The Syndicate's Journey

by Nicholas Bogucki

  “You ready?” Major General Brentari asked.

  “I have no other choice.” Major General Lokhorst replied and shook her head.

  Prince Hyollywhog sat on top of her head and tapped her with his weapon, and she started to swim.

  “How do we get out of here?” Major General Brentari asked.

  “We go through the plant behind us.”

  “What?” Major General Lokhorst asked.

  The Tulrouthe turned around and swam towards the plant, as she got closer to it, she moved it out of her way and continued to swim. They were in a dark tunnel, which was not much bigger than the Tulrouthe itself.

  “You might want to crouch in the tunnel.” Shouted Prince Hyollywhog.

  The Tulrouthe continued swimming until it reached a bubble, much like the one at the beginning of the Frochen Kingdom. The Tulrouthe had no trouble swimming through it and out of it. Major General Brentari looked behind them as she held onto the plant and saw a few Frochen guards standing guard near the bubble.

  The Tulrouthe then swam upwards; she used her webbed feet to push the water, which forced them to swim faster. She used her tail as a make-shift propeller to achieve faster speeds as she swam.

  Major General Lokhorst tapped on Major General Brentari’s shoulder and pointed to the right of them. There was a creature with elongated tentacles attacking another creature with two mouths and eyes all over its head.

  Prince Hyollywhog tapped on the Tulrouthe’s head again for it to swim faster. In a moment, those creatures were no longer seen, and the water became lighter as it reached the surface. The Tulrouthe jumped out of the water into the air and fell back into the ocean, and then it swam back to the surface, now slowly swimming. Prince Hyollywhog atop of its head turned around and shouted. “Where did you say you came from?”

  Major Generals Brentari and Lokhorst turned and looked around them, and to their left, Major General Lokhorst noticed the Froach were at the same spot as they once met them. “Over there!” she shouted and pointed in the direction.

  Prince Hyollywhog tapped the Tulrouthe’s head, and it began to swim towards the Froach. When they had passed the Froach, the Frochen guards stared at them, and the Major Generals waved to them as they passed by.

  The Tulrouthe continued swimming, and as they got closer, a shadowy figure appeared in the distance on the land. “I think that’s it! That’s the Drakdel!” Major General Brentari shouted. Prince Hyollywhog tapped the Tulrouthe to slow down as they reached the Drakdel. The Tulrouthe came to a stop right by the Drakdel, and it slowly moved its body on top of the land. The Drakdel appeared to them just like they never left it.

  “Thanks for bringing us here.” Major General Brentari cheered, “We couldn’t have done it without you!”

  “Don’t thank us, we’re just doing what we’re told to.”

  A Frochen guard held onto the plant as it scooted itself off of the Tulrouthe and stepped onto the land, allowing the Major Generals to hop off of the Tulrouthe. As they were getting off of it, Major General Brentari moved slowly while holding onto the shell that King Byollywhog gave them. When the Major Generals both were on land, the Frochen guard climbed back up the Tulrouthe’s body and sat there.

  “Well, we are off to the Conglacieral mountains to find the other Tulrouthe.” Prince Hyollywhog yelled down to the Major Generals.

  “Good luck, and I hope you find him!” Major General Brentari yelled back.

  “Thank you, goodbye!” Major General Lokhorst shouted and waved to them.

  Prince Hyollywhog, on top of the Tulrouthe’s head, spoke something incomprehensible, and then the Tulrouthe moved its body into the water and swam down. In an instant, it was as if they were not even there.

  “I thought we’d never see the Drakdel again, Lokhorst.” Major General Brentari remarked as they watched the water for the Tulrouthe to appear.

  “You’re telling me. I thought it wouldn’t go as smoothly as it did.”

  “Yeah really.” Major General Brentari turned her body and walked towards the Drakdel. Major General Lokhorst followed her.

  “Well, one good thing is that we have a good rapport with King Byollywhog and Queen Mompawhog.”

  “That is true. It seems like the more we interact, the more we will be able to get to know the Frochen more. Maybe General Deschner will be grateful for the new Frochen relationship.” Major General Brentari questioned.

  “Well, we can call him when we get inside, for now, let’s relax for a moment.”

  “Yeah, you’re right.” Major General Brentari walked up the ramp and pressed the button, and the doors slid open, she stepped inside, followed by Major General Lokhorst and the doors closed. Major General Brentari placed the shell that King Byollywhog gave her on the desk, and they moved removed the OBA from themselves and placed it on the desk.

  Major General Lokhorst exhaled.“Ahhh...that’s a huge relief.”

  Major General Brentari shook her head and looked at the OBA in her hand. “I still can’t believe these things work. I’m grateful they do, though, especially underwater.”

  “That would have been such a bummer. Going and exploring Varenok’s depths and dying because we couldn’t breathe.” Major General Lokhorst chuckled.

  “Yeah...not funny.” Major General Brentari stated, “It feels weird not having these OBA’s on now.”

  “That I can agree with!” Major General Lokhorst asked, “Hey, do you think the Frochen thought that these are our mouths?” She motioned to her OBA on the desk.

