Destiny Sorrow

by Rod S. Galves

  Three shots were fired, he saw his blood dripping with holes in his chest and abdomen. He heard something from a distance, but his senses were leaving. The last thing you saw was the desperate eyes of the girl in front of you.

  ...

  The light upset him when he opened his eyes, he wasn't understanding his surroundings, and everything seemed blurry. He felt a pain when Norna hugged him tightly as he woke up.

  “What happened?” Asked Sorom stunned.

  “You were shot.” Said Dijo and now Sorom could see that the room full of people.

  “I should have recognized her,” said Evelin upset. “Yana MacCoy, Aiden's sister.”

  At this point, Sorom rose, feeling a lot of pain in his abdomen.

  “What day is it today?”

  “There are still five days left,” Willys said. “And you'll be very happy to know that the bombs are ready!”

  Norna punched Willys' arm, which ended up causing her pain.

  “Let's not talk about it now. Sorom was shot three times. Good thing that girl doesn’t know how to shoot properly, or you'd be lost.”

  Sorom remained alert, even with his companions trying to get him to lie down.

  “We have to prepare. Five days is not long.” Said the leader.

  “Do you think you will participate in this condition?” Asked Norna. “There's no way!”

  “But of course, I will! I didn't get this far to stop now!”

  “Your injuries are very recent,” Evelin said, “It wouldn't be wise for you to go.”

  “But I'm going to go and end the conversation. I'm the leader. It's the last mission, if I die on it, that's fine, but I'm not going to be left behind.”

  A new voice has emerged.

  “I agree with him.”

  Sorom looked and saw Ratz standing. His skin was full of burning scars, but the man tried to look the best he could.

  “When did you wake up?” Asked Sorom happy.

  “The day after you came in here,” Dijo replied, “and it's not good for you to go. You Ingas have suicidal wishes, look at your states!”

  The two brothers looked at each other and shrugged, noting anything exceptional.

  “Ratz goes and so am I,” Sorom replied to Ratz's joy. “Everything is at stake; we need all the power we have.”

  The others wanted to argue, but Sorom wouldn't allow it.

  “What did you do to the girl?” Asked the leader.

  “She is locked.” Norna said. “Some of the agents said we should execute her, but I stopped they.”

  “Right... I'll talk to her before the mission. What's missing?”

  The agents looked at each other thinking and Dijo responded.

  “Nothing, everything we needed is ready.”

  Sorom sighed relieved.

  “It would be nice to attack before the last day, but I think I really need to recover a little. Tell everyone, in five days we'll attack.”

  The group dispersed and only Evelin stood next to Sorom in the makeshift bed.

  “I know you're hurt, and you probably don't want to hear this, but I need to talk to you.”

  “I already know what,” said Sorom tired. “I promise I won't kill your father. I may have to hurt him badly, but he's going to stay alive.”

  “I'm serious! I don't want anything to happen to him. He will be able to help a lot when the world is in chaos after we destroy people's fate.”

  Sorom made a face of disgust.

  “Help from a Guardian of the Order?”

  “Do you have any idea what the world is going to look like after you kill God?” Asked Evelin. “We're going to need a lot of help, so society doesn't collapse.”

  “I do not care much about society, the nature of people will remain the same, but they will have freedom and go their own way.”

  “That is not the point! My father stays alive!”

  Sorom looked very seriously at his companion.

  “He will. Trust me. Besides, you're going to be on my side the whole mission, I know you're going to convince your father not to kill me. I'm the one who's going to be in danger there.”

  Evelin just nodded and prepared to leave.

  “Heal yourself. We can't have a weak leader on the final mission.”

  God’s Air Temple

  Sorom was in his van, with Yana handcuffed.

  “Listen, you have every right to want to kill me,” Sorom said, “which doesn't mean I'm just going to accept to die. These handcuffs will open with a timer. When you're free, you can take the van and run anywhere. Failing or winning, I do not intend to go back to this place so there's no point in waiting for me.”

  “You think you're a hero, but you're actually a villain.” Yana said.

  “I am neither. I'm a necessary evil and I'll be waiting for you when you're ready to meet me again, but right now, I have to go.”

  The girl continued to protest, but Sorom left her alone and entered the luxurious Ringnug with other ships already leaving.

  The interior of this ship was much more polished and cleaner than Rinlojm's and considerably more spacious, with comfortable armchairs to sit on as they waited for the danger to begin.

  Inside he saw his elite group, plus Evelin, Jamin and Sliger.

  “I've already been able to fly with this baby,” Norna announced by the communicators. “I just need to see how powerful this cannon is. I think we'll find out during the attack.”

  Evelin could see another series of ships flying alongside Ringnug. All of what the Chaos Agents have managed to steal in recent years. It was a real fleet. There were military ships stolen from bases and the Ziggurat, but there were also simple flying cars that constituted most of the forces. She saw a small ship passing at high speed, the Rubilacxe with Dice excitedly controlling it.

  “All ships: ensure protection of the Ringnug and transport ships,” Norna said to the other transports. “Our troops have to be whole when we get there!”

