by Adrian P
Audi put both hands on his hips. “Konstantin is a high-ranking member of The Cypriot Brotherhood, and their entire reason for existence is the conquest of The Crowned Confederacy. Maybe there is a threat that this city pose towards their goal.”
“Like what?”
“No idea,” the boy replied. “But the fact that we fail to understand him means he’s several steps ahead of us. Nothing is more terrifying than an opponent whose goal we fail to comprehend.”
The big man slammed his fists on one another. “Let’s just stop him, and pull out his answers later,” he said. “If we let The Brotherhood use his superweapon, then humanity is doomed.”
“Ah yes. Do first, think later, eh? The kind of attitude that will screw us all.”
The boy’s pocket vibrated.
He snuck his hand in and pulled out a device the size of his palm. “Talk,” he said.
A crackle echoed through the channel. “Christina here,” a woman spoke. “We have spotted several trucks parked near a warehouse.”
“Simonovsky Tech’s?”
“No doubt,” Christina replied. “Armed soldiers in brown greatcoat are loading missiles into their cargo hatches, but the trucks are armoured. We need the gorilla’s strength to punch through the chassis and destroy their superweapon.”
The big man walked towards Audi and leaned onto the communicator. “My name’s Bryant, dear Chrissie.”
“Shut up and don’t call me that! It’s Christina for you, damned gorilla!”
Bryant laughed. “Leave the brutish task to me, but we need to wait before striking.”
“Why? We’ll blow them up where they are.”
Audi pinched his nose and closed his eyes. “Bad idea, Brotherhood soldiers are war veterans, and fighting them on our own is tantamount to suicide.”
“How long are we to wait?” Christina asked. “If the superweapon gets deployed again, then—“
“So you’re willing to die for nothing?”
Silence.
“Exactly,” the boy said. “Konstantin and his Brotherhood cronies need to transport their superweapon away to their space fleet, and that requires a ship,” he said. “The closest spaceport capable of loading heavy cargoes is in Kotabaru, the second largest city in this planet, just south of here.”
Bryant crossed his arms and stared at the distance. “So we know they are taking the major highway,” he said. “We need to coordinate with The Military Sector. Only Crowned Confederacy’s soldiers can fight against The Brotherhood.”
“Crowned Confederacy soldiers winning against Brotherhood? You have no idea,” Audi chuckled. “Keep watch on the trucks, I’m going to liaise with Crowned Confederacy’s military. We will ambush Konstantin together with them.”
Christina paused. “Have you seen Charley, by the way?”
“Is she not with you?”
“I wouldn’t have asked if she is,” Christina replied. “The only two places she would be right now is among Konstantin’s people, or right behind you.”
Audi glanced around. “She loves using her stealth suit, doesn’t she?”
“Like a tiny whirlwind, sneaking around quickly and silently without anyone knowing,” Christina sighed. “Tell me if you see her. Rachele and I will continue scouting Konstantin’s forces.”
She hung up.
The boy tucked his communicator into his pocket and locked it with a zip. He checked both of his wrist launchers and calibrated its engine to match their energy output.
“Can’t believe we’re working together with our former enemies,” Bryant said. “It’s only a few days ago that we tried killing each other.”
“You, maybe,” Audi replied. “I was just trying to protect Princess Victoria.”
“Ah yes, the Princess,” Bryant grinned. “Have you asked for a thank you kiss from her?”
Audi frowned. “What is this, some dumb fairy tale cliché?” he said. “Her survival was necessary to preserve The Crowned Confederacy’s internal stability. Brotherhood’s main forces can invade our worlds at any moment, and the last thing we need is our own people at each other’s throat.”
“You’re really cold at times, you know?” Bryant chuckled. “I don’t think the Princess wants you to treat her like that.”
“She is a member of the Royal Family.”
“And?”
“I have no need of wrestling amongst the political elites,” Audi’s voice stiffened. “There is no shred of humanity to be found amongst those whose survival depends on holding onto power, and power only comes to those with the financial means unto themselves.”
