An Extremely Personal War Between the Tribes

by RRff

In helping the Aurorae commander determine the extent of a threat to the tribe, Silver encounters an old adversary




With growing frustration, Commander Etynal Naelida studied the information that was scrolling before her eyes.  Increasingly, it had been obvious that a person or persons unknown had chosen the route of subtrefuge, spies and lies as opposed to direct physical confrontation to take over leadership of the Aurorae.  The commander had expected that there would be a challenge of some kind as those who supported the Boetias attempted revenge after Xanora's prescribed humiliation at the hands of Silver and Princess Ashlym.  But what actually was happening now was extremely insidious.
The chief defender also was very concerned that she did not know who was responsible for this or how they were operating.  What was clear was that someone had been relaying strategic information about her warizons to the Syrens, and they had been using that information to ambush the Aurorae's patrols.  And those attacks had been occurring closer and closer to home.
The commander had had all of her systems checked, routed commands through different officers, used decoy messages and codes, but still the attacks continued.  If it wasn't for the superb fighting skills displayed by her warizons in these skirmishes, the situation would be more dire than it already was.
But what really bothered Etynal was that all this was happening on her watch.  The commander always had been proud of her role, and how well she and her warizons had protected the tribe and its ruling family.  But standing behind her desk, it now was obvious to her that there was a very real threat coming from within the tribe, such that its security, and that of the Aeola family, for one of the few times in recent history now was seriously in jeopardy.  When it came right down to it, all the chief warizon was certain of these days was that she would die protecting Queen Aphrydolia, and that Officer Stayven would --
"Have Junior Combat Officer Silver Stayven report to me immediately!!" barked the commander into the communication system, then slowly sat down on her chair.  Now that the 'who' had been decided, the plan Etynal had been formulating over the last couple of days could be put into action.  Finally, she could take the initiative.  
For one of the few times recently, Etynal began to have some hope.  She personally had promoted the warizon following the doubling of Xanora, which had followed her victory over Serval Foxemists in trial combat.  The new combat officer had imbued the heroines in her new command with her own special sense of dedication and loyalty.  And having personally witnessed the way she had recovered and fought back from almost certain defeat against Serval suggested to the tribe's warizon commander that Silver had what was needed to be the chief defender someday.
And while Silver's squad had been one of the few to escape the sneak attacks, Etynal had never questioned her loyalty.  Like everyone else, she had heard the rumours about the possible relationship between the warizon and the princess.  And the energy that was apparent to the commander whenever the two were in close proximity in the royal house suggested that there was a lot more there than heiress and heroine.  But it was also the way she carried herself, the sincerity and lack of overt ambition that the defender put the most stock in.
"Enter," stated Etynal in response to a buzzer.
"Junior Grade Combat Officer Silver Stayven reporting as ordered, commander," said the blonde as she saluted her leader.  Etynal could sense the nervousness this situation naturally would bring.  It was very rare for the lowest level officer to be summoned directly by the tribe's top warizon.  Even the most important situation was handled by a senior level officer, with most things usually dealt with through the chain of command.  And this was their first meeting since the blonde warizon had been promoted.  So only extraordinary circumstances -- rarely good -- would find someone of Silver's level in these circumstances.
"At ease, officer," ordered Etynal calmly.  "Are you aware of the recent attacks against our patrols?"
"Yes commander," was the simple but shakey reply.
"Do you have any thoughts about this?"
"A few, commander."
"Go on."
After a moment's hesitation, Silver said, "Not having been  involved directly, I am uncertain exactly why it is happening."  When she saw that her superior officer was still waiting she continued, "I would suspect that the Syrens have somehow infiltrated our tribe, or they have convinced one or more of our warizons to betray us."
Silver's nervousness grew when the commander simply stared at her for a couple of seconds before standing up.  When the tribe's chief defender walked from behind her desk to stand in front of her, the young officer had to fight a growing sense of panic.  Surely, the chief warizon did not suspect her!?!
