Rosebud's War Burst: S3

[16:44:15] * Oxford changes topic to '...Dispatch - Breakthrough in Sectors Claus, Emil, and Leif - All stand-by units to proceed...'
[16:46:16] <@Oxford> The distant ground is a blur beneath her as Rosalyne speeds towards the front lines. Even through her barrier, the force of the wind against her face draws her mouth into a tight, painful line, and her ears sting from the whipping wind.
[16:54:29] <@Oxford> The Vaulme Line stretches through Cimbria's southern Lakes region, connecting dozens of small bodies of water in order to shorten the front as much as possible. Rosalyne can see the lakes twinkling in the sunlight against the green forests and yellow farmlands like precious stones set in a patchwork quilt.
[16:59:10] * Rosalyne_Holst slows down significantly to the point where she isn't breaking everyone's eardrums. She knows how loud the noises she makes when she goes too fast are and she is a bit dazed from doing it for so long. In the meantime she goes down to hide among the trees and scans the radio for any news of her dad. She has to start somewhere and flying blind isn't going to help.
[17:05:27] <@Oxford> The reports coming in over the common band are garbled, as one signal keeps cutting in over the last. The professional calm of comms officers reporting contact with the enemy and directing reinforcements is overlaid with more panicked voices of frontline units reporting even as they are overrun. It isn't difficult to understand what's happening: The long-awaited Novgoraadi offensive has begun.
[17:10:33] * Rosalyne_Holst keeps trying after a while before eventually giving up. Maybe if she goes to a garrison she might have a better chance at getting some information. She takes off and gains altitude up until 500 meters and looks around for bunkers and the like.
[17:15:30] <@Oxford> Despite being camouflaged, at this altitude it is easy for her to make out the distinctly geometric lines of a trench system laid out in the gaps between a pair of sparkling green fishponds. Narrow communications trenches zigzag back from the front line, to a second row of fallback trenches. A covered area reinforced with fallen trees may well be the command bunker.
[17:19:00] * Rosalyne_Holst goes down to what looks like a command bunker. She goes down slowly and as non-threathening as she can to not scare the soldiers inside lest they think she is an enemy valkyrie. "Please don't shoot me, I don't want to have to dodge." She says out loud.
[17:23:41] <@Oxford> She makes it to the rim of the trench before being noticed. A young, fresh-faced private with freckles nearly falls over himself as he hurries out of the bunker and sees her touching down. He scrabbles at the pistol holster strapped to his chest, shouting "Freeze! Don't move!" in a voice that sounds more like a plee than a command.
[17:27:41] * Rosalyne_Holst puts her hands over her head and doesn't move. At least this is better than being shot at by .50 cal machine guns. "I am Ensign Rosalyne Holst, I am here to help." She says without moving an inch. "I'm here to make sure General Holst makes it out alive. And no, I don't know where he is and I need to talk to him."
[17:39:25] <@Oxford> He's only half listening to her, but by the time he manages to get his pistol unholstered she can see it's registered that she's not a threat. Whether he understood her words or not is unclear; his first action is to yell, "Captain! You need to see this!" back toward the command bunker, while continuing to cower in the mud with his gun trained shakily on Rosalyne.
[17:43:25] <Rosalyne_Holst> "Yeah, this might be top secret so please don't tell enyone else I was here.  How bad is it out there." She gulps, "Do you know anything about the enemy Valkyries?"  Hopefully her asking about the situation won't make him break down, he's a soldier after all and they're trained in this sort of thing, right?
[17:45:18] <@Oxford> The freckled boy shrinks back further against the wall of the trench. With a curse, the door to the bunker swings open and a short, round man with drooping jowls barges out. His beady eyes flit from the muddy soldier up to Rosalyne, and back down to the soldier. "Get up, Private Andersun," he bellows at the shaken young man. "If she was a Valkyrie, we'd already be dead."
[17:47:31] * Rosalyne_Holst salutes him, "Captain." SHe says before repeating everything she told the soldier. Including the stuff about being top secret and ansking about the enemy.
