"My, you all certainly made a mess of this place," Shelia remarked, half through the other end of the gate as Caboose, Tex, and Lopez continued to move a path clear for the tank to come through.
"Tenía un plan adecuado de organización, pero nadie me escuchó, como siempre,"(I had a proper plan for organization, but no one listened to me, just like always.) Lopez explained with ever dry annoyance.
"Don't worry, Shelia! Once we have all the roads done, I'll show you around the entire base! And you get to look at it before it's done. It'll be like magic when we're finished!" Caboose said, casually lifting a large beam of metal. "Oh, can you lift your cannon? I think I might hit it."
"Of course, Caboose," Shelia granted, tipping it up several more degrees as the beam passed under it.
"Thank you!" Caboose said before carelessly throwing it aside, crushing several other containers. "I don't think those were important anyway."
"Typical, leave those idiots to do a job and they make a complete clustfuck of getting it done," Tex remarked under her breath.
"Where is everyone else?" Shelia asked curiously.
"Meeting with the Elves. Fuck, that will never not be weird to say," Tex muttered. "They didn't want to bring me since, well..."
"Hmm? Are elves typically patriarchal in their depictions?" Shelia asked innocently.
"Shit, I hope not. No, it's because I'm apparently some kind of Death-Goddess to people here and they didn't want to spook them," Tex explained as she opened a container and instantly shut it. She quickly looked to Caboose and made sure he wasn't looking in her direction. "Lopez?"
"Si?" The robot approached her.
"Move this carefully and don't let Caboose see it. I will make sure he's distracted," Tex instructed, opening it to show the insides.
It was filled with circular landmines.
"...Si," Lopez agreed, calculating at least twenty ways this could go terribly bad if Caboose found these.
Caboose hummed tunelessly as he continued to move the heavier objects. "Huh. I really want a Frisbee right now for some reason," he mused out loud.
Tex and Shelia shared a look. Or as much as her visor could share a look with a tank's cannon. This probably would end badly.
Elsewhere, with the light of dawn not yet over the horizon, an impromptu meeting was taking place.
On one side was Church, Simmons, and Andy with the warthog. Andy was placed on the back end of the vehicle for convenience.
Across from them was a group of four elves, all blond-haired with pointed ears. They each looked very uncertain and warry, but Church couldn't blame them.
"Hey, why am I here instead of Sarge?" Simmons asked in a not-so-quiet whisper.
"Do you want his southern ass to be the first contact with us they have?" Church grumbled under his voice.
"Alright, alright, so I got names and stuff," Andy said. "The big one in front is Talmit, the leader of this little scouting party. The girl to his right is Yuno, the girl that was peeking on this place not long ago."
Church looked to Yuno, who stiffened and realized she was remembered. "Right, thought she looked familiar."
"And the other two aren't important, but their names are Ludon and Nelgala," Andy continued uncaringly. "They get you lot wanted to speak to them about being here. How the hell should I introduce you as, Spear Lord?"
"Go with that. Tell them I'm Church, the leader here, who the Empire calls the Spear Lord," Church explained with a shrug. "Add in Simmons's title too I guess."
"Right, give me a moment," Andy said as he relayed the words to the elves.
Needless to say, they eyed Church for a moment, or rather the sniper rifle on his back, except for Yuno who had already had his "spear" aimed at her. But with wary tones of respect and politeness, they responded.
"Right, so, they're apologizing for trespassing basically. They just wanted to see what was able to actually send the Empire running like wusses. Naturally, they're a bit impressed," Andy explained.
"A bit. Right," Simmons said dryly, clearly seeing these people were worried about getting attacked by just the two of them. Or three if they counted Andy. Actually, Simmons recalled they thought the Warthog was a beast of some kind, so four, maybe?
"What is their relationship with the empire? And try not to make it sound too threatening?" Church requested.
"Right, here goes," Andy murmured as he translated. It was obvious the elves had become alarmed at that question before quickly answering. "Okay, okay, I get it! They say that they're not with the empire, though it sounds like they're in their territory."
"That makes sense. They look like they live more in a village than a city, and even an empire can't control all of the places within its territory," Simmons remarked.
Church hummed and on a lark, looked to Yuno again.
