Welcome to Paradise
~ JORMUNGANDR AI SYSTEMS CORE LOG ~
Scanning…
Completed
System: Ismir Minor
World: 13-B
Record Classification: Fledgling Paradise World
Scanning…
Artificial Light Levels: 0.3%
Expected Artificial Light Levels: > 40%
Conclusion: Reclassification required
New Classification: Rimworld
Scanning Records…
Last Transmission:
Year: 4984
Current Year: 5052
Contents:
~ Start Log ~
This is expedition commander April Giovanni to Sol Command, beginning log. As
of speaking preparations are underway, we have achieved a stable source of food, electricity and water. We have also brought some of the local tribals under our control. They are primitive to say the least. Their level of technology sets them to about the Neolithic age, though simple they are quick studies and I hope they will integrate well into the new world. As of now construction should be continuing on schedule and a Paradise World will await the arrival of the flotilla.
Expect another transmission in one solar cycle (1 year Sol Standard Time).
~ End Log ~
Conclusion: Pioneer Efforts failure
Calculating Solution…
Negative... Insufficient data for acceptable outcome
Conclusion: Additional Data Required
Mission: Data collection and recovery
Calculating optimal action...
Reinforcement Ability: None
Doctrine: Preservation of Combat Resources
Time Limit: None
Equipment Requisition: Class A
Probability of Success: 78%
Dispatching... Jotunheim Special Operations Battalion, 1st Company, Special Operations Squad, Callsign Juno
Rimworld 13-B Surface
Rat trudged across the grassy plains, his clothes were little more than rags and around his neck was a steel collar. His body is skinny and lean with hints of muscles under his tanned skin. His hair is a matted dirty black mess that came down to his shoulders. His eyes are dull as he uses every ounce of mental strength he has to keep moving. On his back sleeps a girl with the same black hair, her body is emancipated and she sleeps listlessly on his back, her twig like limbs hanging limply.
On and on he walked until finally his legs gave out and he collapsed face first into the dirt. Rat raised a hand and tried to raise himself but found no more strength in his body. He felt the dirt against his skin and the weight of his precious sister on his back. He tried to raise his hand again but found he could not do even that.
“No have to… can’t die… here… “ Rat mumbled out as he felt his consciousness fade.
Rat felt his consciousness return and instinctively snapped awake. He leapt to his feet or at least tried to, the moment he tried to stand, he felt his body lose its strength and he collapsed back into the dirt.
“Easy there.” a voice said.
Rat turned in the direction of the voice and saw a girl with brown hair sitting by a fire. He looked and saw his baby sister curled up on her lap as she slept. The girl was about the same size as him, she had blue eyes and her face was full as if she had been eating well consistently.
“Who… you?” Rat asked cautiously.
“Riva, you?” The girl replied calmly
“Rat.” Rat replied
“You a slave?” Riva said as she reached down and picked up a pair of rusted metal collars.
Rat’s hand leapt to his throat at the sight of the collars and felt bare skin instead of steel.
“You remove… why?” Rat asked incredulously he has never in his life not worn a collar.
“You like it on?” Riva asked eyebrows raised
“No no… no… I… thank you… I have never… never… “ Rat said as his face scrunched and he struggled to find the words.
“Never not worn a collar?” Riva said helpfully
“Yes.” Rat said with a nod
“Well you're not a slave anymore, did you escape?” Riva asked
“Yes, there was attack… metal monsters… attack… destroy wall… burn home… kill us…” Rat replied as he lowered his gaze and shut his eyes as if he was trying to block out the memory.
“I see, where did you come from?” Riva asked, her voice going up a pitch in tension.
“I run two days… no sleep… there towards running sun…” Rat said as he pointed to the west.
“Hmm I see, well anyway here. Eat this and get some rest.” Riva said as she reached into her satchel and pulled out a strange orange box and handed it to him.
Rat was perplexed but did as he was bid, you don’t survive as a slave by questioning too many things. He took the box and opened it, at first Rat did nothing but look wide eyed inside the box. In it he saw food neatly laid out in compartments. This was real food, the food the masters ate, not the dregs that fell from their table.
“This is… for me?” Rat asked eyes wide as saucers.
“Yes, now eat, you aren’t gonna be able to protect this one when you’ve got no fuel in the tank.” Riva said as she looked down at his sister and gently stroked her hair.
“I… thank you…” Rat said as he put the box aside and went onto his knees and pressed his forehead into the dirt.
“Hey, stop that. I’m not your master and I’m no slaver.” Riva said testily
“I… sorry…” Rat replied sheepishly as he sat back down and started to eat. He ate about half the meal before putting the rest aside.
“What's wrong? You not hungry?” Riva asked as she looked at him put the food aside.
“I save for sis.” Rat replied
“Don’t I’ll just give her another one. Eat up.” Riva said as she gestured to the food.
“I… Thank you.” Rat replied gratefully as he dug into his meal.
“By the way, what's her name?” Riva asked as she looked down at the frail form that was his sister.
“She is Trash, but.... many have.... her name... so I call her Sis.” Rat replied
“I see.” Riva said. As she said this Rat saw the faintest trace of sadness flash in her eyes as she looked back down at his dear sister.
Rat ate his fill for the first time in his life and laid back down on the dirt to rest. He turned his head and took one last look at the sleeping form of his sister before as he succumbed to sleep's sweet embrace.
Rat woke up to find his sister gently shaking him in his sleep, he looked at her face and found her eyes shining in a way he had never before seen.
“Sis? What?” Rat mumbled as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
Rat sat up and saw another one of those precious meals placed at the ground next to where he was sleeping. The box was open but the food was untouched, Rat looked back to her sister and watched as she weakly pointed at the food.
“She won’t eat it.” Riva said from the side her brow creased in concern.
“Sis, eat.” Rat said as he picked up the box next to him and handed it to his sister.
His sister weakly shook her head and pushed the food towards Rat.
“No you eat, I already eat.” Rat replied as he picked up the food and placed it before her.
His sister continued to give him a disbelieving look as she looked at him. Rat let out a slight laugh and picked her up and seated her on his lap. He picked up the meal and gently started to feed her. Although at first reluctant once the food reached her lips weeks of hunger took over and she started eagerly eating the food that Rat brought to her lips.
“She doesn’t talk much does she?” Riva asked
“When children come, they… beaten when they cry… some learn… those who don’t… die.” Rat replied somberly
“I see… sorry.” Riva replied as she gently kicked the grass below her feet. Letting out an internal sigh at the state of the world she found herself in.
“Why?” Rat asked curiously
“What do you mean why?” Riva asked perplexed
“Why… you say sorry?” Rat asked as he tilted his head ever so slightly in confusion.
“I… asked a question that brought out some bad memories. That was rude of me.” Riva replied
“Oh… well it ok… you treat me better than masters.” Rat replied with a smile as he went back to feeding his little sister.
