P5. Two Sides of a Coin

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Raphael watched the news solemnly. The ounce of bad news was heavier than he ever thought.

"Mikhail is missing."

Their victorious achievement for protecting conquering another countries on this Earth would be less worthy if they had to pay debt this huge.

"I didn't expect you could've foretold this one," Ares studied the map of Yemen. The green armadas of his army was slowly pushing the resistance away. "I expect nothing less from your capabilities, Your Eminence."

Generalfeldmarshall Azrael looked at the same map. "Oberst Mikhail done his job perfectly with Oberstleutnant Uriel. There was no reason for him to be there any longer, so I sent him away, just a few yards further to a camp right there, where The Princess of South East was registered as one of the volunteers."

"You could just give him order instead."

"That would put our exposure higher." Azrael refused simply. "Everything would be better if we just let the actor improvise."

"That means...." Raphael switched the map to the United of Middle-East as a whole, then moved the map to the east, whre the Federation of Equatorial located. "You've placed an eye."

"As I expected from you." Azrael showed him couple of videos: impact of climate change, desert significant growth, unknown pandemic, and their invasion. "Just few more steps."

The channel turned into a flash news, reported some death recorded in Congo, Glasgow, and Mumbai. The victims were looked like a roasted meat, with black-rotten skin, vomiting blood on the street.

"I heard they named this Medusa. Funny how they naming things from the myth that long gone before Old Age ended and using it now, more than sixty years after New Age began." Azrael closed the videos. "I'd eager to hear something good from Hadriah soon, General. I can't wait to send you a big bouquet!"

"Then...." Raphael opened a video of bizarre-looking laboratory filled with water tanks with humans in it. "This was what we found in Latkia. Twenty two Martian left in vegetative state. Eighty percent of them were soldiers that reported missing."

His Eminence didn't seem so pleased.

"Series of surgical performances were detected in their bodies. I've sent the detail to you." Raphael told him as Azrael quickly opened the mentioned files. "We've held procedures to duplicate their cells. Then, there is bigger problem."

Raphael showed Azrael another video: cellular activities of a living muscle tissues of Martian. His Eminence noticed swarm of black spot spread across the colony of nano- agents.

"It moved like our nano agents, but the truth it wasn't. On the contrary, these unknown cells were killing our nano-agents. Weakened us from the inside." Raphael explained. "We found it together with those victims. All in Union's laboratory."

***

Adults said that even in Old Age, war was part of Human's life. No matter how many victims and their obelisk stood as a warning, humanity tended to repeat their same mistakes all over again.

As if, that was how civilization restarted.

Reana groaned as her thought blown by the winds.

"It stinks...." She grunted as her eyes shifted.

Two yards from her was an area that used to be called The Green of Yemen. Now that land was no more. There is only a horrendous au bade of war, day and night.

Tonight was no exception.

"Those bunch of idiot! Can't they just called it a day?!" Behind her, Bryan snapped. "This was in the middle of the night! On the last day of summer—damn it! It's freezing cold! Would the first snow fall tonight?"

Reana couldn't blame him. He and everyone else had the most right to complain about this endless war, especially in this cold night.

"No, Bryan. It's still October, 30th, Year 60 in Neo Age," Reana said calmly, on the contrary to her thundering heartbeat. "And we're in the western part of Yemen. There shouldn't be snow until next month."

A flock of bats flew passed our head as they swarming against three Union jets. Above the clouds, we could see the dim lights of atmospheric beast shine.

"They're absurd!" Bryan was looking at the distances too. "I know they lived their lives on Mars, but ... did they ever feel exhausted? If this goes on, we will surely be...."

"Focus, Bryan."

"How can I focus when those beasts kept appearing out of nowhere? How if it turned out, we are its next victims?" Bryan accused the sky. "Not everyone could kept being so optimistic all the time like you, Reana."

"But you're in a neutral volunteering group right now. You have no choice but to keep the hopes high." Reana reminded him. "Besides, we're supposed to be neutral."

Bryan walked faster, to catch up with Reana. "Well, if there's an injured Maha, let's pretend never see anything and let them recover themselves! Just like they always did!"

Suddenly Reana stopped. Bryan threw her a look of question. He was about to ask when that woman pointed something below their feet. Bryan turned on his flashlight and aimed it at the ground where Reana pointed at.

"Speak of the devil."

There was a body on the ground.

And not just anybody, but someone wearing Alliance's battle suit. It was a Maha.

"Let's..." Bryan took Reana's hand. "Pretend not seeing anything here."

Ignoring her friend, Reana let go of his hand and kneeled. The soldier's helmet was fractured and from inside the helmet, Reana could see drops of blood. With gloved hands, she checked the pulse on his neck.

This soldier's still alive.

A living Maha.

The words Bryan told them suddenly echoing in her head. She was with him when a Maha attacked Bryan right after he recovered. They almost died.

"Bryan...." Reana looked at her friend. Terrified. Confused. "What ... should ... we do?"

Even after almost get killed, like a stubborn child, Reana couldn't stop herself of trying to help another Maha.

"Have your sanity returned now?" Bryan pulled her arm. "Then, let's quickly get out of this place! We could've pretended that we never see this!"

Her hands turned into fists. Shw was shivering from adrenaline strike. Two big options, one against her moralities, one against her rationality.

She must have learnt from the past.

With a burdened sigh, Reana shifted to the soldier for the last time, only to pay it some respect, but then she saw it.

That soldier's feet. Something cut him deep and it didn't healed at all. Reana blinked confusedly at the gory scene of ripped flesh in front of her eyes.

Ones couldn't hurt a Maha. Their injuries would heal in no time.

But this one, he was really injured. The blood was red an fresh.

"Bryan, wait!" Reana pointed the soldier's feet. "He..." She wasn't so sure anymore. "This one's injured! Look!" Hesitantly, she touched the torn clothes.

Please don't move. Please don't move, she pleaded, afraid she couldn't take it if this young man suddenly got up.

Luckily, her wish was granted. That young man still unconscious. With less fear, Reana showed him the injured part, along with the sliced clothes.

"This injury didn't healed." Then she looked at the badges. "But yes he is wearing Alliance's black suit."

"So? The last Maha we helped fainted!" Bryan almost lost his temper, but when he saw Reana slowly reached out to the helmet, he couldn't help but shouted: "Reana!"

Bryan pulled Reana up. "Let's go, before someone noticed us here."

"But how...." Reana spoke about her thought. "How if he was a Human in disguise? Like a ... spy, perhaps? Then we should help him!"

"No, no!" Bryan stayed persistent. "You can't help people based on your sentimental judgment. Not again, Reana, I told you!"

Suddenly, somebody's grunted, silenced them at the same time.

Both Reana and Bryan looked at each other. It wasn't coming from one of them. Their heads shifted towards the unconscious soldier on the ground.

Captured by those moments, Bryan missed the chance to stop Reana as the woman touched the helmet of the soldier. Slowly, she pulled it up, carefully not to put extra injuries to the face.

"Reana, what are you..." Bryan was unable to finish his words as the face of the mysterious soldier revealed before him.

It was a man, with brunette hair and white-pale skin. His skin alone as a solid prove that he wasn't coming from around here. Judging from appearances, this soldier was no older than a young man in his twenties, but Maha couldn't be judged by appearances alone.

Then, they could only watched helplessly as the soldier slowly opened his eyes.

***

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