Parahan, 2nd Edition

by Kevin Brown

  “Of course,” Taehan said. “We are most honored and will remember this consideration.” He waved in the direction of the machine. “This must be the robot parantan I’ve heard about.”

  “Yes,” Chanman said, “it is the flagship robot of the Planet Total Defense Force. But I feel it is more armor than robot.”

  “Armor?”

  “You will not know what I mean until you operate it.”

  “I see. I envy the soldiers of the Planet Total Defense Force since they have the opportunity to get into the parantan in person.”

  Chanman thought for a moment and then said, “You shall have your chance.”

  “Really?” Taehan could hardly contain his excitement. “It will be an honor if you permit me!”

  “Good!” He turned to a nearby soldier and said, “Bring a practice parantan here!”

  “Yes, sir!” the soldier said and ran towards the training ground.

  Taehan decided to put aside the real reason for coming here for a while since he didn’t need to complete a specific mission, anyway.

  Operating a parantan wasn’t a bad way to pass the time!

  A white parantan stopped in front of him. Taehan supposed the color distinguished it as a practice machine since the others were gray. The front cover of the parantan soon opened and the soldier sitting inside looked calmly at Taehan, but didn’t move

  Chanman made a ‘huh’ sound to express his irritation. “What are you waiting for?” He said to the soldier. “Get out so he can get in!”

  “You have not ordered me to get out…”

  “Get out immediately and march forward fifteen steps. Do an about-face and then stand at attention!”

  “Yes! Yes, sir…”

  The soldier got out of the parantan and did exactly what he was ordered to do

  “Hop in,” Chanman said to Taehan.

  “Yes, commander!”

  Taehan stepped closer to the parantan and put a foot on the step sitting between the robot’s legs. Then he climbed up and seated himself without any hesitation whatsoever. But it felt more like standing than sitting, even though his bottom was on the seat. Since the parantan was so big, he did not feel like he was wearing armor at all. Rather, ‘on board’ was a more appropriate expression.

  “Shall we start?” Chanman said.

  The front door of the parantan closed the instant Chanman finished speaking. Then, Taehan felt something tightening around his entire body, including his arms and legs. He was so tightly gripped he could not properly move his body. Something came up over his face and enveloped his head, as if it was stroking his hair. Chanman’s face appeared from a small, round-shaped screen in front of him and began to speak.

  “The parantan is not a robot. It has no intelligence. It only moves as you move. You have to try to think of wearing armor rather than steering it. You will adapt to it quicker that way.”

  “Okay.”

  “Alright, let’s move your arm.”

  Taehan recognized that the force which had affixed his body was released. So, he lifted his right arm high, imagining that he was wearing armor. Although it was hard to feel like he was wearing armor, he noticed that the parantan’s right arm lifted, mimicking his movement.

  He lifted his left arm. The parantan’s left arm moved copied him effortlessly. He operated his left and right arms several times in turn and each time it felt more comfortable than the last. He moved his arms back and forth for a few minutes, swinging them vigorously as if he was punching someone. He practiced various poses and movements and felt more familiar with how the machine worked with each passing minute. Now he understood the meaning of ‘armor’ a bit better.

  “Let’s take a walk now!” Chanman said on the screen.

  “Yes, sir!”

  Taehan lifted his left leg, then his right leg. The parantan’s legs faithfully followed his movements. Then he mimicked walking movements, and even though it felt unnatural, the parantan began to waddle forward along the ground.

  “You are talented!” Chanman said admiringly, and then laughed. “I wonder if you learn faster than others because you race cars?”

  “Do you think I am talented?”

  “Of course, why would I lie? But you would have to practice at length in order to perform real combative actions. Our basic training for that skill alone is sixty days!”

  Taehan continued to waddle and managed to walk better than he had a few minutes earlier.

  “Do you know the advantage of parantans compared to culcoons?” Chanman asked.

  The culcoon was a type of robot that moved based on its own intelligence and was the representative weapon of Taebakun. Chanman boarded his parantan and picked up a fist-sized stone from the ground and threw it into the air. As the stone peaked in the sky and began dropping, he jumped in the air and used the parantan’s right leg to kick it… hard. The stone flew high into the sky, arced out over the training field and landed so far in the distance it was lost to all their senses.

  “The parantan has the advantage of using the reflexes of its operator and combining them with the robust strength and toughness of a machine,” Chanman said confidently. “Self-intelligent robots like culcoons can only achieve these results when pigs learn to fly. They can only attack and defend with dull, pre-determined moves. They don’t have six senses or reflexes.”

  Chanman had always been proud of being a soldier, and of the weapons he used. One reason was what he had gained by being a professional soldier. He received better benefits than most, and society treats soldiers noticeably better than most others. However, his pride was not necessarily derived from such secular benefits and social treatment. He believed military life was an obligation, a unique duty. Many people who knew Chanman agreed with his philosophy. They admired him and followed him.

  “You said you’d taken military science before?” Chanman asked again.

  “I only know the basics.”

