Things Past – Kopan Massacre Part 3 - Slippery Slope
by Citizen Akamu "Ka'er" Makani
Post Details
Previously…
But something else was wrong, and it took Akamu nearly a full two minutes to realize what. “God of the Sea,” he swore when it hit him.
“These aren’t Rebels…” Kai said beside Akamu.
“No,” agreed Akamu. “These men are wearing blue and gold…… We’ve just butchered our own soldiers…”
::ON::
Akamu stood in silence for several minutes, watching his men gather up fallen weapons and inventory the losses. He’d killed twelve Imperial soldiers; Home Guard by their uniforms. He was a dishonored soldier- a murderer, a butcher. He gazed down at his sword, dripping with blood; the blood of a… woman. A woman in the service of the crown. He was disgusting!
“Bera, get the bodies together,” Akamu ordered, his voice shaky. “These men deserve a proper burial.”
Bury… fourteen tombs for soldiers of the Emperor… killed by each other. Akamu gulped down a stream of bile.
He watched dumbly as his men silently excavated out fourteen graves. As the last of the tombs was hallowed out, Akamu called Bera over.
“This makes no sense,” he said, finally putting aside his distraught emotions. Bending, he wiped his bloody sword against the wet leaves. “Why would Home Guard be outside the colony?”
“Tracking down Rebels?” Bera provided. He retrieved Akamu’s gun from when it had been dropped and handed it back to its owner.
“Maybe,” Akamu said. “But why leave the colony? According to reports, the Rebels here on Kopa aren’t a huge threat outside the compounds. They seem to be more concerned with keeping people like us away.”
Bera shook his head, equally confused. “Perhaps there’s something happening in the compound.”
“We have to investigate,” Akamu said. “Before we take the supplies in. It’ll do no good to have all these medical supplies fall into enemy hands. I’ll take Kile Eme and scout on ahead. You and Kia, find a good place to dig in and try to reestablish communications with the Go Hekin.” He glanced at his wrist communicator. “The next drop will be in about six hours. We’ll try and be back by then.”
Akamu turned, checking that he had enough spare cartridges to keep his gun charged for the foreseeable future. “Eme!” he hollered. “You’re with me!”
Akamu marched off, halting only long enough to retrieve a COMM pad from Kai, who was getting his shoulder patched up by a Medic. Eme fell into line behind Makani, gun held in the ready position. The two vanished into the trees, like ghosts.
The march through the woods was made in silence, both men lost in their own thoughts.
They didn’t stand a chance. Twelve Home Guard against twenty Gadarian Sea Devils, most of them graduates of military academies. Home Guard were militia, trained to protect colonies and outposts, not ambush Imperial shock troops. My Sea Devils, though, they’re killers, one and all. And no we’re butchers… animals. The Admiralty will have my head on a plate for this.
Until today, Akamu had never done anything to bring him dishonor on the battlefield. His record was spotless, pristine. He’d displayed courage in the field, gone above and beyond his duty many times. He was on the fast track to Colonel. No one had ever questioned his orders, or his judgment. Today would end all that. Killing your own men on the battlefield was unforgivable… it was treason.
“Lieutenant?” Eme spoke for the first time since leaving the ambush sight. His voice was shaky, unsure. Akamu had never heard Kile sound like that, despite two years fighting side by side. “Do you think we’ll be discharged from service for this?”
“You won’t,” Akamu answered. “I might. At the very least, I can kiss my career goodbye.”
“But there’s nothing we could have done,” Kile protested. “It happened way to fast.”
“That’s not how Admiral Sho Tegan will see it,” Akamu answered.
They continued their trek through to forest, sword coming out whenever they ran into brambles to think and nasty to push through. It was nearly an hour later that the outer wall of the colony compound, Aken Hela, came into view. Tiredly, the two men slumped against a tree, gazing angrily at the high stone barricade.