“Rat?” Riva asked
“Yes.” Rat replied looking back up.
“What will you do next?” Riva asked
“I will take sis and run.” Rat replied
“You want to come with me to my home? It’s safe there you will have food and a roof over your head. A chance to start a new life.” Riva said
“Will they… take us? We slave… slave not worth much.” Rat replied
“We will. Come with us, you two aren’t gonna make it out here alone.” Riva said
Rat paused for a moment as he thought about it. It was true that he and his sister had no means of feeding themselves out here on the plains. True, once he joined the other colony he might just be enslaved again but in all honesty what choice did he have?
“Ok…” Rat replied with a hesitant nod.
“Trust me you’ll love it there…” Rat looked up sensing something was wrong. He saw Riva’s face go pale as she made a grab for something hidden in the grass. From it she pulled out a simple bolt action rifle.
“FOLLOW ME!” Riva shouted as she raised her rifle and fired off a shot.
Rat turned and saw a group of figures dressed in metal and rags. They were armed with crude weapons that looked to be hastily cobbled together masses of metal and wood. However, one thing stood out, it was a hulking mass of sickly green flesh. It's head was malformed with tumors and boils pockmarked across its face. In its hands it clutched what looked to be a crude cannon.
Rat had heard of mutants but this was the first time he had ever seen one, he felt his blood turn to ice as he grabbed his sister and bolted after the retreating figure of Riva. He heard the screams for blood and he could feel the icy wave of killing intent wash over his body. He clutched his sister closer to his chest and ran as quick as his legs could carry him.
Then he heard the sound of gunfire and he felt the whistling of bullets fly past him. Rat ducked his head and spurred his legs to go faster. He saw Riva duck behind a group of rocks before pointing the rifle at the mutants behind him. He saw the flash of the muzzle and heard a cry of pain from one of the attackers behind.
Sensing danger Rat instinctively threw himself to the left into the dirt and he heard the whistling and cracks of a hail of lethal lead whistling pass and impacting the rocks where Riva was hiding.
“COME ON!” Rat heard Riva shout
Rat scrambled back to his feet and grabbing his sister he scrambled towards the now pockmarked group of rocks. Rat bodily threw his sister behind the rocks before diving behind right after her. As he landed he heard the whistling of another burst of lead and he heard the cracks of it impacting the rocks in front of him.
Rat looked up to see Riva pulling Sis behind one of the sturdier rocks. Rat crawled towards the rock and hid with his sister. The rock was about a meter tall, just tall enough for someone to crouch and shoot over.
Rat looked at Riva who was returning fire, her face white with fear and her rifle trembling. Then he saw her eyes widen before she tried to duck behind the rock. There was a loud bang and Rat felt himself struck with enough force to knock him onto his back. He raised his head and felt his blood run cold, the rocks were now splashed with blood. He saw Riva lying on the ground clutching at her right side her mouth wide open screaming. Strangely all Rat could hear was a weird ringing sound, he looked on stunned as the pool of blood around Riva continued to expand, staining the verdant fields below them.
Rat snapped out of it just as his hearing returned and he immediately turned to find Sis curled up in a fetal position on the ground, eyes shut in fear. He turned back to Riva who’s screaming he could now hear with horrifying clarity. Rat knew the basics of medicine but he knew he couldn’t treat her here, so when he saw the blood stained rifle he made his decision.
Rat grabbed the rifle now slick with blood and checked that it still had ammo. Seeing it only had two rounds left, Rat crawled over to Riva and searched her pockets looking for ammo trying to block out Riva’s screams of agony as she lay bleeding in the dirt. He gripped the rifle and looked over the rocks to see the figures running towards him with crude blades raised. They had at least 100 metres to cover, Rat saw some flashes of light and heard the sound of gunfire. Rat ducked behing the rock as the hail of lead impacted the rocks around and flew overhead.
Rat knew he wasn’t very smart, afterall he was a slave. He had learned to hunt as the masters have found him uniquely talented at marksmanship. They used him to shoot hares and the deal was simple, every ten Hares he killed he got one of the legs as extra food. So Rat practiced and practiced, it was the only way to feed his sister who normally would be left to starve to death. Soon unbeknownst to him the slavers who he called master soon privately regarded him as one of the best shooters in the colony. This reputation was well earned Rat could hit a sprinting Hare from 100 metres and he always hit upper body lest he hit the precious leg that would be given to him.
Rat knew if he ran he would die, if he did nothing he would die. If he died... his sister dies and Riva dies. Rat frankly did not find this outcome acceptable so he made his decision. He would kill all those who were attacking him, after all they were bigger and slower than Hares…
Lower Atmosphere, Orbital Shuttle
“Captain Belisarius we have a situation.” the pilot said
“Report.” Belisarius replied
“There's a small arms battle near the dropzone. It appears to be a small group of natives against mutants. Judging by our scanners the native’s won’t last long.” the pilot replied
“Eudico hand me a map.” Belisarius said
Another soldier seated opposite him took out a holo pad and passed it to him. He opened the map and examined the terrain.
“Pilot send the scan data to my holo pad.” Belisarius commanded
“Aye Captain.” the pilot replied
Before his eyes Belisarious saw the dots of the reds vs blues. Things were not going well for the blues, there was a tree line about fifty metres behind them. That would make a good firing position. Eudico should be able to wreak havoc from a tree with her rifle, the rest can just push up easily after thinning the mutants out.
Belisarius typed in some coordinates into the pad and handed it back to Eudico.
“Pilot drop us at these coordinates.” Belisarius said
“Aye captain.” the pilot affirmed
“First boots on the ground and it’s firefight?” Eudico said wryly from behind her closed helm.
“The children of Jotunheim do not shrink from battle.” the gruff voice of Grendel said
“Don’t get me wrong G, I like a good firefight as much as the next girl but I was hoping we could take in the scenery first.” Eudico replied jokingly.
“We are the Steel Fist of the Sol System, a velvet glove serves no purpose.” Grendel replied sternly.
“She’s just winding you up Grendel.” Flossie said her voice high and squeaky. Though none could see it, they knew she was rolling her eyes.
“Don’t bother Floss jokes go over Grendel’s head.” Jaxx said as he checked his Hellfire LMG.
“Nothing goes over my head, I am ever vigilant.” Grendel replied
“Cut the chatter, we’re almost there.” Belisarius said
“Aye captain.” the others chorused as weapons were cocked and safeties flipped. Just another day in the Jotunheim legion.
The door at the back of the shuttle opened and the soldiers jumped out landing on the ground below and immediately faced the direction of the fighting. The ship above them was invisible the only sign that the ship as there was the open door that to the average on looker looked like a floating doorway. The squad immediately fanned out and looked out across the plains they could see one lone figure firing at the approaching swarm of mutants.
