by Oisin McGann
The Perfect Corporation monitored the whole planet for illegal power sources. The smallest battery could be detected. Oddball was shocked to discover that even things like his little remote-controlled robot could be picked up.
And Oddball wasn’t the only one making robots. Everyone thought the White Knights were humans in armour, but they were actually androids. So were some of the ‘humans’ wandering around Nu-Topia – androids designed to spy on the people of Earth. They were all connected to satellites that could detect an illegal power source almost anywhere on Earth.
The only electrical power allowed down in the Armouron base was the natural electricity flowing through their bodies. Anything else could give them away. The same would be true when they got their armour and began their missions out in the real world. They couldn’t take anything that generated electricity.
Oddball was bitterly disappointed by this. He was keen to start designing gadgets that he could use on their missions. Snow looked happier. She found this new type of training suited her very well. She liked the way everything had to be kept simple. Of all of them, she was improving the fastest.
Above the underground base, in the Arena, tens of thousands of people were roaring and stamping and cheering for their favourite Gladiators. The stands were nearly full. Stamper was the most exciting new Gladiator people had seen in years. The rematch with Mad Jack was drawing crowds. The warm-up matches were due to start first – less important competitions that got the crowds worked up.
Sitting in a box in the centre of one side of the oval-shaped battleground, the Chairman looked down at it all. A small, slightly round figure, he always dressed well. He was becoming quite vain, but he had a big appetite and little time for exercise. His designer clothes did their best to cover up his pudgy figure. His dark hair was slicked back and his skin was pale. Except for the hard intelligence in his eyes, he did not look like one of the most powerful men in the galaxy.
Hologram displays near his feet showed close-ups of the Gladiators. Sometimes, though, he changed the display to look at the people. They were his people, in the same way that the Arena, the city, the whole planet were his. He owned them all. Then he spoke the words the massive crowd was waiting to hear. His voice was carried over the whole Arena by speakers. It sounded like he was speaking from the sky itself.
‘Let the Games begin!’
Down in their deep underground base, the lone Armouron Knight and his three students heard nothing. There was no sound from the huge competition going on above. It was the most important event in the city – and the three cadets no longer cared about any of it.
Chapter 11
Alone in the City
RAKE WAS EXHAUSTED when he finished training, but he was concerned about Hoax. Part of him was starting to believe that his friend might be serious about trying to escape. Rake made his way over to his old dorm to talk to Hoax. The other boys were already asleep in bed. Hoax wasn’t there. His jacket was gone. Rake could tell by the covers of the bed that his friend had not slept in it. Maybe he had really intended to escape after all. There were only four hours until wake-up call – some of the instructors would be up soon.
Worried now, Rake started searching quietly around his friend’s bed. Hoax’s belt was hidden under the mattress.
Seconds later, Rake was out of the dorm and sprinting down the corridor.
It took a few minutes to get Oddball and Snow out of their beds and a few more to get down to the Old School. Salt was still there, in the lounge, reading an old book made of real paper. He raised his head as they stumbled to a halt in the doorway. As soon as he saw the looks on their faces, the way they were breathing hard from running, he jumped to his feet.
‘What is it?’ he asked.
In hurried, blurted sentences, Rake told their teacher about his friend. Salt’s face darkened as he listened. He swore under his breath.
‘Hoax has made a terrible mistake,’ he said. ‘If they find out that he’s made a run for it, they’ll hunt him down. They’ll know something’s wrong. If he tries to tell people about the Games, he could disappear right along with all the others who’ve stood up to Chairman. I’ve been keeping an eye on Hoax. I thought he might be the fourth member of your team. They’ll catch him now, and if he’s lucky he’ll end up in one of the secret underground prisons – if he’s unlucky . . . well, he won’t even make it that far.’
Salt pushed them back out of the doorway. He began limping towards the workshop that lay off to one side of the training area. They normally weren’t allowed in there.
