Capítulo 58: The Mountain's Peak
Macai walks with Dade toward Iroh's home. Iroh once had a grand home, but how he has a small light brown ranch. Iroh decided to let go of his old hedonistic ways and enjoy the simple things in life. After the war ended, Iroh has spent more time meditating, reading, writing, making tea, and becoming wiser than he already was.
The sky is light blue with few clouds obstructing it. A slight breeze rolls through the sky and it is about 21 Celsius (70 Degrees) outside. Iroh opens his door and smiles heavily, "Ahhh, Macai, for what reason do I owe you the pleasure?"
Macai grins, "The pleasure is all mine Iroh. If it wasn't for you, I may have stood by the Fire Nation to my death. Even if I lived, I'd still be dead in spirit. I thank you for teaching me how to truly be alive."
Iroh nods, "You have come a long way, but it was YOU who decided to take my advice. Remember that, we all have a choice to make and you made the right one. But your work is not done, as long as we live we still have a mission to better this universe."
Macai nods, "I see."
Iroh points at his couch and table, "Please sit, I'll fix you both a cup of tea." Macai and Dade sit and Iroh pours them both a cup of tea. Iroh makes another cup for himself and they all sit.
Dade takes a sip, "Wow, this tea is so amazing. I thought Nyarri's tea was good, but you have it beat by a mile."
Iroh inquires, "Did you come for spiritual knowledge, or was there another reason for this visit?"
Macai: "Investigators from the Intel Department discovered something important recently about the Disciples of Justice (DOJ)."
Iroh: "I'm surprised they shared that information with you."
Macai: "They didn't, Zuko told me."
Iroh: "Then why have you come to ask me about them? Surely Zuko could come and ask me himself."
Macai: "Zuko has been very busy recently. I'm sure you know that."
Iroh frowns, "He can still make time for his UNCLE."
Macai: "And you know he will, I heard he's visited you a couple of times."
Iroh nods, "I know, I was just teasing. My nephew has had a lot on his mind recently."
Macai: "So at least you can enjoy my presence in the meantime."
Iroh grins, "Oh, of course, the more the merrier. If my niece wasn't so crazy, you might be my second nephew. Macai doesn't comment. Iroh: "Oh yes, I don't know why I said that."
Macai: "Intel investigators have interviewed a few terrorists from the DOJ that they captured after recent events. They have attacked different military centers more frequently and intensely. This group has been particularly difficult to deal with because they strike so quickly and often escape before we can catch them. But the Intel Department fears they are building up and getting ready for more grand and prolonged assaults."
Iroh: "What is it you want to know from me Macai?"
Macai: "They have also had some underground meetings as they look to gain more recruits. They seek out troubled, mentally disturbed, and depressed individuals. They also have been recruiting former inmates and people who have been 'rejected by the world'. We believe the leader is a man named Zerrel Chestan, are you familiar with that name?"
Iroh scratches his head, "Zerrel, hmm. Awww, yes, I remember." Dade scratches his head. Iroh: "Zerrel was once a proud Colonel in the Fire Nation, he led his own army unit. I knew of him back when I was still a young General in my thirties. They had a high success rate but fought in several brutal battles during the Hundred Year War."
Macai asks, "Then what happened?"
Iroh: "Before we move forward, let's go backward. Zerrel once challenged Azulon during a military conference. At that point, he was already a colonel and earned some stripes. Azulon wanted to destroy an Earth Kingdom city that challenged plagued several Fire Nation army units in the past."
Macai asks, "What city was it?"
Iroh: "Windulu, the city where the Earth Kingdom once defeated one of Sozin's finest units. The city had about twelve thousand inhabitants and Azulon wanted to sacrifice all of them for victory. His justification for the gruesome attack was that man of the military forces would hide among the civilians and they built their base within the city. Azulon viewed these tactics as cowardly and believed the citizens needed to suffer in order to achieve such a victory."
Dade: "So Zerrel didn't want the civilians to be collateral damage?"
Iroh shakes his head, "Zerrel believed in collateral damage, but he didn't like the overly aggressive assault tactic Azulon was going to use. Like Zerrel, Azulon realized the strategy was going to lead to much of three units being destroyed including his brother's unit."
Macai: "How did Azulon respond?"
