Cambar Border Attack

Jed Stedder grit his teeth, and stared off into the distance as the Tigers marched over the horizon. He had hoped for the simple life of a farmer after decades of fighting in the Oltra Campaign, but the Rin Empire had different plans, and now him and his workers were forced into defending their homes.

His men had lead similar lives to him, all were steady under pressure and good shots. But their skill would matter little if the Tigers amassed armour at the border.

He gathered his brothers in arms closely, and offered a simple prayer, “May the Cycle grant us a good harvest. As it is, as it was, so shall it be.”

He had barely finished speaking when the whizz-crack of an energy rifle erupted next to him. Vos, his son, one of his best men, had already downed a Tiger. “Sorry dad, bastard was setting up a Repeater nest!”

The Harvest had begun.

Tigers emerged from the bushes, charging mercilessly forward. They didn’t know the meaning of subtlety, stealth or a ruse, only violence and aggression.

Flashes of light, kicked up dust, and made broken bodies issue blood-steam. The firefight had truly begun.

And the Tigers kept coming. No fear, no respite, there was no suppressing them. No amount of fire could stem their tide.

Jed howled in anger as four of his men fell on the left flank. He thought briefly of the lives destroyed, the tear stained faces of the women and children back home. It was then Vos fell next to him. His eyes glazed and burned.

Jed leapt out from cover and rushed into the open. His men joined him and they clashed with the Tigers at the border. Boot and butt, crushed body and bone.

Both sides felt the horror of hand to hand. Bayonets thrust through guts, pistols emptied eye sockets, the dying underfoot like crooked sticks.

Jed then felt the sudden sting. The Tiger’s bite. A blade passed through him as if he was already a ghost. The Tiger leered at him.

But he hadn’t noticed Jed’s last man. Brok was a humble man. Father of two. He mostly kept quiet around the campfire, he navigated the world with a simple smile and a nod. He liked puzzles and boiled sweets.

He put so much heat into the Tiger’s bowels offal squirmed out of his back like a family of eels.

Then it was quiet.

Jed lay in the dirt waiting for whatever death was. “As it is, as it was, so shall it be.”