[MS] "The King's Men" Travels (Day 1-)

[Karl Jak]

For the first time in a long time, Gilgamesh found himself at the helm of a fighting force. His eyes gleamed as he marched forth into the unknown.

Somewhere, a mouse likely watched the proceedings with a blend of caution and concern.

"The King's Men" (that's the name of a unit in 2021?) consists of Gilgamesh, his Lieutenants, and soldiers or something?

 

[Elise]

After about an hour or so of mustering, instructions, assignments and a bunch of other stuff that Elise largely ignored, it seemed like their little regiment was ready to move out. Gilgamesh strutted before his troops after they had been assembled on the hills of the far side of the crater. His golden armor gleamed harshly in the crooked daylight, and he spoke with thunderous conviction.

"Rejoice, my proud forces, for you stand under the command of the one, true king! I, Gilgamesh, hereby swear to you glory, succor, and great rewards for your unquestioning loyalty. We march, swiftly and with purpose. All I ask is your complete supplication to my will, and you will be delivered unto the far side of this glorious conflict!" Gilgamesh roared, raising a conjured lance above his head. The swarm of clattering, armored goons roared and cheered in response. That was great. How great for them.

Elise stood off to the side of the assembly with the other unimpressed idiots who had singled themselves out from the King's cult. They stood perched on various rocks and mounds beneath the shade of a whispering willow tree as the golden buffoon's thundering entreaties echoed across the hills.

"Dude's got some pipes." said the fairly unremarkable human to her right. Elise scoffed and nodded sullenly.

"He's good at yelling at people, yeah." she quipped, glancing over at him. Of all the people she had encountered in this Syntech event so far, this...normal human person...seemed the most down to earth. Currently he was nursing a can of some sort of vile, fizzing energy drink. He looked up at her, under shaggy bangs, and gestured the can towards her.

"You want a hit?"

"Yes. No." she said, grimacing. "I'm Elise." she said, gesturing at the bedazzled collar. The guy eyed it and nodded in approval.

"Sick. Nico." he murmured, holding up a fist. She bumped it softly and sucked in a sharp breath. She knew his type. A bit greasy, but he could be trusted to keep a secret.

"Listen dude. Um..." she breathed a useless breath through her nose, "...so I live off of blood. Vampire and all that. Uh. I ain't drank in a while." she stammered, casting another glance over at Gilgamesh. He was still going, damn.

"Word." Nico nodded. A long silence washed over the clearing. The third member of their little party had fallen asleep, and was snoring in the shade with a big stupid smile on his face.

"Would you..." Elise started, pointing a hand at him, "...mind. Letting me. Drink some of your blood?" she blurted out.

Nico offered her a pensive frown.

"Sounds like it would like...hurt. And possibly turn me into a monster?" he frowned. Elise tilted her head apologetically.

"Not...exactly. It doesn't quite work that way. And the way I do it doesn't hurt as...much." she murmured.

Nico took a sip from his can and gave her a quick look up and down. Lady seemed for real.

"Yeah okay. But won't I be like woozy from all of the blood I won't have?" Nico said, setting his can aside.

"Nothing some juice and cookies won't fix. Hell, I'll piggyback you all day my damn self, dude, thank you!" Elise said, rummaging around in her messenger bag. She pulled out a small scalpel from her combat medkit.

"Gimme your arm." she said, trying not to sound hungry...

 

[Nico Cinder]

God, this chick sounded hungry. Initially at the flash of her medic bag, the young punk had to hold back a snort. A vampire medic - some god somewhere had a sense of humor. Nico was used to people biting him for any uncountable number of reasons, but Vampirism was a new one. What's almost worse, she wasn't even biting him. At the sight of the scalpel, Nico found the first bit of flesh in his mouth he could latch on to and chewed on it. Oh, how he hated doctors. He hated doctors, he hated hospitals, he hated surgery, he hated a lot of things. Sterile medical equipment was pretty up there on the list for it's association with its aforementioned handlers. Elise did not seem like a medical professional, however, and this wouldn't be the first time he'd intentionally let some blood. At least now it was for a good cause...or something. Tentatively, he gifted her his wrist.

"Watch the ink, though, if you don't- ow. Ow! Fuck. Fu-uu-uh..." He trailed off, the immediate pricks of pain almost instantly seeping away with the slime of her tongue. He didn't look, both out of a distaste for the scalpel, and because this seems...sorta...personal. Private. Like accidentally walking into a bathroom someone forgot to lock, but you forgot to knock so you're also kind of the asshole.