Iroh: "Azulon sent Zerrel's unit instead of his brothers and they succeeded but most of his initial team was wiped out during the attack. Azulon was hoping Zerrel would have died during that charge, but he didn't. Zerrel took on more recruits who were all outcasts from the Fire Nation and people who were on probation within the army. Together, they faced a series of deadly missions after that but kept surviving. Each battle, they maintained heavy casualties."
Macai: "More brutal battles than the 31st?"
Iroh nods his head, "Your unit went against powerful enemies and skilled enemies, but the odds were often fair. Sometimes they weren't, however Ozai wasn't deliberately trying to get you killed. Ozai just wanted to challenge you but if you died, he didn't care. With Zerrel, Azulon wanted him and his entire unit destroyed. Even if Zerrel lived, Azulon knew all the losses he took after each battle ate away at him. Zerrel's unit was nicknamed the Blackdust Legion."
Macai: "Why Blackdust?"
Iroh: "Black, because it symbolizes death. Dust because they fought the Earth Kingdom a lot and many of the dead were buried in the sand after battles. Zerrel said he always saw dust in the sky after battle."
Dade's eyes widen, "Come on, finish it."
Iroh: "One day Zerrel's unit, the 72nd Battalion laid siege to the Earth Kingdom Fort Tenakgoff. They fought for forty-five days and a fifth of his unit died during the initial attack. At some point, Zerrel found a hole in his enemy's defense system and had an opportunity to attack. Zerrel got in an intense argument with his second-in-command, a man named Haresh. The two of them decide to abandon their post and stop fighting after they convinced themselves it wasn't worth losing any more troopers for a cause they didn't believe in."
Macai: "How did the rest of their unit respond?"
Iroh: "Several of the members in the unit joined them, not half like the 31st, more like a third of it. Another third of the unit deserted that day and the other third stayed at post before being taken into other army units."
Macai: "What happened to the deserters?"
Iroh: "Most of them were later captured by the Fire Nation and imprisoned. Some were executed, there are rumors some became farmers, and some would later join Zerrel."
Macai: "Wasn't Zerrel just a deserter then?"
Iroh: "As far as most people knew he was, but much of Zerrel's story was classified and not taught to the public or even most military forces. That is why you have never heard of him. I only knew because of my time and my position. Still, I've only heard a little about Zerrel. From what I know, he and his forces hid together in some territory between the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation. Some Fire Nation army units went after them but they were all destroyed and they made peace with the Earth Kingdom forces near them but remained unaffiliated with their ranks."
Macai: "Was Zerrel is royalty like us?"
Iroh: "Yes."
Macai: "I wonder how they went from that to an anti-societal cult."
Iroh explains, "My guess is Zerrel and his team took up some unorthodox views then they invited people from the Fire Nation and perhaps other nations to join their cause. Which is why your team ran into one hostile earthbender. Some of his troops would likely be the people who were in his old unit, they might be many of the officers in the DOJ now."
Dade: "How large was Zerrel's Legion?"
Iroh: "Zerrel's Legion boasted ten thousand warriors when it was first used. In time, that number would decline to 7,000 and later 5,000. At some point, my father (Azulon) stopped supplying Zerrel's unit."
Macai: "That's much larger than the 31st and I thought a few hundred men was a lot to deal with."
Dade: "How dangerous was this Zerrel guy? What were his abilities?"
Iroh: "Zerrel was known for his bright orange fire with a brighter yellow interior, he could use jet propulsion, he was able of creating rapid fire whips, he had fire beams that could span across at least ninety feet, and he was a ranged fighter. When I say ranged fighter, I mean the distance his flames traveled would put the likes of Kett and Azula to shame. He was tactical but not as tactical as you and Azula. However, now he has a lot more experience, which could make him deadly. Zerrel was also a very fast fighter, fast like Mai and fast with skill that was remarkable."
Macai: "How skilled was he?"
Iroh: "He saw about as skilled as me at the time. Not quite as good of a brawler, but his raw skills were something even over Ozai. Though Ozai had the rawest power. His conditioning was also good, perhaps a touch below yours's Macai. He reminded me a bit of Azulon in his younger days, the way he fought except Azulon was more aggressive."
