Chapter 15: Destruction

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This was like a cruel taunt. Tad, the man I once looked up to more than anybody else, a man that I thought of as family, stood before as a traitor. My entire life he was my enemy. And there was Sayph and Ly, two people I thought were my allies at one point. But they were traitors too. And of course , there was Markie, the blueprint to my own existence and a crazed psychopath that held a dagger to Tria's ribs. I wasn't sure who else was part of this scam or how long its been going on. Was this all planned out? Was everything that happened manipulated by the Halfaxi? Or were they winging it? As much as my mind kept wanting to ask those questions over and over again until I thought of an answer, I focused myself to one thing. Tria. Markie dangled the dagger from her fingertips and swung her hand back and forth like a pendulum. As if any moment the dagger could slip form her fingers. She smiled when she saw my concern for Tria, “I don't know what's sadder. Your helplessness or your misdirection?”

“Big words from the chick with the weapon and friends to back her up.” I shot at her.

She mockingly acted angered by my statement, “Oh wow! How will I recover from that stab to my pride?” She smiled darkly as she once again gripped the dagger tightly in her hand, “Speaking of stab...”

“Enough!” Tad shouted to her, “I'm putting at end to this right now.”

Her amusement was ruined. She aggrievedly looked up to Tad and asked, “Is that so?”

Sayph pointed her weapon at Markie as a warning. Tad told Markie, “Yes. Enough.”

She rolled her eyes and stood up. She placed the dagger back in its sheath and turned her attention back to me, “Lucky for you I'm not the only one here. She'd be dead.”

I didn't respond. I was just glad to see Tria safe. For now. But I still didn't trust Markie. Or any of them for that matter. Tad turned to me and told me, “Look Roan, I know I can't apologize enough for this. But I want you to-”

“What?” I snapped at him, “Listen to you? Trust you?”

He was silent after that. I think he finally understood he had no right to say a word to me. As much as I hated Markie, I hated him even more at that moment. Every time I tried to contemplate his betrayal I'd get a sharp pain in the right side of my head.

Since Tad wasn't going to speak, Markie decided she'd fill the silence, “Alright. Play time is over. This is only going to end one way.” She pointed to the wall of deppent, “That thing is going to burn,” she then pointed to me, “And you're coming with us by force or choice. By choice we spare the feeble little princess on the ground or you refuse and we kill her and shoot you and took you with us anyways. I think I know what you're going to pick.”

I looked past them too Ly. I pleaded with him one last time, “Ly... you can stop this.”

He paused for a moment. He actually looked regretful, “I could stop this... but I won't. S-Sorry...”

Yeah. Everyone was sorry. I closed my eyes and accepted defeat, “Fine. I'll come with you.”

“So it's by choice then?” Makrie looked down at Tria, “Disappointing.”

Markie turned back to Ly and give him a wave of her right hand. A signal. I can't believe I was letting this happen. But what could I do to stop it? Nothing. Ly aimed the canon one last time. When he had the shot he took it. A trigger was pulled and a sparkling light shot from the barrel of the canon. In a brief moment a trail of smoke went from the canon to the wall of deppent. It happened too fast for me to ever see what it was exactly that they shot out of the canon. All I could tell was that it was an explosive of some type. Because no sooner than it was fired it struck the wall and exploded in a eruption of fire that burst from the side of the mountain. The shockwave nearly knocked me off my feet. As I tried to remain standing I had to put my hands up in front of my face to protect myself from flying debris.

When the debris fell I was able to put my hands down and take my first look at the carnage. It was awful. The explosion had struck the raw deppent and caused it to catch fire. This fire wasn't like a furnace that the Sherppens used to harden the raw material. This fire was uncontrollable. The raw deppent acted like an accelerant to the fire. It began to spread to the veins inside the mountain. When it was heated enough the deppent would pour from the openings in the mountain like molten lava seeping through cracks. Smoke billowed up from the mountain while the lava-like deppent began to spill from the mountain. It was an unstable and unstoppable force. With the deppent lost, so was Sherpen. We failed. The pain in my head increased at the sight of the inferno.

