To Call The Calvary

To Call The Calvary

Chapter I: In which our two heroes meet.

~~In the later months of the 7th Year of Thedude. The weather is cold, but snowfall is light where our story takes place. In the land of Morcia, beginning in the camp of the Merry Band. We go now, to find the Merry Band beside a large lake, located in the forest, where they are packing up.~~

"Silverstine?"

Stirling turned away from his task of knocking down his 3rd tent to face a man on a black horse.

"Please, call me Strider," he replied, squinting up at him. The sun was right behind the stranger, and it hid his facial features, but Strider noted the mismatched and clearly used armor and gear that horse and rider wore.

"I am Sir Thaddeus Nathanael Thingguy the Second. I was told by the Gateway to meet you here," the man said, dismounting. 

Strider's interest was piqued. Finally, he would meet one of the KOTOS. Everywhere he'd gone he'd heard such larger than life stories about these knights. He would be glad to assess them himself, and perhaps knock them down a peg. 

The man patted his horse, and turned around to Strider. His most prominent feature was his bright, short, ginger beard that had clearly not seen a barber in months. Once Strider pulled his attention away from that, he noticed Sir Thingguy's glinty green eyes, and the light smirk that hid a bright mind.

"I am told you wished to join the KOTOS?" he asked. The horse nickered.

Strider shook his head. "Not exactly. Did you get my letter?"

Thingguy shook his head and frowned. "No. I only received word from the Gateway to meet you with the Merry Band, in this wood that they frequent. I came as fast as I could, but I do not know how long it took for the Gateway's letter to reach me. I hope you have not been waiting for me o'er long!"

Strider smiled. "Not to worry, I have been redeeming the time." He turned back to the collapsed tent and began gathering it up into a single manageable bundle. "I do appreciate you coming."

"If you did not want to join KOTOS, perhaps you can explain to me your intent." Thingguy asked guardedly.

"Certainly, but do you mind if we walk and talk?" Strider asked, having tied the bundle. 

"Not at all."

Strider hefted the bundle onto his right shoulder. "Wonderful."

The two started on down the lane, passing others who were packing their various items and abodes.

"I was seeking out the KOTOS, true," began Strider, "But not to join. I was hoping you could help me find my family. You see-"

Thingguy raised an eyebrow. The black horse stopped dead in it's tracks and whinnied. 

"Oh, come on, Deadbeat, it wasn't that far a ride! Besides, you'll get oats, remember?" the knight said, turning to the horse.

'Deadbeat' snorted.  

"That, I'm not so sure." Replied the knight.

Stirling stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Are you talking to your horse?"

Both Deadbeat and Thingguy turned on Strider with a near-identical look of look of incredulity.  "Don't you?" Thingguy asked.

"Um. No. I don't really keep any one horse for very long. In fact, I'd go so far as to say I and horses have bad luck."

Both horse and man blinked. Then Thingguy shrugged.  "To each their own." Deadbeat snorted again, and swished his tail contemptuously as he began walking off.

"I hope you get put to work!" yelled Thingguy after him. Deadbeat whinnied back, and Thingguy waved him off.

"You're not worried he'll wander off?" Strider asked.

"Naw, he'll be fine. Maybe a little fatter, if he finds those sugar cubes he was asking about."

"I doubt it; The Merry Band's just about done packing, by the looks of it. We should be moving off in about two to three hours max.

Thingguy looked around. They were nearly the only people on the path now.

"Wow. I've met the Merry Band before but I'd never seen them move."

"They've gotten a lot of practice over the years, what with thedude's forces trying to get rid of such a large force so close to Orlan." agreed Strider solemnly. "Even though it's largely women and children."

Thingguy nodded. "Speaking of family, you were telling me you were trying to find your own?"

"Oh. Yes." Strider refocused. "The Silverstine Family." He turned to Thingguy. "I asked you to call me 'Strider', but my name is Stirling Silverstine."

"Pleased to meet you, Stirling!" Thingguy replied warmly, sticking his right hand out to shake. Stirling was holding the tent bundle in that hand, but he shifted it over to his left shoulder, and shook Thingguy's hand.

