The 10 Guardians of the Cloud Empire - Military School (Part 3)

Pejene UA-13? There are also another 12 scattered around this city's underground, and more? Why? Why would the Entanian Alliance's members agree to build at least 13 of these massive underground airports? I questioned myself. Sure, the city holds an important strategic location but anything else from that, not so really. 

As Shizuko guided me and Heodia to our plane, I was deep in thought once again, trying to figure out answers to the questions in my head. My eyes sent information to my brain but it didn't process it so I ran into something, head-first. 

"Ow. Did I hit my head into something?" 

"You sure did. Head first into the body of the plane." Heodia replied. "Can't you see the body of the plane for yourself?" 

"No..?" I replied, mumbling. 

"You joking or you being serious?" 

"I'm completely serious. I literally cannot see the plane!" 

I and Heodia had this conversation as Shizuko watched us on the sidelines, laughing her head out. She stopped soon after, with tears forming in her eyes. 

"Whoof. Alright. I had a great laugh," Shizuko said, wiping the tears away. "Void, don't worry you aren't blind. And as expected of you, Heodia." 

"Huh? What do you mean?" 

"The plane is covered in a special paint that we developed to bend light so much that it turns it almost invisible. And in bright areas like these or in the sky, it's totally invisible. But you'll get used to it when you see it often." 

"Oh. So that's the reason why all my scanning equipment showed a plane-shaped object when my eyes see nothing." Heodia said. 

"I told you I'm not blind, Heodia!" I screeched. "You seriously got me worried about my own vision!"

Heodia turned around and gave the most angelic smile and attitude I have ever seen.
"Ehe. Sorry about that, Void!" she said, with an apologetic tone.

I clenched my hand into a fist.
"Don't give me that bullcrap. I'll seriously punch you." 

Shizuko laughed again. 
"Alright, alright, no time to play anymore. I'll guide you on board. C'mon!"

I stopped 'fighting' Heodia and followed Shizuko, walking up the platform into the invisible plane. 
The feeling when I put my foot into the plane, it felt like anything normal. But my mind couldn't just help with the feeling of falling to the ground. However, those worries were later erased when I discovered that the plane's interior was visible to the eye. 

I released a huge sigh of relief when I got to my seat and sat down. I gazed through the window, seeing all sorts of machines and stuff in the background, all working together. 

How nice... Would this be her and me if the war never had occurred? Perhaps. But right now, it would never occur. 
"Feno... I wonder where you are right now..." I whispered. 

Heodia perceived that I had whispered something but didn't ask what I said. And she didn't ask about anything else as well. She just sat down next to me and stayed quiet. And for me, I didn't do anything much too. As we got into the air via a long tunnel, I just slept through the entire trip. I was tired already and being in a comfortable seat in the air made the drowsiness worse. As the plane soared through the sky, my vision slowly but steadily reduced. And not long after, I dozed off. 

...

A powerful rocking motion awoke me. The first thought I had was the plane is performing landing currently. And I was correct. I glanced through the window once again to see not the blue sky but rather planes, towers, and runways. In the distance, I can see houses, roads, shops and many more. And the background of those distant objects was rolling green hills. Furthermore, as I was led off the plane, the scent of the sea was all I can smell. 

"Quite a beautiful city." I remarked. 

"I know right?" Shizuko replied. "Blae is widely considered the world's most beautiful city in the world. In the warmer seasons, you can enjoy the beaches or hike on the hills over there. Great view too. And in the colder seasons, snow gently covers the entire city. And during the snow months, Blae has some serious breathtaking cityscape views." 

"Ah. I see. I wonder if we would have the chance to visit Blae during the snow months." 

"You may or may not have a chance depending on your rank. And speaking of which, let's get you signed up immediately." 

"Hm? Signed up? To what?" I asked. 

"To the military of course!" she cheerfully replied. "It's called Operation Traitor, submitted by Major General Tegsa. Yes, the Lieutenant General does want to personally know you better and all that stuff but you cannot run from the policies of the battle. We take the survivors of the city and sign them up for our military. Of course, you can refuse-" 

"Then I would like to refuse then!" I immediately said, cutting Shizuko off.

"-But we can guarantee you, you can take revenge or take out all your hatred on the ruling parties of the Sagen Republic." 

And I paused. Frozen. As a citizen of Touimai- no, the Sagen Republic, the ruling parties of the country were fine. And going back a few thousand years, the Sagen Empire controlled most of the continent. And after the Sagen Empire lost the Ash-Sa War around 2,400 years ago, the Sagen Empire became a republic where it was until 500 years ago. 

That day. It was just 15 years before the White Revolution. Something happened on that day that changed the course of the country. While the ruling party at that time, the Tuma Party, was fine, as they were quite popular with the general public, something started to 'infect' the party's leaders and politicians. Soon after, they passed some laws that made them the only party able to rule the Sagen Republic. The population was confused but they did not complain. 

But yet, soon after, after law after law passed, increasing the Tuma Party's power, and decreasing the population's power, the Sagen Republic slowly became the country it is now. And I lived only through the bad part of it. Cities became deserted as the people did not want to go outside. They were afraid. 

