The Scales of Splendor-Chapter 8: Courage of a Lionness

Green tactical screens illuminated on the printed rifle. Ammunition, navigation, and a health bar all glowed with intensity in her visor. Leola fired. She had seen a column of Hests. She commanded her unit to lay down suppressive fire. She ran forth, her mind stinging with the rigor of battle.

In the bunker, Gesta and Costerly noticed the new leader on the field.

“It’s her. I knew it was her,” Gesta said flatly.

“She’s twenty one. She has every right to be in the field fighting this goddamn war,” Costerly replied.

“What are we going to do but support her? She’s going to do it anyway?” she shrugged.

“Let’s keep our eyes on everyone. They’re all in this fight.”

Leola kept firing as her unit flanked the column. The Hests got scared. They actually laid down their weapons and fled.

“C’mon and show you’ve got spines!” Leola shouted. They limped, scampered, and ran away from the fight. Other Hest soldiers saw this and decided to run back to their base as well.

“Goddamn it! I wanted to exact dominance over their weak structure. At least they could have shown a backbone in their efforts,” Leola pointed out.

“It’s alright, ma’am,” a warrior named Gunnery Sergeant Blane Goggs said. He had high cheekbones and was as dark as tar. “We’ve got air units that will pound them.”

“I know, Gunny. But I wanted to make my aim sure and command you and the rest to see us through all of this,” she almost sulked.

“I know. You’re tiny but you’ve got the courage of a lioness.” Gunny got up and ordered his junior enlisted warriors to gather around the vehicles. They all drove back to the Costerly base near the Compound.

Leola sat at her desk. Some photos of her squad adorned her walls. One showed her shaking hands with her father as he pinned on the first lieutenant rank on her uniform. Afterward, there were virtual photos of her being pinned over and and over her by her unit. She smiled with every pound of the silver bars digging into her flesh. Now, she wrote out letters to the fallen on a digital screen that she spoke into and edited with her hands.

Though it was only three that had perished compared to the Hest’s one hundred and six, she felt the pang of every loss. The families all received word that their warrior would receive full military honors on behalf of the Costerlys.

She finished the last missive. She sighed. A knock came to her door. Triakka.

“I know you're disappointed,” he said.

“What disappoints me is the fact we have to keep going around like regular military people and that we’re not in a romantic relationship. Fraternization be damned,” Leola described.

“Think nothing of it. Nobody knows and those who might suspect don’t care. This war will be over soon. I mean soon. It will be a time for us to show that we’re an item,” Triakka replied.

“I’m happy in the field. On the terrain. I know you’re on the boat. I get it. You have to be in the medical unit on land, of course. I just want to ensure that we’re going to be able to process all of our actions.” She then shifted gears. “I think the Hests are toying with the option to use bombs on us. They fled too quickly, like it wasn’t just fear. There was a point when I saw some of them snickering like hyenas. Something felt off about the whole thing.”

“I can do battle but I just want to patch up guys and gals and get them enough of the blue stuff as possible. That’s what drives me,” sincerity nestled in his voice.

“How’s Private Waller?”

“PFC Waller made a full recovery. His legs are back under him and he’s found his new rank to be promising in climbing the ladder. He should be running a jaunt for the thrill of feeling his appendages again.”

“He’s a good warrior. I tried but I knew that when he knew that I was amongst the ranks, he thought. He should be fine. I’m glad that the scales rescued his body and mind.”

“It’s true,” Triakka replied. “He had suffered severe depression, not just at the loss of his legs, but because he wouldn’t be fighting in the same capacity as his brothers and sisters in arms. The scale solution provided for his mental state to a T.”

“I’m ready myself. It’s not that I want to only kill the Hests. That’s not the point. It's the preservation of all I hold dear that drives me to be a better fighter,” she explained.

“If you want to safeguard your values, you should consider keeping your parents in the know about everything. Everything but what we share, of course,” Triakka grinned. He leaned down and pecked Leola’s cheek three times.

“There’s a great deal of strife right now. You and I both know that we’re going to be able to continue with our notions of love and affection. After this war, we’re going to be able to burst through the doors in clean sunshine. We’ll be able to express our genuine passion for one another.”

“While we cannot fully show what we mean to each other, we can still use our military tactics to keep the shroud over everyone’s heads,” Triakka replied.

“‘Military tactics’?” Leola asked quizzically.

“Just like we use subterfuge in battle, we can use the same idea to keep our secret just that. All we have to do is know this relationship is higher than anything. That our knowledge of each other is attributed to our honor as fighters. We’ll just employ that into the fabric of our being,” Triakka mentioned.