“Brave kid.” Eudico said
“Let’s make sure he makes it. Eudico climb up one of these trees and provide over watch. Jaxx take the left flank and provide suppression. Flossie your with me, Grendel take the right flank move up when you see me and Flossie move.” Belisarius ordered
The squad swiftly moved out and carried out their assigned orders. Eudico climbed up one of the trees and looked down the sights of her custom rifle. It was a unique rifle as far as weapons go, it uses pulse charge munitions and it has a triple barrel design. The rifle can fire each barrel independently or all together. In addition the rounds are fed using a magazine system but the rounds in the barrel can be changed using a breech loader so the user can use custom munitions as required. The rifle has superb stopping power when fired at three round setting or colloquially known as the triple tap setting among troops. The three round burst possess high armor piercing and is only bested by specialised anti material weapons. On the side of the rifle was an engraving of a head wreath made of red roses. The engravings showed red petals floating off from the wreath and below the picture was engraved the words Blumenkranz.
In this case the single shot setting should be sufficient but perhaps the big one might need more stopping power. Eudico pondered this as she looked out over the battlefield, the kid was a good shot considering the crappy rifle that he was using. The poor girl on the ground looks pretty shredded, she would probably die within the hour unless medical treatment was given.
“Everyone in position?” Eudico heard the Captain say over the comms
“Jaxx aye.” Eudico heard
“Grendel aye” Grendel said soon after
“Eudico aye.” Eudico said into her comms mic.
“Eudico on you.” the Captain said
Eudico looked on and picked the mutant who was just about to vault over the rocks where the kid was hiding and she pulled the trigger.
Rat felt the rifle kick back into his shoulder as he saw another of the assailants clutch it’s neck as blood spewed from the open wound. He wheeled to his right and saw another of those figures, it was right in front of him now no less than 5 metres away. From this distance Rat could see every disgusting detail of its body. It’s face was a mass of puss stained bandages and Rat could see sickly green skin where the bandages did not cover. It was then that Rat remembers a saying his mother said to him when he was a boy.
Fear the Machine
Fear the Mutant
Fear the Rabbie
Rat cocked the rifle and turned it’s barrel onto the incoming mutant, at the moment, time seemed to slow. He could see the rust on the metal cleaver in the mutant’s hand, he could see each rotting tooth in it’s putrid mouth. Most of all he knew he wouldn’t be able to fire in time, then the mutant’s head exploded into a fine red mist.
Rat stood there stunned for a moment unsure of what happened, then he heard the rattling of gun fire. He looked to the mutants in the field before him and saw them being cut down en masse as bits of their bodies seemed to be blown apart.
Rat watched as the mutants reeled in confusion as streaks of light flew and take down the front line of mutants. Rat turned to see muzzle flashes on his left as sprays of blue light fired out of the treeline causing most of the mutants to retreat back. Rat heard a roar of rage as the big one roared in fury and pointed it’s massive gun at the trees and fired. There was ear splitting blast as a fireball flew out from the barrel and sailed towards the source of the gunfire. The fireball struck one of the trees and exploded blasting the tree into splinters that scattered around the area kicking up a cloud of dust. The gun fire went silent for a moment before resuming from within the dust cloud. The giant mutant roared again as the blue streaks flew past the mutant and hosed the mutants behind it. The mutants in the rear dived behind whatever meagre cover they could find in the grassy plains. Streaks of blue light tore into the landscape shredding trees and rocks.
The giant mutant made to reload his weapon but halfway through three streaks of blue flew over Rat’s head from behind him and hit the cannon. The cannon exploded in a ball of fire igniting the mutant and spraying shrapnel in all directions. The mutant stumbled around roaring in pain with it’s right arm now just a shredded mass of burning flesh. It was then that Rat heard movement behind him.
Flossie ran right behind the captain and watched as Grendel run out from the right flank guns blazing his shotgun reaping a terrible toll on the mutants. It was a short run but soon they were next to the boy. Flossie ignored him and looked down at the wounded girl in the grass. She was whimpering on the ground her face was deathly pale and her breathing was very shallow. By the looks of the wounds and the amount of blood in the grass Flossie expects she's lost about two liters of blood.
Flossie immediately went to work and started trauma care, the girl’s right arm was shredded and had multiple lacerations to her right leg, torso, neck and face. Death should come within fifteen minutes unless treatment was administered quickly enough. Flossie took out her medical kit with it’s grey box and light blue cross. She pressed a few buttons on a panel on her left forearm, her armor immediately activated it’s medical protocols. She felt the EMT bot detach from her back and it floated in front of her and hovered over the girl. The bot and Flossie immediately got to work, she immediately went and tied a tourniquet around her arm to reduce the bleeding. While she was doing this the bot cut the girl’s clothes open at the injured areas before pouring saline on top of the wounds to clear up the view. Flosse saw that the wounds to the torso had cut to the bone and the wound on her thigh was minor. She commanded the bot to begin suturing the arm while Flossie worked on the chest. The EMT bots are better at fixing wounds that don’t involve the organs, the AI lacks the ability to make decisions when there is insufficient information. Flossie looked at the chest and swapped the vision filter on her helmet to X-ray and she could see that half her ribs were broken and three pieces of shrapnel were imbedded in her right lung.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Flossie went to work removing the shrapnel and repairing the destroyed blood vessels. She injected a small dose of nanobots to repair her lungs and started closing up her chest. The lacerations have torn off a good chunk of flesh but luckily it didn’t nick any major arteries. It would leave a nasty scar but she would live.
Rat looked on fascinated as he sat on his butt on the ground as the metal man started to heal Riva. He had seen emergency healing done before. Once there was an attack during a hunting trip and one of the masters was injured. The healer used string to pull the two halves together and stop the bleeding. This healer was much better, the last time the masters were panicking from a single hole in the man’s belly. Riva’s arm and torso looked like a Hare halfway through butchering but now it was starting to look like red lines across her body.
“Captain I need blood, can you check the boy’s blood type?” the metal man said... although the voice sounded like a woman.
As she said this, the woman threw a small rod like device and threw it at the other metal man, the man knelt down and faced Rat.
“Your friend needs blood, I need to check if you are compatible.” the man said
“You help Riva?” Rat asked
“Yes but she needs blood.” the man said
At that moment a spray of lead struck the rocks they were hiding behind. Rat instinctively ducked as he heard the cracks of lead striking stone.
“Eudico!” the man shouted
Then a few blue streaks flew overhead in response and Rat heard cries of alarm in the distance.
“Give me your hand.” the man said
Rat hesitated but as he looked to Riva’s deathly pale skin, he stretched out his hand. The man placed the device to his finger, he felt a slight sting but saw a small droplet of blood.
“O Negative!” the man shouted
“What really? That’s lucky.” the woman replied
“Small victories.” the man replied
“Small victories, bring him here.” the woman shouted
Rat crawled over to Riva and did as he was bid by the metal woman.
