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midnightmagicks · 5 months ago

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FFXIV 30 Day Writing Challenge Day 17: Sally

Sally: A sudden charge out of a besieged place against the enemy; a sortie.

Night had fallen upon the trenches, the moon peeking out behind grey clouds that hung heavy in the air. The squadron was surrounded on all fronts, the Garleans having pushed through in the day, intending to take their post and undo all of the work the Resistance had made these many weeks.

Look outs posted through the darkening hours - no sleep to be had, no rest. The enemy could strike at any moment. Voices spoke in hushed whispers with one another, speaking of retreat, of falling back - others more determined, to charge forward, to fight, even if they would be destined to fail.

Lee had their back pressed to the trench, muddied and bloodied coat hanging heavy off their large frame. A whetstone in hand, as they sharpened their blade, and cast a look to their side - to the familiar Viera they had come to call a friend.

“What do you think?” She asked, her voice but a whisper.

Besides them, Siege sat nearly stock still, arms crossed over his chest. He made no motions aside from the ears atop his head that turned slowly and meticulously. Despite the darkness, his eyes were turned upward, scanning the void-like sky for any movement or distortion. He could hear every word his men whispered among themselves. He could hear how their heartbeats thrummed in their chests at their current situation. For them, he listened beyond the trench they were pinned down in– to the battlefield surrounding them. To the low thrum of mechanical beasts and the men that controlled them. To the enemies that far outnumbered the squadron under his command. His gaze flicked briefly to the Roegadyn beside him, who seemed to be readying themself. He exhaled slowly and returned his stare upward as he spoke lowly. “Well Lieutenant,” His voice was low, barely a rumble in his chest, “there’s nothing airborne. It’s all infantry. More machines than men. Couple of big, mean bastards, too.” His eyes snapped to his companion, intense look in his eyes. “We’re outnumbered by a sizable margin. But–” He looked down the trench. At the faces of the men and women coiled and waiting. Brave soldiers willing to live and die for this cause. A heavy moment hung before he leaned towards the lieutenant, uncrossing his arms and slowly sliding the gunblade from his back. “We’re meaner bastards. Call the command, Leitadhem.”

Lee’s gaze shifted upon her comrade, watching those dutiful ears work where there own could not. Hearing things even their look-outs could not see. A measured look to their gaze as they met the intense stare of the man before her, a soft nod of their head as gunblade was wielded in tandem with her own. A grin split across her features, as a boot braced against the earth, shifting to a crouch. “We are indeed meaner, Captain. And the night should give us some cover.”

“Then we attack, old man,” an affectionate nickname she had given the Viera over the years, said with nothing shy of respect.

Her blade came to rest against her leg, leaning to the side to speak quietly to the soldier close by, passing on the hushed whispers for men and women still able, still willing, to get ready to move. She did not need to speak the plan to her Captain, they would hear it clearly as day.

They would go east out of the trenches, staying low, and spring an attack while the enemy - hopefully - rested. They were to stay clear of any search lights, and move swiftly, kill quickly. Machines, she could deal with. Circuits to fry and tanks to explode.

As the message was passed down, soldiers began to move into position. Keeping close to the walls of the trenches, boots scuffled and weapons drawn, they awaited the Captain and the Lieutenant to lead the attack.

Siege waited. Waited until every soldier down the line was alerted and at the ready. He did one more sweep of the sky and focused his ears in the direction they were planning to move. The enemy seemed to be at rest, as they had hoped. The sounds of battle were more sparse– far from the trench they were tucked in. As his soldiers stilled, quietly waiting for their signal, Siege gave Lee one last look, checking to make sure they were ready. A shared look between the two. With a curt nod, Siege lifted his arm to give the order to march on. Leading the way, he stayed crouched, moving in complete silence along the trench towards their target. Heartbeats and the drumming of boots against the ground reverberating in Siege’s head. The closer they got, the more he could feel the tension in his men. And the more anger bubbled inside him. Outnumbered or not, they would emerge the victors. He held his arm up again, giving the command to slow down. They were nearing the enemy camps and stealth was the goal now. The thrum of machines and sentries was nearly unbearable to the captain’s sensitive hearing, but he pushed his own discomfort aside. Glancing to Lee, he flicked an ear in the direction the thrum was loudest, indicating where their attention should be.

Lee was as ready as they would ever be, the gunblade resting across her back as boots dug into the dirt. They returned that look, the nod, before the group began to move forward into the empty fields that stretched between them and the enemy; while their charge was not sudden, a sortie was needed in order to get the upper hand on the resting Garleans. It was the only way they would be able to get out of this place, alive, in enough pieces to carry on living.

