Lanza stared in wonder out of the glass panes.
The Memphis Bridge was lit up in a brilliant golden, the lights reflecting off the silvery-black waters of the river. On the banks, the city was ablaze with life. Lanza found cars zipping past the black roads. He suddenly felt nostalgic for Springdale traffic. There was this classic restaurant on Robinson Avenue that served the best sushi in the world, and all he needed to do was hitch a ride on Kai's bike.
Valhalla flew low over the gurgling Mississippi, its engines slowed to a silent buzz. Lanza knew he should concentrate on the mission, but the scenery below was too breath-taking for words.
“ You sure Sakyo went this way?”, Kai's stoic voice broke his reverie.
“ Better.”, Lanza answered as he stepped back from the viewing podium.
“ He made a stop at Memphis. And I want to know why. Besides, Valhalla has been flying pretty fast. Arden’s men say she needs a cool down.”
Kai cracked his knuckles, “ Whatever you do, be quick. I am getting a bad vibe from this place.”
Lanza couldn’t help laughing. A bad vibe? Kai was so old-fashioned, he could almost see dinosaurs around him.
“ Its a city, Kai. How can you get a bad vibe from a place that’s not even spooky?”
Kai was about to say something, but was interrupted by a young correspondent.
“ Sir..”, he shot him a salute.
“ Yes?”
“ We have reached Memphis. “
“ I can see that. Any traces of Sakyo?”
“ No. We are yet to hear from the Intel Squad.”
Lanza almost snorted. Intel squad? It just consisted of a fat high-schooler who couldn’t touch his toes. He doubted the Reno guy would be much help.
“ Fine. You are dismissed. “
The guy in the bezel uniform shifted nervously, crunching the logo of the Build squad in the process. A hammer striking an anvil.
“ Um, sir.”, he shifted nervously.
Honestly, was he that scary?
“ We were talking about the mission and most of our men say they would like to know what we are up against. I mean if you could brief us a bit about CERO and stuff.....”
Lanza knew he would have to tell them sometime. After all, you can’t have a mission with the entire crew in the dark. Wallace and the squad leaders had kept CERO a closely guarded secret. No wonder these grunts new nothing about its terror.
“ Alright, gather your squad in the mess hall. Its going to be a long chat, so keep some eyes on the RADAR. I don’t want someone sneaking up on us.”
“ Yes sir.”, the guy almost ran out of the room.
Lanza didn’t blame him. You can’t really have a heart to heart chat with a guy with a sure kill weapon. He could almost hear Raven's whisper in his ears, urging him to lay everything to waste.
Lanza shook his head, he needed to concentrate.
“ Are you really going to tell them about CERO?”, Kai shot him the question
“ I have no choice.”
“ Lanza,there is a good reason why information on CERO is kept restricted.”
He knew what Kai was worried about. Spies. Lanza couldn’t afford to have info about CERO leaked out.
“ They deserve to know. Especially if they are going to fly to their deaths.”
Kai said nothing, but he didn’t look very happy about his decision. Lanza stared at the stark outline of Memphis through the glass pane. Thankfully, the retro- reflector panels allowed them to stay out of sight. Otherwise, they would have freaked an entire city out by suddenly appearing over the Mississippi. Honestly, he didn’t want the citizens of Memphis yelling “ ALIENS” and calling the army.
Lanza stepped out of the control room. Sensors scanned him from head to toe before allowing him to head down the corridor. The security down here was state-of-the-art. Arden' s gang had been quite clever in designing Valhalla. He had carved the entire interior out of aeronium. Lightweight. Flame-proof. Effective.
The main hall almost reminded Lanza of the Hall of Eden. It was smaller in dimension, of course. But, it had the same flurry of activity. Men in uniform dashed from one end to another, tablets in hand.
At one end of the circular Hall, the silver grey walls carved into a dome with huge doors. Valhalla’s cockpit. Only a handful of people had permission to enter. Lanza had once gone in to observe the going one. But there were so many screens and wires, he had decided to leave before he screwed anything up.
Lanza spotted Elisa in her Commandant uniform, leaning over what he figured to be maps.
