by Noah Michael
“Story for another time. Your sister awaits you. Come.”
Roko lifted his hand towards the orb above his desk. Alia grasped it. The icy, metallic fluid began spreading down her arm, completely engulfing her. When she opened her eyes, she was in a small room, completely empty, except for a bed which was attached to a system of machines and computers. There were two healer drones in the room. And then she saw a lock of golden hair on the pillow.
“Welcome, Roko, the droids said in unison.
“Bella!”
Alia ran to the bed. Bella was breathing peacefully. Her long, blonde hair was brushed and clean. Her cheeks were rosy-red. Alia pressed her forehead to Bella’s, closing her eyes.
Alia held her sister a moment, gave Bella a kiss on the cheek, then turned to Roko.
“Why isn’t she healed yet?”
“The brain is a very intricate and delicate organ. I have the country’s top medical researchers working around the clock on a cure for her.”
Alia could tell he was lying. But calling him on it now would only result in a stalemate with Bella’s life in the balance. She needed either enough of Roko’s trust or enough support against him to press the issue.
“Is there a way I can visit her whenever I want?”
“I’m afraid not. This room is restricted only to me. This is the most heavily guarded room in the entire building.”
“There is nothing here but us.”
“I hide my secrets very well.”
“What secrets? Why can’t she be moved to the infirmary?”
“I will not have you distracted and worrying about her safety. I want you focused. Whenever you wish to see her, I will take you.”
Alia took Bella’s hand. “Can I please have some privacy with my sister?”
Roko nodded. He walked up to one of the room’s steel walls and pressed his hand against it. Then he disappeared.
Alia stroked Bella’s hand and hair and told her everything that had happened since the last time they were together. She told her of her trip to America, her first encounter with James and Roko, the simulations, the Shadow tribe. She told her about the Molder tribe, the debate. She told her about David. She told her about her new heart.
Alia didn’t know if Roko was spying on her, but she didn’t care. She was just happy to see her sister again. When she was finished talking, she kissed Bella’s hand and got up to go.
“Call Roko.”
Roko soon reappeared in front of the wall. “Finished?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Now that you’ve reunited, we must continue your training.”
A knot formed in Alia’s stomach. She couldn’t bear to see David again. “I don’t think the training is necessary. I am a general now.”
“That is precisely why the training must go on. You must familiarize yourself with warfare, especially against other tribes.”
“And my Sergeant? Does he continue to fight with us under the new alliance?”
“He is still Sergeant. Nothing has changed. The alliance was not finalized. He may be angry, perhaps, and less motivated to fight. That will be one of your challenges now, as General.”
Alia took a deep, nervous breath, dreading the moment she’d have to face him.
Roko put his hand to the floating orb. Alia followed suit.
They were back in Roko’s office. “Good luck, Alia.”
Alia left the room. At the elevator, she looked at herself in the mirror and took another deep breath. “Call David,” she said.
“David is not available.”
She tried again, with the same results. Finally, she decided on the next best option.
“Call Gospin.”
“Calling Gospin.”
“Commander, how are you?”
“I’m doing great Captain, I need you to assemble the men in the simulation room immediately.”
“Yes Commander. The Burners tribe this time?”
“Yes.”
“I will call the men.”
“Gospin, one more thing.”
“Yes, Commander.”
“I am no longer your Commander. From now on, you are to refer to me as General.”
◆◆◆
Alia opened her eyes. She was at the top of a large mountain. The mountaintop was wide and flat. There was a thin, wooden tower nearby. A sentence was carved into the tower.
“Defend the tower, pass the test.”
The air was dry and windy. The mountain was filled of long, dry grass. A fire hazard.
Alia waited for the men to arrive.
“General.” The voice sent a shiver down her spine. Alia turned to find her men lined up in squadron formation. David stood in front of them.
He looked at Alia, his face void of emotion, yet Alia could see through it. He felt pain, betrayal.
“Sergeant.”
As Alia looked into his eyes, her emotions threatened to break free.
“Alright men, today will be our second battle. We have trained and grown a lot as a team since our first mission. I don’t want it to be as close as it was last time. I don’t want even one man down. Is that clear?”
“Yes, General!” David didn’t answer, but Alia pretended not to notice.
“Good. Our previous mission was an offensive. Today we shall be on the defensive. This tower over here is made of wood. The Burners will try to burn it down. Our mission is simple: don’t let them.
Gospin, Bane, set up a perimeter. I want the Coders watching from the air. Pierce, you and the Absorbers stay in the center of the mountain guarding the tower. Surround it with an energy field.”
“We took down the entire Shifter army, and now they have us guarding this skinny tower?” Nero chuckled. “Where’s the fun in that?”
“Don’t worry, we’ll be playing with fire all day long. Sergeant, I need to speak to you. Everyone else, to your posts.” The men followed orders. David stayed where he was.
“Sergeant, I said I needed to speak with you.”
“I’d rather not.”
“Sergeant, do not disobey my-”
“Your what? Your order?”
Heads turned.
