Breaking Protocol [Plot]

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January 27, 1623. 4:40 AM. At the start of the attack. They've only just started burning buildings. The central locations are Julian's House and Sine's Apothecary.

<sub>Gunfire hailed in the background, echoing as the screams of women and children rang through the air. The night sky lit up with flakes of ash and embers as machine pit up against their counterparts to set aflame the city. This was completely unexpected. Nobody noticed the machines sneak towards town, nobody suspected a thing. Not even Benedict, who was awakened by a little blond girl jumping on his cot and speaking in a quiet, but frightened voice.

"... Huh?" Benedict rouse himself awake before the girl whimpered, trying to drag him out of the bed.

"Benny! Benny! Father says he hears shots! He sees fire! He thinks there's an attack!" The girl whined.

"What?! Hold on a sec...!" Benedict shooed the girl away before putting on his typical clothes, pants, shirt and vest. He ran outside to meet the head of the church, his old eyes glancing at the city down the road from them.

"... Oh God have mercy..." The man spoke up. Benedict whipped over to Lila, who looked agitated and nervous. There was one thing he could do. Taking a deep breath and calming the butterflies in his stomach, Benedict put his hand on the man's shoulder.

"This is a church. Hide the kids and I'll head into the city and try and bring people out." With a mere protest, Benedict whipped around to go back in and grab his pistol, belt, and then took the stetson that he wore occasionally, putting it on...

After putting the saddle on Lila, the horse reared back and charged into the city with Ben in tow, the man holding himself as close to the horse as possible to avoid the hail of gunfire... There were places he had to visit.</sub>

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Julian was sleeping peacefully in his own bed, unaware of anything that was going to happen. His only concern was what he thought the kids would like for dinner the next day.

The first explosion rocked him awake, and the second sent him launching out of bed and to the window. He'd throw open the curtains and look outside, the street bathed in an orange glow from the flames, and he was stuck standing there in surprise for a few moments, before getting to his senses. Pausing only long enough to tug on his leather slippers and run down the stairs to the children's rooms. Lapis was already in the hall and crying in fear, and she'd cling to her father's legs when he came into view. "Caden!" Julian would call out. "Come here, lad!"

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Caden was snoozing as well. He was quite happy to be sleeping, not suspecting that anything would be going wrong. In fact, his biggest worry was wondering when Reuben would drop by to visit him and Julian and Lapis again.

So he was quite startled awake when he heard that really loud noise. The boy jumped out of bed, one lip pouting and starting to cry. Caden wasn't a noisy crier, but he blindly ran out of his room without even bothering to find slippers to get to Julian and Lapis. Once he found the other, he latched onto Julian's waist.

"Wh-What's happening?!"

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<sub>Benedict and Lila hopped over a fallen piece of timber, passing over the flames as the young priest blindly held his gun out and shot at a clockwork. He then pulled back before skidding to a halt near Julian's house. He then took a deep breath, taking in the smoky air and then whispering.

"Sorry mom, you have to wait..." He then hopped off Lila, dragging her to safety before banging on the door and then yelling out loud, hoping to rouse them as well.

"JULIAN! ARE YOU ALL OKAY?" He noticed a clockwork at the corner of his eye aiming for him, he then pulled his gun out and shot at it, but it didn't seem to affect him very much.

That is before Lila flipped and then trampled the machine.</sub>

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Julian knelt and let the two children cling to him, listening to the chaos outside. "Both of you, get dressed, quickly." He instructed, pushing both of them lightly to get them going. Lapis would hesitate, but run into her room and quickly change.

Julian would run upstairs himself and, ripping off his PJs, would dress in a plain pair of pants and shirt, pulling some old boots on and reaching into his dresser drawer, withdrawing a pistol and the bullets, hooking it to his hip before running back downstairs and gathering the children.

Yelling at the door gave the father a start, but he recognized the voice. "Father Ben!" Gunshot, then crashing, and Julian would throw the front door open, looking at the chaos around him. "Are you alight?"

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Caden nodded, still terrified as anything, but he ran inside his room to pull on some clothes as quickly as he could. Due to how fast he did so, they were rumpled and his shirt wasn't tucked in and his hair was a mess, but he quickly ran back out and waited for Julian. He grabbed Lapis's hand and held onto her tightly as he heard Benedict's voice.

"F-Father B-Benedict!" he squeaked out. That was one person he cared for accounted for; suddenly Caden wanted his big brother as he stayed as close as he could to Julian, trying to be a good big brother and shield for Lapis.

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<sub>Lila naturally saved the man's life again and he took a deep breath, pressing his back against the door and then wiping some sweat off of his brow as the young mare trotted to a better hiding spot. Honestly, she should run, but there was no way to maneuver easily and she wasn't going to leave this place. Not without Ben at least. And Caden was there too!

Ben stumbled a bit when Julian opened the door and he then whipped around, pulling his hair back and his eyes expressing shock and surprise. Oh yeah, he almost got shot. He nodded quickly and then checked to see if Caden and Lapis were there.