"And it is a pleasure to meet you, Thingguy."

"Now, tell me more of your family. Why are you so desperate to find them that you would call on the Gateway?" Thingguy asked as they began walking again. 

"Actually, that was the idea of the Merry Band here. They said that then the Gateway could contact the KOTOS. I've been offworld for many years, but Militeregnum is my homeworld." Stirling unstringed his brown coat to reveal his Samurai chestplate beneath. "I'd been fighting in the Nexus Force for many years before I came here 7 years ago. I was on shore leave with a pilot-friend who helped me get through the blockade, but we crash-landed.

Thingguy's eyes lit up. "Was there anyone else on your shuttle?"

"No, just me and Perry. He's a Venture Leaguer, if that means anything to you."

"It does!" Thingguy assured. "The KOTOS are originally from Nimbus Station!"

It was Stirling's turn to be surprised. "Really? They don't tell that in the legends."

Thingguy chuckled. "There's a lot the legends don't tell. I should know, I've instigated a few!" His eyes twinkled slyly.

Stirling raised an eyebrow. "Ah. I see."

"But I'm interrupting. You are supposed to be telling me your legend."

"Right. Well, Perry and I crash-landed, and we found out pretty quickly the state of things here on Milteregnum. I set off in search of my family, Perry joining me, and found out later we were being trailed by thedude's forces curious about the crash. We ended up taking shelter at Calibus Tower for awhile where I found one of my two brothers,-"

Here, Thingguy reacted with alarm at the mention of Calibus Tower, but did not interrupt as Stirling continued his summary.

"-but I soon left for my family's estate in the Athelas Mounts. I found it ransacked, empty of the living."  Stirling paused as the memories of his wrecked childhood home sprang back. It had clearly been the scene of more than one battle before he had gotten there. He hadn't recognized anyone, but that was to be expected as he would have had difficulty remembering anyone from his childhood even if they were not marred and desecrated as they were.

Silverstine Keep was little more than a tomb now. A ruined tomb.

"What did you do then?" Thingguy asked, pulling Strider back to the present.

Stirling made a conscious effort to look Thingguy in the eye.  "I went back to Calibus. Found that the enemy had raided it."

Thingguy stared right back, with a sudden solemnity. "The Raid of Calibus, they call it."

"They killed my brother, and took away my best friend." Stirling growled. "And the leader of the assault was-"

"Lord Brocktree."

"-Menaya Kull. Wait, what?"

"Pardon?"

"Brocktree?"

"Maniacal?"

Stirling stopped to enunciate. "No, Me-nay-a. Kull." 

Thingguy shook his head. "No, it was Brocktree. Lord Brocktree." He clarified.

"Brocktree? Who's that?" Stirling scoffed.

Thingguy waited a moment, and the realization dawned inevitably on the Sentinel Nexus Forcer.

"Wait... THE Brocktree?" Stirling asked. Thingguy nodded. "The Sir Brocktree that disappeared from known space like..." Stirling did some quick math on his fingers. " Almost TEN YEARS AGO?!" 

"YES!"

"Second in command to the Faction Leaders?!"

"YES!"

"HOLY-" Stirling bit back whatever he was about to say next, instead opting for, "Lord Brocktree is here?" Awe, mixed with a little confusion and (healthy) fear was plain on the Sentinel.

Thingguy nodded. "Lord Brocktree is on Militeregnum, but, Stirling... he's on thedude's side." Thingguy whispered. He wasn't sure how this ex-Nexus Forcer would take it.  Stirling appeared to be very surprised, and Thingguy was ready for his next question.

"How?"

"We're not sure. There's all sorts of theories about why he's working for thedude, but alas, nothing concrete." They began walking again.

"Seriously?"

"Well, it's not like anyone's been able to just walk up to him and ask." Thingguy remarked glibly.

"Why not?"

Thingguy glanced at Stirling to make sure the man's serious tone was, well, serious.  

