Volume 3, Chapter 5 – Dear Alpha and Four Cats
Democracy of Silence. The "Tomahawk" Cave. 25.04. 15:29:50. Operation "Dear Alpha."
Charlie Group (150 soldiers) stood at a distance of two hundred meters, crouched, with rapiers drawn.
[CUB]: Charlie. Ten seconds.
The group lay flat on the ground. The sun shone brightly.
Silence.
9.
8.
7.
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.
Whistle.
BOOM.
Screams of Argo.
Whistle — BOOM — Screech.
Whistle — KABOOM! — SCREECH.
Whistle — CRASH! — Death screech.
Whistle — BOOM! — Screeches.
[CUB]: Charlie. Operation begins. Move out.
The group stood and, moving in sync, shoulder to shoulder, advanced toward the thick column of smoke flooding the area, raining ash onto the Silent Silence.
Charlie slowly entered the smoke with zero visibility — Argo creatures ran past them, searching, and as soon as they hit sunlight, they instantly burned. The smoke kept coming, and the edges of the cave crumbled inward, into a bottomless pit with tunnels visible on all sides.
Charlie drove pitons into the ground and descended synchronously along the walls. Lights on their helmets picked out Argo silhouettes in the smoke, trying to escape the heat they'd been hit with.
The crater led to the very bottom, about two cars wide in diameter. Tunnels cut in from all sides, where creatures hid from the open sun. Charlie reached the bottom, ankle-deep in Argo liquid.
[Pex]: Base. This is Charlie. Visibility minimal. We're in position.
[CUB]: Charlie. Copy. Follow the large tunnels.
And Charlie Group moved into tunnels the size of subway tubes. Creatures swarmed everywhere, packed in huge masses, pressing against each other.
Step by step in the dark, accompanied only by the sound of walking through liquid — the monsters made no sound, only an endless number of eyes in the tunnels watching Charlie.
---
Charlie Group advanced deeper for ten minutes from the crater. The same landscape everywhere: darkness, liquid underfoot, creatures on the walls and ceiling watching them.
A light earthquake — the group stopped.
[Pex]: Base. This is Charlie. Southwest, one hundred meters. Seismic activity — level two.
[CUB]: Charlie. Copy. Continue.
And the group moved on, rapiers ready.
The earthquake intensified, the liquid jumping, and the creatures slowly retreated from the left wall, creating a large clean patch.
Boom.
The wall burst open, and out crawled a black, plate-covered serpent with a massive, flat maw. Teeth covered the entire area, constantly shifting from the center to the edges. On the sides of this creature were two long yellow eyes, each the length of a man.
The creature slowly crawled perpendicular to the group, gnawing into the opposite wall, sending chunks of earth flying.
[Pex]: Base. This is Charlie. Alpha detected. Visual contact. Fourteen meters.
Alpha stopped, and its eyes slowly moved across the group, paying attention to everyone.
[CUB]: Charlie. Copy. Collect body samples.
[Pex]: Base. This is Charlie. Copy. The creature is presumed to have hearing.
And Alpha backed up, twisting its head toward the group.
Its maw slowly expanded like an iris diaphragm, with rows of teeth extending onto its back.
Charlie slowly spread out, pointing rapiers at Alpha.
Silence...
The maw opened completely, and five tentacles slowly emerged, diving into the water and moving toward the soldiers.
Three soldiers slowly pulled the pins on FLASHBANG grenades and tossed them into the creature's mouth. As they threw, Alpha grabbed five soldiers, pulling them inside.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM.
Blinding flashes illuminated Alpha's insides, which looked like an endless corridor.
Alpha twisted its head violently from the explosions, simultaneously throwing soldiers onto its back — onto chainsaw-like teeth, slicing them into dozens of pieces.
Twenty soldiers clicked their carbines to the rest of the group and, swinging rapiers, ran inside, cutting into the creature's face — causing it to thrash even harder in all directions.
Pieces of its face flew in all directions under the soldiers' assault, while tentacles kept grabbing them, trying to throw them onto its back — but the rest of the unit pulled each soldier out with ropes.
