Disclaimer: This is a work of original fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Chapter 14.1 -- Between two sides (Part 1)

Major Rose’s Personal Office, Unit Branch Office, Lone Syracuse Outpost, Syracuse, New York, USA, 8 December 2020, 2155 hrs

Later…

“Thank you for your time in seeing both of us, madam. Both of us are here since Captain Bowie would like to give an apology to you for her outburst during the briefing earlier on.” Wallis says in an apologetic tone. “Now, please apologise to Major Rose.” .

“I’m sorry for my outburst of anti-Young Templar views just now. I should have known better, and I’m willing to accept any punishment meted out by you.” Ash apologises, her face flushed with embarrassment.

“Apology accepted, but you have to do something for me,” Mira tells her. “As for your punishment, I want you to fight alongside me and my team members.If you don’t, I will ground you here on this military base until the end of Operation Raven Hunt. I hope you don’t mind me punishing her for this, Lieutenant Colonel Lincoln. I have many things I want to teach her through her punishment.” .

“I feel like her punishment is too soft. Let me properly discipline her on your behalf, Major Rose.” Wallis disagrees with the punishment proposed by her.

“It’s alright, sir.” Mira shakes her head in disagreement. “I don’t want her punishment to harden her resentment and hatred of the Young Templars. This ongoing global hell war is destructive enough to bring about the end of humanity and humankind. Let’s not head there, shall we, sir?”

“Alright,” Wallis relents. “But remember, never let anti-Young Templar hatred fester in my unit. Just because my subordinates are all human soldiers doesn’t mean I will let them foster any ill will towards you. We have military laws to tackle this kind of issue. So please voice out to me if you encounter it again, Major Rose.” .

“I will, sir,” Mira assures him. “You can leave now, but I would like Captain Bowie to stay behind in my office for quite a while. I would like to know her better first.” .

Surprised by her words, Lieutenant Colonel Lincoln gives a small nod and salutes the Young Templar Major before departing from her office, leaving an anxious Captain Bowie to deal with Major Rose alone.

“Have a seat, Captain Bowie.” Mira gestures to a nearby office sofa for her to settle down. “You can relax, Tri-Sixer Hellfinder. I will not feast on your neck for human blood, unlike in the past. Do you want some milk tea or a can of soda?”

“Milk tea, please, madam,” Ash replies while avoiding her gaze.

“Coming right up,” Mira says as she tears open a tea packet.

As she sees the Young Templar Major preparing her milk tea drink, Captain Bowie wonders why Major Rose refused to punish her harshly despite saying those vile words to her earlier. Keen to find out why, Ash musters the courage to ask Mira this question: “What’s your motive in wanting to speak to me?”

“I just want to know more about you and your human emotions, Captain. I can’t send you to battle if you have a phobia or deep hatred of Young Templars.” Mira replies as she puts in creamer powder while stirring the contents in the cup.

“I don’t have any phobias or deep hatred of you and your kind, Major Rose,” Ash denies.

However, the Young Templar Major knows she is lying from her voice tone. She has witnessed some examples of fear and hatred from surrendered adult human soldiers during her days as a Raven operator, so it’s not a surprise for her to see humans like Captain Bowie lying to her out of fear. Not wanting to see another human fall into the rabbit hole of endless hate, Major Rose planned to convince the Tri-Sixer Hellfinder officer that Young Templars like her are not a threat to humanity.

“I know you are not giving me a truthful answer, Captain Bowie. But it’s alright.” Mira smiles as she prepares the second cup of milk tea. “However, I want you to cease being fearful of the Young Templars and see them as normal beings like ordinary humans. Not all of my kind are evil beings, and the good ones can no longer turn humans into zombies.” .

Major Rose’s words instantly blow her mind, leaving the Tri-Sixer Hellfinder officer speechless. Years ago, as a police officer, she witnessed several Young Templars attack a city and turn the city’s inhabitants into zombies through their blood. Because of that, she feared and judged them as a dangerous threat to humans. “Why should I stop being fearful of your kind when they turned humans into zombies years ago? We did nothing to deserve all of this!” Ash says out in anger.

“I see. You must be a survivor from the 2010 Tampa incident, right?” Mira asks.

“How do you know that? Only a few people within the taskforce know my background history.” A perplexed Ash asks with her eyes wide open.

“I’m good friends with the people whom you are referring to,” Mira says as she is about to finish stirring the contents of the milk tea in the second cup. After that, she takes out a test-tube-shaped vial of red liquid from a nearby portable freezer and places it on a serving tray. Then she walks towards the coffee table and places the serving tray before sitting down on the office sofa with the following statement: “Mayflower and Hell-lister did everything they could to stop the evil Young Templars from conducting a bio-terror attack on the city of Tampa, but a Young Templar captain betrayed Hell-lister’s team and got them killed in an ambush. Because of that, Mayflower took the blame for Hell-lister’s death and made a vow to spare her children from the ritual out of guilt.” .

The Young Templar Major takes a breather as she’s about to say apologetically to her. “I’m very sorry that not only did you have to endure the horror of seeing evil Young Templars turning innocent humans into zombies, but you also lost several of your loved ones. But if you hadn’t given them a mercy shot, they would not hesitate to turn you into their zombified ranks.” .

The painful reminder of her zombified family members makes the Tri-Sixer Hellfinder officer break down crying heavily. Ever since she put them down, her extended family ostracised her for failing to protect her own family, just because she survived as a police officer. With no one else to turn to, she’s about to commit suicide with her own police service M&P9L pistol out of grief on a bridge until something changes her mind.

“There, there.” Mira pats Ash’s back gently while seeing her sobbing heavily.

“What should I do once this hell war ends, Major Rose?” Ash speaks out in a sober tone after letting out her tears of grief. “I don’t have anyone else I can speak to or any Young Templars willing to speak to me once they find out my fear of their kind.” .

“You won’t be alone once the war ends, Ash,” Mira reassures her. “I know some Young Templars in my unit who want to form lifelong relationships with humans. Maybe I can ask your direct superior to transfer you to my unit, where you can interact with them and maybe find your future Young Templar husband as well. However, I can only do your transfer after Operation Raven Hunt.” .

“You don’t need to do this, madam. You are way too kind to me,” Ash politely objects.

“I’m doing this for humanity,” Mira says. “Despite being a Young Templar, I still want my fellow brethren to learn more about humans so that we can co-exist peacefully once it all ends. I believed humans and Young Templars would pair up and produce offspring with human and Young Templar genes. It is unavoidable, and you will face this eventually, Captain Bowie.” .

“Then how should I prepare myself to accept your fellow kin?” Ash asks.

“Simple.” Mira gives a quick answer with a smile. “You will learn more about my past as a former Raven operator and my current self after defecting from them. From there, you will understand the difference between a war-mongering and a peaceful Young Templar. Once you fully understand the differences, you will come to see that not all Young Templars are evil beings that harbour anti-human ideologies. But first, let me pour this vial of red liquid onto my milk tea before it tastes bad.” .

With that said, the Young Templar Major heads back to her seat before unsealing the cap of the vial and pouring the red liquid into her cup of milk tea. While stirring the cup of milk tea, the Tri-Sixer Hellfinder officer wondered if the red liquid she saw was human blood. 

To be continued...

End of Chapter 14.1

Note: All the characters, places and storylines are owned by Jeremy Mountbatten. All rights reserved by the author. Feel free to give some feedback and don't forget to vote for this chapter. If you want to support me, you can tip me on Ko-Fi (link provided below).