Kareivis: Warrior

CHAPTER 4: WHAT IS YOUR MISSION?

The moment she woke up she saw the amethyst eyes of her brother Skydas and the innocent smile of her sister Vesma. The healing pod opened for her then it released an icy fog, after which Muhali climbed out.

“Why am I here? I was training with you Sky. What happened?” Muhali asked in an agitated state. Sky looked at her and worried about the black outs she had been having. She had had them since she was a child, they started out as dreams but now they seemed to be getting stronger and more frequent. Because he knew her, he could not lie to her.

“Mano perlas, you had another blackout. I asked Zionas to prepare an analysis of our training session. I knew that you would want to look at it.” Muhali was a technician at heart, she would never allow anyone to ruin her battle formations not even herself. She knew that a single mistake would make a difference between the life or death of her soldiers. She did not believe in losing any of her men on the battle field because she valued each and every one of their lives.

She didn’t even have to say anything and a hologram of a man appeared before her and put up three monitors. Each one showing the training session as it transpired, analysing the movements and showing points of improvement, and listing weak points in the attack and defence formations.

“Are there any distinct changes or variations that you implemented during this session?” She asked Zionas.

“Not me your highness. The Chancellor brought in your sister and Master Varens. She allowed them to observe your training from the command tower. I have indicated on the analysis the exact moment they entered and the time frame in which they observed you before you blacked out.“

Muhali realised that in the moments after Vesma and Varens entered the command tower she began to lose concentration. She broke formation and moved away from Sky. She became erratic and aggressive; she dropped her defensive guard. She then got hit by a strong dark energy blast which sent her flying into a stack of rocks and she passed out. She designed her simulator to duplicate real combat conditions, and so for all intents and purposes when she got hit; it was as if she got hit in a real live battle. There was extreme silence in the room as Sky and Vesma worried about Muhali’s state of mind. The situation at Thyatira was somewhat volatile as most of the students did not accept her. And this current situation would make things worse as they knew Varens would tell his brother who would then share the information with Lietus, and she enjoyed watching Muhali suffer. Before they could even confront the drawbacks of the day’s situations, the chancellor entered the room. She saw that Muhali was up and about and her face relaxed a little.

“Your highness Zionas informed me you were awake and well. We have made the necessary preparations for tomorrow. Can we proceed as planned?” Muhali simply nodded in agreement. All the students were under the impression that Muhali was at Thyatira to escort her sister and some of the students to the royal coronation on Inthia. In actuality she was on a special mission from the throne. As soon as the chancellor spoke to Muhali she quickly made her way to her designated room to further analyse the events of the day. The following day Zionas informed Muhali that the students had been summoned and Skydas was at her door to escort her to the Hall of Tryst. It would be the second time in three days the students had been summoned with great urgency. Muhali did not waste any time she immediately made her way to the chancellor’s podium.

“I know you must be wondering why you have been summoned. You may have noticed that the ceremony of Maanda was held in a slightly unusual manner this cycle. My apologies there were some variables I had to account for before awarding the victors. In first place is the flower of Inthia my lady Lietus who has excelled in the category of strength, speed and agility. The royal household would like to extend to you our most heartfelt congratulations. You will be the one who will carry the royal crown and place it on the Royal Heir during the coronation. Please accept these gifts in honour of your victory in the ceremony of Maanda.” A dozen guards in a perfect straight line marched before her, each with a gift to present to Lady Lietus. They held in their hands clothes of the finest quality with dresses fit for a queen. They also had jewellery and precious gems from Rammese. All the students clapped in a thunderous uproar.

