The Hands of the Many [Reiner]

[Rune]

60 Glade, 123

The year since the attack that had led to the fall of the capitol seemed to have disappeared right out from under Kuno some days. Other days he could still see every single day of the labor, sweat, blood and sacrifice that had led from the 34th of Searing 122 to whatever day it was he had enough time to sit and consider it. Not that there were many days that involved much time set aside for contemplation.

The fact was that, after returning with Reiner from their Ash mission to bring the Minister's greeting to the Fort Commanders in the Riverlands, it felt like they'd been running non-stop. The rest Ash had been split between shoring up what pockets of resistance and safety had managed to remain within the West End and the areas far enough from the Knob, where the destruction blasted out from, that anyone had survived, and barricading any exits to the city that might allow the filth within to spread. Once Frost set it the Minister and his Council had made maps, sectioning the city off block by block, and setting the military to clearing them. 'Clearing' had involved a combination of putting down whatever mist spawn was about and then going house by house and taking the dead to be burned. The logic had been that, while the world was frozen over, so would the bodies be, human, animal and otherwise.

They would get no arguments from the Lieutenant, who had encountered more than his fair share of bodies in Searing to know the folly of waiting. It was grim work still, with no energy to spare on the sentiment of ceremony, but not wholly without benefits. More than one valuable trinket had managed to find it's way into his pockets as they moved through the houses to alleviate them of their dead. Such gains were not taken back up to the Islands, of course, but stashed in a few special hiding places he'd found. If any were discovered there was no way to trace them back to him, not with the city rife with gangs of opportunists and anarchists.

Such groups were smart enough to clear out, most of the time, when they saw the crisply uniformed Islands Military men heading into their areas, but once in a while there was an honest scrap over a street or building. Honest, in that it was men and fighting men rather than aether-cursed abominations. Unfortunately, for everyone involved, Frost had also brought the added dangers of the Eclipse, Shadowspawn and whatever else went on. In one way, it was nice that magic was dampened, as it seemed to slow the Mist creatures and other wild happenings within the city some, but it was also slowed the efforts of the Order and what Covens had enough honor to work with them, in their efforts to keep everyone fed.

The Minister's dealings with the Forts stepped in with plenty for everyone, so that was one worry seen to until it they figured out how to counter it, which they did, in time.

Kuno sat now, exhausted enough to be staring down into the plate of stew that was his midday meal without eating it. In some ways, moving into the manor house in the clouds had been a dream come true. But, in others...

Sleep came hard for him when there was no one else's breathing to alert him to any dangers, however safe his mind knew he was tucked away in his own small room, high in a house high in the sky, his instincts screamed at him that without the sounds of streets and people he was just waiting for trouble. Even when he did manage to get himself to slip under, without Reiner wrapped up close his dreams had returned to their routine of horrors.

Thankfully, with as few well trained fighting men as were available and an over abundance of work for them to see to, he ended up bunking in the barracks more often than not. It wasn't the same as sharing a room with Reiner, a bed, but they usually ended up falling into cots near enough to each other than he could pick out the man's breathing and it helped.

He only realized that the object of his thoughts had come to join him in the mess for their quick meal before heading back down to the streets when the familiar voice startled him out of them.

[Reiner Dornkirk]

"Fly in your stew?" Was the less than inspired question that a wryly grinning Reiner proffered to draw Kuno from his reveries. Kuno had been staring so intently at the contents of his bowl that it might have housed something amiss, but the private wasn't asking in earnest. It was a more a quip than a query, and more a cliche than either. Besides, Kuno wasn't the sort to sit idly by and observe something that bothered him. If he'd actually found a fly in his meal, Reiner wouldn't have been surprised to find said stew dripping down the face of the cook who'd served it.

He placed his own tray down on the table across from Kuno, and offered a playful salute once his hands were free, before plopping down in the chair and eyeing the haul that had been scooped for him. He picked up his roll with both hands and broke it in two, placing it back down and getting to the work of slathering butter on the bottom half.

"You sleep all right?" He idly queried, as he mushed the roll back together and dunked it into the stew. It was small talk to the private, who was unaware that it might be a sensitive issue or that he might have played a role in the reason Kuno hadn't. For his part, Reiner was just blithely chowing down on the day's offerings with an expression that seemed to suggest he didn't have a care in the world.

