Horsemen United: Horsemen Origins Books 1-5

by Benjamin Hartman

  “Lee, please! Stop this!” Deng protested. “We’re better than this! This is what they did to Bai!”

  “Then it’s time this hundan gets the payback they deserve,” Lee said.

  “No! Not like this! We can’t become them Lee!” Deng screamed as he grabbed ahold of him.

  Lee turned and held his knife to Deng’s neck. “Do not touch me like that again!” Lee hissed. Deng stumbled backwards in horror at the sight of what Lee had become.

  “This is what terror is! This is what I must do!” Lee said.

  “You’re no better than them!” Deng cried as he ran out of the police station. Lee turned back to the Captain and drove his blade back into his thigh. “How do I -”

  “It’s biometric!” The Captain confessed. “The Imperial Palace has a biometric lock, you can’t get in unless you have access!”

  “Do you have access Captain?” Lee asked. The Captain remained silent, but his gaze told Lee everything he needed to know. He dived for the Captain’s hand while the Captain closed his eyes.

  “Whoa, whoa whoa!” Jay screamed as he got between Lee and the Captain. “We can synthesize his fingerprints without taking this poor bloke’s hand.”

  “Then do it!” Lee snapped. Jay untied the Captain and hoisted him over his shoulder and carried the man into the control room. Lee propped himself against the wall while he waited and wiped the blood off of his knife onto his uniform. Zao’s eyes darted around the room and he swallowed hard at the grisly spectacle in front of him.

  “What are you, some kind of ji bai?” Lee asked.

  “Bee-jway!” Zao hissed. “You’re the hundan who got us mixed up in all of this! You threatened Deng, the only one who was willing to stand up for justice!”

  “You’ve been a weak little dairuomu ji since I came down from the mountains.”

  “You’ve been a ben tiansheng de yidui rou since you came from the mountains. Before then, you kept your head down, sought to do your part and return as a botanist on Earth. Now you synthesize poisons and torture captains.”

  “Better to be a monster than to die like a dog,” Lee said. The moment the words left his mouth a hard blow cracked against his jaw. Lee fell to the ground while Zao wiped the blood off of his knuckles.

  “I’ll show you death like a dog,” Zao said as he drew his pistol. He walked into the room where Jay was and executed the Captain at point blank range.

  “Bloody hell!” Jay screamed. Zao holstered his pistol and left the police station. Jay came out of the office. “What in the hell did you do?”

  “Are the prints done?” Lee asked as he got up off the floor.

  “Course they are. Here,” Jay said as he handed Lee the synthesized fingerprints. “Where’s Zao?” Jay asked. “Did you piss him off too?”

  Lee glared at Jay, which answered his question. He put on the synthesized fingerprints.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Jay asked.

  “I’m going to finish this with the Emperor. Tonight he dies,” Lee said and left the police station.

  Lee raced through the streets beneath the darkened sky and the dim lighting of the streetlamps. He came to the Imperial Gates, where there were scores of soldiers prepared to defend the Emperor. They stood at attention to guard against any threat.

  “Rough night on patrol?” One of the guards asked, motioning to the blood on Lee’s neck.

  “Yeah, this stupid guy tried to resist, so we had to beat him to within an inch of his life, but he drooled a lot,” Lee replied. He placed his hand on the biometric scanner and waited. His heart thundered in his chest until the light switched to green.

  “That sucks. Have a good one,” the guard said.

  “You too,” Lee replied. He searched the walls and palisades for every available weakness. He mentally noted every aspect of the structure and took in the entire Imperial complex. Behind the walled forcefield it looked like another city, with the imposing Palace at the top of the hill. Lee made his way with a strong march and nodded to every Tingchia he came across so as to not draw attention.

  The Palace Guard were armed with weapons native to the Core, which were far superior than what those outside of the complex wielded. They were trained from the Core wars, which made an uprising even less likely.

  Many guards intervened to stop Lee on his quest to the Emperor, but he kept pleading with them, stating that he had vital information on the whereabouts of Xing Ming Lee. Each time he mentioned his own name to the enemy, they let him pass.

  The palace was dominating, ornate and made to appear ancient. The Emperor appreciated antiquity and marveled at the Chinese Emperors of Earth’s past. He sought to emulate their grandeur for himself. Every tapestry, painting, and piece of furniture was picked for this reason, to make Yiu Mei into a Chinese Emperor.

