Shadow Sun Rebellion

by Dave Willmarth

  “This building is nearly ideal. It allows for a defensive overwatch of much of the surrounding city. There is room for expansion, allowing you to house many thousands of people, or use the space for crafting, manufacturing, whatever you need. It is close to the park where we are about to land, which you should also claim.” He paused, spinning the map around and moving it a block south.

  “And I think I shall take this one. We shall be neighbors!” Harmon pointed to a building with a tall blue spire that Allistor recognized from a history class.

  “That’s the Trump Building. Good choice. It was bought by a famous developer and businessman who eventually became the leader of our nation.” Allistor grinned at the merchant.

  Harmon seemed pleased with the information. “That is fitting, I think.”

  “Then since we’re going to be neighbors, I’ll make you a deal. If I clear my buildings first, I will assist you in clearing yours. If you’re first, you’ll come to assist us.”

  “Fair enough. Though you have the much larger task, and I suspect will be much slower than myself and my team.” Harmon paused to whisper into his bracelet again. “I’ve just instructed all my scouts to converge on that building. They will begin to clear it from the top down.”

  As Harmon zoomed out, Allistor saw a small ship, about the size of a tour bus, settle atop the roof of one of the Trump building’s wings.

  “Well, you will have a head start. But as I said, if you end up assisting us, I will give you… shall we say twenty percent of the gold inside?”

  “And how much gold do you expect to find?” Harmon asked, definitely interested.

  “One moment. Nigel, please connect me to Chris.”

  “Go ahead, Sire.”

  “Hey Chris. Greetings from New York. Got a question for you. How much gold is in the New York depository?”

  “Ha! Hey, boss. Gimme a second, I have some notes here somewhere… Here it is. Largest known gold depository on the planet. About seven thousand tons.” He coughed once, then added. “But that’s from a twenty-five year old book I found in a library. No internet anymore, ya know? So that number could be off.”

  “Thanks Chris! Everything going okay back there?”

  “Yup! Nobody has bothered us that I’ve heard about. Let me know when you’ve got a few billion more gold for me to spend.” his Minister of Finance chuckled.

  “Will do. See ya!” Allistor had been watching the merchant’s face as they spoke. Harmon’s eyes were almost aglow with excitement.

  “We all watched you take Fort Knox, but the system did not allow us to hear exactly how much gold you obtained. It considers that a private banking manner, and censors such information. Seven thousand tons of gold in one place… for one fifth of that amount I would help you clear the entire island!”

  Allistor didn’t get to reply before Kira called out, “We’re landing. Harmon, maybe you could assist me?”

  “Of course, pilot Kira. You have done an admirable job so far, for one who is new to the system. If I did not know better, I would say you have experience flying such vessels.”

  Kira winked at him. “Only in VR games.”

  Harmon stood next to her, quietly coaching her as she brought the ship to a stop over the clearest section of Battery Park. With his assistance, she gently lowered the ship. There was a faint snapping as a few of the trees were sacrificed, but the folks inside didn’t feel a thing.

  “Well done, pilot Kira!” Harmon offered his hand for her to shake. Instead, she took it with both of her hands and turned it over, curling his fingers into a fist, and introduced him to the fist bump.

  “Very amusing,” the orcanin chuckled. “Now, shall we go claim our rights to the desired properties?”

  He led the way back down the corridor to the exit ramp. Kira and Gene stayed behind, both wanted to learn more about the ship and its capabilities.

  As they exited into the park, the first thing Allistor saw was an old, round, single story red stone building that looked like a civil war era fort. Above the main door the name Castle Clinton was etched into the stone.

  “That’s the national monument bit.” Helen said. “The reason this is a national park.”

  Amanda laughed. “Harmon, weren’t you just saying that a Prince should present an image? Every Prince needs a castle, right?”

  “Quite so, Lady Amanda. I suggest claiming this as an outpost, at the least.” Harmon replied.

