Militia

After the last assassination attempt, Draco decided to be productive while he spent the day confined in the palace. 

Draco had his new uniforms brought to his room, and he personally delivered them to his forces. They were all quite happy to receive them, for this gave them a feeling of legitimacy. 

He then called Amber over to his room, and he and Snow decided to spend the day learning Arabic from her. 

Draco figured that if he was going to be staying in these lands for an extended period of time, he would need to understand the language. 

After all, he couldn't just rely on Amber to translate for him all the time. 

The Arabic language was highly complex, and there were many words with duplicate meanings. 

Amber started teaching them the essential things like introductions and basic questions. She taught them how to say their names, how to ask for certain things, and some useful phrases.

At Draco's request, Amber also taught him how to say phrases like, "Surrender, drop your weapon, and follow me." 

They spent half the day learning just these basics. However, this was just the tip of the iceberg, and Draco still didn't understand how to say more than a few sentences. 

It would be a long time until he could understand what someone was saying to him, let alone hold a conversation. 

It was a good start though, and Draco figured that it would still be a few weeks until he had a better grasp of the language. 

Draco and Snow endured the lesson until their brains could take no more. 

After their lessons, Snow got up to start cooking dinner. She treated Draco and Amber to a steak dinner complete with mashed potatoes and vegetables.

They sat on the dining room table and enjoyed their meal with a glass of wine. The two were still confused as to why they were even in the palace in the first place, but Draco just told them that he had a deal with the prince to serve in his army. 

This was technically not a lie, and the two let the topic go after he said that. 

After they ate dinner, Amber went back to her room and Draco and Snow returned to their own bedroom. 

Snow wasn't in the mood for any activities under the sheets, and Draco didn't blame her. After all, just earlier in the day she had witnessed a horrific terrorist attack. 

Draco simply cuddled Snow as they fell asleep, and they slept soundly the entire night. 

They were awoken in the morning by the sound of their guard knocking on the door. 

"My lord, his exalted eminence requests your presence in the throne room." he said. 

Draco sighed, dragging himself out of bed before getting changed. He made sure to bring his horn with him, and he tied his sword to his waist. 

Draco exited the room and followed the guard out of the residence. Once they entered the throne room, Draco saw that it was filled with Prince Rayad's most trusted forces. 

His advisors and personal guards surrounded him on his throne, and kneeling before him were at least fifty powered soldiers. 

Draco was impressed by the prince's forces, and he hoped to one day have a powered army of his own. 

The prince turned to address Draco as he entered the room. 

"I hope you have slept well my friend. Today is the big day." the prince said. 

Draco nodded, "I am ready whenever you are."

The prince smiled, "Excellent. Since you say you have a way to take out my brother, my forces will clear a way for you to get into the capital. Once you are there though, you will be on your own. My brother's forces outnumber my own by a significant margin, so I will be unable to help you if your mission is unsuccessful." 

Draco laughed when he heard that, "Don't worry about that. Just get me inside the city, and then sit back and enjoy the fireworks." 

The prince raised an eyebrow, "I'm interested to see what you have planned." 

Draco smiled sinisterly, "You'll find out soon. I need to go prepare my own troops, we should be ready to move out in an hour."

The prince nodded, "Very well. I have already had your weapons brought over, as well as some extra gifts. I also had your school bus brought over from the impound lot."

Draco bowed his head, "Much appreciated." he said, turning to leave the throne room. 

Draco walked back into the residence hallway and saw that his forces had already gathered into the wide corridor. 

They were surrounding a pile of crates that had been placed in the hallway, and they were propped open to reveal dozens of heavy rifles. 

Draco spotted the G36s he had previously purchased in one of the bottom crates, but the new weapons were undeniably better. 

There was a crate labeled FN EVOLYS, another labeled MG5, and a last one labeled RPK16. 

Draco saw that they were all huge machine guns, and although unwieldy, Draco figured they would give his troops a fighting chance against powered fighters before they got close. 

There was also another larger crate off to the side that was filled with military-grade body armor. 

Seeing all of this, a large smile appeared on Draco's face, "All right men! Go ahead and grab a weapon of your choosing, and then wear one of the vests under your uniform." 

Draco realized that most of his men couldn't understand him, for they looked at him with dumb looks on their faces. 

