Out on the majestic viewpoint of the Villa balcony, Halios inhaled the crisp
morning breeze, resisting any temptation of succumbing to the aromas of vanilla pancakes wafting up from the Grand Courtyard below. He studied the aribu as they emerged from their tents in various conditions,
pondering his own personal plans for a New Empire.
He could see Torus at the gate already, doing
his job like a good god. Halios shook his head in wonder. Sending him to Fomora was
an excellent idea, one of Atalon's fewest, Torus was proving to be a good leader, but he
had no idea what he was in for. Fomora was the real Hellias. Frigid cold and barren, survivors lived in ice houses
and ate raw fish for dinner, if they were lucky enough to catch one. No one had scouted Fomora in centuries, no one had
heard of any civilizations blossoming in the remote land. It was the perfect
place to build the next step of the plan...
He
let his gaze wander to the pancake lineup beyond the tents, the gathering of
happy campers was a sight to behold, Atalon had really outdone himself this
time, standing ovations were in order! When suddenly, he recognized one of the patrons at the pancake
stand who wasn’t supposed to be there…
The
wafts of vanilla weren’t just from the pancake breakfast, there were wafts of
vanilla goddess competing with the stench of puke, sewage and excess alcohol
from the night before. Bell scanned the lineup for familiar faces as he left
the pancake stand to continue his quick scout of the grounds. As he turned toward
the gates he noticed Josh emerge from a tent, followed by an eager fan. Through
the sea of tents and bodies, Bell watched them hurry over to the pancake lineup
gathering more fans along the way. By the time Josh reached the lineup he had a
crowd of fans around him.
Bell
couldn’t help but wonder. Was Josh in the Tabloids again? What had he missed?
He took a detour to investigate, there was some sort of exchange between the
fans and Josh, what was it? An Autograph
session? Then he noticed another fan make a similar exchange… What were they
exchanging?
As
each fan scurried away, Bell's suspicions of Josh and his renewed fame grew in exponential ways.
Still under cover, he followed the fan back to his tent, surveying the scene from
behind another tent. The fan was with friends. Moments later, through a slim opening in the
door there were puffs of white smoke billowing out…
"Ugh!"
A giant waft filled his nose, he instantly recognized the smell....
It was the SAME WHITE SMOKE that blasted him into the
outer realms of the Universe that day the Gora Lab blew up!
Blown
away by the shocking revelation, Bell staggered backward to dodge it, now he had to know what it was and where it
was coming from! He hurried out the courtyard towards the headquarters
building, unable to shake the feeling he was onto something huge, he hadn't
been mistaken, he was sure it was the same white smoke! He could feel it even from that tiny little
puff!
It
came from the Gora lab!
Was Josh selling it? It made complete
sense!!! How did he find out about it? Who gave it to him?
Did he steal it?
But Bell didn't have the
time or authority to investigate the drug scene that morning, it was of little
urgency compared to the new emergency assignment his unit had to deal with in
the Underworld. With great reluctance, he made his way down the stairwell to
meet his crew, already waiting for him in the Hub, then boarded the train to
Fina.
By
the time they arrived at the gated wall of dead bodies, the stench of rotting
flesh had completely impregnated the atmosphere. Countering any weakness they felt
with solemn affirmations, the soldiers disembarked and began to dismantle the
gate. As they opened the massive iron grid the pile of bodies, oozing with maggots, collapsed into
the open floor filling the tunnel with the fresh odor of death, exposing the
magnitude of horror that had piled up inside.
"Okay,
soldiers." Bell stiffened. When he was in charge, he was as strong as an
ox, this was Bell at his best. The crew were used to this level of carnage now, too. This time the
cleanup was more organized, this time they were salvaging adults, not children.
"Same procedure as Culloom. Salvage what we can, load them all up
carefully, take them to the lab. Once you've cleared the station, move on up to
the street level. The whole town
needs to be cleansed."
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