Book 2, Chapter 111 - A Massacre (2/2)

Education? What did he mean?

As the choking smoke enveloped the streets, it brought the piercing screams of fear and pain. Unarmed villagers fled their way, but where was the enemy? Tartarus Squad members dropped into combat readiness, weapons raised and relics ready.

Hell’s Army soldiers burst through the smoke with crossbows raised, marching down the street in a tight line. They steadily followed in the haphazard footsteps of the villagers as they fled. The glinting bolts of their weapons were aimed steadily ahead, at the backs of the defenseless men and women they were meant to protect.

“Fire!”

The soldiers were stoic as boulders, and followed the order without a moment’s hesitation. Crossbow bolts were released in a torrent.

They descended on the crowd like deadly locusts, a killing wind. Screams answered. Elysian crossbows were as deadly as any wastelander rifle, especially in the hands of these soldiers. It would give even an experienced demonhunter pause, lest they were studded with a hundred bolts. How much truer was it for an unarmed farmer?

With unmitigated power the bolts punched through skin and sinew and bone, tearing apart organs in their passage. In a breath one third of the crowd was slain. The ground was covered in writhing bodies and corpses slowly sinking into pools of blood.

The trainees couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Hell’s Army was cutting down innocent villagers!

Several of the members of Tartarus Squad couldn’t hold themselves back, and jumped into the crowd of villagers. This forced the soldiers to hold their fire, and they shouted angrily at the greenhorns. “What are you doing?! Don’t get in our way, move!”

“You do this and call yourselves soldiers?! Isn’t the point of a soldier to be to protect the people?” Drake had his sword clenched in a shaking fist. “This is blasphemy, a sin! It’s a massacre!”

Claudia had her exorcist staff in hand, ready to charge at any moment.

One of the assistants moved, quick as a whip, and slapped Claudia across her face. The force sent her toppling into a pile of rubble.

“The enemy has operated in this village for too long. The existence of this place is no longer worth the risk. We do this because we have to, for the security of the whole domain.”

“Military orders are incontestable. A soldier obeys and does not question. Hell’s Army is here to complete a mission, and anyone who stands in our way with face the consequences!”

Chaos ensued. How could they say that! Their existence didn’t outweigh the risk?

Where was the uncompromising glory of the elysian people? Where was their unbreakable honor? Their faith? The trainees looked around as though they were caught in a nightmare; furious, lost, and confused. Their minds were a sea of intense and conflicting emotions.

Gabriel shrugged, as though he’d known this was coming, but it was Cloudhawk was remained calmest in the sea of turmoil. He calmly raised his voice to make an observation. “Wiping out this village is not going to end well.”

“That’s why Hell’s Army does not exist. Frost’s soldiers are fifty kilometers away. When we’re finished it will look like the Dark Atom knew they were exposed and went on a rampage, killing everyone in the village. Our heroic young commander will then ride in with the cavalry once he gets the news. He will arrive with his righteous cavalry, and although too late to save the town, he will have erased the blasphemers. He’ll then return triumphant to Skycloud City where they’ll sing his praises and mourn their lost brethren. And their hatred for the Dark Atom will seep even deeper.”

“This is the reason for Hell’s Army?” Cloudhawk finally understood what Skye Polaris had meant when he said ‘a necessary evil.’ “This whole world is nothing but hypocrisy and lies.”

The assistant was surprised at Cloudhawk’s outward calm. All the others were stunned by the truth when they first learned it, but not him. He wasn’t shocked or angry, he just saw it for what it was.

But it was good news. If Cloudhawk wasn’t going to make trouble, it would inspire the rest of his team to keep their cool. After all, he’d earned himself considerable prestige among his peers over the last couple months. These greenhorns still followed his lead.

Veronika helped pull Claudia up from the ruins she’d fallen into.

She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Elysian soldiers were supposed to be the most devout of believers. Wasn’t their responsibility to protect these people? How could they massacre the innocent like this, here within the walls of their own domain? She couldn’t… she couldn’t accept it. This couldn’t be real. Skycloud City couldn’t have ordered something like this.

“How is this any different than what demons do?!”

“Claudia, I’ve tolerated your naive horseshit for too long. Enough is enough!” Cloudhawk drew himself up, calling on all the authority he’d learned as their captain. “Sometimes sacrifices are necessary for the long-term security of the domain. These sacrifices aren’t just wastelander lives, but also elysians. Not just commoners, but every nameless soldier that renounces fame for duty. If you can’t understand that, then you have no business being a soldier.”

[3]

1. The Chinese is ‘what sort of medicine is in the gourd’

2. I was asked once what the onomatopoeia for these sounds were in Chinese: 轰轰轰– hong hong hong!

3. This plays to an interested fact I witnessed while living in China. In short, the country and its people believe very deeply in the idea that ‘the ends justify the means.’ It’s taught to them through stories of the communist revolution, xinhai revolution, and the warring states period. If your cause is just, then all manner of evils are permissible. Perhaps this lays in the Confuciusian tenet of ‘sacrifice for the good of community.’ One story that highlights this perfectly concerns the general Cao Cao. On the eve of a battle with a rival general he orders his granary officer to distribute half rations to his soldiers against the granary officer’s wishes. His men were already hungry and on the verge of revolt. Meanwhile, Cao Cao has purchased a large store of grain, but has told no one. The next day, he orders his granary officer before everyone, accuses him of keeping grain for himself, then has him executed before the soldiers. Rations are restored and then some, morale soars, and they go on to win the fight. Now, Cao Cao is widely considered a pretty cruel guy, but is highly respected for his actions – all done in service of his people. He was just one man, of course, but there are examples were twenty thousand were sacrificed toward some end, without their knowledge. How do you, as a Western reader, feel about this? How do you feel about Cloudhawk taking a similar view?