Humanitarian Aid Requested (MT ONLY)

[Vici Minerva]

Landa watched as two diabolical beings silently fought each other. On one hand was a petty bandit, who was now infamous General. And on the other was an even more ruthless and vile creature (that was one of Landa's close friends) whom had annihilated so many other soldiers in heap of twisted metal and burning, charred bodies. "I'm aware of who he is mistress... it appears that your King doesn't care for him. Neither does King." Landa quietly laughed. "King would've had much pleasure from fighting him... but thankfully we peacefully resolved those misunderstandings. And yes... we find it quite amusing." Landa subtly smiled as the countess sensually licked the spoon. He still remained classy, without going overboard. He was suprised yet again that she so eagerly offered a "date". "I am actually, despite my... appearance." He smiled." "I visit galleries all the time in Lachance with King, and I'd love to visit some of them... perhaps I could have someone beautiful show me them?"

*****

"Thou are rather amusing, and intriguing methinks." King had had enough of talking in high-speech for one day; he reverted to his normal way of speaking. He laughed. "General Augrim, we're a bit reluctant to eat the bread until our business is finished...." He smiled, trying to seem less hostile.

Augrim shrugged, and bowed his head a moment out of polite acceptance; he had business with the King, and simply sat and tasted the pineapple dessert; he brightened and began to eat enthusiastically. King Mark fumed at having this savage, this bandit at his table.

"It needs to be understood, Lord Marshal, that our treaty with the Adriatic League of Tyrrhenia cannot be superseded by any other treaty. So all that this means is that if we agree to form an alliance with your country that we will not be able to uphold it if you attack another Tyrrhenian nation. Mutual regional self defense. Then as well we are forming close ties with the following organizations and nations: The Ryberg Institute, Estovakiva, Helladria, Ossurwald, Redzon, the Christian Coalition. The benefits to alliance would be mutual, but of course we have a concern about Vici Minerva's occasional demonstrations of territorial aggression."

Countess Lalery whispered to Landa, "And you know I'm a novelist actually--I write under the pseudonym, "Misty Lake". It's historical fiction."

King watched with close observation this distinct hatred Obed had for Augrim... it was.... amusing. He took one last sip of his wine; the red sustenance dripping into his throat like blood trickling down a vampire's.

The Lord Marshal was becoming a bit irritated that the King kept calling the Vici Minervans aggressors. Well... technically they were, but semantics! The New Edomites had no conclusive evidence that the Vici Minervans had done anything... and well, if they hadn't, then why should the New Edomites accuse Vici Minerva? Then again, if you were trying to protect your nation, you would be hostile to strange foreigners, Lovecraft thought. "What you call territorial aggression, I call international misunderstanding. Nonetheless, I can assure you that an alliance won't violate any Tyrrhenian treaty or any other treaty. It'll mostly be an alliance of politics and diplomacy rather than military.... But that's the subject I'd like to bring up. There are plenty of insurgencies scattered across New Edom no? Well that regiment from the 78th Sturm is waiting to be deployed, and King is fully capable of wiping out even the most tenacious insurgency.... Would you like us to deploy?"

Landa smiled as he heard the words be uttered from her mouth. "A novelist are you? Why I love to read, I have a huge study at my home loaded with various works from various authors. What are some of the novels have you written? I'd love to read some of them... Also I like the pseudonym, very cutesy and mysterious... But I have to say your name is much prettier. It reminds me of the calm and gentle fields of flowers in Vici Minerva. Each flower, delicate, eloquent, and just simply beautiful." Landa said a lot, but each word came out smoothly; each letter taking it's time to exit Landa's mouth. His eyes met hers, and the way he looked into them, it'd make any woman blush.

OOC: Close it?!?!?! I still have so much I haven't really done Perhaps we'll discuss this later?

[Ossurwald]

The air was sickly sweet with death. Covered in the gore of recent sacrifices, Xavier and his team listened to the passing vehicles from behind charred skeletons of what was once an important intersection. Spread out along the road in several directions, the team is 14 strong. Each "Cracker" armored from head to toe in modified Trojan Ballistics Armor . Lightweight and designed to resist most small firearms calibers, the TBA was a gift from Cthulhu Himself. The armor had been modified to increase psychological intimidation on enemy combatants. Looking more walking crab than human gave Cult warriors like Xavier quite the battlefield edge. To add to the air of otherworldliness, the Cult Priests had ritually draped the Crackers with flesh capes fashioned from expended slaves. The flesh was not fresh. The sacrifices had been concluded days ago and the bodies left in the fields to mature.

