“Good for them. I’m sure they’re really happy.”
Ing frowned. “So your mind is made up, then. You’re going to pursue your other avenue?”
Spurious shot him a quick glance and dropped his spoon in his bowl. He had lost his appetite and decided he would use what little time he had left to go for a walk through the courtyards. He patted Ing on the back and left his distressed friend with a few words of advice. “Don’t pick the first one they match you with.” Ing laughed nervously and took another bite of his sandwich.
Outside, the courtyard was filled with commotion. At the edge of the stone rotunda, Spurious could see several fully armored Knights, their swords clashing loudly against their thick armor with every move.
Spurious could see a large CRK tank called a Fox Hound, one whose function had changed over the years. During the Biomass Wars the Fox Hound was used against enemy forces to destroy bunkers and reinforced enemy locations with its uranium tipped shells. Now the Fox Hound was used for demolition purposes, and at times was used outside the walls to cave in tunnels thought to be used for illegal immigrants.
The Fox Hound had seen better days. It had been commissioned in the early 21st century. This one had two large dents in its armored plating, more than likely a result of rocket-propelled grenades.
On the top of the tan tank, a Knight dressed in military fatigues manned a megaphone and was addressing a growing crowd of State employees from SGS and the other agencies in the vicinity.
“Citizens of Tisaia! Employees who have given your lives to the betterment of human kind! Today, the Council of Royal Knights and The Governor address you with news we have all been waiting for. Today we tell you the TDU Headquarters have been found, and missions are currently underway to eradicate any surviving TDU members from Tisaia, and from the very dirt of this earth.”
The soldier continued repeating the exact same lines, each time receiving a round of applause from the citizens and employees crowding around the archaic tank.
Spurious shuddered. Thoughts of tyranny raced through his mind as the reality of his situation finally made sense to him. For his adult years he complained about the routine nature of his life. He always knew something about his life wasn’t right.
And now he knew why. It was at that moment, when the future of the TDU was uncertain, that he finally understood.
Spurious walked away from the growing crowd, disguising his anger with a smile. He shoved his way through his co-workers, beaming with excitement. He finally knew he had a purpose. The only thing to figure out now was what he was going to do to change the future. He could be a part of this change, just like his parents.
He left the courtyard thinking again of what Leo told him just weeks ago. “You have the ability to shape Tisaia’s future.”
Finally understanding what that meant, Spurious tucked his head into the safety of his collar and headed back to work, avoiding the growing wind.
Another storm is coming.
Chapter 8: A Daring Escape
“Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape.”
Time: 2:22 p.m. February 14, 2071.
Location: Tunnels. Tisaia
What had been the TDU’s stronghold was now nothing more than a smoking wreck of tangled metal, wires and concrete. A thick layer of smoke trailed through the corridors, mixing with the stench of burned flesh and death. The underground beacon of hope was now a grave of ruined hallways. The mangled bodies of TDU staffers and soldiers lay scattered in the smoldering wreckage, some of them still whimpering and crying out in pain.
It was early afternoon and the clean-up process was well underway. A small army of Royal Knights was combing through documents in the war room, while another team worked on confiscating weapons and defusing booby traps in the armory. In the pantry a pair of Knights moved the broken body of Eddia, whose hand still clung tightly around a kitchen knife, his eyes wide with fear.
The sound of sporadic gunfire broke out in the smoky tunnels as Knights uncovered TDU soldiers who managed to escape the initial onslaught.
Obi and his team had been lucky, escaping through a hidden tunnel used to transport patients to Lunia. To cover their tracks he had ordered his men into a sanitary sewer, where a foot of raw sewage ensured their escape. The Knights would never look for them there.
Commander Heri, however, hadn’t been so lucky. He had attempted his escape from within the control room, ordering soldiers to the northern tunnels. The Dark Horses were waiting for him in the darkness, their swords drawn and blue goggles glowing through the smoke.
Obi shuddered, recalling the image of the commander being hacked down by the swords, his blood peppering the concrete walls as he cried out in pain. But it wasn’t the way he met his fate that bothered Obi. It was the surprise in the man’s eyes. As if he never imagined the Knights would find him.
The bastard was too arrogant to see the damn Tin Cans coming, Obi thought, crawling on his belly through the wretched sewer water. He looked back and saw his squad members battling through the mucky brown sewage behind him, relieved they had all made it out.
Time: 2:42 p.m. February 14, 2071.
Location: TDU HQ War Room, Tunnels. Tisaia.
Commanding Knight Augustus arrived with an entourage of his most trusted Knights, their swords still tipped with the fresh red stain of blood. They stood around what was left of a conference table, snapped in half by a block of concrete.
“Where is Commander Heri?” Augustus shouted. “I want his body brought to me immediately.”
The eerie sound of a body being dragged across the concrete filled the room. Augustus turned to watch two Knights pull the limp body of Heri into the office, dumping him at his feet. So this is my adversary, Augustus thought, staring at the corpse at his feet.
“We’ve broken them,” Augustus muttered under his breath. He wanted to smile, to laugh even. He had waited for this day for so long and now it was finally here, he was amused.
“This is the man who evaded us for so long?” Augustus asked, laughing. “Take this scum away,” he ordered. He watched the cold body of Heri being dragged out of the office.
“Supreme Knight Morr,” Augustus said, taking a puff out of a nearly spent cigar. “Can you give me a status? I want to know exactly how many of the terrorists escaped.”
“Sir, as far as I know, none of the terrorists have escaped.”
The sporadic popping of gunfire in the distance interrupted them, prompting Augustus to shoot Morr an irritated look.
“Do you hear that, Morr?” Augustus asked arrogantly, putting one of his arms around Morr’s shoulders.
“That is the sound of gunfire. And unless our men are shooting at rats, I’m assuming there are still some terrorists out there. So I’d suggest you get your men in order and eradicate every living thing that moves!” Augustus screamed, pushing Morr through the office doorway.
“Yes. Yes sir,” Morr yelled. He rushed back down the hall towards his men.
Augustus sat in an ancient wooden chair, careful not to scuff his recently buffed armor on the protruding splinters. He propped his legs up on the broken table and stared up at the ceiling, blowing another trail of smoke into the air. An odd sense of disappointment overwhelmed him. He had waited for this day for so long, but now that it was finally here something didn’t feel right—something was wrong.
Another shot rang out, echoing off the concrete walls. Augustus took one last drag of his cigar before standing up. It wasn’t time to put his feet up yet, there were still TDU to kill.