Jasyn stared at Julitta. Stole one of his guns? He couldn't ever believe it. Julitta had been one of his favorite soldiers, all she ever did were things that could encourage others. Hearing that she had stolen something was worse than seeing her do it. Well because he could scold her and cover her shame before the others. But hearing it meant that she had been caught doing it or after she had done it.
"Julitta?" Jasyn called. "What's going on?"
"Sir, I wanted to show the new comrade what type of guns we use in the army and I opened my drawer to find so many other guns there," Julitta explained. "I swear, I had nothing to do with it."
"Lies!" The lady yelled again. "She stole the guns and hid them there. She must have put up the surprised expression because she wanted to deceive the comrade."
"Or perhaps they are cohorts." Another one chipped in.
Jasyn stared at Julitta. He didn't know yet that Diana was standing behind him.
"Isn't it a shame?" Diana asked. "You all brought your comrade to be punished for a crime you jolly well know she didn't commit."
"As a matter of fact, you know this because you were instigated to do so."
"You were cajoled by someone else who couldn't be bothered to confront the evil she claims to see."
"Compelled by a coward who might as well be addressed as foolish."
"Tell me, how much is she willing to pay you for this? Assuming Julitta can prove her innocence, do you know what that entails? It entails that you three would be severely punished for accusing a fellow soldier."
"Can you save yourself?"
Jasyn had turned to stare at her from when she began to speak, having heard what she said, he turned to face the girls who had brought Julitta to him.
"Of course!" The first one said, "I can show you myself! Let's all go to her dorm."
Julitta glanced at Diana. Diana's eyes held a deep-seated rage and all she wanted to do was make them pay for what they had done.
"Go." She urged.
"Aren't you coming along?" Jasyn asked. "Alita, Itzel, and Alva won't relent if they turn out to be right."
Alita, the first girl, sneered at Diana when she heard Jasyn's words. "Perhaps she can already see that she has lost and wishes to save face for herself!"
"Mind your speech, Alita," Jasyn warned. The girl kept to herself, quickly remembering that she was before the chief commander. She lowered her gaze.
Diana smirked. "I want to stay back so I can teach the perpetrators a thing or two about planting things in people's dorms."
Jasyn nodded. "Alright girls, let's go."
"Before you go," Diana started. "What will be the punishment to the offending party?"
Jasyn stopped to stare at Diana. What was she trying to achieve? Was she that certain that Julitta was free?
"There are rules for punishment for every offense. We will go through the guide before every soldier in the army."
Diana nodded once. Jasyn turned back to the girls and they led him toward Julitta's dorm.
Their joy could not be contained and it was evident in the way they shook with excitement. Jasyn knew that they were somehow jealous of Julitta but he never knew why. Even if Julitta was found guilty, he would still want to know why she did that.
Julitta unlocked her door and they all entered. They stood by the door side, waiting for her to open the drawer. Julitta sighed and unlocked her drawer. Jasyn pulled it open and he found it empty. The only thing he found there was her gun. He picked it up and checked for the number on the gun.
"This is your gun." He said, handing it to Julitta. "That's all there is."
Alita's face turned serious. "Commander! I swear, I saw the guns in here. Perhaps she hid it somewhere, let's search the entire room."
"Yeah!" Alva supported. "Let's have her room searched."
Jasyn turned to ask Julitta silently. She shrugged. She did not have anything to hide.
Jasyn allowed the girls to search Julitta's room. The three of them turned the room upside down, ransacking for any sign of the metal object which they used in battle. They couldn't find any of them.
Jasyn was patient, however, Julitta was not. She was angered by the way they scattered her things around. She knew what she was going to do. Since she was certain they weren't going to find anything there, she could as well tell Jasyn that she wanted them to arrange her room and put it back in order.
She smiled to herself. After giving the girls a few minutes to search, Jasyn finally stopped them.
"It's obvious there are no guns in here." He stated. "You three have framed your fellow soldier and even dared to lie to my face?"
"Commander...!" Alita began.
"Shut up!" Jasyn ordered. The three girls began to panic. In truth, they hadn't seen the guns with their eyes but Yolanda said she had placed them there and all they had to do was make Jasyn search her drawer without her being aware before the time they would do it.
Now that they were in trouble, could they save themselves by saying it was she?
"Did you find anything?" Came Diana's mockery-filled voice from the entrance. "No? Of course, it's a no, it has to be a no. Why? Because I know who took the guns, and I can tell you exactly where they are right now."
Jasyn sighed. "That's okay, Diana. I will just have them punished for framing Julitta."
"Never," Diana swore. "Julitta is my friend and soul sister. If she is framed then I am also framed. So if you won't take the matter seriously then I bet Eugene will want to hear it."
Alita scoffed. "Talking as if you know the way to Eugene's home. You only joined in today, how can you create such a terrible scene for yourself huh? Threatening the chief commander."