Markie laughed. I could barley hear her over the roar of the fire. I thought she looked evil before. But add in the orange glow from the fire and she looked like an evil harpy from hell. Tad couldn't even watch the fire. Ly watched but he looked pained. What pity I had for him vanished when he puled that trigger. Sayph was as indifferent as usual. How could she be so cold at a time like this? Markie looked up to the sky that was growing darker from the oncoming storm. She mocked me once again, “Uh-oh! A storm is coming! I sure hope it doesn't put out this fire!” She looked over to me with a smile, “Oh wait. Its too late for that. The fire is inside the mine now. I don't know of any snowstorm that can reach inside a mountain. Can you?”

Her smile. She was so jubilant over this massacre. How many on Sherpen would die because of her? Because of her?! Because of Tad? Because of the Halfaxi?!! Why couldn't they just go away? Oww! There was so much pain in my skull I thought I had been shot in the head by a dart. But that wasn't it. It was too painful for that and only growing. My sense started to fail on me. Every sight and sound was blocked out. I think I had fallen to my knees in the snow. But I wasn't sure anymore because my body felt numb.

The pain was so incredible. I felt like my brain was compressing inside my skull. I thought my head was going to explode. Then... it ended. Everything went black. I hadn't lost conciseness. No. It was more like my brain had overheated and went into an automatic shut down. Every sense I had vanished momentarily. Then a brief moment later, I could begin to feel. I felt warmth from the fire around me but my legs were cold. Probably from the snow. I must have been kneeling in the snow after all. Then I could feel a hand on the collar of my breastplate. A hand that pulled me to my feat. Sound returned to me and I could hear that harpy shout to me, “Get up! C'mon you!”

Then everything returned to me. Sight, sound, feeling, taste, smell, and... something else. I couldn't explain it but... My mind felt more clear than it has ever been. Plus so much more that I can't explain. There was also this... renewed confidence inside me. I opened my eyes and saw Markie standing in front of me. Staring into my eyes. She looked startled. Maybe even a little afraid, “So... the lobe awakens.”

Was that what this was? Had the Ajjhem Lobe finally activated? Was I now in touch with the Shadow Net? Makrie didn't want to take any chances. She turned back to Sayph and ordered her, “Shoot him. We can't risk letting him stay conscious anymore.”

Sayph raised her weapon towards me. Ready to shoot. This woman I thought was an unstoppable ally. She was a Halfaxi... Halfaxi... Why couldn't they just go away?! All of them! The moment I thought that, Sayph dropped her canister weapon. She had no choice. Her body wasn't solid anymore. Her arms and legs turned into a black mist. The same black mist used by the Shadow Net to teleport people. Sayph's face finally showed emotion. It wasn't fear but I could tell she was concerned. This was unknown to her. To all of us. That was the last I saw of her face. Her entire body turned into a black mist and then vanished. Markie turned back to me. She looked as demented as ever, “So this is what you can do?”

Tad was taken aback, “Wh-What? Roan, did you kill her?”

My eyes grew wide, “I-I don't know.”

We heard a voice cry out in shock. It was Ly. I looked past Tad and Markie and saw his arms and legs turn into a black mist. He'd never experienced this before, he'd never used the Shadow Net before, and he was noticeably terrified. Tad turned around just in time to see all of Ly's form turn to mist and vanish. If I was doing this, I don't think I had control of it. I wanted thins to vanish and they were. It also seemed that people's bodies vanished slower than if they were using an outlet. This was so confusing. Markie stared at me and said flatly, “So, it looks like we won't be able to take you with us now. I would have loved to have that brain of yours but you're too much of a risk now.”

“So you're going to kill me?” I asked her.

