The Syndicate's Journey

by Nicholas Bogucki

  Major General Reingle moved his head up and looked out the window to see. “It looks as if they are walking towards one another...but, why are their followers standing far away?”

  “I guess that they don’t want the other Snargde to hear what they’re saying?”

  “Is that wise of J’uhleesa to do so? I mean, he talked about M’leezenah as if she was a threat.” Major General Reingle asked.

  “I’m sure he wouldn’t be talking to her alone if he knew that she was that powerful.”

  “You know, maybe he is more powerful than he led us to believe?”

  “That is possible, too." Major General Solbrig replied.

  Major General Reingle turned around and walked over to the table and grabbed his OBA, and put it on. He grabbed the vials off of the table and placed them into his pocket. He looked towards Major General Solbrig and asked. “Are you coming with me?”

  Major General Solbrig walked over to the table and put his OBA on. “I guess if we have to play the part, we might as well do it, flawlessly, right?”

  Major General Reingle nodded. “You got that right.”

  The Major Generals walked towards the door and pressed the button to go outside. The door slid open, and the ramp appeared. They walked down it, and the door closed behind them. They started walking towards both groups of Snargde.

  “Snakardekus doesn’t look any different than it did yesterday, or the day before, you notice that?” Major General Reingle asked.

  “What is supposed to change? There’s nothing here, really.”

  “I’m just not used to the stillness that is Snakardekus. Major General Reingle declared.

  “Yeah, it is quite odd.”

  Major General Reingle looked up at the sky. “When do you think the supply drop will be here?”

  “I have no clue, but I’m sure soon.”

  “Let’s hope so. I feel sorry for M’leezenah and her followers.” Major General Reingle continued to speak and motioned with his head towards the sky. “The sun is beating down on us today.”

  “What makes you say that?” Major General Solbrig asked, “We can’t feel the heat.”

  “No, but I know her, and her followers can feel it.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Solbrig, don’t you remember what J’uhleesa said about the Azuard?”

  Major General Solbrig was quiet for a moment and looked at her followers then looked at his followers. “Oh, right. The Azuard makes it possible to not feel the heat.”

  “Exactly! While J’uhleesa and M’leezenah are talking, she is feeling the intensity of the sun along with her followers, while his followers are just hanging out like it doesn’t harm them. I’d say J’uhleesa has the advantage here.”

  “I’d say so, too. There’s a lot of Snargde over here, are you nervous? Major General Solbrig asked.

  “Maybe a little bit, but we know J’uhleesa and his group of Snargde, which should put us at ease a bit.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. Good thing we don’t have to walk near the other group.

  The Major Generals looked to their left as they passed by M’leezenah’s followers and looked at them. They appeared to seem malnourished with their scrawny stature. Their eyes looked beady and small as if they were squinting to see. Their bodies had scabs and scars in various areas, and some of their scales were blotchy. They continued walking and looked to their right and saw J’uhleesa’s followers. Their bodies were defined and looked like they were in good health. Their features looked muscular. Their eyes were wide as if they were paying close attention to what was going on. Their blue bodies looked slimy, but yet smooth.

  “What should we say when we get closer to them?” Major General Reingle asked.

  “Nothing. We should stand by, not too close. Let’s just see what J’uhleesa says to us, if anything.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  The Major Generals stood in between the Snargde groups, watching J’uhleesa and M’leezenah talk to one another in their language. Their OBAs could not translate it, the language sounded like a bunch of hisses, growls, and grunts. J’uhleesa moved his hands in the air and hissed, then looked over to his left and saw the Major Generals standing there, and his demeanor changed. It appeared to look as if he had a smile on his face, and he waved the Major Generals over to him. The Major Generals looked at one another then slowly walked towards him. As they arrived, a few feet away J’uhleesa spoke so the Major Generals could hear him.

  “These are the two I was telling you about,” J’uhleesa proudly introduced them.

  M’leezenah looked at them. She wasn’t the most attractive Snargde that existed, and she seemed hostile. Her teeth extended past her lips and her nails on her hands and feet appeared to be overgrown. Her body had the same blotchiness and scars that the others had. As she spoke, her voice sounded very raspy and seemed as if her tongue got in the way of her teeth, which made her words sound as if she had a lisp.

  “Oh, I see,” M’leezenah stated. “You are not Snargde.” She extended her arm and pointed at them.

  The Major Generals shook their heads. “No, we are not Snargde.” Major General Solbrig admitted.

  M’leezenah asked, “What are you here for?”

  “We are here to explore this planet and see what it has to offer.” Major General Solbrig explained. “We are not here to fight.”

