Roshma Book 1: The First Steps
Chapter 15: Arrogance

I strapped in to my seats in the main area and prepared for takeoff as the ship roared to life. There were lights and buzzing everywhere and the familiar g-force as well took off into the sky. As soon as we stabilized A.J. said, “Oh crap I almost forgot.”

Panic set in, “Forgot what?” We collectively asked. Then he proceeded to pull out the tracking device from his bag and walked into the cockpit, I guess it’s good he remembered otherwise our chances of replaceing the stone would be zilch.

Outside of A.J’s initial comment our voyage was completely silent. About an hour passed in solitary. It was driving me nuts, I was pent up and full of nervous energy, and needed to talk to someone. I tried a couple of times to spark up a conversation. Finally, about my third attempt Westcon responded, what’s wrong with you can’t see we’re all in mourning. You’re going on with life as if noting happen. Why? How?”

I responded, “I believe that will get this stone and Mott will be back in the world of the living by the end of the day.”

Westcon fired back, “That’s you’re problem. You have too much faith. Faith in Elohim, faith in people, and faith in a magical stone that you’ve never laid eyes on. You are a dreamer. Wake up, it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Terrible things happens every day and working in this job, doing what we do, I’d think you’d know that better than most.”

I was trying to think of something to say since Westcon just hit me with a thesis. A.J came to my rescue.

A.J. looked right over at Westcon for a good minute before opening his mouth. He said, “Leave him alone that’s how he’s let the man cope. We all have our own ways.”

I guess that was good enough for Westcon. A.J. knew the right words and when to say them. I believed his greatest skill was the ability to read a room. I could learn a lesson or two from him.

This agonizing silence went on for another hour. When the silence broke it was not due to conversation but a mysterious sound. This sound was broken by the subtle beeping sound coming from the cockpit. Everyone was on high alert what could it be? That is until we realized what it was, it was the stone-tracker our beacon of hope. We anxiously, waited as the beeping grew more and more intense leading us towards our salvation, in this case the resurrection of our leader and our best friend. Time passed slowly and the beeping got louder and louder, in fact it got to the point where it was almost annoying, I almost couldn’t stand it.

I went to the observatory deck to see where we were and get away from the beeping. Upon peering out the window I saw that we were flying over the Danforth Salt Flats. It was hard to see what was going on down there as the white sands reflected the light of the Alpha Star all too well. Despite this if I squinted and cocked my head to the side I could catch glimpses. The first thing I saw was a sign. It said Danforth Salt Flats: Racers Welcome. For those who don’t know, the salt flat has been a site for races for thousands of years. Even before hovercrafts and speeders, grounded vehicles would race here. Speeders and hovercrafts don’t need a surface to ride on, but racing here is more of a tradition than anything.

However, Danforth was only a shadow of her former self. I couldn’t see the actual town from here but rumor had it is was almost completely destroyed by war. Racing was the least of their concerns now. We really shouldn’t be here either, but this is where the stone was and that was the only way to bring Mott back. I caught some more glimpses of the surface where I saw an overturned tank, couldn’t tell if it was enemy or ally, and a large mass in the distance maybe a mountain

Enter the enemy (A few moments earlier)

“Weak they were all weak, these paper people, I could tear through them with my bear hands. The battle was over, the Zatt’s had turned tail and ran. We had won the fight, but it was far from glorious. I wish for once it was a challenge, but what could one expect from paper people?

At that moment, I saw what looked like a Zatt running at me, though at first I thought it might simply be a mirage caused by the light reflecting off the salt. However, as the soldier drew closer it, became apparent this was no mirage. He was a solider under my command that much was apparent by the dark blue uniform. I had also been right about him being a Zatt or some similar race.

As, ordinary as he seemed there was something special about him or at least what he carried. A large diamond shaped stone about a foot and a half in length, it was a mix of colors as if many colors were swirling around inside of it though this could have been another trick of the light. The pathetic soldier was winded by the time he reached me. A little more than a minute went by before he opened his mouth and spoke these words,” I don’t know what it is, but it’s probably valuable.”

He made the right decision, but I had to ask, “Soldier, why didn’t you take the stone for yourself? I’m sure it would sale for a good amount,”

He picked his next world’s carefully, “Well you see sir it was simply too risky. My buddy Johnny from Platoon two tried to run a year ago and what did he get? A bullet in the head. Same with Kilian, Rodger…”

I cut him off before he could finish, “A smart decision looks like you live to see another day fight another battle.” He walked away reassured he had made the right choice.

