OVERSEER: A Call to Arms

Dango stood near a burned out stone house, watching the giant 100 foot wall protecting the City of On. Its defenders had repelled several attacks, most notably his brother's disastrous initial assault. Dango hadn't found a way past their defenses yet. He rubbed his chin, regarding the soot covering his boots. The entire area stank like burned garbage.

Kengo, his brother, stood beside him. "We must get through that wall. Last week was embarrassing. We lost a thousand men, they didn't have one casualty." Kengo didn't acknowledge his own responsibility for the initial attack.

Dango nodded. He glanced at his older brother. Dango was a lieutenant in the Imperator Guard, a prestigious position equal to his rank as the king's son. He outranked his older brother, a fact not lost on anyone. Kengo was the same height, but broader in the chest. Both had dark complexions similar to their father and were lieutenants in the Imperator Guard. But, the similarities ended there.

Dango folded his arms, studying the wall. "The Servant has returned. He'll find a way through it."

A junior guard whom Dango did not recognize ran up to them, stopping and standing at stiff attention, waiting to be acknowledged.

Kengo eyed the man. "What do you want?"

"Sir, this message is for Lieutenant Dango!"

Kengo's face clouded over, but Dango patted the messenger's arm and gave him a nod. "Be at ease, sergeant. What is your message?"

"Sir, the Lord Servant commands your presence!"

Dango nodded, turning his gaze toward his brother. "Duty calls!"

He turned on his heel and followed the beleaguered sergeant to a large, distant tent far from the front lines. Many soldiers from different armies milled outside, each with different armor and apparel, but united in destroying On. Several functionaries entered and left the tent, nodding to Dango in acknowledgement.

Dango entered the tent, locking eyes with an elegant woman. Her hairless scalp and enormous eyes drew his attention, and he smiled. Dango nodded to the woman, and she smiled back. She was Lingo, his wife of two years. He hadn't always loved Lingo, but now his life revolved around her. After this trip, he decided it was time to discuss starting a family.

Dango's eyes fell on a tall, hairless man in the center of the maelstrom. At first sight, he wasn't imposing. But there was a powerful aura surrounding him, and he made Dango quake whenever he approached him. The god-like Servant turned as if sensing Dango.

"Lieutenant, I'm placing you in command of my attacking forces. Tonight, the wall will fall and we invade the city."

Dango nodded. He expected the appointment. He had the best strategic mind of anyone present. Unlike his brother, who had botched the first assault, Dango planned and saw things others missed. He stood at his full height. "Yes, my Lord!"

The Servant waived away his attendants. "The attack begins at Sun-break. I will create a thick fog, and you will marshal your troops. The fog will mask our movements. When the wall falls, you will attack with everything you have." Dango nodded.

The Servant cocked his head, watching Dango. "Paladins protect the city." Dango's eyes widened, but he betrayed no other emotion. "Your War song will not prevail against them. You must kill them from a distance. Propel rocks and aim at their heads, or shoot their legs. Issue crossbows to those that can't shoot." Dango blinked. Men feared Paladins throughout the world, and this city had many Paladins

How was he to overcome them?

The Servant studied him. "Do not fear, lieutenant. Paladins are fearsome, but the city only has five or six hundred of them. You will overcome them with overwhelming force."

Dango snapped to attention. "Yes, my Lord! I will begin at once!"

Dango marched from the room, glancing at his wife. She was bent over a stack of parchment, discussing something with another functionary. She didn't notice him leave.

He spent the rest of the afternoon assembling his troops, instructing them how to handle the Paladins. "Don't bother trying to penetrate their armor. Always shoot for the head."

Sunset came, and the Servant stood in front of the army with his hands raised. He closed his eyes, concentrating. Dango nodded to a sergeant beside him, and they began pounding their chest with their spears in time with each other. They sang the War Song, gathering their power for the battle ahead.

Tendrils of fog developed in the intervening space between the army and the wall, growing thicker by the second. Dango sensed the in-flowing of power as each man summoned his magic. The Servant concentrated even harder, and the fog thickened. Dango saw sweat form on the Servant's forehead, something he had never seen before.

As one, the army stopped pounding their chest, and silence loomed. The fog grew thick, and Dango couldn't see a thing. The Servant turned back. "Move your troops forward. I will create a hole in the wall, and you will unleash hell on this city."

Dango noticed the Servant held two packages, one in each hand. The Servant turned from him and magically rose into the air, disappearing into the mists. He turned to his sergeant. "Move the troops forward."

The sergeant turned to his aides and nodded. The aides sprinted to a spot on the line. "MOVE—." The man's voiced echoed throughout the line, repeated by his aides. "OUT!" They began the long march to the city wall.