‘You aren’t ready for the outside world yet,’ he told them. ‘You’re not even close to being ready. But we don’t have a choice. We have to find Hoax and bring him back before they discover he’s missing. But if you run into the White Knights, you won’t stand a chance unless you’re ready for a fight.’
He turned back to them, waving them towards the workshop.
‘I didn’t want to do this yet, but if you’re going to go out there, you’re going to need your armour.’
As they went in, Oddball nudged Rake and pointed. In one corner of the workshop, on a workbench covered in electronics parts, was a box labelled “High Explosives”. Rake elbowed him back and shook his head, afraid Oddball might start getting ideas.
In the centre of the workshop, held up on stands, were three suits of armour. One was red and black, the second one was blue and grey, and the third was yellow and black. Their polished surfaces gleamed in the lamplight. Compared to flashy Gladiator armour, these suits truly looked as if they were built for the serious business of close combat.
The three cadets stared at them, their hearts pounding. They could guess from the sizes which suit was meant for each of them. This was it. For the first time, they began to feel like they really could be Armouron Knights.
‘These are nothing like the cheap manufactured clack the Gladiators wear,’ Salt said, as he pulled Rake up beside the red and black armour and started helping him into it. ‘They are crafted from layers of plastallic, a material that bends like plastic but is tougher than steel. This is how real Armouron suits are made. They are lighter, more flexible and tougher than any armour you’ve seen before. I’ve made each suit to match your talents. It will take time to learn how each one works – but we don’t have time.’
Rake was sweating, but he was relieved to find that even though he felt himself trembling through his body, his hands were still not shaking.
‘And don’t think for a minute that this makes you Armouron Knights!’ Salt read their thoughts. ‘You haven’t earned that title yet. This is a one-off mission. We’re being rushed into this and you’ll need every advantage you can get tonight. For now, I’ll be happy if you don’t get yourselves caught or killed.’
Once he had Rake dressed in his armour, he shoved the helmet on the boy’s head and snapped the visor down. Then he took Rake’s totem and pressed it into place on the armour’s breastplate. Rake felt the Flow, the totem’s power, surging through his body.
There was a battle hammer and shield to go with the yellow and black armour that Salt had made for Oddball. He picked up the hammer and, without warning, swung it into Rake’s chest. The blow knocked the boy off his feet. But as he sat up, Rake was amazed to discover he felt no pain. In fact, the only reason he’d fallen over was that he had been knocked off balance. His chest felt fine.
‘Like I said,’ Salt grunted. ‘This is how real Armouron suits are made. Pick yourself up.’
He handed Rake a sword and shield. With a flick of his wrist, he showed the boy how the handle could extend out to turn the sword into a lance.
‘Now, let’s get you two suited up,’ Salt said to Oddball and Snow. As they rushed to their suits, handling each piece with awe, he added: ‘Rake, practise your weapons moves while you’re waiting.’
‘Come on,’ he said to the others. ‘Hoax is out there, alone in the city. Every second counts now.’
Chapter 12
Ar
moured Combat
WHEN THE THREE cadets were all suited up, Salt led them down a corridor they had never seen before. He was still dressed in his Academy uniform. The corridor led to a stairwell, which took them up to another secret door into the Academy. This one opened into the Armour Department’s shuttle bay. The department’s supply shuttle stood on its launch platform. They climbed on board and took their seats.
It was an ordinary-looking ship, the kind that were used in their thousands, making deliveries all over the planet. It was sleek at the front, but boxy at the back, where the main hatch lowered to form a ramp. Its wings jutted out from the two engines either side of the grey and blue body of the ship, with the tail protruding from the third engine mounted on top. A U-shaped windscreen wrapped around the front and there were two windows at the back, on either side of the hatch.
‘The only technology we can use is the stuff that belongs to the Academy,’ Salt told them as he strapped them in. ‘I fly all over the place in this thing, so we don’t need to worry about being spotted. I have ways of disguising it too, if I have to.’
