Legends of Amacia Return of the Beowulf

Intelligence Report

When Horace’s hesitation became obvious, Nemesis said coldly, “Come now, Horace. As a Cadre Wizard and their top researcher, you were privilege to things I was not. Now speak, wizard.”

“Okay, okay,” Horace replied, shaking with fear. “I do know about them.”

“First question: are they for real?” Hannibal asked bluntly. “Do they really exist and does the Emperor have a brood of them?”

“Yes,” Horace answered, his fear obvious, “They are for real and yes, the Emperor does have a brood of them.”

“How many are there?” Selina asked bluntly.

“Forty-eight,” Horace declared in a grim tone.

“Where,” Enoch demanded.

“Kartoom,” Horace reported, sweat glistening on his brow. “They are imprisoned near the Chasm of Kartoom deep underground in cave with a reinforced exit to the chasm. The Emperor plans to unleash them after the Rising, using them to help with the conquest of the world. We have manipulated them genetically for tens of thousands of cycles, trying to make them more controllable. However, it seems that the more we messed with them, the meaner and more unpredictable they became. They are wild, wilder than anything you can even conceive of with a vehement hatred of anything human. But the Emperor means to use them as a bio-organic weapon. He believes he can control them, even though I’m convinced they cannot be controlled. It would be folly to release them. If they get loose, they will burn the world to ashes, most likely starting with the Emperor.”

Hannibal swore under his breath as Selina asked, “How quickly do they breed?”

“The females lay eggs every three months, upwards of twenty-four at a time,” Horace declared grimly. “Once the males fertilize the eggs, it takes one month for the eggs to hatch and three months for the hatchlings to mature enough to leave the nest. They immediately begin feeding as soon as they are hatched, fed by the female with prey she brings to the nest. Therefore, four months after the eggs are laid, one of these drakens can produce twenty-four more capable of reproducing as well, which means that their population will grow exponentially. One becomes twenty four, which if they keep laying the same number of eggs each time, the twenty-four will become almost six hundred in another four months. By time a complete cycle has taken place, the one draken will have, through its offspring produced over eleven hundred. And that’s just one. We are talking about forty-two females with six males, including an alpha male that fertilize the eggs, many times from the air. You do the math. It’s a thought I don’t want to even contemplate.”

“Holy shit,” Hannibal cursed. “That means in a year there will be fifty thousand or more! Lord have mercy!”

Horace nodded grimly as everyone gawked at the figures, adding, “Those figures only hold if they stick to the standard laying of twenty-four eggs. Sometimes they lay less, sometimes more. From what we’ve observed of these creatures’ breeding habits, the males statistically fertilize two-thirds to three-quarters of the clutch. We’ve seen roughly a quarter of the eggs never hatch. But sometimes the males do fertilize the whole clutch. That usually occurs when they come into the nest instead of doing it from the air. But we have seldom seen it done that way. They generally do their fertilizing from the air by flying over the nest. That is where we get our statistics. Anyway, if they are released, they will destroy all life on this planet, even the Emperor’s. Though I don’t think that he knows it or even cares. All he cares about at this point is destroying you, Master Hannibal.”

“How did you keep their numbers down?” Selina asked.

“We genetically altered them to reduce the number of eggs the females could produce,” Horace replied. “But that part I wasn’t privy to since it wasn’t my area of expertise. I don’t know whether they were successful in their attempts. I do know that for a great long time we simply kept the males from breeding with the females by keeping them separated along with destroying most of the eggs. Most of the numbers I told you were from the ancient texts when they first appeared with the alpha male of their species. Only three of them managed to survive the Kragonar: two females and the alpha male. They survived because the Cadre was experimenting on them at the time in an effort to control them. Over the eons that this land has been buried, the Cadre at the behest of the Emperor slowly increased their number to the numbers that I told you. Their breeding was strictly controlled because if unchecked, they would have quickly overwhelmed us with their numbers.”

“That goes to reason,” Morpheus stated. “What better way to control numbers than to control their breeding? You know much about the Azhidakar, Horace. Have you ever seen one face to face?”

