Roshma Book 1: The First Steps
Chapter 11: Neon Nightmare

Our ship touched down among hundreds of other ships in a high fortified shipyard. It was surrounded by anti-air guns and a myriad of military vehicles. A blue-eyed officer marched up to us, “You can be sure that your vehicle is safe here, and I already feel safer with you guys here.” People really put too much faith in us. If you’re going to but your faith in something put it in Elohim, mankind will often let you down.

It was night by the time we arrived in the city, but the town was lit up. They say Adaven never sleeps and I guess it’s true. She was spectacle to behold one of the most amazing sights I had witnessed in my life. Sure, she was the epidemy of consumerism, but that was beside the point. There were skyscrapers covered with neon lights and floating hologram projected advertisements everywhere. On top of that cute girls stood outside all of the social clubs offering a friendly smile trying to lure in suckers like us. The streets themselves were even lit up with flashing lights.

The main road in Adaven looked really dated. It had apparently been there since the beginning of the town’s history and was one of the only things in Adaven which hadn’t been rebuilt. No one drove on it anymore, but it was there for nostalgia. A network of super highways ran over our heads. My eyes could have tricked me, but I think I saw a Takari C class 500 Speeder on the highway above us. Its sleek red paint job and aerodynamic design helped it cut through the night. There was also a network of magnet trains high above the ground that took people back and forth between important buildings.

The people that inhabited Adaven were mostly tourist and none of them lacking in the department of money. We stuck out like a sore thumb with our body armor and weapons. I could feel their stares, their judgment. We finally arrived at the Chisholm Social Club. There was an extensive security check at the front door. We tried to walk past, but they insisted on taking all of our weapons. However, we stood firm and insisted that some shady characters were about to show up and we needed our weapons to deal with said characters. They really weren’t going to let us in.

The bald man behind the counter was unfazed by our proposition, he replied they said, “We have a reputation to uphold. You gents ain’t got what we’re looking for. You’re dressed like freaks and you’ll make all my high paying customers feel uncomfortable. I can assure you this club is perfectly safe. So scram.”

At that moment a very important looking man approached us. He was dressed in a nice suit, he had fancy hair with a lot of product and precious metals on his cuff-links. The mystery man appeared to be a younger man, maybe even younger than us. However, he had a fiery determination in his eyes that almost demanded respect. He turned to the security and gave his command, “Let them in, they are with me. They’re here to make sure we all stay safe.”

The bald man grudgingly let us in. They fancy man in a suit proceeded to introduce himself. He shook of our hands as he said, “The name is Pheonix Foxburrow II. My grandfather helped build this place from the ground up. Polanski told me to keep an eye on you.” I was glad he showed up whoever he was. It would have been much harder to fight off these pirates without weapons. How was Katotta supposed to snipe without a riffle?

The inside of the social club was nothing short of amazing. There was the gambling room which was lit up with lights and glowed with the promises of fortune. Tons of people were placing their money in all kinds of fancy machine and waitresses running around getting everyone drinks. It was an otherworldly explosion of neon.

The rest of the social club was full of exquisite places to eat and we found out it also doubled as a hotel. The Ocean’s Edge and Caesar’s Market looked really cool. However, we kept following this Foxburrow guy until we got to a place surrounded by fire it was a bar called Purgatory. I didn’t know how we would enter this place. Mr. Foxburrow stepped towards the flames. Was he crazy? To our surprise, the flames retracted as soon as he stepped through the entrance. They must have been controlled by some type of motion sensor.

At that point, Foxburrow said, “Hey Katotta, I got you a hotel room. 455D it’s a perfect spot for sniping.” Who’s this guy? He appeared to be one of the good guys, but I replace it strange that Polanski failed to mention him. However, these were but insignificant details. The only thing that mattered now was the mission; stop the Arcane pirates at any cost.

We stepped into “Purgatory” and I took in the scenery. The whole place was made to look like it was on fire. The walls, tables, the whole nine yards. Even the chairs were designed to look like flames. Surprisingly, the people in this bar were mostly aliens. We were the only Zatts besides the waitresses. Segregation was alive and well.