There was some understanding, or rather, misunderstanding on her part as she stepped forward and began to speak.
"I'm...just going to directly translate this," Andy informed as he began to translate. "Spear Lord of the Iron Men, my people have no love or loyalty to the Saderean Empire. Nor they to us. We wish for nothing more to live in peace and to know if war comes to us."
"Did you know that would happen?" Simmons asked curiously.
"I thought she might say something important, yeah," Church answered. "Tell them we have no interest in fighting anyone but the Empire, and whoever fights with them."
Andy translated and the elves looked notably relieved by that.
And then Talmit spoke again as he stepped closer.
"Huh, alright, umm, they also come with a warning? Not a threat, but an actual news flash of bad shit going on in the area," Andy explained. "One second, I need to ask him what the hell this means first."
"Somehow I knew it wouldn't just be good news," Church said with a sigh.
"Okay, so, apparently there are rumors of a huge ass fire dragon that woke up recently and been burning shit up," Andy explained. "Supposedly, a lot bigger than the ones we've seen."
"That might actually be trouble," Simmons said uneasily. "If magic is real, it could very well be the size of a mountain."
"Then we'll slay a mountain, big whoop," Church said casually as he leaned off the warthog. "Tell them thanks for the info, and we're open to talking with them more in the future. Right now, we got an army to rout."
Andy conveyed the words and the elves looked more than a little stunned by something.
"What did you tell them?" Simmons asked curiously.
"I might have slipped in Church's "We'll slay a mountain" line," Andy said smugly. "Man, I am going to love this translating job!"
Church just sighed again and nodded to the elves before returning to the jeep.
He just had a diplomatic meeting with Elves, was plotting an attack on a fantasy army, and the sun wasn't even up yet.
Thank god ghosts possessing robot bodies didn't need to sleep.
Even if it was nice to do so every now and again.
Meanwhile
"Hey, I was told some of you wanted to see..." York fell silent as he stepped into the prison area of the ship. "...Me?"
"York, it's been a long time," Carolina greeted softly, tiredly.
"Carol?" York asked, suddenly finding it harder to breathe. "You're here? Alive?"
"As is Agent Washington, York," Delta informed helpfully from York's shoulder.
York looked to the side and saw Washington sitting in another cell. "Oh. Umm, hey, Wash."
Washington waved back awkwardly.
"Don't mind us old chap," Wyoming remarked with a chuckle. "Go talk to your dear lady. She's been asking all about you."
"Fuck off, Wyoming," Carolina called out in annoyance.
"Would love to, Madam! But I am currently in a cell, just like you," Wyoming remarked with a chuckle. "Again, ignore us in the peanut gallery."
York had already chosen to do just that as he walked over to the far cell.
Some stupid, love-struck part of him was already plotting how hard it would be to crack the code to unlock this cell and how they might escape this place. He dutifully kept these thoughts contained, knowing it would do more harm than good in the long run.
"Jesus, where the fuck have you been, Carol?" York asked with a relieved, breathless tone.
"Laying low. Same for you?" Carolina asked curiously. "I...look, I realized you were right. About the Director and everything. I've been trying to hunt him down in my own way. I looked for you, but...?"
"Yeah, kind of became a thief. I stuck to the worlds near Freelancer space. Far enough that I wouldn't be noticed by anyone if I kept my head down and just stole what I needed. Close enough to keep an pulse on thing," York explained dryly. "Got dragged back into this by Tex and her boyfriend."
"We've met," Carolina said in annoyance.
"You fought him already, didn't you?" York asked knowingly. "Alright, how scary is the fucker?"
"He got lucky, that's all," Carolina said pointedly.
"Correction. Captain Church propelled Agent Carolina and himself through a second-story window and then proceeded to hold against her in hand-to-hand combat until he held her at gunpoint. Others arrived before the fight could continue."
"Thanks for the run down, Delta," Carolina opined dry.
"You are most welcome," Delta said, either not noticing the rhetorical nature of the compliment, or just didn't care.
"Right, Church is a scary bastard. He somehow has Omega listening to him, and that says enough to me," York remarked with a chuckle.