Horace shuddered as he said, “Just once. I stumbled into their lair by accident one day and nearly paid for it with my life.” He pulled up his right sleeve to his shoulder, revealing where his machine arm had been attached to his shoulder. The flesh where the machine arm had been attached was terribly scarred as if it was burned. “The beast nearly burned my arm off and as a result, I was grafted with the cybernetic implants similar to the ones that Beowulf wanted to give to the little girl. Trust me, cybernetics for her would not work. This contraption they grafted on me sometimes tends to be a pain in the ass. As I said earlier, I remember the grafting process and it was extremely painful. It hurt like a son of a bitch. I’ve had these attachments for nigh on fifty cycles and where they are grafted onto my flesh, it still hurts sometimes.” He pulled the sleeve down and sighed, putting his skin glove back on the machine arm. “If you want that little girl to have a normal life, you need to find some other means to do it,” he concluded. “The standard prosthetics idea seems to be the most viable one, at least until we get the Nano-Chamber fully operational. I would go that route before even thinking about using cybernetics. As for the Azhidakar, pray you never have to meet them face to face. They’re very cunning and hostile with a burning hatred of humans because of what the Emperor had done to them. You cannot trust them. I pray to the gods the Emperor never gets the chance to unleash them.”

“Thank you, Horace,” Hannibal said softly. “You have been extremely honest and forth coming with us today, even though you were fearful to do so. Your input on both cybernetics and the Azhidakar has been enlightening. Thank you.” He looked at Horace with a tight smile, and a thought suddenly popped into his head, so he gave voice to it. “One more thing that you might know something about Horace,” he stated. “I knew about the prisoners of Amacia because I was one of them. However, I know nothing about the Cadre and their operation in Kartoom. I know they routinely raided the Black Fortress’ dungeons for victims to be used in their experiments. Enoch saw that when he raided their labs during the rescue operation.”

“That I did,” Enoch confirmed. “It was atrocious what we found in those labs. I slew every wizard we found in there.”

“Yes, the Cadre routinely raids the dungeons for victims,” Horace asked with a puzzled look on his face. “But I don’t understand what you want to know?”

“Then let me spell it out for you, my friend,” Hannibal stated bluntly. “Are there any prisoners in Kartoom like those in the Black Fortress?”

“I’m afraid so,” Horace replied, shaking his head sadly, “And many more there than were in the dungeons of the Black Fortress. In fact, their numbers are more than triple of those who were in Amacia. Anyone who is taken over the River Styx never returns.”

“How many are there?” Enoch asked pointedly.

“Five thousand the last time I looked just before Nemesis saved me from the Emperor,” Horace reported grimly. “They are fodder for the experiments, and for the Emperor’s pets such as the Azhidakar, the taroks, and weracks. The Cadre has tried to keep the supply of prisoners either static or slowly increased their numbers depending on what they’re doing at the time. The Cadre’s experiments and creation of Zarukar and Xenians take top priority. They always need fresh genetic material for their experiments and cloning operations.”

Selina was dismayed at what she heard and asked, “What exactly goes on there anyway?”

Horace leaned forward in his chair, sighing in a troubled way. “Are you sure you want to hear it?” he asked bluntly. “It’s not going to be pretty. It’s far worse than what went on in the Black Fortress.”

Hannibal reached out and held Selina’s hand, feeling her anxiousness, saying to Horace, “Tell us. We have to know.”

Horace nodded, saying, “Very well; since I’ve damned my soul anyhow, maybe what I tell you will help make up for just a little bit of it. Kartoom is the Emperor’s primary research and manufacturing facility. Acheron used to be that facility until the Chimera virus wiped out almost everyone there in the 1st Age. At Kartoom, the Cadre plumbs into every depth. There are processing plants that turn out Xenians by the hundreds of thousands. Zarukars are grown in equal numbers. There are leagues of facilities that engineer these beasts. Cloning is a most unpleasant fact there. The prisoners that I spoke of are used when the soup as we called it needs freshening with new genetic material. They are also used in the research experiments when the Cadre wants to either try something new or improve on something they have already done. But when it comes to the Zarukar or the Xenians, they are clones and the new models are far superior to those that stormed Kaal Bek. The Zarukar in Kasa Bek were an older model. The newer models are larger, faster, and much more dangerous. Their saliva is venomous to humans, as are their claws. Master Hannibal knows what I’m talking about. He killed several in the Arena before his escape. They are also much more intelligent than their predecessors.”

“Hold on a minute, Horace. Since we are talking about these things, I just realized that we are missing someone: Captain Marvin. Elle, could you go get him, please?” Hannibal ordered. Elle nodded and immediately left on a mission. “All right Horace, please continue,” Hannibal said stoically.

“Well anyway, Kartoom is an extremely dangerous place because of what goes on there,” Horace said, continuing with the briefing. “In addition to the processing plants that produce the Xenian and Zarukar models, there are processing plants for turning out battle droids and war machines by the hundreds of thousands too. You may not know it, but we have created living autonomous machines that serve the Cadre and the Emperor. They exist only to serve the Emperor and they will destroy every perceived threat to the Emperor. They control the mechanized divisions of the battle droids and war machines.”

