The Syndicate's Journey

by Nicholas Bogucki

  “You are the newest general here, but the sooner you learn your place here, the smoother this will go.” He grinned.

  With that, the entire room was almost as quiet as space outside of the ship was. Major General Reingle held his tongue. He knew it was better to be a general in the Syndicate than not to be.

  General Deschner cleared his throat and walked back to his chair and sat down. “Anyways, as I was saying…”

  General Deschner waved his right hand motioning the generals to sit down, and a blank hologram appeared over the table.

  “Lieutenant General Armitage show me the schematics for the new vehicle that you have been working on over at MOD.”

  “Yes, General.”

  Lieutenant General Armitage waved his hands in the air and with his left hand, moved it down slowly as if he was sorting through files and grabbed something with his thumb and two fingers and threw the hologram on the table. The hologram appeared in front of all their eyes.

  “Right here, we have what we at MOD like to call the Kradnak. This thing is massive as you can see, it is now the biggest vehicle that we had built.”

  The hologram appeared before their eyes and showed exactly what Lieutenant General Armitage was talking about. The Kradnak was a make-shift land vehicle designed at a moment's notice to change forms to become a universal vehicle. The body of it looked swollen, almost too big for its frame.

  “Inside the body of the Kradnak, it can hold up to roughly ten-thousand transhumans. The wingspan on the Kradnak is roughly six hundred feet long.”

  Lieutenant General Armitage moved his hands in a rhythmic fashion right to left to change what he was referencing to as he was speaking. The wings appeared on the Kradnak and a hologram of the Kradnak flying showing how it worked.

  “That’s not all it can do; you see the six legs it has underneath its frame? The six legs can change shapes for every occasion. Watch this!”

  Lieutenant General Armitage waved his hand, and he showed the generals how the legs change from big massive bulky cylindrical legs to support itself in arctic weather or to hold itself down it the heat of battle. Then he waved his hand again, and the legs changed where the legs were completely flat and joined together so they could be used to submerge into the oceans and on top of flatlands like deserts fast. The generals were impressed and looked on.

  “That’s not all. We have finally been able to do something that we had never been able to do before.”

  Lieutenant General Armitage waved his hand over the hologram, and the hologram showed the bulky legs decompress into the vast body of the Kradnak, and it hovered.

  “We finally were able to modify a vehicle to hover across any kind of land, water, and air.”

  “Whoa. That is impressive! I’ve never seen a vehicle capable of all of that.” General Deschner exclaimed in amazement. “I can see the hologram here, but how fast can it actually move?”

  “Well, we are still running diagnostics testing... but we have recorded speeds clocked at 352 miles.” Lieutenant General Armitage proudly explained.

  “Wow...That is impressive like I said, but it needs to go faster though. Especially if it can fly, it needs to go three... maybe four times as fast.”

  General Deschner was amazed by the hologram hover.

  “Impressive, though. I am definitely impressed.” General Deschner stated.

  “Thank you, General.” Lieutenant General Armitage replied, “You see those plates all over the top of it and back? Those are solar panels, but a military-grade style which allows the Kradnak to hold a charge for around a year or so. We’re still trying to figure out how long exactly. Everything on the Kradnak is powered by solar energy. This means that the technology cannot fail due to any weather-related hazards we might endure. Check it out.”

  Lieutenant General Armitage waved his right hand to the left as if he were swatting a fly. In a moment, squares on the solar panels opened, and a long rod appeared through each hole; it almost looked like a weapon.

  “Right there is the newest and latest piece of military technology.” Lieutenant General Armitage paused and looked to his left at Lieutenant General dee Veyra. “Go ahead, Lieutenant General dee Veyra; I won’t take all the credit.”

  General Deschner stopped looking at the table with the Kradnak being displayed and looked at Lieutenant General dee Veyra.

  “Well thank you, I appreciate that.” She calmly spoke as she cleared her throat and moved her hand the same way as Lieutenant General Armitage did. “My team over at TAT came up with a weapon that has not been weaponized before. Allow me to give you an example.” She said proudly.

  Lieutenant General dee Veyra moved her hand again, and the hologram did precisely what she was saying. “We armed the Kradnak with Antimatter. We combined the Antimatter with heat-seeking, automated missiles.”

  General Deschner's mouth fell slightly open.

  “You... did...what?”

  “We thought it could not work and wanted to surprise you. We were able to test it with a little bit of trial and error. Honestly, it didn’t take us that long, right Lieutenant General Armitage?” She turned and smiled at Lieutenant General Armitage.

  “Nope, she’s absolutely right; it took us what, like six months or so?” he chuckled, then she laughed. “More trial than error, luckily!”

  “You weaponized Antimatter, though…” General Deschner shook his head. “You do know what that can do, right?”

  “Absolutely, that is why we had the Kradnak created with the strongest metals known to us. We used mostly Chromanium with a bit of Titanium…”

  General Deschner looked in awe. “How in the - you were able to get your hands on Chromanium? How exactly?”

