Dimensional Travels: Chapter 134: At all cost

Chapter 134: At all cost

Eric sat at the desk in the base commanders office. The office was neat and tidy. A large three shelf bookcase sat in the corner, filled with books about Cartharic Military history. Two lamps lit the room, giving the quiet atmosphere a cozy feel. Eric ran his hand along the fresh stiches on his leg, wincing. His stomach had been wrapped with gauze, and fresh bandages were placed on his forehead. "I guess I really was banged up this ti." He murmured.

There was no answer from Jessica as she stood in the corner, glaring at him. He ignored her, sifting through reports. Michael walked in.

"Well, we were able to save that Lieutenant we found under the rubble. The base commander was captured yesterday after the battle. Do you want to speak with him now, or wait so that you can gather so information?"

Eric looked up. "Let’s speak with him now."

"Roger that. By the way, I thought you should know that most of the people in the city are worshipping the very ground we are walking on."

Eric arched his eyebrows. "Are you fucking with ?"

Michael shook his head. "No. Im serious. Apparently, most of these Cartharic soldiers were bad actors. I haven’t had ti to dive too deeply into it yet, but over the last day, pretty much everywhere I go has been t with kind treatnt and damn near..."

Michael paused. "Yeah. Worship is the best way to describe it. We haven’t found the camps yet, but I think so of the civilians are planning on helping us find them. Justin is working that angle right now."

"You had the kid do that?"

Michael shrugged. "He’s been pretty good so far. How else is he gonna learn if we don’t throw him into the fire occasionally?"

Eric rubbed his face in his hands, then winced at the sharp pain.

"Hmph. Serves you right." Jessica hissed in the background.

Both n ignored her. "Bring the base commander in. I want to see what exactly was going on here."

Jessica kissed Eric on the head, hugging him. "I told mom you fought while injured, by the way."

Eric felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, and looked at Michael. The captain was smirking at Eric, his arms crossed. "You’re a dead man."

Eric sighed. "I know."

Jessica smiled, waving at Eric before walking out.

Soldiers brought the base commander in a few monts later. He was tall, with black hair and green eyes. He had a scar running across his cheek to his ear, and his black officers uniform was tattered. He sat down across from Eric, crossing his arms.

"What do you want? Just kill

and be done with it. The city is yours already."

Eric shook his head. "In our world, we do not kill prisoners. You will rot in jail for a while, but there won’t be executions or public hanging."

The commander exhaled.

"But, that doesn’t an you are free. My soldiers told

that the citizens here are ’worshipping the very ground they walk on’ Eric said, reading from a report. "This leads

to belive either one of two things is true: either you were complicit in the mistreatnt of the public, or you don’t have full control and didn’t know what was going on."

Eric paused. "If you have been mistreating the public, the court of public opinion may very well take matters in their own hands. you should know that we believe in justice being done in a court. If you are found guilty of cruelty and the like, the public will be your guillotine. We will not stop them from acting."

The commander sighed. "It is true that the new soldiers were cruel. After Lord Mithrael’s new edicts banning slavery and the brothels, I had them all removed. But, my intel reports suggested that not all camps were disbanded. I was going to go check the reports out myself, but then we began to recieve the new soldiers."

Eric frowned. "New soldiers?"

The commander nodded. "Under the reforms implented by the hero and Lord Mithrael, each base recieved new soldiers and equipnt."

Eric finished taking notes and closed his notebook. "So why are you telling

all this? Everything you’ve told

would amount to high treason."

The commander laughed. "I have no love for the Empire, sir. My people have long been slaves under their watch. I have done what I can to survive, but if I had my choice I would be out with my tribe."

Eric hid his surprise under a poker mask. "I see. Tell

one more thing, what is your na?"

"Jethrel."

"Very well, Jethrel. My na is Master Sergeant Dryer. You can call

Master Sergeant or Sergeant. For now, you will be taken to the Prison. If you are innocent, and these camps were indeed not your doing, I may allow you to be put on house arrest with your family."

Jethrel nodded. "Thank you, Master Sergeant."

The two soldiers took Jethrel away, and Eric sighed blankly at the ceiling. "So the camps remained functional, eh? That is a pain."

He rembered Owersky telling him long ago that Mithrael had disbanded slavery, but people don’t change over night:

Eric was finishing up the work for that night. He yawned and checked his watch, sighing. "Mia’s gonna kill ." Lately, he had been staying at the office until after midnight due to all his paperwork.

There ca a knock at the door, and Eric sighed. "Co in."

Owersky walked in. "Pardon the intrusion."

Eric waved his hand. "It’s fine. What is it you wish to tell ?"

Owersky sat down. "Mithrael has ended the slave trade as well as breeding and pleasure rooms, but I am afraid it will not work. Those in charge of such facilities will simply take their work underground."

Eric looked up. "And you’re telling

this now because...."

Owersky sighed. "There was no ti earlier."

Eric leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling. "And to think, that old butler was right after all." He murmured.

Suddenly, his door barged open. Jessica waltzed into the room and plopped down in the chair.

"We found one of the camps..."

Eric leaned forward, his arms clasped on the desk. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head. "It was horrible. A few of the won begged to simply...."

She started crying, and Eric got up from his desk. He hugged her to his chest.

"I know that must have been hard to see. But, you did the right thing. Sotis, people deciding their own fate is best. Even if it is us that help them."

Jessica sighed, curling against him. "How can so people be so cruel, Dad? So of those people there were hardly recognizable as human or human like."

Eric stroked her hair. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Down at the camps 6-8 had found, retching sounds could be heard behind Michael, and the Captain sighed. "Hey kid, go back to Dresken. I got it from here. Good job on finding this place."

Justin nodded, running out the entrance. A sergeant walked up. "Captain, we were only able to find ten total survivors here. The rest are corpses."

Michael sighed. "Do these want to survive, or...?"

The Sergeant shook his head.

"You know what to do."

After leaving the cave, Michael found Justin vomiting on the ground. Michael sighed. "If you are going to lead soldiers one day, you can’t show weakness like that."

The young lieutenant looked up, his eyes cold. "How can you see that shit and be unaffected, man? These people are so sick."

Michael sighed. "Once you see one, you see them all." He murmured, looking into the horizon.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated. It was a text from Eric. "Get back to Dresken. Put a hold on finding the rest of the camps."

Michael sighed, and looked at Justin. "Co on. It’s ti to get back to our real job."

Once Michael and Eric were back in the office, Eric slid his phone over. "I recieved that ssage about twenty minutes ago."

The two officers leaned over the desk, looking at the phone. Justin clenched the arm rests of his chair. His knuckles went white as his body trembled.

"How do we defend against that?"

Eric sighed.

"Very carefully."

Michael leaned back in his chair, his eyes closed. "I never knew taking one city would be such a hassle. Is it too late to quit?"

"For you? Of course. You definitely can’t leave. You have to be twenty five or younger."

Michael narrowed his eyes. "Fuck you."

Justin blinked. "Guys?"

Eric sighed, pulling out a map. "Alright, this is how we will do it. Get the .50 cal’s up on the front where Jessica and I didn’t destroy. Next, Charlie, Delta and Echo will stay staged outside. They are to face against the Llrathels."

He then turned to Jessica. "The rest of us will have to fight in city limits."