“This gets better by the minute,” Enoch hissed. “Now we have to not only deal with the Emperor and his minions like the Zarukar, the Xenians and these Azhidakar, but we also have to deal with killer droids that operate on their own. All we are lacking now are the Old Ones.”

Enoch’s comment dismayed Horace greatly. “The Old Ones are not to be trifled with,” Horace insisted, “They are there as well, but the gateway has never been opened enough to let them through. Ahriaman and the Emperor have been communicating with them through our gateways, gathering technical expertise that would allow a full opening of the gates. I know Ahriaman was close to finding the key to unleash the Old Ones. But now that he is slain by Master Hannibal, I know not what they are going to do about it. If they unleash both the Old Ones and the Azhidakar, they will sweep over the world like a plague and nothing will be spared. Only Ahriaman and his top two aids as well as the Emperor have the capability to fully open the gates.”

Hannibal’s countenance darkened at the mention of the Old Ones, asking, “Is there a gateway in Kartoom like there was under Acheron on the Isle of the Devourers? I know that was where the gate was in Acheron. I watched the Almighty destroy that gate.”

Horace nodded, saying, “Yes. It is deep underneath Kartoom just like at Acheron as I’ve heard. The Cadre have specially engineered guardians for it. The only ones that could ever go near it were Ahriaman and his top lieutenants. The guardians would not allow anyone else to approach.”

“Sounds familiar,” Hannibal growled. “Are they basilisks by any chance?”

Horace stopped cold at his question. “Yes, as a matter of fact, they are,” he finally answered. “How did you know?”

Hannibal looked into Horace’s eyes and said, “I slew three of them rescuing Muriel from her prison and the fourth I communicated with, convincing it that it didn’t need to die and neither did we. It backed off, but as I dealt with them, I could sense the malevolent and evil nature of the beasts. I figured that they had to have been engineered. Speaking of engineered devils, tell us about the Dark Riders.”

Once again, Horace shuddered as he briefed them on the Rakshasar, saying, “The Rakshasar are the Emperor’s most elite guard. There were only eleven of them created. As it is with most of these things, they started out as human. No one knows who they were initially, but as the Dark Riders as you call them, they act as the Emperor’s eyes and ears and his arm when he deems it necessary. They live only to serve him and are usually only sent out if there is a problem that the Emperor wants dealt with swiftly and brutally. They are nigh invulnerable, very strong and faster than the top of the line Xenians. They are armored and cybernetically enhanced to give them their incredible strength and speed. Extremely intelligent and cunning, they learn very quickly and adapt to a foe’s strategy. I have never seen one taken down and destroyed. It is said that they have the Emperor’s mind and purpose and will kill without hesitation.” As he spoke, Elle returned with the Captain and sat down.

“What can I do for you, milord?” Marvin asked.

“Where is the fleet Nemesis told me about in the dungeons during our rescue operation?” Hannibal asked bluntly.

“The fleet is in Stygia at the River Styx,” Marvin replied. “They are housed in a mammoth underground facility that is guarded by the Emperor’s elite guard led by the captain of the Rakshasar. They are called the Black Legions.”

Hannibal could help but smile as he looked around at Selina, saying, “Now isn’t this something. Listen to the names of these places: Tartarus, Stygia, and the River Styx. All names and places in myth on the surface, places that have turned out to be real places in this land time forgot: fairy tales that I grew up with and loved all my life, even this very island of Antilla. Atlantis; All are real places.”

Selina smiled knowingly as Hannibal turned back to the Captain saying, “Forgive me, Marvin. I was just suddenly amused by the names because of the mythological significance they have to me. Please, continue.”

Marvin nodded, saying, “The Black Legions consists of the Emperor’s best and most ruthless fighters. There are three legions of them and they number approximately 3000 per legion, but only one legion guards the hangars in Stygia. They have orders to kill anyone who intrudes into the security zone around the fleet without written permission of the Emperor himself. The ships themselves are nearing completion and have the capability of space flight with a weapons arsenal of advanced energy, projectile, and nuclear weapons that can decimate the entire surface of the planet. They’re the Emperor’s ultimate weapons to be used to expand his empire to the surface and then off-world.”

“Did you say nuclear weapons?” Hannibal asked with a frown.

