Campaign 20

BANG!

A single explosive gunshot resounded across the entire field. At ground zero was a young woman carrying a large rifle, and before her—over a large distance—was a large man who flew back from the impact of the bullet that hit his shoulder.

Once Erika found her first victim, she crouched down, pulled the charging handle to load the first bullet, took aim, and pulled the trigger. With the subsequent explosion of violent gases at the muzzle of her gun, the dust around her scattered and she was pushed back due to the recoil. Her hair and uniform fluttered in the air with the shockwave. However, compared to when Malachi demonstrated the prototype, the barrel did not shatter, and Erika was able to fix her posture, and pull the charging handle to eject the spent casing and to load the next bullet.

Malachi whistled in awe.

“Holy…” he commented, “I think I’m in lov— ow!? Hey!”

Arlianne slammed the butt of her rifle on Malachi’s head.

“Get a grip, Malachi,” she said disdainfully, “There are other cadets closing in from her flanks.”

Malachi massaged his head.

“All right, all right, relax,” he replied, “Heh, didn’t think you’d be this jealo— okay! Okay, covering the left flank!”

He jumped up with his handgun and semiautomatic rifle when he finally saw Arlianne raising her rifle butt for another shot. Malachi ran towards Erika’s left, and left Arlianne with the right flank. Arlianne carried a light machinegun and an assault rifle, instead, and looked for a place to provide overwatch. Malachi did the same by climbing up a large container and going prone with his semiautomatic rifle.

“Providing covering fire!” announced Malachi, “Taking shots!”

BANG! BANG!

He shot two more cadets that were nearing Erika’s left flank and she, herself, took out three more cadets in front of her. The other cadets of Class 7 could do nothing with the weapons they had on hand. While the power of the fusils and repeaters were to be reckoned with, their less than effective ranges could not outmatch the range of rifled barrels and cartridge ammunition of Malachi’s weapons. To get a land on any of them, those carrying fusils had to get within half the effective range of, in this case, the bolt-action rifle. However, doing so would bring them in range of the semiautomatic rifle and the light machinegun. This left them with no other option but to hide most of the time.

“Come on! Is this all you’ve got!?” taunted Malachi, “Hurry up and come closer! Or do you think that hiding for so long will make us go to you, instead, eh!? HA! We’re not so stupid so as to fall for your obvious ploys!”

“Coward!” taunted another cadet back, “You dare use your range to shoot from a safe distance?!”

“BULLSHIT!” replied Malachi, “Aren’t we all cowards?! Using guns to shoot from a safe distance, what in all Hells could be more cowardly than that, eh?! HAHAHAHA!”

Erika glanced back at the cackling Malachi.

‘Isn’t he a bit too high-strung?’ she thought, ‘This is different from what I’ve heard…’

BANG!

While Erika was deep in thought, she found herself before a charging woman with a handcannon. However, due to Malachi’s support, the woman was knocked out with a shot to the side of her head.

“Oy! Imperial! The Hell was that?!” called out Malachi, “Get a grip!”

“Baendan, I don’t need you to remind me!” she shouted back.

“Baendan? What the hell is a baendan?!” replied Malachi, “Speak Perlasian!”

As the exchanged shouts, a pair of cadets came out of hiding and charged towards Erika’s position.

“How dare you harm your elders, whelp!” roared one of them.

“We’ll put you in your place!” added the other.

BRRRRRTTTT!

A stream of bullets tore through their path, forcing the two cadets to dive for cover. When the shooting stopped, they popped their heads out only to be shot by Malachi and Erika respectively.

BANG!

BANG!

Over the distance, the muzzle of Arlianne’s LMG was steaming. The LMG was mounted on a crate she seemingly brought with her, which helped with her aim and the recoil. As for the girl, herself, she swiveled to the right and let loose another stream of bullets, suppressing the advancing cadets.

“Oh yeah?! Let me throw it back at ya!” shouted Malachi, “How dare ya use yer age as a form of authority! War does not care about one’s age, one’s race, one’s beliefs, or one’s pedigree! All that matters in war are those who live and those who die! All are equal in the eyes of death! ALOHA SNACKBAR! AKAKAKAKAK—“

BANG!

“Woah, friendly fire!” He roared towards Arlianne who shot him with an assault rifle.

“How about you get a grip, Malachi?!” she shouted in exasperation.

“Sorry! HAHAHA!”

.

In the end, with Malachi’s… support, Erika was able to overpower the 48-strong Class 7, with her kill count at 27 cadets. Malachi had 11 kills and Arlianne had 10. This resulted in even lesser acceptance from Class 7.