Each and every soldier knew that, of course, as the squadron steadied their hearts and steadied their feet against the crunching earth as they grew closer to the location of the Garleans. As steady as they could be, knowing the odds were not stacked in their favour.

Lee’s gaze was dead ahead, only casting a sweeping gaze across to the Captain and those closest to ensure everyone looked okay, looked ready. The motion of his ear caught her attention, head canting to the side before nodding. The rest of the squad could hear the thrum of machines a little clearer themselves.

Lee motioned low with her hand, ensuring no one followed her as she scuttled off towards a rocky outcrop, bringing her blade from her back as levin began to dance around her fingers. The cartridges were charged as she moved, pumping them full of violet aether as she climbed up to a high point, spying the enemy machines as she remained ducked low.

She would have one chance to aim and fire, before the fighting would begin in full. Her gaze cast down to the squadron, settling on Seige, before she gave a nod.

Slowly, she would stand, blade raised to a point as her finger squeezed the trigger.

Siege himself held his fist near his head; A call to freeze. He watched his lieutenant creep forward towards the machines. The flicker of levin across her hands caught his eye and he curled a lip up in a slight snarl. The taste of aether burned his throat, even at this distance. But it only fueled the boiling urge to fight within his chest. His grip on the gunblade tightened and his body tensed– he was ready. Waiting for Lee’s move. He watched her stand. He knew the soldiers were watching as well. He motioned a ‘hold’ command and waited for it to pass down the line. Slowly, everyone tensed and readied themselves. And the trigger was pulled. Electric energy blasted into a collection of the enemy's machines, arcing off and frying the circuits of anything nearby. Soldiers near the machines were either electrocuted by proximity or launched off their feets backwards as the huge pulse of condensed levin caused a chain of explosions. Chaos and confusion broke out within the camp and Siege stood, throwing his hand down and booming out, as loud as he could for his men, “Charge!” Without hesitation or question, Siege and the squadrons charged the encampment. A portion split off to follow Siege to the main section while the remaining soldiers charged up the rocky cropping to join Lee in cleaning up the machines and their caretakers. Siege knew Lee would lead with no problem, sharing brief eye contact with her. He spoke no words but the meaning was clear. ‘Give ‘em hell, Lieutenant.’

Finger released from the trigger with a pop of energy, the bullet flying true to it’s target in a brilliant hue of violet, sparking against the first machine it hit and cascading off into the next, sending plumes of blue ceruleum clouds into the night sky as chaos ensued.

A grin found her features as they had gained the upper hand, reloading her weapon as she crouched back down, and awaited for the soldiers to join her.

Meeting Siege’s gaze with her own, steeled and calm, yet eager to spill blood upon the battlefield all the same.

The shout of charge was given, and the bulk of their forces slipped off into the foray. Lee’s gaze settled upon the capable men and women that joined her, giving them a simple nod, before raising her own fist.

“For Bozja!”

Bracing a head against stone, they leapt over the outcrop and into the encampment with her own small squad, bullets raising hell as blade was swung, colliding with machines that still stood; levin ripping through them like spears from the heavens, leaving naught but immobile wrecks in their wake.

Soldiers split off, fanning out to clear out the enemy soldiers that yet stood, bodies coming to clash with the invading Imperials, as Lee continued her forward march into the metal monstrosities that tore up the battlefield days before.

Ducking low from a swing of mechanical claw, they slipped beneath the hull of the machine and unloaded their gunblade through it, sparks of aether zipping up it’s metal frame and short frying the circuitry - most of the machines were cleared in quick order, the Imperials that manned them taken down, killed or otherwise.

It was up to Siege and the rest to finish the job, as Lee ordered their group to rejoin the bulk of the forces and finish off the fight.

They would see the sun rise yet.

Siege and his soldiers charged forward with immense speed, yelling and battle cries drowning the sounds of violence and explosions. The cry from the other caused a ripple through the men and women at Siege’s side. A pride for their home and for the cause that led them to charge the field. And while this was not his homeland nor was it truly his cause to fight, Siege cheered right along with his men. The overwhelming spirit compelling them forward. The camp was disheveled in mere seconds. The Garlean soldiers had no warning. No prep time to combat the sudden onslaught. And, thanks to the levin-laced shots from Lee, their horrid machines were of no use or aid. The clash of steel rang out as weapons contacted, the flurry of combat sweeping everything up in a whirlwind of bodies as the resistance laid out Garlean soldiers. A solid swing from Siege’s gunblade sent two to the ground, a snarl escaping his throat. As he stalked towards more. More running feet had his ear swivel quickly, gaze snapping to sort out the threat when he was met with the sight of the second group of his men rejoining them. It seemed that Leitadhem had been successful on that side. A rare smirk crossed his face as he yelled to the joining soldiers. “Push on! Press the attack!” There was no doubt in Siege’s mind that they had won this fight. They would gain ground and the night would be theirs.