  “About that. Before we landed I was thinking about logistics. How about I make this building and park a full Stronghold, and install a teleport pad. Then I could bring more people to help us clear the buildings. And I’m guessing access to a teleport pad would help you bring more help for your scout team, as well?”

  “It most certainly would!” Harmon agreed. “In fact, I could bring a significant force to assist us both.”

  “Then let’s do that!” Allistor took off at a jog toward the building’s entrance. The large double front doors were locked, but Harmon produced a device that, when pressed to the lock, opened it in less than two seconds.

  Inside, they walked through a main entry into a round inner courtyard. A flock of resting gulls complained loudly as they took to the sky. Allistor immediately tried to claim the structure, and was rewarded with a green light. When he went to place the walls, he got an even bigger surprise. “It says I can expand the walls out to include not just the park, but the docks to the east where the ferryboat is parked.”

  “That’s the Staten Island Ferry.” Helen provided helpfully.

  “Take all that the system will allow, Prince Allistor. That is a basic rule of survival in your new world.”

  Allistor did as instructed, expanding the walls to include the entire park area, the ferry terminal to the east, and something called Pier A at the northwestern boundary of the park. He added the usual amenities, and purchased another teleport pad. At this rate, he was soon going to exceed the limit of twelve for his hub, and have to purchase a second one of those as well.

  Leaving the greenhouse and other items for later, Allistor placed the teleport in the courtyard of the fort. He named the place Battery Park, finished the process, and when the golden light faded away, he had another Stronghold to his name. Fuzzy immediately wandered off to sniff the trees and take care of some bear business.

  “Very original name. We’ve really got to figure out a name for your… Princedom?” Amanda pointed out.

  “You mean like, Allistorland?” he quipped, earning him an elbow to the ribs.

  “Yes, like that. But sooo not like that.” she replied.

  “That is wise, Lady Amanda.” Harmon said as Sam pulled up in the Juggernaut. The orcan grinned, being the one who sold the small fleet of vehicles to Allistor, he said, “Good choice. Though I’m afraid I would not fit inside with more than one of you. If you’ll allow me a connection, I’ll bring through some transport more accommodating to my kind?”

  “Nigel, please grant Harmon access for incoming teleports. He’s going to bring some equipment and reinforcements through. While he’s doing that, contact General Prime and ask him to bring… a thousand of his reserve troops here. And put me through to Andrea, please.”

  “Right away, Sire. And congratulations on the impressive new acquisition.”

  “What’s up, boss?” Andrea’s voice came through a moment later.

  “We’re in New York, about to go try and take another depository. Thought maybe you and your guys, and a few of the other usual suspects might want to join us? We’re gonna have backup this time. Some battle droids, and maybe some of Harmon’s guys.”

  “Harmon?”

  “Oh! Right. Harmon is an orcanin. Do NOT call them orcs. But that’s what he looks like. He’s the merchant who sold us all the Juggernauts and weapons and stuff. I’ll introduce you when you get here.” He stopped talking, smacking himself on the forehead. “Are you at the Citadel? Any evidence of hostilities?”

  “Yes, I’m at the Citadel. There have been a
few ships landing in the far distance, and a bunch of fly-overs. But so far no evidence of any attacks anywhere, here or the other properties.”

  “Great. I’ll see you in a few then?”

  “Give me ten minutes to call everybody together. Be there in fifteen.”

  “We need to get moving, so bring a couple more Juggernauts and catch up to us. I’m thinking twelve or fifteen more people. Twenty, max. Nigel can give you directions once you’re here.”

  “Roger that, boss. See you soon.”

  Allistor turned to find Harmon, and his eyes widened in surprise. The teleport pad was already in use, and about forty orcanin were standing nearby, surveying the interior of the fort and eyeing the high rises they could see above the walls. Allistor found Harmon and headed in his direction. As he walked, another group of twenty orcanin appeared.

