Chapter 189 - He Believes What He Wants

Yelena was in her room, anxiously waiting for a call from Colonel Arias. She already gets another new number with a new phone in the evening, just in case the enemies would track her or hacked some information. She already gives the number to the Deputy Commander.

She puts the new phone on her desk and glanced at it once in a while. That's why when her phone went off, she lifted and looked at the caller ID faster than ever.

"Did everything goes well, Deputy Commander?" She promptly asked.

"Kind of," Arias said, looking at Nolan Iselin. "He said he has something to tell you. So, he asked me to call you."

"Okay. I'm ready." Yelena said and nervously squeezed her phone.

In the villa, Nolan Iselin was staring at the phone which Arias offered to him. He already heard everything from his family and he knew that it was the person on the other line who looked after him. He hasn't met her since he recovered but he still vividly remembered the first time she came to meet him. What's more, he still remembered the little girl from the Arista family mansion.

He took the phone after a few seconds and put it next to his ear. "Yelena Arista?"

Yelena sigh in relief when she heard his voice. "Yes. That's me. I'm so glad to know that you're fine now."

"It's all thanks to you. I will pay you back by helping you." Nolan Iselin said. "I'm sure that you will already find out much information. What do you want to know?"

"Two days ago, I realized what Lt. Gen. Haric and his followers wanted."

"Military regime."

"Yes," Yelena said. "You might know that they are targeting me now. So, I can't take a risk by going there but... I want to know what happened to you, my brother and Eric Flavian. I already investigate this for 6 years but no one knows about it. You're the only one who can answer me."

"I still remember everything clearly as if it happened yesterday. I can tell you whatever you want to know." Nolan Iselin replied and made a deliberate pause.

"7 years ago, we were in our final year of training. One day, the three of us went out of the training camp as we had a day leave. We spent the whole day in your house, your brother brought us there. We were supposed to return before 7 p.m. but we returned earlier than others because Eric said it would be great to walk around the training academy." Nolan Iselin started.

"While we were roaming around the camp without any care, we heard an argument coming out of Maj. Gen. Haric's office when we passed by. I suggest checking what happened and we took a peek at the office. It seemed like he was arguing with Maj. Gen. Godin. That's when we heard about it. Their plan to overthrow the government and abolished democracy. They want to give full authority to the military."

"Then you get caught there?" Yelena asked.

"Yes. Maj. Gen. Haric saw us and soon, Brigadier Richard and Brigadier Jonan caught us. We might be able to run away but... what could we possibly do? We were in the camp where those people had full authority over us." Nolan Iselin recalled the incident and gritted his teeth with anger.

"Before he died, Colonel Maverick sent me a video. It contained torture." Yelena said with much difficulty.

"It might be the thing that happened after we were caught. They locked us up in that room for a few hours and then tortured us until we gave in. If you see the video, then you must know that Marvin - "

"I know." Yelena promptly said. "My brother gave in to save me. He betrayed his conscience so that I could live."

"While locking us up for a few hours, Maj. Gen. Haric prepared everything. If we refuse to do as he said, we will kill our family. That's what he said." Nolan Iselin uttered.

"Eric and I hailed from an average family. We wavered when he brought up our family but... Marvin was different. However, he can't risk it when your name was brought up." He added.

Yelena glanced at her brother's photo on her desk and tightly clenched her fist. "He gave in but he still died." She muttered.

"It's because he changed his mind. After betraying his conscience, he can't concentrate on anything. He was never happy and suffered from depression. We were all like that but... he was the only one who decided to correct his mistakes. He said that he will reveal everything and also protect you."

"He died because of that?" 

"Yes." Nolan Iselin said. "Yelena, you know your brother. Do you think his death was an accident?"

"No. I never believe that." The Captain replied right away.

"I don't witness his death but... I don't believe that it was an accident either. After his death, Eric's depression became more severe and... he ended up committing suicide. They were too much for me." Nolan Iselin said in a low voice.

Losing his two best friends due to a scene witnessed by mistake. What's more, the enemy still remained powerful. Maybe the pain was too much, enough to made him lose his mind!

"Why?" The Captain muttered. "Our country is fine with democracy and the government. Is power that important? Important than one's life?"

"I don't understand at first. Why did they do this? After looking for some old articles, I think I know the reason." Nolan Iselin said.

"The reason? Are you saying that it's not just about gaining power?" Yelena confusedly asked.

"Yes." Nolan Iselin nodded. "Have you ever heard about one mission carried out by our Special Forces 18 years ago? It took place in the Lavia country and it was known as Operation Lavia."

Operation Lavia? Yelena had heard about it before. During their training days, they were taught by using the success and failures of the missions carried out in the past. Operation Lavia was one example of a failure.

"It's connected?" She asked.

"Twenty of our soldiers from the Rayvix Special Forces died in that mission. Lt. Gen. Haric was the Deputy Commander of the Rayvix at that time and... he was the one who leads the team to Lavia. Most importantly, he was the only one who survived that operation." Nolan Iselin informed her. "It must be why he has a bitter feeling towards the government."

"But it's not about the government. The fault lies with the Lavia country." Yelena argued.

"Yelena, a man who is blinded by bitterness won't care about the truth. He believes what he wants. That's how it goes. Maybe he was convinced that the government abandoned him and his comrades during that mission."

As a soldier, Yelena understood how traumatic it would be to lose not even one but twenty comrades! What's more, surviving alone? It would be one of the most dreary feelings for a soldier! But... the Lt. General mindset was not right.

"That's all I know about him. You are also a soldier, so you will know what went wrong in that mission through a study. Only the Lt. General himself will be able to answer your other questions." Nolan Iselin added when she remained silent.

Yelena finally turned her attention back to the call. "I understand. As soon as we can locate Sergeant Korin, I plan to file a case in the Army Court. Will you be willing to testify when that time comes?"

"If I don't do that, I won't be able to face Marvin and Eric even if I meet them again in the afterlife. Though many years had passed, it's still not late." Nolan Iselin promptly said. "Talking with you like this, I finally realized that Marvin's sacrifice was worth it. He will be very proud of you and... thank you for not giving up until now."

"I'm only doing what I'm supposed to do. After all, I'm his younger sister. If I don't do this, then no one else will." Yelena said. There was a slight hint of relief on her face.

"Alright. Let's talk again someday." Nolan Iselin said and handed the phone to Arias who was sitting beside him. The Colonel seemed to be in a daze.

"Arias," Nolan uttered and placed his hand on the Colonel's shoulder.

Arias was aroused from his stupor when he felt the touch. He remembered himself carefully listening to what Nolan Iselin said but... when he heard about Operation Lavia, he gets lost in his thoughts. Then he took his phone from Nolan's hand.

"Yelena."

"Thank you so much for your help, Deputy Commander. I was so afraid that Nolan Iselin would refuse to talk." Yelena promptly said from the other line.

"Don't say that. I hope we could end this war soon." Arias said. "We can discuss about this at work tomorrow."

"I understand. Then please return safely." The Captain ended the call.

Arias puts down his phone and Operation Lavia crossed his mind again. 18 years ago?

He met Lt. Gen. Haric 19 years ago. Does that mean the Colonel who saved his life that day still had the true traits and mindset of a respectable soldier back then? That means his pure devotion to his country was stained by bitterness a year later.

The heroic act and words the Lt. General had shown to the 10 years old Arias wasn't a lie. It was true back then. At least, this made Arias less suffocated.....