Oddas Aria Posted April 20, 2017 Posted April 20, 2017 ((Government Complex, Lokesh City)) ::Tyr paced nervously back and forth, watching the Laudean security forces scrambling to divert traffic from the area. It was clear that they had no idea how to deal with the situation, as they appeared more to be herding sheep than they were directing people where to go. His eyes moved back to the group of children, who were nervously looking back and forth at the street and the shouting Laudean officers, probably waiting for their parents, who were caught in the traffic. As he watched, he noticed a lone Laudean, standing apart from the crowd, dressed far too warmly for the day. He seemed to be watching the Security officers, and where they moved, he moved away.:: Waltas::grabbing Parker's shoulder, speaking low and ominously:: Three o'clock. Don't look directly. ::Tyr watched Parker turn to the side and observe, and the same expression crossed his face as Tyr's. He saw the big man tense instantly.:: Parker: Son of a [...]... Waltas: He's far too out of place. See him avoiding the Security personnel? Attempting to blend in? Parker: It's hard to blend in with that coat he's wearing.... Waltas: That coat..could hide quite a bit. Parker: I'd bet my pay he's the second bomber, looking for a way to do the most damage... Waltas::As loudly as he dared:: Irina. On me. Pavlova: Long coat? Waltas: Three o'clock. ::He watched Irina look over to the man then quickly look away.:: Pavlova: We need to get him away from those children. Waltas::Nodding:: Sets off alarm bells. And he's far too close to the children. ::He looked to the Security forces, still attempting to clear the street:: There's no time. Irina, take left, Parker, take right, I'll go straight at him. Parker: Got it. Pavlova: Moving. ::The three officers surreptitiously approached the man in a roundabout way, with Tyr eyeing the children as if he was going to them, Pavlova circling around and Parker headed into the blocked street to cut off escape. The man looked Tyr's way, but his head was down, his hand not straying far from his phaser. Tyr paused, seemingly interested in a piece of debris at his feet, and knealt down, still watching the man from behind the Duronis-required sunglasses. He indiscriminately tapped his comm badge.:: Waltas: =/\= He sees me but I don't think he knows we're on to him. Close in but do not engage. =/\= Parker: =/\= Copy that... =/\= Pavlova::=/\= In these uniforms he sees all of us.=/\= ::After a moment of inspecting the piece of debris, Tyr stood and stretched lazily, hoping to remain unthreatening, his eyes never leaving the man. He saw him open his coat and reach inside, and he tensed. A flash of some sort, and the man was running...directly toward the children.:: Waltas::Screaming, drawing his phaser:: TAKE HIM DOWN! NOW! ::Tyr fired, hitting the man in the shoulder, while Parker and Pavlova struck him as well, but he seemed unphased. Tyr broke into a dead run, trying to cut him off from the children, but the man had the advantage and kept running even after another shot from Pavlova staggered him. Tyr reached him first and tackled the man to the ground, decking him with a hard right hand. The man's hand again went for his coat but Tyr grabbed his hand and wrenched, breaking it. Wailing in pain, the Laudean looked at him through hate-filled eyes, drew a wicked-looking knife from his boot and plunged it into Tyr's shoulder. Growling in pain he was forced to defend against the knife, catching it with his right hand, but this left the Laudean free to use his broken hand to withdraw an object from his jacket. He hurled it directly at the group of children.:: Waltas: NO! ::Everything moved in slow motion. He saw Hannibal and Irina scrambling for the device and he struggled to his feet. Both Irina and Parker reached the device and slapped it away from the children. He struggled to get to his feet to throw himself on it..and the device exploded. He felt as if he'd been struck, flying backward and slamming into one of the cars sitting in the street. The air blew out of his lungs and a horrible ringing in his ears was all he could hear. A red haze filled his vision and he wavered on the brink of unconsciousness. Taking several gulps of air, he shook his head and rolled onto his stomach, his vision clearing. The blast had been small, but his arms told him that there was shrapnel-likely a grenade of some sort. His eyes finally cleared...and revealed a scene of horror.:: ::The children, panicked, had run in the direction of the device just before it went off, and nothing the officers could have done would have changed the outcome. Tiny, broken bodies lay everywhere, at least 10, some wailing in pain, others silent. Tyr, unable to stand, crawled toward them, the closest a small girl gasping for breath. She was wearing a pink dress with the same "dracoon" he had seen in the forest during his and Toni's honeymoon, and her hair was still neatly tied in a bow. By her face, she was no older than 6, and she looked up at him with pleading eyes, not understanding why she couldn't breathe. Not comprehending what had happened. Looking to him for answers. He got to his knees, surveying her wounds, which were gruesome. She was bleeding from two gaping wounds in her neck, and her breath came in ragged gasps.:: Waltas::Weakly:: medic..someone..help.. ::The girl stopped breathing.:: Waltas: No..NO! ::Frantically he tore off his command jacket and wrapped the girl's most obvious wounds, then began CPR, desperately alternating between breaths and chest compressions. After several moments, his command jacket was soaked in blood, and the girl had long passed away. Tyr kept up the CPR, unaware others had gathered.:: Parker: Tyr...she's gone.... Pavlova: He’s right, she’s gone. Waltas: No. I can save her. I can.. ::He resumed compressions.:: Parker: We are going to get the [...]s responsible for this, whether the Laudeans want it or not. I swear it. We are going to kill them all for what they have done... Pavlova: They’ve definitely crossed the line. Waltas::Snapping, viciously:: NO! She'll live! I.. I can.. ::His body, hurting from the battle with the Laudean and the blast, gave out. He slumped onto his side, not horribly wounded in body, but his spirit was crushed. The girls' eyes were still open, staring up at the Duronis skies, still with the confused and bewildered look upon her face. Her sweet, young features were frozen in time, belying the garishness of her wounds. Her young life faded with the light of the day. Tyr looked at her and wept openly, his eyes passing over the other children who were dead or wounded from the horrible attack. A monster had done this. Someone who could somehow justify murdering children to prove their point. A sick animal, willing to snuff out young, innocent lives to make a political statement. To gain or hold onto power. Horrible things happened in war. Tyr himself had done things he later regretted. But never, in his career, had he even considered killing innocents. He wasn't capable of it. None of his beliefs would ever demand that he should do such a thing. He couldn't imagine any set of beliefs that WOULD allow or justify the murder of innocent, sweet children, on their way home from school. Yet, the proof lay in front of him. All around him. Evil did exist, and it had landed upon his soul like a vulture upon its prey. He looked back to the little girl, her dress now stained in blood and wrapped in his command jacket, her tiny hands clutched in the throes of death, her legs curled into a fetal position from the pain, her eyes still questioning....still not understanding.:: ::He didn't understand, either.:: ============================== Captain Tyr Waltas CO, Strategic Operations Duronis II Embassy C237910TW0
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