CHAPTER IV: The Culling
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05 stood in the main passenger compartment.
His hands caressed the black plate of the DC-17m. With practiced precision, he swapped the modes from the base blaster to the sniper mode, and finally, the anti-armor attachment, before finally putting back the initial blaster mode.
Next, he unholstered his DC-15s side arm, checking the alignment of the sights. Once satisfied, he flicked the switch which changed it from stun to lethal. He had yet to fire it, however ensuring that the operation of one's weapons was key to survival.
Once done with this, he put them off to the side moving to check the ordinance and gear not related to his DC-17m or his DC-15s. He checked the sets of grenades he had prepared. Thermal detonators, sonic detonators, flash detonators, and droid poppers.
My arsenal, locked and loaded. Unlocking his survival pack from his armor, he moved it to his front.
The first thing he noticed was the glow of the number "Zero-Five", the last two digits that were given to him at birth, and the only two numbers he ever needed.
The hermetic seals opened up with a depressurized hiss, soon revealing the top layer of his gear, which were expertly packed medical supplies which he could access in a firefight if need be. The next layer was a layer of rations, the non-perishable variety. And finally, in the two compartments, extra ammunition for the blaster and sniper modes in one, and four anti-armor shells in the other.
Satisfied, he moved the pack to his back with a practiced motion, and with a click, it stuck to his back.
First, the timer he'd set up had gone off, a small blinking notification appearing in the bottom left of his vision.
Next followed the sounds of wobbly footsteps were caught by the helmet's advanced sensors, soon turning to young woman walking his way.
'Fencer Squire' was the name on the identification tag that was provided to her by this 'Adventurers Guild', along with other pertinent information one would expect on such a tag, such as skin color, eye color, hair color, age, and the such.
Still, he'd need to double-check with her and see whether or not the identifier 'Fencer Squire' was simply an alias given to her by the guild or one she picked out herself.
The young lady looked around while she slowly made her way to him, quite obviously weary of the foreign environment that she has found herself in. The rather nice leather boots she wore echoed throughout the silent compartment as she moved.
"Are you ready?"
His words seemed to break her out of the weariness, causing her to straighten up, whether it was because she was somehow entranced in a world of her own or because he had startled her, he did not know.
Chestnut-colored eyes quickly landed on him, and he could see that her hand had quickly landed onto the grip of the rapier. Once she realized who it was, she seemed to slightly relax as nodded.
"I am."
Looking at her, he could tell by her posture that she wasn't as ready as she claimed to be, but in her eyes was a glint of something… it'd been a while since he'd seen a face like that, the last time he had was the first time his squad had entered the Killing House back in Tipoca City.
A brave face, laced with anxiousness for the continuation of her 'quest'.
"Once we're off this shuttle, we'll come up with a plan." The commando wasted no time in beginning to move out, and she followed behind as quickly as she could. "Let's get moving."
Entering the neck of the shuttle, he walked up to the panel on the side of the room, beginning to press buttons. Halfway through the process, he noticed that the native had walked straight into the middle of the room.
"Don't stand there." He instructed while he finished up. "Stand behind the striped lines."
"Don't stand here?" She tilted her head as she looked down at the yellow and black lines which shaped a High Galactic 'U'. "Why?"
The lever popped out of the terminal now.
"It's a ramp." He simply stated as she looked down at the ground. "You might fall."
After letting a few seconds pass, she still stood there with mild confusion on her face. With an exhale, he pulled the lever down, a single jut, she wobbled and with a yelp, she did a small hop right back next to him as the boarding ramp slowly went down.
"It is a ramp." She stated while he walked past her. "How does it work?"
"A hydraulic system." His footsteps echoed as he moved down it. "Liquid pressure pushes it down and pulls it up."
"…ok." When he reached the bottom and turned to her, she was staring at the ramp still. "It won't go back up on me… right?"
"It'll go up when I tell it to." He raised his left arm and prepared to tell input the code to put the ramp up. "You'll be fine."
With an exhale, she sped down it as quickly as she could, nearly slipping in her haste.
As she moved a few steps away from it, he pressed a few buttons on his vambrace. Turning away from the boarding ramp, he heard the mechanical whir of the ramp steadily rising, and soon enough closing with a pressurizing seal.
Moving over to the dirt clearing, he crouched down and unsheathed the survival knife, beginning to carve a rudimentary map into the ground.
"What are you doing?" 'Fencer Squire' had moved over to him, taking a seat right beside him. "Drawing?"
"It's a rough map of the area." Continuing to sketch out an area, he finished off by adding rocks to certain areas. "Six-P Rule states prior proper planning prevents poor performance."
"Ok…." She sounded impressed as laid the flat of the rapier on her shoulder, just watching him finish up the map. "What do you need to know?"
"We are here, and the main pathway is… there." He placed the wrapper of the survival rations to designate the shuttle and pointed the knife blade to the road. "This is where I found you, to the west." The knife pointed to a spot with a twig sticking out of the semi-dried mud. "And all I know is that I picked up your trail somewhere… here." The tip trailed down south and began to circle in that area. "Do you know where they are encamped?"
"If the road is here, and you found me there." She leaned forward, using her gloved hands to point at the two locations. "Then it should be here."
Looking to the spot, he put a hand on his chin. "Strange. There was no cave there before."
"The land changes quite frequently," She explained, looking at him now. "It isn't uncommon for the frontier to change up like that."
"And these goblins live in the cave?" When she nodded, he put the tip of the knife to his chin. "Do they use lighting of any kind to see in the dark?"
"No." She shook her head. "Their cave was completely dark when we entered in."
"Then it is likely they are adapted to see in the dark." Pointing the knife away from his helm, he continued to pick her mind. "How long have these goblins been an issue?"
"According to this," She pulled out a sheet and handed it to him, "the goblins only became a problem recently."
Sheathing the blade, he reached out and took the sheet, quickly reading the few lines on said sheet. He could see that it was an official form of sorts issued by the Adventurers Guild, a watermark of this guild's sigil underneath all the wordings, stating an individual known as the 'Sixth Baron' had commissioned the elimination of these creatures known as 'goblins'.
"Local nobility?" He asked as he passed the slip of paper back. "Is it usual for them to intervene in these issues?"
"No, most of the time they leave it to the locals unless they get fed up with the locals asking for help." She informed him, taking the sheet back. "The guild is run by the state, so anyone with the money can put in a request with the guild, and if the people can't put in a request, then the nobility will, to the detriment of the hamlet asking for help." She then lifted her tag. "Afterwards teams like… like us are sent out to deal with them."
"That makes sense." He turned back to the map. "Do you have their numbers or an estimate?"
"I'm not sure." She shook her head. "I know we killed a lot of them, but it seemed like a large horde."
