The Unionelves

That same day in Parquis City

The familiar landscape of rising black smoke continued in the dense urban environment of Parquis City, the afternoon was approaching, the steel factory sounded the horn to remind everyone of lunch, while the workers took whatever space they could to eat lunch with their soot smeared face and hands as the machinery around the factory whirred down for the time being.

However for Pierre, he decided to skip lunch and go to the address Aywin told him about, a place where a supposed unionist meeting would take place, he provided him with a phrase he had to tell the doorman as the place had a secure door that would only grant entry to those who know it.

Pierre made his way through the busy and congested sidewalks, like every other day he does his best to avoid bumping into the people going into the opposite direction as him, though with how tightly packed the sidewalk was, it was inevitable that he was making contact with some people as they brushed past him though he didn't pay too much attention to it, this was the normalcy for the inhabitants of the city.

Tightly packed in living spaces, like sardines in cans, there were points where there were barely any space to move.

After passing through the dense parts of the city, Pierre recalled the directions Aywin told him about, he was standing in the middle of a residential area of the city, there were still a sizable amount of people going about their day around him, he was surrounded by rowhouses, he noticed the stay at home partners doing household chores, whether it be laundry or taking care of their infants.

Pierre remembered that he must take a left once he encountered the intersection he was in, passing through the rowhouses, he went onto the next block of houses, which he was told on of them had an underground entrance, he slowed down his pace and observed the houses he passed by intently, making way for a group of playing children who ran past him, he continued on his search for some sort of opening under the houses until he found it.

He saw what seems to be stairs leading to the basement of the structure, he went down it and was met with a metal door by his right, Pierre remembered that he must knock on the door five times or he will be ignored, he did as Aywin told him to and a metal slit opened to reveal a pair of brown eyes.

"What's your business here?" The elf behind the door said with a gruff voice.

"I wanted to see if there were books to be read." Pierre replied with a phrase which Aywin said would grant him access to the building.

The metal slits closed and Pierre heard multiple locks being opened from the other side, he waited eagerly as the sounds of the busy city can still be heard from where he is although a bit faint, once the door opened the eyes behind the door revealed a towering figure, Pierre can only look at him as he felt slight intimidation from the elf's aura "Welcome to the Drunken Rat comrade." He greeted as he put emphasis on the last word, Pierre nodded in response.

Pierre breathed in deeply as he entered the bar, it was lively and assuming from the clothes the patrons were wearing, they were working class people like him, a familiar sight which made Pierre lower his guard for a bit, the doorkeeper closed the door behind him and locked it again which made Pierre look back for a bit.

He then focused back on the bar, a few eyes stared at him for a moment before going back to their businesses, the atmosphere was warm, accompanied by music on a vinyl player playing on low volume, a sense of camaraderie can be felt even from strangers, Pierre looked around for Aywin on the booths and the tables in the bar, the establishment isn't that large but it's enough for a sizable gathering, he navigated throughout the murmuring crowd to find his friend.

Pierre took small steps as to not disturb the patrons of the bar, he then noticed a dark skinned elf drinking all by himself on the counter "There he is." Pierre thought to himself, he then approached Aywin and gave him a light tap on the back prompting Aywin to look back "Oh hey! You actually made it." Aywin greeted warmly "So you just wanted a drink with me then?" Pierre joked "Haven't been to these kinds of places in ages though." he continued as he sat in a wooden stool next to Aywin.

"No I did not lure you here for a drink, I mean we could but that's not why I made you come here." Aywin explain as he began to swirl the glass causing the remaining liquids inside of it to shake, he then leaned closer to Pierre and pointed towards what seems to be a wooden wall "That right there is a door to a larger room, that is where the the unionists meet up, discuss their plans and such." he said in a whispered voice.

"I see, multiple layers of security then, that explains this bar then, seems like you converted an old Underbooze from the Rum and Wine prohibition days." Pierre said as he understood the purpose of the establishment he was in "I thought you missed the days when we were in the army." he chuckled.

"Trust me I do, we were young back then, had a purpose unlike now, we're working ourselves to death, and for what? Nothing." Aywin said as a tone of anger was clear in his voice "Yeah, I miss those days too." Pierre sadly replied.