I never said the Zatt’s were stupid, only weak. The puny solider had left and now my focus turned back to the stone. It was such a strange object. Despite the stones size it was extremely light, and warm to the touch, but not hot enough to burn one’s hand. The heat radiated out filing my whole body.

I was lost to the beauty of the stone and that’s when a second soldier approached me this one was only 3.5 feet tall, had gray skin a pointed head, and an eye patch. He was a Tyberian, and my second in command Colonel Patek. Many would mistake his small size for weakness, but the Tyberians were a warrior race much like my people the Scandolonians. The Colonel didn’t say anything at first, he lit up a smoke and proceeded to let it burn half way down before speaking. Pulling the smoke from between his lips and said, “I don’t like this war it’s been going on too long. We should have been able to defeat the Zatts by now.”

He was one of the only people I could be honest with, “It’s not the war I mind, been fighting wars my whole life. Right now it’s the heat. I want to leave as soon as possible. How are smoking in this weather?”

He jokingly replied, “How are you wearing an over coat in this weather? As for the smokes it’s a bad habit. If the war don’t kill me the smokes probably will. Anyway what you going to do with that stone?”

What kind of question was that? The stone was rare had to be worth a lot of money. I informed him, “I’m selling it to the highest bidder, and using that money to buy a one man space craft the best of the best fully loaded. I’ll throw you some cash to if anything is left over.”

The Colonel took another drag from his cigarette before responding, “I don’t know if the stone is something we should sell. It looks to have an energy source inside of it. Maybe we could use it to power a weapon.”

I didn’t usually listen to others, they were weak. What did they know? However, the Colonel was different he was wise and had earned my respect. Maybe I would ask my brother about this matter. After all he was a raikai, Xaltus Catorce the God Sword. Growing up he had always been the brains. Planet Scandolonia was dangerous and we grew up fast, but he always had a plan. These plans saved my life on many occasions.

It was at this time a low class soldier came sprinting down the ramp of the ship and didn’t stop until he reached us. He was winded but managed to shout, “General Catorce, Colonel Patek, we have trouble. The Zatt Task Force Ship is hovering right inside our range. I fear the have come to back up the Army, but must have arrived too late. Should we engage or retreat?”

This was it, I had said earlier I wanted challenge and whala my prayers had been answered. All thoughts of leaving these wretched flats disappeared. I commanded my men, “Bring them to me alive. I want to meet them face to face and challenge their might.”

Then The Colonel spoke up, “I know how you get with those who challenge your authority, so it’s probably not worth saying but I must speak now. If we engage them we might kill a few but we’ll suffer heavy casualties. We’ve already won today, I say we retreat and as fast as we can, even if some stragglers get left behind, these men are tired, they need rest, medical attention, and you’re pushing them too hard. We may lose a couple sheep but I’m trying to save the flock from getting whipped out.”

Patek was testing my patients, we had 200 soldiers left on the battlefield, you, and myself, the fourth strongest man in Yonda’s Army which made me the fourth strongest being in the Inner realm. I laughed out loud at the sheer idiocy of the suggestion, “Ha Ha Ha, I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that. We’re stronger than them and we will kill them, ending this war here and now.”

The irritated Colonel threw his hands in the air exclaiming,” You are making a horrible mistake. You’re name certainly fits you Zellus Catorce. That arrogance of yours will get you and your men killed.”

I put my hand on his head and ask him, “You don’t want to be on the wrong side of my fist.”

The Colonel told the soldier with his head down, “prepare ships to capture the task force.”

Enter Tyerow (back on the ship)

I was summoned out of the observation deck by an incessant beeping. It grew louder by the moment, and that could mean only one thing the stone was within our grasp. The others were trying to decide our next move. We stopped flying to contemplate our next move. Westcon was yelling to be heard over the beeping of the radar, “We’re going down there and getting that stone. I don’t care if we have to face a whole army were not coming back empty handed. If we don’t Mott will stay dead you want that? You want our friend to stay dead?”

Jin stomped his foot, “We’ll all be dead if we go down there. I know you’re not the smartest so I’ll break it down for you. An army of hundreds vs six. You like them odds?”

Westcon got up in Jin’s and put his finger on his chest, “I don’t know how things work on Praxis but this ain’t a planet of cowards. If we never had taken any risks a lot more people would be dead.”

At this moment Jin punched Westcon in the shoulder knocking him to the ground. He yelled,” Risks? You dolt you don’t know when to quit, when to fold your cards and walk away with dignity. Mott’s dead that’s more than unfortunate, but if we all die then no one saves Zatara, everyone dies.”

Jon even spoke but I doubt anyone heard him except for me, “I hate to agree with Jin, or anyone for that matter, but he’s right Westcon is a dolt.”

