Chapter 16: Good Speed
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It was about three in the morning when Dara Palilia finally said her goodbyes to Trio and his mother. His father, Captain Gatdula Agapay, went down to the street to light a smoke. Arman walked her out of the hospital and they both saw Captain Agapay and Lieutenant de Sol having a discussion at a nearby alley just beside the hospital.

"What are you still doing here?" shouted the Captain. Lieutenant Andreus de Sol had been waiting for one of them to come down. Unfortunately, the irate Captain was the one who would hear his pathetic excuses.

Agapay hurried down the dark alley as Arman and Dara hid behind the dumpsters at the alley's opening.

"Look, Captain. That thing with the Marshal's assistant? I had nothing to do with that."

"So what? Forgive and forget is that it, you damn traitor?"

"I am not a traitor!"

"Then why are you helping Sakai's son? You're mentor has got you by the damn collar and you have nothing to show for it. Do you remember what Maximo did during the war? Huh? Half the Amanium from the fleeing enemy corsair was missing when your squad took it down..."

Captain Agapay continued berating de Sol. The Lieutenant could only concede to the Captain's accusations.

"...Then all of a sudden, wow! Maximo Sakai was suddenly rich and the rest of you guys where left to scraps! And don't tell me you don't know about his little 'business' down by the docks either."

"Look!" Andreus had enough of the Captain's verbal attacks. The Lieutenant took the Captain by the collar and shoved him back against the wall. Dara wanted to intervene but Arman stopped her from interjecting the two officer's quarrel.

"I have a debt to repay. It cost me my life. My family. Everything. I can't just stop doing what he asks. You think I did it because I'm as evil as Sakai? You think I'm some evil henchman following orders without question?"

"Yes. That's what I'm saying." Agapay pushed back de Sol, slowly wringing his scuffled neck.

"Then what about us then, Captain? Huh? What about every single one who fought in the West Sea? We're we evil?"

"That's not the same, de Sol. We did what we had to. They were coming at us and..."

"Did they? We've killed thousands. Hundreds of thousands, because people in power, like Maximo Sakai, ordered us to. You never asked questions when they told us to sink that foreign passenger cruiser. Or that random carrier ship that just happened to enter our territory. Where those people evil?"

Andreus pulled back his composure as long as he could, but he could not contain his frustrations any longer.

"Don't come at me like I'm some evil bastard doing this just for the hell of it. I'm helping Marcus Sakai because I owe his father a debt I'm willing to pay the price for. You know where I ended up after the war? Do you?! Do you have any idea what happened to my family? My children? Do you even know how it feels for a father to come home and see his children starving?!"

Lieutenant de Sol broke down to the floor, trying to cry away his pain. Captain Agapay witnessed the officer in front of him break down, much like any other soldier who have seen the horrors of war.

"Not all of us came out whole after the war , Captain. Even if we survived the war, not all of us made it through. You might have survived and lived a happy life but some of us had no where else to go."

Captain Agapay was silent. He had no response to the truth about the war's aftermath.

"Maximo Sakai offered me a position as a training officer and I accepted. I even got promoted. Even if he had offered me a janitorial position I would've accepted as long as I can take care of my family. Would you do anything for your family, Captain?"

"Yes." answered the Captain.

"Then we're the same. We might not have the same path to take but we have the same goal."

"Come out, you two." Lieutenant de Sol shouted behind him, directing his voice at Arman and Dara who were still hiding behind the shadows.

"Sorry, Captain. Lieutenant. We were just..." stammered Dara as both the recruits exited their hiding place.

"I know you've been hiding behind that dumpster over there for the last half hour. Get over here, recruits."

Lieutenant de Sol looked straight into Arman's eyes so that the boy could feel every his every word.

"I'm sorry Arman. It wasn't my place to leave you stranded there, taking the blame for what Marcus did. But I would do it again."

"I don't really understand why you did it, sir. But I still think it was wrong."