Dade adds, "But now he's old and past his prime."
Iroh: "Being old isn't all bad, there are ways to reduce the wear and tear of it."
Macai bows, "Thank you Iroh, this information will be helpful for my search."
Iroh bows back, "Of course Macai, it is always a pleasure to help a promising young man along his journey."
The Next Thing
Macai returns to the Prompt Adjudicator with Dade at beachhead where the ship is ported. The duo enters the officer meeting room and notices Rosh and Kanna who are looking through several reports at the meeting table. Aiya is also in the room and is standing with a clipboard.
Macai: "Well, looks like we've missed something."
Rosh: "Yep, you missed a lot actually. But how was the visit with Iroh?"
Dade: "Wonderful as always."
Rosh: "I bet, I've got to say hi to him next time."
Aiya: "Some of our scouts found out the Disciples of Justice have a base located on a mountain within the Pentlegazzi region. You know, the one between the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom's central border."
Macai: "It's a difficult trip up that mountain, but we'll go and investigate. Let's get a small team and some advanced transports while we're at it." Advanced transports look similar to most Fire Nation tanks, they are black and can move across various terrain. They can even climb mountains and are made of black steel. These transports don't range guns like the tanks, but they are much wider and longer than the standard tanks. The transport's one weapon of defense is a small full-rotation canon located toward the back-end of the vehicle.
A fire nation transport can carry up to twenty troopers in it, but Macai will only fill them with about eight marines due to the nature of the mission. Macai requests and obtains three transports for the mission. The transports are dark grey in color, instead of the usual black tanks. Macai's marines wait on the beachhead as they wait for Macai to assign his teams.
Macai: "Alright, we'll split up into three teams. Each one will consist of eight marines, we will send out five marines from each unit to scout the enemy position and three members from each squad will wait on reserve in their transports. I will lead the right team, Rosh will lead the left, and Kanna will lead the center. Dade and Sonna will be with me, Hakato and Arret with go with Rosh, and Irina and Hagneko will travel with Kanna."
The transports head out for battle and travel for about ten days before they near their destination. The transports initially traveled together, but now they are starting to spread out from each other. The ground is light brown, the grass is a faded green color, the sky is a white-greyish shade, the winds are heavy, and the temperature is 10.5 Celsius (51 Degrees). The mountain is initially relatively wide, but it becomes narrower as the vehicles move further up the mountain.
Macai looks back at Dade, "Nothing so far, do you see anything Dade."
Dade is whispering in Sonna's ear, "Oh, yeah, nothing on my end boss."
Macai shakes his head and looks at the gunner, "We'll never spot them in this vehicle. We have traveled far enough. Every in my search team, exit the vehicle. We're going to continue on foot." Macai looks at the driver, "Stay here in case we need backup."
Driver: "You've got it." Macai, Sonna, Dade, a swordsman, and a spearman exit.
Dade picks up a black rock with light grey markings, "Wow, I've never seen a rock quite like this."
Macai teases, "Then be a Geologist, I hear it's a growing new field. But seriously, keep a lookout for anything suspicious. Perhaps they have a tunnel inside of this mountain. Look for base entrances."
Dade: "We can also look for a natural entrance, like a cave. I hear some types of mountains have caves."
Macai nods, "Good point." Macai's team scouts the area meanwhile Rosh's team exits their vehicle on the left side of the mountain. Hakato, Arret, a swordsman, and a spearman move with Rosh.
Rosh points right, "Look, it looks like a cave entrance. Maybe we'll find something important there."
Hakato: "I have a bad feeling about this."
Arret: "What you speak becomes reality, speak positively. We will be fine."
Hakato asks, "What happens if our enemies say we'll lose and we say we'll win? Then what?"
Arret: "The point is don't speak down on yourself, otherwise we surely will fail."
Hakato: "What is that theory based on?"
Rosh: "Will you both focus? We have a job to do." The marines enter the save and Rosh creates a red-orange fireball around his right arm to guide his way. As the team travels further through the cave Rosh notices several torches that are lit with orange fire. The torches reveal a cave with dark grey rock walls and a cold dark grey floor below.
Hakato whispers, "Looks like someone else is here. But why didn't they have any guards?"
Arret: "This has trap written all over it."
