In part 2 of our side story, we meet one of Gate's most tragic and forgotten characters. Just maybe she will be granted another chance at life.

They Fought, We Operated Part 2

Orphan of the Storm

This was not the first time her world had ended. Once she had been a proud warrior and her tribe ruled unchallenged over their lands. There were other tribes of 'Warrior Bunnies', as the humans called them, but the Tribe of the Veldt was the strongest. Tribal warfare had been the natural state of affairs, especially since there were so few males of their kind. Neighboring tribes often raided each other for breeding males and warred over hunting grounds (Their kind were omnivorous, contrary to the expectations of Earth Humans.)

Over a great many generations, they had discovered to their delight that human males were also viable for mating. Though tribal law demanded that the Queen be of pure blood, mixed blood warrior bunnies were virtually indistinguishable from their foremothers. So sometimes a tribe would raid human settlements or caravans as well. Attacking caravans or capturing lone travelers was preferable. It was low risk to their warriors and due to their far superior reflexes and strength, there was less risk of accidentally killing the very males they needed. And seldom did these males complain. Being too weak to fight or perform heavy labor, they were perfectly suited to handle their role in the survival of the tribe.

Unfortunately, they had raided these caravans and settlements too often. The local governments and the wealthy trading houses who had suffered losses demanded action to stop these raids. To that end, the Emperor ordered an army to march into the Veldt. At its head was his own son, Prince Zorzal, who planned to make an example of the Warrior Bunnies and also to make a profit in conjunction with many of those same trading houses. Houses which also dealt in slaves in addition to other commodities,

In response to the open invasion of their territory, all of the tribes united under the leadership of Queen Tyuule to fight a war more brutal than anything they had ever seen in their history. Warrior Bunnies were no stranger to violence but the ruthless efficiency in which the Empire conducted war was new to them. The Empire distinguished not between destroying their enemies in open battle or burning villages to the ground. In fact, it almost seemed that their enemy preferred to make war on the young and the aged, and the infirm. While it was true that in a few of the Tribal Wars, the losing Tribes had collapsed in the aftermath, the way that the Empire made war had been a complete shock.

In the course of the war, the Tribes smashed forces sometimes thrice their numbers time after time but more Imperial Troops always replaced them as the numbers of the Warriors of the Tribes dwindled. Then after a systematic burning of villages and setting fire to hunting grounds by the Empire, the Tribes were broken, spent. Queen Tyuule herself declared her intention to meet with the Imperial Crown Prince and attempt to negotiate an end to the war.

Then had come the betrayal: The Imperials announced that Queen Tyuule had made an agreement, but only to surrender herself into the safe custody of the Empire in exchange for her abdication. The Tribes were given two choices: enslavement or death. Without Tyuule, there was no longer a unifying leader to continue the war. The Empire smashed the remaining tribes one by one until they surrendered or died. Tyuule's own tribe had been left for last. They were left with the disgrace of their Queen's cowardice and betrayal and left in a hopeless position. Then the Empire came to finish the job.

But when they came, at last, they found a city already in flames as the surviving inhabitants had opted to deny Zorzal his final victory. They destroyed their homes and fled to uncertain futures. In a rage, Zorzal placed a bounty on every Warrior Bunny remaining free in Falmart. Money enough that the trackers and the merely desperate were everywhere.

Parna had fled with her battle sisters Delilah and Griine. Together they survived, living off the land, hiding, fearing what the next day would bring. It was all finally too much when the gods finally led their path to the Imperial Capital itself and to the Akusho District. It had rained the night before and her belly ached with emptiness. There was no hope. At that moment she only saw three choices: She could keep running, enduring an endless life of being hunted, of being hungry, of being useless. She could end it all. Take her knife. Or she could just stop running. Just go into Akusho. Just trade a broken will and dignity to be safe. To have a meal, maybe a bed. It was just an ear.

So Parna stood up and took out her knife and cut off her left ear and walked into Akusho.

In Akusho, Parna was property to be had for the taking. She was passed around until she came into the possession of a Centurion who had both a hot streak at dice and a sharp dagger to back up his luck. And now her Master's luck had run out.

