Brave New World

by Ulquiorra9000

Chapter XXVI: Gun You Can't Aim

Anna grew more eager and more hopeful as the Akti Union militia fought its way closer to Passeleus, probably due to the chance of seeing a free-minded Chara again soon. The bloody campaign bore fruit (still too easily for Anna's peace of mind), and General Petrides and his allies assembled a fleet in order to launch a pincer assault on the Federation's capital.

At last, on one fiery red evening, Anna found herself with thousands of other sorcerers and soldiers on a long Federation beach. Several cyclops knights sat cross-legged with the uniformed humans, their large eyes unblinking. Soldiers from the Akti Union, Dassos Combine, Thalai League, and several minor nations had assembled for this final move against Elias Xanos.

"Our amphibious assault is a mere diversion," General Petrides announced to the silent camp. More than twenty warships from various nations bobbed in the waters nearby. "Passeleus' bay is well-defended with warships, coastal cannons, and snipers. Elias Xanos will expect an assault there, and spies report that the city's other side is less well-defended. There, we will launch a heavy ground assault, and that will be the brunt of our assault. All cyclops knights and cannons will be involved in that part of the invasion."

Anna swallowed. True, port cities like Passeleus kept a closer watch on their water than their land borders. But still... how many ships would be sunk to let the ground force invade? At least the Dassos Combine had loaned a large number of troops and sorcerers to this campaign... along with several mysterious crates that sat at the edge of the camp.

Then, the companies, platoons, and squadrons were slowly but thoroughly assigned to different parts of the assault. Anna and the rest of her squad would invade Passeleus from the ground, aided by the Combine and its "extra assets." The Combine militia's leader, General Melexa, soon satisfied everyone's curiosity about that.

"We all have General Petrides to thank for organizing this effective and bold invasion plan," the beak-nosed General Melexa exclaimed once Petrides finished his briefing. He clapped his hands together. "The Dassos Combine does not wish to live under the Federation's yoke any more than you Union folk, so I'm dedicating every bit of my militia to the cause. Men, show our friends what Elias Xanos will have to deal with."

Heads turned as several purple-uniformed Combine soldiers dragged over the crates. Several of them contained prototype cannons that could fire cluster munitions, dubbed "grapeshot." Anna stared in wonder at the clusters of metal balls that would blast from the cannons. Apparently, those rounds could simply shred handfuls of human beings at a time. Brutally effective.

The last four crates contained gorgons.

"Be calm!" General Melexa shouted as angry babble rose from the Union and League soldiers. Even the cyclops knights were disturbed, growling to each other in their language while the gorgons rattled and shrieked in their boxes. When General Petrides helped restore the calm, Melexa continued, "It was no simple endeavor to capture these specimens. But once these gorgons are strategically release in Passeleus' streets, they will become a major asset."

"A gorgon is a gun you can't aim!" a League company commander howled. "They'll kill us too!"

"My advisers have devised methods to minimize collateral damage!" Melexa said sternly. "I would not suggest this plan unless I was certain that it could be used effectively!" He gestured grandly. "This is the most important battle of our lives. Nothing can be held back! Elias Xanos has a large army that's securely defending this world's largest city. We must take Passeleus at all costs!"

Now Anna saw how Melexa had become a leader; his orating methods were inspiring, both body language and blunt use of facts, plus an undeniable sense of heroism and urgency. She clenched her fists. Chara, I'll get you back, whatever it takes!

*o*o*o*o*

"Come on! Faster!"

Chara Manikas didn't ever stay injured for long, but she still felt winded as she tore through nighttime Passeleus with four of her fellow escapees. For days, Chara had felt a veritable war in her brain on an arcane level. Elias' tainted psychic power had been stretched to the breaking point, having assimilated too many thralls into its fold. This gave Chara's willpower a chance to fight back, and after much strain and many headaches, Chara had broken free, at least for the time being.

And now Elias wanted her dead.

Musket balls exploded through the cool night air and two of them caught a young man in the back. He wailed in shock, stumbled, and collapsed face-first onto the brick street. Blood pooled around him.

Chara felt a pang of sympathy for the boy but she couldn't share her extraordinary medical sorcery to him. Instead, she gasped for breath, muttered a prayer for the boy's soul, and pushed on.

A block later, Chara heard a few sets of feet start pursuing her dwindling group. Night briefly changed to day as jets of flame and bolts lightning raced through the air like hungry snakes. Chara expertly leaped over a pile of crates outside a warehouse and landed on the other side. She was just in time; lightning blasted the crates into clouds of wooden shards, and the fruits inside were vaporized into sweet-smelling mist.

The electric assault reminded Chara of the lightning power that she had seen Anna use back in Anapatos' city hall. Sometimes, sorcery could be used to defend the innocent and preserve life; other times, it could be used to destroy and threaten others for selfish gain. Elias Xanos definitely fit the latter category, and Chara would sooner die (somehow) than serve the Chrysos Federation for another second.

A fair-haired girl shrieked as a wave of flame swallowed her up. Spare tendrils of fire torched Chara's legs but she merely grit her teeth and kept running; the pain faded as her skin and muscles restored themselves.

Around a bend Chara went, her two surviving comrades right behind her. "We're not gonna make it!" another girl cried, terror in her voice. She yelped as lightning raced around the corner, narrowly missing her.

"Shut up and run!" Chara had had plenty of experience running away from hostile people. For many months, she and Anna had fled gun-toting shopkeepers, but this was different.

The girl stumbled as a bit of lightning zapped her ankle, but Chara helped her stay steady and turn another corner. Thankfully, the city limits were drawing near, but the pursuing sorcerers were drawing nearer. They wouldn't give up until the runaways were dead.

So be it.

"Gods damn it!" Chara dove for cover around the corner of an inn and allowed the fire sorcerer to blast it with flames. Quickly, Chara seized a long, dagger-like shard of wood and zig-zagged her way through the street.

The lightning sorcerer, a thin man with blond hair, stared in shock as Chara aggressively bore down on him. He raised his hands and released a surge of sorcery, but Chara pushed through it and allowed her flesh to char as she closed in. Chara shut her eyes against what was to come, the smell of cooked flesh clogging her nostrils.

With a sickening crunching sound, Chara rammed the pointed spear of wood deep into the man's chest and felt his warm blood on her hands. At the same time, the pain of Chara's seared flesh faded away as her body repaired itself. When Chara opened her eyes, the blond lightning sorcerer lay dead on the street, blood everywhere.

I didn't want to do it. I really didn't! Chara instantly felt the cold grip of regret and shame as she realized that she had extinguished a life, and not because Elias had forced her to. What if that man had been a loving husband or devoted father? That blond sorcerer lay lifeless on the brick street now; how many would miss him? And it was all Chara's fault.

No. it's Elias' fault for forcing this situation to be, Chara realized. She had acted to save her own life, plus that of her two other comrades. And it worked; the flame sorcerer, a curly-haired woman, stared in horror for a second and then broke off and ran. Chara's two fellows slowly approached her.

The problem was, Chara could already feel Elias' psychic tendrils starting to tug on her mind again. If she didn't run very far, very fast, she'd be roped back into the psychic fold and she'd gladly kill anyone who opposed Elias' will.

"Are we safe?" the girl asked cautiously.

Chara swallowed and tossed the wood aside, feeling tainted. "For now. Let's just get out of here and take refuge in the wilderness. Word has it that an invasion's coming, and I've seen those defensive lines around the city. Elias should fall soon."

And I'll see Anna again.