-Chapter 6-
Once everyone was in agreement, they made their way back to the camp to confront the general. They ran back on foot, giving their boosters a break after pushing them to their limit. When they got there, the camp had already moved out and had advanced further into the country. The site was completely abandoned with golem footsteps all heading further inland. Karith and the others pressed on, following the tracks left behind by their comrades.
As the squad spotted them in the distance, the army was engaged with Athenian defense forces, holding their ground as they tried to push forward. The general and his support staff were located on top of a hill overlooking the battlefield, directing his forces while in his golem. Karith and her squad advanced up the hill to meet him, seeing the general's golem and his two bodyguards.
The general noticed the squad approaching and turned to greet them. "Good of you to show up. I assume you were able to save the supply-line?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," said Karith as she stopped a few paces in front of him.
Morrios nodded in approval. "Excellent. Now I have another task for you and your unit. First-"
Before he could continue, he was interrupted by Karith who interjected. "Excuse me, sir, but there's something I- we need to know first," she said.
The general reeled from the sudden interruption, offended almost by the act. But, seeing as how Karith was a well decorated soldier, whatever she must have had to say must've been important, he thought. "What is it, captain?" he asked, suppressing his displeasure.
"Sir, on the way to intercept the unit heading for our supply-line, we happened to pass by a small village. Would you happen to know anything about that village?" she asked.
Morrios scoffed, folding his arms across his chest. "Captain, we passed by several small villages. Get to your point already. I have a war to win," he said.
Karith sneered under her breath, suspecting he knew exactly which village she was talking about. "This particular village would be hard to forget. All its villagers were killed in the streets. Innocent civilians I might add, not soldiers," she said, her tone slightly accusatory.
"Hmph, and what are you getting at, captain? That I had a hand to play in this?" he asked.
"I wasn't saying that, but now that you mention it, sure. I guess I am," said Karith. "But if you honestly didn't have anything to do with it, then just say so and I will go about my merry way." Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the two bodyguards' posture change as they became more tense, gripping their weapons tighter as they got into a more combat-oriented stance slightly.
Morrios remained calm, however, standing perfectly still in front of her. "Captain… this is war, and the Athenians are our enemy. What do you expect? There will always be casualties," he said, his tone unsympathetic.
"…what are you saying?" asked Karith, unsure if she was hearing him correctly.
Snickering slightly, Morrios turned back to the battle to see how it was going. "What do you want from me? Do you really need me to spell it out for you? Yes, we killed them. I liked them all. They are the enemy, and we're not going to let a single one of these Athenians live by the end of this war. Satisfied? He asked, looking over his shoulder at her.
Karith couldn't comprehend what she heard as she shook her head in disbelief. "There were innocent civilians! What's the point of killing unarmed people?" she asked, yelling into her radio.
"There's no need to yell, Captain," said Morrios as he looked back towards the battle below. "Tell me, do you know why we're out here in the first place?" he asked.
Karith was about to respond, but took a moment to think her words through. "We're here… for the glory of Alyeska and the protection of its people."
The general laughed out loud, turning fully back around to face Karith. "Really, Captain? That's why you think we're really out here in Athens? Allow me to shed some light on the true reasons then," he said, taking a step towards her and leaving his bodyguards behind him. "Now let me ask you a couple of questions. First, who has the largest military on this continent?"
"Athens," said Karith.
"Good. Now, who has the largest reserves of the vital resource, Quartz?" he asked.
"That would be Krishna," she said.
"Precisely. Athens commands the most powerful military and possesses the best equipped forces in Cruzon. Krishna possesses the largest store reserves of Quartz. That is why we're currently engaged in combat against them. Athens' military took a severe blow against Krishna's forces, even losing several of their best generals and pilots. Krishna has sustained several casualties as well. They're both weak and vulnerable, which is the best time to strike with full force. After we defeat both Athens and Krishna, we'll be that much closer to taking over the entire continent and securing our prosperity for decades to come, perhaps even centuries."
