09-22-2021, 03:17 AM
Huenya in chaos, part 2
Xomaxtli Hill
September 21st, 3:40 am Huenyan time
The guards at the estate of Yauhmi, nantzintli of the Huenyan Federation, were a bit more alert than usual. The recent Golden Blade terrorist attacks had everyone on edge. While Yauhmi was now mostly removed from the official political scene in Huenya, her unofficial role made her a big target for anti-Federation Xiomerans nursing a grudge. So did her role in bringing about the creation of Huenya in the first place. Several FIS agents had been assigned to supplement the small contingent of Shorn Ones assigned to Xomaxtli Hill. They were inside the compound itself.
Around the perimeter of the compound, along the ancient wall surrounding the property, the guards consisted of sworn retainers who were part of the calpōlli, the "big house" or local ward attached to Xomaxtli Hill. They were essentially civilian guards, similar to the Huenyan Civil Guard, but attached to the Xomaxtli Hill estate and Yauhmi's house rather than to a local garrison.
It would be these civilian guards who would be the first to realize something was very wrong this morning.
---
Eyateopoc, the night watch commander, first realized there was trouble coming when he saw lights coming up the road. Many lights. The road to Xomaxtli Hill only led to the estate; if someone was on the road, there was only one possible destination they had in mind.
Eyateopoc quickly grabbed his radio. "Everyone be alert. Macatzin, make sure the guards inside are awake. We may have some company soon," he said, pinging his second in command. Macatzin ran back towards the main building of the estate, unslinging his rifle as he did.
The lights of the vehicles approached to within a few hundred feet, accompanied by the sound of trucks. As tires softly squealed to a halt, the lights and engine sounds abruptly cut off. Darkness and silence echoed once more - but not for long.
The sound of vehicles was soon replaced by the sound of running feet, and gunfire. Eyateopoc cursed and unslung his own rifle, trying to see into the darkness and return fire. "All guards on the wall, fire at will as soon as you have visuals on targets!" he yelled into his radio as bullets began to slam into and ricochet off the stone walls.
Inside the main house, Macatzin ran to the office of Axiuchin, the commander of the FIS agents on site. Just as he arrived, the sounds of gunfire could be heard inside the building. Axiuchin came to the door just as Macatzin arrived, hastily pulling on clothes and then attaching several sidearms and knives to various places of her outfit. "Let me guess, company?" she shouted, running with Macatzin back to the front of the house. She pressed a button on her own radio as she ran.
An alarm began ringing throughout the estate, its strident echoes impossible to ignore. Inside the estate buildings, a combination of Shorn Ones and FIS agents began running out, arming themselves as they ran. They took up defensive positions, as the line of Yauhmi's personal guards began falling back under a barrage of gunfire. The ironwork gate at the wall squealed as a large truck slammed into it repeatedly. Axiuchin ordered everyone to direct their return fire on the truck, but it was too late. With a final squeal of defeat, the gate collapsed as the truck slammed through it and into the courtyard. It rolled forward to the center of the courtyard before shuddering to a halt under a rain of bullets. Some of Yauhmi's personal guards began running towards it, causing Axiuchin to shout into her radio. "No! Do not advance, fall back!" she shouted. It was too late.
With a deafening blast, the truck exploded just as several guards were about to reach it. The remaining guards in the courtyard fell and ducked for cover. As the explosion subsided, a wave of people came streaming in through the gate. They wore bandanas on their heads emblazoned with the Xiomeran sun, crossed with a single dagger. The sign of the Golden Blade.
Two of them were carrying a banner that read, in Huenyan, Death to the Traitor Yauhmi.
Axiuchin saw the banner, and snarled. We'll kill you bastards first. With a single sharp command into her radio, she echoed Eyateopoc's earlier command: fire at will.
The remaining retainers, FIS agents and Shorn Ones rained fire into the angry mob, before the wave crashed into their line. It descended into hand-to-hand combat then, neither side showing hesitancy or mercy. While the FIS agents and Shorn Ones were far more skilled than the civilians attacking them, they were also seriously outnumbered. Slowly but surely, the mob pushed them back towards the front entrance of the main house - where Yauhmi waited.
The front doors of the main house suddenly burst open, and three figures appeared silhouetted in the doorway. Without a word, Riley Nelson and Alyssa Robinson took a side each, while Xing Yawen took the middle. The three Auroras were among the long-term guests of Yauhmi, and took grave exception at a mob of twisted people coming to kill her.
The Auroras moved efficiently and precisely, not bothering to waste words, movements or time. Unlike the Huenyans, the three Auroras had no need to kill any of their foes. They instead put everyone they ran across out of commission, ensuring there would be people to question afterwards. The crowd of attacking civilians, whose fervor had already been shaken a bit by the resistance of Yauhmi's other protectors, soon found that anger and hate alone were little match for actual skill or training in combat. As the three Auroras charged into the fight, the other people defending the courtyard would witness the change of momentum and redouble their own efforts to halt the attack.