  “Well, if you aren’t here for that then you have no business here. Go on, go away!” M’leezenah waved her hand at them.

  Major General Solbrig’s eyebrows tightened, and he looked at Major General Reingle then at J’uhleesa. J’uhleesa appeared to be nodding to Major General Solbrig.

  “If you aren’t going to attack for no reason, at least have a reason to.” She stated and pointed to the group of Snargde, and the group shuffled around as one Snargde inside of the group out towards them. The Snargde walked slowly and held it’s left arm, then removed its hand and to show that it no longer had a hand on that arm anymore. All eyes were on the Snargde then turned towards Major General Solbrig. “I heard what you did to a Snargde of mine. I will not tolerate violence without reason, and for that, I will punish you later after I become ruler of Snakardekus!”

  Major General Solbrig’s demeanor changed. He turned to Major General Reingle, and his face was in shock. At that moment, Major General Solbrig knew that this was the same Snargde that he had ran into the cave previously.

  “This is no matter of yours, this is between J’uhleesa and me. You are no Snargde.” M’leezenah pointed at the Kradnak. “Go on back to that.”

  J’uhleesa walked over to the Major Generals. “Now wait, why do they have to leave? They have every right to be here like we do.”

  “They are not Snargde and are not welcome!” M’leezenah shouted. “We cannot let them interfere; this is a Snargde matter!”

  “Snargde or no Snargde, these two have helped me.”

  “Then they are my enemies. Especially after what that one did to one of my followers!” M’leezenah raised her hand and pointed it at Major General Solbrig.

  “Now look I’m just going to-” Major General Solbrig tried to speak but was cut off by M’leezenah.

  “No, you don’t talk when we talk. I am mad. Go before I do something I may not regret.”

  Major General Solbrig looked to his left at Major General Reingle, and then he looked back to M’leezenah. “Sure.” He turned to look at J’uhleesa. “You know where to find us.”

  The Major Generals turned around and walked past the Snargde on both sides and walked back to the Drakdel.

  “I’m surprised you controlled yourself, Solbrig.”

  “You and me both. I didn’t want to start something that I knew we would be outnumbered.” Major General Solbrig let out a grunt through his teeth.

  “You looked as if you were about to explode, to be honest. You were pretty good at containing your anger.”

  “Thanks, I did it for you and J’uhleesa...” Major General Reingle smile
d after hearing that, “And I did it for General Deschner.”

  “General Deschner?” Major General Reingle asked. “What does he have to do with this?”

  “Don’t you remember? He told us not to interfere with the Snargde. We have to let whatever happens here happen naturally.”

  “I don’t agree with that, but you’re right.” Major General Reingle looked up towards the sky. “What is that?”

  “I’m not sure… could it be the supply drop?”

  “Only one way to find out.”

  The Major Generals picked up their pace and jogged towards the Drakdel, and the supply drop was slowly coming down towards them. Four small tubes protruded out of each side that allowed it to land smoothly. These tubes assisted the supply drop to land precisely in the right spot.

  As the supply drop neared the ground, the bottom side opened out and turned into a platform to stabilize the landing procedure. The supply drop landed a few feet away from the Drakdel, and the sand underneath it was slightly pushed deeper.

  “What did General Deschner say again about this?”

  “Uh, that one of us needs to put our hand on it so it can do a scan of our hand and unlock it.”

  “That’s right!” Major General Reingle agreed. “Do you want to place your hand on it?

  “Me? Why me?” Major General Solbrig asked.

  “You can show M’leezenah that this belongs to you, instead of me.”

  “Hm. This is true. Maybe M’leezenah will think twice before talking to us again.” Major General Solbrig walked up to the supply drop and saw a black oval on the top of it. He turned towards Major General Reingle and asked. “I guess this is where I put my hand?”

  Major General Reingle walked over to him and looked at the supply drop. “It looks right to me.”

  “Okay good, stand back.”

  Major General Reingle walked back a few feet and watched as Major General Solbrig bent down and placed his right hand onto the black oval. In a moment, the black oval turned blue, and light slowly started from the top to the bottom. Major General Solbrig removed his hand and stood up, watching it unfold. Each side fell down and revealed what was inside.

  “What are those?” asked Major General Reingle.

  “These look like the HPD’s, Reingle.”

  “Why would General Deschner send us HPD’s? Did he not know we had any on the Drakdel?”

  “I’m not sure. These look different...modified somehow. I mean, look at this.” Major General Solbrig pointed at the section that was modified. “This looks different, almost as if we can place something inside of it.”

  “Of course! But what exactly?”

  “Hmm... you’d think General Deschner would send us some information with this.”

