Evanescent City
Evanescent City, a sprawling urban jungle rife with crime and corruption. Ruled by militarized gangs and policed by bloodthirsty brutes in heavy armor whose answer to every problem is the business end of a weapon. This cesspool of scum and villainy is the perfect breeding ground for stories of treachery and brutal vengeance. To exist in such a den of iniquity is to live in one of the most brutal and degenerate administrations the underbelly of the SCU could produce.
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Hella crept through the narrow alley as quietly as she could, she knew that this was technically neutral ground, but it always paid to be cautious, especially this close to Lightning Strikes territory. She raised her fist in a signal to halt as she neared the end of the shadowed alley. Her Baron, Jorge, made a similar signal with his own clenched fist and the rest of her small scouting party stopped.
She didn't usually lead Blue Blood patrols herself, but the last two of her scout patrols had reported heightened Lightning Strikes activity along the western boundary of the neutral zone. While the bugs were usually not ones to provoke open conflict, relying instead on lightning quick hit and run raids, it was not unheard of for the Vinarfelien gang to engage in open fighting when the fighting mood took them.
She heard a quiet murmur of conversation from behind her and she whipped her head around looking for the source. Her eyes narrowed as she saw one of the younger squires jerk their gaze away. Hella snarled to herself and hissed "Squire Ash, you know what comms silence means, it means no verbal communications of any type. There will be penance for your lapse when we return to the hold." The now thoroughly chastised youth hung her horned head in shame and moved to the rear of the squad.
These juveniles didn't understand, there hadn't been any major conflicts in her zone for a few years now and the newest batch of recruits were showing their inexperience and were in desperate need of some real combat experience. Hella herself was growing quite bored with the calm nature of the zone under her control and secretly looked forward to potential conflict with the Lightning Strikes hordes.
Looking left and right she saw no signs of enemy activity, though she did see a scraggly street hawker standing on a nearby corner in a battered trench coat. Motioning for the squires to stay in cover, she and Jorge approached the pitiful creature slowly so as not to cause alarm.
The figure turned its features to them and she grimaced as she saw the pale flesh and piercing predatory eyes of a Human. Humans were strange, their whole species was an enigma that had yet to be figured out by the other member races of the SCU in general. Humans were as peaceful as they were violent, as kind as they could be cruel. She had even heard whispers of a malady that affected some of their number that caused their minds to fragment into a crazed amalgamation of conflicting personalities trapped in a single body. She shuddered at the thought of ever meeting one of those so-called schizos.
The Human male saw her approaching and cracked a wide smile, his bright white teeth at odds with his scraggly and battered features, she realised as she looked at his attire that he was a member of the Greasers. The Greasers were a wide spread collection of petty thieves and minor criminals that used their coalition to protect each other.
"Why hello there good lookin, what's a pretty pink dancer like you doing in a sleazy alley like this? You lookin to buy something?" The man asked her with a hopeful look.
She sneered at him and adjusted her dull camouflage powered chest armour that she had been awarded upon reaching her rank of Castellan. "While I appreciate the warm welcome Greaser, I am here to check up on a lead. You haven't seen any bugs around here have you? And I don't mean the ones living in your clothes."
The stocky Human chuckled at her jab and returned "Bugs huh? Am I to assume you are speaking of Lightning bugs?"
She bared her teeth in a grimace of frustration and said "Enough of your games, tell me the truth, have you seen any Lightning Strikes activity in the area? Tell me now or I'll…"
"Or you'll what?" The greasy man cackled madly. "You have no authority here Blue Blood, you are in a neutral zone, anything you do here will be considered an act of aggression. I suggest you dance on home, you will find nothing but death here." He finished much more ominously.
Hella glanced around and put her hand on Jorge's shoulder as the slightly shorter male puffed up and began "Why you rotten curr, you have no idea who… what, what is it?" He followed her gaze and deflated as the shadows around them came to life with a multitude of shadowy, trench coated figures.
She passed a long fingered hand through her short hair beside her horns and nodded to the man saying "I'm sorry for the intrusion friend. We will leave you to it." Tugging on Jorge's sleeve, she walked as calmly as she dared back to the narrow alley where her patrol was waiting.
