The sound of footsteps grew incessant against the asphalt, boots in silver lining approached the inlet to the liquor shop.
Get a grip Falco, he reinforced his resolve, hoping not to give then a reason to rummage through his antiques.
As long as he didn't act suspicious, he believed that they wouldn't ransack his premises. The sound of his door barging, chunned him in the stomach. How could he lie to himself, for he already felt sick, riddled with fear so much that he could literally fell the heavy lub-dub sound of his heart on the surface of his skin.
"Dammit! Not now, get a grip falco" he thought to himself.
"Oi! What a place you ran here…" A masked cavalier walked in with quite the interest in his countenance. It was as though he had mustered a liking to the place with just a glance. But falco was too old to fall for such a stunt… "Oh! Spare me the hypocrisy, as if the upside would ever acknowledge anything that belongs in this abyss…" Falco chuckled "We both know that ain't happening, so why not leave us to our own devise. Leave us in pea…"
"Then what…?!" the cavalier interrupted "Then we have a bigger mess to clean later…?"
"No! Spindletons are good people…" Falco replied as he had had enough "We just want to rule over our own affairs, to be independent, to be left alone for crying out loud… is that too much to ask for…?"
"Oh it would be a lot simpler if it was just that…" said the soldier as he acknowledge some of the antiques on the wall. "Let me get this straight, the lot of you Spindletons are rotten past salvaging, and Astrohallowans are on the edge because of that.
A lot of reputable families can't sleep knowing denizens of your tribe are constantly lurking… of course, we could have decided to make nothing of it and just blamed it on mere paranoia on their part, but what do we see? A lot of robberies and assaults on astrohallowan soil, which are always traced back to this termitarium, and you want us to believed in some ludicrous story about the goodwill of Spindletons…? It's our jobs as peace keepers to instigate exactly that, even if it means cleansing these wards of all the rot."
"Hmm…" Falco sighed "It's no use reasoning with hypocrites who justify their bias actions by preaching peace while abusing the very people they had sworn to protect…"
"If I were you, I'd watch my mouth…" The cavalier said " I'd let you off the hook but remember not all Cavs will do that…"
The cavalier turned to take his leave, however…
"That further proves my point… You dog faces are dandy dogs to the Astrohallows, aren't you…?" The cavalier came to a sudden halt and turned his faceless face toward falco.
"Yeah, do what you do best, beat me up, devil's dandy dog!!!" Falco yelled on top of his lungs and in responds, the cavalier unstrapped his baton to his side all rile up, but as he took a step forward, he discerned a hoarse shriek outside which led him to abandon his anger and head out…
"Pheew!!" falco let out a sigh of relief, "Guess I totally lost it this time…whatever is going on outside, if it had taken place a second later, my old arse would have being battered badly."
_____
Bedlam broke as the streets grew chaotic. The people were confused, that much was apparent. For they all had this look of distress as fear gnawed at them. Consequently, they run for cover, in all directions, screaming and shouting. In all honesty, some did wonder, whether this was one of the many inspections or a plunder of their freedom, because from the onset, it did look more like the latter...
The sound of gunfire echoed through the air, sending a chill down everyone's spine. The cavs were dispatched thin, within the jurisdiction of the hive, and like every platoon, there was a leader.
Speaking of...
"What's with the gunshots? " The platoon leader, Gustavus, asked his henchman after exiting the liquor shop.
"??!" Speechless and eyes darting, his henchman had nothing tangible to report.
"Thought I was clear this was strictly a search mission...? " Gustavus yelped "Any gunshots are against protocol. Order a cease fire ASAP. "
"But sire, what if they're acting hostile with us?" The henchman stuttered, " Isn't it in our rights to protect ourselves?"
"That's right, but according to the oath we took, they're rights are prioritized." Gustavus lectured, "We swore within our power to serve and protect, and on that note, our rights are nigh negligible, except in instances where our lives are threatened, Got that...?!"
The rights of these wastrels outweigh ours? What a joke, this poppycock oath of the cavs really need a serious do over. But how can that happen when we have kissasses at the top of the food chain...? The henchman's thoughts kept rimming at him to the point, he had an obnoxious look on his face.
"I said, do you get that...?" Gustavus roar.
This cajoled the henchman out of his little trance. "Loud and clear sire" he trembled, as he got busy with a transmission.
___
At the West flange of the hive, a bachelor in a decent vest, was being brutalized by a cav.
Although he was humped over and taking the beating as best as he could, the stomps had tanked over what he could bear through. Choking sounds could be heard coming from him. Whether it was a grit or a sob, none could tell, but he was in pain. Yes, that much was apparent.
[Bip]
In the middle of the treachery, a transmission came in...
"Beta, this is alpha, do you copy...?" asked the henchman through the earhero covert earbuds he wore.
"Loud and clear Sarg." The cav paused to listen to his superior.
"Orders from abo-- no, an emphasis on our previous order, we are forbidden to lay as much as a finger of the spindleton's. Any accusations against a cav after this exercise will be treated seriously. Y'all got good heads on, used them."
"But sire, what if--"
The transmission was flatlined on the other end.
"Dammit! " the cav cussed, "Seems your guardian angel's looking out for you..." He left the bachelor all battered up...
At the East flange, people were running haphazardly, some tripping over each other in their haste to get away. Steam powered cars were honking their horns as they tried to make their way through the panicked crowd. The smell of fear was thick in the air as people desperately tried to escape the danger that was quickly approaching them. No one knew what would happen next, but everyone knew that it wouldn't be good.
Lo and behold, more cavs had arrived, their guns raised and ready to fire at those that chose to retaliate.
However, like a stitch in time, the transmission came through, preventing the foreseeable bloodbath.
*****