The creature snapped its mouth shut, leaving twenty soldiers inside.
Silence...
Splat.
The mouth opened, and the soldiers' bodies were smeared across the walls.
[Pex]: Base. This is Charlie. 25 KIA.
Soldiers shined lights into the mouth and hacked at tentacles slowly crawling toward them.
[CUB]: Charlie. Copy. Javelin.
Thirty soldiers moved back and sat down, unpacking Javelins.
Ten took flashbangs in hand, while the rest shielded them from tentacles constantly trying to snatch soldiers and drag them onto the back.
Clink — x10.
Grenades bounced around Alpha's insides, and it tried to grab and crush them.
FLASHBANG — X10.
WOOSH-BOOM! — X30.
Rockets flew inside, exploding against the walls, continuing deeper into its body, creating constant explosions.
The creature's howl pierced to the bone, and the earthquake from the explosions rained earth down on the soldiers' heads along with creatures. As the explosions continued, Alpha clapped its mouth shut and accidentally bit off its own tentacles, letting out a rough, pained cry.
[CUB]: Charlie. Attack the visual centers.
And all the soldiers, boosting each other up, methodically cut out the eyes amid the shaking and Alpha's violent thrashing.
Soldiers slammed into the walls, smearing from the head's wild swings.
—
The eyes were cut out, lying separately from Alpha — and it fell silent.
Silence...
[Pex]: Base. This is Charlie. 120 KIA. Eyes removed. Alpha shows no signs of life.
[CUB]: Charlie. Copy. Wait until nightfall. Evacuation and transport of Alpha. Over and out.
[Pex]: Base. This is Charlie. Copy. Permission to butcher?
[CUB]: Charlie. Butchering approved.
And thirty soldiers hacked the endless carcass into pieces with their rapiers.
—
—
City-State of Rekhilon. 25.04. 17:11.
I lay surrounded by four cats on the soft bed of an inn. Through the window, wyverns flew in, and the green of neighboring white houses was visible.
Paladin stood by the door, a mountain as always. Aviana looked coldly out the window. Lelik bounced happily on the second bed.
"Guys. We have four cats. Four of us. Cool, right?" Lelik bounced contentedly.
He'd named his cats after helicopters.
The fearsome black mustached cat was named Apache.
The fat orange cat — Chinook.
The cheerful calico cat — Black Hawk.
(How great it is here.)
I lay on my stomach, cuddling Mary-Sue, while Apache and Black Hawk crawled across my back and Chinook slept at my feet.
(Well, we've rested — time to walk. We'll be flying back soon. I want to feel this whole city. Now I want to ride a wyvern too — I wonder if there are rides here?)
"Alright!" I slowly lifted Apache and Black Hawk off my back and stood up, earning a displeased meow from Chinook.
Lelik stopped and looked at me.
"Let's go for a walk!" I suggested.
"Let's go!" Lelik agreed immediately and jumped off the bed.
I looked at Paladin and Aviana.
Silence.
"Let's go for a walk?.." I hinted, addressing the remaining two.
"Come on!" Lelik slapped me on the back.
"Ow!" I grabbed my sunburned back.
I gave Lelik a dirty look. He shrugged.
In the end, we decided that Aviana and Paladin would guard the cats, while Lelik and I went for a walk.
—
Lelik and I walked down the street. He told some stories (made-up ones), and the locals gave us sideways glances like we were noisy kids.
"Oh! By the way. Do you know what that ship is over there?" I matched Lelik's pace.
Lelik jumped in front of me and walked backward, waving his arms.
"Whaler. Fifty knots. Twenty-five caliber. Twin-barreled. Five rounds per minute. Fires magical energy at fifteen kilometers."
"Wow..." I thought.
"Thin armor, but with magic protection. Our MOU rounds will punch through them like butter," Lelik continued calmly, grabbing a lamppost, swinging his weight around, and holding on with one hand. "Fifteen whalers. Five on active patrol."
