Chapter Thirty-Three: days of the past Episode One - the ravaging

("Noah's Retribution" one-shot)

• ** WARNING! CONTAINS SCENES OF (ARGUABLY) GRAPHIC VIOLENCE AND SOME GORE. IF YOU ARE YOUNGER THAN 15 YEARS, YOU MAY NOT WANT TO READ THIS CHAPTER!! ** -

we go back some fifty years, back to the terrible war between giants and non giants, and we see a handfull of people who subverted the ideals of the time, but paid a price for it, losing something, but gaining something of even greater value; freedom.

"war is unpleasant, it brings with it death, disease (Strife), and famine, to cause suffering for both those fighting, and those back home... these are both the names of the concepts, and those of the four riders of the apocalypse. appropriate, because all that war truly is... is Hell ... utter purgatory."

-emperorwolf.

gunfire buffeted the bunker, causing the stone to break away
a fox gripped his helmet as a huge explosion erupted a short distance away.
"where's andy?!" he cried out, as a human nearby ducked for cover.
"he ran out there, thinking he could get some of 'em!!"
the fox's face creased in terror, and he peeked out from behind the barricade, seeing a lion unloading an uncountable amount of chaingun ammo on a group of giants high above him

"EAT HYPER GALVANISED LEAD YOU GODDAMN MONSTERS!!"

the fox panicked "ANDY! MOVE!!"
but he was too late, and one of the giants was shot in the eye, and stumbled forward, his hoof coming down with a horrific explosion on top of andy.
the wolf beside the fox screamed in terrified despair "NO!"
the fox leapt out from behind cover, and fired his modified dual-handguns at the towering, unbalanced stag.
with a sickening squelch, he managed to fire a few more shots into it's left eye, and it tumbled backward, falling over.
the stag's allies quickly noticed the fox, and began thundering towards him
in the bunker, the wolf cried out "Noah! NOAH, RUN!!"
Noah smirked "shut up Zeke, i know what i'm doing!!"
the giants' heavy footfalls shook the ground, and behind him, noah's squad cowered in the bunker.
but...
noah just grinned mercilessly.
his brown eyes turned blue
he raised his palms in the direction of the giants
"SUCK ON THIS! THIS IS FOR ANDY, YOU BASTARDS!!!"
he clenched his fists, and lightning surged out of his arms, striking the approaching titans
"ONE. FREAKING. MILLION. GIGAJOULES!"
the giants screamed and trembled from the electrocution, then fell down dead.
Noah's arms flopped weakly to his sides, smoking.
he panted in exhaustion.
zeke popped his head out "Christ, Noah, what the hell was that?!"
noah fell to his knees "just...ngh just a little something... andy taught... me"
he looked over at the bloody heap that was once his friend.
"bastards..."

the deer groaned as he clutched his bleeding eye
"ribba doruga!" he said with a midle-eastern accent
noah picked up his guns and stepped before the deer's eye
"go back to hell... monster."
"grezen... you never win war! we superior!!"
noah cocked his guns "frickin' c-"

a loud droning sound came from overhead
they all looked up to see Gentikan bombers fly overhead.
back in the bunker, zeke and the two humans looked on in horror
zeke cried out "NOAH, DUCK AND COVER!!!"
there was an ungodly whistling as the bombs began to drop
the blue faded from noah's left eye "no... we... we're still down here!"
the deer scoffed "insects... you die with all others of your kind! only sooner than rest!"
the atom-bombs descended, and a rediculous idea popped into his head.
he groaned and turned his gaze to the giant, holding out his paw.
"give me your finger."
the deer made a surprised expression "enabla?"
"unless you WANT to die, DO IT!"
the deer reached out, and touched the fox's paw, and noah's body lit up with electricity
noah thrust his right arm up
"GET DOWN!"

just before the bombs hit, a huge electric dome struck out from the fox's paw, encasing himself, his allies, and the deer.

the giant could only stare with his one working eye, as those outside the electric field, both gant and non-giant, were ripped to shreds by the atomic energy
"bliez den grente...! ... or ... as you say... almighty in heaven!"
noah screamed in agony as the lightning surged through him "do not- let- ngh go- of me!!"
the flames and smoke died down, and noah dropped the flimsy shield, his right arm practically smouldering.
"crap... that stings..."
the deer shakily moved up to a crouch, and looked around, seeing only the near stagnant airborne ashes and the carpet of black residue on the ground, smoke hung in the air all around.
"grefa... neizo grefa!"
noah looked back at the bunker, relieved to see his cell had survived as well.
"voran, zeke, caleb... you guys... ngh alright?"
zeke stepped out of cover "y-yeah... we're still alive..."
the blue faded from noah's right eye, and he glanced back at the huge deer "what now? we try ngh to kill each other again?"

the deer clutched his lost eye "i answer you 'no'... must leave... before zlorag binag come... they ruthless... kill anything that move, friend and foe are same to them..."
the small soldiers crept out from cover
noah tilted his head "zlorag binag?"
"it mean 'Death Merchant' ... they brainwashed bugs. they kill own kind and ours alike."
zeke covered his muzzle "brainwashed...?"
voran, one of the humans, clutched his chest "the captured alpha cell..." he said solemnly "no..."