Karith gritted her teeth, remembering the real reason why she was talking to him in the first place. "That doesn't explain why you killed all those villagers. What's the point of all that?" she asked, her rage rekindled at the memory of the massacre.
"It's merely to make things easier when we inevitably move in to settle this land. There won't be a rebellion or dissention amongst the population if there's no one left to oppose us," said Morrios.
"You're not going to get away with this! This- this is wrong!" said Karith.
"Pfft, and what are you going to do about it?" asked Morrios.
Karith gripped her hand in a fist and turned around, storming off passed her squad. Kale and Mikael looked to her then to the general, unsure of what to do themselves. As Karith began to get farther away, they decided to follow after her, distraught by what they heard as well. Last to leave was Leena, who was still staring the general down.
"This isn't how a true soldier conducts war," said Leena. "Gen. Lupin is going to hear about this."
Morrios was undeterred, not bothering to turn and face her. "You know exactly what we're capable of. This is war, and we're going to do whatever it takes to win it," he said as he motioned to some of his units down below, giving them new orders. "Who do you think is doing the same thing in Krishna?"
Leena sneered at him, turning around to catch up with Karith and the rest of her squad.
Away from the adjacent battle between Morrios' forces and the Athenian defenses, Karith stopped to collect her thoughts and vent her frustration. She got out of her golem and sat on its shoulder, getting some fresh air as she sulked. Kale and Mikael quickly caught up and stood by her, getting out of their golems as well to rest on their shoulders.
Kale sat down on her golem's shoulder and looked to Karith, kicking her legs as they hung over the edge. "So… what's the plan?" she asked.
Mikael lit a cigarette as he leaned against his golem's head, placing his hands in his pockets. "This is quite the predicament, eh, Captain?" he said after blowing smoke out the corner of his mouth.
Karith let out an audible sigh as she sat on her golem's shoulder, looking out into the distance. "This is so screwed up. And here I thought we were fighting for a noble cause. I can see why Tulare was so skeptical about this whole campaign. He must've known Morrios was up to no good."
"And not just Morrios, I let Lupin is doing the same thing in Krishna, I wouldn't put it passed the guy, being in charge of the Shadow Corps and all," said Mikael, exhaling a puff of smoke.
"Yeah. And speaking of Shadow Corps, where's our own Little Miss Shadow?" asked Kale as she leaned back, lying down as her legs continued to dangle over the edge.
"She's probably praising the general, saying how much she loves killing innocent people to win," said Karith with a sarcastic tone. As soon as she said that, Leena appeared in the distance, walking towards them.
"Apparently not," said Mikael as he watched Leena approach.
When Leena met up with the squad, she parked her golem next to the others, getting out of the cockpit herself as she huffed in frustration.
"We were worried you weren't going to show up," said Kale, sitting up to look over at Leena.
Leena scoffed at her, crossing her arms over her chest. "And why would you think that? Did you think I was going to stay behind and relish in the fact that we're killing innocent civilians?" she asked, her voice elevated in volume.
"Well… that's exactly what we thought," said Kale with a snicker.
"Guh! Unbelievable! Your fellow brethren are committing war crimes and you're sitting around smokin' and jokin'?" asked Leena, placing her hands on her hips as she glanced at Kale.
Karith turned towards Leena, sitting cross-legged. "Ain't that a surprise? We actually agree on something… for once," she said.
Hearing someone else addressing her, Leena looked away from kale to focus on Karith. "Yeah, and what of it?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Karith shrugged. "I'm just glad you're just as pissed as I am about the matter," she said.
Leena adjusted her glasses and stood up straight, returning her arms to the crossed position across her chest. "I'm not 'pissed'," she said, making air quotes with her hands. "I'm disappointed. Our leadership should know better on how to conduct themselves in war."
"Clearly, but in the end, they're just a bunch of power-hungry, old men," said Karith, standing up and stretching her legs. "Someone should do something about this."