"Problematic." 05 stood up now, his helmet giving him a highlighted route to follow. He could only hope that they would not be an endless horde, as Geonosis taught him a thing or two that he wish he didn't need to know. "We'll first make our way to where I found you first, and then towards the cave."
"Why not the cave first?" She asked with a degree of hesitance in her voice.
"It is likely that tribals would investigate the disappearance of a small fighting party." Turning to the lady in a mismatched outfit, he continued. "Either to recover the dead or recover salvageable gear."
"You sound oddly confident about this." She added, doubt in her voice. "Especially against an enemy you just learned about."
"Most species think similarly." He turned to the path now, beginning to move towards the objective he set out. "I just have to think what I would do in their position."
Although she didn't immediately follow, she quickly limped towards him, being within two meters distance behind him.
As he took point through the night forest, he was sure to keep his head on a swivel.
It seemed that the previous day's rainfall had washed away his tracks, ensuring that any of these tribals who had attempted to search for him simply wasted their time.
Though he doubted that'd last for long, especially since they were simply a stone's throw distance from his shuttle. If they raid and pillage, these tribals would most likely attempt to pillage the shuttle and by extension, be a threat to him.
One of his brothers might think him paranoid or overreacting, but a single Buzzdroid could cause havoc and chaos if left to their own devices, and it seems that these goblins fall under the same umbrella.
So it'd be best to be the one kicking down the door than to be the one on the receiving end.
"Can you see in the dark?" The young lady asked in a hushed tone. "Or have some ability to be able to?"
"My helmet can see in shades of grey." He told her nothing more and nothing less.
"Ah ok." She half-whispered, the rate of her breaths increasing as they moved. Not unusual, given that she had just barely gotten past what many would consider the threshold of recovery. "How much farther?"
"We're close." He quietly stated as he continued forward, his helmet soon picking up a sound. "Hold."
Putting his left arm up with a closed fist, he came to a halt, and a second later so did she.
Standing still, his helmet picked up the sounds of multiple footsteps waddling around a number of meters ahead of them, which according to his helmet's navigation, was where the clearing was. Further along the route toward the cave, he could pick up another set of footsteps, moving through the underbrush.
With the same arm, he put two fingers up and pointed to the right, and once more brought it up to show four fingers and pointed to the left.
Slowly, she shuffled forward as quietly as possible.
"Was that some signal or…?" She softly asked, confusion quite clear in her voice.
"Two to the right, four to the left." He simply explained, wishing to be as quiet as possible. "Are you capable of fighting?"
"If I can get the jump on them, I think I can manage."
"Copy. I'll move into position to engage the three." He didn't like that response, however when working with locals, one must make do with what they got. Still, a plan came quickly to him. "Once I engage, you move to hide behind that tree, the racket should bring the two over, and give you the opportunity to surprise them."
He could see her nodding.
"Be ready."
Crouching down, he slowly and carefully moved toward the edge of the clearing. As he moved closer, his helmet clearly transmitted the sounds they were making, yet they spoke in a language so primitive and foreign that the pre-installed software could not identify it.
The two of these tribals were talking to each other. The one on the right was slightly slouched over and sounded much more tired, even leaning forward on its spear. It held the posture of one trying to get out of work, or perhaps to end a patrol early. The one to the right however had smacked it upside the head with its hand, angrily speaking to it. Its anger was quite clearly in response to the laziness of the one on the left.
05 could not help but find it amusingly strange how expressions remain relatively the same
With a slow raise of his DC-17m, the digital crosshair appeared on his H.U.D., aligning itself with the positioning of the blaster within his hands, followed up with the quiet click of the safety turning off.
It seemed that these tribals might have decent hearing too, as the clicking sound caused the one on the right to turn towards his general location, easily catching sight of his misty visor.
A second later a blue blaster bolt popped its head open like a fat mynock, and the other one let out shrills of alarm before they too met a similar fate as the following shot hit its mark with speed and accuracy, unlike any weapon on this planet.
Moving into the clearing, he confirmed the kills of the tribals, more out of habit rather than an actual need to.
While he was doing this, he could hear that Fencer Squire had begun to move to the position he directed her for their planned ambush. It didn't take much longer for another group of footsteps to rush their way to investigate the sound.
Any second now.
Stomping on the necks of the dead goblin, he looked in the direction that the footsteps were arriving from, their garbled voices and maliciously cheerful cackles could be heard off in the distance, getting ever closer.
Moving to a more obvious position in this clearing, he needed to make himself an obvious target so that Fencer Squire would not be detected. Flicking a switch on the side of his helmet, he activated the flashlight that was built into it, hopefully making himself a much more obvious target.
As he had noted earlier, four goblins were approaching fast, two wearing rather shoddy leather armor with knives in both hands, and the other two wearing weird-looking caps with bows as their primary weapon, each with a quiver full of arrows.
It looked like a type of patrol. Nothing as organized as one would expect of an actual military force or nation, but organized enough so that ranged units would have proper protection in the odd chance melee combat was initiated.
With a sequential blinking of his eyes, the deflector shield activated. An ordinary arrow would never break through the duraplast armor plates that encased ninety percent of his body, but he wasn't going to risk it as an arrow might be able to break through the armor-weave.
His eyes looked to the ambusher of their plan, and that was when he realized something was… off. She was feverish and clutching her weapon, and worse, violently shaking. Her posture was lacking the confidence he had seen earlier.
This was a problem.
The two goblins of the bow stopped right before the tree that she was hiding, whereas the two with daggers continued to run towards him, the two of them completely unaware of the woman who was supposed to be ambushing.
To be fair, he was an obvious target, and the blue hum of his visor in the dark was practically asking for them to notice him first.
Two arrows soared towards him, and the two archers seemed pleased that he'd seemingly accepted his fate. Their faces immediately contorted into a strange mix of confusion and rage when both arrows shattered upon impact with the deflector shield.
Still, he had a job to do, so he lifted his blaster.
Choosing to fire upon the archers first, the first blue bolt burned straight through the head and the second in the upper chest, energy-rich blaster bolts piercing straight through the flesh and bones of these small tribals. Pained screams rang out as the two soon collapsed.
It seemed that despite these apparent losses, the two goblins with knives in their hands were emboldened by this as if by him wielding a ranged weapon he was supposed to be an easier target.
05 would prove that he was no ordinary trooper.
The first goblin charged him head-on and it seemed that it was going to make an attempt to stab straight into the thigh plate, the damage was negated completely as a flurry of shanks and stabs bounced off the deflector shield. Eyes widening, it let out a garbled cry that was immediately cut off as he used his DC-17m as a club and smacked it off the side, blood covering the frontal grip of the blaster.
