Crimson Shadow

“Yep. Now where is our beloved sister?” Khatuu asked while snatching back his bag from Bella who had returned her focus to the device in her hands.

“I don’t know. Check her room.” She said uninterestedly.

“Fine.” Khatuu sighed before leading Akairo and Zabu back to the living room where he instructed that they sit on two of the four chairs.

He then dashed up the stairs, leaving Akairo and Zabu alone for a moment.

Akairo noticed that his was considerably more worn than the others.

The one that Zabu sat on littered with burn marks and the one next to his had the crest of Emetism stitched onto it.

The last one had no visible marks of any kind but just as Akairo leaned over to get a closer look at it, Khatuu returned with a certain woman in tow.

Akairo tilted his head in confusion because he recognized the black silk wrappings around her head but instead of wearing the gown of a priestess, she wore a blue vest and some grey pajamas pants.

The best allowed Akairo to see her rather muscular physique although it also revealed her myriad scars.

“And here they are!” Khatuu declared but the woman simply crossed her arms.

“Mmm...” She sounded while seemingly eying Akairo and Zabu over.

“That’s one more than we need.” The woman said. Her voice was muffled slightly by her head wraps.

“I know but the weird little man is the kid’s master yada yada yada.” Khatuu explained while leaning against the woman and although he was resting most of his weight on her, she didn’t budge.

Instead, she gently pushed him off and walked towards Zabu who’s expression was still stiff.

She then offered him her hand.

“Welcome to the home of the Kalib Sawda. My name is Z but I would prefer it if you called me sister Z and although I will tolerate your presence in our home, I hope you understand that you are not one of us.” She said.

“Completely.” Zabu said while Akairo nodded.

“Good. Follow me, please.” Z said while making her way back to the stairs.

Akairo and Zabu followed her upstairs and into a corridor which was lined with eight nine doors. Eight along its sides and one at the end.

Z walked up the eighth door which was the furthest to the left.

“This will be your doom- oh, please place your ID card over the scanner.”

Zabu did as instructed and the box let out two beeps prompting Z to place her card above it.

The box let out one final beep and the metal door labels simply as “8” opened revealing that it was full of tent equipment, car parts and other various pieces of machinery.

“Take everything and out it in the back of the hanger.” Z said while walking over to the seventh door which was opposite the eighth.

She instructed that Akairo do what Zabu did and, after placing her ID in front of the sensor, the door opened revealing yet another room filled with equipment.

“The briefing starts in an hour so drop whatever you came with in the living room for now and gear up. Khatuu, get everyone ready.” Z instructed while turning to leave but Khatuu placed his hand on her shoulder making her stop.

“Who died and made you captain?” He growled only nose to start bleeding a little.

Khatuu quickly notice this and so, he let go of Z and wiped his nose before lowering his head.

“S-sorry.”

Z continued down the hall and entered the room which Akairo assumed was hers.

He turned to Khatuu who rubbed the back of his head while making a stiff expression.

He realized Akairo was staring at him and this resulted in a near instant change in his expression.

“Hehe, you heard the lady. Come on.” Khatuu said with a grin although this one was considerably dimmer.

He led Akairo and Zabu to the bathroom which contained a section before the single open shower area which was filled to the brim with military equipment. Bulletproof vests, guns of all sorts, headgear and more.

“Alright. You really don’t need anything other than a vest and maybe a handgun because your flames will be enough to burn anyone who gets into your way. As for me? I’ll join you in a moment. Gotta get a certain gearhead to shower first.” Khatuu said before leaving the bathroom.

Akairo turned to Zabu who signed before dropping his bag.

“Sit there and close your eyes.”

Akairo tilted his head.

“Unless you really want to see me naked.” Zabu smirked but Akairo simply scoffed before doing as he instructed.

“Meditate on your Tal Circuits or something.” Zabu said while undressing.

Akairo kept his eyes closed but frowned a little.

“Is that even a thing?”

“Try it and find out.” Zabu said and Akairo heard as he walked into the shower.