Yup, the guy was in earnest. 

"Heh, Stirling," Thingguy wavered. "This guy is a cold-blooded killer. What you saw at Calibus, that was his handiwork, at least, from what I've learned."

Stirling frowned as he contemplated this new information. "That is grave."

The two men had now reached the center of the packing effort. The sound was surprisingly lower than expected as the Merry Band finished tying everything down to move out. The occasional bray of a Mule attached to a wagon, the chortling engine of a truck. The muted murmuring of children too young to help pack, and so already packed away themselves in a hot air balloon basket.

"I hope you were not looking forward to a rest," Stirling said to Thingguy, who shrugged.

"It's probably for the best, I should be off as soon as I can. But first, you must finish your tale!" Thingguy replied, ending with a note of mock exasperation.

Stirling waved it off. "Yes, yes." He looked out over the crowd and then, having espised what he was looking for, began powerwalking. "Well, after I left Calibus again, there's not much to tell concerning my family."

Stirling's voice turned quiet and dangerous. "All of these years, and I haven't found heads nor tails of any of the others." He spared a quick glance back at Thingguy as they pressed through a group of cows, and Thingguy saw that Stirling's face burned with emotion. "And it's not for lack of trying! I've been all over Morcia, but all I hear are rumors. Rumors of you and the KOTOS, rumors of wars, and uprisings. Rumors of hope, Evidence of despair, but nothing of my family. All hints end up pointless, and it's as if they've been spirited away!" Stirling finished this with a frustrated toss of his hand that ended up in the back of someone's head tying down a knot on a wagon.

"Ow!"

This made Stirling's mood disappear as he looked to whom he'd struck.  "Oh, sorry, sir." 

The Band member turned around as he rubbed his head and straightened his large round spectacles. "Oh, it's alright, it only smarts. Strider, right?"

"Yes. And you are?"

"Oswald"

"Nice to meet you Oswald."

"Good to meet you! Hey, can you pull this? I'm good with knots but not the strength."

Stirling pulled on the cord, and Oswald whipped the knot together almost instantly. "Thanks!"

"Anytime," Stirling replied, walking off.

Thingguy remained quiet for a time, following Stirling. It occurred to him that they were nearing the front of a quickly forming caravan. Some were already beginning to set off. He wondered if he should try to find Deadbeat. 

Suddenly, Thingguy caught up to Stirling talking to a bushy-eyed mustachioed man wearing something that looked like cowboy attire from the waist up, and a Marathon runner from the waist down.

"h'I wish you tha' very best ah luck, Strider!" the man said, clapping Stirling's shoulder strongly.

"Thanks for everything, Carlos. Till we meet again!" Stirling replied, shouldering a pack with many hooks on it. Then he turned to Thingguy. "Come on, you should find your horse, and I'll get one myself to match your speed."

Thingguy rolled his eyes and began to follow Stirling again, but this time asked him a question in hopes of slowing him down.

"All this time, you haven't told me what your Clan was known for! I don't think I've ever heard of the Silverstines before today."

It worked, Stirling did slow down his walk as he looked up to the sky in thought. "You haven't? Well, no, I suppose you wouldn't have. Perhaps before thedude you might have. The Silverstines were one of the foremost miners of the Athelas Mountains. I told you about our keep in the Mountains; that was where the network started from. My brother, Austin told me that they were almost going to be recognized by the Kingdom as the official source for the Capitol. He told me that the most purest ore was deep in the Scary Mountains Range. We're Miners and Metalworkers. Beyond that, I and my brothers enjoy..." Stirling paused a moment, briefly lost in some distant memory. "We enjoyed learning swordplay, Archery, and all of the various means of battle. My brothers were of course always my betters, but I think that was due to age." Stirling smiled.

"Sounds like you guys were close," Thingguy commented.

"Yes. Yes we were."

"But now you need help finding them." Thingguy finished. "It's a big world, man, and I would love to help, but I've been searching for many more people than- Uh, how many did you say?"

"4. Would have been 5, but not anymore."