[17:52:25] <@Oxford> "Slow down, girl, and come inside," he says quickly, and gestures into the command bunker. "I'm Captain Rikkel. Welcome to Poul Sector."
[17:56:51] * Rosalyne_Holst follows the captain into the bunker, "Thank you Captain. I came here as fast as I could...I'm sure everyone around here heard it though." She scratches her cheek, "That happens when I move really fast, not sure why though."
[17:56:59] <@Oxford> The bunker is a simple affair, with dirt walls reinforced with sandbags and a roof of logs. The ceiling is low enough that the rest of the headquarters staff must stand hunched over, though Cpt. Rikkel and Rosalyne are both short enough to stand comfortably. A pair of radio operators occupy one wall, and a ripped map covers another. Someone seems to be frantically trying to raise the general HQ ov
[17:57:06] <@Oxford> er the radio.
[17:58:01] * Rosalyne_Holst glances over the map to try and descipher what is going on out here.
[18:01:01] <@Oxford> The map is a nicely-detailed topographic of the surrounding countryside; she can pick up several of the lakes based on the outlines she saw on the way in. Rectangular pins driven into the map show the locations of other units along the front.
[18:01:17] <@Oxford> "So," Rikkel says, taking a seat on a folding field chair and shooing away one of his lieutenants so that she may do the same, "the rumours are true. We have our own Valkyries to counter the Raadi's."
[18:06:12] <Rosalyne_Holst> "There aren't many of us as far as I know but there might be other groups being kept a secret from each other.  It's all very secret." She sighs and looks around, the men here look like they've seen better days. "If you manage to shoot a Valkyrie down it would be very helpful for us if you can recover a small metallic pendant from her, might help us not depend on the Albeans too much."
[18:08:58] <@Oxford> The men glance at one another uncertainly. "Ah...so then, they're not invulnerable?" asks the more muscular of the two lieutenants, frowning slightly.
[18:11:48] <Rosalyne_Holst> "If you manage to trick them to waste a lot of energy on doing something big they might have to retreat and deal with...problems that happen when they use too much energy." She tries to not use the word magic or they probably wouldn't believe her. "Have you tried using decoys?"
[18:15:50] <@Oxford> "Decoys?" The two men exchange a glance, and the skinny lieutenant replies, "We haven't been attacked by a Valkyrie yet, so-" Rikkel cuts him off with an impatient wave of his hand. "Should I take that to mean you're not here to reinforce us, then?" he asks, a bit too sharply.
[18:19:05] <Rosalyne_Holst> Now she feels bad, really bad. "I'm here to make sure General Holst makes it out alive.  I'll help you defend while you manage to contact him."  She looks down at the floor, She really doesn't want to tell them she is going to leave them to fend for themselves. "I'm just one girl, I'm not sure how many the Grandis will send here."
[18:24:21] <@Oxford> "I see," Cpt. Rikkel says. "You'll be going to General HQ, then?" From the other side of the room, one of the radio operators looks up suddenly. "We have Vaulme HQ on the line. Orders incoming." The thin lieutenant steps toward them with a notepad, ready to transcribe.
[18:30:48] * Rosalyne_Holst waits eagerly, she stands on her tiptoes over to peek over the lieutenant's shoulder.
[18:34:59] <@Oxford> The orders are brief. "Poul Sector to remain on alert status. Prepare one platoon for lateral reinforcement to Ole and Rasmus Sectors. Continue monitoring. Over." The message ends without a chance for the radio operator to ask for clarification or details. Clearly, someone elsewhere is a higher priority.
[18:37:13] * Rosalyne_Holst frowns, "Is there any way to get a message through to HQ?" She asks.
[18:38:39] <@Oxford> Rikkel snatches the orders from his lieutenant's hand as the man turns to give them to him, and angrily crumples the paper. "Standby! No further orders!" he fumes. The plump captain turns back toward Rosalyne. "Yes, that radio there. Good luck getting through, though - everyone else is calling at the same time, and they've no interest in units that aren't evaporating as we speak."