He turned on the water but at this point Akairo’s thoughts had begun to wander.

He thought about the strange interaction between Khatuu and Z.

He knew that Khatuu was strong but for someone to silence him like that...

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Akairo wondered what element Z could use.

He wondered why she wrapped her head in black silk.

He had read about how certain Emetist priests and priestesses would wrap their heads in while silk but that was only for certain ceremonies.

A person wouldn’t be able to get around if they couldn’t see and yet Z had no problem navigating her surroundings.

Akairo shifted to the woman known as Bella.

He.. really didn’t have much to think about.

She seemed really into machinery but that was just about all Akairo could gather after meeting her.

“I’m done.” Zabu said.

Akairo nodded before opening his eyes and standing up.

He turned around and saw that Zabu had changed into some dark grey fatigues and some boots. He was in the process of slipping into a bulletproof vest and wore some gloves.

Akairo began undressing and he carefully placed Das’s jacket on the bench but just as he removed the top part of his uniform, Khatuu rushed into the bathroom with a certain woman in hand.

“If you don’t let me go, I’ll bite you!” Bella yelled.

Khatuu sighed and carefully placed her on the floor.

“We gotta move so stop being difficult!” Khatuu yelled while undoing his many belts.

Bella growled before kicking Khatuu in the shin with her booted foot.

Khatuu didn’t react as he pulled his pants down making blood rush to Akairo’s face and ears.

“One day I’ll grow big and strong and I’ll beat the shit out of you.” Bella hissed while taking off her vest making even more blood rush to Akairo’s head.

She scoffed before kicking off her boots and taking off her pants.

She then followed Khatuu into the shower area.

“Hey, eyeballs! Get movin’ too!” Zabu snapped and Akairo, after blinking a few times, removed the rest of his clothes and joined the others in the shower.

He tried his best not to look at Bella ask she was standing right next to him but his eyes kept wondering.

Bella noticed this but even though her eyes turned to his general direction, they never met his.

She returned to showering but what was once fluster and anxiety in mind was replaced with a strange coldness.

He used this feeling of unease to focus on showering, after which he joined Khatuu and Bella in changing into fatigues, although Bella had hers halfway removed with her legs being the only part they covered. This revealed a new clean vest. She slipped into a bullet proof vest and promptly walked out of the bathroom with her hair bound in a bun atop which sat an unmarked black Barret.

As for Khatuu, his fatigues were also halfway worn, allowing his muscles to be seen. He slipped into a large sized bulletproof vest, wore a set of ten black metal rings and a black Barret before leaving the bathroom.

Akairo wore his fatigues fully along with a bulletproof vest. He then wore Das’s jacket on top of everything.

He knew that there was a change he would die wherever they ended up going but he was determined to die within Das’s embrace.

He glanced at the guns on the wall and turned to Zabu who waited for him with crossed arms.

“Do you know how to use one?” Zabu asked harshly almost in anticipation of Akairo’s coming questions.

“N-no.”

“Then don’t take it. That man said it clearly before. Your fire is hot. Use it to burn whoever would direct their animosity towards you.” Zabu said with a twisted expression.

Akairo nodded before following Zabu out of the bathroom.

The two then joined the others in the living room around the circular table where Z awaited them.

She, like everyone else, wore fatigues and a vest but she was also the only one who held in her hands a gun. Strapped to various parts of her body were also additional magazines.

Her weapon was what Akairo faintly recognized to be an assault rifle. It had a scope at its top but that’s just about all Akairo knew.

She was also the only one wearing a helmet which was firmly held to her head by a chinstrap. Attached to it were all kinds of ocular devises.

Khatuu walked up to the desk and grabbed one of the four devices on the table. They were thin, black and had what appeared to be earpieces on both ends.

He placed it behind his head and placed the earpieces into his ears.

Bella did the same prompting Akairo and Zabu to do so as well.

Akairo’s brows furrowed as he could hear almost nothing.

Khatuu walked up to him and took out his ID while pointing at Akairo pocket.

Akairo did as instructed and followed more of Khatuu’s directions.

