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Family Crest Family Crest

Sean Vivier

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Modern Knighthood

Your squire hands you your cleaned M-16, the legendary weapon Tearbringer. You stand so he can tie your tunic over your Kevlar. Your image in the mirror allows you to see that you stand in proper military precision. Your personal coat-of-arms of two lions combatant, along with the badge of a sword crossed by arrows to mark you as Order of the Green Beret.

Fostering is what you call your tutelage of Squire Assad. But it's well understood the boy stands hostage for the good behavior of his terrorist father. Still, Assad serves you well.

A text arrives on your phone. The king has summoned you to Washington for military service.





On the television screen, you can see an embassy in flames. Your friends and allies lie cold and dead on the ground. All while a free company led by some mystery knight makes its getaway unhindered. And you're too far to do anything about it.



You leave your castellan in charge of your lands, but you know there's little reason to worry. Your peasants are loyal and they will run the factory as well as if you'd never left.

A troop transport at the nearest air field takes you to Andrews Air Force Base. There you meet some of your fellow Knights of the Green Beret. Sir John, the munitions expert, with a crowned bear holding a sword for his heraldry. Sir Raymond, the sniper, a griffin's head his sigil. Sir Martin the combat engineer, with a clockwork lion rampant for his emblem. And Sir Walter, the combat medic represented by a boar couchant. Each has their own squire, as well.

The King of America himself is there to give you your mission. A free company has taken the American embassy in London hostage. Your mission, to rescue the hostages, retake the embassy, and discover who hired the mercenaries. You're to leave post haste.

As team leader, it falls to you to determine tactics.









You secure the rooftop without incident, leaving Sir Raymond in a sniper's position across the way, then lightfoot it down the stairs toward the ballroom where the hostages are held. You scope the scene through a window in the door, then give silent commands. Your men are Knights of the Green Beret. You can count on them.

You all open fire and spread out to take cover as soon as the door opens. The mercenaries spin to return fire rather than hurt the hostages, thankfully, while the hostages run for cover of their own.

The mercenaries wear garish blue and gold uniforms to mark their company, but their commander wears black fatigues with a black balaclava that hides his face, even a black tunic over his body armor without any coat-of-arms. While his mercenaries fall to a man, he manages to get past you with the ambassador as a human shield.

All the mercs are down, so you race after him up the stairs. A helicopter has landed, and the mystery knight shoves his last hostage into you as he boards. The glass shatters and the pilot falls, thanks to Sir Raymond across the way. But the mystery knight returns fire to take down Sir Raymond, then takes over the chopper's controls. As he lifts, you still have no idea who he is or what he wants.

You've saved the hostages, but the mystery knight has escaped.





After sending Sir Raymond to a sniper's nest across the street, you order Sir John and Sir Walter to take a ram to the door. But when they do, it triggers explosives that tear them both apart and leave your ears ringing.





You take positions in the apartment building across from the embassy. All of you take your sights, but it's Sir Raymond you'll trust most as sniper.

You order weapons free. Still, most of the mercenaries stay away from the windows. There is only a glimpse of the back of a balaclava before Sir Raymond takes his shot.

The body falls, but the others only hurry out of sight. You have to watch while the free company executes the hostages in a hail of machine gun fire.

You've failed your mission.



You call the embassy's line. You have to hang up on voicemail several times before a synthesized voice answers. You introduce yourself and ask the mercenary his demands. The only response is digitized laughter and a click.

A helicopter arrives on the roof, where the mercenaries pour into it. The hostages are still inside when the helicopter lifts and the entire embassy implodes.

You've failed your mission.



You both open fire and spread out to take cover as soon as the door opens, but Sir Martin still takes a bullet. The mercenaries spin to return fire rather than hurt the hostages, thankfully, while the hostages run for cover of their own.

The mercenaries wear garish blue and gold uniforms to mark their company, but their commander wears black fatigues with a black balaclava that hides his face, even a black tunic over his body armor without any coat-of-arms. While his mercenaries fall to a man, he manages to get past you with the ambassador as a human shield.

All the mercs are down, so you race after him up the stairs. A helicopter has landed, and the mystery knight shoves his last hostage into you as he boards. The glass shatters and the pilot falls, thanks to Sir Raymond across the way. But the mystery knight returns fire to take down Sir Raymond, then takes over the chopper's controls. As he lifts, you still have no idea who he is or what he wants.