[18:41:48] * Rosalyne_Holst bites her lip and "Whats the nearest unit that needs help?" She says and turns to the map, "Can you point it out to me?"
[18:44:51] <@Oxford> Rikkel waddles over to the map on the wall. "Leif Sector was reporting that they were overrun about 15 minutes ago. They're four sectors west of here - just count the gaps between the lakes."
[18:48:30] * Rosalyne_Holst gulps, this is probably the most dangerous thing she might do to get in contact with her dad, but if Leif Sector is getting the priority on the radio she might be able to get a word in. She looks down at the table and gulps, if this goes on... "I'll go there, did they say how bad it was? Any valkyries?"
[18:51:07] <@Oxford> "They didn't say," Rikkel says, shaking his head, "but it's bad. I thought your mission was to protect General Holst, though. Why didn't you just go to HQ direct?"
[18:52:16] <@Oxford> "That's our back-up communications plan. Couriers. It's probably easier than trying the radio right now."
[18:52:35] <Rosalyne_Holst> "...I don't know where it is." She says and looks away, her cover is going to be found out.  "Do you know can you give me directions??"
[18:55:23] <@Oxford> "Of course we know-" Rikkel says, and squints sharply. "Why don't /you/ know?" Behind him, the two lieutenants sense his tone and turn towards Rosalyne, putting their hands on the holsters of their pistols. The muscular one steps in front of the bunker door.
[19:04:32] * Rosalyne_Holst notices the increased tensions and sighs and breaks her transformation, changing back into the running clothes she was wearing. "My name is Rosalyne Holst. I came here without orders when I got a letter from my dad, General Holst, asking me to put his affairs in order. He was sure he wasn't going to make it out alive." She tries really hard to not cry, not in front of the soldiers.
[19:04:32] * Rosalyne_Holst She's a soldier now too, right? Her vision fogs up with tears as she leans against the table looking down at the map.
[19:11:44] <@Oxford> The thin lieutenant takes a step forward to comfort her, only to be stopped by the sound of Rikkel clearing his throat. "Or," he says, eyes narrow, "you're a Raad Valkyrie sent to infiltrate us and find the location of Headquarters. Maybe we don't have our own Valks at all." His own pistol is in his hand faster than a blink, a silver revolver that looks just dirty enough to be well-used.
[19:12:48] <@Oxford> "I mean, the General's own daughter? That's a bit of a stretch, don't you think?" His eyes never leave the pendant hanging from her neck.
[19:20:10] * Rosalyne_Holst undoes the strap on the pendant's necklace and lets it fall to the floor. "Then take me there as a prisoner. I've been stationed in Glassholme for ess than a month. We have shot down a group of enemy attacker aircraft and their escorts along with a large group of biplanes." She looks at the lieutenant and and at the gun pointed at her. She didnt want to die. "If you need any
[19:20:10] * Rosalyne_Holst proof send a message to him and tell him his Rosebud is here to help him. Cuff me and lock me up in the meantime if you want to."
[19:20:20] * Rosalyne_Holst is completely and absolutely surrendering.
[19:24:42] <@Oxford> Rikkel keeps the gun on her, but gives his lieutenant a nod. The thin man steps forward and, with only a hint of hesitation, twists Rosalyne's arm behind her back and pins her face-down over the table. With the pendant on the ground, she is suddenly aware of how much larger and stronger these men are compared to her.
[19:25:53] * Rosalyne_Holst grunts in pain put her gaze never leaves the lieutenant. Right now she is just a girl. But she will go all the way to her dad using just a rifle if she needs to.
[19:30:13] <@Oxford> Something cold and hard and slightly rusted clicks around her wrists, behind her back, and she finds herself jerked upright by a hand under her arm. Rikkel stoops to pick up the pendant, buffs it once against his sleeve, and drops it into his breast pocket.
