Ifrailian Tales

The Invasion

Nightfall, for children it represents the end of play, for adults it’s the culmination of a day of tireless work. Soldiers though, for them it’s only a tarp that masks an impending attack. And that was exactly what the sun’s sleep meant to the seven souls who remained at the wall.

By the time the sun had set, most of the town had been evacuated. They didn’t take too kindly to suddenly being booted from their homes. But most people tend to listen when an armed soldier is feeding you demands. Without too much struggle, the soldiers were able to round up all the civilians and prepare them for the journey ahead.

Artemis oversaw the entire process, maintaining an eagle eye view on the village from the wall. The elevated perspective it provided served two roles. One. the ideal position to monitor the ejection of the townsfolk. Two, and the primary function of this cursed structure in the first place, defense against an up incoming attack. Any sizable fighting force would be spotted miles before they even made half a mile into the canyon.

“Does a status report sound interesting to you Captain,” Dante pat Artemis’s shoulder. Pulling his attention away from the flood of people fleeing the city. Men, women, and children started their way towards the next piece of civilized land. Funny, from this position the people resembled a rather large line of ants. Or at the very least that’s what the captain’s mind defaulted too while he observed,

“Hit me,” Artemis started, “Please tell me it’s good news?”

“The gun towers are online, Daniel’s got the entryway to the valley on over watch, and finally according to our last radio transmission. The evacuation is all but complete.”

“Good, it’s about time something went our way today…”

“Not sure if this qualifies as a good thing.”

Dante pushed up against the railing. Joining his commanding officer in appreciating the twilight covered landscape. Although, it was leaning more towards the night. Neither party spoke for quite some time. Just watched the trail of civilians until they could no longer see them.

“Why are you still here kid?”

“Oh,” Dante chuckled, placing his elbow on the metal railing and resting his head on his opened palm, “You're just asking me this now? Seems like it’s a little late to doubt my motives.”

Artemis shook his head, “Not doubting anything, I’m just curious. I mean you were the only soldier who came and talked my ear off about being expendable. Figured you’d be the first one to take the ticket out.”

“Yeah, probably should have gotten out of here when I had the chance… You know, I used to make fun of the hero types. And now here I am, pretending to be one,” the tips of his hair started to sway in the evening’s breeze, “Pretty funny right? What kind of i***t would willingly stay behind to die.”

“A brave idiot.”

“Brave? I’ve just got nothing more to lose. Figured that if I bit the bullet in a combat, it’d be a more honorable way of ending it all hahaha…”

His laugh was broken, a cracked mask used to hide what was really eating away at the man’s very core. And when Artemis didn’t laugh, didn’t enable him to brush away his pain with some off-color humor, he knew another c***k was about to show in his façade.

The silence told Dante all he needed to know. Without any words exchanged, Artemis seemed to be pulling him into a confession. Or maybe, even if only subconsciously, he yearned to pull off the veil covering his emotions.

Darkness had finally settled in, leaving no room for the warmth of the sun. Making room for the lonely glow of the moon. The mask shattered, but before the confession could start...

“Look at the moon,” Artemis interrupted.

Dante glanced up at the moon If you could even call it that. The beacon in the night sky was reduced to a single, curved sliver of visible surface. Hardly worth noting if you asked the young soldier. However Artemis had more to say.

“They call that a waning crescent, the final stage of the moon’s cycle before it disappears completely. An unavoidable blackness that grows with the passage of time until the moon has been consumed whole.”

Artemis up to the heavens above. Ignoring the stars, constellations, and other flashy shows of nature. Only one object held his gaze a small section of glowing rock.

“Yet, even through that unimaginable darkness, that last remaining spark of the moon’s light shines. Sure it’s small, but it’s unbelievably bright nonetheless. I’ve always found that… endearing in a strange way.”

Dante slapped the back of Artemis’s head. The captain twisted around, no stern words or even retaliation of any kind. In place of it, he laughed, a genuine, heart warming chuckle.

His younger counterpart joined in, “Hahaha, you need to get your wires checked old man! All this talk of darkness and moons doesn’t really suit the whole, commanding officer look.”

“Ah well, I never cared for the position anyway. Prior to the war, I was heading into education.”