"Oh? And how would you handle the situation?" asked Leena.
"Well first off, I wouldn't be killing innocent civilians on a whim, that's for sure," said Karith.
Leena shook her head. "I don't mean the war itself. I mean the whole fiasco regarding the general approving the killing of innocents. If you want someone to do something, why not do something yourself?" she said.
Karith placed a hand on her chin, pacing around on the golem's shoulder as she began pondering possible plans of action. After taking a few moments to think it over, she shared her thoughts with the squad. "We're going back to Alyeska, straight to the Chairman himself," she said.
Upon hearing her plan, Leena shook her head in reluctance and put her hands on her hips. "Huh? Maybe I didn't hear you correctly, but did say you want to head back to Alyeska, bringing this to the Chairman himself?" she asked.
Karith gave a nod, looking her dead in the eye.
Seeing that Karith was serious, Leena burst out laughing, holding her stomach with one hand. "You can't be serious? Are you stupid? That's the worst idea I've ever heard!" she said in-between laughs.
"Why's that?" asked Karith, furrowing her brow.
After wiping a tear from the corner of her eye and regaining her composure, Leena turned back to Karith. "First off, you can't go directly to the Chairman. You're breaking your chain of command and I doubt he'd listen to you about such a grave issue, despite being somewhat of a notable soldier," she said as she fixed her bun and pushed her glasses back into place on the bridge of her nose. "And secondly, you can't just abandon your post here in Athens. We have a job to do, and if you deviate from our mission, more of our countrymen will die. Sure the deaths of those villagers are unfortunate, but in the end, they aren't our kin. Morrios, regardless of their disposition about the war, are our kin. They are the ones we need to focus on protecting first, and if we don't do our mission, then we aren't protecting them."
Half-heartedly listening to Leena, and despite getting where she was coming from, Karith made her way back into her golem and started it up.
Seeing Karith's golem come back to life, Leena narrowed her eyes at her as she began to slowly make her way back to her cockpit. "And just what are you doing?" she asked, shouting at her.
"I'm going back to Alyeska with or without you. This is wrong and you know it. I realize we're the only ones who can do anything about it," said Karith as she began walking in the direction of their homeland.
Sneering, Leena quickly got back into her golem and started it up, hurrying to catch up to Karith. Seeing them leave, Kale and Mikael also got into their golems, following after them.
"I'm not going to allow you to desert your post," said Leena as she boosted in front of Karith, blocking the path back home. "Let the bureaucrats handle the aftermath. We're just soldiers fighting a war we're ordered to."
As Leena took up a position in front of her, Karith stopped in her tracks. "Hey, this is an independent unit and I can do what I want, when I want, so what are you going to do about it, Miss Goody-Two-Shoes? Stop me?" she asked.
Leena smirked as she brandished the parts of her halberd from her back harness and snapped them together, forming her full weapon as she pointed it at Karith. "You know I can," she said.
Karith scoffed at her opponent and took a fighting stance, raising her shield and drawing her saber. "Bring it, you stupid girl."
Seeing her teammates about to battle it out, Kale attempted to break it up until Mikael grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Hey, let me go!" said Kale.
Mikael kept his grip on her then finally let go. "You of all people here should know not to get in-between two women and their bickering. Let the two handle it in their own way; it's not like they're going to kill each other," he said. "At least, I hope not," he then said under his breath. Personally, he didn't mind either way what they did. He planned to go along with whoever won, not caring either way since they each had a good point. Karith was right in wanting to stop the war crimes since the way Alyeska was conducting its war wasn't right. But Leena also had a point of them being soldiers and should just follow orders, letting the higher ups deal with the aftermath later. It wasn't their burden to bear, he thought.
Kale looked to him then back to Karith and Leena. "Fine. But if things get too out of hand, I'm jumping in there and so are you," she said, standing down to watch the fight.
