Serial
54: Totul failure
January
21st, 33 S.D. 09:17 Totul, Sventa
For a while, Losha said nothing; her eyes but stared at Ano with a silent intensity. Soon however, she straightened up and spoke.
“You want me to surrender?” she asked, as if it were some farfetched request.
“I believe I was clear enough,” Ano replied as his gaze seemingly mocked her. “Drop your weapon immediately and give yourself up. If you choose to resist, we will hardly hesitate to relieve ourselves of our ‘guests’.” Again, a pause ensued between these two. As a corner of his mouth down-turned slightly, Ano grumbled lowly.
“It is not a hard decision at all,” he began. “All you have to do is-”
“Stop talking,” Losha suddenly interrupted, swinging her servai straight up to eye-level, locking onto Ano’s face.
“What are you-”
“Do you really think I would agree to such a thing?”
“You do not really have any other options,” Ano said in a somewhat strained voice as his nostrils flared.
“Why do you think I would trust the words of a commander who let his own people die in an attack he personally ordered?”
Ever so briefly, Ano appeared to flush and shake, but as a man used to controlling the situation, he subtly recovered. “That was-”
“You murdered your own soldiers. You pulled out of Totul while your men and women were still fighting. You left them to burn. Those bombs went off even as you closed the gates. If you were still in Totul, you would know. You would see their bodies, their ashes, all slumped against that wall, clawing to get out.”
Ano, for his part, but smiled. “And what about all of that?” he asked. “Even if you cannot trust my words, surely you can trust my actions. I will kill these ‘guests’ of ours or release them. A very simple premise predicated on your choice, your response, Wolf.”
“Do you ever cease to spout such nonsense?” Losha asked as her gaze narrowed.
“What?! You insolent-”
“I told you to stop talking. Every other utterance from those lips of yours is trash. What are not lies are meaningless babble. This is the Central Plains; there are no prisoners in war. You were planning on disposing of the citizens all along. The only reason they survived this long was for leverage; you thought you could use them against me. But their safety is scarcely a guarantee, even if I comply.”
“Humph,” Ano snorted. “You certainly are a perceptive one. Be that as it may, if you admit defeat here, I am sure a handful of Sventa would, somehow, manage to live. Eliminating so many would become a weary affair after all. Why-”
“And another thing,” Losha interjected, paying no mind to the Core Lead. “You obviously have no sufficient means to restrain me. By accepting your offer, I would essentially condone my own instant execution. You intended to crush my life from the start as well.”
“Sa, sa. This is what the Gandians refer to as a ‘lose-lose’ circumstance. There is no perfect win. It is upon you, however, to chose the most palatable failure. However, I do not have all day; your time is slipping.”
Losha simply cocked her head gradually to the right as she lowered her arm and servai. She looked at him not as if she were about to make a grave decision, but rather as if she pitied him. After receiving no reply, Ano puffed up with indignation.
“Have it your way then, you pretentious wench! Soldiers of the Henron army!” he hollered. “Do away with all of those we have captured.” He raised a fist high into the air, shaking it as he brought it down, aimed at Losha’s direction. A single finger of his pointed firmly at her, as if accusing. Strangely, however, Losha simply shook her head back and forth. Just as curiously, for whatever reason, Ano only heard an eery stillness settling behind him. Twisting his head over his shoulder, he repeated his order, fearing perhaps he needed to tell the soldiers explicitly what to do.
“Slay as many as you wish! They are all the enemies of our clan.” But even after he had said that, no one seemed to move. “Are you all deaf?” he asked; his sentence half choked in his throat as he tried to compose the fury within. “Come now!” he barked. “Let us show Sventa how mighty our people are!”
His sub-commander, the Range Lead just looked down as he sighed and signaled to the others with a wave of his hand. As they all raised their blades, Ano thought that at last blood would spill. Instead of using these weapons to slice through flesh, they cut the ropes used to bind the townsfolk.
