The Butterfly Device - A Grand Campagin

[Actinguy]

Various Times – Various Places

Gulsum Ahmed is seventeen years old, and has just helped her Christian husband defeat her fellow Muslims in a two-year siege on Jerusalem.

They stand together at the top of the castle tower, staring out over the country. An otherwise beautiful sunset is destroyed by the devastated landscape. Smoke rises from burning farms, trees have been knocked down to build make-shift weapons and sleeping quarters, the river runs red with blood.

“We can not stay here.”

Gulsum turns her attention to Robert. “What do you mean we can not stay here? This was our agreement, Robert! That we would build a new life, here, in Jerusalem. You would be Count, we could send for my sisters…we could start over, and build a world where our religions would not matter! Now that the hard part is over, you give up?”

“This is no place for you…no place for us to start a family.”

Gulsum is still upset, but she smiles at this. “A family?”

“This is what husbands and wives do, isn’t it? Start a family of their own?”

He kisses her forehead, and she nods.

“And is this where you would want to start a family? In these terrible conditions?”

“But where, then?”

“Home. In Guines.”

“I would not be welcome there. My sisters will not be welcome there.”

“For as long as my brother lives, you and your family will always be welcome in Guines.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Robert de Guines is sixteen years old, and he is to be married.

Robert sits in the Captain’s cabin, running a finger through his hair, when Humphrey walks in.

“I don’t know how to thank you, Captain.”

“I am not a Captain today, young Robert. I am your Bishop once again.”

“Then I do not know how to thank you, Bishop.”

“You saved my life several times over when our ship sank, child. I have you to thank for my life. And your bride-to-be to thank for this,” he adds, motioning to the peg leg that Gulsum made for him as they waited for the second ship that ultimately rescued them.

“But I know you think it is wrong for a Christian to marry a Muslim. Yet you officiate our ceremony.”

“I told you God put us in that situation for a reason. Perhaps it was so you could meet your bride-to-be.”

The captain looks down at his new leg, then back up at Robert.

“God’s will. It is why we were in the ocean, it is why you met Gulsum…and it is why I have lost my leg. It is not I who God wants to lead the men to victory in Jerusalem.”

“Then who?”

“You, young Robert. YOU must be the one who leads us to the holy city.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gulsum is fourteen years old, and she is about to be sold as a sex slave.

Her hands tied behind her back, her feet tied to a board, there is little she can do but watch as her father tries to negotiate a price. She closes her eyes, trying to will her ears to not listen…and whispers a prayer to Allah.

“Let any man who dare touch me suffer a terrible curse. Let his insides burn with disease, let his outsides fall from his body one by one. Let any man who touch me suffer a terrible plague that might destroy him and everyone he knows. Let any man…”

Her thoughts are interrupted as one of the ship’s crew runs into the captain’s cabin.

“I told you not to come in here!” the Captain roars.

“I’m sorry, Captain, but…”

“What? What could be possibly be so important that…”

“It’s pirates, Captain! We’re about to be invaded by pirates!”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gulsum is nineteen years old, and her husband has just been murdered.

She rushes to his side, as the people begin to scream. Geoffrey, Matilda’s brother, reaches the fallen count first. “Poison!” the marshal shouts as he sniffs Robert’s wineglass. “No one touch that bottle!”

Gulsum watches in shock as Geoffrey’s eyes dart through the crowd, looking for the assassin…before she realizes that his eyes have settled on Gulsum herself.

Her own eyes go wide…and then she is gone.

Moving faster than her legs can take her, she crashes through the chapel’s doors and into the street, where she bowls over two women. With a shock, she realizes who they are.

“This is how you greet your sisters, after so much time apart?” the eldest, Samira, asks with a smile.

“She was so excited she knocked us to the ground!” laughs Yildiz, still a child in every sense of the word.

Gulsum glances over her shoulder, where Geoffrey and Count Charles lead the guards in pursuit.

