Part 4: Internal Struggles

Chapter 52: Game Changer

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Captain Cecil and his enforcer convoy were back on the surface. They had made camp around a hundred miles to the east of the mountainous area located above the cult’s underground city. Miro had made contact with Cecil to provide him with further instruction and to inform him about what had happened with the main convoy.

‘I sent out a scout team to inspect the battlefields,’ said Miro into his radio. ‘We can confirm that the second half of our convoy was attacked by the Sentray. We can also confirm they took heavy losses.’

‘Any idea of the whereabouts of the remaining Sentray?’ asked Cecil.

‘It appears they are making their way back to the West Camp,’ replied Miro. ‘It also appears that most of the surviving enforcers have been taken captive by them.’

‘Any news about the Emperor?’ asked Cecil.

‘We found his flying vehicle, but not his body,’ replied Cecil. ‘They have taken him, but we don’t know if he’s alive at this point.’

‘Would you like us to cut them off before they reach the West Camp?’ asked Cecil.

‘No,’ replied Miro. ‘I fear they will still have the upper hand. This will put the Emperor at risk if he is still alive, and they may even free Julio. Instead, I want you to meet up with a group of technicians heading your way. They have a new batch of headgear and infrared goggles.’

‘I’m not sure I understand the benefit at this point,’ replied Cecil.

‘They have been able to attack us from the air with some type of technology we can’t detect,’ said Miro. ‘The goggles should enable us to see them and allow us to shoot them down. Once you have them, head towards the West Camp. We need to retrieve the Emperor even if he’s dead.’

‘I understand, Grand Vizier,’ replied Cecil.

Miro gave Cecil the coordinates of where he wanted him to meet up with technicians.

The next day, Captain Cecil and his enforcers met with the technicians.

‘We have forty Grade “A” helmets with built-in infrared goggles,’ said the senior technician to Cecil.

‘Is that it?’ asked Cecil.

‘We only make Grade “A”,’ replied the senior technician. ‘We pride ourselves…’

‘I mean just forty,’ said Cecil angrily. ‘I have over four thousand enforcers.’

‘That’s a lot,’ said the senior technician. ‘You must be confident now that forty of them can wear these great helmets.’

‘Let me try one of them out,’ said Cecil in an annoyed tone as he pointed to the technician who was holding one of the helmets.

The technician handed Cecil a helmet. Cecil placed it on his head and then flipped the “on” switch.

‘Do something,’ ordered Cecil as he looked around at his enforcers. ‘Become invisible or shapeshift.’

Cecil waited for a few seconds and then said, ‘I said, “Do something”. I want to test this thing.’

‘We’re invisible, sir,’ shouted a senior enforcer.

Cecil quickly pulled off his helmet and looked at his enforcers. He could only see the slight shimmer from their body, but otherwise they were invisible.

‘These are great!’ exclaimed Cecil excitedly.

‘Wait, there’s more,’ said the senior technician as he thrust his index finger in the air.

‘Haha, more than forty,’ said Cecil, sounding excited.

‘No, we’ve already covered that,’ sighed the senior technician as he lowered his hand.

‘Then what?’ asked Cecil.

‘More features,’ replied the senior technician as he raised his eyebrows. ‘Let me show you.’

The senior technician walked over to one of the vehicles. He opened the door.

‘Oh, they’re a bit out-of-date,’ said the senior technician.

‘They’re all we have now,’ said Cecil, sounding annoyed.

After a brief search of the vehicle’s console. The senior technician plugged in the helmet.

‘Here you can charge the helmet,’ said the senior technician. ‘The real deal is that this vehicle can now automatically target an enemy who thinks they’re invisible.’

‘Meaning we only need one helmet per vehicle,’ said Cecil as he slapped the senior technician on the back.

‘Yes, if you want,’ replied the senior technician who appeared angry about being slapped.

Later that day, the cult and technician convoy arrived at the West Camp. Octavius and Ducky were leading the way. Walter, who was in the lookout tower with Phillip, rushed down to open the gate.

The gate opened and Walter rushed out to greet Octavius. Octavius climbed off Ducky, and Walter jumped into Octavius’ open arms.

‘I told you I’d be back,’ said Octavius.

Walter looked over at the Hat Lady, who was floating above her tiny Sentray. ‘Hey, what’s your problem?’ he asked.

