The Weather Machine

The Weather Machine

     “The heavy winds have done a lot of damage along the left coast of Continent Four. Continent Four has been hit the hardest. But the rest of Joraan has been affected by heavy winds too.” Mystra was reading a Newsfeed from a Media Monitor.

     The Monitor was up in the corner near the ceiling of Kelvam’s residence. Kelvam wasn’t watching the Newsfeed. He was too busy checking the weapons scattered all around that room. Suddenly the image of Mystra was replaced with the images of Gragor and Porti. “Attention Kelvam.” Gragor was the one who just said that.

     Kelvam turned from what he was doing. And looked up at the Monitor. “I’ve been expecting you to contact me. I’m ready to go. The big question is where am I going.”

     “It’s the Weather Machine. Something is wrong with it.” Porti looked at Gragor before she said that. “You need to go and check it out.”

     “I can do that. But I can’t repair it.” Kelvam returned to checking his weapons. “I am a Protector. Not a Repairer.”

     “You aren’t going there to fix it. But you are going to protect those who can repair it.” Gragor looked at a piece of paper on the desk in front of it.

     “You’re there to protect a couple of old friends.” Porti was looking at the same papers as Gragor. “YoJare and Telin.

     “Telin and YoJare!” Kelvam didn’t look upset about that. “I haven’t seen them in years. The last time I saw them was when I broke up with YoJare because of Telin.”

     “Are you going to be able to work with them?” Gragor was looking up at Kelvam again. “I know how close you all were.”

     “I can, and will, work with them. If they will work with me.” Kelvam finished checking one weapon. And went on to the next one.

     “They said pretty much the same thing.” Porti was still looking at the paper.

     “If there is anything that needs to be fixed they are the best ones to do it.” Kelvam was finished with another weapon. “And if there isn’t then you are going to need me. I do need one thing to accomplish that – I need Stara. She’s the best Specialist on Joraan.”

     “I thought you might say something like that. I’ve already contacted her.” Gragor first looked over at Porti and then back at Kelvam.

     “She is going to meet you, YoJare and Telin at teleporter C-12.”
Porti reached for something that couldn’t be seen. “Good luck!” The monitor returned to Mystra.

     An hour later Kelvam left his residence in the middle of nowhere surrounded by trees. He ran, with small weapons like the ones he was checking out attached to his cloths, through the trees. And met up with the others almost an hour after that.

<<*>>***<<*>>

     Two well aimed Laser Bullets to the head killed the armed males by a cave entrance. Once hit their whole body glowed a bright red. Then they disappeared completely. “The guards have been eliminated.” Stara was lying flat on top of a nearby hill. “But they are going to know we are here now.”

     “There are going to be a lot more before we get to the core of Joraan – and The Weather Machine.” Kelvam was leaning down right next to Stara. “Probably at least two more just inside the entrance.”

     “If there are I can kill them.” Stara looked for more of the enemy. But couldn’t see any. She looked at Kelvam. “You are going to have to eliminate the rest.”

     Kelvam looked behind him to YoJare and Telin hidden just among some trees nearby. “I’ll go in first. And take out the enemy within. Then Stara will follow. She will kill any I missed. We will contact you if we need you.”

     “Be careful.” YoJare said from behind a tree.

     “Watch out for the wind too. It’s getting heavier all of a sudden.” Telin poked his head around a tree.

     “They definitely know we are coming.” Stara turned to Kelvam. But he was gone.

     Kelvam did have a lot of trouble with the heavy winds trying to knock him over, slow him down or drive him into the path of a Laser Bullet. He fired back at the four just inside the entrance. And he got one with a lucky shot. Stara killed the other three. But thanks to the heavy winds it took her several shots each to kill them.

<<*>>***<<*>>

     Stara waited a half hour before she headed into the cave. She also had a lot of trouble getting there because of the heavy winds. But it wasn’t as bad for her because the enemy wasn’t trying to kill her. While waiting YoJare and Telin joined her. They could all hear weapon fire from within the cave.

     ‘Most of the weapon fire is from several weapons at the same time headed in the same direction. That has to be the enemy’ Stara thought to herself. ‘Single and numerous shots in the other direction has to be Kelvam.’

     Just before she left to join Kelvam Stara pushed a button on her weapon. And it disappeared. Only to re-appear on her shirt as a small weapon. It was hard for her thanks to the heavy winds. But she got there a lot faster than Kelvam. Once there she headed in to the caves too.

     YoJare and Telin could only wait for Kelvam and Stara to contact them. And they finally did – about an hour later. But they didn’t need to know the mission was over. Just before they were contacted the heavy winds suddenly stopped.

     “The Weather Machine didn’t need us after all.” Telin looked at YoJare. They both had big smiles on their faces. “It was all a Freedom Fighters problem.”

     “Now the weather can go back to normal.” YoJare and Telin were looking down at the cave opening again. “I wonder if this ever happens on other planets.”