Chapter 4: The World's March.
The Xenon striker ran across the field at a lightning speed. He was built for running, his imposing muscular frame and long legs enabling him to make make gigantic strides as he went. His untenable gaze was focues unrelenelsy on the opposing team's goal.. Nothing could stop such a mass of power and brutality.
Except Tia.
Despite her delicate physique, she did not hesitate to rush in and face the Xenon, who was about to cross her at high speed.
Like a little snowflake braving a mountain.
With Rocket following her closely and protected by her flux, Tia managed to take the ball from the Xenon with a clever tackle, cutting off his momentum. Then, sending the ball flying to her teammate, she breathed out as she listened to Aarch's praise.
- "Excellent Tia! Don't let them get anywhere near the goal! Play in defense! "
Rocket used his breath to throw the ball as far as possible. The air pass went to D'jock, who immediately send the ball through to Micro-Ice. He skillfully passed the Xenon defenders with his trademark clowning. No one else would display such a fun time in playing, even in trainings. Smiling, he sent the ball back to D'Jok who shot it right into the Xenon's goal with an magnificent agility.
- "Well done! "Aarch exclaimed. "Pass the ball as much as possible! Confuse them! And don't miss any opportunity to score, you can't miss a beat playing against the Xenon's! "
The ball was put down at the center spot of the field.
- "Well, it seems that even the Xenons don't impress them anymore..." Clamp sighed.
- "It makes me wonder what I'll have to use to impress them now..." Aarch Said.
The ball was shot straight up into the air. D'Jok activated his breath but the Xenon was faster. He shot the ball to its striker teammate, who ran like a thunderbolt straight to the goal guarded by Yuki. Mei, who played her last match as a defender before her departure, waited for a sign from her teammate.
The Xenon ran with all his might. He activated his green flux and gained even more speed. His yellow eyes flashing, almost hypnotic ... pupils veiled behind an emerald fluid.
- "Thran ! What the hell are you waiting for! Thran! "Aarch yelled for the third time in his microphone.
- "Thran! " Mei yelled as well.
Finally he caught on on what was happening in the real world, and went head-on towards the Xenon, who was about to score.
Too late.
The shot was fierce as if it were a cannonball, and Yuki barely had the strength to stop it. Despite her frail physique, she managed to prevent the ball from passing the white line and entering her goal, but not without difficulty, as her recent injury to her ankle flared up in the process.
- "What gives Thran! Are you planning on taking naps on the field as well? " Shouted Yuki a she struggled to catch her breath.
Thran eyed her with a sorry look. Ashamed, he trudged back to his place.
- "That's all for today Snowkids. " Aarch said.
The background decomposed, to be replaced by a blinding light. Back in the trainingroom, the Snowkids sat down on the steps of the blue stairs, exhausted. Thran was nervously biting his thumbnail as he tapped his feet on the ground. He felt a hand on his shoulder.
- "Are you nervous ? "Yuki asked softly.
Thran didn't feel like answering that. But that did not bother Yuki. She had long since gotten used to the whimsical nature of her cousin. She knew he was not upset with her asking, he was just very anxious to see his brother.
- "Thran did you hear what I said ? "Said Aarch. "I want you to be more focused from now on! "
- "Oh ... Uh, sorry Coach, it won't happen again ... "
Aarch sighed. Thran, who had been sitting head-down, looked up for a moment to meet Aarch's searching gaze. It was enough for the coach to understand what was bothering him. For once, Aarch did not press the issue any further.
- "And remember, Ahito will join you later in the common room. "
- "Like we'd forget that! " Micro-Ice replied, hurrying out of the room.
11.30 am.
The holo-TV was broadcasting the latest news from Mebaï. So far no evidence seemed to emerge from the rubble of the burned station which could testify to any criminal intent, or the supposed culprit for that matter.
Mei was chatting with Yuki and Tia. The boys, meanwhile, were discussing both the next match against and the Wambas and the training of the next morning.
- "I don't know about you, but I think Aarch is not familiar with the concept "light training"..." Micro-Ice moaned as he stretched his frame on the sofa. "Serioulsy, everything hurts! ... even-"
- "Even your hair, yeah ... we know that Mice" D'Jok smirked.
Micro-Ice stuck out his tongue at D'jock behind his back.
- "By the way, has anyone have an idea about who's gonna replace Mei? " Rocket whispered.
- "Nope. I don't, at least " D'Jok Replied.
- "Of course you don't! " Micro-Ice exclaimed. " You won't find anyone who play football so well as we do! Especially me of course, nope, no one! " he boasted.
- "I think I'll be seeing that annoying clone guy next to me a lot the coming weeks…." Thran sighed.
- " If that's what it takes to keep your attention on the field, why not?" Micro ice joked.
- "Well, at least they can jump high enough to get to the ball, right Mice? " D'Jok replied saucily.
