The Secret Army:
There's a Thin Line between Two Evils
" Life is a game of chess, Colonel Reagan. You must know your way around in order to claim your position." General Bowen explained as he watched his opponent move his one remaining rook piece. " And once you see it," Here he moved his own piece, a knight, to take the rook. " you must claim it quickly before that opportunity is lost in the never world. Once it is gone, there is no turning back. I believe that's checkmate."
Sure enough, as Colonel Reagan took a second look at the board, his king was trapped in a corner with the General's bishop, knight and king in a perfect line one square away. The bishop and knight checkmate, possibly the rarest form of basic checkmates in a game of chess, and the General of the Army had managed to pull it off. Accepting his obvious defeat, the Colonel shook hands with the General and began to place the pieces back in their proper places ready for another game.
" Not today, Jackson. Just one game will do me, I think. I've got to get to headquarters so that we can start that meeting." The General said with a sigh.
" But must we?" Colonel Reagan asked.
" We must learn through experience. It has been six months since the fall of the Seven. In order for us to play our next card, we must first learn the ways of the enemy. Young Chico Santiago meant well when he escaped that day. But, unfortunately, he… oh, how do I word it… he stalled our progress. We now must take two steps back in order to take one step forward."
At that moment, a young boy, only ten years old, came running down the side of the house to where the two older men were sitting under the tall oak. He had such bright eyes and a warm smile despite the fact that there was a war going on around him. In his hands was a medicine jar and a red book with gold figures. Without a word, the boy handed the book to the Colonel and the medicine to the General.
" Thank you, boy." The General replied with a smile before taking his medicine.
" You're welcome, Grandpapa." The boy replied enthusiastically.
" Can you do me a favour, Oliver?" The boy looked up at his grandfather expectantly. " Can you pack up the chess set and take it inside for me, please?"
" Are you going back to HQ?"
" You know I have to."
Instantly the smile and enthusiasm drained from Oliver's face and he kicked a nearby stone into the side of the tree.
" Hey, now. None of that. You get this chess set inside out of the weather, do your chores and make sure your homework is done, and when I get back I'll see if your mother won't let me take you down to the stables." The old man ordered.
" And I'll get to see Cody? And Bishop?"
" Oh, I don't know. Maybe. But first you got to do what I tell you. Off you go now."
With a slight spring in his step, Oliver went to do his grandfather's bidding. The General then turned to the Colonel and, with a nod of his head and his walking stick in hand, began his trek to the centre of the encampment. Colonel Reagan, possible by habit, walked on the old man's left side, being mindful of the fact that the wars General Bowen had been in had caused him a great deal of pain. You just had to look at him to realise that he was a seasoned veteran of war. But even with one eye and one leg, the old man was stubborn. No matter what, the General of the Army had to walk to his meetings. Because of this, the entire camp, including the gods and goddesses, thought it safer that he was within walking distance of Head Quarters and Command Unit 529-77483-H2LO7-B3.
" How cruel can someone get?" Connor Stoll murmured quietly to no one in particular.
" Very cruel, unfortunately. Now shut up, Graecus." Octavian replied.
Before them stood a line of the youngest inmates, fear showing in their large, tear-filled eyes and their tiny bodies shaking. It didn't matter that they were from Camp Half-Blood or from Camp Jupiter. Will had been right when he had whispered to the entire Bunker just before curfew the night after the Scorpion Rider's escape. The Watch had punished the entire camp for that escape. There was the expected cut of food rations and harder working hours. But the month after the escape, all of the older Romans were marched to the stadium for some reason.
No one was allowed to see what was going on, but the pain filled screams were enough to terrorise anyone who heard them. It was enough to give even the teenagers nightmares. Neither Connor nor Octavian didn't want to think about the nightmares that the little ones were getting. What made things worse, though, was that every single outsider had been pulled out of whatever work they were scheduled to do and were forced to dig the trenches that the bodies were thrown into – that is, once the bodies had been stripped naked and paraded through the camp.
