“To hell with them,” I said. Jerry’s eyes widened. Then he wiped his face.
“You’re right. We don't owe them any more than what we are doing right now. Being badass marines fighting the king’s wars.” Jerry said, reaching his fist out. I pumped my fist and bumped his, and we were joined by Alicia.
“I may not have your past, but I’m with you two until the end,” Alicia said. Hearing it from her made me so happy. We relaxed a bit and started sharing stories of our squadmates. Then one of my soldiers ran toward me.
“Commander! You need to hear this...” He said. He started typing on his omniwatch, and a projected screen appeared over it with an auditory image. It spoke.
[“This is Freedom Leader, fight for your freedom from this absolute monarchy.”]
Entry 9
Phoenician Date: September 19, 1026AR
Military Time: 08:10
Phoenician Classified World: Alexandria Prime
[“The king is not human. He is an alien being to us humans. He will never understand us or emphasize with us on a human level. We, humans, are mortal. Our lives are measured in years. To the great high king, time is an illusion. Yes, maybe he was once human, but no more. Now, look at you here, a mere human fighting for his wars and his enforced peace. If he was genuinely benevolent, he’d let worlds break away from his reign, but no, he sends his bloodthirsty marines to put us down. Benevolence sure is different these days. Freedom Leader out.”]
Sitting in a classroom with all my squad leaders, I examined everyone’s face after hearing yet another transmission. Everyone sat furthest from Justin while keeping an eye on him. The Freedom Leader was a chatty one. He spoke every two hours like it was his job. Giving out information that I was not aware of but nothing that anyone could not find out for themselves.
It was his presentation of the information that was the most damaging. I never thought of the marines as bloodthirsty, but I had to agree when I thought about Warmaster Noxxic. Justin had a grin on his face that he hid whenever our eyes met. Alicia clenched her jaw along with a few other of my squad leaders. I wondered what many of my companies thought of this information. If someone as neutral as me could be swayed a bit by this message, I was curious about someone who harbored resentment like Justin.
“This is nonsense.” Alicia finally said. Rolland nodded along with her. Maria looked to Gary, who also spoke.
“Saying the king isn’t human is just mean,” Gary said, and Maria nodded her head. The girl had few thoughts of her own. It might have been a poor decision to give her command.
“Now, we care about racism?” Justin finally spoke. There was a collective low sigh by most of the squad leaders. Gary took the bait.
“What you mean?”
“We don't care about racism when we talk about aliens?”
“That’s because aliens raid and sack our worlds!” Maria said.
“Have we ever attempted to make peace with them?”
“Why should we?” Maria snapped. “You haven’t even seen them before. I have. I witness the Leones. They don't care about peace. They love the fight and kill.”
“I have to agree,” I said. “When the Leones raided my world, they were battle-loving maniacs.”
“Exactly. Then the aliens ate our dead. Many of my friends died to those alien monsters.” Maria snapped. Gary pulled her toward him and had gently placed his hand on her thigh. She calmed slowly.
“I apologize,” Justin said.
“Pretty weak argument there,” Darryl added.
“Yeah, he was digging deep for that one.” Jen also said. Justin's face flushed, and he veered off. Slowly, but surely, he was alienating himself from my company. I wished I had more people skills and knew how to bridge the growing gap between my squad leaders. The auditory message played once more.
[“Someone asked me, ‘what if you’re wrong about the king?’ Let’s say I concede to your king’s goodness... What happens when he finally leaves? We all know of his children, the Orisha. The first crown prince and second crown prince Malik and Kaiza had a simple sibling fight. They destroyed half the capital city, killing millions and orphaning tens of millions more. There was nothing we could do to the king’s children. All we could do was suffer them. This is the future you’re fighting for. A future where you’re an ant at the mercy of the titans. Freedom leader out.”]
“Damn! He has a point.” Darryl said.
“Oh, come on, you can’t be buying his crazy talk,” Gary said.
