Warrior Bunny kingdom capital
Richard had received a little me-time, so to speak. He had a short break from operations now that they began establishing the trade between them and Ratiari, the job of guarding the convoys heading to and from the place being left to the UNSC's Army personnel and the supply corps. Today, the Lieutenant was doing one of his standard visits to Tyuule, however, to further her ability to speak English.
Rolling into the forest on board one of the Warthogs that led the Convoy of supplies being delivered to the place, the man was met by the sight of various new buildings that had sprung up, including a medical clinic run by the Army Medical Corps and some of the Corpsmen. Some of the ladies were undergoing thorough medical checkups. Thankfully and contrarily to what the Lieutenant was expecting, there were few ladies that had received... Special treatment from the Marines, so to speak.
He marched into town, clad in the more relaxed attire of a T-Shirt with a bulletproof vest over it and baggy combat pants, as well as boots. He only had his sidearm with him as well. He nodded to some of the women he passed by, then entered the main mansion. Inside, he saw some electrical engineering underway. The SeaBees from aboard the Vladivostok had sent various engineering units to assist the village in building itself up proper, with electricity and everything.
Right now, they were connecting the Queen's 'palace' to the power sources. He smirked, waving to some of the Construction Battalion members as he entered into the living area, only to find Tyuule reading and writing. He crossed his arms to his chest, surprised. To note, Tyuule was a very studious woman. She clearly wanted to learn their language so they could safely interact without the need for translators and she had been doing an amazing job so far.
She was humming another song as she wrote on into her notebook, only noticing the Lieutenant when a board creaked as he stepped on it. She turned to face him, smiled and said, "Just in time, Lieutenant," in perfectly good English. Sure, she was good at short sentences, but- "I've decided to look into the lectures you've recommended. Surprisingly entertaining."
"Glad to hear," The man stared, a bit surprised, at the proficiency with which she spoke, "And you seem to be learning fast."
"I try," She smiled, "Now, come along. We should be getting on with the program..."
"Sure thing," He nodded, then removed his bulletproof vest and set it aside. Marching up to the table, he started up the lesson, focusing more on proper use of adjectives and proper placement, comparing prose to poetry, that kind of dumb shit. He was no English teacher by any means and he would usually fall asleep if he had to do this himself, but he felt like he owed it to the Queen to help her with this much, at the very least, after they decided to throw their lot in with them.
As they continued reading through the theory and Tyuule assimilated the information, the Lieutenant remembered another of the reasons he was here. He hummed, then said to Tyuule, "Doc Halsey also told me to let you and your girls know that the UNSC's planning a military exercise within the coming days. They figured they should ask you to join, to watch and participate if you want."
"Our people?" She raised a brow, "What does this 'exercise' entail?"
"Building of cooperation between the various branches, work on combined arms warfare, that kinda stuff. Means you basically get to work with all branches of the UNSC Military on the planet, from air force to the Marines and Army," He explained calmly, "Doc Halsey said she wants me to show the UEG representatives that we aren't fooling around and are actually doing as asked. Part of that includes a show of preparedness by the military forces present."
"I see..." Tyuule nodded, "I shall tell some of the girls to join, then. If there is any form of training that you can recommend..."
"Nice... And, well," He shrugged, "Just know how to cooperate. I gave you a book with the most used Military phrases we have. Teach the girls what the basic cooperation and orders mean and they should be golden... Following that, send a few over our way so we can drill them in the use of our firearms and the likes."
"... Doctor Halsey received approval to hand us your weaponry?" She raised a brow.
"You're offering to be our introductory work to the wider continent of Falmart, Your Highness," Richard nodded, "So, yeah. You'll be receiving some of the surplus gear and the training to use it for self-defense."
"... Your people awe me continuously, Richard," She noted, smiling, "That you'd be so friendly to a people who started trouble with your kin is..."
