PATRIOT - A MARCH AGAINST FATE

FELIX L. - Writer, 3rd Year, Environmental Engineering

"Yes, I play this for the story"

Patriot is one of the main antagonists of Arknight’s Reunion Arc, the last major threat Rhodes Island has to face before going to topple Talulah’s plans. But while not at the top of his organization, Patriot is undoubtedly the most legendary warrior one could ever meet on Terra, at least in terms of notoriety. He has led a long life, only knowing combat for the sake of his ideas and principles, and the danger that he poses is the fruit of his unstoppable advance that cannot be interrupted, so long as he has the will to fight.

Having been born about 200 years before the events of the Reunion Arc, Patriot is a full-blooded wendigo, a rare breed of the Sarkaz species, known for their strength, longevity, and long-lasting traditions of witchcraft and bloody rituals. Patriot, then known as Buldokrast’ee, did not partake in such activ ities that he viewed with disdain. Due to his innate physical aptitude, he found himself as a soldier under the orders of the Sarkaz queen, but he left her after tiring of all the killing that he was made to do. His hatred of bloodshed would be a constant in his entire life, but the same could be said of the duties in volving killing that he would be given by all of his masters.

Indeed, his journey brought him to the country of Ursus, where he became a military officer and formed a family, although his wife would pass away after giving birth to their one son. Although he despised killing, he likely took on this role of officer as it was all he had known, and he wished to quickly find acceptance in Ursus’s society. And indeed, he excelled at this, as his charisma and strength of character would make him beloved by all who fought alongside him or worked with him, and his fame within the country would earn him the title of “Patriot”. He would attempt to uphold the responsibility tied to this name at all costs, even hiding the fact that he contracted Oripathy, the deadly global disease on Terra, during one of his missions, even from his own son. This led to a crucial point in his life where he had to take arms against his own son, who, in a major case of tragic irony, led a rebellion against Ursus for the rights of those suffering from Oripathy who were being chastised and executed all around the nation.

What followed was a new betrayal of his side, as he left Ursus, with many of his men deciding to follow him, as they still believed in who he was and what he lived for, and it was his turn to become a rebel for the sake of the infected. This would lead him to challenge several of the Emperor’s Blades, the strongest soldiers in Ursus who sacrificed their bodies to demons for the sake of their nation, and then join the Reunion, an organization fighting for the Infected, but with a leader, Talulah, that was once again corrupted and going on the wrong path, like the others that Patriot had abandoned. And he would eventually meet his end against the protagonists of the story, Rhodes Is land, leading his men with his gigantic shield despite his body almost being a carcass filled with Oripathy crystals, accepting his demise, and entrusting his enemies with his quest, as he deems them fit to continue that which he fought for.

The story of Patriot is that of a man who should have been a hero, but whose fights and deeds only led him to tragedy and destruction. Gifted with Wendigo blood, and pursuing righteous principles alongside many different people who all looked up to him, he went down a successful path of change for Terra. But no matter where or for which side he fought, the result would never change. Despite marching for the oppressed, his march brought death and despair. Whether it be his son and the other rebels, or civilian onlookers with no relation to the conflict, such as in Children of Ursus, a side story that tells the tale of the misery that loomed over a group of children stuck in a school during a Reunion uprising, Patri ot’s heroism was real in his principles and in the admiration that such a great man inspired, but little more than that. Even so, he kept going, even if every step his body took relied on a miracle, as he believed his fight was justified as long as he kept standing. Even when Amiya used her powers to give him visions of his family and of a happy ending when he is on the verge of death, he denied the vision, telling her that his fate was not hers to decide. Patriot only perishes when he decides to trust her with his ideals, something he had never done be fore because he had lived thinking that they could never be left in the hands of another man, organization, or nation. Perhaps it could be viewed as ironic that a traitor such as him, who only believed in himself rather than sides or groups, was known as the Patriot. But that name was simply given to him by all who looked up to him. Even the Emperor’s Blades, symbols of Ur sus, showed immense respect to him despite his treason, for he never once deviated from his allegiance. He simply believed in principles, not banners, and that is precisely why he is the Patriot, one who stands firmly alongside a nation or a people, even if that nation is lost in corruption, whatever form it may take.