I stopped to think, watching Lelik spin on the lamppost in the middle of the street.
"The most interesting thing is with the Empire," Lelik stopped and returned to the sidewalk. "Tsunami-2. A stationary 200mm cannon. Fires at a range of a hundred kilometers. The magical shell breaks into thousands of fragments in the air, embedding into everything, then detonates."
I walked into a tavern after him, shocked.
"So that thing is pretty dangerous."
Lelik laughed and placed a gold coin on the counter — everyone in the tavern flinched in shock and froze.
"That thing looks like the first computer in size. Needs two hundred people for one shot, takes three hours, and constant barrel wear," — Lelik glanced at the girl behind the counter, who was staring at the coin. — "[M] Two beers for us."
Lelik took the coin back and returned to me.
"And, bro. One Tomahawk — and that thing's gone."
I sat down on a chair in this rather beautiful tavern. Painted ceilings, large windows, comfortable chairs.
"So we have nothing to fear?!"
"The most dangerous things are Archmages and mages."
(Asa... The mage who nearly killed me, shot down a plane, and survived... But... What would Archmages be like then? Kind of scary to face them.)
"Dear... Uh..." the girl looked at us, hesitating, embarrassed. "Dear guests! I thank you for visiting my tavern," she made an elegant curtsy, holding one edge of her dress.
I looked at her, snapping out of my thoughts.
She stood in a loose black dress, with two heraldic symbols on her chest: Rekhilon's and a new one (a wyvern holding a coin in its paws, with a hand reaching for the coin). The girl looked about thirty and beautiful...
"COMMANDER!" Lelik shouted, pulling me from my thoughts.
I blinked, and the girl was already standing at the counter, talking to her staff.
"Shh, quiet!" I shushed Lelik, as the whole tavern stared at us.
I looked at the table — two glasses of beer already sat there. I took a sip.
(Why did I zone out like that? Weird. She is pretty, but not to that extent. We're on a diplomatic mission. But we can still walk around the city. Probably it's because I'm not used to real people addressing me anymore. Though all my officers are alive, they still obey me.)
I glanced at her again and caught her gaze.
[CUB]: Seraphim, Lelik, Aviana, Paladin. The Monarch has finished his inspection. You can resume negotiations.
Lelik jumped up from the table, quickly finishing his beer, then mine.
"Hey! Let's go!" he shouted, already heading out.
I got up and passed by the counter.
"[M] Thank," I said to the Hostess, heading for the exit.
"Thank you," she responded. "Excuse me. Was everything to your liking? It's not every day we..." she caught up to me and carefully stood in front of me. "We don't often get VIPs. How did you find it?" she thought for a moment, looking around the tavern. "Sorry if I'm being pushy. Have a good day," and she quickly returned to the counter.
(What's with her? Though I can understand. It's like if a guest came with a presidential note allowing unlimited drinks.)
"[M] I. Like," I struggled to recall the words. (I hope I said it right.)
The Hostess, the bartender, and the waiters looked at me in surprise.
"You like... What exactly?" the Hostess asked, a little surprised by my breakthrough, blushing.
I looked at everyone in surprise and started sweating from the difficulty of finding words — my vocabulary was running out.
"[M] I... Like... Uh... You. Tavern," I said what I liked — her tavern. Whew.
Everyone fell silent, and the bartender started pouring beer over the edge. Someone dropped something, shattering it with a clatter.
An awkward silence. All the staff stared at me, mouths almost open, and the Hostess turned away, biting her nails.
Silence.
"Yo! Dude!" Lelik shouted, bursting into the tavern, followed by Aviana and Paladin.
Paladin entered sideways, holding the top of the doorframe with his hand.
And all the waiters' mouths dropped open at the sight of this crew coming for me.
The Hostess turned and bowed, followed by all the staff, while the regular guests watched like it was a dramatic show.
"Forgive me. I didn't realize you were a delegation from another state... But... If necessary..." she lifted her big eyes to me. "I agree."
Crash — the bartender dropped a barrel of wine.
