[Ties]Campaign 5

"Now then, before we begin with class, " said Carlos, "Skaria, please head down to the main armory to retrieve your other classmates."

"I get to have more friendsies?!" cried Malachi in perverted delight, "Oh, goodie! I like friendsies! Ow?!"

"Let's go, Malachi, " said Arlianne, "Stop doing something so embarrassing already."

"Yes, yes, " said Malachi, "Well, then, I'm off!"

The rest of Class 13 watched as Malachi and Arlianne disappeared through the doorway. Once the door was shut, the class became rowdy.

"Yo, Professor!" called out a cadet, "Are you seriously letting that nutjob lead us?!"

"You've seen his performance, " said Carlos, "With just a few people, he was able to take you all out, not including Ms. Cuevas and Mr. Simmons, of course."

Patrick glared at the two cadets seated before him. They were the two who were left standing by Malachi and the other Eskurs due to their surrender. Tyler and the other, Samantha Cuevas, shrunk into their seats.

///

The main armory held most of the academy's weapons and military-grade equipment. It was actually the academy's furnace, but was retrofitted as a full time armory due to the nature of the materiel produced. As such, siege engines, steam knights, fusils, repeaters, and every other weapon used were produced and stockpiled in here.

Malachi and Arlianne went through the gates and were greeted by an intense heat wave due to the large amount of pyrocite being used and processed. Having been used to this phenomenon, Malachi and Arlianne asked a nearby engineer where Class 13's designated armory was. The engineer directed them to the end of the hall they were in before getting back to work.

Arriving at their designated armory, the two were greeted by a group of cadet engineers covered in dirt and sweat operating one machine after another. There was one Eskur male surrounded by Perlasians. The Eskur was operating a crane and was replacing a siege engine's cannon. He was assisted by two Perlasians, a man and a woman, who were guiding the cannon with their steam knights.

Two other Perlasian males were replacing broken fusils and repeaters with new ones, and another Perlasian woman was seemingly taking inventory. The one who was taking inventory noticed their new visitors.

"Hello there!" greeted the woman loudly due to the surrounding noise, "Do you need something!?"

Malachi and Arlianne approached the woman who greeted them, and introduced themselves.

"A Skaria?!" repeated the woman, "Hey, Skosti! You have a kinsman here!"

The Eskur who was operating the crane stopped his work and looked back. Seeing Malachi's red eyes, he left his station to greet him.

"A kinsman, you say?" asked the Eskur, "Greetings, kinsman, I am Asher Skosti. I work as an engineer for Class 13."

"Yeah, and I'm your squad leader, Malachi Skaria, " returned Malachi, "A pleasure to meet you."

As soon as Malachi said his name, Asher suddenly dropped onto the ground and praised Malachi.

"Oh, Clan Skaria lives!" praised Asher, "Let this lowly kinsman serve you to the fullest!"

"Holy crap?!" exclaimed Malachi, "Japanese Fried Chicken, get up, man! And stop treating me like I'm some sort of god!"

"At once, milord!" affirmed Asher as he stood up, "Any other requests, milord?"

Malachi stared in great disbelief at the sight before him. The other Perlasians around them also stopped working and watched Asher's actions in amazement. It should be noted, though, that Asher seems to be the eldest amongst Class 13's engineers and the rest were young.

Malachi rubbed his head and sighed.

"Listen here, uh, Asher, " he said, "It is true that I carry the name of Skaria, but I have no clue about my ancestry. My mother and father hadn't told me anything about Clan Skaria. So, rather than treating me like some deity of yours, please treat me as an equal, all right?"

"Never!" refused Asher, "Our gratitude for Clan Skaria will never let us treat milord as mere equals. It is because of Clan Skaria that the Perlas monarchy allowed us to live even after our defeat!"

'Shoot, ' thought Malachi, 'If I knew about the history behind Mama's name, I wouldn't have used it. My mixed lineage is one thing, but to be related in the war years ago? I should visit Gramps soon...'