“Take off your jacket, Kile,” Akamu ordered, heeding his own advice. “We’ll go in as civs. The Home Guard wasn’t at home, and I want to know why. Best not to get caught by I-have-no-idea-what doing a recon.” They stowed their uniform jackets, guns, and backpacks under a fallen log, disguising the hiding spot with branches. Belting their swords about their waists, the two men headed for the main gate of the small city.
The gate wasn’t very well guarded. In fact, there seemed to be a lot of traffic going into town.
“Some sort of community meeting?” Akamu muttered to Kile. Eme just shrugged wordlessly.
They followed the flow of the crowd, towards the center of town. They had little choice, the mass of people was so dense, the two soldiers were swept into the town degoria* before they had time to think about where they were heading.
The degoria was filled to overflowing with hundreds of people. They crammed the cobbled courtyard, children resting on their parents shoulders. Young people hung out of windows and leaned from balcony railings, waving flags and shouting out catcalls at their elders below. Akamu caught the glint of swords in the shaking hands of several men and women, and there were even a few guns to be seen scattered around the crowd. The whole thing gave the impression of a riot just waiting to happen. When a number of village elders appeared on the meeting house balcony overlooking the square, a strange silence captured the audience.
Akamu did a quick head count of the assembly. Sixteen men and women gazed down upon the waiting crowd. The ruling council of Kopa was thirty-three. And the Earl of Kopa, Lord Jaralani, was markedly absent.
“Something is not right here,” Akamu told Eme. The crowd shifted impatiently.
“Good people of Kopa,” the voice of one of the councilwomen rang out across the degoria, her speech augmented by amplifiers. “We have just come from the council chambers where we, your lawfully elected representatives have been forced to come to a difficult decision. We have acted in compliance with our conscience; to do what is best for this colony. Thus it is that we declare that Kopa, from this moment on, has officially abdicated from the Gadarian Empire and the Telian Unity!”
::OFF::
*A Ceirian word meaning “meeting place”; a large courtyard or plaza which is the center of all Telian towns.
Akamu "Ka'er" Makani
Civilian Mercenary
by Citizen Akamu "Ka'er" Makani
Post Details
| Title | Kopan Massacre Part 3 - Slippery Slope | |
| Mission | Things Past | |
| Author(s) | Citizen Akamu "Ka'er" Makani | |
| Posted | Fri May 27, 2011 @ 12:15am | |
| Location | Kopa IV- Forest, City | |
| Timeline | June 3, 2372 - 1102 |
But something else was wrong, and it took Akamu nearly a full two minutes to realize what. “God of the Sea,” he swore when it hit him.
“These aren’t Rebels…” Kai said beside Akamu.
“No,” agreed Akamu. “These men are wearing blue and gold…… We’ve just butchered our own soldiers…”
::ON::
Akamu stood in silence for several minutes, watching his men gather up fallen weapons and inventory the losses. He’d killed twelve Imperial soldiers; Home Guard by their uniforms. He was a dishonored soldier- a murderer, a butcher. He gazed down at his sword, dripping with blood; the blood of a… woman. A woman in the service of the crown. He was disgusting!
“Bera, get the bodies together,” Akamu ordered, his voice shaky. “These men deserve a proper burial.”
Bury… fourteen tombs for soldiers of the Emperor… killed by each other. Akamu gulped down a stream of bile.
He watched dumbly as his men silently excavated out fourteen graves. As the last of the tombs was hallowed out, Akamu called Bera over.
“This makes no sense,” he said, finally putting aside his distraught emotions. Bending, he wiped his bloody sword against the wet leaves. “Why would Home Guard be outside the colony?”
“Tracking down Rebels?” Bera provided. He retrieved Akamu’s gun from when it had been dropped and handed it back to its owner.
“Maybe,” Akamu said. “But why leave the colony? According to reports, the Rebels here on Kopa aren’t a huge threat outside the compounds. They seem to be more concerned with keeping people like us away.”
Bera shook his head, equally confused. “Perhaps there’s something happening in the compound.”
“We have to investigate,” Akamu said. “Before we take the supplies in. It’ll do no good to have all these medical supplies fall into enemy hands. I’ll take Kile Eme and scout on ahead. You and Kia, find a good place to dig in and try to reestablish communications with the Go Hekin.” He glanced at his wrist communicator. “The next drop will be in about six hours. We’ll try and be back by then.”