"We will proceed back towards the hold, keep alert, I have reason to suspect Lightning Strikes activity in the area." The juveniles nodded and began to move with the grace commonly attributed to the Nerivith as they wound their way back along the narrow corridor.
As they reached an opening to another main street, she paused to check her surroundings. Feeling a tingle of unease run down her spine to the tip of her tail, she pulled out a small scavenged military scanner and switched it on. It would be able to detect nearby life forms and should be able to tell her their species as well. She looked at the small cracked readout and swore under her breath as it confirmed her suspicions. She looked around and noticed an abandoned looking building across the cracked duracrete roadway that would make as good a fortress as could be expected.
Raising her arm and signaling to her companions to follow she flicked her tail in a gesture at the building and unslung her gun from her back. She held the familiar weight of her bright rifle in her arms as her small squad darted into the cover of the warehouse. She waited to see if the coast was clear before following and shutting the heavy steel door behind her.
Jorge looked at her and asked "Enemies?" She nodded. "How many?" He asked her.
"Too many to take alone. We need to call for reinforcements, but it's likely our transmission will be intercepted and bring the full force of our enemies upon us." She replied grimly. She cast her eyes around the dark interior of the building they were occupying and took in the layout with her practiced eye in an instant. "Ash, take Yourn and Fred to the balcony over there, use your rifles to suppress the bugs so they can't get within melee range. Jorge, get on that second story opening there, see if you can get some early shots off. I'm going to post up here with Danny and Streala."
While the others made haste to their assigned positions, weapons free, she pulled out her battered assistant and activated its communications function. She sighed deeply and then linked back to the hold. After a moment a voice emanated from the small device saying "Castellan, it is good to hear from you, has your patrol discovered something?"
She wasted no time in explaining the situation, quickly retorting "Yes, I need at least a platoon, maybe more. We have hostile activity, at least three squads worth. We are set up in a defensible structure on the far western side of the neutral zone and will hold for as long as we can. Please hurry, I fear they may have intercepted this communication."
The voice was quiet for a moment before returning and saying "It will be done my Castellan, we are dispatching all available ranks to your position, eta twelve minutes. Just hold on."
"Copy that, return to radio silence." She said before quickly switching off her communication program. She pulled out the old scanner again and held her breath as the contacts continued in their general direction, then stopped. She swore as she saw the blips begin to move towards them with a more sinister purpose. "We got contacts incoming. Bunker down and watch your angles, we have reinforcements arriving in about twelve minutes. Hang tight, don't fire until I give the word." She didn't hear acknowledgement but knew they would obey her without question. She was their Castellan after all, in charge of their safety and security as much as they were hers.
Jorge looked at her and they shared a brief look before he turned away and raised his rifle. She blinked a few times and raised her sniper rifle to the window she was peering out of.
The warehouse was dirty and run down, with missing windows and rusted walls, the walls were made from thick steel plates, the ancient welds cracked and rusted. The industrial structure would do well in absorbing the fire of their enemies while simultaneously providing an elevated platform they could use against the bugs. Hella peered through the cracked glass of the widow she was crouched by and observed the street. It was similar to any of the thousands of other streets she had seen in Evanescent City over the course of her life, cracked duracrete roadways with narrow sidewalks and grimy buildings to the sides. The buildings were primarily duracrete or concrete with plasteel supports making them cheap and durable.
The alleys between the buildings allowed walkers to transfer from street to street much quicker, though one had to be careful never to travel alone or unarmed down their gloomy lengths. She took a moment to think about her journey and the choices she had made to reach this point in her life before her seldom used earpiece crackled and Jorge whispered to her over short range that he had spotted movement down the left side of the street.
Hella signaled to the others to turn their attention in that direction then peered through the scope of her bright rifle. At first all she could see was the faded facades of the buildings opposite her, but as she continued to observe she began to make out brief flashes of movement.
