Post by Guardsman Patrick on Oct 12, 2006 23:17:33 GMT -5
Chapter 13: The Power of Evil
Shade stood on the catwalk of the underground bunker beneath the A.O.T. tower, overlooking the soldiers working below, building tanks and many other weapons of war. Each of the troops seemed to be like ants at work, carrying large plates of metal back to their stations to continue the process of construction. Zanthor stood to the left of Shade, staring down into the bunker as well.
"As you can see, we are well prepared for any kind of opposition, whether big or small." Zanthor glanced at different troops, making sure none of them were slacking off.
"I realize this, but why do you need so much to fight such a small group of warriors?" Shade asked as he counted sixteen tanks that had just rolled off the platforms, while more troops brought over a new set of tread frames, ready to build another. "I know I can take one of them, and it would probably only take two tanks each to finish off the last of them. Why do we need nearly eighty?"
Zanthor scoffed at what the new General had said. "You underestimate them; by what I’ve heard from my master, the two most important ones can take on at least twenty of our Tanks each. The other forty are backup, in case we underestimate their power. There is also a squadron of soldiers heading with them; almost a hundred to make sure that there is enough support on foot. Then, there are fifty Fighter-Class Combat Jets that will give them air support and will help take out the two dragons that have been spotted by our spies around their tower."
"That’s ridiculous. I know for a fact that I can handle one of them, or maybe I don’t even have to fight. Apparently, you can do it yourself." Shade looked at the Tanks that had just been finished and rolled off the platforms, being replaced by yet more tread frames that would begin the process again. He couldn’t believe the amount of energy that was being dumped into this operation.
"Yes, General, you really don’t have to fight; I think I can handle it myself." Zanthor made it clear that he thought himself superior to Shade; his words cutting the other General at the knees, hoping to see him fall. Shade simply shrugged off the comment.
"Well, I don’t mind if I fight or not anyway, because I got a position higher than I thought I could receive with no work in this organization at all. If I started fighting and earning my keep, my master might even turn his position over to me." Shade smirked when he saw the fury on Zanthor’s face. Obviously he had worked hard to get the position he was in and he had lost a lot in the process as well, his eye in particular.
"Well, we will see how well you do when you fight, whenever that may be." Zanthor tried to counter Shade's sharp remark, but couldn’t do it very well, so he simply backed off.
"So, I call the shots around here, as the boss man said, so how come I didn’t hear about the whole operation of us attacking them until just now?" Shade asked, looking suspiciously over at Zanthor.
"It is because it is your first day in this position, or even this organization, for that matter, and also because I call the shots. You can say if you like it or not, but I won’t care and go through with it anyway." Zanthor knew his master would not hear of such an act, but he found it to be the best way of everything working out.
"Well, I think you’re putting yourself in a higher position than you are supposed to be, contradicting what your superior says, contradicting what your superior’s superior says, and I think that you may want to rethink what you just said and say it in a way that would be more pleasing for me to hear," Shade snapped, showing Zanthor that he wouldn’t tolerate insubordination.
In a single, fluid motion, Zanthor flung around and grabbed Shade by the throat and threw him against the rail of the catwalk, nearly forcing him over.
"Let me make this clear, General, I don’t like you, and you have made it clear that you do not like me. When I say something goes, you will not question it. I have been working here for far too long, and far too hard for some kind of smartass to barge his way in and think he is better at doing my job than me!" His face showed a mixture of rage and seriousness as he spoke. "Do I make myself clear?" Zanthor stared into Shade's eyes, trying to intimidate him into following his orders.
"Well, General..." Shade rose and punched Zanthor in the stomach, causing him to fall backwards onto the catwalk. He put his foot on the fallen Zanthor's chest. "I don’t think I like the way you just said that either, and I don’t think you know who you are dealing with. I am not just some person who decided to walk into the picture. I am the downright nastiest, cruelest person you will ever meet. I can be ten times more intimidating than you, and I am ten times stronger than you will ever hope to be. I have gained, lost, learned, and fought more in one year than you have in your entire life. I have earned this position and I plan to keep it. Savvy?"