The barkeep by their side then went to the vinyl player to change the record, the song now being played was energetic, the lyrics were urging people to celebrate as the murmuring all over place got a bit louder "Remember the total security operations we participated in? We were the last batch of regional army troopers to participate in it you know." Aywin said as he recalled back on his days in the regional army with Pierre.

"Yeah, the safest places in all of Yvir after the last offensive took place, securing trade routes, clearing out spider caves, bandit encampments, ambitious dark mages even." Pierre clasped his hands together and lowered his head.

"We basically put the adventurer's guild out of business and they didn't like us for it." He laughed along with Aywin.

"Remember when we had to take back control of a village under the control of a dark mage? That person basically enslaved the whole population." Aywin sat straight on his stool as he recalled the event "I... don't like what we did back there." Pierre replied with a strong hint of regret in his voice, Aywin raised an eyebrow at him until he realized what he was talking about "Right, I'm sorry." he apologized "Must've been the alcohol." he tried to regain his composure.

"No it's okay, I just didn't like that we had to kill innocent people that day, innocent elves who were mind controlled by that damn mage." Pierre gritted his teeth "Hey, at least we found out the location of his tower and dropped some artillery shells on that bastard." Aywin tried to cheer up his friend "Death was too good for someone like him, compared to what he's done, it was a mercy." Pierre retorted as a grim look started to form on his face.

There was a brief moment of silence between the two, the only sounds to be heard was to continuous overheard conversations from the patrons of the bar "That's why I left the army after that." Pierre admitted prompting Aywin to look at him "You, you still stayed in the army for a while until the end of the Days of Rage." Pierre turned him head towards his friend "That's why your unionist affiliation was a surprise for me, thought you would hate those guys."

"No...No, I don't." Aywin replied turning his head back at the display of alcohol on the shelves.

"When you left, I was promoted to squad leader and deployed at Gilhous, the armed miners there managed to beat back multiple waves of unionbreakers, when we arrived to quell this uprising, they refused to shoot at us, all of them were former soldiers who tried to live a life they were promised but never delivered, Command told us to fire but I couldn't bring myself to, the commanding officer took notice of this and I got dishonorably discharged for insubordination when the Days of Rage ended." Aywin sighed after he explained.

Pierre rubbed his back to comfort his friend, he empathized with him, being familiar with the feeling of being used and not appreciated, they were both soldiers after all, after the Total Security operations ended in success of securing the countryside from threats only the adventurer's guild would confront since this would be a waste of time for each Grand Army to solve these.

The need for secure roads wasn't that needed since no sane bandit group would attack large troop formations moving along the countryside and important goods that were being transported were heavily guarded, that is until the industrial boom happened in the western states, the laying down of railroads and constant transportation of goods between cities meant that safe roads were needed, Pierre remembered all of this, he thought he was fighting for a good cause but for the ones on top, it was secondary, he fought for profits first and foremost.

"You know I thought of me being a civilian engineer after all of that, maybe do some good, but I landed this job, same as you, I thought I could be on top of Yvir." Aywin continued, regret seemingly present in his voice.

"We all thought of that." Pierre responded, reassuring his friend.

"Anyways that's why I joined the unionists, maybe this was my chance at redemption." Aywin said turning his head to face Pierre, just then at that moment, they noticed that the elf with a large and intimidating stature opened the door for a group of three men, dressed in the same working clothes as them, they entered the room and instantly took notice of Aywin who while walking past him and Pierre tapped on his shoulder.

"That's our cue to go in through that door." Aywin whispered while Pierre nodded in response.

The two of them got up from their stool and followed the three men towards the hidden wall, The bearded one wearing a green sleeved shirt and grey pants leaned towards Aywin "Is this the friend you've been talking about?" he asked referring to Pierre "Yeah, he used to be a soldier like me, trust me he'll be very useful." Aywin replied while smiling, seeming being proud of having Pierre as his companion.

"We'll see then." the bearded elf replied.

Just then the door opened and it revealed an indeed larger room as Aywin said earlier, the thick wooden walls of the room managed to mute the commotion coming from the bar, the room was filled with wooden chairs neatly organized in two sections while the front of the room was a small stage and the back of the room has five wooden tables that rests upon the back wall "This seems to be some sort of meeting hall." Pierre thought to himself as he continued to ponder the room.