He smirked, "I get it. We're just trying to be the nice space-borne stepbrother to you and the other folks on this planet. Y'all still have final say, though, as a disclaimer, but yeah," And he shrugged. "Now... Back to work." He then looked over to the books and proceeded to further tutor the fast-learning Queen in their language. She hummed, nodding as she took the info in, then paused...
"Can you, perhaps, get more people to teach my entire country English? If we are to work together..." She offered. He smirked.
"Sure thing. Gonna have to see you at that training exercise."
Richard and Tyuule sat atop one of the FOB's towers, watching as the exercise ahead of them unfolded. Gunfire rang in the sky as Marine and Army troops moved in unison out in the open field, while newly-deployed armored vehicles such as tanks and IFVs rolled forward alongside them. The wide open area between the Forest and the UNSC FOB was a perfect zone for a little War Game to be run.
Thus, Queen Tyuule and her people sat side-by-side with the Third Platoon and several UEG Diplomats, as well as the admiral of the Fleet hanging above their world, regarding the Combined Arms proceeding. First Tank Company, 'Thunder', of the sixth Marine Division, rolled across the fields, their coaxial fifty-caliber MGs barking, scarlet tracers flying over the heads of Marines and Army troopers.
Two thousand new men and a hundred new vehicles had been sent from the fleet for this exercise. Aircraft were still arriving overhead, with more equipment. Herons and Albatrosses landed, deploying ever-more units to the field, including a stream of new Infantry that would be based in the FOB's newest-built sections of the Defense Wall. Queen Tyuule had approved of her own joining in this combat exercise. She watched as Warrior Bunnies stood on the UNSC's armor, blades at the ready. Marines pushed forth in the meanwhile, their rifles ringing through the air.
Above, the Huron gunships flew, their rotor blades chopping through the wind. Thirty Millimeter Gatling cannons rippled and an open field ahead exploded as dirt and debris were kicked up. ATGMs from the wings of the Hurons launched. Laser-guided munitions. They hit with the force of falling thunder, shaking the ground even as far as the walls of the FOB. Tyuule continued to stare, awed, at the sight, while Delilah beside her gripped onto the lip of the wall.
To the uninitiated and the unknowing, this must've seemed like ungodly magic. To Tyuule and her people, however, they had gotten acclimatized to the presence of the UNSC enough that they knew of their vehicles. They'd seen them drive in and out of their capital countless times already. Mostly trucks and transports, but that was beside the point. Watching them work their military magic now?
Well, she was awed to see just how fast Warthogs could move. Mouth agape, the woman watched as a squadron of Warthogs armed with various armaments rolled past the tanks and bounced over the rough terrain of the bombarded field, the gunners sweeping the area ahead, saturating the intended target with heavy fire. Meanwhile, the Warrior Bunnies she allowed to join in on the exercise dismounted from their vehicles and quickly pushed up side-by-side with the Marines.
Below, at a shooting range, UNSC Marine riflemen taught several of the girls how to shoot. The rifles rang again and again in single-shot as the Warrior Bunnies squeezed the triggers, each round punching through a paper silhouette target. This was a demonstration of the UNSC's willingness to uplift and assist her people. She knew as much while she looked at their two warrior groups train together.
The rumble of explosions continued as Richard stated, "Looks like the training's going well."
"Surprisingly so," Tyuule murmured. She looked over to one of the diplomats beside them and stated, "We appreciate the aid you offer, but we didn't think we would be training on your equipment. For what purpose is this little meeting and show, anyways?"
The diplomat, a woman in her forties with greying black hair and jet-black eyes, stated simply, "A show of trust for your people. That we're willing to be the ones to uplift you technologically to our level, at the very least. You allowed us passage and safe harbor in your territory for our research teams and cooperated with us when it came to retrieving our men, after all, Your Highness. Not to mention fighting side-by-side with our soldiers. We intend to offer much in return, too," before she looked at the advancing Scorpions.
"I see..." Tyuule hummed, "My thanks."