"No, I do not suspect you," the commander responded to Silver's unspoken question.  "But I do require your assistance.  It is imperative that I find out as soon as possible who is behind these attacks.  So I would like to send out your squad tonight, early tomorrow morning actually, to gather information."
"We will defeat any attack," declared Silver aggressively.
"That is not what I want," snapped the commander.  Then she smiled at Silver whose face displayed alarm.  "I need you to pick five of your best and most loyal warizons.  They will be the ones on patrol tonight, and will follow a specially designated route.  You will send them out using these instructions," she stated as she handed Silver an information pad.  "And you will moniter and record everything that happens from a distance.  You are not to discuss this misson with anyone, and report on this assignment only to me.  Is that clear?"
"Yes, commander," responded Silver confidently, nodding.
"Dismissed."  The commander stoically watched as her protege saluted, then turned and left her office.  When the door closed behind the officer, Etynal's agitation resufaced as she went back to her desk.  She was not sure what her next step would be if this gambit was not successful.

Since the Syren guerilla attacks had started, Silver had spoken to several officers and warizons who had been waylaid.  Following the initial ambush, they always reported being double, or sometimes triple-teamed while being subjected to a withering body attack.  They were then left semi-conscious or completely knocked out at the ambush site, no one ever having been taken prisoner.  And it appeared that whomever was responsible seemed to have intimate knowledge of warizon patrol proceedures and fighting tactics.
But now, it was members of Silver's squad that would be the bait in Cdr. Naelida's plan.  And the blonde officer could do nothing as she nervously watched on the screen in her distant patrol craft the images of her warizons as they approached a spring-fed pond on the patrol route.  While the commander would be able to view the recording that was being made, Silver was certain that it was her own first hand observations that would prove most important.  And this especially would be so if for whatever reason tonight the tactics changed, and if the measures that had been planned were not effective.
Deciding that the best thing she could do for herself now was to relax, Silver set the craft's controls to automatic, which would allow it to follow the route that had been fed into it before they left.  If the warizons made any deviation, that information would be updated automatically through the squad leader's communication device.  So the blonde reclined her chair and closed her eyes.  As her mind wandered back to more peaceful and positive times, it focused on the beginning of her rotation as a member of the palace guard.
"I have movement at one o'clock."  Squad Leader Rekys Bacut's tense voice startled her out of her reverie.  Silver focused a camera on the area indicated, and watched anxiously as two Syren fighters, clad in dark brown leather outfits and wearing nightvision goggles suddenly appeared.  "We are surrounded."  
Silver tapped the screen, and a new view confirmed the report.  A total of twenty Syrens, all in fighting stances, had appeared and were advancing on her squad.  She held her breath as she waited for things to unfold, knowing that whatever did, she could not interefere.
"Execute plan Alpha," Rekys ordered.  At the same time, all five warizons took one hand and reached a finger inside the glove of the other arm.  Almost immediately, they all collapsed to the ground.  Silver gave a sigh of relief as she saw the look of confusion on the faces of the Syrens as they froze in place, glanced quickly at each other, and down at the unconscious warizons.
"Unit Leader.  They have incapacitated themselves."  Silver saw one of the fighters speak into a communication device.  She studied the puzzled face of the Syren who had placed the report as she anxiously waited for a reply.
"Do nothing.  I will be there shortly."  Silver's spine shivered as she recognized the voice of Serval Foxemists.  After taking a couple of moments to digest this disturbing new information, the warizon steered the craft toward her unit's location, looking for a secluded place close by to land.  Once the blonde heroine found one on the other side of the pond and had parked her vehicle, she launched remote stealth observation drones.  Next, she put on her own night goggles, slipped on a dark hooded robe over her white with silver trim tunic, and quietly eased herself out.  Then she carefully crept through the undergrowth to get a better view of her fallen warizons and their captors.