Something about this scene bugged me. I wondered, “How was everyone gambling and going on like life was normal when they were in the middle of a battle zone?” I mean we were here, but I would hardly call it a vacation. Unbeknownst to everyone in the including us, was the fact that this place was about to become a warzone.

We all went up and sat at the bar waiting for something out of the ordinary to happen. Foxburrow went and set off by himself after saying, “Just cause I helped you get in don’t mean we’re friends. Right now I your priority is to protect this city.” I didn’t have a hard time believing this guy was sent by Polanski anymore. What Foxburrow said was true, we needed to protect the city. However, he addressed us like we were kids and didn’t know any better. This was a very Polanski esque response.

Anxiously, we waited for about an hour but no pirates “crossed the flame.” I did see a small stocky alien with red skin walk over to where Foxburrow. He didn’t seem to notice. Even as the alien tapped him on the shoulder, he was dead to the world intently fixated on the ice cubes in his glass.

Annoyed the alien said, “Hey Foxburrow, you are all alone no body guard to hide behind this time.”

Foxburrow countered with, “I’ll fight you, but at least let me finish my drink first.” He proceeded to swallow the rest of it and then he got up to fight. The alien hit him in the face. We got up to run over and help him, he shouted, “I got this, stay back.” It looked like he said something into his cufflink, but I couldn’t hear it Author’s note: he said, “Locklier get in here now, we got a situation I need backup.”

The fight continued, Foxburrow was managing to avoid a lot of his punches, but it still wasn’t going well. I wanted to jump in so bad, but he insisted he had it under control. Turns out he did. At that moment, a giant light skinned Elvin Zatt walked through the door. He was a behemoth of a man. He had ears like A.J. but much lighter skin. He was also a little taller than myself and was built kind of like A.J. but a little leaner. He had shiny blue eyes and a cold and focused demeanor. This was not a man to be taken lightly, and nothing got between him and his objective.

This was evident by how the bodyguard dealt with Foxburrow’s attacker. It was a merciless beating particles of blood filled the air even when the attacker was on the ground, he kept beating on him like a possessed beast. The assailant was most certainly dead, and all Foxburrow had to say was,” We’ll need to someone to clean that up.”

Then the giant went over to another red alien setting in the corner with a shiny neon jacket, grabbed him by the throat and said, “Why do you sell weapons to the enemy and make deals with pirates?” Oh not again, please just answer his question, you saw what happen to the other guy.

The trembling alien answered, “It doesn’t matter now. Admiral Karantis and his men are on their way, and there is no way you can stop them.”

Foxburrow laughed as he ordered his commands, “Drop him Locklier. We will take him in for questioning, don’t kill him.” Locklier went on to release the alien’s throat. Then Foxburrow, explained, “This is my bodyguard Salvador Locklier, he will assist you all in your fight against the Arcane Pirates.” At least he was on our side.

While he was talking the red alien started foaming at the mouth and fell out of his chair dead. He must have popped a cyanide capsule to avoid capture. Foxburrow said, “Giaka, he was the key to solving this pirate mystery. How can I do my job if everyone goes and dies on me?” I’m getting to safety but Sal make sure you don’t kill them all we need one for questioning.” With that he exited the building and Salvador came over and stood with us. I guess he was a valuable asset, but he scared me more than the enemy did.

The pirates would be here soon, like time itself it was inevitable, bound to happen, and it did. We head a large explosion and a lot of gunfire and people screaming. An alarm went off and everybody in the bar left except for us. Soon, there were seven bodies standing in front of us. I guess these were the Arcane pirates.

They were a ragtag crew. On the far left was a Zatt, with an eye patch. He had two riffles on his back and a sword on his waste. He was smoking, not one but two smokes at the same time. Forget fighting this guy, he was going to kill himself. To his right was a weird short guy with scaly green skin, talon like hands and a wide mouth. Next to him was a pirate who was fully cloaked. I could only see his eye. I assumed he was Tyberian by his body shape. Then there was a male and a female Elvin Zatt. On the end of the line was another reptilian looking alien.

In the front of them all stood their leader. This must be Admiral Karantis. He was about three meters tall. He sported grey skin and four orange eyes. He looked just like the alien I fought in the diner, on our first mission, but more ominous. On his head was perched a ragged old hat with a weird symbol on it and a long gray overcoat with a lot of holes in it.

