Chapter 78.2 - Slander

Author's Note: Brand new chapter that is meant to replace the execution of Dekar's friend, the charity owner who safeguarded the bribe.

At the dusty corner of a small alleyway between buildings, a manhole slowly lifted, shifting aside with a soft scratching sound as the black pig iron surface grazed against the cobblestone of the ground. The top of what seemed like a swamp monster peeked out, a pair of human eyes scanning the area.

“Clear.”

Two clearly dishevelled men clambered out of it, rifles slung behind their backs. One of them was much worse off than the other, seemingly having fallen into a pool of sewage, his face furious with self-anger. He swiped off a layer of the sewage, the slimy waste dripping onto the floor until his body was dried and less repulsive.

“We can’t go around with our rifles; it’s too obvious.” Dekar motioned to a pile of trash nearby. “Let’s hide the guns there.”

Kyle nodded in agreement. Two ‘homeless slum rats holding state rifles were not exactly blending into the crowd. “Which way?”

“Hold on, I need to figure out which street this is.”

“I thought you knew every nook and cranny of the catacombs?”

“Yes, but the buildings above have changed over the last two decades, haven’t they?” Dekar shot back.

They snuck over towards one of the main streets, Kyle recognising the place to be Asha Street where he visited with Makoa and Kola first. Instead of the relic and food stalls being patronized by the usual mercenaries, explorers and other shady criminals, the street was filled to the brim with what seemed to be normal Versian citizens.

Signs and chants was roused up from among the clamouring crowd, Kyle squinted to read a sign.

[Minister Dekar accepts bribe from the Yual Dominion – Bring Him to Justice!]

Kyle’s confidence in the Minister’s ability to return to the government palace further plummeted, but his desire to remain in Versia conversely increased. Assuming another coup happens, the legitimacy of the government would plummet even further. And with the increasing tensions of war, I might be able to earn my very own puppet head of state…

He turned to look at Dekar, who was still flabbergasted at the scale of the protest march. “After everything I have done for them?! I’ve slaved for more than two decades to give the best for them, and a single scandal is enough for them to turn on me? I did not even keep the bribe!”

“Shut your mouth and blend in if you don’t want to be caught!” Kyle urged, dragging Dekar into the fray and mixing among the crowd.

The stench of the sewage and dirt on them naturally irked those around them, but otherwise, no one could recognize the two of them at all, instead focusing on the march. The surge of people seemed to proceeding towards the government palace, in front of which the main square was already filling up with protestors and curious onlookers just joining in the ‘festivities’, unsure of what was happening.

[Minister Dekar is a traitor to the state of Versia! He has been caught accepting bribes from the Yual Dominion, laundering them through a charity organisation his accomplices own!]

“Down with the Minister!”

“DOWN WITH THE MINISTER!”

“Are you sure we can get back into the headquarters?” Kyle asked as they were jostled by other equally dishevelled squatters, obviously paid off by the industrialist to gather here. They wandered around aimlessly, while planted agitators riled up the crowd even more.

“We must get back in – otherwise, this accusation will go out of control.”

A line of Versian guards blocked the protestors, their eyes uncertain as the wave of people pushed against them. Military wagons mounted with water cannons formed a barricade, with an officer hollering back at the unruly crowd. “Disperse now! Illegal gatherings can and will be punished under Versian Law! Return to your homes immediately!”

“Screw you!” One of the planted agitators threw a rock at the Versian guard right in front of him, nailing him in the helmet. With a roar, the agitator charged at the line of guards, slamming his body against the wall.

“Push them back!”

The guards started to march forward, an indomitable line. However, this backfired, as other more peaceful protestors were forced to fight as the guards indiscriminately shoved them back, causing a wave of chaos to erupt at the front.

“Disperse! This is your final warning!”

Instead of dispersing, the protestors fought back even harder than ever, fighting with makeshift sticks and rocks, with agitators handing them out like candy. The entire square was in flux as the guards attempted to calm the crowd down. They chanted slogans, waved signs and tried to break through the barricade, those making it through only to get arrested by the soldiers waiting in the wings behind the first line of defence.

Dekar and Kyle snuck through the crowd, shoving their way to the front and hoping to reach the guards, listening to the complaints of the protestors around them.

“Explain why our Minister is taking bribes from our former enemy! Is he going to betray us?”

“Why has the government began to collude with the enemy? Where is President Johan!”

“We have the owner of the charity with us, who is safekeeping the bribe on behalf of the Minister! How do you explain that!?”

Dekar was stunned when he heard that, stopping in place and turning around to try to spot the owner of the charity, only to be grabbed by Kyle and dragged in front.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Kyle whispered angrily into Dekar’s ear.

“James, he’s my friend! If he’s trapped, I got to save him!”

“Save him when you have the power!” Kyle shoved Dekar ahead, the two continuing their journey. All they could hear was the cacophony of shouting , fighting and chanting overwhelming the entire square. The heat of the crowd enveloped them as they grappled their way through sweaty bodies and random protestors.

None of the protesters gave them a second glance, with most instead avoiding them completely when they had a whiff of the rancid stench.

[Please return to your homes immediately!] The officer shouted into an arctech radio, amplifying his voice across the square over the din of protestors. [The government will investigate the matters thoroughly– there are due processes!]

