Retribution

Lucien walked through the unfamiliar "village", it had been a few years since he had been this far north, and although the land hadn't changed, it's occupants had. He caught suspicious glares from a few people on the street, and he could tell people were watching him from closed doors. He felt thankful for the cloak he wore, as he doubted they'd let him peacefully pass as far as he had without it. He'd heard the current tribe in control of the land was called the Groceli, he assumed they were a newer tribe, as he didn't remember the name from his youth, or his first bit of wandering. As he walked to the center of the village, a line of armed men stood before him. They pointed their guns at him and he stopped. One of them took a couple of steps and said "What is your purpose here?"

Lucien replied 'I have come to speak to your leader, it's urgent.' The armed man smiled and said that he was the leader of this village, and asked his purpose again. 'I have seen the banners of Retribution coming this way, only a day or two away. They're most likely coming to conquer this land, and they won't do so peacefully.' His response was one of foolish pride, saying that they were afraid of nothing and would turn away no challenger. Lucien shook his head in distate and turned to leave, no one moved to stop him.

Lucien had climbed a steep crag where he had stashed his railgun, and sat down, from here he could see the camp of the Knights, from here he would sit and wait, waiting for his chance to ambush them when they moved in the morning. He put on the mask for his nanosuit, and awaited the dawn.

Durg walked through the busy war camp inspecting his men as they prepared for battle. He watched as the hardened knights of many crusades rechecked the gear for the up coming fight ahead of them. As rally masters barked at legionaries to form up into marching positions. Durg looked at the head of the camp to see the magnificent flag of the Order of Retribution standing tall and proud as the wind blew in the desolate wasteland. Durg now stood at the head of the camp all men looking at there commander waiting for the word. The word that would sanction another chapter in there book of records. The word that would bring glory for the young and scars for the old. 'To long have these lands been plagued by the tribal disgrace that walks them. To long they have taken there existence for granted. To long they have been an eye sore upon our glorious order. The time has come to bring retribution upon these lands, we march for Groceli!'The camp filled with the roar of warriors awaiting their chance for glory.

A few hours later the camp was down and the troops were marching to glory with their commander at the helm. The people of Groceli would soon not forget the Order of Retribution.

It was not long into the morning before Lucien heard the marching of Retribution's knights. He looked down the scope of his railgun and viewed the incoming force. He could see several of the commanding knights leading what they referred to as their "legionaries" conquered tribal people of previous conquests. He saw at least a hundred of them, he looked to the front of the group and saw the heavily armored knights. He couldn't see their exact number, but he knew there would be many. He looked to the head of the march and saw what he believed to be their commander. He contemplated taking a shot, but doubted even the railgun could punch through the armor at their current distance.

So he would wait for them to come closer, had he the time or resources he would have laid a better trap, but he would have to trust his own abilities. He unclasped the cloak he wore and allowed it to fall to the ground as he activated the stealth technology in his suit. He smiled to himself as he watched his body fade into the rock, no matter how many times he saw it, this technology still amazed him. He activated the target tracker in his nano-suits mask and marked the leader of the marching troops, this told him the distance away from him, and as he watched he would wait until they were 200 yards out.

He clicked the safety off and heard the magnets within the gun begin to power up. He sat with practiced patience and awaited his chance.

As the company moved forward nearing the village the cliffs lie
ahead of them. Durg felt an unwary felling in his gut. It was quite
and calm. Something he learned through his many years of experience
was not a good thing. He saw a light flash on the cliff tops and then
a sharp wisp and the splatter of blood on his armor as the rally
master lay in half. 'All units open fire on the cliff tops, Charlie
and Delta squads attack the left flank and advance up the cliff tops.
Omega squad work your way up the cliff on the right flank. The Rest
of you lay down suppressive fire.'

Durg watched as the legionaries took the left flank while the
knights took the right. He soon realized this was just a mere pot
shot that was taken. Probably from one of the tribal scouts. He
wondered though, what weapon could reach the distance and cause such
damage. It seemed to have been a railgun judging the electric flash
and the rally masters corpse. It seemed highly unlikely the tribal 's
of these lands could poses such a weapon, yet alone wield it. For the
Order of Retribution had very few themselves and only in power armor
could they wield them. This was a mystery that must be solved later
he thought to himself for these lands still needed to be liberated.
'Everyone regroup on me, Charlie squad i want you to scout ahead keep
a look out for more enemy snipers. These tribal 's have no knowledge
of the honor and glory of respectable combat they are just mere
savages anyways. The rest of you get back into marching positions
Groceli is not under our banner yet.'

He silently cursed himself for taking the shot, he knew it wouldn't have hit the commander, yet he took it anyway. He saw them begin to move and he dropped down the cliff he was on, landing silently amid the torrent of gunfire they were unleashing on were he had just been. It was a few moments later and he watched them reform their ranks, with one of the squads starting to scout ahead. He was almost glad he didn't hit someone wearing power armor, as they would double their efforts to find him if they did.

His eyes could see that his scare tactic had a decent effect, the less experienced among them were frightened, not knowing if and when another of them would practically explode in front of them. He stood, and started working his way around, using his unnatural speed and stamina to go the long way around the cliff, this led him to the far west side of the village, and he knew by the time he got back into a sniping position they would be assaulting the village. The side path he took had taken longer to traverse than he would have liked but he still made it with enough time.

He could already see their warriors preparing for the knights, several of them running back and forth, with a few barking orders. He ran into the village, taking care to not expose himself beyond what his suit could handle. He ran towards a tower and quickly made it to the top. He stood behind a tribal sniper, he snapped his neck quickly and quietly and held his railgun towards where the knights would arrive from.