  “I am willing to explain the history of weapons since you are here.”

  “I would appreciate it,” Taehan answered back hastily, as if he had waited for just such an invitation.

  “Sochan might be bored, though.” Taehan looked at her, feeling badly that he had forgotten about her in the excitement of being able to operate a parantan.

  “Please explain it, commander. I’m also interested in military science,” she said, watching the bandan screen.

  At first impression, she didn’t look like someone who had taken multiple courses in military science or would be able to actively participate in conversations related to this topic, let alone have opinions on the subject. Since Chanman did not know of Sochan’s background, he seemed genuinely concerned with not being able to better entertain her. But after hearing of her interest, he understood; to people interested in military science, the history of war and weapons is always fascinating.

  Taehan focused Chanman from inside his parantan while Sochan listened to him speak through the bandan.

  “In ancient times,” Chanman began, “our ancestors made various materials into sharp and pointed shapes. They used them as offensive weapons. The sword and spear are good examples. At the same time, they developed defensive weapons, such as shields and armor.”

  “I have heard about the spear and sword,” Taehan said.

  “Of course. Do you also know that the development of defense weapons, such as shields and armor, was much faster than that of offensive weapons, such as swords and spears?”

  “I did not know that.”

  “Our ancestors were more focused on researching armor and shields to protect themselves rather than developing offensive weapons to defend themselves. Protective instincts played more of an important part. Consequently, armor and shields were developed in various forms for a long time. They could protect people from the majority of weapons.

  It remained that way for a long time; swords and spears became nothing against shields and armor. Defensive weapons became too strong and offensive weapons were unable
to exert their power. In military science, this period is defined as ‘defense is superior to attack’. Like today’s warfare.”

  “I’ve heard that the form of the ancient battle is very similar to today’s battle,” Taehan said.

  “It’s funny to think about how present battles have returned to the form of ancient battle. In ancient times, the majority of battles were close-distance combat. The defensive power was better than the offensive power. In ancient warfare people approached each other to tangle, roll, and fight. People took shields away to beat and poke the weak points of the other person’s armor with swords and spears… to the death.

  People were alerted to the phenomenon and began to research offensive weapons in earnest from at a certain point in time. They knew they needed to change. Over time, exponential numbers of people wanted this change. But in the early days these efforts were only minor trials with little influence. Later on, many offensive weapons were created that were powerful enough to change the pattern of war. New weapons that could easily destroy existing defense systems astonished and shocked people. Then the race was on to create bigger, more powerful weapons than their enemies.

  The era of ‘attack is superior to defense’ began from this point forward. Then modern warfare finally began to take shape where opponents could destroy from great distances and neutralize key attacks in order to clinch a victory for themselves. During this time, defense became known as nothing more than hiding. The offensive-oriented battle, from then on, continued for a long time until material called Pan was invented.”

  “I know that the invention of Pan was not very long ago,” Taehan said.

  “Precisely, Pan was invented only 200 years ago. The invention changed the form of warfare once again. Pan has the characteristic of being able to get into the gaps between particles and then binding them firmly together. It has shifted the face of war back to an era of ‘defense is superior to attack.’ Defensive weapons made with the aid of Pan were too strong for the current offensive powers being used against them.

  “The art of battle has now returned to its more ancient form. The typical war scene is to approach each other, tangle, fight, and throw massive gun power at the enemy’s weak spot until they are overcome. In the end, that kind of battle continued to the present time.”

  “I see. It sounds more realistic as I hear it on the training ground,” Taehan said.

  “I am a soldier, and, in my point of view it looks like the development of our weapons has been much slower. This is compared to the other advanced technologies of our contemporaries, especially when compared to artillery and firearms. I wish we would have paid more attention to these types of weapons. If so, we would have much greater firepower. We could have become the strongest among all universes…”

  “Yes, I agree with you,” Taehan said. “However, we have this reliable parantan!”

  “Of course. The parantan is so reassuring and strong, and I know many people in recent years have compared Hoon’s parantan to Taebakun’s culcoon. But in reality, the parantan is far superior to the culcoon, which almost becomes a toy next to the strength and power of the parantan. Recent experiments showed that one parantan could handle seven to ten culcoons at once.”

  “I am so reassured to see a parantan,” Sochan said, “even though I have never seen a culcoon.”

  “You’ve got a lot here that will make people feel better, Chanman,” Taehan said.

  “Is that right?” Chanman asked, smiling as he came down out of his parantan. “It is getting dark. Let’s get inside and have dinner.”

  Taehan emerged from his training parantan and hurried to catch up with Sochan and Chanman who had already started walking toward the waiting transport vehicle that has brought them here. Once they were all onboard, the soldier operating the craft headed toward the headquarters building, reversing the way they had come.

  “Look over there.”

  Chanman pointed to his far left when the vehicle was halfway to its destination. There was a wide opening with a dozen unfamiliar weapons lined up along one side and each rigid structure had a long object jutting out on top.

