[Ties] Bootcamp 13

"Move forward!" roared Malachi.

Malachi had met up and worked together with a Royal Garrison squad. At the moment they were slowly but surely advancing through the passageways of the arena, cleaning up any and every ant they came across.

"Shields up, weapons forward!" ordered Malachi, "Bombs away!"

As soon as he gave the order, the Engineers hiding behind a line of Steam Knights lobbed their grenades at a horde of Fire Ants.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

In spacious areas like rooms and lobbies, Malachi gave full freedom to use explosives. However, in the narrow passageways, he let the Steam Knights take point to crush the Fire Ants' carapaces. Like before, as soon as the soft interiors were exposed, a stream of bullets were let loose.

"Oh, man..." commented Axel, "Is that... Is that really Malachi?"

Ever since Malachi took de facto control of the squad, Axel and the rest had taken a back seat in the clearing operations. They stared at the young boy barking out orders like a madman on crack.

"I... This..." stuttered Arlianne, "This is the first time I've seen him like that..."

"Okay... Creepy kid from before, " said Lakeng, "had gone full-blown who-the-f*ck-are-you and what have you done?"

Since Malachi was completely engrossed in the squad,

"Let's just watch the back for any ambush." suggested Axel, loading his crossbow and prepping his grenades, "Even if we're moving forward, these things can pop out from anywhere."

Arlianne and Lakeng nodded at his suggestion.

"Another squad up ahead!" reported a soldier.

"Reinforce and clear the area!" ordered Malachi, "Steam Knights, forward!"

Once another squad was in view, and as soon as Malachi gave the order, the line of Steam Knights at the vanguard separated from them and charged forward with their hammers.

A soldier in the other squad saw the incoming Steam Knights.

"Reinforcements incoming," reported the soldier, "north corridor, watch your fire!"

The entire squad adjusted their positions. Some relocated closer to the north corridor and created a path for the Steam Knights to pour out from. The rest widened their arc of fire as soon as their backs hit the wall. All soldiers were now at the northern half of the room, and the ants were coming in from the east, west, and south.

"Raaagh!" roared a Steam Knight with a blast hammer overhead.

The pyrocite tip lit up and detonated, crushing one ant out of the way. The rest of the Steam Knights followed suit and cleared out much of the room of Fire Ants. As soon as the rest of Malachi's squad arrived, the other squad noticed the child running together with the reinforcing squad. However, none bothered asking about him once they saw the eyes of the reinforcing squad.

Malachi's squad had their eyes strangely entranced. Not one was blinking, and all were moving at a feverish pace to destroy, not just simply kill, the Fire Ants.

"Steam Knights, fall back!" roared Malachi, "Engineers, lob your grenades!"

The Steam Knights fell back from their assault, and grenades took their places. The number of grenades carpet bombed the part of the room where the Fire Ants were, and destroyed much of their carapaces. Like machines, the soldiers in Malachi's squad fired upon the exposed interiors without even waiting for his order.

The other squad stared with mouths agape seeing their fellow comrades systematically destroy the Fire Ants. One soldier, however, noticed Axel and the rest following behind. Seeing as they weren't in a frenzy, he approached them.

"H-he-hey, w-what's up with them?" asked the soldier, "A-an-and who's the kid barking out orders?"

Lakeng faced the soldier.

"Frankly, I'd like to know as well, " he answered, "For now, just work with them."

Lakeng looked around and found that he was the only officer amongst all of them.

"Where's your CO?" he asked the soldier.

"H-he should be heading towards the field, " answered the soldier, "Saying something about the biggest horde being in there."

"If we follow this route, " added Axel, "We'll end up there, eventually, seeing as the other corridors are blocked... Unless the route to the field gets blocked as well."

///

"For the love of... When will they stop pouring out!?" cried Gregory as he dispatched one ant after another. His uniform was already tattered, revealing a sort of armor beneath, and had multiple burns on his body, "Out of my way!"

Eventually, after running around the corridors, he met up with another squad.

"You! Where is your CO?" he asked them.

"Sir! Our CO has been killed in action, sir!" replied a soldier, "For now, we are acting independently, sir!"

"Damn, any other casualties?" inquired Gregory further, "What of your supplies?"

"Apart from our CO, two Fusiliers and one Engineer were killed, " responded the same soldier, "For our ammunition, we still have a few hundred bullets and two extra pyrocite crates. Our medical supplies, however, had been cut in half due to the unexpected amount of Fire Ants pouring out."

