Arkaneh

Orrlian Fens, the member who's SmartWrist was discovered to be bugged with a listening device, sat alone in a little room, under a lone fluorescent light, with a terrified expression on his face.

Arkaneh and Fenia were looking at him through a glass window that separated them. They were waiting outside that room for Talimay to show up and make the interrogation. Fenia seemed carefree, yet Arkaneh noticed that she was piously staring at the supposed victim of the rat's schemes.

"What is it, Fenia?" Arkaneh asked her, his voice so indifferent that it was as if he didn’t really care for her answer.

"Oh, nothing. I just feel somewhat sorry for this guy. I mean, we're interrogating him like some enemy captive. He's a member of this organization and supposedly, he's done nothing wrong."

"Then nothing bad will happen to him," he tried reassuring her.

Fenia guffawed. "Can you honestly promise that?" she asked him.

"No," he bluntly told her the truth. Her expression suddenly didn’t change. She seemed almost as indifferent as Arkaneh. "Be careful saying things like that. Someone might mistake you for someone with a sense of mercy and empathy, and those kinds of people have no business with a criminal organization."

"Don’t get me wrong. I wish that rat a horrible death, but you can't ignore the fact that Orrlian is probably just a victim here and doesn’t deserve this."

"Doesn’t deserve…" he reiterated her words, which seemed foolish in his mind. "Be careful when you say such things. Once you start considering who deserves what, you'll have entire populations worth of people burning in flames." I used to think like that. During all those days I spent in the hospital after that fateful night, I used to ask myself 'why did I deserve this?' But nowadays I know how ignorant of a question that is. The world never once asked that of itself about anyone. Mercy… I don’t think I've felt anything like that in the past two years.

Talimay entered the room at long last. Her red hair was wrapped behind in a ponytail and a gun was tugged in a leather holster at her waist. Her slender body swayed aside with each step that she took.

"He's ready for you," Fenia said to her. The red-haired lieutenant seemed to be boiling with rage from the mere sight of Orrlian. Her eyes scrunched as she stared at him. Unlike Fenia, Talimay's way of thinking turned her into the opposite of compassionate. It was these kinds of things that made her character much more intriguing for Arkaneh's. "You should leave this room, Fenia," she said in a firm tone, her eyes piercing through her like a sharp blade. Fenia seemed pale all of a sudden. She was no match for Talimay's daunting attitude. A woman of ice and blood, Arkaneh nicknamed her in his mind. Fenia showed no resistance, nor any kind of response. She simply bowed her head and left the room in haste.

Once she was left alone with Arkaneh, Talimay inched closer to the glass window. "Fenia reminds me of Griffiths," said Arkaneh. "She said he was just a victim."

"Yes, I know what you mean," said Talimay "I can see where they're coming from, but both of them need to learn how to look at the bigger picture. That rat is the cause of much more pain and suffering than I can ever inflict on this poor guy." She made a long sigh, rubbing the nape of her neck thoroughly. "Then again, she's a good girl. She's been a big help to us at the Oakneil outpost."

"I know. I've heard all about it. I guess you just can't expect someone who takes no part in our fighting to always understand the need for violence."

She turned to him and looked at him with the same piercing gaze she gave Fenia before. "Don’t get me wrong. No one should understand the need for violence. That's what brought us here in the first place. All of us." Her face looked stern. She's actually aware of how horrible the things they do in this line of work are. This is the first time I've encountered such acknowledgment. It seems like everyone else in this organization sees this as a way of life, taking pride in it and showing no signs of shame or regret, but this woman… she's much smarter than them… she knows how to tell right from wrong, she knows that there's no pride in this… and yet she does it anyway. You truly are a fascinating person, Talimay Singh.

"We should get this over with," said Arkaneh.

"Right," she nodded.

The two entered the next room, where Orrlian sat, and stood before him, towering above him like hawks hovering over prey. By now, he had sat there for more than an hour, while Talimay and Griffiths went to report to Reus all about the listening device they found. Sitting like that, alone and scared, for so long, with no clue of how he ever got there… even Arkaneh knew that Orrlian's mind couldn’t have been in its best shape. Orrlian's face was drenched in fear and confusion while Talimay's showed only a sense of viciousness.

"Do you know why you're here?" she asked him.

"N-No…" he whispered under his breath.

"You're here because we found a bugging device in your SmartWrist. Care to explain it?"

"W-What?" Orrlian's eyes widened and his lips shivered. His gaze kept swiveling sideways back and forth. "That can't be."

"I say we skip the part where you're confused and dumbfounded and get to the part where you start to remember who could have done it. Did you give your SmartWrist to someone at some point?" the Golden Marauder had little patience. Her stance was solid and stable. Her legs didn’t move an inch. She stood there like a military general, with a straight back and a formidable voice.

