Epitaph of War: Trenches in the Abyss
Undaunted against Hopelessness
If any question why we died,
Tell them, because our fathers lied.
Tell them, because our fathers lied.
Several weeks since her last foray into the overlapping and chaotic visions, Jacqualine again managed to concentrate and insert herself into one of them: this time, she found herself in a small, dark dug-out dirt room dimly kept alight with a torch of steel and glass. It contained a dozen-fold beds and improvised tables and chairs, which consisted of crates stamped with a black eagle. A number of people in dark-green uniforms and patterned steel helmets kept Jacqualine's projection company; some were engaged in discussion, others were engrossed in a card game of sorts. The helmets were of the same design as that of the soldiers of the 55th Storm Division, and although Jacqualine could not understand the language, it sounded similarly consonant to the tongue that they spoke. She noted their unit insignia, which was the profile of a wolf's head. After some time, a loud whistle was sounded and the soldiers put on masks that resembled snouts, armed themselves with sabres of clear Abyssal, but not Vyriavaxian, origin as well as the same unusual weapons of wood and steel as their black-clothed peers in Greyhyx. Following this procession, Jacqualine ascended from the quarters into what looked like a very improvised trench, and the soldiers fell into position along its jagged lines. She could quickly ascertain that they were in an Abyssal borderland: this trench was located in a dead forest, although this particular spot had evidently been cleared of trees, many of which had been used in the filling of the trench. Loud thundering could be heard from behind her, which eventually resulted in muffled explosions on the far horizon. As time went by, Jacqualine could see a demonic horde on the approach. Once it was closer, a different type of ringing came crashing down closer on the dead battlefield, and a current of thick smoke emerged a couple of hundred feet before the trench. She could just barely make out figures creeping closer, apparently having had something stuck on their skin from the smoke; the iconic skeletal silhouettes of the spear-wielding babaus eventually made themselves clear. However, they did not make it alive to the trenches, their perceptible outlines being gunned down by rapid shots fired from behind Jacqualine's current position. Once the main force of demons had closed in, the whole line of assembled soldiers began opening fire, supported by a flanking contingent from within the forest. Once the battle had subsided, Jacqualine explored her surroundings. Upon closer inspection of the destroyed demonic horde, she could immediately rule out their being Vyriavaxian. Instead, she could with some authority assert them as being Nocticulan, in part because a number of succubi and incubi could be found in their fallen ranks. Thereafter, she intended to locate an officer's quarters. She found that the trenches were enclosed in a quadratic, or octagonal, pattern, and the centre housed the source of the loud thundering: big metallic cannons with long barrels. Some of these cannons were smaller with shorter barrels. Jacqualine had also noted a repeated word amongst the trench sergeants' communications, "Helionen," which Jacqualine deduced to be a name.
She eventually reached a dug-out room where a mass of unfamiliar metallic devices were on display, staffed with helmetless soldiers wearing unknown gadgets. A sketched map, presumably of their surroundings, had been mounted on one of the walls, which seemed to indicate nearby unit locations. After noting everything inside, a troop of senior officers entered the room. The one with the most fancy rank marking was a middle-aged blonde woman with an eyepatch, which Jacqualine concluded must be Helionen. Shortly after witnessing their entry, she lost focus and returned to her worldly self.
The Abyss beckoned. Now something more familiar encroaches…