I wanted to live as much as anyone but part of me wanted to land the ship and retrieve that stone. I ran away far too much in my childhood. In this case retreat was the best option, but even so it left a sour taste in my mouth and an uncomfortable feeling in my chest. It made me squirm like something was living beneath the surface desperately trying to shake the confines of my body. I remained neutral and so did A.J. speaking of him the poor man was a wreck he sat down on the floor with his face buried in his hands.

There was an explosion and the ship was rocked and I was thrown to the ground. Jin quickly scrambled from the floor back to the cockpit. Soon, the beeping sound of the radar shut off, and there was a voice over the intercom. You are surrounded. We can kill you right here or come peacefully and you can plead your case at the feet of General Catorce.

Well that made our decision, I guess we were landing after all. Jon had one more jab for Westcon. He spoke louder than I’d ever heard him speak before, “Hey, Westcon, I guess got your way.” Westcon gave him the tall finger.

Jon then turned his gaze towards me. I never realized how deep a blue his eyes were. Was he going to speak or were we going to have a staring contest? When he finally spoke this what he said, “Here’s what I believe about the world. Life sucks then you die. The fact that life sucks is evident by this war, all that is left is too die. However, there were some particularly sweet moments. I’m going to focus on those as they kill me. My last thought s will at least be happy one’s as I fade into the black abyss.”Eww.

I had to get away from this guy. I prayed to Elohim,” If it’s your will let me see my sister again and my parents. I wish to tell Katotta how much I care for her before my passing. If circumstances go south at least I will walk with you in your kingdom tomorrow.”

We walked out of the ship and were greeted by a welcoming committee of 200 enemy soldiers. All of them were pointing riffles at us. That feeling in my chest of something wanting to escape was still there, but I believe I had misdiagnosed it at first. Now, it was apparent that this clawing inside my chest was not simply discomfort but raw fear.

The soldier with some kind of patch on his shoulder barked orders at us to form a singles file line with your hands in the air. A soldier said, “Any resistance will be met with death. Then your corpses will be into the salt pools.”

I asked John what’s so special about the salt pools. Why did he make a point to say that?”

He looked a little annoyed by my ignorance, but answered me the same,” Didn’t you learn anything at the academy? These salt pool is full of flesh eating halophiles or bacteria that only live in high salt concentrations. It would probably take 20 minutes for them to devour a full corpse.”

This only made things worse the fear was leaving my chest and crawling into my throat. Making me feel on the verge on vomiting. The next order we were given was the order to stop marching. We weren’t in a position to argue. The barrel of a gun jammed into my back when we stopped validated this point.

I really started to feel the heat. Being as close to the equator as the salt flats were made temperatures almost unbearable, and this was coming from someone who grew up in the desert. The light of the Alpha Star shone down directly upon us and I felt my skin cooking. The beads of sweat that bathed my skin did little to provide any relief. I had inherited the lighter skin of my father instead of darker skin of the Indra people.

I had to wonder, “why did we stop here?” My eyes scanned for any clues, but I didn’t have to look long before seeing the man which I presumed was General Catorce. This was evident by his dress alone. He sported a black overcoat, which seems miserable in this heat, under it was a blue uniform which was in stark contrast with the black uniforms of the soldiers that held us prisoner. The medals that hung from his chest confirmed his status as a general. His skin was a pale gray and he had two black horns sprouting out of his head slightly above his ears. He and a strong jaw structure, high cheek bones and piercing blue eyes. He was relatively handsome or at least as handsome as someone could be who had gray skin and two horns. He got up off the helmet he was seated on and I could feel a wave of power radiating from where he stood.

As for his height, I would estimate about eight feet tall, and his proportions differed from those of a Zatt. His arms hung down to his knees and his hands and feet were twice the size of a Zatt’s. He wasn’t wearing any shoes; probably because there were not shoes wide enough for his feet. I felt the grounds’ heat through my shoes so I could only imagine how hot it would be barefoot.

When the behemoth finally opened his mouth and let out a rich laugh that’s was a bout two octaves below normal Zatt speech. He continued laughing for another couple of minutes. The soldiers began to laugh with him. We were the only ones not laughing.

As soon as he stopped laughing everyone stopped too. He addressed us, “Task Force nice of you to stop by. I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time. You see as strange as this seems I’m some of your biggest fans. You’re warriors. I’m a warrior. These men that hold you captive only do so because of their sheer numbers. That’s why I need 200 of them. Looks like they only sent six today to take on a whole army. Shame the other two couldn’t make it.”

A.J. addressed General Catorce, “Well we didn’t come to fight. We were on another mission and about to change course before we were captured. If you let us go we’ll be on our way. If we die we’re taking a lot of you with us.”