The Lightning Strikes were a Vinarfelien exclusive gang, and being Vinarfel, they were generally hit and run attackers. The Vinarfel were a large insectoid race vaguely resembling an Earthly centipede with their elongated serpentine bodies and multitude of skittering legs. They possessed incredibly durable natural armour and were impossibly quick. It was said that a Vinarfel in full sprint could reach speeds in excess of 45 kilometers per hour for short bursts, and could comfortably move at 20 kilometers per hour for extended durations.
This speed and agility made setting up a strong forwards facing defensive position one of the only viable strategies to effectively combat them. Trying to flank them would be futile as they could change positions faster than any other species and are able to climb up the sheer sides of buildings with ease.
Hella watched as the shapes became more defined, the sinuous forms of the Vinarfel moving like liquid shadows. She raised her tail above her head and prepared to snap it down in the signal to fire just as Danny cried out in shock and fell to the ground clutching her arm.
She snapped her tail down while simultaneously shouting "Fire at will!"
"Fred, get down here, Danny's hit!" She called to the young squire.
Fred pulled back into cover and made his way down the metal grates that formed the ramp to the upper level. He darted over to Danny and began to work on her arm which seemed to be bleeding from a flesh wound.
Hella ignored the bright blue blood that was their namesake and focused back on the shadows outside. She was equipped with a standard model bright rifle, the up-powered sniper variant of a beam rifle. It fired a powerful pulse of near ultraviolet light that manifested as a searing line of purple that would leave afterimages in the vision of any without proper eye protection.
She saw a flash of movement and fired without hesitation, she hissed to herself in frustration as the lance of solid light only grazed her target. While it carved a furrow into the armour the Lightning Strike had been wearing, it didn't slow them at all or otherwise hamper their progress. She fired twice more and was rewarded with a flash of vaporized blood as her last shot struck home.
Hella's victory was short lived as she felt something slam her head backwards, only the raised collar of her armour protecting her from a broken neck. She fell back with a screech of pain that she quickly stifled, she was a Blue Blood, a Nerivith warrior to make her mother proud. She would fight till she was no longer able to move, then she would curse her foes till they silenced her eternally.
She felt a great ache in her skull and knew that it was likely a bad wound, but as long as it did not impair her ability to shoot she would ignore the pain. Fred made his way over to her, seemingly done patching up Danny.
Hella made to wave him away as she fired off another trio of shots but hissed in rage as the insolent male dragged her into cover. "How dare you pull me from combat, I will have you flogged for this." She began but was cut off.
"Cut the shit Castellan. If there is one thing I learned from my medical training it's to not take shit from a patient, and right now you are under my command. So sit your ass down and let me patch you up or so help me I'll dope you up so much you won't be able to fight for a week." The young man snapped as he pulled out a tube of medicated quickheal and some bandages.
Hella sat sullenly, thoroughly beaten by his tirade. She brooded grimly as he applied the medical ointment and bandages to her head and only whimpered in pain once. She hated to show such weakness and committed to serving penance for her show of frailty. Finally after what felt like hours, but was likely only minutes, Fred stepped back and frowned.
He shook his head and said "I'm not going to lie to you, that's not going to grow back. But at least you have the other one still."
Hella looked at him not comprehending for a moment before her eyes widened and her hands shot to her head. She gasped out as her hands found the bandaged stub of her left horn. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she was able to recompose herself. Swallowing hard, she shouted "Those shrij are gonna pay for that!"
With a cry of anger she swung herself back into firing position and searched for a target. With a hiss of anger, she fired on the first movement she saw and shouted in triumph as she saw a now mostly headless corpse slump to the ground on its multitude of legs.
Jorge cursed as a shot sparked off the crate he was using as cover and fell back heavily, hands clutching his chest. "Shit, that hurt…" he wheezed painfully.
Hella spared him a glance as she leaned back into cover and saw Fred rushing to him, he waved him off saying "I'm fine lad, just got the wind knocked out of me, that's all. I'm afraid I won't be much help without a gun though." Fred nodded and immediately offered the older male his rifle. Jorge looked at it and Hella heard him say "Oh I couldn't take your gun lad, you might need it later."
