Story 2 – Rescuer or Executioner
The squad begins to pray the battle prayer of St. Joan of Arc’s Holy Virgin’s after praying an Our Father, three Hail Marys, and a Glory Be.
“Let us pray. Oh God, who leads His soldiers into battle and keeps them safe, do the same onto us who do Your Will in Your Name. We pray,”
“Your guidance is all we need in life.”
“Use us as your weapons to smite evil and as a helping hand to rescue the innocent.”
“So that thy will shall be done as it is in Heaven.”
“We are not afraid to lose our lives for You.”
“We were born for this.”
“We are not afraid to lose our lives for You.”
“We trust and love You above all.”
“We are not afraid to lose our lives for You.”
“Because everything else is vanity.”
“It is better to be alone with God. His friendship will not fail me, nor His counsel, nor His love.”
“In His strength, I will dare and dare and dare until I die.”
“We march forward with our rosaries in one hand, a sword in the other.”
“Make us pure as you were, Blessed Mother.”
“Always be in our hearts, Oh Lord, who is truth and love itself.”
“Always and forever we shall love you.”
“St. Joan of Arc, Patron Saint of Soldiers.”
“Pray for us.”
“St. Maria Goretti, who was killed for her purity.”
“Pray for us.”
“Holy Mary, Mother of God.”
“Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.”
“Holy Mary, Most Pure.”
“Pray for us.”
“Holy Mary, Our Lady of Victory.”
“Pray for us.”
“Jesus Christ, Savior of all.”
“Pray for us.”
“Jesus Christ, Ruler of the Universe.”
“Pray for us.”
“Jesus Christ, Conqueror of Death.”
“Pray for us.”
“Use us, your soldiers, who are about to stain our swords with the blood of sinners for You. Covert their souls in the time they still have left. If they refuse, then so be it. Thy will shall be done as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.”
“Amen.”
We’ve finally tracked down a group of people who have been trafficked around as some part of some organization’s sick plan to use them as human sex instruments. If these sinners think they can get away with this on one of the planet’s the empire rules, then they have another thing coming. They’re outside the city in the ghettos of the suburban area. So-called repentant heretics and heathens live in the furthest areas of our illustrious planets to plan their mischief. They take advantage of the kindness we give them in allowing them to live among us as long as they promise to contribute to the empire and convert. Some of them might be honest, but I don’t trust most.
We’ve just landed not too far, but not too close from the location so they don’t know that we’re on to them. To keep a low profile, we make sure to stay out of public sight before we get to the building where we quickly set up.
“Set. Go,” the squad captain says to execute the plan.
Two people breach the building from each side. I’m going through the front door with a squadmate who’s wielding a shotgun while I have a shield and a laser submachine gun, which can transform into a short sword. We clear out the front of the house as we keep an eye on the corners. A hostile tries surprising us out of nowhere, but I catch the laser shot with my shield and shoot it back at him. The building is then secured in no time. It’s a good thing the kidnapped people didn’t pop out or were used as human shields as I expected, but I don’t know where they are. I look through the building and don’t find a single captive.
“Captain, where are the kidnapped?” I ask my captain, who’s looking through some strange boxes.
She quickly closes the box then points at them. Knowing what she means, I move to open them, but she stops me.
“No, Lilian. These boxes are the only things keeping them alive.”
“Really? They’re so small.”
“I know it’s a terrible fate, but we have to leave them like this until we get them to a hospital.”
“Okay. I’ll hurry them to the ship.”
The others are told that the captives are in the boxes and this gets them to move the captives into the ship faster, but then we’re suddenly attacked by a large group.
“Get those people out of here! Come back for us after!” the captain commands.
For the safety of the captives, only a few of us can board the ship as it takes off. We’re able to eliminate all the attackers, however, the ship is shot out of the sky by hostiles furtherer from our location.
“Move! Hurry to the crash site!” the captain orders.
“These hostiles seem like they were prepared for us, captain!” I point out.
