…
…
…
"What a mess…"
Kaela Kovalskia grumbles beneath her breath as she huddles with her general staff in the headquarters' command tent. Even though the thick, coastal fog has started to clear over Poseidon's Point, the fog of war still hangs thinly over Kaela and her forces.
Radio reports come rapidly, overwhelming Kaela's communications staff. Telegraph ticker tapes print message after message, spurring the overworked technicians to double time. All the while, the headquarter's MERAK cipher machine churns and whirs as its six-tier codewheels spin. Its operators flip through the thick MERAK codebook as they make sense of the sheer amount of encrypted messages and reply with encrypted messages of their own.
The communications staff relay reports from the frontline to Kaela's staff of Brigadier generals. Those Brigadiers begin dreading every time they get a message, knowing full well that they would get dozens more in a heartbeat.
Once the frantic barrage of transmission mellows down, Kaela folds her arms and turns to her three Brigadiers.
"What's the situation?" Kaela asks, eying her generals.
"It's not looking good, madam Kovalskia." One Brigadier starts, shaking his head, "The Elysians have finally deployed their armor. Progress has slowed down to a crawl on the southern salients."
"They always were going to deploy those, General." Kaela insists, "Slow progress is still progress. We'll deal with them just like we always have."
The Brigadier shudders at Kaela's gaze and promptly salutes her.
"I will make sure my regiments follow through, madam!"
"Go do what you have to do." Kaela orders.
He nods, puts on his peaked cap and overcoat and leaves the command tent.
A second Brigadier raises his voice next.
"My units stopped receiving fire support from the Darussalam battlecruiser too!" he adds with disbelief, "The Elysians are entrenched in their positions. We captured a lot of ground, but we already lost the initiative."
Kaela folds her arms and shakes her head.
"We've still made a lot of progress." Kaela reassures him, "Going by this data, the Elysians should have attempted to counterattack with their tanks if they had the strength to do so. Clearly, they do not."
"That is true…" The second Brigadier rubs his chin, "But the Darussalam's fire support would have turned the tides for us. We would have been at the city gates before nightfall!"
"The battlecruiser Darussalam had to retreat or risk taking hits from coastal artillery - or from Elysian dive bombers. I have ordered its crew to return with her heavy cruiser sisters. Escort carriers too." Kaela answers in a matter-of-factly tone. She points to the map of Poseidon's point and insists, "For now, make use of the trenches we took from the Elysians and keep them in our control. Every inch we take tightens the noose around their necks."
The second Brigadier takes a deep breath and salutes Kaela.
"I will draw from my reserves and man those trenches." He declares, leaving as well.
Finally, a third Brigadier pipes up with one last report.
"We weren't able to establish the artillery firebase in the peninsula's cape, Madam Kovalsika. Now, a lot of our field guns are out of position and undeployed!"
"The peninsula cape…" Kaela pores over the map of Poseidon's Point spread out on a table in the tent, "Agent Satwa was in charge of that salient."
Kaela furrows her brow. Just as she whips her head towards her communications team, one of the radio operators takes off his headset and turns towards Kaela.
"Madam Kovalsia, Agent Satwa is contacting you!"
Kaela returns her keris sheath to its holster and marches towards her communications team. She picks up the radio operator's headset and speaks firmly into the microphone.
"Agent Satwa. This is Pemaloe Corps Commander. What is your situation?"
Satwa croaks, grunting with pain every so often.
"Lady Kovalskia…The Grand Marshall's obsession, Kureiji… had the audacity to use Pavolian tanks against us. She ambushed us… in the fog, taking out one platoon after another."
"I have heard reports about a '4th Elysian Company' prowling the North." Kaela confirms.
Satwa snickers, but still recoils in pain.
"They retook the cape in the end, but I made them pay dearly for it. Kureiji's forces… are decimated. I also made sure… to bomb one of their seaports to hell while I was there, though. One seaport down, two more seaports to go… And their damn airfield."