in the distance, they heard sadistic laughter in firan accents, but at a volume too low to be coming from a giant.
the deer grunted "it time to flee!"
noah looked at his comrades, then their enemy
"we know a way out."
"what you say?"
zeke cringed "noah, don't!"
"there's no time. we have to get out of here..." he looked to the deer "and i mean all of us."
even if he didn't like it, he knew they wouldn't get far without the giant with them.
"get away from zlorag binag? how you do this?"
the voices were getting closer.
"pick us up. we'll lead you to the tunnel."
the deer didn't hesitate, and quickly, albiet a bit roughly, gathered them up, and prepared to run from the voices.
"stop!" noah demanded in a hushed voice "very carefully, creep around them... don't make any noise..."
the giant begrudgingly did as he was told, and snuck around the insane voices as they passed, unable to see due to the smoke and ash in the air

"rebej na? dolovacket bort zuzute?" one voice asked
"mimla grollo. nezemat mihh belezu" another answered
"tiri menat. veera-dahn jeplet gain-tee-kahn norebleck!" a third one laughed
"modi modi velebreck... sioral, muradureio" called the first one
"hiramat: buh-gees, buh-gees? way-er ahhr yuuuu? ....jiggad." taunted a fourth.

the cruel laughter passed by in a few minutes, leaving the giant and the four in his grasp to stand paralysed with fear.
once they were sure they'd gone, noah tapped the deer's 'hand' below him, and everyone kept their voices low and quiet.
"about one hundred and thirty two of our metres to your left, there's a tunnel covered by undergrowth."
the stag crept in the direction, crouched, and found the hole.
"think you can fit through?"
" i may... if do not hold you bugs."
" what? "
"hold bugs, no crawl right. bugs go ahead while crawl"
caleb, the other human, growled "stop calling us bugs!"
noah silenced him "everyone start running through the tunnel." he turned to the stag "you, get crawling. if ANY of us gets caught, we're ALL as good as dead."
they obeyed, and sprinted through the long, dark tunnel.
the deer sank onto his stomach, and dragged himself inside.
noah ran next to the deer's head, and heard a noise " everyone stop! " he demanded in a whisper, and they stopped and listened.
somewhere above them, gentikan voices could be heard.
the deer whispered "what they say?"
noah listened carefully, and translated
"something like this.... have you seen... the omega cell... yet? ..."
zeke pointed to himself in the dim light " we're the omega cell... "
noah continued.
"- no, not yet... last saw them... at the bunker... gone now...
-figures... be floating in the... air now... stupid... viradans... dumb wolf... and... fox ..."
noah and zeke growled
"asshats. they knew we were there!" zeke said angrilly, but quietly.
they looked to the deer as he listened to their tiny footfalls head away from them
"they gone now..." he whispered
noah pointed forward
" go "
they resumed moving through the tunnel, and the stag whispered a question to the fox running aside his snout.
"who they? ones talking."
"gamma cell, third highest ranked in our army. they think they're above the rules"
"but not?"
"no, they're not."
suddenly the stag stopped
noah growled annoyedly "what the hell are you stopping for?!"
"antler caught ceiling... no can free it..."
noah gripped the snout of the deer, and climbed atop his head, then tried climbing the smooth rack.
once he found the ceiling, he crawled into the gap between the dirt and the deer's antlers, and tried standing to push him free.
it was working, he felt them yield a bit from the ceiling
"head... to the floor... and go!" he ordered in a hushed voice.
the giant obeyed, and pressed himself flat against the floor as he resumed dragging himself.
noah started to climb down.
"stay. you safer there."
"what?"
"you in danger of squishing when running next to head. stay where are. safer."
"why would i get squished?"
"if tunnel walls get tighter, you be crushed between wall and head."
noah didn't buy into it "why would you care?"
"think us no friends. you needed for my escape."
the light at the distant end of the tunnel winked out
ahead, zeke groaned "nightfall."
everyone stopped
"we need light, ... or we might end up going over a cliff!" voran complained
zeke lit a lantern from his pack.
"we should rest... they won't be using this tunnel for a while, so it'll be safe."
noah's cell sat down against the walls to sleep.

noah sat in the branches of the deer's antlers.
(i can't believe this...) he thought (we're technically aiding the enemy...)
"milrez." the deer whispered
"what?"
"that is name. luitennant Milrez Corrigan"
the fox sighed "Noah... private Noah Mylrick."
"this you name and rank?"
"it is."
"well, what we do?"
"we can't return to our base camp... and there's no way we're going to your base, either..."
"i thinking we leave. get out of war."
"impossible. we'd be caught, and each branded traitors to our countries."
"not if... they think we already dead.... they do... you remember this?"
noah closed his eyes "too tired."

---

noah awoke when the light reappeared at the end of the tunnel.
milrez was already awake
"you know snore? bug snore when sleep."
"how long have you been up?"
"hour. kept watch."
"milrez, wasn't it?"
"yes"
"what do you think, about the war, i mean. why're we even fighting?"
"it because of argument by bug leader and our leader get out of hand, war declared."
"don't call us 'bugs' ... monster."
"no call 'monster' ... bug"
noah dropped down onto milrez's face, and examined his destroyed eye.
"i really hit it spot-on, didn't i?" he said with a devious smirk
"not good thing, bug."
"well, you stepped on my friend, monster."
an awkward silence followed.

then, zeke, caleb, and voran woke.
"let's get moving." noah ordered.

