Chapter 11 - The Aftermath

*10 minutes before Rilles's massacre*

"The negotiation went accordingly. The government will lend some support from DAU and DGU to assist in the upcoming war."

The whole room cheered in excitement as the negotiation was a success. Except for one, who is worried about a missing person in the room.

"Guys, where is Rilles?"

Kyro directed the question to everyone in the room to signify his worry on Rilles. James, who is responsible while Raz is away, came up to give an explanation.

"Kyro, General. With all due respect, I sent Rilles to investigate a massacre going on at the research centre."

"You WHAT?!!"

Kyro sounds angry. Raz on the other hand doesn't seem surprised, instead he is concerned. James felt a gush of fear and regret surrounding his mind assuming he had made a grave mistake.

"Kyro, now is not the time to be pissed. James, once I return we are going to have a discussion. We are going to the research centre. Kyro, get the kid. James, put it on red alert."

Raz issued the order to make sure everyone is on standby. The red alert is to assure everyone is ready in case of Arcadia's raid, by putting the base on total lockdown. Raz, Kyro and Vulcan then make their way to the research centre.

*At the research centre*

The white room, all of a sudden turned red. Blood covered the floor. It is indeed from a horror movie scene. All left was Nathan's debris and Rilles's body which was stabbed and left a blue light. His head seems to be cracked. At this rate, he is in a critical condition. The one remaining alive at this point is no other than the tyrant himself, Arcadia, whose real name is Alex, an ex Base Zero agent. After creating such a huge mess, Arcadia left the scene while injecting the magic sword into his right metallic arm.

"Pathetic. You shouldn't have engaged. You wouldn't be dead if you had thought otherwise."

Arcadia then made his way out of the research centre. Raz and the team greeted Arcadia at the main entrance.

"Hey, Raz. It's been awhile. I have a great plan to rebuild Azalea City-"

"Shut it, Alex. You are not the Alex I know anymore."

Arcadia then drops his cheery character and answers Raz in a serious tone

"Of course, Raz. I am Arcadia. The successor of my father, who had a different goal than me. Unlike him, my goal is much more humane."

"You call this humane. More like torture. Where is Rilles?"

Arcadia then shows his hand which has blood on it to prove to Raz that Rilles is no longer on Earth.

"Impossible. What have you DONE??!!!!"

"Simple, Kyro. I stabbed him and kicked his head. You should see for yourself how his stupid move just landed him a fatal blow."

"You, psycho."

"Don't try me!!"

Vulcan then launches five swords midair towards Arcadia. Raz fires his gun directly at Arcadia. Kyro engages with both machetes on his hands. As the attacks nearly landed on Arcadia, he immediately swung his hand outwards to send a shockwave power to repel all the attacks. He then ejects his Elita sword and begins his next massacre.

"FACE ME. ALL OF YOU!!!"

Arcadia charges as fast as lightning towards Vulcan. Vulcan responded by projecting a sword and began his counterattack. Arcadia's Elita clashes sword with Vulcan and almost immediately, Vulcan's sword melted and broke. As Arcadia is about to stab Vulcan, he receives a premonition and vision of Raz shooting his Elita. Arcadia responded by cancelling his plan to stab Vulcan. As expected Raz shot is directed towards the sword. Since the sword is not there like the premonition, the bullets missed.

Arcadia then shifts his attention towards Raz and charges in a side blow sword pose, but the attack is blocked by Kyro with his machete. Kyro retaliates by pushing the sword away and projects five swords midair towards Arcadia. Again, Arcadia receives another premonition having a view where Vulcan attempts to strike him in the back and Kyro using the five swords as a distraction which Kyro will then stab him in the stomach. Arcadia does not respond with the shockwave. Instead, he uses the Elita and smashes the blade to the ground, creating a huge crack with blue lighting causing the earth to shatter for a brief moment. This restricted the movement of Vulcan and Kyro which resulted in their movement being cancelled. Arcadia then charges towards Vulcan and deals a blow and Vulcan goes defensive instead, but Arcadia dashes behind him and punches him on his back damaging his spine to restrict Vulcan's movement.

"I admire you, child. You are that young, but you are capable of fighting against me. Who taught you that?"

"None....of your fucking concern!!!!"

"I see how it is. You could have lived if you answered me."

Arcadia then holds his Elita in a stabbing motion and attempts to stab Vulcan in the spine. Raz then attempts to shoot rapidly towards Arcadia hoping to land a single bullet at least on his head. Kyro also went in with both of his machete and dashes towards Arcadia. Arcadia with a smug face charges his shockwave and sends a huge shock to repel everything coming in his way. He then kicks Vulcan further injuring him and engages in a duel with Raz. Raz can only depend on his protective glove to protect against the Elita.

"I gave you a chance, Raz. Work with me, but you led Swords Link against me???!!!!"

"You set this up yourself. You lend yourself to this state."

"If it wasn't for you siding with Base Zero, I wouldn't have gone out of my way to create this havoc. You people are poison to this city."

"I am doing my job, Alex."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT NAME!!!!"

Arcadia feeling rage and bloodlust fuels the sword and increases his power. Raz kept firing his gun to deflect the sword but it just won't repel. Instead the sword becomes as hard as diamond because of Arcadia's rage.

"You won't live to tell the tale, Raz!!!!"

