[Kaleesh, Saran]
(“You started this war, we are ending it,”) (“Don’t start a war you won’t win,”)
There always comes a day in every space knight’s life where they will be promoted to Space Captain and have to train their own team.70Please respect copyright.PENANAUYGv4pxCNs
Today is that day for Kaleesh Zraklins and Saran Chiss. The pair of them stand back-to-back, guns in hands with the safety off.
They don’t move and don’t speak, only look at potential places for any nearby enemies. The armour on their body is white, thin and made of plastic of some type.
They look next to them as a ball covered in red paint hits a tree, splattering paint on it. The ball bouncing off it and going a different way. Probably under a bush nearby.
‘Poor aim’
Saran makes a mind note as he turns. He glances at the mark on the tree and, with his gun, holds it in the direction he believes it came from.
Holding up his gun and pulling the trigger, a ball covered in grey paint is shot out of the gun and flying at someone partly hidden behind a tree.
The ball hits the person’s helmet, causing them to fall backwards with a groan of annoyance. The ball splattering paint on the front of the helmet.
“Leina, Dead!”
Saran says as a female, height of 5 foot eleven, walks out in the same armour Kaleesh and Saran is wearing.70Please respect copyright.PENANAHzRuEzZt7M
She sits down near their feet, so they won’t be in any line of fire.
“You did good, Leina. Just missed by a few feet.”
Saran tells her as she takes her helmet off.
“Come out, come out wherever you are.”
Kaleesh softly says to himself, waiting for the next person to relieve their location.70Please respect copyright.PENANA3SE6YV4iC8
However, it doesn’t take him long to find the next one. Hidden in a tree, perched on a branch like a mother bird protecting its babies.
He points the barrel of his gun at the direction the tree is at and shoots it three times at the branch near the feet.
The branch shakes and wobbles and the person there has now lost their footing and falling off the branch and landing on the ground with a groan of pain this time.70Please respect copyright.PENANANvJZmyNlBM
Kaleesh shoots another paintball, but this time on the person’s back, making the person groan again and roll onto his stomach.
“Talz, Dead!”
Kaleesh says as Talz dramatically crawls next to Leina. Kaleesh just smiles while Leina giggles a little.70Please respect copyright.PENANA6ZhIMSHIJw
Saran just looks at him and back in front of him as he sees an outlet of someone racing to changing positions.
He follows the person with his gun.
“Drama Queen.”
Saran jokingly tells Talz as he takes off his helmet. Talz smiles, chuckling a little at that. With a massive smile on his face, he turns to saran, clearly something on his mind that he is dying to say.
“Why thank you. Just wait until you get my twin.”
As Saran pulls the gun again, he stated. He watches as this person can dodge the paintballs, move, duck and use things such as trees and rocks to their advantage. He may have an idea about who it is. So, he points his gun upwards.
Leina watches. He nudges Talz slightly. The pair of them look up, not really sure on what they are looking for.70Please respect copyright.PENANA4ZqSXEhSmY
He pulls the trigger and one of the paint balls just flies up and hits a target. In a matter of seconds, grey paint is covering a large area of the spot he had seen the person in.
“What the heck!”
The person yelled as they stood up, covered from head to toe in grey paint. But to Saran’s surprise, a bush stands up. The person isn’t very tall, which gets him to know who it is.70Please respect copyright.PENANAc7efbVQyJN
Also caked in grey paint. They get the bush off them. He holds in his laughter as it’s his own sister who was the bush.
“How is that fair?”
“Sabe, Dead! Phex, Dead!”
Saran says as the two of them make their way over caked in grey paint. They sit on the opposite side of Leina and Talz, sitting back-to-back. Four down, four to go.70Please respect copyright.PENANA9qgAgBv3Am
Normally, the three out of four that haven’t been caught yet are normally the first ones to get caught.
“Improvement. I’m glad to see that.” Kaleesh comments, proud of the remaining four. Talz scoffs, visibly annoyed over something.
“Some more than others. I didn’t think medics was even aloud on the battlefield.”
Talz comments, glancing at Sabe before looking in front of him. Phex looks at him, confused but even a little mad. To anyone outside of the squad he could talk about anyone, but deep down he knows who he is referring to.
“Care to say who? Talz.”
Phex asks, turning to look at him, already knowing the answer to who it is. Talz just ignored him, a clear sign of ‘You already know’. This makes his blood boil.
Kaleesh ignores them and pulls the trigger. He watches as the paint ball is hit by another one. It flies off in a direction.70Please respect copyright.PENANA3RYIBUZM5r
He pulls the trigger again, this time the paint ball hitting its target right in the middle of their chest. He turns to his right and points his gun up.
“I was so close!”
“Rodian, Dead!”
Saran says as Rodian walks over and sits down with the current ones. Kaleesh takes a deep breath and waits.70Please respect copyright.PENANAjk3ttOPDqc
He pulls the trigger. The ball flies in one direction, bounces off three trees and hits the remaining two, hitting them on the helmet.
“Come on!”
“Cheat!”
“Vala, Dead! Kaila, Dead!”
Both Vala and Kaila say as the room around them shimmer and vanish. Trees, bushes and the grass turning to white almost building blocks.70Please respect copyright.PENANA6LaUoKESK7
The walls become a white colour. The grey paint is still there.
“Captains, three. Knights, zero.”
The computer voice says over the speaker. The seven knights groan as they stand up and walk over to everyone else. Saran looks at them all, counting them.
“Leina, Phex, Rodian, Talz, Sabe, Vala, Kaila… Isn’t there meant to be eight of them?”