My eyes were fixated on Karantis’ hip, particularly his belt. A giant revolver hung from it. This gun was like noting I’d seen before. It’s design was strange and had a very large cylinder, and it also was giving off all kinds of weird lights like it was mechanical. Maybe the revolver was some type of laser/synthetic shell hybrid. His pants were rather uninspired, but his he did sport black shiny boots.

The Admiral spoke, “We finally meet, I’ve heard a lot about you. The news rants and raves that you guys are some kind of heroes. However, you can’t always trust the news. The last team your government assembled was a joke please don’t disappoint me again.”

His eyes were fixated on me, I didn’t like this, and something bad was bound to happen, even worse than the situation we were already in. My fears were confirmed when he addressed me directly, “Hey Hawkins, your father and I fought back some years back. I quite enjoyed my fight with your pops in fact he was one of the only members of that crew to survive our encounter. What do you say to a fight? I promise I won’t kill you, and I can guarantee it won’t take long. My crew has to be leaving soon we have other business to attend to.” I went because there’s a stubborn part of me that refuses to run away, and I was curious how I stacked up against my old man. Father, your shoes are a pain to fill sometimes.

I followed him through the casino he kept trying to make small talk, but I didn’t really feel it so I gave him the silent treatment. The admiral stopped in front of the Ocean’s Edge. We assumed positions on opposite sides of the bar which was much larger than the Purgatory Bar.

Thus began the stare down, and this went on for a couple of minutes until he broke the silence. He said, “Come on shoot me. I’m a sporting guy, I’ll give you a free shot.” M y hands were shaking but I managed to pull out my plasma pistols and shot him straight in the chest. Pow, direct hit, the shot left a hole in his overcoat and he fell to the ground. I ran over to the pirate. This was my chance to attack. However, he started to get back up.

He pointed to his chest and said, “I may not be able to shoot energy out of my hands or generate an energy field, but my healing is far advanced even compared to your accelerated healing. This guy was not to be taken lightly. I had never seen anything like him.

The admiral violently swung his fist at me crushing any chairs or tables in his path. I would get a couple of hits on him every now and then. However, I eventually caught a fist to the chest. The impact of the strike sent me flying into one of the giant aquatic tank full of Crawldor’s. The impact of my body hitting the glass smashed the tank. A bunch Crawldor’s were now flopping around on the ground struggling to breathe out of water.

Tyerow Hawkins didn’t lose that easily. I got up and blasted him, direct hit. His body was smoking, but he got back up, I charged in for an attack Karantis laughed at me, “I admire the spirit but you got it all wrong. Just when you think you’ve won you let your guard down.”

He moved his hand to the holster so fast I almost didn’t see him do it. There was a loud mechanical humming and then a shot was fired. A synthetic shell came hurdling toward my stomach but there was no time to move out of the way. I braced for impact and felt the shell hit my body it was very hot almost like it was melting through my armor. Then it exploded, leaving a hole in my armor. Must have been a quasar shell. That’s the only way it could have got hot enough to melt armor.

I lay there in the wake of the impact as he stood over me and said, “That is when you lose. You fought well like your father, but I’m not interested in a fight. The real party is about to start, and I’m kicking it off with a “Bang.” I tried to chase him out of the room but he kept firing his gun as I dived behind chairs and tables narrowly avoiding the blasts. He escaped.

Defeated, I walked, more like limped, back to the “Purgatory bar”. One of my ribs most likely broke fwith that punch, but so did my pride. I could count on one hand the number of times I had been defeated in combat. Losing really bothered me, but I had to put it behind me. Despite some pain in my chest, my injuries were minor and I could still be of use in the upcoming battle. Hopefully, the other pirates weren’t on the same level as the Admiral.

Upon arriving at the battle I could see that the fighting had gotten pretty intense. It had carried over into the halls. The ringing of gunshots and explosions filled the air, pure chaos. I started fighting the reptilian looking alien. This guy was easy. His strikes were slow and easy to read. He did manage to knock me to the ground once. Maybe my injuries were holding me back more than I realized.