The second one attempted to lunge at him, possibly trying to latch onto his gorget in an attempt to get a better angle to stab him. However, that ended in complete failure as he easily reacted to the action by launching forth his left hand, the goblin's wiry neck practically landing in his grip, letting out a choked gasp as it had not expected his reaction time, or perhaps it didn't realize how choreographed its attack was.
Dropping its weapons, it grasped at the hands clutching at its throat, and he could not help but bring the thing closer to his face.
Now taking the time to get a look at his enemy, it was a revolting little alien. Its skin looked like rough leather and had pointy ears and a long nose. Looking at the armor, it quite clearly looked jury-rigged and made with little to no craftsmanship, as if they had to cut from a larger piece of leather.
The other one tried to crawl away face bruised and nose bloodied. With a practiced movement of his leg, he stomped down on its lower leg, hearing the satisfying sound of bone snapping into two soon following a bloodcurdling screech.
05 could see in his peripherals that bone had broke flesh and blood was now welling at the breakage, the little man struggling to continue crawling despite the broken bone. Figuring that it was not likely to escape, he looked back to the one in his hand. He could see that it had urinated itself and was now crying, while still struggling violently to break free from the grip it was stuck in.
He'd seen this face on some of the targets he had been tasked to assassinate. It was one of bargaining and attempting to avoid what fate had in store for them. Normally, the ones who had this face hadn't attempted to strike at him and oftentimes were a sobbing mess, where they started pleading for their life by offering millions of credits if they'd be allowed to live, but the fact that this one had been quite clearly aiming to kill him was now attempting to plead for his own life was both insulting and loathsome to him.
"Disgusting little creature, aren't you?"
Tightening his grip on its neck, he could see that the tears and the panicked breathing stopped. Tears turned in a fit of rage as its façade broke, now it was trying to yell what he believed to be some form of curses and expletives in its native language, while making its final attempt to break free from his grip, flopping and flailing around like a Gungan out of water.
There it is.
And it stopped with a snap.
Limbs became limp as the goblin ceased all attempts of escape. Now that his current prey had been dealt with, he dropped the body with as much care as one did with trash, his head slowly turned to the goblin on the ground, and he could see the panicked look don its face and he could feel the fear oozing from the little creatin as it failed to pull itself away.
Such a shame he didn't speak their language, an interrogation for more intel on their numbers, their home, and perhaps even false promises of letting it go would have been a wonderful process to go through.
Knuckleplate blade extending, the vibrating blade easily tore through the flesh, fat, and muscle as it made its way into the creature's throat, blood quickly oozing out of its wound. It let out loud chokes as it gagged on the liquid lifeblood that flowed out of its neck, clawed hands attempting to stop the bleeding by blocking the gaping wound, to no success as it expired soon after his blade retracted into its built-in sheathe. Flicking his hand to the side, he got any excess blood splattered into the dirt-turned-mud.
Pulling his DC-17m up, he could see that the calibration had become slightly off due to its use as a club. A weapon was as good as the care put into it, so he remedied it immediately, taking off the blaster attachment and twisting a few nobs before putting it back on. Once his helmet informed him all was well, he could not help but let out a satisfied exhale.
05 shut off the deflector shield. Although he could leave it active for at least a day uninterrupted, anything longer than an hour would begin to pollute the surrounding area with radiation. In the worst-case scenario where something would be dangerous enough to require its prolonged use, he'd keep it on consequences be damned.
The combat encounter having been completed, he looked to the woman who was supposed to be assisting him, sitting there, having slowly slid down the tree she had been hiding behind, looking in his direction.
"Counting the five from yesterday." He walked over the mess he had made towards her. "That makes eleven."
When she did not respond, he moved up to investigate what was the holdup.
Moving in closer, the first thing he noticed was that her stare wasn't quite on him or the clearing, but rather further past him. He could tell that her breathing was uneven, the sweat practically drenching her face, and finally, his helmet was telling him that her heart rate was much higher than it should be.
Her weapon was clutched tightly in her left hand, while her right arm was extended outwards, and her legs too were splayed out.
He could see that she was in some degree of panic, most likely caused by the unpleasant familiarity of the situation she was currently in. Eyes focusing on the information provided to him, he let out a silent 'oh' as he realized what was going on here.
Idiot. He mentally berated himself as he got up in front of her, crouching down to eye level. Should've expected this.
She was in the middle of a panic attack. He couldn't blame her given the circumstances in which he found her in the night before. He needed to remember that she was not a gene-tailored soldier meant to fight a galactic-wide civil war.
05's could only wonder how to proceed, as this situation was outside of his area of expertise. Clones produced by the Kaminoans were not susceptible to freezing up in the heat of combat, their fight or flight response being more fine-tuned towards the 'fight' side.
The best thing he could probably do as a first step was to inform her that the threat was over.
"Fencer Squire." The commando simply stated, snapping his fingers in front of her. "Combat's over, they're dead."
Her condition did not change, her breathing was still irregular, and still completely stuck in her own world. With that having failed, he decided to
Putting his left hand on her shoulder, he began to shake her as if he was trying to wake up one of his brothers from a nap. Nothing too rough to spook her any further, but just enough to hopefully snap her out of this trance.
"Fencer Squire." He spoke to her again while shaking her. "You're not in danger, they're dead."
It took a moment, however, once she came to, her eyes quickly landed on him, and soon after she noticed the hand on her shoulder, and most likely the blue visor looking straight at her.
Backing away now, he could see her eyes wander about, catching glimpses of her looking toward the dead goblins lying about. The young swordswoman slowly got control of her breaths as she collected herself, her nose scrunched up as she probably could smell the scent of ozone caused by his blaster, and could probably smell the scent of charred flesh of cauterized blaster wounds.
"I'm sorry." Fencer Squire rested her hand over her chest as she explained herself. "I heard their laughter, and then I felt my chest getting tighter." She dipped her head in shame, and when he didn't respond she continued. "I couldn't breathe, and-and the world around me just… disappeared."
Continuing to look at her, he felt that she was ashamed that these 'goblins' once more broke her down into a quivering mess, but from he had observed so far, they would be a force to be reckoned with if one wasn't wearing an armor set worth around hundred thousand credits.
Looking down at her, he could see that the fire in her eyes had certainly been doused by this encounter, but not entirely out. If this continued, she was going to become a major liability. If he could shift the coals about, perhaps he could stoke a large enough fire to carry her throughout the rest of this operation.
"An admiral of my Republic once said that there's nothing wrong with fear, that it's your natural warning system, keeping you alive so you can fight." 05 began, crouching down in front of her again. "You'd be a fool not to be afraid, these little things look like nasty creatures, but if you let your fear consume you in battle, then there will be unnecessary casualties."