Armed with a multitude of small arms, piercing bludgeons, and sledgehammers, Crackers were the Cult's suicide units. Each Cracker fully expected to die in his battle. Heroin, morphine, and anabolic steroids had been injected into each as they prayed their litanies of preparation. Some carried C4, others hand grenades, Xavier... Xavier carried nothing. On his hands he wielded a pair of hydraulic powered claws that allowed him to rend flesh from bone with no effort. The pistons were so strong, and the claws made from titanium so thick, that the claws were said to pierce steel. Today would be the test.

Activating the voice operated exchange system (VOX), Xavier spoke to his team, "Brethren. I needn't rally you to the cause, I shan't waste my breath. You know your prizes, you know the cost. Ahu, our Father, desires this world and we will deliver..." A vehicle passes him, "Brethren... He waits... Cthulhu Fhtagn!!!"

The last words were repeated from each of the Cracker's, their helmets equipped with voice alteration loudspeakers that added to the intensity of the nigh unpronounceable call. With their blood boiling from the drug cocktail, the unit surged from behind cover. Leaping upon the hoods, roofs, and doors of the nearest vehicles with wild abandon. Xavier merely grunted in satisfaction at the terror in the eyes of the young driver as he punched through the windshield, his epic claws piercing the glass with ease.

All around him he could hear the bloodcurdling screams of bloodlust and bloodletting. Cthulhu would enjoy todays sacrifice, and Xavier intended his last day on Earth to be a profitable one.

Var. Irene Appos drove the Eagle down the road, with S.C. Sheridan Eolrume in the turret. Sheridan rotated the machine gun to watch the flanks of the Eagle. He was watching the road when suddenly a loud thump was heard and Irene swore, and slammed on the brakes. Sheridan spun round, his Pz MG 51 searching the tree line.

"Appos, what's going on?" he shouted.

"This lunatic just ran into us!" she said. Sheridan wriggled down out of the turret and opened the door as the rest of the Eagles stopped behind them. Radios flared with swears, telling Sheridan to move and not leave Orion's Eagles sitting ducks. He ignored them. Mainly out of shock.

Sitting on the road was a man with the strangest armor Sheridan had ever seen. Irene came out from the drivers side and stopped as she saw the man. He had what appeared to be an octopus drawn in various places, and worst of all, he was covered in rotting flesh. Sheridan prayed it was merely animal, and not human.

"Uh..."

"S.C. Eolrume, why the fuck have you stopped the convoy?" came Commandant Dandolian's voice over the radio. Sheridan grabbed his receiver.

"Uh, sir, we have an oddity here."

"A what?"

"Some guy just ran into my Eagle. He's covered in meat."

There was a pause as Dandolian took this into account. "Uh, meat?"

"Well, some sort of animal product."

"Hold still."

In a few moments, Orion's command had assembled around the man, scratching their heads at the sight of him. He seemed like a nasty guy, but he had just bounced off of an Eagle, so Sheridan figured he had a right to be nasty. No one knew what do with him. Finally, Ayala Lackhem ripped open a field ration and passed it to the man. As Dandolian and the sub-commandants stared at her, she said, "hey, it's the least we can do after Irene hit him."

"He hit me!" said Irene.

"Whatever," said Dandolian. "We can sit here. Alright, everyone mount up. We'll leave him here for the 32nd to deal with." With various gestures, Dandolian attempted to tell the man to stay seated, eat the field ration, and that help would come. It was unclear whether it got through. But it was enough for Dandolian to wash his hands of the man, and to get Orion moving again.

"Irene, watch for nutters," said Sheridan, returned to his passenger seat. Irene swore, and then looked at him. "Don't worry, Ganzorig will fire on them, like you were supposed to do, so we don't have to deal with them while they're alive. This country is fucking insane."

"War does that, Irene. War does that."

A few minutes later, Orion was moving out through Bandit's Alley.

