"You...accept?" Toziro was bewildered. He didn't think that Braum would accept. If this was any other royalties or the people from the Yakanan government that he had met a long time ago, they wouldn't just reject the request, they would scoff and laugh.
"Yes. I accept. I'll bring reinforcements from Yakana right away. You say the Estalian King and crown princess are in danger, yes? Then it is also my duty as a future king of Yakana to assist a potential ally." Braum answered with conviction.
Toziro and his team went silent. They really didn't think Braum would accept such bold requests. Not only would Braum need to reveal the existence of Yakana, he would also reveal his status as a royalty and the technological prowess that Yakana posses to the outside world. This was an entirely radical concept for Yakana's culture and history. If this would truly happen, it would be an extraordinary event for the history book.
"And the part about removing the chips in our heads?" Toziro asked again.
"We'll do that as well after we get an expert team here. I'll call them here right away. You and your team should find us a spot that we could build a temporary headquarter and also come up with a plan on how to introduce ourselves to the Estalian people. Can you do that?" Braum's tone was full of dignity and pride. He was slowly taking the mantle of a wise king.
"O-of course. Our strategy expert Troy will get right on that. In the meantime, you should go to Sumi for treatment. I just temporarily removed the effects of my gravity-directional nova from you so you'll feel the effects again pretty soon." Toziro checked his watch. "It should end right about...3...2...1..."
"Bleeeerrrghhhh" Braum fell down and started to puke. He was feeling the full force of Toziro's carnival ride again. His head was spinning and he had no sense of direction.
"Qey...escort our little King here and his friends to their rooms. Troy, come up with the plan" Toziro ordered.
Qey took Kelvin, Urada, Niko, and Braum out of the interrogation room. Troy also left the room. Now, there were only Toziro, Putra, and Moka left inside.
"I don't like this one bit. Leader, are we supposed to forgive them for the things they did to us ten years ago? After we practically saved the country? I still fucking hate them." Putra scoffed.
"I don't trust them either but if Boss thinks it's alright then it's alright" Moka shrugged.
"He's still a naive kid...but his words...conviction...demeanor...all of them are telling me to follow him. To serve him. To fight for him. Only time will tell if he would live up to those expectations but I would like to see it. He's not like the others. He's the same as us—exiled to the middle of nowhere, a victim of Yakana. Except, he was probably lonelier than us. I think if we guide him and train him he would be the leader that we would want to serve. So let's give him a chance. It's not professional for a soldier to hold a long grudge. Let it go." Toziro smiled and left the room.
"Moka, are you going to just blindly trust the brat as well?" Putra asked with a frown.
"Didn't you listen to what Boss said? After these ten years, we are still his loyal supporters. We followed him to be exiled and we should follow his decision to follow this new king as well. Don't cause any trouble, Putra." it was Moka's turn to leave the room. Putra sat down in one of the chairs. He started to ponder if this was the right decision.
In one of the rooms at The Bodyguards' secret underground base
Braum, Niko, Urada, and Kelvin were sitting in a circle in the middle of the room. The room had a bed and a desk but they were all sitting in a circle on the floor below.
"Have you gone mad!? We can't just call reinforcements! The higher-ups wouldn't accept those terms!" Kelvin shouted.
"I have to agree with the Lieutenant here. I don't like those bastards but they have full authority on this" Niko chimed in.
Urada stood up in anger.
"With all due respect Lieutenant Kelvin and Corporal Niko, you are still talking to a Yakanan royalty. Please show some respect."
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
"He's not even the King yet!" Kelvin barked.
Braum snapped. He stood up and grabbed Kelvin's neck to pin him up on the wall.
"How many times have I told you to show me some respect? You are very professional and objective-oriented Lieutenant but at the end of the day, it is I that will be the one to decide the outcome, got it? And I WILL be the King of Yakana soon and I WILL fix people like you" Braum threw Kelvin to the floor with a strong force.
"I-I'm sorry. I was too emotional. I just don't think they'll approve of this...especially the Commander of the Special Forces, General Utu" Kelvin said with an apologetic face.
"Who's that? Your direct superior is not General Kraus?" Braum asked.