"You've done enough, Agent Satwa. We'll destroy those targets soon enough. Return to headquarters as soon as possible."
"B-but I can still fight, ma'am. Tell one of those do-nothing Brigadiers to give me forces. I'll take the fight to the Elysians! They'll listen to you. They'll listen to Lady Zeta's right hand."
Kaela closes her eyes and frowns.
"You have your orders, Agent Satwa. We will assault the Elysian lines again with support from a larger fleet, but we will do so properly. Return to Headquarters immediately."
Agent Satwa sighs audibly over the radio.
"Understood, Lady Kovalskia. I'll get patched up and return as soon as I can."
The transmission ends. Kaela puts off the radio headset and approaches the third Brigadier.
"Make sure Agent Satwa gets the help she needs and retrieve her. Redeploy the artillery in the lower salients. Reinforce the Northern salient too. Don't let the Elysians rest easy tonight."
"Yes, ma'am!" The third Brigadier salutes Kaela and moves to leave the command tent.
…
Just as the third Brigadier parts the tent flaps, however, someone enters the tent first and blocks her path: a purple-haired woman wearing a more pristine and ornate royal blue Pavolian officer's uniform adorned with the Imperial white sash. Her purple eyes are sharp, magnified by her thick, round glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. Her peaked cap is nestled between purple ear-like hair flaps.
The third Brigadier stops in her tracks and sees the newcomer's epaulets, marking her as just a Major - three full ranks below hers. So, she sneers at the Major and demands an apology.
And a salute.
However, the Major swiftly brings out a letter with an Imperial wax seal.
"Pavolia Raya, Brigadier." The Major speaks with authority, "I am Major Ina'nis Ninomae of the Imperial Guard. I come bearing the Empress' voice."
The Brigadier whips her head towards Kaela, waiting for her verdict. Kaela raises her hand and waves it through the air.
"The Empress' envoys are always welcome." Kaela declares.
So, the Brigadier heaves a sigh and salutes the Major stiffly instead. Major Ninomae returns the salute sharply.
"Apologies, Major Ninomae - and Pavolia Raya. I will leave you to your business. Excuse me."
The Brigadier finally hurries out of the command tent. Major Ninomae's gaze turns towards Kaela.
Kaela salutes the Major.
Ina returns the gesture sharply and hands Kaela the letter.
Kaela takes the letter, breaks the Imperial seal and reads its contents. Ina remains silent and waits for Kaela to finish.
She doesn't have to wait long.
Kaela scoffs and puts the letter aside. She clears her throat and speaks with exaggerated flowery language that wouldn't have been out of place at the Imperial Court.
"Major Ninomae, scion of the House Mun-eo. Empress' blessings! It is an honor to have Her Majesty's envoy deliver supplies to our frontline troops. Truly, it is a boon to see food, funds and fuel that don't go to wasteful, socialite banquets for hollow platitudes."
Major Ninomae frowns, but says nothing. This prods Kaela to continue her harangue.
"Pray, Major, tell. The Holy Mother Towa must have whispered the plight of the Pavolian soldiers fighting, bleeding and dying to you nobles and finally, finally, finally inspired you to act!"
"Don't be snide, Letnan Kovalskia." Ina rebuffs her, reciting Kaela's old rank, "The Imperial Guard has a singular purpose: to protect our Empress from foes without and within. And our Empress cares deeply about her people."
"While she lounges away in her palaces in the Blue Throne, of course." Kaela lashes at her.
Major Ninomae straightens her back and bristles at Kaela.
"You may be the right hand of the Grand Marshall, but that does not give you - nor the Grand Marshall - the right to gamble with lives as wantonly as you have."
"At least I stick my neck out for Pavolia, Major Ninomae." Kaela counters harshly, "When the Empress' life isn't in danger - and it hardly ever is - all you Imps do is wave the flag, deliver supplies from the Blue Throne and retreat to your castles. Leave the tactics and strategy to me and Lady Zeta."
Kaela waves the Imperial letter through the air and tosses it aside.