[Helladria]

The room was dimly lit, mostly from a couple of skylights but also a few halogen lamps were lit; people clearly had slops buckets in the cages but some of them had been neglected and were full to nauseating overflow. The people--gaunt, eyes staring, filthy, wary, afraid of the strange armed people, either staying still trembling like dogs afraid of a beating or huddled away from the wire mesh, if more than one in a 'cell' then hugging one another for protection. There must have been nearly a thousand of them. Beyond this area of the shelving turned to cages there was a large open area with red and yellow lines drawn for shipping and handling purposes; there were four big propane powered forklifts, 4 small red electric forklifts, and a small fleet of ten electric pallet lifters.

Down a large hallway, at least big enough for one of the propane powered lifts to move down there was access to a big closed metal door with a pin as thick as a human thumb locking it into place with the words stenciled above it (in both major languages) REFRIGERATION; farther beyond that to the left was an office door with a window open at the bottom that had stenciled "SHIPPING AND HANDLING OFFICE" in Baran and English written there. Above the end of the tunnel which opened into an area where clearly there were large wall mounted recharging units, a mechanical lift and various toolbenches and shelving the words were written "MAINTENANCE".

The further they went, the more revolting the scene before the Helladric soldiers became. The three teams crept slowly through the room toward the open hallway, hoping not to draw any attention from possible guards, all the while the horrific scene just enveloped them further. Behind team 3, an evacuation team moved in with wire and bolt cutters. If the cages didn't open easily, they'd just have to be a bit more forceful with them. Before starting the evacuation, their first objective was capturing the facility on camera for hard visual evidence of what had taken place. They quickly clicked photos of the rows of cages with their occupants and the terrible conditions inside, making sure to leave out the advancing teams from the image. As they approached the first cage, they held up their hands in an attempt to appear as unthreatening as possible.

[New Edom]

King watched with close observation this distinct hatred Obed had for Augrim... it was.... amusing. He took one last sip of his wine; the red sustenance dripping into his throat like blood trickling down a vampire's.

The Lord Marshal was becoming a bit irritated that the King kept calling the Vici Minervans aggressors. Well... technically they were, but semantics! The New Edomites had no conclusive evidence that the Vici Minervans had done anything... and well, if they hadn't, then why should the New Edomites accuse Vici Minerva? Then again, if you were trying to protect your nation, you would be hostile to strange foreigners, Lovecraft thought. "What you call territorial aggression, I call international misunderstanding. Nonetheless, I can assure you that an alliance won't violate any Tyrrhenian treaty or any other treaty. It'll mostly be an alliance of politics and diplomacy rather than military.... But that's the subject I'd like to bring up. There are plenty of insurgencies scattered across New Edom no? Well that regiment from the 78th Sturm is waiting to be deployed, and King is fully capable of wiping out even the most tenacious insurgency.... Would you like us to deploy?"

Landa smiled as he heard the words be uttered from her mouth. "A novelist are you? Why I love to read, I have a huge study at my home loaded with various works from various authors. What are some of the novels have you written? I'd love to read some of them... Also I like the pseudonym, very cutesy and mysterious... But I have to say your name is much prettier. It reminds me of the calm and gentle fields of flowers in Vici Minerva. Each flower, delicate, eloquent, and just simply beautiful." Landa said a lot, but each word came out smoothly; each letter taking it's time to exit Landa's mouth. His eyes met hers, and the way he looked into them, it'd make any woman blush.

OOC: Close it?!?!?! I still have so much I haven't really done Perhaps we'll discuss this later?

[New Edom]

Var. Irene Appos drove the Eagle down the road, with S.C. Sheridan Eolrume in the turret. Sheridan rotated the machine gun to watch the flanks of the Eagle. He was watching the road when suddenly a loud thump was heard and Irene swore, and slammed on the brakes. Sheridan spun round, his Pz MG 51 searching the tree line.

"Appos, what's going on?" he shouted.

"This lunatic just ran into us!" she said. Sheridan wriggled down out of the turret and opened the door as the rest of the Eagles stopped behind them. Radios flared with swears, telling Sheridan to move and not leave Orion's Eagles sitting ducks. He ignored them. Mainly out of shock.

Sitting on the road was a man with the strangest armor Sheridan had ever seen. Irene came out from the drivers side and stopped as she saw the man. He had what appeared to be an octopus drawn in various places, and worst of all, he was covered in rotting flesh. Sheridan prayed it was merely animal, and not human.

"Uh..."

"S.C. Eolrume, why the fuck have you stopped the convoy?" came Commandant Dandolian's voice over the radio. Sheridan grabbed his receiver.

