War and MG Chap 3

Casey tested the bonds holding him fast to the stretcher. Though he did not apply much force, he figured he had little chance of breaking them even if his chest did not ache with every breath. Not that he would get far even if he had the chance to escape; running was out of the question in his current condition. How he got into his current condition proved to be elusive. No matter how hard he thought, he couldn't quite recall memories of the previous hours. Vaguely recalling something with centaur, the only thing he knew for sure was that there had been fierce combat.

The woman he had seen when he first woke up had vanished shortly after he saw her. Now he was being attended to by this very large, red-skinned woman with a single horn protruding from her forehead. She didn't say anything, but poked and prodded him in various areas, adjusted bandages, and injected him with something he now realized to be an analgesic.

He could hear commotion and activity outside of the vehicle he was in, but was unable to look out anywhere. Casey's emotions were a mixture of anxiety and curiosity. His relative good care at the hands of his captors lead him to believe that perhaps PoW life would not be quite so terrible. The lack of knowledge about these mysterious women also interested him. They had appeared rather suddenly not even a month ago, so little was known about their society or culture. As he pondered his circumstances, he saw the canvas at the back of the truck rustle about. The green-eyed woman with the foxy ears and multiple tails hopped in, then talked with the large woman. Their language was unlike anything Casey had ever heard before - it sounded like some kind of magic incantation.

After their brief dialogue, the red-skinned woman left, leaving Casey alone with the fox-woman. She looked at him curiously, then spoke. Whether to herself or him, he didn't know. When he did not respond, the woman smiled and she moved a hand to his forehead. As it moved, he noticed traces of what appeared to be blue fire covering her hand. He attempted to jerk his head back to avoid the firey touch, but due to the restraints he could only move so far. As her finger touched his head, and he was immediately surprised at the sensation. Rather than a searing heat, he felt some kind of electrical tingling in addition to her touch. She began moving her finger about on his forehead, though he did not know why. Pulling her hand back after spending some time tracing something on his forehead, she again beamed at him.

 

"Hello there," she said.

 

Casey froze instantly at her words. While he still heard her strange language he also somehow knew what she was saying. His response expected, the woman giggled slightly and patted him on the arm.

 

"What I've done is carve a sigil onto your mind that allows you to understand anyone that also has the sigil, regardless of the language they speak."

 

His mind raced. Magic, actual magic? What else were they capable of? Fear began to replace his prior curiosity.

 

"My name is Emrald, I'm a field surgeon for the Coalition. What's your name?"

 

Was this an interrogation? Why else would she want to know? Casey focused his eyes on the woman. Her ears twitched slightly.

 

"Shy? Well I suppose I can't blame you, considering all that's happened." Sighing and moving to sit across from him, leaning back.

 

She didn't seem quite like an interrogator, he figured. Still, he had to stay on his guard.

 

"Lieutenant Casey Smith, 108th infantry division, D company," he said firmly.

 

"Oh good, you can speak." Emrald clapped her hands together and again smiled at him.

 

"Well Casey, you've been captured. We found you in a trench, pinned underneath a centaur that you had killed. You have broken ribs and a concussion. After we complete our mission, we'll be bringing you back to our base. Do try to relax until then."

 

At least he now had an idea of how he came into his current situation. The part about their mission worried him though. Why were they bringing him along instead of immediately sending him back to their HQ to interrogate him?

 

The fox-woman Emrald did not say anything else, and after a time he heard the truck he was in start up and soon began moving. The rough ride caused his ribs a great deal of pain. Nausea washing him over and a cold sweat breaking out, he pleaded with any deity that would listen to end his suffering or stop the truck. Rather than any god, Emrald seemed to pick up on his increasing discomfort and injected him with another dose of painkillers. Working more quickly than he would have thought possible, it only took seconds after the injection before the agony in his chest subsided into a dull throb.

 

"If you're in that much pain you should say something. No need to tough it out."

 

Her voice seemed to admonish him like a child. Turning to look at her, he was still mystified by her behavior. He felt more like a patient at a hospital than a prisoner of war.