The little striker left them to sit sulking somewhere else.
- " Stop poking fun of him, can't you see he's as stressed as you guys?..."
The Snowkids turned toward the door of the room where that voice came from. Ahito was leaning on the wall, probably for many minutes now, smiling mischieveously.
- "Ahitooooooo! " Micro-Ice yelled as he jumped up and ran to the door in mere seconds, throwing himself at the goalie and burying his face in the thick collar of his coat.
- "Stop getting taller Mice, I won't be able to withstand your tackles if you keep this up ..." Ahito joked as he struggled to keep his composture with Micro-ice hugging him tight.
- "Haha very funny. "The small striker said, sounding muffled as he spoke through the thick lining of the coat.
The others were soon to join them at the door.
- "Ahhh ... "Ahito sighed as he enjoyed the attention, nearly purring. "Come here, let me give all of you a hug.." he said as he took as many people as possible in his arms. " This feels good ... I missed you guys ..."
Only Thran remained seated at the sofa, his arms folded.
- "We missed you too. "Tia said.
- "We were worried about you... "Yuki added.
- "You'll be back soon on the field right? "D'Jok asked hopefully.
Ahito's smile faded at that one.
- " ... I don't know D'Jok ... I just…I don't know ... " He replied, automatically searching for Thran as the issue of his illness came up.
When he saw him sitting on the couch, he gently nudged for the others to let go of him so he could join his twin. Thran, however, shot him a strange sideways glance which made Ahito stop in his tracks. For a long time nothing was said between them. This strange game of willpowers seemed to go on forever, and even Yuki could not understand what exactly was going on. She just knew it was better to be silent, to be silent and wait.
After a few moments, Ahito started to drum his fingertips on the surface of his right leg nervously, and sighed. Thran seemed to take this as his cue to intensify his gaze as he nodded. Now he was almost frowning. Ahito "replied" by rolling his eyes, glancing away momentarily. Then looked back at his brother with a pleading look in his eyes.
- "What's happening? " Micro-Ice whispered.
Thran now looked downright angry as he once more intensified his stare.
- "Okay… okay! " Ahito suddenly exclaimed, breaking the silence.
He turned to face the Snowkids. He lowered his head as he scratched his shoulder nervously, then took a deep breath.
- "I ... I'm sorry. " He sighed.
Thran coughed audibly.
- "What are you talking about? " D'Jok asked, surprised by the sudden turn of events.
- "Well ... That is…I'm sorry I said that I was fine when I wasn't…that was a lie... You, we…the team almost lost because I wanted to prove to myself that I could do this…but in the end… I have only caused problems. For you guys, but even more so for myself ". Said the young goalkeeper, raising his head shyly." I'm sorry I kept you guys out of the loop"….
- "No worries Ahito… you've proven time and time again that you're a true Snowkid! Not giving up is in our blood! " Rocket said.
- "We don't blame you, we know you wanted to do your best. " Tia added.
- " And even when sick you sure got style dude, that stop was awesome! I mean you should have seen Luur's face ! " Micro-ice cheered.
- " Don't be afraid to tell us next time okay?…" D'Jok said.
- " Because we'll be more than happy to take care of you, right girls? " Mei said as she hugged Yuki and Tia with a large smile.
- " Okay seriously, you can't pass up on that offer!" Micro-ice replied "I certainly wouldn't "
Ahito smiled again, cheeks flushing a nice shade of crimson red.
He turned around again, staring at his brother innocently, his gaze inquiring.
- He asked with a naive little voice. "Can I have my hug now? "
Thran waved at him to come over as he stood up from the sofa. Looking happy, Ahito only needed a second to run over and join him. But just as it looked like Ahito was going to jump at his brother like the overly enthusiastic Micro-ice migh have done, he stopped right in his tracks as they faced each other up close. Finally, they drew their arms around each other with the kind of tenderness perhaps only shared between brothers.
- "You scared the hell out of me you jerk.." Thran whispered as he hugged his twin close.
He blinked for a moment to fight back tears as he buried his face in the nape of his brother's neck. The younger twin in turn took a deep breath as if he had not seen his brother in months, squeezing him in return as hard as possible.
- "Don't cry big brother, I'm here ..." Ahito chuckled.
A brief silence followed
"I love you, you know that?…. "
- "Daisuki... " Thran answered, kissing his twin's forehead.
The rattling of a small bracelet, the owner fidgeteing with it nervously. The twisting and swinging of the hoop-shaped beads making the copper resonate upon contact.
- "Sonny? "
Sonny Blackbones had been so occupied with his holograms that he had lost all sense of time. His gaze was lost somewhere between the planet Jadena and its neighboring white Giant, Akillian.
"Sonny? " Corso repeated.
The latter one finally snapped back to the real world, as he turned to meet his second in command.