"Uh, sir, we have an oddity here."

"A what?"

"Some guy just ran into my Eagle. He's covered in meat."

There was a pause as Dandolian took this into account. "Uh, meat?"

"Well, some sort of animal product."

"Hold still."

In a few moments, Orion's command had assembled around the man, scratching their heads at the sight of him. He seemed like a nasty guy, but he had just bounced off of an Eagle, so Sheridan figured he had a right to be nasty. No one knew what do with him. Finally, Ayala Lackhem ripped open a field ration and passed it to the man. As Dandolian and the sub-commandants stared at her, she said, "hey, it's the least we can do after Irene hit him."

"He hit me!" said Irene.

"Whatever," said Dandolian. "We can sit here. Alright, everyone mount up. We'll leave him here for the 32nd to deal with." With various gestures, Dandolian attempted to tell the man to stay seated, eat the field ration, and that help would come. It was unclear whether it got through. But it was enough for Dandolian to wash his hands of the man, and to get Orion moving again.

"Irene, watch for nutters," said Sheridan, returned to his passenger seat. Irene swore, and then looked at him. "Don't worry, Ganzorig will fire on them, like you were supposed to do, so we don't have to deal with them while they're alive. This country is fucking insane."

"War does that, Irene. War does that."

A few minutes later, Orion was moving out through Bandit's Alley.

[New Edom]

The further they went, the more revolting the scene before the Helladric soldiers became. The three teams crept slowly through the room toward the open hallway, hoping not to draw any attention from possible guards, all the while the horrific scene just enveloped them further. Behind team 3, an evacuation team moved in with wire and bolt cutters. If the cages didn't open easily, they'd just have to be a bit more forceful with them. Before starting the evacuation, their first objective was capturing the facility on camera for hard visual evidence of what had taken place. They quickly clicked photos of the rows of cages with their occupants and the terrible conditions inside, making sure to leave out the advancing teams from the image. As they approached the first cage, they held up their hands in an attempt to appear as unthreatening as possible.

As the photos began to click, an older woman hid her face and a man took a deep shuddering breath. He managed, with obvious defiant courage, to say, "We--we're not animals...." in a voice that sounded very choked.

Another person a woman approached, her dark hair lank and her eyes wide, filthy fingers gripping the chainlink, wearing a dirty blue jacket above a workshirt and jeans, and exclaimed "Who are you? Are you going to let us out?"

Meanwhile the other team going down the open room, past the closed big door marked 'Refrigeration' which had not yet been opened, and past the SHIPPING OFFICE they found the mechanic's shop, which was in contrast to the open warehouse normal--all smells of grease and lubricant, neatly made up red metal drawers in shelving that contained wrenches, screwdrivers and hammers. Locked behind a caged shelf were some large bottles of chemicals for cleaning metal and parts. One of the electric lifts was in the room, with motor cover removed, wires exposed.

[Ossurwald]

Half an hour later Orion moved into a valley. It had clearly rained too much; much of the ground was sodden; depressions in the road made huge puddles that were up to the wheel wells in some parts, and wading birds stalked where crops or pastures had existed.

Cluttered along the road on either side at some higher ground were three hundred or so clapboard and metal scrap shacks; ragged people stared in wonder at the advancing column, and as they came up the hill they could see other shelters--made from stripped down vehicles, cardboard, corrugated metal, plastic sheeting.

People began waving in some cases, others just stared in surprise or sullen wariness. People wearing ragged clothes or rags. They had been surprised in the midst of what seemed to be everyday activities for them--mending shelters, cooking food over smoking fires, oil barrels with grates on them, scavenged barbecues, pits lined with stones. Hanging up clothes, mending clothes, scavenging them from the recently dead.

Few were sufficiently armed. However four of them ran out; as the tail end of Orion was rumbling up they held up a banner--the old fashioned Griffon Flag.

Dandolian hopped out of his Eagle. He surveyed the people, and glanced over the armed ones. Speaking through his interpreter, he said that he was with the Ossurwald Republican Army on their way to Beth-Aran, and that they could use some knowledge of the area.

[Helladria]

As the photos began to click, an older woman hid her face and a man took a deep shuddering breath. He managed, with obvious defiant courage, to say, "We--we're not animals...." in a voice that sounded very choked.