The room was quite empty at the moment, with only the five elves present, the group then spread across the room trying to see if there were any tidying that needs to be done "So, new guy where do you come from if I may ask?" the elf with the black suit jacket politely asked as he was removing said clothing, his handlebar moustache giving off a sense of professionalism.

"Oh, I came from the Lonarum District of Parquis City, born and raised there." Pierre answered while removing his newsboy cap "Oh so you're my neighboring district, I live in Kresprende District." The man said as a he removed his fedora and put his suit jacket and hat on the table hugging the walls of the room.

"Rough neighborhood for both of us then." Pierre joked which prompted the moustachioed elf to chuckle "Oh where are my manners, My name is Maurice Lavaud." Maurice said as he extended an arm towards Pierre "I'm Pierre Leroux." Pierre met his hand in response and both elves shook hands "A pleasure to meet you, and your friend?" he asked pointing at Aywin "Aywin Cartier." Aywin stood straight, Maurice extended his hand as he approached him "Pleasure to meet you." Maurice greeted.

"I guess we haven't met yet." Aywin said while shaking his hand "No we haven't indeed but we do now." Maurice replied as he adjusted his red tie under his gray suit vest "I assume you also haven't met my other companions here." Maurice said referring to the two other elf in the room as they adjusted the chairs and checked for any signs of eavesdropping.

"That young fellow over there is Anton Montes." Maurice said referring to the youngest of the group, the elf with a tan complexion, wearing a straw boater hat and a loose collarless shirt tucked in his brown pants, Pierre observed the young man and he concluded that he is no older than 22 or 23, "Nice to meet you all." Anton greeted them "I am one of the dockworkers from the ports." he said as he continued to introduce himself.

"Yes, our boy here knows the Ins and Outs of the imported goods." Maurice said "It's how us unionists get the stuff we want to the places we want." Anton vaguely referred to the smuggling of firearms to unionist groups across the industrial regions, Pierre understood what he meant though "That's interesting, but why did you join the unionists?" Pierre questioned, his curiosity flaring as to how a young man like Anton was pushed into believing the ideology of Unionism.

"Well..." Anton started "I got my own childhood robbed from me, they made me work as a kid, in dangerous conditions, then during the Days of Rage, my mother was accused by the regional authorities of being a unionist, they executed her without question." Anton answered, the atmosphere of the room becoming gloomy.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Pierre replied "It's fine, at least now, I'm fighting for a cause that will make sure that what I went through never happens to anyone again!" Anton replied enthusiastically, his optimism brightening up the room "He really reminds me of you 20 years ago." Aywin whispered in Pierre's ear making Pierre look at him.

"Maybe, then hopefully his idealism never dies." Pierre whispered back.

"I work with Anton in the docks, I list down the items and he moves the boxes into the trucks or if exporting, moves them into the ships." Maurice continued, he then shifted his eyes towards the bearded elf in the room "And finally, that right there is Lochlan McLean." he said as Lochlan ignored him to focus on his security sweeps "He drives the trucks to various factories in Parquis, products from lumber to unrefined ore to be processed, you name it." Maurice said as Lochlan knocked gently on the wooden walls, looking for any sign of hollowness in case some listening devices are slipped in.

"We're in the clear, and next time, don't go around telling your life stories when the sweeps aren't finished." Lochlan scolded them to which Maurice shrugged "Come on, this location has been used right at the very aftermath of the Days of Rage, the didn't find it in a span of ten years they won't find it now." he said, reassured of the obscurity of the location.

An audible 'Hmph' can be heard from Lochlan as he approached the group "Aywin." he said in a booming voice "Have the pistols already reached the clothing factories? The ladies in the trade unions there need it." he asked.

"It's there since yesterday, the bombs I made are already in the hands of the construction workers union, and the Povlikim machine gun is hidden under a locked dumpster behind an abandoned building, a trash worker union member has the key." Aywin answered as he listed down the accomplished tasks that was given to him.

"That's good." Lochlan nodded as he kept his stern face.

Lochlan turned his back around to face the small wooden stage "You, Pierre." Lochlan turned around again to face him "Aywin here says you're a soldier, can you give me more specifics on what you did in the regional army?" he said with an inquisitive look.

"I was just part of the regular infantry, that's all." Pierre replied sternly though it was clear that in Lochlan's facial expression that he wasn't satisfied with the answer "If I understand then, you were in the last batch of soldiers that fought in the War on Banditry yeah?" Lochlan questioned, inquiring deeper into Pierre's background.