“W-what are you doing?” Ano shouted. “That is not what I ordered you to-”
“This is exactly what you told us to do,” said the Range Lead, stepping forward. “We have slain as many as we wish to. That number just happens to be none. We have ‘done away’ with these people; they are no longer in our custody.”
Ignoring Losha for the time being, Ano whirled around to face his own units. “Do you know the consequences of your actions? It shall cost us the battle, the war!” he growled and glowered.
“Do you realize the consequences you would have us take to achieve that?” the other officer countered, sweeping his arm broadly at the soldiers forming rank behind him. “You would incite a massacre on the helpless. Not just those capable of fighting, but children and the elderly! You would have us become monsters of madness. They may not be our people, but they people all the same.”
Ano pulled back with a look of incredulity. “Oh, so now your heart bleeds for the Sventa? After having occupied their very lands? What sense is there in your head?”
“More than yours, Ver Ano. We are soldiers. We fight wars, but we do not commit such wanton murder. Your behavior on the field has been completely out of line. I regret ever listening to you on this day. Had I only been a bit more willing, I would have never followed through with your scheme to set Totul ablaze. Our brothers and sisters would still be alive.”
“So, you all are prepared to rebel against me? Mutiny is it?” Ano laughed for a short bit. “Opposing me is just as much an offense as it is with our lord. Heigon Henron will personally see to it that you die. Is that what you desire?”
“A mutiny,” the Range Lead began, “by law only occurs when the commander in question maintains some semblance of authority. I think we can all say you have lost both our confidence and faith in whatever leadership you once possessed.”
“You dirty cur!” Ano said, reaching for his sword. “I swear I shall-” Before he could end his sentence, he noted something coming to him from the corner of his eye. Ano spun about, but he was too late. Losha had leaped forward, raising her servai in one hand over her shoulder. As she descended, she smashed her weapon downward. The brilliant beam pierced him just above the collarbone.
“Graght!” he sputtered as his seras colorfully erupted into the air. Losha dragged the servai down until it was in the center of Ano’s chest. As her tool attacked his very soul, Ano gasped and rattled, seized by the power working against him.
“I shall not repeat myself again,” Losha said, driving her servai deeper into the man. “Stop talking.” Yanking her hand back, she quickly extracted her weapon. All at once, a series of fine, lightning-like sparks danced over the Core Lead’s body as his eyes rolled up. With a faint gurgling, he collapsed to his knees then fell to the side. His mouth lamely hung open while his limbs splayed out randomly. Losha looked down at Ano for all but a moment.
“What a tiresome, violent man,” she muttered. “Reminds me of a certain relative of mine.” The Range Lead stepped forward, frowning as he glanced at Ano. “What will you do now, Range Lead...?”
“Kal Henron,” he said. “Losha Holvate Sventa, I shall be frank with you. We are in no condition to fight, let alone win. Our forces hardly scratched your division, and we sacrificed many of our own in Totul already. We are outnumbered, and against the likes of you, even thousands of us could not halt one of your onslaughts. We cannot continue to engage you. As the senior officer of this order, I hereby declare an end to all Henron hostilities in the immediate area.”
“That is a wise choice, Range Lead Kal. You must be awfully confident I am not going to continue fighting either, else you would be running.”
“You may be young, but you are obviously a reasonable woman. And, you seem to want to conclude this battle.”
“Quite so,” Losha said, disintegrating her servai as she folded her arms. “This fighting is pointless. How many lives were spent today, Henron and Sventa? For what purpose? What goal has their deaths furthered? It has gained us naught but loss. I can see the disillusion in your mind. It is all too evident: there is nothing that justifies this conflict.”
Kal, nodded slowly, if uneasily. “We were promised a swift victory when all of this began, that we would take the Talimer Forest for ourselves quickly. But so many of us are tired of struggling against abilities we hardly understand. Our commanders have failed to recognize that the very nature of this war has changed ever since your arrival. The reality is that Sventa is much stronger than Henron, even discounting your presence. I am not willing to jeopardize the lives of my people in light of such odds. Not anymore.”