“You, a teacher? Turn that goatee into a fluffy beard and then we’ll talk.”

That was enough to make Artemis's sides hurt. These commotions even swept up the pairs assigned to the gun towers, and they couldn't hold themselves back either. That odd compulsion to join in on laughter when heard proved to be too strong.

Right in the midst of what could be reasonably considered the darkest hour for the two men. Small, but all it took was a little banter to distract everyone from the threat looming over their shoulder.

An hour had passed since nightfall. The Alexandrians surveyed the entrance to the valley at all times. Boxes upon boxes of extra ammunition had been deposited along the wall. Given what they were up against, it was nice to know that running dry wasn’t an issue. The four extra soldiers were split into pairs, and sent to man the gun towers at opposite ends of the Wall.

Artemis, Dante, and Daniel took points on the walkway. While the turrets would do most of the work. The three of them took on more specialized roles. Daniel was a c***k shot with a rifle, didn’t take much deliberation to assign him as the sniper. Finding a role for Dante to fill was a bit harder. He wasn’t a particularly good shot, nor did he have the proper know-how to qualify as a temporary engineer. But Artemis figured that a rocket launcher outta match that explosive personality of his.

As for the captain himself, Artemis stood at the center of the walkway. Providing him an ideal view of the grassy fields and rocky cliff sides which would become the battlefield. His loadout was mundane, not a thing stood out as unique to this situation. Mark IV scout rifle, Heavy pistol sidearm, and finally a pair of binoculars.

Another ten minutes pass by, still nothing. At this point the men under Artemis’s command were starting to get restless.

Was it a bluff after all? It was a possibility, Razaza didn’t seem especially sane. To be sure, Artemis did one last sweep of the landscape with his binoculars. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a shrub rustle ever so slightly. He snapped over to the bush, cranked the magnification up to its max for a crystal clear image. Only for a small, brown rabbit to scurry out. Successfully killing any and all forms of tension inside the man.

“Rabbit…”

Daniel turned to the right, “... what?”

“We’re still in the clear everyone,” Artemis lowered the binoculars and sighed.

“You know, when I said I got nothing left to lose,” Dante grumbled, “I was wrong, because this is definitely wasting my time.”

He sighed and dropped his launcher to the floor. On a childish impulse, Dante switched to his handgun and started to fail it around. Mimicking the boom of explosions with his lips.

“Ppppshk.”

“Ppptwang.”

“Bang- bang,” Extremely poor mimicries to say the least. The man child pointed his weapon at Artemis and carried on. However he got no reaction from him. Lost within his own mind, he ran through numerous possibilities for the delay. There had to be a reason, without a doubt.

An Alexandrian counterattack? Razaza claimed the Federation successfully captured all territory ahead of the Wall. A statement with no backing, excluding the unit of Spector's that accompanied him. Maybe the Alexandrians regrouped, and pushed them back into Federation occupied lands…

No… No that can’t be it. There was a prisoner with him. One that unmistakably came from the kingdom’s turf. Supposedly she was held in captivity for a substantial period of time. Even if we disregard that testimony, the other military installations on the opposite side of the wall have gone dark. Plus Razaza, despite the plethora of eccentricities, appeared to be beyond bluffs. Which could only mean he still intended on sacking this base.

“Get back to your post Dante.”

“Oh? Am I getting under your skin teacher’s pet?”

Artemis was pulled back by the sound of bickering. He came just in time to witness Daniel shove Dante back, “In fact you are!”

“How would you like it if I shoved my rifle in YOUR face!”

Making good on his threat, Daniel c****d his rifle and pointed it straight at the wisecracker. Who laughed in response. Unlike his previous attempt, the second in command seemed like he’d give Dante all the over the top reactions he craved. This upset Daniel more, “Oh you think this is funny!”

“Hilarious, actually.”

“You annoying fu--” Daniel had brought the scope to his eye. Then... stayed there without saying a word. The moment couldn’t have been longer than three seconds, but felt ten times that length for Dante.

“...uh, you plan on finishing that-”

“Captain!”

