Chapter 121 - Commercialized Agriculture (Patreon)

<---Chapter 120 - Hunters | Table of Contents | Chapter 122 - Ruminations --->

"Get down on the ground!" A Nest soldier roared, shoving the barrel of his arctech rifle against a defiant village militiaman, beating him down just outside his own house. Another soldier grabbed a frightened mother and her son, shoving them out of the house before entering, smashing, and checking for the supposed revolutionary. All across the small hamlet, small little scuffles were breaking out as villagers tried to resist the Nest soldiers breaking into their homes, but none of them were willing to fight back, afraid of the consequences or endangering their loved ones. How were they to fight back against enemies far more equipped than they were?

"Don't fight back, just stay down!" A mother had to hold back her own son, preventing him from lashing out in anger as he watched the Nest soldier raid and pillage his house mercilessly, snatching and grabbing anything of value. Before he laid his grubby hands on a sapphire ring, something snapped within the son, prompting him to grab a nearby fireplace iron stick and use it to impale the Nest soldier from behind.

However, his inexperience had the sharp tip miss entirely, going past the Nest soldier who had moved in coincidence. No words needed to be said as the Nest soldier immediately grabbed the attacking son's head with one hand, dashing his forehead against the wall violently in a fierce slam. A splat of blood stained the once homely walls, the stains skidding downwards as the son's body fell to the floor, suffering a concussion.

"NO!" The mother wailed, running up to put herself between the Nest soldier and her unconscious son's body. Instead, her bravery only earned a pellet that ripped through her simple skirt and the flesh in her thighs, the searing pellets lodging themselves near her femur, causing her to trip onto the floor, her face wracked with tremendous pain.

"Looks like you'll be better off as a sack of meat than handing you over to the authorities!" The Nest soldier grinned as he grabbed the mother's head by her hair, dragging her around the floor and flipping her over, aiming the rifle right at her head. "I should've killed your son by now, but maybe you can do something for me if you want to keep him alive!"

Before he could act on his nefarious intentions, a sudden knife blade found its way into his throat, gutting his neck out while the owner of the knife blade gave a sidelong kick to the ribs of the Nest soldier, the force gouging out the blade and slicing through the tendons that kept his head upright. The mother shrieked as she watched the dying Nest soldier crumpled into a useless heap, scrambling away from his killer, who stood behind the body and mercilessly kicked it.

Ignoring the panicking mother, the killer walked up to the unconscious son, popping a tube-like vial open and pouring the healing potion within onto his head. Within a few seconds, the son was already stirring awake, his head still groggy from impact.

The killer left without a word as gunshots and brutish howls of fighting echoed off the gigantic red bark trees that surrounded the hamlets, some pellets zipping through the foilage up through the canopy, causing a flock of birds to scatter, their rainbow feathers fluttering in the sky. Before any of the Nest soldiers were even aware, the Ghosts had launched a coordinated attack, catching them off-guard and spreading panic.

"Where's the squad leader? Regroup! Regroup!" An anxious Nest soldier tried to call out to his comrades, waving his hands frantically only to paint a target on his back, three pellets driving through his weak, soft metal chest plate. The pellets drilled holes through his ribcage with blood gushing out, his body collapsing in front of a few shocked villagers that had been rounded up cowering outside.

The battle was fast and brutal, Sasha and Feldon making quick work of the clearly inexperienced Nest guards, some of whom seemed to have just been hired from the refugee camps of Desham as well. Despite their numerical superiority, they had nothing to answer against the professional slaughter that the Ghosts wrecked upon them.

Yet even as the last Nest soldier died, the damage to the village had already been done. The homes had been ransacked, and the dignity of the villagers was in tatters, children and mothers alike having been beaten up. While the deaths around them were horrifying to the largely pacifist villagers, not a single one amongst them thought the deaths were undeserved.

