Rescue Mission[Plot Task]

Spoiler:

After several jobs of simply taking lives, Liber was somewhat grateful to have received a task with a bit more meaning. There was no doubt in his mind that the various Kou soldiers Liber's blade had been pointed towards up till now were scum that needed to be exterminated. The country, perhaps even the world, was a much better place without them as each one seemed to have their own sadistic hobby of tormenting others. But at the same time, none of those assassinations felt like they accomplished much. The soldiers were elites, but they were the grunts of their unit. Not once had Liber seen any indication that his victims had been leaders in any capacity. These acts, while just in his mind, would serve to have no real impact on Kou's forces.

Thankfully, tonight's job was not a contract to kill but rather an order to rescue. Perhaps taking a single outpost back and rescuing some soldiers in captivity would not have a large impact on the overall war. But at the very least it would have a huge influence over the lives of the captive soldiers. It was also a great relief to Liber that his orders did not require the deaths of the Kou soldiers that were holding the outpost. Yes, they were the enemy and were fighting to take control of Reim. But that did not mean that justice demands their blood. Wars are always fought at the whim of leaders and soldiers are nothing more than tools they use to get the job done. Unless Liber saw any acts of unusual cruelty, he planned on sparing their lives. Giving each soldier an injury bad enough that they might be sent home rather than back into battle was a mercy. Hopefully they would thank him for it one day.

"It's almost time..." Liber whispered to himself as he stood from a crouched position on a tree branch and looked to the outpost on the horizon. It was a spartan design with practically no aspect of its construction made for aesthetics. Nothing went to waste when it was built and it was made to be durable, not pretty. Yet somehow it had been easily captured. Perhaps it was due to the small skeleton crew of soldiers that had been left to man the outpost. Regardless of the reason why, the Reim flag no longer flew above the outpost tower and while there was no Kou banner replacing it, there was no mistake that it had fallen under their control.

Liber watched patiently as the sun set and darkness began to fall over the plains. He had chosen to wait for the shadows of a new moon before making his move. The outpost was in the middle of a wide open stretch of land meaning that any approach during the day would have let the soldiers inside spot him long before he ever got close. Favoring the element of surprise instead, Liber dropped from the tree he'd been staking the outpost out in and began a crouching approach to the outpost's southern wall. Liber got about half way from the tree to the outpost when flames began to flicker into existence one by one along the perimeter of the structure on the eastern side and whoever was lighting these torches was gradually moving to the southern wall.

If Liber did not hurry, the guards would have lit the southern wall before he could reach the outpost. Waiting all this time would become a waste of time if he let this opportunity slip by. With urgency in his step, the fanalis assassin broke into a sprint and charged towards the southern wall of the outpost at full speed. There was no hiding the pounding of his fanalis legs as his powerful inhuman muscles propelled Liber forward, but it was too late to worry about being heard. So long as he wasn't seen, a sneak attack was still an option.

"Somethings coming from the south!"

Liber could hear the shouts as he entered within range for a jump and kicked off the ground one last time. The fanalis man leapt high into the air clearing the ramparts only to come face to face with a Kou soldier who was on the look out despite a lack of light. It was the man who had shouted. Time seemed to slow down to a near halt as the two mens eyes met. Even in the darkness of the moonless night, the soldier would be able to see the unnatural maroon glow in Liber's gaze. It struck fear into the soldier as a miasma of killing intent poured from Liber in case taking the soldiers life proved to be necessary to ensure his silence.

The soldier reached for his sword and held his shield forward but Liber's ascent was not over. He soared over the Kou fighter's head and flipped as the arc of his jump began to drop. The acrobatics had allowed Liber to turn in mid air so as he dropped down on the opposite side of the outpost wall that he had jumped from, Liber's body was facing towards the soldier and the wall. The assassin's hand flashed out like a whip as the Kou soldier turned around only to freeze in place with his eyes wide open. Liber had thrown a Reapers Kiss which was now lodged firmly in the back of the Kou soldier's neck. He was far from dead, but the nerves in his spine wouldn't be very functional for a few hours. The man wasn't going to be moving anywhere any time soon.

