Shadows in Service of Light: Chapter 3 – Trading One Backstabber for Another

Chapter 3 – Trading One Backstabber for Another

Ever since we teamed up with the Adler army, we’ve been steamrolling the Slav Federation’s forces. With the Chimaera States’ supply of advanced weaponry from the West and Adler’s advanced mechanized tanks and helicopters and battle-hardened soldiers, the hastily retreating Slavs don’t stand much of a chance, especially now that our reinforcements from back home have arrived. We’re currently blitzing through Zubr, taking town after town and city after city on our way to the proper homeland of the Slavs. In the command center, Garnet is going over our plans with Eren and discussing our next course of action.

“If we send in a squad here to this base where they control their automated artillery and anti-air guns and hack into their systems, we can make quick work of the rest of their forces and take the city,” Garnet says.

“Their forces are still tired from the previous fight they were in, and the city is still recovering from the battle that the Slavs recently fought to take it. Why bother sneaking around when we can send in a bombardment and then finish off the rest?” Eren argues.

“I’m not saying it won’t work, but I am saying it’ll save our tanks, aircraft, and men from unneeded casualties. We need as many resources as possible if we want to take Slavengrad and permanently take it over.”

Eren talks over the plan with his advisors in his language and then looks at Garnet.

He sighs and says, “You should count yourself blessed that my advisors agree with you. They think we’ll get to Slavengrad in our supreme leader’s time frame if we do as you say.”

“Good. I’ll be going in there with my two fellow agents to take care of this, and radio over to you when the base is captured.”

“I think I’d like to go with you.”

“Why’s that?”

“Consider it a trust-building exercise. I know we’ve been fighting on the same battlefield together, but I’d like to do something more personal. I’d also like your gas mask friend to stay behind and only join us when the battle properly begins.”

Looking over to Bezalel, he says, “I’ll leave that up to you, Garnet. Draco and you are more subtle than I am.”

“If it’ll make you trust us more, then I don’t see why not,” Garnet says to Eren.

“Wonderful! Let’s get our gear and head out. We’re losing valuable time as is.”

From the armory, Garnet, Eren, and I pick out our gear. We wear light body armor and black bodysuits that cover our entire bodies, and the weapons we pick are specialty silenced pistols and tools that Vorfahren has been using to break into hard-to-get-into buildings during their takeover of Adler and expunging their political and spiritual enemies from the country. I must say that the tools are slightly more advanced than my own from the SIB and impressive in how useful they are, despite their small size. With our gear, the three of us head to the city’s borders and enter a series of tunnels Garnet found through her research.

Eren asks, “How exactly did you find these?”

“I researched the country’s and city’s history of conflict. This part of Eastern Proavus has been under constant conflict since the Middle Ages, so tunnels under towns and cities exist everywhere. As for the exact map, well, that’s an SIB secret,” Garnet says as we make our way through the dark tunnels.

These tunnels are old, yet they have seemingly new beams of steel and stone so they don’t collapse. There are also cultural, religious, and personal markings left all over them by those who used them.

“Your SIB is similar to our own secretive agency in Adler. Perhaps I can arrange for your agencies to exchange trade secrets.”

“Why? So you can root out more Israelis from your country?” I ask.

“It’s more than that,” Eren says. “We’re expunging all sorts of enemies from different ideologies that have ruined our country. Israelis are just one of the more guilty ideologies.”

“We’ll think about the offer,” Garnet says.

“We’ll see what the president says,” I correct.

“Consideration of my offer is all I ask.”

Now further in the tunnel, Garnet brings us to an unlit torch. Pulling it down, the torch acts like a lever, and a part of the stone wall moves aside, revealing a steel door with a padlock, eye scanner, and card scanner, all of which look like they need to be used to access what’s behind it.

“Such complicated nonsense to protect something so simple. Here, let me open it,” Eren says.

Garnet moves aside and takes out his multitool that Adler has invented. He activates its knife function that he stabs into the card scanner, taps some buttons on the multitool, and the door opens. Eren opens the door for us with a bow, and we go through. We’re now in the basement of the base we wanted to be in, but for the first couple of floors, it doesn’t look like one. Instead, the bottom floor is a refrigerated food storage room, and the second is filled with the injured and civilian families.

Figuring out what to do in the corner of the food storage room, I say, “We’re not killing them.”

“Of course not. We’ll deal with them later. For now, we’ll lock the door on our way out so they don’t bother us during the battle,” Eren says.

Not bothering to ask what Eren means by dealing with them later, Garnet and I agree, then sneak through the dimly lit rooms with failing electricity, lock the door behind us with Eren's multitool, and burn it shut. The noise draws soldiers guarding the base, who come to investigate what we did, only to be ambushed by us from the dark corners of the room. We move through the rest of the building, using our guns and knives to dispatch the soldiers a few at a time, and use Eren’s multitool to reach the emergency stairs to hasten our ascent to the base’s command center. Once at the top, we eliminate the Slav guards and commanders in the command center, and Garnet gets to work orienting the anti-air and artillery systems to targets that suit us. As she’s doing it, Eren tells his forces, and I tell mine, to start the assault on the city.

The base’s defensive systems start blowing apart the fortified locations in the city, the helicopters, and the positions where tanks are set up. Because of what’s happening, the base’s soldiers have finally caught on that we’re here, and they start coming at us. We add components to our pistol to make it a submachine gun and start going back the way we came to get around them. Continuing through the building, we move as fast as possible so we can head out the door and meet with our forces. We’re able to easily take the city, thanks to Garnet’s plans, and drive the Slavs out. Now, going back to Eren’s concern about dealing with the sick and civilians, the Adler soldiers bring them out and yell at them in their language, ordering some to go one way and others to go inside a series of trucks.

