03-02-2026, 03:21 AM
Huānoch, Milintica
November 20th, 2025
Iaka Hamuera and General Huatli had been the beneficiaries of a combination of skill, luck, timing and the sheer incompetence of their enemies. Their travels through the warren of defensive tunnels under Milintica had managed to bring them from Wairarapa to the capital in five days.
At many of the checkpoints along the way, Hamuera had been able to bluff and trick their way through by flashing her military credentials and a set of orders. Huatli and her team posed as part of Hamuera's Popular Freedom Militia unit. In the general chaos and panic caused by impending Xiomeran invasion, most of the soldiers and random civilians manning the tunnel network weren't focused enough to question Hamuera too closely anyway.
There had only been two locations where the deception failed. At Wairarapa, two Red Wave Guards had seen the Huenyan team's arrival. One of them tried to get to the rest of his comrades to warn them. Huatli had personally, and quietly, taken care of that problem.
The second Red Wave Guard had tried to go for the communications center within the main Wairarapa bunker. One of Hamuera's militiamen beat him inside, and kept the Guardsman from gaining entrance. In desperation, the Guardsman shot through the door, fatally wounding the militiaman. Just as the Guardsman made it inside, one of the Huenyan special forces operators got there with another militiaman in tow. Things did not go well for the Red Wave Guardsman at that point.
The remaining Guards forces were quickly cleaned up by the Huenyans and Hamuera's forces. There was no warning sent to Huānoch from Wairarapa that day.
Two days later, at the village of Paiwai, the commander of the local Red Wave Guards unit manning the bunker there had the uncanny suspicion that something was amiss. He insisted that Hamuera contact Huānoch, in his presence, to provide confirmation of her orders. “It's strange that you're so far from the capital at a time of urgent crisis. You're one of our top security officials,” Miztlanor told her as he rubbed the red-starred command tab on his lapel in a seemingly absent-minded twitch.
“I am indeed one of our top officials. Which is why you need to shut up and get out of my way. Commander,” Hamuera snapped with a special emphasis on Miztlanor's relatively low rank. The relationship between the Popular Freedom Militias and the Red Wave Guards had always been tense, and Hamuera was in no mood to bandy words with the likes of Miztlanor.
As Miztlanor's eyebrows drew down in a stubborn grimace, Huatli sighed internally at Hamuera's lack of diplomacy and silently readied the knives hidden in her sleeves. Even if Hamuera and her unit hadn't been doing something underhanded, poking the inter-service rivalry between the Guards and the Militia would have guaranteed a fight.
Miztlanor paused for a moment, seeming in thought, then went for his own sidearm. He was commendably fast. Huatli, however, was much faster. Her hand swept to the tactical knife in its wrist sheath on her left arm. With a single quick motion, the knife left her hand and caught Miztlanor in the throat. As their commander went down, the Red Wave Guards in the room found themselves set upon by both militiamen and Huenyans. It didn't take much longer after that. While the Red Wave Guards were brave and determined enough, their force was grounded more in dogma and loyalty than in actual training or skill. The militiamen went after them powered by sheer hatred, while the Huenyans took them down with cold and emotionless skill. Huatli had personally trained this team, and this mission was a test to see if the former Aurora's training concepts for Huenyan special forces should be expanded to the wider force.
So far, the training was proving to be worth it.
At the end of the fight, Huatli looked down at Miztlanor's body. It's a shame, he certainly had good instincts. He would have been a fine soldier, but he was a victim of ideology. Huatli had respect for her enemy, but she also had the usual Huenyan distaste for communists and communism in general. This is where such beliefs lead.
Three of Hamuera's militiamen had fallen, along with the entire Red Wave Guards garrison at Paiwai. One Huenyan operator had suffered a minor wound, not serious enough to hinder her. The Huenyans scattered “evidence” to suggest that the Paiwai garrison had been wiped out by Xiomeran forces on a probing attack, to cover their tracks. Then they moved on.
The rest of the journey, thankfully, had proven to be easy. Now, Iaka Hamuera was back in Huānoch, with her old and new friends behind her. In a tenement in the Tlahuani district, they planned their next move. Hamuera’s team would secure their operating base. Huatli and Hamuera themselves, along with the Huenyan operators and a contingent of Eirian covert agents, would go after their next target.
