Post by VoxApocrypha on Jul 13, 2024 4:54:21 GMT -5
Concurrent with: Pugna Interminabilitatem (The Fight Never Ends)
Prior NE Thread: Winter of Sorrow
BLACK SUMMER - 1936, Obsillia
In the wake of the Capitulation, the mainland has fallen under the tenuous control of the Tsarist faction called the Ultranationalists, reformed into the Roskanan Dominion. Retreating to Arema, and led by the Republican Government in Exile, the Roskanan Greater Republic has begun reorganizing and marshaling its strength, preparing to wage a war against both the Sovereign Union, and the Dominion on Eflus. But on the homefront, further troubles are brewing within the highest echelons of the new government, preparing already to shake a failed foundation further. New factions are beginning to form inside the heart of the Dominion, and powerful players see the treaty they signed as little more than paper, weighed down by little more than the Kaiser. Blood will soak the soil again. It is only a matter of time.
1936, Obsillia 28th
Audrey Prescott
Ouhred
She had been here not even a year ago.
Standing in the living room of a new house, built out of modern materials, to standards far greater than that of the measly apartment she and her mother, and brothers had shared before they'd all started working The home that she and her brothers had worked so hard to give to their mom. The Doe remembered it well, the party they threw for her when she enlisted, the night before basic, the congratulations on her promotions, the parties.. she looked at the remains of family photos, held in her gloved hand as the snow fell through an open roof, torn away by artillery fire. The fighting had stopped.
She had no tears left to shed.
They were exhausted in the days after she'd come home to find them all dead.
Audrey's mother could not walk, not anymore, with her arthritis. Her brothers had stayed behind to volunteer. Her sister had been killed by rifle fire trying to rescue their youngest brother mere hours before the fighting had ended.
Their mother, and the rest of her brothers, had died when an artillery shell had punched through the roof and gutted the building. While the stone exterior stood strong against such force, the interior and roof were just wood and insulation - it would do nothing to stop a howitzer shell.
Audrey'd learned of their deaths by medical corps courier, after the declaration of a ceasefire.
She had cried, for days, away from the eyes of others, behind piles of rubble and in forgotten rooms. With the treaty signed, she'd been able to finally find some time away from the work of restoring roads to usable order, to come home.
Or, to what was left of it. That there was peace to be had was like a freezing pike straight to the heart, already empty of the warmth she had felt long ago, replaced by a ball of icy hate. Amplified hate for the people who did this.
And hate for the traitors who had taken a chance at revenge away from her.
Her soul had been torn from her and given back in pieces, and she held it in her hand, a mangled and charred remnant of what had been a woman, now unrecognizable. After all she'd gone through.. and this was her reward.
The Republic had failed. This new government had done little more than give Grinvel the ability to march into Marrlan through her homeland. The uniform she wore now felt meaningless. That such beasts could freely roam was a travesty. After all they had done.
She tucked those photos away in her pocket, and then turned, slowly making her way out of the room. She ignored the dried blood on the walls and stepped over the remains of a vase and table, pulverized ceramic and shattered glass strewn across its surface, her boot crunching it down against the splintered wood as she made her way through the dining room, kitchen, and into the hall. She walked past the shattered remnants of one of the bedroom doors, to her own room, where her sister and her had shared a bunk bed. As she opened the door, she looked through, observing the inside from the doorway.
It wasn't as bad off as the rooms nearer the center of the house.
Much of it was stripped bare. Decoration was sparse, most of it boxed up. She'd had her things stored away, and her sister had been about to join the Sapiens Medical University in Auran as a Technician Trainee. Now with the events of earlier, it was just empty. Shattered glass was on the floor, a few bullet holes in the wall behind her as she stepped inside, and made her way over to the bed. Memories drifted back as she looked at it.
Fights, roughhousing, writing in her diary.. time spent huddled up with her sister, reading scary stories under the light of candles.. using the light to make shadow puppets and play out their own little versions of their favorite plays, treating the space-like their own little theater. She exhaled slowly as she turned around, and rested her rump onto the cold mattress, her vision beginning to blur. Tears welled up, spilling out across her cheeks as she slowly curled up onto the bed, bringing her legs up and pressing her boots down against the wood.
She wrapped her arms around her legs and sobbed quietly on and off for nearly an hour. Anger, loss, fear, pain.
An unending whirlwind of emotion she thought she'd suppressed tore through her facade of composure, malice like a knife that ripped through her soul again to bring forth more waterworks.
At mid-day, she emerged from the ruins of her home.
The physical remnants of the past lay behind her, but something in the depths of her soul had been stirred to life by the pain.
The past would never leave her. Her bloodshot eyes would again be drawn to a photo of her mother and brothers, and she could see that in it, her face was the only one blocked by the scorched paper. She ran her gloved thumb over the rest of it before she pocketed the picture again and trekked back onto the road before the ruin.
Her unit would be withdrawing soon. Civilians were to take over the reconstruction effort. Their work here was to clear roads for them, and they'd nearly finished.
She had only to finalize the rest of the preparations. Paperwork would be a temporary distraction. In the back of her mind that whirlwind of emotion had morphed into a swirling specter of hate, endlessly locked onto the mere concept of a Grinvelian. Even if the Republic had failed and the Dominion had given up the fight, this was not over.