Bryant listened.
“I’ve seen enough how much suffering people are willing to go through for the sake of money and wealth,” the boy opened his palm and stared at it. “Food, Clothing, Shelter, Health, and Energy are the five basic needs of humanity, yet none we can have without money.”
“Are you saying money corrupts?” Bryant asked. “That it is but the root of all evil?”
Audi shook his head. “The meanings behind money and wealth depend on their users, their beholders, the people and society they circulate within,” he said. “But The Crowned Confederacy designed its culture and economic system in such a way that money means everything.”
Bryant glanced away. “It’s not like I don’t understand, but—”
“Would you have been a mercenary, risking your life fighting for other people’s interest, had you mustered enough money to pay every bill, big man?”
Bryant paused. He looked at Audi and loosened his arms. “Would you?”
Audi kept silent.
“Remember Matthew? Who turned on us the moment he realised our side cannot promise him money? Do you really think he did it out of greed?”
“He has to feed his family.”
Bryant nodded. “Matthew risked his life living as a mercenary to feed his family—those who would’ve died in poverty had he not fed them,” he paused. “When Crown Prince Christopher abolished worker unions and deregulated corporate laws three years ago, companies became free to push wages down according to their will. Workers can’t complain, because there are more job-seekers than job openings in this galaxy, so companies have the upper end of the bargain.”
The boy chuckled.
“What’s funny?”
“I laugh not out of amusement, but out of pity,” Audi said. “Selling our morals for the sake of accumulating wealth today isn’t reserved only for the greedy, but also for the selfless like Matthew, who’s willing to help Konstantin massacre millions, all for the sake of feeding his family.” he paused. “If the Creator does exist, He must’ve had a hard time choosing who to put in Heaven and Hell—for sins and virtues aren’t so black and white anymore.”
“I stand against Konstantin, because I don’t believe any amount of money can justify the death of innocent millions.”
“Even if it means losing your fiancée?”
Silence.
Audi shook his head. “My apologies, big man, I don’t mean—“
“That’s fine, I understand your point,” Bryant’s voice became monotone. “I will somehow find the money to buy her the diamond engagement ring, but not like this. Not by becoming an accomplice to this atrocity.”
Bryant took a step away.
“Where are you going?” Audi asked.
“Scouting around,” he turned and smiled. “Maybe Chrissie and Petit Fantome need my help.”
He walked towards the distance in silence.
The boy now stood alone in a desolate city, bathing under the warm light of Planet Bandar Prime’s sunrise. He remained still, surrounded by corpses and rubbles amidst a large avenue.
He took out his UFX-PDA, a multi-purpose device with an extendable screen. With a slight pull, the boy stretched the gadget to the size of two palms and pressed the power button on its top. A loading screen. Green light. It displayed a menu screen with various shortcut icons. Audi pressed a button labelled ‘Galactic News’ and waited until
it’s loaded. A headline in red appeared:
EXTREME WEATHER ANNIHILATED BENTENG CITY
The article detailed the destruction of a city due to a catastrophic-class hurricane: its death toll, total damage, and government response. Next to the texts, a survivor video footage showed tornadoes sucking people from the ground into its vortex, followed by thunderstorms raining upon buildings like an orbital bombardment. The sky in the footage was dark, and screams of panic in the background overwhelmed the audio. Scientists and officials made their statements, blaming programming bugs in the Terraforming device used to turn Bandar Prime habitable centuries ago.
The public have yet to know that the hurricane was artificial, Audi thought. A superweapon capable of summoning a hurricane with the strength of an entire squadron of siege frigates.
He closed the UFX-PDA.
You can shoot down frigates, but you can’t kill a hurricane. If the Brotherhood ever obtain this superweapon, then The Crowned Confederacy has no chance of defeating them—
The boy shivered.
He glanced around. There was no one, but goosebumps struck his skin. He took a deep breath and heaved a long sigh. “You’re here, aren’t you?”
Silence.