He placed the roll down and lifted his spoon, to begin slurping up some of the broth. When there wasn't a white tablecloth and an intimidating amount of absurdly specific utensils to remind him to act genteel and dine daintily, Reiner definitely still had the table manners of a boy from the Grungeworks.

[Rune]

"Hm?" Kuno blinked, looking from his food to his friend, not comprehending, then again, understanding. With a snort of a laugh he finally answered the attempt at humor, with an equally small attempt at bravado.

"Would just be more protein, eh?"

His expression took on one of mock authority when he was saluted and he managed, "At ease, soldier." with something closer to his normal playful tone. The reality was that people genuinely saluted him more often than they did it mockingly now, he'd been expected to lead men into danger on a nearly daily basis for months. While the neighborhood sweeps had been intended to push the mistspawn and gangs back from a street or few blocks for the day it took to remove bodies from the area, any that had been killed had been more incidental than intentional. As the season turned, despite how it also didn't, the plan had shifted into actually hunting down whatever threatened the return of life to the area of the city that they had managed to cut off from both the outside and the other sections of the city that were more heavily infested.

What they'd ended up with was a swath of city blocks that they were expanding, not in the richest sections that had housed the fanciest of folks (as they were useless in terms of recovery), but not the poorest sections either. The middling areas that were made up of good housing, shops that were also where their owners had made the goods they sold, a place that people could begin to live again.

The richer sections were left to the gangs and what was happening in the East End, the tenements, mines and Grungeworks was enough that the brass wasn't willing to commit the lives of their men into trying anything, yet. What was going on in The Knob was a prospect of speculation for many. The running theory was that it had been taken over by one of the more prominent gangs who had been stockpiling supplies before the 34th in the hope of some sort of government coup, but rumors ran the gamut. Only the night before he'd heard a drunken older man spinning the tale that the mistspawn had gained sentience enough to start their own society and were working the mines and factories both to build themselves into a real army. He'd even heard a mother warning her children that the whole area was taken over by demons who rose from the hells to inhabit the bodies of once good citizens. Whatever the truth, Kuno was just glad not to be going in there.

Having to face what were becoming everyday horrors as they expanded the pocket of safety was more than enough to keep him up at night.

A one-shouldered shrug was his answer to the inquiry as to his sleep. It meant 'no', but it also meant 'nothing to be done about it'. Glancing up he watched as the private ripped a piece of stew-soaked bread off with his teeth. Expression casual, blank almost he wondered what Reiner would do if he dragged the man back up to what had once been their little apartment and pulled him down into their bed. Just to sleep, not even to...

Lifting his tin mug he took a long pull from his lukewarm coffee as a way to make himself stop watching. It was easy to turn his mind back to the cares of the day, even if he'd let it start drifting in the first place to forget them, it was better than seriously considering kidnapping the private for a nap. His team was heading down into the old city barracks. It might not even be that bad, as the soldiers had made an excellent showing of themselves in the initial days of the disaster before they'd joined the Minister's group, but even if there were few mistspawn there would be a load of the dead, and they would be soldiers. Clearing out civilians required a certain place to put your mind, a way of not thinking that let you remain alert to danger, but it was different when the bodies you carried wore the uniform. Several of the men assigned to his current squad had been stationed at the barracks and would certainly know some of those they found. After a Searing and an Ash of time to rot, if they were lucky, the faces wouldn't be recognizable. It was the sort of blessing a good life didn't include.

"You going down with us today?" It was likely the only reason Reiner would be in the public mess, but perhaps he'd been assigned elsewhere.

[Reiner Dornkirk]

Reiner wrinkled his nose at the tacitly negative response to his question. The private, for his part, hadn't had any trouble sleeping. It wasn't that the strains of the times didn't get to him. They certainly afflicted him in other ways during his waking hours and even the dreams he endured when he slept, but he'd been working himself to total exhaustion lately. He passed out more often than he fell asleep and not due to overindulging in alcohol, but due to over-exerting himself taking on more than his assigned duties.

