Chapter 100 - Village (Patreon)

<---Chapter 99 - Payback Preparations|Table of Contents|Chapter 101 - War Refugees <--- Scions can read everything!--->

A distant thud rumbled across the clear skies, the vibrations shaking the trees slightly as a small cloud of smoke drifted into the air above the forest between Ocra and Raktor, birds and animals alike scampering in all directions away from it.

The reverberations were all too familiar to an arctech engineer, as he tried his best to compartmentalize the sound away in his mind, his gloved hands and eyes focused on the broken arctech irrigation pump in front of him. He had to get this fixed by tomorrow, but it was even harder to concentrate when the same dull thuds kept echoing through his small village workshop, frightening him.

"Jakub, everything okay?" His wife called out to him from the nearby kitchen, a look of worry as she poked her head around a corner, where the smell of caramelized sweets wafted in over the metallic tinge of arctech machinery.

"Sorry dear, I.... I just can't focus." Jakub sighed, putting down his gloves.

His wife put down whatever she was cooking, turning off the arctech stove before walking over, patting him carefully on the shoulder. "Is it the artillery shells? They are just doing an exercise, nothing more. We're miles away from them."

"I know, I know... it's just..." Jakub took a deep breath, leaning against the workbench and looking up at the ceiling, arctech lanterns dotting the thatched roof precariously on wooden beams. "My brother is in Raktor now. I just wonder if he's caught up in everything."

"You're such a worrywart, Culo is doing perfectly fine. Didn't he send us money just last month? He must be making a killing there to be able to send that much. If it wasn't for his job we might have not enough funds to make it through the coming year."

"I... guess you're right. But recently I've been hearing stories from the others about how everyone is evacuating out. Maybe we should consider leaving too, in case a war really breaks out."

"I'm sure level-heads will prevail, the last civil war is still fresh in the people's heart, they won't advocate for any more suffering." His wife consoled him. "Either way, this is our home. We were born here, married here, and soon we'll have our own family to take care of here too." She pulled Jakub's hand towards her tummy, Jakub feeling a slight bump.

"It might be safer in Ocra, for all we know." Jakub still harboured anxiety. "The Versian army will protect us, at the very least."

His wife sighed, showing signs of exasperation. "I think you need to take a break. How about some sweets, hmm? Calm your nerves a little."

Jakub complied, about to follow his wife into the kitchen when he suddenly heard a loud commotion over the hum of his arctech furnace beyond the walls of the workshop. Shouts and clamouring could be heard, before someone violently rasped against the door with vigor, clearly agitated. "Stay in the kitchen." Jakub motioned to his wife, while he grabbed a nearby arctech hunting musket, heading to the door carefully, unsure of what was happening.

He tugged the door handle open, revealing a disheveled girl dressed in a work shirt and pants, her hands also holding a red-tipped woodcutter's axe. "Lisa? What's going on?" Jakub asked.

"There's soldiers from Ocra, lots of them!" Lisa blurted with clear agitation, Jakub able to see some of the other villagers exiting their houses, armed with similar axes and rallying together.

"How many of them? What do they want?"

"Maybe two dozen, all armed to the teeth with rifles and armor! They wanna evacuate us forcibly!"

Jakub could already tell that there was a confrontation erupting between some of the villagers and the Ocra soldiers, arguments lobbied back and forth. He went back into the house, finding a small handgun and passing it to the wife. "Use it if you have to, I'm gonna try to calm down the situation."

"Jakub, stay safe!" His wife nodded and let him go, Lisa leading him towards the village square where an angry mob was already facing off against the Ocra soldiers, led by a sergeant who's strong body towered over most of the villagers. They congregated under the central bell tower, where a few kids looked down curiously at the commotion beneath them.

"Who are you to force us to leave our homes! If those damn Yual dogs come our way, we'll give them a hell of a thrashin!" A villager waved his woodcutter's axe frantically in the air.

"Damn right, this is our homeland! We aren't gonna just up and leave without a fight!" Others chimed in, echoing the same sentiment.

"Citizens, please." The sergeant spoke with a clear somber voice. "While I know the pain and hardship you may endure, this village is too close to the border and is likely to be attacked. As soldiers of the Versian military, it is our best interest to reduce civilian casualties and -"

"How about you say what you truly mean: you just want to steal all our land and property!" One of the more cynical villagers spat back, clearly lacking trust in the Versian army. "I bet once we leave, you're gonna swoop in and claim everything as yours!"