What seemed to be the leader of the ‘impromptu’ protest held a loudhailer as he looked right at a lightcapturer. [Here is James Gram, owner of the charity organisation who had accepted more than fifty million in rakels as a bribe from Minister Dekar. I ask that the government listen to his testimony and give us an adequate response!]

An obviously beaten up and tortured man was dragged up onto a mobile wooden stage, hauled there by other protestors as though it was like a parade float.

The prisoner grunted as his head was lifted for all to see, his cheeks swollen purple from the numerous beatings. “My… my name is James Gram… please don’t hurt my family…”

[The audacity of this man to worry about his family when fifty million rakels that should have been used for the improvement of Versia has been monopolised by him! Only fifteen years have passed since the revolution, yet the ugly remnants of the noble class rear its head once again.]

“N-no! I’m a revolutionary, one of the original! Ask Dekar, ask Johan! They can vouch for me!”

[Listen! An admission that even the current President is part of this corrupt affair!]

As the protest began to build in size, a certain government official took the stage instead, standing at the top of a military wagon with the radio in hand. [Citizens of Versia, this is Vice-President Monero speaking. I understand your distrust against the Minister and James here, but I must emphasize that the law is sacred in the Versian State. Under no circumstances can justice be subverted for vigilante reasons!]

“Monero!” Dekar smiled, quickly wanting to enter the crowd to get his attention, but Kyle grabbed him once more. Kyle was not as optimistic, already feeling a ploy tightening around their necks. Why does that Mornero person look as though he expected this to happen.

[Rest assured that justice will be served. Minister Dekar will be detained as well as James Gram while we conduct our proper investigations. President Johan will also speak in a public address as soon as he returns from his tour of the Versian states.] Mornero persuaded the crowd, though they hardly listened.

“I’ll turn myself in.” Dekar stated, Kyle completely dumbfounded at the stupidity of what Dekar had just uttered from his mouth. Instead of proceeding forward, Kyle dragged Dekar to a side, staring him down.

“You got to be either the most idealistic man, or one of the dumbest ministers to have ever set foot in the Galaxy.” Kyle spoke with a simmering rage.

“Mornero is one of the original revolutionaries as well!” Dekar shot back, before Kyle punched him right in the face, though not as hard as he could lest he killed Dekar.

“If you want to be pessimistic about the justice system, feel free to do it on your own time. Versia is different from the Yual Dominion, where only corruption and money talks!” Dekar continued scolding Kyle, but Kyle simply grabbed his head and forced him to look towards the line of soldiers.

“Do you see that man?”

“That naked man attacking the soldier?”

“No, the officer behind!”

Dekar squinted his eyes, noticing the officer was talking to three other Versian guards behind, seemingly ordering them on a separate mission.

“So what? That’s supposed to convince me?”

“Look at their armpatch!”

“What do you mean? That patch signifies the Versia Armed For – oh…”

There was a clearly recognisable small skull logo in the middle of the patch: if Dekar were not looking carefully, he would have missed it entirely from the whole design. Shit, they are part of the same hitmen that attacked me!

The delusion that hung over Dekar was finally broken with that piece of information. He glanced along the entire row of Versian guards, noticing every one in five had a similar small logo that was hardly noticeable.

“Maybe it’s a new division…?” Dekar was still in denial.

“Fine. If you want to turn yourself in, go ahead.” Kyle let go of Dekar, kicking him forward.

But even Dekar now was wary about what was happening. He took another look at Mornero who was still trying to calm the crowd. Weird, he doesn’t look flustered at all, as though he expected all of this to happen… “We should head back to the catacombs.”

“Good idea.” Kyle wasn’t planning on fighting the guards either – as strong as he was, it would be stupid to try to go against the entire crowd of protestors and the city’s garrison. He might as well strut about and tell everyone he’s a reincarnated crime lord at that stage.

[This is your final warning! We will deploy dispersal methods in ten seconds if you still do not comply!] The officer bellowed into the loudspeaker, but the crowd was undeterred, treating it as a fake attempt at aggression.

As the surge of protestors striked even harder than ever, the officer merely motioned with his hand, prompting designated guards to begin using water cannons to spray the crowd down, forcing them back with pressurized water.

The water cannons blasted everyone within range, including Dekar and Kyle who were caught up in the wide-area spray, their clothes and body soaked wet as they tumbled into a veritable pile of protestors, all of whom were scrambling to evade the high pressure water cannons.

Dekar gasped and spat out water from his mouth, disorientated from the knockover effect before a hand grabbed him by the collar. “Fuck you, this isn’t the time to fight any longer, we need to-“ Dekar started to berate Kyle, but instead realized it was a random protestor.

“Hey, I know you! You’re the fucking Minister!”

“The minister is here! Minister Dekar is here!”

“Get him!”

Dekar quickly scrambled to his feet, but his limbs were immediately pinned by other protestors as they crowded around him, each of them barraging him with questions.

“I can explain, please let me go!” Dekar tried to shove them off as hard as they could, but it was impossible for him to fight back against the torrent of people swarming against him.

Suddenly, a loud cry of pain could be heard as blood spurted into the crowd, screams of panic and fear spreading like wildfire. One of the protestors turned his head to the commotion, only to see a loose cobblestone from the street being lifted up high above him, before slamming into his face with force.

His nose was crushed and face caved in from the stone, blood gushing as Kyle continued to attack the protestors holding down Dekar. Before the protestors could regroup and fight back, Kyle grabbed Dekar by the arm, quickly dragging him up.

“Run!”