It was the middle of the
night in the Louisiana bayous.
And sure enough, there were
vampires.
Loads of them, all mixed with
a brigade of crack Confederate troops.
Even though I had been in
this dimension and time for some months now, I still couldn't believe it.
Vampires!
In the middle of the 1860s,
influencing the rebellion of the southern states against the Union.
As I heard the massed screams
of a whole brigade of Union troops charge the Confederate works protecting the
rebel vamps' home base, I steeled myself as I prepared to unleash my meta-gift
via Here Comes the Sun on the blood-suckers I could
SMELL were in the crowd of greycoats ahead of me.
"Colonel Sangnoir!"
I grinned on hearing that
flat Maine accent, and then turned.
"Colonel Chamberlain!"
The former commanding officer
of the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment came up to me, silver sword
drawn, at the head of his special brigade of troops that had been assigned to
this operation. "Can you use that
magic of yours, Doug?!" Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain then asked as he
indicated the enemy ahead of us, who were being lanced into and bayoneted by
the first wave of bluecoats.
"You read my mind,
Lawrence!" I called back, which made the former professor of rhetoric from
Bowdoin College grin, and then I called out, "System! Here Comes The…!"
"LAWRENCE! DOUG!"
Lawrence growled. "Damn it, Tom! How many times do I…?!"
Tom Chamberlain shook his
head, pointing. "LOOK!"
We looked.
We blink-blinked.
Our jaws were no doubt around
our knees.
And we just STOOD there like
idiots.
As were a whole bunch of
Lawrence's soldiers.
Then again, I couldn't blame
them.
"Oh, my God…!"
Lawrence finally gasped.
I almost echoed
him…
…for in all my
years of experience fighting paranormal and metahuman threats, I had NEVER seen
the likes of what was now tearing the hell out of a flock of vampires at the
centre of the Confederate lines.
And he was doing it with just
a silver-coated AXE!
"Is that…?!"
Buster Kilrain, Lawrence's brigade sergeant-major, gasped.
"President
Lincoln?!" Tom exclaimed.
I focused my mage-sight on
the man in funeral black for a moment.
"It's him," I
declared.
My friends from Maine all
gaped at me, and then looked back.
"Damn…!" Tom breathed out.
"Do we help him?"
Buster asked.
"No."
We looked at Lawrence, who
had a smile on his face. "He's your
Commander-in-Chief, Lawrence," I reminded him, though I simply couldn't
tear my eyes away from the ghastly yet beautiful ballet of death that was
playing out before us at about four hundred metres' distance.
"Look at him, Doug!"
Lawrence said. "Do you
want to stop him?!"
I looked again as the man in
black literally SPUN in mid-air to decapitate two vampires with his axe.
Realising what my friend was implying, I had to nod.
Who on Earth — even MY Earth — would ever believe that the Great Emancipator was also THIS?
"Let's at least keep the heat off
him so he can do his work," I proposed.
Lawrence nodded. "Sound plan," he said before
bellowing out, "BAYONETS!"
And we charged…
night in the Louisiana bayous.
And sure enough, there were
vampires.
Loads of them, all mixed with
a brigade of crack Confederate troops.
Even though I had been in
this dimension and time for some months now, I still couldn't believe it.
Vampires!
In the middle of the 1860s,
influencing the rebellion of the southern states against the Union.
As I heard the massed screams
of a whole brigade of Union troops charge the Confederate works protecting the
rebel vamps' home base, I steeled myself as I prepared to unleash my meta-gift
via Here Comes the Sun on the blood-suckers I could
SMELL were in the crowd of greycoats ahead of me.
"Colonel Sangnoir!"
I grinned on hearing that
flat Maine accent, and then turned.
"Colonel Chamberlain!"
The former commanding officer
of the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment came up to me, silver sword
drawn, at the head of his special brigade of troops that had been assigned to
this operation. "Can you use that
magic of yours, Doug?!" Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain then asked as he
indicated the enemy ahead of us, who were being lanced into and bayoneted by
the first wave of bluecoats.
"You read my mind,
Lawrence!" I called back, which made the former professor of rhetoric from
Bowdoin College grin, and then I called out, "System! Here Comes The…!"
"LAWRENCE! DOUG!"
Lawrence growled. "Damn it, Tom! How many times do I…?!"
Tom Chamberlain shook his
head, pointing. "LOOK!"
We looked.
We blink-blinked.
Our jaws were no doubt around
our knees.
And we just STOOD there like
idiots.
As were a whole bunch of
Lawrence's soldiers.
Then again, I couldn't blame
them.
"Oh, my God…!"
Lawrence finally gasped.
I almost echoed
him…
…for in all my
years of experience fighting paranormal and metahuman threats, I had NEVER seen
the likes of what was now tearing the hell out of a flock of vampires at the
centre of the Confederate lines.
And he was doing it with just
a silver-coated AXE!
"Is that…?!"
Buster Kilrain, Lawrence's brigade sergeant-major, gasped.
"President
Lincoln?!" Tom exclaimed.
I focused my mage-sight on
the man in funeral black for a moment.
"It's him," I
declared.
My friends from Maine all
gaped at me, and then looked back.
"Damn…!" Tom breathed out.
"Do we help him?"
Buster asked.
"No."
We looked at Lawrence, who
had a smile on his face. "He's your
Commander-in-Chief, Lawrence," I reminded him, though I simply couldn't
tear my eyes away from the ghastly yet beautiful ballet of death that was
playing out before us at about four hundred metres' distance.
"Look at him, Doug!"
Lawrence said. "Do you
want to stop him?!"
I looked again as the man in
black literally SPUN in mid-air to decapitate two vampires with his axe.
Realising what my friend was implying, I had to nod.
Who on Earth — even MY Earth — would ever believe that the Great Emancipator was also THIS?
"Let's at least keep the heat off
him so he can do his work," I proposed.
Lawrence nodded. "Sound plan," he said before
bellowing out, "BAYONETS!"
And we charged…
![[+]](/images/collapse_collapsed.png "[+]")
Spoiler
Canadian lighthouse to U.S. Warship approaching it: "This is a lighthouse. Your call!"