As the battle in the courtyard shifted, unseen by everyone else, a smaller group of terrorists broke off from the main force and made their way around to a back entrance to the house. Finding no one in their way, they charged inside the house. One of them had the layout of the building, stolen from architects' plans from the renovation, well memorized. He knew exactly where to lead them to find their target.
The small group reached a landing at the top of a grand staircase. At the end of the landing, standing in front of a huge window, was Yauhmi. She simply shook her head as the terrorists moved towards her, an expression of sadness on her face. "Why are you doing this?" she asked.
"You betrayed Xiomera. You betrayed all Xiomerans," the man leading the group said bitterly. "You split our nation in half and left those of us who live here ripped away from the rest of our country. You stabbed us all in the back. We have lost everything because of you," he grated. "Now, the time for justice has arrived."
As the other terrorists moved closer to their leader, two doors on either side of the landing opened. Out of one of the doorways, Tlalzixiuhxa ran out with an angry shout. In a flurry of moves, she began sending unconscious men flying in different directions. The pain and anger from her time being tortured and imprisoned in Xiomera rolled out of her like a wave as she righteously struck down those who had come to hurt Yauhmi.
As the terrorists' leader looked around in shock, he suddenly found himself face to face with the last guest of Yauhmi's who had been waiting. As she bent his wrist back, forcing him to drop his gun and shout in pain, Nelichē gave him a cold smile. "Justice has arrived. Just not how you expected." With a fist strike from her other hand, Nelichē knocked him out cold. She turned back to Yauhmi. "Are you allright?"
"I am, thanks to both of you," Yauhmi replied. "Now I owe you both my life."
As the three of them proceeded down to the courtyard, the sounds of fighting had died down. The courtyard was now filled with Huenyan Army soldiers. They were led by General Huatli, who had immediately brought her personal squad of soldiers to Xomaxtli Hill after the estate guards had radioed for help. "Thank the gods you're all alive," she said as she ran up to the other three.
"Not everyone is," Yauhmi said somberly, looking at the bodies of both terrorists and her own guards. Her eyes fell upon the banner calling for her death, labeling her a traitor. She sighed deeply. "Even after the war is over, the violence doesn't end."
The others had no answer for her, as they looked grimly around them.
Xomaxtli Hill
September 21st, 3:40 am Huenyan time
The guards at the estate of Yauhmi, nantzintli of the Huenyan Federation, were a bit more alert than usual. The recent Golden Blade terrorist attacks had everyone on edge. While Yauhmi was now mostly removed from the official political scene in Huenya, her unofficial role made her a big target for anti-Federation Xiomerans nursing a grudge. So did her role in bringing about the creation of Huenya in the first place. Several FIS agents had been assigned to supplement the small contingent of Shorn Ones assigned to Xomaxtli Hill. They were inside the compound itself.
Around the perimeter of the compound, along the ancient wall surrounding the property, the guards consisted of sworn retainers who were part of the calpōlli, the "big house" or local ward attached to Xomaxtli Hill. They were essentially civilian guards, similar to the Huenyan Civil Guard, but attached to the Xomaxtli Hill estate and Yauhmi's house rather than to a local garrison.
It would be these civilian guards who would be the first to realize something was very wrong this morning.
---
Eyateopoc, the night watch commander, first realized there was trouble coming when he saw lights coming up the road. Many lights. The road to Xomaxtli Hill only led to the estate; if someone was on the road, there was only one possible destination they had in mind.
Eyateopoc quickly grabbed his radio. "Everyone be alert. Macatzin, make sure the guards inside are awake. We may have some company soon," he said, pinging his second in command. Macatzin ran back towards the main building of the estate, unslinging his rifle as he did.
The lights of the vehicles approached to within a few hundred feet, accompanied by the sound of trucks. As tires softly squealed to a halt, the lights and engine sounds abruptly cut off. Darkness and silence echoed once more - but not for long.
The sound of vehicles was soon replaced by the sound of running feet, and gunfire. Eyateopoc cursed and unslung his own rifle, trying to see into the darkness and return fire. "All guards on the wall, fire at will as soon as you have visuals on targets!" he yelled into his radio as bullets began to slam into and ricochet off the stone walls.
Inside the main house, Macatzin ran to the office of Axiuchin, the commander of the FIS agents on site. Just as he arrived, the sounds of gunfire could be heard inside the building. Axiuchin came to the door just as Macatzin arrived, hastily pulling on clothes and then attaching several sidearms and knives to various places of her outfit. "Let me guess, company?" she shouted, running with Macatzin back to the front of the house. She pressed a button on her own radio as she ran.