Daniel fired off a single shot from his bolt action rifle. The bullet zoomed past Dante, and Artemis. Yet, the projectile stuck something a foot behind the captain. When looked at with the naked eye, there was nothing, the bullet shouldn’t have hit anything, but it did. The air around the impact point started to morph, unravel before them.

In the time it took for Artemis to twist his body around. The veil had been lifted, revealing a Federation Spector reeling back from it’s wound. Artemis, without thinking, jammed the barrel of his assault weapon into the soldier's gut. They reached for their blade’s handle, but were too slow. He pulled the trigger, and unloaded half of his magazine into his enemy.

The first three bullets were enough to puncture the thin, but durable armor of a spector. Everything after that shredded through their insides with ease. The foe’s corpse hit the floor. On a whim, Artemis emptied the rest of his ammunition towards the rightmost gun tower. The people manning the open had already ducked behind cover after the first shots. Worst case scenario, the rounds would be wasted.

The bullets shattered the glass of the left window...

“....Uuu…” a disembodied voice groaned. The sound came from in between the recruits, who had each taken shelter on opposite sides of the small bunker. Then came a wet thud... Before one of the turrets jerked upward and began discharging it’s ammunition. Startled, a recruit ran over to the control panel at the precise moment the Spector decloaked. Blood poured out of a hole in their cheek, pooling onto the controls. While the weight of their body had yanked the handle down, it’s chest haphazardly pushed the forward facing triggers.

Immediately after eliminating the second foe Artemis spun around. Disorientated by the commotion and sudden activation of the adjacent gun tower. The other pair of cadets were prime suspects for an ambush. A crimson blade came from nowhere and lodged itself into a male trooper’s back. He screamed in seering agony, but was quickly silenced with a twist of the sword.

His partner was quick on her feet. She threw a punch in the general area of the phantom attacker. Her fist made contact with the assailants helmet. There was the loud, crunch of bone. Followed by an unbelievable pain, muffled by adrenaline. But then, the air dissolved for less than a second.

The target was unphased by the strike, but his position had been uncovered. She reached down her hip and clenched the handle of her pistol with the mangled hand on instinct. She shot the Specter seven times at point blank range. The cloak lifted, and the bullet ridden corpse of the Federation’s elite slumped against the wall. Leaving behind a bright red smear as they fell to the floor.

The recruit shoved the body off the controls. Bringing an end to the deafening salvo of heavy munitions. No one spoke a word, or moved for that matter. Three had been taken out, but there was no way of knowing how many they were dealing with. Artemis loaded his weapon, while Daniel did a third scan of the area with thermals.

“Looks like we’re in the clear sir,” Daniel said without lowering his sniper.

“Everyone sound off!”

“Still with you sir,” Daniel resounded, followed by Dante, “You can still see me, Speaks for itself.”

Soon after the recruits inside the right bunker signed in. Another thirty seconds elapsed, still no word from the left. Artemis tried hailing them on the radio one more time, “Report!”

“...” a cough came through the speakers, “Partner didn’t make it. I’m still kicking but I took some damage in the fight.”

“Stay down, I’m sending someone over now,” Artemis motioned for Dante, he acknowledged with no fight or snarky remark, “Daniel keep an eye out for more of them.”

“Yes sir.”

Artemis turned his attention to the first Spector. The body was lifeless, laying in a puddle of crimson liquid. Something was off, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on what that was. He dropped to one knee and examined the corpse closer. The right arm that was just barely too slow to retrieve it’s sword was out, open palmed. The left however, was clutching something. The dead man’s fingers uncurled easy enough, revealing a small, chrome painted object with a tiny red button on the top.

Realization hit him like a ton of bricks. That chrome device was a detonator. It was as if he had found the crucial piece to a puzzle. The delayed attack, stealth attack, unprepared enemy soldiers, all of it finally made sense. The Federation was never trying to assault the base head on, at least not initially. They were going to level the entire obstruction and steamroll over the town. Luckily for them, it seems they stopped the threat before it became an issue.

Boom, Boom, Boom!

“s**t--”

“What the f**k!”

An earthquake brought the soldiers of the Wall to their knees. The very structure of the fortress was starting to falter. Dante tripped into a guard railing and held on for dear life. When the rumbling subsided, he peered over the edge of the protective line. A giant cloud of smoke funneled upward from below.