  “You know, I didn’t think about that...” The Major Generals sat down in their chairs.

  “You know, I didn’t think I would ever miss this Drakdel.”

  “I know what you mean.” Major General Brentari agreed. “The closest thing we have to home.”

  “Isn’t that the truth!”

  The Drakdels monitor turned on, and a message appeared that read:

  INCOMING CALL FROM GENERAL DESCHNER

  ACCEPT OR DENY?

  “Why is General Deschner calling the Drakdel?” Major General Brentari turned her heard towards Major General Lokhorst.

  “Maybe he couldn’t reach us by our INH? We should answer it.”

  “We... as in me?”

  “Of course.”

  Major General Brentari swiped her hand and tapped “Accept,” then General Deschner appeared on the screen.

  “Hello, Major Generals, where have you been?” he asked curiously, “I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for the past few hours.”

  “Well, you see, in the past few hours it has been quite adventurous...”

  Major General Brentari interjected and shouted. “...we found the Frochen!”

  “You did what?”

  Major General Lokhorst turned slightly to look at Major General Brentari and gave her a death stare. “That’s why we haven’t answered. We didn’t have any sort of communication down there.”

  “Down where?” General Deschner asked.

  “All the way down on Varenok’s ocean floor, the Frochen Kingdom!” Major General Brentari exclaimed.

  General Deschner looked surprised as he heard the news. “...So, they exist?”

  “They do! We found hundreds of them, and we met the King and Queen.”

  “That is absolutely incredible!” General Deschner sounded pleased, “So you met them or saw them at a distance?”

  “Both actually. You see, we rode some Frochen – well Froach actually, and then we met King Byollywhog and Queen Mompawhog and talked to them.”

  “I wonder if we can contact the Frochen again.” General Deschner looked away as he spoke. “It would be nice to have allies in the Tarkington system.”

  Major General Brentari looked at Major General Lokhorst then looked down at the shell that King Byollywhog gave them then looked back up at the screen.

  “The King actually gave us something to contact him again.” Major General Brentari held up the shell for General Deschner to see.

  “
What is...is that a shell?” he asked, confused.

  “It is! King Byollywhog told us that if we ever want to contact him again, all we have to do is talk in it on Varenok.” Major General Lokhorst explained.

  “Really? That is interesting. Make sure scan you scan it...speaking of scans, you didn’t happen to get a scan of any of these Frochen, did you?”

  “Well...the only one we were able to scan was deceased.” Major General Brentari admitted.

  “It seems to be a cruel place out here.” Major General Lokhorst stated.

  “That is very unfortunate. If the King did give you that, then maybe he is open for communications in the future. Maybe we can contact them again when all of this is in over.”

  “All of what is over? The mission, General?” Major General Brentari asked.

  “Yes, the mission...speaking of you two are now reassigned. You are to leave Varenok at once and travel to Snakardekus. I will be sending you the coordinates momentarily.” General Deschner swiped his hand and tapped on his INH as he listened to their reply.

  “Wait a second... Snakardekus?” Major General Lokhorst asked, “I thought we were supposed to be here, you know on Varenok?”

  “You were, that was the original mission, but now something came up.”

  “What is that exactly?”

  General Deschner looked agitated. His brows narrowed, and his lips became small. “I didn’t want to tell you this, but Major Generals Solbrig and Reingle are in trouble, and they need your help.”

  “Are they okay?” Major General Brentari asked.

  “What happened?”

  “I’m not entirely sure. I cannot fly there, especially in the USV Valkanaut, so I am asking...no I am pleading for you two to go check on them. It shouldn’t take you that long to fly there.” General Deschner looked worried as he spoke. “There, you should be receiving the coordinates to your Drakdel any moment now.”

  “We’ll definitely go and make sure they’re okay, General!” Major General Brentari exclaimed.

  “Is that why you said you tried to get ahold of us?” Major General Lokhorst asked.

  “Yes. I haven’t heard from the Major Generals in a few hours.” General Deschner moved his hand to his chin and thought for a moment. “It was around the same time that I couldn’t get ahold of you two.”

  “Hmmm...do you think interference of any sort?” Major General Lokhorst asked.

  “That could possibly be it, but I’m not sure.”

  “Well, General, we will leave as soon as we get off the call with you. I hope they’re okay.” Major General Lokhorst responded.

  “I’m sure they are too, but you never know. Last I heard from the Major Generals is that they found the Snargde.”

  “They did?” Major General Brentari pondered, “Wow. I wonder what they’re like.”

  “Apparently, you’ll meet them soon. I hope the Snargde hasn’t done anything to the Major Generals.”

  “Well let’s hope not!” Major General Brentari said nervously.

  “Agreed. Well, I will let you go so you two can fly there. Notify me when you find the Major Generals. I think maybe their INH broke...if that’s not the case, then I’m not sure what happened to them.”

  “Alright, sounds good, General.” Major General Lokhorst replied, “We’ll keep in touch. Oh, wait! I’m not sure if this is the right time to tell you this, but we haven’t received our supply drop yet.”