Another person a woman approached, her dark hair lank and her eyes wide, filthy fingers gripping the chainlink, wearing a dirty blue jacket above a workshirt and jeans, and exclaimed "Who are you? Are you going to let us out?"

Meanwhile the other team going down the open room, past the closed big door marked 'Refrigeration' which had not yet been opened, and past the SHIPPING OFFICE they found the mechanic's shop, which was in contrast to the open warehouse normal--all smells of grease and lubricant, neatly made up red metal drawers in shelving that contained wrenches, screwdrivers and hammers. Locked behind a caged shelf were some large bottles of chemicals for cleaning metal and parts. One of the electric lifts was in the room, with motor cover removed, wires exposed.

Having taken care of the pictures, the evacuation team moved up to the first cage and began clipping at the side panel of it. "We're Helladric peacekeepers, and we're getting you out of here," one of the soldiers replied. "Do you know if there are there any militia guards in this building?"

The leader of the first assault team gave orders. "Bravo, guard the shipping office. Charlie standby." She then then switched her 2nd and 3rd soldiers getting her MP5 in second position and giving orders for the M1014 to hold her fire. From there, she led her team to the the maintenance area looking for any place that someone could be hiding, or placed.

Meanwhile, team 2 made their way toward the shipping office, and attempted to peer through the window from a distance in the hopes of being able to survey the other side.

[Vici Minerva]

Fineberg

"Ah very well... I believe we're ready to sign over these terms... The treaty I mentioned that was under construction, is still... well underconstruction." He laughed. "Anyway, we can't exactly manufacture this at the time... so perhaps New Edom could create a treaty aforementioned that shall serve as the temporary one until the final is completed? Also I should mention this: as the 1st SS Panzer Korps left they took along with them the 2,000 supply trucks. (Each truck able to supply and aid many New Edomites.) Perhaps after this treaty is signed, they may also be deployed as well. "

Landa continued with his conversation as negotiations were held. Bruno stayed silent, and Vilson wouldn't shut up. King sat intently with eagle's splendor.

"And I'm sure your an extremely sucessful writers, am I right misses Lake," replied Landa

[New Edom]

Half an hour later Orion moved into a valley. It had clearly rained too much; much of the ground was sodden; depressions in the road made huge puddles that were up to the wheel wells in some parts, and wading birds stalked where crops or pastures had existed.

Cluttered along the road on either side at some higher ground were three hundred or so clapboard and metal scrap shacks; ragged people stared in wonder at the advancing column, and as they came up the hill they could see other shelters--made from stripped down vehicles, cardboard, corrugated metal, plastic sheeting.

People began waving in some cases, others just stared in surprise or sullen wariness. People wearing ragged clothes or rags. They had been surprised in the midst of what seemed to be everyday activities for them--mending shelters, cooking food over smoking fires, oil barrels with grates on them, scavenged barbecues, pits lined with stones. Hanging up clothes, mending clothes, scavenging them from the recently dead.

Few were sufficiently armed. However four of them ran out; as the tail end of Orion was rumbling up they held up a banner--the old fashioned Griffon Flag.

Dandolian hopped out of his Eagle. He surveyed the people, and glanced over the armed ones. Speaking through his interpreter, he said that he was with the Ossurwald Republican Army on their way to Beth-Aran, and that they could use some knowledge of the area.

"You'll have to take the first exit north, towards Glasstower before you can get there," replied one of the armed men, a bearded man wearing a watch cap and vest and jacket with khaki pants and worn boots. "The main road is flooded for several kilometers ahead, even up to the radiator of a big truck, and there's debris floating in it. That's why most of us fled, the dykes and levees got blown during a battle." He quickly drew a map on a piece of old paper. "Then you'll come to a second exit that says "Beth-Aran after about 2 clicks going on the highway to Glasstower, and you turn left there, got it? Hey, do you have any spare food and water?"

[New Edom]

Having taken care of the pictures, the evacuation team moved up to the first cage and began clipping at the side panel of it. "We're Helladric peacekeepers, and we're getting you out of here," one of the soldiers replied. "Do you know if there are there any militia guards in this building?"

The leader of the first assault team gave orders. "Bravo, guard the shipping office. Charlie standby." She then then switched her 2nd and 3rd soldiers getting her MP5 in second position and giving orders for the M1014 to hold her fire. From there, she led her team to the the maintenance area looking for any place that someone could be hiding, or placed.

