He looked to the sky so as to ask of it an answer to the mystery. None came, only thunder and lightning and more of the crimson rain.
*
*
*
*
Zarfa stood as the first solider on the battlefield. He knew where the entrance was to the Faraza base and he was ready for them to come swarming forth from it. Sarah
was
to his left and Zajifa loyally to his right. He was nervous, but no one could tell it from the outside.
“
Zarfa,
”
Sarah said, sounding shaken.
“
Yes?
”
he asked as the sun rose behind them and light cast down on the shadows of the battlefield.
“
A detail I overlooked the night we discussed this…
”
She trailed off.
“
What?
”
“
You asked about entrances, you see… This… Well, this is the only
entrance
. Brother, don
’
t be mad.
”
“
About what?
”
he asked as he felt the sand rumble beneath their feet.
“
Well, they can exit from
almost
anywhere in the desert. They have vestibules that hold roughly sixty wasps and when they emerge, it collapses behind them. I…I really don
’
t know why I didn
’
t think of it before now.
”
“
Conditioning. You can
’
t tell me you were down there for three years and they weren
’
t able to imprint something on you, sister,
”
he said as the tremors in the ground grew stronger.
“
I
’
m sorry, brother!
”
she exclaimed with tears in her eyes.
“
It isn
’
t like you tricked us on purpose. We just have to adapt. We can overcome anything,
”
he said, looking her in the eyes with comfort.
He stood as if he were a statue
waiting in the barren desert for a hapless traveler to stumble about finding
a
priceless piece of art. There he was at the front of an army that had grown into the hundreds of thousands. Nobody would have ever thought that Legion Nine would become an army this large.
“
Zajifa, Sarah…
d
on
’
t die,
”
he said solemnly.
“
I will do my best,
”
she said.
“
Not unless you do, boss,
”
Zajifa said with a grin.
“
Me? Die? I
’
ve got nine lives.
”
“
And I recall you using at least eight in the time I
’
ve known you,
”
stated Zajifa playfully.
“
Right,
”
Zarfa said with a smile that widened out across his whole face, laying bare his teeth.
He readied his rifle as the ground beneath his feet began to shake and tremor more and more. Zajifa and Sarah did the same. Each member of the army had brought their own weapons. Some had none to speak of other than a plasma
blade;
some
had only
typical kitchen knives.
It wasn
’
t the most impressive army in skill, but its numbers were quite large. It showed how many had their lives ruined and maimed by the Faraza, and how many were brave enough to seek comfort in bloodshed. Each one in the crowd felt that this was justice for how they had been victimized, and who was there to argue?
Clouds gathered overhead and the ground shook violently. A strong wind swept once across the battlefield and a strong force of static could be felt. It was causing the hair on everyone to stand on end. The clouds rumbled and lightning jumped above from cloud to cloud.
Right
as it seemed the battle would commence, his communicator rang within his ear.
“
Yes?
”
he questioned as he answered.
“
See the clouds? Call this your salvation. Look to the north of you. What do you see?
”
“
I see the Psyker army, Crimson. I thought you were taking care of them?
”
“
I did, notice something funny?
”
Zarfa was silent for a moment as he observed their lines marching toward them.
“
Yeah, they
’
re all just…staggering at us.
”
“
They
’
re infected by Max
’
s nanobots. They
’
ll be dead within ten minutes and by now, their brains are mush. They can
’
t do anything. They
’
re
simply
following their last command to march toward you. That
’
s all they
’
ll do… Then finally…poof, they
’
ll collapse into the dust.
”
“
You had better be right. Anyhow, I can
’
t wait to see what else you have planned.
”
At that, the communicator went dead. The movement and the noise below hushed for a moment. It was all dead silent except the rumbling of the clouds as they broke forth into rain.
“
I
’
m sure this is good for morale,
”
Zajifa said sarcastically.
“
This is our salvation!
”
Zarfa screamed to inspire confidence of those around him.
There was no response as he had hoped.
“
All shall know our salvation hinges on this storm! Be sure that all know!
”
he shouted with a commanding tone.
It took two or three times before anyone understood what he meant. Soon, all of those close to him were shouting it aloud and it spread like a ripple in a lake. His army had hope. They didn
’
t know exactly in what, but they could look up and see a symbol of it.
The ground burst forth and swarms of wasp raiders took to the sky.
Their foreboding
visage mixed with the clouds and they seemed to disappear. Zarfa raised his rifle and began to shoot at them.