The Ghosts cut and dismantled any cuffs or restraints the Nest soldiers had put on the villagers, setting them free. Some of the villagers recoiled in fear, afraid that this was another armed group who had come to oust them. Disputes over territory were common in the Keru Forest, especially with the lack of law enforcement. Thankfully, the villagers recognized a familiar face among the Ghosts. "Jaden! It's Jaden!" One of the kids excitedly shouted.

"Don't worry, guys, they are with me. We're going to protect you!" Jaden gave a thumbs-up, preparing to bandage up an injured villager who had broken his ankle. Drake was already sprinting out of the house, shouting to the villagers and gathering them together in a central opening amidst their trashed houses. "Are you all safe? Anyone in need of healing? I-I have healing potions! Get the injured to my house, quickly!"

While Drake and Jaden began to lead those suffering from bruises toward his house, Hayden let out a sigh of relief, still hiding behind her house with her triple-cylinder gun at the ready. She slung the gun to her side, hefting up a large rucksack filled to the brim with countless machinery and relics, about to leave the village without a word before someone unfamiliar appeared in front of her in the darkness of the night, his figure only slightly perceivable from the reflected glow of the hamlet's fire and Nest spotlights still left on.

Hayden dropped the rucksack instantly, about to bring her gun to bear, when the figure in front of her moved quickly, his body becoming a blur. She tried to track his movement with her eyes, but her body could not react in time, a machete with stains of blood now pressing against her throat. "Let's not get too hasty, Hayden Nu. There's no reason for you to leave the village now that it's sa-"

As her assailant spoke, Hayden wasn't out of options just yet; a sudden glaring blast of light erupted the necklace around her neck, blinding her assailant and allowing Hayden to move. But before she could draw a knife along her thigh holster, an iron grip clasped around her head, the force unimaginable as Hayden let out a cry of pain, unable to withstand the pressure.

Two kicks to the back of her knees had her fall to the ground, forced to kneel while the assailant still held a machete to her neck. "For one of the original revolutionaries, you're not as spry as I thought you would be. I'm not here to hurt you. If I can help it."

Hayden gasped sharply as the iron grip on her head was released; the machete retracted to allow her to catch her breath. As she regained her composure, she had a small smirk on her face. "You better not hurt me. I'm sure Harrison wouldn't appreciate it if you brought me back in tatters."

"And why would I give you over to Harrison?" The assailant sheathed the machete behind his back on his belt, walking over in front of Hayden, where his face was illuminated by the light.

"You're the hunter this morning. Aren't you hired to track me down and haul me back?" Hayden scoffed as she stood back up, dusting off her knees. "Just get it over with."

"You look very different from the pictures I've seen of you. Much younger and more energetic." Kyle carefully paced around her. "It's a shame I did not manage to rescue it from the hideout."

"The hideout...?" Hayden's confusion only worsened until she finally realized what Kyle was referring to. "There's no way, the hideout is only known to-"

"Dekar and your missing President Johan, yes. Only they know the real layout of the catacombs. Unfortunately, I do not currently have Dekar with me. Let me assure you that I am not on Harrison's side. We are the Ghosts of Versia." Kyle introduced dramatically.

Hayden, however, shook her head vigorously. "Impossible. I heard through the radio that all the Ghosts perished in the catacombs after they attacked the Grand Exhibition and tried to assassinate Harrison. Pretending to be them is in bad taste - their sacrifice should not be tarnished by the likes of you."

"Rumors of our demise have been greatly exaggerated, no doubt for the purpose of propaganda." Kyle waved his hand dismissively. "Whether or not you believe us, I still require your assistance."

Hayden squinted her eyes. "I'm just an old lady at this stage. I can't help you with anything."

"Don't belittle yourself. I know who you are. Hayden Nu, Harrison's former top researcher for arctech applications. Inventor of the Aurtla, the first native heavier-than-air flight completely independent of relics from ancient ruins."

"I'm not the inventor of that blasted warmachine - I never agreed for it to be used for the military!" Hayden snapped back aggressively. "Harrison has twisted all of my designs for his own uses instead of the benefit of Versia, and that's exactly why we're in such a shit state right now!"