Richard hummed, fiddling with the grip of his rifle for a bit, before sliding it onto his back. He looked above as the gunships flew back in. On the door guns, Marines let loose streams of either bullets, or 40mm grenades from automatic grenade launchers. He looked over toward the objective and past the first 'line of defense' that they had destroyed. They were supposed to push through and reach the edge of the forest.
The Warrior Bunnies bounded alongside the Marine squads they were operating beside, moving farther ahead to close the distance, almost as if they listened to the officers coordinating the Marines. WBs would make great shock troops, Richard thought as he saw them continue the assault unabated while their vehicle support rolled up behind them. Army Troopers followed close behind as well, rifles in hand and firing bursts.
"It is incredible..." Tyuule murmured, "The sheer level of coordination between your various combined arms units is..."
"Millennia of warfare fought like your people and the Empire do, followed by rapid industrialization within a few centuries... Then followed by spaceborne industrialization and militarization nowadays," The man replied calmly, "Read a bit of our history and you'll see the Combined Arms tactics used here are just further refinements of the stuff we saw during the Second World War and later conflicts of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries."
"Still," She noted, "Squad operations instead of entire companies of men charging at each-other with blades and shields."
He shrugged, "I get what ya mean. Seeing UNSC Military exercises on the extranet is part of what got me to want to join the Marines."
"I see," Tyuule smiled, then paused and looked to him with a hint of confusion, "Extranet?"
"A communication system that allows various worlds to communicate in almost real-time through the utilization of various satellite and beacon systems. Usually used to store very important information, nowadays also used to post interesting videos, propaganda and other such items. It is derived out of the old Internet systems of early 21st-century Humanity's homeworld." The UEG Spokesperson to Tyuule's left explained. The girl looked, awed, at both the Lieutenant and the UEG's reps.
"Oh, don't worry," He grinned, "We'll have satellites set up soon enough for that. Maybe even a few terminals in your Kingdom's capital."
She watched above as more Heron drop-ships swung in. Their front hatches opened up and off rolled more armored vehicles and support for the Marine-Army-Warrior Bunny beachhead, while their gunships engaged from up above in support of the advance. Another massive explosion rocked the place, followed by the roar of a dozen UNSC tank guns and another dozen smaller detonations as the troops proceeded to the next point.
Doctor Halsey approached the Lieutenant, watching as the training exercise continued unabated, whispering to him, "Scouts near the West spotted someone heading the way of the camp. I'm going to need your Platoon and three others to come along with me and the Colonel."
He nodded, then called up his Platoon and said to Tyuule and the others, "Apologies, ladies and gentlemen, but I and my squad have something to deal with..."
Giving the Call and marching up to the armory, the Lieutenant picked up his equipment and joined the Doctor, Colonel and the rest of the squadrons that had gathered. Moving to the West Gate, which was a smaller access point that was diverted away from the echoes of gunfire, the Marines met with the Army personnel standing on guard, their turrets pointed at...
A flock of Crows?
The troopers watched as a single, petite figure clad in a black and red dress marched toward the gate, a purple-colored, almost organic-looking halberd of some strange design in her hand. Her lower lip was colored a deep shade of pink, while her scarlet eyes peered right at the doctor and Lieutenant as both stared at the new arrival through binoculars. She crested the hill fully, the flock of death-signaling animals around her slowly dispersing as she strutted up.
The Lieutenant raised his hand and called to her in Latin, "That's far enough, missus!"
"Greetings!" She wore a somewhat smug smile, having stopped where she was ordered to. She stated, "I seek the Warriors of the Eagle!"
The Lieutenant and Halsey looked to one-another, then up to the UNSC flag fluttering over the West Gate. They then turned to face her, with several of the Marines racking the charging handles of their assault rifles and thumbing the safeties off. Halsey yelled back to the girl, "To what end do you seek us?" causing her smile to grow wider. From leaning it onto her shoulder, the girl stabbed the bottom of the halberd into the ground.