"I-I don’t think—" with a quick lash, she struck his face with the back of her hand. While he writhed in pain, she showed no hint of pain on her arm.

"Don't think. Know. Who did you give your SmartWrist to?" she readied her arm for another strike, looking almost as if she was itching for it.

"P-Please…" he turned to look at Arkaneh, who stood by so far. "You have to believe me, I don’t remember. Please, make her understand—" Arkaneh clutched Orrlian's jaw with his hand, denying him the ability to speak.

"Don’t beg to me like I'm on your side." Arkaneh's voice was low and heavy, one that must have instilled fear in Orrlian just as much as Talimay did. "There's no bad cop and good cop here. There's only you and us." his clutch tightened around his jaw. "So you better start thinking before you'll be asking yourself who are you more afraid of out of the two of us." His hand let go as he stepped back.

"I…" Orrlian had trouble to find words. Tears were starting to form in his eyes. "I may have given it to several people in the organization to take a look on some occasions."

"Who?" Arkaneh's voice was as heavy as a boulder.

"I need a minute to remember."

"You have less." Once again, Talimay's impatience revealed itself.

For a few moments, the utter silence was all that was in the room. The stench of sweat that came from Orrlian suddenly became evident to Arkaneh, as he was sweating profusely by now. If Fenia was left to watch this, I don’t know how she would have reacted… a part of me wishes that I could see it.

"Your minute has passed," Talimay pointed out.

"I think… I think I remember giving to Genford, Jim, and Tyrell."

"Anyone else?" Arkaneh asked.

"No… W-Wait! I also gave it to Braden. I-I think that's all of them."

Without so much as saying another word, Talimay simply left the room, with Arkaneh on her tail, leaving Orrlian alone in the room once again. As she closed the door behind her, she began thinking to herself, stroking her chin and staring away. "We're going to have to check those four guys," she said.

"Right." Arkaneh agreed. "This is good. We're almost there, Talimay."

"Yeah…" her face remained distant. "I'm going to inform Reus." She hurried to leave the room. Arkaneh knew that something was going through her mind. Talimay looked far too troubled for someone who was so close to revealing the rat she so sought to catch. He left the room after her and saw her talking over her SmartWrist a few feet away from him. The troubled expression still hadn’t left her face. Arkaneh left her alone for several minutes, hoping that by the time she's done talking to Reus, she'll be calm enough to talk to him.

Fenia joined him a moment later. "Well, what did you get out of him?" she asked.

"Four members had access to his SmartWrist at some point. We'll have to check all of them. One of them is probably going to be our rat."

"I see."

"Fenia," Arkaneh said. "you're in charge of our Nucleus sites, right?"

"Right."

"I was wondering… how is Men of Midas doing?"

Fenia chuckled. "What peeked your fucking interest?" she sent a teasing stare his way. "Well, since you're so fucking curious, we're actually not doing that well, to be honest. Drug deals in the Rockbury and Fallhalt districts have gone down in numbers. The rest of the districts keep a relatively regular amount of income."

It's absurd to think that an organization run by a man as wealthy as Mallistrom can fall into such a tough situation. Drug trafficking in this organization's primary source of income. Reus never wanted to spread any further in his illegal business. I'd guess that that probably has something to do with his infamous tendency to paranoia. "Thank you, Fenia," he said. He then started walking towards Talimay, who by now had finished her phone call.

"You look troubled," he said to her.

Talimay remained silent for a few more moments, keeping her thoughts to herself, making Arkaneh wonder what could be running inside her mind. "Those men he mentioned…" she finally opened up. "They've been in this organization almost as long as I am. I can't believe one of them could betray us like that."

"Don’t be naïve, Talimay." Arkaneh shrugged. "Loyalty is just another part of business nowadays. It's all about who's offering you the most. Whoever did it, If the Justicars offered him a lot of money, it only makes sense that he would do it."

"There was a time when loyalty couldn’t be bought, wasn’t there?" she asked the question as if she was hoping for an answer that would fill her with a glimmer of hope, but Arkaneh knew that the truth wasn’t such an answer. Therefore, he remained evasive.

"I wouldn’t know," he said. "By the time I grew up in this country it seemed like if such a time ever existed, it may have been long before any of us was made."

"And what about you, Arkaneh Frye?" she turned to him, her eyes suddenly appearing devious. "Would you betray us if someone would've offered you more money?" She cornered me. I keep forgetting that she's smart. But why would she ask me that? Does she not trust me? Does she suspect me? I may have to keep my eye on her even more now.

"In my case, my sense of loyalty is equal to my sense of greed, so I think I would've killed whoever would've tried to bribe me and take the money anyway. This is Men of Midas after all, isn’t it?" a wry smile appeared on his face. "A golden key can open any door."