Fred said quickly "There won't be a later if we get overrun, please take it. You are a better shot than me anyways." Jorge nodded and accepted the beam rifle before making his way back into a firing position.
Ash exclaimed from the second level "There are so many of them, what are we going to do, Castellan?"
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"We will do our duty, we will fight and die if that's what is required. And I will strike down any too cowardly to meet that standard myself." She said while looking into the frightened squire's eyes. Hella smiled to herself as she saw the tiny embers of anger spark into life. Good, if she was angry then she wouldn't be afraid.
Yourn spoke up from her spot near Ash saying "Permission to perform a dirge Castellan?"
"Permission granted, anyone who wants may feel free to join in." Hella answered stoically. Yourn raised her voice in a mournful keening wail that rose and fell eerily in the dark confines of the battered warehouse. She was performing the classic dirge for lost hope, a fitting piece considering their predicament. Jorge joined in, his slightly lower timbre adding an additional eldritch layer to the otherworldly song.
Hella smiled sadly to herself as she continued to fire out into the dark streets, hoping to prolong their lives just a little longer. She wasn't afraid to die, she had been living on borrowed time for years now. She was upset that these fine young squires would die with her, and Jorge. She wasn't really sure how she felt about Jorge, on one hand he was her most loyal subordinate, on the other hand he was as close a friend as she had ever had. In another life they could have been more than that, but it was too late now, much too late.
A shriek of pain brought her out of her trance, she leaned out to take another few shots before jerking back into cover just in time to avoid the barrage of shots that slammed into the thick sheet metal of the industrial warehouse next to the window she was using. Glancing up to her right, she saw the crumpled form of Yourn as Fred tried to patch the bleeding hole in her chest. She checked her bandolier and saw she was down to her last two battpacks. That was nowhere near enough to cover for the remaining six minutes they had till reinforcements arrived.
Jorge had stopped singing when Yourn had been hit and the whip cracks of railgun fire and the sound of rounds slamming into their cover was all she could hear. She hung her head and came to a decision, they would die here, but they would die fighting. As she prepared to deliver a hel-speech, she suddenly became aware of the silence.
Jorge called out to her "My Lady, they have halted their advance. Someone approaches."
She looked to him before whipping her head towards the window beside her as a voice rang out. A familiar voice. "Howdy there pretty pink lass, I gots a message for you from the Mechboys. They said all this fightin is causing such a ruckus they can't concentrate on their projects. They asked if y'all would kindly stop slaughtering each other here and take it somewhere further from their territory, before they come and make you stop. As it is, I'm calling fer a ceasefire, let's talk it out eh?"
Hella blinked in surprise and peeked out the window to see the sleazy Greaser from earlier standing in the middle of the street like he owned the place, which he kind of did now that she thought about it.
Before she could respond she heard an angry hiss come from the shadows behind the Greaser and narrowed her eyes as a Vinarfel male in full combat gear stepped into the light. He was an impressive specimen. Fully six meters long, his forward two meters were reared into an upright posture and his ten arms were gripping a multitude of rifles, knives, and pistols of various models and calibers. His bright red compound eyes glinted menacingly in the dim light of the overhead lamps and his faceplates shifted into a frown as he hissed again.
"And who are the Mechboyssss to interrupt our duel? Ssshall I call in the Speed Freaksss, I'm sssure they would love an opportunity to put those slavering junkersss in their place." The Lightning Strike said.
She racked her brain and then called out after him saying to the Human "Yeah, and I will notify my contacts in the Terravita Clans, they would relish an opportunity to smash those blockheads into the ground. Nothing beats them in melee combat, not even the Mechboys fancy suits." She had exposed herself fully to the enemy now, but they were under the sanctity of a ceasefire now. Any who drew blood during the negotiations would be hunted down and destroyed by all.
The Greaser seemed to mull it over and then replied "Huh, seems like an awful lot of work to me. I'll take this back to the Mechboys, sit tight, I'll be back in five minutes. Oh, and the ceasefire is still in effect, no killin till they get back to ye."