Asking him about this, Garnet says, “What are you doing? Are you directing your people, directing them to your camps and forced labor in the city?”

“So what if we are? These people aren’t going to willingly let us take their land, even if we’re taking it from their conquerors,” Eren says.

“You know you would’ve gotten more support from us if you didn’t force people into death camps, reeducation camps, and forced labor like the Slavs do.”

“That’s one area where we agree with the methods of our enemy. Countries outside of Adler and Eastern Proavus criticize us for persecuting the Israelis, but the Slav Federation has done the same in their territory for much the same reason. What differentiates us is that we’ve made our people proud of their heritage and bloodline, and we didn’t remove the corrupt from power only to be corrupt in power ourselves. Instead, we use power to oppress those who deserve it.”

Before I can say anything, sounds of gunfire and explosions erupt. Across our radio, we hear Adler soldiers talking about a resistance force of civilians rebelling against the Adler soldiers and shooting at them as they retreat from the city.

“See what I mean? Do you want us to let them go, or is it a war crime to kill those who shoot at you?” Eren asks.

“Do you think they’ll continue to be a threat to us if you let them go? Is this civilian population of oppressed people deserving of more oppression from new masters?” I ask.

“First, do you think they’ll just hide in the shadows and keep to themselves while they have the means and reasons for fighting back at us? Second, allowing violent rebellion is no way for this country to know peace and coexistence with us. That is why all pockets of rebellion, no matter how small, new, or seemingly insignificant, must be snuffed out for the sake of both peoples. Failure to help us eliminate them will nullify our alliance. Do you understand?”

Looking at Eren dead in the eyes, I say, “I understand.”

“Good. We’ll handle them personally, so that I know that you do.”

Driving out on armored-plated Adler motorcycles, Garnet, Eren, and I join a small group of other Adler soldiers driving the same motorcycles after the fleeing civilians. We catch up to them and use the motorcycle’s mounted machine guns to make the fleeing vehicles crash. Getting off our motorcycles, we investigate the crash to find dead and injured civilians. The Adler soldiers point their guns at them, and Eren tells them to kill them when Garnet and I fire.

“Draco,” Garnet says as she looks at me.

Looking at the civilians who are begging for their lives, I close my eyes for a second, pray to God for an answer, and open my eyes just in time to see a civilian reach for a gun, so I fire at the civilians, followed by Garnet and the rest of the Adler soldiers.

“So, you foreigners do care for your lives. See? These people are willing to make the hard decision for the sake of peace,” Eren says before commanding his troops to go back to the city.

Garnet looks at me judgmentally, and I don’t have the strength to meet her eyes. In fact, my eyes are downcast and stuck with the image of the civilians, unable to be rubbed, blinked, or prayed away. Back in the city, the Adler soldiers have their customary small celebration with beer and sausages served to everyone. Garnet and Bezalel sit with me at our table, and Garnet still stares daggers at me.

“You still didn’t explain to me what happened,” Bezalel says.

“We shot Zubr civilians, after they fled capture from the Adler soldiers,” Garnet bluntly says.

“I saw one of them reaching for a gun,” I say as if to justify it.

“No, you didn’t. You imagined it,” Garnet says.

“I swear I saw it!”

Eren comes over with his beer and plate of Adler sausages, and sits with us. He says, “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. You should be celebrating our victory and leaving the past in the past.”

“You people may have made yourselves numb to civilian execution and excused yourselves by saying it was for peace or they were resisting arrest, but we don’t do that, or at least, I don’t,” Garnet says.

“If they actually were reaching for a gun or not doesn’t matter. I feel for you and understand how you do. I really do.”

“Really?” Garnet says with a bit of sass.

“Yes, I do. It’s why I didn’t execute the young Middle Easterners you knocked out and shipped off to your country. When the Vorfahren movement was first starting in Adler, we let civilians leave our country or wherever they wanted to go, but then they started attacking our soldiers, our people, and corrupted others to do the same. It’s like with the Middle Easterners who thought they had the upper hand over you when they told us about your deal with them, which we already knew. They were just a band of men, civilians who had loosened themselves from the bonds of order, and caused chaos across the country for the sake of themselves and false faith. Bezalel, I know you must feel the same way I do and knew that they were going to betray you.”

“I did,” Bezalel admits. “We later found their plans written on paper about flying planes into important buildings in our country and did have a hand in the human trafficking ring we recently fought against. I have no problem shooting anyone of any status or background if they deserve it. Let’s just leave it at that.”

“See? Your friend agrees with me. Draco, you’ve also stopped having those nightmares about those children, didn’t you?”

“You’re right. I’ve stopped having those nightmares,” I admit.

“In our culture, it’s a sign that you did what God wanted you to.”

“I’ve had enough of this. You men are ridiculous,” Garnet says as she slams her hands on the table, gets up, and walks away.

I can’t blame her for walking away. I’ll talk to her later when she’s cooled down, and I feel a little dirty for continuing to sit down and make conversation with Eren. It’s like talking to the Devil who relates to my suffering, knows what I want to hear, and is trying to justify my actions and thoughts and pushes me to continue in them. God, I hope and pray we’re doing the right thing.