Chapter Thirty-Seven

The Line of Lightning

The moments of glory don't come to you, but you have to seize those moments

Elisium

5L 21/19/5/21

"Sir, we have received a message from the storage facility. They are under attack."

The officer didn't even wait for HighCommander Christopher to properly open his eyes.

Christopher wasn't sure whether he should be happy that his guess was spot on, or worried about where this might lead to. But once again it was proved that he was a naturally gifted war tactician. Almost all his strategies turned out to be masterstrokes. Here too, Elisians fell into his trap. Now he must teach them a solid lesson to deter them from any future adventures. Although it was against his vow, it was the best he could do for the two worlds.

"Ring the emergency sirens and get troops ready to move."

"Already done sir. We should be ready to move in ten minutes."

"Good job. Who is In-charge of tonight's reinforcement troops?"

"Deputy HighCommander Alfred has decided to take the charge himself."

"Okay. Tell him I will be joining him on this mission as well. Let us check out what these rebels are up to."

Christopher was happy that Alfred was taking charge of this mission. Alfred was one of the most efficient Commanders of Aden's army and despite being just in his second cycle, he had quickly risen through the ranks. He was singled out to become the next HighCommander of Tenebra base.

Christopher hurriedly put on his army uniform and rushed towards their headquarters. Alfred was shouting instructions to his lieutenants. The Army convoy was ready and soldiers were climbing onto their respective vehicles.

"We will be ready to move in a few minutes. I have ordered all the other lieutenants to ready their troops as well. Just in case we require any more backup."

Christopher nodded. "Just remind our soldiers one more time, that they must shoot to kill. There have been far too many attacks for our liking and this time we must show them our true strength." Christopher hated bloodshed, but he wanted to send out a strong message to his adversaries to stop this war. Killing off armed rebels was much better than taking the war to the civilians.

"I've already told them that," Alfred replied. "This time we'll strike them so hard, that they will never think of entering our premises again, even in their wildest dreams."

***

Jennifer was dashing towards the front gate of the storage facility when Nathan lunged at her and pinned her to the ground. "What the hell are you trying to do?"

"We need to breach that gate quickly. Then only we will be able to get what we have come here for."

Nathan firmly held onto her. "I know that, but you are not getting involved here. You promised to stay away from the frontline and return to the tunnel as soon as you have done your job."

"You know you can't breach that gate without my help. This mission will fail if Jennifer does nothing.

"Hundreds of soldiers are firing incessantly at us from behind those concrete barricades and the watchtowers. The enemies were prepared for this attack and huge reinforcements will be arriving here any time soon. This mission has already failed. Our men are trapped and the best we can do is to get you safely out of here."

"What kind of a leader Jennifer would be if she flees and let her men die? No one will ever believe in Jennifer if she lets that happen."

"When your time comes you will have to fight a much bigger war. But this is not that moment. You have to wait for your powers to reach their peak."

"The moments of glory don't come looking for you. You have to seize those moments. Jennifer will not run and abandon her men. Believe me, Uncle Nathan, Jennifer knows what she is doing."

Before Nathan could say something else, Jennifer got back on her feet and came out of the bushes. She wasn't Jennifer anymore, she was someone else. If some person from a foregone era would have been here, he would have seen Solomon in Jennifer's walk, her eyes, her fury, and her every action. It was Solomon versus Thomas's army, all over again.

Even Aden's soldiers stopped firing for a few seconds to see what was happening. Jennifer stood in front of the main gate and raised her right hand towards the sky. An ominous dark cloud appeared overhead. Everyone was frozen. The battle had come to a standstill.

And then she jerked her hand, snapped her fingers, and pointed at a barricade. On cue, a firebolt struck that barricade blasting it away. Many soldiers were electrocuted while others were blown away by the blast. There was another lightning strike. No one had ever seen lightning work like a laser gun hitting targets with utmost precision. Aden's soldiers fired at Jennifer but their bullets limply fell at her feet. Some of them kept shooting while others seemingly gave up and waited for Jennifer to point her finger in their direction and meet their fate.

