EPISODE ONE - WELCOME TO THE SHOW
September 27th, 2021
They said there was no rest for the wicked. But much of the time, it also seemed like there was no rest for the people who did something to stop them. The local authorities, the ones on the frontlines with the Guild, fighting demons or vampires or Xenofront or whoever. It seemed like every week there was another anti Xenofront operation, or some investigation into another group like the Black Circle, or some attempt at diplomacy to keep some mage house from stepping out of line, or even simpler things like having to come down to the suburbs and deal with reports that there was a vampire in the area feeding on the locals.
None of it was overwhelming on its own. When all of it was combined into a series of events that was constant and consistent, however, it could be crushing.
“There’s a lot of bodies stacking up in this case,” remarked Caine Rayden, one of the main field instructors at Mittlerstadt Academy, while looking over the report that had just been handed to him from across the desk by Radovan Belyokov. “Which is a bad thing for multiple reasons… Both because of the losses and because it’s going to end up in the news. In the other world outside of our own.”
“Yes, they are stacking up. And too fast, on both sides. Even doing damage to the enemy contributes to what you just said, with things spreading into the regular world. But, Cell Five is one of the oldest Xenofront cells to date, it’s not surprising that they’ve proven to be a menace when it comes to taking them out,” Belyokov replied, with a shrug, while Rayden went over the report.
“Right. They’ve only gotten better with time, and all that. Every time we go to war with them, we give them what they want and make things more public…”
Rayden’s voice trailed off as he stretched and set the papers down before looking back to the man across the desk. “Why are you showing the report to me? Am I getting sent off to deal with this or something, or do I get to kick back and relax a bit more before getting back on the road?” he asked, genuine curiosity in his voice.
“Just showing you what we’re dealing with on the outside since,” started Radovan, gesturing towards the map that had been printed out along with the report. “This is all happening too close to home and Divisions One and Two are going to get pulled into things for sure if this escalates anymore. Central Europe is our backyard. That doesn’t just go for the Academy, but for the Division that’s based not far to the south and for the Guild in general around here. Things go hot with Xenofront and we can expect this-”
Radovan gestured to the general area around them. “To become the frontline. The Guild knows that, too. I actually received a directive from the Board of Mages this morning and that’s why you’re here. Because you and Nico are going to be a part of what they want, even if what they want might not be the safest option per say.”
Nico Lucius, who was leaning against the wall in the background and mostly saying nothing, finally spoke up. “What, are you having us rush out a bunch of recruits because Division Two needs more bodies to send into the grinder?” she asked, more cynical than her more successful colleague.
“Not quite, and I wouldn’t put it so pessimistically. We’re not rushing out a class but we have been told to get them ready earlier. Things aren’t going to go slow for them just because it’s their freshman year. And for the ones already in the ranks of this academy, they’ll be pushed more. But I believe you two have been assigned to deal with the freshman, and so, I’ve brought you here to tell you about the order. Which you can read the paperwork for here-”
“Don’t need to read it. I know I’m not rushing out a bunch of initiates to send them into the fight against Xenofront. I of all people would know what they can do, and a bunch of newbies aren’t going to be ready to deal with one of their more… Aggressive cells. Some of the vets are having a hard time handling them after all, I believe the first report you printed out was a matter of that.”
The report had, of course, been about a failed operation against Xenofront, where little had been gained despite the high cost of the operation, with a few Guild agents dying during the failure and much property being damaged or destroyed. Sometimes, that was just the way life went. Especially when dealing with species who were stronger than humans in most areas. These weren’t the random vampires or demons the Guild was sometimes called out for. They were a lot more organized, and that helped cut the advantage the Guild had on them.
Depending on how you looked at it, you could say the Guild hardly had an advantage at all.
“We’re not moving the class ahead or throwing them into the meat grinder. I’m just saying that we can’t afford to go easy on them because this class is going to have, ahem, higher expectations than the ones in the past did,” Radovan replied. “And based on manpower, they might end up being involved in more things sooner than their predecessors did. I want you both to start off right away with intermediate training and assume they know the bare basics. They should, if they made it in here in the first place. Get them involved. If they can succeed in the more active training, I’m sure they’ll do better when they get involved for real with things in the field eventually.”
“You don’t have to tell me that, I don’t go easy in the first place,” said Rayden, nodding. “Let’s just hope that we’re able to keep the intensity of things down to, well, training and not have the fight come here. I’m sure this place looks like a nice big target for Xenofront to make a statement, and I know they’re not the fondest of demons and angels and vampires that end up in these ranks.”
“We can’t control whether they try to make that statement or not,” Radovan sighed. “All we can do is get the students ready for when they have to face that enemy for themselves. It’s not really a question of if. It’s a question of when and whether or not we can beat them when they come.”
The actual students themselves wouldn’t know anything about whether or not they were being pushed. All they knew was that this was one of the biggest days of their lives. The day when they were moving into the place they’d call home for the next four years. Well, some of them would spend all of the time there, anyway. The ones who were competent enough might get out early and end up promoted directly into the Guild. But this wasn’t the time to think that far ahead, they had to perform competently first and before they could do that, they had to get settled into their new place.
Just about everyone had been brought into Germany and had spent the last night or so in a hotel where they would have their first chance to meet each other, but because of their late night arrival, most of them wouldn’t have talked very much and met the entire cast of other mages and spirits. That would come during the introduction. There were a couple of buses pulling up on the outside, and when they stopped, the students were now at the gates of the academy that would shape them into mages that would have a shot at real and important careers.
Assuming they met the high standards of the place and succeeded both in the classroom and in the more active and physical training.
There was already someone waiting for them when they stepped off the bus and in front of the gate, which was a large arch in front of the main footpath through the campus, connected to the metal fence which went around the entire perimeter. It was quite large, but well, the Guild had spared no expense on this campus. And the one that was waiting for them was distinctive in appearance, too. Female, but not human. Blue skin, green eyes, and four horns on her head. Not a demon, most likely, but one of the spirits around here.
“Ah, there you are,” she said, gesturing towards the gate after noticing the students. “I’m sure you won’t recognize me, I’m not that famous. My name is Endriel and I’m the spirit that works with the Dean around here. I’ve been assigned as the Manager of Spirit Personnel, which basically means that I’m responsible for keeping you spirits from burning the place down or doing anything too illegal while your masters are studying, training in the field, or doing other things. I’m also the one that decides the training schedules for the spirits here.”
“But,” she continued, looking back to the students as she stepped through the gate. “I’ve also been sent down here to pick up the new students and explain where everything is. The apartments that you’re going to live in for the next years are located on the northeast side of the campus, and while we could have driven there, the Dean thought it would be a better idea to let you see this place a bit more by walking. The walk across the campus is also a decent chance to get introduced to your fellow mages and spirits, who you may not have had the chance to meet last night.”
Endriel paused and turned back to the group as she walked. “Just one quick word of advice about your time here. Get along, and learn to lean on each other. There’s enough damn problems around here if you just take a look outside. We don’t need any more coming from the inside.”