"Right. 4 people in this whole planet, but I've been looking for ANY allies of the KOTOS, and up until recently, it's been slim pickings. But now, for alot of reasons, as you probably know, people are getting riled up!" Thingguy paused. "I can't just hold all of that up to help you."

Stirling stopped. They had reached a large herd of animals.

"I understand," he replied, putting his hands on his hips as he looked out over the herd. "And I wouldn't want you to drop everything that you've been working on, just for one man. But if you could point me in some direction, maybe even let me travel with you awhile..." He shrugged. "Maybe if I travel with the rumor monger, I'll stop getting just rumors?" he finished with a weak smile that betrayed the tired helplessness he was fighting internally.

Thingguy looked out over the herd. He wondered what made this herd different from any of the other collections of animals, but then he noticed various rugged quadracycles riding in and around with different animal feeds stowed on them. The animals here were being fed, and would be fed as they moved.

"I'm certainly wouldn't mind the company," Thingguy said. "Deadbeat isn't much for conversation when he's hangry. Which is like, most of the time." 

Sure enough, Deadbeat was here, munching on carrots hanging from a bunch of fishing poles on the back of a parked bicycle.

Thingguy turned his attention back to Stirling. "If we were to find your family, could I count on you as an ally against thedude?"

Stirling's eyes burned brightly. "Yes. Absolutely." 

Thingguy grinned wide. He stuck his leather-gloved hand out to shake on it, and Stirling clasped it in his chain-mail one and shook it vigorously, the grin spreading to his own face. 

"And how about these people? The Merry Band? You seem to know them pretty well," Thingguy asked. "Would they join us?"

Stirling's smile contorted curiously. "Not now. These people are not warriors. At best, they're scouts. If you were to take all of the able-bodied men, willing and unwilling, you may get a single worthy company. Maybe two, but they would be greener than northern Britay's hills in springtime."

Thingguy shook his head, and chuckled. "I wouldn't mean as warriors. You already told me they're mostly women and children. I meant as suppliers. An army is nothing without a supply chain, and these people seem to be just the kind of hoarders a resistance could use!"

Stirling raised an eyebrow. "I... I hadn't thought of that."

"That fellow you bumped into earlier, Oswald? I thought I saw electronics poking out of his wagon, was I right?"

"Yes, that's right. He likes to see how they work, even if they're practically useless with the tech-curse. Still, when his stuff does work, it helps so immensely that he's allowed his hobby, and the one wagon to keep it all in."

"And all of these animals! Mounts! All of this good food! Provisions! I'm sure you guys have an armory somewhere too!" 

Stirling nodded in affirmation as he rubbed his rough chin. He glanced around, seeming to see things in a whole new light. He had never really focused on army logistics while in the Nexus Force, but as he considered the vast inventory wandering past him in the slowly moving caravan around them, he marveled that he hadn't thought of it himself. There might not be the manpower of an army here, but there was the equipment for one! At least, a small one.

Something caught Thingguy's eye up in the sky, and he gasped as he pointed.  "You've even got eyes in the sky!!! I mean, it's no Helicopter, but-"

Stirling followed his gaze to see a low-flying, camo-colored, miniature blimp. From the ground, the name 'Happy Thoughts' was visible in the pattern of the camouflage print.

"Oh, that's the Merry Band's Leadership tent," Stirling replied. 

"Then that's where I need to go," Thingguy said, as he turned back to Stirling. "Do you think you could introduce me?"

As the blimp became obscured by trees, Stirling focused back on Thingguy and shrugged. "Certainly, but I don't think you'll need one. You're a legend, remember?"

Thingguy's excited grin cracked an extra inch wider with an almost impish glee. "Don't tell me that, it might go to my head."

The two began walking off in the direction of the front of the caravan, and the blimp.  

"When will the Happy Thoughts come back down?" Thingguy asked.

"Not sure," Stirling replied. "But we might find some of the other leadership around here on the ground."

"That would be fantastic!"

Chapter II: In Which Thingguy and Strider speak with the local authorities.

