....29th of November 2034....
It was a nice sunny day, the sunlight would glaze along the open road and making way for the numerous military transport vehicles heading down it. Moving at a steady pace and each of them carrying platoons of soldiers, many inside were either praying, sharpening or loading their weapons or writing into their diaries, some just sat there and waited or gave a briefing on the situation.
The vehicle rattled with every bump in the road, the soldier that sat next to Rasmus would greedily sip down his canteen as if it didn't need to be rationed. "So what is this? Some kind of Civil War? Some kind of message to break out every criminal like this?" The soldier asks, sighing and leaning back lazily against the moving car. Looking around at the other soldiers for an answer "It isn't exactly a civil war! It's been confirmed publicly the man responsible holds Outsider talents, he's abusing them clearly, I guess he wants an insurrection of some kind. He wishes to be in power" The man that replied sounded posh in a way, an otter with glasses and a medic bag wrapped around his hip, he seemed just as nervous as everyone else.
"Cut out the smart talk Pete, What are we dealing with here?" Rasmus asks, looking over at the otter medic "Well uh.. to put it rather bluntly I guess.. he can brainwash people to abide by his rules, almost like indoctrination into a gang." Rasmus shook his head "Indoctrination? the hell does that mean? like he's recruiting these people against their will and they're going along with it? Since when did these Outsider bastards get so strong?" The otter would shrug "The media hasn't seen anything like this since the infamous 'Magnet Man' Incident back in 2012, he pulled those buildings down with ease, he even managed to pull a plane down out of the sky. And that was just a Terrorist attack. Nothing major like this, there's gonna be countless people."
The horse next to Rasmus would chuckle, bringing up his rifle and loading it to prepare for battle. "And you know how that Terrorist died? They sent troops like us, same way this instrument lover is gonna die, they'll surely scatter when we gun him down." The Otter seemed unsure, shutting down his point "Well.. Not exactly Sam, like I said, he's gonna be surrounded by countless prisoners. According to the news now he travelled from Ash Valley Correctional Centre all the way to Murk-Water Correctional centre, he has two prisons worth of criminals at his aid! ... Also it's unsure if Magnet Man is dead or not, no one was able to see a body. It's a scary thought to think that uhm.. he might still be alive, he is one of the most powerful Outsiders in history.. Or was, until this guy came along."
Snorting, the horse would spit on the floor of the transport vehicle. Disagreeing with his point "You say that like I got a bad aim, sure he'll have his human shields but there's an army of us and an army of them. Only difference is, we have a boatload of firepower. We'll get our country out of this alive or dead boys" Before the Otter could reply, from the front of the RV a man would walk out and cross his arms, staring at each and every soldier. He was a wolf just like Rasmus, his body built and ready for what was to come, he must have been the commander. "We got new intel, it's not gonna be a cakewalk like I thought it would be. Here I thought the only issue would be the media finding this controversial that we're gunning these people down rather than 'curing' them" He made air quotation marks and sighed, slamming his face down into his paw.
"This man is known as The Musician, he uses instruments to his liking and so he can easily manipulate any of you. We have to take a precaution and we're gonna have to march in without one of our senses, Our ability to hear." Some people would gasp and the squadron would argue "Suicide.", "This is a fucking death trap.", "Isn't there another way?"
"SILENCE, Be quiet. I know it's difficult but if he manages to brainwash an entire platoon full of men, it's game over for the fucking world. When we get to the fields in around.. uhm" He checks his watch on his wrist "... 10 minutes, we'll have equipment there for you boys. It'll deafen you and keep you safe, I'll give you a rebriefing on your defensive strategies and attack strategies once we arrive there, Capiche?"
The next 10 minutes were excruciating for these men, they knew exactly what they were gonna lose in terms of senses. They would lose their hearing temporarily, so the effect of the Outsider brainwashing wouldn't be able to reach their minds and manipulate them, it was smart and dumb at the same time. The vehicle came to an abrupt stop and the horse next to Rasmus would kiss the cross of the rosary beads wrapped around his thick neck.
"We'll kill this bastard.. Won't we?" Rasmus asked, laying his hand on the white horse's shoulder as if desperate for any type of affirmation with that worried look on his face. Looking back he'd seem puzzled, reassuring Rasmus as he had respect for the man. "If you put your faith in the lord above, he will protect us." He would sit back down again for a moment and hold his rifle between his legs, the other troops in the vehicle would scatter to get outside as the doors opened.