Rosh: "That's ok, let's keep going and see what we find. We have some reserve forces ready in case anything goes wrong."
Hakato comments, "I'm not sure if I like this plan."
Rosh replies, "We've made it this far, trust our track record." The marines keep walking and notice several metal tools scattered around the facility. They also see rooms that contain beds.
Arret: "I wonder what all these tools are used for. It looks like they want to build something."
Rosh: "We need to keep searching." Rosh looks ahead and sees another dark part of the cave.
Arret: "If someone is on the other side, I don't get why they allowed us to see this much."
Rosh: "Maybe they think if they kill us in the cave, no one will see and things will be easier to hide. They wanted to lure us deeper into the cave with evidence to ensure we will go further to see what's in here."
Arret: "And maybe they want us to lower our guards." Rosh creates another flame to guide the way and Hakato moves on his right. Arret waits on his left and the other two marines guide their rear flank.
Meanwhile, Kanna's team starts their search. Kanna exists her vehicle with Irina, Hagenko, a male swordsman with dual swords, and a firebender. The male swordsman has a black ponytail, caramel eyes, light yellow skin, small ears, and a small nose. Kanna looks at the swordsman, "How long have you been working with the 31st?"
Swordsman: "About two years."
Kanna gaps, "Really and I just now noticed you?"
Swordsman: "I guess."
Kanna: "How old are you?"
Swordsman: "Twenty-one."
Kanna: "Oh, you look young."
Swordsman: "Well, I'm not old yet."
Kanna: "Yeah, but you know what I mean."
Swordsman: "My name's Dengo by the way."
Kanna: "Oh nice."
Hagenko: "I think Macai paired me with Irina so I could keep an eye on her."
Kanna: "I don't blame him, you're a great mentor."
Irina mutters, "I don't need a mentor."
Dengo: "Nonsense, everyone needs a mentor." The path becomes more narrow and the team is only about ten feet wide now. Dengo laughs to himself, "I'm not sure if the rest of this path is necessary. Maybe we've seen another and can search another route."
Kanna: "No, we have orders to search this path. Relax Dengo, stop being scared."
Dengo: "I'm not scared."
Irina: "I'll never understand this fake macho stuff."
Dengo: "Ok fine, let's keep going down this path. I'm not scared, I just want to keep you all safe."
Kanna rolls her eyes, "Oh don't worry about keeping us safe, we've been at risk for a long time. We know what we signed up for."
Dengo: "I didn't mean it like that, I just don't want us to take on more casualties than needed." As they travel across their narrow path they notice two nearby taller yet narrow rock inclines left and right of their position. The rock formations are only about twenty feet away from the left and right flanks of the marine squad's position.
Dengo scouts ahead of the team and Irina moves on his left. Kanna moves a bit behind them while Hagenko watches her rear left flank. A firebender stays right of Hagenko's position. Dengo: "Looks like there is nothing to see here." Kanna looks right and notices a man soaring toward her position with metal wings. The wings are black and he has dark grey armor. The wingman also has a dark grey helmet with an orange visor and is holding a sword.
Kanna shouts, "Flying man on my right flank!"
Irina looks at Kanna, "What? Have you lost your mind?"
Kanna points, "Look!" Irina sees the flying man. The man soars faster than anything the team has ever seen, he travels at 130 miles an hour. Hagenko checks the left flank and notices another two wingmen moving t toward their position. Two of the wingmen have swords and another has an arrow.
Kanna notices a wingman archer move across the opponent. The archer is more focused on aiming at his opponents, so he travels at a slower speed of 90 miles an hour. Kanna extends her hands and pumps a beam of dark orange fire at the wingarcher across her. The archer flies up and fires an arrow directly at 31st scout.
Kanna does a right cartwheel and the swordsman glides at her, rapidly closing the distance. Kanna leaps right, being careful to not run into the firebender behind her. The wingman glides past her position and the marine firebender pumps two fireballs at the flying man. The wingman soars down as he moves out of sight.
Hagenko looks right then tosses his spear into the neck of the wingman archer on the right flank. The wingman spirals down. Another wingman soars at Hagenko while his back is turned. Irina tosses her spear into the right side of the wingman's neck. The man crashes a few feet behind Hagenko's position. The firebender picks up the spear and tosses it back to Irina.