Malachi looked around and watched the others' faces. The woman who greeted them had a cramped smile, and the rest had slackened jaws. Malachi covered his face with one hand and massaged his forehead.

"Gah, fine, fine, call me whatever, " he told Asher, "Now then, gather the others and introduce yourselves to me."

Asher nodded repeatedly and herded the others towards Malachi. Standing before Malachi were a pair of twins, two men, the woman who greeted them, and Asher.

"The ones here are just half of the entire Class 13 engineers, " explained Asher, "The others went to the depot to procure more equipment. Ah, speaking of, here they are."

Arriving through the doorway of their armory was a group of four Perlasians, three women and one man. The new arrivals saw their other companions lining up before Malachi and Arlianne, and thought to drop what they were carrying to line up with them.

"Uh, is there something you need from us?" asked a woman.

"Relax, I'm just your new squad leader, " said Malachi, "My name is Malachi, er, Malachi Skaria."

Again, when Malachi said his name, a reaction was found on the man's face. Although, rather than hate, it was more of curiosity, instead.

"Is this all of you?" asked Malachi, "Well then, please introduce yourselves, starting from you."

Malachi pointed at one of the twins at the end of the line. It was a young woman.

"My name is Felicia Giba and this is my brother, Felix Giba, " she said, "We are siege engine operators together with Asher. Pleased to meet you, Squad Leader."

The man beside her, Felix, nodded towards Malachi. Next, the person after them spoke up.

"My name is Chase Trias, " he said, "I work with my brother, Stephen, maintaining the class's equipment."

"I'm Stephen Trias, " introduced the other, "We also work with the siege engine to load the cannon when in operation."

Malachi nodded in understanding. He then shifted his gaze to the woman who greeted them.

"I'm Margaret Croix, daughter of the Earl of Croix, " she said, "I work as the inventory keeper of Class 13. A pleasure to meet you."

Malachi raised a brow.

'A daughter of an Earl?' He thought, 'What is she doing in a place like this?'

"Surprised to see an Earl's daughter, no?" said Asher, "She has her circumstances, so don't ask too much, milord."

Malachi shrugged and moved his gaze to the four other arrivals. The next person to introduce themselves was the man with the young women. He had a full set of hair on his face, and quite a large body, making him suitable to be a steam knight.

"I am Garret Kingston, " he said, "I work as logistics with the girls here."

"Olivia Atkasin, " said the first one.

"Ritva Cruz, " said the second.

"Simone Jury, " said the third.

"Oh, a harem, " commented Malachi, "I envy you. Ha! You thought you'd hit me, but no—ouch?! How?!"

"For every unneeded comment you make, Malachi, " said Arlianne, "I will hit you. Mama told me to do so. Even if you block one hit, I still have another."

Arlianne aimed a chop on Malachi's head, but Malachi evaded it. Afterwards, though, Arlianne sent a jab at Malachi's side, which made him drop on the ground.

"Milord?!" cried Asher, "You we—urk?!"

Asher was about to curse Arlianne, but he received an intense glare from Malachi instead.

"Chill out, Asher, " said Malachi, "This is normal for my wife. Haha! You misse—woah!"

Another jab was sent to Malachi, followed by a roundhouse. Malachi got hit and crouched down to massage his head.

"Malachi, please get a grip and be serious, " said Arlianne, "You wouldn't want Mama to know about this, no?"

"All right, fine, chill, I got it..." answered Malachi, "Right, she's Arlianne and she carries my name as my fiancée. Treat her well, and I will treat you well."

The girls with Garret whispered with one another after that. Curious gazes were also sent to Malachi. Asher was slackjawed, and the rest went into a stupor. Finally, another visitor arrived to check on them.

"What's the noise all about?" asked the visitor, "Class 13, enough trouble already! Eh? Who are you?"

"Why is there a loli here?" questioned Malachi, "Are you lost, little girl?"

The new visitor, a small girl wearing a leather apron came before Malachi and kicked his shin. Malachi recoiled, and crouched down to massage the place where he got hit.

