“Are your feet cooled down now?” she laughed and grinned.
The crowd was silent about what had just happened in a blink of an eye.
“Does anyone else have a belief?” she mockingly asked as she looked around the crowd. Some Snargde shook their heads, and others were still as a statue.
“Good. Now that’s out of the way; we can get back to rule Snakardekus.” She smiled and opened her mouth as she moved her claw up to her mouth as her forked tongue licked her right arm. “Tastes fresh like defiance.”
◆◆◆
On the other side of Snakardekus, dawn had just broken. The fresh morning air was beginning to dissolve as the sun was taking its place. Standing on the sand stood the other rebel group whose leader was J’uhleesa. He was facing the group from inside the mouth of a cave. J’uhleesa wore a brown robe that covered his face and draped over his body with his tail protruding out from a hole. Underneath the robe, J’uhleesa’s body was green and speckled with tan color all over his scales. The robe seemed too big for his gangly frame. His followers duplicated his look, each wearing a brown robe. J’uhleesa stood at the threshold of the cave and began to speak.
“Do you know why we wear robes?” he asked the crowd.
As he spoke, his tongue did not get in the way of his speech, unlike other Snargde, he was able to control the movement of his tongue.
“We wear these to shield ourselves from the heat.” He answered his question as he extended his right arm and pointed out into the desert behind the Snargde.
“We belong here.”
J’uhleesa pointed his finger down to the cave floor.
“The caves are the perfect spot for us. To survive, we need shelter from the heat. The cave is the perfect spot. The heat is just too much; a prolonged period of being in the sun will surely kill us. I believe that we need to not be in the sun all the time.”
J’uhleesa walked towards the group, and they parted as he walked towards them. “Sure, food may be scarce in here, but that does not mean that we cannot outsmart our prey now, can it?” As he reached the end, he turned around and walked towards the cave to where he was standing before. “Watch this.”
A noise came from inside of the cave, J’uhleesa looked around and above him. He had bent down and got down on all fours and ran up the side of the cave. The group of Snargde was curious about what J’uhleesa was doing. J’uhleesa jumped down from the roof of the cave and turned around and knocked something with his thick tail. The thing fell to the ground, as the blow from his tail paralyzed it. J’uhleesa walked to it, bent down, and picked it up, and then he stood up, turned around, and walked towards the group and held it high for them to see.
“Look food. Not so scarce, huh? Bet you didn’t see that sleeping up there.”
The creature was small and hairy, and it had long wings of fur, and its ears were big for its head. The beak of it was short and sharp, and the feet were flat, not much use for those except to walk.
“Come, let me guide you, and I will show you how we can live in the caves without having to deal with dreadful heat from the sun.”
J’uhleesa held out his hand that was not holding the creature.
“Especially the desert sand and creatures that inhabit it.”
J’uhleesa held up the creature again to show the group and stopped talking as he moved the animal close to his face. J’uhleesa moved his mouth and chomped down on its head and ripped its head off from the body. Blue blood squirted out from the opening and onto his robe and the floor of the cave and released a dank odor. J’uhleesa was used to that smell, but other Snargde covered their snouts with their hands as he continued to eat it.
“I will teach you how to hunt,” J’uhleesa spoke while blue liquid running down his snout and onto his robe. “I can teach you what you need to know to survive on Snakardekus.”
One of the Snargde who was holding his snout from the odor removed his claw and blurted out, “Who made you in charge of us? Huh!?”
J’uhleesa threw the creature on the ground and walked towards the direction of the Snargde that shouted.
“Well, you see here, I am much older, wiser, faster, and stronger than all of you. Which by those requirements, I believe I would be in charge.” He admitted proudly.
“I doubt you are stronger than I am! What about the others? Why should we listen to you?” The Snargde asked, and some others chimed in cheering him on. J’uhleesa looked around and saw the camaraderie among the Snargde growing under the words that one Snargde had spoken.
J’uhleesa raised his voice as he spoke. “Well, I have protected you this long, haven’t I? I have clothed you, and I have taught you how to feed yourselves. You would not follow me if you did not believe me one bit.” Blue blood from the creature fell from his mouth to the ground as J’uhleesa spoke.
“You have done nothing for us! You are greedy and have only fed yourself!” The Snargde’s mouth was wide open, saliva spewing as he yelled.
I could stand here and argue and prove my point, but they won’t listen. These Snargde are naïve. There is nothing more that I can do to persuade them otherwise.
J’uhleesa wiped the remaining blood from his mouth with his wrist.
“How about you leave then? If I haven’t done anything for you or shown you how to survive, then leave my presence and join M’leezenah and her Snargde.” J’uhleesa stated sincerely with his arms open wide. “Go on and leave.”
The Snargde that started the uproar and a few others turned around and walked into the desert horizon and soon were gone.