The Xihuitl Detention Center, the largest prison in Milintica, loomed in all its ugliness on the other side of the street. The rambling facility, surrounded by a high wall, was notorious for being a horrid hellhole run more by the prisoners than the guards themselves. The only thing keeping the prisoners inside was that giant wall, manned by armed guards ready to shoot anyone trying to escape. Their vigilance was focused mostly on who was inside, though. Given that fact, Huatli and her team were able to slip inside relatively easily.
The inside of the prison itself would normally have presented another challenge. Xihuitl was a maze of cell blocks, holding areas, hallways and common areas controlled by different factions. But since Iaka Hamuera had indeed been a high-ranking security official, she knew exactly where to lead Huatli's team. As Eirian Lunar Guard and EICA agents secured their escape route, the Huenyans found their way to the center of the prison, and down another set of stairs to underground tunnels. This was the area where political prisoners were held by Arana's regime, and one of the few areas where Milintican security forces had an actual presence.
With a silent signal from their Eirian allies, Huatli's team moved into the tunnels, eliminating Milintican guards with stunning ease and a complete lack of hesitation. As their opposition silently fell, the Huenyans finally reached their destination. Hamuera had assured them that their goal would be found in cell F-203-P.
The solid metal door was held shut with a mechanical keyed lock that was surprisingly primitive. Nothing fancy or electronic. Good. Huatli motioned one of her men, Tinac, forward. “Time for the master key,” she said. Tinac nodded with a broad grin, unshouldering his rifle. The “master key” in question was a door-breaching shotgun attachment to the rifle, based on a Xiomeran design. It would fire a special frangible round to break the lock. “Hello in there! We're about to blow open this door, so you might wanna stand as far back as you can,” Tinac shouted cheerfully through the door. He paused to see if anyone actually heard him, and was rewarded by curses in Huenyan and the sound of frantic scrambling. As his own team took cover as well, Tinac aimed carefully and fired.
This was rewarded with a satisfying boom and then an equally satisfying sound of metal shattering. The door then creaked open slightly. Tinac opened it slowly, rifle in a ready position. Huatli followed, providing cover.
The sight that greeted them was a youthful, slender man. Huatli recognized him, noting that he was even thinner than she had expected. A product of Neina Arana's gentle care, no doubt, Huatli thought grimly. She would have loved for her next task to be to go to Haven House and put Arana down like the rabid dog she was. But now was not the time. Huatli stepped forward, extending her hand. “President Matōchmizalo. I am General Huatli of the Huenyan Special Forces. I am sure you recognize Commander Hamuera,” she added as Hamuera stepped forward also. “We are here to free you and get you to safety.”
Matōchmizalo gave them a wry grin. “I appreciate the rescue, General. And Iaka, good to see you again,” he said as Hamuera gave him a salute. “But your title is misplaced, I fear. I am not currently the President.”
“No, but you should be!” Hamuera said eagerly. As Matōchmizalo's eyes widened, Huatli nodded. “Arana cheated to falsely win the Presidency. We have proof. We're here to help you regain your office.”
Matōchmizalo shook his head for a moment, finally breaking into laughter. “I knew it! I knew there was no way I could have lost to that horrible person!” His fists clenched in triumph. “I think we should get out of here while we can, though. Your presence here won't remain secret much longer.”
“There is another reason for haste,” Huatli said as calmly as she could. “We have to get you back into power, and Arana out, as quickly as we can. She's blundered herself into causing a Xiomeran invasion - “
Matōchmizalo raised his hand. “I'm sorry, being starved and beat and all must be causing my hearing to go bad. You didn't say Xiomeran invasion…..did you?”
At silent nods from Hamuera and Huatli, Matōchmizalo's eyes rolled briefly back in his head. “How did she….I won't ask. I don't even want to know. Yes, let's get out of here and get rid of Arana as quickly as we can, even if I have to go get her myself.” He stepped forward, then paused. “I just have to know….time has been merely a concept in this cell, especially since I am allowed no news or contact whatsoever. Just how long did it take for Neina Arana to put my country on the edge of doom?”
“She has been in power for one year and one month, give or take,” Huatli replied.
“A year….that's faster for her to screw up utterly than even I expected.” Matōchmizalo sighed. “Okay then. Let's get going. I need to take my country back and see if we can save it from this madness.”
