Moon Shade Bluff - Book 2 of 3

Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

Over the years, the highly educated Cobra Pix had remained a polarizing figure. Said to be ruthless, and extremely wealthy, he treasured his homeland and disdained America, which he'd demonstrated by threatening to build his own terror group within the country. When his father's longtime reign as Pinia's leader came to an end, he'd hoped to follow in his footsteps. Many praised him for his personal achievements and believed he was the man to lead Pinia into the future. However, accusations that he'd used intimidation tactics and violence to gain political attention quickly dashed that dream. He maintained that these accusations were unjustified, and that he had had to fight fire with fire when it came to dealing with what he claimed was a highly corrupt Pinian government.

The Battle of Oria was the key event that established Pix's hatred toward America, and his obsession with taking over Pinia. Oria was a small country just outside of Pinia. Due to geographic proximity, a majority of Pinians believed Oria should be a region of Pinia. When Pix's father received inside information that the western region of Oria was rich in metal ores, his government brought the matter to the World Coalition in an attempt to merge the two countries. His request was denied, and he was warned that if his government attempted to take over Oria, it would have to answer to the rest of the world. He retreated.

Years later, a friendlier Pinian government made a goodwill gesture by donating state-of-the-art mining equipment and manpower to Oria's Land Development Program. To the previously poor country's delight, enormous quantities of highly valued metal ores were discovered in the western part of the region.

When Cobra received word of this, he was outraged. He believed it was his father's regime that had discovered this mine, and that the information had been stolen. He decided to plan a surprise attack on Oria, but little did he know, the Orian government had struck a deal with a large American broker. American Intelligence got word of Pix's planned attack and felt it was vital to intervene.

After receiving permission from the Outer Commission, Westgale ordered his own surprise attack on Cobra Pix and his army, the Iron Lotus. The Lotus refused to retreat, and in the ensuing battle, six of Cobra Pix's seven sons were killed by US forces. Pix's aspirations to become president were crushed, while his hatred of America reached an all-time high.

Pix believed those who opposed his quest for power were engaging in a form of "hideous propaganda"—he was being punished by those who despised his tyrannical father, he claimed. However, over the years, Pix continued building up his military and through his own propaganda, established a powerful opposition to the more diplomatically minded Pinian government, while at the same time, vowing to seek revenge against America.

The Iron Lotus sent a notice to the UCIT network indicating that Cobra Pix had an urgent message for America, and that a view-file of that message would be relayed within the next hour. The Freedom Home was informed immediately, and the Administration's key players assembled in the main conference room to view the message.

As it began, the view-file, which had been recorded three days prior, showed giggling youngsters, boys and girls, picking fruit from a tree, while four uniformed men watched over them. The scene suddenly switched to a powerfully built man dressed in a red and black uniform, sitting cross-legged on a large red blanket in the heart of a dense forest. On either side of him stood flags bearing the Iron Lotus insignia: a red and black dragon emerging from silver flowers.

"Good day," he said. The camera moved in closer. His head was cleanly shaven and his eyebrows plucked away, replaced by thinly penciled red lines. "I am Cobra Pix. I'm here representing the Iron Lotus, and the treasured people of Pinia.

"Soon Pinia will again be a land of greatness. A warning to America: do not attempt to impede the awakening of the Pinian spirit; this will not be tolerated. If we have even the slightest suspicion that you are interfering with our quest to resurrect our sacred country from the depths of indignity, we will have no choice but to begin executing the dozen Pinian government officials we are currently holding captive."