Rebels Loyalty [2]

Hearing what the soldier said had sparked off a reaction from both the Arch lord and his black companion.

'So it all began from the central fortress. The fault was from the central fortress. Hmnn..' the Arch lord wondered still contemplating whether the action was to be considered a fault or..

"This is getting interesting" Commander Slade said aloud rubbing his chin, attracting stares from the other two occupants of this cubicle.

"And so.." the voice of the soldier reverberated around the cubicle drawing attention back to himself. "And so, the invasion began....

_____

" What the hell was that?!" a loud voice resounded with anger clearly expressed in the voice. " Who turned off the lights?! "

"What's the meaning of this?!" the same voice kept throwing questions with anger, surprise, shock and anxiety present in it. "

Alas! There was no answer as the entire place was thrown into pandemonium. Suddenly, several lights began to shine allover the dark space. The lights were emanating from what seemed like head lamps slightly illuminating the room as a result of the size of the room. These head lamps were fitted on gears worn by personnel in the room which also had a lighting piece on the chest area illumating the room.

"Good grief" the voice resounded again. The voice belonged to a lean male who stood by what looked like a coffee stand with a cup in his hand before the brief 'lights out'.

"Quickly, find the cause of the systems failure and rectify it immediately." his voice boomed again.

Obviously, his voice was more powerful and stronger than he looked.

'Auxiliary systems online'

The system AI alerted, causing those in the room to heave a sigh of relief.

As soon as the lights came back on, all occupants of the room rushed immediately to their stations, some delivering reports to the general who stood by the coffee stand.

"Why the delay before auxiliary systems came online?" the general asked the female closest to him who held a tablet in her hands.

"We're still on that general" she replied back.

"However, most of the faults, mainly the shutdown seemed...no, they are a direct cause of a system command from the Alpha A fortress" another stated..

While he was yet speaking, a system notification rang out again from the system AI.

'All systems back online'

'Good, very good " the lean general said aloud. He stepped away from the stand pushing all who were in his way away from himself and headed to end of the room which was the central control center manned by several personnel. He headed straight for the area characterized with multiple screens on the wall and a wide keyboard looking pad. Where a single individual was on the controls.

"I need you to double check all security systems, base control and the likes, codes, locks, shipments, operations. Everything."

"My God.. my God" the man on the controls kept uttering like it was a mantra.

" This kind of fault has a high possibility of not just being a fault. A possible sabotage" the general kept repeating.

"My God.." the individual on the controls continued to utter while the general was still speaking.

The general on noticing this flared up immediately.

"Are you even listening to me?, or do you cherish your mantra more than my commands?"

"General!" the one on the controls shouted not regarding the general's command. "It's not working."

"What do you mean it's not working? Can't you do your job properly again?" the impatient general retorted.

"No sir" the younger officer replied. "Though all systems are online and the AI has affirmed that already, it made no difference than when there was a shutdown. There is no reply from the systems, everything is dead. Just dead.

The look on the general's face deadened almost immediately after hearing the report.

"General" another officer, a female, came running to where the general stood.

"Sir, I've received reports that an officer in the lower section pulled out a portable EMP generator and applied it on electronics down there. He's been grabbed, but damage has been done. It also seems like there is a scuffle down there too."

"The shipment...Star X" the general muttered

The female who was reporting looked at her tablet and back to the general continuing her report.

"All systems will be up and online in about three minutes. Central had informed, detecting the presence of enemy forces... General?"

The general had run off while the female officer was still speaking, heading for the lower ramp.

"All officials, including officers and commanders, to your units. I repeat, to your units. Set up emergency programs ASAP. I repeat, ASAP." the general ordered while running off, finally exiting the lower ramp."

____

"And that was it." the soldier said concluding his tale. "I got shot from behind while operating the control systems when systems came back online, about three minutes later.

"The reason for you being here. Who shot you?" the Arch lord asked though he knew the obvious answer.

"A rebel soldier. They had been in the room with us at the time parading as soldiers of the Academy until the the first missile was fired." the injured soldier replied.

"The first missile... That was their cue." the Arch lord muttered. "Your general?" he asked.

"Died. The lower section was rigged. He died before he could discover it." the soldier replied painfully.

"You mentioned something about a shipment. Star X. How about it?" Commander Slade asked.

"I'm sorry, but only heard it from the general and he's..." the soldier failed to complete his statement, ending it with a sigh.

"Star X, first missile.." the Arch lord muttered. Patting the soldier on the head while getting up, he addressed no one in particular, saying. "I'll look more into this."

He placed his hand into his trench overcoat and picked out a coin. He flipped it in the air and caught it with his right hand slamming his right fist on his chest. "By my word" he stated.

After that, he bade the soldier quick recovery and left the room with his companion and headed for another cubicle.

"Interesting discovery" Commander Slade commented.

The Arch lord moved into another cubicle drawing the curtain aside.

"You can go now" the Arch lord ordered the individual attending to the injured soldier on the bed. The attendant moved out immediately leaving the Arch lord, commander Slade and the soldier alone. The Arch lord went to sit on the seat which was by the side of the injured soldier as he did in the last cubicle, leaving his companion at the foot of the bed.