"Having the Empress tell me to reconsider my plans for the Navy is holding back our victory!"
Ina clicks her tongue and snaps at Kaela.
"I, too, am a soldier of Pavolia. Empress Reine was too. You, the Grand Marshall, Kolonel Hoshinova and the turncoat Kureiji were in the Pavolian Youth together. So, it is our right to feel compassion for our soldiers!"
Kaela twists her lips and asks, "Your point?"
Ina continues.
"On my way here, I saw a convoy of trucks and supplies going through the mountain roads of Banda Puncak Biru and the plains of Xenokuni."
"That's called a logistics train, Major." Kaela lectures her, "The Elysians blew up our rail bridge in that province, in case you've forgotten. We make do with the infrastructure that we have."
"It doesn't change the fact that your forces are over-extended." Ina answers venomously, "Both you and the Grand Marshall besieging Xenokuni City as we speak."
"But my troops are well supplied. I can't say the same for the Elysians." Kaela hisses stubbornly.
"And I hear that you're pulling away our heavy cruisers and the escort carriers from their duties. The Empress expressed her shock!" Ina adjusts her glasses and reminds her, "We need those ships to protect our trade convoys with the Independent Nations Union. Oil from the INU has kept us in the fight all these years! We can't leave them vulnerable."
Kaela's expression sours.
"What would you have us do then, Major Ninomae? Do the same things we've done for eight years? Fighting a war of attrition that will possibly never end?" Kaela challenges her, "Desk jockeys like you who 'eat brunch' at the Blue Throne don't know war but love to pretend that you do."
Major Ninomae grits her teeth.
"I would have you and the Grand Marshall calm down and discuss strategy with the Imperial crown." Ina answers, holding back hisses of anger.
"More talking, then." Kaela laughs, "Listen, Major. Until you can give an alternative that I, Lady Zeta - and the Empress who gave Lady Zeta her assent - can accept… be quiet and leave the fighting to us."
Major Ninomae purses her lips and dares to speak.
"Are you and the Grand Marshall so averse to the Empress' oversight? Just because of a banquet?"
Kaela's eyes sharpen.
"Would you like to ask the Grand Marshall that question?" Kaela dares her, "Or is the Imperial Crown so afraid of that answer that it resorts to coming to me instead of her?"
Ina snorts.
"Think what you want, Letnan Kovalskia." Ina repeats Kaela's old title and tips her peaked cap, "I'll distribute my supplies, set up camp outside your headquarters and leave in the morning. Good day."
Ina whirls around and marches out of Kaela's command tent.
For a brief moment, though, as Ina's long locks of purple hair floats through the air, Kaela blinks. At that moment, she thought she saw Moona Hoshinova.
Kaela rubs her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose.
"I should probably turn in early."
…
Kaela returns to the barn house that she claimed as her own. Only the rustle of the tarpaulin covering her personal HaKu V Panther tank and the crackle of the gas lanterns greet her arrival. She blows the lamp lights off casting the entire barn into darkness.
Light of the setting sun fades early, giving way to the wan moonlight. It peeks at Kaela through the barn windows, illuminating the scornful frown on her lips.
Kaela faces the moon, scowling at it.
She turns away and takes off her officer's uniform, trading it for lighter sleeping clothes. Then, she lays down on a simple bed of hay, looking up to the moon.
"Damn it." Kaela curses beneath her breath, "Even now, you're looking down on us, simpai.
She pulls up a thick blanket and turns away from the moon, but she feels its relentless gaze on her back. It's glow doesn't give her even a moment of rest.
Kaela shifts and turns for hours on end, unable to get even a wink of sleep.
It is at this time that her personal MERAK machine whirs to life and turns its wheels. Kaela heaves a sigh and rises from her bed. She hobbles groggily towards the MERAK and reads the ticker tape of code that comes out of it.
"Jeta…" Kaela starts, recognizing the sender.
Kaela pulls up a chair before the MERAK machine and types up a response. She recounts the whirlwind of events that had taken place since she took command of the area, up until the setbacks of the frantic, foggy day.