Avoiding the human traffic, he headed to the small podium in front of the glass planes.
The podium was pretty big and for one embarrassing moment, Lanza didn’t know what to do. Thankfully, Elisa gestured to him over the crowd. She cupped her hands and blew into it. Speak, Lanza realised
By now, almost every crew member had gathered round the podium. Maybe it was his natural charisma? ( It was probably because the guy had gathered the crew up, but hey, self inspiration never hurts.)
“ Good evening, crew of Valhalla. Thanks to your excellent support, we have managed to cover the one seventy miles between Arkansas and Memphis, in a mere forty minutes. However, it is time I clarify the objectives of the mission to you.”
Lanza paused for breath. He had managed to get their attention.
“ As you know, we are chasing after Sakyo Grimhart, the mastermind criminal of CERO. He has been heading towards Cairo......”
“ Why?”, a voice from the crowd interrupted.
Lanza glanced at the guy who had spoken. Spiky hair, tattooed arms. He knew his type. He was the one to cause trouble.
“ Initiate?”
“ Yes?”, the guy taunted him with sarcasm-dipped tones.
“ I can clearly see you have no discipline in your bones. You might as well hear me speak, because it would mean the difference between you and your death.”
“ You won’t kill me.”, he lashed back.
“ You are right.”, Lanza tapped his shoes on the wooden stage, “ Sakyo will.”
That shut him up effectively. At least for the moment.
Lanza began, “ With Sakyo, there is usually a trick beneath a trick. I would like all of you to stay alert for any changes in courses he makes. We can’t trace Sakyo, but we sure can trace the Renaissance’s CORE. I want a pair of ears maintaining contact with the guild.”
“ Why stop at Memphis then?”, a burly build squad technician asked, “ Shouldn’t we be running full steam ahead?”
“ According to our Intel, Sakyo made a stop at Memphis. The city has been named after the ancient Memphis, the capital of Old Egypt. Cairo and Memphis. With Sakyo, there aren’t many coincidents. He is going to screw big time with ancient weapon technology, if you pardon my language. Besides, there is something else I need to check.”
“ What?”
“ During World War II, this exact place was CERO'S base. We don’t know much about CERO, I was hoping to uncover some clues.”
“ Wait. What the hell is this CERO? “, a heal squad girl asked.
“ CERO. Co- ordinated Endeavour in Re-Organisation. Despite the fancy name, what CERO wants is military control over every nation of the world. During the 1980s, they went quite far with this, signing military treaties with countries like Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Ceylon ,Pakistan. In the countries defence there wasn’t much they could do. CERO followed terror tactics. It usually sent minions out to capture the top- brass of the government, with their superior technology. However, once the United Nations were formed, thanks to the efforts of countries across the globe, CERO was forced to back- track. The Guild played quite a role in this, sealing away legendary weapons. Their existence was wiped out from every possible government records. Otherwise, with post- war tensions brewing, the situation would have turned disastrous. Finally, at the Geneva conference of the UNO, the Guild managed to win over countries to their side. CERO was forced to nullify its military treaties and was reduced to a business corporation. No wonder they want revenge on the Guild. After all, we haven’t been very kind to their purpose.”
Lanza paused, looking into the stunned eyes of his audience.
“ We have known, CERO has been keeping up its dirty work. They hire master criminals like Sakyo for their purpose. And that’s not the worst. Like the Guild, they have their own collection of legendary arms.”
“ The Guild has cooperated with the Scotland Yard. But somehow, they manage to erase every hint of their dirty work. Sakyo, is in fact, in the Red Book for eight suspected murders. “
“ So, now that we have got evidence, shouldn’t we gather all the global military and crush CERO?”, another young Scorch Squad guy spoke up.
“ No.”, it was Kai who answered for him.
“ It is exactly what CERO wants”, Elisa explained.” Information on CERO is closely guarded. By the time, an allied force could be formed, it would take months. Besides, it involves the risk of revealing the existence of legendary weapons. How would you feel when you feel that miniscule sense of security around you vanish? Trust me, mass panic isn’t something you would like to induce.”
