Doomsday Pillars

Excalibur was the sword of legend in the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Historically, King Arthur was a legendary British leader who led the British defense against the Saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. In modern times, however, many historians believed that the details of King Arthur’s story had become overly romanticized and became more of a fiction.

Still, the facts of the Latin word for Excalibur and the old man’s instructions of Alex going to England, might mean that the legend of King Arthur and the knights of the round table weren’t just a fairy tale.

Alex had never heard of the existence of this sword in his previous life nor someone named Geoffrey, but at least Cindy’s guess may have opened a little clue about the old man’s origins.

---------------------

Today’s morning meeting will be the last meeting before leaving for Australia. With the departure of Doctor Rachel and his team, the medical and research division of the Star Army was handed over to Doctor Diao, the famous doctor, whom Alex had known so well in his previous life. Alex also made Vonny, his brother-in-law, the head of the equipment division.

After the liberation of Bali’s main city, The Star Headquarters retrieved a large amount of equipment and other types of supplies obtained from houses and buildings that the collectors were unable to access. Food, equipment, fuel and amongst many other things, the headquarters will become very busy within the next few days, but once they’re done registering the items, the market at the main base will overflow with goods. Still, the most valuable item they had retrieved in the last few days of battles were the spirit stones. The amount of the spirits stone had increased at least five times, from 80,000 spirit stones, their most recent count was 500,000 spirit stones!

Alex planned to bring 50,000 of the stones with him to Australia, as for the rest, he gave specific instructions about what the Star Headquarter should do with it.

In the meeting, Alex appointed his wife, Devita, as the main leader while he’s gone. Although Devita was a little surprised by the decision, none of the people present had any objections for they have seen the dedication and wisdom Devita have shown in the past three months.

Alex then formed two special expeditions. The first expedition group will be led by Farell and Donny, as the head commanders of the newly formed Tiger Army. This group will be the force that helps the liberation of Pillars on the island of Sulawesi in the northern part of Bali. Alex entrusted the expedition with 80,000 people, consisting of 2,000 elite troops, 60,000 trained troops from divisions one and two, the rest were workers.

The second expedition group consisted only 1,000 elite troops and around 4,000 workers led by Sandi. Cahya and Jane, the spirit enhancer known as plant whisper, were also assigned in this group. This group was tasked with a very special mission. Alex handed Sandi a note with detailed instructions under the aim of doing a round trip from Maluku Islands to the Philippines. Alex placed a lot of hope in the special mission given to Cahya, Jane and Sandi.

With Sandi and Donny will be leaving the Bali island, Alex tasked Rama and his martial arts masters with the responsibility of the safety of the Star Headquarters and appointed Erik to be the personal guard of his family. The rest of the spirit enhancers and 1,000 elite troops will follow Alex to Australia.

After giving out the tasks, Alex suddenly realized and asked, "Where’s Rama?" It was unusual for Rama not to attend meetings.

"Earlier this morning, Tiffany asked master Rama to accompany her to the mountains." Erik said.

Although Rama had grown fond of Tiffany, he wouldn’t miss important meetings. Unless Tiffany had begged him to go with her because of something important. Alex then decided to immediately finish the meeting and invited Daisy to find Tiffany.

In less than two hours, with Daisy’s ability and Aria’s expert scouting and tracking skills, they found Rama and Tiffany on one of the highest peaks of Mount Agung, the largest mountain on the island of Bali.

Alex found Tiffany crying over the Garuda’s body. It seemed like the fate of the mighty mutated animal was in accordance with what the old man had said. The gray feathered giant eagle lay dead on the ground without a wound on its body. One of the victims of the mystery of the anomaly of space and time.

"Daddy!"

Tiffany cried as she asked her father while hoping for a miracle, but there was nothing Alex could do. To be honest, if his daughter wasn’t here, Alex would have ordered for this high-level mutated creature to be brought back and processed into canned meat. He would have also searched for a possible high-level spirit stone without second thought. But as he watched Tiffany’s grief and the fact that this creature had attempted to save his life, Alex decided to bury the eagle.

Tiffany held her father’s hand during the burial process, it seemed that the events of that tragic night had created a special bond between her and the eagle. After burying the Garuda they were supposed to return home, but Tiffany suddenly felt a faint energy not far from them. Something that even Daisy couldn’t detect. About 500 meters from the location of the eagle, they found a cave.

Tiffany led them about 500 meters from the burial site and found a cave. Alex cautiously walked in front, along with Rama, as they entered the cave. Several scratch marks on the wall and feathers littered the ground. It seemed to be the residence of the Garuda. In a corner of the cave, Alex found large shards of yellow egg and black eggs.

"!!!"

Alex recognized the black eggs. It was the eggs that had brought disaster to the Star Headquarters three months ago.

"Look, Daddy!" Tiffany exclaimed as she pointed at the back of a stone.

Behind the stone, a white ball of fur with the head of a miniature garuda appeared to be sleeping. It’s a baby garuda with the size of a human child. With just one look, everyone knew this was the offspring of the Garuda.

The baby garuda may look cute and harmless right now, but Alex didn’t know how strong this creature would get later. He was a bit worried about the future but before he could do anything, Tiffany tugged his sleeves and saw her pleading eyes.

"Daddy, she’s so poor. She’s alone now... Can we take him home please, Daddy?" Tiffany’s eyes seemed to tear up.