“RUN!” she screams, and the two new citizens of Guines chase after their long-lost sister.

 

[Slinky]

I like the last one the best.

 

[Actinguy]

(And re-introducing the writing of our very own Slinky Bear...with the first of three portions of a Juvenal Quentis flashback!)

Juvenal Quentis is 18 years old, and sweat stings his eyes.

He wipes his face with a dirty cloth. There is dust everywhere, in every fold of clothing, in every crevice. It is chafing horribly, especially in this heat. Unbearable. His pack feels heavier with every step. Gripping his rifle a bit harder, he wants to shout, "Why are we here in this godforsaken place!" Instead, he places a well-aimed kick at a rock and watches as it bounces away, scattering a bird.

“You know, I never thought the marines would be this boring.”

“Yes, another exciting patrol with nothing to see but rocks and dust. I almost wish we were ambushed.”

“Haha, not with our luck. Oh, I could just kill for a cool glass of beer.”

“Not that lukewarm piss they serve around here, or are you that desperate?”

“No, no, but a cool beer, some girls, a nice beach…”

“Well, we are at the beach already, just look at all that sand.”

“Very funny.”

“Say...Beetle.”

“Yeah, Q?”

“What do you think about the captain?”

“The captain? Well he is a good one, I guess. He can shoot alright and he seems smart. You don't like him?

“Nah, it’s not that, I just … I just wished he wasn’t so bossy all the time.”

“Pffft, you do know you are in the Marines, right? Hahahah…..”

Beetle’s laughing stopsabruptly. Looking at his comrade, watches in slow motion as Beetle drops to the ground, a little round hole just above his left eye.

Lance Corporal Juvenal Quentis has just received his wish.

He has been ambushed.

 

[Slinky]

I like the small changes you made.

I only now realise that as Juvenal is only 18, he is not allowed to drink beer yet in the States

 

[Actinguy]

Ha, yeah I didn't think of that either. But trust me, as someone who has been in the military for five years, the drinking age does not apply.

As for the small changes, there were mostly changing things to present tense to match the rest of the flashbacks. The rest of it is all Slinky Bear gold.

 

[Slinky]

Ha, yeah I didn't think of that either. But trust me, as someone who has been in the military for five years, the drinking age does not apply.

As for the small changes, there were mostly changing things to present tense to match the rest of the flashbacks. The rest of it is all Slinky Bear gold.

I know that drinking in the US usually starts well below the allowed age of 21

In the Netherlands it is legal to drink beer when you are 16 years old, so it wasn't something I considered when I wrote it.

 

[Enewald]

Ah, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death and more of death.

So who the heck is the next count?

And who shall kill all of them?

And did Gulsum really even exist? :rofl:

 

[Actinguy]

Hehe. Enewald is so easy to please.

The next count is someone you have already met...no country cousins here. All will be revealed soon!

As for who will kill them all...I'm planning one...maybe two...more flashback posts after Juvenal's backstory is finished, and then one flashback that reveals exactly how every single character died so far (and who was responsible!)

If you mean, did Gulsum really exist within the game...yes. Here's what happened:

Reinel (Osbern and Robert's father) led a crusade to Jerusalem. His marshal died (not shown in this story, as his marshal was Juvenal Quentis), and he ended up hiring a Muslim marshal. This marshal had three daughters: Gulsum, Yildiz, and Samira. The marshal died shortly after the crusade.

Robert married a different woman who had no effect on the story whatsoever, as Robert was poisoned before he could have any children, and then the wife disappeared.

So, I had Robert marry Gulsum within the story and show their attempts to move past religion, to explain the appearance of these three Muslim women in northern France...who DID end up having some major storylines within the game, which will be addressed in the next chapter! ;c)

 

[Actinguy]

(This is the second of three updates by Slinky Bear!)

Juvenal Quentis is still 18 years old, and he has been ambushed.