“I didn’t want to be commissioned without the proper schooling. I didn’t want to have to command a hundred troops. I didn’t want to see you have to battle against injury and illness. But I did it anyway,” Leyola smiled.

“That’s right, you did. You knew that everything that we’re fighting for lies in those dragons. Our thing we have together is as splendid as those scales. Hell, I’m talking to you right now because of them.”

“I don’t mind being reminded of that fact every time. The fact that we restricted them from the battlefield and only designated them for breeding was probably the best decision my parents ever made. Sure they’re battle tested, military approved. But the second their scales are removed from them,” she made a motion of slicing her neck. “And those goddamn Hests want to ‘save’ them just for the sake of their existence. They care nothing of this planet, man, or the dragons. All they want to do is control and use their ‘power’ to fend off the rational.”

Triakka’s face turned into a mountainside. He understood every word that she said. The timing and the pauses in her speech invigorated him. He felt a boost like a laser had slid off his corneas and replaced them with greater clarity of this young woman. He had the actual age but Leola spoke to his mind about maturity and clarity.

“Absolutely. As a doctor, I’ve seen the worst ailments come through my hatches. The fact the dragons offer everything except immortality continues to be a driving force behind what I do. I am proud to say that they facilitate everything we do. Our strength is in those scales. We have the great thought to take nature and use it for our own selfish needs. That is the beauty of all of this. War is hell, but in order to find heaven on Earth, we must do battle.”

“Out there is a field of men and women on our side willing to die. They know that the dragons can do all but bring them back to life. As disastrous as the Hests are, they at least know they’re awful. I mean that in the literal sense of the word. They are terrible soldiers who have no clue how to stay in the fight. They ran away today also because they know they’ve lost. They know that all of their efforts are in vain. They know that our capacity to make war far outweighs their measly attempts. I’m fighting for myself. And for you. I know the Costerly warriors are fighting for themselves. Their futures burn within them. I know they wish to see no more wars. Once we defeat the Hests, we may even reach out to them and make them our allies. I don’t want to shake their hand with a dagger in my other behind my back. I seriously think we can come to an agreement over the dragons. It’s all education. Negotiations broke down and led to this goddamn war. It doesn’t have to be for all time.”

“I see your point. It’s all about designating who will be the victor in this war. We must never back away from our true fate that we ourselves fashion, not some God. We have the technology on our side, yes. But it didn’t come as a gift from some supernatural force. It comes from the divine functions of individual brains. We must always hold this truth in our own minds and recognize the special relationship between thought and action. We must see to it that we’re together through all of this and know that we put in the time to not sacrifice but honor.”

“That is true. To take all of the ways this could go completely wrong, I’m not even worried about that. I’m more concerned with the proper care of my rifle and pistol. I know you’re good with both as well. The fact we’re outmaneuvering a force that outmans us is a testament to the skill and devotion of those who know that it’s better to pick up tools of death and destruction to ironically hold onto life. Through the decades, we’ve been engaged in fight after fight and for what? Imperialism? Nazism? Fascism? Communism? Socialism? Democracy? We no longer live in a world where a constitutional republic, the only thing worth fighting for, exists. Now, we fight for the Costerly Way. So we just have the individual system. This is the time where the last battle might be fought on American soil. Right here in Delaware. If we are able to extend our sovereignty to the rest of the country and the globe, we might have a chance at a totally civilized society. The individuals who will make up such a place will keep going on the wings of reality. Those are also the wings of the dragons. We will be able to beat those wings into a frenzy of freedom. By leading on our own separate terms, we will be ennobled with the joys of life and be able to walk forth with the might of our own spirits. Our souls are tied up in this and that is what we must do to keep our love special, real, and new even in old age. We must suggest to our troops that we are going to fight despite whatever the Hests are doing. We must be the ones who discourse about the various lives that will be saved. We must know ourselves to know our enemy and keep them from posing a threat. We must be the leaders by way of reason and individualism. We have our careers and love, those are the hallmarks of a life worth living.”

“When we raise up in your last name’s honor, we do so remembering that the business of life is a challenge to be accepted. We must impart to anyone and everyone that we’re going to combat not just bodies and vehicles and vessels and aircraft but also those vicious ideas that hold us back in our lives. We must do this and do this all with the intention and the fire that burns in our minds and extends through our bodies. We must show them that we’re the only ones working in consonance with man’s place in life if we are to thrive.”

“And we must win.” She kissed Triakka’s cheek with two pecks.