Now one of the higher ranked Watch members was lining up the little kids and taking off their shirts for them. It was inhumane what they were doing. They were only children for the godssake. Octavian may have been thought of as a 'bad guy' while Camp Jupiter was still alive, but seeing this made him want to burst through the crowd to take the whip himself. Beside him, Connor was having the same thoughts. Innocent children under the age of ten should not go through something as destructive as the whipping post.
" We did nothing wrong. None of us. So tell me, ρωμαϊκός… why are we even here?" Connor asked.
There were times where Octavian asked himself that same question. Six months ago he had been forced, along with everyone else at Camp Jupiter, into the backs of semi-trailers and shipped off to Gaea's 'Camp for Demigods'. As soon as everyone was in, the gates were locked and bolted and guarded by twenty of her strongest, smartest warriors full time to make sure that there were no escapees. It was pretty clear that no one was to leave. Especially seeing that the night was when the packs of hellhounds roamed the camp.
" This is what happens when a conqueror takes over an enemy's territory. Their enemy is taken as slaves and their home is razed to the ground." The Roman augur sighed after a few more minutes. He hated to think that this was the exact thing that the Ancient Romans had done back when their empire was the greatest civilisation living on the planet at that time.
" So that's what we are now, is it? Slaves?" Connor asked, the hint of resentment in his voice.
" So it seems."
" My brother's a slave prisoner all because he was helping the girl he loved. Now I'm forced to watch as children are punished for something that was not in their control. I'm going to be sick."
Across the path, Connor caught the dark eyes of Nyssa. She was in the first row of Bunker Seven's inmates and she was watching her little brother as he was lead to the whipping post. It was clear just by looking in her eyes that she felt like she was about to go on a murderous rampage, weapon or no. Jake, however, was holding onto her hand and otherwise keeping her in her place. But even Jake looked like he wanted to break through the crowd and snap the nearest Watch neck that he could find.
" One!" The Elite called out.
Jake's grip on his sister's hand tightened and Nyssa turned her head away from the sight as little Harley was introduced to his first taste of a cat o' nine tails slicing open his exposed back. Oh, if Leo were there…
As the General and Colonel entered the building, the two jet black centaur stallions which stood guard outside raised their swords in high salute over the arch of the doorway. Unlike their brethren, the Party Ponies, these centaurs devoted their days to training the army and protecting their 'herd'. And it was the centaur to the right which sounded the General's arrival with three sharp paws of his hoof on the solid ground. Instant silence fell within as soon as the centaur had completed his task and became still once more.
Going into the meeting room, all the elders, councillors and lesser Generals were present amongst the minor gods and goddesses that made the camp their home. Ponos, with his pick axe and his general gold miner's appearance, stood in the corner of the room, a gleam in his eyes ever since he had met the son of Apollo. Conversing quietly in the shadows with each other were Remi Vantua, Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis for the Secret Army, and Alejandra Guerrero, Chieftain of the Amazon Warriors for the Secret Army.
As always, the thrones at the front of the room stood empty. Those two thrones had been like that for just over six months. Both were made of pure white marble and etched with gold markings. The only difference between the two was the emblems which rested on both sides of the back. On the right was a golden lyre which seemed to glow dimly. On the left was a golden caduceus, a dim glow also surrounding it. The Lords Apollo and Hermes claimed those two thrones whenever they visited in either their Roman or Greek forms. It was a sad sight indeed to see both thrones empty for so long. Now they just stood as a reminder to the war that was raging on the other side of the Secret Army's boarders.
" Tell me something good for once." General Bowen sighed as he took his seat to the right of Lord Apollo's throne.
The accountant who was present shifted uncomfortably in his seat. " Well, Sir. Our finances are steadily rising. And… and the local farming community has pledged t-their loyalty to our cause. The Mayor of the town… he has agreed to call for two shipments of every stock from every store as payment for our refuge."
" Anything else you would like to tell me, Ayre?"
" That is all, Sir."
" Now tell me how, exactly, did we gain allegiance from this farming community?"
" The… the dragons have been getting hungry, Sir. Their keepers… their keepers stormed the town during the night."
" And how, pray tell, do you expect us to return the Olympians to their seats of power if this is continuously going on?"