After taunting Karith into a fight, Leena readied herself and took a firm grip on her halberd, making sure to get a stable footing in case she needed to maneuver at a moment's notice. "Do you really want to go against the former captain of the Shadow Corps?" she asked, giving her weapon a flashy twirl.
"If it's the only way to get back home and stop all this, then sure. Why not?" said Karith as she confidently began to take a few steps towards her foe.
Witnessing her opponent beginning to advance, Leena smiled and mentally prepared herself for a fight. Without warning, Karith used her boosters and dashed head on towards Leena, closing the distance between them fast. Leena was startled for a second then quickly got a hold of herself. She readied her halberd and swung horizontally before Karith got too close to use her weapon effectively.
"So it begins. Best of luck to the both of you," said Mikael as he watched from the sidelines along with kale.
Seeing the attack, Karith blocked it with her shield, driving it downwards as she used the saber in her other hand to strike. She took her blade and cut downwards, hoping to at least cut off her left arm. Unfortunately for her, Leena was too skilled for that and simply stepped off to the side, dodging the attack completely. She then followed up and punched Karith's golem across the cheek, causing it to stumble slightly as the sensors in the head attempted to readjust.
"Damn it!" said Karith, hopping backwards in order to get some distance between her and Leena until her sensors came back online. When they did, she saw Leena coming straight for her with her halberd raised and about to strike. As the halberd came slicing down diagonally, Karith dodged it by sidestepping out of the way to the outside of the strike. At the same time, she attacked Leena's exposed side with a well-placed sidekick, pushing her opponent back quite a bit.
"Well well well, you aren't as helpless as I thought you were. You managed to get the first hit on me," said Leena as she promptly recovered from the hit.
"Give me some credit, why don't ya? I didn't get to be Gen. Tulare's captain by my good looks alone," said Karith as she poised herself for another attack. She eyed Leena, slowly shifting to the right as she began sidestepping in a small circle.
Leena mimicked her movements, moving in the same fashion as she kept her weapon raised. Sensing the right moment, Karith lunged at Leena, thrusting with her bladed shield. Leena countered by splitting her halberd into two parts, parrying the shield with her halberd and striking with the spearhead. Karith figured Leena would switch to close combat, so she blocked the spearhead with her saber. The two weapons clashed as the pilots continued to push against one another, neither one budging or giving in. Karith's saber and Leena's spearhead continued to hold fast while Leena kept Karith's bladed shield from reengaging using her halberd. The two golems were locked in battle, eyeing each other down as their pilots refused to back down.
As she began to lose her grip on her weapon, Leena acted fast and executed a knee strike, hitting Karith away from her to create some distance. Karith felt the impact of the blow in her cockpit, gritting her teeth as the force disoriented her for a bit. After getting some space between them, Leena combined her two parts and used her boosters to quickly attack once more, swinging with her halberd at her dazed opponent. Karith shook it off and gripped her controls, raising her shield to block the blow as the weapon came crashing down, pushing her arm down quite a bit from the leverage. The strike nearly shattered her shield, but it remained intact due to the blade integrated into the shield itself.
"You're good, but I'm better!" said Leena with an adrenaline induced grin, getting a kick out of the battle. She was finally able to let out all her pent up frustration and resentment by finally proving that she was a better pilot than her.
Karith scoffed at her and swung at Leena's exposed midsection with her saber, but she jumped back before she could make contact with her sword. "Just stop this and let me through! If you want to continue fighting, then go ahead! Just leave me out of it!" she said.
"You don't get it, do you? This while business regarding the civilians may be unsettling, but I still have an obligation as a soldier to obey orders and do my duty, as do you! And now, my duty is to prevent you from deserting your post and take command of this unit," said Leena as she charged towards Karith.