"I was." Pierre replied dryly.

"Yeah, I heard that the last major battles of the war was the bloodiest ones, I guess some things do go out with a bang." Lochlan said as he crossed his arms, Pierre stood silently, remembering his darkest days during the siege of Rochefort Castle "Rochefort Castle." Lochlan piped up just as Pierre was recalling it, Lochlan crossed his arms while Pierre retained his composure in front of Lochlan's towering figure.

"I lost a lot of friends in that battle." Pierre said, pulling back on his emotions "That damned necromancer gave you a lot of trouble didn't he." Lochlan said putting both his arms on his waist "I can tell by your look that you're an elf that lost a lot for little gain." Lochlan said as he pierced through Pierre's demeanor, while the other elves in the room listened in on their exchange.

"I don't know if you still have doubts in our cause but trust me, I assume you're informed of what we're doing by Aywin here before you came here, risking your life for another doesn't seem to be appealing after what you've been through yeah?" Lochlan took a step forward whilst Pierre stayed silent.

"I'm trusting you... For now, in the meantime, the Port worker's union leader needs to see you two soon, said she needs someone of your profession." Lochlan told them which made Pierre perk up from his wallowing.

"I do sincerely hope you're with us fully Pierre." he continued, his tone was more genuine.

"I am." Pierre spoke up.

"We'll see..." Lochlan replied "Okay for everyone else" Lochlan turned to the other elves "We'll be having other people here, just a recap of what we did for this week, do a second sweep of the room we need to be sure we weren't eavesdropped right about now." Lochlan ordered "You got it boss!" Anton said as he followed cheerfully.

As Pierre and Aywin come and do their task, Maurice approached them "Don't worry about old Lochlan there, he might act rough but he deeply cares for his friends and those sympathetic to our cause." He reassured.

"I've meet plenty of his types on the army." Pierre replied.

As they all went on to do a second sweep, Pierre can't shake off the feeling of worry, meeting with the Port Worker's union leader already gave butterflies to his stomach, everyone in the city knows who they are.

"Judith Donnet..." Pierre thought to himself, the most well known of the three leaders of the Port worker's union.

"I need to talk to Aywin after this." he said to himself as he continued checking the room.

...

The meeting went smoothly as expected, the unionists present listed off their accomplished tasks and given new ones, and as expected, it involves more weapon storing, but this time it involves more collaboration between the workers of different sectors, the workers at the fertilizer plants were told to give more supplies to Aywin and his assigned crew of bomb makers that he taught, overall all the meeting in general made Pierre think what the union leader have in store for him.

As Pierre and Aywin walk past the residential area and back into the factory areas, devoid of people in the streets as all the employees are back working after their lunch, Pierre already knew he was late to clock in but he didn't care, there was much more pressing issues in his mind as of now.

"Hey Aywin." Pierre spoke up in low voice.

"What is it Pierre?" Aywin replied, curious of what his friend called him up for.

"You know the leaders of the Port worker's union right?" Pierre asked, looking at Aywin while paying attention to where he's walking "There's three of them, the triplets as they are called, they are Judith Donnet, Verrona Donnet, and Katia Lemaitre." Aywin answered.

Pierre stopped walking, making Aywin stop walking too "What's wrong Pierre?" Aywin asked "Aywin, the Donnet sisters are crimelords." Pierre replied "No, they're not, don't tell me you believe what those newspapers say, trust me they're good people." Aywin rebutted, however Pierre does not feel fully assured.

"Aywin they're using the union, as a front for their criminal activities, you've been there a few times, you surely have noticed the illegal acts being committed in broad daylight." Pierre replied to which Aywin just laughed "My friend, the illegal acts being committed is the unionists smuggling weapons, the both of us identifying as unionists is enough for us to go to prison, trust me, the triplets, they're not what you think." Aywin argued.

Pierre gave a deep sigh and stayed silent for a moment, the only sound to be heard is the busy engines of railcars and trucks, along with honking and the almost deafening sound of machinery being operated from the factory they stopped right in front of "I'm giving my full trust in you Aywin, don't disappoint me." Pierre replied.

"I never let you down Pierre." Aywin smiled.

"I guess you don't." Pierre replied with a grin.

As the two friends went to their workplace, a distant ship horn can be faintly heard.