"How dare you think I'm a mere child!" scolded the little girl, "I am the genius engineer of Perlas, Remi Ashwald, and I'm the Head Chief of this furnace!"

Malachi stared at Remi with amazement.

"You're a Head Chief?" He asked, "Amazing, that's pretty good for someone your size."

"Hmph, glad you know, " said Remi, "Now, who are you?"

Malachi introduced himself again, and Remi had an expression of realization.

"I see, " she said, "So you're the boy."

Malachi stared at Remi.

"So, he told you already, huh?" asked Malachi, "Guess we'll be working together a lot."

Remi looked at the rest of Class 13's engineers.

"Let's not tarry, then, " she said, "Come with me, boy. And you, get back to work."

Remi led Malachi and Arlianne out of the class armory and went deeper into the furnace. Asher and the rest followed Remi's order and went back to the work they had stalled. In the middle of work, Garret went to Asher.

"Looks like our lives in the academy will be colorful, eh, Asher?" He said, "So, will you uphold the vow your clan made with Clan Skaria?"

"All of our Eskur kinsmen will uphold our vow to support the clan, Garret, " replied Asher, "Clan Skaria had disappeared for over a decade after the war, and a Child of Skaria emerged with mixed blood. Whoever his other parent is does not matter to us, we will follow Skaria. Though, seeing he is of mixed blood and having a Perlasian fiancée, I doubt he means ill will to the kingdom."

"That's an assurance, " commented Garret, "At least the time when our two races learn to accept one another draws near."

Asher smiled at Garret's words, before Garret left to deal with the rest of the logistics.

///

"Show me those designs you made, boy, " requested Remi, "If I am to let you have full access to my furnace, I need to know what you plan to make, boy."

"Can you stop calling me 'boy'?" requested Malachi, "I am evidently older than you, you know? Call me something like, 'Bro' or something."

Remi led Malachi and Arlianne to her personal armory. They gathered around a table that had blueprints and weapon parts littered all over it. Remi cleared the table, dumping everything to one side, and requested Malachi to show her his creations.

"Do you have a pencil and some papers?" asked Malachi, "I don't have them with me since its all in my room."

Remi went to a nearby shelf and pulled out scrolls of rolled papers. Then she pulled out a pencil from one of her chest pockets, and handed the requested items to Malachi.

"So, you have everything in your head?" inquired Remi, "All right, show me your skills."

Malachi sprawled the papers on the desk and began to draw the schematics of the weapons in his head. One after another, he drew designs for automatic weapons, rifles, cannons, and even armor and tank designs. It only took him a half hour to draw the rough drafts of ten different weapons on the paper. His speed amazed Remi as she intensely watched Malachi's hands.

"These are roughly the things I want to make, " said Malachi, "I've also included the recipes for the propellants with varying pyrocite quantities. I've also included the alloy ratio for the weapons to adapt to the power of pyrocite for the body and bullets. As for the tanks, I made a rough estimate for the engine, armor, and cannon caliber based on the current designs of the siege engines. As an additional, I plan to modify the steam knights into siege knights. A personal creation of mine to boost this kingdom's military power."

As Malachi finished explaining himself, he found Remi to be drooling over the papers. Remi snapped out of her stupor and returned to Malachi.

"These are good, " commented Remi, "Very detailed and comprehensive. Seems like any question I ask will already be answered. Except for one thing, I need to see a live demonstration of these 'automatic rifles' before I give my final decision."

"Then, do you mind if I get it from my room?" asked Malachi, "I made a rough version with selective fire."

"Go ahead, " replied Remi, "I'll meet you in the firing range. We can do a comparison in front of all the other engineers you will be working with. What? Did you expect to make these on your own? Go, boy."

"I told you to stop calling me 'boy,'" replied Malachi, "Whatever, see ya, little girl."

Remi threw a wrench at Malachi, and Malachi ran off with Arlianne.