"I'm okay. What's going on? Is this an invasion?!" Benedict, this guy is probably not the person you should be asking.</sub>

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Lapis clung to Caden tightly, her little arms wrapped around the boy's waist as she trembled, scared.

"I know about as much as you do, Father. We can't stay here, it's not safe." Julian said. "Is there a shelter, do you know? We have to get the children out of here."

Screams of panic down the street, and Julian looked distressed. "Can you take them somewhere safe? I can still be of help here. I'm not a fighter, but I can help people evacuate at least."

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Caden held onto Lapis as tight as he could without crushing the younger girl. He was shaking too, out of fear of what was happening. He sniffled a bit as Julian and Benedict talked to each other, and cringed when he heard people screaming.

"......" He was scared that something was going to happen to Julian while he wasn't there and he would never see him again and- he sniffled.

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<sub>Benedict knew what he had to do. He would whistle for Lila to come and he would glance over to Julian as he spoke up, glancing over to the terrified kids. He knew what to do. For now? He had to get everybody to safety.

"My church. It's got a safehouse. Down the main road out to the country." He then swallowed nervously. "... i trust Lila can ride you there. I HAVE to find my mother." Even if he had to go into the heart of battle, he would find his mother. No matter how much she screwed up, he still kind of loved her.</sub>

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Julian looked at Ben, silent for a few moments, understanding the man's desire. How could he say no to a man seeking his parent? "Come with me to the church to make sure the kids are safe, and I'll go with you." He'd reach down and put a hand over both child, noting Caden's light sniff.

...

He didn't want to let Ben go alone, but Lapis and Caden needed him there, and he didn't want to put Lapis through the pain of losing yet another parent. He was torn between a desire to help and his duty to his children.

"Lets get to the church first, and work from there."


Lapis clung to Caden, crying into his coat softly as she tried to calm herself down.

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Caden would feel bad if he realized that Julian realized that he was scared. However, he gave a tiny little nod, holding Lapis close. She was practically his little sister in everything but blood and he would try to keep her safe.

He would stay at Father Benedict's church, with Lapis, and Lila, but he wished he could do something to help them.

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<sub>Lila herself knew what to do. She was torn, though she knew she had to bring these three to the church. Well! She would have to speed, be the fastest racehorse in all the planet so that she could get them to safety AND make sure Benedict would be okay. She didn't rear up to make sure that Lapis and Caden are on her back safely and she would turn her head to Julian.

Hurry up, you indecisive bastard! If I don't hurry, Benedict might die! And then she snorted in his face.

---

Benedict himself would cock his gun and then run into the alleyways, trying to hide from these machines and avoid getting shot. He had to get to Sine, make sure that she was okay. Everything rested upon him being safe and getting to Sine safe and without injury. He hoped Lila would take the kids and Julian to safety.</sub>

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Little did Caden know, but Julian was also scared. Scared beyond words. but something kept him going.

Julian would help get Caden and Lapis up onto Lila's back and look to Ben, desperately wanting to help somehow, though Lila's breath in his face got his attention. "... Be careful Ben, I'll be back for you."

He didn't want Ben to go off alone, but he had to take care of the kids. Grabbing Lila's saddle, he'd hop up and onto her back, pulling the kids close to his chest as he grabbed the reigns. "Lets go!" With a tug on the reigns, he directed Lila in the direction of the church and let her take off at her own speed. Julian hadn't rode in years, and he was a little rusty, though the dire situation made old habits appear and allowed him to keep his two passengers safe.

As they rode, a clockwork, almost twice their side, would rear up and aim a gun at them, a glowing eye directed at them. Without thinking, the man would pull out his pistol and aim it at the metal creation, firing once.

Missed, the bullet pinged harmlessly off the armor. Twice.

CRASH.

The bullet met glass and he shattered the optic, causing the creation to flail about as it's vision was robbed. One of the flailing appendages got close and Julian lifted his arm to protect the children from the flailing metal as it ripped across his arm, sending blood flying and causing the man to cry out. Still, Julian managed to yank on the reigns to get them out of the way and going again, away from the flailing monstrosity.

---

Along the path of Ben was two similar Clockworks, both pounding away at the fountain in the city square. As the priest came up on them, they turned and focuses their optics on him, before lifting their guns and aiming at the man, the barrels starting to spin as they charged up power to shoot.

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Caden climbed onto Lila's back with Julian's help, and made sure to cling tightly to Lapis. He was scared, but he was going to be a good big brother and help protect Lapis. He'd ridden on Lila before... but not like this, when they were scared and wondering whether they would survive.

"D-Don't die, Father Benedict!" He called back to the man, as he clung to both Julian and Lapis. He was going to try to keep Lapis safe. He would protect her from bullets.

He gave a frightened squeal as the Clockwork came up to them, and he heard the shots go off. The kid closed his eyes, trembling, but nothing happened to either Lapis or Julian they rode off... until Caden felt blood, which caused his eyes to snap open. Lapis seemed fine, but...

"M-Mr. Shard?!" He stared at the man's arm with a look of horror, his face going a bit white.