Clatter-shatter-clatter — the barrel hit a shelf of plates.
(What?)
"What?"
"Dude! I step out for five minutes, and you've already found love here? Respect!" Lelik walked carefully on tiptoe through the wine puddle and took a glass that the bartender had already refilled twenty times — while showing off the coin.
My eyes nearly popped out at his words. (I said I liked her? How could I be such an idiot? Now she thinks I'll take her into slavery so Rekhilon doesn't mess up our relations?)
Five people ran into the bar, pulling on masks.
"Gentlemen. Anyone who leaves this tavern dies," the masked man said, swiftly breaking some stone at the counter.
Lelik didn't interfere — he casually stepped aside with his beer, letting two guys through to the counter.
Paladin stood cracking his knuckles at his belt, while Aviana sighed.
The patrons froze, the Hostess stood still, and the bartender ran out of beer and stopped pouring, staring in fear at the five masked men.
"Our terms, gentlemen!" the bandit jumped onto a table. "The Monarch's coin."
(What's happening? I don't understand anything.)
The Hostess quickly pressed into me and covered her face.
"Gentlemen. Everyone on the floor," the bandit on the table shouted. "And you. Hand over the coin," he pointed his sword at the unruffled Lelik, who had beer foam on his lips.
The other four bandits quickly pulled all the patrons to the floor, shoving the bartender into a puddle of wine.
"Hey, big guy — you too, on the floor," Bandit 2 threatened Aviana and Paladin.
Bandit 3 approached me.
"Hand over the coin," Bandit 1 pointed his sword at Lelik's throat.
All three looked at me, waiting.
"Fine, fine," I sighed, holding the Hostess.
Lelik placed his empty glass on the bandit's sword, then kneed the flat of the blade into his forehead, and immediately jumped, spinning into a kick to knock him out.
Meanwhile, Paladin drew his pistol and shot three bandits in the legs with precise shots.
And Aviana threw her heel at the last one.
Everyone froze, hands pressed to their ears, trying to cope with the deafening noise in the tavern — the Hostess pressed even harder into my armpit, shielding herself from the sound.
Silence... Cries from the three bandits. But Paladin methodically knocked each one out.
Aviana slowly walked across the floor, each heel click echoing. Paladin piled them all together, and before the guards arrived, he and Aviana surgically removed the bullets from the bandits' legs, taking the casings as well.
"Everyone, freeze!" a Guard shouted, followed by a whole squad.
Aviana sighed again, and Lelik had somehow found a new beer glass.
I stood there, just patting the Hostess on the back, trying not to think about anything. (And that's how you just go for a walk in an unfamiliar city.)
All the guards aimed their palms at everyone still standing, and Guard 1 looked at the pile of bandits, then at me in surprise.
"What happened?"
The Hostess came to her senses and quickly pulled away from me, with traces of tears and red cheeks.
"Those dudes attacked us. And we took care of them. Sip" Lelik explained briefly, pacing back and forth behind the counter.
And a long interrogation began, with the bandits being packed up. The guards gave all the patrons "Bravery" medals, and my team got medals for both bravery and city defense. They thanked us and left.
The tavern emptied. The Hostess gave her staff the day off. We were left alone.
"[M] Maybe. Take?" I held out an earpiece to her, wanting to explain myself — but knowing I'd only make things worse in their language.
The Hostess took the earpiece and looked at it in surprise.
"What do I do with this?"
I gestured toward my ear, not knowing how to say "ear" in their language.
The first attempt failed — the earpiece fell. The Hostess blushed, thinking she'd broken a gift from the delegation.
I stepped closer and bent down to pick it up, and as I straightened up, I bumped foreheads with her.
"Ow!" — in unison.
"[M] I. Help!"
She nodded and, blushing, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, giving me access — my hands trembled as my elbow accidentally brushed her shoulder.
—
Done.
"Whew... Hello. My name is Seraphim," I introduced myself with relief.
The Hostess was surprised, hearing unknown speech in one ear and a mechanical translation in the other.
"Uh... Is this some kind of magic?"