'This really won't do. I have to finish learning Arabic as soon as possible.' Draco thought with a sigh. 

Draco started motioning towards the crates, and then towards the body armor. It was like a game of charades, but eventually his men understood what he was trying to say. 

After everyone had equipped themselves, Draco decided to give a speech. 

He didn't know how to say much, but he did know a few important words. 

Draco cleared his throat, and addressed his men in Arabic. 

"WAR! WE. FIGHT! KILL!" Draco shouted. 

This, the men understood. 

They raised their weapons above their heads and screamed words in different African and Arabic languages, their spirits roused. 

Satisfied, Draco ordered some of his men to carry the crates. He wasn't going to leave such a wonderful gift behind. This many weapons probably cost well over a $100,000, he would likely not have to purchase firearms again for a long time.

He wouldn't be able to fit all of them into the armored bus and still have room for his men though, so he had them leave a single crate behind. 

After his men picked up the crates, he turned around to lead his forces out of the residential hallway. 

Draco currently had fourteen soldiers, fifteen if you considered the massive Hamza whose uniform didn't even fit him properly. 

He still had five scientists working for him as well, but he of course had them stay within the palace. 

Draco's fifteen soldiers followed behind him as he led them through the throne room. They marched in a disorganized manner, but their matching uniforms made them look less like a gang and more like an armed militia. 

Prince Rayad and his forces had already left the throne room, and the room's massive doors stood open to reveal the palace's courtyard. 

The courtyard held an impressive sight, for the prince's forces were currently filling into well over a hundred vehicles.

The bulk of the vehicles were large trucks designed for troop transportation, but there were also dozens of armored vehicles and tanks alongside them. 

Draco also spotted his armored bus in the corner of the courtyard, intact and in one piece. 

He had only spent around a day in the vehicle, but he had already grown fond of it. 

Prince Rayad was getting into a particularly large armored vehicle of his own, and his had huge machine guns mounted on both of its sides. 

Draco realized that the prince was getting ready to move out, and he quickly led his militia towards the armored bus. 

The first of his soldiers loaded the weapons into the vehicle, and they were followed by the rest of his men.

As everyone was climbing inside, one of Prince Rayad's soldiers came up behind Draco. 

The soldier handed him a small hand-held radio, and Draco could hear the prince's voice issuing orders in Arabic. 

Draco took this radio and thanked the man, before climbing into the bus after his soldiers.

He had Addo drive the bus, for the man had long since become Draco's go-to driver. 

Draco knew that the ride would be at least nine hours, so he would have Addo switch out positions with another soldier whenever he got tired. 

He also saw that Prince Rayad's forces were now heading out of the palace's compound, so he instructed Addo to drive at the back of the massive military force. 

However, just as Addo began to drive out, Draco spotted a white-haired figure running up to the front of the bus. 

Seeing Snow standing in front of the bus, Draco's eyes widened. 

She was wearing a desert-colored uniform with ammunition wrapped across her shoulders, and she was carrying a machine gun that was bigger than she was!

"Addo! Stop the bus!" he yelled out. 

Luckily, Addo was already stopping the vehicle. 

Draco ran out of the vehicle and went up to Snow, he was visibly angry. 

"Snow, what the hell is wrong with you?! What are you doing here?" he asked. 

Snow looked like she wanted to cry, "F*ck you, Draco! You were planning on leaving me here?!"

Draco sighed when he saw her face, and he placed a hand on her white hair. 

"You know that we are going to do something dangerous, right? You'll be safer if you stay here." he explained. 

Snow didn't relent though, "I don't give a flying f*ck about being safe!"

As if to prove her point, she pointed the giant machine gun at her head. 

Before Draco could stop her, she pulled the trigger!

The sound of a gunshot went off in the palace courtyard, drawing the attention of several soldiers who had yet to get into their vehicles. 

However, Snow was completely unharmed. 

The high caliber round had simply bounced off of her head and lodged itself into the concrete below. 

"See?! I'm literally bulletproof! Just take me with you, I promise I won't be a burden." she pleaded. 


Draco saw that some soldiers were coming over there to investigate, so he hurriedly pushed Snow towards the armored bus. 

"Alright, alright. You better not cause any trouble!" Draco said with exasperation, dragging Snow into the bus.