 

Time seemed to tick by slowly, nary another word spoken. Casey felt the truck beginning to slow, then stop. Emrald seemed to take this as her que to leave, and she wordlessly leapt from the back of the truck, the canvas flap quickly obscuring his view of the outside world as it fluttered to a close. He could hear the sounds of people moving about, then a burst of gunfire from somewhere in front of the truck.

 

 

 

Emrald pressed herself tightly against the side of the truck at the sound of the gunfire, looking over at Reia.

 

"So much for being undefended eh? I thought they were supposed to clear out everyone who could fight back," Emrald yelled out.

 

Reia shrugged in response, hunkered down behind her shield. Looking around for the location of the gunman, she couldn't discern from where the shots originated. Turning around and issuing a few orders to the troops behind her, she stood slightly as they left to other positions. Once they reached their places, she signaled to advance. Slowly walking forward, there was another burst of gunfire. The rounds ricocheted harmlessly off a soldier to her left. Still proceeding forward, she spotted the barrel of a gun peeking out from under a flap on the large medical tent. Raising her own weapon and taking aim where she figured the person would be standing, she was stopped by a yell from Emrald.

 

"Remember to take him alive!"

 

Reia rolled her eyes. Easy for someone who isn't putting themselves in the line of fire to say. She lowered her firearm and signaled for those around her to do the same. They'd just have to rely on their shields until they were close enough to disable the gunman.

 

Eventually they reached the gunman; he was still seated in a wheelchair. Apparently he had picked up a sub-machine gun that was left as the other soldiers retreated. Unable to run away, he fired at them until the magazine ran dry. Still pulling the trigger, the man had the most terrified expression Reia had ever seen.She looked at him pityingly, then snatched the weapon from his grasp with blinding speed. Walking back out, she yelled for Emrald to come in

 

Entering, Emrald began looking around at all the wounded. She was amazed at the numbers of people - they'd need to make at least two trips to transport them all. Her mouth slightly agape, she found it hard to comprehend that any army would leave this many men behind. It disgusted her, really.

Rather than drugging them all, Emrald thought about another means to garner their cooperation. Walking back to the truck that contained Casey, she hopped in. His eyes instantly shifted to her, worry easily read on his face. No doubt the gunfire was the cause.

 

"We're currently at a human medical camp. There's quite a few men here. I would appreciate it if you could help convince them to cooperate with us."

 

Casey considered her words. While she had treated him, he was a prisoner, and so now were the men at this camp. Would asking them to submit to her care be treason?

 

"Do you think any of them will die without treatment?"

 

Emrald shrugged.

 

"Probably, though we haven't started looking at them. They're all rather scared of us and we don't want those injured to make themselves worse or fight us."

 

He continued to stare at her.

 

"Why do you want to give us aid? We're your enemy."

 

"Because I'm a doctor, and you're people. I have no desire to see others suffer, no matter their race or allegiance. You are prisoners, yes, but isn't it normal to take prisoners in human wars?"

 

Pausing briefly she continued,

 

"Or do you murder those unable to fight back?"

 

The notion of killing men that were already wounded or unable to fight back was despicable to her. Not only was it senseless violence, but how could you ever hope to convince a people to capitulate to you if they knew they of the atrocities committed against them? She glared at Casey.

 

He shifted a bit, weighing her words. with a small sigh, he gave his response.

 

"Fine, I'll help you."

 

Emrald breathed a sigh of relief and began to undo his bindings. She helped him sit up, then stand on his feet. He brought an arm up to clutch at his ribs, trying to halt the sharp tendrils of pain radiating from his chest, then began to move with her off the truck and to the tent.

 

As the pair approached the medical tent, Reia gave them a look of surprise. Casey halted when he saw the tall, muscular woman. She was easily two feet taller than he was, maybe three. His eyes tracked up to her long ears and curved horns. She was certainly more intimidating than the dainty fox-girl currently propping him up, but the large cow-woman seemed to defer to the fox. The cow-woman wordlessly watched Casey as he approached and walked into the medical tent.

 

"That's Reia. Don't worry too much about her," Emrald said in a hushed tone. "She's nice enough."

 

Casey came to a sudden halt when he saw all the other men packed into the tent. There had to be at least 50 here. To leave so many behind, the war must be proceeding rather poorly.

