Chapter 8 Togar City Part 1

On the second planet of the Redrick Civilization, planet Rothgar, two neighboring cities were internally fighting among each other for resources.

Each city's governor wanted to expand their land and the only way of doing it was to take it from others. The Redrick upper echelon didn't stop them nor punish this kind of conflict when it occurred, rather, it supported it as it was in their benefit for governors to be renewed every so often.

And when a skilled city governor successfully annexed too many cities and got to the point of having too much power for comfort, the Redrick upper echelon would make sure to carry his untimely death.

The fight was in its final phase, with only a few skirmishes happening during its whole duration between their forces so far. Both governors opted for a more covert and intelligence kind of battle, including secret dealings with the opposite city's important figures, spreading misleading rumors to disrupt their unity and using skillful spies and infiltrators to cause significant damage from the inside.

Being one of these two cities, the city of Togar was on high alert for at least a week now. After a rigid check of the populace, the governor announced for a lockdown to be carried out. Exits from the city were thus prohibited, and any entry to it was to be thoroughly investigated and searched.

He also ordered for the city gates and the city itself to be his forces' first priority in keeping it in check and secure, leaving just the necessary number of soldiers atop the walls to be able to watch out for outside threats.

He was very wary of potential spies and saboteurs infiltrating and causing irreversible damage while hidden in the mass of his citizens.

In such a day of high alertness, one of the few soldiers atop the wall was dutifully watching as far as he could outside the city, scrutinizing every detail. His gaze went back and forth, scanning everything in its path.

All was good, and he was ready to move his eyes away from a specific section at the edge of a tree line, when out of the blue, a figure appeared out of them. As sudden as it appeared, the soldier rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

When he was certain that his eyes hadn't failed him, all his attention was focused on the figure.

It was too far to make out any details about the figure, if the person was a man or woman. The only thing he could see was the figure slowly walking towards their city. This alerted him even more and prompted him to relay the message of the figure's approach.

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The commander of the city gate's watch and checkpoint was sitting on his desk in full battle suit except on his head, smoking his cigarette as he was reading the latest report about the enemy's infiltration plans. 

This information was about what their spies in the enemy city gathered and brought to him by the intelligence department. It clearly stated that in the next half a day, a very skillful enemy spy would try to enter their city disguised as a simple traveler.

Although far-fetched for a single person to escape their net or pass their thorough check, there was no reason not to trust the report and not tighten the security, as being extra careful never hurt anyone.

He stood up and was ready to step out and give the new orders, when from the door a hurried knocking sounded. Mildly surprised, he gave permission for the person to open the door and enter.

On the other side of the door, one of his lieutenants appeared and stepped inside quickly. In all seriousness, he saluted his commander and proceeded to give the report of the approaching figure.

The commander still had fresh in his mind the intelligence report he just read and after listening to his lieutenant telling him about a lone traveler walking towards their gate, it was reasonable of him to connect the two together.

He immediately grabbed his helmet and rushed with the lieutenant towards the gate, meeting along the way a few soldiers who he took with him.

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They just reached in front of the gate, when the commander was informed that the person in question was standing on the other side of it, ignoring the soldiers' questions about his origins.

Nodding to a soldier next to him, he gave the order for the gate to be opened.

Slowly but surely, the gate opened to gradually reveal the person behind it, his overall appearance shocking those present.

The stranger wore simple traveler attire, such as pants and a jacket with pockets on top, both of which were dark brownish in color. He didn't have with him a single weapon strapped to his belt or back and his posture while standing was composed and confident.

These mannerisms were very rare having in the stressful environment surrounding this area, with the covert war between the two cities and all. This raised the commander's mind alarms in an all time high, as he started to believe that this man was most likely the skilled spy he was informed about. Only a spy of that caliber would have remained calm like the man in front of him.

"Surround him!" When the gate opened enough, the commander made the decision and gave the order; his soldiers surrounding the supposed spy in a couple of seconds.

"Who are you and why are you here?!" the commander shouted, trying the easy way first.

"Answer me!" the commander tried again.

"Are you a spy or not?!" beginning to lose his patience, the commander asked the important question, trying to shock the spy with his knowledge of his true identity.

When the supposed spy didn't answer even this time, the commander took it as silent affirmation to his suspicions.

"Restrain him!" then ordered the commander.

Two soldiers each took out a pair of standard metal cuffs, issued to every soldier stationed at the gates, form a slot at their battle suit's back, and cuffed the supposed spy's wrists and feet.

Deeply aware of the significance the capture of a skilled enemy spy would mean for them, the commander decided to personally take the prisoner for interrogation.

Together with his soldiers, they went inside the gate, and as it was closing behind them, they began walking to their destination.