He could, however, feel the process while he was having an angsty look off in the distance. The slick licks of her tongue, the odd softness of her teeth. He couldn't even tell if she was biting into him or not, all he could really feel was the slurp of it all, and the thirst behind it. The light-headed feelings that followed were not dissimilar to being just shy a beer of drunkeness, but without the lovely aftertaste of piss in your mouth. Nico wasn't sure how long he had been standing there getting dranked, but right around the time he had gotten tired of standing, he felt the breeze wrap around his dripping arm like a bandage. It wasn't of course, he definitely needed some gauze now.

"Uuuhhhf... That was weird," he said, almost to himself. Elise was already wrapping strips of cloth and medical tape around her exit wound. She looked up, but didn't say anything. Nico motioned to the corner of his lips with his free hand. Vampire lady was a messy eater.

"I can't say that I was uncomfortable, but I can't say I really had a grand old time either. Now, I believe I was promised juice, cookies, and a sick ass piggyback ride."

 

[Elise]

Elise sat back on the damp, cool grass with a satisfied, dreamy sigh. That, in and of itself, was embarrassing. Even more embarrassing was the fact that Nico caught her staring at him with a curious interest.

"...wassup?" he said, softly munching on some animal crackers she had offered. Elise shook herself out of it, immediately feeling the strength of vampiric vigor return to her arms.

"Just admiring your ink. I would never fuck up someone else's work." she chirped. To emphasize the point, she lifted the hem of her beret to reveal the side of her shave head. Snaking, jagged arcane tattoos traced across her stubbled scalp and down her neck. Nico flashed a grin of approval.

"Nice."

It was nice, wasn't it? Elise smiled in return and rose back to her feet with a soft spring in her step. It seemed like Golden Boy was wrapping up, so they would probably be marching soon, or whatever. She was in such a good mood, in fact, that she let this stupid bastard climb up on her back. Nico, for his part, probably weighed no more than a hundred thirty pounds soaking wet - his added weight barely affected her as she tottered towards the assembled crowd of very serious, very deadly warriors and stuff.

"Oh and uh...Nico. Keep the vampire thing on the downlow." she murmured.

"Natch."

Gilgamesh turned around as they skirted down the grassy embankment, and his red eyes widened with vicious indignance.

"What is...the meaning of this?!" he hissed, casting a look back at the chuckling army behind him. He had just spent an hour rallying the fire of divinity into these worthless curs. Now these buffoons assigned to him dared partake of childrens' japery? On his stage?

"I owe him a favor. We going or what?" Elise snapped. The King visibly shivered with anger. With more loyal followers, he would have killed these goth punks without hesitation. Summary execution, however, would not be in line with the promises he had just made to these true warriors amassed here. So he was left with no choice but to partake of his noble birthright, and pretend these stupid kids didn't exist.

"We march!" Gilgamesh barked, gesturing his lance towards the horizon. The soldiers behind him all cheered and clapped enthusiastically, and a low rolling thunder of heavy bootsteps ensued. Nico had expected Elise to be strong, sure, but the fact that she was skipping along next to Gilgamesh at full pace indicated that this girl had some serious muscles in her.

A sudden thought occurred to him, and he tugged on Elise's hat.

"Yo, what about that clown guy?" he asked, looking back at the guy sleeping under the tree. Elise craned her head around and shrugged.

"Eh. He'll catch up."

 

[Nico Cinder]

Gamzee Makara was one of those particular motherfuckers who were accustomed to curious, malicious, miraculous dreams. They'd plagued his sleep more nights than he could count, though to be fair that number was not very high nor was it worth keeping track of. Not many things were.

A sheepskin flask hung at his hip. Its contents were unknown, even to him. This alchemical mystery brew was as common an occurrence as the dreams, though the horned one did not suppose these two things had anything to do with each other. It was hard for him to say what anything had to do with anything, except everything. Hard to follow? He thought so too. Welcome to the life of Gamzee. He raised the uncorked rim to his cut lips and takes a healthy swig. Fruity. Slimey. Warm. Gamzee had never had tea before, but this was of similar headiness.

This particular troll had woken up in worse places than alone. And hey, look at that, he had a nice little tree keeping him company and shaded. That shit was downright pleasant. He took a moment to clasp his hands in a prayer of thanks. Gamzee was a religious guy, in his own ways. Distantly, his ears twitched at the telltale sounds of an army. Shouts, chatter, clanking, stomping, plodding, walking. The sounds of heavy human and mechanical and other, more unknown feet pressing into the flesh of the earth had a distinct rip to it, like teeth sinking into chicken wings. There's always meat left on bones in the wake of armies, and vultures to pick at their scraps.

