17) Rise Up to the Light of Day (Tick)

“What do you mean you sent him on a mission?!” Sister shouted.

Victoria II closed her eyes and schooled herself in patients. She understood Sister’s perspective. Sister had spent most of her life not answering to anyone but being responsible for all she took under her wing. Much like herself. The main difference was Sister had not been prepared for this by anyone but the hard knocks of the street and gutters. She could be forgiven for the normally unforgivable breech in protocol and disrespect. However, being forgivable doesn’t mean not being brought to task for correction. So, Empress Victoria II Arkanti, Empress of The Civilization, Grand Dame to The Order of the Flaming Sword, High Lady Regent and Mayor to Grandeur City as well as a long list of other accolades stood to her full height of 5’ 6”, lifted her head up and took her most commanding posture and said in a steady and firm voice, “You forget yourself. You will not address Us in such a tone or manner again.”

Sister flinched as if she were physically struck. Pride and chastisement warred in her. Instead of bowing her head properly corrected she turned her head away and bit her upper lip as if to bite back an unwise rebuttal. However, in a minor show of acquiescence, she did lower her eyes.

Having been handled by some functionary or another her whole life, Victoria II had become schooled herself in the art of handling people. She therefore then slightly softened her stance and voice and said, “I understand your concern Sister. You took him into your protection before you and I met, and you feel responsible for him. But understand this, you, him and all the others are ultimately the Crown’s responsibility, and this means MY responsibility. I did not give this order lightly. He, you and the rest are children, I do not pretend to understand your lives before this but, We do take full responsibility for your lives from here on out.” Her voice didn’t raise even a single decibel in volume for the last sentence but had the command projection as if it were amplified a hundred-fold.

Sister did not miss the formal speech, the importance of proclamation and most importantly, the promise made so she bowed her head, curtsied deeply and said, “Your forgiveness Your M’nence.?”

Victoria II gently reached down and took Sister by the chin and gently raised her head up to make eye contact, “Of course my dearest. You and I have come to an agreement in command here. You have been caring for these children for these long years, yet you yourself are but a child as well. You have been given no reason to trust adults and I truly understand and am saddened by. So truly I have no right to ask you to trust me, but I ask you to all the same.”

Sister didn’t miss the familiar speech for the last bit, and she understood the concession in it. As well as the respect conveyed in the tone. She felt thoroughly corrected and lifted up in the same sentence. In her life she had only one other which she had come to trust, this being Brother. Now she has come in the short time to trust two others. Ouihan, with his even manner and confidence made an impact on her she couldn’t quite understand. She didn’t know her mother or father. She didn’t know how much she, deep down, needed a mother figure. Something about Victoria II seem to engender this. Maybe it was because, in essence, Empress Victoria II was mother to The Civilization.

Because her emotions had been compartmentalized her whole life, she lacked the experience in dealing with them. Especially the conflicted ones which came crashing in suddenly. So, she had no way of stopping the flood of tears which just came flowing out.

Victoria II felt herself warm toward Sister as well. Tears came to her eyes as well and she couldn’t help but take Sister in an embrace and said, “Let the tears go my dear. Don’t stop until they are sated. We all need to cry sometime.”

Sister melted into Victoria’s embrace and cried 12 years of tears.

Ouihan and his escort made their way through the streets toward their destination amid the chaos and terror. Elements of the regiments had broken off from their attempt to contain the Legions to abide in wanton rapine, looting and other perverse activities. Ouihan’s 12 years of seeing the perversity around him should have jaded him and numbed him to the human suffering around him, however, he was not just a product of his experiences but also a deeper morality which seemed to be inherent in his very genome. Consequently, he took time out from his primary mission to, from time to time, help those in need.

Johann deeply approved of Ouihan’s morality as well. This is why when they came upon four Regimental soldiers which were carrying a young girl off to an alley to indulge their baser demons, he waded into them with abandon.

Ouihan chose not to restrain Johann from his performance of justice which was his duty, now being a knight of the realm and the Empress. Ouihan instead shielded the girl from seeing the bloody retribution.

