A Savage and Necessary Justice

We slipped into the Urk'hai den under the cover of chaos, taking advantage of the disarray that had sown uncertainty among the rebel soldiers.

Out of the blue, I turned to Isolda. "How tough is an Urk'hai's torso?"

"Hard," she said, her voice low and serious. "Very hard. A standard sword won't pierce it."

A toothy grin spread across Bard's face. "So, headshots only?"

"Ryōkai da," I confirmed.

We halted before a nondescript barrack, indistinguishable from the others. "This is the place," Isolda declared.

"Get down!" Bard whispered urgently. We ducked behind a stack of crates just as a squad of Urk'hai burst from the building, weapons in hand. Their bodies were immense, their torsos plated with natural armor that looked as resilient as my own plate carrier. Their greatest flaw, however, was the feral savagery of their movements. As long as we could shatter their skulls, this fight was ours.

We waited for the patrol to pass. "Go!" I commanded, and we rushed the open doorway, each of us taking a breaching position. I glanced at the Shieldmaidens accompanying us. "You'd better cover your eyes and ears." They shot me a perplexed look.

I pulled the pin from a flashbang and tossed it into the room. "Flashbang!" I yelled, turning away as the world erupted in a concussive blast of light and sound.

"Kyaa!" the Shieldmaidens cried out, startled, their hands flying to their ears.

"Breaching! Breaching!" Bard bellowed, storming into the chamber and cutting down the disoriented adversaries with disciplined bursts of fire.

I followed him in, my own rifle finding its marks, placing precise shots into the heads of the stunned Urk'hai. They collapsed one by one, the last one falling to Bard's final shot. With the immediate threat eliminated, our attention turned to two young women, naked and chained, their bodies a canvas of wounds, bruises, and the viscous filth of their captors.

"Clear!" Bard announced.

I approached them, peering into their vacant eyes. I checked their vitals; their hearts were still beating, a small mercy in this hell. When I gave them a gentle shake, they didn't react. They were physically alive, but their minds had retreated to a place I couldn't reach.

"Cutter, this is Arc," I said into my radio. "The last two packages are secured. I repeat, all packages are secured."

"This is Cutter, outstanding! Carry on!"

"Damn them all to hell," Bard snarled, snapping one of the girl's chains with a pair of wire cutters.

Just then, one of the other Shieldmaidens stumbled into the barrack, holding her head. "Ugh, what kind of sorcery was—" She stopped short, her and the others behind her crying out in horror at the sight of their comrades. "Huh?!"

"Sela!" "Elina!"

They rushed to their friends' sides. "What happened to them?!"

"I'd rather not say," Bard answered grimly, freeing the second girl.

Suddenly, the air outside split with the crack of gunfire. Bullets splintered through the thin wooden walls and shattered the windows. "Get down!" I yelled, pulling one of the Shieldmaidens to the floor as the others scrambled for cover. We were the only ones with modern firearms. Unless…

"GAIA 2 to GAIA Actual!" I shouted into the radio. "Confirm your targets! This is Blue on Blue!"

Cutter's voice came back, strained against a backdrop of gunfire, clashing steel, and war cries. "Shite! This is Cutter! Engaging hostiles in the courtyard!"

"Bard here! Interrogative: what enemy?"

"An Urk'hai! A massive one! He took one of ours down! Tough bastard."

I turned to the others. "This is Arc! Solid copy, we're moving to reinforce!" I locked eyes with Bard and Isolda. "You're with me! The rest of you, get your friends out of here!" Everyone nodded. "GO!"

We burst from the building and sprinted toward the sounds of battle.

A rebel soldier leaped from behind a structure, swinging a blade at Bard. "Whoa!" Bard parried the attack with his combat rifle, the impact ringing out with a harsh, metallic clang. In a flash of steel, Isolda decapitated the soldier.

"You okay?!" she asked, her eyes scanning for more threats.

Bard inspected his rifle, the receiver now fractured. "The motherfucker broke my gun!"

"At least it wasn't your precious CQBR," I said, deadpan. From behind us, I heard shouts and saw more than twenty rebel foot soldiers charging our position.

"Bastard!" Bard cursed, drawing his SIG Sauer P226R. He ejected the rifle's magazine, hurling it at the oncoming mob like an insult. "Eat this, you motherfucking sons of bitches!" With a roar, he fixed his bayonet and charged into the fray.

