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~~~Qarth Military Base, Xandar~~~
~~~Oscar Tumbler~~~
The plane flew for a few minutes over the base and being in the cockpit, I could see everything clearly, and the view was amazing, the base was built masterfully, facing the crystal clear sea. The front-facing sea was composed of several levels divided by walls similar to terraces, with the last level being the highest and with the thickest wall.
It was on the last level where the military base was completely erected, being more than three hundred meters above the sea, making an attack from the sea almost impossible, due to the various terraces that offered a roof to defend, and take away space for invaders arriving by sea, especially because to reach the base one would have to conquer the levels one by one, and because the base was surrounded by steep mountains and at a great height, the entrance with tanks or artillery wagons was out of use. Being left with the only entrances by sea or air.
(Image)
"Whoever designed this base is a genius," I commented, marveling at such a work of art, "Lieutenant, I think that medieval civilization may be far from reality," Felipe, the man piloting the plane, spoke next to me.
"The moment the report that they managed to destroy a Japanese fleet reached me, I knew this was a dangerous nation, and seeing one of their military bases, there is no doubt of their combat power," I replied, a little unsure of what awaited us here.
"They are signaling, maybe he wants us to follow him," Philip commented, causing me to look at what he was pointing at, noting a person on the back of said creatures, who was signaling. "Let him know we copy."
"Roger that," Philip understood, raising his left hand and clenching his fist, but raising his thumb, as we waited for the creature rider to understand.
The rider understood, as he made the same sign and then guided his dragon to a particular part, with his dragon folding its wings and swooping towards the ground, where what looked like a landing strip could be seen.
"The level of strength those people possess to ride those beasts is abnormal, that G-force he must have felt when he instructed his mount to descend must have been enough to push him over and turn him to pulp," I said in surprise, the force of pushing, dragging and tilting, would be enough to render the man unconscious, so either they used a method to counter this, or they had extensive training to endure.
"I'm afraid it's another thing added to the blender of new and strange things in this place."
Before long, Philip controlled the plane and landed smoothly on a suitable runway, there were no planes on it, but from what I could see as the plane landed, several dragoons used airstrips like this to take flight or land, so although lacking the conventional planes I knew, this nation did not lack an air force. A strange and unconventional one, but one nonetheless.
When the door of the plane opened, several cameramen were the first to exit, in possession of their hand-held cameras they began to document everything, climbed down the folding stairs of the plane, and stepped off the plane, touching Xandarian soil for the first time.
On the ground, a retinue was already waiting for them, a total of ten people, both men and women, dressed in the aforementioned medieval-style armor, in possession of spears, swords, or whips, it was a peculiar sight. Especially since I wondered if that would make a difference in the event of a fight with rifles or machine guns.
One of the group approached us, and I could see him up close, he was tall, very tall in fact, he was over two meters tall, which together with his huge muscles and his sturdy armor, made him look much more intimidating.
The man removed the helmet he wore on his head, revealing his face, lilac-colored eyes, tense and attentive look, and straight nose, he enjoyed an enormous resemblance to people coming from the Middle East, especially with his bushy beard and bushy eyebrows.
"My name is Sheqaz No Maqlek, and I am here in the name of my king to escort you to the meeting place, you will be able to see your compatriot, and know that he has not been injured at any time," the heavily accented man was sincere in his words, beginning to lead us to a carriage.
'Apparently, they don't have automobiles' I thought, seeing that the method of transportation would be horse-drawn carriages, even so, I was not reluctant, indeed, I even enjoyed the experience, especially since the carriage seemed very well-built, not feeling bumpy as it moved forward and with a good attention to detail when thinking about the seats.
On the way to the building that appeared to be the base's command center, no one spoke, with the Xandarians static, showing enormous stillness, with only the clicking of the cameramen's cameras being used to take pictures.
The base moved like an anthill, with dragons landing or taking off continuously, huge bull-like beasts with nets on their snouts pulling huge containers, men patrolling on horses, and even soldiers training in certain parts. Everything was running smoothly, with a tacit agreement among all. No disorder, rejection, or insubordination.
Soon enough, the carriages entered the building grounds, where the security and patrols became more evident, and it was where I noticed something new, these were women, only these were wearing different armor, but that was not what caught my attention, it felt strange to be near them, even when I looked at them, I felt a shiver on my back, something new to me, who had seen many tragedies due to the first and now the second war that was happening.
"Very well, we have arrived," Sheqaz spoke, getting up and opening the carriage door, getting out first himself, then allowing the others to get out.
"Before you meet the king, I will give you a summary of what you will encounter and how you might behave," Sheqaz instructed, making him pay close attention, since the more he knew about this place and its government, the easier it would be to deal with him, "the king has a total of eight men, they are the best warriors you will find in all of Xandar, they have the title of Blood Riders, they are very close to the Emperor, so to disrespect them is to disrespect the Emperor himself."
"In addition to that, you will see up close the Emperor's front line of combat: known as the witches, women with immense power, I advise you not to overreach them. And lastly, and I hope it doesn't happen, if the Emperor feels it is necessary, he will summon the Enderman", each new sentence from the man confused me more, seriously, witches? Immense power? What would they have in their arsenal to represent such a danger?
"The Enderman are beings from the End dimension, evil creatures, bodies black as fog and terrifying in appearance, and once they are unleashed there is no conventional human power that can stop them, so if the Emperor feels the presence of such beings is necessary, lower your gazes at once, they don't like to be seen, especially to have their eyes seen."
All that sounded surreal, especially the subject of the so-called End dimension, did this country already have the technology necessary to contact other dimensions? It sounded ridiculous, but compared to what we had seen so far, I wouldn't be surprised.
Soon, we arrived at a huge double door, where the witches, as Sheqaz had explained, were guarding the doors. Opened them once we approached.
Before long, I could see inside the room, a spacious circular room with several people present, from the witches to soldiers stationed in various parts of the room. However, the ones that caught my eye were the eight stout, tall men in black armor standing around three thrones. 'So they are the Blood Riders' I thought, studying the men.
But beyond that, I focused on the three thrones, made entirely of gold and precious gems, the throne on the right was occupied by a young woman, with long black hair and green eyes, much like the woman sitting on the left throne, only the latter had completely black eyes.
The two women were seated at either end of the main throne, where a young man, possibly not quite twenty-five years old, was sitting on it, with his long hair tied in braids, and dozens of gold or silver bells attached to them.
He, with his amber eyes and his firm, attentive bearing, commanded all the attention, leaving me in no doubt that this was the so-called Emperor of this country.