Moments later, the MERAK machine prints new output tape.
Kaela reads it again, decoding it as she speaks.
"Can't sleep, Kaela?" Kaela reads Zeta's response.
She puts away the tape and types up her response.
"Don't worry, Jeta. The Elysians won't be sleeping well tonight either. Not with my artillery continuing to strike them."
Kaela sends her response and waits for the machine to whirr again.
It doesn't.
Instead, a telephone beside the MERAK machine rings.
Kaela picks it up and answers,
"Kovalskia. Pemaloe Detatchment."
"Vestia. Pavolia." Zeta answers proudly from the other end.
"Jeta…" Kaela starts.
"Listen Kaela. I'm not just talking about the war effort." Zeta insists intently, "I know you - better than anyone else. Even through the MERAK, I can tell that you are troubled."
Kaela hangs her head low.
She takes a deep breath, twirls the telephone wire around her finger and speaks reminiscently.
"There is a crescent moon tonight above my command post. It reminds me of… that day, seven years ago."
Kaela covers the mouthpiece of the telephone and whispers beneath her breath, "The day that brought me to you."
Zeta's response comes quickly.
"Hah! Ironic isn't it? The Empress' and Hoshinova's golden girl Kureiji is now public enemy number one - fighting Pavolian armor with Elysian scrap."
"Yeah." Kaela concurs, "But some scars don't go away with time."
"Are you talking about the hit on Hoshinova?" Zeta asks.
Kaela doesn't respond. She doesn't have to.
Zeta continues.
"Moona Hoshinova stood in our way. We would have had to deal with her sooner or later. We're fortunate that that Xenokunian cleric was willing to do it for us."
Kaela bites her lip.
"What about the Empress, Jeta? Her Imperial Guard comptrollers are visiting more frequently. Just a while ago, a certain Major Ninomae confronted me about the Angkatan Laut."
"We have Imperial assent. The Imperial Guard will not question that." Zeta replies quickly.
"But what if Reine withdraws it?" Kaela asks.
"Reine wouldn't dare." Zeta snaps, "And if she does, she will not last long on the throne. I assure you."
Zeta laughs menacingly.
"Say, Kaela. If it does come to that, would you like to become the next Empress?"
Kaela heaves a sigh.
"I would much rather be the one supporting you, if it comes to that." She replies, "You would be the one ascending to the throne. Crushing the Elysian Exclave and Xenokuni City will be the jewels of your crown."
Zeta hums.
"So, you wish to become my consort." Zeta teases.
Kaela blushes, but she does not hesitate. She closes her eyes and answers wholeheartedly.
"If you deem me worthy, I would gladly accept." She opens her eyes and looks out to the battlefield beyond her window, "For now, I will satisfied with an Imperial banquet held in our honor. We will wash away the stain of Ollie Kureiji with true Pavolian wine."
Zeta laughs gleefully.
She laughs, for once, like a regular girl.
A pang of pain quickly strikes Kaela's heart. She wonders if she is the only one in the world with whom Zeta can speak like this with.
If that's the case, then she is the only one who can tame the vengeful beast that is Zeta Vestia. Without her, a force of nature - a wild animal - would be let loose upon the Blue Throne and the world.
And no one would be able to stop her.
So, Kaela stood by Zeta's side and became her greatest blade. She cut down anything and anyone that got in their way. Moona Hoshinova was just one of many whose blood she spilled to appease that beast.
She fashioned Zeta to become a lion. In doing so, Kaela became lion-like herself.
Would Zeta every be satisfied? Kaela could only wonder.
For now, she had no choice but to march forward - and spill more blood for the one she loves.
"I swear upon you and to the Holy Mother Towa - the Exclave will fall, Jeta. I will crush their defenses in your honor. Honor that you so richly deserve."
Zeta snickers.
"I know you won't fail me, Kaela. Sweet dreams. My greatest blade needs her rest."
