La vita è bella

Their vehicle pulled up right in front of the main building and when it parked, the soldiers of Urseos moved quickly to exit the vehicle and secure the area. Not that there was much to secure it against. However, these highly-trained soldiers took every single one of their missions very seriously, no matter how simple or laughably easy it seemed to be on the surface. It was quite a stark contrast to Jaren, who simply wandered out of the vehicle and into the open as if he didn't have a care in the world. Soon after, Captain Anders stepped out of the vehicle as well and addressed the troops with a twisted grin.
"So, here's how it's gonna go down." He pointed out the soldiers as he spoke to them. "You two are with me at the rear entrance. The three of you will take the fire exit on the eastern side. All the rest, come on in right through the main entrance like proper gentlemen. As for you...Winter."
He gave Jaren a nasty glare, though the latter didn't pay it any mind.
"I sure hope you're listening 'cause I'm only gonna say this once. Your job is to stay right here at the front entrance. You'll be our emergency backup in case somethin' goes wrong and while you're here you can make sure nobody tries to sneak their way out. Got all that?"
Jaren replied with a nod, though he knew exactly what the captain was doing. He was effectively trying to remove Jaren from the mission. Even if something were to go wrong, he knew that they probably wouldn't bother to call him in. And considering that the majority of the "targets" on this mission were just average college students, it was fairly unlikely that they would make their way past the soldiers. In a passive way, he was sending Jaren a message. 'I don't like you and I want you to be involved in this mission as little as possible.' Given Jaren's record of being hesitant to shoot civilians along with the unpleasant introduction they had on the way here, this came as no surprise to him. But he did as he was told and casually walked towards the school's entrance, where he leaned on a nearby wall and stared blankly at the soldiers.

With a sadistic smile, Captain Anders chambered the first round of his assault rifle and signaled for the troops to move out.
"Let's move, boys and girls! If any of them kids bother to look out the window, they might start gettin' a little suspicious. We gotta make sure it's too late by the time they do, or else my perfect little field trip might get all ruined. Wouldn't want that, now would we?"
The soldiers quickly made their way to their assigned locations and waited for the signal. Those who were stationed at the fire escape and the back entrance planted small explosives to blow the doors open and when Anders gave the signal, they were detonated and the soldiers quickly poured into the building and spread out to cover as much ground as quickly as possible. That's when it all began. Calling it a mission would be generous, calling it an inhuman massacre would be more accurate. One by one, without warning, the soldiers made their way from room to room, mercilessly gunning down anyone they found inside. What was at first vague suspicion from those who were in nearby classrooms and on the next floor up soon turned to terror and confusion. The screams of students and teachers alike could be heard echoing throughout the halls. An emergency announcement soon came over the loudspeakers, telling everyone that the school was under attack and to try to escape or find a place to hide if they could. It didn't take long after that for the whole school to fall into complete chaos. Some students ran for their lives, some tried to find a place to hide, some especially brave souls tried to find whatever they could use as a weapon to fight back. But they all had one thing in common: they were terrified, knowing that this could very well be the day they die. The teachers tried their best to calm the students down, though they were just as terrified as anyone.

Jaren sat outside just as he was ordered to. From where he was, he could clearly hear what was happening inside. It made him sick to even think about it. Then, just as it had many times in the past, doubt began to seep into his mind. This entire mission was more or less a waste of time. Even if there were a handful of Etrisian rebels somewhere in this building, going to these lengths to eliminate them was beyond the pale. So many human lives would be lost today. So many students with so much promise and untapped potential would have their bright future cut short. How many more times would he have to sit back and watch something like this happen? How many more innocent people had to die before this war could finally come to a close? Could he live with himself if he knowingly let those people die? These were the thoughts that flooded his mind as he flung open the front doors and walked inside.

