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Post by hashim on Jan 26, 2011 5:37:13 GMT -5
Hashim slowly flied over the encampment of his 13th legion. A perfectly-constructed camp, nothing to add and nothing to take away, just like the picture in the book. Tch, demons didn't like the desert uniforms he issued, they simply had no taste. The stingmon liked them, however. In these, his goblimon troops looked less like vile barbaric creatures that they were, especially when their ugly mugs were hidden by the fabrics. They looked more like a professional army, with that air of uniformity about them. They were not one yet, but Hashim wanted to make sure they would become, ordering to continue training drills even if they were in the combat zone. Oh, and he got himself a new white cloak, just to piss demons off.
Hashim flied over to the tent where the blackpawnchessmon was supposed to hold lessons for his new ... trusted lieutenant, the stingmon himself was much too much busy with more present matters to pay much attention to his student, so in the meanwhile he got the chess piece do his job for him. But now, trained or not, Hashim needed her for a very ... special task.
- How are the lessons going? Any progress? - he inquired, peering out of the cloth-covered entrance into the white tent...
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Post by harley on Jan 26, 2011 5:53:01 GMT -5
"Kyaaaa!!"
As soon the stingmon went inside, he could see with details how a battle scarred Harpymon lied on the ground, completely submissive and shivering as a small black pawnchessmon poked at her with his spear. Under other circumstances that would've been something funny to see, but this was war and if she couldn't handle a single pawn chessmon, she couldn't serve of any usefulness for her lord.
"Be brave, be disciplined! How can you become an officer if you can't remain calm even under pain and give up every time?!"
The pawnchessmon noticed the arrival of Hashim and saluted him with all the respect a general of his stature deserved
"Lord Hashim! The training is progressing slowly but I'm finally beginning to shape her into a decent officer, now she doesn't cry when I punish her!"
Every time the harpymon committed a mistake she got physically punished, and if she whined about that, she received additional punishment. She had to develop a strong personality ... but she was timid and soft that she never tried to defend herself, she simply took the hits and humiliated herself. She really feared violence, not that she can be blamed after all she witnessed in the battlefield but if she couldn't handle it, then she had nothing to do in the army.
"C-commander ...."
Harley couldn't look at the stingmon's eyes face to face and looked instead at the ground, she was doing poorly in the training and always did everything wrong .... if only Hashim were to be next to her while she trained she could muster the courage to continue she could perform better.
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Post by hashim on Jan 26, 2011 6:23:17 GMT -5
Hashim only shook his head and sighed. Indeed, the harpymon was doing very poorly. That whimpering, pathetic mess which was lying on the floor shivering would never become a proper officer. Because every last candidate for one should have one thing as a default - a backbone. Harley, unfortunately, did not seem to have even that. But that is changeable. Tactics can be taught, backbones can be grown. It would only take more time, and time, unfortunately, Hashim didn't have.
- Stand up, Harley. An officer in my army shall not lie submissively on the floor and get humiliated. Next time someone, anyone tries to pull this on you, I order you to fight back. if you cannot do this because you tolerate not humiliation, you will do this because I order you so. I showed you my trust, so start proving you're worthy of it. - Hashim sounded a bit irritated. He needed an officer he could rely upon to command his troops, should he be injured or away. Results so far ... were not impressive.
- Aside from having trouble with growing a backbone, how was she doing in other domains? Discipline, basic commanding skills, tactics maybe? I don't even want to ask about combat... - the stingmon sighed out, covering the frightened harpymon who still lied on the ground with his cloak - the site was too humiliating to see. Maybe it would take her a few moments to calm down and stand up. While she was at that, Hashim would discuss training issues with the pawnchessmon, who obviously worked hard to get her into shape...
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Post by harley on Jan 26, 2011 6:43:08 GMT -5
"Y-yes commander"
What a horrible way to start the day, her commander left early to meet the demon corps and after a long journey he finally returned tired from his journey only to find a shivering mess that looked more like an abused wife than a soldier. She tried, but at the end her cowardice was stronger and couldn't handle well a good chunk of the pawnchessmon's training. How could a rookie digimon be so good in that? she wondered.
