The New Era Chapter 24

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
Akristh stepped into the hanger. She went up to the ship she was going to take and peered inside. Doing one last check to make sure all emergency equipment was in place, she prepared herself for take off. She was the first one to be sent out. By tomorrow, if she had not found the lost ship, Estaci would also be sent out to aid in the search.
Satisfied with the results of her inspection, Akristh turned around in order to walk to the door. She jumped back in surprise, a small yell escaped her lips. A man was standing right in front of her.
With cheeks growing slightly red, Akristh apologized. "I'm sorry sir, I didn't hear you come in. You surprised me a little." She looked over his face quickly. "I don't believe I know you, my names Akristh."
The man nodded. "Yes I know. I understand you are about to leave now to look for Hans and Kyoko."
"And the others, Livius Lauto and Pericula, yes. The satellite's down, how did you know?"
The mans' expression didn't change. "Lets just say I have my ways. Do you know how long your task will take."
Akristh looked quizzically at the man. "Who are you?"
"A friend. You realize that if you find them in a year you'll be lucky?"
"Who are you?" she repeated louder. "What do you want?"
"I'm a friend. Listen, I know where Hans and Kyoko are. I can take you to them."
The man began to scare Akristh. She began to back away slowly from him. "How do you know this?"
"I'll explain on the way, we need to leave now."
"I'm not going anywhere with you until you tell me who you are."
"Look, just trust me," the man pleaded, grabbing Akristh's arm as she tried to run away. "I'm on your side."
Akristh pulled her arm free. "Let go of me, I'm not going with you."
The man took a deep breath. "Alright, you win, I'll explain everything to you first."


Ishod waved good-bye as he and Kestos sped off into the distance. "Poor fellow," Pericula said. "I don't think he ever really understood why we couldn't help him."
"I hope things turn out all right for them," Hans said. "They certainly did give us a lot of information."
"They also ate a lot of our food," Kile said, staring glumly at the rations. "This won't last us as long anymore."
"I must be dreaming," Lauto said. "Is that what I think it is?" Everyone turned to her, and then followed her gaze up into the sky.
Livius' face broke into a broad grin. "It's the ship alright, we're saved."
The ship landed right next to the ecstatic crowd. Akristh got out, smiling when she saw how happy her arrival had made the group. "Everyone hope in. We're heading back."
The ship was quickly filled. Akristh got behind the controls and lifted the ship up into the air. "I can't wait to get back," Lauto said. "Two nights of sleeping on the ground are enough for me."
"Don't forget we have to stop off at Calet first," Pericula reminded them. "We need to drop off Kile and Drusus."
"That can wait," Hans said. "First we need to get back to the city immediately."
"I couldn't agree more Hans." The voice had come from the back of the ship. Everyone turned around and saw the passenger back there they hadn't noticed before.
"Uther, what are you doing here?" asked Hans.
"It's good to see you too Hans." Uther turned and nodded. "Good to see you also Kyoko."
She smiled sweetly at him. "Thank you Uther, it's good to see you again too. Why are you here?"
"Oh, I just thought I'd drop by and say hello."
"Who is this guy?" asked Pericula.
Uther turned toward her, a broad grin on his face. "Well, we don't have time for long introductions, why don't I just say I've got a lot more power at my finger tips then you Watchers have in the whole city, but enough about me, where are you from?"
Kile was amazed. "You're more powerful then The Watchers?"
"I know that doesn't sound too impressive, but wait till you see some of the neat things I can do. For instance, that Ishod guy you were talking to, I wouldn't worry about him. Couple months and that monster of his will be defeated."
"Let me guess," Hans said. "Your technology allows you to see the future."
"Not even our technology can do that, Hans. The future hasn't happened yet, so it doesn't exist yet, and of course we can't look into something that doesn't exist. However, our computers know an awful lot, and they are able to take what they know and use it to predict the future."
Pericula, along with everyone else, was now very curious after this exchange. "What are you talking about?" she asked.
"My people have technology that makes The Watchers technology laughable by comparison," Uther said. "We have grown more powerful then even the gods."
"Are you powerful enough to resurrect the dead?" asked
Kile.
Uther turned to Kile, seeming bored by the question. He stifled a yawn before saying, "oh yeah, we've been able to raise the dead for a long time now."
Kile's face lit up. "Then you can help me. My friends Jot and Kirtten were both killed by Gaius, and last year-"
"Whoa, whoa slow down," Uther interjected. "Allow me to clarify myself. We have the ability to resurrect the dead. That doesn't mean we can."
