Chapter 6: Ruthlessness

 

The meeting was over. Klauna and Harbin were walking down by the encampment to meet up with their battalion who was stationed near the back. They were ordered to group up there in advance by Klauna prior to the meeting. Klauna looked normal as she always does, but Harbin could be seen visibly less energetic than usual. The other demons' words had quite an effect on the young Ak’him.

“I’m screwed up in there didn’t I, Captain Klauna?” Harbin said in a dejected tone.

“Not really. I think you did well,” Klauna who was walking unsteadily replied.

Although still looking dejected, Harbin had a small smile on her face.  “...How do you do it?” she asked.

“Do what?”

“Those people. They call themselves captains, but all they do is complain. They keep insulting you. How can you stay so calm when they denounce you like that?” Harbin asked. Just thinking about the events that happen prior made her angry.

“Their words are meaningless. Don't get too riled up in their taunts," Klauna responded.

'Easy for you to say…' Harbin thought to herself.

"Live long enough and their insults don’t matter anymore. You will see they are just as hollow as their words."

"I see…" Harbin nodded in response. Hiding the fact she thinks that being called hollow by Klauna must be the newest low.

"You can't play their game, Harbin, they are just much better at it than you. You've got to play your own game. Play at your own tempo."

"..." Harbin just kept quiet and nodded at her advice.

"...what's wrong?" Klauna asked, curious about Harbin's silence.

"Noo… it's just that… You are quite talkative today, Captain Klauna, and your words… I just didn't expect them to come out of your mouth," Harbin replied.

"Is that so?" Klauna asked.

"Yeah."

Harbin thinks it must be the lack of liquor. Her movements were less clunky and her thoughts and speech patterns more discernible than before. It very much reminded Harbin of the first time that she met with Klauna. Though it was far from the graceful woman that was in her memories.

Harbin looked to shift the topic and said: "Still, I didn't expect you to speak up at all in that meeting Captain Klauna. That was quite a shock." 

"I was just saying what was on my mind at the time. Nothing more," Klauna replied.

"Well, I'm glad you did, cause the look on their faces was golden," Harbin let out a small laugh.

"Indeed it was. Doesn't feel half bad to be the one throwing the insults once in a while," Klauna said, a soft smile on her face.

“Though, Lord General Lionel’s decision to follow your plan was quite unexpected. I didn’t expect him to follow it so easily,” Harbin said before letting out a frown.

 “I didn’t expect them to follow it so easily… Against you, all they do is argue but when it comes to his words, they all just listen with no questions asked,” Harbin ranted.

The big conclusion from Lionel was that they try out Klauna’s plan first. They’ve already been there for a few weeks, so it makes no difference if they were to be there for a few more days. Lionel thought that the plan was worth a try and if it doesn’t work, it’s not like they were going to lose much. It was a plan that involves very little risk on their side, a plan with expected casualties of a few to no men.

Some of the demons frown upon the idea of having to execute a plan from a lowly Analyst, but they just fold over without much retaliation. Some of them even backpedalled and call it an amazing plan. The whole event only served to make Harbin more irritated.

Silence fell upon the two for a short while before Klauna responded. “Lionel is not a good strategist. But he is no fool.”

“I guess so…”

The two then had more idle chat until they reached their destination. A large open field with tons of Ak’hims running around. In the middle of the field was a whole bunch of magic circles. The magic circles contained the incantations of the same spell that they used to bombard the enemy yesterday. Most of Klauna’s battalion, the Analysts, could be seen scurrying around to finish preparations.

It didn’t take long for Klauna to realise that something was off. It was mostly her battalion and a few Succors and Saboteurs here. This was supposed to be a joint operation between the three crests, but the Saboteurs and the skimpily clothed Succour’s underlings were nowhere to be found. The captains of the other Saboteur and Succours were also nowhere near the area.

Well some of them were here, but very few.

Klauna spied on one such Ak’him— a Succour who was very busy giving orders to the other Succours. She was Medica, the aide to the skimpily clothed Succour. Her wings tucked underneath her small cape and her tail swinging wildly in frustration. She wore a prim and proper uniform, much like the one that Harbin was wearing. The only difference was that she was wearing a white and black motif. An armband with the first aid symbol was on it, signifying that she was a medically trained staff.

“Captain Klauna,” Yuupiecca arrived at Klauna’s location. Harbin gave Yuupiecca a salute.

“... Status report,” Klauna ordered.

“We are almost done with the long term bombardment preparations. We will be able to launch our first strike within the hour.” He replied.

“What of the other crest? I only see our battalion here,” Klauna asked.

Yuupiecca looked around the area to see very few Succours and Saboteurs around. There were only a few dozen of them present at most. Little when compared to the numbers of Analysts in the area. “Either, they’ve yet to arrive or they refuse to cooperate. I cannot tell.”