The accusation spread like wildfire, especially the less educated villagers who were susceptible to such rumours and fear-mongering, the crowd turning against the Ocra soldiers, steps being taken forward.

"I assure you that we only have your best interests at heart. In the next week or two, an attack by forward Raktor scouts may very well be possible! We are here to help you evacuate to Ocra!"

"Bullshit! You're just chasing away from our ancestors' land!"

"Yea, dem Raktor boys are just practicing, they ain't actually gonna cross the border! You're just tryna scare us!"

"Despicable soldiers, shame on you!" An old lady threw an apple at the soldier, heralding a flinging of fruits, mud and other excretions at the Ocra soldiers and the sergeant, whom were near their breaking point, the sergeant himself about to order the soldiers to arm themselves.

"STOP! STOP!" Jakub waved his hands in the air as he shoved through the throng of villagers, pushing to the front and defending the sergeant with his own body, taking the brunt of the thrown fruits and rocks before the villagers realized who it was. "Please, let us think carefully before making any rash actions or antagonizing anyone!" Jakub pleaded. "Let me speak with the sergeant."

The villagers' raised hands began to drop one by one, murmurs exchanged among each other as they complied, allowing Jakub a moment's respite to wipe off the mud slung at him. "Apologies for the less than warm reception."

"Finally, some semblance of civility in this backwater village. What's a educated man like you doing in such a place?" The sergeant too lowered his arm, the soldiers no longer priming their rifles to fire.

"I prefer a quiet life. Either way, I'm sure its obvious that the villagers do not want to move for the time being."

"But you must know that tensions between Versia and Raktor are higher than ever. The artillery strikes from their military exercises are at the very edge of our borders." The sergeant explained. "Under my orders, I cannot allow this village to fall into enemy hands as a staging point for further invasion into Ocra."

"I completely understand, but would it not be better if we were somehow incorporated into the defense plan, if any? The motivation to defend our homeland could be utilized well against any possible invasion, however unlikely."

"Unlikely? We stand at the brink of war, it's almost certain. All it takes is for one trigging incident for hell to break loose." The sergeant retorted. "To be frank with you, I couldn't care less if you half-breeds died in the first wave. Consider it a grace that you have even been offered help to evacuate."

Jakub's eye slightly twitched, but he suppressed his anger. However, the villagers had already heard what the sergeant said, rage rising amdist the mob. "He dare call us half-breeds? We have every right to Versia just as much as you!"

"Yual dog blood runs in your veins, and that much is clear from your mannerisms." The sergeant scoffed. "If you breed two different races, what else can you call it but a half-breed?"

"You fucking bitch!" A large stone was hurled right at the sergeant, nailing him right in the face and knocking him out cold, while the Ocra soldiers began to panic when faced with a swarming angry mob, having lost their chain of command.

"Please, everyone, take a step back! We don't have to fight each other!" Lisa glanced around, flustered as the tensions rose, the bodies converging in the square and facing off against one another. Her desperate attempts at restoring peace through dialogue was interrupted by a loud gunshot. One of the fresher recruits among them freaked out, firing a pellet that nailed a villager right in the thighs, evoking a cry of pain that rallied even more villagers against them.

"STOP! HOLD YOUR FIRE!" Jakub roared, trying to calm down the villagers, but it was no use. A violent melee brawl broke out between the two sides, knuckles clashing and pellets shot wildly, axes swinging into flesh and bone as Jakub struggled to force his way through. Yet his voice alone was not enough to quell the unrest, the Ocra soldiers both unwilling to kill their own citizens or move without their sergeant's order. Soon, most of them decided to retreat, hauling the still unconscious sergeant away from the village.

"That's right you fucks, RUN!" One of the villagers cheered as he wiped off a bloody nose, but he was soon confronted by an angry Jakub who grabbed him by the collar, shaking him violently.

"Have you any idea what you have just done?" Jakub bristled with fury, his tone simmering. "You just fought against the damn military! What happens when they come back with an even stronger detachment? You've just marked the entire village as rebels!"

"Relax, kiddo. Just cuz you're the engineer of the village don't mean you smarter than us. They wanted us to leave!" The villager waved his hand to the surrounding forest that had been Jakub's childhood, a few others nodding in agreement including Lisa. "If we leave, it'll be a disgrace to the work of our fathers and grandfathers."

