Ten minutes passed and then Len made her move. She came running through a back street towards the estate’s walls and pounced, trying to grab the top of the wall. She did the move to the side, but still within plain view of the guards manning the front gate.
“Hey! Stop where you are!” yelled one of the guards. They drew their ELC pistol from their hip, and shot a couple blasts. Leo could see from the setting lights on the side of the guard’s ELC that it was on a low setting—intending to stun Len. She dodged with ease and ran a bit further away from the gate. The guards took the bait and chased after her, firing shot after shot from their ELC pistols—each one missing the drake.
“Alright let’s move,” said Darrod.
The last four of the gang began moving towards the estate, with Darrod, Brian and Leo surrounding Jax—who was still disguised as Regent Kren. They walked past the now empty guard station at the front gates, and went straight up the front stairs and through the front door. Once inside, they were immediately greeted by a set of three guards. They stood at attention at the sight of Jax, and one approached the shifter, anxiously.
“Sir, is everything okay? Weren’t you supposed to make the crop transaction?”
“Yes, obviously,” said Jax, doing a fairly accurate imitation of Regent Kren. “I forgot something in my office. Now if you will get OUT OF MY WAY, I can get it and still be at the granary in time to meet the King’s representative.”
Leo watched the interaction in complete suspense. He did his best to stay neutral and composed, but his heart was beating hard inside his chest. He subtly checked out the other guards, and watched their eyes. Were any of them suspicious of Jax’s portrayal? Did any of them spot their fake ELCs? He had no clue—one way or the other.
“Yes sir, so sorry sir,” replied the guard, nervously. A good sign, in Leo’s mind. “A-And may I just say that those sunglasses look great on you. Are t-they a new purchase…sir?”
Jax hesitated for only a second before responding, “Very observant, yes. I don’t have the luxury of a visored helmet like the rest of you, so I figured I’d combat the setting sun in whatever way I can.”
Quite the improv, thought Leo. This was the moment that determined success or failure. The result would be determined by how stupid this guard was…
“…O-Of course, Regent,” replied the guard, as he moved out of the way. “I will stop holding you up.”
Quite stupid, thought Leo, as his heart managed to calm down. They either had incredible luck on their side, or Kahl himself was looking out for them.
“See that you don’t do it again,” said Jax fiercely, as he pushed past the man and continued into the mansion.
With Jax in the lead, the crew moved up a grand staircase and through the rich and excessive household. Sweet scents of lavender and vanilla filled the air. Expensive paintings hung on the walls, and the floor had long rugs with complex and colorful patterns on them. Every inch of the place made Leo angry. He could always feel the injustice of AzzaNation—the fact that a few people horded the wealth and security of the planet while the rest starved and died, but it was another thing to see that injustice so evident in front of him.
Eventually, the group made their way into the Regent’s office, where they knew his safe was kept. All the previous days the gang spent memorizing the layout of the Regent’s estate had paid off in full.
Once inside the office, Darrod closed the door behind them and exhaled a victorious laugh. “I figured I’d combat the setting sun in whatever way I can. Hah! Brilliant Jax—very good work. Now let’s find this safe and get out of here.”
Everyone began looking around the room, making sure not to make too much noise—they were lucky so far with the guards, but even the royals’ unobservant nature had its limits. Leo surveyed the Regent’s private office. It was mostly more of what they saw in the rest of the house. Expensive sculptures and paintings covered the walls and open space. There were cushioned chairs next to a fireplace, and a large wooden desk sitting in front of a set of large bay windows. After further inspection, Leo could see that the windows were attached to patio doors that led to a balcony, overlooking the Woods of Cauless and the Forbidden Desert.
“I found it,” said Brian, taking a large oil painting of the Regent off the wall—revealing a large metal safe. “Leave it to a Royal to hide his most valuable treasure behind a self-indulgent painting of himself.”
“You’re just jealous you don’t have one of yourself,” said Darrod, with a wry smile.
