Fantasy The Silent Frontier (always accepting)

[MsPolite]

Forward Outpost 4





There is a tall hastly made structure that lies on the side of a cliff, over looking a dry barren plain of rock. snow capped mountains can be seen far in the distance to the north, and a path trodden road hugs the edge of the a mountain to the west that leads to the structure. Approximately 50 persons, all in varying attire of arms and armour stand outside either loitering about waiting, or doing some task to upkeep the poorly made structure. In front of three pillars with chains hooked on them stand a Naga in full armour and holding a great sword down. She is accompanied by a large golem, and macka and a masked figure. The four watch the rode to the west expecting something to come around the corner. Yet not hearing appears. The Naga looks to the sky, seeing the sun is at its peek.


"Noon. The Dwarf is late again." the Naga frowns.


The golem glances at her. "Maybe he ran into som-" and as if on questions a caravan of wagons begin to come around the mountain with a red beaded dwarf leading the first.


"Finally! took that oaf long enough!" the Macka exclaimed exasperated.


The caravan stops in the front of the outpost. People began to mount of carrying crates, barrels and other luggage.


The Naga Slithers to the lead wagon.


"Your late, assssss ussssual." she says hissing and grinning.


"Honra!" the dwarf turns surprised then laughing


"It is you! What the bloody hell are ya still doin here? it's good to see ya lovely face again Prinum." the dwarf moves for hug


"It's good to see you too Lorlin. I've been given command here yet another year. Seems the empire doesn't want me back just yet." Honra except his friendly hug.


"Now I can't say I feel to thrilled for ya ta be here another year in this blasted land, but it's better than back home. Seems peace may not last considering what's happening."


"what's happening? I haven't gotten much news." Honra asks confused. Lorlin leans into whisper.


"There's been a' assassination attempt on a's Emperor's life. An elf I hear." there was a pause of silence as Honra thinks on these words.


"Well it's best if I git movin. still gots some five more outpost to git ta. it was nice seeing you again." and with that the caravan began moving past the outpost and around the moutain.

 

[Artemiss]

As the sudden rocking of the carriage slammed a large metallic figure into her side, Saya opened her eyes after a day of fitful unrest. Looking around, eyes only half open, she glared at the various other figures in the interior of the carriage. Immediately across from her, there seemed to be a two barbaric individuals, one of whom was tending to their weapon, and the other staring out the small window with a blank expression.


Turning now to her left, and what she could only assume is what woke her up, Saya tilted her head backwards to stare up at her twin brother, San. Tall and fully clad in his glorious suit of armor, his magnitude alone caused a general unease with the other individuals within the cabin space. Saya noticed as the man tending to his axe would nervously dart his eyes upwards to stare into the visage of San's greathelm.


Saya then felt a prodding at her side, as someone repeatedly pressed their long, slender Elven finger into her arm.


Turning back to the right, Saya knew that such annoyance could only come from one individual. . . and that would be her other travelling companion, the Elf, Thrym. Out of direct sunlight, the Elven beauty displayed her long, icy blue hair that reached the small of her back, whilst simultaneously flirting off her ridiculously slender form, enhanced even more so by her full body form-fitting leather outfit. This irked Saya, as she was no slave to fashion, but something within her couldn't help but be bothered at the obvious beauty in front of her.


Thrym continued to poke Saya as she absent mindedly stared at her.


"Sayaaaaaa! This is boringggggggg, can I go?" Thrym whined as she continued prodding Saya.


"You're well aware that we have to report to whoever the hell is in charge when we get there, Thrym. Keep a hold of yourself and honor the Empire." She responded, with a practiced formality of a squad leader.


Thrym, noticeably upset by this answer, now puffed her cheeks slightly, protruding her lips to exaggerate her displeasure with it.


"Well, we've been on this thing like allllllll day!" She suddenly leaned forward, turning her attention to her armor-clad companion, "Hey, San! Want to race me to the outpost?!" She asked, now practically bouncing. A few of the other riders in the carriage were beginning to watch this conversation unfold.


San, who had been slowly observing the others in the car, now turned his attention to the petite elf who was now but a few inches from his face.