The young Highblood pushed himself to his feet with his longstaff. It was relatively primitive compared to much of the weaponry found in the armory back at base, but it was pretty and serviceable. It was crafted from some sort of sturdy, naturally white wood. Both ends of the staff widened into some deadly bone crackers, studded with a mishmash of gears and bolts and other things that wouldn't feel good tapped against the side of some poor motherfucker's skull. A fine tool.

He had rested for long enough. Whimsy called.

 

[Nico Cinder]

At the ripe old age of 20-whatever, Nico Cinder took his risks the way he took his coffee, which was always. Still, this particular predicament called for something more than "good odds." This predicament called for swearing.

"Fuck's sake! Really, where does that asshat get off?" Elise's voice growled with the churning ocean.

Nico sighed, resigned from the situation for once in his life. He points at the thin strip of land crowning the watery horizon with a dimly lit grin. "Right over... there, I think."

It had been a long enough march already, as piggyback rides famously eventually must always come to an end. This was a well known fact in life. Perhaps even more well known, was the pompousness of most kings. The Golden Gloop Gilgamesh was a fine example of that, taking the largest and most seaworthy boats for himself and the main chunk of their fighting force, which, in all fairness, was probably the correct move from a strategic point of view.

From Nico and Elise's point of view it just made him a prick. Rather than start a whole mutiny about being told to "hold down the beach" while they "scout ahead" and "set up camp" and "send a boat back," they both decided drawing dicks in the sand was the best course of action.

This wasn't true, of course, they both were rather sore about having to play this silly game with their commanding officer. "Extra duty assigned for insubordination," or whatever bullshit excuse the king came up with. The young punk couldn't even remember what exactly was said, only the obnoxious grin that accompanied their sentence. Lucky for everyone involved with this royal decree, Nico was accustomed to wiping smug faces off of their owners. Golden Boy would get his.

---

"...Listen. You hear that?"

No, he didn't. And said as much. Elise gestured to a couple of horns cresting the top of a nearby sand dune.

"Told you he'd catch up."

"I'll be damned," Nico said. "Oh wait, nope, you know what, I almost forgot. Already damned."

"Evenin' brother. Sister." came a warm, gravelly voice. The crunch of Chuck Taylor's on sand became much more recognizable to Nico the closer the creature came. Who fights a war in Converse? The hellish boy thought to himself. Then he looked down. Oh, right.

"Thought I heard the army snaking it's way over here. Where-the-fuck-abouts did they go? D'ya'll motherfuckers know?"

"Across the damn pond," Elise muttered, not even trying to hide the contempt in her words.

Gamzee nodded, leaning on his beatin' stick and staring out to sea. A stormy, far away look flickered in the guy's eyes. Nico would've missed it, were it not so familiar to him.

"So uh...y'all just gon' motherfuckin' sit in the sand and wait?" Gamzee's fellow lieutenants both shot him withering glares. Gamzee was used to that.

"What the hell else are we supposed to do? Walk?"

"Don't get me wrong, brother, ain't nothing wrong with enjoying a little fun in the sun. Just sayin' if your two options right here are to sit and wait or walk, maybe it's about time to consider finding that middle path. Y'Knaw what I'm saying?" Nico did not know what he was saying.

"What kinda middle path is there, clown? S'nothing but ocean out in that direction and a big ol' fuck off land detour in the other," Elise said with a sneer.

"Naw naw, see that's the thing. You guys are thinking about it instead of looking about it. Thinking ain't never done me a bit of good, I tell you that motherfuckin' much."

And with that, Elise and Nico watched him disappear behind another dune, this one in the opposite direction of which the mystical clown came.

Silence, for a few minutes. Nico gave his new vampire friend a side eye. "Got any cigarettes?"

Before Elise could respond, Gamzee came traipsing around the fucking dune again, a large motherfucking chunk of wood dragging behind him. Large enough for a handful of people to stand on with some elbow room, even...Oh. Oh no.

"Ya'll feel like going on a little whitewater rafting?"

 

[Elise]

"I will, under no circumstances, paddle a fucking log across the ocean." Elise said firmly. Gamzee wheeled around with a blithe, fanged smile.

"Ain't no log, sister. It's a magnificent ship, gonna carry us noble motherfuckers across the glittering goddamn horizon." the clown creature drawled, gesturing his clammy gray hand towards the distant shoreline. Elise sighed.

"Y'all don't...get it. Vampire disintegrate in moving water. Rivers and oceans. You finna kill me, boy?" Elise said with a violent gesture towards the gently lapping waves. Gamzee pouted thoughtfully, and Nico was perfectly willing to fill the otherwise gap of silence.

"That's stupid as hell. Vampires can't swim? Burning in sunlight ain't enough?" Nico scoffed. It was very difficult for Elise to tell if non-committal hell raiser was mocking her or sympathizing with her. Being that she was a moody creature of the night, Elise chose to interpret it as a mockery.