‘I’m riding a Sentray, who still thinks he’s big,’ chuckled the Hat Lady.

‘Get a clue, moron!’ shouted Walter at the tiny Sentray. ‘You’re not big, okay!’

The tiny Sentray yelped, and the Hat Lady dropped down and landed on his back.

‘Oh!’ gasped the Hat Lady in surprise. ‘That’s a first.’

Octavius chuckled and put Walter down. The Hat Lady climbed off the Sentray she was riding, and he immediately returned to his normal size.

‘That’s clever,’ replied Walter as he watched the Sentray run off to roll in a grass patch.

‘Just a little trick of mine,’ said the Hat Lady as she rubbed Walter’s arm, causing his hair to thicken and then return to normal.

Orcilla, Volo, and Razor landed next to Octavius. Walter high fived Volo.

Hamlet and Sapiod X rushed out the gate towards the group. Octavius locked arms with Sapiod X, and they danced in a circle. Orcilla hugged Hamlet’s huge head.

Phillip walked over to Orcilla. ‘You should join us,’ he said while rubbing his potbelly. ‘We’re having a special feast tonight, friend.’

‘So you knew we’d come back victorious,’ said Orcilla as she continued rubbing Hamlet’s prickly hair.

‘No, it’s for our special night,’ replied Phillip. ‘We’re watching Masters of Wrestling on the big screen.’

‘Sounds great,’ replied Orcilla.

The Sentray gathered outside the camp wall. The followers and technicians parked the vehicles and entered the camp.

In the middle of the camp, in front of a giant canvas screen, rows of tables and benches had been set up. At the back of the tables was a powerful projector built by the technicians. The Downs workers were carrying out large plates covered in various types of food.

‘I can’t believe Revals let you guys do this,’ chuckled Octavius.

‘He’s completely changed now he’s got a robot hand,’ replied Walter as he pointed to Revals, who was pumping his new hand in the air.

‘That’s a strange and unexpected turn,’ said Octavius as he watched Revals, who seemed extremely happy.

The Hat Lady saw Freddy carrying a tray of muffins. She rushed over to him. ‘Hey, you’re Eugene’s brother, Freddy, right,’ she enquired.

‘Yes, that’s me, friend,’ replied Freddy.

‘I don’t know what you’ve been told or led to believe,’ said the Hat Lady as she grabbed his shoulders. ‘I want you to know that your family is safe and well.’

‘Oh my, oh my,’ said Freddy, sounding confused.

The Hat Lady pulled out a photograph of Arthur, Sophie, Eugene and all the others. They were enjoying a picnic somewhere in the Central Agricultural Zone together.

‘I missed them so much,’ said Freddy as a tear formed in one of his eyes. ‘May I have this, please?’

‘Of course you can,’ replied the Hat Lady.

Freddy put the tray of muffins down on the nearest table. Then he hugged the Hat Lady.

Orcilla and Volo were in the camp’s communication room. They were trying to contact the cult underground city as well as Razor and his team.

‘Let’s just hope it’s a technical or power problem and that Razor can restore communications soon,’ said Orcilla as she glanced at Volo, who was looking worried.

‘Let’s go and join the others,’ said Orcilla. ‘The Downs workers have put together a great feast.’

Volo frowned and shook his head. Orcilla stood up, put her arms around him, and they both left the communications room together.

Just outside the camp, Demadrian had entered the trailer that Tiberius was kept in. Tiberius’ hands were chained together and so were his feet.

‘You’re finally here to extract your revenge on me,’ chuckled Tiberius.

‘I’ve thought about this moment for a long time,’ replied Demadrian. ‘There are so many things I could do to you. All incredibly painful.’

‘When it comes down to it, what will you actually do?’ said Tiberius, leaning forward. ‘How creative can you be, I wonder?’

Demadrian’s head shapeshifted into that of a Sentray. He roared aggressively in Tiberius’ face. Tiberius fell backwards into the trailer wall.

Demadrian shapeshifted back into himself. ‘How did that feel?’ he asked.

‘Cheap thrills, that’s just pathetic,’ replied Tiberius as he sat back up.

‘Dishing out physical pain isn’t enough for me,’ said Demadrian. ‘I want to destroy your mind first.’

