The Rescue Mission
Chapter 13
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

Offshore and outside USA’s jurisdiction in the Atlantic Ocean, from South Carolina are two assault ships and a submarine nearby for assistance. Each ship has a chopper platform on the rear part of the ship. The hanger on the rear end of the ships has four stealth choppers ready to roll out and take off, for a total of ten stealth choppers. When they approach the island, they will do a HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) operation. Once the frog teams are in the water with their equipment and inflatibles, they will paddle to the rendevous points in the marshes.

The generals are having a conference via ship communications among the three sea craft. In their presence are the captains of each assault squad. The generals of the five countries picked twenty men who are highly trained for this type of night operation.

“All right men, everyone has their assignments?”

“Yes, sir. We send in the stealth frog teams in groups of twenty soldiers. They will dock by the marshes here and here.” The captain points to the two locations on the map of the island.

“Once they establish a perimeter and take out the weather radar installation, we send in the stealth choppers to drop the rest of the personnel within the perimeter they established.”

“That’s right. From all indications of our remote sensors and satellite photos, the man in question is located right here in this building of five small ones.”

“Yes, sir. We’ll surround him while he is sleeping and take him by force. If we have to, we’ll use the sleep darts from our scuba guns.”

“That’s right. The rest of your men must make sure there are no reprisals from the main buildings.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Go with best silent speed. Once you have him secured, load him on the stealth choppers and bring him here. Leave precisely from here at 2 AM. You should be done within the hour, and be on board the stealth choppers with our prize.”

“Yes sir!”

They all salute each other. The image from the second ship switches to the generals overseeing the operation on their own ship. The captains of the assault groups leave the war room on their respective ships. They get together with their teams and do the final checks before boarding the stealth choppers.

The three ships enter the territorial waters of the USA. They get close enough for a quick launch. Once the teams have gone over everything, the stealth choppers leave at 2 AM. The sea ships then return to international waters before any warnings are sounded on the USA military and Coast Guard bases.

Onboard one of the sea ships, the radar seaman notices something strange on the scope. “Sir, I have three unidentified objects approaching our ships.”

“Are the objects coming from the mainland, seaman?”

“No sir. They are coming from international waters. From these readings it is three large masses of seaweed heading our way.”

The commander pushes a button on the intercom, “All hands on deck. Be prepared to maneuver around the seaweed masses. We don’t want to get ourselves stuck out here cleaning up our hulls and propulsion system. Relay the message to the submarine and the other sea ship, seaman.”

“Yes, sir.” The seaman quickly relays the message to the other sea craft. “The message is sent.”

After turning to starboard (right), the radar seaman sees something happening on the radar unexpectedly.

“Sir, the seaweed masses have made adjustments to our headings.”

“What?! That can’t happen. Have you detected any pings from the masses?”

“No sir. I finally got the reading on them. They are biologicals, sir. It is being steered by them. In fact we are on a collision course with the masses right now!”

“That’s impossible! Sound the alarm for collision!”

Then the horn blares the collision alarm. “Honk! Honk! Honk!” “Honk! Honk! Honk!” “Honk! Honk! Honk!” “Honk! Honk! Honk!”

Everyone on board gets ready for the collision by the seaweed masses. That even includes the submarine. They soon discover that the seaweed masses are at their level in the ocean as well.

Soon, all three ships are ensnared by the seaweed masses. They also check their location as well. They discover they are still within the territorial waters of the USA by several kilometers.

A submarine yeoman turns on an external camera to see what is happening. They see hordes of fish and sea creatures they have never seen before. They are pulling the seaweed with their mouths.

Soon, all three ships’ propellers and propulsion drives become clogged with seaweed. All engines have come to a full stop to prevent further damage to the ships. The submarine surfaces for safety of the crew. When the seamen on the two warships, look all around, they see many fins from sharks and other predators encircling their ships.

One of the seamen on the control tower of the sub speaks to the commander standing there with him.

“I’ve never seen this type of reaction, sir.”

“I haven’t either, seaman. No way am I going to risk our men to clean away the seaweed. We are stuck here until they move away.”

“Yes, sir.”

Then they feel the ship nudge and rock underneath them. A seaman comes up quickly to give a report to the commander.

“Sir, we are being pushed toward the mainland by the sea life, sir.”

The commander gives a quirky smile. “That’s just our luck. Okay, we’ll soon be seeing their Coast Guard. Secure and encrypt all communication lines and logs. Be prepared to be boarded when they arrive. Also, don’t kill the sea life to get ourselves free. We’ll not be responsible for their deaths if they are an endangered species.”

“Yes, sir!” The seaman goes back down below to report the commander’s orders to the second in command. Those orders get relayed to the two other ships.

They scan the waters around them with a strong hand-held light beam until the sun comes up. They try to determine the names of the sea life they have seen. The seaman writes and sketches the descriptions on a pad of paper for future reference on the unknowns. The deep sea life and the sea dragons stay out of sight. When they look at the underwater external cameras again, they no longer see the sea life pulling the seaweed masses.

~~~000~~~

The stealth choppers released their five frog teams at high altitude. The parachutes open just in time for a soft landing on the water. They inflate the rafts and get themselves in. There are four men in each raft. They paddle silently to their rendevous points. Once they beach the crafts, they drag them further in to secure them.

They spread out among the trees to establish their perimeter. A group of four soldiers walks quietly in the night to the weather radar installation. They place the plastic explosives on the tower cables and set the timer. They quickly get to a safe location to watch it blow up.

While they are looking at it, all of a sudden they see something they didn’t expect to see. They see a ghostly knight on a horse walking in carefully. He uses his lance to pick up the explosive and toss it high in the air. When the device reaches its peak height above the trees, it explodes.

The soldiers look around. They don’t see the knight and horse anymore.

They whispered to each other. “What just happened?”

“Did you see that knight and horse?”

“What knight and horse, corporal?”

“I didn’t see anything. Did you see anything?”

“I saw nothing, sir.”

“That’s right. We didn’t see anything. We’ll report that the cable is blown.”

“Y . . . yes . . . sir.”

“Let’s get back to our perimeter.”

“Y . . . Yes, sir.”