“I refuse to work with an Imperial that sought help from a Skaria!” declared a cadet, “Fighting with ignobility… Just like your kin and name!”

Malachi made choleric eyes and narrowed them from irritation. With his dexterity, he was already aiming his handgun at the responsible cadet. In alarm, the other cadets responded in raising their fusils and repeaters against him, and Arlianne went forward to protect Malachi.

“What is going on here?!” a man’s voice exploded from afar, “Malachi! What are you doing in another class’s exercises?!”

It was Eleazar, accompanied by Axton, and he saw 40+ cadets aiming their guns at Malachi. Malachi looked at Eleazar.

“Tsk.” He clicked his tongue. Malachi holstered his gun and turned to Erika. “Thanks for the stress relief. Let’s go, Arlianne.”

He pulled Arlianne towards him, while she still faced the mad class behind them. Only when Malachi strongly tugged at her did she cease, and faced forward towards Eleazar. Erika watched as Malachi’s silhouette slowly shrunk and approached Eleazar, and looked back at her still unaccepting class.

-

Malachi and Arlianne were in Eleazar’s office, while the Headmaster was seated and was massaging his face.

“So, tell me again how you reached that in the first place,” he requested, “Class 7 is the worst class for you to go up against, Malachi.”

“Worst? Then that would be for the best,” argued Malachi, “At least I know which classes hate me the most, aside from Class 1, of course.”

Eleazar stared into his eyes.

“I just sent you to detention for one day,” he continued, “And you just had that scuffle with Alexa… why are you making things harder for yourself?”

Malachi leaned forward on the desk between them.

“Harder?” he repeated, “Hardly, Gramps. This will make things easier for me to know which ones will be handsomely rewarded and viciously punished once the Martial Competition comes around. Besides, this is just cheap and trivial hate, incomparable to the incoming strife in the future. Unless, you’re just like them, stuck in the past and are unable to see into the future. Of course, future sight is impossible, what I meant was foresight.”

Malachi stood up straight.

“If everything is in order,” he continued, “You will be unable to see the inner misgivings of those you oversee. Introducing a bit of chaos and anarchy will be enough to pull out even just an inkling of their darkest thoughts. This hate, this anger… I admit that I never expected that my name as a Skaria would be that heavy, but it just makes it all the more worthwhile to rile them up. Words released out of spite, out of anger, are the most honest words I can receive. You should understand, how sweet the words of delegates from other states are, when they are just poison coated in honey.”

Eleazar closed his eyes and sighed.

“But that still does not mean you can intervene in another class’s exercises!” he scolded, “Especially letting the Imperial use your weapons without my explicit permission!”

Malachi smiled mischievously.

“So you still suspect her?” he wondered, “Being a spy, I mean.”

“You…” replied Eleazar.

“Yes,” agreed Malachi, “To be honest, I’ve asked Clara about it and she told me what you all thought—what you feel is like how I felt: we need to watch her, closely. And, like I said, riling people up lets them slip their innermost thoughts, like I did with you, Grandfather.”

Eleazar clenched his fist, but released his tension and sighed.

“Damn, to think I’d be brought along with your pace,” he commented, “It’s scary how you have a way with words, Malachi. The reports about you never said anything about this; any particular reason how you came about it?”

“You will know, in time, Gramps,” answered Malachi, “For now, be satisfied that you are not the only one curious about Ms. Li, if that really is her name. Besides, with her usage of the bolt-action rifle, I can already push through with the other projects in my head.”

Eleazar raised a brow.

“Does that have something to do with the ores you found in the excavation?” he wondered, “I saw them, Malachi. That is quite the number of ores.”

“Oh, so you know what each one is?” replied Malachi, “Can you help me out, then?”

Eleazar shook his head.

“While I know that they are ores, I have no idea what their uses would be,” he clarified, “That said, you also thought of them as ores? Do you mean to say that you know how to use them?”

“I will get there, eventually,” answered Malachi, “For now, I need to identify which ones will be useful for me.”

Eleazar leaned back on his chair and looked at Malachi.

“Aside from weapons design and production, you also plan to enter metallurgy,” he said, “Anything else you wish to enter to?”

Malachi laughed.

“Metallurgy is a given, Gramps,” he replied, “I mean, if I want to make effective armor and bullets, I need to know which materials give the best results. As for other fields, I suppose I’d like to enter Animal Husbandry. I plan to tame some more beasties to help out with production.”

“Specifically?” requested Eleazar.