Fencer Squire's gaze remained focused on his visor.
"So refocus on the mission objective and remember why you're doing this again." The commando simply pressed his fist to the half-plate, before standing. He then offered his hand to her. "I'm counting on you for assistance."
The young woman took a moment to simply look at the hand before she took it. With relative ease, a single heft was all that was needed to pull her back onto her feet.
"Ok…" The swordswoman exhaled as if she was trying to get rid of all the anxiety. "Refocus…"
While she had been doing her best to regain her composure, he had moved towards the two dead archers, who'd stopped right beside the tree. Crouching down once more, he saw the footprints in the dirt and looked toward the feet of the goblin.
They don't try to conceal their tracks. He noted, seeing a clear path of disruption of the natural grass and foliage.
"I've got a track." He stood up now. "Are you good?"
"Alright." She exhaled one more time, her voice sounding more grounded. Turning to him, she gave him a nod. "I'm good." Once more, there was a small flame in her eyes. "For real this time."
"Good." Lifting his blaster up, he turned towards the tracks. "Stick close, and remain vigilant."
-==O==-
Fencer Squire followed within a couple of meters behind the warrior in silvery armor.
At this very moment, she was barely able to keep up the pace that this knight had been maintaining. She knew she wasn't currently in top form, but she hadn't though her condition was that bad, given that she'd rested for an entire day.
It seemed that she'd overestimated her youthful vigor, as she felt as if she'd been marching for hours. Her calves felt like they were burning with every step forward and found it more difficult to keep her breathing quiet.
It was cold, and she could tell by how each breath she took was quite visible in the night air, and how she needed to clench her jaw to prevent her teeth from chattering. Yet despite how the breeze chilled her face, she could not feel it through the black mesh which hugged her skin tightly.
And if her body was feeling this bad, her appearance must look worse. Her hair had to be an absolute mess, having been given an impromptu haircut. She doubted her complexion looked any better given with how badly her savior had been emphasizing it, and she swore she could feel bags under her eyes.
Looking to the warrior in the lead, she noticed that he had not slowed down at all. His armor looked heavy, yet made no sounds other than the occasional click when two pieces of plate touched, and its aquamarine visor had an enchantment that allowed him to see in the dark.
And the weapon he wielded, a spell caster which shot blue firebolts with deadly accuracy.
He also spoke of a nation he was from, one unfamiliar to her, his 'Republic'. If he was not from the Human Kingdoms wielding an ancient relic of sorts, did this Republic forge his arms and armor, and if so, what was his social standing in this Republic?
She could not imagine that a commoner would be given such deadly arms and armor, so she was inclined to believe him a noble but there was no way a regent would entrust the scions of nobility such fantastical gear.
The way he spoke was rugged and rustic like the commoners of the land, but he spoke clearly and accurately and seemed rather educated especially since he could read the common script and quickly create plans based on minimal information.
Perhaps a soldier born of the people raised to knightly status, only bound to the highest power of this Republic he served?
"We're getting close." Said knight's voice broke her out of her musings. Despite the helmet being completely enclosed she heard him clearly. "Thirty seconds max."
"Gotcha." She acknowledged first, before whispering to herself. "You got this. You got this."
Looking forward, she continued to move until the silver warrior put up his arm. Coming to a halt, she could see his closed hand reveal two fingers.
As she moved up right beside him, she could see that the forest came to an end and gave way to a clearing, and the clearing eventually led to the mouth of a cave. At the cave's entrance, there was a singular goblin.
"There's only one guard now." She whispered to him. "There were two before."
"Noted." He acknowledged, before lifting up his spellcaster and launching the blue bolt toward the guard, killing it instantaneously. "Wait here."
She could faintly see a golden shimmer appear over his armor as he quickly moved toward the cave entrance. Peaking in, he quickly rolled out of cover and fired five bolts into the cave.
As he fired the fifth one, a resounding crack could be heard as a javelin struck him dead center in the chest causing her eyes to widen. Luckily, this impact caused the golden barrier around him to flare up around him, throwing the man in silver armor flat onto his back.
"Sir knight!" She called out as she quickly limped out from the outside to move up to him.
"I'm fine!" He called out, quickly rolling towards her, the golden barrier disappearing from his body. "Just knocked me off my feet."
"I'm relieved." She let out an exhale, looking at his breastplate. There was not a single mark there, as if he had not been touched at all. "What was that golden shield that protected you? Another enchantment of your armor?"
"Simplest terms; yes." He did not elaborate further as he got back up onto his feet. "You didn't tell me there were bigger ones."
"I hadn't remembered seeing bigger ones." Fencer Squire admitted truthfully. "Though they do have javelins as you now know."
"Yes." He checked his spellcaster, seemingly unphased by the impact. "That's another four."
Fencer Squire's relief was short-lived, as the smell of rotting flesh caught her attention. Looking towards the scent, she could see things around the cave entrance and her heart dropped at what she saw.
There were four effigies outside the front of the cave now.
The first two were the totems from the first time she arrived here, bones and gold rings adorned onto them.
The newer ones were made from recently skinned bones. Atop the two totems were the heads of both the Dwarven Berserker and Half-Elf Rogue. Their faces frozen in the moment of their death, pale from the absence of life, and their eyes once full of life completely cloudy.
The Dwarven Berserker's beard was almost entirely shaved off, with patches of hair remaining, and the Half-Elf Rogue's slightly pointed ears were cut off completely.
It nearly caused her to keel over and puke.
"You knew these two?" His voice caught her attention. "Were they members of your party?"
"They were." She weakly stated, still looking at their bodiless heads. "The one on the right was Dwarven Berserker, and the left was Half-Elf Rogue."
"Condolences." The silver-armored warrior stated, and despite how superficial the statement sounded, his tone conveyed his understanding of what she was feeling. Still, it didn't stop him from his unrelenting desire to learn more. "Do you know the layout of the cave?"
After a few more seconds of looking at the fallen adventurers, she turned to him. "I don't know it completely."
"Tell me what you know then." He asked.
"From the entrance here it's a straight line for maybe forty paces before there is a fork in the cave path." She traced out a diverging path with the tip of her rapier. "We walked down around fifteen paces down the left path... when were ambushed as they broke through the walls."
"So watch the falls for ambushes." He noted before continuing to ask. "And the right path?"
"We didn't get the chance to check it… but the Dwarven Berserker had a few words about what he thought of it." Her eyes landed on the head again before looking back at the makeshift map. "The goblins, from the entrance of this cave seem to go straight in and out of the left path in that fork. The right side seems to be an afterthought for them, as they only go there if they leave the left path." Her rapier tapped the right tunnel. "Maybe there might be another way out? Rhea Sorcereress had run down there and I hadn't seen her head there. So maybe there's a chance she's still alive?"