Sally, who had been a victim of such things before, felt a sudden sea change in her emotions. Up until now she had been basically numb since awakening in her new body, but with a seething rage which lay beneath threatening to rise up and engulf her and any around. This rage had really been her constant companion for the majority of her adult life. She could never identify who this rage was truly against until that moment. This monumental realization led her not to indulge in the retribution which Johann was participating in but rather to freeze up. All these years she always looked elsewhere to blame her rage and life conditions. She raised the importance of this rage in herself as an indictment on The Civilization itself. By extension she blamed the Empress which now enlisted her. The Empress was the embodiment of the Civilization, therefore, the seat of all blame for its wrongdoing. She had relished the imparted mandate to kill her which was now suppressed by Ouihan’s meddling. So up until now, she had been secretly planning to kill her as soon as the opportunity presented itself. She never realized the person she was most enraged against was none other than herself. This in no way, in her eyes, relieved Empress Victoria II from her culpability for the chaos which reigned in the world of Zahn. The very clockwork which ran society was also the instrument responsible for all its atrocities. So, simply killing the Empress wouldn’t end the clockwork which caused the greater evil. She, in that moment resolved herself to bide her time and not rush things. She was now in a powerful and immortal body, and rather than waste it as she had her previous life, she would now focus her rage and energy on a worthy goal. She would put an end to the very fabric of The Civilization.

Once the girl was reunited with her family, Ouihan and his escort continued to their destination. A warehouse which Johann remembered he and the other shadow sentinels were stored.

Lieutenant Joshua McTavish III of the North Highlanders Legion’s Black Kilts was on a recon mission to follow up on intelligence on where her Eminent Empress Victoria II was possibly located. In order to get there he and his platoon had to get across the Regal River which snaked across Grandeur City from northwest to southeast. Had it not been for the wide and well-traveled river, the Empress could have remained in the underground system and found her way up to the palace easily. However, the Lieutenant was not aware of this at this time. All he knew was the Regiments had control of the northeast side of the city and demarked by the river and the Legions have finally obtained effective control of the southwest side of the city and side of Regal River.

McTavish and the majority of his platoon were seasoned veterans of war and had it not been for McTavish’s devotion to his men and his disregard for ‘proper’ conduct which was expected of officers he would have been a Major by now. Hence his men had hung on him the moniker of Pappy Mayhem or Pappy for short. McTavish was a bastard son of a noble lord who bought him his commission so he would have a place in the world. He had no illusions of an illustrious military career which would end up in General rank. He was a singular individual when it came to command and tactical acumen.

McTavish and his 33 men had made a predawn crossing of the Noble River clinging to bails of Eugal cotton which were made to look like they had been accidentally dumped into the river at the dyeworks. Of course, there were other debris and garbage in the river as a normal consequence of the fighting, so they were blending in as was desired.

Once they were even with the Grandeur Tower Bridge, they abandoned their bales and swam for a drainage grate from the underground drainage system.

While Cooper was laying waste to the shadows lair McTavish and his men methodically explored the underground system.

Victoria II looked down at the Shadowman prisoner who had inherited Major Gladly’s shackles, “Whatever are we to do with you?”

The Shadowman tried to look nonchalant and said, “If you kill me then my brothers will avenge me. If you let me live, then I will kill you myself at my first chance.”

Victoria II raised an eyebrow and said, “Really? Since I am obviously already under sentence of death from the Shadowmen your first threat is meaningless. Which leaves us what then?” her presence was in full force as she towered over him.

He seemed to shrink back some and became less without physically moving. Although he tried to rally himself and attempted to stare down Her Eminent Empress the look of fear in his eyes belayed any advantage he tried to feign.

Having been taught about interrogation and how to read body language by Captain Cooper, Vitoria II saw her opportunity so she struck while the iron was hot, “Perhaps we can find another use for you.”

He gulped seeing the coldness in her dark brown imperial eyes.

She looked around at her people who were getting ready to move out. Then she looked back down at the prisoner, realizing she had him where she wanted him she said, “We will take care of you presently.”

He gulped again.

Sister had finished packing up her satchel and pack and was just staring blankly off out of the hatch which Willis was standing guard at. Victoria II went over to her and said, “Penny for your thoughts.”