~~~000~~~

The Coast Guard Station in Charleston goes to full alert. It sends out three ships at high speed. They don’t detect the stealth choppers on their way out to international waters. However, they do detect the three sea ships floating toward the mainland on their radar systems.

~~~000~~~

The four soldiers return to the rest of their group with their nerves on edge. They wonder what is going to happen next. They all get themselves ready for the next phase. The captain ‘clicks’ on his radio two times that it is a ‘go for deployment’. The soldiers hold in their hands, little infrared lights to mark their location. The stealth choppers release the rest of their men for the assault and kidnaping.

In about fifteen minutes, eighty more men, parachute safely into the perimeter area with accuracy, in a clearing among the trees. They quickly gather in their chutes and get out of the way for more touchdowns onto the ground. In another five minutes, everyone is ready for the next phase.

They spread out to find the prize. They see the five bungalows they are searching for. When they get closer, they see me standing there in the courtyard of the five bungalows, in my day clothes. Twenty of them, come walking slowly in a circle around me. With their night vision goggles they can see me clearly.

“This is too easy, captain.”

“But at least it will be without a struggle.”

They shine their laser sights on me. I look down and see the red dots on my body. “Hmm . . . it seems as if you found me.”

“That’s right. You’re coming with us.”

“I really like it here. It is nice and quiet. But you have a new problem, now.”

Some of the soldiers smile. “What is it, Richard?”

“I’m not really here.” Then I disappear before them in a blink of an eye.

“What!?”

“Where did he go? He was right there.”

“He can’t be that fast.”

Then I appear behind twenty of the men all at once. “Or am I here?” I say in a chorus with my twenty images. I smile at them.

“What?!”

They turn around to look at the image. One of them puts their hand out to grab me. His hand goes through the image. He yells out, “It’s holograms! Scatter! It’s a trap!”

“Get to the main complex to take hostages!”

They all scatter back into the woods.

~~~000~~~

I’m in the same room with Randy and no one else is in there with us.

“Armor on!” Then my armor appears on me magically. I take the weapons on a nearby table and put them where they belong on me. They are the sword, the sais, the staff is on a sling across my shoulder, all of my stars, and throwing knives and shields. I put the shields on my forearms.

“If I hadn’t shaken hands with you a year ago, Richard. I would say what you did is impossible unless magic really existed at one time.”

“Now we are using physics to create our kind of magic.”

“That’s right. I also figured out what happened when you broke your chair in your apartment, Richard. It happened to me as well.”

“What went wrong?”

“You superimposed the holographic image on top of the real chair.”

“Yes, that is when I decided to shift the coordinates so that won’t happen again.”

We smile at each other and do the typical light bulb phrase coming on in the head. We say it at the same time, “Duh!”

“Go get them, Richard. I’ll hold the fort here.”

“I know you will, Randy.” I look at the over all map and see the one hundred men regrouping for their assault on the main complex. I plan out my attack quickly by seeing how they are coming this way.

I open the door and walk out to the hallway to a side door of the building that is hidden from the soldiers’ view. Then I appear coming out of nothing into the opening, then the door closes. With the cameras and holo-projectors, we also programmed the 3D System to hide the main complex.

I walk to the sidewalk that is in front of the building. I take a quick look around me. I see the soldiers regrouping themselves as they approach the location of the main complex.

“They only send one soldier to protect them? Take him down!”

I then run forward as fast I can. I change directions as many times as possible.

“Who is this guy? I can’t get a bead on him!”

“I’ve never seen someone run and change directions this fast.”

I shoot freeze darts all around me. Once it hits a soldier, he freezes standing there. The darts then return to me on the gauntlet that they came from. This was accomplished with the spell I did on the darts several days ago.

All they hear are the sounds of “Thwip! Thwip! Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!” Then they hear “Thoo! Thoo! Thoo! Thoo! Thoo! Thoo! Thoo!” When it hits their neck, the darts return to me automatically on the gauntlet. “Thwip! Thwip! Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!” I repeat that until everyone has been hit by a freeze dart. Some of the birds give out a call to give their location away. I smile once I spotted them.

Once the soldiers become frozen, they see dragons appearing before them. They get wide-eyed with fear. The dragons fly in and shoot hot flames at them. They get quickly thawed out and their skin cracks underneath their protective clothing and bullet proof vests. They all scream in pain!

“Arrrgghh!”

“My skin is on fire!”

“Ghosts!”

“This place is haunted!”

“Dragons!”

“Get me out of here!”

Half of the soldiers turn around and flee screaming to their rafts. When they get there, they see them deflated, shredded and flat. Several alligators splash their bodies in the water with their mouths open and ‘hissing’. On two of the flat rafts are dozens of crabs with their pincer claws held up high to ward the intruders away.

“Oh . . . man . . . we ca . . . ca . . . can’t escape that way. We need the ch . . . choppers now!”

“Yeah, forget this assignment!”