  Lee approached what he believed was the Emperor’s bedroom. Two guards stood outside with stern gazes that didn’t look like they were capable of smiling.

  “I have news for the Emperor. It’s about Xing Ming Lee,” Lee said. There was a moment of awkward silence that hung in the air. It soon became clear that the guards wouldn’t allow admission.

  “Go on, tell us,” One of the guards said.

  “It is for the Emperor’s ears only,” Lee replied.

  “Nobody is permitted past this point,” the other guard said.

  “If I could just -”

  “You stop there!” The first guard hissed as both men pointed their rifles at Lee. Lee halted, raised his hands and begged for an audience with the Emperor. One of the guards creeped up to Lee to make him walk away, but Lee grabbed ahold of his wrist. He spun the guard around and held him as a shield from the second guard’s blaster. Lee grabbed the dead guard’s blaster and fired back, killing the second soldier.

  Lee threw the guard aside and pushed open the doors. The bedroom was barely lit while the golden light from the hallway flowed in. Lee drew his knife and creeped across the room to the sleeping Emperor before him.

  “Now you die,” Lee whispered as he raised the knife above the Emperor.

  Lee drove the knife down but a searing chill gripped his thigh, which turned into a burning sensation. He smelled smoldering flesh and then realized too late when his leg gave out from underneath him that he’d been shot. Lee fell to the floor and saw a squad in the doorway. A man came walking in and Lee noticed the scar on Quan’s chin. He saw the lines that crossed his face and the memories of watching Ai Fen and Ju die came flooding back.

  “Quan,” Lee whispered to himself.

  “You’re a decent enough assassin Lee, but you’re still an amateur. You’re reckless and desperate. Deadly combination for a man who is seeking to cut the head off the snake,” Quan said as he signaled with his hand. Within seconds the entire bedroom flooded with Tingchia, all guns pointed at Lee.

  “Quan! Explain to me how this...this thing made it to my bedside and stabbed my pillow!” Yiu Mei screamed.

  “He overreached my liege. I let him have a small victory and he found himself caught in my snare,” Quan explained. Two Tingchia reached down and pulled Lee up from the ground.

  “Best put a mouth guard on this one, he has a tendency to bite,” Quan said in condescension. Lee sneered at him while the soldiers put a black hood over his head.

  “You’re lucky I don’t have you executed along with him Quan! That was too close!” Yiu Mei screamed as Lee was dragged down the stairs of the palace.

  “My liege, you were not in any danger. I will take care of everything from here,” Quan replied. His tone was calm, but forceful. The Emperor fell silent.

  Lee felt the chill of the morning air as he was dragged outside and heard the rumbling exhaust from a hovertruck that waited at the base of the Imperial steps. He guessed that the truck was armored and that he was going to be taken to his execution. The soldiers dragged him into the truck and the doors slammed shut behind him.

  “Where are you taking me?” Lee asked. His question lingered in the air, alm
ost like he was alone, but the presence of the soldiers was hard to ignore as they bandaged up his leg.

  “You know Lee, you’ve become quite an asset to me,” Quan said.

  “Why’s that?” Lee asked.

  “Because the Emperor needs to know that he’s weak without me!” Quan snapped. “Killing peasants was becoming quite routine until you came along. You’re a challenge. A true threat.” There was a hint of admiration in Quan’s voice.

  “The Emperor seeks to make an example out of you. Execute you in the public square. I think this is foolish. I think it’ll make you a martyr.”

  “Why do you carry out his will then?”

  “I have my reasons,” Quan replied. “Your friends won’t last very long. They’ve certainly made their mark. Let him see,” He ordered. One of the soldiers pulled Lee’s hood off. Outside in the streets, hundreds of soldiers hanged from the streetlights. Posters brandishing Lee’s face were everywhere. Crude signs dangled like rustic necklaces from many of the soldiers, each bearing the two characters that had risen to become his symbol.

  抵抗

  “Resist,” Quan spat. “None of this would’ve happened without my help.”

  “Cho yade.”

  “Call me names all you want Lee, one of your own has collaborated with me to ensure your attacks go through. I know all and I see all. That’s why I’m known as the ‘Hunter.’ ”

  “You’re a liar! What do you gain from my attacks? They hurt you just like they hurt the Emperor!”