"I don't think I would win that. . . I think you have an unfair advantage, T." A low echoing rumble resounded from the armor. The helmet then turned towards Saya, who had been slowly been attempting to remove the elf from her lap. "Sister, I want to get out of here too. Can we go?" The grainy, booming voice resounding from the armor once more.


Looking back up, giving up on removing Thrym from her lap, Saya stared directly into the maw of the visage.


"Gods, not you too. . . Fine, you two can get out and go, but if you're not there for presentation time, I'll have to personally discipline you two later." Saya spoke slowly, hoping to sound slightly menacing.


To her surprise, however, in an instant she was grabbed by two large plated arms, and squeezed against the suit of armor. It wasn't comfortable, but the fact that it was her brother's hug made it bearable. Then she felt another pair of leathery arms wrap around her front, as the soft frame of Thrym came in behind her.


"You're the best, Saya! I promise I'll bring him back in time!" Thrym whispered as suddenly both pairs of arms released, and Saya's two companions rose from their benched seats in unison.


San, not able to stand up straight, lurched towards the door of the carriage, bumping into a few of the other passengers as he went, eventually reaching the door and exiting. Thrym simply stood up, and looked to her gloved hands, as suddenly two large circular crystals began resonating with her magic. A moment later, her form melded with the shadows of the carriage interior, and with a quick wink to one of the nearby passengers, she vanished. All that remained in the cabin was Saya, the two others across from her who both had expressions on their face as if they had seen a ghost, and a few others who looked upset as her brother had rammed into them with his less than dexterous figure.


Saya sighed as the carriage rolled forward, pace unchanged. Looking now at the other passengers more closely, she realized there wasn't a single redeeming quality about any of them. Bored and unimpressed, Saya stood up, and exited the doorway, jumping up slightly to snatch her bow and quiver from the top of the carriage. Winking at the driver, she then darted off into the woods, following the path of broken bushes and branches that was surely her brother's work.


Thirty minutes later, she caught up to the two, as she entered a small clearing in the forest. Before her, San sat with his back leaned against a large tree, head aimed upwards, and a pile of fruits in his lap next to his helmet. Suddenly, a fruit dropped from far above, and San caught it gingerly in his large gloved hand. As Saya drew neared, San averted his gaze from above, and onto his sister, igniting a smile across his strangely child-like face.


"Sister! You came too!" He practically yelled.


"Oh, she did?!" A voice resounded from the tree above.


Walking casually up to her brother, Saya inspected the fruits. They seemed to be non-poisonous, but she decided against eating one anyway. Looking up at the tree, she asked: "Some race, you two. I can't say I'm surprised to find you two eating."


A small shadow under one of the tree's roots next to San began to shift and darken, as Thrym crawled up through it, propping herself against the large figure of San. Taking one of the fruits from his lap, she shoved it into her small mouth as best she could, small bits of juices running out of the corners of her lips.


After swallowing the fruit, Thrym turned to Saya. "So boss, how long til' we have to be there?" Thrym asked half heartedly, grabbing another fruit.


Saya sighed, and turned to the sky. The sky was fairly clear, and based off her knowledge of survival skills, Saya guessed it could be no later than eleven thirty in the morning. Turning her gaze back down, the two were now devouring the bounty they had harvested.


"*Sigh*. . . I think we should get going, the caravan should be arriving soon. Brother, if you would please?" Saya said commandingly, affixing her bow to her back.


San, now depleted of fruit, stood up, resting his helmet back upon his head. Turning around, he bent his knee slightly as Saya jumped onto his back, resting her feet on this belt, and hand on his neck guard. She turned to Thrym, giving and receiving a slight nod before the elf's form escaped into the tree's shadow once more.


"Let's go, Brother."


"Yes, Sister."


And the titanic man began storming off through the forest with the directions of his sister.

 

[MsPolite]

"Fall in!" a booming ethereal voice sounded off coming from the hulking metal mass called Carnifex. Soldiers began to form up, but most of the newcomers lagged behind. Honra watched as Lak'ri, a Macka, circled around and began barking at them, ordering them to move there asses.


"Let go, move! you had plenty of to sit on your asses." Lak'ri roared at the fresh recruits. it took maybe 3 minutes for everyone to get in formation.