The transmission ends, leaving Kaela alone once more in the cold barn house. She sets down the telephone and retreats to her bed.
Kaela faces the crescent moon again, reflecting on Zeta's words. She imagines herself, for a moment, watching the coronation of Zeta Vestia as the newest Empress of Pavolia and how she will be there at Zeta's side when she takes the throne.
Peace finally comes to Kaela, despite the moonlight.
She finally drifts off to sleep.
…
Early the next morning, well before the sunrise, Kaela awakens. Unusually warmer winds blow in through the windows, rousing her earlier than usual. She checks her pocket timepiece and grumbles.
"Spring is almost here." She mutters.
She pinches her cheek and ponders for a moment if she is still in a lingering dream. The fierce bursts of Elysian and Pavolian artillery duels and the roar of clashing warplanes in the skies, however, tell Kaela that the nightmare of reality continued on as always.
With a grunt, she gets out of bed and puts on her officer's uniform once more. She glances at her HaKu V tank and considers working on it like she often does. However, when she tries to switch on her gas lamps, the flame flickers and fizzles.
"Already out of fuel, huh?" She clicks her tongue.
Without the light of the moon or the lamps, the barn house is shrouded in darkness. The sound of battle echoes in its walls.
So, Kaela picks up the empty gas lamps and trots out through the snowy fields towards her command tent.
On her way there, she doesn't spot a single soul. Her camp, which normally was abuzz with soldiers and guards moving to and fro, is quiet that morning.
"Looks like the Brigadiers moved their reserves forward." Kaela buries her free hand in her pocket. She exhales and watches her breath fog up before her eyes, "We'll attack the Elysians again at sunrise."
She raises up her fist and clenches it.
"Then, I'll finish the job and join Zeta in Xenokuni."
Her words ring hollow in the unusual silence of her camp, however.
Kaela quickens her pace towards her command tent, expecting to see the usual sentries posted there.
But there are none.
Even the guard on the water tower-turned-guardpost wasn't there.
Instead, on the spots where the sentries would have been standing in attention, the snow is marked with a myriad of footsteps. Kaela squats down to the snow and sees splatters of blood.
"GUARDS!" Kaela cries.
No one answers her in the camp.
Kaela furrows her brow. She draws her Luger pistol from its holster and draws her keris shortsword. She holds her weapons firmly in hand and creeps into her command tent.
As soon as she steps inside, her snow boots strike flesh. Kaela recoils, points her gun down and holds her keris at the ready.
She finds the corpses of the two sentries and the guardtower sniper splayed out on the dirt.
"An assassin…?" Kaela inspects the bodies and finds deep wounds and slash marks all over them. She recognizes the technique, "It's not the OSS."
Kaela walks over the corpses and goes to the planning table. There, the three Brigadier generals under Kaela's command lay, butchered like pigs. A rear admiral from the Angkatan Laut also sat there at the war table with her throat slit open. The embroidered stars on the Army and Navy officers' epaulets and the dog tags around their neck are also missing.
Chills run up Kaela's spine.
She had seen this kind of handiwork before. It was a previous operation that she ordered months ago: the assassination of the Elysian Brigadier Leslie Olivier in the Manor House. She had seen the captured ECN newsreel footage with her own eyes.
The horrifying, macabre spectacle of blood.
"No… It can't be." Kaela mutters.
Kaela steadies her breath and approaches the communications room of her tent. Just like everyone else, the radio operators are lifeless and bloody on the ground.
Save for one.
A single radio operator sits hunched over on his chair before the MERAK device. The six cogs of the MERAK are missing and the codebook is nowhere to be seen. But the radio operator still breathes pained and labored breaths.
He cranes his head back with great effort and looks at Kaela with bloodshot eyes.
"Lady Kovalskia…" he croaks, blood dripping down the side of his lips, "She's… behind you."
Kaela's heart skips a beat. She whirls around with her pistol and her keris at the ready.
Then, from the dark shadows, a petite brunette rushes towards her but her face is obstructed in darknes. Light flashes off of the edge of the intruder's keris.