November 20th, 2025
Iaka Hamuera and General Huatli had been the beneficiaries of a combination of skill, luck, timing and the sheer incompetence of their enemies. Their travels through the warren of defensive tunnels under Milintica had managed to bring them from Wairarapa to the capital in five days.
At many of the checkpoints along the way, Hamuera had been able to bluff and trick their way through by flashing her military credentials and a set of orders. Huatli and her team posed as part of Hamuera's Popular Freedom Militia unit. In the general chaos and panic caused by impending Xiomeran invasion, most of the soldiers and random civilians manning the tunnel network weren't focused enough to question Hamuera too closely anyway.
There had only been two locations where the deception failed. At Wairarapa, two Red Wave Guards had seen the Huenyan team's arrival. One of them tried to get to the rest of his comrades to warn them. Huatli had personally, and quietly, taken care of that problem.
The second Red Wave Guard had tried to go for the communications center within the main Wairarapa bunker. One of Hamuera's militiamen beat him inside, and kept the Guardsman from gaining entrance. In desperation, the Guardsman shot through the door, fatally wounding the militiaman. Just as the Guardsman made it inside, one of the Huenyan special forces operators got there with another militiaman in tow. Things did not go well for the Red Wave Guardsman at that point.
The remaining Guards forces were quickly cleaned up by the Huenyans and Hamuera's forces. There was no warning sent to Huānoch from Wairarapa that day.
Two days later, at the village of Paiwai, the commander of the local Red Wave Guards unit manning the bunker there had the uncanny suspicion that something was amiss. He insisted that Hamuera contact Huānoch, in his presence, to provide confirmation of her orders. “It's strange that you're so far from the capital at a time of urgent crisis. You're one of our top security officials,” Miztlanor told her as he rubbed the red-starred command tab on his lapel in a seemingly absent-minded twitch.
“I am indeed one of our top officials. Which is why you need to shut up and get out of my way. Commander,” Hamuera snapped with a special emphasis on Miztlanor's relatively low rank. The relationship between the Popular Freedom Militias and the Red Wave Guards had always been tense, and Hamuera was in no mood to bandy words with the likes of Miztlanor.
As Miztlanor's eyebrows drew down in a stubborn grimace, Huatli sighed internally at Hamuera's lack of diplomacy and silently readied the knives hidden in her sleeves. Even if Hamuera and her unit hadn't been doing something underhanded, poking the inter-service rivalry between the Guards and the Militia would have guaranteed a fight.
Miztlanor paused for a moment, seeming in thought, then went for his own sidearm. He was commendably fast. Huatli, however, was much faster. Her hand swept to the tactical knife in its wrist sheath on her left arm. With a single quick motion, the knife left her hand and caught Miztlanor in the throat. As their commander went down, the Red Wave Guards in the room found themselves set upon by both militiamen and Huenyans. It didn't take much longer after that. While the Red Wave Guards were brave and determined enough, their force was grounded more in dogma and loyalty than in actual training or skill. The militiamen went after them powered by sheer hatred, while the Huenyans took them down with cold and emotionless skill. Huatli had personally trained this team, and this mission was a test to see if the former Aurora's training concepts for Huenyan special forces should be expanded to the wider force.
So far, the training was proving to be worth it.
At the end of the fight, Huatli looked down at Miztlanor's body. It's a shame, he certainly had good instincts. He would have been a fine soldier, but he was a victim of ideology. Huatli had respect for her enemy, but she also had the usual Huenyan distaste for communists and communism in general. This is where such beliefs lead.
Three of Hamuera's militiamen had fallen, along with the entire Red Wave Guards garrison at Paiwai. One Huenyan operator had suffered a minor wound, not serious enough to hinder her. The Huenyans scattered “evidence” to suggest that the Paiwai garrison had been wiped out by Xiomeran forces on a probing attack, to cover their tracks. Then they moved on.
The rest of the journey, thankfully, had proven to be easy. Now, Iaka Hamuera was back in Huānoch, with her old and new friends behind her. In a tenement in the Tlahuani district, they planned their next move. Hamuera’s team would secure their operating base. Huatli and Hamuera themselves, along with the Huenyan operators and a contingent of Eirian covert agents, would go after their next target.