 

Voldemars had quickly got the situation under control and ordered all nurses that were able to move to help those who couldn't and to arrange everyone properly so they could go to their destination. With this entire area being under his control he knew exactly where to go. It had no tools of the current era but it was secret and would easily let these nurses heal the wounded. "Keep calm and follow me ladies. We are going to head to a secret hideout and you can fix up whatever medical injuries need to be fixed. The tools may be ancient but they are all still useful." With that he turned towards where he planned to walk. With Mekani in arms he walked forward careful not to walk fast or bounce around too much in fear of hurting her.

 

Jaren made his way through the school quickly, trying to catch up with the Urseosian soldiers. Along the way, he saw one of them about to enter a classroom with gun in hand. He stopped the man and motioned for him to move away from the door. The soldier had a look of confusion.
"Sir...what are you doing here? I thought you were guarding the front entrance."
Calling him "sir" was merely a sign of respect, as Jaren had no official rank.
"There's been a change of plans."
"Oh...right, okay. Well, um, if you don't mind my saying so...you're in my spot, sir."
"I'll take this one. Keep moving."
"Yes, sir!"
The soldier did as he was told and moved on. When he was out of earshot, Jaren opened the door and walked inside. Although they were hiding carefully, he quickly found a middle-aged male teacher, a young male student and a young female student and called out to them.
"I know you're there. I'm not here to hurt you."
The teacher cautiously peeked his head out and Jaren turned to him.
"The main entrance is unguarded. For now. Move quickly, get them out."
The teacher nodded and replied, his voice shaking.
"T-thank you...whoever you are...thank God you came."
He quickly grabbed the students and they left together, quickly but quietly. Jaren left the room and continued on, moving even faster than before to catch up with the rest of the soldiers. He made his way up the stairs and onto the next floor.


Two soldiers stood outside another classroom, ready to barge in at a moment's notice. One of them turned to the other, a sadistic grin on his face.
"After you."
The other soldier returned the smile.
"Don't mind if I do."
Saying that, he kicked down the door and pointed his gun inside, looking around for a target to shoot.
"Well, that's boring. Let's see if any of these brats are hiding out somewhere."
The two of them searched the room thoroughly, though they weren't having much luck so far. But just then, one of them heard a faint whimper and immediately turned around.
"You hear that?"
"Nope. But let's check it out and make sure."
They opened a set of nearby cabinets and found, to their surprise, two female students hiding away.
"Heh heh heh. Jackpot."
They slung their rifles over their back and pulled the girls out of their hiding place.
"You know...these ones are kinda cute, don'tcha think?"
"I was just thinking the same thing, it'd be a shame to frag these pretty little things. Maybe we should...have a little fun with them instead."
"Well, well...great minds do think alike, after all."
They laughed to themselves, clearly enjoying their latest find a little too much.

 

The soldier laughed at the young girl's question.
"Why? I'll tell you why, little missy. Because orders are orders, and we've been ordered to shoot rebels in the face."
The other soldiers smacked him in the back of the head.
"Don't go blabbing military information, you idiot!"
He then turned to the student.
"Let's put it this way. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Chances are, most of you aren't rebels and we get that. But if we take out all of you...we take the rebels with you."
He then pulled his gun back out, and the other soldier followed suit.
"And now that you've heard that much, it looks like we're gonna have to put you down. Sorry, sweetcheeks."

But before he could even raise his gun to the girl's head, the sound of a gunshot rang throughout the room. The bullet went right past the soldier's right ear, missing it by less than an inch. The soldier's eyes went wide in shock and his entire body was shaking from his near-death experience, to the point where he could barely even hold his rifle. The other soldier wasn't much better off as he was frozen in place with his mouth wide open. They slowly turned and saw Jaren glaring at them.
"That's enough. Let them go."
"Oh, s-sir, it's just you. T-that was a pretty good shot, sir! Scared me half to death! But, um...if you don't mind my asking, sir, what are you doing here?"
"There's been a change of plans. Let them go."
"But...our orders, sir."
Jaren's cold gaze gave them more than enough of an answer.
"Sure...yeah, whatever you say."
The soldiers backed away slightly. When they did, one of the students made a dash for the door, while the other still seemed too scared to move. Jaren tried to stop her, but she pushed him aside and kept running, panicked and scared out of her mind. Jaren looked towards the girl who was left.
"Don't follow her. She made the wrong choice."
The soldiers had a much larger presence on this floor, so he knew there was a chance she could be caught. Unfortunately, it was too late to do anything about it. Back in the room, one of the two soldiers looked at him and spoke up nervously.
"So, uh...have you "taken a liking" to this girl or something? If that's what's going on then you can have first dibs, of course. Ah, sir."
Jaren was clearly not amused.
"Not just her. Tell the rest of the squad to cease fire on civilian targets."