“You’re not wrong,” retorted Brian with a cocky grin. He began moving the dial of the safe, carefully—trying to find the right number. “Frankly, I think it’s a shame that my face isn’t adorning every piece of modern art.”
“Yeah, yeah—just focus on opening that safe. Jax, Leo, help me make some space for the bags.”
Quickly and efficiently Darrod and Jax moved pieces of furniture away from the safe, while Leo placed the two large duffle bags on the ground by Brian’s feet.
Brian moved the dial to the last number and pulled the safe’s handle—to no effect.
“Damn it! He’s not as self-conceded as I thought.”
“What do you mean?” asked Darrod, coming over to the safe.
“Regents like this prick always pick their own birthday as their combination.”
Darrod reached out to strike Brian, but managed to control himself and suppress his boiling anger. “You mean to tell me, you planned this entire heist without knowing the Regent’s safe combination?”
“I’ve robbed plenty of men of his standing and they all do the same thing,” said Brian raising his hands in defense. “It’s the most common combination, that or…”
Brian’s cocky smile returned and he went back to the safe’s dial—turning it to a set of new numbers.
“I swear to Kahl, Brian, I’ll kill you before they ever get us in bindings if you don’t get this right.”
“Relax old man,” said Brian, reaching the last number and pulling on the safe’s handle to—a clunk—success! The door opened with ease, and Brian turned, giving a bow of triumph. “Ye of little faith.”
“What was the combo?” asked Jax.
“Grindaull’s birthday! Sometimes men like this are so worried about Loyalty Officers they do whatever they can to show their devotion to the King.”
“Yeah, yeah jerk yourself off later,” said Darrod, smiling and moving past Brian. “Let’s get as much as we can carry into the bags.”
With the safe now open, they could see the true extent of the Regent’s wealth. He had bricks upon bricks of thetinum, a shiny and resourceful metal used as currency in the galaxy. It could be used to craft sturdy, yet beautiful jewelry, or sometimes weapons. But its most common use was to be melted down and used as a conduit in darthian/Infinity tech. Therefore, the darthians loved the stuff, and would always be willing to trade goods and services for it. And if the darthians loved something, that meant that it became the major currency. The only other currency that competed with thetinum was universal credits. A system created by the darthians to convert their mercantile endeavors into a digital and intangible currency system. To have universal credits though, a person needed to register with either their government or an Infinity station, and most people—the gang included, didn’t want to take that risk. So, most people relied on finding what little tangible currency they could scavenge…and that was thetinum. It was extremely rare though, mostly hoarded by the already wealthy who lived on the planet.
So, when the gang saw the stacks upon stacks of it, sitting in the Regent’s safe, they almost screamed in sheer joy.
“I can’t believe it!” said Jax, “There’s got to be like a hundred bricks of thetinum in there.”
“Keep your voice down!” said Darrod in a hushed tone. “I know I said we should only take what we can comfortably carry…but screw it! Let’s take all this bastard’s money.”
Everyone laughed and got to work. They moved each brick individually fro
m the safe into one of the two duffle bags. Each brick weighed around 5 pounds—not bad on their own, but once they were clumped together, fifty of them in a bag—they added up.
Darrod tried to lift one of the bags on his own, and groaned in pain. “Hey Jax, shift and take care of these will ya?”
“Sure thing, boss.”
Jax began to shift back into his large undistinguished humanoid form. He put extra effort into making his muscles large enough to carry five hundred pounds. His new body tore his velvet suit, and the sunglasses on his face fell onto the floor—the lenses smashing on impact. Jax stretched his newly formed arms and then picked up one bag in each hand. He began to walk over to the balcony, Darrod following behind him.
“Okay Jax…try to aim them…right…there.” Darrod pointed to a small opening in the trees, beyond the walls of the Regent’s estate. Jax smiled and one at a time hurled the bags of thetinum into the woods.
“Alright boys, let’s get out of here!” said Darrod. He moved onto the balcony with Jax, getting ready to make the jump over the complex’s wall and into the woods on the other side.