Fencer Squire had to remain hopeful that she wasn't the only one left.
"Good to know." After looking at the hastily made map, he looked to her now. "Do you think you can continue onwards?"
Peeking into the cave, she could see only darkness. The sounds of footsteps and garbled vocalizations sounded loud and the only thing louder to her was the thumping in her chest. Shaking her head, she pulled back.
"I don't think I can without freezing up." She admitted, feeling more shame for being unable to continue forward and be of actual assistance. "I'm sorry."
"It's better to know your limits than to foolishly risk your life." He simply replied, tone unjudging. "Though I'm going to ask you to hold the entrance and make sure no enemy leaves."
"Hold the entrance?" She asked, looking back at him.
"Yes." Putting his spellcaster on his back for a moment, he reached for something on his belt, and after a moment of fiddling with it he presented it to her. "Here."
Taking it from his hands, it was a white cylinder with a black handle, with a few buttons on it.
"What's this?"
"C1 personal commlink." He pointed at a button. "Press and hold, and you'll be able to speak with me directly."
"Talk to you?" She couldn't help but look at it skeptically. "Like even when you're in the cave?"
"Yes." He simply nodded, while unholstering his spell caster. "I'll be able to talk with you too should I need to." With an even tone, he spoke again. "Call for me if you need me."
She looked down at the cylinder again, this time seeing it as her lifeline.
"There's roughly an hour until sunrise." The warrior simply stated, before beginning to move toward the cave entrance. "If I don't come back by then, run."
"Sir knight!" She called out to him. "Please stay safe!"
He did not stop or respond as he walked into the cave, his footsteps echoing as he walked deeper and deeper.
She silently prayed that he would not befall the same fate as her party.
┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ 〈 ⏣ 〉 ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈
Entering the mouth of the cave, it began with a long passage just like Fencer Squire had stated.
First, he confirmed the death of the goblins he had killed from outside the cave. Four small ones, however, the fourth one was not present.
Damn. It seemed that his shot did not kill, but judging by the blood on the floor, it must be wounded, and if fortune favored him, on death's door.
From the quick glimpse he got from it, the creature was large and burly. If the smaller ones had strength through numbers, that one was likely strong alone.
He could only hope that this was the only one in this cave.
Continuing down the cave passageway, it gave the appearance of being relatively empty, although there were obvious signs of a fight having occurred here within the past day, just as the young woman had described. Arrows were still spread out as if trying to hit a retreating target, two pairs of unbloodied tracks being chased by a hordes worth of blood-soaked footprints. By the time he walked the full distance of forty paces, he had reached the fork in the cave road.
Crouching down, he could see that the bloodied tracks were more concentrated from the left side, whereas the right side seemed to be where these tribals seemed to have dragged something towards the room to the right.
Standing to full height, he had a choice to make.
He could choose to go down the left path. There was a fresh blood trail which most likely came from the brute he shot earlier, meaning that it was likely that it went deeper into the cave, perhaps to alert the forces of this cave to rally the men to war and protect the women and children of its fellow tribe's members. Current intel that he has also predicted that the main force of them would be down that way. This did not discount the possibility that he might be leaving his rear open to attack if he did not first didn't clear the right path.
Something he also had to consider was the potential of this 'Rhea Sorcereress' still being alive. He didn't know what accounted for sorcery here, but in the greater galaxy force sensitives were often considered sorcerers. If this one was still alive, maybe rescuing this individual would allow them to aid him in this mission? There was also the risk that they'd be traumatized too given how poorly the mission went the night before, and she'd be dead weight in the grand scheme of things.
Pros and cons, risks and benefits.
It was times like these when he thanked the Kaminoians for not making him as dependent on orders as other clones.
The left path had a higher chance of leading him toward the majority of these creatures, he couldn't risk being boxed in by these tribals, especially when they seem to be reliant on ambush techniques and he certainly couldn't risk having one of those brutes sneaking up behind him.
Lifting his blaster and aiming it down the hall, he moved with a practiced stride drilled into him over years of dedicated training, ready for any threat which might approach him.
As he moved down this stretch of the passageway, there were a few nooks within these walls that he would've missed had he been searching with just his helmet flashlight or an open fire torch. There had been only two which had goblins actively hiding, probably in hopes of ambushing him.
These creatures aren't completely stupid. He shot a blaster bolt into the third nook, killing the goblin which tried to scurry out and attack. They are cunning and conniving.
Looking to his blaster, he saw the electronic readout of how many shots he had remaining.
Fifteen shots remaining, making it nineteen goblins killed.
Continuing down the path, he could see that the hallway further ahead opened up into a room.
Quickly entering in, his eyes scanning the room, he was met with no resistance and saw no immediate threats.
What was in his immediate vision, he easily took note of.
He could see piles of charred mounds around the room, which he assumed to be some type of refuse, whether it be feces from the tribals or spoiled foods was unknown to him. The next thing he noticed was the absurd numbers of their dead, there being at least two dozen of them unceremoniously piled.
Finally, he noticed two or three charred corpses, one on its knees while the other two seemed to be rather close. The physique of the kneeling burned body was a bit difficult to discern with the naked eye, however focusing on it long enough allowed for his helmet to make a prediction, based on the analysis of bone structure, it assumed the individual was female.
This must've been the Rhea Sorcereress.
He could see how one of her hands was outstretched towards the ground, whereas another looked like it was trying to choke out the other. The third body was atop her back, and when he investigated closer, there was a knife directly in her back.
Perhaps this 'Sorcerer' was not a force-sensitive but had a lot of knowledge.
He was about to turn away when he noticed that there was a tear in the flesh and clothing. Moving up to it, he crouched down to get a closer look, seeing that something had been forcible ripped off of her corpse around neck height. Either they were wearing some valuable piece of jewelry or these tribals like to take rank tags as trophies.
Still crouched, his eyes scanned the room through the tactical visor, and when he saw no other pathways or exits out of this room. Looking back towards the only exit, he noticed a notable dip in the way this section of the cave was formed.
If this is a waste and refuses disposal area, its likely that heavy concentrations of gas produced simply sunk to the ground. Letting a finger rub against the ground, he could see it wipe a line of soot, remembering something that RC-1102-17 had mentioned in passing, about gases and flammability. She died fighting, not knowing that creating a flame would consume her too.
Standing up and wiping his hand, he raised his hand up to the side of his helmet, to connect to the commlink he gave to his current ally.
"Fencer Squire, do you copy?"
A couple of seconds passed before he got a response.
"He—? I— —at —o—?" The commlink picked up her voice although it was cutting out often and unclear to make out what she was saying.
