Higgins' chin was quivering as he raised his hands to create his magic barrier. What remained of their unit was covered in a golden, glowing orb as the Shield Bearers combined their power to ensure a total blockage of the mist. When people joined the Imperial army, a few people, like Higgins, didn't want to fight and die. So, naturally, being someone who specialized in protection, it felt like the best way of not only staying alive, but also keeping your fellows alive. In that moment, that entire perception was shattered. He was casting the same magic as always, protecting the same comrades, but never before had that protective layer felt so damning. There were dozens of men, pounding against their barrier, begging to be let in. The Berserkers, who made up a majority of their unit, could only watch in impotent fury as their comrades were condemned before their very eyes. But the mist had finally approached the barrier and enveloped everything inside it. Anything living was having the life choked out of it, sapient or otherwise. Unlike the attacks from before, this didn't carry the mercy of a quick death.
(In the Judge's office)
Higgins looked as though he wanted to throw up and neither the Police nor the Judge could blame the man. Hearing of such an unusual and unsightly form of combat sickened them greatly. One of the Captains became pale and had to cough into his hand to keep himself from gagging.
"We held the barrier as long as we could. But we couldn't save those guys. That fog… it… it", Higgins had to take a moment to compose himself, "We didn't lose a lot of soldiers, but we did lose a few of our medics and a lot of wounded."
As the soldier continued relating his experience, Aeriliya had the sickening feeling that it was only going to get worse before it was over. Oddly enough, Higgins became eerily calm before he spoke again, "By that point, we all came to terms with the fact that we most likely weren't walking out of that forest alive. We ran into a few more traps and ambushes with no real enemy contact… but we just kept going. About two weeks in that forest and around half our original company was dead", Higgins stared at his two interviewers but his eyes weren't truly looking at them, "Then we finally reached our destination."
(Back in the forest)
The soldiers trudged on and on, their feet only moving because the movement had been seemingly ingrained in them. Even some of the hardier soldiers like the Cassidian berserkers or the dwarven soldiers were listless. One of the remaining Navigators announced they would reach the center of the forest within the hour, but nobody had enough presence to be happy at the announcement. They continued on until they heard the unmistakable sounds of guns and spellfire. Marching at doubletime, the remaining company thought maybe they could rejoin some of their comrades, but like every other time, they were proven wrong.
When they reached the clearing, the only word that came to mind was devastation. There were their comrades, and looking at their uniforms, they recognized that what remained of every other company was already present. Or at least, physically present. The ground was littered with the green jackets of Imperial troops. Soldier and mage alike were bleeding on the ground, holes the size of a fist in their bodies, claw marks, spell wounds and sometimes entire limbs missing. Any semblance of structure or order was gone. It was a complete free for all against their enemy which seemed to suit them just fine. Their enemy, clothed in brownish gray uniforms and wearing faceless helmets with large tinted frames with no pattern were tearing their men apart.
"Muskets at the ready", ordered their leader, "Cassidians with the Precision spell, take aim and don't miss."
The musketeers readied their guns to aim at the chaos in front of them. Normally, this would be reckless with the inaccuracy of so many muskets, but with the magic spell allowing for straighter shooting, that was easily remedied. The Berserkers nearly splintered their guns with their strong hands. After seeing their strength belittled, they were ready to tear someone's head off. Their comrades turned as they heard the order and began yelling. Maybe a second wind was finally coming. Their impromptu leader raised his sword to give the order to fire and for once Higgins felt less scared, now that he had a clear enemy to face. But just as the sword was coming down, the Shield Bearer had an ill feeling.
Rather than face forward with the rest of his comrades, he turned around and erected his barrier. Their leader's sword came down and gunfire was heard, but it wasn't all from the green clad warriors. Behind them, flashes of light, was closely followed by the Imperial soldiers' rear flank being pelted with bullets. Rapidly following that, more gray-brown soldiers with faceless masks appeared from cleverly hidden holes in the ground and blitzed them. Higgins realized their comrades weren't yelling because they were happy to see them, but to warn them about an ambush. They were armed with oddly shaped rifles with even odder shaped knives tipping them, like an obelisk. The Imperial troops barely had time to react before the enemy was on them.
One of the faceless men closed the distance in seconds. A fellow Imperial who didn't fire yet, trained his musket on the charging man, having him dead in his sights. But before he could get his shot off, the faceless man whipped out a hatchet, and hooked the musket, making the shot fire harmlessly into the ground. The soldier looked back up with wide eyes to see the faceless enemy draw his oddly shaped knife, shift his body and swing his knife up, cleaving off the man's hand before reversing the grip and driving the blade into his chest and running off to attack another soldier. All this happened in less than five seconds. One of their Bombardiers tried to charge a detonative spell to scatter the enemy, but as he raised his hands, one of the knives came flying in and embedded in his throat. Losing control of his magic, the spell detonated early, blowing away three other soldiers.
One of the Berserkers drew his broadsword to do what he did best and cut the enemy to pieces. But as he ran forward, two blasts were heard and the Berserker fell on his face, his knees blown to pieces. He was quickly swarmed by three faceless men who pinned him to the ground and stabbed him repeatedly. The poor Lieutenant, in the span of less than a minute, saw what was left of his company overrun. At that moment, something in him snapped, his face twisting in righteous fury. Lifting his whistle to his lips, he blew to gain his soldiers attention, "Soldiers, to me! Gunmen, reorder formation to reload, Berserkers give us cover and-"
Four shots in rapid succession cut off his orders. All the Lieutenant could do was fall to his knees, his eyes wide in shock as he collapsed with four fist sized holes in chest.