Silver sat very still as she awaited further developments.  Finally, she saw a number of the fighters turn around.  Onto the scene strode Serval, the former warizon, outfitted the same way as the other Syrens.  The brunette spent a couple of moments stoically surveying the scene and looking around before she flashed a wicked grin.
"Considering who the leader of these cowards is, I'm not surprised that they don't have the belly to endure one of our attacks," Serval commented contemptuously.  "Proceed as planned."  Silver watched in fascination as five of the Syrens stripped down, while others removed the uniforms of her warizons.  Next, the enemy fighters dressed themselves with those uniforms.  Once finished, all of them, except for Serval, headed off in the same direction that Silver's squad had been moving to complete the patrol route.
Serval took a final glance at the semi-nude, unconscious warizons before she began a more thorough three hundred sixty degree visual sweep of the area.  Her gaze paused briefly as she looked in Silver's direction, then continued.  When she finished, the brunette adjusted her elbow length dark brown leather gloves, then turned and confidently went back the way she came.
Silver waited until the brunette was out of sight, then as swiftly, but also as quietly as possible made her way back to her craft.  She was about to get back in when through the window she noticed the proximity alarm flashing on the dash.  She looked around quickly in the direction indicated, but did not see anything.  
The blonde paused briefly as she considered her options.  While she could attempt an escape in the craft to report bac kright away, it would likely be spotted.  On the other hand, here was an opportunity to get some information from a former warizon who had betrayed them all by siding with their most hated enemy.  If Silver herself could not get Serval to talk, there were those in the tribe who could.
Based on that, the young officer decided to hide.  And while ambushing an opponent was not her preferred way of operating, this seemed to be one occasion where she could make that exception.  She then took a quick moment to glance around, before heading toward a small depression in the ground hidden by some bushes.  She was relieved that circumstance had her craft provide her with some cover as she made her way there, then settled down to watch.  
Her anticipation heightened quickly as she heard, then saw Serval approach the craft, moving predator-like in her knee-high dark brown leather boots.  The brunette continued to look around as she moved cautiously in Silver's direction.  Every so often she would pause and visually sweep the area.  The Syren just was closing in on the blonde's hiding place when her communication device sounded.  When Serval stopped and hunched down, Silver could not hear any voices, but the sound of taps and beeps did reach her ears.
While the combat officer watched, the brunette apparently sent and received a series of what were probably coded signals.  Silver used the opportunity to remove her goggles so that there wouldn't be any chance of a reflection off them.  The Syren completed the communication and put her device away, then suddenly froze in place.  After standing absolutely still for a couple of seconds, she abruptly moved toward the spot where the blonde was concealed.  As she did, she began bringing her arms up from her sides.  When that movement started, Silver decided she needed to take the initiative.  The warizon shed her cloak, sprang from her hiding place, and pumped a left up into the brunette's solar plexus.  The blow doubled over the traitor as it lifted her slighty off her feet, and drove the air out of her lungs with an explosive grunt.
Taking advantage of the perfect setup, Silver ripped a right uppercut into her opponent's full left globe, which distorted it, and straightened Serval up with an ear-splitting wail of pain.  But when the traitor had first been hit, she blindly had flailed her right arm at her foe and had grabbed a part of Silver's tunic.  As she fell back from the blow to her breast, the brunette's grip tightened and she tore away a piece of the tunic that covered the blonde's left breast.
Although she had managed to gain a small trophy, Serval was not happy that her opponent had gained the early upper hand.  But she was fortunate in that the material did not shred cleanly or easily.  So the pull on the garment before it tore away caused Silver's body to be yanked toward the brunette.  As the Syren fell onto her muscular ass, her flailing feet kicked up into the young officer's guts which caused the blonde to be flipped through the air.  The warizon landed on her back, the air forced from her lungs with a loud grunt.
Before Silver could roll away, the brunette quickly got to her hands and knees, and scrambled to the blonde's side.  Serval then pushed forward, and rammed her right forearm down across the warizon's midsection.  Silver's body folded up as she grunted loudly in pain.  Serval then pushed down with that arm onto her opponent's abs for leverage to help her quickly get back up on her feet.  