A scared sergeant gets on his radio to contact a stealth chopper. He gets no answer from them.

~~~000~~~

When fifteen minutes have passed after the stealth choppers released their cargo of men, they search for their landing area on another island to conserve fuel. Then right before them in the air, about twenty dragons appear in the air all around them. The serpentine dragons wrapped their bodies around the stealth choppers and forced them down onto the island where the Rescue Mission is located. The pilots tried to avoid them, but they get ensnared as well.

Some soldiers in the choppers, shoot machine gun fire at the images. The dragons catch the bullets with their mouths and bodies. Then the bullets fall through their bodies to the ground.

“Where did they come from? ! ”

“We can’t fight these ghosts. They are shooting flames at us!”

“Dragons don’t exist. We are the new dragons!”

Then one of the dragons speaks. “You sure don’t look like the dragons that we know. Take them down, brothers!”

Several dragons shout out together, “Yes, Marcon!”

“What?! They can speak? Oh crud . . . no one is going to believe in this report.”

Slowly the stealth choppers are brought down to the ground. The motors are taxed to the limit on the choppers. The pilots turn off the engines to keep themselves in one piece. The dragons bring them down to the clearing area where the fifty scared soldiers are gathered together.

They become frightened a lot more when they see stealth choppers brought down by the dragons. Once the choppers are down, several dragons stay flying around and above the stealth choppers to keep watch on them. The other dragons fade into the night.

Then the soldiers see a group of ghostly knights, soldiers and horsemen encircling them. They have their swords and lances pointing at them.

“Come, we are taking you to the main building.”

“Y . . . yes . . . sir.”

The Twainor armies escort the captured men to the main building complex. Just beyond the armies they see wasps, gnats, deer, red fox, bobcats, birds encircling around them as they get escorted to the main complex. They become even more scared and frightened when they see the wildlife there.

A private whispers to a fellow soldier quietly, “My momma told me there would be days like this.”

“Shut up, private.”

~~000~~~

The other half of the soldiers get themselves together for their assault on the main complex. They whisper to each other, quietly.

“Well, it looks like we found another problem with our soldiers.”

“Yes, they are afraid of ghosts. I kind of figured they would be holograms.”

“That was a neat trick to use the thermal darts on us.”

“But how did he hit us from his impossible angles and directions? How did he get the darts returned to him?”

“I don’t know, sir.”

“How do you explain the hot fire from the dragons?”

“The best I can figure out is this. The holograms are more solid.”

“That’s possible, if someone figured out how to do it.”

When they get there, they don’t see the buildings at all.

“Where did it go?”

“It should be right there!”

“Use the night vision goggles and use the heat signature feature.”

“Yes, sir.” He turns them on and uses the device. “You’re right sir. It is still there. Somehow, they were able to hide the building, but I can see their bodies and building heat signatures plainly.”

“It must be an extension of the holograms we saw earlier. We need to take out that hologram projector somehow.”

“Yes, captain.”

I see the fifty men gathering together. I walk up to the empty parking lot and get between them and the building. I push the button on the side of my helmet to reveal my mouth.

“You will not hurt anyone here. It is me you’re after.”

“How do we know you are for real?”

“Oh, I am for real. However, as you found out, I’m very good in computers and fighting.”

“Those fifty are weak minded, but they are still good soldiers. We are the strong ones. We are used to keep them in line and in shape.”

“Perhaps. I suggest you contact your fleet and stealth choppers. They should all be inoperable at this time.”

“That’s impossible!”

They get on the radio to reach their air and sea craft support. They get word everything is a bust.

“You’re right, Richard. It seems we are stuck here. We’ll force you to get our country’s money back. We need to get paid.”

“Didn’t you hear the news? I wiped out all of the world wide debt. Everyone is starting over from scratch. I didn’t touch the principal amounts that are held in the banks. Besides, if the Euro scam had worked, you would have nothing in the banks if you don’t use the Euro dollar.”

A captain yells out, “We still want our money!”

“Then get a reduced paycheck. Everything else will get reduced in value back to the 1960's, eventually.”

“Why that year?”

“That is when the countries really started to remove the gold standard from their paper currency, if they hadn’t done it by then. They thought the paper money was very strong by itself. But as we can see from today’s economy that was a poor choice to do.”

“What?! We were given a job to do, we are taking you hostage!”

“That’s not going to happen. That is unless, I have a one on one fight with your best fighter. If I lose, you have your hostage. If your fighter loses, everyone will throw their weapons down and get taken into custody.”

“By you? You don’t have an army here.”

“Yes, I do. Come out and show yourselves, officers. Also, reveal the buildings, my friend.”

Then the buildings slowly appear before them. Then the twenty-seven officers come walking out of the doors.

“Oh man. This is a big surprise, Lieutenant.”

“It sure is, Captain.”

“We would be facing them, if we were to get inside the buildings.”

They are all heavily armed and wearing bullet proof vests and helmets. They have their infrared sights on the guns and rifles pointing at the soldiers.

“Okay, you’ll have your fight, Richard. My first question is this. What is your rank?”

“I’m a Shaolin brown sash with the third degree. I’m currently working on the first black sash.”

The soldiers all gather around to talk it out.

~~~000~~~

“That leaves me out. He is beyond me.”

“Whom has the best degree here?”

“I have a first degree black belt in karate. But, he knows more than I do.”

“I have a third degree black belt in tae kwon do. Can anyone beat that?”

Everyone looks at each other and says ‘no.’

“Okay, it is me, then. Wish me luck.”

“Good luck, Captain Borhgess. You’re our best instructor.”

“Thanks, I’ll need it.”