Another wingman with a sword flies at Dengo and the marine leaps right as he narrowly evades a deadly strike. Hagenko looks at Dengo, "I'm going to be vulnerable now that I only have a dagger, watch my back."
A wingman archer fires an arrow at Kanna's left ear. Kanna slides forward and another wingman glides at her from the right. Kanna flips backward and pumps a dark orange explosive flame into her enemy. Wingman: "Awwwwaaaahaaaa!" The wingman archer fires directly at Kanna's chest. Kanna's eyes widen and she leaps left.
Kanna raises her hands and swiftly pumps two orange flames at her enemy. The archer soars higher in the air as he evades Kanna's flames. Kanna raises her hands again and fires a dark orange beam of fire into her enemy, blowing him to pieces. The remaining wingman glides at the firebender who pumps an orange flame into his enemy's chest. The dead wingman descends and flies into the firebender; knocking them both off the platform.
Marine firebender: "Awwwwaaahaaa!"
Dengo frowns, "Dang."
Hagenko: "At least we took them out, that could have turned out a lot worse than it did."
A Test of Wit
Meanwhile, Macai and his team continue moving on their path. Their path is steeper and higher than Kanna's. The pathway is about eight feet wide, making it even more narrow than Kanna's. Dade: "Oh man, I can't take it. Why do we always have to go on these crazy missions?"
Sonna pats Dade on his back, "It will be alright Dade."
Dade sighs, "Ok." A man suddenly soars and glides above Macai. The man has tan skin, dark grey hair, a crooked nose, pointy ears, sharp teeth, light grey eyes, and light grey armor. Unlike the other wingmen, this one isn't wearing a helmet.
Macai asks, "Who are you?"
The wingman commander responds, "I am Voren, Master of the Wingmen."
Macai: "Are you part of the Disciples of Justice?"
Voren laughs and spins around, "Yes and now we will manifest the ultimate destiny of this world. The old civilizations must be done away with so anarchy may prevail and humanity can restart. If this change doesn't happen, the current governments will destroy all life with their absolute monopoly of power."
Dade: "Why wouldn't they have done that in the past then? They have existed all these years."
Voren comments, "Because governments are only becoming stronger with the use of technology, so the last phase of our plan will be destroying all technology after we have dealt away with governments so everything can restart."
Macai: "You're using technology right now you hypocrite, those wings aren't organic. I know steel when I see it."
Voren: "We will use whatever tech is necessary to complete our objective. But once the nations are done away with, we will destroy it."
Macai: "What would you be without your wings? I can tell they're a part of your identity."
Voren sighs, "We will make the necessary sacrifices to complete our objective. When that time comes, I will do what I must. In the meantime, I must do away with you. Because you are on MY MOUNTAIN and you are NOT WELCOME."
Macai: "You'll just be another name on my resume."
Star Wars Rogue Squadron III Soundtrack- Dogfight (Youtube) [Music Starts]
Voren laughs and spins, "We will see." Unlike the other wingmen, Voren has two wrist blades and his metal boots have sharp blades attached to them. Voren immediately glides at Macai, traveling at 150 miles an hour with the most advanced suit of the wingmen. Macai nearly gets dizzy-headed just looking at the Wingman Commander.
The wind scrapes as Voren travels so quickly through the air. Voren viciously snarls, "Raaaahhaaaaaha!!!" Macai leaps off the mountain to avoid being butchered and launches himself in the air with a gust of white fire. Voren rotates his body and gets ready for another lap. Meanwhile, Dade and Sonna look at the fight.
Dade: "Gueez, Macai's got him though."
Sonna looks right, "Let's worry about ourselves first." Sonna notices a wingman archer glide at 90 miles an hour about twenty feet right of their position. Dade looks left and sees a wingman with a sword flying toward him at 120 miles an hour.
Dade panics and screams, "Ahhaahaaa!" Dade dashes right and Sonna briefly turns hearing Dade's commotion. The swordsman glides at her but she leaps forward just in the nick of time. The swordsman loops around for another lap and the archer fires an arrow at Sonna's neck. Sonna dives backward and falls on the pavement.