"Yeah, that's the idea..." Reiner replied, and it was mostly intelligible in spite of the muffling caused by a mouth full of broth-soaked bread. He gulped it down, so his subsequent question was delivered with greater clarity. "Do you know what quadrant we're gonna hit today?"

Reiner hadn't been down as often as Kuno. The Minister seemed to enjoy using his cousin for an errand boy oftentimes. Perhaps it was because his surname made a statement, or perhaps he wanted to keep him close as not to lose another member of their dwindling line to the blights of the Breach. Whatever the case, Reiner didn't mind it. Delivering messages was certainly less harrowing than the things he faced on the occasions he did get down to the wasteland that had once been the High City of Karnor.

He finished up his food in short order, since he ate it like he'd been starving for weeks, and then his focus was upon his coffee. At least that was freshly poured, so the scalding heat forced him to take little sips and thus ingest it more slowly than he had the meal.

[Rune]

Kuno's mood couldn't help but lift in the presence of the private, even just eating, and eating like a teenager at that. There was something so undeniably, irresistibly alive about Reiner that always seemed to catch Kuno by the shirt front and yank him along.

Even the question as to their destination couldn't quell the lightening in his heart, nor his answer,

"We're heading into Fort Cathevelle." It hadn't been a priority but if the district was going to be held and repopulated it would need a stronghold to pull back into should monsters or men break through the protections and invade the streets once cleared. The Fort, inside the city, would be the perfect base of operations to begin rebuilding again, but first it must be secured. Like any other time they went down into the city they were dropping into occupied territory that was surrounded on all sides. If anything went wrong their only hope of escape was into the skies. While direct conflict was not the intention, as Kuno's men had been chosen to scout out the fort, with several other groups, before a full on assault would be sent, but that wouldn't mean they weren't in danger. The place might be crawling with uncounted mist spawn that just never came out of the buildings to be spotted by air scouting. Every man that was going down was equipped with multiple emergency flares and just one was enough to alert the air ships that dropped them to return for evacuation, but that would be no use once they were inside.

"We've been assigned as forward scouts." It was an honor to be chosen for the mission, it meant that he and his men were trusted, believed to be through, and able to handle whatever came on their own. That Reiner had been assigned to him for the day meant that his attempts at bribery and blackmail with a few select higher officers was paying off. He wanted the youngest of the Dornkirk men assigned to him any time he was release to be sent out with the rest of the military working for the Minister. If Reiner was to be risked, it would be under Kuno's watchful eye. Except, often Kuno was now being sent into the thickest of things and some of the officers handling the assignments had thought it in their best interests to keep their leader's only cousin where he might not be harmed, least the Minister blame them for any harm that befell him.

The thing about that though, was that Reiner belonged to Kuno, not to the Minister, or any other mist damned person. So he'd spent his time, when not otherwise occupied with duty, finding things that people wanted or feared. It was good to have something over on a few men who outranked him in any case.

Swallowing down the last of his swill he stood, stretched, arms over his head, perhaps giving his companion a view of how well he'd been filling out on a good diet and lots of both combat and labor. When he came back to just standing he said,

"Come on then, no time to waste, let's go take back our city."

[Reiner Dornkirk]

“Ohhh, that makes sense.” Reiner said of the intended destination. He was party to a lot of privileged conversations and, though they didn’t always make sense to him in the moment, sometimes a clarifying detail would click the rest into place. This was such an instance. Attending his cousin, working as a courtier who occasioned to deliver verbal messages, he actually picked up quite a bit. There was also the fact that they were essentially fighting a war against an enemy that was ostensibly bereft of tactical acumen, so they didn’t need to be quite as cagey as they’d been during the ill-fated Kalzasern Conflict. They were at war with chaos… even more so than they’d been then.

“Forward scouts?” Both eyebrows rose and his lips curled into a grin, “That brings me back! Should be fun to get down and dirty with you for once.” He appreciated the work he was currently assigned to execute, but it wasn’t typically exciting. Being a grunt may have been tenfold more dangerous, but there was exhilaration to be mined amidst the terror. It was a high like no other and, while there were aspects of it that harrowed him to the core, there was also a part that missed it heartily and welcomed the chance to reclaim some semblance of that adrenaline burst.