  They all approached his size and bulk, between seven and eight feet tall, and all muscle. Most wore armor of some kind of scaled composite, and each carried at least three weapons that Allistor could see. They seemed to favor melee weapons like axes and spears, but each had a rifle slung on their back. Allistor’s gamer instincts tingled, urging him to equip his own weapon and get to work. Orcs were rarely allies in the games he’d played.

  “Prince Allistor! Thank you for the use of your teleport. This greatly reduces the time we shall need to clear and claim buildings. And with the droids I heard you assign, you could clear a significant number of buildings in a short time. Maybe create your Capital City here?”

  Allistor shrugged. He didn’t really like big cities, and preferred the open spaces and mountains he was used to. But he needed to think things through before making a decision. “I will consider that, thank you, Harmon.”

  Another group of orcanin had arrived, and now an armored vehicle appeared. It very nearly filled the pad, the main compartment being twelve feet high and just as wide. It reminded Allistor of an Army APC, but built to larger dimensions. Which he supposed made sense if you wanted to fit a dozen or more of the large fighters inside.

  When they were done, there were four of the vehicles, and a hundred fighters. Harmon bowed deeply to Allistor. “We must be off to seize this Trump Building. My scouts have cleared the top six floors, but report some resistance. Mostly low level.”

  Alarmed, Allistor asked a question he wasn’t sure he wanted an answer to. “Human resistance?”

  Harmon looked offended. “Of course not. Were there to be humans occupying the space, we would not try to claim it. The resistance thus far has been from creatures of the Menagerie.”

  Allistor released the breath he’d been holding. “Okay, good. If you do come across humans, try speaking with them. It may be that you could trade them supplies or weapons to vacate the building. And feel free to tell them to come see me. I can always use more citizens, if they’re the right kind of people.” After a thought struck him, he added, “Would you like a few of my battle droids?”

  Several of Harmon’s troops growled at him, causing him to take an involuntary step back. Harmon shook his head. “You would have no way to know this, but that offer was an insult to my warriors. They are bred for battle, and crave it like air itself. Orcanin would never allow any others to precede them into battle.”

  “My apologies. I did not understand.” Allistor said loud enough for all to hear. “May you all find worthy opponents!” He raised a fist, and the gathered orcanin roared in agreement, raising their own weapons high.

  Without further discussion, Harmon stepped into the lead vehicle. About half his force climbed in to ride the four transports, the others jogged alongside. Soon enough they were out the gates and headed into the concrete jungle.

  “Just gotta learn to think like an orc.” Allistor muttered to himself.

  *****

  On a far-off sandy shore, on the west coast of Africa, a bird sits nestled in the sand, half asleep. Without warning, a small coconut, freed from its restraints in the tree above by the tropical winds, plummets downward and impacts the sand next to the bird with a thud.

  Startled, the swallow leaps backward, its wings propelling a spray of sand onto the offending coconut, which does not move. Angry, the bird chirps and pecks at the coconut that so rudely interrupted its nap. When the intruder does not respond in any way, the bird eventually settles back into its original spot. After a time, the sleepy bird begins to lean to one side, its head coming to rest against the fibrous outer shell of the coconut as it drifts off. The shell is soft, and comfortable, reminding the swallow of the nest where it hatched.

  Some time later, the swallow is awakened yet again. Creatures crash through the brush. Creatures it has never seen until recently. Small animals perish in their path. This swallow, and many others, have steadily been driven toward the coast ahead of these murderous monsters.

  With nowhere left to go but across the water, the swallow prepares to flee. The coconut catches its attention. The soft shell had given it comfort when it was too exhausted to remain awake.

  The swallow found that it wanted to keep the coconut.

  Hopping atop the hairy ball-shaped shell, it grasped several of the hairs with its claws, and began to flap its wings furiously.

  Chapter 2

  General Prime arrived first, with his perfectly aligned and synchronized column of battle droids. He’d repaired himself fully since the battle in Fort Knox, and somehow looked more intimidating now that Allistor had seen him in action. If all the droids fought as effectively as he did, Allistor felt confident they could take on pretty much anything.

