THE GROTTO

"They never prepare you for the quiet moments after the battle. In training, they drill us on ambushes, how to shoot a gun, tactical formations—but not for the weight of decisions that echo long after the gunfire stops. Beyond Praga's walls, I've learned what Captain Lyra carries inside of her and which is only visible in her eyes—there is no victory in the mud lands, only survival, and its cost is measured in pieces of your soul."

• Nova, City Watch Aspirant, Day 7 of The Mist, 124 AP

The City of Praga has sent a company of its City Watch to root out a nearby hide-out of scavengers.

City Watch aspirants move on the flanks of the main force, scouting ahead. Should they survive this mission, they will be promoted to become full members of the City Watch.

The City Watch soon track down the scavengers and engage them in the open swamp. A deadly firefight begins.

There are countless nameless tribes in the mud lands of the Desolation. These warriors are ready to protect their home, an old flooded bunker, hidden in a grotto. It's all they have, so they will lay down their lives to defend it.

After having taken heavy losses, the scavengers break contact and retreat to their bunker, which they hope to be more defendable. Many are gunned down as they turn and run for the grotto.

As they reach the bunker, a rearguard stays behind to defend the bunker entrance. The rest of the scavengers retreat further and take up positions deep inside the structure.

The rearguard gun down some of the pursuing City Watch.

But they only buy precious few moments with their lives. In the confines of the grotto, the pursuing City Watch simply cannot miss their targets.

Pursuing the scavengers, Aspirant scouts begin to cautiously advance down the stairs into the darkness of the ancient bunker.

Scores of them are killed by explosive booby traps as they descend.

After the Aspirants' lives have been spent to clear the path, the rest of the City Watch advance further into the bunker complex.

As they finally reach the bottom of the stairs, they are funnelled into narrow passageways, where more explosive traps and live electric cables in the water await them...

When the City Watch finally break into the more open areas of the bunker, a close quarters gunfight erupts.

With their backs to the wall, the Scavengers turn to fight the City Watch.

When the ammunition on both sides runs dry, blades are drawn and the killing becomes even more vicious and personal. The warriors of both parties begin to slaughter one another in a blind rage.

Dead bodies in the water are clogging up the passageways of the underground bunker. In the end, there are only two warriors left. At first they fight with their bare hands, but both are tired and the rage of the past few hours falls off them like a veil as they realise the futility of their fighting. They embrace, comforting each other amongst the unimaginable carnage around them. Then, a quick thrust of a hidden knife, and the battle is finished at last.

The sole survivor emerges from the grotto, making her way back to the city of Praga to deliver news of the victory...