You've saved the hostages, but the mystery knight has escaped.





You call the abort. Overhead, you can hear a chopper taking the mercenaries to safety. Then controlled demolition levels the building, right on top of you and your men.



His Majesty thanks you for the update and praises your work, but commands you finish your mission and not alert him again until the mystery knight is either dead or captive.



Your combat engineer, Sir Martin, is able to send a surveillance drone to follow the helicopter. It lands in the courtyard of St. Paul's Cathedral, and the video shows the mystery knight as he runs inside.





His Majesty is furious. He strips you of title and rank right then and there over the sat phone. You are no longer a knight.



Without your team, it's nigh impossible to find the mystery knight. You only have a clue to his whereabouts when you see St. Paul's Cathedral explode in the distance.







Your squire is all you have left when you make your way to the ruins of St. Paul's. Alas,there are no clues to guide you on your way.

You hear the click of a cocked pistol behind you. "I've waited a long time for this," says a familiar voice you can't quite place. "I'll be taking my son back now."

It's all clear now. The mystery knight is Assad's father. Anonymous, his actions wouldn't risk his son.

He waits until his son is again by his side. Then and only then does he spray you with a hail of bullets. The body armor catches it all, but still, it drops you. You can't breathe, and you swear you felt some ribs break.

















The queen makes you wait several hours. Even then, she refuses help, only berates you for actions outside your own realm. In that time, the mystery knight's trail grows cold. He's long gone and gotten away with it.



You spend hours at Canary Wharf, but no sign of him. The mystery knight is long gone. You've failed your mission.



You spend hours at the Tower of London, but no sign of him. The mystery knight is long gone. You've failed your mission.



You spend hours at Windsor Palace, but no sign of him. The mystery knight is long gone. You've failed your mission.



You spend hours at Trafalgar Square, but no sign of him. The mystery knight is long gone. You've failed your mission.



You spend hours at London Bridge, but no sign of him. The mystery knight is long gone. You've failed your mission.



You spend hours at Westminster Abbey, but no sign of him. The mystery knight is long gone. You've failed your mission.



You begin to think you won't find him, until a brief window opens in the crowd and you see the figure in black, admiring Big Ben.





When you find the mystery knight, he's laying Semtex along the cathedral's pillars, surrounded by the bodies of guards and clergy and tourists. You raise trusty Tearbringer, but he tisks and wags his finger.

"Sanctuary, sir knight."





"So, what is it you want?"

You can see the smirk even through the balaclava. "What do I want? What I've always wanted. I want an end to your Crusader States in the Middle East."

Closer, you can better hear his voice. You realize with a start: this is Assad's father, the terrorist mastermind.





When the cathedral explodes, the blast is enough to liquify your organs and break every bone in your body.



You wisely seek treatment at the nearest hospital. Yet by the time your ribs are bound, the mystery knight is long gone. He will never face justice for his deeds. Your mission has failed.



Every step is agony. No wonder the man and child outpace you with ease. By the time you reach them at the Thames, they've already boarded a speedboat. It's untied and the engine has started. They're going to get away.





Tearbringer once again proves trustworthy. The crowds part at the sound of the shot, leaving a corridor to see the mystery knight's body in a pool of his own blood.

You still don't know why he did it. But at least now he'll never harm another soul.

The End



The mystery knight sees you long before you reach him. His eyes dance as he raises his pistol and takes careful aim. You never hear the gunshot.



Assad pulls his father's gun and your heart leaps. Until he takes careful aim and fires at you. He misses. You have to watch father and son speed away down the Thames.

You've lost your squire and, what's more, you've let the mystery knight get away.



It takes all your strength to toss the grenade with all your broken ribs. You can't watch. You hear the explosion and you feel the heat on your back, but you can't bring yourself to look.

You've lost your squire and your order, but you've put a stop to the mystery knight,

The End



When you pull your knife, the black knight is ready for you. He flips you over his hip and draws his pistol. He has no such reservations about killing a man in a church.



You place your sidearm at Assad's head. "I warned you what would happen," you say, as you cock the gun.

The black knight screams his surrender. He throws aside every weapon he has, even his body armor and balaclava, as he hurries out of the cathedral and falls to his knees. He keeps yelling his surrender and begs you to spare his son.

Your men soon have him in zip ties. You've won.

Your squire will never trust you again.

The End



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