“I did,” Marvin stated. “From what I understand, the nuclear weapons are city-killers for when the Emperor wants to make an example of someone. However, the fusion bombs have a very nasty habit of leaving the blast area radioactively contaminated for generations. That’s why he seldom uses them. Our carite bombs have just as much punch without the nuclear fallout.”

“Marvin is correct,” Horace stated. “I spoke with Master Harry about this just the other day during the rescue operation at Hreidmar’s Bastion. Despite being obsolete and extremely dangerous, the Emperor’s nuclear stockpile is being maintained in Stygia. The plan is to arm the fleet with these weapons and use them as a backup to the main weapons systems for the fleet, which are far superior to the old-style fusion weapons. If all else fails, he’ll use the fusion weapons to obliterate all resistance. However, I don’t see the Emperor using those weapons because of how messy they are unless he’s backed into a corner. At least that’s what I was led to believe.”

“Even though the old-style nuclear warheads are sloppy and redundant, I suspect the Emperor will use them out of spite,” Nemesis stated ominously. “With what we’ve done to him thus far, he will have no qualms with using any and all weapons at his disposal to annihilate humanity because Hannibal is a human. He sees humans as nothing but pests that must be eradicated at all costs.”

“I agree. He’ll use them if not checkmated,” Josephine declared. “I know Zaros. He believes he’s a god in the flesh and will destroy all who oppose him, especially Hannibal since he’s showed everyone Zaros isn’t all-powerful. The only reason he hasn’t used these weapons in the confines of the caverns is he knows to do so will make the caverns uninhabitable, even for him and his minions. The radiation from nuclear explosions and fallout is just as dangerous to him and his minions as it is to regular humans. He will not risk turning the caverns into a radioactive hell that even he won’t survive. Zaros will wait until he escapes from this grave before using the fusion weapons on us. It’s imperative we find a way to neutralize his fusion weapons before he can use them against us or anyone else.”

Hannibal’s mind was whirling with the information he was receiving. A sigh escaped his lips. “All right,” he began. “I should have figured he’d have nukes. It follows the natural development of advanced weaponry. Do these ships have the capability to launch biological or chemical attacks as well?”

“They do,” Marvin stated bluntly. “They have arsenals of biological and chemical agents loaded into missile warheads all ready to go. Some of the Cadre’s worst weapons are present. You must remember these warships are the Emperor’s ultimate weapons of mass destruction. He will use them with impunity along with every weapon he has loaded on them, so we must somehow find a way to destroy them before they can be used on us.”

“I see,” Hannibal murmured grimly. “So what you’re all saying is these ships are as much a threat as the army, if not more so.”

“That’s right,” Nemesis stated. “If they ever come online, we’ll have no chance. Fortunately, the Emperor has not brought them online yet. He will keep them undercover until after the Rising. They’re his trump card to insure the conquest of this planet. He’ll not sacrifice them by bringing them out before the Rising no matter how bad things get for him.”

“Okay,” Hannibal replied. “I get it. We have two major threats facing us: one in Kartoom and one in Stygia. However, it seems to me that the fleet in Stygia is not quite an immediate threat as that of Kartoom. Therefore, as we make our plans to deal with Kartoom, we should also start formulating a strategy to neutralize the fleet.”

“I’d say that’s a wise thing to do,” Magnus agreed. “Both threats need to be addressed quickly and decisively.”

“Right,” Hannibal answered briskly. “But let’s concentrate on Kartoom first. It’s our most immediate threat since it’s the Emperor’s manufacturing base. Horace, is there anything you’re leaving out?” Horace looked at him with a puzzled expression for a moment and Hannibal clarified his question, asking, “I have seen two monster storms I know the Cadre was responsible for: one in Kaal Bek and the other in Acheron as it was obliterated by the overload in the core. These storms are not like the one that spawned the gravity wave last night. I know there has to be some kind of weather machine that helps the Cadre to engineer these storms. Is it in Kartoom?”

Horace slapped his head, saying, “Of course! I knew there was something I was forgetting. Yes, there is. But you must understand that all of Kartoom is a machine. The weather machine apparatus you’re speaking of happens to be built into the main citadel with the transmitter at the top of the citadel’s tower. The weather machines, the processing plants, the labs, are all part of a single mechanism. They are all of powered from a central power plant buried deep under the citadel. Only a handful of the top wizards are allowed to go anywhere near it. It happens to be near the gateway that that I told you about earlier.”

“Ah, now we are getting somewhere,” Hannibal crowed. “So you have a fairly detailed knowledge of the layout of Kartoom.”