"Help your leader! I'll handle them!" Isolda yelled to me. I nodded, and as I turned to leave, something soft brushed my cheek. I glanced back to see her already sprinting to support Bard, who was now a whirlwind of deadly precision amidst the enemy.

What was that for? I pushed the thought aside and ran toward Cutter's position.

When I reached the courtyard, it was a scene of pure chaos. A colossal Urk'hai, standing nearly three meters tall, snarled as it battled the Shieldmaidens. It swung an enormous hammer in wide, devastating arcs, forcing the warriors onto the defensive. More than one fighter was sent flying by its brutal strikes.

I slid in behind a small cottage where Cutter, Morwenna, and a bespectacled Shieldmaiden with long, green hair were taking cover. This newcomer wore a wizard's robe and held a staff. "What the hell is going on?" I demanded.

Cutter glared furiously at the giant Urk'hai. "That bastard…" Just then, a Shieldmaiden crashed through the wall of the hut next to us, thrown like a rag doll.

I rushed over and pulled the dazed girl from the splintered debris. "Medic! Healer!" I yelled. Another robed Shieldmaiden with a staff hurried over and began tending to the injured warrior.

Cutter turned his attention back to the Urk'hai, which was effortlessly repelling the Shieldmaidens' attacks. "We need to hit him with something that'll actually hurt!"

"Sir," the green-haired wizard said, "what if we use explosive spells on it?"

"Good idea, Caelia!" Cutter replied.

"But we'll need time to cast a spell of that magnitude."

"How long?"

"Fifteen seconds, sir!"

"Alright, gather the other mages and get started!" Cutter ordered. The wizard nodded and departed to rally her companions. He turned to me, loading a 40mm round into his grenade launcher. "Arc, get your rifle grenade ready!"

"On it," I responded, pulling a Type-07 rifle grenade from my chest rig and attaching it to the muzzle of my rifle. "Ready!" I confirmed.

I watched as Caelia and the other mages raised their wands and staffs, pointing them toward the hulking Urk'hai.

"Okay, fifteen seconds!" Cutter yelled, aiming through his sight. I knelt, bracing myself and taking aim at the massive beast.

The Shieldmaiden mages began their chant.

"O flammen ånd, kaller eksplosjonen av døden, for å kaste ned min fiende!"

A few seconds later, a volley of fireballs rained down, striking the Urk'hai. The warriors engaged in close combat scrambled to safety.

"Fire!" Cutter bellowed, his grenade launcher bucking against his shoulder. I squeezed my trigger, anticipating the recoil. The rifle grenade flew from my muzzle, converging with the 40mm grenade and the magical firestorm to engulf the Urk'hai. The resulting explosion shook the very ground beneath our feet.

When the dust settled, the enormous Urk'hai had been reduced to ash.

A cheer went up from one of the Shieldmaidens. "We've won! We've won!" Soon, others joined in, their voices rising in a chorus of victory.

I saw the people of Fenrir's Hollow embracing one another. I saw Cera finally reunited with her parents. A small smile touched my lips before I turned to see Cutter lighting a cigar. "Finally," he exhaled, a plume of smoke rising into the air. "A sweet victory." He offered one to me.

I took the cigar and placed it between my lips. "Thank you." But just as Cutter was about to light it, Bard jogged up to us.

"Cap'n, the enemy is surrendering," he reported. We both looked at him. "Their commander says he wants to defect to our side."

"Where is he?" Cutter inquired.

"The Shieldmaidens are bringing him here, along with his remaining men," Bard said. Just then, a column of chained rebel soldiers was escorted into the courtyard. The villagers watched them with expressions of pure hatred as the captured men jeered at them.

The soldiers were forced to kneel in the same courtyard where they had tortured and defiled their victims. Their commander, a portly man with a greasy beard whose frame spoke of gluttony and sloth, knelt before us with his hands bound.

"P-please!" he blubbered, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I-I shall not make the same mistake! I'm quitting the rebellion! I will serve the kingdom loyally! I'll give you anything you want! Just please, let me live!"

I gave him a hard, cold stare while Bard spat on the ground beside him.

"Well," Bard sneered, "I doubt the Royal Army wants to accept a filthy pig like you."

"Milord, please!"