Her feeling of humiliation was huge and she was feeling again miserable as Hashim showed his disappointment .... but he also consoled her and covered her with a cloak ... it wasn't a normal one, it was Commander's cloak, it even had his smell impregnated on it and if bug digimon could sweat it would be covered with it. Hashim didn't notice it as he was busy talking with E-7, but Harley was hugging and sniffing the cloak, that made her feel more secure....
"She lacks discipline, backbone and fighting spirit, but she has some natural talent for commanding skills and tactics."
The black pawnchessmon wasn't there to see it, but it was true, the harpymon sister were weak alone but they had such great level of teamwork and synchronization that together more than compensated their weakness and felled their opponents with ease. Now if only Harley could overcome the death of her sisters, she could once more show the incredibly ability the harpymon sisters had for synchronized combat and efficient combat tactics, that was their other major strength besides their ability as scouts. In better times, she was capable of changing the harpymon sisters formation on the fly for efficient combat and their survival rate was a lot higher like that, but in the fateful day everything went wrong, paildramon ignored their ability for teamwork and made them fight separately, maybe thinking that they were good at fighting alone ...
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Post by hashim on Jan 26, 2011 8:20:27 GMT -5
- Ah, so she has some talent after all... Good, good, then this is not completely pointless after all... - Hashim nodded in approval. Loyalty to him was good and all, but he could not afford to entrust a complete dimwit with important tasks, for an officer must be competent, and only after that loyal. Well, if she had natural talent for tactics and commanding skills, maybe this was not quite the lost cause, But still, she had a lot to work on.
- And stop lying on the floor like some sort of a household animal why don't you? Have some pride, ok? - Hashim scolded her and pulled her back on her feet by the collar, sighing afterwards as he let go. This was going to be more difficult than he thought. However, he did not come here only to check on her progress, he came here because he had a mission for her. And for that mission all her flaws like these ones could actually be beneficial. Hashim only needed to exploit the angels' natural morality, push on pity and whatnot. Harley was perfect for that role - nobody with a heart could have even suspected such a harmless creature would have something evil in mind. Especially when she won't have that in mind...
- Seven, would you mind leaving us alone for a while? I have something very important to discuss with Harley here. - the commander said to the pawnchessmon, moving slowly towards the paper-filled table in the middle of the tent, arms crossed behind him. From intonation, one would understand this was not a joke of any kind...
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Post by harley on Jan 26, 2011 8:33:24 GMT -5
Harley's time with Hashim's cloak was over and he was quick to pull her from the collar to force her to stand up. The poor girl was so unused to this kind of roughness that simply nodded after being scolded. Her pride was shattered the moment her sisters died and it would take a long time before she could soar through the sky with pride as before ...
"Yes sir!"
As for the pawnchessmon, he saluted his commander again and walked outside the tent as he was ordered. His discipline was matchless and never lost his cool at all, that was one of the greatest traits of the chessmon family and why they often joined the army.
"W-what do you have to tell me, commander?"
The Harpymon asked timidly once E-7 left the tent, it seemed to be something really serious and this time she didn't want to mess up things. She tried to remain calm and looked at Hashim but not at his face, she couldn't bear to see his eyes filled with disappointment for her.
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Post by hashim on Jan 26, 2011 9:03:11 GMT -5
Well, time for Hashim's theatrical performance was at hand. He already prepared an imaginary script for himself to follow, in order to leave a required impression, in order to "indoctrinate" the harpymon the way he required in order to achieve an estimated result. One thing that would help much was his bug form, since it lacked any facial expression quite completely, having Hashim worry only about the voice. Well, here we go, to be or not to be...
- I just returned from a meeting with the commander of the devil army we will be assisting... Things are ... bad. - he sighed out heavily. What he was going to say was a very well-planned lie through and through, yet for Harley it must be absolute truth. That was the effect he wished for.