He downed the rest of his coffee and stood, at Kuno’s urging. He would wipe the pale canvas of his face clean if the foodstuffs that painted it, dispose of his tray, and fall into step to follow, as he often did, where Kuno led.

“Been a while since I’ve served under you, Lieutenant. How’ve your men been getting on?”

[Rune]

The comment, 'down and dirty' had the lieutenant's right brow perked up and a knowing smirk on his face as he threw an arm around Reiner and spoke, low against his ear.

"Well thought out, Private, wouldn't do to have any of the other men to know we'd ever been down and dirty with each other before." Having said this he laughed, so that anyone looking would assume they were joking, which they were. Except that this laugh was the one he used when he was only pretending, hiding something behind it, and Reiner would know that.

Tilting his head from one side to the other to imply a middling response he answered aloud as well,

"Good enough. Tired, but there is always more that needs doing, eh?" Some days he missed how quiet things had been in the first month after they'd taken to the air, even if it had always felt like a held breath as they waited for the next disaster. There just weren't enough fighting men to go around, not with all the plans the Minister and his Counsel were trying to accomplish. The annoying part was that Zaichaer, as a whole, had more than enough soldiers and sailors to have the city cleared out, and likely mostly rebuilt, within the year, but each man had chosen his own loyalties when the Presidium fell. Most were still serving under the leaders they'd been assigned to on the 34th, which said something about the fighting force of the State, but it meant that each leader was now a tiny Grand Marshal unto themselves, with their own goals. Minister Dornkirk had been sending out feelers, trying to form alliances, starting with his victory in connecting with the Riverlands Forts Generals, but the others were more difficult to even find, as they kept on the move, and had fewer reasons to consider allying themselves where they didn't see advantages for themselves. So far, even the Fort Generals hadn't been willing to give up any of their military, despite the fact that the Islands obviously could make better use of the troops.

These were thoughts for another day, or another man, though, so Kuno shuffled them off to the side of his mind and leaned over to slap gently at Reiner's side where he'd taken a wound his last time down to the ground,

"What about you? Have the Ladies managed to pamper you back to perfect health?"

As they exited the building they could see where the rest of Kuno's men were lining up for duty. When Reiner joined them, Kuno saluted, was saluted in return, and then explained their assignment. They were to drop down into the main courtyard with two other scout squads of ten men each, the three groups would each take an entrance, scouting as far into the structure as they safely could. If they got lucky and were able to clear out the whole command building they were to hold it, sending two men out with written reports to be delivered back to the Islands. If they ran into trouble they were to retreat strategically and call for evac.

They had enough supplies to last them a week if it was needed, but if they were able to hold the command building a large force would be sent the next day to take over and they would be sent back out to scout the rest of the large fort complex.

"Any questions?" He ended as he usually did, not really expecting any but ready to answer, or mock any that came, depending on their validity.

After he would lead the men to the middling size ship that would carry them, and the other two squads to the drop point. When they came aboard he got reports from the fly-over that had been done an hour before saying that there were creatures milling around the drop point. The snipers on the ship would do their best to clear the drop point, but they were on their own after that.

[Reiner Dornkirk]

Reiner had a face that was built to blush and so it did at Kuno’s response to his verbiage.

“I…” He hadn’t meant it that way, and thought to say as much, but that might set the lieutenant off. That was no way to start off a day, much less a mission being led by the mercurial officer. He just shook his head and averted his eyes instead.

At the pat to his side, Reiner winced slightly.

“Heh, I’ve got to burn enough calories so I don’t stretch the scar with all the rich food they put in front of me.” He said, as if the idea of restraint had never crossed his mind.

He kept his head down literally until it was time to form up, and then he only did so figuratively as not to upset the posture that was expected of a soldier at attention. He would salute where appropriate and deliver clipped “Yes, sirs” in unison with the others. He only fell out of step when he lingered a split second longer than the others, unsure whether Kuno would come over and single him out. When he didn’t, Reiner adjusted promptly and joined the others on the walk up the gangway onto the ZADC ship that would serve as their transport.