Sister shook herself and said, “Sorry your M’nence, I am having a hard time seeing ahead to what needs happen next. Until now, I have always been able to see a plan. Perhaps not a perfect plan but usually a good one at least.” Her eyes watered and she went on shakily, “But now I can’t see a way out of this. I’m afraid more of us, if not all of us will be dead by the morrow.”

There was another explosion which shook the room from up in the streets and Sister shook involuntarily. Victoria II nodded and thought about how to word her next bit of advice. She then caressed Sister’s cheek and said, “If our time comes, then so be it. We do not have control of our beginning or our end. However, we have full control of everything we do in between. We all have a role to play in the great show of life. Weather we be empress or pauper we are part and parcel of the tapestry which makes history. Each of us a thread in the tapestry of reality. We cannot control the length of thread which we are given, however, we can control how well we are woven into the tapestry. To live in fear, we do ourselves no favors. Living in fear doesn’t change the length of our thread one iota.

“It is time for you to let Scrapper’s spirit rest. His part has already been played for good or ill. We must now rise up to the light of day and make our place in the sun. Always remember who we left behind but do not let them drag us behind our own potential.”

Sister nodded and opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came. She just nodded again smiled weakly up to Victoria II.

Victoria II looked around at her people again to see they were indeed ready then she said, “Alright it is time we were away. Willis, see to the prisoner. He is to be kept in the very front of our progress. If he tries anything shady you have our permission to break his neck.”

Despite the lack of animation in Willis’s automaton face he somehow was able to project a wicked gleam in his eyes as he said, “Be m’pleasure your M’nence.”

The Shadowman gulped again.

Tophat had stationed his new cadre of men along both sides of an underground passage which was known as the ‘Scutter’s Causeway’. Nobody knew the purpose of this extra wide underground passage which was lined with gothic pillars. This long and wide passage corresponded with Imperial Avenue as it approached Grandeur Tower Bridge. Those who were magically inclined knew there was some sort of conduit of power here whichprobably reached back to before the time when the city was built above the ruins of the Gotack People who once ruled this region.

Tophat, who was minorly adept at necromancy and life force magery, breathed in and felt the power flow with its ebbs and pulses which was the norm for all mana. As he was tapped into the flow of the magic, he sensed the approach of some very strong mana. He knew Her Eminence had to be coming because of her reputation. He silently signaled his men who quietly positioned themselves behind the pillars.

Tophat looked at the pillars, briefly examining the Gotack Runes as well as other unknown symbolism and he wondered if he should perhaps return here after all this was over to soak in the energies which so enlivened him at that moment. Between each pillar was stationed an eternal light bowl which have been burning throughout known history, making this area the best lit area of the entire underground system.

He focused his eyes to look down to the far end of the tunnel to where the first eternal lights were located waiting for the first sign of his prey. He looked, disappointedly at his cadre of men and he hoped they would be up to the task. He only had two remaining men from his original team and even though they were both still nursing wounds from their earlier encounter he still had the ultimate confidence in them. He didn’t, however, know the two new Shadowmen and as for the platoon of 30 men from the Calador Regiment, in these he had no confidence at all. So, with all of this weighing on his plans, he had the soldiers from the regiment take the forward positions and held his Shadowmen in reserve.

He focused on the shadows at the far end of the causeway, waiting for some sign or motion. He informed his men repeatedly while getting into position which they were to wait until their quarry was well within the light before springing the trap. He did not want to repeat his Black Street failure. While he was thinking this through again, the shadows stirred and the first thing to come into the light was a Shadowman followed by a Shadow Sentinel. Tophat was surprised and so focused on figuring out which other Shadowman element was in the area he almost didn’t registered the volley of gunfire coming from his Regimental soldiers. A part of his mind was impressed because twenty shots hit the lead Shadowman perfectly in center of mass. The rest of his mind recoiled violently with the friendly fire incident happening in front of his very eyes.

He stepped out of his cover and bellowed, “Cease fire, cease fire!”. It seemed in the fog of battle his fellow Shadowmen followed his lead and stepped forward to restrain the soldiers. When he saw his first two Shadowmen fall he was wondering, ‘why are the soldiers shooting my men?’ It wasn’t until the bolt clipped his left earlobe which he realized the fire was coming from the shadows. He then thought, ‘no wonder, they are just returning fire’ and he began to yell, “We are Shadow Folk too. Cease fire damn it!”