“He isn’t wrong about the Blood Fuel War. Those princes and princesses fought like superheroes in the capital and destroyed half of the city. The only reason they stopped was that the late high queen, their mother, stopped them. What’s to stop them now?” Darryl said. I was lost at the moment, and I glanced to Jerry. He tilted his head to the side and then mumbled to me.
“Do you know what they are talking about?” Jerry said. I shook my head. Jerry snickered and asked the question I was too cowardly to ask.
“What are Orisha and the Blood Feud War?” Jerry asked. Everyone turned to him like he just spoke a different language. Then Darryl and Jen started to laugh. My stomach sank for Jerry.
“You didn’t learn that in basic education?” Gary asked.
“No, alright! Answer my question or go back to doubting if I’m a decent person or not.” Jerry snapped. My eyes widened, and I glanced at Alicia.
“What’s that supposed to mean...” Gary said, then his eyes glazed over to me and back to Jerry. Jerry's hands clenched over the table, and an uncomfortable silence remained for a few moments before Rolland spoke.
“Orisha is the term to describe any child that inherits the psychic powers of the king. Like the king, they are powerful, ageless, and olympian gods in physical form. Unlike the king, however, they grew up spoiled with everyone forgiving them for everything.” Rolland explained.
“The Blood Feud War was between Malik, the first crown prince, Kleo, the first crown princess, and Kaiza, the second crown prince with his twin Roza the second crown princess. The story is that the two pairs fought a battle while the king was in a coma.” Alicia said.
“He was in a coma from the war with the Enfys,” I said, remembering Rolland's discussion about the king entering the battlefield. I glanced to Jerry to find a grimace on his face.
“Right... Kaza and Roza attempted to seize the throne while the king was out, and Malik and Kleo defended it. They destroyed half the city fighting. Many of their younger siblings chose sides, and all fought alongside them.” Rolland finished.
“Thank you for the explanation. Go on with your useless argument.” Jerry said, leaving the table. I felt like shit. My ineptitude on the basic history of the nation was dragging down my confidence. A part of me wished I would have taken the opportunity to go to primary school before joining the military.
“Back to the conversation...” Justin said, glancing at Darryl with a smirk.
“There is no conversation,” Alicia said.
“Yeah, the Orishas haven’t had an incident like that in centuries,” Gary said, crossing his arms.
“That’s because the king is here,” Darryl said. “Don't get me wrong, I think the king is the greatest leader in history, but his kids are a serious concern.”
“We have the power to elect the next leader. The kids don't just get the throne. They are simply allowed nomination.” Alicia said.
“But you know people are going to want an Orisha to rule. People have gotten used to the idea of a supernatural being ruling over us. A regular person isn’t going to beat an Orisha.” Jen said. I should have known if Darryl was against something, Jen wouldn’t be far behind. I didn’t know what to say in this conversation. Better to remain silent and be thought of as a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.
“So what? You want to join the rebels?” Gary asked.
“I didn’t say that,” Darryl said. “But they have a point. As long as they have a point, they’ll recruit more peopl
e to their side.”
“They’ll always have a point,” Rolland said, crossing his arms and scowling. “That’s the way of the world. Nothing is perfect, no system, no person, no anything. The only thing you can do is measure the pros and cons of everything and decide for yourself if it's worth it. Enough of this foolish conversation.” Rolland snapped. Justin scowled at him, but Rolland paid him no attention.
“I agree. We need to prepare to move out in the morning. Despite the rebel broadcast, we still have a mission to save our division from a gruesome tunnel war. We need to find gang leaders for that, and I have some ideas.” I said.
Everyone nodded and headed to their own squads: everyone but Rolland. Alicia waited at the table, glancing at the two of us. I wished to be with Alicia more than anything. Her presence eased my nerves.
I hadn’t felt like that since... Then I pushed the memory away before pain erupted in me.