  The general marched up and saluted with fist to chest. “One thousand droids, as requested, Sire. Shall I disburse them in a defensive formation?”

  Allistor nodded. “Some of them. How many do you think it would take to properly defend this place, assuming I add the usual cannons and defensive systems?”

  Once again Prime’s eyes rotated to the back of his head, then returned as he scanned the area. “Six hundred would be sufficient, Sire. Fewer if my droids have access to your ship’s weaponry system.”

  “The droids can operate the ship’s systems?” Allistor was surprised, though he reckoned he shouldn’t be.

  “I have not inspected the systems myself, Sire. But the Galleon class ship’s standard systems’ operation are within our programming. If there are no modifications, then my troops are more than capable of operating the ship’s weapons as well as most of the other systems.”

  “Great!” Allistor felt like hugging his general, but decided it would not be appropriate. “Then please make use of the ship’s weapons and leave…” He paused for Prime to give him a new number.

  “Four hundred fifty.” Prime supplied.

  “Leave four hundred fifty of your troops here. As for the other part of our mission, we are going to claim a couple of structures. Each one covers an entire city block. One is about twelve stories tall, the other more like forty.” Allistor watched the defensive force break free of the column and spread out.

  “We have more than sufficient remaining forces to accomplish such a mission, Sire.” He paused for a moment, and his third eye blinked rapidly. “Nigel has just provided me with the location and ship’s sensor readings for the two structures you have indicated. Assuming average enemy levels of fifteen or lower, the buildings should take no more than two hours for my troops to clear. Alpha wishes me to inform you that the ship’s repair droids are already repairing the hull damage, and repairs will be complete in forty-two minutes.”

  Allistor held up a hand. “Thank you. As to the mission, if you encounter human resistance, I don’t want them killed if you can avoid it. Please instruct your troops to either retreat and report, or capture them if retreat without casualties is not feasible. I am not looking to seize property that has been claimed by other humans.” He paused. “For that matter, the same goes for sentient aliens. I mean, sentient non-humans. I guess they wouldn’t be alien to you. It might be that some colonists have beaten us to those buildings.”


  “Do you have a priority target?” Prime asked.

  “The reserve building. The smaller of the two. That is the gold depository. If we seize that, you can build yourself an army ten times the size of our current force, and buy a transport ship or two.”

  “Understood, Sire. If you wish, we can proceed to the primary objective while you await your human companions.”

  Allistor considered it for a moment. “Alright, go ahead. And please eliminate any monsters you encounter along the way. We’ll follow behind you shortly. Thank you, general. And good luck.”

  The battle droid saluted once again, then turned and led his troops northward.

  Amanda, who had been standing quietly next to him, took his hand. “I always wanted to come to New York. It doesn’t look much like the pictures anymore.” He followed her gaze up over the walls toward the skyline.

  The city did indeed look worse for wear. There was evidence of fires in several of the high-rises, those that were still standing, and most of them seemed to have taken some kind of impact damage. There was a large hole in the side of the nearest building, with broken windows, cracked concrete, and twisted metal all around the edges. A building maybe thirty stories tall off in the distance was completely gutted by fire and leaning precariously toward the river. It looked like the city had been bombed.

  The two of them walked out of the old fort building and north toward the gate and the nearest wall. Climbing the ramp to the top, they got an unobstructed view of the area. The smaller, shorter buildings showed much more damage. Fires had ravaged many of them, and there was evidence of fighting. The streets were pitted with craters from bombs or other explosives. Large holes had been blasted through walls, windows shattered, and roofs collapsed.

  “The military must have put up a fight for a while.” Amanda whispered, gazing out at the devastation.

  Allistor grimaced. “I heard a rumor that they’d nuked Manhattan back in those first few days. I’m glad that wasn’t true.”