Captain Belisarius seeing the girl was stable and in good hands picked up his rifle and looked over the rock. The big one was now a smoking black mass on the ground, the mutants were panicking and hiding behind what meagre shelter that could be found on these wide open plains. Jaxx’s LMG was rippling whatever cover they could find to pieces and Eudico was sniping them through their cover.
He calmly looked over the field and saw some of the mutants take off running, once the rest took notice it devolved quickly into a route.
“Cease fire let them go. Let them tell the rest of their misbegotten kind what happened here.” Captain Belisarius said into the comms
At those words he watched as one single pulse charged shot flew and hit one of the retreating mutants.
“I said let them go Eudico.” Belisarius said
“I thought we might question this guy, he’s gonna need a new knee cap though.” Eudico replied
“Thanks for the extra work Eudi.” Flossie grumbled over the comms
“Hey practice makes perfect” Eudico replied with a laugh
1 Hour Later
Riva stirred as consciousness returned to her, the first thing she felt was the pain. It was bad but not totally unmanageable. She heard muffled voices around her, voices she had never heard before.
Do you think it can talk?
I would assume so, they seemed reasonably coordinated.
Maybe if we gave him some pain killers it’ll talk?
How do you know it’s a guy?
Well his chest is flat.
Flossie has a flat chest and she’s a girl.
EUDI!
Kidding…
Riva raised her hand and clutched her pounding head, her fingers touched the soft fabric of bandages wrapped around her head. She tried to sit up but the moment she tensed her abdomen she felt a surge of pain shoot up. She groaned as she clutched her belly which now felt like it was on fire.
Crap she’s awake.
Then a strange shape appeared in her blurry vision, it looked like a glass ball. As her vision focused her eyes widened as she realised it was a helmet. The helmet had no holes for eyes, instead it was a smooth surface with a glassy exterior. There were strange images like a dancing sheet of cloth under the glass. This piece of equipment was a masterwork, the treasure back home was a toy compared to what lay before her.
“Can you hear me Riva?” the helmet asked
“Yes.” Riva replied softly as she continued to look at the helmet.
“Are you in pain?” the helmet asked
“Yes…” Riva replied weakly
Flossie helped the poor girl sit up, her right radius was horribly damaged. She had stitched it back together mostly but the scarring would be extensive. Flossie looked at her, she looked so young. If Flossie had to wager a guess she would be between 15 to 17 years old, for one so young to fight such horrors. Flossie shook her head and tried to clear her thoughts but then she heard a scream.
Flossie turned to see Jaxx breaking the mutant’s fingers in a bid to get it to talk. Jaxx took out his pulse pistol and jammed it against the mutants forehead. Shouting bloody murder at it’s face, Flossie could smell the ammonia from here. Flossie and her compatriots were Jotunheim Special Forces, interrogation came as naturally to them as firing their weapons.
Flossie looked down and saw the girl going pale as Jaxx started getting creative with a serrated blade. Flossie sighed as she squatted down in front of Riva.
“Here let me look at your wounds.” Flossie said kindly
Riva didn’t know what to think, the voice behind that helmet sounded warm and kind. Yet her equipment betrayed the fact that they were not of this world. Her father told her this, never trust the Rabbies, never trust the mutants and never ever trust the spacers.
This woman in front of her was definitely a spacer but whether she was a mutant or Rabbie remained to be seen. Riva narrowed her eyes at the woman in suspicion and glanced to the pistol on her hip.
Flossie sighed as he looked at the suspicious expression on her face and saw that she was eyeing her sidearm.
“Jaxx can you pause it for a moment?” Flossie shouted over her shoulder.
The screams that turned to whimpers and sobs was all the confirmation Flossie needed. She turned back to Riva who was looking very stressed out. Flossie noticed the boy Rat who was sitting with his sister was moving towards them. Flossie decided to wait for the boy to reach them, no doubt everything was overwhelming her. Best to let her contact something more familiar so she feels more secure.
Riva was glad the screaming stopped, mutant or no the screams were starting to fray her nerves. She watched as the strange woman take a step back and looked over to her left. Riva turned just in time to see Rat slide onto the dirt next to her.
“You ok.” Rat said his eyes alight with relief.
“Yeah I am, hurts like hell though.” Riva said with a grimace
“How bad is the pain?” the woman asked
Riva didn’t reply, she merely looked up at the strange woman.
“Riva, they help you. They save you.” Rat said
At those words Riva shut her eyes and let out a sigh. She knew she was at their mercy, if they could drive off that horde of mutants what the hell was she going to do in this state.
“Quite bad.” Riva replied
“Where? Your chest?” the woman asked
“My chest, right side and my right leg.” Riva said through gritted teeth.
Riva was starting to feel clammy as the pain started getting to her. As she calmed down the pain returned with a vengeance as the adrenaline in her body ran out.
“Here let me give you something for the pain.” the woman said
Riva wanted to turn down the offer but the pain was getting worse with every passing second. She watched as the woman injected something into her arm and she felt the pain fade. Riva let her short panicked breaths calm and looked up at the strange woman.
“What was in that syringe.” Riva asked breathlessly
“Morphine.” the woman replied
“Morphine? That’s Core System meds.” Riva replied as she slowly caught her breathe
“Aren’t you well informed?” the woman said coyly from behind her helmet
“I’m not stupid, I know you spacers come here to kidnap us.” Riva replied
“Kidnap you?” the woman said visibly perturbed as her head jerked back slightly in indignation.
“Yeah that’s what you spacers do, you just come down take what you want and leave.” Riva spat
“Captain, you should hear this.” the woman said her voice growing hard.
Jormungandr Capital Ship
“Please I told you all I know…” the man wept as the masked interrogator approached again with the rod.
“We found human organs and slaves aboard your vessel, under the Venus Accords you are in violation of several clauses of the accords. If you tell us where you are going and who is buying them we just might lighten your sentence.” the masked man said
“Please I… I don’t…” the prisoner wept
The interrogator growled and slammed the tip of the rod into the prisoner’s neck. There was a crackling sound and the prisoner screamed as the rod delivered an excruciatingly painful electric shock through his body.
The prisoner bent forward in his chair and vomited into his own lap once the rod was removed. The interrogator looked on in contempt and glanced up at the slew of monitors behind the prisoner. The monitors showed how much more until the prisoner reached his limit, it measured everything from his heart beat to his brain waves. Seeing the indicated readings that the prisoner was on the verge of a mental breakdown and no signs of lying in his brain waves the interrogator decided to stop the questioning.
He backed away from the prisoner and put down the rod on a nearby table where numerous implements of interrogation were placed some were high tech others were abit more… medieval. With one last look of disgust the interrogator turned and walked out the door. The mechanical door closed behind the man with a hiss and sealed the prisoner in.
“Any information Lieutenant?” a voice said from the side
The interrogator turned and saw a man sitting on a nearby chair, he was wearing a white smart military uniform with a high collar, tassels on the shoulder and gold buttons running down the centre. On his chest the interrogator could see the insignia of a Senior Inspector Sol Justice Division.
