A month has passed since Faith attacked the crashed frigate. Priad and his men have established their reputation as a formidable mercenary force for the kingdom's army. Of course, Priad is still focused on their primary mission. To locate Faith and capture her, and find a way off the planet.
Priad and his men are now marching through the streets of Lindsvelt along with several captured rebel prisoners behind them. The citizens around them watched in awe, as they saw them marching once again in victory after their previous battle. The troopers kept their masks on and only marched forward, not stopping for any of the citizens who are admiring them.
Among the troopers were Shinaka. She is now wearing a black officer uniform and a hat. On her belt, she also has a sword that is currently sheathed. Even though she has been through lots of battles with the troopers, she doesn't feel happy with each victory, and how they were dragging her once fellow rebels through the streets. However, she kept those thoughts in her mind and only focused on her duty.
Later on, they were greeted by a group of guards who lined up in front of them. The captain then saluted Priad, to which he saluted back.
"Commander Priad. I see you have returned from yet another successful battle"
"Yes captain. We're about to turn over these prisoners to you"
"That's great. Say, count Neval is looking for you. He says that there is a special job for you and your men to undertake"
"Thanks. I'll swing by his place later"
Priad and his men continued walking, while the guards took over escorting the prisoners to their cells. However, While his men were all walking towards the bar in order to celebrate, Priad would separate and walked towards the city hall, where Neval is waiting. Once he arrived there, the guards that were in front of the hall let him enter. Neval was sitting laid back on his couch, smoking his cigarette.
"Ah, Priad. Please, sit down!"
Priad took off his helmet and sat on the couch across Neval.
"I hear that you have just won another victory. The king has taken notice of your actions and is offering you a place in his royal army"
"Thank you for the offer, but I will decline. My only concern right now is to get off this planet"
"Of course. I was not expecting you to accept it anyway"
Neval put his cigarette in the bowl on top of a table next to him.
"Now for the real reason why i called you here" He looks at Priad seriously "We have located the leader of this rebellion, and i want you to capture her"
Priad paused for a moment before answering "Who is it, and where?"
"The one you must capture is a woman by the name Yami Tanaka. She is a fierce warrior, and a shrine maiden as well. Their base of operations is to the northwest of Lindsvelt. And i will send some of my men to go with you and guide you there"
"And if we capture her, will this rebellion end?"
"Of course. We will punish her in front of all to see, and show them the folly of rebelling against their betters. Surely, any smaller rebels that remains will disperse or die off"
Priad paused for a moment, having momentary flashbacks from what Neval said. He would see him, alongside the other troopers about to execute several people kneeling in front of them with their hands tied behind their backs, while the villagers in front of them would watch the execution in horror. He would also see someone who looks like he is a commanding officer, giving him the command to execute them. Without hesitation, Priad and the troopers aimed their rifles at them, and executed them. He then returned to his senses, and saw that Neval seems to notice something weird.
"Priad, what's wrong?"
"I…it's nothing. We'll go there and capture the leader to put an end to the rebellion"
"Marvellous. When will you be able to leave?"
"Tomorrow morning"
"Excellent. I will tell my men to prepare themselves as well"
"Of course. Is that all?"
"Yes, that would be all. You may leave now"
"Thank you"
Priad stood up and put on his helmet. He then saluted Neval before leaving the city hall. Afterwards, he went to the bar to join the rest of his men during their celebration. He entered through the front door, and saw that the place was more lively than usual. Some of his men are dancing and singing with the other customers, while others just enjoy a good drink on their respective tables.
Priad sat on the table, next to Raze.
"Hey, did you order one for me?"
"Sure thing"
Raze pushes a large wooden glass of beer towards Priad, to which he catches it.
"The best one in the house, all for you"
"Heh" Priad took a sip of his glass "Ah, as tasty as the first time" He then looks around the bar "Where's Shinaka?"
"She left the bar a couple of minutes ago. Said she had something to do"
"I see" Priad chugged the beer down until his glass is empty. Then he stood up and walked towards the door "I'm going to look for her. I'll be right back"
"Sure"
Priad leaves the bar and begins looking around for Shinaka. He then saw her leaning against the wall of the building across the bar. Her mood doesn't seem to be good at the moment as she was looking down, with her hat blocking her face. Priad taps her shoulder and gave her a friendly smile.
"Why the long face Shinaka?"
"C…commander?" Shinaka immediately stood at attention "What can i do for you sir?"