 

"Okay," Emrald began. "It's your time to shine." Casey looked over at her, though she wasn't looking at him. Rather, she was looking back and forth at the swath of men.

 

 

 

 

Casey was still unsure of his actions. After talking at length, explaining his care and what Emrald had asked him to translate while she spoke. Eventually he had managed to get all the men to agree to her care and be taken prisoner as a consequence. Laying down on the stretcher inside the truck once again, Emrald had situated herself to his head on a bench. Most of the truck had been filled with wounded, but she seemed to fancy staying near him.

 

"Well, now we're off to home sweet home," Emrald said with a cheerful tone, looking down at Casey.

"You did a good thing today; you helped save these men. If they had resisted many would have surely died."

She patted Casey's head. He felt kind of proud, but he also wondered if maybe these men would simply be served up to someone else and meet a worse fate.

 

 

 

As Casey was helped out the truck, he was awestruck as soon as he saw the Coalition base camp. The rows of vehicles lined up and those on patrol around the borders were amazingly modern. He'd never seen anything quite like them before. Then the base itself appeared to have electricity. He couldn't believe it - electricity, at a mobile military camp? He was snapped from his reverie as Emrald prodded him a bit.

 

"Don't stand around gawking, we have places to go."

 

Casey nodded, then resumed walking, supported by the fox-girl. Entering the base, he looked around in wonder. What caught his attention most of all was a small box in the corner of a large room. Seated around it were multitudes of women of various shapes and sizes. Displayed on the box was a moving picture. While he had seen these moving picture shows before, this was the first time he had seen one on such a small screen. Not only that, it was in color! Utterly transfixed by the object, he stopped and then nearly fell when Emrald had kept walking and he couldn't rest some of his weight on her.

 

"What are you looking at?" she asked while following his gaze.

 

"Oh, that? What, do you guys not have those?"

 

Casey looked back at her and blinked several times. If they could shrink and colorize a moving picture, what else were they capable of? The thought was both incredibly exciting yet foreboding. No wonder they were being defeated so readily; these girls' technological edge on them had to be incredible.

 

"You can watch later, come now, you need to get to the infirmary," Emrald spoke while prodding him in the ribs, eliciting sharp bursts of pain.

 

"Fine, just please stop that."

 

"So long as you get moving."

 

As they entered, Casey noted that the place was already rather lively. It appeared the more seriously wounded had been hurried in first.

 

"Normally, you would have to wait as your injuries aren't that severe. But since I don't feel like implanting the sigil on all these folks right now, we'll need you to be our liaison."

 

Walking over to a bed, she motioned for him to sit and then walked off into a nearby room. Emerging several moments later with supplies of some sort, she motioned for him to lay down. Emrald removed his old bandaging and wrapped him in fresh ones. She then wrapped his chest in some kind of thick padding, and gave him another injection.

 

"Should keep the pain away for a while."

 

Casey simply nodded, then sat back up. Emrald walked off and began talking with the staff present, pointing back at him as she did so. After some time she came back to him.

 

"I've told them all that you can communicate with us now, so they'll come to you if they need your help. For now I'm needed in the surgeries." She gave him a smile and then departed through the door they entered.

 

Almost immediately medics began approaching Casey, asking him to act as a translator for their charges. With resignation, Casey slumped his shoulders, then stood up and went where he was needed.

 

 

Casey was exhausted. The crowded conditions of the infirmary had fallen somewhat, and now it was rather quiet. Soldiers slept in beds, given sedatives to help them sleep through their ills and discomfort. He looked around the darkened room. The only people still moving around was himself, a medic, and a guard at the entrance. His eyes met the guard's, her face full of curiosity. Realizing he was looking back at her, she quickly looked elsewhere and shifted. Casey laid down on his bed, attempting to digest all that had happened today. Being captured was shock enough. Then there was his unusually kind treatment and free range. In his first day he had already been given a job, and for some reason he obliged despite the light guards. It might not have been so difficult to create some kind of commotion and make for an escape, though he did realize the patrols outside would most likely have apprehended him rather quickly. Still though, should he be this accepting of events?

 

Closing his eyes, Casey fell into sleep quickly.