by Ross Buzzell
“Team yellow, Bara’Helor, removed from action.”
The frustrated female cadet slams her weapon’s hilt on the ground. She takes a deep breath and centers herself before reluctantly congratulating her fellow cadets.
“A nice job guys, good call Konner; focus is something I need to work on.”
Bara turns and begins to leave the compound. Konner approaches his team.
“Nice work guys, Disa you grab the flag. Man’Sanfur and myself will cover your exit.”
A look of confusion gradually forms on Disa’anis face, followed by nervous terror.
“You didn’t take her out?”
Man’Sanfur laughs and bumps Disa’ani with his elbow.
“Did you hear a horn? Get moving. Nice distraction by the way Konner.”
Konner taps the side of his head as both the soldiers follow Disa’ani to the flag.
“Know your enemy. Capital rule for this year’s training.”
Disa’ani grows closer to the flag. Konner notices Man’Sanfur look up, his eyes darting back and forth as if he were tracking something.
“I think we may have a visitor. You think we should warn Disa?”
Man’Sanfur looks over at Konner with an ornery smile on his lips. Konner looks up and notes that the ceiling was layered with walking paths to allow for a home field advantage; a faint glow gives away Jil’Thorin’s position. Konner turns to his friend and shakes his head. Putting his finger to his lips Konner slowly walks over behind Man’Sanfur on the right side.
“Think you can get me up there?”
Man’Sanfur measures the distance; he shrugs with a smile before looking back at his ally.
“You think you can get a running start?”
Konner nods. He backs up a few paces then charges forward toward Man’Sanfur. The cadet grips Konner’s clothes as hard as he can. Konner leaps from the ground just as Man’Sanfur throws Konner with all his might toward the glow on the walking path. Konner begins to lose altitude earlier than expected and he begins to flail his arms and legs in a mild panic. Just as he passes under the walking path Konner’s hand barely catches the edge which jerks him to a swinging stop. Konner looks down to see his team far below and Disa’ani walking into the soft light ring that surrounds the final two meters to the flag. Lights begin to blink a soft red as a warning sound emanates from the Zeta base. Konner pulls himself up onto the walking path and looks at the source of the glow. Sitting on the walking path is Jil’Thorin’s weapon, activated but unaccompanied. Konner quickly turns around and screams at Disa’ani.
“Disa she’s cloaked get out!”
Before Disa has a chance to react Konner sees a mild distortion between Disa’ani and the flag. As Jil’Thorin moves, her cloaking gives way. A powerful fist flies through the air and contacts the center of Disa’ani’s chest. Konner grabs Jil’Thorin’s weapon and begins to run frantically across the walking path keeping his eyes on Disa and Jil. Disa’ani ignites a second spear, he jabs at Jil who dodges his attack, closes the distance between the two and gets her hands on Disa’ani’s third backup spear. Man’Sanfur charges toward them to help out his team mates but Jil hurls Disa’ani’s spear at Man’Sanfur which finds its mark in his chest. The cadet stops running as the announcement rings out of his defeat.
“Well I got closer than anyone else, so I’m good.”
Man’Sanfur says as he shrugs off the defeat. He finds his way to the nearest wall and leans against it to observe the rest of the fight. Konner gets right above the flag, knowing if he got there Disa would not be the center of Jil’s rage. Konner drops down. He hears the battle between his friend and Jil behind him. Konner lands less than a meter away from the flag. Slowly he wraps his fingers around the cold metal pole and with a firm jerk the flag gives way. Konner turns to see Jil holding Disa’ani from the back, his spear against his throat.
“Put the flag back or Disa here is taken out of the fight.”
Her tone is cold and unemotional, unlike her other team mate. Disa struggles but is held in place.
“Konner you can return the flag before she catches you. Win this for us.”
Konner pauses for a moment. He observes the room in its entirety. Noting the unwavering devotion to her mission and not wanting to lose another team member. Konner realizes he may have another way to win. Konner crouches and sets down the flag. Slowly he steps away from it and toward Disa’ani.
“There, let him go and you and I can finish this; just you and me.”
Jil’Thorin smiles; she nods before kneeing Disa in the back of his leg. The cadet cries out in pain and falls to his knees. Jil lets out a primal battle ready roar as she drags Disa’ani’s spear across the top of Disa’s head burning his hair off on the left side of his scalp. As she moves for the kill Konner throws Jil’Thorin’s weapon at her which knocks the spear from Jil’s hand. Holding Disa’ani’s third spear, she ignites it and hurls the weapon at Konner who is exposed from his throw. Konner gets a bead on the flying weapon. Instead of righting himself, Konner moves into a roll. He uses his momentum to throw himself off the ground. Konner spins through the air as the spear passes beneath him. The prince throws his hand out and gripping the spears handle he pulls the weapon from the air and into his rotation. Konner turns his head and begins to track his target as she moves for her weapon. As Konner comes down to land, he releases the spear with all of his force, in the blink of an eye the spear finds its mark and removes Jil’Thorin from the fight. The horn sounds as her disqualification rings out. The dark base has all of its lights activated flooding it with blinding light. A clap rings out as Jil, Man’Sanfur and Konner turn their attention toward it. Disa’ani, still on the ground holds the side of his head in shock at what Jil had done. Ja’Sanfur and Ti’Zellor both approach the cadets.