Hella smiled in spite of the situation as the Vinarfel spat in frustration and holstered his weapons. She slung her bright rifle over her back and gave Jorge a look before saying "I'm going out there to talk to that bug helspawn. If he kills me, vaporize him."
Jorge knew better than to argue with her and simply nodded before resuming his overwatch position with Fred's rifle. She slowly opened the main door to the warehouse, it creaked and groaned as its battered joints took on its full weight, but she managed to muscle it open anyways. As she strode into the street towards the large man, she pulled out her assistant and opened a channel to the hold saying "Hold this is castellan Hella, ceasefire in effect, please relay this information to my reinforcements." She didn't wait for a response, as soon as she saw her message was received she turned it back off and placed it in the pouch at her waist.
The Lightning Strikes leader looked at her with a hostile glare and hissed at her as she approached "Why are you here, come to beg for mercy?"
"No, I'm here to find out which one of you blew off my favorite horn, I take that rather personally you know. And I have at least two platoons on their way, so good luck with that endeavor." She snapped back at him.
They continued to glare at one another for a few more seconds before she reached up and felt the bandaged nub of her left horn and let out a deep sigh. She leaned against a nearby pole and relaxed slightly before glancing over at the large alien again. He was still looking at her with a hostile gaze. She decided to try and break the ice, if she couldn't kill the bastard, she might as well try the diplomatic approach.
She cleared her throat and started "Well, it seems as though we haven't been formally introduced, my name is Hella, Castellan of the West Yorlands Blue Bloods hold. And you are?"
For a minute longer the two meter tall man stared at her and said nothing, those impassive red compound eyes giving away nothing. Though she did notice the twitching of their faceplates and antenna as if they were deep in thought. Though she had to admit she really didn't know much more about the bugs than how to kill them.
To her surprise he answered slowly as if thinking over every word "My name iss Gram. Local Leader of the Wesst Yorlandsss Horde. Casstellan, hmm? What bringss you out to the edge of civilissed territory. I thought you nobel cowardss only hid behind your thick wallsss and never rissked yoursselvess."
She decided to ignore the obvious jabs at her and her kin before answering back "Sure some of them do, but as you can see," she gestured to her very conspicuous missing horn and continued "I am made of sterner stuff."
The Vinarfelien raised a single antennae slightly and stated "Indeed." He shuffled slightly and settled closer to the ground in a semi hunched posture in an effort to get more comfortable. His antenna twitched as his eyes glinted in her direction. He shuffled a bit and spoke "Thiss iss sstrange, why would the Mechboyss call for a ceassefire in the neutral zone?"
She shook her head and sighed as the question she had been thinking was voiced out loud by the other. She looked up towards the metal roof of the undercity and said "I was thinking the same thing, we are nowhere near their territory, and they normally wouldn't care even if we were. There has to be something else going on here."
She heard a commotion from down the street in the other direction and both she and the Vinarfelien bolted upright, hands on their weapons. It was a moment before the source was revealed. It was the called for reinforcements finally arriving. She glanced at the large man beside her and apologized "Hang on, I'll go take care of them, hold onto that thought." The alien twitched his faceplates into a tiny smile but said nothing.
Hella walked the twenty meters or so down the street toward the leader of the relieving forces before calling out to her "Paladin Nera, it's good to see your face, I'm afraid the situation has changed." She saw Paladin Nera giving her a strange look and realised she was staring at her missing horn. Hella put her hands on her hips and sternly asked "Is there something on my face Paladin?"
Paladin Nera jerked to attention and snapped a salute, palm flat over the heart. "NO! There is nothing wrong Castellan… er, may I ask where I should bunker down while the situation, err, resolves?"
Hella gave a little snort and flicked her tail in the direction of the abandoned warehouse saying "You and your troops can bunk in that structure, if worse comes to worst, it will provide ample shelter."
Snapping another salute, paladin Nera responded "Yes Castellan, Squads 3, 5, 8, and 11, follow me."
Hella watched them move off before rolling her shoulders and walking gracefully back to the waiting Lightning Strikes leader. She looked at him as he initiated conversation, saying "While I have no great love for your people, I musst admit that I have great resspect for your disscipline and fighting prowesss. A mere sqaud of yours were able to sstand alone againssst my raiding party and you even managed to kill a few of usss, one a highly sskilled verteran. If ssituationsss were different, I might even cossider inviting you to a feasst."