they ran and milrez dragged, until they exited out onto a fog shrouded mountain.
zeke trembled "welcome to burragi mountain... AKA: death's grip."
suddenly, voran fell down, a pool of red liquid draining from his mouth.
"idalla?!" milrez cried out in shock
"the gasses in the fog... are harmful to humans..." caleb said from behind a gasmask, and he knelt beside the other human's dead body "may you find your way to the heavens... and watch over us, man..."

after burying voran, they climbed down the mountain, milrez descending next to them
suddenly, a rock zeke was holding on to broke away, and he fell
"ZEKE!" noah cried out
milrez swung at the wolf, and managed to grab his legs tightly.
"jimmat!"
the terrified wolf hung upside down in the stag's grip, his face screwed up in both fear and pain.
then, they heard a cracking noise in front of them
the mountain wall became cracked into a spiderweb like pattern...
"-fuck." caleb moaned
"-kinvan." noah groaned
"-irebla." milrez cursed
the wall gave way, and they plummeted down the mountain
zeke was stuck in the deer's constricting grip, and caleb flailed in panic next to him.
noah's head felt odd, he'd heard of pepole becoming some kind of 'possessed' on this mountain...
noah calmly spread his arms and legs, and closed his eyes. he felt strangely peaceful...
"if it's time... then, this is it. no getting around it..."
milrez looked at him, terrified "you are mad?! how can be so calm!?!?"
"look... Nobody dies before their time ... that's what their time means... you moron"
"it is NOT time! NOT time!!"
noah sighed, and opened his eyes, which had turned completely white.
"nobody can escape death. he waits for all at the end of the path that is life. he favours none. he knows neither pity nor mercy. he is simply that which we cannot avoid. if now is my time, then--"
caleb and zeke's screaming became apparent to him, and he snapped out of it, his eyes returning to normal. seeing caleb clutching his head.

"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING!? I REFUSE TO DIE LIKE THIS!"
caleb grabbed at his pack, but couldn't reach it
"DAMMIT! I... CAN'T... REACH!"
suddenly, he was being crushed against milrez's palm
"do it! now, bug! now!!" he cried out in panic
against the flattening air pressure, he managed to grab his pack, and withdrew a beige ball, no bigger than a grape.
he bit the stopper, and pulled it off with his teeth.
"FLIP OVER!"
milrez turned so he fell with his back facing down
caleb tried throwing the ball, but couldn't, the air pressure was too strong.
there was only one way to save his cell...
"m-monster...! THROW ME, THROW ME TO THE GROUND!"
everyone looked at him in shock
"DO IT OR WE'LL ALL DIE!"
milrez closed his fist around the human, drew back his arm, and sent caleb hurtling to the ground
caleb had to squeeze his eyes shut tight, and clamp his teeth together against the winds, but somehow managed to hold his arms out in front of him.
he knew the ground was coming fast...
he thought one final thing...
(if there are gods... please... protect my friends... protect Virada... and Gentiki....)
he began to cry, as he braced himself for a gruesome, agonising death
(PROTECT THEM!)
the ball in his hands began expanding, inflating.
noah flew within a few milimeters of the hard, unforgiving rock...

BOOMF!!

the inflating ball exploded outwards, filling with air and becoming a humongous landing pad.
he lay on his back, and closed his eyes once again as he saw the dark shape that was the giant plummeting toward him.
there was no way he'd be able to get out of the way in time.
"i serve out my duty, for my king and for my country..." he whispered to himself...
he smiled "i'm sorry... voran... zeke... noah... i'm so sorry..."
and the impossible weight of the giant bore down upon him.

he grimaced. the pad absorbed the hit, but caleb coud feel his ribcage starting to bend inwards.

everything seemed to happen slowly...

he felt the bones in his arms shatter.
followed by his legs.
he felt some of his ribs snap
he felt insurmountable pressure on his head, surely, his skull was next to break.
(i'm coming, voran... i'll be with you soon... i hope...)
he could practically hear his skull creaking from the deathly weight...
as noah had said...
death spared no one...
his time had come.

through his unimaginable pain, he managed to smile...
one...
last...
time...

he dimly felt the front of his skull give way...
and then everything went blue.

milrez landed heavily upon the crash-pad, and felt the human laying beneath him snap apart.
"fool... why would he... why would he save... at the cost of his...?"
milrez noticed the fox laying unconsious on his stomach, and recalled the wolf in his grasp.
he released him, and heard the wolf suck in tiny lungfulls of air.
milrez quickly sat up, and swiveled to look at the human's remains.
but couldn't explain what he saw.
"what... what trickery is this?"
instead of a gruesome red splatter, there was a gelatinous blue smear where the human should have been.
zeke scrambled around milrez's waist, and looked sadly at the blue gel.
he put up his paws in prayer.
"you deserve to get into paradise... even if you were artificial... may the gods let you into their grace..."

milrez shot the wolf a disbelieving stare, barely understanding the words
"what...'arty-fishy-ahl' mean?"
"that's 'Artificial' ... it means... it means he was created in a lab... built from genetic samples collected from humans... we needed to fill out our army somehow..."

"you build fake bugs... to fight us?"

zeke groaned

"you fake bugs? or you real?"

