Deepwoken: Penumbra

War: Plans

Kevin walked into Colt's room. "I've got bad news for you..."
Colt looked at him, sighing. "Nice to see you too..."
"The Hundred Legions declared war on Etrea!" Kevin responded.
A few guards and gardeners looked at him in shock. "Really?!"
"You're lying! That's..."
Kevin's orange eyes met Colt's - He was clearly ready to do anything to protect people. "And worse, they're after the kids. Faust, Pakki and Seth."
Colt thought for a moment. "...."
The gardeners and guards looked at him in shock. "D-does he know what to do?"
"Etrea's also at war with the Authority... If a nation as big as the Legions attacks..."
Kevin looked at the gossipers, to which they stayed silent.
After a few minutes, Colt finally broke the silence. "Do you still hold power in the Union?"
Kevin nodded. "Of course."
Colt looked over at the gardeners and guards. "If you'll excuse us, I need to talk to Kevin in private... Sorry about that."
They quickly nodded, leaving.
Colt looked at Kevin, his eyes almost looking past him. "What part of the Legions are attacking?"
Kevin didn't know what to make of this. "Only the eleventh... I think... Why does it matter? If they're in trouble, they'll get help from the rest of the Hundred."
Colt's thought process was clearly different to Kevin's. "....I'll send you a ship when we need back-up. That's... All I can say for now."
Kevin didn't understand - in his mind, waiting for the Legions to make the first move was akin to losing, after all - reinforcements need time.

Days later, Seth spotted Pakki, running over to him whilst waving. "Heyy! Pakki!"
Pakki looked over at him, papers in his hands. "Hi."
Seth looked at the papers curiously. "Hm? What are those?"
Pakki didn't respond. He merely walked forward. "I can't talk now."
Seth looked at him leave. "huh?... He never really was big on conversation but... Still...."
Pakki met up with soldiers in Lance Leshi's. He showed them the papers, which were plans of attack, or scouting more like.
"So we're gonna be the ones to scout out where the 11th Legions' hideout in this Luminant is?" One of them asked, to make sure he understands the plan.
Pakki nodded.
"I dunno.... Why us, guards? I get that we're meant to be unassuming... But if we already know they're on Minityrsa, why not send a large group of soldiers? Take em all out the moment we find them..." The other asked.
Pakki shrugged, looking him in the eyes.
The soldier, after a few seconds, closed his eyes. "Fine... Fine... We'll do it! Come on, Brad..." He said, dragging the other guard to the side. "God, I can't stand the way that kid looks at me..."
"It's something with his creepy eye, right?! It freaks me out, too..."

Faust walked up to Seth. "Yo. What you doing?..."
Seth got up from doing push-ups. "I'm training... I've further evolved my Killer Combo!"
Faust smirked. "Cool." He made a bone ribcage around himself. "Show me."
Seth backed up a little. "No... It wouldn't be a good idea. It would either kill or severely injure you, or it would kill or severely injure me."
Faust shrugged. "Mkay. I'm going to Lance's. Wanna come?"
Seth shook his head. "Sorry, I can't... I've gotta finish training if I want to become the strongest!"
Faust nodded. "Alright. See Pakki anywhere?"
Seth narrowed his eyes. "No... He's been... Doing stuff. Without us. I hope he's not mad at us."
Faust looked at him for a moment. "Probably not... He has nothing to be mad about. Maybe dealing with some protection shit since Colt's been telling us to stay careful." He replied, waving goodbye to Seth as he walked off to Lance's.
In the restaurant, he saw Pakki talking to another pair of guards.
"Huh? So you think they're on Erisia then?..."
Faust didn't pay much attention to it, though. As far as he cared, it was military stuff, not his problem unless he could be involved in the fight, which Colt and Kevin both prohibited.
After finishing his food, Faust went back to check on Seth, who was still doing push-ups, blood pouring from his arms.
Seth finally finished. "one... Thousand..." He fell to the ground, exhausted.
Faust walked over to him, propping him up. "geez man... That blood - that's coming from popped veins..."
Seth smirked a little. "But I did do it..."
Faust reached into his coat's pocket, finding a roll of bandages. "Won't matter if you get yourself killed..."
He wrapped the bandages around Seth's arms.
Seth leaned against a wall. "Thanks..."
Faust sat down in front of him. "Don't mention it."

Pakki looked at the two guards. "If you require help, set something on fire." He said, giving them a flint. "And amplify the flames with your galebreathing."
The soldiers nodded.

Weeks later, James Talo walked through some kind of alley in an enclosed space. He stopped in front of a door and knocked before opening it. "Sir. Our spy has spotted the soldiers they talked about." He said.
A bearded man turned around. "Anything else he had to say?" He asked.
"He also said you can fuck off, you are NOT paying me enough, Cyrus." James said sarcastically.
Cyrus burst out laughing. "Good to see you too... How are you doing after Seth's 'Killer Combo'?"
"Good... It still hurts a little. But I'm ready to fuck them up." James responded, crossing his arms with a smile.
"Alright. Well, don't beat yourself up over it. None of us knew that he'd be able to do that." Cyrus said.
"David knew! He just forgot to tell me, apparently!" James replied before sighing. "What's the next order? Attack the soldiers?"
Cyrus thought for a moment. "The spy said they were guards in Etris, right?"
James nodded. "Seems like that. Colt underestimates us. Use that to your advantage."
Cyrus smiled a little. "Don't kill the soldiers. Get them back here, and we can interrogate them about Etris' weak points. According to our spy, they'll send a signal for help - which will make Colt send a letter to the Union for back-up. Have the spy intersect that letter and get it to me. I want to know the details."