//------------------------------// // The Brief // Story: Into That Wild Blue Yonder // by CptBrony //------------------------------// It wasn’t long before a guard came and summoned the trio to go to the armory to get Colm and the young man fitted and outfitted. Nikita followed unhappily, but knew her father would ream her for not going along with her new guards. The hallways were nice up until they made their way to the servants and workers’ section. That was when the care for the hallways dropped dramatically. The walls were uneven and cave-like again, the ground was gravelly and shifted underneath any weight, and everything was coated with grime. Not surprising though, given how the king seemed to conduct his affairs. When the guard had them at the armory, he bowed and left off. The young man opened the door and walked through first, followed by Colm and then slowly by Nikita. She decided to take a seat on the floor by the wall as she was forced to watch the proceeding dialogues. “Hello?” Colm asked. “Hello?” a voice returned. From behind a forge on the other side of the room, a griffon poked his head out and looked over. “Ah, I was told to expect you!” The griffon hopped sideways and started jogging over the guard duo. He was a scrawny guy, not like the other griffons they had seen. He had paint markings all over his body that looked like those popular tribal style tattoos, probably indicating his job. His talons were dulled and frayed, but it was hard to tell if it was age or accident. His face was old, but his body was spry, so odds were good that the job was just brutal and he was actually quite young. The strangest part, though, was his one wing. “Glad to see you,” the young man replied. “No no, I’M glad to see YOU,” the griffon said. “Call me Ishmael.” “Okay, Ishmael,” Colm said. “That name doesn’t add up with the other names around here,” the young man thought. “I’m the armorer here,” Ishmael said. “I received the designs. Colm Winds, I believe yours is over there.” Ishmael pointed at a pile of steel armor on a table to the side of the room. “Sweet,” Colm said, and then ran over. “Yours, however, is a different story,” Ishmael said to the young man. “What? Why?” the young man asked. “I appreciate that design idea of yours, but it simply isn’t reasonable with how your human body works,” Ishmael said. “I can’t make enough links that are also strong enough to support your movement while providing adequate protection.” “It didn’t look that hard,” the young man said. “Clearly you don’t design armor,” Ishmael said with irritation. “Anyway, what I do have are those gauntlets you asked for. I recognize that you won’t be wanting much other armor with the cuirass, so I opted to just create metal gauntlets and the rest of your armor would be studded leather.” “Is that good?” the young man asked. “Well, it had some steel reinforcement,” Ishmael said. “It will give you the agility that you obviously wanted, and it’s lighter so you’ll be faster. If you really want to, you can also attach things to it like extra pockets and sheaths for knives and the like.” “That sounds better than my design, then,” the young man said. He only half-believed it, though. Ishmael believed it wholeheartedly. “I am an armorer, after all,” he said. “So, where is it?” the young man asked. “Shaping it isn’t exactly easy,” Ishmael said. “I made your gauntlets, but the rest will come. The armor is fitted to be pressed to your body, so it will have to go under that bizarre outfit.” “You don’t like my gi?” the young man asked. “It’s a tactical nightmare,” Ishmael said. “I could see you from a mile away.” “I’m not about to hide from a fight,” the young man said. “And I’m here for deterrence first.” “Don’t think like that, or you’ll get killed AND fail your job,” Ishmael said. “Though I suppose you humans aren’t exactly low profile.” “That’s the whole reason father took him,” Nikita said. “Huh?” the young man said, missing part of what she said. She went on. “Father only wanted a human warrior because the king of Griffonia has a human now,” Nikita explained. “Showed up a month or so ago, and he’s the scariest being this side of the world, working for a powerful king. That’s why father is marrying me off.” The young man swallowed hard. “Do you think that guy would be sent here, whoever he is?” he asked. “No, the king of Griffonia uses him as a last resort because he is so efficient,” Nikita said. “He’s the end-all, apparently.” “What did he do before he came here a month ago?” Colm asked as he put his armor on. “He was a mercenary,” Nikita said. “Worked for some group called Aegis Defense, claims to have originally been with Academi. No one knows what either of those are, but apparently they’re quite powerful in your world.” “Aegis Defense. And Academi,” the young man said. It sounded familiar, but he didn’t know why. But he did know one thing; this guy was a Private Military Contractor. “He won’t give his name, citing OPSEC. Whatever that is,” Nikita said. “Just tells griffons to call him MARSOC.” The young man froze. Everyone in the room saw him stop dead in his tracks and just stared at him. The reality of who this guy was had set in immediately. Former US Marine Special Operations Command, one of the toughest guys in the US Marine Corps. Not the kind of person you want as your enemy, especially when he doesn’t have rules of engagement any more. “You know what that is?” Nikita asked nervously. “Let’s just say I’m extremely happy that he isn’t coming after us,” the young man said. “IF you are right.” “Well, hopefully this armor of yours will keep you safe,” Ishmael said. “Hopefully, yes,” the young man said. “It won’t save me from jack if he has a gun, though.” Ishmael clapped his claws together. “Well! Why don’t you let me take your measurements, and you can be on your way for now?” he suggested. The young man agreed and let Ishmael take his measurements. Colm had put his armor on and decided to try talking to Nikita to see if he could get more information about this MARSOC fellow. She didn’t know much, she said, and neither did his employers, but he had allegedly proven his capabilities and how dangerous he could be several times. He also performed castle defense tests for Griffonia, not unsimilar to Red Cell in the US Navy, where he tried to penetrate the defenses of the castle and get to a compromising position where he could potentially harm the king. He had yet to fail, too. When Ishmael was done with the measurements, the young man and Colm went with the princess back to her quarters. The walk was silent, the sounds