"Merely to speak to you and your kin, sage," She offered, though the menacing aura she had grew by the second.
"Doc?" The Lieutenant asked, feeding a round into his own rifle's chamber. She raised a hand, showing him to stay calm.
"If you simply wish to speak, very well," She stated calmly, "But if you seek to do harm to our people, you should know we will not hesitate to kill you."
"I am certainly aware," She replied, "With what you have done to the Imperial force... Now, may I come in? I hear the rumbles of warfare in the distance and I seek to find out what it is your men are fighting..." just as the thunderclap of high-caliber shells striking the dirt echoed all the way over to them. Halsey hummed, then nodded and motioned to the soldiers and Colonel to keep an eye on her.
As the girl approached the group, she was met by Doctor Halsey, who told her, "You may need to relinquish your weapon... My men are fairly jumpy."
"I see..." She hummed, "That could be a problem."
"I don't know why it would be. We vow we will not do you any harm," Halsey replied.
"Hahaha!" The girl burst into a laughing fit in front of the Doctor and the Marines, much to their chagrin. She looked to Halsey, then stated calmly, "You truly believe you can harm me... Adorable, but not unexpected. You've no concept of who I am, after all."
"Then, shall we begin this properly?" Halsey asked, mild annoyance in her voice, "I am Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, commander of the force of men and women you see before you. We are the UNSC, an exploration and military force subservient to our government and we've come to your planet in search of artifacts and technologies lost to the sands of time."
"... Hmm..." She squinted at the Doctor, then hummed, "I see. I should be more surprised that you mentioned the word 'planet, but I am not... Alas. I am Rory Mercury, Apostle of Emroy, the mighty God of War that rules over this world and its living, proud and honorable warriors, which include the women you've formed a bond with. The Warrior Bunnies."
A religious figurehead, Halsey thought. She nodded, then said, "Greetings to you, then, miss Mercury. You're welcome to come watch our War Game with us and the Warrior Bunnies," and she motioned to the top of one of the ramparts, where Marines patrolled and a crowd had gathered. Overhead, a Gunship flew low and fired its gun, surprising Rory, who gazed up.
"Iron Pegasus?" She inquired, slightly awed.
"A helicopter, miss Mercury," The Doctor replied calmly. Rory hummed, then nodded as the group climbed up to the observation post. Tyuule turned to see them come and immediately dropped to one knee, greeting Rory. The young lady patted the queen on the shoulder and she stood to her feet, smiling. Turning to Richard, she took his side and grabbed him by the wrist to drag him away for a minute.
"You did not tell me that Her Holiness was going to be visiting..." She smiled.
"I don't think any of us knew she was..." The man shrugged, "Did you tell Halsey about your Religious beliefs?"
"No... The Doctor was more focused on other avenues, such as other sections of our society and how we thought our lives could be improved by the UNSC," The girl replied, "Anyways... That she is here must mean something you've done gave Emroy pause. That, or she just grew interested in you. I certainly hope it is the latter, because Emroy is our God of War..."
"We're aware. She mentioned it," He noted, then returned with her to watch the last sequence of the mock battle unfold. Rory watched the combined-arms force roll forward, infantry bounding and firing their guns while the armor continued to provide support, before finally splitting into battle groups of dozens of men and no more than ten tanks. The Infantry mounted the vehicles while Warthogs and Mongoose ATVs rolled past them, guns roaring and rippling.
Above, the Gunships began their last tidal wave of fire to clear a path, their gatling cannons roaring as the ground itself was torn asunder ahead of the advancing allied force. The UNSC's Scorpions rolled over the craters with impunity, their MGs roaring as they struck at targets built around them, including enemy 'armor'. Shards of hot steel lanced up into the sky as 90mm AP rounds punched through plating and SPnKr rocket launchers fired their two missiles into the line, the flashes of violence causing Rory to stare disbelievingly.