"You know what a white horse symbolises in the Bible? The Triumph of Good over Evil.. " Pausing for a moment the horse would take a moment to think before repeating a bible quote to him "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and hell followed with him." Winking he'd pat his shoulder reassuringly while the horse would exit the carriage and jump out onto the grass. Looking around at the outpost they had set up to defend against this oncoming horde of Criminals, while Rasmus left as well to look around the horse was already over to get briefing from his commander along with the other troops. As much as the wolf was not religious, that quote stuck with him.
"Charlie down south, another outpost. It's been taken over and everyone there is presumed to be dead, last radio contact was T-Minus 30 minutes ago which means they are 10 minutes away from reaching Beta, our outpost. We have 10 minutes to prepare for the scourge, does everyone understand that?" Everyone does, nodding and repeating "Yes sir"
Each individual soldier at the defence outpost was given a bizarre hearing aid that connected to their ears like normal, it was technological and beamed a blue light when active. Once active it deafened them completely, leaving only their sense of smell and eyesight to see what was going on and to properly strike.
"Why are we even defending this shithole of a city?" The horse asks Rasmus as he lays up against a few stacked sandbags gazing off into the distance in pure anticipation, their hearing aids were disabled for the time-being. "Because he apparently has a connection to it, we aren't defending it. We're here to strike because we know he's coming this way. Stardown is junkie haven but he had a gang affiliation here and it's only natural he wants to return here.. Plus he's on his way up here right now."
Taking that into account, the horse nods and gives out a tired sigh as he stares off into the distance. Watching more military vehicles approach and ready their last defensive strategy, they were down to their best men in hopes to defeat the outsider. From a guard tower they heard shouting, pointing off to the hill that was a downwards slope.
"Ammunition focus on that hill for the high-ground, Melee specialists execute defensive Nazareth's needle with swords or rapiers. We're counting on you people!" The commander shouted, further vetting his men as Rasmus' rest period seemed to be up. Joining a line of similar soldiers with swords, rapiers and even daggers. The wolf would draw his own rapier from the holster and aim it forward accordingly. Joined together with the other melee specialists they created a lethal wall of blades that was meant to intimidate, flank and kill large groups of people, This was the Nazareth's Needle.
(Tainted Empire - Perturbator would Play Here)
"Switch on sound-blockers now.. We need to win this people, we're the last hope they fucking have! Our proud police force put all of these bastards away once, let's put them away again, yeah? May god be with you all." The wolf commander shouts, quickly switching on his hearing aid to deafen him. Rasmus and every other man there would follow as the synchronised blue light emanated from the ear-piece hooked into their head. For a moment it was almost peaceful, just nothing but the ringing in their heads was the only noise they could hear. They could hear the muffled sounds of gun-fire as the troops stormed further down the hill, firing at the crowd of convicts including the Musician as the Melee Team would hope and pray that they couldn't get past the first line of defence.
Gunfire, Muffled shouts and screams would be audible as there definitely seemed to be a firefight that was way out of view and further down the slope of the hill that Rasmus and the others in their wall of blades position were unable to see. The commander crossed his arms, as confident as he looked he felt scared that they would never come back up that hill, they could only hope that they had a decent shot to execute the root of this virus that spread like wildfire thanks to the instruments. Eventually there was a silence, a deafening silence despite them being deaf already. No muffled or mumbled sounds of gunfire or shouts just the ringing in their ears that refused to go away but at the same time kept them safe. Wind rushed past each and every one of them, blowing their fur and causing their ears to twitch before they felt the vibrations beneath their feet, a group of people were marching back up the hill and they could only pray it was their own brethren and not the scum that was against them, Rasmus hoped for this too as did they all. Closing his eyes he would begin to pray, following the Horse's strategy and for the first time in a while he called onto God to keep him safe.
"In the name of the father." Rasmus thought to himself, clutching the rapier handle tightly and keeping his eyes closed, his fur standing on end as anticipation ate away at the poor old wolf. "And the sun." His claws ripped at the grip like material on the handle by now, thinking of his family back home and the life's of his men at stake. "And the holy spirit." Raising his rapier higher and opening his eyes to look, he'd finish his prayer "Amen."