They all turn around to face me.

~~~000~~~

The captain steps forward. “It will be me, Richard. I have a third degree black belt in tae kwon do. My name is Captain Borhgess.”

“That’s fine, Captain. I’ll deal with that. Now we need to come up with a format. Are we to use armor and weapons?”

“Let’s use them both. If I were to disarm your weapon, I still keep using mine.”

“I see. It is to be a domination type fight.”

“That’s right, Richard.”

“If we are still standing and have no weapons, we’ll end it with a hand to hand combat until one gives up.”

“That’s fine, Richard. From the looks of the weapons on you, I will need a few items from our squads.”

“Go ahead and pick your weapons that you think will match mine.”

The captain turns around to face the squads. He receives from them a staff, a long knife to act as his sword that is twenty inches long, a sash of metal stars, and two knives that are twelve inches long. He turns around to face me.

“Let’s start with the staff, Richard. Then it will be the knives against your sais. I am guessing you have metal stars behind your armor.”

“You’re right, Captain. Then it will be metal stars against metal stars. Then we’ll end it with your long knife against my sword.”

“We’ll keep the lighting in the parking lot as it is.”

“That’s fine, Captain. Oh . . . and one more thing Captain. Let’s have a bigger audience to put ourselves under more pressure.”

“What do you mean by that, Richard?”

I wave my hand in the air. Then dozens of images are seen in the air near the building. They are from the UN Security Council and the UN itself. Several Presidents, Vice Presidents, Kings and Prime Ministers are in the group as well. Everyone will know what is happening at once.

Captain Borhgess sees his Vice President representing their country, Gorgonstan. They both smile at each other. The VP winks his right eye once. The Captain returns the wink with his right eye as well.

I push the button on my helmet to close the covering in front of my mouth. We start circling each other as we put our staffs in our hands. We spin the staffs several times looking for the opening move. Captain Borhgess is at least a foot taller than I and more stout. From his movements, I can tell he is very fast and strong for his size.

The men are yelling out loud for their favorite fighter. Some even make side bets with each other. The women and children are inside the building wide awake and watching through the windows the best they can.

Anna, Brianna and Karen are watching and praying silently that I will win the day for everyone.

As soon as we get within arm length of each other. We start doing the classical hits of the staffs. Then the Captain goes for a pin of my staff. As soon as he gets horizontal, I move in quickly and rake his hands on his staff with my staff.

We back away quickly as we smile at each other. He blows some air from his mouth onto his raked hands.

“That’s not bad, Richard. It looks like I finally met someone who can take me on.”

“It’s my pleasure to do so, captain. But we’re talking too much.”

“That’s right.”

We come in quickly. He comes in for a big side arm swing toward my waist. I jump over it with a dive and roll forward. He continues around to swing at me. I get my staff up quickly to block his hit. I then spin my staff to the advantage that I lift his staff out of his hands.

His staff flies up in the air. He runs after it to catch it. “Oh no, you don’t, Richard. Pant . . . pant . . . pant . . .” While he runs after it, I hit him three times on his torso. He catches his staff and swings it around. I bring my staff up to block it. I swing it around to trap his end down. I do another swing upward to get his staff out of his hands, which I do successfully. However, I see a new movement from him. As he runs to the staff, he puts his right hand onto his long knife. He lets the staff drop to the ground. He swings around with his long knife. I get my staff into a vertical position with both hands.

He slices my staff into two pieces. “Crack!” I hold the two pieces in my hands. Everyone breaths out a sigh of relief that no one gets hurt.

“I could take you on with this long knife, Richard. But I will need it later to face your sword.” He smiles at me. He puts his long knife back into the scabbard that is attached to his belt.

I smile back at him. “That’s fine, captain. We’ll continue with your staff and my two pieces.”

“I thought you would. That eliminates the triangle defense from you.” He walks over to pick up his staff. He turns around to face me again. “You’re fast, Richard. Now your reach is shorter.”

“We’ll see if your plan works, captain.”

My sensei smiles when he sees the new situation. So do some of the Raleigh police officers. They remembered their classes with me when I showed them this offense and defense style using their batons.

~~~000~~~

Tiger and Tigress notice a movement behind some trees. They flutter to Sensei Chou and land on his shoulders. They whisper to each other.

“I see him too, Tiger. He is no threat to Richard. He is with me this time. He is evaluating Richard for the next part of his training.”

“Okay, Sensei.”