Meanwhile, team 2 made their way toward the shipping office, and attempted to peer through the window from a distance in the hopes of being able to survey the other side.

All that Team 2 would see would be dusty offices, a big ledger open on one of the desks, a few old calendars from 4 years ago, swivel chairs; the outer door, a security door, closed, a waiting room, photocopiers, telephones, a couple of desk top computers, somewhat old fashioned ones.

The woman, her eyes almost too weary for tears, said, "My name is Catherine Bettany--and I'm...I was...the postmistress. There are...people in the freezer." she put her face into her hands.

[New Edom]

Fineberg

"Ah very well... I believe we're ready to sign over these terms... The treaty I mentioned that was under construction, is still... well underconstruction." He laughed. "Anyway, we can't exactly manufacture this at the time... so perhaps New Edom could create a treaty aforementioned that shall serve as the temporary one until the final is completed? Also I should mention this: as the 1st SS Panzer Korps left they took along with them the 2,000 supply trucks. (Each truck able to supply and aid many New Edomites.) Perhaps after this treaty is signed, they may also be deployed as well. "

Landa continued with his conversation as negotiations were held. Bruno stayed silent, and Vilson wouldn't shut up. King sat intently with eagle's splendor.

"And I'm sure your an extremely sucessful writers, am I right misses Lake," replied Landa

"If the general terms are acceptable to you, then they are acceptable to us." replied King Mark. "I hope all you gentlemen will enjoy your brief stay here; we will have the documents prepared for tomorrow. Is there anything else I can do for you, or should I have servants show you to your rooms?"

[Vici Minerva]

Landa, sitting with the countess, was reluctant to leave now. Neither was King, who was interested in seeing more of the city. Landa discreetly motioned to Lovecraft that he had wanted to spend some time with the Countess. King on the other hand was less subtle, and simply blurted out.

"If I may sir, I'd like to see more of the city... I'm a bit restless sir." King said, with more respect than he had ever shown Obed.

"If I may sir as well, I'd like to observe some of the art galleries with the countess... of course if that's alright with Miss Lalery..."

Lovecraft simply looked at the King, waiting for an answer if two of his officers may enjoy another New Edomite night.

[Helladria]

All that Team 2 would see would be dusty offices, a big ledger open on one of the desks, a few old calendars from 4 years ago, swivel chairs; the outer door, a security door, closed, a waiting room, photocopiers, telephones, a couple of desk top computers, somewhat old fashioned ones.

The woman, her eyes almost too weary for tears, said, "My name is Catherine Bettany--and I'm...I was...the postmistress. There are...people in the freezer." she put her face into her hands.

The soldiers of team 2 waited outside the office, letting team 1 investigate the maintenance area. Meanwhile, the leader of the evacuation team spoke to the former postmistress while the others finished clipping the panel off of the wire cage. "How long ago were they put in there? Do you know if they're still alive?"

[New Edom]

All that Team 2 would see would be dusty offices, a big ledger open on one of the desks, a few old calendars from 4 years ago, swivel chairs; the outer door, a security door, closed, a waiting room, photocopiers, telephones, a couple of desk top computers, somewhat old fashioned ones.

The woman, her eyes almost too weary for tears, said, "My name is Catherine Bettany--and I'm...I was...the postmistress. There are...people in the freezer." she put her face into her hands.

The soldiers of team 2 waited outside the office, letting team 1 investigate the maintenance area. Meanwhile, the leader of the evacuation team spoke to the former postmistress while the others finished clipping the panel off of the wire cage. "How long ago were they put in there? Do you know if they're still alive?"

"They probably are...there's a protected celing vent. They don't use it as a freezer anymore, there's no more of the stuff that makes freezers work." the woman said wearily, trembling. She suddenly screamed, "You have to get them out! Get them out!" the chorus was taken up wildly, crazily by the people there, the ones not yet out rattling their chainlink, a number of them howling the chorus. GET THEM OUT! GET THEM OUT!

[Helladria]

"They probably are...there's a protected celing vent. They don't use it as a freezer anymore, there's no more of the stuff that makes freezers work." the woman said wearily, trembling. She suddenly screamed, "You have to get them out! Get them out!" the chorus was taken up wildly, crazily by the people there, the ones not yet out rattling their chainlink, a number of them howling the chorus. GET THEM OUT! GET THEM OUT!

