The Conspiracy of the Elites

Chapter 294: captain clark

Seeing the name of the caller that was flashing on his military phones screen, Clark became dazed for a moment as memories got jumbled up and hit his brain at a rapid frequency.

After so long being separated, he already mostly forgot about this Captain. But now just by merely seeing his name, he felt like he went back in time.

Apart from Captain Spoky who was still till today the captain that had the most impact in his life, the next was Captain Briggs. They may have only met once in a mission, but that mission changed his life.

Captain Briggs was the leader of his squad during the operation Spartans Rage mission, there was no way that he could forget the man.

As he smiled with a reminiscing expression on his face, his phone suddenly vibrated. Phone call will be terminated in 20 seconds.

Shit! He quickly answered the phone call before it could be terminated.

After answering the call, he kept quiet and listened. The other side also kept quiet for about a minute, hearing nothing he finally spoke out. Hello, is this Major Clark.

Yes, is this Captain Briggs?

Yes. The captain laughed audibly from the other end of the phone.

Getting this confirmation brought a feeling that he could not describe to Clark, he felt happy, nostalgic, excited, melancholic, and the most baffling was that he felt nervous.

How are you doing, Clark? The captain finally calmed down and asked.

Im fine, Captain. Its been a long time since we met already, I really missed you. Forgive me for not making out time to call you throughout the years, life has not been calm for me at all.

No worries, I understand the life of a soldier perfectly.

Thanks, Captain.

So, are you at home right now?

Clark was surprised at this question but he still answered truthfully. Yes, Im at home. Why did you ask, are you perhaps here in Vatican City?

Yes, Im here. Precisely, Im currently staying just a few blocks from your mansion. I hope you dont mind me coming.

Wow! Youre here? Thats awesome, Ill be coming out to usher you in right now. Clark was pleasantly surprised on hearing this news, he faintly wondered what happened.

For years theyve not contacted, Captain Briggs contacting him now may mean that something happened.

Rushing downstairs, he called Rose to organize the mansion cooks to prepare something nice. As soon as he got outside his mansion, he saw a middle-aged man dressed in casual jean trousers and a polo shirt walking in his direction.

He recognized the man immediately by his iconic bald hair, despite how rich he was it seems that he remained faithful to keeping himself natural. Only a little money and surgery could take care of his hair.

Meeting up, Clark didnt know how he should welcome the man who was once his superior. It later played out that he didnt need to think, Captain Briggs hugged him even before he could say a thing.

After exchanging a few words as a welcome greeting, Clark finally took the captain inside his mansion.

After entering the sitting room, he diligently ordered the houses A. I to lock the door and to demote King and the others authority over the mansion till he was done.

He knew that seeing him escort a soldier in will definitely arouse curiosity, he didnt want any curious soldier barging in to disrupt the harmonious atmosphere between him and the captain. Only Rose was allowed in.

As soon as the captain sat down, he engaged Clark in reminiscing conversations while admiring the house.

They spent a significant amount of time reliving the old days when they were comrades. Their glorious days when they barged into the Mocan republic, and their most glorious moment when they assassinated a Mocan Governor.

Everything felt like it was just yesterday, but no, a few years already passed. Memories were gold; it was a privilege to go through such circumstances and survive to relive the experiences.

After spending a significant amount of time going back through the years, they finally relaxed to enjoy themselves. They started feasting on the food prepared by the chef.

Captain Briggs started another conversation after they started eating. Captain Clark, youre a bigshot now.

Clark was surprised. You already know?

Yes, I had to sacrifice a lot of authority and influence just to know. He gave Clark a deep look. To be sincere, somethings, looking at your achievement makes me feel contempt for every other soldier, including myself.

Haha, dont flatter me Captain.

Im not, thats the truth. The speed of your rise is something that can already be qualified to be called a myth, its mysterious and unbelievable.

Then, you were just a recently bred 1st rank high-grade soldier subordinate, but in just a little over 3 years which is just a blink of an eye to soldiers you already caught up to me. If thats not unbelievable, then what is?

Clark just laughed, feeling a little bashful at being praised so blatantly. He tried to change the topic of discussion.

How about the other survivors, how are they doing? He asked, rubbing a finger through his long hair.