Now was the time to shake off my defeat at the hands of Admiral Karantis and get focused. That never happened. I never got the chance that Locklier guy blindsided my opponent tackling him to the ground, and repeatedly slamming his head against the wall till I assumed the pirate was dead. Hey that was my fight, who was this guy anyway? He shouldn’t have been a mere bodyguard with his skill. He should have been an assassin. Heck, he could even have made our team maybe take Westcon’s place.

Enter Katotta/ Hotel Room 455D

I sat by the window, sweeping my scope back and forth trying to pick up anything out of the ordinary. What was I even looking for? Maybe the guy I was looking for would be wearing a funny hat or a shirt that says, “I’m an Arcane Pirate. This was doubtful, but some indicator would help. My shots needed to precise. I couldn’t afford to fail, that’s when innocent people get hurt.

This waiting game was drove me mad. What if I didn’t see the pirate till it was too late. My eyes frantically scanned the scene outside of the window, searching for anything suspicious. Being a sniper is as much of a mental task as it is a physical task. It was at this moment I failed, my clear head was gone. My mind was rushing with doubt and negativity.

My mind rushed to the past. I thought about James. Ever since he died, there’s been a whole in me, something’s missing. I know it’s been a couple of years, but these thoughts won’t leave me alone. Something is wrong with me. I want to move on but I’m suspeneded in these moments living them over and over again.

Emotions overwhelmed me. I have so much baggage in my life; my mother’s died, and then my fiancé was killed. If a prince was ever going to save me, he would have to understand. He would have to be just as screwed up as me.

My breathing was back to normal and my focus was returning. I’d practically gotten over this episode or as much as one can get over it, but this city was digging up all those sour memories and bringing them back to the surface. Despite all of this I regained my focus and as a result found what I was looking for; there was an alien with something strapped to his back.

Everyone on the sidewalks was trying to avoid him. I got him in my sights and focused in, it appeared that a bomb was on his back. This made the situation even, harder, if I shot the bomb it might blow up. This would kill our pirate “friend” but it would also kill the people walking by. My opportunity presented itself, this was it. I was clam and focused. Pull the trigger once again. People’s lives were at stake here, it’d have to be a headshot.

Maybe, it was because I cleared all of the thoughts that were clouding my mind, but I notice something that really bothered me. The pink neon glow of the sign outside of the social club where the alien creature now walked. I don’t know this for sure, but I think it was the location of my mother’s death.

I became sick to my stomach. There was a ball in my throat, and when I tried to swallow and tears came into my eye. This was the same vantage point as the sniper that killed my mother. It may have not have been the same hotel room, but she would have had to been shot from one of these hotels. I tried to shoot but my hands weren’t steady as usual. The shot was fired but instead it hit the ground besides the pirate. I dropped my riffle on the hotel floor and cried. The pirate walked in and deposited his bomb in the lobby. He walked out with a sick smile on his face and there was a large explosion behind him. People died in there because of me.

Enter Tyerow

I heard an explosion, we all did. It rattled our building and interrupted the fighting. A voice came on over the loud-speaker it said, “This is Admiral Karantis speaking, and I’m running the speaker/surveillance room. What you just heard was a bomb. It was the first of two. The next bomb is on a train which is headed straight for the expo center. I don’t know what’s going in there, but a lot of people are going to die.”

He paused before continuing, “This leaves you with a choice. You can chase down my crew and I, or you can let us escape and try and diffuse the bomb. Now that you are heroes, you’ll let someone down no matter what you do. If you don’t save the people you will be blamed. The blame is also yours if you let me escape. If I escape now, you will never see me again. I set this up. If I didn’t want to meet you guys you would have never found us.”

We conceded to Karantis, and let the pirates go. I remembered Polanski saying, “To go against their star cruiser in air combat would be suicide.” However we did hit a patch of good luck. It turned out that Locklier was an expert on diffusing bombs, lucky us. Seriously, who was this guy? He raised a lot more questions than he answered.

We boarded the train in time and Locklier was able to diffuse the bomb. No lives were lost in the convention center, but the Admiral was right, we were soon after interviewed by a local news crew.

The reporter asked us, “Where are the attackers now?”

Our only answer was, “They got away.” It turns out that as soon as everyone heard the explosion they all retreated into the vaults beneath the social clubs. They were built incase anything like this happened, and served their purpose well. We should have cut the pirates off before they could get back to their ship instead of going after the bomb. Mistakes had been made. We hung our heads in defeat.