"Bring it closer to your face."
After his instruction, he heard her again time her voice much more apparent and nearer. "Um, I think its working now?"
"I found this Rhea Sorcereress you mentioned."
"Is it bad news?" Her hopeful tone from earlier didn't remain.
"She's dead, went out fighting."
The commlink opened, and for a few seconds nothing came through, before she finally spoke. "Damn it."
"I'm going to continue with the mission." From what he observed here, it couldn't have been a pleasant way to die, but he couldn't worry about it now. "Remain vigilant. Over and out."
Ending the comms there, he quickly backtracked while ensuring that his enemies did not reposition themselves along his way back. He'd expected them to at least attempt to do just that, but since they didn't, it was likely that they were preparing to defend deeper in the cave.
That also meant that their tribal leader must have more wits than the average foot soldier.
Moving deeper into this cave, he made sure to keep his eyes and ears open. He walked the fifteen paces down it, and just like described to him, he could see holes in the wall, small enough for these small creatures.
The cackles of these goblins got increasingly louder as he continued to move down the path. To him, it sounded like some form of arguing, but perhaps the nuances of their language were lost on him.
Turning a corner, he saw a punch flying towards him. With only a second to react, he managed to backstep out of the punch's way as the sound of flesh on stone bounced around the cave's walls.
Instead of a scream of pain, he heard a deeper growl which sounded frustrated at its failed strike.
Continuing to move back, he prepared to fire, but he saw a mass turn the corner. The first thing that was obvious to him was that the left shoulder had a blaster wound there, which meant that this was the one he fired upon earlier.
These must have surprising resilience. He simply told himself as the rest of it turned the corner. He did not hesitate as he fired a trained burst of three shots, hitting the target center mass.
With the sounds of flesh bubbling and superheating, he could hear the creature basically cough up its liquid lungs as blood oozed out of each wound, yet did not expect this creature to continue moving forward.
The sound of shuffling with the throat sound of amusement, 05 realized what had happened. He could see that while his shots did kill, it seemed that another large goblin had decided to simply use its wounded comrade as a meat shield.
The commando needed to come up with a plan, and fast.
Continue to fire through it? No, he only had twelve shots left, and seven shots ready in his DC-15s. There was no guarantee the bolts would have enough punch to them to knock a burly creature like this.
Thermal Detonator? No, looking to the left and right, the walls were already weakened with small tunnels through them. It could take the cave down with him.
Sonic Detonator? Maybe, but it's not uncommon for tribals on other planets to take hostages. If nobility tax trains and goods have been stolen, it's likely some of the people of those caravans would be hostages, and a sonic detonator going off in an enclosed area like this could permanently deafen them.
Flash Detonator? There's a chance that the meat shield might negate the worst of the effects.
Droid poppers? It had a three meter blast radius and wouldn't compromise the structural integrity of the cave.
Grabbing one off his belt, he tossed it towards the larger goblin, before quickly backing up.
The goblin seemed to take this opportunity to speed up to.
While three seconds was ample time for him to leave the blast radius, it was not for the brute, the sound of the grenade echoed throughout the entirety of the cave as the electric discharge shocked both goblins, causing the living one to drop its meat shield while it simply stood there, paralyzed as blue sparks ran over its flesh.
Nothing could prepare one for the sudden shock that a droid popper would give you, and there was no preparation that would save anyone from a direct headshot from within two meters.
When it dropped, he quickly picked up the spent grenade and continued to move forward.
It seemed that the garbled sounds only increased as his heavy bootsteps echoed ever closer to the next section of this cave. It sounded like a mix of panicked movement and a hurried setup for a defense.
Finally reaching the corner where he had been ambushed, he quickly peeked his head around the corner. Normally a few seconds is not enough time for the mind to process a room full of enemies, but thankfully he had assistance.
Tactical data was relayed to him as his helmet got a count of the number of heads within that room. There were twelve of them in there, all of them in states of preparation to attack him once he turned the corner.
Left hand reaching to his belt, he grabbed a flash detonator. Pressing the red button on its top, yellow lights showed that it was primed, and with a quick toss into the room, a small explosion followed by a blinding light, he went into action.
Turning the corner, he immediately went to work, shooting each goblin either in center mass or the head.
This was a throne room, a makeshift carpet made from furs and other animals, along with a throne made of the bones of humanoids. Around the corners of the room were a number of wooden crates stacked upon each other, some opened while others were shut.
Next to the throne was some type of shaman dressed in ornate clothes and wielding an ornate staff, ordering his servants to fight.
It mattered not, he'd kill them all.
Halfway through the slaughter, he could catch a glimpse of their leader, wearing robes and an ornate headdress. It seemed to be chanting something while pointing its boney staff with golden adornments and other trinkets on it at him. It wore several adventurer tags around its neck, as if it was flaunting how 'unstoppable' it was.
05 was inclined to believe that it was simply doing that for show, an attempt to intimidate him.
So he continued to fire at the more pressing threats, however just as he was finishing up the last of the active combatants, he could see blue energy manifesting at the tip of the staff.
His helmet immediately started alerting him that there was an energy surge within this room, which should be impossible given the technology level of this planet, and the blue light glowed brighter.
Aiming directly at the creature's chest, he let his last shot fly.
It hit its mark dead center, dropping the enemy.
It did not stop the energy from being flung from said staff, as he saw a helix of rich blue arcs flying towards him at a high speed.
Caught almost completely off guard, he realized he had no time to dodge.
Almost immediately, he felt the arcs make contact with the deflector shield, it giving out after a second after the blow, his helmet immediately reported to him that his shield went down. Whatever energies weren't disbursed on impact then made contact with his upper left chest, feeling the force throwing him back out of this throne room and into the hallway, followed by all systems and functions ceasing to operate.
With a loud thud, he felt the wind knocked out of his chest as he struggled to breathe.
There was only darkness, for how long, he was unsure.
With a gasp, he regained his breath, and was soon followed with bright light.
Bright blue with a Republic Rondel appeared before his eyes, and soon after the top right corner began to blink red.
Looking directly at it and blinking twice, he was immediately bombarded with lines of data from the chrono-discontinuity, ensuring the power levels were optimal across the suit and its functions and even ensuring that the seal of the armor set's undersuit wasn't torn open.
According to the H.U.D., everything was running nominally despite the forced shutdown, and the elapsed time from when the armor shut off was roughly two minutes.
The reasoning for shutdown? Electric shock caused by high voltage.
He considered himself lucky that the Mark III version of the Katarn armor provided him with protection against electromagnetic weaponry and was powerful enough to withstand the force of a laser cannon round.