Landing on the ground with a roll, Liber quickly sprung to his feet only to dive under a nearby supply wagon. The sounds of shouting and hurried footsteps as more soldiers joined their companion on the southern wall gathered. "What's going on? Where's the enemy!?" One shouted as he approached the paralyzed soldier. One other joined him and together the two became almost instantly cautious as their fellow soldier did not respond. It wasn't for a lack of trying. The soldier with the reaper's kiss in his neck managed to make a few grunts, but his body would not move and his voice would not come out. He simply stood there making minor jerking movements as he tried to force his body to take action again. "Enemy attack! They got Yian Pi!" One man shouted as he realized his comrade was incapable of speaking, let alone moving.

"So much for the element of surprise." Liber thought to himself from beneath the supply wagon.

Wordcount: 1101/1500

As the soldiers tried to make sense of the situation, the first one to fall victim to Liber's attack collapsed to the ground trying to point in the direction he had last seen the attacker. Against all odds, the soldier managed to reach out a hand and point with one of his fingers. The act had taken all of his remaining strength, but his comrades wouldn't let those efforts go to waste.

"They're inside the walls! Stay sharp!"

From beneath the wagon, Liber weighed his options. If he stayed put, it was only a matter of time before the search came his way and it wasn't exactly an ideal hiding place. If he were spotted, Liber wouldn't have an easy time avoiding an attack while laying on his belly like this. It might not have been very stealthy, but Liber decided to reveal himself to take his chances in open combat. Crawling out from under the supply wagon, Liber stood amidst torch light and brushed dirt off of his exposed nipple. "There! By the supplies!" one of the Kou soldiers shouted as Liber's maroon eyes looked to the left and right scanning his surroundings. "Surround the bastard!" There were three other soldiers that he could spot and all of them were headed his way. The sound of a wooden door slamming open drew Liber's attention to witness two more guards jogging out to see what all the commotion was about.

Fortune favors the bold. Liber cracked his neck as he drew his Swordsman's Cloth from his waist before making a sudden dash towards the two men who had just emerged from inside the outpost barracks. They were ready for battle with sword and shield drawn, but they weren't ready to be attacked so suddenly. Liber was already upon the guards by the time they noticed him. One raised his shield to block against attack while the other stabbed forth with a jab aimed for Liber's gut. Liber responded with a Spiral Parry by whirling the flexible cloth-like blade to form a shield around him. The Kou soldier would find his blade turned away by Liber's defensive technique and he raised his own shield to block against any sudden attacks. With both soldiers wary of Liber's strange weapon and on the defensive rather than pushing the attack they had sealed their own fates. As the spinning shield of cloth-blade lost force and opened up the Kou soldiers found their eyes looking at empty air.

Liber had ducked low to the ground and kicked both of his legs out attacking the Kou guard's unprotected legs. Both men dropped to the ground screaming agony with broken shins. They wouldn't be a thread for some time. Hopping to his feet, Liber turned to face the approaching trio of remaining soldiers with a merciful expression upon his face. "Sorry about this..." Liber said as he stood and lashed his arm out to his right side. The Swordsman's Cloth extended and danced into the air gracefully where it hung for a brief second in defiance of gravity. "Careful of his strange weapon." one of the soldiers said, but it was too late, there was no preparing them for the blade's extremely unorthodox movements. Liber slashed the air several times performing a Serpent's Waltz that sent his Swordsman's Cloth on a dizzying trajectory. The first turn of the blade sent it flying into the soldiers from their side just as they got within a few meters of Liber. The first soldier had tunnel vision on Liber and took a cut to his shoulder that sent the man stumbling. The second soldier raised his shield for another block but it was futile as the sword's trajectory changed to angle downwards sharply just before it could collide with his shield. This soldier's calf suffered a deep cut but he remained standing with grit teeth. The last soldier had the most warning of the three and jumped back just as the obscure weapon angled back up to strike him from below. With a skillful parry, the last soldier deflected Liber's attack, but it was too late for his allies.

The soldier whom had stumbled forward found himself face first against Liber's rising knee strike to suffer a concussion. At this moment, Liber noticed his Swordsman's Cloth being parried and he let go of the blade's handle. Using his left hand, Liber grasped the soldier he'd just knocked out by his hair and he raised the body up as a human shield between himself and the second injured soldier. Even with his injured calf, the soldier was ready to jab his blade into Liber, but with his companion in the way, he stayed his blade. Liber threw the limb man into his friend and pounced upon them both landing a downward chop to break his targets shoulder. With his sword arm out of commission that left only one soldier left.