“Yes,” Horace replied. “There were very few places that I was not allowed to go. The gateway and power plant were two of them. But even though I wasn’t allowed to go there, I did know where they were located. I spent much of my time in the Archives researching the ancient texts and technologies. As a result, the engineers in charge of the core often came to me to help troubleshoot problems that crept up in the machines.”

“Kartoom has an Archive?” Enoch asked with some surprise.

“Yes,” Horace stated. “In fact, it’s even more extensive than the one you have here. Only the Cadre is allowed in the Archives. No one else is allowed in there. The penalty for being caught in the Archive without direct written permission is summary execution on the spot. Only a handful of people have access to it. I was one of them as the top researcher.”

Hannibal leaned back and yawned a little, saying, “All right. It seems to me that we all have a plateful to chew on right now. I think that’ll be enough for now.” He looked at Josephine, seeing her grim expression. “You’ve been awful quiet as we’ve been talking about Kartoom and the Azhidakar, Jo,” he observed. “Is there anything you’d like to add? I’m sure your knowledge of the Emperor’s pet projects would be very useful right now. We have to know what the Emperor’s true capabilities are. Care to add anything else to this discussion?”

Josephine sighed, looking around at everyone. “You have no idea what the Emperor has planned for this planet,” she admitted grimly. “It’s a plan that’s been in place since the Kragonar and will decimate the planet, and with it, humanity.”

“We all figured that, Josephine,” Enoch declared. “Maybe you have some details Horace, Marvin, or Nemesis don’t have. What do you know of the Azhidakar? Has Horace been accurate in his reports on these beasts?”

“His report is quite accurate,” Josephine stated. “However, his knowledge does have gaps in it because the Azhidakar program wasn’t his specialty. I, on the other hand with my remote link to the Kartoom computers allowed me to constantly monitor everything at Kartoom, including the Azhidakar.”

“That’s very good to know. Please, enlighten us,” Hannibal begged with a sober expression. “We have to know everything we can about these creatures.”

“Everything Horace said about the Azhidakar, their numbers, and breeding behavior is correct,” Josephine stated grimly. “But what he didn’t know is there weren’t three Azhidakar initially captured in the 1st Age. There were four: three females and one male. Furthermore, the male just wasn’t an alpha male as Horace reported. The male Bolthor caught was the Azhidakar’s leader: the original alpha that led the Azhidakar to this planet. To make things worse, this alpha is still alive with the three females in Kartoom. They rule over the other forty-two Azhidakar.” The news caused the room to go quiet as a tomb. “Bolthor had them experimented on to make them more controllable. Those experiments failed miserably. When he realized he couldn’t control the alpha and his mates, he had the Cadre experiment with the females and the hatchlings with same goals along with the added goal of reducing the number of eggs the females laid. The only success they had was in reducing the egg production in the females, including the three initially captured with the alpha. The control experiments failed utterly, even on the hatchlings. The experiments actually enhanced their enmity with us humans. They kill any human who comes into their lair in Kartoom. Horace was exceptionally fortunate to have only lost an arm when he accidentally entered their lair.”

“I was,” Horace agreed. “I don’t know why they didn’t finish me off. It’s strange. As I remember, one of the younger females that attacked me when I stumbled in there. The beast was about to eat me when the alpha knocked it away with its wing. I remember the alpha looking at me with rage in its eyes, and then roaring, but not breathing its fire at me. The next thing I remember is being in the infirmary. I have no idea how I escaped.”

“Very curious,” Nemesis rumbled. “That’s not like them at all. Josephine, how intelligent is the alpha Bolthor caught?”

“He’s the most intelligent, cunning, and vicious of all the Azhidakar,” Josephine stated. “He rules the brood through his size and brute force. That did not change when Bolthor captured him and the three females. As I remember the last time I monitored them from my prison in the Black Fortress, I noticed something strange about the brood. They seemed exceptionally agitated; agitated to the point they were attacking the walls and exit of their prison. They wanted out, especially the alpha. Fortunately for everyone, Bolthor was thorough in his research on them and made a prison they could not escape from. The prison is a deep, deep cave with a third of a league of solid rock surrounding it. The only exit large enough for the Azhidakar to leave by is a blast door seventy cubits thick of our hardest, most heat-resistant alloy. No matter how much fire they breathe or how much they pound on the door or the walls, they cannot escape.”

“How big is this cave prison?” Hannibal asked.