"No...General Kraus is the fifth General of the Royal Forces...the army so to speak. General Utu controls the special forces, the intelligence and elite operatives that work behind the shadows like us. He's quite known to be hard to handle. Actually...he was also the one to give me the remote to detonate the chips inside The Bodyguards' heads in case things go wrong" Kelvin explained.
"I see...he's the type to do things the dirty way if it gets him what he wants. Well...I do need a guy like that as well for the betterment of the country but I still don't like those types of people personally. So you think he won't send in reinforcements even if I was the one asking?" Braum asked.
"No...he's one of the hardliners that support Yakana as a sovereign nation cut off from the outside world. He does not want our existence revealed at all so he'll try anything to stop our plans if he hears it" Kelvin answered.
Braum stroke his chin to think.
"What about General Kraus then? Should we tell him?"
Urada interjected.
"You shouldn't! This operation is closely monitored by both General Kraus and General Utu so if the former hear it...he'll tell General Utu as well"
"I think it'd be better if we keep this classified. It's going to be extremely challenging to get reinforcements and supplies while still keeping the whole thing a secret...we'll need someone we can trust and someone who supports Yakana to open up to the outside world" Niko also chimed in.
Braum started to think again.
"Well? Is there anyone like that? Someone we can tell this plan and would accept the request to send in reinforcements while keeping it a secret? Honestly, it's ridiculous that a royalty like me is having a hard time getting what I want" Braum said while frowning.
"Unfortunately, Your Majesty, many of the militaries still think you are a naive little boy even if you are next in line. And with all of the royal family gone...the power of the royalties are at the weakest point in history. To tell you the truth, what former General Toziro said was correct; they only want you to be a puppet king just so they have the rally of the population behind them. They didn't intend to give you much power at all" Kelvin explained an unsettling truth.
"Before this trip...I declared I was going to be a king and that I would finally open up Yakana to the outside world. They all seemed eager and agreed to it right away. I truly felt like a king back then...how foolish I was. It seems I'll have another agenda for bringing back Toziro and his group. I need people who will stand with me against those Yakanan bastards" Braum clenched his fists together. He was now truly set on reforming the country while winning the civil war in the process.
"Back to the problem at hand, who should we call?" Braum asked the group and received silence in return. They were all thinking of someone that they could trust.
"How about the Navy? I think the First Commander of the Royal Navy, Admiral Marlina would accept! She's known to be an advocate for opening up Yakana to the outside world. She's quite famous in the media for her stance and for her looks as well!" Urada's eyes were glistering as she said that.
"We have a Navy?" Braum was surprised to hear that Yakana has a Naval force.
"Yes!" Urada answered with a cheerful tone.
"So...they're going to come here by ships? Well...Neversummer is a coastal city so it's possible but they'll have to circle the entire continent. Won't that take a long time?" Braum was curious to hear how the Navy would travel from Yakana, which is located in the far east to Estalia, located in the most northwestern part of the continent.
"Actually...our ships are so advanced that it'd probably only take a day to travel from Yakana to here," Niko answered.
"I see....why do we have a Naval force again?" Braum was also curious about why Yakana would have a naval force. He thought Yakana would have no enemies in the water since there were no ships from the continent that would be able to enter Yakana with its circle of red storm surrounding the entire island.
Kelvin was the one to answer this time.
"There have been numerous cases of sea-based Kaiju appearing near Yakana in the past. While most of the Kaiju come from the ocean, they all walk on land when they arrive on an island. The royal navy of Yakana was established to both prevent the Kaiju to arrive in land and also fight off some special Kaiju that are biologically exclusive to the ocean. But General Marlina..." Kelvin trailed off in his explanation as he mentioned the name of the General.
"What's wrong with her?" Braum asked.
"She's a bit...idealistic and....eccentric...if you can call it that. You have to prepare to deal with her if you want to request her assistance." Kelvin warned.
"Did you think that would stop me? That settles it. We'll ask her for help. Call her up right now. We need to move fast" Braum said.
"Are you sure about this?" Kelvin asked again.
"Yes! C'mon!" Braum answered with confidence.
Kelvin rummaged through his bag to find his tablet device. He opened it up and typed in some words before giving it to Braum.
"Here you go...it should connect soon."
After a few beeps, the deep voice of a woman can be heard from the tablet.
"Comrade Kelvin of the Special Forces! How may I be of service? I thought you are currently in the classified mission with the brat prince?"