"we're as real as you are..."
milrez closed his red eyes, and lifted his face to the sky.
"burasho komanndi nerbak nal fimat... 'may heaven save us all' ..."

noah stirred, and shakily pushed himself up.
he looked around frantically "where's...?"
zeke called him from behind milrez, and noah slowly, and shakily stood, and limped over to the wolf.
he saw the gel.
"oh... Caleb..." he wept.
zeke gritted his teeth "captain caleburn will be missed dearly... private Noah, what do you suggest we do?"
noah was surprised at the wolf's sudden change into a serious persona, but answered him
"ze- commander izekello barma... i think we... should burn the gel... we don't want the enemy finding out..."
"quite true... it is conductive-flammable, it ignites with an electric charge. you will have to dispose of it, private."
milrez climbed off the pad, the serious wolf in his grasp, leaving the fox standing next to the gel.
noah wept "goodbye... Caleb..." his teary brown eyes turned a brilliant cobalt blue, shining in the morning light, dispite the fog.
electricity surged violently up his arms, arcing out onto the pad around him.
as he channeled the energy, increasing the voltage, he recalled what he'd said to the Omega Cell the previous morning...

---

""do you guys believe in Tarot Card Readings?""
caleb had jumped at the chance to have his fortune read.
noah had taken the 72-card deck, and shuffled it.
he had layed out twelve cards in a full Dodecagon spread.
caleb pointed to a card
noah had flipped over the card...
""upright tower.... that means there'll be a Disaster... but then, we ARE in a war.""
he had started laughing
""you're no help, tower arcana, we could've guessed that ourselves...""
everyone had laughed
caleb had pointed to another card.
noah flipped it, and had stared in distress
""that's bad... invert Death... that could mean you're going to die soon...""
zeke had laughed ""doesn't death just mean 'change' though?""
""it can signify physical death... and... so can the tower...""
voran had asked why it would happen, and noah overturned a third card
""upright Hanged Man... selflessly sacrificing yourself, maybe?""

noah had reshuffled, and read voran's next
""upright tower... invert death... again? but why?""
the next card revealed was the upright Fool Arcana.
""doing something foolish? something about a journey?""
""well, fortune telling cards are a load of bull, anyway."" voran had complained
next, he'd reshuffled, and read his own

""upright fool... upright moon? why would i begin a journey about a mystery?""
he turned over the third card.
""... what...?""
andy had looked at the card ""which one's that?""
noah had just stared blankly.
""invert hermit Arcana.... i'll lose my way? i'll get lost?""
he rubbed his chin ""how do i deal with this?""
he turned over a fourth card
""the upright magician? i'll need to make full use of my power? ... so i'll be alright if i just try? that's confusing.""

next, he read zeke's.
""upright justice... upright hanged man... you'll make a sacrifice for the sake of justice?""
he overturned the next card ""huh?""
zeke had looked curiously at it. ""what's this one? looks creepy...""
""this card is..."" he had said, confused ""uh... this is the World Arcana... but... i can't remember what it means...""
""is it a good card?""
""it's VERY good, it's the most powerful card in the deck... but i don't know how to interpret it...""

---

they had shrugged it off at the time, but the predictions were coming true.
voran had died because he'd left his gas mask at base.
caleb had died sacrificing himself to save them.
he didn't know how accurate zeke's and his own readings were... but there was something bad going on.

he felt the voltage reach 450KJ, and trust his arms out at the blue gel.
it crackled with electricity, then burst into flame.
he ran full pelt from the flame, as it began to quickly engulf the pad, and he leapt from the edge into the deer's waiting hand.
"better run, it'll blow up soon."
milrez closed his hand, securing the fox, and ran as fast as his hooves would carry him away from the blaze.
as he ran, he noticed a dim blue radiance coming from the fox inside his fist.
he opened his hand to see the fox forming a ball of lightning
"why you make that?"
the fox didn't answer, he just sighed.
the wolf in his antlers barked down at the fox "what're you doing?! things get blown up when you try that!"
the fox's ear twitched, and he suddenly took a fighting stance, still holding the ball lightning.
a huge bear leapt out of cover, and numerous giants of varying species burst out from behind him, and surrounded them.
the bear boomed in firish, and milrez couldn't believe what he heard
"liutennant, you've been accused of treason. the death merchants didn't find anything of you or the enemy at the blast site, and now we see you *PROTECTING* them from a forestfire?! we can't ignore this, you'll have to be executed."
"WH- WHY?! i haven't done anything wrong! i'm *USING* them to navigate! they know the area, and we don't!"
the once trusted allies milrez was surrounded by closed in a metre.
"prove it if you telling truth, you kill bug squad leader now for us, kill tiny wolf-bug!"
"and if no kill wolf?"
"then you die. all you die."
milrez looked down at the tiny canines.
canines.
not bugs.
he hadn't really thought about them as bugs since they fell... he was starting to see them as... peers, it seemed. maybe because he now owed them his life more than once?
"i... i must... or we all die..."
zeke whipped out a handgun "no. you don't."
noah panicked "zeke, no!"
"it's okay...." he turned his attention to the bear "if i die, will you let these two go free?"
"yes. they live, long as you die."
zeke looked up at the deer's one functional, troubled-looking eye "what's wrong, monster? can't deal with killing me? is it because you owe us your useless life?"
milrez averted his gaze "i... cannot..."
the wolf smiled, and began raising his weapon.
"then... I'LL do it."
noah panicked as he saw zeke point the handgun at his own head, and tossed the ball lightning out, striking down the giants surrounding them, but missing the bear.
who just scoffed "as long as wolf die, i no mind losing useless pawns."
then he cracked a whip, ensnared noah, and snapped him back into his huge paw, and squeezed
"AAAGH!"
zeke's arm trembled "let him go... LET HIM GO!!"
"no. pull trigger. then you friend free."
"bastard... you better keep to your word!"
his finger tensed on the trigger...
"NO! ZEKE DON'T! YOU'RE MORE IMPORTANT!! THE VGMRF NEED YOU MORE!!!"
"quiet, private... if i do this... he'll let you go... both of you ... you're just as important to the Viradan and Gentikan Monster Repulsion Force as i am... they need pvt. 'shocker' as much as they need me."
he took a deep breath "whadda you know, that Tarot crap of yours came true, huh?"
noah whimpered "seargent..."
"goodbye, my friend. and don't follow me."
zeke clenched his eyes shut, and braced himself, mentally preparing himself for the terrible sin he was about to commit.
he screamed "I HOPE YOU FOLLOW ME THOUGH, YOU MONSTER! FOLLOW ME DOWN TO HELL WHERE YOU BELONG!"
he clenched his fist.