The soldier hesitated, but he soon did as he was told as Jaren was clearly in no mood to argue.
"This is Echo 5...do not open fire on any more civilian targets. Repeat, do not open fire on civilians.
The voice of Captain Anders soon came over the radio, sounding clearly enraged.
"What?! Under whose authority?!"
"This comes from...mercenary Winter, sir."
"Does that white-haired merc sound like your commanding officer, soldier?!"
"Ah...no, sir. Of course not."
"Then stop screwing around and follow your orders! Anders out!"

Jaren clicked his tongue. He figured this would happen, but he still felt the need to try. The soldier looked to the girl and spoke up again.
"So, uh...what about her, sir? She is--"
"Coming with me. Is that a problem?"
"Ah...no, sir! Not at all!"
"Carry on."
The soldiers saluted.
"Yes, sir!"
They quickly left the room, so quickly in fact that it was as if they were afraid for their lives. Jaren let out a frustrated sigh as he watched them leave. A feeling of powerlessness crept over him, but he pushed it to the back of his mind and remained focused on the task at hand. He put away his revolver and turned to the girl, who was now the only other person left in the room.
"Two questions. What's your name, and can you trust me with your life?"

 

A sharp pain woke her from her feeble slumber. Hazy, she opened her eyes and placed a hand on her cheek, the sting remained.
"Wh-what? Where am I?" She looked at the man in front of her. Everything was blurry from just waking up. "Who are you?"
He didn't answer her, instead he dragged her out of the van and stood her upright. Pain shot up her leg as she was forced to put weight on her injured leg. She let out a small cry of pain. Slowly but surely as she was out of the van, her eyed began to adjust to the light outside allowing her to finally see the soldier in front of her. Behind him she saw a camp. Figuring this was one of the bases for the Urseonian army, she lost all the color in her face and blankly stared on past the soldier. There were two soldiers guarding the entrance.
"I guess you're here... to take me there..." Her words were once again met with silence.
It wasn't long until another soldier came and stood at her side roughly grabbing her left arm as the soldier who drug her out of the van grabbed her right arm.
"This way." One finally spoke while the other forcefully pulled her in the direction of the entrance of the camp.
Pain once again shot up her leg as she was forcefully drug forward.
"Hurry it up."
Wincing, she limped the rest of the way to the entrance. "Y-you're hurting me..." Tears welled up in her eyes.

Finally getting closer the entrance, she saw an older looking man smoking. He looked tough, like someone you didn't want to mess with. Even from a distance Sadie could feel his threatening aura.
"Damnit woman. I said hurry it up." He pulled her forward again only this time instead of following, her leg gave out on her causing her to fall forward. Her arms felt like they were going to be pulled out of her sockets as the two soldiers yanked her up before she could fall forward.
"Quit messing around." He looked at her threateningly as he put a hand on his gun. "You keep fooling around and I'll give you something to whine about. 'You're hurting me.' Bah." He mocked her and spit into the dirt. "Toughen up, Princess. Or I'll personally come to make sure you toughen up."
Too scared to talk back, she stared at the ground and continued to limp along with the soldiers.