The arrogant commander seemed not to hear a word A.J. spoke. Instead he changed the subject. He called upon one of his subordinate, “Captain Schmidt, come forth. The man who was giving us orders walked up to his commander and he was shaking as he raised his hand up to his brow in a salute. He asked the captain, “Did you tell them you were going to throw their corpses in the salt pools.”

He responded, “Yessir of course.”

The General patted the captain on the shoulder, “Good you did well. One more question did you take away their com-links so they couldn’t call for reinforcements?” The nervous captain looked at the ground and was violently shaking now so much that the hand on his shoulder was moving back and forth as well.

He stammered, “No sir, you never told me to say that.”

The hand on the Captain’s shoulder slowly moved towards his throat as the behemoth addressed the Captain, “I shouldn’t have to tell you. If Jin or Jon were my captains I’d never have to waste my time telling them something so basic.” The finger tips were now at the captain’s throat and I could see this alien had retractable claws. The claws were now partially in the throat of the Captain as the blood dipped down his neck.

This wretched creature continued to speak, “You will not live to see the new age this war will bring. He squeezed and the claws went deeper into the throat. The captain spat up blood before falling to the ground, most likely dead.

He violently flicked his rest as to get the blood off his claws and then addressed us again, “Hello task force my name is General Zellus Catorce. One of the last surviving members of the Scandalonian race and among the strongest warriors in the galaxy. Men take their com-links and destroy them.”

The soldier with their gun pressed to my actually turned out to be a dark-skinned elvin woman. I reluctantly gave over my com- link she threw it on the ground and shot it with an assault rifle. It was apparent now, I was going to die. Every scenario in my mind led to death. I prayed under my breath, “Give us an out; any out at all I don’t wanna die. Not yet, and not for a long time.”

The General continued, “You guys ain’t good liars. I know exactly why you are here.” He walked back over to the helmet he was setting on earlier and pulled something out from behind it. A stone about a foot and a half long and one foot in diameter he now held in his hand. It was diamond like in shape. The outer edges were clear like a crystal, and it looked as if there was a swirling mass inside of the stone. It kept changing colors, blue, then a deeper blue and eventually violet. Violet then evolved into crimson. This was it! The key to returning Mott to the land of the living! So close I could taste it, yet we probably die before obtaining it. I guess we would be joining Mott soon in the afterlife.

The soldiers were leading us back towards our ship. Maybe the general was going to let us go back home. However, I highly doubted that this was death march. My body shook with fear and I was now sweating more due to nerves than the hellish heat. The march stopped right in front of our ship. It was then when Jon of all people spoke up. He wasn’t usually big on talking but we were about to die so maybe he was just acting out of character.

Much out of character Jon shouted, “Hey General Catorce, if the Scandalonians were such a great race then why are you the last of your kind. How did this great empire fall?”

The general stomped his foot hard against the ground and I swore a wave of energy radiated out into the crowd around him. His power could be felt along with his hate. He screamed, “Giaka you insolent boy. How dare you speak about my great people? For they didn’t fall from battle but a great plague that swept our planet. A terrible virus.”

Jon should have known better but he kept going, provoking the beast even further with his next words. “Well it’s your own faults. What did you expect? That’s what happens when a planet spends all their money on its military and doesn’t properly invest in things like health care and infrastructure.”

Instead of cursing Jon for his remarks, the general proceeded to laugh and continued to do so for a couple of minutes straight. The other soldiers began to laugh but I refused to play along with this sick game. There was nothing to laugh about from my perspective. Jon had probably sped us along to our graves with his snide remarks.

The general raised his right hand above his head and a ball of energy now floated in his palm. The ball got bigger and bigger and with it his laughs became more maniacal and deranged. The sphere of energy grew about three times the size of his head before he threw it directly at our ship. There was a large explosion as the ball collided with the cockpit of our ship. The cockpit erupted into a ball of flames. Small bits of fiery shrapnel flew hundreds of feet into the air before some rained back down upon us. I was unlucky enough to have one piece land on my shoulder. It burned through my thin shirt and singed my skin.

The chances of him letting us go were about as good as a snowballs chance in hell. Even if he did let us walk free how would we get back to Mako City? Jon had no more words for the general, but now it was Westcon’s turn. He address the general in a respectful tone. “If I may ask what is the stone to you?”

Taken aback by this question the General thought diligently about his response, even moving his head side to side and moving his mouth as if talking to himself. When he finally responded his response was quite underwhelming, “Nothing really. I’ve never seen a stone shine like that it must be valuable. Tell me Westcon why is this stone so important?”