The adrenaline began to die down as pain began to flood his senses. He felt sore all over, and felt a lot of pain in his upper chest.
"Nghhhh… Ni di'kulta…" The commando weakly rested his right hand over the impact zone, cursing his incorrect assumption of that tribal leader. It felt like he had simotanously jumped on a grenade and was hit by a Verpine Shatter gun. Both very unpleasant experiences on their own, so combining them was the next best estimate of the pain he felt now. In fact, the area where he had been struck felt quite tender and warm. "I think the bastard cracked a rib or three… Osi'kyr!"
His griping was cut short as the comm unit within his helmet had fully rebooted.
"Sir knight!" A familiar and distressed voice spoke through his commlink. "Answer me damn it!"
"I'm here." He responded with a groan. "I'm alive."
"You scared me!" The young lady's apprehensive tone abated only slightly. "I heard a number of rumblings and then a roar echo through the cave!" She got quiet for a moment before speaking once more, a lot softer than the rough tone she had been using. "When you didn't answer, I thought the worst…"
"Apologies." Sitting up now, he reactivated the low light mode on his helmet, next looking down at his armor. He could see where this concentrated bolt of energy had hit him, leaving a burn mark on the duraplast plate. It wasn't anything a buff and scrub couldn't remove, but it annoyed him that his armor was damaged by tribals with sorcery. "I got hit by lightning… I think?"
"There was a spell caster?!" Fencer Squire's voice immediately sounded both concerned and astonished. "And you not only let it get a spell off, but stood there and took it?"
Who could fault him though? The Jedi were on their side, and rarely did they become a problem from the occasional turncoat. He also heard that Count Dooku had the power to shoot lightning out of his fingers, but from what he remembered correctly, he was a former jedi master turned sith. How was he to know, let alone prepare for the outcome that a tribal would be able to wield such a power?
"I'm fine." He insisted before his breathing hitched. The commando knew he was going to be feeling this for a short while. "My armor protected me from the worst of it."
"Well… I'm glad you're alive." She seemed to be thinking of what to say before she spoke again. "I think I see the sun coming up…"
Lifting his left arm, he could see that the holo-chrono on his gauntlet told him that it was roughly early six.
"I'll be finished here shortly. Over and out."
Ending communications, he needed to refocus himself.
First thing first, he needed his weapon. Not too far away from where he sat, he could see his DC-17m. Grabbing it, he could see that the blaster power pack had run dry. Removing the magazine, it let out a rush of air to prevent debris from getting into the blaster, and he placed a new magazine in.
Getting back onto his feet, the next thing he did was collect the spent flash detonator.
Once that was done, the commando began to make sure that all of these goblins were dead, stomping their necks. This task was made somewhat difficult as his left arm felt stiffer than normal.
I'll need to get that checked out later too.
He got halfway through the corpses when his helmet picked up the sounds of… whimpering? Head turning to the location believed to be where the sounds were coming from, marked out by his H.U.D., he saw a couple of boxes stacked. Looking down at the ground, it seemed that the boxes were often pushed forward and back to cover up this area.
With some effort, he quickly pushed the crates out of the way, revealing to him a hidden room. Blaster first, he swept the room, however the moment he took a step into said room his eyes widened and his stomach twisted into knots.
Lowering his blaster, he saw no hostiles…
In this room were women, seven of them held captive in the dark. All of them were forced bare, the only thing to clothe, if anything, were shreds of what they once wore. All their bodies were marred with wounds and scars. Of the seven, there were three groups that he could easily distinguish. In the far-left corner were two captives that had already expired, their bodies simply tossed to the side without care or any other mind than then having served their purpose, bones purposely broken and their wounds already drained of blood. In the far-right corner, there were three captives, huddled close enough for warmth and nothing else, their heads hung low, silent murmurs and prayers to their chosen deities. And in the center of the room were two woman who were splayed out with no regard of their being, their eyes unblinking and their bodies unmoving aside from the occasional twitch, bodies covered by the vile filth of their captors, the only sign of their continued lives being the slow rise and fall of their chests.
If he had to guess, his unplanned entry had interrupted those hut'uun during their activities.
A shuffle violently snapped him out of his shock, and his helmet focused on the sounds of footsteps originating from the throne.
Raising his blaster once again, he slowly approached the throne, he could faintly see a darker shadow behind it.
Kicking the thrown out of the way, he once more found himself lowering his blaster.
Before him were five children, four of which huddled close together with tears in their eyes.
Goblin children?
They lacked the defining features of their fathers, earns not fully pointed out, noses not protruded, their eyes lacking the distinctive hourglass pupils. The eldest of them almost looked like a full goblin, features nearly entirely defined, and the only one not cowering away full, rock in hand.
His helmet noted to him that all of them were males.
Looking at all of them again, two and two put together in his mind.
He hadn't thought too much about how there only seemed to be males in this den, as a paper he once had the luxury of reading stated that tribal societies like these tend to have the men away while the woman stay in their homes, but… but this was something else.
These 'goblins' were not a natural species.
They were parasites.
Holstering his blaster, he could see that they were still afraid.
The vibroblade in his knuckleplate extended to its full length.
The commando would ensure that these hut'uun never saw the light of day.
-==O==-
What's taking him so long? Fencer Squire paced back and forth outside the cave, doing her best to be aware of her surroundings. Sure she had talked to the knight only a number of minutes ago, but from what she'd seen of his fighting so far, he was quick and efficient. So she kind of expected him to be back right about now.
Plus, she was beginning to feel the effects of pushing herself tonight, and she felt that she'd need a very long rest to be back in tip-top shape.
The sound of heavy footsteps caused her to stop pacing, as she turned to the cave entrance.
She felt a smile widen on her face as she saw the distinctive 'T' of his aquamarine visor drawing near, however it was short-lived when she saw the company he was in.
Five woman in makeshift cloaks, two of which were being carried in his arms, whereas another three shuffling close behind, their eyes glazed over and simply looking as far forward as possible.
She opened her mouth to ask about the captives, but the words simply died in her mouth.
It didn't take a scholar to know why goblins had taken women captive.
Looking to the silver-armored man, she could see that he was almost exactly as he had left, with exception to the minor damage done to his breastplate. She also noticed his right gauntlet had fresh crimson over it.
"You're arm." Fencer Squire slowly moved towards him. "Is it alright."
Tilting his head slightly to get a view of it past the woman he was carrying, he nodded.
"I'm fine. It's not mine." The armored man stated. "Are you ready to leave?"
"Yes." She simply nodded, raising her hand to her mouth to cover a yawn. "I'm ready to be done with this nightmare."
So they began to walk away from the cave.
It was a silent walk, as she had nothing to ask at this moment and with this quest nearing its completion, he seemed to be focused on ensuring it got done.