"No. Technology — but that's not the point... I didn't mean to say I like you as a girl for a relationship," I said calmly, sitting down on a chair, not taking my eyes off her.
The Hostess stood behind the counter, splashing through a puddle of wine.
"Oh... I see..." she blushed, lowering her head, hair falling over her face. "And I was afraid that if I refused, the delegation might do something bad to my city..."
I frowned at her thoughts.
"No. No way. Our country doesn't do that," I smiled, calming her.
She looked up in surprise.
"Country?" she asked, clearly still uncomfortable — both from talking to me and from the earpiece with its mechanical translation.
I nodded.
"Yes. The country of the Democracy of Silence."
She stared at me and around, trying to remember what that state was. Then gave up and sat down behind the counter.
"Forgive me. But I've never heard of such a state..." she answered sadly, tensing up again at the earpiece.
I leaned across the counter, moving closer to her, and pointed left at the wall where a small world map hung.
"The country already exists. It's just called differently. The Silent Silence."
The Hostess jumped back, not believing the joke.
"Haha!" a laugh escaped, and she quickly covered her mouth with her hands. "Forgive me... But that place is inhabited by monsters that kill anyone... And..." she turned away. "Better not joke like that... Many mages died there..." she stared at the wall, hiding her face in her hair. "Mages from Rekhilon died there too."
I flopped back into my chair. (It's true — it's the place where a million and a half mages died, and now they work for me...)
"Did you know any of them?" I decided to ask.
The Hostess turned, crying.
"Yes... My brother, Hur Abi... Died there..." she said hoarsely, catching tears with her hands.
(I see... But I have an idea.)
I pulled out a radio from my pocket.
[Me]: Base. This is Seraphim. Put Hur Abi into a faceless body and deliver him to Rekhilon, to the tavern with the heraldry: "a wyvern holding a coin, with a hand reaching for it."
[CUB]: Seraphim. Copy. Twelve hours.
The Hostess listened to this exchange.
"Wh-what? Wh-who?"
I stood up and went to hug her.
"It's okay... In twelve hours, your brother will arrive. It's okay," I stroked her back.
(Yes... I'll lose one Soldier-function. But I can't not help her. I just can't. If there are complications, Clarence can release the soldier.)
The Hostess cried, not believing her brother would return — but she didn't let go, continuing to hold me.
—
Meanwhile, in the Democracy of Silence.
[Loudspeaker]: Attention. Hur Abi. Wisdom calls you.
One Yellow lifted its head, stopping its mining work in the quarry. Its eyes lit up at the name it hadn't heard in fifty years — and like a lightning strike, it rose to its feet and headed to headquarters.
By the HESCO wall stood a single Soldier-function, unarmed, with no magazines — only tactical pants, fleece, and a jacket.
He handed it the radio.
[Seraphim]: This is Seraphim. I allow you to enter the Soldier-function.
And Hur Abi found himself inside the soldier — a face appeared on the void, and he took a deep breath.
"My faith in the Archon's Wisdom has given me a second chance," he bowed his head, and across the entire Democracy of Silence, all one and a half million Yellows bowed their heads in a minute of silence — in gratitude to the Archon and joy for Hur Abi.
[Loudspeaker]: Hur Abi. Follow the soldier to the helicopter.
Hur looked around, saw the soldier, and followed him to the blue helicopter. He didn't know what it was, but didn't doubt it was necessary — he knew the Archon was leading him to Wisdom.
Hur boarded the helicopter, and it lifted into the air, heading toward the carrier — and then to the state of Rekhilon.
List:
— Get into sports. (In progress)
— Start some kind of business.
— Find a partner.
— Plant a tree.
— Learn a new craft.
— Ride a horse.
From this world:
— Learn the language. (In progress)
— Become independent and not rely on the officers. (In progress)
— Become proficient with weapons. (In progress)
— Master fencing at an excellent level. (In progress)
— Alliance/Trade Union with the City-State of Rekhilon. (In progress)
— (NEW) Ride a wyvern.