Zanthor said nothing when he heard this, knowing that this might have been why his master chose Shade to be in an even higher position than him. Shade weakly kicked Zanthor in the face, and walked away from the General, leaving him there. All Zanthor could do was cough up a clot of blood before he was gone.
Once gone, Zanthor slowly stood back up to see all the troops below staring at him as blood dripped down his camouflage uniform. Zanthor wiped the blood off his lips and barked, "BACK TO WORK! ALL OF YOU!"
Shade sat in the chair of a darkened room, looking at the different monitors around him, each of them getting feeds from outside or inside the building. He just stared into the emptiness as he thought of all the things that he had to go through in the past year. He gritted his teeth and punched the monitor closest to him. As it cracked, he looked into it to see that its camera had been placed at the loading dock of the bunker. He began looking at all the tanks, planes and guns that were lined up in the room. It was a ridiculous amount. Then he thought about what Zanthor had said about all the forces they were sending in. He sat there gape mouthed at what he just realized.
"That can’t be right," Shade said out loud to himself. "That simply can’t be right."
He began to scan all the monitors for more loading rooms. All of them were packed as well. There had to have been more than eighty tanks in all, and much more than just a hundred guns. This corporation had been planning earlier, he knew, but there was no need for that much.
And he said that they had no real idea of how many each of them could take on apiece, Shade thought to himself, shaking his head slowly. Shade knew he had to talk to the head honcho about this, so he quickly got up out of the large leather chair and strode to the back of the room, and walked out the door.
As he strode down the hall, many troops walked by and all of them seemed to step back slightly as they drew near. He knew they were doing this due to what many of them had seen earlier between he and Zanthor. The troops now feared him, just as he thought they should.
As he stepped into the elevator, he pushed the button for the top level, and the elevator jerked into movement. He continued to think on his plan as the elevator kicked to a stop and the doors hissed opened. Shade stepped into the cold, shadowed room once again, stepping into the spotlight. He stood there for a moment before bowing to show respect and waited until he was acknowledged to speak.
"What is it, General? Zanthor isn’t giving you a hard time again, is he?" the shadow asked, knowing that Zanthor was known for Shade's visit.
"No, I have made amends with Zanthor and I’m pretty sure he is clear, or at least a little bit clearer on where he stands on the totem pole." Shade made it sound like they had simply talked about it peacefully and Zanthor had simply accepted Shade as better.
"Well, it is uncommon that anyone is superior to Zanthor, so he is probably simply not taking it too well." The shadow seemed to understand what Shade meant by amends. "But that is beside the point. So tell me, why have you come to visit me, General? You know I dislike company when I am so comfortable by my lonesome here."
"It is something that Zanthor had mentioned to me earlier. He said something about the operation one of your squadrons is about to perform," Shade tried to explain as best he could. "Zanthor said something about there were forty backup tanks if you had underestimated the amount they could handle."
"What is so curious about that, General? It sounds perfectly fine to me, or do you think we need more?" The shadow didn’t seem to catch on very quickly.
"No, it’s the fact that you have no idea about their capabilities at all, so you are sending in far too many tanks at once. That in turn can lead to disaster because you have to consider that they could have methods of defense that we know nothing about, or they might be able to take on sixty tanks apiece. What I am trying to say is you need to send in a fodder squadron, a sort of throwaway decoy to see how they fight. That will save you tanks, money, and even some of your best soldiers. Then you will not have to guess when it comes to how powerful or weak they are." Shade explained his idea in full, hoping his master would be pleased with the idea.
"I see what you’re saying and I have to say, I should have thought of that myself. Well, I think you know what you are doing, so you have full control of the operation. Now please, leave me in peace." The shadow fell silent after the approval of the idea.