"Heh, take it easy. We're off duty now, so you don't have to be formal. Remember?"
"Yes sir. Sorry sir"
Priad leans on the wall next to her "What's on your mind?"
She looks away "It's nothing important sir"
"It's alright, you can tell me whatever it is. I won't judge"
Shinaka paused for a moment, before looking back at him "It's just that…I'm not comfortable with the idea of fighting my own people. Let alone capturing them just so they could be sold off as slaves" She looks down "Like me"
Priad looks at the clear sky above them "You're right, but we have no choice at the moment. All we can do is obey and do our duty"
She once again looked up at him "But, couldn't we do something about this?"
"Sadly, no. Good soldiers follow orders Shinaka"
"I…see. I'm a soldier now, after all"
Priad smiled and pats her head "Look on the bright side, you finally have your freedom to sit and drink alongside the rest of us"
Just as he said those words, more memories flashes on his mind. Once again, he saw someone who appeared to be his commanding officer. A man that's bigger than him, his hands and legs were replaced with robotic ones, and he is wearing a gas mask, along with red goggles to make his presence terrifying. He remembers standing face to face with the man in a metallic room filled with dead soldiers, and blood everywhere. Then, he snaps back to reality and sees that Shinaka is raising her eyebrow at him as she is confused.
"Sir, are you alright?"
Priad paused for a moment, before answering her "I'm fine. Sorry for the long pause" he then took his hand off of her head "Let's go back inside and join the others. I'm sure they would love to drink with you"
Shinaka smiled and nodded "Right"
They then walk towards the bar again. Along the way, Priad would try to remember the memory of what he saw. About the flashes of memories that he has been having lately, and why he suddenly remembers that. However, all thoughts of that soon stopped when they entered the bar. Shinaka happily runs towards the table where Raze is sitting now. Priad then smiled and walked over to the two of them and would enjoy the celebration with the rest of his men.
The next day, the army began their march towards the area where Yami Tanaka is suspected to be right now. Alongside them, several Armenthian soldiers would march alongside them, acting as their guide and guiding them towards the area. They march through the jungles, but Priad split several of his men away from the main group. They are the scouts under Raze's command to scout for potential enemy ambushes along the way. Thanks to them, any attempts for ambushes that the rebels intend to pull against the army was foiled, as Raze continuously reported their position, giving Priad and the main group a chance to fight them without suffering any casualties. Many hours then passed, and it was already noon. They would find a village. The army halted their march, as Priad, Alpha, Echo, and one of the Armenthian soldier walk towards a cliff overlooking the village.
"That is the village where Yami Tanaka is suspected to be in right now"
"Thanks for guiding us here"
"I wish you luck my friends"
The Armenthian soldier and the rest of his companions walks away, leaving the army to do their job. Once they were gone, Priad began making plans to assault the village. He looks at the village using his binocular for a moment, before finally looking back at Alpha and Echo.
"Little to no guards. This place looks too easy"
"Should we start shelling this place with our mortars?"
"Not yet. We need to find out what we're up against. Contact Raze and his scout unit and tell them to begin their reconnaissance on the village"
"Yes sir"
Alpha uses his comm to contact Raze. However, after several moments of silence, he then look back at Priad.
"Sir, I can't get a hold on Raze or his unit"
"That's odd. Are we jammed?"
"No. Communications are fine"
Priad thought for a moment, before finally realizing what was going on and spoke up "Shit. We need to move, now!"
The three of them then returned to the rest of the men hurriedly. Priad has been caught off guard. Their target was not to ambush Priad and the main group, but instead it was Raze. Priad informs the rest of his men of the situation, and they hurriedly went over to where Raze is right now.
———
Raze is hiding behind a tree, gasping in exhaustion as he hold his sniper rifle beside him. His helmet has been torn off and was broken on the ground. All of his men are dead, and among them stood Riu, wearing her armor and holding her spear proudly. Her ears and tail shaking happily as she began talking to Raze.
"We finally meet again Raze. I've been waiting for this day where we have to fight each other again. And this time, no one can interrupt us"
He was a little worried when he heard that and began to imagine what kind of traps do they have against the army should they arrive to help him. That worry was reinforced with why Riu was the only one here.
"Since we both know how this ends, why don't we go all out today in fighting today? Mother was always the superior tactician, and i always trust her with her plans"
At that moment, Raze had brief flashes of his memory. He would see a younger Priad, standing determined and smiling at him. He then remembered what they were talking about that day, and so he smiled. When his senses came back, he replied to Riu.