At this, most of the human council members shifted in their seats. The Lieutenant of Artemis and the Amazon Chieftain seemed not to care and Colonel Reagan remained with his eyes fixed on the accountant. Ponos, however, seemed to be getting excited about something because he began twirling his pick axe around and almost lost it in some poor guy's shoulder. This, of course, earned him a stern scowl from Soter, the spirit of safety, resulting in a nervous laugh escaping from the spirit of hard labour's mouth and thus the only noise that could be heard in the silence that followed General Bowen's words.
" What do you people not understand about the word 'secret'?!" The General roared after a few more seconds ticked by.
No one moved. Even Ponos had stopped his nonverbal argument with Soter. The cold glare in the General's blue eye was usually enough to silence anyone. But never had he raised his voice like that. Things must have been bad if the General of the Army was yelling. After a few more minutes, General Bowen closed his eye and let loose a heavy sigh. It was clear that he expected everyone else to learn from what had happened.
" How are the Seven faring, Dr Azarov? Is it true that one of your medics still refuses to tend to them?" He asked, conveniently changing the subject.
The doctor awkwardly stood from his place. He was a tall man with a slightly crooked nose and greying hair. To anyone who had seen the Star Wars movies, he looked like the spitting image of the aged Obi-Wan Kenobi. He seemed to play along with those members of the Army, too; acting like a Russian version of the famous Jedi.
" That is unfortunately so, генера́л. The son of the Господь Apollo, that Michael Yew boy, I think he fears признание… being recognised." The doctor said in a thick Russian accent; his head held high like he usually had it when speaking to Higher Authorities.
" I wouldn't want to be recognised either if I suddenly disappeared after falling off a bridge and managed to survive the fall." Said a proud looking Roman god wearing a white toga over a red Roman tunic.
" I thought you would have considering something like that would be seen as something honourable and brave." The Amazon Chieftain said with a cocky smile on her face.
" Why you little…"
" Besides!" A stout old woman, one of the Eagle Elders, roared over the top of the growing argument. " My grandson, Korban Parsons, was able to save him… despite his orders to go to the Empire State Building. Now shut up about what you lot think is classed as honourable and give the boy some more time to come to terms with this chance meeting! He may be ill-tempered and a little smart-aleck, and I admit I've wanted to lay him over my lap on more than one occasion, but he is not ready to go see them. Give him time on that. He'll come round eventually."
" I agree with Tareen." One of the Wolf Elders said. " The boy will know when the time is right. It is natural instinct that will show him that. And if he is wise he will take the path that his instinct orders him to follow."
" Now that we have sorted out the situation concerning Mister Yew, what of the Seven?" General Bowen asked, reminding everyone of the first part of his original question.
" They were still in their comatose states when I left the hospital to come here." Dr Azarov informed him.
" Do they show any signs of waking?"
" None, Sir."
" Keep trying, then." With a sigh, the General decided the subject had to change once more. " Now we must decide on a spy to send to this camp that young Chico Santiago has explained to us."
" A spy?" The representative for the Dragon Keepers asked, slightly outraged. " What the bloody hell do we need a spy for? We have all the information we need."
" As a matter of fact, we don't. We need someone within the camp that can relay information back to us without being known." Colonel Reagan spoke up for the first time during the meeting. " Those that are already in the camp are there under the terms of prisoners of war. They know nothing of what we are doing now. They know nothing of what we must achieve in order to succeed in this war. We need someone who is strong enough to withstand what is going on within the camp, within a reasonable age and fast enough to go undetected by any means to the check point before this 'curfew' that was explained."
" Well spoken, Colonel Reagan." General Bowen said. " Have the lists been finalised?"
" Yes, Sir." One of the Lieutenants confirmed.
At the General's request, the lists were read out. Amongst them was Sarai Galateia, daughter of Epona, Kaine Borakson, son of Apollo, and Cody J. Barker, older grandson of General Aiden Bowen. At the sound of his own grandson's name, the General tensed but he remained silent. If he could help it, he would try not to send his grandchildren out. It was already bad enough that he had lost his son to Kronos's Army during the Second Titan War and his son-in-law to the very camp that he was planning on sending a spy to. He wasn't about to let any more of his boys go. Finally, the lists were finished and the room was encased in silence once more.