She looked down at her hands. They were turning to black mist too. She quickly looked back to me, “I guess not.” She then smiled at me, “At least not for now.”

Her body then turned to mist too and vanished. I wasn't sorry to see her go. Three gone, one remained. I turned to Tad and quickly asked, “Whats going on here?”

He shook his head, “There isn't time, Roan.”

“What about Jake? The others? Are they part of this too?” I asked,

“No. Just Sayph and I. If you have any trust left in me, trust me when I say they aren't involved.”

“But-” I began to say but stopped...

He stared me in the eyes as his arms and legs turned to mist, “Remember the summer trip we had when you were thirteen? Locker number 23. I left something for you-” Was all he could say before his body turned to mist and vanished.

“No!” I called out to him. But he was gone. I cursed loudly at him for doing this to me with little to no answers.

I was left alone, lost, and in a daze. I had no idea what was going on. For once I didn't over think things. I just acted. The mountain was on fire and only getting worse. The smoke around me was getting thicker and thicker. I had to get out of here. Thankfully, Tria didn't vanish. Nor did the trekker. I rushed over to her and scooped her into my arms. I carried her over to the trekker that Tad drove us here with and gently placed her on the wagon. Making sure her head was secure in position so she wouldn't be hurt when the trekker was in motion. I rushed over to the pilots seat. From watching Clou I knew how to operate a trekker well enough. I put the trekker into gear and turned around towards the city and away from the fire. I made sure to drive slow enough so the busted wagon in the back didn't shake Tria too much. It wasn't like there was any rush. We only had to escape the smoke and a slow moving snow storm. There wasn't anyplace to go immediately. Sherpen was already lost. There wasn't anything we could do about it now.

I didn't even want to imagine the looks on those people's faces in Courk as they saw their supply of deppent in flames. I didn't want imagine it, but I couldn't help it...

---\V/---

Aaqqa stood at the Coustel's desk as the base-wide lock down was still in effect. The Coustel's body still slumped back in her chair. Aaqqa had to fight back tears but knew what she had to do. She ran her fingers across the Coustel's computer as fast as she could as she accessed top secret information inside the Shadow Net's computer. Ullgan was a traitor. A Halfaxi assassin. She didn't know what else he wanted or who else was involved. She couldn't' take any chances. So she deleted any information that would be devastating to the Raksha if the Halfaxi stole it. As she was deleting info she was simultaneously trying to put up firewalls to block others besides her from accessing it.

As her fingers raced to protect the Raksha, her mind was racing. Ullgan may have had the knowledge of how to access secret information or how to get around her firewalls. She had the head start but if she didn't' work fast enough and covered every angle, the Halfaxi could escape with vital data.

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Two Raksha agents, one a young man and one a young woman, stood guard in the outlet room. They stood in front of the desk Aaqqa usually sat at. But unexplainable to them, she was missing. They decided the best option to take was to guard the outlet at any cost and not let any Halfaxi enter or escape the base alive. As they stood guard, ready to fire if need be, the doors to the room slid open. The two agents raised their weapons at the person entering into the room.

Ullgan stood at the entrance with his right hand covering his left cheek. Blood trickled down his face and neck. A Jynpada hung at his side in his free hand. The two agents lowered their weapons and the man called to him, “Ullgan? Are you hurt badly?”

He didn't bother to respond. Not that he could, with his moth damaged beyond proper function. He took a single step into the room, raised his Jynpada, and pulled the trigger twice. Both agents fell with fatal holes in their chests. He walked forward, stepping over the woman's body, to get to Aaqqa's desk.

He walked behind the desk and sat down. Wincing in pain as he removed his hand form his face so he could access her computer. Beginning his work he hacked into the computer and began his search. The Halfaxi told him to find a list of specific files. However, whenever he found one of them, they were deleted and the computer wouldn't allow him to continue his search to find them. Aaqqa. She did this. He regretted not killing her now. There was no chance he'd be able to find these files anymore. Not up against Aaqqa. This part of his mission was a failure. Thanks to her. But he wasn't finished yet. There was one final task he had to complete.