Apparently, one could connect the earpieces to their ID, which would biometrically connect them to their wearer.

Akairo’s eyes widened as sound suddenly returned to his ears only it was somehow clearer than that he ever heard without the earpieces.

Khatuu gave him a thumbs up before returning to Z’s side.

Without saying a word, Z walked towards the exit and Khatuu followed closely behind.

Bella followed next while Akairo and Zabu walked behind her.

They all exited the building and Z entered the seat next to the driver’s while Khatuu sat next to her.

Bella sat on the third seat via one of the second set of doors and Zabu sat on the fifth seat next to Zabu’s.

Khatuu droved back onto the road and down the way they arrived in.

He then took the right at the turn.

“Hey, kid. Everything you’re gonna hear in the base is too secret and if you ever tell anyone what they tell us, we’ll all be brutally killed, so... Keep your mouth shut about what we do on the clock.” He said with a grin making Akairo nod.

Khatuu nodded back and eventually drove the armoured cruiser towards a set of buildings that were arranged in a circle around a much larger building.

Countless soldiers could be seen patrolling the area and many others marched along the road.

Khatuu parked in front of the largest building and followed Z out of the car prompting everyone else to do the same.

They then followed her into the building where they entered the lobby.

Z walked up to the receptionist and gave him her ID.

He scanned his and promptly gave it back to her.

Z placed the card back in her pocket and led everyone to the double doors directly behind the receptionist.

They automatically opened, revealing a small cubical space which was lined with white walls.

Everyone stepped into it and the double doors closed behind them.

Another set of double doors opened in front of them and this revealing a board room which was empty.

At its centre was a large ovular desk which was lined with several chairs.

At the rooms furthest end, to the left, was a single door.

Z unceremoniously sat on one and everyone followed suit.

A moment passed in the mind numbing silence of the room.

It almost felt as time had stopped and the only thing that reminded Akairo that it had not was the minute movements everyone made.

The door to the left eventually opened and three people walked into the room.

One was a man who wore the dark blue uniform of a general and it was littered with medals and pins.

He had pale skin, a head of shortly cut black hair and eyes that glowed permanently white.

Akairo recognised the man as High General Robert Wallace, the head of the armed forces of Emtza.

Accompanying him were two people, a man and a woman, who were clad in skin tight clothing that was covered in tactical gear. They held assault rifles and both wore skin tight masks which covered their heads. On top of their masks were helmets which had only one set of ocular devises. A device which made it seem as though they had four red eyes with two lenses on each side.

The man stood in front of the desk just as an SDS display several images on the wall behind him. They were of a hilltop village only it was littered in craters and scorch marks.

“Oh- you’re Salim’s pups... Well, I’m sure you all know who I am but I’m afraid we have not the time for small talk. The images behind me show a Devout base in a small village named Koryfílófou, all the way up in Kátagma. We sent two teams in to retrieve this.” Robert said as a single image appeared, covered most of what the SDS could display.

Akairo’s eyes widened as he faintly recognized what was being shown.

The picture showed a man, dressed in casual clothes, holding a dull grey cube in his hands.

“This is a weapon of mass destruction being developed by the Devout and we believe it is capable of destroying an entire city in a matter of seconds. We obtained intel recently that revealed that more of those things were being developed in Koryfílófou. The two teams before you were supposed to destroy the facilities up there and bring one of those things into our hands so that we could analyse and destroy it but although they managed to clear the site of Devout and destroy the facility, they were unable to retrieve one of the weapons and we lost contact with them shortly after they cleared the site.” Robert explained just as another image appeared on the SDS. This one was of the largest building in the village. It, like the many around it, was almost completely destroyed.

“This is where Crooks and his boys said they located them. I want you to go up there, grab one of those devices, regardless of how incomplete or damaged it is, and bring it into our hands so that we can deal with it appropriately. That is all you need to know about what only the people in this room will call Operation Leyden. I expect you to be in the air before the hour.” Robert explained before turning to leave.

His two companions followed him out and the room eventually returned to silence.