BLAM!!

his eyes went wide and glassy, his limbs went stiff, blood spurted out of the other side of his head.
and he dropped down onto his front, his magestic white fur stained a dirty red where his blood poured out.

the bear grinned evilly "now that the bug is dead, it's time to crush the other one."
milrez's working eye went wide "but... he did as you asked, sir... why you do this?"
the bear groaned, but went along with the dialect change "i do this, because they stain on our world! useless, ugly red stains."
noah growled viciously "you mother fu- AGH!"
the bear squeezed him again "i want know how hard i squeeze to make bug pop!"
milrez approached him slowly "this madness! they already surrender!"
"give or no give, they just bugs. Bugs. Get. Crushed."
milrez noticed a tiny shock grenade on the dead wolf's belt, he pulled the pin, and threw the corpse at the bear "they... RIGHT!"
the grenade exploded, and a quick static blast surged through the air, stunning them both.
but not noah.
milrez smiled, and tried speaking through his gritted teeth "They...Right...About...Us!... Everything... They... Say... Truth!"
noah smiled "like i was saying..." he climbed out of the bear's grip, the small jolts of electricity soaking up into his paws as he walked across the bear's outstretched arm up to his face.
"... you... Fucking..."
he put his paws in front of the bear's terrified eye.
"... BASTARD!!"

KRA-KOOM!!

a huge bolt of lghtning tore through the bear's cranium, and he didn't even have a chance to scream before he died, the collected voltage from the grenade and the bear's natural static was enough to burn a hole straight through his head.
milrez let out a weak chuckle "how... you... say... it? 'go... tew... heru?' ... how... it... said?"
"that would be..."
noah looked vengefully back to the burnt hole in the bear's head.
"GO TO HELL!"
noah climbed down the giant's body to his shoulder, and, as he fell forward, onto his back.
noah jumped down, and ran to the deer's huge hoof.
"let me just..."
he touched the flesh on the back of the giant foot, and pulled in the electric charge paralysing the deer.
milrez flopped back, nearly falling on the fox, but swayed his upper body forward, and he fell flat on his face.
"nungbant"

the fox ran up to milrez's snout "what's that mean?"

"it... mean ... it... one... our ... curse... words... no... can... trans... late"
noah smiled, and pressed a paw gently into the tawny fur on milrez's snout
"i think that you deserve a 'well done, soldier' ... milrez ..."
the giant offered a weak smile "i... accept... it... little... fox..."
noah pat gently on the massive snout "good to hear. i'd say we're even. sarge woulda been proud to have been the one who stopped that prick... i just know it."
"you are meaning... how i threw him?"
"yeah... i'm sure that if he knew it was him who stopped that bear, he'd have been proud to have been a wolf-missle. you helped him save us. that's what i think."
milrez's tone became somber "what... about... friend i... stepped... on...?"
"andy..." the fox said sadly "...had a week to live... he came to this war so he could... die as a hero."
milrez made an appreciative noise "then... he suc-seed-ded"
"it's succeded, actually"
"i... see... but, you... have... paid... dearly... lost... all... friends..."
noah brushed his paw through milrez's fur "that was pretty good viradan... until half way through."
the huge mouth curled up into a smile
"i... am... just... copying... what... sound... right..."
noah laughed "only one mistake there!"
milrez tried to prop himself up, but his left arm quivered and gave way.
"UGH!"
noah jumped back as the deer flopped back down with a heavy Thud
the fox grabbed onto the tawny fur on milrez's neck, and climbed up atop his head.
"try again... liutennant"
"very... well... private" milrez said with a hint of sincerity in his voice, and tried pushing himself up again.
his left arm trembled
"bear weight on the right arm!"
milrez did, and the right one trembled
"switch until you can get up!"
milrez alternated between arms, slowly, but surely, rising to his full height.
"see? you did it!"
milrez puffed "yes... i did..."
noah slid down onto milrez's face, and tore off his tattered left sleeve.
there was a scarred branding mark shaped like a horseshoe on his bicep.
"what... this?"
"it's Omega ... the name of my cell."
milrez tugged down the collar of his clothing, revealing a crosshairs with an 'S' in the middle sewn into his chest with some sort of thread.
"nillio-rung bunna. 'sinner-crushing cell'..."
noah projected a tiny 'blade' of lightning from his finger, and branded himself with the same symbol, below the 'omega' symbol.
milrez smiled "yes... i agree. we clearly on same side, now."