Talimay smiled back. "You're a smart man, Arkaneh," she said. "This organization needs people like you now more than ever."

"Now more than ever?" he wondered what she meant.

"Yes. These are dire times. Our Vex suppliers over at Cuba ran into some trouble, so we didn’t get any supply shipment over at Herkin Port for two weeks now, which is making us lose money." Everyone in Alataria knows and fears Men of Midas for their ever-growing strength and wealth. No one ever dares to think that they might be in a financial crisis. "Plus, we just lost one of our biggest drug dealers in the organization, Odis Maben."

"What do you mean, lost?"

"He was murdered by that ex-soldier and that teenage whore." The mention of them lit up Arkaneh's memory. I remember those two. Griffiths once showed me their pictures, saying that everyone in the organization is well aware of them and is looking for them. "I don’t know what their deal is, but they've already killed three other members, and I'm just dying to get my hands on them."

"So, what are we doing in the meanwhile?"

"Well, to make up for our losses on the drug front, we've sold a decent amount of the guns we bought from Code Sanguinary to mob gangs abroad, as well as a small quantity to Harley Nation stateside."

"Are you sure that's such a good idea? They're at war with Lady Dread, and we have some business with Sunyula Trife. She sells us the girls that make places like the Godly Succubi profitable."

"True, without her human supply the Godly Succubi wouldn’t have anything to offer our clients, but like I said, these are dire times. Their war is precisely why Harley Nation is looking into buying firepower, and they make for a nice buyer. Reus has already given us the okay to go about this way. If Sunyula ever finds out about this, we'll just have to make her understand. This isn’t about picking sides. This is about plain survival."

An odd observation came to Arkaneh "I'm surprised you're willing to share this information with a tenderfoot."

Talimay made a long sigh. Her eyes drifted away as if she entered memory lane and her mind was far away now. She took a quiet, slow step aside. All of a sudden, the rough Golden Marauder seemed much more fragile and much more human. "I joined Men of Midas 5 years ago when I was 18 years old. I had just finished high school and had no idea where I was heading. My boyfriend at the time was already a member, and before I knew it, I was too. I adored him. I believed his way was the only right one. Shortly after, the Justicars made their debut in Alataria by having multiple attacks on all mob gangs. Code Sanguinary, Lady Dread, the Ferals… everyone suffered at least one or two attacks by them. It felt so… arrogant of them, to make enemies on so many fronts as if they thought they could take on every single mob gang in the country by themselves." She remained silent a moment before her next sentence. Her eyes now seemed to be further away. "My boyfriend died in those first attacks, and I was left alone in a world of violence and mayhem that I entered without giving it too much thought. My first instinct was to quit, but… as time went by I began to accept that strange world. I became a natural part of it, and it became a natural part of me. By the time Reus noticed my efforts, I was still considered a tenderfoot, but he looked at me and told me that he knew I was trustworthy. That he knew I could bring something good to the organization. He said the same thing about you. He doesn’t care if you're a tenderfoot or not. He can see the potential in people beyond that. So I'm not just sharing this information with a tenderfoot, but with a trustworthy one."

Trustworthy… the word flung around his head like a ball, bouncing off all the walls. The man who shot two other members, Ferro and Graysen, just to gain the lieutenant's attention. The man who pulled off a dangerous plan to gain a small list of suspects for being the rat, without any care for who or how many might die in the process. That was the man that she called 'trustworthy.' Such irony… such ignorance…

"In any case," she continued. "This rat is now within grasp reach." She couldn’t help but let her lips quiver as she said that. Arkaneh knew how badly Talimay wanted to get her hands on the traitor, and as much as he would’ve loved to be rid of him as well, he knew that she was burning with it far more. Her brother, Heycliff, died during a store robbery that was intercepted by the Justicars, meaning that the rat could also be responsible for her brother's death. But as much as Talimay wished to exact her revenge and perhaps even get some peace of mind on that end, there could be none of that in Alataria.

"I think we should—" a sudden blast was heard coming from the interior hall of the factory. A set of shouts and yells followed it. Arkaneh and Talimay looked at each other and guessed what it could have been. An attack.

The two rushed out of the room and made their way to the interior hall in a flight. Talimay drew her gun from its holster by the time they reached the hall, and Arkaneh drew his own. Entering with their weapons aimed, the two were shocked to see the large gaping hole where the metal entrance doors to the factory used to be. Scorched pieces of metal were riddled everywhere, and what remained of the doors were so bent out of shape that they couldn’t resemble their previous form anymore. A wave of white-wearing Justicars poured through the blasted entrance, armed with submachine guns. The Justicars? What is the meaning of such an attack? Without thinking much, Arkaneh rushed to cover himself behind a thick pillar, reaching only a second before a hail of bullets rained through the hall. Almost a dozen other members were in the hall, ready to fight back. A few were brave enough to try to return fire during the Justicars' suppressing fire while the rest stayed behind cover. Arkaneh peeked behind the pillar, only to watch two of those brave ones get shot several times and fall down, lifeless. How foolish it was for them to try to return fire under such a heavy attack. They should’ve waited like the rest for a pause.

