Back at the Petros house Therra, Falkas, and Torin lie down in the mud exhausted, droplets of rain pool on their faces. Alexander stands over the tree arms at his sides, smiling at the effort they put in.
Alexander: "You did a great job today. I'll expect the same effort this afternoon when we train with weapons. If you keep it up I guarantee you'll be more prepared for battle than a knight who has trained all their life."
Falkas: "Really? Then I'll keep it up. Knights, lords, ladies, all forms of gentry, I want to surpass them all."
Alexander: "What's with the ambition Falkas? I never would have thought it'd be so low."
Falkas: "They can take anything from those of common blood as they please. Our lives, freedoms, coin, everything is at their disposal. I want to turn the tables on them."
Alexander: "Ahh, changing the entire order of the world. Now that is a worthy aspiration, one that while following me, you may see accomplished."
Reaching down he embraces Falkas' arm pulling him from the muck.
Falkas: "How in the world do you have such a strong grip."
Alexander: "Excessive exercising since birth."
Falkas: "Haha, ok keep your secrets."
Alexander: "All of you take a bath, y'all deserve it. I'm gonna stay out here for a bit, then I'll start on your English language lessons."
Pulling himself and Therra from the mud, Torin gets up.
Torin: "I'm looking forward to it, learning a language will be a nice reprieve from our physical exertion."
While the others head inside, Alexander closes his eyes letting rain run across his face. The breeze begins to change, the rain feels heavier, the fresh air of the open country fills his lungs, and his hands have a sticky slick to them. Looking down, his body is soaked in gunk. Blood drips from his hands onto his standard M4A1. As his eyes move up, he spots a child cowering in a treetop. Raising the rifle's muzzle at the kid, tears begin to pool in the corners of his eyes. Brushing his finger over the trigger, Alexander slowly pulls.
Bang!!
As the muzzle flashes, Alexander's vision tunnels through a scope. A village lays before him, crickets can be heard chirping as light thunder rolls in signaling for a heavy rain. Kids stomp around in already formed puddles, parents look on smiling. Some of the men patrol the outskirts of the small town, weapons loaded, but are unattentive to their surroundings. At That moment Alexander's coms kick in.
HQ Operator: (English) "Red Rover, are you in position?"
Alexander: "Affirmative. Rules of engagement?"
HQ Operator: "There are none. Take out the target, leave no witnesses."
Pausing for a moment, Alexander hesitantly replies.
Alexander: "What about the non-combatants?"
HG Operator: "Leave no witnesses, do you copy?"
Once again Alexander pauses as his mind races. Closing his eyes for only a moment, he steels himself for what's to come.
"Red Rover, do you copy?"
Alexander: "Roger that. Going dark."
Alexander switches his headset to a private channel for his platoon.
"No rules of engagement, weapons free… leave no witnesses."
A symphony of replies of confirmation echo in Alexander's ears, nobody questions his order.
"Pick your targets, on my mark…. Fire."
The booming thunder is drowned out by the cracks of gunfire. The armed patrol falls in an instant, followed by the screams of women and children running towards their homes. With every couple flashes from Alexander's barrel another person falls, a woman holding a baby, a child with a toy, a man firing a pistol. As bodies continue to hit the floor the streets become awash with red. A heavy rain starts to fall when Alexander's unit advances into the village. House to house, room to room, his platoon followed orders, not leaving a single soul. In the last building to clear Alexander gets ambushed by a man and woman. Losing a handle on his rifle he takes out his knife. Tackling the woman to the ground, Alexander stabs her through the sternum. Looking up from the woman, Alexander sees the man dead on the floor with two holes in his chest with one of his men checking their corners. Leaving the last room of the final home, Alexander walks outside, some of his men are sitting holding his head, others stand unmoving while staring at the deceased. Out of the corner of his eyes Alexander sees a lone boy no more than 6 disappearing into the treeline. Jogging to where the child vanished he spots their tracks, following for only 2 minutes he sees the boy in a tree. Looking down, his body is soaked in gunk. Blood drips from his hands onto his M4A1. The smell of gunpowder fills Alexander's nose. Raising the rifle's muzzle at the young boy, tears begin to pool in the corners of his eyes. Brushing his finger over the trigger, Alexander slowly pulls.
Bang!!
A hole is blown through the child's chest. As the now empty sack of flesh slumps over in the branches, blood begins to drip onto Alexander's face.
"It was necessary."
Falling to his knees Alexander continues to stare at the boy's frozen face. The silence of the once bustling town full of laughter, overtakes him.
"It was necessary."
Closing his eyes, Alexander breaths in the sickening scent of blood, shit, and piss permeating from the corpse. Every passing moment more red droplets fall onto him, followed by rain attempting to wash his conscience clean.
"It was necessary."
Alexander's hazed green eyes open towards the sky, his white hair now matted from the cascading rain over Orbis.
Alexander: (Common) "… It was necessary."
Putting on a smile, he turns around walking back inside his new home. Grabbing a cup from the cupboards, Alexander pours in some of the leftover liqueur, downing a double.
"What the hell is this crap? It's like shitty absinthe. I'll have to teach somebody how to make a good rum or whiskey."
Just then Nullthara finally returns, spotting Alexander drinking.
Nullthara: "I thought you were gonna wait on drinking, since you're nearly 12."
Alexander: "Yes, well… I figured why not. You never know when you'll end up dead."
Nullthara: "Aah. Look at mister gloomy, get a little wet and the world starts falling apart."
Alexander: "Ha. Don't be such an ass when somebody is brooding. Now then, what did Genmar want?"
Handing Alexander the scroll, Nullthara goes into the details of the hit. As she relays the information, Alexander visually perks up coming out of his former disposition.
Alexander: "This is great news. An easy kill with amazing pay, what more could we ask for. Here, have a shot of this swill with me."
Pouring himself and Nullthara a drink, excitement sending shivers down their spines as they clank their cups together.