---

while noah started a fire to cook the rationed food they both had, milrez was sewing 'omega' next to his original cell seal on his chest with the surgically-safe thick black thread.
noah had the fire at a median between the minimum size he knew, and the minimum size the giants used, and milrez suggested that it was sufficient for the two of them.
the fox reheated a pre-cooked baseball sized blob of dough, assorted vegetables and bits of slightly overcooked meat poking through it here and there.
milrez heated up a chunk of potato on a stick.

"why're you just having a potato?"
"not just potato. it sweet potato. much better than regular kind"
the deer pointed to the food-blob noah was recooking "what is abomination on stick?"
"it's a ball of wheat-dough with fruits, vegetables and meat in it. covers a few food groups."
it started smoking and he bit into it, his face unable not to show revulsion
"ughh... tastes about as good as it sounds, but it keeps us healthy enough to survive the fighting."
milrez smiled "i see. we are low on foods ourselves, and new supplies are rare. we make do with single bucket of vegetables and fruits which come once in month, which have to be divided among hundreds. it not very efficent. it also very annoying"
"a whole bucket, and you take a potato?"
"it sweet potato. i already say this"
noah bit gingerly into the blob again, forcing himself to swallow.
"i just don't understand. we're fighting, but we've shared this world for centuries, why is it only now that we have a war between sizes?"
"no know. you right... it confusing."
noah took a huge chomp out of the blob, and cringed as he swallowed "ughh... how'd the war really start anyway?"
milrez brought the sweet potato to his face and ate a bit of it "t'who... gulp to what told, humans ready to allow colony on fourth continent; Huron, but Gentikans and us get into argument over who get to collonise.
this get bad for leader, and he try crush gentikan leader, and he try attack back, lead to war."
noah scoffed "all this death and destruction on virada, over a continent nobody's even heard of?"
milrez groaned "yes, it sound pointless. most us think we fighting to take Virada or gentiki. not 'Huron'... they not even know why they fight"

"the viradans and gentikans think we're fighting just to protect ourselves from Invaders who have come to flaunt their power, just here to kill us for the sake of killing us"

"hm. we need do something, stop pointless fighting."
"yeah, i agree..."
an idea burst into his head
"milrez, i just thought of something!"

---

"that will be all, Major."
a grey wolf saluted, and walked out of the tent "agh... tired. i need to get a drink."
he padded along a 'legally' widened path to a well they'd dug.
a tiger was cleaning his rifle on the side of the road
"Major denak! what's happening?"
"just going to get a drink. tired and thirsty after having the commander yell at me for so long"
"may i join you?"
"sure, come on."
the eager tiger followed him down the path, asking a storm of questions; how many bugs had he stomped?, how did he keep his fur so clean in battle?, did he prefer automatic or manual firing guns, how old was he?, which squad did he lead?, what was the commander like?, what species was he?, was he even a 'he'?, what did the rank badge look like?
the wolf sighed pensively "please, stop asking so many different things."
the tiger apologised.
when they reached the well, there was someone standing there, back to them, wearing a tattered grey cloak with a blue cross painted on it, and a hood.
"who's that, sir?"
the wolf was confused "no clue..."
the unknown person was drinking from the well.
"are you with us? the Royal Extinction Corps?"
the cloaked individual seemed to chuckle.
"what do you find so funny?"
the cloak-wearer spun around and tossed two green cherry-sized orbs at them.
they burst into smoke upon contact and the wolf and tiger found themselves losing consiousness...
"it's knockout gas! don't breathe... any... of... it... in..."
they collapsed on the ground, and the cloaked person grabbed their collars and dragged them away.

---

a dingo and bull sat in the mess hall, surrounded by humans and gentikans.
they tried eating the grey slop that had the nerve to be called 'food' but couldn't
"i can't believe this! they expect us to fight those monsters on *this* crap?!"
the bull snorted "i know, it's stupid, that rediculous *blob* was better than generic grey gruel!"
they pushed their trays aside.
the dingo growled "i need some fresh air."
the bull followed him out "same here"

they walked out to the edge of the cliff, and looked up at the stars
"rick, think there's anything besides us in this universe?" the dingo asked his friend
"dunno, gary, dunno. be cool if there was."
"but, would we have to fight them too?"
"good point... y-- hey... who's that?"
rick pointed into the distance, where there was a non-giant hanging from the edge of the cliff.
"let's go!" gary said, and ran off, the bull following close behind.

they soon reached the place, and could see the hanging individual was wearing a tattered grey cloak with a blue cross, his face obscured by a hood.
"are you okay? how did you fall?!"
the cloaked individual simply whimpered.
rick grabbed one arm while gary took the other, and hauled the cloak-wearer back onto solid ground.
the cloaked person stood.
"are you okay?" rick asked
a nod
"how'd you end up there?" gary asked
a small chuckle came from beneath the hood
"well?"
the cloaked one's arm came out from beneath the cloak, and he raised a scarf over his muzzle with the other paw.
"that's easy..." he said, muffled "i *climbed* down there."
he clenched his fist, and a foul smelling smoke poured out of his hand.
the dingo and bull choked, then passed out.
the cloak wearer grabbed them by the collar and dragged them away.