"All right, " said Gregory, "I'm taking charge of your squad. Follow my orders to the letter, got it?"

The soldiers looked at one another.

"Sir, yes, sir!" they all affirmed, "A pleasure to work with you, sir!"

Gregory nodded at them. He looked at a nearby window to assess the situation outside and another to see the field.

"Not much of a problem outside the arena, " he commented, "The problem is that these bugs are concentrated inside the arena instead."

Gregory looked back at the squad.

"By the way, " he said, "Have any of you seen a group of children running around?"

The soldiers looked at one another.

"Er, children, sir?" repeated a soldier, "I hadn't noticed anything like that. How about you guys?"

"Not really, " said another, "Too many ants around to notice anyone smaller in size."

"Children, huh?" said an Engineer, "Hey, when we broke through the north gate..."

"Now that you mentioned it, " chimed in a Steam Knight, "I vaguely recall seeing three kids there."

Gregory grabbed hold of the Steam Knight. Though, he climbed atop it to be accurate, not minding the heated parts of the metal armor and exhaust vents.

"Yes! Them!" said Gregory albeit too excitedly, "You said the north, yes? Squad, move out!"

///

"Sir! I'm receiving a message from the squads sent to the catacombs!" reported a radio operator, "Oh, my lord... It's His Majesty! His Majesty is underground!"

Emmanuel and Elijah looked at one another, and both rushed to the radio operator's sides. Elijah flipped a switch on the switchboard, and what only the radio operator could hear was transmitted through the speakers.

"This is Eleazar Arkansius Perlas!"

"What the hell is he doing underground!?" shouted Emmanuel in disbelief, "Wasn't he supposed to be escorted back to the palace!?"

"That's what we knew as well, Your Highness." added an officer behind him, "We even received confirmation from the Royal Guard stationed in the palace upon His Majesty's arrival."

"Forget how he got there, " interjected Elijah, "The fact that he's broadcasting a message himself means that whatever he's broadcasting is important."

Everybody in the room focused on the radio.

"This is Eleazar Arkansius Perlas! The subjugation of the Queen has failed! I repeat, the subjugation of the Queen has failed!"

Everyone's eyes widened in disbelief.

"He personally oversaw the subjugation?" wondered Elijah, "I get that the catacombs has some important history in it, but not to this degree that the King, himself, has to get involved."

"Wait, there's more." said Emmanuel as he increased the volume.

"All troops above ground are to prepare a welcoming committee for the Queen!"

Silence enveloped the command room.

"Are you f*cking kidding me!?"

"Is he insane!?"

Shouted both Emmanuel and Elijah respectively.

"The Queen is surfacing! All troops above ground are to prepare a welcoming committee!"

"Argh!"

"Dammit all!"

Again, the brothers shouted respectively.

"Uh, Your Highnesses, " said the radio operator, "Do we, uh, relay to all squads?"

Emmanuel and Elijah went to their respective radios and shouted their orders.

"All troops, prepare for the fight of your life!" shouted Emmanuel, "Her Majesty will be making an appearance, and I need all of you to double your efforts! The urgency of the situation calls for all to do anything and everything we can to ensure the peace of our home! That means, I will also take part in this fight! A pleasure to be working with you all!"

Emmanuel gave a speech, but Elijah shouted a long string of numbers. Never mind the stares he received, but the severity of his expression made everyone else who did not understand disregard it.

The string of numbers Elijah had said,

80 117 116 97 110 103 32 73 78 65 32 110 105 121 111 44 32 109 97 103 115 105 98 117 104 97 121 97 110 32 107 97 121 111 46

Although those under Emmanuel didn't understand why numbers were used, those who subordinated themselves to Elijah changed their expressions. With the same thoughts, they looked at one another and separated from their squads unnoticed. Those who separated met up and formed new squads to operate under the same orders.

Emmanuel and Elijah looked at one another before leaving for their respective squads.

///

"Knock that pillar down on top of them!" shouted Malachi, "Engineers, flank the left side and bomb them to oblivion!"

Slowly but surely, ever since Malachi had taken de facto command of a platoon, they had moved through the arena and utterly crushed any Fire Ant in their way. This was also the time they received the area wide broadcast of both Emmanuel and Elijah. However, rather than reacting to follow the broadcasted order, everyone under Malachi ignored it and continued to search and destroy.