 

Jaren gave a slight nod of approval.
"True enough. But at least you can recognize your own helplessness. That's a good sign."
He started making his way to the door.
"Follow me. Closely."
The two of them made their way out of the room and through the halls. But before they made it very far, they were stopped by an Urseosian soldier.
"Winter...the captain wants to talk to you. He says it's urgent."
"Where is he?"
The soldier pointed to a nearby hallway.
"To the right, two doors down."
Jaren nodded and looked back at Patience.
"Let's go."

They made their way to the door the soldier directed them to. Jaren slowly opened the door and the two of them stepped inside. They were confronted by three Urseosian soldiers and Captain Anders, who seemed to be in an unusually good mood given the circumstances.
"Well, well...if it ain't my old pal Winter."
Jaren motioned for Patience to stay behind him.
"What do you want?"
"Come on, now...there's no need for all of that. I just wanted to have a little chat, that's all. Is that so wrong?"
Anders laughed to himself as he meandered around the room.
"I mean, who wouldn't want to talk to the man, the legend, the great Winter himself?"
"Tell me what this is really about."
Anders stood still for a moment. Then he looked directly into Jaren's eyes with that same sadistic smile as before.
"Okay...you got it. Let me ask you something, boy. Do you enjoy what you do? You know...killin' people?"
Jaren was taken aback. It took him a moment to respond.
"...No. I don't."
"Really? Well, that's a shame. I think people should do what they love for a living."
"Does that mean you enjoy it?"
"Do I?! Ha ha ha...boy, sometimes it's the only good reason I have to get up in the morning!"
Jaren sneered at the man, clearly disgusted at what was standing in front of him.
"Aw, don't go giving me that look! See, that's your problem. That's why you always look so grumpy! You're lookin' at everything all wrong!"
He swung his arms wildly, making grandiose gestures.
"War...is an art form! And I'm just a painter, that's all! You whine and cry about civilians, human lives, innocent people dying...because you just don't get it! War isn't just a business. It's a hobby of mine. And I get to do my favorite hobby every single day of my life. That's why I'm having so much fun while you look like you're down in the dumps! You should do what makes you happy, Winter. So, what do you say? You wanna help me make my latest masterpiece?"
"You've lost your mind."
"You know...folks always say that about true geniuses. Because they just don't get it, like how you don't get it! Can't you see the beauty of war? Take a good look around this school; my very own canvas! I'm the freakin' Picasso of warfare!!"
"I'm leaving. Keep your sick "hobbies" to yourself."
Anders laughed even louder than before.
"Well, you see...there's a little problem with that. My magnum opus will never be complete...unless I crack open that pretty little paint can standing behind ya."
He motioned to Patience, and Jaren glared back at him.
"Forget it. She's coming with me."
"Oh. Is that so?"
Anders aimed his rifle at the two of them, and his soldiers followed suit. Jaren stared the four of them down, his body tensing as he slowly moved his right hand towards his revolver.
"Stand down. Don't get in my way."
Anders smiled widely at him.
"Big talk for a dead man. Are those really gonna be your last words, boy?"

Silence fell over the room. The two men, Anders and Jaren, stared each other down. Anders' expression was full of confidence and pride, thinking that he had already won the battle. But Jaren simply stared back with a cold, expressionless gaze that seemed as if it could pierce someone down to their very soul. After what seemed like hours but was really only a few seconds, Jaren spoke up in reply.
"Yours. Not mine."
It happened like a flash of lightning. Before anyone even realized that he had moved, Jaren's gun was in front of him at his hip, having already fired off a single round. That bullet found its mark on Anders' forehead right above his eyebrows. With that same smile still plastered on his face, Anders collapsed to the ground as his soldiers backed away, clearly and understandably frightened at what they had just seen. They looked at Jaren with terror in their eyes, as if they were looking at a demon or the Angel of Death. One of them finally got up the courage to turn on the radio and call the other soldiers.
"Captain Anders is down! Abort the mission and return to base immediately!"
Jaren motioned to the door and the soldiers, hoping that he was sincere about letting them go, scrambled out of the room and ran as fast as they could to the nearest exit. Once again, Jaren was alone in the room with Patience. He turned to her and put his gun away.
"You've probably never seen someone die, have you? Are you alright?"

