Report of Events Occurring on Tuesday, the 31st of March -- The hordes of yeti marching towards the temple of Shamballah Central, move precisely step-in-step like a perfect machine, every pair of Bigfeet in perfect unison with all the others. Huge and hairy Nokhon bodies fill the tunnelway from wall to wall, tons of muscle steadily advancing, relentlessly instead of rapidly, an unstoppable monster threatening anything that stands in their way, keeping the beat by smacking hardwood cudgels into palms of hands, aggressively indicating an impatient desire to use them soon on innocent heads. And far back in the crowd (guessing at about 500 yeti), protected by the first wave of muscular bodies, riding high upon the shoulders of a young buck yeti, we find Da-starda-hat, a relatively small gnome compared to his gigantic Nokhon soldiers, and yet, filled with the psychic energy stolen from so many slaves, by far the most powerful entity in that dramatic scene. If there is any question concerning the motives for his actions, it has to be the action itself: the rush of godlike power that fills his entire being, the very physicality of steering so much muscle and bone, all those gigantic bodies obeying his every whim, the rush of his psyche being inside so many brains and bodies empowering so much flesh in motion, all those minds possessed by his one brain, so that the entire army is one spirit: HIS and his only. Da-starda-hat is now SYSSK personified, amplified by each and every mind under his control. Never before in the perhaps million-year history of the Nokhon race has anyone achieved that level of psychic power. A fantastic achievement, in his opinion. And yet, it seems that some fools had been attempting to stop the advance of his army into Shamballah, Some rebels who had not yet learned that resistance is futile. They had been captured and would be executed by Da-starda-hat personally when he got around to it. He did not share that pleasure with anyone. Das-starda-hat has succeeded at cheating and lying and murdering his way into power among the Ultimate Nine of Shamballah simply because Nokhons have never understood what he's after. Their culture is stoic and non-materialistic, so they don't comprehend his motives. His striving for domination seems like an end in itself, but that is only a way to get what he actually wants: the joy of cruelty. An Alutna officer makes his way through the crowd to get to Da-starda-hat, it is not easy, the tunnel is crowded and he must go against the flow of traffic, but he has a message of importance he must relate to the Ultimate Master. Once there it is also difficult to get Da-starda-hat's attention, he is in the trance of being one mind with the army. It can be dangerous to disturb The Ultimate Master when he is like this, he can become irritated about having to pull his expanded mind back from the macrocosmic experience of being an entire army and refocusing upon a microcosmic attention to one individual, but in doing so he discovers who has been captured and feels a surge of joy. Daklakht, once his Alutna-jii at Aket, his very favorite victim, whom he has harmed so many times in so many ways, the proverbial glutton for punishment. He wants Daklakht brought to him, into the center of this maelstrom of soldiers, feeling safe enough perched up on his strong, young slave. He wills the flow of soldiers to form an open area around him, like a gladiator arena to do battle in. The crowd obeys, without a word spoken. Within a moment Daklakht is led into place, held by six Alutna and stands facing him, alone, without any sort of weapon in his hands, surrounded by enemies. "Daklakht, my old friend, have you really come all the way from Aket on the other side of the world just to visit me?" "I deemed it necessary to stop you." "And you thought you could? Hadn't you noticed my army?" "I noticed that you have infected them all with your obedience-skesk. When that is undone you will have no control over them." "My telepathic abilities have grown since you met me last, no one can undo MY psychic domination." "You once dominated me, but now you do not." Da-starda-hat chuckled. "We'll see about that. Actually, I heard that it was your daughter, little Masnia, who finally freed you. Which is to say that you could not undo it yourself and she is not here now." "Lucky for you, she would not be so lenient as me." One of the Alutna soldiers decided to punish Daklakht for his disrespect for The Ultimate Master, took a swing with his hit-stick, but it was deflected and a sweeping kick to the head dropped him onto the cavern floor, where he appeared to be unconscious. The other Alutna officers took a step back, suddenly aware of just how deft a fighter they had been mishandling. The Ultimate Master frowned, suddenly remembering the missions he had once sent this Alutna-jii upon and how he had overcome impossible odds every time, always the superior combatant. Remembered that Daklakht was the