And when the White Revolution happened. Millions fled from the battlefield and came to neighbouring countries- like the Sagen Republic.
But the Tuma Part did not allow the fleeing masses to enter. And they weren't afraid to use force. 3 of the 10 deadliest massacres happened. 

These massacres installed fear into the people of the Sagen Republic. Afterwards, cities became lawless places where it was no man's land and everyone competed with each other. Hundred of thousands were killed. And the Tuma Party did nothing. 

And I, myself had some cherished people taken away by this time. So I had a burning desire to take revenge. 

"So? Your answer now, Void?" 

"..." 

"5...4...3...2-" 

"I'll do it." I quietly whispered. 

"Hm? What was that?" 

"I said I'll sign up." I answered, nearly yelling. 

Shizuko smiled
"Good." she said. "You can first go with the Lieutenant General and have a 'friendly' conversation with her or... you can go with me can get signed up. What do you choose?" 

"I guess I'll go with the Lieutenant General first then. I have some questions I want answers to." 

"Hm. Fair enough. Then you follow her and I'll be off. Meet me at this location afterwards though. I'll send via a message." Shizuko said, casually walking off. 

I did not respond and just looked at Heodia. She nodded back, telling me just go. I took a deep breath for a final time and set off. 
Half-running towards the distant group of people, I had a thought. One that I tried not think about.
Feno... what happened to you? Are you dead, or still alive? Are doing well or not? And... where... are you, Feno? 

...

In a room where everything was painted black, footsteps could be heard, echoing throughout the room. Walking down the hall, Shizuko, wearing a mini top hat on the side of her head and an Entanian Senior's uniform, entered another room. One where voices and conversations were loud and clear. 
When she entered, everyone in the room grew silent. All of the other 8 people in the room were also in an Entanian Senior's uniform and they quickly sat down in their respective assigned seats. 

"Everyone..." she started. "I would like to thank you all for gathering here. As you may have noticed already, one of our members, Vula is absent currently. She is about to deal with 'TOPIC' right now, and I wish to have one last debate about whether 'TOPIC' is a threat to the nation or is a normal person who wishes to retain a normal life." 

<Kepheus Kallistos, 10th Seat of the Guardians> 
"Certainly, with the amount of 'energy' contained inside of 'TOPIC', it is more than enough that 'TOPIC' is a major threat to the nation if 'TOPIC' doesn't know how to use it." 

<Ramana Gennadios, 9th Seat of the Guardians> 
"I must agree with you, K.K. The amount of 'energy' contained in 'TOPIC' is enough to blow away any country, even some continents if 'TOPIC' is unable to handle the power of the 'energy'."

<Zoltan Rokuro, 5th Seat of the Guardians> 
"That is a strong argument, however, if we can secretly teach 'TOPIC' to handle the 'energy' flow, then it would be a massive benefit for our country. It would bolster our defensive and offensive capabilities of our country while also creating a new, strong and reliable ally to have and depend on."  

<Ruta Kasper, 7th Seat of the Guardians> 
"That's a good option, Zoltan. But how are we going to teach 'TOPIC' secretly? Wouldn't 'TOPIC' catch on what's going on soon?" 

"Ah, my friend, Ruta. Don't you see the person we need in front of our eyes?" Zoltan said. 

"Oh, you mean the Vice-Commander? Hm. She does have a good relationship with 'TOPIC', doesn't she?" 

<Shizuko Nekaoki Sukan, 2nd Seat of the Guardians, Vice-Commander>
"You want to use me to secretly teach 'TOPIC' on how to use the 'energy'? Fine. I'll do it. But I'll take one of your prized wine bottles if you want me to do it, you 2. You hear me?" 

"Ugh. Fine. There's no better way than do this... it's a fair trade deal... alright, fine. I'll give you a 400-year-old bottle from Groyu." Ruta said in a saddened, weak and pained voice. 

"I made the suggestion so I'm willing to pay the price. How does a 650-year-old bottle from the northwest sound?" 

"Sounds good. I'll be looking forwards to them. But anyway, does anyone here has a rejection or other opinion?" Shizuko asked the group. 

<Askr Elisheva, 8th Seat of the Guardians>
"I have no complaints." 

<Vitalia Gisela, 6th Seat of the Guardians>
"I also have no complaints," she said. 

<Russ Kyrie, 4th Seat of the Guardians>
"Same here." 

"I presume it's the best cause of action here, and I do trust the Vice-Commander enough that I'll place my hopes on her. No complaints." Kepheus announced. 

"I'll also put my hopes and trust onto the Vice-Commander's shoulders," Ramana said. "Try not to screw around too much this time, Vice-Commander. Please. If you fail, then over half of the world's population will die instantly. So I don't think I would need to remind you but please do this with extreme caution." 

"Thanks for the reminder, Ramana. Now, it seems that I just received a huge responsibility from everyone here for the future of our world, so I'll meet up to your standards for me. Now, I'll send the info to Vula, and have her leak out some of the details about 'TOPIC'. Now, let's do this!" 

"""Yeah!"""

...

(Vula is 3rd Seat of the Guardians by the way)