He recognized most of the faces, but knew few of the names of the soldiers with whom he would be serving on this mission. He felt ever at a disadvantage there, because people tended to know who he was. Anyone who didn’t, tended to get an elbow in the ribs and a whispered aside. He would make a point to retain any names that were broached and certainly anyone who troubled themselves to introduce themselves, where such moments were appropriate. Ultimately, he was relieved that he hadn’t been singled out further than his name tended to elicit.

[Rune]

"Dornkirk!" Kuno called once the ship had pulled away from the dock and was sailing them towards their destination. When Reiner trotted over the tall, lean officer gave him a bit of a friendly smile.

"Everyone is already briefed but you, so we'll do a quick catch up." Pulling them both into a side cabin that seemed to be used mostly as a map room and was currently empty except for the two of them, Kuno rolled out a building schematic over one of the tables bolted to the floor. It was of a height to support study while standing but not large, leaving the edges of the blueprints dangling to either side.

"Here," Kuno poked the drawing with one elegant finger, "Is the courtyard. Our breach point into the building proper is this entrance here, if it is blocked we'll enter with the second squad here." Two more pokes showed the places he was talking about.

The inner building was a square, four even sides with the courtyard in the center, the outer walls were thick stone with narrow entrances, intended to be held during warfare. It was obvious why the brass wanted it as their first solid excursion point into the city, it was literally a fort, after all. The rest of the complex surrounded the inner bailey, with multiple barracks buildings and everything needed to house all the military men they could hold, as well as an extensive armory. The outer walls surrounding the compound were three sets of consecutive squares, each a little higher than the next so that anyone stationed on the innermost one could still fire at anyone attempting to breach from the outside.

While he detailed the mission Kuno allowed himself to enjoy the closeness of their bodies as they pressed close to be able to both peruse the map. After the initial explanation he flipped it over, showing a more detailed sketch of the inside of the main building.

"We're to take these rooms, clear them out, secure any intel that was left behind and hold them until the main force comes in. From there we'll push out, taking the other buildings one at a time. I asked to be assigned the armory, but we'll have to cover at least one of the barracks as well." He grimaced,

"Most of my men were stationed here before the 34th. Useful in that they'll know the layout instinctively, but not so good in that we'll be finding their friends as we go. That's where you'll be most valuable."

Turning in the small space they both occupied so that he was looking almost directly down into the shorter man's eyes he held them for a long moment before going on.

"I need your eyes." He said it slow, as though it were important, as though Reiner was, and then, "I can't watch everyone at once, if you see a man showing signs of breaking, let me know. If you can, use that charming wit of yours to keep everyone's spirits up. It always worked on me, eh?"

Kuno's own smile turned charming, admiring, saying that Reiner could cheer anyone if he tried.

[Reiner Dornkirk]

"Sir!" Was Reiner's immediate reply to the sound of his name on the tongue of his commanding officer. He jogged over and allowed himself to be easily led into the intimate environs of the impromptu map room. He was attentive to the briefing, taking in the unfamiliar but logical layout of the facility. He'd never been there, but it was practical after the fashion he expected of a Zaichaeri base. It was easy to retain the important bits, because they just made sense to his mind.

"Of course, sir." When it came to the particulars of their part of the mission, he simply affirmatively acknowledged that he'd received the information. It was pretty standard stuff, insofar as anything was in post-apocalyptic Zaichaer. They'd be clearing out and reclaiming what had once been undoubtedly theirs. As for his additional duty, he smiled a bit at the compliment laced into the order.

"If you need my eyes, you've got 'em. 'Charming wit', as well." He quoted with a self-satisfied smirk and a wink to acknowledge his appreciation of the wording. His grin softened as he considered what that wit would be employed to actually deal with. He'd been in the situation these men were now embarking upon... seen the bodies of his friends or, worse, perversions of their forms reanimated into indefatigable enemies bent on chaos on destruction. He'd seen familiar eyes with an unfamiliar expression- Fervent hunger for his own flesh. And he'd put old friends down to save newer friends.

"Is there anyone in particular you're worried about?" He wondered. Kuno knew his men far better than Reiner and might have an inkling as to whom was most likely to crack under the impending pressure.