So many soldiers but only four Fiends, two of which don’t have any real fighting experience. Either they’re underestimating the enemy, or they think too highly of this strategy, Jaid Luciri sighed as she looked over the dossiers again. It’s almost like they want us to lose.
Needless to say, she wasn’t brimming with confidence, but the time for uncertainty and objection had passed. She’d fought against the idea of this mission since its inception, but whether her opinions had even been taken into account at all were questionable. She knew better than anyone what they were about to face, and even she didn’t remember everything.
All that was left now was to do her job. And as the highest ranking officer present and the commander of this operation, it was her job to lead them to victory, no matter the odds.
“Captain, we’ve arrived,” the driver of the truck she was in announced when the vehicle came to a stop.
Jaid stowed the tablet she was looking at and took a deep breath. Once she left the vehicle, the operation would officially begin, so she needed another moment to prepare herself. She’d been alone on the ride over, claiming that she needed the silence to formulate strategies, but really she just wanted a break from looking at soldiers, especially those who wanted to talk to her nonstop about what was to come.
She eventually hoisted herself from the bench and reached her arms over to the opposite wall, grabbing the giant sword that was mounted there. Then she pulled out a certain pouch from a nearby compartment causing her to take another deep breath as it rested in her metal-clad hand.
The CP had confiscated the reality-warping pouch from her immediately after her return from her spying mission. It had been taken for scientific study to see if they could replicate the effect, but she finally managed to convince them to return it after a few months of failure. Obvious utility aside, any time she saw it, and even more so when she held it, memories and emotions would come flooding back—her only real memento of her time with the Fiends For Hire.
But there was no time to reminisce today. She had already passed along all the actionable intel and secrets she could muster, so there was no further reason to dwell on that mission—well, there was still one motivation, but she’d never told a soul about it. That was her burden to bear.
Jaid sheathed her sword into the pouch and strapped it to the flat of her back. Some slight alterations had to be made to her actual combat outfit to accommodate for it, but that was just some basic tailoring.
She pushed open the back doors of the truck and stepped outside. The blinding sunlight glinted off her arms and legs that were adorned in the full armor of a knight that also completely covered her hands and feet. She’d heard that Guzrinn had disbanded their Knight Peerage in the years since her escape in favor of a more traditional military, making her the last knight in the world—The Prude Paladin.
Even as the last representation, she’d forgone the full chestplate, refusing to ever wear it again since the day she became a Fiend. It had always been cumbersome in her opinion, and she partially blamed it for her failure that day, so she was happy to be rid of it.
Instead, she wore a taught blue tunic, the sleeves of which went underneath her armor to make it more comfortable, similar to the leggings she wore. The back of the tunic continued to flow past her torso to just below her knees, adorned in the flowering icon of the Central Peace. Thanks to a certain Curse, it would never tear, making it almost as good as full armor without the burden.
Lastly, she wore the visor of her belated mother, but it didn’t cover her eyes. She wore it in reverse, the metal clinging to the back of her head, serving as an adornment that wrapped up hair. The winged tips flew to the front of her face, resting above her eyes. Among the sea of soldiers, she certainly stood out.
There were a few eccentrics, particularly among the higher ranks of the private military, that would put great lengths into altering their uniforms with their own personal flair. Most, though, just wore the standard-issued garb, making them quite difficult to pick out in the crowd. That was fine for Jaid, though, since it made it easier for her to keep her distance.
Still, there were times when Jaid missed the combat outfit she wore when she was a spy. It was flashier than she would have liked, and certainly made her look like she belonged with the crazily dressed Fiends, but it was at least much easier to get in and out of than her armor.
“Captain!” a platoon of soldiers were already waiting for her when she stepped out of the truck. The symbols on their uniform marked them as scouts who had already been here for days to monitor.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Report,” Jaid ordered as she pushed past them, heading to the edge of the basecamp, wanting to see it with her own eyes once more—Bisomote. They were about a lage away, not wanting to spook their targets early, but they still needed a place they could fall back to. Even in the event of victory, they’d need a staging area to tend the wounded and handle logistics.
At that distance, though, it was quite blurry, but she could still make the outline of the place she briefly called home. A new rush of memories came flooding back, the town itself flashing in front of her eyes as if she’d just been there yesterday.