Locklier suggested we go back to see if there were any surviving pirates so we could question them. That is exactly what we did, we returned to the scene of the battle. There were three dead bodies, and along with them Katotta, who was thankful alive. In fact, she must have avoided the battle altogether but she didn’t even have a scratch on her. However, all was not well. She was setting in a corner of the bar all by herself and she wasn’t glowing right now as if the light had gone dim.

I wanted to go talk to Katotta but there were more pressing matters at hand at the moment. Still seeing her in pain made me hurt as well. Our search determined the male Elvin Zatt pirate was dead as well the reptilian looking alien that myself/ Locklier had fought. We went out into the hallway where we found another body, it was the other reptilian alien Maybe the two were twins or brothers or something I don’t know.

Locklier picked up the body in the hallway and dragged it into purgatory. He proceeded to prop the barely conscious creature up on a barstool. The alien regained consciousness. Foxburrow looked to us and said, “Don’t worry we are going to get this scarb to talk.” He asked the barely conscious alien, “Where did your pirate friends go?”

The pirate stammered, “I don’t know.”

Locklier grabbed him by the throat, “Speak now.”

Foxburrow stopped him, “I have other ways to make him talk.” He pulled out a small vial that contained two pinkish pills and put them in a glass.

At first the alien said, “I know your tricks and I won’t drink your poisons.” Locklier held open his mouth as Foxburrow poured the concoction down the prisoner’s throat. It was hard to watch.

We sat and waited, but nothing happened. For the longest time, there was only silence. Finally, the alien started to sway back and forth slowly at first. His eyes looked glassed over and were half closed. A.J. looked concerned as he addressed Foxburrow, “What was in that glass?”

A wicked grin consumed Foxburrow face and he replied, “I thought some riffin ought to do the trick.” That stuff was illegal. As was evident from my observations, the victim slowly slipped into an unconscious state. Neither awake nor asleep. It was perfect for a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The shady kind the hunts at night and preys on the innocent. The sheep wakes up the next day was no memory of events that transpired the night previous.

The pirate finally spoke, “Whoa, who are you all?”

Foxburrow replied, “We’re your close friends. You fell and hit your head, but we’re taking care of you.”

The alien spoke, “How nice of you. I’m lucky to have good friends.”

Then Foxburrow smiled, “We only have one question for you. Do you know the location of the Arcane pirates base of operations on Zatara?”

The pirate had a goofy grin on his face as he said, “I just joined the team so I’ve never been to the Zatt operating base. I do recall the admiral saying, ‘”We would follow the rabbit’s trail.”’

Foxburrow patted him on the shoulder and said, “Thanks.” Locklier came up and grabbed the pirate’s head slammed it against the bar and blasted the pirates head clean off. Part of the bar was destroyed and tissue and brain matter splashed everywhere along with shards of granite.

I shouted, “Why did you have to do that? He gave us the information we wanted. Wasn’t that a little unnecessary?”

Locklier defended his atrocities, “He was only a pirate; don’t be burdened down by sympathy for this man.” As quickly as they had come into our life the duo vanished. Katotta remained at the bar seemingly unmoved by the public execution we had witnessed. Something was off with her, but I couldn‘t put my finger on it. Mott even got up and asked Katotta if she was alright.

She coldly answered, “I missed my shot, and people died because of me.”

Mott patted her on the shoulder, “We all miss some time.” As we departed from Adaven we saw that the anti-air guns and base had been laid to waste and the military outpost had taken heavy damage. It seemed our ship had only taken light damage. Nothing short of a miracle, or maybe it was on purpose another of the pirate’s sick games. It looked more like the latter as all the ships around suffered heavy damaged

Even Westcon commented, “I guess our luck ain’t so bad after all.”

Again, I was the one to call Polanski and tell him the bad news. This call was probably futile as his friend Foxburrow and had probably delivered him a full report.

I dialed him, “Hello Polanski, Karantis and his crew got away and the only lead we have on them is a riddle. We supposedly need to follow the rabbit’s trail.”