Theyre all fine, thats why I came today to meet you. Some of them already retired to live a more free life after the mission. It is already the best achievement in their resume so they felt it was better they live to enjoy it.

Oh! Clark raised an eyebrow but he didnt speak, waiting for the captain to continue.

Of all the survivors who came back alive from that mission, everyone is fine except Sonia. Im sorry, I noticed the special relationship that you had with her then.

Its ok. Clark waved his hands, suddenly feeling a little sour after what the captain just said.

Captain Briggs seemed to have noticed it, he continued though. Back then, after we came back from the mission, we organized a special funeral to honor our dead squad mates.

We want to honor their graves again next week, and we decided to invite you also to be there since you are a part of us survivors. Being survivors grants us a unique identity, an identity that we resonate with.

Oh, ok. Clark finally understood what prompted the captain to call him. Its ok with me, tell the others that I will be there. Wheres the location, and what time?

Its the Spartan army outer military cemetery, the time is 10:00 am.

Ok, Ill be expecting you. Its been really nice knowing you, Clark. The captain finally stood up to leave.

After Clark escorted him away, a lot of thoughts went through his mind as he thought about the reunion that just ended.

Captain Briggs tried to downplay it, but the moment he started their conversation with memories of their glory days he understood his motive for coming immediately.

It may seem like the captain came just to inform him about their plan to honor their dead companions, but he was able to deduce more.

This meeting was more than just to honor their dead companions, he was able to make out that it was probably more to find a place to network than honoring the dead.

It seemed shameful, but thats the reality of being a soldier.

To remain on top as a high-grade soldier, you must have friends and companions of the same level. Influence! That is a great divide that cannot be easily breached among high-grade soldiers.

A soldier with influence had more punching power than an isolated one.

He as a soldier was fairly influential. He was only 21 but he already knew geniuses like Dickson, Albert, and even strong versatile soldiers like Josh, and King who were all freaks in their own right.

Not everyone was as good or influential as him, so it was only reasonable that they organize such events to network among themselves.

Perhaps, if he was still a 2nd rank high-grade soldier, he would not have been invited personally by Captain Briggs. But he guessed that he was invited because of his current power and influence, nobody hated having rich and powerful friends.

He didnt feel anyway negative after knowing this truth though, he embraced it even. He was influential, yes, but having more powerful friends was a bonus that he would never reject.

Smiling, he returned to his sitting-room.

As soon as he got back there, he was not surprised to see a curious Albert and King already waiting for him there.

He already prepared for them, so he answered their questions even before they could speak out. He left them the next moment, rushing to his room before they could bug him with silly questions.

Admiring his luxurious room, he nodded to himself. He had to admit that Captain Briggs was right, sometimes the speed of his rise also left him pinching himself to confirm that he was not dreaming.

It was not normal at all to see a soldier breaking through 3 ranks in less than 4 years, it was unheard of as far as he knew.

Patting himself on the back, he plopped down on his luxurious king-sized bed. Before he could close his eyes to rest, his implant sent him a notification that sent his eyes wide open.

[Ding! A message has been sent to you from the Spartan army.]

Finally! He exclaimed exaggeratedly; he was already waiting impatiently for this notification for the past few days. He needed it before he could further his plans.

The first message was congratulating him on breaking through, and that his rank promotion procedures were finally completed. He was now officially a Captain.

The promotion ceremony would be in 40 days from now, but he already told them that he was not attending so they made his new rank official before the ceremony.

The second message was the one that he paid more attention to, the reward for his efforts and achievements in the just-concluded mission into the dreaded frontier.

He already expected to receive biased treatment after proving his competence in the just-concluded mission, and after he showed the parchment given to him by his Master, but he was still shocked speechless.

The base mission reward alone given to him was an astonishing 500 million Spartan credits. He felt light-headed reading it, he was a big shot now but such an amount of money still blew his mind.

Though it was nothing compared to the loot that Diana brought back on his behalf from the great Himalayan peaks, it was still a huge amount of money.

Another thing that surprised him was that his military authority was directly increased from 2 stars to 4 stars, which was equivalent to what 4th rank high-grade soldiers were entitled to.

He received a lot of other rewards which were all material resources, but the last item that he saw on the batch shocked him.

Arcanite Metal!

[And..., sorry for the late release, I fell asleep.]