“Looks like some of you are not fully convinced to follow me, huh?”
J’uhleesa looked around the cave and did not see a single Snargde flinch.
“Well, hopefully, all of you that didn’t leave still want me to continue teaching you, is that it?”
The Snargde was quiet. J’uhleesa waited for a response as he looked around at the Snargde. Slowly, one by one, the Snargde got on all fours with their heads bowed. More Snargde following until every Snargde was bowing at J’uhleesa’s feet.
J’uhleesa smiled and moved his arms in front of him inside of his robe and started to speak.
“With your unspoken word and your unwavering loyalty to me, I will continue to be your teacher until you learn everything that there is to survive on Snakardekus. I have lived for forty years without error. I will teach you how to fight, how to kill, what to eat, and what not to eat. Who to trust, how to survive in groups, and by your lonesome. I have to know if you are fully committed to obeying my commands.”
The Snargde continued to lay down on all fours with their heads bowed in agreement.
“You Snargde are young and smart. There is room for growth in all of you.” J’uhleesa smiled.
“With me as your teacher, I promise you we will win this civil war,” J’uhleesa spoke as he moved his hands out in front of him. “We will show them who the superior Snargde is!”
J’uhleesa made a fist with his bloodied hand and held it up high.
“To the rightful, Snargde!” J’uhleesa yelled.
The group of Snargde looked up at J’uhleesa and stood on two legs as they mimicked him by holding their claw in a fist and yelled at once in unison.
“To the rightful, Snargde!”
CHAPTER THREE
General Deschner was standing with his arms behind his back, looking out the window inside of the conference room of the USV Valkanaut and saw Nuwurth underneath.
The USV Valkanaut, or the United Syndicate Vehicle Valkanaut which was the official meeting spacecraft that the Syndicate uses while outside of Nuwurth. In the distance behind General Deschner through the window was a glimpse of Snakardekus and Varenok.
General Deschner walked to his chair, which is at the head of the table, facing the door. He leans back in his chair with his arms resting on the armrests. This chair has been his seat for many decades; he had worn it down so much that the chair seemed to have molded around his body. The color used to be a
vibrant red, but now it is a faded crimson.
As he was waiting for the generals to join him, General Deschner looked to his left, then he looked to his right, looking out of the windows that are nearest to him. He moves his head to his left and right, and all that he can see are four windows, two on each side of him.
As far as the eye could see was space. A black canvass sprinkled with white glistening dots everywhere. Above the table were hanging bright lights that filled the entire room with their glow. General Deschner always seemed to have a youthful look to his stature even though he was eighty-three years of age. Still young for a transhuman, though.
His onyx colored hair was slicked back; it was sprayed with a styling gel that allowed his hair to be styled in any way that he so chooses. On his face, he had some facial hair, but it never seemed to grow beyond stubble. General Deschner was always stressed and nervous and seemed to shave in times of extreme anxiety. His eyes were the brightest blue you had ever saw. General Deschner wore his standard blue uniform. Three buttons moved down his shirt opened slightly. His pants matched the color of his shirt, and his boots were almost as black as his hair.
Each side of his shoulders and along his chest were patches of military achievements with various symbols. The achievements were in various shapes, some looked like a mixture of languages, and another was a circle with multiple colors inside of it. The achievements had been worn for many years, due to their loss of sheen to them.
General Deschner looked at the hologram door and noticed figures standing behind it.
“Come on in.”
The hologram doors opened and slid into the door frame, and the figures that stood by the door then proceeded to walk in the room. The first general that walked in was Lieutenant General Ryker Armitage, who was dressed in his typical attire, a crimson-colored uniform that buttoned up to his neck. Over his uniform, he had on a grey vest. Lieutenant General Armitage had jet black hair. On his face, he had one scar that was still fresh; it started from the left side of his chin to his left ear. He looked young, even though he was fifty-two years old. He had some facial hair that you could tell he had recently shaved.
Following him was the other Lieutenant General, Ayesha dee Veyra. She just had her forty-fifth birthday recently, and she looked young for her age. Her face was flawless. Her bright green eyes were the main feature of her face, and they were beautiful. Her lips matched her eyes, they looked thin but delicate. Her long black hair fell in between her shoulder blades and was tied together in one thick braid. Lieutenant General dee Veyra had a long canary-colored shirt with white cuffs that were pointed. Her suit pants were identical to her shirt, cuffs, and all. Her boots were measured three inches in a modest shade of black. Lieutenant General dee Veyra always wore outfits that were quite bright to the appearance. Over her eyes, she wore hologram glasses, which she seemed to wear quite frequently. These glasses were had a purple tint to them.
Following her were the four Major Generals, Zaiyah Lokhorst, Cade Solbrig, Kasra Brentari, and Matzen Reingle. The Major Generals all wore similar outfits, which were grey uniforms that looked similar to the other generals’ outfits, but some small differences were exclusive to them according to their division. Each general had the initials of the divisions stitched on the left side of their breast pocket.