Polanksi responded, “Giaka I can’t believe you let them get away. Well I guess the planets screwed. If you can’t fix your mistake, don’t come back because you won’t have a job.”

I was desperate at this point we needed something to work with. I pumped him for more information. “Do the government’s archives have information on the Rabbit’s Trail? Can you do a search for us? We need something to work with here.”

He said, “He would get back to us about that.” So we all waited in silence soaking up our defeat. Hours later we got a message from Polanski, it read, “Whatever this rabbit’s trail thing is, it doesn’t show up in our databases.”

Our ship was in the sky but we weren’t sure where to go after that. None of us had any idea where to go, yet we couldn’t return home till we found Karantis and his crew who were practically ghost. We had hit a dead end.

Mott provided a solid suggest. “Let’s at least stop and get something to eat, I’m starving.” I couldn’t even remember the last time we had ate. Maybe some food would get the synapsis firing and lead us to a brilliant idea.

Now we faced the problem of where to eat. Jin offered the first suggestion. “Only Miranda‘s Café can help me swallow the bitter taste of defeat.” I am pretty sure this restaurant is only in Mako City. Every time we go to another city someone says, “Let’s eat at Miranda’s café.” and we can never replace one. We ended up waiting to eat until we got out of the war zone, and stopped at a little town called Clearwater. They had a nice little place called Clancy’s Patio we decided to give it a try.

Clancy’s was dead. There were no servers. It made me wonder if the joint was even open. I mean the lights were on, but there wasn’t a person in sight. Not knowing what to do, we sat down and waited to be served. I looked around soaking in the scene. The walls were decorated with all sorts of posters. The owner of this eatery was very patriotic. There were signs everywhere recruiting for the Zatt Army. One of the posters said, “You can make the difference. Join today. Take back Zatara.” I didn’t feel like we had made much of a difference today.

The news flickered from the box reminding us that we had failed. They had this to say, “In breaking news a group of enemy forces attacked, the city of Adaven today. Zatara’s own heroes weren’t able to stop the attack. 100 confirmed dead.” We were lucky a lot more than 100 people didn’t die.

Some reporter on the scene in Adaven interviewed an elderly man on the streets. The man interviewed had this to say, “We don’t need these heroes, we have an army. They may have got lucky in the past, but they are frauds and we don’t need to put all of our eggs in their basket. If they really want to help their world join the army and serve like all the other young men and women who enlisted.” Gee thanks old geezer.

Who was this guy and what made him the expert? He sounded like Polanski. I wonder if they were related. A mustached man finally came out from behind the counter. He walked over to the box and switched it off. “Don’t listen to that crap. I support you guys. Whatever you want to drink is on the house. It’s not very often I get customers anymore. Almost everyone has evacuated the town now the war is basically at our front door.”

With one gesture of kindness, he had changed the motif of the room. The silence was displaced and conversation returned. Even Katotta looked a little happier than she did earlier. Her face was relaxed again. I asked her, “Are you going to be okay? You looked pretty shook-up with all that happened.”

She replied, “In the long run yes, but today still sucks, just slightly less now. I’ll make it, worse things have happened before.”

I said, “Well tomorrow will be better, tomorrow’s always better.” It sounded like a good thing to say, but was there any truth to it? I mean we could all die tomorrow for all I know.

My thoughts were interrupted when Jin said, “If we do get fired, I will most likely join the military as a pilot. It wouldn’t be quite as exciting, but I would still be able to help out. However, I will always remember the journeys we went on. It better not come to that. I like the freedom this job gave us. We solve the problems whatever way we see fit. All they get to do in the military is keep formation and follow orders maybe kill an enemy or two if we‘re lucky.”

He took a drink and continued, “Remember when we stormed that dam. That was legendary. I thought I was going to die but then we beat the odds and the rush I got when we escaped that was like nothing else.” He took another sip from his glass, “If I’m saying anything, it was/is an honor serving with you guys.” We were more than friends for the first time we were brothers.

Mott looked Jin dead in the eyes and said, “I appreciate your kind words, but why wouldn’t you go live out the rest of your life on Praxis? This isn’t your war and I wouldn’t hold it against you if you left, nobody would.”

Jin laughed, “But really, what else is someone with my abilities supposed to do? I mean if your planet falls aren’t we next?”

