Nitesco lied on the bed in his military quarters, facing the window, in a deep trance. He wasn't quite asleep, but he definitely wasn't awake. He was thinking, if you could call it that, about his future in the foreign legion, dreaming of glorious battles yet to come, completely oblivious to the screams and cries of terror from the streets outside.

Suddenly, a cannonball crashed through the adjacent wall of the dorm and his glorious visions of battle became very, very real.

His hand reflexively went for the sword lying under his bed, along with his breastplate and boots. He haphazardly donned what little armor he had at his disposal and ran out into the hallway, running directly into his sergeant.

"Sergeant!" Nitesco shouted. "What's happening?" The bearded old man turned to his protégé, a look of determination on his face. "We're under siege! I'm readying the garrison for a counterattack! Rally the others!" Nitesco nodded and sprinted down the hallway, screaming. "Arm yourselves! Arm yourselves! Ready a counterattack!" He looped back around the base towards the front, going out the front entrance and watching the sergeant and his men charging down the steps towards a battalion of Arkosian soldiers.

The Arkosian commanding officer was on horseback, brandishing a cavalry saber at the incoming wall of men. He pointed the blade at the sergeant's men, yelling as he did so.

"Throw the grenades!"

At once the line of men hurled lit grenades at the Gunnian and Rosian soldiers, who raised their shields or turned and covered themselves from the blast as they were trained to do.

Except the blast didn't come, not like they were expecting. A cloud of smoke enveloped the men, they began coughing and wheezing violently. The men suddenly shrieked like banshees and began madly swinging their weapons at each other before casting them aside and tearing into each other with their bare hands. Ignoring the carnage they caused, the Arkosian soldiers drew their weapons and began charging up the steps.

Nitesco turned and ran, sprinting through the hallways while his comrades rushed the opposite way, certainly to their deaths. He found a stairwell leading downwards, descended it as rapidly as possible, and exited out the cellar entrance. He gasped for breath and looked up, only to see the carnage before him.

The screams and clangs of metal on metal pierced his ears as he finally became fully aware of his surroundings. Half the city was ablaze, the walls were crumbling under the force of cannonballs or other projectiles as the unknown assailant overwhelmed the city. He steeled himself, readied his blade, and charged into the city streets.

It wasn't long before he found more enemies defiling the city. Two soldiers clad in Crosshares colors sprinted down an alleyway, not noticing the young trainee as they scurried towards the marketplace. Nitesco sprinted through the twisting city roads in search of his prey, only to stop in horror when the street opened up into the marketplace.

Thousands of buildings and market stalls were in flames as screams echoed from across the marketplace. A Bumblebee soldier ran past Nitesco, charging into the raging inferno, only to receive an arrow in the neck. Nitesco watched in horror as the man clutched at his wounds before he finally slumped over and died. From behind a line of market stalls, a line of Emberald clergy emerged, swords and crossbows in hand. They charged across the plaza, looking for more people to slaughter, when a pair of them stopped and turned to face Nitesco. One of them pointed at the young soldier, and her compatriot leveled his weapon at Nitesco, firing a bolt.

Nitesco dodged the arrow, but instead of running as his instincts told him to do, shrieked in rage and charged at them wildly. He unsheathed his sword and swung it upwards in a heaving slash, only to be blocked by the sword of his opponent. They traded blows as the other Emberald priest rapidly reloaded his crossbow. Nitesco locked blades with the priestess he was dueling, staring straight into her eyes as he gritted his teeth. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a crossbow pointed at him. His foot, seemingly acting out of its own will, connected with the knee of the priestess as he wrapped his arm around her throat and held her in front of him.

This time, the arrow connected, the tip passing just below Nitesco's arm into his hostage's chest. He let her collapse to the ground as he readied his sword and charged at the remaining soldier.

His opponent panicked, quickly grabbed an arrow and tried to stab Nitesco with its tip. The Rosian soldier reacted quickly, bashing the arrow out of his opponent's hand before bringing his sword down mercilessly into his victim's skull, watching as the priest collapsed onto the ground and bled out.

Nitesco withdrew his blade from the body, watching as it twitched on the ground, in a visceral, sickening fashion. He became dizzy, steadying himself on his sword as he suppressed the urge to vomit. The sound of a galloping horse awakened him from his stupor.

"Rally, my priests! Sweep the residential section!"

On horseback was the High Priest that he'd encountered, swinging a flail around and pointing in Nitesco's direction. He turned towards the young man, the cold green of his eyes meeting Nitesco's through the eyeholes in his bone mask.

"A survivor! After him!" He whipped his horse and rode away as his men menacingly approached Nitesco, ready for a fight. This time he listened to his instincts. He ran.

He heard the heavy footsteps of his pursuers as he hopped over fallen debris and dead bodies, trying to make his way out of the city. As he turned a corner, Nitesco spotted the ruins of city gates, a full line of Bumblebee knights entrenched amongst the rubble. He charged over them, waiting for the Emberald priests to get caught in their defenses, or at least get slowed down.

