by Troy Dukart
I rushed forward toward Strafe. The Whiteclouds seemed uneasy and put their tails between their legs and backed away. Striking down with the Espion at him, we crossed weapons. Back and forth, we deflected and attacked each other until I grabbed his right arm and he grabbed mine. “Strafe, STAND-DOWN! TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE!”
“We're not the enemy Yessa!” he shouted. With a quick burst, he shoved me back and I almost fell off my feet.
In disbelief of what was happening, I shook my head. Could Strafe really be part of this terrorist group? No way. That seemed to go against everything he fought for on Eternia. Why would he have my parents?
Zixin stood still next to him. My Spacemen were vexed as typical targets they engaged with didn't last this long.
Strafe stepped forward and raised his left hand, “Yessa! Enough. We mean you no harm, but we're not going with you.”
I looked back at Parker and he smirked at him, “We don't negotiate with terrorist.”
“We... are not terrorists! You are!” Zixin yelled.
There was a slight tremor in the mountain but I kept my composure. Suddenly, a huge black crystal jutted out of beneath the palace over the town. Everyone turned to see what happened. It cracked open and a black fog oozed its way into the air and traveled to the village below and the castle above. My suit didn't recognize the elemental structure of the ooze. Our suits would protect us. The God Blade formed a thin light blue shield around the Whiteclouds and the brothers.
“What is this crap!?” Iovine screamed.
“This is the reason we're here. These terrorists have developed a weapon of mass destruction,” Parker said coldly.
Zixin and Strafe gathered the wolves close to them. The black fog invaded everywhere in Tsetang. Screams from the citizens increased in volume as they ran away in fear and confusion.
“What the hell have you done?” Strafe exclaimed.
“Your Salvator masters have dirty secrets Strafe. They are trying to cover their tracks!”
In the dens of the palace, Tibetans emerged coughing and struggling to breathe. Their faces had turned white and eyes went completely black. Veins all over their bodies bulged as they gasped for air. Many of them fell to their knees and spit up blackened blood. It was repulsive.
“Captain Parker, what is going on!?” I said.
“It seems as though they awakened something more sinister than the Zixin target.”
The affected people began to shake violently. Crystal shards tore out from their skin and protruded aggressively. The fog was changing these people into Slates! They had the look of bloodlust in their eyes. They attacked anyone not turned.
“What the hell are these ugly shits?” Iovine stammered.
“They're not human anymore. Light'em up!” I told him.
Switching our weapons to lethal, we aimed to kill. I activated my shoulder turret to provide gun support. It was only about a foot long but shot high caliber electric rounds at supersonic speeds capable of breaching three inches of steel.
Strafe and Zixin stayed near the Whiteclouds to protect them. To my surprise, when Strafe struck a Slate with the God Blade, they didn't shatter like when he fought them on Eternia. Instead white light would pulse through their body. Some sort of healing taking place? Unfortunately, too much ooze pervaded the air that the God Blade wasn't enough to stop the infection inside their bodies. It merely stunned them for a few moments.
Zixin used his new arm to attack. Same as Strafe, when he would strike, slash and slam the Slates, they would fall to their knees and begin to change back to human form.
Seemed there were endless waves of the infected. The entire town had been lost. We had to retreat out of the alley into a big plaza. Iovine got cornered. One of the Slates made it close to him and slashed a hole in his chest plate that sent him to the floor. I ran over and stabbed it in the back before helping him up.
“Ahhhhhahaha!” he groaned in pain.
“Don't worry, we're gonna get you out of here,” I comforted.
With some nanobot spray, I worked to quickly fix the suit's tear. This was too much for us; I was beginning to think we all needed to evacuate and regroup.
“This is out of hand! We need to go!” I said to Parker.
After downing a Slate with his pistol, he spoke over his shoulder, “We are not leaving without apprehending the targets.”
“Iovine is down! This mission is fubar!”
From on the top of the palace roof, I saw a person wearing a mask. They had a staff of some sorts in hand and jumped down at the black crystal jutting out of the mountainside. Screaming in midair, they slammed the staff down on it. There was a flash of light and then the crystal broke off the mountain and tumbled down the hillside, shattering as it rolled. The masked person then leaped down next to Strafe and Zixin and helped to fight the Slates.
Iovine groaned as Ellerbee and I picked him up. Dill was fighting wave after wave of Slate that approached him.
“YEEEEHAW!” he hollered.
The stranger turned towards us, specifically at Parker. With no hesitation, they ran forth to strike him. In cold-blooded fashion, Parker turned and fired at the attacker. They managed to dodge a few shots to get within striking distance, but it wasn't quick enough. Parker fell on his back to evade the attacker's staff and shot a round into their stomach. The mask dropped to the ground, revealing an older Tibetan man. He fell to his knees and looked at me before collapsing to the dirt.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Zixin cried in anguish.
“Zixin, wait!” Strafe shouted, but he wouldn't listen.
With speed and ferociousness, he ran toward Parker. On his feet, Parker smirked and aimed his pistol. One of the shots hit Zixin in his left arm, shattering it like the Slates. He tumbled to the dirt.