The archer pops another arrow at Sonna while she's down but Dade swats it aside. Dade shouts, "Sonna, get up!" A wingman soars behind Dade but Sonna rotates her body and fires an arrow into the wingman's chest.
Wingman: "Ohhhhohh!!" The wingman soars down toward Sonna and Dade. Sonna tackles Dade and pushes them both away from the descending wingman. Another wingman with a sword flies down at a marine swordsman but the marine swings horizontally at his opponent. The wingman rises and kicks the main in his chin. The wingman's metal boot clacks against the marine's face, killing him.
A snap is heard before the swordsman crumbles. The marine spearman turns and looks at the wing swordsman when the wingman archer flings an arrow in his chest. Marine spearman: "Ahhhh!"
Voren flies at Macai again, moving much more naturally and faster than Macai can in the air. Macai launches himself twenty feet back away from his friends to avoid endangering them. Voren glides faster at Macai with lethal intent. Macai looks backward and rapidly fires four white flames at the flying commander.
As Macai pops flames at Voren, his flames start to go out and he starts descending because flying isn't his specialty. Voren easily glides down past Macai's barrage of shots. Macai launches himself higher in the air with a beam of white fire and the tan commander shoots a barrage of white flames under him. Voren buzzes several feet past Macai's position and moves behind him.
Macai turns around and fires a stream of white flames at Voren. The wing master soars up past Macai's range then points his arms down at Macai. A volley of metal knives are fired at Macai through Voren's armor. Macai launches himself to the left and on another mountain formation. The commander tumbles in the dirt as he looks to evade his enemy.
(Music Fades)
Sonna pulls her arrow forward and fires it at an incoming wingman swordsman. The wingman swats Sonna's arrow aside with his sword. Dade knocks an arrow aside that is fired by the wingman archer. The archer rotates his body right as he looks for another angle to shoot from. Sonna looks at Dade, "Switch places on two."
Dade: "What why?"
Sonna: "One." The wingman with a sword glides toward Sonna. Dade braces himself. Sonna: "Two." Dade and Sonna switch places. Sonna propels an arrow in the wingman archer's forehead and leaps and vertically cuts the incoming wingman with a sword down. The wingman glides eight feet backward before he hits the mountain.
Sonna looks back at Dade, "Good work."
Dade comments, "We make quite the team."
Firecracker
Rosh moves with Hakato, Arret, a swordsman, and marine spearman in the cave when Rosh suddenly notices four enemies. A proud swordsman with a long purple cape emerges. Swordsman sergeant: "This cave belongs to the Disciples of Justice, you are not welcome here." A firebender steps right of his position, a warrior with dual long wrist blades moves at his left, and a spearman with a wicked smirk steps behind them.
Rosh: "We don't need permission to come."
Swordsman sergeant: "I'll teach you humility." The sergeant raises his right hand and the right DOJ firebender pumps an explosive orange flame at Rosh. Rosh kicks a red-orange flame into the firebender's shot. Arret launches an arrow in the left firebender's stomach. The warrior with dual wrist blades dives toward Hakato with a spinning diagonal strike.
Hakato leaps backward then rolls and diagonally cuts his opponent down. The spearman chucks his weapon at Rosh and Rosh dives on the ground. The spear flies behind Rosh and into a marine swordman's stomach. Marine swordsman: "Ugh!" The DOJ warrior pulls out a sword and charges at the marines.
Rosh rapidly pumps two flames as the cultist sergeant. The caped officer shifts his blade from side to side as he blocks the incoming flames. Swordsman sergeant: "My blade is flame resistant." The terrorist firebender pumps two orange flames at the 31st captain.
Rosh turns and blocks the flames then comments, "I'm not impressed with that, we've seen that several times before." Rosh hops forward and blasts the sergeant away with a beam of red-orange flames. The other swordsman charges at Rosh when a marine spearman intercepts him and dashes at his opponent. The swordsman turns as he notices his enemy and the spear-wielding marine pounds his weapon into the man's chest.
The firebender redirects his attention at Arret and immediately pounds a beam of orange fire at her. Arret's eyes widen and Hakato jumps in the way to block the flame. The beam of fire nails Hakato in his chest and Hakato's body is launched backward. Hakato flies toward Arret but she dashes left as she barely avoids getting clobbered.