  “Well, honestly, it wasn’t just Lieutenant General dee Veyra that helped; it was most of us. Major General Solbrig and Reingle helped out with the more technical aspect of it all.” Lieutenant General Armitage admitted.

  General Deschner looked at the Major Generals and slightly nodded. “Impressive.” He nodded again. “Tell me more.”

  “Well...” Major General Solbrig started to speak, “As general of the STAV, I had to find out a way to make safety the number one concern amongst our fellow transhumans. My task for working on the Kradnak was to make sure that the body of the Kradnak was reinforced with the best armor possible. We wanted to make sure nothing could penetrate the frame of it.”

  Major General Solbrig moved his hands out, palms facing outwards. “Every single test we conducted on the Kradnak was about testing the durability of it, and it passed. We barely had to make revisions; we did not test it against Antimatter because well...”

  “I understand.” General Deschner nodded.

  Major General Reingle chimed in. “General, if you mind...”

  General Deschner waved his hand. “You have the floor.”

  “Thank you, General.” Major General Reingle waved his hands; the hologram showed folders on the table for all to see. The dossiers were labeled: “Classified: Antimatter.” “Classified: Kradnak.” “Classified: Solar Energy.” “Classified: Chromanium.” And other folders, some non-operational, and others were not shown to be read.

  “Inside each of these folders are everything we know about each topic. My team over at SIR compiled all this information… it took a while, but it was worth it.”

  General Deschner picked up the document labeled “Classified: Antimatter,” opened it, and flipped through the pages of it. Each time he turned a page, he licked his thumb and grabbed it. The other generals looked at General Deschner.

  “I enjoy being the general at SIR; we have to conduct various experiments on chemicals, liquids, gases, and other minor properties. We especially had a hard time tracking down Chromanium, but luckily we were able to pinpoint the nearest asteroid that contained trace elements of Chromanium and then harvested its resources.”

  “You’ve done a great job for the Syndicate, Major General Reingle.” General Deschner put away the papers and closed the d
ocument, and then he moved his hands to the left, and the hologram vanished. Then he looked at the generals. “All of you. You have done well.” He smiled. “Major Generals Lokhorst and Brentari, I have a request.”

  Their heads piqued towards him, and they smiled at him.

  “I want you two to work together and work on the relationships between the inhabitants of Varenok and Snakardekus. I am sure, with your expertise in your divisions combined, you two can work on the relations.”

  The Major Generals Lokhorst and Brentari nodded, and in unison, they spoke.

  “Yes, General.”

  “Anything else that I might have missed in this meeting, Lieutenants?” General Deschner asked.

  Lt General dee Veyra looked away, trying to remember if anything was missed. Lieutenant General Armitage looked concerned and opened his mouth slightly.

  “General Deschner, I have a question. I do not mean to overstep when I ask this, but...”

  “Go ahead, Lieutenant.”

  “Is there a reason outside of building our military strength that you wanted the Kradnak to be produced?” Lieutenant General Armitage asked.

  General Deschner’s eyes got small, and his lips moved together. “Sometimes Lieutenant, you must plan ahead even if it seems like all is quiet. Nothing bad about being prepared, right?” General Deschner winked at him.

  “Right, General!”

  General Deschner looked down and thought for a moment, then he moved his left hand over the table and then moved both his hands as if he were sorting through notes. The other generals could not see what he was doing. He was looking at two folders labeled: “Classified: Snakardekus” and “Classified: Varenok.”

  He pulled the two folders and threw them in the air in front of him, and with a flick of his wrist, he was reading through the folders as he flipped through the pages. His eye implants scanned the words and pictures. In a moment, he had flipped through all the pages for both worlds, and he closed the folders and wiped away the holograms.

  “Major Generals, I have a mission for all four of you. You four have knowledge of public relations, education, and transportation. I know I just told Major Generals Brentari and Lokhorst to work on the relations, but I changed my mind. I feel like all four of you could benefit from this experience. You four will go to Snakardekus and Varenok to work on the relations between the inhabitants. Snakardekus and Varenok are not like anything that you have ever seen before.” General Deschner smiled. “Just remember to try and enjoy yourselves.” He chuckled.

  “When would you want us to leave then, General?” asked Major General Brentari.

  “Tomorrow morning.” He stated. “You four will break up into groups of two. Major Generals Reingle and Solbrig will go to Snakardekus, and Brentari and Lokhorst will go to Varenok. Your mission is to discover information about the planet and its inhabitants. You will learn what they enjoy and what they hate. Do what you can in one month and pass the information to the other group. After that month is over, you will leave the planet and go to the other one with the new information. This way, hoping we can learn more from what we will already know.”

  The four Major Generals made eye contact across the table and nodded.

  “Yes, General,” they agreed in unison.