“You see, they did cause this! He's one of these freaks!” Parker reaffirmed.
Was that a Slate arm?
“Lieutenant Urena, we've discovered the terrorist but need to regroup. Destination: Germany.”
“You were so obsessed with taking them and now you want to leave?”
Strafe and the rest had already escaped. They were nowhere in sight.
“Don't worry, I stuck a tracker on their mutts. Doesn't matter where they ran off to. We have them,” Parker chuckled while he snapped his fingers.
He helped Iovine up and we launched up into the sky.
From above, it was like hell had been unleashed. Bodies and blood flooded the streets. There was a thick layer of black tar everywhere.
It's like Pandora's Box was just opened.
CHAPTER 13
Strafe
What the hell was Yessa thinking? The Space Force was manipulating her with talk of us kidnapping her parents and being terrorists. An unfortunate reality of government. Those in power can make-up whatever garbage they want to fit their agenda. You tell them it's for their country, and they eat it up like dogs.
Our time at Yungbulakang Palace finished in disaster. One day we would come back to help fix the damage we caused. We'd escaped into an underground passageway that led to the opposite side of the village. Riding on the Whiteclouds, we retreated as fast as we could. When Sonam shattered that Slate Crystal, the black fog started to disappear and the Slates began to revert back into humans. Zixin passed out after he got shot. Pup carried him.
After the last corner we turned, a small circle of light shined at the end of the tunnel. After exiting, I told Goliath to slow down. I turned to the city, which was unrecognizable. Fires blazed and black smoke fumed into the air from the destruction.
Three years here and this suddenly happens? No doubt they triggered that. It was a set-up.
The best bet we had was to make it as far away as possible before getting in contact with the Salvators. Seemed like the US government didn't care too much for them; I needed to find out why.
For two days we traveled before arriving in Shangri-La. To my delight, they had an airport here
, as well as places to stay. The cold weather made sleeping in the dirt suck. The city was dreamy, full of attractions from the Tibetan past, and infused with the culture of China.
Now that our country, as well foreign ones, would be searching for us, we couldn't leave the conventional way. Our only option was to sneak out. First, we needed to contact our mysterious friends for help. We all stopped near Bitahai Lake to rest. Our Whiteclouds were thirsty. My brother hadn't talked much since we left Yungbulakang Palace.
“How are you feeling?” I asked as I touched his shoulder.
“.....” he said nothing.
“I know you're sad about Sonam but he died to protect us. He wanted you to live. Until we finally end all this madness and free mom, we are going to have to get used to... losing people. That's a part of war.”
He brushed off my hand and turned to his reflection in the lake, “He shouldn't have been killed like that. They will pay for what they did to him.”
“You can't think in terms like that. Violence only begets more violence. The cycle cannot continue if we are to survive as a species. We need to figure out why the hell Yessa and her people were there in the first place. The Space Force is using her emotions to manipulate her, I'm sure of it. If we go in blind though, that's game over.”
“I'll tell you this Strafe,” Zixin said, facing me, “I'll follow you here because this is your world. I want to find mom. But if I see that guy, he is going to suffer for his crimes.”
“He’ll get what's coming to him, believe me,” I agreed, “By the way, is your arm alright?”
Zixin massaged the remaining part. It had been shattered and shot off from the elbow down.
“It will be fine. Might take me some time to regenerate it. I learned to harness my spirit energy into physical form. Sonam showed me,” he said before he began to tear up.
I hugged him and held him close, “Don't worry brother, I'm always here for you.”
We embraced as Zixin wept for his mentor.
Our Whiteclouds stayed with Zixin outside near a park while I entered an internet café. I picked up some Tibetan while living at the palace, so I wasn't worried. They spoke English decently too.
When I walked up to the cashier to buy some telecrom data, it took a moment but I was able to communicate to her well enough for one hour's worth of time. I thanked her and proceeded to my seat. I logged in after sitting down and tried to find the chat-room I used to talk to the Salvators. To my surprise, I saw a blank message in my inbox. After I clicked it, a chat-window popped up in the lower-righthand side of the screen. They must've been monitoring us somehow.
Unknown IP: Are you alright?
User1: Yes, we're fine. We're in Shangri-La.
Unknown IP: Good. We are aware of what happened at Yungbulakang Palace. Sonam was our lead informant for the area and a dear friend.
User1: Listen, we need to talk, face-to-face. We're in deep trouble, can you help us?
For a few minutes there was no response. Outside Zixin sat in the grass with Pup and Esper while Goliath played with some of the local dogs at the park. Some of the people were shocked by how big they were. Our cover would be blown if we didn't move quickly.
Unknown IP: Our local operative will pick you up. We will fly you to our headquarters in Ireland. There is much you do not know. Stay hidden until then. Speak to no one. The world is not prepared for what's to come.
The chat room closed but I received directions to the Salvator hideout. After downloading the map to guide us there, I returned to Zixin. I rubbed Goliath's head as he came to greet me.
“Did you find out where those bastards went?” he huffed.
“No,” I lamented, “But I did talk with our friends. They found us a way out of the country but we have to get to their headquarters.”
“Okay.”