 

OOT: Sorry I'm not getting any updates for this for some reason >.<

Douglas and Kyle dragged her to the infirmary and shoved her onto some table and locked the door. A few minutes later, a woman in a white coat came in and began looking at her leg. "Douglas told me your leg was injured. Don't worry I'll take a look at it." The doctor, Kate, looked over Sadie's leg and noticed that it was swollen something awful. "Damn it. I wish Vyse was more careful. Guess you didn't go down without a fight, huh Mekani?" Kate laughed as the door opened and Vyse walked in. "Something the matter?" She asked him. Vyse had his hand on his forehead as he looked at her. "Leave. I need to speak to her alone." Kate nodded and left the room, give Vyse a salute before leaving and closing the door. Vyse looked tired as he took a seat next to Sadie, taking out a cigar and lighting. "Sorry you got wrapped up in this, but war is war after all. Now this will be a hell of a lot easier on you if you tell me your name." He took a long drag from his cigar and he took out a clipboard and a pen.

 

"Sadie. My name is Sadie." She covered her mouth as he exhaled the smoke from his cigar. "Also, you're in an infirmary. Do you really need to smoke in here. You could probably catch a patient in here on fire with one stray ash." She coughed.
The stench of his cigar mixed with the sanitizing agents that usually filled the air in hospitals. Everything was so surreal to her, just this morning she was helping some innocent civilians and then in the blink of an eye she had shattered her kneecap and was carted away to some foreign area and stuck on a pretty questionable gurney.
"Look, I don't know what you want with me after I heal up and whatnot, but I've got to get one thing straight with you. I will not go down without a fight."
A dazed soldier waking up from a drug induced fever dream three gurneys down clapped loudly and congratulated her for her fighting spirit and mumbled something that had the gist of "you survived that bomb raid because of that fighting spirit".
She looked at the soldier standing in front of her and waited for his barrage of questions, "Let's get this over with. I'm in pain and my tolerance levels are falling quickly." She paused for a second to gain her composure. "And while we're having this conversation, kudos to you for letting subordinates smack women around. I really enjoyed waking up to that one."
The dazed soldier spoke up again but this time he was a bit more understandable, "You let a soldier hit a fellow female soldier? How dare you, sir. Wait until the warlord hears about this."
She looked back over her shoulder at the soldier trying to get out of bed. It looked like he had just woken up from a double amputation procedure. Watching him struggle while trying to get up made her say something to Vyse, "You need to tell him his legs are gone before he gets himself hurt. Until you do that, I say no more." She folded her arms and waited for things to happen.

 

Vyse groaned. "Sir, I don't know what operation you've had or why but your legs are gone. If you keep moving, you'll fall off the bed and hurt yourself. I tell you this politely, if you don't stop moving and talking I will put a bullet between your eyes. You got it?" Not waiting for an answer, Vyse looked back at Sadie. "As for the smoking, this is my infirmary and I am well aware that no one in here has asthma." He took another drag from his cigar and spit the smoke out of his mouth into Sadie's face. "As for what my men did to you, I'm sorry. I would have told them to be careful and treat you with the utmost respect, given you a nice room with room service and let you go after your stay her, but then I remembered that you're a prisoner of war, NOT a paying guest! Shocking right? I mean after all the hospitality we gave you instead of just killing you out right. And while you might not believe me, I ordered my men not to kill any of the women at the hospital. Now then, are you in some way connected to your countries government?"

 

Wolf finished his cigarette, threw it on the ground, and stepped on it. twisting his ankles he turned on his heels. He silently followed the men into the infirmary. And into the room with the unfamiliar face. It was a girl. She was a prisoner, however Vyse seemed to be interrogating her. And so he walked behind him and placed his hand on Vyses shoulder.