"I can swim smartass, I'd just turn into a fine silty paste. I didn't fuckin..." Elise paused, shaking angry hands around her face, as if she was trying to grasp some immense, unseen truth.

"I didn't ask to be like this." she muttered. The truculent goth plucked her way up the sand dune and sat down on it with her head clutched between her knees. It was a raw thing to say, but the even deeper truth was that she had asked for it. In the months after being turned, however, the list of drawbacks kept piling up, with her coven of gaslighting bloodsuckers mocking her mercilessly every time she tripped over some new handicap of the curse. Maybe Nico hadn't meant to be that way...she could acknowledge that.

But it still hurt. Elise stared out at the sunset, which was dipping into the distant cove beyond the lazy curve of the coastline. The sky was a wash of cotton candy pinks and blues towards the horizon. Glittering motes of light danced on the water where the rosy disc seemingly kissed the water. Despite having missed being able to watch sunsets in such a manner, the wispy, ethereal seascape did nothing to balm her dark mood.

"Ayyyy, sis." Gamzee said honking his ass into the sand next to her. She shot him a violently resentful glare, which had absolutely no effect on scaring the doofy clown away. He sidled up a little closer, his glinting yellow eyes unwavering in their dreamy, listless gaze.

"You feelin' grumpy again cuz' you ain't chonched a motherfucker in a few days again huh?" he said warmly. Elise curled her lip back and leaned away from him.

"Fuck you talkin' about." she countered reflexively. Gamzee nodded slowly. Knowingly.

"It's aight. Rainbow drinkers are some shy motherfuckers, for real. How about..." the clown grunted, before withdrawing a large two liter bottle of Faygo out of his...pants? "Trying some of the wicked elixir instead? Warmed it myself."

Nico lost it at this precise moment. The lanky young man had been hovering at the fringes of the sand dune, pitching broken shells towards the surf when he finally broke out in a loud, half-suppressed cackle.

"Dude that's so haggard! What the fuck!" the hellion howled. Elise looked between Nico and Gamzee with a cool, calculating gaze. It would be a bad idea to rip into Nico's veins again, and he had done her a favor the other day. She didn't need the stupid kid to be all light-headed when they regrouped with King Hairgel. To his credit, Nico caught her staring at him and recognized the hungry look in her eye.

He stopped laughing immediately.

"Oh shit. Watch out dude!"

But it was too late. In a flurry of feral roars and inexplicable honkings, Elise pounced on the troll to her right with a furiously strong grip. Nico watched, half slack-jawed, as he watched Elise sink her fangs directly into the scrambling clown's flank with vindicated violence. It made it very apparent just how gentle she had been with him two days ago. Also this grey kid's blood was purple? Wack.

Just when he felt like he should, perhaps, intercede, Elise disengaged from the deliriously bloody clown creature with an animalistic grunt. She herself had taken a few clubbings to the head from the clown's ornate staff of bullshit, but neither party was injured so much to make a lasting difference. As Gamzee clutched at his bleeding ribs and Elise dabbed her fingers at her face, Nico couldn't help but smile. Out of all the stuffy, professional mercs that had signed on to this opera, he had managed to land with the two kids closest to his wheelhouse.

This was good, because he had experience in defusing scraps like this.

"Yo anyone wanna smoke while the King is away?"

There was a honk of affirmation. Nico turned to Elise.

"What else do you do when you're waiting for the ferry?" she sighed. A small pack of sandpipers skittered around the washing surf, tweeting small nothings to each other. Her thoughts turned to Strazio...Greenstripes...and her own bemusement at the sudden wave of sentiment. She blamed it on the sunset as Nico lit up...something, and she began digging into her medkit.

"C'mere weirdo. Let me see that bite." she muttered at the clown...

 

[Karl Jak]

Face to Face
"The King's Men" vs Hell Diver Scouts​

Gilgamesh bristled as he strode out to meet the outriders with the faded green accents on their armor. As the king came closer to the scene of the gathered soldiers, his eyes narrowed and her turned his attention to his aide-de-camp, Private Steve.

“What are they?”

“I come to you with no deception,” the Miniskirt Scout remarked as he stepped forward and gave a polite if not altogether informal nod of his head toward the gilded monarch. “I am an envoy from the Miniskirt Armada forces who are,” the man paused for a moment. “In the area.”

At that, Gilgamesh’s aide-de-camp stepped forward and look back at his general. “He’s an envoy, Gene—”

“What was the title we went over, Private Steve?”

The young soldier’s slightly relaxed back went stiff as a board as immediately snapped off a salute. “I apologize, General-King Gilgamesh, Sir! You are visited by an envoy from the Hell Divers, General-King Gilgamesh!”