"Darn, I thought this one would be a female soldier" Commander Slade spoke out.

"I see you don't have any else to do than to derive pleasure in talking." the Arch lord sternly said in response to Commander Slade's comment.

Turning back to the soldier, he continued his questioning. "Where were you when the attack started?"

"I was in Beta A fortress."

"Do you know what the rebels were after?"

Commander Slade let out a sound surprised at the change of question which was ignored by the other two in the room.

"No. I do not." the soldier answered. "But I did happen to grasp a bit of what they were there for..." he revealed to an inquisitive Arch lord.

"I heard some thing about some mutate files? Yeah, mutation something files." he confirmed.

"I see. Thank you 1416. Quick recovery."

With that, the Arch lord left the cubicle, the Commander following behind.

"What did you discover that made you leave the cubicle so soon?" Commander Slade asked his companion on their way out of the infirmary.

"The Academic Institution. That is what the rebels were after." Lord Ra replied.

"Why don't you ask about the general in charge of the central fortress and Beta B?"

"Inconsequential." the Arch lord replied.

"Perhaps, I do have something or someone who can clarify all your doubts. We captured a rebel soldier. Perhaps, he could be of assistance to you." Slade revealed.

"Why did you not say that since." the Arch lord replied.

The duo had left the infirmary and were in front of palatial building.

"I'll need you to do something for me" Ra requested.

He leaned over and whispered something into the ear of his companion. After which, Slade turned and left leaving the Arch lord staring deeply into space lost in thought.

_____

A rotor downwash was occurring in an open space, something that resembled a helipad on the ground level. Soon, the craft had stopped moving, propellers stopped rotating.

A stair way had been constructed af the side of the long craft almost immediately after the craft had come to a stop. Three individuals stepped out from the craft making their descent down the stair way. The first was the Arch lord who was followed by two other individuals, one male, the other female, in black and white respectively.

The craft had landed in front of a immensely tall brownstone which lacked one thing, width. These three figures made their way towards the brownstone. Once the Arch lord had neared the entrance, the other two stayed back and allowed him to enter. Ra took a detour and arrived at an elevator.

Seconds after, the door of the elevator opened up after it had ascended several floors, revealing the full fledged figure of the Arch lord. The Arch lord took strides toward and sat on a high chair behind a desk. As soon as he did that, the dark room lit up immediately revealing where the Arch lord was.

A large space for a room, behind him were several screens which showed everything happening on the building and around important parts of the sector, to the left of the room were several strange weapons strapped on the wall. The other side of the room, housed what looked like several black pods, at the far end of the room human capsules filled with liquid. The Arch lord raises his bowed head to reveal two bright yellow pair of eyes.

"Bring in the rebel" he spoke in the receiver on the desk. After which, the glow in his eyes died down.

Moments later, the two door to the room opened, separating from one another like a sliding door allowing three sturdy men and one tattered fellow to enter. The tattered fellow was a rebel and in his hands were iron wrist bands which were attracted to one another by a strong electro magnetic force making it impossible to break out from. On his feet were bands wrapped around his foot which experienced greater force of gravity than normal making it hard for him to work.

"You can excuse us" the Arch lord stated standing from the seat.

Once the other had left, the Arch lord walked towards the rebel who found it impossible to stand and pulled off a helmet from his head. The helmet made it impossible for the rebel to see. It also had great weight bearing on the wearer's head.

"What rank do you hold?" asked the Arch lord.

Silence.

The Arch lord smiled and brought his head down to the rebel's own level making eye contact.

"Refusing to talk right?.. I see." He raised his head up and walked round the rebel. "You are trying to keep your loyalty right." he paused. "But let's reason together. If you are loyal to a person, a commander, general, who is loyal to another, who may also pledge loyalty to one superior who lives in rebellion to another, what loyalty is your loyalty. Where does it lie?, except but in rebellion." He paused again to gauge the reaction of the rebel and found it unpleasing.

" If you speak up " he continued," Your life is not only guaranteed, but your freedom.".

After saying that, he proceeded to call in the men who brought the rebel.

"Wait!" the rebel alerted.

"So..." the Arch lord responded impatiently.

"Is my freedom guaranteed? " the rebel asked

"By my word" replied the Arch lord.

"I am the Senior Officer IV which would correspond to a sector general here in the Academy." the rebel revealed.

"You don't know much. What a shame." the Arch lord lamented.

"Wait! I know something."

"Speak!"

"We attacked here to gain files and information pertaining to the Academic Institution. It may have been foiled, but we intend to use our information and the institution as a whole to achieve our aim." the rebel said.

"What your aim?"

"To destroy the Academy from within."

"But people will die" the Arch lord lamented.

"Woe is those who put their trust in the Academy." the rebel stated.

The Arch lord boiled with anger bit held himself. "You can go."

As he said that, the equipments on the rebel fell to the ground.

"Gove your master a message.." he said as the rebel ran towards the open door.

"On second thought" he continued, "keep a seat warm for him in hell." With that, he pulled out a gun from his overcoat and fired leaving the rebel slumped on the ground.

Seconds later, the rebel's body had disintegrated leaving no trace of a body.

"Sir, you need to see this" a voice rang out in the room's intercom.