We began to walk towards downtown, but Zixin stopped in his tracks, “Strafe, you have done so much for me, it'll be hard to pay you back. I thank you, but when I find the man who killed Sonam, do not stop me from taking vengeance.”
“He knew the danger of associating with us. You will be able to move on if he's brought to justice the right way,” I advised.
“I'm not going to kill him. I've... done too much of that already,” Zixin sighed gently.
With that, we made our way across town to the entrance to Songzanlin Monastery, as inconspicuously as we could with three giant wolves.
CHAPTER 14
Strafe
Thanks to the Salvator directions, we made it to the entrance of the Songzanlin Monastery. Unfortunately, to our disappointment, to enter the grounds, we needed an escort.
“Really?” Zixin protested to the silent guard.
“Bro, we should be expecting someone. Let's wait over here,” I said.
The Whiteclouds laid down on the yellow brick tiles to rest as we waited. The sun began to set and I wondered if our contact was coming for us. Dusk approached and we decided to take off. At that moment, a robed monk approached. The wolves stood up but calmed down as the stranger reached out to pet them. Esper especially enjoyed meeting new people.
Flipping back their hood revealed a woman. She had black hair in a short pixie cut, was Tibetan, and had a nice smile.
“Hello,” she greeted in English.
“Hi,” I replied.
“These are big wolves you have,” she said with a smile. “Very fuzzy.”
“Yeah, a bunch of babies actually,” I joked; Goliath titled his head.
“What brings you all to Shangri-La?”
“Vacation,” Zixin stated as he stepped forward. I could tell he didn't trust her.
“You've come to the right place,” she said, “My name is Karma. I know who you are.”
He clenched his fist but I put my arm out to stop him, “So then you know why we're here?”
“Yes, I am the operative sent to bring you to our hideout. Please come with me.”
Walking behind her with the Whiteclouds, Zixin whispered in my ear, “Do you think this is a trap?”
Putting my hand on his shoulder, I assuaged, “You must learn to put faith in others, my man. We'll be fine.”
He nodded back in agreement. We passed through with the blessing of the Monastery guards. Even in 2091, things had not changed here much since its creation in the 17th Century. Monks donning maroon robes walked the streets in prayer. Young mothers and their children played outside their homes. Tibetan prayer flags and art hung between the terracotta houses. I came to love this area of the world. Nobody minded our Whiteclouds as other wild animals roamed in peace. It was surreal and calm.
Upon entering, the Songzanlin Monastery took my breath away. Golden statues and ornaments line the entire structure and with the wind gently blowing across the land, it made me wish this moment could last forever.
“Please, come inside,” she said while opening the giant door.
Both of us gasped in awe of the place. Tibetan paintings of all colors and brush strokes lined the walls. Gigantic red columns supported the weight of the ceiling in the middle of the room. Aromas from burning incense put a minty smell in the air. There was a stringed instrument playing a calm song that accentuated the vibe. Truly a magnificent monument. As we cleared the columns, Karma walked to a wall. She traced a circle with her finger on it before it began to disassemble itself.
“Woah,” Zixin admired.
After fully disassembling, a stairway was made available. She turned on flashlight before walking down. Because of their curiosity, Pup, Goliath, and Esper went in first. My brother was at ease and he walked forth slowly. I still had to admire just how lucky we were to see this. I got lost in a day-dream, looking around when my brother whispered, “Strafe! Let's go!”
“Oh! Yeah,” I said, shaking my head like a dog.
After we all had begun to walk down the staircase, the wall reassembled itself.
“Reminds me of a story of a wizard boy I read a long tim
e ago.”
The way down wasn't long. At the end was a pathway lined with Buddhist art. Karma opened two white doors at the far side. We had crossed into the Salvator hideout. She took off her monk robe and set it on a table. Our new friend wore what looked like ninja gear, sort of like my old friend Zon. A cape draped over her shoulders that went down to her elbows and covered both her chest and back.
“Welcome. The pleasure is ours to finally meet you,” she said with a bow. The Whiteclouds bowed back.
“So, who exactly are you people? Why have you been protecting us?”
Dozens of monks walked in behind her. Their faces darkened so I couldn't see them.
“The Salvators's origin began a few years ago, but people like us have been around for thousands of years. We are global. Our mission is to keep watch over the citizens to ensure those in power do not become tyrants. If the gap between the rich and the poor is too widened, even the greatest empires can fall. We exist on every continent and believe peace is the ultimate way of a warrior,” Karma disclosed.
“Then why did we get attacked? Why did the military want to capture us?” Zixin asked.
“It is not because they don't ultimately stand for justice; they are being led astray. Those creatures that engaged you at the palace, have existed here for much longer than human civilization.”
With crossed arms, I said, “The Slates. When I, we were on Eternia, we fought them there too. What are they and why can they infect humans so easily?”
“Some civilizations referred to them as demons, fallen angels. Those who have not found their faith are most susceptible to becoming them. Removing the God Blade from Earth weakened the protective enchantments instilled by our ancestors on them. I'm sure this isn't the first time you encountered them on this planet?” she asked.
“No, I did before,” I nodded, “Right before I traveled through the portal to Eternia, I was ambushed by one.”