Major General Lokhorst had shoulder-length black hair, her figure was curvaceous, and her demeanor was assertive. She had an earpiece in her left ear and wore a bracelet that covered her entire left arm which had a monitor on it that she could access alongside her INH Major General Lokhorst has served in the Syndicate as Major General for a little over a decade, she was thirty-two years of age.
Major General Solbrig’s entire left arm was robotic. He was one of the few that had surgery as a child. He wore a brown vest over his uniform. Major General Solbrig had short hair that he kept neatly trimmed. He was a military man and had served in the Syndicate as Major General his whole life. He is the oldest Major General at age sixty-three in the history of the Syndicate.
Major General Brentari’s brunette hair was pulled back in a ponytail with her bangs above her eyes. She is twenty-six years old and has served in the Syndicate for a handful of years. Her attire consisted of a white vest over her uniform that had pink, yellow, green, and blue lines and shapes all over it.
Major General Reingle wore a white overcoat over his uniform that he buttoned up to his neckline. This overcoat was used worn quite often, it shielded him from most toxins that he would deal with in his division. He has only served as Major General for two years. He is the youngest Major General at age twenty.
All the generals walked in a line and sat down at each one of the black chairs that were empty along with the table. When the generals sat down, underneath the chairs, a small square hole opened, and it started to levitate. The backs of the chairs were taller than the generals while they sat down. The last general to walk inside the room was Major General Reingle; as he walked in, he turned around and pressed a button by the door, and the doors closed. He grabbed the last remaining chair and sat down.
Across from General Deschner sat the two Lieutenant Generals Armitage and dee Veyra. On their sides sat the four major generals, two each that they managed. From General Deschners’ left to right sat the two Major Generals, Reingle and Solbrig, then Lieutenant General Armitage. Next to him sat Lieutenant General dee Veyra, next to her, were the last two Major Generals, Lokhorst and Brentari.
General Deschner glanced at each one of them before he spoke.
“The view from up here never gets old, huh?”
Some generals nodded their heads in agreement. Lieutenant General Armitage turned his head, looking at the window to his right and spoke.
“I agree. I’ve been Lieutenant General for twenty years, and the view never gets old. It amazes me.”
“It really is something, isn’t it?” General Deschner replied.
“Yes, sir, it is.” Lieutenant General dee Veyra chimed in. “Being up here in space makes the perspective of what we do doesn’t seem like much.”
“Oh really, you think so?” General Deschner asked.
“N-no General. Not like that. What we do has meaning! What I really meant was that-!”
“I know what you really meant, and it’s okay. I feel the same way, too.” General Deschner admitted, “After all these years, I understand.”
General Deschner pushed his chair back and stood up. He walked towards the window to his left and looked out of it and started to speak.
“I thank you all for coming here. You really had no choice, but nonetheless, I wanted to thank you for continuing to be a part of the Syndicate. Each one of you has been fulfilling your duties, and we have been progressing in all six divisions faster than before. That is only because of your efforts as generals.” He moved his right hand and pointed through the window.
“You see those two planets over there?”
The generals shifted in their chairs without standing up to try and see them. Without looking, General Deschner could tell what they were doing.
“Stand up and look.”
The generals stood up with a sheepish look on their faces and walked towards the two windows overlooking that side of the ship.
General Deschner pointed at the orange-colored planet and said its name, “Snakardekus.” Then looked at the dark blue planet in the distance and said its name, “Varenok.” He shook his head. “These two planets are the reason why we need to keep all the transhumans safe.”
“Do you really think Snakardekus and Varenok pose a threat?” Major General Reingle asked.
General Deschner turned around and looked at him, then he turned around and looked back at the planets. “Yes. I know for a fact that they pose a threat, in fact, maybe even a galactic war is imminent. Luckily, it hasn’t happened, but until we show the inhabitants who the superior race is, we will constantly stay in fear.”
Major General Reingle replied and held out his hands as she spoke. “Y
ou don’t think they know that we are the superior race? I mean for all we know the Snargde and Frochen are just tall tales, we don’t even know if they exist.” Major General Reingle exhaled. “Our ancestors somehow traveled many light-years away just to get here, and for what reason? We don’t know, but what we do know is that we, as a species, just appeared on Nuwurth overnight compared to the other two.”
“You might be right about that,” General Deschner agreed, “But they have to know who is in charge of the Tarkington system. What we do here affects our fellow transhumans in the future. I may not be the most intelligent being in the Tarkington system, but I will do everything in my power to make sure that future generations do not have to worry about this.”
General Deschner turned around and looked at all the generals, he could see the frustration in Major General Reingle’s eyes.
The Syndicate's Journey Page 3