" Are you sure it's okay? "
- "Yes ...yes it is. "Sonny said, rubbing his temples. "What do you want? "
- "Our teams are waiting for the mission's instructions. "
Sonny thought for a moment.
- "How many men do we have at the scene? "He asked.
- "A dozen at most, we have to be discreet. "
- "The Jadena's mines are like a gigantic maze Corso ... We should add a team send them as observers to the best points of the site. "
- "There aren't many volunteers right now ..." Corso said. " First of al we have teams disappearing continuously, and the newbies, well…"
- "Good thing you mention them "Sonny interrupted. "Take the E5 group with you. "
- "What! " Corso burst out "Are you insane? They have no mission experience whatsoever! "
- " Which makes this an excellent opportunity for them to get some experience in the field. I trust you to show 'em the ropes. It's just like you said Corso, we have a lack of experienced units, so a bit of fresh blood won't hurt."
Corso sighed, exasperated.
- "I just know this won't end good..."
- "This mission will go as planned. Simply said; a real piece of cake. "Sonny said with confidence
- " Like I'm talking about backin' you a cherry chocolate pie! Can't you at least PRETEND you're serious…... " Corso Growled.
Sonny ignored him and activated the hologram of the communication network between Jadena and Akillian.
- "First, you will go to Akillian and stakeout there, at the departure station V.39. That is the least secure one. "
- "Hmm ... I understand now. " Corso interrupted.
- " What do you mean with that ? "Sonny asked.
- "Why you don't want to come ... you're afraid of seeing your son. " Corso said as if it was a matter-of-fact…well, to him at least.
- "I am not going because I have more important matters to attend to here, that's all. It has nothing to do with D'Jok. " The pirate chief replied curtly.
- "If you say so..."
Sonny resumed.
- "Once you arrive you will receive a magnetic cards from one of our men so you can borrow a shuttle and go underground…. "
- "That will be the easy part I guess. We all know that from that point onwards the place will be swarming with Technoïde border security drones."
- "That's why you will have to act quickly, and don't forget to document anyting out of the ordinary. Primaily, you are to discover what all the Tridirium is for, assuming that it is not stolen y the Unadians... "
A hologram showed up, displaying the mines. A swarm of monorails, galleries and factories, the network through which the precious metal was brought to the surface.
- "How many time do we have? "Corso asked.
- "Eight hours. After that the dayshift is relieved with a fresh crew and the security will be doubled for the night. "
- "A piece of cake ..." Corso sighed. "At least we'll have lot's of dark, creepy holes to hide if we're busted. "
- "You'd better prepare a ship for Akillian instead of joking around. And don't forget, the E5 team... "
- " Understood ..." Corso replied wearily, approaching the exit of the room.
- "Ah! Before I forget... "
Corso stopped in his tracks
" Send in Artie, I want to see him before you leave. "
Sonny wanted to see Artie person to person? Perhaps entrusting him with a secret task? Though it might have seen normal with any other person, the fact that Sonny took personal interest in the pirate's infamous rule-bender was just too odd for Corso to formulate a response. Instead he just nodded and went out as he intended to do in the first place.
While the pirates joined the ship bound for Akillian, Artie slipped quietly into the red room. Sonny was sitting on a bench in the dim room, his seat half lit by the faint lights from the red screens around the room. He held a small disk in his hand.
- "You wanted to see me sir? " Artie asked hesitantly, gingerly walking down the metal walkway.
- "Come here Artie, I have a favor to ask. "
Artie could hardly believe what he heard. Sonny Blackbones….askig HIM for a favor?
"Tell me, are you still in touch with that young Snowkid? The small one with the blue eyes. "
- "Micro-Ice ? Yes ... I see him occasionally on Akillian. "Artie answered.
Sonny gave him the disk he had in his hand.
- "Have him bring this to D'Jok. It's really important. "
Arti regarded the disk with curiosity for a moment, then glanced over at Sonny with his large black eyes.
"Don't ask me for an explanation, now go away ! "Sonny said.
The young pirate nodded and quickly left. Sonny, smiling, looked outside to see him running from behind the dirty window. Now he could only hope that his message would not be lost on the way.
Harris waited. Patiently.
His hour of glory slowly approaching. He had an idea the day before, which pushed out the limits of Machiavellianism. Thanks to the information he stole from Maddox' computer the vice director knew his plans to a great extend. Still, it appears this was only the tip of the iceberg. No doubt his ambition went far beyond dividing the senate and secretly researching the new multiflux.
Either way, Harris had to be careful to not reveal his plans. Laying low for the moment was key.
He waited patiently for hours, pretending to work on several urgent inquiries from the director, waiting to see if he could outsmart the fox and lure it out of its den. He certainly had the right bait, no one could deny that.
- "Come on you slimy little lizzard ... crawl out from under that rock of yours. "He murmured to himself in a childlike manner.