As he continued to work on the computer, the doors opened again. He looked up from the computer and saw three agents. A Lunn female, one Epplan male, and the third was a Slic male. He ignored them and went back to his work because he knew they were on his side. Fellow Halfaxi spies. The two males had Jynpadas in their hands while the female had a large, silver briefcase looking box in her hands. They walked into the room and up to the desk. They saw his injury and the Epplan male asked him, “Whoa. Are you alright?”

Ullgan didn't respond. The female put the case on the desk, “Whatever. We got the explosive. Did you open the way yet?”

Ullgan shook his head, no. He was close though. The lock down had closed off many parts of the base as well as deactivated the outlets to block their escape. He was searching the map for his target, the core of the Shadow Net. The brain of the Raksha's beast. Their last target was to destroy that core. Destroying the Shadow Yen and crippling the Raksha.

It took a few minutes but he located the room that core was kept in and had to go door-to-door on the map, unlocking them and opening their path. His final step was to open up the hidden lift behind Aaqqa's desk. When he did, he stood up from his desk and singled for the others to follow him. The four crammed into the small lift. As the doors to the lift closed, he looked down at the two bodies of the agents that he killed. It really hit him that this was it. There was no going back. He would never be Raksha again... He really didn't care.

---\V/---

Tad stood in a foot of snow. Markie, Sayph, Ly, and he were all sent in the middle of a snow field by Roan's unknown power. Presumably on Sherpen but they weren't sure. There wasn't a single thing around them besides snow. Markie glared at him, “Well... 18 years and this is what comes of it? Nothing. You're a failure, Tadmor.”

“Maybe I am.” Was his response.

“Maybe you wanted to be.” She said as she pointed at him accusingly.

“Excuse me?”

“You let this happen. At any time you could have turned that kid into one of us, but you didn't. You wanted this to happen. I wonder where your true loyalties lay?”

Tad didn't respond. He just clenched his jaw and stared her down. Ly interrupted them, “H-How do we get out of here?”

“We need to move now and make use of what energy we have.” Sayph told them.

“And which way do you possibly believe we should go?” Markie barked at her.

Sayph pointed to the southeast, “That way.”

“And why that way?” Markie asked her with disdain in her voice.

Tad smiled, “She knows. She's been trained to know.”

Markie stared evilly at them as Sayph and Tad began walking to the southeast. Tad had Sayph under his lead. That was obvious. She pulled Ly close to her and asked him softly, “And you... What did you think of pulling that trigger that set that deppent into a devouring fire?”

His eyes looked glazed over, “I thought it was going to be painful.”

“And was it?”

He shook his head, “No. I did the right thing. Courk wasn't going to share their deppent anyways. They more than anyone deserved this. They were greedy and paid the price.”

She smiled and patted him on the back, “There, there. At least there is one of you that can see reasoning.”

---\V/---

Ullgan and the other three Haflaxi spies looked upon what few people have ever seen. Many wondered what it looked like and now these four knew. The Shadow Net, or 'Ajjhem Systex' core. When people talked about the Shadow Net they usually talked about the things it dose, teleporting people, provide information, and some even referred to the entire base as “Shadow Net”. But rarely did they actually refer to what the Net actually was. This was the actual thing. The real, actual computer. A massive core inside a massive room. Or more like, the Shadow Net was the room. From the fifty yard tall walls, to the ceiling and floor that must have been two hundred yards long. They were all made of thick, black panels. Each panel was a foot-by-foot masterpiece of advanced technology that could store centuries of history from an entire planet inside of it. And there were millions of these things. Probably billions. The only thing in the room not made from these panels were round, gray, movable platforms that the Raksha used to travel around the room for maintenance. Which was rare since the core was self-maintaining. Each platform was fit for only one person at a time and appeared to levitate without any noticeable engine or propulsion. Ullgan also noticed some of the disembodied lights around the room that you'd find near outlets on some planets.