"That doesn't mean its worth fighting against the state's military! We won't be able to defend against them if they come back." Jakub stood his ground.

"Then what? We leave with nothing but what we can haul, and with nothing to show for it!" Another villager shouted back.

"We can start again, start anew somewhere else, somewhere further away from the war..." Jakub tried to convince them, but he was already starting to lose their interest and attention.

"That's easy for you to say. You're an arctech engineer - anywhere you go, your skill will be needed. What skill would me, a simple woodcutter and farmer have in Ocra? Nothing!" Yet another villager heckled Jakub. "Now if you would shut up and step aside, we got a home to defend! You can leave if you want to, smartass. Always looking down on us since you were a fucking kid. At least your brother is doing something useful!"

Jakub wanted to retort, but soon realized it was useless, the mob having made up his mind. Defeated, he stepped away from the mob, intending to walk home when Lisa blocked his path. "Jakub, look, I know they are idiots, but we gotta do something for them. If things really start to go south... we should help out."

He rested a heavy palm on her shoulders, pushing her slightly aside and continuing to walk off, Lisa trailing behind trying to convince him. "Please, Jakub. I'm on your side here: fighting the military was a stupid idea, but now that it has happened, we need to start-"

"Lisa." Jakub interrupted her. "You're barking up the wrong tree. I'm not the village chief - your dad is."

"But he's-"

"In Ocra to sell crops, yes. So it is down to you. Are you really going to stand by these suicidal idiots? We hardly have the weaponry and equipment to fight back any attack from either Raktor and Versia, and somehow we've painted a target on ourselves for both of them." Jakub ranted, walking faster and leaving Lisa behind. "You can save them yourself, I'm leaving with Lucy tonight."

"Jakub! JAKUB!" Lisa shouted from afar, watching Jakub disappear into his workshop and locking the door shut.

Jakub let out an exasperated sigh as he stormed to his workshop, packing up everything, while his wife nervously looked at him in confusion. "Jakub, I heard shots, is everything okay?"

"No, nothing is okay. Pack your bags, we're leaving by evening. Grab everything of value that we have." Jakub mumbled as he picked up a sack, shoving his etcher, tools and whatever else he could fit in, hauling all of them out into a back garage where an arctech wagon sat silently.

"Why, what's wrong? Jakub, don't be paranoid again, there's no war-"

"NO WAR?" Jakub slammed his fist against the table. "The villagers out there just decided to punch the living lights out of a Versian military sergeant of all people, and they still think they are safe here?! Now, if you really understand what is going on, please, please pack up now. We need to be gone before the villagers come to me for help. I can't let you or the kid die, do you understand?"

The wife's face paled at the revelation, nodding vigorously before hurrying into the rooms, snatching and packing everything they could into suitcases and luggages, stocking up the arctech wagon in full. Jakub packed all of the arctech hunting muskets he had, loading them into wooden cases, hoping to be able to sell them at Ocra if they needed extra cash. It took nearly three hours, the last glimmers of daylight finally dipping over the horizon as the wagon was filled with their belongings, ready to depart, Jakub raising the garage door to reveal a seemingly quiet village gravel road.

His wife looked back at the semi-empty house, the new furnishings that they had just crafted right after the wedding a few months ago left alone, barren as ever. She tugged at Jakub's sleeves before he entered the cabin of the wagon. "Jakub, maybe we can talk it out with them. You've always been the smart kid of the village, we could try and convince them-"

"Convince them of what? They see me as different, as a smartass. Well if they don't want my help, I'm more than happy to leave them to the fate that they chose." Jakub grunted, shrugging off his wife's hand and clambering into the driver's seat. "I'm done with this village."

Jakub twisted a knob and jumpstarted the engine, the arctech engine whirring into life as a sudden defeaning explosion rocked the entire garage, though it did not come from the wagon. "What was that?!" His wife exclaimed in horror, as bright dazzling glints of flame began to cast shadows upon the garage.

He peered through the cabin's window, seeing an entire house burst out into flames, the wooden fragments sailing through the air, drawing trails of smoke through the evening sky as villagers began to swarm out of their houses, shocked and afraid. A bell began to toll from the village square, one that usually heralded the end of the workday. Except this time, it was ringing with an anxiety unlike ever before.

"We need to go!" Jakub began to floor the pedal, the wagon rolling forward into the chaos as shouts and screams echoed through the normally peaceful village.