"Alright, stay quiet." he urged them. He radioed for another team to come support the evacuation while he led his own to the freezer. He walked over and pulled the pin on the freezer, opening it, and bracing for what scene would face them on the other side.

[New Edom]

The Freezer

Blinking human forms, naked, shuddering, wary, crouched apelike; the reek was appalling; men, women, some children, huddled and terrified to the point of stupefaction, about 2 dozen of them in a big walk in freezer space that had no cold left in it, in fact it was humid in the place; a few of them were collapsed on the floor, in the bad stages of dehydration; a reek of urine, feces and stale sweat hung in the air horribly.

Despair upon these faces did not admit much hope, but one of them, a man of indeterminate age, held up his hands, and it was not clear if he was begging to be shot and put out of his misery or begging for help. However one of the children suddenly scrabbled and darted forward, a girl of ten or so, naked and almost froglike in her scrabbling, bounding suddenly forward to escape....

[Helladria]

The Freezer

Blinking human forms, naked, shuddering, wary, crouched apelike; the reek was appalling; men, women, some children, huddled and terrified to the point of stupefaction, about 2 dozen of them in a big walk in freezer space that had no cold left in it, in fact it was humid in the place; a few of them were collapsed on the floor, in the bad stages of dehydration; a reek of urine, feces and stale sweat hung in the air horribly.

Despair upon these faces did not admit much hope, but one of them, a man of indeterminate age, held up his hands, and it was not clear if he was begging to be shot and put out of his misery or begging for help. However one of the children suddenly scrabbled and darted forward, a girl of ten or so, naked and almost froglike in her scrabbling, bounding suddenly forward to escape....

The fresh stench was more stale than the room holding the rest of the prisoners. It was so bad that it sent a sickly chill down the spines of the soldiers as they fought a very real urge to vomit. As the girl leapt forward seeking escape, one of the soldiers bent down and swept the filthy child up in her arms, immediately taking her out of the building to the waiting vehicles despite her resistance. The others stayed in front of the freezer, while the team leader spoke. "Stay calm. We're not with the militia. We're getting you out of here."

[Ossurwald]

Dandolian hopped out of his Eagle. He surveyed the people, and glanced over the armed ones. Speaking through his interpreter, he said that he was with the Ossurwald Republican Army on their way to Beth-Aran, and that they could use some knowledge of the area.

"You'll have to take the first exit north, towards Glasstower before you can get there," replied one of the armed men, a bearded man wearing a watch cap and vest and jacket with khaki pants and worn boots. "The main road is flooded for several kilometers ahead, even up to the radiator of a big truck, and there's debris floating in it. That's why most of us fled, the dykes and levees got blown during a battle." He quickly drew a map on a piece of old paper. "Then you'll come to a second exit that says "Beth-Aran after about 2 clicks going on the highway to Glasstower, and you turn left there, got it? Hey, do you have any spare food and water?"

Dandolian chewed a stick of gum, and stared briefly at the vested man. "Flood, huh?" he said, looking over the map. "Look, I can't spare any rations, especially not for a whole town. But there are more soldiers coming up the road, they'll be able to take care of you, to a certain extent. We'll try to get food aid up from Fineberg."

[New Edom]

The fresh stench was more stale than the room holding the rest of the prisoners. It was so bad that it sent a sickly chill down the spines of the soldiers as they fought a very real urge to vomit. As the girl leapt forward seeking escape, one of the soldiers bent down and swept the filthy child up in her arms, immediately taking her out of the building to the waiting vehicles despite her resistance. The others stayed in front of the freezer, while the team leader spoke. "Stay calm. We're not with the militia. We're getting you out of here."

The complexity of reaction was stranger than the air in the freezer--some seemed to barely understand what was being said to them; others wept and began to pour out a grief that came from the depths of the soul; some had clearly hidden their souls so deep that they did not know how to react.

In the freezer there were sanitation and safety warnings on old peeling paper taped to the white grimy walls. One of the men was crazy, smiling almost cheerfully, saying "Welcome to Hell. Welcome to the meat locker. Welcome to Hell..."

The old man who had spoken--perhaps he was not so old, his flesh still looked reasonably supple, but his hair was white--stood, blinking, and walked slowly towards the group of Helladrians, his eyes filling with tears as though water had begun to rain in the desert. "This has to be a dream," he murmured. "We were dead--now we are alive...it has to all be a dream."