"And what are you doing about it? Last I checked, you've been hiding out in this village for months on end." Kyle motioned towards the hamlet. "You don't seem very concerned that Versia is in a terrible state now. You were even planning to go deeper into the Forest, weren't you?"

"I'm not about to justify myself to some lowlife who thinks he can masquerade as a Ghost." Hayden spat with derision, her determination strong. "Either let me go right now or just kill me alread-"

Her heart stopped for a moment as her body barely had any time to react, Kyle drawing the machete faster than she could blink. Her expression froze as the tip of the machete stopped just one centimeter from her eyes in an instant, the adrenaline immediately rushing through her veins while she stumbled back in fear.

"So much for determination to die," Kyle remarked, twirling the machete in his hand expertly. "I can kill you at any time I want, no need for you to ask. Your life right now is in my hands."

Hayden gulped instinctively, her heart palpitating rapidly from the near-death scenario she had just saw. If she had just moved forward a little, she could have lost an entire eye now. Still, the display of skill from Kyle showed to her that he was definitely not an ordinary fighter. Could he really be a Ghost? "What do you want from me? The plans for Aurtla? I don't have them anymore on me."

"I don't want the plans, they are of little use to me. Pitiful things that can be easily shot down." Kyle said dismissively, shocking Hayden.

"Easily shot down? Those 'pitiful things' fly at speeds unheard of - not even an arctech wagon can go that fast!" Hayden retorted in a fit of rage, defending her invention unknowingly.

Kyle didn't respond, merely glancing around across the canopy of trees before seeing the outline of a bird the size of a barrel perched on a tree branch between the leaves, its wings folded as it slept quietly. "See that bird up there, the third branch from the left?"

Hayden squinted her eyes, barely able to make it out. She wouldn't have been able to spot the bird without Kyle having pointed it out, and her eyesight was not as good as that of Kyle's 229-A-X package. "Yeah, what abou-"

A sudden bang from a railgun erupted across the hamlet, a projectile streaking across at a blinding speed that slammed into the bird, before erupting in a ball of flames that set the leaves of the tree smoldering, sparks flying everywhere. The villagers were shocked at the sudden attack, and some of the villagers spread out to see what was happening. Bits and pieces of the bird's flesh flew everywhere, scattering across the forest ground with a sickening splat, all while Hayden watched on in horror, her head swiveling only to see Kyle still pointing, having not fired a single pellet himself.

"Convinced?" Kyle smirked.

"Wha-what... but...." Hayden couldn't wrap her head around it, struggling to figure out what was going on. The speed of the projectile is not something a normal Versian rifle can handle. Anything like that would have blown apart the barrel immediately or sent a reverse wave into the arcia energy of the user and damaged his veins...

"Want to know how? Join me as a Ghost. I will help you fight against Harrison and find your old comrades again. Dekar is in Creuliz right now, also gathering allies to help." Kyle explained. "Your skills as an arctech engineer are needed in the fight. The time for hiding is over - now is the time to step out and stand for what you believe in. If you want in, follow me back to Drake's house. Otherwise, I wish you all the best."

He turned around, walking back towards the center of the hamlet, leaving Hayden in the dark and alone. No one else seemed to be around, though instead of running away deeper into the forest, she made up her mind, grabbing her rucksack and following Kyle from behind, albeit at a further distance.

[Sir, you were right. She's coming back to the village. How did you convince her not to run?] Sasha's voice came into Kyle's mind as he walked among the injured villagers who were now being treated by Drake and a few other helpers. They were still wary about the sudden explosion nearby, but seeing that there were no follow-up attacks of any sort, the tension died down a little, though everyone was still a little on edge, their eyes alert.

[I just demonstrated I can blow up a bird in the middle of the night through the forest from seemingly nowhere. Anyone who decides to run after seeing that is an idiot not worth recruiting.]