Leo began moving towards the balcony, when the door to the office opened—In walked the royal soldier who had greeted them at the door.
“R-Regent, s-sir, pardon the intrusion, but you’ve been up here for—wait what the hell!”
The soldier moved for his ELC pistol, but Brian quickly tackled him, knocking the pistol out of the guard’s hand. Brian restrained the soldier’s arms, pinning him down on the ground, but the soldier was tossing and fighting to regain his freedom.
“Quick Leo!” called Brian, “Kill him!”
Leo ran over to the struggle on the floor. He took out his old rusted sword and stared at it. He had never killed anyone before…ever. A true feat and rarity in AzzaNation. His father had always taught him to find the peaceful solution whenever he could—which Leo had always tried to do. He always preferred to help others rather than hurt them. But in this moment, he knew that if he didn’t kill the soldier, they would all be found out. His hand shook with trepidation, but slowly he focused it.
It was now or never. Kill or be killed.
He knelt down and plunged his sword into the guard’s head. Blood splattered and a few seconds of twitching from the body passed, and then it became completely still.
“Took you long enough,” said Brian, who was getting back up. He grabbed the guard’s ELC pistol and then closed the office door, locking it and then moving a chair in order to barricade it.
“Hurry the hell up you two!” called Darrod from the balcony. Jax had already made the jump and Darrod was getting ready to make his attempt.
Leo stood still, staring down at the man he had just killed—the life he had taken. He felt surreal. He felt as though his skin was tight and foreign. He wanted to escape this moment—wanted more than anything to run away forever. But he couldn’t. His eyes became misty, and he felt like he was going to cry, but Brian slapped him and broke him out of his trance.
“Come on Exe! Let’s go!” Brian grabbed Leo’s arm and dragged him towards the balcony.
Once they reached it, Brian let go of Leo and jumped off the balcony, landing among a clearing in the woods beyond the wall. Darrod grabbed Leo’s shoulder and squeezed.
“You did good kid,” said Darrod, trying to encourage Leo to stay with him in the present. “We’re almost out of this—just keep focused.”
Leo still felt like he was in a dream—or a nightmare, but he heard Darrod’s words. He processed them and knew what they meant. He knew that if he wanted to survive and make what he did mean anything, he had to escape now. He gave Darrod an understanding nod and perched up on the edge of the balcony. He squatted down, and put all his strength in his next jump—leaping off the balcony and clearing the estate’s wall. He narrowly missed a branch as he came down and landed with a thunk against the ground. He stood up and felt a tinge of pain in his right ankle. It didn’t feel broken, but he possibly sprained it. Soon Darrod landed with a roll in front of him and got up. He saw Leo limping and without saying a word, threw Leo’s arm around his shoulder and helped him walk through the woods.
Within a few minutes, they found Jax and Brian, who were prepping a cart with a mule attached to it.
“You got to be kidding Exe,” said Brian, raising his arms in disbelief, “You actually hurt yourself?”
“He’ll be fine,” said Darrod flatly. “Let’s stick to the plan and split up until we reach the rendezvous. We’ll take the cart and the mule, with one bag. You and Jax take the other bag and meet us in the desert by tomorrow night.”
“What about Len?” said Brian.
“Hopefully she didn’t draw too much attention to herself. We’ll move more into the woods, closer to the desert, and we’ll wait to see if she finds me and Leo before tomorrow morning.”
“Alright, sounds good,” said Brian. “I sure hope your plan works.”
“Trust me,” said Darrod, “No one is going to find us in the Forbidden Desert.”
CHAPTER TWO
T he campfire flickered and Leo sat staring at it with trepidation. He looked at his hands. Despite his desire to remain calm, they would not stop shaking. He tucked them into the pockets of his coat—hoping that ignoring the problem would make it go away. However, his mind kept flashing images of the man he killed only hours before. He saw the anger in the soldier’s eyes—his desire to escape Brian’s hold and apprehend them all. And then in slow motion, Leo’s mind replayed the instant his blade pierced the man’s skull. The splattering blood, the bits of brain left on the sword—Leo saw it all. But the worst part, was seeing the man’s eyes—filled with rage and struggle in one moment, and then empty and devoid of life the next.