As if on cue, an alert came in. The usual droid appeared on the office's hologra.
- "Incoming priority call from the Supreme General Keresha Ata'wi of Xenon. " He said with a robotic voice.
A devilish smile crept on Harri's face. Everything was going as expected.
-"Call accepted. Put it on the main screen. Block any incoming external calls until I say so. " Harris instructed.
The droid disappeared. As the wall screen was activated, Harris stood up, cleared his throat and tightened the knot of his tie. When the image was clear enough for transmission, General Keresha appeared. He fixed his yellow, red slotted eyes on Harris. He wore the traditional Xenon helmet, adorned with two long horns and white spikes.
The lizard was there. Silent.
- "Please accept my humble greetings, General Keresha Ata'wi. " Harris greeted politely, bowing slightly as his fist was resting firmly on his ches as a sign of respect, a customary greeting amongst Xeronians.
The General did the same.
- "Greetings human." He hissed. "I received an anonymous message about our lost tribe. They say you know more about it…. "
- " They said correctly. Truth of the matter is, I put that rumor out there myself because I have some important information about the Awa 'tokai. " Harris replied mysteriously.
Keresha flexed his nostrils, and revealed his sharp teeth, not quite covering up his interest in the direction the conversation was taking.
- "I'm listening….."
- "Well let's see….." Harris began as he slowly walked around his desk, feigning an air of confidence. "I assume I don't have to tell you how Duke Maddox made a lot of unjustifiable charges against you and your people."
The Xenon let out a low growl in response. Harris hesitated before resuming;
" So in relation to that….I have an offer you can't refuse. "
Keresha exhaled, the movement causing his jacket to sway slightly.
- "After all the insults you and your people hurled at us, do you really think that Xenon would consider any sort of alliance with Technoïde ? "He growled.
- "Very understandable General. But the truth of the matter is….I don't propose any alliance with Technoïde... " Harris said
"I propose an alliance with me…. "
The Xenon narrowed his eyes, a slight gesture betraying his confusion about Harri's unexpected proposal.
" What I'm trying to say is; first there is Technoide's semi-military actions against your peope, and then Duke Maddox's made that aggravating speech at the Senate's meeting. Surely you should thoroughly resent him and his entire empire by now, if not earlier."
- "Just say what you want to say human! "The Xenon shouted.
Harris crossed his hands behind his back and took a deep breath before speaking.
- "What if I tell you that I'll soon present you with the opportunity to have your revenge on Technoide, by any means... "
- " The Senate will never approve such a thing!' the commander said irritated.
- " My point indeed general. This 'Senate', this gathering of imbecils, has the nerve to deny you your rightfull vengeance for all the shame you had to endure" Harris spoke up louder this time. "Akillians are depending on Technoïde security and won't say a thing afraid they'll lose it, the Wambas are too afraid of Maddox to take your side in this matter, and the Unadians are on the verge of hunting down the Awa 'tokai if even a shred of credible evidence is found that suggests their involvement in the attack on Mebai! ...Wake up General! Where's Xenon's pride? When has your right for vengeance become dependent on the whims of other people?
- "A new war would be a grave mistake. Moreover, who do you think you are , standing up against the empire of Technoide with such arrogance" The general replied.
Harris smiled.
- "I am the harbinger of a new era, General. I have a weapon that would bring even a thousand empires like Technoïde combined down to its knees. "
- "You're bluffing… " The Xenon hissed.
Harris walked resumed his semi-nonchalant walk.
- "If you don't believe me General, why don't you ask your dear lost tribe? "
Keresha's eyes went wide in shock, his scales shuddered.
- "You know where they are? "He asked.
- "That and much more..." Harris replied smugly. "I've given them my protection ... in exchange for some services, of course. Of course, I can't very well go ahead and tell Maddox I found them and have them tell on me, that would spoil the milk to say the least. This, my dear Xenon, is where you come in…. "
Keresha inhaled deeply.
- "I know you seek to provoke a new war to eradicate Technoice…. Not just that, you want to be free from the Senate's suffocating rules and regulations... Don't worry about the execution of this mission. I already assembled some powerfull allies. Consider this a favor to yourself: after all, your first and foremost responsibility is the safety of your tribe. And the senate can't guarantee that anymore…"
Harris faced the Xenon.
"I know that Maddox is plotting evil deeds in secret. At this stage it's no long the question WHEN he will attack, but who of us will attack the first. We, however, will have the element of surprise…"
- "Let me think about it for a moment. If anything I have no reason to believe you if I won't see with my own eyes that my tribe is safe…"
- "So be it General. Either way, I am confident that you will make up your mind, the world will change, great things will happen... "
The communication ended.
Somewhere in the Zaelion galaxy, two brother were reunited, a young man rescues his parents, a messenger takes off, a war is about to break out…..
The great world's march has started.