(Corone Armed Forces) Forgotten Heroes. (Open!!!)

[Sir_Creno]

(Open to two, if not, Solo Quest.)

Hero. That's what they called me and my company. Some folk at least. My name is Creno. Creno Valour. I seen a lot of shit in my day. That damned Civil War tore up Corone. We were the ones forced to pick up the fucking pieces. I was working over drive during that time. Me and the old squad. Picking up the slack for shit. I find myself writing a lot. Personal journals, shit like that. Trying to keep myself from losing my fucking mind. The fighting has been non stop for months now. It's not just the damned war. People going nuts, saying they are seeing things, hearings things. There are tactics being utilized that are very unconventional. The Empire grows desperate to keep it's foothold. We're just trying to protect the people. That's what I keep telling myself. But a part of me grows cold, and numb representing a heart as broken as that of Corone. Just yesterday...

"Captain!" The soldier was calling out to him, saying his name over and over.

But the fighting never stopped, at least in the alien's mind. The fighting was constant, he had to keep his edge over the normal Althanas folk. He had to be the Hero. He worked extremely hard to obtain the position of a Squad Captain at an unprecedented young age. He had proven himself to his superior officers. Now, they were in the middle of a deadly skirmish on the outskirts of Corone, on one of the outlying farms. A group of bandits had held a bunch of farmers prisoners and demanded ransom. Creno and his squad of soldiers was sent to "negotiate." However, during the middle of the fighting something had happened.

Creno was seeing red, his vision was grayed out as he mercilessly beat the skull of the bandit in. His vision was blurring and it was difficult to make out who was an ally and who was an enemy. He kept his spear at the ready, holding himself in a trained combat position. People were screaming all around him, and his head hurt. The fighting had been non stop for hours. It was the last days of The Corone Civil War, but one would not be able to tell that in the underlying towns and farms. Creno saw the reddish/grayish world all around him. He had grabbed the bandit and was slamming the man's skull against the floor over and over. The man's neck was snapped minutes earlier as Creno moved. The shouts of both friend and foe came far away, sounding more mechanical than anything else. Creno was beyond confused, beyond sanity, he was in an altered state of mind. Once Creno was satisfied that the bandit was dead, he finally heard the call of his comrades. Turning slowly towards them, Creno kept his spear at the ready. In that altered state of being, he could see the world in a slowed down sort of way. He was a vibe, a pulse. Another beating breath in the storm of war.

It felt hot, impossibly hot. Creno wanted to crawl out of his skin, when he saw a bandit approaching one of his allies. It was a sneak attack attempt, and the bandit held a dagger at the ready. Captain Creno Valour, suddenly readied his spear and launched in the direction of the bandit he saw. It was carefully aimed, tried and true technique. There was a gutteral sound from the bandit as he died. His soldiers looked incredulously at Creno and then one of his comrades removed the spear from the bandit.

"Captain! I got a little careless there, apologies." The soldier returned Creno his spear, who in turn, took it and sheathed it.

After breathing a few moments, the world of Althanas returned to it's normal dreary color. "Look alive men." Creno said. "We're in enemy territory and there are no reinforcements coming. We got a bunch of hostages to rescue, and no signs. The fighting's been non stop..." Creno suddenly felt a tremendous headache come on. He turned his attention away from the soldiers, and clutched his head for a few moments. He had to breathe. Get it together man. Creno told himself, remembering he was in charged of the squad. They had to perform to CAF standards.

When he opened his eyes, the world was gray again. And he saw a mysterious child he had never seen before. The child motioned for Creno.

"Help us. Please help us...before it's too late."

"Where are you all?" Creno asked.

"There." The child pointed towards one of the larger buildings, and the world returned to normal.

"There." Creno repeated out loud.

"Captain?" One of the nearby soldiers asked. "We checked that area yesterday..."

"Trust me, they are there. We have to look again...before it's too late." Creno didn't fully understand what was happening to him. His squad was around him at that point. "I will need two volunteers." He said carefully. "The rest of you secure the perimeter. The hostages are top priority..." Creno said. He wondered if he was losing it, but he trusted his feelings. All Saenorakym Prime trusted their feelings. It was the only thing that kept him sane in an insane time.

There was a pause. But his soldiers were loyal to him. He had never lead them astray before, and he wasn't about to start now. Without hesitation, two of his best and finest comrades stepped forward to assist Creno.

"Good. Let's get this underway people." Creno said and moved with his comrades towards the house. His head felt a bit better as he moved with a new purpose.

[Hamlet7768]

These were the jobs he lived for, as horrid as that sounded. He knew he was following his code once they started fighting, and he noticed the Imperial armor their opponents wore. The blade dipped and stabbed quickly, punching through breastplates and sweeping legs. Beneath the canvas that formed the bottom of his mask, Victor Kalyem smiled, though if anyone saw it it would look more like a grimace. He swept the battlefield with a quick glance, checking for any opening where he might help a comrade. He knew the others had been fighting for far longer than he, and any help he could give might save one, or all, of them. However, as he looked, the rest of the battle had died. The Empire's forces had been repelled. For the time being, anyway. And only from this place.

So, really, what had they gained? Not much. But a few people had gained their lives. That was enough.

Victor looked around for one person who seemed missing, who normally was easily visible in any melee. Captain Valour, their leader, a towering man of a mysterious nature and extreme combat ability. After a moment of looking, Victor found the Captain, however, clearly coming down from a battle rage. He sympathized, having gotten in those states himself. He tried to avoid them, afraid of losing control and killing an ally, or worse an innocent, with no stake in the fight.