" We can't send Kaine out there." The Dragon Keeper said, breaking the silence. " He's still too unpredictable. There's no telling what he'll do once he's in there."
" I was watching him the other day. He seems fine now, give or take those odd tendencies of his where he slips into his dragon tongue." One of the Councillors said.
" And how do you think he would take to the way the demigods and legacies are being treated? How do you think he would take to the way the dragons and other animals are being treated? No. He stays within the borders of the Secret Army."
" And what would he do if he found this all out?" Ponos asked, curiously.
" We'll just say that it wouldn't be pretty."
" Okay, so that rules out Kaine Borakson. Which of the remaining candidates are we choosing to send out to this camp?" Colonel Reagan asked.
Discussion was quickly brought up amongst most of the meeting attendants. However, not one of them took notice in the fact that the Wolf Elders were discussing something completely different. It only came to their attentions when the sound of a wolf growling penetrated the minds of all present. And there was a perfectly good reason (according to the Wolf Elders) why the youngest of the elders had shape-shifted into a large black and brown wolf. After a quick reprimand from the senior elder, the wolf fell silent.
" There is… one other." The senior elder said to the silent crowd before him.
" I just don't understand why it had to be one of ours." Terrence Monako growled as he led his pack out of the underground tunnel.
" Terrence, we've been through this." His mate growled in reply. " She's the best for the job. If anyone can pull off being a spy, she can. Besides, those Eagles practically ordered for a sky watch in the emergency of something happening to Shiba."
" They always have to be wherever we are."
" Yeah, I know. But that's not the point. The point is; Shiba will be fine."
" Tiahna, she is fourteen years old!"
" Exactly! She needs to start learning. We can't baby her around all the time."
" Um… I'm right here." A young voice said from right behind the Alphas.
Turning around, Terrence and Tiahna found that most of their pack of twelve had already shape-shifted. The only ones left to do so were themselves and a light-brown haired, green eyed girl about fourteen years old. But it was clear from the shine in her eyes that Kayla Terren was excited about getting to go on this mission alone. And it was that shine that got Terrence even more worried which, in turn, got Tiahna even more worked up.
" We can't let her go." Terrence decided, not allowing any of the two girls a chance to talk. This also caused most of the pack to sigh which always sounded weird coming from wolves.
" Shiro." His mate growled in warning.
" I'll be fine." Kayla assured her Alpha. " It's not like I've been handed a death sentence."
The Alphas looked at each other as the girl shape-shifted into the brown and white wolf known as 'Shiba'. Both of them knew that what she was forced into could very well be her death sentence if she wasn't careful. And if they knew her like they thought they did, Kayla wasn't very good at being careful. This little factor had been proven only that morning when she had tripped and nearly spilled the Elder's tea and broke the rather expensive, state of the art, collector's edition Chinese tea pot that she was carrying. How she managed to hold onto that tea pot and not spill a drop of tea on the ground was anyone's guess. Nevertheless, out of all the demigods and mortals chosen for the task, she was chosen by the Elders as one not listed. She had no choice but to go.
Slowly the Alphas accepted the fact that their newest member was going into enemy territory with only the Eagle Morpher, Jennifer Lopez, as a guardian. The only comfort that they took was that the Eagle Morpher was in her mid-twenties like themselves. With a shake of her head, Tiahna shape-shifted into the silver wolf 'Kara' and began leading her pack to the drop off point. Terrence, having been left behind again, gave a small sigh and tried to banish the images of the burning camps from his mind.
" Why do beginnings always have to be so scary?" He asked himself before shape-shifting himself and running off after his pack.
News quickly spread of the new arrival. A sharp featured fourteen year old girl with green eyes and light brown hair. She had spent the night in the basement of the Watch's sleeping quarters. But as she was paraded down through the camp the next morning, it was clear to all that she wasn't at all bothered about sleeping on a cold, damp floor that was riddled with rats and other nasty things that people weren't sure lived down there. In fact, her green gaze seemed to penetrate into the very souls of everyone watching her arrival… almost like she was picking off the weakest one for a kill like a wolf would with a herd of elk.