Drake spotted Kyle coming by, though he still continued on his job, bringing potions and placing herbs on bruises to soothe the aching pain for some of the villagers. To his surprise, Kyle handed him a few vials of health potions, allowing the healing process for the villagers to go a lot faster. Drake was about to open his mouth to say thanks, but he caught a glimpse of the pensive Hayden approaching them, still hoisting the rucksack on her back along with the triple-cylinder gun slung in front.

He quickly moved over to her, trying to grab her hand. "Hayden, thank the Goddess you're okay. I..."

Hayden allowed Drake to touch her hand, but she averted her gaze, unwilling to look Drake in the eye. "Sorry Drake, not now, just.... lets talk about it later. We got bigger things to worry about."

"Right, right, of course." Drake nodded, letting Hayden walk past him. The memory of him rejecting Hayden's offer to elope was still fresh in his mind, tearing apart from within mentally until a weird whistle beside him from one of the Ghosts interrupted his train of thought.

"Looks like something spicy going on between the two of you." Feldon remarked, a sly grin on his face as he nudged Drake in the arm twice. "Come on, tell me whats happening?"

"Err... Do I know you?" Drake cocked an eyebrow, unable to recall if he had talked to Feldon before.

"Name's Feldon. I'm sorta in charge of the Ghosts. Well, except for Kyle. And Sasha. But that's beside the point."

"Look, I really don't have time for this. People are hurt and -"

"I know, I know, but our boss got it covered. Look." Feldon motioned towards Kyle, who was healing the injured with his Necklace of Healing whenever it was off-cooldown, trying to build a rapport with the villagers. It was definitely working, many now recognizing the Ghosts as their saviors.

Drake's shoulder relaxed a little, knowing that the villagers were going to be alright. "Well, I guess it's just that, I'm stuck between choosing her or choosing the village. Sometimes, I wonder why I can't have both. Instead, now she's most likely going to leave me forever. We might never get back to how we were before."

"Hey, hey, it's alright." Feldon drooped his armored arm around Drake, as though they had already become best buddies. "You know, I had to suffer a divorce back then just like that, too. We quarreled day in and day out, always about money and whether or not to have children. It's hard to find someone aligned with all of your views in this day and age. People come and go all the time, and when she left me, it was painful and difficult. It really showed me that life is fleeting and that this whole time I spent wondering about what to do could have been used to do something better. Anyway, what I am trying to say is that don't worry too much. My first wife pulled the same trick on me, too, packing up and leaving without telling me."

Drake was a bit lost from that rambling. "And... your first wife came back in the end?"

"What? Of course not. Heard she's having a blast in Proco. Married one of the mayors or something, fuck if I know. Got a second wife with kids now."

"What even is the moral of the story here?" Drake groaned as he facepalmed.

"Uhh... all things work out in the end? Just not with the one you were hoping for. But yeah, now that you mention it, we were talking about you and that lady-hey, where are you going? I wasn't done yet! You'll be remiss not to listen to Feldon, the love expert!" Feldon called out after Drake, who had given up on the ranting Feldon.

Many of the able-bodied villagers clamored around Drake as he walked past them, all wanting to offer up their opinions on what to do next.

"How did they know we had a revolutionary here in the village? Who told them?" A villager asked around loudly, his voice carrying over the injured.

"Didn't you hear? They said she was skulking about Tenar Logging. She's too dangerous for us - we should kick Hayden out of the village right this instant!" An elderly lady tapped her cane forcibly, ranting.

"That doesn't make any sense!" The first villager shot back. "They already want to evict us on a false charge of illegal squatter, when we have been here for decades! Why would kicking Hayden out help us in any way?"

"I don't care what happens, but I just don't want my son to be caught in the crossfire!" Another mother chimed in. "We should surrender to the military immediately - tell them who killed their soldiers and who the revolutionaries are, then maybe we can avoid retribution."

"This village was built on trust and loyalty among us, having worked together for generations. If we are selling out our own people, what kind of village is this?!" Jaden interjected, furious.

"Hayden is not one of us, she barely joined us a few months ago!"

"And? You still use her skills and tools to feed your children - don't forget the metal post you use to cook!"