KLANG!
Kaela's keris strikes against the intruder's.
KLANG! KLANG! KLANG!
The two kerises trade ferocious blows, sending sparks of light flying. Those sparks illuminate the shrouded intruder's face. Then, the curves of their blades lock into one another, forcing a stalemate.
Behind their crossed blades, Kaela finally recognizes the intruder.
"… Melfissa!?"
The intruder, Anya Melfissa, grins.
"Selamat pagi, Kaela-simpai."
Kaela's face goes pale - as if she were seeing a ghost. She pushes her weight against Anya's blade and brings her pistol to bare.
Anya pushes back and keeps the barrel of Kaela's pistol away from her head. Still, through Kaela's sheer strength, she brings her pistol closer and closer to Anya's head.
Suddenly, Anya hops back, unlocks her keris from Kaela's and strikes the gun out of Kaela's hand with a high-kick.
"Ack…!" Kaela grunts.
Her pistol falls down to the ground at a sharp angle, discharging a round.
BANG!
The shot strikes the table beneath the ransacked MERAK machine. Anya pushes the pistol away from Kaela with her boots.
She draws an Elysian M1911 pistol. Kaela promptly braces herself and prepares to strike.
However, Anya suddenly tosses her own pistol away.
Kaela shifts her keris and glares at Anya.
"What is the meaning of this, Agent Melfissa? Have you forgotten your training?" Kaela taunts her foe in Pavolian, "Keris Abu-abu don't give their enemies a chance to fight back."
Anya glares back at Kaela.
"Lady Kovalskia, I'm giving you a chance to fight for whatever honor you have left." Anya declares sharply, "This is my one courtesy to you - before I kill you like you had Lady Hoshinova killed!"
Anya traces a line through the air over her own neck.
Kaela and Anya brandish their kerises and pace around the communications room in a rough circle, keeping their distance as they speak.
"I assume you've already told Elysium the truth." Kaela growls.
"Yes. And I've told the hundreds of Lady Kovalskia's soldiers - the Munafiks - too." Anya confirms, "They also know that you were planning to have them all killed when your forces take the Exclave. Why else do you think they suddenly chose to fight for Elysium?"
Kaela gnashes her teeth and launches herself at Anya. Their blades clash furiously once again.
KLANG! KLA-KLANG! TING-TA-KLANG!
Anya's blade rips through the side of Kaela's arm, while Kaela's blade cuts through Anya's cheek. Both ladies draw blood and step away once more.
"I'm impressed. Truly." Kaela scoffs, unfazed by the crimson spreading through her tattered uniform sleeve, "You've bought Elysium a few days at best, but they don't have the strength to fight back."
Kaela's red eyes burn with fury. She swings her bloody keris through the air.
"The Elysians will die on the battlefield or they will die cowering behind their city walls! The Angkatan Laut's cruisers are coming and they will rain fire upon those pigs. My victory is inevitable!"
Kaela charges at Anya once again, clashing blades with her.
KLANG! KLA-KLANG! TING-KA-TANG!
Anya swipes her keris, cutting shallowly through Kaela's side. Kaela, however, slices Anya's chest.
"Gyah…" Anya gasps and recoils.
Kaela shifts her weight and kicks Anya squarely on the chest.
WHAM!
Anya is sent flying back-first into the room's radio equipment.
CRASH!
"Hurghh…" Anya groans.
Blood drips from her wounds and from the side of her lips, staining her own Pavolian uniform. But even in her sorry state, she doesn't let go of her keris.
Kaela scoffs.
"My honor is intact, Agent Melfissa. Unlike yours - or Kureiji's." Kaela insists, looking down at the ailing Anya, "Moona Hoshinova lost her honor when she disobeyed orders and surrendered. She deserved what happened to her - and I will see to it that her lackeys share her fate when the Elysians are crushed."
Anya, however, is unmoved. She lifts up her head and glares at Kaela defiantly.
