"Ah, Princess. It is great of you to join us." King Aldrecht said in a deep voice.
To the side Lecca saw Mike who flashed her a short nod.
"I believe that mentioning your proposal would be a proper start?" Aldrecht directed as he motioned Lecca to speak with a flat palm.
"Yes, your majesty." Lecca calmly said as she turned around and faced the confused Rangers, "You have all been gathered here to be inducted into a group of highly trained warriors and mercenaries, the Mobile Maverick Taskforce."
Green and Richard narrowed their eyes at the words spoken while the others allowed their amusement to keep their silence.
"A taskforce?" Captain Thompson was the one to break the silence as he inquired more about the situation he and his men were currently stuck in, "A taskforce for what?"
"As you are aware of the threat that the Demon Lord poses, this task force is being formed to give the standing army the necessary breathing room it needs to hold of the monster hordes." Lecca explained as she began to wave her hands to the floor, "Due to your requisite of not swearing loyalty to the crown, the king has decided to let this task force be an independent group that will only receive directives from the king himself."
Piece by piece a large circle with iatrical designs began to imprint on the white marble flooring. Alarmed the Rangers equipped their weapons, but with a swift call from Patterson, any violence was temporarily halted.
"And if we don't agree to this? What if we desert?" Thompson asked while looking at the king himself.
"The group will still be formed no matter if you assist or not." The king said with growing frustration, "If you do leave, I will not stop you, yet you will not be prepared for the outside world. The very fact that we are communicating is due to a magical device."
As Lecca finished the circle on the floor, Thompson found himself in a dilemma on how to proceed. Looking behind him and receiving uncertain gazes it was clear that there was no other choice in their current position, "Fine." Thompson began, "We'll cooperate. I assume you have a plan for organizing this taskforce?" He asked skeptical of the proposition.
The King finally seemed amused at the answer Thompson provided. "Indeed. I have my knights ready to prepare logistics and several soldiers will join the ranks as support crews. My friends, you will all act as the spearhead for the taskforce with the dear First-Born Princess as your commanding officer."
"What!?" Princess Lecca shouted making her lose focus of the spell she was casting.
With the room suddenly flashing purple, a large orb grew around the men and Lecca distorting the outside world. Due to the sudden shockwave the group were thrown from their places, but they quickly scrambled to their feet. Instantly rifles were raised, and Corporal Richard found himself keeping his weapon trained on the silver-haired princess.
"What the fuck!" Patterson yelled as he frantically looked around at the ever-growing purple orb. "What the fuck just happened?"
"Is this magic?" Simon asked curiously.
"What the fuck did you do!" Richard drew the attention of everyone as he continued to shout, "Fucking mages! That shit should've been left in fiction!"
"Corporal!" Thompson shouted.
"Why was that fucking circle around us, huh!?" Richard said furious, "What is your goal!? Technology, guns, medicine? Give me a reason not to drop your ass right now!" Richard was now screaming as his arms shook and his face grew a bright red.
"Richard!" Thompson bellowed. "Stand the fuck down! Now!" Thompson's voice almost felt like it shook the area encapsulated in the orb. "Richard!"
With a pale color returning to his face and his shaking arms reluctantly lowering the rifle inch by inch, Richard soon found himself being restrained by Randall and Patterson. Each held his shoulder and pulled him back from the princess who was frozen in shock with her face looking deathly white.
"Hey pal, calm down. Stay with us alright?" Patterson said quietly as he gave Richard's right shoulder a firm squeeze.
Randall released Richard and slowly walked up to Princess Lecca with is M-5 strapped across his chest and his hands by the hem of his pants. "Princess?" He asked while leaning his face just in view of her brown eyes. "You still with us?"
Lecca cautiously raised her hand and flipped it over as she stared at the inside of her palm. Life returned to her eyes as she turned around suddenly. Just at the edge of the purple orb a large black cloud began to descend. From these clouds several figures formed: a bear, a soldier, and a wolf.
Seeing their hostile positions the Rangers moved in front of the Princess, while Lieutenant Patterson dragged her behind him.