"Too long." Honra said to Carnifex as she began to scowl. Carnifex began walking with a scroll opened up and began yelling out names with each soldier yelling there names back in reply. At least most did. when they didn't they would find a short feline creature wracking them in the back of the head with a makes staff. It again took 15 minutes to call of everyone with maybe 10 missing.


"Too long." Honra said again disappointed that the new recruits given to her seemed barely out of training. which was not the case, she knew. Most of them don't want to be here, and where only sent here instead of going to prison or executed. Criminals, and poor soldiers most were.


Thankfully, to Honra's surprise, she now had a century. 54 troops occupied the outpost before the reinforcements, and now her total came to 103. Honra slithered to the front and extended herself skyward to come about more than six feet tall.


"Attention!" Honra sounded off bringing most of the formation to attention.


"Welcome to the Silent Frontier. Or as some like to call it. But make no mistake, This is not a vacation, nor a place to relax. We will keep vigilant to ward off any and all threats to protect the homeland of Copia. Her you are under my command, and this outpost is my house with MY rules. I don't care what you've been through or what you've been through back In Copiague nor do I Care what race you are. you are all nequam to my eyes and all will obey my order and the orders of my officers. And if not... There will be consequences most serve. For I do. otherwise tolerate insubordination. Now Attention to the Imperial Creed!"


I pledge my sword, my loyalty and my life to the Empire.


I will protect the with all my might


I execute my Duty, with honor, courge, loyalty and commit my life to these ideals


Long live the Imperial throne


Long shall the Republic Reign.


Reign!


Reign!


Reign!

 

[Artemiss]

Leaves and branches rushed past Saya's face as her brother stormed through the jungle foliage like some sort of plated beast. In the distance ahead, she could catch glimpses of Thrym darting in and out of the shadows of the forest, crawling and leaping out of shadows Saya didn't even notice existed. Truly it was a marvel to behold, but it was quickly interrupted, as now a structure could be seen in the distance, slowly forming overhead the tree line.


Saya tapped San's shoulder, pointing towards the outpost ahead. Nodding slightly to acknowledge, San turned his path to head towards the distant structure. As they got closer, Saya could now catch glimpses of the ends of the caravan just reaching the loading area outside the outpost. She tapped San's shoulder once more and climbed down off of his back as they approached the edges of the forest, outpost and denizens now in plain sight.


For a second she stood in silence, observing and spying on any and all she could see, taking particular note of the Macka barking orders, and of the naga standing high and mighty above the rest. It was at this moment that Thrym sat down on the ground next to Saya, pulling out one of the fruits from before. Casually eating it, Thrym asked with her mouthful:


"Sho boss, are we going?"


Saya, now zoning back in, adjusted her bow that had been tossed around slightly from the turbulence of her brother's charge.


"Yeah, let's try to get there unseen. I don't particularly want to make a scene right now."


"Righttt, I'm on it." Thrym spoke as she placed her hands on San and Saya's shoulders. Closing her eyes, her usually light hearted expression turned serious, into a state of deep meditation.


From her hands shadows began to coil their way around the twin's shoulders, and then down the chest and up the neck. This part always made Saya uncomfortable, as she wasn't particularly interested in unknown entities being within this close of proximity to her face, but she had done this enough to shrug off her lingering doubts. After a few more moments, the twins were encased in an indeterminable shadow, which seemed to act as a sort of lingering fog, but did not impair their own visions. Turning to her brother, San began his usual inspect of the spell, watching as his arms went through one another, completely unscathed. Neither of the twins really understood how or why Thrym's magic worked, but neither could deny it potency.


Removing her hands from them, Thrym motioned to follow.


"Allllright, aim for under that caravan there! Yeah, that one, we'll crawl out from underneath and no one will notice us! Just think about appearing there, and you should be fine!"


As soon as she concluded her sentence, she dove forward under a large root of a tree nearby. After what seemed like merely a second, San and Saya watched as she began lifting herself out of the shadow the caravan cast. It was unnerving, but infinitely interesting to Saya, as she less gracefully moved towards a shadow of a nearby boulder. Looking down at the shadow, and again at the caravan, Saya took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and then head first plunged into the ground, all the while thinking of the caravan. She expected to meet the resistance of the ground, but instead found herself moving through what seemed like a thicker water substance, until eventually she could feel the warmth of the light on her skin, as she dragged herself up through the shadow next to Thrym. Shortly after, the tip of San's head appeared, as he struggled to get himself out of whatever inner dimension they had passed through.