"They will not fall easily. I have already given them… what they need to fight back." Anya reveals, grinning and showing her bloody teeth, "I've transmitted the gist of the MERAK's logic from the codebook. I've dismantled the cipher wheels too and told them all the details. Their OSS can handle the rest."
Kaela pauses. She bursts out into maniacal laughter.
"So. This is how the treacherous Ollie Kureiji plans to lead Elysium to victory! Having a traitor lead a traitor! How typical of her. Turning one of my most loyal students into an Elysian lackey like her!"
Anya growls.
"I volunteered to do this, Kaela-simpai." She furrows her bloody brow and glares daggers into Kaela, "You and Lady Vestia have taken so many children of Pavolia under your wings. You promised them honor upon honor like the fairy tales of old - only to shatter their dreams!"
She struggles to pick herself up from the wrecked radio equipment and keeps her grip on her keris firm.
"I swore to avenge myself and all of the children of the Keris Abu-Abu who believed your lies!"
Anya tries to take a combat stance, but pains ravage her body and bring her back down to her knees.
Kaela looks down upon the kneeling Anya and the keris stubbornly in her hand.
"But you do not have the strength to do so, do you?" Kaela muses.
She walks over casually to the M1911 pistol that Anya discarded and picks it up.
"Oh, poor child. You search for honor in a profession that has none." Kaela taunts. She lowers her keris, stands a few paces away from her foe and points the Elysian pistol at Anya's head, "When all is said and done, I will have no regrets. Will you be able to say the same?"
Anya looks down the barrel of the gun, still defiant.
Kaela scoffs and puts her finger on the trigger.
CLICK!
"Huh…?" Kaela raises her brow. She pulls the trigger again.
CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!
Anya grins.
She springs up from the ground and thrusts her keris through the air. Kaela tosses away the empty pistol and raises her own keris swiftly. The two blades clash again.
KLANG! SHIIING!
Suddenly, Anya ducks and strikes Kaela's chin with her elbow.
WHAM!
"Urk…!" Kaela groans.
Kaela's grip on her keris loosens and Anya pries it out of her hands. Then, in one swift motion, Anya takes Kaela's keris and stabs her straight through the chest.
THWACK!
Blood drips down the side of Kaela's mouth. Her eyes become bloodshot and she grits her teeth.
Despite the pain, Kaela grips Anya's wrists and tries to push her off. Anya stands her ground and drives the blade deeper.
"Hrghh! Hrghhhaaaarh!" Kaela roars.
Kaela clenches her fists and strikes Anya's head like a desperate, flailing beast. Anya winces in pain and her face gets swollen, but she doesn't let up.
Anya shifts her weight again and thrusts her own keris through Kaela's gut.
Kaela's punches grow weaker and weaker until her fists barely brush against Anya's bruised face.
"You're making a terrible mistake." Kaela croaks, coughing up blood. She glares at Anya's purple eyes and hisses, "I can't die here! Zeta will… Zeta will!"
"Zeta Vestia will know the pain that she's caused to so many." Anya answers, unflinching despite the excruciating pain, "It's time for her to feel dread, for once. So, good night, Kaela-simpai."
Anya grunts and pushes the two keris blades deeper into Kaela. Finally, Kaela slumps forward and her head hangs limply. Her furious, bloodshot red eyes grow tired, clouded and then unfocused.
Kaela falls on her back, skewered by the two kerises. Blood pools down below her and she sprawls out on the ground, lifeless.
Anya winces from stinging pain and she fights to catch her breath. She picks up her empty M1911 pistol and a satchel bag hidden in the communications tent. Her swollen cheeks make it hard for her to see, but she checks the contents of the satchel: the six cipher wheels of the MERAK machine and an executive copy of the MERAK codebook.
Her eyes then wander to Kaela's corpse.
"Mission accomplished." Anya grunts.
She pulls out her keris from Kaela's gut but leaves her foe's keris sticking out. Anya swishes her bloody keris through the air, whisking off most of Kaela's blood from the edge.