The firebender kicks a rod of fire at Arret's face but Rosh extends his left hand and hurls his own red-orange flame into the firebender's. Rosh rapidly extends his hands and pumps a red-orange brick of fire into his enemy. Rosh looks back, "Hakato, are you alright?!"
Arret, the marine spearman, and Rosh run to their fallen friend. Hakato coughs and Arret notices a hole in the young marine's chest. Tears flow from Arret's eyes, "Why did you do that?"
Hakato: "It was my duty. The 31st needs you Arret, finish the mission for our brothers and sisters. Finish for our friends on the field and back at home. When I was a kid people told me I'd never be anything, but I'm proud to have been a part of this unit and here for you guys. Tell my family, I died fighting for my country."
Rosh: "No Hakato, we're going to get you out of here. We'll patch you up and have you for a little R&R."
Hakato shakes his head and coughs more violently then pulls his head back. Hakato's eyes close and his body becomes still. Rosh pats Hakato, "Hakato come on!" Rosh suddenly becomes silent, as he takes in that another brother has fallen in battle. Rosh's eyes become teary and he stands back up.
Arret takes Hakato's war tags and stands beside the captain, "I met his mother before, back when he was a recruit, she traveled to meet us outside of the beachhead. She was a kind woman and asked for us to take care of her son."
Arret continues, "I said that we could only promise to train and treat him well. I told her we'd treat him like a brother and sometimes we may have felt short of that in the beginning but in time he became our brother in arms."
Rosh: "Let us honor his sacrifice by being the best soldiers we can and by being good to every recruit that comes into our ranks."
A Bittersweet Turn
As this is happening, Macai slowly gets up and looks around his position for Voren. Macai hears several knives flying behind him and leaps out of the way. Macai hits the hard rocky surface and his legs become sore. Macai grunts and stands back up. For seven seconds, Macai finds nothing but silence.
Macai hears a faint noise behind and glances in that direction. Voren emerges from the smoke and ramps his body into Macai. Normally, Voren would have just impaled the commander but he couldn't see Macai with all the smoke he emitted from his recent flames. However, the smoke also helped Voren attack Macai with the element of surprise and close the distance.
Macai's body becomes sorer but he latches onto and grabs a hold of Voren. Voren continues to fly forward, currently at 70 miles an hour because he lost some speed from his collision. Voren pulls his right hand free and swings it at Macai's neck. Macai shifts his body left to avoid the hit but Voren's metal claws still enter Macai's right shoulder.
Blood gashes from Macai's armor and he gets dizzer as he attempts to remain conscious. Macai: "Ahhh!" The 31st commander rotates his body and wraps himself behind his opponent. Macai latches onto Voren's neck and starts choking him. Voren coughs and shakes his body side to side as he attempts to break free. Macai tightens his grip.
Voren accelerates his body and glides at '130 miles an hour. Macai struggles to keep a hold of Voren and his arms become sore as he tries to keep a hold of the wingmaster. Macai wraps his legs around Voren's leg to keep a hold. Voren maxes out his speed at 150 miles an hour and Macai's arms start burning from the rapid friction.
Macai shouts, "Ahhhhaaa!"
Voren yells, "Errrrerrrraaaaaaahaaa!" Voren spins in the air and flicks Macai off him. Macai rapidly glides down as he starts to lose consciousness. A few feet away Kanna walks with Irina, Hagenko, and Dengo on a platform when she sees Macai in free fall.
Irina: "Is that Macai?"
Dengo answers, "Yep."
Kanna: "Oh no, I've got to save him."
Hagenko: "But you don't know jet propulsion."
Kanna comments, "Doesn't matter, I know what to do."
Hagenko warns, "But Kanna wait, what are you going to do?"
Kanna shouts, "No time!" Kanna sprints across the mountain platform and tackles the descending Macai. They both spiral freely in the air, but Kanna's momentum shifts them away from the freefall and onto another mountain peak below them. Macai and Kanna fall ten feet further before they land onto the nearby mountain.
A tired Kanna huffs then slowly rises and checks Macai's pulse. Macai is still alive, but he certainly would have been much if she didn't save him. Meanwhile, Rosh and his team continue to move across the cave platform. Arret notices several metal wings mounted on the walls of the cave, "This looks like some sort of base."