Nitesco darted into a small patch of trees, catching his breath as he overlooked the battlefield. Various banners rustled in the wind, only a few close enough for him to see in the dark of the night: Nuts and Dolts, Arkos, Emberald, even Crosshares. There was one he did not recognize, a flag of foreign design, its warriors fighting with weapons used by the steppe hordes of the east. Who could wield enough influence to hire a steppe horde?

"There he is! Get him, Marvin!"

Nitesco turned, seeing an Emberald priest pointing at him, a heavily-armored Nuts and Dolts soldier at his side. He turned and ran clumsily down the hill, his feet struggling to balance him as his speed increased. The young soldier looked behind him, checking to see if the pair were still in pursuit. This was a mistake.

His foot caught a rock.

The ground rushed up to meet him.

The world went black.

Swish! Another soldier dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

Swish! A foolish Arkos soldier thought attacking Austin from behind was a good strategy. His head parted from his body and let out a jet of blood, which reminded Austin of tomato paste.

Swish! He knew he should've eaten more before bed.

Austin sheathed his sword as he observed the carnage around him. At least two dozen bodies were draped over the various pieces of furniture in Austin's house, coating nearly every surface in a foul-smelling red. Austin grabbed his short sword and his shield and buckled them to his back with the leather straps he had on the table. As he stepped out into the patch of land behind his cottage, Austin was greeted by the cries of battle and the sound of collapsing stone as another section of the city's wall collapsed under the force of a cannonball.

"Get him, Marvin!"

Austin squinted as he looked into the patch of trees on top of the hill. A young soldier sprinted out from the treeline, closely followed by an Emberald priest and a Nuts and Dolts pikeman. The young soldier looked behind him as his foot caught a rock, sending him tumbling down to the bottom of the hill. His pursuers stopped and looked at the sight, at first confused. One beckoned for the other to follow and they disappeared out of view.

Austin readied his sword and ran around the hill watching as the pikeman approached the ditch where the man lay unconscious, the other standing at the top and looking down. Austin crept up behind him, pulled out his dagger, and tapped the priest on the shoulder. "What the-" The priest was cut off as Austin drew the blade across his throat, watching as he convulsed before pushing him into the pit. The pikeman looked to the side as the body of his friend rolled down beside him, and then up as he saw Austin charge into the ditch with his sword at the ready. With a single swing, he was decapitated, and his head bounced off the body of the unconscious man before coming to rest next to a rock.

The young man responded to this, his eyelids fluttering open before pulling himself up from the ground with a groan.

"What happened?"

"I'll explain later. All you need to know is that I'm on your side, and that we need to get out of here. Now."

"But the city-"

"I think we both know we've already lost that battle."

The soldier turned his head to look at the city, columns of fire rising from behind the walls, illuminating the night. He turned back to Austin. "My friends…"

"If they're still alive, they'll find us. What we need to focus on now is escaping, before it's too late. Grab a sword and follow me."

The young man complied, finding a pristine blade under the body of the Emberald priest before sheathing it and poking it above the edge of the ditch. He turned to Austin, who was surveying the battlefield, trying to see if there was any possible escape route. At last he raised his arm and pointed to a large hill in the distance.

"There's an opening in the fighting over there. If we hurry, we can get out of here and pause there to think of a better plan. Follow me!"

They leapt out of the hole in the ground, scrambling across the battlefield towards the hill in the distance, desperately hoping no one would notice them sprinting away. They made their way around a particularly large skirmish, barely dodging a couple well-aimed arrows and ducking into a damaged barn. Austin turned to his keep, then to the barn door, seeing if they had any pursuers.

"What's your name, boy?"

The young man sputtered and turned to him. "Now? You really want to learn my name now?!"

Austin nodded. He actually didn't, particularly, but he was hoping to keep him distracted and calm while he thought of a plan to escape. Nitesco told him his name. Austin sighed in frustration.

"What's wrong?" Nitesco asked. Austin shook his head. "I've gotten us into quite a mess," he said.

"What mess?" The boy's panic had been replaced with disappointment. Austin turned to him, then back to the door. "Well, troops have marched through the passage to the north, so it's pretty much impassable. To our south and west, large masses of troops are currently duking it out, which makes escape through that area rather risky. To our east, their cannons and reserve troops are on guard, which makes escape through that path extremely difficult as well. Now tell me some miniscule details about your life."

The young man stroked his chin and thought. "Well, I'm part of the Guns and Roses foreign legion. I've graduated-"

"I've got it!" Austin yelled, startling Nitesco. "The troops marching through the pass will either engage the Bumblebee forces or join the reserve. That way, when the path is cleared, we'll meet minimal resistance or none at all. We're home free!"

"I don't think so!"

A figure advanced through the doors of the barn, wielding a halberd and clothed in full armor. Both Nitesco and Austin turned towards the man, instinctively grabbing their swords and leveling them at the intruder, while the intruder did the same. Through the helmet he wore, Nitesco could hear a soft snicker.

"Come then. Let us begin."