The golden-haired monarch grinned as he waved away the young man. “Better. Keep practicing.”

“What’s going on?” The voice was that of Gamzee Makara, who had a bit of a weird gait in his walk.

Gilgamesh scowled, but his demeanor softened ever so slightly. “While you and the teenagers were busy masticating one another, I have been conducting formal business.”

Gamzee glanced over at the collection of soldiers in foreign colors. “Oh.” He muttered as he turned back to Gilgamesh. “Should we send someone to get a hold of that Mustard guy?”

“What for?” The king of Nippur frowned as he turned to address the scout. “I am more than capable of … parlay.”

The scout, unsure how to read whatever the fuck was going on around him, tried to press the topic back to business. “I am certain that General Wraith would be more than wi—”

There was an audible shiiing of steel leaving a scabbard, and a moment later, the scout’s throat was a bubbling fount of blood. From all around the loose group of Hell Diver scouts, the soldiers of the King’s Men came crushing in on them, smothering the outnumbered group in a hail of gunfire. In a matter of seconds, the scout force lay dead or dying, with their groans and wails audible throughout the whole camp.

Gilgamesh, turning away from the corpse, wiped the blood from his weapon as he turned to Gamzee. “Go find the one who likes blood so much and tell her to get her before the food’s cold,” the king said before throwing his head back in a haughty laugh.

The 50 scouts were murdered down to the last man.
9 of Gilgamesh’s troops were killed (8 Infantry)

"The King's Men" gain 10% Morale

 

[Karl Jak]

Face to Face
“The King’s Men” vs Hell Diver Scouts​

While the excitement from earlier was still fresh on people’s minds, the second chapter unfurled.

A twig broke in the woods, and a firefight broke out near the periphery of the camp.

By the time Gilgamesh had reached the scene, the fighting was already over. Two bodies lay on the ground that belonged to his soldiers, but there were at least eight corpses of people he didn’t know from his army.

The gilded king grinned. “This is how you want to play?” Gilgamesh turned around to see his lieutenants and a collection of soldiers behind him. “Double up the patrols. If you see green, you kill it.”

Eight Hell Diver Scouts have been killed. Two have survived.
Two Miniskirt soldiers were killed in the fracas.

“The King’s Men” gains +4% Morale

 

[Elise]

It was a humid, heavy night within the lush forests of the southern wildlands. The night was alive with a cacophony of frogs and insects, and the swollen clouds threatened a heavy downpour within the hour.

Gilgamesh stood atop a tall, rocky outcropping in the aftermath of the attempted ambushes by the green, western curs and gazed imperiously over the treeline. He held a fine goblet of wine in an armored hand and nursed it gently as he pondered the insanity of his opponent. He had crossed paths with the arrogantly titled 'Doomguy' many times in the past. Gilgamesh understood the armored warrior was single-minded, but he had never struck the golden king as being specifically stupid. Surely Flynn should have known better than to send groveling emissaries to scrape before the one True King?

He took a sip of the dark wine as a red burst of light washed up into the heavy night clouds of the jungle. The siege on the temple - his temple - was still going strong and apparently was becoming rather pitched. Perhaps they didn't know better. No, perhaps they had all forgotten what it meant to walk the same earth as Gilgamesh. If their memories were truly so feeble, he would happily take it upon himself to remind them of who they were dealing with.

Especially Mustang.

There was a rustle of foliage to his right, and a sword materialized in the golden king's hand. With a ringing flourish, he brought it within an inch of Elise's neck as she emerged from the scrub. To her credit, the vampire didn't flinch. Gilgamesh grinned - perhaps there was some poise within the clammy bitch after all.

"Jumpy?" she sniffed, pressing the blade aside. She was covered in bloodstains, and not around the mouth. Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes at being caught so visibly on guard, but such was the nature of war. The King graciously allowed the jab to pass without retribution.

"Just finished mending the wounded. The next attack isn't going to be a scout patrol." she murmured. The King offered a short, harsh chuckle.

"Oh, I'm counting on it." he said with a sip. He allowed the goblet to vanish in a swirl of golden sparks, and turned to face the grey-skinned youth. Oh, youth indeed. There was no telling just how old the creature in front of him truly was, but from what he'd seen, she was a novice magician at best. Not a true threat, and therefore, not worthy of true respect.

"Bold of you to approach without kneeling before your king. Elise, is it not?"

The girl gestured at the tacky ornamentation glued onto her explosive collar.

"Impertinent wretch; you will speak when I ask-" Gilgamesh said, taking a step forward.

"You're not a real general, and you ain't a real fuckin' king so how 'bout you step off?" Elise snapped in return. Gilgamesh's eyes went wide with fury, and a swirling vortex of heavenly gold peeled open behind him.