Rosh: "Yeah, I see tools and metal wings. I wonder if people actually ride these."
The 31st spearman comments, "Look, they have medical beds and some of these tools are for surgery."
Arret: "These maniacs want to give humans the ability to fly by connecting metal instruments into people's bodies."
Rosh: "I wonder how that works. Wouldn't it have to connect with the brain to be effective?"
Arret: "They must be attached to the people's nerves. The brain sends messages to the nerves so maybe the nerves can send messages back to the brain for the wings to work."
Rosh: "I wonder if they asked their 'doctors' to evacuate if they knew we were coming here."
Arret: "I don't know but I heard some loud noises outside during our fight. I think our friends ran into some company."
Rosh: "After all of the devastation of the last war, I just don't want to fight like this anymore. But it seems we might have to fight more now than ever to keep what we've worked so hard to establish."
Arret: "What is that?"
Rosh: "Peace."
Marine Spearman: "I'm starting to think there will never be real peace on this earth. Maybe after it but not now."
Rosh: "Macai once told me, peace is relative, but let's try to have relative peace." The team steps outside of the cave and walks across a narrow mountain pathway. Rosh briefly looks down then turns around, "Oh, that was a bad idea."
Arret looks up and freezes. Rosh: "What are you doing?" Arret points and Rosh notices three wingmen waiting for them. One has a sword and the other two have arrows.
Rosh: "Yikes." A wingman archer emerges left of the spearman's position and a swordsman rises right of Rosh's.
Arret asks, "What do we do?"
Rosh answers, "We fight!" Rosh pumps a red-orange flame into the wingman across him. The flame explodes on sight and launches the wingman away. The wingman archer on the left fires an arrow into the spearman's head.
Spearman: "No!!"
Arret shouts, "Man down!" Arret bolts an arrow into her enemy's chest, and he falls. The other three wingmen soar at them. The sky screams as the bird-like men soar at their prey. Rosh blasts a red-orange blaze of fire directly into the wingman in the center of the formation then turns his beam right as he attempts to burn down another wingman.
The wingman soars down as he attempts to avoid the flame. Rosh pulls his flame down, but the wingman shifts right and glides at Arret. The young archer bolts an arrow into her enemy's neck and the remaining archer soars at her right flank. Rosh pumps two red-orange flames at the archer and he flies left.
Arret darts an arrow into the wingman's left arm and the wingman spirals out of control before he falls. Rosh looks back at her, "Good shooting."
Arret: "That's all of them for now."
Macai starts to wake up and sees Kanna standing over him. Kanna smiles, "Wake up sleepy head."
Macai shrugs, "What happened?"
Kanna asks, "What's the last thing that you remember?"
Macai: "Voren tackling me."
Kanna: "Who?"
Macai: "The leader of these flying guys, they call themselves wingmen."
Kanna: "Oh." Voren sores a few feet over Macai and Kanna's position.
Macai defiantly clinches his fist, "You can't beat us both Voren. Your team has been defeated, it's over."
Voren laughs, "This has merely been a test of your resolve. I wanted to kill you, but you still live. I congratulate you for that. You fought well and have my respect. But this isn't over, we'll run into each other again in the near future and I can't wait."
Macai: "I never met a foe who was bold enough to risk his life just to tell me that. You should have left while you had the chance!" Macai fires a beam of white fire at Voren but Voren easily glides right, and an eruption sends debris tumbling toward the 31st marines. Kanna's eyes widen and the duo leaps away.
Voren laughs harder and glides toward them. Kanna blasts a powerful beam of dark orange fire at Voren while he descends. Voren is nearly nailed by the shot and his eyes widen before he makes a split decision to spiral down. Kanna keeps sight of him and pumps several flames at Voren. Voren moves side to side as he dodges the flames and glides away from her.
Voren moves back up in the air and between his opponents. Macai gets up and pumps a beam of white fire at Voren. Voren turns his head to avoid being blinded and flies away from the bright flame. Voren shouts, "Ok, now I'm really done. Until next time!" Macai and Kanna both fire barrages of dark orange and white fire at the wingman commander.
Voren flies away from the duo and escapes. Smoke flows around them and Macai comments, "I hate that guy."
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