They flutter back to the other fairies in butterfly mode and tell them what is going on. Then they focus on the fight in front of them.

~~~000~~~

We circle each other again as we get closer. He comes with a horizontal swing at my torso. I do an ‘X’ form with my pieces. I swing it around and pin his staff end to the ground on my right side. I come up immediately with my left hand and hit him on the hands and arms quickly.

“Oww! So, you do know the two sword techniques.”

“That’s right, captain. Now, here is more of it.” I come in quickly and do the windmill swings as I get closer to him. I back him up quickly as he tries defend himself with the staff. I hit him several times on his body and arms. He starts to have a look of panic on his face.

I didn’t expect to see that face, Creator.

You touched a nerve in his training, Richard. Dig deeper and you will get your answer.

Yes, Creator.

He drops his staff. I end it with my right piece pointing to his stomach, and the left piece at his throat. “Pant . . . pant . . . pant . . .”

“You win, that round, Richard.”

The soldiers can’t believe what they are seeing. Their master has been defeated. They now have three more chances for a win before it goes to the hand-to-hand combat.

“Thank you, captain. Since my staff is now cut, I will put them aside and we move onto the knives and sais.” I toss them toward Sergeant Lonigan. One of his corporals picks up the two pieces.

“That’s fine, Richard.”

Then the Vice President from Captain Borhgess’ country yells out loud, “Kill him! Kill him, Captain!”

The captain’s face changes. He grabs his knives as I turn my back.

People around us yell out loud, “Richard! Look out!”

I grab my sais and quickly turn and thrust the knobs into his stomach. A lot of people give another sigh of relief when I disarmed him quickly.

“Ooof . . .” He drops the knives as he reaches for his stomach. He doubles over in pain. “You are . . . f . . . fast.”

“I’m sorry about that, captain.”

The captain stands back up slowly, “I don’t know what came over me.”

“It was your VP who yelled out the attack, captain.”

“He did?” He looks down, “What’s this? My knives are on the ground. I guess you beat me there, Richard.”

“How about we do a star throwing contest and try to hit a target.”

“I like that idea, Richard. Thank you.”

I put my sais back onto my belt. We each take five stars and put them in our hands. The VP now has a very frustrated look on his face.

“We’ll use that cut off limb from that tree over there. It is about twenty meters from here. The stub is about a foot in diameter.”

“That’s fine, captain. The one with most on the stub is the winner of that round. We’ll do two, two and one throws at the stub.”

“That’s fine, Richard.”

The captain gets ready to toss his first star. Once he is sure of his aim, he let’s it fly. It hits the stub off center. The soldiers all yell that he hit the mark. He does the same with his second throw. It hits the stub closer to the center.

I step up to the strip on the parking lot. I am able to hit the stub with no problems. This continues again with the next pair of throws. This time, our throws are more centered.

“That is great throwing, captain. Your father must have taught you well.”

“Leave my father out of this, Richard. He’s a great man. I’m following in his footsteps.”

“That’s fine, captain. I think of my father too. He was great as well when he was still alive.”

“What? Your father is dead?”

The VP yells out, “Continue with the throws, captain!”

“Huh?” He looks at his VP with a stern face. “Yes, sir!”

The captain takes aim with his last throw. His aim is off, and hits the outer edge of the stub. I do my last throw as well. I hit the dead center of the stub.

Everyone on my side yells out that I won. The soldiers of the assault teams are disappointed. Their captain lost again. We walk up to the stub to retrieve our stars. We put them back where they belong on us. We take out our last weapon to use. His long knife against my sword.

I need your help, Sir Halgren.

I’m right here to guide your hands. Remember how you and I fought our foes in the arenas, Richard. You’ll do fine.

Thank you, my friend.

As we face each other, I see sweat coming down his forehead. He wipes it away as best he can. We come in closer for our first clash.

We bring them up and cross them above our heads. The sound of a loud ‘clang’ is heard in the air.

The VP yells out again, “Kill him, kill him, Captain Borhgess!”

We back away to catch our breaths. We come in again. Our blades clash again. “Clang!” This time we struggle against each other and try to gain the advantage. This I time I do a twist in my hands and get his sword out his hands. It flies up and outward from us. It sticks into the ground, point first.

The captain gets on his knees before me. “Kill me, Richard. I deserve it. I have failed my country.”

The VP smiles, when he sees the captain on his knees.

“No, you haven’t, Captain Borhgess. You failed no one. My father and my sensei told me there is always someone better than you. The difference is how you approach your opponent to do your best and be able to defeat him. Let us do this last match with honor.”

The Captain stands back up with a smile. “Yes, with honor.”

I give my weapons to Sergeant Lonigan to hold. Captain Borhgess gives his weapons to a member in his squad. Everyone yells again as we circle each other. We do the classic side steps with our hands, arms and legs. Slowly we get within the reach of each other. His first move is a side swing with his left leg at my torso.

I spin to my left. I get my legs around his left leg as it passes by.

The captain mutters when he sees my move, “What?”

I grab it and continue the movement. I turn around in my movement and bend his left knee. I drive his leg downward and get him off balance.

“Whoa!” His body tumbles downward as his face hits the grass. “Mmmphhh!”

Everyone smiles that I made a good move out of nothing.

I untangle myself from him and let him stand up. He gets up quickly as well. He spits out the grass in his mouth. “Ptouui! Heh, heh, heh, that’s a good move, Richard.”

I smile back, “You’re welcome, Captain.”

We circle each other again and get closer to each other. This time, I initiate the first move. I come in with a flurry of punches. He deftly blocks all of my hits. Then I change tactics and go for his torso sides. He blocks them all again.

I back away to figure out my next set of moves.

Let’s do the animal moves, Richard. Let’s mix them up.

That’s a good idea, Croin. Get ready to upset his stomach.

I’ll be ready.

I carefully walk around him. I use the black panther moves to stalk my prey.

~~~000~~~

The mystery man sees my approach. That’s it, stalk your prey, Richard. Time it just right.

~~~000~~~

The Captain steels himself for the coming set of moves.

I pounce, once he does another side step. I come rushing in very quickly, then I jump up and plant my foot onto his chest to get higher. He misses with his leg and arm movements to hit me. He staggers back a couple of feet when I push into him.

Captain Borhgess mutters to himself when he sees my height above him, “Uh oh . . . !”

I come down with my arms criss crossed. I then do the crane wing slashes as I come down. The wind off my fingers tips slices through the air and hits him on the cheeks. As I come down, I do a quick tiger claw slash across his stomach. I yell out loud as I slash him, “Ro . . . aaar!” Croin extends his claws invisibly as I rake my fingers across his stomach. I land on my feet and back away to see his reaction.

~~~000~~~

“Whoa! Did you see that move, Agent Morrison?”

“I think I did, Sergeant Lonigan.”

Sensei Chou smiles widely that I did a new combination to catch him off guard.

~~~000~~~

The mystery man who is hiding by the trees sees this new combination.

I love it! Way to go, Richard! Mix up those animal moves. That will get him off balance.

~~~000~~~

The Captain touches the sides of his face. “What? You cut my face without touching me? I never saw a crane wing slash done like that.” Then Captain Borhgess doubles over in pain while standing. “Oooh. . . . My stomach. How did you get through my armor?” He stands up very slowly to face me one more time.

“That’s a trade secret, Captain. Your stomach is not lacerated. It is just a bit upset.”

This time he comes with a series of leg swings and fists flying at me. I deftly dodge all of his moves with my own acrobatic moves of dodges, flips and somersaults. When I come down on my last move, I hit him squarely in the chest with a mantis punch.

“Ooof . . .” He staggers back a few feet off balanced. He squares himself up again to face me again. “I have never met someone like you, Richard. I have yet to hit you at all.”

I smile back. “Thank you, captain. Your moves need some more polish. You need to earn the higher degrees.”

He smiles back, “I’ll certainly do that, Richard.”

The VP is now very upset the way how things are going. He yells out loud again, “Kill him! Kill him, captain! That’s an order!”

Just when he decides to come in with some punches of his own, his face changed very much to anger and red-faced. He comes in with a punch to my face. I duck down and squat down. His swing misses my head. I then swing my left leg to get him off balance. He jumps up to avoid it. I immediately grab his right leg and pull him down.

He yells from his back side down on the grass, “Owww!”

“That’s not all, captain.” I then yank his right leg and ankle really hard as I tried to pull his leg out from his hip socket.”

“Why? . . . you little kid! That hurts!”

~~~000~~~

Everyone around us, scrunch up their faces as if they are experiencing the pain themselves. “Oooh . . . that had to hurt.”

~~~000~~~

“Richard did the same thing to one of his old foes, Agent Morrison.”