Alex didn’t reply and the baby garuda woke up. At first the baby garuda was confused at the surrounding people. But then, it let out a soft cry. "Kyaaahh?" It looked around searching for its mother, but she wasn’t there. It then looked at Tiffany and let out another soft cry. "Kyaaahh..."

It got up and tried to walk toward Tiffany but stumbled due to its baby feet. Tiffany slowly walked towards the baby garuda and reached out. Alex and the rest readied themselves in case it attacked but something unexpected happened. The baby garuda stayed calm at Tiffany’s approach and snuggled at her extended hands. It cried out once more, but this time it sounded like it was crying.

"Please, Daddy. Can we keep her?" Tiffany said to her father as she hugged the big ball of fur.

Alex thought that this may be due to his daughter’s ability. He finally relented and said, "Okay, but you have to take care of it seriously."

Tiffany’s eyes lit up and said, "Thank you, Daddy." She turned at the baby garuda and said, "You won’t be lonely now. Because your fur is so white, I’ll call you Snow."

Alex and the rest took a long time returning to the Star Headquarters. It was finally late in the evening but there still a lot of people were in the streets spending their last night with their friends and families before heading off to Australia. Alex also decided to spend the night with his family.

--------------------

On this night, a young woman was staring at the stars as she held a daisy flower hairpin.

A boy approached her and called her attention, "Sis Daisy."

Daisy turned around and saw Tommy walking toward her. These were the two misfits whom were asked to follow Alex.

"Are you thinking about Adam again, sis? Have you talked to him yet? I think if you asked Alex, you can borrow the long-distance radio at the station."

Daisy smiled and patted Tommy’s head due to his concern for her. She treated him like a younger brother, and so did Tommy treated her like an older sister. "I have, but President Rico said that Adam is currently on a special mission."

"But sis, we’ll leave tomorrow. We’re going to be gone for a long time."

"I know, but it’s going to be okay. Don’t worry..." Daisy held the hair pin tightly, although her heart was actually worried, she believed in Adam’s promise that they’ll meet again.

--------------------

Before the sun rose, the elite troops had already boarded the ships. Devita, Tiffany, Tiarra and many others escorted their loved ones at the dock to see them before Alex’s voyage. Arief and Dario brought the Deathsquad troops, Jerry with his Wolf Squad and the spirit enhancers; Sergei, Darius, Oscar, Oliver, Ark, Dinda, Daisy, Tommy, Theo, Cindy and Aria.

When they were about to board the ship, a commotion occurred due to a big man running toward the ship carrying a backpack that was not less than his big body. Upon closer inspection, the backpack was carrying a lot of cooking equipment on its side.

Daisy shouted, "Raufgar! You’re coming?!"

Raufgar tried to catch his breath while speaking. "Yes... Sorry friends... Is it ok if I join you all?"

"What about your mother?" Alex asked.

Raufgar scratched his head like a kid explaining. "Well... my mama scolded me saying that I shouldn’t be selfish and worry too much about her. I’m more needed here, she said." He bowed at Alex and added, "Mr. Alex, please let me join. I promise I’ll contribute well, please help me to be stronger too."

Alex patted Raufgar’s shoulder, he knew this trip would be very dangerous, but seeing the man in front of him determined to be brave, this made Alex believe that the trip would be smoother.

Raufgar’s likeable presence encouraged all the members. "Oooh right! Mama told me to share this food."

Raufgar dropped the big back up, which seemed to weigh around 50 KG and rummaged on its contents. He finally found the box and opened it while extending it to his comrades.

"Raufgar... It’s empty..." Alex said.

Raufgar then checked the empty box and scratched his head once more. "Ohh. Sorry. Hahaha. I forgot that I already ate it on the way here."

"Raufgarr!!!" Alex grinned as he smacked Raufgar’s head.

After everyone finished boarding the ships, it slowly departed the Bay City. The people on the dock waved goodbye as they slowly watched the ship sail east, toward the horizon as if being swallowed by the rising sun.

--------------------

Before heading to Australia, the ship stopped in the town of Kupang in East Timor. The place where one of the star troop posts had been built. There, Alex met with Karra, Benny, Adnan, and Russel and reported that they have succeeded in evacuating the inhabitants of East Nusa Tenggara and Timor. He then asked them to prepare to go to Papua, which was one of the locations in Indonesia where the Doomsday Pillars will descend.

Alex continued their journey, and a day later, they finally arrived at the Continent of Australia. More precisely, the City of Darwin, Northern Australia. Three months after Doomsday, the Darwin port had become a graveyard. Only corpses of the zombies roamed this ghost town. Alex was disappointed that he was unable to find Perth, his friend, in here. It seemed like they didn’t follow his warnings. Not everything would always go as planned.

Alex and the thousand elite troops docked at the port and unloaded the dozens trucks and armored cars. They came prepared. After unloading every supply and equipment, all troops drove south toward the center of Australia. Alex led the way while sitting in the front armored-vehicle facing Australia’s red desert. The trip would take a few days, hopefully he would reach his destination in time.

--------------------

DDay +100

Australia, Asia, Europe, America—survivors around the world stared at the sky. They were in a trance as they witnessed hundreds of bright lights appear out of nowhere and dropped in a perfect straight line into the world. The massive objects slowly descended and struck the ground. The Doomsday Pillars had finally arrived.

The end of volume 3.