Dango judged they had covered two thirds of the distance, and two enormous explosions erupted, causing his men to stop in their tracks. The fog lit up with an orange glow, and small pieces of debris pelted them. "ATTACK!" Dango bellowed, rushing towards the wall. A great cry followed him, and the army broke into a run. The fog evaporated.

The center of the wall, near the great portcullis, had collapsed. A dozen bald men guarded the breech, and his troops clashed with them. They phased in and out of existence, moving too fast to see, and his men died. Sparks shot everywhere as the bald men struck, and piles of bodies built up around them. "Aim for their heads! Aim for their heads!"

Dango raised his gloved fist and sang a brief spell. A smooth stone rocketed from his hand. He concentrated, and the stone stuck a bald man in his forehead, blowing brains and bone shards through the hole that erupted from the back of his skull. The man dropped.

His men cheered, seeing a Paladin defeated for the first time. Several men around him took aim and fired on the Paladins. Many men fell from the onslaught, but no Paladins remained standing to defend the gap.

Dango surveyed the destruction. Hundreds of his own men lay twisted and still. The Paladins were indeed fearsome, but the Servant had pointed out their weakness. Dango meant to kill every one of them.

His men divided into squads, burning the city and killing anyone they found. Several pockets of fighting developed, but the Paladins, out-manned 1000 to one, died.

During the night, the Servant found him. "You have done well, Lieutenant. Your captain had fallen, so I appoint you the acting captain. When we return, I will make it official. Congratulations, Captain Dango." The Servant left, followed by his aids.

Later, Dango and his squad patrolled a destroyed section of the city, looking for an escaped Paladin. The Servant had warned him about this one, and wanted him dead. He set guards and had his men lead the Paladin to this location via a pincer trap. The trap set, Dango had his men lay in wait.

An hour later, Dango spotted the Paladin. He phased in and out of reality and walked with a limp. Dango launch a rock at the man, blowing his whistle for all he was worth. The man looked up, and the rock reversed direction, straight for him. He dived away, but too late: the rock struck him in the stomach. He went down.

The last thing he remembered was his men rushing to confront the intruder, and everything fell dark.

...

Dango blinked awake, the morning sun glaring in his eyes. Smoke drifted everywhere. Acrid smoke covered everything. He turned over and groaned. His stomach was on fire! Dango eased himself into a sitting position, and saw his entire squad dead around him, with no sign of the Paladin. Dango felt something sticky on his head and found dried blood encrusting his ears.

He used the surrounding rubble to help him to his feet and limped for the main gate. He had to get himself healed before he died from his gut wound! Dango made it two blocks before he collapsed. Not long after, a Paladin found him. Too tired to stand, he tried to raise his arm and fire a stone, but he had no stones. His arm dropped, and he prepared to die.

The woman approached, her hands held in a defensive posture. "Your Servant is dead. You have lost the war. I do not wish to fight you, only to send you home." Dango laughed at her.

"I will heal you, if you let me." The woman, skinnier than any woman he had ever seen, watched him. Dango nodded, too exhausted to do anything else. The woman kneeled beside him, lifting his shirt and planting her hand on his oozing wound. She mumbled something under her breath while brushing his wound with her fingers. Sparks shot out over the wound, and Dango felt better. This continued for several passes. The woman sat up, looking at him. Then she spit on him. Dango stiffened, unable to move anything but his eyes.

"You are bound for arbitration. Stricture 601 states a prisoner of war may be bound to protect the captor. You will obey my commands until I release you. Do you understand?"

Dango felt his jaw loosen. "Yes."

"Rise, and follow me."

Dango stood. His side still ached, but it was the healing ache of an old wound. The searing pain in his gut had vanished. The woman turned, and Dango followed her.

They traveled many blocks, heading toward the city wall. Bodies littered the streets, getting more dense as they reached the edge of the city. Dango thought of his wife, wondering if she suffered the same humiliating treatment as him. They passed the city walls, and dead bodies lay everywhere. The two crossed the destroyed wastelands of what was once the outer city, and Dango wrenched to a stop.

"NO!" He felt something rip in his mind, and he controlled his body again!

He rushed to a dead woman, naked and almost torn in half. "No, no, no, no, no!" Dango sank to his knees beside her and wailed.

The Paladin spun, dropping into a defensive crouch, but stopped when she saw Dango kneeling beside the dead woman. He drew the body, his wife, into his lap and sobbed, unable to form any words. He looked up at the Paladin.

"I curse this city! From sun-break to sun-dimming, I curse the very ground it sits upon. I curse the Most High for letting her die!" Dango bowed his head and his shoulders shook. Tears dripped from his face on to the dead woman's body, and he swore in his heart he would never go to war again.

-Prolog from Overseer: Silence-