The sound of gunfire pulls him out of the shock of seeing his best friend fall dead. Training kicks in and he dives, auto-pilot, to the ground. A grenade explodes not far from his left. Juvenal grabs the straps of his bunkmate's body armor and begings dragging Beatle's body behind a large boulder. Reaching cover, he sees the rest of the squad following suit. Captain Hill starts yelling orders: “Suppressing fire! Break to the right!”

Juvenal peers out from behind the rock. He has just enough time to spot the enemy before bullets started exploding against the stone. Juvenal quickly pulls his head back. He takes a few deep breaths. Taking an enormous gulp of air, Juvenal holds his breath and leans around the corner. Squeezing the trigger hard, he fires wildly at the enemy.

His aim is far too high.

Breathing out, he steadies himself. This time, his aim is better and he has the pleasure of seeing his attackers dive for safety. More confident now, he is completely focused on the enemy. A tap on his shoulder tells him it's his turn to move. Positioning the body of his companion over his back, he runs toward the next big boulder.

Letting the body slide from his shoulder, Juvenal resumes firing. Quick short bursts to keep them from moving. One attacker is careless and he goes down in front of Juvenal’s sight. The rest of the squad has passed him and again it is his turn to move.

Under the covering fire of his teammates, he once again hauls Beetle towards their next position. A few feet ahead, Juvenal sees the gully where the Captain is yelling at him to get his ass over here.

Right at the edge of the gully he hearsthe distinct sounds of bullets hitting flesh.

Juvenal stumbles and falls face-forward down into the gully with Beatle on his back. Tumbling over each other, their bodies roll several feet before coming to a rest at the bottom.

Beetle’s body lands atop Juvenal's, both their uniforms covered in blood.

 

[Enewald]

Ah, war can be harsh sometimes. And it usually is harsh and bloody. We foolish humans. o

 

[Slinky]

Ah, war can be harsh sometimes. And it usually is harsh and bloody. We foolish humans. o

A little selection from your comments on this AAR.

Ah, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death and more of death.

2. why did no one die brutally in the last chapter?

And I want death!

And I hope Osbern is dead!

And death, yes, death, I love it!

Now we are in Levant and everyone is dieing, great!

Yes! Hihii, more death!

Aah, a dead corpse. I am satisfied. For today!

No!

No one died!

No one died in this chapter, quickly, kill someone!

Hehe, no chapters yet without pain for someone. :rofl:

but I also found this one:

And they do not need to die.

:rofl:

 

[Enewald]

A little selection from your comments on this AAR.

but I also found this one:
:rofl:

I would nominate that as the post of the month, unless it were a good joke about me. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

 

[Qorten]

:rofl:

Here Enewald spills all his sadistic thoughts! And I like watching it!

 

[Actinguy]

@Enewald & Slinky: You guys crack me up. :rofl:

 

[Actinguy]

(And the final portion of Juvenal's flashback, as written by Slinky Bear!)

Juvenal is still 18 years old, and he has broken his dead friend's fall.

Juvenal rolls over and pushes the corpse off of his body, Beetle's shirt riddled with bullet holes. He reaches down and touches his ankle...it's not broken, but it's definitely sprained from the fall.

The medic sees him and starts running in his direction, but Juvenal waves him off.

He tightens the laces of his boot and tentatively tries to stand. Careful of not putting too much weight on his injured foot, he slowly makes his way to the top of the rise. Once there, he starts to fire at the oncoming enemies, trying to pick a few off.

Lying belly down on the ground, Juvenal is amazed at the little fountains of sand slowly coming his way. With shock he realizes the fountains of sand are bullets impacting only inches from his head.

He ducks his head down and feels the impact on his helmet.

Any moment now he is expecting the hot flashing pain of a bullet tearing through his flesh.

It never comes.

He looks up again and immediately spots another rebel. Firing a few shots, he sees the enemy soldier drop beneath the bullets and crawl to safety.