Victoria II saw the ambushing fire destroy her prisoner. The remainder of the bullets flying her way were blocked by Willis’ bullet proof body. She and her group dove to the sides of the causeway and took cover. This was followed immediately with all in the party returning fire with their various implements of war. Her quick mind realized what was happening when she saw the Shadowmen step out from cover yelling, “Cease fire!” She seized the opportunity to take control of the engagement from the ambushers and directed her party’s fire at the Shadowmen and two of them went down. She also recognized Tophat from the Black Street ambush the day before. She took aim with her makeshift bolt gun and fired. She realized she had pulled the gun slightly to the right when she fired. By that point, Tophat was yelling something she couldn’t make out over the echoing cacophony of combat in such a confined space.

Corporal McDermott, of the Black Kilts, heard the eruption of gun fire from the tunnel to his right and signaled to the rest of his platoon the direction it was coming from. He was chosen to take point for a couple of reasons. First and foremost was his senses and sensibility. He was very keen of eye, mind and spirit and was able to keep his head while under fire, all good things to have in a point man, regardless of the terrain. The second reason was much more situational. Because he was from a multi-generational mining family and did his time in the mines when he was a mere bairn, he had a feel for the normally confusing way sounds traveled in the underground. He knew the sound was really coming from his right where another, less experienced person would have thought it was coming from the left because of the rebound and echo. He looked back to Pappy who nodded to him and signaled to “go ahead”. He then led the forward element towards the ongoing fight.

Tophat felt the second bolt hit home in his shoulder and he decided to heed the better part of valor and dove for cover. With the fall of his final remaining Shadowman, he realized the battle couldn’t be brought to a stop for the life of him. So, he decided his best choice was to see to his own survival. He took cover behind a pillar which concealed a hidden passage he was aware of. This area wasn’t well known to the troops he had with him, so if an escape was necessary, it shouldn’t be crowded with others. So, he was well positioned when the platoon of soldiers other than his came out behind his troops. He recognized the uniform of the Black Kilts and decided since he had no loyalty to the Regimental troops who began this mess, it was time for him to make good his escape.

Lieutenant Marcus Calver from Calador was down five men when a bullet, fired from behind him, hit the pillar to the left of his head pelting his face and eyes with sparks and rock dust. He realized his left eye was probably ruined, and his right eye was at least temporarily blinded from the rock dust. He yelled, “Mind where you’re shooting you bastards! That one almost hit me!” He didn’t realize his command was being effectively dismantled to a man by the Black Kilts from behind. He finally realized things were truly amiss when he felt the rifle butt strike the back of his head and everything went black.

“Clear!” Corporal McDermott yelled. He was answered by a chorus of “Clear!” from the rest of the platoon. Total of 24 dead and 10 wounded of the Regimental soldiers and Shadowmen. Of the wounded was their Lieutenant who was unconscious.

Lieutenant McTavish strolled forward surveying the dead and wounded. Of his own troops only one man hurt with a twisted ankle.

Out of the swirling shadows strode the commanding presence of Her Eminent Empress Victoria II, in the flesh. With her powerful, determined strides, she moved through the chaos of the room as sure and confident as walking through one of the palace’s ballrooms. Upon seeing her magically appearing from the gloom, Lieutenant McTavish was stunned immobile by the very discord her appearance and presence presented. Weapon in hand, her command presence radiated from her as thick and powerful as the air in a thunderstorm. He was able to register the startled gasps and murmurs from his troops. This was followed by his Color Sergeant bellowing,“Sovereign Commander on the Field!”

This command has not been given in living memory. The Sovereign on a ground combat field in charge during a battle was the stuff of fairytales and legends. This didn’t matter to the Color Sergeant. He knew the protocol and the precedent and damn his stripes; he wasn’t going to screw this up.

All of the soldiers, both victorious and captives fell to a knee, head bowed as if poleaxed from behind. None could meet her gaze, not that anyone was brave enough or stupid enough to try.