“Very well,” Losha said. “But having quit all opposition, where do you go from here?”
“You mean the official terms of... ending this battle?”
“Sa,” Losha nodded “The finer points of the truce.”
“We would leave Sventa, peacefully if permitted. This is not our land,” Kal said, looking up at the sky as a black, shadowy column of smoke rose through the air. “There is nothing here for us. We may well face severe reprimands from others; Heigon Henron is a fierce despot. In returning, I place my own head in danger, but I shall not continue along with this charade. A town in flames, the deaths of countless comrades, and a forest that still is not ours: these were not the things we agreed to. It is a violation of the Ordinal Oath.”
“Ordinal... Oath?” Losha asked, perplexed by such an unfamiliar term.
“Sa, Sventa would not know of this. We soldiers of Henron, before taking rank in one of Henron’s four orders, dedicate ourselves to a single oath. It is supposed to be a noble responsibility, becoming a soldier. We are to defend brothers and sisters alike, yet a warrior must never be crass or belligerent. These notions predate our autocracy, back to when our clan first came to be. A number of us have forgotten what we swore to uphold. Not I. Not my soldiers.” He gave a slight toss of his head to those standing near him.
“I see, interesting.” Losha remarked. “I have but one condition you must abide by, however, if we are to halt all hostilities.”
“And this would be?”
“I never want to see you on my battlefield again. Should we meet a second time, I will show you less restraint. My methods may not be lethal, but they are hardly without pain.”
“Such strong words; nothing less is expected of the one simply called the Wolf,” Kal mused. “But I wonder, what would happen if we ever met as allies...”
For a moment, Losha was puzzled by Kal’s statement even as she considered it more carefully. “This is not something you hear from the ones you wage a war against, but I will tell you that I am fair to all of my friends. Those on the other side of the fight are far less fortunate. At any rate, I assume you and your will leave leave this instant?”
“Correct. This whole campaign has been the folly of fools, and sadly those who blindly followed. I know not what Core Lead Liveta will do, but we of this order shall wash our hands of the matter and begone of this land.” Kal nodded to a few others. “Gather the survivors. Tell them what has occurred. All who wish to stay will be left as prey for the Wolf.”
As those subordinates left to fulfill their task, Kal turned around as Losha addressed him. “Take heed that I will be coming upon Valia soon. If you have not in fact abandoned Sventa, rest assured I will see to it, manually.”
“We have an understanding,” Kal said, going so far as to offer Losha a slight bow. Her sight fell down to Ano.
“What will you do with him?” she asked. Ano but lied there, motionless, unconscious perhaps. “We have laws against littering.”
“We would see to it that he is dealt with by a tribunal, for breaching the code we in Henron’s army are supposed to acknowledge. Leaving our own to be blown up and using civilians hostages like that are crimes even the most jaded of us cannot stand for.”
“Let us hope your people feel so similarly. The last thing he needs is sympathy. On that note, I believe I have said my share. Leave and be my enemy no more.”
“Valanya, Wolf of Sventa.”
As the First Division reformed into two combat groups, they had planned to surge around the sides of Totul and siege the Henron in the east. Delri’s impeccable tactical acumen had already foreseen Ano doing something likewise, so she expected to meet the Henron for a classic open-field battle. When she saw a mass of people moving towards them, she instantly assumed it was their foreign foes. In truth, she was on the verge of raising a mighty call to arms, but her voice hung back. Taxing her only good eye, she focused on the lot ahead of them. Even as she stared, she failed to comprehend just what she was looking at.