“It covers six square leagues and is a third of a league in height,” Josephine reported. “Surveillance devices are hidden everywhere so the Cadre can keep an eye on them. They also have places where they can introduce gas to sedate them when the Cadre wants to experiment or take samples from them. The presence of the Azhidakar is as worrisome as the Triaskus Xenocerius Spiders they have in another cave cell nearby.”

Hannibal’s face fell with the report. “You mean the Cadre has live specimens of those giant spiders like I found in Tiamat?” he asked with some agitation.

“If the giant spider you found is the size of a bison, has stingers in its forelegs, and neural-toxic venom that is so acidic it eats away stone, then yes,” Josephine stated. “They are the Triaskus Xenocerius; an alien species of spider Bolthor had the FATE computer complex bring to this planet in the 1st Age to assist in his war on Thoth. They proved too aggressive and resistant to control to use live specimens so Bolthor had FATE assimilate them and produce legions of mechanized versions of them. However, he kept one hive and queen alive in Kartoom to use in the engineering of the spider Xenians. The spider Xenians are based on Triaskus Xenocerius genetic material being spliced with human DNA. He needed a continuous fresh supply of Triaskus genetic material for the spider Xenian project. They are kept in a sealed cave like the Azhidakar. Whenever the Cadre needs fresh genetic material from the spiders, they send in one of their heavy AI droids to gather the sample. Since the accident with Horace and the Azhidakar, they do the same with them too.”

“This is not good,” Hannibal commented grimly. “I hoped I wouldn’t have to deal with the giant spiders again, but it seems I was wrong. I’ve seen how intelligent, fast, and vicious they are up close. They killed a friend of mine in Tiamat before we could even move to stop it. If the Emperor has a hive of those infernal spiders in Kartoom, then we need to get rid of them like yesterday. The spiders worry me even more than the Azhidakar.”

“And so they should,” Josephine agreed. “The Spiders never obeyed Bolthor, unlike the Azhidakar, who initially did what he wanted. The Spiders are a true mortal danger to humanity. Bolthor knew that when they turned on him the moment he let them go. Zaros also knows this. That’s why the Cadre have the nest sealed in a cave with only one exit. I’ve always worried the Spiders would somehow escape. So far, the security protocols around both the Spiders and the Azhidakar have not failed, which is good. Still, if you mean to do something about Kartoom, then you should think big. If either the Azhidakar or the Spiders get loose, we could be in big trouble. You have to take out the entire facility in order to sterilize this threat.”

“And how do we do that?” Morpheus asked bluntly. “I’ve heard that Kartoom covers 1600 square leagues and penetrates leagues into the earth itself. How do we destroy something of that magnitude? We’re just a handful of resistance fighters going up against hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Zarukar, Xenian, and battle droids. It’s impossible.”

“Nothing is impossible,” Hannibal chided, “Not for our God. The answer is staring us in the face. Josephine, are the Azhidakar and Spider caves in close proximity to Kartoom’s power plant?”

For the first time since she started talking about Kartoom, the Azhidakar, and the Triaskus Spiders, Josephine cracked a smile. “They are very close,” she reported, “They are on the same level as the power plant’s control room and the Gateway temple.”

“Are you suggesting we detonate the core like you did in Acheron?” Muriel asked.

“Bingo,” Hannibal crowed. “But not before we can rescue the prisoners. They must take priority.”

“What about being vastly outnumbered?” Morpheus asked.

“We cannot attack this colossus in a frontal assault,” Hannibal stated. “We’d be crushed in the first attack. We must be like ghosts in the mist to make this work. I say we do an extraction as we did when we rescued Selina and the others from the Black Fortress. We’ll go in with small teams using the portal. Once we penetrate the city, we’ll split up. One team will go rescue the prisoners before they are turned into soup while the other team will come with me to the core to set the self-destruct. I remember what the core of Acheron did when it blew, and that one wasn’t even powered up. Kartoom’s core should be running full power when we blow it, so there should be more than enough energy to vaporize the Azhidakar, the Spiders, the Cadre, and anything else they’re doing there. The trick is going to be getting in and out as quickly as possible.”

“There is something you should know,” Horace stated.

“What is that?” Hannibal asked.

“The entire city of Kartoom is under an energy shield,” Horace reported. “You may not be able to use your portal machine to break into the core area.”

“He’s right,” Josephine agreed. “Your portal will not be able to penetrate the shield. It’s designed to prevent anything from the outside from getting in. How do you expect to get in?”

“Don’t worry about that,” Hannibal replied confidently. “There’s always a way into a locked vault. As I remember, when I looked at Kartoom before we rescued the people from Hreidmar’s Bastion, I saw a vast area of cages just outside the wall that wasn’t guarded. Didn’t you say that was where those with screwed up DNA got sent, Horace?”