Finally reaching the limit of her patience, Karith decided to end the battle. As Leena performed a standard, downward strike, Karith used her boosters to duck underneath the attack and got in close before she finished the movement of bringing down her weapon. Moving faster than she anticipated, Leena was unable to react as Karith ripped the halberd from her hands as she smacked it away using her bladed shield. Once she was disarmed, Karith swiftly followed through with a judo-style grapple attack as she moved her back to Leena's front, grabbing her arm and hurling her over her shoulder using her leverage. Leena cried out in shock as her golem impacted the ground hard, the ligaments of the arm nearly tearing as the force of the blow radiated through her cockpit.
"Yield," said Karith as she kept her golem's weight on Leena's, her weapon at the ready.
Leena took a few moments to catch her breath and recover from the dizziness the impact caused. She groaned as the monitors inside her cockpit flickered before returning to their normal state. Her head pounded as she held it, realizing what had just happened. "But- but how?" she asked, unable to say more.
Karith smirked, still holding fast over her adversary. "Your attacks are crisp and your techniques are flawless, which are typical of a prodigy school student, wouldn't you say? But when you've been out in the field for as long as I have, you tend to pick up a few things, things you can't learn in school," she said.
Feeling disgraced by being beaten so unorthodoxly, Leena couldn't help but whimper a bit. "…finish it. You've defeated me and I no longer deserve the title of captain of the Shadow Corps," she said.
Unable to believe the melodrama she was hearing from such an uptight soldier, Karith rolled her eyes and withdrew her bladed shield. "Oh, c'mon. You already lost that title the second you were put on Foxhound," she said, getting up off Leena's golem. "And besides, you're not that bad."
Leena remained motionless on the ground, not wanting to move and instead wallow in her defeat. "What- what do you mean?" she asked, nearly on the verge of tears.
Looking down at Leena, Karith ran a hand through her hair as she exhaled. "You could have had me. There were so many instances where you could have ended the fight if only you used your pressgun, but you didn't. You didn't fire a single shot. Why? I know you Shadow Corps guys are sticklers for following orders, but I didn't think you'd take my order to conserve your ammo to heart when fighting against me," she said, cracking a joke to lighten the mood.
Hearing her attempt at humor, Leena, despite being the ice-queen she was, couldn't help but crack a smile at that. "I don't know why I didn't use my pressgun. I guess… I just wouldn't feel right endangering a fellow Alyeskan's life, despite her being a stubborn and traitorous one at that," she said. "But… you didn't use your pressgun either. I figured you would since you hate me. I know you do; you all do."
Karith scratched her head as she relaxed her hands from her controls. "Now don't beat yourself up like that. We don't hate you. We just… severely think you're a horrible person, or at least, I do. But what did you expect? You're the uptight, snooty, haughty former captain of the Shadow Corps. Some young, hot-shot thinking they knew better than us experienced pilots. What did you think was going to happen?" she asked. "And to answer your question, I may fight dirty, but I don't like fighting unfairly, or… something, if that makes any sense at all."
Leena nodded, understanding partially where Karith was coming from. "I guess… I just took my job and title a little too… seriously?"
"Uh, yeah. You think?" said Karith.
"I see," she said, thinking over what Karith had said. She then came back to the present and began thinking about what started the whole fight. "You know, it's not going to matter, you going back to Alyeska, I mean. Even if you talk to the Chairman and all those at High Command, you're going to be exactly where you are here and now. Nowhere. Who do you think authorized all this? Who do you think is driving the act of invading Athens and Krishna? It's certainly not the generals. No. They're just the pawns of action used by those in real power to accomplish their goals. What you'd be doing would be meaningless."
Karith thought her words over, eventually agreeing with her after pondering it for a few moments. "So… instead of taking it up the chain, can't we just… take out the general right here and now?" she asked.
Immediately after she said that, Leena sneered and nearly jumped out of her seat. "What? You can't seriously be thinking of killing him?" she asked, her voice nearly frantic and high-pitched.
"What? No! I mean- Can't we, like, arrest him, or something? If he's committing war crimes, can't we just arrest him under these charges?" asked Karith.