Jennifer started walking towards the enemies. The fire was her weapon and air was her shield. With all that energy emanating from her, she was glowing like a bright star. It was hard to say whether she was firing the thunderbolts from the sky or directly from her hands. Whatever was the case but one thing was certain, there was no stopping her. At last, she had unleashed the Super-Transitioner.

Guns against firebolts, humans versus nature. The fight, as expected, didn't last too long. All the barricades were blown away. The watchtowers were destroyed. Many parts of the storehouse were on fire. There were charred bodies everywhere. The soldiers of Aden, who had survived the attack, had no idea what to do. All they could think of was to try and stay away from the line of lightning.

Nathan's men saw the opening and charged towards the storehouse. The majority of the enemy troops had been laid to waste by Jennifer's assault. It took them a few minutes to assert complete control over the facility. When they barged into the communications room, one of the soldiers was sending a desperate cry of help on the radio. "We have been hit by lightning. Almost all soldiers have been blasted away. Send help quickly, please...". Those were his last words before he got a bullet in his head.

George held the radio. "They had this installed here. The reinforcements should be here any time soon."

"We can't leave empty-handed. We must take what we have come for." Jennifer was not listening to anybody.

"Girl, it will take time to load Star-Rocks into the trucks and we don't have that. If the reinforcements reach here, we will be finished."

"Then it mustn't reach here. We have lost many brave soldiers and we can't let that all go in vain. Jennifer can buy you some time by blocking the reinforcement."

"And how will you do that?" Nathan asked.

"That you must tell me," Jennifer shot back. "You are the expert of maps. You know the terrains of these worlds better than any of us. This was your plan. Now, you give Jennifer an idea about how to hold their troops."

Nathan took out a map and studied it for a moment. "I think we can do that. I will take Jennifer with me in one of these armored trucks. If our plan succeeds, we will get a couple of hours to stock the Star-Rocks into the trucks. If it fails, I will radio you, and you must immediately initiate the exit plan. Jennifer and I will meet you at the exit point."

"Friend, are you sure about this? She has already taken a huge risk today and you want her to do it once again." George wasn't that confident about Nathan's plans anymore.

"Is this question coming from an anxious army commander or a concerned father?"

"Both."

"After what I have seen of this girl tonight, I think she can handle herself. Don't worry, I promise you that I will protect her with my life. Trust me."

"Trust is all that we have left. Go quickly you might be running out of time."

Nathan and Jennifer climbed into an armored vehicle and zoomed out of the facility.

George's men got to work and started loading Star-Rocks inside the trucks.

***

Christopher's convoy had just begun its journey when he heard the desperate cry of help on the radio. "We have been hit by lightning. Almost all soldiers have been blasted away. Send help quickly, please..." There was the sound of a gunshot and then an eerie silence.

Christopher, who was in the front vehicle, shouted on the radio, "We must move fast. They must not flee."

The convoy gathered speed. Once they reached the outskirts of the Ruins, the convoy diverted from the main road onto a side lane that led to the storehouse. It was a narrow road, only used by the storehouse trucks, and was in a bad shape. The convoy's moved much slower on this road. There was very little visibility because of the large bushes on both sides, persistent rain, and no street lights.

The convoy had just moved about a mile on this road when Christopher spotted a distant figure standing in the middle of the road. As his vehicle got closer, Christopher strained his eyes to look at that person. From the slim physique and long flowing hair, it looked like she was a girl. She was not facing the road but was rather staring at a hill on the side of the road. Her left knee was bent and her hands were stretched in front of her body pointing towards the hill. As his vehicle got close, Christopher saw that the girl was seemingly exerting all her strengths to do something. Her eyes were locked on the hill, her body was trembling, and she was making a grunting noise. Any onlooker would have thought that she was trying to move the hill. As if she was pulling it towards her.

And then it struck him.

"Stop the car and give me the gun," Christopher shouted jumping out of the car. He grabbed the gun that one of his soldiers tossed to him. He got down on a knee and aimed at the girl. He might break the vow, but his one bullet could save the two worlds.

Christopher fired. A man who was standing beside that girl spotted him. He flung himself in front of her. One after another, four bullets pierced his body.