“Uh,” Alicia said, glancing at the two of us again. Rolland remained with his arms crossed and staring at me.
“Go Alicia,” I said. Alicia departed, giving me one last look before finally exiting the room.
“He needs to go.” Rolland simply said. I thought he spoke of Jerry, but then I thought Darryl since he was the one making a point.
“Darryl? Just because he doesn’t share your opinion―”
“I’m talking about Justin,” Rolland said. My eyebrows raised, but then I put the pieces together. It made sense why Rolland would not like Justin. Rolland’s family worshipped the king, and Justin couldn’t wait to throw dirt on the king’s honor.
“I know you two have different opinions on a very sensitive topic, but can’t you two just put it behind you?”
“It’s not that we have different opinions. It's that he is sowing dissent.” Rolland said. Immediately I was brought back to my gang days. I remember escorting various people of specialized skills into peaceful districts to sow dissent and cause it to unravel before raiding. I cringed as the memories rolled through my mind.
“I don't think Justin is that bad.”
“That’s because you aren’t watching him. I am. He keeps talking about it and keeps listening to that rebel broadcast. Look at how he goaded the conversation when Darryl started making points about the Orishas. He ate that up, enjoyed every bit of it. That man is bad news.” Rolland said. I wasn’t sure what he wanted me to do. We were far from the main fort at the moment. I couldn’t stop the mission to take him back to base. Then the answer hit me like a ton of bricks.
“What do you want me to do? You want me to kill him?” I asked. A sense of dread overwhelmed me. This was no different than my gang days. Whenever someone didn’t agree with the collective, we had to kill them. I thought the military would be better. I glanced at Rolland, and he gawked at me.
“God, no! Demote him and keep him in the back of the line.”
“Oh,” I said, brightening up. “I’ll see about that then.”
“Yeah, you do that,” Rolland said, leaving the table, rightfully freaked out. Even though we left off on a sour note, I couldn’t stop smiling. I don't have to kill my friends this time.
Morning came earlier than I desired. I woke from my slumber and glanced out the window as sunlight shined in my face. At that moment, a bullet pierced the window, and I dived to the ground. I sneaked a peek out the window and noticed a poor fire line forming in front of the building. They started firing like wild men. I crawled over to equip my gear and grabbed a few grenades. Once the barrage of shells settled, I tossed my grenades out the window near the enemies’ fireline. Explosions and pain laced screams filled the air, giving me time to move. I rose to the window and started firing my rifle. Others had followed my lead, giving me support fire, with some using heavy weapons to burn the enemy line. At first, I was glad, so many people were enthusiastic about using their guns, but then a thought hit me. We couldn’t afford to waste ammo right now.
Since the battle had already begun, I allowed it to continue. However, the clash lasted longer than I had thought. We had reached a stalemate with many of the gangsters learning how to take cover. I raced down the building and bumped into Rolland and his squad.
“This isn’t good, Commander,” Rolland said, with his squad in tow.
“You’re thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Wasting too much ammo on these goons, and they are surrounding the school,” Rolland said. I was with him. We had to make this a melee game, or my company would be all out of ammunition for further operations. I never thought about how vital ammunition was until now. I noticed a shield on Rolland’s back, which met he was a Shieldarms. Then an idea hit me.
“Rolland, you charge the fireline, and we’ll follow behind you in a line,” I ordered.
“That’s dangerous,” Rolland said.
“You are a marine, aren’t you? Act like one!” I said. Rolland’s face hardened, and he equipped his shield. The shield was large enough to cover his torso. He charged forward through the doors. His squad and I followed in a single line.
“Run, run, run!” I said before the other troops could notice us charging. They turned to us, but Rolland had already bashed one of the fire lines. I launched smoke grenades around me to make it more difficult to fire. The gangsters only wore rags, so my cleaver blade carved through them like butter. I moved through the smoke at a lightning pace, triggering my rocket boots to increase the speed of my dashes. Most of Rolland’s squad attacked in the other direction.