It took awhile, but the time was not wasted on the two, as Stirling showed Thingguy to various members and services of the Band, even packed up and moving as it all was. Thingguy was fascinated by the wealth of gear, tools, and provisions all around him. He only hoped that they would be willing to share the wealth. As the day went on, they found their way to where the bulk of armaments were. There, they met one of the leadership.

"Sir Thingguy, I'd like you to meet Armsmaster Fiddelton. He's in charge of keeping the weaponry in the right hands."

Thingguy shook hands with the tall, broad-shouldered man. He looked about in his 50's, and was dressed in nearly full armor that had an older emblem of King Matthias's regime. His simple brown hair and clear blue eyes gave him a very congenial and trustworthy look. However, he had a frighteningly large broadsword strapped to his back.

"Thingguy... Strange name." His voice was low and deep, but clear. A voice that could carry commands over the din of battle. "Not the Thingguy, of KOTOS fame?" He raised an eyebrow.

In response, Thingguy smiled roguishly. "Why yes, now that you mention it."

Fiddleton's clean-shaven demeanor broke into a grin. "Rumor has it you were a swordsmanship teacher once upon a time. Does that still hold true?"

Thingguy leaned back and studied Fiddleton. "It's been awhile, but thankfully, I've run into trouble enough over the years that I still keep my skills sharp. However," he pointed to the broadsword. "I think you could beat me with that monstrosity. I specialized in the longsword and hand-and-a-half. Also, the sword and shield combo."

"Whatever you could help me teach, would be most valuable, Sir Thingguy." The Armsmaster replied.

Thingguy brightened up. "Ah! I thought you were challenging me to a dual."

Fiddleton laughed. "Perhaps later. Personally, I think you overestimate me."

"Of course you would say that!" Thingguy joined in the laughter. "You just want to get my guard down!"

Fiddelton glanced around, still chuckling. "Eh. Perhaps. But tell me, what brings you to our humble band? Why now?"

Thingguy began to reply, but then paused, and glanced to his side, where Stirling was. He grabbed his shoulder. 

"This guy." He replied. "I've heard of the Merry Band, but I never realized you were quite this large before today. I responded to Strider's request to meet here, and now here I am, and I think I've met more people just today than I have in any given month since I went underground!"

Still smiling, Fiddleton pressed a little deeper. "And why did you go into hiding in the first place, Sir Knight?"

Thingguy paused briefly before replying.

"The Battle of the Skyfalls is where it all fell apart. I made the mistake of trying to stand alone. And alone, I was defeated. That's when we first encountered the Barneybots, and we were totally unprepared for it."

Thingguy glanced at Fiddleton, who motioned for him to continue. He cast himself back to what he could remember of that terrible day.

"In the aftermath of it all, both sides had suffered heavy casualties, and if it were not for the Bots, we may have survived as a group to fight another day, but the Barneybots were relentless, and stopped us from regrouping after our leadership fell. Myself included. Talmid was captured, I was defeated by thedude, and I don't even know what happened to Lukas."

Thingguy vividly remembered...

...standing with a tight knot of fellow knights. Sir Shaprie and Seton, among others. The way the Skyfalls phenomena drenched the whole embattled northern shoreline in mist. How the lightened gravity had made his sword and shield very wet and slippery feathers in his hands. He remembered Sharpie coming up on his left and saying, "I'm running low on ammo for these flareguns, and I'm a so-so shot with a bow. How are we going to defeat these monstrosities?"

Suddenly, the mist near the shore had parted, and Seton fainted. Thingguy followed the direction of Seton's gaze, and saw something that made his blood run cold. 

It was thedude. His back was to them as he bent over a knight. 

Without thinking, without knowing who the knight was, Thingguy had rushed forward to end this awful war with one more brilliant stroke. He remembered refraining from doing the typical inane battle-cry he'd seen in so many movies, as he raised his sword...

10 yards. thedude stood up as a Barneybot came and grabbed the comatose knight off the ground.