“Everything is still calm as of the last check-in,” the scout that followed her reported. “The town is bustling with morning traffic, and the compound appears to be going about business as usual. There are still a few scouts monitoring the situation, but the majority have been pulled back per your orders.”
“Very good,” Jaid spun around and started walking back into the camp. “Issue the deployment orders. A third are to descend from the northern path, and when we make it to the gate, surround the compound on all sides as much as possible.”
The hope was to prevent the Fiends from fleeing, though Jaid doubted they’d ever consider that option. No, they’d defend their home. Still, she had to make it look like they were putting in every effort to prevent their escape.
Not that they could do much against Phon Drazah. She could get everyone out in seconds if the Fiends For Hire saw them coming, and they would see them coming. Once they’d encircled the compound, her Curse would be limited. But as for getting there in the first place, they had to march in broad daylight. There was no other way around it.
Maybe one way, but another secret Jaid kept to herself was the tunnel leading out of the compound. Her memories were too foggy to be able to locate it properly anyways, and they certainly couldn’t squeeze their entire army down through it. Maybe they’d get a team or two in through the underground unnoticed, but getting in wasn’t going to be a problem.
She’d rather leave the tunnel free and unobscured so that those who wouldn’t be participating would have reliable means of escape. One thing she’d never forgotten was that there were innocent residents living among the group of criminals. Some of her superiors couldn’t see the difference, though, and never even considered them when formulating this attack.
Even if all Fiends and Lessers were monsters, it didn’t mean that monster’s shouldn’t be allowed to roam free if they weren’t hurting anyone. Something else she’d learned: not all monsters were evil. The worst ones just ruin it for the rest.
“Once everyone is in position, we march,” she gave her next order. “And send the barker ahead when we do. I don’t want to stand around for longer than we have to, and there won’t be a reason to keep acting stealthy at that point.”
This entire mission was going to be as by the book as possible, on the surface at least. That meant before they could raid the compound, they had to give notice to the criminals inside first and give them a chance to surrender. The odds of that were infinitesimally low, but it had to be done anyways.
The CP had suffered enough humiliations lately. They didn’t need to give the Fiends For Hire more fodder to broadcast to the world. Not that Jaid had any doubt that Chorus would still find a way to spin them as the villains even if what they were doing was perfectly legal.
“She really hits people with a monster truck?!” Another squad leader had come and asked Jaid the same question for a millionth time, believing it to be a typo in the intel. That was basically Jaid’s entire morning while waiting for everyone to get prepared. She would have enjoyed a bit more time to sit around and sort through her thoughts, but she kept being bombarded with questions.
For whatever reason, most of them were fixated on Itsy. All those crazy superpowers they were about to face, but the idea of getting slammed by a monster truck worried them the most. Maybe because it was something they could process. Most of these soldiers still had never faced a Fiend in battle. Jaid herself had personally sparred with a lot of them, but her power was far from the crazy end of the spectrum.
“Forward March!” the directing sergeant gave the order once everyone was in place. Jaid was at the front of the march, but she wasn’t the first into the town. The barker, along with a few guards, had rushed ahead to deliver their proclamation, and the traffic platoon had advanced to cordon off the town and direct civilians off the streets.
It was only a lage in distance, but each step towards Bisomote seemed to take longer than the last. Jaid’s eyes couldn’t help but drift towards the sun high in the sky. It was the peak of summer—one of the hottest days of the year. She couldn’t really feel it herself, but she knew it must be agony for the rest of the soldiers marching alongside her. At least they’d been properly trained to never complain about it.
In any other operation, there would be skycrafts and helicopters flying above, and they’d be marching alongside tanks and other artillery. But not this time—infantry only. Kada in particular made anything inorganic virtually useless, especially with what little they knew about her evolved Curse. Maybe they could get a few good shots in, but the goal of this mission wasn’t destruction to begin with.
Once they breached the city limits, she did her best to keep her eyes forward. Letting them wander would just bring back memories that could serve as distractions at this point. Even keeping her eyes on the gates ahead at the end of the main street was rough enough for her.
“Captain, captain, urgent report!” one of the traffic patrol came rushing up to her. “We guided all civilians inside as ordered, but then during the spot checks, we couldn’t find any of them. They’re all gone! From every building! We’ve triple-checked!”