Holy Order™ - RF Online Philippines

Western Region, Bellator. It was 2100H in the evening when sparks of light started falling from the sky. Separating the dense layer of clouds floating over the Western landscape, the glowing balls of light lit the ground, and then disappeared into the soil. This went on for about 30 minutes and stopped abruptly.

This was the only activity that was apparent at the time. The locals were busy with their bartering as it was almost the end of the day; busy finishing up their deals and trades. The children were all inside their homes and the parents have already closed their doors. Even the soldiers at the encampment were already doing their final rounds when the “lightshow” occurred.

There was no evidence of an attack, and the encampment did not make any effort to sound any alarm. This led many to believe that there were tests being held, and that it was not enough of a reason to start packing. The soldiers, on the other hand, have been roused by the event, and the intelligence division started running around trying to obtain any information.

“Get your asses moving!” bellowed the Intelligence Chief. He just stepped into the room where a bunch of agitated soldiers were fidgeting with a bunch of instruments. “This is the worst bunch of idiots I have ever seen!” the chief shouted while looking over some charts. “We have to find some information on those sparks of light before we end up toasted. And you know how I hate toast! Move it!”

The chief was named Berlon Drustag. He had been an Intelligence Chief for over a decade and was part of the war-effort that retrieved information on the Accretians. Standing 5’4”, he was quite short but his voice was always demanding quick action. Soldiers under him have always followed his command, not due to fear of getting hurt, but fear of not being able to get any more job opportunities in the field. Chief Drustag has the most connections in the Western Region. If anybody wanted any information on anyone, he would be the one to ask.

It was already obvious that Drustag was not in the mood for any stupidity, nor any foolishness. Being disturbed from his daily routine was not something that he fancies, especially something that would lead him bewildered and stupefied. “I want to know what those floating boats of light are! If they’re candy, I want to know! If they’re bombs, I want to know how we’re going to deal with them!” he said demandingly. “AND WHY ARE YOU SITTING DOWN?” he said angrily at one of the operators manning the communications desk.

At that last note, the ground started shaking. This sent the chief falling on the floor and on his bottom. Those in the room grabbed onto their desks and some made their way to their fallen chief. “I can stand up on my own. JUST GET THE DATA WE NEED!” he bellowed while getting up. His eyebrows were already furled just above the bridge of his nose. His pleasant, although serious, face now seemed like he was on fire from the inside.

At this point he was thinking about his reputation. He has always known everything worth knowing when he was asked. At any time, those in the upper chain of command would be asking him about the issue at hand. If he did not have any answer to give them, that would be a first and that is something he is not willing to undergo. His reputation is everything for him.

“This is not good,” Drustag said as he grabbed his data pad. Requests for information began rapidly scrolling on his communications device, and that made him even madder. He took his data pen and started replying to the requests.

DATA REQUEST (DEFENSE OPS. INTEL DVN OPTR. G-54):

LIGHT SPARK WESTERN REGION 50° La 5° Lo. 50 SPARKS ENTERED GROUND. NEED INSTRUCTIONS.

 

REPLY:

NO DATA AVAILABLE. STILL OBTAINING INFORMATION. ASK INSTRUCTIONS FROM YOUR CO.

 

DATA REQUEST (DEFENSE OPS. DEPLOYMENT DVN OVERCHIEF. G-9):

WHAT’S WITH THE LIGHT SHOW? NEED INFORMATION ASAP.

 

REPLY:

ON IT, SIR. INFORMATION IS BEING OBTAINED. WILL FORWARD ANY INFO ASAP.

 

Drustag’s face became flustered with every message he responded to. The personnel in the room were still running around and gathering data when the ground shook once again. The strength of the tremor was the same as before. It lasted the same amount of time, and it sent the chief sprawling on the floor once again. This time the other personnel did not make any motion to help him up.

Drustag smiled. “You catch up fast. Get me the information I need through my data pad,” then he took his data pad and walked out the room.

In the halls of the encampment, soldiers were busy running around trying to get to their battalions. Even with the number of decorations plastered over his uniform, nobody bothered to stop and render a salute. Although this did not bother him, he was discontented at the fact that the cause of the chaos was lack of information.

He looked to his left, and a party of battle-ready vigilantes was running towards him, and was apparently on the way to the Alpha Battalion, the offensive unit. To his right, a vehicle was transporting racks of gothic shields to the eastern group where Delta was getting ready to be ported to the defensive lines.

“What do these people think they’re going to do…” he asked himself. With that, he turned around and went back into the Intelligence Center. “Sound the alarm. We’re going to get to the bottom of this first-hand. You, you, and you -- we’re going to the site.” he commanded. At that note, loud sirens started blaring and everyone in the encampment paused before continuing their tasks.

Drustag exited the Intelligence Center with 3 snipers and they made their way to the vehicle dock. “Better grab your stealth suits. We don’t have any idea what we’re up against,” he told his men.

On the way to the dock, he came across the encampment’s security commander, Chief Gaz Lore. Lore was walking hurriedly towards the Intelligence Center in hopes of finding an answer from Drustag personally.