"Why not," Kile asked.
"It's a very complex issue," Uther said, "as you may well expect when this kind of power is involved. We Renegades learned the hard way there is only so much power you can hold over nature, because when you interfere, nature has a funny way of reclaiming what's hers. It's a lesson that took us decades to learn, and I won't go into the details now, but the point is you simply can't toy with that kind of power."
Kile's dissapointedness caused a brief, awkward silence which Hans jumped at his chance to fill. "So Uther, what does your computer predict about your war with the gods?"
Uther shook his head. "Not good Hans, in fact it predicts us losing. Our worst fears have come to pass, the gods do have our technology." Uther saw Hans' face, and quickly added, "don't worry, its been wrong before."
"So how does this affect the Watchers?" asked Kyoko.
"That's not good either. In fact, that's what I came hear to talk to you about. You've probably wondered why your ship inexplicably crashed, or perhaps why it landed so far off course, or why the medicine ball was the only thing that wasn't damaged. In fact, I know you've wondered these things because I've been watching you from my computers."
"Then you probably know the conclusion we came to," Kyoko reasoned.
"I do, you concluded it was the work of the gods, and you were right on the money. Now an obvious question you probably asked yourself is, 'How could this happen when we were under the Renegades protection?'"
"We were curious about that," Hans admitted.
"Well so were us Renegades. You don't know this yet, but as Akristh can tell you, the satellite also ceased to function, the work of the gods again. We Renegades were in our ships, wondering how this could happen when we were protecting you. Using our technology, we were able to find the answer fairly quickly, yet we were unprepared for the shock the truth would hold.
"A few years ago, a certain Watcher woman became pregnant. Without her knowledge, the gods were able to destroy the fetus, and replace it with another. One of their own took on the shape and appearance of that fetus, was born to the woman, and grew up in the city, all the time acting just like a normal child. Right now, that god has the appearance of a full grown man, who has been living as A Watcher for all these years. Would you like to take a guess as to who it is Hans?"
"Of course, of course it's Gaius."
Uther was surprised by the answer. "No, no try again. Come on Hans think."
"Then it must be Bakes," Hans said.
Uther shook his head, turning to Kyoko. "It looks like your going to have to help him out," he said.
Kyoko shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know either."
"Alright, I'll give you a hint. The god who is masquerading as A Watcher is Deka." Receiving only a blank look from his audience, Uther continued. "Come on guys, this is easy. Aked, Aked is the answer. Just think, his name is Deka spelled backwards."
"So because Deka is in the city, The Renegades can't protect it?" Kyoko asked.
Uther nodded. "It's beginning to look that way. Kyoko, we're being hit hard, this war has only begun and already our casualties are high. The fact is, we simply can't afford to protect the city."
Hans was furious. "You gave us your word!"
"I know, and we Renegades value our word very much. That is why I'm here. I was sent by the Renegades to help protect the city. Hans, we've got a big problem here. The Renegades set up a sort of protective field around the city to keep the gods out. Since Deka was inside the city, he was able to break through that forcefield, allowing other gods to get in. Now don't panic, none of the other gods are coming in, they're all busy fighting the Renegades. The same is true for the Titos, however the gods have other servants besides the Titos, among them the Veletti. The Veletti are not near as powerful as the Titos. They can not change their shape, as the Titos can, but remain in their original form, which looks just like a humans. There every bit as vulnerable as a human, if you stab them, they will bleed. If you stick a sword into their chest, they'll die. If you shoot them with a laser gun, they're toast. The reason the Veletti are trouble, though, is because they can transport themselves anywhere they want within a second. Also, they have the ability form a razor sharp, circle shaped weapon in their hands. They can shoot this weapon from their hands, and it will cut through flesh and bone like a hot knife through butter. These discs they shoot are roughly twelve centimeters in diameter, and can be fired one right after another, at a high speed.
"What is really frightening is the sheer number of Veletti we have detected that are ready to enter the city at a moments notice from Deka. There are over a thousand of them, and that's only counting the ones we were able to detect."
"But why do the gods want to destroy the city?" asked Kyoko.
"When you helped The Renegades defeat the Titos, you were taking sides in this war. Now, the gods plan to annihilate the Watchers as the punishment. Listen to me carefully, I helped Akristh find you for a reason. I'll take care of Deka, but you'll going to have to contend with the Veletti yourself. You need to warn the other Watchers as soon as you get back to the city. Don't wait to call a meeting, just preach to anyone who will listen. Tell them everything I've told you. Get ready for war, because there's going to be trouble." With that, Uther disappeared.