[19:30:36] <@Oxford> "Cuff her to the water pump out back," he instructs his men, "and then come back here. We have a battle to fight. We'll see about this 'Rosebud' story after the fighting settles down."
[19:38:53] <Rosalyne_Holst> "WHAT!?" Rosalyne snaps, "If you're going to wait that long you might not get a fucking chance!"  She desperately and futilely struggles aainst the grip of the soldier holding her. "Tell my dad that I'm not going to get ready to talk with the lawyer because he isn't going to fuckign die yet if you even bother to send the message!"
[19:44:49] <@Oxford> The muscular lieutenant pockets the handcuff keys and takes hold of Rosalyne despite her squirming, roughly pulling her through the door. The thin one winces sympathetically as she goes, but doesn't make any move to help.
[19:48:30] <@Oxford> Once outside the bunker, he half-pushes, half-carries the manacled girl up a steep stepladder out of the trench and back behind the lines. About twenty metres back, she can see a pair of rough water pumps protruding from a block of cement.
[19:49:05] * Rosalyne_Holst gets cuffed to the water pump but not without a struggle the whole way. After getting locked up she waits for a few moments before trying to break free using her powers. A wind blade might be good?
[19:55:37] <@Oxford> The lieutenant is walking away, spinning the cuff key around his finger by the ring, as Rosalyne tries her blade. The wind whips around her, and the officer clutches at his hat in the sudden gusts. She feels something sweep through the pump she's cuffed to, and the handle assembly falls to the ground with a clatter.
[19:58:09] <@Oxford> She's free to stand, but her hands are still behind her back. The officer hears the noise and turns, a look of confusion on his face. "What in the hell?" he gasps as he sees the broken pump.
[19:59:14] <@Oxford> In the distance, the faint sound of shouting from the frontline trenches reaches Rosalyne's ears.
[20:01:46] <Rosalyne_Holst> Crap that made too much noise  she meant to cut through her cuffs.  She doesn't even have to pretend to be miserable to cover up her actions, she is pretty miserable as it is.  Her eyes perk up and her eyes open wide when she hears the shouting. Crap.  "Let me go! They'll kill me right here! LET ME HELP YOU.  You're going to be overrun just like the other posts!"  She didn't expect things
[20:01:46] <Rosalyne_Holst> to get this bad so soon.
[20:03:22] <@Oxford> There's a faint whistling noise. "Hold still, you!" shouts the muscular officer, and runs back towards her, scowling.
[20:07:53] * Rosalyne_Holst glares at him. "If you're going to leave me here to die and if you're not dead by the time my dad finds out your ass is going to be in a platter. And if not we're both going to be too fucking dead to care." She's furious and afraid, mostly afraid. She's terrified of being defenseless in a war zone.
[20:13:40] <@Oxford> "Just hold still-" He growls and lunges forward, just as the ground behind him seems to explode.
[20:13:56] <@Oxford> Rosalyne is deafened, and for a few seconds can only see the world as a series of disconnected images: The officer's body spinning around to reveal the terrible wounds on his back, the clumps of dirt and sod flying from more shells landing nearby, and four brightly-coloured specks approaching from the sky above the trenches.
[20:18:11] * Rosalyne_Holst screams in fear and pain as the explosion goes off. "I fucking told you." SHe mutters unable to hear herself speak. She is dazed for a few seconds before she is able to think right again. Oh god, the key ring? Where is the key ring? She looks around trying to find it.
[20:20:12] <@Oxford> She doesn't see the key ring lying on the ground nearby, though she has a vague memory of the officer putting it back in his pocket after he turned around. His body lays face down a few metres away, blood quickly soaking through his tattered uniform.
[20:27:26] * Rosalyne_Holst steps forward and while her hands are cuffed to her back she tries to grab the keys from the officers back pocket. "I'm so sorry. If you're still alive I'll try to get help as soon as I can." She finally finds the keyes and runs towards the bunker. It might be slightly safe directly beside of it...maybe. She knocks on the door with her knee as she tries to put the key into the
[20:27:26] * Rosalyne_Holst keyhole to set her arms free.