Hella smiled grimly and replied "Your words are heard and appreciated, know that I did not take your presence lightly, I called for a full platoon of reinforcements. For I know just how deadly your people can be if not taken seriously."
Gram nodded at her remark, his antennae waving slightly in the air. He seemed to cock his armored head slightly before saying "I smell oil and scorched metal, the Mechboys are approaching."
She looked at him and then nodded her head and took a spot by his side. If this turned violent, she would trust the honor of the Lightning Strikes above the machinations of the machine men. Gram's eyes glinted but he remained silent as a procession of huge, grotesque metal figures thundered into view.
They stopped a good fifty meters away and one broke off, a particularly large specimen. The armoured behemoth trundled towards them, its slow sedate movements somehow even more menacing than its earlier thunderous pace.
As this massive mechanical monster reached within ten meters of her and Gram, it settled towards the ground in a strange hunched posture. The front of its armoured bulk seemed to split open like an overripe mushroom and the armoured petals slid into hidden recesses in the sides of its steel carapace. A much smaller, yet similarly distorted, person stepped out of the mess that was the interior of the mech. Turning and twisting, the misshapen figure unhooked a multitude of cables and power lines from their body and then stepped closer.
As they got closer, Hella noted that the figure was a Slaaveth female. She was wearing a heavy suit that integrated the systems of her mech with her own movements. It was this integration suit that had given her such a grotesque appearance. Due to her species inability to use bionic implants, she couldn't assume direct control of her suit and made do with this secondary option.
She stode to them and smiled at them with her sharp dagger-like teeth and soulless black eyes as she said "Why hello there, you are the two making all the noise then? My name is Glorm, I'm in charge of the local Mechboys band. I was told by Sleede that you were busy making a mess of our favorite stomping grounds. I would kindly ask that you disperse, or at least move off to a different area to slaughter each other."
Gram hissed in anger and Hella grimaced and lashed her tail at the indignity of the woman's comment. Gram spat angrilly "Who do you think you are talking to? We will run ringsss around thosse russt bucketsss you call mechss. Ssee how well you can fight when your hydraulic liness are ssevered."
Before the angry Vinarfel could really get riled up Hella butted in saying "You know I have a whole platoon bunkered in that structure right?" She made a gesture with her sinuous tail towards the building behind her as she continued "They will slag your suits before they make it ten paces."
Glorm gurgled in anger at their rebuttal before growling "You really want to test that theory? You might hurt us, but you lack the firepower to kill us, we on the other hand, will obliterate you and scatter your ashes to the great currents. Never to be seen again."
The threat stood in the air for a few moments longer before Gram made a move for his weapons. He was fast, but Glorm had been expecting his reaction and drew her small sidearm using her suits' mechanical muscle fibers to beat him to the punch. He froze as the barrel of her pistol came to a halt mere centimeters from his head.
"Are you sure you want to go there, there doesn't have to be any more fighting." She said to the immobile man as his red eyes glinted in anger.
Gram twitched his antennae and hissed "I would rather die than ssubmit to one ssuch asss you. You and your honorlessss kin can burn in the firess of the Mother'ss wrath."
"I agree with Gram, you sell your services to the highest bidder, you have no cause. You fight not for family or honor, but for your own perverse self indulgences." Hella spat, her tail coiling in anger behind her. She would be damned if she died to this hel spawned whelp and her cronies, much better to die in honorable combat to the likes of Gram.
Before any of them could voice any additional vitriol, a new voice rang through the narrow street. It was synthetic and emotionless, seemingly coming from every direction at once and it took her a moment to understand the words.
"Cease this hostility now. Know you not where thou art stood? This most holy of sites is protected from violence. Let any who raises their arms against another post hence be struck down to that endless void that is oblivion. I say unto thee, cease thy hostilities!" The strange voice said as it seemed to emanate from the very air itself.
