Operation story: 9-7

Operation

Story

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Characters
Bagpipe Horn Colonel Hamilton Outcast Adjutant Hill Operator Will Wildly Ambitious Baron Dublinn Soldier Triangle
Backgrounds
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After operation

Summary In the wake of the bombing, Dublinn forces, under the command of their "Leader", are unbridled in their counterattack. The casualties among the meeting's attendees are horrific.
<Background 1>
Horn	Ugh, ahem...
Bagpipe	Leader, are you alright?
Horn	I'm okay. But you, we're lucky you didn't jump on it this time.
Bagpipe	You reacted faster than me. At least everyone in this bit of the hall's basically fine, thanks to your shield.
Horn	I couldn't protect everyone.
Bagpipe	The smoke's everywhere it'll go. Looks to me like the Colonel only took light harm, and they're retreatin' out another door.
Horn	The Bard...
Bagpipe	Oh... He was stood too close to the bomb. What a pity... it's not everyone who can step forth for others at bladepoint. He was a poet, but he had the courage to match an excellent soldier.
Horn	...... I wish so badly he could've died with meaning. While the enemy's still outside, Bagpipe, let's evacuate the survivors. Bagpipe...?
Bagpipe stares blankly out of the window.
In that single moment, it is as if the sound of battle vanishes. A tremendous energy bursts from the depths of the night. Without a flicker of a flare, from the statue to the city hall, all living beings are instantly, silently snapped to ash. And immediately after, an army seeps out from the night and the ashes, without a sound.
<Background 1>
Bagpipe	...... ............ I've never, ever seen... fire like this before. The head Caster, who is she?
Horn	Bagpipe, move away, quick!
[The Draco leader of Dublinn launches an Arts attack at the building. But fortunately, Bagpipe narrowly dodges it.]
Horn	You're too close to the window. Given the energy just now, the next attack could blow straight through the walling.
Bagpipe	Yes, Leader. I'm just...
Wildly Ambitious Baron	Help me... hurry, help me... My leg... argh, ow!
Horn	Focus on rescue. Pull back for now.
<Background 2>
[Dublinn soldiers scour the burning streets for any survivor of the bomb attack.]
Dublinn Soldier	Who was that? Are there still any Victorian soldiers alive?
[Bagpipe ambushes the Dublinn soldier and strikes him with her steam lance.]
Bagpipe	It's the enemy all over!
Horn	By the speed of this march, the spectre force infiltrated this city long ago.
Bagpipe	District Eleven to Seventeen have been occupied far too quick... Can't be... Is this the reason the Colonel went to search those blocks?!
Horn	...... We need to withdraw south of District Ten. The troops and the spectre force are doing battle there right now.
Wildly Ambitious Baron	D–Don't go off to battle, ta... take me back to somewhere I can hide in safety first... I can't let the heads find I'm still alive...
Bagpipe	Take you back? With all of this goin' on right now, you ought to be taken straight to prison!
Wildly Ambitious Baron	Lighter... wurgh... ow... I... I'll pay you... I can even gift you a city block... so long as you...
Bagpipe	Leader, can I use my own ways to shut him up?!
Horn	We'll ask a few things more while he's still awake. Who was that heading the Casters just now?
Wildly Ambitious Baron	...That's... The Leader...
Bagpipe	The spectre force's leader?! What... who is she?
Wildly Ambitious Baron	I don't know...
Bagpipe	Aren't you compatriots? You had the absolute gall to bring people into your house while knowin' nothin'?!
Wildly Ambitious Baron	She's... the Duke's guest...
Horn	Duke...? Which one?!
Wildly Ambitious Baron	I can't...
[Dublinn crossbowmen fire at Bagpipe and Horn, forcing them to retaliate. However, one of the strayed shots hits the baron...]
Wildly Ambitious Baron	Urgh–
[...and kills him instantly.]
Bagpipe	He... died? The spectre force did that...?
Dublinn Soldier	–
[A Dublinn soldier is attempting to get the drop on Bagpipe and Horn, but the two easily take him down.]
Bagpipe	Don't they band together? Why are the spectre force targeting their own?