“…begging your pardon please but I am not done. The House of Kareivis as well as the council of Inthia have decided to connect all sentients to an AI that I created. His name is Zionas...” Sentient beings were artificial life forms that were created by Inthian noble families to serve nobles. They came in the form of teachers, nannies, butlers, drivers, etc. They mostly were the first point of contact for any information pertaining to Inthia, like an archive of sorts. This means that because the right to own or possess a sentient was exclusive to nobles and high ranking officials, the flow of information was monopolised by a selected few. “ It has also been decided that some of you will be moved to a new training facility that will be led by myself and Prince Skydas. If you are chosen, you are permitted to decline the invitation. But such an act will have a direct impact on any imperial aspirations if you have any. can only be accessed by invitation only and after observing you yesterday in the ceremony of Maanda I have chosen those who will receive invitations. The students who have been invited have been pasted on the bulletin board. Thus far we have only selected fifteen students. I would also like to commend Master Rytas of the house of Rokas as well as young Sir of the clan of Zhinda. surprise of the day Yona of the clan of Zhinda who excelled in the categories of knowledge and strength and fourth place victor in the ceremony of Maanda. You may not have been victorious today, but we saw your heart. We saw your compassion and your potential to lead. These are the invitations for now. After the coronation the Chancellor will give out the rest of the invites.” Zionas appeared in front of all whose names were on display and presented to them the data cubes with their training packets. The students that had been invited five royal nobles, Vesma, Varens, Kilnus, Rokas, and Deya. There were two officials Yona and Asara. There were two ministers Ziema and Balem. There were also three magisters Maiga, Savara, and Munna. There were also three commoners Summa, Vasara, and Audra. As Muhali was about to continue with her announcement she was interrupted by Lietus.

“Excuse me, I do not dispute that you have been sent by the throne. But I have a concern, how can I put my training in your hands when you cannot even handle a small hit? It is no secret that you were in Sibadel from a failed combat simulation attempt. And your so-called Zionas, who from what I hear is a childhood play thing of yours, how are any of us sure that he can train or protect us? How are we sure that he is not a failure like his creator?” When Sky heard these words, he started to make his way to the chancellor’s podium so that he could support his sister. As he reached the podium he took her hand and he squeezed it just as he was about to answer Lietus’ questions. But Muhali subtly waved her hand to him to show him that she could handle the situation.

“My lady Lietus, it is good that you have asked this. For you have spoken like the true pureblood that you are. We all know the calibre fighter that you are. As you may have noticed you did not receive an invitation to the new training facility. As such you have no cause for concern about your future training. And furthermore, I must say that being a warrior and protector of Inthia as well as her colonies is more than just attaining endless victories. Failure my lady is a part of life and I suggest you acquaint yourself with it. Furthermore, being a warrior is more than just mercilessly beating things up like a mindless ape. You must study more than just throwing your fists or firing your weapon. War my lady, is a battle of wits as well as brawn. You must know your enemy, how he reasons, how he reacts and his pressure points. You must know the politics of the planets in which you are doing battle, the atmosphere, the terrain as well as the strategic points. You must adapt to whatever surroundings you may find yourself in. You must know how to fix your equipment should it get damaged; you must know the raw material that makes up your equipment and you must know which weapon to use in what battle. You must have listening skills, to listen to your superiors as well as your subordinates. You must have negotiation skills so as to form strategic alliances and maintain them. These are just the basics that Zionas will be teaching along with me and some other instructors.” Upon hearing the words that were spoken by Muhali the students applauded in wonderment of the courage she had in speaking up to Lietus. They were impressed with the sheer knowledge she seemed to possess. For the first time they considered that maybe she was not just a servant from the colonies. They started to consider that maybe she was indeed a royal princess. While the students had found a new respect for Muhali, Lietus had found a new seething hatred for her and she had already begun plotting her revenge. Besides Muhali’s response to Lietus the students had also noticed the masked stranger that was beside Muhali and Vesma. There was talk from the students that he was a special kind of soldier who had been trained by the King and Queen. He was also rumoured to have defeated an entire fleet of Channidae with just ten soldiers by his side. All this was true and furthermore that incident had taken place with Muhali as one of the ten soldiers. After all the students had cleared the Hall of Tryst only Muhali, Sky, Vesma, Varens and two guards remained.