“ That’s true.”, Lanza agreed, “ However none of us can rest in peace with the CORE in Sakyo’s hands. None of you have any idea how powerful CORE is. It can make the NEXUS server, the centre of the GlobNet , look like a baby in his crib. If Sakyo decides to leak out word on the CORE, an alliance would be impossible. You don’t know how complicated international politics is. Sakyo could very well bribe nations to his side, luring them with the power of the CORE.”
“ Then why is he heading to Cairo?”
“ That’s the elephant in the room we need to address. We could wait to hear from the Intel Division, but I doubt much could be found. Anyway, me and Kai would be going down into the city. As the build squad technicians know, Valhalla mimicks the OSPREY technology of the US Air Force. Despite technically being an airplane, it can hover in its place by shifting the angle of its propellers. We would be sending you the exact location of our landing. If we don’t return within an hour, go back to the Guild as fast as you can and inform Wallace. And if any one of you messes with the ship, I will have you face Arden when we be back. “
Lanza stopped to take a breath. The speech hadn’t been an exact morale booster. He could see the crestfallen faces, and the fear in their eyes. He needed to keep the team spirit up? What would have Wallace done?
He caught Elisa's eye in the front. She seemed to know exactly what was going on in his mind. Smile, she mouthed.
And Lanza smiled. Not for himself, but for the crew who had risked their lives to fulfil their duty.
“ Don’t worry. We will make it back. Do you think Wallace would let me rest in peace if I die on his chair? He would just hitch a ride to the underworld and I would be lectured for eternity. Besides, I don’t want Arden calling us ‘ losers'. “
That got a lot of the crew cracking. Lanza himself burst into laughter. It was idiotic to laugh at ones own joke, but he didn’t care. He would take every opportunity he had to relieve the stress.
Lanza stepped down from the podium and walked towards Kai. A silver chain glowed on his waist belt. The camouflage of his bow.
“ You ready?”
For the first time in the past day, Kai smiled, “ I have been itching to get out.”
“ Where is Elsa? “ , Lanza wondered.
“Polishing her shield. She is in bunk 2A.”, Kai answered.
Lanza groaned inwardly. Once she got down to polishing, she wasn’t going to budge for hours. She was pretty meticulous about it, cleaning every speck of dust with a spotless white cloth.
“ Boys, you need to see this.”, Elisa called them over.
She was leaning on some old map sketch in a diary.
“ I found this among Wallace’s old papers.”
Lanza looked at what she was pointing. It was an old sketch and the paper was frayed at the edges. But the drawing was sharp and clear.
“ This is the Mississippi, right?”, Lanza ran his hands down a pair of lines.
Elisa nodded.
“ Its from during the war. The Guild was mapping this area for prospective settlement on Mississippi’s banks. Guess what the black cross is?”, her finger pointed to a small cross on the riverside.”
“ You don’t say.”, Lanza felt adrenaline rush up his veins., “ CERO'S base?”
“ The old one.”, Elisa agreed.
“Where is this place now?”, Lanza was starting to tremble from excitement.
“ That is a bit of a problem.”
“ Why?”
Elisa pointed out of the glass plane. Lanza followed her gaze. The Memphis Pyramid stood silently on the city line, watching over like the Ancient Pharaohs.
“ Oh, that.”
“ The base should be somewhere below the thing. CERO handed it over to the private sector once they abandoned their old base.”, Elisa informed.
Lanza sighed. Nothing was ever easy for him.
“ Kai?”
“ Hm?”
“ It’s time to play tourist.”
Lanza felt like a dork as he walked down the streets towards the Pyramid. They had jumped off Valhalla (duh) and had landed in a side alley, scaring the hell out of some local gangsters.
But black Jacket and Jeans? What was this? The 90s? He seriously wanted to go shopping, but he doubted Sakyo would let him do that. Besides, his Fuchsia hair drew weird looks from passers- by. Apparently, it wasn’t a fashion statement in Memphis.
On the other hand, Kai rocked in his outfit. He had donned a black hoodie over blood red T-shirt that read “ I BITE”. With his black trousers and a sling-bag he almost looked like a tourist out on some late- night shopping.