Audi grumbled and opened a pouch on his gadget belt, which was slung diagonally across his torso. The boy pulled out a matte metal sphere painted with multiple blue stripes. He raised it in the air, and placed his thumb on its axis.
“This is an EMP Grenade,” he said. “With a press of a button, it can ruin your electronics-laden stealth suit to complete dysfunction.”
A giggle echoed from his side.
A sudden force struck his right leg, tumbling him backwards to the ground. He groaned and clenched his eyes. As he tried to stand up, an invisible weight on his stomach pushed him back down.
“Damnit, Ghost Girl!”
Sparks pounced out of thin air, and a figure blasted out of invisibility. She wore a grey-clad exoskeleton suit with subtle hexagonal patterns spread across its surface. The suit was sleek and compact, made not for direct assault but to maximise agility. It bore a striking style, with black paint designed to absorb ninety-nine percent of light painted from cheek down to neck. Its surface plastered with pale yellow triangles to mimic incisor teeth—all to create an illusion of a wide-mouthed demon in the vagueness of the dark. Paired with an optical stealth function, the suit allowed its user to terrorise the enemy into a battlefield seen only in horror films.
The girl snatched Audi’s EMP grenade from his hand and rested it on his chest. “Boo,” she giggled.
The boy sighed.
“Don’t waste your munitions unnecessarily,” she spoke with a digitally modulated voice. “We still need to fight Konstantin, right?”
“Then don’t sit on me and let me stand!”
“Boo,” she stood up and sidestepped. “You’re no fun.”
Audi sat and massaged his shoulder. “Christina is looking for you,” he said. “This isn’t the first time you loiter around and disobey her orders, is it?”
“Chrissie and Ray can do their job okay without me,” she said. “And stop calling me Ghost Girl already, I’m Charlotte.”
“Even Petit Fantome cannot handle their most whimsical member,” he stood up. “Why are you here?”
“What? Can’t I be here?” Charlotte tilted her head. “You don’t want me to be here?”
“No I mean—“
“I have an intel report that you’ll be interested in, but if you don’t want it, then so be it,” she turned around. “Maybe I’ll use the information for my own benefit, and kill Konstantin—“
“Hey!” Audi flinched. “Don’t you dare kill him! I need him alive, Ghost Girl!”
“So you want the intel?” she circled around him, skipping her every step. “What are you willing to trade it with?”
Audi planted a palm on his forehead while Charlotte giggled. He took a deep breath. “I thought we’re on the same side.”
“We are,” she stopped in front him and leaned forward. “But if I can make you owe me as much favour as possible, why not?”
“Fine, but I don’t know what you want,” Audi frowned. “If you want money, then wait until we defeat Konstantin, and I’ll get Nagisawa Corporation to—“
“Money?” Charlotte sighed. “Is that what you think I want? Is that what you think I value like the rest of this world?”
“What do you want then?”
Charlotte’s helmet retracted back into her suit.
The girl unveiled her true face: almost a betrayal of her suit’s image. Charlotte was a light-skinned girl with shoulder-length auburn hair waving over her subtle pink cheeks. Her resting, neutral face has an almost eternally smiling expression—like a human who has known no despair.
Untrue.
Slightly below the beauty mark on her left eye’s side, there was a tiny scar—a wound inflicted by her estranged mother from when she refused to study until late during her teenage years. Another one on her nape, inflicted by the same mother, but for refusing the latter’s insistence of making Charlotte take extra study lessons every day, including the weekends.
Even as Charlotte complained about the heat under her suit, she never wore off her neutral smiling face. She slid two fingers into the suit from the opening on her neck piece. Gaps emerged throughout the chassis, spewing out steam like an active geyser. The torso unit retracted to both sides, allowing the girl to step out, unveiling her in a grey bodysuit only a few shade lighter than her exo-armour. She stretched her arms and swung left. Swung right. Stretched her legs up, showing her flexibility which equalled world-class gymnasts and ballerinas.
