Risen: Echoes of War

Chapter 1: Hard Lessons

The presence of those three made Hannibal frown.  As far as he was aware, while they had known great violence in their lives, these three hadn't known war of any kind.  In fact Rasputin had been a pacifist while alive.  Could he make the jump from one end of the spectrum to the exact opposite?  Could any of them become soldiers in their war against the velkin?

At least the Celtic woman Corraidhan was a warrior, as was Julius Caesar.  However, they too came with a number of questions, chief of which could they, like Raven, adapt sufficiently to modern warfare to make an impact?  Not to mention, could they work together?  The Celt had died at the hands of Roman soldiers under Caesar's command in a way most horrible for a woman.  Judging by the looks she was throwing the former Roman general and leader, she hadn't forgotten that despite the amount of time that had passed.

The Carthaginian felt his metal lips twist into a frown as he thought about the possible problem the interaction between Caesar and Corraidhan could become.  He could just see the moment where he would turn his back for a moment and return to find her putting a knife into his back.  Even as his eyes focused on the two, Corraidhan stepped forward to take Caesar by the shoulder and spin him roughly around before going nose to nose to begin screaming at him in ancient Celtic.

"Hey, hey, hey!" he shouted, breaking into a run even as Raven and Rasputin moved in to try and break the two up, the Russian taking Corraidhan by the arm just as she pulled it back to throw a punch.  Raven also managed to restrain Caesar by throwing his arms around the Roman just as he was about to aggressively defend himself, fists clenched.

Throwing himself between the two as Raven and Rasputin wrestled them back, he put a hand on each of their chests.

"Whatever pains you have taken from each other, that was another life!" he cried, staring first at the Celtic woman before twisting to throw a hard look at the Roman.

"Another ... life," he slowly repeated, deliberately dropping his voice into something much lower and calming as he gave each a push back with his hand.  "You both agreed to put aside the past and fight for the world's future in return for getting to possess a shell and have a chance at a new life.  One as a defender of our planet."

"Surely that is cause enough to choose restraint," Bishop said with a hint of a modern Irish accent.  "The Lord God taught that we should know temperance and restraint in our emotions and passions."

Which quickly earned her a look from the former general of Carthage.

"You too took that vow, Bridget," he reminded her in a none too kind tone.  "You need to give up on your sanctimoniousness as much as these two need to forget the long-done conflict between Briton and the Roman Empire."

The former Early American defiantly returned his look for a long moment before abruptly looking away and nodding.

"Of course, General Hannibal," she said.  "It will be as I promised."

"Fear not, general," Rasputin rumbled.  "We will all give up our former lives, as we did promise.  I am no longer the pacifist Orthodox mystic I was long ago.  Now I am a soldier, a protector of Earth."  The Russian echo fixed him with a determined gaze.

"And I will be relying on the warriors amongst us to teach me how to best be a soldier.  For I know nothing of it."  Then he was grunting as, with a neat move of her arm, Corraidhan freed herself and landed a quick pair of blows into what would've been his solar plexus if he was still human.

"First lesson," she hissed, looking up at the staggered Russian echo with an expression of disdain.  "Never take your attention off your opponent."  Then she was dropping to one knee, stunned and bemused, put there by a powerful blow to the side of her head.