The Epplan male whistled loudly, “Whew! This bomb is big enough for this place. Isn't it?”

The Lunn female nodded, “Yeah. It should. I smuggled it on base from Lunntier. I'm pretty sure, no, I know this will get the job done.”

“Good.” The Slic male told her, “Then set it up would you?”

The Lunn nodded, “Right.”

Ullgan rubbed his cheek and spit out a mouthful of blood as he watched her take the case and step onto one of the movable platforms that hovered in front of them. She stood on top of the platform but it didn't move. She looked around but didn't know how to operate it. She shrugged her shoulders and told them, “There is nothing on here to control this thing.”

Ullgan grunted loudly and walked over to the platform. He reached up and snatched the case from her hands. She protested, “Hey! What are you doing?”

He ignored her and opened the case. Inside he saw three, plastic, translucent tubes with different liquids inside each tube. One liquid was light blue, one was clear, and the other was a pale yellow. In front of the tubes was a digital timer and a key panel. It was easy enough to understand. He could do this. He set the timer for one dash (65 minutes) and activated it. Then closed the silver case tightly. He took it by the handle, reared back, and chucked the case as far as he could. It hit the flat floor panels and slid until it was about twenty yards away. He turned around and walked away and out of the room. The Slic man looked to the female Lunn and shrugged his shoulders, “Well that works.”

The four left the Core room with the explosive in place. They followed a linear hallway to the lift that took them back to the outlet room. They took the lift up to the top. As soon as the lift doors opened, a sonic blast ripped past Ullgan and struck the Slic male in the chest. Killing him instantly. Ullgan saw a group of three Raksha agents with Jynpadas. One was Giltige Wharm. A teacher here. Giltedge fired another shot that struck down the Epplan man. Ullgan leapt from the lift to Aaqqa's desk while the Lunn woman was struck down with a shot from another Raksha agent. As Ullgan hid behind the desk, a sonic blast ripped through the bottom and nearly struck his right hip. These sonic blasts ripped through the desk as if it was made from paper. Ullgan took his Jynpada and fired three shots from the bottom of the desk. Shortly after, he heard the rustling of bodies falling over and cries of pain. He waited a moment to see if they fired any more shots at him. When they didn't, he cautiously stood up from his desk to look around. He spotted the three agents on the ground. Two dead and Giltige mortally wounded but still alive for now. Ullgan walked from behind the desk. Giltige struggled to curse at Ullgan, “.... You traitor.”

Ullgan didn't make eye contact or even acknowledge Giltige's words. He just pointed his weapon at Giltage and finished him off with a pull of the trigger. He then walked back behind the desk. Leaned over and accessed the computer again. He hacked in and easily enough reactivated the outlets. He set it on automatic and walked away from the desk one last time. Ullgan stepped foot into the outlet and took a moment to think, he was born on this base, lived his entire life on this base, and was about to step foot outside the base one final time. He bid the place a bitter farewell before his body turned to mist and vanished.

---\V/---

When I got half way down trail to the city I stopped the trekker. There were a group of people from Courk running down the path. A miner with a gray beard that fell down to his stomach raced over to my trekker and asked me, “Wh-what happened?”

The small group of people gathered around my parked trekker. I looked from face to face and saw fear. Some of them were nearly in tears. I somberly told them, “I... I'm sorry. I couldn't stop the Half-umm... the Thaw-gainers. They destroyed the mine. Its gone.”

The man with the beard threw his head back and growled in frustration, “No! Oh no.”

My voice crackled, “I-I can't apologize enough.”

He leaned his hand on the front of my trekker to help prop himself up. This news was more then he could stand. It was like be robbed of food. Some of the people in the group ran past me towards the fire. I'm sure they knew there was nothing they could do about it. Of course, no one would blame them for at least trying. The bearded man looked up to me and took a moment to catch his breath, “You're the friends of Hidren right?”

