Arc 2 Chapter 5

I have to stay the night in the field hospital and the next day in the morning they once again check my condition. Good thing that they only have tools for a superficial check up. If they had checked my brain for any damage they would be surprised how much someone can do while their brain doesn't work at all. After they finish I am free to go.

Right now I am a wolf in sheep's clothing or a fallen angel with bleached wings? Either way I am free to move in the camp. Too bad I can't collect the informations I seek from my hosts mind, but to unravel a brain is a lot harder than using ones soul for thinking and movement. It is like a giant puzzle and you can't determine the shape or colour of the pieces and of course you lack the final picture. Honestly I am amazed how much easier it is to get a view that shows who someone is from the soul. Maybe the structure and encryption of the soul can be easier and less complex, while still maintaining its task, than the brain. Or the way how the information is saved in the soul can be read in a superficial way, while the brain has to be read entirely?

Now isn't exactly the correct time to think about it though. Although if I already had the answer I would have more options to collect intel. I continue my walk. Some people greet me and I return their greetings in kind, but if someone tries to get me into a conversation I have to make a lot of assumptions and if I can't respond at all I wiggle my way out and ask them about the topic, pointing out that I ain't in top form. I soon return to the tent I was appointed to, good thing that the guy I share my tent with came to the field hospital to help me move some of 'my' stuff.

As the first day in this camp comes to an end, my room-mate or rather tent-mate asked me to come along, not knowing what he has in mind I have no choice but follow, it would be too strange if I didn't without a valid reason. Also since I don't really know where to start with the collection of intel, I might as well go with him. As I follow him I notice that a lot of people also walk towards our destination. We reach a field that is filled with people and at one end I can see a podest with an altar.

I already heard that they have something akin to a church, I guess I finally got to hear for what exactly those fanatics pray. We got a place close to the altar since we apparently left early. When the sun reaches the horizon the mass begins. A priest walks up towards the altar, he is carrying a small golden crucifix. Reverential he places it on the altar. He knees down in front of it offering a quick prayer. Mimicking the people around me, I too kneel down and pray. This prayer is a simple 'Our Father'. But the speech that follows is something that destroys the image of yet another normal christian church.

“Once again we gather and pray. Once again we have to fight. We fight to free the souls that the demons enslave in themselves. They robbed our neighbours of their souls and made them to mindless demons that crave the flesh of the living. Tomorrow our purge shall begin. Even till death we shall strive to destroy them. There is no higher thing than freeing the souls of the enslaved and return them to god. Don't fear death, your faith protects you from enslavement. We shall free our brothers and sisters, even if the world has to burn, we shall return the demons to their fiery pit. Many of you fear, fear because our leader isn't here. Today I will reveal to you that he can't be here, because he is creating something far greater than what we can achieve here. If he succeeds, all will be free once again. Together we shall return to our lord and once again return to live.” The priest preaches.

Not a single sound was uttered while he spoke. Not one questioned that this freedom means death. Not one questioned how their leader knows what he knows. I guess he is a demon himself. There have been few that came to the conclusion that the souls are missing from the soulless, without ever feeling them with their soul. This whole religion is fishy in that aspect. The only conclusion I came to is a demon in their highest rank. Maybe he thinks of himself as an angel?

Either way the absence of their leader worries me. What is he planning? I get a bad feeling about that. The mass soon ends and the group disperses. I once again follow my tent-mate. We rest for the night. I quickly modify the body, so that it stays alive on its own and return to my own one.

I give a quick report about what I found and the worrying news. I also advice that with their mentality we have to expect suicidal battle tactics and attacks. They simply don't seem to care about their lives as long as they can 'free one of their brothers'. Did I ever say that I hate fanatics?

After that I return to my puppet and sleep. The next day I once again wander through the camp, doing whatever I am asked to do and gathering as much information as I can. Their weaponry, their training and of course their scouting patterns and schedules. Around the middle of the day I take a 'nap' and make a quick report.

It is a shame that our enemy is just another group of normal people. Killing is so much easier if you can view them as monstrosities. Their only flaw is this damn fanaticism. They laugh they cry, they weep, sleep and eat like everyone else. But their goal isn't survival it is to clean the world of what they deem wrong. They pushed aside one of the most human traits. The will to survive.