Horn	Let's get out of here first.
<Background fades out and in>
Dublinn Soldier	You, hold still.
Operator Will	......
Dublinn Soldier	Who are you? What are you doing here?
Operator Will	My, um... I was just delivering medicine... You all started fighting before I knew it.
Dublinn Soldier	Delivering medicine? Who for? Is it the Victorian soldiers?
Operator Will	I... aheh... Rhodes Island's medicine is for Infected use, and we don't pay mind to patients' identities...
Dublinn Soldier	Your movements are suspect.
[Suddenly, the Dublinn soldier is knocked out by someone, who turns out to be Outcast.]
Operator Will	Outcast–The Lass! You–You came just in time!
Outcast	Hey, you got the comms this afternoon, didn't you? Rhodes Island's called an emergency stop to all daily business in County Hillock.
Operator Will	I got it, yeah, but...
Outcast	–You wanted to finish delivering the rest? You're a good kid. Pass me the meds, and I'll deliver what's left for you.
Operator Will	Lass, what on Terra's going on outside? There was fighting everywhere in just a blink!
Outcast	Several hundred years of accumulated resentment put to use, turned into a fire ready to destroy all. And let me tell you, it's only just getting started. Hurry on back. Now that I'm here, my highest priority's making sure we don't lose a single Rhodes Islander.
Operator Will	Alright, Lass... Right, I just caught sight of Miss Jane near District Seventeen... She... She comes to the office so often, we all half-treat her as a Rhodes Island Operator! She's a Victorian soldier, and with what these rioters think, they won't just let her go!
Outcast	Got it. I'll amend my previous statement–we're not losing even half a Rhodes Islander.
<Background 3>
Bagpipe	Leader, I've evacuated everyone I could.
Horn	Good. Do you have any injuries?
Bagpipe	None. It's been a little reassurin' in a way, while coming to blows all night. Aside from that head Caster, and a couple strong folk, most of the rest of the soldiers are still normal people. They've gotten trainin', but their discipline's not much to speak of. With equal numbers, and an open confrontation, they wouldn't be any match for our team.
Horn	You're giving it preconditions. Besides, their main opponent is the barracks.
Bagpipe	You're right, Leader. If they're going to fight them, the barracks won't be on the front foot.
Horn	Any more discoveries?
Bagpipe	The weapons they're armed with are all first-grade. Just now when I went rescuin' those few officials and nobles, someone tried to sneak on me at the corner, and after I knocked him out, I brought what he was holdin' back.
Horn	A Victorian standard military crossbow?
Bagpipe	It's a model from two years ago, but it's been modified. Look at these two coils and the guide rail underneath.
Horn	A Shield-piercing Rounds Accelerator.
Bagpipe	I'm not too smart with crossbows, and I never saw this in the army or at school. Is this our tech?
Horn	Doesn't seem too like it. Bagpipe, have I overlooked something, maybe...? We came to investigate the theft of Originium products, correct?
Bagpipe	Yes. The spectre force want to fend against our regular army without a doubt, so they'd need a lot of weapons for sure.
Horn	But the crossbow in our hands reveals a lot of information. Firstly, the enemy has secretly been plotting for longer than we thought; secondly, beyond the goods they've stolen from our possession, there are other powers that have been funding their operations in the long term. In other words, in this instance, here, they had no plans to take up new equipment and rush to arms.
Bagpipe	Right! So in that sense, where did the weapons we lost most recently go?
Horn	So you've realized where the problem is–the spectre force finally show themselves, but the Originium products that disappeared in County Hillock are still missing. I hope Triangle's found some new leads.
[Horn reaches out to Triangle.]
Triangle	(Hushed) Here, Leader.
Horn	Is your group still doing alright?
Triangle	Snare's been lightly injured, the others can still operate. It's just, everyone's tired and hungry. Our situation's not that nice for sure.
Horn	Were you involved in combat yesterday, too?
Triangle	Yes. Since nightfall, large numbers of enemies have suddenly poured out. It's like they were just lying in wait in the greenhouses and irrigation systems all this time–
Horn	That seems to be exactly where they hid themselves. For the troops not familiar with the agricultural plates, it'll be exceedingly difficult to win that hide-and-seek.