Akamu turned, checking that he had enough spare cartridges to keep his gun charged for the foreseeable future. “Eme!” he hollered. “You’re with me!”
Akamu marched off, halting only long enough to retrieve a COMM pad from Kai, who was getting his shoulder patched up by a Medic. Eme fell into line behind Makani, gun held in the ready position. The two vanished into the trees, like ghosts.
The march through the woods was made in silence, both men lost in their own thoughts.
They didn’t stand a chance. Twelve Home Guard against twenty Gadarian Sea Devils, most of them graduates of military academies. Home Guard were militia, trained to protect colonies and outposts, not ambush Imperial shock troops. My Sea Devils, though, they’re killers, one and all. And no we’re butchers… animals. The Admiralty will have my head on a plate for this.
Until today, Akamu had never done anything to bring him dishonor on the battlefield. His record was spotless, pristine. He’d displayed courage in the field, gone above and beyond his duty many times. He was on the fast track to Colonel. No one had ever questioned his orders, or his judgment. Today would end all that. Killing your own men on the battlefield was unforgivable… it was treason.
“Lieutenant?” Eme spoke for the first time since leaving the ambush sight. His voice was shaky, unsure. Akamu had never heard Kile sound like that, despite two years fighting side by side. “Do you think we’ll be discharged from service for this?”
“You won’t,” Akamu answered. “I might. At the very least, I can kiss my career goodbye.”
“But there’s nothing we could have done,” Kile protested. “It happened way to fast.”
“That’s not how Admiral Sho Tegan will see it,” Akamu answered.
They continued their trek through to forest, sword coming out whenever they ran into brambles to think and nasty to push through. It was nearly an hour later that the outer wall of the colony compound, Aken Hela, came into view. Tiredly, the two men slumped against a tree, gazing angrily at the high stone barricade.
“Take off your jacket, Kile,” Akamu ordered, heeding his own advice. “We’ll go in as civs. The Home Guard wasn’t at home, and I want to know why. Best not to get caught by I-have-no-idea-what doing a recon.” They stowed their uniform jackets, guns, and backpacks under a fallen log, disguising the hiding spot with branches. Belting their swords about their waists, the two men headed for the main gate of the small city.
The gate wasn’t very well guarded. In fact, there seemed to be a lot of traffic going into town.
“Some sort of community meeting?” Akamu muttered to Kile. Eme just shrugged wordlessly.
They followed the flow of the crowd, towards the center of town. They had little choice, the mass of people was so dense, the two soldiers were swept into the town degoria* before they had time to think about where they were heading.
The degoria was filled to overflowing with hundreds of people. They crammed the cobbled courtyard, children resting on their parents shoulders. Young people hung out of windows and leaned from balcony railings, waving flags and shouting out catcalls at their elders below. Akamu caught the glint of swords in the shaking hands of several men and women, and there were even a few guns to be seen scattered around the crowd. The whole thing gave the impression of a riot just waiting to happen. When a number of village elders appeared on the meeting house balcony overlooking the square, a strange silence captured the audience.
Akamu did a quick head count of the assembly. Sixteen men and women gazed down upon the waiting crowd. The ruling council of Kopa was thirty-three. And the Earl of Kopa, Lord Jaralani, was markedly absent.
“Something is not right here,” Akamu told Eme. The crowd shifted impatiently.
“Good people of Kopa,” the voice of one of the councilwomen rang out across the degoria, her speech augmented by amplifiers. “We have just come from the council chambers where we, your lawfully elected representatives have been forced to come to a difficult decision. We have acted in compliance with our conscience; to do what is best for this colony. Thus it is that we declare that Kopa, from this moment on, has officially abdicated from the Gadarian Empire and the Telian Unity!”
::OFF::
*A Ceirian word meaning “meeting place”; a large courtyard or plaza which is the center of all Telian towns.
Akamu "Ka'er" Makani
Civilian Mercenary