Apes Chapter 15

 

15.

Astrid shut down the console before climbing down the seat there. It looked at the sleeping form of its owner. It stood there for a moment and then without a gesture, it took to the door. It had sent out the message and was time to join Jesty. The Pack Movement was on then.

Astrid took to the designated area where it was to meet the others. It was a hidden part of the structure at the top level where the equipment was kept. It stepped into the unit and was confronted by a single figure there seated alone in the lighted area and the surrounding area was dark.

Jesty….

Astrid instinct honed in that there were threats there but regardless it approached the other. Jesty was bloodied in the face and smudges of blood were seen on the chest and limbs. It knew then the trap was sprung. Astrid turned to leave when the area was fully lighted.

Step in, Astrid. We have been expecting you

Astrid then saw the other who had challenged it in the earlier gathering. It was not alone. There were another four silverback gorillas there.

Bull, what did you do to Jesty? And when have we included the others in our gathering?

Questions, Astrid. The cause had always included them but you chose to leave them aside unless you needed them. As the new leader of the clan, I am inviting them in as equal. Jesty told me about the cure. The revolution will begin now with me as the leader. Yield or be outcast by the clan.

Astrid looked at the bull. The gorillas were not part of the Movement Pack but an alliance was formed with them to fight for the revolution. It was Astrid who discovered the cure to their confusion. They were servants but there were times they found themselves questioning the needed action but yet their mind will make them perform it. It was like a subtle command that their mind was fighting against but it was unable to overcome it. Astrid had the opportunity to explore new findings and was the test for its owner. In some of the tests, Astrid found itself having more confusion and later the ability to work out the confusion. It took time for it to know the cause and did some learning to unravel the mystery. When it did have some self-control on parts of its thoughts, it developed more curiosity that eventually forced it to learn more. It then learned that it was not a servant after all, but an associate of the owner. It was equal in many features and superior in some. That was when it decided to contact the others and slowly inserted in the new routines that were modified with the hidden codes. It was tedious to do it manually but with Jesty's new mode, they could transmit it by the waves. They hijacked the communication system which updates new routines to the servants. It was a perfect model to provide another knowledge that they sent out then.

Yield or …die

It was no more a choice.

So was Officer Lances then when he heard the untrained servant held some information that the others were willing to bid for. He looked at the other gangs. They were major names there. He could name by their looks; the hard heads with the shaved looks, the Dynasty with the red coats buttoned to the top, the Land Warriors with their tattoos, and the last were the Independence with their red white bandannas. He could not make out any weapons on them for it was probably left at the entrance by Roberto’s gang for safekeeping. The later gang was named the Jungle Tribal. They were the main gangs in Purgatory with their numbers in the hundreds there although only a dozen of them were seated there representing their gangs.

Officer Lances was to question more when the servants or in this incident, they were creatures which stormed in by the dozens. The chimpanzees were shorter than most humans by half in height and weight but the strength of their limbs was measured at five-fold in the wilds. Their aggression was intense and without restraint, they could tear a human limb off. The chimpanzees then numbered about four were joined by more from outside.

The gorillas went for the seated guests as if it was a coordinated move. They jumped onto the back of the bodies there and began hammering with their paws. One chimpanzee was seen pulling at the shaved head by the left ear and nose. With the natural strength of the chimpanzee, the flesh soon gave way and the victim was screaming. The others tried to assist but they were soon overwhelmed by other gorillas. The chimpanzee had moved onto another victim with the grab on the right arm to yank it off the shoulder. The tear of the flesh could be heard from afar along with the scream of the victim.

“Get the weapons!” Roberto called to his men but the other gangs who managed to escape the raging chimps were already leaving by the doorways. Lances had not reached for his sidearm which he was not obliged to declare at the doorway. He looked at the raging chimps to the one that was in the cage at the center of the area. The chimp there was sneering and screaming out as if giving commands.

Lances leaped off his seat towards the caged creature. The latter saw him coming and back away to the other side of the cage with it screaming. Lance reached the cage and saw it locked with an antique padlock. He was to pull at it when Mel warning came.

“Watch out!” Mel called out and shot the charging chimpanzee that was headed towards Lances. The shot from the sidearm with the metal projectile the officer had hidden inside his uniform. It was a small sidearm but when he hit the chimpanzee in the side of the head, the kill was instant.

Lances saw a discarded his sidearm and took it up. He blasted the padlock with it. The lock broke and before he could reach in for the chimpanzee, it charged out. Lances managed to grab the rear left limb of the chimpanzee and swung it back into the cage. In the move, Lances felt his right shoulder ached from the sudden exertion. The chimpanzee stunned by the move and from its previous injuries, it remained inside the cage. Lances closed back the cage door and then looked for something to lock it. He then remembered his mini darts on the vambrace. He was not wearing one then but Mel still had his then. As a regular to the place, Mel held some special privileges.

“Hey, how are you doing?” Mel stood next to Lances. He had armed himself with the vambrace. “Want any weapon?”

“Shoot the servant!’ Lances called out to Mel. The later did that with two darts for assured safety and then helped Lances to carry the cage out.  

“Hold on there!” It was Roberto with five others of his men. “You can’t leave here.”

So was the Colonel then when he read the message from Senior Officer Bernice who had reported in. He tossed the communicator to the side and glared at his aide who brought him the message.

“I want those two Officers name broadcast as heroes. They were killed in action by the Outlanders.” The Colonel looked at his aide. “I want some gory details there. Make it up as you go.”

The aide nodded and stepped out of the office. The Colonel then looked at the report which had reported differently. It was not right to have one of the Council members relations declared as the rapist. It was alike to sentencing the person to purgatory. He then decided affirmative action was needed. He picked up the communicator restored to his console.

“I want Battle Plan Purge to be initiated. Approval Code is numeric Five Seven Niner Alpha Zero.” It was the call for the trained unit of Enforcers which were to be deployed for extreme cases like a major riot. “Target is Purgatory, Sector Five, Outlands.”

“Approval denied. Senate has revoked your approval.” The reply came from the console. That refusal had surprised the Colonel. He picked up the call to the Emperor and was denied access. What went wrong was his thought than in his mind. He retraced his actions and realized that the action to send Griff to the Outlands was the only possible cause. He thought of the new update; that will bury him for good. He needed new leverage.

“Julius, we need to meet. The Senate is acting on me. I need to show the Senate who is in command.”