We started flanking the enemy, only firing when necessary. It felt like home as I swung that blade. The gangsters were too slow to stop my slaughter. My heart thumped in my ears, my struggling lungs desperate for air, and my body tightened. Regardless of it all, I rampaged across the gang lines, moving through the battlefield like an angel of death. Gangsters screamed out of pain or fear as they fell to my blade. I grew lost in the chaos of battle, carving through enemies with little regard to their person, backstory, or loved ones.
When I finished, I noticed much of my company staring at me. I lost myself, falling back into old habits. How many did I kill? Fifty? A hundred? I didn’t know. I was too invested in my own bloodlust.
“What are you all staring at? Prepare to move out. This location is compromised.” I said, marching through them. I met Rolland on my way through the building, even he gaped at me. A sense of frustration bubbled in me. They should be thankful that I killed most of them. I stormed through the building, and then I found Justin. He was holding a gang member and hadn’t killed him yet. I stepped forward to him and glanced at Justin, then back at the captured troop.
“My redemption.’ Justin said.
“How do you know he is of any worth?”
“He speaks common. Most gang members only speak world languages. The ones who speak common are usually high ranking gang members.”
“Or gang members who lived long enough to pick up a few words,” I said, thinking of myself. Justin squinted his eyes at me, and I hurried to change the topic. I crouched down to the gang member. Justin ripped his bandit mask off his face, and it was a woman of black hair and tan skin. She had scars over her eyes that didn’t detract from her beauty. She was a genuine diamond in the rough.
“A woman?!” Justin said, in complete shock. It was not common for women to be anything but breeders. If they were in the fighting troops, they were related to the leadership of that gang. This was good. I heard footsteps behind me.
“What are you doing to that woman Justin!” I heard Maria said.
“Scum to the end, huh?” Jen said.
“Creep,” Alicia added. How unfortunate for Justin to be seen in such a position by three females squad leaders. Many of their squad shared murmurs that were unfaired to Justin. The guy looked crushed and helpless. I decided to save him.
“Relax, guys, this woman was the leader of the gang that attacked us.”
“A woman in a gang?!” Jen said.
“It’s not that uncommon. Some women get special treatment i
f they are related to kingpins in a gang.” I said.
“How do you know that?” Justin asked. I ignored him but noticed Jen’s stare. I could tell she was making a mental note of this moment as well as other moments. Connections would soon form in her mind if I wasn’t careful.
“Let go of me, you scumbag.” The female gangster screeched. Justin struggled to hold her, and then she bit his hand and attempted to run. I whipped my pistol out and shot a bullet through the back of her knee. She fell to the floor, screaming in pain. I glanced at Maria, and she wasted no time pulling out her sear gun, bandage, and ichor.
I was experienced in this tactic. I stalked toward the female who was screaming and trying to crawl away. She looked back at me, and I could see the fear in her eyes explode. In her life, she knew the eyes of a killer far too well. She crawled desperately, and I put my boot on her ankle. She cried out and shifted toward me.
“My father is going to kill you!” She exclaimed. I simply stared at her with my pistol pointed to her leg. She struggled from under my foot but couldn’t move her leg.
“Die, asshole!”
Again I said nothing. My foot kept her locked in place. The pain and fear started to overcome her as sweat poured from her face, and she struggled to remain awake.
“Go to hell!” She said.
Silence.
“Fuck yourself!”
I said nothing once more. Her defiant expression faded with each passing moment while my stance remains as still as the mountains.
“Please let me go...” She said.
Again I remained silent, and then she fell to her back. The blood leaking from her leg grew worse.
“I’ll give you anything, even my body. Just let me go!”
“Blu…” Alicia mumbled, but I waved my hand at her to be quiet. The female gangster lunged up with the last of her strength and wrapped herself around my leg.
Song of Blu Page 9