Instead, his wife grabbed Jakub's arm tightly, locking eyes with him and forcing the wagon to come to a halt. "Jakub! You promised Culo you would protect the village for him! And here you are running away!"

"Let go of me, Lucy! If we stay still any longer, we will die!"

"And if we leave, what do we have left to live for, knowing we let our own friends die when we could have saved them!" His wife screamed back at him. "If you're not going to defend this village, I'll do it myself!" She jumped out of the cabin, the small handgun in her right as she charged towards the billowing flames erupting from the burning house.

"LUCY! Fuck!" Jakub rammed the wagon's gear into reverse, pushing back into the garage before dismounting and cracking open the back, hauling out the crates of muskets that he had packed. As he carried the first crate out, he spotted a desparate Lisa running towards him, her originally anxious face now overwhelmed with a deep sense of betrayal, seeing Jakub's wagon all packed up and ready to go.

"LISA! Help me arm the villagers!" Jakub roared over the din of gunshots and pellets, his heart palpitating with uncertainty as he watched the last trails of his wife's dress disappear around the corner to an unknown fate. He gritted his teeth, hauling out the crates of hunting muskets as fast as he could. Lisa shook herself out of her stupor, shoving her doubts to the back of her mind and rushing to help. A few villagers also charged over, grabbing a musket and a pouch full of muskets. "Don't forget to grab the arctech packs, you need them to shoot!" Jakub motioned over to the wagon, the small self-patented packs ready to go.

Soon, Jakub himself was rushing out, armed to the teeth with his own muskets and arctech packs, chasing frantically after where his wife was, hoping to the Goddess that she was not dead yet. He turned the corner sharply, coming face to face with the full brunt of a heatwave erupting from the burning house, where victims were being carried out of the fiery wooden wreck crackling with fury.

He spotted his wife carrying a kid out of the house, laying him down as the kid coughed violently, his entire face covered in blackened soot, while other villagers were attempted to splash buckets of water onto the burning house to no avail. Sprinting up to his wife, he knelt beside her, checking the kid's pulse. "Who's attacking? Who set it on fire?"

"I don't know, but others are saying an artillery shell hit the house head-on, an incendiary explosive that blew them up from within!"

Jakub glanced around, noticing plenty of bodies being laid outside, many of them having suffered first-degree burns. The moment he heard Lisa's footsteps catching up behind him, he quickly ordered them to fan out towards the border. "Make sure no one is coming to attack, if they are, we have to stall them while we evacuate the rest!"

As soon as he said that, an unmistakable whizz through the air could be heard before something large slammed right into the bell tower, snapping the stone foundations in half while he watched a man fall from the top, his body smashing against the rubble like paste, his bones broken apart in a bloody mess that splattered onto the white tiles of the square.

"Lisa! We still have three more wagons, right? Forget stalling the attackers, grab them and load everyone up, we're getting out of the village! You two, help her out!"

Lisa nodded, but was stopped by the same violent villager who had punched the sergeant in the first place. "Look at you two - village chief's daughter and smartass. First instinct is to fucking run! We should stay and defen-"

His words were cut short by a sudden straight punch from Jakub, toppling the villager over onto the ground hard. "Defend against that?! We got nothing! Only a military point defense can take that down - Lisa, move!"

The able-bodied villagers began to haul what they could, carrying the injured first and foremost into the wagons that Lisa began to organize into a convoy near the centre of the square. Another artillery shell blasted yet another house, sending sparks racing through the air, spurring the survivors to move faster. Jakub and his wife too rushed back to their own wagon, driving off quickly to join the convoy. Some of the more greedy villagers tried to stuff furnishings and furnitures, only to have them tossed out by Jakub and Lisa, prioritizing lives first. Even Jakub threw away most of his tools to make space for everyone.

Within fifteen minutes, Jakub led the convoy off, the wagons rumbling out from the burning village as the embers began to drift onto other houses, causing the fire to spread faster than ever. He looked at the side-view mirror of the wagon, watching the flames lick what was left of his childhood, wondering what would have happened if he had just left them behind. His wife noticed his depression, gripping his soot-covered hands tightly. "You did the best you could, we saved almost all of them! We can rebuild once the war is over."

That only raised his anger even more towards those who fired the shells. "Those damn Yual dogs, using us as target practice! I'll fucking kill them if I ever get the chance again." He promised himself as the burning village began to disappear into the distance.