"You...dare..." he seethed. Elise's hand curled into an arcane gesture.

"You attacked the Hell Divers and completely threw us off of our schedule, gel for brains! Yeah I dare! Glorified-bitch landlord squatting in a Syntech playset-"

An explosion rocked the rocky hillside, sending a scatter of rocks rumbling off into a streambed below. A puff of colorful, arcane smoke rolled away from the two contestants, with one of Gilgamesh's conjured spears embedded halfway through the vampire's glittering, circular shield of magic. A chorus of shouting and alerts from down the hill heralded the approach of perimeter scouts to see if they were under attack again. The Gleaming Ward subsided at the same time the Gates of Babylon shut, and both the Lieutenant and General stood upright.

If nothing else, they knew better than to fight in front of the troops. That did not, however, prevent Gilgamesh from taking an imposing step towards Elise. His previous rancor had been replaced by a cool, royal venom.

"Let me be more straightforward...I know who you are, cur. I know about the monster who sucks the blood from the belly of my city. Give me any reason, and your final gift in this life will be a demonstration of my birthright." the King murmured. Elise's head snapped back in genuine surprise, but was unable to follow up on the implications that the General had just dropped on her. A squad of blue-clad soldiers came crashing up the hill, weapons drawn, and calling for their General-King.

"Fear not, my loyal warriors!" Gilgamesh called, marching towards the troops, "...I was merely scaring off a vile creature of the night. We are not under attack."

He left Elise on top of that dark hilltop, staring in disbelief as the King made his way back towards camp. He knew? This whole time, had he known that Elise was preying on people in his city?

"No way. Lucky guess." she grumbled, following in the wake of the soldiers. Even if it had been an attempted prod on the King's part, it meant that she had shown her hand too readily across the past few days. She would have to be more cautious...and she would need backup. The vampire picked her way through the dark forest with hastening steps, and went looking for Nico and Gamzee's tent...

 

[Karl Jak]

When Elise eventually finds her way back to camp proper, she may notice that some of the soldiers giving her side-eyes or stopping/quieting their conversations when she is in ear shot. It's also possible she doesn't notice this at all, depending on how aware she finds herself being of those around her.

 

[Nico Cinder]

Rain in the forest.
Rain in the forest.

Gamzee sat cross-legged with his eyes closed outside the lieutenant's tent. For a reason that escaped Gamzee, the tent was some noticeable distance removed from the main congregation of camp, settled at the edge of the woods. He didn't mind though. Nice and chill, out here. There was a canopy over the entrance, but he found himself sitting purposefully in the rain. Beneath it, the sickly glow of a gas lantern light tinged his face paint with a warm, dim yellow. He could hear the moths doing their ritual dance around it, the flutter-flap of their wing beats finding the silent spaces in between the rain hitting the ground. A smile crept it's way across his lips. The young Makara was glad they had a roof over the head so that they could enjoy the weather as well.

His staff lay loosely across his limbs, and sky tears peppered his bushel of hair. The water made curious noises whenever stray drops would smack into his horns. Gamzee quite liked it. Without opening his eyes, he reached down to his hip flask and took a swig. Less than half full, he reckoned. Maybe even less than a third.

Not much to be done about that.

-----

The flap of the tent would have slammed open, were it a door. In came Elise, dragging along the ground a confused, sleepy-looking Gamzee Makara by the collar.

"Hey! We got problems! What-" Elise's eyes lit upon Nico and a guest she didn't know he had. "Who-"

"Shhhhh," they said, a finger to their lips. "You want the whole bloody camp to hear ya?" The guest was a young woman with a thick brogue.

Piercing eyes the color of the emerald isles themselves locked with Elise from beneath a hood. A scout, of some sort. She motioned to the open tent door, flapping in the wind. Flushed at her carelessness but quick on the uptake about what was happening here, Elise drops the clown and walks over to the entrance, zipping it close.

"Aye, that's better. With this ah, preemo spot the good king gave you way over 'ere away from everybody, not sure anyone could hear us yappin' but better safe than sorry." She slowly crossed the distance between them, and extends a hand. "Scáthach. I'm with the 44th, Recon and Comms. Leftenant Nico here tells me you've got a good head on your shoulders, unlike some of our comrades."

The disdain with which the scout spat out the last word was oddly comforting to the normally cold bloodsucker. She firmly grasped her hand, and the two dab each other up. Sick.

There is silence in the tent for a moment, save for the clicking of a cylinder spinning. It was Nico, that edgy fuck, running the roulette of an army revolver more times than necessary. "Fast friends, then? Good, glad we got that out of the way. I was worried for a sec we were gonna have to do a whole thing. You good over there on the floor, clown boy?"