"You're right. We both know how this ends" He then rechamber his sniper "Because i also trust him to get us through"
Riu smiled happily, even though she knew where Raze is, she decided to give him a head start and stood there "You're strong, Raze. let's make this the fight of our lives"
Raze also smiled "Yeah"
He jumps out of the cover and throw a smoke grenade in front of Riu. Thanks to that, her senses were disturbed and it allows Raze to disappear. Sometime later, she would be shot by him from an unknown position, but she barely dodges it and resulted in the shot scratching her cheeks. This only made her smile even more, and she began running forward, using all of her strength to track down Raze. The two of them would continue their fights uninterrupted, as if they were having the time of their life.
———
As the two were fighting, Priads group also came under attack as well. From the mountain, near the edge of the cliff. A group of Armenthian rebels are firing down on the army, while their melee fighters are fighting the troopers in hand to hand combat. However, Priad was nowhere near the fighting. The troopers were all fighting on their own, under Alpha's command. Moments later Priad, Echo, and a squad of troopers would emerge behind the rebels that were shooting down from the cliff, and shoot them all down.
"Position secured. You two, provide cover fire for the others from here!"
"Yes sir!" Two of the troopers that are accompanying Priad lay down on the edge of the clif and began firing down on the rebels that were fighting the troopers below.
"The rest of you, with me. We're going to…"
Priad stopped mid sentence as he then looked to the cave in front of him. He would see Faith, wearing a red cape. She then ran further inside the cave.
"Shit. Echo, take command here. I'm going after Faith!"
"Good luck sir!"
Priad ran towards the cave, chasing after Faith. He continues heading inward, until they reach an open space inside. Faith would stand in the middle of the space and looks at Priad. However, he aims his rifle at Faith.
"Surrender Faith. This doesn't have to get ugly"
Faith smiled. Then from under her cape came flying out lots of particles. She then hold out her right hand, and the particles form into a blade. After that, she jumps up high and slashes the blade downward towards him. Priad couldn't react do to how fast she is and barely dodges her attack. His rifle however was sliced in half. She then point her blade at Priad.
"I will avenge my sister"
"We'll see about that"
Priad took out his pistol and began firing it at Faith. She deflected the shots using her blade, but this gives Priad the time to gain some distance from her. The two of them would continue on fighting as Priad kept his distance while Faith is trying her best to close the distance while dodging his shots. Eventually, Faith managed to get close and was about to slash at Priad, but he ducks just in time and shot Faith by her stomach. Faith stumbles back as she couldn't hold in the pain and fell to the ground. Priad stood in front of her, aiming his pistol at her.
"I'll ask again. Surrender!"
A voice from around the corner would answer him "I don't think so"
Suddenly, his entire body was thrown away to the side, hitting the wall hard. When he came to his senses, he would see that a lot of black entities are pinning him to the wall. Yami would be seen walking towards Faith, kneeling down and healing her wounds. Priad tried his best to escape the black entities, but then he would lose his consciousness as the black entities are not only pinning him, but also crushing his body.
———
Yami kneels down and put her hand on Faith's stomach. Her hand would glow green, and the wound on her stomach slowly disappeared. Faith looks at her in relief and sighs.
"Thanks, Miss Tanaka"
"We're comrades after all"
Yami then stood up and helped Faith stand back up on her feet. They then look at Priad who is still pinned to the wall unconscious.
"So, what exactly did you do to him?"
"I only held him there with my magic. Of course, I borrowed some of your, What do you call it?"
"Ah, the Nano drones. Yeah, these things were one of my sister's greatest inventions"
She then looks at Priad. Just the thought of looking at his armor alone was enough to spark the anger inside her. Noticing this, Yami put her hand on Faith's shoulder. She then spoke to Faith with a serious tone.
"I understand your desire for vengeance, but if you kill him now, then our plan will be ruined"
Faith sighed "I know. We have to wait first. This whole plan of yours depends on it"
"Be patient. Your time will come"
Just as she said that, suddenly a small lightning bolt was shot through the room towards her. Yami was electrified and fell unconscious. Another was then shot towards Faith, but she was quick to form a shield on her hand and blocked it. However, as soon as the bolt hit the shield, the Nano drones forming it all fell apart. She then looks at the source of the shots. Several shadowy figures walked up to her with their weapons ready. She slowly backs away and tries to find a way to fight them back, but the situation seems grim, and it seems that she has no way out of this one.