This relative safety combined with the tranquil morning allowed for her mind to wander a bit.
Her thoughts first wandered to those who were alongside her for this quest.
Half-Elf Rogue. Rhea Sorceress. Dwarven Berserker.
They all took this quest for their own personal reasons, whether it be wealth, knowledge, or glory. They all knew the risks associated with undertaking such a task in this profession. They all underestimated their foe… and they all paid dearly for it.
Three of them dead and she was left battered and half-dead, her foe standing over her as she could no longer fend them off. She had believed those would be her final moments.
Her eyes wandered to the captives.
The junior adventurer could not help but feel her stomach twist into knots. Her final moments would not have been a simple death.
Her next thoughts wandered to her family.
They'd never known what happened to her, or worse, they would've found out the fate she suffered. It was her father who encouraged this path, would he have felt responsible for sending her to an early death? Would her mother have ever forgiven him for it? And what of her younger brother? Would he have been alright?
Her weary eyes soon pricked with tears, blurring her vision. She felt the tears run down her cheeks, her breathing becoming slightly labored.
She shouldn't think like that.
She was alive.
She was still here.
She was ok… was she?
Now's… not the time. She wiped the tears from her eyes, doing her best to steady her breathing.
Looking up now, she could see that they were nearing one of the hedges that boarded the road.
Finding the thinnest spot to cross, she saw how he carefully maneuvered through, doing his best to avoid causing the captives in his arm any more harm. The three that could walk followed through, and that only left her to do as all others did and follow through.
As she made her way through the bushes, she could see the road, and the sun shining over the horizon.
It was a welcome sight.
She gathered to where the man seemed to be shepherding everyone, and once he seemed content, he sat down.
Sitting down roughly an arms length next to him, she simply observed what he was doing.
First she saw how his hands ran across his spell caster, wiping off blood and grime that had accumulated on the surface of it. Then he rested it on his lap as he tended to other items on his person.
Then he came to an abrupt stop.
"Do you need something?" His helmet slightly tilted her way.
"Er—" She hadn't realized it was bothering him, so she quickly turned her head the other way. "No, sir knight. Everything is… alright."
He turned back to his work before speaking once again.
"Why do you keep calling me 'sir knight'?" His tone remained level but had an inquisitive lean. "Do you not have a name?"
She raised a brow in confusion. "I beg your pardon?"
"Names, common ones?" He finished up his work, before turning to her now. "I saw that your tag had the designation of 'Fencer Squire', but if I was to ask you your name?"
She blinked once.
Her name? He had to be joking… right?
She blinked twice.
His head remained level, and he seemed to lean slightly forward, as if he was waiting for a genuine response.
She blinked a third time.
By the Supreme God… he was serious! She just met him and only for a night at that!
Her face grew heated as she realized what he had asked.
"S-Sir knight! You can't just ask someone what their name is, especially if you just met them!"
"Why not?" His head tilted, confusion in his voice obvious. "Is something wrong?"
"Do you not understand the weight of what you're asking?"
"A name?" He seemed even more confused now. "Most people I met in the gal— in the Republic had names or designations."
Fencer Squire's embarrassment stopped as he mentioned this 'Republic'. She remembered that he was not from around here.
"Forgive me… I misunderstood the… nature of your question." She exhaled in relief as she put a hand on her chest. She took a moment to actually let out a giggle before continuing. "You're not from around here, so you wouldn't know the significance."
"There's significance?"
"I don't know how naming works in your homeland, but here it's a lot different." The young lady gave a short cough into her fist. "Our real names are… sacred." She could see his head straighten out. "A name is something that should only be known between the namer, the named, and the Supreme God." He nodded, so he was following. "I'd never ask a stranger I just met their name, but I'd introduce myself as 'Fencer Squire' or whatever title I've adopted at that point."
Continuing the nod, she could tell that his brain was soaking up this new information.
"My apologies." His back straightened out as the words processed in his mind. "So titles are not?"
"No, usually each person is given one or chooses one based on their job." She explained. "I've been calling you 'sir knight' because you remind me of the knights in the fairytales my father told me when I was little." She looked up now. "Silver clad knights cavalier into the fray, saving those in need and defeating monsters wherever they go."
"That's rather optimistic." He seemed uncomfortable with that as if attaching that meaning to him was not something he wanted. "But using your naming conventions, I would be a 'Republic Commando', or simply a 'Cl—Commando.'"
She did not fail to recognize that abrupt cut-off, but she'd not pry. He did save her after all.
They fell into a comfortable silence.
Seconds turned into minutes, and many of those passed before the sounds of a cart could be heard.
The two stood up and waved the cart down.
"Why, er, hello there."
The man driving the cart had a straw hat and seemed slightly confused.
"I need to get these people into town." The knight looked at the farmer. "They need… treatment and somewhere to stay." When the farmer did not immediately respond, the knight continued. "Goblins."
"Ah. You must be adventurers then." He looked at the two of them. "Well, I'm sure I can fit the lasses, but you'd need to walk alongside the cart."
"No need." He raised a hand, and she couldn't help but look at him strangely. "I'm going to make sure there are none left."
"Ah, suppose that makes sense." The man rubbed the back of his head. "Should I wait here?"
"No." He shook his head. "It might be a while."
"Alright, well let's get them on the carriage."
So that's what they did, loading the battered captives onto the wagon was a quick ordeal.
Now all that remained was goodbyes.
"Sir knight." She walked in front of him, and once he turned to her, she bowed deeply. "Thank you for helping me."
After a few seconds she straightened herself out, and she received a nod.
"Here." She reached for the cylinder she had been given earlier. "I would give everything back but…"
"I'll collect it later." He gestured for her to hold onto it. "I'll message you when I'm done."
That's right. He agreed to help her for information.
Putting it back into one of the pouches on her armor half-plate, she nodded.
"Republic Commando." She tried out the title he had told her earlier, purposely trilling the 'R'. "It's got a ring to it." With a weary smile, she extended her arm out. "It was nice to formally meet you, Republic Commando." When he took her hand for a shake, she returned the gesture in earnest. "Good luck."
Fourth Chapter is here!
This one took me a bit longer to edit/make for a number of smaller reasons that piled up, one of which may or may not be because I was busy reading the RC books and looking at a bunch of RC-related things to make sure things were accurate enough.
Also magic is considerably more dangerous than in the first rendition of this chapter. Playing a few sessions of DND with my friends reminded me of that!
The next chapter will be out when it's out, hopefully within the next week and a half, but we will see.
Also, I'm considering starting up a new project, nothing is set in stone yet, but it will likely have a clone protagonist as well.
With nothing else to tell you all, I wish for your days to go as well as they can!