 

6 yards. The Bot saw Thingguy charging, dropped the knight, and began firing. Alerted, thedude turned around himself. Thingguy raised his shield, and charged forward unabated.

 

4. 

Thingguy leapt the final few meters, (Wait, were these yards or meters?) and brought his sword down on thedude, who, of course, parried. The clash of steel on steel rang like an bell. Thingguy twisted around and sliced at the Bot with such fervor that there was now a deep gash in it's armor, and sparks flew as the bot staggered on it's hover-jets. Parrying a lightning-quick thrust from thedude, Thingguy blocked a disjointed shot from the Bot, and attempted a thrust of his own at thedude. 

By all natural means, he should have run thedude right through his evil gut, but an invisible force caused his sword to veer off to thedude's side and miss by mere centimeters. Even worse, Thingguy's momentum carried him into inches from thedude's awful anchovy-ridden breath. Both men's swords were now in inert positions to harm the other, so close were they, but thedude did not need a sword to harm Thingguy. Before he could pull back, the barbaric megalomaniac gave the valiant knight the mother of all uppercuts with his free left hand. And with the help of the lesser gravity, Sir Thingguy went flying high into the sky. 

Thingguy remembered seeing way more stars than he ever thought possible. Then thedude's leering grin blocked out the vast majority of the starry sky and he was slugged back down to earth. Except, earth was cold, dark, wet and it swallowed him whole with a gurgle. Oh, wait, no, that was river.

~~~

His next memory was waking up on an empty shore, frozen to the bone. Later, he discovered he had ended up on the far shore of the Equatorial River in Elepharia. And thus began his many years of wandering, finding allies old and new.

~~~

"Hello? Thingguy?"

Thingguy was brought back to the present...

by the waving of a mailed gauntlet in his face. It was Stirling. Next to him, Armsmaster Fiddleton looked mildly concerned.

"You faded out there for a minute," Stirling explained.

"I'm sorry if I brought up unpleasant memories, Sir Thingguy," commented Fiddleton.

Thingguy waved them both off, and he disarmed their worries with a smile. "Not at all. Memories, and in this case, memories of failure, are some of life's greatest teachers."

Stirling raised an eyebrow. "And the lesson here is...?"

Thingguy raised a finger and declared, "That thedude has a mean left uppercut!"

The two men were very confused, but Thingguy did not leave them time to consider.  "To answer your question, Fiddleton, the reason I went into hiding after the Skyfalls was because one man cannot stand alone against thedude. He needs allies. Allies he can count on." He raised an eyebrow. "I will be frank, I'm looking for some. Do you think the Merry Band would stand with me?"

Armsmaster Fiddleton's own eyebrows raised at Thingguy's blunt question. He pursed his lips. Took a deep breath and let it out like a horse. 

"Bppbpbpbpbp.... That is not a decision I can make. Nor do I think the Leadership would come to a conclusion easily."

Stirling interrupted. "But you would endorse it, wouldn't you, Armsmaster?"

He looked at Strider from the corner of his eye. "Well, Yes. Personally. But as a leader, I-"

"I know, I know. You have a responsibility, and we know you can't let your personal thoughts get in the way, but if Thingguy were to propose an alliance of some type, you would be inclined to endorse it to the others, wouldn't you?" Stirling pressed.

Thingguy looked between the two, his smile slowly turning into a grin as Fiddleton's stare turned from irritation to thoughtfulness to careful condescension. "We cannot hide forever..." he mused aloud. "Recent events have shown that clear enough..."

"Wonderful!" Thingguy exclaimed. 

"Very good, we appreciate it," Stirling replied.

"But!" Fiddleton amended. "I must make it clear that such an alliance would be for the future. We are nowhere near being prepared for such a large-scale engagement as fighting the Tyrant would suggest."

Thingguy agreed. "I think you are closer than you might think. You have plenty of resources, but what's missing is something each person must find within themselves."

This elicited the two others to ponder.

"Courage?" Fiddleton asked.

"Hope." Stirling decided.

Thingguy shook his head. "Passion. Passion can get you both of those, and more."

~~~~