Chapter Text
The Hilichurls wouldn’t stand a chance against the Fatui’s firepower. Through the lenses of his binoculars, Kolya scanned through the entire Hilichurl camp from their elevated position on the cliff. His eyes had long since adjusted to the ambient darkness of the Chasm now that they'd been at it for three days, and the torches held by some of the Churls as well as the open braziers near the entrance gave him visual landmarks to go off by.
The main targets took the diminutive form of an Abyss Mage seated next to the campfire conversing with a Mitachurl who sat cross-legged with its axe in its lap. The bigger, burly beast was a black monolith amongst the lighter-coloured shades of beige and white fur in the camp, even sitting down. Kolya smiled as he noted the red colouring of the Mage's cape.
Scattered around the camp, Hilichurl Towers were manned by elemental variants of archers clutching primitive crossbows, while many of the Churls lay resting and lying about. Nearer to the entrance of the gated perimeter, he spotted a lot of movement from some of the creatures as they lumbered around holding onto quenched Pyro slimes.
The beasts had repurposed an entire camp previously inhabited by the human workers and, in doing so, spoiled much of Liyue's mining equipment; carts thrown onto their sides and spilling out gemstones, railways torn up and used as fences for their camp, support structures left behind by the miners reduced to piles of scrap metal and sawdust. Not much would be salvageable from this, but this wasn't what they came for anyway.
From what he was told, the Chasm was as deep into Liyue territory as a Fatui fighting force this large had ever trespassed into, save for the assault on the Jade Chamber a few months back. When their scouts had returned reports of a possible entrance into the Chasm from Sumeru, far from the Qixing's control, Kolya knew that they'd be sending in a strike team to investigate. What he didn't know was that he would be the one to lead them in.
A Company of 35-40 Skirmishers made up of different squads... Kolya's heart soared when the Major General had appointed him as the expedition leader. For so long he'd pestered the old dog about wanting to be out on the field, wanting to lead men into battle and fight like a true Fatuus, and it finally looked like things were looking up… His hand clasped the binoculars a little tighter as he bit back a smile, imagining how smug he'd be returning to the barracks and wiggling his eyebrows at the General to poke a reaction out of him.
"Captain?" An urgent voice somewhere to his right shattered his reverie, and he remembered that he had a mission to do. "What's the plan?"
Feigning pensiveness, he lowered his binoculars hurriedly and passed them to Ilya, nodding to the Pyroslinger. "Take your Bracer squad and target the Churls who know how to use a crossbow. We have enough guns to fully take them out of the fight."
"The Abyss Mage won't let that happen." His second-in-command warned.
"I'll handle him." The two of them retreated from the edge of the cliff, returning deeper into the cave entrance overlooking the camp to their own small encampment where the soldiers had set up for the night. According to their clocks, it would have been a few hours before midnight at that point in time.
Despite his dreams of glory, Kolya's heart softened at the sight of his men hunkering down for the night. Most of the expeditionary force's manpower had been drawn from under his own command, which significantly made the administration process easier since everybody was already a member of the Fatui war machine.
The duo were greeted by soldiers as they passed them by, some of them already fast asleep lying flat on mats they'd brought while others were still having their rations for the night by the small portable cookers they'd brought along with them as part of their field packs. The Lumenstone deposits, as the higher ups had called it, were scattered about the cave and provided a natural light that bathed everything in a blindingly crystalline blue glow.
"There will be no need for that, Oleg." Kolya shook his head as a soldier spotted the two marching through and tried to put his food down in an attempt to stand and salute. They walked a further distance down before the Pyroslinger next to him broke the silence.
"His name is Oleg?" Ilya snickered.
"He's one of Konev's."
"Oh." The Pyroslinger sobered up almost instantly at the mention of one of the squad leaders. After another short silence, with Kolya nodding to his fellow soldiers and dismissing those who stood up to salute, Ilya spoke up again curiously. "Why do you call him Konev?"
Kolya shot him a curious look. "Why don't you? He's older than us."
"You don't call me Kuznetsov."
"Barely a year older and he wants the formality of an older gentleman." Kolya scoffed and shook his head disappointedly before the two broke into suppressed laughter, punching each other in the shoulders.