“No, the captain of the ship was telling the truth, he’s just a hired hand who knows nothing.” the interrogator replied
“Ah well then, pity. So he is just an accessory to the crime, still he was party to crime of slavery and violation of the Venus accords.” the inspector said as he stood up and picked up his white peaked cap.
“The sentence?” the interrogator asked
“Summary execution, due to the man violating the lawful rights of other sentient beings his own have been waived.” the inspector said as he lightly dusted his cap and put it on.
“Is there anything else?” the interrogator asked
“No no, we have everything we need. Thank you for your assistance Lieutenant. The slaves will be held in protective custody until a suitable place has been found for them, we must do our part. We aren’t savages after all. As for the guilty the orders from on high have come down, they will be jettisoned out of the airlock with the next batch of refuse in low orbit. We will let reentry handle the cremation of the bodies.” the inspector said a smile.
“Very good, now if you excuse me I have a report to write, I need to get started before we inevitably snag another ship.” the Lieutenant said with cold indifference.
“Yes yes, don’t let me keep you Lieutenant the work of the just is never done.” the inspector said as he rendered a crisp salute.
Rimworld 13-B Surface
Riva sat with her back against a random boulder, the pain was fading with every hour. She had no idea what kind of medicine these spacers had but it was working really well. The woman, Flossie was giving her injections every time she went to sleep and each time she awoke she felt just a bit better.
She looked at Sis who was playing with the soldier called Eudico, Sis looked alot better ever since they started feeding her this thing called nutrient paste. It was only a few days but she was starting to look more like a normal girl. Sis was actually quite a pretty girl, you couldn’t tell before as she was basically a walking skeleton but now Riva could see she would be quite the heart throb in a few years.
“Hey Riva, how are you doing?” Flossie said as she approached her
“Better.” Riva replied curtly
“The pain?” Flossie said as she clipped a device on her finger
“Better.” Riva replied
“You sure we are going the right way to your settlement?” Flossie said as she shined a light into her eyes.
“Yes, I grew up here, I wouldn’t live this long if I didn’t have basic navigation skills now would I?” Riva replied scathingly
“No, I trust you I’m just checking if your mind is working fine. We know where your settlement is.” Flossie replied
“How?” Riva asked her voice growing loud.
“We are spacers remember, we have big cameras pointing at the planet’s surface. We should reach your home in the next few days.” Flossie replied nonchalantly.
“Tchh.” Riva said as she turned her head away from Flossie.
“Why all the hostility Riva?” Flossie asked
“Because I know that symbol on your arm, that planet it’s earth. Your from the core systems, Sol abandoned us, you all left us here to rot on this planet. Now you come down here acting like you are some benevolent saviours.” Riva replied
“Tell me Riva, do you save every wounded man or animal you come across? Or do you save who you can save and leave the rest to fate? Come now Riva, I am sure you didn’t last as long as you did by being naive.” Flossie said
“How is that the same as abandoning an entire planet?” Riva challenged
“It is, it’s just the scale. The Sol System saves whoever it can, and leaves the rest to their fate. Of course Sol is always expanding so we try to save more and more over the years, it won’t happen tomorrow or even in our lifetimes… but I hope one day no child will have to suffer as much as she did.” Flossie said as he turned her head to look at Sis who was engrossed in a strange glowing pad.
“Is that why you all are here? To save us?” Riva asked, right eyebrow raised.
“You should get some rest, I think we can skip the injection today. I want to see how well your body fares on its own for a night.” Flossie said as she stood back up
“You didn’t answer my question.” Riva said her eyes narrowing
“Get some rest.” Flossie said sweetly as she turned and walked over to Rat.
“Pompous bitch.” Riva muttered under her breath
Riva sat in silence as she lost herself in her thoughts, she had heard stories of the people from the core systems. There were some who terraformed planets, some came to colonise planets and then there were Sol System’s warhounds, the nine legions. They were colloquially called marble makers, for one reason. The orbital traders have often brought stories of legions “glassing planets”, the meaning of that phrase was that the legions would bombard planets from orbit incinerating everything on the planet’s surface. The heat from the bombardment would ignite the atmosphere turn the surface into glass, essentially turning the whole planet into giant marble. Hence the name marble makers.
What’s more there were other stories such as legion death squads burning entire towns to the ground leaving only ashes and bones in their wake. Well Riva was sure of one thing, these weren’t legion soldiers. Riva looked at Sis smiling at the pad with Rat and Eudico.
“No definitely not.” Riva said under her breath
Rat watched as his sister smiled and played with the strange glowing pad, the pad showed a group of puzzles that his sister had to solve. The two of them have never played games before, it was always about surviving the next day. Rat couldn’t remember the last time he saw his sister this happy.
“Hey Rat, I heard you're a good shot.” Eudico said nonchalantly as she pointed at the pad being held by Sis giving her hint on the next puzzle.
“Good shot?” Rat asked.
Eudico made a gun with her finger and made a shooting motion.
“Ah! I hunt for masters.” Rat said understanding her meaning
“What do you hunt?” Eudico asked, turning her faceless helmet towards him.
Rat still in his heart felt the helmets were off putting, the only reason he could tell the group apart was their voices and their unique builds. Flossie and Eudico were thin and short with Eudico having a much more springy step. Grendel was a massive mountain of a man with Captain Belisarius coming in second in terms of height and Jaxx coming in third.
“I hunt hares, they run I shoot.” Rat said
“You shoot running hares with some beat up rifle?” Eudico asked disbelievingly
“Yes.” Rat said unsure of why that fact was something to be surprised about.
“Ok I’ve got to see this for myself. Want to go hunting?” Eudico asked
“Now?” Rat asked surprised
“Well I was just about to go and get dinner, why don’t you come and show me your skills.” Eudico offered
“Err yes.” Rat said with a nod
“Alright let's go.” Eudico said
Rat stood up hesitantly and walked over to pick up Riva’s rifle and followed after Eudico. Rat and Eudico trekked on until they found something. Not a hare but wild boar who was grazing in the grass plains before them.
“Let’s get this one.” Eudico said quietly to Rat as they hid behind some shrubbery.
“It... too big.” Rat said uncertainly
“It’s all the same, hit it in the eye and it drops like anything else.” Eudico said
The wild boar was a good 80 metres away and the Rat looked to Eudico who gave him a slight nod, Rat placed the rifle at his shoulder. He lined up his sights, leaned forward slightly and held his breath. The shot rang out and then there was small cloud of smoke where the boars left eye was, it’s body swayed slightly before it collapsed onto the ground.
“Nice shot.” Eudico said with a nod
Rat didn’t reply he merely looked to the fallen boar and gulped down a mouthful of saliva. The pair walked over to the boar and looked down at the large animal. Rat took a look at where his bullet had hit, it looks like his bullet went clean through the eye and into the brain.
“It’s too big.” Rat said with a frown
“What?” Eudico asked confused at his point.
