Folly & Agendas & Talulah

Chapter 46

Previously on Folly & Agendas & Talulah:

Days prior to the invasion of Lungmen, a pillar of light soared to the sky, piercing the clouds, sending tremors throughout the land. Its luminous rays perplexed both the Reunion and Rhodes Island. But for Kaiser Rye and Talulah, it was a mild omen.

When the invasion commenced, the tide of battle was in the city's favor, until Kaiser Rye found himself in a fateful battle between himself and Misha's brother: Skullshatterer. The battle left Skullshatterer slain, and Misha heartbroken. In his dying moments, Skullshatterer showed himself to be Alex, a young boy thrown into a ravaged world who only wants to live with his family once more.

Kaiser Rye left so Misha could grieve the loss of her brother. He brought Skullshatterer's mask with him when he encountered his former allies: Faust and Mephisto. A parlay entertained the three before Mephisto offered the Draco a proposal to lead the Reunion again. But Kaiser Rye refused, angering the young Liberi before he and Faust made their escape.

Soon after, the Draco met his former ally W. They enjoyed a short and sweet conversation before Kaiser Rye and W attacked each other. The battle ended in a stalemate as mortar fire interrupted their duel leading the Draco to his last encounter.

Patriot and his Guerrilla soldiers used overwhelming force to bring the city to its knees. Kaiser Rye fought to his last breath until he was sent flying, crashing into a building far away. Meanwhile, the Lungmen Guards fought valiantly, but they were unable to stop the Reunion attack; they were forced to retreat in the nick of time.

And from Wei Yenwu's office, agents in black raincoats went to carry out their task...

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Days Later:
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"Mission... failed... We lost the slums."

Senior Inspector Ch'en laid her sword against her chair; she had numerous cuts and bruises all over her body. Her friend, Hoshiguma, sat across from her, covered in bandages, with a cup of coffee in hand. In the room they were sitting in, trash bins were turned over littering the floor with scraps of paper. The sound of rain beat against the window; the roar of thunder echoed above.

"We need to get the slums back," Ch'en stated. "We still have fellow officers to rescue, bodies to bury, people to save. How are our wounded doing?"

"They're recovering slowly," Hoshiguma answered.

"Slowly isn't enough. We don't have any forces able to go back into battle."

"I want the slums back too Ch'en, but we need to wait. The Reunion may have taken over Sectors 22 through 29, but they can't use it immediately. They can try to separate themselves from the city, but that's too much land to move all at once."

"Is there anyone outside of the L.G.D. that can help us?"

"So far, only Rhodes Island, but they are at their base."

Ch'en crossed her arms and leaned against a wall. Beneath her eyes were dark circle. Stacks of letters sat on top of her desk in a disorganized fashion; all of them condolence letters. Her signatures were scribbled on all of them until not a speck of ink remained in her pen.

"I don't want to send all those letters out," She said. "We need to work our hardest to get the slums back. The people, the Infected in the slums need our help more than ever."

"We are trying our best Ch'en, but are currently not ready to deploy our soldiers yet," Hoshiguma stated.

"Hoshiguma you helped the people in the slums haven't you?"