  Evelin could notice the nervousness inside the ship, something Dijo tried to help.

  “Are we going to make one last jackpot?” Asked Dijo.

  “I do not think this is appropriate, considering...” Began Evelin, but was interrupted by Sorom.

  “Willys!”

  Everyone voted for the same person, including Willys himself, with a big smile. Finally, Evelin was defeated.

  “Willys...”

  Dijo approached Evelin and stared at Sorom, who looked upset but eventually left.

  “And about our date, after we save the world. Have you thought about where we're going?” Asked the hacker.

  “If we don't get arrested later, right? I know a building of very good restaurants, with cuisines from all over the world.”

  Evelin could see his companion's eyes shining with the idea.

  Jamin and Sliger also approached.

  “It was an honor to fight beside him,” Jamin began. “Sliger also wants to say a few words.”

  The man was quiet, but Jamin pushed him with his shoulder.

  “We'll see you on the other side.”

  The three hugged and Evelin touched the dice in her pocket. She had taken it back considering I might never return to base. She felt comfortable thinking about Tugsten, but wondered what Dommerick would think of all this, after all she was with people who destroyed her dream. She decided to meet him later and personally ask her opinion.

  “We are about to enter a danger zone,” Norna warned. “You better have already gone to the bathroom, because now there will be no more breaks until the end of the trip.”

  Sorom approached the cockpit and sat next to him.

  “How are you enjoying the new toy?” Asked the leader.

  “It still needs a few laps for him to get used to me,” Norna replied, “but it's amazing!”

  “It seems wrong to be doing this without Golbert.” Said Sorom melancholic.

  “But we are with him. We only got here because of everything he's done. He may not be in person with us
, but that doesn't mean he's no longer a Chaos Agent.”

  Sorom smiled at her and messed up her hair.

  “You better not die too,” he said. “I need you to know what will become of my future.”

  “You are the ones most likely to die. If there was no way to beat that guardian before, now with these wounds it will be impossible.”

  He looked angry at her, but then let out a laugh.

  “I'm counting on you and Ringnug.” said Sorom leaving the cabin.

  “And we are all counting on you.”

  Sorom met with the others and looked out the window, where they could see the city extending to the edge of the eyes and the huge Air Temple of the God-Computer flying over.

  They soon began to hear gunfire from both sides, seeing allied ships being obliterated from a distance.

  “Hold on!” warned Norna.

  Ringnug made a maneuver and a nearby ship exploded. They could see Dice with Rubilacxe destroying enemies that were beginning to come towards them, both from the city and from the Temple.

  Norna received cover from several unmanned ships, which basically served to protect the main weapon. She was approaching the temple; whose cannons fired a volley of projectiles.

  “You better end those cannons from inside too,” Norna said. “Or our attack won't last five minutes.”

  Norna managed to get closer and the size of the temple amazed her. All that metal structure floating over the city was impressive. Ringnug looked like an insect in comparison. When she got to the right angle, she fired the cannon.

  Nothing happened. Norna pressed again and again until she could feel the heat emanating from the gun. She almost blinded herself with the glow of the white laser crashing into the temple and exploding a piece of its side. After the smoke it was possible to see the opening leading to the interior of the temple.

  “Transport ships,” said Norna on the radio, “come to my direction, the rest remain in support.”

  The crew saw when the transport ships opened and nearly four hundred Chaos Agents jumped into the enemy. Norna also approached, allowing her group to leave.

  “Good luck.” Said Norna.

  “For you too.” Sorom talk while jumping to the Temple, followed by his allies.

  The troops parted ways, with Willys leading the way followed by Dijo and Ratz, some agents and the remaining battle androids. Sorom went with the rest of the troops along with Evelin, Jamin, Sliger and Rinna in another direction

  “You need to open that door,” Sorom recalled to Willys on the communicator. “In the meantime, we're going to try to deactivate the air defenses for the team outside.”

  The temple was huge, with several corridors and rooms for the most diverse needs. There were no guardians prepared for an attack on this scale, facilitating the invasion. Some enemies appeared but were quickly defeated.

  “I can't believe we're here.” Sorom said, feeling adrenaline in his body. “Steps to meet God!”

  Evelin made his way with his machine gun and the group advanced on the right track thanks to the plants Dijo had extracted from the tablet of the guardian Simeht.

  They reached a room with several computers. Most of the people there were not heavily armed, they were quickly surrendered and tied up by the agents, while Sorom and Rinna tampered with the computers.”

  “They built this place so that it was not hackable from the outside.” Sorom said while disabling the cannons. “Every part that controls the Temple is in a different place. This way if somewhere were taken they would still have control of the other features.”

  “Well, we managed to get here easily,” replied Rinna. “The cannons are disabled; our team out there will be fine.”

  “That’s not true,” Sorom replied. “They were not prepared before. Now they're going to come and take this place back, with a force capable of it.”

  Rinna looked worried at the leader.

  “Leave it to us,” she said. “Let's hold here for you to continue.”

  “Just you guys? I don't know if...”

  “We can do it,” Rinna replied, speaking for the new recruits. “We may not be the best team of yours, but we were able to hold this room. You need all the strength you can to move on.”