Though there appeared at least a couple thousand people in the distance, they carried no weapons nor wore any sort of uniform. As Delri squinted, she began to discern a certain individual at the forefront. Losha’s distinctive garb was unmistakeable, even at that range. Upon closer inspection, Delri concluded that the ones behind the Wolf were no army. Were they the residents of Totul? Delri took a small detachment of soldiers with her as she advanced. What situation would she find herself in now? Whatever the case, Losha did not seem to be in any state of excitement. Could the battle have ended already? As they neared each other, Losha closed the gap with a few speed-steps.
“Losha,” Delri said first. “What is going on?”
“We have won. The Henron have elected to withdraw. They lack the will to carry on the fight. As they claim, they are to leave this land entirely.”
For a moment, Delri found herself at a loss for a response; she could but blink as she digested Losha’s report. “They have quit all combat operations?” she asked, suddenly keen to examine things with scrutiny. “How can you be positive? What assurances are there?”
“I promised them I would give pursuit if they lingered. They are fully aware of the consequences.”
“And what if it were a ploy, to let the remainder of them escape unharmed while they regroup in Valia?”
“Then we march upon Valia.”
Delri wiped the side of her face, obscuring her expression. She breathed deeply, closing her eye. What initially looked like disapproval, however, soon turned into a single hearty laugh.
“Hah!” Delri practically cried aloud, putting a hand to her hip. “I like your style of thinking. If they refuse to leave Sventa, we shall merely grind them into the ground they have sought to seize.”
“That agreement only pertains to the order we fought here today, the order formerly lead by Ano Taksat.”
“Formerly? Is he dead?”
“No... I did not kill him. He was ousted though, by his own units.”
“Ksh. A shame he did not receive a stricter fate than that. This is not the first time Sventa has encountered that old b*****d. The higher-up Henrons favored him because he could win at any cost, but his ways were cheap, scandalous even.”
“Then it will come as no surprise to you that those explosions were his idea and doing. He executed that strategy knowing quite well members of his order would be caught up in it. Additionally, he even went so far as to take a significant number of hostages. He tried to threaten their well-being in order to subdue me.”
Delri’s nose wrinkled up as she sneered to the side. “What an imbecile he is.” She turned her head back up to the plains as the town’s population finally came up to their position. Theirs was a noisy lot, a crowd full of murmurs, cries, and conversation. They were largely dressed for the weather, but all the same gathered together for warmth. A number of them, now so close to Totul, pointed at the blazes beyond the stone walls. Some but covered their mouths; others glanced away.
“These are the Sventa of Totul?” Delri asked, seeking Losha’s confirmation.
“Sa, and some from Leitis as well. It seems they were dragged all the way out here. So, Prime Lead, what happens next?”
At last, albeit somewhat reluctantly, Delri sheathed her sword. “We turn from one crisis of war to another,” she sighed. “It never changes, the cycle is the same as always. It is time to deal with casualties of a different sort.” Delri looked up at Totul; the fires showed no signs of receding soon. Against the brightness of the burning town, faint dots swirled overhead, the beginnings of a snow shower. Despite the rage of the nearby flames, for whatever reason as the wind blew, Losha felt cold all at once.
“We may have won today, but these people have lost everything they knew.” Losha said with a faint tinge of wistfulness in her.
“They have their lives, thanks to you,” Delri pointed out. “Regardless, they need our help. It will take some time to properly assess their overall status. Go take a break, an hour or so.”
“What?” Losha asked in slight confusion. “Prime Lead, I am fine... I am ready to assist everyone.”
“You certainly do not look it.”
Her clothes were torn and burned in parts. Her cheeks remained smudged with soot and mixed with sweat. She’d been constantly serializing for the past hour, and unbeknownst to herself, she wore a weakened face. Being honest for a moment, even Losha had to admit her seras was thinning. She could feel her strength drained and depleted. Delri came up to her side, putting her hand on Losha’s shoulder as she passed by.
“You above all else have proved yourself today. Let the others show their worth.” Delri smiled at her as she went by and approached the people of Totul.
“Sa...” Losha said, uneasily casting a glance at town. “I suppose you are right.”
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