An alarm began ringing throughout the estate, its strident echoes impossible to ignore. Inside the estate buildings, a combination of Shorn Ones and FIS agents began running out, arming themselves as they ran. They took up defensive positions, as the line of Yauhmi's personal guards began falling back under a barrage of gunfire. The ironwork gate at the wall squealed as a large truck slammed into it repeatedly. Axiuchin ordered everyone to direct their return fire on the truck, but it was too late. With a final squeal of defeat, the gate collapsed as the truck slammed through it and into the courtyard. It rolled forward to the center of the courtyard before shuddering to a halt under a rain of bullets. Some of Yauhmi's personal guards began running towards it, causing Axiuchin to shout into her radio. "No! Do not advance, fall back!" she shouted. It was too late.
With a deafening blast, the truck exploded just as several guards were about to reach it. The remaining guards in the courtyard fell and ducked for cover. As the explosion subsided, a wave of people came streaming in through the gate. They wore bandanas on their heads emblazoned with the Xiomeran sun, crossed with a single dagger. The sign of the Golden Blade.
Two of them were carrying a banner that read, in Huenyan, Death to the Traitor Yauhmi.
Axiuchin saw the banner, and snarled. We'll kill you bastards first. With a single sharp command into her radio, she echoed Eyateopoc's earlier command: fire at will.
The remaining retainers, FIS agents and Shorn Ones rained fire into the angry mob, before the wave crashed into their line. It descended into hand-to-hand combat then, neither side showing hesitancy or mercy. While the FIS agents and Shorn Ones were far more skilled than the civilians attacking them, they were also seriously outnumbered. Slowly but surely, the mob pushed them back towards the front entrance of the main house - where Yauhmi waited.
The front doors of the main house suddenly burst open, and three figures appeared silhouetted in the doorway. Without a word, Riley Nelson and Alyssa Robinson took a side each, while Xing Yawen took the middle. The three Auroras were among the long-term guests of Yauhmi, and took grave exception at a mob of twisted people coming to kill her.
The Auroras moved efficiently and precisely, not bothering to waste words, movements or time. Unlike the Huenyans, the three Auroras had no need to kill any of their foes. They instead put everyone they ran across out of commission, ensuring there would be people to question afterwards. The crowd of attacking civilians, whose fervor had already been shaken a bit by the resistance of Yauhmi's other protectors, soon found that anger and hate alone were little match for actual skill or training in combat. As the three Auroras charged into the fight, the other people defending the courtyard would witness the change of momentum and redouble their own efforts to halt the attack.
As the battle in the courtyard shifted, unseen by everyone else, a smaller group of terrorists broke off from the main force and made their way around to a back entrance to the house. Finding no one in their way, they charged inside the house. One of them had the layout of the building, stolen from architects' plans from the renovation, well memorized. He knew exactly where to lead them to find their target.
The small group reached a landing at the top of a grand staircase. At the end of the landing, standing in front of a huge window, was Yauhmi. She simply shook her head as the terrorists moved towards her, an expression of sadness on her face. "Why are you doing this?" she asked.
"You betrayed Xiomera. You betrayed all Xiomerans," the man leading the group said bitterly. "You split our nation in half and left those of us who live here ripped away from the rest of our country. You stabbed us all in the back. We have lost everything because of you," he grated. "Now, the time for justice has arrived."
As the other terrorists moved closer to their leader, two doors on either side of the landing opened. Out of one of the doorways, Tlalzixiuhxa ran out with an angry shout. In a flurry of moves, she began sending unconscious men flying in different directions. The pain and anger from her time being tortured and imprisoned in Xiomera rolled out of her like a wave as she righteously struck down those who had come to hurt Yauhmi.
As the terrorists' leader looked around in shock, he suddenly found himself face to face with the last guest of Yauhmi's who had been waiting. As she bent his wrist back, forcing him to drop his gun and shout in pain, Nelichē gave him a cold smile. "Justice has arrived. Just not how you expected." With a fist strike from her other hand, Nelichē knocked him out cold. She turned back to Yauhmi. "Are you allright?"
"I am, thanks to both of you," Yauhmi replied. "Now I owe you both my life."
As the three of them proceeded down to the courtyard, the sounds of fighting had died down. The courtyard was now filled with Huenyan Army soldiers. They were led by General Huatli, who had immediately brought her personal squad of soldiers to Xomaxtli Hill after the estate guards had radioed for help. "Thank the gods you're all alive," she said as she ran up to the other three.
"Not everyone is," Yauhmi said somberly, looking at the bodies of both terrorists and her own guards. Her eyes fell upon the banner calling for her death, labeling her a traitor. She sighed deeply. "Even after the war is over, the violence doesn't end."
The others had no answer for her, as they looked grimly around them.
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