Destiny Sorrow

by Rod S. Galves

  “Close enough for him to invite you to the Pharaoh's ball," Simeht commented. “And what do you do for a living?”

  Garreth was concerned about the direction of the conversation. However, Sorom was comfortable.

  “I have a group that helps people in need,” Sorom replied.

  “But what a noble job,” Dunna commented.

  “Not as noble as being a guardian of the God-Computer.” Answered Sorom humbly. “Do you get too nervous living in the Air Temple?”

  “It's pretty tedious actually," Dunna replied laughing. “We prepare all our lives to protect you, but nothing ever happens.”

  “It is a great honor,” Simeth replied earnestly. “Our job is not only to protect God, but also to ensure that everyone follows their destinies correctly.”

  “Everyone, including the chaotic ones?” Asked Sorom without holding on.

  Gerreth and Dunna looked at each other tensely and then back into their conversation:

  “What should that mean?” Asked Simeth offended. “Do you know what happened to me? Chaotic people have peaceful lives in CCCs, but Chaos Agents must be stopped!”

  “Have you ever been in a CCC?” Asked Sorom. “Because Garreth here can tell you that they are not at all peaceful.”

  “What is your problem?” Asked Simeht. “I'm not going to stand here and listen to this nonsense! I've had to come to this damn dance while I'm supposed to be looking for my daughter!”

  Simeht turned around and left the other men. Dunna showed a yellow smile and followed her boss.

  “Why did you do that?” Garreth asked.

  “These guardians annoy me. They think they're so special while the chaotic suffer. Just because the word on their arm says order.”

  “But is it smart to get into a fight with the leader of the Guardians of the Order, especially when no one knows your real identity?”

  Sorom snorted.

  “Things are going to change today. What about the Pharaoh? I guess you couldn't get me to talk to him.”

  “No way. He's probably just going to show up to say hi from afar and walk away. He prefers private parties.”

  A spark awakened in Sorom's brain.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “He has a special room in the Heart. No one is welcome in the entire hallway and he tries to be discreet, but everyone knows he's going to meet someone there.

  “Who?” asked Sorom.

  Garreth shrugged.

  “Do you know where this room is?” Continued Sorom interested.

  “No. He makes security redoubled when he goes there. That's why no one but the guards knows exactly where it is.

  Sorom's mind was burning thinking of plans when his communicator whistled. He went to a more discreet location and answered.

  “Chief, we have a problem.” Said Dijo's voice.

  “What is it?”

  “Norna just picked up the package. The others are already at the meeting point, but far from having enough material for entry.” Dijo said without being clear for fear that the transmission is being intercepted.

  “What about the opening?”

  “Willys is ready, but as soon as he triggers, there will be no turning back. I told Norna we'd give you 20 minutes, but we don't even know if we can wait that long. We hid it under a trash can, but I think someone's going to suspect it soon.”

  “Follow this schedule and enter the Heart immediately. I need you here. I've already got the tablet. Simeht didn't even notice.”

  “How are we going to do that?” Asked Dijo. “The Heart has three times as many guards as the rest of the city. And we're carrying your precious gun and a backpack full of special orders.”

  “It's not my problem, you're the super hacker, but don't blow anything up before the attack starts.”

  He hung up the communicator and Garreth approached.

  “That face of yours,” the politician said, “it seems that something is going wrong.”

  “I admit it could be going better.”

  “Are you going to stay here at the dance for a while?” Asked Garreth.

  Sorom looked worried at his communicator and then back to Garreth.

  “Twenty minutes,” Sorom replied. “At most.”

  Garreth reached out to Sorom and looked at him earnestly.

  “So, can we enjoy it a little bit?

  Sorom faltered, but then agreed with his head and took Garreth's arm.

  As Sorom tried to enjoy his final minutes at the ball, Willys and Dijo ran to the Heart.

  “This is going to go very wrong!” Cried Willys. “How are we going to do this without making a sound?”