The journey was long and harrowing, the bumpy gravel road hardly alleviating the burns of those who survived the fire, their bodies still groaning in agony. There was barely enough potions salvaged from the village to go around, Lisa eventually deciding to give the potions to the children instead to lessen their suffering. "Once we get to Ocra, we can buy potions, we'll sell off what we have." Jakub explained to Lisa as they took a break, the villagers gathering around a temporary campfire set up on the side of the road, boiling a large pot of soup made of the last vestiges of their harvest.

Morale among the villagers were lower than ever, most noticeable of all being the violent villager who had regained consciousness. "Our grain, our livestock, our forest... all gone because of Raktor!" The sentiment of hate began to take root among the villagers as they could still see in the dark the plumes of smoke and flickering red light emitting over the horizon.

"We'll get our revenge soon enough." Jakub consoled the villagers, many of them now looking to him as a competent leader alongside Lisa. As they continued their journey, they soon began to meet other refugees from other villagers as well, realizing that the strikes were a concerted effort by the enemy to drive them out.

"Why didn't they hit our convoy when we were leaving? If they were able to hit our village, they must have seen us." Lisa pondered in deep thought.

"They must have wanted to capture us alive. Don't think too much about it, thank the Goddess that we made it out alive." Jakub murmured, his eyes tired from hours of driving on the road, their convoy now merging with others to form a large train that chugged along slowly towards Ocra, its fortress walls looming in the distance. "Almost there, chin up. We can meet up with your father soon."

As the wagons began to lurch into the vicinity of Ocra, Jakub could see hundreds of makeshift tents and corrugated metal shelters stacked next to each other in close proximity beyond the walls, thousands of refugees from villages all over clamoring to get entry into the city. Jakub gripped his wife's hand tightly, hoping for the best. Their wagon was stuck in a queue as they were cleared one by one by Versian soldiers blockading the slums outside Ocra, their identity being checked one by one.

Soon, it was their turn, the wagon rolling up to a sergeant motioning for his soldiers to check the contents of the wagon. "Name? Purpose?"

Lisa took point, clearing her throat and raising her stature to the highest she could."Good sir, we're refugees evacuating from Creek March, and we got injured that needs immediate medical atten-"

"How many adults?"

"Sorry?"

"I said, how many adults?"

"Sir, we have kids who are suffering from burns and-"

"If you're not going to ask the question, I'm going to have to arrest you on grounds of obstruction."

"What?! Are you even listening to me, you-" The furious Lisa was quickly restrained by Jakub, who gave a nervous smile to the intimidating sergeant.

"Apologies, we have about thirty men and forty women. Our village chief is in the city, maybe you kno-" Jakub could only watch as the sergeant barely listened to him, instead rummaging in a box and grabbing a handful of small little paper cards, shoving them into Jakub's hands without warning.

"Here, your ration cards. Now, you're gonna have to leave your wagons with us. You can keep your belongings, but only after our soldiers have checked it. Your allocated tents are on the cards. Now move along." The sergeant brushed him off, motioning for the next wagon to come.

Before Jakub could do anything, he was shoved out of the way by other soldiers, who began to inspect the wagon carefully. They flipped open the crates of muskets and arctech packs, before quickly calling the sergeant over, who's eyes widened in shock. Instead of the previous intimidating demeanour, the sergeant was now smiling from ear to ear, quickly running up to Jakub and shaking his hands. "Good sir, are you by any chance an arctech engineer?"

"Yes, I am, but what's going on-"

"Perfect. We are in dire need of your skills for the war effort, and you will of course be rewarded handsomely for your efforts, naturally. Please, follow me." The sergeant motioned with his hand, prompting Jakub to follow, but Jakub refused to budge.

"I'm not going anywhere without my wife. And my friends still need medical attention."

A small glimmer of exasperation flashed across the sergeant's face, before quickly being replaced by the same compliant expression. "Of course, of course. Your wife can follow too, and your friends will be taken care of."

Jakub found the man's demeanour suspicious, but he still did not want to start a fight against the military, not when the villagers under his care were still in dire need of aid. He and his wife followed the sergeant and two other soldiers carrying some of his crates to a luxurious tent, the interior being revealed to be a quaint little office where a lone officer sat on a small little wooden chair, yawning ever so slightly.

The officer stared at Jakub and his wife, both of whom were still covered in soot and blood stains, his face clearly irked by the disgusting stench of sweat. His fierce glare landed on the sergeant. "Sergeant Mord, if this is another botched attempt at claiming a commission..."