Honk, honk.

"Good. Elise, Scáthach has taken it upon herself to take a message to Commander 'Stang. She came to our tent asking permission because, well, who else is she going to come to?"

The scout nodded, her lips drawing tight. "What happened out there was inexcusable. That shiny cunt ain't a leader. He ain't my leader. Coulda been me and my boys and girls out there sent on an olive branch mission, with our throats slit and bullets in our heads. I won't stand for this shite. And I don't think you three should either."

Elise had a lovely, snarling grin on her face. "We ain't."

-----

Nico grimaced. Found himself doing that a lot, lately. He wasn't exactly gung-ho about another set of supernatural eyes on him at all times, or any more nosey assholes poking around in his brain, but he recognized the necessity of what was about to happen. If this whole bullshit thing was gonna work, he was just gonna have to fucking deal. Gamzee, for his part, seemed unconcerned about getting marked by Elise's magicks. Very much a go with the flow kinda guy. Nico could appreciate that. Reminded him of Jack a little bit.

"Okay. This should be good." she murmured.

"Should be?" Nico sighed. He felt cursed enough already, and here this vampire lady was, trying to slap another one on him.

"Yeah dude, it's fine. It's a curse," she said, as if she knew what gears were turning in the boy's mind. "but it's painless. And this was the last sigil on this one, the other's already done. We good. Pass through your circles, both of you."

Cinder was up first. He calmly stepped within the boundaries of the spell, stood still for as long as he felt necessary for these sorts of things and walked out of it. Elise's eyes caught a sheen for a moment, like someone turned on the LEDs behind them. She gave him a weird look.

"Oh yeah? Big rocker boy got him some big rocker friends. Friends in low places, huh?"

Nico sneered. "It's complicated."

"Yeah, yeah I bet. Comes with the territory, huh?"

"Fuck off, Elise." He muttered. There wasn't much venom in his voice, but there was a heat to the words. The distinction, palpable. The spell seemed to be working though, so she decided to leave it alone.

The clown, next. Elise scratched the back of her head sheepishly. This doofy guy; she wasn't really sure what to expect. But when Gamzee entered his curse circle, she sucked in her breath, visibly recoiling. The violence. The rage.

The blood.

Like rain in a forest.

 

[Karl Jak]

"Everything is going well? They worked through the night as requested?"

"Yes," the soldier replied. "Why in a spot so far from camp?"

Gilgamesh sighed. "Not everyone wants to win as much as I do, Private. Did I ever tell you the story about how I single-handedly saved my old home from a villainous cyborg mouse?"

"The mouse you beat up so badly that now he's like your best friend?"

"Aye."

"Yes, Sir, that's a great story."

 

[Karl Jak]

'Team Mirage' found themselves entering the campsite of Gilgamesh shortly before midday.

They were quickly 'greeted' by the General, who glared at them all with a great deal of suspcion.

"Where is your commanding officer?"

One of the soldiers lifted a hand and had to recoil from the withering glare of the gilded king. "He went off ... said something about 'going in' and that we should consider ourselves bam.... bambooied?" The man turned to look at his peers.

"Bamboozled." Another soldier corrected as Gilgamesh turned to glare holes into his soul.

"So you have an idiot or a turncoat for a commanding officer? Lovely," Gilgamesh snapped his fingers and summoned a retinue of his own forces. "Give them quarters, but I wanted guards posted at all times in case they're monsters in disguise."

"Yes, General-King Gilgamesh, Sir!" They decreed in unison.

Gilgamesh grinned as the scene dispersed with little fanfare.

 

[Karl Jak]

"What do you want us to do with these people we found?" A scout remarked as they gestured to the column of refugees.

"We swear," a woman whispered. "We want no trouble ... we can be useful but we're just so hungry."

Gilgamesh snorted as he looked at the haggard group. "Give them some bread and sit them in the dungeons for a few hours. If they do anything stupid... kill them all."

 

[Elise]

Morning came to the jungle. It was an overcast, grimy day with suffocating heat and rolling mists. Thousands of birds and smaller creatures competed to be heard over the din of the Armada encampment, fully in motion to prepare for coming combat. Elise stormed gloomily along the tent rows, staring down any grunts who decided they wanted to give her the stink eye. Yeah, shut up and stare at the mud you nameless pricks. Nurse Elise ain't known for her bedside manner.

From the stride and speed of her gait, it was clear that she was en route to have another row with Gilgamesh, and a bracket of armored 'royal guards' imposed themselves in her path as she marched towards the man's oversized tent.

"The King is not holding audience at the moment." the soldier boomed. Elise gave him a deadpan glare.