  “Well, they didn't scan Sorom's fate after they saw it had a name on the list. Maybe I can find out some names and we'll go in with them.”

  “And how are we going to do with the huge bag of explosives?” Asked Willys. But Dijo didn't have an answer.

  At this point, Willys looked at a delivery truck, parked in front of a house.

  “What if we used that?” Asked Willys.

  Dijo looked confused and Willys told his plan.

  “You find a way to tell us that we have to deliver an order to the Heart. We put our stuff in a box and we go in.”

  “You are a genius!”

  Dijo kissed his companion's forehead and the two went to the truck, where a jolly delivery man whistled. The hacker pulled out a stun gun and hit the man, who passed out on the spot. Soon Willys was in the driver's seat, with the delivery man thrown through the boxes.

  “I need some time to create a false delivery,” Dijo said, “but you can drive to the Heart.”

  “You don't need time, no,” Willys replied.

  Dijo looked confused and Willys showed the tablet with delivery information. One of them destined for an inhabitant of the Heart.

  “Willys, you’re the MVP of this mission!”

  The man smiled confidently as he drove to the Heart, while Dijo emptied one of the boxes and put their armaments on.

  “How long do we have?” Asked Willys.

  “Fourteen minutes, but there's no way Norna can get there in time.”

  “If they find the bomb, it won't make any difference and we have no way of knowing if it's safe.”

  Dijo took a deep breath and again started tinkering with his tablet.

  “I will concentrate in put ourselves inside the Heart. Then I think about the rest.”

  After taking two laps, Willys found an entrance that seemed ideal to make the delivery. He stopped the car next to two Royal Guards and opened the window, wearing the delivery man's hat.

  “Good evening,” said Willys. “We have a delivery to make in the Heart.”

  The guard scanned the tablet and confirmed it.

  “All right, you can leave the package here.”

  The tension in Dijo and Willys grew exponentially.

  “No, no,” Willys said, trying to think of an excuse. “We need to deliver the order in person.”

  “Why is that?” Asked the guard.

  Willys turned to Dijo waiting for an answer.

  “Because... the customer asked! It's a very intimate and important object and he asked us to deliver it personally.”

  “Do you have a document of this?” The voice coming out of the Royal Guard's blue helmet increasingly frightened the chaotic duo.

  “Do we have a document?” Asked Dijo. “Of course, we have a document. I'll show you a document.”

  Dijo began to type frantically on his tablet while Willys stared at the Guard.

  “Yes,” said Willys. “We have a lot of documents on our list of documents, but he'll find it soon.”

  Two more minutes passed with Dijo typing.

  “What about this news?” Said Willys trying to stall. “Looks like Guardian Simeht's daughter has been kidnapped, huh?”

  “If you do not give the document now, I will ask you to withdraw.” The guard spoke in a threatening tone.

  “It's here!” Said Dijo delive
ring the tablet.

  The guard started reading.

  “Hey, Steve,” he said to the other Guard, “come to see this here.”

  The two argued and Willys was prepared to throw a bomb and run away.

  “It seems right.” Steve said.

  “You can enter,” said Steve's partner, “but the vehicle stays out here.”

  The two agreed and took the box with the weapons. They gave the guards a yellow smile and walked in.

  “Six minutes!” Willys spoke when they were alone.

  “I'm going to call Sorom.”

  Dijo began communication and this time Sorom took a little longer to respond.

  “Sorom here.”

  “Boss, we are in.” Said Dijo “But there are five minutes to the scheduled time!”

  “Do not activate until you are under the hall.”

  “What?” Asked Dijo confused.

  “Come to the floor under the hall and prepare an EXPL02ION.” Ordered Sorom. "You will activate both explosives at the same time with my order.”

  “But what if they find out the location of the other?” Asked Willys.

  “That's why you'd better come quickly.”

  Sorom looked at Garreth, feeling guilty.

