22: A Legend

As Commander Kael spoke his last words of courage and defiance, a deafening explosion shook the battlefield. Commander Kael looked at the source of the explosion, and his eyes widened slightly when he saw the condensed energy beam coming at him at a frightening speed.

'Turns out the mech-suit could not handle the massive amount of energy it condensed. It blew up after it fired the energy beam.'

Despite his impending death, Commander Kael still had a calm expression, and surprisingly, his mind worked at an extremely fast speed. He was able to think of various things and also calmly assess his situation. Just as various thoughts appeared in his mind, like the pieces of a puzzle suddenly fitting together, something clicked in his mind.

'Wait.'

Commander Kael's eyes widened.

'Wait. Wait. Wait.'

An expression of disbelief and sudden realization struck Commander Kael like a lightning bolt.

'It can't be right? Tell me I'm wrong.'

As the condensed energy beam approached Commander Kael, Commander Kael felt like his heart was about to be torn to pieces. His soul felt a grief that was greater than the grief he felt for the death of his subordinates and best friend.

To his horror and disbelief, Commander Kael realized something he had ignored and should not have ignored.

There was a traitor amongst the Spartans!

Commander Kael realized various inconsistencies and troubling facts from the moment the battle began.

First, the number of enemies he faced was way too great. The number of warriors in his army was aproximately 5,000, while that of his enemy was approximately 15,000.

The size of his enemy's army was three times more than his, and if not because they were Spartans, they would have fallen a long time ago. It was said that a single Spartan warrior was worth at least a thousand average warriors.

And this was absolutely true.

The number of Technotopians they faced was much greater than what they had anticipated, and though, he found this strange in the beginning, he took it as a sign of an error in the information he was given, a misinformation.

Although this was an inconsistency, it was not enough for Commander Kael to think of a traitor being in their ranks. Misinformation regarding the enemy's forces was not abnormal.

No!

Facing a larger number of Techntopians was not what made Commander Kael conclude that there was a traitor amongst the Spartans.

It was the fact that Major Kade had successfully identified and killed every single upcoming star of the Spartans in his army.

At first, he did not think too much of it, but now, he realized that there was no way Major Kade would have known every upcoming star of the Spartans in his army unless he had insiders information.

This sudden realization brought him a great sense of grief and sorrow. What made his heart and soul hurt the more was the fact that he was about to die. He could not take this information to Sparta and help them prevent a potential disaster.

'Maybe I should have retreated a long time ago.'

BOOOOM!! 

As this unholy thought appeared in his mind, a deafening explosion ripped through the battlefield, the shockwave hurling debris in all directions and engulfing everything in a blinding flash of light. The gravitational force unleashed by Major Kade's mech-suit crushed the very air around Commander Kael, pressing down on him with an unimaginable weight that threatened to crush his bones and shatter his spirit.

In that moment of impending doom, Commander Kael's thoughts turned to his comrades, his brothers and sisters-in-arms who fought alongside him with unwavering loyalty and courage. Their faces flashed before his mind's eye, each one a testament to the indomitable spirit of Sparta, a spirit that would endure even in the face of annihilation.

With a steely resolve born of desperation and defiance, Commander Kael refused to yield to the crushing force that bore down upon him. Despite the agony that wracked his body and the grief that threatened to consume his soul, he stood tall and unyielding, a beacon of hope amidst the chaos and despair of war.

He could not show any sign of weakness so as to not demoralize his subordinates anymore. He needed them to fight to their last breath, he needed them to take from the Technotopians and Major Kade just as much as they had taken from them.

For Sparta, he would endure.

For Sparta, he would prevail.

As the gravitational force reached its peak, threatening to crush him into oblivion, Commander Kael closed his eyes and whispered a silent prayer to the gods of his ancestors. In that final moment of clarity, he found solace in the knowledge that he had fought with honor and valor, that he had given everything he had to defend his homeland and his people.

And then, in a blinding flash of light and a deafening roar, the world around him was consumed by darkness.

---

As the dust settled and the echoes of battle faded into silence, a hushed reverence fell over the battlefield. The air was heavy with the weight of loss and sacrifice, the ground littered with the fallen from both sides of the conflict.

Every Spartan and Technotopian alike watched as the remnants of an armor and a helmet fell to the ground like two falling stars. They were not stars, but who they belonged to was a star in the eyes of Spartans and even Technotopians alike.

Commander Kael, the indomitable spirit of Sparta, had fallen in defense of his homeland. The remnants of his body and armor were a testament to the price of freedom and the cost of war.

But even in death, his legacy endured.

For as long as there were Spartans to carry on the fight, Commander Kael would live on in their hearts and minds, as a symbol of resilience and defiance against tyranny. And though his voice may have been silenced and his sword may have been sheathed for the final time, the spirit of Sparta burned brighter than ever, a flame that would never be extinguished.

In the end, Commander Kael had given everything he had, and in doing so, he had become more than a warrior—he had become a legend.

A few seconds after Commander Kael's death, the sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows across the battlefield where technology and mysticism collided. The fate of both worlds hung in the balance, the outcome of the battle uncertain, and the stakes higher than ever before.