Mouth slightly agape, the woman watched as the pure, unbridled violence of Combined Arms Warfare continued, reshaping the very ground ahead with the thunder of gunpowder and explosives. She blinked, then murmured to herself, "What sort of magics...?" before turning to the Doctor, "What Magical power do your people wield to do such things with those horseless carriages?"
"Ah, yes, the concept of 'magic'... It's no magic, miss Mercury..." She replied, then eyed the UEG reps, "It is merely the power of technology."
"I see..." Rory cupped her own chin in a thinker's pose, "And you would give this technology to the Warrior Bunnies?"
"They are our first allies on this world and they require protection from the Empire that isn't just melee weapons," Halsey noted, "So, yes. We would gladly offer them this weaponry and the advances we have. In fact, we are working on that as we speak, to integrate them and allow them to properly cooperate with us and our allied forces, should the Empire ever decide to pursue the rest of their war of Genocide."
"I understand," Rory noted, her grip tightening around her Halberd, "While your views are noble, good doctor, I am afraid I cannot allow you to aid these warriors of Emroy to undertake such weapons. They lack the honor of the Wars fought here, where one would have to stare their enemy in the eye, soldier to soldier, before killing them. You seek to turn the Warrior Bunnies into honorless dogs."
"Your Holiness, I must protest," Tyuule started just before Halsey would, having noticed the good Doctor's glare, "There is honor in defeating your foe and we still will face them in battle. What the UNSC is trying to give to us is a chance at survival. Our people are few. Our warriors are fewer than the Empire. Should they ever come here, there would be no honor in the slaughter they would unleash upon us... Not after the humiliation we've given them."
"While I understand your beliefs, Queen Tyuule, I still cannot allow them to do this... Emroy's orders..." The woman glared at Halsey, her lip slowly fading from a pinkish color into a purple one. Halsey glared right back at her, blue eyes meeting scarlet ones as the two stared down. The tension was so thick, one could cut it with an Energy Sword. Noticing the stalemate and fearing for the Doctor's life, the man approached her and whispered something into her ear.
Halsey hummed, then nodded and thanked Richard silently. She looked over to Rory and said, "If your 'God', whomever he may be, desires to interrupt the technological uplifting of a species because of some petty reason, I would like to know it before we proceed."
Rory marched up to the Doctor, leaned close and whispered, "All the Gods of this world are afraid they would lose their power... Belief is what drives them forth, child. You take that away from them, it is akin to declaring war to the greatest Pantheon known to mankind and its fellow species within Falmart. Seek to do that at your own peril, but know that you've accepted an Apostle of Emroy into your home... And we know how to kill."
"Are you threatening my soldiers, Apostle? Are your so-called 'Gods' threatening them?" Halsey glared at her. She knew that Rory was doing so, but the implication that Halsey didn't believe they were gods seemed to have gotten a rise out of the girl, who grinned dangerously at the good scientist before her. Gritting her teeth, Halsey spoke over the com, "Admiral."
"Yes, doctor?" The man replied.
"Prepare package one from the Cruiser UNSC Triarius. High-yield. Grid target Zero-Four-Five Zero-Two-Five, due North of the FOB. Maximum charge. Wait for my go."
"D-Doctor, I-"
"Do it, Admiral," She ordered. He replied with an affirmative murmur, to which Halsey switched back to Latin and said, "Let me show you something, miss Mercury."
"U-Uh, Doctor-" The UEG rep started, while Tyuule seemed surprised. Richard stepped in front of both of them and stretched his left hand, grinning as the Doctor led Rory to another part of the observation deck and pointed out toward a small mountain in the far distance. Tyuule stepped forth, too, while the UEG Rep and the Marines seemed to be aware of what was going on.