  “I'm sorry,” said the leader of the Agents. “I have to go now. I hope someday we can live in peace.”

  “Wait!” Said Garreth. “I have a friend. Rinna, she can help...”

  Sorom saw his window going away and left Garreth in the middle of his sentence going hurried to the first floor. He noticed that the band was on break and that the reporter was around.

  He fastened her hair doing the usual ponytail and his heart beat so hard that he thought the people next could feel it.

  He waited a minute and spoke on the communicator.

  “You have thirty more seconds; explode well below the stage.”

  He did not wait for the answer and went to the reporter, posing as the next interviewee.

  “And who would you be?” Asked the reporter.

  Sorom did not respond directly, took the drone-camera with his hand and jumped on stage.

  “I am Sorom,” cried the man to the camera, projecting his voice so that the people of the ball could hear, “the leader of the Chaos Agents. Destiny has held us hostages long enough. It’s time to change that! Today the Pharaoh will die and soon we will defeat God! Those who want to be free of the gears of Destiny, join us.”

  War in the Ziggurat

  Civilians were looking at Sorom awed. Guards ran, pointing their guns, however, before they could shoot, a huge noise came from below, destroying the stage and raising a huge cloud of smoke.

  Sorom managed to land without getting too injured. The leader saw Dijo and Willys and told them to run, picking up his sword and long jacket with barrier projector.

  “You did what?!” Asked Dijo after Sorom told. “And everyone thought Willys was the one with the least screws in his head.”

  “I approve, boss,” Willys replied by raising the thumb of his robotic hand.

  “It's all right. Norna and Gol are going to cause enough chaos and no one's going to catch us.”

  “But advertise to the world like that!” Continued to complain about Dijo, who was more bothered to see Sorom's proud smile.

  “It was very fantastic,” said Sorom as they ran. “Now we have to find the center of the Heart and put the bomb.”

  He took his communicator closer to his face.

  “Norna, Gol, how are you?”

  He heard a series of shots and shots showing that the fight had already begun.

  “We're already inside, Willys' explosive has opened a passage for us. We are going to the hangar.” Answered Norna. “They weren't ready, so it's been easy for now.”

  Then it was Golbert's voice that came up.

  “I have several robots going to the Heart to support. They already have Dijo's chip and I'm going to say they are very efficient.”

  On the streets of Ziggurat-City, Tugsten and Evelin supported each other as Norna ran to the hangar. Jamin went ahead with his swords trying to surprise unprepared guards, while Sliger harnessed the power of his new laser revolver.

  Two Royal Guards emerged and even with the laser shots of Evelin and Sliger their shields took time to be consumed.

  “Get out of the way!” Shouted Ratz armed with his missile launcher shooting at one of the guards, which exploded immediately. The other, however, kept walking and firing lasers at the agents at the tip of his spear.

  Despite the technological superiority, the guard was outnumbered, with hundreds of Chaos Agents taking to the streets and, before he managed to retreat, was shot down.

  “It will not go on like this forever.” Norna warned the radio for her entire squad. “Soon they will get organized!”

  The group continued to walk until they saw the entrances to the hangar, but a barricade with visible barriers protecting a number of regular guards and two Royal Guards were defending the site.

  “Throw everything we have!” Ordered Norna. “They are still outnumbered!”

  Now they were receiving fire back, with the guards taking down agents. They had to get cover behind cars and corners, returning the shots. Because they were in large numbers, they managed to burn the barriers and kill the guards with little deaths from them.

  They entered the hangar and soon shots came from several directions, hitting Norna, but her barrier prevented her from being injured. They retreated and closed the door, staying outside the hangar.

  “We will be shred if we enter through this door,” Norna said.

  “There are several entrances to the hangar,” Evelin continued, “we can separate our troupes.”

  “If we separated, we lost our advantage.”

  “It is better than everyone dying on that door.”