“Fire Ants, Garms, Garudas, Manticores, Hell Worms, and the other monsters that can be utilized in war,” answered Malachi, “I understand that it will cause panic with idiots from the generation before mine, with my uncle, but that is a small price to pay to create efficient tools that this kingdom can use. If they can’t forget the past, I won’t force them. However, if they won’t forgive it, I will make them change their minds.”

.

After Malachi shared his sentiments with Eleazar, he took Arlianne with him and went to the armory. Eleazar stared at the door to his office, seemingly burning a hole through them, for a long while until a knock could be heard.

“Enter.” He said.

The door opened and a young woman entered. Eleazar raised a brow once he saw who she was.

“Li Erika greets the Headmaster.” She said. Erika clasped her hands together and bowed towards Eleazar while greeting him. “I have a request, if you would permit it.”

“A request, you say? Very well,” he replied, “What do you wish?”

Erika stood up straight at attention. Both of her hands were clipped firmly on her sides.

“Calm down, girl,” advised Eleazar, “We may be a military academy, but you are all still students. No need to be so tense.”

“Others may behave as such,” replied Erika, “But you are the Headmaster and, first and foremost, a former king. This level of respect is needed when facing one with such backgrounds.”

“Well, all right,” said Eleazar, “So, what was your request?”

“I request for a class transfer,” she answered, “If it would be permissible, would it be possible to be in a class that would be willing to utilize my skills to its maximum potential?”

Eleazar recalled the discussion he had with Malachi about her.

“A ‘class transfer,’ is it?” he repeated, “Hmm, I will consider it. Was Class 7 that bad?”

“While Class 7 is united with their beliefs, that belief of theirs will make it difficult for myself to effectively learn and remain in the academy,” explained Erika, “Something that I was able to learn, earlier.”

The eyes of Eleazar narrowed when he heard her reason.

“That is all?” he wondered.

Erika nodded firmly.

“That is an affirmative, Headmaster,” she replied, “I learned that even as an Imperial, I need the help of others to survive, especially in unfamiliar lands.”

“You seem to be a quick learner,” commented Eleazar, “All right; I’ll see what I can do. You’ll be notified within the week, so please put up with your current class for the time being.”

“I give you much of my gratitude, Headmaster.” She replied. Erika bowed towards Eleazar before turning to leave. “I shall depart.”

When Erika finally left, Eleazar was alone with his thoughts.

‘Were Imperials this stiff?’ he wondered, ‘Or maybe I’m too used to the peace in the kingdom?’

He pulled open a drawer and took out stacks of papers. There were 13 stacks and each paper was the record of a student. One stack was set aside and, on top of this stack, was Alexa’s record. The stack was presumably Class 1’s records. One after the next, Eleazar scanned through the documents, reading each one of the students’ information until finally landing on Class 13’s records. Malachi’s record was on top of Class 13’s stack.

“… We need to watch her, closely…” he recalled Malachi’s words.

Eleazar sighed in defeat.

“I wonder if he planned it all this far?” He said to no one in particular. “Expend additional effort in unmasking the boy.”

A soft whistle was heard.

-

On the way to the armory, Malachi and Arlianne were met by a familiar face. It was a man with slightly spiky black hair with it tied into a small tail trailing down his nape. He wore the standard issue military officer’s uniform and the patches revealed the figure of a falcon. One of his legs, however, moved awkwardly with each step as he approached the pair before him.

“Lakeng,” said Malachi, “Long time, no see.”

The man smiled.

“I see you still remember me,” replied Lakeng, “How are you two? I had a hard time looking for you, Malachi; to think that you could hide in plain sight.”

Malachi frowned.

‘He can sense me, huh? I didn’t expect him to appear before me.’ He thought. Malachi looked at the leg that was moving strangely. “Looks like you got a prosthetic for your leg, or is it just a peg?”

Lakeng shrugged.

“His Highness got it for me,” he explained, “It took me a while to get used to it, but it does help with me moving around.”

“So, what did you need from me?” asked Malachi, “You should have a reason to specifically look for me, right?”

Lakeng looked around.

“Follow me,” he said, “I can only tell the things I will say to you, and no one else.”

“Even Arlianne?” added Malachi, “She is in the know, after all.”

“Fine, but just make sure that nobody else will know about it.”

Lakeng led the two to an unpopulated location behind one of the buildings. Once he made sure that no one followed them, even throwing a few rocks at seemingly random locations, he faced Malachi and Arlianne with a severe expression.

“Alexa is missing,” he announced.

Malachi did not react but Arlianne had an expression of shock and covered her mouth. Lakeng, however, frowned at Malachi’s lack of interest.