Shade bowed once again and left the spotlight. He climbed into the elevator and mashed the button to go down to the floor that the bunker was on.
Shade stood on the catwalk of the underground bunker beneath the A.O.T. tower, overlooking the soldiers working below, building tanks and many other weapons of war. Each of the troops seemed to be like ants at work, carrying large plates of metal back to their stations to continue the process of construction. Zanthor stood to the left of Shade, staring down into the bunker as well.
"As you can see, we are well prepared for any kind of opposition, whether big or small." Zanthor glanced at different troops, making sure none of them were slacking off.
"I realize this, but why do you need so much to fight such a small group of warriors?" Shade asked as he counted sixteen tanks that had just rolled off the platforms, while more troops brought over a new set of tread frames, ready to build another. "I know I can take one of them, and it would probably only take two tanks each to finish off the last of them. Why do we need nearly eighty?"
Zanthor scoffed at what the new General had said. "You underestimate them; by what I’ve heard from my master, the two most important ones can take on at least twenty of our Tanks each. The other forty are backup, in case we underestimate their power. There is also a squadron of soldiers heading with them; almost a hundred to make sure that there is enough support on foot. Then, there are fifty Fighter-Class Combat Jets that will give them air support and will help take out the two dragons that have been spotted by our spies around their tower."
"That’s ridiculous. I know for a fact that I can handle one of them, or maybe I don’t even have to fight. Apparently, you can do it yourself." Shade looked at the Tanks that had just been finished and rolled off the platforms, being replaced by yet more tread frames that would begin the process again. He couldn’t believe the amount of energy that was being dumped into this operation.
"Yes, General, you really don’t have to fight; I think I can handle it myself." Zanthor made it clear that he thought himself superior to Shade; his words cutting the other General at the knees, hoping to see him fall. Shade simply shrugged off the comment.
"Well, I don’t mind if I fight or not anyway, because I got a position higher than I thought I could receive with no work in this organization at all. If I started fighting and earning my keep, my master might even turn his position over to me." Shade smirked when he saw the fury on Zanthor’s face. Obviously he had worked hard to get the position he was in and he had lost a lot in the process as well, his eye in particular.
"Well, we will see how well you do when you fight, whenever that may be." Zanthor tried to counter Shade's sharp remark, but couldn’t do it very well, so he simply backed off.
"So, I call the shots around here, as the boss man said, so how come I didn’t hear about the whole operation of us attacking them until just now?" Shade asked, looking suspiciously over at Zanthor.
"It is because it is your first day in this position, or even this organization, for that matter, and also because I call the shots. You can say if you like it or not, but I won’t care and go through with it anyway." Zanthor knew his master would not hear of such an act, but he found it to be the best way of everything working out.
"Well, I think you’re putting yourself in a higher position than you are supposed to be, contradicting what your superior says, contradicting what your superior’s superior says, and I think that you may want to rethink what you just said and say it in a way that would be more pleasing for me to hear," Shade snapped, showing Zanthor that he wouldn’t tolerate insubordination.
In a single, fluid motion, Zanthor flung around and grabbed Shade by the throat and threw him against the rail of the catwalk, nearly forcing him over.
"Let me make this clear, General, I don’t like you, and you have made it clear that you do not like me. When I say something goes, you will not question it. I have been working here for far too long, and far too hard for some kind of smartass to barge his way in and think he is better at doing my job than me!" His face showed a mixture of rage and seriousness as he spoke. "Do I make myself clear?" Zanthor stared into Shade's eyes, trying to intimidate him into following his orders.
"Well, General..." Shade rose and punched Zanthor in the stomach, causing him to fall backwards onto the catwalk. He put his foot on the fallen Zanthor's chest. "I don’t think I like the way you just said that either, and I don’t think you know who you are dealing with. I am not just some person who decided to walk into the picture. I am the downright nastiest, cruelest person you will ever meet. I can be ten times more intimidating than you, and I am ten times stronger than you will ever hope to be. I have gained, lost, learned, and fought more in one year than you have in your entire life. I have earned this position and I plan to keep it. Savvy?"