“We can’t bring back.” Rat said
“We just bring back what we can carry, you like bacon?” Eudico said as she drew a serrated knife
“Bacon?” Rat asked perplexed
“You’ll see.” Eudico said with a chuckle as she cut the boar’s belly open.
Back at Camp
“Yes, we will proceed as ordered… Yes I had a similar idea… What kind of information?... Acknowledged Juno Leader out.” Belisarius put away his transmitter and turned to look at Riva who was sulking by a rock.
Belisarius sighed as he turned and approached Riva.
Riva spotted the Captain and narrowed her eyes. This one she didn’t like, he was unreadable both from his voice and actions. The fact that you couldn’t see an inch of skin under that armor doesn’t exactly help things. The others have their quirks but they didn’t seem like bad people, but this one Riva had no idea.
“Hello Riva.” Belisarius said politely
“Hello…” Riva replied giving him a suspicious look.
“I have a few questions if that’s ok.” Belisarius said
“What about?” Riva asked
“Your home, we know the rough layout of it but we have some questions about it.” Belisarius said
“Why? What if you don’t like what you hear you’ll burn it to the ground?” Riva replied hotly.
“No not all our scan’s don’t indicate anything major and we don’t destroy settlements lightly.” Belisarius said calmly
“Then why are you asking?” Riva asked
“We will be reaching it soon and we hope we can prevent any misunderstandings.” Belisarius replied
“Who are you guys? Some spacer mercenary group?” Riva asked deflecting the question.
“One of the main concerns is this.” Belisarius said as he pulled out a holopad and showed an area of the settlement.
It was a large stone structure with a walled area behind it, the area looked to be an area for growing crops.
“That’s obviously an agriculture area, my question is why the walls?” Belisarius asked ignoring her previous question.
Riva didn’t answer she merely gave him a glare.
“Answer my question and I’ll answer yours.” Belisarius offered.
He could see how her eyes shifted slightly, she was clearly thinking whether or not to answer. Belisarius knew she was no fool, in fact she was very intelligent for someone her age. Most teenagers don’t think too deeply about problems either clamming up or answering very easily.
“It’s called the work yard, it’s where the prisoners work.” Riva said begrudgingly
“What kind of prisoners?” Belsarius asked
“No, you answer my question first.” Riva replied
“Very well, we are from the Jotunheim Legion. You may know us, we are aware there are many rumors surrounding us in this part of space.” Belisarius replied
Riva’s eyes widened at those words and her face went as white as a sheet.
“A legion is here?” Riva thought desperately to herself. They were coming to destroy everything, that's what the legions do. You don’t get the name marble makers by being big on humanitarianism.
“We are aware of our reputation. I can answer some of your questions if it will help alleviate some of your concerns.” Belisarius offered when he saw her reaction.
Riva looked up at him, in a mixture of fear and curiosity. To be fair they did save her life and if they wanted to glass this planet they had no need to send troops down.
“Do you destroy worlds?” Riva hesitantly asked her voice now sounding like meek little mouse.
“We do, but not lightly. We only destroy planets when the inhabitants have developed space technology and are causing danger to surrounding planets. We only do it when we feel its people are beyond redemption.” Belisarius replied
“How do I know you aren't lying?” Riva replied
“You don’t, the fact is there is nothing you or your people can do to stop us if we do want to level this planet. So to me your options are clear, help us and give us a reason not to burn this planet to the ground or… do nothing and leave everything to luck.” Belisarius said calmly
Riva looked at the faceless helmet before looking up at the sky and tried to imagine what the sky would look like if it was on fire. She suppressed a shudder and bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. Riva tried her best to calm her racing heart and took several deep breaths.
“The prisoners come from raids, sometimes raiders attack us. My grandma used to say the more valuable something is the more others covet it.” Riva said
“Your grandmother is very wise.” Belisarius said
“Yea so we keep the prisoners we take there and they help to grow food for the colony.” Riva said
“Why not release them.” Belisarius asked
“We used to do that until we captured the same guy twice, if we let them out they just rejoin the raiders and come back for us. Just one more body to throw at our walls.” Riva replied
“So you put them into forced labour, that's a prison camp.” Belisarius said
“Yes… but we don’t have a choice! It's either that or we kill them.” Riva said defensively
“I’m not criticising you Riva, it’s a sensible choice. No sense keeping prisoners around doing nothing, might as well make them feed themselves and the settlement while they are at it.” Belisarius said
“Yes exactly.” Riva said earnestly
“I assume of course they are treated fairly, with appropriate amounts of necessities.” Belisarius said
“Yes they have beds so they don’t sleep on the stone floor, we feed them fairly and during the winter they get blankets. They don’t get the nicer things like fruits, alcohol and sweets but we treat them fairly.” Riva replied earnestly.
“Well it’s a prison not a resort, well it seems you live in an upstanding society Riva. Thank you.” Belisarius said with a nod as he turned to leave.
“Wait wait, that's it?” Riva asked incredulously.
“There’s an old saying Riva, it goes something like this. Judge a man not by how he treats his equals, judge him by how he treats his inferiors. If you give your prisoners beds and blankets during the winter I am sure your people are not needlessly cruel.” Belsarius said
After he said this he pointed up into the sky.
“Also remember we can see everything from up there.” Belisarius said with a chuckle.
Riva watched him leave and leaned her head back against the rock and let out a sigh of relief. Perhaps these legion soldiers aren’t so bad, what he says about glassing planets does make sense. Her colony has wiped out bandit camps before, isn’t a planet just a really big bandit camp?
Riva looked up and saw Sis smiling at Flossie as she solved a puzzle and in the back of her mind, perhaps in desperation, she tried to believe that the Legions were not what the rumors say.
Later that day Riva was sitting with Rat and Sis as they ate the ham and bacon from metal mess tins. It both smelt and tasted delicious, regardless of whatever was said about the Legions Riva could say that they really knew how to cook. Typical of core system folks to send soldiers into the field with salt and spices. Her Grandma once told her that the secret is in the details, in the little things. The logic was simple, if a group or person can handle even the little things then the big things are of no concern.
It makes sense, after all when her colony sends people out to fight they are given ration bars. Tasteless, dry and marginally nutritious but it can last ten winters in a cellar and that’s all that matters. As for spices well, if you have room for growing spices might as well grow rice or potatoes. After all, you never know when the next crop will fail. Riva looked down at the slice of pork in her hand, she could see the little black specks of pepper on her meat. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Rat and Sis digging into the meal with gusto, the poor pair probably never even tasted salt let alone pepper. As she took another bite she tasted the delicious spike in flavour from the pepper and the greasy richness of the pork. Quite a little detail… tastes good though.
“Riva? It not taste good?” Rat asked with a mouthful of ham.
“No it’s just I’m thinking about things.” Riva replied with a sigh.
“Thinking about what?” Rat asked.
“No it’s nothing.” Riva said with a shake of her head.
