The Knights of Grimm - Act 4 - Whispers of Arkhonex

Chapter 66 - Rendezvous with Death

Penny

Her green eyes stared at the pillar of dust that floated in the sky and through the City of Arkhonex, where the Councillor's Spire once stood. The Drift of Wandering Star was leaving, alongside the rest of the Acolytes of Lien forces. The sound of countless armoured vehicles and aircraft could be heard all across the city.

She held her hands to her mouth with fear for her friends' safety, whilst the Good Acolytes behind her were getting ready for a fight. They knew what was about to go down and they could not risk going in unprepared. "Odds are, Penny? Your friends are either dead or captured, my money is on dead." Militia sighed, but Junior snapped his fingers at her.

"Hey, come on." He stifled her statements and she continued to get their gear packed away, including the Aura Destabiliser Power Cell that they managed to get their hands on. They had absolutely no idea that they were carrying the one thing that Kelham would personally rip them all to shreds for. His obsession was dangerous, and if anyone knew that it was Darren Ortega.

"I'm sorry, but look at what just happened. Kelham had the Drift of Wandering Star completely wipe that Skyscraper off the map, if they did survive then they must be captured." Militia stated.

"Or managed to get away just in time." Melanie also suggested, but Militia was not as convinced.

"We've been doing jobs for the Acolytes for a long time now, how many times in those years have we seen an operation like this end in failure? Very rarely, the soldiers never lose them because they lock down the whole area where confirmed targets are located." Militia explained, Penny did not even seem like she was listening to a word they were saying. She was just staring at the huge Acolytes of Lien Vessel that was slowly leaving this region of Arkhonex.

Then Ortega finally chipped in, walking up the hill and he aimed through the scope of his Sniper Rifle. "Not exactly." He responded, everyone looked at him, Penny too.

"Huh?" Militia asked.

"They have a better chance of escaping than they would have if I was in charge of this operation. From here I can see so many holes in the plan, just as I imagined there would be. Any military lead by a hot-headed lunatic like Kelham is bound to make mistakes." Ortega explained as he watched his ship leaving the vicinity.

"What kind of mistakes?" Penny asked curiously.

"Well for starters the aim on those cannons was ridiculous, you should never fire unless you have a perfect shot. I think half of those shots missed the Spire and landed around the area. Wouldn't be surprised if he wiped out some of the soldiers that were in that area on guard. The second reason is because Kelham does not seem to be splitting his forces into different ranks. He is just giving ranks to anyone, and there are no Thugs under his charge whatsoever." Ortega explained.

Thugs were the soldiers that mainly were hired by cheaper buyers, they had no armour and low level weapons and training, more just goons that criminals could hire. Everyone started as Thugs unless they had Military Experience, then the better gear would be given to them.

"Yeah you're right, whole time we've been here I haven't seen a single thug. I'd know, I was the one who initiated the ones in Vale." Junior stated, his nightclub was one of the many places where the Acolytes of Lien had their thugs located and bought from. Like how Roman Torchwick hired some of his boys to rob the Dust Store that Ruby protected all those years ago.

"If you don't have a proper military structure, it is far weaker, and therefore they do not know proper strategy. Most of his gunners are prisoners anyway, taking a page from the White Fang's book. There's no way in hell they would have been able to cover every area, and your friends are smart. I don't know about Ruby Rose, Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune Arc and Oscar Pine... they would have been the targets. They could be safe, but if they were going after anyone, it would be them. Odds are, if they were spotted they would have been taken." Ortega explained, he lowered his Sniper Rifle after he finished examining the area.