The Xihuitl Detention Center, the largest prison in Milintica, loomed in all its ugliness on the other side of the street. The rambling facility, surrounded by a high wall, was notorious for being a horrid hellhole run more by the prisoners than the guards themselves. The only thing keeping the prisoners inside was that giant wall, manned by armed guards ready to shoot anyone trying to escape. Their vigilance was focused mostly on who was inside, though. Given that fact, Huatli and her team were able to slip inside relatively easily.
The inside of the prison itself would normally have presented another challenge. Xihuitl was a maze of cell blocks, holding areas, hallways and common areas controlled by different factions. But since Iaka Hamuera had indeed been a high-ranking security official, she knew exactly where to lead Huatli's team. As Eirian Lunar Guard and EICA agents secured their escape route, the Huenyans found their way to the center of the prison, and down another set of stairs to underground tunnels. This was the area where political prisoners were held by Arana's regime, and one of the few areas where Milintican security forces had an actual presence.
With a silent signal from their Eirian allies, Huatli's team moved into the tunnels, eliminating Milintican guards with stunning ease and a complete lack of hesitation. As their opposition silently fell, the Huenyans finally reached their destination. Hamuera had assured them that their goal would be found in cell F-203-P.
The solid metal door was held shut with a mechanical keyed lock that was surprisingly primitive. Nothing fancy or electronic. Good. Huatli motioned one of her men, Tinac, forward. “Time for the master key,” she said. Tinac nodded with a broad grin, unshouldering his rifle. The “master key” in question was a door-breaching shotgun attachment to the rifle, based on a Xiomeran design. It would fire a special frangible round to break the lock. “Hello in there! We're about to blow open this door, so you might wanna stand as far back as you can,” Tinac shouted cheerfully through the door. He paused to see if anyone actually heard him, and was rewarded by curses in Huenyan and the sound of frantic scrambling. As his own team took cover as well, Tinac aimed carefully and fired.
This was rewarded with a satisfying boom and then an equally satisfying sound of metal shattering. The door then creaked open slightly. Tinac opened it slowly, rifle in a ready position. Huatli followed, providing cover.
The sight that greeted them was a youthful, slender man. Huatli recognized him, noting that he was even thinner than she had expected. A product of Neina Arana's gentle care, no doubt, Huatli thought grimly. She would have loved for her next task to be to go to Haven House and put Arana down like the rabid dog she was. But now was not the time. Huatli stepped forward, extending her hand. “President Matōchmizalo. I am General Huatli of the Huenyan Special Forces. I am sure you recognize Commander Hamuera,” she added as Hamuera stepped forward also. “We are here to free you and get you to safety.”
Matōchmizalo gave them a wry grin. “I appreciate the rescue, General. And Iaka, good to see you again,” he said as Hamuera gave him a salute. “But your title is misplaced, I fear. I am not currently the President.”
“No, but you should be!” Hamuera said eagerly. As Matōchmizalo's eyes widened, Huatli nodded. “Arana cheated to falsely win the Presidency. We have proof. We're here to help you regain your office.”
Matōchmizalo shook his head for a moment, finally breaking into laughter. “I knew it! I knew there was no way I could have lost to that horrible person!” His fists clenched in triumph. “I think we should get out of here while we can, though. Your presence here won't remain secret much longer.”
“There is another reason for haste,” Huatli said as calmly as she could. “We have to get you back into power, and Arana out, as quickly as we can. She's blundered herself into causing a Xiomeran invasion - “
Matōchmizalo raised his hand. “I'm sorry, being starved and beat and all must be causing my hearing to go bad. You didn't say Xiomeran invasion…..did you?”
At silent nods from Hamuera and Huatli, Matōchmizalo's eyes rolled briefly back in his head. “How did she….I won't ask. I don't even want to know. Yes, let's get out of here and get rid of Arana as quickly as we can, even if I have to go get her myself.” He stepped forward, then paused. “I just have to know….time has been merely a concept in this cell, especially since I am allowed no news or contact whatsoever. Just how long did it take for Neina Arana to put my country on the edge of doom?”
“She has been in power for one year and one month, give or take,” Huatli replied.
“A year….that's faster for her to screw up utterly than even I expected.” Matōchmizalo sighed. “Okay then. Let's get going. I need to take my country back and see if we can save it from this madness.”
<t></t>