most dangerous opponent he had ever met, one of the few Nokhons who could bring himself to kill when necessary. "I command you to fall down on your face. Now!" But Daklakht did not fall. Instead he took a step towards The Ultimate Master, perched up there upon his big, strong young slave in the middle of an open circle surrounded by his army, which he had commanded to stand back to give himself room to play the scene. Da-starda-hat suddenly realized that he had been too confident-- his army stood too far back and he had allowed Daklakht to come far too close. "Kill him-- now!" the Ultimate Master commanded the five remaining Alutna surrounding Daklakht, but realized that it was already too late. They were already falling, taken down by an actual ultimate master of hand-to-hand combat, neatly and efficiently, one two three four five opponents disposed of in a brilliant display of combat technique. Then Daklakht was running across the open circle to intercept his prey. Da-starda-hat should have already commanded his army to stop him, but he was unaccustomed to fear and went into panic instead. But he reasoned that he was still safe up on his perch, no one could reach him, the strong young slave would protect him. Except that the boy did not have a chance against the combat-trained Alutna-jii, who punched him in the gut and the boy folded, ignominiously dumping The Ultimate Master upon the tunnel floor, to where Daklakht was awaiting him to be dumped. Apoplectic with fear, Da-starda-hat jammed his eyes shut and screamed an instinctual phrase, triggering a standard unspecific syssk he had used many times, now backed by all the psychic presence he could telepathically steal from his army. A vast surge of uncontrolled psychic energy expanded outward in a cosmic ripple. The entire army staggered. Then a whimper arose from the hundreds of soldiers. Everyone everywhere felt the impact of that psychic blast.
Simultaneously around the planet, in different time zones: Yeti secret city-cluster of SHAMBALLAH, Himalayas; Tuesday, the 31st of March, 7:34 PM-- Daklakht becomes entranced, re-infected with Da-starda-hat's syssk. As well as many other persons in the area, anyone who had ever once been previously infected over Dastardat's 100+ years of putting his mojo on folk. MONROE, Washington; Tuesday the 31st of March, 5:40 AM-- Adam awakens, suddenly a slobbering brute, re-infected by the same syssk he'd had last year. And Melly too. Also both Felix and Peter Sinsley find themselves going on a mission they don't understand. Nokhon secret city of AKET, Pacific Northwest; 5:40 AM-- Ma-ralla (she who had been called Ma-ralla-hata) is suddenly re-infected with her lord Da-starda-hat's command-syssk, as well as are several other Nokhons who had once before been under his sway. Chemosit secret city of JINJADA, Maiko jungle, Democratic Republic of the Congo; 4:49 PM-- Several locals re-infected from that time Dastardat passed through there in 1926. Mapinguary city of CHUUKA, Amazonas state, Brazil; 8:49 AM-- Several locals re-infected from when Da-starda-hat had been there in 1929 Da-starda-hat's telepathic power has just expanded by a world-spanning quantum. Which might not be good...
Daklakht is standing motionless before Da-starda-hat, who is collapsed on the tunnel floor, the army still surrounding them. No one has moved for half a minute, everyone stunned by the overwhelming psychic event. Finally Daklakht shakes his head, notices the crumpled figure before him. "My Master! Are you all right? Let me help you." Da-starda-hat is also confused, not certain if he needs to fear his old Alutna-jii or not. But everything seems to be all right. Daklakht has offered his hand to assist The Ultimate Master to a standing position instead of trying to kill him. The army is still unmoving, waiting for a command. "Weren't we marching on Shamballah?" Daklakht asks. "Ra, we were," Da-starda-hat recalls, "Let's continue with that." He looks at the young yeti he had been riding, now sitting on the ground, still holding his gut where he had been punched, then decides, "I think I'd rather ride you now, Daklakht. You are taller, I will be higher." "Ra, I am honored, Master." He kneels, so that the gnome-like little Ultimate Master can climb upon his shoulders, then stands easily, light on his feet. "Oh, this IS better," admiring the view, "All right, forward!" The Yeti Army swarms in around them and begins marching again, heading for Shamballah Central. Da-starda-hat is content with how things have worked out. He amuses himself in conversation with his new slave. "Daklakht, so you came to Shamballah with intentions to stop me somehow?" "Ra, apologies Master, I had forgotten that my true purpose is to serve you. I had been misled by traitors; Dagrolyt and the little NokhSo trader, Dawalasat." "Capture them for me, won't you?" "Ra, My Lord. Do you want them dead or alive?" "Oh, alive, that will be so much more enjoyable. We can play with them."