“You don’t care?” he asked, “You were the last person she spoke to; I thought you would know something.”

“Yes, we spoke to one another,” sighed Malachi, “But that does not mean I am at fault for whatever decision she ultimately makes.”

“A decision your conversation influenced!” bellowed Lakeng, “I know, Malachi. I know how and what she felt about you but, this is how you act?”

A smirk floated on Malachi’s face.

“And? How much do you even know?” he threw back, “I must say that I am at fault for not asking questions back then, but I had to respect her circumstances even if I ended up unknowingly betraying her in the end. I always thought of the one back then as ‘Axel’ and not ‘Alexa,’ Lakeng. What did you expect me to do? I never expected that the little boy back then was the daughter of Prince Elijah Perlas.”

Lakeng slammed his fist on a nearby wall.

“So what!?” he cried, “So what if you are a Skaria!? She loved you, man! She loved you ever since then!”

“Malachi…” called out Arlianne.

Malachi closed his eyes and sighed.

“Love, is that really so powerful?” he thought out loud, “I ask you, Lakeng. Considering that you have been with her since she was young, does Alexa love her father?”

“Of course!” answered Lakeng, “Ever since 15 years ago, the Prince has been her only family after the war!”

Malachi’s eyes opened and gazed at Lakeng. He stepped forward until he and Lakeng were just within arm’s reach.

“Who does she love the most?” he asked, “Me, or her father? Does the Prince even know what his daughter feels about me? Do you even understand what will happen if Alexa becomes forced to choose between two people who are as important as the other, but are of opposing sides? I know how the Prince thinks of Eskurs; I also know that Clan Skaria has it the worst. Do you expect me to bring great suffering to Alexa just because of how she feels about me? I can’t even say what will happen once the time comes.”

Lakeng’s mouth repeatedly opened and closed, unsure of what to say. Malachi stepped back and turned around.

“Again, I ask you,” he continued, “How much do you even know?”

Malachi walked away and held Arlianne’s hand to bring her with him. He no longer bothered to hide his presence, knowing that Alexa was no longer in the academy. Just before he turned to a corner, Lakeng called out to him one last time.

“I know, Malachi,” he said, “Malachi Skaria… Perlas.”

This time, Malachi stopped walking. Even Arlianne froze in place and rigidly turned towards Lakeng.

“So, you know a lot,” commented Malachi, “Does Uncle know, too? What about Alexa?”

Malachi turned to face Lakeng with a smile. His smile, however, sent chills down Lakeng’s spine.

‘Something’s wrong,’ thought Lakeng, ‘What happened to him after all those years?’

Lakeng took a deep breath before replying.

“Alexa knows nothing,” he said, “As for the Prince, I cannot say.”

“Hahaha, well, it doesn’t matter if you can’t say,” replied Malachi, “It was a rhetorical question. Since you know, Uncle’s entire faction surely knows. That’s good.”

Both Arlianne and Lakeng’s eyes went wide.

“Malachi?!” cried Arlianne, “The worst person to know about us is your uncle! How is this good?!”

Malachi started to walk.

“Because time will tell whether or not this will be the last time we will talk peaceably with past friends.” He said. Without turning around, he bid farewell to the stunned Falcon. “See you, Lakeng. It was nice to meet you again. I hope we don’t end up as enemies in the future.”

Arlianne looked back and forth between Malachi and Lakeng, confusion in her eyes. Malachi was still walking away and was already far off. This forced Arlianne to grit her teeth and chase after his receding silhouette after giving a few last words to Lakeng.

“I’m sorry for his actions, Lakeng.”

Lakeng was still rooted where he stood. However, he became negligent and did not realize that there were other presences in the surroundings.

.

‘This is bad…’ thought one of the presences.

The presences disappeared right after.

-

“Malachi… Malachi…!” called out Arlianne, “Malachi!”

As Malachi walked away, Arlianne reached out to his shoulder and pulled him to her. It was a surprise to her, though, when he faced him. Malachi was breathing strangely with unfocused eyes.

“Malachi…?” she repeated his name.

Since he stopped walking, Malachi collapsed on a nearby wall and was held closely by Arlianne.

“Dammit, things will be more difficult from here on,” he whispered, “I don’t have enough information and I can’t predict what Alexa might do…”

Arlianne watched Malachi talk to himself.

“Malachi, were you serious when you said it was good that your uncle knows about us?” she asked, “You should understand how bad that will mean for all of us.”

Malachi looked at her.