“Very well done Alpha squad; you are officially the first to defeat Zeta in Capture the Flag.”
Ja’sanfur’s voice brims with pride. She looks over at her son who now approaches his team and Man’Sanfur looks over at his mother as he helps Disa’ani to his feet. Konner approaches the generals and places a fist on his chest in salute to the two. They reciprocate. Konner looks at Ti’Zellor as he addresses the general. The murmur of the four cadets behind him barely catches Konner’s attention. The distinct whine of Disa’ani rings out above the rest about the fact that he was half bald. Konner asks:
“General Ti’Zellor, how did our defending team do?”
Ti’Zellor responds with an impressed tone.
“They did very well; in fact, aside from Man’Sanfur, none of your team was disqualified while all of Zeta Squad was taken out. Report to the cadet room for debriefing, General Sal’Der waits with the rest of your squads. Cadets, move out!”
his voice boomed with the command. At that moment, Man’Sanfur, Disa’ani, Bara’Helor and Jil’Thorin all line up behind Konner, saluting the generals in unison. They all call out together.
“SIR, YES SIR!”
On Konner’s lead they all begin to jog out of the base. As they do Konner keeps an ear locked on the generals, listening intently to their conversation while they speak in hushed voices.
“He has shown great promise as a leader and a very skilled soldier. One of the best I’ve ever seen.”
Ti’Zellor addresses his colleague; her voice is in total agreement with her fellow general.
“I agree. There is only one other soldier I have ever seen that could be better than he. I would like to formally nominate Konner Lorian to be part of the Cryptea…”
Konner’s heart leaps with excitement as he hears the nomination. They exit the base to see a wormhole held open for them. Blue energy flairs off of the hole in space. Konner pauses and halts the company by holding up a fist. A smile forms on his lips as he sees the cadet room on the far side of the wormhole. Konner takes a step to the side, facing his fellow cadets, in a commanding tone, with his hands down to his side and his body ridged he barks out the order.
“Cadets, through the worm
hole!”
One by one the teenagers get a running start and leap through the wormhole. After the last goes through Konner turns to face the gateway to another place on the planet. He takes a few steps back and gets a running start. Konner sprints at the portal and leaps into the air; he tucks his knees into his chest as he passes through the wormhole. A slight sensation of concussion warps throughout his body, as it does to everyone who uses teleportation devices on the planet. The first few times Konner had used them the trip ended with gut wrenching bouts of vomiting. Having become accustomed to the teleporting, the sensation had greatly lessoned to a novel sensation, not even discomfort.
Konner extends his legs as he passes through. He lands on the slick floor of the grey debriefing room, he slides to a stop and the wormhole closes behind him. The other nineteen cadets as well as Sal’Der all look at Konner; the young prince was easily bored with the mundane action of walking through the portals, so each time he would use the teleporters, he had to do something flashy, not for the attention of others but for his own entertainment. Feeling the harsh stair of all forty eyes on him, Konner looks at Sal’Der, a young general with long black hair that falls in front of his face. His armor, unlike the other military officers, is grey instead of black, like Konner he was by no means the largest of the other Boronian soldiers; he was not even average height but rather a little smaller in stature. Sal’Der did not let this detour him from climbing the ranks to the rank of Triad General, being one of three generals in charge of all military action across Boron. The former head of the Triad, General; Do’Zellor had been demoted and sent on wasteland patrol after the Training Grounds incident with Konner six years prior. This resulted in the promotion of Ti’Zellor to the head of the Triad. The young prince waves slightly as he sits down next to his now half bald ally Disa’ani.
“Sorry sir, I did not mean to distract.”
Sal’Der pulls up a hologram of both defending squads and both attacking squads, as the events play out as they did just moments prior. Sal’Der begins to speak.
“Cadets, what we are watching is a replay of the Capture the Flag exercise. Alpha team won by eliminating the entire opposing team through the use of traps in defense instead of head on confrontation. This was the deciding factor to the victory of the defense for Alpha team. Can anyone tell me why Zeta Squad was unable to attain a similar affect?”
Bara’Helor slowly stands to her feet.
“I lost my concentration and battle field awareness. I allowed my senses to be impaired by my singular wish to take out Konner, and as a result I was flanked.”
Sal’Der points to her and nods.
“Yes, that was one of them. Can anyone tell me the second fatal mistake?”
No response, a pin could drop and the sound would be more deafening than the painful silence. Konner looks around and studies each person’s face; they all look at the hologram and are either unable or unwilling to say anything. Konner looks over at Jil’Thorin who is clearly not paying attention and is upset at the loss of her flawless record. Konner’s vision drifts over to Disa’ani who rubs the bald skin on his head. It was clear to Konner but he wanted his fellow cadets to get it without his help. “Come on guys, it was because of a desire for revenge, you got this.” Konner thinks to himself. After a few more moments of painful silence, Sal’Der speaks up and explains.