Lore’s face was not worthy of painting at this moment.

He was obviously in no mood for pleasantries and was brushing away everyone in his path. Even a pair of trainees from the mystics on their way to the barracks was not spared from his wrath. “Move out of the way!” he bellowed while pushing them aside with such force that it sent one of them flying towards the wall, and the other falling flat on his back.

Lore was one of the largest Sentinels in the camp. “Rockhard” as everyone calls him has earned his spot as security commander when he was able to defend a small settlement from beasts all by himself.  Not only acknowledged for his physical prowess, he is also widely known as an expert on security gadgets. One would not be able to perceive all this at first glance. Although big and bulky, Rockhard has a friendly look to his face.

But, this was not the case when he bumped into Drustag.

“We have been waiting for word for almost 30 minutes, Drustag!” he told the flustered Intelligence Chief. “I’m sure you are aware how it feels to be blind for that amount of time,” he continued while remembering an encounter they had with a Flash Reptile wherein Drustag was blinded for almost 20 minutes by the creature’s attack.

“I am as worried as you are, Sir Rockhard.” Drustag replied in a calm manner. “I am already on my way to the site with my men,” he said while pointing at the 3 snipers behind him.

“Then, be on your way and relay us any information as soon as possible.” Lore said demandingly.

“Will do Commander!” he replied. He rendered a salute to the commander and continued on to the speeder docks.

The irritated security commander, on the other hand, moved on to do his rounds. He made his way to the trainees section first. It was standard-operating-procedure for the security commander to brief all the personnel on what has to be done. It was usually done over the security communicator in the middle of the encampment, but he felt like going on foot this time.

Upon reaching the training bay doors, he thought to himself that the trainees would probably be scared and anxious; running around and arguing amongst one another. When he pressed the yellow switch beside the doors to open them, he was surprised. There was no sense of anxiety inside the room – everyone was patiently sitting on the floor in line.

“Sir, what’s going on?” one of the cadets asked.

“We’re still trying to find out.” Lore replied bluntly.

“Sir, why is every—” a mystics cadet tried to ask, but Lore cut him off by asking for their trainer.

“He should be here tending to your questions,” the security commander said with a stern voice. He was trying to find out if the trainees would become anxious with the added pressure and questions. Apparently, they were not affected by Lore’s presence. They seemed to be more interested in what was happening outside.

At this point, the ground shook again – making most of the trainees grab the floor. This tremor lasted longer than the others. Lore was not phased at all, but he pulled his data pad from his belt to examine it. He was not able to hide his feeling of surprise, which made the trainees look anxious. For them, it was okay to wait for any information, but seeing the security commander look surprised and anxious was something they had a hard time accepting. When Lore looked up, he was faced with a platoon of trainees who were eagerly waiting for an answer – their faces full of anxiety and worry.

Rockhard was just about to open his mouth to explain his expression when the training bay doors suddenly opened up from behind him.

“Commander Rockhard. I suspect that this isn’t a pleasant visit. What’s going on?” said the lady who was going into the room. She was of average height and had a slender figure. Her wearing glasses could only mean she was fond of reading or she spent too much time in the intelligence chamber reading data. As she entered, the shadows of the doors made it hard for the security commander to see who was talking. By the tone of her voice, it seemed that she was an instructor or someone from the academia.

When the light finally shone on her, Rockhard gave a slight smile.

“Miss Leru. Always a pleasant evening when you’re around,” he replied.

“Ever so polite with the ladies, Commander?” she said, not allowing Rockhard to continue what he was going to say. “I would be more delighted to hear about these tremors. Due to all the commotion outside, I had to teach the cadets advanced battle tactics,” she continued with a very concerned expression on her face.

Rockhard explained his encounter with Chief Drustag and how they were going out into the field to look for any data.  This left Astaria Leru, one of the encampments best instructors in battle tactics, looking a bit worried. She knew that the battle capabilities of Drustag was something best left unsaid – even she could tackle him to the ground using a knife.

The commander nudged the instructor to the side; away from the student’s hearing as much as he could. “Astaria, it’s best that you take the children to the escape pods,” he said calmly while looking into the emerald-colored eyes of the woman in front of him.

“It’s not safe for them if ever we find out that the things that are causing these tremors are invaders,” he continued.

“They can fight, Gaz,” she replied calmly, while holding his face with both her hands.

“It’s not safe for you.”

“I’ll be fine.”

As soon as she ended on that note, the ground suddenly shook, with more intensity than the previous ones. Explosions could be heard from outside the door, and the lights turned to crimson. They were under attack.

Chief Drustag drew his long knife and buried one end of his long shield into the floor right in front of the room. The trainees took out their weapons as well and prepared themselves with Leru standing behind the encampment’s commander.

“Ready yourselves,” she told the young ones behind her, as she threw some mid-grade mini rocket guard towers to the sides of the commander.

A blinding flash of light was the only thing that could be seen afterwards, and it was accompanied by an echoing blast that threw the doors of the room flying towards the group.

~~~ TO BE CONTINUED ~~

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