West of Osiris
9:25 P.M.
Four Dark Apostles stood within that moonlit room. Each had the strength to move mountains, shatter kingdoms, and command legions of monsters at a whim. They stood at the peak of the Deluvians’ hierarchy, and their physical prowess and magical ability matched their status.
Despite their monstrous reputation and their supernatural strength, they appeared indistinguishable from humans or Revenants. The only way they could be distinguished was the numerical brand they each carried upon their chest.
Two of the Dark Apostles were standing near a desk staring down at the map which had been laid atop it. One of them was a shorter man with brown hair, and the other was a young Asian woman with short cropped hair. The remaining Dark Apostle sat atop a wooden crate in the corner of the room. His features were obscured by the long grey cloak he wore.
“One,” the man with brown hair greeted as he saw the blonde man. “How did it go? Did you find Captain Tantalus?”
“Yeah, it went just as Five and Thirteen said it would,” One said. “He followed me, and I delivered the message.”
“Do you think they’ll listen?” the woman asked.
“No way,” One responded casually. “You seriously overestimate the Osirian military’s intelligence, Eight. I think I convinced Captain Tantalus to reconsider the operation, but there’s no way he’ll be able to convince his superiors.”
“Sounds like we’re still on for Plan A,” said the dark-haired man.
“It was inevitable, Two,” the red-haired man with the I on his chest said.
The three Dark Apostles standing near the map looked down at it. The map charted the area between Osiris and New Arcadia. About a dozen smaller settlements could be seen between the two cities. Four tiles, each marked with a roman numeral, laid on the map.
“To go over the plan,” Two began to explain, “the 1st, 2nd, 8th, and 13th Legions will be in place to engage with the Osirians as they move west.” Two tapped the four tiles on the map. “We keep the 1st, 2nd, and 13th Legions stationed in a position to stop the Osirians from reaching New Arcadia.” Two moved three of the tiles between Osiris and New Arcadia. “When the Osirians move far enough away from Osiris City, the 2nd Legion will move in behind them.” Two then moved the tile marked II onto the road between the two cities. “They’ll be completely surrounded, allowing us to move in and kill three thousand Revenants in one fell-swoop.”
“Hold on,” the hooded man in the corner stood up.
“What’s that, Thirteen?” Two asked.
“We didn’t agree to that,” Thirteen said. “Our goal is to send a message, not kill them all.”
Two sighed and said, “It would be significantly easier this way. We’re going to have to kill most of them eventually, you know this right?”
“No, I don’t know that,” Thirteen growled. “Show them overwhelming force. Show them that they can’t possibly win, and they’ll retreat."
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“You underestimate the Revenant’s resolve, Thirteen,” Two said. “Whatever. We’ll have to agree to disagree. One, Eight, what do you think we should do?”
“I think we should use the less extreme option,” Eight said. “It’s much easier to escalate a war than it is to de-escalate.”
“Sorry, Two, but I’m gonna have to side with Eight and Thirteen,” One said. “I’m just not ready for such extreme tactics, at least not yet. Let’s stick with Plan A. If things go poorly, we'll get more extreme."
Two sighed heavily and removed the tile representing the 2nd Legion from the board. He then placed it alongside the other three tiles. “You’ll come to regret your decision, I guarantee it. Okay, I’m out voted. We’ll deploy all four legions to the same location. We won’t be able to deploy all four in a line, however, so someone will have to deploy to the rear.”
“I’ll do it,” Thirteen said without hesitation. “I’d like to minimize the blood on my hands wherever possible.”
“Mercy will get us nowhere,” Two muttered.
Soon after, the four Dark Apostles returned to their monstrous legions. They relayed their orders to their legions’ officers, and the order was soon given to each Wendigo, Ogre, Orc, and Goblin in the legion. With a chorus of animalistic roars, four legions began to move. An army of 40,000 Deluvians would soon stand between Osiris and New Arcadia.
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Day 6
8:00 A.M.
Hotel Acheron
Captain Tantalus of the West Gate stood in front of the mirror of his hotel room’s bathroom. He was wearing his white undershirt and the pants of his military uniform; brown suspenders hung limp from his belt.
This was the first morning in a few days where Tantalus hadn’t been required to wake up at three in the morning. Compared to his days spent on watch, he felt as if he was really able to sleep in.
Arrayed on the bathroom’s counter were a series of weapons. There were so many weapons on the counter that Tantalus had to remove all of the various shampoos, soaps, and towels.
Looking down at the bathroom counter, Tantalus saw a rapier, a combat knife, three throwing knives, a 1911 chambered in .45 ACP, a frag grenade, six magazines for his pistol, and six en bloc clips for his rifle. His M1 Garand was leaned against the counter.
Tantalus didn’t actually know how to use a rapier, but General Dogwood told him that his “ceremonial rank” as the CSO-ORD meant that he was expected to carry a sword. For several reasons, the Revenants had begun to informally call Tantalus the "Sword-holder." He was at least able to carry a relatively light sword, but the added weight made his belt so heavy that it was starting to pull his pants down whenever he walked around too much. Thus, Tantalus was forced to resort to attaching suspenders to his pants. At least the jacket would cover up the suspenders most of the time.
Tantalus pulled the suspenders over his shoulders and looked at himself in the mirror. At least his physical appearance was starting to more closely approximate his mental age. Tantalus took his pistol and holstered it at his right hip. He sheathed his rapier at his left hip, he packed several magazines into the pouches at his belt, he sheathed his combat knife behind the rapier, and he sheathed his throwing knives behind his pistol.
With all of that weight hanging from his belt, Tantalus suddenly became grateful for the suspenders. All of the weapons and ammunition on his belt must have weighed more than twenty pounds, and he was glad to have the weight dispersed on his shoulders.
Tantalus shrugged his blue military jacket on and buttoned it up. It was tailored well, so it didn’t block Tantalus’s access to his belt. Tantalus loaded his en bloc clips into the pouches on his belt.
To complete his loadout, Tantalus draped his grey cloak over his shoulders. He fastened the cloak against his shoulders as he had more than a dozen times before, and he threw the cloak back such that it more resembled a cape. He wore his cloak at his back in the city, and he wore it over his shoulders in the field.
Tantalus looked at himself once more in the mirror. Everything was set. He was as ready as he’d ever be. Wordlessly, Tantalus left his hotel room and headed toward whatever awaited him. Operation Reunion would occur with or without him. He had to go. People would die, there was no doubt in Tantalus’s mind. Perhaps he could at least prevent some of them from dying unnecessarily.