"I'm not in the mood to take guff from schleps this morning. Move." she hissed, marching past them and through the tent flap. The interior of the green, canvas palace was grotesquely lush with every luxury Gilgamesh had been able to personally steal or requisition from Caer Thannith. Persian rugs, vases of pottery, nice mahogany tables...all these trappings were arranged tastefully, though littered with maps, grids and field reports. Gilgamesh himself was lounging on a large, quilted cushion which had been draped across a series of stacked ammunition boxes as a makeshift couch. The King was not dressed in his usual gleaming armor, but a simple part of fatigues and a white tee shirt. He sighed with a smile as she marched across the rug with dirty boots and handed him the latest communiques.

"Here's the latest field reports. The Wolfpack got ambushed last night, the Unmade successfully sacked the vault, and the Hell Divers refuse to cooperate with our push into Unmade territory..." Elise said, slapping the stack of papers down in front of the lounging demigod. Gilgamesh hummed softly and took a sip of some steaming tea. "...all thanks to you. I also noticed that our own forces are deployed to a different area than the Commander specified."

Rain began pattering down on the tent, causing long dripping trails to trickle their way down the plastic windows. The King sat upright and stared at Elise for a moment, his red eyes trying to out-burn her own crimson orbits.

"Thank you for your report, Lieutenant. You may go." he said with a dry smile. Elise didn't move, and let the air in the tent tighten for a solid minute.

"The fuck are you doing, man?! Mustang already came down on you hard. That stupid dragon made off like a bandit cuz you was to macho to follow fucking orders!" Elise half shrieked. Gilgamesh maintained his unbothered stare.

"I'm aware." he said softly. Elise rocked her head back and forth.

"You threw the refugees from Coba in a dungeon, and executed potential allies! You even turned your nose up at our own reinforcements! Did you forget we on TV, boy? Your stupid stunts are screwing up the whole plan! You tryna make sure everyone knows you a chump?!" Elise finished, slamming a fist on the table. Gilgamesh broke his stare to glance at her clenched fist, before standing slowly.

"When a dog throws a tantrum...the best response is to ignore it..." he murmured, walking over to one of the plastic windows. He made a point of avoiding eye contact with Elise as she edged towards him.

"A few days ago, you were a listless monstrosity, dancing at the edges of this campaign. Now you carry yourself with authority, brandishing missives and tracking your army carefully. I'm proud." Gilgamesh chuckled. He didn't have to look at Elise to know that she was bristling with anger.

"Now all we need to do is foster an abiding trust in my strategic experience. Oh, I may not be dancing to the tune of Roy Mustang, and these things cause ripples, yes. But I do know what I'm doing, nightcrawler. My loyal soldiers know this. So should you." he said. His tone had shifted to be somewhat more stern, and he wheeled around to stare down the fuming wizard again.

"They don't listen to you out of respect. They're either afraid of being executed, or sucking up. That's not loyalty." Elise spat. This type of mentality reminded her of the vampire coven that had groomed her. It was the exact same thing, and it had no place in the Crossroads.

"Shall I lie to them, and say that their lives are important to me, like Mustang? Like the kings of Erde Nona? Like so many other feeble hearted rulers who lack the honesty to rightfully impose themselves as the utmost divinity over their subjects?" Gilgamesh said with a taunting lilt. He began pacing around the perimeter of the tent, keeping his smoldering eyes locked on the vampire at all times.

"Platitudes and heartfelt speeches only mask the truth of the relationship between King and Subject...between General and Soldier. At the end of the day, all who serve me are expendable. You know this, deep down. What good does it do to insult your intelligence by telling you otherw-"

Elise stomped out of the tent, audibly growling the whole way. Gilgamesh grinned darkly as the tent flap drifted shut, and moved to go browse the papers she had delivered. The poor, pitiable creature. She would likely revolt or flee his army before his designs came to their final, glorious fruition. Ah, well. No room for deserters in his plans anyway.

Elise could feel the leering, jeering grins following her wake as she walked back to her own quarters through the rain. That bastard. That absolute cunt. How does someone just...be like that? All these questions and more lanced through the darkness of her rage as heavy droplets soaked into her tactical poncho. She could feel the flickering of Gamzee and Nico's souls...but she didn't feel like talking to them right now.

The vampire girl made her way into her personal tent behind the field hospital, zipped herself into a bodybag, and resigned herself to the sleep of the dead. As fucked up as he was, Gilgamesh was right: she was starting to care about this stupid game too much. She had one objective; find Strazio and keep him alive. Certain elements of their intelligence had a vague notion of where he was, and she had authorization from the Armada to take an expeditionary force if she needed one.

Maybe it was time to make good on her promise...