"Hey, hey, " said Lakeng, "Hadn't they heard the broadcast? I heard it loud and clear from here!"

"How the heck can they hear it?" argued Axel, "Look at their faces! They look like they know nothing but to follow Malachi's orders! Malachi, too, look at him! He's gone mad!"

"We need to do something to snap him out of it, " suggested Lakeng, "Hey, Arlianne, know anything we could do?"

"I... I can't say, " replied Arlianne, "This is the first time I've seen him like this. I wouldn't know what to do."

"Hold on, " interjected Axel, "At the pace we're going, and where we are headed, isn't this...? This is bad. We have to wake him up, now!"

"What do you expect me to do!?" cried Arlianne, "I'm as much at a loss as you are!"

Lakeng thought for a while.

"Hmm, since the two of you are rarely separated, " he said, "Try screaming his name. You know, a scream like you're in trouble."

"Eh?" uttered Arlianne, "How do I go about that?"

"Imagine a Fire Ant is right behind you, and Axel and I are unable to assist in time." he suggested with matching motions of acting out a Fire Ant behind her. "Scream his name for help, a voice with urgency. Enough that will make his head turn towards your direction."

"Lakeng, " said Axel, "Your imagination is creepy."

"What?" he replied, "You got anything better?"

Arlianne watched Malachi for a while. Then she thought back on the earlier broadcast.

"I'll try it, " she said, "No, I'll do it."

She faced Malachi and took in a deep breath.

"Malachi!" she screamed with a voice as suggested by Lakeng, shutting her eyes and letting out her voice with great vigor.

As she did so, Axel who was right next to her covered his ears.

Fortunately, Malachi, who was in the middle of moving the platoon, heard her scream and turned his head. His reaction momentarily halted the platoon right after, an absence of direct orders stalled their efforts.

"Arlianne?" uttered Malachi.

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Seeing his confusion, Lakeng took this opportunity,

"Hey, brat!" he shouted, "I hope that knocked some sense back into your head! Didn't you hear the broadcast!? The Queen Ant is su—"

Unfortunately, before Lakeng could finish his sermon, the earth shook again. This time, however, with greater intensity as the walls visibly crumbled from the force. Though, something was strange. A single part of the arena had crumbled. Only the area where Malachi and the rest were affected.

With the walls destroyed, the field came into full view, and a battalion of soldiers could be seen fighting against a horde of Fire Ants. The situation in the field was worse as bodies of soldiers were clearly strewn about, whole bodies and decapitated limbs. Those behind the walls, however, had no chance to react.

The ground beneath them sunk in, and a deep depression grew bigger and deeper. That was, until a while later, when the depression was more than 10 meters wide and deep, and finally opened into a huge gaping hole.

"Damn, fall back! Fall back!" A soldier in Malachi's platoon shouted as he saw what was within that hole. "Fall back! The abyss has opened up! Fall back!"

Those closest to the hole's edge panicked and retreated, leaving behind a few confused soldiers at the rear lines and Malachi. Their confusion merely lasted for a moment once whatever was within the hole emerged from the darkness.

"Kashhk, kashhk."

The Queen Ant's mandibles tore through stone and dirt, raising its body through the ground, and greeting all who stood around watching it. Without warning, a wall of flames spewed out of its abdomen and burned everything in its way.

The Steam Knights who were able to react by raising their shields could do naught but melt away. The flames from the Queen Ant were stronger than ordinary Fire Ants; anything that was metallic melted a few moments after contact.

Malachi stared at the massive ant before him.

"... Crap." he cursed under his breath.

"Malachi! Get out of there, now!" shouted Lakeng as he ran to grab him.

The Queen Ant turned its body, and its abdomen swept the flames across a wide arc. Man and insect were burned in its unprejudiced fury. Lakeng ducked behind a collapsed part of a wall, just in time, to dodge the incoming flames. Fortunately, Axel and Arlianne were at an unreachable part of the inner passageways, and were kept from harm. Only, they watched with fear from the onslaught of flames that were unimpeded save for a few stone walls.

"Malachi!"

"Lakeng!"

Cried Arlianne and Axel respectively.

Lakeng eventually reached Malachi and wrapped his arm around Malachi's waist. Soon after that, Lakeng carried Malachi off to a safe location. Only, until he found a Fire Ant gunning for them the moment he turned his body to run.