‘Let me guess you have a VR headset,’ chuckled Tiberius. ‘So unoriginal!’

‘No,’ said Demadrian. ‘No fancy technology. I just want you to be left with your own thoughts and maybe some soothing music to help stimulate your imagination.’

‘You’re weak,’ replied Tiberius.

‘I’ll bring you back some cake that you’ll almost be able to reach,’ chuckled Demadrian as he left the trailer. A few seconds later, a horrid screeching sound blasted through the speakers, and the lights began flickering on and off inside the trailer.

‘Damn annoying,’ said Tiberius as he slammed the side of the trailer with his body.

More food had been brought out and placed on the tables. There was now enough for everyone.

RJ placed a big plate in front of Octavius. Octavius could not believe his eyes. It was a giant rainbow blancmange.

‘Wow, that looks amazing,’ gasped Octavius. ‘So many colours. How did you do it?’

‘I used my special multi-tiered mould to separate the flavours,’ boasted RJ. ‘I chilled them sequentially from the top downwards.’

‘Whatever you do, don’t praise this guy,’ shouted Walter as he came running over. ‘It goes to his head.’

‘That won’t happen,’ chuckled RJ as he curtsied to Walter. ‘You have truly humbled me, Your Imperial Highness.’

‘Who’s the greatest baker?’ asked Walter.

‘It’s you, of course,’ replied RJ as he winked at Octavius.

‘You better not forget that,’ said Walter, nodding.

Orcilla, the Hat Lady, and Volo made their way to the front-row seats.

Revals and Big Burt were seated at the centre of the row. Big Burt patted one of the three empty seats next to him.

‘He’s reserved us a spot,’ remarked the Hat Lady. ‘How sweet.’

They were about to sit down when Big Burt raised his hand slightly while clenching his fist.

‘He wants a bump,’ said Revals. ‘You have to do it.’

Orcilla bumped fists with Big Burt.

‘Whoosh!’ replied Big Burt as he wiggled his fingers in joy.

The Hat Lady and Volo proceeded to fist bump with Big Burt. Each time he said, ‘Whoosh!’ and wiggled his fingers.

Scott and Freddy turned on the projector. A few seconds later, the Masters of Wrestling theme tune blared out.

‘This is it, friends,’ said Big Burt to Orcilla. ‘The first and only wrestling event on the moon.’

‘Okay, that’s wild,’ replied Orcilla as she watched the aerial cameras pan over the open arena and moonscape.

‘It’s a conspiracy to end Fat Flop’s title reign,’ said Big Burt as he held up his book.

‘Why do you have stadiums on the moon?’ asked the Hat Lady.

‘It’s just filmed in a soundstage,’ whispered Orcilla to the Hat Lady.

The entrance music for the first match began to play. The Downs workers began to cheer excitedly. Hamlet, Rico, and fluffy Lily took the opportunity to eat food off the tables while the big screen distracted the Downs workers and technicians.

Two hours later, the event ended. Everyone cheered with joy as the recap played.

‘So who won that match?’ asked Orcilla. ‘I’m not familiar with all the rules of wrestling.’

‘Fat Flop floated out into space, friend,’ said Big Burt. ‘That’s a count-out. He loses the match but retains his title.’

‘He’s in space,’ said Revals. ‘I think he dies.’

‘Never!’ replied Big Burt as he pounded on his book. ‘Watch the ending.’

After the recap ended, an alien spacecraft appeared on the screen. It launched a giant net over Fat Flop and then dragged him inside.

‘This is even crazier than the entertainment we had in my day,’ chuckled the Hat Lady.

‘On the topic of crazy stories, I think it’s time you told us what really happened,’ said Orcilla to the Hat Lady.

The Hat Lady nodded.

Sapien Loop: Worlds Collide

Sapien Loop: Worlds Collide is the final book in the Sapien Loop trilogy. It continues directly after the events of the second book. The world above and the world below merge into one world. The conflicts in the underground world are brought to the surface. The new ruling elite attempt to crush any resistance from above and below in an attempt to create a new global empire.

Currently, three books from the series have been published on Amazon; see the links below:

• Sapien Loop: End of an Era
• Sapien Loop: Frozen in Time
• Sapien Short Stories: Missing Links

All individual chapters can be found on my @captainhive account.

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