"Well, that is because the person who set you up to this did so because she knew that Julitta was very close to me," Diana explained. "And she told you three what the punishment would be and asked you to tell Julitta to set me up or she could be expelled from the army."
Itzel took two steps backward. Diana had just become scared of her and she wanted to save herself.
"Commander Jasyn, I can say the truth right now. Please it wasn't my idea, I warned them against it but Alita and Alva are my friends. Commander Yolanda was going to punish us for refuting her."
Jasyn's expression turned dark. "Yolanda is ill. She's unconscious and in the clinic."
"It was all fake, she knew that Diana would hit her if she riled her up and that was exactly what she did," Itzel confessed. "Everything had been planned from the start."
Jasyn sighed. "Julitta, fetch me, Theodore. You three, come with me."
"Aren't you going to search?" Diana asked. "There's no more fun in this confession!"
Jasyn exhaled sharply. "This is not fun, Diana. This is the army and everything is work and hard work. Nothing is fun."
Diana rolled her eyes as they left. Perhaps she could return the guns now.
She followed after them, carefully locking Julitta's room. Jasyn was highly disappointed in Yolanda. What was she trying to achieve by doing such a downgrading thing?
"Stand aside." He ordered. The three girls stood at the side, waiting for his next order. He grabbed his walkie-talkie and called Yolanda.
"Commander." She answered. "I'm fine now."
"Come to my office immediately," Jasyn said curtly. Before she could respond, he cut the transmission.
He tapped his fingers on the desk, thinking about what he could do to Yolanda to punish her for her crimes.
Yolanda was eager to meet Jasyn, she forgot about the plan she made to still act as if she was in pain just so that she could have Diana apologize to her.
She arrived at his office at the same time Diana did and the moment she got in and saw the three ladies standing there, her heartbeat picked up the pace.
Jasyn stared at her, his gaze wasn't wavering and it wasn't going anywhere. It made her very uncomfortable.
"Commander, is anything the matter? What did they do? Tell me and I will see to it that they are punished." Yolanda said innocently. Yes, they were soldiers under her command. She was the commander of their group so whatever she said, they had to follow.
"Sit down, Yolanda," Jasyn said. His voice was sharp and low, it felt like there was a heavy boulder placed on Yolanda's shoulder and she found herself sitting instantly. Diana smirked at the scene before her. As much as she would never pick interest in Jasyn, it didn't mean that she couldn't have a little fun with his relationship with Yolanda. Especially because the woman first tried to establish her stand.
"Itzel, repeat what you said earlier," Jasyn ordered. "Yolanda, you must remain silent throughout her speech. Any word you say will be used against you."
Yolanda nodded slowly. She shifted her gaze to Itzel who was shuddering in fright. Wasn't it bad enough that she already betrayed Yolanda? Did Jasyn have to make her repeat the betrayal before her?
"I.. sir I said that the reason we came to you with a word about Julitta stealing your guns is that commander Yolanda instigated us to do it.
She threatened to punish us severely if we disobeyed her, and also promised to make us her assistants in our group." Itzel said softly. "I ... I never wanted to do it but she was able to compel my friends and them, in turn, compelled me, I warned them, sir. Please I'm not among the offenders."
"I understand if you'd want to punish me as well but I didn't want to do it, I swear."
Yolanda's eyes went as wide as saucers and the moment the girl finished talking, she stared hard at her. Her eyes were filled with anger and hatred and she felt like strangling her.
"Commander Ja-"
"I haven't asked you to speak yet," Jasyn interjected. "Theodore?"
Theodore came out from the inner office and Yolanda glared hard at him.
"You know, if you could swallow your pride for one second and act humbly, you might just make a few loyal friends who could save you in times like this," Theodore said to her.
"Commander Jasyn, you called me."
"Yes, I want you to repeat what you said to me three nights ago."
"Yes sir." Theodore began. "I noticed a shadow coming out from your office with a big black bag and when I tried to follow it, I noticed the person entering the female dorm. I had to kill my curiosity and follow through. The person stopped right before commander Yolanda's door, looked left and right, and then went inside."
"It wasn't me!" Yolanda declared. "It was her!" She said, pointing to Diana.
Everyone's gaze turned to the other woman who held a mighty smirk on her face.
"I can prove it. The big bag, the outfit, everything is in her room. I saw her enter her room too."
"I saw you enter your room, Yolanda," Theodore said. He hated that the lady was about to pin it on Diana.
"You can check the DNA on the guns, you can search her room, you'd find those things there."
Jasyn silently asked Diana with his gaze. Diana wasn't perturbed at all.
She allowed them to do whatever they wanted. One, they couldn't send her out of the army since she only came in because of the governor. Two, she was more than certain that Yolanda was lying through her teeth.
"But before we do anything, shall I ask a question?" She began.
"Shoot."
"If indeed I had stolen the guns, have I also compelled Yolanda to instigate these to frame my own best friend and by extension, framing myself?"