“It is,” Horace stated. “Those who have abnormalities in their genetic code are exile to the slave cages to die. It’s also used as a sorting pen when new prisoners are brought in. However, most of the time, it’s an execution area and has no guards or widespread surveillance. Why guard the dead? Even if those exiled to the slave cages do escape the cages, they will not escape the sands or beasts of Tartarus. It’s almost thirty leagues to the Crags of Shiar and the Pass of Tartarus. No one in my lifetime has ever gone into that waste alone without food or water and survived.”

“No major surveillance in the slave cage area you say?” Enoch asked, rubbing his chin.

“None,” Horace stated. “There is one device at the door on the outer wall that allows the guards to see what’s immediately outside the door, but it has a limited visual range. However, the energy shield does come right down to the ground there. It would not be wise to touch it. The voltage in the shield is enough to kill a god-worm.”

“Can that section of the shield be shut down?” Enoch asked.

“It can,” Horace reported. “In order to allow access to the slave cages, they designed a doorway so to speak in the shield. It’s the size of the access door in the wall and can only be shut down from inside.”

“Horace is right,” Nemesis confirmed. “I saw it when I was at Kartoom. There’s a small guard station there with controls for both the door and the shield.”

“No exterior guards, limited surveillance, but a lethal security shield,” Hannibal murmured. “If we can short out the shield, that’s our way in.”

“And how do you expect to do that, uncle?” Andrew asked. “We don’t have anything that can do that.”

“We might,” Hannibal replied, smiling wryly. “If you guys know what cycle the shield runs, we may be able to short it out.”

“I can provide you with that,” Horace stated, “Unless they’ve changed the shield cycle, which I doubt. They don’t believe anyone can touch them in the wastes of Tartarus. The shield is there primarily to protect the city from the numerous sandstorms and the beasts that roam the wastes.”

“That’s good to know,” Hannibal replied, rubbing his chin. “I have a feeling if I know what the shield cycle is I might be able to short it out with Shadizar Kahn’s scepter. It’s a remarkable piece of 1st Age tech. After all, I used it to kill the basilisks with energy pulses when I rescued Muriel. Maybe it has enough kick to pry open the shield there in the slave cages. Speaking of which, where are the prisoners being held inside the city, Horace?”

“The dungeons are next to the labs where the genetic soup is prepared for the cloning processes,” Horace reported. “It’s within a league of the external slave cages. The dungeons are extensive with many guards and security devices. The guards have orders to kill any who resist them and the security devices will cut down any intruder with pinpoint precision. Needless to say, rescuing the prisoners there is going to be a bloody affair, much bloodier than what you did in the Black Fortress.”

“I must concur,” Nemesis agreed. “We must plan this carefully. The attack on the dungeons must be swift and brutal; otherwise, we may be captured ourselves.”

“And I cannot be of help this time,” Josephine stated. “I’m no longer hooked into their network. Furthermore, the Emperor has most likely told his Cadre to set traps in their network looking for my energy signature. My contribution to this will be very limited, unlike the last time.”

“Don’t you worry about that, Jo,” Hannibal replied. “We’ll work it out. In the meantime, I think we’d best chew on what we have now. It’s now obvious Kartoom and the Cadre are just as big a threat as the Emperor is. We need to start planning our incursion into Kartoom to get the prisoners out and to blow that place to hell. We cannot allow the Cadre or the Emperor to release the Azhidakar or those Spiders. We also need to start thinking about how to neutralize the fleet in Stygia. Nemesis, I want you, Enoch, Josephine, and Horace on this right away. Having a layout of Kartoom would be most useful at this point.”

“We’ll get right on it,” Nemesis replied.

“All my knowledge is yours,” Josephine insisted. “We’ll also keep looking for those backup programs for the Nano-Chamber.”

“Do that,” Hannibal ordered. “But don’t let it hamper the planning of our raid into Kartoom. We must knock that place out ASAP. We don’t have a choice about that now. Once Kartoom is dealt with, we can go after the fleet.”

“I agree,” Enoch stated. “Had we not found out about the Azhidakar and the Spiders, I might have been a bit more cautious about how quickly we need to deal with it. Still, I think if we get all the leaders together, we can come up with a workable plan in a reasonable amount of time.”

“Bring in anyone you wish,” Hannibal ordered. “Kartoom has become a threat we cannot ignore any longer. It reminds me of when the Almighty pushed me to come here while I was still crippled looking for help from someone I’d only dreamed about. The clock is ticking here.”