"We should move away from here - find another area. Grab everything we need and just get the fuck away from here. The Keru Forest is big enough for us to hide somewhere else!" Another anxious villager chimed in.

"We won't be able to survive - deeper in is way too dangerous, nearly all the creatures there can kill us instantly if we're not well prepared. There's a reason why we're even living in this part of the Keru Forest, because it's safer!" Jaden waved his arms animatedly. "Anyone who's been out hunting knows why there's no villages deeper in!"

The argument was heated, as the villagers were clearly divided on what to do. Not many were willing to participate in the argument, some simply heading home to check on their damaged furniture from the rough handling of the soldiers, while a few curious kids warily picked up a dropped repeater, examining it before their mother quickly snatched it away.

Hayden sat on the side of the argument, watching the debate go nowhere. She rested her chin on her hand, her elbow pressed against her crossed legs, and she waited with an exasperated expression. Drake, too, was at a loss for words. He tried to enter the conversation, but the rising tensions between conflicting ideas were stressing him out greatly. This was the first attack on the village in living memory, and watching the villagers be divided like this was hard to stomach. A hand rested on his shoulder; Drake turned around to see Kyle. "Let me handle this," Kyle said as he stepped forward into the middle of the villagers.

As he moved past the throng, none of them dared to block his path, all of them having seen his proficiency in combat. His towering height had him taller than most of the woodcutters and hunters in the village, his features also innately attractive to them. Furthermore, he had saved them from the brutality of Nest, and even offered healing and healing potions to the injured.

"I am Kyle. Leader of the Ghosts of Versia." Kyle announced, earning a few gasps from villagers who had heard the recent news. The rumor of the attack on the Grand Exhibition had already spread fast, and even an isolated village like this had also heard something about it. "We are fighting against the tyranny of Nest, Harrison Industries, and the corrupt government who supports them."

"I don't care about your upstart political movement - this is our village we're talking about!" The same elderly lady rammed her walking cane into the floor angrily. "We don't want any part of the conflict, none of the war! We just want to be left in peace!" Her statements earned a few approving murmurs even among those who had been arguing with her; most of the villagers were averse to the idea of war.

"But the conflict is here, whether you like it or not. Running away is not going to change the fact that Nest is now eyeing your homeland and your rightful grounds as their property. Even if we and Hayden leave right now - they will still come back for you."

"We can just leave! Go deeper into the forest and stake a new claim!" A villager called out.

"Then can you survive the creatures and monsters who will no doubt try to kill you?" Kyle countered.

"We won't know until we try. If all fifty of us work together, we can make it happen! If the mammoth hogs try to attack us, we can fight back together!" The villager clenched his fist, though not many agreed with him, some scoffing at his foolhardy suggestion.

"Don't you see? Wherever you go, either deeper into the forest, or out into the open plains, the peace that you are searching for is not by averting your eyes and shying away from conflict. The peace that you seek is by claiming your birth rights as humans, as Versians, to stand up for yourself in the face of tyranny!"

"Conflict is a cycle of hate, a cycle of destruction! This village will not be complicit in such a barbaric way!" The elderly lady re-stated her stance again.

"Then why do none of you admonish us for the deaths of the Nest soldiers? Why do you inherently feel that their deaths were deserved? Your freedom, your rights, your beliefs, and your identity can only be protected through strength. Through force! It is the force itself that had brought Nest to your doorstep, forcing you to the brink. Imagine if my Ghosts were not here. Would the village still be alive now?"

"It is your presence who brought them here! We never had a problem with them!" One man replied.

"Then what about a week from now? A month from now? Tenar Logging has been working for years now, and they aren't going to just remain satisfied with their current zones."

"Well, bad luck for them!" A mother taunted. "It's not our fault that they can't go deeper because of the hogs!"