What bothered Leo the most was how easy it had been. Obviously not on his psyche, but the physical act itself. Even with a crappy sword like his, he had managed to end the guard’s life, like flipping off a switch.
But he knew he couldn’t keep obsessing about it. After all, the deed was done. It wasn’t like he could go back in time and change it. This was the reality of AzzaNation. His alternative was to be a beggar in the street, hoping that some passing royal soldier didn’t shoot him out of disgust. No, he thought. I won’t go back to that life—if you could even call it a life. He did what he had to do, and now Darrod’s gang had just over one hundred bricks of thetinum. With Leo’s share, he could probably afford his own ship, get off world and see the galaxy. No matter what was out there, it had to be better than AzzaNation. It was hard to imagine a place much worse.
Leo let out a sigh. Despite his guilt over murdering the Royal soldier, he was beginning to accept it. This of course made Leo feel even more guilty, but that was his burden to bear. And yet even as he dealt with his guilt, he could not shake his deep feeling of trepidation. There was a pit of fear wedged deep in his stomach, and he didn’t know what was causing it. He had assumed this uneasy feeling was because of his act of murder, but the more Leo looked inside himself, he realized that there was more involved. He didn’t know the specifics, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. Maybe they would have a run in with the royals? Maybe Darrod’s trick for getting past the Forbidden Desert’s shield wouldn’t work? They could be in an Adras prison cell by this time tomorrow. If that happened—if they were captured by the royals, Leo’s deepest fears would soon become a reality. The first thing the authorities would do is check them for registration, and then they would do brain scans and blood testing, standard procedure. With their tests concluded, Leo would have nowhere to hide…his secret would be revealed—his ability would come to the surface.
And his life would be over.
Not immediately of course. The royals would have too much fun torturing him for years and years. Leo heard stories of the Adras prison and the conditions prisoners had to face. Their cells were supposedly the size of a grave, with barely any room to move, and only a bucket to defecate in. There were no win
dows, so you could never tell how much time had passed, and they kept everyone in isolation. With no one to interact with, and only your own piss and shit to keep you company, most prisoners went insane within a few months.
The idea of going to Adras, gave Leo many nightmares throughout his life. It was always one of his deepest fears. Maybe that was why he felt this overwhelming sense of trepidation?
He looked back into the dancing flames of their fire pit, hoping for any kind of answer to his uneasy questions.
“If you’re going to keep staring at it, you might as well feed it,” said Darrod, who was staring at Leo with concern.
Leo snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the man he vaguely considered a mentor. Darrod had always told him that if you weren’t willing to get your hands dirty in AzzaNation, then you might as well enroll yourself at the nearest slaughterhouse. The world was going to try to eat you alive one way or another—you could either let it, or you could fight for as long as you were able. Leo knew that the grifter was right, but his guilt and fear still lingered deep within him.
Leo looked back at the fire and saw that it was dying. Darrod was right, yet again.
“I guess I should find some more wood then,” said Leo, forcing a smile.
“How’s your ankle, kid?”
Leo hadn’t even thought about his ankle since they had made camp. Once they got in the cart, Darrod had drove, guiding the mule along the tree line, moving closer and closer to the Forbidden Desert. Leo had taken the opportunity to rest, and after a couple hours, the pain in his ankle had gone away. He figured he must have lightly twisted it—nothing too serious like a sprain or fracture.
“It feels fine,” said Leo lifting his leg and rolling his ankle, without the slightest wince of pain.
“Great,” said Darrod, his jovial smile returning to his face, “In that case, grab as much wood as you can. Once we’re past the desert’s shield, we won’t be able to find much.”
The Chronicles of AzzaNation: Dawn of a New Age Page 3