  Sorom agreed and left the preparation of the defenses in the hands of Rinna and his allies, while a little less than a hundred agents continued with Sorom.

  “Where now, boss?” Asked Jamin.

  “The only entrance to the God-Computer chamber is from the outside. We must climb the temple to get there.

  “But this place is huge!”

  “We have time.” Evelin replied. “We have to wait for Willys to open the door with his explosive and Norna's cannon to reload.” She looked at the time in the device up her sleeve. “And we still have twenty-three minutes to do that.”

  “Right, maximum effort everybody,” cried Sorom to all the agents. “Time to do a little chaos in the temple of God!”

  Fights on the outside became easier with all cannons deactivated, but it didn't take long for new enemy ships to emerge. These were u-shaped and flew in an elegant formation, destroying several of the agents' transports.

  A communication arrived in Ringnug and, when the woman answered, she saw a smile so white that it would hurt. The man wore a helmet and brown costumes, with a yellow scarf around his neck.

  “I understand that this is the chief of the terrorists, right? Too bad I had to shoot down such a capable pilot. But if you land now, we'll let you live.”

  Norna turned her eyes and began shooting with her laser machine guns at the ship’s wings, hitting just one.

  “You make me do things I don't want to do,” the guardian continued, “I see that I will have to...”

  Norna cut off the connection and advanced her ship, resisting due to the barrier Dice installed, but soon realized she was at a disadvantage.

  “I preferred my Rinlojm; it was easier to maneuver.”

  Dice approached her ship, destroying one of the enemies, but there were still six of them flying, in addition to other enemy ships.

  “Dice,” Norna started by the communicator, “we need to last another twenty minutes or the whole plan will go down the drain.”

  “Leave it to me!”

  Three of the enemies followed Rubilacxe, who swerved easily. Norna used all her ability to survive with the help of support ships, but the guardian pilot proved as competent as she was. Looking on the clock she begun to fear if she could finish her job.

  In the Eye of the Hurricane

  Inside the Ziggurat-City, Pharaoh Tess looked angry at a screen. The image showed the Air Temple with a series of ships around it, like annoying insects.

  The man was alone in his office, with a bottle of whiskey open on his desk and spoking through the communicator.

  “Where are the reinforcements? “

  A static voice responded.

  “Laserfield is unresponsive and General Sorom's troops are disorganized.”

  “We still have several other military bases out there, what's going on?!”

  The doors of his room opened, and he spoke furiously without looking.

  “I don't have time for anyone,” Tess said. “It's all a mess and...”

  He finally looked and saw Zizi walking calmly towards him. The Pharaoh forgot all the other problems and looked at her perplexed, turning off the voice channel.

  “You can't leave your room! How did you get here?”

  She put the voice modulator in her throat and the sound that came out was equal to Tess's voice.

  “It was pretty easy actually, now come here, little brother.”

  She approached her brother unhurriedly, still confused, but his eyes turned to chaos on screen and his attention changed again.

  “I need to call for reinforcements,” The Pharaoh said. “Then you will receive a beautiful scolding.”

  Zizi approached, hugging him from behind.

  “No Tess, you won't do anything else, let alon
e stop my freedom.”

  Pharaoh felt an electrical current running through his body and fell to the ground unconscious. Zizi put the voice modulator back on and opened communication with everyone he could.

  “This is Pharaoh Tess forbidding the sending of any troops to defend the Air Temple. The defense will be made solely by the Guardians of the Order and all other troops will be sent to protect civilians in the city below.

  She hung up and looked at the chaos on the screen, talking to herself.

  “Your turn, Sorom.”

  Inside the Air Temple, Sorom ran with his colleagues, passing through groups of increasingly well-prepared guardians.

  “They are beginning to come from behind,” said the chubby and bearded agent. “We need someone to protect the rear.”

  “How about you?” Asked Sorom forwarding fifteen agents to protect the path they walked. “Dijo should have turn out the cameras by now, but they can still find us no matter where we go!”

  Evelin realized that Sorom's pace was getting slower and slower.

  “It's your injuries, isn't it?” Asked Evelin worried.

  “I'm fine! Worry only about your survival and mission.” Sorom replied. “I'll see it all the way.”

  At that time several laser shots went in their direction, Sorom turned on the shield that was in his sheath but ended up burning his barriers before they could hide.

  The one who shot was a guardian with two mechanical arms sticking out of his back, pointing four laser guns at the agents.

  “That way we will never get to God!” Complained Sorom when then finally got cover.

  “We can stay here,” Sliger said.

  “This guardian does not look like anyone,” continued Evelin, “it has advanced technology; it's not going to be easy.”

  “Sliger is right,” agreed Jamin. “Let's face it! Plus, with a smaller group you should go more unnoticed.”

  Sorom agreed, leaving the rest of his team, moving on only with Evelin.

  “The stairs to the outside are not far away,” Sorom said. “Just no more surprises and we’re fine.” Then he turned to the communicator. “Dijo, the cameras still seem to be working, can you fix that?”

  “We are a little busy!” Answered Dijo nervously.