Collab with @soulshards !! They're so cool and awesome go give their post love too.

#magician behind the screen// ooc #ffxiv #ffxivwrite #ffxivwrite2024 #Siege Einar #Leitadhem Doenfarrwyn #Soulshards #Day 17: Sally #We did a mini RP for this!#Siege and Lee battle buddies :D

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alicenpai · 2 years ago

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✨ MY STORIES 💫

(page under construction, check this post occasionally since it will be continuously updated! page created Apr 14 2023, last updated Dec 28 2023.)

Art tag of my characters (all)

Lost and Found Children

The Magician’s Protegee

Both of these stories are near and dear to my heart. Due to life obligations like school in the past, work, convention/merch schedules, I unfortunately haven’t progressed in these stories as I would have liked over the years. My dream is to one day create stories that impact people, as other people’s stories have changed me.

⭐

LOST AND FOUND CHILDREN

Synopsis: A search for their missing parents lead twins Flynn and Nate to fall into a deep darkness, unraveling secrets about their family and the country they once trusted.

Lost and Found Children is a story about mystery, overcoming trauma, blood family vs found family, the fear of growing up even in adulthood, the fear that you are not who you wished to grow up to be. The characters explore their identities in a post-war torn society, and witness their love being tested in that wildly changing world.

The story explores the horrors of war, and is also a study on the horrors of child abuse and when child rearing is left in the wrong hands, which can have devastating lifelong consequences. More importantly, it is a story about how love persists despite all odds.

Fun trivia:

The story has changed settings many times, from a tragic Victorian familial drama, to a modern school mystery, a 1920s crime drama, now it’s a historical fantasy.

This is a story I’ve been writing since I was 13 years old. The current iteration is from 2019, and I started revamping it as part of a school project. As it is a very old story that I literally grew up with, revamping it seriously has been a huge task, finding difficulty in deciding whether I should remove, keep, or add things like themes and characters. As of right now, a number of characters are still very much unrefined!

Flynn and Nate are not actually my oldest OCs.

Inspirations:

Growing up, I consumed a lot of Japanese media, and I mix what I learn from real world history with series that have impacted me a lot, like Fullmetal Alchemist, Pandora Hearts, Violet Evergarden. I draw influences from these periods: the industrial revolution in England & the west, late 1800s England, and early 20th century American history, especially the interwar period.

For the character designs, I'm inspired by historical fashion and JRPG aesthetics. My aim is to design them more simply and more humbly (a la Ryoko Kui style), but I still try for a whimsical old world look, bordering on fantastical. I do want a bit more steampunk look to my story moving forward, and that's an aesthetic I need to experiment with and study in my artwork a lot more often.

🌱

THE MAGICIAN’S PROTEGEE

Synopsis: In a distant, idyllic future where robots and humans coexist - a healthcare android lives day to day with his adoptive daughter, patients, and their ragtag android and human friends.

The story is a light-hearted, slow-paced, slice of life series - but it will also deal with complex topics like artificial intelligence, existentialism, and the fear of outliving the people you care about the most. THE MAGICIAN'S PROTEGEE IS UNDER HIATUS. (as of Nov 2023)

Fun trivia:

This story used to be about the Victorian occult (hence the title), also about a doctor who saves people from the ghouls that plagued Victorian society. However, without a greater purpose to the story, and only using the setting as a cool backdrop, it was a "monster of the week" series that I didn’t have any interest in writing. I scrapped the Victorian setting, in favour of writing a fantasy world I could fully have control of. It’s very different from LaFC, but it’s also a story I wish to tell from my heart. LaFC is like, the moody night story, and TMP is the sunny day story.

The current iteration is from 2020, also developed for a school project. As I was much older (than 13 haha) when creating this series, I had a pretty clear image of the story and its themes compared to writing LaFC.

Inspirations:

The inspiration for the world building comes from series like Eureka Seven, Kino's Journey, and Aria (Kozue Amano). I also draw a lot of inspiration for world building and writing from American post WWII/cold war society and culture, especially the boom in science fiction and spy fiction. I also take inspiration from early-mid 20th century Hong Kong, China, and Japan for worldbuilding and setting - their visual motifs, response to western technology and changing attitudes and culture.

#my stories #my ocs #lost and found children #the magician's protegee #ocs #original #long post #flynn #nate #terence #trent #jack #eva #noa #vita #calem #dr. lee #iris

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