[New Edom]

Dandolian chewed a stick of gum, and stared briefly at the vested man. "Flood, huh?" he said, looking over the map. "Look, I can't spare any rations, especially not for a whole town. But there are more soldiers coming up the road, they'll be able to take care of you, to a certain extent. We'll try to get food aid up from Fineberg."

"Yeah," said the man glumly, as though not believing him.
"Anyway, God bless you for coming," one of the women exclaimed, coming forward and placing a package in his hand. "God has been providing for us, take this and be blessed."

[Helladria]

The complexity of reaction was stranger than the air in the freezer--some seemed to barely understand what was being said to them; others wept and began to pour out a grief that came from the depths of the soul; some had clearly hidden their souls so deep that they did not know how to react.

In the freezer there were sanitation and safety warnings on old peeling paper taped to the white grimy walls. One of the men was crazy, smiling almost cheerfully, saying "Welcome to Hell. Welcome to the meat locker. Welcome to Hell..."

The old man who had spoken--perhaps he was not so old, his flesh still looked reasonably supple, but his hair was white--stood, blinking, and walked slowly towards the group of Helladrians, his eyes filling with tears as though water had begun to rain in the desert. "This has to be a dream," he murmured. "We were dead--now we are alive...it has to all be a dream."

"No this isn't a dream," the Lieutenant replied. "You are alive and your captors are being subdued. Now let's get you out of here, follow us." The Helladric soldiers didn't advance, being mindful of not invading their space until they began showing more mental clarity.

The other evacuation team meanwhile had taken up the task of opening the cages in the main room, and so picked up where the first had left off. The Private who was carrying the girl finally made it outside, where she put her down while continuing to restrain her, and spoke to the waiting soldiers. "It's unbelievable in there. We're going to need some medics and showers. These fuckers've had people locked up in their own shit for who knows how long."

[Greitania]

To: New Edom
From: The Federation of Greitania
Re: Humanitarian Aid

We are very concerned about your actual situation, for that reason we would be happy to send four C-130 Hercules in your aid. Each plane will contain the following supplies:

-Nonperishable food.
-Clothes
-Bottled Water
-one field hospital

Two of the Hercules will bring volunteer rescue teams from the University of Burdeau and Silver Lake and The Second Fireman Squadron also from the city of Burdeau

Altough we are living trough a crisis in our nation, we can't let the world's nations suffer, so we will send all the help we can. Use them as you please.
If there is anything you need, contact us, we will be happy to help.

Humble Greetings, President Marcus Cooper.

[Ossurwald]

Dandolian chewed a stick of gum, and stared briefly at the vested man. "Flood, huh?" he said, looking over the map. "Look, I can't spare any rations, especially not for a whole town. But there are more soldiers coming up the road, they'll be able to take care of you, to a certain extent. We'll try to get food aid up from Fineberg."

"Yeah," said the man glumly, as though not believing him.
"Anyway, God bless you for coming," one of the women exclaimed, coming forward and placing a package in his hand. "God has been providing for us, take this and be blessed."

Dandolian took the package. He silently looked at the woman, then looked down. "Thank you, ma'am," he mumbled. Then he jumped onto his Eagle and signaled Sheridan to start moving out." Orion moved off down the road.

[New Edom]

Ironbeck

At the other end of town, the Helladrian units there had approached an area of well off houses--including a big mansion, that was made from an old monastery, of old heavy stones and dark windows, partly rebuilt into the more light and airy style that the Baran aristocracy were so fond of; it was partly surrounded by a semi-circular garden that had been allowed to be overgrown in parts, in others dug up where someone incompetent had tried to grow vegetables. The once beautiful emerald green lawns were overgrown, and there were some signs of blast damage on the lawns.

Meanwhile, the captives began to in a scattered, weeping and confused way explain a tale that explained the awful state of the town.

Most of the townsfolk had fled when food shortages and swarms of refugees became intolerable. Most of the people who were present now were refugees themselves, lured to the town by Commer Brang, who had in a series of assaults on the remnants of the inhabitants taken over. The cannibalism came later, when there was no more food. The heavy rains had crushed and destroyed what few crops had been put out, all the animals that had been able to be caught had been eaten.