Zanthor said nothing when he heard this, knowing that this might have been why his master chose Shade to be in an even higher position than him. Shade weakly kicked Zanthor in the face, and walked away from the General, leaving him there. All Zanthor could do was cough up a clot of blood before he was gone.
Once gone, Zanthor slowly stood back up to see all the troops below staring at him as blood dripped down his camouflage uniform. Zanthor wiped the blood off his lips and barked, "BACK TO WORK! ALL OF YOU!"
* * *
Shade sat in the chair of a darkened room, looking at the different monitors around him, each of them getting feeds from outside or inside the building. He just stared into the emptiness as he thought of all the things that he had to go through in the past year. He gritted his teeth and punched the monitor closest to him. As it cracked, he looked into it to see that its camera had been placed at the loading dock of the bunker. He began looking at all the tanks, planes and guns that were lined up in the room. It was a ridiculous amount. Then he thought about what Zanthor had said about all the forces they were sending in. He sat there gape mouthed at what he just realized.
"That can’t be right," Shade said out loud to himself. "That simply can’t be right."
He began to scan all the monitors for more loading rooms. All of them were packed as well. There had to have been more than eighty tanks in all, and much more than just a hundred guns. This corporation had been planning earlier, he knew, but there was no need for that much.
And he said that they had no real idea of how many each of them could take on apiece, Shade thought to himself, shaking his head slowly. Shade knew he had to talk to the head honcho about this, so he quickly got up out of the large leather chair and strode to the back of the room, and walked out the door.
As he strode down the hall, many troops walked by and all of them seemed to step back slightly as they drew near. He knew they were doing this due to what many of them had seen earlier between he and Zanthor. The troops now feared him, just as he thought they should.
As he stepped into the elevator, he pushed the button for the top level, and the elevator jerked into movement. He continued to think on his plan as the elevator kicked to a stop and the doors hissed opened. Shade stepped into the cold, shadowed room once again, stepping into the spotlight. He stood there for a moment before bowing to show respect and waited until he was acknowledged to speak.
"What is it, General? Zanthor isn’t giving you a hard time again, is he?" the shadow asked, knowing that Zanthor was known for Shade's visit.
"No, I have made amends with Zanthor and I’m pretty sure he is clear, or at least a little bit clearer on where he stands on the totem pole." Shade made it sound like they had simply talked about it peacefully and Zanthor had simply accepted Shade as better.
"Well, it is uncommon that anyone is superior to Zanthor, so he is probably simply not taking it too well." The shadow seemed to understand what Shade meant by amends. "But that is beside the point. So tell me, why have you come to visit me, General? You know I dislike company when I am so comfortable by my lonesome here."
"It is something that Zanthor had mentioned to me earlier. He said something about the operation one of your squadrons is about to perform," Shade tried to explain as best he could. "Zanthor said something about there were forty backup tanks if you had underestimated the amount they could handle."
"What is so curious about that, General? It sounds perfectly fine to me, or do you think we need more?" The shadow didn’t seem to catch on very quickly.
"No, it’s the fact that you have no idea about their capabilities at all, so you are sending in far too many tanks at once. That in turn can lead to disaster because you have to consider that they could have methods of defense that we know nothing about, or they might be able to take on sixty tanks apiece. What I am trying to say is you need to send in a fodder squadron, a sort of throwaway decoy to see how they fight. That will save you tanks, money, and even some of your best soldiers. Then you will not have to guess when it comes to how powerful or weak they are." Shade explained his idea in full, hoping his master would be pleased with the idea.
"I see what you’re saying and I have to say, I should have thought of that myself. Well, I think you know what you are doing, so you have full control of the operation. Now please, leave me in peace." The shadow fell silent after the approval of the idea.
Shade bowed once again and left the spotlight. He climbed into the elevator and mashed the button to go down to the floor that the bunker was on.