Then, with all of her things in tow, Anya hobbles out of the command tent under the cover of darkness.
…
…
…
Later that morning, when the sun has finally risen over Poseidon's Point, the wounded Agent Satwa arrives at the headquarters of Kaela Kovalskia. However, military police of the Imperial Guard cordon off the area and don't let anyone enter.
Agent Satwa sees Pavolian soldiers from field commander Colonels to regular soldiers gathering around the camp, but the Imperial Guard blocks their path. Seeing this, she furrows her brow.
"What the hell is going on?" Satwa demands.
However, the stone-faced Imperial Guard soldiers say nothing, brandish their weapons and stare off to the horizon. Satwa grits her teeth. She tightens the bandages around her head and prepares herself to confront the Imperial Guards when someone calls out to her.
"Let her in." Says an unfamiliar voice.
Satwa turns towards the voice and sees a bespectacled Imperial Guard officer with long, purple hair, purple eyes and a grim expression. The guards step aside and let Agent Satwa enter the cordon.
Satwa marches towards the Imperial Guard officer.
"What is the meaning of this!? Who are you? Where is Lady Kovalskia!?" Satwa demands in rapid fire.
"Major Ina'nis Ninomae, Imperial Guard." answers Ina in a matter-of-factly tone. She tips her peaked cap at Agent Satwa and speaks in a softer tone, "As for your other questions, it's better if you see it for yourself."
Satwa tries to protest, but Major Ninomae's expression doesn't shift in the slightest. So, she takes a deep breath and lets Ina lead her into Kaela Kovalskia's command tent.
Then, Agent Satwa sees the blood and the corpses littered inside. Most prominent among them all is the corpse of Kaela Kovalskia with her own personal keris still jammed into her heart.
Chills run up Satwa's spine. Major Ninomae tips her peaked cap, shrouding her eyes from the macabre display.
Ina turns away from the bloodbath and speaks calmly.
"No one must know about this. Especially Zeta Vestia." Ina explains, folding her arms, "I will be taking command of the Pemaloe Detachment and all of its military elements."
"… huh!?" Agent Satwa gasps. She whirls towards Ina and demands, "What makes you think that's a good idea, you Imp!?"
Ina takes Satwa's barrage in stride.
"The Pemaloe Detachment cannot learn about Lady Kovalskia's assassination. Otherwise, this entire front will collapse." Ina replies unflinchingly, "I will use the resources of the Imperial Guard to keep this incident under wraps - and I will continue coordinating with the Angkatan Laut."
She points at Agent Satwa and urges, "You will be my second-in-command. Keep the Pemaloe Detachment in line and in the dark."
Agent Satwa lowers her head and asks, "What if Lady Vestia calls for Lady Kovalskia?"
"Then you will impersonate Kaela's voice." Ina answers without hesitation, "That shouldn't be difficult for a seasoned Keris Abu-Abu like yourself."
Satwa bites her lip but offers no more protest. She faces Ina squarely for the first time and salutes her.
"I am at your service, Major Ninomae." Satwa declares.
Ina returns the salute and adjusts her glasses.
"Good. Now, then, let's get this siege back on track."
…
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…
Meanwhile, across the sea, Admiral Jurard Rexford and Colonel Nerissa Ravencroft stand at the docks of Naval Station Shi'eoh. Together, they watch the sailors and naval aviators of the Rexford Battlegroup rushing towards their vessels.
"Looks like HQ1's Pavie spy came through." Jurard says, adjusting his admiral's hat, "Our fleet is poised to strike."
"My forces are ready as well." Nerissa adds. She puts her hand on her hip and watches her soldiers lining up for transport ships moored at the docks as well, "We're only gonna have one shot at this."
"Then we'd better make it count." Jurard insists.
Nerissa nods. She extends her hand towards Jurard.
"See you on the other side, Admiral Rexford."
Jurard shakes Nerissa's hand.
"Likewise, Colonel Ravencroft."
With that, the two officers depart and prepare to set sail for Poseidon's Point.
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TEMPEST
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