“That or they’re more advanced than we think. Now’s not the time to think about that. We have to be prepared for anything.”
I can tell the captain thinks something’s up. The heretics and heathen majority can’t be this well prepared to deal with us on short notice. As we move to the crash site, the captain calls in another ship to pick us up and alerts the rest of the authorities about the attack. We’re taken by surprise by another attack. Hostiles attack us from all angles and crevices of the desolate houses and buildings. Our shields that can hold and shoot back enemy lasers come in handy more than ever here. We take a couple hits, but none of us are gravely injured. The people that live here complain about the living conditions, but never bother to do anything about it or use the aid we give them to good use. They’re like children who expect their parents to clean up all their messes.
Once we get to the crash site, we see that a few of the captives are outside of their boxes and we see their horrifying condition. Their eyes are sewn shut or not there at all. Their mouths are permanently opened and they don’t have any limbs. They all have metal tubes and attachments that appear to have been keeping them alive and fed.
“Quit gawking and help them!” the captain commands.
We try to help reattach them to the machines to help keep them alive, but a couple are already dead and the other one’s box is broken and dies shortly after.
“Three of you check the rest of them and hurry! The rest of you need to form a defensive line in case there are more out there,” the captain orders.
I choose to be one of the three to check and find that the rest of the captives and their boxes are fine. The same cannot be said my squadmates and the pilots of the ship.
“May you find your eternal rest in Heaven, sisters,” the three of us say as we pray for the souls of those who died.
We’re able to have our moment of silence before the next ship arrives. The squad gets the captives and the bodies of the dead on board, but we’re attacked shortly after boarding and shot out of the sky like the previous ship. What’s it with these people and their anti-air guns?! We crash land not too far from where we got picked up. I might be the only one who’s alive. Wait, the captain! She’s injured!
“Captain, I’ll help you up!”
“Lilian, you have to leave. Carry one of the captives away from here.”
“What about you?”
“I can hide in the wreckage of the ship while I call for backup. Just keep your tracker on you and keep your faith in God. He’ll protect you. I know I’m asking a lot of you, but we all need you to act as bait so the rest can be saved.”
“I’ll do it. Even if I don’t survive, I’ll do it.”
“Thank you. God protect you.”
“And to you as well. You’re going to need Him more.”
I take one of the captives with me and try to get as much distance from the wreckage as I can. It’s easier than I thought to carry since the box has straps that I can use to carry it on my back. I guess that’s how they manage to carry these people in broad daylight. I’m already hearing footsteps following me. Before I know it, three people come out of hiding to ambush me. I use my shield to protect myself and counterattack while using my laser submachine gun to quickly get rid of them. Dang it! The box got damaged in the ambush. I can’t fix it or do anything for the person inside. Maybe I should just kill them to end their suffering. No! I can’t. Euthanasia is a mortal sin. If God is allowing this to happen, then I must let it.
“Just hold on. You’re going to be safe soon,” I say to the person in the box.
It may be just me, but I think I can hear the person in the box making noises. Are they in pain or just frightened? I’m too scared to think about it. Even if I manage to get them to safety, will the damage be permanent? They’re already in a bad state as is that can be fixed with cybernetics, but I don’t know how they are mentally? All these questions are causing me to worry when I should be focusing. Since there are more people where I’m heading, I go around them because I don’t trust any of them. While in the alleyway, a single person comes down it then another behind me. My laser submachine gun is broken so I switch it to a sword.
“I’m part of St. Joan of Arc’s Holy Virgins. I have urgent business I must attend to. Step aside,” I say with authority.
They don’t listen to me and instead pull their guns out. I cut the arm off one then turn around to stab the other in the head before finishing off the first one. These people are everywhere. How do they even know where to find me? It’s like they’re tracking me, but the only people that should be able to are the people involved with the Holy Virgins. I have to focus on the task at hand just like the captain said. A trio of ships fly over and head in the captain’s direction. I also hear more on the way. Since I’m already so far, I can’t go back. Plus, there should be a nearby hospital that should stabilize this person with security.