“Definitely,” he replied, “A civil war will have more than a 90% chance of erupting. Once Pops announces to the entire kingdom about us… By then, I will know who to trust and who to crush. For now, I don’t have enough information. Alexa became a wild card and we still need to observe that Imperial. That said…”

Malachi looked over the distance.

“Clara, I know you’re there,” he suddenly said, “Stop hiding and come out.”

A shadow appeared on the ground and a womanly figure dropped in from above. It was Clara, but she was not wearing her librarian’s uniform. Instead, she was wearing black and dark blue colored light clothing that stuck on her body. She landed with a crouch, stood up, and pouted at Malachi’s discovery of her.

“Hmph, from since how long ago did you know?” she asked.

Since Clara was standing, she was looking down at Malachi who was seated and leaning against the wall. Malachi smirked when she asked the question.

“Lakeng was negligent,” he commented, “I’ve already noticed you when we crossed paths with Lakeng. He was, I suppose, too preoccupied with Alexa’s disappearance. Heh, he was able to find me, but not you. Yet you were unable to perceive me, but he did. Some spies the two of you are.”

Clara frowned and bent down.

“Oh? And what makes you better than any of us, huh?” she provoked, “You were unable to sense His Highness before, when we first met in the library.”

“Yeah, and after that,” continued Malachi, “I found a few of your ‘shadows’ hidden in the ceiling. If we will make this into a contest, then there are at least four other people watching over me, right?”

Clara froze. It seemed he hit the mark.

“I like that look on your face, Clara,” commented Malachi, “That dilation of your eyes when you realize something is beyond your comprehension, I like it.”

In panic, Clara stood up straight, away from Malachi, and nearly fell on her back. Malachi stood up and dusted his uniform. He also gestured to Arlianne to be quiet for a while, seeing that she was about to speak. Malachi went forward and pinned Clara to a pillar.

“Since you all have been following me around,” he continued, “You all heard what Lakeng and I talked about, right?”

Clara’s eyes swam. Malachi went closer to her face and placed his lips next to her ear.

“Fol—w my w—ds,” he whispered in the Perlasian language, “F—get a— —u ha— h—rd, —d go to sl—p.”

“Follow my words. Forget all you have heard, and go to sleep.” He wanted to make Clara forget his conversation with Lakeng. To forget Alexa’s disappearance, and to forget about Elijah knowing Malachi’s secret.

“I…” said Clara. Before she could finish, her eyes became heavy and fell asleep.

Seeing this, four other shadows appeared to support Clara.

“Malachi?!” roared one of the shadows.

Two Shadows turned to Malachi with grappling movements, seemingly wanting to apprehend Malachi. Malachi reacted with a whisper.

“Sp—d.”

Malachi’s movements became noticeably faster, and he arrived next to the Shadow’s face. Malachi repeated the words he said to Clara to the shadow, and the shadow fell on the spot. The three remaining shadows became alarmed and worked together to neutralize Malachi. Arlianne just watched as Malachi fought against three Shadows, on his own, and held his ground effortlessly. However, when another Shadow fell asleep, the two remaining Shadows had to pull out weapons. Malachi smiled at the sight.

“Stun rods!” cheered Malachi, “Good job developing those!”

The shadows stilled momentarily. They did not expect Malachi to know about their weapons, and this gave Malachi the opportunity to attack.

“Sp—d. St—ngth.”

With his explosive speed, he was able to reach one of the stunned Shadows, and punched the Shadow’s solar plexus. The Shadow lost his breath, and Malachi turned to the remaining Shadow who was about to run.

“You, s—w do—,” he said to the Shadow.

The Shadow unknowingly slowed his pace, and gave Malachi enough time to catch up with his speed to whisper his orders. Once the third Shadow fell asleep, Malachi returned his attention to the breathless Shadow on the ground.

The Shadow clenched his fists as he looked up at the approaching Malachi.

“Mo-Monster…” commented the Shadow.

Malachi smirked as he crouched down.

“Maybe I am,” he replied, “Now…”

He repeated the same words to the Shadow, and the last Shadow finally fell asleep. Five people wearing the same clothes were lying on the ground. Fortunately, they were situated in an isolated location, far from the populated pathways. Once he was finished, Malachi returned to Arlianne to find her, not in fear, but with eyes filled with resolve.

“You won’t ask?” he inquired.

Arlianne shook her head.

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” she answered, “You have your reasons, and I already vowed to follow you wherever you go. Just promise me, though, that you will never betray your family.”

Malachi placed his hand on Arlianne’s head.

“Don’t worry,” he said, “From my life before, to my life now, I have never betrayed my family.”