Westcon lied, “I don’t know what it does, we were sent on a mission to retrieve it and we were unprepared to run into you. It’s not important enough that I would risk my life for it, but my team and I were careless and now we don’t have much of a choice.”

The general walked over to Westcon and put his giant palm on his shoulder. He was so much larger than my friend that he blocked out the light form shining on him. Westcon was completely engulfed by his shadow. I was particularly worried because this is how he killed the soldier earlier the hand started on the shoulder and slowly moved up to the throat which ended in the soldier’s death.

He looked a nervous Westcon in the eyes, “I can feel a current, an energy flowing through you and I’d loved the chance to see that power in action. I’ll make you a deal if you can defeat me in a fight to the death you can walk away with the stone and your life. If not you will die, all of your friends will be executed, and I’ll get rich selling that stone on the black market. So we have a deal.”

Westcon pushed his luck, “Not so fast. That’s not a fair fight. I’m not a worthy opponent for a man who can blow spacecraft’s with one hand. How about you fight two of us at the same time?”

The general dropped his hand off of Westcon’s shoulder and stretched out his hand. He said, “You have yourselves a deal now let’s shake on it.”

Westcon raised his arm almost above his head so he could shake the behemoths hand. Our chances still didn’t look good, but the General’s arrogance was baffling we make actually make it out of this one not only alive but with the stone in hand.

Despite the stupidity of this agreement only one of his subordinates challenged the idea. It was the Tyberian who stepped forth and challenged the General. “You know that I respect you as a warrior, but this must stop. Fighting two of Zatara’s greatest warriors at the same time is unnecessary when you could kill all of them and take the stone for yourself. Plus, if we don’t get out of here soon the Zatt Army might send in more troops and then we’d be fighting two battles.”

General Catorce continued, “I wasn’t finished yet. You all jump to conclusions to fast. I know defeat is a possibility even for a proud fighter like myself, but I won’t back down from these Zatts. However, this fight will go according to my terms. This means I pick the fighters come forth Adon Westocn and Adon Shodon.”

The Colonel wasn’t satisfied with the General’s response but all he said was, “Do as you must.” What could he do about it? Those who opposed the General died.

General Catorce may have been arrogant, but he wasn’t as dumb as I previously thought. Instead of choosing to fight against A.J and Jon he chosen to fight against our two weakest members Shodon and Westcon. I stood there helpless as two of my best friends were now on either side of this demon. It was quite possible that both of them would lose their lives but I was more worried about Shodon than Westcon.

Shodon had great potential as a fighter, but this wasn’t who he wanted to be. He would be way out of his element in a fight to the death. In fact, Shodon had told me before he rather be working in an office than fighting on a battlefield. However, this was the path laid before him ever since childhood. War or peace he’d grow up to be fighter. I could relate, our childhoods mirrored each other. We differed in the fact that I could handle in better. It was easier for me to bottle up everything down swallow all the pain, all the trauma. It’s not fair to expect that of everyone.

I was starting to question whether fair was a pipedream or if it actually existed in some far off corner of the galaxy. Shodon glanced over at me as he stepped forward to face his destiny. Our eyes met for only a second but his eyes told the whole story. Wide with fear and anguish he was not ready. His soul trying to escape from the shell of his body.

Conversely, Westcon eyes didn’t meet with mine. He was focused on the task ahead, a small smile creepy across his face. One may even make the assumption he was enjoying himself. He didn’t have the talent that the rest of us did, his fighting form was awful yet, he was more of a warrior than all of us. Unlike Shodon and myself, his father was lawyer with no special abilities. Westcon chose this path of his own accord.

I had no idea where we were going, but I preferred walking to standing still. The ground was so hot, it was as if the bottoms of my feet were cooking through the souls of my shoes. While walking my feet didn’t stay in one place long enough to burn. We finally halted our march at a place that the general referred to as Crater Site 2. The crater itself was quite magnificent. It was about 10 meters deep and 100 meters wide in all directions. There appeared to be small standing pools of water scattered throughout the crater. There were even some crystalized rock and salt structures that weren’t quite big enough to be called stalagmites but bore a similar shape.

Both the soldiers and my comrades spread out around the perimeter of the crater. I tried to move closer to my other comrades. These efforts were in vain as the soldiers were keeping us separated. All it took was a sharp poke in the back from the barrel of a gun, and I got the message. However, my captors couldn’t control where I looked. My eyes scanned around for Tyberian who was holding onto the stone. If Adon and Shodon failed out best bet would be to attack the Tyberian, take the stone and make a run for it. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that but now all I could do was watch. On one side Genreal Catorce and on the other side the Adon’s.