“He did? That’s interesting, Lonigan.”

~~~000~~~

“I know it does, Captain. My sensei did it to me as well.”

“Your sensei?”

“That’s right, sir. Now, for the other leg.” I immediately jump onto the other leg and do the same thing.

“Owww! That hurt again, Richard.”

I back away to see the results of my ploy. He tries to stand up, but he can’t.

The VP yells out really loud, “Get up and fight through the pain, Captain! Kill that mockery of a fighter! That’s an order!”

His head snaps up as his face changes again. He stares at the VP in madness. “I’m trying, sir!”

“You’re not trying hard enough, captain! Your father would be greatly disappointed in you!”

The captain yells again, “Leave my father out of this! You fool of a VP!”

“How dare you talk to your superior like that?!”

That’s it right there, Richard and Sensei Chou. His father is the key to unraveling this mystery. Extend your right hand in friendship, Richard.

I look and hear at their exchange as this is happening. I look to Sensei Chou and nod my head slightly up and down. He nods his head slightly up and down as well.

I step forward slowly. I reach out with my right hand to him.

The VP yells out loud, “Take his hand Captain and break it!”

His face changes a bit to calmness for one second, then his face gets mad again. “I will not, Mr. Vice President!” The captain extends his hand to Richard tentatively.

“I will now extend my hand forward in friendship, Captain Borhgess.”

“What did you say?”

“I extend my hand forward in the right hand of friendship.”

He reaches for my hand with his right hand.

The VP yells out again, “Kill him! Kill him, Captain!”

The captain soon shakes my hand, I see his face change before me. He is now in a trance recalling a scene in his mind with his father.

~~~000~~~

“Papa! It is great to see you again!”

“Yes, my son. It is great to see you again. However, I want you to remember this day.”

“Why, papa?”

“This will be the last day you’ll see me.”

“Don’t leave, papa!”

“I must go, my son. Someday, you’ll remember all we did together.” He shows a sad face.

“What’s wrong, papa?”

“Sigh . . . I have become suspicious of our general. He has chosen me to be in his elite squad. The problem is that I think he is using trauma to bend the will of his elite squad.”

“How is he hurting you, papa?”

“He is using my father’s killing to bend my will to his will.”

“That’s wrong, papa! Who killed him, papa?”

He smiles at him, “Yes, it is wrong, my son. I was given a dream several nights ago. You will meet someone that will turn your life around and end the general’s hold over us.”

“How will I know, papa?”

“He will extend his right hand to you in friendship. When that happens, everything that you experienced will come flooding back to you. You will remember me, your childhood, our family and our time in the church. For I think the general has his eyes on you as well.”

“I will remember you, papa! I will remember everything!”

“I know you will my son. I’m already proud of you. Don’t forget that, my son. The General who is now our Vice President, killed my father. I saw it happened before my own eyes. My father refused to do his will. I will do the same.”

~~~000~~~

Then the Captain recalls his entire life since that last day with his father as a child. He sees the VP kill his own father in cold blood in front of him when he was a young recruit. Then the VP’s successor continues the horror to bend the minds of their soldiers to be an elite killing squad without compassion. They killed many animals to dull their senses and get used to the smell of spilled blood. This heist to capture Richard Moore is their first hit assignment.

He mutters his last phrase out loud, “I will remember everything!” He quickly rubs his joints down quickly to stand up. He stands up next to me. “I do remember everything, Richard. Thank you.”

I smile at him. “You’re welcome, captain.”

“I am also hearing the Creator’s voice as well. I remembered I used to talk to him when I was a young boy in our local religious services.”

“Then you know what to do next, to end this cycle of hate.”

“I certainly do, Richard.” He turns around to face the VP’s image.

“Kill him, Captain! That’s an order!”

“Not this time, VP. Your previous title is Colonel, Mr. Wainwright. Also, your last name was Wermongaue, Colonel.”

Everyone in the images and in the parking lot, looks at VP Wainwright with astonishment. They are looking at the latest butcher of a military junta that supposedly became democratic, Colonel Wermongaue.

“I am now in my right mind, Mr. VP Wainwright. I will now release the rest of the soldiers in our unit from your mind control!”

“No! I command you to kill, Richard Moore!”

Captain Borhgess walks up to each member in his group and shakes hands with them. Soon, their faces change as they remember their past memories. They all gather around each other to hug each other as they cried the loss of their fathers who were brutally killed in front of them.

Then each one of them, starts to shake the hands of everyone else from the other countries and the stealth chopper pilots who came to kidnap Richard.

Then they all gather themselves together to face the images.

Then the assassination squad from Gorgonstan steps forward together. Captain Borhgess speaks up, “We the people of Gorgonstan, place VP Wainwright or Colonel Wermongaue, under house arrest. UN Security Council, please arrest, VP Wainwright.”

The Chief of Security officer from the UN speaks up. “Guards, hold VP Wainwright from Gorgonstan in custody. He is wanted on multiple charges of murder in his own country.”

Four guards come forward in the UN Assembly Hall and approach the VP of Gorgonstan. They quickly apprehend him as he tries to flee. “I’m innocent! I’m not Colonel Wermongaue! He’s dead!” They take him out of the Main Assembly hall to a holding cell in the tower.

~~~000~~~

Meanwhile in the penthouse office in UN Building #2, several men and women are seeing the fruits of their labor go down the drain on the TV monitors in front of them.

“He was one of our best subjects, my magi friends.”

“Yes, now he is gone. We’ll no longer have a reach in their region soon. Everything was fine, until the Captain shook hands with the Omega Unicorn.”

“I don’t think it was totally the Omega’s fault this time. It appears the Captain was given a trigger phrase to recall everything that he did and saw since he was brainwashed.”

“That’s possible. Well, let’s continue making our plans for world domination. That is one brick discarded from our usable pile. We’ll build again and reinforce our influence in the other countries.”