"Damned Perlas, " cursed Remi, "Oh, well. At least the place will get rowdy soon, heehee."

///

Malachi and Arlianne jogged through the academy's halls. Suddenly, they bumped into Carlos on the way.

"Skaria, are you going back to class?" He asked, "The next class should be history. Don't you want to know more about your name?"

"Not now, teach, " said Malachi, "I need to get something from my room. I will be doing a live demonstration with the guys from the armory."

"A live demo?" repeated Carlos, "Do you need me to tell the others? I could ask the next teacher to exempt you for the moment."

"Sure, that would be great, teach, " answered Malachi, "Ah, if you'd like, you can bring the others to the firing range to watch. It should cement my presence further as the squad leader."

"I'll consider it, " said Carlos, "Well, carry on."

Malachi and Arlianne left Carlos and went to the dorms. Carlos, instead, went back to Class 13's classroom to notify the others about Malachi's intentions. The history teacher with them also became curious and dismissed the class ahead of schedule. Once more, Class 13 left their classroom, and went to the armory's firing range.

Since Class 13 was distinct for their Eskur cadets, their movements were noticed by the rest of the academy. Seeing the last class moving a lot in one day, it garnered much interest that those who were free followed behind them to see what they were up to. One class that came from the field crossed paths with Class 13, Alexa's class.

"Again?" commented a cadet, "Class 13 sure has become active lately."

"I wonder what they're planning?" said another cadette, "Hey, they seem to be headed towards the armory. Are they doing familiarization for the new recruits?"

Alexa watched with curiosity Class 13's cadets.

"He's not with them." She whispered.

"Lady Alexa?" called out a cadet, "What's wrong? We could follow them since we have a free class after this."

Alexa nodded at the cadets words and brought her class to follow Class 13 to the armory. Now, because Alexa's class followed after, more onlookers became curious about Class 13's actions and followed like a train of cadets and faculty.

///

Once Malachi retrieved the needed weapons, he and Arlianne went back to the armory. That was, only to find a huge crowd of cadets and faculty waiting inside. The number alone shocked him and Arlianne, and the fact that the armory could accommodate them all shocked him further.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning to see who it was, he found Eleazar.

"Hahaha! Well, child, " said Eleazar, "Looks like whatever you're doing attracted a lot of attention. Class 13 may be the worst of the academy, but it is because of that that a lot of people became curious. Your match with Patrick Bryant attracted a lot of attention, and having your class move again attracted even more. Hahaha!"

"But is it enough to attract half the academy?!" cried Malachi, "How the heck do I get through that crowd? Wait, did you and Remi have something to do with this?"

"Hahaha!" laughed Eleazar again, "I just wanted to see the new toys you brought for us to play with. I hope you don't disappoint."

'Damn you, ' thought Malachi, 'Shoot, this is too high profile... Dammit, let's just get on with it.'

Malachi went forward with Arlianne, and his arrival attracted the gazes of many.

"Skaria..."

"Mixed blood..."

"Traitor..."

"Lord..."

"Young Master..."

Malachi heard many whispers from his surroundings. Whispers and voices of surprise, discontent, anger, and praise. Despite having most of the Eskur cadets in his class, the Eskur personnel of the academy could only bow in his direction. When they did this, the older cadets of the other classes could only look in disdain.

'I feel like Moses when he divided the Red Sea, ' thought Malachi, 'Except, each step I make divides a sea of people.'

The closer he went to the armory, the wider the gap between the crowd became. Followed closely by Arlianne, he had arrived at the front of the crowd. It was there where he met Alexa. Malachi and Alexa met face to face since Alexa hadn't stepped aside. She gazed into Malachi's eyes, and he met her with his.

"Uh, hello." greeted Malachi.

Suddenly, a wall of Perlasian cadets went in-between the two and separated them.

"Leave Lady Alexa, Child of Skaria, " said a cadet, "You have no authority to meet with the daughter of Prince Elijah."

Malachi straightened himself.