Victor jumped in surprise as Captain Valour suddenly threw his massive spear over the heads of a few soldiers, and as he followed it he saw it bury itself in a bandit, one they had missed. He blinked in surprise. How had he missed it?

He ignored the apologies of the saved soldier and returned his focus to the Captain. He would probably—no, definitely—have their new orders. He gave them a brief warning about alertness, before what looked like a sudden headache cut him off. He looked away, and as he did Victor scanned the area around. There wasn't much in the way of concealing terrain, and very few people around. A few humble farmers looked on them from a distance. Victor took off his helmet and waved to them. They waved back.

"There," he suddenly heard the Captain say aloud, pointing at a house Victor remembered had been cleared shortly before he had joined up with this company. A soldier reminded the Captain of this fact, but he brushed the shorter man aside. "Trust me, they are there. We have to look again...before it's too late." Victor cocked his head in confusion as the Captain then turned to the group and announced a need for two volunteers. Victor looked around briefly, seeing men far more tired than he, before stepping forward quickly and putting his helmet back on his head.

"I will do my damned best, sir. Lead the way."

[Sir_Creno]

The Captain looked at his two volunteers. One was a mercenary, and the other was one of his most trusted comrades. The mercenary was a trusted ally, he wore a mask and all, but Creno didn't mind that. The fellow was an effective warrior and good friend. He'd proven himself quickly. The other was a guy named Lukas Kreen. Lukas had served under Creno for several months and had quickly risen through the ranks. Lukas nodded to Creno, and The Captain nodded back. It's good to have some people I trust on this job. This job is looking more and more oppressive by the hour. It seems like the longer we wait, the more likely it is that we will lose the hostages...I can't live with that. Creno thought to himself as he evaluated what he knew. The spectral child had told him where they were, he had to trust that.

He didn't know why his mind was getting altered, it just was. Shuddering at the thought, he looked at the large house and prepared himself for the challenge ahead.

"Right then. The rest of you secure the area. If anymore Imperials show up you guys know what to do. Take prisoners if you can, but I really don't expect this lot to know much." If my gut instinct is correct, there was a serious breech of Imperial orders here. I think there were more than one squad that were told separate orders and commands. That's where the conflict started. Creno looked at his comrades. "We must find the area where the hostages are hidden and rescue all we can." Creno then turned towards the largest house, the area which had already been checked. He had a feeling he knew where the hostages were. They needed to go where there was a underground area of some sort. Creno carefully made his way into the, the front door had already been kicked in by the soldiers days earlier. It hung on it's hinges creaking in the wind.

Creno sheathed his spear, and drew his side arms. Creno often switched between his huge buster sword, and his spear. Both required both hands to equip at the moment, so he knew that he would have to fall back on his fists and melee skills. He instinctively walked through the main dining hall and walked towards where the staircase leading to the basement area was. When he first arrived there nights earlier, he had a feeling something was not right. When he arrived at the basement area, he was certain Lukas and Victor had followed him down. Creno investigated the old wine cellar, large containers of vintage wine were present. The area was dimly lit, and it was easy to miss any side passages that may have been hidden. Once they had arrived at the entrance to the old wine cellar, Creno took a deep breath. Then, he entered taking the point of the group.

"Stay close by, and don't wander too far off. We don't know what's down here." Creno said, but he had some idea. We're looking for something that hasn't been found yet. Possibly an antechamber of some sort...can I really trust myself this time? Creno clenched his fists, he didn't have any answers to why he was losing it. He just knew that something strange was going on in his head. He knew it took a lot to alter his people's native brain structure, lack of sleep, for months on end, was one of those things. Creno shook his head and ventured into the wine cellar, listening very carefully as he walked. I need a sign here...I can't afford to go batty while there is a war going on. My men are depending on me. The hostages need to be saved... Creno suddenly felt a tremendous migraine headache, and heard a loud ringing sound. Turning his attention towards a loud scream he heard, he saw the boy again.

"Here." The boy said. There was a normal looking wall that didn't seem unusual, but Creno felt it that time. A breeze coming through the wall. Maybe a hidden switch would pull the door hidden there, but Creno didn't have time for that shit. The blood red-gray world surfaced in Cerno's vision once again. He didn't know that the world actually had a name, he assumed it was a heightened state of Saenorakym Prime being. Creno walked towards the boy, the boy vanished.

"I am coming, hang on a bit longer." Creno said to nobody in particular. Then, trusting his instincts, he reached back really far, and punched right through the hollow wall. As expected, a hole appeared where Creno had struck it, and there was a nasty smelling wind coming through the newly discovered hallway. Immediately, two imperials came running towards Creno's position. "Victor, Lukas, flank them! We're not alone!" Creno immediately took a step backwards and wished he had room enough to draw his giant sized weapons. Instead, he readied his fists in a combat stance and prepared to knock the soldiers out. At least one of them. The other was going to go through a painful interrogation process until they told them where the hostages where.

"They are here, Corone Armed Forces are here!" One of the Imperials yelled to apparently more comrades that were hidden further down. "Destroy the evidence, they cannot be allowed to discover what we were doing down here!"

So close. Creno knew he was close. The first of the Imperials rushed Creno, and The Captain reacted. He reached forward and grabbed the guy, slamming him on the ground. The two engaged a grapple, and Creno rolled with the Imperial. He only needed one. "I'm going to fucking kill you for what you have done here!" Creno swore. There was hate and madness in the eyes of the imperial behind his helm.

"You don't know what we've done here! We're close...too close!" The Imperial suddenly drew a dagger and was about to stab Creno with it.