Saran asks Kaleesh to get his gun in the ready position. But before Kaleesh could answer and even move, a yellow paintball hit both of their chest plates.70Please respect copyright.PENANAsXgZRVSBDs
The person who pulled off the shot comes out from hiding behind one of what used to be a tree. A cheerful scream leaves his mouth.
“I did it! I really did it!”
He cheers, everyone watches as the scoreboard updates, | Captains—Three, Knights—One |.
“Good job, Blaine. You’ve improved the most of the past three weeks. However, a lot of us are still making the same mistakes. Some of you are even showing new ones.”
Saran says as he presses a button on his gun. Kaleesh doing the same.70Please respect copyright.PENANAHiMxP46tkA
Both of their guns rearranging itself and turning into an orb. The both of them place it in a small bag attached to their hips.
“One person just isn’t improving at all. For a matter of a fact, they shouldn’t even be out on the field, they're the medic of this team, they're also the sniper and they disguised themselves as a bush!”
Talz comments. This time he is looking at Sabe and isn’t trying to hide who he is talking about.
“Weren’t you the second one out of us all to get caught?”
Sabe asks him, his face goes red out of anger. He opens his mouth to shout Phex, Rodian and Leina standing in the middle of them.
Before he can say Boo, the school’s bell system is set off. Ten rings can be heard throughout the whole school grounds in every room. Soon, a male voice is heard over the speaker.
“All knights and Captains please report to the auditorium for an important announcement.”
“Ten rings. They found bodies.”
Rodian nervously says as they all put the weapons on the rack near the door. They keep the armour on, as they don’t have time to take it off.
As they make their way through the halls, many of the students and Captains dressed in black pants and black track shirt, some of which are sleeveless.
Blaine has sleeves that go to his wrists and Sabe which goes to her elbows, are a part of the only few who has a t-shirt with sleeves.
“And Talz, medics can be out on the field as fighters. Kaleesh and I fought alongside one. She was human as well.”
“Was’ I’ll take it as she died. She should have listened to her teachers and stayed off the field and being human means, she would have put your entire squad in danger by the enemies, but also during exams. She would have been seen as an easy target”
Talz says as they all walk into the auditorium. Many students have already picked a seat and sat down. The eight knight’s just head to the closet corner, which is near the door. Kaleesh and Saran go over to the other captains.
The entire room goes quiet as Headmaster green walks up on stage, behind him a screen of Squad Ten. As expected, a squad was found, not not as everyone hoped.
“As of today, 8th 5519 December, Squad Ten has been confirmed deceased by their families and close friends. On 27th 5519 June, they left for a mission and failed to report in. After a week, a search team was set out to go find them. After months of searching, a ship was found in the Draksinz zone. It was badly damaged with no power, no water, and no working air system.”
Headmaster Green says as the name and ages of them appear on the photo.
‘Captain Taekyoung Oh, 28’70Please respect copyright.PENANASNFr27AXQ6
‘Captain Stella Cruz, 27’70Please respect copyright.PENANAYxJbUWFz1x
‘Leader-Knight Veronica Johnson, 20’70Please respect copyright.PENANAMR2s8ckzE1
‘Medic-Knight Prinkle Derw, 19’70Please respect copyright.PENANAbFNAf1UoR4
‘Knight Suhyun Manicroft, 19’70Please respect copyright.PENANAiFVgzVXKS3
‘Knight Amanti Jewels, 18’70Please respect copyright.PENANAO5MJFO56s0
‘Knight Eddorth Yarcods, 18’70Please respect copyright.PENANALIUWrQdA2A
‘Knight Nodies Crered, 17’70Please respect copyright.PENANARjOsq2eXqd
‘Knight Nistrie Crered, 17’70Please respect copyright.PENANAC0HuIhJEeo
‘Knight Caleb Storm, 16’
“Their bodies were received and identified. Their families are inviting everyone to the funerals. It will be held publicly. It will be Next Monday from ten am to three pm… Classes may now resume.”
Headmaster Green says as the school bell system is ringing, this time only three rings.70Please respect copyright.PENANAJ4bP7LGJWl
Kaleesh and Saran look at each other, the both of them knowing that they will make their squad attend the funeral so they can pay their respects.
As the pair of them reach their unit, they remember two of their students just covered in grey paint. They looked at where they were standing, grey paint puddles inside near the door.
“Phex, Sabe, go wash the paint off. The rest of us will start cleaning those puddles and the training room. If we let the cleaning system do it, it will become clogged, and we don’t have the time or money to fix it ourselves.”
Saran says as he also reminds them to show up for the science test that happens today. Groans and moans are heard from them all. A clear sign they don’t want to do it. He chuckles a little.
“Don’t be late for tonight’s meeting. We will discuss Squad ten’s funeral. Be there by nine.”
Kaleesh says, the eight knights nodding.
[?????]
“The plan is going smoothly. Squad Ten has officially been found and declared Deceased.”
An auto tuned voice says. A tall person covered head to toe in fabric. The only thing visible is red hair that goes down to their hands.
They look at the screen, someone dressed in black armour with a tinted glass on the helmet.
“Good… For a high-ranking squad. They were easy to track down and kill. They also took their time finding them. Almost seven months, way too slow for the Space military.”
The cloaked covered person says, the auto tune also affecting them. They turn away from the screen and to the center of the room. A giant gun, almost the size of a two-story house.
Around it on the floor are ten barrels, all of them having the same one label on it. ‘RH- AB’. Five of them which are only filled to the top.
“Five more people with that blood type. Five more sacrifices are all I need… Agent Black, keep a close eye on…. We shall name Victim twenty-six.”
Agent black nods as the video call ends. The cloaked person doesn’t remove their sight from the giant gun.
“Once you are working, you will help me rule the world. No. Rule the entire universe and other galaxies!”
70Please respect copyright.PENANA8xm1jRWXE9