[20:31:58] <@Oxford> The multitasking is a bit much as the shells continue to fall. An especially close blast sends her flinching to her knees, but she manages to get the handcuffs off, first from her left arm and then from her right. From inside the bunker, she can hear frantic shouting.
[20:33:19] * Rosalyne_Holst tries opening the doors as the knocks on them as hard as she can. SHe didn't know what the four dots in the distance were but whether they were planes or girls it was still bad news.
[20:37:36] <@Oxford> The door swings outward, left unlocked in the suddeness of the attack. Inside, Rosalyne can see Rikkel and his remaining lieutenant alternatively running between the map on the wall and the radios, shouting at the two radio operators as well as each other. Nobody seems to have noticed her yet.
[20:43:18] * Rosalyne_Holst heads towards Rikkel and immediately tries to take her pendant from his breast pocket. She approaches him from a behind. Hopefully the pocket isn't buttoned shut because she will have only one chance at this.
[20:47:40] <@Oxford> Before she has even made it halfway from the door to the captain, he turns around, heading back towards the map. "E-Enemies in the bunker!" he stammers, and reaches for his revolver just as another shell explodes directly outside the bunker.
[20:51:41] <@Oxford> The explosion rips through one wall of the bunker, and the roof on that side collapses above Cpt. Rikkel's head. His revolver flies from his hand and spins across the floor as both he and Rosalyne are thrown to the ground. She loses sight of the other officers in the confusion, but can clearly see her pendant, flung from Rikkel's pocket as he fell.
[20:53:04] * Rosalyne_Holst stops, it should be pretty obvious she is going to get shot if she tries anything. She puts her hands up and continues to walk towards the Rikker "Tell me where the artillery is, gime me back my pendant and I'm going to destroy them!" And then the bunker collapsed but she spotted her pendant! SHe quickly reaches towards it and transforms. If anything hse is going to stop that
[20:53:04] * Rosalyne_Holst artillery.
[20:57:21] <@Oxford> Rikkel lunges for his revolver in the same instant Rosalyne grabs for her pendant. The duelling ace knows he has only one chance to put the enemy spy down before she transforms, and he squeezes off the shot in one clean motion, letting his instincts take care of the aim.
[21:03:18] <@Oxford> The bunker is lit by two flashes, simultaneous: the muzzle of the revolver, and the light of Rosalyne's transformation. Rikkel's bullet hits Rosalyne straight in the center of the forehead and bounces off with a clang as her barrier envelops her.
[21:06:12] * Rosalyne_Holst reacts and slices the barrel of his revolver in half. "Now." SHe says in a cold but really pissed off voice as she grabs Rikkel from the neck of his uniform and lifts him up as much as her girl arms will allow. "Where is the enemy artillery?"
[21:11:42] <@Oxford> He continues squeezing the trigger, but all it does is click uselessly. "Gimle! Gimle!" he cries, his eyes darting around for the thin lieutenant. They find him standing by the battlefield map, the pins showing Cimbrian military locations casting long shadows across the paper.
[21:12:24] <@Oxford> From the direction of the radio, Rosalyne can hear the operator hiss into the headset: "HQ, we have four valkyries engaged with our front line," and with a perceptible gulp adds, "and one in our bunker."
[21:15:31] <@Oxford> The thin lieutenant's autoloader rises to point at Rosalyne. "Drop the captain!" he commands, eyes fearful and conflicted. Another shell lands close enough to send dirt showering through what's left of the ceiling. "Take the map and go!"
[21:18:48] * Rosalyne_Holst makes a mental note on the direction and dist... four of them? And they made direct contact with HQ? She drops the man and heads over to to the radio operator's station and takes the microphone. "HQ, this is Rosalyne Holst I came Glassholme, if you have any girls with pendants I could use some backup. One against four aren't pretty good chances."