Triangle	We fought face-to-face with a small wave of them, there were far too many enemies in my view, and we hid away on my lead, all the way until daybreak.
Horn	You've done very well. Can you return to the city?
Triangle	Haha. That'll be a little tricky, Leader. Half of them have gone into the city, and the other half are still around everywhere.
Horn	......
Triangle	Leader, our group all agrees, we should continue with our initial task. We've discovered a transport vehicle. Your guess was right, someone really did use an agriculture transport route to convey these Originium products somewhere. Not that much each time. These ones today, most likely, are the last of them.
Horn	These ones today? Where are you?!
Triangle	We're hidden onboard the transport vehicle right now. I can't risk talking too much. Worried they might hear. Next time we make contact, you'll know who the thief was.
Horn	This is too dangerous!
Triangle	Haha... Leader, you and Bagpipe, be careful too. Triangle, out.
[Triangle signs off.]
Horn	...... Bagpipe, inform Cello ASAP, we're returning to the barracks now.
<Background 4>
[The radio operators pick up transmissions across Hillock.]
"...Districts Three through Nine have fallen..." "...The city hall, the newspaper, and Good Mary's Hospital are simultaneously under enemy attack..." "...Baron Paulet's wife sent an urgent cable–she's lost contact with her husband since early morning–she's requesting the barracks send help..."
Horn	Colonel! I have something to say.
Colonel Hamilton	Let her in.
[Horn enters the command center.]
Colonel Hamilton	I hope you aren't here to give me nonsense, Skamandros. As you can see, our enemy is savage. I have no time to contest with you again.
Horn	Colonel, the enemy is hiding in the agricultural plates.
Colonel Hamilton	What?
Horn	That's where they were concealed. On top of that, they're not all in the city–they have even more hands.
Colonel Hamilton	...... I knew it.
Horn	I suggest you send someone fast to evacuate the citizens at the ag plates, and carry out emergency decoupling of the central city and those plates ASAP, to avoid letting even more of the enemy into the city!
Colonel Hamilton	I don't need you instructing me on what to do.
Horn	Colonel! It may not be in our power to prevail if we solely depend on the stationed troops, and my platoon, to cope with enemy forces infiltrating the city. We have to ensure the enemy gets no further reinforcement–
Colonel Hamilton	You can go.
Horn	Colonel?!
Colonel Hamilton	It's my business how County Hillock is preserved.
Horn	In the principal duty that is upholding the security of the Victorian Empire, we should be united!
Colonel Hamilton	Hill, show her out.
<Background fades out and in>
Colonel Hamilton	Did you hear that, Hill? The ag plates, ha! They're hiding in the ag plates! I deduced as much long ago. Who else would open the door for the ghosts?!
Adjutant Hill	Yes, Colonel. The Tarans are assisting them.
Colonel Hamilton	How are the artillery battalion's preparations?
Adjutant Hill	According to plan. The final batch of material will arrive at around noon.
Colonel Hamilton	Good. Have them speed up the remodeling. Every time I even think of those disgusting things bounding around in my city, it has me eager to finish this. Oh, yes, Skamandros and her subordinate. The wolf from Londinium is still biting fast and won't let go. You've heard, haven't you? They have a helping hand outside. Give the command. Regardless of the means, we cannot let anyone stand in the way of our plans.
Adjutant Hill	Yes, Colonel.
Colonel Hamilton	As for Skamandros, before we're done, she cannot be left to act freely.
Adjutant Hill	I understand.
Colonel Hamilton	I have realized something... thanks to her talking-to. Why were our movements last night at Bolton's already known to the enemy?! Skamandros... no, it couldn't be. Though she shares that weakness and naivete innate to her kind of nobility, she has a highly secured loyalty to the Empire.
Adjutant Hill	......
Colonel Hamilton	Hmph... it seems rabble is ultimately rabble, their base nature always stiff to bend. Within these last few hours, one more thing must be done. And it's long overdue.