Mecca August 13th 2003
Ironwood
The desertwind blew, it was hot and uncomfortable. Despite this there was a kind of grim festiveness in the air. Sharr was coming and everyone here was ready for a fight, a man came up to me and nodded, my handler nodded back.
"You are not allowed in the Kaaba, you are not of the faith and you have committed grievous sins against Allah."
"I understand."
I was a guest in the country, best not upset the locals in the most holy place in their religion.
"That said, you have stated that you wish to redeem yourself, yes?"
I nod my head.
"You are not permitted in the Kaaba, but you will be stationed outside of it, you will protect the Kaaba at all costs."
"But if the people need my-"
The man looked at me, his face was serious.
"There isn't a man here who is not willing to give his life, for them if they die paradise awaits, there are many men and we will honor their sacrifice, but there is only one Kaaba, we have decided to trust you despite your past wicked deeds."
He paused.
"Allah has decided to give you a chance to repent for your sins, we must respect that. Allah's mercy is offered to all who wish to accept it. If you die in defense of the Kaaba there will surely be a place amongst the rightous for you. If you live then your past sins will be forgiven, but all of this rests upon this sacred duty."
"I understand."
I was led to the outside of the gates and I waited, my minions were in the air, I didn't know what Sharr would look like, but I didn't dare move. Then through their eyes I saw her, she looked like a spiky centipede, the front had a face of a woman and a long forked toung slithered out of her mouth. Her body was striped with red and black, her face pale like some Noh mask, and then I heard a cackling sound and the spikes flew off of her body and exploded.
This was Sharr's power, the ability to become a mobile missile base. The roar of thousands of jets passed overhead, she wasn't in the city yet and planes from over a hundred countries joined in hitting her with their own missiles, guns and whatever else they had. A few of the more primative planes dived bombed and... blew themselves up.
Sharr arose out of the flames and continued to send an almost unlimited number of missiles into the city, she was moving fast and with great speed and-
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN GAZA IS REVOLTING! MECCA IS UNDER ATTACK RIGHT NOW AND THEY'RE SENDING MISSILES... THERE WAS A FUCKING TRUCE!"
"She's heading towards the Kaaba."
My words were soft, understated and the others turned towards me, people from around the world nodded at my words.
"PROTECT THE KAABA!"
The barrage of missiles, gunfire, and death continued as Sharr marched defiantly into the city. There was much screaming as mortars and sucide bombers charged her. Doing whatever they could to destroy her.
"Front portion, lower half of her back, that's where her core is."
The message was radioed throughout the city and fire was concentrated, missiles continued to spray like water through out the city. I created minions, numerous and plenty and used the combined mass to shield the Kaaba from the onslaught of the missile strike. I then watched in horror as her body seperated into 40 different sections, they moved independently, sending out missile barrags as the main body headed in my direction.
I created more minions, a giant wall of sunflowers grew and covered and protected Islam's most important sight. I sent out some minions to hunt down the rest of Sharr's body and to heal the numerous injured and wounded. The main force pounded down their wrath upon Sharr as she headed closer and closer. I pulled my sword and let my armor evolve. The number of missiles grew in number and varity but my defences held.
I saw her before me and charged, I poked and proded, looking for some weakness to exploit, her armored shell kept me out. Plants created to pierce it were rebuffed, the bacterial infections resulted in her shedding that bit of armor. She used her pincers to slash and strike at me as she continued to chuckle and laugh.
I felt my armor be consumed as the missiles homed in on me instead of the Kaaba, I ignored the pain and continued to fight trying to study her, trying to find a weakness. Meanwhile the world's firepower concentrated on us, aimed at her core. I saw an opening and struck hard, my seeds implanted in the hole. Her face lit up with panic and she screamed. She turned tail and ran, trying desperately to rip out my growing plants. I got ready to follow her and-
"Protect the Kaaba! We can kill Sharr later."
I didn't recognize the man but his accent was middle eastern and he wore a crown on his head.
"But-"
"This insult will be avenged, but you have your duty."
I sighed and headed to my post, I continued to grow the plants trying to rip her apart until she was outside of my range. When the night fell I removed my sunflowers and got to work healing the injured and wounded. The Saudi government had their officials bring food, it also seemed like they were collecting names, talking to everyone there.
"Your Seal of Participation."
I looked down at the official.
"Huh?"
"Like everyone else who fought you will receive one, this states that you fought in the battle of Mecca and that any previous sins are forgiven by both Allah and the undersigned nations."
I carefully took the offered parchment, the man stood ramrod straight.
"That is all."
He walked off giving more bits of parchment to the others that fought. The city itself was badly damaged, workers and volunteers were already doing their best to repair the damage. There was a sense of community and shared struggle. I continued to heal the wounded, when I was finished I was put back on a plane and flew back home. The little bit of leather and ink somehow felt heavier then it was.