The girl heard the gunshots, saw bullets pierce her accomplice's body, and let out a cry of anguish. Her shrieks of agony pierced the night. It echoed around the bushes. The sky rumbled. The earth trembled.

And then it happened. The hill started to shake. With a loud bang, large rocks, trees, soil, and debris from the hill slid down its side and flooded the road. Christopher ran for cover as the massive landslide obstructed the road in front of the convoy and created a barrier between him and the girl.

For a split second, Christopher's eyes met the girl's before the landslide blocked her out of his view. He would never forget that face. The fury in her eyes. Did he just fan a fire? Finger a sleeping beast. Invoke a demon from its slumber. Only time will tell.

***

Nathan was lying in a pool of his blood. Life had already left him by the time his body hit the ground. Jennifer sat down near his body. Tears were streaming down her face.

"We must quickly return to the storehouse." One of the soldiers pulled her back into the present. She nodded. Four soldiers lifted Nathan's body and put it inside the truck.

Jennifer climbed into the truck, and sat near Nathan's body, holding his hand.

Nathan kept the promise he had given to your father. He protected you with his own life. He sacrificed himself for you. But you failed him. Even after so many years of training, you made the most basic mistake of letting your guard down in the middle of a battle. If not for Nathan's timely intervention, you would have joined Moses in the pantheon of the failed Transitioners. Your one moment of carelessness has dearly cost Elisium.

The moment their vehicle entered the storehouse, George rushed towards the truck to check on his daughter. Before he could say anything, Jennifer signaled towards Nathan's dead body. There was a moment of awkward between the father and the daughter.

"The road is blocked. They won't be reaching here anytime soon." Jennifer was barely able to speak.

George looked at the body of his dear friend and tears welled up in his eyes. He quickly shut the truck's door. There will be time for mourning, but right now they had work to do.

***

Christopher was livid with himself. He could have ended the war right then and there if not for that man sacrificing himself to save the girl. "What are our other options for reaching the facility?" He asked Alfred.

"This is the only road which leads to the storehouse."

Christopher's face was flushed. "The facility which stores the most valuable thing on this wretched planet has just one mucky road connecting it to our base? Get all our machinery here and get this damn road cleared. Fetch our experts and see if we can find some other way to the facility. I don't want that cursed girl escaping again."

***

George dispatched a couple of vehicles to clear up their exit route while his other troops were loading the Star-Rocks. An old dirt road ran all along the riverbank to the south of this facility. This road was used by Elisians to reach the Ruins before it was captured by Aden. Aden's army never used this road so it began to fade away, and wasn't even shown on their maps.

Although this road was in dilapidated condition, army vehicles, specifically designed to plow through rough terrain, should be able to make it through. However, there was another major problem. To exit the security perimeter, they had to pass through their secured fences and there was no way of doing it without having a faceoff with Aden's troops at any of their checkpoints.

Four trucks were fully loaded with the Star-Rocks in the next couple of hours. George's men also got hold of twelve armored military trucks parked inside the facility. A convoy of sixteen vehicles began its arduous journey on that dirt road towards their final exit.

***

Christopher was impatiently walking up and down the road, as his machines worked at full tilt to clear the debris. The moment there was enough room to let a vehicle pass, Christopher jumped into his truck and rushed towards the storehouse.

The carnage at the facility was visible even from a distance. Many parts of the building were on fire. The watchtowers and the barricades were blown away. When Christopher's truck neared the storehouse, he saw scorched bodies of his soldiers scattered around. "Look for survivors. See if we can get any useful information," he ordered while jumping out of his truck.

"Sir, please come here." One of his lieutenants sought his attention.

Christopher saw one of his soldiers lying on the ground. "I was blown away by a blast," the heavily injured soldier muttered through labored breaths, "I somehow managed to crawl into the bushes. That witch seared our men by lightning. She shot thunderbolts at us."

"Where did they go?" Alfred asked.

"All vehicles moved towards the southern side. Maybe they are using that old dirt road for their exit."

"Let us follow them," Christopher declared.