When I return once again to my puppet I encounter a small problem. When I possess it I feel a distant echo of a soul. It seems that the owner of this body is finally coming back. I estimate that he will need at least another day to return. Seems like he wasn't washed away as far as I was. I will have to leave the camp with this body or a lot of the intel I collected will be useless. They would change the tactics.

Thankfully opportunity knocked at my door, or rather tent entrance. I got an order to move out to scout the area. I knew of this scouting group and I know that we will be ambushed. What I didn't knew was that I will be part of it. But this is simply perfect. I prepare to move out. Equipping armour and the rifle I join the others at the outer area of the camp. We move out towards the nearby forest, always scanning the area for movements.

The ambush is fast and precise. Everybody dies quickly, getting hit by an explosion. That really isn't very enjoyable, thankfully I don't feel much pain in this stolen body. Still I patch it up after I messaged the ambushers with my soul. It isn't a very precise thing to do, but with broken vocal cords it was my only option. I quickly begin to patch the body up and follow the others back to our base. There I lay my puppet down in my tent and switch bodies.

Now I will have to wait for our sleepy head to wake up. I hope I won't have to destroy him. In the meantime I go back to the council and take part in the conference. We discuss about the movements of the different forces on the field and where the most advantageous position for our allies would be to engage in battle. We also get a report from them which states that through our efforts they barely encounter any scouting parties. The enemy is basically blind right now.

Soon we come to the conclusion that the best place would be at the biggest bridge in the area, it leads over a ten meter wide river. Sure it isn't that big, but it is perfect for us. We destroyed their artillery, but our allies still have some. They can't cross the river and we are still in their back. We will whittle them down. If they are desperate and try to charge at our allies they will be hindered by the terrain. It will be a suicidal attack for them.

For that to work effectively we will send about half of our men to our allies. They will have to catch a lot of bullets. The rest will use guerilla tactics and kill as many as possible without being caught. There is a reason why warfare changed so much and we stopped using big units to openly attack.

I ask to get the gem back to further encrypt my experiences into it. I need to add a new chapter about out of body techniques and experiences. I return to my tent to get to work. Of course I also continue my 'diary'. In the middle of the night my guest awakes. He still needs a lot of time until he begins to move, I guess my possession didn't help in that aspect.

After half an hour he can finally move, but it seems he still can't see very well. Because when I draw near him he mumbles “Brother I have returned.” I think he mistakes me for one of his companions. Then he begins to cry. “There was no god. Only an endless river grinding our brothers and sisters to dust.” He says almost choking on his tears. “You escaped it brother.” I reply, “Welcome back among the living, the world is as bleak as ever and those which you once considered your family would now hunt you down, especially after what you said.”

“I welcome you among those that know some of the truths of death, among those which you once labelled as demons. Use your soul and see that all of us are still human.” I greet him. “Some more some less” I add silently. When he does as I told him his face grows pale. “So that is what they see. If we just had listened. If we just hadn't listened to him.....How many innocent have died by my hands? What have we done...What....What are you?” It seems he finally noticed my soul. I tried to hide it to spare him yet another shock. “I am probably the first that returned or at least the only one that could grow to such an extent. I am one of the few witnesses of the storm that washed away the souls of so many of us.” I reply, “I am one of the leaders of the enemies of New Eden. My name is Oliver.”

“What a monstrous soul you have... I guess we were lucky that it doesn't have any might in this world” he says, “I guess I will soon fall together with your kin...Our, no, their forces are too large to be defeated.” “Actually there are a lot of things New Eden never learnt of. Their enemy is a lot stronger in numbers than they though. And then of course there is this.” I replied while creating a ball of flames over my hand. His eyes widen. “Is this... Is this hard to do?” he asks. “Not at all. There are a lot of different things we can do. For example taking over an almost dead body, just in case you wonder how you came here. I for example am almost immortal. Attacks that destroy my body can't kill me. I could rebuild it if I get the time.” I say. “Seems like we picked the worst enemies huh....” he says. Exhausted he falls into a deep slumber.