Leena calmed down, relieved that her superior wasn't talking about assassinating an allied general officer. "I don't know. You kinda don't have the authority to do that, and I doubt he'd come quietly even if you did," she said.
Suddenly, Mikael chimed in, having watched and listened to the entire think along with Kale. "But I do," he said.
Karith and Leena turned towards him, almost forgetting that they were there. "What was that?" asked Karith.
"You do all know I'm the captain of the Military Police, right" he asked.
"Former captain," said Kale as she turned her head towards him, her words striking deep like a dagger into his flesh.
Mikael gave her a sour expression, despite her not being able to see it. "Regardless, I know military law and I could play it off, at least bringing the matter to light. We can at least try, you know? We've got nothing else better that we can do," he said.
Karith and Leena thought it over. Karith was onboard with the idea after thinking it through, but Leena, on the other hand, was far less enthused about it. "Really? You're just going to walk back and arrest him? Just like that?" she asked, slipping back into her old self.
Hearing Leena's condescending voice again, Karith sighed and rolled her eyes. "And what would you have us do?" she asked, seriously thinking about stomping Leena's golem to dust while she was still lying on the ground.
"In my educated opinion, no offense to you, Mikael, but I think we should go about the route I had mentioned from the very beginning. Just do our duty, get through the war in one piece, and let the higher ups deal with all this. If they call for witnesses, sure, I'd testify. I'd do so in a heartbeat. But now is neither the time nor the place to go about stirring up trouble," said Leena.
Karith contemplated the option, but she shook her head, dead set on arresting the general to prevent him from committing more crimes. "No. We go back and arrest him. You can come if you'd like, but I'm not forcing you," she said, reaching out with her hand to help Leena up.
Leena noticed the gesture and was skeptical about it. "What is this? You can't possibly be this quick to forgive me for all that I've done," she said, not taking her hand just yet.
Rolling her eyes once more, something she'd done more times since being on that squad than any other point in her life, Karith kept her hand out and gestured for her to take it. "Quit being such a baby and take my hand," she said.
Despite taking a blow to her pride, Leena reached out and grabbed hold of her hand, getting pulled up as Karith helped her out.
"Wow, so it's like- they're friends already?" asked Kale as she turned to Mikael. "Is that why you didn't want me to intervene?"
Mikael sighed, placing a cigarette in his mouth without lighting it. "When you've been around women as long as I have, you pick up on these things," he said. "I'm surprised you didn't know this as well, being a girl and all, right?"
Kale grimaced and nudged his arm with her pressgun. "And what's that supposed to mean?" she asked, playfully jabbing him more with the end of her barrel.
After Karith helped Leena up, she went to retrieve her halberd while Leena shook off the after effects of being tossed to the ground. "I can see how you're able to hit so hard; this thing is menacing," said Karith as she played around with Leena's halberd, spinning it around and doing flashy tricks with it.
"Hey hey hey, don't mess with that. It's not a toy, you know," said Leena as she made her way over to her, grabbing the weapon away from her like a mother would do to a child who was fiddling with something they weren't supposed to.
Seeing that Karith and Leena were getting somewhat along, Mikael and Kale went over to join them. "We all friends now?" he asked, slightly anxious to do something productive.
"For the most part. Miss Snooty over here says she won't interfere with our plans if we decide to go arrest the general. To absolve her from any blame, she's going to use the excuse that she was obeying orders under protest, which is a bunch of BS but still. At least she won't get in our way," said Karith.
"So it's settled? We're really going to go back and arrest him?" asked Mikael.
"Yup, and you're going to do it, being Mr. Military Police and all," said Karith with a smile.
Mikael gave a nod, sighing as he looked in the direction of the Alyeskan main force. "Well… shall we?" he asked, gesturing for Karith and the others to lead the way.
"Fine. Let's get this over with. But don't say I didn't warn you when this plan of yours backfires," said Leena as she followed after Karith and Kale, leaving Mikael to pick up the rear.