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.