“They nice.” Rat said looking to the group from Jotunheim
“How do you know? You can’t even see their faces Rat.” Riva replied as she gestured to the group with a stick of bacon.
The group had a mechanism in their helmet that opened where their mouths were, it allowed them to eat and drink without ever taking off their helmets.
“They not cruel. There no reason to be kind to slave.” Rat replied
“You’re not a slave anymore Rat. This is how people are supposed to behave.” Riva said
“Yes but… people don’t. I wish there more like them… back home the strong take from the weak. That the way…” Rat said
“Well you won’t have to go through that anymore, when we get to the settlement you will have a new home. One where no one will hurt you or abuse you or anything else.” Riva replied
“Yes… I hope… Better tomorrow… then maybe Sis can talk…” Rat said happily
“You see… When Sis smaller she… cry a lot… very loud. Masters no like… they hit her… I try stop them… they hit me… Sis stop crying after that… Now… she make no sound…” Rat said his voice shaking from the memory.
“Rat I’m so sorry…” Riva said quietly
“Why you sorry?” Rat said as he turned his face towards her a look of confusion on his face.
“You no hurt us… you help us.” Rat said as he tilted his head slightly.
“No I suppose not... Well there’s a school back home. We can send Sis there.” Riva said helpfully.
“School?” Rat asked confused
“It’s a place where kids go, Sis can go there to learn about things, make some friends with other kids. You know stuff like that.” Riva said encouragingly
“Yeah that… sounds good…” Rat said with a smile
“You like Sis?” Rat said as he turned to Sis
Sis nodded with a smile her eyes alight and her cheeks full with ham.
“Yeah that sounds good…” Riva muttered to herself as she looked at the pair of siblings.
A few days later
Riva was extremely relieved when she finally saw the looming walls of her colony. She has been walking for the past week using an improvised walking stick. Her back hurts, her hand was full of blisters and she really missed her bed. They were about half an hour away now
“Hey you ok?” Flossie said from her right
“Yea I’m fine.” Riva said facing forward without looking at her.
“Really? Your heart rates up.” Flossie
“Just happy to be home.” Riva replied
“Is that so? Doesn’t explain your adrenaline levels though.” Flossie commented nonchalantly
Riva visibly flinched at those words, how she wished she could take that stupid sensor off her finger. True it was useful, they always knew when she was getting tired or the pain was coming back. It made the trip back infinitely more comfortable with no risk of worsening her injuries but still… Something about having someone know everything about your body was unsettling.
“I’m just worried about how the guards will react. Spacers aren’t very well received down here and I’m sure you know our thoughts on the legions.” Riva replied
“We’ll see how it goes.” Belisarius replied calmly
“Don’t worry Riva it’s not like we didn’t see this coming. We know how to handle this kind of thing.” Eudico said cheerily
“Infantry on the walls, small arms. Looks like a few MG emplacements.” Grendel said
“Yea looks like 50 cals.” Jaxx said
“No shooting unless we get shot at first.” Belisarius said
“Aye captain.” the rest of the squad chorused
“Let me do the talking.” Riva offered her voice shaking
“You sure?” Flossie asked
“Yeah I have a feeling who will be greeting as at the gate.” Riva said with a grimace
“Alright, listen up Riva will take point she’s the HVI. Grendel keep the siblings behind you at all times, get ready with your shield. If things go sideways we leave Riva and retreat. Eudico take out the 50 cals and try not to kill the gunners. Everyone understood?” Belisairus said
“We’re leaving Riva?” Flossie asked
“Intel just came in last night, they caught slavers in orbit. This is her home so chances are they’ll let her in. We don’t want to come across as kidnappers.” Belisarius said
At that moment a line of text appeared on all the squads heads up display within their helmets.
~ Riva’s bonded with Rat and Sis, if we hold onto them we are less likely to be locked out. It will incentivise Riva to speak to whoever is in charge. : Cpt Belisarius
“Why can’t Rat and Sis come with me?” Riva asked suspiciously
“Industrial era weapons are exactly very accurate. A stray 50 caliber bullet will rip one of Sis’s limbs off. She’s weak and malnourished. It's unlikely we will be able to stabilise her if she gets hit. So if she gets hit we will have to treat her on the spot if we want to have a chance, which means we will have to shoot back.” Belisarius replied calmly
Riva bit her lip at those words as she remembered how Rat described the way this group fought. Thirty mutants cut to pieces and not even a scratch on their armor. Riva strained her brain to think of a solution but she knew how indiscriminate those heavy guns were when they started firing. She pictured Sis with an orange sized hole in her chest from a stray bullet and suppressed a shudder.
“Alright.” Riva said as she looked at the pair of siblings and saw Rat hold Sis hand tighter in anxiety.
“I hope you’re good at talking.” Eudico said.
“Yeah I hope so too…” Riva muttered in reply.
Riva trudged onwards her walking stick feeling heavier with every step. She felt her mouth go dry and her heart rate race as she looked at the ever approaching wall. She could hear the blood pounding in her ears and she felt her hands go clammy. Soon she started to feel light headed she was about to stop when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Riva flinched and turned around and nearly tripped but the person caught her.
Riva looked to see Rat steadying her with a look of concern on his face. She could see how his brow was furrowed and the corners of his eyes were wrinkled in concern.
“Riva… you ok?” Rat asked
“Yeah… Just nervous.” Riva said breathlessly as she felt her breathing return to normal and her head start to clear.
“You… do fine…” Rat said with a nod
“I’m scared Rat what if… they start shooting and something happens to Sis…” Riva replied meekly
“I… trust Riva… you brave...” Rat said
“How do you know? You barely know me.” Riva replied shakily
“When… monster attack… you can run… but you stay… you fight… you can leave… me and Sis… but you stay… you fight… for slave…” Rat said his face more serious than Riva has ever seen these past few days.
“I trust Riva.” Rat said again
Riva felt a tug on her pant leg and looked down to see Sis standing there looking up at her. Her face was one of fear. She watched her take a big swallow and she opened her mouth.
“Tr.. trush… Reeva.” Sis said
Riva looked at the little girl stunned, her voice was meek and coarse. Her voice was obviously under used and her first words in who knows how long were those of consolation and reassurance.
“Thank you.” Riva said as she placed her hand on Sis’s head.
“Don’t worry you’ll get hot meals and a bed tonight.” Riva said to Sis who smiled and nodded. Riva ruffled her hair and turned and began walking towards the wall.
The rest of the squad wordlessly fell back in step, Riva not even realising the squad had stopped so consumed was she by her own thoughts. Flossie took her eyes off the monitor on her left forearm and began walking. Then she saw text appear before her eyes in the heads up display.
~ Good call Flossie : Cpt Belisarius
~ Psychology 101 Captain : 1Lt Flossie
~ Show off : 2Lt Eudico
~ Shut it Eudi : 1Lt Flossie
~ Lol : 2Lt Eudico
Riva walked closer to the wall and heard the standard shout to ask her to stop. She recognised that voice and let out a sigh.