"Damn!" cursed Lakeng, "Sorry 'bout this, Malachi! Uraagh!"

Lakeng twisted his body, brought Malachi back, and threw the boy towards Axel and Arlianne. Lakeng, as expected of being a soldier, effortlessly propelled Malachi over a long distance. Malachi landed on the ground with a groan, and painfully stood up to see Lakeng's leg torn off from his body by the Fire Ant's mandibles.

"Argh!" cried Lakeng.

"Lakeng! No!" cried Axel.

Axel grabbed hold of his crossbow and was about to run to help. Malachi, instead, pulled him back and a stream of flames greeted their faces.

"Goddamn, that snapped me out, " said Malachi, "Don't kill yourself, Axel."

"Shut up!" roared Axel back at him, "If you hadn't gone senseless, this wouldn't have happened! Let me go!"

Malachi slapped Axel on the cheek, and Axel stared in shock.

"I admit, " said Malachi, "I lost myself in there, but that does not mean I should send you off to your death! Lakeng is still alive, I was able to see him blind the ant, and the ant raised its body in a fit of rage. The flames hit the Fire Ant, and if you've seen what happened outside, you'd know nothing could effectively live after getting hit."

Malachi thought for a bit after saying all that, 'Still, to think it would carry over to this life. Time to train on it, after all this.'

Surely enough, after the flames dispersed, they found Lakeng slouched on a collapsed wall and breathing haggardly in a state of shock. Only then did they rush over to his side.

"Lakeng!" cried Axel.

Malachi crouched next to Lakeng,

"Damn, left knee down, " he commented, "Lakeng! Wake up!"

He tried to get Lakeng awake by slapping his cheeks a bit. Seeing no reaction, Malachi frowned and looked at Lakeng's torn leg.

"We have to stop the bleeding, " he advised, "Quick, look for a stick or a hard rod. I'm going to make a tourniquet."

"A what?" asked Arlianne.

"Just look for a damned stick!" yelled Malachi as he ripped off Lakeng's sleeve, "Since he's in a state of shock, or 'acute stress reaction,' we don't have to mind him being in pain too much. I appreciate throwing me out of harm's way, Lakeng, let me repay that by cutting the blood flow to your leg."

Axel and Arlianne dug through the debris to look for a stick or a rod. Eventually, they found a metal shaft, a part of a blast hammer's handle, and gave it to Malachi. Malachi was in the middle of tying the torn cloth around Lakeng's thigh when he received the shaft. The cloth was a bit loose, but he inserted the shaft between the cloth and Lakeng's thigh, and wound it up tight. As tight enough until the blood stopped flowing out of his leg.

"Phew, now, to get him out of here." He said while moving Lakeng's back, "Come on, you two, help me carry him out of he—down!"

Malachi pulled the other two closer to him and Lakeng. Soon after, a stream of flames gushed out overhead. He hugged the two tightly until the flames dispersed. After the flames were gone, he let go of the two of them, and ignored their flushed faces.

"Come on!" he shouted, "Let's get him out!"

Malachi lifted Lakeng's torso, while Axel and Arlianne helped each other by carrying Lakeng's waist and legs. Three children relocated a wounded adult out of the line of fire.

"Just a bit more!" he shouted, "Just a bit fur—dammit, Axel!"

They had arrived at a corridor, but what greeted them was another Fire Ant. The Fire Ant swung its head and hit Axel's side, flinging him far away into the Queen Ant's line of fire. Malachi was late to respond, but still shot an explosive bolt into the Fire Ant's eye, killing it in the resulting explosion.

"Axel!" he cried.

Time was of the essence as he found Axel lying limp next to a collapsed wall, but his position was still exposed to the Queen Ant's flames. The Queen Ant let loose yet another arc of flames, still wreaking havoc in the field.

"Arlianne, stay here with Lakeng." he said.

"Wait! What do you plan to do!?" she asked.

Malachi just smiled back at her.

"Something stupid." He answered then ran towards Axel.

"Malachi!?" she shrieked, "We just got you out of danger! You're rushing back in there!?"

"We made a promise, Arlianne, remember!?" shouted Malachi back, dodging obstacles that were in his way to Axel, "We made a promise that he'd be our friend, now and forever!"

"At the risk of your life!?"

"Friendship is worth risking our lives for, Arlianne! A luxury I rarely had!"

