033 - Unexpected Arrivals

[JasonPaul]

The Freedom Fighters were here. That was good news for Croft. Perhaps he could have a bit of peace of mind, for the first time in the last few days. He sat in his tent at the One Nation camp, reading from a novel. It wasn't quiet in his tent--the One Nation troops were interacting with the new arrivals outside--but it was as close as he was going to get for now.

Just then a woman interrupted his peace. "Mr. Croft," she said. "A pair of felinefolk are here to see you."

Croft raised an eyebrow. Felinefolk? The only known felinefolk that was ever a member of the Freedom Fighters was Miwan, and she was currently missing, apparently on some journey to find her equally missing husband. "What do they look like?" he asked.

"Twin sisters. Dressed in black leather. One with blue hair, one with red hair and glasses."

Croft bit his lip at this revelation. He knew who these two were, and in fact met them a few times in passing. They were supposedly members of the Kendou tribe, although they certainly didn't look or act like such. The elder twin was known as a stealthy, deadly assassin, and a master of the knife. The younger was a dead shot, one of the best in the world. They were mercenaries, spies, thieves, assassins, and whatever other dirty job you wanted to name. They offered their services, and their allegiance, only to the highest bidder.

Had they come to kill Croft? Unlikely. They wouldn't bother to announce their presence if they had. They also weren't known to simply offer their assistance. You had to contact them yourself for that. Then what were they here for?

"Send them in," Croft said. "Make sure they leave their weapons at the door."

The woman nodded before leaving the tent. A minute later, the two felinefolk in question walked in. It was indeed who Croft thought it was. He didn't know what their real names were, but collectively they were Blue and Red. Red made herself at home in a rather unusual fashion--by climbing on Croft's desk and sitting down, resting her legs along the desk and smiling at him. Blue, the less shameless of the two, sighed at Red's actions.

"Please get off my desk," Croft said. "And why are you here?"

"Aw, I'm sorry," Red said in a pouty voice. "But we thought you might need some company." The lusty tone of Red's voice did not escape Croft's ears, but the atmosphere that Red was trying to create was very quickly broken up by Blue's voice.

"That's not why we're here!" Blue said angrily, pulling her sister off of Croft's desk. Red pouted at Blue with a "you're no fun" look. After Blue composed herself, she spoke again in a calmer voice. "We're here to offer our services to you," she said. "We understand some mages have been giving you trouble, and we've been assigned to help."

Blue's mannerisms did not seem out of the ordinary to Croft, only her words. As was previously noted, Blue and Red did not simply offer their services to anyone. Moreover, Blue noted that someone had sent them to Croft. But who was it? Croft asked Blue that very question.

"I am not at liberty to discuss," Blue said. "Only know that our employer's goals are your goals."

Croft frowned at this. Blue and Red were rogues, and would add a random element to the mission, something that Croft absolutely did not want. Still, Croft could not deny that they were the best there was at what they did. Besides, keeping them around might eventually lead him to their employer's identity.

"I suppose you'll want payment for this?" Croft asked.

"No, sir," Blue said. "Our employer has already covered the cost of our services for you."

Very strange, Croft thought to himself. "Very well," Croft said. "Go speak with Andrew and he'll discuss everything with you."

"Yay!" Red shouted, jumping up and down like a child. Blue winced at this, but bowed to Croft. "Thank you for accepting us, sir."

Just then the woman who introduced Red and Blue returned again. "Sir, there's a Mystic here to see you."

Just what Croft needed. Another new arrival. And another non-human at that. "Who is he?"

"He comes on behalf of New Belexes. He introduced himself as Anwyn Ganymede and said..."

"Ganymede!" Croft said, interrupting the woman. The name of the mightiest Mystic mage alive! He was a former member of the Freedom Fighters, and although he was no longer a member of that group, he was still highly respected among them. "Send him in at once!"

The woman bowed and brought Anwyn in. Unlike Blue and Red, he was allowed to bring his weapon--his pearl battle-axe, Bane--which was strapped to his back. Blue and Red stood aside out of his way. Red adjusted her glasses, appraising him with a smile, before the two of them left the tent. Anwyn approached Croft, who stood to shake his hand.

"Welcome to my camp, Mr. Ganymede," Croft said. "How can One Nation help you?"

"The important question is, 'How can New Belexes help One Nation?'" Anwyn corrected. "We heard that a group of mages were getting out of hand. I thought I might offer some help to you."

"Begging your pardon, Ganymede, but I thought New Belexes was neutral in all human affairs." Croft said.

"Indeed we are," Anwyn replied, "but if these mages turn out to be Mystics then it's no longer a human affair, is it?"

"The thought had occured to me," Croft said, "but why would Mystics attack us?"

Anwyn shrugged. "Even we cannot know the motives of our own people. You must remember that Mystics have held a great emnity towards humans for generations, and even though the whole Soljin debacle quelled much of that hatred, perhaps a few still seek to cause problems for humans." Anwyn paused briefly before continuing, "Or perhaps they just want to make asses of themselves. Who can say? Regardless, we at New Belexes have recently passed an act that limits the use of magic among our people, and I am here to help enforce that act."

Croft nodded at Anwyn's words. "Your assistance is welcome, Ganymede."

Anwyn smiled. "Excellent. And I've brought some help. Come." Anwyn led Croft out of the tent to a small squad of Mystic soldiers dressed in blue and white. There were ten of them, five men and five women. They saluted Anwyn as he approached, who saluted back.

"These are the Stosstrupen," Anwyn said. "Their job is to enforce the recent act that we have passed. They are skilled at the art of dispelling and countering magicks. I would have brought you more, but this is all I could gather on such short notice."

"It will be more than enough," Croft said. "Do you trust their ability?"

"I imagine three of them working together could counter an Almaghest," Anwyn said. He got a bit of a devilish smile on his face and asked, "Want to see if they can?"

"Absolutely not!" Croft shouted.

Anwyn laughed at the human. "I'm just messing with you. But yes, they are quite capable. However, as a warning, they're not as skilled in offensive magics, so you should keep them well protected from non-magical attacks."

"I'll keep that in mind," Croft said. Having the Mystics here was an unexpected surprise, albeit not an unwelcome one, and although he had no doubt that One Nation could overrun this group of mages, he began to feel a bit more confident that it could be done without much damage to his forces, and with as little collateral damage as possible.

After all, what better way to fight magic than with magic?