Her very soul yearned for blood.
One way or another, she would have it.
Prior NE Thread: Winter of Sorrow
BLACK SUMMER - 1936, Obsillia
In the wake of the Capitulation, the mainland has fallen under the tenuous control of the Tsarist faction called the Ultranationalists, reformed into the Roskanan Dominion. Retreating to Arema, and led by the Republican Government in Exile, the Roskanan Greater Republic has begun reorganizing and marshaling its strength, preparing to wage a war against both the Sovereign Union, and the Dominion on Eflus. But on the homefront, further troubles are brewing within the highest echelons of the new government, preparing already to shake a failed foundation further. New factions are beginning to form inside the heart of the Dominion, and powerful players see the treaty they signed as little more than paper, weighed down by little more than the Kaiser. Blood will soak the soil again. It is only a matter of time.
1936, Obsillia 28th
Audrey Prescott
Ouhred
She had been here not even a year ago.
Standing in the living room of a new house, built out of modern materials, to standards far greater than that of the measly apartment she and her mother, and brothers had shared before they'd all started working The home that she and her brothers had worked so hard to give to their mom. The Doe remembered it well, the party they threw for her when she enlisted, the night before basic, the congratulations on her promotions, the parties.. she looked at the remains of family photos, held in her gloved hand as the snow fell through an open roof, torn away by artillery fire. The fighting had stopped.
She had no tears left to shed.
They were exhausted in the days after she'd come home to find them all dead.
Audrey's mother could not walk, not anymore, with her arthritis. Her brothers had stayed behind to volunteer. Her sister had been killed by rifle fire trying to rescue their youngest brother mere hours before the fighting had ended.
Their mother, and the rest of her brothers, had died when an artillery shell had punched through the roof and gutted the building. While the stone exterior stood strong against such force, the interior and roof were just wood and insulation - it would do nothing to stop a howitzer shell.
Audrey'd learned of their deaths by medical corps courier, after the declaration of a ceasefire.
She had cried, for days, away from the eyes of others, behind piles of rubble and in forgotten rooms. With the treaty signed, she'd been able to finally find some time away from the work of restoring roads to usable order, to come home.
Or, to what was left of it. That there was peace to be had was like a freezing pike straight to the heart, already empty of the warmth she had felt long ago, replaced by a ball of icy hate. Amplified hate for the people who did this.
And hate for the traitors who had taken a chance at revenge away from her.
Her soul had been torn from her and given back in pieces, and she held it in her hand, a mangled and charred remnant of what had been a woman, now unrecognizable. After all she'd gone through.. and this was her reward.
The Republic had failed. This new government had done little more than give Grinvel the ability to march into Marrlan through her homeland. The uniform she wore now felt meaningless. That such beasts could freely roam was a travesty. After all they had done.
She tucked those photos away in her pocket, and then turned, slowly making her way out of the room. She ignored the dried blood on the walls and stepped over the remains of a vase and table, pulverized ceramic and shattered glass strewn across its surface, her boot crunching it down against the splintered wood as she made her way through the dining room, kitchen, and into the hall. She walked past the shattered remnants of one of the bedroom doors, to her own room, where her sister and her had shared a bunk bed. As she opened the door, she looked through, observing the inside from the doorway.
It wasn't as bad off as the rooms nearer the center of the house.
Much of it was stripped bare. Decoration was sparse, most of it boxed up. She'd had her things stored away, and her sister had been about to join the Sapiens Medical University in Auran as a Technician Trainee. Now with the events of earlier, it was just empty. Shattered glass was on the floor, a few bullet holes in the wall behind her as she stepped inside, and made her way over to the bed. Memories drifted back as she looked at it.
Fights, roughhousing, writing in her diary.. time spent huddled up with her sister, reading scary stories under the light of candles.. using the light to make shadow puppets and play out their own little versions of their favorite plays, treating the space-like their own little theater. She exhaled slowly as she turned around, and rested her rump onto the cold mattress, her vision beginning to blur. Tears welled up, spilling out across her cheeks as she slowly curled up onto the bed, bringing her legs up and pressing her boots down against the wood.
She wrapped her arms around her legs and sobbed quietly on and off for nearly an hour. Anger, loss, fear, pain.
An unending whirlwind of emotion she thought she'd suppressed tore through her facade of composure, malice like a knife that ripped through her soul again to bring forth more waterworks.
At mid-day, she emerged from the ruins of her home.
The physical remnants of the past lay behind her, but something in the depths of her soul had been stirred to life by the pain.
The past would never leave her. Her bloodshot eyes would again be drawn to a photo of her mother and brothers, and she could see that in it, her face was the only one blocked by the scorched paper. She ran her gloved thumb over the rest of it before she pocketed the picture again and trekked back onto the road before the ruin.
Her unit would be withdrawing soon. Civilians were to take over the reconstruction effort. Their work here was to clear roads for them, and they'd nearly finished.
She had only to finalize the rest of the preparations. Paperwork would be a temporary distraction. In the back of her mind that whirlwind of emotion had morphed into a swirling specter of hate, endlessly locked onto the mere concept of a Grinvelian. Even if the Republic had failed and the Dominion had given up the fight, this was not over.
Her very soul yearned for blood.
One way or another, she would have it.