“ The Memphis Pyramid was built to compare the city with Memphis, the capital of Ancient Egypt. It was constructed by Rosser Fabrap International in 1989. It has served as the host court for the Memphis Grizzlies in NBA. It has also held WWF events. The Pyramid is currently occupied by Bass Pro Shops, which is a retail seller for every possible outdoor activity.”, Kai read from a tourist brochure he had been handed.
“ Would you stop spouting random facts?”, Lanza hissed.
“ Just trying to help. You never know when you need them.”, Kai countered.
Lanza shut his mouth. It was useless to fight when your lives depended on each other.
As the glass structure of the pyramid appeared in front of him, Lanza had to remind himself to breath. He wasn’t an artist, but the play of the city lights on the glass canvas was beyond words.
“ That's....”
“ Beautiful.”, Kai finished.
They both blended into a mob of tourists as they entered the pyramid. Honestly, there was no saying where the CERO bastards would crop up. Unfortunately, Lanza really didn’t want to hear how many dates Jack had been on, or whether Colten had done ‘it' with Alicia.
Lanza looked at Kai, who seemed like he would throw up any moment. He quickly pulled him aside into a fishing store.
“ We need to stick to them.”, Lanza whispered, “ CERO may have eyes on us!”
“ Please.”, Kai snorted, “ If CERO had the power to booby trap a public monument, he would have trapped the Taj Mahal or something. And besides, I can’t bear one more moment of that how good Colten is in bed talk.”
Lanza couldn’t quite argue with that.
“ Well..”, he started,” We need to..”
“ May I help you?”, an attendant in white shirt and jeans approached them.
“ No...uh!”, Kai began.
“ Yes.”, Lanza smiled after elbowing Kai into silence, “ We need some fishing rods.”
“ Sure”, the girl beamed, “ Do you have any idea what you are looking for?”
“ No.”, Lanza shot her a goofy grin, casually leaning onto a stand, “ But I would love to know.”
The girl seemed more than happy to delve into a fact-enriched brief lecture of fishing rods. Lanza almost felt compelled to take notes, but his hands were full.
“ So? Decided yet?”, the girl flashed a tired smile.
“ Um, no.”, Lanza tried ‘goofy guy' mode, “ One that will catch ‘ big' fishes?”
The girl giggled. Lanza winked at her, earning a “ don’t flirt” look from Kai.
“ In that case, how about the Fishex 200? It has suspensive springs......”
“ Sure, we will take that.”, Lanza interrupted, “ My good friend Kai will pay for it.”
“ I will?”, Kai asked suspiciously.
“ Of course. “, Lanza gave him his best “ roll with it” glare.
Kai grumbled as he rolled out 50 bucks from his pocket at the pay counter.
“ So...”, Lanza smiled at the girl, “ You working here for long? You are pretty good at this.”
The girl blushed, “ Well, I have been working here for two years.”
Lanza patted his pocket like he suddenly remembered something.
“ God, I almost forgot.”, he said, pulling out a paper from his pocket.
Thankfully, that got her attention.
“ What is it?”, she asked.
“ Oh”, Lanza rubbed his head, “ My Uncle Jon came here a few years back. He told stories of a great tent shop in here. You wouldn’t happen to know a shop with this logo, right?”
Lanza passed her CERO'S emblem. A black raven diving in for an attack.
The girls eyes narrowed in concentration.
“ This one? Its right over there, two shops across. But its been closed for a long time. I am afraid you won’t find anyone there. Its totally locked down.”
“ Oh!”, Lanza tried to look as crestfallen as possible, “ Guess we are out of luck.”
Lanza almost dragged Kai out of the store. Adrenaline rushed through his veins. They had finally found out CERO'S old base. Wallace would have to give him credit.
“ Hey.”, Kai complained, struggling with his newly acquired fishing pole.” Watch out for the pole.”
“ Screw it.”, Lanza yelled at him, “ Just follow me.”
“ Did you find the Rainbow Pot or something?”, he grumbled as they swerved past a gang of teenagers.
“ Something better. “,Lanza huffed back.
Lanza would have almost missed it. The girl had called it a store, but it was more like a maintenance door. A faded brown door that looked about to break down.