"...His name is really Church? Leonard Church?" Carolina asked slowly, trying to hide just how much that bothered her.
"Yeah, apparently. Why, you heard of him?" York asked curiously, wondering where and when Carolina could have heard of this trooper if he hadn't.
"I know someone with that name, but that trooper is definitely not him," Carolina said distantly.
"It's a big galaxy, you sometimes meet people with the same face, or the same name, or the same anything," York reasoned with a shrug. "Sometimes, it's just a coincidence."
"Sometimes," Carolina agreed without agreeing, before changing the subject. "So. Magic gate?"
"Yeah, yeah, trust me. I know. I was there, helping mow down Roman-ish soldiers and I still find it crazy to think about," York agreed with a headshake. "Yet, somehow, the magic gate seems simpler than the entire situation going on with Freelancer."
"Yeah, but it's still going to take me a while to wrap my head around the magic gate thing," Carolina muttered under her breath. The universe loved to make her question everything she knew and believed sometimes. "But, these people? They legit? UNSC? War is really over and all that?"
"Yes and yes! Kind of underwhelming really. The Great War ended and despite everything, I don't think we were much of a factor in that," York said with a sigh.
Carolina had to admit, there was bitterness there. All the training, missions, compteting, lives, and Freelancer likely didn't have much of an impact on the war effort. But there was nothing to do about that. The more pressing concern now was dealing with the Director.
And, of course, the Alpha.
Meanwhile
It was silent as morning crept over the horizon. Patrols continued around the legion camp as many just began to wake up and grimly ate their breakfast.
Very few still wanted to be here, fewer had any hope of victory against these Iron Men who, to the awareness of the soldiers, had not lost a single of their own in all the fighting.
But still, the Legatus promised a cruel fate for any that spoke of deserting, of trying to return to the empire in defeat, or even just fleeing for their lives.
They were caught between a beast and a sheer drop.
And the beast decided to move closer at dawn.
Without warning, a great roar echoed through the air just before an explosion erupted at the edge of the camp. The camp sprung to life as the Legatus emerged from his tent, his armor just barely affixed before the chaos began.
"What's going on!? Someone, report!" Velus demanded as he looked around while heading to the front of the camp.
"Legatus, sir!" one of the soldiers called out, holding up his shield as another roar came out. Thankfully, the explosions were still far away. "It's the enemy! The Iron Men approach, and they have summoned their Scorpion-Dragon forth! It hurls these fires of destruction with every breath!"
Velus closed one eye as he saw an entire wooden fortification obliterated by the bright explosion. "How many numbers with the beast?!"
"Just one, Sir! But..." the soldier hesitated, paling. "Sir, it's the Spear Lord!"
"The Leader approaches alone? Even these Iron Men have their arrogance," Velus said grimly. "Have all ranged units rain upon that beast! Arches, catapults, mages, everyone!"
"Y-yes, sir!" the soldier obeyed, however skeptically.
Church wanted to turn away and literally ignore the hail of arrows that came down upon him, but he was at least somewhat weary of the idea of being hit by any of the large boulders or spears thrown by the siege weapons, so kept his eyes up just in case one was heading to them.
"Hey, Sheila? You think those could be a problem for you?" Church asked, looking to where one stabbed into the ground.
Sheila paused her firing to answer. "My hull can more than withstand such attacks, but there is a minor concern of my treads becoming nonfunctional from the impact if certain parts were shaken out of proper placement. However, I am already within optimal shooting range if this occurs."
"Yeah, that's about what I thought," Church mused, waving her to continue firing. "Tex, you ready?"
"Born ready," Tex answered, hanging from the back of the tank, cloaked as she jumped off and started running with the intent of flanking the camp. "Sheila? Please don't kill me. I have no desire to share that experience with Church."
"Are you sure? Bonding over that might help you two resolve your latest lover's quarrel," Shelia suggested.
Tex, however, pretended to be well out of hearing range and failed to respond.
Church sighed. "Honestly, Shelia? I think it would be fucking simpler if that was the issue. At least I might know what the hell is up with- Oh, shit," Church said as he saw a large javelin bolt being fired at him. It was only a barely thing, but he managed to lean out of the way.
To the enemies, it seems like he dodged it with mocking ease.