"No, no, no, of course not! The last one was an honest mistake! Look, we have some of his products here, found in his wagon." The sergeant ordered the two soldiers to open Jakub's crates, revealing his own self-patented arctech packs, the officer nearly leaping out of his seat.

"This... this is a compressed fuel pack. How efficient is it?"

"About a third of a fuel pack, but at a tenth of the mass and envelope." Jakub stated proudly despite his suspicions.

"Perfect." The officer reached into a drawer, retrieving a pouch and tossing it to the gleeful sergeant, who left the tent with the other two immediately. "The Versian state has need of your prowess with arctech engineering. Starting from tomorrow, you will be transferred to Tenar and working for Harrison Industries to support the war effort."

"What?!" Jakub exclaimed in shock. "But sir, my wife and the other villagers who came with me..."

"Your wife will accompany you as well, you will be safe in the capital. As for the others, you have my word that they will be well taken care of. In fact, it is thanks to your skill that they shall have priority, more rations and medical supplies than the others. If you work hard enough, it may be enough to help them apply for refugee status within the city of Ocra itself, or even Tenar!" The officer smiled as he pulled out a stack of paper, laying them on the contract. "All you have to do is sign here, and the state will see to it that you, your family and your friends are safe."

"Oh... oh thank you so much!" Jakub's anxiety melted away, everything he had hoped for and better was coming true in Ocra. He had feared that they would have been forced to struggle to make ends meet as evacuees, but here in front of him was a golden lifeline for both him and his wife. Without hesitation, he glanced through the contract, seeing that everything was as the officer said, being a regular labour deal. He signed it within five minutes, before shaking hands with the officer and hugging his wife tightly. "We're safe, we'll be safe, thank Versia!"

"You should be thanking Harrison, he is the one funding all of this and putting our best minds to good use. We have a convoy setting off in an hour's time, I suggest that you spend the remaining time saying your temporary goodbyes to the others. Depending on your work, you could be seeing them in a month's time."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Jakub shook the officer's hand again feverishly, his wife equally elated at the prospect, especially after the near escape. They returned giddy to the other villagers, who were all now disembarking the wagon, with Jakub explaining what was about to happen to them.

"That's great, Jakub! Thank you for getting the help we need." Lisa hugged Jakub, her worries also evaporating away, regaining hope for the future. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"Don't worry, I'll be seeing you all soon, Lucy and I will work as hard as we can in Tenar to bring all of you over. Stay alive, you hear?" Jakub grinned, rubbing a few of the kids heads playfully as he went around, saying his goodbyes. Soon, he and his wife were leaving with their belongings, leaving Lisa alone to take care of the villagers, her hands now possessing the ration cards.

She approached the sergeant happily, but soon noticed something wrong with their wagons as the soldiers checked it. Instead of driving them off to the side, the soldiers were stripping the wagons down for parts and hauling all of their belongings away to an unknown place. "Uhh, sir? sir?" She tapped the sergeant on the shoulder, only to earn a confused gaze.

"Huh? Who are you?"

"I'm Lisa, I'm friends with the arctech engineer you just recruited to Tenar, and he told us -"

"Oh, yea. Right, line up over there to get your rations." The sergeant jabbed his thumb over his shoulder to a two-hundred strong snaking queue over at the other side of the fence into the slum, the cold night wind causing many of the old refugees queuing to shiver in their ragged clothing.

"Sir, sorry, that can't be right." Lisa let out a nervous laugh. "Your soldiers are tearing apart our wagons and stealing our belongings! Jakub said that we got priority and more rations and..."

"And is this Jakub around?"

"Huh?"

"Are you fucking deaf? Where is this Jakub? Now you better get in line before I have to resort to force."

The violent villager stormed up to the sergeant, defending Lisa. "That's no way to talk to us, you fucking upstuck twat. Jakub got word from the officer that-"

Instead of a reply, the villager was shot right in the legs, crippling him as he doubled over in pain, the sergeant's handgun still smoking. The sudden violence frightened the other villagers into submission, Lisa horrified at the sudden twist in treatment while the Versian soldiers began to surround them, aiming their rifles right at them.

The sergeant scowled as he waved his handgun's barrel at them, earning screams from the villagers. "Get in the damn line, you fucking half-breeds, else you can starve for as long as you want!"

<---Chapter 99 - Payback Preparations|Table of Contents|Chapter 101 - War Refugees <--- Scions can read everything!--->