Rake shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The armour was like a second skin, but the seat wasn’t made for an armoured passenger. Oddball, in his yellow and black armour, was bigger than Rake and was having a similar problem. Snow looked quite content in her blue and grey suit. Salt sat down in the pilot’s seat and started the engines.
‘The trick will be to find Hoax and get you in close to him without the White Knights getting suspicious about the shuttle. I can’t go with you. If something goes wrong, I’ll have to fly in fast and pick you up.’ He looked back at them. ‘With my leg, I’d only slow you down anyway. Once you’re on the ground, you’re on your own. Do you understand?’
They all nodded. But the fear was finally beginning to set in. Things were about to get real. Dangerously real.
Salt hit the button on his control stick, setting off the thrusters and blasting the craft out of the bay and into the night sky.
The city lights stretched for kilometres in every direction. Some of the buildings were over a thousand metres high. Some were straight and tall, others were weirder, curving shapes. But they couldn’t see most of the buildings – it was just a maze of lights and streets, stretching off to the horizon. Below them, the crowds from the Arena were still spreading out through the streets, on their way home or hoping to make the night last a bit longer.
‘It’s enormous,’ Snow gasped, looking out of the window. ‘How are we going to find him down there?’
‘I told you before, I’ve been watching all of you for a while,’ Salt replied. ‘Hoax has broken out a few times before – but he always came back before they discovered he was missing. There’s one place he always goes. I think he’ll head for there first.’
Rake said nothing, but was shocked to hear his friend had been leaving the complex without telling him. Hoax must be a better liar than he thought. They flew out over the edge of the sea, where the lights stopped, except for a few scattered boats out on the dark water. Then they swooped back in over a beach and saw the bright coloured lights of a fairground, with roller coasters and other rides, as well as a huge Ferris wheel. The three cadets gaped in amazement.
‘I thought you said Nu-Topia was a prison!’ Snow cried. ‘What kind of dunking prison has a funfair? I’ve never been to a funfair in my whole life! No wonder Hoax kept breaking out!’
‘Don’t be fooled by appearances,’ Salt told them. ‘These rides are all still being tested. Some of them are downright dangerous. Hoax came here, all right. But all he could do was watch. He had no clearance to go inside. Hang on . . .’
He banked hard to the right, using the shuttle’s sensors to pick a figure out of the crowd on the ground. The sensors zoomed in on a boy running through the crowd.
‘There he is! Look!’
The boy was being chased by four tall white armoured figures. White Knights – Nu-Topia’s armoured enforcers.
‘They’ve found him!’ Rake shouted. ‘We have to help him!’
Salt was already flying back towards the beach. The thrusters kicked up sand as he came in low, stopping to hover over a grassy bank. Here, they were hidden from the funfair by some trees.
‘Listen to me,’ Salt called to them as the rear hatch lowered down, forming a ramp out of the back of the shuttle. ‘If they thought he was from the Academy, there’d be ten times as many Kettles here. He probably just tried to sneak in and got spotted. But they must not get a good look at him. Grab him and get out of there. And above all, do not try to make a stand against the White Knights. You aren’t knights yet – you’re not ready. And as soon as they see you, we’ll have an army of them down on top of our heads in minutes. Do you understand?’
They all nodded. Seizing their weapons and shields, they got ready to jump.
‘If you can’t make it back here, I’ll pick you up over there!’ Salt pointed at a building shaped like a giant fist, not far from the edge of the funfair. ‘In the car park on the far side. Now, go! And remember – Stand Together . . .’
‘Battle as One!’ they all called back.
Then the three armoured cadets were leaping from the back of the shuttle, landing in the long grass. Rake looked around quickly and started to run towards the Ferris wheel with the others following. The android police were right behind Hoax. He was weaving through the crowd, but the White Knights just charged through, shoving people out of their way.