The three climbed up and out of the back of the carriage, only to head a commanding voice reading off names. Saya peered around the corner, and it seemed that whoever was in charge hadn't noticed their absence yet. Silently motioning to the other two, Thrym dropped their shadows in a quick snap of her finger, and the three hurriedly rushed to the back of the formation, attempting to blend into line as best they could. Luckily, the golem calling names hadn't made it to far through the pack yet, it seemed.


A short while later, the golem had concluded his role call, and the naga stepped forward, announcing herself as their commander.


"Attention!" Honra sounded off bringing most of the formation to attention.


"Welcome to the Silent Frontier. Or as some like to call it. But make no mistake, This is not a vacation, nor a place to relax. We will keep vigilant to ward off any and all threats to protect the homeland of Copia. Her you are under my command, and this outpost is my house with MY rules. I don't care what you've been through or what you've been through back In Copiague nor do I Care what race you are. you are all nequam to my eyes and all will obey my order and the orders of my officers. And if not... There will be consequences most serve. For I do. otherwise tolerate insubordination. Now Attention to the Imperial Creed!"


I pledge my sword, my loyalty and my life to the Empire.


I will protect the with all my might


I execute my Duty, with honor, courge, loyalty and commit my life to these ideals


Long live the Imperial throne


Long shall the Republic Reign.


Reign!


Reign!


Reign!





Everyone around her began chanting the creed, as Saya remained silent, not speaking the anthem herself. She may be a soldier, but she had no love for the Empire, and felt no obligation to need to follow the creed. As the chant concluded, she watched Honra above, with an intensive fixation, waiting for her next command.

 

[MsPolite]

Honra Stared intently at her century. She noticed a few who did not recite the creed. Her mouth molded I to a deep frown as she knew those few were going to be a pain in her ass.


"Now, We've placed you into rooms of two, segregated by gender. Only males or females in each room golems are exempt from that rule. There has been a list posted on the bulletin board. You will also notice that people of larger size get there own room, and golems made of materials unable to decay will stand sentry at all times in the night." the She pointed to her back left where a bulletin board stood by the three stakes in the yard. Carnifex then took a step forward as Honra lowered herself down. "All new recruits to the fort will report to my Curo for job posting, and Watch scheduling. FALLOUT!" and with that all the the formation broke with the veteran troops going back to whatever they were doing. Some of the recruits lingered still not really knowing what to do while others went to the bulletin board to find their rooms and the such.


"Carnifex." Honra called to her curious. "Take charge I'll be looking over the list of Manu that are here, and Lak'ri, help Carnifex. Thank you." Honra left, going back inside. Her skin was noticeably paler than when she first came out of the fort and if on closers inspection her body was shivering.


Carnifex had watched His Primum enter the fort then looked to the line of recruits then began dulling out tasks in his usual cold hollow monotone voice.


"Alrighty!" Lak'ri the Macka piped up. "ALL females form a line with me and I will be assigning your tasks." All the while Falin began circling the yard watching intently. The sky above began to get cloudy, and the temperature dropped quite a bit.


It was the start of another year, yet it felt like the end of one as snow cold be seen to delicately floating down.


All was Silent in this Friged foreign land. For this was the Silent Frontier.


End of Prologue

 

[Artemiss]

Saya motioned for San to move forward and find his room, following the stream of individuals already heading that way. Saya wasn't particularly keen on the idea of her brother sleeping in a different room, but felt that now wasn't the time to argue the point. With a brief sigh, Saya began walking to line up in front of Lak'ri, with Thrym in tow. Saya watched her brother's large, plated back as he nervously climbed the steps of the outpost. Her gaze followed him until he was out of sight, and when she could no longer see him, she could feel her muscles tense slightly. Clutching her pendant adourned around her neck, she took a deep breath, turning her attention back towards Lak'ri, awaiting her assignment.