Part 806: Let's Read Warrior: En Garde - Part 16
Let’s Read Warrior: En Garde (part 16)Book 3
Chapter 49
Styx
Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine
25 May 3027
Yorinaga Kurita is here and more than a little pissed that the ISF has launched their assault without the Genyosha to help them. After a brief ‘silly gaijin, this is how Japanese works’ bit, we’re thrust straight into Draconis Combine politics. Have I ever mentioned that the Draconis Combine’s politics are retarded? Well, they are. The ISF commander launched his attack early so the Genyosha would look bad for showing up after Styx was taken.
Except Andy Redburn blew up most of the ISF commandos, so now it’s up to the Genyosha to actually recapture Styx.
So, with the slight of ‘we won’t be allowed to help,’ Yorinaga Kurita decided to be a colossal troll and arrive two hours late on the off chance the ISF have cocked things up. Which they have. They now need him desperately, and it’s pretty clear that Yorinaga Kurita is actually a prototype for Ulric Kerensky who excels at putting his allies in terrible positions to punish their arrogance. He is a magnificent asshole, even if he’s not as good a character as Subhash Indrahar or Gray Noton. He’ll surpass Gray eventually and become one of the best characters in the trilogy, though.
Nobody will ever surpass Subhash Indrahar.
Book 3
Chapter 50
Styx
Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine
26 May 3027
The ISF has finally breached the command center after… what, three days of fighting? A Ninja murders nearly everyone then introduces himself to Melissa, who shoots him and then does the ‘drop the gun, oh god what have I done?’ routine. House Steiner always has been big on getting their hands dirty, so this really isn’t a huge deal.
Clovis then slaps some sense into her (verbally) and they crawl to relative safety. He tries to give Melissa another gun, but she refuses.
This, incidentally, is why I like Clovis:
En Garde posted:
Fury twisted the little of Clovis’s face revealed in the half-light. “What the hell do you think is going on here? This isn’t a holovid. This was war!”
“Dammit, I know that.” Melissa bit her lower lip to stop it from trembling, but the tremors merely transferred themselves to her whole body. Tears streaked through the dust that the short crawl had caked onto her face. “I know it’s real, and I know Andrew [spoiler: he’s still fine] will never be back.” She turned from the dwarf. “I don’t want more killing.”
With more strength than Melissa could have imagined possible, Clovis gripped the shoulder of her shirt and turned her around. “I don’t care what you want, and I’m fairly certain a bunch of mad Kuritans share my feelings. I’d grab the guns, but I can’t even hold this damned pistol.” He shook his head and looked with disgust at his stubby-fingered hands. “Great! The dream of a lifetime—a dwarf at court. And I get stuck with a pampered princess who figures us peasants owe her their lives.”
He then delivers a speech that makes Melissa uncrazy. I’m not joking, Clovis is responsible for killing the voices in Melissa Steiner’s head that tell her she’s worthless. Anyway, a Ninja attacks them and is poised to kill Clovis (who can’t hold a gun, remember), but then someone shoots the ninja. Surprise, Andrew Redburn only got mostly blown up. They then move to escape and walk right into a Genyosha Panther, which doesn’t kill them because Melissa Steiner.
END OF BOOK 3 (Ha, you thought there’d only be 3 books, didn’t you?)