The Conspiracy of the Elites

Chapter 306: funeral

Despite arriving at the Spartan army headquarters by over thirty minutes early, Clark and his clique were not the first to arrive. Hundreds of others already came before them.

Clark was not too surprised by this though; he would have been even more surprised if he did not meet such a scenario.

When he said honoring the dead was something that the Spartan republic placed great priority on, he was not lying. It was one of the most solemn creeds of the republic that had never been taken lightly.

President Leonidas once said just after his coronation as President of the republic years ago that, a good leader is known by how much he protects his subordinates, but a great leader is known by that and also by how much respect he gives to his fallen subordinates.

If they had the choice, no soldier wanted to die. That courage alone to remain fighting on despite the real chance of death was commendable, thats why they must be honored after their death.

The Spartan republic may have a lot of flaws, but this was a tradition that theyve never slacked on.

As Clark drove in with Emily trailing directly behind him, he was treated to a feast of money. Luxurious cars with more unique perks than the one he was riding in drove into the headquarters continuously.

Hundreds of luxurious cars going in the same direction were not something that could be seen every day, it was a rare event.

Of the many military outposts where soldier squads manned, most of them were trimmed today because of this funeral. Of course, others had to stay there to make sure that the republic does not fall into chaos during this period.

The boisterous city-like vibe of the headquarters was subdued today, almost all the activities going on were concentrated in the direction of the cemetery.

Through his new increased authority, Clark finally broke off from the others and drove into the road exclusive to the army higher-ups. Emily followed too through his influence.

Going into this special road, the feeling like he was trapped in a horde of beasts of an animal kingdom finally disappeared.

Few cars drove in the road, making him experience a feeling of sanity again. He lowered his speed and cruised forward in his destination at a leisure pace.

Despite his slow driving speed, none of the friends with him in the car complained. Every one of them was silent, it even seemed slightly eerie but Clark tried to ignore the feeling.

About 15 minutes later, he finally arrived at the cemetery again.

Compared to the last time that he came here, some changes were already here. The layout of the cemetery was still the same, the large fence was still there, the dome-like structures were still there also.

The difference was that another make-shift fence was erected, dividing the front of the cemetery into 2 parts. The inner part was smaller while the outside was broader.

At the foot of the large gate that led through the fence was a huge erected banner. On it was a picture of 3 soldiers, from the insignia on their uniforms they were all Captains.

Below these 3 soldiers were another group of 51 soldiers, then below these were just names- hundreds of names.

Clark was not allowed to park his car anywhere close to the cemetery. He was directed to a garage a few meters away, where he had to pay to have his car checked in there.

After parking his car, he did not go back to the cemetery ground immediately. He located a newly set-up bar at the side before going inside with his friends.

In there, they finally got all the information that they needed.

Clark already received detailed information about the funeral before now, he just wanted to confirm it again at a small information vendor like this.

In the just-concluded mission, of the initial 1000 soldiers that set out for the mission, only 268 returned alive which was a saddening figure.

Three 3rd rank high-grade soldiers died which further strengthened Clarks dread for that region. Five 2nd rank high-grade soldiers died, and forty-one 1st rank high-grade soldiers died.

The rest were all normal soldiers.

The reason why the front of the cemetery was demarcated into 2 unequal parts was to separate the soldiers that came for the funeral.

Only 3rd rank and above soldiers were allowed into the inner part, where the real funeral would take place. Friends and family of the deceased soldiers were also allowed in there.

The bigger outwards part was where the masses who came to honor their fallen comrades would stay at.

These soldiers didnt have any special relationship with the deceased, only the camaraderie as Spartan soldiers brought them together.

By the time that Clark explained everything to King and the others, a few minutes already passed. It did not take much longer before the funeral officially started, this was not before the arrival of the Commander though.

Commander Rashford attending this funeral took its solemnity to another realm entirely.

One thing that became evident to Clark as he stood up to go was that he could not detect any sadness among the people present, only a solemn atmosphere of respect reigned in the air.

Basking in this aura, he stood up and went into the inner part where the real funeral would take place with Leo and Smartman accompanying him.

The 3 of them were the only ones that were approved to enter the inner part, the other's relationship with Benny was deemed as too shallow to allow them entry by the officials.

There were no chairs for anyone to sit down on, all the soldiers and the civilian family members of the fallen soldiers stood rigidly at attention.

Unlike the funeral ceremonies of most countries, that of the Spartan republic was more iconic but less complicated.

