chp 2b

Clement, Shaun and Raymond packed their bags and met at the front of the class. While everyone else was leaving the classroom, the three boys were talking excitedly at the window. “The thousand year storm!” Clement gushed. The other two nodded their heads excitedly. Everybody had heard the legend. More than a thousand years ago, there had been a dark storm that raged in the valley. More than natural disaster, the storm brought with it an armada of ships, crewed by pirates or some degenerate sort of human, or ex-human, beings. They were exceptionally cruel, taking people as slaves, or food, depending on who was telling the tale. The fact was that Oasis City had suffered greatly with only a few hundred survivors.

Since that time, technology had improved and the population had grown. Settlers from off-world had come and Oasis City had once again become a bustling hub. Still, no matter how hard they tried researchers were just not able to find a sustainable way of irrigating the lands outside of the valley.

None of the plants and shrubs that grew around the oasis could live for long outside the valley. Thus there was a limit to the number of people this city could sustain. In the face of another furious onslaught, there would also be only a limited number of people who could be trained to defend Oasis City.

Thus, weapon technology was at the forefront of research. Weapons of mass destruction were ruled out because there would be no place to retreat to if they were used over the valley.

Yet, no one really understood the necessity of such paranoid measures as that storm had occurred only once!

In recent years especially, there was word that an ancient plant that thrived in desert areas had been found and was being transported to Oasis City. Its arrival was imminent. And if it could successfully lead to the conquering of the desert, that would mean the planet could be vastly populated and increased inter-stellar traffic could bring with it protection and news about that fearsome enemy from days of yore.

“Shouldn’t we get home?” Shaun asked no one in particular. The three boys still had their faces pressed to the window, watching the gathering storm increase in darkness and ferocity. “We’re hostelites. Where can we go?” Raymond remarked, “back to the hostel I suppose. But is that safer?”

Residences were located toward the centre of the city while industries and plantations were more toward the outskirts. Food production plants though were also built closer to the city centre.

The school was only a few kilometres from the edge of the city. Surrounding the city was the city wall. Thick stone and overlaid with layers of dura-steel, it would take a lot of heavy artillery to bring down the wall. That said, a wall could only keep ground troops out. Their enemies could simply fly over the wall. However, around the city centre, a force field, up to the radius of 50 kilometres, would be activated once the threat of the storm pirates was deemed real. The PA announcement suggested that the threat was very real.

The boys had a choice. They came from off-world and their homes were not here on the planet. Their parents would not be able to get to them once the storm began. While the rest of the hostelites might be comfortable cowering with the rest of the civilians, the three boys wanted some action.

Coming from farming communities, they had some experience with firearms and were sure that they could handle whatever the Oasis guards were using.

“Ah, the folly of youth.” A familiar voice rang out from behind the trio. They turned to see their lecturer Dr Antonio Weis decked out in military togs complete with gear and rifle. Understanding their incredulous stares, he explained, “All staff have some form of military training or other you know, we’re not all drones or protocol droids.”

The boys couldn’t believe it. Dr “C3PO” Tony was militarily trained? “We want to defend the city,” Clement managed to say. “You mean, you want some action, some adventure, some shot at glory!” Dr Tony replied. “Yes!” the trio shouted.
“Come on then,” Dr Tony said evenly.
“Really?” they gushed.
“OF COURSE NOT!!!! What do you think I am? Allowing three kids to go into battle?! There may not even be a battle! We could all get pulverised with the first salvo. Who knows how many ships those demons have? You’re not even trained! I could go on and on.” Dr Tony exclaimed.
“But we can shoot! We’ve had to keep our herds safe from wild creatures and such, so we’ve handled weapons before,” Raymond protested.
Dr Tony looked thoughtful for a while. Then he nodded, saying, “Alright then. You’re with me. I’ll have to speak to my OC but we’re a reserve unit anyway, hopefully, we won’t be called into action. But you must stick with me at all times.”
“Yes!” the trio exclaimed.