- The city held against their forces for so long because there are angels defending it... Champions of truth, warriors of justice and whatnot. They've been beating the crap out of demons for so long. The demons' forces are exhausted, so ... they will be launching us against the heaven's warriors next... - he said it with a very, very grim intonation, as if it were something really bad. And, truthfully, if it were the truth, the situation would have been grim indeed. He wanted to leave that impression.
- ... And our troopers are not yet ready to face an opponent of such magnitude. They will be slaughtered. Every. Last. One. - last words were hammering into her head, as the stingmon turned around, facing the map that was hung on the wall. Showing concern. Lots of it. This all was a play, the place was the scene, and he was the only actor...
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Post by harley on Jan 26, 2011 9:14:33 GMT -5
"W-what?"
The harpymon's face become pale the more the stingmon talked and her legs were shaking again. If the enemy was so powerful that not even the powerful demon corps could beat them, what could commander's group of inexperienced warriors do?
"Commander, let's not fight, we can ask lord black omnimon to send us to an easier region, I don't want to lose you!"
She never saw the commander being so serious and by his tone of voice it was obvious he was really worried about how they would fare in a battle that might be their last one. The harpymon clinged to Hashim and begged him to abandon this mission, she couldn't bear the pain of potentially losing the only digimon she still cared for and she would be driven MAD if that happened.
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Post by hashim on Jan 26, 2011 9:40:04 GMT -5
Hashim's eyes widened when he suddenly heard Harley's words and felt her embrace around his neck. Boy, the poor girl sure was attached to him. The stingmon almost felt bad for deceiving and using her the way he planned to. Almost. In retrospect, this cunning plan of his would save lives of his troops as well as lessen the casualties in the devil corps. And if victory is achieved with lesser death toll among his own troops - his authority as a general will rise. Morals and laws were numb during war. He did not break her embrace, allowing her to cling to him, for all the good it would do.
- The army doesn't work this way, Harley. You cannot chicken out of a fight just because you don't want to fight. Black Omnimon would have destroyed us on sight for cowardice should we pleaded to him this way... - he explained calmly, only with a pinch of sorrow in his voice. Well orchestrated, again. In truth, Hashim rarely felt that emotion. Sorrow, remorse - all would make him weak in times of doubt, and he would have none of it.
- There is something we can do, however, to evade this ... dreadful outcome, and still accomplish our mission. A compromise, of sorts. I was thinking on this ever since I exited the demon general's HQ... I'll be honest with you Harley, I didn't come here to check on your progress. I came here because I have a plan on how to save our troops from being slaughtered. But in order for it to work ... I would need your help... - he almost whispered the last words. "Honest with you", yeah right. But such words, from what the stingmon knew, along with "I can trust only you with this", and several others, often have a lot more impact. Which was precisely what he aimed for here...
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Post by harley on Jan 26, 2011 9:56:40 GMT -5
"B-black omnimon is scary ... you should be the ruler of all instead because you actually care for me and the others"
Black omnimon .... the Harpymon could only curse his and paildramon's names, if only they didn't give the harpymon sister empty promises of quick glory and wealth nothing of all that would've happened, the sisters would still be having their boring, but quiet life in the digital forest. They were poor but happy, it was hard to find food but at least they never had to fight for their lives in this horrible war in which only warmongers like black omnimon .... and the stingmon she worshiped so much gained profit from it. But it was too late to try to run away because black omnimon would order her execution for desertion ... life was horribly unfair for the poor harpymon and if she were to discover that Hashim wasn't so different compared with black omnimon, that would crush her.
"My help?"
The rest of the commander's words really hit the target and filled with hope the wounded heart of the harpymon, HE needed of HER help, SHE was going to become a heroine that could save the lives of many.
"Leave it to me commander, I can do anything that you want me to do!"
After losing so much in the war she wanted nothing to do with the army, the only things that kept her around was her obsession for Hashim and the overwhelming fear she had for black omnimon, a digimon known for tolerating not treason and delivering death to anyone who attempted to leave the army. If their army could win without fighting ... that would be the best of all, but what she didn't imagine at all was that she was only being used as a tool to bring doom to the angels. She saw Hashim as a dear friend, but he saw her only as a tool to further his disgusting obsession with glory and victory.
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