  Norna considered for a few seconds and nodded.

  “Tug, go south with forty agents, Ratz takes the North with another forty and the rest come with me.”

  The groups parted ways and Evelin accompanied Tugsten. Soon the Chaos Agents entered separately, dividing the attention of the enemies. Even so, security was heavy, and they were having trouble taking the hangar.

  Evelin heard explosions happening far away and thought about the destruction Ratz was doing. Little by little, they were able to get in and get the guards off the scene. Evelin was impressed by the skills of everyone in his group. Even without formal training they were very efficient.

  The shots were over, and the agents began to take the defensive, creating barricades and looking at the entrances to the hangar.

  “Tug,” Norna's voice said on the communicator, “we need to close the ship entrances, if not soon we will take shots from above. There's a control bridge near you; Get over there.”

  Evelin noticed the openings in the ceiling that showed the exterior of the Ziggurat and allowed new ships to enter.

  Tugsten nodded and left most of her agents doing security and searching for warships while the residents of her room went to the command tower. On the way, Evelin noticed the huge anti-aircraft cannons scattered around the hangar.

  “How are we going to get out of here? Those cannons are going to blow us up really quick!”

  “We’re not going over it,” warned Tugsten by shooting with his machine gun arm; “we’re going underneath.”

  Evelin did not have this information but accepted what Tugsten said and provided cover for Jamin to get close with his swords. Sliger moved into a terminal and the door to the control bridge opened.

  The tower had more civilians than guards. They were easily surrendered avoiding unnecessary bloodshed. Within minutes, they were in the control room, and while Tugsten and Evelin tied the civilians, Sliger programed the gates to close.

  “We have to hold this place until the mission is ready,” Jamin said. “We can't risk someone coming in here and opening the gates again.”

  “So, we're just going to wait here while everyone out there risks th
eir lives?” Asked Evelin contradicted.

  “We are risking our lives!” Replied Tugsten. “Protecting this location is important for the mission; trust that others will be able to follow their orders.”

  The control room had only one door leading to a hallway. They locked the corridor doors and Tugsten removed two discs from her clothing, projecting visible barriers in front of them. The group crossed the barrier with the tip of their weapons so they could fire in case anyone approached.

  While Tugsten's group ensured the safety of the control tip, Sorom ran with his two companions to the Heart's center.

  “We are getting lucky,” Dijo said. “Most of the guards are facing Golbert's troops outside.”

  “Let's enjoy the time we have.” Sorom spoke well when a Royal Guard appeared in front of him.

  Sorom took the sword and project the barrier with his sheath, running towards the guard who shot at him with his laser spear. Two shots were enough to burn Sorom's shield, who got enough distance to jump and shove his blade into an armor opening. The guard fell and the group kept moving forward.

  Eventually they found civilians in despair. Sorom paid attention to them only to see if they were armed and moved on ignoring everyone.

  Sorom's communicator whistled again.

  “There's a big guy with an ax out here,” Golbert said worried. “He’s cutting our robots like butter.”

  “It is the Guardian Dunna.” Concluded Sorom. “Don't face him alone! Is Guardian Simeht there too?”

  “There are other guards,” Golbert replied, but none that fit Simeht's description.

  “That’s a problem.” Said Sorom to himself and then turned to Dijo and Willys. “He must be coming after us! Let's plant this bomb as soon as we can!”

  When they arrived in an environment that Dijo said was close enough to the center, Willys opened a box with fire hose and began planting the explosive. Sorom turned to stand guard and that's why he managed to dodge the shot that came towards him. Guardian Simeht, now wearing white armor with details and blue visor, approached.

  “If you really are the leader of chaos, where is my daughter?” Asked the man.

  Sorom looked at his companions and thought the bomb plan had failed. In addition to that his big shield was still burned and could not guarantee an extra protection. He took his laser pistol and pointed at the man, who quickly disarmed him with his own laser gun.