Malachi vaulted over a collapsed pillar and landed next to Axel. Unfortunately, the Queen Ant's flames were just a hair's breadth away, approaching fast from the corner of his eye.

"Yep, definitely stupid!" he cheered despite his predicament, "This will hurt, a lot. Graagh!"

He flung Axel and himself over a low, collapsed part of a wall. Just high enough to protect Axel, who was underneath Malachi, but was still too low to completely cover Malachi's back. The flames finally swept above them, and the wall successfully protected Axel but not much of Malachi's body.

"Graahh!" he roared in pain, "Pain! That's a f*ckton of painnnnnnnnnnn!"

"Malachi!" cried Arlianne as she watched his clothes and back burn from the flames, "Malachi!"

As he burned, Axel woke up from Malachi's groans of pain.

"Malachi? Malachi!?" he cried from the shock of seeing Malachi protecting him, "Malachi! Get off me, quick! Mala—"

Just then, the straps of Malachi's goggles burned away and snapped. His goggles fell off, and Axel had full view of Malachi's red irises. Axel's jaw went limp, and he stared at Malachi dumbfounded.

"... R-red..." said Axel.

Finally, the flames dispersed, and the pain lessened momentarily for Malachi to speak.

"Guess... the cat's... out of the bag... eh?" he said, "Urgh, sorry... about this... Axel... don't hate me... for my race... Ugh..."

Right then and there, Malachi fainted on top of Axel, and Axel was at a loss at what to do.

"Malachi? E-Eskur...?" he repeatedly said grasping Malachi's remaining clothes, "Wait, Malachi! Wake up!"

"Oh, no... Malachi!" Just then, a man's voice roared over the distance, "Knock that b*tch down!"

Another battalion of soldiers, mostly Steam Knights, marched forward with shields raised. A few moments later, more wall sections collapsed, and Siege Engines rolled in with Engineer escorts. Soldiers with Fusils and Repeaters flooded the audience stands and seats, and completely surrounded the Queen Ant. Almost at the same time, soldiers carrying small cannons filled the terraces and the arena's rooftops. These soldiers assembled the cannons and aimed them at the Queen Ant.

Gregory appeared with the reinforcing Steam Knights, the other Royal Phoenix stood next to the cannoneers on the terraces, Emmanuel joined the incoming Siege Engines, and Elijah commanded the soldiers on the audience stands. They all had one command, with fire in their eyes,

"Kill that damned b*tch!"

///

The aftermath of it all resulted in over 300 soldiers dead, and over a thousand injured. More than 2000 pieces of materiel expended, over 40 Steam Knights destroyed, and two Siege Engines knocked out of commission. Civilian casualties were, thankfully, only over 100 injured and no deaths. The arena personnel, Chief Axton especially, lived albeit still knocked out. Lakeng was sent away with the orderlies and medics, and Malachi was sent to a civilian hospital.

Not much was known about what happened to Axel after he was separated from Malachi and Arlianne, but the other Royal Phoenix was found to have personally overseen the escorts. Arlianne was brought back by Gregory, and followed after the medics that sent Malachi to the hospital.

...

In a closely guarded hospital room.

Emmanuel stood next to Bashia as they watched Ibrahim, with the other doctors trusted by Emmanuel, administer medicine to the unconscious Malachi. Arlianne sat next to Gregory, waiting anxiously for the results.

" 'Friendship is worth risking our lives for' huh?" said Arlianne softly to herself, "If that's the case, if I will ever uphold that vow..."

"Arlianne?" said Gregory, "What's wrong?"

She looked at him with strange resolve in her eyes.

"I... I will protect Malachi, " she declared, "I will protect him, with all my might, like how you protect His Highness... like how you protect... father."

Gregory silently stared at the girl before him and his expression was unreadable.

"Then, what do you plan to do?" he asked.

"What do you suggest I do?" she asked back, "Truthfully, I know that more harm will come his way and he will wholeheartedly meet it. Apart from knowing that, I don't know what else I should do. I doubt the training we've been doing until now would ever be enough, and, after that incident, I doubt Axel would be allowed to meet with us ever again."

Gregory leaned back and let out a sigh.

"All right, do you have the heart to undertake whatever you need to do?" he inquired with eyes closed.

Arlianne just silently stared at him, her expression unchanged from before. Gregory smiled and didn't bother looking at her.

"Silence means consent, " he finally said, "Prepare for a harsher training than Malachi's."