“I see. We wait for them then. Tell the troops to be on standby.” 

“Roger,” Yuupiecca replied before running back to the other Analyst.

“Harbin, can I ask a favour from you?” Klauna called out.

“Ye-yes?”

“I need you to help me draft a special type of circle. Much like the ones we have here, but I need fire elements to it. I also need one that can catapult multiple barrels to their trenches.”

“Yes! Captain Klauna. On the way!” Harbin ran towards the other Analyst and began construction of the magic circle that Klauna asked for. She didn’t understand why Klauna asked a very oddly specific request, but she went ahead and did it regardless.

Seeing that everything was going according to plan, Klauna gave a nod and took this time to search for Balestra and Poi. 

 

* * * * *

 

Dusk was almost approaching and the area was still lacking Succours and Saboteurs. More have arrived since then, but not nearly enough. The number of Succours and Saboteurs combined was almost one hundred. Still less than the one hundred and fifty Analysts that were present in the area.

The Analysts were just standing around, trying to kill time by playing various card games and makeshift short games. This includes Balestra and Poi, who were just standing around with the other rogues playing dice. Next to them was a cart, inside of which was a whole bunch of barrels. Alertness was at an all-time low.

Klauna was on top of a very shoddy made watchtower, observing the trenches that the humans were entrenched in. She decided that she has waited long enough and called for a hard meeting, requesting that the people leading the Succours and Saboteurs meet up with her to discuss their further action. She didn’t expect them to comply and gather up, but they did. Much to her surprise.

At her side were Yuupiecca and the bombardment trio. Yuukalesteriaka, Yuukolesteriako and Yuukilesteriaki Analyst. In front of her were Captain Kazakielnayash Cunning and the skimpily clothed Succour’s aide, Medicalarissetta Succour. A Saboteur wearing a black mask was also among them, but Klauna did not know his name. 

“If we are going to bombard the enemy it better be now when they are not expecting it. Where are the rest of the troops? The orders from Lionel are that we are to do this in a joint operation,” Klauna said to them.

“Don’t put the blame on me. I gathered most of the Saboteur under my battalion here. I am also wondering where the others are,” Kazakiel replied before looking towards the two other Ak’hims around him. 

The only Succour present gave a slight bow before apologizing to them, “...Captain Lina said that she wants no part of this and refused to help. I tried to tell her that it was a direct order from the Lord General but she would rather die than work with Analysts… I am here against her direct orders. I’ve also gathered up most of the Succours who are willing to assist. The others…” She stopped talking and just looked away in sadness.  Captain Lina refers to the skimpily clad Succour.

“We are of the same army… why must we fight like this?” Medica muttered to herself.

“Hmph. For a person talking about honour, she sure has no problem betraying the orders from the general. I will speak of this to General Lionel himself at a later date. Don’t look so down, you did nothing wrong,” Kazakiel spoke out.

“I expected as much from the slut. But what about Laigon?” Klauna asked the only Saboteur.

Medica could be seen twitching at the mention of the word ‘slut’. Sure, her commanding officer wears as if she is one, but a slur like that insults all Succours. However, Medica only kept quiet at the matter, she knows Klauna to be rather foul-mouthed. She also knows that Lina and Klauna have been at odds with each other for a while now. Harbin bowed down slightly, apologizing for Klauna’s lack of delicacy. Medica waved back that she didn’t mind.

“...Captain Laigon, will be bombarding from a different location. He did not disclose where. I am only here to supervise the Saboteurs that will bombard from this area,” The black-masked man replied. There was no confidence in his voice. It seemed that he wasn’t fond of his own captain.

“I see. So he too has abandoned the mission,” Klauna said. She then faced towards her own underlings. “Begin the bombardment.”

“Ehh? Are you sure captain? We won’t be able to keep the bombardment for long with these numbers,” Yuupiecca asked.

“We don’t need them. Execute the bombardment, and get Balestra and Poi to proceed with their plan. I give you my word that this whole stalemate will be over by dawn,” Klauna ordered before moving away to the top of the watchtower. 

Everyone around there gave a look of shock. They wondered why Klauna was so confident that they could win by morning, but they didn’t question anything and proceeded to follow orders. Kazakiel, Medica and the black-masked Saboteur gave their own orders as well before joining up with her at the top of the watchtower.

 

* * * * *

 

In the heavily fortified trenches were the humans just idling in a complete state of relaxation. There were some that oversee the Ak’him encampment across of them of course, but most of the humans were at ease and were currently waiting for their meals to be served. It was almost dinner time and many humans gathered around a makeshift canteen within the trenches.

In front of the canteen was a line of humans, getting their meals from the cooks of the canteen. While waiting, they talked about their day, their family, the war and just about anything that can be turned into a conversation topic. Some of them were rather relaxed and happy while others had sorrowful looks on them. A lot of their friends had indeed died yesterday. Not enough time had passed for the pain to sooth.