Hidren. I felt so sick to think how this would effect her. She was so loyal and dedicated to this planet and because of Ly, Tad, Sayph, and the she-devil... it was taken away from her. She'll be so heartbroken. Being part of Tad's party, a wiling part of the plot or not, I didn't feel worthy to be called her friend. But I nodded my head to his answer anyways. Only because that's all they knew me as. Her friend. He forced a smile on his face, “Don't let it eat at you. Did you try to help?”

I did try to get Ly to change his mind. But could have I done more? Was there some part of my lobe-powers that could put out that fire? I don't know. I answered him, “I did try. But not hard enough.”

“No. You can't think that.” He told me before looking to the back of the wagon, “Whose hurt?”

I looked back over my shoulder to Tria, “My friend. She was hit with one of their paralyzing darts. It'll wear off.”

He nodded, “Okay. Are you sure you don't need help with her?”

These people were so nice. Their world was almost literally crumbling around them and they were still concerned with Tria's well-being. I guess I'll never understand how Ly could hate Courk so much. Maybe its best I never do.

---\V/---

Ullgan had been gone for 64 minutes. Inside the silver case, inside the Shadow Net core the timer on the explosive was down to one minute. The liquid in the colored tubes began to bubble.

---\V/---

“Where are you headed then?” The bearded man asked me.

I was still parked on the trail as more people from the city raced past me towards the fire. I sighed, “To meet with Hidren. She probably has no idea what happened here. I'm sure she wants to help out.”

“And we could use her help.” He told me with a forced laugh.

“Yeah...” I said in a deep sigh, “... Yeah.”

He nodded toward Tria in the back, “Alright then. Are you sure she'll be alright? I could send someone with you to keep her still during your travel. We wouldn't want her to break her neck.”

---\V/---

The timer on the explosive reached zero. The tubes opened into an empty bottle directly under the tubes and the bubbling liquid rushed together. Only a second after the liquids mixed, the case exploded into a massive sequence of explosions. First, a vertical explosion struck the ceiling of the core room. Secondly, a shock wave blasted outward in a 360 degree radius that struck the walls. Making the walls shudder. The third explosion was one final mushroom cloud of fire.

The disembodied lights in the room vanished, leaving the blazing fires as the room's only source of light that reflected off the shiny surfaces of the black panels. The same panels that were destroyed from the explosion. Some panels were melted into the wall while other were shaken loose and fell to the ground where they were swallowed by the explosion. The core was completely obliterated and the Shadow Net was lost.

In response to the loss of the Shadow Net, the entire Raksha Dallorenta base came to a momentary stop. However, life returned to the base when the secondary Shadow Net activated. The secondary system that only a few inside the Raksha knew about. The system that the Raksha installed as a backup. And the system that the Halfaxi were unaware of. Despite the loss of the first Shadow Net, the Raksha would still survive.

---\V/---

I thought about the bearded man's offer to help Tria and thought it was a good idea. One wrong bump and Tria could break her neck, get a concussion, or at least get whiplash. So I smiled and told him, “Thank you. I'd appreciate-”

That was all I got out before my mind locked. There came a pain in my head that was so intense that my body didn't even react. It was like an outer body experience. For one brief second I felt like my mind was screaming in pain while my body wasn't even able to comprehend the pain in my mind to react. That second seemed like a minute. When it passed my eyes rolled into the back of my head and I fell from my seat in the trekker.

My limp body slumped aside and fell towards the ground. The bearded man was quick to react and catch me before I hit the snow. He gently shook my body and called to me, “Whats wrong? Hey! Hey?” He called out to some of the people around the trekker, “This kid needs help!”

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Author's note: Just a quick thanks to “” for if not for that website I may have lost this entire chapter on OpenOffice... Holy crap, did I ever dodge a bullet. Once again... H-O-L-Y... C-R-A-P!!!