Still, this person is suffering. I can hear them moving and making muffled noises in the box. If I remove them from the box, they’ll die. If I end their suffering, I commit a mortal sin.
“I’m so sorry!” I say to the captive.
I have to let God’s Will take its course over mine. This person may be suffering to pay for the sins of others, but why did it have to be them? Didn’t they already suffer so much for being a toy used by those awful sinners? Can’t think about it. Can’t think about that right now. Come on! I’m losing focus. Huh?! I heard something behind me. Now I’m hearing movement all around me along with whispering.
“You’ll soon face God’s justice you awful sinners!” I say as I run away.
As I run, I can hear them chase me. That is until I’m in a clear area that used to be a marketplace. Where are they? Agh! A sniper shot my leg. It pierced right through my armor. I can now see the group of people that chased me.
“Give up now and we’ll give you a more pleasurable existence than the one that toy in the box has,” one of them say.
“Never! Who are you?”
“We may as well tell you since your friends won’t be coming for you.”
“They will!”
“Hold on a second. Do you hear that?”
The three ships, that went to the captain’s position, fly over our heads and back towards the city.
“Do you see that, Lilian? You’re left to us now.”
“How do you know my name?”
“We are from the Islamic empire and we’ve made a deal with some true servants of God within your empire and they’ve been supplying us with wives and men, and other supplies and munitions. The people you found were just bait to lure you in. You “holy” virgins would be great wives of our leaders, so it was our plan to use our connections to capture you. Depending on how you look at it, you’re blessed to be the last one we can get. You will be the jewel of our leader if you submit yourself to him and to the true religion.”
“Never! I’ll never betray God and His True Church for your heresy!”
“You have three choices before you; join us without further resistance, join us without your limbs, or kill that toy and we’ll leave you alone.”
“Why would you leave me alone if I killed the captive?”
“It’s a bit of entertainment to see a woman like you go against the law of God to save her own life. Choose soon before we choose for you. Your leader thinks you’re dead because our contact told her.”
“…”
I tighten the grip on my sword and strike down near the captive to trick them into thinking I was about to kill them. I use the sword to help me stand up before I point it at them.
“I’ll die before I sin,” I tell them with confidence.
“Haha! She’s truly a lioness worth taming! The one to put her down first with have the first go with her.”
They raise their guns at me with smiles on their faces before several laser shots go out killing them. A squad of Holy Virgins has come to pick me up with my captain with them. She comes over and catches me before I fall.
“You did great, Lilian,” she says, “Now, let’s get you to the hospital.”
The traitors in the Church probably didn’t know about the trackers and the secondary trackers that only the captains can see. Along the way to the hospital, I’m told that the captain already has people going after the traitors and we’re going to get answers as to why they betrayed us and God and to see if there are more traitors in the Church that they know of. Most of my squad survived the crash though they are gravely injured though not as bad as me. The rest of the captives are fine too though the one I’m caring for is still struggling to stay alive.
Since it was my responsibility to keep them safe, I wait outside their room after my leg is patched up. While waiting for an answer to their condition, I fall asleep and dream of a woman with a light behind her.
“Thank you for saving me, Lilian. You’re always going to be in my prayers,” she says before disappearing into the light.
I wake up to hear that the woman, I was protecting, has now died, but she died peacefully. I’m glad to hear it. The other captives are going to be taken care of in the hospital and their family and friends are going to be informed of their location, so they know they’re still alive. As for me, I have a cybernetic attachment that allows me to walk as if nothing happened to my leg. There’s no rest for a servant of God after all. When I join back up with my squad, they’re happy to see me. Our reunion is cut short when we’re told to arrest the people who set us up. We say our prayers and get ready to do what God wills of us yet again. This is a holy duty that we wish to do forever until the end of days.
The End
One of the songs that I thought could be a good theme song for this series of short stories is this, Army of the Night by Powerwolf.
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