It was a shame that humans would not have that time as suddenly a loud explosion could be heard in the distance. Soon after, a few more loud explosions were heard and the ground shook momentarily. This put everyone on alert status.

“The demons are attacking!” 

Bells and alarms rang off all over the trenches. People who weren’t equipped for battle rushed towards the barracks and the armoury in order to equip themselves for the upcoming battle. The others rushed out to the front of the trenches in order to meet up with the enemy forces.

The humans climbed up the trenches to get into battle positions. A sense of shock came over them when they found out that no enemy was present. Just red and black streaks of lights flying in the air before landing onto their position with a loud explosion. One such light was special in a way that it wasn’t a light or magic, it was just a barrel. The ordinance was headed for a specific location, the armoury.

The ordinance landed and some unknown liquid spread out in a wide radius around the armoury. At first, the humans were confused, but more and more barrels were launched at them with each one landing at very specific areas of interest in the trench. The meeting area, the canteen, the armoury, the food storage and many more. It was as if the enemy who launched these barrels knew exactly where each of these facilities was.

The liquid soon spread to the lower areas of the trenches, bunkers and the enclosed area. The humans didn’t really care about it as the barrels only contained water and soon went on their way and ignored it. They ran for the said bunker and enclosed area in order to take cover from the bombardments that were happening all over the trenches.

These bunkers were made in retaliation to yesterday’s bombardment and were made to hold out long term in case the demons decided to use such tactics again. The men were relieved about having built the bunker now. If they didn’t then they would have been mincemeat from the explosions.

Or so they thought.

One high ranking looking human took a sniff of the unknown liquid and gave it a taste. Fear appeared on his face as he realised what kind of situation they’ve gotten themselves into.

“Get out! This is—”

Before he could finish his words, the entire bunker was lit up in flames. On the outside was a special type of ordinance that was in flames. It landed and soon lit the trench on fire. More fireballs came raining down and the trenches ended up in more flames. 

Screeching sounds of humans screaming were heard as they were burned alive. There were not many places to escape from it as most of the important facilities have been doused by the attack earlier. There were a few safe places that were not doused, but the humans inside these areas had no other places to escape to. They soon suffocate due to the lack of air and the extreme amount of smoke.

The humans' plan to reinforce the trenches with wood only served to fuel the fire further. The fire that lasted the entire night.

 

* * * * *

 

“This is…” Medica said. Her hand on her mouth as she tried to digest what was happening in front of them.

The people on the watchtower let out a similar look. The whole trench was burning in flames. If one tried hard enough, they can hear the faint screams of men mixed within the intense sounds of fire burning.

“Captain Klauna… What was in those barrels that you threw at them?” Kazakiel asked. He could be seen slightly disturbed, but still maintaining composure.

“...Liquor,” Klauna replied before grabbing a bottle out of nowhere. She pops the bottle and took a sip from it.

Harbin was too flabbergasted to even take it away from her, “Those barrels that Poi carried!” She yelled when she realised the truth.

The purpose that Klauna asked Harbin to construct those two specific circles was for this reason.

“I expected the enemy to reinforce further as a result of our bombardment yesterday, so I ordered for the rogues to scout the enemy out. The enemy was too busy mourning the other night and it allowed them to scout the enemy out completely,” Klauna explained and took another sip.

“I see…” Medica replied.

“I only really cared about what the enemy was using to reinforce the trenches. The others were just bonus. Once I figured out that the enemy used a flammable material, I ordered my troop to collect all the liquor from the warehouse. And the rest is what you see in front of you. The fire will stop burning by dawn. We can charge right in by then. The enemy should no longer have the defences nor the men to hold on,” Klauna took another sip.

“Wait! If that’s all our liquor then what is that you are drinking?!” Harbin finally realised it and took the bottle away from Klauna.

Unfortunately, It was too late for the young Analyst, the bottle was already empty.

“If I can’t drink it. Then no one can *hic.  I might as well *hic out them to good use,” Klauna said as she wobbled out of the tower. She was clearly drunk.

She tried to move towards the stairs but almost fell out. Medica and Harbin held her tightly in order to prevent her from doing so, a wry smile on their faces.

…
…
...

 

The end result was an overwhelming victory for the Ak’hims. Just as Klauna said, everything would be over by dawn. This usually calls for a celebration, but the fact that Klauna had used all liquor into the bombardment meant that they Ak’hims could not properly celebrate the victory. They didn’t have the mood for it anyway. Any Ak’hims that went over the trenches to investigate only fell sick as they saw the carnage and massacre.

The sight of half-burnt humans and charred remains only served to amplify what the other thought of the plan. It was as the demons said during the meeting. It was an honourless win.

Medica and Harbin both agree that Klauna was quite the ruthless person. 

And quite the petty person as well.