Silver, however, was still breathless and a little stunned after her foe's manuevres.  And as she tried to focus, she now regretted not keeping on her goggles as her fuzzy mind had diffuclty dealing with the darkness.  As a result, she did not see where the brunette was, and thus was totally unprepared when a booted foot crashed down onto her unprotected midsection.
Silver's body jackknifed from the force of the blow as the air was expelled vociferously from her lungs.  She wrapped her arms across her abs and rolled over onto her left side.  She tried to move away but felt the bottom of her tunic catch on something underneath her.  Then her back exploded in pain as a kick was propelled into her left kidney.  The blonde's body skidded across the ground tearing away the section of the garment that was caught. 
"They must have been desparate for officers if they promoted you," jeered Serval.  "And why am I not surprised that I would find you hiding in hole -- right where you belong."  Silver could only groan in response as she managed to roll over to her hands and knees to try and crawl away.  "No you don't.  I'm not through with you yet," chided the Syren.  She emphasized her comments by putting her foot on the blonde's perfectly shaped ass and giving a hard push.  That shot the warizon forward where she landed on her breasts, then rolled and tumbled on the ground and over some bushes, further ripping her tunic.
Focusing on the sound of her boots, Silver managed to turn herself towards the direction from which her opponent was approaching.  It took a couple of deep breaths for her to regain some composure and deal with the pain, then the blonde attempted to right herself.  She managed to get herself up to kneeling on her left knee while bracing on her right thigh just as the brunette's form loomed over her. 
"There is no one here to cheat me out of victory this time," taunted Serval as she towered over her foe.  "So getting my revenge now is something that I'm really going to enjoy." 
"Spoken like the true loser that you are, Serval," was Silver's retort.  "You knew the rules and laws of our people like everyone else, and as a warizon, you had sworn to live by them.  But the fact that you're here, dressed as one of them, shows you have no honour."
"Honour!?!" guffawed Serval.  "Who cares about honour!?!  Power is the only thing that matters.  And based on our current positions, it is obvious that I am the stronger one."
Silver snorted.  "You've only had an early advantage because of those night goggles.  If you really think you're the stronger one, you should be able to fight me without them to show you are truly superior."
The brunette replied haughtily as she removed the goggles, "Anything for you, officer lame -- OOOOOOOUUUUFFFFF!!!!"  As soon as Silver saw her foe reach for her goggles, she sprang up from the ground and drilled a left uppercut into Serval's solar plexus which produced another loud grunt, and sent the goggles flying from her hand.  The blonde followed up with a straight right to her foe's navel.  A left hook ripped into the fullness of the Syren's right breast, and spun her away to her left howling in pain.  Pivoting back around on her right foot, the blonde kicked up her left foot and drove her heel into Serval's midsection, folding her over with another loud grunt.  She then grabbed her foe's right arm, put it in a hammerlock, and pressed down on her back.  The warizon then drove her left knee up into the brunette's belly and breasts, whichever target wasn't being covered by the left arm, until the Syren's knees buckled, and she fell to her hands and knees, groaning and gasping loudly as she dug her fingers into the ground.
"How do you like that?" Silver yelled as she walked around in front of her foe, her fists clenched.  "If it's power you want, there's lots more where that came from."  Between desparate gasps of air to try and refill her lungs, Serval mumbled several curses.  "And there's a lot more than that which you need to tell me," the blonde continued.  "I want to know the reason for all these attacks on our patrols.  It is obvious your new friends are behind them.  I want to know why the Sy -- HEY!!"
Silver threw her arms up in front of her eyes that already were stinging from the particles of dirt that had been thrown into them from Serval's hands.  Then the air was expelled explosively from the warizon's lungs by the brunette's stiff, straight left that plowed up into her midsection, and lifted her off her feet.  Serval immediately followed up with a right uppercut that completely dislodged the full, firm left orb from the top of the shredded tunic.  Pressing her advantage, the Syren ripped a left hook into the blonde's right obliques, then followed it up with a right uppercut to the solar plexus, which doubled the warizon over again.  Finally, the brunette drove her right knee up against the still covered right orb.