"Contact ten meters-front! Protect the VIP!" Thompson shouted shouldering his rifle. "Princess are you alright?" He asked turning his head towards the frustrated and fear-stricken woman.
Swiftly turning on her heels, Lecca's silver erratically twisted due to her sudden movement as she stepped right in front of Sergeant Randall. "Reavers!" She said with anger as a soft blue light grew around her palms. Glancing over the M-5 carbine in Mike's hands, Lecca snapped her fingers, and a rifle began to materialize out of thin air.
What looked to be a lever-action rifle settled neatly in her hands. Golden and blue embroidery and engravings lined the polished white surface of the rifle. Shimmering in a purple hue, Lecca stepped forward, yet her foot never touched the ground.
Mike watched dumbfounded as Lecca sprung from an invisible wall and into the air. One with a single hand Lecca aligned the slim sights on the rifle and fired a single bullet made of pure mana. The muzzle flash was bright and sent sparks around the Rangers as Lecca landed on her knees.
Slumping over dead, the wolf shadow slowly dissipated into nothingness as the bear and soldier moved into defensive positions.
"Cover me." Mike raised his rifle at the two remaining shadows as he moved towards Lecca who seemed to be observing them. Stopping next to her, he moved to the right of her and shouldered his rifle as he removed his left hand and reached it to the maiden kneeling on the ground. "We need to go. Now!" He ordered sternly.
"Reavers." Lecca repeated. "Otherworldly beings that keep magicians and sages in check. If a spell fails, they are summoned to clean up the mess that is left behind." She explained as she loaded the next round in her rifle. "Such a foe is not to be trifled with as it disrupts the natural balance of the world."
"Yeah, but didn't you cause this fucking problem?" Mike asked as the bear turned his way snarling.
"Indeed. I request you all to help me in cleaning up this mess." She smirked while taking Mike's hand to stand up.
A red pulse momentarily flashed over the purple orb. Several more shadows were summoned around the eight. Pulling Lecca by the hand, Mike moved to the center of the defensive circle that had been made by his fellow Rangers. Lecca moved back-to-back with the Sergeant as they both aimed their weapons at the shadows that surrounded them.
"You had your show-off time!" Staff Sergeant Baker said sharply as his finger inched towards the trigger of his M-5. "Let's show you how the Americans can handle a fight!"
With the bear taking a single step forward, the bellowing order that came from Captain Thompson let loose a hail of led and mana bullets at the Reavers. In total 30 hostiles Reavers had surrounded them, and the first hail of bullets instantly killed ten of them. The weaker shadows were the first to go, each one took two or three bullets to kill, but that alone proved that the Rangers could defend themselves in some capacity against this new foe.
At the continuous cracks of the rifles and single machine gun being fired, the remaining Reavers, though that resembled traditional animals began to charge forward.
"Keep it up!" Patterson yelled with a hoarse voice as his arms felt strained due to the continued stream of bullets being released from his weapons.
"Son of a bitch! I'm jammed!" Richard exclaimed as he repeatedly pressed on the forward assist on his carbine.
"Pull the bolt you idiot!" Green shouted back while killing a shadow.
Following the crude directions provided by Green, Richard successfully unjammed his rifle. With the west flank covered, the men shifted right which gave enough breathing room to dispatch the remaining Reavers with Princess Lecca gaining the kill shot on the bear.
"Cease fire! Cease fire!"
With the Reavers all dead the purple orb that had grew around the eight slowly began to dissipate. Lecca and the Rangers kept their weapons at the low ready while the orb entirely disappeared and gave way to over fifty knights and ten guards surrounding them.
Upon seeing that the Princess was fine, though her skirt had a few tears in the cloth, the knights began to lower their weapons and sheath them. Seeing that they did not want to cause any trouble, Mike and the others slung their rifles across their chests, with Lecca dematerializing her lever-action gun.
Publicly Available Information: Reavers:
Known to respond to events that threaten the balance of the magical word, Reavers are the silent protectors that will indiscriminately eliminate anyone that stands against the very nature of magic, or those that attempt to control it.
Many scholars and historians as of late wonder why the Reavers did not participate in the campaign to eliminate the Demon Lord during the old ages.