For Church, it felt far less graceful. "Fuck! That might have actually fucked this robot body up," he said. True, the armor wouldn't be hurt by the siege weapon, but after the incident with his legs and the switch, he didn't exactly trust Sarge's handiwork to not get fucked up by that kind of heavy impact. "Right, Sheila? Kindly blow up those catapults or whatever they are."
"Certainly!" Sheila agreed chipperly. "Firing Main Cannon!"
With that, she began to turn the siege weapons into a mist of blood and sawdust.
Tex moved through the tree line like a wrathful ghost. Once she reached the back of the camp, she charged in. She barely acknowledged the fence of a large wooden post, punching through it and collapsing it on some poor fools that had been hiding in this area. She kept her cloak up for a good few minutes before appearing in front of a group attempting to man a giant cross-bolt of a siege weapon. Ballista, if she was right.
Seeing the She of Death appear sent many of them fleeing for their lives, and the rest fled when she stomped on a part of the wood siege weapon, crushing it to splinters with ease.
Tex smirked, right until she was knocked aside by an unseen force.
She looked over and saw...mages? Was that the term? Magic users in various robes and clothes. One was a winged woman with air rushing about her unnaturally, and the other two were humans. A young man with an orb of water formed at the end of his staff, and the last a crone who hadn't shown what she could do.
Tex made a show of cracking her neck. "Okay, let's play," she said ominously as she charged at the trio.
The water mage sent a torrent of water at her, but she was able to ignore it. If she was a human and without this armor, it might have stunned or knocked her over, but as it was? It just obscured her vision for a moment.
Which was enough for the ground to open a hole under her, something she barely leaped over. But the moment she did, she found vines sprouting from the ground and attempting to restrict her.
Realizing the only real problem was the crone, Tex used her free arm to throw a grenade. The winged mage tried to put up a barrier if Tex was right, but the blast tore it apart and gave Tex the chance she needed.
The crone was killed instantly by a bullet to the skull. The man was already injured and burned by the grenade and didn't have time to get his bearings as Tex raced forth to punch him in the face, snapping his neck in the process and perhaps destroying his brain.
The winged woman gave a look of terror before fleeing away into the sky. Tex decided to let her live.
After all, the point of this was to get the army fleeing, to break into a full retreat.
And it was definitely doing that now, their morale broken and people fleeing for their lives. Between Tex's arrival and the onslaught at the front with the tank, they had no more will to fight.
"I guess that's a win," Tex remarked as she watched the enemies flee to avoid her.
It was kind of fucked up, she knew, killing people in this large of numbers when they had no chance of really fighting back. But given the intent of the Saderean army, she couldn't feel too sympathetic. If they had appeared in any world with a decent civilian population, a lot of people would have gotten hurt or worse.
Though, it was almost funny to think about just clearing out Blood Gulch and every other part of their backwater planet, leaving the invaders to realize they were in a shithole with no one to conquer and nothing of value to them. She was sure Church and the others would get a laught out of letting anyone have that dubious "glory"
Tex was brought out of her musing by the defiant shout from a man. She turned to see a warrior riding a top a horse, galloping towards Tex at full speed with a spear in hand.
Brave or crazy, Tex admitted this one had balls. She decided to dignify his efforts.
She reached out and grabbed the spear with both hands, her footing firm and her form unmoving. The force of the charge meeting her immovability sent the rider launching off and landing on his back. The man growled with an insane look in his eyes as he made to stab at her with a short sword.
Tex lifted her arm to block the weapon and used the other to stab the spear into the head of the enemy, through the chin, and into the brain. WIth that, he slumped to the ground as just another corpse.
Thus ended the command of the prideful Legatus Velus, by the hands of the She of Death, at the feet of the Iron Gods he refused to acknowledge.
End of Chapter
Well, there's that done. Second battle wrapped up, and the starts of diplomatic relationships with the Elves have begun. This was the final push the enemy army needed to fully break, no matter what threats Velus made. And the Gulchers are now aware of the bigger dragon inthe region. Fun.
Until next time, I hope you all enjoyed this!
Early viewing of chapters 26-27 avaliable on my pat-reon:
p a treon . com (slash) akumakami64