"I'm not your goddamn lord!"

I gently pushed Bard aside. "I'll take this, buddy."

"I hope you don't let this son of a bitch live," he muttered before walking off to join Cutter. I turned my attention back to the rebel commander.

"I did nothing!" he pleaded, gesturing to his own men. "The rebels, they raped and tortured without my consent! I couldn't stop them! So please… execute them, but not me!" Not an ounce of pride remained in this man. He was merely a beast, driven by base impulses. His men stared at him in frozen disbelief.

"C-Commander!"

A grim smile formed on my face. I knelt, patting his head condescendingly.

"Okay, okay," I murmured softly, stroking his hair before grabbing a handful and yanking his head back. "I'll forgive you. You're not guilty. Just don't do it again. You're welcome back in our ranks." I leaned in close, my voice dropping to a low growl as I pressed the muzzle of my sidearm to his throat. "Do you think I'm going to say that? No fucking way."

I pulled the trigger.

"Ugghhh!"

I shoved him away. He thrashed on the ground, clutching his neck as blood frothed from his lips.

"A commander is responsible for the actions of his men," I stated icily. "And I doubt you weren't a part of this whole mess, since not a single person here will speak for you." I turned my back on him, leaving him to a slow, agonizing death. I then raised my pistol toward the captive rebel soldiers.

"No! No! Please!" "Don't kill us!" "I'll give you anything, just not my life!"

An idea sparked in my mind. I lowered my pistol and walked over to the two Shieldmaidens who had been violated by the Urk'hai. One of them met my gaze, the same deadness in her eyes. I offered her my sidearm, pointing toward the prisoners.

"Kill them. Avenge what they did to you."

"Lieutenant Arc!" Princess Morwenna strode toward me, her voice sharp with indignation. "Why would you order my girl to commit such a savage act? The Royal Albia Army does not execute surrendering enemies! It will taint our reputation!"

"This isn't about reputation, Your Majesty. It's about justice," I replied calmly. "The mind can't heal until the score is settled. If they don't get their revenge, they'll be broken forever."

"But still…"

"Don't worry," I said, placing the pistol in the Shieldmaiden's trembling hands and helping her grip it. "You can tell everyone I forced you to do it."

The Shieldmaiden looked at me, her voice barely a whisper. "B-but, that will dirty your hands!"

"My hands are already filthy," I answered. "It's a burden I can bear. Just shoot them." I then turned and raised my voice to the assembled villagers. "You too! They killed your loved ones, abused you, and treated you like animals! Now it's your turn! Give them back exactly what they gave you!"

Slowly, the townspeople began to pick up the swords and spears scattered across the ground. They advanced on the men who had tormented them, a righteous fury burning in their eyes that made the rebels lose control of their bowels.

"No! No!" "Please, forgive me!" "Have mercy!"

I watched as the Shieldmaiden took aim with my sidearm. I saw the second abused girl pick up a bow, nocking an arrow and drawing it back. Pleased by the terror etched on the bastards' faces, I gave my final command.

"KILL THEM!"

In the next instant, bullets and arrows flew, felling most of the rebels where they knelt, wounded and screaming. Now, it was the villagers' turn.

"Gyaaa!"

They descended upon the wretched men, stabbing and slicing without pause until the last soldier lay still. Breathing in deep, shuddering gasps, the villagers looked down at their victims, then turned to me. The Shieldmaiden handed back my pistol.

"It stopped firing, and this part slid backward… I'm sorry if I broke it."

"No, don't worry," I said, holstering the weapon and ejecting the empty magazine.

"Th-that… milord!" She bowed, a faint blush on her cheeks. "Thank you!"

Then, the villagers circled me, bowing their heads.

"Thank you!"

"U-uh, any time…" I stammered, feeling a rare wave of unease. I put a fresh cigar to my lips.

"Here."

Cutter lit it for me. I took a long drag, letting the smoke fill my lungs.

"Sorry about that." "How is it? My victory cigar?"

I took the cigar from my lips and looked at it. "It's good," I admitted, "but I still prefer a cigarette."

"Hey, Cap'n Albia, gimme one!" Bard called out to Cutter, jogging over to claim his own.

We smoked in the quiet aftermath, waiting for the Royal Albia Army to arrive and take control of the forward operating base.

The mission was accomplished.