  “Do you want to take a look at the electromagnetic railgun?” Chanman asked.

  “The electromagnetic railgun?”

  “It’s only been recently developed.”

  “I’ve seen a lot of fantastic things today owing to your favor,” Taehan said.

  “I am pleased to see your appreciation.”

  Chanman ordered the soldier to stop at the electromagnetic railgun training site so the vehicle slowed down gradually and stopped near the row of guns.

  “This gun is as powerful and graceful as the parantan, although it may seem ordinary at first glance” Chanman said while exiting the vehicle.

  “Is it a type of cannon?” Taehan asked.

  “Yes, it is. But its destructive power is incomparably stronger than an ordinary cannon.”

  Chanman moved to one of the electromagnetic railguns.

  “You can say that Pan has neutralized the destructive power of existing range weapons, so the Institute of Military Science has persistently conducted studies to develop a range weapon that can destroy Pan. They have made remarkable achievements in recent years. Using the electromagnetic force, they were able to create a gun that fires shells at breakneck velocity. They have completed various tests, but have not yet executed a battle simulation.”

  Chanman looked at Taehan and continued, “The only weakness of the electromagnetic railgun is that it takes too much time to collect energy again after firing a shell. It would be invincible if it could continuously fire shells…” his voice trailed off and Taehan noticed he sounded almost sad.

  Giving his head a little shake, Chanman turned to Sochan. “You must be very hungry. I want to talk to you more while eating. Let’s get inside.”

  “Time flies. It was such a fun and valuable time,” she said.

  “Really? Thank you for saying that.”

  Chanman walked to the internal transport vehicle. Taehan glanced at Sochan to see how she thought they should proceed. They had to be in consensus. She sent him a signal to proceed as he had been. For the rest of the day, they would simply enjoy the remaining time with Chanman and put all other things aside.

  Out into the World 9

  Time passed and the day to take action finally came. In the leadership office the supreme leaders and deputy leaders representing five continents gathered to discuss important issues affecting the Planet Hoon. Daekhan was attending the leadership meeting as planned in advance. It was also planned that the members of ‘Silence in the Storm’ and the Capital Defense Unit would storm the chamber all at once during the meeting. They would arrest all members of the leadership in one time, in one place. Yachan, the commander of the Special Operations Force had decided to join the mission and Taehan reported that Chanman, the commander of the Planet Total Defense Force had not shown any unusual behavior. Finally, the promised day had come. The revolutionary army was moving forward in the big mission. The 500 elite soldiers of the Capital Defense Unit, led by Hanmoo, and members of ‘Silence in the Storm’ planned to write a new chapter into Hoon’s history.

  Members of the leadership were concentrated so thoroughly on the meeting they didn’t notice the unusual atmosphere. Daekhan looked at the free clock on the edge of the wall. The promised time was getting closer and closer. He rarely got tense, but he could not help but be thrilled. It was a crucial moment in the success or failure of his life.

  Daekhan, like other members, had not originally planned a revolution, but he had no doubt that it would bear fruit if he poured constant persuasion and effort into the leadership and the military. That was true when he formed the secret organization. But the supreme leaders of the leadership were worse than expected. They were heavily armed with selfishness, so Daekhan had thoroughly learned that the ongoing effort was not enough. The more time passed, the more he was sure of that.

  The military was also aware of the le
adership’s firm attitude. The fate of the military was to unconditionally obey the order of the leadership. Therefore, the opinion of the military could not be different from them. Daekhan had made several strong proposals requesting the leadership to prepare for the invasion, but he had repeatedly failed to move the military and he could not see how to get through the difficulties. He could not find any light in the total darkness of the situation. In the process of persuading the supreme leaders of the leadership, Taehan and Santan were falsely accused and sent to the camp. It could be considered a light punishment for the charge of revolt. In any regard, it was a ridiculous charge.

  Daekhan realized he had only one thought at this moment.

  The supreme leaders of the leadership also considered the possibility of a revolt…

  Daekhan also considered the revolt as an option. It was an unrealistic desire sleeping quietly in his subconsciousness, just like the desire of living somewhere alone, abandoning everything, including the organization. In that aspect, the supreme leaders of the leadership awakened the thought that had been hidden in his mind. If he revealed his intention, it would have been risky and increased the probability of failure, so Daekhan sowed and grew the big plan in his mind all the while working hard not to neglect the activities of the organization.

  He spent two years without changing anything.

  After careful thought, he decided to announce his intention to the other members of the organization. Today, finally, he was to make a move.

  Daekhan began to dream of being a supreme leader when he was young. He had grown up watching, reading and hearing stories of the way virtue always won over vice. Vice was rampant in all the stories, although the details of its expression varied based on the stories. However, and there was no exception – virtue was always realized. It was so obvious. To him, the victory of vice over virtue was an unacceptable condition, such as a story of a pup giving birth to its mother. In reality, though, things that happened with his peers were not always like that. Sometimes evil people won over the good ones by using force. Sometimes he could not resist the force.