When the dust had settled. Dante could roughly make out a familiar figure barely thirty feet away from the entrance. He squinted, trying to cut through the thick layer of darkness that had covered the planet. Unfortunately, everyone’s worst case scenario had come true.

“s**t-” Dante c****d his head to the right, “Take a guess at who I’m looking at.”

Artemis gripped the iron bars, and hoisted himself back up, “Damn it…”

“Dante is right Captain, it’s Razaza.”

“Is he alone Daniel?”

“Affirmative.”

Artemis had to make heads or tails of this messy situation. He started by quickly assessing all the available information in his head. Everything was hitting the fan all at once. Multiple explosions had come from the lower levels of the wall. How severe the damage was he couldn’t say, but they were enough to rattle the foundation. Razaza finally made his presence known, but why was he alone?

“Everyone keep your guard up,” he broadcasted this order through comms, “No telling what this psycho has planned.”

The gun towers came online, and all four high caliber turrets were aimed at the lone man. Who in response continued to smile with his wicked grin. He cleared his throat, and then started a speech.

“Sorry to keep you waiting my friends! Although I’ve been told a delayed c****x leaves the most lasting impression,” like before his words were broadcasted directly to the group stationed at the wall. Somehow his voice managed to get even more unsavory. Fortunately, Artemis wasn’t feeling particularly chatty.

“Take him down!” Gunfire cut through the air like hail. And the anti vehicle rounds loaded into the turrets, they were peppering Razaza’s location with what could be compared to hand grenades. To no effect, all of the projectiles simply vanished a few inches away from the intended target.

“Oh no…” Razaza sneered, “the barrier isn’t made to withstand this much applause. I’ll need some supporting characters to lighten the load!” He reached into his pocket and slipped out a detonator. And with the press of a button, two more explosives were set off.

The first was miles away from the wall, closer to the entryway to the valley. The second was directly under the wall, the destructive power ripped a crater size hole in the structure’s midriff. Before anyone knew what was happening, everything in the center of the wall started to collapse. Large hunks of metal dropped the ground kicking up a storm of sediment. The structural instability quickly spread upward, taking more and more of the wall’s iron clad defense with it.

Once more the ranks of Artemis’s command were thrown into disarray. Frankly so was the captain himself. For a moment, not even ten seconds, he froze under the weight of what was happening. But that was all the time it took for the weakened pillars to give out under his weight.

“Ah!” Artemis exclaimed before taking the plunge. Gravity dragged him down to the bottom. His surroundings were morphed into a downward spiral of colors. He focused his vision as he neared the bottom. A mountain of metal and stone fragments awaited him. If the fall didn’t kill him, impalement would have taken its place.

The pile of wreckage drew closer. There was nothing more Artemis could do to prevent his death. As death tends to be, it was inevitable. Twenty, nineteen, eighteen feet, and the number decreased every second. He screamed, in a blind hope of someone, anyone being able to save him from this fate. But it was useless, in at least ten seconds he would meet his end. The man shut his eyes and prepared for the worst.

….

….

“...what?” Artemis opened his eyes. He hadn’t been turned into a deformed pile of flesh and bone nor had one of the iron fragments pierced his chest. He was… alive, floating a mere centimeter away from a jagged piece of debris. He turned to the right, the entirety of the midpoint had collapsed, leaving hundreds of sharp and unrefined edges protruding out the sides of the torn section. Quite frankly it was a miracle one of those didn’t slice him up during the descent.

And on the left, Razaza stood with an outstretched hand. More of the supernatural energy flowing around his palm. The very same mysterious mist surrounded Artemis. The Federation commander curled his pointer finger in towards himself.

There was a noticeable tug, as if something physical were pulling him in. His body levitated away from the trashed remains, and once away from the wreckage. Razaza lowered his arm, dropping the human to the ground.

“If it isn’t the man in charge of this place. Seems like I’ll finally get to meet my counterpart for this occasion,” Razaza said in a disgustingly cheery voice. Artemis picked himself off the ground. There was a good eight feet between the two men, plus Razaza was armed. Making Artemis’s initial plan of simply charging him mute.

As a substitute, Artemis filled his lungs with air and screamed with all his might, “Daniel, take the shot!”