---

the four comatose captives woke at the same time in a dark cavern, lit by a small lantern, they were tied back to back with the one they'd been abducted with.
the giants glared at the dingo and bull
"you did this, didn't you?!" the wolf accused them
the dingo glared back "how could we have?! we're tied up, too!"
the tiger growled "if not you, then who?"

"us." came a voice from the shadows.

they watched in curiousity, as a small cloaked one and a giant cloaked one emerged into the light.
"who are you anyway?!" the dingo barked

they removed their hoods to reveal a gentikan fox and a giant stag.
"private Noah Mylrick, AKA: 'shocker' ... part of omega cell, VGMRF."
"luitennant milrez corrigan, part of Nillio-rung Bunna, REC."

the captives stared blankly
"but..." rick started "reports say you are dead..."
"clearly we aren't"
the wolf growled "what's the meaning of this?"
"we dislike way war is going. we ending it. getting pointless fighting to stop"
the tiger growled "TRAITORS!"
"no, we are not. you've been lied to. the war isn't about repelling power-mad invaders, or taking over countries."
gary raised an eyebrow "what?"
"our countries' leaders want the rights to collonise Huron, legally owned by the continent of virada.
they sent us into a war to settle a petty ARGUMENT, we're not even protecting anything!"

the wolf snarled "this cannot be truth... it cannot!"
milrez sighed "think. when we ever told why fight?"
the wolf's ears drooped and his eyes widened "we.... never told...."
the dingo screamed in anger "girintalas!!"
the three giants looked at the fox
"it means 'to be a worse evil than the devil' in gentikan, it's an insult and a curse."
the bull snorted "they lied to us... to US!" he bellowed "WE CAME HERE TO HELP, AND WE'RE NOT EVEN DOING THAT AT ALL?!"
noah shook his head "no... we're only even fighting the war on virada because of the ancient war laws: no direct battle on the homelands."
the wolf glared sinisterly down at the bound dingo and bull
they glared back the same way

noah smiled "want to get back at them for it?"
the tiger shot him a sadistic smile "oh, you NO Idea..."
milrez chuckled "you name and ranks?"
the wolf straightened up "Major Hovan Denak, Vengance Cell, REC."
the tiger laughed "Captain Ellis Multan, Devastation Cell, REC."
the dingo smiled vengefully "Colonel Gary Bolred, Lamda Cell, VGMRF."
the bull sighed "Liutennant Richard 'Rick' ansin, Xi Cell, VGMRF."
each of them looked among the other captured soldiers, and smiled awkwardly.
noah and milrez walked up to them and cut the binds on them.
"symbols." noah asked
the giants tugged down their collars, and the non-giants rolled up their left sleeves.
Hovan had a demon skull outline sewn in.
Ellis had a hammer sewn.
Gary was branded with an 'A' without the horizontal part.
rick was branded with three short lines on top of each other, like an 'E' without the vertical part.

noah revealed his arm, showing the 'Omega' and 'Nillio-rung' symbols.
Milrez tugged his collar, and revealed the same symbols sewn into his chest.
noah smiled kindly "as a single team, we each wear the seal of our collective cells. no exceptions."
their grey cloaks baring the blue cross fluttered slightly as they turned away.
"and collectively, we are under the banner of the blue cross. the first is symbolic, the second is so our enemies know who to fear."
milrez spoke up "there no fighting amongst team. all us equal, no matter size or race."
gary stretched his legs, and scoffed "now that i know it isn't an actual invasion ... i guess i'm okay with that."
rick nodded "yes. no bad blood!"
Hovan rose to a crouch "lies lead to revolution! as they" he gestured to the dingo and bull "say, 'Fuck The Government!' HA HA!"
ellis stood up "i no doubts this."
noah extended his arm, and swung around, small lightning bolts dancing on his clawtips
"do not move"
a weak pair of electric streams shot out, progressively burning the five other brands into the flesh of the dingo's and bull's biceps.
noah then carved the brands onto his own arm.
meanwhile, milrez and the other two giants sewed the seals with the black thread.

two hours later, milrez, Hovan, and Ellis stood around the lantern, Noah, Gary, and Rick each upon one of the giants' shoulders.
each of them now wore the grey cloak with the blue cross.
Hovan had his eyes closed "what we called?"
noah, leaning back onto milrez's neck, cleared his throat "we are the 'Dread Clan' ... codename is size, then race... i would be 'littlefox'...L-Fx"
milrez smiled "bigstag... B-Sg"
"littlebull... L-Bl"
"bigwolf... B-Wf"
"bigtiger... B-Tr"
"littledingo... L-Do"
they all smiled at each other.

"time to kick some tail!"

---

twenty years later.

a force of assorted Firans stared down the assorted Gentikans and Viradans across no-mans-land.
a well decorated viradan human raised a microphone speaker "ATTENTION MONSTERS, I, ADMIRAL TEKER, DEMAND YOUR SURRENDER. FAILURE TO COMPLY WILL FORCE US TO STRIKE!"

an equally well decorated giant ape crossed his arms and yelled "ATTENTION BUGS, ADMIRAL NUVEG DEMAND YOU SURRENDER. FAIL TO DO WILL FORCE STRIKE!"

the admirals glared at each other, and the sky clouded overhead
"very well... ALL UNITS TAKE AIM!"
"all soldiers prepare to fire!"
lightning flashed and thunder roared as the torrential rain pelted down.
"READY..."
"HOLD..."

KRA-KOOM! Lightning flashed in the sky above, crashing down in the distance.