He’s trying to attract attention. If the men see him disobey me, I will have to punish him. That’s what he wants. He wants to test me, to see if my heart is truly made of iron.
“David, I-”
I just called him that in front of the men!
Most of the men were watching them now, including two of the Readers. She had to take control. Before she could speak, she noticed something in the sky, heading towards the mountain. “Missile incoming! Maintain the perimeter!”
“What is that thing!?” Gospin asked.
“It’s a nuclear warhead!” Nero answered.
Alia took control. “I want all Burners working together! I want that thing blown up before it reaches the mountain! Absorbers, concentrate the explosion away from our direction!”
“Yes, General!”
David took a rock from his wrist, extended it into a staff, and plunged it into the ground. He lifted the ground below them high into the air. Then he turned towards the tower, shielding it within walls of stone.
The missile ripped through the air, drawing ever closer. Gospin stood beside the Burners and Absorbers on the elevated stone platform.
“Prepare your fire!” The Burners aimed their hands at the missile. “Now, release!” Flames shot out from their hands, completely engulfing the missile.
“Absorbers, energy field now!” Electricity surged, creating a large, semi-circular force field around the burning missile as it exploded. The Absorbers fell backwards, one of them fell from the ledge. Ganger transformed to the size of an elephant and caught him at the bottom.
“Keep pushing!” The Absorbers pushed hard, fighting back the massive explosion.
“Burners, add your fire!”
The Burners shot forth fire. A huge cloud of smoke began to form above the explosion. Gospin’s face turned black with ash
and smoke. The explosion weakened, until finally it died out. The entire mountainside was aflame.
“Good work,” Alia shouted. “I want everyone back to their positions! We don’t know how many of those they have!”
“General!” It was Bane, who was guarding the opposite side of the mountain with his squadron. “We have trouble.”
An army of one-hundred Burners marched forward. They were led by a man whose eyes flared red, fire bursting from his skin. “Peirce, I need Absorbers at this side of the perimeter!”
“I’m sorry, General, we have none to spare!”
“None to spare?”
“There’s an army on this side too!”
Alia understood. The missile had been a distraction.
Suddenly, a massive ball of fire smashed into the mountain beside Alia, throwing her backwards. Alia turned towards Gospin. “Captain, break them up as much as possible while they march upwards, then meet in hand-to-hand combat with whoever is left.”
“Yes, General!” Gospin replied.
David stood leaning against the stonewall he had built.
If I’m going to win this battle, I’m going to need his help. I need to fix this. Alia walked over to David. He watched her. She leaned against the wall beside him. David stared into the distance.
“You took everything from me,” he said. “All these years working for Roko on behalf of my people, they mean nothing because of you.”
Alia’s pulse began to race. She looked shamefully into his eyes. “I didn’t have a choice,” she whispered, her heart heavy with guilt.
“There’s always a choice.”
“I did it for Bella.”
“You did it for yourself!”
David pounded his fist against the wall in anger, cracking it. Suddenly, he was thrown back against the wall as a ball of fire smashed against him. He growled in pain and stood up, charging forward. The Burners had made it up the mountain.
Alia wiped a tear from her eyes. “Pierce, have your men watch their backs! The enemy is on base!”
“Yes, General!”
The Shifters fought hard, joined by Gospin and his Burners. Alia watched as Brass punched a crystallized fist through a Burner’s chest, fire spurting everywhere in place of blood. Ganger picked up one of the Burners and tossed him, smashing him into five others who were still trying to make it up the mountain. When he picked up a second one, the Burner began to glow.
“Ganger, watch out!” He threw the man just in time as he exploded into flame.
Alia charged at a group of Burners, a laser knife in each hand.
Man in front: Hands forward, one leg back, eyes widened, eyebrows slightly inward, teeth gritted. Frightened, wants to kill me as quick as possible. Planning on flamethrower. Too focused on me to notice Shifter approaching from the side.
Man on right: Holding back. Wants to use first man as sacrifice to take aim at me. Preparing to shoot a fireball.
Man on left: Scouting the battlefield. Looking for somewhere else to fight away from me. Looking towards the eastern edge...
The man in front released his flamethrower. Alia dove to the ground beneath the line of fire, whipping the knife towards the man on her right, catching him by surprise.
The man in front was pounded by Ramon. Alia flew forward through the air, grasping her second knife with both hands above her head. She lunged it forward, straight into the back of the man from her left, and slashed through his spine. All three men fell to the ground.
Alia’s left arm began to burn. She turned around and found herself face to face with a Burner who had one hand on her arm, and the other about to land in her face. Just before he hit her, he was smashed away by a golem. Alia spotted David, who was busy controlling an army of rock giants from nearby the tower.
“General!” It was Pierce. “The enemy has reached base on our side too! They have us surrounded!”
Alia watched as Burners poured forth from the other side of the mountain. She ran to help, drawing her knives as she passed through.
◆◆◆
“Marcus, you are under arrest.”
“Under whose orders?”
“By order of the General.”
“Stone would never order such a thing!”
“Stone in no longer General.”
Marcus moved slowly towards his desk.