But Lanza wasn’t interested in all that. He was more interested on the logo engraved in the wood. It was faded, but legible. Lanza made out the familiar shape of a raven.
“ Someone’s been here before us.”, Kai whistled at the shaved off rust on the metal handle.
“ Sakyo.”, Lanza gritted his teeth.
“ Its locked.”, Kai turned the handle.
“ Of course.”, Lanza snorted, pulling out a small penknife from his jacket.
“ Is that....”
“ One of Arden's toys. Watch.”, Lanza pushed the blade into the keyhole. The blade changed its shape, perfectly fitting into the slot.
“ Perfect”, Lanza whispered in triumph.
“ The door creaked open, letting out a whiff of dust.”
“ Looks like our friend took a stroll in here too.”, Kai pointed at the fresh footprints that caked the dust.
Lanza moved ahead, ignoring the stench of the uncleansed corridor. Wooden stairs spread out in front of them. The soft glow from his radium watch seemed to hiss against the darkness. Extinto' s amulet glowed warm, heightening Lanza’s senses
Kai produced an electric torch out of nowhere, dispelling the dark in one swift flick.
“ Let’s go.”
The stairs ended in front of a large hall. Lanza figured CERO had copied the Guild’s underground architecture as well. No wonder Sakyo was able to break the barrier so easily.
Most of the corridors had been shut down. Some looked old enough to break from touch. Only the middle corridor seemed usable.
“ Well?”, Lanza breathed in.
“ What, you scared?”, Kai headed through the arch. The floorboards creaked under his weight, but held strong.
Lanza followed his partner into the room at the end. In the flickering light of Kai's lantern, Lanza swept his eyes across the room. The walls were studded with numerous dials. A broken steam vent ran parallel to the walls. Lanza guessed it was cutting edge technology during the War.
They stepped in, their shoes echoing against the walls.
“ God, do the authorities have any idea about this thing?”
“ Don’t think so. It seems empty, save for rubble.”
It was true. All the shelves had been cleared and the machinery broken. Lanza was beginning to think their trip was a waste, when Kai whistled.
“ Now, what is that?”
Lanza stared at the empty shelf he was pointing at.
“ A shelf.”, Lanza replied blankly.
Kai walked on over to it, examining the wooden joint. Then, with a small screw, he unhooked the metal joint. The joints groaned from the effort. Just before the shelf could fall, a spring released itself, revealing a hollow panel on the board.
Kai reached into the hollow, producing some papers, yellow from age. He squinted at the writings. A look of irritation flashed on his face.
“ This is not even English!”, he protested as he pocketed the papers.
Lanza sighed, “ Those are probably useless documents from the war.”
“ They could be priceless.”, Kai commented.
“ CERO would have swept them away long ago if that had been the case.”
Kai looked disappointed, but decided to keep mum.
Lanza walked to a desk in the corner, running his hands over the sturdy wood. His hands pricked on something hard.
Lanza’s breathing powered up.
“ Kai, come here for a second.”
Kai held his lantern ahead, revealing a small toggle switch on the edges of a drawer.
Lanza flipped it, excitement coursing through his blood.
Suddenly, a section of the wall moved away, revealing a small corridor.
“ Copycats.”, Kai growled.
Lanza reached the corridor. It seemed similar to the Hall of Memory's passage back in the Guild. He was about to walk in, when he tripped on something. He looked down to find a snapped thread.
If it hadn’t been his instincts, Lanza would have been shredded to pieces. A small metal ball whizzed past him, grazing his jacket sleeve. It flew around like a bee in the air, buzzing around, its sensors trying to get a lock on him.
Lanza jumped up, whacking the metal drone with a spare rod. He had enough combat practice to pull off stunts like that. The done crashed into the ground, whirling and creaking to a stop.
Kai knelt next to the broken machine.
“ These are microbots. Killer machines, each one of these. Once these rotors touch something, it’s as good as grass in a lawnmower. CERO had tried to use these, but the International Court had banned its production on safety grounds. The rest were destroyed.”
“ Not all of them.”, Lanza stared in distaste at the broken death ball. ,” Sakyo meant to kill me. He set up the trap with the thread.”