of feet and hooves and talons echoing through the stone corridors. Colm was trying to gauge the defiantly silent princess while the young man thought about this other human. “If he’s an American, he may be willing to help a fellow American out,” he thought. “I mean, PMCs do their job for money instead of service usually, but he’s still an American guy. Plus I was gonna do military, so maybe we have something in common. If I run into this guy, maybe he’ll even help me out.” When they arrived at the princess’s quarters, the young man went in first, but was quickly followed by the princess and Colm. He didn’t spot any potential trouble, so he let it slide this time, but he would have to mention it later. Princess Nikita took the same seat as before, while Colm and the young man went over to her bed and sat on it. Nikita glared at them for a moment, but after realizing there were no other places to sit where they could see her, let it go. She wouldn’t have to deal with it much longer anyway. “Hey, man, I just thought of something,” Colm said. “Shoot,” the young man replied. “I remember those merc thugs with Yafid back in the village saying that what brought them out there searching fer humans was a massive energy spike, like multiple humans bein brought to our world,” Colm said. Nikita’s head shot up. “If that other guy got here about a month ago, around the same time as you…” “That means there’s other humans not far from us,” the young man said. “Or there were.” “Yeah,” Colm said. “And so far, I’m two for two on hearing about humans who fight. He’s a dangerous mercenary, you studied the martial arts…” “… So you think that a bunch of combatant or combative humans were all brought here at once,” the young man finished for his friend. “I’m just sayin, it’s awful convenient that a bunch of fighters all come in at once,” Colm said. “That’s IF we’re all fighters, and that there’s more than just him and me,” the young man said. “It could require an exponential or multiplicative increase in energy to bring more humans in one go. Or the two of us could be the only fighters in a group of ten people. Don’t jump to conclusions.” “What I mean is that we ought to be careful if we see other humans,” Colm said. “Who knows what they could be up to?” “Alright, dude, alright,” the young man said. Nikita stood from her chair and walked over to the duo. As they turned their attention to her, they noticed that she had a look of concern on her face. “What’s up, princess?” Colm asked. “Did you say you met a merc named Yafid?” she asked. Colm and the young man nodded. “Did you… did you kill him?” “’Fraid not,” Colm said. “Right bastard deserved it, though.” “I think we gave him plenty to think about,” the young man said. He looked at the princess. “Why do you ask? He your ex lover or something?” “Courtier,” Nikita said with disgust. The young man made a vomiting motion, and Colm shuddered. “And I see you agree with my sentiments. He was a lowlife thug.” “Didn’t get far in the court, eh?” the young man asked. “He did,” Nikita said with disdain. “That’s the horrific part. My father needed his services, so when Yafid asked for my talon, my father ACTUALLY CONSIDERED. I brought him to his senses, and we sent him off.” “No offense,” Colm began. The young man looked at him with an expression that encouraged great caution moving forward. “But yer dad sounds like a loony.” “I know,” Nikita said. The young man sighed with relief. “He’s a fool. His advisors really run things.” “Fairly standard monarchy,” the young man said. “When we sent Yafid away, he said he’d come back when he had money and power and I wouldn’t be able to say no. Or rather, my father wouldn’t be able to,” Nikita said with a hint of despair. “If you really don’t like him, just stab him when you get the chance,” the young man said casually. Colm’s head flung around to give him an incredulous look. “What? She could probably get away with it.” “Hardly,” Nikita said. “Not that easy to get away with murder if you’re a hen.” “It is otherwise?” Colm asked. Nikita ignored the question. “But we know Yafid is dangerous. He defeated some of my father’s best guards in one on one combat,” she said. “If he’s looking for you…” “Oh, he found me,” the young man said. Nikita blinked. “What?” she said. “Yeah,” the young man said. “He found me after his forward recon guy or whatever found me. I killed the first guy; sent him down a cliff; and then, Yafid came by with a few guys. Took them down, although HE actually killed at least two by accident if memory serves, and I beat him down pretty good.” “He was practically broken everywhere when this man was done with him,” Colm added. “Yeah. So when we were done, I felt bad, and had some villagers take him elsewhere for medical treatment,” the young man said. “That was a mistake,” Nikita said. “What?” Colm asked. “Yeah, what? Why?” the young man also asked. “He’s known around here and elsewhere for seeking revenge,” Nikita said. “If he isn’t permanently injured… No, not that. If he isn’t DEAD, he will come for you.” “I’ll just kick him around again,” the young man said. “You really aren’t afraid of him?” Nikita asked. ‘Not terribly, no,” the young man said. “I beat him once. I’ll do it again.” Nikita blinked. “Oh. Umm, I’m glad that you aren’t afraid of him, then.” “I’m sure he’ll learn, as any true fighter does when he survives losing a fight, so I’ll just change it up next time,” the young man said. Nikita looked the young man up and down. He stood with confidence, tall and with his chest out and shoulders back. He was in his element here, talking about fighting and preparing for an unexpected fight, and it was certainly impressive. His friend Colm was similar, though seemed less sure. But this human was an ideal guard; no wonder they were prized so much for their abilities. “I’m glad you two are my guards, then,” Nikita said. “Glad ta hear ya say that,” Colm said. The young man nodded in agreement. The trio would have kept on talking, but a guard came by to let them know that dinner was being served. Colm and the young man would be invited to the table, despite being guards, but would sit at either side of the princess and their chairs would be a little further from the table to enable them to do their job if necessary. Apparently, there would be dignitaries from Nikita’s soon-to-be home there, so they had to behave. All three of them groaned as they got up to leave, sharing in the dreadful sentiments of an official dinner. But hey, free food for Colm and the young man, so it wasn’t all that bad. At least, not until they got there.