No response, he tried again only to reach the same result. Baffled, Artemis turned around and looked in the direction of his men. Though a fair distance away, he spotted Daniel and Dante scanning the ruins.

“Do you see him?” Dante said.

“No,” Daniel replied dis-heartedly, “He must be buried under all the rubble.”

“f**k! Well what are we supposed to do now?”

The voice of his comrades sounded like they were being filtered through some sort of external radio. But as per usual there was nothing of the sort near his location. Artemis chalked this up to more Federation trickery. Razaza supported this theory with his silent grin.

Razaza clapped his hands, “Say, now that we’re face to face my friend. I seem to recognize your face.”

“Is that so? Can’t say I’m all that memorable.”

“Oh no, quite the contrary. Let me ask you a question, were you stationed at Rebella during its fall?”

Artemis stepped back reflexively. All color had left his features, leaving him pale. He broke out into a cold sweat, his breathing became shallow and quick. The man could barely squeak out his response, “H...How did you know that-”

“Bahahaha,” Razaza burst into laughter, “Oh this is rich, to think I’d meet you again.” The Spector picked his weapon off his hip and turned it on. It’s crimson brilliance carved a path through the dark.

“Can’t believe you don’t remember me. Albeit I did dress differently back then... you know what maybe I did act a bit more reserved in those days.”

It all came together. Everything made sense once more. That indescribable, gut feeling that was plaguing him all night. Steamed from a sense of familiarity, because Artemis had first hand experience with these tactics.

During the captain’s earlier years he attended the Rebella military complex, as an instructor. One of the largest Alexandrian academy’s built outside of the main kingdom. In fact, it was built on the very end of the kingdom’s reach. Right next to the frozen tundra, officially named the wasteland.

The freezing cold, and inhospitable landscape proved the ideal location for shaping young men and women into the ideal soldiers. And on one particularly snowy morning, a man clad in bulky, deep purple body armor approached the facility grounds.

He claimed to be a messenger for the newly established Federation. Declaring war against the oppressive Alexandrian government. In a manner that in retrospect was far too similar to be coincidence. Even down to the execution of a student of the academy to get his point across.

Later that night, an entire platoon of Federation troops stormed the base. Lead by the violet knight. Slaughtering anyone who got in their way, and children weren’t excluded. Within an hour, the battle was over and Artemis stood face to face with the instigator of the raid. That man… was the very same, Federation Spector standing before him now.

The bodies of students around him.

The echoing of gunfire through the halls.

The warmth leaving the body of the cadet in his arms.

The melting snow falling through the collapsed ceiling...

Artemis’s body was assaulted with phantom memories. Thoughts and sensations he had long since forced into the recesses of his mind resurfaced. Pulling him away from the dangers facing him in the present.

“I let you live, I mean you were already dead inside. Who could endure the pain of watching an entire classroom full of cadets be executed?” Razaza laughed, Artemis’s blank expression was a prize he cherished. Three other Spector’s uncloaked themselves, all crowded around their leader.

“I guess I was wrong,” with his weapon drawn, Razaza approached the still man. Artemis didn’t even react as the enemy angled his blade. And when the sword slid into his chest cavity, he just let out a soft groan.

“You were able to move on. But I’m going to m******e everyone at this base. Starting with you, my icy friend.” Razaza reeled his arm back, taking his sword with him. Rapidly, Artemis’s strength started to leave his body. In no time at all, his knees buckled, unable to sustain his weight any longer. His face slammed into the concrete, still conscious but unable to move a single limb.

Razaza gestured for his followers to move up, “Keep the mirror up. We want to give the audience the surprise of a lifetime!”

Artemis could hear the faint trot of footsteps grow distant. He recognized this fact, but did nothing to intervene. There was nothing compelling him to do so, or more accurately, there was a shocking comfort working its way up the man's nervous system. Which canceled out any other stimuli, only the strange euphoria of the body’s natural decay enveloped him.

Before long he felt his eyelids grow heavy. And with no fight remaining within the man, he succumbed. Once the skin covered his eye, all was silent for Artemis. An absolute quiet, substantial in its abundance and lack of anything. Utterly black as far as the eye could see... he was... dead.