gramais stepped out of the room, with obvious impatience. Her red hair shone like gold in the low light of the four-room apartment.
"Do you know how many times you've told me that?!" She struggled to zip up her black, form-fitting dress. "Could you please help me out here, Mr. Lt?"
Marius reached over and zipped up his wife's dress, and then swept her close.
"It never stops being true."
"Ugh!" She pushed him back. "Honestly, what'd that man do to you, switch out your balls for his?" Marius sat on a small chair, and then shrugged. He gazed over to where a small, used crib was set up in the living room. His son was not visible from his point of view.
He leaned over the backrest to get a better view. As soon as his head popped through the doorway, he caught sight of his son.
Strange boy. Just sat there, playing with his toys all day. Very quiet. Very obedient, and Marius suspected intelligent. The son looked up, and wordlessly stared back at his father. Slowly, he looked back down, and continued playing. Marius rocked his chair forwards to face his wife.
"If you were there, you'd be unnerved at how alike they are."
His wife ignored him on this point, for the fiftieth time.
Lt. Marius stared straight at his son's! His son's eyes! They were bright, and intense, just like that man, that day, that changed his life.
Lt. Marius walked slowly towards his son. The son snapped his head quickly, to face his advancing father, studying him with those eyes, and then he dropped them back down.
"Hey there buddy. Playing your toys?"
The son didn't answer.
Viviana came in quickly through the door, and then kissed her husband on the forehead.
"I'm going to the car first. Wait for you there." She turned to her son. "Sweety, I love you, and stay good and play your toys, alright? She stood oblivious to her son's observing eyes. "Honey," She turned back to her husband, "Don't be late, we have an inauguration to catch!"
She walked swiftly out the front door.
Marius turned to his son while his wife was gone.
"Listen, son." He put his hand on the son's head. "Listen carefully...to tell you the truth, you scare the shit out of me."
The son looked up.
"But...no matter what, I love you, all the same. So, stay safe sport, I'll be back in three months." Lt. Marius fixed his suit, and strode out the front door.
He never came back.
***
They say a suicide bomber hit the official inauguration of the one-hundred new 1st Lts. that were to be affected into service. Over half of them had children. Thirty-six of those went to relatives. Ten went to foster care. Three went to orphanages.
One went to military care.