“You got it,” Enoch stated. “I’ll also get Elias to keep an eye on the Emperor’s forces with the portal. We already know they’re massing in eastern Elar. It’s best we keep a close eye on them in case they start moving.”

“Good thinking, Enoch,” Hannibal commended. “That’s a very good idea. It seems to me everyone here knows what needs to be done.”

“That we do,” Magnus rumbled. “It’s time we stopped playing defense and go on the offense.”

“Amen,” Hannibal agreed. “I couldn’t have said it better myself, Magnus. Thank you all for this most informative meeting. It’s been very enlightening. Each of you have provided very important pieces to this puzzle. Now, we must put them together and come up with a strategy to counter the Emperor. Your advice on cybernetics has been very useful. Thank you for straightening me out on using cybernetics to replace Rachel’s missing limbs. I shall definitely talk with Tal about the prosthetics he’s making as a stop-gap measure while you guys make the necessary repairs on the Nano-Chamber. I’m not going to rush replacing Rachel’s missing pieces at this point. There’s too much going on right now. Rushing things may cause problems we don’t need.”

“That’s a very wise decision,” Josephine stated. “Give us the time to fix the Nano-Chamber. In the meantime, using regular prosthetics is your safest option. Talking to the craftsman Tal would be most beneficial, if you don’t mind me saying.”

“I agree,” Enoch agreed. “You’ll find it most enlightening.”

“I shall,” Hannibal stated.

“That’s good,” Nemesis chimed. “Remember, all things come to he who waits. Enoch, Hannibal, Selina.” Nemesis bowed as he spoke and walked away with the others.

In seconds, Hannibal, Enoch and Selina were alone in the living room. They sat there for a few moments, and then Enoch asked, “What do you think, little brother? Is this getting better by the minute or what?”

Hannibal chuckled as Enoch rose. “That it is, Enoch. I thought we had gotten everyone. It also never occurred to me that Kartoom posed such a threat. I had no idea how accurate my assessment of Kartoom being the Emperor’s right arm was. It’s right down scary,” Hannibal said plainly with a sober face. “That place is going to have to be destroyed, Enoch. As long as the Emperor has Kartoom to produce for him, he will not be stopped. We have to cut off his supply of Zarukar and Xenians. If we are lucky, we’ll be able to wipe out the Cadre, the Spiders, and those Azhidakar too.”

Enoch looked down at Hannibal sternly, saying, “And how are we going to do that? We took a pretty hard hit with your rescue raid and they were mostly human. We are talking about legions of cloned Zarukar and Xenian warriors alongside an army of droids. We do not have the numbers to do what you are talking about.”

Hannibal sighed, saying, “I know. That’s why I asked everyone to start thinking on that. As of now, I have no answers, just more questions. I’m going to have to pray about this. I’m sure the Almighty has an answer for this quandary. But if there is any way to get those people out of there, we have to try.”

Enoch nodded, saying, “I know. I’m just being realistic right now. We are running out of time. There is so much to be done and not enough time or manpower to do it.”

“That’s the truth,” Hannibal agreed grimly, sitting down while Enoch walked away. He looked vacantly over at the far wall beyond the dining table.

Selina could feel his troubled mind. She touched him on the arm and said, “Hannibal. Hannibal!”

Hannibal snapped out of the trance that he seemed to be in and asked, “What Selina?”

Selina looked at him and said, “I’m tired. Let’s go to our quarters and take a nap.”

Hannibal nodded, rising from his chair saying, “Good call.” He grabbed onto the handles of her chair and within minutes, they were in their quarters. Selina needed the bathroom so he took her in there. A few minutes later, he rolled her over to the bed and gently picked her up out of the chair and laid her on the bed. After he did so, he collapsed beside her. They both were on top of the blankets, fully dressed.

Hannibal moaned as the events of the last few hours caught up with him. Without saying a word to him, she rolled toward him, reached out and drew him close, wrapping her arms around him, laying his head on her chest, purring for him. “Be at peace, my love. Rest,” she purred in his ear. He didn’t resist what she was doing. He draped an arm over her side, cuddling with her. In minutes, he was gone, sound asleep using her chest as a pillow. She stroked his long hair, kissing him on the top of the head while whispering, “You are such a good man, always thinking of others before yourself. Oh, Lord, how I love you. You are my life.” She sighed deeply as she purred, snuggling with him as he slept. A few minutes later, she was asleep too.