“Yes we will, my friends.”

~~~000~~~

Before I turn around, a UN Security Council representative speaks up.

“Richard Moore.”

“Yes, sir.”

“We’ll have the court date set soon for the Euro Scam. We’ll be having it here in New York City at the UN headquarters here.”

“What happened to having it in Washington, D.C., sirs? I was also told my identity would be kept secret. What happened to that idea?”

“Those are good questions, Richard. Someone made the suggestion to have it here.”

“Hmm . . . Okay. I’ll make my plans accordingly sirs.” It had to be the Eleven Magi who did this, Creator.

You’re right, Richard. Be wary while you’re in New York City. You will meet some of them while you’re there. At a later date, you’ll retrieve the special stones from them.

Thank you for telling me that, Creator.

“That’s fine, Richard Moore.”

Then all of the images disappear from view.

Then the officers approach me to give me slaps on the backs in winning the fight. I do a quick bow with the handclasp in front of me to Sensei Chou as I smile. He returns the familiar greeting to me as well with a smile. Some of the ladies come out as well to hug me, especially Anna, Brianna and Karen. When they came out, most of the captured soldiers wolf whistled as they see them come out.

“Wow! Look at that men, women are here.”

“Hey, chickadee! There are plenty of us here!”

“Yeah, we could use some lovin’!”

The women stop their hugging of me. They walk slowly to some of the men.

Captain Borhgess yells out loud. “Stay away from them, men. You could get hurt.”

“What? We can’t get hurt by women. No way it will happen, captain!”

“Okay, but beware, I warned you.”

About ten women sashay up to ten men. The men reach out with their hands to bring them in closer to kiss. All of sudden, the ten women grab their arms and hands. They do throws, ankle trips, arm locks and push them onto the ground, face down.

“We’re not so easy, soldier. I’ve been waiting to do this for a long time. My former husband beat me until I was blue in the face.”

“That’s right, sister! My boyfriend couldn’t control his anger either. He not only hurt me. He hurt my daughter as well!”

“Err . . . okay . . . I get the message. . . .”

“You better get the message, soldier. I suggest you start listening to the Creator’s voice. Your life will get better as time goes on.”

“And you better share the handshake with the others back in your own country. There are big events happening in the future. You’ll need to help Earth get ready for it in the future.”

“Yes . . . yes. . . . Ma’am.”

The women get off of the men to let them stand back up. The soldiers walk carefully back to their group. Some of the other men who stayed back gave the ten soldiers grief for letting their male hormones and male organs think for them.

We then see the sun come up slowly at the break of dawn. Then we hear another helicopter in the sky. We look up and see a Coast Guard chopper coming in for a landing. Once the blades stop spinning, the side doors slide open. Five men come out dressed in sharp clothes. Agent Morrison recognizes one of them as his superior officer from the FBI. The other four men walk along with him. Two of them are from the Coast Guard and the other two are from the Charleston Police Department.

When the officers shake hands with them, I see no reaction from them when someone hears the Creator for the first time. Sergeant Lonigan explains what happened to Agent Morrison and the Charleston Police force quietly. They understand now, that it might take a little longer for some to hear his Voice. The officers give a quick verbal report of what happened to their superiors.

They come together to approach the soldiers and the pilots of the stealth choppers. They tell them what is going to happen next.

“Since, your ships are stuck at sea with seaweed. It will take time to get them cleaned up and be under power again. The reports from your ships state the sea life has moved off and back to where they belong in the Atlantic Ocean. As far as getting your stealth choppers back in operation. You can begin checking them out and see what repairs are needed for them. I suggest you get at least one operable with what you have, then use it as a ferry service to get the others repaired and returned to the ships.”

One of the soldiers speaks up, “What about the ghosts and the wildlife here, sirs?”

“Take a look around, private. Do you see any wildlife or ghosts nearby?”

They all look around and don’t see any wildlife keeping them hemmed in. Also, the ghost army they saw is gone as well.

“As you can see, they are gone. The wildlife has returned back where they belong.”

“We’ll not be holding you here in the USA. We are going after the leaders who ordered this hit on Richard Moore.”

Captain Borhgess speaks up for them, “Thank you very much, sirs. Since we did a night operation, we’ll be in shifts fixing the stealth choppers while some get much needed sleep and get back on schedule. We’ll sleep near our stealth choppers and stay together as a group.”

“That is a good suggestion, Captain Borhgess. Perhaps this incident will change attitudes around the world that going into debt will be bad for business.”

Captain Borhgess smiles, “Yes it will, sir.” Captain Borhgess turns around to face the soldiers. “Come, let’s return to our stealth choppers and get them fixed. We can return home and change some more attitudes there as well. Peace is always good for business when everyone gets along.”

The soldiers shout out together, “Yes, sir!”

They turn around and return to their downed choppers. Some of the FBI and Charleston Police Department escort them and to keep an eye on them as well. Some of the soldiers even hiked to the shredded inflatibles and picked up the pieces and paddles for a proper clean up of the marshes. They didn’t see any alligators or crabs while they did that.

In about two hours, they were able to ascertain the problems on the stealth choppers. All of them required some fuse replacements to get them airworthy. They checked the distance from the island to their sea ships. They discover they need some more gas in each chopper. They did a siphon transfer of gas to three of the choppers from the others. They get airborne and fly to the sea ships to bring back fuses and external tanks to fill up the other stealth choppers.

When the stranded soldiers shook hands with the crews on the three sea ships, they all started to hear the Creator’s Voice as well. When they get back to their own countries, they will spread the experience with their own countrymen and leaders.

However, it was found that there were two leaders in each of the five countries who pooled their resources to be part of the Euro Scam in their region. They immediately fled their countries with what they could take. They eventually ended up in Tibet to start over in about ten years.

~~~000~~~

In another four hours, all is quiet finally on the island. The FBI supervisor walks up to me. “Well, it seems you’re a fast healer, Richard. If the reports are true about the beating you took, a normal man would be hobbling around here in a wheel chair and crutches. I’m looking forward to your work in getting our computers to be hack proof from these high tech criminals.”

“I’ll be working at our Charleston office for that, sir. I’m also tired of these hackers as well, sir. They have caused too many problems for us.”