As customary, she had been placed in long pants that didn't keep the winter cold from grasping at her bones and a matching long sleeved shirt. The emblem on her shirt, however, was that of Bunker Six's. But unlike the rest of the inmates who thought it better to keep their sleeves attached to their shirts, the girl seemed unfazed by the cold and had torn off the sleeves. The result was that it showed the tattoo on both of her upper arms. It was similar to the tattoos from the Roman camp in the sense that it showed the picture of a tribal wolf head howling, but that was all. Under the image were three names and a bunch of numbers.
Whitewater Pack
Kayla Terren
Shiba
973-6448-0792-414
The demigods and legacies of both Roman and Greek camps had no clue as to what it meant. Some of the Romans even resorted to looking at their own tattoos to try and work out what it meant. Their only conclusion was that it meant that this newcomer was a member of something else which was kind of obvious to anyone due to the fact that she also had a chain around her neck like the other outsiders (for some strange reason, the Watch had allowed the outsiders to keep the chains and the Camp Half-Blood demigods to keep their necklaces). But the outsiders seemed to know exactly what it meant and they instantly began getting restless. The sight of the restless outsiders brought a slight smile to the newcomer's face.
" You're lucky, you know that kid?" The Watch member said as he threw the girl into the cold ground. " You just missed being punished for an escape that recently happened. Don't let me catch you misbehaving or you'll really feel it!"
Just remember to keep your temper in check, okay Shiba? The memory of Kara's voice penetrated Shiba's thoughts as she peeled herself from the ice and snow.
As the girl removed her hand from the deep snow, the closest inmates noticed that the print left behind was not a hand print. Pressed into the snow was the paw print of a wolf. No one was sure if Shiba had managed to make a perfect wolf print with her hand or if her hand had actually become a wolf's paw. All they knew was that, at that moment, her eyes were burning green flames. And the wolf stare that she was giving seemed to send a chill down the Watch's back.
" 'The day a door is closed, the echoes fill your soul. They won't say which way to go, just trust your heart.'" She said, barely containing her anger.
" Shut up and get in line!" The Watch growled.
During this mission, you must succumb to the enemy, young Shiba. The Grand Elder's voice whispered inside her head.
She heeded her elder's words and allowed the Watch to drag her to her feet. But she couldn't help the slight growl that erupted from her throat as she was pushed into the arms of one of the nearby outsiders. The boy could not have been more than a few years older, but his face was hollow and he shoved her deeper into the throng away from the edge. At first, she thought it was a rude greeting into the bunker. But the boy's words told her otherwise.
" Trust me. It's safer for you back there." He had whispered seconds before she was shoved further back and next to a mix of demigods.
" Why is it safer back here?" She asked quietly.
" Look at us compared to you." Octavian grumbled. " The watch would beat you senseless."
The blonde was right. Aside from the more obvious cuts and bruises that could be seen on any number of the inmates, a closer look found that everyone was beginning to waste away into nothing. Again the fires began sparking in her eyes as Shiba turned her attention back to the road where one of her own had pushed her back from. Almost everyone around her had hollow faces and were looking skinnier than they should be. But the sound of someone coughing pulled her eyes from the road and back to the demigods.
Standing behind the legs of both the blonde boy who had spoken and a dark haired boy with wonky looking eyes was a young girl about six years old who looked like she should have been in a hospital not a concentration camp. Her hair had been cut and it looked like her back was causing her severe pain. Shiba had no problem imagining the girl in pretty dresses with her long hair in pigtails and a playful look in her mischievous eyes as she danced around a statue. Again the girl coughed and a sudden realisation dawned on the Wolf morpher. The girl she was seeing was the girl she knew as Terminus's assistant, Julia.
With a sudden blaze of fire in her green eyes, Shiba charged through the crowd that was separating her from the road and lunged at the nearest Watch member.
It was her first fatal mistake.
I think some translations are in order here.
'ρωμαϊκός' = Roman - Greek
'генера́л' = general - Russian
'Господь' = Lord - Russian
'признание' = being recognised - Russian