That last blow flipped the blonde through the air where she landed on her back and shoulders.  Stunned from the landing, out of breath and in severe pain from the punishment, Silver also was very angry at herself for letting Serval retake the advantage.  And with the aggressiveness the brunette was known for, the warizon knew her foe would not allow her much time to recover before she started in again, so the young officer tried to crawl away to regroup.
"Leaving so soon?" mocked Serval as she watched her opponent's struggles.  "Aren't you going to wait for me to answer your questions?"  When a loud groan was Silver's only response, the brunette continued condescendingly, "Well, if you don't want to listen, I won't talk.  Besides, I'd much rather beating the stuffing out of you.  After I've done that, I will decide whether or not I want to tell you anything."  
Silver barely had been listening as she tried to maintain her distance.  But a sudden tug on her tunic that pulled her to her feet told the blonde that she hadn't been successful.  In desparation, she swung her right arm in a backward arc, but the brunette was able to duck away in time as she released the clothing.  Serval then drove her right knee up into the blonde's open ribcage, which caused her to grunt loudly as she fell back down to the ground.
The warizon tried to crawl away again, but the fresher brunette was much too quick.  Serval grabbed the belted section of the blonde's tunic with her left hand and hauled the officer back to her feet.  Once Silver was upright, the Syren ripped short, sharp punches with her right fist up into her opponent's right kidney.  Each blow pushed Silver's body forward and lifted her slightly off her feet.  The punches were so powerful that it didn't take many of them before the entire bottom part of the tunic tore off with the belt that Serval held, just leaving a section that went all around her body from the blonde's lower ribs and up over her right breast and shoulder.  Because the blows had taken the Silver's legs away, when the fabric ripped she collapsed to her hands and knees.  Serval laughed uproariously as she tossed the tattered cloth at the back of her foe's head, then bent down and drilled another punch into each kidney which knocked the officer to the ground where she lay face down, groaning loudly.
"I'd love to keep at this," Serval snarked.  "But 'your squad' will be returning soon to your tribe, and all the fun will start.  And I don't want to miss any of it.  So you need to get up so that I can finish you off."  As she expected, Silver, who was too busy dealing with the tremendous pain, did not reply.  So the brunette bent down, grabbed an arm, and hauled her back to her feet.  She turned her unsteady opponent around, gripped the remaining shoulder strap with her left hand, and with her right pummelled the inside of the blonde's right mound as she wailed in complaint.
It didn't take long before the remaining piece of fabric shredded
to free the right orb.  Silver stumbled backward, but the brunette moved forward quickly and caught her before she fell.  Next, Serval tore away what tatters remained as she howled with glee while she looked down at the silver-white panties that were the only item except for boots and gloves that still covered the warizon's battered body.  With both hands free again, the Syren enthusiastically hammered the blonde's belly, breasts and obliques.  She also used her knees and feet to further subdue her rapidly weakening opponent.
Silver's grunts, groans and cries of pain grew less and less with each blow as her consciousness dimmed, though her torment increased.  Unsteady on her legs, and her mind too much in a haze, the blonde was unable to defend herself.  Serval deliberately pounded blows into the quivering body until it could no longer keep itself upright.  The brunette looked down smugly on the warizon as she lay on her side writhing on the ground in front of the pond, groaning loudly between ragged gasps of breathing as she tried to refill her emptied lungs.  
"Ah, come on, Silver.  Don't just lie there," laughed Serval.  "Then again, this will probably make it easier to talk to you.  And besides, your lowly position is reflective of the downfall that is about beset those aimless Aeolas you so admire.
"As I told you earlier, 'your squad' should have returned by now, which will initiate a whole series of wonderful events . . "