As Raz aims his gun towards Arcadia's head, Arcadia receives another premonition. Kyro will strike from behind. Vulcan will launch a single sword accompanying Kyro. Raz will shoot on Arcadia's head. Arcadia at this point could read every single attack like a book and he countered every single attack. He proceeded with a plan in his head and allowed Raz's bullet to deflect Vulcan's sword. He then grabs Kyro while he is charging and slams Kyro onto Raz stunning them both. What Arcadia did not expect this time is a large bullet manage to land on his chest near his heart. The only time where he could not receive any premonitions.

"General, sorry I am late. This cannon is almost hard to assemble."

The sound came from a piece of walkie talkie which sounded similar. Turns out it was James who made the shot. Fired from two miles away at a vantage point.

Arcadia knowing such a state, he immediately makes his retreat known to them by stabbing Elita to the ground creating an explosion followed by blue lights and his sudden disappearance.

"James, contact Base Zero to prepare an ER. There is a casualty and an injured person."

"Raz...the keychain...he is....in..side"

Vulcan, while in his injured state, could only say this much. The keychain which Vulcan gave to Rilles is actually a tracker. To locate Rilles in case of emergency.

Raz made the call to James to contact Base Zero emergency unit. As Raz got up from his injury, he slowly walks towards the scene where Rilles is injured. What greeted Raz is indeed a gruesome sight. Rilles's injured body which is massacred by Arcadia. Raz heads over to the body with all of his courage and touch Rilles's pulse on the neck. Kyro followed Raz in and met with a gruesome sight.

"Rilles...Rilles. NO!!!"

He then approaches Rilles slowly and begin checking on his condition

"Rilles, medics are going to arrive soon. Please bear with us. PLEASE!!!"

Sympathising with the condition, Raz put his right hand on Kyro's left shoulder.

"He is gone, Kyro. There is nothing you can do."

"NO HE IS NOT. HE WILL COME BACK. SO STOP SAYING HE IS GONE."

Disbelief surrounds his mind. He couldn't accept the fact that Rilles is gone and will never return. Only a miracle could save Rilles. Kyro couldn't do much but to cry over Rilles's dead body.

Soon enough, the medical team arrived shortly and made the rescue. Bunch of dead bodies and victims have been transported to the hospital. Except for Rilles and Vulcan who are brought back to Base Zero hospital for further treatment. James, who is concerned about the situation, contacted Raz on his earpiece.

"General. I need an update on the situation. Is everything okay."

"Vulcan needs to be in the intensive care unit. Rilles..."

Raz bites his lips till it bleeds to suppress his crying.

"...Rilles is in need of a miracle. Slight heart beat could be detected. But not much time is left."

James couldn't say much. He is bound to lose his friend that he had not seen for a long time. His mind is filled with guilt and regret.

"General, I shouldn't have sent him to the mission."

"Why??? Why would you send him in? You could have sent in DGU and DAU, but you chose him. You trusted him. Now he is gone."

"I am sorry, General."

"NO!!! I am sorry, for leading you all into the mess, once again. I shall pay for the consequences."

Raz blames himself once again because of what had happened during Case Files 401. He regretted leading the Swords Link against his childhood friend, which is almost the same result as the current situation. Guilt is an understatement, but no words could express how Raz and James felt.

*At Base Zero hospital*

The situation is tense at the emergency room. The surgery is done simultaneously in one room by two teams each focusing on one victim.While waiting for the surgery to end, Kyro, Raz and James waited at the door, hoping for good news. The surgery light finally turned off after hours. A surgeon came out and presented his report.

"Doc, how are the two?"

The surgeon took off his mask, but he did not show any smile.

"Vulcan is okay, but he couldn't move much. But Rilles....."

The short pause only raises concern. When it comes to a short pause, there is no other things, but bad news.

"...Rilles will be in a coma. He suffered serious injuries to the head and had massive blood loss. He could only have 24 hours at max. I believe it is time to bid farewell."

Kyro in immediate disbelief couldn't accept the news and grabbed the surgeon by the collar. Raz and James decided to calm Kyro down by pulling him away.

"TAKE THAT WORD BACK. HE WON'T DIE THAT EASILY. HE WILL LIVE!!!!

"We have done what we could. Threatening me won't bring him back."

"KYRO, THAT'S ENOUGH!!!!"

Kyro backs off and immediately storms away from the scene in anger. Raz and James apologise to the surgeon for causing such a ruckus. They decided to leave Kyro for the time being.

"James. It's best if you get back to work. Don't worry about me. I will be fine. I need some time."

James, who is concerned, begins speaking in a rising tone.

"Raz, your best friend turned against you. Took everything from you. If I were you, I will be tracking that fucker down to oblivion. Hoping that he got what he deserves, and not backing off like a coward. I felt regret, but I won't let it consume me."

Raz then turns his whole body towards James

"Even if you know me, you won't understand. You never will. You will face difficulty trying to be on the same boat as I do. Arcadia is unstoppable, stopping him would mean death."

"Xavier would be disappointed with you for giving up that easily. He gave you a chance to defeat Arcadia which you successfully did. Are you going to let it slide just like that? I hope you could drill that in your head."

James then left Raz to consider his words. He did not hope he would change his mind, but he needs a leader and not a quitter. No matter how tough the situation is, Base Zero needs a leader.