  “Well, of course, you wouldn’t.” General Deschner stated, “I rerouted it to Snakardekus. It’ll be there before you arrive.”

  “Oh, wow, that was nice of you to do.” Major General Lokhorst asked, “Thinking ahead, huh?”

  “Absolutely! Goodbye, Major Generals, and be safe!”

  “Goodbye, we will!”

  CALL ENDED WITH GENERAL DESCHNER

  “Do you think they’re okay?” Major General Brentari asked, “I mean, it sounded really urgent.”

  “Yeah, it did. I wonder what happened to Reingle and Solbrig.”

  “Let’s hope nothing bad, and hopefully just a malfunction.”

  “A malfunction, huh? I’m curious if General Deschner tried to call their Drakdel?” Major General Lokhorst asked. “I mean, he did call ours after all...”

  “That’s a good point. Well, we should probably get ready to travel to Snakardekus, then all our questions will be answered.

  “You’re right. Let’s put in these coordinates.” Major General Lokhorst swiped her hand, and her INH opened. She then tapped on “Files,” then tapped on “Received Files.” There was one file pending from General Deschner, which was labeled “Snakardekus Coordinates” She tapped on it and then “Download and Receive.” She swiped her hand towards the screen, and her INH appeared on it. She held down her finger towards the coordinates, which were labeled “-278.980-09-3532-09N-8J4-C8I9P and +0.43-248-948VV0842-XI9O0LP”. A drop-down list appeared, and then she tapped on “Fly to Destination.” And the Drakdel slowly hovered, and the legs contracted back into the base of the Drakdel, and the Drakdel flew towards Varenok’s atmosphere and then flew through the Tarkington System towards Snakardekus.

  EPILOGUE

  “I almost feel bad for having to do this.” General Deschner stated to Lieutenant Generals Armitage and dee Veyra as he sat across from them in the conference room. “You know what is going to happen, don’t you?”

  Lieutenant General Armitage shook his head and Lieutenant General dee Veyra was speechless.

  “Really? No clue at all?” General Deschner looked at them. “Well, I guess you’ll soon find out then.” He swiped his hand, and his INH opened. He tapped “Contacts” then moved his finger downwards and selected all the Brigadier Generals names, and then six screens flickered and appeared before his eyes like once before. As the screens were turning on, General Deschner looked down the table and spoke to the Lieutenant Generals again.

  “By the way, don’t bother talking. I have this room configured to pick up my speech only, so even if you do try to talk, they won’t hear you on the other end.” After General Deschner spoke, the six screens appeared next to one another like before.

  “Hello there, Brigadier Generals! How are you?” General Deschner greeted them as he smiled widely.

  “We’re doing well, General.” Brigadier General Maruo waved.

  “Yes, General, quite alright!” Brigadier General Vorhaus reported.

  “Good to see you again, General!” Brigadier General Tomeoni replied.

  Lieutenant Generals Armitage and dee Veyra watched from across the room as General Deschner spoke to them. They could see the Brigadier Generals talk but knew that saying anything would be useless. They did not know what his plan was and did not want to interfere in it yet.

  “Well, let’s see, Brigadier Generals Josselson, Sikorski, Tomeoni, and Vorhaus have you all completed work on the ETD, yet?”

  “Absolutely General. We just completed work on it.” Brigadier General Vorhaus answered.

  “Yeah, we had to modify the ETD, but it wasn’t hard at all. We just had to reconfigure the coding.” Brigadier General Sikorski added.

  “We were able to use more Chromanium and Titanium so it could support the weight of the Kradnaks.” Brigadier General Tomeoni explained.

  “That is wonderful news. Is the ETD bigger than before?” General Deschner inquired.

  “Well, the schematics that you sent me showed that the ETD was around two feet in width, and the Kradnaks are beyond that. We extended the ETD so that it can support anything under thirty feet wide. The Kradnak measures around twenty-six feet. We created four extra feet for leeway in case you would like to transport anything as well.” Brigadier General Tomeoni explained, “Hope that is suitable, General.”

  “Suitable?” General Deschner smiled and laughed. “That is more than suitable! That is outstanding work. You have outdone yourself! No, all of you have! You four have greatly helped the Syndicate!”

  General Deschner looked through the screens and saw Lieute
nant General Armitage roll his eyes. He seemed annoyed by General Deschner’s façade.

  “Thank you so much, General!” Brigadier General Tomeoni rejoiced.

  “Yes, thank you!” Brigadier General Sikorski cheered.

  “I can’t wait to see it. By the way, Brigadier Generals Maruo and Milenkovic, have you two completed your project, yet?”

  “Yes, General, we have actually! We modified the HAFR’s that we sent the Major Generals and enhanced roughly a thousand of them. We had all available transhumans from MOD and SIR working all night to modify them. The new weapons are called the High-Density Particle Rhardinium Chisel or the HPR for short. I know it’s a mouthful.” Brigadier General Maruo chuckled.