"Dammit", he thinks, "I wanted to kill the bastard."

Juvenal hears an explosion behind him and turns from the fighting. A shadow in the dust cloud moans and he sees Tesla, the radio operator, clutching at his face with his left hand.

The right hand holds the mouthpiece of the radio, it’s cord severed.

The medic rushes to Tesla's side. The medic takes the hand away from his face, and Juvenal sees that Tesla´s face is now a bloody mass. Besides the enormous amount of blood, there seems to be something wrong with it.

With a shock, Juvenal realizes Tesla´s nose is missing.

The captain joins the medic, yelling at Juvenal: “Q, get over here! NOW!” He hands the mouthpiece and the rest of the radio to Quentis. “We need to call in air support, Q. Do your damned magic and repair this radio fast...or I'll shoot you myself.” With those words of encouragement, Captain Hill leaves Quentis and rejoins the fighting. Juvenal surveys the damage.

The cord is severed and several grenade shards have pierced the metal casing.

Getting out his army knife, Juvenal gets to work. It is not long before he has repaired the radio sufficiently to call for help.

“Sir, air support enroute, eight Mike. ETA for evac, twelve."

“About damned time, Q. Now pick up your God-damned rifle and do something!”

After a few more shots, the Captain pulls two canisters out of his pack. Pulling the pin from one, he throws it as far as he can in the enemy's direction. When it hits the ground, orange smoke emanates from it. Taking the other canister, Captain Hill takes the pin out and pulls his arm back for the throw. Before he can release it, his arm snaps back and he drops the canister.

A scream of pain erupted from the Captain’s lips.

A bullet had passed though his shoulder, rendering his right arm useless.

Juvenal grabs the dropped canister. Thick white smoke is coming out of it, making it difficult to see. He judged his throw and lets the canister fly. It falls exactly where he had intended, between their position and the other canister.

The smoke makes it impossible to see the enemy. The rebels are using this to their advantage, to creep closer and closer to Juvenal’s position...until the wind suddenly shifts, blowing the smoke directly towards the Juvenal and the other Marines.

The orange smoke is almost on top of Juvenal when he hears the sound of approaching aircraft. He prays that the pilots know what they are doing.

The aircraft flies directly over their position. Suddenly Juvenal sees several bright flashes in front of him, followed by a warm wind of dust and a shower of small rocks.

The sound is deafening.

He doesn't hear the aircraft return and is caught completely surprised by their second salvo. After the last rock bounces off his helmet, Juvenal looksup. There is not much to see through the thick mist of dust and smoke.

Slowly the wind blows the smoke away and Juvenal can see several bodies lying around. None are moving. He scans the area but can not spot a single surviving hostile.

He hears Captain Hill cursing, shouting the the order to fall back. Two Marines are carrying Beetle's body to the east. The ringing in his ear is lessening and Juvenal can hear the sound of rotor blades. A chopper is landing not far away. Running as fast as his injured ankle can take, he arrives at the Blackhawk. Just as he is helped aboard by a crewmember, gunfire erupts behind him. Bullets clank against the hull. The machine gun on the side of the helicopter suddenly turns to life, as the pilot prepares to take off again. A few bullets bounce inside the cabin, but the enemy fire ceases as sudden as it had started.

The only person not yet onboard is the Captain. The medic grabs the Captain's right arm to pull him onboard as the Blackhawk begins to lift off the ground, but a look of pain flashes across the captain’s face and he falls backwards.

Not hesitating, Juvenal grabs a rope from the floor and jumps after him.

Landing hard, Juvenal's injured ankle twists violently. Ignoring the intense pain he stumbles towards the Captain.

A heavy weight hits his chest and Juvenal fights for breath.

Not stopping, he loops the rope through the Captain’s straps. Just as he finishes the knots, he feels the rope go taut. Looping his own hands through the rope, Juvenal and the Captain are quickly lifted high into the air.