The ground exploded behind him where a swarm of raiders sprung from the earth. It
suddenly
collapsed, taking several of his soldiers to their grave. He turned
hastily
to face the imminent threat and began firing his rounds as
fast
as he could. He was killing
as
quickly
as he could
and had already shot down thirty to forty wasps along with their raiders.
Swarms were bursting out all over and what formation his army seemed to have was
diminishing.
Some of the less stalwart souls began to flee in horror as if they could be saved by running back to Ilyeion.
The ones trying to flee were picked off easily by the flying raiders. The swarm was buzzing in full force overhead within minutes and raining down bullets upon Zarfa
’
s army. Blood was staining the sands red, and more of it was Zarfa
’
s own army than he had imagined.
Zarfa looked to the sky with tears in his eyes and fired his last few rounds, taking down several more wasps. He was out of ammo and so were those around him, including Sarah and Zajifa.
A wasp came in quickly, aiming right at
Zajifa
, who didn
’
t see what was coming at him.
Without saying a word, Zarfa threw himself between the wasp
—which was
carrying four riders
—
and Zajifa. He quickly cut the dive-bombing wasp in half with his plasma sword.
The corpse of the insect split in a cloud of vapors, the two halves narrowly missing Zarfa and Zajifa. Other soldiers were fumbling and tripping out of the way so as not to be struck by the insect
’
s corpse and the riders tumbling off. Zajifa turned in time to see Zarfa quickly making his way back to the line he had been standing in.
The battle seemed to not be going too well and then, as if sent by some sort of divine favor, lightning began springing from the ground. The bolts seemed to be precise, missing the members of Zarfa
’
s army.
A bolt would strike a wasp in flight then scatter outward, leaping from wasp to wasp. The lighting that danced from cloud to cloud would strik
e down and join with other bolts
in the sky and continue to bounce.
Soon, the sky was dancing with illuminating electricity. The sun burned behind the clouds. Barely visible but now blinding light filled the sky, charring and burning hundreds of wasps at a time. The falling bodies became the largest threat to Zarfa
’
s army as they all ran around like ants on the ground trying to avoid furious stomps of an angry child that had been stung.
“
HA!
”
Zarfa shouted.
He saw it with his eyes; he felt it in his heart. This was the victory he had hoped for. It was a miracle. In
only
minutes, the swarm had been thinned out by the electricity. Now there were
only
a few lingerers circling in the sky.
He had almost forgotten, but he looked to the north. The army that had been stumbling toward him, threatening to crush them as they were distracted, w
as
now collapsing. They fell face first into the dust as they tried to march toward Zarfa and his army.
“
Who would have thought the same thing that gave them their power would be their undoing. Huh, sis?
”
Zarfa asked Sarah.
“
Let
’
s hope the same isn
’
t true of us,
”
she said as lightning bounded above and struck several more wasps.
*
*
*
*
“
Mr. Cudrow, my name is Reginald Saunders. I am from Alexarien
’
s thirty-fifth regiment. None can deny that you have attributed to humanity
’
s greatness over the years. It is a shame some don
’
t quite grasp that nor do they appreciate it, your own family included,
”
Reginald said as he stepped from the shadows to greet Thomas.
“
Ah, you
’
ve prepared quite the speech to take my life,
”
Thomas said indifferently.
“
Take your life? By all accounts, no. No! I am not here to take your life at all,
”
he said quite dramatically.
“
There is rioting in the streets; the
Crimson Crusade
marches toward Polyhelix headquarters where we stand. In fact, some of them are milling about on the lower levels slaughtering employees and wre
a
king havoc as we speak. But your life to take? No! For that purpose, I did not come.
”
“
Oh? So for what purpose did you come? To act so dramatically?
”
Thomas questioned sarcastically.
“
Your son, well…
h
e destroyed your army and has a great crowd of followers still indeed. He poses a threat to our government and at this time, our government has several threats to face. My superiors recognize the greatness of a man such as yourself.
Right now, actions have been taken to stamp out your son and his futile attempts at destroying you and overthrowing the Alexarien government and eventually Ilyeion
’
s… A great man
much like
yourself, ye
t he got greedy and over
stretched
his hand. I am sure you can relate.
“
Anyhow
,
I did not come to tell you of your son
’
s small victory, or to take your life. I came to lay out your options. Option one, I do take your life,
”
Reginald said with a pause.
“
I thought you weren
’
t here for that,
”
Thomas stated.