"Then it was inevitable that they come for this village, a place where mammoth hogs rarely venture. Your demise was inevitable. How long are you going to let others step all over you? How long are you going to let yourself be swayed by the tide? Are you going to surrender yourself, willing to lose everything your ancestors and parents have struggled for, all because you do not want to fight? What would your father think? What would your mother have thought? What would you tell your children, when they ask you what happened to the village? That you gave yourself up willing and allowed yourself to be tortured, raped and beaten without so much as a whimper?" Kyle berated them, his voice raised.

"We will tell them that we stood for peace!" The elderly lady pushed back, but she began to be acutely aware that the villagers around her were starting to switch over to Kyle's side.

Kyle scoffed. "Stood for peace? Is that the excuse you will give your children and grandchildren when they find themselves born into slavery, forced to work menial labor for days and months on end without recompense, stuck in never-ending production lines and destroying their own bodies and health just so one man at the top can be rich? Can you say that to your grandchildren? Can you look them in the eye and tell them right now that they will be enslaved, forced to live in cramped rooms with nothing more than a meal a day, a collar, and a number as their only distinguishing feature? Who wants to be the first? Right now, your children stand here, listening!" Kyle ended with a roar. "If you want to stand for peace, turn yourself over right now to Nest, and relinquish control and ownership of every parcel of land you own here. Who will be the first?"

Even the elderly lady found it hard to argue against that, unwilling to give up what she owned in the village. None of the villagers could, and many of them were unable to imagine a life without their house and land, which they knew was like the back of their hand. The terrible conditions of the refugee camps were also not new to them; everyone knew just how bad it could be. "But if Nest comes back with a bigger force, we are bound to lose! We'll all die!" A panicking mother tried to reason.

"Then would you rather subject yourself and your family to decades of slavery and torture? Of imprisonment and punishment for something you did not do? Who here believes you are illegal squatters, that you do not have the legal right to live here?"

"FUCK NO!" The first villager stepped forward. "All of us were born here, our fathers and grandfathers before us, too! Like hell, I'm going to give up my home without a fight! I won't let my child be captured by Nest, not if I have a chance to stop it!"

"Then I will give you that chance. Join us, join the Ghosts of Versia, and defend your village! We will train you, equip you with the necessary tools to ensure your security, and this village will see prosperity unlike ever before! Goddess Nona said all men are equal under her, and so we shall fight on equal terms with Nest!"

"YEA!" The majority of the villagers cheered in unison, those who did not still reluctant or pessimistic about their chances. Still, Kyle had already achieved his goal of securing the loyalty of the village, so long as he could protect it from Nest retribution. As the villagers cheered and smacked their chests with vigor, Kyle had Jaden and Feldon step up with him, explaining the steps.

"Starting from today, we will work together to form a defense perimeter around the village. Traps, ditches, hiding spots. We will fight not in the village where our loved ones are, but amidst the forest where our advantage lies. Feldon and Jaden will coordinate the defense now, while Hayden will equip you with the necessary weapons. Feldon, you know what to do. Jaden, show him the terrain." Kyle handed it over, moving over to Drake.

"I... I never thought the village could be brought back together like that." Drake was thoroughly impressed.

"Not all of them are aligned. Some might try to betray us. But once our defenses are set up accordingly, we can work it out."

"But if Nest really comes with a bigger force..."

"Then we will be ready by then. Now, we have to do what we must. I need those mammoth hogs hunted by the end of today." Kyle urged. The meat was crucial to having this entire plan work, and if he wanted to prevent a second Nest attack, he needed more manpower and equipment as well.

"I understand. Follow me." Drake led Kyle back into his herbalist hut, Drake opening another cabinet to reveal a few pouches, inside which were Poair Leaves all grounded up, along with a strange purple powder sprinkled over them. "This will make the hunting easier, but it's not easy to make this pouch. We only have five, and one is only enough for a single adult hog." Drake handed the pouch over to Kyle, who inspected it.

[Item]: Lethargic Poair Leaves

Poair Leaves combined with the spores of a Magneta Cap. Slows down the reaction speed of anyone who consumes it.

Good. Time to commercialize some meat.

<---Chapter 120 - Hunters | Table of Contents | Chapter 122 - Ruminations --->