They passed the soldiers all by before coming to a part of the cave tunnel where the squad leaders had set up camp. Here, the Lumenstone did not seem to form and the plants were much more muted in their growth, plunging Kolya's sight into pure black for a brief moment as his eyes struggled to adjust to the near pitch darkness of this part of the cave, barely illuminated by the gleam of lanterns and the luminescence of a few stray flowers. Next to him, Ilya became a presence he could barely make out by the sound of his breathing and the clinking of his metallic buckles and buttons that formed part of his Bracer uniform.
In the dark of the cave, Kolya spotted the outlines and silhouettes of the squad leaders huddled around on a bunch of mats placed on the floor, with what appeared to be a small stove where the fire had long gone out. Much to his amusement, it appeared that someone had tried to pitch a tent and failed miserably, judging from the canvas and piles of sticks that were laid out on the floor next to where they were all sitting.
The dingy, cold and wet atmosphere wasn't anything new to him; the prison barracks were often the same. A stalactite from the roof loomed over the huddled group of men, spilling water drop by drop into a small pool of water behind them that was reminiscent of the many leaks in the pipes they'd get back home. The foliage here pulsed and hummed with blue light, illuminating this section of the cave alongside their lamps that Kolya had dimmed to avoid detection by other enemies. The only improvement from the prison barracks was that the smell of wet earth was far more refreshing.
There were nods and deep breaths of anticipation going around the group as the duo joined them all. A voice from the group spoke first: "How goes the final verdict?"
Kolya grunted as he buckled onto his knees awkwardly to adjust himself into a seating position amidst all the armour plating whilst Ilya walked further into the group to retrieve his rifle, shuffling past the seated squad leaders and bringing out his weapon that gleamed in the light of the cave.
Of the 40 Skirmishers, there were 5 Squad Leaders including Kolya as a Captain to lead them all. Through the veil of black, Kolya could make out the vague figures of the other four squad leaders in that room with him. Allowing for a moment of silence first, Kolya took a deep breath in and nodded. "The Mage is still there. Here's the final plan…"
There was a miniature but wide table, hardly a table at all, set in the middle of the group where someone had splayed the map of the cavern that they'd explored thus far. The Vanguard pointed towards the area that their cartographer had been sketching of the Hilichurl Camp, circling the front gate of the camp where the Churls had been corralling Pyro slimes into water basins to keep them from flaring up. "Brutus, your squad will lead the charge. Take care of the Slimes and clear the way for us to move in."
A hulk of a man seated in the background brandished his Cryogun, tapping the muzzle against the temples of his crow-like mask as his distorted voice buzzed through. "They can't name a thing that'll hit them."
Kolya nodded to him before turning his attention to a Hydrogunner who was leaning back leisurely like he'd been eating grapes while waiting. "Kostya, can you take the Hilichurl towers down?"
Typically Hydrogunner were selected for their immense strength and size to carry their military gear on their backs, but Konstantin, or Kostya as he was sometimes affectionately called, was a thin, leaner man who'd have better off been with the Bracers. To suit his size, he was geared in a miniaturized, less bulky version of the ones that Legionnaires typically adorned. His deployment as a Hydrogunner would have been made as a special appointment by one of the higher ups. The sergeant smirked and play-saluted. "With extreme prejudice."
"And what’s this I’m hearing about a Mitachurl?" A voice sitting right across the circle from Kolya called out to him. The Captain grinned as his fellow Vanguard loomed into the lamplight, the star duelist of the batch sitting hunched over. Sergeant Konev smashed his gauntlets together, the clanging sound reverberating across the rough walls of the cave and sending a warm draft around the whole group that felt like a blanket in the cold of the Chasm. "I'll take him."
"So it's settled." Kolya nodded affirmatively, anticipatory of tomorrow's assault as he indicated again towards the map where the Mage and the Mitachurl were. "My squad and Brutus' will push through and sweep everything on the ground floor, Ilya's squad will pick off their archers and cover our troops. Konev, your Squad are the linebreakers. Do not let a deadlock form." He warned. "Konstantin's squad will handle the towers. Remember, as long as they're standing, the Churls' morale won't break."
There was brief silence as the group digested that, before everyone murmured assent, "Glory to the Tsaritsa" was muttered here and there, and the meeting adjourned as everyone prepared for sleep that night.