“Yes, they have, Richard. We received the email from your company in seconds. It proved that your 3D System works. Interpol found the four who are involved in Brussels.”

“Yes, sir. Just before I was beaten up, I started to work on a new feature of the 3D System.”

“What is it?”

“It is to make the holograms more solid.”

“Hmm . . . that’s interesting, Richard. However, I don’t think that should be available to the public yet. It could make certain crimes increase dramatically if the wrong people get a hold of it.”

“Yes, it would, sir. However, the images have to be within the area of the cameras and the holo-projectors. We put them throughout this area on the trees. It worked really well in seeing the soldiers approach the buildings here. I was able to appear among them and disappear as well, while I stayed inside the main building here.” I take off my helmet and show him the head band. “I created this head band so it will read my thoughts to create an image of myself.” Then another image of myself appears next to me. We both reach forward and touch his chest. We smile at the FBI supervisor. Then the hologram image disappears.

He smiles back, “I see, then with careful planning, a few men can keep many at bay.”

“Perhaps, sir. But it still needs testing, to max it out against hundreds coming at you at once. If the mind gets overwhelmed, the images might disappear.”

“That could happen, Richard. Well, keep at it. I’ll see you in New York City next month when the trial starts. We were able to get a copy of your Rabbit Trails program from Mr. Bryson. We are using it to track down the other accomplices associated with the Euro Scam. We are finding some interesting supporters to the Euro Group here in the USA and abroad.”

“I”m sure it will shake up those governments. They will probably need some new elections to replace those who got caught.”

“I’m sure they will. Well, I must be going.”

We shake hands with each other. Then I see his face change that I have seen many times before. We start to walk together to get away from everyone else around us. We talk quietly.

“Who is speaking to me in my mind, Richard?”

“Did he give a name?”

“Yes he did. He calls himself the Creator of the Universe. I don’t understand this.”

“What’s he telling you?”

“He’s telling me that it has been a long time since I heard his voice. That was when I was a kid in Sunday School class.”

“What caused you to stop hearing him?”

“When my dad was killed by a gunman, who robbed his store. Since then, I blocked the Creator out from my mind.”

“I understand that myself when I heard my family was killed in the car and plane crash in the North Carolina mountains. However, my life changed very much during my junior year in college. I now see the bigger picture what the Creator wants me to do.”

“I remember reading that report, Richard. You knew your family was arriving by car.”

“Yes, sir. My parents told me they were driving to Mount Blanc a week before that weekend. I also know what caused the plane to crash and I met one of The Eleven a little bit later. They know whom I am.”

“You know about The Eleven? They have been a thorn in our side for a long time. Sigh . . . Agent Morrison told me about the one thousand images you used to defeat this one hundred. He said they are for real and from another world you went to. The Creator just told me it is true what you are saying.”

“I’m surprised like you, and the Creator chose me for this task.”

“You’re right. If it was someone from our State Department representing us, a space war could have resulted, not peace. We now have time to get ourselves properly ready in fifty years. Your subroutine elimination of the world wide debt is the first step in the right direction. We need to get the right people in government this time. I now know that we have potential allies out there. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, sir.”

“Keep earning your black sashes. We might need you for a special op once in awhile. What would be a good code name for you?”

“Well, I would say use Omega Unicorn. Omega is just as good.”

“That’s fine. The Creator also just told me about your special abilities with magic. That will come handy. I’ve seen it twice while I was in England a few years ago. He also just told me that you are descended from King Arthur and will be crowned King of the Isles in the future.”

“I’m aware of that also, sir. But, I must learn more than what King Arthur knew when he became King. I also need to eliminate Mordred’s Legacy before I become King.”

“I’ve heard of that group. I agree. You need to eliminate them some how, Richard.”

“Oh, before you leave. The Creator told me I will meet one of The Eleven while I’m in New York. I think it is just an introduction type meeting.”

“Thanks for telling me that. We’ll see if we can get a photo this time. They have been difficult to identify.”

“They might be using magic to eliminate that. Perhaps this time, with me they will be distracted, you’ll finally be able to get a photo. If that doesn’t work, I’ll describe them to one of your artists.”

He smiles at me, “Yes, that would be great. Well, I’ll see you in New York, next month.”

“See you in the Big Apple, sir. We’ll talk some more in the future.”

We smile at each other while we shake hands again. The FBI supervisor turns around returns to the Coast Guard Helicopter. Agent Morrison and his group have packed up their belongings from the bungalows and stowed them on the ferry. The Charleston Police force who was assigned to the detail did the same thing as well.

All that is left is the Raleigh Police Department. We have our hugs, shaking of hands and slaps on the back. We promise to stay in touch as much as we can. They pack up as well and put them in their vehicles. Randy instructs the Rescue Mission Security members on how to use the 3D Server and the holographic imaging. They made sure the ladies and the children would not have access to it. Ever since that day, no one has bothered the Rescue Mission again, except for one particular instance.

The only time it was tested is when an ex-husband tried to get on the island in the middle of the night. To find his wife to beat her up and take her by force. The security team had no problems in getting him subdued with the 3D Server.

During some quiet time on the island, I visited the wildlife. I gave them thanks and praise for helping me out in my time of need. The dolphins were especially happy they could assist me.

The next month I traveled back and forth between the Rescue Mission and our Charleston office. The engineers and I were able to design and build several large servers to be used in the security agencies here in the USA and with Interpol.
This caused a lot of complaints from the hackers all over the world. They would twitter and blog the frustrations they have with the new system. Also, the sales from my software version of the 3D System went through the roof. Secure-Sys made some excellent profits from the sales in the software and hardware. My holdings and money accounts now start to approach a total of $500,000. Anna and I figured I will be a millionaire in about five years.

The month of September finally ended. Brianna asked me to come to Tennessee for their family Thanksgiving weekend. I had a talk with Mr. Bryson on the phone right after the invitation. He said that is okay that I can leave on Tuesday and come back Sunday. The first week of October begins the court case in New York City. That proved to be an interesting set of events for a lot people.