"Wake up..." A faint whisper could be heard, it was pleasant to the ear and in a sense, motherly.
"Mom, is that you? Why are you here? I thought you died?" A small Akasha could be seen, her mother known to most as Mrs. Celestia was standing there looking at her with pride in her eyes.
"Look at you, all grown up and out in the world." Her mother said, "If only your father could see this, sadly he isn't near you but rather on the other side of the planet."
"What do you mean mom? Dad died with you... right?" Akasha said, she was perplexed by this... anomaly.
"No he survived, he got away, find him. Please, he thinks you're dead and is blaming himself for both of our deaths." Her mother was anxious, paranoid, and overall just worried for her husband, but strangely, not for herself. Perhaps she had accepted she was dead.
"But on the other side of the planet is to broad, I need more specific details!" Akasha said followed by the comment.
"Why?"
"Well, Mom, I can't find someone with just that much information! I need more inform-!" She attempted to protest but was cut off by a rude awakening, she was in a makeshift hospital back at the temporary headquarters.
"Why am I back here?" She questioned.
"Well, Colonel Karloff here saved you." Someone said, they were out of sight but the voice was distinct. It was Harvey.
"Huh? Sir, why are you here?" Celestia questioned, confused. How long had she been out? How long had she been out of command? Where were all of here soldiers? Did they retreat successfully? These were the questions running through her mind at an alarming rate, she just couldn't stop thinking of them...
"I was alerted that one of my best Generals had been wounded, so I quickly came here to assume command while you were out and to check on your condition. Also as I said, the Colonel who saved your life is here, thank him would you." Harvey stated, not a question but a statement. She had to thank him.
"Well, thank you Colonel, I am in your debt." Celestia said, she didn't do it reluctantly like Harvey thought she would but instead, she did it with sincerity. She was truly thankful. "Also, sir. May I ask what country is on the other side of the planet of us, or what countries?"
"Well you have Vinct, Interl, Harol, Kraven, and Lovent. Although currently Interl and Vinct are on the brink of collapse due to internal and external threats, political strife is running rampant in those countries."
"So, what countries there accept Vampires?"
"Vinct and Lovent, the other 3 are to scared to accept them, due to the kingdoms alliance actions against other countries that do."
"Hmm, thank you sir."
"Uhhhhh, You're welcome?" The Colonel had finally decided to speak up, although at a rather unsavory time... An awkward moment.
Approximately half an hour later:
"Well, hahaha, it seems that plan was a failure." Celestia grimaced, she was disappointed, although mostly in herself.
"Ma'am, I would like to bring your attention to the fact that we managed to successfully eliminate an entire Tank Battalion. That's quite a big lose for them!" One of her officers said.
"Yes but at what cost? We lost 78 mages and 982 infantry, that is about 1/3 of our forces if not more. You call that a success at all?"
"No Sir."
"Exactly."
"But, they still lost more troops at around 2000 infantry and 150 tanks, that's a decent tradeoff." The Colonel interjected.
"No, it isn't. This plan was meant to make sure we didn't even lose 100 men. We lost over 1ooo." Celestia once again, claiming the plan was a failure.
"Bu-" The Colonel tried to continue but was cut off.
"No buts. The plan failed and we were defeated, that's a fact." Celestia said while exiting the room.
Location: General Akasha Celestia's quarters.
"What was that dream earlier? Is he really alive? If so he must be in either Vinct or Lovent. I will ask for a leave of absence once we take the Harion peninsula and the Finse archipelago, it will have to be short as we will have to move on to the Grendor Islands after." She was contemplating how to find her father, that is if the dream was held true. "He is still alive after that though? After that? I thought he would've died, but perhaps I am wrong... I hope I am."
The massacre of her village, a bloody mess better left in the darkest depths of her mind... but tragedy always finds a way back up, always.
Location: HQ's Court yard, time is 5 in the morning.
"...I failed you." Those were the first words out of Celestia's mouth, a sincere, "I failed you." This was to the troops under her command.
"But we took out more of them Heretics than they took from us!"
"But how many were lost for that to happen? 100, 200? No, 1000 men and women died. Our men and women, fellow husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, and so on. Dead. Why? Because I failed you. Keep this in your mind, let this memory stick with you and never forget it, don't always believe that just because more of the enemy died you won. Its a loss if even one of your fellow Soldiers die."
"Then, General. When have we ever not failed?"
"Never, we always lose at least one soldier, so we have never succeeded. Sure you completed the mission, but one family out there will suffer, why? Because someone died, they had someone who cared for them, their squad, family, friends, etc. We. Have. Never. Succeeded. But this is my first time failing you, I lost more than 100 soldiers, I promised that more of you would come back alive. I was wrong, therefore, I failed you. You see how its pouring? Its raining this hard because of the families that will soon be devastated because of the news of their child's death."
"Move on to the next segment of this already, they don't want to hear about how many of their friends have died, that's why they are trying to say they succeeded, to move away from the sorrow." Colonel Karloff whispered, he was aware of how much they were suffering on the inside, not showing it. He had lost some friends that day too, so he wished that he could say they succeeded, not for his sake but for his fallen friends who had died, he wanted some reassurance that their deaths were not in vain, and they weren't.