"A raid? And you let the hostages live. I assume this is one of them. Tell me Vyse, what exactly happened and why this person is laying on the table. She should be dead if you were to assault anything. And even more importantly how many of these people saw your face. You've got a target on your back my dear friend."

He shortly after released his grip and walked over to the corner just to listen to the interrogation even if it made Vyse uneasy he had more authority than him. However he had an idea.

"Vyse get all the information from her that you can. And if I feel she is useless or cannot benefit us in anyway, I will blow her head clean off her shoulders. Followed by yours. And darling. You're a prisoner, you don't make demands you follow ours. Got it?"


OOT: Hope this post is okay. I'm trying to get active once again. Probably gonna get the antagonist stuff going first.

 

As Jaren looked down at Patience, his expression dimmed as unpleasant memories came back to him. He remembered having a similar reaction the first time he saw someone die from a gunshot. Except he was a lot younger than her, and he was crying a lot more. But he could only vaguely remember it now, as it was a long time ago and he's certainly many other people die since then.

He knelt down next to Patience, but hesitated to say anything. He could clearly see how frightened she was, but he didn't have much experience dealing with situations like this. Emotions weren't part of his training. Emotions didn't teach you how to fire a gun. But he spoke up and gave it his best effort, as rough as it might have been.
"Calm down. You said you could trust me. Trust me now; I won't hurt you."
He gave her a few seconds to recover before speaking up again.
"We need to leave. Where's your home? Name it, I'll get you there safely. That's a promise."

 

Vyse scratched the back of his head. "Sir she wasn't our target. Someone higher ranked then even you took our target. I don't know where, they just did. She's probably dead by now thought. Doubt the fucker knows what he's doing." Vyse put out his cigar. "We traded, but I know a use for her. I think she's a doctor or a nurse and we could use a second one. After all, gotta make the prisoners useful." Vyse looked Sadie in the eyes with his one good eye. "So what about it princess. You a doctor or something?"

 

"No, I'm not connected to my government. I'm a nurse." She coated her answer in a vitriolic tone. He deserved it for blowing the smoke in her face. Being an asthmatic had nothing to do with it. It was more so the fact he could easily light the place up.
After giving Vyse his answer, she put all of her attention on the older man who had just come in and chastised her for speaking her mind. He was the one she saw at the front gate. Come to think of it, from what she could remember, he had this smirk on his face watching the two escort soldiers cart her around like a sack of potatoes. He was the type of man that struck fear into people's hearts. The stoic facial expression of his was enough to get a heartbeat racing.
"I apologize. I'm just not one to handle pain well at the moment. I'm sure once I get patched up I'll become less combatant and more compliant." She tried to stay on the man's neutral side. "Anyways, I assume you're here to take over the interrogation? I'm prepared for whatever." Sadie put on a front of bravery.
It was definitely going to be difficult to hold her tongue around this man. Already assuming she would have to walk on eggshells for him, she sat up a bit more waiting for his remarks.

 

OOT: No problem, I've been posting pretty slowly these last few days, too.

Jaren had nothing but pity for Patience. He couldn't help but think about how unfair it was for her to be dragged into a war that she knew nothing about, and didn't belong in. She should have been allowed to continue living her life in peace. She deserved better, just like everyone else in this school. But there was no turning back at this point. He knew that the best thing for her right now was to confront the cold reality of her situation.
"You don't know anything about war, do you? To Urseos...human lives are meaningless. Or at least Etrisian lives are. They thought there were rebels here. Even if it was just a rumor. Even if they couldn't prove it. They suspected it, and they attacked. That's the kind of war this is."
He put his hand on her shoulder and looked right into her eyes, trying to bring her back to her senses.
"That's why you have to trust me. I know the battlefield. You don't. I can get you out of here alive, but we need to hurry."
He offered that same hand to help her get back on her feet.
"Your apartment won't work. Too close to the school. If they do come looking for you, they'll check there. Which part of Etris did you come from?"