The last song of the ancestors

The three Phalanx generals were invited to a meeting with interim President Ojwang. It would be more accurate to say that they were ordered. They were to abandon any mission or business and go to meet the head of state in the secret laboratory beneath the Iroko Tree. Only high-ranking military personnel and scientists loyal to Ojwang had access.

Gahiji took the elevator to the laboratory in the Ministry of Defense. As he typed in a sequence of numbers and had his biometrics scanned, the elevator went to floors far underground. He didn't want to show it, but he was tense. The bitter taste of failure was on his lips.

The doors opened with a dry click, like something being vacuum-packed. He stepped out and took the high, wide and long corridor. Huge air conditioning and gas transportation ducts filled the scene. Along the way, robots and transport drones made their presence felt. Test and research rooms stretched along both sides of the corridor. The corridor ended at a corner.

General Gahiji almost bumped into a big man coming from the other direction. His armor was the color of obsidian with bronze details, as dark as the night sky with the fleeting glow of moonlight. It was twice the size of an ordinary man and took up two thirds of the corridor. His face gave off a feeling of superiority without any aplomb.

"Hohoho, the great general Gahiji has lost his phalanx. My condolences to the Savage Unit. If they had been under my command, they wouldn't have been slaughtered like flies."

Gahiji clenched his fists. The sound of cybernetic muscles and transistors emitted a high-pitched sound, low like an electric guitar.

"Don't you dare talk about them, General Jitujeusi. You don't strike me as the most successful military man in our Armed Forces. The Circle of Sages is still at large. Don't be such a coward as to use the name of the dead to attack me. Do it directly against me, if you can…"

Gahiji continued walking. He left the big man behind. The transhuman lap bent his knees. He put his arms together at his sides and began to condense Axé around himself. The matter around the general began to deform. The walls began to crack, and the walls to distort as if they were a sheet of paper.

Is he crazy? Are you going to use your Quantity Alteration here?

"Put the guns down, boys! This could be considered friendly fire, you know. Boys always fighting over who has the biggest dick. Come on, don't keep our leader waiting."

General Luena appeared between the two of them. She was a tall woman with a slender body and athletic muscles. She had long, curly hair that flowed down her back. Her youthful face, with its prominent cheekbones and plump lips, was covered by a transparent visor. His armor was cyan, with silver details.

Jitujeusi was distracted by this intrusion. He wouldn't mind fighting his companions. His excessive self-confidence allowed him to think so. He pointed a finger at the general's face.

"Don't meddle in my affairs, Luena. Unless you want to share the lesson I'm going to teach Gahiji."

"You can't attack what you can't see, my dear General Jitujeusi. You don't want to see me angry."

"Whoever controls one of the four fundamental forces of nature is going to be afraid of whom?"

The two generals were about to attack each other. Before they could take the first step, a holoprojection of Ojwang appeared and ordered:

"Come to my office immediately. Don't make me ask you twice."

"Saved by the gong, Luena."

"Say that to your reflection in the mirror."

The trio of generals headed towards a huge hall with a concave ceiling. A series of panels connected to an extensive network of wires and connectors. The panels took various measurements and readings. These connectors ran up the walls, crawled along the ceiling and connected to the roots of the Irôko tree. The tree was a source of Divine Energy. Like the Spiritual Keys, the tree was one of Fante Obataiye's divine emanations.

In front of the reading panels and in the center of the hall stood a kind of generator. It was made up of a concentrated core of massive energy. It formed a sphere of Axé particles. Around it, a series of seven rings rotated around and inside each other. A few scientists and auxiliary robots operated the machinery.

Ojwang was wearing a lab coat and large-rimmed sunglasses. When he saw the generals coming, he dismissed everyone and activated the high security protocols. No one outside that room could see or hear what was going to happen there. The interim president took a handkerchief from his coat pocket and wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead.

"I thought I'd made the place and time of our meeting clear, Phalanx."

Gahiji hurried to apologize. He didn't feel that the lack of punctuality was part of manliness and respect for the military hierarchy. Ojwang gestured for him to shut up.

"I expected more from you, General Gahiji. Your last performance gave me reason to be disappointed, despite your previous achievements."

"I underestimated the strength of our enemies, sir. I beg your pardon."

"Don't make excuses! The Savage Unit couldn't handle three pensioners, that's outrageous for our Armed Forces. If it wasn't causing insubordination, I'd remove you from office and send you to an office on the border."

Gahiji clenched his fists and turned his face away. Jitujeusi smiled broadly. He would remember the disappointment his military companion had shown when he heard those harsh words. He felt great pleasure.

"We only have possession of one Spiritual Key. The Circle of Sages is still harassing me. That Akachi is still at large. Day by day, he could become a threat to us. I hope you don't fail like those two, General Luena. Capture Akachi, dead or alive, during the tournament."

"Yes, sir!"

Jitujeusi didn't hold back. He glared at Ojwang. The two stared at each other. The general took a few steps back. His attempt at intimidation was met with an even greater threat.

"Do you know why I brought you here?"

"No, sir…"

"That divine energy generator is a closed door. I need six more keys to open it. I want to build a new world, without mediums. The dead will have peace, and we'll be able to live in a world where science can extract all human potential."

He removed his dark goggles. He stretched his arms into the air. His eyes shone. With an emotional tone of voice, he declared to the generals:

"A new world! We will be the architects of that world. But it won't be built without effort. I need you, my generals. Don't fail, or all the effort we've put in will be nothing more than a barrack, a minor thing in the chronology of history. Will you continue to serve this noble purpose?"

"Yes, sir!"