Chapter 25
The world was cast in a dark shadow as rain fell. It was almost as if the planet itself knew how bad things have become and was saddened by it. The tension was still at the Academy, so much so, that Jasmine began to feel trapped and claustrophobic. She, along with everyone else, was currently in Professor Price's class and even though he was enthusiastic about the lesson, it was difficult for his students to focus. They were currently going over, per requirement of the army, the different battles in the past and who won each of them. Nobody knew why it was a requirement, but Jasmine had her speculations.
With all that's been going on, this kind of studying could be the basis of getting the students on the mindset of a possible war. Jasmine also thought it was a way for the army to see if the students showed good strategic skills, due to the responses on their tests. Basically, it was another way for the army to be on the lookout of potential soldiers. If it was, it was a good strategy on the army's part, and it made Jasmine more cautious about what answers she gave on these tests.
As the minutes dragged on, Jasmine became tired of listening to Professor Price going over the day's lesson, and decided to flip through the pages of her text book. In it, she found so much more information the class hasn't studied yet, that it was a wonder if they'll ever go over them. Continuing to gloss over each page, she was going to go back to the original page, when something caught her eye. It was a section they had already covered, which was all about the Braivrok's. A section that was almost meaningless to her before, now became something she would rather go over.
Deciding she could get notes from the days lesson later, Jasmine began to go back over the section. The book included a picture of what a Braivrok looked like, a skeletal looking humanoid species that was seven feet tall, had dark, almost black, skin, claw-like fingers, and they wore black armor that made them appear even more like a skeleton. Despite their skeletal frame, these beings were known to be one of the strongest, and most cunning of all races in this part of the galaxy. It's unknown where the Braivroks home planet is, but the earliest chronicle of their existence, details that they were one of the first species most alien planets had ever encountered during their primitive stages.
It was unclear why this advanced species sought to wipe out most civilizations, but the book said that some believed they did it for sport, others speculated that the Braivroks did it for a religious matter. Whatever the reason, death and destruction followed everywhere they roamed. Then, they disappeared for a long time and when they returned, all of the planets that they used to prey on had caught up to their advancement. Thus began the war between them and everyone in the Intergalactic Army. A war that they eventually, somehow lost. The chapter ended there.
Looking up to see what time it was, Jasmine saw that she had, at least, another half hour before the class ended. Flipping through the book, back to the section about all of the previous wars, she began reading the section about the war against the Braivroks. The war nearly lasted five years, with very few successes on the Intergalactic Armies part. The Siege of Draight lasted nearly a year and a half before the army defeated the Braivroks. Other battles went on the remainder of those few years, coinciding with the defeats and successes the army had. That is, until the Battle of Death's Fall.
In Jasmine's opinion, it appeared that the Intergalactic Army had gotten confident and decided to attack the Braivroks at their home base. A mistake on their part, as it was listed in the book that over twelve million lives were lost during the first few days alone. Just as she was reading about this battle, it cuts off with a statement that the army had won. Flipping the page back and forth, Jasmine almost groaned in frustration at the cliffhanger. Rubbing her forehead, she tried to think of ways of how the war actually ended. Then, Talion's words began to fill her mind.
"Think about it. Whenever the war against the Braivroks is mentioned, there's plenty of details about the other fights like the Siege of Draight, but there's barely anything about the Battle of Death's Fall. One minute we're losing and then the next, the news says we won and the Braivroks are running to the hills. The Braivroks are not cowards, they are one of the, if not most, deadliest races in the galaxy. You took Space Science and History, you know I'm right about this."
Indeed he was, as the lack of information in the textbook proved this. However, how does this battle connect with the visions Jasmine's witnessed through the eyes of a killer? It just didn't make sense.
"Miss Sparrow, would you care to rejoin the class?" Professor Price's voice broke her through her inner monologue of questions.
A few laughs went around the classroom as Jasmine came back into focus, "Sorry professor, I just had something on my mind."
"Care to share what it is?"
No she wouldn't, as she still felt uneasy about the professor. However, being that he is a teacher who's an expert on this subject, she knew if anyone would give her some answers, it would be him.
"I was wondering about how we won the Battle of Death's Fall." Students looked at her curiously, even Jim had an expression of wondering what she was trying to get at.
"We've already covered that history last semester," Professor Price states.
"Yes and I know, but the lesson, as well as the book, didn't share a whole lot of details of how we won." She decided to use Talion's own words to get her point across. "One minute we're losing and then the next, the news says we won and the Braivroks are running to the hills. The Braivroks are not cowards, they are one of the, if not most, deadliest races in the galaxy."
"What are you getting at?"
Sighing, she stood up, "What I'm getting at, professor, is that if the Intergalactic Army is afraid of another war with the Braivroks, then maybe we should learn how the army won The Battle of Death's Fall. If there is a possibility of an attack, then surely we should study those tactics to prepare ourselves."
The students murmured about this statement, getting to the point where the professor had to raise a finger to raise his voice to silence them. Something that never happened before. Also, Jasmine had never seen the professor look so pale before.
Clearing his throat, Professor Price made a statement of his own, "I think the events of the past few months has gotten everyone on edge, which is normal during trying times such as these. However, we must not jump to conclusions about the matter of why the Intergalactic Army is here. Yes there is speculation of Braivrok activity, but because there has been no solid proof that the attacks on the Illuminas Council is caused by the Braivroks, the army will most likely leave in another week or two. As for the Siege of Draight, the only thing that should be worth knowing, which is the case of all of the wars, is the fact that we won. It was an even more difficult time then, and Miss Sparrow, there's a great many of us who are trying to move on and many more who do not care how we won, as long as we did."
Class ended and there was only two things Jasmine was certain of. One, she was way more over her head than she realized. Then two, she could tell the professor was hiding something. She could tell that Professor Price knew more than he was letting on, as his statement was full of nervous, uneasy, tension. As well as a twitch in his left hand, further indicated this. Talion was right, something did happen in that war and maybe it did have something to do with everything that was going on. So if the war was somehow connected to the murders, she wondered if the visions made her more connected to everything than she realized. Or was there something else that connected her to everything and made her sponsor interested in a girl like her?
Author's Note: Hey guys, I'm back and I'm on summer break! Yay! I'm done with college for the semester, which means I have more time for writing! Anyways, thanks again Sirrah K for your continuous feedback and I hope to hear what you thought of this chapter! I have lots of plans so stay tuned for that!