'Daughter of Uncle Elijah?' He thought, 'My cousin? Damn, she's pretty, too.'

Seeing that Malachi isn't reacting much, the wall of cadets moved forward to push Malachi away. Alexa didn't notice it as she was too focused on Malachi. Malachi stepped back, away from the wall of cadets, and went to the firing range though another direction.

'Huh, why was she staring at me like that?' thought Malachi as he walked away, 'Is it because of my name again?'

Malachi left the crowd with Arlianne, but Arlianne looked back at Alexa. Arlianne's and Alexa's gazes met, and Arlianne smiled. Her action surprised Alexa, and Arlianne chased after Malachi.

'Did she realize who I was?' thought Alexa, 'But it didn't seem like he knew me.'

The wall of cadets dispersed and went back to their respective classes. Alexa returned her attention to Class 13 where she found Malachi and Arlianne rejoining them.

...

Once Malachi arrived in the firing range, he was met by Remi and the rest of the engineers.

"Ah, here you are, boy, " said Remi, "Looks like a party from here."

"I have to thank my classmates for being a trash heap, I guess," commented Malachi, "Too much movement seemed to have attracted a lot of unwanted attention."

"Oh, relax, boy, " said Remi, "If your weapons are as good as you say, it should help with your image in the academy."

"I have no need for image, " said Malachi, "I want results."

"Then, wouldn't it result in a better image?" wondered Remi.

Malachi looked into her eyes. Remi swallowed her saliva being stared at with Malachi's red eyes.

"I want something better than mere image, " he said, "I want complete victory."

Remi smiled in acknowledgment.

"That's good, boy, " she said, "I hope to witness your intended victory. Whatever it may be. Now, let me see your guns."

Malachi signalled to Arlianne to go with him to a table. With practiced movements, he and Arlianne pulled out one gun after another. Replicas of another world's weapons were laid on the table, and Remi could not help but watch in amazement and slightly drool at the sight.

Malachi lifted a long gun, a replica of a modern bullpup assault rifle.

"Here is an assault rifle, " he explained, "and here is how one wields it. So, do you want the full magazine, or just a few bursts?"

"What will make it seem awesome?" asked Remi, "I want you to shock everybody present, boy."

Malachi looked around him and found the curious gazes of his fellow cadets. Not only that, he also found some skeptical faculty, and found Eleazar's happily grinning face. Even the cadets that showed eyes of disdain could not help but turn their attention to the weapon in his hands.

"All right, I have ammo to spare, " said Malachi, "The first will be a full magazine, and the next will be semiautomatic."

Malachi loaded his rifle and went to the firing range. There weren't any targets on the other side, except for a solid stone wall. Malachi raised his rifle up to his hips, and squeezed the trigger. What happened next made everyone wide-eyed and slack-jawed from the awe-inspiring sight of heated metal.

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT-click!

After emptying an entire magazine, smoke was visible on the gun's muzzle. For a short while, a rain of bullets and bullet casings was witnessed by all those around him.

"Hahaha... Hahahahaha!" laughed Malachi, "Hell yeah! Now that's what I love!"

Malachi's laughter snapped the others out of their stupor, and the crowd became noisy. Each one of them shared their thoughts about Malachi's weapon. Remi, who was behind him, already had drool on the floor. Her embarrassing sight was overpowered by Malachi's assault rifle.

"So, did everybody notice how much I dumped out!?" He shouted to the crowd, "The next one will answer that question for you! Reloading!"

Malachi pressed the magazine release, and the empty magazine fell on the ground. With practiced movements, he loaded the next magazine into the well, and loaded the next bullet. Flipping a switch, he switched from full auto to semiauto fire.

"Now, count with me!" He shouted.

The crowd could not help but do so as he squeezed the trigger, one shot after another.

BANG! "One!"

BANG! "Two!"

BANG! "Three!"

He continued counting until the very last bullet.

BANG! "Twenty eight!"

BANG! "Twenty nine!"

BANG! "Thirty! Thirty bullets down the range!"