  “Did he?”

  “There’s nothing else here, and he didn’t send us anything through the INH, either.”

  “Yeah, you’re right.” Major General Reingle asked. “Can I see one of those?”

  “Yeah sure, here.” Major General Solbrig handed him the one that he was holding, and he picked the other one up. Major General Reingle flipped it over and looked inside the slot where it seemed as if something belonged. He found something written in there and read it out loud.

  “High-Frequency Antimatter Fusion Pistols or HAFR”

  “Huh? Is that on the weapon?”

  “Yeah, turn it over. Inside of the area here.” Major General Reingle showed him where it was located.

  “Huh, interesting...” Major General Solbrig spoke. “Wait, Antimatter?”

  “Yeah, that’s what I said.”

  “That means we can use the vials in the Drakdel for this...HAFR”

  “Oh...right. Well, maybe General Deschner thought that it was a good idea to incorporate the vials into this weapon?” Major General Reingle stated. “Maybe that way, he wouldn’t have to send ammunition as well?”

  “Probably right about that, but Reingle, would you read that again for me?”

  “Uh, okay, sure. High-Frequency Antimatter Fusion Pistols.”

  “You know what this means, right?”

  “Nope.” Major General Reingle shook his head.

  “Let’s just say these are killing machines, Reingle. Their ammunition is Antimatter, which, as you know can devastate anything in its path.”

  “If these take Antimatter...”

  “Which they do.”

  “What would we use them for…?” Major General Reingle gulped.

  “Well, I think General Deschner wants us to help J’uhleesa.”

  “What are you saying?” Major General Reingle asked.

  “I’m saying I believe he wants us to even the numbers a bit and make J’uhleesa the ruler.”

  “Why, though?”

  “Reingle...” Major General Solbrig elaborated. “Don’t you recall what General Deschner said about the Azuard?”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah, oh.”

  “Well, what do we do?”

  “You have a vial on you?” asked Major General Solbrig.

  “I have a few, yeah.” He reached into his pocket and grabbed one and gave it to Major General Solbrig, “What are you thinking about doing?”

  “Well, if these take Antimatter and we have vials for it...why not use them?”

  “On what?”

  “Target practice?”

  “On what, Solbrig? There’s not much around here.”

  “Well, no, you’re right, but what about the supply drop here?”

  “You want to shoot the supply drop?” Major General Reingle questioned.

  “Do you see anything else here worth shooting?”

  The Major Generals looked around themselves and noticed that there wasn’t much to look at rather much to shoot at either beside the occasional cacti.

  There’s nothing out here except this supply drop, you’d think General Deschner would send us targets to practice on or something.”

  Major General Reingle shrugged his shoulders. “Well, he didn’t…”

  “We have to pass the time, somehow.”

  Major General Solbrig held the HAFR in his right hand and loaded the Antimatter vial into it with his left hand and secured the vial into it. The Major Generals stood a few feet back from the Drakdel, and Major General Reingle watched Major General Solbrig aim the HAFR at the supply drop. Major General Solbrig turned to look at him and asked.

  “Ready for this?”

  “Wait!” Major General Reingle shouted. “What are you doing?”

  “What is it now, Reingle?!”

  “That’s Antimatter, right?”

  “Of course, it is Antimatter!”

  “Do not shoot at the supply drop.”

  “And why not?”

  “Well, for one, you’re still too close, two, whatever speed the HAFR releases the Antimatter particles out of the barrel is, could annihilate both of us in an instant.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m pretty certain.” Major General Reingle admitted.

  Major General Solbrig asked, annoyed. “So, I can’t shoot this then?”

  “Well, you can...but nowhere near us.” Major General Reingle demanded. “Why don’t you hold off on shooting that for now?”

  “You’re probably right. General Deschner probably sent these as a last resort. We wouldn’t want to do anything too hasty.”

  “Hasty like shooting that off twenty feet away from us, huh?”

  Major General Solbrig turned to him and smirked.

  “You sure have a strange sense of humor, Solbrig.”

  Major General Solbrig shook his head and nodded towards the Snargde. “What do you think J’uhleesa is doing now?”

  Major General Reingle turned towards the direction and looked. “It appears that he is waving to us?”

  “Good, he finally needs our help. Let’s go, maybe I’ll be able to get my revenge on M’leezenah.”

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Remember, we can’t interfere.”

/>   Major General Solbrig turned to his right and looked at him, annoyed. “Come on.” They left the supply drop there and took the HAFR’s with them, holding the gun in their hands as they walked across the desert once again. As they reached M’leezenah and J’uhleesa, they were talking.