CS-06 — reverse1999

Together, We Stand

TO BE CONTINUED...

Iglika	For a while after, I still tried to pretend that body couldn't have been hers. It wasn't grief—not really.
Iglika	It was because without her it felt like nothing could really change.
Iglika	And in the end, I was right. The flags were swapped, for a little while, but it all meant nothing.

Iglika	We held the city for all of six days.
Iglika	The counterattack began the next morning—fierce, unrelenting. The occupiers had pulled up every reserve from across their domain.
Iglika	The so-called provisional government didn't even get to hold a vote. They were too busy fighting for their lives.
Artilleryman Ivan	Captain! The occupiers have broken through on the south side!
Iglika	There's no sense wasting our lives here—retreat!

Iglika	The only thing we got out of that city was Ivan's artillery gun.
Iglika	He made good use of it, just like he said he would.

Artilleryman Ivan	Someday.

Iglika	We returned to Thermaniky in shame.
Iglika	But I never expected that I would admit defeat...
Iglika	Our cause was already fractured, but by the time we had settled in, they were turning their guns on their own.
Guerrilla Base
Iglika	What happened?!
Shepherd	At the d-docks. Just a scuffle, but it turned ugly.
Humans and arcanists, they had kept an uneasy coalition up until now.
After the failure in Czresrewo, their hatred only deepened. Each blaming the other for their losses.
The arcanists were blamed for failing to heed orders and making reckless and costly assaults.
While the humans were mocked as weak and cowardly. Failures in communication on both sides did little to help.
Shepherd	One dead, five wounded—including civilians.
Shepherd	Three arcanists have been sentenced to death. Rumor is...
Shepherd lowers his voice.
Iglika	Keep it simple.
Shepherd	They won't accept it. They're—they're rebelling.
Command	Three, two, one. Fire!
Shepherd	It's starting!

By the time she reaches the yard, one of the prisoners has already crumbled before the firing squad.
Iglika	Stop!
People ring the courtyard walls. At her shout they turn as one, like starving wolves, fixing her with hungry eyes.
As if she's the outlet for their rage.
Iglika	This isn't just! This isn't what we're fighting for!
The executioner glances at her, then turns back to the soldiers, signaling them to continue.
Executioner	Careful, Iglika, you're an arcanist too.
Command	Three, two...
Angry Voice	You're just looking for a scapegoat!
Iglika	Wait!
No one knows who fired or whose sins the bullet carried.
The prisoners on the scaffold are untouched, but blood pours from the executioner's forehead.
Executioner's Soldier I	We're under attack!
The squad swings their barrels, and the yard erupts into chaos.
Figures rise from the walls. It wasn't a one-sided revolt. Both sides had prepared.
Dodging stray bullets, Iglika and Shepherd retreat beneath the scaffolding.
Shepherd	Those must be Boyan's and... Vesna's men.
Shepherd	They're the top lieutenants of the human and arcanist factions.
Iglika hasn't had much time to learn about either of them.
Iglika	Tell our people—grab that one and that one.
She points at two who look like leaders.
Iglika	Take them first.
Shepherd	Yes, ma'am.
Iglika	Cease fire!
She drags the two instigators up onto the scaffold, and her troops force the factions apart.
Seeing their leaders in her grip, the fighters falter, soon disarmed by Iglika's men.
Iglika	Shepherd! Find some medics for the wounded!
Shepherd	On it!
The medics rush in to carry off the injured.
Below, the others stare up at Iglika and their captured leaders, uncertain.
Iglika	Infighting, really?!
Nusha, what did your life buy us?
Iglika	How many brothers and sisters did we lose at Czreszewo?
And now your unfinished task falls to me.
Dead silence.
Iglika	Do we have any time for this?
Iglika's voice rises, ringing out.
Iglika	We are the Thracian Liberation Front! We're meant to unite this land, to build a home of our own!
I can't let your death mean nothing... I have to unite them, like you did.
Iglika	Are we not all comrades? We eat from the same soil, drink from the same rivers.
Iglika	We lived together, shared one dream.
Faces of the fallen surface in Iglika's mind, each carrying a piece of home.
Nusha had brought them together, filling the map.
How could I watch that map fall apart?!
Iglika	Look around you! Our enemies are not here. They're in Czreszewo, waiting for us.
She steps forward. Fighters glance at each other, not knowing what to do.
Iglika	Do you think we have the bodies to spare?
???	General!
The gunshot draws every soldier's attention. One of them snaps to attention, saluting toward the doorway.
Following the sound, several soldiers escort an older man inside.
Though his face shows age, he stands tall and straight. Behind him trail a hardened male officer and a languid female soldier.
Iglika	Boyan and Vesna?
Shepherd	Yes, and that's got to be General Spase.
Shepherd whispers the name into her ear.
Iglika	They're just pawns... Someone higher up is calling the shots.
With Spase's arrival, the soldiers stiffen, fixing their uniforms.
Boyan	Pick up your guns! Get out! Worthless dogs.
The human troops fall into line and march out.
Then the woman speaks, and Iglika recalls her face—the reckless arcanist commander she saw at the recruitment ceremony.
Vesna	Let's go.
She shrugs, leading her people away.
The two minor captains exit with their men as the tall old man approaches.
General Spase	You did well just now. You're the girl Nusha brought in, aren't you?
His face is kind, his tone unassuming. Were it not for the way he stands, he'd seem no different from any old man on the street.
Iglika	She... fell in Czreszewo.
She lifts the hand still stitched with a scrap of cloth. The grip of her gun has frayed it loose.
General Spase clasps her hand, patting the back gently.
General Spase	She was a good child...
Iglika	...
The words strike Iglika as strange.
General Spase	Thank you, child. I do believe that verdict was biased. But I never expected things to spiral like this.
General Spase	Our loss at Czreszewo has hit us harder than we knew...
He sighs.
General Spase	We might well have lost even more to this madness if it weren't for you. You did well.
Iglika	I doubt I was the first of us to hear about this.
The old man studies her with a smile.
General Spase	Careful, or that sharp edge of yours will cut deeper than you expect.
Iglika	What about them?
She points to the two prisoners cowering by the wall.
General Spase	Don't worry, child. We'll investigate the matter thoroughly.
General Spase	When the time comes, rewards and punishments will be meted out... but not now.
Her doubtful gaze meets his, only to be softened by his strange kindness.
General Spase	We've already lost too many... and too much is left undone. Too many want a reason for their comrades' deaths. In their haste, they reach for whatever is near.
General Spase	Our ranks are in shambles. We need someone like you, someone who can unite them again.
He smiles with satisfaction.
Iglika	You mean ...?
...

Iglika	He gave me command of a force three times the size of our old unit.
Iglika	Then just like that, I was off to the Oreinósian border.
Iglika	I never learned the final verdict.
Iglika	I was already mired in skirmishes and battle plans; rumors from the city were few and far between.