As they passed under the Ferris wheel, one of them reached out, nearly getting its fingers on Hoax’s collar. He twisted aside, kicked out at it and ducked back between its legs. It turned round, snatching at his tunic. But just at that moment, a large hammer smacked into the side of its head, sending it flying. Oddball jumped in between Hoax and the next android, ready to swing his hammer again. The White Knight paused, waiting for its two comrades to catch up. They never did.
It turned to see Rake drop from the Ferris wheel. The cadet crouched, ducking under one robot’s sword and deflecting it with his shield. He swiped the legs from under it with his sword. Then he used its head as a springboard, flying over the swinging sword of the fourth White Knight. His knee cracked into the android’s cheek, sending it sprawling to the ground.
‘Dunk, I’m good!’ Rake shouted as he landed, laughing with the thrill of it all.
The one he’d hit in the legs rose up behind him. It raised its sword over his head. Then its own head was cut off by a shield that came slicing through the air. The shield swooped away in a long curve and came spinning back into the hand of Snow, who stood several metres away. The robot’s head bounced across the ground, leaving a trail of sparks.
The White Knight that had stopped to wait for back-up was so surprised by the attack on its comrades that Snow and Oddball were able to finish it off easily. Snow swung her baton down alongside Oddball’s hammer.
Two of the androids were starting to get up again.
‘That’s it, we’re out of here!’ Rake shouted.
‘Who the clack are you?’ Hoax gasped. He couldn’t see their faces through the visors. ‘What are Gladiators doing out here? And since when did they let robots join the White Knights?’
‘Later!’ Rake snapped, looking back at the androids. ‘And we’re not Gladiators – we’re knights . . . sort of. Come on!’
They ran through the fairground, but all around them sirens started up. More White Knights appeared among the rides and stalls. The way back to the beach was blocked. They would have to make for the building Salt had showed them.
‘We need to go this way,’ Snow said suddenly, pointing off to the side.
‘What? Why?’ Rake asked.
‘I . . . I just think it’s the best way to go,’ she muttered.
Rake stared at her for a minute. The way she was pointing out wasn’t the most direct route. It would take longer. For reasons he didn’t understand, he nodded to her.
‘Over here!’ he called to the others, jumping onto a roller-co
aster car as it passed them.
It was just starting to slow down as it hit an upward slope. They all leaped on board and it rolled up to the peak of the track. Rake used the height to take a good look around, noting the dozens of androids appearing in the park. They were blocking all the exits.
‘Where are they all coming from?’ he muttered.
Then the breath was taken out of his lungs as the car plunged down the steep slope on the track, tilting round a sharp bend and racing through a loop-the-loop. They whirled out the other side.
‘What are we doing?’ Oddball shouted over the noise of the wheels on the tracks.
‘We’re going to jump!’ Rake yelled back.
‘What?!’ the other three shouted back.
‘There – where it passes the fence!’ Rake roared again. ‘Jump! Now!’
The roller coaster slowed down . . . a little. Leaping from the car, they flew over the fairground fence and tumbled and crashed into a large clump of bushes on the other side. The sirens were still blaring. This was just as well, for Hoax had no armour and he yelled his lungs out as he landed in a bundle of thorns, swearing at the top of his voice.
As the four cadets dragged themselves out from the bushes, brushing twigs and leaves off their bodies, the sirens got louder and faster. Suddenly, all the fairground lights went off, the rides froze in place and floodlights came on.
‘Citizens,’ a voice spoke over huge speakers that carried the sound all over the funfair. ‘There are criminals in the area. Stay right where you are. Have your identification discs ready. Do not move and you will not be hurt.’
Gun turrets started rising out of the ground at the corners of the funfair. The tramping of armoured feet grew steadily louder, as more and more troops marched into the area. The four cadets looked around desperately, then ducked under the arch of a low footbridge for cover. The noise seemed to be coming from every direction.
‘We have to get over to the building Salt told us about,’ Rake panted. ‘They’ll have us surrounded in no time.’