"Arman..."

"I may not be as experienced or mature as all of you. I'm not in any position to judge you, sir. But I do know what's right and wrong. If I hold on to that, then maybe I can become better than I was before."

Lieutenant Andreus de Sol took Arman's hand and shook it firmly.

"You'll make a great Explorer, you know that?"

"Thank you, sir." Arman replied.

"Let's go, Dara. We're going back to the camp."

"Uhm... Lieutenant... I was..."

Officer de Sol looked at the two recruits and got the message.

"Alright, I'll give you five minutes. You better haul your butt down by the street not a minute longer or you'll be walking back to the Harbor, you got that?"

"Yes, sir!" saluted Dara as de Sol walked towards the main street in front of him.

"So... This is it, I guess?"

"For now. We'll meet each other again soon, Dara. I hope. I never told you how grateful I am for all your help. I'm sorry things ended up this way."

"Do what you have to do, Arman. I really believe we'll meet again."

"I'll do my best, Dara."

Arman and Dara gave each other gentle hug before they parted ways. Captain Agapay took out his dataphone and called a local capsule retailer. He rented a sleeping capsule for Arman so that the boy could rest until they leave for the Caltar territory in the morning. He dropped him off at the capsule center a few blocks away from Metro General and went back to the hospital.

The next day, after an early morning visit to the Citizenship Department, Captain Agapay visited Trio and saw that the boy had recovered perfectly. His wife chose to be left behind to handle the hospital's paperwork as the Captain took Trio down to the training camp. His father could not contain his confusion as to the reason his son wanted to go back to training immediately. Both men sped away from the hospital riding the family's old three-wheeled hydrocar.

Soon as they were at the camp gates, Trio kissed his father in the cheek and bid him goodbye as he entered back into the training camp down by Harbor Point. The rich morning air had brought back memories inside Captain Agapay's mind, making him feel more determined to help the young Arman in his journey towards becoming a West Sea Explorer.

Arman Bruno woke up earlier than usual. He exited his capsule bed and sat out in the corner of the street where he was supposed to meet the Captain. Even Arman knew without looking at his misleading watch that he was early. The sun was just beginning to rise behind the horizon when he took his luggage from the steps and sat on it by the sidewalk gutter, waiting for the Captain to take him to the mysterious headquarters of the most ruthless warriors the West Sea had ever seen: The Knights of Vathalla.

"Watch out!" All of a sudden, a large crate came hurdling towards Arman, hitting him by the shoulders as the large metal box toppled over to the concrete floor, spilling out its strange contents. The trolley that was carrying the crate was perfectly unharmed.

"What the hell, man!" Arman shouted. He laid on the floor in pain, covered in blue dust.

It was a delivery trolley that slammed Arman to the floor. Its contents where a cluster of wires, metal cylinders, and packets of white, bluish powder. The man chasing the trolley finally caught up to it as the boy and his morning delivery laid wrecked on the cold pavement; his black cylindrical helmet reflected dazzling light in front of Arman's squinting face.

"Hey, you! What did you to to my package?!"

"What do you mean, what did I do? You're stupid crate ran over me!"

The man quickly picked up the pieces while Arman got up and shook off the bluish dirt he was covered in. It smelled of seawater and alcohol, kind of like Amanium. The strangely agitated man bundled up the materials on the floor and shoved them back in the metal crate.

"You're lucky I don't have the time to deal with you, you punk!" The man rushed off again towards the other end of the street. The metal trolley shook and clanged on the sidewalk as the stranger pushed it from behind.

Arman caught a glimpse of the crate's label. DO NOT OPEN.DO NOT DELAY. SENSITIVE MATERIAL. HYDRO-PLANT. VOTE LA GUARDIA.

***Thank you for taking the time to read my work. It would really mean a lot if you could leave some comments as I would like to hear what you have to say about the chapter. You can also vote and share this to your friends and help spread the story of The West Sea.***

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