“Jil’Thorin needed vengeance. While her tactics were genius, distract and divide the enemy forces. There was a moment where you had both Konner and Disa’ani dead to rights. What do you do instead of taking a prisoner or ending the battle? Jil you holo-burned Disa’ani’s head in revenge for his prank on you and that cost you your team; Cadets, when in battle if you let things get personal like Jil’Thorin did, not only will you not succeed in your mission but none of your team will return home. Do you want to carry that weight?”
Sal’Der’s voice grew more frustrated with each word of his speech. At the end he leans against a desk and shakes his head.
“Zeta squad, you are to report to the Training Grounds every day for the rest of the week. There maybe, just maybe, the Battle Master can beat the ‘taking it personally’ out of you so you can work as the unit you use to. Dismissed!”
The cadets rise to their feet and begin to funnel out of the room into the Sol’lor Academy corridors. As Konner moves to leave, Sal’Der places a hand on his chest. The prince looks at the general.
“Sir?”
“Konner, you are to report to the High Council immediately.”
Konner nods. His heart rate rises as Sal’Der allows him to pass, the High Council? That could only mean one thing, the nomination went through and he was to interview for a spot on the elite Cryptea squadron.
Chapter 4
The capitol city of Boron, Caelum, is a heavenly city whose buildings are formed from smooth crystal of a variety of colors. The buildings reach high, block by block as if to try and touch the sky, the sunlight is not obscured by the crystalline structures but rather refracts through them illuminating the ground with a variant of hues the likes of which not even the imagination had names for. Konner takes in the beauty of Caelum as he had rarely walked the city’s streets; few soldiers of his age had. Every moment of their free time is filled with training and fighting and if not that, then they were deep in their studies of battle history, tactics and strategy. Konner’s eyes scan over the breathtaking flawlessness of the city, hardly paying attention to where he was going, only following General Sal’Der by the sound of his heavy footsteps.
Konner scans each and every Boronian that scurries from place to place. A few are dressed in armor, some are dressed in robes but most have donned a simple garb that flows down their bodies like waterfalls. Each article a different color but all are donned with each individual’s family crest either on their chest or on their shoulder. None went anywhere without their crest aglow or at the very least visible. A small group of four younger Boronians no more than six years older than Konner from the youth in their faces, stand in a circle and play music for the passersby. They do this, not as a means of begging but rather to share themselves and their specific set of gifts with everyone that will listen. Their music dances through the air and fills Konner’s ears. It is sweet and melodious. The purity of the young woman’s voice sends chills down Konner’s spine as she sings a native lullaby in a higher tempo.
The distraction of the young, golden haired Boronian minstrel causes Konner to lurch violently to a stop as he collides side-face first into a suit of armor. Konner looks up for a moment as his focus re-centers itself to see Sal’Der looking down at him; Sal’Der speaks exactly four commanding words to him as his eyes rest forward.
“Eyes forward. Mind clear.”
Konner’s attention is redirected toward a massive building constructed of white marble; one of the few on the entire planet constructed of such a substance that was not a royal house. A massive clearing is ahead of the young prince, with no crystalline skyscrapers but rather an enormous single structure of white marble which seems to be carved from one massive piece. This, the senate building is the culmination of all politics within the planet, every law, every debate. They all passed through here before moving onto the High King who would approve or disapprove based on what was fair for the people. Awe stricken yet again Konner’s head falls back with a limp jerk as he allows his gaze to lazily scan upward toward the massive structure’s flat roof, so enthralled with the magnificence of the Senate Building Konner, is oblivious to the fact that his feet have stopped moving.
“Konner!”
The bark of Sal’Der snaps Konner’s attention back to him. The general was several meters ahead of the prince. Konner springs forward and jogs toward Sal’Der, quickly closing the gap.
“Sorry sir. I’ve just never seen such a massive building up close before.”
Konner’s tone is apologetic for his momentary lapse in focus.
“The Cryptea do not get to be sorry Konner. You must remain focused at all time on
your task at hand. We go over this daily in training.”
Konner nods as he buries his excitement under a veneer of focus while deep inside butterflies flutter throughout his stomach in anticipation. Sal’Der and Konner both ascend the slight hill that gradually slants toward the Senate Building which has no steps in or out, only a gradual incline toward its entrances. Boronians scurry in and out of the Senate Building, adorned in the finest of robes to be surpassed by only the royal families. This is the epicenter of Boronian life, where everything from the lowly energy law to the movements of the military are decided. Konner remains close behind Sal’Der. As they grow closer to the structure’s doors, they enter into the radiant lobby of the building. Konner looks around once more in awe; he looks around and soaks in everything he sees. Teleportation portals, bustling with small crowds, are open against the walls waiting to bring any bureaucrat to any other part of the structure. Sal’Der turns and looks at his cadet.