“Riva?” she heard the voice of her older brother shout.
“Yeah it’s me Alann, could you let us in?” Riva shouted back
“Who are they?” Alann replied
Riva looked up and could see rifles pointed at her and the group from atop the walls. She could see the two large machine guns pointed at the group.
“Alann could you put the guns down? I’ll explain everything.” Riva said her voice going dry as she tried her best to ignore the many barrels pointed at her general direction.
“Nuh uh, no way. Those are spacers, you expect us to let them in?” Alann replied
“So what you’re gonna leave me out here to die?” Riva challenged
“No, we’ll let you in when they leave.” Alann said
“They just want to talk. They saved my life Alann.” Riva said
“Yea sure, we let them in and one of us disappears in the night. You think I was born yesterday?” Alann snorted
“Where’s mom?” Riva asked switching tactics
“Busy…” Alann said crossing his arms and staring Riva down
“Well go and tell her I’m back and I have people that she needs to speak to.” Riva shouted
“This isn’t important enough for me to get mom.” Alann replied
“Really? Your missing sister shows up injured with a bunch of spacers and this isn’t important?” Riva retorted
Riva looked at the walls and saw what she expected to see. The ones that looked the most trigger happy, which incidentally included the two gunners on the turrets were part of her brothers little gang. There were others of course their sights weren’t lined up as compared to the rest. Still that made a dozen guns more than enough lead to accidently hit Rat, Sis and herself.
“I wish to speak with your leader.” Captain Belisarius said suddenly
Riva whirled around and looked at the Captain, a chill as cold as a winter's night going up her spine.
“You don’t get to make demands here.” Alann retorted as the turret gunners now pointed their guns at Belisarius.
“I want to speak to the leader not a doorman.” Belisarius as he bagan walking forward.
“Stop, one step closer and we shoot.” Alann shouted as he raised his own rifle
“I am Captain Belisaiurs of the…” Belisarius began
“What's going on here?” a weathered but firm voice said from atop the wall
“Gran?” Riva shouted
From the edge emerged an aging woman, she had a head of silver hair and wrinkled skin. Her back was hunched with age but she carried herself with a type of quiet dignity that few possesed.
“Riva? It's good you are well dear.” the woman said
“Gran? I have this handled.” Alann said his voice losing its previous confidence.
“You do? Well it appears we have important guests.” the old woman said as she turned her gaze to the group.
“Let them in.” the woman said calmly
“What” Gran, they are spacers, they’ll kidnap half the kids in the colony before we know it.” Alann retorted his face going purple.
“Not these ones, you would know that if you paid any attention to the lessons I was teaching you.” the woman said as she smacked Alann in the shin with her walking stick eliciting a yelp of pain.
“I assume you are the leader of this colony?” Belisarius asked
“No good sir, I was the leader. My daughter runs the place, I’m too old to be running anything now.” the woman said with a chuckle.
“Gran, do you know who they are?” Alann asked as he rubbed his shin ruefully.
“Closed helms, power armor, hightech weapons. Armor is uniform and unless my old eyes deceive me that one over there is holding a Hecate variant sniper rifle.” the woman said as she pointed her cane at Flossie.
“That doesn’t look like one…” Alann replied his head lowered looking for all to see like a boy getting a reprimand.
“Of course not, the picture you saw is 70 years old showcasing outdated equipment.” the woman said as she smacked Alann’s other shin with her cane. Alann cried out again as he felt the strike and held onto the side of the wall as support.
“Gran!” Alann cried in protest.
“Oh shut up boy, you have no idea what you nearly did. You are going to be doing some studying after this.” the woman said sternly
“Who do you think we are?” Belisarius asked
“I think you are from one of the nine legions.” the woman said
“The legions? The marble makers?” voices of alarm sprang out along the wall.
Riva looked up and saw the gunners of turrets take their hands off the guns immediately. The reaction was a mix, some dropped their weapons others raised them in panic.
“Stand down you nitwits and for those who dropped their weapons pick them back up.” the woman said in exasperation.
“We are going to let the marble makers in?” one of the men on the wall asked his face as white as a sheet.
“They’re not gonna glass us, you think they’ll go through the trouble of rescuing my granddaughter if they did?” the woman replied impatiently
“Now open the gate.” the woman snapped out in impatiently
Riva saw the wooden gate begin to swing outwards and let out a sigh of relief. She watched as Belisarius walked past her towards the gate, Riva grabbed her stick and followed him in. Once she passed through the gate she was nearly knocked over when someone barreled into her and pulled her into an embrace.
The person pulled away and Riva saw the familiar face of her best friend. She had blonde hair and blue eyes with fair skin. She had a pair of large front teeth that showed with her toothy grin.
“Sophie.” Riva said in surprise
“I’m so glad you’re ok. I ran to tell the elder as soon as I realised what was happening.” Sophie said tearfully
“You told Gran?” Riva said
“Yeah I heard the shouting and I recognised your voice so I just ran, luckily the elder was sitting in an open cafe nearby.” Sophie replied breathlessly
“Oh thank god. I think you might have just saved me back there.” Riva said as she dipped her head and let out a relieved sigh.
“Alann wouldn’t have… actually… you know…” Sophie asked gingerly
“I don’t know Sophie, I really don’t know.” Riva replied bitterly
“Oh…” Sophie replied softly
“What’s wrong?” Riva asked her brows furrowed
“Alann won’t do anything if he knows I’m the one that got the elder right?” Sophie asked apprehensively
“What? No! It’s just you know them.” Riva said as she gestured with her head towards the squad.
Sophie looked to the side and saw the massive frame of Grendel and gulped in apprehension.
“Yeah they're kinda scary.” Riva said with a smile.
“Yeah your right, Alann was probably just scared.” Sophie replied
“People do stupid things when they’re scaed, especially someone as stupid as my brother.” Riva said with a wry smile
At those words Sophie let out a small giggle and Riva let out a laugh.
“A friend of Riva’s?” Belisarius asked, looking at the pair.
“Ah yes Sophie is her name, a bright girl but a tad meek. The pair of them have been close since they were children. She was the one that came to tell me Riva was at the gate.” the old woman said
“Is that so? Then I owe her my thanks.” Belisarius replied cordially
“I’m sorry my good sir I didn’t get your name.” the old woman said
“I am Captain Belisarius of the Jotunheim Legion.” Belisarius said as he extended his hand in greeting.
“I am Moira, my daughter Rina runs the place now.” Moira said as she took Belisarius’s hand.
“I would like to speak with yourself and your daughter in private, can that be arranged?” Belisarius asked.
“Certainly, I was about to suggest we head for the city hall.” Moira replied
“That would be great. We will be in your care.” Belisarius said with a nod
“Certainly Captain, welcome to my home. Welcome to the Paradise Colony.” Moira said with a smile.