"Our gods can reshape that mountain and this entire world to their whim. What are you to them but ants? What should you be to me? I am a demigoddess, blessed by Emroy himself with the strength of a thousand men and the ability to never die, not to mention over nine hundred years of experience slaying those akin to you..." Rory warned as gracefully as she could, though her anger was palpable, "I am not afraid of your pitiful 'technologies', doctor. They are the spawns and whims of mortal men, not of Gods!"
Halsey looked to Rory, then smiled. A genuinely terrifying smile that somehow seemed to sent chills up the petite Apostle's spine somehow. She cued her mic again and said, "Admiral. Fire at will..." before she motioned to the mountain. Ahead of them, the air seemed to ripple. Gathering clouds overhead grew dark for a moment, then bright white. The sky split at the seams and a spear of white lightning stabbed into the ground, right into the peak of the rocky mountain that they targeted. The ground rumbled and began to viciously shake as clouds of billowing smoke and debris were kicked up into the sky, filling up the hole left by the ferrous slug of the weapon.
The ground then split from the impact point out to several kilometers, followed by the second-late thunderclap and shockwave of the blast which knocked Rory's little matching bow off her head and onto the ground. Rory herself stared, awed. Her legs gave way as she collapsed onto the floor, looking over the rampart as the smoke ahead cleared, revealing the massive crater that was left where the mountain would have been.
Halsey stared proudly at the destruction wreaked by the Mass Accelerator Cannon, while Tyuule's breath seemed to have caught in her throat. The Apostle looked up at the doctor, the color from her lower lip drained back to a faint pink while her face grew pale, her black hair fluttering in the wind as rain began to fall from the clouds that were nearly torn asunder with the ground. She spoke, "What... Was that...?"
"A Magnetic Accelerator Cannon off of the UNSC Triarius. A ship standing high above this world that your supposed Gods preside over," She replied firmly, then looked to Rory and helped her to her feet, before stating, "A show of our own powers... Now, listen to me and listen well, Rory Mercury, apostle of Emroy. And tell your God this the next time you see him, so he may send it further to his brothers and sisters..."
"We can reshape or destroy this land as we see fit, just like your gods threaten, and we can do it at the press of a single button or the bark of a single order from me or my subordinates. We wield the power of the Sun in the palm of our hands, the power to wipe out entire cities and civilizations from the safety of a place higher than where even your Gods, like this Emroy, rest," She offered calmly, though her eyes told that this was a warning, "I ask you this, then, miss Mercury... What is a God to a nonbeliever then, miss Mercury? What is a God to an armed and belligerent nonbeliever?"
"Nothing but a mere obstacle, perhaps..." Rory replied through a shallow breath, her eyes glimmering. She looked over to the representative of the UEG, to the Lieutenant and then to Tyuule, before asking, "What horrid mistake have Molt and his petulant children done? Into whose arms has the Empire driven you...?" as she leaned her Halberd against her shoulder, mouth still slightly agape.
"... The arms of warriors and friends, Your Holiness. Warriors stronger than any others..." Tyuule replied, smiling, though her own heart raced. She looked over to Richard, who smirked.
Rory nodded, "So I see... Very well..." She sighed deeply. Looking to Halsey, she said, "With your permission, Doctor... I would like to stay and observe your people."
"As long as you do not interfere in any way, shape or form with our work with the Warrior Bunnies," Halsey warned. She looked over to the shocked UEG Rep and her officers and said, "I'd like a chance to see what these 'Apostles' really are. After I get a thorough debriefing on the mythos of this world through Her Highness, of course," And she cast a glance Tyuule's way. The Queen simply gave her a nod.
"I shall... Endeavor to hold to that, then. And I shall provide an explanation to Emroy about it," She stated, then smirked and extended her hand toward Doctor Halsey. Looking over to the Lieutenant and UEG Rep, both of them nodded, causing her to roll her eyes. She shook Rory's hand, feeling the grip of the Apostle tighten enough to cause her a minor amount of pain.
Gods, Apostles and threats...
Just what kind of bloody mess had she gotten herself into this time...?