"AND..."
"AIM..."

a pair of red flares rose up from behind the ridge, and every soldier looked at them in surprise

KRA-KOOM!! BLAM!!

the flares collided with a bolt of lightning, and a 'cross' shape formed in the sky.
a huge shadow rose over the ridge, spanning nearly two miles.

"damn... what is that?"
"what this trickery?"

the cross lightning faded away, and the shadow was revealed to be over one hundred giants wearing grey cloaks, hoods obscuring their faces, on the shoulder of each one, stood a human or Gentikan clad in the same garb.
at the front of the group stood one wearing the cloak with an added red horizontal stripe, the gentikan on his shoulder wore the same cloak.

"FIRANS, GENTIKANS, AND VIRADANS, LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND SURRENDER. OR FACE THE DREAD CLAN!" one of the cloaked warriors boomed from aidst the line.
admiral teker laughed mockingly "BEAT IT, MORONS!"
admiral nuveg bellowed angrily "LEAVE, FOOLS!"
the lead non-giant of the 'dread clan' raised his paw to the sky "show 'em all!"
a blast of violent lightning erupted from his body, lighting up the sky in a luminous blue.
they all removed their hoods, and their enemies stared in disbelief.

the 'dread clan' was composed of hundreds of soldiers who had gone missing in action over the past two decades, the hadn't all been killed, some had switched sides, it seemed.
the first leader was a middle aged stag, shirtless beneath his cloak, and a mass of assorted symbols decorated his torso. he wore an eyepatch over his left eye.
the other was a fox of similar age, and on his left arm, and spreading over his shoulder, was a myriad of symbols that were not unlike those the stag bared.
but it was their faces that shocked the admirals the most.

"P-PRIVATE NOAH?!"
"LIUTENNANT MILREZ?!"

the greying fox smiled cruelly "my NAME is L-Fx!"
the aging stag raised his arms in pride "and mine, B-Sg!"
each of the members of the clan created an uproar, calling out their own abbreviations, as if the three letters each one had been given held some unknown, profound meaning.
noah pointed at the battlefield "Operation Fire Star!"
five giants hurled their small passengers at the enemy, and deep crimson flames burst from each one.
they made a formation in the air, resembling a star shape.
they crashed into the ground, creating a massive bloodred inferno all around the other two armies, the heavy rain unable to extinguish the flames.
"Operation: Star Aftershock!" milrez exclaimed, and the giants who had thrown the gentikans drew semi-automatics, and buffeted the unready soldiers in the trenches with heavy fire.
milrez and noah called out in unison "Operation Grey Tide!" and the clan ran down the slope, rushing into the battle.
giants and non giants clashed with the varying sizes and races of the clan all over the battlefield, bullets flying, magic bursting, and blades slashing, but the two admirals managed to avoid being hit, and reached the base of the ridge.
"You... YOU TRAITOR! how DARE you do this to your own people, private?!"
"Liutennant... why you do this, why side with BUGS?!"
milrez slid down the slope, and drew an old, beaten assault rifle, and noah crackled with electricity on his shoulder.
"we not traitors. we only want war end."
"yeah, we'll do whatever it takes to get our freedom from this living hell!"
the admirals each drew their submachine guns.
they all rushed each other, and bullets soared through the air, lightning struck out at them.

eventually, the rain stopped.
around 55 of the armies' soldiers had been slain each, as well as the dread clan's.
the rest had collapsed either from wounds or exhaustion.
injured, but alive.

admirals nuveg and teker were held at gunpoint and paw-point respectively.
"surrender. we just have to call a truce, then there won't have to be any more needless slaughter!" noah demanded, covered in oozing, bloody cuts.
"yes, we can end this pointless killing!" milrez exclaimed, baring cuts and wounds of his own.
the admirals looked at each other, each just as injured as the fox and stag.

"very well..."

"it be done..."

---

only a week later, the end of the war was announced, Fira Deralo calling a truce with Gentiki.
the guns were silenced, the dead were honoured, the people on both sides rejoiced, and the rights to collonise Huron were given to the peacemakers, the dread clan, now known as the 'cross of unity'
the continent was renamed "Ildelessus" meaning 'land of those who broke free'
the continent is now home to the descendants of the members of the cross of unity, and do not class themselves as anything but 'Ildelessians' regardless of whether they are human, giant, or otherwise.
the rarely needed, but well trained anti-crime force in the country pay honours to their predesessors, by using the attire of a grey cloak emblazoned with a shimmering cobalt blue cross, as a uniform.
to this day, in the capital city, a magnificent statue of a giant stag holding a small fox in his hands proudly stands in the center of the large and prosperous city.

the iscription on the shining golden plaque reads out a respectful, honourable message...

"the brave and noble duo of Milrez Corrigan; B-Sg, and Noah Mylrick; L-Fx, who, dispite the difference in size, overstepped the boundaries of right and wrong, and brought an end to the ravaging, have brought us the peace and brotherhood we now enjoy with each other.
even when losing everything, and being backed into a corner by your enemy, Truth, Honour, and Justice prevails over Lies, Hatered, and Crime... every time.
may they watch over us, protecting us for all eternity and far beyond the boundaries of time."

thus ending our tale of the two who brought an end to the war, who proved that it's not the size of the fighter in battle, it's the quality of their heart which truly conquers all the enemies in front of them!

(next chapter, we return to present day, and it's kevin's and oriado's wedding!)