  General Deschner looked at Lieutenant General Armitage, and he continued speaking. “You will stay here, and we will call MOD and have them fly two Drakdels up here for your ships tomorrow.” General Deschner explained, then he looked at the Major Generals again.

  “Yes, General.” Lieutenant General Armitage stated.

  “Do what you must to get ready. You’ll spend most of the day tomorrow traveling, so you need to leave by 0600 hours.”

  The generals nodded their heads.

  “Oh, and Major General Reingle?”

  “Y-yes General?”

  “Don’t fret; it’ll be fun; you might learn a thing or two.” He smiled.

  “Yes, General.” He smiled.

  “You are all dismissed except you for Lieutenant General Armitage.”

  Lieutenant General dee Veyra and the four Major Generals stood up from their chairs and walked over to the door. Lieutenant General dee Veyra then pressed the button, and the doors opened, and they walked through to the other side, and the doors closed behind them.

  Lieutenant General Armitage moved his chair so that he was sitting across from General Deschner.

  “I’m curious about something, General.”

  “Sure, what is it?”

  “Well...Why did you ask that I stay behind? You are the General over all of Nuwurth. You don’t need me to call MOD for you; you can do it yourself.”

  “Well... First, I just want to say that you are brave for flat out asking. I admire that. I figured that I could talk to you about something. I’ll call MOD for the Drakdels after we’re done here, but I trust you, Lieutenant. I want you to join me.”

  “What do you mean by that exactly, General?” Lieutenant General Armitage’s eyebrows tightened. “I already joined you; I am your Lieutenant, aren’t I?”

  “You are indeed, but that isn’t quite what I meant, Lieutenant.” General Deschner exhaled. “I have a secret mission, and I want you to help me with it.”

  Lieutenant General Armitage felt nervous, and his face showed how he feLieutenant

  “Are you okay?” asked General Deschner.

  “Yeah...I’m...uh just thinking is all General.”

  “Well, what are you thinking about? I haven’t told you any details, nor have I told you about the mission.” He smirked.

  “Yeah, you’re right sorry I guess I just had something on my mind.”

  “Well, you need to fix that if you want to join me. So, will you help me with the mission? No other general knows about this, not Lieutenant General dee Veyra.” General Deschner explained, “I cannot tell you what it is beforehand, either you join me, or you don’t.”

  Either he’s lying to me, or he's sincere. Why would he not fill in dee Veyra, and why just me? He had no reason to lie to me; he never had before. General Deschner was not a man to lie; I should know I have worked under him for many years, and he not once lied to me.

  “Sure.” Lieutenant General Armitage agreed. “I’ll accept your mission.”

  “I was hoping you would. I didn’t promote you for no reason, after all. I like you, Armitage, and I can see a future between the two of us.”

  “I’m curious though, why haven’t you told Lieutenant General dee Veyra?”

  “Well, to be honest with you... I’m not supposed to have a favorite, but I do. We all have favorites. Don’t get me wrong, she does her job well, and she is a great general for TAT, but she is not you.”

  “Of course, she’s not me, General.”

  “That’s why I asked you, not her. I see a lot of me in you, and that is a good thing. I know you won’t let me down.” General Deschner smiled.

  Lieutenant General Armitage shrugged and smiled back at him. “So, what exactly is your mission, General?”

  “First things first Lieutenant, the mission that I am sending the Major Generals on isn’t all fun and games. As you may have already suspected. I have been secretly probing Snakardekus for information, and it seems to me, or at least what I can infer from watching the Snargde is that some sort of battle or war is going to take place.” General Deschner put his hands together with each finger touching the same on the opposite hand. “Now, they think they are going to these planets for a scouting mission, but really I am sending them unknowingly into a hostile environment.”

  Lieutenant General Armitage’s eyes widened as he heard the news. “You’re doing...what!? You realize those are our Major Generals, right!?”

  General Deschner put his hand out. “Before you get angry at me, just listen.” General Deschner moved his left hand over the table, and a hologram from his INH showed the planet Snakardekus. “Look, Snakardekus is roughly two to three times bigger than Nuwurth. Most of it is desert with some rocky terrain, o
kay?”

  As General Deschner described Snakardekus, he moved his hand in a circle, which enlarged the planet to show Lieutenant General Armitage what exactly he was talking about.

  “I’m not exactly sure where the Snargde is located. Honestly, they are rarely seen. Lately, I have seen some strange creatures wearing some brown clothing. I believe it is Snargde, but I’m uncertain.”

  “The... Snargde…are real?”

  “Apparently so.” General Deschner moved his left hand to the side as he wiped away Snakardekus, and multiple pictures appeared of the creatures in the brown cloth. Many photographs were taken of the mysterious hooded creatures. Pictures were shown from close-up, far away, heat vision, 3-D images, and other miscellaneous pictures. Lieutenant General Armitage could not believe what he was looking at. An alien species that he has only heard about but has never seen before right in front of his face as living proof.