  “You’d think that wouldn’t you?” Quan asked. A pigeon landed on the window behind Lee. It carried a small handwritten note around its ankle.

  “Get down!”

  The pigeon flew away, and Lee dived for the floor. An explosion rocked the truck and sent it careening into a concrete building. Quan shouted orders at the soldiers who were disoriented from the crash. Lee rose to his feet, charged at Quan and pinned him between the truck and his shoulder.

  Quan winced in pain as the door opened. Jay was there and waved with his hand for Lee to come out. Lee stumbled out of the truck while Zao and Deng swooped in to provide cover fire.

  “I can’t walk!” Lee said. Jay wrapped his arm around him and hoisted him up. Deng came in and grabbed the other arm. Deng and Zao provided suppression fire on the truck, while Quan hid behind the door. He aimed his pistol, fired and hit Deng in the shoulder. The impact drove Deng to the ground, taking Lee and Jay with him.

  Zao unleashed a volley while Quan closed the door. Deng, Lee and Jay scrambled to get to their feet while several crimson soldiers closed in from the side.

  “The Tingers are flanking us!” Jay screamed as he opened fire against the incoming men. Lee tried to run, but the muscles in his thigh refused to cooperate. Zao kept firing on the truck while Deng and Jay shot at the Tingchia trying to flank them. All four men sprinted down the streets, each of them wondering how they’d get out of this.

  “We’re done for! They’ve seen our faces!” Zao screamed.

  “Why did you guys come for me? You could’ve kept fighting them in secret!” Lee yelled.

  “Never leave one of your own behind!” Deng shouted. “That’s why we came back for you!”

  “I don’t see a way out of this,” Lee replied.

  “All we need is to get to the warehouses. My diplomatic immunity will protect us there.”

  “No Jay. We won’t make it to the Warehouse District in time,” Lee said as he looked to the mountains. “We have two options. We can go to the mines and hope that the miners aren’t interested in taking the Emperor’s bargain.” A bullet exploded into the concrete the men were hiding behind and rained dust on them. Another bullet tore through Deng’s chest.

  “Deng!” the men screamed.

  “He’ll never survive in the mines!” Zao hissed. “What’s our other option?”

  “We run into the mountains and take our chances in the wilderness,” Lee said.

  “No.” Deng replied as blood flowed from his lips. “We can’t abandon these people. We cause all of this terror and then leave them to deal with the fallout? No, we can’t do that to them.”

  “Deng we-”

  “I said no Lee!” Deng snapped. “We need the help of the people in this fight. Only if all of Ophridia unites against Yiu Mei will we have a fighting chance!” He turned and looked out at the encroaching Tingchia and then ran towards them.

  "Deng! What are you doing?" Lee asked in a panic.

  "Go for the mines! Convince the people of Ophridia to join us!" Deng screamed as he charged off towards the Tingchia.

  "Deng!" Zao shouted. He stood speechless, unable to cope that his friend just ran off into the maw of Yiu Mei’s elite.

  "Right, we don't need you dying too," Jay said as he pulled on Zao's shoulder. "We shouldn't waste what we've been given." He ran up to one of the coal haulers from the mines, finagled with the wires and got the truck rumbling to life.

  Zao picked Lee up and carried him into the truck where the three men drove off towards the mines. The Tingchia shot at the coal carrier, their blaster bolts making contact but not slowing the vehicle down. Jay radioed the guards on the tower ahead, but they'd already sealed off the gates.

  "Zao! Shoot out the terminals that power the gate!" Jay screamed. “Otherwise we’re going to know what it feels like to run into a brick wall!”

  "What? Are you crazy?" He asked.

  "It's our only chance!" Jay screamed.

  Zao peered out of the window and fired at the terminal, which sizzled and crackled. Blaster bolts tore through the hood of the truck, but Jay kept driving.

  “Almost seems like it’d be easier to surrender,” Zao said. Lee and Jay both glared at him, their eyes full of daggers.

  “Only a thought,” He said as he leaned back into his seat. Lee’s thoughts swirled inside in his head over Quan’s words of how one of those in Lee’s inner circle belonged to him.

  Jay raced through the bleak and unending desolate Ophridian landscape until the Tingchia had given up pursuit.