To kickstart the funeral, a General of the Spartan army came out to lead the national anthem. Though few Captains attended the funeral and even more so for Generals, some still attended.

After the anthem was sung by all the soldiers in a solemn atmosphere to acknowledge the republic and the President, the procedures finally started.

First, a group of mechanics was led into the cemetery ground by an entourage of soldiers who donned the golden military uniform of the Spartan army.

After they turned to salute Commander Rashford who had a poker expression on his face since the funeral began, they finally turned and went to work.

Seeing 732 mechanics enter the cemetery, the expressions on most of the soldiers faces turned more solemn.

They were left in the dark on the mission that caused all these deaths, but they didnt ask also. Still, from the number of mechanics that just entered the field, they deduced the number of their comrades that died.

They were shocked, 732 soldiers dying in a mission was not unprecedented but it was extremely rare.

As soon as the 732 mechanics took their place in the cemetery, they started working together to erect structures on the spot. These structures were the dome-like structures.

As this went on, the General took to the stage again and started giving an introductory honor message about all the dead soldiers.

As he spoke a holographic screen was already on the air that showed the soldier that he was talking about at a specific moment in time.

Captain Maria, she was the strongest soldier who died in this mission. Im deeply regretful that I cannot show her heroic deeds for the advancement of the republic today, she already established her status as a legend.

She was the leader of the Phalanx Battalion of the Dani military division. She already led the battalion to a lot of legendary victories before she set out on this mission to improve her contribution to the republic.

Some of her most memorable victories was when she crushed the invading army of the Mocan republic 2 decades ago, leading to a complete wipe of the enemies and recording one of the best battle wins in the history of the republic.

She will also be remembered in the landslide catastrophe, where she fought off a horde of invading beasts led by extremely strong exobeasts with her battalion.

Despite the odds that were severely against her, she stood her ground and fought till reinforcement came, thereby saving over 1,200,000 civilians.

Her heroics against the Persian tigers organization cannot be forgotten also. Even in death, she will still be remembered forever as a legend of the Spartan republic.

Captain Jude, although it's sad that we lost such a fine soldier, we should be grateful that he died gloriously in battle.

Through his great sacrifice, he made sure that more than a little below half of the soldiers who followed him into battle made it back alive. His selfless sacrifice will always remain in our hearts.

Some of his memorable moments

Captain Cain

Sergeant Loki

Corporal Nineveh

Sergeant Benny

Private Daniel

By the time the captain finished the most notable names that were on the list on his hand, an hour already passed but none of the soldiers showed impatience. They were all solemn.

As soon as he finished, the sound of boots stamping hard at the ground started reverberating from the side.

A battalion of soldiers started matching from the side to the direction of the cemetery. All the soldiers had poker expressions on their faces, and 732 coffins were in their hands.

Seeing the blood-red uniform color of these soldiers and the iconic emblem on it, Clark gasped.

These were the personal battalion followers of Commander Rashford. At the very front of the matching battalion stood their leader, Major General Melkor Orion.

The cemetery became quieter. All sound faded off, allowing the thudding sounds of the boots to reverberate in all their glory. A few minutes later, the battalion of soldiers entered the cemetery.

After getting to their positions, they laid down the coffins in the already dug graves. Saluting at Commander Rashford, they matched backward under the leadership of their Major General and settled down at a corner.

This was when the Commander finally took the stage.

He didnt say much, he just gave a speech to emphasize again the heroics of the dead soldiers and how much they would be remembered by the republic.

Though it was not much, every single soldier in the field absolved his words solemnly like they were the words of the gods.

Under his command, the soldiers finally laid the 732 coffins below the soil to rest. As the grave started being filled, the Commanders personal battalion cocked their guns and unleashed a run of bullets at the air.

Ta! Ta! Ta! Ta! Boom!

This was the last respect that a Spartan soldier receives on his death. They fought with the weapon, they died with the weapon still in their hand, and they would be sent to rest with a weapon also.

This was when the emotions of some people were let out.

From a position far away from where he stood, Clark saw Mr. and Mrs. John Hart at the distance crying their hearts out. They already digested the news since, but the reality that their son was gone was still painful.

Under such an emotional atmosphere, the funeral finally came to an end.

One by one, the soldiers and family members of the deceased started leaving the cemetery. It took a sizeable number of minutes, but the cemetery finally became deserted a bit.

Not everyone left though, Clark and a small group of soldiers stayed behind. Seeing this group of people again, Clark smiled, emotions flooding back to him.

Squad leader!