A sharp pain shot through Liber's left arm as a shield bash impacted and broke his bones in three different places. The fanalis man was sent rolling from the force and barely recovered in time to see a Jab incoming. Liber's fanalis reactions saved him by a hair's breath as he dodged his head to the side. The soldier's blade cut Liber's cheek enough to draw blood but no serious damage was done. The fanalis assassin swiftly countered with a whip-like movement of his arm that sent one of his Reapers Kiss needles between the Kou soldier's eyes. He twitched unnaturally before falling like the rest of his men marking the end of the battle. Liber winced as he stood and listened...silence. There were seemingly no other soldiers of Kou around meaning there was nothing left to stand between Liber and the prisoners.

After a simple search, Liber located the captured Reim soldiers tied up in the barracks. After releasing them all one by one, they returned to Remano together so their wounds could be treated in preparation for the future battles that were sure to come.

Wordcount: 1500+/1500
Magoi: 120/160

Spoiler:

Octavius looked up as Liber and the Reim soldiers entered the room, concern immediately flooding his features. With a wave of his hand, a medic moved forward to tend to the wounds of those without severe injury while Sly gave Octavius a nod and headed out to find a healer for Liber’s broken bones.

“Brother, it is good to see you return, and with the soldiers. You have done us a great service. Sly should be back shortly with Bertollo to heal you. It looks like you took quite the blow, brother.”

He would listen as he was filled in on the details of the mission, nodding at the words. Liber had done much to take care of cruel Kou soldiers and had now rescued Reim soldiers from imprisonment. Perhaps a more delicate task would be a more fitting use of the assassin’s unique skills.

“We have received word through Roark that a Kou noble by the same of Ten Fu was attempting to seek refuge in the castle of her own volition with some of her private soldiers, she lived in Reim before the invasion and dislikes her native country’s handling of the situation. She offered to be taken into custody and her men offered to assist our troops in any way they could. While traveling from Portsmouth with her children, her carriage was ambushed by a mob of Reim citizens that were… overzealous in their anger at the current situation and took her, her children and her men captive. They are reportedly holding her in a town about thirty minutes from a trade town known as Kios, and are not treating her gently. Reim soldiers are doing nothing to recover Ms. Fu from their custody. Their either do not want to fight their own people or they simply do not care about what may happen to Ms. Fu and her children.”

Octavius’ face was hard. Taking out soldiers and slowing their movements was one thing, and he understood how rising tensions could drive people to do irrational things, but to take someone captive that was only trying to help their cause was inexcusable.

“I do not want the citizens hurt, it is can be avoided. I would like for you to find a way to get Ms. Fu and her household safely to the Palace, if you can. She has 3 children with her and six private soldiers. The group that took her have about 20 people, but I trust you can use your… special skills to avoid detection to retrieve her. If you cannot avoid harming the citizens, so be it, but we would rather everyone escape as unharmed as possible. Ms. Fu only wishes to see her family safe and Reim returned to its people. Are you willing to help with this? If not, I understand and I am sure we can find something more to your liking…”

Octavius would give Liber the chance to respond, eager to give the man to choose whatever was most suited to his tastes.

((You may respond and either accept the custom task, pick another from the list or make one more to your liking.))

When Liber entered the room his injuries had already seen first aid treatment, but there was no reason for him to turn down the promised healer that would soon be on their way. Nevertheless, the young fanalis played down the extent of his wounds, "It's nothing, I'll be fine in a day or two." He said with a jovial smile upon his lips. But Liber's expression became a bit more stoic as he looked from side to side trying to spot Azix. A frown marked Liber's displeasure that the Marquis was not here, but he did not pry into the Kou nobleman's whereabouts. Instead, he listened to the mission Octavius presented as Liber's next task.

Understanding the need for a delicate touch and a mind unclouded by thoughts of violent revenge against all from Kou, Liber nodded in acceptance. "There is no merit in baring judgement upon those with just intentions. The "crime" of their homeland is not enough to deserve a conviction. I will help Ms. Fu." Liber then extended the hand of his good arm to clasp forearms with Octavius and offer a farewell before going to get himself treated and prepared to set out for the new mission.