He had told her with satisfaction that she would be accompanying him through the Gate to a new world where the Empire had found a land brimming with plunder and slaves. Of course, as they were known to be a weak people, he would need her all the more since any slaves he claimed would need to be 'broken in'. Parna's soul warred between the relief she felt at not being in danger of being discarded and the sick feeling she felt when he talked so casually about putting others in collars as she herself wore. He had been quite irritated to learn that his legion was being assigned to watch Alnus Hill and the Gate while the invasion got underway. That irritation turning to shock as the remains of the once mighty Imperial Expedition returned to Alnus in a near panic. Soon Legate Titian had every spare man building defenses. Parna was put to work carrying stone, the work had been 12 hours a day and then as she slept, she awoke to hear a strange grinding rumble. A few feet away, her Master slept. She knew better than to wake him without very good reason.

So she slipped out of the tent and listened. And then she saw the night itself catch fire. And then she saw the huge metal beasts that spat fire from their snouts. Strange men pointing spears of black that cracked with a loud report. Imperial soldiers falling everywhere. It was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. The almost joy in seeing the hateful Imperial soldiers cut down like wheat before a scythe and the terror that she too could die or worse, be left to face whatever monsters these were. Only her superior hearing and reflexes allowed her to find safe cover.

Eventually, the noise died down. She could hear the moans and sobs from dying soldiers now. She listened for the sound of her Master. If he was alive and she did not come, then she would be punished. But she did not hear his voice. But as she hid, she heard other voices that spoke in a tongue that Parna had heard the higher priced ladies in Akusho speaking. They had even taught her a little. Strange men pointing their fire spears and searching the bodies. As she listened, she waited for the loud bark of those weapons as the invaders finished off the dying Imperials. Strangely this did not happen. Instead, they seemed to be checking the bodies for signs of life. Some they would bandage and treat as if the soldier was one of their own.

Still, she had no desire to test their benevolence. She hid until they were gone. Then she snuck back to her Master's tent. In front lay her master's body, still half naked where he had fallen, the look of pure astonishment frozen on his face. Knowing that he was dead made it simple to dismiss him from her thoughts. She knew not whether Emory or Hardy claimed his soul and nor did she care. To her small satisfaction, she found her clothes locked in a trunk at the foot of his mat. She bundled them up in his pack along with anything that might be useful: his coin purse, some flour and salted meat and the jewel-encrusted dagger her master had been wearing the night he won her.

The next thing that occurred to her was the question of where she should go now. Quietly she snuck away from Alnus Hill. She thought the safest place to go would be back to Akusho. If she was found out in the open, they might assume she had attacked her master and if so she would be put to death. So, guided by the ancient sky, she headed toward Sadera.

That is until she found a leathery-skinned old human sitting on a rock as if waiting for her. She tensed and he gently chuckled.

"I'm just a foolish old shepherd who has lost his flock! Surely you have nothing to fear in me!" He looked at her mildly. "Why would you go back to the people that put you here in the first place?" He asked her in the old tongue.

"Where else can I go?" she asked desperately.

"You are a bright young girl." He told her. "What isn't bright is doing the same thing over and expecting a different outcome! Go back to Alnus! Are the newcomers really to be feared or are they friends you haven't met yet?"

"They've killed thousands of Imperial soldiers! They might kill me!"

"And yet you are alive. And if you return to Akusho? Then they will surely kill you, will they not? A slave who may have killed her Master? How can any owner trust such a slave?"

Parna's right ear drooped as she considered the truth of the shepherd's words. "Perhaps I could stay with you?"

He shook his head. "I am but a foolish shepherd who has lost his flock! You deserve something better!" He pointed back to Alnus. "Take a chance on something better!"

She slowly nodded. She didn't believe it but it made the most sense. So she headed back for Alnus, quietly sneaking her way back. As she left the shepherd, she heard him chuckle. "Looks like I found one! Now to go meet some of these newcomers for myself!"

It took little time for Parna to return to the Hill but already the newcomers were changing it in incredible ways. New buildings of odd material stood where some of the tents had been. She watched cautiously from the shadows and then she heard a sound he hadn't heard in almost three years. Animals! The chittering of guinea pigs and other small animals and a gentle voice speaking to them:

"I know… I know… But there's nothing to be scared of now, This is where they're gonna put the mess tent so it's as safe as anything. Now look, I gotta go do corporal stuff. I left you some nice vegetables and fruit and some walnuts. So I gotta leave your cages here but I'll be back! Don't you little guys worry! I'll be back, Cause you know… us little guys gotta stick together…"