[21:20:22] <Rosalyne_Holst> I came from Glassholme*
[21:21:46] <@Oxford> The radio comes back half-static, the operator on the other line confused. "Who? Holst? What are you talking about? Vaulme Actual is here at HQ."
[21:23:47] <Rosalyne_Holst> "Just tell General Holst that his Rosebud is here to help. I'll help everyone here any way I can. Over." She lets go of the transmit button and says, "Even if they're assholes."
[21:27:47] <@Oxford> The lieutenant still has his gun on her, and is circling to the side opposite from the door so she has space to get out. "Go on now, out," he says, sounding more firm now.
[21:32:01] <Rosalyne_Holst> She looks at the lieutenant, no longer afraid of th gun in his hands "There is four of them and one of me, they'll spot me if I go take out their artillery.  I don't care if you think I'm an enemy but let me tell you one thing: All of us, including myself, are going to die if we don't run away soon."
[21:32:14] <Rosalyne_Holst> "You don't know how powerful these things are."
[21:35:30] <@Oxford> "You run, then," says the lieutenant. "I have my orders." His eyes flick down to Rikkel, still leaned up in the corner where Rosalyne dropped him. Another shell drops, this time further back, only a dull thud.
[21:40:13] <@Oxford> "I don't think you're one of them," he continues, "but you're not one of us, either." He points again to the map. "If your story's true, that map'll lead you straight to the General. It's up to him how he handles you from there."
[21:41:40] * Rosalyne_Holst stares at him, "You still don't trust me do you?" She asks him, still waiting for an answer on the radio. "I don't blame you but there is a difference between giving your lives and wasting them. Right now is the latter." She turns to the map and looks for the bunker marked as "HQ".
[21:48:03] <@Oxford> It isn't labelled as such, but a marker with the symbol for "Theatre Command Post" is set in a commanding position roughly midway down the line. After her time in military academy, it isn't hard for Rosalyne to guess what that is.
[21:49:58] <@Oxford> The radio clicks to life, and the operator by the headset gulps and holds it out for Rosalyne.
[21:50:29] * Rosalyne_Holst counts the number of lakes it takes to get there and its direction. She turns to the radio operator to see what he has to say.
[21:52:56] <@Oxford> He wordlessly passes the headset to her. On the other end, she can hear a voice, garbled but familiar. "This is Vaulme Actual to Poul Sector. Come in, Poul Sector."
[21:53:52] * Rosalyne_Holst gulps, It's been so long since she last heard his voice, "...Dad, is that you?"
[21:54:30] * Rosalyne_Holst feels already like this trip was worth it.
[21:55:32] <@Oxford> There's a long pause on the other end. "...Rosebud? What're you doing here?"
[21:57:56] <Rosalyne_Holst> "What do you mean what am I doing here? I'm here to stop you from getting killed! You think I could just stand by and wait after you sent me that letter?  I enlisted in a special program just to convince you to come home once in a while.  I know war is war but would it kill you one day every month?"
[21:58:56] * Rosalyne_Holst is rather emotional, she is happy her dad is alive but she can't avoid feeling annoyed about her dad.
[21:59:08] <Rosalyne_Holst> about her dad not being there often.
[22:02:26] <@Oxford> "Rosebud, I...I can't have this conversation right now," her father says, his voice pained. "Go home. Stay safe. Look after your mother. Please," he adds, with a note of desperation, "that's all I want."
[22:04:12] * Rosalyne_Holst groans, "I'll be there in a few minutes." She says and moves away from the radio and back to the table to check once more the location of the command bunker and heads towards the bunker's exit.
[22:08:55] <@Oxford> "Don't come here," General Holst's voice continues through the headset, growing fainter as she walks away. "Please, just go home, where you'll be safe..." By the time Rosalyne has reached the trench, his voice has faded completely. She takes off to the sound of artillery shells, coming down like rain.
[22:09:07] <@Oxford> /session