“If you try to resist, we will have no choice but to use force.”
“Fine. Just give me a minute to find my-” Marcus pulled out a gun from under his desk and fired at one of the drones, blowing it to pieces on impact. The other two drones charged forward, dodging blast after blast as Marcus fired at them. They moved on Marcus, blades out. Marcus blasted one of them but fell to the ground as the second one stabbed him through the leg. The robot paused.
“Breathing negative...checking prisoner’s heart pulse...The robot placed a scanner above Marcus’s chest. Marcus blasted it in the face, metal flying in all directions.
“Alia,” he hissed with fury. He pushed the heap of metal off of him. He opened the door of his office and moved towards the elevator, weapon in hand.
“Marcus to floor 141.”
“I’m sorry, but your access to the elevator system has been blocked.”
Marcus pounded the wall. He blasted the doors open with his weapon and limped towards the stairs, his leg drenched in blood.
A drone was guarding the stairway. “Scanning...” Marcus fired his weapon, blasting the drone to pieces. He pushed open the door, moving down the stairs as quickly as his leg would allow. He blasted open the door and hurried through the hallway. He burst into a room, slamming the door behind him.
Siper turned around in surprise.
“What are you-?”
“I am under arrest! They are after me! I need the virus now!”
“But it’s not ready!”
“I need it now!”
“Alright. I will prepare its extraction.”
Siper wheeled himself over to his central computer and started typing. A small microchip, plugged into the computer, lit up. “Plug this into the simulator. It will give you whatever power you desire inside the simulation. But remember, if you die in there...”
There was a knock at the door. “We have reason to believe a prisoner has hidden himself on this floor. Open the door.”
“It’s a drone! Hurry up!” Marcus whispered.
“I’m trying!”
“You have twenty seconds to open the door.”
Marcus lifted his injured leg onto the desk for balance and aimed his weapon at the door.
“It’s finished!” Siper grabbed the chip from the computer as the door burst open and Marcus fired at the drone. “Take the chip!”
Marcus grabbed the chip and hurried to the door. He turned back. “They will be after you now as well.”
“Good. It is about time I was paid attention to.” Siper rolled himself in front of his desk and pushed a button on the arm of his wheelchair, triggering a green forcefield that surrounded him. An automatic laser blaster flipped up from behind his seat.
Marcus limped out of the room and back to the staircase. He needed to make it up nine floors. After the second set of stairs, he heard explosions. They had reached Siper’s room.
Marcus exited on the 150th floor. He limped forwards towards the simulation room, blasting droids on his way. He shot open the door to the simulation room and walked up to the simulator, where Alia laid, eyes closed. He gazed at her through the glass.
“I salute you, General.” He took out the microchip. He inserted it into the simulator. After inserting it, he walked over to one of the other simulators. The glass closed over his head.
◆◆◆
“Nero, cover me!” Alia ran across the battlefield, trying to get closer to the tower. The tower was shielded both by David’s walls and by the force field created by the Absorbers. But David’s walls were quickly deteriorating, and David was too preoccupied with his golems to rebuild it. The tower had been abandoned
, one of the Coders flew above it in his semi-bird form, shooting at the Burners below. Alia remembered what had happened during the last battle when she slew the enemy commander. She needed to do it again.
“Apion, take me to the top of the tower!” Apion swooped down and caught Alia with his taloned feet dropping her at the top of the tower. She evaluated the battle taking place below. She spotted the enemy commander burning his way through a wall of rock golems.
“They say a leader represents the best of his people. Is this what your people are? Cowards?” Alia tried to goad the commander, but he did not budge. Alia continued. “Come out and fight me! I challenge you. Show me your rage, and I will put out your fire!”
The commander’s hands turned to fists. He opened his mouth and breathed a cloud of fire aimed at the tower. Alia took her blasters from their holsters, firing six shots. The commander dodged them. He charged at Alia, his hands acting like jet packs. Alia jumped from the tower as Apion swooped low, catching her in the air as she fell. “Where to, General?”
“The ground. If I’m going to beat him, we need to fight on the ground.”
Once on the ground she made for the northern tip of the mountain. The commander was following her. When she reached the edge of the mountain, she turned.
Head and eyes tilted slightly to the left, right shoulder forward. Will attack from the right side. The commander approached her, flames bursting from his skin, eyes, and mouth. Suddenly, just as he was about to hit her, a thick, stone wall shot up from the ground. The commander smashed into the wall and rolled down the side of the mountain, leaving a trail of fire behind him. Alia looked around. David stood solemnly before her, a tear in his eye.
“Thank you.” He ignored her and walked over to the ledge. The commander lay still among the flames.
Apion flew over to them. “General, Gospin reports that the battle is good as won. Our forces overpowered them with their leader distracted.”
“Thank you Apion, I believe their commander is finished. I will speak to the Sergeant while you finish the battle.”
“Yes, General.” Alia turned to David.
“David, I’m going to make this right. I promise.”
“Your word means nothing to me.”
“He made me choose between my sister and your people. I still hold by everything I said yesterday.”