Although the strength of his prayers were immense in his own head, they didn't seem to work. God did not look down on him because what he saw next would shatter half of his confidence. The stumbling body riddled with bullets would retreat back up the hill, it was the horse, Sam. Behold a white horse, and hell followed with him. Quite literally, hell did follow with him. Up the slopes, some injured and some completely fine. Carrying weaponry of all kinds including fire-arms, Tools both blunt and sharp, some even had Molotov Cocktails ready to incinerate at a moment's notice.
The horse would drop dead to the floor and the army of convicts would rush towards the Nazareth's Needle formation that tried desperately to enclose around them and assimilate them like a Phagocyte engulfing Bacteria, that's all they were in the eyes of the soldiers, a filthy bacteria that needed to be purged. This quickly didn't go to plan, the lack of gunfire would overwhelm the soldiers and the formation was strained immensely and extremely close to breaking. Rasmus flinched, a bullet now embedded in his shoulder as his stance broke while the rest marched onward into battle.
From the two guard towers they fired sniper rounds and were capable of taking out some of the convicts. A strange pattern was noticed, almost like the Musician was using them as a meat shield as they circled around him constantly in many beautiful rows like a tornado slowly overwhelming the land. This was a force of nature and it seemed like it could not be stopped.
Likewise to a Death Spiral conducted by ants, these people were lost. They were a long way from home and were now under the control of this man in their own little death spiral, being shot and killed like dogs with the only use being that they were protecting their leader and killing anyone who stood in his way. Through the crowds of rushing people constantly circling their leader, Rasmus looked and he certainly saw. He saw the vicious and taunting grin of the Musician still dressed formerly in his prison attire and playing the same violin that warped the minds of those who died around him.
That look on his face shocked Rasmus, it terrified him and riddled him to his core. It felt like there was no hope, this man was going to take all life and the look on his face was taunting him as if saying.. "There's nothing you can do to stop this." His heartrate increased, almost like he was frozen in fear before his legs acted for him. Jumping quickly behind a sandbag pile and panting heavily.
He had the instinct to rip the ear-piece from his ear but upon hearing the devilish distant hum of music past the hearing-blocker he knew that he would be a goner. Suddenly, dropping beside him was another person and it was Pete, that Otter medic guy from earlier. The glasses were no longer on his head, he was shivering and just as terrified as Rasmus as he looked over at him frightfully.
"Need.. Escape." Pete said, Rasmus tried to read his lips and didn't understand so he nudged him as if asking him to say it again. "We Need to Escape." The otter's sentence was finally coherent to his Deaf Ears. Digging his rapier into the grass below him he knew they were close, bullets whizzing past him as the Death Spiral of Convicts got even closer, Rasmus peeked and looked at the development of this mind parade tornado looking thing and some soldiers seem to have gave up. They had joined the ranks of The Musician and were spiralling around him with their ear-pieces removed. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder, looking up to quickly spot the Commander and he was gesturing him to a spot through the bushes on the side of the mountain, it was the Mines.
"Come On." The Commander stated, barely able to read his lips Rasmus would stand and hold onto him as they rushed towards the opening. Many would give chase but by the time they reached safety they didn't follow them inside. The otter would look back and gasp, quickly trying to run to the entrance of the mines before suddenly a Military truck, the same used to transport them there would crash right up against it. Trapping them inside seemingly permanently as the Otter fell back right into Rasmus' arms while he looked in awe and disbelief.
The marching of the convicts outside and on the hill above them triumphantly as they headed into Stardown was terrifying. They knew that the more their Death Spiral grows the less hope there is for the world as they knew it.
The light got dim, the dust from the mines pouring down and making their ears twitch as the three stood there along the cold iron tracks, confused and defeated while Rasmus simply collapses onto the floor as the exhaustion overtakes his body. The insurrection was complete, they made it past a good portion of the military outposts and now they would most likely have an entire city at their disposal. This was Anarchy, and no matter how much military is thrown at them now the Musician will always have a civilian up his sleeve that would die for him.
Marching into the town, the rest of his brainwashed gang would follow him. Civilians that simply walked down the sidewalk would walk over and join in on the march, a sinister smile continued to stay stretched across the Musician's face as he looked up to the Star at the end of the street near the old theatre. His job was done and he could not have been happier, this was truly the beginning of the end.