Hella shrunk back in surprise and a little fear. Having never heard one herself, she knew of the mysterious Chaos Watchers that seemed to exist in the shadows of the city. They were beings of incalculable power and were said to be able to destroy those that disobeyed them with naught but words. She saw Gram and Glorm both shrink in fear of the voice as well.
Hella gasped in shock as the air beside them seemed to shimmer as if suddenly heated to unimaginable levels, before a shrouded figure seemed to step out of the rift and stood silently before them. Hella did the only thing she could think of, she fell to her knees and bowed her head, hoping that her display of reverence would spare her from the displeasure of this creature.
After a few tense moments she peeked up and saw that the figure was still standing there silently. She shivered and was about to bow her head once more before the figure spoke again "CW7001-245 bids you rise Hella, daughter of Jasper. You have obeyed my plea for peace. For this your earlier desecration will be forgotten, but I urge thee to depart this place with all haste. There are actions at play here that you couldn't possibly understand. Glorm, your presence here is unneeded and unnecessary. Return to your hanger in peace. Gram of the seventh litter, you of all should understand the benefit of discretion. I urge thee to depart with your wounded, the dead may rest here for a time. But must be removed before the third night of the coming week."
Hella gave Gram a look and shook her head in disbelief before turning and making her way back towards the warehouse. She glanced over her shoulder and jerked as she noted the hooded figure was staring directly at her. She snapped her head forwards and quickened her pace as she made her way to the large structure.
As she squeezed in through the partially open door, she was inundated with a barrage of questions and shouted comments. She waved her arms for silence while shouting for everyone to quiet down. When it finally became quiet enough for her to begin, she spoke "Yes, that was a Watcher, no I have no Idea why they are here. We are heading back to the hold immediately, no questions asked. Two of you are going to carry Yourn back, she is on that stretcher in the corner." She said quickly.
Jorge walked over to her and asked her a question quietly as the sounds of packing and clanking filled the room "What was that, they just stepped out of thin air…"
She looked at him and replied "It was a Watcher, you could tell me they made the sun shine pink and I wouldn't be surprised. Speaking of the sun, I haven't been up top in a few months at least. As the Castellan, I am entitled to some leave of absence when I so desire it. What do you say we take a trip to the tropic region, go on a vacation so to speak?"
He gave her a funny look. "We? Why would you want me with you on such a leave of absence, surely I would do naught but remind you of your responsibilities?"
Hella giggled sweetly at his shocked expression before they began to move out of the warehouse and back home. She leaned over to him and whispered down into the shorter males ear "I want you there because I like being around you Jorge. Do you think I kept you around all this time simply because you were good at your job? You are good, but not that good. No, I keep you around because I like having you near. Come with me, and show you just how much you mean to me."
She laughed again as the man ducked his head and blushed a violent shade of purple. His reaction caught a few questioning looks that were almost immediately curbed by her piercing gaze. She felt something in her hand and looked down to see Jorge holding her hand as they walked.
He got on his tiptoes to whisper back to her "I thought you would never ask, my Lady."
Without warning she swept him off his feet and wrapped him in a passionate embrace as she kissed him fiercely, this elicited a strangle yelp of surprise from him and a general chuckle from the Blue Bloods around them. His shocked expression quickly melted into a look of bliss as she kissed him with the passion of one with nothing to lose and everything to gain. She let herself get lost in the moment, knowing that this feeling wouldn't last forever, but savoring the sweetness of the kiss while it endured.
She was happy to be alive, she let thoughts of her responsibilities and duties leave her mind for a few precious moments. She would have to see if there was a way to get an artificial replacement for her horn though. As she released Jorge and the two stood, they smiled in unison at the strangeness of the situation.
"I love you, I always have." Jorge said to her quietly.
Hella punched his shoulder playfully and began walking again as she said back "I know, it was kind of obvious." They walked with the rest of their troops in silence, a new purpose giving her graceful steps a bit of extra spring.
Hella knew that things would be difficult, that this new adventure could lead to heartbreak. But if she had learned anything in her life, it was to take what you could get when you could get it, for one might never know when they might have such an opportunity again.
End of Story