His hands have lost their circulation, but he dares not relax his grip. Still feeling the pain in his chest, Juvenal looks down. A hole has appeared in his Kevlar. But there is no blood...the body armor did its job.

From sheer exultation, Juvenal starts to laugh, but it quickly turns into a painful moan. The impact of the bullet has cracked his rib.

Juvenal readjusts his grip, as he and the unconcious Captain dangle from the helicopter hundreds of feet in the air.


Somalia actually doesn't look that bad, he thinks, this far away from the dust.

 

[Actinguy]

Various Times at Various Places

The woman who will kill them all feels much older than her actual age, and she is holding a vase.

The vase was not part of her plan...she had gone to the kitchen to steal a knife, only to discover that there weren’t any.

A good sign.

She slowly creeps across the rug, listening for the sleeper’s reassuring, gentle snore.

But a flash of lightning is quickly followed by thunder so loud that the sleeper nearly leaps out of her bed…forcing her attacker to act faster than originally planned.

“YOU!” gasps the late Count Reinel’s widow.

“Goodbye,” the killer whispers, as she swings the vase with all of her might at the Lady Ellijnore’s head.

 

[Actinguy]

Various Times at Various Places

The woman who will kill them all is seated for Christmas dinner, waiting for Count Osbern’s uncle Robert to finally succumb to the poison she slipped into his wine.

She makes the appropriate noises when he collapses, but then watches with curiosity as she sees the newly-orphaned Matilda rush into her aunt Annelies’ arms.

The young child tries to speak, but can barely breath through her tears. As the killer watches, Annelies bends down and kisses the top of Matilda’s head.

“Shh, I know. I know it hurts. But you are a strong, big girl. And the pain you fell now will only make you stronger.

“You remember those stories you heard? The ones about how I was trapped in a dungeon?”

Matilda nods, wiping her eyes.

“Well, that hurt too. That felt just like you’re feeling right now. But it made me stronger, didn’t it? It made me strong enough to get out, didn’t it?”

Matilda sniffles, and nods again.

“I will protect you. I will take care of you. You like that idea, don’t you?”

“Yes!” Matilda shouts, momentarily forgetting her grief.

“Then you can come live with me. And when the time is right…when you are strong enough…the pain you are feeling right now will finally go away forever.”


As the killer watches Matilda being molded by her aunt, she quickly hatches the next portion of her plan.

Her plan to kill them all.

 

[Actinguy]

Various Times, Various Places

Annelies is 23 years old, and she has just been handed a mysterious message "from far away."

She looks down at the crumpled parchment.

It reads simply:

"Nevers."

 

[Actinguy]

Although there is still some mystery regarding the sender and actual significance of a note that reads "Nevers", it's enough information to finally close the contest!

Slinky Bear actually came the closest...his first guess was wrong about both the sender of the message and the content, but he somehow still got the actual "outcome" of the message correct. Later on, he began sending joke guesses...but when properly combined, his joke guesses actually fill in nearly every blank! :rofl:

However, Slinky was already promised a role within this story for his contributions to both the seige of Jerusalem and Juvenal Quentis' flashback to the Somalia Civil War.

Absolutely every other guess was along the lines of "Juvenal Quentis sent her a message telling her about the future and/or telling her to kill them all."

This is entirely wrong...but in the spirit of someone winning the competition who hadn't already been promised the very same prize ...

Congratulations to Snugglie, who guessed wrong FIRST!


Rather than have their characters appear for a brief, mortal period in history...

...I've decided instead to make them both PERMANENT members of the story, by having their characters exist in 2014!


So...within the next day or so...we'll be flashing forward to not only learn what Johann Braun-Kennedy has been up to...

But also to meet Slinky and Snugglie!

:rofl:

 

[4th Dimension]

And the next guest character would be: Enewald
A frothing on the mouth lunatic who is trying to be "He who will kill them all"