Da-starda-hat's army marched into Shamballah Central. There was resistance at the tunnel's end, where the town proper began. Some local citizens tried to make a stand, but they were brushed aside by the superior numbers of the absolutely obedient soldiers. There was to be no unnecessary killing: not due to any merciful ethic among the Starda Faction, but because all prisoners were to be personally executed by the Ultimate Master Himself as his own personal victory reward; he did not want his soldiers to hog all the fun. A select few especially outstanding soldiers would be allowed a share of victims to torture as their prize for amusingly imaginative brutality. The army swarmed through the streets of town toward the Palace. There was resistance on the way, mostly youngsters and females swinging self made hit-sticks and casting stones, but the army outnumbered them and could not be stopped, although they were being overloaded by all the prisoners they were collecting along the way. The Ultimate Master was enjoying himself thoroughly, riding astride his defeated enemy Daklakht. He was being careful to keep himself tightly surrounded by obedient soldiers to that no one could come close enough to hit him with a stone. Yeti are powerful beings and some could throw stones quite far and with deadly accuracy, but his mount Daklakht was also accurate and easily snatched out of the air every stone that came at them, a task he performed flawlessly. Just before the Palace the battle became even more ferocious, Nokhons were dying, both soldiers and citizens. Normally peaceful, Nokhons will suffer much before they allow rage to take over, but they were well past that point now. Hit-sticks had been modified, broken off to sharply pointed ends used for jabbing and stabbing, something forbidden by the Atli, but survival and revenge became the only religion at this point. Blood was flowing, fire blossoming, brush that had been gathered and ignited was tossed at the enemy, but most of all, body against body, the entire town a churning cauldron of meat and hair, pushing and grunting and hitting and strangling. The army reached the Palace. The four remaining original Elders of the once Ultimate Nine came out of their chambers to present themselves, rather than wait for the soldiers to come in and drag them out. They were taken prisoner, but carefully, for the Starda Faction was not quite ready to commit itself to absolute blasphemy as far as the Ultimate Nine was concerned. They needed the pretense of accordance with the One Mind to legitimize their claim to authority in the Nokhon World. And they were quite aware that there were genuine magical forces of great power that might well be unleashed against them if they went too far. Which they certainly already had, but the Ultimate Master was always willing to push his luck, as well as everybody else's.
Da-starda-hat had been hoping to find his enemies from Aket in the Palace, Dagrolyt and tiny Dawalasat, but they were nowhere to be found. So he commanded Daklakht to go find them and he went to do so. Then the Ultimate Master went to his own private chambers to relax, without the constant company of slaves and sycophants, which could be so irritating after a while. He rarely used these chambers any more, preferring to sleep outside in nature, being a Nokhon. This place was mostly to keep his collection of prized possessions (mostly items of skesk, in total violation of Atli). Had he known the NokhSo concept of a museum, he could have justified it, but he was not interested in sharing his prizes with the world, they were HIS! So he was going through his chambers, making sure everything was still there, since the concept of doors with locks had never been approved by Atli, which did not tolerate personal possessions at all. And of course he finally came to where his rusty old NokhSo noisekiller should have been and saw that it was gone. At first he was enraged: WHO would dare to steal his most-prized possession, his Colt.45 revolver? His cowboy six-shooter? The few Nokhons he had shown it to had been absolutely terrified by it, none of them would even touch it, assuming it might just kill them if they did. Which was true: he had been instructed in how dangerous that pistol could be if not handled properly. When he remembered Dawalasat the NokhSo Trader telling him that, he realized who had taken it. And then his rage became fear. Dawalasat was not afraid of the pistol; it was he who had procured it from the NokhSo world. He'd mentioned having once been a combatant in some NokhSo war and admitted having killed enemy soldiers with noisekillers, so he was capable of using it, which most Nokhons are not. Nor did he have any problem fitting his tiny finger into the trigger guard, which had kept Dastardat from ever being able to use it properly. And Dawalasat was somewhere here in Shamballah right now, having specifically come to depose the Ultimate Master. Daklakht