“Well,” Charlotte turned her sight to Audi and approached him. Her steps were light like she danced in the air. She circled around him, fixing her sight on his face. After five laps, she stopped in front of him and pushed her face forward; their nose almost touching. She closed her eyes and made a subtle pout with her lips.
They kept silent for five seconds.
Charlotte peeked her eyes open, squinting as she blew her cheek out and mimicked a sulking pufferfish.
“No,” the boy said.
“Now,” the girl replied.
“Why?”
She made a puppy face. “You don’t want to?”
The boy sighed.
He placed his hands on her shoulders and pulled her close. A pause. He glanced to a side, and the girl followed by moving her face to where his eyeballs were looking. He glanced to another side. She followed again.
The girl tapped her foot on the floor, impatient, restless. The boy sighed again and pushed his face forward. Towards her. Closer. Their lips almost touched. But the boy swiftly turned sideways and pecked her cheek.
“Hey!” Charlotte pushed and punched him lightly. She pouted with even bigger blown-up cheeks. “Why there?”
“Because I want to?” the boy replied in monotone.
“You’re a doofus, aren’t you?”
He shrugged his shoulders.
Charlotte stomped her foot down. She threw a barrage of weak punch on his chest. “Stupid, stupid, stupid! I’m embarrassing myself for nothing!”
“You don’t sound embarrassed,” the boy replied. “Besides which, you’ll escalate the situation if I went for your lips, won’t you?”
The girl glanced away. Her tongue slightly stuck out.
“I need to coordinate the military’s small task force for our assault on Konstantin’s forces. Now what’s that intel you’re giving me?”
“Small task force?” Charlotte giggled. “We’re going to need more than a task force to handle Konstantin.”
Audi’s eyes opened wide.
“We need a full-scale armoured assault.”
Chapter 1 / Part 2
Audi and Charlotte entered a marketing office building in the middle of Benteng City’s downtown, one of the few structures which remained standing. The lobby was dark and messy, like the entire place was abandoned in a rush.
Charlotte pushed a few wooden chairs together and burned them into a firepit using her suit’s internal spark charge.
Audi leaned on a wall and spoke to his communicator. “The green building, yes, the Ghost Girl and I are here in the lobby,” he spoke. “Power and utilities are down, so Konstantin’s forces won’t know we’re around.”
He paused and listened.
“Alright, the big man can come here. Both of you keep watch on Konstantin.”
He hung up.
Charlotte pushed a wooden chair into the fire and stepped back. “Is that Chrissie?”
“She’s mad at you.”
“Leave her be,” she giggled. “Now, about the intel I promised.”
“Good news or bad news?”
“Worse than you can imagine,” Charlotte replied. “I was curious why Konstantin hasn’t drove off this city, fully knowing that we’re still on the hunt for him.”
She pulled a small box from her suit and planted it on the floor. It beeped, and a video projection lit across.
The video showed a group of armed men in brown coats standing in front of a garage. The garage opened, unveiling a large blast door underneath the building. It opened sideways, and two crimson red walker robots emerged: twin rocket launchers mounted on their shoulders, while their arms were armed with cannons.
The boy stroked his chin. “That’s Ursa.”
“Ursa?” Charlotte tilted her head.
“The main walker unit of the Brotherhood,” he replied. “It functions as an armoured support for advancing infantry units, providing heavy fire against oppositions while their foot soldiers engage in more tactical manoeuvres.”
“That’s quite detailed.”
“Of course,” the boy replied. “I had to fight several of those in Brotherhood invasion of Gleicherde three years ago, sometimes one-on-one.”
“No way,” Charlotte’s eyes opened in shock. “You mean fighting them with a tank or another walker?”
He shook his head. “On foot.”
The girl frowned. “How do I know you’re not just making up stories?”
“Want to see me take one down later?”
“Okay,” Charlotte grinned. “If you fail and ended up asking for my help, you’re going to owe me another favour,” she said. “By the way, the kiss on the cheek from earlier doesn’t count.”