Arkaneh looked aside and saw Talimay hiding behind one of the heavy machinery that was all around the factory. Her face was red with fury and her hand was steady and blood-thirsty.

Once the Justicars' fire came to a significant drop in firepower, she came out of her cover and fired as many shots as her pistol allowed her before returning to reload behind the machinery. Arkaneh watched as three Justicars went down under her fire. I guess the stories of the Golden Marauder are true. Her aim is just as sharp as her mind.

As much as Arkaneh wished that he could be excluded from the battle, he knew that he had to take part it in if he wanted to stay alive at the end of it, and so he fired as well a few rounds. He did his best to aim at the platoon of white soldiers but didn’t see any of them go down before he returned to hide behind the pillar.

Another hail of bullets suddenly came, as some of the Justicars have finished reloading their guns. Why would they attack us like this all of a sudden? This can't be a coincidence. This has to be about the rat. Talimay openly spoke about him during her speech, so it's possible that the rat had already informed them that we know about him. But still… I didn’t expect such an extreme reaction.

Once the hail faded down again, Arkaneh used the opportunity to fire a few more rounds. This time, he saw one of the Justicars get hit by his bullets and fall to the ground. A wry smile was suddenly appearing on Arkaneh's face as if he took joy in his kill. A second before returning to cover, Arkaneh looked around the hall and noticed several bodies of the gold-wearing members lying around, riddled with bullets holes and engulfed with a crimson color. After returning to cover, Arkaneh reloaded his pistol. He had only one more magazine left. Therefore, he hoped that the fight would end soon. Otherwise, he would be helpless and defenseless.

Talimay seemed to be firing endless rounds on her part. Her hand always remained steady and firm. She showed no hints of fear or stress. She showed no willingness to retreat or surrender. She showed only courage and a desperate desire to kill.

Before the next bullet storm could rain upon them, Arkaneh hoped to fire back one more time. As he emptied his entire magazine on the White Knights of Alataria, he saw another one go down at his hand. An even bigger smile now appeared on his face. Just then, he noticed a couple of soldier exiting the factory through the same blasted hole they came through. Are they retreating? Why? They outnumber us, and they seem to have no reason to retreat so far. What's going on?

Before long, half of the white soldiers were fleeing outside. "Don’t let them run!" Talimay roared like a wild beast with all her strength. "Kill them!" she yelled. A series of roaring cheers followed it and before Arkaneh noticed it, the golden thugs were coming out their covers and charging what Justicars remained in the hall. They're charging them like blind animals… such is the influence of a lieutenant.

The Justicars tried to escape in the face of the oncoming wave of retaliation. Most of them actually managed to flee, sprinting towards the exit, but a couple of them got hit and fell. The retaliators tried firing away at the running Justicars outside, but eventually they stopped.

As the dust fell upon the interior hall, an eerie silence accompanied it, as some people held their lost brothers in their arms. Arkaneh saw how hard Talimay was trying to hide her sad expression, as she looked at the dead bodies around her. Men of Midas may have given her skin as tough as stone, but her tender heart remained the same beneath it.

"Start taking care of all the injured we have. Make a body count of those who died, while you're at it," Talimay ordered one of the members. "Find Griffiths and see if he's okay," she ordered another one.

Arkaneh sat down and tried to recollect his thoughts. This doesn’t make any sense. Why would they attack us like this and then just retreat? What was their purpose? Did we miss something? Before he could dwell on the question long, an answer in the form of a running member appeared in the hall. The man rushed to Talimay with a concerned look on his face.

"Talimay, thank god you're alright," the man said. "We have a problem."

"What is it?" she asked.

"While the Justicars attacked you guys here, a few more of us were attack by another group of Justicars on the other side of the factory.

"Goddammit," she ground her teeth.

"That's not all," he said. "They've taken one of our people."

"Taken? You mean as in kidnapped?" at that point Arkaneh had already figured out what had happened, what the attack was meant to serve. The wave that attacked the interior hall was supposed to be a distraction to scatter Men of Midas' forces, so it would be easier for them to kidnap a member on the other side of the outpost.

"Yes," the man said. "They've taken Braden." Once the name was uttered, Talimay looked at Arkaneh. She knew what that meant, just as he did. Braden was one of the four members that were mentioned by Orrlian to have burrowed his SmartWrist. His kidnap could only mean one thing. The Justicars had just extracted their rat, and that rat was Braden.