  “They finally caved. Unrelenting lot dontcha think?” Jay asked.

  “They let us go,” Lee said. “Quan won’t stop hunting. He’ll use drones to search for us out here.”

  The men rode in silence through the Ophridian darkness. Lee looked up to the mountains and thought of the sunlight. He imagined the glow as he meditated on the side of the mountain, where he saw his visions of terror, where this all began. Now he’d been shot and one of his best friends had been killed to ensure his escape.

  The men circled back and abandoned the truck less than five kilometres away from the mines. They arrived to the mines a ragged bunch, but this made them blend in with the miners effortlessly. The three men stole some mining uniforms and tried their best not to call any attention to themselves.

  They labored in the mines for three days. Every eye that crossed their path threatened the sign of recognition. Fraternizing with other miners took on a tactical role, one in which the three terrorists needed to solicit information of what was happening in the city. Every interaction was planned to see who knew what, yet they had to appear uninterested enough to only be soliciting gossip.

  During the three days Lee’s leg was in constant pain. His leg muscles strained from the burden, but he never ceased moving for the sake of the mission. In the back of his mind, he knew the three men would get caught, but their goal was only to last long enough.

  “Word through the mines is the men are quite sore about their homes being disrupted by the Tingers,” Jay whispered as the three men met for their daily meeting. Lee sat and stroked the hair of Ju’s doll, imaging it back in her hands.

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m hearing too,” Zao said.

  “Why aren’t they reacting?” Lee asked. “Why aren’t they putting a stop to it?”

  “Think about it Lee. The blokes are all out ‘ere. Nothing they can do for their families.”

  "That’s it. It's because nobody sees," Lee replied. "T
he Xiongbu. It's all done in secret, hidden away from the eyes of the public. Yes people are sad about the loss of their loved ones, but they don't see any of it. Nobody's outraged because nobody knows where the bodies go," Lee explained.

  "You're right," Jay said. "If we can get the Tingers to overreact and lash out at the public, then they'll see. They'll resist against him."

  "Yeah well it won't take much. Quan is uprooting everyone to find you," Zao said. "He and Yiu Mei have gone mad in their search for you."

  "Then it's time those hwoon dahn find me," Lee said. “Jay! Rally these men!”

  “Nope. This is a Chinaman’s war. I’m an outsider. You need to rally them.”

  Lee winced, but he accepted. He climbed onto a ledge until he towered above all of the miners. Murmurs spread across the crowd while the foremen shouted for him to get down.

  Lee cleared his throat and the miners looked up at him. “My name is Xing Ming Lee. I am the Anarchist of Ophridia, the one the Emperor blames for all of your suffering on his nightly newscasts. You have lost family members and friends. Every one of us has lost someone we hold dear. I lost my wife and daughter who were shot right in front of me by that duh liou mahng Quan Sito! For seven years the Emperor has waged his Xiongbu in secret. He has attacked all of us in the shadows, forced us to turn on each other with bribes and promises of riches for those who turn on their neighbors. I’m certain that many of you are thinking what you’ll ask for when you bring the Emperor my dead body.”

  Lee paused. A wave of shame swept through the crowd, while the foremen marched at him with pistols drawn. Still, he continued. “We rejoiced when Yiu Mei kept us out of the Core Wars, but in secret he sent his own forces to fight. They came back hardened, trained and became the backbone of who we know as the Tingchia. We did not realize that our desire for peace became a weakness. I am guilty of this. I came here with the hope that I could serve China, work through my service in lieu of being in the military, but all it did was make me a target. One person named me in anonymity, most likely through torture and as a result my family was targeted. I was to be arrested and carried away in one of Yiu Mei’s black bags, but I fought back and fled into the wilderness. While in exile I realized that somebody had to stand up to the Emperor, to cause him to feel the same terror that we feel every day. Now I can barely walk, let alone attack the Emperor. That’s why I need your help. I need you miners to join me in rising up to stop Yiu Mei’s reign of terror. He has sent his military after your families, uprooted you from your homes and he does so while you work here so that you don’t see any of it! All of his attacks are in darkness, in the depth of night. We fear the night and the words ‘curfew’ for we know that those who go into the dark don’t come back. Miners! March with me back into the city and let us put an end to Yiu Mei’s reign!”