บท 20: The Mad Immortal

Charles was about to take one step away when he felt a burning pain suddenly on his left side of his chest. He smelled the odor of burning meat, so he looked towards his chest to find a small hole in it.

His clothes were burned on this area, with some dark marks over its edges, from this mess in his clothes, he could see this wound which penetrated his body from the back. He was shot, shot silently without warning from behind. He turned to see Dora holding up her gun and faint smoke was rising up from its barrel.

"W…Why?!"

This was the last word he said before he dropped on the ground motionless drenched in a small pool in his blood. Dora hid her gun in his clothes before saying without any emotion:

"This is the first time my master failed to see the truth about someone. How unfortunate, the praise my master gave to you made me feel I could get another worthy hand I could depend on, but you turned out to be this rebellious, how unfortunate."

Dora then looked towards her men, whose faces were calm. It was an unspoken rule in their long history group; no one should leave them, if so he would be killed in cold blood. This was a safety measure against any possible future betrayal from their members.

"Our target is a device created by this immortal, we all know about his vast knowledge and his love for technology and his obsession with making new creations. His new creation now is some lethal weapon directed at those who had any good or evil seeds.

This device mechanism is unknown to us, but from the evidence we found back at the scene of the Goyat massacre where over ten thousand innocent kids were slain in cold blood, this device causes a state of coma to these kids.

We don't know yet how to antagonize its effects, but I believe if we manage to destroy it we can release these poor kids from their misery."

Dora looked towards her men then she continued:

"What we know for sure that the Ravner of light had complete control of the Terasoras space ship and all that's related to it, including a special zone for external contact with the universe. At this zone, they held many innocent kids who they suspected had the seeds of good inside them.

They did exactly what that mad man wanted, and now he is going to butcher all of them like sheep. Our target is to infiltrate this zone, search for that immortal's men and there we will find that device and destroy it. We will also rescue all these kids from the hands of the Ravner of light and then escape from there."

Anna spoke expressing her doubts:

"This mission is very big for us, princess."

"I know, so I have pushed my lazy mother of mine to send some troops to attack this zone."

The looks of Anna changed to show a surprise, as she asked:

"How did you manage to convince her? She is really stubborn, and if she got wind of any relation of this mission with the phoenix guardians she wouldn't agree to help."

Dora sighed as she looked towards the distant horizon as a faint picture of someone appeared vaguely in the distance. She took a deep breath with it that image disappeared as she said:

"I just gave her some wrong intel about the presence of imperial troops there doing a big trial over a grand weapon. You know how she deeply hates this empire, so she won't hesitate to send the whole fleet to attack there."

Anna looked towards the two groups of cruisers that were there, one belonged to the rebels while the others belonged to the rogue space adventurers. She got the whole plan of her princess, who she admired a lot, then she said:

"You plan on using all the cruisers here?"

"Yes, we will divide into two groups; one will be led by me as we will join the main force attacking this zone, while you will be the leader of the other group. Your mission is to find those maniac's men and destroy that weapon, while the rescue mission will be handed to my group, understand?"

Dora didn't just ask Anna, but all of her men. She handpicked most of them, while the rest of them were recommended by her master or friends of his. She trusted them all, as they went through hell with her in the last few years when she took the leadership of this group after her late father. Dora then said:

"As far as I know our troops will arrive near that zone in less than half an hour, so it's time for us to move."

Everyone then started to say in a strong belief:

"Rain clears it all, clears the past, the loneliness, the sadness, the wounds, the pain, and the sins, but not our sins. We once lost our goal, failed our mission, and let the whole universe down.

Our ancestors failed, but we failed so we can learn to rise again from ashes, Phoenixes we are. We are the guardians, the protectors, and the last wall standing against the apocalypse."

Dora then muttered to herself in a very low voice that was hardly heard from everyone around her:

"Rain clears it all, clears the past, the loneliness, the sadness, the wounds, the pain, and the sins, but not our sins. We once lost our goal, failed our mission, and let the whole universe down.

Our ancestors failed, but we failed so we can learn to rise again from ashes, Phoenixes we are. We are the guardians, the protectors, and the last wall standing against the apocalypse.

Don't let our ancestors' mistakes cloud your judgment, your trust, and your beliefs, as one way or another I intend to end it all here, in my lifetime. I will live like a phoenix guardian, and vow not to die before I fulfill my mission."

Her own words weren't a surprise to her men, as she had always said this code, which seemed like an oath since her first mission ever. They knew how the shock she took by her father's death, and so they understood her feeling and determination.

She wasn't saying these words to them, but to herself, as she marked her big sudden loss with this oath, which made her always remember her father and why he was killed. Dora squeezed her two fists while she muttered to herself:

'I swear I will kill this murderer and avenge you, father, even if it came at the expense of my life.��