But Alfred had a better idea. "Sir, the vehicles will move at snail's speed on that dirt road. To exit our security perimeter, they will have to pass through one of our checkpoints." Alfred took

out a map and pointed to a location on it. "This is the nearest checkpoint, outpost number five. If we go back to the main road and make a dash for this checkpoint, we have a better chance of reaching it before them."

"That is a good plan. Let's go."

***

Soldiers at outpost number five were jolted by a radio message. "All soldiers on outpost number five stand on high alert. An attack is anticipated anytime. Back up is on the way." The troops scrambled to their positions. Those who were off-duty were asked to rush back to the post.

The rain had stopped a couple of hours ago. The ghostly silence of the night was stirred by the sound of a bugle echoing in the deserted landscape. On cue, hundreds of fighters hiding in the bushes charged at the outpost and launched a coordinated attack. Star-Rock shells and bombs were hurled at the wall. Guards at the watchtowers were snipped out. Only a hundred soldiers were guarding this post and they were taken aback by the intensity of the attack. Their solid defense structures did help them withstand the ambush, but they knew they wouldn't be able to hold for too long. They badly needed more troops.

A minute later, twelve military trucks drove towards the outpost. Lieutenant Travis, the commanding officer at the checkpoint breathed a sigh of relief. The reinforcement had arrived just in time.

Travis quickly came down to receive the troops to brief them about the situation. HighCommander Christopher was in the first truck and Commander Alfred was sitting next to him. There were more than a hundred other soldiers, most of them the junior ones which Travis didn't even recognize, but he couldn't have asked for more. HighCommander himself had come to his aide.

"Son, take these soldiers and show them the positions," Christopher ordered Travis. He took the reinforcement troops and placed them beside the existing soldiers. Christopher then took Travis's radio and shouted, "Boys, shoot the enemies." The reinforcement troops instantly turned their guns towards their fellow soldiers and started shooting them. Aden's soldiers had no time to react. By the time they could understand what was happening bullets had entered their bodies and their souls had left it.

Travis's mouth fell open. He looked at his HighCommander, but before he could do anything Christopher leveled his gun at him and blew his head.

***

The massive gate at outpost number five was wide open. Christopher spotted a couple of trucks going out of the gateway when his vehicle was zooming towards it. He got out of his truck and walked towards the giant gate. This was a complete disaster. Not only had his enemies forayed deep into his territory and made a mockery of their defense infrastructure, but they had also fled with tons of Star-Rocks and killed hundreds of his soldiers.

And then his eyes fell on someone. That mysterious girl was standing twenty meters away from him looking in his direction. She was waiting for him. Their eyes met once again, and even from that distance, he could see a fire raging in her eyes.

But Christopher got the biggest shock of his life when he noticed the other person standing beside her. He had heard his soldiers narrate the stories of meeting their duplicates in this world. Today Christopher was staring at his copy. Face, height, build, the color of eyes, even the number of greying hairs were the same. His duplicate was within his striking distance but he was too shaken to react.

Christopher's copy gave him a triumphant smile. He didn't look surprised. He might have known about him all along. And tonight, after securing a comprehensive victory, he must have decided to come face to face with his duplicate cum nemesis and rub salt in his wounds.

The duplicate snapped his fingers. The very next moment, a series of blasts went off. The earth shook violently and the whole gateway collapsed to the ground. Christopher was startled and took cover by lying face down. When the noise subsided, he raised his head. His face was soiled by the mud. He saw his duplicate and the girl having a hearty chuckle, mocking him for his helplessness. They had soundly defeated him and quite literally buried his nose in the dirt. They gave him one last stare, then climbed on a truck and drove away.

Lying on the ground, Christopher pondered over his situation. His predicament would be the new definition of getting defeated by one's own self. His present position was also symbolic of their current state of affairs. Christopher and his army were knocked out in their backyard with their pride and confidence buried into the ground.

But this absolute thrashing wasn't Christopher's only problem. A bigger issue was that his men had seen the raw powers of that girl and that was going to create a lot of panic amongst his troops.

Christopher knew he had a very tough time ahead of him.