Mott shook his head, “I didn’t know about you or Jon when I first met you guys. All the rest of us went to the Academy together. Growing up without parents on the streets makes me quick to assume and slow to trust, but Jin you’re alright and it’s an honor serving with all of you.”

The two shook hands and bond was formed between them, but the highlight of the moment for me was Jon’s smile. Jon was a loner he acted like he didn’t need anyone but deep down he did, deep down we all want to belong.

The food was really good and I ate a lot more than my fair share. Things were going well for a while and the fact that we had just suffered defeat slipped to the back of my mind. The earthquake might have passed, but I was soon hit by another tremor of emotion.

I came to a shocking revelation. Our whole lives we all thought we were big fish, but it was because we were living in a small pond. Maybe we had bit off more than we could chew. If we found the Arcane Pirates then what? Did we have the strength to kill them? We could die tomorrow. I savored each bite of glorious food, chewing extra thoroughly, it may be my last meal.

My breathing finally returned to normal. Panic attack averted. At this moment Shodon spoke up and distracted me from my fears. “Ahh, I got it I figured it out.” Now our attention was peaked.

He continued, “The Rabbit’s trail isn’t a top secret military base it is simply a nature trail. Before my father had to move to Mako City for work, my family lived in the city of Apollo. The Rabbit’s Trail is a 50 mile trail which starts in Apollo. I doubt their base of operation is just sitting right on the trail for the world to see, but it could easily be in the forest surrounding the trail. I doubt anyone would look in the forest surrounding the trail because the city of Apollo along with the Rabbit’s Trail is now part in the war zone.”

Of course Jon was skeptical. He questioned the idea. “What if there is no base on the rabbit’s Trail?”

I piped up, “Then we keep searching, but this is a start and I think it would be foolish to dismiss Shodon’s idea. It’s the only lead we have so far.” Everyone started to get excited this was our chance at redemption.

The mustached man smiled, “Everyone left this town but I don’t have any family anymore. They were all killed in this war. That’s why I remain this town is all I have left but that’s neither here nor there. I’ll get to point, what I’m really trying to say is it’s an honor to meet real heroes like yourselves. I will likely die, and die alone at that, but you’ll live on and make the world a better place for tomorrow. Our generation has had their time now it’s time for the new generation the step up and you eight give me hope.”

His faith in us was comforting. I wanted to break down and cry it meant so much to me.

With our fire relit, we charged back into the fray. Before we could go after the pirates we had to make some provisions. Mott had an idea that we should stop by a military base on the way to Apollo and get heavier artillery and maybe even convince them to give us some back-up. Also, if we found the pirates, we would be in for the battle of a lifetime. We would need to be well-rested if we wanted to live to see another mission.

We landed at the base and acquainted ourselves with the solders. By this time, I was too tired and don’t remember many of the details of what happened but here’s what I recall. A few of the soldiers greeted us upon arrival. Unlike the man on the news, they honestly seemed glad we were there and treated us with respect. It made me wonder why all the military people at headquarters hated us so much.

I thought about why all the soldiers treated us so kindly and came to the following conclusion. When people interact on the battlefield all manmade barriers are torn down. Race, religion, and differences in opinion become but minor details. Everyone is untied in a common goal with a common enemy. The soldiers here were on the forefront of battle they could die any moment and welcomed any help they could get even if it was in the form of freaks like us. They offered us a place to sleep and gave us a lot of supplies. We slept on cots. Sleep came immediately.

As I slept, I was haunted by the four orange eyes of Admiral Karantis as well as the exploding head of the reptilian pirate, and hundred neon sings. It was a neon nightmare. I wondered if the others ever had similar dreams. Maybe everyone else dealt with their fears differently, but I would never know because we didn’t talk about things like that.

The next morning I awoke and said my prayer of protection, and shook off these thoughts. They would only hold me back. Still half-awake I shuffled to the dining hall.

Breakfast was some kind of slop. I wouldn’t call it good, but it was definitely interesting. Despite this, everyone seemed to be in good spirits. Katotta seemed to be doing okay all things considered. The solders loaded us up with supplies and we said our goodbyes. It was hard to leave the comfort of the base but we knew what we had to do and were prepared to do whatever that took.