“ Well, there could be other traps. We should probably get out...”, Kai started.
Their conversation was interrupted by a loud buzz. At first, Lanza thought it was a construction chainsaw. Then, metal microbots poured out in dozens from the secret corridor.
“ Run for it!”, Kai yelled.
Lanza didn’t have to be told twice. He leapt out of the way and ran as fast as his limbs would carry him. The angry buzz of the bots followed close behind, shredding the old timber to pieces.
“ Fast. Fast!”, Kai urged him on, whacking a stray bot with his Fishex 200.
They were almost at the door. Almost.
With a deep breath, Lanza gave one last sprint. Kai followed close at his heels.
Lanza slammed the door shut, earning stares from the now faded tourists. But he had underestimated the bots. With a groan, one of the balls ripped out a chunk of wood from the door, making a way for the others to follow. Lanza dodged the first bot by ducking behind a sports gear stand. He whacked a second with a ‘ OPEN FOR BUSINESS' board. But the things just kept on coming.
Out of the corner of his eye, Lanza saw Kai whacking away the things with his Fishex 200 Springs suspension enhanced fishing pole. Lanza considered using Extinto. But, he couldn’t afford to lose his cover in public. Besides, Extinto wouldn’t do much good against machines...
He picked up a baseball bat from a nearby shop, leaving the salesperson gaping at him.
As the next bots approached, he remembered what Coach Mason had taught them back in school.
Grip firm. Eyes-on the ball. Feet-on standby.
Lanza whacked the first for a home run that would have earned him a place with the New York Yankees. He clubbed the second into an array of camping bags. Another ricocheted off his bat and smashed into a mannequin.
Kai seemed to get what he was planning. The two of them backed slowly to the exit, whacking and clubbing their way.
The confused tourists cheered them for some reason. Thankfully, the bots were completely focused on them, unaware of the hordes of tourists around them. For the first time, Lanza was glad Memphis was such a popular place.
An idea flashed into Lanza's mind. ( Yes, he did get brainwaves sometimes).
“ HEY GUYS!”, he yelled, “ WANNA PLAY A GAME? WHACK THESE BOTS AND WIN EXCITING PRIZES. “
Lanza pointed to the hovering killer drones.
There was one moment of heart-breaking inactivity. Then a lip-stick case sailed out of the crowd, ruining a bot' s sensors. A black shoe slammed into another one, taking it down.
“ Good job !”, Lanza cheered as they backed towards the exit.
The tourists had gone absolutely crazy on the bots, launching an arsenal of projectiles so diverse, that the bots were rendered clueless. Apparently they hadn’t been programmed to counter heeled-shoes.
They broke out into the open night sky just as a bot got taken down by a hamburger.
“ We need to get back as soon as possible.”
“ You think I want to stay here? What if more bots pour out later?”, Lanza glared at him.
“ I had rolled some explosives down the corridor. They would take care of any remaining microbots. However, the ones which rolled out are still after us. You never know how many of them would escape.”
As if to prove his point, a bot buzzed out into the opening, going after Kai.Kai raised his fishing rod to defend. But the bot cut through the metal like butter.
“ I am running out of ideas!”, Kai yelled as he backed up.
“ Working on it!”, Lanza yelled back as he scanned the surroundings.
His eyes landed on the pizza-delivery bike on the roadside. A grin broke into his face.
“ Kai?”
“ I am a bit busy here!”, he yelled back.
“ Let’s go VRRROOOM!”, Lanza grinned.
Kai, who had finally managed to get rid of the bot, looked at him sceptically.
Then, he saw the bike.
He groaned, “ Do you even have a helmet?”
“ Nope. And I left my license at home.”
“ You know what? I am going to regret agreeing to this so hard. “
“ Come on, you know I have a way with bikes.”
And for the first time in weeks, Kai looked really, really scared.
A/N: I dunno what to say about your amazing support. Thanks for the 400+ reads on Icarus Guild.
midnightcupofnoodles and Kay_Ro.....special thanks to you guys. Your comments make my day!
I would really like to hear from you wonderful people about what you think of the characters.