came to Da-starda-hat's chambers to report: "Both Dagrolyt and Dawalasat had been staying in Da-zinta-hat's chambers, but are gone now. They seem to have gone to Shamballah North, where the NokhSo Tibetan monks live." "Da-zinta-hat? I want to interrogate him right now. Come with me!" The Palace is large, too long a walk between chambers, so the Ultimate Master demanded to ride upon Daklakht's shoulders. They entered Da-zinta -hat's abode without any of the ceremony or etiquette usually due to an Elder of his rank. In fact, sitting so high, Da-starda-hat became entangled in the yellow doorway hangings and tried to rip them down, but was frustrated by their solidity, so Daklakht had to do it with a mightier tug. Da-zinta-hat observed them, resting calmly on his bed of colored cushions. He showed no signs of fear as Da-starda-hat dismounted. Nor of respect. "Da-zinta-hat, you will stand in the presence of your Ultimate Master!" "Actually, we are of equal rank, Dastardat," the old wizard replied, "so you are not my Master and I choose not to stand." "Daklakht, make him stand!" was commanded. Daklakht stepped across to the Elder, reaching out to grab his slender arm, but paused with open hand hovering and said, "Perhaps it is best that you do stand, Lord Elder, or I shall be required to do you an indignity which I would rather avoid." "I said MAKE him stand! Do it now!" Da-zinta-hat stood up and with a little smile said, "He has done so, I am standing, Da-starda-rat." "You will address me with respect! As Da-starda-HAT!" "Don't be silly, you're just a rat and you know it." "Daklakht: hit him in the face! Hard! Now!" "I am sorry, Lord Elder, but I must obey my Master." The old Nokhon bobbed his head and spoke with an amused half-smile, "That's all right, Daklakht, go ahead and do your duty." With what seemed to be all his strength and combat skill, Daklakht snapped out a strike at the old Nokhon's right cheek. It appeared to start out as a mighty blow with all his body weight behind it but it never quite arrived. As if his fist became hindered by a thick invisible jelly and all the kinetic energy was sucked out of the onslaught until it ended up being a gentle caress. Then Daklakht lost his balance and fell over onto the chamber floor. "You can't get to my age without having developed some defenses," Da-zinta-hat informed the both of them pleasantly, then unpleasantly, "and I am three times your age, Dastarda-RAT." Daklakht stood up, unharmed except for his dignity, relieved he had been unable to hit the Elder. Da-starda-hat would have preferred dealing out more punishments, but was afraid to try. Besides, he had more pressing business: "That little NokhSo Trader, Dawalasat, was here. Did he have a noisekiller with him?" "Oh ra, and he is looking for you. I think he wants to shoot you with it." Da-starda-hat frantically searched around the chamber, hoping to find his pistol hidden somewhere. In so doing he found something else: beside the crystal illumination-rod that penetrated the chamber to provide sunshine, were two unusual objects, both small and square, connected by a spiral string, displaying a tiny red dot of light glowing unnaturally. Obviously NokhSo skesk. "What IS that?" Da-starda-hat asked, curious. (He had never before seen a vocal recorder or battery charger.) "Oh, that's just a skesk-thing Dawalasat uses to make voice echoes," Daklakht explained. "Echoes? Is it dangerous?" "Well, it IS accursed skesk" Daklakht moralized, "but it's not like a noisekiller. I've never used it myself, but Dawalasat spoke to it and it repeated his words back to him." Interested, Da-starda-hat courageously picked up the two little devices, the connecting cable fell loose and the little red dot of light vanished. He almost dropped them then, but nothing else happened. "How does it work?" Daklakht explained as best he could, having seen it used, but never himself having operated it before. He was still not quite comfortable with touching or using forbidden skesk. But Da-starda-hat had no such compunction; he had been violating Atli all his life. Buttons were pushed, the red light came back alive but nothing else seemed to happen except for a faint "hissing" sound. Another button and a tiny version of Dawalasat's voice could be heard speaking the corrupt NokhSo language. "Does it not speak Nokhontli?" "It remembers your words no matter which language. Dawalasat was speaking in a NokhSo language he called Eng-litch." Da-starda-hat may be a cruel and evil villain, but he is extremely intelligent and although without any experience of modern NokhSo electronic technology, by trial and error he started to understand the tiny device. Finally he spoke at it and his own voice came back at him, repeating exactly what he had said in perfectly comprehensible Nokhontli. So he took it back to his own chambers to play with.
Daklakht he sent to Shamballah North to find Dawalasat, retrieve the noisekiller and kill him.
|